Someone shared this very pertinent, beautifully written poem with me about having a second child. I read it with tears streaming down my face - it really hit home and brought out so many emotions.
Here it is:
LOVING TWO
I walk along holding your 2-year-old hand, basking in the glow of our magical relationship.
Suddenly I feel a kick from within, as if to remind me that our time alone is limited.
And I wonder, how could I love another child as I love you?
Then he is born, and I watch you.
I watch at the pain you feel at having to share me as you have never shared me before.
I hear you telling me in your own way, “Please love only me” and I hear myself telling you in mine “I can’t”.
Knowing in fact that I never can again.
You cry, I cry with you.
I almost see our baby as an intruder on the precious relationship we once shared.
A relationship we can never have again.
But then, barely noticing, I find myself attached to that new being, and feeling almost guilty.
I’m afraid to let you see me enjoying him — as though I am betraying you.
But then I notice your resentment change, first to curiosity, then to protectiveness, finally to genuine affection.
More days pass, and we are settling into a new routine.
The memory of days with just the two of us is fading fast.
But something is replacing those wonderful times we shared, just us two.
There are new times — only now we are three.
I watch the love between you grow, the way you look at each other, touch each other.
I watch how he adores you, as I have for so long.
I see how excited you are by each of her new accomplishments.
I begin to realize that I haven’t taken something from you, I’ve given something to you.
I notice that I am no longer afraid to share my love openly with both of you.
I find that my love for each of you is as different as you are, but equally strong.
And my question is finally answered to my amazement.
Yes, I can love another child as much as I love you, only differently.
And although I realize that you may have to share my time, I know you’ll never share my love.
There’s enough of that for both of you — you each have your own supply.
I love you both and I thank you both for blessing my life.
—Author Unknown
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
21 month angel
Even though the heading of this latest entry is 21 months, Lily is in fact 6 days away from her 22 months "mirthday", but I just felt it necessary to give an update on my precious little angel. I know I say this in almost every single post, but she is honestly too adorable, entertaining us on an almost hourly basis with her cute antics and infectious laugh.
Some of the things she is doing that need mentioning:
Some of the things she is doing that need mentioning:
- Lily can now count to 12! Something I'm very proud of as none of her little friends are doing so yet. I think she is making up for her "slow" start with crawling and walking so at least now I can say she is doing some things ahead of her peers.
- She says "I love you mommy/daddy/ganny/boka" on a daily basis. Just melts the heart!
- She calls Harley "Harley Boy". Have no idea where this comes from but is ever so cute.
- Lily is still obsessed with planes and helicopters and has to run outside as soon as she hears one flying overhead. She shouts "Hello eloplane / Bye bye eloplane!" I'm so excited as next week we are flying to Johannesburg for my cousin's wedding. I can't wait to see how excited she is at the airport and then of course when we board the plane and fly! I hope she is as excited on the plane as she is when she sees them flying by.
- She is still very fond of her iPad which thankfully provides many hours of fun and educational entertainment at the same time. It is still truly astonishing how she manoeuvres herself around the apps until she comes to the one she wants to play with.
- Lily also knows the names and sounds of so many animals - too many to list actually. She is amazing!
- She is stringing 3 and sometimes 4 words together to form little sentences so every day we are learning to communicate with each other better. It is now so much easier!
- She loves listening to her nursery rhymes in my car and tells me to put them on as soon as we start our journey. No more 5FM or KFM for mommy! She even asks for the particular song she wants - "Nana nana nana" is for the chicken dance song; "Pokey" is for Hokey Pokey" and "Clock" is for Hickory Dickory Dock.
- Lily has started to use the potty in the evenings just before her bath. I place her on her little potty seat and she reads a magazine while the bath water is running. Sometimes she will make a wee, other times not. We make a huge fuss when she does wee and just ignore the fact that she hasn't when she doesn't. She is definitely aware of the fact that she is weeing and pooing now as she sometimes tells us just before it happens. So I'm watching the signs for advancing her potty training although I'm in no rush with her little baby brother arriving soon.
- Sleep wise Lily is still a dream sleeping from 7:30pm-7am most nights with a decent 2-2.5 hour nap during the day, even while we are doing noisy renovations.
- The temper tantrums are starting although thankfully are few and far between. Hopefully it stays this way...
