If there are any men who read this blog, you might want to skip this entry. Its going to be mostly about being pregnant.

We’re at six months folks, and to be quite honest, the roundness of my belly is making me appreciate just how slender I used to be. You never seem to appreciate what you had till its gone. And while I was lucky enough to not have suffered any morning sickness (keeping my fingers crossed that it won’t hit me in the last trimester), I am experiencing occasional, nearly debilitating headaches and …dun dun dun… carpal tunnel.

Seriously. It’s a big problem. Carpal tunnel and pregnancy seems to be common, but my right hand gets it worse — I wake up in the mornings and the hand on the side I’m sleeping on will be numb. My right middle finger often will feel numb while the other fingers feel fine. The other day, I had a hard time brushing my teeth and I can hardly write notes at work anymore. Don’t get me started on trying to twist open a bottle now.

As for the headaches, I typically get them if I let too many hours pass before I eat. I tend to have to eat frequently now, but I can’t eat a whole lot at a time. Its really annoying. I used to be able to eat big meals, but not anymore.

Really, the most annoying thing is the clothes. You’d think I’d be all about the cute maternity clothes, but at heart, I am a miser. And it bothers me that I have to buy clothes that I can only wear for six months, at most. (Although some people are reassuring me that I’ll have to wear this stuff after I deliver, but I don’t think that’s necessarily a goal of mine.) In addition, I can’t really go to my usual haunts — Ross, Burlington Coat Factory, Marshall’s or T.J. Maxx — for these items. I have gotten pretty lucky in that I’ve been able to keep most items at $20 or less from Motherhood Maternity, but that’s still quite a bit, especially for clothes I’m hoping to not have to wear beyond April.

Then there’s the shoes. Before I got pregnant, I’d been trying to dress more like a girl — you know, skirts, shoes that are taller than flat. But now, all those fitted clothes don’t fit around the belly and I can’t stand wearing my wedge-heeled sandals for too long anymore. Sigh. So now I have to find some shoes that aren’t too tall, but at least have some arch to them — so those flats that seem to be all the rage won’t work. Well, at least I can wear these shoes beyond April, assuming I don’t have to get a size bigger than usual for my swelling feet.

(I am adding this after originally publishing, since I meant to include this but just forgot. I’ve been forgetting a lot lately — the other day, I left my bagel in the toaster.)

However, I am now able to feel the baby move. It’s an exciting feeling — I think I first became aware the Saturday night before Trivia Bowl. And since then, I’ve been able to figure out that this baby’s schedule seems to be a lot like Trinity’s — active in the afternoons and evenings. Heheh, like father, like son. Trinity has also felt a little bumpity bump maybe twice, which is a joy I cannot describe. Feeling the baby move has been a relief, since, even though I knew in my mind that the baby was healthy and growing well and, yes, he’s still in there — I don’t think it becomes quite real until you feel your baby wiggling and bumping inside you.