Spring has settled in, and pollen has almost sunken in. It gets harder each year to deal with allergies, and yet harder still while pregnant. I try not to take much of anything regardless of being 'with child,' however I am even more strongly/medically encouraged not to with the bun in the oven. And so, while weeding out some of our dandelion monsters on the side of the house this morning, don't you know that a sneeze or two pops up in my way. I wipe the mess with my dirty gloves off my chin, and continue on. But only for a minute. Low and behold, my body has now met the threshold of all the pollen it can take, and I lost count after 20 straight sneezes. Must be a record! Had to come in, wash my face, and whip out the acceptable Neti Pot - but I actually denied myself the struggle of pouring water through one nostril in hopes that it would flow effortlessly out the other. Over the sink. While still sniffling. Seriously, and folks think that pregnancy is a cake walk, with all the drama at the end of 9 months in delivery. It's not usually pretty, let's put it that way!
Regardless of this dreary congestion, the weather has been lovely. It's so nice to have windows open, not pay for the AC to be blasting surely in just a couple months, and appreciate the aromatic (at times erotic?) scents of spring flowers and neighborhood gardens. Even the dandelion dander this morning had me exhaling nostalgic sighs of dirt and sunlight. And as we enter the crux of this season, our own Bean seems to blossom ever so fervently, shifting from her babe-like self to a toddling tot, perhaps even "kid." As we are happy to welcome the one on the way, this time also makes me sigh hefty breaths of contentment mixed with sadness to observe just how fast the time flies. We are hoping to soak up the summer months of Elle's final "only child freedoms" by taking more beach trips, museum and zoo visits, etc. It's in this way that I can see why the first child in any family often gets deemed and doomed the title of 'spoiled.' Elliot will be the only "only" child of the kids we have. Each of them surely to have some important 1:1 time with Mom or Papa, but never without awareness of their older sister, Elle. It is truly a special moment in time right now.
In the mean time, graduation has passed, and onto work I wander. The same schedule (minus Saturdays, finally!) is helping maintain some sanity until Peanut arrives. And in the even more exquisite fall weather I will be home for maternity time, prior to heading back to ideally a focus on my counseling. Internship proved many things, including my desire for the field, and I look forward to the niche of populations and styles to which I can work on my technique and frame of reference. If anything, it helps me ponder relationships in my life constantly - while being acutely aware never to be the family or friend therapist - and I aim, as always, to grow in the process of becoming a practitioner who fosters a warm and safe space for my clients to envelop on their journeys of self-awareness and coping.
So hopefully all this sneezing and impending hormonal glitches of instantaneous crying doesn't get in our way in the meantime.
