I’ve just come to the end of my eighteenth week of pregnancy and things are starting to feel so much more real with very regular baby kicks and a big bump starting to form!
The baby has been kicking non stop all week, until of course my husband tries to have a feel! The kicks feel stronger than last week and are definite nudges, pokes and stretches. It now feels like there’s an actual baby moving around in there and I’ve felt the odd roll too. Baby is normally more active at night or when I’m lying down and you can see the skin moving as he stretches his arms or legs. It feels so reassuring to have these baby movements and I’m starting to feel more like I am bonding with the baby.
I had my whooping cough vaccine this week with the nurse at my surgery. I was really shocked with how I was treated by her as when I arrived she looked me up and down and wrinkled her nose. She asked me why I was there and when I explained I was here for the whooping cough vaccine she proceeded to tell me I was not pregnant. My heart was banging in my chest and I calmly told her that indeed I was to which she replied, ‘Well you don’t look it.’ I don’t know how I always end up in these situations! Eventually I got my vaccine and it hurt like hell just as I remembered.
Surprisingly I had a migraine this week which was a bit of a shock as I usually only get them when my period is due. I suffer quite badly as it begins with me feeling a bit weird, I start to stumble a little and then the flashing lights come. If I don’t take paracetamol straight away, then a pounding headache arrives which can last for days. Luckily, I spotted the signs pretty quickly and my colleagues looked after me with some tablets and 4Head. I sat in a dark room for a bit until the flashing lights went away, worked for a few more hours then sloped home to try and sleep it off (impossible with an attention seeking toddler and lazy husband) The following days my head ached every time I coughed, bent down or moved too quickly. I tried everything from drinking more water, drinking more caffeine, reducing caffeine and increasing sugar. The headaches passed after my visit with the nurse and I am wondering if they were to do with my low blood pressure. I was going to ask her before I met her to do my blood pressure to see, but she’d wound me up that much I don’t think she would have got an accurate reading! Anyway, the headaches have gone ever since our meeting.