Week 36

Our baby is officially term!  So exciting to think that there is a fully developed baby in there.  This week has been filled with various preparations for the big arrival.  Feeling quite good but just weird, like things are happening, this week.  Managed to go for a walk all the way around the lake with Jeff and Nina.  Actually wasn't too bad for having to waddle the whole way!  Back has not been too bad since we're back in our own bed and my feet have been a lot less swollen too. 

Since finding out that baby may come early we have put things into high gear.  I have been cleaning, organizing the deep freeze, freezer and pantry, and buying a few last minute things for the nursery. 

Today we have plans to put up the baseboards and trim in the nursery and assemble the crib.  We put the change table together yesterday.  Likely tomorrow I will paint the dresser and start pulling the room all together.  I am really excited to see the finished product.  I am loving everything so far.  The colours we picked look beautiful together in my opinion. 

I now have my hospital bag packed and ready to go at the back door. I also got busy and washed and folded all the stuff we either bought or have gotten as gifts for the baby.  I was thinking there wasn't too much there but here was the pile before I separated and washed it:

Pile of clothes, blankets, sheets, etc.

Earlier in the week one of my best friends, Jocelyn, threw me a pre-baby party with a bunch of our girlfriends.  It was such a nice opportunity to visit with everyone and eat delicious food.  Thanks so much for an awesome evening Joc!  I feel so loved - and I know this baby will have so many amazing aunties!

Beautiful future aunties to our baby!

Here is my bump this week:

Week 36

Weeks 34 and 35

My apologies for not updating but I was on holidays!  Jeff and I attended a wedding on Saturday, July 13 just outside Wilkie, SK.  We then proceeded on to Waskesiu where we stayed two nights at the Hawood Inn, just the two of us, before meeting up with his family and a lot of friends (think there were 29 of us all told) at Kapasewin Bungalows.  We had quite a nice time doing not much of anything and visiting.  Jeff and I were able to eek out two and a half beach days but the weather was not too great for most of the week.  The mosquitoes were unlike anything I have ever experienced.  Unfortunately they kept us indoors most of the time.  I had hoped to enjoy the many beautiful trails around the area and go on nature walks.  We did one and nearly got eaten alive!  They would just swarm us - think Chris had around 30 on his back at one point.  After two attempted walks we decided this was not a good idea anymore.  We did get ice cream a few times - that was very enjoyable!  On holidays is really the only time I go for ice cream cones so it was a good treat.

Our trip was, however, tinged with lots of sadness as a couple of things happened that caused us to make the decision that we will have to give up our beloved dog Nina.  She is simply not good with children and we cannot take the risk of having her around our baby and other kids that will surely be around in the future.  It has been quite a hard thing to work through as she has been a part of our family since before we were married.  We got her as a puppy and it has been our little unit of three for six years.  We are now trying to find her a new home before the baby comes.  She is such a wonderful dog for adults.  I am hoping the perfect home is out there for her.  She will make someone a great companion.  We are facing the fact that these are our last days with her and getting in lots of cuddles and plays.  Makes these last weeks before the birth quite bittersweet in all honesty...

Since the last post I have had two appointments with Dr. Lett.  Baby is continuing to develop great.  I continue to pack on the pounds unfortunately.  I have now gained a whopping 36 lbs in total.  Oh well.  At this point it is not really on my list of things to worry about anymore.  There are too many other things keeping me up at night. 

Yesterday's appointment was a little unusual.  Dr. Lett did a swab for Group B Strep - I will attest that anal swabs are not really that fun.  She then asked if I wanted her to check my cervix and to all of our surprise she remarked that I must have been doing some good work because my cervix is already 3 cm dilated (we are going for 10 cm at the time of delivery), I am 75% effaced, and I am at station -1.  All this to say that my cervix is starting to dilate, it has thinned almost completely, and the baby's head is almost engaged into the pelvis - when the station is at 0 it will be engaged.   

Stations in the pelvis. Our baby's head is at -1.

The doctor thought it was unlikely that I will make it to my due date with all this progress but there certainly are people who go several weeks with 3 cm dilation so we'll see!

Had a bit of excitement yesterday when I was out for lunch with Jolene.  I got up to go to the bathroom and found quite a bit of mucousy blood as well as some fluid (sorry if this is TMI).  Wanting to be better safe than sorry Jolene came with me to the hospital where I checked in through Emergency who sent me up to Labour and Delivery.  Jeff came as soon as he could (thanks so much Jolene for staying with me!) and they hooked me up to monitor the baby's heart rate and movements.  All was fine.  I did a urine test which they checked for amniotic fluid and found negative.  They also did an internal exam and determined that all was ok.  The blood and fluid was likely caused by the internal exam Dr. Lett had done earlier in the day.  I still felt quite crampy and sore and so spent the rest of the afternoon and evening on the couch.

