Evolution

No, I’m not going to talk about the evolution of the species but rather my evolving experience of this pregnancy. Tomorrow, Thursday, is week 8, and the two little ones inside me continue to develop. They are getting closer to an inch in length, and their bones, muscles, fingers, toes, and facial features are starting to form. My belly is starting to grow as well, and it isn’t all Puck’s delicious cooking. While he’s been diligent about providing me large meals with lots of vitamins and proteins, my weight gain has not been as much as I would have expected. A lot of that food is apparently being used to nurture new life.

Still, with my belly starting to show I’m left wondering if I might be “outed” (most likely by a student in my class) before we reach the end of this trimester. As every day seems to bring its new challenges, it might very well be my body that decides to declare itself. While I still have not thrown up, my nausea has increased the last couple of days. There have been other surprises as well. On Monday, I felt short of breath after my walk to my classroom, and a general feeling of shortness of breath stayed with me for the rest of the day. Our babies wanted more oxygen, and they were letting me know.

Last night, after a day of breathing normally, another pregnancy standard hit. When Puck made himself a bowl of bean dip as a snack, the smell just seemed overpowering. I had to move away from the bowl and even ask him to brush his teeth after he ate so I could snuggle up with him again. My super-powered sense of smell didn’t stop there. The next morning the scents of all sorts of things that my normally underactive nose never noticed accosted me, boiled eggs, my makeup, my lipstick, etc. It was an unusual experience for someone who has never been very olfactory-oriented.

I’ve had a little more trouble sleeping through the night the last couple of nights, but my naps have extended to almost 2 hours. It will be interesting to see what the future weeks bring.