I'm really glad I decided to stick it out for another month or so upon getting into the second trimester. I missed a lot of classes during first trimester but have been feeling generally better and more capable over the last month or two and have gotten some good work in.

Unfortunately, after an evening of wheel throwing, my back totally froze up as I was cleaning up: I couldn't move for several seconds, and even though I was able to unkink enough to walk around, I've been in mild pain ever since and still am this afternoon.

Occasional back spasms are nothing new, I've gotten them since before pregnancy, but its not surprising that they've become longer lasting and more frequent, and I expect the trend to continue. I also wonder if the other times I've been feeling them lately have been after ceramics: its quite likely that it just wasn't as obvious so I hadn't made the connection prior.

In any event, I have a couple of small pieces in progress that I can finish off quickly, and after that, as with skating around on my Heelys, bending over the pottery wheel is going to have to be finished until after pregnancy ;)

Now I have to decide whether or not I want to stick around the studio and work on hand building. I've done hand building in the past, and had fun with it too, but I'm much more into wheel work: its just so fun to have the clay rise up and work with it so smoothly :) And hand building always seems so risky to me: its much more likely to crack and fall apart in the process, is typically less elegant, and significantly more time and energy ;) Although it can be gorgeous and well worth it, and lends to a wider range of creativity. Plus if I stick with ceramics that means I still get to spend time there with tragydie :)