運命

Ok this post could turn into a long one, so be warned!!

I believe in fate. And karma. Or whatever you might like to call it. I believe that things happen for a reason. Both good things and bad. That we're here to learn. That we're being tested. That you reap what you sow and all that. So where is this post going you might be asking?

Pregnancy.

Can't see the connection yet?

To be honest, even though we would love 4 kids, sometimes just the thought of having to go through pregnancy again is quite offputting. Although some people enjoy this time immensely, I'm afraid I can't say I'm one of them. They say children choose their parents before they are born, so if someone is willing to choose my husband and I then we are willing to give them a chance at life. To have someone become part of our family, someone to share our journey through life with, is enough to make me want to do it again.

But with both B and A the pregnancy started off with morning sickness which lasted all day, every day, for way too long. My weight went down as it does when you're throwing up every day, before finally increasing a few months down the track. So despite the fact B and A were both born 4 days late, my weight gain during pregnancy was 5.8kg for B and 6.2kg for A. They were both over 3240g born btw!

From the moment I conceived I had all the normal pregnancy complaints-no need for any explanations there. Morning sickness lasted for nearly 17 weeks with B and over 20 weeks with A. I was nauseous from morning to night, threw up every day (at least 3 or 4 times a day with A!), was exhausted, could not keep anything down until about 3 or 4 in the afternoon (including water or tea), gagged when brushing my teeth, became aenemic, and basically felt EXTREMELY under the weather. And that's just the first and second trimesters. Don't even get me started on the third trimester!!!!!

So anyway at 20 weeks with A I was finally starting to feel a bit better. Still lethargic, but better. Had a few niggly pains in my side but put it down to being pregnant, as you do. A few weeks later it was Golden Week and my parents, aunt, and uncle were over visiting so we'd taken them on a bit of a trip to see the inlaws and do some sightseeing. But because there were so many of us we'd walked, as opposed to driving, to a famous park about 5 minutes walk from the house and were having a nice old time when it suddenly hit.

Excrutiating pain from my back and around to my sides. I thought I was in labour. I was 24 weeks. I couldn't stand up, was losing consciousness, all the time thinking but if I'm in labour now the baby won't make it!!!!!

The park is actually the ruins of an old castle. There's a shrine at the top and S, my dad, aunty and uncle had gone with my MIL and FIL to the top while my mum, B and I were taking it slowly up the steps. Until I collapsed on the steps that is! My Mum was yelling (in English of course!) "Someone get an ambulance!!!" but we couldn't see anyone around and were starting to panic when a lady from a souvenir shop we hadn't even noticed heard us and thankfully called an ambulance for me.

So a few minutes later I was rushed to hospital and after numerous checks to make sure A was ok (which she was) they said I had kidney stones brought on by pregnancy (made worse because of the morning sickness). But they couldn't do an x-ray or give me any painkillers because I was pregnant, so I just had to lie there with a drip, in non-stop AGONY waiting for the stone to pass!!!! 4 hours later and I was ok. On my pain scale I would have to say giving birth to B is no 1, kidney stones while pregnant is no 2, and giving birth to A is no 3.

But the point is, as timing would have it, my family and inlaws were all there. They looked after B, they wiped my forehead, rubbed my back, talked, and we all just became closer because of it. My FIL really changed his attitude towards me after this happened and I'm eternally grateful for that. He stopped his 九州男児ness (can I make that into a word??) and is a lot more considerate now. MIL also agrees with me there! So bad things turned into good things in this case.

But we shouldn't have been there, altogether, at that particular place or time. The fact my parents were visiting was uncanny. My MIL should have been at work but she took the day off to be able to see my relatives. We had planned to be in another city (about an hour away) long before this happened, but we got stuck in traffic on the way to the inlaws and had arrived a few hours late. We'd planned on just dropping in for a little while but ended up staying for a lot longer, and going to the park was a complete afterthought. So it was fate. Meant to happen. As much as I cringe when I think of the pain!!

Here's hoping nothing like that happens this time round.
Yep, you read that last sentence right!!
Still VERY early days, probably way too early to even be posting this, but as of last night it's official.
Baby number 3 is on it's way!