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Well, I never thought I’d be doing this again, but here we are, almost at the end of the first trimester of our fourth, and final, pregnancy.

If you read my blog regularly (and, thanks to this little bean making me feel like absolute shite, there hasn’t been many posts this year at all!), you will probably know that last October, we found out I was unexpectedly pregnant with baby number four. We had always thought we would stop at three, to the point that we got rid of all the baby stuff. When we realised I was pregnant, we were over the moon, but sadly, it wasn’t meant to be and three weeks later, I had a miscarriage. Straight away, we knew that we wanted another baby. I don’t think anyone gets to old age and regrets a baby, but people do get to old age and regret not having a baby, and with that in mind, we decided to see what happened for a couple of months.

On Christmas Eve, after a few days of experiencing those all-familiar early symptoms, I did that pee on a stick thing, and two lines, as bright as anything, appeared within minutes. It was the best Christmas present we could have hoped for.

I didn’t feel too bad to begin with, but by around five or six weeks, I started feeling damn rough. Touch wood, I’ve only been sick once, and that was heartburn related more than anything. That has surprised me, because with all three of the boys I was sick morning, noon and night for the first 12 weeks or so. I’ve felt pretty sick at times though, but the worst thing was the lack of energy. I know tiredness is a normal thing in early preganancy, but this was next level. If I sat down, I fell asleep. I was napping most afternoons when Ben was at school, going to bed at 8pm and sleeping the whole night through and still felt exhausted the next day. Thankfully, while I’m obviously more tired than normal, I’m feeling a lot more human and have a lot more energy now.

The cravings have been pretty intense so far as well, more so than I remember with the boys. With all three of them, I wanted ice cold milk. This time it seems to be fruit. I’m not the biggest fruit lover normally, but I can’t get enough of apples, pears, grapes and blueberries at the moment. I can think of worse cravings to have!

Being baby number four, I’ve developed a bump earlier, and have started wearing the odd bit of maternity wear, including these lush leggings from Love Leggings. They are long enough, they’re gorgeously thick and they fit perfectly over my ever-growing bump. For under £14 a pair, I’m well impressed and will be adding a few more to my collection in various colours. I’m due in September, so I’m hoping that a few pairs of leggings and long line t-shirts, as well as my huge collection of maxi dresses, will be enough to keep me going this time.

Because I have a higher BMI, and because I suffered a third-degree tear when I had Ben, I have to be under consultant care this time around, and I see him/her at the end of April. I will more than likely be offered a c-section this time around, and it is something I am considering. It isn’t my ideal birth plan, but, while I recovered brilliantly from the tear before, there is no guarantee that I would this time. Plus, I would have the option of being sterilised while there – we definitely do not want any more babies after this one!