Pregnancy - 12 week update

How far along?  12 weeks

How big is baby?  The size of a plum according to the apps on my phone (around 5.3 cm).

Total weight gain/loss?  I'm now 55.9 kg (in powerlifting terms I'm now in a whole new weight loss).  No major loss this week though so that's a good sign.  I think I'm mostly just losing muscle.

Waist?  27 inches so an inch on again in the last week - oddly I'm getting bigger but lighter at the same time.

Stretchmarks?  Only the ones that have been there for years.

Maternity clothes?  Not for a while yet.

Sleep?  Hit and miss.  Some nights I'll sleep pretty solidly, other nights I'm awake almost all night.  I'm not particularly uncomfortable or anything, so I don't know why I'm not sleeping but I'm well known for being a bit of an insomniac so it's nothing new for me.

Best moment this week?  I can't choose just one!  We've hit that 12 week "safe" mark, we had a scan and got to see little Pip today and we bought our pushchair.

Movement?  Nothing yet - hopefully only a couple of months until I start feeling it though.

Food cravings?  Nothing in particular.

Food aversions?  Lucozade.  I drink a fair amount of Lucozade Sport drinks but I can't stomach them at all at the moment.

Gender?   Absolutely no clue.

Labour signs?  Definitely not.

Pregnancy symptoms?  Pretty much the same.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Having the energy to do things!

What I am looking forward to?  Starting to buy more things now that we've passed the 12 week mark.

Upcoming appointments/scans?  I see the Consultant on 15th May, midwife on 17th May and have my next scan on 17th June.

Weekly wisdom?  Shop around!  We've had our eye on a particular travel system/pushchair for a while but avoided it because it was way too expensive and didn't even come with a car seat.  Today we found it in another shop cheaper than before and that included a car seat too.  So glad we didn't give up and buy something else/buy it for the higher price.

Milestones?  That 12 week mark!

Bump picture:

Starting to get a serious little chunk going now :D

Pregnancy - 11 week update

How far along?  11 weeks

How big is baby?  The size of a fig according to the apps on my phone (around 4.1 cm).

Total weight gain/loss?  56kg so I've lost again this week despite trying to make all my meals really high calorie because I know I'm not eating very big portions.

Waist?  26 inches so an inch on in the last week, despite losing weight.

Stretchmarks?  Only the ones that have been there for years.

Maternity clothes?  Not for a while yet.

Sleep?  Lots!  I'm loving the fact that I don't work Wednesdays and it's Easter weekend so I've got a 4 day weekend coming up too.  Plenty of lie ins!

Best moment this week?  Announcing our pregnancy to the world (IVF and all).  The amount of support we've had has been absolutely phenomenal and I can't explain how amazingly loved we feel.

Movement?  Nothing yet - hopefully I'm about halfway to feeling something though.

Food cravings?  Thin, small pieces of chocolate... how handy it's Easter!!

Food aversions?  Nothing in particular, anything can turn my stomach if I smell it at the wrong time.

Gender?   Absolutely no clue.

Labour signs?  Definitely not.

Pregnancy symptoms?  All the same as before and this week I've had a severe case of baby brain - earlier today I got really lost on the way to the supermarket!  I got to a roundabout and couldn't get my bearings at all, came off at completely the wrong exit and had to turn around.  I'm laughing about it now but at the time I just wanted to cry, I felt so pathetic getting lost on a trip I do so often!

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Powerlifting!  We're going to watch a big competition at the weekend and I know I'll be itching to lift some weights.  I'm still doing little bits but I don't feel safe doing it without ALS around and it's hard finding time when he's not with a client.

What I am looking forward to?  Hitting the 12 week mark next week and getting to see our little bubba again.

Upcoming appointments/scans?  My 12 week scan is 19th April then I see the Consultant on 15th May and midwife on 17th May.

Weekly wisdom?  Don't try baby shopping with low blood pressure and sickness!  We went looking for a pushchair earlier but every time I tried to stand still and actually look at one in detail I thought I was going to pass out/vomit and had to give up.   It didn't help that it was getting near to a mealtime and my stomach was too empty to handle it.

