Lemons and Elastic Waist-bands: Amanda at 14 weeks

Wow.  We made it to the second trimester - often referred to as the "best time" of pregnancy because there's less fatigue, nausea and weird-food-aversions.  I'll say for the record, I do feel more energetic ... but coffee still tastes pretty bitter and awful to me, no matter how much creamer or sugar I add.  I have tried to rationally discuss with The Bean that the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) have stated that moderate caffeine consumption is considered safe in pregnancy. The Bean doesn't seem to give a hoot for facts and figures such as those and has decided that s/he does not like coffee, and therefore, for the next few months, neither do I.

The Bean has begun to expand and I have bid a fond farewell to my waistline. There's a definite "bump" that's appearing and making it terribly difficult for me to fully zip or button any of my pants.  I have discovered the joy of dressing an expanding body: I have discovered the joy of elastic waistbands on my pants. (Because, honestly, how many flowy dresses should one woman own?  And truly, I can't wear that sort of hippie-chic to work - I'd be one bouncing, happy Labrador retriever away from flashing my horrified clients!)

The first shopping trip for pants that would fit (and would continue to do so) was in St. Augustine, with my mom. Before my pregnancy, I think that my mother would have rather faced a pack of ravenous wolves than go shopping with me: we have very different styles and have not had the luck to have really good shopping experiences together in the past.  This time was different.  Mom loved picking out clothes for me to try on -- and I think she was quite amused by the "pretend pregnancy" pillow that you could use to approximate a 39 week pregnancy belly.  It was more square than round and fit awkwardly.  It was hilarious.  I wish I'd taken pictures.  That outing was successful and I left with a few shirts and sweaters (soon it will be cool enough to wear them!) and four pairs of pants, including a pair of black corduroys.  I have a ridiculous love for cords and was thrilled to find some that I could wear this fall and winter.  I must say, I'm quite happy that I am pregnant now, when there are a lot of cute options to choose from in maternity wear, compared to twenty years ago when, according to my Aunt, the options were huge tent-dresses with polka-dots or baggy shirts with giant bows.  It's hard enough dressing a changing body without being made to feel frumpy or clownish!

Enough about stretchy-pants!  I'm sure I'll have more to say on my shrinking wardrobe options as the weeks pass .... In the meantime, here are some pictures that Zac took of me holding a lemon that approximates The Bean:

Lemon-sized Bean

 And here's a side-view of the Bump:

Side-bump!

 And here is a picture of what happens when Zac starts channeling Wolfgang, his uncle who is a photographer, by repeatedly saying to me, "What else can you do?"

Being silly.

 ...and mere seconds later, I dropped our Baby Lemon.  I hope that this does not bode poorly for the future!