So today I am 24 weeks + 5 days pregnant.
Baby is now the size of a corn on the cob and apparently weighing just over 600g.
October seems so far away but the weeks are going quickly-EEK!
Only just over 15 weeks left!

Bump

This little baby is a wriggler!
I feel it every day now which is fantastic. It makes me so happy to be feeling it move finally, though it is still only low down.
Every evening, after food and when it hears music when I’m teaching it kicks away!
I’m really enjoying laying on our bed just taking a moment to fully appreciate it all.

I’ve also been feeling some strange rotations going on which I’m sure is baby moving but because of the anterior placenta it feels more like when you go on a roller coaster and your stomach feels like it ends up in your throat.

The bump is definitely growing too and its becoming more obvious now, I certainly can’t hide it anymore. People have said its changed a lot over the last 4 weeks, though it doesn’t seem so big in this picture.

People have been telling me how great I’m looking and how I must be keeping really healthy, which is sweet but considering my chocolate craving I’m not sure it’s 100% accurate. I’m noticing how much harder things are becoming, even things like putting my shoes on, I struggle to breathe when bent over like that so having to make a few adaptations.

Emotional

I certainly have less patience at the minute! I feel like I’m snappy and irritable, unmotivated, emotional and generally not being very nice, especially to B and LB, who seem to be pushing every button from the moment we wake up.

I struggle to drag myself out of bed, off the sofa, away from my phone and focus, though funnily enough I feel much better in myself when I’m productive.

I’m still worrying about little things, mainly about how we’re going to cope with two?
I’m sure this is a worry of every mother though.
Whether you’re first born is going to get enough attention, whether its going to be a big challenge financially, are you going to get any sleep or even a moment to yourself to recharge, are we going to bond like we did so quickly with LB?
October seems so far away still but also i know it’ll come around so soon and a natural birth is  playing on my mind. I had an induction and emergency Caesarian last time and I have a choice this time. I am currently (unless baby is breech at scan at 38 weeks) intending to have a VBAC birth but the pain does scare me. The idea of not being able to drive for 6 weeks and get LB to preschool etc puts me off the caesarian but the unknown of the natural birth is playing on my mind.  I am hoping for a water birth which didn’t happen with LB due to waters breaking 3 days earlier and needing to be induced and then the c section, but as i need to be monitored continuously there are some conditions to this. If the one set of waterproof monitors is available and i am under a certain weight its a possibility if not its just the ball and bed.

B did make me chuckle with his Facebook status on Monday though…

“I generally like women but they’re a fukin odd bunch at times. Gem’s sat next door, 6 months pregnant watching 1 born every minute. For me that’s like suspecting u might imminently b involved in a plane crash, so watching videos about plane crashes to calm your nerves 🤔
Mans way of dealing with new arrivals is best:
Lalalala yep lalalala WTF du mean ur in labour 😉”

LB has also got my heart melting as he talks about his little brother (No we don’t know what it is, but i have a horrible feeling if its a sister we may have to send it back).
He says we don’t need to clear out the spare room as the baby can sleep in his bed with him, he gives it pretend toys to play with and says he’ll share all of his and then this morning he came into our bed and asked to give the baby a kiss, cuddle and snuggle and I wanted to cry and I beamed with pride and just look……beautiful!

Physical

My sister and sister in law have both commented on my boobs getting bigger.
Certainly not something I need (seriously they are huge already) and I hadn’t really noticed until they pointed it out!
Thanks for that guys!

I’m suffering from sciatica now too the Right butt cheek has got a mind of its own.
I can be fine for days and then be in agony over a tiny movement.

The heartburn and leg cramps have also starting to kick in-man I’ve missed you!
I’ve leapt out of bed at god knows what time to be faced with cramp in my shin and my calf at the same time, i mean seriously how do you even begin to stretch that out?

I didn’t get any stretch marks with LB until after he was born it was crazy, I thought I’d got away with it. I have had a few little ones above my belly button and then some on the right side of my tummy ever since (alongside the other beauties on my hips from puberty). These had faded and were very pale but have started to become a little more obvious, especially as I’ve felt my whole tummy tighten and stretch more recently,
especially in the evenings.

Tiredness has now eased, in the evening  at least and I’m lasting past 10pm – woohoo
but I certainly don’t want to get up in the morning! I’m waking at least once in the night to go to the toilet and i think struggling t get in a comfortable position to sleep.  I wake up and I’m nearly always on my front or back and have to flip myself back onto my side.
By mid week I’m feeling it though and am usually napping thurs or fri afternoon.

I’m really selling pregnancy here aren’t i? HAHA!

Preparations

Not much further with names unfortunately as we’re not agreeing on much!
We have one girls name we both like but my uncle pointed out at the weekend that it would mean her initials were ET (and yes the jokes started).  He was also the one that pointed out after we announced LB’s birth that his initials spelt BERT.
We are struggling more with boys names.

I have started to sort through the junk in the ‘nursery’ and we have started to talk about colours and how we would like to decorate. With just over 3 months to go we decided we should get a move on. We found a picture on Facebook of LBs finished nursery recently and saw it was finished 2 days before my waters broke, 5 days before he was born!
Yes he was early but it made us think oh gosh lets get this sorted.
Its a bit of a slow process as its not often i get in there without the mini destroyer and there is years worth of paperwork and junk to sort through.
I’ll get there though and ideally in the next month. No pressure!

I haven’t really looked at anything we may need but i’ve mentally logged we need nursery furniture (as LB still has everything in his room except the cot),
a changing bag and carseat/buggy combo.
I should take some time to start looking at what we might like and also how on earth we’ll afford it all!

This quote is so true and something i shared in my Little Loves Post last week.
Some days are wonderful and some are tough,
but each one means i am closer and closer to holding this baby in my arms.