I’m already 18 weeks along?!

I’m only 18 weeks along?!

The stripes aren’t exactly very slimming, are they? Yet every time I wear horizontal stripes, I like to shake my fist triumphantly in the air at the words of my (negative, critical, controlling, mentally unstable) mother, who advised me in my youth never to wear horizontal stripes because I did not have the figure for them. TAKE THAT, MOTHER.

Anyway. Where were we?

The Babies are the Size of: A couple of sweet potatoes. I love sweet potatoes. Sweet potato fries, sweet potato chips, baked and roasted sweet potatoes, you name it. Sign me up for sweet potatoes. And you know what else? Sweet potatoes are kind of…big. Baby Girl and Baby Boy seem to be getting big now, almost as if this whole thing were really real and everything.

How I’m Doing: At this point, my symptoms seem to still be limited to acne, occasional heartburn, and fatigue. Nothing too bad, I’m happy to report. I feel hefty and zitty, though, so it was nice to hear from a colleague the other day that I am “glowing.” I don’t particularly care whether it was true or not!

Movement: I am feeling movement more and more often, though it hasn’t gotten much stronger, probably because of the anterior placentas. The ultrasound tech last week suggested that what I was feeling could be my intestines, but I am pretty sure I can tell the difference and no, it’s not my intestines, but thank you for playing. At any rate, I look forward to the time when the movement is stronger and more consistent. Anyone out there have an anterior placenta? What was your experience like?

Eating: I continue to try to eat healthy foods, but I am finding that a lot of raw vegetables, especially more acidic ones, don’t sit well in my stomach and tend to give me heartburn these days. The worst heartburn I’ve ever had was the night I ate taco salad for dinner. Likewise, I am working to hit my daily protein goal, but eating meat, which seemed like a fun novelty at first, is now, frankly, just repulsing me. I cooked the chicken in the salad above and it was all I could do not to barf while working on it. By the time the meal was ready, though, my hunger overrode the icky feeling and I did eat it. Carbs and fats and sweets are most appealing to me, right now, in addition to fruits. I’d like to just eat grilled cheeses and french fries (sweet potato fries, perhaps) and avocados on toast and big bowls of ripe berries and yogurt every day, but I’m trying to keep it balanced.

Wearing: I’m mostly in maternity clothes all the time now with the exception of a few tunics or flowy tops. I’m trying to get as much use out of those as possible before they become too short. The days of wearing regular jeans with a hair tie keeping them closed, however, are long gone. My maternity skinny jeans (above) are starting to get a bit too snug around the hips and thighs, confirming my suspicion that maternity clothes will not, in fact, fit me through all nine months of pregnancy. My body loves to gain weight below the waist. Good thing I bought these on the cheap at Old Navy. When they eventually become unbearably tight, I’ll have to replace them. Sigh.

Shopping: Later this week we are heading on a great voyage to IKEA, land of my people — “my people” being not only Scandinavians, of course, but also people who really love a good deal on modern design — to buy a couple of cribs. Once we get those home and assembled, we can Tetris all the nursery furniture into place and figure out which wall the cribs will be on. Then, we can paint. Very exciting! I have some fun ideas in mind and I am excited to show you, assuming it all works out. If it is an interior design disaster, we will pretend never to have spoken of this.