Maternity Underwear (Male readers feel free to skip this one)

So, I tend to talk alot about the challenges of being pregnant and I thought it was time to say a few words about the rewards. There's feeling the baby move which is amazing, "the glow", having a great excuse to shop and decorate a room, the bond you suddenly feel to other women, being able to have cravings met more readily than ever before and the expansion of your bust line. Those are all great, but I think the biggest perk or shall we say trade off is no period for 9months.
When I first found out I was pregnant I was trying to make a list of positive things about pregnancy and that was the only thing on my list. Amenorrhea (absence of a menstrual period in a woman of reproductive age) has some obvious perks. I put away all that monthly paraphernalia that had been part of my existence and the contents of my purse since I was 13 with a sigh of relief. No more watching the weeks and planning my social life around my menstrual cycle. This, I thought, will be a long vacation.
Apparently, my mother's generation (or maybe just my mother herself) doesn't really have extensive underwear collections. I can tell you that I along with most of my friends have hundreds or pairs, much to our significant others' delight. I'm not talking fancy lingerie just your everyday stuff (although some of it is very pretty). I thought how amazing it would be to wear whichever pair I wanted without having to switch to granny panties for a week every month and was filled with glee. I didn't count on how quickly my expanding uterus would mean I could no longer comfortably wear any of the underwear I owned. I found out I was pregnant at 5 weeks and by 11 weeks I needed new underwear.
The thought of going to Target and getting a $5 pack of white cotton granny panties was a miserable one for me. What is the point of having almost a year off from periods if you can't wear cute underwear? Maybe this is silly to some people, but I've always felt happier and more confident when I am wearing cute underwear. Plus all those pairs I already owned sitting idly by with an ever growing mound of my clothing was depressing and I think a lot of women are cheered up by cute new underwear. So instead of being responsible (which I was perfectly willing to do for maternity clothes) I went to Motherhood and got maternity bikini cut, hipsters and boy short maternity underwear. I am so glad I did. I wasn’t brave enough for maternity thongs although they’re apparently very popular. I still miss my pre-pregnancy stuff, but it's easier to cope with an expanding waistline and stretch marks on your ass with cute underwear (even if no one knows they're there, but me).

You Don't Look Pregnant

So, I started out a very tiny person (under 100lbs, under 5ft) and I wasn't quite sure how pregnancy weight would hit me. I had been told by several people that small people show faster and I had my fingers crossed for that. The truth is I saw a difference at about 10-11 weeks, but the rest of the world is just seeing it now, 23wks.
When I was about 3 months along Michael and I went out to eat. I ordered a decent amount of food and the waitress remarked "that's alot of food for such a small girl." I smiled and said "well it helps that I'm eating for two." She then proceeded to look me up and down twice furrow her brow and remark "you don't look like it."
It's not just strangers, either. Every time I've seen my father since announcing the pregnancy he says "you don't look pregnant." Somehow even with all the milestones: finishing the first trimester, hearing the heartbeat, wearing maternity clothes, having an ultrasound, there's still something isolating about being pregnant and not looking the part. Your whole world is upside-down and nobody knows.
Of course right around 5months I was waiting in line in the women's restroom dressed in non-maternity clothes (not too tight from before I got pregnant stuff) and this old lady said "Honey, is that your first baby?" I was elated, but it hasn't happened since.
The other down side to being tiny is one I've dealt with my whole life and is now complicated by pregnancy, looking alot younger than I am. My mother vividly remembers telling people she was pregnant and getting remarks like "oh, no you're not old enough for that." Granted I'm 8yrs older than my mother was when she was pregnant with me, but that doesn't stop comments and stares. Also adding fuel to the fire is the fact that Mike's height dwarfs me further and causes people to wonder about a possible indecent age difference/foul play.
For those of you who were on the other side of the comments "Are you sure it isn't twins?" or "How far along did you say? That's gonna be a big baby!" I hope you're not rolling your eyes at me because either end of the comment spectrum stinks. I wish people would just say "congratulations" and walk away sometimes. Something about being pregnant makes you vulnerable to all kinds of remarks and unsolicited advise.
The truth is every women is shaped differently, every uterus is slightly different and sitting in a unique position inside of us and every gestating human has a different favorite position so of course pregnant women come in every shape and size. Hollywood only shows you enormous bellies on glowing women, but there's 3 trimesters in pregnancy why only celebrate the last weeks?
I continue to get slowly, happily (most of the time) fat at my own pace.