The most interesting thing about being pregnant the second time around is how the pregnancy takes a back seat to the rest of your life.  When I was pregnant with my first child, Alyssa, I think I spent pretty much every waking hour thinking about or preparing for her arrival.  While driving to work, I would play classical music, because they (the infamous they) say that playing classical music in utero will help get your child into Harvard, or some such nonsense. I would talk to Alyssa all the time because I wanted her to be familiar with the sound of my voice, even though she would probably recognize my voice because I talk all day long.  I registered the minute I found out we were having a girl, and I enlisted my sister (a mother of three) to help with the process.  I made sure I only ate pasteurized cheese, turned my nose up at anything with caffeine and I exercised more than I had prior to my pregnancy.  I did my Kegel exercises religiously, because after watching the c-section video, I wanted to do everything I could for a vaginal delivery.  We read books on what to expect, how to soothe a cranky baby and the 411 on babies.  My husband and I toured the hospital, pre-registered and took the birthing classes and baby safety classes by the beginning of the third trimester.  To say I was consumed by babies and becoming a mother was an understatement.  It was a great time of my life and I was so happy that we were going to become a family of three.  Preparing for Alyssa helped me to feel bonded to her and I felt like I already knew her, or at least a part of her, before she was born.

I am due with my second child on January 8, 2010.  I think I actually said to my husband the other day, I just need to get through the holidays first and then I can think about preparing for the baby.  If you do the math that means I have one week to prepare for baby girl number two’s arrival.  For the record, my husband just laughed and shook his head at me.  At the beginning of this pregnancy, I would actually forget I was pregnant.  My morning sickness would occur at night, so I was able to function normally during the day.  I would go to Starbucks and order that latte without even thinking of getting a decaf.  It wasn’t until about 2/3rds of the way through the latte that I realized - hey, I’m pregnant.  Luckily, I’m not a caffeine addict, so it wasn’t a daily occurance and my doctor said limited caffeine intake shouldn’t affect the baby.  I took that advice as license to continue getting those lattes and iced coffees.  Forget about playing classical music in the car, because I’m listening to Disney tunes with Alyssa.  Working out is a luxury.  I try to exercise every other day, but I pretty much fail at that every week because I don’t or won’t work out in the mornings and I get home at 7:30 p.m. from work.  I haven’t even thought about doing a Kegel exercise until I started writing this post.  I think the only thing I do for this pregnancy on a regular basis is forward the weekly baby development emails to my husband.

I would also forget to tell people I was pregnant.  I am 28 weeks into this pregnancy, and I finally just finished telling all of my friends.  If you saw me, there’s no way to deny I’m pregnant, but for those who I don’t see on a regular basis or the facebook friends, I just haven’t made a big announcement.  However, the last person I told, who is a child psychologist and very wise, said to me, “This pregnancy is part of your life instead of all of your life.”  Prior to this conversation, I felt guilty, because I wasn’t bonding with the baby the way I did with Alyssa.  They were the magic words I needed to hear.  I am so excited to have another baby, but I realized that having a two year-old, trying to spend quality time with the hubby and working full time does not leave a lot of time for daydreaming about the delivery or the perfect nursery.  Additionally, because we’re having another girl, I feel much more prepared this time.  For some reason, I continue to believe all we need are some diapers and wipes, and we’ll be good to go.  My thoughts are directed elsewhere - I have a child who needs me to focus on her, and I am consumed with planning Alyssa’s third birthday party.  So, I’ve decided that after Alyssa’s party, I will focus on baby number two.  That is until I start thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas.