Baby showers are the Marmite of pregnancy- you love 'em or loathe 'em. They are yet another American cultural tradition that we seem to have appropriated much like Halloween and cheerleading but actually the sentiment behind them is very sweet and genuine.
I wasn't planning to have one - however as we decided to have a house warming party and everyone was asking about baby presents, it seemed silly not to let people bring what they wanted and apparently everyone wanted to buy us presents! We were overwhelmed by the generosity and touching presents we received.
It was a really lovely afternoon and I felt that having the baby shower brought us closer to all outer friends - they could feel a part of our journey and know that our baby would benefit from all their gifts. We did have to play some very embarrassing games however it was a small price to pay for how lovely the baby shower was. Thank you to everyone!!!
One thing I forgot to mention was the third scan that we see. At our local hospital (because it's a research facility) they offer a third scan at 32 weeks. It was fantastic to have this opportunity to see baby again however that policy is not to offer scan photos at this stage to which I was a little sad about!
photo credit: clevercupcakes via photopin cc
Wow! Not sure how we got here but here we are!
7 months down and 3 to go... it's incredible how long it's been but how quickly the time has flown.
We are preparing to move the rest of our stuff into the new apartment this weekend and have started thinking about the nursery (eek) and what other bits of new furniture we need.
Being able to move around in the space is just amazing and thinking of how our family is going to be happy here is just fantastic. I have a really good feeling about this apartment. Maybe it's just my hormones settling down but I definitely feel in control and quite content at the moment.
I have about 8 weeks left at work and we have our baby shower and housewarming coming up soon as well as my last week at uni for this year.
Everything seems to be falling into place (which of course makes me really nervous that something is about to go wrong!)
I really don't have much more to say at the moment - except hope everyone is having a good pregnancy!!
Symptoms
Feeling pretty good at the moment!
(not our house but you get the idea!)
photo credit: tiexano via photopin cc
Sooooo here I am at 27 weeks - almost at the end of the second trimester!
This week, the husband and I have been mostly confused by the sensitive issue of pregnancy weight gain.
I'll be honest I was not a svelte and toned female before I got pregnant. BUT not too far off, just carrying about 14-18 pounds too many.
However - there are many guidelines recommending the average weight gain depending on your BMI. We all know that BMI is not the most useful weight management tool, being that it fails to take into about your general health and body shape (muscles weigh more than fat).
My BMI was 29 but at a size 12-14 I would not be considered bordeline obese (thanks GOVERNMENT) in most clothing stores.
The midwives and doctors did not bat an eyelid at my starting weight and I do admit that I made a concious decision to be healthy from the get go.
Here we are at 25 weeks down the line and I have gained a grand total of.....6 pounds?!
Soooooo either something is wrong or these guidelines are just that...guidelines.
The midwives are still not in the slightests bit concerned and I am curious as to why I haven't gained more.
I can only assume that morning sickness may have led me to lose some weight + my much healthier diet - all the alcohol that I was consuming which has now been reduced to a glass once a week have cancelled each other out and led me to a very small weight gain just around my uterus and boobs!
I obviously am eating when hungry and will make sure that my diet continues being varied and wholesome but I am not going to stress about weight guidelines - if the professionals are happy then so am I
Symptoms
Some back pain with prolonged standing but other than that nothing, and definitely have the 'glow'!
photo credit: CrazyFast via photopin cc
So the last two weeks have been rather interesting - both for baby and mother. We have secured a beautiful new flat, I found a short-term job and Mr.Onedayatatime felt the baby!!
I am now almost 25 weeks ( and almost 2 thirds of the way through! EEK!!!) - everything seems to be goping really well. I feel almost back to my normal self, no doubt working has given me back a sense of self, a sense of achievement and a much-needed daily routine.
I'm sure that when I nearing the end of the the third trimester I will feel differently but right now I am (almost) glad to be commuting, dressing smartly for work and not just thinking about the pregnancy. I think my poor husband is secretly more glad than he is letting on about the short term job, not just because of the cash boost that it will give us!
Speaking of cash we did have a splurge this month - we have bought a Bednest and a travel system (sounds very posh!) - both second hand however so it was a frugal splurge if there is such a thing.
