Baby haul

Wow, it feels like forever since I did a baby haul and at the same time it feels like yesterday.

This whole pregnancy has been messing with my sense of the passage of time. Everything is so familiar and foreign at the same time.

So here it is, my first baby haul of this pregnancy. I treated us to a few goodies; I couldn’t help myself. I’m going to try and keep it to a minimum though, as we don’t really need all that much. The beauty of a second baby is that all the big stuff we already have. So I don’t need to buy a pram, car seat, travel cot etc. This leaves all the fun stuff!

The fun part of having another girl is that I kept a lot of the things Willow had and I’m excited to use them again. I recently went through all the boxes I have been storing just to get a picture of what I have hanging around. I love the idea of the two of them wearing the same stuff. I feel super sentimental about a lot of the outfits and I’m excited to see them on a baby again.

I spotted a few gaps and that’s what I’m working on filling now. My girls are going to share very similar seasons, but I think Bubs will have a little more cold weather to contend with. So she needed a few warmer things to wear, which is what I got her.

So here’s a rundown of the purchases I have made so far.

New born

Looking at what I have I noticed that I don’t really have any long sleeve onesies and sleepsuits in newborn size, everything is shorties. November is still springtime for us and can be temperamental. We always get a really cold snap and I thought it best to get a few things that were nice and warm for her.

I got a few long sleeve onesies and sleepsuits from Jet in newborn. I didn’t go overboard, just three outfits and some stock standard onesies. But at least it’s something.

6 – 9 months

The most shopping I have done so far is in the 6-to-9-month category.

I have bought a few long sleeve onesies for layering and I will need to get some more. These ones are from Pick n Pay and they are so soft and lightweight.

I also got two tracksuits from Edgars. These were so sweet, I couldn’t leave them behind. They are made from brushed cotton so they are really warm. She will be going to daycare in the mornings so I want her to have something nice and cozy.

Blankets and things

I found this awesome diaper clutch at Dischem. It’s from Snuggletime which is a great brandy. I’m so happy I found this. I have been looking for something like this and this is the most affordable and the prettiest one I found. It’s great for tossing in your handbag or car for one the go changes.

This beautiful waffle weave bamboo blanket is from Baby City and I cannot wait to use it. It’s so soft and snuggly!

I also got two flannel receiving blankets. These are from Snuggletime too, but I found them at Edgars. I love the prints and we own no blankets like this.

Wishlist

I have a few things on my wishlist that weren’t available when I was pregnant with Willow. These are the more practical buys we will need to make.

I would really like a Mooka breast pump (called a Haka overseas). I have done a lot of research and this is where I think I want to go.

I would also like the Snuggletime baby nest. I have stood in Baby City for ages eyeing it and debating if I should buy it. I will eventually.

Then I’d like a baby wrap. We have the Ergo, but I struggled with it when Willow was tiny. I know I’ll need my hands free a lot in the early days so one of those fabric wraps is something I’d like to try.

From a super practical side, I would like a PVC or vinyl changing mat and a nappy caddy for our upstairs changing area. The changing mat we had with Willow is long gone and needs to be replaced.

I think we need new sheets for the camp cot as well. The ones we have are quite stained.

A fluffy blanket – We got the most beautiful blanker for Willow from Phoebe and Floyd which she still uses to this day. I think her sibling needs one as well.

Week 16

We had our most recent OB-GYN appointment and scan last week it was really great.

I had the appointment with the partner in my OB’s practice. She will be the standby doctor should mine be unable to attend the birth, so they like patients to meet and get to know each other before going into labour. I will have a few more appointments with her in the coming months as well. She was really sweet and I liked her straight away.

We had a chat about weight gain before going into the scan. I was a little concerned about how quickly the numbers on the scale seem to be climbing. She didn’t seem too concerned about it though and did a lot to put my mind at ease. I have a separate post coming so I won’t go too into it.

Then we had the scan and everything looked really good. We had the sex confirmed, in case you missed it, we’re having another girl! We also checked all the important stuff. Bubs has a really well-formed skull and spine, which is very good. The facial bones also look to be well formed although a thorough check for cleft palate will be done at 20 weeks. We saw very long legs, a well-defined diaphragm, ribs, a good looking stomach, good cord insertion with very good blood flow.

