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.