Week 21 Pregnancy VLOG, baby 4 by Teresa Palmer

WHAT WEEK?
21

HOW BIG IS BABY?
2-2 & 1/4 inches and about the size of a Mango (my favourite fruit!)

WHAT’S SOMETHING NEW THIS WEEK?
We had our anatomy scan here in Estonia and while it was quite the interesting and somewhat anxiety inducing experience it was incredible to see her in all her glory! Mark was able to come with me too which made it the first scan this pregnancy where he could see her as a fully formed little baby not just the teeny tiny peanut she was in our first trimester. It’s been so fun coming back home to the kids and talking to them about their baby sister. They couldn’t be more excited to have her here!

MOST CHALLENGING MOMENT?
I’ve had some random kidney pain in my right side. I had that last pregnancy too, I think it’s just with everything moving around there’s pressure on parts of my body that can feel intense at times. Counter pressure has been helping and a medium touch massage has been relieving too.

MOST EXCITING MOMENT?
Seeing our little girls face in 3D, it was so wild! It’s funny that we already think we know what she looks like based on that scan (totally ridiculous) Mark and I predicted that the bottom half of her (nose, lips etc) look most like Forest and her eyes are more Bodhi/Poet haha! We will see if our predictions come true or not.

STARTING WEIGHT?
116lbs / 52.6kg

CURRENT WEIGHT?
I finally bought a scale! I’m not really big on focusing on the amount I weigh but I find it absolutely fascinating that since I don’t watch what I eat during pregnancy and just eat the things I desire when I’m hungry and that I generally don’t work out much either, that my body finds it’s natural weight gain during pregnancy. It’s always right around the same amount with each pregnancy give or take 5lbs/2.2kg. When you hear some woman saying they put on 80lbs or others saying only 5kg (purposely switching up the measurements here) I’d like to think that we can exist in a place without the need to judge another woman’s experience, either labelling her as not having gained enough or having gained too much. I think we each naturally gain what we need to and unless we are completely gorging non stop, our bodies should find the comfortable size it needs to house our babies and nurture them as they grow. I tend to gain fast and the plateau, how about you?

Currently I’m at 129.3lbs which means I’ve put on a total of 13.3lbs in these past 5 months of pregnancy. Its pretty much on par with the other 3 pregnancies, only slightly more (I feel more sluggish this time round though). At this rate I would say I’ll end up around what I did with the other kids, I’ll be interested to see if my theory pans out!

For those interested in statistics, here is how much I weighed with each of the others at this same time;
Bodhi- 127.9
Forest- 125
Poet- 127

And the last days of pregnancy I weighed with each one;
Bodhi- 142lbs (8 days prior to due date)
Forest- 143lbs (5 day post due date)
Poet- 145lbs (2 days post due date)

My prediction is 148lbs/67kgs

EXERCISE?
Nothing more than walking around the cobblestone streets with a double pram and running up stairs!

MEALS?
Mark has been cooking up a storm, fresh pasta with amazing pasta sauce, stir fries, the yummiest Guacamole and chips, sandwiches, the most delicious warm crusted avocado toast with lemon infused olive oils and vegan hot dogs to boot. I love being married to a Master Chef.

CRAVINGS?
I definitely love having something sweet each day, even just a juice (I’ve been cranking the boost juices) or half a black of vegan chocolate has been hitting the spot. Lovewell has been going down a treat too!

REFLECTIONS?
I’m just happy, feeling really grateful that this bub is healthy and hanging out in there doing her thing. I can’t imagine how it feels to be in your anatomy scan and not hear good news, perhaps see something worrisome or maybe the sonographer quietly excuses themselves to get the doctor. I just don’t know how people can survive that, but they do and I’m in awe of their resilience. My heart is with them. The tiny moments of silence today felt like an eternity but we had good news when so many other people have the opposite experience, Mark and I talked about that, acknowledged that and had a moment to recognise our blessings. Each pregnancy, each baby, each healthy child is a pure miracle.