Life as We Know It

New Blog Address

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:19:00 +0000

All

I have a new blog address - things are changing slightly

to continue to read updates - go to www.louisadominique.com/blog

39 weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 02:34:00 +0000

Well after the roller coaster ride since week 33, we have made it to 39 weeks! Much to our and every ones amazement! When this all initially happened I stopped doing the bump updates - its was too much for us and I was on bed rest, so pictures became less of a priority. This week though I have had so many requests to see the bump! So here it is, in all its glory - skip back a few weeks, its quite a bit bigger! Jesse took the pics - I love them.............. funny that I am not really looking at the camera in these, I took the time to put make up on too!

I have a couple of backdated posts coming this week - looks like I will still be blogging on this a few more times, till my new blog is up and running!


39 week belly bump - In our finished nursery - overlooking the crib waiting for baby g	irl

Just for fun - sitting in the glider, reading up on what to expect ;)

Same picture as the zoomed in one above, but more of the crib

Nursery Reveal

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 10 Apr 2013 16:24:00 +0000

Our Nursery is complete (well minus baby girl).

I put a lot of thought into the plan for this nursery and started to formulate how I wanted it to look after I reached week 20. We didn't really start on it until week 29 though (after we took our trip down to Indiana for our baby shower). Its been so much fun, and I find myself just going into the room several times a day and standing there, or sitting in the chair.

We hope you like it, we have both decided we are completely in love with this room and it is by far the best room in our whole house :)

This is as wide I could get it angle of the Nursery, the following pictures give you the full nursery tour.

Our Crib
Isn't it just lovely. It took me a long time to decide on a crib, we had originally registered for one from Babies R Us and I am so glad that I looked around more, this is more me, clean lines, clean look and I love the fact that is has a drawer for extra storage (which we happen to need - because we literally were gifted 12 blankets so far ;).

We bought the frames from IKEA - I wish we had bought more, I LOVE these frames and I wish I had them all over our home.
The Flower and butterfly mobile is actually a light chandelier, but it works for what I want it to do. I couldn't decide on this for the longest time and finally I just went for it - I am so glad I did.
The polka dot theme happened by accident, my Aunt made the blanket that you see hanging on the side of the crib and I found the sheet in a store. I love the way it looks.
The crib is probably one of my favorite pieces in the room, we bought it online from Walmart, gifted from my mum.
The shh baby sleeping sign was from the baby shower that Natasha did for me when I was in England over Christmas.

Some details around the room
Picture of Jesse and I when we did our pictures for the gender reveal. I can't believe I was ever that small!
The three pictures in a row are from our engagement photos that my friend Chelsea took, the one in the middle is probably my favorite photo of me EVER. Jesse took this picture when I was 29 weeks pregnant. I LOVE it and I am so happy that I have this picture to give her in years to come. I have always wanted a maternity photo to pass down to my child after watching the movie 'The Family Stone'

More room details, the Expedit book shelf and white boxes are from IKEA.
The dresser was gifted to us from a work colleague who was taking it to Goodwill. I am also completely in love with this. It was a maple type look and Jesse primed and painted it for me, then we bought wood drawer pulls and stained them to match the drawer on the crib. The best thing is that this gives us so much space AND it doubles up as a changing table. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
The changing table mat has a polka dot cover, and it matches PERFECTLY with the polka dot crib sheet and blanket.
The lady bug outfit is for a newborn - I am guessing that baby girl will not fit into this, given how much they told us she weighed 5 weeks ago now, but its cute anyway and I liked it for the photos.

Our bookshelf is from IKEA, I love this little reading/nursing nook

The Wardrobe (Closet)
Jesse put this together, we took out the standard shelf and hanging pole that builders put in homes and we custom built this. Again, it gives us so much more space - which is perfect because our house is truly tiny, and this nursery room is super small. I love opening the doors to this wardrobe, it overwhelms me with cuteness. I can't wait for her to wear some of these clothes.

So now we wait for baby girl to come home and enjoy the Nursery that her parents lovingly put together over many weeks :)

We are super excited to meet her!!

Busy busy

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 01:45:00 +0000

Its been busy since Easter weekend................ I will give a quick update and then I have some more detailed posts for later in the week.

On Good Friday I went for my weekly check up and the doctor took me off bed rest. one of the side effects that goes with bed rest is swelling, my hands and feet were fine - but my face had puffed up like crazy. Unfortunately that and a couple of other things were signs of some mild pre-eclampsia. Seeing as I was almost to 37 weeks at that point, she said ok lets get you up and moving but nothing crazy. YAY!!! up and moving!