- Lily is still a terrible eater! I battle with her on most days for most meals. At the moment I can only rely on sausage, biltong, sometimes yoghurt, some fruit, cheddar cheese and dried fruit to fill her little tummy. She will NOT eat anything she doesn't recognise! Of course chocolate, sweets, ice-cream and chips go down without any problem! I'm relying on a daily vitamin for her to get some nutrition and praying that things improve soon. It has been like this for 6 months now so I really do hope it's nothing permanent.
- I'm not sure whether it is an age related thing or whether she knows a little brother is coming soon, but Lily will very seldom play on her own these days. Every time she wants to do something, it is "come mommy, come mommy" with an accompanied hand gesture willing me to follow her. Usually I wouldn't mind, but with my growing belly, it isn't easy for me to crawl on the floor, crawl into her cardboard house or sit in her sandpit! So I feel guilty in that I find myself saying no quite often. I try my best or we go for a drive to granny's house so her loving grandparents can take on some of the burden! Thank goodness for my folks!
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Renovations
I can't believe that we decided literally at the last minute, to do renovations on our house. We are cutting the completion date so fine with the birth of our little guy, it is crazy! We have been contemplating doing renovations for quite some time, but only at the 11th hour did my dear hubby give the builder the go-ahead. The builder seems to be confident that the majority of the building will be completed by the end of March - I really hope and pray that he is right!
However scary the notion that we may still be busy with contractors, painters and the like when baby arrives, I am considerably calm about the matter. I suppose it has to do with the fact that there isn't much I can do about the whole thing should we go over the proposed deadline. Quite contrary to my nature, I'm at peace with the fact that the banging, unwanted intruders and mess may be a part of my life for longer than anticipated. I'm taking the stance that should completion happen prior to our little one's arrival, we have reason to celebrate!
I'm also in complete astonishment at my angel Lily. I had made plans to go to Granny and Grandpa during building for her day time naps due to the noise literally taking place right outside her bedroom window, but to my utter amazement, she has been sleeping through it all. I'm truly blessed with a great, deep sleeper - long may it last! Perhaps my fears of a crying newborn baby upsetting her wonderful sleep routine are going to be unfounded. I can only hope!
So at the end of all the mess, noise and inconveniences, we will have an extra upstairs room which will act as a play room, TV room and a tiny office. Gone will be the days of toys littering my downstairs lounge and hubby's bar area! Obviously there will still be evidence of toddlers inhabiting this house in our downstairs areas, but by a far less significant amount. I'm excited for the new decor ideas, for doing up Lily's new toddler bedroom and for our house to finally be repainted and looking gorgeous! It will definitely all be worthwhile in the end - something I have to keep reminding myself of when the noise levels, frustrating phone calls and admin gets a little too much! Exciting times ahead!
However scary the notion that we may still be busy with contractors, painters and the like when baby arrives, I am considerably calm about the matter. I suppose it has to do with the fact that there isn't much I can do about the whole thing should we go over the proposed deadline. Quite contrary to my nature, I'm at peace with the fact that the banging, unwanted intruders and mess may be a part of my life for longer than anticipated. I'm taking the stance that should completion happen prior to our little one's arrival, we have reason to celebrate!
I'm also in complete astonishment at my angel Lily. I had made plans to go to Granny and Grandpa during building for her day time naps due to the noise literally taking place right outside her bedroom window, but to my utter amazement, she has been sleeping through it all. I'm truly blessed with a great, deep sleeper - long may it last! Perhaps my fears of a crying newborn baby upsetting her wonderful sleep routine are going to be unfounded. I can only hope!
So at the end of all the mess, noise and inconveniences, we will have an extra upstairs room which will act as a play room, TV room and a tiny office. Gone will be the days of toys littering my downstairs lounge and hubby's bar area! Obviously there will still be evidence of toddlers inhabiting this house in our downstairs areas, but by a far less significant amount. I'm excited for the new decor ideas, for doing up Lily's new toddler bedroom and for our house to finally be repainted and looking gorgeous! It will definitely all be worthwhile in the end - something I have to keep reminding myself of when the noise levels, frustrating phone calls and admin gets a little too much! Exciting times ahead!
