When did this happen?

I’m a planner.

Sort of.

All of my long-term plans have turned out differently than how I thought they would. For instance, during college, my 5-year plan involved a corporate position, a mahogany desk with a green lamp, and crunching numbers well into the wee-hours of the morning. Never mind that I’m neither math-oriented nor a night-owl. This didn’t happen. 

When I moved to Florida, my 1 year plan involved working with a medical billing start-up, relocating to Reno, NV, and getting engaged. Again, this didn’t happen.

However, I do plan my daily life.

I live by my calendar.

If something isn’t on my calendar, it probably isn’t going to happen… or if it does, I won’t be there.

Whether it’s a phone call, in person meeting, ribbon cutting, soccer game (I played soccer before getting pregnant) or date night, it’s on my calendar.

That’s why I consider myself a planner. My mom used a traditional bound-paper organizer to keep track of my activities growing up. Today I use a digital calendar. Either way, my day-to-day life is scheduled, and I can plan accordingly. I know how much time I have between appointments, travel time to meetings, and even how long I have to chat on the phone.

With my planned spare time, I can do anything: play games on my phone, use the restroom, listen to a podcast, catch up on emails, make calls, play my with dog, etc.

I’m a planner, and my mental management is based on plans.

What I didn’t plan on was the size of my bladder shrinking to the size of a pea. 

I didn’t plan to need more time between meetings to use the restroom.

I didn’t plan to need to stop meetings for a “nature break”.

And, I certainly didn’t plan to do the Lord-please-don’t-let-me-wet-myself hustle down the halls of my business club.

Scheduling isn’t the worst thing, and people have been understanding. I can book meetings further apart, give myself additional travel time and even excuse myself.

I really can’t pin point when all this started. Was I subconsciously acutely aware of where each restroom was before I got pregnant? Did I start using the restroom each time a chihuahua went outside after I was pregnant but before I got the test results? Or was this development a result of seeing the test read “Pregnant” in bold black letters?

I don’t know. But what I do know, is that the need to urinate more frequently is a normal side effect of pregnancy.

According to my friend, Patty the Doctor, bladder shrinkage is psychological. I’m not actually suffering from the resizing of an organ. Which is a good thing, I’m not sure how many more changes to my body I can take!