The Adventures of Shelagh

Adventures in Weight Loss - The Beginning

2010-06-08T13:16:00.002-03:00

*Sigh* Well I'm back to work in 2 months plus a week. Last night I started going through the closet to see what fit and what didn't... sadly the "didn't" pile is very very large. I boxed up what didn't fit and now my closet has 4 pieces of work clothing in it... I have 3 options in front of me... buy new clothing, convince work to change the dress code to sweatpants and PJ's or lose weight... So we now embark on the adventures of weight loss...

I was overweight before the pregnancy, then I gained 49 lbs growing my boy and it's not coming off as well as I would like... I have a goal to lose the weight I gained during pregnancy plus substantial more.

The first step is writing down my goals... there is a harvard study that shows that students who have written goals are 10x more likely to succeed in achieving those goals. So here we go...

Before pregnancy, I was 172 lbs... I topped out at 221 lbs and now am completely stuck at 192 lbs. I want to weigh 140 lbs but that is a long term goal... my immediate concern is getting back into my work clothing. I have 69 days to lose 20-25 lbs... to keep it healthy, my goal has to be 172 lbs by August 16...

That is 2 lbs per week...

Now it's time to make the plan!!!

Adventures in Motherhood - My Truths

2010-04-30T01:08:00.003-03:00

A few weeks ago... or was that months ago... who knows... someone asked me to tell them the truth about childbirth and a few other things. She said that she always hears "it was the most beautiful thing... blah blah blah... lemme blast some more rainbows out my butt at you". Of course, I'm paraphrasing... anyway... she said that she KNEW I would tell her the truth...

Now, I have to admit that I'm not a normal case... first, I had to be induced at a hospital that does not offer epidurals and my pelvis proved to be too small for my baby's head. These two items alone are a recipe for a really bad day...

So to answer her first question... did it hurt? OH MY GOD, the best way to describe it was like putting my pelvic bone into a vise and having an uncontrollable urge to tighten the vise every few minutes. The decision to do the C-section came after I ended up standing up on the birthing table shaking in pain.

How was it to come home... this was really hard. I can remember walking into the house, holding the baby and thinking "Now what?". We had the baby room all set up, the bassinett in our bedroom but nothing in the downstairs of the house to put the baby in or on... we hadn't thought about that part. I spent the good part of the first 6 weeks holding Connor. I ended up with a really sore arm for quite awhile.

Her final question was "What advice would I give..."

Have things to put the baby in... playpens, bassinets, swings, bouncy chairs, excerisers, play mats... they seem to cost a lot of money but they are worth their weight in saniety.

Read the sections about C-sections... even if you don't plan on having one... read it anyway... you never know what will happen. Honestly, I was relieved when the conversation turned to the C-section in the delivery room.

As crappy as it is to keep the I.V. in after the baby is born, it is a source of morphine. Keep it to the bitter end!!

And the most important piece of knowledge...

No matter how hard you try, you cannot O.D. on nitrious oxide... once I figured that out, my day greatly improved!!

The Slide Show

2010-04-23T22:27:00.001-03:00

The Firsts - Playground Swings

2010-04-16T22:20:00.003-03:00

Connor on the Move

2010-04-13T00:39:00.002-03:00

Connor the Swimmer

2010-04-04T18:52:00.003-03:00

I'm a Food Cricket!!

2010-04-03T00:21:00.002-03:00

The Vocabulary of Connor

2010-03-26T02:28:00.010-03:00

Cory and I have been a couple for 17 years... as with most couples who have been together that long, we have our own language. For example, about 15 years ago, we were at a bakery and the clerk could not find the proper coding for the delicious treat we were buying... she chose to code the sinful morsels as "Blueberry Muffins". To this day, EVERYTHING in a bakery case is now referred to as a blueberry muffin.

Now that we have Connor, our language has expanded. Here is a brief dictionary of terms...

Honey Cake... verb.... this is the act of becoming extremely intense and overstimulated by a toy or object. Used in a sentence... Connor went all honey cake on the Xbox controller. Phrase Origin - It comes from an evening that Connor got his mitts on a ziploc bag full of.... you got it... honey cake... he got so excited that when we took it from him, he literally vibrated for a few minutes.... Thus was borne the phrase... Honey cake.

Noodle... verb... swaddle. Used in a sentence... Connor needs to be noodled to go to sleep. Origin - dunno

Noodleage... noun... A quality scale for swaddling. Used in a sentence.... That's some mighty fine noodleage there, honey Origin - Derived from Noodle.

The list is long and growing with every day... Part II is coming...

Jolly Jumping

2010-03-25T20:30:00.002-03:00

Adventures in Motherhood - Connor the Person

2010-03-01T13:38:00.005-04:00

We are just a few weeks away from Connor being 6 months old. I've been going through the pictures and video for the last 6 months, it blows me away the differences and development. I find that I often talk about his physical development and down play the person he is becoming... I guess I use the videos to tell that tale...

Connor is extremely good natured. He wants to smile even when he is upset. He spends most of his days laughing and chatting with us. He smiles in his sleep and beams when he wakes up... He doesn't like to sleep in his crib, he prefers to sleep on my lap or in my arms or in the middle of our bed. To go to sleep in his crib he needs to be swaddled and the bed needs to be pre-heated with a heating pad. When he is sleepy and nursing, he plays with his hair.

He thrives on positive reinforcement which he receives by the bucket load. He cries if he thinks you are upset or if he thinks he has done something wrong (i.e. Biting a nipple). He startles easily like his mom... loud noises make us jump, but never make us cry.

He thinks farts are funny and so are sneezes. Although, he thinks our sneezes are loud and scary and he needs to be reassured that we didn't explode. He only likes to snuggle when he is feeling sleepy but there is a fine line between sleepy and cranky. Awake time is for kicking, wiggling, rolling and bouncing.

He will accept any food offered even if it makes him shudder and he is always willing to taste it again just in case he had it wrong the first time. When he is done eating, he is rewarded with the left over breast milk in a shot glass... we are pretty sure this is the only reason why he eats anything at all.

He loves to watch the dog's tail wag and is planning how to grab it. He loves the feeling of cat fur between his fingers especially when attached to a cat. He can stand himself up unassisted as long as he has his daddy's thumbs to pull himself up on and that makes him very happy.

He loves music to the point of distraction. His entire world stops for the opening theme song to the Gilmore Girls and M*A*S*H. He really doesn't like to be disturbed when these are playing so please don't block the television. In fact, TV only exists to him when music is coming from it...

He is certain that his life will improve greatly if he could just get his lips around the Xbox 360 controller and is willing to have a temper tantrum when his attempts are thwarted.

When he is crying because he feels he needs our full attention, he has a pouty lip that makes me smile every time. When he is serious about crying, his head turns bright red.

When he touches silk, he looks like he's touching the best thing in the world...

Well that's a little bit a snap shot of Connor the person... it changes and grows every day..

Adventures in Motherhood - The Photo Shoot

2010-02-24T01:45:00.006-04:00

Adventures of Motherhood - Taste Testing

2010-02-13T22:03:00.003-04:00

Thanks to the Nuby Nibbler... Connor tastes Watermelon...

Adventures in Motherhood – The Milestones

2010-02-07T04:05:00.001-04:00

Never before have I been so concerned with calendars and development, until having a child. All actions are reviewed on a chart and compared to where he should be today. On a whole, Connor seems to be above the average for hitting milestones. He is a very strong baby. Apparently all that excessive kicking he did before he was born translated into a physically fit baby. He has been bearing weight on his legs since he was three months old. I can't remember him not being able to hold up his head. He passed a toy from one hand to the other months ago... and just the other day he exhibited object permanence when he dropped (or threw) his toy on the floor and then leaned over to look for it...

As a general rule, he hits the milestones either before the average or right on the line... for example, he rolled over from belly to back the day after he turned 4 months. The "Books" say that he should roll over belly to back between 4-6 months. Recently, he was behind the curve... in my mind, anyway... all the other babies in his age group started rolling from back to belly... I started to fret... worry... then I discovered that he had zero motivation to make this move. Connor is extremely motivated by positive reinforcement... EXTREMELY! So we helped him roll from his back to belly and then lavished him with praise... he spent the next hour perfecting the roll over himself and now he is a rolling machine.

He still doesn't enjoy eating cereal. He gets a tonne of praise and ends up eating almost a tablespoon's worth but it's a long process. I enjoy the opportunity for Cory to feed his son, but I think we are going to stop again and try again at 6 months. Connor isn't eager and the cereal isn't value-added at this point of the game.

He is sleeping better (Thanks to my demi-goddess Kara!!). Swaddling was like giving him a sleeping pill. I am learning to put him to down to sleep when he starts to exhibit signs of being sleepy and following a loose routine with him. I still haven't corrected his bed time but he is following his own schedule now. Baby steps!!

Adventures of Motherhood - Food Rewards

2010-02-03T22:10:00.003-04:00

So Connor is still not enthusastic about his cereal... he gets barley in the morning and rice at night. After he eats his rice cereal, he gets a treat... he drinks the leftover breast milk from a glass...

My Daddy Did My Hair

2010-02-03T19:43:00.001-04:00

Adventures in Motherhood - The Food Dilemma

2010-01-28T20:16:00.003-04:00

Wow.... what a hot topic feeding between 4-6 months. I don't think I've found a more diverse set of opinions on any other baby topics. Some doctors recommend cereal at 4 months, others say stay completely away until 6 months, some say only rice cereal, some say only single grain cereals, others say go ahead with low allergen foods...

So in my complete confusion, I made my own decision... I'd let the kid decide if he wants to try stuff. He is being offered a rice cereal and a barley cereal. To be honest, he isn't a fan but he's a trooper and tries it for me. He seems to like the barley cereal better than the rice cereal but he isn't enthusastic by any stretch. I'm sure he will get the hang of it eventually...

Adventures in Motherhood - Sleep

2010-01-27T13:34:00.003-04:00

Okay, I am admitting that we have screwed up.... Connor does not go down for the night until 3-4am and sleeps until mid to late afternoon, with a feeding every few hours. He will fall asleep on my lap or in my arms but the second his back touches the crib mattress, he wakes up and starts wailing. In order to get any sleep, he has been coming to bed with us and nursed to sleep. While this does give us a chance to sleep, it is a poor quality sleep, fearing that we may roll on him or some other parental nightmare. My hips and lower back are so sore from being in a locked position all night.

Our biggest issue is that Connor will go to sleep but seems to wake himself up. He falls asleep with his feet in the air but as they gently relax into sleep, they drop down and wake him up. I've almost conquered this one by rolling up a blanket and placing it under his legs when I first put him down, if I have progressed to the point that he will actually lay down.

So we have our work cut out for us... we need to get him back into his own bed, change his bedtime back to a more suitable time and get him to fall asleep on his own.... should be simple enough...ha!

Connor vs. Fuzzy Horsey

2010-01-12T01:15:00.003-04:00

I Love My Bunny

2010-01-02T22:01:00.002-04:00

Adventures in Motherhood - Baby's first cold

2009-12-29T17:05:00.004-04:00

So the last few days have been... trying. Connor is sporting his first head cold. The poor guy can't breath through his nose, he thinks that saline drops are gonna drown him and the nose sucky thing (name is completely escaping my exhausted mind) is trying to steal his brain. Sleeping is a challenge as apparently breathing through his mouth hasn't been considered as an option yet so he's cranky, sleepy and stuffy... just the recipe for a fantastic time. To top it all off, he has diarrhea (I'm so glad I hit that diaper sale).

I woke with a sore throat this morning and Cory has aches and pains.

One bright spot is that he hasn't been spitting up as much at all even without his Zantac dosages. I am suspicious that the Zantac has no impact on the quantity of spit up and he is just starting to grow out of it... only time will tell...

Connor's First Christmas Present

2009-12-25T16:34:00.003-04:00

Hats Off or On...

2009-12-18T23:21:00.007-04:00

Adventures in Motherhood - First Pediatrician Appt

2009-12-16T14:44:00.003-04:00

In New Brunswick, as with most provinces, a referral is required from your family doctor to see a specialist such as a pediatrician. My family doctor, whom I hold in very low regard, fortunately has extremely low confidence in her ability to diagnose a baby therefore she was quick to provide a referral to a pediatrician for Connor's spitting up issue. On a good day, Connor spits up maybe 20 times... on a bad day... well we would all be better off naked to keep the laundry issue under control. As a breast fed baby, the expectation is that he would spit up maybe once or twice a week... wow that would be amazing!!

We had our first appointment with the Pediatrician scheduled for December 10 but in good ol'New Brunswick fashion, the skies opened up and dropped a foot of snow on the ground that morning. Our appointment was in Fredericton (an hour drive away), we had to postpone it... Yesterday was the big day. Our appointment was at 2 PM so we needed to be on the road by 12:30. For most people this would not be a problem, but Connor and I have established a fantastic routine that includes sleeping until noon. So I dusted off the alarm clock for the first time since our 8 am appointment at the hospital for induction... After sleeping through the first 48 minutes of the alarm, we were up and trying to remember why...

We were on the road by 10 to 1... got to our appointment exactly on time... (my mother will be proud). On the drive to Fredericton, Connor fell asleep as soon as we hit the highway and woke only once we had parked. While he slept, the snow started falling... again...

At our appointment, Connor was first examined by Patrick... he weighed in at 14.4 lbs... he had his heart and lungs listened to, his ears and throat looked at, his belly prodded... giggling and wiggling the entire time... Connor even helped hold the stethoscope for Patrick.

