Doctor's update

Just back from the doctor's office, and basically the big news is... nothing. I'm a whopping one centimetre dilated which means pretty much nothing, and the baby is still sitting pretty high and not looking like it's ready for any action. Doc says it looks like we'll be fairly overdue. Assuming nothing changes, I'll go in for the non-stress test at the hospital on Saturday, then check in again with the doctor on Tuesday. If there's still nothing happening by Friday April 25 then we'll be talking inducement. So far I haven't felt anything I would call a contraction. I've had some moments of discomfort, and after I eat I'm often uncomfortable which I imagine is just because of lack of space. Today I've been feeling pretty nauseous so that's fun. Blah.

I'm still stuck between wanting to get the show on the road already and being completely freaked out in anticipation of the pain. Will keep you posted.

PS - Happy Birthday Trent!

Home stretch

Dang, these blogs are getting to be frequent. I must have a lot on my mind. Wonder why that is?

Oh yeah!


Only four sleeps until the due date. Sometimes I think I'm as ready as I'm going to be, so bring it on. Other times I think holy %&*# I can't believe I'm within days of this baby's arrival! No more countdown in months or even weeks. I'm talking in days (or sleeps) now. Soon I might be talking in days or sleeps overdue. Overdue! I can tell people I'm nine months pregnant. Decisions and tasks that I've been putting off until closer to the birth-day can't be delayed any longer. But I'm so good at procrastinating!

I've been working on what to pack in the hospital bag. I'm finding it much more difficult than I expected. Of course there's that bit of anxiety of forgetting something crucial, but then I remind myself that we live like 4 blocks from the
hospital and stores are close by, so it's not like Ray can't dash out for any forgotten items. Beyond that, I don't know how to actually get the bag ready when so much of what will go into it is still being used regularly. On the one hand I want the bag ready so we can grab it and dash out the door when the time comes, but on the other hand I'm still using the clothes and toiletries and whatnot that I would pack. I don't know what to pack for the baby, because I have a hard time picking a "coming home" outfit since I have no concept for how big the baby will be versus how big all these clothes are. How do you know if it will fit? Hey Moms, any tips?

We had a visit with the Landy's on Sunday, and that darn Lori went and gave me a box of girl guide cookies. Guess how long they lasted? Damn I just have absolutely no willpower with those things. (By the way, I was asked whether girl guide cookies are the same as girl scout cookies in the states - yes and no! Very similar organization, but in Canada they only sell two types that I know of - chocolate mint, and combo boxes of vanilla and chocolate cookies (oreo style). I hear in the States they have a zillion different kinds - I think I would be overwhelmed!)

Ray and I went out on a date last night. :) We had a gift certificate to a place we would not normally go to, and figured this was good timing - get in one last date night just the two of us. It was a steak and seafood place and boy was it tasty! Oh my goodness it was soooo tasty. I ate way too much of course and was uncomfortable for the rest of the night, but the meal was so worth it. Oh and the music was fabulous - I don't think they played a single song I didn't love, and it was pretty eclectic. I would totally go back, except that it was also soooooo expensive. It was a great treat but I can't imagine spending that again! Cost aside, it was a wonderful evening: just us, no distractions, beautiful weather for the walk afterwards. Perfection :)

Blah blah blah

Yesterday was probably the most productive day since I was told to stay off my feet, which means I didn't exactly follow doctor's orders, but actually my feet weren't so bad. Finished off the nursery, finished the last steps of putting the baby swing together (Ray did the nuts and bolts but left the cushion and mobile stuff to me), did some laundry including the last of the baby laundry (Ha! The last of the baby laundry! Did I just say that? It was the last of the pre-washing anyway.), did some general clean up, and started cooking in bigger batches so we can freeze more leftovers for those first few days after we bring baby home. (Side note - I doubled up on a casserole that I make infrequently because although it is sooooo good it is also sooooooooooooo fatty. So if you're in the mood for a disgustingly oily but yummy dish, let me know and I'll pass on the easy recipe.) So, things around here are certainly coming along. The last big task that I'd like to get done before baby & guests arrive, that probably won't get completed to my (or Ray's) satisfaction, is to clean up/organize/hide my craft stuff. It's taken over the dining room and I'm baffled as to how I can keep it handy enough that I will use it (don't want it to be out of sight and out of mind), but without having it on display in the current ugly mismatched rubbermaids and cardboard boxes, but keeping it portable enough for me to take it to crop days and retreats, and finally while keeping the dining room an actual dining room. So far the only solution I have come up with is slightly less than viable: move to a home with at least 3 bedrooms and have a craft room that is mine all mine.

