Oh wow, it seems to be going so fast although I have to admit my impatience is not holding very well at the moment.
I feel I want things to slow down so I can enjoy it and still try to take it all in that it is still happening and I am going to be mummy again but I also want it all to just happen, like have the baby now, but I am scared still of the whole birthing experience although I have been through it before . I guess I am just the type of person who constantly worries for no reason at all. I think it has finally sunk in now (although I knew months ago) that I have this amazing being growing inside of me and I think this week it has finally hit home that it still amazes me at each and every feeling we as mums to be's get with all of the physical motions of that tiny being moving around inside our tummy. I seem to stop and freeze in the middle of anything I am doing as soon as I feel that slight kick or turn of the baby boy inside me and the feeling makes me wide eyes and excited knowing that he is trying to tell me that he is ok and happy where he is. It gives me peace at mind all is ok. Events - There have been times this week when I have tried my hardest for my husband to feel the movements of our son by placing his hand on my tummy and after an hour of me giggling to myself at every movement, my husband just stares at me in disbelief as if to say '' What, I cant feel anything?''. Well as I sat quietly on the sofa this week, my husband finally got another response which he knew he had a few weeks back and so it was another great feeling that he was feeling those kicks along with me now as they are growing stronger. It has not only been my husband who has had a response this week from our bump but also our eldest 11 year old daughter who seemed very freaked out at seeing my belly doing a strange looking slow motion jiggle . Sian knew it was baby moving but it was the first time that she has actually seen it for herself as with other pregnancy's she has been a little young to understand and take notice. My youngest son aged 5 years however calls bump his baby and lays his head regular on my tummy to talk to his baby brother and laugh at the strange noises he says he can hear. The other day he said baby bump was crying and I had to tell him it was my tummy rumbling for something to eat but it was so cute at how concerned he was and I even got told of from him when I told bump this week to stop being naughty and giving me a pain when walking to school with the children one morning. Supposedly I am not aloud to tell his brother of . How is baby ? Baby bump has most certainly got a little bigger, I can tell as the kicks seem to be wider around my tummy than they were before, I feel movement above the tummy button and further around and not just on the lower tummy area. Supposedly, at this stage of the pregnancy, our baby is around the size of a mango , we still have 17 weeks left and I feel big at this stage already , I can not seem to imagine how big I will be at full term. Each day , the pattern of when baby is awake and kicking and asleep is now more apparent. This little one seems to wake around late evening and wriggle from around 7pm up to 11pm , I usually get a good morning wake up at 7am and then again 12pm when I am having my dinner and if I am hungry , my bump will wake and tell me by giving me a quick nudge . I know it sounds strange but it is true and he was very pleased with a late night fish, chips and curry sauce the other night when I did not feel hungry yet he certainly quietened down once I had eaten . He is starting to hear noises more easily and I can play music on the tv (not through a speaker like before on the tummy) to feel him enjoy a wriggle dance at a song , he loves the choice I choose as our lullaby which I have played each day for the past month or so called The secret garden sleepsong. If I have a quiet dance myself he knows it too . We are enjoying speaking to baby knowing he can now hear our voice. How am I doing? Oh I am feeling absolutely fantastic this week, well anything is better than the last . My energy is back , I feel I am able to do more , sleep whenever , eat whatever and I have even enjoyed sitting in the garden enjoying the sunshine without headaches or sickness. My tummy is looking plump and still growing and I feel it is looking full but know there is still plenty of room left for baby in there as he will grow rapidly in the next 17 weeks . My cravings have disappeared , I feel like I am topping up on fluids to hydrate myself mostly now and the only issue I am having with my skin is that my feet are getting very dry on the heels with the extra weight I am carrying. My boobs seem to be still leaking but only slightly so I feel I still do not need any breast pads as it only seems to happen in very warm conditions and with the weather being rather cool , I feel safe to go out in just a bra and t-shirt. I must buy some ready though. My husband asked me if I was using any sun tan products this week to, I had to tell him I most certainly was not as we have noticed my skin colour is changing very slightly , I seem to have an added slighty yellow toned tan to my whole body . All in all , by body and self is feeling very refreshed this week, next week I go to see the midwife which will be interesting. I feel like it was so long ago since I seen anyone regarding this pregnancy , a whole four weeks seems a long time to not see or hear our bump so I will be excited to see if we get any listening ins or measuring but for now , me and baby are doing great and already I am practising with cloth nappies , I feel determined to give them a try this time around so any useful tips and help would be most appreciated.
