27 Weeks Pregnant

How far along: I'm 28 weeks and 3 days along, so I am running late on my weekly update.

Symptoms:  I have just started to get uncomfortable as my belly is huge! Its probably not that big but it sure feels that way to me. Just sitting on the sofa I find it hard to get comfy as if I sit forward it doesn't give my bump enough room and if I lay back I feel crushed and like I'm not getting enough oxygen. Plenty of Braxton Hicks contractions where my tummy goes into a hard ball. These are painless but still uncomfortable. Braxton Hicks are just practise contractions to get your body ready for the big birth day. Overall I feel happy and content with not many ailments to complain about so I feel very lucky as everything is going along swimmingly.

Sleep:  I'm still sleeping really well. I wake up often to change from my right side to my left or vice versa and then I need to adjust my huge pregnancy pillow but I fall straight back to sleep. I'm very tired in the mornings and sometimes get up to go to the bathroom and have breakfast and then lay back down. Life is very relaxed at the moment but I know that in a few short months I won't be able to sleep in so I am making the absolute most out of it.

Weight Gain: I'm up just under 9kg which is around 19.5 lbs. I've noticed that this is not all baby as my upper arms and legs are a bit fuller than they used to be, but i'm ok with it and don't feel like I will have a problem loosing the weight in the months after our baby arrives.

Food:  I'm still so hungry all the time. It is recommended that you eat 6 small meals a day at this point to aid the body in digestion which has slowed down due to pregnancy, but I've still just been having my normal sized 3 meals. I'm often starving in between meals and even after I've eaten sometimes. We've started making fruit smoothies in between meals and having lots of apples, raspberries and strawberries. I'm craving fruit lately as I've been eating a lot of it which is always a good thing. We've been making sure we cook fish a couple of times a week so the baby gets all the Omegas it needs for healthy brain development. That being said, I definitely crave chocolate and Ice cream the most above everything else. I was desperate for an Ice cream tonight but Mr P wouldn't go to the corner store for me as he is trying to be good with his own intake. The rugby season has just finished so he really needs to watch what he eats for the off season. Needless to say I was very annoyed and settled for an apple instead!

Movement:  Such strong and lovely movements all day long. Lots of kicking, squirming, rolling and pressing. Sometimes so strong it startles me. We've not had too much luck with getting Mr P involved in feeling the movement as every time he tries to feel my tummy, baby Paicey becomes quiet again.

Belly Button: Its a half innie, half outie! The top half has popped right out with the bottom half still in.

Stretch Marks:  Still remaining stretch mark free on my belly (please long may it continue), but just last night I noticed some tiny ones on the underside of my boob on the left side. We went out today and brought some Mama Mio pregnancy boobtube lotion, so I will be routinely applying this along with the Mama Mio tummy butter twice a day to try and avoid any more.

Wedding rings:  Still on. And only getting tight when it gets really warm which isn't too often here in London. We had some gorgeous weather this week and only for a few hours were they feeling very tight.

Baby's Gender:  Still unknown of course! I'm feeling so curious especially with all this movement and my belly getting so big now. I just can't wait to find out if we are parents to a boy or a girl when baby Paicey arrives. So exciting!

Bump:  Getting very round and hard. The photo below was taken for my sister and wasn't intended for the blog so please excuse my outfit!

27 weeks belly. Please excuse my comfy outfit!

24 & 25 Weeks update

Eeeek time is flying by and April will be officially over when the sun goes down tonight. We've had some lovely spring weather here in London which I LOVE. This means lots of lunching on the river in Kingston Upon Thames and lots of day dreaming about summer with our baby in tow! My Mum is flying over from Australia when baby Paicey is born to meet her first grandchild and to help us settle in at home. We are very lucky that Mr P's parents are also coming, so I keep mentally taking notes on where we can all take the baby for walks and which cafes and restaurants look the most pram friendly.

Im 25 Weeks, 4 days pregnant so I'm just a few days off being pregnant for half a year! I am missing  a few things at this point. The first being soft poached eggs! Oh how I miss these delights. Then I'll be honest and say I'm missing drinking alcohol! I really miss the social factor of getting together with friends and having a glass of wine or just having a drink with my husband at our local. And I'm seriously missing sleeping on my stomach and back. Just over 3 months to go until I get to sample these delights and drool into my pillow again (in between broken sleep).

