thirty-five weeks down, five to go

well exactly one month from today is baby girl's due date.  she is due to arrive august 31st.  but, i'm not so sure that she's going to last that long, or that i'm going to last that long.  i've been having some major braxton hicks since friday, even some pretty painful ones.  liam is so cute when i'm having one.  "mommy doing?  tummy hurt? sorry mommy sorry.  its okay okay."  what a guy.  we have our fingers crossed that this little girl is early like her brother was, but not too early.  that way it gives us enough time to get some more packing done at the house but also allows me to not be uber pregnant when we move, or in labour.  i know i have zero control over when she decides to join us, but i can wish, hope, and pray can't i?

how far along? thirty-five weeks

total weight gain:   up 36 lbs. in total, haven't put anything on in about two weeks.  

maternity clothes? i have resorted to leggings, yoga pants and the odd pair of shorts for pretty much all week.  nothing else is feeling comfortable anymore.  

stretch marks?  zero!

sleep:  it has been awesome this week.  even liam is sleeping really well too.  we haven't been getting up until around eight in the morning.  although i get up every couple hours to pee, i fall back asleep right away and when i wake up i actually feel rested.  thank you to whomever and whatever it causing this!!

best moment this week:   seeing the progress at the new house!  we've got big changes coming our way in the next four weeks.  can't believe they're already here.

miss anything?  this week i could've gone for a couple really cold beers.  i actually was craving them.  i have a feeling that this will be one of the first guilty pleasures i will indulge in after baby girl arrives.

movement:  i'm got a lot of feet in my ribs this week.  and it feels like she's moving from front to back. my midwives let me know a few weeks ago that she was already head down.  

food cravings:  i'm back to coconut water.  picked up a case of it at costco this week. this stuff is so tasty and super hydrating.

anything making your queasy or sick: just heartburn and now it seems to only be really bad if i eat tomatoes or garlic. 

gender: it's a girl

labour signs: more and more practice contractions.

symptoms:  braxton hicks, heartburn and some swelling.  nothing new and nothing major.  

belly button in or out? in

wedding rings on or off?  wedding band only, although i did manage to wear my engagement ring for half a day on tuesday. 

happy or moody most of the time? happy.  all week i was happy.  sleep can do this for a person.  also liam was in a fantastic mood all week so i know that helped ease any potential for stress and crankiness.   

looking forward to:   our active birth class on thursday, and our thirty-six week appointment.  we'll be getting the low down on what we need to prepare at home in the case of a non-planned home birth, and everything we need to bring for our planned birth centre delivery.

time for a house update

it's been awhile since i've done a house update.  and wow things have really changed!  we went out to see it on thursday and hoped to see some progress.  our cabinets arrived last week and they are installed in our kitchen and all the bathrooms.  and some of the finishing work has been started, hurray for our banisters.  the next four weeks are going to bring a ton of change for the house.  good news because we take possession on august 30th.  yup, just one day before my due date.  nothing like cutting it just a little close.  oh well, we've always been the type of people to do it all, and all at once.  

movers have been booked, lawyers have been called.  it just means our weekends and they days that liam is at the day home are for packing.  i've made some pretty good progress already.  i think we'll be just fine ... so long as baby girl gives us a couple more weeks before her arrival.  

here's just a snip-it of what's been changing at the house.

liam and daddy walking down the street.  all ready for pavement!!

the beginnings of the kitchen.  i can't wait for all the storage and space.

our family room.  mantle is installed and will be stained the same colour as the cabinets.

we've got stone surrounding the fireplace as wide as the mantle and all the way 

to the ceiling.

not sure why, but i'm in love with the pantry door.

view from the front door.

master bathroom.

view from upstairs.

we've ordered a few new pieces of furniture for the new house and have been getting things for the nursery.  i've also got a few ideas for some diy projects.  the first one is going to be my first sewing project too.  i picked up some fabric from ikea to make a shower curtain for the kids bathroom.  let you know how it turns out for sure. 

liam's birth story

i've been wanting to do this post for a really really long time.  but there always seemed to be something else to post about.  better now than never.