I have to say though - it didn't feel great - 3.5 weeks of bed rest at that point had me feeling weak and sluggish, but i mustered up the energy to start doing something, short walks around the street near my house and then doing things around the house. I am still on a creating space in our tiny 1000 sq ft home, so I had Jesse get some large totes from the store and I started putting things in them that we don't use. Then we went into our FREEZING garage and I basically sat and directed Jesse (poor guy). We took A LOT of things to recycling and Goodwill and we still have more things to go. We also decided to sell some things that we just don't have a need for! For example, when we moved here, there was a weird portable dishwasher in the kitchen. The kind that needs to be hooked up. I found it kind of creepy and so i put it in the garage and never used it. So for 3.5 years we have just done the dishes by hand! I personally don't mind this - Jesse on the other hand, despises it. Anyway - today we sold that weird dishwasher (YAY). We also decided on Friday that we were going to update the only room in our house that we have not really touched! We bought subway tile to do a kitchen back splash, we primed the cabinets (ready for painting) and we took out a cabinet beside the sink - so a built in dishwasher can go in its place! We also bought a new range under the cabinet hood! so although this isn't a dream kitchen renovation, its going to look refreshed, with ALL new appliances, a beautiful back splash. I am excited for it to be finished, its just a few days away now!

What about baby girl I hear you ask - well, shes still snuggled up in the right side of my body. She moves occasionally - but for what the doctors like, quite quiet! We think this is because she too is fed up of being squeezed every 5 minutes for the past 4 weeks with contractions.................. They don't feel the need to get her out of there, because for the best part she passes the non stress tests that they have me doing on a weekly sometimes several times a week basis - I see the Doctor once a week and the ultrasound tech once a week! I guess I just have a uterus that will do this for a long time! Now I am past 37 weeks, they are not trying to stop the contractions or anything, but they are still monitoring me and baby closely for anything unusual that may develop. The mild preeclampsia doesn't appear to be posing much of a threat, and the swelling seemed to subside some once I got up and moving!

Look out for out Kitchen and Nursery updates :)

Happy Easter

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 02:53:00 +0000

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Happy Easter Everyone!
Baby girl has stayed put! I will give an update later in the week.
We spent the day finishing the Nursery (pictures to come), eating good food with good friends, visiting other good friends and eating lovely desserts.
All is well in the snowy U.P.

Our Nanna

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 20:38:00 +0000

Today is my Nanna's funeral. Its a sad day for many reasons, one of which I was unable to attend. Yesterday I wrote a Speech for my Nanna that I would have delivered myself had I been there in person. I asked my mum to have someone read it for me. Nick, my cousin Leanne's fiance read it for me and I am told he was really great. I am very grateful that he was able to do that for me.

Here is the speech I put together for my Nanna:

Our Nanna

I am going to refer to Nanna as ‘Our Nanna’ – she has so many grandchildren that loved her dearly and will continue to think of her often. I am deeply saddened that I cannot be there in person to stand up and deliver this, but please know that I am thinking of you all often, especially today.

Our Nanna was a beautiful lady; she was our Queen, the structure behind the beautiful family that sits here today. Take a look around, our grandparents created this, but most of all she orchestrated it into a family that she could not be more proud of; and she was always so willing to take a step back and watch us grow.

Our Nanna was one of the most amazing women I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I did not always understand her, but I knew she came with a heart of gold. More importantly she was supportive. She supported all of our decisions, and she always wanted the best for us. I hope that we have all learned that from her, to love our families unconditionally, to look for the best in situations and circumstances that are not always ideal and to laugh and dance in the days of sadness.

When I think about our Nanna, I remember laughter, she laughed and laughed and joined in whatever we would be doing at our family gatherings. I believe those were her favorite times, Sunday lunches, Holiday gatherings, Christenings and Weddings. She loved to celebrate, and more importantly loved her family all together. So although this is a sad day for each of us as we say our goodbyes, know that her family being together was a happy occasion for her.

I consider our Nanna to be a humble lady, she didn’t require the attention to be on her in life; and now in death she would not want the focus to be on sadness; but on the happiness that we all have in our lives. So take another look around and see what she had to smile about. The most beautiful family that could exist, imperfections and all. She would want us to appreciate each other and what our future has yet to bring.

Our Nanna will be remembered by each and every one of us who knew her and loved her. Although we will miss her, her smile and her unconditional love; we should all take consolation in the memories that we have.

And here I will end, with

‘Rest in Peace to the most beautiful lady, may you be smiling and laughing with the Angels’

"Sorrow comes in great waves...but it rolls over us, and though it may almost smother us, it passes and we remain." - Henry James

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Its one thing after another

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 00:08:00 +0000

This past week was different for me (and probably Jesse too). Our daily routines changed drastically............ go back to the '34 weeks and too early post'. It all started that day, we thought it was going to be a normal week and bam in a matter of hours it changed. After Tuesday and Thursday we were hoping I would be able to get by on limited activity but mainly staying in the house. The doctors had said I could go and teach on the days I was supposed to teach, but that's really all I could do............. oh and still make dinner! ;). I even considered going out for dinner with our friends (I feel like I haven't spent much time with them this year and it makes me sad)

By Friday evening I started having pretty regular contractions that progressed into Saturday and by Saturday evening they were 2 minutes and 45 seconds apart lasting for about 80 seconds. So we called labor and delivery and they told us to go in. So off we went in the middle of another snow storm at 8.45pm on Saturday evening. Once there I was hooked up to the monitor's for fetal heart rate and contractions. After a while the nurse told us the baby was doing well, but my contractions were a concern. The nurse said they looked pretty impressive to say I wasn't really feeling them (although I was starting to notice the period like cramping in my lower back, so I knew they were progressing), So she called the Doctor on call and started discussing options, because I am still considered on the early side of things, they did some routine things, I was hooked up to an IV and given fluids, which seemed to slow the contractions, but once the fluid was done, they came back with a vengeance :(. I was checked to see if I had dilated - which I had from Tuesday, but only to 1cm and then was given another shot of Brethine................. its not super pleasant - it makes you hot and shaky, but it finally started to work around 2am. They kept me there till 3 and then said we could go home - but now I am really on bed rest or sofa rest! I felt really bad for Jesse because he was on call, and we got home around 3 then he was called in at 6am, and literally worked till 6pm.