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Well I have just finished the 22nd week of my pregnancy and I have to say this week was my worse feeling of them all.
Big events- Since the very beginning of it, I began to feel a little of the nausea coming back. Within 24 hours, I was fighting migraine which I was unable to keep at bay and it ended up having me layed down for the whole weekend making me miss my oldest daughters 11th birthday. How am I feeling? I felt so emotional, tired and my head felt like it was literally going to fall of. Panic also started. I have had the worry of having such headaches in pregnancy and even my family worried that I may have pre-eclampsia and told me to go to the doctors to be seen to asap. I know I should have , but I thought I would give it time to ease and luckily by Monday , I started to feel the headaches ease of and I was able to get up, walk the children to school and go about my everyday routine as normal . I felt pleased that I had slight relief in knowing whatever it was had disappeared and I had plenty of movement from bump to reassure me it was just a bug I had caught from my husband who had been complaining of being unwell the week before . I later learned that it may have also been due to the fact that at around this time of the pregnancy, your eyeballs change shape and can cause dry eye. I have never heard of this in my previous pregnancy's so thought it may be of interest to you also. I think this may have been another cause to my headaches as I soon realised it was my eye movement which gave me the discomfort and pain I was getting. Other than the illness which thankfully has passed now , I also found some huge changes in my body. I have found that my breasts have become more tender, especially around the nipple area. My breasts feel itchy as they are obviously growing too . My nipples are taking a more teat like shape and have a more rounded look to them and basically beginning to leak colostrum, (the special milk my baby will get when he first starts feeding from the breast). I am finding myself snacking on all sorts (although I rarely ate much over the weekend ), but I have gone from those unhealthy snacks of chocolates and cakes (still the odd one) and now concentrating on healthier snacks like cucumber sticks and fruit. I made the terrible mistake or eating peppers on Wednesday, earlier on in the pregnancy , I found I was left feeling sick when I hate them but me forgetting again, I ate some and spent the night spewing my gutts up into the holy trinity cistern , I need a reminder sticker on my fridge to stop me doing it again, I should know better by now , ''Baby Prince does not like peppers''. How Is Baby? By now baby is meant to be measuring around 28cm . I am already beginning to be surprised at how quick this baby is growing and we still have quite some time to go . Our baby boy is starting to grow rapidly and look more of a newborn . Neighbours- I also had a fantastic visit from our new neighbours. They came bearing a stunning present for baby, something I appreciated very much , Knitted blanket with matching mitts and hat. If there is anything I love most about baby gifts its those amazing hand made knitted ones and I am very lucky that my neighbour wishes to do many more for us so I am thrilled. So although this week was not so fantastic with being ill for most of it , I am beginning to feel like it is all about to start and I am getting very excited. I am so very sorry that this post is late , I have been very poorly with headaches but am feeling better now . Any Big Events? Nope nothing this week , no hospital or doctors visits for a few weeks yet . How Is Baby feeling - Since visiting the hospital last week to find out that we were carrying a baby boy and he is perfectly great in his growing state, I have felt so much more at ease and relaxed knowing everything inside my womb was as it should be. He seems to have been getting very excited and more energetic. I feel I have more movement from him and feel him kicking about more and more each day. Certain foods and drinks seem to start him off more than others, I have found out that he loves milk , yogurts and cool sweet foods like jelly and fruit. Baby Prince seems to be more energetic on the late evenings which I know is typical of the boys in our family who all tend to wake up more at night time, (I am ready for those late night sleeps or lack of ). I find it interesting to find out that our baby's eyebrows and lips are looking more distinctive. Our lean bean is actually measuring around 27cm long. How am I feeling ? I am feeling better in myself (well you will see how this evaporated at 22 weeks quickly in my next post). All the way through my 21st week, I felt more able , I was starting to enjoy sitting in the garden sun watching the little ones . Walking to and from school , the long countryside walk has become a delight now although I know once bump gets bigger , my feet may feel the burn more . My bump used to feel a little soft , now I feel it is starting to round of and harden more taking its shape so it is even visible when sitting down . One of my problems this week has come to head when I found myself struggling to shave