tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23362679687517849352026-02-15T01:06:59.270-08:00I have an adorable two-year-old (yes, I realize that 'adorable' and 'two-year-old' in one sentence is an oxymoron), and recently came to a conclusion I wouldn't be opposed to having another one. Here is the problem - in order to get a toddler, I need to go through the dark times of pregnancy and infancy that I have discovered to be...well, let's just say not my thing ('hell' is what really comes to mind, but I am trying to stay positive). This blog is about the journey ahead. Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-14261212512314521932013-11-02T17:54:00.003-07:002013-11-02T17:54:32.291-07:00

It has been four months that I've been tackling two kids at the same time. Multitasking became a new normal. I have read a study somewhere that suggested multitasking is not truly possible, that it is just what our society likes to boast about, but our brain is only able to focus on one task at a time. My brain is not able to focus on anything at all. Sometimes I doubt it is still present, but

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-390623531995871582013-08-12T15:49:00.000-07:002013-08-12T19:14:41.042-07:00

No babies were harmed in this photoshoot I have heard plenty about the second child syndrome. I have never doubted its validity. It was enough to go to the playground with Kai and watch. There was I, following one step behind him, my arms stretched out in a catch position, climbing up the playground structures and fitting through impossibly small openings and tunnels just to make sure he

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-39079638538116618082013-07-30T23:05:00.000-07:002013-07-30T23:05:50.384-07:00

I went back and forth on writing this blog post forever. With forever I mean at least two months. I could not decide what the best course of action should be. I am still not convinced the road I chose is the right one, but here it is - I have decided to share this story with you, because as mortifying as it is, it is also hilarious and I can't keep a hilarious story from you, can I? On May

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-74149038967640836502013-07-21T22:56:00.001-07:002013-07-21T22:56:56.750-07:00

I don't usually give advice, especially if nobody asked for one. I have read somewhere that advice is the lowest form of conversation. Yet I am going to make an exception this time. This is something I have come to realize just a few days ago and now I find myself repeating it to myself again and again, because it works.  For those who have been following my blogs, I have a shocking

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-64856352490477271592013-07-14T09:27:00.000-07:002013-07-14T23:24:04.009-07:00

It has been two weeks since we became a family of four. Four humans that is, not to offend our cats (offended cats can cause a lot of troubles). Or to be even more precise, two humans, one little caveman (he would argue he's a dragon) and one yet mostly unidentifiable tiny creature. I am still getting used to having a daughter. I refer to her as "him" fairly often. Kai does also, or he says

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-45922745425387763412013-07-02T15:11:00.002-07:002013-07-02T15:11:12.132-07:00

Considering that there is no miracle more impressive than the one of a new human being entering this world, giving birth can be pretty uneventful.  Thursday morning I took a shower and updated my Facebook status to remind the world that this baby will never come out. Then I dressed Kai and was about to go make us some breakfast when my stomach started feeling funny. At first I decided it

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-29517747591536171392013-07-01T14:34:00.001-07:002013-07-01T14:34:33.205-07:00

She is here! After careful consideration, Fiona Rose decided it was time to come and got right down to business. Giving first signs of real labor at 8am on Thursday, she gracefully gave us enough time to pack up some stuff, drop Kai off to his daycare and made her appearance without much fuss at 3pm.  Basic statistics - born on June 27th, 2013 at 3:01pm; 8lbs 13oz or 4kg; 20 and a half

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-59894656839282753502013-06-15T18:25:00.000-07:002013-06-17T09:55:29.261-07:00

At this point I am hoping that the next post I'll publish will be a birth announcement, but since it is not happening yet (even though she is making a repeated effort to rip the side of my belly open and crawl out that way), I have decided to write about the good things in this pregnancy. No, your eyes are not deceiving you. I did write "good things" and "pregnancy" in one sentence and

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-10000651752894031422013-06-12T13:12:00.000-07:002013-06-12T13:12:13.621-07:00

I have mentioned in my last blog post that I am starting to get nervous about the upcoming birth. To make sure that this pregnancy will be full of shit-hitting-the-fan until the very end (I hear it makes for better writing), I learned last week that I am GBS positive. GBS, or Group B streptococcus is a common bacterium often carried in your intestines or lower genital tract. Group B strep

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-14354913299219437172013-06-04T22:59:00.000-07:002013-06-04T22:59:04.217-07:00

I am still pregnant. At 36 weeks and 4 days, this is not necessarily shocking. But it is all I am able to think about. I haven't written anything in two weeks for this very reason. Because I am still pregnant. I keep waiting for something to happen. I expect my water to break any minute now. Or wake up in the middle of the night with contractions five minutes apart, like I did with Kai.

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-54573784400558976122013-05-22T22:20:00.000-07:002013-05-24T08:44:48.273-07:00

See the name of this post? It means that I have reached the stage where the most irritating thing by far is me becoming one of those irritating women who say stupid stuff like "get this baby out of me". Of course I am not serious, the baby is not even 35 weeks yet and needs to cook some more. But geez... Sooner or later almost all the women start talking about how they just want the baby

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-71428628846517244852013-05-15T14:08:00.000-07:002013-06-04T22:08:58.343-07:00

For eight months now I have been sharing my journey through Pregoland with you. I have told you about my fears of getting pregnant. I have disclosed the super speedy conception success. I have shared with you the picture of a stick I peed on. You have seen my biggest nightmare of repeated hyperemesis gravidarum coming true and read about the changes my body and mind have gone through.

