Pregnancy - 32 weeks

How far along?  32 weeks  

How big is baby?  According to averages we would be looking around 3.7 lb (1.7 kg) and at the scan I had on Monday baby was measuring around 3 lb 11 (which is 1.69 kg) at 31+3 weeks, so pretty much right on track, though the scans can be about half a pound off.

Total weight gain/loss?  71.6 kg this week but I did weigh after breakfast so maybe not quite so much.

Waist?  Almost too big for my size 14 leggings..

Stretchmarks?  So far so good.

Maternity clothes?  Still going - I've definitely changed shape as baby is now head down and my bump has dropped a bit so it has made a little room I think.

Sleep?  I've had a few horrific nights with restless legs keeping me up until gone 3 AM and now Oscar is poorly with a temperature, sore throat and generally super lethargic and sad so that's not helped either.

Best moment this week?  Getting to see our healthy little baby on the scan, albeit the photo was a little terrifying!

Movement?  Plenty, it literally feels like he's swimming around in there.  I'm getting far more kicks higher up now he is head down but he is also definitely headbutting my bladder.

Food cravings? Nothing much and to be honest my appetite has been down a little bit for the last few days.

Food aversions? Nothing.

Gender?  Still a boy.

Labour signs?  Nothing fortunately.  

Pregnancy symptoms?  All of them, absolutely all of them.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Decent quality sleep.

What I am looking forward to?  Going away for the weekend next weekend.

Upcoming appointments/scans? I see the midwife on 18 May and then I have another scan and Consultant appointment on 6 June.

Weekly wisdom?  Work hard to control the things you can and let go of the things you can't... something I'm trying hard to remember these days.

Milestones?  I don't think we have really hit any milestones this week.

Bump Picture:

Pregnancy - 31 weeks

How far along?  31 weeks  

How big is baby?  Around 1.5 kg (3.3 lb) apparently but I have a scan in a few days to get a more accurate view of our actual baby as opposed to just the averages.

Total weight gain/loss?  Another gain this week so I'm now 70.9 kg.  I've never been in the 70s before, barely spent any time in the 60s if I'm honest.  I'm about 19-20 lb up on my starting weight so goodness knows where I'll be at in another couple of months!

Waist?  Big?

Stretchmarks?  So far so good.

Maternity clothes?  Still squeezing in, definitely going to have to get some more PJs though as I'm not super comfy in these any more and also they're trousers and I think I could do with shorts given how warm our bedroom is getting already. 

Sleep?  Not too bad actually.  The restless legs are a bit up and down but a little "self-love" seems to settle me off to sleep in a way that I can ignore them on the nights where I'm getting desperate!

Best moment this week?  It's been a really challenging week but Oscar enjoying his Easter egg hunt was great and we had a really lovely walk in our wellies with me and Oscar squelching around in the mud to the point where he got stuck and when Ant lifted him out his wellies genuinely stayed there.  He was super cheerful and it was lovely.  

Movement?  So much movement I'm not 100% convinced that this baby isn't actually an octopus.  I think he's still lying sideways with his head to my right and feet on the left as I'm feeling more roll-type movements on the right and jabs on the left.  However, in the last couple of days there's been some really strong movements right up in my ribs so he may well have shifted around a bit, I'm curious to see where he's lying when I get to the scan on Monday.

Food cravings? Nothing specific but I'm really enjoying my Easter eggs.

Food aversions? Nothing.

Gender?  Squishy baby boy.

Labour signs?  Nothing this far and I don't think I'm really having any Braxton Hicks earlier - I might have some really subtle ones but it could just be movement where he's pushing against the front of my abdomen.

Pregnancy symptoms?  Peeing constantly, pretty much every 20 minutes.  Restless legs, particularly on the right side where I also have sciatica.  My back has been really sore and I've had quite a lot of rib pain but honestly I'm doing okay.  I just feel very, very pregnant.  I'm starting to find it hard to reach my toes to fasten laces etc and I can't remember what my genitals look like - I'm wondering if I might start to really struggle in a few weeks.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Being able to do simple things like put my socks on or get up off the sofa without sounding like one of the Williams sisters.

What I am looking forward to?  Getting to see little squish on screen and finding out how big he's getting.

Upcoming appointments/scans? I have my scan and Consultant appointment on Monday.

Weekly wisdom?  Everything really does happen earlier in second pregnancies.  Compared to how I felt with Oscar I feel basically full-term already!

Milestones?  Getting into single figures - hopefully only 9 weeks to go maximum, but of course I could go overdue.

Bump Picture:

Pregnancy - 30 weeks

How far along?  30 weeks  

How big is baby?  I've given up with the foods as they don't change weekly any more so it gets boring - baby is around 1.3 kg apparently.

