Oh, So That's Not Just Fat?

I may be one of the only pregnant women who looked down and thought her baby belly at seventeen weeks was still just normal belly fat. I've never had a flat stomach (the closest I got was after my backpacking summer; man, those were the days), so I've always been used to seeing a bit of mass when I looked down. For the past week or so, I knew my stomach looked a little bigger, but I thought I was just bloated. Yeah, I was totally wrong. (Obviously.)

Our work cleaning lady has been on vacation for five weeks, so I haven't seen her since before I left for Australia. When she came back and saw me, she looked at my belly and asked if I was pregnant. I was wearing a dress that I've worn many times before because I didn't have to worry about sucking in my stomach while wearing it (I'm a chronic-stomach-sucker-in-er). My first thought was, Thank God I can say I am, because that would be awkward (been in that position before; it's no fun). Then I started to wonder, Am I showing? Is it not just fat? When I told my coworkers this story, they told me that I had been showing but they hadn't said anything because I thought it was still just normal belly. When I told Mike, he said, "Yeah, when you kept saying that it was normal fat, I knew that didn't seem right because it seemed a little too fat to be normal for you." I FaceTimed with Nicole and showed her different angles, and she just laughed at me.

Apparently I needed it pointed out to me. And once it was, I looked down and saw something so much better than normal belly fat. It's still an adjustment to watch my body change like this and to not suck in my stomach out of habit (though I realized I can't anymore--that probably should have been a sign, no?). I've embraced the belly and wore my first maternity dress yesterday to a friend's bridal shower.

17 weeks

A friend of mine filled out this survey during her pregnancies, and I always thought it was fun. So I'm stealing it for my blog (thanks, Kerri!). 

How far along? 17 weeks, 2 days
Total weight gain: I'm actually still down a pound overall since finding out I was pregnant.
Maternity clothes: The dress in the picture and a pair of shorts, but mostly just my prepregnancy flowy dresses.
Sleep: For the most part pretty normal. I really miss sleeping on my stomach, which I stopped doing as soon as I found out I was pregnant because I knew it was going to be hard to break a twenty-eight-year habit.
Cravings: Not really. No aversions either (at least not yet). I have found that I like my water really cold now and with lots of ice, which I used to forgo before.
Best moment this week: Realizing my belly is a baby belly and feeling a few flutters after I ate.
Movement: I thought I felt the first flutter after the Paul McCartney concert earlier in the week but wasn't sure (but I really wanted it to be true because that just makes that night so much cooler). Now that I've felt a few more, I'm pretty sure those flutters are, in fact, the baby.
Gender: Don't know and not finding out!
Labor signs: Nope.
Bellybutton in or out: Still in.
What I miss: Sushi.
What I am looking forward to: Feeling the baby move more often and firm enough that Mike can feel it too. Non-baby-related, I'm looking forward to my friend's wedding next weekend and the upcoming trips we have this summer.
Milestones: Baby belly and flutters: pretty big milestones for me!