What is Happening This Week - Week 18

Me:

Now is not too early to start practicing deep relaxation and steady, rhythmic breathing. Keep aside some time each day for this (sounds alike a good idea to me - the four of us can do it together - that includes Rico of course!).

You may notice that you are putting on weight on your buttocks as well as your abdomen. What??!! I;d rather put on weight on my tummy thanks and there only!!


Our Baby:
Buds for permanent teeth are forming behind those that have developed for the milk teeth.

Update

I have stopped taking my anti sickness tablets although I continue to be sick - usually in the evening when Ive stopped eating and I get a bad head. Lots of early nights for me. During the day it seems to be okay - I just try and eat as much a I can when I can.


We have started to think about changing Dan's car to a much more practical five door car. Yesterday we test drove a Toyota Yaris which was great - just couldnt stretch ourselves financially on that particular car though.


We have also started to think about the nursery too and what we would like to have it in it. We are thinking of buying the basic furniture from Ikea - a cot, a changing station and a feeding chair - and then decorate it with extras from John Lewis that we have vouchers for.


We are also undecided about whether to find out the sex of the baby when we go for our twenty week scan in the middle of Decemeber ( two and a half weeks until we see our baby again - and counting!!). I think perhaps because we have not decided dead against finding out I think we may just see!


Im having lots of tummy twinges that I am hoping are just growing pains. My tummy definitely looks rounder. Im finding it tricky to have a good nights sleep now (practice for when the baby comes eh?!), Im up every five mins to go to the loo or I just cant get comfy. It doesnt help that I used to have my deep sleep laying on my tummy but now I cant do that. I think I wake up Dan a lot by fidgeting!


Last night I dreamt that someone had this special equipment that they put on my tummy and could predict what our baby was going to look like. Of course, in my dream the face was a little girls. I will be shocked if this baby is a boy (but over the moon to give Dan a son).


Apart from the continued sick I am allowing myself to get really exciting about seeing and holding our baby. I cant wait! I feel like we have a good stretch ahead of us - what with the scan, then Christmas and then starting the nursery in January. I am loving having my bump and two people have said that I look like I am now blooming (perhaps too much blusher!!).

Growth Spurt Expected!

In the next three weeks, your baby will go through a tremendous growth spurt -- doubling his weight and increasing his length. In the meantime, he'll be playing with his umbilical cord and practising breathing. You're going through a bit of a growth spurt yourself. Your uterus has expanded so much that the ligaments in your abdomen are stretching to make room for it. If you feel any twinges of pain now, that's why.

What is Happening this week - Week 17

Me:
If this is your first baby, this is the time when you may feel the first prod which is definintely nothing to do with indegestion (not yet but am waiting!!) ! At last you know that there really is a baby in there! Trouble in sleeping at night will be helped by increasing the number of pillows supporting you (think I will give this a go).


Our Baby:Measuring about 14 cm long (wow - Im impressed!!), your baby is now testing out its reflexes. As well as kicking, it is grasping and sucking. Some babies find their thumbs and are confirmed thumbsuckers before they are born (BLESS).

Triple Test Results are back

and its very good news. Anything over 1 in 250 is seen to be good and our results were i in 2000 which we were really pleased about so that that is one less thing to worry about. The results came back in two days as well so very speedy.

17 Weeks tomorrow!

This afternoon I have been to the doctors as I had an appointment with the Midwife for my triple test. This was a simple blood test and I'll get the results in a couple of weeks. They will be testing the baby for downs and spina bifida - They give the results as a rate so anything over 1 in 250 is good and anything below 1 in 249 then you can have an amniocentisis which also carries risk of miscarriage as it is an invasive test. We shall see.


I also had my blood pressure taken and again it was low.


The M/w also felt my tummy AND then she let me listen to the heartbeat. The baby was lying really low down but you could hear it really well - a strng fast heartbeat belonging to our baby. It was SO lovely to hear. It made my day.


Today I have one of my new matrnity tops on - very comfy - I bought two tops and a pair of trousers at the weekend so that should last me a bit. I am definitely at the inbetween stage of being too big for my normal clothes and too small to fill maternity wear!

Last night Dan and I started thinking about what we wanted in the nursery! We had a look in the Ikea catalogue. EXCITING!!!!!!!!

