What Is Happening To Me?!

So just a quick update because nothing that exciting has been happening since I last updated. Firstly, I would like to know how the hell I managed to get stretch marks on my calves?! I mean, everywhere else, I understand. But the back of my legs seems a bit strange... I've been drinking plenty of water and doing more walking and stuff but there they are, staring at me (well sort of). I still don't have any on my tummy though which is good, but I'm only half way... Fingers crossed.

Source of Image

I signed up to Cow & Gate's online club and received a cuddly toy cow. It's so cute!! Me and Lee decided we are going to give it to the baby when it is born because it's the right size and it's really soft. Everytime I look at it I just coo because somehow it reminds me even more that I'm having a baby. Haha. You can sign up here and you'll get a free cow, pregnancy diary, coupons and e-mails. It's really good in other ways too, because they have a help service where you can send them questions whenever you like and they reply within 3 days. I'm looking forward to seeing what things I will be sent over the next 19 weeks (scary!).

Image taken from Google Images

That's not the only freebe I've been sent :)! A few weeks ago I went to the doctors and asked him to sign my Healthy Start form which I downloaded from the internet. If you qualify you get a weekly £3.10 voucher to spend on cows milk, fresh fruit, vegetables and formula milk. After the baby is born you get £3.60 per week. It's going to be really helpful because me and Lee drink a lot of milk and I think I'm going to formula feed. You can have a look at the site here: http://www.healthystart.nhs.uk/

Me and Lee start house hunting in about 4 weeks! I'm hoping we find the perfect home :) Preferably 3 bedrooms because Lee wants his own little games room to play his xbox in. I don't mind though, hahah. We also have to go to the housing place in Preston to see if we are entitled to anywhere to live but I'm sure there will be a long waiting list. I CAN'T WAIT TO MOVE!

Anomaly Scan (20 Weeks)

Last night was a rough nights sleep for me. I kept waking up because I was so nervous about the scan, although it was morning time and we were ready to leave. Two bottles of water later and I was desperate for a wee (you're meant to have a full bladder for the scan) but I had to wait longer yet. We arrived at the hospital and got asked to go in for the scan and phew there was still a strong heart beat and it still had all it's limbs. Only problem was, the baby was facing the wrong way. It was facing my spine in the breech position, so it had literally been head butting my bladder. This was an issue because the sonographer couldn't reach around to see another part of the heart and the face. The bed I was lying on was tipped backwards to try and get it to move, I was also asked to move on my right side, then my left but we had no luck! It was being stubborn >:| She eventually asked us to go away for an hour so I could drink 4 more cups of water (literally dying now) and to see if maybe the baby would move. Soooo.... an hour later we were back in the ultrasound department and back on the bed covered in goo. The baby still hadn't moved properly around but the sonographer was able to see the things she needed to and assured us everything was good :) . Me and Lee were made up.

This is the best photo we could get. Although we didn't find out the sex, when she was showing us the legs I was sure I saw some little boy parts. Hahah. Who knows though?! On the notes from the can I found out the baby's PVD is 6.3. I'm not sure what PVD means? Could anyone let me know? I also found out that my placenta is anterior (meaning at the front of my womb) which I read is a completely normal place for it to be although there could be a chance of more bleeding if I needed a cesarean. Now it's just hoping it all moves up fine and that the little baby isn't early! I'm not going to worry too much. With that note, I think I just got a head in the bladder...

Guilty Pleasures

So I thought with today being Sunday I would engorge myself in some guilty pleasures. This being my mums home made biscuits, doughnuts and Twilight: Eclipse. You can't go wrong with an afternoon in with Robert Pattinson. Since the weather is so miserable I don't really want to go outside.

Last night I had a really good nights sleep, although for some reason when I was drifting off all I could think about was cross trainers. I've been wanting to do more physical activities recently and for some reason this stuck out to me. I don't have a gym membership or anything so the best I can do for now is swimming! I've been asking Lee to come with me again for ages but we just haven't got round to it. ALTHOUGH I do have a maternity swimming costume. It is from Boots and it was about £24.99. It will last the whole pregnancy, but I will probably wear it afterwards as I wore it when I didn't have a bump and there was no sagging...

Week 20 (& 1 Day!)

I've updated the Tummy Pic's page :)

So I'm over half way now, I can't believe it. I've only got to do the first half again, but I know it's going to be tougher. I'm believing that my motherly feelings are taking a very strong effect after how upset I got the other night. It was around half 4 in the morning and I heard my hamsters having a horrible fight! :( There was loads of squeeling and crying coming from the cage and I was absolutely distraught. My hormones are on overload and I just burst into tears. Thankfully Lee was there to help me seperate them and now they are in different cages. But,  I can't stop thinking about them, and if they're okay. I'm really hoping they're not lonely :(. It's crazy to compare them to the love I have for Lee and our baby but it's just shown me that I can care this much for rodents so I can't even think to how strong the love will be once the baby is born. I'm hating how emotional I am!

