An Update on that Pregnancy Big Year

I’ve shared a lot about our travels and a bit about our personal goals over the years and then I seem to neglect returning to update readers on where I left off. Like when I wrote all about my Pregnancy Big Year promising to let everyone know how that ended and then …didn’t.
I’ve learned, and I’m sure many others have as well, that starting new projects is easy. It’s actually finishing those projects to completion that is so hard. If you took a look at the “notes” section in my phone you’d see that it’s full of ideas, half-written stories, and fun experiences jotted down in a mad rush and then never revisited. I wrote something up all about driving the roads in Africa that I was so excited about at the time but never shared. The roads of Africa were inspiring me to document the amazing obstacles that we had overcome and I started to do just that. I scribbled notes about different roads we went on and took lots of almost unbelievable pictures of those roads all with the intention to dedicate an entire blog post on the unique road conditions of rural Africa. But then I …got stuck in the mud. Going back through to finalize those sentences seemed too daunting. The beginning of something new is the most exciting, most fun period of the project and that’s why it’s so easy to start something but somehow finishing often feels intolerable. Perhaps it’s due to fatigue or burnout. Or maybe it’s just because I want whatever I put out to be perfect even though it never is, leading to a cycle of endless revisions. Finishing is no doubt the hardest part of any project. Honestly half of what I’ve written about Gabon is sitting in the “unpublished” section on my website literally just waiting for me to push “publish.” Why is hitting that one button so hard? (I liked this article about why finishing is the hardest part. It really is A THING.)

So I must apologize. First of all, I’m sorry about not finishing up Africa in a timely manner. It seems almost silly now to continue to publish stories from our trip to Gabon when it occurred over a year and a half ago. It also seems silly to write about the roads of Africa, or my overarching thoughts while living out of a truck, or a farewell tale/letter to myself that I penned just before leaving the continent. (Again, those stories sit in an unedited “note” on my phone just waiting for me to muster up the gusto to publish.) But that being said, I know that someday someone somewhere is going to be thankful that I I put our trip out there. Who knows, that someone could even be me. And when it comes to Gabon, there’s not a lot of information for independent travelers and even less so for independent international birders. I really need to finish up Gabon so that if I do want to write about the roads of Africa someday I won’t feel that incomplete feeling from our trip looming over me.

Okay, now for anyone wondering about that pregnancy big year that I mentioned in June of 2022…
IT’S OVER. I am no longer pregnant. I finished my “Pregnancy Big Year” with a total of 953 birds.
Upon my return from Colombia I didn’t have the time to get to any other unique spots other than returning home to Pennsylvania. (Oddly I still had the energy and I walked 3-4 miles almost everyday, including everyday the week prior to giving birth.) I was absolutely gutted to not crack 1,000 birds for my big year. About a month prior to giving birth I was trying to talk Ross into going somewhere with me so that I could get a few more birds to add to my list just to take it over 1000, but he was on a very busy project with work at the time and we couldn’t go too many places with me being so pregnant. (I legitimately think some airlines will deny passage to women over a certain gestational age. It’s also probably not recommended to stray too far from home in the event labor starts.) Alas, I didn’t make it to 1,000 species but during the 9 months I was pregnant I did visit Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, South Florida, including multiple trips to The Keys, went on a sea-watching Cruise from California to Vancouver, including a few days in the pacific Northwest at the end of that trip and returned home to do some birding in Pennsylvania. Along the way I saw some incredible sights. I’m not sure I know too many other people who could do all of that in 9 months! Ending with 953 is something to be proud of. And besides, the journey IS the destination.

And we now have an absolutely perfect baby boy. Birding world, meet Roger Peter Gallardy; Born September 20, 2022 at 1812, tipping the scales at 9lbs6oz and 21.5 inches long. Yes, he was born a long time ago, but there’s something about finishing a project that is just so hard.
I’ve shared my birth story on social media already, so I don’t think I’ll share it here since this isn’t really the place for that kind of material, but since this is a bird blog, just know that two absolutely lackluster eBird checklists were submitted while I was in labor. The birth center that I delivered in allowed me to walk around outside while in labor so I did. Ross kept a closer eye on the sky than I could manage but we were shocked that despite the sublime temperatures and clear blue skies, literally nothing except a few Turkey Vultures were flying over. Don’t believe me, check them out. Actually, just kidding. I’m not linking to those checklists because they are truly abysmal. So just take my word for it.
Roger is a jolly little guy who is constantly smiling and we are absolutely delighted that he is ours. Sometimes I have to pinch myself that he is real.

For anyone else wondering if it’s okay to travel the world and do big things while pregnant, I say listen to your body, but GO FOR IT. I hope someday some lady decides to break my record because it means she wasn’t scared to go places while pregnant. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being pregnant and from pregnant women all over the world, it’s that pregnancy is not a sickness nor an ailment. It doesn’t need to stop you from traveling or going about your daily in anything other than a somewhat normal way. Maybe I was a little more careful around mosquitos, and maybe I tried to stick to “safe” places but in my case being pregnant did not hinder me at all. Maybe I was just lucky, or maybe I worked really hard to stay healthy and happy.

We heard from many people that once we had a baby our lives would change. And while our lives certainly have changed in the best way, we want to welcome Roger into our world. Our world is one of traveling and we want Roger to join us on our adventures, not hinder us. Ross also likes to joke that “our routine is that there is no routine.” So with that philosophy in mind, we head to Colorado and Yellowstone starting April 18th for a three-week jaunt out West. Ross will be driving across the country while Roger and I hop on an airplane for what will feel like the first time. (Technically it will be Roger’s first time.) But that is just our warm up. When we get home from that trip, we will be packing our bags for a four month adventure to Taiwan, Australia, and Argentina. We leave for the other side of the world at the end of June. So for anyone wanting a life update, there you have it.