Then the doctor came in to examine him... she was shocked... in a good way... she couldn't believe how strong Connor was for a three month old. Probably cause the kid never stops moving... he gets more exercise than an Olympic hopeful. She put Connor on his tummy and he immediately tried to turn over on her... shocked again!! Then she stood him up and he used her for balance only... shocked again!! All the time, Connor is laughing and giggling. The boy knows how to put on a show for his audience...

The long and short of the situation is that Connor has acid reflux... we were 99.9% certain this was the issue before we got there but we needed someone to write the prescription. So Connor is now on liquid Zantac. He received his first dose last night and reacted... well... strongly. Cory and I took a taste of the medication and MAN, THAT'S JUST NOT RIGHT! Poor kid... he gets this stuff twice a day...

Splish Splash - 12 weeks old

2009-12-06T02:20:00.003-04:00

Adventures in Motherhood - The Connor Files

2009-12-06T00:40:00.002-04:00

Well we are rounding the 12th week of Connor today. Wow the changes are amazing. I was just watching him on his play mat and realized that he can now reach the toys on both sides of the play mat at the same time. Just a week ago, he could only reach one side at a time. He now grasps the toys quickly and easily and promptly attempts to put them in his mouth.

Last weekend he had his first trip to the emergency room. Before you panic, the emergency room in our rural hospital is a glorified walk in clinic. I've been in there while patients are treated for hard ear wax... I was more used to a city hospital where death needs to be imminent to make the trip acceptable when I first moved here but I've soften with time. Stop cringing Tanya... I still won't go there for hard ear wax...

Anyway, Connor was throwing up his entire tummy contents. He was still feeding so he was not becoming dehydrated so we had decided to ride it out... but then midnight came and with it was the screaming... his head turned bright red and he screamed for 90 minutes. I tried my usual distraction method of presenting a breast... alas this was refused...

After 90 minutes, Cory and I were broken... bundled him in his car seat, grabbed his CD of Metallica and Nirvana Lullaby's and headed off to the hospital. Once in the car, he fell asleep... we continued to drive to the hospital, debating the whole way on whether we should just head home now that he was settled.

2 am on a Saturday night... the Emergency Room was a ghost town. Not even a drunk in sight... We were in to see a doctor in seconds... Connor woke from his nap a new baby... laughing, giggling and flirting with everyone who came in 10 feet of him. The picture of health!

Nothing to worry about... go home... if he gets worse or shows signs of dehydration... please come back.

He fell asleep on the way home.... transferred from his car seat to the crib without a cracked eyelid... slept 7 hours straight... woke a new baby.

He has been continuing to spit up so he is going to see a pediatrician this week in Fredericton for a potential acid reflux issue. He is also being treated for thrush. Good Times!!

This Blanket Tastes Fuzzy

2009-11-30T19:41:00.002-04:00

The Trials and Tribulations of Breastfeeding

2009-11-23T20:50:00.000-04:00

Okay... I finally get it... I understand why so many women give up on breastfeeding. To be honest, the thought has crossed my mind on several occasions. Fortunately for Connor, his complete distaste for formula has prevented this from becoming a possibility.

The first week was horrifically hard... my milk wouldn't come in. Connor kept nursing to the point that I had bleeding, scabby nipples... fortunately I was still in the hospital while this was happening so I was given Domperidone to help bring my milk in. Unfortunately Domperidone is actually a drug to help move a sluggish bowel and one of it's side effects is that it increases milk production. I did not have a sluggish bowel so this was a whole new thrill for me...

Once we got home, Connor's demand was far greater than my supply. He would cluster feed for hours on end and never seem like he was getting satisfied. For the first few weeks, we were topping him up with sugar water to have him feel full enough to sleep but this also had a side effect on his bowels so it was a last resort.

Our next line of defence was pumping milk during the early hours of the day when he wasn't clustering and using that milk when the clustering started. This was extremely effective. The only problems was that as a young baby, he wasn't into a routine and it was hard to judge when it was safe to pump. Doesn't help if you pump and then have to feed that pumping to him immediately.

Now, my supply generally meets his demand. He is starting to fall into a routine. My problem is now my diet and the impact it has on his digestion system. The donair I ate the other night gave Connor gas and tummy upset... no more spices for me. He has a tendency to spit up ALOT... I'm considering doing an elimination diet on myself to see if we can figure out what upsets him... I'm just working myself up to a rice-only diet for a few days. As a bonus, it will help to remove the excess weight on me...

Total weight gained during pregnancy 49 lbs... total lost so far... 27 lbs

Sing Along with Connor - 8 weeks old

2009-11-08T22:47:00.003-04:00

Connor - 5 weeks, 1 day

2009-10-22T01:10:00.003-03:00

Wow it's hard to find time to blog... I've got about 4 entries half completed in draft form that no longer feel applicable.

Today I'm just gonna cheat and upload another video taken on October 19, 2009. Connor sure knows how to keep his daddy entertained.

The Many Faces of Connor - Awake Baby Version - 26 days old

2009-10-11T08:16:00.003-03:00

Coming Up for Air

2009-10-06T18:21:00.003-03:00

Wow... I think I am finally coming up for air. Connor turned 3 weeks on Sunday and he celebrated this by not needing to cluster feed from midnight to 6 am. Last night he woke every 4 hours for a 30 minute feed... a couple more days of this and I might feel human again.

He is spending more time awake now without immediate needs like feeding or changing. This is Cory's favorite time with him. Right now they are watching the G.I. Joe movie together while Cory explains the psychology of world domination to him. I think Connor may grow up to be a movie critic as he just responded by filling his diaper... the boy is a natural!!

All and all, Connor is a very pleasant baby. He isn't very fussy provided his needs are met. He doesn't like having his diaper changed so he makes a pile of noise when that is happening, but the noise ends as soon as the change is done.

I'm still recovering from the C-section. I have a whole bunch of unrelated ouchies that add up to a whole body hurt... My tummy is still sore to the touch above the incision... my wrist and elbow is sore from holding Connor too much... I twisted my ankle on the stairs resulting in a bruise on the top of my foot and a sore knee... my breasts are tender tender tender from being stretched... I generally have an exhaustion headache but I'm hoping that will end soon.

Emotionally, I am an easy cry... it's not all the time, it comes in waves. I think I have a little Post Traumatic Stress from the labour prior to the C-section. I'm sure it will fade in time but for now any memory of the labour sends my anxiety level through the roof. If the Alpha Doctor at Labour and Delivery hadn't told me that I had a very difficult labour, I would feel like a total wuss having this reaction. Instead I just feel like a wuss...

The Many Faces of Connor - 2 weeks, 5 days old

2009-10-03T18:44:00.003-03:00

Adventures in Pregnancy - The Final Chapter

2009-09-19T16:30:00.005-03:00

Well, I didn't fall off the face of the planet instead I was admitted to the hospital AKA land of no public Internet access...

What a... a.... an... adventure!

We were admitted on the morning of September 10th for our first attempt to induce via Cervadil. This induction is done by the insertion of a "tampon" behind the cervix... it can also be applied by a gel directly to the cervix but if things start to go bad, the gel is almost impossible to get out...

The first day, we had some contractions, watched some TV and dilated 1 whole centimetre. At 11 PM, they gave me a sleeping pill and put me to bed.

The next morning, we replaced the Cervadil with a second attempt. At the end of the completely uneventful day, I was rewarded with a total dilation of 2 cms, a sleeping pill and what I didn't realise would be my last good night sleep for.... I guess the rest of my life.

The third morning, we Cervadil'd again. By the end of the day, I was officially 4 cm's dilated which labeled me as being in "active labor". No sleeping pill was offered as I was tending to my contractions... no sleep for either Cory or myself.

At 8 am on the fourth morning, it was decided to further the induction by giving me Pitocin. Hindsight being 20-20, this is probably the moment that my day took a horrible turn. Pitocin takes a woman from zero to 60 in her labor in a blink of an eye. The gentle increase of contraction that makes it manageable doesn't happen. At 8 am, I was 4 cms dilated and by noon I had achieved the full 10 cms. Not bad for 4 hours. During this 4 hour period, I inhaled 7 canisters of Nitrous Oxide (once I discovered that I could not OD on it via trial and error, it was open season on the nitrous).

I have very little recollection of this day. I had to ask Cory if we used any of the Lamaze breathing. His answer was once or twice when we were changing NO2 canisters but basically Lamaze breathing sounded more like Darth Vader as I sucked the life out of the Nitrous.

At noon, they took my nitrous away and I started to push. At 1 PM, the doctor checked the progress and thought at that point that he was capped... which is a nice layman's term for cephalopelvic disproportion... meaning his head was too big for my pelvis. At 2 PM, as I stood on the delivery table shaking in pain... the doctor felt that a C-section was in order. I quickly agreed as I had already mentally begged for a high forceps delivery or a c-section... anything to make this experience end.

Before I could go for my c-section, they had to remove the internal monitor from Connor's head, catheterize me, prep me for the incision. I asked Cory what time it was expecting to hear 11 PM and was floored when he told me it was 2:30 PM. I have no recollection of how I got into the surgical suite. I remember having 3 contractions while being prepped for my epidural. I remember feeling bad that I was blowing my skanky nitrous sucking dry mouth breath at my labor nurse. And then my legs went numb and the pain went away... *sigh*

Cory was invited into the O.R. at this point. At 4:18 PM, Connor was disentangled from my pelvis and entered the world. Cory and Connor left shortly after that while I was stitched up. At 5 PM, I moved to recovery and met my baby for the first time.

Here he is somewhere between 1 hour and 2 hours old...

So this concludes my Adventures in Pregnancy... now we are on to the more exciting... Adventures in Motherhood.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 41 weeks, 4 days

2009-09-09T14:49:00.002-03:00

Well it has been a busy 24 hours since my last post...

After my ultrasound appointment yesterday, I popped in the prenatal clinic to schedule my next appointment. The nurses thought I was there for an induction... when I told them that the induction had been vetoed they hesitantly accepted the information, gave me my appointment time for Thursday and I went on my merry way...

At 4 PM, I received a phone call from my main care giver. She had asked the doctor on duty to review my file. He decided based on all the information available that I was probably heading for an induction and the Cervidil should be administered to ripen my cervix sooner as versus later. So he requested that I come in at 8 AM (did you know they still make an 8 am??) for a review and a possible application of the Cervidil gel.

The Cervidil gel needs to be placed behind the cervix where it remains for 12 hours. So we now faced a day (minimum 13 hours) at the hospital without a promise of anything occurring...

Cory lost his mind and began to scrub every surface scrubbable... I found him on his hands and knees scrubbing stains out of the bedroom carpet at 11 o'clock at night. I went to bed... my back was hurting and I just generally felt rough.

We made it to the hospital by 8:15 am. I went to give my urine sample (these people are obsessed with pee) and discovered that I had my "bloody show". I was then placed on the non stress test and, low and behold, I was contracting every 5-7 minutes. A quick cervix check... 75% effaced and 1 cm dilated. So I was sent home to progress.

I was told to come back when the contractions are 3 minutes apart, or my water breaks or I pass a quantity of blood.

Within 2 hours of being home, my contractions measured 2 minutes apart for 30 minutes. Back we went... The magnetic field around the hospital reverted the contractions to 6 minutes, no change in my cervix... and now I am home again... waiting....

My mother had gone home yesterday (5.5 hour drive away) as she had to replenish her medication stocks and had some work to take care of... she is currently breaking land speed records attempting to return... She's approximately 2.5 hours out... I'm confident that she isn't gonna miss a thing...

I guess this adventure is almost over... but lots to relay before it concludes... hoping to give birth before midnight so Connor's birthday will be 09/09/09...

The waiting continues....

Things That Make Me Laugh

2009-09-08T20:10:00.003-03:00

Recently, I have found myself spending a copious amount of time at the hospital. Personal entertainment can become challenging when forced into a hurry up and wait situation. So when I discovered this in the washroom, it provided several rounds of discussion. It is the warning label on the package of maternity pads (Maxi Pads with attitude)....

This leads me to wonder... how wide spread is this issue that it required the warning in 4 LANGUAGES?!?! Who are these poor women that would even consider sticking an adhesive to their bruised and battered bits? What was the catalyst to actually have the warning placed on the label?

Too horrible to consider!!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 41 weeks, 3 days

2009-09-08T13:09:00.006-03:00

Just got back from my ultrasound to check the fluid levels. Everything is looking great. The technician re-confirmed gender for me. Definitely a boy...

She also took a few new pictures for me... they are actually harder to make out at this point because he is so large... but here they are...

Adventures in Pregnancy - 41 weeks, 2 days

2009-09-07T17:41:00.007-03:00

Well... here we are... still pregnant... can you feel my joy?

I was teased with induction yesterday but today is a different story. Connor's heart rate has returned to normal. My cervix is still high and closed... for a healthier, natural delivery, we are going to wait and see if nature will do it's thing.

I am scheduled for an ultrasound this week and that will be the determining factor for induction. They are going to check for fluid levels and cord length... sounds more like an automobile checkup... As long as Connor is looking healthy and happy, he gets to stay in... for a little bit longer anyway.

Rumor has it that induction labor is less than pleasant and 25% of inductions end up in a C-section sooooooooooo... fingers crossed for a natural labor... soon... please!!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 41 weeks, 1 day

2009-09-06T06:51:00.003-03:00

I am now on "one day at a time" watch. Yesterdays non-stress test looked about the same as the day before. Connor's heart rate continues to race between 170 and 185 but his activity level matches his heart rate... the test did not pick up a single contraction although I am certain that they happened... I think the monitor was a little bit too high on my belly. Fortunately, I'm now on daily non-stress tests so I can try to correct that today.

