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January 18, 2005
15 Weeks 1 Day
So, 15 weeks and 1 day. Second trimester as of a week or two or three.
Morning sickness is mostly all gone, thank $deity. Though if I haven't eaten in a while before bed, or within a decent space of time after getting up, I can sometimes still feel a bit icky, though even that hasn't really been happening for the last week or two. I also have most of my energy back, so I'm starting catch up on a bunch of household duties that fell by the wayside.
Tomorrow is the second midwife visit. I'm not entirely sure what most of the visit will consist of, though I do know that I'm getting my bloodtest results back (mostly childhood illness immunity, blood typing and such) and that I'll be getting my first gyno exam (from her), and that we'll be discussing dates/places for our first ultrasound which should be due in a couple weeks.
PreZ will be going along as well. Hopefully she won't have to punt him out into the hallway, hardly any fun for him. That happened during part of our first visit, mostly because some of the questions they ask on this checklist of stuff involve communicable sexual diseases and whether or not you're being abused at home. Now not being present for the "so, does your partner hit you?" type questions I understand, but the STD thing is a bit weird, seeing as to me that's one of the things a partner should be aware of too. As for PreZ being present for the gyno exam, I don't mind. It's not like my genitals are a novelty for him, though the kind of visibility access granted definitely is ;) Though that would assume he's standing there looking over her shoulder.
We'll be having lunch afterwards, probably at the Irish pub again, yummy. I think their Wednesday special was the Yankee Pot Roast which sounded good, though they also have a Chicken Pot Pie on their menu which tempted me last time.
Tomorrow is also my first karate class in about 7-8 weeks. This shall be interesting indeed. I'll double check with the midwife if I can resume my exercise, though she said last time it was fine. And then before class I need to talk to whichever senpai is teaching to let them know. I can't do kumite (freefighting), no bag-training or at least no holding bags, and the odds of me finishing an entire one hour class aren't very high. I might need breaks, or I might just need to leave earlier, and they need to be aware of that. Sensei Liz (mother of 2) was already fine with this when PreZ queried her on the subject a bunch of weeks ago, as long as it was okay with my midwife, and I didn't overdo it and was aware of my ever increasing limitations.
I'm kind of nervous about tomorrow, mostly because I have no idea how different it will be for me at karate. Coming back after having had even a week or two off can be tiring sometimes, but this adds a whole new dimension, and I'm a bit uncomfortable not knowing where my limitations are.
No I don't yet need maternity clothes, not really, but I'm down to like 1 pair of wearable pants, since my corduroys are going threadbare on the ass. I figured it might be best to just get pants that will fit me for the next six months rather than buy regular pants that I might have to size up several times. I will say now that so far I find maternity clothes shopping to suck.
I went to Target last week, because I needed some storage stuff and other household items. I decided to wander into their maternity section to have a look and see if there was anything decent in the way of pants. The maternity section is situated right next to the plus size wear, this is no coincidence I'm sure. In fact, I sometimes wondered if they'd just put two different signs over essentially the same clothes.
The sizing was a complete mystery to me. Most maternity places base their sizing on your pre-pregnancy size... if you were an M or an 8 or 10 then, then you look at those sizes in maternity wear, that makes sense. But when you see stuff that's 28w, I have to wonder if they're sizing by weeks pregnant or if this is some other way of measuring? It wasn't explained anywhere either. And 28w was the largest size, way too big for me and I'm certainly not tiny, so it didn't mean 28" waist... because that would have been logical or something. If it was a 'weeks pregnant' measurement, I guess you're screwed for those last 12 or so weeks. Who knows.
Unless you're paying the big bucks for maternity wear, it's also BUTT UGLY. I thought $70-90 was outrageous for maternity pants, which it really is, seeing as I can find nice normal pants for half that. Now I'm re-evaluating that statement, because all the maternity gear I've tried on that costs the same as normal pants is crap. I never tried on anything at Target, because it was either really wide legged flowy polyester type stuff, or it's that stretch jersey/sweat pant material. I do not want to walk around in flowy mumu pants, or in sweat pants. Sweat pants are not daily wear as far as I'm concerned. It's great for lounging at home or if you're going to the gym, but I don't like them in a normal daily wear setting, they look too frumpy too easily.
Yesterday PreZ and I drove up to a mall near his aunt's house, as that was the closest Maternity Gap in our area. I'd seen some really cute items on their website and thought that I might be able to get some at the store, as I prefer to try on pants before I buy, it's the only item I daren't buy online off the cuff. Their maternity section was more of an afterthought in the back of the Baby Gap. Of the pants in black/non-pastel, there was 1 pair that was a size 10 (I'm an 8 or 10 depending on the brand) in the sales rack, and looked decent enough, or it was a $55 pair of sweatpants. I tried on the sales rack pair, but it was weirdly baggy in the crotch, and I just can't get used to those bell bottoms that pass as (I think) boot-cut in today's fashion. So that was a washout, because I refuse to buy maternity sweatpants for $55 when I can buy regular ones in just a size larger for much less. I also dislike "classic cut waist" pants that have the high waists, I've grown accustomed to my low rise pants, because higher waisted ones always dig into me uncomfortably. I realise that for the very-pregnant pants have a large wide band of elastic in the waist, but I don't need the other fabric to go there, the wide elastic bands at least are much more comfortable, and you could even fold them down, which you can't with normal twill/denim.
Then we tried a maternity store, and that was all cheap flowy polyester crap. They had some cargos and cords that looked nice, but they were all in khaki colours or pink pastel *shudder*. Then lastly Sears, where I tried on a pair of M pants, which were way too big in the ass and hips for me, and I'm pretty generously proportioned. And they were just all around UGLY pants. The Macy's there didn't even have maternity gear, ditto the H&M even though they were listed on the shop directory as having maternity. Now this mall isn't particularly big, but I was completely underwhelmed at the selection.
So that entire trip was mostly a wash out. Though we did get to see his aunt who'd been away for Christmas when we were there for dinner with her daughter and her kids. Oh, and we bought 2 cute little items from the Baby Gap sales rack, so that was the only thing that made it worth it.
Tomorrow I'll hit up the Maternity Gap in NYC after the midwife and lunch, and before karate. It's the only one on Manhattan, and surely they're better stocked and might actually have something in my size. And something that isn't hideously ugly or a poor fit.
Posted on 04:39 PM to: Pregnancy