Because becoming “Mumma” doesn't happen overnight
The 12 week scan is not only to check the wellbeing and development of baby, but to also preform a nuchal translucency test. This test predicts whether a woman is at “greater risk” than other women their age of having a baby with chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down Syndrome. This test is done in two parts. The first is a specialised ultrasound scan which precisely measures the thickness on the back of the foetus’ neck. The second part is a blood test.
While I’m only 11 weeks pregnant my poor Hubby has already had to put up with my snapping, constant complaining, non-stop napping, relentless crying, my annoying need to argue against any valid point he makes, pulling my nose up at the offensively suspect smells he seems to be omitting (now that’s probably not a recent thing, but my sense of smell has currently gone off the charts) and then there’s my general inability to do anywhere near as much as I usually do around the house. Even though I’ve been a complete lump and total pain in the arse, he seems to be taking it all in his stride. Let’s also not forget the fact that I have deprived him of sex for almost 3 months! Which I wrote about a few weeks ago; “The Fear: Why I’ve chosen to give up sex and exercise in the first trimester“. I’m pretty sure he’s thinking he deserves a bloody great big medal by now, and to be honest he probably does.
Sure, due to all my hormonal changes he’s had to take on a little more responsibility around the house and with our son, on top of slogging his guts out at work. However, as he’s not always used to tending to parental and household duties on a large-scale, he can sometimes manage to miss a thing or two. Here’s a great example:
Okay, so far I’ve been experiencing all day sickness, sore breasts, extreme tiredness, bloating of the third degree, not to mention I’m starting to feel as though I need to see an endocrinologist – the hormones causing me to cry all the time are obviously out of control and need reining in – STAT! Oh, did I mention the angry killer facial pimples that have raised their ugly pustule filled heads in the last month?
Now that I’m at week 10, let’s add a couple more to the mix shall we? 
Tension
headaches – front and centre, enter nose bleed – stage left. At the beginning of the week there were a few days in a row where I felt as though my head were in a vice. I was feeling quite the pressure across the front sides of my forehead and found myself constantly rubbing my temples, in the hope the pain would miraculously disappear.
Week 9 and I’ve managed to work my way through a few prominent pregnancy pests, by discovering a preggy hack or two. The first is a personalised technique I’ve developed that I like to call “controlled crying”. I use this technique to tackle my constant crying outbursts head on, and it’s great for when you’re at work or in public. It’s when something or someone triggers an immediate surge of particularly sad emotions (which has been constantly lately) and before I know it my eyeballs start to well up. What I do is I catch myself before the first tear drops and yell to myself (in my head, as I want to avoid coming off super mental to any onlookers) “Get a grip you soft idiot, they’re just hormones!”. Then I quickly blink the excess moisture away, take a deep breath and get on with my day.
