The First 21 Weeks

I am 23 weeks pregnant today and I would like to share my first 21 weeks with you.

This is my first pregnancy and so everything is new, exciting and sometimes scary. I was prepared for the ‘process’ of trying for a baby to be a long one and I had done all the research I could to prepare my husband and I for the coming months. The main task for me in the start was to monitor my cycles, which was easy and I found they were in sync a lot quicker than I had expected.

We decided not to rush things and continued to keep track of everything, but surprisingly, 4 months later I found myself expecting! I felt so lucky for things to have happened so quickly and I am thankful everyday. However, I was also nervous, having never been in this position before. When I took the pregnancy test I was about 5 weeks pregnant. I wanted to get the ball rolling with doctors and midwives as soon as possible.

I went to the doctors a couple of days after taking the pregnancy test. I was surprised to find they did not do a test to confirm. Apparently modern home tests are so good, plus the signs were there, that the doctor didn’t need to do one. If I’m honest, I felt a little disappointed, I think I felt I needed someone else to confirm it to me, even though, of course, I knew I was pregnant!

I left the doctor’s, having made my first midwife appointment, for 8 weeks pregnant, which felt so long away, feeling a little bit in limbo! We told our families, who were all hugely excited and waited for that first appointment. About a week later I had some odd pains and was advised to have an ‘emergency scan’. I was extremely nervous and just wanted to know that everything was OK. It was. There was our baby, a tiny little white blob on the screen!

It was around this time that I started a diary. I don’t write in it everyday, but it helped in those early days when everything was so new, to keep a note of how I felt, and what changes I had noticed. I think this will be great to look back on and I would recommend it.

I was feeling tired, lethargic, was going to the loo a lot more and, I wouldn’t say nauseous, but just ‘bluergh’! Again, I was very lucky as I did not have any actual sickness, just the feeling and a strange taste in my mouth, some say it is a metallic taste.

I had the first midwife appointment, which just ‘checks you in’, takes medical history, weight, blood pressure and blood test. It was then another wait for the 12 week scan, which was just after Christmas.

The scan went well and we could see the baby’s heart beat, which was amazing! We also got the official EDD (estimated due date), which is in July.

I found the next few weeks a bit strange. I stopped feeling so tired and the bluergh feeling subsided. But I didn’t really have a bump and it was too early to feel kicks. The only real sign I was pregnant was the need to buy a new bra!

From about 17 weeks pregnant my bump was starting to form and I thought I could feel the baby move. I am not sure if it was, but from what other people had described I was convinced it was. For me it feels like bubbling, a bit like a tummy rumble, or wind!! At 19 weeks I knew what had been feeling was definitely the baby kicking. I was having a bath and felt the baby move and also saw it move too. Only a little, but it was there. I love the feeling, it lets me know the baby is there, it’s like it’s saying hello!

At almost 21 weeks I had the 20 week/anomaly scan. They check for all kinds of problems that there could be with the baby’s development and so you get to see the baby in amazing detail. I was blown away by what I saw. The chambers of the heart, the brain, the bones in the hands and feet and you can see it moving around.

We have decided to keep the baby’s gender a surprise. I like hearing people’s theories on what I am having. It is one true mystery. My bump is now a definite baby bump, with strangers even saying congratulations, although I think this is a bit risky!

I hope the second half of my pregnancy will be as smooth and exciting and I hope you will join me on the journey.

Amy x

Weekly images from appox. 18 weeks