Some notes on being pregnant

(Sorry, this post could be really interesting or really boring for men)There are a few things about being pregnant that aren't that cool, but most everything else is pretty neat. Aside from being extraordinarily tired for the last few months, I had been feeling pretty good after getting past the first few weeks tinged by morning (ok, honestly, it was all day nausea)sickness, until this week. I have never had very bad (aside from stress-induced reactions to things like my wedding)heartburn or acid reflux, GRD or whatever your preferred name for tummy/throat yucky-ness is until this week and it is not nice. Tums (mmm chalky) don't quite do the trick here, and I don't know what else I can take (will ask my doctor next week). One of my ex-employees (yes, that's right! I am officially retired!) told me there is a special heartburn medicine that is safe for preggies, but I am disinclined to believe her because 1) she is a childhood alcoholic and 2) there are very few 'safe' drugs for preggies besides Tums, Tylenol and allergy pills w/o decongestant (but even these are class B).

About food: SO far, I have not had any 'crazy pregnant cravings' and I think it is weird that that is one of the about 5 questions that people-you-don't-know-very-well-but-have-to-be-nice-to ask pregnant ladies (how far along are you, what are you having, do you have morning sickness, have you had any weird cravings, what names have you picked out). Sometimes I will become fixed on a certain food and then think about it until I have it, but it doesn't have to happen immediately. Also, I have not had any significant food repulsions, excepting one. Beef in solid form (ground beef is still ok) does not appeal to me right now, I had it twice and both times almost threw up in my mouth. SO, we will not be trying that again for a few months because I do happen to like it quite a bit and would like to eat it again one day.

About clothes: When I first was pregnant, I really freaked out about maternity clothes because of the limited selection, the expensiveness/ugliness correlation, the fear of waking up one day and not being able to fit into ANYTHING. I don't want to say this was all needless worry, but lets just say I could have spent and worried a little bit less. It is very hard though because when I saw something on sale, and I liked it, I felt the compulsion to buy it because I didn't want to get stuck later buying things that weren't on sale because all of a sudden none of my pants would button or my shirts wouldn't cover my belly. The reality of the situation (at least for me) was that although I felt completely different and noticed every minute change, my body did not morph into its' current preggie shape as quickly as I imagined, and I could have stayed off buying anything, except a belly band for longer.
One of my customers gave me some great advice - leggings. Wear them as much as you can get away with, and you don't have to buy the maternity ones, just ones that have a thicker, softer waistband. Personally, I kind of decided on a few 'maternity looks' and tried to stick with those, and luckily while I was working, it was in a place with a pretty relaxed dress code. My looks consisted of dresses w/ empire waists, tunics with leggings and a sweater or jacket (mostly I used my regular ones & just didn't button them), and leggings with long button up shirts. I did buy 2 pair of dress pants (one from the Gap and one from Motherhood maternity) and I have to say that both were awful,l they may have been ok comfort wise but the fit was horrible and they looked so dumpy. Also, I did get some casual knit tops, jeans and cords from the Gap, which have been great.
A lot of people say to just buy bigger regular clothes, but I'm not sure why. Selection? Stigma? (would you really rather have something that is 4 sizes bigger than something that says maternity on it?) Although I did buy a pair of jeans 1 size bigger to wear for longer than my regular jeans & fit into more quickly than my regular jeans, and the same with leggings, I don't think this works for very many things because although you may put weight on all over, it is most likely not going to be at the same rate that you chest and belly grow, so you will just have odd fitting big clothes instead of odd fitting small clothes.

On the baby: So our little babykins is now 27 weeks along and the size of a large cauliflower. They have been very busy the past few weeks and both Shandiz and I can now feel them moving around. We have not found out if we will have a boy or girl (but I had the Ultrasound tech write it on a piece of paper & have it in case I need to know)and this really seems to bother a lot of people. I understand why people want to find out and I think that's cool, but I don't understand why it so bothers people that we are not (unless I break down and have to, but Shandiz still won't). We've had comments from 'but how are you going to prepare?' to 'you are so boring'. I don't really understand why it is so disturbing to other people, we will either have a boy or a girl, not a magical fairy or a fish. Boys and girls both need the same basic things. I will say it is pretty darn hard to find any baby clothes that are gender neutral and not yellow, but we'll manage for the first few days ;)

p.s. I was really excited for a few minutes because I though I had found the cord to connect my camera to the computer so I could post some new pictures, but it was for the wrong camera! Arg!