I feel a lot of gratitude that we can afford a trainer. I�m honest enough to know that just having all of that equipment available isn�t enough to motivate me to use it. I wouldn�t go to the club and work out unless I had that additional motivating factor there.

I feel a little guilty that I am spending so much money on myself right now. We�re starting to tighten our belts a bit as we prepare to bring this baby into the world � and sometimes it feels like I am flinging handfuls of hundred dollar bills at the sky and screaming, �Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!� when I pay for a chunk of personal training sessions.

But I wouldn�t do the work if I didn�t have the trainer. And it�s good for me, and it�s good for the baby � it�ll make the birth and recovery easier. And I�m feeling much better about myself than I would if I weren�t doing it. Not all of these things are tangible benefits � but they�re all benefits.

So I�m going to try to keep my guilt in check over the next three months as I spent a boatload of money every week (above and beyond what it costs to belong to the club) to keep my ass from getting too big. I think it�s really worth it.

I need to jump in the shower. Then I�m going to zip down to the mall to try and find some shorts that fit. I seem to have grown out of my only pair of maternity shorts. (Slightly depressing � I hope this doesn�t mean I�m going to grow out of all of my other maternity pants, too � ugh. If I have to revisit Maternity Shopping Hell again this soon I�ll cry a thousand tears.)

File this one under People Say Stupid Things.

Everyone always asks the due date � even people I don�t know really well. �When are you due? When�s the baby due?�

�December 15th,� I say proudly.

No less than three people have said the following (or something very similar) upon hearing my due date:

�Awww, gee, that�s too bad. She�s going to hate her birthday � it�s too close to Christmas. She won�t get nearly the same number of presents as her friends.�

(Me, in stunned silence.)

THIS is what preoccupies people�s minds? Seriously? The first thing they think after hearing a December due date is that my poor child is going to get gypped out of birthday or Christmas presents?

If THAT is the biggest problem this baby faces in her lifetime, won�t she be blessed!

Oy.