The doctor checked my cervix and found that it is still quite high... he figures 50% effaced and closed.

The hospital is a baby factory right now... 3 babies were born on Friday night, 3 more were in for delivery on Saturday and 3 more were driving around the block circling the hospital looking for a room at the Inn... it is a general guess that the only reason I haven't been induced yet is that they wouldn't have a place to put me. Once this crop is cleared, I'm guessing an induction is in my future. For now, it is status quo...

5 days since due date...

Adventures in Pregnancy - 41 weeks

2009-09-05T05:51:00.003-03:00

So yesterday was my latest prenatal appointment.... emphasis on the "pre"... yep, still pregnant. The doctor attempted another shot at stripping my membranes. She said that my cervix was coming down but was still closed.

When we listened to Connor's heart rate, he was quite elevated (180 beats) so I was sent down to Labour and Delivery to have a non-stress test. Usually the test runs for 20 minutes, but the results were showing his heart rate continued to be elevated. So I was given copious amounts of water to drink (4 litres/1 gallon) and the test continued for a total of 2 hours before he settled a bit. And when I say copious amounts of water, I mean, I peed before leaving the hospital, we stopped twice on the 10 minute drive home to pee and I ran into the house as soon as we got home to pee....

I have another appointment for a non-stress again this afternoon and again on Monday. I am also tentatively scheduled for an ultrasound at the beginning of the week.

When I got home from my appointment, I began to feel pretty much under the weather. Headache, achy, overheated then chilled.... boo. So I headed to bed around 5PM and stayed there until 5AM. I feel a little better but my hips and shoulders are angry about long periods of inactivity. I was woken a few times by contractions but nothing that panned out to anything regular. So I continue to wait...

Due date - 4 days ago!

Adventures of Pregnancy - 40 weeks, 5 days

2009-09-03T05:49:00.003-03:00

Well it looks like that membrane sweep did very little except to disrupt my belly with incredible cramping. Yesterday was pretty much as unfun of a day as I have had in a while. I had crazy belly cramps and lower back cramps and I spent more time in the bathroom than a product tester at a laxative factory. I tried to keep as active as possible... I've heard gravity is my friend!

I got quite a bit accomplished in the house. The biggest item was the successful washing of the couch and love seat cushion covers. After much debate, they were placed in the washing machine. One camp of thought the covers would not survive the washer due to a loose weave and felt they needed to be hand washed. The other camp felt that if they did not survive, "No interest, No Payments until 2011" would tidy up that mess quite nicely. Fortunately, they survived and look and smell like a million bucks!!

Journey continues to be in heat... it has been discovered that diapers stay on her better if they are backwards. We are pretty certain that Theo has managed to take care of her "needs" however we are not sure if they have been interrupted each time. I would have assumed if her needs were taken care of, she would cycle out of her heat. That's how it works for cats anyway. This will be the last time I ever experience a dog in heat. Way too annoying to allow to happen again. Fingers crossed that she doesn't have a belly full of puppies...

This morning I am expecting the delivery of my winter wood... 5 cords that will need to transfer from the lawn to the basement as quickly as possible. 640 cubic feet of wood in total... not sure where it is all going to fit but it guarantees that I will not be cold this winter!! My back aches at the thought of this little adventure already....

2 days past due date...

Adventures in Pregnancy - 40 weeks, 4 days

2009-09-02T04:35:00.003-03:00

Still pregnant... in fact, pretty certain I will be pregnant forever.

So I had my prenatal appointment today. Everything seems great... my blood pressure is starting to creep up a bit... 128/90 today with a large blood pressure cuff... 138/90 with the normal blood pressure cuff. My weight gain continues to be "text book" (their words not mine). I'm at 47 lbs gained total.

The doctor was extremely pleased to hear that we did not progress to any active lesions. He promises that they will not let me go any further than September 11 if I do not go into labor before then... A dear friend found me this blog entry that made me feel a lot better about my situation... She's not a doctor but she seems to have done some good research and has documented her sources well.... Herpes and Vaginal Birth

We completed another no stress test. In 20 minutes, we recorded 3 contractions... most likely Braxton Hicks. Everyone seems very pleased and happy with the results. Connor's reactions to the contractions are bang on what they are looking for for stress coping. Lots of movement, heart rate is accelerating when it is supposed to... etc...

We attempted to strip my membranes but my cervix is still too high and Connor is still floating. The doctor says he managed one sweep but didn't feel that it would have too much impact.

So for now, I continue to be pregnant... my next prenatal appointment is Friday at 1 PM.

Obituaries

2009-09-01T05:52:00.005-03:00

I've blogged about this before but it has been some time... I read the obituaries... always have... I don't know where this came from although my mother reads them as well so the apple may not be falling far from the tree.

I look for people I know, then ages of people... when I find someone that I deem "too young" I look deeper to try to determine why young people die. But my true desire is to find a well written obituary that tells a story about the person who has passed away. Just a glimpse into the life of the person... I found one this morning... Kudos to the author... it really shows the world the love that is felt for this man...

JOHNSON, Wayne Edward Joseph
— Was married to the love of his life, Evelyn, for 44 years. He passed away suddenly on August 27, 2009, at his home in Paradise, Annapolis Co. Wayne "Dad, Grampie" could often be heard telling stories of all the places he had travelled to over the years as a sailor and member of the air force. You could talk about a place somewhere and get a reply "Oh yeah, I've been there." A smile could always be found whenever he was with his grandkids. He loved them so much and didn't mind acting silly around them either This often meant, he was on the receiving end of not so flattering hairdos given to him by his many granddaughters, but that was okay. He loved food, so much so that he spent part of his life as a cook, and then later, satisfied his entrepreneurial spirit operating his own taxi business. He cared about people, loved his family and cherished animals. The squirrels that came to the house feeders quickly became pets. He'd give them a little scratch on the back as they ate and tell anyone nearby to do the same. They only stayed for him.
Wayne "Dad, Grampie" you are dearly missed. Only 67, Wayne was born in Halifax. He was the son of the late Gerald and Veronica (Juteau) Johnson. He is survived by his wife, the former Evelyn Mabel Keddy....

Adventures in Pregnancy - 40 weeks, 3 days

2009-09-01T02:16:00.002-03:00

Welcome to my due date... *sigh*...

According to Internet research (always to be taken with a grain of salt)between 33% and 37% of women give birth during their 40th week of gestation. The second highest week was the 39th week with an average 20%-25%. Statistically, 81.6% of women give birth between 37 weeks and 41 weeks. Unfortunately, I could not find any specific data on the percentage of women who actually give birth on their due dates. I imagine the information is out there but hidden in something really boring.

Tonight, Cory dragged me to the grocery store or the 7th ring of hell as I like to call it. Somewhere around the cereal aisle, my hips decided that they were going to shift. Simultaneously, the invisible two by four slammed me in the crotch. It just about took my breath away, fortunately I was pushing/leaning on the grocery cart at the time so no one was the wiser. I managed to finish our little shop and waddle out to the car. For the most part, the pain is now gone and has just left behind a little discomfort in it's wake.

I have completely destroyed my sleep schedule by sleeping from 8AM to 7PM two days in a row. Connor has decided that my uterus is as much fun as a hamster wheel and is in almost constant motion. My heartburn has reached biblical proportions and I'm having muscle spasms in my shoulder blades.

I have my prenatal appointment tomorrow (I guess I did need it after all). I'm planning on having a frank discussion with my doctor tomorrow about the pros and cons of a C-section at this point of the game as versus a vaginal delivery. I need to be convinced that the risk of transmission is nominal before I feel comfortable proceeding naturally. Just sucky timing all told....

Update to come when I get back from my appointment.

0 Days to due date!!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 40 Weeks, 0 days

2009-08-29T04:44:00.003-03:00

Well here we are... 40 weeks.... my due date is slightly altered due to the length of my menstrual cycle. I have a 33 day cycle instead of a 28 cycle, so still 3 days left until my official due date. Honestly, I'm done!

I have had a bit of a complication that cropped up in the last day or so... I weighed the privacy nature of what I'm about to share and decided that the value of the information outweighs the potential, I don't know... social stigma, embarrassment, maybe...

1 in 4 woman have herpes... I pulled the short straw on that one... I'm very very very lucky that I have herpes simplex 1 which is generally found orally... however, my infection is of a southern nature. I contracted it from Cory a million years ago, he has the typical oral complex, meaning he gets cold sores.

Until pregnancy, I had, maybe, one outbreak a year, if that and the longer you have simplex 1, the less outbreaks you experience. Unfortunately, due to the suppressed immune system as a result of pregnancy, I had one outbreak during my first trimester and now I have prodrome symptoms of an outbreak. What that means is that I feel one coming on but it hasn't happened yet.

Now what does this do to my "birth plan"? Personally, I thought this was a first class ticket to the operating room. I'm surprised to say it wasn't.... I called the prenatal clinic. I do not have any active lesions, so they have started me on a course of Valtrex, which is a herpes suppression drug. I am on the drug until delivery. When I go into labor, I must be aware of my lesion status... if I have one, immediate C-section... if I don't, we will discuss the options. The doctor was very pro-vaginal birth if possible even under these circumstances.

The doctor is confident that at this late stage of the pregnancy, the Valtrex will have no negative effect on the baby as he is fully formed. I am concerned that even without a lesion, my birth canal may not be the best place for a new person. I do not want to have a C-section but I also do not want to spread the virus to my little guy before he even has a chance to take his first breath. This is weighing pretty heavily on me, I must say... I want to trust the doctor but at the same time, she isn't a specialist in infectious diseases. I trust that she would not knowingly put my unborn child at risk... but but but...

I'm doing a crap load of research online... my favorite resource Mother Risk doesn't seem to have any information on herpes and Valtrex during pregnancy. Mother Risk is a website run by the Toronto Hospital for Sick Children and I feel quite confident that the information provided is accurate. Outside of that website, I have found conflicting information from a variety of different sources... which one is accurate is the issue. So I am left with more questions than answers... my first major parental dilemma...

For now, I cannot find any negative information on Valtrex and pregnancy on the Valtrex website, so I will take my drugs... it's now a matter of deciding how to proceed with my birthplan... Do I force the C-section or let the doctors make the final decision?

Any thoughts?

Adventures in Pregnancy - 39 weeks, 4 days

2009-08-26T21:20:00.003-03:00

Holy crap... still pregnant...

Last night was a long night of timing contractions at irregular intervals. The intervals duplicated on a few but then went back into its randomness. Very frustrating.

Last night's highlight was a rash of phone calls from some of my favourite people. It was so nice to catch up with everyone...

Journey continues to be in heat (she is standing on what remains of my lap as I type). She has been diapered to keep her mess to a minimum. Her initial response to being diapered was complete and total betrayal but now she has come to accept the diapering as not the worst thing in the world. On the bright side, Cory has now had some practice with disposable diapers. He thinks that it would be easier without having to cut a hole for her tail. She seems to like her diaper and the house is filled with the swish swish noise of a diapered bum running around.

Cory seems to be in full nesting mode today... he has vacuumed and mopped the whole house. Unfortunately the load of laundry that keeps getting re-washed in the washer because we keep forgetting about it, was once again forgotten about. I think I need to spend 30 minutes in the basement to ensure it travels from the washer to the dryer.

Today I read over my adventures in pregnancy posts from the beginning... I'm really glad to have documented the journey. Although there are things that did not get blogged about, it triggered memories as I read... I have to really take notice that I had a really easy ride for the past 9 months. No morning sickness, no great emotional upheaval, no life threatening complications... I'm not horribly scarred with stretch marks, but I have some. When all is said and done, I'll post my collection of lessons learned... most will fall under the TMI category but you know what... you got to find the information on the internet somewhere... at least I won't include photographs (that story will follow as well).

6 days to due date... 2 days until we clear the cusp of Virgo.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 39 weeks, 3 days

2009-08-25T18:30:00.004-03:00

So apparently my adventure in pregnancy is coming to a close very soon. I had what should be my last prenatal appointment today. We did book an appointment for next week but the doctor was doubtful that I would need it.

Today we did my usual stuff... blood pressure (120/84 - Poster Child for Blood Pressure), my pee was just pee, I am now up 46 lbs in total (I'm thinking 10 lbs of liquid in each foot alone). I woke up in pain this morning so I mentioned this to the doctor, she felt that a no-stress test might be in order. 20 minutes on the monitor and we recorded one contraction... yay. She checked my cervix and said that it was still quite thick... boo.

So I was told to go home and walk walk walk... come back when I need to... *sigh*

So we have walked around the block, it felt like someone was hammering my pelvis with each step. We are planning on taking the dogs for a little stroll a little later tonight. I'm sure that will be a blast...

The doctor says that the hospital is expecting over 40 babies in September... with 3 labor and delivery rooms.... I'm hoping to be squeezing in early. Maybe jumping jacks will help... ow ow ow...

Oh P.S. My paycheque was hand delivered to the house today by two fantastic women!!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 39 weeks, 2 days

2009-08-24T01:16:00.003-03:00

The heat finally broke.... it is currently 20 degrees and raining. I have eaten more today than I have in weeks. I don't feel sweaty anywhere on my body.... Life is glorious!

We've been living during the night to avoid the heat and sleeping (if you can call it that) during the heat of the day. That's going to be a hard habit to break. The dogs got me up at 9 AM this morning to go outside. I felt perky and ready to take on the world... so I laid down for just a few more minutes and my eyelids cracked open again at 5 PM.

