Week 24 and Clueless People

See? Twenty-four weeks!

It's incredible to me how clueless most people are about the stages and details of pregnancy. Disclaimer: I say this, knowing full well that I was among the more clueless just twenty-four weeks ago. Okay, more like thirteen weeks, because I coasted through most of the first trimester figuring that weird things were normal and not really knowing what was going on anywhere with my body.  But I'd like to think that the past, clueless Wendy, when encountering a pregnant lady, would have admitted ignorance and simply said something like, "How exciting! You look wonderful!" And then done more questioning instead of commentary.

Commentary like, "Are you sure it isn't twins? How much bigger can you get before you fall over?"

Much, much bigger. In fact. Just you wait.

That doesn't mean I haven't fallen over. Or off the bed.

Or something like, "You're so tiny! What are you, three months?"

NO. This is Wendy in her large version. Large. And actually, I've gained exactly as much weight as I ought to. I can't promise that the weight gain has come from things like salmon instead of pizza (please, please still be smart, Tiny), but I'm right on the money there.

Or something like, "I couldn't even tell you were pregnant!"

Oh, good, so you thought I was just a fatty. Working in a bakery has made me rather paranoid about this last one. Do the customers know that I'm not just stuffing my face with cookies? Probably not, especially since my butt has grown about as much as my front. I joked to Eric that we ought to start taking pregnancy photos from the rear, too, to see how things are progressing back there. He called me "plush." I can deal with plush. As long as he doesn't mind buying me more skirts so I have more than four outfits.

The thing that gets me is that I'll receive both of these types of comments ("TWINS!" and "really, there's a baby in there?") within several hours of each other. Are some people just much more sensitive to the size of others' abdomens, or do people just cast about for things to say?

Most of these comments really don't irritate me, per se. I simply find it amusing that I receive such varying responses. Then I remind myself that not many people know about the details of pregnancy, and just answer their silly questions. And I like talking about Tiny, to be honest, no matter the excuse. No, but really.

Preggers Photos and Playing Catch Up

Early on in the pregnancy, I thought to myself how fun it might be if we took the "bump photos" -- you know, a photo a week. But then I collected myself and realized that everybody does those photos. Not that I didn't still want to... but I was worried that Eric might think I was becoming too much I'm-pregnant-so-now-we-get-to-do-these-cliche-things. We weren't planning on Tiny, I reminded myself. We're both still getting used to the idea of having a baby. Don't drop everything on him all at once. Wait to mention the photos. I was a little sad.

One day, I hear Eric calling me into the other room. He's got his computer on his lap. He's on facebook. He's looking through the photos of one of our friends who is pregnant.

"Wenders, look at this. She's taken a photo of herself every week to document how her belly grows. What a great idea! I wonder how she thought of that..."

I could have shaken him. Or myself.

"Eric. Everyone does that."
"They do?"
"Yeah. I wanted to, but I didn't bother mentioning it too you because I was worried you'd think it was cliche."
"I think it's kinda cute."

So we've started taking preggers photos a bit late. And I've also reminded myself (again) not to underestimate my husband.

So here's last week, week 22, since I forgot to share it:

And here's this week. Tiny just keeps growing. (A good thing.) The other day, I saw my abdomen move with Tiny's kicking for the first time. Saw the outside of it move.

The Pregnancy, So Far

People keep asking me how the pregnancy is going. Of course they do. It's rather a major part of my life right now. I don't even poop the same way.

By and large, though, I really have very little to complain about. Sure, the first trimester was a bit nausea-ridden, and I get nauseas spells now. But I never got sick, so that's a plus. I could do without the near-daily headaches/migraines. The back pain isn't my favorite. I'd love if my intestines decided to start processing and expelling food normally. Being able to multitask and actually remember things would be nice.

But really, there isn't much to complain about, all things considered.

I'm making a person, after all; I mean, is it really reasonable to expect my body to keep itself maintained?

We had dinner with friends the other night, and it was so so enjoyable. Their little girl is just seven months old, so of course I was looking forward to gabbing with M. about pregnancy and babies and whatnot. Still, I had no idea how utterly refreshing it would be to talk with her. It was so good to hear from her that there is an end to all this -- and a point to it too, for that matter. And she had pretty much all the same complaints that I do -- even more, in fact. How good it was to no longer feel alone in all this. It's very strange when your entire body changes, when little things you take for granted -- like brushing your teeth without your gums bleeding -- are suddenly gone. It was so nice to feel like this odd experience is something that I share with others. Of course, I know it is -- but talking it out was quite refreshing.

Without further ado, then, here's proof of how the pregnancy is going. This was taken just before our Ethiopia trip, so at 17 weeks.

Now that I think about it, that was actually quite a while ago. I'm at 22 weeks now, so I'll post another, more recent picture, soon. I'm definitely bigger now.