Earlier today, I asked Mungee if she thought the baby in mommy's belly is a boy or a girl. She said "We have choices!"
As I was getting her into her pajamas this evening, she exclaimed "I want some ice cream". I told her we didn't have any ice cream and she explained to me that "we have to order the food".
So, what's that about a baby in my belly? Well, I'm almost halfway through my pregnancy with our second child. This Saturday, I will be 19 weeks. I am due March 24, 2012. Mungee was born six days past her due date and if this baby is just as "late" we could be meeting him or her on our 4th wedding anniversary!
I had an anatomy scan last Friday and Mungee's Pa and I held out on finding out if this baby is a boy or a girl. I began the pregnancy with the thought in mind that I wanted to be surprised, but Mungee's Pa wasn't always on board. A couple weeks before the ultrasound, he decided he was okay with not finding out. It was definitely difficult during the ultrasound not to peek when the wand was potentially passing over identifying parts, but we managed. I almost gave in and blurted out "Okay, tell us!" I did feel weird leaving the office not knowing, but I am getting used to it. I definitely don't think it's necessary to know the baby's sex in order to get things ready for his/her arrival. It would make things easier for figuring out a name - for instance, if I knew it was a boy, I could stop trying to think of girl names - I'm having the most difficult time coming up with a name that I love. We kind of think Mungee already has the best girl name ever.
This pregnancy has been much harder on me physically than my first. With the first pregnancy, I could take it easy whenever I needed to - rest, climb into bed, take a nice bath, etc. This time around, I don't have the luxury of sitting down to relax at will - I have a very busy, needy, curious 2-year-old to keep up with! Emotionally it has been a bit trying as well since this pregnancy follows my miscarriage earlier this year. I've been much more nervous and was using a home doppler to check the baby's heartbeat nearly every day until I started to feel consistent movement. As the baby continues to move around more and more, my mind is eased a little, but there are days when I don't feel much movement, so the doppler comes in handy.
I've been working part-time, inside and outside the home. I go into my office two days a week and I am able to work at home sporadically - when Mungee is at school in the morning and during her short afternoon nap. It's a temporary short-term position, which should end in January. Once the new baby arrives, I will be staying home again. I'm not going to lie, I'm quite nervous about how I will be able to handle having a toddler and a newborn at home. I have a great support system available, so I just need to be sure that I call on them if I think I'm getting in over my head.
If you have more than one child, how far apart are they? What was the easiest thing about going from one to two? The hardest? I'd love some advice for staying sane!
