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2004-06-18 - 8.36pm��previous entry��next entry
20 weeks!!! - Photos :)
Yay I'm 20 weeks pregnant!!! Halfway there at last!!!!! I can't believe I am this far along. It's so amazing.
I am feeling waaaaaaaay better about all my worries now. I posted at some of my pregnancy boards about my symptoms and my concerns, and got lots of reassurance and other pregnant women telling me they had the same kind of pain/discomfort at this kind of stage.
Then yesterday evening I went to my first ever baby shower!!! Actually it was the first time any of the 25 guests had been to one. It's really not an English thing I think. But it was so much fun! I hope it gets more popular here! It was for Katie, my friend at church. She is due a week from tomorrow and she looks wonderful. She had absolutely no idea about the surprise shower which was really fun. She thought she was coming to a church leaders and wives meeting (her hubby is on the leadership team) and she walked in with her notepad and pencil, it was so sweet!
We didn't know it was a women-only thing, so Neil came with me and a couple of other husbands did too, but they all beat a hasty retreat when they saw the broody gaggle of women drowning out all other sound with endless girlie-chat, 10 conversations all going at once, that kind of thing!! Hehe! Neil got a pizza and spent the evening playing his game so he was happy!
Later in the evening I was talking to Katie and she said she had period-type pains all through her pregnancy. Then I spoke to a lady who has 2 grown-up children and she described pain and discomfort almost exactly as mine is. She said it bothered her early on and in the middle of pregnancy but didn't last all the way through. I was soooo relieved to hear that! She said she had been worried too, and wondered if she was going to miscarry or something, but nothing came of it, and she had the exact same symptoms with her second pregnancy. I felt much reassured, and since then I've realised how much I'd been worrying about it, because I had stopped anticipating Bean. Today I feel freshly excited that I'm having a baby, it's such a wonderful feeling! I hadn't even noticed that my anxiety had stopped me expecting to have a healthy baby.
So yay!!!! I feel loooads better about it, and also Neil says my bump is changing shape and sticking out a little more. My womb is right at my tummy button today which is bang on target for Bean - yay for Bean growing just right!! Last night I noticed for the first time that when I sit down on the edge of the bed, I can't see the underside of my tummy. And my tummy button is flat on the top half!!! I've always had a strong innie so it's strange to see it flattened out like that. When my womb is behind it properly and rising above it, the whole of it will be flat, I'm sure. I wonder if I'll even pop to an outie?
Well I have photos for you as promised! I have two - one was taken outside and is therefore MASSIVELY over-exposed, I look like a very white thing against the hedge in our garden! But I wanted to post it to show my full shape. Then there's another one taken indoors of just Bean and me :) Neil was making me laugh. I will put that one in the belly gallery too, but here they both are:
There I am! :) I like the indoor photo because it shows me like I feel today, happy and pregnant :) I have the same pain and discomfort today but it's odd how these things aren't so unbearable when they aren't worrying you. I sometimes get a grinding pain on one side or other of my pelvis as Bean squirms into a new position.
Oooh ooh, I have to tell you something I'm excited about!!! Last night I was lying in bed and it was hot so we had the fan on us. My tummy was cold to the touch, and Bean was kicking a bit so Neil was poking my tummy to see if Bean would play with him (Bean didn't, he/she is not a performing fetus it seems!). Anyway then he laid his hand on my tummy and his hand was lovely and warm. Bean immediately started squiggling so vigorously that Neil could feel the ripples and wiggles with his hand! And here's the cute thing - Bean was wiggling as hard as he/she could to get under Neil's warm hand! He/she was there within about 20 seconds and then went all quiet. When Neil tried to poke again where his hand had been, he couldn't because Bean's back was solid and firm right under the surface. We thought that was so lovely. It's the first time Bean has really noticed us (that we have noticed anyway!) so we felt all mushy and like a family :)
What else can I tell you today? Lots of people talked to me about my pregnancy at the baby shower, and that was fun! :) Three people said they never knew I was pregnant till Sunday at church when they wondered for the first time, and then last night at the shower they said they didn't even have to wonder anymore. So I must be changing shape quite rapidly at the moment, even though the photos don't really show that because my 18 week belly pic was a bit over-exaggerated in the bump dept somehow! But that would definitely account for all the pain and discomfort if I am growing that fast. I have also put on about 6lbs in one week. I lost 3 during my short hospital stay, but I have put it back on now. So my total weight gain in this pregnancy so far is 10lbs I think. Something like that anyway. Not loads, but I know I'll continue to put weight on quite rapidly from now. All my books tell me so.
Yesterday evening before going to the baby shower I had quite a bad nosebleed, and I have to say I am beginning to find these nosebleeds a bit of a pain! I seem to get them quite frequently, although at least they aren't that bad. Yesterday's was more severe than normal, I don't know why.
Today I got up at 9.30am and pottered around and put some laundry on and phoned my mummy, and then I was absolutely shattered! I couldn't believe it! I tried to sit and read but my eyes kept zoning out and closing, so I went to bed at 3.15 and when I woke up it was 7PM!!!! Oh my goodness!! The photos were taken about 20 minutes later incase you are wondering why I look a lil bit sleepy in either of them! ;) I hope I can sleep tonight after that long nap, but somehow I think that won't be a problem. I feel really tired and sleepy even now.
Okay Neil has made me dinner (he's so wonderful!) and it's ready so I'm going to go. Ooh except here are Bean's 20 week stats - Bean is now just over 10 inches from head to heel!!! Wow! And weighs just over 10oz or 300g. Bean can hear and recognise my voice now, and meconium is collecting in his/her bowel. I have nappies ready for that! :) Yay!
There's probably more but I've got to go and eeeaaat!!! Mmmm, food! And Bean just kicked me in the bladder after being quiet for a while, so I will take that as a "hi all you guys out there who are interested in me!" type of gesture and pass it on to you! :)
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