19 Weeks - Blergh

Today I am 19 weeks pregnant, or almost half way through. This is absolutely terrifying.

This might be a bit doom and gloom, but I’m trying to write about all aspects of pregnancy, and some aren’t sunshine and flowers. At the moment, I feel absolutely rubbish. I had a sickness bug last week where I had vomiting etc., and I’ve just not quite got better yet. Since then, I’ve been feeling gross – hugely bloated all the time; constantly full despite not being able to eat; constant nausea; random vomiting; and just a really painful, tender stomach.

Then, to top it all off, I woke up at 1am with diarrhoea which carried on all night and most of this morning; with the addition of extremely painful stomach cramps and lower back pain. Happy days!

To be fair, I’m not sure how much of this is bug related and how much of this is pregnancy related, but I’m a little miserable. I’m uncomfortable, not sleeping, and having to force myself to eat because I know I should. I just feel a little down in the dumps about the whole thing, and don’t remember any of this from last time, or certainly not feeling this uncomfortable so early on.

I’m going on holiday next week and we’ve all been so excited, and I’m just worried I won’t be able to enjoy it properly. We’re all inclusive – I’ve never been all inclusive anywhere! If I can’t drink, I certainly want to be able to eat my own bodyweight in cake!

I know how lucky I am, and I know how this is just a tiny blip in the ocean. I also know this is a bit of miserable post but I wanted to write it all down. Hopefully soon I’ll be back to rainbows and unicorns, but for now I’d quite like to crawl back in my cave and feel better.

With love and light xo

36+3 - All done at work!

So I'm currently blogging from in bed, on a new iPhone app I've just downloaded - get me! Updating as I realised I haven't posted in almost a week - where is the time going? And more importantly, where has it gone?!

Today I am nearly classed as full term (3 days off) so baby needs to hang in there for a few more days really, to make sure I'm still able to try for the lovely water birth I have requested on my checklist! I also requested one of those lovely babies that doesn't cry and sleeps a lot, just hope the list didn't get lost...

Tomorrow is my first day of maternity leave, so I have no idea how I'll feel when I wake up! I'd like to have a lovely lie in but I think that's quite unlikely, so I have lots of little jobs to do over the next few weeks. Starting with baby washing tomorrow if the weathers fit and hopefully sunny, but if not there's still lots I can do! Along with sitting - which I've been told is an order and no longer optional. I'm just not good at sitting!

To be honest, it hasn't quite set in yet that tomorrow I'm not at work. I had a lovely last day on Friday, and managed (just!) to get through the whole day without a tear, but when I got home I just sobbed. I was trying to explain to Mitchell what was wrong, yet I didn't really know myself. I think it boiled down to the huuuuge change, and just being scared. I've always known what I'm doing, or at least what I wanted to be doing, and this fear of the unknown can be very unnerving. Especially now I've read all the books, bought almost everything I need, and packed a hospital bag - I'm as ready as possible but still feel woefully unprepared!

I had a lovely last day anyway, with some lovely presents, including money for professional baby photos from everyone at work :). Had a lovely meal out too, with great food and company.

Busy weekend again, but bought a few more baby things from town yesterday and the car boot this morning, and got to catch up with some friends and family, including seeing Jess before she goes back down to Cornwall, hopefully only temporarily ;)

In pregnancy news, I'm feeling...tired. Struggling with aches and pains a little this week, but don't want to moan as I know it could be a lot worse! Luckily I have support on hand for back rubs and sympathy, but I'm definitely done with having back ache. Glad to be finished this week, I really don't think I would have managed another. I have no idea how people manage to work up to 39+ weeks - this past week I've just been exhausted!

Anyway, hoping that this posts and doesn't just disappear into the iPhone abyss! Will hopefully blog a little more now I'm not at work, so if anyone has any questions just leave a comment! Will probably post a few pictures of baby things tomorrow but open to blogging suggestions...

With love and light xo

34 - Sleeeeepy

So, there hasn't been really a lot to report in the land of babies. Today I have exactly 6 weeks left until D-Day, and seem to be doing quite well!

I'm struggling a little with work this week - just tired and achey, and I'm not good at sitting (or really able to sit down a lot as a teacher!) so I'm coming home with achey hips and knees every night. Nothing too painful, as I'm forever reminded when I hear tales of the dreaded SPD, but enough to make me want to moan about it a little!

Sleeping quite well (famous last words?) but still waking up shattered in the morning. I think it's down to waking up every hour to have to reposition pillows and roll over - I sleep well in the gaps but just don't think I'm getting proper sleep! The next person to tell me it's 'practice' for when baby comes gets kicked in the face.

