I am really lucky that my pregnancy so far has been really easy and I thought I’d share how things have been going in that department.

How far along? I’m currently 37 weeks pregnant, so not too long to go for me now, phew! I’ve loved being pregnant although oh my gosh, the constant need to go pee but I’m excited to see the baby at last. And to stop counting time in weeks.

How big is the baby? The size of a serving tray of madeleines according to my app. I feel like this is subjective depending on how much a person likes madeleines. Ooh, remind me to share my oatmeal cookie recipe!

How am I doing? Symptoms wise I don’t have any complaints. I just need to pee quite often and I feel the heat a lot more than before I was pregnant. Usually during summer I’d be charging down to the beach but at this stage of the pregnancy it’s just too darn hot for me. I’m also really aware that whilst I can sweat to cool down the baby can’t so I’m trying to be considerate at the same time haha. And yeah the not sleeping thing. If I’m lucky I can sleep for three hours in a full block but lately I’ve noticed that if I play meditation music I can sleep up to five hours which is awesome. I’ve been feeling really cheerful this whole pregnancy even though somedays I really am so so so tired! I think the meditation helps with that. And I’ve been super lucky not to have any back pain. I’m still doing Pilates and yoga on the regular which helps keep things strong.

How much weight have I gained? I don’t know. We don’t have any scales at home because we don’t weigh ourselves and when I go in for checkups no one ever asks to weigh me. I didn’t know how much i weighed before I was pregnant either anyway. The midwife measures my bump and at my last one my measurements matched the number of weeks I was so I guess everything is normal in that department. I know that in terms of clothing sizes, I’ve gone from a UK size 10 fitting loosely to a UK size 12 to 14 depending on the cut of the clothing. Most of the weight has gone to my boobs and obviously my bump so I went up a size so that tops and dresses would cover my bump haha. There’s one dress that I bought online in several colours and sizes because it was so comfortable. I’ve pretty much been living in that. At home I still wear my usual clothes because no one sees anyway.

Which brings me to…

I suppose partly because of what I do, I get a lot of people scrutinising my changing body shape and appearance but when I think back I always get that type of attention even when I work as a lawyer or way back when I was a teenager. From some people, not everyone. But enough for me to notice! This is a weird subject for me,  how people can be so fascinated by my body that they pay such close attention and feel like they can tell me what they think about it. My husband? My mother? My health provider? Sure, ok. People I see twice a year for lunch? I dunno. People I just met? I mean, really. I feel like there are more fun or important things we could chat about. It’s even more surprising that instead of less comments people feel like they can comment more about my body now that I am pregnant. WHY. When did we decide this was ok?

One day was particularly rough for me when I kept getting hounded by some women to say how many kilograms I had put on through this pregnancy and they wouldn’t believe me when I said I honestly didn’t know. B told me that they later asked him the same thing when I wasn’t around. As if he weighs me in my sleep?! It kind of hurt my feelings that time but I put my reaction down to having not slept a single minute the night before and fighting off a throat infection. There’s no question that I am big now, I’m due in just a few weeks! But I’ve been told that I look SO HUGE since halfway through my pregnancy and I got a few of the, “Are you sure it’s not twins, har har?” line. Would you believe I was told by the same person early on that I looked really big and then a few months later she said, “You look so big now. Before you still looked really small.” It gets really confusing if you take in everyone’s opinions. Sometimes I wondered because I got so many of those comments that maybe I am really big for how far along I was but then I went in to get measured as part of my checkup and was told that I’m perfectly on track. A few weeks ago a woman said really loudly in front of everyone in the group, “WOW you’re really big” and repeated it a few times for good measure. What she didn’t know was that a few days ago I had gone in for a regular checkup to be told I was measuring slightly smaller than I was meant to be. It was really worrying me at the time but luckily the baby is all caught up now and that is all that matters to me.

I just wonder about what if I was someone who had or still has an eating disorder or a less loving relationship with my body and was now hearing these things? What about my baby listening in on every conversation and hearing how focused people are on weight? How would all that make me feel about my changing body which is working hard at growing a human inside? What would that do to how I felt about my baby? Does it not occur to people that they might affect someone? But maybe they sense that I’m generally pretty resilient so they just give me all those comments instead of someone more vulnerable. I kind of hope so but unfortunately I don’t think that’s the case. One of B’s friends was saying that his wife HATED pregnancy because of all the comments about how big she was getting. That was her one complaint. How horrible to get so put off by what is supposed to be such an amazing experience!

I feel really good about myself so it’s not a huge deal for me. I can walk away from these comments and get on with having an amazing day. I love my baby belly and it’s so amazing to feel my baby swimming around inside all day long. I also get a lot of compliments too which helps with not feeling all that bothered. A lot of people are just excited to see and touch the bump and I totally appreciate that. You can see their whole face light up when they look at it. A friend of mine was saying it might be because everything else seems to be close to the same and it’s just this bump entering the room before I do that makes people say I look so big. Meanwhile I’m going to miss walking around feeling like I’ve got a golden egg on me. I really like it! It’s so round and shiny (especially after I’ve exfoliated haha).

