OK, phew. Life is settling back in to something close to normalish after a week away from my own bed and environs. There have been some minor changes in the whole pregnancy thing, but nothing to worry much about.
* I’ve started having contractions on occasion. Last weekend. In the grocery store. I had 2 in a 5 minute span on Saturday morning. Down went a glass of water and a granola bar, up went my feet and there I stayed for a couple of hours. They went away and I’ve only felt a twinge or two since. Still a little nerve wracking, but not bad. Ray isn’t spectacular at the wait and see. He wants to know RIGHT NOW if he needs to flip into caregiver mode and whisk me off to the hospital. Throws a litany of questions at me. Demands answers. Asks me if I need to call the doctor. Once a minute. For 30 minutes. Sweet? Yes. Proactive? Yes. Helpful? Perhaps someday.
*Grocery stores always trigger hot flashes. I feel overwhelmed and swimmy headed. It usually starts after I’ve been there for 35 minutes or so. I have begun to hate grocery shopping. Unfortunately, because of my obsessive label reading and avoidance of certain food additives and sweeteners, online ordering isn’t an option.
*Pinchy has gotten BIG. He flips around and my belly shifts and morphs and twitches. He’s starting to plant feet and elbows and behind in my bladder, lungs and stomach. I can feel where he’s positioned from the outside a little bit. Not clearly, but I can usually find his (from what I can tell HUMONGOUS) noggin or behind. Not sure which, but roundish and hardish–like one of the big superballs you can get at a place like Constructive Playthings.
*I’m still not showing a lot a lot. You can clearly tell from the sides, but from the front or back it could go either way. All belly. So much so that you can’t really tell I’m pregnant if I’m sitting down. So much so a waitress asked me if I wanted a cocktail at dinner the other night. No thanks, I said. F You, I thought.
*I’ve got a few of the dreaded stretch marks. Mostly in places that I don’t mind too much and only a few of them, but still, they make me frown. I had hoped I’d miss out on them. Still not so much as others I’ve seen.
*I’m not waddling yet, although as the day goes on and my back gets tired, I begin to slouch and shuffle.
*Pinchy has gotten finicky. I think he only wants ice cream. Since Tuesday or so, all food has tasted bad or at least muted to me. Aversion is too strong a word. It’s not that I want to run screaming from the room when faced with a particular food. It’s just that nothing tastes good. For example, Ray took me to my favorite pizza place in the whole wide world (Lucca) and we got our usual. I took one bite and he burst out laughing. Apparently, I looked much like I was chewing on something and debating if I should spit it out or not. My face shows all. I’ve found that strawberry lemon twist cones with crunch from Gene’s are palatable, but even they don’t taste quite right.
*Pinchy always dances when I watch “Dr. Horrible’s Sing along Blog.” Haven’t seen it yet? YOU MUST (although it’s only on iTunes now). It is brilliant and funny and wonderful and perfect.
*My poor tummy is only little right now. 4 bites of food and I’m stuffed. Half an hour later and I’m famished. Annoying.
