You will probably have heard people compare labour to running a marathon. During my pregnancy I found myself wondering what the similarities and differences were and whether, after giving birth, I would say the same.
Swollen ankles, feeling heavy, getting overly hot and sweaty every time you try to do anything strenuous – sound familiar? If you are pregnant you are probably not rejoicing in the sunshine but trying anything to keep cool.
It’s been over 30 degrees in Manchester today and, at almost 38 weeks pregnant, I’ve been doing everything I can to stay as comfortable as possible.
When I established Tall Mum In Manchester I wanted to be honest about my miscarriages. I’m not looking for sympathy. I simply want to tell our story and hope that it will encourage others to talk more openly about miscarriage. But, being open on the internet also means telling people much closer to us – and that seems so much harder.
I wrote the first draft of this post 13 weeks ago. It’s taken me all this time to build up the courage to share it but, with Pea’s due date imminent, it’s now or never.
As I write this post I am half way through week 35 of my pregnancy and Pea is apparently the size of a honeydew melon.
I anticipate that most of this coming week will be spent watching Wimbledon and as I type, Andy Murray has just started his fourth round match against Nick Kyrgios. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when the tennis is over as lying on my side is increasingly the most comfortable way of giving my ribs space and it’s hard to do much from that position.
The third trimester starts at the end of pregnancy week 27. I am officially on the homeward stretch, with just under 3 months until Pea’s due date.
I am almost 20 weeks in to my pregnancy and Pea is apparently the size of a banana. I’ve been very lucky to experience a let up in my symptoms, which means I can get on with my life. After feeling rotten for most of the first trimester I want to make the most of these few months before I get too big and uncomfortable.
I had my dating scan last week at 13 weeks pregnant.
It was amazing to see our little Pea wriggling about, moving its arms and legs and opening its mouth. It was pretty chilled in there, so I had to cough a few times to make the little mite jump so the sonographer could get a good view. For 20 minutes hubby and I were mesmerised by the screen as we had a guided tour of my uterus and our little one. We saw its brain, its spine and its little heart fluttering away. Of course I’ve seen scan pictures before but they are nothing more than a reminder of the wonderful experience that is seeing your baby apparently happy and healthy. It was weird though. I find it really hard to connect that wriggling baby with the bulge that is already starting to form in my belly. How can it be so big and move so much when I can’t feel it at all?