Pregnancy diaries: week 20

[halojedha]

I FELT A KICK! It was last week. Since then I've been feeling movements most days. That first one happened late at night, just as I was drifting off to sleep. Lying there and - BOOF! Something punches me from the inside. I swear I could feel my belly stick out where its little foot connected. Such a weird, awesome feeling. There is a creature inside me! It's alive!

At first it felt a bit shocking and extraordinary - I keep on waiting for the facehugger moment - but since then I've fallen in love with the feeling. Hello tiny strong creature! The other night I felt the movements start and called Leo, who came running with just as much excitement as I was feeling. They knelt down and put their hand on my tummy, and they were able to feel it too. It's very lovely.

Why We Sleep tells me that foetuses are asleep most of the time, and I mostly feel movements at night, so chances are they're kicking in their sleep. I'm told it's a REM sleep thing? I wonder what they're dreaming about. Anyway, the baby books I've been reading recommend massaging your belly when you feel movements to "commune with your baby" but if they're asleep this won't really help. My BFF (Bestest Faery Friend), who is also pregnant, tells me that some pregnant people get to the stage where they can play tapping games with their babies though, so maybe it's worth communing anyway, on the off chance that I can catch them while they're awake.

If nothing else, lying and tuning into my tummy sensations to see if I can feel anything is a nice way to spend the time when I'm trying to sleep.

Week 20 symptoms:
- Achy ribs, especially when sitting down. I guess my bump is getting heavy, and my rib muscles aren't used to it?
- Morning nausea (STILL) although I've become a fucking expert at managing it. It's all about eating the right things at the right time. Basically I need blood sugar asap after waking up - which in practice means waiting half an hour for my thyroid meds to kick in, then hitting breakfast, and eating toast or yoghurt and honey, rather than something low GI like porridge. Last time I tried eating porridge, a few days ago (it was so beautiful, with berries and seeds) I puked it all up again before I'd finished the bowl. No more porridge.
- Spots, especially on my shoulders and under my chin
- Itchy, sensitive skin
- Moodswings. I thought I was meant to get these in the first trimester, when I was too tired to really feel anything. But I'm getting them now. The last few days have been a rollercoaster. I hope it levels out soon!

We have our 20 week scan tomorrow, when apparently we get a full foetus tour, which is cool. I didn't manage to pick up my anti-emetic prescription from the hospital pharmacy yet, so I'll do that while we're at the hospital if I remember.

We've been shortlisting names, and have found several we like. Now we just need to be firm about not wanting to know the assumed sex of our child at the scan tomorrow...

I'm 20 weeks and 5 days. Over halfway! The bump already feels massive - I'm starting to feel like it's leading me around, it's definitely the frontmost part of my body. (It was neck and neck with my boobs for a while as they were getting bigger, but now it's in the lead.) I suspect I'm going to be ginormous in a few months.

Comments

[finch]

Congrats!

[halojedha]

Thank you! I was really looking forward to feeling movements, so I'm very glad it's now happening :)

[yiskah]

I am loving reading these updates - congrats on the kicking! :)

[halojedha]

Thank you! I'm getting more used to it now, it's happening at random times, around 2/3 bursts a day. I haven't had any more luck with getting Leo to come see in time yet, hopefully that'll get easier the bigger the baby gets. Exciting times!

[magpiehaunt]

I'm kind of picturing the bump as a magnificent, baby-shaped ship figurehead, leading you around...

[halojedha]

Ha! Leo's mum described them as being something similar - they were breech, and travelled around with her head up, facing outwards, like a small belly buddha...

[charlie]

Forgive me if you've already tried this, but in case you haven't - ginger can help hugely with nausea.

[aiwendel]

Agreed. Ginger biscuits were the only thing I could definitely eat for a while!

[halojedha]

I've tried literally everything, at the moment anti-emetic meds are the thing that's working best.

[aiwendel]

Good luck at the scan. I did tummy clench exercises which I think helped with holding Kitty, she would kick if I held a hot water bottle on my tummy, she maintains the opinion that she doesn't like to be as hot as I like to be! It is amazing and surreal and, when you get past the shock, wonderful becoming a mother. :-)

[halojedha]

Tell me more about the tummy clench exercises?

[aiwendel]

To be honest I never read any books so it's not a recommended thing or anything, but I didn't want to lose my stomach muscles so just did that thing where you clench all the tummy muscles and let go whenever I thought of it. I sometimes worry that this kept her small (born at 35th percentile 3.25kg) but that's probably silly /unrelated. I did keep my tummy muscles and they survived the final month(s?) of mega stretch. But again this is a single data point not proof. It's a micro exercise habit I've had that I kept up.

[twirlgrrl]

Oh, so much fun. I miss feeling those movements. I know not everyone loves the feeling but I really did.

Your rib cage is likely expanding to make room for displaced organs. Also fun! Ha.

[halojedha]

Yes, that's basically what the ribcage feels like. Hopefully the discomfort won't last for another four months, that would be seriously tiresome.

Movements are fun though, I love them!

[the_lady_lily]

Yay for tiny kicks! I loved stroking the bump when I could feel R moving and chatting away to him (and making G do it as well) - it was as much about getting us used to the idea that there was this real person in there we were going to meet as anything else.

Achy ribs might be due to weird hormone stuff (forgive me if you already know this) - the body starts producing a thing called relaxin which is designed to make sure your body can expand along with the foetus, but it doesn't only stick in the bits of the body it should. My osteopath said she's never seen my back and shoulders so relaxed as they were towards the end of my pregnancy, because the relaxin was doing all the work!

Hope the scan all went well and your wishes were listened to x

[halojedha]

Oh I didn't know the relaxin thing, interesting. I *think* I'm still pretty stiff as usual, so I doubt it's that yet - but maybe! If my intercostals are relaxing and not strong enough to support me then I guess I need to exercise them more. I didn't manage to make it to Tai Chi this week, but that's probably the best thing I can do.

I haven't started chatting yet but have been doing a fair bit of stroking and holding and tuning in. I can't wait to meet them.

Scan went smoothly, very weird and cool looking all around the baby's body. Yep, wishes were respected so we'll be able to get to know them ourselves in due course rather than making assumptions :)