I know this is a random photo to upload but I'm so happy to have put a nice fresh duvet on my bed. I've had a really bad lack of sleep these past few days so I'm hoping the nice smelling bed and fluffed up pillows will help me to clear my head and sleep better. Then maybe my sad feelings for my hamsters and the over-emotional feelings will die down a bit. It's exhausting being pregnant!

INSANE!

Wow, this video is insane. I'm 20 weeks tomorrow no way have I seen kicking like this going on in my belly! I'm still feeling them low, so I looked online and found out a lot of women have had the same experience. This has reassured me because I was quite scared. Sometimes it's just due to the baby being so low down. It would be nice to feel them a little higher up for once, as a change.

Insomnia

Probably had the worst nights sleep ever last night. It took me ages to drop off, and when I did I kept waking up over and over. It wasn't until around half 5 this morning I fell asleep deep enough until it was a reasonable time to get up.

My ever growing belly is getting rounder and rounder now but yet I still moan about not fitting in anything! Haha. It's only 5 days until the scan now, I can't wait - very nerve racking though!

Guestbook Messages :)

So I've just read my Guestbook and I thought I'd give a quick reply to the messages :)

"(within the last minute) . said:

thought you might be interested in this....


http://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/liverpool/before-the-stork/805574"


Hey. I just had a look at that! It's definately an option I'd keep open about getting extra scans away from the NHS but it would very likely be far later on in the pregnancy though! :) This is only because they can be very expensive. Buttt, the voucher you sent is very handy - I'll have to keep an eye out in the future for similar offers. One thing we are thinking about also is getting some maternity shots done in a photo studio!

"(9 hours ago) ash said:

hi alice, i don't know you personally but we have a lot of mutual friends. your twitter was suggested to me and this blog was on that. i think you're being so mature and brave about all this, we're around the same age and i know i'd be scared! good luck and congratulations. x"


I didn't realise I even have Twitter anymore! I don't know the password or the username for it anymore, so God knows whats on there! haha.. And thank you - I'm trying my best to take it in my stride although it can be hard not being able to go out with my friends as much as I'd like to. Trust me though! I am terrified! We have the 20 week scan next Tuesday which is were we'll see if there are any abnormalities, which is a really scary thought. I guess I'm not overly stressed though because I have a good support system behind me, such as my boyfriend and my family (and messages like the one you've left me) :) x

YOGA

So I finally did some. It was bloody hard work! I didn't realise it'd be so hard! Oh well, bring on pilates tomorrow!

Internet Shopping.

Well, I definitely have my outfit for my Dad's wedding in October which just needs purchasing. So once me and Lee get all dressed up and fancy on the day I'll be sure to upload a photo :D

The next big thing I've been looking for is a way to stay warm in this 'beautiful' English wedding (yuck!). I was thinking, instead of investing in a maternity coat I would just get myself a cape style jacket so it won't be fitted around my bump. At least this way I can wear it afterwards but it will also cope with my growing body. The one I have chosen is H! by Henry Holland and is from Debenhams. It looks like this :)

I adore it and I think it'll be perfect to get me through the winter. Just need to get some money together and order it now. 

On the baby side of things, it seems to have been kicking a hell of a lot recently. Well at least I think it is. It's like a knocking thud like feeling. It's only a week today until the 20 week scan, I'm really excited to finally see our baby again! We are NOT finding out the sex though. As much as I want to, it's Lee's baby too and he wants it to be a surprise :D

There it is again..

Indigestion. I'm sick of it. Maybe I should eat less at meal times... I'm going to have to have a Rennie.

So I'm 19 Weeks Pregnant Today!

So that means there is only 21 weeks to go! OH MY DAYS. It's started flying by again! I'm still feeling little thumps and kicks, although they are still below my belly button when the uterus should be level with it now. I am not overly worried though because I read that it can just be the way the baby is positioned and that you can still feel low down kicks for a while!

Development at week 19.

I cannot believe how fast the baby actually grows in such a small about of time! It's the scan a week on Tuesday and it'll be fascinating to compare how much it's grown since the last time. I also think it's really amazing that the baby is so strong at around 23 weeks that it does have a chance of living if it's born that early. Of course I wouldn't want this to happen, I can't imagine what some parents go through. It must be so scary. 

