When I became pregnant with Max it was at a time in my life that I consider a huge turning point emotionally for me. I had just lost my mother to a heart attack a little over a year when Julien and I conceived Max and right before we conceived Max I suffered a miscarriage. The emotion roller coaster of loss for me was intense but I came out of it and soared into pregnancy and loved it. I was sick with Max but nothing I couldn't handle. In all honesty, a mother's brain does the mama good by forgetting things like being sick in the first months but thank goodness for blogs I can go back and re-read and compare. I was sick with Max but not nearly as sick as I am now with BB.
I didn't work while I was pregnant with Max. I was in a transition period between jobs and had taken a small part time job tutoring a couple students in English to busy myself in the afternoons. As Julien puts it, I had time to pamper myself thus not noticing how sick I was. I don't remember it like that but I do agree that I had ample time to relax. So this time around I am now the owner of my own business working 65+ hours a week and I become pregnant. I did this for the first month of my pregnancy and then quickly learned that I had to stop. I hired someone to cut my hours in half and made myself slow down. Still working 35 hours a week is hard but I can do it and if I can't... well, I rest when I need to.
One plus of working so much and running around on my feet all day is that now 4 months pregnant I haven't gained a pound! I can't hardly believe it! I had gained one kilo last month only to have lost this month. Thus I am hovering right at my pre-pregnancy weight. I can't tell you how stoked I am or how pleased my doctor was today when he announced my weight. I warned him it may not be the same when I get back from the US (with my plans to eat copious amounts of BBQ and Mexican) but he smiled and said that I could faites vous plaisir. But still... I am going to try to keep to this minimal weight gain this pregnancy and see what it gets me afterwards. I will soon have to return to my 65+ work weeks so I will need all the help I can get.
So, difference so far...
- I've been way sicker!
- I've had zero weight gain (and I'm not complaining about this at all!)
- I've noticed that my stomach doesn't feel as substantial as it did when pregnant with Max. Though it's popped out it feels different. Example, I roll on my stomach and instead of feeling a mass in my lower belly, I feel a slight pressure but nothing that different.
- I don't feel pretty. I know this may be vain of my but when I was pregnant with Max I felt like a million bucks. I felt like I actually glowed. I look back at photos of myself and I looked pretty great, I think. My hair was healthy. My skin was clear. This pregnancy I am constantly breaking out, my hair is oily and super dark and I look like hell warmed over.
I did not want to get my hopes up that I could be having a girl because of all these signs. I mean every other person I know (2 friends and you know who you are, gals) had different pregnancies and I suspected pretty hard that they were having girls and it turned out they did. But this is me, the opposite always happens for me. I thought with my first pregnancy I was having a girl and I had a boy. I felt disappointed when I heard the news and I didn't want to feel like this again with this pregnancy.
So, when my doctor asked me today if I wanted to find out the sex I couldn't resist and I said yes. He has his own personal sonogram machine in his office so we had a look. He checked the position of the baby and listened to the heart beat. And then the moment of truth... he threw up a shot of the baby right between the legs and even before he could say anything, I muttered "Le Choix du Roi"*. And he responded, "Exactement!".
I cried until Julien arrived and he then took all the credit like the proud papa he is.
Bring on the pink.
*Le Choix du Roi is an expression the French use to express that you have two children, one boy and one girl. .
felicitations!
Posted by: S | June 25, 2009 at 21:24
YAAAAAY! Thank heaven for little girls! How exciting- congrats to the whole family!
Posted by: kefinparis | June 25, 2009 at 21:27
omgosh congrats!!!! yay for little girls! I always thought I'd have 1 boy, 1 girl but with 2 little boys running wild in my house :) we are waiting a little while before trying one last time for pink!
congrats again aimee!
Posted by: Heather | June 25, 2009 at 21:28
Yay, it's a girl! Congratulations! And what an interesting expression, le choix du roi, the king's choice. Haha, the king has it all, therefore one boy and one girl? Anyway, learned some more French today. Congrats again!
Posted by: eyewhypee (formerly euphrosynely) | June 25, 2009 at 21:32
Congratulations!
Posted by: Kalee | June 25, 2009 at 21:44
Sooooooooo Very CCCCCCOOOOOLLLLLL!
We are super excited for you guys!
