Wonder Mon

Week 30

2012-01-26T09:02:00.000-05:00

January 16, 2012

Heartburn has arrived. I puked about 3 times this weeks. It was a similar feeling to the acid reflex. I noticed that it happens to me when I heat beef with tomato sauce, so like pasta or burrito. So I guess for the next two months i'm going to have to stop eating those things.

We finally finished buying all the furniture for the nursery. We got a small white drawers and a change table. At first when we went to IKEA we didn't really like the change tables because they looked really flimsy but the one we bought is pretty sturdy and nice. So it's all complete. We just have to wash the baby's clothes, I have to buy hangers, clear out the closet and just put up a few more things on the wall. When I lived at home in Markham, I had a collection of teddy bears and superhero figurines, I wanted to put it in the baby's room but I have to dry clean the stuffed animals. I have no clue where i'm going to put all that stuff.

My mom went to India to go see her mom, who is very very ill. I hate when my mom goes to India, I act like a 4 year-old. I have serious separation anxiety issues with my mom. I remember once when she went I literally cried and held on to her leg at the airport.... I was in grade 12.. this time around Eman said something that made me think.. he said if god forbid your mom was sick and your son/daughter didn't want you leaving what would you say.. and I said I would say "suck it up, i'm going to see my mom".. and he said exactly.. "so suck it up".... and now that i'm becoming a mother I see exactly what he means..

10 more weeks to go! How insane is that....

29 Weeks

2012-01-20T10:05:00.000-05:00

January 9, 2012

The cute little kicks are not cute anymore.. well they are.. but they aren't kicks anymore.. they are these strong pushes. It's like there is no more room in there so the baby is trying to make room by stretching out my uterus. When i'm sitting it feels like it's punching my left boob and kicking my right leg... very weird.

We went to baby fest and were not impressed. There were things on sale that are on my registry but not much difference in pricing for furniture and we were really hoping to get a dresser or changing table from there that would match our espresso crib. Instead we bought a mattress which was 15% off regular price, so we got the most expensive one.

I had my doctors appointment, it was once again fairly quick. My main question and fear is how to deliver this baby naturally. I've been hearing way to many C-Section horror stories. The doctor gave me nothing. She said i'm healthy, I look good, my belly is cute. But nothing to tell me how I can make sure this baby is in the right position. I guess the baby still has room to grow and move around.

As you are aware I'm having some issues with my butt muscles, so Eman puts Vicks on it to make it feel better. I wanted to ask the doctor if there were any other creams that would work as well. We took this Indian product to her called Moove and Fast Relief, she looked at it, made a face and said "Turpentine Oil? Why do they have paint remover in this? Yeah I would suggest you stay away from this. Vicks is the safest to use or get a massage."

I am now 125 lbs! Man I haven't been that weight for 3 years now. Feels weird to know that I have to loose it all again.

7 months!

2012-01-11T15:36:00.000-05:00

January 2, 2012

I started my 28th week on New Years! 3 more months to go! This is insane. The closer I get to the date the scarier it is. I mean i'm pretty excited but the fact that I will be saying bye bye to my sleep for at least 30 years is freaking me out. I'm really trying my best to take naps and sleep as early as possible. I do not function well when I don't have sleep. My biggest fear is falling asleep while breast feeding and suffocating the baby.
Anyhow, enough of that, I started my 7th month jamming to some loud Bhangra music. Everyone at the party told me to stop dancing and to take it easy, but I couldn't have that! I was actually a lot better dancing and moving around than I was when everyone told me to sit down. As soon as I sat down my back would kill. I also wore a sari, now that i'm looking back at the pictures, maybe I shouldn't have. Our family parties are pretty fun, it's just a lot of pressure on our family because we are the ones organizing it. My brother and cousin were the DJ, Eman and I were the photographers, my Uncle is the MC and my cousins were the performers. The other 200 people who were in invited had to be entertained so that we could get their business next year- a very stressful event. Check out www.epgunara.com to see the portrait shots we took. My parents bought us a Nikon lighting kit for Christmas, so we tried it out on New Years.

I apologize this has nothing to do with pregnancy, let me get back on track.
This week was smooth except on Thursday my belly had grown so big that I couldn't get up. I didn't sleep all night because I was so uncomfortable. I had to take Friday off because I'm pretty sure I pulled a muscle or something in my ass. My mom had to come over and take care of me because I was in so much pain. The baby bump just exploded. I hate taking days off work, and I especially hate using pregnancy as an excuse. My goal is to stick around at work as long as possible. I'm on contract and I have to apply for EI, so I'm going to stay here as long as I can.

Anyhow, on Friday my bump exploded but by the weekend, my bump inverted! I was like 5 mths all over again. I was totally freaking out!

You won't believe what my mom did! It's actually pretty sad.. while I was napping on Friday, she noticed my half knitted blanket... she took it and finished it off while I was napping! My nap was literally 2 hours long. I suck..

