Can't Believe I'm Doing This

I chronicled the "belly shots" when I was pregnant with Zoe but never posted them in a public domain. I struggled with making any of them public this time, but decided family and friends might enjoy seeing how Zachary is growing. I try to separate that concept from how much I am growing (not an easy thing to do). Also, in spite of gaining a whopping 48 pounds with Zoe, I managed to complete the pregnancy without a single stretch mark. If I had stretch marks, I don't think I'd have the nerve to post photos like this.

Incidentally, this one is a couple weeks old. I've been trying to log the progress with a photo every couple of weeks, so I'm due for another one on Tuesday. At this stage, I had already gained 20 pounds. I haven't been on a scale since. I said in the beginning I would not gain 48 pounds again. It took me a year and a half to get the wieght all off last time. However, I'm more focused on doing what's best for the baby, and that means eating if I need to. And quite frankly, that early part of this pregnancy was much like last one. While I never experienced "morning sickness" or throwing up, I simply could not tolerate eating much of anything except breads and cheese and orange juice.

I saw a Discovery Health Channel special on pregnancy the other day and got a scientific reason as to why women who are pregnant often can only tolerate eating carbs. It had to do with chemicals and hormones and stuff. I can't remember the explanation well enough to re-state it. The main thing was that I felt justified when I heard it. Another fascinating fact from that special that I CAN quote verbatim is that during a woman's 40 week pregnancy, she manufactures more hormones than a woman who lives to be 150 years old and NEVER experiences a pregnancy. So when I get in one of those "Don't-Mess-With-Me" moods, it's best just to put up with me. After all, at over 20 weeks into this pregnancy, I'm carrying over 75 years worth of hormones!