Something to remember is that these things can be really subjective unless the comments are coming from the people who look after your unborn baby. Also, sometimes people don’t mean to be hurtful, they just aren’t very careful or mindful with their words. Best not to assume anything about their true intentions and just let the words tumble off your shoulder like water. Some weeks you might feel like nothing is happening and other weeks it feels like the baby is growing faster. All the while people might just think you look big blah blah blah. Another thing is appearances could have something to do with your build and also your genetics. Some women don’t appear to look pregnant at all whereas others, like me, do. I have a short torso compared to my legs and arms so there isn’t much space for my bump to spread out and this entire pregnancy I have been carrying really high so it kinda just sticks out there. There are those women who have very small baby bumps even up to the birth of the baby and others who have really big bumps early on in their pregnancy. The only thing that matters is that you and the baby are healthy!

I still remember how excited I was when my bump finally started to show! Finally my bump was catching up with my boobs which were getting honestly, wayyyyyyyyy too much attention from randoms. I remember standing in a shop and hearing a guy comment on the size of my chest to the girl standing next to him and the girl smacking him and saying, “She’s pregnant you idiot!” Neither of them had realised I could understand their dialect. It wasn’t long after that that the baby in my belly was then big enough for me to feel the kicking. So much fun and no comment from anyone could ever take away how enjoyable the experience has been for me.

Anyway this all came out a bit jumbled and rambly but I just thought I would share my experience. If there was one ugh part to pregnancy that wasn’t to do with the constant need to pee and not much sleep it would be those comments. I’m lucky that I have been feeling really mentally and physically strong this pregnancy plus I have so much love and support around me. I felt the need to say something in case other women are walking around feeling bothered. I totally understand it’s not nice to experience! Just eat healthfully, drink plenty of water, exercise safely and don’t let those things get to you! Opinions like that don’t pay the bills and they won’t nourish your baby! Pay attention to what the professionals looking after your health and the health of your baby say. Some people just don’t consider that what they say can matter so in that case you can just tell yourself that they’re right, their words really don’t matter!!

Meanwhile if you aren’t pregnant but you have found yourself experiencing the urge to comment please pause and really think about the impact you could have on someone. What are you trying to say and what purpose does it serve?

Any cravings? Not really. I’m even ok with going without watermelon and oranges for days at a time haha. I’m still eating them although not because I crave them anymore but because I want to keep my immune boosted and watermelon was a good way to stay hydrated in this heatwave situation we were having here in Sydney. I’d be just as happy with ice water. I read somewhere that if your nutritional needs are well met you’re less likely to experience cravings.

Any aversions? Not really either. I’m really low maintenance, I think.

Have I got stretch marks? I can’t see LOL! I think they show up more if they are there once the baby is out. For now all I can see are blue veins. My veins have always been really easy to see through my skin and I can see loads around my tummy at times. My mum didn’t get any stretch marks having me either so we’ll see if the genes are strong in me! I was getting a wax with my beautician who I’ve been seeing for years and she commented that I didn’t have any. I asked her about my theory that they show up more after but she was like, “Nope, if they’re not there, they’re won’t be there on the other side.” HAHAHA she cracks me up. Anyway for now, I don’t have any according to people who have seen me naked.

But like I said, I can’t see for myself and in that sense I am going by what other women are telling me.

Does the baby kick a lot? The baby was kicking quite a bit before but lately as my bump has gotten bigger the movements feel more swishy and fluid like. It’s pretty funny to watch the skin on my tummy ripple around. I think the baby is just happy doing some tai chi style moves in there but the really STRONG kinds. This baby is literally pushing the roof and the walls out as far as they’ll go.

Do we have any names chosen? Yes we have a few we love but obviously we’d like to just wait until the baby is out before saying anything.

Am I planning a natural birth? Yes! But I am trying to stay okay with whatever happens.

Am I nervous about labour? Super nervous haha but oh well, hopefully I’ll be able to stay focused on breathing and it won’t take so long that I get hungry or something lol.

Have I got everything ready for the baby? Not yet, yikes! That’s what I’ll be busy doing for the next few weeks I figure. I’ve just been ordering things from online and I’ll let you know what I ended up getting. I’m currently doing loads and loads of washing of all the baby clothes I ordered, I found some really great websites so will share soon. Meanwhile, this is ONE BATCH. Yeesh!

But omigosh if it even makes any sense, Mum and I both went nuts when I finished hanging these teeny tiny clothes out on the line. She’s still cooing over the cuteness and I agree. It’s ridiculous how cute they look.

Also. Is it crazy I totally wish this beanie came in my size? I mean. Lookatit.

That’s pretty much it. If you’re currently pregnant or have been pregnant and want to share your experiences, I’d love to hear from you! xo

Follow my blog with Bloglovin