Maternity Clothes

I've been slowly pulling out my maternity clothes lately from the giant Rubbermaid bins in the garage. I do not fit in my regular clothes except shirts right now and then those are getting a good stretching. I am starting this pregnancy slightly heavier than when I conceived Little Buddy. It's just amazing to me how much quicker you start to pop out with a second pregnancy. It's both a little depressing cause the first time around you have a little more of a chance to warm up to the fact that your waistline takes a leave of absence, yet also feels a little more rewarding at the same time. I remember when I was pregnant with Little Buddy for months I just looked really fat it the middle. We went to Red Lobster one day and ordered our food. Instead of them pacing each course and bringing each separately, they brought them all at once. We were seated at a 2 person booth and all the food barely fit on the table. There was a WT family next to us, mom, dad, and 2 kids. The dad and mom were really skinny. The dad looks over and says very loudly in my direction, "If I ordered that much food, I'd be that fat too!" I was in tears, I could hardly even finish eating or swallow my food with a lump in my throat. Shortly thereafter, my husband made a loud remark about "the baby," and we didn't hear another peep from that table for the rest of our meal. This time, well 7 weeks in, there is little mistaking what this bulgy stomach is from. Thank God!

I have noticed in the last few years many of the different maternity fashions. Some dressy, some tight, some just casual and comfortable (my favorite), and then some even slutty? So weird, not what I think of when I think of a woman whose body is growing a new little life inside. Anyway, I also find some women wearing maternity clothes that are so tight, I gotta wonder if that's healthy to wear even if they weren't pregnant. I don't think even tiny cute women who barely bubble when they are pregnant look very becoming when their maternity clothes are so tight that you can see every seam, wrinkle, and navel detail through their clothes. I have no idea what is the top of fashion when it comes to maternity because I am a sahm and the last of most of my friends and family to have children so I got bins and bins of maternity hand-me-downs. I do know that whether pregnant or not or top of the trends or hand-me-down, fit is just about one of the biggest priorities when it comes to fashion or dressing yourself. I have read again and again that when you are pregnant you should not wear anything that is too tight in the stomach. I say it's always better to err on the side of caution and leave a bit to the imagination when it comes to fit, cut, and style. Not baggy, sloppy but definitely not the time to sport a camel toe in skinny jeans with stilettos and a skin tight tank top. Least that's where I'm coming from. Here is a picture of a very nice maternity outfit that I found on the Internet. Not too loose, but not too tight. Fashionable yet something you could wear to work or to a moms play group with your older kids. It looks like something you could piece together from some reasonably priced clothing from Target or Walmart.

So, what do you think? Am I totally from the dark ages about the skin tight clothes? There are just so few people that can dress like that when not pregnant like Laura Petrie or Audrey Hepburn. The extremely tall, thin, and beautiful and then that's just when they aren't even pregnant. The maternity fashions from back in those days were very pleaty and tenty and modest. Guess I'm not a fan of the rock star maternity clothes, probably more a fan of Old Navy or Gap look when it comes to maternity clothing. Tell me your opinion. Have you seen any of the "hooker" maternity fashions walking around? Eek!

This One Goes Out To E-Goose

Just had to post after E-Goose's Lily Tomlin quote. I still love these old Edith Ann skits. Forgot that they were from Sesame Street though. Nothing beats the creativity that 70's TV possessed, for sure. Anyone else remember Edith Ann or have any favorite classic Sesame Street skits? Enjoy!

Boy, Was I Wrong

Ya know for years I have had very little sympathy for people with weak stomachs. I don't have one and I think alot of people can internalize issues into a puke. It seems that there are the pukey people and the who seldom if ever puke such as myself. I always thought it was because of the lack of will or a good variety of foods, etc. I don't know. In some girls I've met through the years it almost seemed like an attention thing, a drama scene, "I feel sick." Puh-leaze. Toughen up. I used to think that. I still think that is true for some people and for some age brackets.

I think I later applied alot of this to queasy pregnant women. Like they just knew for some reason that they were supposed to have icky stomachs while pregnant and then had to continually voice it during their pregnancy for attention, sympathy, and babying. I still think that's the case for some pregnant women. It has to be all about them and if they seem totally fine then they just want people to know about the terrible nausea that they have going on for attention. I think there are some girls that I've met that are picky eaters or that don't eat regularly enough that have more nausea issues for those exact reasons, pregnant or not. I still believe that. One of my old bosses when I was much younger got pregnant. She was a vegetarian but only ate dairy and starches most of the time. She was a smoker too. She drank all kinds of diet pop. She was always sick and weak with her pregnancy. Oh, and she seldom took her prenatals because, 'they made her feel bad?' Her doctor told her that she was terribly deficient and that she HAD to eat meat if she refused to compensate for all the other foods that she was lacking, smoking while pregnant, and not taking her prenatals. It was just so pathetic. How selfish. She too was sick all the time with nausea. So as I got older and was constantly in contact through the years with a variety of pregnant women whether related, friends, or coworkers.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe that there are people that despite every effort are just wired that way, whether pregnant or not. That really sucks. I know of 2 people that were so ill during their pregnancies it almost cost them their babies. That must be horrible. I cannot imagine what that must be like. My first pregnancy with Little Buddy was actually very nice, at least until the very end when it was really quite miserable. I was starving all the time. I ate everything whenever I wanted it. I was happy, laughing all the time (to the point of tears and wet pants) with intermittent crying spurts. I was smooth, shiny, and slept like a rock. I only felt a little queasy once or twice and it was mainly because of the heightened sense of smell that made my stomach turn, but I never once threw up my entire pregnancy til after birth in the hospital room. My biggest complaint was lots of heartburn and TUMS was my best friend.

