Two pregnancies, two girls but oh so different.

My biggest dream, wish or maybe even goal in life is motherhood. I've always wanted to be a mother since I was a little girl. I know that parenthood is not something to be taken for granted and I am therefore grateful that it turns out to be possible for us. At the beginning of March 2020, my long-cherished dream turned out to be a reality and in October of this same year we became parents of a beautiful daughter. Soon after the positive pregnancy test, Corona entered our country and we ended up in a strict lockdown. This period brought a lot of rest, we worked from home, had nowhere to go and saw few people. Something that of course suppressed the joy a bit, but on the other hand I was also very sick and nauseous during my first pregnancy. The lockdown didn't turn out bad for me. Working from home allowed me to continue my work as a teacher without anyone noticing anything. The nausea and vomiting stopped after about 19 weeks of pregnancy, but after the sugar test in the hospital, the next ailment came into play. Did I have gestational diabetes? I was forwarded to the gynaecologist, because Nore also turned out to be 'too big'. From this moment on I was treated in the hospital and a home birth was no longer an issue. In the end I was induced two weeks before the due date and I had a good birth in the hospital.

(On being pregnant during a pandemic , I wrote a blog in February 2021.)

At the end of October 2021, before Nore's first birthday, we found out that we are expecting our second child. But this time the first ailments failed to materialise. I felt bad for 3 to 4 days at the most. At first this scared me a bit. Would everything go well? I do feel good and that was not the last time?! But after the first ultrasounds and visits to the midwife, I was able to let go of this feeling. This was a different pregnancy. If we are to believe the nursery rhymes, we are having a boy this time. But nothing could be further from the truth, at the gender ultrasound we found out that we are having another daughter, a sister. It is special how a body reacts differently to such changes every time. Two pregnancies, two girls, yet everything is so different. This time no gestational diabetes and just a baby that grows within the curves. During this second pregnancy, the ailments started a little later. After 23 weeks of pregnancy I started having problems with my pelvis. Actually, I should say, my pelvic muscles. After a number of physio visits, I will have to find a good balance between rest and exercise. The further I get in the pregnancy the more frequent and worse the pain becomes. So I will have to accept that I can do less this time. A walk to the supermarket, 600m away is a bit the max.

So we're having a second girl. This saves a lot when it comes to buying stuff. We still had everything from Nore, so gradually the boxes with baby stuff are being picked from the attic again. To be fair, the clothes hardly wear out during the first weeks or even months and they also grow to the next size in no time. Now Nore was born in winter and this girl will come in summer. We will therefore have to buy something extra in terms of clothes, something that mom really doesn't mind. The new nursery was of course a different story. Here I could go wild again on a new interior. Two girls, but two different rooms. I wrote a blog about Nore's room in August 2021. Where I used a lot of white, pink and wood tones with Nore, her sister's room will contain browner tones. I will write my next blog about this. For the decoration of the room I found all kinds of beautiful wall decoration on the webshop of Pompelmoes Kids . Take a quick look, because there is a lot of fun to be had!