Week 21 was the week we found out our baby is a girl! The night before the scan I was so nervous and excited all at the same time, thinking silly thoughts like what if I had the time down wrong and this wasn’t my scan date after all?!

The worries were for nothing, we got seen to pretty much as soon as we got to the hospital at 11am. I lay on the couch, while my husband sat next to me on a chair with Tyler on his lap, as we looked at the screen on the wall. This was an anomaly scan, so the sonographer was taking lots of measurements. It seemed to take forever, especially as she was a quiet one and not saying much! Then she said, “How many weeks are you?” I said I was 21 weeks. She kind of ‘hmmmmed’ and said nothing. I was thinking in my head, why did you ask me that, whats wrong?! She then said, ‘your baby is tall, has long legs, in 95th percentile.’ Wow, I’m 5ft 3, so to have a tall baby, that’s so funny!

After 10/15 minutes of measurements, she then was looking between the baby’s legs. I couldn’t see any bumps on the screen. She said “It’s a girl”. My eyes welled up. A girl! I was so happy and surprised. I looked at my husband who was smiling and looking in shock too. We said to Tyler “You’re gonna have a sister!” He just mumbled something about trains.

And that was the end of the scan. I wiped the gel off (and there was loads, yuk) and we were told to wait in the waiting room. There she gave us our scan photo for £3 and the scan report that listed all the measurements. Baby was fine – phew!

We then went for a celebratory lunch at the nearby Red Lion in Stoke Poges. Tyler started acting a bit weird, standing in corners and going ‘I want mummy’ – it was clear he was feeling a bit funny about having a sibling. We were still in shock. I thought I would have to have morning sickness in pregnancy to have a girl, so I was so relieved that I didn’t have to go through morning sickness! My husband went “Imagine a teenage girl!” – suddenly we were worried haha! We kept the news to ourselves for the day to let it sink in, and I revealed my news the following day to family, close friends and my work lot. My mum couldn’t believe I made her wait!

The next day, while I was at work, my family seemed to have made Tyler come round to the idea of having a sister, and he’s now hugging and kissing my bump. So phew – that is a relief. Thanks family!

As for how I’m feeling, I am happy to be having a girl, but I do worry about her – I don’t want her to be like me, shy and lonely at school, feeling ugly and all those stupid thoughts I had growing up. But then I look at my sister who’s really cool and I think, ahh she’ll be alright having her Aunty Brat, and she’ll have a big brother to look out for her.

Healthwise, I discovered why I was having terrible back pain all these weeks – the wrong sized bra. Duh! I feel so stupid for not realising that was the reason. I got pure cotton non-wired ones from BHS – 2 for £12, and they feel like heaven! Suddenly my back pain has gone, I can walk without needing to sit down after 5 minutes, and I feel like I have my energy back again. All from a bra – amazing! If you are pregnant, I totally recommend them!

I haven’t had any cravings, but feel full quite quickly these days since the baby is getting bigger. The bump is really showing now, and she seems to be moving and kicking ALL the time. Week 22 was the first time my husband could feel movement when he put his hand on the bump. He was so happy. He said it felt like a light tap. To me it felt like an earthquake!

I’ve got all of Tyler’s newborn clothes out of my cupboard. Most are unisex as I was always into bright colours anyway, and there are some that I can adapt to look more girly with pink buttons. I have bought 2 new babygros, again in bright colours. I’m not really a fan a pastel pinks and lace and frills. Honey Nut (that’s what we call our bump) is going to be bright and colourful!

I think that’s all I have to update you on – I’m feeling better, energised, in nesting mode (had a huge declutter on Sunday!) and the bump is getting bigger. My friend surprised me by buying me a maternity dress from my wishlist which I got in the post – so lovely! That’s the one I’m wearing in the photo.

Next week I’m picking up my MATB1 form, so I can officially sort out my maternity leave with work. I’m excited and scared about leaving work, as that’s my only social interaction with real people outside of my family. I hope I don’t get lonely eek!

Sabrina x

Week 19-21
Week 17 – 18
Week 16
Week 15
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Week 10 – 12
Week 6 – 9
Week 2 – 5