There was nothing the doctor was concerned about and all the measurements came back as being average or slightly above average. Just like Willow, this little one is measuring a full week ahead (I was 16w3d gestation and the baby was measuring 17w2d). We were given an estimated weight of 190g. We are all prepared for Bubs to come early like Willow did, around 38 weeks again. Now we just have to wait and see.

Unlike Willow, who was always stretching and reaching out, this one is all bundled up and curled up into a little ball. We got an incredibly sweet image of the baby with her little arms up around her face. In the ultrasound she was rubbing its nose.

Even though Bubs is all curled up, she is very busy and was constantly wiggling around. I have been feeling movement pretty consistently since around 15 weeks and get some very strong bops and lots of swishing, fish like feelings.

To end off the appointment we discussed our case of ABO incompatibility jaundice with Willow and the likelihood of it happening again. It was a very traumatic experience with Willow. We know that we will be spending time in the NICU again, but I’d like a shorter stay.

We don’t have all the answers, but we have time to do research and look into options.

How far along? 16 weeks

Baby is the size of a: Avocado

Total weight gain/measurements: I currently weigh about 56kg and am 85cm around, which is a big gain since my last appointment. But I have had a good talk with my doctor and she’s not concerned. I must just keep eating well and exercise.

Maternity clothes: I have added a few handmade items to my wardrobe and I love them.

Stretch marks: Nothing yet

Best moment this week: The scan for sure. It is always a highlight. I love hearing the heartbeat, seeing the Bubs, seeing how she’s grown and developed.

Miss anything? My super fast metabolism, I have always been really stable when it comes to weight. Gaining makes me feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Movement: I have been feeling tons of movement. This little one is very strong. I get lots of little jabs and little swishy movements. A has also been able to feel some movement, but I have to lie very still and point out exactly where she is.

Food cravings:  I have to have tomatoes with pretty much everything. I am a woman obsessed. I particularly like Roma tomatoes. I have also been struggling with sweet cravings. I have no idea how to curb it.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really. I’ve had a few headaches that have been very uncomfortable

Exercise: This week I have tried my best. I had a good workout on Tuesday and a so-so one on Wednesday but managed to squeeze in a quick one on Thursday. This week has been a struggle as I have felt very lazy, but I always feel better when I get moving.

Gender: A girl!

Symptoms: I still get tired easily (to be fair I’ve been tired for about four years now), out of breath after small tasks, I have been in more pain this week from round ligament pain, back pain in the evening, and some pelvic girdle pain if I sit too long to very uncomfortable bloating in the evening, waking in the middle of the night, stuffy nose, always hungry and always thirsty.

Belly button in or out? In but getting flat

Wedding rings on or off? On and feeling a little loose

Happy or moody most of the time: I’ve been in a great mood this week, it helps that the construction in our home is finished and I have my house back. The bathrooms look great, I can water my plants, I got to see my baby. It’s been a good week.

Looking forward to: a calmer week now that all the construction in our home is sorted out. We still had people popping in and out last week to do odd jobs here and there. I also hope to get together with friends on the weekend.

First trimester health and workouts

 

Now that the first trimester is behind me and I’m starting to feel a lot better about life, in general, I find myself looking back on it and feeling really proud.

Even though I felt awful for 90% of it, I made much better choices than I did with my pregnancy with Willow. From that perspective, this baby has been easier on me. Even though I felt sick, I never really had food aversions aside from coffee, tomatoes, and cauliflower. Everything else I was able to eat and I craved water so I drank a lot of it. With Willow, I had major food aversions, particularly to meat in any shape or form and strong smelling/tasting veggies like broccoli and courgettes. It was so bad that on more than one occasion I wouldn’t let A cook it in the house. It lasted pretty much my whole pregnancy.

I was also able to work out a lot more this time than I did with Willow. I found myself doing quite a few workout sessions and taking long walks. They went a long way towards helping me feel better.

I also found I wasn’t as tired this pregnancy. With Willow all I wanted to do was sleep, but this time I just wanted to puke. It’s amazing how pregnancies can be so different. The neighborhood I live in is quite hilly and getting out into the crisp air and getting my heart rate going was great for clearing my head and keeping nausea at bay for a short while.

I tried to make sure I was doing some kind of squats workout at least three times a week. I particularly liked Lucy Wyndham Reed’s First Trimester Workout which always made me sweat and feel like I had worked hard. I also liked this workout I found on Pinterest.

