I am not really the “go-getter” type. I am not highly motivated, I do not exercise regularly, I do not feel like I can’t sit and do nothing. In fact, sitting and doing nothing is one of my favorite pastimes. So when I come home on a gorgeous, bright, relatively warm day and announce to husband that we are taking the dogs! For a walk! In the park! it is somewhat surprizing. So we leashed them up and hopped in the truck…

… where Zeeke started flipping out frantically. He has car anxiety. He loves getting in the vehicle… just doesn’t like the whole movement thing. He starts off whimpering and within 2 minutes is letting off an ear-piercing bark and pacing, pawing at windows and doors. “Oh yes,” we said to each other, “THIS is why we never take them anywhere.” By the time we got to the park – a full 5 minutes away – our nerves were already pretty frazzled.

And then we discovered… mud. And a little bit of snow/ice, too. There were parts of the trail that were lovely to walk, let the dogs sniff around, but most of the time I spent looking at my feet, either trying not to get sucked into a big squish of mud or trying not to slip on the mud/ice. Denis held my arm for a couple of parts, just in case.

By the end I was dragging. I don’t know how long it took us to do the loop, half an hour? But my plodding became slower and slower and turned into more of a waddle. “I’m having trouble walking so slow,” Den said to me. “I’m having trouble walking,” I grunted. My belly ached heavily, my back ached. Ever noticed that when pregnant it always kinds of feels like you’re walking downhill? Because of the weight of the belly, leaning back slightly to adjust, it all just sat right on my lower spine.

Back to the truck where the dogs jumped in. We have an SUV, we put them in the cargo area – which is carpeted, of course. Muddy footprints everywhere. And apparently Zoe felt that was not enough, because she immediately jumped into the back seat, causing us both to scream, “Get back! GET BACK!! OFF!!” So, yes, a lot of dirt. We need to get one of those metal grates to keep them in the back. (We had one, once upon a time, but it broke.)

It is now two hours since we got home and my lower back hurts. All I can think about is having my chiropractor lean on my tailbone to stretch it out. I’ve been trying to stretch it out myself, but to little avail. The ligaments on the side of my belly are really achy, too, but thankfully that part eases tremendously when I sit or lay down.

So apparently I am a lot more pregnant than I think I am. I really didn’t expect it to feel that hard to go for a walk in the park, but it feels like I just hiked up a mountain. I get over-confident because day to day I don’t feel it very much – but, as I said in the beginning, I am not fond of activity.