I'm No Jessica Simpson...

Or Heidi Klum.

Or Marisa Miller.

Or any of the other celebrities that are either pregnant or have recently given birth.

I'm a 31 year old attorney who eats breakfast (and often lunch) at her desk, where I also sit 9-10 hours per day.  Good days are when I remember to bring my lunch because it's usually pretty healthy.  Bad days are when I say "screw it" and eat the chocolate chip cookies in the lunchroom, which is conveniently located three steps from my office.

I try to work out as much as I can, but I get tired.  A lot. In terms of pregnant people, I'm probably pretty darn average. Boring, even. I've had the typical ups and downs of most pregnant people. It's really not that exciting.

But celebrity pregnancies are never boring. Just ask the media.  

It seems the media is obsessed with pregnancy.  "People" has an entire section of their website devoted to pregnant celebrities.  Us Mag's website is almost always leading with pregnancies.  Just a few of the headlines I've seen in the last few days:

Jessica Simpson: I'm Feeling Inspired about Dieting

Model Marisa Miller Shows Off Pregnant Body During Swim Underwater

Vanessa Minillo Shows Off HUGE Baby Bump Alongside Husband Nick Lachey

Gisele Bunchden Shows Off Growing Baby Bump in Tight Tank Top

Pregnant Reese Witherspoon Shows Off Her Growing Baby Bump

Anna Paquin Pregnant: Actress Shows Off Baby Bump In London

Seriously? There are at least four different sources in these links and none of them can find a different way to say, "wow, so-and-so's baby sure is growing!  Just check out that gut!"  Might I suggest a thesaurus?

Celebrities are either lauded for their minuscule weight gain or slaughtered like lambs for excessive weight gain. It's so polarized.  Thank God the paparazzi aren't here to document mine because for the record, it's not as easy to control (one way or another) as it looks.   Some weeks I just look at a cheeseburger and gain a pound.  Other weeks I eat the burger, fries, a milkshake, and cookies and the scale doesn't budge.  Who knows?

Celebrities are under a constant microscope (and let's face it, every single one of us who reads tabloids is partially responsible for that - I'll raise my hand and admit I contribute).  Therefore, their pregnancy gain and then postpartum loss is excellent media fodder.  Apparently, there's some sort of "mommy-rexic" trend to stay as skinny as possible during pregnancy and then lose the weight in the faster manner possible which is now trickling down into the general population.

Do normal, average preggos like me feel the pressure to look cute the whole pregnancy and then lose the weight ASAP?

Here's the truth:

• I do care about my appearance.
• I do want to be a healthy person. That takes precedence over appearance.
• Gaining weight is a reality of pregnancy that cannot and should not be avoided.
• But, it is a little hard when you eat well and the scale still climbs north to numbers you've never seen before.

Also:

• Pregnancy has made me try a lot harder to take care of myself.  I sleep more, skip work outs if I'm overtired, work out when I can, eat better food, and am learning to say no.
• Cutting myself some slack has made me like myself better. For once, I am not seeing a bunch of faults with my figure.
• However, I do want to get back to my pre-pregnancy size - eventually.  
• Since I can't completely control my weight right now, I don't expect to be able to post-partum when I've got a baby leaning on me completely for her nutrition.  That is a much bigger priority anyway.
• If I had to choose between getting a post-baby PR or losing everything in three months, I'd take the PR.
• After two years of infertility, four years of sorority living, and high school, I'm a little sick of beating up my body all the time.  It's pretty much growing a miracle right now, and it deserves a little credit. 

This was day 9 of Fitness Cheerleader's August Healthy Living Blogging Challenge.