"What do you mean 31 weeks?"

So Anthony just came in and was looking over my shoulder at the pics I posted below, and he saw the last one and said "What do you mean 31 weeks?" I said "Um, that's how far along we are..."

I guess it hadn't hit him that we're in the single digits for weeks left now, i asked him how he felt about that and he said "We don't have a baby room yet!"

I'm not to worried about it, it honestly seems like we have a lot of time left (as long as this kid doesn't come super early or something like that).

belly pics

Well it's been a while since i've posted new pics of this ever-growing belly, so here's a collection for your perusal.

Feb 25 - 22 wks

Mar 11 - 24 weeks

April 2 - 27 weeks

April 29 - 31 weeks

prenatal class

Fri & Sat this past weekend, we attended the S'toon public health prenatal classes. I have to say they were pretty good. I learned a lot about the pros and cons of various medication options, and of course they made us practise the "he he he hoooooooo hooooooooo" breathing and stuff. I have to say the light shallow breathing made me quite dizzy when i tried it in class, but i also tried it in the middle of aquacise when holding in the chinup position for 30 sec, and it was way better then, so i suspect it's one of those things that is more useful when there's actually demand being placed on your body.

We also have more ideas for how we plan to prepare for labour (I told tony he has to practise the massage techniques on me a LOT before it actually starts), and some things to try when we're in labour. Of course when it actually happens it may be totally different and things i currently think might help me may get thrown out the window, but i like the idea of going in with a toolbox of things to try to help manage the pain and such.

I am not opposed to having some medications to help manage the pain if need be, but i also want to see how far i can go without anything...just how much i can handle. I don't want a drugged up baby at birth, so it was nice to hear about options that don't impact baby, but take the edge off (i.e., laughing gas). And i'm not completely opposed to considering an epidural, but i think that would be a very last resort thing for me (before 7 cm, of course, lol) if things were taking a very long time and i was near exhaustion and running out of energy for the actual delivery.

Of course, we'll just have to see when we actually get there. But the main thing i've gotten from the class, the books i've read, and some very informative and helpful emails and comments from some of you, is that the more relaxed I can stay, the better. So that is my ultimate goal, and having things like an mp3 player loaded with my favorite soothing, calming music, a few creature comforts packed for the hospital, and hopefully staying around home for the first part of Stage 1, we can accomplish that. And like i said before, i may or may not want or use these things when labour actually comes, but at least the options will be there. And hey, maybe i won't even have time to utilize any of the things i've prepared in advance (wishful thinking, i know - i'm actually mentally preparing for a long labour, that way if it's short, it will be a bonus!)

Oh, and one last thing, i have realized that i really dislike the term "Transition" (referring to the phase between 7 cm and fully dilated). From what it sounds like, that's where most of the pain and agony occur, and then the only reward is getting to finally push the kid out (which sounds like it can be quite the ordeal in and of itself). "Transition" makes it sound like an intermediate step that is over quite quickly and is just changing from one phase to another (yes, i know it's the period of change from labour to delivery, but man, that's where a lot of the action happens!) So I vote that we rename that phase...any suggestions?

Prenatal app't #6

Once again, all is well. BP is good, my glucose test came back perfectly in the normal range {phew}, baby's growth and heartrate is right on track. I did gain 7 pounds last month (eek!), but that only brings my total to 19, which is still in the right range. And people keep reminding me how much this belly has popped out in the past month - i know baby didn't put on 7 lbs, but probably at least a couple of those were baby, and the girls are bigger yet again too. And i'm holding on to more fluids (but not very swollen), and i got weighed at the end of the day as opposed to my usual morning appointments. There. That's my rationalization.

I also got my Win-Rho shot, i don't particularly like getting needles - the thought of something metal stuck into my body kinda weirds me out (yeah, i know, that's how epidurals come, and that's exactly why i really don't want an epidural - not because of the philosophical aspect of pain relief versus none, but because the thought of that needle going into a teeny space right by my spinal cord really freaks me out.) Anyways, back to Win-Rho: my sister in law Ang got hers in the "hip" so i was all ready for that, and it turns out my doc injects it into an arm vein! No complaints there.

I go back in a month - i thought i'd be on 2 week appointments now, but maybe not. So i'll see her at 35 weeks, then 37, then every week. Is this usual? I thought after 30 i'd go every 2 weeks. I guess if everything is going this well and there's no concerns, maybe she's starting the more frequent appointments later on...

weekend adventures

On saturday, my mom and I went to the SPOTTO consignment sale around noon, there was nothing there. Last week’s sale was so much better. So we didn’t get anything there. But then we went to fabricland, I got material for 5 maternity shirts – spring/summerish shirts with either short sleeves or tank style. I hope they turn out well, they have so much potential and are so fun!!! I was planning to try to make them, but mom said “it will take you a long time and you’re working and I have time this week so I’ll just do them up for you….” Awwww. I’m not gonna say “no” to that offer!

