Keep on training Sydney

I was traveling on the train to work this morning when, a few stops after mine, a pregnant woman got on. My guess was that she was a couple of months further along than me (but she was also thinner so we might have been at the same stage). Any-way, it was a crowed train on a Monday morning and no-one got up to let her sit down.
I and all my fellow commuters hunkered down in our seats and refused to raise our heads in case we caught her eye and were forced to notice she was standing there. Finally, thinking 'this is ridiculous', I got up to offer her my seat on the basis that she looked more pregnant than I did. She refused my seat - I didn't exactly press the point either - and then finally some older man who had, up until that point, been reading the Bible stood up for her. NB - If you're going to advertise your faith like that you'd better be prepared to give up a seat.
I don't know - I can't drink, I've got backache and now no-one will stand for me on public transport. Is there any point?

More LOLs

Bits and bobs

First of all a huge congratulations to SleepyT (thanks for the name Phoenyx) on the birth of her daughter! Great news and I can't wait to meet her in June.

Secondly... I'm not too sure. I haven't blogged in awhile mainly because there hasn't been much to blog about. I'll try to collect all the little things that make up my day at the moment.

• Trogdor grows and kicks and goes back to sleep and grows some more. Last night the cat, who is still around, fell asleep on my lap. I think the cat's purring disturbed Trogdor's sleep because suddenly I felt one of his limbs swipe very quickly from right to left across my abdomen. It was the weirdest feeling! I squealed and jumped a foot into the air - disturbing both Spidermonkey who was watching the Sopranoes, and the cat.
• A special thanks to the genius minds behind Hot Milk. Who wants to be hanging out their underwear and have neighbours enquire if Gran's paying a visit?
• I've noticed people who know I'm pregnant - especially men - eyeing my stomach warily as though it's going to explode and cover them in a sudden shower of baby. Baby shower. Heh. It's ironic - I've finally got a truly great set of breasts which, for the first time are encased in silk and lace (not that they know this) and what are they checking out? My stomach.
• I've started rehearsals for my next show and I am enjoying it tremendously. In between shows I forget how much I enjoy the rehearsal process.
• Oh yes, the most exciting piece of news! The tenants at our unit might be moving into a new unit because that tenant might be moving out and we might be in our own unit sometime soon. (You see why this piece of news slipped my mind?)

I think I'm pregnant!

I was sitting at the computer with my hand lightly resting on my stomach when... I felt a kick. Right through my stomach! (Not right through my stomach, obviously. I mean, my hand felt the kick.) I think I might be pregnant.

And yesterday Tyd gave us some little socks with football boots printed on to them. Very cute.

Weirdness and random thoughts

Conversation today with a MOCIT (Mother Of Child I Teach). I've taught her daughter for a term and all our previous conversations have taken about 30 seconds prior to class.

MOCIT: So, congratulations on your news.

Me: Thank-you.

MOCIT: Was it planned?

Me: (pause) Yes.

MOCIT: Have you thought about what you're going to do?

My thoughts: Do? With my classes? With the labor? When the weight on my side of the bed starts to leave a permanent dent in the mattress? (I thought I'd line it with heavy plastic sheets and turn it into a fish pond)

Me: I haven't decided yet. I'm still considering my options.

Nicely vague. Smile and nod.

In other news I am finally starting to show. At least, I think I'm starting to show. I haven't had any comments yet but I've been staring at my abdomen intently over the last few days (weeks) and I'm sure there is a more protrudey bit (yes, I like my new word too).
Not so much a bear getting ready for hibernation as a bear in there.
And now I've weirded myself out a bit.
My concern is that none of the weight I have put on so far is actually 'baby weight' and is rather 'me using pregnancy as an excuse to eat like a pig weight'. Which means that by the end my 'after baby body' is going to be very similar to my baby's body - soft, squishy and unable to ambulate under its own steam.

I went looking for maternity bras today. Ye gods there are some horrendously ugly undergarments for the maternal frame out there. For the next 5-ish months I'm going to have a huge stomach hanging off me proudly proclaiming that yes, I got laid at least once - and never again if these brassieres have anything to do with it.

One of the girls in the teenage group asked me what the most annoying thing about being pregnant was. I didn't have to think about it - people telling me what I'm 'allowed' to do. (On the other hand when I do do these things other people's disapproval makes it that little bit more fun*.) (Adolescent behaviour? Me?) The class looked a bit relieved. I think they were expecting some pregnancy horror story. You won't be hearing them from me girls - but from dozens of women in your future. Just fall pregnant and wait.

*Just to clarify - I'm not going to inject heroin no matter how many people advise me against it. However, recently I was told that eating prawns would give Trogdor a birthmark in the shape of a prawn! How cool is that? I'm not even sure I can stomach prawns but I'm sure as hell giving it a go now.

Vale Brian Donovan

God made the angels to show Him splendor, as He made animals for innocence and plants for their simplicity. But Man He made to serve Him wittily, in the tangle of his mind.
A Man for All Seasons.

Brian was a man of tremendous intelligence, generosity and faith. Remembered and missed by every-one who knew him.

AYB!!

What to expect when you're 20 weeks pregnant

• Your belly should now protrude quite nicely, as the uterus rises to the level of your belly button. Actually, my uterus rises beyond the level of my belly button according to the mid-wife I saw yesterday. Apparently I have a low belly button. I knew I was special.
• From about this point on you have only 20 more weeks or so until delivery! Yes genius, I know. That's why they call it 'half way'.
• As your abdomen grows each week, you will find you become stiffer, larger and frequently shift your posture and balance to remain comfortable. To be honest I've been experiencing this since puberty.
• You have entered one of the best periods as you do not face the difficulties of either stages of the pregnancy and are quite comfortable with your pregnancy status by now. 'Either stages of the pregnancy'? There's only two stages now? When did that happen? Surely they mean something like 'either of the other stages'? And 'Comfortable with your pregnancy status'? Right. On one hand I would like to think I've always been comfortable with my 'pregnancy status'. It's not like I was an hysterical mess for the first 13 weeks. On the other hand, in 20 weeks I will be given total responsibility for a baby boy. I don't know anything about boys. Or babies. This kid is screwed. So no, I wouldn't say I was completely comfortable.
• You can start creating a birth plan giving details about your preferences for the birth of the baby. I want a Star Trek transporter so they can beam the baby out. Can we do that?
• The baby is big enough for you to feel the fluttering or quickening movements on a regular basis by now. Yup. And I love that it's called the 'quickening'. There can be only one! People told me that the baby's first movement would feel like bubbles, or like a butterfly fluttering against my abdomen. It actually felt more like a tiny foot in the guts.
• The normal changes which occur during this period are:
• frequent urination - no
• constipation - no
• indigestion - no
• heartburn - oh yes

• However these symptoms are pretty mild now and become more profound later as the pregnancy advances. Cheery little bastard aren't you?
• You are in a better frame of mind by this stage and feeling fit physically as well as mentally. Bite me.