22 weeks pregnant

(Catching up with pregnancy updates)

The itching has returned this week. I've been doing my best to apply my cream every morning and the thicker bump oil/cream in the evening. My bump also got bigger - quite surprisingly so. In fact I just seemed to wake up one day and shazzam - there was a bigger bump.
I've started to experience the comments of 'ooh your bump is getting big!'. I appreciate for most people it's just something to say but, really, it's not like I haven't noticed and I am growing a small human - it's supposed to get bigger!

This week brought about another milestone. I was in the bath listening to my hypnobirthing tracks and I saw my belly move. It was a hefty kick and pretty amazing to watch. I called SBB in but he couldn't see it - probably because I only had a candle to light the room and it was pretty dark. It was a little unreasonable but I felt a annoyed at him as though he were being intentionally unobservant or something.

However, the next night I was lying in bed while SBB was reading and felt some massive kicks. I got SBB to put his hand on my belly and he finally felt the baby move. Then I lifted up my t-shirt, my belly moved again and he finally saw it!
At last!

I'm so glad that the baby's kicks are now strong enough that SBB can feel them - it's great that we can experience it together rather than me having it all to myself.

21 weeks pregnant

(Still catching up with pregnancy updates)

Baby has been getting more active this week. SBB still hasn't felt the baby move - at least not enough to be sure that he's felt it.
I've started to lose energy pretty quickly again. It gets to about 8pm most evenings and I'm ready for bed.
This week has also seen me experiencing some pregnancy rage - a concept found on A Baby on Board. It was in the middle of a film - 'Joy' I believe - where multiple groups of people were whispering and laughing and having just a general chat. I shouted at everyone to shut up. The British core of me cringes at having violated the silence of a cinema screening, however SBB and I seemed to be the only ones respecting it.
Admittedly, my irritation could also have sprung from months of enduring mindless chattering during various films. But anyway...

Other than that this week has been pretty uneventful.

Steak Out - The Crown Inn, Shorwell

Before Christmas SBB and I headed out for dinner one evening at The Crown Inn - I've mentioned before about our love of a good steak. Our usual place - The Lifeboat in East Cowes - gets a little busy at times but also the steak has been a little hit and miss the last few times so SBB and I have been looking for somewhere else as a decent back up.

I suggested that I make our search a bit of a mini-series for the blog, so here's how our dinner went:

We'd been to The Crown before for ghost walk evenings and I've been there once or twice with the girls and always enjoyed the steak which is Isle of Wight beef.

As it was getting close to Christmas I booked a table - turned out we didn't need to and we the only customers there for a fair while. They'd placed us on the tightest booth in the pub - SBB and I kept bumping it when we sat down and SBB's drink spilt over the table, which didn't put him in the best of moods.

Steak was only available on the specials board - not in the main menu - but when I went to order two the serving staff said he'd have to go to the kitchen and check with the chef if they had two steaks to sell.

Okay....
So you've only just started service and you're not sure if you have enough of the specials to serve two people?
Not impressed.

As it happened they DID have two steaks.

The amount of food was quite small for the price - the picture of my plate has SBB's portion of onion rings on it too - and the meat was a little dry and tasteless. The rocket was wilted and old and the mushrooms were overcooked and greasy.

The search continues....

20 weeks pregnant

Concern for Cillian has kept us on our toes for the last couple of weeks since he came home and he's gradually returning to his old self - i.e. a cantankerous little bugger. It's lovely to have him back!

Christmas Day brought about my 20 week mark and I spent the day on my feet. By the time the evening came round I was feeling distinctly odd - like I'd overeaten or had something that didn't agree with me, even though I'd actually only eaten a small amount.

Boxing Day was spent with SBB's family on the Mainland. My sister-in-law is also pregnant - about 5 weeks behind me - so we had a lot to talk about. She's having her second baby and it wasn't exactly planned so she had some anxieties she wanted to talk about.

Finally New Year's Eve brought the event we'd been looking forward to in the last few months of 2015 - our 20 week scan!
Keeping our 12 week scan experience in mind I drank a small glass of water and wore shoes that were easy to take off for when they weighed me. They didn't weigh me and I didn't need to give a urine sample.
Oh well.

The department was really quiet when we arrived - at almost 4pm on NYE I wasn't that surprised.