Off to the midwife this afternoon, so fingers crossed I have no glucose / protein in my wee as I think then I'd have to have more tests. Also fingers crossed bump is measuring okay as I feel huuuuuuge. How can there be any more room in there for baby? I'm pretty sure if she grows any more she'll be up to my armpits.

Exciting evening tonight courtesy of the lovely MC Steelz! She won tickets to Boyzone, and a free Indian meal so I'm going as +1. I don't think I know many Boyzone songs but think I might just surprise myself and sing along alllllll the way through (sorry in advance!). Looking forward to it, but glad to have seated tickets!

Will update later about midwife,

With love and light xo

32 - The story so far...

Picture taken with my shiny new camera remote!
So today I am 32 weeks pregnant, or 8 weeks (56 days) away from my due date, a date that still seems a distance of about ten thousand years into the future!

I'm still feeling mostly very good, with very little to complain about really. Back and hip ache have been getting to be a daily thing, but nothing too crippling and certainly nothing I can't cope with – and who am I to moan about daily back rubs and getting the sofa to myself!

I've had a busy few weeks at work, and I'm really trying as hard as I can to complete my teacher training work. The deadline is the 11th June, but obviously I'm going to be somewhat preoccupied through April / May / June, so trying to get as much as possible done beforehand. This was really worrying me last week, and there have been more than a few tears shed, but I'm only one person, there are only so many hours in the day, and I can only do so much! Written myself a schedule of things I can be doing next week so really hoping to get some big chunks done.

Another thing that's been on my mind over the past few weeks is a bit of an exciting development house wise! I'm going to keep it quiet for the next few weeks, but if anyone is looking for somewhere to rent sometime in the next few months then get in touch with me :)

I've finally managed to get off my lazy bum and start doing some exercise this past month or so, not tons but more than before! Going swimming once a week, which I suppose is better than nothing. Would love to get out and do some more walking but the weather's not really been fit, hoping that this changes soon and we can get in a few nice walks before baby is here!

Sleeping a lot better lately, seem to be dead to the world this week, maybe waking up every few hours to change sides and relieve an achy hip, but other than that very well! Counting my blessings with this at the moment, as I know I'll be up every 10 seconds to pee soon enough! I'm thinking it's because my bump is so high at the moment, that she's not really pushing on my bladder. Also not waddling yet, again because I think she's so high up! This has been leading to a lot of being out of breath from going up 2 flights of stairs though.

The movements I've been feeling have definitely changed, from defined pokes and prods to more “swooshy” (?) movements, like I can feel her moving around and changing position and my whole tummy changes shape – it can be quite strange / surreal! Tried to get a video last night but she stopped as soon as I started filming obviously.

I've had 3 antenatal classes so far, and they've actually been really useful and interesting. They've only been 45 / 50 minute classes, but we've covered relaxation methods, breathing, birthing and labour positions, and other bits and pieces. The physio that takes the class is really fantastic and a big hypnobirth / natural birth advocate. Although a lot of the stuff she's going through is stuff I've already read and I'm aware of, it's very reassuring to hear a medical person repeating things back to you. I do feel a bit like the odd one out at the classes though, but I've always been a bit odd I suppose!

In other baby news, I haven't really bought anything else or done anything else! I received a gorgeous hamper full of baby things last weekend that was very much appreciated, lots of lovely things to stash away! Bought a few bits for my hospital bag on Monday but still not got round to packing it, possibly a weekend job along with trying out the car seat? I keep putting off buying things but I will get a move on soon.

I have put myself on a nappy buying hiatus until baby comes, just because I may not even get on with the cloth nappies! We have a nice little stash now, consisting mainly of Bum Genius (a combination of the V3 BTP and All-In-Ones), TotsBots (some V1 and some V2), a few Bambooty, and just some other bits and pieces I've picked up from the pre-loved board on BabyCentre! I keep meaning to take pictures of them all so I'll try and do that soon too.

Finally, a bit of a question. Those of you that have had babies before, did you wash all the clothes before they were born?

With love and light xo

30 - No news is good news right?

So, time for another instalment of what's happening in the land of Lizz and bump! I know I've been a little slack with the blog lately, but truthfully not a lot is really happening at the moment.

Yesterday I went to my first antenatal class at the hospital, as part of the physiotherapy unit. We looked at things we should / shouldn't be doing during pregnancy, some exercises to help with birth and back pain, and generally talked about body changes during pregnancy. Apparently I shouldn't be working – the thought of afternoon naps is lovely but unfortunately I don't think the money tree would agree! I enjoyed the session but looking forward to next week's session more, focusing on breathing and relaxation methods for birth.

