The Merry Month of May 2021

An April 2021 recap blog post did not happen last month and I can explain. My [temporary] work schedule is crazy busy during the months of May and June as I am currently working 5-6 days/week until further notice. I say “temporary” because I do not know how long this pandemic will last, and the duration and severity of this pandemic greatly influences whether or not I get shifts. Although I am fortunate to be working these days, on my days off, I am often too exhausted to write a blog post, let alone do deep introspection which is necessary in order to craft a blog post that’s worth reading. And that’s the truth.

Happy Mother’s Day! There’s still snow on the ground, so planters did not happen this year. These flowers were from Mother’s Day 2019! 💐

April Reflections ✨

Looking back on the goals that I made for March 2021, I noticed that my goals pretty much stayed the same throughout the month of April 2021. I believe that it is good to stay focused on a few big goals rather than flip-flop between a bunch of small ones. I call people who jump from thing to thing dabblers, which is something that I am trying to avoid, personally. How can anyone get good at something if they keep flip-flopping between things or take up too many hobbies? My advice is to stick to 1-2 hobbies and get good at them. No, you do not need a YouTube channel, a Podcast channel, 10 different social media accounts, and a small business in order to be successful, unless that’s how you truly want to waste spend your time. It is important to get very clear about what you want and make a plan, and my goals are loosely based on S.M.A.R.T. goals. I suggest that you do the same, but that’s my opinion.

How My Life is Changing

Reflecting on the months of April and May (so far), here are the goals that I managed to accomplish along with the goals that stayed the same since March:

Career Goals:

  • Continue picking up more shifts if it fits my schedule As previously mentioned, I am not working at the hospital these days. Right now, I am working from home and my schedule is full-time due to increased employment opportunities. However, I have received some criticism from people regarding my work schedule (as if it is their business), saying that I should be taking maternity leave or time off to “relax”. Just because I am 37 weeks pregnant does not mean that I am incapable of working, nor am I entirely useless. Also, one should not assume that I qualify for maternity leave, because I don’t actually qualify for it. I only started working in February 2021 and thus, I have not accumulated enough hours. That being said, my husband qualifies for paternity leave.
  • Completed UWorld and Wrote the NCLEX-RN! As mentioned in a previous blog post, I wrote the NCLEX-RN on April 26, 2021. It was definitely the most challenging exam that I have ever written and I am super relieved that I passed in 110 questions! A few days later, I got my RN permit so I am very happy about that too! Even though I am too pregnant to be on my feet these days, I am excited to see what the future holds career/profession-wise. 👩‍⚕️

Personal Goals:

  • Publish 1-2 blog posts per month Let’s face it: I am still writing the bare minimum right now. I am not sure if I will be uploading more blog posts during the month of May. My schedule is busy and I have no time for blogging as a result. Like I mentioned earlier, blogging is not my priority right now even though I enjoy this hobby a lot. Connecting with other bloggers gives me a reason to log into WP every day, even though I am not actively posting new content.
  • Keep tabs on doctor’s appointments/pending appointments I am getting annoyed that some people are reiterating the same stuff that I mentioned in my previous blog post whenever I try commenting on a pregnancy forum which I won’t mention here. I am well aware that I might have iron deficiency anemia and I got my bloodwork done last week. I am currently waiting for the results and will find out if I am anemic on May 12, 2021. We still need to find a baby doctor which is hard considering that we are moving to the opposite end of the city at the end of the month. I know that I am running out of time, and I am not entirely sure who to turn to for advice regarding baby doctors. Finally, I got my COVID-19 vaccination (1st dose) last week! In Canada, we have to wait 12-16 weeks before receiving the second dose which is dumb in my opinion. With increased wait times between doses, how is the vaccine supposed to be effective?

Health Goals:

I am going to be truthful and real here. I am not exaggerating when I say that these past few weeks have been rough health-wise. 3rd trimester sucks and I really have no other way to describe the aches and pains that I am dealing with as I near the end of this 9-month journey. As I write this, I can barely stay awake. I hardly sleep these days and get poor sleep if I manage to sleep at all. My body aches, both physically and mentally. Overall, these spontaneous growing pains make me feel blah which I think is normal considering that I felt the same way with my daughter. A lot of people like to glamorize pregnancy but there are a lot of unglamorous things about it too. And that’s the truth.

FINAL THOUGHTS

  • My husband and I celebrated our 5-year anniversary on May 7, 2021 ♥
  • We had cake on our anniversary and cake again on Mother’s Day. You can never have too much cake! 🍰
  • Baby boy is due any day now, and I hope he arrives sooner than later. I am so uncomfortable and hotel uterus is ready for eviction.  
  • I am learning that I am much more capable than I give myself credit for 😇
  • My life goals are probably a lot different than yours, and that is okay. We are all on different journeys. One should not compare their journey to someone else’s journey.
  • COVID-19 is still really bad in my province (currently dealing with a 3rd wave), but we will get through this. On the bright side, the pandemic has given me shifts and I want to think that I am helping humanity with the work that I am pursuing. I want to think that I am contributing to something much bigger than myself. We really are all in this together! 😷
May 7, 2016 B.C. (before COVID-19) ♥

Thanks for stopping by!

