Are We Already in the 2nd Trimester?

It's true that the 2nd baby just doesn't get as much attention as the 1st one did. Especially when the 1st child is still at an age when he still takes up all your attention.

Being a first-born myself, I guess I've never realised the premium on my parents' attention that I used to command, until now. It was a privilege, though I'm sure there were moments when I didn't think it was the case!

I'm currently 19.5 weeks along, and whereas with Noey, I would have been able to tell you how far along I was if you'd casually asked me at any point of time, this time I had to go check my baby calendar to be able to say for certain! Oops. Still, one thing remains the same: Scan days are still happy days!

This is little Baby #2 at almost 16 weeks (15 weeks and 6 days), during our last doctor's appointment, back in end-Sept.

We had brought Noey along for my previous appointments but he tended to get alarmed when I was made to lie down for the ultrasounds to be conducted. All his anxious cries for mummy to "wake up!" usually meant that DD had to miss a good part of the scan since he would have to bring Noey away so that our poor doctor could carry out all the checks and measurements in peace. This time round we left him at home and DD and I could enjoy watching our squirmy little baby in peace. This one is an active one! Just like its Gor Gor Noey, I guess. During its time on screen we saw it twist around, as if it was trying to get away from the ultrasound wand. It moved from facing upwards to facing my back, and also opened and closed one hand. (I counted 5 fingers.) All very cute. And right on cue that night after our checkup, I felt the 1st kicks, this time way earlier than I felt them with Noey. It's always exciting and comforting to feel baby moving, and until the kicks get painful, very fun.

The doctor made a prediction as to its gender, but I'm waiting till the detailed scan sometime next week before announcing it publicly (and doing any shopping) cos I've had a few friends who had their girls change to boys and vice versa! I think I would be happy with either really, but most friends and family are rooting for a girl!

While I'm nearly half way through and well into the 2nd trimester, I am not feeling the burst of energy and enthusiasm that I felt when pregnant with Noey. Instead, I feel as if I have progressed from the first trimester straight into the third trimester. Heartburn and indigestion have already come on, to my dismay. I now travel armed with a bottle of Gaviscon for the heartburn and have on occasion had to sleep sitting upright. Not fun, I tell you. The pain hasn't been helped by the fact that my immunity seems to have been severely compromised this time -- whereas I am usually the sort of person who gets struck down with a bug that completely incapacitates me only about once a year, this time I had in the last month or so a sore throat that lasted 3 weeks, and then flu for another week after I recovered from the first bout. I've just recovered, and I'm hoping I've put that all behind me for now. Still waiting for the 2nd trimester good times!

In other news, Noey seems to be warming up to the idea that he will soon be promoted. When we read books with babies in them, he will sometimes say "Baby in Mummy's stomach! And Noey is going to be a Gor Gor!", with some satisfaction and excitement. Of course we know that he has no clue what that entails, but hopefully the positive attitude is a good start. He recognises the ultrasound pics as pics of baby, which is good, considering when I first asked him what he saw on the screen in the doctor's office he said "a cloud". Haha. Then again, in the early days, I imagine the image did look rather like a cloud.

Hmmm, now I'm rather looking forward to the detailed scan next week!