21 weeks

We are past the halfway mark, people! It's all downhill from here, because everyone knows the second half of pregnancy is a total cakewalk. But, I cannot complain. This summer has been downright delightful, temperature wise. I think the high this week is something like 84 degrees. Compared to the usual 120 degree highs of Augusts past, I will take it.

 

Pregnancy with a toddler really makes things zip by. There are times I even forget I am pregnant, until I struggle to catch up with Rick and the stroller at the zoo (it's not a race, fella) or find myself resting my coffee cup on my now functional table/belly in the mornings. Then there's also the pregnancy conversations that I had forgotten about until the last few weeks, when people seem to feel comfortable enough to take the risk and comment on my pregnancy, fairly certain that I am not just letting myself go:

 

There's the innocent "so how far along are you?"

 

The inquisitive "so do you know what you are having?" which can sometimes be followed up by the "we didn't want to find out" response by the asker. Which is fine, if they would stop there. But some don't stop....."there are so few great surprises in this life, we wanted to wait. It's more special that way."

 

Actual conversation. It's more special. Ok, stranger lady operating the deli counter. Good to know.

 

I guess the thing that I forgot about pregnancy is that it is an open invitation for people to comment on your size, your decisions, the baby's size, tell you horror stories of nightmare pregnancies. I just don't get it. But it happens. All.The.Time.

 

It's an entirely different situation to be discussing these things with your girlfriend, who has an open invitation to share stories and experience. I welcome that. I do not, however, welcome the judgment of strangers.

 

But I had forgotten about the other grand thing about pregnancy: The Pregnancy Pass. The phenomenon that possibly cancels out the annoyance of the Pregnancy Judgers. The fact that other women now hold doors for you, and flight attendants are extra nice, and people offer to help you with your grocery bags, and you can cry at those stupid dog adoption commercials with the Sarah McLaughlin song and sleep in a bit on the weekends because you are The Pregnant One. Blame it on the hormones. And the Pregnancy Pass can be evoked when you snap at a stranger for saying "are you sure there's just one in there?", though I am pretty sure they had that one coming. You have to be careful when using TPP, because people like husbands and coworkers do grow weary of accepting this excuse. 10 months of dealing with a crazy person is a long time.

 

So yes, I am showing, and people are noticing, which all means that Boom is growing and that is all that matters. We had our anatomy scan last week and got to meet this handsome fella:



 

We confirmed he has all his parts, including verifying the Materniti21 test that he is, in fact, a boy!

 

 

Here's a bathroom shot from yesterday. Still manageable bump, in my humble opinion. Annie will now say goodnight to the baby, which is about the sweetest thing ever. Though she gets very disappointed when she asks to see him and I say she has to wait a while. But it's safe to say that we are all getting excited to get to see and hold this guy.

 

And then I get to use the all powerful NEWBORN PASS, which makes it perfectly acceptable to leave the house in breast milk stained clothing and flip flops that don't match. Or to not leave the house at all. Which since this baby will be born in December, is probably the route we will go.