We are really impressed with how easy and light the Bednest was to put up and manouvere around the flat. It also looks great (you can see here) and feels like it will last the 6 months of supposed usage.
After lots of buggy and stroller deliberation (and a rather silly trip to the baby shop to view a brand new version of the pram - which I immediately wanted!) we have opted for a Bugaboo Cameleon 2. This version is really easy to piece together, very manouvarable and relatively easy to put down (not as easy as the cameleon3 - humph) and I believe we got a really good deal second hand.
And now for the most important thing that happened - my lovely husband felt the baby kick - it was amazing. And he is getting more excited by the day as am I. The kicks are getting stronger, everything seemed to go well at the 25 week check and I am very happy at the moment. Roll on 28 week check - bloods, bloods and more bloods!
Symptoms - kicking - lots! Feeling more heavy but well - stairs and the heat are not my friend however!!
photo credit: Hegemony77 doll clothes via photopin cc</
Just got back from the most wonderful holiday. 7 days of (almost) nothing but rest, relaxation and the company of my dear lovely hubby.
With my mind on the redundancy and the worrying about finding a new flat, we weren't sure if it was the right thing to do to go away but I am so so glad that we did.
It was everything we needed and more. We were able to really talk and discuss some important matters, we had the time to just enjoy each other's company without watching the clock and most of all we were able to focus on being a couple in love rather than just new parents-to-be.
As exciting and brilliant as our new journey is, I really hope that we don't lose sight of what makes us tick as a couple and the fact that we are husband and wife and more to the point a young (sort-of!) couple in love.
AND the best thing of all...I felt the little one actually finally properly move!
A real swishing moving around that I was absolutely certain for the first time was not my stomach or myriad other organs but really was my baby!
Symptoms- movement! apart from that not much to report except my hunger level has definitely increased.
photo credit: Stuck in Customs via photopin cc
Somehow the halfway mark is upon us!!
I can't quite believe that I am 20 weeks pregnant - not a huge amount has happened in the last three weeks regarding the baby - no pains or even feeling flutters but lots has happened with me.
I have been made redundant. Yes I know - great timing. We have to move out of our flat at the end of Summer as it's in no way suitable for a baby and we are going on holiday in a couple of weeks - we weren't going to go seeing as I have joined the ranks of the unemployed but it's pretty much paid for and a friend of mine with a young baby urged me to take that last couple holiday.
Seesh that makes everything seems so final! I am so excited about the baby but it's obviously going to be a huge change with an extra little being around us all the time (for the first few months anyway) so we have made a pact to really cherish these next few months as husband and wife and turn down weekend invites if we have to so we can make time for ourselves.
Regarding the unemployment, the crappy thing is that I am not eligible for Statutory maternity pay anymore as I have been made redundant at too earlier a stage in the pregnancy but I should be eligible for maternity allowance which is a similar payment from the Govt. It's a bit of a kick in the teeth really seeing as I have been working for the last ten years since I left uni and thought I would have paid enough into the system by now for a bit more...oh well!
It means stricter budgets, lots more second hand stuff and hopefully generous grandparents!
Symptoms- Had a really sore back after a wedding (even with flat heels) and sitting in the park. Pregnancy really changes what your body can do - it's very weird!
photo credit: 3dom via photopin cc
Soooooo I am 4 months and 5 days pregnant. Today I feel more 'normal' (whatever that is) than I have in the last 4 months.
My stomach is flatter - no baby bump whatsoever yet but this means the bloating has gone!
My sense of smell and taste are back to normal - I can walk through supermarket without gagging and actually want to cook.
I feel less tired and my skin is glowing - is this the fabled pregnancy bloooom?!
And yet - I DON'T FEEL PREGNANT. AT ALL.
Which is of course worrying me!!
I will take a photo tonight - been very lax lately as I feel good and I'm catching up with all the things I haven't been able to do.
I have been going to pregnancy yoga though and have been throughly enjoying it. I have also started creating a research list of all the various items that we are going to need (fingers crossed!) like buggies, the birthing pool, cribs/moses baskets - the list is endless! In fact I have just been told about a nearly-new jumble sale at which we'll be able to buy second-hand items for our baby from other parents. Sounds like it should be eye-opening in terms of the all the things we haven't even thought about yet and the Husband is already moaning about it!
Symptoms - none! feeling great!!