Monday, February 13, 2012
30 week scan
Today I went to my first scan on my own. My hubby was extremely hectic at work so I convinced him that this scan would be absolutely routine and ultimately healthy so he wasn't to worry and that he could join me at all the others. Thankfully, as predicted, the scan was perfect. Our little man is growing perfectly and weighs between 1.4 and 1.6kg. He is a big baby compared to his little sister who at this stage of pregnancy was just on 1kg.
He is still lying very much in a breech position and typically, like many breech babies, he has quite a large round head. I'm assuming this is because his head isn't squashed lying down in my pelvis where it should be or due to the large brain our clever little boy is growing :) Either way, the doctor still highly doubts there will be any change in his position, leaving me with punches under my right ribs and not feeling as much activity as I was feeling due to his legs almost pushing backwards towards my spine.
Due to the breech position, we are almost 100% looking at another c-section delivery. I'm happy with that though - I'm comfortable with what the doctor recommends and what's ultimately healthier for both baby and myself. I need to come through all of it for my little family as healthily as I went into the birth. Thinking about this does get me rather emotional though... When I had Lily, I was so relaxed, totally excited about meeting my little girl and I honestly had no care in the world. I wasn't nervous, anxious or scared. However, when I think about going into theatre for this birth, I find myself getting quite overwhelmed. I think I will be scared for Daniel, and especially for Lily. I want to always be here for her and just hope and pray that all goes as planned during my operation. As I said, I need to come out of this whole experience the same way I ventured into it - a healthy and happy mommy!
I know all will go well and am excited to meet my little man. He is definitely giving us no preview of what he looks like though and definitely wants the surprise to wait until his arrival. We tried to see him on the 3D scan on two occasions and due to his position, we couldn't get anything close to a decent picture. So we will have to wait and see - a day short of 2 months left to go!
He is still lying very much in a breech position and typically, like many breech babies, he has quite a large round head. I'm assuming this is because his head isn't squashed lying down in my pelvis where it should be or due to the large brain our clever little boy is growing :) Either way, the doctor still highly doubts there will be any change in his position, leaving me with punches under my right ribs and not feeling as much activity as I was feeling due to his legs almost pushing backwards towards my spine.
Due to the breech position, we are almost 100% looking at another c-section delivery. I'm happy with that though - I'm comfortable with what the doctor recommends and what's ultimately healthier for both baby and myself. I need to come through all of it for my little family as healthily as I went into the birth. Thinking about this does get me rather emotional though... When I had Lily, I was so relaxed, totally excited about meeting my little girl and I honestly had no care in the world. I wasn't nervous, anxious or scared. However, when I think about going into theatre for this birth, I find myself getting quite overwhelmed. I think I will be scared for Daniel, and especially for Lily. I want to always be here for her and just hope and pray that all goes as planned during my operation. As I said, I need to come out of this whole experience the same way I ventured into it - a healthy and happy mommy!
I know all will go well and am excited to meet my little man. He is definitely giving us no preview of what he looks like though and definitely wants the surprise to wait until his arrival. We tried to see him on the 3D scan on two occasions and due to his position, we couldn't get anything close to a decent picture. So we will have to wait and see - a day short of 2 months left to go!
Monday, January 23, 2012
A sponge!
I honestly cannot believe what a sponge my daughter is! You literally have to say or show her something only once for her to remember it... and not even within the next few minutes of saying it, but literally days later it will be brought up and remembered! She entertains and astonishes me on a daily basis.
I love it when I've woken up from a rough night of what seems like continual toilet visits and I happen to sneeze and this teeny little voice sitting next to me says, "Bess you mommy." It can melt my heart - so sweet how she knows to say "Bess you" and how she omits the pronounciation of the "l" in "bless"! Lily is also totally enthralled by aeroplanes at the moment and loves looking out for them shouting "Listen, airplane!" whilst pointing to her ear (well, actually whilst sticking her finger into her ear!). The look of complete excitement makes me excited at the prospect of spotting one for her.
Lily is also totally in love with her grandparents. Her whole body almost goes into a spasm of excited movements when she sees them and she shouts across the room, shop or mall for that matter, "Graaaannny!" The word "Gig Gig" is now a thing of the past... sad how quickly they lose the cute little words they create for the "proper" pronounciation.
