Thoughts on the second trimester

I have officially said good bye to the second trimester and hello to the third. I thought this would be a good time to look back on the past three months and take stock of how far we’ve come.

The second trimester treated me really well. My nausea cleared up almost instantly at around 14 week and my energy came back in full force.

My belly first made its appearance around 15 weeks and we’ve been growing steadily ever since.

I first felt kicks at around 18 weeks and Hubby felt her for the first time at 20ish weeks.

I also gave up high heels at 20 weeks. It was the right thing to do. As much as I love pretty shoes I can’t stand to be in them at the moment.

I have been needing a pillow to sleep since about 16ish weeks, I think. My back gets hellishly sore and has been doing so since very early on. The pillow has been bliss when I’m actually asleep. That said I have been battling to sleep – I get up a lot, have to turn a lot to get comfortable, pass out quickly only to be wide awake within a few hours. It’s been fun (#sarcasmfont).

I can see why they call the second trimester the honeymoon phase of pregnancy and I loved every minute of it. I am completely in love with my belly and this amazing thing my body is doing.

14 weeks with Willow

15 weeks

16 weeks

18 weeks

Baby bump week 20

Baby bump week 21

week 23

week 24

Here we are at week 25. I’m starting to look like I’m smuggling a beach ball beneath my clothes

In this trimester we accomplished the following:

• Found out that we were having a perfectly normal little girl (a fact I still rejoice daily)
• Gave her a name
• Cleaned out the room that we decided to turn into the nursery
• Got rid of all the household clutter (but its coming back. Need to do another clean soon!)
• Decided on the theme and painted her nursery
• Bought her nursery furniture
• Decided on a pram, camp cot, bath, high chair, bouncer and nappy bag, but have not bought anything yet (we’re waiting for the baby expo next month)
• Bought a baby monitor
• Had our babymoon
• Spent time enjoying each other and where our relationship is before we become a family of three
• Finalised my maternity leave
• Got in as much exercise as possible
• Got back to healthy eating
• Bought maternity clothes and created a capsule wardobe

Goals for the third trimester:

• Have the baby shower
• Buy the last few items we need for her
• Buy and wash her clothes
• Buy nappies
• Find a nappy bag
• Research labour and breast feeding
• Attend our antenatal course
• Prepare for labour (I have now gotten to that point where is has dawned on me that she has to come out!)
• Make the soft furninshings and linens for the nursery
• Finish decorating the nursery
• Enjoy our last Christmas as a twosome…
• Have a baby – This is the most important step, and is completely thrilling and terrifying

4D scan and seeing the baby

We got to go to our 4D scan last week and it was an incredible experience. What made it even more special is that we did the scan on my birthday – it was such a treat!

The sessions are quite short, ours was just half an hour, but you really get to see so much. It’s amazing what technology can do these days.

We arrived at the hospital for our early morning appointment. We made it early so Hubby and I could both still get to work on time.

Our little girl was fast asleep during the entire session, which is consistent with what I have come to recognise of her routine, but she was still very entertaining.

We got some really nice videos and photos of her face. He mouth never stopped moving the entire time. This one is going to be a talker, I can tell. My poor husband has to deal with two of us in the house now.

We got great videos of her yawning, sticking out her tongue, sucking her thumb. She would shake her head and rest her chin on her hand. She was using me as a pillow with one hand under her chin and the other up next to her face. She’s damn cute!

I think she looks very much like her dad when he’s sleeping. She has the same pouty mouth and I’m still convinced that’s his nose. She definitely has my chin though.

Pregnancy Update: Week 28

I’m pretty exhausted as I sit writing this. Sleep has not been great this week, but I have come to accept this for what it is and have tried my best to survive.

Another development this week is a new found susceptibility to heat. Lately it feel like my blood is on fire. I may not feel hot on the outside, but inside I feel like I’m about to go up in flames. I feel sick and headachey and lightheaded. I literally feel like I’m going to faint. It’s going to be a long summer!

