9 Weeks Pregnant

The Belly:
 I feel the same. Maybe a eensie weensie bit firmer. (The belly is soft from entering motherhood 17 months ago, so I wonder when it will finally be big enough to stretch the skin taught again. Might be nice, almost like I'm toned. lol. I'm gonna count it as a perk anyway.)
But... apparently, I can see that I'm smaller --- after looking at the photos.
(Yes finally pictures!)
So that means, that yes, last week was bloat.

8 Weeks Pregnant

The Belly:
We took a picture, but it's at home and I'm at my mom's house for Thanksgiving, so I'll have to get it up later. 
I'm definitely showing already, which is cool.  I like it.  I just keep wondering why.  If the baby is the size of a Lima bean, and my uterus is the size of a lime (midwife's description after feeling around), then what is making the belly stick out?  I guess it's just my body's excitement of doing this again (as well as some major bloating). 
I think it must be bloating, since the size and shape is different on a daily or even an morning-to-evening basis.  I think the photo we got caught me in full-blown bloat glory. 

How I Shop for Maternity Clothes

I found maternity clothes shopping overwhelming the first time around.

I didn't really know what to expect to happen to my body (other than I'd get bigger) and I didn't know where to shop.

AND the prices on those maternity items almost killed me.  I had been used to being REALLY thrifty so seeing $20--$40 price tags on stuff I had been getting for less than $10 was painful!
Actually it was worse than painful, it wasn't plausible, we couldn't afford the clothes I needed at those prices.  I needed to buy stuff on the cheap.

 I spent my first pregnancy desperately trying to figure out what I was doing and feeling very frustrated in the process.  (Of course it didn't help that I wasn't a standard size---I'm short and curvy, and ended up with an outrageous bustline that made it so that if I bought a top large enough for my chest the sleeves were often waaay too loose on me.)


This time around I am so much more prepared and I'm thrilled to have this stuff under control so I can relax and enjoy myself.  Obviously it's easier this time around because I already have clothes from last time, but I did need to do some shopping since I'm starting this pregnancy at a different size than last time.  It's not a big deal for shirts, but I did need new pants.  Lucky for you, that means a "Make Your Own Maternity Jeans Tutorial"!

Anyway, I thought I would make a post about ways I shop and what I shop for, in case it would help anyone else out in their pregnancy(ies).

7 Weeks Pregnant

What?
Yes!
A few weeks ago we found out we are expecting Baby #2!!
We are ecstatic.


A friend of mine had a baby a couple months ago and she did the cutest blogging while she was expecting.  So I'm blatantly stealing her set up with these categories I'll be using as I blog through this pregnancy. (Thanks Jill!)


The Belly: I found out I was expecting at 5 weeks and by 6 weeks I was happily putting on my maternity jeans.  Sometimes it seems like women boast of how long they stay in their regular jeans, but having been through this once before, I put no stock in that kinda thing.  In the limited pool of my peers who've had babies, I haven't seen a correlation between how long you can stay in your jeans with how fast you get back in them.  And to be honest, I'm totally prepared to take a good long time to get that button closed again next summer---and I'm glad I'm in that place.  I cared way too much last time.  This time I'm just gonna watch it all happen and enjoy it. (And be comfy while I do it! :) )

I don't have a picture yet, because it doesn't actually look different (I can still button my pants), it just feels different.
Actually funny story:

Blake took me to a symphony this week (loved it).  About a week before that, I tried on a dress of mine that I thought would be perfect for the occasion and that I'd like to wear one last time before it doesn't fit for like a year. The day I tried it on it fit great, a little loose, and the design of it has pleats that make it so the belly can pouch out --- so I thought, "oh yeah this will be perfect next week." The day of the symphony I put the dress on and all of it (but the belly) is tight---mainly in the ribs and hips! I forgot that pregnancy happens to the whole body, not just the belly.  I still wore it, but I won't be putting it on again.