Quality Time

I'm lying here in bed as I usually do around this time of night.  Lately I've been getting to bed quite early, usually by 9, but I don't ever actually go to sleep anywhere near that early of an hour.  I have spent most of my life as an insomniac, so staying up late is pretty typical of me.  Even when I was taking Ambien I still managed to make it to at least midnight every night.  But now that I am pregnant, I'm in bed sooner but up even later.  I am up later for a good reason, though, to spend quality time with my darling Piper.

This is what I'm preparing for, practice is good!

My typical knocked up with the feet up nightly routine is as follows:

9pm - Hit the bed to relax and prop my feet so my edema won't get out of control (that's my damn excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

Cankles!  And one big ole nappy toe!
Don't judge me!

As you can see from the pic, I do have swollen feet. Not even the cat wants them around.  And please do ignore the nappy big toe with its old polish and toenail bruise in the process of healing.  It really isn't easy to get to the feet for proper grooming these days.

9pm-11pm - Usually I use this as laptop time.  I crack out on Facebook, catch up on the shitty ass news of the world which really has become no fun at all to read.  Why can't there be a friggin' happy news channel?  Would it be so damned difficult to try and get people to smile once in a while?  Why all the pessimism?  I know people are out there that are doing wonderful things and bettering themselves and the planet, are helping others and having a good time doing so.  So why not share their stories once in awhile?  You say no one would read the happy stuff?  I call bullshit!  Okay, had to get that off my chest, thanks for letting me vent.  Anyway, I also use this time to catch up on other blog readings, check emails, ponder the universe, etc, etc, etc.  It's just basically lazy me time.  Sometimes I also play the one type of computer game I'm addicted to.  I love those hidden object adventure games.   Don't ask me why, but I'm totally hooked!

11pm-1am - This is when I typically get to reading.  I love a good book and almost never turn out the lights without at least getting a few chapters under my belt.  I'm currently reading Pat Conroy's The Prince of Tides.  I recently saw the movie again and my mom had a copy of the book.  Let me tell you, that man has a way with words!  His writing is so lyrical and smooth.  I think he's going to be one of my new favorites.  I'm really surprised I have never read any of his stuff before now.  Better late than never, I suppose.

1am-2am - This is now Piper time, and the best time of my day.  This is what I was referring to as quality time.  I often don't do anything at this time but concentrate on her.  She gets all wound up at this hour and I like to just lie here and feel or watch her wiggle around.  I sometimes read her some Dr. Seuss, other times I just simply enjoy her presence.  I will admit that sometimes I do continue to read for awhile, but eventually I shut off the lights, wrap my arms around my growing belly, and just think about our future life together.  Once in awhile this will backfire and I'll start letting the typical new mom doubts creep in.  Things such as will she love me? Will I be a good mother? What if she hates me? What if I can't handle being a mom?

What if I panic?

In other words, all the stupid crap that I don't actually have to worry about comes out.  Of course, I always get my head back up out of my ass before it starts crowding her in there and refocus on how awesome I am and how I'm going to be the best mother in the universe!  I say always follow asinine doubts with bouts of overzealous big-headedness.  It's the only way to balance it all out.

2am - I'm usually asleep or on the verge at this point.  Sometimes I'll go to sleep a bit earlier if I'm really exhausted, and on the bad nights I might be tossing and turning till close to 4!  Oh how I dislike when the old insomnia takes hold.  I hope Piper's love of the wee a.m. hours isn't a sign she inherited my insomnia.  But if she did, I guess we'll turn it into even more quality time together.

So there you go, my typical lazy evening routine since pregnancy.  It fluctuates here and there, but usually not by a whole lot.  For instance, I usually do not write this late.  I'm actually thinking this may be a good change to the routine I can continue from here on out.  Couldn't hurt as it seems being productive would be better than scouring the crappy news world!  I could always save that for while I'm at work and needing some time to kill.  Now that I think about it, crappy news world would probably make work seem oh so much better.  The whole "things could be worse" type of motivation.  Yeah, not a half bad idea.

Right now it has just turned 11:22pm.  I'm off my usual routine which feels kind of nice and just hanging out in bed until Piper wakes up.  That reminds me that I failed to mention my constant interruptions from my routine with regular potty breaks.  I really should start a graph that documents exactly how many times a day I actually have to pee now. I bet it's close to 40 or so.  Hell, I usually now get up at least six times during sleeping hours to waddle to the toilet.  That's a whiz an hour considering I get about six hours of sleep a night.  Totally ridiculous!  And I pee less during sleeping hours than any other time of day.  I so want to go see The Hobbit while it is still on theaters, but think I'd miss half the movie with my constant bathroom breaks.  Oh well, just a small price to pay to the Piper!

I'm always in the red zone now!

Now that you are all sufficiently in the know about the amazingly exciting life I now lead at night, I will bid you adieu.  In other words, it's potty time!  I think I'll read Piper One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish tonight.  It's one of our favorites and it's a good night for reading stories.

Look!  A baby fish!

She is going to be addicted to all things Seuss after she is born.  I enrolled her in the Dr. Seuss Book Club and will probably stick with it until she has the entire collection.  Nothing wrong with giving her the gift of words at an early age.  It runs in the family and is a tradition I plan on upholding.

I'll let you all to your own slumbers now. I wish you all a very good night, may you sleep wonderfully, wake up refreshed, and have a kick ass Friday tomorrow (or today, depending on where you live).  And if you're out doing a TGIF thing later on, have a shot of tequila for me as it's been way too long since Jose and I had a meaningful conversation, hehehehehe.

No this is not recent!

Till next time, as always, feel free to follow Piper and I on a daily basis on Facebook.  Also, please take a moment if you would and vote for us on Top Baby Blogs by clicking the banner below.