33 Weeks 5 Days - My Belly is Ginormous

My oh my is this baby boy growing. And moving. And stretching.  And kicking.  My insides are starting to feel raw in several places that he consistently jabs.  I love knowing he's well and healthy and full of life in there, but ouch, ouch, ouch.

He's started getting hiccups about once a day.  His hiccups seem much softer than Krew's did, for some reason.  Sometimes I only notice them if I place my hand on my belly.  They're sweet.

My belly is protruding much further than it seems it should at this point, although my friend Kristin says she doesn't think it's any bigger (and is even possibly smaller) than my belly with Krew.  I get frequent comments from strangers who think I'm due to deliver at any time based on the size and lowness of my belly.  I inform them that no, I am not about to deliver, no, it is not twins, and no my belly has not dropped, I just carry this low.  In response I usually get a look of shock or disbelief or criticism.  Walmart seems to be the prime location for these interactions.  If you're pregnant and looking to avoid belly comments and looks from strangers, keep your distance from Walmart.  And this is not partial to North Carolina Walmarts.  The same thing happens in Indiana Walmarts.  So seriously, just keep your Walmart distance.

Many of the maternity shirts I have borrowed or own are no longer covering my belly.  It's making life interesting, trying to find outfits for work.  I'm oftentimes just putting a long tank top under a too-short shirt to cover any skin that may attempt to peak out.  But even this is going to have to end soon; my longest tank tops are starting to creep up and not fully cover the maternity pants panel.  The next six weeks are going to be interesting.  I can't be heading into the office with my belly skin hanging out - I'm thinking my boss might not appreciate that much.

I had an OB checkup yesterday, and because of how giant I'm feeling, I was half expecting the doc to tell me that I'm measuring big and we need to do an ultrasound.  (This happened with Krew.)  My imagination even went so far as to think perhaps they would want to plan an early induction because of the baby's size.  But no such thing happened...in fact, the doc measured my uterus as SMALLER than average! I was like whaaaaaaaaaaat????  So, um, what is all this giantness hanging off the front of me? I'm not sure.

But seriously, I enjoyed my appointment yesterday.  It was with the doc who made me cry about my postpartum depression a couple months ago, so it was a relief to have such a good appointment with him this time.  I told him that I'd been getting a lot of comments about the size of my belly, and as I laid down for him to measure and check the heartbeat he exclaimed, "Why would anyone say anything about your belly???!! This is a BEAUTIFULLY proportioned belly!!!!!!"  I started laughing.  And then he went on, "Why do women think they can say things like that to each other?? It's always women.  They'll say, 'Your belly is too low' or 'Your belly is too far to the left' or 'Your belly is too small'..."   And he was so right.  It is always women.  Well, usually.  I did have one guy tell me I looked ready to pop a month and a half ago.  (At Walmart, of course.)  But we'll call him an aberration.

Anyways, the other main topic of the doctor's appointment was my, ahem, digestive issues I've been having lately.  Or lack of digestive issues.  If you get my drift.  This has been going on for about two weeks now.  And during those two weeks, get ready for this....I gained SIX POUNDS.  Yes, that's right.  Six pounds.  In two weeks.  I didn't eat significantly more food or anything.  I'm hoping I can attribute about four of those pounds to the digestive problems, but who knows.  Whatever the case, six pounds in two weeks is absolutely insane.  I told the doctor about it and how gross I was feeling, and he was like, "Well, how much weight gain does that put you at now?"  I said "32 pounds" and he just kinda looked at me and looked at my body and replied, "Really?  Are you sure?" I told him yes and he still seemed in a bit of disbelief.  (Yeah, I can't really believe it either.)  Then he told me that it's a few more pounds then they'd like to see me gain, but based on my body shape and that I look thin he's not too worried about it and I shouldn't stress about it.  It was  so comforting to hear him say that.  Because honestly, I have NOT been feeling too good about my body lately haha.  He then gave me some instructions to try to remedy these crazy digestive issues.  So hopefully things will get better soon. :)

Alrighty, to finish up here is a picture of my belly as of tonight, at 33 weeks 5 days.  It seems to be significantly bigger in the evenings right before bed, which is when I always take these pictures, go figure.  But really, can you imagine this thing growing and expanding for at least six more weeks?? I sure can't!