25 weeks has been a pretty standard one really. Writing this up now at 27 weeks (I keep notes but I’m a bit behind at filling them out and hitting publish!), it feels like it was a week of “nothingness” in terms of pregnancy symptoms. And this is a good thing! I know I’m going to wish I had more week 25s very soon. Don’t let that second trimester honeymoon period just pass you by – it’s a very wonderful thing that needs to be taken advantage of!
I mentioned last week that Friday afternoon/evening had become a bit of a bath time routine for me, and I continued with that this week. Thinking about that second trimester honeymoon I just talked about, I think self-care in pregnancy is SO important. Your body is feeling pretty worn out at times with all this new-human-growing and everything is all focused on that, particularly mentally. Taking some time out in the bath with a good book and some special mother’s oil (my mum got me a gift set for my birthday) makes all the difference for me at the end of the week – it feels like a treat! In fact, Jenna wrote a really good post on this recently – check it out here.
So once Ben got home from work, it was supermarket time – not the best thing to do after a relaxing bath, but it makes my evening feel longer if I do something before going to the supermarket! We decided to go off route and go to Tesco instead of our usual Aldi (or supermarket delivery), and…we won’t do that again! It was super busy and nothing seemed to be in the right place! Having got super relaxed after my bath, we ended up arriving home much later than had we gone to Aldi as we spent a good 10 minutes going round in circles looking for tuna…if anyone’s wondering, the Tesco at Clifton Moor in York keeps its tuna with the cereal…yep.
Anywho, Saturday was a productive day in terms of cleaning and tidying (yes, this has definitely become a nesting thing now!) then organising my outfits for this maternity post. It’s a post I’d be thinking about putting together for ages so I was really glad to get it together and sorted. That evening, we had fun with Charlie (the cat) laying with her head on my tummy and purring – this made baby shuffle over towards her! So weird to know that she’s now hearing (and apparently seeing?!) things and they’re affecting her. I’ve also noticed she recognises Ben’s voice when he comes in from work – I’m normally just starting cooking tea when he walks in, and as soon as he comes into the kitchen talking, she’s off kicking up a storm – SO WEIRD!
Sunday was my friend’s little boy’s Christening. He’s the most recent baby close to me that I’ve known to be born so it’s always exciting to see him! Despite being born premature, he’s doing absolutely wonderfully – he’s got so big and is really healthy and strong. The christening itself was a brilliant one too as the vicar had us all gather round informally and was enthusiastic rather than letting it drag on.
After we left, we made sure to stop and grab some outfit photos. It seems silly to make this a priority, but events like christenings in winter are tricky to dress for as it is, let alone being pregnant. That post is coming soon! We stopped at Ben’s parents house to say hello then went over to my family’s – they were due to get some kittens that day but sadly they were poorly so hadn’t yet arrived.
In terms of other pregnancy things that have happened lately – cravings! The only consistent craving I’ve had throughout is wine – cold, crisp white wine – and this is weird. Mostly because I don’t even like wine! I’ve said it before, but I don’t really drink, so everyone’s finding it hilarious that I’m staring longingly at their glasses of wine! I’m also very into apple juice and chocolate milk right now. Again, apple juice isn’t something I normally drink, so it’s a little odd, but I think it’s due to having the most wonderful fresh apple juice while on honeymoon – that’s the one I want but we can’t get anything like it here. We’ve now started buying milkshake powder to appease my chocolate milk cravings as the fresh stuff was getting expensive! So strangely, all of those are liquid focused ones?! Don’t worry, I’m also trying to eat chocolate like it’s going out of fashion, and if you offer me a foam shrimp…well, you’d better not want any for yourself!
I’ve also decided that those weird tightening flippy movements on my tummy I’m feeling are Braxton Hicks (can confirm a couple of weeks later that these are happening and getting stronger!). I’d assumed these didn’t happen till later on, but I’ve heard people say they have them from even 14 or 15 weeks onwards, so I guess 25 weeks isn’t at all unusual!
Another symptom I’ve been experiencing for about 3-4 weeks regularly is acid reflux and heartburn. I think it started a bit earlier than this, but it’s getting much more common now – I’m on the antacids every night before bed, otherwise it can keep me awake, and it happens occasionally after meals throughout the day too. It’s not all that fun, but not absolutely awful at the moment. I did get what felt like a kick in the ribs the other day followed almost immediately by heartburn, so I believe that was her just saying hello to my stomach!
Speaking of kicks – WOW, she’s getting strong. Most of the time, I’m still feeling the kicks as almost muscles twitches lower down in my abdomen – I liken these to when your eye twitches when you’re tired, it just feels like a muscle involuntarily twitching. But I’m also getting some pretty hard kicks to my stomach wall now, one of which Ben felt and thought it was me just messing around – nope, all her! She’s also now able to kick low down – ie. around bikini line – at the same time as moving above my belly button too which is very strange – she’s getting big! Apparently over a foot long from head to toe now!
