8 Months Pregnant

8 months pregnant, baby girl bump, 35 weeks pregnant belly

On the first of June, this pregnancy and this baby suddenly became a whole lot more real.  Rather than an event in the future, I had to admit that I was due next month and suddenly all the instincts which I had been missing decided to kick in.  I went from completely disorganised, to staying up until 2am building furniture so that this little lady will have some drawers of her very own.  I organised all the little clothes and packed them away, washed the shell of the Snuzpod and started to get my head around the fact we will soon be a 6.

I am now 8 months pregnant which means that there is only a month until my due date and only a matter of days until I am considered 'term'.  I am starting to feel much more excited about having a little baby around again but still completely not ready for her arrival either.

This month I feel like my growth has really slowed down, but at the same time I seem to constantly have limbs up in my ribs so it may be that baby has moved position.  I am convinced this little one is going to be into martial arts of some kind as some of the kicks and punches I get are strong enough to take my breath away or make me sit up very straight.  Considering my placenta is at the front again that is quite impressive and I don't remember Finn being so strong.  I think the bump has definitely dropped over the last week, but I don't know whether she is engaged yet or not - at the last midwife check she was completely free.

The heartburn I was experiencing has pretty much gone and my bladder still seems to be coping well.  I wake up in the night to turn over but I don't have to get out of bed (other than for Finn).  My feet seem a long way off but I still feel quite physically active and have no problems navigating soft play with the boys or going for long walks.  I can walk all day, but standing still is hard, and I get light headed if I stay in one place too long.

This last month is about preparing the boys for a new arrival and enjoying my final weeks where I can refer to my family as 'my boys'.  I always thought it would be just us, that I would always get to use that term and I think anything else is going to take some getting used to.

This last month has brought up lots of questions and I have found myself explaining the role of the placenta to a four year old as well as showing them lots of google images of quite how this baby fits in my tummy.  It has been really lovely seeing their curiosity, even if I don't always have the answers.

This week I have a growth scan, consultant appointment and a home visit from the midwife to talk through my plans for the birth.  As I approach term it looks like my home birth plans are all go, but I am hoping for co-operation from the whole team.  

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5 Months Pregnant

22 weeks pregnant, five months pregnant, second trimester, baby girl pregnancy
With 4 months left to go, I am finding that this middle section of pregnancy is going pretty fast.  The third trimester is still quite a way off, I don't feel that heaviness yet but I have enough of a bump that you can't put it down to too much cake anymore.  I feel far from glowing, but I don't feel nearly as bad as I did only a few weeks ago either.

My energy levels are balancing out and when I am sensible, I don't need a nap in the day.  By sensible, I mean not getting addicted to a new series on Netflix and staying up past when is sensible so that I am still tired in the morning.  Finn is really teething at the moment though, so sleep is really not something I am getting enough of and never in a long stretch like I am craving.  He turned one last week which I was hoping may be a magic cure but it is looking more likely that I have two babies up in the night come July.

My bump is growing much slower now, as the bloating decreases and the baby grows.  I had my 20 week scan on Valentines day and our little lady had a rather large tummy, a bit too large really.  I was sent for a GTT (gestational diabetes) test which thankfully came back negative, so I am seeing a consultant to discuss what this means and what happens now.  Other than that she seemed healthy and still no signs of anything between her legs.  I would be very shocked if I was to have a small baby anyway, but hopefully she evens out a bit more as it was just her tummy that was measuring ahead.

This month I have noticed that my boobs have grown, something that happened not until the final weeks in my other pregnancies.  I am also always cold which is a bit of a shock after spending the past few winters with no coat as I was always warm.  I can't get enough layers and blankets on me now and I am starting to regret not buying a maternity coat at the beginning of winter.  I am considering investing in a maternity / babywearing one as it is so close to Spring now.

