Jo is pregnant with her second child, due on August 6th 2003. Her first daughter, Emily, is 8 months old. We'll be updating Jo's diary each month as her pregnancy progresses.

Second Trimester: Feb 6th - March 30th 2003

February 6th:
Well, my migraine has finally dissipated into a slightly annoying headache. This, I find, is preferable to wanting to bang my head against a wall to get rid of the pain the migraine was causing me. Another plus is that I'm not being sick as often now it's gone - the toilet bowl and I were become a little too well acquainted for my liking! Matt has had to work all week, so I have been generally coping on my own for the most part. Emily is, thankfully, quite happy to amuse herself for the most part, although I wish she'd sleep during the day a little more. That way, I could rest too. Still, on the bright side I'm off to visit my mum in a couple of weeks time, so at least I'll be able to have some R&R then, as she'll look after Emily for me.

February 10th:
Went to our aquatots class this morning, and Emily was pleased to be back in the water. We had lots of underwater swims - well, the babies did anyway! It's very nerve-wracking to let go of your baby and watch them swim on their own, but once you've done it a few times you realise that they are more than capable of doing it, and you just feel so proud of them.

I am meeting one of the other mums from aquatots for a coffee tomorrow (well, hot chocolate for me as I can't stand tea or coffee). It's nice to spend time with someone who understands the ups and downs of life with a baby - I catch myself inanely blabbering away to childless friends about 'Emily this' and 'Emily that' and know I've gone too far when their eyes glaze over and they look like they've lost the will to live. In fact, being pregnant again has made me worse, because I go on about how I'm going to cope - or not, as the case may be - once the new baby arrives. I now understand the trials and tribulations of being a parent, and would like to wholeheartedly apologise to all of those people with children whom I thought were quite mad pre-Emily.

February 13th:
Went swimming with Emily today to practice everything we learnt on Monday. I felt quietly smug watching other parents trying to teach their older children to swim, although I realise I'm lucky: a) to have a baby swim class in my area and b) to be able to afford lessons.

There was a mum there who was taking her baby swimming for the first time, and she had one of those inflatable seats for babies to sit in. Her son really looked like he was enjoying himself, and we had a good chat about the pros of learning to swim so young. I then couldn't resist showing her some of the swimming moves Emily could do, especially swimming on her own for a few seconds underwater. I think I'm starting to turn into one of those 'look what my child can do' mums. Someone put me in my place, quick!

February 15th:
It's the weekend - hurray! I can lie in bed for a few extra, blissful hours while Matt gets Emily up, feeds her breakfast and entertains her. Even morning sickness can't take the shine off this wonderful, responsibility-free time.

I am planning on driving up to my nanan and grandad's on Monday morning, after our swimming lesson. They live in Hornsea, near Hull, which is about 200 miles away, so it's going to be a long journey. My mum is there at the moment, so after a few days with them we'll drive to her house in Norfolk - another long journey. Still, there's no swimming lesson the following Monday, so I don't have to hurry home. Plus, Emily is usually quite good in the car, so provided my morning sickness doesn't strike too often whilst on the motorway, we should be okay. Watch this space!

February 25th:
Have arrived home from our travels safe and sound, if a little tired. We didn't make our swimming lesson on 17th because Emily had a very runny nose, and they recommend not swimming if your baby isn't well, so we had to give it a miss.

Managed the journey up to nanan and grandad's in good time and didn't get lost once, which I was pleased about as I haven't driven up there before. What surprised me was how possessive I felt of Emily once we got there. Needless to say, nanan, grandad and mum all wanted to cuddle and play with her, and I wanted to snatch her back off them at first. I sat on the sofa trying desperately hard not to show how agitated I felt. Fortunately, this feeling wore off after about half and hour - I swear being pregnant again has made me twice as protective of Emily as I was, not to mention twice as likely to go from smiley woman to evil, determined-to-find-a-fault-with-everyone woman. Thankfully, I can just blame it on my hormones, so being a woman does have some advantages.

Sara's been in hospital again whilst I've been away - perhaps they should give her a loyalty card, and she could collect points for nappies and baby clothes! She's now been told that, if there is no sign of the baby arriving by 17th March, they'll induce her, so at least she's got a date to work towards.

The thought of having to go through any of that turns me cold: I'm hoping for a nice, easy pregnancy and birth, like the ones in novels where the woman cooks, cleans, looks nothing less than beautiful, and glides effortlessly through the various stages of pregnancy. However, I appear to be getting the 'make best friends with the toilet bowl at an early stage' version, and then no doubt I'll be on to the waddling like a hippo bit, looking washed out 99 per cent of the time, and having no energy to do anything but sit on my hippo-sized bum and wonder about how long/painful my labour will be. Oh well, just like the last time then!