FYI- On January 13th weekend there is the babyfest at Baby's R Us. Totally excited about that! :)

I'm finally done editing my Wedding video

2012-01-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

Yes, a year and four months later! I have finally finished it. Now when I mean finish, I mean I went through all the footage, cut out all the shaky camera shots, deleted boring scenes and synced the audio/video of both cameras. Now as you are all aware, I had a lot of events, but that wasn't the reason why it took so long to edit this wedding. Republic Films took a year to actually give me the footage and I didn't want to start editing my wedding video until I was done all of the work I had to do for them. So I technically only started editing my wedding video in late October. Once I was going through my wedding footage, I realized a lot of the footage was missing, this really pissed me off. I tried getting a hold of my Republic but that was just a fail, I worked on it as much as I could. Every day, I cried to Eman because the missing footage was bothering me so much and I just wanted this wedding out of the way. Since i'm pregnant, sitting down and editing take a lot out of me, my ass hurts so much! Working on the pre-wedding stuff was a breeze, I enjoyed watching all that footage. Damn did I cry a lot! But I was cringing to do the wedding day. I manned up and said to myself, "Mon, you have to do this before 2012 starts. You can't have this over your head, you need to cut clean from Republic and do this, even if some parts are missing, it's not that big of a deal. If you don't do it now, it'll linger.. and you don't want that." On Dec 30th, I finally finished all the editing! I even cut my lengthy, embarrassing speech short and cut out parts of the wedding that I could care less about. I was relieved! We put the pre-wedding events on a DVD and gave it to my parents. Now it is up to my mom to find the time and go through the footage and tell me what she wants to keep. Once we do that, I can make a short and mail it out to my family. But for all intense purposes, I am done!

27 Weeks- Third Trimester

2012-01-04T09:59:00.002-05:00

December 26, 2011

This is insane, where has the time gone? I can't believe I have 3 more months left. One of my other close friends is pregnant too, so this is really exciting! We are starting to work on the nursery, but very very slowly. We are also starting to get ready for the shower, I think the shower is looking more and more like a jam. We are having a co-ed baby shower, with booze and a DJ lol.
Because of the holidays, I keep forgetting to do my yoga every Sundays, and this is the most crucial time to do it because I can feel myself getting bigger. I think right now my number one fear is that the baby is going to be in a breech position or some other random position where the doctors are going to have to use some other method to take it out.
Other than that i'm feeling pretty good, healthy, upbeat. I'm excited to be a parent in the new year.. it's going to be epic!

26 Weeks

2011-12-30T09:51:00.002-05:00

December 19, 2011

Remember last week I was experiencing acid reflux well I tried tums and Gaviscon and Gaviscon caused constipation. So I thought, what would I rather do puke or not poo, and we all know with my experience I rather go with puking.

I had my last monthly doctors appointment on Friday, where I asked her what to do about my acid reflux problem and the doctor prescribed Zantac. Honestly, I hate taking meds, so I googled other ways of getting rid of it and some people suggested stretching, so that's what I did. Every day after my meals I take a shower and stretch my side my core and my chest, it seems to open up everything and I am able to burp properly. I don't feel so congested. The doctors appointment was quick, the baby is growing fine and I'm 121 lbs.

This week I started having a lot of problems sleeping, my lower back and ass are starting to hurt a little at night. The baby kicks so much at night time that I feel like no matter what position i'm in its uncomfortable. So now I have started sleeping with the belly band, this way I feel that the baby is snug and secured. I figured if i'm comfortable all day at work wearing my jeans/dress pants with the pants then I should do the same when I'm sleeping, and it works!

Since it was the week before Christmas, I walked around a lot in the mall! There were so many bratty kids, crying and screaming, i'm not going to lie, it scared me a little bit. This Christmas, would be mine and Eman's last Christmas as just a married couple- sounds weird. Next year, we'll have a little one crawling around. You know thinking that this would be our last I thought it would also be the last time we will be getting any gifts, but we got nothing! lol... the baby got everything.. and its not even born yet! Jealous much, yes I am.. don't judge.

My parents bought the baby a crib. We picked it out from Babies R' Us. I researched all week to get a good deal on a crib, the one I saw was a simple crib priced $210 from $299. When we got there, Eman fell in love with this...

It was on sale from $500 to $350. The crib is epic! It's huge! When we went to pay, the cashier is like what are you driving, we're like an SUV and she's like yeah you need a pick up truck to take the crib!
So the next day we rented a kidnapping van from UHaul, it still didn't fit! Then Eman had to take it out of the box and then put it in. The head board is the size of our car, insane! Anyways, $50 later it was at our house. Eman and his brother put it together.

Then Eman's parents bought the baby a high chair

Luckily, we won't be needing this until 6 months.

Regardless, Christmas was quiet this year because of Eman's uncle passing away. We just had our two families over for lunch. Lex had injured his leg again and was sooo mopey all Christmas, it was pretty sad seeing him not get excited when people came or beg for food. Poor guy keeps spraining his one back leg. :(