in the shower . I seem to have lost the ability to bend over lol. Reaching places below the tummy have become a little harder and I now fear it is not going t be much longer before I end up feeling like a yeti (Please let me get through the summer ). My taste buds have gone from loving everything to now being very picky and choosy and have found that things such as ketchup or salad cream is too much to handle . Things are starting to slow down which is much to my delight. I can feel myself getting rather addicted to online auction sites to which I fear may become a new bargain addiction for some of those fantastic baby items I will be in need of soon. Week 21 was an exciting one, I feel at ease more knowing everything is ok and we are having a boy so it is so much easier to start shopping for bits and bobs in colour and I have felt great in myself, more energetic and to be fair , finally getting excited about becoming mum again . Don't foget that this post is late so my 22nd week will be up almost instantly but it is most definitely different, lots of changes to my body especially to share with you. Becoming pregnant can be the most amazing experience you may ever have in your entire life. Growing a beautiful new being inside your own can only be described as magical but when you have some habits of your own that can be hard to break , did you ever consider the risks that that habit can be doing harm to your unborn child ? During my past three pregnancies I did something that I feel now to be selfish and disgusting as well as harmful to my child and I know it is too late now to change , I understand the implications of what I have done but thankfully I was able to change that with this pregnancy and I was lucky that my children were born healthy , very lucky. I can not sit here and tell you that my pregnancy was all planned nor can I tell you that my decisions were all for the benefit and well being of my unborn child because this time everything came unexpected and unplanned. I am not telling you that me quitting had anything to do with my pregnancy, I merely believe it had something to do with it but without myself actually knowing it was about to. I believe that I simply knew something was going to change and only I had the choice to make things better in my life. The week before Christmas I simply woke up and decided that that was the day which I was to quit smoking . I did not know why and after 16 years smoking around 20-30 cigarettes a day , something suddenly came into my conciousness and told me now was the time I had to quit for good. With the help and support from friends and family I was able to overcome the Christmas and New year Celebrations without even one craving or need for a cigarette and my dad especially was very proud of me although I knew he never thought it was possible after his trying to have me quit for 10 years previously . To this day I am still Smoke free! The reason this has been brought to my attention is the fact that I come across some interesting facts regarding smoking during pregnancy and some of the ways in which our society is trying to help those overcome the habits in giving pregnant ladies an incentive to quit . We have all heard of the implications of smoking during pregnancy but who actually takes notice and why do people quit ? In Glasgow , 306 pregnant woman were given up to £400 to stop smoking and nearly a quarter had given up by the end of their pregnancy . Greenstead, Colchester and Harwich have currently just launched a similar scheme at the beginning of this year but instead with vouchers to use at their local Co-Ops. I personally think that this is a great incentive and would encourage many mums to be to quit , but why should money come first before your unborn child? Is this incentive a scheme aimed at those who are in need of the extra cash, those who do not work, have low incomes and struggling or is it simply a bribe into getting all woman to quit for the health of the baby. A bribe? not sure if I am using the correct word . I do feel however it is somewhat a fare exchange but is the health of your child not the biggest incentive you should need ? There are said to be so many benefits to quitting smoking during or before pregnancy that helps reduce risks of miscarriage, morning sickness , premature birth, still birth and even cot death . It was not long ago that my local University in Durham along with Lancaster University came out with some proof which included a series of images from a 4-D Scan comprising of 80 images of 20 different fetuses which were taken at four different intervals between 24 and 36 weeks of the pregnancy. During the research, 4 of the mothers were smoking 14 cigarettes on average per day where as the others were all non smokers. As they comprised all of the results together they came up with some very shocking images which captured fear into many mum to be's who smoked themselves and this is what I think personally helped people to quit in a more effective way than being bribed with cash. On both pictures the fetus in both row A looks distressed and was proven to have rapid mouth movements which at 36 weeks should be reduced dramatically and this was from a smoking mother.
