Anastasia’s Pregnancy diary - weeks 12-14

My good friend Lisa from Chicago came with her two year old to stay for a few days. Unfortunately my tolerance level, although up from a 1 to about a 3.5, is still worryingly low. A two-year-old in a non-childproofed house is worse than a bull in a china shop. Within 30 minutes of their arrival, my favourite Calvin Klein sunglasses were smashed and cherry handprints stained my yellow seat cushions. I tried to remain calm and cheerful but my acting skills were suffering too.

Luckily, I was distracted by a fantastic gift that Lisa brought me – it’s called First Sounds and it’s a device that allows you to listen to the sounds of your unborn baby via headphones. I couldn’t wait for Nick to get home so we could check out what our little sprout sounded like in there. That night we linked up the double set of headphones and I placed the device on my bare stomach. After much interference, we began to hear some amazing things. The booklet said that a dull ‘thud’ is the baby kicking; a ‘whoosh’ is the nutrients absorbing from the placenta, and knocking sounds indicated further movement against the wall of the uterus. We listened to various thuds, knocks and whooshes, in amazement, for three nights in a row, until one night Nick said, ‘let me try something.’ He put the device on his own stomach. You guessed it – thud, whoosh, and knock-knock. We looked at each other and burst into laughter…the things you find your self doing during pregnancy.

Catch up on Josa Young's pregnancy diary Weeks 12-14.