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

liam's birth story actually starts five days before i went into labour.  my pregnancy was fairly easy, until we got to the end.  at around thirty-three weeks i started getting super swollen, to the point where i couldn't even fit into flip flops.  i had carpal tunnel in my hands.  very strange to not be able to feel the ends of your fingers for weeks on end.  by thirty-seven weeks my blood pressure had crept up to 130 over 90.  now although this is not super high, it was for me.  throughout my pregnancy my bp was usually around 110/105 over 60/70.   needless to stay my doctors were concerned and the testing began.

on the morning of my thirty-seven week appointment (a monday) i had my blood pressure checked and was told to sit and relax for a few minutes.  then they took it again.  and again.  and again.  i had my blood pressure checked probably ten times in a row.  i knew something was up ... and it was my bp.  i was immediately scheduled for an ultra-sound the next morning at the hospital to make sure that our baby was doing okay, and then booked in for a doctors appointment for the following wednesday and friday.   i was given a bunch of paper work and told to go and have a number of tests done at the lab.  i was also put on strict bed-rest.  i could get up to go pee and that was it.  needless to say i was a little a lot freaked out.  we immediately left the doctors office and headed to the lab for my tests.  on tuesday morning we got up, had breakfast and made our way to the hospital for the ultra-sound, fingers were crossed that all was well with our little growing baby.

as we waited for our results i kept telling myself that everything was going to be okay.  and it turned out that baby was doing just fine.  but i wasn't.  my body and organs were starting to show signs of the elevated blood pressure and it was the recommendation of the doctor to be induced right away.  both rob and i opted to wait until we saw our primary doctor the next morning to get a second opinion.  and i'm glad we waited.  i had no desire to get things started unnecessarily.  after reviewing my test results and the ultra-sound, my primary doctor agreed that induction wasn't necessary quite yet.  but she was only willing to give me until the following monday to have this baby on my own, no induction.  i had my cervix rimmed to see if that could get things going and we were encouraged to try all "natural" methods of induction.  thursday morning arrived with a home visit from a nurse to check on me.  she was also going to be the one monitoring me over the weekend just in case things went south.  friday morning meant another trip to see our doctor.  she was adamant that if this baby didn't come on it's own by monday i would in fact be induced.  my liver was showing more signs of deterioration based on more test results from the day before.  once more she rimmed my cervix, this time it was extremely painful, and sent us on our way.  i spent the rest of friday hanging out in our cool basement watching movies.  many, many, many movies.  meanwhile, rob was trying to finish up tiling our basement bathroom so it would be finished before baby arrived.  he had booked a couple of his buddies to come over the next morning to help out.

throughout my friday on the couch i felt mildly crampy, nothing worse than what i thought were braxton hicks.  i wasn't in any pain and there was absolutely nothing in the way of a pattern.  hind-sight, i really should've paid more attention to these because i think i was really in the first stage of labour all afternoon.

that night i headed to bed around ten-ish, i felt exhausted from the week and worried about the possibility of being induced.  i remember laying on the bed listening to a thunder-storm that was rolling through and fell asleep with our cat.  then i woke up around midnight.  with horrible stomach pain.  again, i didn't really think much of it because i thought i just had to go to the bathroom.  which i did.  but the cramps didn't stop.  then i started thinking i had food poisoning.  we had eaten chicken for dinner and omg, maybe it wasn't fully cooked!  so there i was at two in the morning, googling food poisoning and cramps.  that's when it hit me like a ton of bricks.  i googled the question "can contractions feel like diarrhea cramps?" and the answer of course was "yes!"  i immediately ran to our bedroom and woke rob up with "rob!  somethings wrong."  not the best way to put i know.  but as he came to i was able to tell him that i thought i was in labour.

i called my sister-in-law, who had stepped in to replace our doula (very long story that i'm not going to share) who was a labour and delivery nurse at our hospital at the time.  she could immediately tell that indeed i was in labour and asked if we were going to go to the hospital.  my contractions at this point were 2-3 minutes apart and lasting a minute or so.  yup, it was time to go to the hospital.  it had only been about three hours since i had woken up, we figured that we had some time before baby was going to make an appearance.  the best part of this story (other than the birth of our baby boy) was that when we pulled up to the hospital, instead of parking out in front of emergency, rob pulled up to the cancer centre, ran in and got me a wheel chair.  still not sure why he drove passed emergency and to the cancer centre??  lucky for us, my sister-in-law and rob's brother pulled up right behind us and wheeled me back to emergency and up to labour and delivery while rob parked the car.  we all laugh about this.  a lot.  poor rob.  to be fair it was three in the morning.

