Last Thursday, Thursday 31st March 2016, was quite a momentous day for me.

It was the day I turned 24 weeks pregnant.

It was the day that our baby became viable. A horrible term. But a milestone that means a huge amount to me and to Mr H.

It was a day that I believed would never come.

We still have a long way to go until our baby boy is safely here. 16 weeks and counting.

However, getting this far in the pregnancy has put a smile on my face.

I know that I haven’t done any traditional blogging pregnancy updates, but today (at 24 weeks +6) I thought I would share one with you.

24 weeks pregnant – an update

Bump

That is my bump. My 24 week bump. A bump that I am hugely proud of and love.

It is a sign that our baby boy is growing big and strong.

And I am carrying him in my belly. Isn’t that miraculous?

I know it is a large bump.

And a few people have commented on this.

At first, I let their comments hurt me (even though I know it wasn’t their intention to offend). It made me feel ashamed of my bump. A bump that I have wanted for so long. And been through so much to get.

In future, when someone comments on my size. I am going to smile and remind myself that my growing belly is a sign that my darling boy is doing well. And that makes me happy.

Little Miss H

Little Miss H seems to be coping well with the idea of having a baby brother. Although, I am not quite sure she understands fully.

We try to talk to her about the baby as much as possible. And every night she gives the bump a little kiss and cuddle and says “goodnight” and “I love you” to her baby brother. Cute!

Little Miss H and I have made a little update video. In it we mention two books that we are currently reading to Little Miss. These books are designed to help her understand mummy’s pregnancy and the responsibilities of being a big sister.

I was planning for this video to be longer. But it seems that the old adage “never work with children and animals” is completely true. I will create another video of outtakes to prove my point.

The books mentioned in the video above are:

• There’s a house inside my mummy by Giles Andreae and Vanessa Cabben and
• Dino baby by Mark Sperring and Sam Lloyd

If you are about to introduce another baby into your family, then I highly recommend both these books. They are fantastic and Little Miss H loves them.

Emotions

My emotions have been a little up and down. I cry at the most stupid things.

I am ashamed to say that an episode of “Topsy and Tim” made me quite tearful. I even think that I cried in the finale of “The Night Manager”.

Reaching this milestone has helped.

I do feel less anxious and I am making a conscious effort to enjoy this pregnancy now.

However, I am still getting anxiety dreams. Only now they have moved from being about miscarriages to giving birth prematurely. I am using a lot of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy techniques to stop these dreams affecting me. They are, after all, thoughts. They are not facts. And they don’t have control over me.

Reassurance

Because of my history, I am getting a few more appointments than normal, both with a midwife and a consultant. And I am lucky that at every appointment they listen for the baby’s heartbeat. At my last appointment, my consultant was unable to find the baby’s heartbeat with the Doppler, and I ended up having an impromptu scan. I can not describe how reassuring this was.

Little Mister H is also a huge fidget. I can feel him moving around so much. And the other day I sneezed and he gave me a massive kick in reply.

These sensations are now so strong. And every kick makes me smile and helps me to know that he is doing okay.

Planning

Up until this point I haven’t really thought about the practicalities of having a second child. It all seemed so far off and remote.

But I know that the next few months will now zoom past.

It feels like we have a huge amount to get done before Little Mister H arrives. I am trying my hardest not to get stressed about this. But unfortunately, in my hormonal state, there have been moments when I have found it all too much.

I know that we will get everything done. And if we don’t then it won’t be the end of the world.

I am looking forward to going shopping.

So far, we have bought Little Mister one piece of clothing. This gorgeous dinosaur sleepsuit from JoJo Maman Bebe. And a lovely PR company have sent us this beautiful Sunny Days babygrow from Frugi UK because they saw that it was featured in my Rainbow Wishlist for a baby boy.

They are both adorable but I think our baby boy is going to need more than two babygrows. I must write a list of everything we need (if you are all interested then I can share this on the blog).

I hope that you enjoyed my first proper pregnancy update and my video with Little Miss H (if you did like the video then please remember to subscribe to my YouTube channel and give the film a big thumbs up).

I am hoping to do an update post every four weeks from now on and maybe more regularly as we reach D-Day! If there is anything that you would like me to include in these posts then please let me know in the comments.

Hugs

Lucy

xxxx