Today (many hours from now when the world is awake), I get to play chase the paycheque. This has been an ongoing saga for a bit, let me catch you up...

My last payday was supposed to be August 15 via direct deposit. Due to paranoia, I always check to see if it's there... strangely, it wasn't. I called payroll to find out what happened... for some reason, payroll decided to cut me a manual cheque and mail it to me. Had they called me to let me know that they were changing the method of payment, this all could have been avoided. Instead, the cheque was mailed out.... to the wrong address.

This was discovered on August 19. I went to the post office to see if I could break some federal law and poach my cheque out of another person's box, but alas, the lady at the post office remembered my name (always good to be unique) and was certain that the mail was returned to sender. I went to work to see if they could cancel the cheque and reissue... no problem, except all the officers with signing authority were either on vacation or out of the province. I hoped that the mail would be returned and they could call me to come and get it from work... but my phone has not rang...

So here we are, 9 days after payday.... still waiting on the cheque. Surprisingly, in my paycheque-to-paycheque world, I covered the mortgage and car payment. My bitterness level is increasing inversely proportional with my bank balance. Looks like I have to crack the whip... as if I have the energy to do so....

8 days to due date... already in Virgo, 4 days until the cusp is cleared....

Adventures of Pregnancy - 39 weeks, 0 days

2009-08-22T14:13:00.004-03:00

I guess this is the back stretch... oooooh I'd love a back stretch... I feel like my spine is about one inch long. My hips are sore from sleeping on my sides. My heartburn has decided to defy the power of Tums... whine whine whine...

I think the baby turned around, he kicked me on my left side instead of the usual right side. Hopefully this is a sign of good things to come! I'm hours away from Virgo... even though Cory has requested a solid/non cusp Virgo now.... I told him, I make no promises.

Journey has decided that this is the perfect time in my life for her to go into heat. This means she is making a mess (diapers are coming her way very soon) and is VERY needy emotionally. I don't think I've taken a step without feeling her touch on my legs somewhere. She presses against me when she sleeps (that really helps with this heat). Theo is absolutely obsessed with her even though the size difference has made any relations pretty much impossible. So I am spending most of my time, protecting Journey from Theo.... yay.

She has a new game ... she stands outside and asks to come in... soon as you go to the door, she runs and grabs the tennis ball which she has hidden under a chair and drops it at your feet and runs to wait for you to throw it... I've fallen for it about 4 times. I have to give her props for embodying "when there is a will, there is a way".

The weather forecast has decided that N.B. does not get to share in the Hurricane Bill action this weekend however, we have an 80% chance of thundershowers this afternoon/evening. I guess that's better than nothing.

10 days to due date.... 8 hours and change to Virgo....

Adventures of Pregnancy - 38 weeks, 4 days

2009-08-19T01:41:00.007-03:00

OMG will this heat ever end... it is now 1:45 am... it is 25 degrees outside the house and 29 degrees inside the house. I played sports in high school and I don't remember ever being this sweaty for this long.

I had my prenatal appointment this afternoon. I also had a complaint that my ear was completely blocked.... didn't know if it was a crazy pregnancy thing or not... never hurts to tell the tale. Well lo and behold, my right ear was COMPLETELY blocked. So the beginning of my prenatal appointment was having my ear cleared out... I've never had that done by a doctor before... it seems to be contrary to everything you read on the Internet for how to clean your ears safely. Anyway, I can hear again... WHO LET THAT CRICKET INTO THE HOUSE?!?!?!?

Here are my stats for the week... I am sitting at the 3rd week in a row of no weight gain or loss (give or take a pound), my blood pressure is back to my usual 120/80. My pee contained only pee...

I'm measuring smaller on the uterus which apparently means that the baby has dropped. We did a quickie ultrasound and saw his face (he has chubby cheeks)... he is currently facing the wrong direction so I need to spend some quality time on my hands and knees so gravity will flip him. That statement makes most of my friends giggle.... single minded pervs... love ya guys!!

My next appointment is scheduled for next Tuesday... we are expecting some hurricane action in the local area over the weekend, so I'm hoping the sudden change in atmospheric pressure might change my plans. Fingers crossed...

13 days to due date.... 4 days until Virgo... 10 minutes until I liberate that cricket!!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 38 weeks, 2 days

2009-08-17T11:27:00.003-03:00

Why did it pick this week to become unseasonably hot? Our day time highs have been hitting 37 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit). My life has become a series of cold showers and naps in front of the fan. My only saving grace has been the gracious offer of pool usage by some very good friends. Rumor has it that this heat should break on Wednesday.

As for me and the little man... I seem to be having some contraction in my lower back. I don't know how often or if there is a pattern. I really should try timing these things one of these days.. if I can stay awake long enough. I figure I don't really need to time them.... I'll know when the action is starting to happen. Timing at this point is just distractionary.

I have my next prenatal appointment tomorrow.

15 days left til due date... 6 days left til the baby is a Virgo.... I think I just figured out why Cory is so intent on a Virgo.... here are a few listed traits....

LIKES
Health foods
Lists
Hygiene
Order
Wholesomeness
DISLIKES
Hazards to health
Anything sordid
Sloppy workers
Squalor
Being uncertain

Those who know him, understand completely now.....

Adventures of Pregnancy - 37 weeks, 4 days

2009-08-12T12:19:00.003-03:00

So, I'm still pregnant... although sometimes it feels like the baby is going to burst through my skin at anytime. Things are getting a bit snug in there.

I had my 37 week prenatal appointment yesterday. My blood pressure is up a bit for me... 130/84 (I think that is a personal high for me). My urine was just urine... no glucose, no protein, no other ickies. And most importantly, the baby's head is in the dive position...

I tested positive for Group B Streptococcus which is pretty scary when I look at the worst case scenarios (isn't the Internet grand). What it means in reality is that when I go into labour, I get to have an antibiotic I.V. every 4 hours until delivery. I'm sure that will trigger a FANTASTIC yeast infection. Oh goodie.... something else to look forward to...

I'm sleeping through the night for the most part, maybe one bathroom break a night. The little guy seems to have dropped and is giving my ribs a bit of rest between that and the nights are cooler, makes for better sleep all around. I seem to be having a bit of a burst of energy as a result...

I've tackled the lime/calcium stains in my toilet... peeled some wallpaper from the spare room... folded all the baby clothing.... I want to strip the dresser for the baby's room but I'm wondering if that is too big of a job... Cory hates stripping paint so if I start that job, he'll be bitter if I don't finish it...

Well... I want to go tackle something on my list... back later

Adventures in Pregnancy - 36 weeks, 6 days

2009-08-07T00:05:00.004-03:00

Greetings from Maternity Leave... I was scheduled to start my leave on August 24 but hindsight being 20-20, I was a bit on the optimistic side when I pulled that date. Not sleeping well, early mornings and 30+ celcius weather took the joy out of being awake, so August 4th was my last day worked...

Now I'm at home... I have a mental list of a billion things I would like to be doing around the house and the energy to fold 2 towels in 2 days. I lay in bed and list off the things I could be doing instead... then I get up and realize I'm not physically prepared to even write the list much less tick items off a list. Then I lay back down, in front of the fan and read until I fall back to sleep.

I think I managed to find a perfect description of the physical limitations of being 8-9 months pregnant... it actually describes the last few months... it's like someone has tied a board to my stomach that covers from my breasts to my pelvis and used an elastic bandage to hold it in place, wrapping around my back from shoulder blades to tail bone... it makes bending over or any activity that would result in a condensed midsection to be... let's call it "uncomfortable"... it's not impossible to bend over but the lack of ability to breath makes it a challenge. I'm really looking forward to having my lungs back...

Being home is interesting. I'm noticing things I didn't have time to notice before. My next door neighbour had a property dispute with his neighbour and as a result he has torn down his "garage/shed". This garage/shed blocked our house from the main road. Now we have road noise and the other neighbour's daycare noise... the day care noise almost put me over the edge today. The herd of kids actually screamed for 4 hours straight... it reminded me how much I dislike kids... well other peoples kids I guess... or maybe just herds of kids... what have I gotten myself into?!?!?!

3 weeks and 1 day (ish) until I contribute to the noise pollution in my neighbourhood...

Adventures of Pregnancy - 35 weeks, 3 days

2009-07-28T11:19:00.002-03:00

I feel like poo.

Well, not poo I guess.... I don't think that poo has feelings but man, I am not having fun. I turned green and pasty yesterday and ended up visiting the hospital to be told that the baby is healthy and happy (yay) and I am just pregnant with what looks like a case of the flu (boo).

So I stayed home today. Sleeping makes me feel better but sleeping isn't always in my cards anymore. Cory says that even when I am sleeping he can tell that it's not a "quality" sleep.

On a happy note, we had our baby shower this weekend past. I think I am finally not completely screwed if I were to have the baby tomorrow. However, I am a self proclaimed baby idiot. I have no nieces or nephews that I was around for when they were little... most of my friends either already had babies or were inaccessible when they did... I have only recently held my first infant... Cory has the same history as me... clearly we are completely out of our minds for trying this adventure...

Quick Aside on the Video... AWESOME... it's not an entertainment video by any stretch... but it's approximately 6 hours and I feel prepared(ish). I found it via download on torrent sites but if you wanted to buy it.. it's called Great Expectations - Laugh and Learn about Childbirth

Back to the baby shower... I have 30 cloth diapers (my mom thinks I need 12 more), 7 plastic diaper wraps, 1000 diaper liners, 4 packages of baby wipes, 4 billion sleepers of various age ranges, some bottles, some disposable diapers, lots of baby bath/health essentials, the Nuby Nibbler and lots lots more...

From what we can see, I need a diaper pail (something that seals in the stink) and some safety items that will come into play later down the road (baby gates and such). Cory wants a baby monitor so he doesn't lose his mind hovering over the crib counting breaths. This is the man who completes a minimum of 4 headcounts on the pets daily and can not sleep until he has a confirmed headcount. A baby is gonna push him to his breaking point.

Well, my belly is cramping, my back is killing me and my hands are swelling... I'm gonna sign off for now... 4 weeks and 4 days to go!!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 34 weeks, 4 days

2009-07-23T22:35:00.003-03:00

I have been a bad little blogger lately... I have started so many posts and have ended up just wandering away. Apparently I'm suffering from an attention span issue.... well worse that usual...

What's new....

Well my feet and ankles look like Mickey Mouse feet. I've always had very slim, defined ankles and I'm verging into cankle land... when the calf melts into your foot. Ew...

I have had a dream that I have given birth to 7 deformed babies... which then turned into 7 horrible deformed kittens... extra legs, zigzagged spines and conjoined in ways that no creature should every be conjoined.

I had another dream that one of my cousins took some sort of offense to my mother's father and went to the UK and killed everyone with his last name.... busy girl!!

I chopped my hair off for something with less weight and work... now I have to spend an extra 15 minutes a morning blow drying and straightening it... guess I should have thought that out a little better.... but it is way cooler.

Food has lost almost all interest to me... I'm now eating out of necessity only. I think my stomach is the size of a pea.... which is ironically the same size as my bladder.

I'm in the process of training my replacement... she's gonna do great!! The only goal is to stay working until she is trained... I have promised to keep my legs crossed for 2 more weeks so no baby falls out and ruins the plan.

Latest trip to prenatal... the doctor finds a heart beat on both sides of my tummy... and asks.... "Are we sure there is only one in there?" My heart drops and Cory just about bounces out of his chair with joy. She couldn't tell if the lump under my ribs is head or bum so it looks like another ultrasound in a week or so to determine position.

I'm having Braxton Hicks contractions at a pretty regular irregular intervals... everyone is saying that I've dropped... I guess the clock is ticking... I REALLY need to finish watching that Laugh and Learn about child birth video...

Adventures in Pregnancy - 33 weeks, 2 days

2009-07-13T10:41:00.002-03:00

I hate being a statistic but did you know that 75% of third trimester pregnant chicks suffer from insomnia? Guess who joined her sleepless sisters!

What a crappy night sleep... it was too hot with the blankets on, too cold with the blankets off... I had to pee every 5 minutes... the dog was snoring... the other dog was licking too loudly.... the cats wanted to snuggle when I was too hot... *grumble*

Now I huddle over my daily allowance of tea pining over the memory of sleeping pills and chocolate covered espresso beans.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 33 weeks, 1 day

2009-07-12T19:30:00.002-03:00

Sorry it has been so long since the last update. My back doesn't seem to like sitting in front of my computer anymore. I have been making an effort to rest more even though I feel like I should be go go going all the time. I'm booked for a pregnancy massage tomorrow... it is a massage therapist who specializes in pregnant bodies... I am almost bubbling over with excitement on that one. I'm a sucker for a massage until normal circumstances... can't wait for one when I ache this much.

We had an exciting week. Journey decided to pull a fast one on us... bolted out the door like Forrest Gump and didn't look back. We put up a billion flyer's, advertised her on the radio and spent hours a night looking for her. Apparently, she was found by someone 2.5 hours after she gumped us but they didn't see a sign for 2 days. Now Journey is home under careful watch at all times.

On a less than exciting note, Cory's temporary contract at work came to an end unexpectedly. I was hoping to run it until the baby came so he could take some time at home with us without taking time off my maternity leave but the timing wasn't there. Oh well... he's applied for his unemployment insurance and has applied for a few positions in town as well. In the meantime, he is catching up on a few household items that are outstanding like.. painting a baby's room. :)

Adventures in Pregnancy - 31 weeks, 6 days

2009-07-01T22:27:00.001-03:00

Crap it happened....