February 26th:
Saw my midwife today for my 16-week check, which is a week late due to my being away last week. It's the same midwife I had during the latter part of my pregnancy with Emily, and I'm the first mum she's got on her books who's 'come back for more.' Listened to the baby's heartbeat, which is a relief - despite having felt lots of wiggles lately, it's nice to be reassured that the baby is doing well. I was always paranoid about it when I was pregnant with Emily, especially towards the end of my pregnancy when she didn't have so much room to move around and I didn't believe I could feel her. I guess that paranoia is going to stay with me throughout this pregnancy as well.

February 28th:
Well, Emily has been a monster today. Every time I've left the room she's screamed and cried and made me feel awful for daring to go to the loo. She's definitely getting more assertive and lets me know when she isn't happy about something.

Earlier today I came back in from putting the bin out to find she had one of our cats, Willow, firmly pinned to the floor in a move a WWE Superstar would be proud of. Having wrestled Willow (fortunately very placid, if slightly bald in places after her ordeal) from Emily's grasp, I was treated to a no-holds barred tantrum from my darling daughter, who obviously felt that I was completely unjustified in taking her favourite toy away from her. Ten minutes - and one exhausted mummy - later, she appeared to have forgiven me in favour of watching me jump and dance around the living room in an effort to stop her crying. I wonder if she'll use these manipulative tactics later in life, or if they're reserved for babies only?

March 4th:
Missed our swimming lesson again yesterday - I had the most awful migraine and couldn't see properly as a result, so no way was I going to drive anywhere or do anything apart from sit down and take it easy for the day. Matt had to work, as he's got important deadlines to meet, so once again Emily had to amuse herself for most of the day.

Fortunately, Matt's eldest sister Beth came for a few hours this morning. She's started cleaning for us a couple of hours a week, as she wants to go back to college part-time and train to be a teaching assistant. This way, she earns some money and I get to watch my house become clean, tidy and organised before my very eyes! Beth is so good at organising things, and has an eye for what spaces can be used for different things, so in a couple of months the entire house will have been blitzed and everything will have a home. By the time the new baby arrives, the house will all be in order and I won't have to rush around getting everything cleaned and sorted in the final few weeks of pregnancy - bliss!

Emily is completely fascinated by the hoover at the moment, and spends many a happy half hour examining it and screaming at it. Who needs toys?

March 5th:
Got my 20-week scan appointment today - 18th March at 11am. Unfortunately, it's at the main hospital, not the ante-natal wing, which is a shame. Firstly, the parking at the main hospital is dreadful - there are about 50 spaces, 10 of which are disabled only, and at least another 10 of which are staff only. As the car park serves two wards, plus the physio and x-ray departments and a few others, it means getting a space is extremely difficult. We'll probably end up parking at the ante-natal unit and walking to the main hospital. It's not far, about 6-7 minutes walk, but imagine doing it with a full bladder - very uncomfortable!

March 9th:
Matt's mum had Emily this morning, so I spent a couple of extra hours in bed, and then went downstairs to help Matt sort through a few boxes. We're gradually going through all of our things, and being ruthless with throwing things out. This is something we have to do together, as I either come over all sentimental; "I've had that since I was six, and although I haven't seen it for 20 years, I can't throw it away" or I do the "What if we need that in six months time?" thing. Therefore, Matt has to be with me or we'd never throw anything away!

The plan is, with Beth helping us to get the house in order, we move everything that's not currently in use into the garage, and then go through it all so that, come August, we'll have lots of space and very little junk. As the garage has a door through from the house, it's handy to store things in such as tins of food, mixers, etc, so the clearer it is, the better. I'm also keen to make enough space for a tumble dryer, as we don't have one at the moment. I can't bear the thought of not having one come autumn/winter with two lots of baby clothes to wash and dry. Plus, Emily just pulls things off the radiators now and flings them around, so a tumble dryer is at the top of my list of priorities (along with a double fan oven, a shower that works and a new sofa, to name but a few).

March 10th:
Made our swimming lesson today! Emily was very grumpy and cried a lot, but I think it might be because she hasn't been swimming for a few weeks now. I felt awful by the end of the lesson because she'd cried virtually the whole time, and she's usually all smiles in the water.