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Published by Hilary Tan

I am currently in the process of finding my inner goddess as I search for inner peace, find mental clarity, develop mental toughness, and crush goals. Come join me on this journey so we can live our best lives!

46 thoughts on “The Merry Month of May 2021”

    • Hilary Tan says:

      Hi Ang! Yes, I’m very busy indeed. Tbh I didn’t have time to reply yesterday or check my phone 🤭 Today I’m exhausted and can hardly stay awake. Thanks for reading! 💕

      Liked by 1 person

  2. ashok says:

    Wow Hilary so much happening 🤩

    Belated anniversary wishes 🎂💃🏻🎉🍷

    And all the best for the arrival of the divine baby boy.

    Love and blessings and hugs 🤗

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hilary Tan says:

      I agree with you, Laura. Trying to juggle pregnancy and work and everything else is definitely a lot to manage 🤭 I’m feeling extremely exhausted and have to work today. Where’s the coffee? Lol ☕️💕

      Liked by 1 person

  4. ashleyleia says:

    Happy anniversary! That’s such a cute pick of you and hubby!

    Congrats on passing the NCLEX! It must be nice to have that out of the way.

    “Hotel uterus is ready for eviction” – love that! I hope little man makes his debut appearance soon.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Hilary Tan says:

      I had every intention to reply to your comment, except my phone died. On the weekend, I was feeling too crappy to check WP let alone reply to comments ☹️

      Thank you! It is a huge relief to have that beast of an exam out of the way. There’s no way I could have written it now which was my original idea. I ended up rescheduling it for April rather than May and it’s a good thing I did! 🙂

      No sign of baby yet! Honestly, I thought today would be the day. I was in SO much pain on the weekend but today I feel fine. He’s definitely stubborn like his mother. 😂🤣

      Liked by 1 person

    • Hilary Tan says:

      Thank you, Liz! Yes, it totally does! I’m worried about going into labor while working. If only the baby could tell me when he’s going to make his appearance. I often think, “this is it!” But then it ends up being false labor (Braxton Hicks). Those aren’t fun and quite painful 😖

      Liked by 1 person

  7. winteroseca says:

    It’s such a pleasure to follow your journey! Btw, the thing about the time between vaccines. My Dad has been researching this (because he’s a scientist, so he’s AWESOME at this!) and he said it shouldn’t be a problem to wait 12-16 weeks. I trust him 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hilary Tan says:

      That’s a relief – I’m happy to know that waiting 12-16 weeks will be okay! I think that your dad being a scientist is the coolest job ever by the way 🙂

      Like

      • winteroseca says:

        Thanks. It can definitely help at the time of a pandemic too because even though his specialty is physics, so many skills transfer to other science disciplines

        Liked by 1 person

  8. amymayj says:

    Sorry to hear you’ve been struggling lately – hang in there, baby will arrive before you know it! 🙂
    That’s such a lovely pic of you and your husband – belated happy anniversary! Wishing you all the best for the birth of your new arrival too! xx

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hilary Tan says:

      I haven’t had a chance to check the blog or send proper replies to anyone lately. I’ve either been asleep, working, or in too much pain to check WP.

      Update: I had the baby at 39 weeks (yesterday, May 21) and currently at the hospital. I’ll need to update the blog when I get a chance. Thank you for your well wishes, Amy! 😊💕

      Liked by 1 person

    • Hilary Tan says:

      Thank you so much! I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to reply to comments. These past 2 weeks have been dreadful (I’ve been in a lot of pain, been dealing with exhaustion etc.) but I’m doing much better now. I had the baby yesterday morning 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

      • Hilary Tan says:

        Thank you so much! I am still very sleep deprived. We moved to a new house last week so I’ve been really busy with unpacking, juggling appointments, and taking care of a preschooler and a newborn. I am new to this area so I don’t know where anything is….. all I wish for is some normality lol 😆

        Liked by 1 person

      • bosssybabe says:

        I feel you! When I first moved to my area with a newborn I was so lonely i almost stopped another mom with a stroller just to chat her up so we could do walks together lol

        Liked by 1 person

  10. Pooja G says:

    Happy belated anniversary and mother’s day! I totally agree with what you said about focusing really hard on a few things instead of doing too much. That’s exactly why I don’t want to do YouTube or TikTok. Right now all I am focusing on is my blog and Instagram and I’m happy with that.
    Good luck with all your goals and the move!

