Trimester One
Well I entered the club of pregnancy and so far so good, none of this throwing up at the mere mention of food, no strange desires for gherkin flavoured ice cream so far, so good!!!!
Spoken Too Soon…….
That will teach me for being so smug, as I move out of week six and move into seven I understand the term morning sickness……. But why they call it morning sickness when mine seems to be here morning, noon and night I do not know! I have discovered that red grapes seem to be the light at the end of the tunnel. Eating them constantly seems to stop the feeling of wanting to throw up; although I might start to look at shares in grapes the amount I am eating.
Tiredness
The pregnancy books say that during the first trimester you may feel tired, not so much of the may and more of the bloody definitely. I never knew you could feel so tired; driving home from work is a nightmare as I keep having to pull over just for a quick nap, which can make the easiest journey seem long and tedious. Roll on twelve weeks when apparently things return to normal.
Demonic Possession
The books also say that your emotions may fluctuate, no kidding!!! I did initially think that I would be overcome emotionally at the thought of being pregnant, I even thought I may have the tendency to cry at the drop of a hat, never did I imagine that I would become like a woman possessed when it came to food.
Six o’clock is a lovely time for most, usually spent at home after a long day at work or maybe sitting down for dinner, unfortunately for my husband this is the time I become obsessed by food. If I do not eat by six o’clock I feel that my whole world is falling apart as I have to eat. I sometimes wonder where the business woman is during these times; once upon a time I could work all day without a morsel and not feel like I want to rip someone’s head off, but not anymore.
The Secret Underwear Of Pregnancy
Following instructions from all of the good pregnancy books I decided it was time to look at investing my money in a good maternity bra. There are many reasons for this including the knowledge that wearing a pretty, sexy underwear bra that I have at the moment may cause damage to my milk ducts. As I am ever hopeful I can breast feed I thought I needed to move to the maternity bra.
Well, my god, no-one ever told me how unattractive and practical these things really are. Having gone into Mothercare to get myself fitted I was amazed at these things, all I can say it is lucky I am pregnant as I will have no chance of sex from my husband once he sees this thing. Maternity bras are huge great things that have cups that seem to come up almost to your neck and they all seem to have thick straps that would be better suited on a woman with double F sized bosom. Unfortunately, if you are like me and have a small chest of 34A/B these straps seem totally unnecessary.
I would also like to point out at this point that the books lie when they say you breasts increase in size. I have waited all my life for bigger breasts and felt that finally once pregnant the titty fairy would appear!!! But not in my case, in actually fact they feel like they may have got slightly smaller.
Antenatal Visit
At eleven weeks I had my first antenatal visit from my midwife at home. You maybe thinking how lovely to have a home visit, which I would also if our house did not look like it had just been bombed. Unfortunately Rich is frantically trying to finish the house project we started a year ago. The builders have finally disappeared but we still have rubble and so much dust, that no amount of cleaning has seemed to have got rid of it.
As women why do we worry about things like this, I suppose I was keen to make a good impression on the midwife as I really would like a home birth.
Questions
The first antenatal visit was full of questions, questions, questions. I suppose I was the lucky one as I was only answering unlike the poor midwife who had to write everything down. I particularly liked the question about “are you and your partner related?” I wonder what a shock the midwife would get if the couple answered “Yes”. Could be like an episode of Jerry Springer!!!!
Blood
I never realised how much blood the midwife wants from you, I would have thought one vial would be enough, but no she wanted four. Being a complete wimp I opted for lying on the sofa while she drained me of my life source. I then felt totally rewarded when she asked if I would be interested in hearing my baby’s heartbeat. Silly question really of course I said yes.
Locomotive
As I lay on the sofa, she explained that she may not be able to hear it as I was only eleven weeks; at this point I wished my husband had stayed home to listen to this. Finally after cold gel was put on my tummy and a lot of false alarms I finally heard a faint noise that can only be described as a mini locomotive, going at full speed. With tears in my eyes I listened with pride at the only noise to be heard from my child, gone were the thoughts of an alien growing in my tummy, gone were the thoughts of tiredness and morning sickness and all of this was replaced with a great love and tenderness ( hallelujah !!! I think I might have finally discovered my maternal instinct)
Nuchal Scan
After discussing with the midwife chances of a Down syndrome child I opted to pay private for a nuchal scan, as the NHS blood test does not give a very accurate result. Oh I love private hospitals; our scan was booked at 6.00pm which allowed us to go at a time more convenient to us. Rich and I were placed in a room the size of a shoe box with a bed, scanning machine and a desk, not that this mattered once we saw our baby.
Emotional
As the cold gel was put on my tummy, Rich and I grew very excited at the thought of seeing our baby for the first time…… and it didn’t disappoint. Our baby seemed to be dancing in the womb, all hands and legs, waving wildly. To see the baby so clearly, its nose, lips, hands and feet it was amazing. With tears in our eyes we watched mesmerized by the screen and all too soon it was over.
Oh To Be Fifteen Again!!!
Once the Dr did the calculations for Down syndrome I went from a 1:500 chance based on my age, to a 1:1820 based on the thickness at the base of the baby’s skull. I was ecstatic to learn that this chance was the same as if I was fifteen years old. Oh to be fifteen again!!!!!
Scan Pictures
My reward for the cold gel was four fantastic pictures of our baby in the womb, which of course we spent the next couple of days boring people with.
Week Fifteen
I did think by this stage I would be starting to get more energy but this does not seem to be the case. I am still exhausted if I do not manage to get an afternoon nap in….. Hopefully this will change soon.
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