We have great friends though and Christine and Stephen came and took our dogs out and Shannon and Rob brought dinner, and earlier in the week Andi and Jim sent us food too.

So over the past few days I have had to organize my class for someone to take over and just sit and work on my computer and try to keep this baby in. The brethine only seems to work for about 48 hours, so last night they started back up and have not really let up all day. I have been told that this is my baseline and if it gets worse then I have to go back in. So every 2-5 minutes I have contractions that last a while...........

We are all doing ok though, only now Jesse really has to do EVERYTHING, feed the dogs, lets them out, make dinner, laundry etc etc etc. All while trying to finish his nursing degree - could this have happened at a worse time?

Anyway - I think the photo updates might be done until we update with a baby :) - but I will continue to keep everyone in the loop with what is going on.

Where Angels go

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 13:00:00 +0000

My Nanna passed away the early hours of Saturday morning. I knew it was coming because I had talked to my family the previous day, so all through the night I kept checking my phone for updates. At 3am I heard from my sister that she had passed away. She put up a good fight, but it became too much for her. It doesn't matter how much you prepare for something like that - its still heartbreaking and sad. I didn't go back to sleep - I think I talked to my sister for along time and then I just laid there thinking - what happens to her now.

I have some traditional views and nontraditional views on what happens next. Most people know that I am not overly religious and I don't go to church on a regular basis................... but I still have beliefs. I believe that my nanna is in a better place now, somewhere where bad things don't happen and she can be carefree and happy without a worry in the world. I believe that she is somewhere magical. I say this, because I was raised to believe and see in the magic around us. My family, especially my mum did an amazing job of encouraging us to believe is something. I remember when I was really young I used to walk around the house or wherever proudly showing people the fairies. I had fairies that I would carry in my hands and show them to people. Other people of course could not see these fairies, but they would engage in this and ask me questions and I would describe in remarkable details what the fairies were like. I think it was my nanna that asked me one day what kind of shoes they had on - I was surprised and replied that "Fairies don't wear shoes"!! of course they don't ;)!!!!.

Then one day I stopped chatting about these fairies and I was asked why............... my reply - "because another little girl needed them more than me and so I let them go". I remember I loved those fairies though, and I still believe that they exist, I just don't think they can be seen by everyone, because people believe in different things. After the fairies came Caroline, and the weird thing is, Jesse prompted me to remember her just the other night when he asked me if Caroline could be an option for our baby girl. My immediate reaction was a firm 'No'. However, it wasn't because I don't like that name. Its a beautiful name - sweet sweet Caroline. But....... Caroline was my pretend friend and I told Jesse I wasn't sure she would like that! Whaaaat I hear some of you gasp, but Jesse just kind of looked at me funny, asked me some questions and accepted it! he accepts it because after our years together I think we have learned to respect and understand each others beliefs.

Anyway, back to Caroline............. I think Caroline was around till I was 6, maybe younger, maybe older, but I remember her............ and I know my family do too and they never tried to stop it or laugh at it because it was another chance for me to believe in something magical. It didn't stop, I believed in Santa till I was 13, and actually I still do! I hold onto these memories dearly and I know I will forever, because they have memories of my nanna in them. She was good at encouraging them and playing a long with them, probably because she believed in them too. I think some people would be embarrassed to say they believed in the story that Santa flew through the sky with reindeer's to deliver gifts till they were 13, but I never felt that way. If I ever questioned it, they always had such wonderful stories about why it exists if you believe in your heart that it does. I know I will raise my little girl this way, I want her to experience the magic of believing in something and I will let it be her choice what that may be when she is old enough.

My point to all of this is that I believe when my nanna passed away that she went with the angels and the fairies and maybe even sweet sweet Caroline. I believe this because if she is, then she is in the most wonderful place that exists and then thats ok with me.

One Christmas Day - playing with the balloons - I am pretty sure my brother and sisters were dressing her up with them, and she just played along! Always laughing,

Always smiling

Happy St Patricks Day

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 17 Mar 2013 11:00:00 +0000

When I was younger - I was completely obsessed with Care Bears - so I saw this today and figured this was my image of the week.

Speaking of the week! A lot has happened - I have three posts ready to go out - that I have backdated........ yup - so keep an eye out for them.

