23 and 24 week update

How far along:

23 and 24 weeks

Baby is the size of a:

Grapefruit(23 weeks) and cantaloupe (24 weeks).

I read that she's 30cm long now, which I just find amazing, it still feels like she's often curled up in a ball.

Total weight gain:

1 more lb over the past two weeks, so a total of 5lbs

 

(23 weeks)

 

 

(24 weeks)

Maternity Clothes?

I've gone and bought a pair of over the bump maternity jeans, which looked a bit scary and huge in the shop, but they're super comfortable, nothing digs into my tummy anymore. I do have to use a safety pin to make them slightly smaller, as the tummy band is still a bit loose.

Stretch Marks?

None caused by pregnancy ;-)

Sleep?

Pretty good, still not waking up at night to use the bathroom either.

Best moment of the Week:

Seeing my belly move the other day, I'm bigger so didn't think I'd see it this early on

 

Movement:

Lots, she seems to be most active around 11pm/midnight and late mornings

Food Cravings:

Juice

Belly Button in or out:

In.

Gender:

Girl, I'd like to book another scan to confirm though as I don't get anymore free ones at the hospital now

Symptoms:

My tummy is definitely starting to feel heavier.
I'm also more tired, though not as exhausted as in the first trimester

Anything Making you queasy or Sick?

Nothing really

Have you Started to Show yet?

No stranger has asked me yet

What I miss:

Not getting out of breath so easily

What I'm looking forward to:

My carters.com order arriving :) 

What I'm not looking forward to:

Will get back to you on that

 

 

21 and 22 week update

How far along:

21 & 22 weeks

Baby is the size of a:

Carrot(21 weeks) and Papaya (22 weeks) though, they must mean US sized fruits, the papayas I've seen in the shops here are only 4 inches big ;-)

Total weight gain:

4lbs as I have eaten a lot over the Christmas time

(21 weeks)

 

(22 weeks)

 

Maternity Clothes?

So far only one 'under the bump' pair of maternity jeans and a pair of maternity tights, which make me look very pregnant, but this weekend I'm going to get fitted for new bras(finally) and get the pair of 'over the bump' jeans I tried on last week

Stretch Marks?

No new ones yet

Sleep?

Pretty good

Best moment of the Week:

Announcing my pregnancy on Facebook on Christmas day and receiving lots of lovely comments and messages

 

Movement:

Lots of wormy baby movements :)

Food Cravings:

Nothing really

Belly Button in or out:

In.

Gender:

Girl, though we weren't able to confirm at 20 weeks

Symptoms:

I feel like I have a brick in my tummy and my right leg is hurting due to varicose veins forming :( 

Anything Making you queasy or Sick?

Nothing really

Have you Started to Show yet?

No, still just look a bit fatter

What I miss:

Nothing

What I'm looking forward to:

Going to start buying more clothes for baby, so that's exciting.

What I'm not looking forward to:
I told my employers this week that I am pregnant and they are hurt that I have kept it from them for so long, as well as keeping my relationship private, so I think the next couple of weeks will not be fun, while they are getting used to it all.

 

 

19 and 20 week update

How far along:

19 & 20 weeks

 

(Pictures to follow)

Baby is the size of a:

Mango and then Banana, which I find incredibly weird, don't want a baby as skinny as a banana ;-)

Total weight gain:

1lbs on/off...it changes back and forth every day

Maternity Clothes?

A pair of maternity jeans, shopping for them was a nightmare and I ended up in tears in the changing rooms, hormones! The ones I ended up buying turned out not to be very comfortable but will have to do until I can brave going back to the shops

Stretch Marks?

No new ones yet

Sleep?

Pretty good, never even waking up to go use the bathroom

Best moment of the Week:

received my first baby present, a lovely outfit from a nanny friend

Movement:

I've been feeling what I think might be tiny kicks, can't wait to feel stronger ones

Food Cravings:

Greasy food, burgers, fries...

Belly Button in or out:

In.

Gender:

Lovely baby girl!

Symptoms:

Nothing much  

Anything Making you queasy or Sick?

Porridge

Have you Started to Show yet?

Some days I'm really bloated, but I still just look chubby, a friend called me 'tiny' today(considering I'm halfway through pregnancy)

What I miss:

Nothing

What I'm looking forward to:

Going to Germany for Christmas

What I'm not looking forward to:

Same old: telling work

 

It's a....

(Girl)

We couldn't be happier!

Now begins the battle of agreeing on a name, apparently all of my suggestions are too posh...

17 and 18 week update

I decided to combine 17 and 18 weeks as not much has happened really:

How far along:

17 & 18 weeks

Baby is the size of an:

First onion and now a sweet potato

 

 

Total weight gain:

none, which I find amazing, but to be honest it's not unusual when you start a bit heavier

The box of German Christmas goodies that arrived in the post today might change this though...

17 weeks

 

 

18 weeks

 

 

Maternity Clothes?

None yet, but really need to get some jeans as mine as starting to become very uncomfortable and the hair tie is no longer doing the trick

Stretch Marks?

No new ones

Sleep?