She has also learnt the word "sore" and will say something is sore if she has hurt herself or if she wants attention. The attention thing is also getting more profound with her lying on the floor pretending to be hurt and calling "mommy, mommy" until I either pick her up (her aim!) or completely ignore her and she eventually gets up and continues with what she was previously doing. It is so hard ignoring her calls for me, but I can't be picking her up every time she wants attention, especially with my bump growing so large by the day!
Her vocabulary is enormous, I can't begin to list all the words she is now saying or stringing together. Some of them that I can recall at this moment are "wadee" for water, "thip" for ship, "bus", "naughty", "wowee" for flower, "dolthin" for dolphin, "ephant" for elephant, "Harley Boy" for Harley (as taught to her by her proud daddy!), "TV", "iPad", "phone"... the list as I said it truly endless! I just LOVE this age and am truly amazed at least once a day by her ability to recall and remember things I have told her or have said. Perhaps time to also start watching myself... :)
I love it when I've woken up from a rough night of what seems like continual toilet visits and I happen to sneeze and this teeny little voice sitting next to me says, "Bess you mommy." It can melt my heart - so sweet how she knows to say "Bess you" and how she omits the pronounciation of the "l" in "bless"! Lily is also totally enthralled by aeroplanes at the moment and loves looking out for them shouting "Listen, airplane!" whilst pointing to her ear (well, actually whilst sticking her finger into her ear!). The look of complete excitement makes me excited at the prospect of spotting one for her.
Lily is also totally in love with her grandparents. Her whole body almost goes into a spasm of excited movements when she sees them and she shouts across the room, shop or mall for that matter, "Graaaannny!" The word "Gig Gig" is now a thing of the past... sad how quickly they lose the cute little words they create for the "proper" pronounciation.
She has also learnt the word "sore" and will say something is sore if she has hurt herself or if she wants attention. The attention thing is also getting more profound with her lying on the floor pretending to be hurt and calling "mommy, mommy" until I either pick her up (her aim!) or completely ignore her and she eventually gets up and continues with what she was previously doing. It is so hard ignoring her calls for me, but I can't be picking her up every time she wants attention, especially with my bump growing so large by the day!
Her vocabulary is enormous, I can't begin to list all the words she is now saying or stringing together. Some of them that I can recall at this moment are "wadee" for water, "thip" for ship, "bus", "naughty", "wowee" for flower, "dolthin" for dolphin, "ephant" for elephant, "Harley Boy" for Harley (as taught to her by her proud daddy!), "TV", "iPad", "phone"... the list as I said it truly endless! I just LOVE this age and am truly amazed at least once a day by her ability to recall and remember things I have told her or have said. Perhaps time to also start watching myself... :)
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Paediatrician appointment update
On Wednesday Lily had her paediatritian appointment so we could have peace of mind about the piece of skin joining Lily's lip to her gum as well as her pigeon toed style of walking. Lily's initial paediatritian has relocated so we saw the new doctor who was lovely - very softly spoken and gentle. Upon entering the doctor's room, Lily was calm, chatty and playful, picking up a Barney teddy bear bigger than her and carrying it around with her!
Unfortunately that brave, confident exterior quickly faded when she realised we were in fact in a doctor's office and she went hysterical! And I am not exaggerating - she was so anxious, she started screaming and crying until she couldn't breath and went a shade of blue! I wasn't concerned as this has happened before so I just calmly told her to breath which she obviously eventually did. The quiet, gentle doctor looked rather taken aback by the outburst and complete hysteria my daughter was displaying, but then again, the last time Lily was in that office, she had blood taken from her tiny little arms whilst being forcably held down by a nurse and the doctor! I'm sure those traumatic memories came flooding back poor baby.
Besides the outbursts, screams, desperate pleas and lack of breath, I got the answers I was after. Lily does in fact have quite a substantial, thick piece of skin connecting her lip to her gum which has made the gap between her top two front teeth quite wide. It isn't the superficial, thinner type of condition that most people rectify with braces once the permanent teeth have made their arrival. The doctor therefore advised that we consult with a peadiatric dentist who we are now seeing on Monday. I just hope and pray that Lily doesn't recognise the dentist as a doctor and that the whole process is far less traumatic for her. Luckily my husband is coming along to this appointment as the whole experience on Wednesday was quite devastating and exhausting for this almost 7 months pregnant mother!
