Well, as long as you have a few other things in place. I probably wouldn’t be saying that if I were in Texas this summer with record heat. Thankfully, I’m not. So here are a few things that have made the uncomfortable and somewhat stressful situation of pregnancy much better.
California has been great! The weather is mild but at the same time great for the use of an outdoor pool, even if it’s not heated. Of course the first thing I’ve loved is our flat rate rent which includes all utilities. Yes, even genuine AC! It’s just a small wall unit like they usually have in hotel rooms but it can cool the whole place down in a matter of minutes. Very nice.
The pool has been nice but could be nicer. This past week they had to do some maintenance so it was closed for several days over which they completely emptied it and refilled it. Dang, just when it was starting to warm up too. But it’s open again and we’ve had above normal temperatures for the last few days and the next few to come so that should speed up the heating process.
Eating what you should during pregnancy isn’t the easiest thing. However, I’ve concluded that when it comes to this, summer is the best time to be pregnant. I love fresh fruits and veggies! Fortunately, a summer in California has made it easier to eat those fruits and veggies like I should. First, it was strawberries. I’ve probably eaten 20+ pounds of them so far this summer. Then cherries. Recently nectarines have been on sale and they are so good! Tomatoes and broccoli have made their way into our kitchen too.
A gym membership is a must in the summer. For the first month or so I went on walks around the neighborhood. Then, we started to realize that we don’t live in the best part of town and it was getting too warm. Not that I’ve seen anything super creepy but it’s just a little different when you are pregnant and can’t run or defend yourself as you could otherwise. So we took advantage of the Apple Fitness Center. Devin started going in the mornings and about a week later I joined. I love it! It’s not like a crappy Gold’s Gym where half of the machines don’t work and never get repaired. Occasionally you will see one or two machines out of order but it takes a max of two days for it to be up and running again. They have mini TV’s on all their cardio machines, which makes time go by very quickly. It’s very clean. I’ve been going 3-5 times a week for the past month and a half. I usually spend 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours there in the mornings where I walk between 3-4 miles (sometimes more) and do a lot of stretching. Recently I’ve started to do some strength training too. I’m definitely going to miss it when we leave. Oh, and you can’t beat $9 a month!
Oh yeah, another reason why I like the fitness center is because it makes me get up in the morning. Fortunately, the culture around here isn’t the "get to work as early as possible so you can leave as early as possible" like in Houston. Here it is, "just get here where you roll out of bed." (Most people show up to Apple around 9 or so). That has been nice because instead of the 4:45 alarm clock like in Houston, its closer to 6:30 or 7 which makes working out in the morning more enjoyable for both Devin and me.
Bottled water is another must for me. Yeah, yeah…environment this and that. But let me tell you, I wouldn’t drink water if my only option was from the tap. It has nothing to do with "safety" but pure taste. I also like bottles because it helps me keep track of how much I am drinking during the day.
Besides that, it’s the usual stack of pillows and bottle of tums that get me through the rest of the time.