Being Mamma Bear

And once again, I’m combining entries for two weeks partly because I wasn’t focussed enough to keep up with the blog schedule and partly because I was actually busy doing stuff.

In any case, in keeping with the format of the previous post, here’s how the last two weeks of my pregnancy were.

WEEK #23 & 24

The Feels & What I did

Week 23

In the spirit of getting some actual work done and getting paid, I got two freelance typing gigs and was busy for most of the week. They both looked promising. So on Monday, to beat the heat I went over to a coffee shop close by. I thought if I didn’t have to cook and was sitting in a comfortable environment, I’d be able to focus on work and it turned out to be true. For the five hours that I was there, I got so much done.

The following day I received a token amount that I had asked for before I proceeded to work on the rest of the project. So I decided to treat my husband to dinner. Nothing fancy, we went to a local place and I was just relieved to not have to cook.

On Saturday, we went to one of my cousins’ houses. He was here in Mumbai after years and had called the entire family over for a get together. I had a really good time and laughed at lot. And since we were out on Saturday, and our maid is still on vacation, we cleaned on Sunday. After that, I had no energy left to cook and thankfully my mom called saying that she had cooked for us too. 😀 So we had lunch with my parents (yummy, South Indian food – mendiya kozhambu, muttakos kari, rice, appalams, and MANGOES!) and then shopped for groceries for the rest of the week.

Week 24

Remember I had shared a weekly timetable I had planned to follow from the beginning of the year? Well, I realised that considering the fact that major changes had happened in my life and my ability to work since I made the original timetable, it was only right that I modified it. So I did. I made a new 4-week schedule and on Monday, I managed to stick to most of it.

But this week was also disappointing because none of the work I did during the previous week was paid for, except for the token amount and that was barely anything. It’s like I put aside things I liked to do 50 hours of work because I was going to get paid for it and then people decide to be jerks and just because everything is online, they can get out of paying people by just staying offline and not responding to messages and e-mails. 

So I decided to get some other work done. I had put my handmade gift shop on hold, but I started social media activity on that account again this week in the hopes that I’d get a few orders before I have to close shop again and prepare for baby to get here. I also set up my planner for June 2016 and it looks good 😀 I have a post planned on my craft blog for tomorrow and I’ll link to that next week so you can see it if you’re interested.

During this week, as I was going through the entries for #fortheloveofBLOG link up with The Pramshed and A Mum Track Mind, I read Fi’s review on Hey Workout and signed up for a 14 day trial. (confession: Haven’t worked out even once since then.)

Also, we fixed a date for my Baby Shower. Oh, I’m going to have two of them. The first one (that we just fixed this week) is going to be thrown by my sisters in mid-July and is going to be non-traditional (by Indian standards). The other one, the traditional one, will be in mid-August. I am looking forward to both. Actually, it’s because it’s giving me something to think and distract me from how long it is until the baby is born.

So the rest of this month, I’ll be planning (whatever little I’m supposed to do) for both events. Then, in July and August, I have the baby showers to look forward to, and then bam! It’ll be September – time for baby’s arrival. 😀

Health & Body

Week 23

This week I saw my feet swell. Now, I know this is common, but actually seeing my feet swollen kind of freaked me out a little bit. The first indication was the fact that the minute I got off the bed in the morning, the balls of my feet hurt, like I’d walked a really long distance. I didn’t think much of it at the moment.

I wear flip flops at home, so my feet slipped into those really easily, even though swollen. But in the evening, when I actually put my feet up to relax, that was when I saw how big they looked.

I would’ve clicked a picture but my feet look horrible. I plan to paint my toenails this week and when they swell again (and I’m sure they will) I’ll take a picture. With big, chunky feet, at least the pretty nails will make them look better. 😛

It also made me realise that we don’t really look at our feet during the day at all. Hands, maybe. But not feet. And because they still hurt, I had to ask my husband for a foot massage (and I’ve been getting one almost every day.) 🙂

Hubby gave me a foot rub today. My feet are happy 😊♥️ So am I. #swollenfeet #preggoproblems #secondtrimester

— Mamma Bear (@beingmammabear) May 29, 2016

//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Also, this week, my nipples oozed a kind of transparent liquid. I’d read that my milk ducts will be formed and fully functional by the end of the second trimester (which is just another two weeks or so from now. Yikes!) but I didn’t expect any leaking just yet. Turns out, that’s completely normal too. 🙂

Week 24

I started applying Bio-oil on my belly. The instructions on the bottle say that I should have started at the beginning of the second trimester, so I am two months too late on that account, but I don’t have any visible stretch marks yet. I think I can still manage to salvage a little bit of what my skin would look like post-partum. 😛

My feet swelled up again for a day or two, but now I’ve been keeping a pillow under my feet so that’s in check so far.

On Saturday night I woke up FIVE times just to pee. I know it’s supposed to happen but usually I only wake up once in the middle of the night and once between 5 and 7 AM. But this was a little too much. Also happy to say that it has been three nights since then and I haven’t woken up as many times; just twice. 🙂

On Sunday, I didn’t clean at all; the husband did all the work while I blogged. But I still felt so, so tired. Maybe it was because I hadn’t slept well the previous night, thanks to waking up 5 times!!

 

This week on the blog & other social media

Week 23

On the blog, I wrote two posts this week

On Twitter, here’s what happened:

Last night

Hubs: Do you want ice cream?
Me: No.
H: ?
Me: I don’t need it to feel the baby’s kicks anymore.#somuchfun #thebabyiskicking

— Mamma Bear (@beingmammabear) May 25, 2016

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Just noticed tht my little acc has 400 followers! BIG THANK YOU for all your support
Hopin to keep it interesting ♥️ pic.twitter.com/cJtn0E6yNR

— Mamma Bear (@beingmammabear) May 26, 2016

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And on Instagram…

Sometime last week, my little account reached its first milestone – 100 followers! A BIG THANK YOU to all those who have been with me on my journey of documenting this pregnancy, and I hope I will continue to interest you for the rest of it. You peeps are awesome!! Yayy!! 😘♥️💕🙌🏼

A photo posted by Mamma Bear (@beingmammabear) on May 25, 2016 at 10:54pm PDT

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A light hazelnut latte for mamma because she has to go easy on the caffeine but still can’t give up coffee totally 😝🙈

A photo posted by Mamma Bear (@beingmammabear) on May 29, 2016 at 6:56am PDT

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Week 24

On the blog, I wrote only one post this week

On Twitter, here’s what happened:

 

This week’s ‘Soothing’ Playlist

I didn’t make a new playlist for these two weeks either. But I have one for Week 25 🙂

What Baby Bear has been up to

Week 23

So I’ve been feeling baby’s movements pretty regularly for quite some time now. But on Sunday, when I was at my mom’s I actually saw my belly get a little shove from the inside. It was very light and you had to be really looking to spot it, but it happened. And even I could only see it because when the first kick was pretty strong compared to the ones I’ve felt before, I decided to look at my stomach and the baby kicked again within seconds with the same intensity. But that week, only I was able to see it.

Week 24

This week my husband was able to feel movements when he placed his hand on my belly. He still hasn’t been able to see any movement yet, and for that matter, neither have I and I know every time the baby moves. But feeling those kicks has been good enough.
  

The Bump

Week 23

Here’s what my Bump looked like this week and a comparison from 4 weeks ago, i.e., at 19 Weeks.

Week 24

Here’s what my Bump looked like this week and a comparison from 4 weeks ago, i.e., at 20 Weeks.

Love!

Read all Weekly Bump updates HERE.