Baby is roughly about the size of a long kale or jicama (mexcian yam)! She is growing so fast, and it’s estimated she’ll look like this!
What’s happening to baby this week?
Baby weighs approximately 3 3/4 pounds and is about 16.7 inches long, which means there is little to no room left in your uterus! You should be gaining around one pound a week and roughly half of that goes right to your baby. In fact, she’ll gain a third to half of her birth weight during the next 7 weeks as she fattens up for survival outside the womb. She now has toenails, fingernails, and real hair (or at least respectable peach fuzz). Her skin is becoming soft and smooth as she plumps up in preparation for birth.
The reality: How have I been feeling this week?
Baby is still really active this week, or maybe it’s just because she is totally out of room! Everything is beginning to feel really cramped and I feel so squashed all of the time!
As for food, I’ve little to no interest in what I’m eating (especially at breakfast – urgh!) but I am constantly eating… I never seem to stop. Of course with it being Christmas the flavour of the day is chocolates and mince pieces, which I really think I need to knock on the head unless I want a big baby! I’ve been struggling to get to sleep on a night, though once I’m asleep I’m out like a light! Very little can wake me, but again once it does I feel quite wide awake.
Thankfully the boys seem to have settled into their beds again a bit more, and we don’t have quite as much unrest in the house, so I feel less exhausted than I did! At least I’m not lying in bed every night squished into a corner and uncomfortable… well, more uncomfortable than I already am!!
I’ve found that my bump is beginning to ache quite a lot now, it’s not very comfy and can be quite sore down my right hand side (something I remember with both of the boys!) I’ve also started to get them odd tiger stripe on my tummy – it’s inevitable for my skin unfortunately!
Cravings.
Nothing much, I can’t count mince pies as a craving, I know it’s not – it’s just me being a guts!
The bad, adorable and downright funny.
Funny:
One evening I was trying so hard to get comfortable on the sofa with my husband while reading, and I ended up legs akimbo, knees up (think smear test position) with a huge bump pointing upwards. I happened to nudge Adam with my foot as I was getting into said position so he looked up at me and just laughed… and laughed… and laughed. Jerk.
Adorable:
Toby is going through a phase (which I desperately hope never ends!!) of kissing you every time you tell him off, or look at him, or just totally spontaneously! It’s so sweet, and he kisses you with such a loud ‘mwah’ noise! This week he isn’t really bothered where he kisses you, but several times he has leant in and kissed my bump for no reason at all. Adorable isn’t the word.
Bad:
I have felt quite puffy and like I have a lot of fluid in my legs and face the last week of this pregnancy, which makes for a chubby and grumpy me! Some days I genuinely feel like I can feel fluid sloshing in my calves! Not a good sign in pregnancy if coupled with headaches and high blood pressure, but fortunately both of those seem fine!
Harriet x