So then, we were looking for some material for crib sheets, and we ended up finding those pre printed crib quilt panels – mom was thinking of making me a crib quilt but has never done the piece quilting before and wasn’t sure that’s what she wanted to get into, but the ones we saw were SOOOOOOO cute, there were two that had yellow and turquoise in them (the colors we'd like to do in the room), and they were just super cute, with cartoonish animals on them, very funky not babyish stuff. So we got both, they were $5 each, MUCH cheaper than the $150- $300 you pay for a crib bedding set in store (and i've never seen one of those that i like anyways). I was very very excited, because i didn't have a ‘theme’ or anything for the nursery, but I obviously needed bedding, and wanted something fun but not babyish. And the only thing I really thought about was how cute animal prints were, and how that was probably as close to a “theme” as we’d get. We found some really cute sheeting material to go with those quilts, one was part of the same line and just had the random animals from the crib quilt on it with a turqouise background, then we got a solid yellow and a very cute striped turquoise and green. I’m very very very excited about all that.

So THEN, we went downtown to browse around a bit, and at sears, I found Mr. Lion. He is the cutest bright yellow stuffed lion with turquoise on his toes…and he looks exactly like the lion on each of the quilt thingies! So I just HAD to buy him, I am SOOOOOO excited about Mr. Lion. This is the first thing i've bought for this kid that i saw and didn't care how much it cost, i had already made up my mind that it was coming home with me (good thing it was a pretty reasonable price). Here is a pic of Mr. Lion that i found online:



So I guess we have kindof stumbled onto an official baby room “theme” now, I’m glad it’s not babyish and can work for either sex and isn’t pale green or yellow and icky. And I’m glad the kid can still enjoy it when s/he is 1 or 2…

Funny thing, I was telling my coworker about Mr. Lion this morning, and she was at Sears sat morning and had Mr Lion in her hand three times and then put him back trying to decide if she should buy him or not. And he was the only one left. So it was the same one, and she almost bought him, and then I would have never known he existed and not had him for my baby. She said she was glad he had found a good home.

The other thing I got at sears was a potential coming-home outfit for the little one, it is a onesie with an embroidered giraffe and elephant on the front, tres cute, I just need to find some pants to go with it, it can be for either sex, but if I find a cute girls outfit I’ll get one more girlish one and use this one for if it’s a boy. I sure hope I’m not tempting fate, but the only size they had was 10 lb. I told the kid that s/he doesn’t have to fit into it right away, it can be big on him/her when s/he wears it home.

good deals

Saturday I went to the Children's Market consignment sale with my mother in law and 2 of 3 sisters in law, it was great.

I have to say the sale was VERY well organized and run for such a large endeavour, despite the crowds it was a very pleasant experience.

My sale deals: a diaper genie for $6, a wooden baby gate for $18 (regular $50), avent sippy cups (2 for $3, regular $6-8 each), a sun shade for the back window of the car $2, a mosquito net for the stroller $1, a very cute pair of unisex 0-3mo shoes ($3), a never used pregnancy diary book (1.50 – for my next pregnancy as this one is 2/3 done), some bottle liners and breastmilk storage bags (the store price on the package was $17, I got them for $2), a basically brand new Jolly Jumper nursing pillow for $8 (yellow and blue, to boot!). Shirley found a couple high chairs and a car seat, she was very pleased with those purchases.

I am looking forward to going back at the fall sale, when I actually know what clothes to buy, so much out there is so gender-specific that I don’t want to buy a whole lot until we know what s/he is. I'm also looking forward to the SPOTTO sale this coming saturday - ya never know what you'll find!

slightly more random question

where does one find a good diaper bag, other than the not-so-good quality stuff at walmart/zellers, etc?

edit: also, any comments on the benefits of an actual "diaper bag" versus a large purse/other generic bag?

question

Right now, we are facing the need to make some tentative arrangements for Anthony's time off when baby comes, as he is actually going to be in school from Apr 30 to June 22 for his first year apprenticeship classes, so he needs his tentative holiday plans submitted before he goes to school so his boss knows what will happen when baby comes - which will probably be pretty soon after Anthony returns from his schooling (and hopefully not before he's done his classes, though we have no control over that, so if it happens, it happens).