Bump Photo at 16 1/2 Weeks

My little bumpette definitely changes from one day to the next. Some days it sticks out and the next it doesnt! I think it depends on how much I have eaten and what clothes I am wearing.

No Sick - TOUCH WOOD!!!!

I have not been sick for 8 days now - HOORAY. Definitely calls for a celebration. I love NOT being sick - it really is pure bliss. So the 16 week mark is the magic week - thank goodness for that!


I have done a full week of work this week too which has been great and I am feeling really normal again now....bump piccie coming up!

What is Happening this week- week 16

ME

You may find that you are sweating more than usual (due to the extra blood in your system) - no Im freezing!! and also that your nose feels congested - definitely sneezing and sniffing more. This is a common result of pregnancy and will end after delivery.

OUR BABY

The growing baby has pushed the top of the uterus to halfway between your pubic bone and your navel. From now on the baby weighs more than its placenta. It is probably aware of - and may be startled by - sounds outside your body. Awww - best get chatting to it.

A Bad Night

I had such a bad night last night which as well as physically rubbish I found it um mentally challenging too! I had a very bad head and started being sick in the evening before bed. There was nothing left in my tummy to come up anymore so even after some water I couldnt keep that down. I started crying and really disliking how bad I felt - bad head, nausea, sickness and being very tired.

I eventually fell asleep around midnight with an eye mask on sucking an iced lolly - what a sight!

I do physically better today but mentally not so great. I cant help but feel down about how sick I am and how persistent it is. I think I am on my 63rd day of sickness now and I really need it to rest up.

What a gloomy post!!

Update

I am fifteen weeks tomorrow - yeah! However the sickness still continues - boo! I was only sick once on Saturday which made for a lovely day although I paid the price yesterday and was sick lots with a bad head. Trying to keep my head up and for it not to let it get me down but its bl**dy hard - plus Ive not got to the labour bit yet!!


In a vain attempt to make me feel better about myself I have had my hair cut into a bob today. Its still long enough to be tied back when I am sick but short enough to feel like I have some sort of style going on. I went to a new local salon. Felt a bit bad that I was not going to my usual salon in Abingdon but soon got over that after a five minute walk and I was at the salon.


Food also continues to be the bain of my life. Its like women - cant live with em, cant live without em!! Dreaming of beetroot still happens as I drop off to sleep and I also think of all the lovely meals that I have eaten out, namely Pizza Hut - but I cant bear to have a Pizza Hut Pizza in case I dont like them anymore!!!

Foods that feature highly at the moment are:

Lime & Lemonade, Croissants, mild rubber cheese, weetabix.

I managed to eat three "proper" dinners last week so was really chuffed with myself.


My little bumpette seems to be stretching from left to right rather than outwards. According to the books it measures 10cm now. Some days my bumpette feels harder than others. I dont think a stranger in the street would think I was preggas even if I was standing in my underwear (which is obviously not adviseable in a wet November!).


Dan is off on a stag weekend this weekend as I didnt feel like going on the hen weekend I am going to stay at my M&D's. And then hopefully I will return back to work next Monday. This week is my fourth week off in a row and it really is starting to be very boring. (BTW both Mums have suggested taking up knitting - Janice do you want to suggest it too?! Sounds like a great idea although when I do it I am forever dropping stitches). Am happy to accept knitted baby goods from you Mums instead though!!!

What is Happening This Week - Week 14

ME:

Your clothes will be getting too tight for you. It is best not to try to cram yourself into tight jeans. To cope with the increased amount of blood circulating in your body and the baby's need for oxygen, your enlarged heart has increased its output by 20 percent.


OUR BABY:

The hair on your baby's head and brows is becoming coarser. If it has a gene for dark hair, the pigment cells of the hair follicles are beginning to produce black pigment.

14 Weeks & 1 Day

So I am in the second trimester and its supposed to be downhill from here on (although I think my brake is permenantly on!). 14 weeks certianly sounds better than 6 weeks!! Im so impatient - I want my baby now!!


We went to the library yesterday and I took out A Child Is Born book. It has some amazing pictures in there of babies inside the womb - it made me cry! Actually yesterday was a bit of a weepy one - I cried three times during the ten o'clock news.


We have started throwing names around - only concentrating on girls names of course! Lots of time to decide yet!


The lower part of my tummy continues to grow - this week more right to left than up. There is a solid bump bit that you can feel. I like touching it when I am going to sleep and when I wake up.


