the process moves on, or does it?

I’m still struggling to reconcile the knowledge that I’m pregnant and the fact that I’m able to go about my daily activities with relative normalcy. Yes, I have some symptoms. My breasts are larger, I need more sleep, my appetite is reduced and I sometimes feel a slight nausea. At times I feel every cell in my body is drained of energy and I can do nothing but lie on the sofa or in bed. But fortuitously, this usually doesn’t happen until the late afternoon or evening.

Perhaps I have something attached to my uterus, which is causing the symptoms, but it has stopped growing. Or perhaps I’m just lucky this time around.

I guess I’ll find out at the sonogram on Tuesday. In the meantime, life progresses, this new life hopefully develops, and it’s really no big deal. It’s possible to almost forget I’m pregnant. I haven’t gained any weight and fit easily into all my clothes. It’s hard to imagine popping, though I did purchase a few maternity items for work so I’ll be ready when it happens.

Instead of obsessing about pregnancy, I’m instead planning for a potential trip to central Africa. Seriously? Yes, I’m still trying to process that myself. I’m admittedly a bit nervous about the tradeoffs between taking malaria medications in early pregnancy (none of the options look great) or taking the risk of trying to prevent it without medications, but knowing that getting the disease would be terrible. At the same time, it’s a good professional opportunity and I’m always excited by a foreign adventure. I know there will be a break in my world travels during the latter parts of pregnancy and breastfeeding, so I may as well travel while I can. River visited four countries as an embryo/fetus, so I guess it’s only fair to give this one an equivalent chance at free travel.

I’m pretty sure my recent trip to Africa killed my chances of being able to donate cord blood. If not, this trip will do it. That’s a disappointment.