once we got upstairs to labour and delivery my contractions were getting stronger, longer and less time in between.  i was taken into triage to be assessed and see how far along i was.  the nurse who assessed me couldn't believe that i was already six cm dilated.  to ease some of the pain during my contractions i got up to walk around but didn't make it very far.  i felt nauseous, threw up and then sploosh ... my water broke.  it was at that time they moved me out of triage and into a delivery room.  i figured for sure this baby was coming really soon, like in five minutes soon.  but nope.  we still had a ways to go.

i laboured in the shower and was up walking around for as long as i could, pretty much until i was in transition and literally couldn't stand up.  this was fantastic and followed the birth plan that we had come up with.  during the first part of my pregnancy i wasn't sure what "type" of birth i wanted.  i think at one point i was fully convinced that i would only go through labour with an epidural.  my mind completely shifted when rob and i took our birth and babies classes.  this six week crash course in labour, delivery and bringing baby home was everything we ever needed or wanted to know.  it really opened up my eyes to everything that could happen during labour and delivery.  especially something known as the domino effect.  basically the domino effect refers to the interventions used during labour and delivery.  for example, induction can lead to an epidural due to the severity of the contractions.  an epidural can slow the progression of labour requiring more interventions, up to the point of a necessary c-section.  what i took away from all of this was the ability to make a more informed decision about the kind of labour and birth i hoped to experience.  i say hoped, because really, i had no control over what this baby was going to do or how my body was going to react.  at least i could make better decisions about the interventions that could be done.  our, and more particularly my, decision was to attempt to have a fully natural, un-medicated labour and delivery with as little intervention possible.  the way i looked at was that my body was designed to give birth and it knew exactly what to do.  that being said, i wasn't hell bent on this and realized that if medical interventions were necessary to ensure the health of either the baby or myself then that was the way we were going.

i only laboured in our delivery room for about three hours before the doctor came in and told me i was ready to push.  perfect timing, it was right at shift change for all the nurses.   at 7:30 am on saturday july 17th, liam made his entrance into the world.  we chose not to find out what we were having at our eighteen week ultra-sound.  so when the doctor gave me our baby she asked "so what do we have?"  i was so surprised when i said "it's a boy!"  because i had been certain we were having a girl.  it didn't matter i was elated and so was rob.  this was the best moment of my life and i was overcome with emotion, crying my eyes out and just staring at this little person.  i had no idea just how much love, joy, and everything else liam would bring to our lives.  he will always and forever be my little baby boy and the absolute light of my life.   i feel very lucky to have had such an amazing birth experience and that i was able to follow through with a natural and un-medicated labour and delivery.  and i do not take it for granted.

(note:  i had continued high bp for about six weeks post-partdum.  apparently it is not uncommon for first pregnancies to bring on high blood pressure.  but it was unusual for it to remain so high afterwards.  i was on some medication for those six weeks after to bring it back to normal and haven't had any signs of high blood pressure since.  this has been my biggest concern during my second pregnancy.  as of thirty-four weeks not a single sign of high bp, in fact my midwives were a little worried it was so low.  go figure.)

thirty-four weeks bumpdate

six weeks left.  every time someone asks me when i'm due and i tell them they just shake their heads and say "you won't make it to term."  honestly i hope they're right.  my midwives figure i should make it to thirty-eight/thirty-nine weeks, give or take.  i'm starting to feel like i'm being pulled over from the front at this point.  so hopefully baby girl is early, it's getting harder to chase liam around.

how far along? thirty-four weeks

total weight gain:   hovering around 167/168.  we're up 33-ish lbs for this baby girl.

maternity clothes?  i actually wore an f21 skirt to a party on thursday and it was awesome.  it looked great as a high wasted skirt and was long enough that it still came to my knees.  funny how something so simple can make a girl so happy.

stretch marks?  zero!

sleep:  much better this week.  although it's taking me longer to fall asleep, i am actually staying asleep longer and have gotten more that four or five hours a night.  woo hoo!!

best moment this week:  having our family over on tuesday to celebrate liam's birthday.  it was completely exhausting and so totally worth every minute.  liam was having a rough day, but by the end of the party he was running around laughing and giggling.  oh and we also got our possession date for our new house.  august 30th, one day before baby girl is due.  

