It's been 5 weeks since my last pregnancy update, and in 5 weeks of baby growing there has been a whole tonne of changes. Physical, emotional, and not to mention the size of my ever expanding belly! It still doesn't feel quite real to be honest. But here's how things have been going from weeks 18-23.
1. People keep asking me if I've had my lips done recently. I've definitely not - pregnancy is just making me feel and look hella 'plump' (I am totes not complaining btw)
2. My boobs have stopped growing (for now...) but seriously, my nipples are the size of digestive biscuits. No joke. I've been sending photos to any of my gal pals who are up for a look! Haha.
3. Acid reflux is painful and occurs whenever I'm horizontal. So especially at bed time, and sometimes even when I lean over. It burns like HELL. I find a mug of hot choco before bed helps.
4. In the last week or so, I've started feeling the baby move loads, it's been visible from the outside of my tummy too and Pete's been able to feel it as well. I feel like this took ages to happen, then all of a sudden overnight, at 22 weeks it's became non stop.
5. I have a completely unquenchable thirst. But drinking more water means I can't remember the last time I had one of those horrible headaches, so that's been a relief.
Physically, everything feels on track and my 20 week scan and 22 week midwife appointment went really well. They're happy with everything and so far my pregnancy is considered as 'low risk' (which essentially means myself and baby are healthy, and there won't be much need for medical intervention and nothing to indicate the delivery won't go smoothly) On an emotional level, I've changed my anxiety meds from Flouxitine to Sertraline, which are believed as a safer option to take during my pregnancy. A change in medication has given me quite a cloudy head for a few weeks, and to be honest I'm still not feeling my best. I'm happy and content but can only focus and engage in so much at once. I've been busy with work, which is taking up a lot of my emotional energy and all of my motivation at the moment, so I'm finding myself a bit withdrawn from social media, emails, texting people etc. So I apologise for being quiet and perhaps taking a bit longer than usual to get back to you. If this is the case just give me a nudge. I'm just taking things at a really slow pace right now, and for my own sanity that's the best thing for me to do. I've stepped away from reading facts and figures about pregnancy and each night before bed I'm taking in a few chapters of Growing Up Pregnant by Deirdre Curley, which is a really lovely story about Deirdre's life becoming a young mum and living in Glasgow. It feels like sitting down with a friend over a cup of tea, hearing about her moving to the city, how she fell in love, and then pregnant! And everything in between. Feeling a bit overwhelmed with booklets, apps and advice, it's nice to read up on someone else's experiences on a more personal level too.
I can blame pregnancy for my plump face and dewy glow (probs just sweat because I am out of breath ALL THE TIME) but I would also like to blame the following makeup and skincare which are making me feel less like a potato on a daily basis.
Second trimester skincare faves:
Julie Clason Anderson McKee is a clinical aromatherapist and cosmetologist and the brains behind Anderson Aromatics. Julie hand blends all of her products using ethically sourced ingredients and botanical aromatherapy oils of the highest quality. They have a lovely 'raw' and natural feel to them, which feels amazing and extremely fresh on the skin. I use the healing cream for babies on my face as an overnight moisturiser, and my skin literally drinks it up! I wouldn't use this during the day as it is very rich and oily. Then the healing shea butter I have been using religiously on my bump night and day, and guess what - no stretch marks so far!
I totally gave into the Glossier hype after getting a 20% discount code off twitter. I've been using the priming moisturiser in my morning routine, and even though it's the rich version I don't think it's that heavy, and I can happily apply my primer and foundation 20 mins or so later. The mask duo is great and I have been using one after the other (you heard it right, two masks in one night!) greens galaxy then moon mask, twice a week. The first detoxifies while the second adds moisture. My skin went really red after the first time I used the two of them, and I don't have sensitive skin at all, so if you do I think using the two consecutively could possibly be a bit heavy duty on your skin. My face is looking and feeling super clear at the moment (the amount of water I'm consuming is probably helping too) so long may that continue.
Second trimester makeup faves:
I wear barely any makeup during the week, so come the weekend I like to take my time when it comes to doing my face. After a day through in Edinburgh recently I came home with the Fenty Beauty pro filt'r foundation and matching brush. It goes on like an absolute dream! Really liquidy though, so I'd advise not using a beauty blender with it as it would absorb too much product.
I've been using it alongside the Charlotte Tilbury beauty light wand and contour wands (again, with matching brush) which are a change for me as I'm used to using powder versions of both. But they're oh so creamy and workable - I'm hooked. I'm also loving the new Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Lips (above is shade 'Too Bad I'm Bad') and I went into their House Of Fraser store last week to get my makeup done by the super talented Alex. She showed me all the new christmas gift releases from CT, and all I can say is pregnant women are entitled to a 'push present', right?! (a girl can dream about the Naughty & Nice Magic box...)
So that's it for now m'dears. Not much else exciting to report on the baby growing front. Apart from Bronson officially claiming my preggo pillow as his own (I don't blame him, it's from ikea and super comfy) and all of Baby Duthie's clothes which were lumped into a big pile in the 18w update, are now housed in a lovely new 4 drawer unit! I've been lusting over local clothing company Shapes Of Things for a while now, and even more so since we've got a little one on the way as their baby clothes are TOO CUTE. I'm wearing the wiggles tshirt and bubs has got the matching wiggles baby grow. They're currently crowdfunding to bring their designs to a bigger market and expand the brand worldwide (click here to view the campaign) and I really wish them the best of luck as they're a super talented bunch of people. I try to shop small and local as much as possible these days, and found loads of great inspo in Katie's latest post on Mama Says. I'd love to find more indie baby companies so if you have any suggestions, tag me on twitter or instagram (@hellorogue)
My plan is still to take things easy as much as possible over the coming months (especially with a 3 week trip to London planned at the end of November... more on that another time) but thanks for your patience and for sticking around. I should be back on here again relatively soon. Have a great week, whoever you are and wherever you are ♥
