The sound of silence

I can't seem to find the time or creative juices to blog anymore. Whenever a topic pops into my head, I'm usually in the midst of something and tell myself to post it the moment I have some free time but when that moment comes, I've completely forgotten what it was I set about to write.

Could the pregnancy hormones be to blame for this?

I'm now 26 weeks preggers which means another 14 more to go, barring unforeseen circumstances... Sigh... so long more to go?

Don't get me wrong though. I'm enjoying the pregnancy now (the energy and the appetite) but it hasn't been smooth-sailing all the way. Had terrible morning (more like whole-day) sickness, far worse than the last 2 times. Most food just didn't agree with me and I had to live on a staple of biscuits and energy bars. Thank God those days are gone!

I also fell terribly ill in my 3rd month and there was a point when everything I ingested, just came right back out again till I had no choice but to resort to taking Maxolon for the nausea. I figured I was better off taking medication that at least allowed the food to stay in rather than making myself weak from hunger and feeling like s**t.

Not long after, I fell in and out of coughs and colds and I had never had it so bad before that I was kept up the whole night hacking my lungs out. One day after a sleepless night, I got worried as I didn't feel bubs kicking around at all for half the day which was quite unusual. I was about to head to the hospital for fetal heart-rate monitoring when the little flutters started again. Phew!

Hubby and I have decided not to find out the gender of the baby early on this time. Since it's not our first time expecting, we thought we'd keep at least one element of surprise till the end. We've been getting lots of surprised looks when we tell people this. "Don't you want to know so you can go shopping?", they ask. What else is there to buy? We've already got all the big stuff. Clothes we have plenty. Come on, boys can wear pink too, can't they?

As with most second-time parents, we're feeling slightly guilty for not taking enough pictures of the bump, for not talking or singing to the baby enough, for not blogging much about the pregnancy, for not buying new stuff for the baby and even for not reading "What to Expect When You're Pregnant" (some of you would ask : "What's there to read when you've already been through it once?" But trust me... I'd forgotten most of the stuff!).

However, I will say that this time around, I've :-
1. been taking Probiotics and supplements (which makes me wonder why I still fell ill so often!), 2. been eating less rubbish and more homecooked food,
3. been exercising more (morning walks, prenatal yoga and been doing squats too); and
4. refrained from birds' nest (read that it could contribute to infant eczema despite the Old Wives' Tale that it gives the baby smoother skin).

Also, although we may not talk directly to the baby as often, surely he/she hears the banter when we're playing with Nat and I'm hoping that the happiness gets absorbed into the womb. Yes, I'm praying for another Nat.... not necessarily gender-wise but it would be such a blessing to have another child with her cheery disposition.

Okay, now for the third and final trimester (sleeplessness, lethargy, frequent toilet visits, indigestion, etc). Bring it on!