As the babies were having their underwater photographs taken today, she picked the worst day to have a tantrum. Still, as they can't cry underwater, perhaps she'll look okay! The only time she was happy - apart from when we got out - was when she was chasing a ball around the pool, which she really enjoys.

As soon as we hit the showers she cheered up again, and was all smiles and giggles. She was even happier once I'd got her dressed, as she got to have a bottle whilst I got changed, and then it was back in the car for the journey home, during which she fell fast asleep and didn't wake up for almost two hours! Any sensible mum would no doubt have seized the opportunity to put her feet up or have a nap, but I chose to be paranoid and check on her every 5 minutes to make sure she was okay and hadn't flown out of the window or done anything that couldn't actually occur in real life, but which I imagine could happen to Emily because I've got an overactive imagination.

March 11th:
Sara went back into hospital last night because she started bleeding again. We're all hoping they'll keep her in and induce her now, as her due date's only a few weeks away. If we're all being driven mad by the constant ups and downs of it all, then I can only imagine how Sara and Colin must be feeling. If I was Sara I'd refuse to leave the hospital until the baby arrives. I think I'd glue myself to the bed if I thought it would make them do something!

March 12th:
Sara is still in hospital, and they're going to induce her once they've got space for her on the labour ward. They were going to do it yesterday evening, but apparently they were extremely busy, so she's got to wait until it quietens down. They keep telling us that the birth rate is going down in this country, but apparently Cheltenham is determined to try and push the national statistics back up again. Sara said that one poor mum-to-be on the maternity ward was telling the midwife she needed to push, and was being told that she'd only just started contractions and couldn't possibly be fully dilated yet. When the woman insisted the midwife check her, it turned out that the woman was right, and she started to give birth whilst they were waiting for the lift to take her up to the labour ward!

March 13th:
Finally, Sara has had her baby! She's got a little boy, and they're going to call him Oliver, which is Colin's choice. Sara was so convinced that she was going to have a little girl that apparently she asked the midwife to double-check the sex when he was born! I thought Matt was joking when he answered the phone and said they'd got a baby boy - we were all convinced it was going to be a girl, and Sara was set on the name Holly, but it wasn't to be.

Sara had a horrible labour. They induced her on the maternity ward, because apparently it can take some women a long time to start contractions after they've been given the drugs. However, Sara started very quickly, and by 11pm knew she needed to go up to the labour ward. The only problem was convincing the midwife on the ward - she didn't believe Sara, and tried to give her sleeping pills! Apparently, Sara went and sat at the desk until she agreed to get someone to examine her and take her up to the labour ward. Then, although after that it only took 4 hours until delivery, because of the problems she'd had with her placenta during the pregnancy, it was a very bloody labour - not a good thing at any time, but particularly not when your husband can't stand the sight of blood. Still, Colin managed not to pass out and Oliver is a healthy baby and weighs 6lb 15oz.

March 15th:
Emily has been a little horror for the last few nights, and hasn't been doing much sleeping. On Thursday evening she slept from 8pm until 1am, and then decided that was all the sleep she needed. I played with her in the nursery until 3am, at which point she decided she was bored with me, so had a screaming fit until Matt woke up and came to see what was happening.

Following this, she had a bottle of milk, more play, a nappy change and she still wouldn't settle. In the end Matt took her downstairs to play, and she eventually settled back to sleep at about 5am. Needless to say, both Matt and I were exhausted but Emily woke up at 8am and was as bouncy as ever. Wish I could do that!

Matt, Emily and I went to Sainsbury's today - a rare occurrence, as Matt can only be persuaded to do this about twice a year. I guess he must still be tired from the other night, which has led to his defences being down and agreeing to things he would normally not even contemplate. Thinking about it now, perhaps I should have taken advantage of this lapse in concentration and asked for lots of other things. Never mind, too late now - but mental note to self to do so if this happens again.

Sara came out of hospital this evening, so we decided to drop in and have a look at the newest addition to the family. I'd made a Shepherd's Pie and some fresh soup for Sara and Colin so they don't have to worry about cooking for a few days, so we had the perfect excuse to pop in.

I can't believe how tiny Oliver is! Because Emily was almost 2lb heavier than him when she was born, he looks really small to me, but very cute. I had a good cuddle, but Matt didn't want to hold him in case he dropped him. I can remember Matt's expression when they handed Emily to him after the caesarean - they just wrapped her in a blanket and deposited her in his arms before he knew what was happening. He was so proud, but so terrified at the same time, and it took him a couple of days before he felt confident holding her or changing a nappy. This time around it should all be old hat to him, and I expect him to swing into action and be Superdad.