The baby in both pictures on row B is calm and from a non smoking mother . You can clearly see that it is the Smoking Baby that is taking the impact of the habit and it was clearly very surprising to see how it impacted the unborn baby . I think If I had seen these during my other pregnancy's I may have had more of an incentive to quit myself . With more than 4000 chemicals which in some cases include cyanide, lead and at least 60 other cancer causing compounds working its way into your bloodstream which is your unborn baby's only source of nutrients and oxygen, it is no wonder so many complications in pregnancy's are caused when a mother is smoking during her pregnancy . I really wish I had chosen to quit with my other babies, I feel I have made some bad decisions in my past but am pleased that I have quit before this pregnancy and giving this baby a better start in life due to making the right choice before getting pregnant , even if it was unknowingly happening. We all know how smoking damages the fetus and unborn child , so why do we do it, it really is will power and wanting to quit. I am honest in saying my reasons were truly because I was selfish and did not want to quit and never really understood the implications it had. I am pleased that I suddenly woke up one day and realised that something better in my life was going to happen without holding one of those lethal white sticks in my hand and I am pleased that I have been able to control my habit by knowing what is best for my unborn son and sticking to the truth in knowing I am doing my very best for him and that is all a mother can truly do to protect them . I am proud of myself for achieving quitting , my unborn son was always my true incentive to quit , he just knew he was coming before I knew he even existed. What incentive do you think a mum to be should have for quitting? <a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14142047/?claim=ynpq6c7cfbj">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a> Big Events -
This week has been a rather busy one . We had two hospital appointments , one for our 20 week scan and the other to see the consultant . How is baby? My Baby has had a very busy week . From head to heel they say baby measures around 26cm which is about the size of a banana. They say that at 20 weeks your baby already weighs 300g but we had a scan and our little bump is weighing around 340g . During our scan , we found some interesting measurements - Head circumference - 170mm Abdominal circumference - 154.0mm Femur length - 32.0mm I love seeing the real measurements like this , it gives me a guestimate of how big our baby actually is inside the womb. Not only did we see measurements of structure of our baby but we also found out the Nuchal fold thickness which measures the collection of fluid under the skin of the fetal neck. This is one of the areas that Songraphers test for Downs Syndrome and if it is around 5-6mm thick then it is likely that you have more of a chance of having a baby with Downs Syndrome . Ours measured only 3.0 a great thickness supposedly. There were so many more measurements but these are the ones that interested me most. I still find it amazing to what can be found during the scans . As well as finding out that our baby was growing well and had everything in the rightful place , we also decided on finding out the sex of the baby and we are so happy to find out that we are having a boy. The visit to see the consultant proved to be as expected and we were told that we need not return to see him as everything looked to be perfectly fine . We were only referred in the first place due to the fact that my last born was born two weeks late at only 6lb . Luckily so far , our measurements were on target and there seemed nothing to worry about. Myself- Sickness and headaches have almost totally gone as well as the cravings and tiredness. The only discomfort I am experiencing is that I can not sit or stand too long and so need to be responsible in the length of times I do each at a shorter pace. I have found a new routine. Now we are feeling baby kicks, I have decided now is the perfect time to start playing music to my baby while in the womb and also a great way to count kicks . I did not do this with my other children and although I did talk to them I feel this is actually making me feel a little more bonded to our unborn son a little more . Not only is our son enjoying the music and lullaby that I have chosen to play each morning and sharing his thanks with kicks and a dancing feeling in my tummy, but I also get time to relax and enjoy some us time. If I feel like he is a little quieter during the usually times I would feel him kick, I get out the music and put it onto my tummy and play his music. In no time at all it only takes less than 3 minutes before he starts dancing away and reassuring me that he is ok and maybe he was just having a nap himself . So this week has been a great one, half way through my pregnancy now and it means I only have another 20 weeks to go, how hard can it be right? Well come back and see because I will be keeping you all updated. |