There were quite a few sets of brackets in that run-on paragraph. (I'd count, but I'm too lazy.)

On an entirely different note, I'd like to tell you a story about my husband. I'm sure he'd tell it differently, but here is how I see it.

Scrabulous (an online version of Scrabble) has become part of the daily lives of Ray and I. Early on Ray introduced me to a website that helps you find words within your seven letters. He admits to using it when he plays against strangers, but we agreed we would never use it when we play against each other. Recently he beat me quite badly, with his score being well over 400 points - quite impressive, and slightly suspicious, but he vehemently denies cheating in this game with quite a bit of indignance, so I believe him. Today I suggested we play a game with both of us using that website he had shown me to help us, just to see how much of a difference it would make in our strategies and scores. It was neck and neck for a good while, but then Ray pulled ahead in and in the end beat me. As the game was coming to a close, he admitted to me that he cheated - his word, not mine. He had not been using the website we had agreed to, he was using a different website to cheat, one that not only unscrambles your letters into possible words, but also tells you the ideal place to put the word on the board based on all of the previous moves. It actually keeps a running mirror of our actual game board on the site, he just plugged in the letters he had each turn it and the program dictated exactly what the optimal move was each turn. In effect, he actually didn't play the game at all, the website did. When Ray confessed this to me, he was quite pleased with himself, and did not at all understand why I was angry. Well, that would be because he CHEATED. We flat out agreed to each use the one website for help, and he flat out cheated by using a different website unbeknownst to me. By the end of that discussion, he was backtracking and saying it wasn't really cheating since the whole game was a cheat with both of us using outside help. I maintain it was cheating because we agreed to one set of terms and he went ahead and played by different terms altogether. Bingo word of the day: CHEATER. Minimum 62 points.

I told Ray I was going to blog about this to expose him for the cheater that he is. He requested that I reiterate the point that he does not use those websites in regular game play - he doesn't want this blog to alienate his regular opponents since he enjoys playing the game so much. Karen et al, I'll leave that up to you.

Ray does earn a fair amount of brownie points though. He didn't say a word about me polishing off more than my share of those Girl Guide cookies or the ice cream before that. He brought home some chips I'd mentioned I'd been craving but hadn't actually asked for. He brought me flowers for no particular reason. Right now he is baking chocolate muffins, and a few minutes ago he even brought me a sampling of the batter. All of this and more just in the past week. He's a keeper I think. Love you, hun :)

What Goes Up...

We saw the doctor again today and guess what? My weight was down. This past week I lost weight, and the previous week I gained quite a bit. I have a new theory. Throughout the pregnancy I had been using the same exam room for every appointment - until last week. The office was crazy busy so I was weighed in a different room, with a different scale last week only. This week I was back to the usual room with the usual scale. So, I'm thinking that scale last week was out to lunch. In any case, I'm no longer freaked about my weight, and the doctor isn't concerned at all.

Baby has also come down some. Doc says for a first pregnancy the "dropping" can take several weeks, and it is underway but not complete yet. He figures I still have another two weeks or so to go. He also checked out a calendar and advised me that he's on call the weekend of the 19-20th so it would be really great if I could go into labour then. Ray pointed out that would be good timing for him as well, since if it happens on a weekend we don't have to worry about Robyn. Ok boys, I'll see what I can do.

The nurses had Girl Guide cookies for sale at the front desk. Boy are they smart, selling cookies in an obstetrician's office. They totally had me sold when they told me that the cookies had gone back to the old recipe. For a few years there the cookies just weren't the same so I was off them. I have verified (a few times over) that the old recipe is indeed back. Mmmmmm.