Total weight gain/loss?  69.7 kg so a little loss from last week which is understandable as I have a cold and also follows the pattern.

Waist?  Meh.  I feel huge!

Stretchmarks?  Not so far but at the rate I'm growing I can't see me escaping for much longer. 

Maternity clothes?  Annoyingly getting snug already!

Sleep?  It has been reasonable to say I'm 7 months pregnant and full of cold but naturally I am pretty damn exhausted.  I also had a visit to PAU on Wednesday night so didn't get home until after midnight and obviously I was up for work by 6 AM which added to the tiredness.

Best moment this week?  I was hoping to say "getting the mortgage application sorted" but typically that still hasn't gone to plan so I can't.  Hearing little bub's heartbeat and knowing he was fine after our trip to PAU was lovely though and then feeling him kick like crazy all day on Thursday.

Movement?  We had a lot less movement on Wednesday afternoon/evening and the final straw was him essentially playing dead at bedtime instead of having his little pre-bed rave so I ended up calling the midwife and going to PAU for some reassurance.  Everything ended up being fine and he's been very active since then so I'm guessing it was just down to me being run down with the cold.  

Food cravings? Nothing much although I'm definitely still comfort eating and have a serious sweet tooth.  We baked some lovely Easter cupcakes on Tuesday as a family and they've been super yummy.  Very excited for Easter eggs this week!

Food aversions? Nothing really.

Gender?  Still a boy - definitely causing too much trouble to not be.

Labour signs?  Nope and I'm keen to keep it that way although I did say to Ant yesterday that given how pregnant I feel and how much bigger I am I would be very surprised if I make it the full 40 weeks.

Pregnancy symptoms?  I'm seriously wanting to nest at the moment - partly from a baby perspective and partly from a house move perspective but until we know what's happening with the house I can't really do anything and I'm scared to jinx it.  It hasn't helped that The Home Edit season 2 has arrived on Netflix so I've been binging that!

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Getting excited about the house moving - honestly we have had so many setbacks I'm genuinely expecting that we aren't going to get moved at all, let alone before the baby arrives.  There's only so long I can be optimistic and now I just want the whole thing to be over.

What I am looking forward to?  Easter egg hunt this weekend - we haven't actually planned/set it up yet but we have bought him a little present and Easter egg and have a vague idea what we are doing.

Upcoming appointments/scans? I have my scan and Consultant appointment a week on Monday so I'm looking forward to that, especially seeing baby and how he has grown because I feel huge compared to how I was with Oscar!  I'm half expecting them to say he's actually fully grown already.

Weekly wisdom?  The more you get stressed with your kids, the harder they push back.  If Oscar is being challenging and I snap at him or raise my voice, he gets more aggressive and challenging.  If I can stay calm and try to de-escalate the situation then generally the whole situation calms down much quicker.  Mostly putting this down for my own benefit because I could do with remembering it when the baby arrives.

Milestones?  Reaching that last quarter!  30 weeks seems so much further along than 29 weeks.

Bump Picture:

Pregnancy - 29 weeks

How far along?  29 weeks  

How big is baby?  The average at this stage is around 1.2 kg (2.5 lb).

Total weight gain/loss?  So I got a bit of a shock this morning when I stepped on the scales and it said 70 kg!! I've never seen a 7 at the front.  However, it did wobble back down and settle at 69.9 kg.  That's 1.7 kg on this week but I'm starting to see a pattern of a big gain one week and then a much smaller gain the following week so it balances out.

Waist?  So I haven't measured my waist but the midwife did measure my bump and it was 29 cm at 28 weeks 5 days so pretty much dead on track (it should be the same amount of cm as weeks of pregnancy).  Last time I always measured about 2-3 weeks behind so it confirms that I am definitely bigger.

Stretchmarks?  No, although I may be starting to see some coming through.

Maternity clothes?  Some are already getting snug.  I bought a couple of new pairs of size 16 leggings this week from Pep & Co to keep me going and they're a good investment as I kept wearing the 12/14/16 ones I bought when pregnant with Oscar for years.

Sleep?  It has still been up and down however it has definitely not been as bad as last week.  I'm only really expecting it to go downhill from here but I'm just getting it where I can.

Best moment this week?  Starting omeprazole since seeing the midwife - it has been a serious game changer!  I've gone almost 48 hours without Gaviscon and it has had such a positive impact on my mood.

Movement?  Plenty of movement and a pretty regular pattern.  I had guessed that baby was lying sideways across my stomach and the midwife agreed so I felt a little smug about that.

Food cravings? Nothing in particular, just food all the time.  I'm flitting between meals full of veggies and super beige meals mostly.

Food aversions? Nothing specific.

Gender?  Baby boy.

Labour signs?  Nothing and no more Braxton Hicks either.