 

So far the second trimester has proved more challenging. I am hungry all the time now and am starting to experience cravings. I try to make healthy choices, but I’m not perfect. I have found myself to be sticking to the workouts on a pretty regular basis which I am super happy about. I guess I just need to try to be more consistent about it.

Baby H #2 is a…

GIRL! That’s right we’re adding another little lady to our clan. I’m pretty stoked about it.

To be honest A and I both had a feeling it was another girl so it really came as no surprise. Call it mother’s intuition, but I just had a feeling.

We initially found out during our NT scan. My Dr asked us if we wanted to know the sex and we both said yes. She then had a look and said, it looks like another girl. A and I just looked at each other and smiled. I remember she remarked on how we weren’t surprised. I had been calling the baby ‘her’ and ‘she’ pretty much since conception, I had dreamed about her and just like Willow when I thought about her name I could see her in my head.

I’m not sure how I would have handled the news of a boy to be honest. It would have been a big surprise to be sure!

We’ve got a name lined up (to be fair, we had a boy name in the pipeline too, we’re super prepared like that). I love her name. I was struggling to connect to a name this time and A actually picked this one out and I connected to it straight away. Having a strong connection to a name is super important to me. So I’m really happy that we both found something we love.

It’s nice that we get to reuse all our girly things from Willow, especially since I have a lot of things that Willow never got to wear or only wore one or twice. I have bought her a few of her own things already (I couldn’t help myself!) everyone deserves special things of their own.

I have two sisters and I couldn’t imagine life without them. My childhood is filled with memories of giggling in the back of the car, playing games, epic fights and more. I’m super excited to see my girls grow up and develop that special bond sisters have.

Baby H #2: Week 15

My feet are slowly disappearing under the bump. Also, this is the unfinished floor in our bathroom

Another week has come and gone. Come to think of it, June is almost gone too. Crazy.

The first trimester seemed to drag on and on, but so far this one is flying by. I think it’s because we have so much going on. Regardless of the cause, there goes week 15 in a flash and here we are 16 weeks pregnant.

This week was a lot better. We didn’t have any major disasters. our washing machine came back from the repair shop and is working well. In fact, things have been downright productive. It’s a great feeling.

The progress on the bathrooms is going well. We were told the work would be finished early this week, with the exception of the shower glass. It’s very exciting and I cannot wait to get all our stuff moved back in.

The nest part of all the cleaning is that Willow is playing with toys she hasn’t played with for ages.

I also spent the weekend cleaning house so to speak. You know you have those tasks that you put off for ages and when you finally buckle down and do them then they don’t seem so bad? Yeah, I ticked three off my list this weekend. I feel like the heavyweight champion of the world! I seem to have hit nesting in a big way. On Saturday I cleaned out the cupboard we have under the stairs. This is supposed to be extra storage that also houses all our cleaning equipment and supplies. But it does tend to become a very convenient dumping ground as you can hide things in there and close the door. In the past few months, things have gotten seriously out of control in that cupboard. So on Saturday I put on my big girl panties and dealt with it. We have sent a few things to the charity shops, a lot was thrown away (I had about five half-empty bottles of tile cleaner in there!) and everything got cleaned and put back in a sensible fashion. It is so much better! I’m really proud of it.

Then I was on a roll. I had a clothing clear out and took three bags to H&M for recycling. I went through the whole house, collected all Willow’s toys and sorted through them. Again a lot of things were thrown out or set aside to be sent to the school. A few were put up for Bubs, but more than that we just sorted, put sets back together and tidied up. It’s amazing how much better everything looks.

I think I’ll tackle a major task like this every free weekend while the nesting urge is around. It’s a great motivator.

How far along? 15 weeks

Baby is the size of a: Pear

Total weight gain/measurements: I seem to have put on a bit more already. This is a little ridiculous. I’ll chat with my doctor about it. I have a theory. I’m still in healthy range at 56kg, but it’s coming on too quickly for my liking.

Maternity clothes: I have embraced the maternity clothing lifestyle. I’m much happier for it.

Stretch marks: Nothing yet

Best moment this week: The sense of accomplishment from a good tidy up session and taking Willow to watch her first movie at the big screen on Sunday

Miss anything? Glass on the shower. It’s something you really take for granted, but it’s so much easier to take a shower when you have glass.

