My first time pregnancy story
I am pregnant for the first time and I live on a small remote island. This is my story.
Blog Chapters
Pregnancy blog: front page
Chapter 1: I'm pregnant! The initial emotions
Chapter 2: Sharing our good news
Chapter 3: The unwelcomed symptoms of pregnancy
Chapter 4: Initial midwifery appointment
Chapter 5: Hello baby!
Chapter 6: A healthy growing baby
Chapter 7: The happy second trimester
Chapter 8: Gifts & preparations
Chapter 9: Our plans for home birth
Chapter 10: The start of the third trimester
Chapter 11: Birthing options - a decision finally made
Chapter 12: An unplanned trip to the hospital
> Chapter 13: Newest third trimester sensations
Chapter 14: Last minute preparations & more gifts
Chapter 15: A scare! Has the baby moved today?
Chapter 16: We are ready for the home birth
Chapter 17: The woes of late stage pregnancy
Chapter 18: The excruciating waiting stage!
Chapter 19: Scanning & sweeping
Chapter 20: Trapped in town (an indefinite hospital stay)
Chapter 21: Baby's birthday! My delivery & birth story
Chapter 22: A quick recovery
Chapter 23: Final thoughts. . .
Chapter 1: I'm pregnant! The initial emotions
Chapter 2: Sharing our good news
Chapter 3: The unwelcomed symptoms of pregnancy
Chapter 4: Initial midwifery appointment
Chapter 5: Hello baby!
Chapter 6: A healthy growing baby
Chapter 7: The happy second trimester
Chapter 8: Gifts & preparations
Chapter 9: Our plans for home birth
Chapter 10: The start of the third trimester
Chapter 11: Birthing options - a decision finally made
Chapter 12: An unplanned trip to the hospital
> Chapter 13: Newest third trimester sensations
Chapter 14: Last minute preparations & more gifts
Chapter 15: A scare! Has the baby moved today?
Chapter 16: We are ready for the home birth
Chapter 17: The woes of late stage pregnancy
Chapter 18: The excruciating waiting stage!
Chapter 19: Scanning & sweeping
Chapter 20: Trapped in town (an indefinite hospital stay)
Chapter 21: Baby's birthday! My delivery & birth story
Chapter 22: A quick recovery
Chapter 23: Final thoughts. . .
Chapter 13: Newest third trimester sensations
I left the blog unattended for a little while and only sent a brief update to our newsletter subscribers, but it’s high time I update you all on the progress of my first pregnancy so far.
August was a relatively quiet month but I started to look and feel like a properly pregnant lady - you know that perfect little image that gets conjured up when a word “pregnant” is muttered - a plump round baby belly, happy strong kicks from the baby, anticipation and joy. This is the stage that I have been secretly longing for, this is exactly the way I always wanted to feel - a real mummy in the making!
On the 1st September I officially entered the pregnancy week 36. According to my pregnancy app (which I downloaded for free on Google Play way back in the day) this means that I now am in the 9th and final month - this is indeed a home run to the finish line! Week 36 is the last “risky” week of possible preterm labour, so in just a few days’ time I will be well and truly ready to give birth. I thought this would be a good time to reminisce about the third trimester and list all the new symptoms that I have encountered. . .
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All in all, I had a really good first time pregnancy - it was a smooth and enjoyable experience and all the symptoms that presented themselves were very common and expected. I felt a little tired, dizzy and nauseous in the first couple of months, then had a very normal and uneventful second trimester and I really can’t complain too much about anything right now.
Well, maybe I can complain about one thing. Something that only started at week 36 is the shooting sharp pains that come and go in my pelvis and upper right thigh. They are pretty rare, unpredictable and only last a second, but are a kin to sharp tooth ache. . . It stops me in my stride and I have to take a deep breath before continuing on with my day. To combat this I started sleeping with a hot water bottle and it seems to help, at least at nights. A little research online seems to suggest that many other women have experienced it and it’s simply caused by a baby moving lower down into the abdomen and putting extra pressure on the nerves in the round ligament muscles. Luckily, this has disappeared in week 37 (when a midwife confirmed that the baby’s head is now engaged), further reinforcing my theory!
I haven’t had any Braxton Hicks practice contractions. I think I imagined it once just after the midwife told me about them, but having a little look at the symptoms online I really don’t think I experienced any of these. The midwife said that is nothing to be concerned about and that my body would still know what to do when the day comes, even without practicing for it! I guess we’ll just turn up and “wing” it, it will be a proper improv performance!
