So Guess What…

So guess what guys, we have some news… I am pregnant! We are expecting our second baby in early July 2018 – I am 17 weeks along. We just found out what we are having – a baby girl this time! I hope she likes Enid Blyton and drawing house plans and Tomb Raider and Saddle Club and Trixie Belden and writing ghost stories and knocking on walls to find secret passages and pretending to be cool like Dawn Schafer and dreaming of inheriting or stealing a potential champion racehorse and all the things I was into when I was a kid.

Some of you clever guys clued into the fact that I was pregnant already – a couple from the anti-nausea sweatbands I had on my wrists in Instagram photos; a couple from me just being less active on social media/the blog in general; a friend who texted me saying she’d had a dream I was pregnant (there’s always one isn’t there?!) Then we had some family photos taken on Sunday by my very talented friend Crystal Patterson and they seemed like a nice way to announce our news.

Photo by Crystal Carol Patterson.

We found out the gender on Monday – we went to a place in Mount Lawley called Fetal Photos (I don’t know why that business name makes me giggle). Mr Nerd and I had both suspected this one was a girl from the start. Although this time, we were actually correct (unlike our first pregnancy – when it turned out to be a boy – you can see our gender reveal party photos here). Also, no we didn’t do a gender reveal party this time round, haha. I only had energy for one of those! The only (and clearly highly scientific) reason we thought it was a girl this time was that this pregnancy I could actually eat fruit, actually craved it. Sometimes the fragrance of a peach or nectarine at Woolies makes me feel rabid with hunger. (With Little Nerd, I couldn’t keep fruit down at all, the tiniest sliver of peach or tomato would make me throw up).

I am a bit nervous about it being a girl. I think girls are harder! I grew up in a family of three girls, and have lots of screaming, tantrum-filled, Barbie-throwing family memories that must have been joyous for my long-suffering parents. But Little Nerd is so excited, ever since the start he has said he has wanted a sister over a brother, strangely enough, so he is stoked.

Photo by Crystal Carol Patterson.

Unlike my first pregnancy, when we pretty much told everyone at five weeks the moment we found out (you can read that one here this time round Mr Nerd and I thought it would be “fun” to keep it our little secret as long as we could.

It wasn’t fun. Ha! For one, I definitely shot out a lot faster with this pregnancy than my first (that’s shot abdominal muscles for you, I hear) but also keeping feeling sick from everyone you know was hard. Of course we are happy and realise how fortunate we are to be having another baby, but most days I have been feeling like complete crap. I am always aware it must be hard for people struggling to fall pregnant to read about people who are pregnant complaining about it. But I honestly do think that being sick in pregnancy can crush you mentally a bit, knowing that feeling awful may last a whole nine months and impact on your work and life for almost a year, and I think it should be okay to talk about it, to not brush it off. Same as with my first pregnancy, it was about the four week mark that I started to feel really gross and unlike my usual self. Although this time, ridiculously, it didn’t even cross my mind I could be pregnant. “Oh my goodness, why am I feeling so tired and unfit?” I thought fearfully, making plans to hit the gym harder and fit in more runs. (Clearly, baby brain also landed earlier this time! Also I read an article the other day and did you know that when you are pregnant, your brain actually SHRINKS?! And then it stays at its shrunken size for two years before returning to normal. I did not know that. It basically means I pretty much only just got smart again and now I’m mini brain again).

Photo by Crystal Carol Patterson.

Anyway – back to what I was saying…  what was I saying? In my first pregnancy, I blogged about hyperemesis gravidarum, which, to be perfectly honest, was bad enough that it made us wonder whether we would even have a second child. Partly because of that, I definitely didn’t rush into it this time round and definitely waited until I felt ready, despite no end of pressure from well-meaning family and friends who said how great a smaller age gap was and told me not to wait too long if we were going to have another. Instead I waited until I felt it was the right time for us and am glad we did. He will have just turned three when his sister arrives and I think it will be a good age gap for our family. For me personally, I was never in love with the tiny newborn stage, but I really like the much more interactive, funny toddler stage (with the exception of the teething, the tantrums and the wanting to put shoes on by himself). I wanted to have more of that one-on-one adventure time with Little Nerd before even contemplating getting pregnant and having the possibility of being sick every day.

I also REALLY love my job and that factored into things. Even though I still only work part-time and have Little Nerd with me the other days, I wanted to have enough time to feel like I could have a decent crack at my career again, to make enough of a dent in some projects that I could be semi-satisfied (I’m never fully satisfied! I always want to do more and more). Also, expect another long, ranty post about pregnancy sickness soon… I’ve already angry-written (aka vented) a story on how to survive a crappy pregnancy soon, I will click publish on that feverish gibberish soon.

In the meantime, I’ll take any tips on raising girls you have! Thanks so much for all your lovely comments on the Instagram pic I shared the other day – they were so nice to read. It made me think what a wonderful bunch you all are. Maya x

Maya-Anderson-House-Nerd

Author: Maya Anderson

When Maya Anderson was thinking of a name for her homes and design blog, nothing seemed more fitting than House Nerd. Obsessed with everything to do with houses, renovating and interior design, Maya is a features journalist by training with a background in print and a focus on homes and real estate. She has been renovating her 1970s house since forever, loves dogs and can eat her body weight in dumplings.

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  • I think we have very similar attitudes towards babies. My girl (Daisy) is almost 11 months now and it is such a treat seeing her grow and learn new things and feel proud of herself for accomplishing something. I’m loving the time I have with her now but hated the first four months and the thought of them makes me want to wait a bit before trying again too. It makes me happy that she is growing up, whereas other people feel sad about it!

    Also, girls can be equally fun (for all those things you said above – Enid Blyton, secret mysteries etc haha). Although tbh, I did like teaching boys more than girls in my teacher days – less sucking up and more jokes! Having said that, no wee in your face at the change table is a bonus!

    I’m pretty sure siblings fight no matter what their gender is.

    Hope you enjoy the excitement of welcoming a new person to your fam and the sickness doesn’t last xx

    • Hi Sarah, thank you for the lovely well wishes! Daisy is such a lovely name. Also, thank you for sharing that! I know exactly where you are coming from. I feel like a lot of mums are very open about absolutely loving the first few months (and it’s wonderful that they enjoyed it) but it would puzzle me that so many seemed to openly grieve the newborn stage ending. I would scroll through Instagram or Facebook and see updates from friends who put up photos of six-week-old babies captioned, “Please stop growing up so fast! Time is too going too quickly! *sad face*” and I would think, “Oh my goodness, what is wrong with me? I just want my baby to be older already!” As a new mum, in the beginning it almost made me doubt myself – why am I different? But then I realised it’s completely normal and fine that not everyone feels the same way about every age – some people just may not be so open about it! Like you with Daisy, it makes me happy watching Little Nerd grow up! My hubby and I both remember the 11-13 month age with fondness, we felt like that was a really nice age. It’s so cute seeing their personalities emerge more and more and seeing them proud of themselves for mastering new skills 🙂 I am loving his current age – 2.5 – he says the funniest things every day and he loves to make jokes, we have been trying to remember to write them down!

      Thank you also for the girl encouragement – I remember being so nervous about having a boy haha (“What are we going to talk about?! I only know girl stuff!”) so hopefully that swings around again. (I’m glad I’ve kept all my favourite childhood books! She needs an Enid Blyton education!) xx

  • I can’t wait to see a little Maya! I know she will be unbelievably cute and everybody will fall in love with her at first sight. Sorry to hear you have deal with being sick, I was hoping it was only the first-time-around thing. Best wishes. xoxox Alena