Every time my babies hit a growth spurt, my belly gets extremely itchy. Plus, whenever the stretch marks grow bigger they get really tender too; the front of my belly is more stretch mark than solid skin now, and those things can get sore!!! Imagine wearing jeans that are too tight, all day long, to where the waistband really cuts into your skin and leaves marks. Remember how tender the skin is when you take those jeans off? That’s how my belly feels most of the time. Makes it extremely difficult to scratch when I itch so badly!
I went shopping last week while I could still go out, because all I had was summer clothes, tank tops and similar skimpy stuff, and wanted something with sleeves. Plus some of my stuff was starting to get tight. I couldn’t find anything that was still big on me without it being absolutely too huge everywhere but my belly. And I’ve got so much more growing to do!!
The whole body shape issue is really annoying. Ever since I was about 14, my chest has been out of proportion to the rest of my body. I’ve always tended to avoid button-up shirts, even though they’re my favorite, because almost invariably they gap at the bustline, even in the large-size and “women’s” sizes. So now that I’m pregnant, finally I’m equal. Everybody else’s chests are getting as big as mine, so you would think the maternity clothes should fit. Only now my belly is out of proportion; I can’t win!
We’re just getting bigger and bigger here. I haven’t had to buy any special maternity bras or underwear because I’ve found a lot that I already had is fitting pretty good, mostly the granny-panty style that I bought for days when I prefer comfort to sexiness (although alot is just getting stuffed away until next year!). I did get a nursing bra, because I was down to light blue, teal, and black bras that still fit and were comfortable, and I had nothing to wear under white shirts (amazing how hard it is to find non-pastel maternity clothes). Brian thought the nursing bra was pretty darn neat from his point of view!!
I don’t like sleeping in a bra, even though they say women with large breasts should anyway to prevent sagging. I’ve finally caved, though, and now wear my sleeping bra every night, because I got tired of rolling over and finding dripping wet spots everywhere! I can’t believe how leaky I am this early, but I also am constantly amazed by the startup of these amazing milk factories that happen to be on my chest. Always a nuisance, now they’ll actually be useful!
As Halloween and Samhain approach, I’ve started thinking more about how big a part religion will play in our lives once the children are here. Obviously, I’m not doing much this year, being confined to bed/couch and all. But it’s not something I have thought about in depth before, how to get the kids involved in something more than common secular traditions in the years to come.
I’d like to try getting a family pagan network together here in town that can do stuff on holidays and things. I don’t necessarily want my kids in circle with me until they’re old enough to choose, but I want them to know the lore and traditions and stuff. There are several pagan networks around, but it tends to be childless people that I’ve met so far. Now there’s a big project for next year!