I rode a surf mat up into my 8th month, after
which I stuck to swimming in calm water, day or night. Little Kai Alana has arrived since I
wrote this. Baby and Mama are doing great, and looking forward to the day when
they can get into the waves again.
Here is what I wrote during my second trimester:
My mother told me that when she got pregnant, she noticed
that she stopped running aground while sailing her boat. Something in her had become more
cautious, and she stopped putting herself in potentially sketchy situations
until she noticed when we had grown up a bit that she had started running
aground again. While I wish I
could be like Jericho Poppler and surf into my 8th month, I’ve
definitely become more nervous around hard surfcraft and their captains since
the start of this gestation project.
My solution? The surf
mat!
Thanks to fellow ape Justin Valdes for introducing me to
this glorious wave vehicle at last year’s Mat Meet, I knew this magic wave
carpet was just what I needed to provide my passenger Little Monkey and me a
soft and safe ride in the salty brine, away from the fray of the peak. The little girl inside me is pure
aquatic ape, surfing up an amniotic stoke in my belly, while I immerse myself
in the ocean, so similar to the blood whose expanded volumes are cruising
around in my pregnant veins.
My wetsuit stretches over my belly, cradling Little Monkey
snugly. The water provides sweet
relief from gravity, the increasing enemy of my expanded girth. A trimester of inactivity leaves me
winded, and the new body requires negotiation, but I no longer have to walk the
beach pining for the waves that all the board riders are gliding. Thanks to my sweet partner ape Brian,
for getting me this best birthday present early so I can enjoy the whole season
until this bun in the oven is cooked.
