Tuesday, December 20, 2011

A little scare

Yesterday, during the early hours of the morning, I felt uncomfortable and started having cramps.  When I eventually got up for the day, the cramping hadn't subsided and accompanying the worrying aches, was nausea.  I was reluctant to give my doctor a call as I would hate to be perceived as an over anxious pregnant woman, but at my husband's persistence, I decided to give him a call.  After asking about my symptoms, he said I was to go to his offices and he would fit me in.  He needed to measure my cervix to determine if I was possibly going into pre-term labour.

Now pre-term labour isn't what you want to hear at any stage of your pregnancy, but especially not as early as 22 weeks!  We quickly got ready and went to his offices.  Luckily he only kept us waiting for about 15 minutes and then he took us in.  After an internal scan, he said that my cervix was fine - I have never been so relieved to hear news about my cervix!  He then did a quick external scan to check the baby's heartbeat and did a few measurements and everything is going according to schedule and looks healthy.  What a relief!

He attributed the aches and cramps to ligament stretching and growth.  I'm not sure what attributed to the nausea, perhaps it was coincidental.  Nevertheless, I took it extremely easy yesterday, lying down when Lily went to sleep and just relaxing as much as is humanly possible with a busy toddler running about.  Murphy's Law this would happen while my domestic worker is on leave so I had no-one to alleviate the busyness of a toddler!

Today I've experienced a cramp or two, but honestly feel so much better.  Perhaps it was a sign to slow down a little and to realise that I am in fact pregnant.  It is easy to forget when you are running around after your 19 month old and get swept away in the craziness of our daily routine.  We have now extended our next scan by 2 weeks so will only see Baby Boy A mid-January... Can't wait!

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Cutest thing!

Lily is truly the cutest little thing at the moment.  She is like a sponge - copying everything we say and do and just absorbing it all.  This morning she did the cutest little thing... She watched me pick up my bag and sunglasses for our little visit to the shops so she immediately said "glasses" and reached for her own little pair.  I gave them to her and she promptly put them on and walked to the door!

Usually the glasses are on for a few seconds, but today, she wanted to officially wear them on our journey.  I just had to take a photograph - it was too precious!  Just loving this age!  She is a true little character and I fall more and more in love with her every single day.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Damn mosquitoes!

It is that time of year again when the wind, sunshine and heat arrives and along with all those weather elements, comes the dreaded mosquitoes.  Last year Lily was bitten by mosquitoes and had horrendous outbreaks on her little face.  Now, two days ago, she was bitten again and has come out in severe welts on both her little arms and her one leg!  Poor baby looks terrible and so incredibly sore and itchy!

I took her to the doctor this morning and we got a prescription for a steroid syrup to alleviate the itchiness and to hopefully reduce the swelling.  I also got an anti histamine to help with any discomfort.  Luckily I haven't noticed her scratching too much, however, just before I put her down for her midday nap, I saw her scratching at the one welt on the bottom of her little leg.  My heart just aches for her!  I wish I could take it all away and have the mosquitoes biting me instead.

Needless to say, her mosquito net is now back over her cot, her insect repellent stickers are stuck on her cot's panels and I'm off to the shop to buy some more Target spray for the passage outside her room.  I'm nuking these damn mosquitoes with a vengeance!

Proof of the severe reaction my baby experienced :(

Monday, December 5, 2011

My 2 pregnancies so far

I thought I would do a little comparison of my pregnancy with Lily and my pregnancy with her baby brother up to this stage:

The dreaded weight gain:
I started off heavier with Lily than I did with this pregnancy, however, I'm definitely putting on weight faster this time round. I essentially weighed 2kg less at the start of this pregnancy than I weighed at the start of my first pregnancy, but at almost 21 weeks, I weigh exactly the same as I did with Lily.  To date I have gained a dreaded 6kg and hope it slows down!  However, having said that, this is probably my last pregnancy so I kind of have the mindset of why not enjoy it, eat the delicious foods I usually avoid as I'm going to gain weight anyway!  I can worry about it once the baby has arrived.

