Journal
Sign guestbook
Arthur's Mummy's Diary
Matthew's Belly Gallery
Nathan's Belly Gallery
Benjamin's Belly Gallery
My Fertility Friend Chart
2007-09-02 - 10.19pm��previous entry��next entry
17 weeks pregnant!
17 weeks pregnant today! I seem to be ending up doing updates for every week of pregnancy at the moment, but that's not the plan! I just know I reeeeally don't want to miss updating when I turn a new week pregnant, so I make extra effort to get an entry done that day. I often think of things I want to write here through the week, but don't get chance to update then. I hope I will get back to entries here as and when things occur to me, soon!
Well, this week has been pretty good! My morning sickness seems to be all but gone - I know I said that last week, but this time it is even more "all but gone" than last week, hehe! I was still having the odd queasy moment earlier in the week. I *think* I am no longer feeling queasy. I can't say that for sure though, as I have felt a little queasy this evening, but it might have been random? Anyway. It's basically gone. I think I will say 16/17 weeks for when morning sickness cleared up for me this pregnancy, unless it suddenly rears its ugly head again unexpectedly! I am SO GLAD to see the back of it! But, I have also been glad of its company, with this pregnancy being a bit scary and insecure during that time. It has been reassuring to have a symptom that tells me the baby is okay and everything is progressing normally. I'm glad it's gone though! :)
An exciting milestone happened at 16 weeks and 4 days! I felt the baby kick with my hand, on the outside! I have felt that quite a few times since then, even though it has only been a few days since.
Suddenly this week, I am feeling Beanlet move a lot more, and really proper movements now. I was holding Matthew on Monday (only a day after my 16 week entry) trying to re-settle him when he was woken during his nap, and he was being cranky so I did an extra big bounce with my knees to soothe him as I held him, and his weight on my front must have put sudden pressure on my little bumpy, because there was a sudden JAB, like a sharp end of a limb digging me ever so strongly, just for a quick flash of a second! Not up towards Matthew, but out at the front. It was so sharp and pokey that it hurt a little! I was so taken aback at the strength of that little jab that I just gasped and stopped moving altogether for a moment!
In the evening when I am lying down on the sofa, I feel Beanlet move a lot. Not A LOT a lot, like Arthur, but a lot for this particular little baby bean! I feel proper jolting kicks to the front of my tummy, and if my hand is laid on top, I can feel my skin blip out with the little kick. It's still soooo tiny! Even a hard kick just makes a gentle blippy ripple of my skin - not like later on when that foot threatens to come right through my various layers of tissue with a single kick! ;)
I LOVE feeling real kicks and bumps! It's one of my very favourite things about pregnancy, and I am just hugging myself with GLEE that I'm this blessed to be feeling it again! I'm sooooo happy to be pregnant! :) Thank you Lord! This week I honestly do not know how I will ever cope with not having any more babies. Seriously. I love being pregnant so much. I can't imagine thinking that it won't happen again because we have had our last baby. I hope we don't have to think like that!!! I am beginning to really want to leave the number of children we have in God's hands, but that's a BIG decision and I haven't talked much to Neil about it, and I do not think he shares my feelings on it! I love having babies. So. Very. Much. I would go through morning sickness again and again to experience these JOYS of pregnancy. Already, even though I'm HERE right now experiencing it, I'm already eager to be here again. I know that doesn't make much sense, but anyway!
I need peaches. Fresh peaches. Right now. Literally just since the end of the last sentence. No, we don't have any. *sigh*
I am seriously interested in sweet foods and things this pregnancy. Not just huge quantities of high calorie sweet foods like my other pregnancies, but more like I keep really wanting certain tastes of sweet things. Weird ones too, things I haven't thought about for a long while. Earlier in the week I really wanted those parma violet sweets, which I haven't seen since childhood. They have a particular fragrance and unique flavour, and I just WANTED it this week. I don't know where to find them though, and it's not a "life-or-death" craving so it doesn't really matter too much. I also fancied cherry bakewells this week, but didn't get any. I haven't really had any major cravings yet, ones which I simply must have otherwise I will just have to cry and shake (haha!)!
