Week 17

Well, another week passed and I didn't write. We left on Thursday to go to the Marzonie reunion so we were a little busy preparing.
In my pregnant world, I hit the jackpot on Tuesday!! I went shopping for more maternity clothes at Plato's Closet, a consignment shop for teens. No, they didn't have a maternity section and they are not promoting teen pregnancy. However, there were several skirts and shirts that are perfect for a pregnant tummy so I picked up a few things. It's nice to have clothes that fit!
I guess shopping there was kind of like playing the lottery - you think that you have little to no chance of getting what you need but you give it a shot anyway. Well, I took a shot and got a bullseye!!
On my way out, a woman was gathering several garbage bags full of clothes that Plato's Closet had decided not to purchase from her. As she picked up the bags, the woman behind the counter said, "We don't take maternity clothes here since it is a store for teens." My ears perked up like a puppy hearing the food hit the bowl. I followed her out and asked if I could look through her stuff and buy a few things from her. She was happy to have me do that since she was hoping to get a little money from her outing.
After I sorted through 1 and a half bags, I had found 6 shirts that I really liked. We made a deal and I paid her $20. After I had put her other stuff back in her bags and was ready to be on my way, she said "Why don't you just take it all?" Wow!! So I ended up with 4 kitchen-sized bags of clothes, most of which were maternity. I finally finished sorting and washing all of it and I ended up with around 15 or 20 shirts and around 7 pairs of pants/shorts that fit.
I was really worried at first about being able to afford a whole new wardrobe. We had already spent most of the monthly clothing fund on a few nice shirts for me that I think will make it through the summer. As I thought about it, I started to realize that at that rate, I wouldn't have enough clothes to make it through a week. So we'd be doing laundry all the time and I'd be wearing the same clothes all the time. God really provided for us with this big gift - as He always does!
As for the clothes that don't fit, I'll be passing those on to my pregnant friend who's smaller than me. And the clothes that are not maternity are being passed out to sisters, cousins, and friends. We're all thrilled to be getting like-new, free clothes!!
On to Bartok....
Bartok is now the size of an onion, has fingerprints, and can chunk it on!!! (Fat is finally accumulating.) I'm showing more and more everyday, it seems. At the reunion, I didn't really get a chance to tell everyone I was pregnant - I had a belly already! It could pass for a tubby tummy, but most of the family knew that Shamus and I want children and they put it together. It was fun getting excited again in sharing the news, though!
I had my first strange feeling. I didn't feel the baby move, but I felt the baby..... I was sitting on the couch after we got back from our reunion and I had the strangest feeling. It was like someone had slowly blown up a balloon inside of me and I just noticed this thing taking up all the space where my digestive organs used to be. It's kind of like after you eat Thanksgiving dinner and you secretly unbutton your pants so you can breathe because you couldn't stop eating that delicious sweet potato pie. The difference was that my belly button was what needed to be unbuttoned and I hadn't eaten very much. I was actually hungry at the time! That feeling lasted for several hours. Shamus suggested that Bartok may have been doing a full-body stretch and I could feel the pressure from the little hands and feet against my uterus. If that's true, Bartok is a very thorough stretcher because it lasted for hours and hours!!
I read that I'll probably feel the baby sometime in the next 3 weeks!! I can't wait!!!!