Week 17 Photo
photo credit: treyevan via photopin cc
I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY! We just came back from our 12 week scan (it was more like 13 weeks and a bit) and I am carrying a real life BABY!
It's transparent and wiggly and looks like a giant kidney bean with legs - but it's still a BABY!
Here it is...
The picture is not great as Jr kept jumping around and wiggling itself in the opposite direction to where the sonographer wanted but I don't care. It's Perfect!
I actually cannot believe it. It still does not seem real as I haven't put on any way weight - in fact I have lost weight mainly due to eating better and smaller portions and I am finally feeling much less hormonal.
In fact the next couple of weeks are really busy, as I am going on holiday with some close girlfreinds and I also have some exams to do. Thankfully I feel human again so it'll be nice to have my energy back and have some fun!!
I haven't taken a belly photo for a few weeks so watch this space.
Symptoms
I am feeling much calmer after the scan and my hormones seem to have settled. My skin seems a little clearer and the bloated feeling in my stomach is settling.
Yes we appear to have made it to 12 weeks! I'm 12 weeks+2 (pregnancy dating system there for you) and appear to be progressing...I think.
Still can't shake that feeling of something being wrong or that maybe I'm having a phantom pregnancy. I keep looking at my nipples and areolas (it whiles away the minutes I tell you) and trying to decide if they really are darker. Asking the old ball and chain is not an option as I'm sure you understand. Try asking your partner to look at your nipples and tell you if they are darker. I'm sure he'll tell you that all he heard was "Look at my Nipples! Touch Them! NIPPLES!!"
And I have been trying to see if I can feel my uterus for the past couple of days as apparently it begins rising up from the pubic region at around 12 weeks.
First thing in the morning I seem to be able to feel it, but then maybe it's my bladder?!
I have been feeling a bit calmer and not as sick in the mornings so that's one thing I am glad for.
I also had my booking appointment with the community midwife. I have decided to opt for a home birth (all being well) and as such have the benefit of having the same midwife for the whole of my pregnancy, birth and aftercare! This seems like a luxury compared to some of friends' experiences with the NHS. One friend saw 12 different midwives during her antenatal visits and let's not talk about the birth...(3rd degree tear!!!!) OK OK I know this is all circumstantial but it has been statistically proven that home births require less pain relief (of the injected kind) and also less medical intervention overall.
This website is what clinched it for me - along with the wonderful experience so far with Brierly Midwives. http://www.homebirth.org.uk/
Symptoms - Still feeling naseous but now have the added glamour of burping - mostly during the evening. Tiredness comes and goes, I seem to be sleeping better at the moment.
photo credit: benjibot via photopin cc
SO! Here at ten weeks. Finally got my forms from the midwives centre and hospital with the scan and booking appointment and about half a tree's worth of leaflets, forms and information and suddenly it seems SO REAL!
To be honest with you over the last couple of days my symptoms have really subisded. So what do I do? Cheer and eat all the food that I have been wanting to eat and haven't been able to? Go out with friends as I suddenly have my old energy levels back? No i do something much more emotionally healthy - I furiously being checking Google as to why my symptoms have disappeared!!
Yes I have fallen headlong into the Googling trap! Turns out that it may just be a hormone plateau or that the placenta has begun to take over the production of hormone rather than the ovaries which means less hormones flooding my blood stream.
I can't help feeling that something's wrong - so I have just 'peed on a stick' (oh this delightful pregnancy jargon) and of course a dark line showed up straight away. But can you blame me? 10 weeks - that's so early that apart from the symptoms there is no other way to tell that I am pregnant. I have even lost weight over the last weeks steadily due to my lessened and limited diet. So of course I thought that buying a HPT would help. It has momentarily - i felt elated when that line darkened! And then I remembered.
My best friend who had pregnancy hormones racing round her body when unbeknownst to her the baby had died some weeks previously.
I know I have to snap out of this and begin enjoying this pregnancy but until we go to the scan (scheduled for 12 weeks and 5 days) and see that little baby wriggling and hear that hb, I don't think I can..
Week 10 photo
Symptoms - Still had a gnawing hunger on awakening and sore boobs but appetite has mostly returned and skin is beginning to clear up.
photo credit: BEYOURPET via photopin cc