My boobies have also grown some more too. Today I have ordered a bra from M&S as I cant actually go anywhere to buy one so have gambled on the new size. Please let me out of my training double A fried egg bras!!!

Food!!

I simply cannot update my blog without mentioning food!


So once the fave was Jacket Potatoes, then it moved to cheese and tomato, and now it seems to be croissants! Plus Im partial to scrambled egg and at night I dream about beetroot!


Last night was the first evening in ages when I was able to have a very small size dinner rather than a snacky tea and it stayed down which is the main thing!!


Other food items that I am into at the moment are S&V hula hoops, oranges, pepsi and weetabix.


I cant wait to be normal again - to eat what I like. I am going to stuff myself silly!!!

Triple Screen Test

I have booked to have my triple test with Carol the midwife at my doctors surgery at 1.30 on Monday 21st November. It is important that you have this test between 16- 18 weeks and I will nearly be 17 weeks then. It is a simple blood test which will highlight any abnormalities with our baby. We dont like to dwell too much on this but have made the decision that we would rather know.

Doctor & Nurse both on the same day

On Monday I went to see my doctor for a check up. It wasnt my normal doctor but he seemed concerned that I take it easy and signed me off work for a further two weeks. I must admit it is nice to have Dan at home for company this week.


I also had an appointment with the nurse. She took some blood and is testing it for iron and generally making sure that all my organs are doing as they should be. The results will hopefully be in on Friday. I wouldnt be surprised if I was anaemic.

Both of Us Sick!

Last week Dan developed sympathy sickness which turned out to be appenditis!! Poor thing - it was so horrible to see him in such pain and much better when we made it to the hospital (thank you for your flying visit Faye - it meant the world to me).

After a night of being in hospital Dan had his appendix out. A trip to the doctor and then the hospital meant that I felt okay being sick there as thats what people do! I also had cravings for a plain brown roll and butter with hot chocolate that I got once and sometimes twice daily from the hospital cafe!!

Dan was let out on the Friday and since then we have tried to look after each other. The trickiest thing is lifting anything followed by a close dinner maker.

Although Dan is doing well in himself we are not totally convinced that the scar is healing as it should so we are keeping a close eye on it and will visit the dr tomorrow if need be.

Hypremesis

So I go back to the doctor and say that my anti sickness tablets dont seem to be working after I was sick 14 times over the weekend. Dr Arthur prescribes me some other anti sickness tablets and signs me off work for a week with hypermesis.

Taken from www.bloomingawful.co.uk:

Around 1% of pregnant women experience severe nausea and vomiting known as hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). The exact figure varies depending on the study you read but is quoted between 0.3% and 3%.
A woman with HG generally has no respite from severe nausea, vomits many times each day and finds that eating or drinking makes her feel worse, leading to weight loss rather than gain. If this continues without treatment, she becomes dehydrated and malnourished.

What causes it?
There is no research confirming the cause at present. Theories include high levels of the pregnancy hormone Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (hCG), some make links to thyroid levels, some blame Helicobacter Pylori which causes stomach ulcers, and occasionally HG is confused with hydatidiform mole (molar pregnancy). There is certainly an element of genetics to it too - if there is HG in your family, you're more likely to suffer it yourself. There is some new anecdotal evidence to suggest that liver function may also play a part. It is likely that a variety of factors cause HG, which might account for the difficulty in finding effective treatment in some cases.
It is important that a woman who appears to have HG is tested to rule out thyroid problems, H. Pylori and molar pregnancy. Thyroid and H. Pylori cases can be treated and there is quick relief from nausea and vomiting. Molar pregnancies also need urgent attention.

Treatment
NHS treatment varies widely in the UK at the moment but usually includes one or more of the following:
GP-prescribed drugs to reduce the vomiting
Hospitalisation for intravenous (IV) fluids
Hospitalisation for injected/IV drugs to reduce vomiting
Hospitalisation for artificial feeding (rare)

Duration
Unlike morning sickness, which usually starts at week 8-9 and reduces around week 12-14, HG frequently begins by week 6 and continues until around week 20 (OH GOOD!) , but may continue throughout pregnancy in some cases. Some women report that the nausea disappears as soon as they give birth, while for others it takes several days.

Outcome
The developing baby is rarely affected by the mother's illness, although in severe and prolonged cases the baby is more likely to have a low birth weight.