This has also sparked what I like to call “Office Aircon Wars”. Apparently the temperature I find acceptable is way below that of the tolerance level of the average human being. I find this very hard to believe. Because the temperature the aircons were on the other day was definitely at comfortable level, but people were complaining so loudly and within 15 minutes had turned them off. Leaving me to boil alive slowly. I can see a lot of conflict over this issue in the future. I don’t want to inconvenience other people, but at the same time I feel that growing a human trumps everything else and they can just bring a jersey to work… I refuse to feel selfish or to spend the majority of my day feeling sick.

On the baby front the Monkey has definitely turned. Her movements feels so different and looking back I think I know the exact moment she flipped over. It was the weirdest feeling and I haven’t felt anything like it since. Maybe, that’s just wishful thinking on my part, but I’m pretty certain. She’s in the optimal position right now – head down, lying along my left side (confirmed at last doctor’s appointment) and I’m pretty sure she’s posterior as well. I just hope she stays this way or moves back into this position during the next 11 weeks.

How far along? 28 weeks

Baby is the size of a: Butternut!

Total weight gain/measurements: Haven’t taken measurements this week. So I’m sticking with last week’s stats

Stretch marks: Nope nothing yet.

Best moment this week: Celebrating my birthday on Tuesday which kicked off with our 4D scan and ended with an awesome dinner with the Hubby

Miss anything? A full night sleep and not feeling like I’m being burned at the stake.

Movement: The movement has changed. I feel a lot of stretching and rolling now. I think she’s running out of space in there.

Food cravings: This week I have wanted everything that is bad for me or have not wanted anything at all. It’s too hot to eat…

Anything making you queasy or sick? Feeling hot.

Gender: A girl

Symptoms: Tiredness, swelling, internal combustion, bad sleep, getting out of breath easily and not having much stomach capacity and pelvic pain. The third trimester is lovely! #sarcasmfont

Belly button in or out? It has finally popped. After weeks of resisting it could take not more…

Wedding rings on or off? I’m getting really close to taking them off all together.

Happy or moody most of the time: I have to admit to having been really moody this week. I am desperately looking for that silver lining. I hope next week will be better.

Exercise: I am very proud to say that I have gotten two strength workouts and a walk in this week. I am really happy when I hit the three workouts a week mark.

Looking forward to: To be honest I’m looking forward to finding a weekend where we have nothing to do! Our weekends are packed full of activity from not to about mid-December…

 

 

Nursery update

Before we got started painting

Before we got started painting

Before we got started painting

So as mentioned in my weekly update we have finally gotten work done on the nursery. And it is starting to look fabulous.

I had a plan for the nursery right from the start. I’m not much of a fan of overly kitsch nurseries. I don’t see why girls need to be surrounded in a sea of pink and frills and boys relegated to blue and cars.

When I found out I was pregnant I started dreaming of a beautiful gender neutral nursery. The colour scheme was going to be navy and grey no matter whether it was a boy or a girl. If we were blessed with a girl then I was going to accent with baby pink and if a little man was coming into our family then I would accent with baby blue.

I have pretty much stuck to this plan.

The first order of business in getting the nursery set up was to clear out the room we were going to use and order the furniture. I did this last month. Now the only stuff in that room all belong to the baby. The cupboards are slowly filling up with cloths, toys, baby monitors and more.

On the weekend Hubby and I recruited the help of a friend to come over and paint.

Work in progress

For the main part of the room we went with Plascon’s Plaster. This is the same colour the majority of our house is painted. It’s a beautiful soft grey that looks different in different lights. It’s my favourite paint colour.

For the feature wall I chose a colour called Moody Blue which is a deep rich Navy with a slight purple undertone. I looks gorgeous with the grey.

We will be painted a mural of trees on the wall. I have a friend who is an artist and have already booked her services to help me. The trees will be white against the navy and I will have pink birds flying from branch to branch. I have also bought gorgeous gold dragonfly decals which will give a 3D effect and tie in with the silver ceiling fan and brushed metal curtain rail and tie backs.

We also hung the curtains this weekend. The rail and tie backs I chose are a brushed brass colour and have what they call trumpet ends. But to make it a bit more special and girly the ends have diamante details on them which are very subtle, but add just a little something extra.

