Week 17

Or is it week 18? Maybe just the 18th week? Anyway, 17 weeks 0 days to 18 weeks 0 days.

At the beginning of this week, I started to realize that I'm starting to pooch out of all of my clothes. I think I may have had the "pop" that everyone talks about but it wasn't nearly as dramatic as I was expecting. Of course, when I really think of what I was expecting... well, that's just a little silly. 

Several times during the week I wore normal sweaters that are typically a little big/long. That's not really working anymore. So, I finally went through the bag of maternity clothes that Jodie gave me to see how things would work. Pretty much everything works. Some have plenty of room for growth, others, not so much.

Also, I put on the first pair of maternity pants that I bought a few weeks ago. I've been wearing them with a belly band to tie up all the extra belly fabric and keep them from falling off. This week, they fit. No belly band required.

People at work are starting to notice too. Megaphone Man asked me if my center of gravity has shifted yet. After which he said, "Oh, I guess maybe that was rude, huh? Bwahahahaha!" Tracy keeps making googly eyes at my belly. I can see how hard it is for her to resist the urge to touch. I keep telling her that it's still pretty mushy right now and I might let her touch it when it gets harder.

Former Boss stopped by and Tracy told him that he haaaaaad to see the belly. He was like, "Stand up! Let's see it!" Since he's Former Boss I told him he had just about as much tact as Megaphone Man. We all had a good laugh. Tracy insisted that I take off my tie-front sweater and smoosh my shirt down so he can see the bump. I refused. It wasn't a big deal, but I was glad to stand my ground and not get half undressed to show off my belly. I would not be pulling my clothes tight to show Former Boss my body before pregnancy, so I'm not doing it now! Regardless of what people seem to think, all social boundaries do not go out the window with pregnancy.

My belly is noticeably different feeling on the inside this week too. When I toss and turn at night, it seems that my uterus is putting some kind of centrifugal force on the rest of my torso. (How's that for pregnant engineer talk?)  It's a little uncomfortable and a lot weird. I also tried laying on my belly for a few minutes while David was giving me a back rub and it felt like I was laying on a volleyball. I'm trying to figure out if this is all true or some kind of placebo effect from reading at the beginning of the week that my uterus is the size of a cantaloupe.

And the last notable change this week-- kicks! I really don't want to confuse gas bubbles with kicks so I've been concentrating a lot on what's going on in there. I've pretty much written off every feeling until just a couple days ago. I was sitting at my desk and was startled to the point of almost jumping out of my seat by a good jab in the belly. By the time I had time to process it, I felt one more and that was it. I've felt a few more since then but nothing consistent. Pretty exciting.

15 weeks, 5 days.
Mostly pooched from the layers of fabric
necessary to keep those maternity pants up.



17 weeks, 3 days.
The first time I wore an actual maternity shirt.
My "news" became painfully obvious this day.

Another Funny Encounter

Megaphone Man: (Stops by my desk seemingly just to see how tired I look and then tell me about it.)

Me: (Look up.) Hey, what's up? (Look back at my computer to finish what I'm typing.)

Megaphone Man: Look back over here. Your eyes are looking pretty droopy.

Me: Yeah, it's been a long day. (Stand up to go to the bathroom for the millionth time that day, adjust clothing.)

Megaphone Man: I meant to compliment you the other day. That's a nice pouch you have there!

Me: WTF? I'm not a kangaroo!

Clearly, he meant "pooch" not "pouch". Obviously not wanting to admit his mistake,

Megaphone Man: Well, you are kinda like a marsupial.

Me: I really have no idea what that's even supposed to mean... (Walk away.)

Megaphone Man: Bwahahahaha!

Seriously, this man is insane. I'm going to have a fantastic time documenting his ridiculous comments.

It's a Boy!

I debated whether or not to tell the circumstances behind us finding out gender so early on. But then I figured, anyone who would read this blog already knows the story and I don't care about anyone else so here it is.

I woke up on the iciest of ice storm days a few weeks ago to feed Laika and then head back to bed because work was closed. I stopped at the bathroom on the way back to bed and found blood. Scary blood. If there's one thing I know about pregnancy, it's that blood is not good (though, it can be perfectly normal) and that I needed to call the doctor immediately.

I woke David up and he could obviously hear the fear in my voice because he jumped out of bed like he's never done before. He may have thought the house was on fire or our cars had been stolen from the garage.

The receptionist was apparently the only person brave enough to go out in the ice storm so there was no one at my doctor's office to talk to. She took my number and said the doctor on call would call me back. Waiting on that call was the longest 30 minutes of my life. I got in the shower, thinking we were going to have to brave the ice and head to the doctor's or the hospital. Of course, the phone rang as soon as I got in.

