at only 11 weeks pregnant, pregnancy has already changed me in some significant ways:
1) My hair. I have decided to take advantage of the fact that hair tends to grow faster during pregnancy, and not cut it the whole pregnancy (well, I did when I first found out…but not again) in hopes of finally having longish hair. This, of course, only makes sense if I keep my hair helthy. So while I do plan to keep up just enough high-lights to not hate myself (a few foils every 3 months or so) I am no longer blow-drying or ironing my hair daily..only for rare special events. Instead I scrunch it up with some curling gel and leave it to dry naturally. Some days, it works. Some days it doesn’t. By the time I realize it is a bad day, I am already out the door…so I am just living with it.
2) My nails. All those months I did not get pregnant I kept up my bio-gel nails faithfully, telling myself they were a little gift to myself for not getting pregnant. Now, they are gone. I grew them out gracefully for a while, filing down the line and keeping them polished and not too long, but last week they started falling off, so I knawed off what was left of them. My nails are now short, bumpy and the polish peels off easily. Luckily, pregnancy also tends to make nails grow longer and stronger, so they should be looking pretty soon. BTW, I don’t think bio-gel is a problem in pregnancy…it is just that it seems an easy way to start budgetting, and like bad luck to keep them up after I spent months considering them a “not pregnant yet” thing to do.
3) Ice-cream and pop. 2 things I never ever used to have unless they were served to me at a party or someone’s house. Not that I disliked them…but I they just seemed too indulgant to have on a regular basis. I am now living on mint chocolate chip ice-cream and diet cream soda.
4) Exercise. I always planned to keep it up while pregnant, but just like last time, have not. I am walking a lot, but have found myself mostly too easily tired to do anything more exerting. As well, I had a little issue last week. After going to my first belly-dancing class in weeks, and exerting myself (I would say a class is similar exertion to a low-impact aerobics class) for the first time in weeks , I started bleeding. I had an ultrasound the next days and there was no indicaiton of a problem or blood in the uterus, so we don’t know what caused it and are thankful it has not come back. I know the exercise my be unrelated..but it left me fearful to do so again. I will deal with the weight gain after the baby comes. Actually, I found it very easy after the girl (and I gained a lot). Between nursing and being a very social person who was always walking the malls and going for walks with other new moms I met, the weight melted off. What happened when I returned to work is another story though…
5) The belly. I am not sure where it come from. The baby is still the size of a kumquat and quite low…yet I have looked like this for a couple weeks already. Not only does my belly stick out…it is hard. Not as hard as it will get…but harder than just pudge. And no, it isn’t twins. Good thing too…I was wondering how I would ever manage to hide twins from everyone I know the whole pregnancy and delivery so no one would know and try to stop me when when I gave one up for adoption!
6) The girl. I don’t know if she got more annying, or I got more irritable…but she does not stop talking, and I just want her to stop. I feel a rush of love when she is asleep though!
Jennifer said,
June 5, 2008 @ 2:42 am
Congrats on the baby bump!
jonathan said,
June 5, 2008 @ 9:07 am
Congratulations.. my wife will give birth this month also to our first born child.. Good luck to parenthood..
Wendy said,
June 5, 2008 @ 2:45 pm
Oh those pregnacny hormones,
I know thee well,
So why don’t you all just go to hell. (LOL! j/j)
However, that is how I felt when I was pregnant with Sam. I thought for sure someone was going to call CPS on me when I was so fed up with Amber I dragged her out of the mall by her arm. I just couldn’t take it. I was tired, fat, and just wanted to lay on the sofa all day. Then the second trimester came, well so did a massive hurricane, and suddenly I had other things to think about.
So here is to you moving into the second trimester with no worries and no natural disasters.
Jeannie said,
June 5, 2008 @ 3:19 pm
You look great! So exciting!
But this:
. And no, it isn’t twins. Good thing too…I was wondering how I would ever manage to hide twins from everyone I know the whole pregnancy and delivery so no one would know and try to stop me when when I gave one up for adoption!
You aren’t serious, right?? That is a just kidding thing?
Leslie said,
June 5, 2008 @ 5:31 pm
That bump is hilariously cute! I love it. I showed so much earlier, that people asked constantly if I was having twins. It got old real fast. And if you think Zoe is annoying you now, wait a month or so after the baby is born! Paige was crazy until about a month ago.
Karen MEG (Pomtini) said,
June 5, 2008 @ 6:46 pm
You look great!!!
And your belly looks just fine. I was showing with the little G at about 9 weeks - and I got just huge. By the time I gave birth (almost one month early) I was almost leaning back just to keep up straight. Not to scare you, or anything.
But I think most women carry bigger for #2
And the Girl is probably just so, so excited!
The Blogger said,
June 5, 2008 @ 9:48 pm
Thanx for the stories and compliments everyone!
Umm…Jeannie…sure…I was joking…yup, joking!
OK, of course if it was twins I would keep them both…but it was a very big fear of mine, actually a big enough fear that it was part of what made me so scared to go for another child for so long as we do have twins in the family, myself included. We have a tiny 3 bedroom house in an area we love and have no desire to leave and would have to go far, far away from to buy a significantly bigger house. Here there is absolutely no room to put 2 babies past crib age-it is barely a big enough house for what will be our family of 4, though we will make it work. As well, having another child was such a monumental decision for me that…well…I am VERY relieved that there is one in there.
Also, as a twin I can say I did not love being a twin at all. It was nothing my parents did wrong, and nothing wrong with my brother…but I did not like it. The comparison was non-stop (my parents did not so much…but it was still as issue at school, etc.) and being the less cool, less poplular, less successful at school, less well behaved, less attractive twin was not easy for me at all. Don’t worry about your girls though, I do think my experience was unique and most twins I know loved and love being twins!
The Blogger said,
June 6, 2008 @ 2:18 am
Congratulations Jonathan, I hope your wife has an easy birth!
Chrissy said,
June 6, 2008 @ 1:09 pm
You look great!!! Congrats again (I know I’ve told you a zillion times already, but I am sooooooooooooooo excited for you guys!!!)!
The Girl looks absolutely adorable!!
BTW, my friends who’ve had more than one baby were telling me that they showed a lot more and a lot sooner with their 2nd pregnancies. I wonder if that’s true? You look wonderful!!! XOXOXO