29+3 - Bump Photo

Excuse the face - I'm blaming horrid skin and lack of natural light! Got a bit mardy this morning and wanted to stop taking the photos but Mitch persuaded me I'd regret it if I did. So, here's 29 weeks.

Annnnd a comparison for good luck...

With love and light xo

29+1 - But... where do all your organs go?

I am now 29 weeks pregnant! I have 76 days left to go until my due date, and baby will be here in 91 days at the latest. How exciting is that!

Bump has been a little tight and uncomfortable over the past few days, I'm putting this down to baby shifting as the bump also seems a lot higher! No heartburn yet *fingers crossed* but I have been finding myself short of breath running up and down the stairs. Don't know whether to put this down to decreased fitness or smaller lungs?

I found this awesome link earlier in the week (click here) which shows you where your organs end up during pregnancy? That's both scary and amazing right - no wonder we get random aches and pains!

Speaking of pains - a few times this week I've had a really severe stitch type pain which seems to come and go completely randomly! The first time it happened I actually rung the midwives as it was such an intense pain and I was completely terrified - but it's happened a few times this week and just seems to disappear after 15mins - I'm lead to believe it's just the way she's lying. Fun times!

Lots of lovely things planned this weekend - curry and comedy night tonight, followed by cinema tomorrow to see Black Swan and lunch with my lovely parents on Sunday. I'm definitely looking forward to the weekend - have struggled a little at work this week as just super tired, but I'm kinda pinning that on the time of year rather than the pregnancy. Everyone seems shattered! Not long to go now I suppose :)

With love and light xo

28+3 - Poor Aeris

Poor Aeris. She only wanted a quick stroke and she ended up in the Baba Sling. However I choose to believe that she had a wonderful time, and enjoyed our little cuddle! Much comfier than I imagined, although I have no idea how much she weighs?

Thursday's midwife visit was pretty uneventful, if a little painful! Had my anti-D injection, and gave some blood for various things. Got to listen to baby again, and had my bump measured. It was 28.5cm / 29cm - a huuuuge jump from 25cm 3 weeks ago. I've grown a bit more than I should have but she didn't seem concerned, and said it was probably a growth spurt or something. That, or I've been on the pies again. Booked in for another appointment at 31 weeks.

The most exciting thing that happened was being able to book onto antenatal classes. These start on the 2nd February, and I'm really looking forward to them actually! Got quite a few to go to, and it works out pretty much one a week for a while, with most being daytime and 1 evening. This unfortunately means I'll have to go on my own, but should mean I get to meet and chat to some other ladies :)

Went shopping to Nottingham yesterday, and bought... Cillit Bang. I'm getting old and boring right?! Looked at a few baby clothes but will probably end up waiting right till the end and just buy anything we need. Saw a gorgeous changing bag which ended up being £250. Perfectly reasonable right?

Nothing else happening - feel a little stuck in the middle at the moment. I'm sure I'm going to regret wishing time away, but everything seems amillion years away! 8 weeks left at work...

Also, feel free to ask me questions on here, or on FormSpring!

With love and light xo

28 - Not a lot happening

All is well here, but not really a lot is happening! I completed and submitted my application for maternity leave yesterday, and I’m leaving at about 37 weeks. Using 2 weeks annual leave first, then starting my maternity leave. This should hopefully mean I’ll be able to be off with cupcake for a little longer – I’d love to go on maternity leave in about 2 weeks time but I’m sure I’ll appreciate the time with little one more!

Bump is definitely a bump now, and there’s no hiding it in anything! This is both good and bad – I don’t look like I’ve eaten all the pies, but I also look like The Incredible Hulk in my normal t-shirts, as I look like I’m either going to burst it open at the seams, or you can see half my tummy anyway.

Going to the midwife today for my Anti-D injection - I’ll let you know how it goes and if it hurts lol. Also got to have some blood taken I think, but not really sure what else. Will probably get measured to see if I’m too much of a hippo yet!

Also going swimming tonight with MC Steelz – will probably put her to shame again with my superior swimming ability :P. Aiming for 30 lengths again but we will see how we go.

Hope all my other beautiful pregnant friends are well :)

With love and light xo

27+3 - 3D Scan Video

3D Scan video finally! Spent ages sorting it out, but it's lost some quality being uploaded. However, here is our beautiful little girl :)

With love and light xo

27+3 - Week-By-Week Comparison!

With love and light xo

27+3 - Bump Photo

27 Week bump photo, click here to see any of the other bump photos :).

With love and light xo

27+1 - Best / Worst - Second Trimester

Okay, so following on from my previous entry (here!) where I talked about the best / worst things about the first trimester, here are my favourite and least favourite things about the second trimester!

The Best Things

1. Energy. Getting some energy back has been fantastic! I must stress that it's only a little bit of energy, I'm not bouncing round the house everyday, but it's been a lot better than the first trimester where I wanted to curl up and sleep constantly. I think this might be on the downturn now though...

2. It's not a secret! People feeling like they can talk to you about the baby / ask you about pregnancy is amazing, I really hated not being able to talk about it for the first 12 weeks and I just love talking about babies to anyone and everyone! Having a noticeable bump also leads to lots of lovely random conversations.