Milestones?  I've finally seen a little bump appearing this week which is VERY exciting for me - I can't stop staring at it in the mirror!

Bump picture:

I'm not very good at getting all of these pictures at the same angles - BUT there's definitely a little bump there now :D

Unusual Symptoms

For the last few days I've been experiencing a very weird pregnancy symptom - at least I assume it's pregnancy related!

My leg muscles are really tight.  I haven't been getting cramp or anything like that, my muscles just feel tight.  I've been stretching a lot to try and keep my sciatica at bay and I've noticed that I can't stretch even half as far as normal - touching my toes without a LOT of warming up is impossible.

I've got a free weekend this weekend so I think I'm going to get myself to yoga!

Did you have any odd symptoms that nobody else had warned you about or experienced?

I said I wanted to feel pregnant...

Well I sure do now!

Sickness is in full swing but as long as I keep my stomach full I can keep the worst at bay.

I'm absolutely exhausted but I start my 4 day weeks properly this week (longer hours split over 4 days instead of 5). It'll be nice making the same money but having a day off in the week.  Hopefully an extra day of "me time" will help.  It's taking me years of getting used to managing my EDS fatigue so with pregnancy fatigue on the top it is a whole new ball game.

My biggest issue is that my blood pressure seems to be very low. I have always had low blood pressure and suffer with mild POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome).  This causes severe dizziness when I go from lying/siting to standing and leaves me feeling very faint if I stand still for more than a few minutes, in a queue for example.  Currently this is a lot worse and I have quite a lot of time during the day where I'm light headed, even when sitting down.

Breathlessness is also hitting me - I only have to walk a few steps to get out of breath. This is worse because of the progesterone pessaries I'm on, in addition to my body producing extra progesterone. It's really not troublesome but just something I've noticed.

As annoying or uncomfortable as some of these symptoms may be, I love it.  Every one is a reminder that I'm growing a human inside me and there is nothing more amazing than that!

Pregnancy - 7 week update

How far along?  7 weeks

How big is baby?  The size of a blueberry... although I don't think it's there yet, maybe by the end of the week!

Total weight gain/loss?  I've put a bit of weight back on this week as I've been making more effort to have plenty of carbs to keep my energy up.  I'm 57.2kg at the moment which is still a 1.3kg loss on where I started.

Waist?  26.5 inches - I'm not sure how accurate these measurements are.  I'm going around my belly button so it should be relatively reliable but I'm also sure I've not gained 1.5 inches in the last few weeks.  My clothes feel exactly the same and if anything I look slimmer!

Stretchmarks?  Only the ones that have been there for years.

Maternity clothes?  Not for a while yet.

Sleep?  I had one really bad night but otherwise I've been sleeping like a baby - pardon the expression!  I had a lovely lie in yesterday which was nice seeing as my new job requires me to get up over an hour earlier than I'm used to.

Best moment this week?  Getting to see our little bubba on the scan!

Movement?  Nothing yet, way too early.

Food cravings?  Nothing - I still don't really have much appetite.  Tonight I feel properly hungry for the first time in ages, despite having just polished off a bowl of spaghetti bolognese.  I shall have some supper before bed!

Food aversions?  Nothing.

Gender?   No idea and I don't think we're going to find out... but that could change.

Labour signs?  Definitely not.

Pregnancy symptoms?  A few twinges on my right side still but mostly just feeling tired.

Belly button in or out?  In.

What I miss?  Caffeine!  These early starts are killer.

What I am looking forward to?  I'm meeting one of my friends from my old job for dinner tomorrow - can't wait.

Upcoming appointments/scans?  I have another scan on 28th March and bubba was measuring a bit small (they didn't tell me as much but the picture says 6w1d and I was 6w6d).  They just said they want to see me again.  Then I'm booked in with the midwife on 29th!

Weekly wisdom?  When you're tired and feel really low on energy, do a little exercise.  It really does help!  Even if it's just a 10 minute walk or a few lengths in the pool.  I was exhausted earlier after a 10 hour day at work but I dragged myself for a swim and I feel so much better for it. I actually even had the energy to cook dinner when I got home!  I know I said this a couple of weeks ago as my wisdom but it's something I've had to remind myself of this week!

