Pregnancy Chronicles - Week 13.5

I guess it’s actually week 14, but that seems like an enormous number. So let’s go with 13.5.

The time has come to tell his family. We’re driving 4 hours after work to hang out with the in-laws this weekend. At least I hope it’ll be 4 hours. With traffic we’ll be lucky to do it in 5.

I want to take a second to capture the weirdness of pregnancy.

1. Dreams
Dreams are much more vivid and more easily remembered. In fact, if I have a dream about work, during the day I can’t tell if that’s a real memory or a dream. That’s messed up, I know. It takes a little bit of thought, but I can usually sort out the difference.

2. Food
Okay, so cravings are not unusual. The way things taste is different. Today for lunch, I wanted a hot dog. So I bought one. It was terrible! It was like someone dropped it in the ocean then threw it in the microwave! How can anyone screw up a hot dog?

Maybe they didn’t; maybe my taste buds changed.

This has been happening a lot. Hubby will make our favorite foods for dinner. I take one bite and suddenly don’t want to eat it. It’s been strange (and frustrating) determining which foods I like and don’t like.

3. Clothes
Today is the first day I can’t button my pants. This is kinda bad news because I just bought these pants a few weeks ago in a bigger size. Now I’m wearing a belly band to cover the button hole. Honestly, I think it’s just bloating and swelling, but it’s no fun doing laundry every couple of days and wearing the same clothes over and over because they are the only thing that fits.

Buy more, you say? Okay, what size? I’m going to have to buy maternity clothes, even though I feel it’s pretty early in the pregnancy to take the leap to an all elastic wardrobe.

4. Fatigue
I’ve been complaining about this for weeks, but dang am I tired. 8:30pm rolls around and I’m done. I push myself to stay awake for another hour, but that’s my limit. I have to pick super-exciting interesting books just to keep up with my reading challenge.

I find certain things difficult. Like staying awake at my desk after lunch. Hanging tough through my gym workout. (which btw, is light elliptical for 25 minutes). Long walks with the dog; he has to drag my ass up the hill back to the house. Playing hide-and-seek with the dog at 9:00pm. Standing for a long time in the kitchen. Carrying the dog food bag from the store to the car.

5. Memory
I feel so forgetful. My next semester starts in a few weeks. I enrolled, got the class paid for by my employer, researched the professors....I just remembered today that I have to order textbooks. I’m a dolt.

Things come to me in flashes. OMG I can’t believe I forgot that! I’ll forget it again a few hours later, but remember the feeling of the flash. For example, the camera. I was making collars last night and I said, “Dang! I need to pack the camera this weekend because [blank].” I can’t remember the reason. The next time I saw the camera, though, I made sure to pack it. No idea why.

Yeah, I still can’t remember. Nor can I think of any activity we’d do that would absolutely require a camera. Maybe it was a dream.

Update: Hours later, I remembered why we needed a camera. We are stopping by a National Park on the way home. Hot damn, I do have a brain.