Inee and Outee

I just learned two new words – Inee and Outee – from my free weekly newsletter from Pregnancy Weekly. They are nouns used to describe the appearance of a belly button. An inee is a belly button that is inverted. An outee is its converse.

My belly button has been feeling rather taut and sometimes, sore, after a full meal. For a while, I was a bit concerned about what was happening to my belly button. But now, I feel so much better knowing that it is all part and parcel of pregnancy. The growing uterus presses against the belly button, making it pop out. So, my belly button is just on its way of becoming an outee. As far as I can see, it’s quarter-way there!

Growing Belly Beautiful: From Flab to Fab!

I wish my baby belly was more prominent.
I wish I looked more visibly pregnant.
I wish I could feel Baby kick and wiggle inside me already.

My wishes for a more prominent pregnant tummy may sound strange.
But you know, I do enjoy this belly ballooning process.
Never have I felt so liberated to enjoy this shape-changing, weight-gaining process.
I am thankful that I haven’t lost my waistline yet. My arms are still relatively slim. My chest is getting fuller as are my hips. Some rounding up of my previously flat bum. These all add up to a more shapely figure, and I am secretly happy with my figure now.

So in my opinion, I think my figure now is even better than before I was pregnant.
I mean, before I was pregnant, I had ’spare tyres’ of blubber sitting about my waist. What excuse had I except poor diet and non-existent exercise?
Now the blubber store is pretty much still there but thanks to the growing baby in the uterus, that blubber has been more evenly distributed. No more jiggly belly parts, just one nice rounded bump. And no one can call me ‘fat’ right now, can they?
I’m growing a baby inside me so it would just be plain rude if anyone dared call me fat.

Something else I just realised too about the beauty of being pregnant is that all the clothes that used to be a bit too unflattering on my flab now looks fabulous. They show off the curves in the right places.

So truly, I’ve been yet enlighted about another wonderful aspect of being pregnant.
All preggies belly up! ‘Cos your baby belly transforms your body from FLAB to FABULOUS!
Yes, a potential slogan for a ‘Have more babies’ campaingn in this ‘Yummy Mummy’ crazy world, don’t you think?

‘Bu’ Baby

‘Bu’ – a Chinese word that means ‘to nourish’.

I am so pleased with myself. I successfully brewed a nice pot of hashima at home! I was amazed at how a little pinch of the sweet smelling dehydrated lumps became large gelatinous gobs covering half the soup pot.

Hashima are secretions derived from a wood frog’s fallopian tubes. It sounds rather appalling, doesn’t it? Well, I’m Chinese after all so it takes quite lot more than eating genetalia and the like to scare me off. It is suppposed to be good for the complexion as well as the lungs. It is supposed to have many vitamins and minerals that are beneficial to the baby. Hashima is really quite tasteless on its own so even though the thought of its origin might make you squirm, you would probably find it easy to swallow.

So my dearest baby, I hope you’ll enjoy the benefits of hashima too!

Sometimes when I feel fat…

Thank God for husbands who are able to help wives keep perspective in an body-image-crazy world.

I especially love my husband because he thinks that the ‘Yummy Mummy’ craze is just plain ridiculous. And he would take the pains to highlight why to me. And he did it even before he would see his own wife begin to balloon with a baby.

Yesterday was the first time in this pregnancy I actually started feeling fat. When I told him so, he so very sincerely and sweetly said, “You’re not fat. You’re pregnant and you’re lovely.” Aww…

I love him so. We both can’t wait to meet each other next Friday in Macau. It would have been 3 months since we last saw each other. I could never imagine a guy being so excited about his wife putting on pounds and looking rounder. But well, I know my husband isn’t just any guy so that is why he is so eager to see my baby belly.

Thank you Father for my wonderful husband!