Throwback to a very emotional day 6-weeks ago.☺️
Today, June 8th, we saw our second child for the first time ❤️ I’m 6 weeks 5 days pregnant (my own estimate) and haven’t even seen my midwife yet, but I was eager to have an early ultrasound scan to check everything is well and that there is a baby in there!
When pregnant with Maia, I had all of my antenatal care with NHS (for free!) and I gave birth at the UCLH which is our closest hospital. I didn’t have any complaints when it comes to the care at this hospital and so I intend to go there again. I didn’t like my local midwife though so I’ll request to go to a different children’s centre for my midwife appointments. If there are no concerns, NHS offers two routine ultrasound scans, the first at three months and the second at five months pregnant. With Maia we had an extra scan when I was six weeks pregnant only because of a mixup of appointments but I really liked it! The early pregnancy is such emotional and vulnerable time that it was great to get some reassurance. So this time around, since I couldn’t count on another lucky extra scan, I booked it at a private clinic. A quick Google search showed a price range for early scans at (what looked like) credible antenatal clinics between £90-180. I booked one for £90. I can’t really understand where the price difference comes from. At 7-weeks not much is visible yet, but I was hoping to confirm an embryo implanted in the right place and hopefully with a clear heartbeat.
It was Saturday morning and so we could go all together- Maia came with us. It made me quite emotional to have her there to see her little baby brother or sister for the first time, even if she didn’t understand what was going on. She wasn’t scared, she was just happily chatting away and tickling my toes as I lay on the bed. Despite the early weeks, we were able to do a successful scan over my belly, rather than with the internal “wand thingie”. We saw our little Pea and his/her heart beating fast, at 140bpm!! We got pictures and videos of our tiny beginning of a human. Even though I’ve been quite relaxed and haven’t had any cause for concern, it was still such a relief to hear and see that everything is ok! We are still in the middle of the fragile first trimester and anything could still happen, but I’m going to stay optimistic. So far so good. 😊 My three-month scan is booked for July 18th at the hospital which feels still a long time away – it’s the next milestone I’m very much looking forward to!
I’m also looking forward to the end of first trimester because last time most of the annoying pregnancy symptoms such as crazy tiredness, nausea, bloating and constipation eased by the beginning of the second trimester. I should not complain as I had an easy pregnancy last time and despite the nausea I was never even actually sick. But still, feeling like you’re hangover for a month or two is not fun. Seeing our Pea today was also the best reminder of why I’m feeling so crap! To be honest, I do remember that being pregnant is not easy, never mind giving birth, but every time I look at Maia I just think “for you my love, I’d do it a thousands times over”. This must be why the human race has not gone extinct. 😁 The day women decide kids are not worth it, we’re doomed! (That’ll never happen so we’re safe.)
Speaking of Maia, the mum guilt is already raising its head a bit… Recently I’ve been so dead tired that I haven’t had much energy to play with Maia and so daddy has stepped up his game and it’s been a lot of Daddy Daycare. Of course Maia has been enjoying her time with daddy but I feel a bit left out. But sometimes (more often than not) I just really, really need a nap.
One very familiar pregnancy symptom I remember from last time is the heightened sense of smell. I even have to keep changing/washing my water bottle because suddenly the smell of it (never even noticed a smell before!!) makes me queasy. Also I can’t stand the smell of coconut body lotion or the smell of banana (taste is fine though) – so utterly revolting! How I wish my boss would stop eating bananas at work… But there’s no way I can ask him to without sounding like a weirdo!
Overall, what a special day! I feel so incredibly blessed that it’s almost scary. What have I done to deserve this amount of happiness?
xoxoxo,
Sini