3. Movement. This is probably the best thing, as starting to feel the baby move was a huge step for me and didn't happen till about 22 weeks because of the anterior placenta. Very reassuring, always makes me smile - even when it's 3am and I'm trying to sleep! Again something that the novelty apparently wears off soon...

4. No morning sickness! Although I was still sicky in the mornings till about 18 weeks, it definitely lessened after about 15 and now it's quite rare I feel sick / am sick. I mentioned in the other best / worst, but I really really hate being sick. I feel so much sympathy for the people who are sick all through their pregnancies.

5. Gender. And beautiful 3D / 2D scan pictures. Obviously finding out cupcake was doing okay was a priority for our 20 week scan, but finding out that she was a girl was just incredible. We didn't get great pictures from our 20 week scan, but I'm over the moon with our 3D pictures and video - it was an incredible experience and I'm so so glad we went!

6. Pram / nursery. Getting these things sorted was a huge weight off my mind, and also made both of us much more excited. I love our little baby room, and our beautiful space rocket pram!

7. Names. Deciding on a name for our beautiful little girl was definitely a highlight. Just can't wait to share it with everyone :)

The Worst Things

1. Sleep. Although I said I had much more energy, I'm certainly starting to struggle to sleep, and waking up every hour or so because I've rolled onto my front or back. Lying on my front is obviously impossible, and lying on my back makes me feel sick. This has been helped greatly with the purchase of a huuuge 5ft pillow off eBay which I can wrap myself around. I think Mitch may feel a little threatened by my new cuddle replacement!

2. Pain. The beginnings of back / hip pain are certainly coming into force now, but only over these last few weeks. The back pain is pretty dire, and I've took a cushion to work to help. A Hello Kitty cushion no less!

3. Fat! That middle bit where you just look a bit fat is a bit rubbish, as no-one wants to ask you if you're pregnant, you're too big for normal clothes but too small for maternity clothes, and you just look like you've eaten all the pies! Rest assured, I now look preggerz.

4. Waiting. Feeling a bit like nothing exciting is happening and haven't you already been pregnant for about 10 years already? You're just stuck in the middle, and it's been aaaages since you found out, but you're not having a baby for approximately 25 years right?

There are so many more good things than bad things, but I really wanted to try and paint a fair picture! I've had a bit of sickness and grossness this trimester, but I've not had to go to hospital again, baby is doing super well, and we have a name for our lovely little girl. We are so incredibly lucky.

With love and light xo

27 - Third trimester?

I am exactly 27 weeks pregnant today! That means I have 13 weeks, or 91 days, or pretty much exactly 3 months left to go until my due date. I also think that means I’m in my third trimester today, although conflicting information seems to suggest that could be between 26 – 29 weeks. However I am a third down, so third trimester seems about right! Baby will almost certainly be late though, as she will want me to chill out and watch as much Grey’s Anatomy as possible / be a whale for as long as possible.

I’ve been a little under the weather for the past few days, experiencing my first ever migraine on Sunday night / Monday morning. I now have incredible amounts of sympathy for people that have to go through this regularly – I felt like my eyes were falling out my face! Follow this up with dizziness, sickness, and a persistent headache for a few days and you get quite a miserable Lizz. Still don’t feel 100%, but feel a lot better, and a lot less miserable! The headache seems to be slowly shifting itself, and trying very hard to drink Olympic pool amounts of water and relax as much as possible. Keep having dizzy spells when teaching so trying hard to sit down as much as possible, but it’s becoming very frustrating.

Also struggling with sleep a little at the moment, as starting to get quite uncomfortable! I seem to wake up every few hours when my hip starts to ache from being lay on it, or my back is uncomfortable. Sleeping better than a few weeks ago though so can’t really complain!

End of moaniness I promise. The blog is a little bit of a catch 22, as I find it really cathartic to write things down, but I also hate moaning about something which is so amazing and incredible that my body is doing. I’m trying to stay very positive, and mostly succeeding, apart from the odd blip that Mitch helps me through!

In baby related news, we’re really starting to get things together! Over the weekend I started putting tiny clothes away in the drawers, grouped by age group. I realised I have no concept of how quickly babies grow – I’ve read the books but it was very different being able to physically see the clothes get bigger!

As previously mentioned, the carrycot for the pram also arrived, meaning our beautiful pram is good to go. I still keep going in the spare room (or nursery I suppose!) for a push around and to admire how beautiful it is. I am lame.

Finally dragged my bum swimming last week which was surprisingly enjoyable! Hoped to make it a weekly thing, but I’m still not feeling great so giving it a miss tonight. However going to get on it again ASAP as I want to try and exercise more – I realised I’ve done barely anything for 5 months and feel so incredibly unfit. I will never get back climbing at this rate!

Also dreamed about climbing last night, which has made me realise how much I actually miss regularly going. I miss the social aspect of having a giggle with some friends, I miss spending time with Mitch doing something we both love, and I miss how much fitter it made me feel. Not that I’d change anything for the world, but really hoping to be able to take baby this time next year!

