The Struggle is REAL!

What does that even mean?  Here is Urban Dictionary's definition: A (generally) ironic saying used in place of saying, "first world problems".  Has slightly more urban undertones than "first world problems".  Denotes a situation where the user wishes to express that they are encountering some sort of undesirable difficulty, but dealing with it.  With irony, it has a comical effect of dramatizing a non-critical, yet undesirable situation.

So what is my struggle you ask?  Getting dressed for work in the morning!  Ugh, why aren't yoga pants acceptable to wear everywhere?!  I'm at a point now in pregnancy that my normal clothes do not fit properly and maternity clothing looks a little ridiculous.  Every morning (with Ben as my witness), I feverishly try on shirt after shirt.  I always end up a sweaty mess by the time it's time to leave.

One of my coworkers, Sarah - who has two beautiful little girls, told me pretty early on about the all important belly band!  (Side note - a HUGE thank you to Sarah for the two gigantic bags of maternity clothes that she gave to me!).  Anyway, the belly band and I have become fast friends.  However, the band sort of makes you feel like a sausage...  But you can wear your normal clothing without buttoning or zipping all the way up as the band holds your bottoms in place (as shown below):  

Ben has been very helpful (and actually has a really good fashion sense)!  This past Tuesday, I was tossing clothes on the floor, the bed, etc... and he helped me piece together an outfit.  When I finally got to work, my boss asked me if I had a job interview because I looked so nice.  (!!)  Not only that, but I got a ton of compliments on my outfit and jewelry.

I've found some tips for staying fashionable during pregnancy:

• Wear jackets and/or sweaters 
• Scarfs are helpful to distract the eyes from going to your stomach or your new additional cleavage
• The maternity tank top is your friend, and easily worn under work clothes or sweaters
• Jewelry/accessories are your friend and easily used for distraction as well

Here's a photo from after work today.

I had to go to our main campus in New Port Richey for a meeting on Friday (where I had worked for 6 years until recently), and not very many people knew that we were was expecting.  I was a little surprised because I feel like it's pretty obviously.  But my coworkers have all been really supportive and seem to think that Ben and I will make great parents (we are working on that still).  

I'm officially 18 weeks now and the baby is now the size of a sweet potato (so delicious!).  This past week I ran a total of 28 miles and have been enjoying as many naps as I can possibly squeeze in.  I did feel my first baby kick yesterday, which felt a little weird at first, but is really such a cool feeling.