25 weeks and Acid Reflux

2011-12-21T14:53:00.001-05:00

December 12, 2012

This week has been pretty tough. This week I was introduced to acid reflux. At first, I thought I just couldn't burp properly, every time I burped, food was coming up. The only way to feel better was to puke everything out. All weekend I spent my evenings puking out my dinner. Because I had that feeling I wasn't able to sleep for days, I was so exhausted. I tried Tums and it didn't work and now i'm trying Gaviscon. It's helping somewhat, but I also have to look at what I eat. So no more oranges and cherry tomatoes. Weirdly enough milk does it too. I started having warm milk to help me sleep, I also started having bananas for more potassium because everyone kept saying my leg cramps are due to lack of potassium, but since then I started having this acid reflux problem. So i've cut out my milk intake as well :( In the mornings, when I have cereal and milk, I can feel the cereal just wanting to come up through my esophagus. People say acid reflux happens because the baby is now growing hair.. others say "Monica, where do you read all this stupid crap from?" I don't know what to believe in anymore.
My belly is getting bigger, but some people still keep telling me that I don't look that big. I'm slowly approaching my third trimester! Isn't that crazy. I'm really excited i'm not going to lie. I know all I write about are the problems i'm facing, but if I just keep telling you that pregnancy is great and I don't feel anything, that would be a lie and my blog posts wouldn't be very interesting. But truthfully the experience has been soo amazing. I love watching myself grow everyday, I love seeing the baby move and kick, it's the cutest thing. Recently, between 8am-9am I put classical music on my iPod and put the headphones in my belly band and make the baby hear it. Hey, I hate classical music and there is no way i'm going to listen to that crap but if it'll make the baby smarter, they are going to be forced to listen to it. I know i'm crazy, but fun crazy. eek...
Also, since I have a heater inside me i'm always craving for something cold, ie ice cream aka baskin robbins double kids scoop mint chocolate and rocky road .. yummmmm... but because of the acid reflux i've had to stop that too! so sad...

6 months!

2011-12-14T15:28:00.002-05:00

December 5, 2012

Oh this is sooo exciting... i'm at my 6 months.. 4 more months to go and I can have this little person who has been kicking me from the inside out of me..
This week has been like every other week, however, sleep is becoming harder and harder to achieve. I just realized that I have some pictures that I took throughout some of the weeks that I didn't attach to my blog, so i'll put those up.
We have officially stopped going to prenatal class. We missed this weeks, which was about fatherhood. Eman didn't think he needed a course to help him with that. We all know he will be a wicked dad. He already has two kids now. He looks after me and Lex. Poor Lex's back leg is sprained so he is scared to go up and down stairs, and in our kitchen where the tiles are. He just mopes and sleeps all day long now, it's so sad. I worry that I won't be able to handle staying home with a new born and Lex. Lex barely listens to me now.
I also had my gestational diabetes test which lasted over 2 hours! I wasn't allowed to eat 12 hours prior to the test, so I was starving by 10 am. I had at least 15 viles of blood taken out of me. When they tested my fat around my biceps, triceps and back, I was in the low range, which is good. My weight now is about 118 lbs. I had to drink this highly concentrated orange drink, and while I was waiting for an hour I knitted. They were all very impressed with me, they had never seen anyone wait and knit before. The results came back negative, meaning I don't have diabetes. However, they did notice that my body is producing a lot of white blood cells, meaning my body is fighting off some sort of infection. Obviously, i'm paranoid with me being GPS positive and all. My next doctors appointment is in 2 weeks, i'll have more information by then.

I had the worst calf muscle cramp ever! It actually screwed me up for the entire weekend. I can handle the back aches, the butt muscle aches, but after getting those I just want to shoot myself .

On a side note of irritation, my parents have visited my place 3 times since pregnancy and expect me to come every weekend. I am on strike...

All that hair growth paid off

2011-12-07T15:52:00.000-05:00

I know it's a month late, but I got lazy to scan it. I'm finally cleaning my desk for our cubicle Christmas decorating contest, and I found the letter.

Name Change :(

2011-12-06T14:22:00.001-05:00

Okay so after a year and three months, I finally changed my name to Eman's last name. I'm not going to lie I actually cried at the Service Ontario office. I was not a happy camper for at least 3 days. The moment she told me to change my signature, my heart broke. I've been a Sallan my whole life and then all of a sudden, gone just like that. I know I told Eman that I would change it to his last name, but I didn't think it would hurt this much. Everyone knows me as Sallan, my "reporter" name is Sallan. I couldn't even change it to a middle name or hyphenate it because it would be soooo frickn long. I also didn't think it would be that easy to go and change it. So far I changed my drivers license and health card. I haven't officially changed my birth certificate, and I don't think I will. So I guess I just assumed his name, but still, it's sad.
I guess the reason why it hurts for a girl to change her name is because that's the only thing left that keeps her tied to her family. I know i'm being dramatic, but seriously, i'm so proud to be a Sallan. My mom said it pinched her when she had to change her last name. To make me feel better the lady at Service Ontario was like don't cry, men are jerks, they don't do anything but show up to things, lol.

Week 23

2011-12-06T13:31:00.002-05:00

November 28, 2011

This child is a crazy athlete inside me. I actually can see the baby moving inside me, its the coolest thing. Instead of watching TV or knitting the baby blanket, I sometimes just stop everything and stare at my stomach and talk to it. It reacts to my voice, it's the cutest thing. I managed to record it. At 4 seconds you can see my tummy move. Please don't mind the hairy belly, I swear my stomach isn't like that normally. God damn hormones.

My boobs are really itchy no matter how much I moisturize them. I don't know what to do, I itch them at night time because i'm so tired and I do it subconsciously. Also, I forgot to mention that a couple of weeks ago I started get really bad cramps/ muscle spasms in my calves. They were so bad that I have bruising on them. They happen in the middle of the night and they wake me up. Another thing is how bad my eye sight has gotten. I can't recognize depth. For example, when I look in the mirror without my glasses on, I can't tell that i'm pregnant, I have to look sideways. I can't tell whether people are pregnant or fat or skinny. Actually everyone looks skinny to me these days. Everything is so 2 dimensional, I bang into everything.

