My banana baby – Diary of a mum to be.
Ever wondered how other mums feel when they find out they’re expecting? What thoughts cross their minds, how they feel as their baby grows inside them and how they cope as this journey plays out? We’ve decided to follow Carly, a first time mum, who’s here to tell us her inner most thoughts, feelings and completely crazy cravings, because every story is different, unpredictable, terrifying and wonderful!
13 weeks
Still on a high from the first scan! We’ve gone “public” now so all the grandparents know and of course, the world of Facebook. We’ve also bought our travel system, cotbed and dresser for the nursery – talk about excited! It all seems so real now whereas before it still hadn’t 100% sunk in. I keep thinking we have 9 months left but actually, we have 6 – time flies!
I’m already making bets that it’s a boy with my husband. I just have this feeling. We’ve been throwing baby names around but whatever I like, he doesn’t, and vice versa. We’ll find out the sex soon, so for now we’ll wait until we can fight over one set of names instead.
I do feel a bit more pregnant now. Although I keep waking at 6am feeling sick. The tiredness is back with a vengeance too – maybe the baby is having a growth spurt? Apparently he (or she) is the same size as a pea pod (7cm) and now has his own unique fingerprints. Amazing to think the next time we get to see him, he will be approximately the same size as a banana.
14 weeks
I’m 14 weeks today and according to the Internet that means the baby is now the size of a lemon and has started pulling facial expressions. I’m feeling OK, not a lot to report but the sickness has stopped. I’m still tired though, beginning to think it’s here to stay. Annoyingly my back has started playing up too. I’ve had to take a pillow into work to sit on, as well as my trusty hot water bottle. I guess it’s the strain of a growing baby but wow, does it hurt sometimes!
On another note, I bought a home Doppler and found what I’m 90% sure was my baby’s heartbeat. 155 BPM was the measurement I came to, with my heartbeat at 90BPM (got a bit quicker when I couldn’t find my baby at first!). It’s really nice to have that extra reassurance so I used it again this morning and found the baby almost straight away!
15 weeks
Eugh… I woke up feeling very tired yesterday, a bit sick and with a horrible nosebleed. Apparently they’re more common in pregnancy but not a great start to the week! The baby is now the size of an apple, weighs 70g and should be about 10cm long from crown to rump. At the 12 week scan he/she was 6.6cm CRL so that’s not a bad growth spurt. His daddy is 6ft 5 so knowing my luck I’m probably creating a giraffe!
I’ve been using my Doppler a little bit (and by bit I mean 3 or 4 times a day) and it’s so nice hearing the heartbeat. I’m a natural worrier so it’s certainly kept my blood pressure down. I’ve recorded it on my phone and haven’t been able to resist showing different people – my parents, my friends, the lady at the post office…EVERYONE!
I also had my quad blood test taken this week should know the results in a week or so…again feeling nervous about it, but my husband says it’s best to try and not to think about it too much.
16 weeks
I definitely look more “rounded” now and my clothes are getting tight (in a good way though). It’s getting cold outside so at the moment I’m reaching for chunky knit jumpers which means no-one has really noticed yet. For now underneath I have had to resort to the old “elastic-band-through-button hole” trick on my trousers…classy…
My sister-in-law had her baby now – a little boy weighing in at 9lk 8oz! She went overdue by 15 days and ended up having an emergency C-section, which has brought home the very real fact that I have to make these decisions and go through the labour process soon. Everything seems to be suddenly very close, especially as I now feel and look more pregnant
16 weeks, 2 days
I got my appointment for the second scan! I just hope baby decides this time to play ball and lay in a good position, both for seeing the sex and also so we can finally get some good pictures! Of course, more importantly, we both also hope no anomalies will be found and everything is A-OK with our little sprog! I got my quad test result back and they were all low risk. Midwife appointment next week so I’ll be asking her my looong list of questions…I hope she’s prepared…
Anyway, till next time, ta-ra from me and the (now visible) bump! x