And after; ready for the trees to be painted

After

And after; ready for the trees to be painted

After

I can’t wait for this room to be finished! I’m really excited to see the finished product.

October Doctor’s Appointment

Another month another doctor’s appointment and this one was pretty short and sweet.

I headed to the doctor’s office a little early on Friday as I had make sure my hospital admission information was correct and to collect my voucher for our 4D scan. Then I headed off to meet Hubby and see the doctor.

We chatted a bit about my weight gain, which is looking good at the moment. It’s a little higher than her guideline, but she assured me that as long as I was eating healthily and exercising that everything was ok. This made me feel a lot better as I was stressing about this quite a bit. I’m pretty sure Hubby is really happy not to hear me talk about it anymore.

We also spoke about me being over emotional and not sleeping well. The Doctor said this is linked to a magnesium deficiency. Which makes sense, a lot of common problems are linked to magnesium deficiency such as headaches, tiredness, trouble sleeping etc. But you’re always told not to take extra minerals or vitamins without a doctor’s go ahead. My doctor wrote me a prescription for slow release magnesium, which I’ve started taking, so I’m hoping this will start helping soon.

Then we got to the fun part – the scan. I love that we get scans at each appointment. It really is the highlight of my month to see what she’s looking like and how she’s growing. The biggest surprise this time around is her size. She’s huge! And I don’t mean fat, she’s very tall and already weighs 1.2kg. That just blows my mind.

The doctor is incredibly happy with her and how she’s developing. She’s doing really well and is bigger than what she should be. I’m growing a giant! All kidding aside the doctor says I’m feeding her well and that the blood flow between us is really good. She’s gone through such a growth spurt the last month. No wonder I’ve been so tired.

We’re going to keep an eye on her as I get closer to my due date – which has not changed – but there is every chance she might make an appearance earlier than we expected.

I don’t have a photo for you. We did take, but they weren’t the greatest. To be honest I don’t even know what I’m looking at so I decided not to post them.

Pregnancy Update: Week 27

So Week 27 was…interesting. Not much happened on the pregnancy front, but the week started off badly and just kept getting worse from there.

It also seemed like everyone was having a bad week – it was a karmic vortex of crap that kept piling up until we were all grumpy, fractious and just downright miserable.

On Sunday our car decided to break down. So I spent Monday juggling work and trying to get the vehicle to the garage, fetching and carrying Hubby to and from work and the garage… I found it very stressful.

Well, the car is still at the garage, and will probably be there until Friday (at least in my opinion. Hubby is more optimistic that we’ll get it back this week. I’m not so sure. Especially when the mechanics tell you that the engine is more complicated than they anticipated. What does that even mean!?)

Tuesday started off with being called into the boss’ office and about a million more things getting added to my to-do list. Wednesday was not much better. Thursday I started seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The day passed really slowly because I had Friday off, but it was really the turning point in my week.

Friday was busy, but great. I had the day off, I had a doctor’s appointment (I will do a separate post on what happened), I got my voucher for our 4D scan, I got my new driver’s license (At last!) I finally sent my iPad in to get the screen repaired and then I got to go do some shopping for me and baby.

The rest of the weekend followed in similar vein. My In-Laws spent Friday night with us (They were kind enough to let us use their car while they were on business in Cape Town during the week and they came to pick it up.)

So on Saturday we went out for breakfast and a bit of shopping – I finally got my nappy bag and a few more spoils! (haul coming soon!). Then Hubby and I went to Builder’s Warehouse to get the paint and curtain rails so we could paint the nursery and hang the curtains. The rest of Saturday was spent in thus. I didn’t actually do any painting. Rather I napped while Hubby and my sister’s boyfriend painted. They did such an amazing job. I’m so happy with how it turned out!

So that’s Phase Two of the nursery complete (Phase One was clearing it out). Phase three will be painting the mural which my friend is going to help me with in about three weeks’ time. It’s looking so good I can’t wait for it to be finished and for the furniture to arrive!

How far along? 27 weeks

Baby is the size of an: Eggplant!

