I’m now 32 ½ weeks along. At the last doctors visit our little one was 3 pounds 1 ounce. This third trimester has been tough besides the weight gain, adjusting to my new proportions, swollen feet and ankles; I’m just plain tired. It didn’t help that before I became pregnant I allowed myself to indulge in the holiday spirit and had been at one of my highest weights. Who knew that we would get pregnant on our first attempt?
Our parents are meeting for the first time this weekend!
Yesterday I took the A train into the city to meet Andrew and my friend Frank at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, where he works as Manager of the Peacock Bar. I definitely look pregnant these days and when I walked onto a packed car people just ignored me. It wasn’t until I made my way through the crowd to look at a subway map that an older woman offered me her seat. The last time I rode the NYC Metro, just last month, a man dressed in business attire, mid-40, healthy and strong in appearance, nearly knocked me over to grab a seat. I stood over him as he played video games on his cell phone; taking up two seats with his legs spread wide open, he refused to even glance up. It’s really a horrible shift from when I was younger, in High School, and rode the trains in the mid 1980’s. Back in those days men would frequently give their seats without hesitation to the elderly, handicapped and pregnant women. There are a few good souls who continue this tradition, but it seems that women are often the only ones who follow this practice of social etiquette.
The summer is in full effect and the heat and humidity are making me feel a bit queasy. The basement is damp and is starting to have that fresh aroma of mold. I opened one of my file cabinets where I keep some video and film archives and found the beginning stages of mold growth on a couple of cardboard boxes. That was disturbing, since I am now keeping all my negatives and chromes in the back room of the basement. So yesterday I jumped in the car and rode out to Sears in Kings Plaza, Mill Basin Brooklyn, to pick up a 50 pint Kenmore dehumidifier. This morning I emptied it for the third time and am happy to report that the backroom feels dry and smells right. My sniffer is on overdrive since I became pregnant.
The renovations are in full force. The kitchen and bathroom have been gutted, which is a trip and very dusty I might add. We covered most of the artwork with a combination of plastic and old sheets, very fancy. Andrew and I are living upstairs while my sister is out of town. W e have been talking about moving after this winter, it would be too crazy to move right now, besides the fact and we don’t have any money saved. I’m worried that the construction will not be completed before the babies are born. I'm starting to go a little nuts.
The results came back from dad’s doctor. There was no stroke. He has hardening of the arteries. Add atherosclerosis to his already diagnosed heart condition, diabetes, lack of proper diet (or shall I call it - the anything I want to eat diet) and practically no physical activity, is a cocktail for disaster. Sadly, he has no will or desire to change. I’m concerned for my mom who in recent years has started to develop her own, and at this stage manageable, set of health issues. I intellectualize that there is nothing I can do to change their minds towards following a healthy lifestyle. It is just too frustrating for me to be around it. I have a hard time keeping my opinions to myself.
We sold the “Jimmy” Jeep the other day to Tim, a dealer who flew in from Minnesota. I know Jim would understand, he wasn’t very attached to material things. I'll be able to pay off a bit of my student loan from Parsons. Our monthly expenses, and stress, has been reduced.
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