The doctor also confirmed that Lily is pigeon toed, however, they don't usually worry about that sort of thing until the child is 2 years old. They then need to determine whether it is skeletal or muscular, however, she believes that Lily's is muscular at this point in time. So in the interim, she is to walk bare foot as much as possible and when we buy her shoes we should opt for Woolworths' Walk Mates or Green Cross shoes. Hopefully both those options have at least a few trendy options for my stylish little fashionista!
I also checked a little skin mark I noticed on her little leg - it looks like a scar but I know that Lily hasn't cut or hurt herself there before. The doctor said that it is a white birthmark which may grow as Lily does but it isn't anything to be concerned about. It is so slight I think I'm the only one who has ever noticed it so I'm really not too worried.
Other than that, Lily is developing wonderfully, has an incredible, above average vocabulary and is doing really well. Let's just hope the dentist can shed some light on the lip/gum issue and that whatever he suggests, won't be too traumatic for both Lily and mommy!
Unfortunately that brave, confident exterior quickly faded when she realised we were in fact in a doctor's office and she went hysterical! And I am not exaggerating - she was so anxious, she started screaming and crying until she couldn't breath and went a shade of blue! I wasn't concerned as this has happened before so I just calmly told her to breath which she obviously eventually did. The quiet, gentle doctor looked rather taken aback by the outburst and complete hysteria my daughter was displaying, but then again, the last time Lily was in that office, she had blood taken from her tiny little arms whilst being forcably held down by a nurse and the doctor! I'm sure those traumatic memories came flooding back poor baby.
Besides the outbursts, screams, desperate pleas and lack of breath, I got the answers I was after. Lily does in fact have quite a substantial, thick piece of skin connecting her lip to her gum which has made the gap between her top two front teeth quite wide. It isn't the superficial, thinner type of condition that most people rectify with braces once the permanent teeth have made their arrival. The doctor therefore advised that we consult with a peadiatric dentist who we are now seeing on Monday. I just hope and pray that Lily doesn't recognise the dentist as a doctor and that the whole process is far less traumatic for her. Luckily my husband is coming along to this appointment as the whole experience on Wednesday was quite devastating and exhausting for this almost 7 months pregnant mother!
The doctor also confirmed that Lily is pigeon toed, however, they don't usually worry about that sort of thing until the child is 2 years old. They then need to determine whether it is skeletal or muscular, however, she believes that Lily's is muscular at this point in time. So in the interim, she is to walk bare foot as much as possible and when we buy her shoes we should opt for Woolworths' Walk Mates or Green Cross shoes. Hopefully both those options have at least a few trendy options for my stylish little fashionista!
I also checked a little skin mark I noticed on her little leg - it looks like a scar but I know that Lily hasn't cut or hurt herself there before. The doctor said that it is a white birthmark which may grow as Lily does but it isn't anything to be concerned about. It is so slight I think I'm the only one who has ever noticed it so I'm really not too worried.
Other than that, Lily is developing wonderfully, has an incredible, above average vocabulary and is doing really well. Let's just hope the dentist can shed some light on the lip/gum issue and that whatever he suggests, won't be too traumatic for both Lily and mommy!
Friday, January 20, 2012
26 week scan
We saw our precious baby boy on Monday, 16th. He is growing nicely and is weighing almost 1kg now! From the actual scan pictures, it looks like he has hair, but we will confirm this next week at our 4D scan, looking forward to it and hoping the cord or his hands aren't covering his face like when we had Lily's 4D scan. It creates horrendous shadows distorting the pictures making your baby look very alien-like!
He was very active, even the doctor could feel the kicks and movements while doing the scan. At one stage he was playing with his toes and we got a beautiful view of his perfect little fingers. The scan was an overall healthy one, with the only negative being that the doctor said he is still in a breech position. This didn't bother me in the slightest initially as Lily only turned around the 32 week mark, but he said that this little baby is lying in a "splint" position which means his legs are in a position which blocks him moving head down. So the doctor doubts he will ever turn and he will be in the breech position throughout the pregnancy.
I was a little disappointed as I was hoping to try for a natural birth, but with having had a c-section with Lily, the pregnancy had to be 100% normal with everything in perfect place. With this latest scenario, a c-section will definitely be on the cards again. Funnily enough, although I would have liked to have tried for a natural birth, I'm happy either way as long as both baby and mommy are healthy at the end of the day.
