Big Belly Chronicles - Volume 22w

Today I am 22 weeks. Our little girl has had a pretty strict sleep/wake schedule in the womb... but now her new schedule is AWAKE... All the time! She wiggles and moves and flips and turns and kicks and punches ALL DAY LONG! It is fun, but sometimes I truly can't concentrate on what I am trying to do because she is so full of vigor. On our last sonogram this past week, instead of standing straight up bouncing on my bladder, she was upside down with her hands above her head so she could punch it! :) I have decided not to complain about this at all, however distracting. It is a fun signal to us that our little one is healthy.

Last week, this pic was taken at the end of the day after working for 12-ish hours. I was 21 weeks 3 days, and my arms and face certainly look pregnant, but my tummy is pitiful looking isn't it? Kevin keeps saying "when are you going to start looking pregnant?" I have one shirt that really accentuates it... but mostly I just look chubby like in this pic. And I don't know why I'm grinning like an idiot. I felt very self-conscious while having this picture taken! These are the famous garments.... my maternity scrubs. I'd like to say that I'm still as excited about them as I was... but I'm aggravated because they still don't fit yet! I have to pinch up about 2 inches of them and rig them with giant binder clips to keep them form falling down. ( I need some of those giant diaper pins, but I don't have any... safety pins didn't do it) Every time I squat or bend over very far at work, the clips pop open and I have to step out of the room to hitch them up again. A little embarrassing.

To add to the disappointment of not looking "pregnant enough" yet, today I had to say goodbye to some old, fabulous friends.... Donald and Michael just to name a couple. For the last couple of weeks, each time I put on a cute pair of shoes, my knees and ankles feel wobbly and weak and get very sore. So today, after it took Kevin and I 10 minutes to walk from the parking lot to the church due to my fear of falling and breaking my leg or my neck, I decided it was time to give it up. Its been my favorite thing about having a really tall husband. I can wear the highest heels in the store and he still towers above me. But alas, for the next 4 months I guess I'll be wearing flip flops, since that's all I have that aren't REALLY high heels. Here are just a few of my old faithfuls. (Notice the ones I wore this morning to aerate the grass outside the church.)

Farewell for now, but not forever...