Happy St Patricks Day everyone

34 weeks - Too early

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000

So last weekend starting Friday the 8th of March, I started to notice decreased activity with baby girl! Hmm, I figured maybe we were just tired, then on Sunday she kind of made me feel a little better by moving more, but still not like normal. I mentioned it to Jesse a few times and he just said take it easy (no problems, we were just starting Spring Break for the week). By the way, Liz had her baby on that Sunday, he was 1 day shy of being 33 weeks............ Beautiful baby boy names James Finn (goes by the name of Finn). He is doing great and is out of the NICU and in the nursery - he will hopefully get to go home soon!

Anyway, Monday was a normal day for me, I got up, went swimming, went to the gym (to walk on a treadmill), but I was still concerned at the lack of movement. I decided if it was the same Tuesday I would call the doctor. I essentially had a similar routine, I got up went swimming............. then I went up to my office for a couple of hours. I ate breakfast there, grabbed some candy from Terry, but still no movement. I had a lunch date with a friend, so I went to lunch and figured that would get her going - but nothing :( .............. something wasn't quite right. I called the doctor, they sent me to hospital for a non-stress test to check she was doing fine! turns out baby was ok.................. and I was having contractions that were only 2 minutes apart. They did some routine tests and gave me a shot to slow the contractions down - the shot is called Brethine. I went back Thursday morning for another non stress test and baby wasn't being active enough - so they did another ultra sound on us and everything was ok. On Thursday they also old me to keep activity down - as in I could make dinner and do small things around the house, but that was it. The cleared me to go back to work on Monday, but to only teach my one class and then to return home right after and do whatever else I had to do from home!

The beginning of my spring break turned out to be quite eventful

Happy Mothers Day (England)

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful mums out there, but especially mine!

I know its not Mothers Day all over the world but in England its time to celebrate! I have told Jesse, I am super lucky because I will get to celebrate Mothers day twice a year......... I mean thats how it works right? I am British, but our baby will be British and American, so surely I get two days ;). I told him we would do it for fathers day too - but after looking further into this I see they are always on the same day. Oh well - looks like its just me that gets two more special days a year :)

7 weeks to go

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:25:00 +0000

Can you believe we only have 7 weeks to go until I am 40 weeks pregnant? Where did the time go?Feels like yesterday when I first told Jesse we were pregnant!

We have both been busy with house projects! We totally changed our entryway to make it more functional when you first come in the house - we put up board and batten, added some coat hooks and changed the inside of the closet - that has no door and I like it that way :). The entry way does feel more functional, I just wish it was a closed in one so we didn't have dirt dragged through the house. I started a spring clean and cleaned out the spare bedroom, so you can actually see a bed again! Seriously you could not see the bed at all there was so much stuff piled up on it! The spring clean was also spurred on by our vacuum having a complete meltdown on Monday! First of all the belt broke - so we went to the store and bought a new belt, filter etc etc. We put everything in, Jesse started to vacuum then it just had a meltdown - literally. Jesse shouts 'the vacuum is broke' - I went to look and the insides of it had melted, and it was well and truly broken!!!! Its ok because it was relatively cheap so I guess its to be expected!. I said - 'right out next vacuum will be a Dyson'!!!!!!! BUT, I checked out the price and knew that wasn't going to happen. Then I swear by magic (yes yes I believe)........ someone we know put on facebook that they were selling their almost new Dyson for under $200....... whaaaaaaaaaat!!! so I replied immediately and bought it!!!! And that is the story of the beginning of a spring clean ;). I also started our wall gallery in the hallway where the bedrooms are, and we finally bought and built the crib (we love it). I am so hopeless at taking before and after pics, but I will take some after pics so you can at least see the house as it is now.

We still have some projects to do - but they are beginning to feel less overwhelming, and we are learning when to take a break from it so we enjoy the weekends together too! Although last Sunday, Jesse was on call and he ended up being in Surgery from 6am till almost 8pm!!! ugh!

Baby girl is 33 weeks today.......... she makes her presence known more and I can now tell when she is sleeping and when she is awake - according to the books, she is probably close to her max length - so I expect she is feeling pretty cramped up in there, but she still has a ways to go with weight gain ;). We have been getting her nursery room put together and hope it will eventually be a cosy little room for her to like sleeping in (sleeping being the key word here ;)

Here are a few pictures from Week 33 taken by Sarah Bird Photography

Blue protecting already - actually you should have seen him right before this picture - he was so crazy excited!!!

Look at this sweet boy

belly button fully popped out now

Week 32 update

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 02:46:00 +0000

Week 32 update

The belly is and feels very big now
I feel more discomfort - especially as the day progresses
the pressure is increasing and I pee all the time! - nice visual I know ;)
I am still exercising - I swim everyday during the week about 2000 - 3000 yards per workout. It takes me a long time now and I don't do flip turns anymore. In fact the flip turns stopped overnight - one day I was doing them comfortably, the next day after the first few I knew that was the end of those! The swimsuit that fit me finally caved. The stretching and pool rot overstretched it beyond being see through! I considered buying another, instead I now put on a two piece training suit underneath it! I hope those two things combined will do us for the next few weeks.
In addition to swimming, I am still walking the dogs, we went snowshoeing too and I spin once or twice a week! Its getting harder because I am tired more, but I know when to stop.
Baby girl is very active - I guess this week is the week when the amniotic fluid is at its peak and I feel the movements more because there is less cushioning and room for baby girl to move. Sometimes if she presses out and I press back, she will wait till I move the hand and then press back in the same spot as if to say 'hey its cramped in here, I'll press out if I want to' Ah stubborn already ;)
Baby Girl appear to love music but I already told you that in a previous post :)
According to 'What to Expect when you are Expecting' - our baby girl is the size of a Honeydew melon, is around 19 inches long and weighs a possible 4.5 lbs.

