I'M HAVING A BABY!

Yes, you read that title correctly. I'm having a baby!!!

A baby boy to be precise, and i'm already 24 weeks - crazy how quickly time flies! In this post i'm planning on basically just explaining how my pregnancy has been from finding out up until now! Just to warn you, this post is a bit lengthy, so apologies!! So, we found out on Christmas Eve last year. and it was the most unexpected little Christmas present! I'd done a few tests and my answers weren't consistent. I had a very faint positive, then 2 negatives, then had 2 faint positives again, and another negative, and then on Christmas Eve, i did one of the clear blue tests that tell you how many weeks you are and it said Pregnant: 1-2 weeks. I was over the moon but also absolutely terrified. For me, my worries weren't anything to do with me being a mum, that's something i've 100% always wanted, but it was more to do with how bad my health had been. I found out i was pregnant while i was still smoking (quite a lot), and taking 12 tablets a day, as well as liquid medication. So to say i was unprepared was a total understatement! I remember telling George when i wasn't totally sure after doing the first one that was a faint positive. He looked at me and with a big smile on his face said "shut up!". I was sitting there in a panic and he couldn't of been happier, but then i guess he doesn't have to worry about basically pushing a watermelon out of a teeny hole!  I was very proud of the fact that i found out i was pregnant, and a week later i had completely stopped smoking. I'd also managed to reduce all my medication and from taking the amount i was i'm now only on a half dose of my anti-depressant, and a smaller dose or oramorph. Ideally, i'd of loved to be in a situation where i could be off all my medication completely, but i had to be realistic, and the doctors said that the benefit outweighed the risk and i completely agreed. I didn't have any side effects that i was aware of while coming off my meds, bar being in a higher amount of pain and a bit grumpy but i think that was to be expected. Doctors were quite surprised really considering i'd been on a high dose of Tramadol, daily for a couple of years and withdrawals are supposedly meant to be quite bad, but i actually didn't have any problems!

Announcing i was pregnant was so exciting! Obviously the first 12 weeks is such a crucial stage, so we told as few people as possible. Obviously are families and then some of our friends. Slowly but surely people were starting to work it out with me though especially. I've never been a big drinker, so no one really batted an eyelid at the fact i wasn't, but when i wasn't going out for a cigarette with all my friends, people were starting to wonder why. I thought my cover story was pretty believable, (i told people that they wanted to try me on new medication for my POTS and i needed to stop smoking first) but some of my friends saw through it completely! To announce it to the world, i did the generic Facebook post and used the photo i'd put together to announce it on Twitter and Instagram too. I found it so bloody difficult to keep it a secret. All i ever seem to have to share, especially about myself, is usually bad health news, so to have good news to share, i just wanted to shout it from the rooftops! Finding out i was having a little boy was so exciting, although i found out without George and i felt bloody terrible about it! I had to go and get my cervical length checked as they weren't sure if because of my Ehlers-Danlos it would affect it or not. They hadn't told me i had to have a normal scan beforehand though, so i'd gone in there expecting to just have a little probe inserted to check my cervix length, and instead she scanned me. Well, i was 18 weeks and 5 days when i went in for this, and on the scan i saw 2 little legs, with another smaller leg in between them, convinced i knew what it was, she asked if i wanted to know the sex and she confirmed what i already knew, i was having a baby boy. My mum was in the room with me, and my best friend was waiting outside as we were going for lunch afterwards and i thought it would just be a quick 2 min thing. My mum started crying. I felt SO bad that George wasn't with me, as if i knew there was a chance i'd of been scanned, whether i'd of found out the sex or not, i'd of nagged at him to come. After we left the hospital, my best friend and i drove straight back to my flat and i'd bought a little balloon saying 'It's a baby boy' to give to him. Even though he wasn't there when we found out, telling George was absolutely magical. We were having a little boy - crazy stuff!

Symptom wise i haven't been too bad actually. Considering how badly some people struggle i haven't found my pregnancy symptoms too bad whatsoever! I didn't suffer too badly with morning sickness, i suffered more with nighttime sickness, (and feeling-sick-all-the-bloody-time-sickness!) Also, super human sense of smell, like i can smell the weirdest things that aren't even that close to us, and also weird smells really turned my stomach too. For example, George was cooking bacon one morning while i was staying at his studio flat and i legit went and stood outside because i couldn't stop gagging! Any really strong smell still makes me gag i've found, don't know why, but sometimes i can't even open the fridge because something in there makes me gag uncontrollably. George finds it hilarious....! Craving wise i've just constantly wanted milkshakes, i don't really have any calcium in my diet at all so i think that's why. Strawberry milkshakes or Kinder Bueno milkshakes have been the ones i keep going for! In the last few days i've started craving Lucozade Original and i'm managing to go through a litre a day (oops!), interesting though because my mum craved the exact same thing when she was expecting my brother! I'm also stupidly emotional. George made me a cup of green tea that didn't taste right and i cried my eyes out, and the simplest things are making me bawl. Physically i'm starting to struggle a bit more now. I think my bump is quite big for 6 months, and at my 20 week scan he was over the average size and much closer to the higher end of the scale so i'm definitely starting to feel a bit of a strain on my back. Things like, getting off the sofa, in and out of the bath are more tricky for me now than they were before too. 

(I took this photo in Lanzarote a couple of weeks ago, so would of been about 21weeks & a few days, but i seem to be expanding by the minute since then!)

Basically, my pregnancy has been so far so good. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it stays this way! Follow on Bloglovin