Big

I'm really quite big now and am not entirely fond of the idea that I still have another two months of expansion ahead. How much room does a baby need... really? We should evolve to lay eggs instead.... small ones. Then maybe tying shoe laces or getting a decent night's sleep wouldn't be so hard. I really need to buy a body pillow or something very soon.

On the upside, I really enjoy Shawn's reaction when he feels her moving around and I like feeling her moving around... mostly... when she's not being aggressive about it.

p.s. Today is my birthday.

7 Months

I have exactly ZERO photos of my pregnant self. Due to my first five to six months of shocking morning sickness, I don't think anyone would have dared come near me with a camera. Now I don't get nauseous unless I'm really sleep deprived. I should make sure I get at least one before this time is over.

I quite like having a big belly since for the first part of the pregnancy you tend to just look fatter, not pregnant. At 7 months there's not much mistaking that you are actually pregnant, except for people on public transport, as they have a particular blindness to these things. It also makes it far more real. Many weeks have passed without us thinking about the reality of it too much so that now, all of a sudden, you can't not pay attention. The funniest thing that I'm prone to doing at the moment is going to close the wardrobe door and it being blocked by my belly. All of a sudden it's really out there. Neither of us can quite grasp that there's any more room in there, but I still have another two months of expansion.

I was telling Shawn that when I feel her moving around or kicking, I want to take her out, cuddle her, play with her for a bit, then put her back in again... except without all the blood and surgery that would involve. We imagine opening a little hatch on my belly and lifting her out of a snug, red velvet lined pod.

21 weeks

And I still have morning sickness. Mostly I just feel sick, but I'm still throwing up on the odd occasion as well. Hurrah.

A few days ago I felt the baby's kick with my hand on my belly, not just from the inside as usual.

Today is supposed to reach 27c. Which is a shock. I think it's time to go buy a maternity skirt or something. Actually, it's time to buy some maternity clothes regardless. I need a belly band to extend my t-shirts and hide the belly belts that have been extending my jeans and trousers.

Kicking

When a doctor or ultrasonographer tells me that the movement I feel would only be like "butterflies" at this stage, I now know I'm not insane to disagree. Last night, for the first time, Shawn was able to feel the baby kick too, which was pretty exciting.

At this stage I don't mind the kicks and find it reassuring, I'm thinking that further down the track I'll be happy if the baby is a little less active.

Work Has Moved

My first day at the new location was pretty bad. So many things went wrong that I don't want to relive them by listing them here... okay, just a few. It's FREEZING here. Why is aircon so hard to get right?! I left the house without my glasses and had to go back, my monitor died, but was forced to use it to shop for new monitor and I felt like I was going to faint or throw up during travel to and from work. The lack of somewhere to sit when waiting for public transport isn't good when you're pregnant and then trying to get a seat is another matter, especially if you don't look pregnant (but are still suffering from nausea, fatigue, etc)... although I'm not entirely sure how much that'd help these days. People can be appalling, especially on public transport. I guess I'll see how true this is when I get closer to my due date and start sticking out a lot more.

I should also say that the office space is very swish. We have windows we can see out and the transition was made a little easier by the fact that work hired a chef to cook us breakfast on our first day. So not all gloom.

Second day has been a little less eventful, thankfully.

19 Week Ultrasound

Yesterday, I had my 19 week ultrasound. They took a look at all the organs and did lots of measurements. Everything is going fine and best of all (although they say "No guarantees") we found out the sex. It looks like we're having a girl. Both Shawn and I were positively giddy about finding out. Now we just have to warn people against buying overly pink, frilly stuff for her. Not sure how successful that'll be. I really enjoy going for ultrasounds, actually seeing the baby moving around, looking at it's little feet, but I think this is the last one, unless they decide they didn't get a good shot of something or something needs to be checked further down the track.



To celebrate the ongoing well-being of the little one, we went out to Newton's Cocina for dinner. The food was fresh, cooked well and in good (large) portions, but sadly very bland. Great for someone who hasn't been well or has morning sickness and can only eat bland foods, but not great if you're after great Mexican food. Also? A little expensive. We'll give it a miss in the future I think. Baja Cantina tastes better and is cheaper.

