The pits

 

Having a sick little one is just the pits.  Ella has picked up some kind of bug and hasn't been well for the last three days.  It started off as a sniffle and we thought she just had a little cold, but it escalated into vomiting yesterday (all over me as we were cuddling thank you very much) and now she's just limp and lifeless.  It's so hard to see your little one like that.  I miss my cheeky, nosy and inquisitive little friend. 

When we're at home together she doesn't stand still - always chattering to herself and busying herself with toys or books.  Yesterday she could barely muster the energy to hold her head up and was just staring off into space.  I held her all day long and she slept in my arms, something that she hasn't done in a long time and I was reminded how nice that is and that I should do it more often (if she'll be still for long enough).

We are off on holidays on the weekend so I am desperately hoping she makes a full recovery before then.

Until then I am more than happy to oblige with endless cuddles, kisses and hair stroking.

Becoming a big sister

I'm a little bit nervous about how Ella will react when the new baby arrives.  She doesn't understand that we are having another baby although we do talk to her about it and try to show her that there is a baby in mama's tummy.

I bought her a baby doll the other day to try and teach her to be gentle with a baby and to feed it and so forth.  It was actually lovely watching her with the doll, it was like she had a built in maternal instinct.  Before I said anything I unpacked it from the box and she took him, kissed and cuddled him.  She also fed him with the baby's bottle without my prompting.

This morning when we went downstairs for breakfast, the first thing she did was look for her baby.  She picked him up and kissed him and gave him a good squeeze and then found the bottle to feed him with.

Things are looking good so far - aside from the fact that she threw him in the full bath last night, swatted him with the fly swatter several times and pulls his eye lids open when they close.  But that's all completely normal right?  Ha ha.  Well, at least we have another 4 months or so to work on the idea.

19 Weks Pregnant (It's a..!)

I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is progressing.  I'm almost half way through.  I must say that I do enjoy being pregnant and watching my body change, I feel a sense of pride as , although this time around it has been a little tougher on me.  I am a lot more tired and have experienced a lot more nausea than I did the first time around.  I am trying to enjoy everything as much as I can though as this may be the last time that I get to experience it (we are not sure if we want to have any more children - more so for financial reasons) and this makes me a little bit sad.

When we were pregnant with Ella we didn't find out the sex of the baby at the 19 week scan.  This time though we decided that we would find out the sex of the baby with the idea that it would make things easier for planning and getting everything ready in time for his/her arrival.

Tim and I had talked about what we thought it might be, but who really knows?  I was adament that Ella was a boy the whole way through my pregnancy and look how that turned out!  This pregnancy felt a little different but I wouldn't go so far as to say that I thought it was going to be a boy because of these differences that I felt.

As with anyone expecting a child, you only want a baby that is healthy - boy, girl, it doesn't matter.  We both talked about how nice it would be to have a little boy but we were also completely happy to have another girl.  In fact it was a little exciting to think that Ella may have a sister and being so close in age we imagined them growing up together as best friends, sharing clothes etc etc. 

As the days grew closer to the scan we became more and more excited to find out about this little being growing in my belly.

We went to the hospital early on monday morning and anxiously waited for the sonographer to do her thing.  We saw baby's heart beat, little hands, little feet, brain - everything was completely normal and baby is growing like a little champ. 

Most of the time baby was scrunched up into a tight little comfortable ball but it decided to cooperate for just a second so we could catch a glimpse of the gender.  A boy!  Most definitely a boy!

My heart skipped a beat and I smiled wide.  I looked at Tim and his eyes instantly glazed as he found out that he would be having a son.  What an amazing feeling.

I am so excited about the prospect of having a mischiefous little boy in the house (to match our equally mischiefous girl!).  A healthy, happy, little boy. 

I felt him moving for the first time on Tim's birthday after we went out for dinner and since then have enjoyed the subtle movements inside me, a gentle reminder that he's there and growing, such a reassuring feeling.

My life could not be better right now.