Week 19 - our little star!

STARFRUIT! How exotic! Our little star is ~6 inches long and weighs ~8.5 ounces.

Yes, I have quite the bumpity bump now, and in fact it has earned four comments all on its own. Comments such as “Is that a baby bump?” and “Is this your first?” Yes and yes…but HOW BOLD! I still haven’t worked up the nerve to outright lie to these people and deny my pregnancy (as Lowell would LOVE for me to do), but maybe next time? (Or maybe not).

Okay, I love the bump, I really do. And the swelling bosom isn’t half bad either. But the other things (acne, BACne (gross), veins popping out in legs, seizing calves, puffy-ish face, bloating, sleep loss) I could do without. This is not QUITE turning out to be the glamorous picture I had anticipated. I was looking forward to clear, glowing skin, and thick curly hair. Dream on apparently! Ah well... BRING IT!

Having a protruding belly is a fairly new experience for me. I was a gangly awkward teenager, and as I grew, I was lucky enough to remain slender (although unfortunately I have yet to completely shed the awkwardness).

(For the record... exaggerated awkwardness in the above photo...)

There was, however, a time in my life when I was a little heftier…thank you, Australia! I was fine in NZ and Thailand, but once we hit Australia, we were out of money and spent most of the month watching movies in a van while eating. We went through 5 tubs of peanut butter in four weeks, and consumed any inexpensive carbohydrate we could get our hands on (crackers, granola bars etc etc). In one month, we each gained 15 pounds, and I came home to discover that none of my clothes fit (THAT was depressing). I have since looked back at pictures, and I barely recognize myself. Well, I have now gained nearly that amount back, but it’s entirely different. For one thing, it’s mostly confined to my stomach, and also…. IT’S A BABY and not cheap carbs.

Thanks to Meghan & Merena (& me), I now have a nice little supply of maternity clothes (thanks ladies!) This past week, Merena tipped me off about a local woman who was selling her whole lot of maternity clothes on kijiji. As I would not turn down more cutesie clothes at a discounted price, I made an offer. She immediately accepted, and we made a plan to meet. I had to be at work, but I sent Mom and Lowell to meet her. Well, they waited for over an hour, emailed her 3 times, and NOTHIN! She didn’t show. I was very disappointed because it felt like Christmas had been dangled in front of my face, then snatched away. In a valiant attempt to console me, my friend Chelsea put it so eloquently, “if this lady is so mean to do this to you, she was probably mean enough to roll the clothes in dung... so you're probably better off without them!” Thanks for the perspective Chels, I DO feel better. :)

And on a couple of completely random notes…

• Lowell often talks in his sleep, and the other night I woke up at 2am to him claiming, “We’re gonna screw up our kids… but it’s okay. It just happens.” Hmmm… thanks for the vote of confidence hun!

• My latest indulgence has been eating bowlfuls of Oreo cookie crumbs and/or Graham cracker crumbs with a spoon. Mmmmm… delicious!