Moved

I finally have a computer again and it has it's own room! We moved into our new apartment on the weekend and it's good to finally be settled. The move didn't exactly go that smoothly as it involved waiting for 6 hours in our moving truck behind our car with the poor cats in it while we waited for the previous tenants to move out. They told us they'd be out around noon, like we were, but around noon we were told they'd be out by 6 at the latest. The latest came and Scott went to investigate if they were out and it turned out that they weren't finished, but they had some rooms cleared out and we could get our stuff in. We were finally able to get the cats in so they could go to the bathroom and eat and we had all our stuff moved in within an our before they were even back for their next load. I suggested to Scott that we offer our moving truck and muscles to help them move the last of their stuff to their new place. I'd like to say that it was purely because I'm such a nice person, but it was mostly because I wanted them out of our hair. It was a good thing we helped though because they would have been moving until midnight otherwise.

Now that we're in, I'm loving all my extra space. The rooms are uncluttered and spacious and it's great to spread our stuff around. The baby's room consists of boxes and piles of baby "stuff", but hopefully this weekend it'll start to look a little more like a nursery. We have the crib, that we got for a great price at Sears and we'll pick up the change table tonight. The crib will eventually be in our room, but we're keeping it there until closer to my due date (5 weeks from today!).

Friday was my last day of work and my co-workers surprised me with a cake and party with our kids parents there. It was very sweet and thoughtful and I had to choke back a few tears when I had to say good-bye to some of my favourites (we're not really supposed to have "favourites", but it happens)

I'm now playing the waiting game and getting lots of exercise in my new neighbourhood as I explore. I wish the weather was a little more spring-like for my walks, but soon enough, I guess.

My Life Lately

Things have been pretty crazy as we try to get ready for the move to the new apartment next weekend. Yesterday morning I went to Zellers, The Superstore, and the Liquor Store to get boxes. I did pretty well for myself, but I think we're still going to need more.

Scott was sick with the flu most of last week, but luckily is getting better. He was well enough to go to the hockey game on Friday night and well enough to help me do a large amount of packing. Hopefully he'll be 100% better soon. He still has cold symptoms lingering. Speaking of the hockey game though, it was one of the best games I've been to in a long time. It wasn't what I was expecting since they were on a 12-game losing streak, but it turned out to be a really good game with an exciting finish. My favourite player, Marty Reasoner, was the only one to score in the shoot-out to win the game.

On Friday at work the other teacher who is pregnant and I were surprised with a presentation of a gift basket that had all sorts of nice baby things in them. They gave them to us in front of all the kids because the kids have all been very interested in the babies in our bellies. The kids are constantly putting balls under their shirts and telling us that their babies are kicking them. This is my last week coming up and I'm really glad. By the end of the day I've been pretty tired out and even sometimes a little light-headed. I'll be 34 weeks on Thursday and I have my next doctor's appointment on Wednesday. I always look forward to my appointments, but I never look forward to the 2 hour wait I have to see the doctor. Tomorrow night we also have our first of two prenatal visits with our doula, Mitzi. It'll be fun.

Fears

I keep having a recurring dream that I have my baby and I forget to feed her for a long time, and then when I finally try to, I have a really hard time getting her on the breast. To anyone who's talked to me about my pregnancy it shouldn't be a surprise because I'm more nervous about breastfeeding than I am about labour. I read in "What to Expect When You're Expecting" that in many hospitals the nurses will take the baby out of the mom's room and feed them a bottle without the mother knowing. This totally freaked me out and I was scared that they would ruin my breastfeeding attempts. I've finally talked to enough people who have given birth at the Royal Alex Hospital and even a nurse who works in the ward (she's the mom to a couple kids at the daycare) that I feel confident that they won't do this. But still, in my dreams something doesn't work with the nursing. Last night in my dream I gave birth to her at the point I am now and she was a healthy 7 pounds, but I couldn't remember how many ounces or how long she was. She also didn't look like a newborn. She looked to be about 5 months old with light brown hair and pretty blue eyes. Also, in all my dreams that I give birth the actual labour part is a breeze.

