I’m putting Week 17 and 18 together as there’s not been much difference between the weeks. The good news is that my bump finally appeared mid-week 17. I’ve been feeling movement from the baby for a few weeks, but now the movement is more towards my belly button and the tummy feels more hard – so I know it’s not just a food belly anymore!

At the start of Week 17, my skin started to itch at my sides, like REALLY itch. It must have been my skin stretching, which makes sense as the bump appeared soon after. I’ve been rubbing in any cream I can find to soothe it, like Body Shop body butter, or Dove moisturising lotion.

I’ve been getting pretty bad backache if I stand for too long, but luckily since Week 17, really kind people have been offering their seat for me on the tube and overground train. I’ve had a ‘Baby on Board’ badge on since the beginning of the month, but now that I have a bump, people are actually getting up for me – lots of generous men and women out there, I am so grateful!

The other thing is the walking, I can’t walk very fast – although my new boots aren’t helping with this – and also it just hurts around where the baby is when I walk for too long. I don’t think this is good, so I thought I should start doing some pregnancy exercises.

When I was pregnant with Tyler, I did Pregnancy Pilates which I had Sky-plussed from this exercise channel that doesn’t exist anymore. I used to do half-an-hour every weekday as soon as I got home from work. This week I tried a Pregnancy Yoga one from YouTube one evening in the bedroom. I switched the lights off and lit a scented candle, and Tyler lay on the bed watching me do all these stretches. It lasted just 10 minutes and I definitely felt better after, so I need to find some time to do this everyday and make it part of my daily routine.

I haven’t really had any cravings these 2 weeks, just food in general – I’m hungry all the time. The indigestion is back too, though I expected this – as the baby grows, there’s less room for the stomach. But I can’t stop eating!

According to the Babycentre app, baby was the size of a turnip in Week 17 and a bell pepper in Week 18. The baby is flexing his/her arms and legs, and the ears are now in their final position – exciting!

There’s just over 2 weeks to go until my next scan when I hope to find out the gender. I seriously can’t wait – oh the suspense!

Sabrina x

Week 16
Week 15
Week 14
Week 13
Week 10 – 12
Week 6 – 9
Week 2 – 5