As pregnancy has gotten trendy (have you seen all the fashion reports in recent seasons that proclaim "baby bump is the new black"?), it has become popular to sugar-coat the experience of pregnancy itself. Halle Berry went on the record about how much she loves being pregnant - even morning sickness! Teenage waifs are all wearing baby-dolls and empire waists that make them look like Nicole Richie at her emaciated-yet-pregnant present. This adds up to a cultural moment in which we are not only supposed to celebrate pregnancy (which I'm all for), but we're also supposed to suck it up and pretend it's bliss. Reporting from the trenches of the first trimester, I'm here to say that this stage of pregnancy feels much less like a fashion statement or membership in an elite mommy club than it does a hostage crisis. My body has been taken over by raging hormones, slack ligaments and clanky joints, exhaustion that finds its muse in narcolepsy, and nausea, of course. It's impossible to make plans because I might be too sick to tolerate the smell of anything in a restaurant or too tired to crawl out of bed. And the cruelest thing about it is that at this point I look like myself, only über. The only weight I've gained is in my breasts, and my hair is thicker and shinier than ever. And the curse extends to my poor husband who can't predict when it might be safe to lay a finger on his va-voomy wife.
But at least I can console myself with trapeze dresses...
1 comment:
You can imagine my surprise when I thought this was a picture of you... DAMN! Only the 3rd click (and noticing the Halle Berry in the title) did I realize my mistake. I was all about "Marriage and pregnancy did you well!" Wish you 3 could have made it this weekend - will miss u!
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