Well, here we are at 9 weeks. Hard to believe that so much development is going on right now with our little baby. Here are a few of the things “mom” has been experiencing…

Weight gain and a disappearing waistline is the topic of the month. Oh yeah, that’s right! Currently, I am down to only two pairs of pants that I can wear, and with that, I have to stretch them out as much as possible before trying to zip them up. Maternity clothes shopping is in my near future. To amuse you further, I have quickly learned to keep a zip-lock bag of plain, sliced bread on my nightstand with a bottled water. Either I’m hit in the middle of the night with the worst nausea you’ve ever experienced or intense hunger pains that try to convince me that I haven’t eaten in days. This new bedside trick came after I had to wake Sean up at 4 a.m. to grab me club crackers and an ice cold water. Sorry honey!

I’ve learned the smell of the shredded parmesean cheese (in the green canister) is my worst nightmare, and just the smell of it will send me running to the bathroom. I also use to LOVE pickles, and now I cannot stand the smell nor taste of them. Way too salty all of the sudden! Taking a shower has become a huge accomplishment, and if I can put on my makeup and dry my hair without having to sit on a barstool from the kitchen, I’m having a REALLY good day. I have learned that the fatigue of pregnancy, along with the constant nausea, has completely changed my way of life for the time being. I can only run about two errands in one day, and if one of them is the grocery store, I should narrow it down to that one errand for the day. AND when grocery shopping, I will crave one thing while I’m there, and when I get home, I ask myself why I even bought that, and it sits in the freezer for weeks before I even think about wanting to eat it. That can make snacking a little challenging when you are hungry, yet don’t have anything in the house that looks good to you. Once I get home from the grocery store or any errands, I either need a nap or have to sit on the couch for an hour to recover. HGTV and TBS have become my best friends these days, since I’ve been so sick. You could soon hire me to redecorate your entire house, give you advice on how to decorate to sell your house faster, or recite the latest episodes of Everyone Loves Raymond or Seinfeld.

Megan and John have learned that in order to have dinner with me and Sean, they need to call me the day before or by lunch the same day. While I’ve been pregnant, I can handle only so much snacking until I have to have a real meal, and that usually falls around 4:30 p.m. Sean jokes with me that we should get the senior citizens discount eating that early.

The most frustrating thing to deal with has been the nausea. I have had to cancel more outings with friends, dinner with friends and staying home from church than I ever thought I would. To make it more frustrating, I joined the choir and volunteered to be our Sunday School class administrator just before we found out we were pregnant, so I’m sure those people would really appreciate me showing up more consistently. But when you’re hunched over in bed while green in the face, it makes the most common daily tasks very big challenges. Especially early mornings and late nights - that’s when it is the worst.

So, those are just a few of the funny (and some of the not so funny) pregnancy moments I have experienced thus far. I know it’s all going to be worth it in the end when we’re holding our little baby in our arms. And I know life will never be the same. Although it will be different, it will be BETTER! So, I guess I’m just in training, huh? More to come soon!