As my pregnancy is nearing the end and today is the first day of my Maternity leave, I thought it an appropriate time to finally reflect on the journey before this little human makes a long-awaited appearance.
Today I am 36 weeks and fast approaching D-day. I really feel like this little one is going to come early but I suppose you never really know. Ollie came on the button, It was half past midnight on his due date and what do you know, it all started to happen. I couldn’t believe how prompt he was.
I’ve been so exhausted the last couple of weeks, so was really looking forward to the time off to just rest and put the feet up before I have two little ones to occupy all my time.
I’ve been fairly lucky with both my pregnancies, pretty much textbook symptoms from the start. The first three months are most certainly the hardest part for me, as I am pretty much nauseous the whole time from 6 weeks onwards. Oh, there is nothing worse than that constant seasickness and urge to vomit every 10 minutes. Thankfully with me it only lasted to around the 14/15 week mark, then it’s plain sailing until about 30 weeks. I really don’t know how some women can endure it for the full pregnancy, I really admire them, it must be just awful.
The second trimester of my pregnancy journey was thankfully fine, this is when my energy levels came back and I started to feel human again. With the sickness gone, I just felt like a new person. Another major plus was that we could actually tell family and friends and I started to look somewhat pregnant, and not just like you ate way too many burgers.
I was really great with exercising up until 16 weeks, I’m talking lifting weights and doing a proper workout but then I went on holiday and I just lost the drive to keep it up. It’s so important that you do and it’s definitely one of my regrets, but I did do a small bit like walking and lugging the little man around, which I am most certainly classing as a major workout, he kept me on my toes, that’s for sure.
My best friend is a fitness instructor and she was also expecting. There are only 6 weeks between us. She was amazing, lifting weights and working out hard the whole way through her pregnancy. I would advise you to follow her at PM Fitness as she is a great inspiration for a healthy and fit pregnancy.
I only began to properly document my pregnancy journey from 30 weeks this time around. On Ollie, I took photo’s every week and was just so curious about the whole journey. I googled absolutely everything and had the all the apps like What to Expect When You Are Expecting and the Baby Center. It just amazes me to see that different stages of development that happen in the womb as you just go about your day to day life. It really is unbelievable!
The 20-week scan is most certainly the most nerve-racking time. You can’t see whats happening in there so its hard to not to worry and hope that everything is going the way it should be. So when you come out of that scan, the sense of relief is just amazing. Thankfully all went well both times and we were just thrilled to have healthy little buddles progressing along nicely. We never found out the sex during either pregnancy. It’s not that we are traditionalists but because we actually just wanted the surprise and suspense of not knowing. I will admit, it was difficult at times, especially when it came to deciding on a name or just going shopping, as all you could buy was neutral colours. I’m not a big pink or blue fan anyway, so I didn’t mind all too much.
I found the changes to your body difficult, in particular not having the flexibility to do the things you used to be able to do. Simple things, like getting down on the floor to play with Ollie, blow drying your hair, walking up stairs, getting dressed, everyday things that you don’t think twice about. The hardest part for me was commuting to work, sitting in the car for more than two hours was such a challenge.
Pregnancy is a very short-lived time in your life, so I do try to enjoy the special moments as they outweigh all of these challenges. Feeling your baby kick for the first time, hearing the rapid heartbeat and seeing your little human wiggling around inside each time you have a scan, its truly is an amazing experience.
So wish me luck, as I get ready for the long-anticipated arrival of our little Boy or Girl.
Sass x
Some more pregnancy snaps from the early stages to now…
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