It’s been nearly a year since I had my second baby. It has taken this long to touch up and post all of my pregnancy diaries! You can find all of these posts on my Fibro Mama Pregnancy Diaries page.
My birth story wasn’t exactly what I wanted but it was better than the first one.
32 hours of extreme back pain and painful contractions produced a beautiful 3.1 kg baby.
I couldn’t get to 4 centimetres dilation at home like you’re supposed to. I managed to wait until 3 centimetres at which point I needed help. We found out in the end the reason for the pain and lack of dilation that baby had the cord wrapped around him three times, probably stopping him from engaging.
It took a lot of intervention to get him down and out, but I managed to do it without a cesarean.
While it was a long, hard, painful labour, I can clearly recall the care of the many professionals I encountered, my midwife being the lead. I felt looked after and that my baby was being carefully monitored. The after care, during which I haemorrhaged, was also spectacular. This is what I remember the most from my experience. And it was dramatically different from my first labour, for this I’m grateful.
We spent a night in hospital, where I had fluids and an iron transfusion, and a night at a maternity centre. My pain levels in my low back and glutes were through the roof until we got home and I could move freely from comfortable bed to comfortable chair (and take pain killers less rigidly, but still according to instructions). It wasn’t until I saw the physiotherapist at four weeks that we realised I had symphisis pubis disorder which meant my pelvis spread too far, presumably due to the prolonged back labour. This caused severe pain at first and gradually reduced to mild with reduced range of movement and lots of pelvic tilts.
As it is with childbirth, so it is with fibromyalgia, we are all different and we can’t look for “normal” because there is no normal. There are patterns, but there’s no normal.
We must learn to listen to our body and trust that little voice that guides us. It can take some time to hear it, as there are plenty of louder voices itching to tell us what to do. But, if we pay attention, we will know what to do.
I knew I couldn’t cope any longer and that the pain was abnormal for so early in the labour. I will always be thankful that I pushed to go in and that the midwife listened.
Likewise, I am so thankful that I learned to hear my little voice and to regard myself as the expert with my experience of Fibromyalgia. And as the result of listening to this voice in labour is a healthy baby, the outcome of listening with Fibromyalgia is much better health.
For more information about pregnancy and Fibromyalgia:
After being disappointed at the lack of information about pregnancy with Fibromyalgia when I had Nu four years ago, I set about writing up my experiences and researching as new information became available.
On my Fibro Mama Pregnancy Diaries page I include my journals from my second pregnancy last year, which I edited and posted over this past year.
Now I’m writing a book!
On my new Fibro Mama Pregnancy & Fibromyalgia page I include the links to the ebook I’m writing as I publish the posts. When it is complete (and edited) it will be available for purchase, with extra content.
For now, could I ask you a favour?
Would you fill in a survey so I can add to the research available (limited) and my experience (two pregnancies makes me an expert in my experience not collective experience)?
If you’re interested in following my progress in writing the book, or supporting me by purchasing it when I’m finished, please feel free to follow this blog and tell anyone who could benefit by this information.
Please feel free to comment about anything further you’re curious about and I’ll do my best to research it.
By week 21 my burgeoning bump had taken over! Forgetting my new size, I brushed against things and banged it a few times before learning (that can hurt!). At week 22, I wondered how I could possibly grow for 16-18 more weeks.
A nice, healthy, detoxifying, warming drink I fell in love with was warm lemon (juice of half), honey (1 tspn) and tumeric (1/4 tspn).
I started to think more about the birth. After a 20 hour posterior (baby facing the wrong way causing severe back pain) labour with Nu, I was really keen for a nicer birth story. The news that second labours tend to be shorter and that those who have had posterior labour previously don’t realise they’re in labour until fully established gave me some confidence! I was planning all I could to save my energy and to avoid the stress of the first few days that we had with Nu. The first was that my husband doesn’t leave me, if he had to go, I had to go too! The second was that I know the signs of back labour and if it occured again, I would ask for intervention sooner.
A steady low back ache developed again at week 21, disturbing sleep and making the day more painful. A heatpack, pelvic tilts and child’s pose were somewhat helpful.
The only thing that really helped was reducing my activity level, aiming for 8000 steps or less. I could manage this for most of the week, but on weekends it was more difficult. There’s always too much to do on a weekend and it’s always been difficult to keep up with my husband. Another hard lesson in pacing.
