The belly
A few of you have requested belly shots, and I promise that at some point down the line, I shall deliver. (Ha!)
The thing is, right now, my belly just looks, quite frankly, gross. I have gained about 8 pounds all told now, and I basically just look like I've got a pot belly. Not exactly a pregnant one. (Except for the more visible veins.) I have never weighed this much in my life, with the possible exception of when I came back from my semester abroad in Cameroon in '95, having subsisted on manioc, fried plantains, french bread and beer for three and a half months. Not that I'm complaining, mind you -- it's all for the sea monkeys' benefit. And my doctor will be thrilled. AND, I seem to so far not be gaining anywhere besides my midsection. Still have those hardcore toned Madonna arms. (Yeah, right.)
Anyway, given this "blossoming" I'm finding it tough to get into my normal pants, so I broke down today and went to Target and got a couple of pairs of maternity pants: a cute pair of cropped tan ones and some skort-y black gauchos (Culottes? Who knows), both of which are wearable now and will probably last me through 6 months. I could have probably just done a size up in normal clothes, but since I'm just gonna keep on growing, that seems silly.
I got a couple of tops, too, but here's the funny thing: when I wear actual maternity tops, I look pregnant. I guess it's just something about the cut of them, that empire waist thing. All of a sudden it is unmistakeable.
Only a week more of being coy about all this -- baggy clothes at work, etc. I have an ultrasound for early genetic testing next Friday, and assuming all is well, two passengers are still on board, we'll spread the news far and wide after that.
I promise a more astute and enlightening post soon. Right now I'm adjusting to life post-writing-residency, and a house full of Brazilian construction workers. Who probably just think I'm fat, not pregnant.
The thing is, right now, my belly just looks, quite frankly, gross. I have gained about 8 pounds all told now, and I basically just look like I've got a pot belly. Not exactly a pregnant one. (Except for the more visible veins.) I have never weighed this much in my life, with the possible exception of when I came back from my semester abroad in Cameroon in '95, having subsisted on manioc, fried plantains, french bread and beer for three and a half months. Not that I'm complaining, mind you -- it's all for the sea monkeys' benefit. And my doctor will be thrilled. AND, I seem to so far not be gaining anywhere besides my midsection. Still have those hardcore toned Madonna arms. (Yeah, right.)
Anyway, given this "blossoming" I'm finding it tough to get into my normal pants, so I broke down today and went to Target and got a couple of pairs of maternity pants: a cute pair of cropped tan ones and some skort-y black gauchos (Culottes? Who knows), both of which are wearable now and will probably last me through 6 months. I could have probably just done a size up in normal clothes, but since I'm just gonna keep on growing, that seems silly.
I got a couple of tops, too, but here's the funny thing: when I wear actual maternity tops, I look pregnant. I guess it's just something about the cut of them, that empire waist thing. All of a sudden it is unmistakeable.
Only a week more of being coy about all this -- baggy clothes at work, etc. I have an ultrasound for early genetic testing next Friday, and assuming all is well, two passengers are still on board, we'll spread the news far and wide after that.
I promise a more astute and enlightening post soon. Right now I'm adjusting to life post-writing-residency, and a house full of Brazilian construction workers. Who probably just think I'm fat, not pregnant.
posted by Jane at 12:06 PM
4 Comments:
Brazilians are generally hot, so if you have to have construction workers in your house, you might as well have hot ones. What kinds of construction is occurring?
I've read a few blogs lately in which Target gauchos are specifically discussed by the newly pregnant (the consensus seems to be thus: they are questionable from a style perspective, but undeniably forgiving and comfortable).
E.g.:
http://flotsamblog.com/2006/05/31/the-liar-the-glitch-and-the-gauchos/
Oh, and that should have read "what kinds of construction ARE occurring?" Hello, subject-verb agreement.
Yes, one of the Brazilian construction workers is quite fetching. He has a rakish little mustache and impish smile; a sort of Latin Clark Gable thing going on.
As for the construction, we had our front porch, formerly enclosed by big, ugly sliding doors to nowhere, framed out with a half-wall and windows, turning it into a nice more sun-room-y sort of space. Which would look nice with some wicker chairs, but will probably end up being a depository for strollers, bicycles and recycling bins.
Also, we're having molding and a new bannister put on our staircase, and the hall painted. Nothing major.
As for the gauchos, I don't think they're bad looking, as they are fairly skirt-like and full, as opposed to the variety of gauchos that appear to be stovepipe pants lopped off below the knee. Those things are atrocious.
But every pregnant mom needs a some of-the-moment fashions. I am confident that one day my children will look back at a picture of me pregnant in gauchos and laugh fondly and uproariously at how 2006 I look. Just like I adore the photo of my mom in 1974, 8 months pregnant with me, in an olive green paisley dress, standing in the woods somewhere. I can almost hear the John Denver being played in the background. (By my father, on his guitar.)
I realize I'm way late to the party, but just wanted to chime in and say Yes, Lawd about those damn maternity shirts. I believe you could put one on a telephone pole and it would look pregnant.
And ah, yeah, I hear you too about the weight. I currently weigh more than I ever have (while not knocked up, obviously), and there are no babies in me. Blech.
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