March 17th:
My mum came down yesterday, as she is coming with us for the scan tomorrow. She couldn't make it when I was pregnant with Emily, so Matt's mum came to that one, so I'm really pleased she's managed to get some time off for this one.

Mum came with us to watch Emily swimming this morning, and to her horror it was the lesson where Fiona, our instructor, sits on the side of the pool at the deep end with each baby in turn and drops them into the water. You then wait for your baby to kick his/her way back up to the surface before picking them up and giving them a big smile for being so brave and clever. All of the babies were fine and seemed quite happy with the exercise - I think it was just the people who'd come to watch that were taken aback by the whole thing. Matt said that it's a good job he wasn't there, as he wouldn't have let Fiona do it! All of the mums were fine with it - the more you see the babies swim, the more relaxed you become about the whole thing.

On Saturday, we're all going to a school in Gloucester to have videos made of the babies swimming, which we're very excited about. We can finally show all of our friends and family what it is our babies can do in the water, instead of boring them by talking about it incessantly!

Mum and I were hoping to go and visit Sara and baby Oliver today but unfortunately Sara has got a uterus infection and is feeling extremely poorly, so we didn't go. Instead, we went into town and did some shopping and plenty of talking.

I'm really excited about the scan tomorrow, although a little apprehensive at the same time. I was like this with Emily - worried in case the scan showed something horrible, but excited at the prospect of seeing my baby wriggling around. The only thing I'm really not looking forward to is having to drink all of that water beforehand - you'd think modern technology would have found a way to bypass the need for that by now! Matt is really hoping for another little girl. I don't think he realises how much money that would cost him on future shopping trips when the children are older! I was originally hoping for a boy, so we'd have one of each, but the more I think about it the more I agree with Matt on how nice it would be for Emily to have a little sister. Plus, that way I won't get caught out by surprise wee attacks when changing nappies, as so many people with boys seem to do. Still, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what we've been given.

March 18th:
As predicted, we had to park at the ante-natal wing and walk around to the main hospital. Feeling as if my bladder was going to burst at any moment, I was glad to have Emily's pushchair to lean on as I walked. I must have looked like John Cleese doing one of his silly walks, bent over in a strange position and half-shuffling, half-waddling! I was very glad to get to the waiting area for the scan and sit down, upon which I realised I'd left my maternity notes at home and went into a panic that only pregnant women are capable of. Fortunately, when I was called for the scan, the nurse said not to worry about it, and that plenty of people do it. Panic over.

Jelly on my tummy, I laid and waited whilst the nurse started the scan. I can remember from last time that they take quite a while with this one before they talk to you or show you anything because they're checking the bones, heart, kidneys, etc of the baby, so I was happy to just lie there and wait. My mum, however, seemed a little worried after five minutes had passed without a word. I was watching the nurses face most of the time, and she smiled all of the time, so I guessed that everything was okay. When she finally turned the screen around so that we could see the baby, it was a wonderful feeling. I'd forgotten the joy you get at that moment - your baby is safe and well, and wriggling around happily inside you without a care in the world. The nurse talked us through everything she'd been looking for, and said the baby appeared fine. We asked to know the sex and she said that, as far as she could tell, we were having another little girl! Smiles all round at this point, especialy from Matt, who was holding Emily up so that she could see what was going on. All that was left to do was to wait for the baby to stop wriggling for a moment so that we could get a good ultrasound photo of her, which she duly did, although not for very long. Scan photos and copies printed out and paid for, the nurse led us out, showing me where the nearest toilet was as she did so - the relief! This made the walk back to the car a much easier one, and I'm so excited that we're having another little girl.

March 19th:
Matt and I spent lots of time of the phone yesterday evening, and most of the family now know that we're expecting a little girl. My mum had to go back home yesterday evening - I really wished she lived closer. She used to have a house a couple of miles down the road about 5 years ago, and I wish she'd never moved, but as we moved to London before coming back to Cheltenham I can't really complain (although I do!). I feel very tired today and a little off-colour - roll on the weekend so that I can get some extra rest!

