Pregnancy Diary Week 16

Dear Diary

Is 16 weeks too early to mention a babymoon? We have just returned from a fabulous weekend in Krakow which is somewhere I've been wanting to visit for years and we had an absolute ball. When we were booking the trip I didn't know I was pregnant and now that we are here I'm really grateful that it fell when it did. It would have been a lot riskier to go in the first trimester purely because feeling nauseous is hard enough as it is without the pressure of a flight, a different bed and pretending to enjoy yourself.

Thankfully, by the time our trip came along my appetite was back, the sickness had passed and I wasn't feeling as tired as before so it was great timing. Most airlines require a "fit to fly" letter from your GP or hospital after the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy by the way. At this early stage, I didn't even have to mention it.

I've noticed a big change in my body this week. When I was trying on clothes for the trip I felt a bit more confident because my tummy is starting to morph into what I think is the beginning of a bump. It's getting rounder and I can feel it getting firmer underneath the layers of bloat. I've noticed now in a t-shirt or stretchy dress I'm at the "she looks like she might be pregnant" stage and that is one step closer to me actually looking pregnant which for some reason is so much more important to me this time around. Go figure.

What is it about dungarees that are just so symbolic of pregnancy?

I decided to treat myself to a few bits for the trip away because after an hour of trying things on that do not remotely fit me I was feeling extremely deflated (I genuinely nearly just wrote dilated!) I went to the Mother-ship (aka Penneys) and picked up some bigger tights, stretchy tops and an adorable denim dungarees dress.

What is it about dungarees that are just so symbolic of pregnancy? I remember seeing a photo of my mam wearing them on one of her pregnancies and I really think it's a bit of a "thing". I've been wearing maternity jeans now for a good few weeks and they have made such a difference to my comfort levels. I mentioned it in a previous diary but I actually got four pairs on adverts.ie for the same price as what one pair would have cost from a shop. They were in perfect condition and were all Top Shop. They are so comfortable!

The trip away was brilliant! It was so nice to spend some time with my husband after the madness that was the first trimester, buying a house and all of this Ovarian cyst stuff. I'm not a big drinker but it kind of took me by surprise that it bothered me so much not being able to have a drink on the trip. While drinking isn't important to me, I'd always enjoy a few on holidays. My sister, who was on the trip too, "didn't feel like drinking" a lot of the time and I know her well enough to know that this was just to support me. She is one in a million.

Krakow is a beautiful city but visiting Auschwitz was incredibly harrowing. I knew it would be but as a pregnant woman, and a mother, I found the stories of families with children extremely difficult to hear about. I spent a huge chunk of the tour crying but so did a lot of people. It's an eye-opening trip and I feel it will have a long-term effect on my whole life, to be honest. How much we take for granted the basic things in life like being able to keep our children safe. I feel panicky even thinking about how those parents must have felt.

Since returning from the trip we've been talking a lot about the baby's gender, name and the beginnings of some plans around travel systems and stuff. I think we are going to keep the gender a surprise but I'm not 100% sure. We found out the first time around and while I loved knowing, I think it might be special to experience the other end of the spectrum this time around and have a surprise. In a weird way, I think I need that anticipation and excitement to get me through the birth because I'm still feeling very nervous about that part. I feel like I know too much this time.