miss anything?  still missing everything non-pregnancy related.  i am done.  i know baby girl needs a little more time to cook and she'll get it.  but i wish mother nature would take pity on an eight month pregnant mama and cool things down around here.
movement:  she is all over the place at night still.  i actually saw my first foot come out of the belly.  it effing hurt, but i was too freaked out to care.  so much so i called the husband and told him all about it.  never saw a foot when i was pregnant with liam. 

food cravings:  still not eating all that much, especially in one sitting.  there is no room in my tummy for food.  however, homemade popsicles and watermelon have become a staple in our home over the last week.

anything making your queasy or sick: heartburn has been plaguing me in the wee hours of the morning and making me nauseous, nothing a glass of chocolate soy won't cure.

gender: girl

labour signs: had some very strong braxton hicks this week.  the body is getting ready for the big day.  

symptoms:  braxton hicks, heartburn and some swelling.  nothing new and nothing major.  just the normal end of pregnancy stuff.  almost the end.  

belly button in or out? in

wedding rings on or off?  down to just my wedding band this week.  not surprising since it's been hot and i've been swelly. 

happy or moody most of the time? really depended on the day.  towards the end of the week i think i was much happier than i was at the beginning.  

looking forward to:   getting more of our packing done.  i honestly can't believe just how much stuff we've accumulated in the seven years we've lived in our house.  having to go through everything will help us to pare down a bit.

birthday number two

last tuesday was liam's second birthday.  i swear he woke up and knew he was two.  and had a tantrum just to prove it.  and another.  and another.  by ten in the morning he had had six timeouts and was already in his crib!  believe me, i didn't want it to get to that point, but sometimes the timeouts on the stairs just don't cut it.  and after his mini nap, he woke up a different person all together.  he was in a much better mood ... for awhile at least.  we came downstairs and played with his new digger (from mommy and daddy) all day in the backyard, in the living room, the kitchen, basically everywhere we possibly could.  this kept him very content, until we had to leave it at home and go get his birthday cake.  from that point on he was back in his foul mood.  i seriously believe that he knew it was his birthday and that he was now two.  is this a preview of things to come??  i know it was his party and all, crying i can handle, hitting and tantrums i cannot.

at any rate, tuesday night we threw him a "low key" family birthday party.  we decided to only do a family party this year because me being super preggo, having our house in packing mode and planning birthday parties just wasn't going to happen.  besides, he won't know the difference anyways.  liam had a great time and so did everyone else.  he loved loved loved his mcqueen cake and is still talking about it a week later.

liam got his first bike from grandpa and gramma jan.  he wasn't quite sure what to make of it at first, but then decided he'd give it a go.  they got him a strider bike.  the best invention of bike for toddlers.  no peddles.  they push with their feet and learn how to balance on a two wheeler so that when the time comes they won't need training wheels.  we've already spent countless hours riding around our backyard patio and liam loves it.  he looks out the window, sees his bike and it's on.  we're forced outside to ride, rain or shine.

after playing with his bike it was time for presents and cake.  i think liam was most interested in the cake part because he went nuts when we told him it was cake time.  really all i think he wanted were the mcqueen and mater toys on the top. 

happy second birthday to our little man.

we look forward to all the new adventures we're going to have.

the blogger 411

i came across this on a couple of the blogs and follow and wanted to join in the fun.  the original post went out yesterday from mrs to mama, but whatev's, we were busy celebrating a birthday with our little two year old dude.

1.  how long have you been blogging?  And what go you started on blogging?

i started blogging in may of 2011.  i found that i just wasn't all that great at keeping up with remembering my son's, liam, milestones.  i also found that it was a great creative outlet and a place where i could share our family with far away friends and family.  it has become a great way to document our life, love going back to old posts and re-living those moments.

2.  did you go to college?  If so where, and what did you study?

i went to the university of calgary and the university of alberta.  i have a bachelor of arts in history and a bachelor of education.

3.  where have you traveled?

in 2006 my husband and i backpacked through europe for six weeks.  we've also traveled to the maldives and singapore for our honeymoon.  and our last big, big trip was to south america in 2009 and we backpacked through argentina, peru, ecuador, with a stop in the galapagos islands.  i've also been to many places in the states and canada.

4.  what is something you enjoy to do when you have me time?

i love hanging out with my girlfriends.  we all have children now so if we do get together is it usually with our kids in tow.  unfortunately there really isn't much time for visiting and getting caught up, it's more about the kids.  i savour the time we have when we do get together just the moms and no kids.