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hilary Tan says:

      I’m not sure where I first heard the term “dabbler” but I thought it was really appropriate. I see ppl dabble in things all the time, rather than put all of their focus and energy into a couple of things they truly love doing. It’s so easy to get caught up in a bunch of things and it’s not their fault – we’re constantly distracted in a digital age. I think you’re making a smart choice by not doing YouTube and TikTok right now 👍

      Liked by 1 person

    • Hilary Tan says:

      Thank you so much, Arristella! 😇 It’s such a relief to have that beast of an exam out of the way haha I’m grateful that I wrote it when I did because I’m actually in a lot of pain today and ended up cancelling work this evening. I couldn’t imagine trying to write that exam now.

      Like

  12. ZeroSpace says:

    Me being not that self directed in goals these days (and in fact, just kind of not being very stable), I can’t comment on most of this post other than to say Go You and that’s awesome. I did want to compliment your nail job in that wedding photos – nails look fabulous here.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Hilary Tan says:

      Do you keep track of things in a journal or something? The main reason I don’t do daily journaling via blogging is because it will get washed up in the muck of the virtual Internet, and posts will likely get buried. I use a simple app called Google Keep when trying to keep track of daily, weekly, and monthly goals. Then I tally up what I did at the end of each month.

      I’m not sure what prompted me to do monthly goals blog posts this year, and I’m honestly not sure if I will keep it up. It seems to be getting redundant. That being said, May has been a busy month for sure. And thank you – tbh it’s the only time I’ve ever gotten my nails professionally done. I had to because my nails are awful otherwise. This was also the only time I had gotten my makeup professionally done, and apparently ppl didn’t recognize me! LOL

      Liked by 1 person

      • ZeroSpace says:

        I smiled when you said people didn’t recognize you, that’s great. Must have been quite the makeup job Dolly Parton style. We can’t really see your face but there but I am sure your makeup looked fabulous too.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Hilary Tan says:

        They also said I was tinier than they thought I was because I practically lived in hoodies and sweatpants. I was also 10lbs heavier than usual in that photo – there seems to be only one style of dress that looks semi-decent on me (princess A-line something….)

        Liked by 1 person

  14. kae. | Hello City Girl says:

    So much to congratulate you on from this post! Congrats on your anniversary, RN permit, and all the best with your baby delivery! Seems like there is so much on your plate right now, hope you’ll continue to manage well. (PS* super cute photo of you and your husband 🧡)

    Liked by 1 person

  15. strawberryandcream says:

    Thank you for sharing your goals, because I think it’s really helpful to hear about other’s goals. Sometimes I think we feel pressure to make these audacious and unattainable goals. But setting actually achievable goals that help us stretch and grow but that don’t set us up for failure is the way to go 😇

    Liked by 2 people

    • Hilary Tan says:

      Thank you for your comment! 😊💕Finally someone who understands the point of this blog post. You totally get where I’m coming from. There is a difference of what achievable goals look like vs. vague or unattainable goals, which I see so often in the blogging sphere, and IRL.

      A lot of people end up sharing goals on their blogs which I think is great, but end up making goals like “read more” or “lose weight” or “be kinder” for instance. What does that even mean?! If I read 5 pages out of a book this month, I would have reached that goal of “reading more”. This is why I think the S.M.A.R.T. Goals really works, plus it’s easy to follow! 🙂

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Jacqueline says:

    You’ve got SO much going on! I’m so impressed that you’re thriving in the midst of so many life changes! I hope the rest of your pregnancy goes really smooth and that in next month’s update we might even see a bigger family!

    Oh, also: find a reason for a third cake. Because why not!?

    Liked by 2 people

    • Hilary Tan says:

      Hi Jacqueline! 🙂 I had my baby boy at 39 weeks on May 21, 2021 due to gestational hypertension and fluid retention in third trimester. Leading up to that point, the pregnancy was uncomplicated which I was really grateful for. He had some jaundice during his first week of life but otherwise he’s doing well! 🙂 I’m also relieved that work was cancelled for the remainder of May 2021 and I’m still sorting things out for June 2021. I’m scheduled to work but won’t have internet for a few days. Hopefully they understand 🙏🏻

      YES a third cake is a great idea! I jokingly told my husband that we should have had cake the day Baby Aaron was born and to put a 0 candle on it 😂 I was stuck at the hospital and couldn’t have visitors due to the pandemic, so we weren’t able to have cake that day. I wouldn’t mind a belated birthday cake in the upcoming weeks though! 🎂🥳

      Like

  18. Landious Travel says:

    It is so helpful to put everything together and arrange all plans! It is something like playing chess … I like the type of your articles. It makes me search for missing things around.

    Congratulations and best wishes!

    Liked by 1 person

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