We named our wee boy and the sweetest sound is Nu saying his name and talking to baby through the bump.
At week 23 I felt like there was a lot going on physically. I was put on antibiotics for bacterial vaginosis. My low back and neck were troublesome, to say the least. And I began getting Braxton Hicks contractions. It was time to admit that I was quite pregnant! The countdown may have begun for the end.
I thought I would share this journey, as I did with the first, to provide a sense of what it’s like for a mama with Fibromyalgia to do pregnancy. Find all of the posts and more at Pregnancy Diaries and Resources.
Sign up to receive access to my free resources which include the PDF reports: Tips for Managing Early Pregnancy Symptoms, Navigating Pain Relief in Pregnancy and my free micro course Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia: Arm Yourself with Knowledge. This is part of the first module of my full eCourse Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia.
In week 11 I went away for my sister’s graduation, that meant planes (always mess me up), long days and a different bed.
Surprisingly, my morning sickness flared up the day before 11 weeks and stayed up while I was away (I slept poorly and was quite sore). I was also hungry every two hours, I really got tired of figuring out what to eat.
My back was not a happy camper. The entire spine seemed mad at me! My neck was it’s normal, stiff and sore self and my low back was intense. I experienced a burning sensation along the lower back most of the day and night and needed to lie on a double folded winter duvet to be comfortable. My upper back went into spasm semi-regularly. My usual physiotherapist suggested I see a physio who specialised in women’s health.
Our nuchal scan (assessing the risk for some genetic diseases) was scheduled for week 13, as this week enabled my husband to make it. He got to see the baby for the first time.
I met the second of the team of two midwives who looked after me, filled in many forms and heard my precious baby’s heartbeat.
My energy levels did get a little better as week 12 progressed toward week 13, but I was still super tired and struggling with sleep. The nausea receded and the hunger became less of an issue, which was a big relief!
As my pregnancy would span winter and spring, and the baby would arrive in summer, I had quite a few seasons to address for my maternity wardrobe. I purchased three maternity/nursing bras, two pairs of maternity jeans, two tops with long sleeves and a coat. I intended to buy a few nursing tops in summer.
It had gotten more exciting and more calm once we made it to the second trimester.
I wrote these posts during my pregnancy so that I could share what it was like to do pregnancy with Fibromyalgia, find the rest of the posts on my Pregnancy Diaries and Resources page.
Sign up to receive access to my free PDF reports: Tips for Managing Early Pregnancy Symptoms, Natural Pain Relief Options During Pregnancy and my free micro course Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia: Arm Yourself with Knowledge.
My book is everything I have learnt and researched over two pregnancies
Week seven was when things started to turn around a little. I had been rather sick in week six and had managed to claw my way back by eating every two or three hours, going to bed early and limiting activity.
I had lost 1.5kg in the previous week, so actually spent weeks 6-7 lighter than I had managed in years.
My favourite foods, which I devoured unreservedly, were olives, hashbrowns, eggs, salmon and cheese. I still found comfort in marmite toast and wheatbix. I also found that I didn’t get hungry, so much as starving all of a sudden!
Nu, Coop and I managed to return to semi-regular 20 minute walks which took a bit of my limited energy levels, but really helped my body. I also utilised my Pilates resistance band and did some gentle arm and leg work, focusing on stretching. My swissball was useful for pelvic circles to keep my lower back moving.
I didn’t remember sleep being so hard last time! I struggled a lot, going to bed exhausted, but taking ages to get comfortable. And waking about 5am, in pain, only dozing from then. It takes three pillows and an extra duvet under my body to help my low back.
When I could avoid doing too much, my neck was much better. Almost less of a problem than my lower back.
At week eight baby was officially considered a fetus and was about the size of a kidney bean. I met the midwife and had a dating scan. Nu came with me and was enthralled by the little peanut. He told dada that he “saw the baba on the TV”.
At week nine I experienced an increase in fatigue, which caused a day of being bed bound and then evened out again. It seemed my body takes a day or two at each surge of hormones!
I wrote these posts during my pregnancy so that I could share what it was like to do pregnancy with Fibromyalgia. Find the rest on my Pregnancy Diaries and Resources page.
More information about pregnancy and Fibromyalgia
Sign up to receive access to my free PDF reports: Tips for Managing Early Pregnancy Symptoms, Natural Pain Relief Options During Pregnancy and my free micro course Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia: Arm Yourself with Knowledge.
