They Might Be Curly Giants!

It’s been a long journey but time flew past and now we’re very near the finish line.

I’m going to be a daddy for the 3rd time. B3 is coming.

Need I say more? Well maybe I should.

• The Discovery

It happened sometime in February, I guess. A tale of precautions not undertaken, unplanned, but not unprepared. When the cross appeared on the test kit, targeting what we had suspected, a bulls-eye straight to our senses, it was a big surprise to us. We hadn’t planned on having another baby so soon after Ayeed. We thought we’d give it another year or so before trying for a third. That plan flew out the window as we realised we’re going to be third-time parents sooner than we expected. “Okaaaayyy … “, we thought. In silence. Stunned for a moment but it’s happened and we shifted into expectant parents mode and prepared ourselves for another round of tests and visits to the gynae’s office.

• Hello Again, Madam Gynae!

To say it was a surprise would be an understatement because even Trin’s gynae hadn’t expected us to back at her office quite so soon, Ayeed was just 7 months old when we poked our faces through her door in March. That signalled the start of the routine which we had been so familiar to us - weight measurement, blood pressure, pee on the stick, etc. for her and me fiddling with my PDA or thumbing through the nearest available dog-eared magazine and trying to stay awake while waiting for Trin, before the 5-minute “how do you do, how’s the baby” in the gynae’s office (when there weren’t any ultrasound scans scheduled) and out her office barely 10 minutes later. It was pretty smooth sailing during the visits to the gynae, so much so that it felt like a chore. I’ve lost count of the number of times we’ve visited her ever since Ajab’s discovery way back in 2004.

• The Progress

B3 is progressing well. Other than the slight concern that Trin’s amniotic fluid level is a little low, there hasn’t been much to worry about. Weight and other vitals were normal, but I tell ya, B3 is a REALLY ACTIVE foetus! We thought Ayeed was active in the womb, but this kid …. *sigh*! There was one occasion where the gynae had to tell Trin to take a 10-minute time out during one of the ultrasound scans because B3 was moving about so much.

And what about the mummy? Other than the usual bouts of evening sickness, nausea, fatigue, occasional craving for Coke and chocolates, aching back and calves, this pregnancy has been ok for Trin. Her asthma didn’t worsen too much, unlike when she was carrying Ayeed, so it’s all been relatively good. I say relative because on a couple of occasions the gynae noted that her weight had been going down, but it wasn’t anything serious.

• Preparations? What Preparations??

Other than the “How’s the pregnancy going so far?” questions posed by relatives and friends who already know, one other question keeps recurring: “Are you guys excited??”. To tell you the truth, the answer to that would be “Not really”. I mean, having a baby is a major life-altering event and all that but when you have two other young children, coupled with the demands of work, sapping your energy levels to nearly ZERO every single day, you tend to just let the excitement escape you and settle for the comfort of knowing the baby is growing well, we’re nearing the expected delivery date and “Let’s get this over with!”.

If I could quantify the excitement level I feel, it’s probably only one-third of the excitement we felt when we were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Ajab three years ago (excitement level during Ayeed’s was about two-thirds, I think). Don’t get us wrong, we love this kid, we’re anxious for B3’s safe delivery, but we’re not jumping for joy and shouting from the roofs about it. We’re more calm, composed and collected this time round.

In terms of physical preparation for B3’s arrival, other than the odds and ends like booties and mittens and milk bottles, re-assembling Ajab’s old cot and buying a couple of outfits, nothing much has been done. Unlike Ajab’s time when I bought his first stroller nearly 4 months before he was born (and it was the first baby-related item I bought too!), we’re pretty laid-back when it comes to B3’s preparations. Of course, most of the things can either be handed down from Ajab or Ayeed or bought later. I think we’ll be heading down to the supermarket this weekend to stock up on newborn diapers (damned, freaking expensive Pampers Newborns!) and infant formula (more on that in another post).

And how are the boys with regards to this new development? One word: OBLIVIOUS! They have no idea what’s growing in Mummy’s tummy. They will soon!

So that’s about it. We’re having a baby. Again. Yay!

Before I end this post, apologies must go out to the one and only person (you know who you are!) who guessed right AND commented on Trin’s pregnancy a while back when she guessed ” …. and then there were three” in the blog header tag-line meant “three kids”. Sorry I had deny it to keep the whole thing under wraps. It just wasn’t the right time, but you were absolutely spot on. I wonder how many other people guessed it too.

Oh, by the way ….. B3’s a girl.