Going to baby mountain Charlie, going to baby mountain!!!!

I have to say as far as family and friends go, Chris and I are pretty lucky!. This passed week we (the baby) were spoiled, this week we received a card and some money from Christopher's Grandparents and Aunts (thank you guys so much for your generosity :)) which we put towards the babies room renovations, thanks to them the baby gets the good quality bamboo flooring. There will be pictures of the room on here once we complete the work.

We also received a nice little outfit and hard cover copy of Alice in Wonderland from one of my co-workers, which was a nice surprise. On top of that my boss and his wife picked us up a few cute little sleepers for the baby the last time they were in Halifax.

Then came the box from my Mom and Sister!!! the Mother Load of first time Grandma and Auntie gifts!. Going through the package was a task and a half, I was pretty much ready for a nap by the time the last item was plucked out of the box!!!. (you'll notice Mushu was convinced most of this new stuff was for her, a reoccurring theme whenever any baby stuff makes it into the house)

My sister has been working long and hard on some really special gifts for the baby, she went out of her way to sew the baby a classy little diaper bag with matching car storage system (not pictured) as well as an AWESOME set of fantasy hand puppets~complete with theater (that hangs on a dowel in the door frame).

She also went a little shopping crazy for the baby as well.....

(the Eeyore outfit is from Grandma and the blanket is from Auntie, My sister also had a bunch of cute little surprises tucked in the diaper bag like a beaded binky link and some little baby frames)

Now for Grandmas haul!!!!

Sorry Mushu, but its still not for you!!!!

Oh wait Mushu!!! Look Auntie packed up a bag of doggie treats for you and Foxy too!!!!

5 more days...

This is officially my last week until my Maternity leave begins. 5 more days, for months now I have been eagerly awaiting the day I could walk away from the working world. No more annoying customers, no more early mornings, no more exhaustion when I get home. But now that the time is fast approaching I'm realising it will also mean I lose connection to some of the only people out here that I consider friends. I have been really lucky the past few years to be working at the bakery.

Both my Boss and his wife have been nothing but good to me since I began, they are the type of people that would give you the shirt off their back if you were in need. I will miss them both allot more than I thought I would. I will have to be sure to visit them often and once we get this house a bit more presentable (IE: get a kitchen table set :)) have them over for dinner a few times. I'm also going to miss the girls at work as well, this week I'm going to have to get their cell numbers and be sure to invite them out for a few movie nights and fun activities before the baby arrives....then out after to meet her.

Tiny little baby.....

So I went for my routine prenatal exam on Wednesday and all seemed to be going well, no sugar in my urine, no high blood pressure, the doctor went over my birth plan with me and was supportive about it. We discussed my wishes to store the babies cord blood and I left her a copy of the documents she would need to fill in for me to register online.

Then for the babies check up, The heart beat was good and strong, BUT she had barely grown since my last visit two weeks ago. The doctor was a bit concerned and wanted to rule out any problems with the babies nutrition due to.....you guessed it placental problems. So she booked me another ultrasound the following morning. My last two ultrasounds I needed to wait at least two weeks to get squeezed in, so the speed of the appointment gave me a bit of concern about the severity of the potential problem.

I was a bit worried and I phoned my Mom to talk to her about my appointment. She told me I was 6 lbs 4 ounces when I was born (and I was a week overdue) and that my sister was 6 lbs and 6 ounces, so small babies may be a genetic thing. That made me feel a bit better but I did spend the night wondering what if?. The doctor told me if the radiologist found any sign of fetal distress or any problems with the placenta she would send me directly to labour and delivery for an assessment then we would decide whether or not it was safest to induce an early labour or not. So the possibility of having the baby 6 weeks earlier than planned was a bit terrifying to say the least. The babies room hasn't even been started, I still need to pick out a good quality breast pump, I'm wanting to pick up a few more cloth diapers and covers not to mention all the little odds and ends that seemed like they would be achievable in a 6 week time frame.