Birth Plan: Complete

I'm not sure if it is too early to be doing this, but I found a really cool website that makes it SO easy to do a birth plan. I've finished mine in around 30 minutes!

Take a look:

http://www.birthplan.com/

Getting Some Practice!

Today me and Mum went to visit my sister. She has a seven month year old baby so we thought we'd go round and help to look after him for a couple of hours. It was nice to have a cuppa and a chat about how the baby is getting on and how I'm feeling. Then the baby got hungry and I gave him his bottle :) It was easier than I thought it would be. He drank the whole lot without a fuss. Afterward we went for a walk and took him in the pram, which I was pushing. I was terrified of curbs and and other obstacles, such as doorways. Once we got to the shops I did have the hang of it a bit more. We went for a look around and I didn't realise how small little aisles are in shops until I had to think about maneuvering a pram though them too!

Once we had finished looking around the shops we went back home as it had started raining. The baby was hungry again and my mum helped to feed him his cottage pie baby food, he got covered in it! Haha. My sister said she'd never seen such a messy feed. Maybe she was a bit rusty.

Just Found Out...

That I can eat smoked salmon. YESS!!

Stumble, stumble...

I've been stumbling this evening and I've been coming across some really cool blogs and information! One of them being this http://www.pregnantchicken.com/. I first came across this page on the blog which list's 10 Great Things About Being Pregnant. I've taken pleasure in adding their badge to my Recommended Sites page if you want to look at it in the future.

The next site I'm recommending is Birth Diaries, as you can guess it's a website of Birth Stories! I've been on it for a little while and it seems there is loads of things to read, so I'm going to get stuck in. Some images are quite graphic but they have a scale so you know what you're going in for...

Alternatively you can have a laugh at these Bizarre Pictures of Pregnant Women.

If I find anymore sites this evening I'll be sure to keep you posted...

Patrick Wolf

I know the baby can't hear outside the womb until after 20 weeks-ish, but I've been playing Patrick Wolf to it through my loudest headphones right into my belly. Haha.

This morning I read that babies are likely to kick and jump around more to rock music because it 'scares them' but I heard they love classical so the closest thing to that I like is Patrick Wolf. So I thought if I make this part of my daily routine then the baby will be calmed by his music when it's born so we'll both be happy :D

(Hope you like the photo I took!)

Happy 18 Weeks Baby! Thanks for the nose bleeds...

I've updated the Tummy Pic's page. The picture isn't amazing but it'll have to do for now!

I've been getting little nose bleeds recently, apparently it's completely normal because of the increased blood volume in the body. My nose doesn't gush out, which is good but every now and then I'll just feel a little trickle. I never feel as dizzy when I go out now so my body must be getting used to the extra load it's had to carry.

Yesterday I met some friends in town and we had little look in New Look. I was happy to see a nice pair of Maternity Jeans for only £15.99! They look like this:

They're really comfy as well, and they look great! Next thing on my shopping list is a dress for my Dad's wedding which I'll be getting off ASOS. They have HUNDREDS (literally) of Maternity clothes. I just want to buy them all because they're gorgeous!

Ommmmmm

So I just had a quick scan through my yoga video and this lady is so soft spoken, she does a lot of ommmm. You can tell she is very at peace with herself. But the video is very cheesy, as it's olldddddd. I've never done yoga before but I'm looking forward to waving my body round is circles like the ladies are in this. Haha!

Yoga & Pilates

I heard Yoga and Pilates is good exercise for pregnant women so I've got myself two DVD's. One is called Baby & Mom - Prenatal Yoga and the other is 10 Minute Prenatal Yoga. They are both video's of 10 minute exercises you can do when you have spare time. I'm going to do them today and see what they're like so I'll let you know.

I'm also thinking of doing a vlog soon. Once I get over my fear of talking straight to a camera, haha.

*Sigh*

So, as many of you know. I am impatient. And this is getting me down now because I feel as though I am constantly waiting for something to happen. It's like living Christmas Eve for 9 months! Don't get me wrong, I am not sad or down about being pregnant, I am just bored of waiting for the next appointment or the next movement! It's driving me mad!! Haha!

I had a dream last night that I went into labor at 20 weeks, which I'm hoping doesn't happen. But anyway, I went to hospital, in pain and they wouldn't do anything about it! They said I would be fine and just left me in the waiting room to give birth (they didn't even offer me a glass of water). So, I stomped out and went to a BUPA hospital (private health care, ie - expensive) and they put me up in a lush room with everything I needed. Anyway, I woke up before I had the baby. But I need to get out of feeling like I'm stuck in a waiting room waiting for something to happen, because I am a long way off yet! Maybe the feeling will change when I move out and the baby starts kicking me hard. Haha.