Hello, hello! Some of you may already know this, but I’m pregnant again! Read on for all the details on how many babies I thought we were going to have + how many I’m actually pregnant with, as well as the physical and emotional sides of my second pregnancy.
Twins? Quads?!
As of a few months ago, we were a family of three, with Baby J being born in December 2019. I discovered I was pregnant again in early September. I actually believed that my period was just late, but for some reason, The Man knew that I was pregnant again.
The first pregnancy test I took was “invalid”, maybe because I did it in the afternoon and it was too early on. But the second one (at 6 in the morning the next day) was super clear: back on the baby rollercoaster we go! I waited about 20 minutes before waking The Man up to share the news. At least this time we were in the same country! (Check out my first pregnancy announcement here.)
I’m not sure if I forgot what my first pregnancy was like or if I legitimately was more tired this time, but I felt something was different. And then the dreams started… I had several dreams about being pregnant with twins and even one about quadruplets! There are twins in both of our families, and even The Man had a dream about twins, so somehow I convinced myself it was quite likely. I also had a beta coaching client who has twins, so that might have led to it being front of mind.
I was in Brazil for two-thirds of my first pregnancy and I had a scan less than a month after finding out that I was pregnant. Here in the United Kingdom, the procedures are different and waiting until 12 weeks seemed like an eternity… Especially with this twins paranoia I created!
Anyhoo, I had the scan… And there’s “only” one baby in there! My relief at not having to manage three kiddos under two probably took away from the excitement I “should” have felt at our first ultrasound. But I am very happy to share that we have a seemingly healthy second baby on the way! My due date is the 24th of April 2021, which will probably make the two little ones 16 to 17 months apart.
The physical side of my second pregnancy
As I mentioned above, I really was very tired during my first trimester. I’m talking naps most days and early bedtimes. I can remember one day when I actually slept more than Baby J!
Along with the tiredness, came the background nausea and loss of appetite that I also experienced during my first pregnancy. It’s hard to describe to someone who’s never experienced this, but it’s essentially like feeling constantly a bit hungover or car-sick haha, as well as being very sensitive to the smell and sight of things. I’ve fortunately only actually been sick a handful of times and I only lost a couple kilos (as opposed to ten in my first pregnancy!).
Some of my favourite things (coffee, garlic) were out and instead I mostly wanted plain things. This time round, I’ve also had specific cravings from the get-go though: for blue cheese, palmiers and quatre-quarts cake. If you’ve had weird pregnancy cravings too, please share them in the comments below!
At the time of writing, I’m almost 15 weeks pregnant and out of my first trimester, woohoo! I can happily report that most of the unpleasant symptoms above are now gone. I do have “lower back” (more like my bum really haha) pain and I’m still being cautious about what I eat, but feeling so much more energetic! I can also drink coffee again, so feel free to buy me one here haha.
I’ve been “showing” for quite some time (which also contributed to the twins paranoia!), but given that I’m often wearing lots of layers, it might not always look obvious that I’m pregnant. Pro tip: when in doubt, never ask a woman if she’s pregnant, even if it seems obvious that she is! I mentioned in a previous blog post how a little girl informed me that I was pregnant the first time (and that I was horrified), read it here.
The emotional side of my second pregnancy
I’ll start by saying that I now feel fine, so please don’t worry haha. However, I experienced a month and a half of low energy, low mood and low motivation. I wasn’t actually diagnosed with anything, but I’d probably go so far as to say that I was depressed during that time. I do realise that getting pregnant is a blessing, especially when many couples struggle to conceive, but when I first found out, it was a shock.
I think I had a hard time because: a) I was so flipping tired, b) I had lots of plans for September that suddenly I felt I couldn’t keep up with. As I mentioned in my quarter three review post, I was planning on launching a podcast and offering coaching services for the first time. I managed to get three beta coaching clients (see their testimonials on my home page!), but the podcast fell by the wayside. I’m the kind of person who enjoys making progress on my goals and being slowed down by fatigue + all the new tasks I had to do to look after my growing bump was frustrating.
It seems a bit strange writing this now, as I’m in a completely different headspace. I don’t need the naps anymore (unless our little monkey wakes us up early) and I’m feeling super committed to this business I’m growing.
What also made a big difference was seeing our baby on the ultrasound. I want a big family (or at least several children!) and I’m super excited to meet our new little baby in the spring. We’ll find out the gender this time, so I might be sharing that sometime soon. We still like the feminine name option we had for Baby J, but we’re really stuck on masculine names… Please share your suggestions in the comments!
Back to you
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