Baby Blog

Well its been quite a day. I mentioned the bleeding the other day and now it seems to be getting worse. I’m off for a sonogram in the morning and a blood panel to see what is going on. My guess was anemia but a friend suggested placenta previa, a condition of pregnancy that causes bleeding the second and third trimester. Apparently 1 in 200 women experience this condition and as I didn’t know about it I thought some of you might not too so here’s the basics.
When you get pregnant the placenta plants itself in your uterus at the point of fertilization. In most cases this is high up in the uterus where there is a better supply of blood and oxygen. In some cases the placenta plants itself very low and grows there. Placenta previa occurs when the placenta is partially or totally covering the cervix.
So what does it do? Being so close

Some of my older wiser mom friends tell me they don’t recall too much about the pregnancy of their second or third child because they were so busy with their first born. I don’t feel particularly busy with Nik but my almost three year does take a lot of time and there have been moments when I bend down to pick a car off the floor or run after a tantruming 2 year old, that I forget I am actually five months pregnant.
Everyone I know says they gained less weight with their second and third pregnancies. I seem to be gaining weight but its a lot more in the stomach area than anywhere else. With Nik I gained weight all over and soon looked like I was sporting twins or triplets. I mean there is still time but I don’t feel as uncomfortable or awkward in my body.
I didn’t think it would be possible

Well I am on three hours sleep as I spent most of the night trying to stay calm. I had vaginal bleeding and clots for the fifth time during my second trimester and seeing it was very disturbing. I told my doctor about it at my last visit and it seems its something to do with my placenta lying low. It stops completely in a couple of hours but I’ve never experienced it before. A quick internet search shows that bleeding during pregnancy happens a lot and for a number of different reasons.
Bleeding at the very start of your pregnancy is pretty normal. Some women spot for the first few weeks of pregnancy as their body adjusts to the massive changes taking place. As long as it doesn’t get heavier or is accompanied by other symptoms such as fever and pain, I don’t think you should worry too much but I’m not a doctor. I

I can’t believe how tired I am with this pregnancy. I know I’m older but still, four and a half months in and I’m sleeping twelve hours a night. Its crazy. Its also getting harder and harder to indulge my darling two year old. Nik doesn’t really understand what’s happening only that someone is growing inside mommy’s tummy. He doesn’t understand the side effects of pregnancy.
Nik is no lightweight these days and picking him up, putting him in the car, lifting him in and out of the buggy is no joke. I have made a few muscles twinge already and I know I’m probably days away from saying no more. Nik doesn’t understand that. He thinks he’s being pushed aside. I’ve tried explaining that he is heavy and mommy is getting more and more fragile but of course, he just wants mommy to be the way mommy always is.
Disciplining Nik has become such a chore.

So many parents have told me my passive potty training technique is not an option but it seems to be working, very very slowly. My technique has been to provide Nik with all the information and tools he needs to get the job done and leave him to it. Its been a sporadic journey but I think the tide is slowly turning.
In the last two weeks Nik has used the potty twice and tried to use it at least once a day. He keeps saying its not working i.e. nothing is ending up in the potty, but it is. He gets frustrated when he can’t get his potty chair assembled properly and finds it hard to just sit and read on the potty like the books say but things are getting better.
The main problem I have seen with my totally made up passive technique is Nik is in charge of the process and sometimes he

I am so hungry this week. The books may tell you that you don’t have to eat much extra food during your pregnancy, your body seems to tell you different. Its strange, I get up, eat my morning cereal with milk and two hours later I’m on the verge of ravenous. Today errands got away from us and lunch was an hour late and it was hard not to wolf down the chicken penne once it was in front of me. Hungry and pregnant never seem to be a good combination.
The baby books always tell you yes you will be hungry but you should only indulge in a few extra celery sticks or some cottage cheese. Please. Okay I know there are a few out there with a very healthy palette but for most of us, baby doesn’t want celery sticks. Am I right?
When it comes to cravings there really is no right approach. Luckily

No matter how many babies you have or how many times you have been pregnant the majority of women will talk to you like you have never done this baby thing before. As news spreads around my small town of my unexpected pregnancy the advice has begun flooding in. And I don’t know about you but biting my lip, smiling and walking away will only happen for so long. I too am guilty of the unwanted pregnancy advice. I think we all are. So what are some of the worst I’ve had so far?
In my case because everyone knew I only wanted to have one child, the number of folks who once supported me in that decision are now saying: “Well, Nik needs someone to share his childhood with” and “Well I didn’t want to say before but this will be so much better for Nik” and “I bet Nik’s excited about a sibling seeing

Over the last few weeks I have accumulated a nice pile of maternity clothes. But do they fit me well? Am I comfortable? Of course not I’m hormonal and pregnant and trying to find something that fits that makes you feel confident enough to leave the house is becoming a daily chore.
My friends have given me a lot of clothes but they are not built like me at all. I am very short and curvaceous (to put it nicely) and my friends are taller and slimmer than me. Its a nice thought but their clothes look odd on me; they fit in the wrong places if you know what I mean.
I have other maternity clothes that I found at the thrift store and a few more that I bought in a box lot online. Some are super cute and make me feel confident but the rest are merely adequate, will fit better in a few

Well this weekend was nothing if not eventful. I’m 18 weeks pregnant and feel like weight is just gravitating towards me. But I’m not eating a lot as there is nothing I fancy eating. Usually when I’m pregnant I have pretty strong cravings but this time not really at all. Worrying about not being able to feel significant movement with the baby wasn’t helping my appetite either.
Saturday night I gave up trying to find some food I wanted to eat and just found some food. I pulled a box of microwave lentil curry out of the back of the pantry. Well, it was something different, healthy and easy to make so I went for it. I added a little brown rice as a side dish and started munching. A few minutes later my stomach lurched.
For a moment I thought I was going to be sick. This was a food I hadn’t eaten during the pregnancy

The last few days have been pretty exhausting. As I enter my second trimester I can’t believe how tired I still am. Of course you get tired easily in those first weeks after conception; you are building a factory, but this should be my easy pregnancy time. So why am I so tired? Well to mothers of more than one child the answer is obvious: there’s a two year old running around my house.
Nik has been my baby boy for nearly three years and it seems he’s not giving up the role easily. We have made some progress in potty use and taking care of himself but nothing seems permanent. One day Nik is using the potty telling me he’s a big boy and the next day he’s crying for a diaper because he’s still a “goo” (baby). Its tiring just trying to keep up.
Of course Nik knows I am pregnant, he’s heard the baby’s