This week I’ve tried to be a little more organized. I used to sleep in quite late each morning. It wasn’t just due to tiredness – the morning sickness was so bad that the more I slept the better it was for me. I’d try my best to stay asleep for as long as possible so that I didn’t have to wake up and deal with nausea and vomiting. Now that things are much better in that department I’m trying to get up a little earlier and get stuff done while Jay sleeps. Actually, easier said than done. I can wake up pretty easily, but as I’ve told you before – Jay really likes to sleep next to someone and when you get up and leave, it’s like his little body registers immediately. I’ve tried leaving my sweater next to him or bundling up the duvet to feel like a body, but he just knows. The other day I felt so happy getting up early. I had my little list of “things to do” that I’d written out the night before. Not even ten minutes later, Jay opened his eyes. So, I spent most of the morning entertaining him. I did still manage to get some stuff done while he was awake, but it’s obviously not as easy and not quite what I’d had in mind about waking up early. At least he did take another nap later for about an hour and in that time I managed to get a little more done. Greg and I were talking about how we can’t even imagine what our lives are going to be like when the second one arrives. He asked if we needed to think of some “game plan”. I just told him that while we’re on the “field”, I’ll just keep passing the “ball” to him if he doesn’t mind.
The dogs are so funny now that Jay is mobile on his own. We’ve honestly given up trying to contain him in one room. He now goes everywhere (under supervision, of course). Rocco doesn’t seem too bothered, except when Jay tries to use Rocco’s body to pull himself up. Then he gets out of the way quickly! Luca just generally keeps to herself. Lately she has taken up residence in the computer room where the dog bed is and that is her favorite place. Sometimes when Jay is busy in there he makes his way to her and then enjoys patting her while she lies there. She does look a little nervous and bolts when his pats get too enthusiastic, but is otherwise okay. Rusty is terrified of the new moving creature and disappears into the kitchen as soon as Jay takes off down the hallway. Sometimes I’ll literally hear him scramble to his feet from where he is sleeping and rush off into the kitchen to keep out of the way. When I go into the kitchen he is either just sitting there on the floor or has moved onto the balcony if he fears Jay is getting too close.
He is getting really good at “walking” and his balance is improving. He moves easily from one piece of furniture to another and when you walk along with him, he often lets go of one hand and just walks along holding one of your hands. He also loves to push his walker or stroller and he loves to stand in the computer room and push the swivel chair around and around. He even sometimes holds onto his little truck and pushes that along even though that doesn’t give him much support at all and sometimes he lets go of what he is holding onto completely and just stands by himself. He gets upset, though, when you won’t let him crawl into a certain room or go to a certain area. He starts kicking up a fuss and crying. This week his biting has calmed down, though, which is good as it gets rather painful. Those teeth of his are sharp! He has reached a stage, though, where he is definitely not fond of strangers and cries and twists his body all about when someone else holds him. He only wants Mommy, Daddy or Stella. Sometimes I feel bad because I’m not the kind of parent who freaks out if her baby cries or minds letting others hold him, but when people aren’t used to babies they get a little upset when the baby doesn’t want to be held by them and then I feel bad that they feel bad. You should see him when he sleeps, though, he is all over the place. In the morning when Greg leaves and he has more space he constantly moves around and ends up upside down or spread across the bed sideways.
I was so relieved that my placenta was fine this week and the doctor was so happy about it that he said I didn’t need to come back next week and that I only needed to come if I felt any discomfort. My blood pressure was 114/65 which is low for me, but my heart rate was slightly up. To be honest I think I got nervous as soon as I saw the machine! He gave me some Vitamin B6 because I told him that I’d been quite nauseas again. It’s so weird how it just won’t let up this time. This week was worse than last week and although I never vomited, I felt pretty nauseas quite a few times. Usually during the day I’m okay, but it’s the mornings and nights that get me. And due to the fact that I’m not vomiting anymore, I’m worried that now the morning sickness is actually going to make me fat! That sounds weird, I know, but it helps if I eat something and yet only certain things appeal to me and if I eat food that doesn’t appeal to me, it just seems to make it worse. Not that I’m cramming my face full of food or anything like that, but I don’t want to gain too much because I know how hard those last few kilos are to lose once the baby arrives.
Speaking of going to the doctor and stuff, my belly is HUGE! And it’s strange because this baby is smaller than Jay was and now measures exactly on schedule each week. Plus, I weigh less than I did with Jay at this point and yet my belly was half this size! It must have something to do with this being the second one and that my uterus stretched so much and didn’t have time to “recover” fully. Let’s be honest – to go from giving birth to being pregnant again within 4 months is quite something! Greg and I often have a laugh at how things turned out. This baby is a miracle baby who wanted to get born no matter what her parents’ grand plans were for waiting. Anyway, at one store I went to, the clerk asked me if I was due this month! Oh my!
Lots of love
Em x
(snippets from April 2010)
