4th checkup, start of 2nd trimester, honeymoon period?

Today was my checkup again and I'm not sure why I ended up without a picture of Baby 2 as well as some of my questions unanswered. Probably due the fact that I was kind of preoccupied with the blood test that I had to do after seeing by Obgyn.

I don't have Baby 2's measurements but he/she is growing well from what we saw on the screen. My Obgyn said that it is still to early to tell the gender so we shall see for next month's checkup which is 5 weeks away (4 week's time is a public holiday).

The blood test was painful (and my arm still kinda hurt) and I just pray that I won't be hearing from my Obgyn about the results until I see him again in 5 weeks time. And the blood test costs a lot, the highest bill so far from all the checkups I had.

As for how I am personally progressing with the pregnancy so far, the nausea is mostly gone and so is the vomiting, well nearly. I've puked 3 times this week and the recent was just before I saw my Obgyn this morning in the car. It is also my first time puking outside of a toilet bowl. It was provoked by a cough (we, the girl, hubby and I are all down with the flu) and I luckily I managed to get hold of a plastic bag.

At least I can eat better than before although I still dislike some food. And yes the weird after taste is still there after I eat food (some say I'm expecting a boy because of this). And I think my nose is changing its original shape too! :( ....a few days ago, I noticed it but of course I would be in denial. But the next day, my colleague asked me about it and I totally freaked out! My nose kinda got bigger towards the very end with Rye Li and now to have my nose changing at 14 weeks and I still got like 6 months or so to go, it is very scary-la! I just pray it has got to do with my runny nose and that I'm blewing my runny nose now and then. Hehe, we shall see (keeping fingers crossed!).

We should be getting our maid next month and I pray it's a smooth one. We settled for an Indonesian in the end as the agent was telling us we need to be extra patient with the communication part if we were to get a Cambodian one. I kinda figured that already I'm running out of patience with a 2 year old, I can't imagine another round with a foreign maid! Not that I will have it easy with the Indon but at least I don't have to start from scratch.

This week, when hubby was away for his business travels and the girl was not well (she was having fever for 6 nights and her cough is really bad), I really felt the huge pinch being alone with her. I have been mostly alone with her at nights since she turned one month old and I have managed to cope well from then till now.

Rye Li was a colicky baby at 6 weeks onwards till 3-4 months old and I was mostly alone with her. She was also sick now and then and I was mostly alone with her. All of these lonely times, I could cope and I am surprise at myself that I could cope although I did complain to hubby occasionally that we need a maid. When she turned 1 year old onwards, the thought of getting a maid just kind of disappear as she was easier to handle.

Now, with this pregnancy, it has been a test for me. Rye Li was having fever since the previous Thursday night. We were mostly awake throughout the nights as she was coughing badly and that we need to observe her fever. On Monday night when hubby was away, she woked up and coughed really badly and vomited out her milk. She soiled her bed but luckily the bulk of her puke ended up in a plastic bowl which we have prepared for this. I moved her to the other mattress wanting to change the whole bedsheet but I couldn't find her bedsheet. In the end (I was also dead tired), I just took a nappy cloth to cover the small wet patch which was towards the end of the bed and moved her back to her bed. The previous times when she actually puked everything on the bed, hubby was around to clean up the mess while I cleaned her up.

This week really made me wish my maid is already here. I know for a fact that I will need a maid when Baby 2 comes to assist in the house chores and at nights when I need to have my shower. She is not to look after the kids as I will be sending her and the kids to the daycare during the weekdays. I could cope with looking after Rye Li myself at nights and I know I can cope with Baby 2 too. Only thing I need to get rid off is the housechores, cleaning & sterilising bottles, laundry, packing for the daycare the next day so that I can pay attention to Rye Li as well. I cannot rely on Rye Li to look after Baby 2 when I shower so this is where I will depend on the maid. I need my shower so I can breastfeed (I cannot imagine breastfeeding after a day out at work) and Rye Li pratically watched me shower when I was all alone with her.

Having a maid and sending the kids to the daycare will be a huge additional expenses for us. But my consolation is that this is only temporary. The most, 2-3 years. If my maid proves that she is trustworthy and would want to stay on to work, I may just stopped sending the kids to the daycare as Rye Li would be in school by then and Baby 2 would have learnt alot from the daycare already by then too. If the maid doesn't want to stay on, then I would not get one anymore as Baby 2 would be easier to handle. The things we do for our kids eh?! ;)