Belly Photos – 7 Weeks

Not a huge difference from last week but I’ve been getting a lot of stretching pains this week so I know it’s definitely growing!

7 Weeks + 2 Days Bump

6 Weeks + 2 Days Bump

Add a comment March 13, 2009

Nausea kicks it up another notch!

7 Weeks + 1 Day

MORNING Sickness??? How cruel to be woken every night with the overwhelming feeling of gonna-puke-ness. By the time I get out of bed in the morning I am ok but all night every time I move I feel like I’m going to throw up. Anyway, I had a few days back there when I just felt totally bummed out and not feeling very pregnant but I’m ok now. I think every time my symptoms get stronger (every 6 days or so) I get a bit depressed about the fact that I can’t just rest for a few days and get better….it’s going to be like this for weeks. But then I find new ways to get by and I get back to my positive state of mind again.

One interesting symptom I want to write about tonight is the shooting/pinging/twinge feelings that I’m having in my lower abdomen. It started a few days ago with a sharp twinge every now and then, to a constant stretching twinging feeling all this morning. So…I’m a student midwife, I know this is normal, but it is incredibly hard to stay relaxed about it! Anyway, for anyone that’s worried about it a quick google search will find you lots of stories from women who have had these pains in previous pregnancies and all was well. It’s just everything stretching, and relaxing is going to help it stretch more than tensing up will! A warm bath seemed to help me chill out.

I better go and eat. I feel my evening bout of morning sickness coming on!

Add a comment March 12, 2009

6 Weeks + 2 Days Belly Bump!

Getting bigger!

6 Weeks + 2 Days

And here’s 4 Weeks + 3 Days for comparison!

4 Weeks + 3 Days

Add a comment March 6, 2009

Mango Cravings

6 Weeks + 2 Days

I haven’t had the energy to write in the last week. I’ve been feeling very very tired! Going to bed at 8.30 and getting up at 8, and still spending the whole day tired!

Nausea picked up a notch about two days ago. I’ve been using Nux Vomica (a homoeopathic remedy that is safe in pregnancy) as soon as I feel nauseous and it really really works. I couldn’t live without it right now. If I need to eat it kills the nausea enough that I can manage food, but if I’m not hungry it usually stops the nausea in it’s tracks.

Peeing has become a big pain, cause I wake up in the middle of the night, every night, and I’m so tired I just do not want to get up! Then when I do get up, because my stomach is empty, I feel nauseous and need to take some nux vom and eat. I really try to make it through the night without going but I usually end up dreaming that I’m stuck somewhere and trying to find a bathroom.

The last few days I’ve noticed when I’m sitting upright my ab muscles are really tense, like they are struggling to keep my insides in! lol! Today I feel like I’m going to explode! I have a photo of my bump to post but I’ll do it in a separate post. It’s getting bigger!

I’ve been talking to baby and telling her (I think!) to take what she needs from me and tell me if I need anything else. I was dreaming of dried mango slices last night, I really want them now! Maybe there is something good in them???

Ooh, look what I just found with a quick google –

A pregnant woman should eat at least one mango a day – the kalium and magnesium of the mango relaxes the musles, releaves stress and prevents abortion. http://www.preda.org/archives/2002/r02111802.html

Its high vitamin A content also plays an important role in placental and fetus development.
The mango is highly recommended for pregnant women and individuals suffering from anemia because of its iron content.

It can increase iron absorption from vegetables and as a result prevent anemia in vegetarians.

Moreover, the mango’s high magnesium content helps relax the muscles, relieve stress and prevents from abortion in pregnant women.

The mango’s high vitamin C and calcium content helps treat and prevent internal hemorrhaging.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=39418&sectionid=3510210

Wow! Isn’t it great what your body tells you you need? I swear I knew nothing about mango before I looked that up. I just knew it was yummy. In my dream everywhere I went there were packets of dried mango. I need to get some!

Well, I need to go to sleep. It’s hard work!

1 comment March 6, 2009

Feeling Wonderful!

5 Weeks + 1 Day

Ok, so it might not last long but I feel great! I am knackered and get really bad indigestion/hiccups/burping in the evening and have sore boobs but I feel really positive and excited to be pregnant.

We told my family on Monday and everyone was so excited! It was really great. I gave my dad a cheque for £22 and once he realised what it was he was really excited! My mum couldn’t understand until a minute later when she remembered the bet I had with my dad about not being pregnant on my 22nd birthday (I bet I wouldn’t have kids for ages!). She was so excited! My little sister cried, awe 🙂

Anyway, I’m shattered. I wish I could write more but I need to zzzzzzzzzzz. Is 7pm too early to go to bed? I went to bed at 9.30 last night and by 8am I was still exhausted!

This week your baby-to-be's brain begins to take shape. Her head becomes more distinct with tiny spots appearing that mark the places where her eyes will form. Spots for her ears also become visible. Buds that will later become arms and legs begin. And for the first time your baby's heart beats. Within her growing midsection, what will become her lungs, liver, and other organs are forming.