Here we are - growing each day :)

The longest two weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:31:00 +0000

The past two weeks have been so weird. Its almost like time stopped for a brief moment in time. It all started when we left Indiana for our trip back to the UP! We had an awful trip (drive - not the visit) down there and we were hoping for some weather that was going to be nicer to us on the way back, but as I mentioned in a previous post, we were hit with nasty weather from Iron Mountain onwards - which is still 2 - 3 hours away. The closer we got to home, the worse it became. Anyway, by the time we got home, it was late and we were hungry so we grabbed take out and headed home. Our plan was to eat and hit the sack - we both had 8am starts the next day. Anyway, just before heading to bed, my phone started ringing and I look down at the number and I am thinking 'noooooo' this is not going to be a good call!. My bestie who I am sharing this whole experience was at the hospital - her water broken :( - Sad face because she was 28 weeks and 6 days. yup, not great news. We talked for a while and she was getting transferred to a different hospital. She never complains though - she is so incredibly great and appreciative of everything............. and all I wanted to do was go an visit her, but I am probably a good 20 hour drive from where she lives! UGH! Every time I got up to use the bathroom that night (which was frequent, I checked my phone and just kept thinking - no news is good news. The goal was to keep the baby in for at least 48 hours! I have to admit, I wasn't sure if that was going to happen - but again, she never once complained and it sounded like she was keeping her spirits high. We usually talk several times a week, either on the phone, e-mail or text...... but over the next 48 hours I think I called her every hour and tried talking about things that would take her mind of what was happening. Amazingly the baby decided to stay put, she is and will remain in hospital until she delivers now, which if he doesn't come earlier will be at 34 weeks. He will still be teeny tiny, but at least he is inside and growing right now :). Her baby shower was supposed to be last weekend, and it was all I could think about and her too. I sent her a package full of goodies, but it wasn't the same........... I wish I could have gone to see her - but flying at this stage is not recommended, so we made do with talking and now plan when we can see each other after these babies arrive. I was sad from Thursday onwards last week because that was when Jesse and I were supposed to leave to go to visit them.

In addition to that, my beloved grandparents both had a rough two weeks. My dear granda is in a nursing home and him and my nanna have been living apart now since last summer :( - Sad! My nanna was heartbroken when this happened, but it was for the best. Then over Christmas my nanna was sick with what we thought was a cold. We still don't really know what it was, but she has been in hospital for about six weeks now. She has had several tests including a bone marrow one, and finally the results came back as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma :( - Another sad face. I found this out on Friday last week. Friday turned out to be a sad sad day, I was supposed to be with Liz and I found out sad news about my nanna. UGH! Jesse tried to make me feel better my entertaining my distracting ideas of house projects (which I know he doesn't really like to do) and taking me out to dinner, but it was a rough day! She was supposed to start chemo on Monday, but she took a turn for the worse and is not able to start it unless she gets better!. So positive thoughts are being sent her way, hoping she can start her treatment. During all this time, my poor granda had a fall in his nursing home, but he is back there recovering well. I think he is doing ok - you just have to talk to him about way back in the past because his memory isn't great anymore!

So my super speedy pregnancy suddenly experienced a very long slow two weeks! No fun!

On the plus side - we have 8 weeks to go - and I will get Jesse to take a pic update tonight! I feel like my ever swelling belly has dropped even lower and it does feel very big to me!

Two of the Kindest People I Know

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 01:35:00 +0000

Its not pregnancy related - not everything will be. These are two of the best people I know - my amazing Nanna and Granda.

They are both having a tough time right now with different types of illness - of which I won't go into - but I wanted to post these few photos mainly for people at home to see :) - I have more, but they were taking a while to load. So for now these will do. I don't think I have ever seen two people love each other or their family more. I hope I can be just like them in many years to come. Look at how they hold each other - all their pictures are like this! Perfect Love!

A love like no other

Week 31 Picture

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:00:00 +0000

We didn't take a Week 30 bump update - it ended up being an odd kind of a week and just so incredibly busy catching up with everything after our trip down to Indiana to visit with Jesse's family.

So this picture is Week 31 - she is getting bigger (or something is) ;)

Some other things I have noticed................ I think she likes swimming and me showering afterwards. I usually let the water from the shower hit directly on my stomach and the showers at the pool are pretty strong, so I tend to feel lots of movement after this. Again, we are assuming that lots of movement means she likes it ;)

She likes music - and many will laugh at this but...................... I was listening to the song 'Call Me Maybe' - well actually I was watching the video the military posted of them copying the Miami Dolphins Cheer team................ and I was getting some movement. Then I decided to play it at home and see what happened and it was the same thing ;) - Fun!! Jesse then decided she needed some classical music and the movements were still there, just a little different, like she was being soothed! Lets hope that music works, when we need it to.