I Take it Back

I threw up on Saturday. Since I've been feeling better I guess I've been a little over-confident with what I think I can get away with. Apparently getting into bed after 10pm is not something I can get away with. I might have made it if I could've slept longer in the morning, but a headache and a strong desire to go to the bathroom killed that.

I Still Keep Ginger Nut Biscuits With Me

But I haven't thrown up for 17 days, which is great. To replace this I have headaches every day instead. I still feel off colour every morning, I'm still required to fight off waves of nausea at regular intervals as well and often go off food, but, as mentioned previously, it's so much better than uncontrollable vomiting.

The cafe across from work have been concerned that I don't drink their coffee any more. I've explained that it's not them, it's me. I could probably stomach a full cup now, but it tastes very bitter to me now.

I think I can safely say that chocolate now tastes amazing to me again.

6 Days and no throwing up!

The five day run has been broken! This doesn't mean that all of a sudden I feel great, I still feel pretty bleh and have to fight off waves of nausea every morning, sometimes all day, but these kinds of days are no where near as bad as throwing up days. I also mentioned to Shawn that I've been craving chocolate more often lately, whereas previously I'd gone off almost everything. I'm hoping this is the morning sickness easing and that it's not just a freak event.

Things I miss and don't miss

I miss going for long walks with Shawn. The foot with the torn ligaments is healing gradually, but is not 100% yet. Aside from that, I feel exhausted and lethargic all the time. A big grocery shop is a challenge for me at the moment.

I miss being able to function on eight hours sleep. I can get away with nine and a half (sometimes), but feel much better after ten and a half, and those occasions where I get eleven or twelve hours sleep are heavenly.

I miss being able to eat what I want. Sushi is what I'm missing most at the moment.

I miss not feeling sick every morning and lying there before I get out of bed wondering if getting up will make me throw up.

I miss being headache free. (headaches caused by pregnancy hormones)

I don't miss worrying about putting on too much weight and not being able to get back into better shape. Being pregnant it would actually be good to put on some weight about now!

I don't miss my hair! I had a hair cut on Saturday. What once trailed down my back to reach my waist, now only just grazes my shoulder and it feels liberating! Now that the crispy ends are gone, it's so soft! Today will be it's first post-cut wash so I'm interested to see what it'll do once it's not in it's hairdresser-perfect-straightened state. It'll be so much quicker to wash and dry!

It lingers

The morning sickness I mean. I've lost a few kilos because of it. I can't seem to break the five day run. I'm still feeling crappy on those five days, but I can go without throwing up for that amount of time... if I'm really lucky... okay, I've only gone that long twice, but it's better than nothing. Tuesday was my worst day yet and I had to take the day off work. I did force myself out to get to a tax appointment in the afternoon. It was quite the challenge, but I'm glad I did it. I can't wait to get my return back to see if I still have any student loan left. I'll be glad to see the back of that.

Yesterday I had my 'booking in' appointment at the birth centre at the RPA. I was reassured that I was doing fine and that the morning sickness isn't making the baby suffer, just me. The size of my uterus is fine for 15 weeks.

The midwife (Sarah, I think, caribbean accent) said she'd only look for a heartbeat with the doppler if I wouldn't worry if she didn't find one. Since there was no ultrasound to tell her where to point the thing I said I wouldn't worry. She did find it though. It was pretty cool to listen to. It's funny. I don't really worry about the pregnancy or how the baby is doing or think a huge amount about these appointments until after I go and then I feel pretty excited and happy about things going well and seeing or hearing some physical evidence that the baby is, in fact, there and is doing fine. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm not showing yet so I don't see that I'm pregnant. I hear this is common for first pregnancies since our stomach muscles have never been stretched out and are keeping everything nicely tucked away... although I know this won't last long.

Morning Sickness

My most heartfelt sympathy goes out to anyone who has to go through this. It makes me wonder how, as a race, we continue to procreate. I haven't thrown up for 5 days now, so I'm hoping it's on it's way out.

12 weeks and 2 days

Pregnant that is.

We had an ultrasound on Monday and it was waving it's arms around like crazy.
Sonographer: "There's a party going on in there."
Shawn: "What've you been eating?!"

I don't think tomato and cheese on toast with a little oregano warrants arm waving, but what do I know. It's very reassuring that it seems healthy though.