31 Weeks - Lovely scan photo this week

Is it just me or have I gotten much bigger over the past week? Delighted!

 

Bump at 31 + 2 weeks pregnant

 

Ahem, please excuse the lounge wear and slippers. I bought a load of these tops in different colours for casual wear in Old Navy in the US. They were so cheap and I chose one size up to accommodate bump - the maternity clothes I had from my first pregnancy were too big last time round - something to do with the truck load of food I ate every hour :) and I didn't want to spend a fortune on nice maternity wear again. It has worked out well. I bought 3 pairs of leggings from Dunnes (the stretch ones - the other ones get baggy) and didn't bother with maternity ones. Other than that I wear empire line tops and dresses that were already in my wardrobe. I actually picked up a copy of In Style and Look today - I haven't bought those since I was in hospital during my last pregnancy. I'm looking forward to high heels already. Knowing my luck I'll put on a stone in the next month and need to go buy the friggin' maternity stuff anyway. Bring it!

Scan I had yet another scan on Monday and it was the best so far. Up until now the many, many scans we have had show outlines and silhouettes at best but yesterday I got a good long look at the baby's full face. He/she was fast asleep and the eyebrows were moving like he was dreaming. Baby's eye shape and forehead reminds me of both Eve and Olivia - daddy's features. Best of all - chubby cheeks have appeared since my scan last week. Baba is getting fatter - woo hoo! One more little scan tomorrow and then a big growth scan in Fetal Assessment Unit next week.

 Great shot of baba's eyes, pity about the blurry lips - face was twitching...

 

 Chubby cheeks...

Fat hands, fat feet, fat legs and occasionally a fat face... Oh joy. So swelling has really taken hold this week - just as my bump app predicted. I have had some welling around my eyes and lips a few times and have freaked out (pre-eclampsia) but all was well. In the evenings I swell right up to my thighs and my hands are a little bloated. Will keep a close eye on this one as this morning I was swollen up to mid-thigh by 11am. I also got a +0.3 protein reading when I checked my urine - once it stays below a +1 I think I'm good. Hopefully it's gone by the morning.

Sciatic Pinch Don't you just love it when you're out walking and your whole leg goes dead! I seemed to have this a lot in my last two pregnancies but it has only happened once so far this time round. Hopefully its the last time too. Man does it hurt and it also makes me look like a geriatric!

Not long to go Assuming there are no complications baby will be delivered in 6 weeks. In some ways I can't believe how soon that is and in others it feels like a lifetime away. More on that later.

Sleep I could sleep in a warzone, once I have a bed, but over the past few nights it is taking me longer and longer to drop off. Then I wake many times - thank you baby pressing on bladder, only to have trouble drifting off again. I'm pretty pooped.

Emotions I suspect this is the main reason for my sleep disruption. I'm emotionally exhausted. It's so hard waiting for something to come, or not. Checking my blood pressure and urine every day is becoming stressful - now I feel all anxious thinking about it. I assume that's because this is the time the symptoms showed during my last pregnancy. Since I have reached this same gestation I feel like every week baby is in there the more chance my body has of taking him/her down. It might sounds extreme but I hear its normal. Every day is another day that the worst can happen like last time. I know people tell you to be positive - I would tell someone in our position the same thing, but really it's pretty impossible. When the odds are stacked against you I feel like it's more important to be realistic. Then if everything works out it will be phenomenal. I actually can't even imagine what that will feel like. I can't imagine bringing a baby home. I hear that's normal too. 

Eve loves her new Ted Baker blazer. (thank you Nan!) She keeps twirling around. She's also obsessed with her denim jodhpurs - she rubs them and says 'Oooh, jeans like Daddy'. Ah the cuteness.  

Hope everyone is doing well! I'm off to keep my fingers crossed that there is no protein in the morning... and perhaps have some chocolate. 

Amy x