28 Weeks
I got my first unsolicited pregnancy remark this week! And! It was very pleasant with lots of well-meaning advice. It was from a nice lady who works at the grocery store, whom we’ve seen there for years, and when we made it through her line she asked, “When are you due?” I kind of missed it so I had her repeat it and I was like, “OH! April! Mid-April.” And then we had a very nice conversation about baby essentials. Yay!
Absolutely no one else who doesn’t already know has said ANYTHING to me this whole time, which… I find kind of weird. I mean, YES, I’m grateful strangers are not trying to touch my belly, but I feel like my condition is obvious by this point and I would not be offended if someone remarked (positively) about it. So thank you, Fred Meyer checker lady.
People still don’t move for me on public transit. I still think this is the fault of my circus-tent-esque coat. Daniel disagrees, and I suppose it could be that everyone who rides public transit is a jerk, but I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I just feel like people are trained not to say ANYTHING about pregnancy so as not to offend anyone who might not be even if they look like it, so even though I look rounder than normal underneath my coat, people are not falling over themselves to let me sit.
Clothing
I finally broke down and bought new bras. Mine have been a constant source of pain and suffering for WEEKS now and the last straw was this weekend when an underwire stabbed through its casing and poked me. I have been too lazy to go to Nordstrom and get refitted so I’ve been putting off buying better-fitting ones because I don’t know what size I am now. Fortunately, some bra manufacturers are sympathetic to my plight and offer handy S-M-L type sizing, so I hazarded a guess and in theory some undergarments are making their way to my door as we speak. (I am crossing my fingers SO HARD that they fit.)
I also got a slew of maternity shirts. I think I’m starting to reach the limit of what my pre-pregnancy tees can handle and I only have three actual maternity tees, so once these new ones arrive I’ll give them a test run. I just hate maternity shirts that don’t come back under your belly after they hit the largest part – it’s so much more flattering when they hug your belly instead of hanging off it like a stupid tent. I refuse to buy those kinds of shirts. I think I got good ones, but I’ll have to wait and see.
Baby Shower?
People keep asking me, and no, I have no idea. I wish I did. About the best I’ve heard is that someone, somewhere, may or may not be planning something. Maybe. Daniel is the only person that has heard this information and he was apparently sworn to secrecy and insists he doesn’t know anything beyond that. I’ve never heard of a baby shower being a surprise, so I’m a little anxious about that but I’m told any input I have can be passed through Daniel and it will get to the mystery shower-thrower.
So! Because I like to be helpful: my dream baby shower is one that does not involve gross games (I’m not really anti-games, exactly, I just don’t want to have to eat weird things or be forced to make a belly cast or something) but that does involve candy and delicious citrus beverages and very Martha Stewart-y touches. (You know, garlands and decorated cookies and the like.) Just, ah, throwing that out there. Here is a gallery I started on Flickr for some inspiration – I’ll probably continue adding to it for a while.
We did start a registry on Amazon, mostly because it’s easy to find anything there and I could add items from other websites. I think a lot of the stuff is probably available at Target but it seemed easier to have one registry instead of two.
Childbirth Classes
Ours start this week! I’m not really sure what to expect but I am told to bring two pillows, a small blanket or towel, and dress in loose comfortable clothing.
Baby and Me
Here I am at 28 weeks:
At my appointment today, my midwife had a chat with me about my weight gain. On the plus side, I gained less between the last appointment and this one than I thought I would, but on the minus side, I started out about 30lbs overweight and have since gained 40-ish pounds. And I still have twelve more weeks to go. Eeep. So they told me to go from 1% milk down to nonfat, avoid soda and fast food (which I do already and did before I got pregnant), and, uh, not eat constantly. Which I have been attempting. My body is just REALLY REALLY GOOD at gaining weight. I’d be great at hibernating!
Baby appears to be head down. Yay! I don’t know how they can tell this by skooshing my belly around but the midwife declared him head-down, which I had been guessing at for a while since it feels like feet are in my ribs most of the time. Heartbeat sounded good, and I got a paper telling me to make another ultrasound appointment to check Baby’s growth. Woo! I am hoping he’s not built like a tank, but we shall see.
Oh god only 12 more weeks
April seems really far off. Like a very long ways away. And then I think, oh! Twelve weeks! And that is not a very long time at all and OMG PANIC.
10 Comments
Eek! Only 12 weeks to go? That is crazy!
I have been eagerly reading your stories hoping to get a glimpse into what to expect when I eventually do get pregnant.
I hope the rest of the pregnancy goes well!
I agree with Daniel, Trimet riders are jerks. I got on the bus today with two year old on one hip, diaper bag and stroller on my shoulder, obviously needing a seat- I had to finally ask for someone to move. It was really awkward to have to ask and rude that no one offered to move or made any attempt to make room.
I’m excited to see your journey progress! You are a good mama.
Hip Hip Hooray! No one is saying anything to me unless they know either; we must be trained as a society to be overly PC about pregnancy. Are you coming home for a baby shower? Or will you just have the “surprise” one down there?
Meag – I don’t think we’re coming home. We weren’t really planning on it and I’m not sure I’d feel up to a 7.5 hour drive at 30+ weeks. I talked to my mom yesterday and she mentioned organizing something up there, even if we couldn’t make it. So something might be going on, I’m just not sure what.
40 pounds gained or not, I still think you look good. I know I started out overweight, but I found it even more stressful to stick to some weird diet. My doctors didn’t seen too concerned about it, though, and I ended up with a healthy, average weight baby and lost all my weight pretty much after delivery. The problem now is that I still have the same appetite as I did before I delivered! Haha.
And I cannot believe you only have 12 weeks left! I remember when you told all of us about being pregnant that you were only 12 weeks (or so, I can’t remember exactly) along!
OMG I looked at your gallery and that baby cake was sooo cool! I love what you put together so far – definitely what I would want, hee!
Oh em gee, has time REALLY gone that fast?? It doesn’t seem like you’ve been pregnant for any time at all, wow! I guess you’re right though, saying 12 weeks seems like a lot less than 3 months. Eeeee!
The public transit thing gave me some interesting thoughts. I think another reason people might not be offering could be because of today’s more femminist culture. I believe it to be a combination of people being afraid of offending a woman who actually ISN’T pregnant as well as offending women altogether who might be like “WTF, I don’t need help, I’m not weak, GTFO!” when a seat is offered or a door is held open. There are too many women like that these days who don’t see it as a nice gesture. Leave it to the weirdos to ruin it for the rest of us who would truly appreciate that gesture. Bah.
Oooh, good luck at your childbirth classes!! Blog about them plzzzz.
Yeah, people here never give up seats for pregnant women or old people. :\ I always offer, although I’ve had remarks along the lines of “I AM SO OFFENDED DO I REALLY LOOK THAT OLD TO YOU, YOU RUDE CHILD?”
Good luck with the last twelve weeks!
Just think of it this way. Only twelve more weeks until you get to hold your precious gift. Personally, I can’t wait. I know I am not having the child, but I am soo happy for you. <3 <3
12 weeks sounds like a long time to me, but I know for sure that time will fly! I’m sooo excited for you
When a bus gets crowded, I like to remain standing so I don’t take a priority seat OR offend anyone by giving them my seat