Anastasia’s pregnancy diary - week 16-18

I tried to look suitably pregnant for my parents when they picked me up at the airport, but the loose top I was wearing didn’t do my mini-bump any justice. Despite lacking firm evidence, my mum and dad were beside themselves with excitement (I’m their only daughter) and indulged me in baby talk from moment one.

Embracing the inevitable

The first thing I did when we arrived at my parents’ house was put on a fashion show of all of the Gap maternity clothing I’d ordered on-line and had shipped to their address. Most of it, barring the ‘suit jacket’ which made me look like a prison matron, was great. The problem was, the trousers all had these daunting elasticated panels in the front and my pathetic little bump didn’t hold them up. A small pillow helped complete the vision and it was actually fun to imagine myself with a proper bump, in real maternity clothes. Everyone ooh-ed and aah-ed as I sashayed through the house in my new oversized gear. Of course, if my tummy ever got as big as it was with the pillow, no doubt my bum, arms and face would follow suit and I might not look quite so cute.

I could live like this – 85F and a cloudless blue sky. Every single day, for ten days. I swam every morning, in the Olympic sized outdoor pool in my parents’ housing complex, and read magazines and baby books the rest of the day. My only interruption was shopping trips for indulgent cosmetic-type things like tons of lovely Origins bath stuff and a miracle product (we hope) called Mother’s Oil, designed to prevent stretch marks. It made me smell like a chocolate bar. Nick loved the weather and embraced his latent affinity for gambling. He won $250 and I convinced him the money would be better spent on our nursery than on another roulette table.