Second Pregnancy | My Mills Baby

I’m pretty sure that Dex has sussed out that he has a new brother or sister coming. Strangely, I think he’s also worked out he or she is in my tummy. And here was me thinking that under 5′s are usually told that their mums and dads bought a new baby from a hospital shop, or had a secret meeting with the baby-fairy!

All the signs are pointing to the fact he knows. He’s recently become obsessed with flicking through mother & baby magazines and pointing to pictures of babies. He’ll kiss the pages, rip them out and bring them to us with the proudest look on his face.

Over the last few months, our living room has also become a student obstetrician’s paradise with tons of pregnancy books scattered around. I’m pretty obsessed with learning about the new baby and like to follow my pregnancy week by week. One of these books is heavily pictorial and has become a firm favourite with my little man. He’ll stare for hours at pictures of pregnant women (…obviously we’ve got our fingers crossed this isn’t the start of a lifelong fetish!).

Although he can’t talk yet, Dexter is able to understand basic commands. “Where’s Daddy?” will see him searching out Craig, and “Up the wooden hill for Bedfordshire” (a.k.a up the stairs to bed) will result in him hiding behind the sofa. Now, when we say “Where’s the baby?” he’ll lift up his shirt and rub his belly! Whenever my own belly is out he’ll bend over and kiss it too. The only explanation I can think of is that his choice of reading matter has prompted the connection between my bump and a baby. At just 18 months, I’m now thinking I have an utter genius on my hands.

Finally, he’s become very loving over the past few months. Previously you’d have to pin him down for a cuddle and he’d wriggle free in minutes. He’d kiss you occasionally but he wouldn’t seek it out - it would always be as a result of us bending down at an opportune moment. Now he’ll run into our arms, climb onto our laps and bat books and mobile phones out of our hands to plant a kiss on our lips. It’s an amazing and very welcome transition but I can’t help but link it to the new baby. It’s as though he knows his days as an only child (with exclusive access to us) are numbered.

Has anyone else had two babies in short amount of time, and experienced anything similar with their eldest? I’d love to hear your stories.

Linking up this week to Wot So Funnee? from the lovely Actually Mummy. If you fancy a giggle, discover more toddler antics and click the badge below to be transported straight to all this weeks posts!

WotSoFuneeBadge 17 Weeks Pregnant (Part 2): Introducing a new Brother or Sister

Thursday last week we had our first midwife appointment for our brand new bump. It was our first time meeting her as we’ve changed doctors surgeries since having Dexter. I suspect she was probably running a little late as we were called in a good half an hour late into the appointment, which meant the session was mostly ‘all business’. Adding to the sense of urgency was the fact that we had Dexie with us. Before we even went into the appointment, he’d been behind the front desk chatting up the receptionists, following strangers into doctor’s rooms for their appointments, routing through stranger’s handbags in the waiting room… he just wants to explore everything at the moment and has one of those cheeky faces that means he gets away with murder.

In the waiting room, he had a right time of it, crawling over the midwife’s scales, pulling urine sample pots out of her drawers, and inventing new uses for her blood pressure cuff. Craig and I struggled to keep an eye on him and natter to the midwife at the same time. Lesson learnt - maybe we’ll grab a sitter next time.

Our midwife was really lovely - chatty but informative. She gave Dexter a cuddle when it was time to leave which was a relief - he clearly hadn’t given too bad an account of himself.

We received our (rather disappointing) Bounty Pack and set of notes, and briefly discussed the plan for the next 30 weeks. Due to high BMI count and Dexter contracting Strep B in his first few weeks she mentioned the likelihood of an “Elective” C-Section but reassured us that nothing was set in stone at this stage. She also managed to fit in all our blood tests so we wouldn’t have to make any additional appointments before our scan date. It was all very easy and we’re pleased we changed doctors surgeries to get access to a community midwife.

Of course there are a few disappointments. Due to time constraints, we weren’t able to test to hear baby’s heartbeat. Given this is our second pregnancy, we won’t see her again until week 16 so have a long wait to hear it! I also didn’t make big enough deal out of my morning sickness in my opinion so we’ll need to book in a session with the GP if I decide I need anti-sickness medication.

In a bid to provide more reassurance things are going well, we’ve gone ahead and booked a private scan for this Thursday to finally answer the question of whether this is twins or not. Hopefully we’ll leave that appointment feeling a little more ‘pregnant’ and excited. As we’re off on holiday in a few weeks time, we’ll have plenty of time to sit around the pool to get our heads around the c-section issue. Our hospital doesn’t routinely offer VBAC’s (particularly given the other risks mentioned above) so we might well have to fight for a natural birth if we want one.

I think we’ve reached a turning point this week. I feel less stressed and anxious, but also less connected to this pregnancy. It doesn’t feel very real and I regularly forget I’m even pregnant at all - I nearly ordered wine at a restaurant this weekend! When pregnant with Dexter, I kept a notebook on my bedside table and Craig and I rarely discussed anything else. This pregnancy started off the same, but seems to have tapered somewhat. Compared to last time, the midwife appointment was anti-climatic. It all went smoothly, but that bubble of excitement was missing. Given we’ve worked so hard to create this new life, and can’t wait until he or she gets here, the pregnancy itself feels less chaotic and (dare-I-say-it) fascinating.

Did anyone else feel like this second time around?