I still have no idea whether this baby is a boy or a girl. My girl vibe was so strong!!! But now I feel unconfident in my vibes, in general. I have been wrong before! This week I keep seeing parents with 3 boys when we're out and about. And twice at random I have looked at my boys playing and then automatically thought, "the boys" when thinking of the THREE of them, after this little one arrives. I don't know if that's just a symptom of a parent who has only ever had babies of one sex though! I know two ladies who had two boys followed by a girl (two girls, in one case!), both of whom said how they couldn't imagine ever having a girl when they only had the two boys, and were absolutely AMAZED when the baby popped out a girl! They said to just ignore feelings of, "I can't imagine ever having a girl!" because they don't mean anything as to whether you will actually ever have one or not! So, we'll see.
Today is September 2nd! Exactly one month today until my BIG SCAN!!!!! I can't believe there's only a month to go! It's next monnnnnnnth!!!
Today there are 3 weeks to go till I reach 20 weeks and thus my HALFWAY MARK this pregnancy (whaaa?!?!). There are 4 weeks until my big scan. Seven weeks till this baby is viable. And ten weeks till I reach the 3rd trimester! It's all going soooooooo fast, I can't believe it. Two people told me today how they could NOT believe I was 17 weeks pregnant already (my brother, and someone at church), because it genuinely only seemed like yesterday that I was telling them I was pregnant! It really is whizzing by this time around.
What else did I want to say this entry?
Baby bean is REALLY growing this week. My bump has been ever so achy and crampy, and now this weekend I am noticing that I have really grown over the week. I'm in maternity tops now as well as trousers, and I can now wear a couple of the pairs of jeans that were too baggy on my bump at first, a couple of weeks ago. They are still a loose-ish fit, but they fit. My legs and hips are starting to outgrow the actual jeans that DO fit my bump nicely though, urgh! Not sure what to do about that one.
I weighed myself at the beginning of the week and the scales said 8 stone 11lbs. So that's up 6lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight. I lost a few (3?) lbs over the first trimester, but I always go by my weight gain from my pre-pregnancy weight, as my total weight gain. So, 6lbs so far at 17 weeks. I will have to check my diary entries for my other pregnancies at this stage, to see how that compares. I am pretty much "resigned" (though that sounds stronger/more negative than I mean it!) to gaining a TON of weight this pregnancy, as it seems that I just DO big-weight-gain when I'm pregnant. I personally think it's more of a genetic thing than diet (which, actually, research is now saying too), so I'm sure I'll just gain that kind of weight again. I think I COULD reduce it if I watched my intake, but I think that's crazy when you're pregnant. You gain what you gain. If I had a medical reason to watch my weight gain then I would. But I'm pregnant! I need my fat stores for mama milk! :) It all falls off me after about 7 or 8 months anyways, so I am not too worried about it. I just hate looking so chunky, especially in my face and on my hips and legs.
Okay I have just checked my older entries, and hmmm! This pregnancy is looking remarkably THE SAME so far, as the previous two. At 17 weeks and 4 days with Arthur, I had gained 6lbs. At 17 weeks and 4 days with Matthew, I had gained 5.5lbs. This pregnancy I have already gained 6lbs (by 16 weeks!), but I think I will weigh myself at 17 weeks and 4 days, just out of curiosity, as I had such exact timings with my other two pregnancies. So, my weight gain is the same. My bump is all on the front so far, and is low and neat. Boy? Any old wife would tell me so...
BUT, yes Melanie! I do think I am carrying slightly different this time round! I am carrying low, but the majority of my bump seems to be due to my slack abs. If I tighten them up, my bump HALVES in size, and it's actually a "carrying high" bump when I do that. I'm annoyed that I never noted what my bump looked like when I "sucked it in" during my other pregnancies, because now I will never know if that's just how my bumps look, or if it's different this time! Oh well. Not that it will matter a month from now when we knooooooowwww!!! Yay! My mind is opening up to the possibility of Beanlet being another boy again. I felt so sure of a girl before now that I had pretty much closed my mind to such a possibility, but it's much better to have an open mind! It really COULD be a boy. As I said before though, if it IS a boy, it will be our first shy boy (from previous scans compared with the early ones with the boys!), and also the least active baby so far. We'll have to wait and see!
I read in my 17 week update with Matthew (and the 16 week one) that he was very active and I had felt him with my hand at 15 weeks and 2 days! He was very active every night when I lay down to go to sleep, and I felt kicks and bumples galore at 16 weeks, at that time of day. This baby is sooooo quiet in comparison! And I know it's not because my placenta is in the way - it's on the back wall again, which is good. Matthew was actually a LESS active baby than Arthur, so it's surprising to have an even less active baby this time!
