It's a Baby, not a Box of Donuts

I feel like women in the beginning of their 2nd trimester should have a t-shirt or a pin to put on their coat that says, "It's a baby, not a box of donuts."  As I slowly put on a few pounds (either from lessening the weekly mileage or pregnancy or both), from time to time I wanted to explain that I was not hitting the donuts extra hard, I was pregnant!  It was (and still is) like I wanted to carry that caveat written somewhere on my person to... explain things. Of course, getting to tell everyone I was pregnant made me feel better as my waistline expanded.

Especially when it came to my running clothes!  Right now is the season for calf tights and long sleeve tops and ALL are tight (and if they weren't before, they are more so now)!  So if a belly is there, it is OUT there.  I don't have a serious bump yet and when I first get up in the morning I wonder where a lemon-sized little person is supposed to be.  Jason says he can tell it is a little different, but I cannot always see it.

Until I eat something that is... and then it looks (and feels) like, instead of a bowl of cereal with banana cut up in it, I ate 3 value meals at McDonald's.  Jason hands me my glass of orange juice and I take a deep breath and wonder where I am going to put it.  It is the strangest thing.

And then there's getting dressed for work in the mornings.  My clothes still fit, but they are tighter and when I feel like I just ate 3 value meals at McDonald's, I do not want anything tight on my person.  I have a few pairs of jeans, a few dress pants and one skirt that were a bit too loose and now that is what I am wearing.  Jeans on a random Thursday.  I figure if anyone at work says anything I can use the pregnancy card.  With a pitiful look on my face.

I'm not quite ready for maternity clothes yet and I think the Bellaband might be my next step (I'm already unbuttoning my jeans after I eat and just trying to remember before I leave my office).  While all of this is funny and exciting, especially the morning bump inspection, it also makes me mindful of my weight.  I know weight gain is good and necessary during pregnancy, but I also want to stay within the healthy, appropriate parameters of weight gain, for both myself and the baby.

I haven't really changed my eating habits much except to watch caffeine intake and to avoid the foods my doctor says pregnant women should not have.  I do eat more fruit than I used to and try to drink plenty of water (which isn't too hard since I am always thirsty).  A pregnant woman in her 2nd trimester only needs about 300-400 more calories a day than what she was eating before, despite the whole "eating for two" phrase we often hear.  

And so it is on with the 2nd trimester and the bump watch.  I figure as long as I eat right and get some exercise each day, all will be as it should.