We were thinking that he'd request a minimum of one week, but up to two weeks off depending on when baby arrived and when we are discharged...for example, if this kid shows up on a Wednesday, he'd take the rest of that week plus the full week after it off; whereas, if the kid shows up on a friday night, he'd probably just take the full week off (plus the 2 weekends = 10 days)... of course this would all be subject to change if there were any difficulties such as a c-section where i was in hosptial longer than anticipated, etc.

For those of you who have already had kids, how much time did your husband/partner take off when the baby came? Was it enough, or did you wish he was home for longer? How long were you in the hospital? I assume it was good to have him around for the first days at home....and also i'd imagine his sleep is quite disturbed for the first bit as well, so going right back into work might be hard for him.... ???

somebody has hiccups...

i just hope this kid doesn't get hiccups like his/her momma - mine are so violent and painful!

but what a weird sensation - it feels like a muscle twitch in my abdomen. Prior to Sunday I had only read about baby having hiccups, but Sunday night, all of a sudden there were these very regular twitching movements unlike what i had felt before - it wasn't legs or arms flailing, it was closer to where the torso is positioned. And just a little flick, in a regular rhythm.

S/he had them again monday morning when i got to work, and now again right now (tuesday morning).

It's amazing to realize that there is a PERSON developing in there, it is becoming more and more real. One thing that hit home this weekend is that almost a year ago, my friend Ang had her baby Hayden at 28 weeks - this is where i'm at now - and little Hayden was just the most precious thing when he was born (and still is, of course). Even at 28 weeks, all his features were there, every little part was in place and formed and distinguishable, even at 2.5 pounds total. And that's where my little one is at right now - all the features are in place, s/he looks like him/herself (if that makes sense), and there's just a bit more growing and adding some more weight to go. That is just incredible to me.

Growth spurt?

The past couple days, i have been hungry. Very hungry. Every 2 hours.

I've been snacking like crazy, and have been relatively successful in choosing nutritious snacks, but it's a bit nuts when it feels like i just finished eating something and i'm already hungry again. I think i counted 5 snacks (aside from lunch) during my work day yesterday, and have already had four today, with 1 1/2 hours of work left. I think *someone* must be going through a growth spurt (I'm sure hoping it's the little one inside, not me....)

Related to this, I had an epiphany yesterday: this baby is moving and kicking all day (quite vigorously), AND is growing and developing, and ALL the energy that it needs for all these activities comes from ME. Yeah, i know, it's a pretty obvious thing, but ya know when you realize something for the first time even though you've "known" it forever? Yeah.

I am realizing that I’m not invincible.

For quite a bit of this pregnancy (since after the morning sickness phase passed), I have been feeling very well, better than even my pre-pregnancy state. But now things are changing. I am much more tired, MUCH more weepy and emotional, and have general aches and pains, specifically in my lower back/pelvis/hips, and of course the wonderful round ligament pain. But I hadn’t really slowed down all that much, I was still trying to do everything that I normally do – work full time, keep up on housework, cooking, etc, and maintain a pretty active social life. I would have days of course where I’d just be exhausted and not able to do these things, but I would see them as the exception rather than the norm.

This morning, I realized that it is OK to slow down, and probably even necessary at this point. My body is doing a TON of work growing this baby and preparing for having and sustaining the kid once s/he arrives, and even though I had never really thought about all the changes it is going through, this is really a whole body experience. Before being pregnant, I just kinda thought “Yeah, my belly will get big and that’s what pregnancy will be like for this body.” But oh no, there’s a LOT more to it than that.

This morning I was reading an email update “27 weeks” from babycentre.com, and I noticed a couple references to an article on “ways to make things easier for yourself at this stage”. One suggestion was to have paper plates, etc. to use on days you just don’t have energy for dishes. Something clicked, and I realized that it’s OK that I haven’t done my dishes in over a week (thank goodness for a dishwasher to clean the ones we eat off, but the pots/pans and cooking utensils are piled a mile high). And it’s OK if I decide to go to bed earlier instead of doing a bit more housework. And it’s ok if all I want to do is sit and cuddle with Anthony instead of facing the world. It’s ok if I’m feeling emotional and just need to have time to myself and feel sad for a bit instead of wondering what’s wrong with me and why I’m having a sad day when everything around me is objectively “fine”.

I’m glad I realized all this at this point, because I think realizing I need to step back and take care of myself before some of these other tasks/priorities in life will make these last 3 months go much better. So I’m going to take breaks when I need them, and let this body have some extra rest when it’s tired and achy. I’m going to choose not to feel bad about the pile of dirty dishes and the unswept floor. I’m going to surround myself with positive and supportive people who love me happy or sad, weepy or glad, and feel free to express the emotions I’m feeling, while still realizing that they are simply emotions (and hormone driven ones at that), and not a perfect indicator of how things are really going.