I realized just today that I have not written a single post yet about this second pregnancy! It certainly is not because we are not excited about it, but the time has just gone by so fast that I have not had the chance to formulate my thoughts about the pregnancy into a sensible post. I blame the fact that we have our hands full with an extremely active 2.5 year old!

This pregnancy officially began on Abby's 2nd birthday - 7/7/09.

The first trimester can be summed up as utterly uneventful. Not a single craving, discomfort, or ill-feeling of any sort. I prepared myself for the few weeks of exhaustion I felt during the first pregnancy, which saw me in bed shortly after 7pm every night. However, perhaps because Abby needed me, but I only experienced a week and a half of feeling "a bit more tired than usual" around 10 pm.

Last Friday marked week 24 of this pregnancy. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during week 10 of my pregnancy with Abby, but so far, all tests have been normal this second time around. So, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will remain so until delivery. I have since found out that Asians on average are more than 4 times as likely to develop GD as Caucasians, with the Chinese and Koreans having an even slightly higher probability. Oh well, genetics will have its say and we can only be informed and prepared to deal with any potential problems which may arise.

Second trimester has been just as uneventful as the first so far. Everyone says that you start showing a lot earlier with the second pregnancy and that has definitely been the case for me! With Abby, I had more than one co-worker in shock the day I left on maternity leave because they actually didn't realize I was pregnant! I started showing just a bit around 28 weeks, though. This time, an instantaneously change happened over the course of one week and I became noticeably pregnant at 20 weeks. And now 4 short weeks later, I have transformed into a whale! (At least that's what it feels like.) The best invention in the world - the BellyBand - has been my lifesaver, allowing me to continue to wear my normal work clothes until I need to dig up the maternity stuff!

At 20 weeks, we found out we are having another GIRL!!! I honestly had been hoping for a boy since we found out about the pregnancy because I want the experience of raising one of each gender. I thought for sure I would be sad or disappointed if it turned out to be a girl, but when the ultrasound technician first said "she", all I felt was excitement. So, we are really looking forward to another sweet baby girl in April, watching Abby bond with her as only sisters may experience.

Abby's reaction to this pregnancy has been pretty funny. She is absolutely convinced that she is also carrying a baby in her belly. I tickled her tummy the other day and she screamed, "No, no! I have a baby brother in my belly. Don't tickle me. You have a baby sister in your belly and I have a baby brother in MY belly!" Abby does understand that she needs to wait until the baby grows bigger before she can come out and play with her, so in that respect, she has been pretty patient in waiting for her playmate. We just need to help her understand that even after her sister is born, it will be awhile before she can actually play with her!

Below is our ultrasound video, if you are inclined to watch some indescribable blobs blobbing around the screen. It's over 5 minutes long because we had such a hard time trying to get a 3D shot of her face. We never did, unfortunately, as she tried to hide behind her hand the whole time! Must be a shy baby.

Comments (1)

On February 23, 2010 at 9:27 PM , Kimberlee said...

Cecilia, that's so awesome that you guys could get a copy of the ultra sound and share it like that. I dig that. ;)