What's Old is New Again

Today I hit the seven-month mark in this pregnancy and spontaneously started to tally up the things that were the same and the things that are different this time around.

Honestly, the differences are easier to pick out:

• I actually had the textbook first trimester this time; nausea and extreme fatigue were the biggest clues!
• My second trimester was a lovely in-between period, and my third trimester is (so far) a reality check. I exhale noisily when I stand up. I avoid retrieving things off the floor because such movement requires absurdly wide squats. I am exhausted at four o'clock every day, no matter how I've spent the previous nine hours, no matter what I do. You get the picture.
• No line. No line! Last time, my linea nigra ran down my abdomen from early on. This time...thirty-one weeks and no line. What would account for this?
  
• No nursery. Will's old crib is in place, but the baby's mattress is still sheathed in plastic, his new room is completely stuffed with Will's overflow, his changing table is collecting dust in his big brother's room...maybe we are just being realistic about those first few months when he will almost certainly be sharing our room.
• I...just...don't...look the same. For purposes of comparison, below is a picture of me from roughly the seven-month point with Will (in fact, I'm about 29 weeks pregnant with Will here, versus 31 weeks with baby 2 in the photo at the top of this post):
• 

I just look more streamlined this time around. I don't feel more streamlined, and it's not like I've gained less weight this time. I don't know what accounts for this either.

The obvious pregnancy markers of big belly, nervous excitement, and dry skin are the three "sames" I can count.

Otherwise? I lose track of how many weeks I am, we have yet to install our carseat base, and when people ask "How are you feeling?" I think they are referring to the cold that is going around instead of (duh) the fact that I am in the process of growing a human.

(Yes, I think I'm dumber this time around, too.)

The final Big Difference: I have gotten to the point where I need to snuggle Will on my left or right side while reading him books--the lap is nonexistent, and this time around, that changes everything! Our book-reading in the glider, our bedtime routine, our tickle fights and the old ride-on-mommy's-back routine have all been altered to fit my current physical capabilities.

(Hey, at least my eyelids have started to disappear again. Now, THAT'S a pregnancy symptom I would have chosen NOT to repeat. Oh well.)