Milestones?  Seeing that little flickering heartbeat.

Bump picture:

I didn't want to wake ALS this morning by turning all the lights on to take photos so I took this when I got to work - I actually look in surprisingly good shape - better than normal haha!

EPS or EDS?

I've been thinking that I haven't really had anything in the way of "early pregnancy symptoms".  However, the more I read about it, the more I realise that I'm probably just not really noticing them because they clash so much with my Ehlers-Danlos syndrome.

Morning sickness/nausea:
I'm generally a very nauseous person.  If I don't have breakfast as soon as I get up, I feel sick.  If I get tired, I feel sick.  If I get too hungry, I feel sick.  I spent a lot of my life feeling nauseous, so it's hard to tell what is pregnancy-related and what is just me.  I've had times in the last few weeks where I've had to force food down or I've sat over the toilet trying not to be sick BUT this is a regular occurrence for me.

Tiredness/fatigue:
I live my life in a perpetual state of fatigue, especially since I gave up caffeine in August for the IVF - I know they say you'll feel better for it in the long run, but I really don't.  I have days where I get home from work and just need a nap.  Getting up in a morning is ALWAYS a battle.  I regularly fall asleep if I lie down and watch a movie in an evening with my husband.  In hindsight, I have been a little more fatigued than normal lately, but this comes and goes in waves anyway, so if I didn't know I was pregnant I wouldn't have put it down to that.  Overwhelming fatigue is hard to explain and I think it's only when healthy women are pregnant or sleep deprived with babies that they start to understand the kind of fatigue us "Spoonies" deal with on a daily basis.  Hopefully, I'm quite well equipped to deal with this and keeping up my exercise regime, even when I don't feel like it, seems to be helping so far.

Sore boobs/nipples:
My boobs have definitely been achy - it's been nice to actually have something I can definitely call a pregnancy symptom.  However, people keep saying "wait until your nipples get sore".  I've had my nipples pierced for years and I am constantly catching them (they've never healed properly) so I'm pretty damn used to this.  Once I've had a reassuring scan, the piercings will be coming out so I have plenty of time to heal before baby is born.

Frequent urination:
I have an overactive bladder.  I pee around once an hour.  I get up once or twice (sometimes more) every night to pee - I had just managed to start getting this under control but then pregnancy ensued and it went out the window.  However, this is again something I'm quite used to so haven't really found that annoying so far.

Joint aches and pains:
I'm no stranger to these, being the main part of my condition.  I also had a bout of sciatica in the summer which has flared up on and off.  I'm getting quite good at rehabilitating myself from the sciatica quite quickly with stretches and such though.  It's flared up majorly in the last week but I can ease the pain quite well with half an hour of stretching.  My sister-in-law, who's 18 weeks, has just started experiencing sciatica so I've been able to give her a few tips to help her ease it - I'm not sure if she's tried any of them yet but hopefully they'll help.

I'm partially glad I don't have any major symptoms and partially annoyed - I really want to FEEL pregnant and experience everything along the way!  So maybe I do have symptoms and I've just not actually realised yet because they blend in so well with my health problems anyway.  People keep telling me I'm just having an "easy pregnancy" but I really think (without bragging) that I'm just so used to dealing with my body's horrible condition I'm not really finding them troublesome.

Obviously I'm not saying some women don't have horrible pregnancies - those who have things like hyperemesis gravidarum, rather than just mild morning sickness, and the like.  I'm not comparing my situation to those women.  I know this sounds really pretentious, but as average pregnancies go, I think women just maybe aren't used to dealing with the sort of symptoms that arise.  For once my condition has been beneficial, preparing me for this stuff.  Maybe I'm just so grateful to be pregnant after everything we've had to deal with that I appreciate every little feeling that reminds me I'm growing a human!  I know it's hard work but think of the miracle you're creating and try to enjoy it - it is a damn good excuse to have a good moan now and then though.