So the next morning bright and early we set off for our ultrasound. Now the last few ultrasound technicians I have had have been very pleasant so I was expecting the same this round. Who did I get? Nurse Ratched, this woman had a very visible scowl. Instead of a greeting when she walked into the room I get a "name", "date of birth", "lay down and pull your shirt up over your stomach". Then down to business. She even made the point of ensuring the ultrasound screen was moved so I couldn't glance at it. She started slamming equipment into place and then we began. Not even the customary warning about the gel being cold.

But as the 1/2 hour went by the over whelming power of cute broke through her tough exterior. The scowl started to turn into a grimace then her mouth relaxed into its normal setting on her face, eventually she turned the screen to me and started to point out all the babies bits I let her explain it all to me even though I could see it all clearly. She even began to smile and laugh at the baby, who at the time was making little suckling motions trying to get her hand in her mouth. The yawn was the last straw the mood was changed. This baby has already got her secret weapon well developed, look at those pouty little lips, once they begin to tremble the world will be jumping through her hoops.

Before I left she let me know the baby scored 8/8 which means she is at all the proper developmental stages for her gestational age. So a giant sigh of relief was sighed by me. Chris on the other hand is feeling the pressure, once I got myself off to work he began to take apart the walls and moulding in the babies room. Better to stop procrastinating just in case we get an early arrival, this also means I should probably start to research the labour aspect of having a baby a little bit more seriously.

Where have I been?

Whats been going on the past few weeks?, On the 9th Chris and I had a small 3 hour prenatal class that we were invited to by the public health nurse. That was pretty interesting, I even learned that 4 lbs of my new body weight (currently 21 lbs gained) is just extra blood!~ cool!!!!. Seeing as I have yet to convince Chris to pick up a baby book on his own accord, it was a nice way to force him to get a tiny bit of the prenatal/ birth information into him. Chris was shocked to learn how long labour goes on for on average (according to the class around 14-17 hours from start to finish).

I went for my second diagnostic ultrasound on the 15th to determine whats going on with my placenta, I just got the results back from the doctor this week. They like your placenta to be at least 2.5 inches from the birth canal and mine is at 3.5 so it looks like natural childbirth is still an option for me......huzzah!!! Time to practice with my hypno birth meditations now. In other random doctor check up news the baby has turned head down and my uterus is 17 inches long (one inch smaller than normal but nothing to be concerned about).

I filled out the birth plan form that the hospital gave to me, if things go smoothly, IE: a standard non-complicated birth. I hope to be able to have an active birth using a different pushing position from laying on my back, I want little to no medical intervention : IE: drugs, fetal monitoring. I am adamant about having no students present during the birth or perform any of the postnatal procedures on myself or the baby. I'm actually hoping to be out as soon as humanly possible as well. If I'm able to leave after a few hours I will be happy.

I will be starting my maternity leave in three more weeks (including this one), I will see about doing the hospital tours when I am on my mat leave. Although I have already made it to the labour and delivery room twice this month already, once when I slipped on the wet floors at work, and again a week ago when I noticed some spotting~ which turned out to be a urinary tract infection.....which was surprisingly painful once I started the medication for it. I needed to take an extra day off work last week because my abdomen was so sore it hurt to stand and walk, I'm feeling much better now though.

Zeller's had another baby sale so Chris and I picked up our stroller/ car seat combination at 20% off. Its a pretty cute unisex set. They had a super cute chocolate brown and pink set but it was not on sale, but that's okay we can always hold onto this set for the next baby and not worry about whether its too girlie. I am planning on picking up the play yard in the pink and brown set though. I only have three big-ticket items to buy for the baby (other than the flooring/drywall for her nursery) and I will be getting them in the next three pay checks. The play yard, the crib mattress and the breast pump. The little items like clothes and such are almost all accounted for I'm pretty confident were not doing to badly on that front, especially with all the gifts we have been receiving from people.