Total weight gain/measurements: So I went to the doctor and got measured. I’m at 64kg and the belly is measuring 94cm around. Getting so big!

Stretch marks: Still nothing. Still applying cream like crazy

Best moment this week: All this happened on the weekend so going to the doctor and seeing the Monkey, painting the nursery and buying baby clothes.

Miss anything? Having a firm grip on my emotions – which is apparently a magnesium deficiency. So I’ve been given a prescription and hopefully I stabilise soon.

Movement: I got such a fright this week because I thought she had stopped moving, but she has turned so the movements feel very different. She’s doing well and still moving like crazy, I just had to learn what to feel for again. But she’s doing great with the kick counts so all good.

Food cravings: This week it has been all about watermelon. Sooo Good!

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope 🙂

Gender: A girl

Symptoms: Getting tired and out of breath easily

Belly button in or out? In but shallow

Wedding rings on or off? On, but I’m only wearing one and I’ve put my engagement ring away. My fingers swell in the heat.

Happy or moody most of the time: Mostly happy

Exercise: Two strength sessions and a walk! Feel really happy about this

Looking forward to: My birthday tomorrow and our 4D scan! Also I think we’re going to a friend’s house on Saturday so that’s going to be awesome.

 

Belly mapping

Over the weekend the topic of baby position came up. I know quite a few people who had breech babies and it got me thinking about how Monkey is positioned, especially as we are not in the third trimester and have three months to go until her arrival.

Thus, my obsession with baby mapping was born. I have been researching the heck out of how you determine where your baby is lying and which position they are presenting.

At this point it’s pretty much guessing based on certain clues that she’s giving me; I am looking forward to seeing how close I am when we got to the doctor on Friday.

My guess right now it that she is head down. I get the strongest movements up near my ribs on my right hand side and some by my navel, but not as strong – These I’m guessing are her legs and knees. I have also started feeling her hiccups low in my pelvis and get light fluttery feelings lower down and deeper in my belly (not so much on her the surface) – which I guess are arms and hands.

Also when I feel her rolling over movement they are up by my navel. To be honest she hasn’t given me much in this department since I learned what to look for. So I’m going to keep an eye out for those. The hard lump you get when this happens is normally the little butt.

I’m also trying to figure out if I can feel her back at all – it should feel like a long hard object and should optimally be on my left side. That said I haven’t felt it yet, so I think she’s got her back along my back. FYI, the optimal birth position is head down with her back along my front.

As I said I’m really looking forward to seeing the doctor on Friday and seeing how close I am. I think she’s turned quite recently because I was feeling strong movements on both my sides for a few days then her movements got very subtle again – like they were when I first started feeling her. This scared the crap out of me. But I’ve been kick counting and there is plenty of movement, it’s just further inside, which is what leads me to believe that she’s turned.

Has anyone out there done belly mapping or baby positioning with any degree of accuracy?

Pregnancy Update: Week 26

I am definitely starting to feel every single one of these 26 weeks. It’s amazing how difficult small tasks are getting!

Bending over is something I try to avoid if possible, I have stopped sleeping altogether, now I just nap. And I feel like a Rotisserie chicken because I am just not comfortable on my left side so I spend the night rolling over and over and over…

But other than that we’re both doing well. Monkey gets stronger each week and has started stretching sideways so I get her sticking out on both sides which feels a little weird. But most of the time when I feel her it’s on my left hand side.

We finally ordered her nursery furniture! It should be here in about 6 to 8 weeks. Then we can start painting at last. I’m really happy with what we got. And can’t wait to start setting up her nursery.

I am also finally getting my Layette together. So there is accomplishment all round this week.

How far along? 26 weeks

Baby is the size of a: Scallion!

Total weight gain/measurements: I’m a little scared of the scale right now. Trying not to obsess about it

Maternity clothes: Believe it or not I’m still rocking a good mix of non-maternity and maternity wear in my wardrobe. And I have also not felt the need to buy more. So still counting this as a win

Stretch marks: Nope nothing, but I have noticed my veins are a lot more prominent – a lot. I also have it on good authority that you can get stretch marks after the birth…so yay….

