Week 14
At this point I don’t plan on doing a week-by-week detailed update on my pregnancy. While I love reading those posts on other people’s blogs, I fear it may become a little too repetitive or tiresome for some. How many times can you hear that I feel like eating pineapple? And while I don’t solely write for my readers (indeed I really write for myself) I do respect you too much to only talk about what is going on inside of me without giving you cake and food chatter every now and then. I'm sure I’ll find my groove over these coming months. A bit of baby, a little stewed fruit and a few pasta recipes. How does that sound?
Also, thank you for all your suggestions on my recent post. I am outrageously excited about choosing prams (and other things) and have been looking up all your recommendations. Thank you for sharing your experiences with me! I really value you.
So while I don't plan on doing week-by-week pregnancy posts, I had to talk about this week, the first of my second trimester, because it was a particularly long and slightly eventful one. We went for our second appointment with our Obstetrician on the 10th March, for a quick check-in to see how I was travelling. Here we spoke about my first trimester screening and 12 week ultrasound (everything looks really great and healthy!!), and then we finally settled on a due date.
September 10th
There’s been a bit of back and forth about my due date. I thought it would all be pretty clear science, but apparently there’s much more estimation going on when picking the day they predict you’ll give birth. And while it’s rare to actually have your bub on your due date, this impacts things like the possibility of being induced, should you go over 40 weeks. So your due date does matter. Our original ovulation calculation estimated that I’d be due on September 13th, but then at my 9 week appointment and then 12 week scan it looked like I was measuring further along and they estimated bub would arrive on September 7th. At our recent appointment, our Obstretrician suggested we pick a middle date just to be safe, so we’re now going with September 10th. And there you have it. This meant that I added three days onto my week and week 13/14 was a long one. It was also, as you’ll see, a big one in terms of changes.
Hungry
This week I was outrageously hungry ALL THE TIME. The nausea continued, but my appetite increased tenfold. I found I would never get to the point of feeling particularly full, even after a good sized meal. I also found myself hungry an hour or so after a meal (though I certainly found including protein-rich foods helped reduce such ravenous post-meal hunger). This hunger…it’s really interesting. I’m such a fan of listening to my body and giving it what it needs. What I would previously consider a little snack just doesn’t cut it anymore, so I’m upping my portions. Something like tasty cheese and wholegrain crackers, plus vegetable sicks and hummus. That’s a favourite snack at present. Smoothies, too, loaded with chia seeds, full-fat dairy, some sort of fruit, nut butter and maybe some oats. I'm staying hydrated with water, smoothies and the occasional coconut water with fruit puree (I was recently sent a sample pack from H2CoCo, and their coconut water with pomegranate and acai puree has been much appreciated this week!). I'm also enjoying sniffing Ben's wine or champagne. Red wine...I officially miss it.
My "as soon as I get up" morning snack has transitioned from crackers to toast to nectarines and then dried figs over the weeks. And now we have a new favourite - half a banana and a spread of nut butter. It's SO GOOD. All I'm really craving is fruit these days. Other food is fine (meh) but nothing really compels me to eat like fruit, and bananas are so reliable. My friend recently gifted us some local apples and quince and the perfume is insane. I might splurge and buy a pineapple and some fresh berries soon. Fruit! It's all I want.
Growth spurt
I had solo dinners a few nights this week. On particularly hungry days I’d still cook a double potion - half would be had at about 6, then the other half around 8:30. Yep, it was a growth spurt week! My belly agrees, as this week I really noticed my baby bump. And I swear it’s not just a cheese and crackers bump. It’s so so so fun to dress up. I’m making the most of my high-waisted work skirts while I can and favouring tracksuit pants that are generous around the waist. Next week I’m shopping for new clothes with mum and I can’t wait. I’m sick of tying my jeans together with a rubber band and the few long tops I have are a bit ratty. Thankfully work has been really busy these past few weeks, as I think I’ll be splurging on a good pair of maternity jeans. My friend bought a pair from Ripe and loves them.
Nose bleeds, lemons and names
Another new thing this week was nose bleeds! Just the two, but they were unexpected. I got around to reading the next stage in the What To Expect book (I only read what month I’m up to, to not get ahead of myself), and I found that nose bleeds and general stuffiness is not uncommon. I’m also finding myself needing to stop and take a breath every now and then, which my Obstetrician says is completely normal. During our appointment we saw bub again and she/he jumped twice - so freakin cute!! This week she/he grew to the size of a large lemon. At 15 weeks, bubs is the size if an orange! Go, you cute thing. I’m still 50/50 on the gender without any real inclination either way...maybe feeling more like it'll be a girl. Maybe. How am I possibly going to wait 6 more months to find out?!
Oh, and names? We are pretty set on our boy's name, though I’d like a back up in case bub comes out and the name doesn’t feel right. And with girls we have about 4 favourites, all quite different. We’ll go on their personality and our gut feeling at the time. Feel free, however, to shoot through any name suggestions! This is a part of pregnancy that always appealed. When I was a kid and writing stories for fun, naming characters was a favourite thing to do.
Feeling more normal
My energy levels are improving and when the nausea is less strong I’m feeling much more normal. That is, until the nausea hits again, which is usually at random times throughout the day before getting stronger at night...then it’s back to the ginger syrup + sparkling water while binge watching Parenthood. But I look back on the days when I couldn’t even enter the kitchen without a nice-smelling candle under my nose because the smell of the washing detergent/fridge/any herbs/the cupboards was sickening, and I realise I’ve come a long way, baby. And my growing belly agrees.
Week 15 began a couple of days ago, on Thursday 19th March. We're so ready for it, I'm armed with fruit, lots of snacks and a bag of books from my friend Robin. This pregnancy stuff is so much fun.
Bub's first wedding
Here are some pictures from our friends' wedding which took place when bubs was 13/14 weeks old. It was incredibly beautiful, all of it - the ceremony and words, the backyard set up, the food (Firecracker catering, wow! I have nothing but praise), the gorgeous cake from Fig and Salt, the stunning brides, the playlist (bonkers good), the joyful family and friends...all of it was elegant and warm and so very very lovely. Congratulations, Harriet and Alex. The bump had a nice little dance and ate two servings of lamb, smashed chickpeas and potato salad.