Laughing until you cry is the greatest, isn't it? Robyn provided me with a great belly laugh yesterday. In case you've never met Robyn, I'll fill you in on the two passions in his life: making people laugh, and music. He gets a real kick out of both. When it comes to music, he's got a great knack for remembering artist names and song titles, especially the oldies his Mom exposed him to. So Ray has started up a game with Robyn where he searches for song clips online and challenges Robyn to identify them as fast as he can. Often, Robyn sings along, even if he doesn't know the words. He'll passionately belt out a tune, with the right melody and timing, but with completely nonsensical lyrics. It's pretty amusing to hear. Yesterday, he topped any performance of his I've ever heard before. Are you ready for this? It was Backstreet Boys, Show Me The Meaning of Being Lonely. Oh yeah. He rocked it out. Ray and I were busting our guts, trying to be quiet about it so Robyn wouldn't stop. He got through the entire song start to finish with such passion, and had an awesome time doing it. I'm pretty sure he missed every word. It was hilarious, and he was so proud - I think of his performance, and to see how much we enjoyed it. Good times.

Whine whine whine

At first, being told to lay in bed with your feet up sounds pretty awesome. But it wears thin. I saw my doctor again today, and this time he was a little more adamant about keeping my feet elevated. But I had things to do today! I guess I'll have to work on finding some balance of time on my feet to get things done and time with my feet up to keep the swelling down. All the while I will remind myself that this has been a very smooth pregnancy and if this is the worst of the associated afflictions, I should be grateful. But that does little to affect the boredom. Scrabulous can only amuse me for so long.

Anyhoo, aside from the swelling, doc still says everything is on track and looking good. No signs of anything happening early. I had a pretty hefty weight gain over the last week, which didn't concern the doctor but did concern me. After reviewing my eating over the past week and getting the reminder that being off work means I'm less active (especially since I try to keep those feet up), I guess it's not much of a mystery where those extra pounds came from. But dang, I still can't quite believe it. Overall my gain throughout the pregnancy is still within normal limits, but if I keep up the off-work-and-feet-up routine for another two or three weeks I will have tipped the scales a little too much. Darn, I was so enjoying all those compliments about my size.

Looks like I caught a short-lived flu. Spent a few hours praying to the porcelin god last night. (Imagine what my weigh-in today might have been otherwise!) Seems to have passed, but of course now I'm exhausted. Might nap after posting this. I rarely nap. But I guess it's a practice I should get accustomed to. Sleep when the baby sleeps, right?

Ack! I've become one of "those" women! I very much do not want to be the whiny type. I have to work on that.

PS - Teehee, my new ticker is a little out of whack. I thought I'd go with the cute little chicks, since baby already has quite a few of them in the nursery thanks to gender-neutral gift giving friends and family (er, the gifts are gender neutral, not the friends and family). But the poor baby is dwarfed by the giant chicks! No, please don't peck at my baby!

Home again home again jiggity jig

Well, I suppose now that I'm done at work and will be at home more, the high demand for more frequent blog updates will be unignorable. (No, that's not a word. Totally made it up.) I cannot disappoint my fans. By the way, shout out to those of you who read this without me knowing: Hi Nana! Hope Papa is recovering quickly!

Yep, I caved. I couldn't cut it. I didn't reach the goal of staying at work until March 31. Seriously, I am disappointed. I'd rather have more time with the baby before I return to work than while he or she is still hiding out. Plus I know that plenty of women manage to work right up until they go into labour, so I feel a little like a weakling for only making it to 36 weeks. But what can I say, several different things came up all at once that pointed us toward the decision to leave work earlier than planned. It's probably for the best. Of course it is. Convincing, no?