As for food, I love Burger Kings whopper and Wild Wings garpar fries and spicy garpar wings. However, I am cooking a lot more and I do still eat healthy.

Prenatal Course
This week was very interesting, we talked about breast feeding. We watched a video with women who had really big tits and nipples, really uncomfortable. It was funny because all the guys were like do we have to watch this lol. So weird. But there were some good techniques, ie, placing the nose to the nipple and letting the baby come up to it, holding techniques, knowing when to feed the baby, ie, when the baby opens it's mouth, or when it has it's hands in it's mouth.
For the first few months you have to feed the baby 8-12 feedings in 24 hours, the first few days every half hour. Ugh, i'm already feeling exhausted. I asked my mom if she breast fed me, and she said yeah but only for a few months because I didn't want you getting attached to me. WTF? And plus my dad hated the idea of breast feeding. My mom is surprised that I actually want to breast feed.

Another thing about prenatal class- I suggest who ever decides to go to these things, take a weekend course because once a week after work in the evening for 2 hours may cause conflict between you and your partner. Your partner is probably more willing to stick it out that one weekend instead of going to it every week. Every week Eman and I debate about going to them. I want to go, and he, for right reasons, is tired to go. We drive from Toronto for 2 hours, come home, grab food, spend time with the dog for an hour and then off we go for 2 hours- it can be exhausting. The worst part is, he does all the learning, I am so forgetful that I actually learn very little. Eman is the one answering all the questions!

Week 22

2011-12-01T11:29:00.001-05:00

November 21, 2011

Wow time is flying by quickly. The little one is growing, I can feel it wanting to come out sometimes. This week we had a scare however, on Thursday we went to my parents house and I was wearing boots. I took the boots off in the car and I was too lazy to put them back on, so Eman said he would pick me up and take me inside the house. The first time he did it, I was fine, but when we were coming back to the car, he picked me up in a way where my stomach got a little squished. I couldn't feel the baby kicking for over 12 hours, I was freaking out! And i'm sure you know how overly dramatic I can be and how overly concerned I can be, luckily the next day we were going to go see the doctors. Eman felt so bad, he was just trying to be nice.. moral of the story don't be lazy.. put on your boots...
Anyhow, we went to the docs and she confirmed the sex and told us that the baby is developing perfectly! The first thing I wanted to do was here it's heartbeat because I was concerned with what had happened the night before. When I told the doc she got concerned as well and booked me an emergency ultrasound appointment.
So in week 18 when I had my ultrasound the baby was in a breech/frank position meaning the baby's bum is aimed toward the birth canal and the legs are sticking straight up in front of the body. This is not the position you want your baby to be in, but luckily because there is a lot of room in there and the baby is swimming around, the baby i'm hoping will move to normal position which is head towards the birth canal. If not, then I will be forced to have a C-Section.
On the sheet, it says that they were able to see everything, and everything looked good! The baby fetal growth percentile is 41% which apparently is really good considering South Asians have really small babies.

These are some of the questions I asked the doc:
Can I take my exercise ball to the hospital: Yes
Do I get to take an enema before birth so don't crap on the bed: No
Am I really GPS positive (strep bacteria): Yes, but they will do another test in my 36th week
Where is my placenta: in the back
Why are my lymph nodes sore: because my boobs are growing

We went to the ultrasound an hour later, and it was an in/out thing. I got to see the baby again, it was moving, it was actually sucking its' thumb.. soo cute..
Unfortunately, Eman couldn't see it, as the technician said, "I don't have time to put on a show." lol.. wow.. rude much..

Anyhow, this week's Prenatal Class was about C-sections. They seem to be really frowned upon. The only thing I learned that class was if you have had 3 C-sections, you shouldn't have anymore kids unless it's going to be natural because C-sections really eff up your system. And also, did you know that teenage girls think its fashionable to have c-sections so that it doesn't screw up their lady parts! WTF?

21 Weeks

2011-11-22T13:53:00.001-05:00

November 14, 2011

This week has been pretty laid back. Nothing has changed in my body except for dry nose which leads to a little bit of a nose bleeding. But other than that pregnancy has been good this week. The baby is definitely growing, kicks are getting stronger, and I can feel my skin stretching. Everyone thinks it's a boy... I'm sorry I really do want to tell you but I think i'm going to just have to keep this one as a secret...

Prenatal Classes
We watched birthing videos, yuk! I think this is the first time I saw a baby coming out of a vagina.. so gross.. I swear I have the maturity level of a 12 year old. I couldn't stop giggling and pointing at the ugly women in the videos! I know i'm horrible. But I told Eman that if I look like that during labor just bitch slap me because I refuse to look so gross. The faces the women were making and the noises, ugh!
The videos showed how to deal with labor pains some were doing exercises, some were on a yoga ball or birthing ball, some were walking and they even suggested slow dancing with your partner. I will not do that! Actually, the whole experience made me double think on whether or not I want Eman there. I don't want him to see when i'm so vulnerable, so unattractive. Hopefully, a lot of the people come to the hospital so he can attend to them and completely forget about me. I don't want anyone seeing me weak. I deal with pain better on my own, when I have an audience, I feel like I have to perform.

