The Baby Belly

Happy Friday! Popping in to say that I am coming back NEXT WEEK with a brand new series called "Gone Crunchy". In it I'll explain why I'm letting my inner hippie come out to play, and how that's going to look as we add a little girl to our family. (And I promise it will launch next week. I've already written the first post.)

But first, let's talk about something that's been bothering me recently. 

I've been dealing with a lot of comments about my body. I expected that to happen. There's something about being pregnant that makes people think they have the right to comment on every little personal detail (and ask some really inappropriate questions). But really, I've been dealing with some less than nice comments about my body for years, so I'm not that shocked. 

Here's the thing: I've gained 20 pounds over the last 31 weeks or so. My midwives tell me I'm measuring exactly where I should be. Our little girl is constantly wiggling around, elbowing me or doing some sort of dance in there. All her ultrasounds have looked perfect, and her heartbeat is always strong. There is no reason I should be concerned. 

However, everyone keeps telling me how not big I am. Seriously, everyone. We could fund our daughter's college education if I had a dollar every time someone said this to me. I know everyone has the best intentions when they say it. But hearing it over and over again, literally every time I leave the house, is starting to wear on me. It's beginning to make me wonder if I'm doing something wrong, to the point that I'm starting to lose sleep over it. 

I know most pregnant women deal with some sort of commentary about their weight gain, or lack thereof. The thing is, no two women are alike. Some carry their babies super high and straight out. Some carry low and compact. Some just have a tougher time with weight gain - others have a tough time gaining weight at all. And everyone starts at a different place! For example, here's a comparison of me at 12 weeks and me at 31 weeks:

Clearly things have changed, and I don't just mean losing my tan or the fuzzies on the tank top.(What can I say, when you wear the same thing almost every day the fuzzies are bound to happen.)

Pregnancy is hard enough without having to endure endless comments about your body. Can we all just agree to stop commenting on pregnant women's bodies? Actually, can we stop commenting on women's bodies in general? There's just so many other things we could be talking about! 

If you've made comments like this to pregnant women (or women in general), don't beat yourself up about it. But maybe next time we can talk about something else? I'd love to tell you about the nursery we've been working on, or the Hypnobabies method, or the cloth diaper stash I'm collecting. Or you know, how my business is going since leaving my 9 to 5! 

I do hope some of you are interested in the cloth diaper and Hypnobabies info, because that's totally going to be covered in the new Gone Crunchy series. So stay tuned :)

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

The Big 3-0

This weekend I turn the big 3-0. 

In my early twenties, I tried to imagine what my life would be like when this milestone hit. And while I envisioned several different scenarios, I don't think I could have known what it would actually be like. For example:

I had no idea I would be almost 6 months pregnant, trying to build up my business before our little girl makes her big debut. I had no idea I would live in a house in a small town outside of OKC with a husband who was several years younger. I had no idea I would be totally happy with all of those things, including the fact that my 30th birthday is going to be a totally laidback affair involving a few close friends, dinner, and a free water taxi ride. I had no idea that I would be so excited about finding a limited edition version of the Audrey BumGenius diaper. (It's a cloth diaper, I'll explain another time.) 

None of those things would have made sense to early twenty-something Jennifer, except the small birthday celebration with friends, because those friends are the same ones I had back then! 

But it all makes perfect sense now. The only thing that might bother me about turning 30 is that I didn't finish my 30 Before Thirty List. I did some amazing things in my twenties - I traveled to foreign countries, got married, took risks in my career, pushed myself in ways I didn't know I could. But I didn't do everything I set out to. 

And that's totally ok. I had lots of plans for this fall and winter; I was going to do the muddy rough 5k that I wasn't able to do in May when it was cancelled. I was going to take a cooking class, throw a dinner party, and buy a house. Instead I spent most of this fall hugging a toilet! The idea of cooking didn't start sounding good again until November, and simply the idea of hosting a dinner party exhausts me. The house thing went out the window when I left my banking job (getting a loan is hard when you're self-employed), and obviously the 5k wasn't going to happen. 

But guess what? Life isn't ending at 30. I can do all those things in the coming years, and so much more. My twenties are coming to an end, and I'm pretty happy about it because I cannot wait to see what my thirties bring!

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...

Week 19: It's a...

Last night James and I went to Anticipation Ultrasound Studio to find out if we were having a boy or a girl! My official ultrasound isn't until December 17th, but we couldn't wait. Our little one wasn't in a very cooperative mood, though. The baby was curled up, yet the little legs were also stretched out and kicking! After about ten minutes, the tech finally said she'd seen enough and asked if we were ready to find out. And then she said "It's a..."

GIRL! 

Starting in April, James is going to be outnumbered in our little family. Of course, he is still planning on taking our little girl hunting. And I plan on enrolling her in ballet classes. She'll be very well rounded ;) 

The entire ultrasound session lasted about 20 minutes, and we left with a video of the entire session, a few printed photos, and a stuffed animal with a recording of our daughter's heartbeat. If you can't wait to find out the gender, I highly recommend using one of those studios. This one had great reviews, extended hours, and was very reasonably priced. Definitely better than waiting until December! We did get a peek at the 4D video, but to be honest, I find those a little creepy! 

After the session we texted and called friends and family, then headed to Babies R Us to register. Even though I've been around babies my whole life, I still found it overwhelming. How are you supposed to choose the right mattress, bottles, car seat, stroller, etc? We registered for a few things, but mostly we wandered around the store and I started to get a really bad headache. So instead of hitting full on panic, we left and went to dinner!

Now that we know we are officially having a little girl (I've thought it was a girl for awhile, and pretty much everyone around us thought it was too!) it's time to get serious about the nursery. I've been planning on keeping things pretty gender neutral (and still want to) but girlie things will definitely be incorporated as well. 

Plus now I can order all the frilly things from thredup! In fact, I'm going to go check that out now. Happy Wednesday!

Previously on Mrs Robbins Sparkles...