Eighteen Weeks

There really isn’t much to report this week other than I definitely look pregnant. Some people at work are now brave enough to ask me if I’m pregnant. Or more like, “You are pregnant, aren’t you?”

We saw a friend on Saturday who exclaimed about 3-4 times, “Wow! You really look pregnant!” I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. I still fit into my pre-pregnancy jeans, which I leave unbuttoned and hold up with a Bella Band and most of my sweaters. I now only fit comfortably into two of my bras. The midwife told me to wait until my fifth month to get new bras because that’s when the breasts generally stop growing (to the dismay of my husband). The baby bump fluctuates throughout the day. In the morning, it’s pretty small, but as the day progresses, it gets bigger and rounder. Some days I’m gigantic, which I think depends on what I ate and if I’m bloated. My wedding ring also gets tighter as the day progresses. And although the hub says I don’t have cankles, I don’t even want to talk about knee socks. They get embedded in my legs by the end of the day.

I’ve also started having lower back pain. It usually happens during the work day; I’m not sure if it’s the chair or the way I’m sitting. Sometimes I have pain in the morning from the way I slept. The hub usually has to give me a good rubdown at the end of the day. He said his fingers are hurting and wanted to invest in a massager, but I think he really just needs to get those fingers strengthened!

Energy-wise, I feel more or less the same. I know I’m supposed to eat small meals all day, but it constantly surprises me how little I eat now at every meal. I can’t finish my dinners like I used to, but then I get hungry an hour later and eat the rest. I did get a very apt fortune from my fortune cookie on Saturday: “Get take out. You will need it later.”

I managed to snag some maternity clothes on sale this past weekend, which made me happy. I definitely don’t need anymore. My sister had given me a large bag of maternity clothes and I donated about 95% of it. Here are two things you should know about her, which may help you understand why I donated most of the clothing: 1) she had her first child in 1998; 2) she lives in a suburb outside Dallas. She sent me an email the other day letting me know that she found some overalls (just hearing that word should’ve stopped her from emailing me, but I digress) that she has worn since high school and she was pretty sure that I’d need them. Now, what is wrong with that comment? First of all, why does she have clothing from high school? She is 39! Those overalls are at least 20 years old! Also, she is about 2-3″ shorter than me, and I think I know which overalls she’s talking about… those would only reach my calves. In any case, my sister and I are very different people, so this whole clothes swamping business would never work. I politely responded by telling her that I refuse to wear clothing that is at least 20 years old.