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-20413924070583576142013-05-01T16:02:00.000-07:002013-07-30T19:16:50.513-07:00

If you are reading this post after seeing the title, you are either very brave or you googled "vagina snot" because you are experiencing it too and there is no better description for it. Or both. I think we have already established that this blog is not for the faint of heart. At 32 weeks of pregnancy, the picture of a woman as a dainty delicate flower growing peacefully under a glowing sun

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-14022138075481729052013-04-25T17:55:00.000-07:002013-05-02T19:23:45.062-07:00

This is what I am not good at - I am not good at writing, or doing anything for that matter, when the kid is around. The kid has been sick for a while now, so I am at home with him doing nothing. But it has been 2 weeks since my last post and soon enough there will be a baby in the house that will be attached to my hip for a very long time and I need to suck it up and figure out how to

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-57973031538315188242013-04-12T00:03:00.000-07:002013-04-27T23:03:59.487-07:00

I have several pregnancy apps on my iPhone. I have a book about pregnancy. I participate in a pregnancy online forum. It might seem like an overload of information, but some of it is repetitive. Especially the format addressing any discomforts that Mom has to face seems uniform: "You might be experiencing severe nausea and vomiting, and possibly will need to get fluids via IV to prevent

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-35180106451632702452013-03-28T12:15:00.002-07:002013-04-27T23:03:37.248-07:00

Photo by Jenny Hall Photography I thought this blog post would mainly be about varicose veins. But guess what happened yesterday morning? I had to go to the emergency room. Now which story sounds more exciting? OK, not to be unfair to varicose veins...let's start with them. They run in the family and they run crazily all over our legs. I had them before this pregnancy. Two or three little

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-88602727498659060392013-03-21T16:33:00.002-07:002013-04-27T23:03:22.466-07:00

Since I can't take a vacation from being pregnant, I at least took one from writing about it. But I am back now! A week ago I read Amber Dusick's post called "My Reaction to Pregnancy Announcements (Now That I Have Kids)". You may be more familiar with her as the author of "Parenting, Illustrated With Crappy Pictures" blog. I am sure you have seen some of her posts before. She is hilarious

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-88198536186064923112013-03-09T09:13:00.002-08:002013-04-27T23:03:11.216-07:00

The picture above was taken this morning. It's Saturday, Peter is attending the annual "Manboree" weekend event, and Kai and I are hanging out in bed, each with our own electronic device. He has a bottle of water next to him and I am sipping on a cup of decaf.  If I saw a picture like that about a year ago, I would think to myself: "How is this good for the kid? Who gives a video pad to

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-37563650266376835552013-02-28T14:13:00.001-08:002013-04-27T23:03:00.923-07:00

At 23 weeks I have reached the state in which dropped objects don't fall directly on the floor, but hit my stomach first. This is becoming increasingly inconvenient especially because most of the objects I am talking about are food items, or toothpaste, or hair product, or similar things that leave stains on my shirt. If they fell directly on the floor, I could just pretend I haven't seen

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-12644000019638526182013-02-20T15:14:00.000-08:002013-04-27T23:02:47.751-07:00

I got to have a date morning with Peter today. We don't get to have these too often, but once in a while Peter has a week day off and then we can drive Kai to daycare and enjoy the morning with just the two of us. Of course, dropping Kai off with Peter is a very different experience from dropping Kai off without him. By the time we got there this morning, all the kids were in the gym. And

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-73496119224367449962013-02-14T14:28:00.000-08:002013-04-27T23:02:35.994-07:00

It's a pregnant Valentine's Day! I would love to blame the events that have taken place so far on pregnancy. I have been getting by with blaming almost everything on pregnancy, from going to bed at 7pm, to having Peter clean Kai when he poops his pants, to requesting random meals at random times. But I am afraid this one is just me, pregnant or not.  There were times when I did creative

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-85663059988617840092013-02-06T11:06:00.003-08:002013-04-27T23:02:23.474-07:00

GIRL!!!! I think Peter's face says it all.  The ultrasound went really well. The little girl was super active and the tech was able to see everything that was important to see. I feel enormously relieved that everything looked fine. I was a nervous wreck these past few days, worried that the ultrasound would reveal some horrible defect.  I did not have a preference as far as the

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-69313234983354478752013-01-30T16:33:00.000-08:002013-04-27T23:02:06.190-07:00

I have been suffering from what is known as pregnancy brain syndrome. My friend Sarah calls it "pregomentia". Based on the facts and observations available, I have come to a conclusion that the pregomentia is significantly more severe in the second pregnancy. I think if I ever made it to the third (which I will not, thank God), I would need to delegate our cats to take care of the house,

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-987364093685108972013-01-24T18:45:00.000-08:002013-04-27T23:01:52.058-07:00

You might want to think about signing up for prenatal classes now since many areas get filled up well in advance.                                                

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2336267968751784935.post-16049013118570018152013-01-19T11:49:00.000-08:002013-04-27T23:01:36.144-07:00

Week 16-17 of this pregnancy can be remembered as the week of anger and irritation. If you haven't interacted with me this week, it's for the best. If you have, you are probably not reading this anymore and I don't care, because I am too angry and irritated. Ha! The last sentence is not true, of course. I do care. I just wanted to give you a glimpse into what the last week felt like. Grrr.

Ajka Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13038153361047711691noreply@blogger.com3