We are little over 22 weeks in... little more than half way in or four months to go... however we look at it... my belly is expanding. We held back from announcing the news earlier... partially because I was so sick from morning sickness for good part of the first three months... partially we liked holding onto the special news to ourselves with few family/friends for a little while:)
When a lady from our local post office (which I frequent since that's where I ship all our Baum-Kuchen packages) asked me if we are expecting, I figured it's time to spread the happy news.
Just like any other life-changing experience, it has been a quite journey. Since this is my second pregnancy and I had such an easy pregnancy with Roo, I thought it would be somewhat familiar and maybe even easier... but this little baby in my belly keeps reminding me that she (yes it's girl:) is VERY different from her older sister. Long phase of constant nausea especially in late afternoons and evenings was surprising and difficult to deal with. My mom suggested that I simply needed to rest and do less when nausea hit me... so I literally stopped doing most of everything I could call it a quit (expect shop operation) and spent lots of time on a couch and bed resting. It lasted throughout the last part of 2012 including holidays. I am so used to working, being productive and bouncing back by pushing through (in this case... I thought I would have felt better if I worked out when I felt being down)... it was emotionally challenging to accept the new reality with my body.
Since I could only eat like a Japanese monk during my first trimester, I gained very little weight; although, my belly seemed to be showing a lot more than it did with our Roo. My family was quite concerned when I saw them during holidays because I had a belly... but the rest of my body (according to their words) looked unhealthily too skinny like I was not eating enough.
Just when we hit the new year mark, all the exhaustion and constant nausea lifted away from my system like it never existed. It was seriously crazy to go through the transition. Last few weeks I have been cooking and eating (always hungry now...) and picked up my portion of household duties as well as shop related tasks. I also got an approving nod from my doctor for a recent weight gain and am starting to hit my yoga mat and walking shoes to regain some strength and stamina to get through the next four months.
It hasn't been easy... but it gave me a great insight to approach this phase of our life as a whole new experience instead of re-living as it went with the first pregnancy. I think I needed the lesson to go through. I am a huge advocate and a believer of a natural birth without medical assistance... and I have a feeling that being in synch with my body with my heart instead of my head... is going to help me embrace the whole process so much better.
As for Roo... we shared the news very early on with her. So she is very aware of her sister and her growth in my belly. We have shown her all the ultrasound pictures and pointed some of the body parts on those images. She sometimes goes up to those photos and starts to talk about her sister in a way it makes sense to her (though it's even hard for us to recognize what is what on those abstract images). When she talks about her family, she always includes her baby sister now and it is very sweet to watch. I am sure that a real dynamic shift within our family will happen when we actually have the baby in our arm... but for now all is good. I know Roo will go through the transition to adopt her entire universe to welcome her sister... at the same time, I want her to know that she can take her time to grow up on her own pace...
Well... that's it for our big news for now:)
cheers,
-wakako