5 months! Half way mark :)

2011-11-15T10:18:00.006-05:00

November 7, 2011

Wow 20 weeks! I'm half way there, how cool is that. This week has been pretty interesting.
No special cravings, but I think both Eman and I are pasta'd out. I mean I can still eat it but I think Eman was kill me if I cook it again.

Prenatal Classes
In our second class we talked out preterm labor, meaning giving birth to preemie babies, babies born before the 37 week mark. Preterm labor can happen to anyone. We learned about the terms associated with birth. We also learned how to create a birth plan. I had created mine a couple of months ago, I know i'm a keener. I googled birth plan online and went to BirthPlan.com, this is what I came up with

Birth Plan

Due Date: 03/25/2012
Patient of Dr. Banerjee
Scheduled to deliver at Brampton Civic Hospital

Labor

I would like to be free to walk around during labor.
I wish to be able to move around and change position at will throughout labor.
I would like to be able to have fluids by mouth throughout the first stage of labor.
I will be bringing my own music to play during labor.
I do not want an IV unless I become dehydrated.

Labor Augmentation/Induction

I do not wish to have the amniotic membrane ruptured artificially unless signs of fetal distress require internal monitoring.
If labor is not progressing, I would like to have the amniotic membrane ruptured before other methods are used to augment labor.
I would prefer to be allowed to try changing position and other natural methods (walking, nipple stimulation) before Pitocin is administered.

Anesthesia/Pain Medication

I realize that many pain medications exist. I'll ask for them if I need them.
Before considering an epidural, and if the situation warrants, I would like to try an injection of narcotic pain relief (Nubain, Demerol, Stadol or similar).

Cesarean

Unless absolutely necessary, I would like to avoid a Cesarean.
If a Cesarean delivery is indicated, I would like to be fully informed and to participate in the decision-making process.
I would like Eman present at all times if Junior requires a Cesarean delivery.
I wish to have an epidural for anesthesia.
So I can view the birth, I would like the screen lowered just before delivery of Junior.
If Junior is not in distress, Junior should be given to Eman immediately after birth.

Episiotomy

I would prefer not to have an episiotomy unless absolutely required for Junior's safety.
I am hoping to protect the perineum. I am practicing ahead of time by squatting, doing Kegel exercises and perineal massage.
I would appreciate guidance in when to push and when to stop pushing so the perineum can stretch.
If possible, I would like to use perineal massage to help avoid the need for an episiotomy.
I would like a local anesthetic to repair a tear or an episiotomy.

Delivery

I would like to be allowed to choose the position in which I give birth, including squatting.
I would like Eman and/or nurses to support me and my legs as necessary during the pushing stage.
I would like to try to deliver in a hands-and-knees position.
I would like a mirror available so I can see Junior's head when it crowns.

Immediately After Delivery

I would like to have Eman cut the cord.
I would like to hold Junior for at least 15 minutes before (he/she) is photographed, examined, etc.
I would like to have Junior evaluated and bathed in my presence.
I would prefer to hold Junior rather than have (him/her) placed under heat lamps.
After the birth, I would prefer to be given a few moments of privacy to urinate on my own before being catheterized.

Postpartum

I would like to have Junior "room in" after I have had some time to recover.
I would like Junior with me during the day but in the nursery at night.
I would like Junior with me during the day but in the nursery at night, but brought to me for breastfeeding. (Note: be sure to check the breastfeeding preferences below.)

Breastfeeding

I plan to breastfeed Junior and would like to begin nursing very shortly after birth.
Unless medically necessary, I do not wish to have any bottles given to Junior (including glucose water or plain water).
I do not want Junior to be given a pacifier.
I would like to meet with a lactation consultant.

Other

My support person(s) is/are Kajil Sallan and I would like them to be present during labor and/or delivery.

Now this is a very long birth plan, in prenatal class we were told to make it a 1 pager and to be flexible just in case none of this is possible. But this gives you an example of what a birthplan might look like.

New things that I learned this class:

3rd hand smoking is apparently just as bad as 1st and 2nd hand smoking. When smokers hold your baby after they just finished a cigarette, the carbon dioxide from the smoke is still in their system and it can be transferred to the baby. This can cause SIDS, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. They recommend that after having a smoke wait at least 15 minutes, brush your teeth and change your clothes before handling the baby.

Toxoplasmosis- Cats feces has a parasite that can be transferred to the mother, so you need to be careful and make sure you don't change the cat litter, have someone else change it.

This week was also the BabyTimesShow at the Metro Convention Center. Alright, so before I tell you this story I want to confess to you that Eman and I cheated and kinda found out the sex of the baby. I know we were supposed to find out at the doctors in a couple of weeks, but Eman and I are very random, so why not find out in a very random way. We were heading to the show and we decided mutually, you know just in case there is something we really need to buy that is a good deal, that is gender specific, then we should find out the sex. So we thought why not give the doctors office a call and see if they could tell us. We were so excited! We call and the receptionist goes through my files, she says "the hospital didn't write the sex of the baby down." I'm like "WHAT?, We specifically told the technician to write it down." I even told her that the reason we needed it is because we're going shopping for the baby and we need to find out the sex, she laughed of course. She said she would call the hospital for us and see if she could find out. We were really disappointed :( We get to the show and as we are giving the tickets to the ticket holder, the doctor office calls... I put it on speakerphone.. "Hi Monica, yes I found out and you are having a "....."! I had tears coming down my eyes, I was so happy. I know you guys want to know but sorry I haven't told my family yet so I can't really tell you guys. Give it a couple of months :)

Anyhow, so when we went to the show we had no prior knowledge about Car Seats and Strollers. The first vendor there was SnuggleBugz, a Canadian baby retail store. This one guy literally spent an hour with us explaining the differences between all the brands and gizmo and gadgets of car seats and strollers. After going through the whole show we decided to buy the stroller and car seat from them. We got a Peg Preggo car seat for $270 and a UPPABaby Stroller with Bassinet for $679. We also bought a Baby Ganoosh for the stroller. All together it came to $1000. The car seat can fit into the stroller, which is very convenient.

