In case you haven’t gathered from various social media sites or missed the subtle change from “child” to “children” in the blog description, I am 21 weeks pregnant with bébé numéro deux! In many ways, this pregnancy reminds me of the last one. My body seems to love this harmonious state of being, from the superhuman hair and nail growth to the magical migraine vanishing. My belly jets out a little further than last time but I can still run within reason (22 weeks being the cut off last time). Still, it is not the same this time round. Nothing could hold a candle to the absolute wonder of going through pregnancy the first time. Also, then, I had time to research every aspect of pregnancy, birth and the first months of babe’s life. We took belly photos each week. This time, I am trying to remember if we have taken 3 or 4?! This time, I have a rambunctious toddler stealing my food (hey, give me that back!), climbing all over my belly or eagerly sprinting to the door hoping to race out of the house when I would rather be slumped over a couch all afternoon. Perhaps a small foretaste of the demanding realities of our growing family. When asked how my pregnancy is going, I remember that, oh yes, I am pregnant! Is that why I feel so tired? There might not be much time for navel gazing, but there will be more than with every subsequent pregnancy. So, halfway through round 2.0, I have a few new goals. Here are a few things I would like to accomplish before our second newborn invasion expected at the end of the year.

Spiritual / Reflection:
*We believe that having and raising children is both an incredible blessing and a high calling. I want to make space to regularly hear from God and gather insight into who our second child is and to walk into the calling of raising him/her to be the unique child he/she was made to be.
*I would love to reflect on how we began the parenting journey with Ayo and take note of the things we would like to do differently.
*I want to intentionally continue the journey of thinking about my identity as a mother and how the many other passions and dreams I have fit with the high-calling of caring for our growing family.

Outings / Experiences:
*I’d like to go camping at least once this summer as a family. Hopefully we will do this next weekend!?
*Hire a babysitter and enjoy a couple date nights and a couple double-date nights in the 2nd trimester.
*Plan an Ayo-moon: a babymoon type thing, but where fun things are planned focused on our firstborn.
*I had hoped to travel internationally twice before Ayo’s 2nd birthday (thinking China and France) – we will have to pay thereafter. Hopefully we can pull together one of these trips before I get too far into the 3rd trimester.
*I want to introduce Ayo to a few new foods and work on those he doesn’t love yet (brussel sprouts, tomato, mango..) by preparing them in new ways. It takes so much time investment to get out of the comfortable culinary rut and I know I won’t have the luxury of time to focus on this initially come December.

Health / Fitness:
*I would love to run 1-2x weekly until it is no longer practical and later walk the recommended 2 miles / 3.2 km daily.
*I know first hand the importance of a strong, healthy pelvic floor during and after childbirth. Being consistent is tough. I am trying to work on this as well as research simple exercises beneficial during pregnancy like squats.
*Our midwives request a dietary recall from each pregnant woman in their care. So, I wrote down everything I put into my mouth for a week. While almost all meals are high-protein and home-cooked, my sweet tooth hijacks every single day of my chart. I would love to cut down on the sweet treats like cookies (not the chocolate, that is impossible!) by making a few healthier nibbles. We’ll see how that goes!
*Drink raspberry leaf tea as well as three liters of water daily.

Cleaning:
*Rearrange our chaotic laundry closet – this was on my Fall goal list but I had an unexpected opportunity to do this last night when Ayo joined the big boys for happy hour!
*Sort through medicine cabinet and other drawers in the bathroom. These pretty much look like they have been torn through by a robber in search of jewelry – I have been reminded this was on our list to do before Ayo’s birth, but they look even worse thanks to him! Hopefully the organizing will happen this time!?

Reading:
*On childbirth – I hope to get the privilege of experiencing a second natural (unmedicated) birth, so I would love to at least dive deeper into Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth and read at least one other phenomenal book on birthing a small human. If you know of a good one, send your recommendation this way!
*On toddlerhood – Life is getting more hectic and Ayo is changing so fast. He is demanding so much more in the area of creative, consistent discipline. I got an ancient copy of “What to Expect – the Toddler Years” for 50 cents at our local Goodwill, which is both outdated and very relevant. I would still like to find a book on development and discipline, but we have hated everything we have come across so far (from the extremes of legalism to the extremes of laissez-faire, toddler knows best). Hmmm…
*Just for me – Like most pregnant mamas, I fall asleep when I open the first page of a book in bed. I long for a few pre-invasion solo daytime coffee shop trips to read a good book, process my journal and study Mandarin. Alone.

Toddler transitions:
*Ditch the bottle for the sippy cup. (Not working out too hot so far.)
*Ditch the sleepsack and migrate to bed covers / duvet.
*Transition Ayo out of a crib and into a big boy toddler bed (gulp!).
*Spend time talking to him and reading about the concept of a baby, his sibling.

I am sure I will think of a few more things to add to this list once I click “publish” but it is late and these are the things I can think of so far! What do you think, did I forget anything major?

Here’s to the second half of pregnancy 2.0!