When people ask me if I'm going to get an epidural I find myself saying "I hope I can do it without". By saying this I still sound "realistic" to them and I avoid the comments about how they think women who want to go naturally are dumb or want to be martyrs. I have no problem with epidurals for other women. My sister is one who needs to have one. She doesn't tolerate pain very well and it helps her bond with her children better if they haven't caused her that much pain. I also know that sometimes if a woman is too stressed out by the pain it can cause distress in the baby. Back pain and extremely long labours are cases when I really can't blame a woman for wanting to get rid of the pain, even if just to have a rest. For me personally, though, I don't want one. I want to be able to walk around, I want to be able to go to the bathroom myself and I don't want to possibly prolong the process. The biggest thing for me, though, is that I'm scared of that very small risk that it could harm me and that it does affect the baby's alertness. So the real answer the question is, "no, I don't plan on having an epidural". I'm lucky to have Scott who is extremely supportive of my decision and a doula who has years of experience coaching women through drug-free labour. I don't want the pain, and I know I'll have moments that I'll think an epidural will be the best option, but I also feel confident in my own body and state of mind.

A bunch of updates

I'm pretty bad at keeping up my blog lately, but I thought it was about time.

I have three more weeks of work left and then I'll be a housewife and a stay-at-home-mom. We got a new apartment on the west side of town and we're really excited about moving into it. It's about 3 times the size of the one that we have now and it's a 3-bedroom with a dishwasher. I don't love the area, but I do love the apartment. We loved it right away, but weren't sure if we would get it because there were a bunch of other applicants. I guess the landlady liked something about us. It'll be nice to have a place where the baby will live and we can start to prepare our place for her.

The beginning of March was pretty hectic since every spare minute was spent looking for a place to live. Now that we've found a place, though, we need to pack and that is just as stressful for me. As is keeping this place clean for viewing.

As of Thursday of this week I'll be 32 weeks/8 months. It's hard to believe how fast time is flying. I just found out tonight that my sister will be having her baby next Monday after being induced. Her baby seems to be in a good position and she's been pretty uncomfortable so the doctor okayed it. It's her third.

We've finally been getting some spring-like weather lately and I'm loving it. I really missed having a spring when we were in Vancouver. Although, on the other hand, I missed seeing tulips in February this year too.

The other update is that we went to see David Suzuki speak at the university a few weeks ago and it was pretty amazing and inspiring to hear him speak. If you ever have the chance to hear him, you should take it.

Not Your Average Morning Commute

Yesterday morning I left my apartment at 7:15am and walked my usual four blocks to Jasper Avenue, the main downtown street, to my bus stop. As I approached the intersection I noticed some flashing police and ambulance lights. I was concerned and assumed it was a car accident since the roads have been a little slippery lately. I began to cross Jasper and noticed that there was yellow police tape all around my bus stop in front of Boston Pizza and there were about 4 police cars, one ambulance and a city bus all parked on the side. I wasn't really sure what to do; I was curious and didn't know if my bus would stop behind all the vehicles. I stopped about 30 metres from the police tape thinking that perhaps there was room for my bus to stop there. I was trying really hard not to be in the way or too nosy. As I waited for my bus I glanced over to where the police were and I saw a television crew, 4 or 5 people that looked like witnesses to what had happened, and various police - and then I saw the body covered with a white sheet. The victims feet were visible at the end of the sheet and there was a dark-coloured baseball hat about a foot away from the feet. I was unnerved to say the least. I still wasn't sure what to do as far as where to catch my bus, but then another police cruiser pulled up in front of me so I decided that I had to go to another stop. I crossed the street in order to walk around the crime scene and then crossed it again to get to the next stop. I called work to let them know that I might be late, but I managed to make it to the next stop on time.

My ride to work was spent thinking about how I had seen the body of a person perhaps before his/her family even knew. If I had been there just a few minutes earlier, could I have witnessed it? Was it drug or gang related? Could it have been me lying there for commuters to gawk at? All these questions plagued me and I felt uneasy all morning, wondering what had happened.