Have been trying to sleep on my left side as it's best for the baby but I just don't find it comfortable and keep waking up on my back
 

Best moment of the Week:

Attending our gender scan with my partner, it was the first time she was able to come along to a scan and I think she quite enjoyed it. Baby had hiccups which was cute to watch. The little monkey was a bit shy at first keeping the legs closed but we found out we're having a .... stay tuned ;-)

Movement:

Still nothing

Food Cravings:

Still meat and the other night I really wanted cucumbers

Belly Button in or out:

In

Gender:

Will be revealed soon!

Symptoms:

Nothing really, I don't feel anything at all other than some ligament pain/stretching pains every now and again and the odd bit of queasiness, but my tight jeans don't help with that

Anything Making you queasy or Sick?

It's random what makes me feel queasy really but it's nothing like it was in the first trimester, so I just accept it

Have you Started to Show yet?

No, just look like I need to really start a diet 

What I miss:

Sleeping on my back

What I'm looking forward to:

My next scan at 20 weeks

What I'm not looking forward to:

Telling work that I'm pregnant, so still the same

 

16 Week update

How far along:

16 weeks

Baby is the size of a:

Avocado

Total weight gain:

2lbs in the last week, so now I'm back to the weight I was when I found out I was pregnant.
 

Maternity Clothes?

I’m wearing 'fat' jeans but they're unbuttoned now as well. I bought a pair of Maternity Jeans on ebay, but they kept falling down, the 'under the bump' style doesn't suit my shape and I'm too small for over the bump.

Stretch Marks?

No new ones, though to be honest, not sure I'd notice one more ;-)

Sleep?

Much better than the first trimester, though I still need more than pre-pregnancy. Don't even wake up every night to go and pee  

Best moment of the Week:

Ultrasound on Sunday, immediately seeing the heartbeat on the monitor.

Movement:

Nothing yet.

Food Cravings:

Meat, red meat in particular, which is strange for me!

Belly Button in or out:

In.

Gender:

Finding out in 12 days, fingers crossed baby cooperates

Symptoms:

I keep getting headaches, will talk to my midwife about that on Friday. Nausea also still there, I tried going without my sickness tablets for a day and felt like I was going to projectile vomit by the evening. So I guess I better renew my prescription. 

Anything Making you queasy or Sick?

I still can't figure out what makes me feel sick 

Have you Started to Show yet?

I'm getting chubbier around the middle. I was bigger to start with(BMI 31) so now it just looks like I've eaten a bit too much

 

What I miss:

Eating whatever I want without having to consider how it might make me feel.

What I'm looking forward to:

Finding out the gender and for my partner to attend her first ever ultrasound.

What I'm not looking forward to:

Telling work about my pregnancy.

***************

 

So, on Sunday I had a cheeky little scan to calm my nerves and baby was being rather camera shy, so I have no lovely new pictures to show you.
Baby was all curled up, so they made me empty my bladder to see if it would help, but the little one stayed in the same position, the sonographer joked and said it looked like it was driving a car.
We listened to the heartbeat(156 beats per minute), which sounds just beautiful.
Let's hope baby is a bit more awake for the gender scan on the 1st of December and doesn't keep it's legs crossed like it did for the 12 week scan.

 

15 Week update

Boy oh boy, how can I be 15 weeks pregnant already?
Crazy!!

So, last thing I mentioned on here was that I was feeling awful, this basically continued from week 6/7 all the way up to 13 weeks, I started taking sickness tablets around 11.5 weeks and finally stopped throwing up at night. Before that I would feel absolutely awful all day long and then throw up the minute I walked into my flat, never even giving me enough time to take off my coat.
Then I would basically pass out on the sofa, hardly ever eating dinner and sleeping as much as I could.

I ended up temporarily losing 10lbs, but have now put most of that weight back on.

I felt very depressed about feeling so sick, tired and basically useless, I had so little energy I don't even know how I managed 10/12 hour days at work.

But now that's all mostly behind me, I still feel nauseous, but not 24/7 and haven't thrown up in 3 weeks.

I had my 12 week scan and the little bean measured 3 days ahead, so I am now due on the 6th of May, making me exactly 15 weeks today.

I continue to worry all the time that something is going wrong, so for my own sanity, I have booked yet another private scan for this weekend. My 5th scan already!
Then we're having a private gender scan at 17 weeks plus my last NHS scan at 20 weeks, hopefully after that I can feel the baby moving, helping me relax a little.

I'm starting to get excited, I still haven't told anyone in real life other than my partner and 2 friends, the poor grandmother to be is still clueless, she will be thrilled!!
I have somehow managed to hide it at work, despite having to take three sick days, one at 6 weeks and 2 at 11 weeks, when I finally begged the doctor for some tablets.
I am not thin to start with, so having not gained any weight yet has been helpful with keeping this little secret.
My work are likely to be very awkward about it, so the longer I can keep it from them, the better.

But now to the most important part, the 12 week mug shot :)

 

 

I am in love with the little pouty lips in the close up of the face, my partner says baby definitely comes after me :)

They measured the fluid under the skin in the back of baby's neck, then they took my blood to calculate the risk of this baby having down syndrome.
We got our results about 10 days later and the odds are 1:100000, so amazingly low!

Will post another update after the weekend, when I've had my 15 week scan.