What I’ve Been Up To

Well, hello there! Sorry for the radio silence this past week. Remember that cold I had a couple weeks ago? Well, the cold turned into a lingering sinus infection combined with a gross cough, so I turned into a hermit trying to feel better. Needless to say, feeling sick while being pregnant and on vacation has been pretty crummy. I’ve gone through three boxes of Kleenix and I’ve coughed so hard that I literally thought I broke or cracked a rib. Seriously, the pain hurt so much that it took me to the ER (where I also finally got antibiotics for my sinus infection.) It turns out the muscle by my rib is most likely inflamed, but since I can’t take an anti-inflammatory I just have to tough it out. OUCH! Thankfully, the medicine is finally working and I feel like joining society again. 

I’ve been in America for a week and despite feeling like crud, I’ve managed to get out of the house a few times, so here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to lately.

I was feeling so out of it that taking my 28-week bumpdate photo was the last thing on my mind last week. Oh well, I’m sure Pickles will understand. Here’s a picture of me at 27 weeks, 5 days…pretty darn close to 28 weeks.

That was taken around 4:30 am, just before I left my hotel room to hop on my flight back to America. Wanna see the rest of my awesome travel outfit? Here ya go:

This could also be labeled as “why I will never be a fashion blogger.” I wore socks with sandals. Not only that, but they were my husband’s black “gold”-tipped socks. I figured my feet would swell after three flights, and I knew the planes would be cold, so this was my only solution. I’m so klassy. 

Oh! I should mention that on my flight from Rome to Atlanta I managed to sit in the one seat on the entire plane where the personal TV screen didn’t work. I, of course, let the flight attendant know. He offered to move me (only seat was at the back of the plane, no thank you) and ended up giving me A LOT of SkyMiles for the problem. It ended up being a blessing in disguise, because the sinus pressure on the flight was so horrendous I thought the left side of my face was going to explode. I managed to sleep a lot on that flight, which I’m sure was much better than watching movies. The pressure went away about six hours into the flight…thank goodness.
 
This was such a beautiful sight to see when I landed in Atlanta: 

And an equally beautiful sight appeared after I made it through customs: 

Chili’s, cupcakes, donuts and coffee, oh my! These were all within throwing distance of each other and I was in heaven. I managed to get me some Dunkin’, and then headed over to my next gate.

Somehow I actually felt relatively good the day after I arrived. I think it was a combination of jet lag and running on American adrenaline. I did what any expat does when they return to ‘Merica…I went straight to Target and spent a good two hours wandering the aisles. I also took advantage of seeing baby stuff in person and updated my registry. I was a little excited to be there.

That was the last time I felt decent. My sinuses took over shortly after I got home and I spent the next few days holed up at home and being looked after by my parents. Luckily, I had a little visitor come over and keep me company. I seriously can’t get enough of my little nephew. He’s just the cutest thing I ever did see. 

Since I was under the weather, it was almost a full week before I had New Mexican food—blasphamy, I know. But when I did eat it, it was beyond divine.   

From my favorite NM restaurant: Papa Felipe’s

My antibiotic finally kicked in yesterday, so I’m feeling better. I’m still congested and have a horrible hacking cough, but I’m better. So much better, in fact, that I went out and got a milkshake! I’ve craved milkshakes since I started my second trimester, so getting a real shake was just amazing. This is an “apple pie” shake from Cold Stone in case you’re curious.  I foresee drinking many, many more while I’m here. 

Yesterday I took my new-found energy and hit up two pretty amazing places that made me want to move back RIGHT. NOW. 

Yeah…it was just pretty amazing. I’m still taking it pretty easy, because I don’t want overdue things, but I’m really enjoying soaking up everything here. 

And last, but not least, you may notice my little nook over here has a new look! Long story short, this process started back in June. I found a designer I thought I liked, hired her, paid upfront (per her terms) and then almost immediately regretted it. There was an initial 8-week wait before things got started, but then it turns out that our ideas just weren’t meshing. I’m only upset that it took this long to figure it out and that I’m out all that money. 

The template I have now is from Cinnamon Girl Studio (highly recommended; it’s also where I got my last template from), and while the designer has been great with helping me out here and there (thanks, Timi!!), I’ve been working on fine-tuning the rest of the look to get it to something I like. It’s still a work in progress, and there are a few more tweaks and links I need to work out, but I think I’m happy with it for now. What do you think?
  
I have my first baby shower this weekend and I’m realllllly looking forward to it! I can’t wait to see my family and friends, and to celebrate the baby. I’m just going ga-ga with all the adorable baby things I see everywhere! She’s doing just fine and dandy, by the way.  

Whew! So that’s what I’ve been up to lately! Hope you are all doing well and staying healthy 🙂