Tag Archives: pregnancy

Pregnancy Diary: 14 Weeks

After the change to my due date last week, I’m out of routine and keep forgetting how many weeks and days pregnant I am.  It’s good blogging a pregnancy because it makes me pay attention to it!  After the first baby, the dates and milestones usually blur into one, and I’m trying not to let that happen this time.  Today I am *thinks for a bit* 14 weeks and 3 days, and I am happy to be in the second trimester at last.  The last few months have felt very long.

14 weeks

Baby is: the size of a lemon, and moving around a lot.  I first felt it last Thursday, at 13 weeks and 6 days.  Other than the first pregnancy, when I felt the baby move at a fairly standard 20 weeks or so, I have always been able to feel movements quite early.  It was around 14 weeks with the second and third pregnancies and I think the last one was the same as this one, at just before 14 weeks.  It’s very reassuring and makes it much easier to feel connected to the baby.  At this stage I can only notice the movements when I’m sitting or lying still, so that’s all the more reason to remember to rest now and again.

I am: still very tired.  The sickness and dizziness are lingering on a little but I am much better than I was, and I have a bit more energy now so the house looks quite a lot tidier than it has been for a while.  It’s all relative and there’s a lot more to do, but I feel happier for a bit of therapeutic decluttering – I’ve taken a bag of clothes to a friend today, and there are nine more bags of clothes, toys and books in the back of the car ready to go to the charity shop tomorrow.  The last week or so has been quite difficult, but I’m focussing on the positives and other than that just trying to take it a day at a time.  I’m not sleeping very well, though slightly better than last week which was terrible.  My pregnancy hypnotherapy CD is helping a bit but I did have to listen to it three times last night!  I’m not sure what else I can do.  Any tips for dealing with pregnancy insomnia and exhaustion gratefully received.

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Pregnancy Diary: 13 Weeks

I had my dating scan today and my due date is now 2nd January.  I’d worked it out at 7th January, the doctor said the 6th, and one of the midwives said it was about the 9th or 10th, so I really didn’t know what to think.  But I’ll go with the scan prediction as it’s probably the most accurate, though I know due dates are an inexact science.  Anyway, based on that I am now 13 weeks plus 4, so this post is kind of late, though it feels early.

13 weeks

Baby is: the size of a peach.  The scan was lovely.  I was a bit nervous at first, but I relaxed when I heard the heartbeat, and then after a while baby started jumping up and down which was quite reassuring!  The scan equipment was amazing, much better quality than five years ago, and it was, as always, very exciting to see that there really is a baby in there.

12 week scan 112 week scan 2

I am: feeling quite a lot better.  The sickness is mainly in the evenings now, and the dizzy spells are happening less frequently.  And the scan made me happy today 🙂

Pregnancy Diary: 12 Weeks

Twelve weeks is a milestone and I’m glad to have reached it.  Not that there’s been a miraculous recovery from early pregnancy symptoms, and some of the time I am still feeling frankly rubbish, but when I stand back I can definitely see an overall improvement.

12 weeks

Baby is: the size of a large plum.  Looking quite human, moving around and practising making sounds.

I am: feeling much less sick in the mornings, though during the afternoon it usually gets worse and the evenings are still difficult.  The dizziness is still the same, and I’ve also been feeling breathless.  My iron levels are low which might explain some of the symptoms, so I’m doing my best to eat lots of iron-rich foods (I’ve developed quite an apricot habit, and today I was told that liquorice is good too so I’m snacking on that as well) and taking Spatone natural iron supplements.  I’m hoping to avoid the dreaded iron tablets because I get ALL the side-effects but we’ll just have to see how it goes.

On a more positive note, I have been trying really hard this week to remember that there is a baby in there causing all this trouble, and allowing myself to feel a little bit excited about that.  I’m still scared of having another miscarriage or finding out bad news at the scan next week, but I’m trying not to think about that too much.  I’ve been listening to a hypnotherapy CD for morning sickness which has helped a bit, though in fact I haven’t been listening to the words that much.  I’ve been finding it helpful as background noise to block out negative thoughts when I’m trying to sleep and it has given me a bit of space to focus on the baby.  Little baby number five, you are going to have to fight your corner for attention in this family, but I will do my best to make sure you get your share.