I have also been doing a lot of research on cloth diapers. I don't have much faith in Pampers or Huggies, I know the whole world uses them but since I was brought up with cloth diapers, I thought i'd try it out on my little one. From the show, we saw this one company called G diapers. They are cloth diapers, you can use inserts that you can wash or use the inserts that are biodegradable and you can flush them down the toilet. We will try them out and see whether or not they are easy to use. Apparently, you spend $3000 on diapers! Yikes...

Another interesting thing that happened this weekend is that the baby is kicking a lot and the baby's back is pressed against my stomach so I can actually cup it. The baby's back literally is popping out! It's the coolest thing ever! However, there are times when it is pressing down on my uterus and I have to pee every 5 seconds. At work, every time I get up it pushes down, its so uncomfortable. But now that I know what the sex is I can start buying clothes :) so excited!!!

Look what I can do! I can knit :)

2011-11-07T16:04:00.000-05:00

It all started about a year ago, my coworker buddy started knitting.. she was going buck wild, knitting scarves, cowls, hats, blankets, everything... and one day I said damn I would like to learn how to knit.. you know things you say but you don't think you will really do...
This year, her genius idea was to teach the staff how to knit for a United Way event. And me being me, had to come on top of this, when I do something I want to be a super pro at it.
She taught us how to knit a simple dishcloth. So now I know a few things about patterns, casting on, knitting and pearling.
This is my first dish cloth, i'm quite proud of it... it took me about 5 days to make working on and off on it.

And then I told her, dude I need to knit a baby blanket!.. She said no, do another dishcloth, you need practice before you do something that big... grr.. so a week later I knit my second one..in this one I learned how to drop pearls to create a different effect...

All I have to say is Bibi (grandma) move out of the way!!!

Week 19

2011-11-07T15:39:00.003-05:00

October 31, 2011

It's been a slow week..
nothing out of the ordinary has happened except that I puked once this week after almost 2 months of not puking.
i've been eating a lot of pasta! too much pasta.. i love minced beef.. i don't like anything else.. it's really sad, i was looking through my finances and this baby is making me poor and it hasn't even been born yet! All I do is buy groceries and buy food.. i'm not going to lie, it's stressing me out just a little bit..

We started our first prenatal classes, it was quite exciting. For 2 hours every Tuesday for 7 weeks, Eman and I are taking free prenatal classes at the Brampton Library. There are 8 couples in the class, and of course we are one of the loudest there. Our first class was an introduction, we told the facilitators what we expect to learn in the class and we talked about emotion, physical and sexual changes we see in ourselves. It was pretty funny, the guys got together and discussed what types of changes they see in us and the girls got together and did the same thing. When we collaborated, the guys were being very politically correct. They said that we are moody, where I said that we are just simply bitchy.. they said that sometimes we want sex and sometimes we don't, I wrote we're horny or turned off... they said bigger breasts, I wrote bigger boobs... you get the jist.. it was really funny... i'm really looking forward to these classes... we got a big package of pamphlets and books..

Few things that I learned that I didn't know before:
- we have to pay $20 for a kit at the Brampton Hospital for labour
- if your nipples are itchy and you are lactating you can use the milk to sooth your nipples

For the past 2 weeks I have also started doing prenatal yoga and Pilates, however, I do it at home via YouTube, check these links out, I think they're great, I do the Pilates every Sunday and I try to do the half hour yoga twice a week if I can... however, no matter what I always do 10 minutes of stretches every night to ease the tension in my pelvic area

Enjoy!

Week 18

2011-11-01T14:48:00.001-04:00

October 24

This week started off exciting and then ended horribly.
On Monday we had our monthly doctors appointment. The good thing is that I finally got my results back from the down syndrome test, and it's good news to hear that the baby is developing great and does not have down syndrome. Eman and I were very relieved to hear that. This time around I had so many questions and I missed a few!

My gums are getting swollen, is there chances of me getting gum disease? Can I go to the dentist?- She said it's pretty common for my gums to swell up and that I can go to the dentist just warn them that i'm pregnant because my gums will probably bleed a lot during the cleaning.

I read that it's bad to sleep on your back, and that sleeping on your left side is the best way to sleep, but It's hard not to sleep on my back and my body looses feelings when I sleep on my left/right side for a long period, what do I do?- She said that I can sleep however i'm comfortable sleeping, though eventually my body won't allow me to sleep on my back because it'll hurt, try whatever is comfortable because it's important for the mother to get sleep.