Mary Anne
Posted by: Mary Anne | June 25, 2009 at 21:50
Yay! I am 4 and a half months pregnant, but we are thinking that we want to keep the suprise for the birth. For a first baby I really have no preference for a boy or a girl. (Although I do think that it is a girl...) Now we just have to not crack when the doctor asks at the second echo if we want to know or not...
Posted by: Ashley | June 25, 2009 at 21:55
excellent news! happy to give a crash course on life with girl anytime.
Posted by: sam | June 25, 2009 at 22:28
yay!!!! I'm telling you, it's been a girly year- pretty much everyone I know has been having girls. I'm sitting here sewing some summer dresses for my little girlies, and let me tell you, it's just so much fun. Boys are lots of fun, but so are girls and it's nice to experience both and I do believe it's a different experience. Bring on the pink and lavender!!!!
Posted by: andie | June 25, 2009 at 22:38
freaking awesome.
Posted by: Laine | June 25, 2009 at 22:51
YAAAAAY. I am so excited!! I knew it. I wonder if she will have dark hair... you know what that means in our family. :)
Posted by: Beth | June 25, 2009 at 23:30
they say being pregnant with a girl they steal your beauty! I have two girls and one boy and I can say it is so true. But who cares about all that...yah you're having a girl! One of each is perfect. Congrats!
Posted by: Kerry | June 25, 2009 at 23:32
Hooray! (And congratulations again!)
Posted by: Rachel | June 26, 2009 at 01:18
That's AWESOME! You know how stoked I am. Excellent news, not like I didn't know, but totally incredible nonetheless. She will have the awesomest little french-girl wardrobe (you KNOW I am envious.)
BUT, I misread that at first as "Le Chou du roi" and was wondering how a girl's genitals could look like a cabbage.
Yep. I'm a sicko.
Posted by: La Rêveuse | June 26, 2009 at 01:58
Lovely -- congrats!
Posted by: materfamilias | June 26, 2009 at 03:13
Dude she is going to be SO gorgeous! So happy for you guys. congrats! BTW, I think you always look GREAT!!!
Posted by: kat | June 26, 2009 at 05:41
AWESOME!!!! bring on the pink, pink, and more pink!
wow, aimee, i can't believe i discovered your blog so many years ago, before your mother's passing. seems like a different era ago... with so much that has happened in between. :)
Posted by: Nancy | June 26, 2009 at 06:30
OH MY GOD, I am sitting here at the breakfast table with Georges before I get ready to leave for the States and this is SUCH great news! Georges and I are over the moon for you and Julien, and this little girl is going to have the perfect big brother in Max.
So what kind of girly things can I bring back from the States for the baby? Maybe she needs her first Barbie? Or a Hello Kitty purse? It's never too soon to accessorize.
Posted by: The Bold Soul | June 26, 2009 at 07:09
Congratulations! That is fantastic news!
I was hoping to have boy/girl twins but ended up having two boys so I know the feeling of disappointment (although I wouldn't change anything now!) and the guilt of feeling that too ... Hoping to try for pink one day but who knows!
Anyway, I'm very pleased for you and I hope the sickness and tiredness clear up soon and you can enjoy your pregnancy a little more :)
Posted by: Perrine | June 26, 2009 at 11:42
Hoorah.
My only hope is that she has a gentler temper than my own pink lass.
Yay!
Posted by: JChevais | June 26, 2009 at 12:08
Happy happy news! Can't wait to meet the little princess!
xxx
Posted by: antipodeesse | June 26, 2009 at 12:37
That's wonderful! It's so much fun to have a girl after a boy because you really appreciate the wonderful selection of clothes so much more than moms who start off with girls. Of course she'll be a little bit of a tomboy too in her brother's PB jean suspenders which is cute too :)
Posted by: misschris | June 26, 2009 at 12:43
Yeah! So happy for you! Congratulations!
Posted by: Tracey | June 26, 2009 at 16:18
woohoooooo! congratulations!! although i REALLY don't mind what gender i have, i do think there is a lot more cute stuff to make for baby girls.
Posted by: Yvette / overanalyzer | June 26, 2009 at 18:13
Le choix du roi is cool. Congratulations! :)
Posted by: Alison | June 26, 2009 at 22:30