I found stretch marks :(

Adventures in Pregnancy - 31 weeks, 1 day

2009-06-28T10:26:00.002-03:00

9 weeks left until my due date... why is it always so hot outside?? I'm really starting to understand why everyone looked at me with sympathy when they discovered my due date was at the end of the summer.

Cory and I started watching the Laugh and Learn about Childbirth. We have watched the first 2 segments. I have to say that they really oversold themselves on the Laugh part. I've smirked once or twice but laugh... not so much... I am finding it extremely informative though. It is running at a nice solid pace.

I am finding it more comfortable to "practice breathing" with only Cory as an audience. He is really good at the Hee Hee breathing... which would be great if he was the one who would need to do it... I, on the other hand, become light headed 35 seconds into it. Cory is trying hard to coach me but I think, at this late date, it would be best if he gave birth instead of me. He has a much better grasp of the concepts than I do.

Journey, our new addition, is coming along nicely. She is quickly learning new commands although her house training is a little suspect. We have been working on that. She now makes it through the night without an accident. Last night she was intertwined in a cat while she slept, so she has been almost completely accepted. I guess size does matter.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 30 weeks, 2 days

2009-06-22T16:57:00.002-03:00

Prenatal appointment today... my last monthly one for the pregnancy. I am now seeing them every 2 weeks until 36 weeks and then once a week until delivery. That makes it seem like it's coming soon.

My blood pressure has been my crowning glory for my pregnancy. Once again, I clocked in at 120/70... I am very consistent. Connor's heartbeat has also stayed consistently in the 140's bpm.

My urine was full of sugary goodness... which I was told is a bad thing... they are happy with the blood sugar levels in the 5's but not so happy with the 7's. Supper seems to be my downfall meal, so Cory is revamping his meal plans.

I gained another 6 lbs over the last month, putting my weight gain at 33 lbs for the pregnancy. I was originally trending for 40 lbs but I think I may surpass that :(

Last night, I downloaded a "How to have a baby" movie... it is supposed to be everything I would have learned at prenatal class had I continued to attend... should be a good time! It's called "Laugh and Learn about childbirth". Wish us luck! I'll have a full review upon completion.

New Addition

2009-06-21T12:28:00.004-03:00

Introducing our latest addition... Journey. She is a 2 year old Jack Russell Terrier... all of maybe 7 lbs. She's been here for 36 hours and has already assumed ownership of.. well... all she can see!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 30 weeks, 0 days

2009-06-20T16:01:00.002-03:00

Greetings from the land of gestational diabetes. Boooooo

Well, I'm not actually diagnosed with gestational diabetes but I had some slightly elevated glucose results so now I'm testing my blood sugar 4 times a day and watching my diet. No more afternoon cookies :(

So my blood sugar targets are less than 5.3 prior to breakfast and less than 6.7 2 hours after breakfast, lunch and supper... After supper last night I was 7.3 (ooops), this morning was 5.9 (double oooops) and 2 hours after breakfast I was 5.3 (w00t). I have to say that I was hungry from breakfast to lunch though... Lunch was pretty big and I felt full afterwards, I'm just waiting another hour before I can test. I'm hoping to find a balance between good blood sugar and my happiness. If I can't control it with diet, I get to have insulin... ick.

With only 7-12 weeks left, I can suck it up. I'm really gonna miss my ice cream cones :'(

Adventures in Pregnancy - 28 Weeks, 1 day

2009-06-07T10:22:00.004-03:00

Welcome to my Third Trimester! 86 Days to Due Date!!

Well, I have this feeling I'm going to be having Connor (we finally named him) early though... someone take note and see if mother instinct has any place at all. If I follow my mother's pregnancies, I'll still be pregnant in October. She cooked us good with 43 weeks and 47 weeks.

I have been saying that I will go early due as it would be ironic. The local hospital is not currently set up for epidurals, however, they will be in September. If I go early, I lose the option. But I keep dreaming that we are having an early birth... so let's see if that has any credence.

Yesterday, we introduced Theo to the next door neighbours 11 month old daughter. I have been very apprehensive of his reaction to little people. You always hear stories of good dogs going bad with a new baby. One of my co-workers had a baby a few weeks ago and their dog is now muzzled based on his reaction to the interloper. Theo licked her face, her ears, her arms... basically covered her with drool. He was very gentle and when he started to get too excited (he is still a puppy) he settled down as soon as he was told. I'm very very very proud of him.

I've learned a few pregnancy lessons this week. Allergy season is in full bloom for me, so I sneeze a lot. I have learned that although I am still master of my bladder, however sneezing is my bladders revenge for overfilling it. We have come to an agreement that I will not overfill my bladder during day light hours and my bladder will not force me to change my clothing. During Nighttime hours, I can still ignore it in exchange for sleep. I am dreaming about peeing a lot more lately though...

Oh yeah, I almost completely forgot... I failed my one hour glucose challenge test. Started the test with a blood sugar of 5.1 and after one hour I was at 9.1. So on Friday, I completed the 2 hour glucose tolerance test. I started with a fasting blood sugar of 5.9, they took three vials of blood from me at one hour intervals... should have the results later this week. Fingers crossed for negative on gestational diabetes...

Adventures of Pregnancy - 27 weeks, 1 days

2009-05-31T19:32:00.004-03:00

So this is the last week of my second trimester. Now that I'm entering my third trimester, all those tales about pregnancy are starting to ring true. My ribs hurt constantly... especially along my bra line on the right side. Cory can rub the muscles out and in minutes, it is right back to square one. My low back starts to hurt easily. Laying on my back seems to make that worse... I'm tired of sleeping on my side only... this is gonna be a long trimester.

I've been having dreams that the baby is born. The first one, it turned out that the baby was a girl instead of a boy and we forgot to tell anyone. Then the rest of the dream was me losing the baby all over the place and forgetting to feed her. So I woke up feeling rather ill prepared for a baby.

Last night, I had a dream that the baby was born except it was one of my cats at his full grown size. Mind you he is the one that most generally gets called baby boy when he snuggles and he is the sweetest... but putting a diaper on him was challenging and breast feeding was a nightmare. Cory agrees with me that after all this, I better end up with AT LEAST a human baby.

I seem to have picked up a new pregnancy symptom (or at least I'm blaming it). I take an antidepressant. Have been for years. When I don't take it, I get anxious and quick to anger. It feels like my pills have completely stopped working. I call it festering. I find something that pisses me off and I fester on it... it blows completely out of proportion, increasing my anxiety level and makes me want to lash out.

At least, I identify that I'm doing it and try to turn off the festering but that is easier said that done. I know I'm just being hypersensitive. I am able to prevent the lash out unless I'm cornered by the source of the festering. It's a lot of mental exhaustion and tongue biting. It makes me want to hibernate... I'm so tired.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 26 weeks, 3 days

2009-05-26T19:17:00.003-03:00

The tired monster has come back but in a different form. In the beginning, there just weren't enough hours in the day to dedicate to sleep. Now... it almost feels like there are too many until moments after the alarm clock goes off. The nights are LONG. I go to bed so tired, I can't even read my book but I am sleeping so lightly. I feel like I'm awake all night. I am still master of my bladder so I'm not up and down all night (even if I should be). Stay out of my path when I get up though.

I had a prenatal appointment on Monday. These are becoming tiresome themselves and I'm only going once a month at this point. I soon move to the once every 2 weeks. At the end, it is once a week.

I gained 6 more lbs. This is my biggest gain in a month and it wasn't anywhere near what I thought it was going to be. It puts me at 27 lbs over 26 weeks. I'm trending to end up with a 40 lb gain by the end of it.

My blood pressure was 120/70.... I should be a poster child for blood pressure.

I was not master of my bladder at the appointment and could not produce an urine sample. This seems to shock the nurse every time. Apparently she doesn't have pee-cup shyness.

I completed my glucose challenge on Monday as well. They had me drink a bottle of sugary goo... looked and tasted like orange pop, even had carbonation. (I was appalled that the little glass bottle was not recycle able.) They sent me away for a hour and then drew some blood. My pre-sugary goo blood sugar level was 5.1 (fasting).

The fellow who drew the blood when I got back didn't tell me my results of the glucose. He had much bigger problems. He was the first person to have difficulties finding a vein on me.... EVER!! I don't hide my veins, but he was determined to get blood from a little vein when the bigg'un that everyone else uses was pulsating right beside it. He actually dug around until I said "ow" and he moved to the other arm. I will be avoiding him in the future.

All and all, this second trimester stuff is pretty calm and quiet. Not too much to report. I declared my last day of work as August 22 and I've set the expectation that I will be taking the whole year. We'll see how that goes once the time and money starts to fly.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 25 weeks, 6 days

2009-05-22T20:24:00.002-03:00

I'm not sure what to make of this....

It's product called Epi-NO and one of my doctors recommended me researching it... it is approved by Health Canada and the FDA....

I'd be interested in some feedback

Adventures in Pregnancy - 25 weeks 5 days

2009-05-21T09:46:00.003-03:00

In the past few months, I've often thought back to my Health classes in high school and what was covered about pregnancy in those classes. I remember drawing a picture of a uterus and fallopian tubes and coloring them in with my snazzy colored pencils. I remember a public health nurse rolling a condom on a broomstick. I am pretty sure we covered the medical aspects of how an egg is fertilized, but we never actually talked about what really happens after that egg implants. I'm am certain that if pregnancy was covered with a bit more details, less teens would allow that to happen to them.

Noone ever told me that I could develop skin tags. Now this hasn't been horrific... two tiny skin tags the size of a freckle but it was something I didn't know happened during pregnancy.

I knew that I couldn't take medications other than Tylenol during pregnancy but I generally have a kick ass immune system so this wasn't a great concern. Noone told me that my immune system would dial back during pregnancy to protect the baby. I have gotten EVERYTHING going this year. I've had chest colds, head colds, stomach flu, intestinal flu, just the regular old every day flu...

This week was the topper for me... (TMI about to happen). I have had diarrhea for 4 days. Generally, I would have taken some Imodium on the first day and this would have been a distant memory. Unfortunately, Imodium and pregnancy are a no no. Yesterday, I ended up in the emergency room for dehydration as a result of the untreated diarrhea. 4 hours and IV fluids later, I was set free with instructions to drink, drink, drink... and to check in with the prenatal clinic in the morning.

So this afternoon, I have an appt with the prenatal clinic. They will probably do a non stress test. I honestly just want the root cause of the dehydration resolved.

I have my monthly check up on Monday and my glucose challenge to check for gestational diabetes.

93 days until I start Mat Leave!!!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 24 weeks, 6 days

2009-05-14T21:34:00.003-03:00

I now have a full description of hell... Hell is... 6 months pregnant, with a head cold, unable to take any cold medications due to pregnancy and thyroid condition... this alone is pretty dreadful... now add an 8 hour plane ride with a 2 hour lay over.

In my life, I have had some pretty serious migraines. Migraines that have taken me to the emergency room for IV medications... yet I had still not encountered the pain of descending from 35,000 feet before in my life. Fortunately with the layover, I got to do it twice! It felt like someone was stabbing my face with a hot ice pick. I will not be flying for the rest of my pregnancy and I will not fly again during a pregnancy just for the fear of the sinus pain again.

I now sit and reminisce about the good ol'days when I could breathe through my nose...

Another valuable life lesson learned this week... Never EVER sneeze while peeing...

Adventures in Pregnancy - 23 weeks, 2 days

2009-05-04T21:45:00.003-03:00

Ahhh Prenatal classes...

Tonight we had the tour of the hospital. I was really looking forward to this for the comfort factor of knowing the environment. Feeling warm and fuzzy about the road I was wandering down...

Unfortunately, human nature is human... when you get a professional somewhere when they have to speak, they start telling anecdotal stories. With a delivery nurse, this means that we hear stories about CRAZY women who don't want drugs who end up screaming, crying and begging for drugs... very comforting, I can assure you.

She also made a point to remind us that birthing is dirty business. At this point of my pregnancy, I wish to be in denial. I want to imagine the birthing experience as buttercups and dragon flies... I know it is unrealistic but I'm passed the point of no return. I know it's not a realistic attitude but denial is a wonderful place!! Next time it happens I'm putting my fingers in my ears and going to go to my happy place...

I also have to admit that Cory was right and I was wrong.. he wanted to leave half way through class and I told him that something important might be taught... he was right, I was wrong... we should have run for the hills when the door was open.

Anyway... enough of prenatal classes... we replaced the camera today and here's my latest belly shot...

Adventures in Pregnancy - 22 weeks 5 days

2009-04-30T11:16:00.015-03:00

This is actually the post that should have happened on April 8 (19 weeks , 4 days) but my co-worker who has the scanner decided to go on vacation (very rude) and I just got them scanned today.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 22 weeks 2 days

2009-04-27T16:19:00.003-03:00

Had my latest prenatal appointment today. I was sooo scared about climbing onto that scale. My diet has been... frivolous at best... if I wanted it... I had it... My son is going to be born looking for a Big Mac and a chocolate soft serve ice cream. I have never been a pop (soda) drinker but I have consumed more pop in the past month than I usually do over an entire year. I was sure I was DOOMED.

I am up another 3 lbs... total of 21 lbs over 22 weeks... I'm very proud... we celebrated with a Big Mac Combo.

Overall I'm doing well... my TSH (thyroid) is 2.41 (perfect). My blood pressure is 116/74. My uterus should be measuring to my belly button... and it is. My serum testing (for genetic disorders) came back negative. My ultrasound shows my due date as my original due date. The baby's heart beat is 148. All is good...

