Shark!

On our second day, Drew booked us a snorkeling trip.  In addition to being part werewolf, Drew is also part fish.  He loves the ocean and would gladly live in swim trunks and slippers (flip-flops, thongs, whatever you want to call them) every day of his life.  I enjoy the water and the ocean but something about being pregnant has turned me into a big scaredy-cat.  Mother's intuition?  


But I was game and the boat was reassuringly big.  Our guide Dustin was a total surfer dude with dreads and the stoner laugh and he was very charming.  There was a bachelorette party on the trip and they were all smitten with Dustin, sun-tanned eye candy that he was.  I was too busy looking for seatbelts and lifejackets and wondering if my belly would make me more buoyant or not.

 Listening as Dustin tells us how to stay alive

Drew wanted me to walk to the front of the boat to get a better view and I tried, but I was so unsteady on my feet that I actually cried a little, so he let me sit back down.  I was surprised at how wimpy I was acting, but I couldn't help it.  All I wanted to do was stay seated until the boat stopped moving.  Rather than judge myself or be judged by anyone else, I sat my happy ass down and left Drew to go up front and be one with the ocean.

I did concede to a couple of pictures, but only if

I could white-knuckle the railing, hence the weird forced smile.

I even tried to be a good sport and get into the spirit for a belly shot.

Five months and lookin tubby.

Immediately after Drew took this, I sat back down.

You shouldn't stand when boats are moving anyway - I'm sure I heard that somewhere.

However, once the boat stopped moving it was a much different story.  The waves were a little more active than I preferred but at least I was a little steadier on my feet.  Before we headed out, I told Dustin that I was pregnant.  I had no shame - I wanted him to keep his eye on me and make sure that I was okay.  And I have to tell you, all my Hypnobirthing and hippie reading is starting to get to me because I actually bristled when he said "Oh for sure, I'll keep an eye on you.  Thanks for telling me, I forgot to ask if anyone had any pre-existing medical conditions in my speech."  I very nearly began to lecture him that pregnancy is not a medical condition nor is it pre-existing and I am NOT sick, pregnancy and birth are normal physiological processes and should be treated as such and are you familiar with Ina May?  Rixa Freeze?  Don't make me school you son!  Where them flippers at?!  I sat at the edge of the steps and got suited up.  I had my mask, life jacket, flippers and my noodle and I was ready to go!

The water was so chilly!  It wasn't unbearable but I would have preferred the water a little warmer.  Thankfully, I got used to it pretty quickly and me and my tubby belly set off to take some underwater pictures!

   We jumped right into a school of fish

Drew the fish took off pretty quickly and 

he and Dustin bonded as fellow waterbabies.

He went all the way underwater while I stayed close to the surface the whole time.

I'm such a scaredy-cat!

The reefs were so pretty, and while I'm glad we sprung for the disposable underwater camera, the colors were so much prettier in real life!  There were a couple of times that it got pretty shallow and I had to be all Mission Impossible to keep from touching them because we'd been given strict instructions not to touch anything.

Tropical fishies - they were so much more vibrant in real life!

We swam out a little further and then it got interesting!

That may not look like much, but that is a barracuda!

And that, y'all, is a Mother Effin Shark!

My boy Dustin failed to mention that we might run into sharks out there on the reef!  Yeah yeah, it was a nurse shark and then his friend the reef shark joined him and neither of them are dangerous, but holy shitballs, that's a Mother Effin Shark!  I snapped my picture and did my best slow backward swim, hoping that it wouldn't get curious.  Harmless or not, I wasn't interested in that damn thing coming any closer.  Drew came to find me shortly after we both spotted the sharks and I was plenty content to stay right next to him, near the surface.  Where the rest of the group could see me.  And hear me.  If I had to scream.  I'm just sayin.

I was trying to do a half in, half out of the water thing

but it's really hard to get a steady shot when being rocked by the waves and 

trying to keep one eye on the sharks.

We went to another spot but Drew and Dustin were the only ones who stayed in the whole time.  I went in for a short while, but this spot was colder than the last one and I was getting tired.  I climbed back in, put on my hotel robe and was content to enjoy the ocean.  Seated.  And safe - at the back of the boat. 

I can now say that I swam with sharks - who cares if it was involuntary.  And how many kids can say that they swam with sharks before they were even born!  I may have been a scaredy-cat, but I think my daughter liked it - she was thumping me the whole time.  Even though the water was cold, it felt great to be carried by the current of the ocean.  It was so tranquil and had the water been warmer, I would have stayed all day.  Every part of me felt light and it was a great experience.

I'm so thankful we did this before we went fishing.