( Nearly) 37 weeks

The last few weeks have gone past in the blink of an eye. Even though I am at the point in my pregnancy where I feel uncomfortable most of the time.

Up until the past few days, Jellybean felt like she lived in my ribs. It was virtually impossible to ever feel comfortable. Towards the end of last week, Jellybean moved down. For the first time in my pregnancy, I actually had an appetite!

During my 36 week midwife appointment, my bump was measuring big yet again. I went for a growth scan the following day. Jellybean is absolutely fine. She isn’t measuring big and is actually spot on in terms of her weight.

New symptoms I am experiencing are waking up completely drenched in sweat. I feel like I have done a 45 minutes Bodycombat class! I have been having some intense pressure in my bump at times too. Last night, I woke up feeling nauseous and ended up throwing up. Dave is convinced I will go into labour before my due date.

Dave and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary last week. It was nice to spend some time together before Jellybean arrives. We went out for a Chinese which was delicious.

I will end the post with another photo of Walter. We got him a new harness. It looks super comfy and looks great on him

34 Weeks

We are less than 6 weeks until Jellybean’s due date. Part of me thinks it has flown by. Another part feels like it is dragging.

I saw a physio about my hands and hips. She was amazing. I do have carpal tunnel syndrome. I now wear splints on my hands at night when I am sleeping. It is nice to not be woken up in the night with sore wrists and pins and needles in my hands. I also have pelvic girdle pain. I have a support belt to wear under my bump during the day. This is helping alleviate my hip pain.

Jellybean has had a huge growth spurt. She is considered big at the moment. I am now seeing the midwife every two weeks as I am so close to my due date. She has said that if she is still measuring as big at my next appointment she will send me for a scan. I have been reassured that her growth might level out.

Walter has been diagnosed with dermatitis. We changed his food to grain free after noticing in between his toes were red and sore. We also bought some paw butter to help. Initially, this seemed to help. But it became clear that his skin wasn’t right. He was itchy loads and we noticed sore parts on his fur.

In the past, we have been fobbed off at the vets about Walter’s skin. Dave and I have both felt for awhile that he has a skin condition. We saw a new vet and he was amazing. He was extremely thorough and took some scrapings from different parts of Walter’s fur and skin.

For a week Walter was on a course of steroids, having a supplement in his food and two baths with a special shampoo. The difference has been amazing. His fur and skin look and feel so much better, he doesn’t scratch loads and he just seems happier.

Normally when we go the vets, Walter tries his best to escape and we end up carrying him in to the consultation room. He would shake as he was nervous and bury his head in us and refuse to acknowledge the vet. So when we went back yesterday so the vet, we were shocked that he willingly walked into the consultation room, wasn’t shaking and wasn’t burying his head in us. The vet was pleased with Walter. He wants us to continue with the supplement in the food each day and to bath him once a week with his shampoo for the next few weeks then reduce it to every other week, every month etc.

I haven’t shared any photos of Walter for awhile so I thought I would. He has his own instagram if you want to follow him – instagram.com/walterthesausagedog

Walter playing with his mate Harlow after a dachshund walk last week

Snuggles with Lola. She came over and settled on Walter like this.

Viability

Today marks 24 weeks pregnant which means from this point on, our little girl has a good chance of surviving if she were to be born. This made me smile immensely when it came up on Ovia, one of the pregnancy apps I use. 

For the most part, my morning sickness has gone. I have had the odd bout of it but nothing major. The recent hot weather has been horrible for me. I am finding it harder to get comfy in bed at night even with a pregnancy pillow. But it is so much worse when it is warm. As a result, my sleep has been terrible. I haven’t been the gym since Saturday and have needed to have naps on days when I am particularly tired. 

My bump is definitely more noticeable now. The past few weeks when I have had Dom, he has commented each week that my bump is bigger. 

Our little girl’s movements are becoming much more stronger. Dave, my mum, brother and best friend have all felt her which has been lovely. 

I had a recent spell of being super anxious about our baby. My biggest fear is something is wrong with her or will go wrong. I spoke to Dave and my Mum about it which helped a lot. It is nowhere near as bad now. 

We have booked a 4D scan for the end of August. We are going to where we went for the gender scan as they were brilliant. Plus, they had a great offer on and we couldn’t resist. We only have to wait another 6 weeks for it.

We have had so many lovely people giving us things for our baby. From clothes and books for her to maternity clothes for me. Our little girl is loved by so many already. 

Pregnancy aside, things are good. Spent lots of time with my family recently including a birthday meal for my Dad at the weekend. The times I have been able to go the gym I have thoroughly enjoyed it and kept up in classes. I am doing low impact moves/adaptations when needed. 

From tomorrow Walter’s BFF Lola is staying with us for just over 2 weeks. Dave and I are really looking forward to it. Walter enjoys having her here. Dave has some time off over the next few weeks which will be nice. 

Halfway there

I am now 21 weeks pregnant! So infact I am over the half way point. Yesterday Dave and I had our 20 week anatomy scan. I always feel a mixture of excitement and nerves before scans. 

