22 weeks pregnant

How far along? 22 weeks 

Baby is...the size of a papaya

Maternity clothes? Meh, I hate how little I have to wear. All of my clothes from last time are summery things and I'm not prepared for the snow that we've had this week at all. I currently have one jumper that fits which certainly isn't ideal in this weather. Once I can live in summer dresses it'll be absolutely fine. Until then though, I'm going to moan! 

Stretch marks?  No, thank god.

Sleep: Can't complain. Henry's finally sleeping in his bed until around 3am most nights and then coming upstairs to us but I can live with that. We've had months of him waking at 11pm so 3am is  a real treat! I'm also napping with him for a couple of hours every afternoon.

Best moment this week: Hearing baby's heartbeat at my midwife appointment. Coupled with plenty of lovely strong kicks and I feel a lot more reassured that all is well in there.

Miss anything?  Not aching like an 80 year old lady when I stand up. The aches and pains have been really awful this time around.

Food cravings: Salt and vinegar Discos and sherbert. Things to make my tongue properly sting! Still loving anything that's really strongly flavoured.

Anything making you queasy or sick? No! Wahoo! 

Labour signs? Still plenty of braxton hicks but luckily nothing more.

Gender: Still no idea!

Symptoms: So achey all the time now. Really awful hip/pelvic pain most of the day, particularly when getting up from a chair or bed. It just feels like someone has kicked me really hard between the legs and I have one hip which is permanently clicky and sore.

Mood: Emotional but happy. 

Looking forward to: Daddy finally getting a kick. Every night that we've gone to bed at the same time Simba seems to to all shy and refuses to kick! Other nights I'm awake for ages with massive kicks and rolls. 

What we ate weekend

Daddy has been to Wembley to watch Crystal Palace this weekend so it was just me and my favourite little one in the house. I haven't done a 'what I ate' post in ages so thought I'd do one this weekend.

Breakfast

Henry had mini shredded wheats with berries and I had porridge with berries. Why does porridge taste so much better when it's done in the pan rather than in the microwave? This was exactly what we fancied this morning. We both had orange juice too and I had a cup of decaf tea.

Lunch

After we dropped daddy at the station we called into Knitlsey farm shop which is Henry's favourite place at the moment; he absolutely loves to see the pigs and have a little chat with his friend the butcher too. We picked up a sausage roll for Henry's lunch and a creamy chicken and bacon pie for me. They were warm and fresh out of the oven and we ate them with salad.

Dinner

We went shopping after nap time for a few holiday essentials so stopped for tea while we were there. Henry had the fish noodles with amai sauce and I had the teriyaki chicken donburi with brown rice. He's such lovely company these days, chatting away and devouring his dinner when it arrived.  

On Sunday morning we met my mum for brunch at Broom House Farm. Henry had a 'little farmer's breakfast' and I had a bacon sandwich. Super delicious. It was all devoured by the time I even thought to take a photo but here's my happy boy on the hay bales outside afterwards:

For dinner we made a mild fruity curry which was an Annabel Karmel recipe. Henry loved helping and ate a huge plate full when it was done. After his first mouthful he declared that it was 'blooming marvellous'! It contained loads of veggies and also raisins and apple and we'll definitely be making it again soon.

20 weeks pregnant

Apologies for the lack of update in the last few weeks, we've been super busy with Easter holidays and fun days out, moving and building furniture and trying to get a little bit more organised!! We also had our 20 week scan this week and all was well there, it was lovely to see how much our baby had grown since the last scan and it's all getting a bit exciting now we're at the half way point! 

How far along? 20 weeks 

Baby is...the size of a banana

Maternity clothes? Of course. This week I've been loving a hand-me-down maternity swimming costume from my friend. I started aquanatal and it was so nice wearing a decent costume rather than my plain, ugly one from last time around. 

Stretch marks?  Not yet, hoping they stay away!

Sleep: Not bad. Henry's sleeping well this week after getting his first ever proper bed and he's had a couple of sleepovers at my mum's too so we've had some decent sleep this week. 

