BEYOND THE BOOKS | A PREGNANT PAUSE

As you have perhaps noticed, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything here on Rain City Reads. I’m a big believer in blogging as a fun and voluntary pursuit, and sometimes life happens. This has been one of those times for me.

I guess the place to start is with some news, by way of explanation. A few of you I’ve talked to already know, but for those who don’t – I’m pregnant (that still feels really weird to say). It’s a first for me, and it hasn’t been an easy pregnancy so far. Those of you who’ve had kids will know exactly what I’m talking about. But for those of you who haven’t gone through the “miracle,” it’s less miraculous and more uncomfortable, painful, weird and exhausting. Also, baby brain is totally a thing. In case you were wondering.

I’m due mid-late May (still waiting to find out when exactly because my situation is a little complicated), and though that doesn’t seem very far away to normal, non-pregnant people, to me it feels like forever. I’ve done the prenatal classes, I’ve spent way more money than I expected on baby stuff (and bought things that, just a few months ago, I didn’t even know existed) and I’m ready for this baby to join the world – plus it would be nice to have my body to myself again!

Because I didn’t exactly decide to take a blog break, trying to find my voice again has been a little bit tricky. It hasn’t been helped by the fact that I’ve more or less stopped reading because every time I try, I take an unplanned nap. But I miss this world, I miss all of you, and I’ve been feeling more and more like there’s an important part of my life in this blog that I’d like to get back.

Obviously having a kid is going to be a whole other thing, and who knows how it’ll affect my blogging – but for now at least, I’m back! Thanks to those of you who are still out there for sticking around, and here’s to 2016 – albeit a bit of a late start!

While I get to work on some new content, I’d love to hear from all you parents out there. Any tips or advice? Need to vent about the many “joys” of child-bearing or child-rearing? Favourite books for kids? It’s a rich topic (I’ve even thought about starting a blog on the subject), and I’m all into talking about it, so share your experiences and questions in the comments!

**Note: Sorry if you’ve received notification of this post twice – for some reason the original post published with comments turned off, even though I hadn’t adjusted any comment settings. I couldn’t figure out how to turn them on, so the only way to allow comments was to re-post. My bad!