Our little girl has grown so much since our private gender scan 5 weeks ago. I am so happy that she is healthy and well. She was checked thoroughly from head to toe which reassured Dave and I. Especially with the whole issue with my medication. I was so relieved when they checked her heart and it was fine. As per every scan, our little girl decided to be awkward during the scan. I was asked to go for a wee in the hopes that she would move position (which she did). It made me laugh as I have had to do this during each scan. 

I am feeling our baby girl move so often now. Dave has yet to feel her. She stops moving when he talks to or rub my bump. But it is just a matter of time before he does. I am still having morning sickness. I ended up throwing up outside the house when we got back from the scan yesterday. The majority of the time that I am not being sick I feel nauseous. It is hard at times. But, I know that all this will be worth it by the time our little girl arrives. 

A few weeks ago, we took Walter to Dogfest at Arley Hall for the second year in a row. This year we also went with our friend and her dog Lola. It happened to be unbelievably hot during the week we went to Dogfest. We were frequently putting the dogs into paddling pools, pouring water on them and getting them to drink. 

We made the decision to leave early for Dogfest this year. It was a good decision. We had to queue to get into it, but the queue moved constantly. We got to hear the amazing Noel Fitzpatrick talk this year. He is such an inspiration. 

Noel had this tshirt on during his talk and I couldn’t resist one for myself

Waiting in the queue

Walter all ready for Dogfest

Walter and I did a selfie haha!

How much does Walter suit this flatcap?! 

The main man; Noel Fitzpatrick!

I am planning on going back to the gym tomorrow. I haven’t been for nearly a month what with my asthma being bad and then morning sickness reappearing. I am going to do Zumba and I can’t wait. 

Our little girl already has some lovely clothes thanks to her auntie, Nan and Grandad and her great auntie and uncle in Australia. My Mum is in knitting heaven. The baby already has a matching hat, cardigan and blanket that are beautiful. I also couldn’t resist buying her some things for Father’s Day for Dave. 

These clothes are from my sister

Dave’s Father’s Day presents. The books are so sweet and made me cry reading them. 

Emotional Day

Yesterday was my lovely Grandad’s funeral. I broke down crying as soon as the cars came to pick us up from my Nan’s house. I then cried all the way to the crematorium and throughout the funeral. The service was lovely. My Dad did an amazing job as a pallbearer and reading a poem. I was so proud of him. During the eulogy, the vicar doing the service mentioned about how excited my Grandad was about becoming a Great Grandad. It was hard to hear that, knowing he will never meet the baby. 

Due to the baby being awkward during our initial 12 week scan last week, we were offered one yesterday evening at 6pm. Part of me felt guilty that we had the scan on the same day as my Grandad’s funeral. The scan went really well. The baby is looking healthy and well. The brain looks good as does the heart. We saw the baby trying to suck its thumb and it looked like it was waving at us! The baby appears to have long legs too. They must take after me! We have a private scan booked for 3 weeks tomorrow to find out the gender of the baby. We can’t wait. The baby is due on 8th November. 

This weekend Dave and I are having a dog filled weekend. We are looking after Walter’s bestie/girlfriend as my friend is on a course. We are going to go to doggy play tomorrow afternoon and on Sunday we are taking them on a dachshund walk. I think a chilled out weekend is just what I need with Dave and these two:

I didn’t sleep well last night even though I was exhausted. I woke up around 3am and struggled to get back to sleep. 

‘Just a dog’

For a number of reasons, I have had to stop working with Faith. It wasn’t an easy decision to make. In the back of my mind, since the incident that happened recently, I thought this was inevitable. For one thing, Faith’s mum is a heavy smoker. Dave and I had recently talked about when I became pregnant I would have to stop working with Faith because of this. 

For nearly a year, Walter came with me to Faith’s. I was told that he was more than welcome there. Faith’s family had got a kitten recently and I was told until the kitten and their dog had gotten totally used to each other that it would be best not to bring Walter. I totally understood this. I was under the impression that I would be able to bring Walter with me from the messages I received. 

I arranged for a friend to look after Walter while I worked. While trying to arrange this, messages were received saying a number of things that I perceived as hurtful. One being that Walter is ‘just a dog’ and I should be able to leave him for 5 hours for evenings four times each week. 

Things were said to me that couldn’t be unsaid. A lot of hurtful things.  As a result, I had to make a tough decision to stop working with Faith. It probably sounds like all I seem to do is quit when things are difficult. But, the past two years have taught me that I struggle to deal with conflict. I shouldn’t have to deal with conflict in a work setting on a regular basis. It has a negative impact on all other aspects of my life. 

It might seem silly that I have stopped working over ‘just a dog’. But Walter is far more than that to Dave and I. Before we decided to get Walter we read up a lot about dachshunds. They are prone to separation anxiety. That is not to say that Walter is never left and that I don’t go out. He is left when I go shopping and the gym. But 5 hours on his own? We didn’t get Walter to leave him for that long on his own.

