Hello people! It’s been two whole months since I became a mum of two. And yes, I l know it sounds cliche but time really does fly. When I announced the pregnancy and birth on Instagram, I thought a Q&A would be a great way to answer the questions some of you had. I also decided to share a few of the photos I took at 39 weeks.

So, let’s get into it!

How did you explain to Jidenna that he was getting a sibling?

I don’t know if he understood, but we consciously let him know that we were having a baby. Jidenna was 2 years and a couple of months when my bump became obvious. So we would say to him “there’s a baby in mummy’s tummy”. He would often repeat the phrase back saying “yes baby in mummy’s big yummy”. But we also got him to rub my tummy, say hello to baby, give kisses to baby and say love you baby. We did this a number of times a day and many times he’d do it voluntarily. When we prayed, we’d also pray for daddy, mummy, Jidenna & baby. I think he somehow got the concept.

How did you feel when you knew you were having another boy?

I honestly didn’t mind having another boy. We had talked about how having a girl would be great but I wasn’t fussed either way. Like the first time, we found out at the 20 week scan. Practically, it meant that it was familiar territory and I didn’t have to buy a bunch of new stuff. Plus I think it’s great when same sex siblings are close in age.

Did you gain weight at all? Did you work out or follow a particular diet during your pregnancy?

Haha! Ofcourse I gained weight — although I can’t really tell how much weight, because I didn’t track it diligently. Before Covid-19 lockdown measures and while I was still going into work, I had prob gained about 10 -12kg. When lockdown happened, I was home and threw caution to the wind in terms of eating. I probably gained an extra 2-3kg at this time.

In my first pregnancy I tried to work out a bit. This pregnancy I actually don’t recall working out for one day. My daily commute to work meant I walked at least 30mins daily so I guess that was kind of helpful. I didn’t follow any diet, I ate my regular meals. It probably helped that I didn’t have any crazy cravings though.

How did you combine pregnancy effectively with work? How were you so productive? I would never have guessed!

I have to say that for the most part my pregnancy was kind to me. That’s probably why I could maintain a certain level of productivity. I didn’t feel extremely tired perhaps until the tail end of the journey. I hosted 4 circle events during the pregnancy but the first two were in the very early stages. The Visualise Her Christmas event was at 20 weeks and finally I had the 2020 Vision Board workshop when I was 30 weeks in January 2020.

In general, although I appeared to be productive I definitely wasn’t operating on a 100 or as before. I slowed down and cut off a lot of activities because they just weren’t important and I couldn’t keep up. Separately and in my case, taking my mind away from being pregnant and choosing to focus and carry on as much as I could helped me. I didn’t want to feel constrained or limited by pregnancy so I guess that mindset helped a bit.

How did you keep your skin glowing? How did you maintain your beauty through pregnancy?

I wish I could take the credit for any of this. My skin care/routine is so sub par. The only thing I tried to do diligently was apply oils to my belly. Last pregnancy I used coconut oil & shea butter. This time I had run out of shea butter so I used coconut oil. I don’t think this prevented stretch marks, but it didn’t hurt to try. I tried to increase my water intake though, and also get enough sleep!

How did you cope with clothes re change in body and size?

During my first pregnancy, I almost cried when I realised my regular pants could not fit anymore. In retrospect that’s kind of absurd. This time, I didn’t even notice when my clothes no longer fit. I appreciate that can come with some sadness but it’s expected – your body will grow bigger. For clothes, I actually love maternity fashion. I wish I had places and events to attend so I could lots of bump photos.

That said, I didn’t want to end up with a whole wardrobe of maternity clothes. So it’s best to stick to a few. Thankfully I had a few maternity clothes from the last time, and I added a few essentials to top up! Shift dresses are such a love saver as they can be worn post-partum. Long camis, kimonos/long sweaters and a couple of maternity jeans were really handy.

How did you feel about giving birth in a pandemic? How did you deal with the anxiety and impending delivery?

I stopped going into work almost two weeks before the official U.K. lockdown. I was then about 33 weeks pregnant and the fear of the virus in London had started to spread. However, I’ll say my anxiety over the situation kicked in when pregnant women were officially added to the list of vulnerable people. I pretty much locked myself indoors. As numbers started to rise and hospitals became crowded I got even more anxious about the situation — and then borders were closed. This meant family who had planned to join us from Nigeria couldn’t make it anymore. A few things helped my deal with the anxiety:

– praying and really trusting God to keep us safe;

– reducing how much news I consumed about the pandemic and protecting my health;

– keeping myself busy with other activities from reading a book to redecorating;

– asking for information from my midwife: this was so helpful as she assured me that the situation was very contained in the hospital and pretty much safe;

– accepting help from friends who offered and not trying to figure things out on my own;

– communicating to my team mates at work how I felt and generally managing expectations;

– reaching out to other mums who were in similar situations for support and encouragement.

How similar or different was this pregnancy? Did you research a lot this time or mostly rely on past knowledge?

This pregnancy was very similar to my first! Like the first, it relatively smooth. I didn’t have morning sickness or feel nauseous. In terms of differences, I had some leg cramps at the later stage of this pregnancy which I didn’t have the first time.The labour & birth story was very different but that’s a tale for another blog post! And of course being pregnant in the middle of the pandemic threw in significant differences. From my husband not being allowed in my later appointments to us having a virtual baby shower.

Who is doing Omugwo for you?

This question made me laugh! So for those who don’t know Omugwo is an Igbo word that describes the practice where a new mum and her baby are taken care of by a close family member. In most cases, it is done by the woman’s mother or mother-in-law except in the case where they are not available, then another close female family member steps in. For my first baby, both mums came at separate times and that was the plan as well.

With lockdown though, no one was able to travel so it’s been us 4. We miss the extra help, but making the most of the situation!

That’s it guys – mum of two life fully unlocked now. I may be a bit slow in coming back to regular blogging but I continue share snippets and updates on my Instagram – @kacheetee. Feel free to hang and engage with me on there!

For new mums and mums-to-be, I’ve created a Pregnancy & New Mum Amazon list and I share my favourite products on there. Do check it out as it may be helpful.

Thanks again for all the support and good wishes!

PS: My white dress was from Asos and it was £8! I’ve linked to it below and share a few other similar ones from Asos.