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Book vs real life: 25 weeks pregnant

November 16, 2016

 

I could sleep right now if you asked me to. Pregnancy second time (or third, or fourth, I’d imagine) is tougher in a lot of ways because so much of your energy is already expended looking after a little person who is already here, demanding to be carried around, who can’t understand why you’re not as much fun as usual. I feel 45 weeks pregnant instead of 25 weeks pregnant.

 

Working for myself is an added stress, and I’m acutely aware that when I take some time out from the laptop – as I did today, poolside with a good friend who’s in town – it’s time where I should/could be earning. The upside, of course, is the flexibility it offers, with work done at night after Phoebe goes to bed, and last week my mother-in-law was in town so my husband and I had a great time pretending to be tourists in Dubai, with trips to Kite Beach to see the UAE flags, checking out the new Dubai Canal, the butterfly garden and more.

 

Ah. The butterfly garden. Have you been? It’s… surreal. In honesty, my natural instinct when it comes to insects, butterflies, moths etc is to get the hell out of there, or when threatened, KILL IT WITH FIRE. I kept my cool though, but won’t be rushing back. Phoebe had a great time running around, but it all ended on a sour note when I went to change her nappy before getting her in the car. No changing facilities. So I had to change her on the wet, dirty floor. Cue a complaint to a staff member who seemed genuinely baffled to be asked a question about her place of work, then a phone call to management who told me it’s the first time the issue has been raised, and they will get a changing table ‘inshallah’. Sigh. Though I must admit it was good to direct some of the pregnancy rage at someone other than my husband.

 

Moving on… Deep breaths…

 

This week Babble shares what’s going on with baby and body at 25 weeks, followed by my real-life view.

 

The book says…

 

By your 25th week of pregnancy, the baby’s reproductive organs are formed. Her skin is translucent and wrinkled, and she can hear your stomach when it gurgles and your voice when you sing. Your baby is becoming more aware of how she can move—she’s wiggling her fingers and toes!

 

I say…

 

I find it pretty mind-blowing that baby girls are born with all the eggs they’ll have for the rest of their life, and even more so when you think that technically the beginning of my future grandchild is inside me right now, stored away in the little one’s ovaries. MENTAL.

 

The book says…

 

I hope you’re doing your Kegel exercises! Kegels strengthen the pelvic floor and tone the vaginal and perineal area. To do a Kegel, tighten the muscles around the vagina and anus and hold for eight to 10 seconds. Confused? Practice stopping a stream of urine when you’re on the toilet. These are exercises you don’t have to get to the gym for! Try doing Kegels in the car at every red light.

 

I say…

 

I’d have a pelvic floor of steel if I did Kegels every time I was stuck in Dubai traffic… However, I did have a choking fit while eating a lemon sherbert in the Mercato carpark last night and was more worried about wetting myself than death by asphyxiation, so I better start clenching.

 

The book says…

 

You may start to notice aches and pains in some unusual places as your pregnancy progresses. For example, you may experience moments of shooting pains in your legs. There are several possible reasons for leg cramps, although doctors are still uncertain about the exact cause.

 

I say…

 

Yeah, I’m hurting. My weird numb leg thing is continuing, my muscles are achey and I feel like I need a really good massage every damn day. If funds were unlimited I’d be at SensAsia each morning for a pregnancy treatment. Actually, if funds were unlimited I’d have a masseuse follow me around 24/7.

 

 

The book says…

Your growing baby-to-be puts added pressure on your bladder, which is working overtime along with the rest of your body to flush out any impurities in your blood supply, which jumps 50 percent during pregnancy. Don’t be surprised if you have to wake up at least a couple of times in the night to use the bathroom.

 

I say…

 

Yeah. Pretty much. We went to Ripe Market on Friday morning (which was SO nice) and I spent the whole time needing the loo, reluctant to use the toilets in Zabeel Park. Eventually I caved, and found them impeccably clean. Just a heads up for any other tiny-bladdered women fearfully going to farmers’ markets. A niche group, I know.

 

Conclusion…

 

Hormones have a lot to answer for. I’m feeling everything so deeply at the moment, quick to cry and anger, but also having days of soaring happiness. Not to get political (okay, just a little), Trump’s election to office last week hurt and worried me more than I thought it would, while closer to home I cried at the vet’s clinic when I had to go in and pay for our beloved dog’s cremation. Dubai’s dreadful drivers have been upsetting me more than usual, with my mama bear instincts coming out to protect my daughter in the backseat and the baby in my belly from their selfish, unsafe behaviour.

On the plus side, I practically did I dance when I saw that Clas Ohlson had opened in Mercato, got a bit wet-eyed when a couple on First Dates (you’re not watching it? WHAT?!) revealed they’re having a baby, and BabyCenter sharing my post on prenatal anxiety made my year. So yeah, totes emosh.

 

If you’re in the second trimester too, let me know how you’re feeling in the comments x

 

You might also enjoy: Book vs real life: 24 weeks pregnant.


2 responses to “Book vs real life: 25 weeks pregnant”

  1. Shea says:

    Oh I hope you’re thinking of turning your musings into a book one day. They bring a smile to my face every time – and I’m not (or have any desire to be) pregnant!! X

  2. The whole carrying all our eggs inside us before we are even born baffles me too! How insane!!
    P.S. Love reading your pregnancy updates!

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