Add a comment February 26, 2009

Telling the grandparents-to-be!

4 Weeks + 5 Days

Right now we are on the train on our way to my parents house. Last year on my 21st birthday my dad joked that I would be pregnant on my 22nd birthday. I said NO WAY! Not for years! Do we had a bet…£22 that I would be pregnant on my 22nd birthday. I shouldn’t have been so sure! So tonight I’m going to say, while my mum and sister are in the room “Oh dad, before I forget…” and hand him a cheque for £22. He should get it pretty quickly as he’s been teasing me about it for the last few months since my sister had a baby..”am I going to win my £22 Rachael?”.

I’m really excited to tell them!

This morning we went to the doctors and she just asked me about my health etc. Then she took my blood pressure and listened to my heart. She told me I had a flow murmur, which is common in pregnancy due to the increased blood volume. Apparently it is totally fine. I’m curious to know more as I haven’t heard of it in my training yet. I think being pregnant is going to be good for my education!

Add a comment February 23, 2009

The Parasite

4 Weeks + 4 Days

Well, nausea is slowly but surely taking over my body. I feel the way you would feel if you’d had a stomach bug and not eaten in 24 hours. Low blood sugar, shaky, weak, dizzy….except I’ve been eating and drinking constantly! Eating is a struggle though, but I know if I just do it I will feel better. I feel like everything is being sucked out of me…..

Parasite: Biology. An organism that grows, feeds, and is sheltered on or in a different organism while contributing nothing to the survival of its host.

Sounds about right don’t you think? So Hubby wants to call ‘it’ “The Parasite”. Not very cute, but appropriate, especially with the way I’m feeling today!

Anyway, it is quite amazing to be host to “The Parasite”. The name makes Hubby laugh so I like it. I can’t believe how much it’s making itself known already!

Add a comment February 22, 2009

Belly Photos- 4 Weeks + 3 days Pregnant

Well, it’s early yet, but I thought I should put some belly photos up now while it’s still small so I have something to compare it to over the following months. I have been really bloated since about a week before my period was due, so now instead of it being flat between my hips it is quite swollen. Anyway, it’s the closest to my normal belly as I can get!

Add a comment February 21, 2009

Photos of Pregnancy Tests

I thought I’d upload my photos of tests I took for anyone else thats wondering what a faint line looks like. At first the lines on the tests were so light I thought I was imagining it! I didn’t really believe I was pregnant until I took the First Response Test and it showed two pink lines. I had taken a First Response Test two days before and nothing had showed up and even though I was convinced I was pregnant I felt like I was going nuts! The test I took two days ago was even darker so thats a good sign that my hcg is rising. Now that I have all these lovely symptoms I can be reassured that my levels are increasing.

It’s funny how the first day I really thought I might be pregnant I half wished that it wouldn’t stick, but now only a week later it feels like if anything went wrong it would break my heart. I guess it’s all the hormones and, of course, being a woman/student midwife! I just see babies and pregnant women everywhere, everyday, and see people in far worse situations loving being a parent. So I know we will love it too 🙂

Cycle Day 27 - The first pinkish faint line I could see! After about 4 days of greyish lines.

Cycle Day 27 - 29. Getting stronger and stronger 🙂

1 comment February 21, 2009

4 Weeks + 3 days Pregnant

Well today I’m feeling a lot more positive about being pregnant. The shock is wearing off and hubby is in a better mood too. Yesterday I was so emotional it was unreal. I cried cause I had everything to make carrot cake but only two eggs. I needed four and it felt like the end of the world, haha! I can’t believe pregnancy is having such an effect on me already! I have kind of crampy twinges, a very odd taste in my mouth, cramp in my calves (which I’ve had for over a week but only just found out it is an early symptom now) and feeling quite tired. The nausea comes and goes as it pleases, but it’s never been strong enough to make me think I’m going to throw up (Yet!!)

The annoying thing is my loss of appetite. I bought loads of good healthy snack stuff…like dried fruits, nuts, oatcakes, cereal bars etc. which I usually love but I just don’t feel like eating anything now! I know I have to eat lots though, cause normally I eat loads and don’t put on weight. I’m always really slim so I need to put on as much weight as possible during pregnancy so that breastfeeding doesn’t make me turn into a skeleton!! I just have to force myself to eat when I’m hungry. I think it’s the funny taste in my mouth that stops food from tasting as good 😛

The adventure begins!

By four weeks, the embryo has a head, tail, backbone and limb buds - which will eventually become arms and legs. The beginnings of ears and eyes are also visible. Its heart is already beating, and the other organs are forming fast. An umbilical cord starts to grow between the embryo and the placenta. During this time, the embryo is especially sensitive to any drugs or infections capable of crossing the placenta from the mother.

Add a comment February 21, 2009