I figure I’ll try to relegate the pregnancy related stuff to just a ‘once-a-week’ blogging so as to not bore you all to tears. I did this during my pregnancy with Anne and I still enjoy going back to read over our thoughts and fears, prayers and experiences. So I figure that I want to do the same thing with #2.
Physically: I’ve heard people say that they progressively get tired-er with each pregnancy. If I’m this tired with my second, my heart goes out to that crazy lady in Arkansas who has 18 children. 
I am still throwing up with great violence and consistency. I’m much sicker with this pregnancy than I was with Anne. With Anne, I was sick from week 6-14 but just 1-2 times a day. And it would come on me, I’d barf and then go back on my merry way, none the worse. But I carry a vague nausea all day with this one and have often thrown up 2-3 times a day. I am managing to eat in the afternoons a bit more but my appetite isn’t there. I also have more “urgency” for throwing up – throwing up, as mentioned in previous posts, on SkyTrain platforms, on my own pants, in alleyways etc. Good times. 
I’m hopeful it will start to wind down soon. Right???
Miscellaneous Details: We managed to get in with our old OB-GYN again which is good news. I was seriously contemplating a midwife and home birth this time around but came to the conclusion it just wasn’t necessary. If I was in the States still, I would absolutely do that because I didn’t find the medical establishment there very supportive of our priorities. But our doctors, hospitals and nurses actually follow a policy that reflects our priorities (for instance, we really value co-sleeping for the first few months and they do as well. As a result, there isn’t a nursery for babies; they must sleep in your room. The only kids not in their Mummy’s rooms are in NICU.). So since they are all so pro-breastfeeding, pro-vaginal natural birth, anti-episeotomy etc., we feel very confident remaining “in the system”. It’s a very supportive system. No great relationship with my doctor at all, no personal side, but she’s a damn fine doctor. Somehow she managed to deliver a nearly 9 pound baby that was sunny-side up with only 3 stitches. That qualifies her as a miracle worker in my book. I think any other hospital or doctor would have had me in emergency C-section hours earlier, but she just let my body take its course and kept it calm and moving along. As a result, we had a great experience that I would be happy with again. Hopefully without the 3 hours of hard pushing to get out a side-ways baby though…just saying. 
(Hear that, Two? RIGHT SIDE UP THIS TIME!)
Emotionally: I feel like this pregnancy is flying by. I can’t really believe how quickly it’s going past. I suppose that I can attribute that to how quickly the days go when you are busy and have an extraordinary toddler on the go as well. Between a very busy career, aforementioned wee girl, a marriage that demands time and energy, a house that requires cleaning, a fridge and bellies that need filling, meals that need planning, church that needs attending and volunteering, family and friends that need relationship-ing and it adds up to one tired, bleary-eyed Mumma. I feel like my life has hit fast-forward somehow. I feel a bit sad about it because I had a lot of time during my pregnancy with Anne to reflect, read, pray and generally enjoy the moment. I would read all about where we at each day, development charts and photos, pray for each part, etc. This time? I go through whole days on end when my only thought about pregnancy is “Dear God, please let me stop barfing”. I need to try to make more space for those things for this one; I don’t want him/her to feel short-changed or less important. I want to try to replicate some special memories for the kids – having a surprise about their gender (it’s no fun to have one sibling get the “it’s a girl!” birth story and the other one doesn’t), for instance – but this may be impossible.
I wonder how it will feel becoming a mother for the second time. You only become a mother for the first time once. Your oldest is the one that made you a Mum. Your second must have a different dynamic to it. Plus it’s helping your first navigate a new baby as well. But even though it’s not the “first time”, that has its own positives as well, I think. For instance, I know how to breastfeed and feel very confident. I’m not freaked out about giving birth. I’m really excited to have a little baby in the house again. I don’t feel that same vague sense of panic about whether or not I’ll really be able to do this. So the fear and apprehension isn’t there at all. I think Anne will be a wonderful big sister as I see with other kids and babies and she’s very gentle and loving, quick to share and engage. But neither is the energy and the “firstness” of the pregnancy there either. It’s definitely different. Not better or worse but different.
