Growing Pains

Well, it is 2:30 AM and I am wide awake. I fell asleep easily enough at 9:00 this evening, but as has happened for several weeks now, I only seem able to sleep a few hours at a time, any time of day.

Most nights, I wake up with an overwhelming need to eat before the nausea hits. Tonight, that wasn't so clear, so I lay in bed a while, hoping to go back to sleep. As the minutes ticked by, I felt that I could almost feel my abdomen stretching as I lay in bed. I decided to get up and try a new position for a while.

I really can't recall when I started "showing" with the other pregnancies. I recall that it got earlier each time. I know that with James, I thought I would never grow. I was so anxious to "be pregnant," after all the waiting, that I was ready to leap into maternity clothes the first day. But it was at least 12-13 weeks, I am pretty sure, and even then, I could have gotten by with just a loose waist for quite a while.

I recall that Maggie was earlier, but that is all that I recall. For John, I don't really recall at all, except that I wanted to go to loose waists to relieve the nausea fairly early on. I do recall an incident with John in mid-to-late January when a stranger felt sure enough to comment on my pregnancy, so it must have been fairly clear. That probably would have been as late as 17 weeks, though.

Having just bought a new summer wardrobe a month ago, I was this time actually counting on staying in normal clothes for at least most of the summer. After all, I will only be at 17 weeks on Labor Day. Wait a minute... 17 weeks on Labor Day? Who am I kidding? In any case, I am now at 7.5 weeks and all my waistbands feel uncomfortable.

I saw the Mom's group at the park yesterday and learned that Stacey is also expecting a baby, about 4 weeks sooner than I am. She is definitely showing. She has had more pregnancies than I, but still. It was a wake-up call that I should at least look for some loose summer dresses if I am not ready for maternity wear. In fact, it set me to wondering what I will pack for our trip in 2 days - if I even have a week's worth of things that I can squeeze into.

As long as I am shopping, I may as well do an inventory of the whole maternity clothing box. I have a strong recollection that after John, I got rid of a lot of things, saying, "This is so worn," or "I really have never liked this hand-me-down at all," so "If I ever need clothes again, I will just treat myself to new things." So, here I am, having to pay the piper for that casual vow. But overall, what a fabulous problem to have.