March 23rd:
What a strange few days! On Thursday evening I had an upset stomach and kept having to visit the loo. Then, in the middle of the night I started being sick and couldn't stop - projectile vomiting in children is impressive, but I really topped anything I've seen in the past! I thought it was going to go on forever and was calling out for Matt to come and help me. When he eventually woke up - I think his snoring initially blocked out my calls for help - he was very grumpy and asked me what on earth I was making so much noise about. Upon being shown the destruction of the bathroom, he became even grumpier. "That's just typical!" was one of his quotes. If I hadn't felt so poorly, I think I would have happily pushed him down the stairs at that point! To top it all off, Emily then woke up which was, of course, my fault for making so much noise. Now, I'm sure it was my noise that woke her up, but talk about kicking me whilst I was down! Fortunately, about five minutes later, Matt woke up properly and was much more useful and apologetic. Good job I'm used to how grumpy he can be if disturbed from his sleep, or I might have taken offence and sought a means of revenge. As it is, I know what he's like, and I knew the real him would kick in given a little time to come round properly.

Emily was settled back down to sleep, the bathroom cleaned up, and it was back to bed for us too. However, I kept having to get up to be sick, and couldn't even keep a sip of water down. At about 5am I had a craving for lemonade, but felt too poorly to do anything about it.

Matt took the Friday off work, found me some lemonade and called the doctor, who advised that I simply rest and not worry about eating or drinking for the next 24 hours, as the baby would happily live off my reserves without any harm coming to her, but to call her again if I was still being sick the next day. So, I spent all day in bed sipping lemonade and trying to sleep, which is difficult to do when you keep having to visit the toilet. Still, at least I managed to keep some lemonade down, so I guess my body knew what it was doing when it made that demand.

On the Saturday, Matt didn't think it would be a good idea to go swimming, but I was absolutely determined to go. Apart from anything, we'd paid £30 to get this video done, and no way was I going to a/ waste the money and b/ miss out on having a video of Emily swimming. So, tired and achy, but no longer vomiting, I packed our swimming bag, got dressed and off we went. Once in the car, I began to wonder if it was such a good idea after all, as I felt very ill indeed, but I couldn't tell Matt because I'd made such a point about going. When we arrived, it turned out that most of the other mums have had the same thing this week, so we were all feeling a little out of sorts.

Swimming over with - great fun, can't wait to see the video - we made our way home, where I fell into bed and stayed there for the rest of the morning and early afternoon. Matt then got me a duvet to cuddle up under on the sofa so that I could be downstairs with him and Emily for a while, and I managed to eat some french stick. I spent today resting as well, but am feeling much better than I have been, so hopefully I'm over the worst of it now.

March 24th:
It was our last swimming lesson this morning. We'll be starting the intermediate class towards the end of April, and luckily we've all managed to stay together as a group, which is great.

After our lesson, we went back to Claire's house for breakfast - bacon sandwiches for the mums, porridge and bananas for the babies, apart from Claire's twins who went straight to sleep. It's so nice to sit and talk to other mums and socialise. We made sure we all had everyone's telephone numbers by the end of the morning so that we can stay in touch and hopefully go out together before the next classes start. Each 'term' consists of ten lessons, so by the time the next class finishes I'll be huge! Matt will have to start driving me everywhere towards the end of the pregnancy because last time I couldn't fit my bump behind the wheel and still reach the pedals - the disadvantages of being short!

March 27th:
Went for a picnic in the park today with Beth and Sean, who is four and a half. We were supposed to be going swimming with the other mums, but Josh has come down with chickenpox and I worried in case Emily is carrying it and passes it on to the other babies - I'd feel so guilty if that happened.

So, it was jam sandwiches in the park for us instead. Emily had a great time - she ate loads, kept her sun hat on for most of the time and loved playing on the swings. It was a beautiful day, and I took loads of photos of her to make sure we've got a record of her first ever picnic.

I've started getting up to go to the loo a couple of times a night now - the baby is wriggling against my bladder a lot, and as any mum or mum-to-be will know, it's quite an uncomfortable sensation. I can remember constantly visiting the loo during my last trimester with Emily, and it appears that this baby is keen to get me started early on this routine.

March 30th:
Another sunny day, and Matt and I spent part of the morning trailing around DIY stores collecting paint tester pots for the living room which, of course, once painted on we didn't like. You'd think at least one of the seemingly hundreds of little pots we now have would be a colour we'd both like, but no such luck. Depressed by our lack of success, we made our way to the pub - orange juice for me, beer for him.

As my belly is starting to show in a big way, I am once again having to get used to leaving more space when going past things, which Matt finds funny as I still manage to knock into things anyway. Why do I bother?!

After the pub we picked Emily up from Matt's mums, watched the rugby - yes, we won! - and then waited for Emily to go to sleep (one hour later than usual, thanks to the clocks going forward) before eating our dinnr.

Matt said he was going to take me out to lunch next Sunday - watch this space to see whether that actually happens!

Click here to read Jo's diary for April

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