Baby Shower, etc

First, I went to my follow-up with the specialist I’m seeing regarding my chronic hypertension. My blood pressure is completely under control for now so things are looking good. I also found out that since my last appointment with him, 4 weeks ago, I have not gained a pound! I made a point to ask if this was normal and he said that it was fine but they are going to run an additional Thyroid test along with my glucose. That is definitely one thing about pregnancy that I would never have predicted! Going in I was a size 14/16 so I was SURE that my weight would be a constant focus/issue in my care. I worried that I would gain too much and I’d be constantly scolded. Apparently that is not the case for the first time in my LIFE! Some of the pregnancy pants I’ve purchased are actually falling off. My belly is getting bigger but the rest of me is getting smaller!

On to the baby shower!!
We had a really good time. My cousin married into a very large Italian family. It’s somewhat of a culture shock to spend time with them because their family is so close and so large. I did feel like the black sheep being the pregnant lesbian and all but no one asked or said anything. I was also one of 7 pregnant ladies there and other than the above mentioned I was definitely different from them! They were all done up with manicures, pedicures and highlights in their hair (I won’t do either while pregnant) and they all ate the Cheese Cannelloni that I refused to. Isn’t Ricotta on the list of things not to eat? Call me paranoid, or whatever, but I’m not taking chances with food that may not be heated to the proper temperature and is listed as something avoid! I knew this already about my cousin since she ate Caesar salad the last time I was with her. She’s so relaxed and I’m very cautious.
As for the shower itself, it was pretty much eat and then open presents. She had the most amazing fondant cake (I’ll post a picture when I get home)! I’ve learned a few things about registering from her. For example: DO NOT put wash clothes and towels on your registry!! OMG, she received so many and they are so cheap you can easily pick some up on your own. She also received everything in yellow and enough ducks to make me want to take up duck hunting. There seriously CAN be too much yellow and too many ducks. I’ve seen it! IF we were to keep the sex a secret in the future I’d probably say I only want organic clothing/blankets so that we can avoid this. At least that way you’d get some nice neutral oatmeal colours.
Next up will be our shower. We’ve decided to have two. Originally it was going to be one for friends and one for family but it is turning out that some family will come to our friends shower instead. Both will take place in November with the second one being at my 35 week mark. Hopefully I’m not too big or cranky by then but the dates ended up that way and there isn’t much we can do about it!