Maternity clothes:
With both pregnancies I have been relatively lucky in the fact that I've carried small.  I think both of my babies like to lie in my bum area versus the traditional stomach, but as a result, I haven't had to wear maternity clothes too early in my pregnancy.  With Lily my clothes started getting snug at around 22 weeks, however, the first time I wore any actual maternity clothes, I was 24 weeks pregnant.  This pregnancy has found my clothes getting tighter much quicker at around the 19 week mark and today, just 2 days shy of 21 weeks, I am wearing my comfortable maternity jeans.  I don't know what it is that makes me reluctant to relent and wear the more comfy pregnancy clothing - perhaps vanity?  I have now realised I would rather be comfortable than walking around in this heat, pulling in a stomach that doesn't react to being pulled in and having to unbutton my pants every time I sit down!

Baby movement:
With Lily I only began to feel movement at around 18 weeks, whereas with this pregnancy, I felt the first flutters at about 16 weeks.  They say that this is usually the case with the second pregnancy as you know what to feel for.

How I've been feeling:
With both my pregnancies I was exceptionally nauseous during the first trimester, although I didn't actually vomited.  I also went off meat and chicken entirely and craved carbohydrates which my doctor said is best for the nausea.  Obviously my body knew that!  The nausea, if I remember correctly, seemed to last longer in my first pregnancy than my second, however, my second pregnancy has seen me being far more agitated and exhausted.  Perhaps it is due to me looking after a toddler whereas I could relax and take things easy during my pregnancy with Lily.  I also remember suffering from back pain during my first trimester with Lily - something I've gratefully been spared this time around.  My hubby seems to think I'm far moodier this time round than I was with Lily... This is something I don't care to confirm or deny :)

Otherwise, I don't see too many distinct differences in these pregnancies despite the fact that I'm expecting a different sex this time round.  I pray that this pregnancy continues to go smoothly and echoes my first pregnancy in terms of my health, the baby's health and my overall well being.

Friday, December 2, 2011

20 week fetal assessment

So we are officially just over 20 weeks pregnant and had our 2nd fetal assessment scan this morning.  Baby A #2 is still a boy by the look of things (STILL getting my head around this idea!) and he weighs 332g.  We couldn't get a nice length measurement as he wasn't very cooperative and was lying with his back facing my stomach (he is facing my back) and then decided to do some gymnastics and was in all kinds of weird positions.

Everything looks normal with the pregnancy which is always such a relief.  I've been going to the toilet far too much though so the doctor is sending my urine off for further testing just in case there is a UTI present.  In the mean time, bless the doctor, he has prescribed some Aterax for me to help me sleep.  Lately I haven't been sleeping well and I am not sure whether to attribute my lack of sleep to my hundred toilet visits or attribute my toilet visits to my lack of sleep (and me then thinking I need the toilet when in fact that's not really the case).

I had to laugh, the doctor said it MUST be a boy as he had his hand between his legs.  Yes, the touching and fiddling in that area starts in utero!

I cannot believe that we are half way to meeting our little prince.  I cannot even begin to imagine what he is going to look like and often try to picture his little face.  I'm assuming he will have lots of dark hair like his sister and cousin Noa and of course he will be beautiful.  The doctor reckons he has quite a long nose so we shall see.

I am still managing to fit into my normal clothes and have been avoiding my maternity clothes as much as possible, although the button on my jeans does get undone near the end of the day!  I think it will be a matter of days before I relent and go for the more comfy clothes!  Weight wise, I am gaining much faster than I did with Lily and although it is a relative concern, I also feel like this could possibly be my last pregnancy and why not enjoy eating the odd indulgence while I'm getting fat anyway!  So I'm not going to stress too much and just let nature take its course.  I'm now off to wolf down some lunch!