Everyone seems to be commenting on my bump these past few weeks, so I guess I must have had a bit of a growth spurt! Glad to not just be looking tubby. No stretch marks yet, although having a daily inspection to see if this has changed! Belly button also looking a little flatter and wider, so I’m not quite sure how many weeks that’s got left.

So, not much is happening here really! I finally have the 3D scan video ripped to the PC, so will edit that down to 5 minutes or so and post that in the next few days hopefully :).

With love and light xo

26+5 - Ill

Just a quick update to say all is well here, but I'm not feeling great at the moment so not blogging in any great length. Baby is well, kicking away and reminding me that she is happy in there :).

Annnnd wanted to add a little photo of our beautiful pram, as modelled by Mitch! Hoping to be feeling better soon, and back to some kind of normal updates.

With love and light xo

25+5 - 3D Scan Photos!

Here is our little girl :). Videos to follow soon - need to edit it down as I'm sure you don't all want to see 15 minutes worth!
With love and light xo

25+4 - 3D Scan tomorrow!

Just a quick post to say our 3D scan is tomorrow at 6pm, so wish us luck :). Really excited - finally sorted some music out to have in the background today. Now just worried that cupcake won't co-operate! It will be fantastic to see her again, especially in 3D.

Will post some photos from the scan, probably along with a clip from the video or something. Technology is amazing :D.

With love and light xo

25+3 - Bump Photo

So here's my 25 week photo! Click here to see any of the other bump photos :).

Bought the pram today which is just sooooo exciting - it's beautiful! I keep going into the spare room just to look at it, or push it around a little. That's a bit weird right?

With love and light xo

25+2 - Resolutions

Oh I completely forgot - New Years Resolutions! I don't normally do these, but 2011 is a fresh start, sooooooo:

1. Have a healthy and relaxed (as much as possible!) last 15 weeks of pregnancy. I know this is something I can't really control, but I'd like it to be a resolution anyway!

2. Don't wish the time away! It's so easy to count down the pregnancy and wish weeks away, but I need to make sure I appreciate every second and how amazing it is.

3. Remind myself every day how lucky I am. Self explanatory, but sometimes I may need to be reminded! I have an amazing boyfriend, family, extended family, and I really am incredibly lucky!

4. Buy some hypnobirthing books / CDs, and use them. I can't really afford any of the courses, but I really want to try and use some of these techniques to have a positive birth. This may seem a bit silly to some people, but that leads me on to my next point....

5. Grow some balls! Sorry to be crass, but I really need to learn to stand up for myself and things I believe. I know millions of people in the world has been through birth and raising children, but I also know that I need to try some things and decide for myself! I'm well aware that I will be wrong lots of the time, but that's okay :)

And finally...

6. Do my best. Obvious, but I need to remind myself that this is all I can do. I am only one person, not ten million people.

Anyone else got any resolutions they'd like to share?

With love and light xo

25+2 - Happy New Year!

Happy 2011 everyone! Hope you're all as excited about the new year as I am, although obviously we have an extra special reason to be excited this year! It is now officially 103 days until my due date, which I'm sure will absolutely fly by.

I'm not feeling too fantastic, so this will just be a short post. I'm really hoping I'm not coming down with a cold or something, but just feel really rotten - achey, sore throat and pounding head. Going to spend the night on the sofa relaxing and hopefully be fine in the morning!

Cupcake has been kicking up a storm these past few days! There are no mistaking the kicks now, and they're becoming much more frequent. As of this morning I noticed that you can see them on the outside, looks very strange - like my tummy's made of jelly (thanks to Mitch for the description!)

We've been super busy these past few days - run lots of errands, seen lots of family, and become much more prepared for baby. The cot arrived yesterday, so we set that up (pictures to follow), organised cupcake's room a little more, and had a play with the car seat. I know we've got tons of time left, but this week has been our last week off together really until due day, and I do like a good organise!

Obviously last night was New Years Eve, and we went to a family party. I realised that staying up past midnight is quite difficult for me - I have no idea how much harder it will be next year! I kept feeling a sharp pain in my tummy, which worried me all night. I had it again this morning but seems to have passed now, and she's been kicking around since. Just felt like a really painful stitch, but came on all of a sudden. Will definitely keep an eye on this!

Went to see the midwife on Thursday which was fine. I saw my third different midwife in three visits, which is a little disconcerting but I suppose it's not really important. She measured my stomach and had a listen to baby - I'm measuring exactly right (25cm whatever that means?!), and cupcake sounded good - nice strong heartbeat and kicking away!

My blood pressure was quite low, about 80 / 40, when it should be about 120 / 60, but I expected that as I've been having quite a lot of lightheadedness and dizziness lately. I've always had low blood pressure and there's not really a lot that can be done! Just lots of liquids - I'm really bad at remembering to drink though. I feel like I need to set a reminder on my phone or something!

I know I forgot a belly photo this week, so will try and take one tomorrow for 25 weeks :). And will post photos of cot soon too. I think we're going pram shopping tomorrow which is super exciting - then everything big is pretty much done :D

With love and light xo