(The department Christmas tree and the scan picture payment machine)

Our baby's eye socket

We didn't find out the sex of the baby - we're going to wait until it's born. Now we've reached the halfway point it's getting very exciting! This week we put together the cot and the pram and were pleasantly surprised that it was easier than we thought.

Excuse the boxes - cot packaging!

19 weeks pregnant

This week was busy. In addition to preparing for Christmas I've been frantically trying to finish off a workout challenge I'd set myself.

I'd first felt fetal movements around 15 weeks. The only way I can describe it is as a tingling sensation - like blood returning to a limb that's gone to sleep - in my abdomen, but when I put my hand on my belly it wasn't on the surface. The tingling got stronger over the weeks and this week has felt like the twitching of a nerve. SBB can't wait to feel the movements and I can't wait to share it with him.

Sleeping is still a bit hit and miss. I've resisted buying a maternity pillow - at the moment I'm using two normal pillows - one to support my front and one against my back to stop me rolling backwards. They're working just enough that I can't justify the expense of a one-purpose pillow. There are still some nights that I wake up and my left shoulder is in agony. I'm just not used to sleeping in one position all night and sometimes wake up to find I've rolled onto my back or onto my right hand side.

People have started to comment on my bump now - I even had an acquaintance give it a small rub. I wasn't very impressed and wasn't shy about reasserting personal boundaries.

Second Trimester Update - Weeks 13 - 18

As I write this I'm currently 19 weeks pregnant. I don't have any diary entries since the 12 weeks scan.
The days following the scan were a blur of telling people, excitement and then soothing injured feelings as some people didn't get to tell the people they wanted to because others had got there first... Let's keep the important thing in mind, here, okay folks? I'm having a baby - it's a happy occasion....
Anyway.
I still haven't been feeling any sickness. I get tired more easily and out of breath more quickly. I haven't had any cravings.
I've managed to put off buying a pregnancy pillow - still not entirely convinced it'd be worth the money - and been making do with two extra pillows. I'm getting used to the pillows but finding it a real struggle to sleep on my left side. I'm a 'front-sleeper' by habit although that hasn't been possible since about 7 weeks as it was uncomfortable on my growing bump. Some nights are okay but other nights my shoulder is in agony and it's now getting more difficult to move about in bed.
Last week we had a major scare as Cillian developed GI stasis - the very thing that killed Pancho. He seems to be doing fine now, but he's still on medication.
I hadn't been feeling like I was looking pregnant - more like I'd been at the mince pies early - but now I'm uploading the pictures I realise my bump is definitely looking like a baby bump!

Week 13

Week 14

Week 15

Week 16

Week 17

Week 18

12 week scan

Waiting for the 12 week scan was a bit of a nerve-wracking experience. We were excited to see the baby for the first time but terrified that there wouldn't be a heartbeat.
My appointment letter said to drink a 'large glass of liquid' one hour before the appointment. Now a 'large glass' is pretty subjective - to me that means a pint, and I knew that if I downed an entire pint of water I was going to be distinctly uncomfortable by the time the scan came round. As it was I drank just over half a pint of water and was still very uncomfortable.
The outpatient clinic - running both antenatal and obs and gynae clinics - was surprisingly quiet. As it was I overestimated how much time it would take for us to drive to Newport, park and then walk to St Mary's hospital. My full bladder protested somewhat at the short walk but we ended up arriving 40 minutes before our appointment.
 We headed into the room and the sonographer set me up with the jelly - which was surprisingly warm. I caught the barest glimpse of a baby-shaped being before she announced that my bladder was 'far too full'. She told me to go next door and to take a urine sample while I was there. Then she handed me a pot with a circumference only slightly larger than a test tube.
"You're going to need good aim," she advised.
I didn't empty my bladder, thinking that the letter wouldn't have advised to drink something if a completely empty bladder was acceptable. So I went back in and off we went with the jelly again.
"Your bladder is still far too full," she said immediately. "Do you have trouble emptying it completely?"
"Only since I became pregnant," I replied.
"Well, we can still do the scan. The pictures just won't be good."
And then we got to see our baby - she spent several minutes pointing out various body parts before finally confirming there was a heartbeat. I don't think SBB and I breathed or took in a single word until she did. It was only after she pointed out the heartbeat that the baby finally moved and it was gloriously active.
SBB and I left with 3 photos and walked on air for the rest of the afternoon.