Current Name Prospect: Avocado Dill Pickle Truebe

September 27, 2015

It’s a strange phenomenon, this thing called pregnancy. Time both creeps and flies. I feel energetic and great one minute and then feel exhausted and gross the next. I am absolutely starving any given hour, but then can only eat a few bites and end up being disgusted at what I ingested. And I experience such strong, overwhelming feelings of love and gracious adoration for Adam -- and then feel like I hate every stupid smirk on his face and word out of his mouth. It is a GD rollercoaster! For the record, I always go back to loving him – he just really pisses me off sometimes. Like when he leaves huge puddles of water on the bathroom sink, and I set my phone, makeup brush, etc. right in them.

I bought a chalkboard for easier "bump" photo documentation. 
And I told Adam if he made a snarky comment, I'd throw it at him or break it over his head. 
I'm joking - but I honestly can't be held responsible for what Hormonal Annie might do. 

Needless to say, I’m pretty sure he’s always thought I was a little crazy – but it’s on another level at this stage in our lives. But just as I have promised to try to rein it in sometimes, he’s vowed to work on his sensitivity to my over-sensitivity right now.

And speaking of crazy, I have several of these ridiculous, but quite interesting and informative apps on my phone that give daily updates and send major hoopla to my inbox with each passing week. According to several of them, the baby is the size of an avocado in Week 16 and is the length of a dill pickle.  Ummmm…. what?! Come on! Most of these make us laugh, because it’s really hard to imagine and quite comical to compare – but I still read every damn word.  I feel like it’s extremely important to soak up every tip, trick and to-do list possible right now – because most days, I honestly feel overwhelmed.  I finally bit the bullet and shared our news into the viral world of social media. I’m actually just glad it’s done and out now – due to the “announcement” being so overhyped these days, I was spending far too much time thinking about it, looking up ideas and stressing out over it. And Adam was (again) pissing me off about it. But it is so nice how many friends and family are sending their well wishes.

It only took about 38 takes - Murph's a pro.

Overall, we’ve had a good couple of weeks – I’m trying to sign up for short 5K races every few months to keep my exercise on track. There’s been quite a bit of traveling with weekend excursions here and there, and I’ve reached the point where I no longer have to demonstrably hide the fact that I’m not my usual, old self, so that’s a plus. What I am attempting to still do at this point is what I’m calling “conceal and carry.” As in – until it’s completely and totally noticeable that I have a bump that is directly tied to a human growing in my stomach, I’d prefer it not look like I have put on some pudge or let the beer gut get out of hand.  So, I’m more purposeful with my wardrobe choices and am looking forward to wearing more clothes and layering as the seasons change. I had to take the plunge and pull the ol’ hairtie through the buttonhole trick to get some jeans on yesterday. But in my defense – they were a high-waisted pair that didn’t have a lot of “give”!

What’s currently both exciting me to no end, and stressing me to the max is attempting to execute my packing plan of attack for Jenn’s Jamaican wedding.  The guest room is a total disaster with piles of clothes and shoes (I’m nine days from departure, mind you) – and I’m ordering last minute items that I think I might need like a wild woman. Today’s purchase: three new (larger) strapless bandeau bras. Exciting stuff, folks!

It's gonna get way worse...

I’ll wrap up this post with a quick summary of the pros and cons of life as I know it right now.

Pros: Way more energy, better appetite, Fall is here (it’s my favorite season), and I found out that I officially have 3 other friends expecting at the same time as me (Cynthia, Kallie and Miranda).  My current favorite foods are most desserts, peaches with a little dusting of sugar and milk (something my mom always used to make), white cheddar Cheetos, anything with peanut butter, and yogurt with blueberries and granola.

Cons: Sporadic, debilitating headaches (luckily only had 2 so far), Charlie horses in my legs and feet that come on in the middle of the night and lead to difficulty falling back to sleep, some lower back pain/discomfort, just a few bouts with crying and moodiness (Adam might disagree), and feeling large and in charge and bloated.

Prepare yourselves... it's about to get schmaltzy.

However, even with all of my whining – I pray every night that everything is okay and he or she is healthy and growing; and every day, I’m so thankful that I get to experience what I am – and we have such an exciting adventure to look forward to.  It’s totally nuts and magical and exhilarating, yet overwhelming to think that in under six months – we’re going to have a child to take care of. There’s going to be something in the world so much more important than either of us (or Murphy) – and for all the trouble the first three months have been (and it hasn’t even been that bad compared to what I’ve read about and heard from others) – I am just straight-up grateful and thrilled. And as Owen Wilson's character from Armageddon says “I’ve got that excited/scared feeling. Like 98% excited, 2% scared. Or maybe it’s more – it could be two – it could be 98% scared, 2% excited, but that’s what makes it so intense – it’s so confusing!”

And I am not blind to the fact that I just associated my pending childbirth and parenting role to an outer space shuttle takeoff towards a destructive, world-ending asteroid.

Totally comparable, right? :)