22 Weeks – EDC 28/05/13

Wednesday, 23 January 2013 (Day 1)

I am “this close” to being able to get Brad to feel this baby move. When I recline, I can feel bulgy bits sticking out of my stomach, and if I push on them, they kick back. So all I have to do is get Brad to push one of these bulgy bits, and hopefully he’ll finally feel that first kick.

I hope this heartburn stops when I have the baby.

Thursday, 24 January 2013 (Day 2)

Brad finally got to feel the baby “tap” his hand twice last night, on two different occasions. He said that he could barely feel it, which surprised me, as the baby was positively booting me from the inside – enough to see his hand move. However, my technique of getting him to push on the bulgy bit worked.

And for the laugh of the day: Brad had his first pregnancy brain moment today. In a hurry, he sent a message on his iPhone to someone (thinking he had sent a message to me last) asking them to bring him lunch. They very kindly and cheekily send him back a message saying that this would be fine. At the same time that this is all happening, I’m driving 45 minutes in the other direction to see my horse, oblivious to the fact that my poor husband is lunch-less at work.

Fast forward to Brad’s lunch time, which also happened to be the time that I finished visiting with my horse, and my phone starts ringing. I answer it, and Brad says, “So are you coming?” Wondering what important appointment MY pregnant brain has forgotten, I start questioning him about what on earth he was talking about. He said that I had said that I’d bring him lunch. At this point I checked my phone to see what messages I had sent – after all, if it is possible for me to turn off an alarm and not remember it, surely it is possible for me to answer a message and not remember it either. I assured him that the last time we had corresponded by text was in fact yesterday, and that he mustn’t have sent the message to me – which was the truth, as he then discovered. After having a laugh about it, I then drove the 45 minutes back into town to buy and deliver to my darling husband some lunch. BTW, the new KFC grilled BLT twisters are quite delicious!

21 Weeks – EDC 28/05/13

Tuesday, 15 January 2013

I am noticing a correlation between how hungry I am and how much I want to sleep. The more I want to eat, the more I want to sleep. I’m eating lots of salads now, and the scales didn’t change this week, so I guess I’m free to continue listening to my appetite. I love eating things with cheese. I either have them on rice thins or in a sandwich. The things I like to eat with cheese are tomatoes and mayonnaise, cold turkey and cranberry sauce, Promite, and (wait for it…) strawberry jam. For those wondering how I can eat cold turkey when all the pregnancy guides say that I’m not to eat cold deli meats, I buy the pre-packaged containers from the supermarket and consume it within two days. I figure that this minimises the risks of contamination by various organisms, and I haven’t had any problems with this. This compares with the bad experience I had with some bought coleslaw that was near its use by date which came back up within an hour of consuming it.

Wednesday, 16 January 2013 (Day 1)

Here's a new one. I rolled over last night from left to right side, and as I reached lying flat on my back I did a little stretch. At the height of the stretch (so belly muscles are all stretched out), baby decides to wallop me right where my belly button is. My instant reaction was to hold my belly and curl up into the foetal position and wonder what on earth that was. It took me a few seconds to figure it out, and then I was too scared to move in case it happened again! Up until now, it's been lots of bubbles (feels like a boiling pot) and ripples (like on a pond), and a few nudges that I've been starting to feel from the outside, but this gi-normous thump was totally new and slightly frightening. I'm a bit scared of what's to come now.

Thursday, 17 January 2013 (Day 2)

Target had a baby sale starting today. As I discovered today, if you want to know how many pregnant women are in a city, go to a baby sale. There are lots of them out there! I bought two pregnancy tops (when I say bought, I mean that I put on layby), a gorgeous cotton blanket that I couldn’t walk past, an ear thermometer and two cupboard locks.  I want to buy the baby an outfit just from me, but I’m having trouble finding the right one, especially as we don’t know the gender of our precious bundle of joy. I am discovering that boy’s clothes are much closer to gender neutral colours, but I still haven’t found the right outfit. I guess there’ll be plenty of time to buy the baby/toddler/child clothes in the future, and besides, that blanket is absolutely adorable!

If you haven’t read this blog, and you have been or are pregnant, and you need a laugh, please feel free to follow this link: http://www.xojane.com/family/what-you-wont-expect-when-youre-expecting

My belly button is nearly ready to pop out. I can pull it out, but it won’t stay out. Two nights ago I couldn’t pull it out, so maybe in two more nights it will stay out.