Best moment this week: Our scan; seeing our little one again and getting to the half way mark. I've also been feeling movement a lot more in the last 3 or 4 weeks and have felt a few kicks from the outside too. Movement and kicks and my absolutely favourite part of pregnancy.

Miss anything?  Nothing 

Food cravings: Nothing in particular this week really, I'm trying to be a little healthier now that I don't feel sick anymore and therefore don't need to live on salt and vinegar crisps and rice cakes!

Anything making you queasy or sick?  Just hunger really which is a massive relief after a hideous first trimester.

Labour signs? Lots of braxton hicks, particularly at night. Not a labour sign as such, but my body getting some practice in for in 20 weeks time! 

Gender: No idea. I think girl now, Henry is adamant it's a brother for him though!! It was weird at our scan knowing we could ask the sonographer to look but we didn't ask and she didn't look either so we now have a long 20 week wait before finding out! 

Symptoms: Headaches, tiredness and really achey if I've overdone it (which isn't hard with a toddler around!).

Mood: Generally good, really emotional but happy and excited finally! 

Looking forward to: this bump getting bigger and daddy being able to feel some kicks too.

My first aquanatal class

17 weeks pregnant

How far along? 17 weeks 

Baby is...the size of a large onion

Maternity clothes? I had a mini meltdown at the Metro Centre at the weekend whilst shopping for maternity wear. Whilst 3 or 4 shops stocked it, all of the stuff was just totally gross or really really dull (and expensive). Butterfly print is everywhere...apparently pregnant women like to channel their inner 14 year olds or something?! Anyway, I managed to buy a normal top from H&M that fits well and later in the week did a massive ASOS order and although most of it is going back, there were two decent dresses which I'm keeping. 

Stretch marks?  No, Bio Oil and my Lush massage bar are still getting me through! 

Sleep: Pretty good, I'm napping with Henry 3 or 4 days a week which is definitely helping the extreme tiredness 

Best moment this week: Sending Mr B a text half way through the week saying 'Just realised, for the first time since December, I don't actually feel sick!'

Miss anything?  Not really

Food cravings: Curry and strong flavours are all I fancy.

Anything making you queasy or sick?  Not really, just hunger now. My sickness is finally getting better. I still have sicky hours here and there but generally it's sooo much better than even last week.

Gender: I honestly don't know and I'm beyond excited for the surprise in 23 weeks time. I've got my eye on a gorgeous soft white neutral babygrow from The Whire Company which seems ridiculously expensive for one babygrow but it's so beautiful and you only get one 'first outfit' after all! I may have to treat Simba after pay day. 

Symptoms: Headaches every single day are a massive pain, still super tired 

Mood: Pretty good but super emotional; I'm crying over everything and anything this week! 

Looking forward to: our scan in less than 3 weeks time!!!

Toddler eccentricities

I wanted to write this post whilst you are still in full eccentric toddler mode. I wanted to remember the really little things that made us smile most about when you were small; not the first steps, not the holidays or Christmases, the really little 'easy to forget' things that made you you at 2 and a half...and a few photos too, just to embarrass you when you're older and read this. 

"Patchu, Mama"

Every single night once you're in your cot you say to me "Patchu, Mama" which basically means you want me to pat you. You've obviously heard me asking if you want me to "pat you" and think that the verb is 'to patchu'. I love hearing this every night and I'll be so sad when you eventually realise you actually just want a pat, or even worse, when you don't want patting at all. 

Just napping with mummy and refusing to remove your shades or ditch the guitar

"NO HAPPENED!!" 

This is your version of NO at the moment. No happened. You often say it 20+ times a day and it's hard not to laugh every single time. Conversations go a bit like this....

"Would you like some cereal, Henry?"

"No happened. Toast please."

Or more often like this....

"Henry, can you tidy up your toys?"

"NO HAPPENED!!"

Insisting you must wear your Mexican hat to go out

"More bookses please"

As your language develops I love hearing you testing out little rules you assume apply to all words. At the moment your plurals are just so cute. Every ends in 'ses' as in 'horses' - except the English language doesn't quite work that way. Yesterday you got very cross when I tried to tell you that the word was men and not manses. Books are just always called bookses at the moment and dogs are dogses. Obviously. I love hearing you chattering away, all of these new words are just amazing

How else do people eat their takeaway pizzas?

