second trimester – An English mamma in Stockholm

Week 27 – spotty

29 October 2011 1 Comment

Photo © English Mamma

How far along? 27 weeks and 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: I’m very confused as either my weight is fluctuating randomly or our bathroom scales are highly inaccurate. The midwife calculates that I’ve put on about five kilos (and was happy with that) but then again I was fully clothed (minus shoes) when she weighed me.

Stretch marks?: None yet, but seeing as I cannot see my previous set, and as I guess that’s where more will arrive, it’s hard to tell really.

Sleep: The old cramping in my legs has started again – ow-wweeeeeeee. Around 4am this morning, I woke in a panic, shouting instructions to Husband on what he should do (“Foot, cramp! Pull my foot! Now my leg! No, the calf, the calf! My foot!”), which is really when our communication issues arise, him being half asleep and screamed at in not even his second but third language – poor man… And the cramps started in the middle of a horrid nightmare, so I was WIDE awake by the time we’d sorted out my leg. Off to the pharmacy this afternoon to purchase magnesium tablets.

Best moment this week: Leaving work on Friday afternoon! (See below)

Worst moment this week: Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at work this week – incredibly busy week at work, full of timelines and deadlines and stress. My face has broken out in a delightful stress rash that lingers still. I’m all itchy and lumpy and bleurgh…

Movement: Yes, lots, and now clearly visible externally. I have no idea what is going on in there but I think we have another active one on our hands!

Belly button in or out?: Urgh, half out.

What I miss: A ginormous glass of red wine on a Friday evening…

What I am looking forward to: Calmer weeks at work from now until my last day!

Milestones: I haven’t had the chance to look at any of the “this week, your baby is…” type emails that I get, so I have no idea what milestones I should have been aware of. It felt on Friday afternoon that getting through this week was a milestone enough…!

Filed Under: Post Tagged With: gyermek, midwife, pregnancy, rash, second trimester, spotty, stress rash, stretch marks, week 27, work

Week 23 – goodbye, exhaustion!

2 October 2011 2 Comments

Photo © English Mamma

How far along? 23 weeks and 4 days, so nearing the end of the second trimester (really? Wow, time is just flying by)

Total weight gain/loss: About five and half kilos. I think that is okay – I hope that is okay!

Stretch marks?: Not yet, but then I feel as if gyermek has finished a bit of a growth spurt and that my belly will stay the same size for a few weeks now. (Or is this just wishful thinking…?)

Sleep: Some nights good, some nights bad. I’ve started getting cramp at night again, which is a great big pain, but so far, it’s not too bad. However, some nights, I just don’t feel tired at all.

Best moment this week: Sitting outside in the sunshine (the day before October!) and chatting with a pregnant friend.

Worst moment this week: Probably that some of the side effects of the iron tablets have appeared. However, I’m going to carry on with them, because the benefits are just so good – goodbye, exhaustion!

Movement: Yes, lots, and not just low down now. Sometimes it feels like gyermek is running a marathon in there.

Belly button in or out?: Still in – yippee!

What I miss: Not sure that I feel like I’m missing out on anything this week because I’m pregnant. Perhaps the disappearance of the feelings of exhaustion are making me more positive?

What I am looking forward to: Hmm, not sure. Cannot think of anything off the top of my head that is due to happen in the next few weeks.

Milestones: We’ve spent this weekend cleaning up our Teutonia stroller, so we can sell it on. We’ve bought a luverly iCandy Peach Blossom stroller for Little O and gyermek to share. So, the Teutonia will be listed on Blocket soon.

Filed Under: Post Tagged With: baby's size, blocket, exhaustion, icandy, icandy peach blossom, iron deficiency, iron supplements, leg cramps, photo, pregnancy, second trimester, stroller, Teutonia, week 23

Week 22 – off balance

23 September 2011 Leave a Comment

Photo by vitusapotek.no

How far along? 22 weeks and 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: Ummm, don’t really want to think about this… Can I make the excuse that I cannot see the numbers when I stand on the scales as my bump is too big?

Stretch marks?: Hopefully, nothing much going on. Trying to get back into the habit of using L’Occitane’s Almond Supple Skin Oil, which I loved last time around.

Sleep: Not so good, unfortunately. However, the midwife told me earlier this week that my iron level test came back a bit low, so I’m on iron supplements now and I’m really hoping that these kick in soon and I can feel less tired – pretty please!

Best moment this week: Hearing gyermek’s heartbeat for the first time and being told that I needed iron supplements, as this should make me less tired.

