29-weeks and 1 day pregnant 🙂 Baby is getting a bit cramped in there and my bump is getting tighter and tighter. I have noticed that leaning or crouching forward presses my chest uncomfortably now that the bump is bigger, so I try to sit upright or lean back when working. This is very hard as I’m used to hovering over my keyboard with my nose glued to the screens (and no, I don’t even have a problem with my sight. Yet.)
This week’s highlight was when I could make out her arm through my skin! I was lying on the sofa, on a pile of cushions, watching my bump move around as she was doing her thing when I suddenly noticed something poking out in the middle of the bump. I felt it and I could feel a narrow little limb! Oh my world!
It’s hard to believe she is meant to almost triple her weight from this moment since she feels so big and strong already now. And there just cannot be more space inside me! But I guess my body will simply make more space for her – she needs to bulk up to manage out here!
I’ve been feeling really well – heavy but well – this week apart from two things. Firstly, poor sleep, but this wasn’t really pregnancy related. It was caused by Baby’s Daddy being out of town and since I’m not used to being at home alone I just ended up doing household chores until late night and then tossed and turned unable to fall asleep. This was quickly rectified when he got back home though 🙂 Ever since buying the pregnancy pillow I’ve been sleeping much better overall. I might wake up once to turn on my other side, but just needing the toilet or a drink aren’t enough to wake me up (meaning I can wait until the morning). So turns out I used to wake up primarily to feeling uncomfortable and I might still have some decent sleeps before the real struggle begins – yay!
A bigger issue has been my lower back. I mentioned that I swapped long walks to swimming or cycling and that definitely helped with the pain I was feeling in the lumbar region. Yet I still had this odd pain in my left side of the lower back and buttock and nothing seemed to help. It can be quite sharp and shoot down the entire leg but it’s not constantly as bad. With the help of Google, I self-diagnosed sciatica. It’s any sort of pain caused by irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve and all symptoms matched to mine! Apparently this can happen during pregnancy when the weight shifts and the uterus can put pressure on the nerve.
The downside of this discovery was that I had already tried all the suggested remedies such as rest, heat (hot water bottle or heat patch) and paracetamol when it got really bad. Except one – the bump support band. And sure enough, yesterday when I got home the belly bands I had ordered from JoJo Maman Bebe ages ago had finally arrived! It had taken double the promised 3-5 working days delivery period and I was getting slightly annoyed. I was even more annoyed when I discovered that the black band had a seam come unraveled so I would have to send it back. But, as soon as I pulled it over my bump the pain was gone. Unbelievable. It seems as if this soft elastic band (in the picture above) lifted my uterus enough to relieve the pressure from the nerve. Hallelujah!
Yesterday I also had the dreaded whooping cough vaccination. I say dreaded because my friend who got it last week got terribly ill afterwards, poor thing. Nevertheless, I’d rather have it than risk my baby getting the whooping cough before her vaccination at 2-months. The nurse warned me about muscle pain, nausea and fever I might experience as side effects, but she also said that people react differently and I might be just fine. And I was! Sure, my arm feels a bit tender but otherwise, now 36-hours later, I still feel perfectly normal. Phew.
While sitting at the GP surgery getting bored, I started ordering more baby clothes from Zara Baby having read positive reviews about their quality (very affordable in my opinion!). It took me about 10-minutes to choose a boxful of stuff, free next day delivery and here they are! Body suits, pyjamas, bibs, footed leggings, a cute cardigan, a frilly top and knitted leggings 🙂
If all goes well, we’ll say “I do” at the most scenic place overlooking Lake Garda in Italy.
xoxoxo,
Sini