I’m really enjoying writing these pregnancy diary posts, and it seems you are all liking them too! In order to not blast you all too much with baby news, I’ve decided to do a bit of a monthly update. This month was between being weeks 14 and 17. I can’t believe how fast time is flying! While I’m super excited about July, I know we have an awful lot to do before then to get ready for the baby. The nursery is currently our storage (aka junk!) room, and it needs to be double-glazed, fully relined, painted and decorated before June – so we have a lot to keep us busy! It sort of stresses me out every time I go in there and see what needs to be done, and we only have 5 months to do it all in! Eek!
Week 14
Week 14 was the first week I can say I started feeling pregnant physically. I’ve felt a little bit fuller around the middle, and definitely a lot heavier through the tummy. I’m pretty sure about 90% of this is bloating rather than baby though as it does seems to come and go depending on the time of the day. There’s still no real sign of any baby bump, which I’m both sad and happy about! Some of my jeans are definitely feeling a lot tighter now, and I found leggings are my current go-to for comfort. I bought a couple of longer tops that work well with leggings, and one of them is actually a maternity top, so I can officially say I purchased my first maternity item! I also went shopping with my mum and we spent ages looking at prams, cots, and all the gorgeous little baby clothes. I’m not really buying a lot until we find out what gender the baby is, but I did buy some of those cute baby milestone cards (there’s going to be A LOT of photos when baby arrives!), and I also bought some pretty pale green swaddle wraps. Oh and a baby bag…. okay, maybe I’ve bought a few things!
This week I started applying creams to my tummy religiously in order to avoid any stretch marks – they are something I’m definitely keen to avoid if I can. We also got the results of our Downs Syndrome testing and it has come back low risk, so we are very happy.
Week 15
Nothing really exciting happened this week, but I joined an expectant mothers group on Facebook this week, and almost immediately decided to leave! I was hoping for a supportive, fun community of women…. but instead it just felt like a group of women who all they wanted to do was complain and have others feel sorry for them. I found it to be extremely negative and not the sort of thing I wanted to be surrounding myself with during this time! I felt fine again this week, perhaps just the tiniest bit more tired than normal, but other than that I felt great. I feel so lucky to be getting through this very lightly symptom-wise!
Week 16
Again this week I felt really good! Towards the end of the week I started having a bit of trouble sleeping – it seems it’s not quite as easy to get as comfortable as before! I also started to notice a little bit of a baby bump (finally!), and my stretchy jeans that had fit me in week 15, were extremely tight this week. I decided to go and have a look at maternity jeans and ended up buying 2 pairs as they are just so comfortable!! I think I’ll give the tight tops a miss for the next few weeks as I feel I’m in that stage of “is she pregnant, or has she just had a big dinner?” 😂
Week 17
Again, I felt really good. I almost feel a bit guilty as I know some women get so sick during pregnancy, and I almost feel bad that I’ve felt pretty much just like normal! It just goes to show that everyone really does have a different experience. We had our midwife appointment this week and bubs is all happy and healthy. I can feel it moving now, just the cutest little flutters and bumps. It’s a very special feeling! We have our anatomy scan booked for mid Feb so we will find out in only a few weeks if it’s a little girl or guy. Hopefully baby is co-operating and lying in the right spot!
I still have just the tiniest amount of a bump, and to be honest I don’t think most people would click, although to me I can totally tell. I’ve only put on about 2kg since I found out I was pregnant and I feel like I eat so much food – I don’t think I could actually eat anymore! It’s crazy because the nutritional guides recommend you should be eating about 2,000 calories a day + an extra 250 in your second trimester. I’d be lucky if I eat 1,700 a day as I’ve just never been a big eater. I just don’t think I could actually eat anymore, and couldn’t consume anymore calories unless it was total junk food, and I definitely don’t want to do that! I’m hoping at our next scan that baby is the right size, otherwise I’ll have to have a chat to my midwife.