My book is everything I have learnt and researched through two pregnancies
I knew something was up when I wanted vegetable soup for dessert one night. Sure enough, the next morning I tested for a big fat positive.
Baby number two was on it’s way.
I had had a low back burn for a week, this was my new, awful PMS symptom since back labour with Nu. In addition to this I was mildly nauseas and had a mad craving for meat (I’m not usually meat’s biggest fan).
Spearmint flavoured mints and ginger lozenges were really helpful for controlling the nausea in these weeks.
Continuing as I began, I had vegetable soup everyday and my regular fruit and vegetable smoothie in the morning.
Luckily, the week before I found out I had finished a work contract and had decided to give myself a rest, I was running on empty. So the following week was somewhat blissful with less neck pain.
The fatigue was something else. A constant sleepiness. Yet an inability to sleep for long periods of time (Fibromyalgia usual-ness for me) and daylight savings ruining my mornings (waking at 6, the old 7) was rough. I was in bed by 9 each night to read and then sleep early.
Our walks stayed at 20-30 minutes and that was quite enough.
With all the physical impacts I found it useful to stay focused on the miraculous aspects of pregnancy…the highlight of week five was that baby’s tiny heart begins to beat! I was very excited to hear it and see it!
I wrote these posts throughout my pregnancy to share what it was like to do pregnancy with Fibromyalgia. Find the rest of the pregnancy diaries in my Pregnancy Diaries and Resources page.
For more information about pregnancy and Fibromyalgia
Sign up to receive access to my free PDF reports: Tips for Managing Early Pregnancy Symptoms, Natural Pain Relief Options During Pregnancy and my free micro course Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia: Arm Yourself with Knowledge.
My book is everything I have learnt and researched through two pregnancies
Like many areas of living with Fibromyalgia, I have found there to be little information on nursing with Fibromyalgia.
The Research
There are a few articles, like this one on Fibromyalgia Symptoms that mentions research but provides no links, “Numerous studies have been done evaluating how fibromyalgia influences breastfeeding. These studies all indicate that it is very hard to breastfeed with fibromyalgia.”
The Fibromyalgia Health Center on WebMD posted an article in 2004 referencing a new study about nursing with Fibromyalgia. This study was very small, with just nine mothers included:
“All nine women felt that they were not successful in their attempts to breastfeed, and felt frustrated,” Schaefer writes. Difficulties included muscle soreness, pain, and stiffness; fatigue; a perceived shortage of breast milk; and sore nipples.”
The article lists a few tips from the study which includes good nutrition, proper rest and paying attention to where and how you are nursing.
Please do remember that we are all unique, how we experience fibromyalgia and how we experience pregnancy or nursing. My story will not reflect yours. Before I give you my experiences, I’d like to show you some information from a survey I undertook when I was writing my book Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia.
Affiliate notice: Please note that some of my links are affiliate links, if you make a purchase using these links I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you, every little bit helps me create these resources.
In response to the question, did you manage to nurse? 40% responded that they did for 12 months or more! 20% managed for both 12 month and 6 month periods (that’s 40% for 6-12 months!). 15% didn’t manage to nurse. 5% exclusively expressed. There were 20 respondents, so the sample size was small, but these are encouraging results.
Survey results: How long respondents with Fibromyalgia nursed
Some advice from a respondent about nursing:
“The two hardest things for me have been lack of sleep, and being forced to sit in the same position for long periods of time while nursing, or while my son slept. I kept five different pillows on the couch, and used them to prop myself and him up at every angle. Really helped.”
My Experiences
Having had three children now, I thought I would share my experience. As with all areas of this illness, my experience may not be the same as another’s with Fibromyalgia, so my difficulties do not translate to all women with Fibromyalgia.
I found nursing extremely painful with my first two children, I had cracked and sore nipples from the second day cluster feeding with both babies. Both times, it took a long time for them to recover. Expressing was less painful, but still resulted in sore breasts.
The differences in situations were extreme.