I'm waiting anxiously for 2 more weeks when the baby is at 24 weeks. At 24 weeks, the baby is "viable" which means if something really horrible happens, he could survive outside of me. We don't want that but it's a nice safety net.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 21 weeks, 4 days - The Naming Game

2009-04-22T21:23:00.002-03:00

I apparently have no understanding of the intricacies of naming a new person. Every name that I have presented has been shot down for various reasons too common, too weird, too apt to have the child beaten up, can be shortened to an unfortunate nickname.

I have decided I will not be naming our son. Cory must come up with the name. I have reserved the power of Veto.

Cory and his co-worker, Dave have spent literally days searching the Internet and compiling lists of potential boy names... I wish I could find the list... but here are few of the highlights...

Ace
Gage
Sage
Grayden
Conor
Brock
Blaze
Moon
Shadow
many many more...

I really like Grayden but Cory has removed it from the list as it will be shortening to Gray and that would make the child too old...

I like Conor but it is a touch too common...

I like Brock but Cory has decided he is uncertain about that one...

I have Veto'd the rest... Cory has decided that looking at names is no longer fun and has given up (for the time being anyways)

At this point our son will be named "Baby Boy"... this might give him a hard time once he becomes an adult but it is original. I don't know anyone named Baby Boy...

Adventures in Pregnancy - 21 weeks 1 day

2009-04-19T11:16:00.003-03:00

I have never been a person who remembers dreams. Pregnancy seems to have changed that for me... last night I dreamed that my teeth were rotting out of my head. I could even feel the tooth fragments in my mouth when I woke up. Horrifying!! In my dream, I went to the dentist who seemed unconcerned about my situation. Even more horrifying!!

With the fresh memory, I did a little research on the possible meaning of this nightmare... apparently dreaming that your teeth are rotting and falling out is one of the most common nightmares.

As a common nightmare, it has a ton of possible meanings...

Feeling insecure about your physical appearance and how others perceive you.
Feeling fear of being embarrassed (seems the same as #1)
Feeling powerless... teeth are used to tear and chew... without teeth, you lose your primal weapon.
Biblically it means that you are putting more faith in the word of man instead of the word of God.
Greek culture says it is an indication that a family member is sick or dying.
Chinese culture says it is a sign that you are telling lies.

And my favorite.

Loosing your teeth is a sign of money coming. This is root of the tooth fairy fable.

I'm sure that I am feeling insecure about my appearance... I weigh more than I have ever weighed in my life. I love my pregnant belly. It's smooth, all one color (no dark line, no stretch marks) but I check every day for those nasty stretch marks that I will ruin my perfectly smooth and uniform belly.

I've quickly discovered that being pregnant is all about being powerless. My list of "Don't" is longer than my "Do's" list. I eat, not out of hunger, but out of responsibility. I need others to complete little tasks for fear of injury. I found trimming my toe nails an almost impossible task... next time, I won't be able to do it myself. The list goes on....

I'm not a religious person so I always put more faith in the word of man over the word of God.

I don't think anyone in the family is sick or dying... but my family does have a history of exceptional secret keeping...

I tend to be honest but I will keep my personal opinions to myself if I determine they would be unnecessarily hurtful... that means I need to tell "white lies" from time to time to spare feelings.

Money coming... well I haven't done my taxes yet... it could go either way on that front. Maybe the dream is an indication that I will be lucky in the Revenue Canada Lottery. This is the one I'm hoping for...

Adventures in Pregnancy - 21 weeks, 0 days

2009-04-18T21:51:00.006-03:00

Today was Super Saturday Puppy Walk. We took Theo to the NB Trail and ran the shine off of him... We brought the camera and took some shots... then we dropped the camera on the ground and now have a "Lens Error" when we power it on... On the bright side it let me offload the pictures... I realised it has been a while since I've offloaded it when I found this picture...

There was a smart ass picture I took of my belly a couple of weeks ago...

And here I am today....

Adventures in Pregnancy - 19 weeks, 4 days

2009-04-09T01:32:00.003-03:00

Ultrasound Day!!

Unlike my Ultrasound at 12 weeks, this one required a full bladder. One hour prior to my appointment, I was instructed to drink one liter of water in a 10 minute span. I like drinking water when I am thirsty but once the thirst is quenched... water loses its appeal... FAST. I still managed to choke it back in 9 minutes. By the time we got to the hospital, I needed to pee!

So, we got to our appointment and promptly waited... did I mention I needed to Pee?? While I did my pee pee dance, I read some wall signs. For some reason this hospital does not allow dad's to come in while the actual measurements are being taken but after the tech is done, Dad's can come in and have a quick overview. The hospital also does not allow video cameras.... BOO!

There was one sign that said they will not discuss gender but directly underneath that was a letter dated April 8, 2008 that says that they will now reveal gender provided that determining gender does not lengthen the time of the appointment. Local rumor on this decision was that all their ultrasound patients were requesting to go to the next available hospital that would reveal gender. Guess it was a business decision... got to love capitalism.

So, I finally got to go in and have my full bladder pressed on repeatedly. I asked why this ultrasound needed a full bladder while the last one didn't... He told me that the 12 week ultrasound was for the doctor to see the baby... he needed to see the cervix and placenta, that needs the bladder to be full to push it towards the front. That makes sense... So he took his pictures and eventually said that Cory could come in and he would tell us the gender. YAY!

All the time that he was taking his pictures, the baby laid still.... soon as Cory walked into the room and spoke, the baby started to bounce! "Daddy's Here!!"

The tech said that he had a hard time confirming the gender as the baby was on its back but then he showed us the umbilical cord and just below that was a... protuberance... like a penis. Pretty sure it's a boy! He gave himself a margin of error of 20% as the baby was laying on his back. but it pretty much falls in line with what everyone was guessing.

Now we have to come up with a boys name that falls under the following criteria according to Cory...

Cannot rhyme with a dirty word or a word that could become dirty
Cannot result in initials that makes a bad word.
Will not result in the child being beaten up for having it as their name.
Cannot be common yet cannot be so obscure that they are picked on for having it.

He has rejected Kieran, Declan and Slayter for one of the many reasons above. I don't think I understand the rules...

******************************************

PS... I have an update on the vaginal speculum story. Cory's aunt asked her doctor and came back with an answer. Apparently the size of the speculum is determined by your physical size. The doctor revealed that she had a patient who was in excess of 500 lbs and she required an XL speculum... (HOW BIG DO THEY COME??)

Adventures in Pregnancy - 19 weeks 2 days

2009-04-06T21:26:00.003-03:00

I'm a little slack this week with my weekend blog entry. BUT I have some exciting news! I have now officially felt the baby move. It's been happening for a while but I was undetermined what it was for sure, now I'm positive. Everyone tried to describe it as little gas bubbles or a flutter but the best description I can give is someone tickling me with their nails but on the inside. Add the little voice saying "let me out" and it is down right creepy. Now that I've identified the feeling, it is happening almost all the time. Doesn't this lil'un sleep?

We had our first prenatal class. We are joined by 14 other couples who are ranging from 6 weeks pregnant to 32 weeks. It's the last series of classes until the fall so everyone is jammed in there.

The class... well, I feel that should preface these next statements with... Cory and I are cut the fluff learners. We don't want to spread out the joy of sitting in uncomfortable chairs learning redundant or irrelevant material. Give us the facts, answer a few questions and send us on our merry way. We do not require games to learn or *shudder* role playing. We can absorb a lot of information very quickly. Basically, Git'R'Done!

Back to the class. For the 8 week course, it is a bargain low price of $35. No complaints on the price. So one could say, each class is valued at $4.38 for 2 hour session. On the way home, we tried to determine what new items we had learned... We had a introduction game... I remember absolutely no names, so I didn't learn anything there... We learned how to tell if a baby was born to a smoker by appearance... kinda cool but no application in my life.... Most of the other stuff was long learned via the internet... but we came out with one gem... one useful item that neither of us knew... something that will impact our purchasing decisions...

Tums are better for the baby than Rolaids... Ta Da... 2 hours and $4.38 later... and to think I'm giving this away for free!!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 18 Weeks, 1 day

2009-03-29T18:54:00.002-03:00

Other than the fall, this week was pretty unfantastic, pregnancy wise. Still having loads of round ligament pain especially when I roll over in bed. It also seems to kick up when I "overextend" myself... extra long puppy walks, carrying laundry... I have my next prenatal appointment tomorrow for my monthly check up and 10 more days til my next ultrasound.

On my normal life front, we observed Earth Hour last night. A friend came over and we played "Master Labyrinth". The first time Cory and I played this game, I can recall the game being so difficult that I feared I was going to stroke out trying to plan my next move. We had never played with 3 people and it was the first time for our friend. It doesn't improve in difficult by candlelight. We had a good time, the game lasted longer than the hour and, of course, I won the title of Master Wizard!

The Weather has finally taken a turn for the better. The glacier on my lawn is receding and we chipped all the ice out of half of the driveway. One of my bushes in the garden doesn't appear to have made it through the winter. It's looking a bit crushed and stinks to high heavens. The front garden took a lot of moved snow... I am thinking it might have to be removed and grass seeded, but that depends on my energy level and enthusiasm. (read: not bloody likely unless Cory does it.) Mount Poop has to be addressed first I guess although Cory took a big chunk out of it today until the bag broke. Ewwwwwww!!

This week I'm on the 3 PM to midnight shift. I like being able to sleep in but it sucks to not see Cory for almost a whole week. He is working 9-5 so other than meal breaks, it's a lonely week. Fortunately I only do these once every 8 weeks....

Adventures in Pregnancy - 17 weeks 3 days

2009-03-24T12:01:00.003-03:00

I am as graceful as a dump truck lately. Yesterday I fell. Actually I did very little falling and a whole lot of hitting... I have never fallen so fast in all my life.

I was walking to the car and hit a piece of ice, before I even realized I was slipping, I was down. From the points of damage, I have a nice deep bruise forming below my left knee cap and above my right knee cap. I apparently grabbed the car on the way down and almost pulled my left shoulder out of my socket and the laptop I was carrying jammed into my left ribs. I think my heels hit my bum cause that's sore too.

I couldn't completely identify how I fell so I called the prenatal clinic just to touch base with how hard to too hard to fall. I didn't hit my belly but I went down HARD. They asked me to come in for a non-stress test. At 17 weeks, this means they check for a heart beat.

We got the heart beat almost immediately. At 140 beats per minute, the Nurse is calling for a boy.... 14 more days til that is confirmed. The doctor did a brief examination. Everything looks OK but as the doctor said at 17 weeks if the pregnancy was damaged, there is nothing that they can do. After 24 weeks, the story changes as the baby is viable at that point.

So I spent the evening wallowing in my aches and pains, paranoid about every little cramp or twinge. Expecting to find spotting every time I went to the bathroom... rough night.

I am going to be so much more careful. The physical pain of the fall is far out shadowed by the fear of damaging the baby. If I'm this clumsy at 17 weeks, I can't wait to see the gracefulness of me at 38 weeks...

Adventures is Rural Living

2009-03-24T11:31:00.002-03:00

Since moving to Woodstock, I have had to educate myself in some of the local verbiage and culture. Here are a few things I have never heard prior to moving to Carlton County...

Bumble - Definition - To drive around back roads in an attempt to get lost. Can be used as a verb or a noun. We went on a bumble or we are bumbling.
Sliding - Definition - same as tobogganing (I would have used the general term sledding)
Sledding - Definition - when out using a snow machine such as a ski-doo (I would have used the term snowmobiling)
Shit Shine - This is an adjective to describe a good time. The party was a shit shine good time.
Potato Break - This is a week of off of school for student to assist with the local potato harvest.

I know there are more but I'm blanking out. I also get great enjoyment out of reading the classified in the local paper. I generally have no idea what the article for sale is but it makes me giggle.

For example today there was a post to sell a... Cannon type seed duster rock dinger. I was following it until we hit the rock dinger... whatever it is it sounds like a fun Saturday afternoon.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 17 Weeks, 1 day

2009-03-22T12:47:00.002-03:00

It happened... I think I'm starting to retain fluids. I find it hard to believe by the amount of fluid I pass when I pee but my hands are starting to feel stiff and tight. And my hands are falling asleep several times a night, which of course wakes me up... *grumble* Unfortunately, it generally wakes Cory up too but then he rubs my hands until the pins and needles are gone. He is so good to me.

I had a day of high blood pressure yesterday. Not something I'm used to... I am the Queen of the low to normal blood pressure and having my heart beat in my head is quite disturbing. I noticed something was up when I was making one of my middle of the night trips to the bathroom and my legs were red... I laid in bed (freaking out) while I tried to explain the redness. It looked just like my legs do after a hard work out... blood flushing to the surface. In the morning, I had the my pulse in my head.. damn high blood pressure. It went away but it's on the list to mention at my next prenatal appointment.

That's pretty much it for pregnancy related stuff this week. I think I occasionally feel a flutter but it could be allergies. The next few weeks have some definite milestones planned...

Stay Tuned..

Adventures in Pregnany - 16 weeks, 2 days

2009-03-16T18:39:00.003-03:00

Everyday I receive my daily pregnancy emails. I generally don't think too much about them. I read them, collect the information I want, discard the information I don't think I agree with but today... today the email confused me...

The email was "Breastfeeding - Boosting your chances for Success". Cool, I plan on breast feeding so this should be helpful. I doing pretty good until I hit the key point #3...

Have a breast evaluation by a lactation consultant or other trained healthcare provider. They'll look for flat, retracting, or inverted nipples, which you may not be able to detect, and which can be corrected prior to baby's birth.

