We often hear from parents of multiple children, that what they did for their firstborn, they don’t always do for their second. In my case, sharing updates about my pregnancy on social media, starting a baby book (I didn’t actually finish Zaccai’s), sewing a quilt, and blogging. This is me at least catching up on blogging about my second pregnancy in its entirety, all in one post.
First Trimester:
Bed rest wasn’t as calm and relaxing as when I was on bed rest after my first embryo transfer since I was home with Zaccai, who was as energetic as ever. It was sweet for him to watch my injections because he would instinctively hold my hand, check if I was ok, and inspect the injection site.
He went with me to both of my hCG blood draws too, which gave me hope that this embaby would be his sibling.
Once it was confirmed that my embryo transfer was successful and I was indeed pregnant, I was able to let go of my worries and trust in my body that already nurtured and carried a baby.
I had exceptional morning sickness (read: all-day sickness), fatigue, and constipation. I was often nauseous at work, especially at recess duty when I was out at the playground in the Kihei heat, unable to deal with the tattling and just focused on not gagging. The all-day sickness was a lot more intense than my first pregnancy. One of the nurses said my hCG level was high, which made it no surprise that I was so nauseous. She had to check that they only transferred one embryo. My nausea was so bad that I couldn’t stand my shampoo. I got a new one that was unscented, but it would still make me feel like throwing up. When I’d get home from work, I would immediately need to sleep.
I started showing a lot earlier. At 12 weeks, my bump was the same size as when I was 20 weeks with Zaccai. It took a toll on my self-esteem since I have body image issues. After my first appointment at my OB’s office, I was triggered by how much weight I had gained and requested the nurses and doctors do not tell me my weight at future appointments.
All of the injections and medication side effects were worse than my first time doing IVF. The abdomen injections made me bloated and gave me headaches. The steroid and estrogen pills made me extra nauseous. The intramuscular progesterone injections were painful and seemed to bleed more often. I had hard marble-like spots in my butt cheeks where the medicine was collecting. At times, when John would administer an injection, he would push down the syringe plunger, and the medicine wouldn’t go in, so he’d have to pull out the needle and do the injection all over again. I couldn’t wait to be done with the progesterone shots, but my fertility clinic gave me medication for an additional 40 shots because “it wouldn’t hurt.” I understand more progesterone is beneficial for the fetus and pregnancy, however it actually physically hurt. I decided I was done and did not do the additional shots.
Second Trimester:
When I was pregnant with Zaccai, I remember the second trimester being the golden period of pregnancy when I felt normal and could be active. This pregnancy, the second trimester continued to be rough as the nausea and fatigue lasted until I was 17 weeks. I also got an infection and had to take antibiotics. Once the nausea let up, I was able to function better at work and enjoy doing fun things with Zaccai, like go on hikes and do a 5k!
My bump kept growing and I continued to be self-conscious about gaining weight, so I took maternity photos a lot earlier than my first pregnancy before I got even bigger.
I’m proud of myself for doing a nude maternity photoshoot. I look at the photos now and am in awe of how much my body went through to grow and be a home to two babies.
Third Trimester:
My brother-in-law started planning a virtual baby shower for us since John’s side of the family is in California. But we decided to travel to California for my cousin’s high school graduation and so he planned an in-person baby shower instead. I was so excited since we weren’t able to celebrate my first pregnancy in-person since it was during the pandemic.
We flew to California when I was 28 weeks, the start of my third trimester, and according to my doctors, the cutoff to fly to the mainland. The 5.5 hour flight was brutal. My lower back was in a lot of pain from sitting for that long, Zaccai stayed on my lap for the whole flight, and my feet swelled a lot. I had a lot on our itinerary since this was Zaccai’s first time traveling to California. I didn’t account for how much driving it would take to go everywhere which was uncomfortable for me. Zaccai also had a difficult time at night and would wake up and want to go home, so I didn’t get much sleep. One of the nights, I had bad Braxton Hicks and was crying. I realized I had to know where the closest hospital was wherever we were just in case.
After we did all of our sightseeing, we went to my in-laws house two days before the baby shower. I had chills, a fever, headache, and a runny nose. One of my biggest fears of having Covid while pregnant, came true. I consulted with my doctors’ office and a nurse prescribed me Paxlovid. I quarantined since I was the only one that tested positive and sadly the baby shower was cancelled.
The flight home was tough for me again. When we got back, I had frequent doctor’s appointments, due to having Covid, to do ultrasounds to monitor the amount of amniotic fluid and non-stress tests to monitor baby’s movements.
I also had to get checked for gestational diabetes. I failed the 1-hour glucose test, had to take the 3-hour glucose test, and failed again. I was so disappointed that I had gestational diabetes. The maternal fetal medicine doctor and diabetes educator assured me that it wasn’t because of anything I did or ate and that it was because of hormones made by my placenta. It felt like yet another thing on top of all the other hiccups I had in this pregnancy. It was hard not to compare my first pregnancy where everything went well. I had to take my blood sugar three times a day and log everything that I ate to send to my doctor. Luckily, it was diet-controlled and I didn’t need insulin.
One of the closest people in my life suddenly passed. I still haven’t processed it, so I don’t even know where to even begin.
I was physically and mentally drained. I had the normal discomfort of the third trimester, was working full-time, and didn’t have childcare because my in-laws got Covid, and my family went to the mainland in support of my family member that passed, so I had to bring my toddler to work with me. It was challenging to find time to get work done while finding things for him to do, making sure he ate enough for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, and could nap in my classroom.
While being an emotional wreck, we went to Oahu for an extended family event. I was 32 weeks pregnant, which was my doctors’ cutoff to fly inter-island. We tried to make the most of it by making our short trip into a mini-baby moon and spent the weekend in Waikiki.
Upon our return home to Maui, the Lahaina, upcountry, and Kihei fires happened. I can’t believe the devastating loss that people experienced.
As my pregnancy was coming to an end, despite all of the sorrow, I was determined to bring my baby into this world surrounded by happiness. I focused on nesting, had an amazing prenatal massage thanks to my friends, met with my doula, joined a prenatal village, had therapy sessions with my therapist that specializes in postpartum mood disorders, did prenatal yoga, had a prenatal chiropractic appointment, and attended a hāpai circle.
I’m so thankful that my Maui family, my dad, and some of my California family celebrated Zaccai’s 2nd birthday with us.
I truly appreciate my cousin-in-law and cousin for throwing me a baby shower after all.
And I checked off the one thing on my pregnancy bucket list — surfed pregnant! At 38 weeks!