Baby One
With Nu, we found he was excessively windy and by week two we were going back and forward to doctors at the after hours centre. At last, at week three, we were sent to the hospital and there they found that he had pyloric stenosis – a thickened sphincter that wouldn’t let food out of the stomach to be digested, so it was forced back up and out of his mouth in projectile vomiting. After several days in hospital and a small operation, we came home and found that he doubled the amount he was taking at each feed. My supply couldn’t keep up, despite pumping three hourly the entire time he was in the hospital, my supply decreased in real numbers and relative numbers. I managed to keep him exclusively on breast milk until eight weeks. At this point whenever it was time to express, I would cry, so I knew it was time to finish up. I was just tired and sore and Nu was not a very settled baby and so cried the entire time I tried to express.
I was so relieved when parenting no longer needed to include my breasts. I am proud that I managed to give him such a good start in life, but I also wish I had given up sooner, but the pressure on mothers to breastfeed is enormous, even my expressing rather than feeding directly was seen as failure. My doctor and my Plunket Nurse were both supportive as they understood the Fibromyalgia and how hard I had tried.
Baby Two
With W I managed to persevere a little longer. My right breast got so sore and cracked from the second day cluster feeding that when I first tried to express, I expressed blood in the milk, it was a frightening sight! I persevered with the one side for another week before that became too sore (this guy is a rough feeder and liked to pull away with it clenched between his gums). I expressed four hourly during the day and once in the middle of the night (that was hard to leave baby sleeping after giving him a bottle and stay awake). My supply stayed static no matter what I did to try to increase it, so by week four, I was only just producing enough from both breasts for one feed. Luckily I had a lot of frozen milk from the first weeks of expressing.
This time I knew it didn’t have to be all or nothing (this is an important message for all mamas, you can mix feed!), I had more knowledge and therefore more power. I also ignored any messages of my being deficient or not trying hard enough. I managed to add in a physical feed each evening after he had spent the previous few hours having more regular bottles in his nightly cluster feed, this meant I didn’t have to worry about him not getting enough and he got some comfort from it at the end of a long day. It hurt, but swapping which breast I gave him each night helped me to cope. I worked with my midwife to reduce to a few feeds a day of my milk and add in formula for the shortfall. My plan was to give him whatever breast milk I could, for as long as I could.
As we know, plans do not always work out. Little W developed reflux and vomited my milk and got very sore. Through long weeks of trial and error we found that I could feed him directly (my measly 40 ml or so) followed immediately by a bottle of thickened formula, reducing the vomiting to spills and the gas pains greatly decreased. At seven weeks I was still managing to mix feed, with the miniscule supply I produced.
Due to the very different positions in my health and a lot more knowledge and confidence, I believe it was slightly easier the second time around. However, by 12 weeks my supply had completely dried up. I was really happy that I had been able to provide him with these vital nutrients for that long. I was also happy to not have to deal with expressing, feeding and bottles – it had begun to feel like my whole life revolved around his feeding. And at this time my life turned to revolving around his sleep, or lack of!
Pumping
One thing that helped me both times was my breast-pump. I used the Unimom Hospital Grade Double Expressing Machine (not currently available in US or UK Amazon) for these two. With my third, I have decided that I will not be able to express more than once or twice a day given that I have two other children four and under so I have the Avent Electric Pump (single, but you can get double) on my Amazon Baby Registry. FYI: Did you know that Amazon has a baby registry? You can sign up here Shop Amazon – Create an Amazon Baby Registry It’s basically a mobile registry (available anywhere!) and you will be eligible for discounts and rewards. If you’re going to purchase some of your items from Amazon, you may as well sign up (I did).
I also only used Avent bottles because I liked the teat shape (it mimics the breast-shape) and found that helped my boys to avoid nipple confusion. We introduced bottles of expressed milk very early, so please don’t worry when people talk about waiting until breastfeeding is “fully established” – because of all the women I have heard of who have done this, they never got their baby to take a bottle. This may be alright for you, but for me, I needed that ability to leave someone else to do a feed.
Baby Three (2019 update)
I have finally got a more successful story for you! After a much more comfortable pregnancy (even with severe pelvis issues that resulted in my being put off work at week 23 and on crutches and is still causing trouble at nine months postpartum) nursing was not such a kick in the pants. I had gotten my health into a much better place prior to pregnancy and reaped the rewards in pregnancy and nursing. This was due to low dose naltrexone and my ability to sleep in more than one hour blocks. You can find my post here about LDN.
My doctor and I agreed I would stay on it because the potential risks were minimal and the benefit of my sleeping and managing my pain were astounding. That was a personal decision, made by reading the research, listening to other women’s experiences and talking with my doctor.