Pregnancy Diary: 11 Weeks

I am 11 weeks pregnant today.  It has not been a good day, mainly because of lack of sleep and poorly children.  I’m glad I’ve started this pregnancy diary, even though it feels like a bit of pressure to write a post instead of falling into bed exhausted at the end of a long day.  It’s good to set aside some time to pay attention to this baby who might otherwise not get a look in, and remember that I’ve got something to feel positive about even on the worst days.  It’s also nice to have a moan about pregnancy symptoms too!

11 weeks

Baby is: the size of a lime, and can now smile and suck his (or her) thumb.

I am: a little disappointed that I am feeling more sick again, and the dizziness is worse too.  Having very little sleep last night may have something to do with that, so I hope I will feel better tomorrow if I manage to sleep tonight.  I had my first antenatal appointment yesterday, which felt like an achievement after having to reschedule several other appointments and wondering if I was ever going to manage to fit them in to my crazy life.  I had to wait two hours to be seen which was annoying, but it was weirdly nice to be back in the very familiar territory of the hospital antenatal department.  So I shall try and take nostalgic pleasure in the reassuring sameness of it all, instead of being annoyed at the inefficiency of certain aspects of the system.  I do love the NHS with all its imperfections.

I am going to try and spend some time at the end of each day focussing on and connecting with this baby.  I hope it will reduce my stress levels and help me to put things into perspective.  The unpleasantness of the first trimester feels like an eternity when you are in it, but it’s not much in the context of a lifetime.  I have been here before, I have come out the other side and the view is amazing.

 

Pregnancy Diary: 10 Weeks

I am 10 weeks pregnant today and this will have to be a quick post as it is rather late but I am determined to do it on time even though we are on holiday.

Week 10

Baby is: the size of a prune.

I am: very tired, and still feeling sick, but tentatively hopeful that I can detect a slight improvement.  Maybe it’s being on holiday that’s making me feel a bit better, but I think that I might be over the worst phase if my previous pregnancies are anything to go by.  The dizziness has definitely reduced over the last few days.  It’s still happening some of the time, but at least it’s not every time I stand up now.  Emotionally I am all over the place, and tiredness has a lot to do with it.  So I think I’d better go and get some sleep now and I hope I will feel a bit more positive in the morning.  Like parenting in general, pregnancy is hard work but definitely worth it.  I just need to keep reminding myself of that!

Pregnancy Diary: 9 weeks

Today I am 9 weeks pregnant and I am going to start a weekly pregnancy diary.  I know that by planning to write a post on a particular day each week I am setting myself up to fail, particularly as Wednesdays are my busiest days, but I am going to try anyway!  Before I get up to week 9, I need to backtrack a bit.

week 5

I took these photos on the day I did the pregnancy test, which was at 5 weeks and 2 days.  I shared the first one on Twitter, with the caption “Lovely afternoon with a friend and treated myself to a new scarf 🙂 #happy” and that was quite true, but also I really wanted a record of that day.  I resisted the temptation to share a photo of the pregnancy test though it did cross my mind!

The day after this, I woke with tummy cramps and lower back pain which got worse later in the day when I lifted a heavy box.  I had a weekend of paranoia, because in January I had a miscarriage at five and a half weeks and it felt very similar.  However it was probably just normal early pregnancy symptoms that I had forgotten about, and by the middle of the next week I felt better, though my back has not been quite right since then.

week 6

Week 6

Baby is: the size of a poppy seed.

I am: feeling sick already.  Still at the stage where I can just about keep it at bay by eating, so I am eating rather a lot.  That is not helping with the general bloated feeling though.  Most of my clothes are uncomfortably tight which makes me feel more sick.

week 7

Week 7

Baby is: the size of a blueberry.  And growing new brain cells at the rate of 100 per minute.  I find that fact quite fascinating!

I am: really very sick now.  Loads of other symptoms too, but the sickness is bothering me the most.  I also have very sharp pains in my sides when I turn over in bed.

week 8

Week 8

Baby is: the size of a large raspberry and growing about a millimetre a day.

I am: in agony.  I made my back pain much worse by bending to put away the Le Creuset.  Yes, I know, first world problems…  But really quite worrying, especially as I ended up in hospital with very severe lower back pain during my second pregnancy and this feels similar.  I am also feeling even more sick, and increasingly dizzy too.  And I have had more than enough of trying to hide it, so I decided it was time to announce our news.

 

Week 9week 9

Baby is: the size of a green olive.

I am: very very sick of feeling sick.  And dizzy.  Standing up is hard, even sitting up is too.  The world is spinning and as well as being unpleasant it is making reality quite confusing.  So if I seem a bit spaced out when I am talking to you, that is why.

 

 

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