So, I’ve learned a couple things in the past few weeks . . . Let me start by recapping our trip. We had a 15 day trip scheduled for Jay’s 40th birthday – a dive trip to the DR. When we found out I was pregnant and would not be able to dive we decided to shorten our trip to 11 days and I’m glad we did.
My first issue was what to pack – my belly is growing at an alarming rate, I tried on a bunch of summer clothes that I thought would fit for a few more weeks, only to find that the didn’t fit at all any more! The number one issue was shorts, most of my tank tops were long anyway so I just wore a tight maternity one under so they didn’t ride up as much. So Thursday, the day before we left I ran out and bought two pairs of shorts and a jean skirt. I was pretty glad I did because I ended up living in them!
The second thing I was really worried about was what I was going to eat while I was down there. We were staying at an all inclusive so food would be provided but I was worried about getting sick or the food not being cooked good enough. The last trip that we went on (to Cozumel) Jay ended up with a trip to the doctor, a shot, and some antibiotics because he got sick from the food . . . I brought a buncfh of Luna bars and some almonds and sort of held my breath. Turns out there was no need to worry. I didn’t end up eating much meat but I had eggs every morning for breakfast, the pasta bar (that they cook in front of you) was great for lunch, and sometimes dinner. There were a few things that I came across that made me gag (the chimichanga at the Mexican restaurant?!) but for the most part it was all good! And neither of us got remotely ill! I drank just the bottled water that they provided and sometimes juice during the day, all in all I didn’t need to worry like I had.
The third thing I was worried about, and sorry if this makes me sound spoiled, was what I was going to do for 11 days . . . I’m not really the type of person who can lay on a beach every day all day and do nothing. I read about 10 books: Funny in Farsi, Smalldone, She’s Come Undone, I, Alex Cross, Twilight #1, and I don’t remember the rest. Most were pretty good – I got the Kindle from my mom for my college graduation and I love that I can lay on the beach and download a new book in seconds! It’s awesome! Usually after laying on the beach for 4 hours or so, and intermittently cooling off in the ocean. I would do some kayaking or water aerobics (in the ocean!). Ocassionally I headed back to my balcony to do some more of the Spanish lessons in the Rosetta Stone on my computer . . . it helped minimally but I was excited to learn more.
Some things I learned:
1) Never pass up an opportunity to go to the bathroom
2) Unless in your room bring your own toilet paper
3) Drink more water than you think you need to
4) Ask for more pillows right away
5) It sucks to be on a dive trip and not dive
Overall though, we had a great time! Jay dove every day, usually two dives. He even got to do some spearfishing of the lionfish down there! (It’s one of those invasive non-native species of fish that eats everything and has very few natural predators . . . like our Zebra mussles. The lionfish is causing a lot of damage, but now there are almost 60 fewer fish!) I didn’t need to have worried as much as I did, and I’m really glad I decided to just wear my bikini’s instead of trying find the maternity swimsuits. I’m still sort of at that in between stage where I kind of just look fat (I suppose unless you know me . . . ) but there were other people in bikinis or topless that were getting a lot more stares than me! That’s the beauty of an international resort, there are all kinds of people there so it doesn’t really seem to matter what any one person is doing!
Here’s a picture of my belly for week 15:
