Moments of Musing

Stress-free: the way to be (Part 1)

Filed Under: positivity //

Happy almost weekend! The weather has been in the 70s and I couldn’t be happier about that. 

NYC is consistently at the top of “America’s Most Stressful Cities” lists.


Before the carefree weekend arrives, I’m getting serious on here. Recently, I had a self-care session. I was asked what it is that I’d like to discuss with regard to managing or taking better care. My easy answer: stress. 


I feel like it either creeps in slowly or occurs all at once. During pregnancy, my stress has been slightly heightened because preparing for life with a baby is the biggest (and BEST!) adjustment I’ve ever had to make. 

There are financial concerns. I don’t think I’m alone in this worry. In fact, I know I’m not because my friends and I will speak about our respective financial concerns. But that doesn’t make it any easier. Trying to budget for bills, housing, a new baby, leisure activities (AKA traveling) and save is tough. I’m determined to look at our budget as an accomplishment. To give ourselves credit when we see what are savings and retirement have amounted to. And to know that we still have many years ahead of us to build upon that growth. 

Then, there are my pregnancy worries: This was my main area of stress for a good part of the past six months. Like I said in my previous post, I was very nervous in the beginning but the latest scare happened recently when I failed the one-hour glucose blood test that screens for gestational diabetes. Thankfully, I PASSED the three-hour one! As time has gone on, I’ve been reassured by my doctor, sonogram techs and medical tests.  That has made the stress subside a whole lot. It’s almost nonexistent at this stage in pregnancy, which is a very welcomed relief. 

Speaking of relief, this post is getting too long and needs a break. I’ll be back tomorrow with Part 2.

Being a “Boss”

Filed Under: Uncategorized //

Monday has returned. And so, we (most of us, at least) find ourselves at the start of another work week. This has gotten me thinking.

Upon graduating law school, I worked as an attorney in Chicago. It wasn’t long before there were interns working alongside me. Interns whom I assigned tasks to and whom I evaluated. Not so long ago, I had been in their shoes. The universe is a funny thing. 

Fast forward to my current job where I am a supervisor. The greatest–and most rewarding–challenge in a position with more oversight has been realizing what kind of “boss” I want to be. 

For one, I prefer the title supervisor much more because the connotation of bossing anyone around doesn’t sit well with me. (I do, however, find myself calling my own supervisors “boss” every now and again. It’s got nothing to do with how they treat me, though, and everything to do with the habit of using the word.)

Ultimately, I think it’s important to remain humble despite whatever position or task at work you take on. Count your blessings. Continue to work hard. Treat everyone–from the maintenance workers to your superiors–with respect. 

Be kind to others. And be kind to yourself. If you make a mistake, learn from it and try your best not to repeat it again. 

Lead by example. Be confident yet compassionate. Be assertive and understanding. Just because you’re someone’s “boss” doesn’t mean you have to be bossy to get things done. In fact, you’ll probably get less accomplished that way.  

Linking up with #letsbefriends

Pregnancy Myths

Filed Under: Baby L, pregnancy //

In honor of my wonderful pregnancy and my 500th post(!), I want to be real with you all. Many things are not what pre-pregnant me thought they would be. And so I present to you a list of pregnancy myths:

Pregnancy is nine months long. 
This is tricky. Your baby is forming for nine months but gestational age is actually calculated from the date of your last menstruation. Put together it all equals 40 weeks, or ten months. 
Only your back will ache.
From neck to chest to abdomen and feet, my body has ached in more places than I thought possible. 
Morning sickness only happens in the morning. 
It can happen all. day. long. I could feel great one morning and horrible in the afternoon or evening.

Morning sickness only consists of actually puking.
I mostly got such bad nausea and at times, wish I could puke and get it over with.

It also only happens in the first trimester.
FALSE. I got such a wave of nausea during the beginning of my second trimester. I’m not sure if it was motion sickness or what but I carried a barf bag in my purse for my commute to work.

I’m sure there are more that I can’t think of right now.  If I’m forgetting any that you can think of, please do share in the comments!

Things that make me happy

Filed Under: Uncategorized //

Today is Monday, which means another weekend has come and gone, but I’m not complaining because there are so many things that make happy, including:

today’s forecast

soft serve ice cream

the fact that I felt well enough to walk the Brooklyn Bridge this weekend

wearing non-maternity clothes

#alittlelewis and his healthy growth

What makes you happy?

HELLOOO 3rd Trimester

Filed Under: Baby L, pregnancy //

Yesterday made 28 weeks of pregnancy. I am so happy–happier than I can put into words–to be at this milestone.

In the very beginning of my pregnancy, I was very anxious. I was nervous that every ache and pain signified something bad. I don’t know if I’ve told the story of the day we found out but I didn’t know how badly I wanted our baby at this time in our lives (you know, there were those other pesky feelings like fear and nervousness that crept in) until I thought the pregnancy test was a negative. After the positive, I anxiously awaited our first ultrasound appointment.

That first appointment came at around 9 weeks. Once we got to see our baby where he was supposed to be and hear his heartbeat, I felt a lot better. Fast forward to last week when I had bad round ligament pain. Even walking hurt and at one point, I could feel my hip joints shifting. Crazy, huh? Well I called my doctor and he told me to go in for precaution. Thank God all was well! Deep down I knew it was a normal symptom of pregnancy but I just wanted to be sure. In my opinion, it’s always best to be sure. If nothing else, it definitely eases my mind. 
So here we are at the long-anticipated final trimester. I want to enjoy this time with him in my tummy as much as possible… but I also am so excited to meet him outside of my tummy and to see his little healthy human self. 
This whole experience has been amazing. I count my blessings everyday to get to experience this miracle. Our little dream come true.