19 Weeks Pregnant: Glowing and growing

I’m now 24 weeks pregnant, but this is the post I wrote at 19 weeks pregnant.

I’m 19 weeks pregnant and I’m coping better. I’m back at work, enjoying my shifts. I am starting to unpack things in my new house and Jonny has kindly put my carpets down for me and done lots of other odd jobs which I wouldn’t have been able to do without a toolbox and lots of YouTube turorials.

This has been a crazy busy week in general.

Bunny got sick, so she had to go and stay with her nanny for the weekend to prevent me or the twins from catching it.

We discovered a wasps nest in the attic.

And I had to deal with a nasty internet troll who turned out to be someone I knew.

My mum came up and we went to watch Sarah Millican at Cheltenham Town Hall. She was really funny, but I think next time I will just buy the DVD. I couldn’t get comfortable as the chairs were squished very close together and I had the arm of the man next to me pressing against my baby bump.

We celebrated pancake day a few days late and I ate 6 enormous pancakes in one sitting. They were without a doubt, the best pancakes I have ever made!

But the highlights of this week by far, were my 3D baby scan and embracing my inner glow…

I am thoroughly glowing in this pregnancy. Despite everything which is going on in my life, I feel calm and radiant. My skin is the healthiest it has been since pre-twins and my hair is softer and shinier than it’s been in a very long time too. My boobs are bigger and I am feeling confident. I am enjoying being pregnant and my baby bump makes me feel very feminine with very little effort. I’m now very thankful for the maternity clothes I pre-emptively bought in the January sales! I’m really NOT much of a selfie person. I don’t usually like myself in photos, but my newfound confidence and glow, made me snap this selfie for instagram…

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had my baby gender scan at Hello Baby in Cheltenham. I was very flattered to receive an email asking if I would come and model for them as they are updating their website. This meant going in for another 3D scan and a photographer taking photographs whilst I had the scan. Whilst it wasn’t your usual modelling experience (yes… I did a bit of modelling when I was 18-19 years old), it was great fun. I LOVED getting to see Baby Bear on screen again. This time he was much more responsive too. Every time the scanner passed over my belly, Baby Bear kicked the scanner. He never missed either. The sonographer felt it, I felt it, and we could all see it on the screen. It was absolutely magical. The sonographer thinks it’s a sign of intelligence when the baby kicks the exact location of the scanner. I can’t believe the difference between my 16 week scan and my 19 week scan. In just three weeks, Baby Bear has grown so much. I got to see close up 3D images of his face and he looks a lot like Tiny, despite having a different father.

We had definite confirmation that Baby Bear is a boy. This gave us all (me, sonographer, sonographers husband and photographer) a lot to giggle about, as phrases like “Wow” and “look at the size of that” were used during a particular freeze frame! I had no idea that a baby boy could get an erection whilst still inside the womb, but lo and behold… they clearly can and do! This was cause for a lot of in-jokes and giggles for the duration of the photoshoot. We had such a laugh. I really felt like I got the opportunity to bond with Baby Bear at that scan. He revealed a lot of his personality during it. I think he’s going to be a very cuddly boy, because he was snuggled right up to my placenta, which is apparently really soft and warm. I can’t wait for my next scan so I can see him again.

Movement wise, Baby Bear is not just somersaulting anymore, but kicking too and those are some seriously powerful kicks too! I love that I am feeling movement every evening without fail now, but also quite often during the day too. It feels as though he is reminding me that he is there. I love him already!