We did have a bumpy start with the nursing. For three months we battled thrush and it was so distressing as in those early months every time I nursed I would have to stomp my feet and grit my teeth with the initial pain. I had to really push for people to take me seriously and realise it was not just me (or the fibromyalgia). So please do explore continued pain when breastfeeding. If I weren’t so committed to my personal goal of three months (at that stage) I would definitely have given up in those early weeks. I also got mastitis. I felt suddenly worse and I thought the fibromyalgia was just catching up with me, thankfully I went to the doctor and realised I had a bad case and needed antibiotics immediately.
We got through all of this and at about four months I realised that there was no trepidation about having to feed him and no pain! We nursed exclusively until he started solids and were still going at 9.5 months (August 2019). I have no end date in mind. We will see how it goes.
My tips for nursing with Fibromyalgia are what most nursing women are told:
Try to rest as much as you can
Eat as well as you can
Drink lots of water
Make yourself as comfortable as possible when you feed
Know that whatever you manage to give your baby is awesome and that you cannot fail. You will be a great mama whether you feed physically, by expressed breast milk or by formula. A fed baby and a happy mama are both minimum requirements. (Your well being counts as much as baby’s and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!)
Advocate for yourself – check out any pain (do not just chalk it up to the fibromyalgia – sure, it might be, but check it out)
I’d love to hear about your experiences with nursing with Fibromaylgia, if only so that others have something to read when they Google about it.
For more information
It has been updated August 2019!Come and join the conversation, we talk trying to conceive, pregnancy and nursing every day.
Whether you have a chronic illness or not, there is one thing a new mama seems to need…Reassurance that it will get better.
And it will.
It may not be at six weeks, or three months, or whatever magic age you hear touted. But it will get better.
One day they will sleep through the night, they’ll eat by themselves, they’ll play independently.
You’re in the trenches of motherhood, knee deep in milk and poop and tears, for such a short time. One day you’ll look up and realise it’s over. It’s better.
Your baby will learn to self settle when they’re ready. They’ll get the hang of feeding. They’ll cry less.
Enjoy those smiles that light up even the darkest of sleepless days. Enjoy the soft baby skin, the chubby cheeks, the sweet wrist rolls. I am!
I fell in love the moment they put him on my chest. Despite the doctors dealing with my excessive bleeding and then stitching me up, I was lost in my son. He calmly laid on my chest and looked at me as I drank him in.
I didn’t get that with Nu because he had been taken for some medical attention immediately.
I was blown away by these first precious moments. My boy, who I had worked so hard to meet, was here. After some time cataloguing all his fingers and toes and marvelling at this creature, we managed a full first feed. I thought things would be easier this time.
But again I found that after nearly 39 weeks of pregnancy and 32 hours of labour, breastfeeding is a real kick in the pants!
The second day cluster feeding led to a mangled nipple on one side, so I had to feed the baby from one and express from the other from day three.
It didn’t fully heal and the other side got very sore from overuse, so by week two I was expressing exclusively.
My energy levels and pain didn’t help production, so baby outgrew the amount I could produce per feed by three and a half weeks. Far from being stressed, I knew that it didn’t have to be all or nothing. I had the tools to mix feed so that he could continue to have breastmilk for as long as I could produce any.
Far from being the “easy” baby I’d hoped for after Nu and his being hospitalized for week three, W didn’t like to sleep in his Moses basket and only slept in my arms or on my husband’s chest for the first couple of weeks. By week three we did manage to get him to sleep in the basket after his last feed and until his 4am feed (when he wanted to stay with mama).
My body coped really well until both my husband and I hit the wall at three and a half weeks. Baby had a few days of extreme fussiness, hungry but gassy is not a good combination.
But I persevered with my coping mechanisms – quick meditations whenever I could, heat pack, ibuprofen, stretching and hot showers.
In addition to the Fibromyalgia, general post-birth pains and sleeplessness, I received a name for the severe low back and pelvis pain I had been experiencing: symphisis pubis disorder. Basically, my pelvis spread a little too far, probably due to the prolonged labour and having to use the stirrups. This made things difficult as I couldn’t spread my legs very far apart – no squatting, no stepping over things, keeping my legs together when getting out of bed etc. I had been so looking forward to being able to sleep on my back again, but this wasn’t possible yet. My physio suggested pelvic tilts and to see my doctor if it hadn’t gotten better by six weeks.