Last week while laying in bed I felt a hard little lump in my lower abdomen and rubbed my hand around it, it was either a hand or foot it was a little bit gross but cool at the same time. After a minute or two of Chris and I poking it gently it sucked itself back into obscurity. Some nights when I feel I haven't felt the baby as much as I'm comfortable with I poke and prod gently at my stomach until I piss her off. I'm generally rewarded with a few 5 hit combos which make me laugh, it seems very much like a violent tantrum in response to my prodding. Shes already got her mothers attitude.

Make my day!!!!

This past Sunday while at work one of my regular customers, an older lady I nicknamed 'Canadians lady' (as she always has her Montreal Canadians gear on, from the coat/ toque right down to the wallet and the watch etc.)came in and called me to the store front. She told me she had noticed I was pregnant and decided to make me something for the baby. She pulled a little bag out from under her coat and in it was a sweet little hand knit jacket and bonnet. I couldn't believe it! It really made my day. I have always told Chris that every baby needs a little hand knit sweater set and then one lands right on my lap. Its funny how sometimes you can get the absolute worst customers, then every once in awhile you get a really nice one that makes up for the rest of them.

The very next day I was also pleasantly surprised by a package in the mail from my friend Cheryl, in it was a letter and a gift for the baby. The gift was a super sweet KISS onesie, but all the Kiss characters are little teddy bears! Its pretty freak'in adorable!!! Thanks Auntie Cheryl!!! you picked a winner!!!!

These are a few of my favourite things..

So the three (here I thought it was only 2) Rubbermaid boxes of cute baby stuff I have been collecting over the last 4 years arrived in the mail yesterday thanks to Chris's mom who has been keeping them safe for us. As if that wasn't enough super cute baby stuff to be going through, a girl from work brought me in a huge box of baby girls clothing that her cousins baby had outgrown.... My baby officially has a full wardrobe!!!. Despite all this I couldn't resist picking up a little baby swimsuit today as I plan on taking her to the pool when she hits the right age (I think its 5-18 months) for the starfish swim classes!!!.

The best part, I had forgotten most of the great stuff I had collected, which just so happened to be mostly for a little girl....go figure!!!. here are a few of my favourites!!.

Every little girl needs a herd of unicorns as well as some fairy pals. The best part one of those unicorns is vanilla scented and has spread its sweet aroma to all the other plushies!. I think vanilla sounds pretty accurate for what I would guess a unicorn to smell like :).

A cute glittering star to dangle from the ceiling!

My absolute favourite a pink unicorn fairy mobile (that's right a hybrid ~ half fairy, half unicorn)...sorry for the blur.....

These sweet little shoes should compliment the little dresses I have collected for her nicely!!.

The last big purchase to share is the sweet crib bedding I ordered on ebay!!!. I have been looking everywhere for a nice set and at last I found one!!! We wont be going as pink on the walls as the sample photo, Chris wants to paint a tree with little birds and cherry blossoms in the branches on the wall behind the crib. I cant wait until we have the babies room all done!!!.

A scary few hours....

So the evening of February 28th we had ourselves a bit of scare. I was just cleaning up at the end of the night from my shift at work. I had finished mopping the floors and was just bringing some of the bread in from the store front when I hit a wet patch of floor and came crashing down. I managed to swivel mid fall to avoid landing face down on the floor, but I did come down on my left side. My legs and arms got the brunt of the impact but a small section of my stomach hit the floor as well. I only had about 10 minutes until we locked the doors and so I didn't bother telling the girls and having them get all worked up over it. We finished up, locked up and I got in the waiting car.

I told Chris to take me up to the hospital right away which he did. We went into the emergency where they sent me straight up to labour and delivery. I explained what had happened to the nursing staff up there and they got me into a room. I was hooked up to the fetal heart right monitor and given a button to press whenever I felt the baby move so they could monitor the baby. Chris and I had to stay at the hospital for 4 hours of observation having the babies heart rate and movements electronically measured on a little chart that looked very similar to a lie detector test. At the end of the tests I was given the clear and sent home, Chris and I stayed awake late that night and I payed close attention to the babies movements. By the time we went to bed it had been a full 8 hours since the incident and things seemed good. I have the next two days off and will just be taking it easy, the baby seems to be doing good, but needless to say it was a bit scary.