The line I'm having problems with is... which you may not be about to detect. One should be able to look at their own nipple and determine if it's an innie or an outie. Shouldn't they? Of course, this made me wonder if it was some kind of mystery affliction.

So, doubting myself, I google imaged inverted nipples. What I discovered is THIS SHOULD NOT NEED A PROFESSIONAL to identify!!!

I am pleased to announce my nipples are not inverted and I shall not be visiting a professional to verify this information. For those with inverted nipples, it can be corrected with a suction machine.

Adventures in Pregnany - 16 weeks, 1 day (and other stuff)

2009-03-15T12:58:00.005-03:00

Man do my feet hurt!

Our Saturday tradition is to participate in the Super Saturday Puppy Walk with a few friends and their dogs. We meet at one of the entrances into the New Brunswick Trail (former railway tracks but now a beautifully groomed hiking, ski-doo trail) and burn the snot out of our dogs. The weather was beautiful... sunny with little wind and temperatures just above freezing. Generally we walk in for about 30-40 minutes and then head back out. Makes for a nice hour long walk. The distance is usually determined by the snow quality... are we walking on the snow or in the snow. Yesterday we were walking on the snow...

Losing track of time, we finally turned around at the one hour mark. At the one hour mark, my breakfast ran out of steam, my socks were chafing the bottom of my feet and my lower back was requesting a sit down... by the time we got out, my blood sugar was mad at me, my feet were unfortunately still on speaking terms with me and my back had decided to give me the silent treatment until I was somewhere it could really drive home how angry it was.

This morning, my Achilles tendons are tight and the bottom of my feet are raw. My back has accepted my apologies and I made a pact that I shall always have an apple in my pocket for walks in the woods.

When I sat down to write about this past week, I thought absolutely nothing of interest happened... good ol' pregnancy brain. But it was actually a bit eventful.

Last Sunday morning, Cory noticed Theo doing something odd... his forehead started to spasm and his jaw chomped open and closed rapidly... then the big splash of saliva hit the floor. When Cory described it I realized that I had seen something similar earlier in the weekend. The Internet described this as a seizure.

My initial reaction was maybe lead poisoning. Before I became pregnant, I was stripping the painted wood floor upstairs. We became concerned that there might be lead paint present and the job was put on hold. Theo likes to lick floors... seemed like a logical line of thinking. So off to the vet he went...

His Xray revealed that he was gonna need to poop really soon but no sign of lead. His blood work was clear and healthy. He was officially diagnosed with Epilepsy. Due to the mild nature of it, we will not be treating (treatment is worse than the illness). If he is adversely impacted by seizures in the future, we will look at treating his seizures with phenobarbital. It's hard on his liver and kidneys so we would like to avoid this.

On the pregnancy front, other than discovering the fact that I am not as "fit" as I like to pretend I am it's been a pretty good week. I've had some more of that fantastic round ligament pain. Can't say I'm loving that but it isn't as bad as the first time.

We had our dietitian meeting... a complete waste of our time. We were introduced to the Canada Food Guide (AGAIN). We were given a list of what were vegetables. Serious Nutrition 101 stuff. Did you know an Apple was a fruit?!?! What concerned me the most was that some of the woman there actually looked like this was the first time they had ever heard of this....

We did discover that I was running a little deficient on the numbers of servings of grain products I was ingesting in one day and I was killing the dairy requirements. Milk anyone?

I also had my final maternal serum testing blood work on Friday. So my next prenatal appointment (March 30) should have all the results from the serum testings and the Down's testing. I hope for the best... this pregnancy has been a dream so far... I keep waiting for the shoe to drop... My luck I'll end up with a 70+ hour labor and a doctor who feels that nature should take its course.

Wow that was a babble....

Adventures in Pregnany - 15 weeks, 1 day

2009-03-08T23:00:00.006-03:00

This was a super long week. It was my turn to work the weekend and this usually means a long week. 7 days in a row is a bit more than I am prepared for unfortunately. I can honestly say I was of no use at work today. I did my job but the extras were kept to a minimum... not my style at all.

For pregnancy this week, the only great thing of note was the incredibly painful shifting of my pelvis. I was sitting quietly at work when I had to get up and take the 1 step to the printer. I had a cramp that ripped through my lower abdomen took my breath away. The type of pain that makes you think about going to the emergency room. It slowly receded and what it left in its place was an really sore left hip. Cory says that he can see my pelvic bones have moved and the angle has changed. I'm really looking forward to the soreness to dial down. I know I'm completely out of alignment as my knee and ankle are becoming sore too.... This is sucky!!

On a happier note, we have started to acquire baby things. Today arrived a car seat and a bassinet, 2 strollers are coming later in the week. It's such a relief to have something. At this point, we can get the kid home from the hospital and he/she has a place to sleep for the first few weeks.

However, I think someone is in for a BIG shock in a few months!!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 14 weeks, 2 days

2009-03-02T19:34:00.005-04:00

Today was my latest prenatal checkup. It was a little rushed as the doctor was on her way to the O.R. unexpectedly. I was totally ok with that... it could have been me in the O.R.

Here are my latest stats...

Urine - Perfect.... no protein, no sign of sugar issues.
Blood pressure - 110 over 60 (which is a bit lower than usual).
Weight - Up another 3 lbs. (with my boots on) for a total of 14 lbs.
Uterus - Measuring 14 cms (Perfect).

She told me my weight was doing fantastic but to be careful between 20 and 30 weeks. This is the ballooning time. She warned that I may wish to skip dessert... good thing I'm off the sweets... hope that lasts.

Test results - Dr. Butts report was clear of complications. Part 1 of the serum tests look good, the second part is blood work taken on March 13.

Thyroid was retested today to see if we have balanced it out... usually thyroid testing takes two days for the doctor to call me. So Wednesday is the day.

A request was put through for my 18-21 week ultrasound. That's the one that will determine blue stuff or pink stuff hopefully... as well as some medical stuff I'm sure.

Then we dopplered the heart beat... and OF COURSE I recorded it... Now should I upload... after this I'm all outta cool show and tell stuff.... Well here's hoping my witty repartee will keep everyone entertained for the next few months.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 14 weeks, 1 day

2009-03-01T16:28:00.003-04:00

I'm looking for some help.

I freaked out a bit about finances when I realized that I have only 10 pay cheques left until the poverty of Maternity Leave starts. My mother told me that to make me feel better I should make a list of the MUST HAVES and WOULD LIKE TO HAVE. From there I could start picking away at the MUST HAVES and hopefully the WOULD LIKE TO HAVES will come along.

I have a problem though... I have no idea what the bare essentials should be. I am the youngest in my family and only one cousin had off-spring before me. (prior to the recent family population explosion). My interactions with babies has been extremely limited. I've changed maybe 5 diapers in my life. I've read books and researched online. But basically what I am saying is that I'M SCREWED!!!

What do I really need to be prepared? What isn't important? What is super nice to have but really just a frill? I'd love some input!! HELP!!

The Secrets Revealed

2009-02-27T20:30:00.004-04:00

I guess every family has secrets or someone in the family who is the official secret keeper. It must be hard to be the secret keeper, a heavy weight to carry. I can imagine that the secret keeper would be torn between the desire to share and the perceived consequences of sharing the secrets. Secrets from another time, another era would be hard to judge how the world would perceive it now. Things that were acceptable in another time, may be taboo now. Things that were taboo, may be the norm in today's society.

Recently the best secret keeper in our family passed away, my maternal grandmother. She left behind her sister as the final player to tell her tale... or so we thought.

Two things of great historical note occurred in May, 1945. The Germans surrendered ending WWII and my mother was conceived. This was the beginning of the greatest secret keeping in the history of my family. The identity of my grandfather would be a point of mystery and intrigue for decades to come.

So this past December, my maternal grandmother passed away... the hope that she would have left a letter to explain everything to my mother was quickly dashed. Back in 1995, I had spent some time with Grandma and had made this request. I don't think she intended on taking her secrets to the grave but I think that she just never found the words to explain herself and probably thought she would have more time to figure out the words.

In February, my mother made an innocent call to her aunt (grandma's sister) to check on things and the tangled web of secrets began to unravel.

Expecting to hear the answers to a lifetime of questions, it seems she hadn't been asking the right questions. The name she had been given for a father, the name that she had used for years to search for her missing branch on her family tree was completely fictional; A name snatched out of the air by a family matriarch who reigned over the family with an iron fist.

That was a horrific blow but the next piece of information quickly overshadowed that...

My mother grew up as the oldest child of 3, or so she thought. This turned out to be another secret as she is actually the oldest child of 5 by my grandmother. Grandma had given birth to a daughter and a son in the years between the birth of my mother and her marriage to her first husband. These pregnancies were concealed and both children were put up for adoption.

Several years ago, the daughter had great success in her search for her biological family and found her brother, her aunt and eventually her mother. My grandmother requested that my mother not be contacted. She was afraid that my mother would not understand why she made the decisions that she had made. She was afraid that she would lose the love of the person she adored most in the world. The daughter agreed to respect her wishes.

On this quiet night in February, my mother reached out into the world to speak to her "other sister" for the first time.

Since that night, the secrets have continued to unravel. My mother remembers the man that fathered her brother and sister as a companion of her mother. She used to play with his son. The question that is now on the table, did he father 2 or 3 children with my grandmother? Is this man, the man my mother has such fond memories of, her father as well?

The secrets will be unravelled. Time will tell everything... to quote a wise friend, when you die, there is no one left to hold the closet door shut anymore.

I wonder if Grandma knew how well her secret were received if she would have changed her mind about keeping them. Makes you wonder why we bother to keep these silly secrets anyway.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 13 weeks, 5 days

2009-02-26T21:49:00.003-04:00

For the past 16 years, Cory and I have purchased a 2L carton of milk once every 2 weeks (ish). We would reach into the very back of the fridge at the grocery store and find the carton with the longest expiry date, generally the date of the next grocery shop. The carton would sit in the fridge, occasionally used for a coffee or a bowl of cereal. As the new grocery date would roll closer, the milk would become "suspect". We would sniff carefully, sometimes comparing thoughts/sniffs before committing to a pour. If the milk was even questionable, we became "sketched" out and refuse any further consumption. We generally had to pour the rest of the milk out before the next grocery shop.

But that has all changed...

I am drinking 2L's of milk a day. It was not a conscious decision. I just can't get enough of it. We ran out of milk mid-day and I obsessed until Cory ran to the gas station (the corner store doesn't carry the brand of milk I like) to full fill my desires.

Milk in New Brunswick is just shy of $4 for a 2 litre carton of milk. My milk addiction costs is equal to my what my old smoking addiction cost per day. At least this one is WAY better for me...

Adventures in Pregnancy - 12 weeks, 6 days

2009-02-20T19:13:00.003-04:00

Today was the follow up ultrasound. As you may remember, last week we tried for the Down's screening but the baby was only 43 mm crown to rump and needed to be 45 mm. So I concentrated really hard on growing those 2 mm. Today the baby measured 58 mm. How's that for the power of positive thinking?

We asked again if we could video the ultrasound. This time they said yes!!

Careful What You Hear

2009-02-17T20:54:00.005-04:00

Today I had a doctors appointment with my GP to have a prescription refilled (nothing pregnancy related). While I was waiting for the doctor, the medical supply dude showed up and I entertained myself by eavesdropping on the order. It was pretty mundane stuff on the whole... then they moved on to something that lead me to a few questions...

Vaginal speculum's - it seems the office was running low on Large ones...

Back the truck up... they come in different sizes?!?! As I continued to eavesdrop, it was evident that medium was the most popular size. The office did not have a lot of large ladies so they didn't need a large quantity of Large Speculum's.

Understandably this line of information lead me to a billion questions... I returned to work after my appointment and the group discussion began....

How is size determined? Is it a height thing? Weight thing? Breast size? Shoe size? Distance between your eyes? Not one of us could recall a doctor switching up so we determined we were either not very observant or average in size.

I can't wait for my next prenatal appointment to be able to come back to work with some answers for the gang. How did we get this far into life and not realize that vagina's come in different sizes?

Adventures in Pregnancy - 12 Weeks, 1 day

2009-02-15T21:56:00.002-04:00

Today I had my first major pregnancy concession. Sure I gave up a few beverages on New Years Eve... I haven't even snuck a cigarette.... I gave up sandwich meats... no big deal. But today, this one hurt the most... I am a little traumatized to be honest.

It was 5 degrees Celsius today. The sun was shining, the snow was melting, spring was in the air... we decided to declare it summer and have a BBQ. A quick trip to the grocery store and we were ready to drop a few steaks on the Barbie! Then it happened!!

Cory told me that because I'm pregnant I had to have my steak cooked well done...

As a rare steak eater this was a culinary disaster. The only thing I could equate the feeling would be if I opened the BBQ to view my perfectly cooked rare steak and a bird flew over head and pooped on it.

Cory tried his best and my well done steak wasn't the shoe leather I anticipated... it had SOME juice left in 'er. It was just WRONG!

Tomorrow is our appointment with the Dietitian. I'm sure my life will be completely altered after Cory spends an hour with her.

Adventures in Pregnancy - Baby's First Picture

2009-02-13T10:48:00.002-04:00

Adventures in Pregnancy - 11 Weeks, 5 Days

2009-02-12T20:20:00.003-04:00

Well today was my appointment in Fredericton with Dr. Butt. This appointment for an ultrasound to screen for Down's Syndrome along with some other nasty defects. In our mind, it was our first chance to see the baby.

For the first time in my life, this was an ultrasound that was not dependant on a full bladder. THANK GOD! Nothing worse than someone pushing hard on a full bladder except if the bladder is too full and they ask you to "let a little out". Likely story.

