I almost made it 9 months without...

... a perfect stranger rubbing my belly.
I was trying to choose a box of cereal in the grocery store, when an older woman blocked my view of General Mills' finest. When I made eye contact with her, she said that she was distracted by my belly. Huh? Using the same tone of voice you would use when talking to a baby, she asked if she could touch my belly while already bending over and giving it a rub. My first instinct was to swat the woman's hand away, but in my moment of hesitation, the woman was already saying congratulations and walking away. I bet if I wore a mumu no one would want to rub anything.


... my legs and feet swelling up.
Before going to bed a few nights ago, I gave my legs a good look. Question: Where did my ankles go and when did my feet and toes begin to resemble varying sizes of sausage?
The following is a picture of my cankle and inflated foot:

Three days ago, all my shoes still fit just fine. (Ok, maybe they were a little snug. It's hard to be objective when even bending over to reach my shoes is a struggle, let alone putting them on. Regardless, my shoes weren't uncomfortable enough not to wear, and there was a clear calf/ankle distinction.) And then last night I attempted to put on shoes before going out to dinner. Pair one was too cramped, pair two didn't even get all the way on my foot, pair three didn't look very promising. Finally, I settled for a pair of inappropriate-for-winter-but-they-stretch-around-my-foot-fat flats. So my supply of wearable shoes has greatly diminished. Can you wear flip flops in February? If you're pregnant, you can do whatever you want.


... getting impatient about when this baby is going to come.
But let's face it, I'm there.

Bursting at the Seam

There's only a month left until the baby is due and I've accepted the fact that my belly is big and will only get progressively bigger in the time remaining. (For proof of big belly status, refer to the updated Belly Evolution post.) However, for your amusement, and possibly for those who think that only your belly gets bigger when you're pregnant, may I share the following story:

Last night, after coming home from celebrating Golden Monday with our friends the James' [Golden Monday was so dubbed because Brandon got an 'A' in his Administrative Law class and Christaan got some great news about his upcoming foreign service job--both reasons to celebrate], I put on my pajamas and sat down on the couch to check my email before retiring for the night. Upon sitting, I heard something that sounded similar to paper crinkling. I stood back up as quickly as an eighth-month pregnant woman can, and checked the couch to retrieve the paper I had sat on. Nothing. I sat back down, only to hear the same noise. Again I checked the couch and found nothing. My next thought was that maybe there was a piece of paper in the seat of my pajama pants. (Ok, that obviously doesn't make much sense--what would a piece of paper be doing in my pj pants? I don't know. Can I blame hormones for that thought?) I proceeded to pat down my backside in an effort to find that darn piece of paper. Finally, I found the source of the noise: a giant rip down the seam of my pants.

Now, I could attribute the rip to many things. Perhaps because these particular pajama pants were at least 7 years old, they would have ripped regardless. Or maybe it was a combination of my expanded pelvis and my worn pj's. Or it could be that, amongst the gained pregnancy weight, my backside has also expanded [gasp!] and my worn pj's couldn't accommodate. Or it could have been the several chocolate marshmallow cookies and the chocolate peanut butter shake I had consumed within the past few hours (it was Golden Monday!) and pregnancy had nothing to do with it. In any event, I had a good laugh and wished someone had been in the room to witness my movie moment.

Gratefully, those pajama pants are the only clothing fatality I've had since becoming pregnant; however, I'm not very optimistic. I still have another month left, after all, and there's currently a plate of cookies in the kitchen just waiting to be eaten.
Golden Tuesday, anyone?

Temporary Nursery

Until we move into a bigger apartment, Kiddo's space will be in the hall...between our bedroom and the bathroom. (Hey, he won't care, right?) Regardless, we're pretty excited about our nursery.


Just imagine how cool all this will look when it's in an actual room!