At lunch time I finally was able to find out what had happened. A couple of young men were arguing on the bus and the driver stopped and pushed the panic button. The two men got off, continuing their disagreement and the younger man was stabbed. The man with the knife fled, but was caught by police four blocks north of the incident. It happened just shortly after 7am and I arrived at the scene at 7:25. If I had been on the earlier shift this week I would have been there. When something like this happens it really makes you think of your mortality and how fragile life is.

29 Weeks

Tyke wanted to pose with me too.

12 weeks to go...

Yesterday I went to the hospital that I'll be delivering at to get my blood test done. It took longer to find parking than it did to actually have my blood taken. When I was there I started to get really excited about the birth of the baby and I can't wait to finally meet her. Perhaps I'm just ignorant, but I'm not scared of the birth at this point and I'm looking forward to feeling those first contractions. I guess when you don't know what to expect you can feel that way. I'm sure that once I get into the 2nd stage of labour I won't be as excited, but I'd like to try to remember that with each contraction, I'm closer to having my baby (I'm an idealist).

I've been so lucky in this pregnancy as far as comfort goes. I haven't had any of the major problems that so many women complain of throughout their 9 months. I haven't had a chronically sore back, I can sleep at night, and I've had maybe 3 bouts of heartburn. I know there's still time for ailments to happen, but a lot of other women I've spoken to have had these discomforts already when they've been at my stage. I think it's partly because I haven't gained a lot of weight. I have a feeling I'm going to gain a lot more weight before the baby's born (not just in my belly, though) because my appetite has increased quite a bit. I find that I don't really get full easily, but when I do, I'm hungry again not long after. It's frustrating, because I don't know if I'm hungry because my body needs the calories, or if I've been using my pregnancy to be gluttonous. I know that I've gotten a little bigger in my butt and thighs, and I don't like that very much. I'm hoping that I'll be able to drop the pounds soon after our little girl gets here.

I just finished writing up all my Valentine's Day cards for my kids and getting the envelopes stuffed with the cards my kids made for their parents. They're really into the post office these days so I thought it would be cool to mail the cards to their houses. It's too bad I wasn't organized enough to get them out in time for Valentine's Day, but I think it'll still be cool for them.

I went to the doctor today and had to wait 2 hours to see the doctor. I try to be understanding when I have to wait because it's a very popular clinic and sometimes our doctors have to go out for deliveries. Still, though, 2 hours is a long time. Everything with the baby seems fine, though, and I measured about two weeks smaller than I should. The doctor said it's fine since I'm tall. I have to get more blood work done for my sore ribs. He thinks it's just a pulled muscle, but he wants to rule out gallbladder/spleen/liver issues. He doesn't seem concerned. I'll have to start going every two weeks now that I'm in my 7th month.

Today I called one of the kids at work "toilet". It was pretty funny and it was purely accidental. He had just finished using the toilet and I was talking to his friends about how toilets are dirty and you shouldn't touch them and then put your hands in your mouth. The boy who had just finished was dawdling so I said, "Wash your hands, toilet". He thought it was pretty funny, but he corrected me. I love sharing moments of true humor with kids. I had a pretty good day at work today, and it got better when we played Jenga at our staff meeting.

I'm really glad that it's Friday and I'm looking forward to our weekend. Scott and I haven't gone out without others in a while so tomorrow night we're having a date night. Scott's cooking me dinner and then I think we're going to go to a movie. I'm going to try and get to church on Sunday too since I haven't been there in a couple weeks. Then that night we're going to the hockey game.

The baby has been moving a lot lately and I'm really enjoying it. I'm going to miss being pregnant and having these little private moments with her. I haven't got an updated picture yet, but I'll have to post one soon. I'm still a little on the small side, but at least people can tell that I'm pregnant and not just getting a belly. A lot of people can't believe in 6 months though.