"Lemon, car and keys please"

Every night when I put you to bed you insist that you have a wooden toy lemon, a red car and a set of plastic keys with you. You absolutely will not sleep without them. Oh, and Chicken the bear of course. 

And there you have it, 4 of my very favourite things of the moment. Quirky individual things that make us all smile and laugh every day, but no doubt, over time, things we'll forget pretty quickly too. We love you so much for being you, our crazy little eccentric Pigwidgeon. 

16 weeks pregnant

How far along? 16 weeks 

Baby is...the size of an avocado

Maternity clothes? I'm having a serious issue with clothes that fit. I'm fine for work, but I definitely need to invest in a couple of tops I can wear on afternoons and weekends. I'm also desperate for a nice casual, floral dress which I can wear now. I have a couple of summer dresses from last time which are fine for the summer months (if a little big) but I really want something I can wear now with tights. I can't find one anywhere though so the search continues. It really bothers me how frumpy, plain and totally boring most maternity wear is. Considering it's aimed at young women in their twenties and thirties, you'd think it would be a bit cooler!

Stretch marks?  No, still slapping on the bio oil. 

Sleep: A lot better. Henry is sleeping better (once he's in with me!) and so am I. Generally I'm up once for a wee but that's a serious improvement 

Best moment this week: Waking up to baby's big brother rubbing my tummy and saying "Hurry up baby. Come out please". He's so excited to be a big brother and have his very own baby.

Miss anything?  Being able to go in the sauna and steam room at the spa! Sounds daft, the spa isn't a regular occurance but we went at the weekend and I would have loved a long stint in the steam room!! Still, peace and quiet and a non-alcoholic smoothie was still such a treat! 

Food cravings: Not massively, I still need to eat very regularly to avoid being sick.

Anything making you queasy or sick?  Nothing in particular. The sickness continues though. I have good days and bad days, so I suppose that's an improvement if nothing else! 

Gender: I still think baby boy, we always refer to baby as a he in our house. 

Symptoms: Sickness, really awful headaches most days and some serious pelvic pain tonight. When's the 'blooming' stage? Someone remind me?! Oh and still extreme tiredness despite the sleep improving.

Mood: Not bad, we had a lovely weekend with friends and family which cheered me up a lot.

Looking forward to: feeling well, having a massive bump and generally being one of those women I'm totally envious of at the moment! 

15 weeks pregnant

How far along? 15 weeks - that goal I've been counting down to because I assumed it would mean I'd finally stop being sick because it's when my sickness stopped last time. No such luck, still sick, still on cyclizine, still hating being pregnant! Hmpf 

Baby is...the size of a navel orange

Total weight gain:  Not a clue, I wake up feeling so sick that going to get weighed is the last thing on my mind.

Maternity clothes? Yes! All trousers are now maternity and a lot of my normal tops are getting too short now so I'm wearing a lot of maternity stuff.

Stretch marks?  None

Sleep: a bit better, but I've never ever felt so exhausted in my life. Ever. It feels like I'm treading syrup all day, nothing is easy, if I don't nap I'm just exhausted. Bone wearily tired. It's bloody awful. If my iron hadn't been fine at 8 weeks I'd be convinced that that might be what's wrong. 

Best moment this week? Starting to feel tiny flutters

Miss anything? Energy. And not being/feeling sick. I'm so fed up with it now, it's been over 10 weeks since it started and seems to be showing no signs of improving

Food cravings: Nothing really. 

Anything making you queasy or sick?  

Oh yes. Still plenty making me sick.

Gender: I think boy still, so does daddy. 

Symptoms: Big boobs, sickness, extreme tiredness and some pelvis pain when I've done too much . 

Mood: Just miserable, I've hated this week in all honesty. 

Looking forward to: getting some energy back, feeling like myself again and making a start on Henry's new big boy's room and the baby's nursery. 

A little Buzz Lightyear photobombing this week's bump shot!