This year The Syd was a bumble bee for Halloween. Unfortunately, the largest doggie costume that Target sells is a "Large", which is still a little too snug for stuffing all of Sydney's bulk in there. That's why she looks like she is strapped into a straitjacket.
Here's The Syd, hanging out with the 29-week belly. According to Babycenter, our little bug is about the size of a butternut squash right now. I love butternut squash. In fact, I had plans to make this Winter Squash Soup with Gruyere Croutons a few days ago (with leftover gruyere from the pie crust... how thrifty am I?). However, while I may have six pounds of Ghirardelli chocolate chips, eight Scharffen Berger chocolate bars, seven Dagoba chocolate bars, twelve cups of Valrhona cocoa, five pounds of sugar, and a box of exquisite raw chocolate cacao nibs in my pantry right now, I have no chicken broth. So no soup.
Trimesters one and two were pretty easy and uneventful - the occasional teensy bout of nausea, a strange and distressing aversion to pizza, a previously-unheard-of dependence on Tums. Now that I am firmly ensconced in the Third Trimester, various new and sneaky pregnancy ailments are creeping up on me. It seems that a full eight+ hours of endless project meetings and sundry lab experiments/mini-science-disasters leaves me a bit ouchy at the end of the work day - lower back pains, achiness around the hip areas, assorted muscle soreness. Waddling to and from the kitchen for ice cream feels like a marathon endeavor (though worth it... definitely worth it). Oh yes, and the feet swell to (even more) gargantuan proportions. This last development is truly appalling. Truly. But despite creaking around like a large, roly-poly wimp for most of the day, I'm feeling healthy and peaceful and centered and excited to meet our little baby girl in eleven-ish weeks.
Here is Sydney giving belly kisses, completely unaware of how much worrying she will face once the baby arrives... she thinks worrying about us and the kitties is an exhausting job...
28 weeks already? Time feels like it's flying by. This puts the little bug at about two and a quarter pounds and almost 15 inches long. My doctor's appointments are getting more frequent and so are my naps. Shoes and wedding rings are getting more snug. And a disappointingly significant percentage of my maternity clothes do not seem like they will be able to go the distance (eg. the shirt in the above photo - not much more belly room there).
Still plenty of room for Georgia to stake her claim though. "Mine," says Georgia Cat.
Here is the Cathy-belly at 25 weeks (and look... shorter hair!). This puts the kid at around 13 1/2 inches and about a pound and a half. At my usual weigh-in, the doctor pointed out a noticeable "growth spurt" in the past four weeks. This may be due to the normal growth and development of our little baby girl. This may also be due to wanton consumption of chocolate chip cookies. Who's to say for sure?
We are slowly picking out the various baby necessities, accessories, and accoutrement that exist to lure away cash from first-time parents. I am finding that the Baby-Industrial-Complex is even more gluttonous than the Wedding-Consumerist-System. And more sneaky too, with their subtle use of guilt and paranoia. For example, do I buy the "Wipe Warmer" and shield my innocent little girl from the discomforts of that cold, cruel baby wipe? Or do I deprive her of such luxury and teach her from Day 1 that one of the terrible realities of life is that sometimes, perhaps when you least expect, your ass gets cold? Needless to say, we're having fun with this.
Here is the Cali Cat. She is sitting very still, hoping I won't notice her presence and try to pet her in any way...
Here is the 23 week profile. She's starting to poke around much more insistently these days, usually when I'm in the middle of some important meeting or when I'm trying to fall asleep. Charlie can feel her acrobatics in evening and thinks she's going to be "feisty."
We spent the weekend picking out baby furniture (though not actually buying anything) and thinking about clearing out the room-that-will-soon-be-a-nursery (though not actually moving anything). Baby steps.
Here's The Georgia Cat, checking in on things:
Here is The Georgia Cat, fulfilling her duties as designated belly warmer and protector.
*yawn* Belly-draping is hard work...
...but well worth the effort. Such a trooper.
