When I last left you at 20 weeks, I wasn’t feeling so great thanks to my incident with a laptop and hurting my back, but fortunately it started to feel a bit better on Thursday. It’s now heading down one side of my back and leg which is slightly concerning as it’s feeling like sciatica, but I’ve seen other bloggers like Momma Mack talk about this around the same time in their pregnancy diaries, so it’s not something I’m too worried about right now. A mildly achy back has been an on and off symptom for me throughout, although I’m waiting for the day it stops being an “off” symptom with fear.
Friday wasn’t such a great day in terms of symptoms again as I had the same bloated/gas pains in my upper abdomen all morning that I had back in week 14, but fortunately they dissipated around lunchtime so I could concentrate better on my work in the afternoon. This was also the day I posted our gender reveal (eek!) and I stopped on the way home to grab some maternity outfit photos since it was lovely and sunny.
Saturday was a busy but super fun day. We went to IKEA, bringing my sister along for the ride too, with a big list of baby items. For the nursery, we bought a cot mattress, a baby sleeping bag, a basket, some storage baskets/boxes for our existing Kallax shelves (these were used in my sewing room originally but are now cleared for baby stuff), some drawer storage organisations, and a fluffy grey rug.
Once we’d eaten our hotdogs and hauled all that stuff home, Beth and I went to the local pumpkin patch that had opened that week and it was the best! I managed to persuade her to take more maternity outfit photos and she did a wonderful job – I’m so pleased with these! It was a gorgeous day and so much fun to pick out our pumpkins too. I can’t wait for next year’s visit already!
After my sister had left, that evening we had Ben’s sister over for homemade chilli and lots of chocolate, supplied by her! It was a lovely chill night after a busy day.
See more of my pregnancy diary posts here or check out the whole thing:
Sunday was also busy and also super fun. In the morning, I got on with chores around the house. I’m finding myself far more motivated to get on with these nowadays – I think because I know I have a baby to prepare for! I actually found Ben that morning organising the nursery when I got out of bed, fitting the sheets on the bed (although these will come off and be washed before baby’s arrival) and tidying up in there.
I persuaded Ben to help me out with these maternity photos (again, another set I’m super happy with!), then we headed out to meet my family at Castle Howard’s Arboretum to see the autumn colours. We took more (yes, MORE!) photos here which I’m yet to publish – sneak peek above but stay tuned for more! – ate cake, and I climbed trees! Not all that advisable at 21 weeks pregnant, but I wasn’t really as high off the ground as it might look – promise!
That afternoon, we finally finished all the nursery furniture by putting together the wardrobe. The only problem is now that I can’t find hangers to fit baby clothes – where do you buy baby hangers?! I bought some kids’ ones in B&M the other day, but they’re still too big! Charley and Frankie popped in for a visit in the afternoon, then Ben and I made an awesome (if we do say so ourselves!) coq au riesling for tea.
The early part of the week was fairly uninteresting, but on Wednesday, I had the strange experience of baby moving around while I was stood up during Brownies – I haven’t felt her moving while standing up until now, it’s mostly been while I’ve laying or sat down, so it felt quite odd!
This week, I found myself saying “I LOVE being pregnant” a lot. Okay, I didn’t love the first trimester all that much, but second trimester so far has been awesome. I’m loving the changes in my body, how healthy I’m feeling (is it just that whole “in comparison to the first trimester” thing again?!), how productive I’ve been…it’s not the easiest of rides, but I’m enjoying it so much right now. I just hope this continues a bit longer!
Okay, and we also need to talk about vivid pregnancy dreams because WHAT is going on in my brain right now?! One night I was discussing early pregnancy with Meghan Markle at the Queen’s house in Newcastle overlooking the Tyne, who then suggested we grab the scooters out the garage and try them out – the Queen smiled and waved as we scooted past. Another night, I went for a scan and we saw baby girl’s face in 3D, and it turned out the scan place was also a dentist who offered to whiten and straighten my teeth while I was being scanned – we had to wait for the anaesthetic to kick in though, so went for a drive with the sonographer-dentist around a local village first. And that’s just two of many – many, many, MANY ridiculously vivid dreams I’ve been having – it’s crazy!