Best moment this week: Buying her furniture! And an awesome weekend getaway with our friends

Miss anything? My self-control… other than that we’re still all good.

Movement: So much movement. And she’s strong. This one is going to be a handful I can tell.

Food cravings: Ice cream, ice cream, ice cream. And frozen yogurt. Basically anything cold.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope 🙂

Gender: A sweet little girl

Symptoms: Tiredness and swelling in the afternoons. I’m able to handle pretty much everything else. But the need to nap is interfering with my workouts

Belly button in or out? In but shallow

Wedding rings on or off? On, but I’m only wearing one and I’ve put my engagement ring away. My fingers swell in the heat.

Happy or moody most of the time: Mostly happy

Exercise: I did get in two walks this week, but I find I’m slowing down tremendously. I get home and want to put my feet up and sleep. And getting up early in the morning is hard!

Looking forward to: Our next doctor’s appointment coming up on Friday, having the day off on Friday was well, my birthday and our 4D scan which are early next week and on the same day!

 

Pregnancy Update: Week 25

September has come and gone, South Africa is well in the swing of summer and it’s my birthday month! So much exciting stuff happening.

This last week was pretty awesome. My work week was quite quiet, the weather was a bit on the cooler side and very pleasant and we had rain at last so the city is starting to look all green and lush and beautiful. I love this time of year, the trees look beautiful, the sun is still soft and there is the most amazing gentle breeze to be felt wherever you go. October is my favourite time of the year.

One really exciting thing we did last week was our hospital tour. Wednesday was a public holiday so we took advantage of having a free morning mid-week to jump on that band wagon. The hospital where I’m having the baby does the tour every Wednesday at 10am – which is kind inconvenient for those of us who have to work.

It wasn’t anything to exciting, afterall a hospital is a hospital. But it did so much to put me at ease. I now know exactly where we have to go, what we have to do, what the general processes are like. We got to see what the rooms in the maternity ward look like, what the labour ward looks like, where the theatre is.

Also what I loved is the general attitude of the nursing staff and midwives in the hospital. They fall in line with so many things I want to do with regards to my birth plan and that made me ridiculously happy. It’s awesome to know that the support you need is already there and waiting.

Once we finished the tour and had some lunch I managed to convince Hubby to go with me to a few baby stores. I’m desperate to order our nursery furniture and I’m on a mission to see what my options are. So we went off to the ones that were still open and had a good look around.

The good news is we have decided on a pram! I’m pretty stoked about the one we’ve chosen, but we won’t buy it yet. The sales consultant said that we should wait for the Baby Expo coming at the end of November as it will probably be on special then. But it’s a travel system with a Group 0+ capsule and isofix base included which makes me very happy.

In terms of the nursery furniture I have the hard task of deciding what look I want and what will last the best for us. I have been thinking hard about this, and I have a really good idea of which one I’m going to go for. I’ll put up photos when I’ve made my decision.

How far along? 25 weeks

Baby is the size of a: Cauliflower!

Total weight gain/measurements: No weight update this week. I’m still doing my best to eat healthy and exercise.

Stretch marks: No but I do have quite a few veins that are visible on my belly now

Best moment this week: Deciding on what pram to buy. Finally feels like we’re starting to get ready!

Miss anything? Nope I have been very content this week.

Movement: kicks, punchs, rolls, we’ve been getting very acrobatic

Food cravings: Unfortunately all I want is chocolate and frozen yogurt…

Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope 🙂

Gender: A girl

Symptoms: I get tired so much quicker, but other than that I’ve been having the usual pregnancy symptoms. I’m really enjoying my second trimester

Belly button in or out? In but shallow

Wedding rings on or off? On for now

Happy or moody most of the time: Happy although I do have some mood swings. I’m not perfect….

Exercise: This week I started out with the best of intentions, but I wasn’t great unless you count climbing stairs and walking around at the hospital and walking around the shops. I did manage a strength session.

Looking forward to: Another round of nursery shopping on the weekend. I will have made a decision and hopefully placed and order by Sunday. I am determined!

 

Here we are at week 25. I’m starting to look like I’m smuggling a beach ball beneath my clothes