I lost focus in my right eye, will it come back?- She said shes heard of women having eyesight problems during pregnancy but i'm her first patient that has had it. She said that it usually get's better, but it's good that I went to the optometrist to get it looked at.

What's up with the hair on my stomach- She said that unfortunately because we are brown the line on our stomach gets darker, white people have it too but you don't see it on some. When she saw my stomach she looked at me and said what hair? I think I may have offended her because what i consider hairy and what she has seen, is completely different. So apparently i'm just being paranoid.

My allergies are killing me- She said that when I need to, to take Benedryl (so far in my pregnancy I have had 3 benedryl's, I feel horrible, but I can't function without it)

I think I might have Diabetes, can we test for that?- She said she never tested me for it because I had no trace of Diabetes in my family, but she said that there is a new study going on in Brampton that is testing Diabetes in pregnant women and she wanted me to participate in it. And of course me being me said sure. So now on Dec 6th, I will be getting tested for Diabetes. The reason why I think I have diabetes is because I drink lots of coke, my vision sucks, I loose circulation in my legs, arms and feet all the time. She said there is no harm in checking.

We heard the baby's heartbeat, it was at 140 and I checked my weight and I am now 112, I gained 4 lbs!
The baby is constantly kicking, to the point that Eman can actually feel it kick, it's the cutest thing ever. Is it bad that I like drinking coke because it get's the baby hyper and then it kicks and then i know that it's doing okay? I know i'm bad right ugh... i've stopped my coke intake a lot because I started getting acne on my chin and I always develop acne on my face when I drink to much coke or eat chocolate.

On Wednesday, we had our second ultrasound. It lasted 2 hours! The technician was a newbee and it took her forever to find the baby's body parts, not to mention the baby was moving around and being an acrobat inside me! It must have been the coke and orange juice.. i know so bad!
Anyhow, poor Eman was waiting outside for an hour thinking something went wrong, eventually he was allowed to come in.

Here are a few pics of junior. And no we don't know the sex of the baby because hospitals aren't allowed to tell you, only clinics tell you. So we will probably find out at our next doctors appointment.

Look at it's lips! So cute!

I wasn't impressed by this picture, it looks scary,
actually it looks like Carnage

Look at it's feet! :)

So after the ultrasound, this is where it get's shitty, Eman get's me sick again! So all weekend I was dying and miserable. I can't sleep on our king size anymore in our bedroom, so Eman brought our Queen size mattress in the living room, infront of the tv. Now we both sleep peacefully in our living room, I know we sound like meth addicts, but it's so comfortable and we're both getting sleep.
Eman needs to stop getting me sick... I love the guy but seriously, it hurts when I cough, sneeze and since i'm too scared to take meds it takes longer to feel better.

On a side note my sister got her tonsils and andnoids taken out :( Poor girl. She's so cute, after her surgery the first thing she asked my mom was if I was there yet, and when my mom said no, she would go back to sleep. She woke up every hour asking if I was there, until I actually got there. I love her...she will always be my first child.

Handy Mat Clothes Accessories

2011-10-27T15:11:00.000-04:00

Two things that have helped me expand my wardrobe without spending a whole lot of money are these two products. I bought them off of Amazon.com, because they are at least $20 cheaper, with shipping and handling, than they are at the store.

Belly Bands (2) Black and White

Baby Belt 4 sizes

Week 17

2011-10-25T08:57:00.001-04:00

October 17, 2011

This week was pretty easy going. I guess what they say is right after 4 mths, your system does seem better. I still wear the anti-nausea wrist bands because of the driving, but now I can multi-task in the car, like text messaging or even listening to Eman talk lol.
I've noticed that i'm breaking out a lot on my chin, I think it's because of all the coke I drink. I never used to drink this much coke, and when I say this much, I just mean a can a day. I think there is too much sugar in my system, I tend to break out when I have a lot of coke. So I need to stop that.
Though I have to admit, the coke does make the baby super hyper and the baby is kicking a lot these days! It's so cool, it's so hard to explain the feeling. Everyday between 7 and 8, the baby is moving around like an acrobat! When i'm at home, I literally sit with my belly exposed and have one hand on my belly just feeling the baby kick. Eman joins in once in awhile. The baby's kick is actually so strong, that Eman can feel it now.
Craving of the week is East Side Mario's Spaghetti Bolognese, i've had it atleast 3 times this week, and then I went to Frankie Tomato's and had more. And then I made more on the weekend. Needless to say minced beef is back into my diet, meaning I can eat Taco Bell :)

Happy Birthday to an Amazing Husband!

2011-10-18T14:04:00.000-04:00

I have known you for 3 years now, and every day I have thanked God for sending me an angel. I can't imagine life without you. You support me everyday through the ups and downs. You always have a way of making me laugh, even when i'm in a cranky mood. It's amazing to see how people light up when they see you. Even though, I get jealous of all the attention you get, inside i'm really proud to know how loved you are. And i'm even more proud to be your wife.
Thank you for these past wonderful years, and I can't wait so spend more birthdays with you.
Happy Birthday Handsome!

4 months!

2011-10-18T11:45:00.001-04:00

October 10, 2011

Yay! I have passed 16 weeks. It's so crazy!
Remember I said last week that my right eye was giving me a lot of problems and I should go to an optometrist, well I did, and I wasn't going crazy, my right eye had lost focus! I have been straining my right eye from all the editing and now it has finally given in. I had to get new prescriptions. The eye doctor said I have to wear them all the time because my eye sight has gotten worst :(

I still haven't received the blood results for the down syndrome test, i'll probably have to wait until my doctors appointment on the 26th, which blows.