Pregnancy symptoms?  The reflux is much more under control with the omeprazole and I haven't had any pain with it since starting.  My back and rib pain has really ramped up to take its place but I have just finished two days at work sitting at a desk so hopefully I can stretch it out a bit over the weekend as my ribs are super sore and I've had to shift so many times just trying to type this blog entry.  The restless legs have been coming and going and have definitely been present most nights but I have an arsenal of tactics to try and prevent them or fend them off when they occur so I'm doing the best I can.  I'm really wanting to hit the nesting hard which I can't really do because of the uncertainty around the house move but I'm doing little bits as and when time and money allows, even if just buying mundane things like maternity pads.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Being able to sit comfortably is a big one but generally I'm not missing much this week.

What I am looking forward to?  Having our friends stay over for a sleepover so we can have a game night this weekend and then take the kids to the fair too.

Upcoming appointments/scans? I've got a scan and Consultant appointment on 25 April and then I go back to the midwife on 18 May.  It seems weird going so long between midwife appointments but it is standard for second pregnancy.

Weekly wisdom?  Always get clarification.  I've been really stressing about the COVID restrictions in labour but when I asked the midwife it turned out that most of the restrictions have been released and they just hadn't update the website!

Milestones?  Less than 20 working days left!!

Bump Picture:

Pregnancy - 28 weeks

How far along?  28 weeks  

How big is baby?  Apparently we are around a box of chocolates and somewhere around 1 kg (2.2 lb) in weight.

Total weight gain/loss?  68.2 kg this morning so I'm up a total of 7.6 kg (so over a stone) from my starting weight and the heaviest I have ever been in my entire life.

Waist?  One day...

Stretchmarks?  Not yet and as of the last few days I've been regularly using my tummy butter so maybe I'll escape.  However, I'm already pretty much the size I was at full term with Oscar so I'm expecting some to show up as my poor body is stretching into new territory.

Maternity clothes?  I'm starting to consider the fact that I genuinely might not fit in my maternity clothes by the end, especially if I go the full 40 weeks or even overdue.

Sleep?  I had a few absolutely terrible nights where I wasn't getting to sleep until around 3 AM with severe restless legs, added to the needing to pee, heartburn, sciatica and rib pain.  However, I've got myself some magnesium spray which I used last night and had a much better night, whether coincidence or not.  I've also ordered some extra pillows and some compression socks to see if I can keep the restless legs at bay and started trying to get more steps in and have a good stretch before bed.

Best moment this week?  A lovely mother's day seeing family with Oscar being delightful and a beautiful card from him listing reasons why he loves me.

Movement?  So much movement - baby is obviously still quite small so has quite a bit of space to kick and roll.  He gets around quite a bit and the movements can be right down towards my bladder or up higher towards my ribs.

Food cravings? Nothing much at the moment and I think my appetite might have slowed down a little bit, I'm not quite so insatiably hungry all the time, probably because my stomach is getting squashed.

Food aversions? Nothing although a little more general nausea.

Gender?  Boy, boy, boy.  Jayne at work keeps reminding me that there's a penis inside me!

Labour signs?  Maybe another episode of Braxton Hicks but nothing else and obviously that's not a sign of actual labour.  I'd like to go at least another nine weeks without any of those.

Pregnancy symptoms?  Everything.  It feels so ungrateful to admit how much I'm struggling, especially with Amy currently in her two-week wait of her final attempt and Jayne still having no luck.  However, I currently feel like I'm already about 40 weeks pregnant.  My sciatica is playing up, my ribs hurt, my heartburn is out of control, I'm constipated, I'm peeing a million times a day, my restless legs are worse than they've ever been and I'm exhausted.  I'm finding it hard to get comfortable anywhere - at work, on the sofa, in bed - and I'm aware that I've got a long way to go yet and things are only going to get harder.  I'm going to have a chat with the midwife when I see her this week to see if there's anything she can do to help, even if only a prescription for omeprazole to rid a single symptom.  Being so uncomfortable all the time is making me impatient with Oscar and Ant and it's really not fair.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Sleep, being able to get comfortable, clothes that fit, having the energy to do anything, being able to move around without bumping my stomach on things, being able to get my socks on easily.

What I am looking forward to?  Hopefully getting things moving with the house after the tax year ends this year so we can get the mortgage application done.

Upcoming appointments/scans? I see the midwife on 6 April and then the Consultant and a scan on 25 April.  Very grateful knowing I'm seeing the midwife this week as I'm definitely in need of some help and I haven't seen her in three months.

Weekly wisdom?  Just because you wanted a baby desperately, had to work so hard to get pregnant and are incredibly grateful every damn day, it doesn't mean it will always be sunshine and roses.

Milestones?  Finally reached the third trimester!

Bump Picture: