#37 Finally!

It’s a girl! Finally we know! And yes, I am used to the idea by now and feel really happy about it. Actually, I wasn’t surprised because both Greg and I had the feeling it was a girl. Firstly, there was the fact that she kept her legs closed for so long (surely that’s not so comfortable for a boy) and then there was the fact that I was even sicker this time than with Jay (I mean, I still puked twice this week and struggled with nausea off and on and I’m 5 months along). I know that for most “normal” pregnancies the sex of the baby doesn’t make a difference, but I’ve gone on the official HG website and they say there that studies have shown that HG is worse with a female fetus. Anyway, as I’ve mentioned before – there is just something special about knowing for sure. What blows my mind is people who already know the sex of their baby and still go on about how they wish it were the other sex. Like this one couple we know – they are having a boy, but they really wanted a girl and they still talk about how they wish it were a girl. That makes me feel sad for the baby. Even if you have a preference before the time, once you know that should be it. You need to change the way you think, find acceptance and just be happy that your baby is healthy. Now that we know for sure it’s a girl, both Greg and I are thrilled about it.

At first I wasn’t sure if the doctor was going to be able to tell me. I’d had some sweet tea to try and get the baby moving (I’d been sick that morning and couldn’t face anything else), but when he first looked the legs were still closed. Then he moved that thing around on my belly some more and said, “Hmm… I think it’s a girl.” I waited a bit and then he got the money-shot and said, “Oh yes, there she is. It’s definitely a beautiful little girl.” I came home and told Greg and he wasn’t surprised. Both of us felt happy, though. I know I told you that we had wanted another boy, but that was for practical reasons. Now that we know we’re going to have a daughter, that Jay is going to have a little sister, we both feel so happy about it. And you know, I was going through Jay’s newborn clothes and there is a lot there that she’ll be able to wear. Like blue onesies with teddy bears and so on. Obviously, the ones with trucks and cars on them I’ve put aside, but there are plenty that I feel are just fine for a girl. We can get a few cute pink outfits for when we go out and use Jay’s old clothes for at home. It’s definitely better this way around than having the girl first. I can’t imagine dressing my son in pink onesies with bows, frills, fairies and ballerinas on them.

The Taiwanese people I’ve told are so happy. In this culture if your first-born is a boy you are considered to be “lucky” and if your second one is a girl you are said to be “100% lucky” because the two characters together mean the word “good”. I say we are 100% lucky and 100% done after this one! Actually, the night after we’d found out, I had a dream that I went to the doctor again and he did another sonogram and told me he’d made a mistake, that it was a boy. And I felt so, so sad and cried in my dream. Then when I woke up I felt relieved that it was still a girl!

On Friday morning when we woke up the weather was beautiful (and I only go in to work at 5pm that day). The sun was shining and the sky was blue, so we decided to go down to the swimming pool. Greg went off to the baby store to buy some baby swimming diapers and a little hat for Jay. Then we took a walk down to the pool. It’s very close to our apartment building and is run by Amvets (American veterans of war or something like that). It’s really well maintained and it’s lovely there. They have all these deck chairs and you just find a spot and make yourself comfortable. It was a Friday so there weren’t that many people there and we had the baby pool to ourselves. Jay has a float, but at first Greg just held him to help him get used to the water. Then later we put him in the float. Greg and I got in with him, but I only swam a little bit. Jay really seemed to enjoy the water. He was a little nervous at first, but then he got used to it and started kicking about and using his hands to splash around. It was so cute. I wanted to take some pictures, but my camera wouldn’t work that day. Greg took some with his phone, though, and I took a few the next day. After a while when he’d had enough I lay on the deck chair with Jay and fed him and then we walked back. I had to get ready for work, but it was such a lovely day that I felt like I was on holiday. I think there is just something about being near water that makes you feel super relaxed. We decided to do the same thing on Saturday and then Greg told me that the big indoor pool was actually heated which I didn’t know. It’s not hot, just way more comfortable than the one outside. I set my alarm, but when it went off I thought the sky looked really grey. However, when we woke up a little later and Greg went to get breakfast he said it was really hot outside and the sun was shining so we got ready to go out again and spent the entire day there. Of course, we slathered the little guy in sunscreen and he had his little hat and he isn’t sun burned at all. He slept so well afterwards. He actually took a nap after his first swim and Greg and I held him in turns and I read my book and then we had some Subway and something to drink. I also swam for a while in the indoor pool and Greg swam in the outdoor pool and then later when Jay woke up he had another swim and at around 4:30pm we set off for home and even managed to fit in a nap. We felt so good and relaxed. At night I made spaghetti and bought this divine red sauce to which I added onion, garlic, yellow pepper, mushrooms, asparagus, olives, capers and tuna. It was delicious!

Do you know that during my last pregnancy at this point (5 months) was when I started bleeding and had that torn placenta? I’m so relieved that nothing like that has happened again. I must say that with the bleeding in the beginning, though, I’ve been way more careful this time around about heavy lifting and overdoing things. At least I’m at the point where I can feel movement. Even when I bled last time, I was obviously freaked out, but I could still feel Jay move so I knew he was okay. I just didn’t know if he would continue to be okay. Now I’ve had no bleeding which I’m very thankful for and I’m at a good place because although the morning sickness still comes and goes, it’s definitely at the tail end and I can feel her kicking every day which helps with my peace of mind.

As I said, Jay is SO active right now. He loves monkeys and is just like a little monkey himself. He wants to open and close every cupboard and drawer, take the garbage bags out of the bins and drag them around, pull all the books off the shelf, throw everything he can onto the floor, climb on anything he can and he has started couch surfing. If you put him on the floor in the lounge he crawls to the sofa, pulls himself up and walks along holding on and then moves from one piece of furniture to the next. I have to watch him carefully and stand close by so he doesn’t fall and hurt himself on a corner. We have those railings along the bed to stop him from falling down, but he stands up holding on to them and starts jumping. Then he hefts one leg up and puts it against the netting to try and hoist himself over. And the one at the far end of the bed, he has actually managed to get right over, but land head first into the long cupboard. Luckily Greg was around to catch him before he got hurt. At the pool he stood holding onto the back of the deck chair and then put his feet in the slats and tried to climb up. Geez! He can’t even walk yet and already he is climbing everywhere! His top front teeth look so big already and they only came out properly about a week ago. He loves to “read” his books and it’s so cute watching him and Greg together. They’ll both be lying on the floor and Greg will be reading his book and Jay will be paging his magazine. Now and then he’ll rip out a corner and try and shove it in his mouth (Jay that is, not Greg). Stella says he still loves that math book. You remember the one he was fascinated with when he was just a tiny baby? He still loves it even though it’s only the outside cover that has color. He pages through it all the time. I bought him this colouring book (just to look at for now). It’s a Winnie the Pooh book that I got from the NT10 store. The funny part is that on the outside of the book it shows a picture of Pooh and the gang and it says “Winnie Puuh” which Greg and I thought was really funny and one of the reasons we couldn’t resist buying it.

Okay, that’s it for now. Jay was sleeping next to me in his stroller, but then he woke up. I put him on my lap and he passed out again, but I don’t think it’ll last for much longer. It’s so funny because sometimes we can tell he is dreaming and it looks just like he is dreaming about swimming. He starts kicking his little legs back and forth like he does when he is swimming. Actually when he sees the pool his face lights up and when Greg takes him to the edge where there is some water that has spilled over from the pool, he immediately starts stamping in it. I look forward to the day when he understands and gets excited when we tell him we’re going to the pool.

Lots of love

Em x

(snippets from April 2010)