This is me, 20 weeks, 2 days pregnant:

This is John 20 weeks, 2 days pregnant:

The Skinny on Pregnancy: Transformers

I have heard a million stories of pregnancy and birth. I thought I had seen or heard it all. But there's a few things no one really told me or talked about. And just because some of you read this that have never had a baby before, I figure it's my duty to tell you some things you may not know or read about in What to Expect When You're Expecting. Other good books I've found, however, include The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding and A Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth. But in none of the books did I read about this.

Stretching

Stretching during pregnancy is a phenomenon that is like no other, unless you've experienced botulism or some disease that makes you gain over 15 pounds in a matter of months. And no, it doesn't just feel like I ate too many cookies. The stretching sensation occurs in different areas of my body every week, sometimes switching daily, sometimes more uncomfortable than other times.

Even in month two, when I first found out I was pregnant, I felt the worst stretching feeling across my diaphragm area for two days. Then suddenly my diaphragm was gone. I could feel it no longer. How did my body change so quickly?

Then I felt my hips growing outward. That threw my back a little bit out of whack. Now the stretching is low, under my little bowling ball belly. It isn't painful, really. What does it feel like? Stretching. Really. Like my skin and ligaments are tight rubberbands being pulled and pulled. It's so strange, but so miraculous. I swear I feel like a Transformer.

Let's just hope my skin doesn't stay permanently stretched. Not too much.

It's a girl!

We had our ultrasound today and my instincts were correct...it's a girl! She's so cute. We saw her little fingers moving and her legs kicking and at the very end, it looked like she was sucking her thumb. Cute, cute, cute.

Green Bags

I have had so many ideas for things to blog lately. My thoughts are racing constantly and I feel mentally and physically exhausted at the end of the day. Not tired necessarily, just stretched out and heavy. I'm realizing what a strain just a little extra weight has on my legs and feet. This is why it is my goal to never weigh over 130 pounds unless pregnant. My legs simply can not take it.

John and I took our routine grocery shopping trip on Sunday morning. Both of us have been rather forgetful lately. I blame the pregnancy and John, I don't know what he blames. First, he forgot the list in the car. Then, we realized that we forgot our green bags.

Gasp. Sigh. Hit myself.

Green bags are simply the best invention by grocery stores ever. For those of you who live in wasteland and may not know of them, they are these very lightweight cloth bags that expand to an unbelievable size, accomodating a week's groceries in as little as 3-4 bags. John loves them because they make carrying groceries easier. I love them because they're easier to unpack, I don't have to deal with dozens of stupid plastic bags with ONE item in them, and I feel like I'm doing a small part to help our planet.

You can find Target's version of the green bag as well, but they are red. Very handy, let me tell you.

Anyway, we shopped without our green bags. I watched the bagger double bag all of our meat. Sigh. I watched the bagger use one bag for each box of Cheerios. Double sigh. And when we walked out of the store, the guilt and shame that tore through my body was almost unbearable. I wanted to cover my face and run to the car. Everyone was looking at our cart, I know it, thinking of how wasteful we are. Young, wasteful people who not only don't care about the future of the planet, but the future of our baby and grandchildren and great grandchildren. And I thought about my friends in New Zealand who wear hats and sunglasses and sunscreen every day, all the time because it just so happens that the hole in the ozone layer is right above the most conserving (non-third world) country on earth, probably.

So, as my debt to the planet Earth, I am telling you to invest in green bags. They are more convenient for everyone and help conserve energy and lessen waste. What more can I say?

19 weeks pregnant

We got a camera card hookup thingy. So I can post pictures now. I don't look my greatest here, but my mom was bugging me for pictures, so here you go.

I can't believe it's been so long! I seriously have not been online in about four days, which is a record for me since the year 1996.

We found a townhouse to move into! It has four bedrooms (our room, nursery, playroom, den)and a garage. Almost the whole downstairs is carpeted, which we don't like because of the stain factor, but is good for babies I guess. The kitchen is smaller and doesn't have as nice of appliances as we have now. There is a giant laundry room, though, and it's upstairs. I like stairs. I think Rosa will like the stairs, too. It's in a much better location.

Well, John is feeling neglected so I have to go.

PS: I skipped a mandatory staff meeting at work today. I'm declaring illness. Mental illness. I'm so stressed at work, I can't even tell you what they're putting me through. It's madness.

Must...invest in...more...stretchy pants.

Sorry, I can hardly breathe.

There was this lady at work last year. The whole time she was pregnant, she made a point to do her hair really nice every day, wear cute clothes, and just basically look her best. I thought, "I hope I do that when I'm pregnant."

Pshh.

I was jealous of the kids who had these stuffed animal glo-worms, made by

Playskool. Their faces lit up with a squeeze to the belly.

Here are what I believe were the first Glo Worms as well. They each came
with a sleeping bag and would glow in the dark

when charge by light.

Drew had this Bert and Ernie puzzle and this Sesame Street pop-up toy as well. We just loved these things. But I cannot find the Glo Worm Tree House. I did see a message board though where a girl claims to have one. I wish I could at least see a picture of it.

One of the saddest days of my little life

I didn't know it then, but it was at a yard sale where my mom talked me into selling my most prized possessions. My Fisher Price dollhouse was one of them. I still remember opening and shutting the door, putting the little people in and out of their little holes in the chairs, in and out, because they fit so perfectly every time, just like a little autistic child might do.

I remember the lady who bought my Fisher Price dollhouse. She seemed reluctant to take it. She knew I'd regret it someday. She looked at me and asked, "Are you sure?" at least twice. I said yes. It was five dollars in my pocket. How could I resist?

As I was looking for children's toys on ebay since Goodwill Naples is a big bunch of jerks, I decided to check out Fisher Price. All the memories came flooding back. How I loved that garage. What would it be like to have a garage? Collecting parsley at Ponderosa to serve as shrubs around my little house. Pretty much my whole life revolved around gathering little items to pair with my little house and my little people.

Then I found something I had forgotten. The little town. Again, I loved opening and shutting the doors. So perfect, such a nice pleasant sound. Maybe I really was a bit autistic. The mailbox came with little plastic letters to mail and there was a mail truck, too. Ah! Such good, good times.

I also found the little playground my cousin, Drew, had. Again, I loved the way the little people fit in the holes. But on the playground, you could spin the people out on the merry-go-round or bounce them out on the springy bouncy toys. Then they would vomit or have to go to the hospital. You could press a button to make the people go down the slide, and the little people could climb (well, bounce...no legs, no arms) the little tree stumps up to the slide. And they fit so perfectly on those little stumps.

I love toys! And I keep having the strange urge to open and shut those doors. Open and shut. Open and shut.