Pregnancy Update // Week 24

Pregnancy is definitely nothing like I expected it to be! Everyone talks about how the time flies and yet I feel like I have been pregnant for a year and for a month all at the same time... Nothing quite prepares you for this and all the advice in the world can go in one ear and right out the other!

As of now I am currently 24 weeks and pregnant with a girl! Both me and my partner are absolutely thrilled as we were hoping to have a little girl and I can now keep the Baker baby coat I brought my sister for her child but kept for myself because I had a hunch we would be having a girl too! Cheeky I know. As you can imagine, we are absolutely thrilled and get to spend the next 3 months finalising her name and ensuring it's the most bizarre one we can find!

As this blog is going to be probably overrun with pregnancy pregnancy posts over the coming weeks I aim to keep them as detailed as possible. Being a first time mother I want to show exactly what pregnancy is like. I know it differs for everyone but these posts are going to show just a few examples of what can happen during the duration of a pregnancy. I hope they offer support to anyone who is going through something similar and, if not, a reason for the non pregnant readers (like my sister) to continue saying "I'm never ever having kids!" Something I used to say before I met my other half and after witnessing my other sister go through 3 pregnancies!

Morning Sickness

My morning sickness has finally subsided apart from the occasional night when I forget I can no longer eat peppers, chicken fajitas or pizzas for the duration of my pregnancy. Strange things not to be able to stomach considering how much I loved eating peppers before I got pregnant. In my first trimester and beginning of my second trimester my morning sickness was HELL. Everyday at 6pm without fail I would be hugging the toilet until late at night. It got to the point where all I wanted was to be asleep by 5pm because I knew it would begin and I couldn't stand it anymore! Luckily I have a very supportive boyfriend who was there to rub my back and endure me throwing up like a dinosaur, the poor guy. 

Cravings

I'd say by now my cravings have stopped for the time being. I've experienced the need to indulge in pickled onion monster munch crisps, cheese smothered in marmite, bowls of coco pops, and I have also been known to sit and eat a whole tub of coleslaw in one sitting! Lately, all I have wanted to eat is chocolate but I have always wanted a sweet nibble in the evening so I don't think that's anything baby related. 

Emotions

I'd say that these haven't been as bad as they were a few weeks ago but my boyfriend would probably state otherwise. There have been times where I have been in such a terrible mood that all I have wanted is to curl up under my duvet, not talk to anyone and just sleep for a week. I have always been an emotional person but now I am crying at the most random things like the John Lewis advert when it comes on TV, and just yesterday when I started tearing up when I was watching Mulan...

Movements

Aside from the abdominal pains of pregnancy (I recently read that your rib cage moves 5cm when you are pregnant to make room for the baby!) I have felt a lot more movements. She has already proved that she is a little fidget when it comes to being scanned, but now I feel her moving about all day and night. She is most active in the evenings by far and I can lay in bed and watch my stomach move when she kicks which is really strange to watch! Even as I write this post she is kicking me and it's 10am! My boyfriend has also felt her move now which is great as before she would always stop when he put his hand on my stomach. 

Dreams

In the first weeks of my pregnancy I was reading up on several different blogs that the dreams you experience when you are pregnant are terrifying. Luckily I haven't experienced this! My dreams have always been quite bizarre so I don't think much has changed apart from the fact that I am dreaming a lot more during the night and when I wake I remember more of them. Just last night I had a dream that I was going back to University but I was with my sisters. We had all done a food shop at Asda and they had left me with my younger sister who came to a lecture with me and had brought all our shopping. Everyone started asking us why we hadn't put our chilled items in the fridge and then the next thing I remember I was at a harbour... Weird right?! 

Size

Over the past few weeks I feel like I have doubled in size! I read that when you reach the 24-26 week stage your baby does grow to double the size so I am certain I have an early bloomer because I don't see how I can get any bigger in the next couple of weeks! I only have one bra that I comfortably fit in and I am too scared to get sized because I definitely feel as though I have gone up a few cup sizes! I didn't want to spend much money on maternity clothes when I am not going to be pregnant for much longer so, after a shopping spree to Primark, I now have several pairs of underwear and 2 more pairs of leggings that I can comfortably lounge around in. 

Work

I recently began working for a huge department store which probably wasn't the greatest idea. I'm sick of sitting at home with nothing to do and felt as though I needed to bring some money into the house over christmas so we can buy everything we need for the nursery and get our car. To me it feels like a huge mistake; I can't use ladders at work as my employer doesn't want the risk, and their are certain moving isles I won't be able to fit down when I start getting bigger. So over the busiest time of the year I will be hassling all the other employees to get boxes for me... I'm already started to regret this decision but as it is only temporary until January I am just going to try and stick to it!

I think when christmas is out of the way we can really start planning and stocking up on all of our baby needs for when she arrives. I have the same feeling of certainty that she will be early as I did when I was sure that we were expecting a girl. I really feel like she is going to be born in February and not her predicted date in March. It's a really bizarre feeling and I hope she stays in as long as she needs to but I am also realllly excited to finally meet her!

If anybody else is expecting I'd love to hear from you!

Jessica xo