Movement: I have begun to feel what I’m calling little bops every now and again. Even A has felt the tiniest little bit of movement from the outside. It definitely helps when you know what baby movements feel like.

Food cravings:  So many cravings! Mostly I just want to eat all the food all the time. But I am also almost always desperate for sweet things. It’s really, really hard to fight them off.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really. I have been very stable for a few weeks now.

Exercise: This week was pretty good. I got in two strength sessions and two really good walks. Even though I didn’t feel like going and I’m proud that I did. I’m also counting all the cleaning as a workout.

Gender: We think we know! Waiting for the next scan to confirm

Symptoms: I still get tired easily (to be fair I’ve been tired for about four years now), out of breath after small tasks, round ligament pain, back pain in the evening, bloating and feeling uncomfortable in the evening, waking in the middle of the night, stuffy nose, always hungry and always thirsty. This week I have also developed some really painful headaches

Belly button in or out? In but getting flat

Wedding rings on or off? On and feeling a little loose

Happy or moody most of the time: It was a better week and I found myself happy most of the time. Although I have a very short temper these days.

Looking forward to: Our scan tomorrow! I love scans. They help ease my mind that everything is going well. I hope we can confirm gender as well.

Differences in my First Trimesters

14 weeks with Willow

14 weeks with baby #2

I had the idea to write this post long before I was actually pregnant.

I have heard a lot about how no two pregnancies are the same and  I know a lot of people personally who have said that their pregnancies were like night and day.

But I have been finding it quite hard to remember what my first trimester with Willow was like. I seem to have blocked most of it from my memory. I have gone through my blog posts from the time to try and remind myself, and have managed to gather enough to put this together. I think its really interesting to look at the differences.

Nausea

I thought my nausea with Willow was quite intense in the beginning. And for that pregnancy, the first few weeks were the worst time for me. We know now it was because there were two embryos in the early weeks. It got a lot better and was most intense from weeks 8 to 12. I remember I woke up one morning and it was gone. I had a long wait until our next ultrasound where I didn’t look or feel pregnant at all. I remember it being quite disconcerting. I kept wondering if the baby was still there.

With this pregnancy, I was sick from before I took the pregnancy test until about 13 weeks. It really kicked up a gear in week 5 and got progressively worse week by week. At first, I was only sick in the afternoons and evenings and by week 9 I would wake up sick and remain that way all day long.

I never threw up during both my pregnancies, but I never even came close with Willow. With this pregnancy, there have been many times when I thought it was imminent. and I have actually sat in the bathroom on a few occasions waiting for it to happen.

With my second pregnancy, the nausea went away in degrees. I from week 10 or so I started feeling less nauseated. Slowly I went from feeling sick all day, every day to feeling sick a lot of the time to feeling sick most days to every few days until finally it was gone.

Fatigue

In my mind, the fatigue with Willow was far worse. I have clear memories of driving to a nearby park, finding a shady tree to park under and sleeping in the back seat of my car during my lunch breaks with Willow.

With this pregnancy, I have hardly napped. I have been finished at the end of the day, but I found that I could get through just by taking it easier. Maybe I just know how to cope better? Maybe it was the result of being more active. Who knows.?

Headaches

With Willow, I had terrible headaches. I remember thinking at the time it was my worst symptom and there was nothing I could do to alleviate the pain. This time around I have had an odd headache but nothing serious.

Aversions

With Willow, I could not tolerate raw meat in any shape or form and red meat was a total turn off for my entire pregnancy. I also had an intense dislike for most vegetables in the first trimester.

This time, its coffee. I could not smell coffee without wanting to be sick. I love coffee but you couldn’t bring it near me. I also wasn’t a fan of cauliflower, tomatoes and most forms of take-out make me feel instantly sick.

Skin issues

With Willow I had horrible hormonal breakouts on my chin. Deep, painful, under the skin blemishes that would hang around for weeks and make my whole face ache.

With this pregnancy, I have had the odd breakout, but on the whole, my skin looks bright and clear (aside from the super dark circles under my eyes.) I’m not sure if this is a product of my skincare routine, but I feel it’s pregnancy related.

Baby bump

Then finally there is how soon I started showing. With Willow, I felt I popped very early with a discernible baby bump from about 15 weeks and I looked really pregnant from 18 weeks.

