Wobbling Along and Enjoying It

Week 24:

I’ve started to get a bump now – more evident when wearing a tight dress that I’m still holding onto even though, if I’m really honest, doesn’t really fit anymore (but I am still trying to squeeze into for that little bit longer). I bought a couple of pairs of trousers from a well-known shop brand recently – miles too big for me but figured I’d grow into them soon enough. Well, I wear them now and they are still too big – way too baggy – and I feel like I’m in a human-sized paper bag, rather than someone remotely flattering; and I, as my husband puts it, look like I’m on my way to an art workshop. After searching around the high street for maternity clothes, we couldn’t find anything that looked like it might be okay, and so it was, that I decided to look online. Didn’t take me long and – yes! Finally! Some gorgeous dresses, skirts and trousers that will look half decent. You see, now I want to show my bump, whereas a little while ago I reached an in-between stage where there was a bit of a bump but didn’t look obviously pregnant and I was of mixed minds as to whether I actually started to show it or try to cover it up. Then came along week 22 and I started embracing it a bit more. Now we hit week 25 (almost), and I am amazed at how quickly the bump is growing and I’ve now got the feeling where I’m happy to show it off. Not only am I proud, but I want people to notice it so that they might actually take a bit more care around me when pacing their way towards me in the supermarket. Lately I’ve been getting quite disorientated when out shopping and want people to take a bit of care when approaching me - I am so paranoid that someone is going to run into me or ‘oomph’ me with their trolley – not because they actually will but because I can’t move fast enough to get out of somebody’s way anymore. I’ve turned into a real slug when it comes to moving around – wobbling like a penguin and showing my annoyance by way of a tut when people in front of me suddenly stop and decide to either reverse or just stop. I just don’t have the speed to keep up with their sudden change of mind. It’s annoying in that way – particularly as I’m used to moving quickly and pacing around. On the other side of it, I am enjoying the fact that I have slowed down a lot and neither do I feel the need to race around, which is refreshingly pleasant. I can’t get up quite as fast as I used to - and it’s hard going constantly standing up when teaching a class of lively children. But I don't mind. Of course, the bump has its benefits, in terms of mobility (‘oh, I’m so tired, could I have a drink?’; not having to take part in PE training because, of course, I can’t be very active; ‘I’m not able to clean the bath – can you do it?’) Not that it’s just about those benefits, of course, but it does help to balance out the sometimes overwhelming stream of emotions and symptoms felt over the course of the nine month journey.