We had our regular 24 week GP appointment last week where I had my blood pressure taken and we listened to baby Paicey's heartbeat on the doppler, which was such a wonderful sound.
From the  24 week point they start measuring the bump from the top of the pubic bone to the top of the uterus in centimetres. The measurement should be on or near to your babies gestational age in weeks, give or take 3 centimetres. My bump was measuring 24 centimetres so it was pretty accurate and all was good!

25 Weeks bump.

Baby Paicey is growing and moving a lot now. The movement is so strong and it literally puts a smile on my face every time. I can feel the baby turning over and kicking in both of my sides. Last night was the first night I have been woken up from the strong movement and my uterus was hardening at various points in the day which was uncomfortable but not painful at all.

I am so hungry! I could eat for days. Last night for dinner we made a chicken and mushroom pie (very yummy!) and after my giant man-sized portion I was still so hungry, whereas Mr P said he was so full. This growing a baby business is hard work!

My little 'bowling ball'.

I started to clear out a chest of drawers to make way for babies clothing and bits and pieces and it was great to see what we have and what we still need. I realised we have more 0 - 3 month pieces and not much newborn so we will have some fun picking out a few more things. I've been really restrained with buying things as I would rather wait until we know if its a baby boy or girl so we can go crazy on the cute gender specific outfits instead of neutrals. We have received some gorgeous gifts from our friends and family. People love buying little things!

Baby Paicey's growing clothing collection.

I'd love to hear your comments, so please let me know if your planning on washing all your babies clothing before the little one wears it, or if you've done this is the past.

23 Weeks Pregnant

How far along:  23 weeks, 2 days

38 Inches around my belly button

Symptoms:  My lower back. Its killing me! For the last couple of weeks I've had such a sore lower back. To bend down, stand up, move in bed or walk up stairs or a hill it hurts a lot. I've been wearing only flat converse shoes for the past week and my hubby brought me a pregnancy pillow from JoJo Maman Bebe to try to relieve the pain so I'm hoping it subsides before I get any bigger. Other than that, I feel great. Loving this stage of the pregnancy with my bump growing nicely and people starting to notice I'm not just putting on weight. I feel really motivated to get things done around the house and doing my usual share of washing, cooking, tidying, organising etc whereas in the first trimester my husband was picking up all the slack as I was like a sloth on the sofa.

Sleep:  This week I've started using my new maternity body support pillow and it is comfortable and supportive, but I do feel I have to move it around when I wake up in the night to adjust it so its just taking a while to get used too. Its quite bulky so it disturbs Mr P's sleep but we will both get used to it and anything to help my back and support my belly is welcome in our bed. At this point in the pregnancy it is advised that you try not to sleep on your back due to the weight of the uterus laying on an artery which can cause dizziness. Getting used to side sleeping is also tricky so hugging the pillow helps me stay on my side.

Weight Gain:  I've put on 7kg now which is just over a stone in weight. I've downloaded an average weight gain chart for pregnancy and I am at the heavier end of average.

Food:  I am an eating machine. Always willing and eager to eat. I try to eat healthy but theres always room for dessert these days. If you can't do it when you are pregnant, then when can you? I did say the other night that I do look forward to trying to look my best post pregnancy and exercising and eating healthy.

Movement:  Lots and lots of movement and kicking, which I love. Its so reassuring to feel your baby move. I always tell Mr P when his babe is having a little moving session. He has felt kicks a few times when we have been in bed laying flat and still, as thats when the little one usually kicks about more or when I can notice it more. The scan showed I have a high anterior placenta which means its on the front wall of my uterus so the kicks are probably felt less hard than other people can feel them at this stage.

Belly Button:  Still an Innie! But its half and half at times with the top part going flat.

Stretch Marks:   None to date but I had a little scare this week. I must have scratched my belly as I had 2 red lines side by side. My heart sank as I couldn't help but think that if I had them this early then they would be everywhere when I get big. A couple of hours later and the marks had disappeared thankfully. Im lathering on my Mamamio tummy rub each night and it smells so good.

Looking forward too:  Starting pregnancy yoga. The classes are on Saturday mornings and are sold in bundles of 7 classes for £84

Bump:  Growing and growing. Im getting too big for lots of my tops now. I've got some maternity tops on order at Asos which I hope are nice as I've struggled to find ones I like for a reasonable price.