The Creature

I'm pregnant. And I've thought of all sorts of big flashy ways to say so, but mostly I just need to say so, if only so I can start recording some of my thoughts in this space. It seems anti-climactic to report, since I'm 20 weeks along now, and I already announced to Facebook and I don't have a picture for you, and really 20 weeks is not that interesting, though I thought it would be, and I would have given my right arm to make it to 20 weeks last time.

Here's what no one told me: though people post cute pregnancy pictures at all sorts of early weeks, you can't really tell I'm pregnant yet unless you know you're looking for it. No one told me that I'd just look, well, increasingly chubby for over half my pregnancy. And there's this odd thing that happens, where I'm impatient for my body to announce it for me, impatient for the real evidence to proceed me in social situations and manifest with flashy glory all of the weird changes my body is undergoing. And at the same time, ugg, I miss my normal jeans. A few weeks ago at the dentist office the dentist said, "Oh, but you're not even showing yet!" and I wanted to tell her that wasn't really such a nice thing to say. I wanted to grab my girth and shout, "This is showing! This isn't normal!" But then, saying you can tell isn't all that nice either, so really no one can win.

I have a friend who says pregnancy is backwards: you want and need to tell people in the early months when it's new and when you're sick and miserable and need to be treated like a precious magnificent object. And when you can tell people, you actually feel better and don't need that much attention. This is so true. Sometimes now I even forget. One of my bosses asked me (very very delicately) if I was expecting at the end of a long conversation about something else entirely, and I realized I had meant to tell her I was, and had just completely and utterly forgot. I nearly smacked my forehead. Huh? Oh, yes! Yes, I am, come to think of it.

It's strange to tell people now, since I've been this way for 20 weeks and have said nothing, and really saying you're pregnant is always something very specifically about you, and ultimately so personal, and I don't always feel like saying something so personal. (Another pregnant friend pointed out this being weird. I have smart friends.) Sometimes I want it to be a secret still. I want to feel the little fish flip about in my stomach and wonder what she can hear/think/be at this point, and just savor that. It's rather lovely that it's still, no matter how many people know, just happening to me right now. It's so oddly mine, this pregnancy, in a way perhaps nothing else has been. Strange and disorienting, yes, yes, but so beautifully specific.

Comments

Russanne said…
Beautiful! I really loved this.
Giuli said…
Yep, I think that for the first 5 months I just look like I ate too many cheeseburgers, and I rush to wear my pregnancy tops, almost willing myself to have a cute belly. Don't worry, that cute preggo roundness will come soon, and then you will be too uncomfortable to enjoy it. I'm so totally and completely excited for you! Lots of prayers coming from Arizona.
mk said…
I love reading things you write and I'm SO excited for your little fish. :)
Jana said…
So true! I love your perspective. And, congrats!!!
Genevieve Beck said…
Can not even tell you how much I related to this post, especially when I had Timothy. I had people tell me last month that I wasn't really showing. I decided to start saying thank you, but then again, I knew that meant they just thought I was naturally big. :) So excited for you though!
Jennie Larsen said…
O Happy Day!!!! Congratulations...and YES...I TOTALLY agree...I HATE when people say I'm not even showing. However, a friend of mine today said "Wow...you totally popped; I can even tell you're pregnant from behind!" Not exactly what I wanted to hear, but oh well. Long live the stupid but usually well-intentioned things people say. I'm super happy for you and wish you all the best!!!!!!
belann said…
And the grandma is happy!
Amara said…
Didn't I tell you that? Sorry. I hated being pregnant for that reason. Most of the time I just looked fat. By the time I showed, I felt as big as a house and it wasn't a cute "pop" like some tall girls get. "Oh you swallowed a basketball" people would say to my tall neighbor. I looked like I swallowed the concession stand at a basketball game. I hated tall people for 3 times 9 months.
Congratulations Deja (& Sam)! Oooo, I'm thrilled for the 3 of you.

I missed the FB announcment, so when I read this post (actually it was your books & pregnancy post that let me know) I nearly leaped for joy.

Pregnancy is a weird state of being, to say the least. For me, it's like I'm transported to an alternate reality. Nothing is normal. Everything seems to be turned on its head. And yes, the whole "chubby" thing. I can totally relate. Even though I get huge at the end, I never feel "cute." Just big. And fat.

So excited for you! hugs, Janae

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