Starting to lose some of the energy I had in the second trimester, and feeling super sleepy at the moment. I slept from 8.30 last night and still woke up tired this morning! I don't know if that's down to me waking up in the night, or just baby taking up a lot of energy at the moment. It could be entirely un-pregnancy related and just due to the fact I've got a lot on my mind, but I'm really struggling to keep my eyes open past about 5!

The back ache / hip ache has shifted up a notch this week, but work have provided me with a better chair (it's amazing!) and I've bought an exercise ball to sit on at home which actually seems to make a big difference. Don't want to complain too much, as lots of ladies have really severe problems with SPD / PGP so I feel very lucky to just have a little back ache :).

Haven't done anything more baby related to the house, or bought anything else. Trying to hold off until right at the end and I'll buy any bits and pieces we need then, but I keep having to remind myself that the shops will still be open after she's born!

Still seems to be forever away. 10 weeks, or 70 days to go until the due date, so I guess she'll be here in 84 days maximum?

And in amazing news, my cousin welcomed a GORGEOUS little girl into the world on Monday, weighing 6lb 14oz. Happy Birthday little Amelia! I haven't seen her yet but cannot wait to meet her, and find out some of the details.

Hope everyone else is okay!

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

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+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

20 - Excited!!

Updating from my phone because I'm far too excited and nervous to sleep!!! Keep dreaming about the scan :). I want to go to sleep so I can wake up and it be here, like you do for Christmas! I have no idea how I'm going to get through the next 20 weeks without seeing cupcake.

I'm having this weird pain in the right side of my chest every time I breathe in, which is another reason I'm having trouble sleeping. Hopefully by the morning it'll be gone!

The next time I update, hopefully I'll have more news :)

With love and light xo

19+5 - Apprehensive

So only 2 sleeps to go until my 20 week scan! This excites me, but is also starting to scare me actually. I've been focusing on this point as a huge exciting thing, but a few dreams have left me a little apprehensive. I'm sure it's nothing, but I'm allowed to worry a little bit! It's amazing how much my whole life has changed in such a short period of time. This baby was a huge surprise, but I would give anything to make sure that they are healthy and happy.

I've been changing my mind a little on gender these past few days. All the way through I've thought girl, and girl seems to be the majority vote. However last night all I dreamed about was finding out the sex, and it being a boy - and now I'm completely back to square one! I've still left my vote as a girl, but my women's intuition is obviously failing me!

I've been quite achey this week, with my hips / knees / shoulders feeling like I've been working out, when I blatantly haven't (although I do need to get on that!). I'm sure this will disappear soon enough, and it's only really an issue when trying to sleep. Sleep's kind of evading me at the moment - I'm still just getting the good 30min bursts, which is just a little odd and leaves me quite tired. Still, better than no sleep!

I've been a little negative these past few days, and a few things have been getting me down. However I keep trying to remind myself how lucky I am, and how amazing this is. I'm sure I'll be super positive again after Thursdays scan!

So - VOTE! And comment... this blog is getting rather lonely with me talking to myself!

With love and light xo

10+2 - Aches

Damn, yesterday I spoke to soon - had a bowl of cornflakes this morning and proceeded to throw it all back up, plus my pint of orange juice – yum! However I was sat there with a smile on my face thinking – at least this is baby! Pregnancy makes you look at things in a very strange way…

Also had hip / knee / joint aches for the past few days which have been very frustrating. I’ve been trying to avoid tablets but I’ve taken one before work for the past few days just to take the edge off a little. I feel like my body is failing me! Also completely fed up of this lack of sleep. I’m so used to sleeping well and I guess I kind of took it for granted.

Midwife tomorrow though – hopefully will be able to ask her about paracetamol etc. No idea the kind of information she’s going to ask, or if it will be 5 mins or 45 minutes! Guess we’ll see tomorrow. Going straight back to work afterwards so hopefully she doesn’t take a pint of blood and make me pass out. Having a word with my boss later about the pregnancy which I’m more than a little nervous about.

In none baby related news I have no boiler! We thought just the on / off switch was broken as you had to hold it down to have any hot water, but when we fitted the new switch (£40!) it’s now not working at all. Hopefully having a plumber coming to look at it over the next few days to see if it can be an easy fix / faulty switch and if not we may have to call the gas board. Bad timing – but I suppose it can’t be helped.

This entry might sound very negative but I’m not – actually feeling super positive today! Everything will all work out, and the annoying symptoms are just a drop in the ocean compared to how lucky we are :)

With love and light xo