I started to feel my hips become a little displaced - now and again there is a little creaky noise when I move and my walk becomes somewhat suddenly swayed to one side or the other. The feeling of a hip popping out of it's place is also rather common but there is no pain or discomfort associated with this - it is just a weird new sensation that is becoming more and more prominent as the days go by.
In the evenings I notice that the left side of my ribs and mid-back feels achy, the sort of dull ache that I would normally feel in my legs after a really long walk up Pen-Y-Fan. The same feeling of “having been used” is presenting in my lower belly muscles - I keep complaining at how heavy the baby feels! I am guessing the added weight of the baby is putting pressure on all these muscles. A nice hot bath and a rub of Red Tiger Balm has been a real (and non-medicated!) remedy for these aches. I have a tub ready for the labour stage too, it is so good!
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My gums started to bleed easily and I seemed to have developed a slight inflammation at the top right of my mouth. Brushing my teeth after every meal and snack and using mouthwash helped quite a lot and the swelling seems to be going down. I believe this should disappear one the baby is born and my hormones return to normal. Fingers crossed!
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I also feel super warm - I mean extremely warm, all of the time! James walks around with two jumpers and a woolly hat on, telling me that it is a really cold day, but I am in a t-shirt and boiling. The midwife laughed at this and said “you have your very own central heating system” pointing to my baby belly and that makes sense to me - an extra pint of blood and a second fast heart beating within must really crank up the temperature. James can’t help but wonder and shiver when he sees me in a t-shirt though and keeps reminding me that the actual temperature is somewhat low and I should really be feeling cold.
One of the worst changes is that I have a frequent heartburn. Yes, I experienced it now and again before but now it feels a lot worse. I usually tend to avoid using medications of any kind, but I reached the stage where milk no longer seems to be a suitable remedy so I had some medication (Ranitidine) prescribed to me by a GP. I haven’t needed to use the prescribed pack just yet as a pack of Rennie's that James bought from the local shop seem to be doing a good job, but it is nice to have something stronger on stand-by, especially for the nights!
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Speaking of the nights, I often have a real difficulty sleeping. I fall asleep without much trouble, but after a few trips to the ladies room in the night (I think my bladder is the size of a peanut at the moment!) I can’t fall back asleep for hours, and some nights not at all. The nights where I do manage to doze off again, I wake up feeling really numb and sore, as if a tonne of bricks was placed on top of me and broken all my bones and muscles. This discomfort at nights is making me feel really tired.
I gained about 10 kg during the pregnancy so far, but I do try to stay active - we go for a walk to the local beach and the common fields at least once a day and James has been fantastic walking slowly with me, keeping me balanced and motivated. It is becoming difficult to walk up and down hills as my lungs seem to have shrunk significantly and air is becoming a precious and hard-to-obtain commodity. I am determined to stay active and on my feet right until the baby arrives as I believe this will help me stay healthy and have an easier delivery.
It was around the 3rd or 4th of September when I took my wedding ring off. My hands and feet do not swell (seems to be the one symptom I am luckily avoiding), but the ring has become a little tighter (probably due to the overall weight gain) and, with no jewelers on the island, I wanted to be on a safe side and keep the ring intact - it did belong to James’s Mum back in the day so is a sentimental family heirloom. Taking the ring off was a momentous occasion as I haven’t taken it off for over 7 years, since I married James and I feel really naked and lost without it. Some women on the pregnancy forums recommended buying a silicone ring replacement for the pregnancy period, but I am so close to the finish line that it would be little superfluous at this point. I know that removing a ring is a decision for the best but I can’t wait for the day when I can put it back on!
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Apart from the minor twinges listed above, I have been feeling superbly well. I feel so happy having gone through this experience and it makes me feel happy and somewhat accomplished. I am out and about with the dogs, every day we visit the beach (a place we call "The Caves") at the end of our driveway or the never-ending common fields next door. If I take it slowly, I have no trouble walking, hiking, bending down, climbing rocks, or even wading into the North Sea to retrieve a ball for the dogs. I always imagined that being 9 months pregnant would feel like I was bed ridden with illness but it actually feels (relatively) normal.
Here is a quick video of us gathering some firewood and having a lovely barbecue on a beach on the 30th August.
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