After asking a few questions, the nurse that called me back was totally unconcerned and just told me to call back if it continued, got worse, changed, etc. That was not very comforting but if she wasn't concerned, I decided that I shouldn't be either. David, of course, researched all the things that could have caused it and had his list of suspicions.

Less than a week later, I had a regular appointment. I told the lady who took me back (is she a nurse?) about the happenings of the previous week. Immediately, she says that we need to move to the other room because the doctor will want to check things out. She said it so urgently, I started to get quite frightened.

He indeed "checked me out." He did an ultrasound and saw a few things of interest. He was concerned so he sent me to the place that specializes in ultrasounds (I know there's a name for that place, I just don't know what it is) to confirm. They confirmed his findings-- a low lying placenta. The doctor at the ultrasound place was not concerned at all. He spoke to us like, "um...why are you even here?" but assured us that it's rather common and is highly likely to fix itself. I'm glad my doctor was so cautious.

The ultrasound tech also confirmed my doctor's other finding-- a penis!

The Least Fun Mom-to-be EVER

Someone at work today told me that I was the least fun mom-to-be EVER because I told him that he can't put a megaphone on my belly and talk to the baby.

He's a little overexcited about my pregnancy and I'm such a party pooper.

Because the Books Said I Should...

...And because I have nothing more interesting to write about these days.

All the books and websites I've read say I should be keeping a diary/journal/blog about this time so I can look back fondly on it. They also say that I should not rely on my memory to capture this time in my life because pregnancy and then being a mom is going to completely destroy my brain. Lovely. And by the way, I'm currently in the middle of four books which are laying open or bookmarked on my nightstand and floor by my bed. There might also be a few laying around the house here and there that I've cracked open but not gotten into. I also subscribe to weekly emails from two different websites. I might currently be on information overload.

So, I thought I'd go for it and get out some of the highlights of the first 15 weeks. It's a little long becuase I've been working on it for a while and well, it pretty much covers three and a half months.

Sickness
I've learned that one of the first questions that people ask (apparently after they've figured out if the pregnancy is on purpose or not) is, "How are you feeling?" I appreciate their concern. I sometimes feel really bad when I tell certain women, women whom I know had horrid pregnancies, that it's pretty much been a non-issue for me. I mean, I've been uncomfortable but compared, for example, to my friend Cari, who had to be hospitalized because she was throwing up so much, my discomfort is nothing. For me, just a few of those things listed in the Pepto commercial. You know, Nausea, Heartburn, Indigestion... I like to do the dance too.

Fatigue
Many of my girlfriends have been like, "Aren't you just sooooo tired?" That's a hard one to answer. "I don't know" seems like an odd answer. You see, I'm a very sleepy person to begin with. I've always enjoyed a good nap after work or even better, a daytime nap when everyone else is at work. It's glorious. So, it's hard to tell if I'm really that much more tired or if I just have a really convenient excuse to do what I've always done and more.

Every once in a while, it'll hit me hard at work and then I think, "Yes, I do have pregnancy fatigue." And I guess I'll go ahead and blame my complete and total lack of motivation to do any kind of house cleaning on fatigue because it really does tire me out fast. I think it's mostly my lack of good sleep that's causing the fatigue though. I'm pretty much up all night with ca-razy dreams, peeing and tossing and turning. I suppose this is only going to get worse so maybe my "fatigue" will get worse too.

Exercise
Exercise is very good for you during pregnancy. So they say. I've been taking Laika for walks (when it's warmer which has been almost never) and hopping on the treadmill from time to time.

David, smart man that he is, would never comment on my exercise or lack thereof before pregnancy. Now, however, he doesn't hesitate to remind me that I should be getting some. That really sucks in the wintertime. I just want to hibernate. I love the treadmill because it's conveniently located in my dining room. However, I also despise working out on the treadmill.  In an effort to suffer along with me, he set up his bike on the trainer next to the treadmill. So now we can walk and ride and suffer side by side. That is something that I'll look back fondly on.

Emotions
I wouldn't say that I've been overly emotional or hormonal. Of course, can you really know that about yourself? I think (hope) David would agree. There are two specific instances that should be mentioned. I might not remember them fondly, but I'll definitely get a good laugh out of them.

When we started telling people at work, we kept getting the "On purpose?" question and other slightly invasive questions. When we answered some of these questions (about my plans for returning back to work, for example) we got the ol', "Oooooooh, you just don't know! You've never had a baby! You won't want to come back to work that quickly! Teehee!" I've never had a baby? What? I wasn't aware! These people seem to think their experience applies to every other person in the universe. They refuse to just let you have your own plans. Add to that my own anticipation of the questions and opinions to come-- about labor and deliver, about breast/bottle feeding, about raising children. All things that I'd prefer not to have others' opinions on-- my vagina, my boobs and my offspring! It's not that I'm not open to advice from those who are more experienced, but there's a way to give that advice and then there's the way that most people choose to give it. Two very different things. And lastly, the touching that will inevitably happen once the belly gets bigger. Ugh, the touching.

