23 August 2013, by Mandy Loh

The 2nd trimester, 2nd time round

Hooray I’m in my second trimester already! It’s the 14th week into my pregnancy with Doubbles, and everything is going splendidly! So glad the first trimester is over – it felt as though it would last forever!

Previously, we had deliberately chosen not to find out if Cristan was a boy or girl, as we felt that it would be fun to find out only at the birth. This time round, we are more eager to know the gender (as we’re hoping for a girl), but ironically, our mischievous little one is keeping us in suspense! At our check-up on Tuesday, we tried scanning at different angles, and zooming in as much as we could, but we couldn’t see anything conclusive at all. Even our doctor declined to comment, so we’ll just have to keep on guessing for a few more weeks!

Generally, the second trimester has been treating me quite well. I’m still tired (probably because of running after Cristan) but thankfully the slight nausea has gone away. The baby bump has started to emerge, but it’s at the irritating, ambiguous stage right now, which looks more like I had one too many suppers recently.

I’m quite surprised at how low-key this second pregnancy is, in terms of emotions. With Cristan, I was excitedly reading pregnancy, childbirth and parenting books, whereas this time round, it’s almost like a non-event. Don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely thrilled and delighted to have No. 2, but I’m just saying the excitement level has gone down quite substantially. Besides, with a toddler to take care of, there’s very little time to actually sit down and read!

As for Cristan, he’s vaguely aware that something’s brewing. I’ve told him that he cannot jump on my belly, explaining in the most straightforward way that there’s a baby inside so he has to be gentle with Mommy. He seems to understand, because sometimes he will put his face near my belly and say “Hello baby!”, and at other times, he will poke my belly button and tell me that he’s poking baby! Kids definitely say and do the darndest things!

While Tim and I are probably a little complacent about this second pregnancy, we are acutely aware that the arrival of No. 2 would mean utter mayhem and chaos for at least a year. We’re hoping to continue coping on our own, without a helper, so I have a strong feeling we’ll be pretty frazzled and zombified with an infant and a toddler on our hands!

Knowing for a fact that we probably won’t be travelling for a while after Doubbles’ arrival, we’ve decided to plan a holiday to Taiwan next month! It’s sort of a babymoon with Cristan included, to enjoy ourselves as a family of three before Doubbles joins the party. I’m totally looking forward to the trip! As it will be my first time visiting Taiwan, any tips/ recommendations on what to do and where to visit would be most welcomed!