Maternity clothing. Necessary evil? Or big, fat(hehe) waste of money?

That is my question today folks. I know my vote.
Big, fat (pun absolutely intended) waste of money.
Does this mean I will not purchase maternity clothes? That I believe myself to be as big as I will get during this pregnancy? That I will miraculously return to my former figure immediately after giving birth? That I will choose to not have more children, rendering my purchased maternity clothing useless after 6 months-ish of wear?
Nope.
I just don't feel the need to rush out and buy a bunch of expensive clothing that I may or may not use again. I will admit that I have gotten lucky in the timing of all of this. The majority of my pregnancy has been spent in the summertime which means flowy dresses and tank tops. I also have a job that requires me to wear comfortable, stretchy clothing. I have purchased a couple of pairs of leggings for $5 a pop at Target to try and get me through the fall, as well as a "tummy sleeve".
I also got lucky in the sense that I lost some weight right before I found out I was pregnant and at 6 months I finally have my beloved baby bump.
Yes, I am aware that I will get bigger, much bigger as my little sea monkey continues to grow and yes, my pants in general are having a really hard time closing, if at all, these days. But dammit, I will hold out. I will wear my leggings and sweaters, dresses and tights, stretchy pants and tummy sleeve as long as I can!
Unless of course I find a really cute, button down, belted maternity top in a fabulous fall color. Then all bets are off.

Pregnancy is going well....thanks!

It is a gross and rainy day here in MD. Ty has a meeting for most of the afternoon and I will probably spend most of the day cleaning and cooking(I am planning spaghetti squash with eggplant and an arugula caprese salad..mmm...)
Anyways. I've been thinking a lot lately about all the things I am SO excited to do with our baby girl. So, with that in mind, here is a list of things that I cannot wait to do with my daughter in the next few years.
Renaissance Festival-I love the RenFest! I don't dress up (but I also don't mind the people who choose to). I love everything about it. I love the music, the performances, being outdoors, the food, the atmosphere. We look forward to it every year. This year I will be nice and preggo for it (mmmm the food) but next year Baby Girl Cobb will be just the right age to start hanging with us! I can picture her strapped to Ty with one of our carriers, Ty holding a beer or a turkey leg and Baby Girl getting her first taste of ice cream! Yay!
D.C. Museums- I have only been to D.C. twice since moving so close. Once for a lovely night out with a friend in Georgetown and then for the weekend for a cancer walk in memory of my mother in law. Both times we had other things happening and were not able to hit up the museums. I would like to do this with my kid. I may possibly wait until she is a little bit older but I most definitely want to do this.
Christmas-sy stuff- I can't wait to take her to see trees and lights and maybe even Santa. She's going to be a little too young this year but in the next couple of years this will be fun!
Chicago- This needs to be soon...only because I can't imagine not pushing a stroller around our old neighborhood. Show her all the places we love there and show her where mommy and daddy met.
Grandma and Grandpa's Pool- My folks have a pool back in Mn and I cannot wait til she's old enough and I can take her there to swim and hang with the fam!
Family Reunions- I can't wait to show her off! My family never did "reunions" while I was growing up because we were always around each other anyway but Ty's family has them every year practically. Next summer we'll be heading to Vermont for one that I'm so excited about.
Just going out and about- I have always vowed to be the kind of parent who shared experiences with my child, not let my child keep me from the experiences. I can't wait to walk around downtown Annapolis, hit up the shrimp feast/oyster roast in North Beach, road trip down to Asheville (so Mommy can go to the breweries this time!), playdates (hint, hint, Karice, Tiffany, Janelle), shopping, wine tasting (I said it!), the Minnesota State Fair, whatever!
Obviously there are a lot of things I can list here. Those are just a few off the top of my head. I get so excited when I think about all the things I get to do with her and how lucky we are!

Part 6-Maybe we should start saying the homestretch.

