It's not just your belly that swells!

For quite awhile in this pregnancy, I've been told that I look "too little" and at around 6 months, people started telling me that I'm all belly. From an outsider looking in, I can see how this was true, and I certainly wasn't going to argue with them. I wasn't going to explain how my size 2 butt now is a size 5. I wasn't going to explain that my boobs may look normal compared to the belly, but that they are quickly becoming squished in my maternity bras. I'm OK with all of these changes, so I've simply smiled and said thank you.

I'm not sure why I expected to be able to stay in my pant size, to be "all belly" the entire pregnancy. I even expected to skip the swelling.

Swelling of what? You may ask if you've never gone through a full term pregnancy. Well, swelling of everything. (Called Edema: http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/pregnancyswelling.html) First, I started to notice that my wedding ring, which I'd considered getting re sized because it was too big, was leaving marks on my finger and actually hard to get off. OK, this I can deal with.

Then a few weeks ago, I went shopping. I walked around and around and I started to get a blister on my foot from some tough flip flops. I decided to use my last 30 dollar gift certificate to treat myself to some comfortable shoes. I went to the Macy's shoe department and picked out about 10 different shoes I found interesting. I grabbed them all and told the shoe attendant that I was determined to find the perfect pair of cute shoes and that I wanted all of these in a size 7 1/2. Imagine my dismay when none of them fit. A few I couldn't even get on! As I was thinking that Macy's was mean to change their shoe sizes like this, the show attendant said, "Oh my, you're going to need a bigger size with that sort of swelling!"

Excuse me?

I looked at my feet for probably the first time with clear eyes and saw that my little thin monkey toes were poofy. My foot itself was definitely bigger than it should be. Finally, I saw my ankle and almost cried. It had no definition, no structure. I did not buy shoes that day. Instead I walked out in a huff, offended by my own feet.

Of course, within a few days I knew that I needed new shoes. I bought some comfortable, breathable shoes with stretchy straps. Then I wore those outside for a few hours and was horrified with the stretchy strap marks all over my feet. That day, I made the saddest fashion decision for comfort. I decided to buy Crocs. (No offense to those who own Crocs from here on out. My personal opinion of the shoes may not coincide with your opinion, and if you love the shoes I apologize for any hurt feelings.)

Crocs are hideous. They do absolutely nothing to make a person look decent. I have never seen a foot look sexy in Crocs. Nope, they are made for comfort and convenience ONLY, and even as I was about to buy them, I balked for a moment of vanity. Then I broke every promise I've made to myself involving Crocs and spent 30 dollars on shoes that make me look like a dumbass. My feet (traitors that they are) thank me for this on a regular basis.


I'm wondering what else will grow and expand as these last couple months go on. I've already outgrown almost every piece of maternity clothing I bought when I first needed it. My face has a slight chub to it that I am not exactly loving, but mostly just ignoring. My feet are not only almost always a bit swollen now, but actually swell at different degrees. You should have heard my mother giggle as I interrupted her words as we caught up on the phone with, "What the heck?! My right foot is twice the size of my left! What is this?!!!" Just another part of the fun, apparently. One thing is certain though: I will expect the unexpected.