Anyway - here is the Week 31 picture................ only a possible 9 more of these to go!

Check out the Outie ;)

Happy Birthday to André and Callum

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Its my little (not so little) brothers birthday today and my little sisters birthday on the 17th. I am giving them a combined Happy Birthday post................. :).

When my mum first got pregnant with André, it was super exciting, it had been along time coming and I could not wait for her to get here. André is an IVF baby and she is one of the first born in the world (how cool is that!!). Then our family was doubly blessed after André because along came Natasha and Callum. I was eleven when André arrived and I actually left for university at 19, so I wasn't really around for a whole lot of their childhood, but we are all super close and I love them very much. They are all really close in age and they were best friends growing up. I remember Callum always wanting in on what the girls were doing, and for the best part they were really good about including each other. Did they/Do we fight.................. oh yeah - like no other! BUT and this is a big BUT............... we might fight, however, if anyone from outside the four of us tries to join in that fight.......... you can bet your bottom dollar that we will forget we were ever fighting and defend each other to the tee! Jesse unfortunately learned that the hard way, but it all worked out for the best and now he knows to just ignore us if we bicker when we see each other ;)!

I love my brother and sisters more than anything (and although this is a birthday post for André and Callum - I love you too Natasha - you will get your birthday post in April - maybe even a niece if she comes early!).

They both might want to kill me for this - but look at how cute they were when they young

Happy Birthday Callum

This picture has Andre (at the back), Natasha (as a cat) and my Callum (superman)

Andre and I at Oliver Winery in Bloomington, Indiana when she came to stay (Summer 2008)

Happy Birthday to Callum Luke (February 15th) and Andre Nicole (February 17th) - I love you so much and I am honored to be your big sister ;).

Happy Valentines Day

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 00:53:00 +0000

There's a whole lot of love everywhere today - it may have turned into a Hallmark day - but I have always loved Valentines day!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYONE

Baby Shower - Indiana

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 12:00:00 +0000

Last Thursday Jesse and I set of for our trip down to Indiana to visit with his family (last time before baby girl arrives). We planned our schedules so we could leave town on Thursday around 1pm to start the trip. We live 650 miles from Jesse's family, so it is always quite the epic trip. Why not fly? Well - this time of year the weather is very unpredictable (we live in an area that gets quite ALOT of snow), so flying sometimes doesn't work. Luckily we did not take the risk of flying because the weather turned out to be terrible and Chicago closed down its airport (which is the only airport our little tiny one flys into).

Anyway, we set of thinking we would drive to Chicago, stop at Ikea and then maybe finish the drive to Indiana. Instead we were hit with terrible weather that forced us to abandon original trip plans :( -
What actually happened was we drove in terrible weather on Thursday - we made it to Chicago about 3 hours after we should have, exhausted with fighting with the car to actually stay on the road. We got a hotel and then went to ikea the next day.. BUT, that meant we didn't get to see his family for as long as planned on that Friday. On Saturday we drove to Indianapolis for the baby shower, then on Sunday we drove the 12 hours back home (in horrendous weather ) AGAIN. Oh and with all that - we had a slight car malfunction, which Jesse had to get fixed when we got to Indianapolis (ugh).

The plus side of this trip - his cousins had a really nice baby shower for us, it was very relaxed. We spent time with Jesse's family, reconnect with old friends and see some of our friends that were able to come up to Indianapolis from Bloomington. It was really lovely to hang out and catch up with people - eat good food - and amazing Chocolate cake made by Heather and Lauren. Baby girl got some lovely gifts and I can't wait for our nursery to be finished so we can put it all together :)

Here are a couple of pics - when I get more, I will update this post :)

Cake made by Heather and Lauren. It was fresh cream on the outside and heavenly chocolate on the inside (so glad my chocolate aversion disappeared :)

Winnie the Pooh Diaper Cakes

The Name Game

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 12:00:00 +0000

We keep getting asked - 'Do you have a name'. Its one of the hot questions of the month. We actually don't, I thought we did. Before we got pregnant we had decided on a few names that we loved if we had a boy or a girl. But when we got pregnant, I wasn't as in LOVE with those names anymore. I still like them though ;). A couple are still top contenders, but there are others that we are contemplating now. What are those contenders - we aren't telling, I dont know why, but this is just something that Jesse and I are keeping to ourselves for now, and everyone will find out what her name is when she arrives (I guess that goes for us too, because we really don't have a name yet).

I think when it comes to the name, I am just going to have to decide when I see her. I know that I LOVE all the names that my parents decided for me and my siblings. I have never heard any of us ever complain about their name and I think we all like eachothers, they are all unique to us in some way. I think I am ideally looking for something like that. If it happens to be a family name, then its not because we sat down and looked at all the family names and thought - yep thats the name we should choose, its just because we like the name. I know some families, try to keep names in the family or include their name into their childrens name somehow, we have somewhat discussed that, and I think we came to the conclusion, that if it happens, it happens, but we aren't going to force it. We also still have to discuss the last name.............. I never thought I would do it - but I think we are going to have children with insanely long names, because I want my children to have a first and middle name, but I have not changed my last name for one reason or another, so as of right now - she is having both last names. Unless we choose a unique last name and we both change our last name to that! ;). Also, when it comes to the name, I like the idea of us creating our own family traditions at this point. We are already starting out a little different by bringing together our two nationalities. There have been lots of changes recently and I like the idea of new beginnings = new traditions.