Weird things i'm noticing with my body is that I have these freckles all over my neck.. or tiny skin tags not sure.. but its gross..they're everywhere! Also, my stomach is getting really hairy, like I feel like the baby's hair is coming through the placenta and on to my stomach.

Sleep is not my friend. When I sleep on my left side my left foot falls asleep and I wake up because my foot is hurting. And when I sleep on my back, my back hurts, when I sleep on my right my whole right side goes numb. I need to find a good way to sleep.

Craving of the week: Burger King's croissontwich- egg and cheese.. yumm..

I can't stop sneezing! I am definitely developing some sort of allergies. I sneeze so much and so hard that my uterus hurts.

Week 15

2011-10-11T14:33:00.002-04:00

October 3, 2011

Well since i've been taking my meds regularly and wearing the anti-nausea wrist bands i'm doing pretty good- But I will be stopping the pills by the end of this week

Few changes that I have been noticing however, is that nipples and boobs are super sore.. and I need to start wearing panty liners.. if you know what i'm saying.. Eman says I give way to much information but people need to know!

This week my favorite foods are Nachos with chilli and Spinach Cheese Dip.. yum!

I'm growing! At work people are actually noticing that i'm getting bigger, it could be the new maternity clothes I bought lol..

I had to take another blood test on Wednesday, it is the second part to the down syndrome test- I am patiently waiting for the results

This week I had a new ailment during pregnancy, I am having blurry vision in my right eye! So annoying. It was my cousins b'day party at my house and I could barely last until 10 pm. I was sneezing and had itchy eyes, I wanted to shoot my eyes out. It lasted all weekend.

I had to take Benedryl and eye drops for my allergies because I couldn't stop sneezing.

I need to go to an eye doctor!

Go Vote!

2011-10-06T14:05:00.000-04:00

Whether it be for the Liberals, Conservatives or the NDP (Voting for the Green would seriously be a waste, no offense) just go vote!

If you still don't know who to vote for check out CBC's website

It's a similar tool used during the Federal elections.

Enjoy!

Congrats Jo and Eric

2011-10-03T09:27:00.000-04:00

My friend from J-School got married to her love Eric this weekend. It was such a perfect wedding for those two, I couldn't be happier for them.
Our friends from Edmonton came down, so we chilled and had a little reunion. I miss those girls, it was fun just chilling like we did at Western.
The day was quite a challenge for me, it was my first wedding during pregnancy, and I should have packed lots of snacks with me. I barely ate. We went to a thai restaurant, and I didn't really like the taste of the Pad Thai and then went home and had a few fruits. But in the evening, I didn't like anything at the reception. I had pre-ordered a Vegetarian meal, it looked soooo good but my taste buds just didn't want anything to do with it. Eman had to go to the car and get me crackers. I warned everyone that my grumpy time was 9 pm, and that i'll want to go home by then. But with the speeches, games, entertainment, I lasted till 10:30. We were about to leave when all of a sudden they started playing some wicked tunes, and of course the old Monica came out. I danced for about an hour, mind you, I had to hold my stomach the entire time because it felt like my belly, which isn't even big, was weighing me down. It took me all day Sunday to recover. I need to start doing some prenatal yoga.
Regardless, Congrats Jo and Eric! We love you and can't wait till you make cute little Asian babies.. :)

Week 14

2011-10-03T09:02:00.001-04:00

September 25, 2011

I'm still throwing up and feeling nauseous in the car. I know I should be taking my Diclectin everyday so that I can eat and no throw everything up, but i'm still scared that it will hurt the baby. I think after tomorrow's doctors appointment i'll feel a little better, hoping that everything is okay with the baby.
I bought this anti-nausea wrist bands from Shoppers because the car rides are always brutal. I'll try it out for a week and let you guys know if it actually works.
Eman does acupressure on me everyday, it works for me, try it out. On this diagram you will see pressure points, when i'm sneezing, have a headache, feeling nauseous or have stomach aches, Eman presses on those points, and the pain does go away.

--So we went to the doctors today, the baby seems to be healthy, the heart beat is at 150 and my weight has gone from 106 to 107lbs, which is good considering i've been throwing everything up. My belly is growing just fine :) However, the doctor mentioned a few things that is causing me a little bit of stress right now. Due to my on going bladder issues, I have Group B Strep (MGS) bacteria in my urine. That means during labour if I don't take anti-biotics the infection can be transferred to the baby and it can be life threatening. Usually you would get tested for this bacteria few weeks before labour, but since it's already in my system the doctor is going to make sure I have the anti-biotics IV'd into me when giving birth.

Another concern she had was that I do not have any immunity to Rubella or German measles.
I took the shot when I was younger but the affects of it has worn off, and now i'm pregnant I can't take it, so let's just pray that I don't get infected and nothing gets passed on to the baby. So before you decide to get pregnant, make sure you are up-to date on all your vaccinations.

Man this sucks... On the flip side it was really cool to hear the heartbeat again :)

--okay it's the end of the week.. i'm feeling great! No nausea and i'm eating! I guess the pills and the anti-nausea wrist bands are working! :)