Thomas will have a baby brother or sister in the new year. Many of you have known for a while that I am pregnant again. Baby 2 is expected around 19 January 2006.

We decided we wanted two children quite close together in age, no more than a two-year gap. And that is exactly how it is going to be. Thomas will be 18 months when the little one arrives.

So far all is going very smoothly. The first two months were a bit rough as I was very tired all the time but that is all I have had to deal with. I am so lucky not having to deal with any other problems commonly occurring in pregnancy. At about 8 weeks I had a visit from the midwife. I was very impressed to be visited at home. Such a different experience from how things are run in London. You’d almost think they have too much time on their hands here in Hampshire. She took down all sorts of information about our family history and I now have another great big white pregnancy book I have to carry everywhere with me. She took various blood samples and arranged for my first scan at hospital.

The first scan was at 13 weeks. They like to do it at this stage because they can easily see whether you are at high risk of having a baby with Down’s Syndrome. They do this by measuring the nuchal fold, a part of the baby’s neck. Out little bean had a wonderfully normal nuchal fold so all is as well as can be on that front. More good news was that there was only one baby visible on the screen. Again, I had been slightly worried about having twins as there are twins in our family. I agree they are super cute but it will be hard enough having two babies as close together as Thomas and the little one will be. After the scan we saw a midwife and a consultant. This is where things are completely different than last time. This is due to the fact that Thomas’ birth was a bit of a drama that ended in an emergency Caesarean section. They are keen to prevent things from dragging on like with Thomas as I now have a scar in my uterus and they don’t want to take any risks. I will be seeing the consultant again at 39 weeks (one week before the due date) to assess how big baby has grown. If it’s another giant like Thomas, we might decide to go for an elective Caesarean as we don’t want a repeat of last year. Of course we’re hoping Mother Nature will have a better idea of what is expected this time and that baby will make an appearance right at 40 weeks. If, however, nothing has happened at 41 weeks (one week overdue) we’ll definitely have a Caesarean.

Chances are that my body now has a better idea of what is expected and things will follow the normal path. However, I have to be realistic and accept that there’s also quite a big chance of having another Caesarean. This may seem quite a horrible prospect but I don’t really mind. What made it tough last time is that I was not prepared for it and had already been labouring for a day and a half. If I have a C-section this time I won’t be completely exhausted before the surgery so recovery should be quicker.

I have a check-up with the midwife next week and another scan in the first week of September. This is when they should be able to tell us whether we’re having a boy or a girl banana.