Notes on Growing a Small Thing - 23-28 weeks

The Tuesday just gone marked our 28 weeks point - which as Alan calculated means we're now just over 70% of the way through this pregnancy and well into the third trimester. Time seems to both flying and standing still and there are still (or only!) 12 weeks to go if baby plays ball with being on time.

I haven't taken that many bump pictures - originally I was going to do one a week but it didn't quite happen like that. But here's one at 27+3:

I finally took the plunge at 25 weeks and went to see the GP about both the sickness and the pelvic girdle pain. He was very helpful and referred me straight to a physiotherapist for the pain, and gave me some antacids to see if that would get rid of the sickness. Dear me but Gaviscon really is disgusting, so I've only managed to make myself have the odd spoonful here and there. Luckily my lax approach to this has still had an effect and although the nausea still hangs around I haven't been sick for just over three weeks now. I'm happy with that!

Apart from getting tired a lot more easily, the last few weeks have made me feel much more normal and I've managed to get more done around the house (It's ok to still be unpacking from a house move after 6 months, right?). I'm even restarting driving lessons in a bid to get that test passed before October. This may be a bit optimistic but I want to give it a go now I'm feeling so much better!

The pelvic pain is unfortunately something that won't go away fully until at least October and just has to be managed until then. I'll write a separate post about this and the various management techniques as I was never even aware SPD existed until I started getting it.

Since my last post, we've bought some more sensible baby items (along with some more cute sleepsuits, socks etc obviously!). We now have a cot and dresser/changing top in the nursery, and have ordered our pram (the Uppababy Vista in green). We only really looked at two or three pram models in real life in the end - the others were the M&P Mylo2 and the Uppababy Cruz - but if you are looking for a pram I would really recommend having a read of this post and the comments on Florence Finds, which helped to cement our decision as there were so many positive comments on the Vista.

House-wise we've made progress too - we have a new sofa for the front room and wardrobes for our bedroom. Having painted our bedroom and the nursery, the rest of the house started looking very plain and white so we're desperate to get some colour into the ground floor rooms now. We've finally chosen and ordered colours for the front room, back reception room and the hallway/landings and the decorator is coming at the beginning of September. We knew we wouldn't be able to paint the landing ourselves as the ceilings are so high and then thought we might as well get the two main reception rooms done at the same time. Let's just hope baby stays put until after it's all finished!

Finally, I don't know if it's a growth spurt or down to the hot weather, but baby has turned into a real squirm this last week, hardly stopping with his kicks, prods and tumbles! I really love feeling the movements but sometimes it can take over everything you're doing. Last night Alan and I were talking before bed when out of nowhere baby kicked me so hard it made me jump! Baby has also gone all sweet in his/her tastes this week - Haribo sweets plus chocolate buttons is currently a winning combination (thanks Alan for a detour to the supermarket yesterday!) - as are ice lollies, but then I imagine most people, pregnant or not, are craving ice lollies at the moment!

Now, please excuse me while I go and stand in front of the freezer...

Notes on Growing a Small Thing - Second Trimester

So. We're now at 22 weeks and time is moving quickly! We have about one month left before we get into the third and final trimester, so here's some reflections on the last couple of months.

I can't lie, there are a lot of times I've found pregnancy hard work, especially the first half of the second trimester - perhaps because I was partly expecting some kind of magical transition from sickness to bouncy maternal glowiness, and that just didn't happen. No energy surge here. I did have the luxury of finishing work at around 17 weeks (for non pregnancy related reasons) which, to be honest, has been wonderful, particularly as the nausea and sickness has always been worse in the mornings so not having to commute to a rigid timetable has been really useful. Nonetheless, up until around 20 weeks I was still being sick at least once a day every day, and that does get tiring. Happily since then it's died down a lot, although (as I found this morning!) the sickness does still rear its head every now and then!