Today is the 2 year anniversary of the day that my dad passed away so I chose to take the day off work. In his honour, I've decided to do some baking from a cookbook that my sister put together of as many recipes of his as she could find. I started with pie this morning. I looked at the recipe for the pastry and thought it looked pretty easy and since I couldn't find any frozen fruit yesterday for berry pies and I have no nutmeg for apple pie, I would make chocolate pie. I made one batch of pie dough, though, and realized it was too sticky because I had added too much water. I could have added more flour, I thought, but there are only 3 ingredients so I just did it again. The second time didn't work so well either. The dough kept breaking apart as I tried to put it in the pan. I wrapped the dough up in plastic and put it in the fridge hoping that something will magically happen to it to make it work better later.

Next, I started on the bread. Simple, white bread. I was really frustrated because the dough was too dry and didn't look the way I knew it was supposed to. I then realized I forgot to add the milk. I added it at that point and it seemed to be ok. It's now rising nicely on the counter so we'll see how it turns out.

This morning I talked to the property manager at the apartment that we want in Sherwood Park. It looks (from the blueprints) like it is a decent size and it's new so it's probably in good condition. It's within walking distance of Scott's work so we wouldn't have to use the car as much. It all seems great so we'll get the application filled out and sent in so we'll be ready. She said that we should be able to get in for March first. The only downfall is that they only allow one cat. I asked her if they were pretty strict on that and she said we could wait until they have a suite for us and take it up with the head office. It's so hard to find a place that allows animals, even harmless cats, so we're keeping our fingers crossed. Keep us in your prayers that they'll make an exception for us or we'll find somewhere else just as good before the baby comes. Even if we were allowed to have children in this apartment, it's too small for the two of us as it is. We really want to be in Sherwood Park so that Scott won't have to commute far, but there aren't a lot of rental places there.


Update: My bread didn't really turn out. It tastes ok, but I don't think I let it rise long enough so it's really heavy and dense.

Here you go...

So for all of you who have been eagerly awaiting an updated picture of me, here it is; taken on our fancy-shmancy new camera (at point and click setting, though). I'm 22 weeks now and that means, according to "What to Expect When Expecting", I have one more week of being in my second trimester and then I'll be totally uncomfortable until the baby is born. We shall see. It is getting more difficult to roll over in bed and doing things with the kids at work.

Tonight I'm going out with my first girl friend in Edmonton and we're going to see a sappy movie. We're supposed to go see "Pursuit of Happyness" with Will Smith. I'm waiting for her to call me when she's finished hanging out with a guy she just met, but if she likes him a lot maybe our girl's night will have to wait.

It's been a bit too long since I posted.

I've been kind of bad for posting, I guess.

Our Christmas was really nice this year. We had my cousin Chris here for dinner on the 24th and i cooked my very first turkey ever. I was very pleased that it turned out and it was neither dry nor poisonous. Scott and I had 4 relaxing days off together and then Scott went back to a very stressful workplace for three days and I went to work where there were very few kids and I only worked a maximum of 4 hours a day while still getting paid a full day.

On New Year's Eve we went to a friend's place and watched the hockey game and followed it up with some card games. It was nice, but I don't like staying up that late. My body is still trying to recuperate from the late night.

This week at work I'm seeing more co-workers who weren't around last week and I've been told that I've gotten quite a bit bigger since they last saw me. I'm glad that people can tell that I'm pregnant and not just getting a paunchy belly. I'll try and get a picture up in the next little while. I've been feeling the baby kicking more lately and she's putting some more muscle into her moves. I think that Scott will be able to feel them soon. I still have a day here or there where I don't feel much action, but I've heard and read that at this stage it's pretty normal for it not to be consistent. That's comforting to know.

A Girl!

After lots of prodding from the technician today we found out that we're having a healthy girl. Everything looks great, I'm gaining weight, and my blood pressure looks good. She wasn't moving around too much so the tech was having a hard time getting good pictures. She was breach, so she was sitting with her head by my stomach and her legs were crossed, which made it hard to tell the gender at first. Finally the tech pressed up against her little bum and she could see that it was a girl. We could even see her little face, but her arms were covering part of it. It was really exciting to see and we're so happy that everything is good.

Movement!

