The Pregnancy Diaries: Week 21 – Can You Feel It Now?

"Can you feel it now?... What about now? Okay, put your hand on my belly there... a little to the left. Still nothing? Right, try pressing my stomach here... Right, just leave it, we’ll do it again in a few minutes." The baby is now the size of a banana and I’ve become obsessed with trying to feel it move or kick. The midwife told me to expect sensations such as the flutter of butterflies or popcorn popping and so me and my hubby have been putting enormous pressure on the bump to 'perform.' I’ve directed him to press down on the bump with varying degrees of pressure in an effort to make something move. However, it hasn’t happened yet. I have felt flutters from time to time but apparently it’s very easy to mix this up with gas passing through. I guess I’ll just have to trust that when the baby is ready, I’ll know all about it. On the other side, it really is strange to welcome weight gain. My bleeding has FINALLY stopped and so I feel I can start to focus on all the other things that are happening to my body. So yes, I’m weighing myself regularly. I almost high-fived the air yesterday when I noticed the scales were up 2lbs since the last time I checked. I’m eating as sensibly as I can, but I do have serious urges for sugar. I’m trying to deal with this by doing a bit of good and bad. I find oranges really feed the craving but I still end up with my nose in the biscuit tin at the end of most evenings and, if I’m being honest, most mornings and afternoons too! What doesn’t help is the fact that my hubby doesn’t share my sweet tooth and, even worse, is seriously enjoying training and working out. So, when I’ve got my head stuck in a box of chocolates like a five-year-old child, he’s pushing it down at the gym and really reaping the benefits. So after a day of eating all around me, it often makes me want to scream when I see his sweaty shirt in the evenings! But I don’t regret a bit of it, I have a really good reason for chowing down on everything in sight – I’m carrying our first child and wow, is it hungry! Now, where is that tin? Stay with us every week for more from 'Big Belly' as she continues her pregnancy adventure.