25 Weeks: So this is Heartburn

I’ve reached the stage now where I have to check my diary for the number of weeks pregnant I am, I’m still in the in between second trimester where I’m kind of used to being pregnant. My body has adjusted and it almost feels normal. Only a few weeks left until the third trimester and I’m sure things will change.

I’m feeling well, I’ve got used to not sleeping so well and being a bit clumsy. I also discovered what heartburn is this week; it’s different than I thought it would be, but it’s almost impossible to describe it better than heart-burn.

I feel like I’m really getting big and I’m trying not to do that pregnant lady waddle yet- there’s plenty of time for that!

I’m struggling to eat a healthy diet though and snacking on chocolate and rice pudding (homemade), we’re cooking fresh meals for dinner but breakfast and lunch are mostly bread based which I’m sure isn’t helping.

I have started carrying round a bottle of water and have really increased my hydration levels which has stopped me feeling so sluggish – who would have thought that all those people telling me to drink more water were right!

19 Weeks: Muscle Manipulation and Stretch Marks

       

I’ve made it to the end of 19 weeks and I have my scan tomorrow, marking the half-way point! I am feeling good, partly due to the weekly yoga sessions, the massage and the muscle manipulator and partly due to the appearance of Cadbury’s Cream Eggs in the shops. It did cross my mind to take a picture of my Cream Egg yesterday morning (Eggs for breakfast – that’s perfectly acceptable – right?!) but then I just ate it.

The muscle manipulator taught me a lot - the reason for my pre-pregnancy backache which has caused me a lot of pain in the past is my psoas, which I had never heard of before. The reason for my visit was the fear of the backache returning during pregnancy and not being able to take the usual medication that breaks the cycle of muscle spasm. I finally decided to do something about it and I’m really glad, I now feel that there’s hope! I also learnt that my pelvis is in the correct position; very solid and stable.

Pregnancy has made me learn things about my body that I never knew I needed to know. I thought I was fairly well educated in human biology and had read enough books pre-conception to know the most important things. This week I learnt not to do breast stroke – well I’ve spent the past 4.5 months compromising my pelvis this way and I had no idea.

I have had tiny stretch marks appearing which has had me using huge amounts of body butter and oil for the past few days, at least there’s nothing on my tummy yet, I have a feeling I may not escape pregnancy without a few battle scars, but I knew that was likely before I make the decision to have kids.

17 Weeks–Guessing Games, Babymoon Flights and Biscuits

 

I can’t believe we’ve reached the end of 17 weeks already! I am starting to have a real bump now and for the first time someone has tried to guess whether I’m having a boy or a girl – come on people, you have a 50:50 chance of getting it right! Apparently I’m carrying high for this early so it’s going to be a boy?!

In other news I visited the midwife this week and everything is at a fairly average height for my dates, which sounds more realistic to me! Anyway it amuses me, but maybe I should tone down the sarcasm a bit “Yeah we’re pretty sure we know what’s in there, the ultrasound was pretty clear, it looks like a human baby”.

This week has been pretty good; it started off with a very relaxing weekend, a little shopping and a lot of lounging about. I have had some serious biscuit binges this week including buying a 6 pack of chocolate and cereal bars and eating all 5 in one afternoon. I blame it on the cold weather!

I haven’t had a sudden burst of energy now I’m in the second trimester but I am glad to be having a break from the sickness, I still don’t go anywhere without a large zip lock bag for emergencies though! Pregnancy is not glamorous all the time.

This week we booked flights for our Babymoon - which all sounds very American! We are going to Toronto for 10days, I am tagging this onto a work trip and I am looking forward to it so much, it will cover some of weeks 22-24 and will probably be my last long haul flight for some time, I am going to focus on relaxing and having lots of romantic meals with my boy.

16 Weeks–More Snow and Wrapping Up Warm

 

I love the winter time and this week had a proper snowy winter feel to it. I love wrapping up in layers and wearing boots over my favourite pink/red maternity jeans. It’s also a great excuse to spare 10minutes whilst the car warms up having coffee and croissants.

I feel like I’m starting to look pregnant from a side on view now, some outfits are more subtle and others are really obvious.

My nausea seems to be gone now although I still have to avoid acidy foods first things in the morning, favouring decaff coffee or milky tea over my old winter favourite of hot orange juice.

I’m really enjoying my Wednesday Yoga classes, it’s such a great opportunity to talk to other pregnant girls and be able to ask the teacher who is a midwife about anything. It’s also a really nice relaxing break mid-week, sometimes (always) I’m really struggling by Friday at work and I doubt I’d make it as far as I do each week without taking the two hours out.

I am really enjoying sleeping at the moment, as soon as I get home and eat dinner I am ready to sleep. I’m making the most of it while I have the time and I can still sleep relatively well.