I have taken a picture of my 26.5 week bump - we are growing very nicely as you can see!
Here is a very light, unclear picture of the scan picture the doctor took of our beautiful baby boy's profile:
He was very active, even the doctor could feel the kicks and movements while doing the scan. At one stage he was playing with his toes and we got a beautiful view of his perfect little fingers. The scan was an overall healthy one, with the only negative being that the doctor said he is still in a breech position. This didn't bother me in the slightest initially as Lily only turned around the 32 week mark, but he said that this little baby is lying in a "splint" position which means his legs are in a position which blocks him moving head down. So the doctor doubts he will ever turn and he will be in the breech position throughout the pregnancy.
I was a little disappointed as I was hoping to try for a natural birth, but with having had a c-section with Lily, the pregnancy had to be 100% normal with everything in perfect place. With this latest scenario, a c-section will definitely be on the cards again. Funnily enough, although I would have liked to have tried for a natural birth, I'm happy either way as long as both baby and mommy are healthy at the end of the day.
I have taken a picture of my 26.5 week bump - we are growing very nicely as you can see!
Friday, January 13, 2012
Next week...
Next week we will be seeing our little man again. At this scan, I want to ensure that I get some information, unlike my last "out of the blue" scan when I was having stomach pains. Due to the anxiety caused by the discomfort and the unscheduled scan, I didn't even think to ask how much he weighed nor for any of his measurements. Now that this is a routine, scheduled scan, I will take my time to ask for all the details concerning his growth as well as some much-needed pictures.
Then 2 days following my scan, Lily and I will be heading off to the paediatrician. She is a new doctor who we haven't met before as our paediatritian has since relocated and is no longer working in South Africa. I've heard great stories about this new doctor though and look forward to meeting her, especially for our new little baby making his way in 3 months time.
The reason for Lily's visit is that her daddy noticed that the piece of skin connecting her upper lip to her gum is very low down, in fact so low down that it goes inbetween her two top teeth causing quite a significant gap. I initially blew it off as a paranoid, overprotective father being overly concerned, however, since Googling the condition, I'm now a little more concerned than I had initially been. From our research, it seems she has a condition called Upper Labial Frenulum (awful name!). It appears that diagnosis can be simple and left untreated as well as quite considerable in that it can cause significant gaps between the top teeth and speech impedements. So I've decided to rather have the condition seen to and see what our options are as Lily's piece of skin is rather thick and the gap between her two teeth is quite wide - something a little girl shouldn't have to contend with in our opinion.
So here's hoping for some good news regarding the condition when we visit the Paediatrician on Wednesday (and that Lily cooperates and opens her mouth!) and for a lovely, healthy scan with our little boy on Monday.
Then 2 days following my scan, Lily and I will be heading off to the paediatrician. She is a new doctor who we haven't met before as our paediatritian has since relocated and is no longer working in South Africa. I've heard great stories about this new doctor though and look forward to meeting her, especially for our new little baby making his way in 3 months time.
The reason for Lily's visit is that her daddy noticed that the piece of skin connecting her upper lip to her gum is very low down, in fact so low down that it goes inbetween her two top teeth causing quite a significant gap. I initially blew it off as a paranoid, overprotective father being overly concerned, however, since Googling the condition, I'm now a little more concerned than I had initially been. From our research, it seems she has a condition called Upper Labial Frenulum (awful name!). It appears that diagnosis can be simple and left untreated as well as quite considerable in that it can cause significant gaps between the top teeth and speech impedements. So I've decided to rather have the condition seen to and see what our options are as Lily's piece of skin is rather thick and the gap between her two teeth is quite wide - something a little girl shouldn't have to contend with in our opinion.
So here's hoping for some good news regarding the condition when we visit the Paediatrician on Wednesday (and that Lily cooperates and opens her mouth!) and for a lovely, healthy scan with our little boy on Monday.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Hello 2012!
Another year that has just flown by in what feels like an instant. I can't believe that we are now officially in the year 2012, the year that is to be filled with life changing, exciting, challenging and please G-d, happy and healthy times. This year our family is set to grow, our house is also due to increase in size and the number of Hertz's living in Cape Town is also increasing. I can't wait!
