This next one I had completely forgotten about until the other day. Why I suddenly remembered it, I have no idea, but it’s a good one.
So by the end of the second trimester I had finally begun showing. I know, I know – what, SM? Shut your mouth, that’s hardly fair. But it’s true.
I remember a day at work when I was almost 6 months pregnant, and whoever I was talking to had no idea that I was even expecting. Hey, I’m tall – almost 6′ – there’s plenty of room for things to spread out before popping horizontally. Like to my ass.
But anyway. Around that time my stomach started to itch like crazy. And I mean iiiitch. It was like I constantly had itching powder in my shirts, and it was annoying as hell.
At a Memorial Day party last year I asked one of my friends who had a baby exactly 1 year before I had D if that was normal and she was like oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about that. It’s totally normal. All right, it may be uncomfortable and a little embarrassing walking around scratching my belly all the time like it’s my beer gut and I’m just wasting time til the next possum hunt with Jethro, but at least it’s not just me.
And when you think about it, it makes total sense. Your skin is being stretched further and further past normal to contain the growing babe, so that’s bound to be somewhat irritating. Yet this was another one of those simple and most logical of facts that totally escaped me until it actually happened.
I would look at my stomach sometimes after a particularly itchy session and could see the reddish/purple streaks where I had been clawing myself. I always put lotion on my stomach after my showers while I was pregnant, which did temporarily help soothe the itching, but in order for it to have masked it completely I think I would have had to bathe in the stuff twice daily. Sorry, didn’t have time for that. And have you ever tried to get lotion out of your hair? Gross.
So there you have it. Those of you in the later stages of pregnancy are probably reading this right now nodding and scratching without even knowing it. Those of you still in the beginning, just wait. You’ll soon resemble a cat at a scratching post. Except you’re both the cat and the post. Fun, fun!
p.s. one of our friends had her baby boy this past saturday! congratulations, K with baby O!!
The itching was horrible! Unlike you, I was in maternity clothes before the end of my first trimester and I was itching like crazy already. By the end of pregnancy I think the nerves around my abdomen were all fried. I felt like I had a horrible sunburn for the first couple months after the twins were born.
Oh my gosh! Ok, you take the cake. That’s WAY worse than I had. I can only imagine what it would feel like with 2 buns in the oven. But yeah, that was one I wasn’t expecting and it itched like a bastard!!