K.U.E.61st: Beginning of the Bump & the End of Privacy

I spent the first trimester (at least) lamenting that all I did was seem to gain an inner tube around my mid-section but didn't look pregnant.  I began to hate pants with a hatred I have never felt before, and I refused to buy bigger sizes especially since I was exercising.  (Side note: Going to the gym becomes more annoying as the weight on the scale continues to climb up instead of down).

Maternity wear was too big, and well, weird at that point.  And again, there's slim picks on the Island (Target is all I got; bless Old Navy online).  There were times when I thought, "Maybe I'm not pregnant at all, just packing on the weight and feeling sick all the time."  Yes, I know, Mondo looked at me with that same look of incredulity.  Of course I also had a few run-ins with folks who didn't quite engage their own brains before speaking, "oh! I didn't know you were pregnant?!  I just thought you had put on some weight."  Yes.that.actually.happened. More than once.  (Sometimes we just can't claim 'em all in Galveston).

So now that I actually have "popped out" and have a baby bump, a new phenomenon has started: it's like I have no privacy.  While actual baby bump groping by strangers has not been a huge issue (yet?), once it became obvious I had a bun in the oven, it became an experience in the onslaught of "advice" as well as the never-ending personal questions.   It's an interesting phenomenon, one that I certainly had heard of before, but experiencing it for myself is something else entirely.  Part of this "fascinating" experience happens when someone asks your preference baby-related, labor-related, etc. and then proceeds to answer the question for you and/or completely ignores your response.  No one hipped me to the fact that having a baby is apparently much like planning a wedding:  it's a farce that these huge events are about you - they are really about everyone else! J

Here is what I've learned is referred to as a "bump photo."  Dang, that's a big photo. Sorry folks, I don't know how to shrink this.

Despite all of this adjustment, the coolest thing happened Sunday evening.  We felt the Piglet move for the first time!  Of course, I felt her first, but then Mondo planted his head firmly on my behemoth belly (I know, I know: "You don't know what big is - wait till 9 months") and went all saucer-eyed each time she moved.  He sang to her (of course only The Doors would do) and she seemed to really like his jokes.  Way cool indeed.