Yesterday at church I felt the baby moving for the first time and I didn't wonder if it was just digestion stuff. It was really obvious to me and I was really excited. For a special treat they had a full orchestra to play Christmas songs for about 20 minutes before the sermon and maybe the baby could hear it because he/she was moving a lot. I was so excited that I had a lump in my throat and I'm sure I was just beaming. Luckily, they had dimmed the lights so I didn't look like a dork. The message was on joy and as soon as the pastor got up to speak she asked, "When was the last time you felt true joy?" I wanted to stand up yell, "Right now! My baby's kicking me!" I can't remember feeling that happy in a really long time. After wanting to be a mom for so long it just felt so deep and satisfying. I can't wait to feel more and to later meet the baby. Tomorrow is our big ultrasound so I'll post after that.

18 weeks and 6 days

Today I went to the doctor because I've had a stomach virus since Saturday and I was beginning to worry it would be affecting the baby. The doctor assured me that everything was fine, though, so that's good.

I recently had someone tell me that she couldn't even tell I was pregnant. I wasn't impressed by that comment at all. She's someone that unfortunately says a lot of things without thinking and I frequently get annoyed with her. I'm not that big, but I also would like to think that people aren't just thinking I have a beer gut. I did have a flat stomach before. My next ob/gyn appointment is next Tuesday and we're really excited to see how things are progressing in there and if the baby co-operates we'll find out if it's a boy or a girl. I used to think I'd just want to wait until the birth to find out, but it turns out I'm way too impatient for that.

Funny Christmas

This is my favourite SNL Christmas sketch.

Deep Freeze

I survived my first day of -40 weather here in Edmonton and I have to say it's not so bad when you're dressed properly. I would have liked to have had some snowpants, though, as the long johns I was sporting didn't quite do the trick.

I'm home with an upset stomach today. It seems to be getting better, but at least I'm not infecting any kiddies. I had a terrible headache last night and it was lingering this morning when I woke up, but of course I can't take anything (not entirely true; I could take Tylenol, but I'd rather not).

My cousin Christphor has arrived in town to do construction work. I plan to invite him over for supper and make sure he has a home-cooked meal. He's younger than me by a few years and we we've never been close, but my maternal instincts are kicking in and I'd like to make sure he's doing ok.

I don't plan to do much today, but the dishwasher needs some loading and unloading and I need to get started on the scarf for the girl at work to whom I am a "Secret Santa".

Jasper

I've been wanting to write about our weekend in Jasper for a while now, but I've been pretty busy. Jasper is my favourite place in Canada and it was so nice to go back for Scott's birthday. It was relatively quiet in the park since it's the off-season, but there were a lot of skiers at our hotel. This picture is from a little lake we hiked to. It was so peaceful and serene.

My weekend starts to get busy tomorrow. We meet with our doula tomorrow night for the first time and I'm really excited about it. On Friday night we're going to the hockey game, Saturday morning I have a meeting at church and I promised to make a quiche (which I'm totally regretting now), and then that afternnon I have a bunch of shopping to do. Then on Sunday we're going to the Oilers super skills competition. It should be a good weekend, but I wish I could skip the meeting at church. I took off next Friday at work so that I can get some stuff done here because I'm feeling quite over-whelmed. I don't like working full time very much.

My baby at 15 weeks

I don't have any new belly pics to post here because I'm really not showing much yet. I just had my second doctor's appointment today and it was really exciting because we heard the heartbeat. It's beating at around 150 beats per minute which is apparently in the normal range. It was so comforting and exciting to hear it since I haven't been growing very fast. I've only gained half a pound since my last appointment 4 weeks ago. But there really is a baby in there! He told me that since I'm tall I won't show as quickly as some other women and I'll always measure smaller.

I thought it was cute that the doctor found the heartbeat and then lost it because the baby moved away really fast.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

These are some of the cute things the parents have heard their kids say about me:

One mom told me her daughter will be upset when I go on mat. leave because I'm "so nice" and when they play "daycare" she always has to be "Marlene".

One of the boys told his mom that daddy loves Marlene.

A dad told me that his daughters named their pumpkin after me. That's my favourite.

Kids are so good for the ego.