Casualties of Pregnancy

I know, I know, odd title for a post, but that was one of the first pregnancy-related thoughts I had this morning when I woke up. I was trying to decide what I wanted to wear today, and I thought of a green shirt I have. It zips up the front, and has a hood and tiny little pockets. I usually wear it with a white cami. I have one white cami (out of four) that still fits okay, without riding up and showing my belly. I thought of my green overshirt and dug it out. It's cold out now (it snowed pretty well yesterday), so I don't wear too many short sleeves. Anyway, I put it on... and it's too short now. It only reaches just below my belly button. My undershirt would have shown about three inches at the bottom. So, with a great sigh (I really like that shirt), I put it away, thinking, "Yet another casualty of pregnancy..." Hence the title. Many of my clothes have become casualties of pregnancy. First went the pants. At three months along, I found myself down to three pairs of normal pants that fit. At four months, I was down to two, and they were tight. I now have three pairs of maternity pants, only two that I actually wear on a regular basis. I have also had to retire my pre-pregnancy bras for now, in favor of two that are one cup size up from before. And those are starting to get tight. Now I'm starting to lose the ability to wear many of my shirts. T-shirts have become a staple. Many of my button-up shirts I still wear, but I can only button to just below my breasts. So I wear camisoles (spaghetti-strap tank tops) under those, and only button one button. It shows off my belly and my big breasts, heh hehe hehe. It's funny, though, I'm big enough to be showing and losing the ability to wear a lot of my clothes, but I'm not big enough to be able to wear most maternity shirts without them looking funny. I'm just glad I am past the point where I'm almost showing, not enough for anyone who doesn't know me to be able to tell. I can still hide it if I want to, but who wants to do that??? I'm starting to show even through T-shirts. But when I wear clothes that hug my curves, it's obvious. I am just now to the point where my belly sticks out farther than my breasts. My neighbor Sam and I are planning to go clothes shopping soon, she's pregnant, and just starting to show. But she's having such an issue with nausea and food aversions, she's actually losing weight. So far, it's not been a big deal, her baby's still doing just fine, and she's a little overweight, so no one's too worried, except her, of course. But anyway, I might buy another maternity shirt, but I'm more in the market for pants at this point. One of my neighbors gave me a bunch of maternity clothes, but many of them aren't my style and/or are too big. She's a medium, I'm a small, and Sam's a large. I'm thinking about asking one of our other neighbors if she wants them, she's closer to Ashley's size than either Sam or me.

Bryan's mom gave us our first baby present yesterday. She sent us a box with various things in it, some paperwork we needed for the truck, What to Expect the First Year book, since I already have the Expecting one, the What to Expect Pregnancy Journal, a Sudoku calendar for Bryan, and a Tigger toy for the baby. It's meant to go on carrier handles and such. It's really cute, got a couple of hanging bugs that crinkle when you squeeze them, and a little mirror for the baby to see him/herself in. I told Bryan that it's official now, this baby's a Tigger baby!!! I already have a small quilt that was made for me with Tigger on it. And of course, I have SO many stuffed Tiggers, it's not even funny. Even a giant one that sits two to three feet tall. So we've already got some decorations for the baby's room once we get moved.

I started the process of getting back into college this week. I filled out the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and applied for re-enrollment into the University of Missouri-Columbia. I don't know how many classes I'm going to be taking yet, since I have to go back through and figure out what exactly I need to take and what's offered in the different semesters. Last I knew, I technically only need one semester's worth of credits, but because of when certain classes were offered, it was going to take me two semesters to get them. I also checked into child care offered on campus. There are two options, one caters to the entire community and serves as a learning center for students majoring in Early Childhood Education and the like, and the other caters strictly to student parents. The first one, CDL, only takes 7 infants at a time, but the fees are really good. I don't know what the age diversity is for the second one, but that one costs significantly more than the CDL. I have a better chance of getting the baby into the Student Parent Center simply because it only takes children of MU students, where the CDL takes children from all over Columbia. But from the respective websites of the two child care centers, the CDL just sounds better to me, aside from the very reasonable costs.

In other news, Bryan finally got to feel the baby kick! It's still hard for him to distinguish between our respective heartbeats and the baby's movements, since his hands are so work-roughened, but he did finally get to feel some pretty vigorous movements the other day. Since about a week and a half ago, it seems that I've felt movement pretty much every day. Some days, it's only just a little when I lie down to sleep at night, but lately, baby's been moving a lot more during the day. I'm also starting to feel movement in my upper uterus, where before, it was mainly in the lowest part of it. It was funny, last night, Bryan had his head in my lap watching TV, and his head was resting against my belly. Baby kept kicking at the spot where Bryan's head was. Bryan didn't feel it, but I just started laughing. When I told him what was happening, Bryan looked at my belly and gave the baby his mean face. It was quite humorous.

More and more I'm finding that I am incredibly blessed when it comes to this pregnancy. I hear so much about all these discomforts women have, even into the second trimester, and I've had very little of any of it. I never had morning sickness very badly, only vomited once because of it. I never had a great deal of cramping. I only had one issue with bleeding, and we knew what caused that. The fatigue I felt in the first trimester was tolerable, since I wasn't working. None of my cravings have been overly strange or ill-timed, except for wanting ice cream at 8pm on Christmas Eve. I don't seem to have any food aversions now. My appetite is good, my blood pressure's okay, my hormones aren't messing with my emotions too much now. The only real complaint I have that is pregnancy-related is the incessant nasal congestion. I have to wear Breathe-Right strips to bed so I can sleep. Some nights that doesn't even work. but God has most certainly smiled on this pregnancy. The thought has crossed my mind that all that bad stuff is just biding its time, waiting for the third trimester, or, Heaven forbid, labor and delivery. But I don't dwell on that, perish the thought. I am just enjoying having this pregnancy going without a hitch. It's incredible!

Well, I'm going to save this and switch computers so I can upload a picture or two. Since we upgraded our desktop, my Kodak software is no longer compatible, so I have to use the laptop to add pictures from our digital camera. Fun, fun.

TTFN!!! (hee hee, also a Tigger thing: Ta Ta For Now)