Added to this, over the last couple of weeks I've been experiencing various levels of pelvic girdle pain (also known as symphisis pubis disfunction). This is a phenomenon affecting the joint and ligaments around the pelvis during pregnancy, and causes radiating pain around the same area, particularly when doing things like walking, moving quickly, turning over in bed and getting out of the car. You have to change the way you approach movements - sleeping with extra cushions, getting a bit of support and standing up slowly etc, and since I've done that it's got more bearable. Walking for more than about 5-10 minutes (particularly without a husbandly arm to hang on to!) is getting to be a bit of a no-no though - now is the time to be glad that our house isn't too far from town!

I realise a lot of the above sounds pretty negative, so I should also point out that I am finally starting to enjoy being pregnant. The bump started to appear at around 20 weeks and has popped out a little bit more the last week or so - it's fascinating to see.

We've also had our 20 week scan which was lovely as it felt like a very long time since the last scan so it's easy to let your imagination get carried away. We had the scan at 9am and MiniPearTree was not impressed by that - he was curled up in a corner as far away as possible and didn't want to budge. I did feel quite guilty having to jiggle up and down trying to get him to move - in the end I had to lie on my side so the sonographer could pick up measurements! We did get to see the tiny limbs (miniature waving fingers! eeek!) and he was opening and closing his mouth too which was amazing to see.

The scan results were all fine so we've allowed ourselves to start thinking more seriously about the nursery and buying bits for the baby. The first thing we ended up buying was a car seat (how responsible of us) and a couple of baby gros (frivolous but who can resist the cuteness of Pirate Duck (from JoJoMamanBebe) and a Star Wrap (from Tuppence and Crumble)?!). We will now buy some more sensible things... honest!
 
By far the best thing about the last few weeks has been starting to feel MiniPearTree move around. Up until now, it's mostly been just after lunch, during episodes of Pointless and in the evening as I get into bed, although the last couple of days he's been pretty active at all sorts of times of the day (hello 5am, we meet again...) with some pretty hefty kicking going on every so often. It's a strange sensation but one I've got used to very quickly, and already I think I'm going to miss the movements after October - it's rather wonderful lying in bed really early in the morning knowing that it's our baby making those movements.

As the second trimester comes to an end, I certainly feel a lot more positive about being pregnant but I'm not sure I'm one of those women who has a magical maternal time and feels like their entire purpose is to be pregnant. Much as I don't want to wish the summer away I'm looking forward to October and having a newborn far more.

[Disclaimer: I should also add that all references to 'he' in this post and any others are for illustrative purposes only - we have no idea whether MiniPearTree is a girl or a boy and couldn't have found out if we'd wanted as he kept curling up and crossing his legs, so all will be revealed in October!]

Notes on Growing a Small Thing - First Trimester

Having introduced our newest adventure in my last post, I thought I would write a post on our experience of pregnancy so far. Probably like many other musings on the subject, this post about the first trimester contains mostly nausea, a large selection of carbs and a few days of bone-aching tiredness. Being one for reading and research, I'd read plenty on the subject of early pregnancy and what to expect. Nothing really prepared me for the reality...

1. The textbook information you find is that nausea/sickness can kick in from around six weeks and tends to fade off at the start of the second trimester. Mine kicked in even before we knew I was pregnant - fleeting moments of nausea and lightheadedness at first (so, 3-4 weeks) and then developing into daily sickness from 5 weeks onwards, ramping up in intensity every week, with the odd day of respite. And although I was practically counting down to the start of the second trimester, the sickness is still going strong at nearly 16 weeks.

(On the flip side of this - neither my mother nor Alan's suffered from sickness at all - many women don't! *sulk*)

2. It's not morning sickness, it's just sickness - it can strike morning, noon or night. Definitely more of a morning thing for me, though, in an almost clockwork-like manner - 'Get up, shower, feel nauseous, get back to bedroom, be sick'. Yup, pleasant.And often followed by 'eat breakfast, leave house, be sick on pavement/in drain/ on train/ on station platform, buy second breakfast to eat at work'. Even better.

The sickness I've felt in the evenings has been completely different - nearly always attributable to something specifice I've eaten, or realising I've overeaten. And then there's the random moments, where you think of something, or you smell something and it sends you running for the nearest bathroom. Coffee? Eurgh. Assorted something in the fridge? Excuse me for a moment...

