Okay, so how on God’s green earth are we at 28 weeks already? I mean, I’m in the third and final trimester and I’m not entirely sure how this happened. I also can’t believe it’s been 8 weeks since I wrote my last update so I’m sorry for not keeping you as updated as I’d promised.
I get asked daily; by friends, colleagues and insta-buddies how my pregnancy is going and how I’m feeling. What I want to say is that I’m absolutely knackered and can barely walk up the stairs in my own house without feeling like I’ve run a marathon. I want to say that my bump is huge and heavy, that my section scar is pulling internally and that I have some stretch marks near my belly button that are hurting and I can feel the skin tearing.
Then I remember; there are mother’s whose pregnancies are high risk, who are in constant fear of something bad happening to their baby. Mother’s who have serious complications that mean they’re in pain throughout pregnancy or who are suffering from sickness from morning til night.
My answer to the question then; my pregnancy is absoloutly fine and I’m blessed that the week’s are ticking by without a fuss.
It’s not all been entirely plain sailing, I managed to trap my sciatic nerve a couple of weeks ago which is the most painful thing since giving birth. It was such a stupid thing too, I had a really annoying tickley cough and had a coughing fit at the office one morning. It was one of those moments where you can’t breathe, you’re crying and everyone asks if you’re actually dying.
I felt my back pull during the cough and just remember thinking “that’s going to be so annoying later” but I never expected to wake up the next morning and not be able to move. I couldn’t put any weight on my left leg and it would give out from under me every time I tried to take a step. Thankfully I was able to sit without too much pain and spent the next 4 days on the sofa, using a hot water bottle to try and ease the pain.
It did eventually settle down after trying some NHS recommended stretches and I was finally able to walk without collapsing on the floor. There was a silver lining though, I’m still cautious to say this out loud in case I jinx it but since the trapped nerve released, I’ve not had any sciatic pain (I’ve suffered with sciatica for almost 5 years) and have been able to sleep on my left hand side for the first time in years.
Every cloud right…
Thankfully that’s been my only ailment lately which I’m very pleased about and it’s been nice to have a few weeks of just feeling pregnant rather than feeling unwell at the same time.
The bump is growing, and growing and growing. It feels massive to me although people tell me it looks fine. Maybe they’re just being kind… I know I carry big bumps as I did last time even though Amelia turned out to be only 6lb 12oz at birth so I expected to have a big bump this time too but I’ve been surprised by just how big it feels. Or maybe I’ve just forgotten what it was really like last time…
As I mentioned earlier I’ve had a few twinges from my section scar and some discomfort from stretch marks but I spoke to my midwife at our last appointment and she said it was normal. I only need to worry if I have actual pain along the length of my scar, which thankfully I don’t.
When it comes to kicks, this little lady is on another level. I swear Amelia didn’t kick anywhere near this much, this hard or this frequently but I’m not complaining. It reminds me she’s all good and living her best life in my belly.
At the moment I’m feeling most of her kicks really low down, below my belly button and not that often on the rest of my bump. At first I put this down to my anterior placenta but we’re 28 weeks in now so I don’t think that can be to blame anymore, maybe it’s just where she’s lying. I might ask the midwife about it when I next see her.
Shall we end this update with a funny story; by funny I mean I wanted the ground to swallow me up. We took Amelia to soft play for her birthday (a month ago) and she wanted me to go down the slide with her. She wanted to sit on my lap and there was also another little girl who was too scared to go down but her mummy was at the bottom waiting for her.
I asked her if she would go down and hold our hands and she agreed. So I had Amelia in my lap, this other little girl holding my hand on the other side and we pushed off…and I was wedged! My arse, hips and thighs were wedged against the side of the slide. I wanted to die!
In the end I butt shuffled down the slide, trying not to let the other little girl slide away from us but I had to let go of her hand in the end and she flew down to her mum at the bottom.
I joked that it was my jeans, that I couldn’t slide because of my jeans but I think we all knew the truth. My husband just shook head when we got to the bottom and another lady asked me “are you trying to have that baby today?”
I can laugh about it now because I’m pregnant and I’m not the size of a two year old so going down the slide was probably a bit of a stretch in the first place. I think if I hadn’t been pregnant and the same thing had happened then I would be re-evaluating all of my life choices but thankfully I can blame it on little baby girl and vow never to attempt soft play slides again.
That’s all I have to update you on this time, I have another consultant appointment in December to discuss my birth plans and hopefully I’ll have made a final decision by then about what I’m going to do so I’ll give you anther update after that appointment.
Just out of interest, does anyone want me to spill my thoughts on my birth plan? I’ve not set it in stone yet but I am leaning more in one direction. I’ve talked about it quite a bit with people on Insta but if it is something you’d like me to write a post on, let me know in the comments.
Rachel xx
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