watch your organs get squished

install the adobe flash player if you don't already have it, then watch this little pair of videos:

>> organ squishing

linea nigra

i'm one of the lucky 75% of women who had a fascinating thing called the "linea nigra" appear on my abdomen when i got pregnant.

for those of you who don't know about this crazy phenomena, well, the name means "black line" which is completely appropriate... since that's essentially what it is.

i can't remember when i first noticed it, but it starts way down low near your pubic region and slowly creeps its way up your abdomen (vertically, centered, right on through your belly button), lengthening as you grow.

it's more like the color of a burn after it heals and scars over temporarily.

anyways, i swear its height exactly matches the height of your uterus because every time i went to the doctor and they told me how tall my uterus had gotten, the line was right there with it. no one ever confirmed this theory for me, but i'm sticking to it.

which i think is pretty cool - it was essentially my own little utero-ruler. albeit a slightly crooked one.

i hear they go away after birth usually... but again, i have yet to experience that portion of the magic. apparently a lot of things are supposed to go back to normal afterwards and didn't seem to do so for me. maybe i need to wait longer than 4 months?

anyways, at last check - the normal bus passed me by. i'm still striped. sorta like an inverse skunk.