I used the Babycentre app with my last three bumps but I was getting dejavu every morning so now I am loving the Ovia app for its brilliant comparisons ( Britney is currently the size of a water bottle) and the Tesco weekly maternity calender as weekly is enough now really.  I am counting down to the 24 week viability point as that seems like the next milestone, although I don't want her making an appearance until at least the middle of June.

This month I finally started to feel some movement and I seem to have skipped the flutters and gone straight for little kicks.  I only really feel them when I am lying on my left eating chocolate in the evenings, but hopefully it will all become more regular now.  

My belly button has popped out now so that belly ring is tucked away for post-birth.  With every pregnancy it has been a few weeks earlier as my body remembers what to do! I am in nearly all maternity clothes with the exception of a few oversized jumpers and the long vests.  I always stock up on the Primark 'cami dresses' as they stretch so well they can accomodate even a full term bump and the length means even with a bump they can be worn as a top,  I have bought a few new maternity items and am using some from my previous pregnancies.  

It feels strange that I am already over the halfway mark and I am trying to enjoy pregnancy as much as I can, despite not always feeling great.

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Our Gender Reveal

When we found out that we were expecting baby number 4, two thoughts went through my head,

'What if it is another boy?'

'What if it is a girl???'

I quite honestly didn't mind, we were either going to have the wonder of a fourth baby boy or a new baby girl.  I know boys, I love raising boys and I could see my house full of them.  A daughter would be the unknown but a new challenge.  Either way I felt far more impatient to find out this time and I ended up booking an early private scan to try and determine the gender. 

At our previous scan, the sonographer thought she knew the sex based on the nub theory, but I wanted a better look to know for certain.  Last Saturday we went down to a local place and saw our little Britney bump on screen and we got confirmation.

We are expecting a . . .





We are so excited to be welcoming our sixth and final member of the team in July this year!

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27 Weeks Pregnant

27 weeks means I had arrived at the third and final trimester far quicker than I thought! There seems to be some debate as to whether it begins at 27 or 28 weeks, but as my babies were born at 38 and 39 weeks, I think 27 marks two thirds of this journey done.

Whilst I am loving the extra kicks, the bigger bump and finally being allowed those extra calories, I am so conscious that I only have a few weeks left to enjoy this pregnancy and as it is most likely our last,  this makes me a bit sad. It feels ironic that the more I want time to slow down, the faster it seems to go, I think having small children already just leaves little time to sit and enjoy.

Excuse the blur and shadows, I got the bloke to take the pic. . . 

When I think back to my first pregnancy, I felt like I had really bonded with the baby, I felt so aware of his patterns, his position and I would lay down just feeling him move and talking to him.  This time I am nowhere close, and whilst I love this baby with all my heart already, I don't feel like we have had the chance to bond in the same way.  I know that once he is born, none of this will matter, but it still makes me a little sad.

It feels like only now at 27 weeks I would feel confident saying I feel this baby moving enough to know if there is a disruption to his patterns, and I still spend much of my day too busy to notice.  In the evenings I see my tummy moving into all sorts of funny positions and I think that baby is head down already.  I had a midwife appointment this week, who has plotted my baby above the 95th centile, but as the other boys were large, they aren't concerned.  I was quite convinced I was measuring big again but I think that is just how I carry babies.

I am not feeling quite as tired this week, although I think the reprieve will be short as it is around this time that energy levels start to plummet again! I have been craving cheese though, and have demolished plenty of mozzarella balls straight from the fridge, baking camembert and cheese on crackers.  I am using the 'growing bones' excuse at the moment, but I know that snacking on a block of cheddar probably isn't the best idea to do so regularly.  

I have been hanging on to a few non-maternity items, but walking around town the buttons popping open on what was a very loose shirt has meant my wardrobe is cut down even further.  Thankfully, the bloke's clothes are starting to fit, and his Christmas jumper is perfect to wear over my bump!

If you have written any pregnancy related posts then make sure to link them up to BlogBumpClub!

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