Sometimes (such as at the moment) Walter is the only thing that makes me leave the house. I have only left the house the past three days because Walter has needed to go for a walk. He is my little buddy and keeps me going. He is always there no matter how low and anxious I am. 

So just a dog? No, he is a super dog to me. 

Lovely friends, lovely moments

Sorry I have been so quiet on here. But it’s all for good reasons. I have been busy spending time with my favourite people.

I love my group of friends at the gym. They are so amazing, positive and encouraging. They have been there when I have been anxious or my mood has been low. I’ve had motivating messages and offers of phone calls during recent lows. They just totally understand my anxiety and depression. 

So my life recently has been dachshund meet ups, christmas coffees, party planning, cinema trips and it has been lovely. 

Walter and Poppy

Walter looking very handsome in his new red jumper

Salted cappuccino and honeycomb latte

Doggy selfie

Walter and Lola

I can’t take credit for the amazing birthday cake. My mate made this over the past two days. I made the cartoon words, zested some lemons, washed and dried a lot of dishes and kept my mate company. 

So this time in two weeks (hopefully), Dave, Walter and I will be in our very own house. Just need to get a move on with packing!

Walter’s busy weekend

As I was at Dom’s Mum’s wedding all day on Friday and Dave was in work, Walter spent the day at my parents house. He loves going there. As soon as we arrived, Walter’s tail was wagging and he was so happy to see my parents. I made a quick exit so as not to upset Walter. When he worked out I had gone he was looking for me around the house and kept putting his paw up on their front door which is what he does when he wants to go outside. He had a lovely time at my parents house and was fussed over. 

  
Fast asleep on my mum’s knee!

Saturday was week 6 of 8 of Walter’s puppy class. We looked at lead pulling. Walter did really well with this; responding quickly to what we we told to do.

Saturday afternoon we went round to visit our friends at their house. Their border collie called Fly was the first dog Walter met. They had a lovely time together. Walter was so playful and didn’t stop for hours. My friend got her camera out and got some lovely photos:

   
    
    
    
    
 
On Sunday we had a lazy day. Walter was worn out and I was from the wedding and a busy Saturday. So much so that Walter and I ended up snoozing on the couch. I really appreciated Dave taking this photo!

  
We decided to open up the bed we bought Walter when we first got him. When Dave picked it up from Argos it was huge compared to 9 week old Walter. Plus on Saturday Walter enjoyed sitting in Fly’s bed! 

   
    
 
I decided this week that I would teach Walter to high five. I only started yesterday and he has picked it up really quickly. He can now do – sit, lie down, turn, wave, speak and high five. He gets so excited when he knows I have treats out for when we are going to practise 🙂

Back on the horse

After a chilled out weekend I managed to get myself in a better headspace about the gym. It helped that I talked to my friend from the gym via whatsapp. The conversation wasn’t about my mental health. It was just a typical conversation between friends. One of my big worries was facing her after what happened at the gym on Thursday evening. 

The anxiety was still there today. Dave was messaging me words of support and encouragement. But I went to the gym with the mindset that I wouldn’t let my anxiety win today…and it didn’t! I did the entire Bodycombat without anxiety rearing its ugly head. 

Gemma 1 – Anxiety 0

I also didn’t let the current low I am experiencing stop me from taking Walter to puppy class with Dave. This week we asked to bring something that your puppy sleeps on. We took one of Walter’s blankets that he sleeps on in his crate. We were then shown how to get your puppy to go on his bed. Walter already responds to “in your bed”. He has a routine of going out to the toilet and then going straight into his crate ready to sleep each night. It is something Dave and I have instilled from the beginning and it was evident during the class. Walter was definitely one of the most responsive dogs. I was so proud of him! 

The last half hour of puppy class is a chance for all the dogs to socialise. We let them off their leads and they can do what they want. The puppy class we take Walter to is on a huge secured field. It has taken weeks for Walter to get more confident socialising, but he is definitely getting there. At the beginning, he would sprint towards the gate to leave the field. I don’t think he will ever be as lively as the labradors in the class. But considering he is the smallest dog in the class by a lot I can understand his hesitation. This week I managed to get some photos of Walter socialising:

   
The lovely Tilly

    
 
One of the trainers brought her 12 week old minature labrador called Wibble. Walter loved her!!!

   
 
Betty the black lab

   
    
    
 
Walter did so well considering he has been out of sorts. He is teething and lost a tooth on Friday. As you can imagine, he hasn’t been very keen to eat. He was also sleeping a lot more than usual and generally being more cuddly (if that’s possible!) more than usual. 

   
This is Walter’s teddy Jesse. Yep…Walter is named after Walter White from Breaking Bad. We had to call his teddy Jesse. This is a kong teddy and it is fab! It has minimal stuffing and has rope inside it. 

    
    
   
I am happy to say that Walter is much more himself. He has eaten all his food the past two days and has been playing a lot more. 

Tomorrow I have Dom. On Friday his Mum is getting married. Dom is an usher and I am going to support him. I am worried about how I will cope with the day. But the most important thing for me is ensuring that Dom is ok. It means one less thing for his Mum to worry about and I am so glad I can help. I will post about how it went.