I'm going to be brave and share a 'belly photo' or two. Feel free to laugh at my awkward faces and poses, friends.
Just Judge away, Judgers.
This is me at 12 weeks. I think I was on my way to a super-intense-WALKING-sesh at the gym.
Taking six weeks off from tough exercise is painful
on the body and
the ego and
the hormones, and thus
the husband.
...I'm working on becoming more of a regular, again
:)
Here I am fondling my boobs,
er...
trying to reveal a belly somewhat at 14 weeks.
I was again headed to the gym,
you can see how stoked I am, see?
I can now (un)comfortably run for a mile or so, but my knees are really killing me lately (nothing to do with Cluster, my knees just suck) and I'm out of breath pretty quickly, so I've been sticking to walking at an incline and using the bike and stairstepper for my cardio. I've been a 'flaky-regular' when it comes to lifting for the last few years. I only use free weights, and light ones. Really light. Less than 8 lbs, Light. So I'm sticking to what I know.
As if you're not already sick of hearing about me me me,
I'll keep talking about...me
I have convinced myself that I was just acting crazy when I agreed to find out the sex of the baby in December. Now that we can find out in a few weeks, I'm about ready to put up a fight against it. I've always imagined myself waiting until delivery, and it makes sense that we can wait this time around since we won't be setting up a nursery or anything of the sort.
As for pink and blue outfits? No daughter of mine will be swimming in pink frillies 24/7, so clothes don't matter much to me, either. There's all of that, but deep down, I think it terrifies me that there's a real person in there, and I don't know how to accept that. Finding out the sex seems to...seal the deal. Is there anyone out there with experiences on both sides? Which was more ideal for you? What did you like/not like about your choice? Any regrets/Next-time-around's? Jody has his heart set on finding out soon, so I'm certainly not going to take that from him if that's what he needs.
As for pink and blue outfits? No daughter of mine will be swimming in pink frillies 24/7, so clothes don't matter much to me, either. There's all of that, but deep down, I think it terrifies me that there's a real person in there, and I don't know how to accept that. Finding out the sex seems to...seal the deal. Is there anyone out there with experiences on both sides? Which was more ideal for you? What did you like/not like about your choice? Any regrets/Next-time-around's? Jody has his heart set on finding out soon, so I'm certainly not going to take that from him if that's what he needs.
5 comments:
OH MY! MY BABY IS HAVING A BABY!!This just made it so REAL for me. You are such a cute preggie young lady! I love you and can't wait to see you in December. I want to touch your belly, DEAL WITH THAT! oh, you will! Tell Jody to hang in there. The emotional feelings only last????????a loong time:)
Grammie Laurie!
Shoot - I just wrote a super long comment and it got deleted. Boo. You are adorable and will only get cuter, which is lovely! I have found that knowing baby's gender has helped me "bond" with him better. Like you, I had a tough time imagine an actual human in there... imagining all the things we will do when he is here helps me be more excited about the person he will become rather than the weird alien making me pee all the time. But I'll support you either way!
I can't say that I have experience both ways, but Patrick and I waited to find out the sex of baby #1 (a boy) and are going to wait again to find out about baby #2 (due in mid May...we are right about the same!). Although I have a slightly stronger desire to find out what we are having this time around, I keep reminding myself of that singular moment in the delivery room when, after 16 hours of labor and three hours of pushing, my midwife said, "What do we have, Daddy?" and my sweet husband looked at me and said, "it's a boy!" and I immediately got to hold and kiss said boy. I want that moment again. Finding out it was a boy months ahead of time would have been exciting and a surprise, too, but looking forward to that surprise after the most painful and awesome experience of my life was too neat to pass up. There are a couple more practical reasons we waited the first time, too - all of our basic essentials (i.e. the stroller, crib bedding, carseat) are gender neutral. So whether we have another boy or a girl this time, we are set. You can certainly choose to buy gender neutral even if you find out what you are having, but I know that if I knew ahead of time I was having a girl, the pink everything would be too cute for me to pass up! Another reason would be the fact that the ultrasound prediction is not 100% accurate. My midwife was telling me at my last appt. that there were three cases in their office this year of women being told after multiple ultrasounds they were having a girl only to birth a boy! Yikes. Finally, I will just tell you my pet peeve: when people ask what I am having and I say that we are waiting to find out, many women respond, "oh, I could never do that...I guess I'm just too much of a planner!" Um, okay...? And what does that make me? Eli had everything he needed when he made his entrance (ok, ok, we waited like three hours to give him a name...but we wanted to see him first and then decide :). The fact is, you cannot control the gender of the baby. Everyone (eventually) finds out the sex of their baby. It is only a matter of when. Now don't get me wrong...I'm not judging! I always ask the same question as everyone else and when a gal responds "we are having a boy" or "we are having a girl" I am thrilled to know! Whatever you decide it is just one fun part of this journey and you can always make the opposite choice next time if you want!
Long comment, anyone? Interested in Volume 2? ;)
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