Petroleum. . . Jelly?

Some of you know a few basic things about me: 1) I have a tendency to carry plastic baggies (or ziplock bags) with me at all times (along with other things, like a flashlight and pocketknife--you never know when you'll need them). 2) I can't live without Vaseline--I use it both as a lip balm and for my hands. (You have to get it in just the right ratio of water: Vaseline so it doesn't stay gooey--thanks to Dad for teaching me the trick that works better than anything else I've ever tried).

Well, Friday I was at a science teacher conference. I had just grabbed another bagel at the breakfast when they announced that we had to be in the auditorium within one minute before the doors were locked for the keynote speaker. I wrapped my bagel in a napkin and threw it in my backpack. There was no food allowed in the auditorium, but after a while of struggling to stay awake, I thought I could sneakily eat some of my bagel to help keep me awake. Not wanting to get crumbs in my backpack, I felt around for a ziplock bag I knew I had just put in my bag. I found it, carefully placed the bagel in it, and continued to enjoy my breakfast as I listened to the speaker and watched his PowerPoint in the dark room. I kept the bagel in my backpack, just reaching down every now and then to tear off a piece.

I was down to the last quarter of the bagel when I felt something slimey. My first thought was that it was the part of the bagel that had gotten a little bit of cream cheese on it, but I was pretty sure I had eaten that first. I reached to the other side of the bagel and again felt the sliminess. Must be a really juicy raisin, I thought. I put it in my mouth and started to chew. After a few seconds, I knew what I had done--put the bagel in a bag that I was using for a little bit of Vaseline! For some reason, I continued to chew and swallow it. Leaving wasn't an option--I was in the back in the middle of a very crowded row.

I'm still not sure why I didn't spit it out. Maybe because it was only a tiny bit, but I didn't know how much it would affect me later. I was grossed out for a bit, but it wasn't too bad. . . until I tried to use Vaseline in my normal manner later on that day. Suddenly, having it on my lips was disgusting. Out of necessity, I've continued using it, but I'm grossed out every time, especially if I eat right after I apply. When I was telling Sam the story later, I had to stop giving him details because it was literally making me gag. I'm hoping that since the kind I have is scented (actually a generic kind that is cheaper), the unscented won't bother me as much.

If there were any questions in anyone's mind, I'd like to strongly confirm that even though it's called petroleum "jelly," it's definitely not the kind of jelly you want to eat on your bagel.

Belly

<--This is my belly when I was a kid. This is what I feel like my belly is like now (at 12 weeks).


Okay, so to answer a few requests, this was me at 12 weeks, when I really started to notice the difference. I was pretty disappointed by this picture, though. I sware it was bigger in real life. But maybe that's because this picture was taken about four hours after I'd eaten. It's right after I ate that it really stuck out. I think I'm done with the profile shots, though. At least for putting them on the blog.

Choo-choo Train Heartbeat

(excerpt from my journal 2/08/09)
It seemed like it was taking the nurse forever to find the baby's heart beat at my first doctor's appointment (11 weeks along). For a few seconds I panicked and even wondered if I'd made this whole pregnancy thing up (weight gain and all), but of course I was just a little too excited. Then I heard the "choo-choo train" sound I'd heard about. I can't really describe the feeling of having a little more evidence of something (someone!) living and growing inside of me. I couldn't help smiling in awe and excitement. It only lasted a few seconds and then moved away. It was disappointing to be over so quickly, but still pretty amazing. (For the record, at my next appt. a month later, the nurse named mine the "favorite baby of the day" for being the easiest little heart beat to find.)