Worst moment this week: Hmm, I guess being told that I needed to take iron supplements – the side effects do not look so pleasant…

Movement: Quite a bit of movement these days, very low down.

Belly button in or out?: Still in but I’m expecting this to change in the next few weeks.

What I miss: Feeling balanced. Now my centre of gravity has shifted but I forget that when changing from lying to standing or when exercising. At my training session yesterday, I had to helped up from the floor exercises a good few times.

What I am looking forward to: The weekend! And actually being able to spend some time with Husband. He’s working long hours these days and is getting home at around 8.30pm. Unfortunately, I feel so tired after work and looking after Little O that I am tucked up in bed by 8pm!

Milestones: The appointment with the midwife yesterday (the first after my initial “checking-in appointment” and getting to hear gyermek’s heartbeat for the first time.

Filed Under: Post Tagged With: almond oil, anaemia, iron deficiency, iron supplements, midwife, niferex, pregnancy, second trimester, week 22, weight gain

Week 21 – banana

14 September 2011 Leave a Comment

Photo by pykmi (Creative Commons on Flickr)

Apparently, gyermek is now the length of a banana.

I knew that I would pop out earlier with this second baby than I did with Little O, but I’ve also read that this slows down in the middle of the pregnancy, allowing the first timers to catch up.

Hmmm, not happened yet. I’m almost scared to look at how little my belly looked this stage last time around!

Filed Under: Tidbit Tagged With: baby's size, pregnancy, second trimester, week 21

The halfway point

13 September 2011 3 Comments

Photo © English Mamma

How far along? 20 weeks and 6 days

Total weight gain/loss: Just weighed myself and have put on about three kilos (eek!) but I do have an excuse: we’ve just returned from two weeks in the UK and that always involves an extra kilo or so!

Stretch marks?: I don’t think there is anything new so far but the problem area is now out of my sight (and therefore out of mind!).

Sleep: Well, I’m firmly into the second trimester now and although I don’t need extra daytime sleep any more (although it would be nice!), I am not feeling as energetic as I did at this stage when I was pregnant with Little O.

Best moment this week: Actually, and sad as this may seem, it was returning home on Sunday and sleeping in our own bed again!

Worst moment this week: Confirmation of the bad news about a family member that we had been anticipating.

Movement: Some movement from time to time, but I am sure that Little O moved far more than this at this stage, but maybe I am wrong… I’m trying to calm myself that this doesn’t mean that anything is wrong, just that this little bean is not as active as Little O (and they could not be more so!).

Belly button in or out?: Still in but getting dangerously close to popping out (bleurgh!).

What I miss: Walking anywhere at any type of speed.

What I am looking forward to: The next few days with Little O. I’m using up my maternity leave these three weeks, so Little O is home from preschool and we’re spending some fun times together. It feels like we’re catching up on the past couple of months when I was so tired from early pregnancy that we could not play properly together.

Milestones: Reaching the halfway point of this pregnancy.

Filed Under: Post Tagged With: belly button, dagis, förskola, gyermek, holiday, mammaledighet, maternity leave, pregnancy, preschool, second trimester, sleep, stretch marks, week 20, weight gain

Did you guess?

4 August 2011 3 Comments

This is something that I had forgotten that I did every so often during my first pregnancy and so I thought that I would resurrect it (oh, did I mention that I was pregnant…? Well, that is what this post and this post are all about – did you guess?).

How far along? 15 weeks and 5 days

Total weight gain/loss: Gained about a couple of kilos so far, but that can fluctuate to more like three and a half on some days

Stretch marks?: Nothing so far but I have popped out so much that I am beginning to lose sight of my last set!

Sleep: Not really needing the extra two hours of sleep during the day any more (though it would always be nice if I could manage that) but waking most morning feeling like I need more sleep, despite sleeping for around eight hours.

Best moment this week: The great news from Little O’s förskola (preschool)

Worst moment this week: The waiting game as we await news of hospital tests on a close family member

Movement: I felt some little light fluttering movements last week and then yesterday I felt something more, most likely caused by Little O bouncing around on me and bump protesting.

Belly button in or out?: In still but not as much as it was before I was pregnant with Little O

What I miss: A glass of rose at an outdoor cafe in the sunshine

What I am looking forward to: The weekend and possibly checking out Sjöhistoriska Museet (the Maritime Museum), which has a children’s playroom that I want to check out with Little O.

Milestones: Bump should now respond to light even though his/her eyelids are still fused shut. (I guess I should call this bump gyermek too, as again we won’t be finding out if it’s a boy or a girl until birth.)