Week 21: Entering the World of Mommy Pants

I am now in my 21st week of pregnancy, which is quite a big milestone as I am officially just over halfway through incubating Baby Neener. As rough as it's been at times, this pregnancy is still managing to fly by - before we know it, we'll be diapering Baby Neener's little baby butt.

This past week has also marked my surrender to maternity clothes. Granted, I have been wearing some maternity tops for a couple of months, but they were pretty baggy and I still had the option of wearing my regular clothes. But now my relationship with my old clothes seems to be over, or at least on pause - my button-down tops don't exactly button as they should over my belly or my bust anymore, and my regular tops are too short to cover up the bella bands which hold up my regular pants because they only fit when totally unfastened. And the bella bands are another story - Angela gave me two to borrow, and I've worn them religiously for the past couple of months as my belly has expanded. But, as the expansion continues, the bands are becoming more uncomfortable and less efficient at holding up my pants - I find them constantly sliding up my back and belly, leaving my unzipped zipper exposed and my pants hanging just barely onto my hips. It's time, I suppose, to move into maternity pant world. Luckily, Angela and Dawn have given me lots of maternity clothes already. The tops fit wonderfully, so I won't have to buy many of these at all. Unfortunately, though, my legs are shorter than most, so I'm unable to wear Angela's pants and will have to buy some myself. I've already bought one pair of jeans and two pairs of work pants, so I really only need to buy maybe another pair of casual pants and work pants and I should be good to go. But then I also have to worry about my darn boobs, who no longer think they need to fit inside the many perfectly good bras I already own. I've now grown a cup size since April, and from what I can tell, there's probably another cup size to go. I'm just praying my feet don't grow, too, as many women's supposedly do. Call me clueless, because I know I am, or at least I was, but I had no idea this whole baby-making project would require a complete new wardrobe!

Baby Neener's eyelids have apparently finished forming this week and he/she is about eight and a half inches long now and weighs around twelve ounces. I can tell that Baby Neener has really become much stronger in the past week, as I've been noticing more and more movement in my belly. That, or Baby Neener has recently found a way to pop popcorn inside my uterus. Either way, it's a pretty exciting milestone! I find myself spending much time with my hand on my belly feeling the tiny bumps from the outside of my body, and if I lay on my back and look at my bare stomach, I can see it twitch from time to time. Unfortunately, Stephen has been unable to detect these movements for the most part. Today, he finally felt one, but didn't believe me that it was, in fact, the baby's kick he was feeling. He stated that it just felt like a muscle twitch. I retorted, that's exactly what it feels like. So he questioned, well then how do you know it's not just a muscle spasm? I kindly informed him that I've never noticed my lower abdomen to be of a highly twitchy nature and it would be a pretty big coincidence if my lower abdomen decided to become spazzy right around the same exact time that the doctor, all of the books I've been reading, and all of my peers say is the time I should start to feel real fetal movements. Besides, I told him, the baby isn't big or strong enough yet to kick with enough force that would produce much more than this twitching sensation. This shut him up, but I still don't think I fully convinced him. Fortunately, we visited my mom this weekend and not only did she feel a baby twitch or two, but she also saw the movement of my spazzy belly. So, ha! I have at least one witness to the activities of my squirrely baby.

This Friday is a very important day for us, as I will have my ultrasound done and we will finally find out the gender of Baby Neener. I've been surprised by the number of people I've encountered who become discouraged when I tell them we aren't waiting until birth to find out the gender. Really, why does it matter? The gender is already determined - it was at the moment of conception - it's just a matter of whether or not we're aware of it. And why not find out as soon as you can, so you can better prepare? It's funny because I didn't realize how much of a touchy issue this is for many people - I just assumed that since they have the technology now, that most people do find out the gender at their ultrasounds. Apparently there are still a lot of traditionalists out there - obviously these people have loads more patience than what I do, and I admire them for that, really I do. However, my message to those folks is - don't worry yourself for our sake, because it will be just as magical when we find out the gender at our ultrasound as it would be if we waited until the birth. The way I see it, the birth is going to be magical no matter whether you already know the sex or not; after all, that will be the first time we'll get to meet our baby, our own flesh and blood. And, if you are still totally opposed to our finding out whether it's a Boy Neener or a Girl Neener, just let me know - I'll be more than happy to withhold the news from you until I deliver!