Anyway, this pregnancy has not been as pleasant. I feel queasy all the time. Some days are worse than others. Some times I eat fruit and feel yucky, sometimes I eat soup and want to hurl, another day I had loads of green beans and scallops and felt like a million bucks. It is soooo weird. I rarely feel all excited about food, and if you know me at all, this is just NOT me at all. I am very much a foodie. I love food, all kinds. I eat pretty healthy but do love my sweets and a good filet, seafood, etc. Now, nothing sounds very good. Then if it does, we go to get it or make it at home and then I feel all grossed out smelling it or seeing it and can hardly eat it. OR if I get all fired up and it looks delicious, it really is never quite as delicious as food normally is for me. Then, if I do eat something that I was dying for and enjoyed while eating. Shortly after eating, I feel all nauseous and bloaty for the next 2-3 hours. This sucks! This must be what those poor women must feel like with all the nausea. While I never actually puke, I often feel that if I did I might just feel better? So my apologies for all the women that were really ill and I thought to myself were being sissies. This does not apply to the 2 women that I know who were terribly ill during their pregnancies at all, just many others. I am not a puker and can go years and years in between puking. It is really a gift I feel. Then suddenly I do and I feel so glad because I know that I will again have many pukeless years ahead of me.

Last night hubby asked me to pick up some grillables and fixins at the grocery store. By mid shopping trip I just felt grossed out by the meat and other foods and exhausted. I felt that I had to force myself to eat dinner . . . . . . EVEN DESSERT????? Never before in my life have I ever had to force myself to eat dessert being my favorite part of life. Well, unless it was lemon bars or something else that I really don't like such as a citrus dessert or dark chocolate with fruit themed dessert or something like that and the baker was going to be truly crushed if I said, "no thanks."

Yes, with this pregnancy I have nausea (without vomiting, so far), headaches, dizziness, hot flashes, tinnitus, complete and utter exhaustion, achiness all over, no energy, restlessness (during nap time or bed time), zits ALL OVER?, wirey hair?, cold one minute and hot the next, oh, and I stink? Not sure what that's all about but it's gross and I cannot stand how I smell. Sorry for so many gross details but I figure we have several moms here and a nurse who read regularly who can most likely relate or understand much of this in some capacity? Hopefully? Anyway, I also feel blue. So weird. I wanted to have another baby so bad and am very happy about this pregnancy but I feel blue, almost postpartum-like. Mealtime rolls around and NOTHING sounds good at all. Then if my husband offers to go and pick something special up for me he brings it back and one look or smell and I feel like I am back at square one. This is so very frustrating for me because I am not a wussy, picky person. I am a mom on the move always up for doing whatever. Loving to play with my Little Buddy all the time and eat and have fun. This whole thing going on with this pregnancy is really driving me nuts cause I just want to sit or lay down and relax. Oh, and to top it off I have had 3 illnesses since conception so I cannot take anything but Tylenol, which I am allergic to. Blagh! Sorry for the pity party, but this is my life right now and I just wanted to air my dirty laundry. Don't want pity just floored by how vastly different this pregnancy is from my first. Betting it's a girl with every ounce of my soul. Yep!

*Ee gads, if this diagram is correct, then I could have 6 more weeks of this queasiness? Tomorrow is only week 10. Oy!!!!!

So Long At The Fair

Last night I turned on the TV just after I laid Little Buddy down for the night. I flipped through the channels as I lay in bed looking for something that was worth my time to watch. I stumbled on Comcast channel 40 (TCM) and instantly was lured into an excellent old thriller which I had never scene before. It starred Jean Simmons and Dirk Bogarde. A woman and her brother are traveling together. The morning after their stay in a hotel she looks for him and he cannot be found. The room he was staying in was the bathroom? Then all staff treat her like she is insane because they keep telling her that she was traveling alone. Beside herself with fear and frustration, she finally decides to go to the authorities who also cannot help her. Then after many dead ends a note arrives for her brother at the hotel. She seeks out the sender of the note who then helps her unravel a very bizarre thrilling mystery about what the real story is all about. In many ways this reminded me of another one of my favorite thrillers called The Lady Vanishes by Alfred Hitchcock.

I have been a huge fan of old black and white movies since I was a kid. Yet in the last few years, I felt that I had already seen many of the types of movies that I love such as the old Hitchcock thrillers, and Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, etc. I feel like I ran out of the real goodies. I also love old love stores like the Enchanted Cottage, Carrie (with Sir Laurence Olivier), Ghost and Mrs. Muir, etc. You can imagine my surprise and delight when I found this film. I would highly recommend this to any of you that love old black and white movies, especially thrillers. One of the best films I have ever scene. Do you have any favorite old movies? I'd love to hear about them, maybe something I need to see.

Wordless Photo Friday

The Littlest Birds

I heard this song maybe a year or two back, it was on a children's music cd by Putamayo. I liked it right away. The video is a little odd but the words and melody are sweet. Tell me what you think. Sorry for the ringing at the beginning, it was the only version I could find.

Story Of Love

We went to see this play downtown Chicago at the Chicago Tabernacle Church. Our in-laws invited us. While not being overly religious I have to admit that this production was amazing. It was so intense and sad it had the three of us females crying and two very stubborn males on the edge of their pews. I felt that it was such an excellent touch to the Easter weekend. My husband who is not easily impressed by this kind of thing was blown away. He kept asking me what it was about before we went, and I kept saying that it was the story of Jesus. And for those of us who do not possess all the biblical knowledge regarding his life, it broke it down quite simply. It was very graphic and disturbing, people were discouraged from bringing children under five. I would say that it should not be seen by children under ten or eleven. It was first come first serve and the lines wrapped around the blocks. Excellent!