The Belly Diaries: The way I see it.

In the beginning -- at about 7 weeks -- there was a relatively flat stomach

(even without much sucking in thereof).

About 47 kg (about 103lb). A tad under weight perhaps -- initial trouble with Chinese food will make your already slightly too big pants have issues. Ha! We'll see if I'm still recording my weight by the end of this...

After which...there wasn't much to look at until 12 weeks...

Being pregnant in China. Of course I've nothing to compare it to but my personal opinion is, its enough to make the most sanest of people doubt their sanity. Problem is, I'm not sure I'm the most sane person I know in the first place (I do live in China after all). So mostly these days, I feel like I'm grasping onto any possible piece of my mind I have left and holding it tight lest I forget where I put it (you found it where?).

Hey! There's a bump!

I walk to the bottom of the stairs and then back again to make sure I haven't left the keys in the door (because I can't ever find them in my purse the first time I look). I'd probably do it a second time except that we live on the third floor.

I check the oven is turned off before going to bed every night -- even if I haven't used it that day.

I have a reoccurring dream where I sit down and eat an entire 500ml of whipping cream by myself in one sitting -- they organic kind mind you. I'm partial to a particular brand that I can't remember the name of but I can see the box clear as day in my mind...the other reoccuring dream (although not so much of late) is where I eat an entire lobster tail after fighting another five people for it.

Last night, I walked by McDonalds -- which I haven't eaten at in over 5 years on principle let alone the fact their food is gross -- and began salivating over the Choc Mint McFlurries. McFlurries are new here and despite the fact I've never eaten a Choc Mint McFlurry anyway, somehow my mind began to engage in a war trying to convince myself that I had eaten one at some point and that I really needed to eat one because getting enough calcium here is a problem. Darn you "What to Expect" for telling me that ice cream serves as a serving of calcium -- do you really think anyone, let alone pregnant women need to be encouraged to eat more ice cream? Did it ever occur to you that one of your 'over 12 million copies sold' would be in a country with no decent ice cream. Ok I can get ice cream but its not good ice cream and wouldn't satisfy my craving for cream in the slightest. I'd just have to eat more...one giant downward spiral.

Jason saved the day. He took my hand and dragged...um...guided...more like dragged...me away (ok, ok, kicking and screaming). Tried to console me by reminding me I was holding a mango ice in my hand (that doesn't have anything other than mango and ice in it -- read: no cream) and that I'd regret it later...I forget the rest of the pep talk from then on out.

But the foreign import store, had cottage cheese the other day! I paid more than I ever have for cottage cheese -- much like the time I paid $30 for a jar of Vegemite during the great Vegemite Import Ban of '07 back in the USA. Only this time I paid about $5 for 100g of cottage cheese. Won't be doing that too often!

12 weeks:

added 2cm to the waist and about 1kg to the scale!

My calculations and the Baby Centre put me at 14 weeks now -- I need to take a new photo so I'll put up 'our' new stats later.