At the moment my 20 month old daughter is truly the cutest! She astonishes me daily with her little antics, how incredibly bright she is, the new words she uses and how determined she can be (at times rather trying!). Her latest enfatuation is with my iPad. As soon as she wakes up in the morning she wants it, asks for it and is totally engrossed in operating it. I can't believe how a 20 month old knows exactly how to operate a technological gadget, a gadget that many adults have difficulty with. She slides her finger across the screen to open up the applications, touches any 'x' to close an advertising screen and knows exactly which app she wants to play. Truly astonishing! I quite like the fact that the iPad provides such entertainment, especially while I'm trying to prepare dinner or when I need a few minutes coffee break!
Lily was weighed recently and still hasn't broken the 11kg mark. She is almost there though at 10.9kg. She is slowly fitting into her size 18-24 months clothes although the majority of them are a little too big. She is still comfortable in her size 4+ Pampers Nappies and is still in between a size 3 and 4 shoe (tiny feet). Detailing these statistics makes me wonder how her brother is going to grow in comparison... I have a feeling he is going to be a little bigger than his sister. Obviously I have no idea why I say that, just a feeling I have.
Some cute things to note that Lily is saying: Uncle Willie (Rollie) is the flavor of the month - she loves him! Baby Noa is referred to as Nonie; she still says Gig Gig for Granny and Gig Ga for Grandpa; she can count to 10 but often forgets 8 for some reason; she attempts to copy everything you say to her even if the pronunciation is completely inaccurate. She loves Harley and Bella and often goes up to them for licks, sometimes lying on the floor next to them.
Her sleeping is still GREAT! Loving the uninterrupted nights and the nice lunch time breaks I get. Making sure I enjoy them before the new baba arrives. Her eating however is atrocious to say the least! I'm really nervous her lack of nutrition is going to result in scurvy at this rate! I am persevering though and hope this fussiness will soon be a thing of the past.
Otherwise here's hoping 2012 will be filled with much love, laughter, happiness, health and wealth for our little family, my parents, Lauren and Roland and my hubby's family. Looking forward to all that awaits us.
At the moment my 20 month old daughter is truly the cutest! She astonishes me daily with her little antics, how incredibly bright she is, the new words she uses and how determined she can be (at times rather trying!). Her latest enfatuation is with my iPad. As soon as she wakes up in the morning she wants it, asks for it and is totally engrossed in operating it. I can't believe how a 20 month old knows exactly how to operate a technological gadget, a gadget that many adults have difficulty with. She slides her finger across the screen to open up the applications, touches any 'x' to close an advertising screen and knows exactly which app she wants to play. Truly astonishing! I quite like the fact that the iPad provides such entertainment, especially while I'm trying to prepare dinner or when I need a few minutes coffee break!
Lily was weighed recently and still hasn't broken the 11kg mark. She is almost there though at 10.9kg. She is slowly fitting into her size 18-24 months clothes although the majority of them are a little too big. She is still comfortable in her size 4+ Pampers Nappies and is still in between a size 3 and 4 shoe (tiny feet). Detailing these statistics makes me wonder how her brother is going to grow in comparison... I have a feeling he is going to be a little bigger than his sister. Obviously I have no idea why I say that, just a feeling I have.
Some cute things to note that Lily is saying: Uncle Willie (Rollie) is the flavor of the month - she loves him! Baby Noa is referred to as Nonie; she still says Gig Gig for Granny and Gig Ga for Grandpa; she can count to 10 but often forgets 8 for some reason; she attempts to copy everything you say to her even if the pronunciation is completely inaccurate. She loves Harley and Bella and often goes up to them for licks, sometimes lying on the floor next to them.
Her sleeping is still GREAT! Loving the uninterrupted nights and the nice lunch time breaks I get. Making sure I enjoy them before the new baba arrives. Her eating however is atrocious to say the least! I'm really nervous her lack of nutrition is going to result in scurvy at this rate! I am persevering though and hope this fussiness will soon be a thing of the past.
Otherwise here's hoping 2012 will be filled with much love, laughter, happiness, health and wealth for our little family, my parents, Lauren and Roland and my hubby's family. Looking forward to all that awaits us.
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!
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!
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