So I’m now 26 weeks – almost at the seven-month mark. Bear is the size of a butternut squash and I feel like a potato. 

So what delights have I experienced this week?
 
Four of the less glamorous pregnancy symptoms I have enjoyed this week are:

1. The need to pee
2. Varicose veins
3. Heartburn
4. Appetite increase, also known as – I AM HUNGRY ALL THE TIME

 
1. The need to pee every half an hour started in the first trimester, settled a little and now is back with a vengeance. According to the Ovia app (would 100% recommend this app to anyone wanting to get pregnant and going through pregnancy), ‘frequent urination is a problem that affects women throughout their pregnancy.’ Mainly because Bear and my womb are pressing against my bladder and encouraging the need to pee. This can be particularly challenging when I am out walking the dog and I need to go. You may all judge me and this may be TMI (sorry mum), but I had to go in a bush a few weeks ago. The bush was in a very secluded area of a country park where nobody was around I must add but it was still a ‘what am I doing with my life?’ moment.  Especially when my dog thinks I am playing hide and seek and tries to find me. But when you gotta go – you gotta go….I have a feeling that will not be my last un-dignified moment during pregnancy. It is also a challenge throughout the night. Whoever designed the patch house we are living in at the moment thought it would be a good idea to have the toilet downstairs. Great when I am downstairs and need the loo – not so much when I am in bed and it’s 3 in the morning. Having to go 3 times a night is a joy. Especially as our bed is very low and because I now sleep with a pregnancy pillow and I am starting to resemble the Fat Controller from Thomas the Tank, I have to do some kind of commando crawl to get out of bed. So I basically look like a cow who has got stuck on its back and can’t get up.

2. Next symptom is varicose veins. (This is due to the massive increase in blood circulation throughout your body while you are pregnant – thanks Ovia!) A couple seem to have appeared on the backs of my legs, which make me feel and look even more attractive and sexy. To be honest, I shouldn’t complain – I’m just thankful I haven’t got haemorrhoids - yet. 

3. Heartburn. Not much to say here apart from no amount of Rennies is shifting this mother f****r. Drinking milk helps…a little. If you have any other tips – please share! 

​4. Being hungry all the time. I know people say when you’re pregnant - ‘you are not eating for two’, or 'you actually only need to eat an extra apple or day' – or something ridiculous like that. But I don’t see how that is possible. Yes, I know some women may not want to eat everything in sight – but I do. My appetite is insatiable. And if I get really hungry, I feel sick. I need to eat. I am basically like a Gremlin – I need food all the time. Yes, I am eating fruit, veg and trying to be as healthy as possible – but I am also eating a full pack of custard creams and a large slab of chocolate in one sitting (without breathing). It’s all about balance right? My appetite, although not every day, is pretty monstrous. Because you know what, I AM EATING FOR TWO!! 

Starting today, every week I thought I would let you all know my high/low of the week, product of the week and what exercise, if any, I have managed to do. So here it goes!
 
High of the week: Feeling Bear kick more. The other night it was like he/she having a little party in my belly. I know I whinge on about my pregnancy symptoms, but moments like that make it all worthwhile. And I feel very blessed.

Low of the week: Missing the hubby loads. But on to the home stretch.

Pregnancy Rage: I didn’t really have any rage towards anyone specifically this week – more a kitchen utensil. I really wanted tuna jacket potato and as I was opening my can of tuna – my can opener broke. WHAT THE? This tipped me over the edge. I put my head in my hands and actually yelled quite loudly – OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!! And then cried. I tell you – pregnancy rage is real – nobody is safe, even kitchen utensils. 

Product of the week: Pregnancy pillow – or giant tooth as my husband calls it. I got one of these early into my pregnancy and it has been a game changer, especially as I start to feel more uncomfortable.

Advice of the week: “Do not follow fit pregnant women on Instagram – they are not real.” I imagined (and secretly hoped) that I would be one of those women who has a neat little bump and is still toned everywhere else – but that aint happening. Following fit pregnant women on Instagram is a mistake. DO NOT DO IT. They make me feel like I am failing in life. Slightly dramatic – but true. P.s If you are one of those amazing fit pregnant women – I am not judging; just wish I was you.

Exercise: Saying that, I am trying to keep up exercising as much as possible. I have done yoga, CrossFit, as well as walking the dog every day this week. (Check me out!)

Cravings: Oranges (this has been throughout my pregnancy – can’t get enough) and Toffee Crisps.
 
Anyway, best dash – need a wee! As always, love to hear all about your own experiences - they won't go in the fuck-it bucket, I promise!

Faye x

So this is me. 25 weeks pregnant and rapidly gaining weight by the minute. I feel like a whale but have been reassured by friends and family that I look 'well' - or as someone told me - 'swell'. I'm not quite sure that is a compliment.

This is my first blog post. I wanted to start a blog as soon as I found out I was pregnant but then I thought why would anybody want to read my blog? But as my sister-in-law and her husband said to me recently, 'just do it, if nobody reads it, it can be something to look back at once Bear is here'. (FYI - Bear has nothing to do with Cheryl and Liam's baby, we nicknamed bump Bear right from the beginning.) So I thought - what have I got to lose?