I gotta say, my feet really have been a sight to behold. For those of you that have not seen them at their largest, consider yourself lucky. I felt a bit like a freak of nature. I made people's eyes bug out at the sight. Including the women in my prenatal class who surely have heard of this condition, other Mom's who surely have felt worse than I have at this stage, and even a pharmacist who surely sees all sorts of nastiness. We went to inquire about compression socks, and the pharmacist was talking to us about the ones that she uses herself for vericose veins. At one point I lifted my pant legs to show her how bad they were, and she looked a little stunned before she recovered and advised us that I would need much stronger socks than hers and would require a prescription. My feet actually have behaved themselves pretty well over the last few days. They sure plumped up on Friday, the day we drove down to the coast - not surprising since sitting is the worst position for it. But after that it wasn't so bad - hopefully it will stay that way now that I'm settled back at home, feet up as much as possible. Ray's been awesome with the foot massages. Kelly even gave me one too, despite some serious rankness. She ran off to wash her hands immediately afterwards. What a trooper.

Speaking of Kelly... girl knows how to throw a very last minute baby shower like nobody's business. Ray and I went to Ladner to surprise my Mom and Dad, just for the heck of it (and maybe as a bit of a last hurrah in the impulsive travel department) in time for Easter. We pulled it off perfectly - Mom's face was priceless and I got the tightest hug ever. She might even have misted just a little. Perfection! Little did I know that while I was tickled with the success of that surprise, another one was brewing behind my back. Kelly only found out that I was coming to town on Thursday night, and by Sunday afternoon she and her cohorts had managed to lure guests (on Easter Sunday and with hardly any notice, no less), bake a cake decorated like a baby bottle, prep shower games, find time to shop and spoil us, hide all of this from Ray, stop Dad from nearly spilling the beans, and keep me 100% oblivious until the big reveal. WOW. I had been enjoying what I thought was a quiet weekend family visit, completely clueless that whenever I left a room someone else was jumping to action or taking a phone call making arrangements. I don't know how they managed to keep it a surprise, but they did. Thank you everyone!

Smooth Sailing

Well, we had another appointment with the doc on Friday. All is still going well, he had reviewed the ultrasound and everything's hunky dory there. There was a resident doctor shadowing my doctor that day, so when it came to certain things they did it twice - first the resident, then my doctor. When they were feeling around my belly to determine the baby's position, it was very weird. It was like my abdomen was play doh and they were just smooshing it around this way and that and when they were done somehow they knew that the baby's rump was way up top, head was way down low, back was along my left side and limbs to my right side. I have no idea how they did that. My weight was checked again and I don't know how it's possible that I only gained one pound with all of this Easter chocolate surrounding me. Maybe it was a little off because I was wearing sneakers instead of the usual boots I had through the weekend, but still - last weekend I was a bad girl with the mini-eggs, let me tell ya. This weekend is shaping up similarly. I figure if I limit it to the weekends that's better than every day - right?

Thought it was time for another photo shoot. Can hardly believe it's been 4 weeks since the last one. I feel ginormous, but people keep telling me I look small for how far along I am. I can still wear those same fat jeans, with the waist hanging really low below my belly, but it's getting more uncomfortable. It's not bad when I'm standing, walking, or lying down, but sitting is less than comfy. Wore the same shirt as last time for the photos, thought it might show growth better for those of you who don't get to see "us" in person.






Caught the cold I was so hoping to avoid, but really it was inevitable with Ray plus three people at work spreading their germs around. I tried the power of positive thinking thing, repeating my mantra "I am healthy, my immune system is at its peak" over and over. They say that a woman's immune system really is at its peak during pregnancy, as if the body knows it's all the more important to stave off those germs and protect both people. But alas, here I am, sniffling away, bit of a cough. It's not too bad right now, but it sure keeps me up at night, and sleep was already getting to be an issue. I even started wondering if I'll make it through March 31 at work. Sigh. But I should really shut up with the complaining if this is the worst of what ails me. I still feel like things are going smoothly - the doctor even said I was having a text book great pregnancy... woohoo!

On my mind: What happens if my water breaks while I'm in bed or on the couch or on the carpet? Surely there aren't enough cleaning agents in the world to make that ok. I think I might spend the last couple of weeks of my pregnancy on the kitchen tile. Yep. Eat drink and sleep there. It's the only way.