Thankful

I have not felt creative lately. Actually, I have still been feeling low energy and unenthusiastic about most things; blog-writing, work, pregnancy. Despite this, I keep chugging along. In reality, I am grateful for where I am at and what is going on in my life. I need to do a better job of embracing this.

I am thankful to be pregnant with our second child. We are extremely lucky that our IVF was successful on the first attempt for both pregnancies. We are blessed with what is currently a second healthy pregnancy with minimal complications currently. I will be 18 weeks tomorrow and thus far have only had to contend with fatigue, intermittent nausea, and growing heartburn. It is thus far remarkably similar to our last pregnancy. At my last OB visit, my blood pressure was excellent and my weight was "good". (I am up more weight then I would have liked at this point given starting off overweight again, right around 11 pounds, but it's too bad so I am just accepting it for it is.)

I am thankful for my daughter. She lights up my life and brings me such pride and joy. Yes, there are days when I feel too tired and apathetic to be a good parent and lose interest in her repetitive play, but mostly I love watching her grow and develop.

I am thankful for my husband. Lately, likely due to some hormonal surges, I have felt such a renewed of love for him. I cannot believe that we've been together for over a decade now and we still enjoy each others' company. He is such a great father and I am so lucky to have him as a partner.

I am thankful for my job. It is secure and it generally brings me a sense of accomplishment and goodwill. There are many days that it also brings me stress, but I would also never be content in a job without a challenge. It also provides an income that helps us to feel relatively financially secure.

I am also thankful that we are currently in a place where I am optimistic we will be able to weather the next four years. We both have stable jobs and a 30-year-mortgage in a home we love. Our daughter will hopefully have no memories of a time when the country turned its back on women, immigrants, and minorities. I have full faith in MLK's words that "The arc of the moral universe if long, but it bends towards justice".