Pregnancy lowdown: Weeks 13 – 20

This pregnancy has been so low-key so far, there have been moments when I’ve forgotten I’m even pregnant. I’m in the really great part of pregnancy at the moment, energy is back to full and I’m not so big that it’s uncomfortable to sleep or lift myself off the sofa yet.

The only little complaints I have are the all-to-frequent night-time trips to the toilet (which is downstairs), and the fact that I can’t fit as much in my stomach in one go as I used to – smaller meals and snacks are the way to go from here on in.

Headaches: OK, so I lied. There is one thing that has really been bothering me these past weeks. I suffered with headaches in pregnancy with Arlo, and had a couple of migraines too, but I can’t remember if they were as frequent or long-lasting as they have been with this pregnancy. They have been lasting for 3 days and then I’d get a one or two-day break before the next one began. I haven’t had one since just before Christmas so I’m hoping this means they’ve stopped for good. I get my new glasses prescription in the next few days so that might help things too.First time using the remote – check out my inability to hide the control.

Names: We have four strong contenders already. Two girls names and two boys names. These are all names that were batted around when I was pregnant with Arlo, so there’s a chance that we might completely change our minds and find a name that we hadn’t previously thought of. I still have my eye on name blogs/websites and am waiting for inspiration to strike. That being said, I am happy about all of our four potential names and can’t believe we are already at this stage when we had no clue what Arlo was going to be called right up to the end of my pregnancy. It does seem easier and we are certainly more confident about naming a second child now that we’ve done it once before.

Arlo: Arlo is more interested in “the baby in Mama’s tummy” than I thought he would be. He was at home when the midwife came round for my 16 week check, so he heard the heartbeat and said that the baby sounded like a train. Of course, he has no real idea of what’s going on , and he often likes to tell me that “Ar-oh has a baby in his tummy too”. We have been lent a couple of books about preparing for a new baby, so we will start reading those with him over the next couple of months.

17 weeks.

Feeling the baby move: I started feeling flutters at around 16 weeks and was feeling bigger movements by 18-19 weeks. I didn’t feel a definite movement from Arlo until 21 weeks, although I know it’s meant to happen earlier with subsequent pregnancies. At 20 weeks, I’m just starting to feel a few small kicks on the outside of my stomach.

I think 20 weeks might be somewhat of a turning point for this pregnancy. I’ve finally had to give up sleeping on my stomach (I usually alternate between stomach and sleeping on my sides, but it’s left side only from here on in which is utterly boring). Plus, I’ve just started to feel quite tired. I don’t know whether it’s pregnancy tiredness finally catching up with me, or the adjustment period of getting used to Sam being back at work after our 3-week staycation, or the fact that Arlo has given up on naps so I’ve lost my hour of rest during the day. I’m sure it’s a combination of all three factors which has led to me barely being able to keep my eyes open over the last few days. Perhaps this is the point where this pregnancy starts to get a little less easy.

Arlo absolutely hates doing these shots. I am an evil parent.