This time my body engaged pregnancy mode as soon as I took the test. Yes, I had some pretty extreme bloating, but there was a definite baby bump there from as early as 7 weeks. I seem to have plateaued now, but at 15 weeks I look like I did at about 18 weeks. I also feel like I’m carrying a little lower than I did with Willow.

14 weeks with Willow

14 weeks with baby #2

 

Baby H #2: Week 14

The closest we’ll get to a bump shot this week. Please note the total chaos of my bedroom and the state of my face. This is what pregnancy with a head cold looks like. #reallife

Well, I am thoroughly over this week. I am very happy to see the back of it and to be moving forward, hopefully onto better things.

I’m not sure what happened but everything that could go wrong this week did. It all started when the drainage pump on my dishwasher broke last Thursday. This in itself is not the end of the world. We’ve had the dishwasher for a long time.

A and my dad tried to fix it themselves and after flooding the kitchen decided the job was too big for them.  We found an awesome appliance company that came and took it away to repair it on Friday. But this meant I was left without a dishwasher all weekend.

I finally got the dishwasher back late on Tuesday afternoon. In the process of putting it back in its position, they managed to bend one of the inlet taps for my appliances. A took a look at it and it broke. Cue another flood. Nothing we could do, including turning off the main water to the house stopped the deluge. A tried to put the piece back into the pipe to see if that would help, but it just got stuck. At this point, we admitted we needed a plumber.

Luckily for us, one of our neighbours is a plumber and A gave him a call. He was so incredibly sweet and came to have a look. He managed to get the stuck piece out and stop the leak with a temporary fix. He then got the right part and came back the next day to finish the repair.

Now let me just mention that Willow had kept me up all night on Monday night with a cough that would not allow her to sleep. So she kept climbing into bed with me, tossing and turning in my bed and coughing non-stop all night. So I was not at my best to start with but the whole experience pushed me into a hormone-driven pregnancy break down.

A and I have also been sleeping in the guest room this week because we are having our bathroom renovated and the smell of the tiling adhesive made me feel ill. At least our bathroom is looking amazing. But that’s a story for another post.

Then to just add salt to the wound my washing machine packed up late on Thursday night. Joy of joys. A tried to troubleshoot it, but once again it was beyond our abilities. So the appliance people were called back, they could only come on Saturday morning to take it away. It was due to be back on Monday but will probably only make it back on Tuesday.

Hopefully, the coming week will be a lot less challenging. I’m happy to be back in my own bed with a working toilet in my bathroom.

How far along? 14 weeks

Baby is the size of a: Peach

Total weight gain/measurements: Finally got up the courage to weigh myself and it’s not as bad as I thought. Up to 55.5kg no, a little more than I would like, but I’ll take it. My belly is 85cm around.

Maternity clothes: I have embraced the maternity clothing lifestyle. I’m much happier for it.

Stretch marks: Nothing yet

Best moment this week: Sleeping in my own bed and watching our bathroom come together.

Miss anything? I really wanted a Gin and Tonic on world gin day.

Movement: I keep thinking that I am feeling something and then I talk myself out of it.

Food cravings:  All the sweets! I just want biscuits and doughnuts and cake and chocolate and rusks. It’s bad.

Anything making you queasy or sick? I managed to get a little head cold brought on, I think, from all the construction dust. But I think I’m well and truly over the nausea

Exercise: This week was a total loss on the exercise front unless you count climbing the stairs in my house.

Gender: We think we know! Waiting for the next scan to confirm

Symptoms: super emotional and prone to overreaction, get tired easily, out of breath after small tasks, round ligament pain, back pain in the evening, bloating and feeling uncomfortable in the evening, waking in the middle of the night, stuffy nose, always hungry and always thirsty.

Belly button in or out? In but getting flat

Wedding rings on or off? On and feeling a little loose

Happy or moody most of the time: It was a stressful week and I really felt it emotionally. I had a few crying breakdowns. I have been more emotional in general this pregnancy.

Looking forward to: In order of what is coming up: The first shower in our new shower, which should happen very soon! Oh and a bath, our room being dust free and our upcoming scan

 

 

Willow’s take on the pregnancy so far

We waited quite a while before having a proper conversation with Willow about the baby.

Given her age (she will be almost four when the baby is born), I felt it would be better if we could show her sonogram pictures where it looks like a real baby and let her know if she’s getting a brother or a sister. We also wanted me to have a substantial bump, all things that would help make it more ‘real’ for her if that makes sense.