5.  if you could have a $10, 000 shopping spree to one store, which store would it be?

hands down either anthropologie or j.crew.  anthro just came to calgary a little over a year ago and we still don't have a j.crew.

6.  what day would you love to relive again?

there are a couple and it would be hard to choose just one.  first, the day my husband proposed.  it was at versailles in france ... on my birthday.  second, the day i married my best friend (and now husband).  or third, the day my son was born.  very soon i'm sure that i'll have a fourth day to relive, we are expecting the arrival of our little baby girl at the end of august.  : )

7.  show us a picture from high school.

this was from my high school graduation.  we were being super cheesy.

8.  if you could travel anywhere in the world, all expenses paid, where would you go?

this is a hard one.  there are so many places on my list.  instead of choosing just one place i would choose one continent.  i have my heart set on travelling through africa.  kenya, rwanda, south africa, mozambique, swaziland, you name it.  i would take an entire year to experience africa.  maybe one day.

9.  show us the most current picture of your family.

10.  where do you see your life 5 years from now?

possibly living overseas for a year.  through the school board i work for i can take a sabbatical for a year after four years of reduced salary.  the husband and i have been contemplating taking the kids to europe for a year to live and travel.  maybe somewhere in the south of france.

thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out some other bloggers 

happy two years old

dear liam,

today is your birthday!  two years ago at 7:30 on this morning we welcomed you into our world and you changed our lives forever.  forever the better.  you have made our world happier then we ever thought possible.  full of more life and adventure than we ever thought possible.  and have given us more joy and love then we ever truly thought existed.

on this day i want you to know how much you are loved and cherished.  and that everyday you grow more special to us than the last.

happy birthday my little potato, my farf-e-nugan, my liam.

week number thirty-three

this has been a very very very very long week.  it has been smokin' hot here in the west and although i know that i shouldn't complain about the heat it totally sucks when you're eight months pregnant.  there were a few nights when i actually couldn't cool down and had beads of sweat dripping from places i didn't know even sweat.  hot weather like this isn't unusual, but it is when it lasts for an entire week straight ... not even a thunderstorm was insight to cool things down.  just heat, heat and more heat.  i know that in six months i'll be cursing the day i complained about the heat, because i'll be complaining that it's minus thirty degree and blizzarding outside.  just the way it goes.

how far along? thirty-three weeks

total weight gain:  went down a pound this week to 166.  but i think the belly got bigger.  my pants are starting to no longer be comfortable and actually feel constricting  

maternity clothes?  currently the only clothing items that fit the ever growing baby belly.

stretch marks?  zero!

sleep: it is hit or miss these days.  the way i figure it i'm just getting prepared for the sleepless nights that await me in the very near future.  

best moment this week:  hanging out at our friends cabin.  although liam had meltdown after meltdown (welcome to the two's) we still had an absolute blast.  i loved watching him explore everything!

miss anything?  pretty much everything non-pregnancy related.  i'm really looking forward to being finished with this pregnancy and meeting our little girl.  maybe it's because i know it will be the last time i will be pregnant ... i'm not one who loves the whole pregnancy thing and i haven't been shy about it.  i love the amazing reward at the end, but i could do without all nine months.  

food cravings:  not really anymore, actually my appetite has decreased significantly.  i can't fit big meals in my body anymore ... no more room.

anything making your queasy or sick: still having heartburn so if i don't have tums handy then i don't feel to great, but otherwise nothing.

gender: girl

labour signs: tons of braxton hicks and they're starting to feel like they are getting stronger and stronger.  

symptoms:  this past week with the heat came the super swelling.  it looked i had hobbit feet for the majority of the week and my fingers felt like little sausages.  cooler weather is in our forecast.  hurray.

belly button in or out? in

wedding rings on or off?  rings have spent the majority of the week on our dresser instead of my fingers.

happy or moody most of the time? kind of so-so this week.  i was uncomfortable due to overheating and not sleeping very well.  but i did take a nap everyday when liam went down so i think that helped with the potential for moodiness.

looking forward to:   liam's second birthday is tomorrow!!  we're keeping it low key this year and only doing a family party.  we just have too much on the go with starting to pack up the house and me being super preggo.  doesn't matter though, it's still going to be special for him and us.