This picture was taken at my Baby shower, which was exactly a day and a half before Aidan was unexpectedly born. It’s basically my last special pregnancy memory as just less than 48 hours later, I was holding Aidan in my arms.

He was born 3 weeks before his due date and I had such a lot planned for those last few weeks. I wanted to work for at least another 2 weeks, I wanted to do the final touches to Aidan’s nursery, but most importantly I wanted to spend a lot of special time with Alyssa before her whole world changed. Although things didn’t work out that way, it worked out just fine.

My pregnancy with Alyssa was different.

In fact, I was pregnant a whole month longer with Alyssa than with Aidan. 41w 3 days to be exact! Those last 2 weeks of the pregnancy were the longest 2 weeks of my life. I felt as if my maternity leave was being wasted as there was no baby to care for.

Thinking back now, I should have just chilled and relax but I was in this huge pregnancy bubble and had no idea of what tiring times were lying ahead of me.

Announcing the Pregnancies

I will never forget the days we found out we were pregnant and also how I felt. It was such a weird feeling to know that there’s a special tiny piece of cargo in my tummy and that I had to protect it!

With both pregnancies, my Mom was the first person we told. With Alyssa, we waited until about 11 weeks to tell everyone else. With Aidan, we didn’t really keep it a secret at all. I think at 8 weeks everyone knew. (I couldn’t keep my big mouth!!!)

Pregnancy Symptoms

Heartburn, heartburn and more heartburn. That’s all I remember.

Other than that I was nauseous here and there but was blessed with 2 healthy and problem-free pregnancies.

What I Miss Most About Pregnancy

I miss that feeling of baby kicks in my tummy. It’s the most amazing and miraculous feeling in the world.

hiccups in my tummy 💙 #pregnant #pregnancy #babybump #hiccups #instagood #instadaily

A video posted by Hayley Malan (@hayleymalan) on Mar 20, 2015 at 12:02pm PDT

I also miss people doting on me. While I was pregnant, people were extra kind and thoughtful. Most people would open the door for me, offer to make me tea and give up their seat for me. Those days are long gone.

The shopping – Pregnancy is the perfect excuse for shopping! From stocking up on Pampers for our newborns, to kitting out the nursery, it was what made the pregnancy journey so much more exciting.

What I miss least about pregnancy

Random people just coming up to me and rubbing my tummy! Why???

Not being able to drink coffee, eat sushi or biltong!

Funny Pregnancy Moments

My blood pressure was normally low throughout both pregnancies, which wasn’t a bad thing but I found myself getting dizzy midway through speaking to someone and I would just go completely blank for a moment. Porridge brain maybe?

I really laughed a lot at myself while pregnant.

Like for instance when I got undressed in the evenings, I would find so many crumbs in my top from that day’s breakfast and lunch. I couldn’t understand why, but it’s probably because my bra size increased so much while I was pregnant!!!

Preparing for birth

The preparation for birth was different with each pregnancy.

With my first pregnancy, it was all about reading books, watching videos and speaking to our Doctor. Besides doing all of that, I really had no way of fathoming just how painful and exhausting labour was.

So when I felt that first contraction I was extremely scared and nervous. I was in labour for 22 hours and had never experienced so much pain and exhaustion in all my life. It took me a while to forget that pain.

With Aidan it was so different. Although painful, my labour only lasted for a few hours. In the weeks leading up to my due date, I wasn’t nervous at all. When I arrived at the hospital, I knew what had to happen and there wasn’t much time to even scream. In fact, I didn’t scream at all!

 LOVE

I honestly loved being pregnant and will forever cherish the memories of these special times in our lives.

Please stay tuned to my Social Media next week, where I’ll be sharing some more special pregnancy memories.

What are your favourite pregnancy memories? Funny, Sad, Happy – I would love to hear from you!