Pregnancy sickness is also different to other sickness. Often, if you get a sickness bug, you start feeling weak and being sick, it lasts for a day or two where you can't do anything other than lie in bed. With pregnancy sickness, you feel fine one minute, the next minute you have your head in a bucket, and then you feel better again (and repeat ad, erm, nauseum). Timing doesn't come into it.

3. Everyone gets different symptoms, and you don't get all of them. So far for me, the sickness has definitely been the low point - I haven't been exceptionally tired, apart from the odd days here and there, and although I've had a few other symptoms (noone ever tells you about the sore boobs and the sluggish bowels!) the nausea has definitely been the one that has had the most impact.

4. Your food preferences are apt to change from week to week and even day to day. And they won't necessarily be the same as anyone else's. For me, it was marmite on rice cakes and citrusy fruit juices at first (then I started being sick and haven't had any fruit juice since!). For one week only it was jacket potatoes. Then it was hot green vegetables and spicy foods. During the last weeks its been pasta, and tomato and vegetable based dishes - and at the moment I can add salads and cheese to that. (M&S cheese scones are my current 'food heaven' - so good!). Conversely I've gone off foods as well - mostly fruit and meat, but also cakes (I KNOW!) and other sweet foods, like hot cross buns and chutneys. Not chocolate chip cookies though, they're good.

Early on, I also went off tea (no, I don't recognise myself either) - along with the sickness, it was one of the first signs which made me suspect I was pregnant! Luckily that one has come back slowly, although I'm finding I do prefer decaffeinated tea at the moment.

5. Crisps. You will want all the crisps. Even at 9am. Salt and vinegar flavour if possible (later on, paprika). And you will feel guilty. But it will help (at least a bit) with the sickness, so don't feel too bad about it - however, do brush your teeth afterwards! And drink lots of water.

The First Three Months

At first you are there in the shadows - passing seconds of lightheadness; increasingly frequent, yet initially fleeting, moments of nausea. You are there in the cups of tea I make, and then leave on my desk for two hours because I haven't even noticed I didn't want them.

A week or so later, you show a little more of yourself; you are but a line - but at the same time, such a wanted and hoped-for line. Is this real - is that really you? It's a little early, so who can be sure?

You are there in what is not there the next day. Nor the next, nor even the day or week after that. And still, we daren't quite believe. It feels such a quiet way to announce yourself, when in our heads and our hearts there are fireworks. We smile, we jump up and down, we hug each other over and over. We... don't quite know what we're supposed to do next.

Finally, a week later, I pick up the phone. It feels so alien, announcing that I need to make an appointment to see a midwife. Surely, this is something other people do?

You start to make yourself more known. You do not like tea, most meat or sweet dishes. What you do like varies from week to week - marmite, potatatoes, broccoli, spices, pasta, tomatoes, salt and vinegar crisps. You do not seem to like my morning routine and tell me about it every morning somewhere between 6.30am and 7.30am - you will continue to do this, with increasing will and strength for the next 8 or 9 weeks (and possibly beyond).

Seeing the midwife makes it more real - questions, forms, due date predictions, blood tests. We head back to work afterwards, buzzing with so much excitement I expect everyone to be able to tell what is going on. We want to keep it a secret from the world for now, so the only person we tell is our personal trainer, just to make exercising a bit more realistic.

The next weeks pass slowly, in a haze of continuing nausea and sickness, tiredness and yet insomnia, lightheadedness and overall a slight disbelief that we could possibly be this lucky. Each day that ticks past is another day closer to the first scan - what if you are no longer there? What if it was all just a mistake?

Finally, the day arrives. We wake up nervous, and spend the morning working at home before heading to the hospital. Car parking is a nightmare, and we are so nervous at what we will find. Have I dreamed the whole thing?

And then - there you are. You cannot see us, but we see you, and how wonderful it is to catch a proper glimpse - you are surprisingly active for such a little person. There are hands, fingers, legs, feet - even your brain and a heartbeat. We stare, mystified, throughout the scan, barely daring to breathe.

For a little while at least, we can almost believe in magic.