27 weeks pregnant with our fourth baby

I am so happy to be on the final stretch of this pregnancy, and I am starting to look forward to the arrival of our baby for lots of reasons. This pregnancy has been quite different to my other pregnancies – I felt completely wiped out until about week 16. Most days I had to stop myself from sitting down when the boys were around, otherwise I would fall straight to sleep – it didn’t seem to matter where. I’d nap as soon as Jared got in from work for a few hours, and then still go to bed and sleep solidly. The tiredness was totally overwhelming, and with all the renovations we have had going on – just getting Win to school with clean uniform between the two of us every day felt like a massive victory. It must be combination of pregnancy, renovations, one extra child and I think my body is still depleted from my miscarriage last year, as my iron levels are consistently low.

I wanted to compare how I felt at 27 weeks pregnant with Otto, and was thankful to have a post to look back on. It was quite amusing to see how my feelings this time around are very similar. Physically it has been frustrating because my back aches if I do too much, and that includes the walk to school. Walking to school is really important to me, but we now live over a mile away (and it’s hilly), so if I’ve done too much during the day, or am planning to exercise in the evening – I choose to drive. It’s taken me a long time (and lots of perseverance) to turn Win and Ru into good walkers, so I don’t want them to get used to going in the car.

I always struggle within myself when I’m pregnant, and probably more this time because I’m definitely carrying some extra weight. I feel very self conscious and could become a total home bod if I let myself. It’s something I am very aware of and try very hard to ignore, because I don’t want to it affect my parenting, or the boys. It’s slightly different this time around too, because by the time my due date in September comes around – aside from three weeks, I will have been pregnant or bleeding from my miscarriage for a total of 15 months. I feel like my body hasn’t felt like mine for a long time, so I’m looking forward to just being me again and feeling more in control. Last week I was painting the skirting boards in our downstairs loo, and I resembled a walrus as I shuffled around – thankfully I laughed, rather than cried!

This is the first time I have been pregnant during warmer weather, so very few of my maternity clothes are suitable. I much prefer to wear dresses when I’m pregnant, but my maternity dresses are all quite fitted and warm with long sleeves, and I haven’t found many summery ones that make me happy, or make me feel like myself. The baby moves a lot which always a good sign, and I’m still sleeping comfortably which is amazing. No going to the toilet in the night yet either.

I have decided to have a home birth this time around. There is a birth centre a couple of minutes from our house, so we went for a refresher visit – but I decided against it. The centre is wonderful, but I had such great experiences at home with Win and Ru, that I just prefer the idea of being at home. My experience with Otto in hospital was also great, so I’m keeping all my option open until the day comes.

Rufus will be starting school in September and Otto will be starting nursery too, so it will be a big month of change for all of us. This last week we have potty trained Otto which is something I wanted to do before my bump got any bigger, and certainly before the new baby arrived. I’m actually thrilled to be having three whole months without nappies in our home!

E xx