oh no

When I got pregnant and was finally past the ten weeks my husband and I decided to wait before telling anyone, my mom asked if I had any questions. I came up with a few about pregnancy and child-rearing, and Al spent many nights by mom's side asking for advice on how to raise children (he spent more time with mom than my brothers did since I was living with my parents once we brought her home). One time she wasn't talking much and I was trying to get her to talk again. I asked her a question I had been dreading the answer to: "Mom, am I going to get an outie?"

Mom, probably wondering why I was bothering her with such an unimportant question, shrugged her shoulders and said with exasperation, "I don't know, Rhonda. Probably."

The dreaded outie. I don't know why it bothers me so much to think about having a belly button that pops out instead of dimpling in, but it did and does. And up until today, it's at least been flat, although stretched tight and practically non-existent. But today I noticed that it's popping out of my belly, just slightly. It's also--and this is strange--bruised. It's a yellow-brownish color just like I would have if I had bumped into something with my shins or something. Now, maybe this is because I keep (sometimes consciously, sometimes unconsciously) trying to push it back in, but I don't think so. I noticed the bruise at the same time I noticed that it was popping out. And to the fact that I now have an outie I silently groan and think, Oh no. It better go back in when this kid is born. I'm fairly certain it will, but the thought that Maybe it won't just lurks there in the back of my mind, taunting me. Along with the thought, Now I really will have to sit at a table at Kerby's. No way I'm fitting into a booth without squishing the kid now.

Ah, the quirks of pregnancy. Never a dull moment... :)