So, with this being my first blog post, I thought I would write (briefly) about my first trimester trials and tribulations and then I will continue to update you daily/weekly as I become more 'swell'.

So here's how I found the first trimester - warts and all....

1. Morning sickness - It should be renamed 'all day sickness'. I was lucky I escaped really bad sickness so I shouldn't complain but the nausea was pretty constant for a few weeks - and even into the second trimester. Things that helped me: Eating dry crackers, Sea Band Morning Sickness Wristbands, sipping water, staying away from strong smells - (such as emptying the rubbish) and lying on the bathroom floor praying the nausea will end.

2. The highs and lows of hormones - I think when my husband said 'I will' to the 'sickness and health' part of our vows, there should have been a footnote to say, 'I will stand by you when you are crazy ass pregnant'. I had - and still have my hormonal moments where I surprise myself at how utterly irrational, mad and emotional I am being. My poor husband has pretty much taken the brunt of these episodes - even though he's been away for two months - he still has the delight of my mood swings hitting him via text or FaceTime. My three most notable hormonal moments are:

1. Must have been about 8-10 weeks pregnant and I was pretty angry. Angry at everything. People annoyed me - especially my husband, who I must add has been nothing but supportive throughout this pregnancy - he really has done nothing wrong to deserve my wrath! So we were in the supermarket and my husband likes to push the trolley really slowly and look at every single thing on each aisle. That day - it felt like THE worst thing he could possibly do to me. I genuinely wanted to cause physical violence towards him - I thought I was going to kill him. However, I decided to scream at him instead and although screaming in his face was an irrational reaction, it carries no jail time, so was the better option. He pushes the trolley at a quick pace these days. 
​2. I was back home staying at my parents and it was late on a Bank Holiday Monday. There was no chocolate in the house. I NEEDED chocolate. I walked up to the local newsagents and that was shut (shit the bed) and my mum and dad had a drink (selfish) so couldn't take me to a garage to help my cravings but it was okay though - my mum suggested having a CEREAL BAR. Yes - A CEREAL BAR. How did I react? I went upstairs to my room and cried for 15 minutes. It was a low point.
3. I would say finally, but there really has been many....I never complain in restaurants, shops, over the phone - I just don't like complaining - however pregnant Faye has no patience. My husband had been out for a drink the night before and I thought I would be nice and drive us to McDonald's to get breakfast. Romance. We waited 30 MINUTES and still no food. However much I tapped my foot and shook my head in disappointment/pregnant rage - they did not hurry. I was pretty mad so I sternly asked for a refund and when I got home (STARVING) I wrote a two-page letter to McDonald's complaining about my experience. I have since received a £10 voucher for doing so. Don't stand in the way of a hungry pregnant lady.

3. ​Tiredness - I work from home so I'm lucky that I'm not on my feet all day - but some days - and especially now as I get bigger, I feel so exhausted that putting my shoes on seems like an effort. Making a human is hard work.
​
4. People annoy me - There are a huge number of people popping out the woodwork with their advice or their own experience on being pregnant. The best advice I was given was from my hairdresser - she said 'take on board some of the advice - but put most of it in the fuck-it bucket'. And I stand by that advice too. I am beyond grateful to most of the advice I have been given, which has been amazing - so please keep it coming! But sometimes, when I'm lying with my head in the toilet, feeling sick or have pregnancy rage - I really don't want to hear about how you had 'no sickness with your pregnancy and everything was all rainbows and unicorns'. You get my drift.

5. Weight gain - I have struggled throughout my life with what I will simply call 'issues' with my weight and my body confidence. And although I am 100% blessed and beyond thankful to be having a child - the whole weight gain and changes to my body has had a great affect on me. My breasts look like torpedoes and I can't see my toes. I am growing life and it is beautiful - but I feel fat and unsexy and like I could perform at SeaWorld. And I'm only going to get bigger...

As the second trimester is almost over, I have found these weeks quite wonderful. Less nausea - but more weight gain and an appetite like a Hippo. More energy - but when I feel tired, it hits me like a brick in the face. Other less appealing symptoms, include (I apologise if this is too much information but just being honest) uncontrollable wind and  hair growth in places a woman should not have hair - most notably on my chinny chin chin. I am told to expect haemorrhoids soon - so looking forward to that experience. But what outweighs all of this. Is feeling Bear kick and wriggle. There is no feeling like it. I live for those precious moments. 

My husband has been away for most of my second trimester (a welcome break for him) and will be back as I enter my third trimester. For those who are single mums, military spouses or their partner's work away, you will know how lonely it can be - especially when you're pregnant and even more emotional than normal. But I've had plenty of visitors, our six-month-old puppy Yankee to keep me company - and a constant supply of chocolate so I can't complain - would murder a glass of wine though. 

So that's my first blog post - hope to see you back. And if you have had any similar experiences, would love to hear from you. 

Faye x