I have spent a lot of time over the past few weeks talking to her about baby brothers and sisters and pointing out her friends that have a brother or sister. I wanted her to be able to make the connection between ‘the baby in my tummy’ and real brothers and sisters she’s interacted with on an everyday basis.

She is at an age where she is totally enamoured with babies and wants to be around them and play with them. It’s incredibly sweet to watch.

When the time came we sat her down and explained what was going on. I tried to be as excited about it as possible. But we didn’t put pressure on her to react or be happy about the news. She didn’t have much of a reaction on the day at all, to be honest. But as the days passed she started showing more interest. I think she had had some time to process the information in her own way and was coming to terms with it.

A big impact this pregnancy has had on Willow so far is that I haven’t been able to pick her up and carry her around as much as I used to. Or than Willow can’t jump on me or climb all over me – quite frankly it’s very painful for me when she does that and I often get an elbow to the boob, which is excruciating at this point. So I made sure to explain to her that it’s because she is a big girl now and that she needs to learn to be gentle because mommy and daddy need her help looking after her baby.

It’s a hard thing to do because you don’t want to make it seem like she can’t do things because of the baby, but she needs to understand that things hurt mommy because she’s pregnant. And we needed to explain all this to her on a level she understands.

On my evenings to put her to bed we will sit and quietly talk about the baby growing in my tummy. Willow can sing it a song, kiss or hug it. She’s fascinated by how big my tummy is. The other night she was trying to push her tummy out too.

I can see she’s been thinking about it because she’s now starting to ask me questions. We’ve had some gems.

“How does the baby come out?” to which I answered we will go to the doctor and the doctor will help take the baby out.

I had previously explained to her that my tummy will grow very big as the baby gets bigger. So her next question was if the doctor would pop my tummy like a balloon to get the baby out.

Her logic amazed me. You can see she’s been thinking about this and has worked out that the baby needs to come out somehow, but she’s not sure how. Her observations are so clever. I look forward to hearing more over the coming months.

Baby H #2: Week 13

Goodbye first trimester! We have rounded the corner, turned the page, said goodbye to the icky first trimester. On Sunday I rolled over into week 14. So here’s what week 13 was like for us.

Week 13 was characterised by extreme, never-ending, insatiable hunger. I swear, no matter how much I ate I felt like I was never satisfied. It drove me crazy. I feel like I may have put on about 100 kilos in this week alone. If something was left unattended for any length of time chances are I was going to eat it.

I also found myself feeling really big and cumbersome this week. My bump is really out there and its already starting to get in the way. I have to brace my legs to bend down and pick things up, I can’t squeeze through small spaces, I need to make room when people want to sneak past me. It escalated quickly. I’m a little scared. This was me at 20 weeks+ with Willow. How big am I going to be at the end of my third trimester with this one?!

I am also finding myself out of breath after the simplest tasks these days. Walking up the stairs? Climbing into bed? Tidying up after Willow? All of it results in me huffing and puffing like a manic. When they say your second pregnancy goes by at lightning speed I think they also mean you progress through it so much quicker as well.

I have been sleeping well this week, my skin looks great, I feel like I need a haircut already and my nails look great. So I’m not just complaining on this side. I can’t wait to start feeling movement. Every morning and evening I lay very still in bed and concentrate really hard to see if I can feel anything yet.

How far along? 13 weeks

Baby is the size of a: Kiwi

Total weight gain/measurements: I’m scared to step on the scale! At my Dr’s appointment 10 days ago I was just about 54kg and about a week later I was well over that. My belly is 83cm around.

Maternity clothes: I am almost exclusively wearing maternity pants. But still a mix of tops. Now that everyone knows I can start wearing all my maternity stuff.

Stretch marks: Nothing yet

Best moment this week: We had a wonderful weekend with my parents. It was my Dad’s birthday so it was a lot of fun. We also got to pick out the tiles for our new bathrooms which are being renovated from this week.

Miss anything? Feeling full after a meal.

Movement: Nothing yet, but I’m hoping soon. I’ve heard you can feel the baby sooner in subsequent pregnancies.

Food cravings:  I have had a huge craving for tomatoes this week; specifically sandwiches with tomatoes on it. And water. I am always thirsty.

