Maternity jeans

As someone with jeans shopping anxiety, I am thrilled to tell you maternity jeans that fit are super easy to find!

Happy pregnant girl.

So tiny, but...

My goodness! Just now, as Dwayne and I were sat on the couch watching a movie, the Blob managed its most impressive set of kicks so far. I could actually see the movement on my belly, and Dwayne saw it too! Incredible...

Bounce little Blob!

I love the kicking and flipping and bouncing around that Blob seems so fond of these days. It's super cool! I don't want it to stop once it starts, and when it stops I spend all my time waiting for it to start again. I suppose I'd better enjoy it whilst Blob is small enough for it not to be uncomfortable...

What are you, little Blob?

Yesterday we went for our anomaly scan at just over 19 weeks. There were no anomalies - blob has all its fingers and toes, it has eyes, the heart has all its chambers in place, all the bits and pieces are growing at the correct rate. (Oh, it also has functioning kidneys, grandma Turner will be pleased to know!).

The scan took most of the morning, because I had to go back twice for attempts at getting the right view of the heart. Blob was happily resting on one side, making it impossible for the technician to get a good angle on the heart. I came back an hour later, and Blob was comfortably resting on the other side in an equally impossible position. On the third attempt another hour later I told the technician I bet it works this time, because I could feel Blob kicking about more vigorously than earlier in the morning so I thought it must have changed position. And it had - we finally got all the pictures needed.

So, It. The blob. The technician asked if we wanted to know the sex of the Blob, but Dwayne and I have agreed from the start not to find out in advance. I wouldn't know what to do with the information anyway - what difference does it make? Dwayne thinks it's a girl and I keep referring to it as "he", but it will remain a secret until we meet the Blob in June.

Little Blob, what are you?

Snug as a bug in a rug

Leave me alone, I'm sleeping!

Capabilities

The Blob is testing its capabilities. At 5am as I was in bed refusing to get up, I got a proper kick. Really bizarre feeling! There is someone IN there! It gave me the giggles and I wanted to wake Dwayne up to share the experience, but I realised it would be a bit more abstract for him so I let him sleep. It will be great when Dwayne can feel it too! I wonder what week that can be expected... Excuse me, have to go google it.

First load of baby laundry

I'm washing some blankets and muslins Blob and I have been given by a friend. Odd feeling, to be washing stuff for someone who barely exists, but is still here all the time...

18 weeks and counting

Here's why I decided to go get some maternity clothes. I can still fit into my trousers, but just, and not comfortably.

Also, I can definitely feel the Blob moving in there! Very faintly, but still. On Saturday morning I got up at 2am to use the bathroom, and that apparently very much excited the Blob. It was bouncing off the walls for a couple of minutes once I got back to bed. It was the first time I could be 100% certain that it was not MY body doing that, but someone else's...

Shopping spree

On Saturday Dwayne, our lovely friend Andrea and I went to "look" at baby stuff. It went the same way as last time when we went to "look" and came home with a pram. This time we got:

- Cot and tallboy (on layby)
- Cot linen (present from Andrea)
- Matching cot bumper and mobile
- Diaper bag
- Soft toy horse with bell (for me...)
- Newborn bibs
- Knitted blanket with matching toy
- Was there anything else? I don't remember.

I also went to Target and got some maternity tops. Trousers are going to be a challange, because they don't seem to come in long sizes.

We had a good day shopping! I don't think I'll be one of those mums that plan to buy all the stuff in the final couple of weeks, and end up going into labour totally unprepared. I'll more likely be so prepared and well organised that I'm bored of it all well before time...

Relapses and skilled doctors

I have relapsed. I am worrying again, for no real reason. I have another scan next Friday and I am equally excited to see the Blob and worried that there will be something horrifyingly wrong. It does not bear thinking of.

I also had a bit of a scare on Sunday. I woke up at 1am with a terrible pain in my left leg. It felt like a trapped nerve with pain in the centre of my leg all the way from the hip to the foot, sometimes concentrated to the hip and sometimes to the back of the knee. I tried everything but handstands to get rid of it, but nothing helped. At around 3am I took a paracetamol to try and sleep a little, but it didn't make any difference at all.

And then the pain decided to concentrate itself to my lower calf, to a point where it was even sore to the touch. It felt like someone had kicked me in the leg, really hard. Dwayne woke up at 6am so at least I got some company and sympathy.

I got up and made breakfast, but the pain just got worse through the day. I was in tears on the bed, because when you haven't slept things like this are just hard to deal with. Eventually Dwayne said I should go see the doctor, so I did.

I had to wait for over an hour before I got an appointment. The doctor asked for my symptoms and instantly said: "This sounds like a blood clot in your leg, this is not good, you must go to the emergency room!". He wrote me a letter of referral and sent me on my way. Great.

But by the time I had walked home from the clinic at around 2pm the pain had eased off quite a bit. By the evening my calf just felt strangely bruised, but I didn't suffer enough to feel that it was necessary to go to the emergency room. So I didn't go.

Now, three days later, I have a tiny bit of discomfort in that calf. Like bruising or a slighly strained muscle. I doubt a blood clot would just go away so suddenly so I don't intend to think any more of it.

I should probably give the doctors more credit than I do. I have been to see them twice with mysterious bad pains that won't go away and they can't find a reason for - and as soon as I leave the clinic the pain goes away. They are clearly very skilled.

Long hangover

Being pregnant feels like being slightly hung over. Constantly. It entails nausea, tiredness and leg cramps. Just like any morning after.

The focus is less on nausea now, and unmistakedly moving towards more leg cramps.

At least there's variation.

The Blob announcing itself

As of this morning the Blob has decided hiding away is not its thing. Hence, I could barely button up my trousers when getting ready for work. I do look less pregnant than this at most angles so people at work probably just assume I had my share of Christmas pudding this year. Let's see how long I can get away with it...

The Year of the Blob

Happy new year to all!