Nu adjusted really well to being a big brother. The sleep habits we instilled in him saved us as he slept from 7.30pm to 7am and then had a nap in the afternoon. Our constant refrain was “quieter!” As he speaks so loudly and gets very excited. He gives many kisses to baby and likes to help to feed him.
Pregnancy, labour and the first weeks seem much like rugby…You can plan all you like and utilise all the tools at your disposal, but in the end you have to put your head down and run in! I’m just super thankful for Husband and his help, because I don’t know if I could have coped without him.
Want to know more about pregnancy and parenting with Fibromyalgia?
My book is everything I have researched and learnt through two pregnancies.
This post has been a long time coming. I haven’t felt like I was coping these past few months. But we’re here, so that’s winning.
Toddlers seem to have an abundance of energy that I could only dream of. If only Nu would lend me some, maybe it would be easier.
The big thing for me (on the days I’m not working) is to get him active in the morning, when I’m most able and he’s not so tired either. This way the afternoon can be a more relaxed affair.
I am slowly learning that I’ll never feel like I’m coping if I’m putting too much of my energy elsewhere (like work), so my balance needs to be kept in check.
Drawing & stickers
Here’s a few tips I’ve gleaned in dealing with a toddler:
Accept help – my husband takes a turn in the morning when he’s not at work, I never get back to sleep, but it’s a break. If grandparents want a visit, give them the toddler and run away!
Enjoy them – this may be the sweetest age, Nu says things like “want some mama hug”.
Play dough, stickers, colouring in to keep them occupied for 10 minutes.
Outside – even checking the mail and watering the garden can seem exciting.
Park – even if you need to drive there, the park is a great and free way to burn off toddler energy.
Routine – my son is a routine boy and we have a loose but similar routine for each night, this helped when bedtime got foggy at the sleep regression.
Setting -first thing, before I get him up, I set up some of his toys seductively. This may buy 10 minutes of independent play! I also swap toys around regularly.
Rest when the toddler rests (if you’re home with them) – on the days I’m home I will do Yoga Nidra before anything else when he naps.
Library, zoo, beach, local attractions – there are options for all energy ranges. Nu loves animals, so we’ve been to the zoo a few times.
Read – when you’re super exhausted and sore, lie or sit down (surrounded by cushions if need be) and read all of their books.
Movies – my guy won’t sit through anything longer than a minute, but if this diversion works for your kids then lie down immediately!
Play dates – another energetic creature can occupy yours! Mamas can chat. Win-win.
Pick your battles. Save your energy for the ones that count.
Consistency, set boundaries and always stick to them.
Don’t forget yourself, keep experimenting and keep practicing your wellness techniques.
The last few are the result of a thread on my Facebook page, some amazing fibro mamas gave me some advice:
17. Educational games on a tablet – lie down and rest while they sit with you and play.
18. Have a bath together – get some toys or bath paints and let them play while you enjoy the warmth on your muscles.
19. Create a toddler-proof room that you can let them free and self-direct their play, sit back and enjoy their gorgeousness (do you do that? I’ve been known to stare at my boy and just grin lol)
20. Don’t always tidy up. The toys will be back out! Sometimes let the laundry and dishes be.
21. Take time out. Go for a coffee alone. Or a massage. Or a walk. Just go!
Mostly I think having a toddler is a bit like a newborn, in that you might need to just put your head down and push through, however there are definitely more tools in the arsenal to keep them occupied now.
Have you got anything to add to the list?
This post appears in my book Pregnancy and Fibromyalgia along with everything I have learnt and experienced over two pregnancies.
My birth story wasn’t exactly what I wanted but it was better than the first one.
After being disappointed at the lack of information about pregnancy with Fibromyalgia when I had Nu four years ago, I set about writing up my experiences and researching as new information became available.
By week 21 my burgeoning bump had taken over! Forgetting my new size, I brushed against things and banged it a few times before learning (that can hurt!). At week 22, I wondered how I could possibly grow for 16-18 more weeks.
In week 11 I went away for my sister’s graduation, that meant planes (always mess me up), long days and a different bed.
It’s basically a mobile registry (available anywhere!) and you will be eligible for discounts and rewards. If you’re going to purchase some of your items from Amazon, you may as well sign up (I did).
For a big guide on 