Friday, 18 January 2013 (Day 3)

I’m wondering if I’m experiencing Braxton hicks. I have been experiencing a tightening in my pelvis, which I attributed to bub deciding to plant its head on my bladder, however while it is uncomfortable, it doesn’t actually make me want to go to the toilet. Rather, I want to shift positions. It seems to happen more in times of mild exercise, which is making me wonder if it is in fact Braxton hicks.

Sunday, 20 January 2013 (Day 5)

My feet are stretching. They’re wider than they used to be, so my shoes fit differently, and toward the end of the day they feel like they’re flattening out, like the arch is disappearing.

20 Weeks – EDC 28/05/13

Tuesday, 8 January 2013

20 weeks to go! I’m definitely looking pregnant now. My body has become pimple city, so no glowing pregnancy look for me J. I’ve been feeling excellent since the stress of Christmas has now passed. My nails are also on a growing rampage, but luckily my body hair seems to have slowed down in growth.  I also have pregnancy brain, getting words mixed up, being unable to remember a word, and forgetting where I parked the car. I’ve also got lots of energy at the moment, which I’m using to cook and clean.

I’m trying to decide if my belly button is going to pop out. It points straight up as the uterus is starting to push upwards past the belly button. I’m also getting lots of stretching feelings around my belly and belly button. I’ve also finally managed to put on (and keep on) 5kg in the last two weeks.

Saturday, 12 January 2013 (Day 4)

Had an exciting milestone last night: I felt the baby kick from the outside for the first time. I have been trying to get Brad to feel it too, but the pattern is quite sporadic, and it can go half an hour between kicks. I also suspect that if I’m sitting the wrong way (at the moment anyway) that the kick won’t be felt from the outside, as sometimes I can feel a good inch of blubber over the top of my uterus, and other times my belly is like a drum. I have been feeling a lot more movement as well. The midwife told me yesterday that some women at this stage can’t even feel anything yet, so I’m somewhat lucky.

So, as I just mentioned, I saw the midwife yesterday. I have a normal, healthy, low-risk pregnancy at this stage. I assumed that because I was going through the public system that I would be seeing a different midwife each time, but this isn’t the case unless I want it. I get the pleasure of seeing the same lovely midwife each and every time until I go unto labour, at which point I suspect that I’ll get whoever’s on duty and available.

Sunday, 13 January 2013 (Day 5)

I have been enjoying the sensation of getting little kicks from the newest member of our family very soon after waking up for the last two mornings.

17-19 Weeks - EDC 28/05/13

My apologies for the lack of blog posts, but Christmas has had me understandably busy. I did have time to take a few snaps of the belly though.


18 December - 17 Weeks

25 December - 18 Weeks

29 December - 18 Weeks 4 Days

I also went for a morphology scan. Here are a few favourite pictures.



Baby Laing

A Foot

Two Legs

And that is all it appears that Blogger is going to let me upload, so I will sign off here.

16 Weeks – EDC 28/05/13

Thursday, 13 December 2012 – Day 2

So, the Christmas cake gives me really bad indigestion L Oh well…

Now, on the exciting front, I think I’ve felt the baby move for the last two nights. Tuesday night, after all the stretching, I had a very tight belly and I’m sure I felt the bubble popping sensation. It was entirely pleasant, whereas I find gas bubbles unpleasant, so I’m fairly sure it was the baby. Last night, I wanted to feel it again before I went to sleep, but my belly was feeling rather “dead” (not in a bad way, mind you). So, I tried experimenting with the angle of my recline – I sleep on my side like a good girl. At a certain point, I felt a shift pressure onto my intestines, followed by a shuddering that ended up making me want to move because it was tickling so badly. Yes, I would describe it as having a butterfly in my belly. No luck replicating this again this morning, but I tried before having eaten anything, and I’d had a Nutella sandwich just before bed last night.

BREAKING NEWS: It’s 1:00pm, and I just felt a distinct tap-tap just above my pubic bone, which to me was undeniably baby!

Saturday, 15 December 2012 – Day 4

You will notice that my EDC has changed again. This is because the midwife trusts my charting and mistrusts my early ultrasound, which is completely opposite to my GP. Bemusing, but no biggy.

