Yep there are 2  x 18 week pictures as I got my due dates a little wrong, but they’re only guidelines right??

So I didn’t initially intend to give a blow by blow account of my pregnancy on the blog here, but I had wanted to give more updates, particularly where nutrition was concerned, but had no idea, the past 28 weeks would fly by as quickly as they would and I still feel that I’d like the little lady to wait just a little more, so we can be more ready for her arrival, but are you ever really ready?

Plenty of questions have been raised regarding how my diet/nutrition may have changed since becoming pregnant, and in simple terms it hasn’t changed at all, however for those of you wanting more detail I’ll put that together for you in another post at a later date. I have been still eating the same way, with very little cravings, except for the odd bit of chocolate or vegemite toast which I never deny myself anyway, but in comparision to pregnancy no 1, this pregnancy been very different for example:

- I have been way more active this time around. Usually doing 2 x spin classes per week (with bike modifications as my tummy grows), and 1-2 body pump (group weight training) classes, with another couple of walks, or an extra class here or there thrown in.

There have been some weeks where I’ve only worked out once, due to exhaustion kicking in, which has only really started to occur in the last month, but I find if I can push myself out the door to be active then my energy levels will improve for the rest of the week, and will most definitely keep those fun pregnancy hormones in check. I do find it amazing however, how many people find it strange to see a pregnant woman working out – of course if you are pregnant, make sure you have doctor’s permission to work out, and don’t push yourself like crazy, this is not the time to try anything new, also get modifications for exercises where necessary.

- This time around we are expecting a little girl

- My weight gain has been much less however I still hadn’t regained my pre pregnancy weight from Manus (I wasn’t far off but was working on it!) so I’ve had more junk in the trunk this time around so to speak. Needless to say, I’m not obsessing over the numbers on the scale, however it’s interesting to compare the two pregnancies.

- This time we have been referring to her with her name as we are almost certain we have her name picked out. Last time Manus remained nameless for a week, poor thing, because that idea of a name picking him, yeah well it didn’t happen. I must admit though, little girls names do seem a lot easier. We haven’t publicised her name yet as we still want to be sure when we meet the little lady.

- My DIET! Wow this one deserves it’s own little post, but I did touch on my 1st pregnancy with my body image post baby posts here and here. But let’s just say this time around has been a 180 degree turn around – for the better. Post to come I promise!

- I’ve had absolutely no heartburn this time around – either my diet change has been the reason or else, according to old wives tales, this little lady may not be born with as much hair, unlike Manus who had ALOT and I suffered the whole pregnancy with heartburn.

- No or little constipation (TMI for some but a common occurrence with some pregnancies) – again I think it’s my high fibre diet and clean eats.

- No shortness of breath. When I was pregnant with Manus, I was short of breath from the beginning of my pregnancy to the end, which in short is why I gave up my usual exercise regime. At 11 weeks pregnant I couldn’t even walk up a flight of stairs without feeling puffed and towards the end of my pregnancy (could still happen this time but who knows) I would be sitting down doing absolutely nothing and I would all of a sudden fell short of breath. I understand this can occur with how the baby is positioned so of course it’s still remains to be seen if I feel this way later as this pregnancy progresses.

- During my previous pregnancy I had to have a horrific 4 hour secondary gestational diabetes  glucose test due to an unusually high result from the primary test. In the end, I was in the clear, but it did cause concern for me this time around. This was one of my main motivators for steering clear of the usual pregnancy treats, and I am pleased to say, I had my test last week and it came back very normal. No secondary test required! Yay! Plus my iron levels are pretty good too.

- I’ve craved chocolate. Never having been much of a chocoholic previously this has surprised me.  I’ve been having about 2 squares of dark chocolate per night.

- This time my little family unit is TOGETHER! I cannot tell you how much happier this has made us. When I was pregnant with Manus, I had to spend months 4-7 apart from my husband after only just having married as us  both being Australian, but living in Saudi Arabia as expats, I had to return home to Australia to renew my visa which took 3 months!

We were lucky enough to have a 10 day holiday where we met up half way in Thailand for a boat trip (belated honeymoon with some friends) but it still didn’t help with the first time parent anxiety that we were both feeling, plus Pat missing out on most of the milestone appointments with doctors and him getting to ‘enjoy’ all that comes with dealing with impending parenthood, including a hormonal wife haha.

Whilst I have been blessed with two very healthy (so far touch wood) but different pregnancies, I must say how grateful I am to have experienced these. I have had friends who have suffered with morning sickness throughout the entire pregnancy or even faced bed rest for some of it, or worse and whilst I am definitely not out of the woods as yet, I do want to express how grateful and lucky I feel. I think pregnancy is such a unique, wonderful, difficult, enlightening, strange, miraculous event for a woman to go through, and you will never be the same for it. And then there comes parenthood! Oh the joys!

I’d love to hear your experiences with your pregnancies and early parenthood if you want to share in the comments below and how you overcame them or what you learned or enjoyed?