It's true. No two pregnancies are the same...

We waited for over three years before thinking about trying for our second child, and in the one month that we weren't trying, I fell pregnant.  Shock was the first reaction along with utter disbelief.  That lasted for the best part of the first month.  Waiting for something for such a long time and then suddenly having it is a very surreal feeling.

So, now at nearly 18 weeks pregnant I am still stunned by my every expanding belly and my voluptuous upper body.  Other than extreme tiredness, a bit of swelling and my bump, I've had no 'real' symptoms.  I was sick from just after 5 weeks until 11 weeks and 4 days (yes, I remember it well), twice a day, if not more with my daughter.  I could barely eat never mind how I felt when I caught a whiff of something my senses now decided to despise.

This time round I couldn't eat enough.  I was like a machine in the first three weeks after I found out, shovelling everything and anything in to try and satisfy the most ridiculous hunger that couldn't be appeased easily.  This all went straight to my thighs.  Awesome.

I now also have a belly that is growing at rate of knots, so much so that I feel like I need to use Bio Oil three times a day in order to ease the itchiness and make it feel less like the living daylights are being wrapped out of my skin.  I must look like a bit of a crazy person, holding onto my belly at one second and rubbing it in a moment of love and adoration for my growing child, and then scratching the heck out of it the next as if my life depended on it.  All I want to do at the end of the day is come home, layer on enough oil to make me greasy enough to win every slip and slide challenge known to man and enjoy the freedom of chilling out in my underwear while my skin breaths.  Bliss!

I now have insomnia some evenings (but I'm tired, right?!) and the inability to get comfortable at night even at this early stage is definitely new.  The snoring is apparently another addition to the list of firsts.  Whilst it doesn't bother me I'm sure my husband is plotting his revenge as I type, and I can see myself waking up on the floor on morning, cuddling on to my pregnancy pillow.

My husband has started to refer to my pillow as my 'anti-roll bar' or 'contraceptive barrier'.  Once you get comfy in that thing, sleep or no sleep, there is no letting go of it.  Better than having to use the excuse of having a headache I guess? "Sorry Hon, I'm tucked into my preggy pillow.  Can't get out of it now, you know.  Took me a few minutes just to get comfy!"

My memory seems to fail me and random words slip into sentences.  I know what I'm saying but often am at a loss for words.  This definitely didn't happen this early on, so now that I feel like a bit of an old fart, I can use the excuse of actually thinking about what I'm saying before I say it, because I often am.

All things said, it's pretty smooth sailing this time.  I've felt movement from about 12 weeks; the little butterfly feelings, and just yesterday I got my first real kick from the outside, which was out of this world.  Energy levels during the day are good though but I do find that if I stop and rest on the couch, I somehow lose about an hour or two of my day and suddenly it's dark.  Amazing how you can close your eyes for one second and that happens?!

I'm pretty much convinced on what the sex of the baby is, which is being confirmed in the middle of this month.  To be honest, I'd be happy with either sex as long as baby is strong and healthy.  My daughter wants a brother so baby, you had better be a boy!

Ally x