Bump Check: Week 26

So we spent the first week of summer at the beach with my family, which was wonderful.  What was I dreading?  Putting all extra 19lbs of me in a bathing suit and strutting my stuff around a public beach.

Rewind to every time I swimsuit shopped prior to being pregnant: I’m sure I cried in the dressing room.  I’m also sure my mom has witnessed this every time.

Fast forward to maternity swimsuit shopping: I took my mom because moms know best and she doesn’t judge me when I try on swimsuits with spiky armpits.  We went to Destination Maternity in the One Nineteen shopping center.  [Side note: There are not very many cute maternity clothing stores.  I swear, there’s like 3 or so.  This place had some pretty cute stuff though.] 

I haven’t bought a two-piece swimming suit since 1997 (it was neon orange…jealous?).  Though my husband makes me feel wonderful about my pregnancy body, no amount of self-confidence could make me wear a two-piece swimming suit.  Tankinis also don’t work very well if you have love handles (and I do, thank you very much).  So Mom and I ended up focusing on one-piece maternity suits.  It seriously took only 2 minutes for my mood to change in that dressing room.  Normally, it only takes 2 minutes for me to start crying, but this time, it took 2 minutes and I was clapping with delight!  Probably starting in college, I would try on swimming suits, look in the mirror, and say, “Ugh, I look pregnant.”  This time as I shopped, I put on a swimming suit, looked in the mirror, and said, “Yay! I look pregnant!”  It made a huge difference in the process.  I’m sure I wasn’t really showing too much at the time we bought the swimming suit and most of my “baby belly” was just ranch dressing, but it made me feel better. 

Sorry to disappoint, but we don’t have a picture of me in my maternity suit from the beach.  Really, I don’t think I would have minded!  We just didn’t take many pictures, mostly because we did the same thing every day, so unless you want to see 10 pictures of me Sudokuing, 10 pictures of Scott napping, and 10 pictures of my family playing cards, then you can’t complain.  I can’t find my exact suit online anymore, but it sort of looks like this one, only my suit was $30, not $100.  Even better!  Oh, my suit also has ruffles on it, cause that’s how I roll.

In conclusion, maternity swimsuit shopping is SO much better than regular swimsuit shopping.  Talk to me about swimsuits in about a year.  I’ll probably punch you in the face…then cry.

Note: After Scott took this picture, I looked at it and said, "Oh my gosh. I'm REALLY pregnant!"

How far along: 26 weeks

Current fruit comparison: Now instead of measuring baby head to butt, we measure head to toe, so she’s 15” and 2.2lbs.  Supposedly she’s now a cucumber…but a 15” cucumber?  That’s just gross.

Total weight gain/loss: +19…no change from last week, which is great.  I don’t think my body wanted to gain weight that quickly.

Sleep: Pretty good…have to pee a lot now as baby gets bigger and naps on my bladder.  She’s totally worth it.

Best moment this week: The paras at the high school I worked out last year planned a surprise baby shower for me! I thought I was meeting up with this for lunch, but it was a shower (complete with a tiara for me).  Awesome.

Movement: She is super busy! I used to let Scott know every time I felt her move, but now I would be bothering him at work all day.  She’s busiest when I’m just sitting still.  I think she just gets used to me moving around and so when I stop, she’s like, “Hey lady!  Keep your butt in gear!”

Food cravings: Goodcents cheese mix sandwich on wheat with cheddar and provolone.  Add lettuce, black pepper, olive oil, extra vinegar, extra mayo.  Delightful.

What I miss: Sitting up quickly.  Now I grunt and groan if I was lying down and need to get up.

Milestones: It’s the last week of my 2^nd trimester!