I had my 22 week appointment today. Last night I grabbed my calendar to do some math and yes, I am in fact, entering my 6th month. Holy shit!
Appointment went well. Last time I saw this very sweet, very green physician's assistant who had nothing but concern for everything! She was very kind but she was concerned about my weight, my bowels, what I eat, what I drink and when I travel. It was a little much.
Today I saw my first male dr. I dug him. He was laid back and addressed all my concerns pretty thoroughly. We got to hear Baby Girl again, I found out where my uterus is now located (it's everywhere!) and he debunked a couple of minor concerns I had which helped me relax and enjoy my coffee (among other things).
So all is well. Baby Girl Cobb is growing as she should and even while running the Doppler over my belly to hear her heart, the doc mentioned what a mover and shaker she is! At this point there is no concern over MY weight since she is growing just fine and next time around I get to go in for my glucose test...yay!
Speaking of food....hehehe...I thought I would chat about some of the food that I have learned to love/become obsessed with/can't get enough of while I grow this child inside of me.
Obviously I try and eat as healthy as possible while taking in the right amount of calories.
Actually, that's a lie(not the healthy part). I haven't paid attention to calorie intake at all. I eat when I am hungry, stop when I am full and make sure to get snacks in every few hours.
But I have noticed that I have a bit more of a sweet tooth than normal.
Here are some of the ways I absolutely succumb to my sweet tooth.
+Blueberry waffles-I have always loved them and even more so now!
+Ice cream-Yep, as cliche as it sounds I do love me a nice bowl of the cold stuff at the end of the day. Chocolaty, fruity, whatever, doesn't matter.
+This one I got from a friend-Take one of those small pre-made graham cracker crusts, fill it with fruit, whipped cream and hot fudge to top it off. Mmmmm. Hey, there's fruit!
+And my fave. I buy cheap packages of medium size, soft chocolate chip cookies ($1 for 8!) and heat them for 20 seconds in the microwave. They come out all gooey and warm. I eat one with a huge glass of milk. Sometimes I top it with a little peanut butter. I never go a day without a milk and cookie break!
+Sweet potatoes-Nothing new there, they rock!
Other than that I try and eat spinach every day(I LOVE spinach, really!)and I drink water constantly.
But nothing else really stands out as being strange or abnormal.
I do miss rare steak, red wine and sushi. These are the biggies that I have avoided for the most part during this time. I have avoided others but they're not worth mentioning.
I know it will all be worth it though when our little girly gets here so I will suck it up with my water, overdone steak and cookies!

Part 5-Yep! Still pregnant.

As discussed a few times in this blog, I was born with a congenital bone disease called Fibrous Dysplaysia.
Say WHAT?
Long story short, my left tibia did not grow as fast as the rest of me and was left smaller and weaker. I broke my ankle twice and had numerous operations to try and "fix" my leg. The only one that worked was done when I was 13 years old. I had my leg lengthened (got 3 1/2 inches!) and through that process my ankle was able to heal, I was able to walk better and I continue to thrive as a walker/dancer/all around grown woman with a brace.
Needless to say, whenever I fill out a "medical history" form I give the short version and if the doc has any other questions, so be it.
So, that time that I got pregnant, obviously the doc had some questions although not as many as I thought considering that my tibia isn't terribly close to my uterus.
Now. I have ALWAYS known that this "disease" is not genetic. It is a fluke, one in a million shot and I got lucky.
Yeah, yeah, yeah I am me, not my leg and everything I went through made me the strong person I am today blah, blah, blah. Hey, I've worn a brace on my leg since I was 6 years old. I basically learned to walk on crutches. I've never really known any different so I don't worry too much about it. So there.
ANYHOO. As I was leaving the doctor after my first visit to establish that there was in fact a little bun in my oven, I was still high on the sounds of heartbeat when the doc stopped me. "I think you should see the high risk doctor for your 20 wk ultrasound."
Say WHAT?
This can stress a woman out for many reasons. What is wrong with me that I need to see the high risk guy? What is wrong with my baby? Does this mean I can't have preggo sex? Does this mean you think I am over 35??!?!?!!
Of course it all came down to the leg. I explained to her that it is not genetic but if my insurance covered it, whatever.
Fast forward to the ultrasound. We see all the stuff we're supposed to, they write down the sex of our unborn child and put it in an envelope as we requested and send the big doc in to chat about all the stuff they saw and we didn't understand. According to him, everything looks great, no need for concern anywhere and hey, what's this thing about your leg?
I go through the whole story explaining, in a nutshell, my life ages 3-14. He listens some what distractedly while running the transducer over my belly. "So here is an arm," he shows us. "And here is the left leg, and this right here is the left tibia."
I have seen x-rays of my left tibia so many times in my life that I could easily pick mine out of a line up of hundreds. I am am also aware of what a weak bone looks like on an x-ray. I am also aware of the fact that my baby's bones are not completely formed or hardened yet.
But that left tibia was so straight and bright white that I got a little misty in the office that day.
Yes, I knew that there was a slim to none chance that she would have this disease and frankly, mine wasn't discovered or diagnosed until I was 3 years old and walking. But something about that lovely doctor going out of his way to find her left tibia and show it to me made my heart swell.
Now if only I could try and guarantee a massively high i.q. and a love of showtunes, I'd be set!