Anything making you queasy or sick? Sometimes I feel ill after breakfast, especially is I ate too quickly. But its nothing compared to the morning sickness I had.

Exercise: Yes, I got two good workouts in last week that left me stiff. It felt really good. I need to walk more though.

Gender: We think we know! Waiting for the next scan to confirm

Symptoms: get tired easily, out of breath after small tasks, round ligament pain, back pain in the evening, bloating and feeling uncomfortable in the evening, waking in the middle of the night, stuffy nose, always hungry and always thirsty.

Belly button in or out? In but getting flat

Wedding rings on or off? On and feeling a little loose

Happy or moody most of the time: I was pretty happy last week, although I find my temper to be quite short these days.

Looking forward to: our bathrooms being finished! I cannot wait to see what they look like

 

 

The month that was: May 2018

Pretty leaves on an afternoon walk

It’s been a while since I have done a monthly round-up and now you know why I have been so quiet. I am starting to feel like my old self again and am full of excitement for what is to come.

Sewing – nothing. I hope to get back into the swing of things soon. I’d like to try my hand at making a few maternity things, but up until now, I have had no energy for sewing.

Making – instead of sewing, I have been knitting. I have found it a nice distraction while I’ve been in bed feeling gross. I made a little baby jersey for our new little nephew and I finished a jersey I started for myself months ago. I’m currently in the middle of another jersey for myself and I want to knit something for Willow and the new little one.

Willow and I joined friends on a trip to the zoo and she loved every moment of it

Cooking – I have finally been able to cook again in the last week or so. I haven’t done anything grand or extravagant, but rather simple meals for us. I’m working up to it. I hope to get some batch cooking done in a few months so I had better get back into practice.

Drinking – Rooibos tea. I find myself really wanting some coffee, but the thought of it still makes me feel queasy. I have also been enjoying hat water and lemon with honey.

Snuggles in a patch of sunlight with my little girl. She’s been so clingy since I fell pregnant. She’s my little shadow

Hoping – that this burst of energy and the disappearance of the nausea is the start of the second-trimester honeymoon phase. I am very much looking forward to being productive and getting stuff done.

Loving – All the little pictures we got from our NT scan. It was so surreal like I couldn’t believe I had a baby inside me. Or that it was so big!

A healthy little bub that still has a lot of growing to do

Hating – nothing at the moment. I feel very zen now that I don’t want to be sick all the time.

Buying – I haven’t bought anything yet, but I am starting to itch to buy all the baby things. We don’t really need much, but that urge is still there. Early nesting maybe?

Late afternoon sunshine and a braai

 

Watching – I have watched all sort of random stuff on Netflix while I’ve been in bed. I’ve really enjoyed Friends, a documentary series called Metropolis and the Making for the Mob

Sporting – Oversized button-down shirts and chunky knits with my maternity jeans. I have a noticeable bump, but it can still look like I just ate too many donuts. Soon though there will be no hiding it.

My uniform of late: maternity jeans and a large button down shirt. Also, how big is my bump already? This is 13 weeks!

Laughing – at Willow; her vocabulary has expanded so much and she now tells me the most entertaining stories. I love hearing things from her perspective. I love how she pronounces words.

Admiring – The really cute maternity clothing on Spree, but it’s all winter stuff and I’m not that big yet. I just hope they get some really nice stuff for spring and summer that is just as cute.

Miss Willow is constantly asking tohave her photo taken. You can see the last remains of a scrape she got from a fall on her face here.

Thinking – about what life is going to be like in a few months time. I won’t lie, the thought of having two children is pretty terrifying at times, but also very exciting. I am so looking forward to breastfeeding again and to newborn snuggles.

Decorating – well, not decorating so much as planning. We’re looking into having our bathrooms redone before the baby comes. We’ve had someone come take a look and the plan is lovely. We just need to see how we can budget it all in.

In other exciting news we’re having our bathrooms redone and we went to choose tiles the other day. I’m so excited!

Realising – That I actually am pregnant and we will have a newborn before the end of the year. That was a real moment let me tell you!

Planning – doctor’s appointments, maternity leave, all that good stuff. Babies have a lot of admin.

I love how a maternity pillow is also great for toddler and cat sleep!

Needing – more sleep! I get tired so easily these days and it feels like I’m not getting enough sleep even though I pass out pretty early most nights. I think it’s my body already telling me to take it easy