Jake has been using his time off to move rooms around. He took apart his computer desk and moved it into the basement and hooked his computer up down there. Then he moved the bed out of the baby's room and moved it into the old computer room. Now we just have to figure out how to refinish the dresser to match the crib. And we have to call the store and ask them to deliver the crib. And we have to pick out paint and other decor for the room. I am itching to get it done, but since I can't do much of it I'm trying not to push Jake. I know it's that dreaded nesting instinct, and I just have to tell myself that I have three months left to finish putting the room together.

I've been feeling more and more movement as time goes on. I was only feeling pokes and jabs in my lower abdomen, but now I feel them from lower abdomen to just below my ribcage. The pokes and jabs are still somewhat light, but every now and then there will be a succession of movements that feel like she's taking kickboxing lessons in there! I am having pretty severe back pain, and it's unlike any back pain I've had before. The pain begins in my right butt cheek and goes down my right leg, which sounds like sciatica, but I have had sciatic pain before and this is different. It almost feels like my leg is dislocated from my right hip. I have a prenatal massage scheduled for tomorrow, and I may try out a different chiropractor.

I had my regular OB appointment this morning. She did her measurements of my belly and gave a quick listen to the heartbeat. Everything is coming along nicely, I guess. I weigh the same as I did four weeks ago at my last appointment. I told her that people keep giving me curious and sometimes worrisome glances when I tell them how far along I am, and that my mother-in-law keeps asking me if I’ve gained any weight. The doctor pretty much solidified the answer that I’ve been giving people: I was overweight to begin with, and therefore do not need to gain a lot of weight. In fact, it could be dangerous to gain a lot of weight. I was also given a referral to have the dreaded sugar test in a few weeks. I’m debating “forgetting” to have the test done. I’ve done some research and I have my reasons.

Today we had a hospital tour (the c-section room was freaky deaky), then we went out for a yummy breakfast, then we bought a crib! Yay! Now I'm going to take a nap.

Jake and I went crib shopping over the weekend. We are both the most indecisive people on earth, especially when it comes to big purchases. The Baby’s Room in Michigan was having a big sale and almost all of their furniture was on sale. Instead of picking something out and being on our way, we hemmed and hawed and couldn’t make up our minds. To be fair, we are concerned about a) getting it over the border because Jon is the only one with a truck and he’s super busy and b) having to pay duty and taxes on the furniture if it’s not made in North America. There’s not much point in a discount if we’d wind up paying regular price anyway once you factor all that in. We have a long weekend coming up in two weeks, so we’re planning on going up to Toronto to check out the factory outlet store for Mother Hubbard’s Cupboards, which is a company that sells furniture made in Canada. There is a dealer in Michigan, but the factory outlet in Toronto sells their furniture at a discount, has discontinued items, etc. We’re hoping we’ll find something there because then we don’t have to worry about getting it over the border.

We didn’t walk away from The Baby’s Room without making a purchase, though. We found bedding that we fell in love with, so we ordered it. It’s bedding that I must’ve passed over 150 times during my online searches because the pictures online do the set absolutely no justice. I don’t even want to post pictures here because I would rather get the room together and post our own pictures – that’s how crappy it looks online. I feel like a dummy for changing my mind so many times. That’s why I’m afraid to tell family and friends about our registries because I keep tinkering with them! LOL!

First, a rant: I have a love/hate relationship with Old Navy, and it’s quickly becoming more of a hate relationship. First of all, Old Navy in Canada just plain sucks. Their selection sucks, their prices suck, and their hours suck. But within the last year or so, American Old Navy stores started phasing our plus sizes, and the only way you can get Old Navy plus sizes is by ordering them online without trying them on first, and if they don’t fit you have to pay to ship them back because the stores no longer accept plus size returns. That pissed me off, because they’re basically sending a message to fat women that says “We want your money, but we don’t want to see you in our stores.” However, I was still able to fit into some of their stuff, considering that their “regular” Women’s sizes go up to a 20 on bottom and XXL on top.

Old Navy Online sells Maternity clothes up to an XXL, and since they don’t technically have plus sizes in Maternity, I figured they would carry up to an XXL in their stores’ Maternity sections. After all, the “regular” Women’s section goes up to an XXL, right? The largest size that Old Navy had in their Maternity section was an XL. I was so livid, and thankfully my loving husband listened to me bitch and moan and agreed that their policies are bullshit. Either carry the sizes or don’t. None of this online-only crap. If you’re going to offer online-only for fat girls, don’t charge them to ship the stuff back because you won’t let them return the clothes to the stores when they don’t fit.

There is such little selection for plus-size women as it is, and the selection for plus-size PREGNANT women is even more dismal. I’m relegated to two racks at Motherhood, where they charge $40 for a pair of jean capris, but it’s the only place where I can actually try clothes on. No department stores carry plus size maternity. I have very little choice but to order clothes online, try them on at home, and then return the items that don’t fit and eat the shipping costs. None of the sizing is consistent, either. I’m a 1X at one place, a 2X at another, an XXL at another and an XL at yet another. AAAAAAAARGH sorry, done ranting now.

I’m noticing interesting reactions from people about my pregnancy. It is still not obvious to strangers that I am pregnant, which I am enjoying because I don’t like the attention. But the people who DO know I am pregnant are acting weird. My MIL keeps asking me if I’ve gained any weight, because I think she’s just concerned that I am not showing at all. Then on Saturday our neighbor Keith walked down to our yard sale to say hi, and this is how our conversation went:

Keith: Hi Melissa! How are you feeling? [looks at my belly]
Me: [feels self-conscious] I’m feeling pretty good these days! I’ve had some issues unrelated to my pregnancy, but otherwise I’m doing well, thanks!
Keith: How far along are you? [looks at my belly again]
Me: Almost 23 weeks, so ummm. . . 5 ½ months?
Keith: [look of concern and shock comes over his face, looks at my belly again] REALLY. Wow. You’re doing good then!
Me: [blushing] Yeah, I guess. I’m not showing much yet, I know . . .

People keep reacting that way!! LOL. It’s almost like they think I’m starving my baby or something, and I want to look at them and say, “Does it look like I’m hurting for food?” My sister didn’t start showing until she was 7 months along, and I have a feeling I’ll be the same way. Jake and I have noticed that my belly is poking out a bit more, only because we both know my belly pretty well, but most other people aren’t noticing it.