We have been talking about names already, we are pretty much there with a girl’s name but I’m finding boys names so much harder, which is strange because we have been referring to the baby as a ‘he’ even though we have no idea. There’s no pressure, plenty of time to decide these things still and it’s always funny using those random baby name generators. I would like to pick names that mean something to us though, but maybe we’ll get desperate in the later stages!

15 Weeks–Maternity Wardrobe and Snow

It’s pretty worrying how happy I was to get some decent maternity jeans – it almost made me look forward to getting up for work early on Monday morning to wear them. Perhaps I can use that as an excuse for going to bed at 7.30pm, rather than the fact that my usual number of lengths at the swimming pool rendered me so exhausted I didn’t even have the energy to brush my teeth.

Back to the clothing, I spent a total of £220 on my complete maternity wardrobe – I hope that will see me through to July. Here’s the breakdown:

- H&M Grey Skinny, Mamma Jeans (£15)

- H&M Salmon Pink Skinny, Mamma Jeans (£15)

- H&M Two black tops, Mamma, one stripes, one spots (Total £30)

- H&M Two pack Mama long vest tops, one grey one green (£15)

- H&M Long great Mama jumper (£15)

- Marks and Spencer's – 4 non-wired comfy bras – fitted (Total £24)

- Gap – Long Pink and Red striped maternity top (£12)

- Gap – Grey maternity t-shirts – one vest sleeves, one capped sleeves (£20)

- Motherhood – Jersey dress black and green stripes (purchased in the US ~ £25)

- Motherhood – Grey and purple work dress (purchased in the US ~£20)

- Motherhood – 2 pairs of pregnancy tights, one patterned, one plain (purchased in the US ~£4)

- Mothercare – Red and white spots maternity tankini (£25)

Total cost for maternity wardrobe = £220

Maternity clothing is expensive in the UK and so much of it was rather frumpy, thank goodness for H&M and their clothes which look almost like what I would normally purchase.

Also this week it snowed, which made everything so pretty but also the road so slippy. I’m glad baby G is estimated for July – as far from the snow as possible!

14 Weeks–Leggings, Yoga and Feeling Better

 

I’m almost scared to admit that I’m actually feeling better now, still tired but I’ve not been sick for over a week which is cause for celebration. This make the first week back at work a lot easier than it would have been otherwise! I know it was to be expected as time went on but I’m worried that if I admit it the symptoms will come back with a vengeance!

I also started pregnancy yoga which I’ve been looking forward to for a while. It was very calming and hopefully will help me cope better later on, especially with any backaches. It was really interesting to meet with a group of other expectant mums – it made everything seem a tiny bit more real. It did however highlight my severe lack of flexibility; I really hope that won’t be a hindrance during labour.

I have a small bump now and so have entirely run out of trousers to wear and have resorted to boots, long tops and leggings. What did pregnant ladies to before leggings came back into fashion? I can’t think of anything more comfy that I could wear in public.

This week I told most of my work colleagues and friends, we’ve not had too much unasked for advice so far which is a relief because I have a feeling I won’t be handling that very well. Just to usual comments that our lives are going to change – as if we didn’t consider that before we started trying.

The weekend ahead is full of pregnancy related activity – maternity clothes shopping on Saturday – I plan to buy 80% of the clothes needed to see me through to July. Then on Sunday we’re visiting the place which is currently top of our list for delivery, assuming everything stays low risk.

13 Weeks–Germany, Austria, New Year and Scan

Week 13 was a busy one, we travelled over to Germany and spent a few relaxing days in Munich which we loved, before driving down to Austria for New Year and a wedding. It was a good way to celebrate the start of the second trimester too!

Germany was some wonder time to relax after a busy Christmas, the weather was cold and frosty but we managed to sit outside with a croissant and coffee. I’m managing to control the morning sickness by having a drink and savoury snack before getting up. I still don’t feel great at some points during the day but this really helps me get started in the morning.

Munich was lovely; we did a Lonely Planet walking tour and saw most of the main sites. I even managed a few alkoholfrei beers, so I didn’t miss out on the experience of the beer halls!

We drove down to Austria for New Year which was interesting, the roads were so snowy and icy but we had a reasonable car and snow tyres. We were in Austria for a wedding but it was a great excuse to visit the local area and enjoy lots of hot chocolate.

I did have to take it easy though, I’m still adjusting to getting tired more easily and learning to slow down. It was nice to have a few days at home before the shock of going back at work. I think next week will be a struggle

We had a scan the day after we got back to and everything is looking good so far, it’s amazing how much detail we could see and the amount of movement. The pictures were really good too and this time we got to share them with friends and family now almost everyone knows.