The last of the red hot belly shots

I'm now at a point where I'm pretty uncomfortable. I'm not as big as some women get, but I sure do feel big for me, since I'm a relatively small person (I tend to seem taller than I actually am).


I'm supposed to do a TV interview next week for a local news station about Shape of a Mother. I'll try to let you guys know when it's on, and whoever is local can tune in if you so desire. All I know about it is that I'll be talking about pregnant womens' fears and perceptions about their bodies and what they worry/hope will happen to them, attractiveness-wise, postpartum. Aaaaand I have to show my bloated, distended stomach. Much as I'm doing here. But here I feel like I have more control - lawd only knows what could happen in the editing room, am I right?

I'm at 38 weeks as of yesterday. Two more weeks till zero hour, unless Little Bun decides it's time to exit sooner. I'd prefer later to sooner, so I can get some things done, like cleaning the house, meeting with a contractor who's supposed to saw down my kitchen cabinets to fit in an over-the-range microwave, and getting all my baby shower loot off my dining room table and into some semblance of order. Oh, and napping.

I seem to be getting to be more of a shameless hussy the longer this process goes on. Three shots of me wearing panties, and two with a bra? Speaking of bras, I must be dropping at least slightly, as bras are not quite as tortuous as they've been for the past several weeks. Huzzah!


Here's a closeup of the distended belly (sorry for the blur):

If you discern any red marks, please note it's from my obsessive scratching, not stretch marks. So far, I am stretch mark free (thank you, genetics fairy), but who knows - I hear sometimes they crop up in the breastfeeding portion of the activities.





I finally took out the belly ring, as it was infected and no amount of TLC was making it get better. The skin was just stretched too tight, and it had nowhere to go. If I had been a better planner, I'd've gotten myself a plastic spacer to hold the hole open, but by the time I got around to researching that, the hole was stretched so tight, it was almost flat. Maybe I'll get it re-pierced later on down the line, or maybe this is the end of my crazy pierced lady days (sob!). My midwife has been calling me a "secret goth" because one would never guess that Marian the Librarian me would ever have a pierced anything. In the meantime, the hole is still pretty red and nasty looking (though no longer infected or crusty). Hopefully it'll heal and not scar.




And, last but not least, what Booby considers to be the most important photos, the ones of HIM the cat testing the new Hotsling we bought. I like the Baby Bjorn, but Booby wants the kid to smother in the forest of his chest hair. The sling is nice and simple, looks like it'll be easy to wash, and seems to be a good fit - even for a 21 lb. cat. Note to self: launder Hotsling to remove swaths of blond cat fur ...