Half way and wearing a smiley...

So this week we are officially half way! Yip, 20 weeks into this whole pregnancy thing and I've got to say, although there are some undesirables that come with pregnancy, there are a lot more things that are enjoyable and I am enjoying it! For now... hehe.

I think my stomach has just exploded though and one undesirable = clothes I could fit last week, I can no longer fit. One enjoyable = I get to buy new clothes, so it's not all that bad. Running, however, has become a little more uncomfortable now as I am just a tad bit bigger, even with my smiley belt on.

Because I just know how much you all LOVE seeing what I look like first thing in the morning!

 A few weeks ago I bought a tummy support belt to wear whilst running. When I mentioned it in a previous post a friend asked me if it was only for pregnancy - No, it's not. You could wear one if you needed to support your back or something like that, but I think they are most commonly worn during pregnancy, and it's great that they support your belly and your back at the same time!

The one I am wearing in the picture above is called a 'smiley' belt, which comes from this website here. It is neoprene, aka wetsuit, material so is a little bulky under my shirt and quite thick which makes you sweat like crazy underneath it. It does help with support though.

"Wear a Smiley Belt during pregnancy to support painful back and pelvic joints or use as a belly band to reduce abdominal heaviness and relieve low back strain."

I got it to help with the 'abdominal heaviness' but found it was quite good for supporting my back too, even though I didn't even realise it needed support. I think it was definitely worth the buy and is even good to wear on long walks, etc. Because I am going to be at my biggest through the hottest months, I am a little unsure of how I am going to go with running and wearing the belt all that time. I guess we will just have to wait and see how that one turns out :)
 

After my run, without the belt on.

I know I had said I would post posts like this one under the CRG Baby tab above, but I am having some issues with figuring out a few things to do with it. So until I can sort it out you will just have to excuxe the occassional baby posts popping up on my main blog page.

Oh, I also just have to tell you, we had the half way scan this week and in it we saw this...

I know these scans are so hard to tell what is going on in them at the best of times, but cock your head to the left and you will see that our baby is giving us a thumbs up... The coolest thing ever we think! As for the sex - we did not find out, although it was rather tempting once we were in there.

Do you have any helpful hints for running/exercising during pregnancy?

What were your favourite and least favourite parts of pregnancy?