So, I had my first antenatal appointment yesterday, which was long, but productive and exciting. We (the midwife and I) talked about a lot of pregnancy stuff and a lot more about my medical history. I liked the midwife, as I felt like she really listened to me, and I never felt like she was tapping her watch for the next appointment. I got to listen to the heartbeat, and she confirmed for me that I was feeling the baby kicking and showed me where the “baby zone” is on my belly. I also had some kicks just before my appointment. It seems that sitting seems to be key to feeling kicks at the moment, as every time I feel them, I seem to be sitting at a desk.

Monday, 17 December 2012 – Day 6

Nothing much to report. We’re having a little heat wave at the moment which is making me feel a little woozy at times. I have a phlegmy throat in the mornings (which can make me gag) and a dry throat in the evenings. I’m also feeling a little movement by the baby every day, which is exciting. Brad keeps touching my stomach to see if he can feel anything – cute!

Brad and I are doing a lot of reading and talking at the moment about baby things. I got an information pack from the hospital, which tells me how the hospital works, but also gives snippets of information on other issues like breastfeeding, sids, swaddling, and information for Rh negative woman (of which I am one of the unfortunate few). I am also reading a book by Gina Ford called The Contented Little Baby, which I am finding really informative as she seems to have a lot of views that I already had formed earlier in pregnancy. Of course this begins the start of the journey that everyone will have something to say about our style of raising a baby, and that fact that everyone will have something to say on how to do it better (or how we’re doing it wrong). The challenge for me is to try and ignore the vast majority of it and only keep the information that I actually want while not getting upset with the information givers. People skills have never been my forte, and any little patience I did have before I fell pregnant has rapidly fallen by the wayside, so it is very easy for me to get upset with people these days.

15 Weeks – EDC 30/05/13

Thursday, 6 December 2012

It seems that my body has finally realised that I’m now in the second trimester. For the most part, I have the energy required to fulfil most of the obligations of a housewife. Walking for any length of time really tires me out though.

I’ve been suffering a little from a dry throat, which makes me gag. The solution to which seems to be chewing gum like it’s going out of fashion. If I don’t have a dry throat, I have a throat full of phlegm – ew!

I had one bout of bringing up my breakfast on Tuesday, but for the first time since I fell pregnant, it didn’t affect the rest of my day. Let’s hope that is the end of it.

I have my midwives appointment next Friday. I’m rather excited about this, and also about the morphology scan (ultrasound) which is booked in for the New Year. Brad will still be on holidays when I go for this scan, so we will both be able to see the baby for the first time together – yay!

Monday, 10 December 2012 – Day 4

So, I vomited in the mornings on Saturday and Sunday, but once again it didn’t affect the rest of my eating habits for the day. On Sunday, it was before breakfast, and I managed to eat most of two Weet Bix. I’ve been drinking Berocca after I vomit, as it was recommended to me to keep away nausea, and I have to say that it seems to have a positive effect.

Today I’ve been alternating between being tired and being hungry. I guess the baby is having a growing spurt. I’m waiting to feel those first movements, but it is entirely possible that I have an anterior placenta and won’t feel anything until 22 weeks. I’m thinking positive (was that a wiggle) but being prepared that I might have to wait. However, it doesn’t stop me pressing on my belly to see if I can feel anything. Because I didn’t have the 12 week scan, I don’t know where my placenta is, or even for certain that there is only one baby in there. I guess all will be revealed at the 20 week scan.

Tuesday, 11 December 2012 – Day 5

I made Christmas cake today. It was the hardest thing in the world to not lick the beaters, as the batter not only contained raw eggs, but also a good amount of rum (which means that it wouldn’t have been wise for me to lick those beaters anyway).

I think my belly has expanded again, as I’m feeling rather fat tonight. I ordered my first maternity bras today, so I look forward to their arrival in the mail. I also found out today that the 20 week scan takes around an hour, which makes me excited because Brad is coming, so we both get to stare at our offspring for a good while.

14 Weeks – EDC 30/05/13

Thursday, 29 November 2012

I had my doctor’s appointment today to get a referral for my morphology scan at 19 weeks. That’s all booked in for 3 January, which is very exciting. The other exciting thing was that I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat today with the doctor’s Doppler scanner. It sounded nice and strong, which is good as the doctor wasn’t sure if he could feel the top of my uterus or not.

I’m glad we have air conditioning considering the present heat wave. I know the heat wave here is nothing compared to just 100km inland, but to a pregnant woman it’s very hot! Even with the heat wave, I have been nausea free since Tuesday – yay!