Week 34

Generally feeling ok.  Still not sleeping that great - very sore back and crampiness most of the time.  Very glad to be back in our own bed and having access to a tub again! 

Here are my bump pics from the last two weeks:

Week 35

Week 33

One week of work left!  Woo hoo!  Can't come soon enough.  I was so smart to see into the future that I would not want to be working at 8.5 months pregnant in the dead of summer.  After walking and standing during a normal day at work my feet are totally swollen and feel as though I have walked a marathon.  My lower back, hips and abdomen are now almost constantly aching.  I am becoming a big complainer - and I hate it when people complain!  But I hurt...

This was a short work week for me.  On Tuesday Cori joined me at prenatal aquacize.  It felt really good to do all that stretching and it was really nice to have a buddy there too!  We had planned on walking around the lake on Wednesday but when the temperature was still at 34 degrees and my feet were already puffed up we decided it was just a bit too hot for us.  On Thursday night Jeff, Nina and I drove out to the lake to join my parents and my brother Dan, his partner Devon and her mom Jean who were all in from Vancouver. 

L-R: Jean, Jeff, Devon, Dan, Mom, Dad at La Bodega

Dan came out to spend his 29th birthday with us!  Happy Birthday Dan - love you so much!  You are the best brother and will be an awesome uncle (and Devon you are going to be a kick-ass auntie!)


My brother and I (not at our lake, but in Mexico)

We had beautiful weather on Friday and enjoyed playing with the dog on the beach, swimming in the unusually warm Diefenbaker Lake and snoozing on the hammocks.  Yesterday was kind of crummy weather-wise but I was feeling quite sore and tired so spent most of the day on the couch - which was just fine with me!

During the course of the weekend we got to hang out with two lovely baby boys, and one awesome boy who is four already! These sweethearts belong to my two cousins.  We really enjoyed hanging out with them all and getting to know the new additions to the family.  The older of the babies really loved Nina.  Every time she would walk by he would make all sorts of noises, smile and move his feet all around.  The four year old liked her too and had a great game of ball with her on the deck.  It warmed my heart so much to see her being so good and gentle with these little ones.  We are still planning on consulting with a trainer to make sure the transition to coming home with a baby goes smoothly.  It is very important to us to do this properly because we want everything to work out.  Weekends like this reassure me that everything will be fine.  I think she will love the baby and it will become one of the pack.  Really hope so.

Nina resting her head on my belly in the car

A classic Nina moment

Here is my belly this week.  I look exhausted again.  I guess that's because I am.  I was interviewed on CTV this past week and the guy interviewing me thought I was four months or so along.  Really?!?

Week 33

Week 32

So many beautiful baby boys!  I had the pleasure last weekend of getting to hang out with two baby boys who belong to two sets of friends of ours.  One is six months old and one is two months old.  They are both so handsome!  This past weekend I got to meet my cousin's little guy for the first time.  He is also two months old.  What a little sweetie he is!  All of the moms have been so open and willing to share of their experiences.  I have appreciated this more than they could know.  They all seem to have motherhood come so naturally to them and look so comfortable and at ease with their babies.  I know there have been some challenges for each of them - but they do make me look forward to becoming a mom myself - especially if I am blessed with babies as sweet and as good as theirs.  Today at work we had a baby in that was three days old!!!  And he only weighed around five and a half lbs.  He was so tiny!  I doubt our baby will be this small but it was sure an eye-opener to see such a fresh one.

We attended the Babywearing session last Wednesday at Groovy Mama and learned quite a lot.  I want a sling like this one (she even kind of looks like me!):

and a mei tai carrier like this one: 

Jeff really likes the mei tai and I really like the sling!

This week's heat has been a little rough at work.  Getting in and out of hot cars is not fun and it seems like if I do any walking at all in the sun my feet swell up and are very sore.  I have been barefoot in my office a lot.  Apparently according to one of our public health workers Carmichael is not the ideal place to be barefoot in.  Go figure!  I guess I will have to get a pair of flip flops to throw on when this happens.  Six days of work left - hallelujah!

I rocked a bikini all weekend as we had perfect beach weather the whole time - I figure, who cares?  I was hot and there was swimming to be done.  Here I am with my belly out at my favourite place in the world:

Week 32