Dr. Butt was testing a new ultrasound machine so she was checking out all the bells and whistles. Between that and a baby that was not willing to behave (That's MY kid), we had lots of opportunity to see the little one. The baby was bouncing and squiggling around like crazy. We saw a hand with a full set of fingers. So we know that he/she has at least one. We saw a nose and a mouth... those are useful after birth. We could see the heart beating (175 beats per minute).

In order to do Down Syndrome testing, they need to measure the spinal fluid. For this, the baby needs to be at least 45 mm from crown to rump. Our little one was only 43 mm. Tried as we might to stretch he/she out, no good. I even tried coughing. That had an effective, but didn't add 2 mm of length.

So, we have concentrate really hard at growing 2 mm in the next week cause we are going back for another ultrasound on Friday.

Cory really enjoyed watching the ultrasound. Our baby is very spunky and full of energy. I think I may be in trouble when I start feeling all that movement. However, at that point the accommodations may tighten up a little bit.

I have a picture that I will scan into the puter tomorrow and post.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 10 Weeks, 5 days

2009-02-05T01:50:00.003-04:00

What a week!! And it's not over yet... 2 am and I was "too hungry" to sleep so I thought I'd blog over my sunflower and flax seed toast and glass of milk.

Well Monday started out with my blood work appointment and prenatal appointment. The appointments were earlier than my normal work day so it meant getting up that extra little bit earlier. My biggest stress of the day was I knew they would be looking for an urine sample for my pre-natal appointment and I have historically left the cup empty. So I spent my valuable breakfast/waking time stocking up on liquid.

My blood work was the prenatal screening, my thyroid testing and some screening for abnormalities/birth defects. This translated into 12 vials of blood and a request for 2 urine samples (panic set in when I realized this meant I needed 3 samples in total and I didn't need to go). I am a good little blood giver. No problems at all generally, I watch the needle, I clot immediately, I pop out of the chair like noting happened.... until this time. By the 6th vial, I was feeling that cold sweaty light headedness that comes just before fainting. I couldn't believe it. By the end of the 12th vial, I got served a glass of orange juice and stayed for a bit of a visit. On a side note, I found out later that one of those vials was to check my blood type... if they had asked, I could have told them and saved me a vial.

I tried to give them a urine sample but alas I was only 4 glasses of water into the day and apparently that wasn't enough. A quick stop at the canteen in the hospital for some cranberry juice and we headed to our prenatal appointment.

At my appointment, I got weighed (gained 3 lbs), my blood pressure taken (118/78 as usual) and a thwarted attempt to check my urine for baddies... protein and such. The doctor came in with a medical student (fun an audience) and asked if it was ok for her to join us (does anyone ever say no?) My uterus was measuring 9.5 cms which is indicating a single baby as versus multiples. (Sorry Cory). Then she used the Doppler to find the baby's heart beat.

Okay, prior to this moment, I had a good level of denial on the go... I had no morning sickness and I could explain away every symptom... mind you I needed to pull cancerous tumors out to explain a few but it was a shadow of a doubt. I cannot explain away a heartbeat. It sounds like nothing but a heartbeat. OMG, I'm having a baby!!! Must remember to breathe!!!

So needless to say, that was pretty freakin cool.

From there, we drove home, I snagged a 60 minute (GLORIOUS) nap and headed to work for a 12-9 shift. I spent the shift tired and pale. I blamed the extensive blood letting. At 9 PM, I ran (well walked weakly) from the building and was in bed by 10 after a few quick snacks.

At 2 am, I woke up with wild indigestion. I came downstairs and took a big glass of Eno and waited for my belly to settle a bit before hunkering down to bed. By 2:30 I was in the bathroom, throwing my guts up. Morning sickness never came into my mind... food poisoning was my first thought and I was certain I named the cause. It was 11 am before I had any relief at all. By 2 PM, Cory was feeling pretty green and food poisoning was ruled out... we had the flu.

I slept from 11 am Tuesday to 11 am Wednesday almost non-stop. Waking long enough to pull blankets on or off as needed.

Wednesday afternoon, I receive a call from the prenatal clinic. Some of my blood work came back and they had some concerns. They wanted to know if I had been taking my synthyroid. I am currently taking the largest dose of synthyroid (150) you can take in a single pill. And I've been a very very good pill taker lately. My TSH levels were (OMG the dog just farted and I think my nose is going to fail off....) 19 which is most commonly found in someone who has a completely non functional thyroid and is taking no medication. (Oh thank god, the stench is moving off...)

So one of my prenatal doctors called the endocrinologist in Fredericton and asked advice. Apparently the iron in the prenatal vitamin can screw with synthyroid (or the thyroid in general) causing it to become less effective. His recommendation was to double my dose for the next 2 weeks and then, with blood work, move me to 200 until we balance me again.

So I've been hypothyroid for most of the last 10 weeks, I'm supposed to be tired but no where near this tired. I'm always excited when they up my synthyroid and this is a big freakin hop. I also tend to be less able to fight colds and flues when I have low thyroid so maybe I won't have a repeat of this bad boy. Very exciting week all told...

My toast is long done, the milk was very tasty and now I think I'm going to go to bed! Night All

Adventures in Pregnancy - 10 Weeks, 1 day

2009-02-01T18:33:00.002-04:00

This week I finally told my boss that I was pregnant. It went well, especially since she had already guessed that I was pregnant... she said I was wearing baggier clothing lately, she saw me eating a cracker and the biggest symptom was that I called in sick. She seemed very excited for me.

It's a good thing that I'm finally out in the open as I don't own a single pair of pants that fit anymore. I did some soul searching and thought about going out and buying the next size up but I realized that I would just be throwing out good money as they would only fit for another few weeks. I bit the bullet and purchased some maternity pants. I got 2 pairs of dress pants and a pair of jeans. It's not enough to get me through a work week yet but a good start. I've got my fingers crossed for some "hand-me-downs" to cover the gap. I'm gonna head over to the used clothing store in the neighbourhood and see what I can find as well.

Tomorrow is my first round of blood work and second prenatal appointment. I also have swung into my week night shift rotation. It should be a horrifically long week.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 9 Weeks, 2 days

2009-01-26T20:25:00.002-04:00

I have a new symptom... Pregnancy Nose. I can smell a flea fart in the wind from 100 feet. I've always had a fantastic sense of smell but this is ridiculous. I can smell the exhaust of the car 20 metres in front of us when we are driving down the road.

The biggest issue has been the stench monster I call my dog, Theo. Before the nose developed, he was angling for a bath but this weekend, he started to sting my eyes. Cory was out visiting friends when I finally broke down and dragged him upstairs for a bath.

Now I have a few obstacles to overcome to complete this task... I have a dog that weighs too much for me to lift. I have a cast iron claw foot tub that he isn't graceful enough to jump into or out of. I have a dog who LOVES water when it is in a puddle, stream, lake or swamp but when water is contained in a bathtub something changes the molecular structure to make it a mortal enemy to all things furry.

So, being ingenious, I dragged my old army trunk into the bathroom and shoved it up to the bathtub. This gave a solid platform, almost level with the top of the tub. This resolves the lack of grace. I put on his leash, lifted his front feet onto the army trunk, held the leash tight and crawled into the tub (no water yet, I wasn't certain about my success and wanted to be eco-friendly).

Once in this position, Theo and I sat, staring at each other, unmoving for 30 minutes. Occasionally, I would call out... come here puppy, be a good puppy... all I get in response was "blink, blink". After 30 minutes, I declared defeat... told Theo "wait til your father gets home" and stomped out of the room.

Cory got home about 30 minutes later... a few moments of strong arming and grunting, Theo was in the tub covered in suds. Scrubbed from top to bottom with yummy smelling puppy shampoo... 4 towels to dry off... 2 hours to dry completely... 7lbs of loose hair removed....

Theo walked by me a few minutes ago... he still STINKS!!!!!

Adventures in Pregnancy - 9 Weeks, 0 days

2009-01-24T14:36:00.002-04:00

The baby is now the size of a grape. We have been a sesame seed, a lentil, last week was a raspberry and now we are at grape... I thought that grape was the most abstract measurement of them all... grapes come in so many sizes.. concord through to champagne grapes.. big freakin difference. So, I've decided to settle on the size of red seedless grapes... green seedless seem to be too big.

This week was quasi-uneventful. I spent most of the week in bed due to a touch of the flu.. the biggest problem was the headache that felt like a ten inch spike embedded in my head every time I stood up. For the most part the headache is gone, but my head still remembers...

Because I slept so much, this became the week of inappropriate erotic dreams and chase nightmares. Both types had a level of horror to them.... ew.

I wake up frequently because my baby fingers and ring fingers have gone to sleep on me. So, I seem to be pinching my ulna nerve somehow. I must be putting pressure on my elbow while I'm sleeping... I've never been good at being conscious of my position when sleeping so this should be entertaining to try to change.

I cried this week for the first time since I found out I was pregnant... It was because of Grey's Anatomy but I have to say I felt so much better afterwards. Crying can be such a nice release. I tend to bottle up emotions and I forget to let them out later... I recommend a good therapeutic cry for everyone who has forgotten to do it lately.

Adventures in Pregnancy - 8 Weeks, 1 day

2009-01-18T10:53:00.002-04:00

So this week was denial, I don't feel pregnant... I even found myself in the drug store looking at home pregnancy tests and considering buying one just to see if it has been a mistake.

I booked my appointment with my specialist this week. February 12 in Fredericton (hour drive away). I should be 12 weeks along at that point. My next prenatal clinic appointment is February 2 and we are going to do some screening blood work for all sorts of nasty things that can afflict a baby. I'm gonna concentrate on my denial instead of thinking about that...

I ordered a book on-line called "What to Expect when You are Expecting". Someone said it was a good book and someone else said it was a crap book... fortunately I got it super cheap cause it was used. If nothing else, it will give Cory something that he can highlight meaningful passages in... perhaps I'll find him a highlighter.

Can anyone recommend any good books?

Adventures in Pregnancy - 7 Weeks, 3 Days

2009-01-13T16:47:00.002-04:00

So I don't feel pregnant... which leads to the question, what does it feel like to be pregnant? I've been all over the Internet looking for the answer to that question.

Every site says I should be having morning sickness... nothing yet. I should be on a raging hormonal roller coaster... in fact, I am feeling a little emotionally numb. I should be feeling tired... Ok, they score a point with that one. My breasts should be growing... another point to the Internet. My nipples should be darkening... careful examination, I am determining that if anything they are lighter.

My mother had 2 non-issue pregnancies (other than the overdue factor with both). She had no morning sickness. I've looked everywhere to see if daughters could compare pregnancies to their mother and the Internet came up with a blank.

I still expect spotting every time I go to the bathroom. I still have twinges and cramps. I occasionally think the test was a false positive.

My next prenatal appointment is February 2ND and my specialist appointment is February 12. So until then, I don't think any of this will be real.

Adventures in Fertility - The Continuing Story

2009-01-10T10:21:00.003-04:00

Where were we last.... I think it was the dye test. Soon as the dye test was completed, I was free to start taking Clomid... simultaneously my life entered a period of upheaval.... new job, new house, new town... We made a decision that we could hold off on the Clomid until things settled down a little bit.

So in October I took my first round. Clomid was not covered by my medical plan so the one month cost me around $40 CDN. It contained 5 pills to be taken from day 3 of my cycle to day 7. The only noted side-effects for me was a feeling of heaviness in my uterus and a general awareness of my inner bits... I'm guessing they were in hibernation and it felt odd for them to start functioning again.

October didn't work so I took another round in November. December came along and so did my cycle. For a combination of reasons, I decided not to take a round in December. I knew the festive season would be accompanied by all sorts of things that are not good for an adult body much less a new person.

I remember thinking I may be ovulating sometime in December but I ignored it until my friend had her period and I realized that this was her second cycle since my last one.

So on December 29, I purchased a test and it was positive. Now I know that you aren't supposed to talk about it until the second trimester but in the spirit of the adventure in fertility, I feel it is appropriate. If I miscarry that, unfortunately is part of the adventure.

**** Anyone who knows me personally/professionally, I haven't told my Boss yet so keep it on the Down low****

So I am now 7 weeks pregnant today. I had my first prenatal appointment on Monday January 5. They gave me a due date of August 29. Because I'm over 36, I am considered a high risk in addition to previous miscarriages and fertility drugs. I have been referred to an OB who specializes in the baby. I have a referral to a Dietitian (Cory is very excited about that).

The changes in me... I have no morning sickness. Occasionally when I'm really really really hungry I feel a little queasy but nothing worthy of a soda cracker. I have increased from my modest B cup to a C cup. I'm tired... oooooh so very tired. Mentally, every time I go to the bathroom, I expect to find spotting. Every twinge I have in my lower belly I think is an ectopic pregnancy.

I'm happy and absolutely TERRIFIED and completely impatient. It doesn't seem real at this point and I want to move forward to make it seem real. So that's my latest adventure in Fertility... or should this be an Adventure in Pregnancy now?

Theo - The Babysitter

2008-12-23T22:30:00.003-04:00

Tonight Theo met Kira. She's 6 weeks old on Dec 24. She only visited for about 2 hours but the nap Theo needed afterwards took 6 hours.

Snow Dog

2008-12-22T18:37:00.004-04:00

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland. Theo thought he died and went to heaven! There was a three foot drift in front of the door that he bounced over before becoming a snow bunny. He was too excited to even do his morning business. The video was taken by Cory this afternoon (after extensive shovelling).