I just felt a big shifty sensation, and then Beanlet's little back pressed up against my tummy! Aww! Well, when I say "big", I mean I could feel it. It's big for Beanlet, currently, but still such a slight movement compared with the boys at this stage. I love feeling movements though, big or small!
I am really breathless this week, and tired easily. Not First Trimester Exhausted any more (thank goodness!), or at least, not very often, but just wiped out and breathless suddenly at small exertions. Climbing the stairs is just a huge ordeal at the moment! This time last pregnancy it made my legs and bump ache to climb the stairs as well as being breathless and exhausted by it, but I don't have the achiness yet. Just breathless! I find it hard to catch my breath for ages, and I get breathless talking too, sometimes.
I am also feeling overheated easily this week. I will be on the phone and suddenly realise that I am sweating like CRAZY all over, just inexplicably overcome with a wave of heat. When I use the laptop I get waaaay overheated, even if I have a lap tray under it and I sit on the floor or something, to keep as cool as possible. I am reeeeeeeeeally over-warm right now! Yesterday I was on the laptop in the evening for a little while and ended up having to undress and eat two ice lollies to cool down! Hehe!
I am still spotting, but mostly just tan/brown, and quite light most of the time. I have finally got a big increase in "other goop" though, which I got the other two times from about 8 weeks pregnant, so I've been expecting it for a while! I'm still having to wear pantyliners for the spotting, but it's better than it was.
My milk is still there, but hardly at all I think. Arthur usually tells me there is milky, but today he latched on to nurse just after lunch and instantly told me there was no milky left. I hadn't nursed anyone since 8.45am, so that was pretty telling. Even when my milk is sparse, I would have some there if nobody had nursed in 4 hours, so hmmm. Having said that though, later on Matthew nursed before his nap and then Arthur wanted some after I came downstairs. He sucked for a moment and then popped off joyfully, exclaiming, "Mashew DID leave me some milky!" :) Also I had a painful let-down (rare these days) tonight when breastfeeding Matthew at bedtime, but he only gulped twice and then didn't swallow any more after that. So I have milk, but there's really not much left. By 18 weeks last pregnancy (so, over the course of this next week), my milk dried up completely and I couldn't even express a single drop by hand. Not even a hint of white even! So, I was expecting that it might dry up by now, and I think it will very soon, but it's great that it looks like it will continue a little bit beyond last time. I am reeeeally hoping Matthew will naturally stop waking to nurse when there is no more milk to be had. Otherwise, once my milk is all gone, I will have to night wean him, and I do NOT relish the prospect! I would much rather it be easy and gentle on him, and easy and EASY on me! ;) He has had a few nights recently where he has woken just once during the night to nurse instead of the usual 2 or 3 times, so that's different. But he is teething badly at the moment so I would not want to night wean him right now. I can't wait for better sleep though, when the time comes!
My appetite is still increasing. I am not eating like crazy as I did with Arthur, because I don't really have time these days! But I eat good sized portions, and I'm hungry to the point where I'm feeling shaky and woozy, very early before usual mealtimes. This morning I drank a PINT of milk with my breakfast! Beanlet is beginning to ossify cartilage at the moment so that's probably why :)
Arthur felt Beanlet through my tummy the other day! Not a kick, just Beanlet's general shape. He was breastfeeding on the sofa and he tends to gaze at my round tummy these days when he nurses, and sometimes he strokes it with his hand :) Beanlet was pressing his/her back out really quite firmly, so I took Arthur's hand and held it flat on my tummy. I bounced it up and down on the squidgy top part of my abdomen and said, "See how Mummy's tummy is all squishy here?" and he nodded (still nursing!). Then I moved his hand down over Beanlet, and bounced his hand again, meeting firm resistance. I said, "Can you feel the hard lump?" and his eyes went wide and he nodded. I said, "That's the tiny baby in Mummy's tummy!" He was in AWE :) I can't wait till Beanlet is bigger and the little ones can feel him/her kick and watch my tummy move and lurch about.
Okay, I am toooo hot and need to eat something, so I will stop for now. I really hope I get time to update again before 18 weeks, because I don't want this diary to become a weekly update thing. I like to update randomly and frequently, if I can! I forget small details if I save them up for a weekly update, like I'm sure I have forgotten some right now. Thanks for the messages again, they are always lovely to read! :)
Recent entries.....
Babies 7 and 8! :) - 2016-01-10
Babies 6 and 7! - 2013-02-17
Baby #5 !! - 2010-04-03
Nearly 3 months postpartum! - 2009-10-05
6 weeks old already! - 2009-08-25