Anyway, one night all these things were weighing on my mind and I may have had a little breakdown about it. I was wishing I hadn't told anyone and thinking this was all a huge mistake. Yeah, that might have been a bit of an emotional moment. Whatever. I'm entitled to a couple of them, right?

The second breakdown was about maternity clothes. Maternity clothes could be a whole post of their own but I'll try to summarize here. It was week 14 and I wasn't showing at all (still not really since that was only last week.) I was/am, however, getting thick in the waist. And, to my complete and total dismay, thick in the butt and legs. So, I spent some time online ordering maternity clothes from Old Navy. This was after trying on some pants that Jodie gave me and finding out that regular lengths in maternity clothes are even more high waters than non-maternity regular lengths. I also did some looking at Kohls and found the exact same thing. So frustrating. So, I ordered a bunch of longs from Old Navy and was excited to get them.

On the day they arrived, I had spent the entire day in one of my bigger pairs of non-maternity pants feeling like they were cutting me in half. I was thrilled when I saw the Old Navy box by the door that evening after work. I had ordered three pairs of pants and three shirts. Two of the pants were the same, just different colors-- khaki and black. Those two were honkin' huge. Not in the legs, but the belly part was ginormous. And, not just the band part, also in the lower gut area. They might be perfect when I'm 8 months pregnant, assuming my legs don't keep growing. The third pair (cutest jeans ever) were the exact same size but skin tight. They were practically jeggings. The shirts were cute, but they'll be much more appropriate in a couple months.

After laying in bed and feeling sorry for myself for a bit, I went to Target on the hunt for something that fits now. I was only able to find a couple things in the right size. I tried those on and guess what. Both were complete high waters. Come on, people! My legs are not that long! I wear plenty of regular length pants! I went to my car and cried. And then I cried the whole way home.

When I got home, David wanted to fix my sadness and insisted that we go to Motherhood and the department stores in the mall. I went into the fitting room at Motherhood with 8 pairs of pants. It didn't take long before I was sobbing uncontrollably. Too tight, too big, too short. I walked out of there with a dress and had come to the conclusion that it's going to be dresses and skirts for me from now on. The department stores were no better. I eventually found a pair of pants at JCPenny that were okay but now I'm not so sure and might have to take them back. Like I said, skirts and dresses from now on.

I guess I'll look back on those stories one day and think I was ridiculous. Right now though, I still think both are perfectly sensible reasons to be miserably upset.

Reactions
I'm writing this section because I truly want to remember this. There are a few people who I've told and I really want to remember their reactions.

The grandmas, my mom specifically, and Annie were of course funny reactions. But those are caught on tape for us to remember forever so no need to mention them here.

Two of my girlfriends (Kelly T. and Jodie) gave me congratulations cards. I can't even put into words how incredibly touched I was by that. Jodie mailed hers and made my day one day after work. Kelly left hers on my desk on a particularly hellish day. Love those girls!

I was a little nervous about telling Rebecca. I mean, how do I expect an 18 year old to react to that kind of news? To 18 year olds, pregnancy is not a good thing. I was shocked by her reaction. She immediately started congratulating me and didn't even seem to think things like, "OMG! What are you going to do? Have you told your mom yet?" You know, typical pregnant teenager things. Then she started with questions. Will you be turning the guest room into the baby's room? What are you going to do about work? Have you had any crazy cravings? I was blown away by the maturity of her questions. She's such a good kid. I feel so lucky to know her.

Last, my 60+ year old cubical neighbor of six years. He drives me crazy. He talks on speaker phone and has meetings in his cube with no concern for what I'm trying to do or focus on. He listens to crazy music out loud all day every day. He's creepy and notices things like a new pair of pants. However, he's also very nice. He's interested in what David and I did over the weekend. He asks about Laika and Lars and Annie and Chase. He loves new pictures of Michaela and Annabelle. His kids are my age and he loves telling me what they and his granddogs are up to. He's really like my work dad.

Anyway, I told him at the end of one day. I was trying to get out quickly and didn't want him to make a scene. He was going to be out for the rest of the week so I told him I wanted to show him sometime before I left. I pulled out the ultrasound pics and handed them to him but also shushed him. He was like, "Is this anyone we know?" I pointed at my belly. I swear he got tears in his eyes. I went to take the pics back and he shook my hand. Then, he took my hand and kissed it. Heh. Weird, but I suppose it's better than hugging. He seemed so happy. He was trying not to talk out loud about it but was like, "So...October? November?" I wasn't quite sure what he was asking because those months made no sense to me. I was like, "Um... July?" He was thoroughly thrilled by the news and it made me really happy to see him so happy.