Until then, she gets called all sorts of things........... over Christmas Jesse insisted on calling her 'little Gertie' ............... yup he liked the idea of Gertrude for her name. I guess I have our friend Robert Handler to thank for that!!!! I vetoed it ;)

Third Trimester

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:00:00 +0000

The third trimester technically begins at week 28, but its taken me a while to get this post up.
According to 'What to expect when you are expecting' there are some typical symptoms that go hand in hand with the first trimester.

It may feel as if there's no way my belly can get any bigger - (actually my belly doesn't really feel that big right now.......... I mean there can be days of discomfort, but for the best part it feels ok).
By week 31 of pregnancy (we are almost there) we are told that baby can now get signals from all five senses, perceiving light and dark, tasting what I am eating (this I try really hard to be aware of), and listening to the sound of my voice (hmmmm - I should keep it down then ;).
Growth may be up to an inch in week 33 alone (eek - I am guessing space will start to feel cramped then). I guess this leads to some serious kicks and pokes for me. So far those kicks and pokes have been cute! I am wondering when that will stop.......... she seems to be most active after I eat or workout, but we haven't seen any major movement yet - just felt it!
By week 34 I guess she starts her downward journey and will start to go head down (we hope)
By week 36 I might be feeling super fed up at this point and that goes for baby girl too, given that she is hopefully gaining weight too.
By week 38 they say I only have 2 weeks to go (so lets hope ;), and she starts to lose that hairy coat and vernix.
By week 39 I might find myself waddling - I am curious how I am going to waddle my way up and down the hill to class and back (yup - I will still be teaching at this point). Although my good friend Louise has told me that I am not allowed to waddle!.
By week 40 we are told to just go with it! ;)

Other things

I haven't had any Braxton Hicks contractions yet.
I have noticed that my calf's want to cramp up through the night (I wake up trying to stretch them). This is weird for me because I have never really had cramps before, even with all the exercise I have done.
I haven't noticed anything else out of the ordinary yet, but I will be sure to keep you all informed
I am back to peeing constantly!

Week 28 and 29 pictures

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:00:00 +0000

I am trying to be better about updating the much anticipated belly updates.

This week I am combining week 28 and week 29.

Can you believe we are already at 29 weeks........... not long to go now!

Here are some pictures of the past 2 weeks. All photos are taken by Jesse - I think he did a pretty good job ;)

28 weeks

Blue and his little sister!

29 weeks - you can see the almost outie (belly button) in this picture

29 weeks and This one is my Favorite :)

I drank the Coolaide

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:00:00 +0000

I drank the cool aide a week ago and FAILED the test! UGH!. For those of you that are wondering what the cool aide is - its a 50 gram glucose beverage to test for gestational diabetes.

There are many different ways in which this test is administered, for me, the doctors gave me the bottle and said 'when you are not sick anymore, drink this, then go the the lab within an hour and have your blood drawn'. That was it - no other instructions, nothing about food etc etc etc. I did ask if there was anything special I needed to do and the response was 'no'.

So when I was feeling better, I drank the cool aide! I got up that morning, had my usually breakfast, went for my swim, ate a banana after swimming, drank the cool aide and went to get my blood drawn! I did what I normally do..................... I FAILED the test!. This led to hours of research and wondering if I had gestational diabetes, what I could do different, what would happen from here on out etc etc. They had me do the 3 hour test 3 days later. This test was a little different, I was told not to eat or drink ANYTHING (not even water) after 6pm the night before I was going to do the test.................. what a pain - plus knowing I couldn't eat or drink made me want to eat and I was super thirsty. Anyway, I got up the next day and went to the lab when it opened at 7am to start the test. It started with a Urine sample and blood draw, then I drank the cool aide again (which the nurses were saying, its so awful - but I actually liked it ;). Then I had to do a blood draw and urine sample after 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hour and 3 hours. I was at the lab all morning................ I had my blood drawn 5 times (good job I don't mind it and have good veins). The results came in the next day and I passed - I do not have Gestational Diabetes and I can keep doing what I have been doing with respect to eating etc etc (I honestly don't know what I would have done differently anyway). I don't know what happened with the first test, maybe I did it wrong, maybe not! Who knows!

Childbirth Class

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 20:41:00 +0000

We have been going to childbirth class throughout the month on January (there were 4 classes total). I was a little disappointed because I felt that it was too early - but the other options were May (erm - too late) or much later in the year. I guess this is one of the disadvantages of living in a small town - the resources can be limiting. I keep getting asked from other friends, if I am going to such and such a class............. and my response is always - nope - nothing like that where I live. I mean come on - our closest Target is over 100 miles away (I think I have told you that before).

Anyway back to childbirth class - let me give you a quick week by week summary.

