It is hard to imagine that in four days’ time, Angelina will turn one-month old. Ever since she popped out my womb, time seems to have flown so quickly, yet slowed to a drag concurrently too.

People say that the second pregnancy and child is easier. In a sense, that is true for certain aspects. For example, it is easier to differentiate between the different kinds of cries and hence, we can address her worry instantly. Same with the burping, rocking her to sleep, skill in changing diapers etc.

However, there seems to be less time for the baby when you already have another child in the house. It has proven to be quite challenging, having to hold Angelina in both arms, hence having none free to hug Antonio or the physical freedom to deal with him.

Similarly, having to apportion time for both kids means that many developmental milestones of Angelina have happened without us being able to record them immediately.

Things like being able to hold her own neck when in a seated position; recognising voices and turning towards them to look; sleeping three to four hour stretches; loving her baths; smiling in her sleep; weight gain (she is possibly 4kg now).

We have also not taken as many photographs of our daughter. Something which we shall remedy soon. Watch out for photographs in the next update.

 
We went from this:

 
To this:

 
Hello gorgeous!

 
Statistics: 1.20pm, 3.2kg, 54cm, elective Caesarean.

 
As it has been months since Robin saw us, we brought the bump to Yayasan Bumi Sehat for a visit. Unfortunately, she was busy attending a birth, and only had five minutes to say hello, kiss the belly and kiss Antonio before running back in to the delivery room.

Since we were there, we decided to have a check up for the belly. We are happy to report that everything is good, with the assurance that “your baby is very healthy!”.

Now at 37 weeks, the foetus is considered at full-term and I can actually deliver baby if I (the body) wanted to. Baby is already head down, and ready to go! Now it is just a matter of waiting.

At this point, I weigh 76.5kg, which means I have piled on 16.5kg, slightly less than what I put on at this stage of the pregnancy with Antonio.

Photographs of the belly will arrive soon.

 
Baby Capodieci 2 has largely been neglected by us in terms of charting and monitoring the development of the foetus and belly expansion.

Roberto and myself have been kept busy with some unexpected changes where work is concerned. These issues have eaten up a majority of our time, including time with Baby Capodieci 1, Anotnio.

Right now, the Expected Delivery Date of Baby Capodieci 2 is April 17, just two days before Antonio turns two years old. We have chosen to have our delivery with Dr I Nyoman Hariyasa Sanjaya, an obstetrician and gynaecologist who favours natural birth first, reserving assisted and Caesarean  births only for emergencies.

Dr Hariyasa also happens to be the founder of the Bali Water Birth Association, a fact that we found out only after doing some research on him consequent to our first visit with him at his clinic, Kasih Medika, in Denpasar. We have already spoken to him about the possibility of a water birth, just like what we wanted with Robin Lim of Yayasan Bumi Sehat for my first delivery. Hopefully we can discuss this in further details during our next checkup with him in mid March.

How we found Dr Hariyasa was totally by coincidence.

After the gruelling labour of my first birth that ended up being an emergency Caesarean with an uncomfortable two-night stay at Ari Canti hospital in Mas, we decided to be a little more prepared in case this second delivery becomes another Caesarean. Thus, we started looking for a hospital with good medical facilities, and comfortable beds.

Our search brought us to Sanglah hospital in Denpasar, only the most well-equipped hospital in Bali – patients from other hospitals are sent here if there are insufficient equipment, staff or medical supplies to cope with the situation – that also happens to be a government hospital. We were referred to the International wing, where all the staff from doctors to nurses to reception clerk and cashier all speak a high level of English, which is quite a rare trait among service personnel here.

When we asked about having a gynaecologist who allows the father to be by the mother’s side at all times, no matter what type of delivery, they suggested Dr Hariyasa to us. Good call!

So now, we are prepared. We will try for a natural birth as much as possible, but we already have our back up plan in place in the moment that we require an emergency operation.

Please send us well wishes for a safe, smooth and quick delivery! No more 45-hour labour please!

 

The gel for the probe had not even been spread out properly yet. As you can see, I was quite excited.
 

Scan done during the monthly checkup on February 18, 2010. Can you figure out what it shows?

 
A quick look at the developing baby bump, taken on February 4, 2010.

 
Here is a comparison of my belly at 30 weeks during my first pregnancy, taken on February 2, 2008:

 
Back to the present, here is the frontal view:

 
Baby Capodieci 2 in my belly has been largely neglected, so we felt today is a good day for an update by presenting pictures of my growing belly! Photographs were taken on December 25, 2009 as we were preparing to go out for Christmas dinner.

First up, the requisite side profile of the belly:

 
Next, it is the front profile. We included Antonio to show that it is Baby Capodieci 2 inside. In case you are wondering, Antonio was asking me to wear his shoes so that he can go out pronto!

 
If you would like to view more photographs from the night, click here: December 25, 2009.

 
I brought the belly to Singapore for a holiday, as well as more intensive pre-natal checks: blood test, glucose level test, detailed foetus scan.

As with the first pregnancy, I went to see Dr Teoh Eng Soon at Teoh Clinic for Women. He then sent me for more detailed scanning at the National University Hospital.

I managed to get a snap of the screen with a still image of the ultrasound:

 
Here is a clearer image of the foetus:

As with all previous scans where baby was uncooperative in revealing its gender, the sonographer and professor were still quite sure that this was going to be a girl.

So, hello Angelina!

 
We had another checkup today, our first with Dr I Nyoman Hariyasa Sanjaya at Kasih Medika.

Dr Hariyasa is the third obstetrician-gynaecologist whom we have met since we discovered my second pregnancy.

There are many factors why we feel comfortable with him. Besides the fact that he speaks extremely good English and understands us perfectly, he is also open to having the father in the operating theatre. This appeals very much to us. I will write more about him later, in a separate entry.

As it was our first visit with him, he did the rudimentary ultrasound scans, which are visually quite boring but necessary to measure its head circumference to determine its gestational age.

However, if you are inclined to find out how the head of Baby Capodieci 2 looks, here is the scan:

If you can see the numbers at the bottom of the scan, it gives the Expected Deliver Date as April 12, 10 days later than what the very first scan provided. We are unable to know the exact arrival date of baby but we do know it is around mid April 2010.

 
You know how mothers with more than one child tell you that the signs and symptoms for the second pregnancy are always more obvious?

Well, in the past two to three weeks, I have been feeling movements in my belly and I always thought it was baby moving. “Hey, I know this feeling! I’ve had it before!”

Roberto was not convinced: “It could just be some rumbles from your stomach and you want it to be the baby moving.”

However, there is no denying that at 7.10am (GMT+8) today, what I felt were baby movements and not some belly rumbles.

They were distinct kicks or hits on the lower left side of the belly. I have been awaiting the return of these movements, as I felt that they were one of the best things about being pregnant.

I placed my hands on my belly and fell asleep as baby continued to move…