Mrs. Belly

When I was pregnant with Loud Baby, I put on a few pounds.

No surprise there. 

I loved loved loved eating.

Gorging myself on yummy food.

Glorious food!

Mongolian stir-fry, quesadillas, creamy soups and lots of ice-cream.

After all-day-sickness finally bid me farewell at 16 weeks (I refuse to call it morning-sickness), I thought I earned the right to fill my tummy with good and (most of the time) healthy food.

"It's for the baby".

Of course it was...

After living on buttered toast, grapes and chicken broth with rice noodles during the first trimester, I had zero regrets in satisfying my cravings as they came.

To be totally honest, I was quite skinny before I was pregnant.

Thank you, good genes, for that. 

Seeing myself get..um... a little big...was a very interesting thing for me. 

And, although I worried about practically everything, I did not worry about losing the baby weight.

Probably because I could simply not think past giving birth. 

Suffice to say, a couple of months after having Loud Baby, most of the weight was gone.

What remained made me look...normal as opposed to quite skinny.

Except.

My belly.

I call her Mrs. Belly.

Who keeps me from being able to wear quite a few of my pre-pregnancy pants.

(Secret note: I still use a belly band so I can wear my old stuff without having to pull up the zipper.)

I have also bought a couple of new pants because I got so frustrated with all the non-zipping and covering up.

But the worst worst part of Mrs. Belly is that she makes me look pregnant. 

End of first trimester but still.

A less careful and rushed wardrobe combination of top and bottom will surely bring on the: "Are you pregnant?" question.

(By less careful I mean using something else than the 2 items of clothing that I have which are good for camouflage.) 

So I have a lot of problems with this question.

Ok, two major problems, to be exact.

1. You do not ask this. Ever. It's none of your business. You always always risk calling someone a fatty with this question. When it's obvious it's obvious.And then you won't have to ask.

2. Most of the people who feel the need to know the reason for my little food bump are women. 

Don't they know from experience that you might have some ... leftovers? Especially if they have just become moms or grandmothers?

Their enthusiasm in asking if I am pregnant again is sweet.

Was. Was sweet.

Now it's just annoying to me.

I have gone through various answers from chuckling nervously and saying "No, no..." to "I am still planning my postpartum workout" to "I need a little extra while breastfeeding". 

Lately, I just say "This? This is the baby from my love-affair with chocolate" (usually not to the granmommies, I stick to the classics there).

On a side note: my own granma noticed Mrs. Belly one day and commented on her (although not pregnancy-wise).

Now, she tends to forget things so every now and then she'll notice it and comment on her. Again.

Fun fun.

Mrs. Belly is here to stay for awhile.

And that's ok.

With all the other side-effects of having been pregnant and given birth.

Mommies are the hottest chicks, anyway. 

Gotta go. My icecream is waiting.