Week 1 - still sick........ we drive to it and the whole time Jesse is saying, if you are coughing and spluttering they might ask us to leave - so I am thinking - what?, but there isn't another one - I have to make it through this - I stock up on cough drops and drink water every 5 seconds the whole 3 hours we were there. I managed to suppress the coughing until the very end. When we arrived, we were greeted by a super bubbly instructor, who is also a Douala AND a lactation consultant. We introduced ourselves to the other 2 couples (small class) and then she just dove right into it - telling us stories (mainly about her), which were very entertaining. I will mention here that she claims to have had 3 very easy birthing experiences and she wanted to let us know that there is a spectrum, and she is all the way to one end, most people are in the middle, and then there is the 'dreaded' other end! She talked and talked and then we watched videos of women giving birth! ............. Was I traumatized - no... don't be silly - its not like I don't know how a baby (a) gets in there or (b) comes out of there! I am pretty realistic when it come to this, plus I had just taken pics of a birth not that long ago - and I really didn't mind that whole experience either! We got a few more bits and pieces of info and away we went!

Week 2 - this was by far my favorite week - so the week before, she told us we would be learning relaxation techniques to use during childbirth....... and for us to bring pillows! When we got to class, there were all sorts of fun toys to play with - big exercise balls, massage things etc etc. She said this part of the class would last an hour and the men were going to learn some techniques to help us through the pain! (hope Jesse was paying attention here). Anyway, we laid down (we - as in women) and then she started to teach us techniques of massage, and pressure points etc etc and it was pretty wonderful. I mean come on - who doesn't want to be massaged for an hour! I think I may have fallen asleep for a few minutes and after the hour was up I was feeling pretty relaxed. I am wondering though - how many of these techniques are really going to work or get used when it comes to the 'day'. After that she talked some more about different experiences and it was relatively low key!

Week 3 - new instructor - she was a super fast talker so the class didn't last as long - but this was a cool week. We toured the birthing clinic - were told what to do upon arrival - which I know I have already forgotten, and watched her bathe a newborn. The newborn was pretty cute, super alert - but man - the second she took him our of that swaddle and got him naked, he produced lungs that any endurance athlete would be proud of! He was cute, even when crying, but I really wanted her to hurry up and swaddle him back up so he would stop. I mean hadn't his day been traumatic enough, he's just pushed/been pushed out of this warm tight space, into this cold open space and now here we all are staring down/cooing at him while he gets his second bathe of the day! Poor little guy. Of course he's going to let us know hes not at all happy!

Week 4 - breastfeeding........... we learned why its good, why we should do it, that its OK if it doesn't work out. Key when it comes to feeding is the less stress for mom and baby, the happier baby and mom will be! I am all for that....... and that's the philosophy I am following. We watched baby/child CPR. I have taken this class a thousand times, yet each time I always find myself second guessing! you would think it would be second nature now. Finally, we discussed car seats, types of car seats, installation of car seats and listened to some horror stories about not using the car seat correctly etc etc. Yup - we will probably have someone check that it is all set up and ready to go.

So that was our childbirth class, in a nutshell. I really like it, looked forward to going to it....... and highly recommend it to anyone that is pregnant (especially with baby number 1). I didn't think is was really necessary, but after week 1, I soon realized there is so much more to giving birth than you can ever imagine!.

The further along I get in this pregnancy, the more frequently this question pops up: Am I having a natural labor or an epidural?

I have no idea ................. seriously though - I honestly don't feel like anyone that is pregnant can answer this. I have said all along that I am and will remain open to anything. We learned in that class that if you go into the birthing experience with a plan that is not flexible then you will end up feeling inadequate and frustrated when things don't go as you hope them to go. I feel like there is ALOT of stigma behind pain medication during child birth, truth is if a woman has been in labor for 30+ hours and needs it, then let her have it without the judgement. I know, I know women have been giving birth for hundreds of years without anything to ease their pain.......... my response - many people died during those times and medication and technology have since evolved!' So I guess to answer the question, my birth plan is to get through it the best way I can and deliver a healthy baby................. if that ends up with or without pain meds remains to be seen :)

Letter of Love

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:00:00 +0000

I wake each day waiting for your first movement, your kicks are like butterflies that sing to my heart. I am overwhelmed with this love that I feel, an unconditional love that foresees no end. We loved you before you existed and yearned for your presence, it’s been weeks of excitement as we wait patiently for you to grow so you can meet the world, and the world can meet you.

We were told your arrival would feel like forever; but truth be told, the days are shorter and the weeks go by in a blink. It feels like yesterday since I realized you were there, a moment never to be forgotten, a moment we had wondered if it would ever happen. I didn’t think anything would ever compare, until we first saw you on the monitor, or the first time we heard your heart beat to the first time we felt you move and when we found out you were a precious sweet baby girl. We realize that there will be many more moments to experience with you, and our love for you will grow stronger each and every day.

Our lives have already changed and we can’t wait to share it with you; our days go by getting ready for you, to experience all the adventures you have planned for us, and to share with you all the love we have to offer. If there is one thing that you take from us in your whole life, let it be that you were wanted so very much and we love you with all the love we have to give.