» belly

Because I love my new belly

Tatiana — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 01:10:22 +0000

Two months or so ago, I stumbled across The Belly Project. I visit it weekly (along with PostSecret!), and it’s such a beautiful, reaffirming, and positive website. Women often have self-esteem issues, and particularly after a pregnancy, we can end up with funky bellies that make us feel negatively. The Belly Project is trying to fix that — and show that many women don’t have “perfect” stomaches; some have stretch marks, extra chub, scars, or have lost tone in other ways. I always feel more positive about myself after going there, even though I don’t comment on the pictures; it’s comforting to know that we are all unique and none of us are perfect.

How I Feel About My Belly

Tatiana — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:08:13 +0000

Up to Week 6: I’M NOT PREGNANT, THOSE ARE PERIOD CRAMPS AND IT WILL COME ANY DAY NOW.

Weeks 7 to Week 14: Okay, are you ever going to grow? Hello? Is there even a baby in there or is this some cruel joke?

Weeks 15 to Week 20: My MINISCULE bump is the greatest. thing. ever. Just look at it! I am clearly pregnant! Everyone can see it……. can’t they?

Weeks 21 to 29: Holy fuck, my belly is expanding exponentially and I can’t move I can’t breathe I can’t roll over oh my God how is it even going to get any bigger?

Weeks 30 to present: Wait, I don’t think it’s big enough. How on earth is a person, a viable human being, that small? Is she cramped in there? Is she tired of not having as much room to kick me? No matter what angle I look at it from, it just doesn’t seem as big as I think it should be…

Also, pure hilarity: laughing with my belly exposed. My belly button juts out ALL THE WAY (if it isn’t already, which depends on how Maia is positioned) and my entire belly quivers back and forth like Jell-o. Then I start laughing even harder because it looks so preposterous, and Chris teases me between his own bouts of laughter… good times.

PS: Happy 22nd, Aunt-to-be Katie! We love you & wish we could be there to celebrate with you. And hey, Mom? Thanks for making her so perfectly

Week 31

Tatiana — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:34:48 +0000

Now, why my belly looks so red in this is totally beyond me…

Honestly, I think it looks wayyyy smaller in this picture than in person. I really need to get Chris to take a full-body shot for some proportion

Week 28

Tatiana — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 01:47:58 +0000

As of Wednesday’s midwife appointment, my uterus is measuring a perfectly normal 26.5cm — take that, grocery store lady who asked if I was smuggling a watermelon under my shirt! Maia’s heartbeat is healthy and she was, as ever, moving around while we were trying to listen… at one point as my midwife counted, the beat stopped and she laughed, “Baby just switched sides!” Sure enough, her little heart was beating away furiously on the other side of my uterus, so that was a good little chuckle.

Week 28′s belly pic:

For comparison, Week 26 (kinda fucked up to compare since they’re not taken at the same distance with the same framing):

I’m feeling fine still, sleeping well and whatnot. It’s just a little bit awkward to get around.

Chris and I didn’t work on the nursery yesterday, so that means we just put up the second paint colour today and will do the border tomorrow, so I’ll post pictures once that’s done :] But I’m excited, it’s looking nice already.

Shavin’ Blind

Tatiana — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:20:35 +0000

I’ve been putting off shaving my coochie-coo (why do I call it that?) for awhile. Okay, and by “awhile” I mean, like, months. Since I’ve been so freakin hot, I’ve slept outside of the covers, usually hugging them close like a body pillow. The other morning, Chris walks in to wake me up and he starts giggling. It struck me then: all he probably sees is bush and belly.

I mean, you know, it’s not like I enjoy shaving. I hate every second of it, except for the very last one, because that one means IT’S OVER and I can move on with my life. I’m one of those women who has been known to let her leg hair grow all winter because fuck, who’s gonna see them hairy sticks when I’m wearing pants anyhow? So my little pubes have been growing wildly, doing their curly thing, and it’s finally at a point where I was like OKAY ENOUGH OF THAT and decided to see just how fun shaving there while pregnant is.

Oh, fun. Right. Well, “fun” is not the right word at all. More like “an awesome adventure of mythical proportions” — because I can’t see anything past my belly, and I can’t bend over enough to pretend like I can anyhow, and the whole “standing on one foot in the tub with a razor near my girly bits” thing is pretty much me tempting fate. I realized, after three firm pulls of the razor, that doing this blind was probably a horrible idea and I should stop if I wanted to save my sanity. But then, I decided there was no way I could leave the job unfinished; I mean really, I might not be able to see the carnage I’d wreaked so far with those three strokes, but my husband definitely would be.

So there I am, shavin’ blind. And I start laughing, because this is just ridiculous — if it’s this hard now, how much worse will it get? Am I going to have to go see a beautician later in pregnancy and be like “yo, shave my coochie because I ain’t suffering through a wax”, or am I just going to have a giant furball down there when Maia arrives? “I see her head! Oh wait, that’s just your MASSIVE BUSH.”

When I finally finish and step out of the washroom, Chris is walking around the house with his work clothes still on, except his shirt is pulled up over his stomach. Seriously. Why? He sheepishly explains that he was scratching it, but I have my doubts and I think he was probably parading around pretending to be pregnant (because that makes more sense, right?) Anyhow, I explain my adventure to him between fits of laughter, and the first thing he says is, “Don’t you have a mirror somewhere?”

I was pissed I didn’t think of that first.

So I punched him.

It’s good to be married.

Benefits of the Bump #1

Tatiana — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:11:34 +0000

Pregnant belly + folding laundry = built-in laundry table

Conclusion: AWESOME!

Week 26

Tatiana — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 23:06:44 +0000

I didn’t realize how fuckin strange my belly looked until I saw this picture:

For comparison, Week 24:

Week 24

Tatiana — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:02:32 +0000

I’m saying it’s week 24, even though my midwife would say it’s 23 weeks and 5 days, and the hospital’s calendar would say 24 weeks and 2 days. 24 weeks exactly is the average!

AND HOLY FUCK, LOOK AT MY BABY:

For comparison, week 21:

It Grows… !

Tatiana — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:16:07 +0000

For the first time, today I hollered, “HOLY SHIT” at the size of my belly as I walked by a mirror.

I swear it’s grown since I posted that picture on Thursday.

Week 21

Tatiana — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:59:44 +0000

For comparison, Week 18: