My friend Becca is in labour at this very moment. She got some gel put on her and her water broken with a rug hooking needle, which is cheating, so she didn't technically win the baby race. When Adam and I went to see her Becca was doing a super great job of pretending the contractions were "not that bad". She seemed very relaxed and happy, without the aid of drugs (so far). Of course, this doesn't mean that labour will be a piece of cake for me. Becca has this way of turning even the most unpleasant situations into the best experience, whereas I just tend to complain or make jokes or both.
Anyway I'm so proud of Becca for doing so well, and so excited to meet her baby. Congratulations Becca! (Congratulations to you too Drew, good job being a supportive labour coach/husband)
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
Dylan's Birthday and a Dream
First some photos I took yesterday at my cousin Dylan's 2nd birthday party:
What cuties eh?
On a completely unrelated note, I had a very strange dream last night. Adam and I were taking a first aid course, only this time be were at a house. I got the impression that some real emergency (murder, horrible accident) had happened at the house and our class was acting it out to teach us what we would in that situation.
Then the teacher (who was a man, even though our real teacher was a woman) led us into the woods on the trail of the murderer, who may or may not have been a grizzly bear. I thought we were only going a few steps into the woods so I neglected to put my shoes on when we left the house. We went deeper and deeper and I kept waiting for the guy to turn around. He didn't so finally Adam and I left the group and went back to the house to get our shoes.
For some reason I wanted a cup of water and a cup of sugar. There was a Wendy's in the house and we went there. We had two of those wax paper Wendy's cups for them to fill. Adam ordered a cup of sugar, a cup of water and an ice tea. The girl at the counter was all confused. Instead of getting us a cup of sugar, she filled the cup with all kinds of stuff they use to make drinks sugary; fruity syrups, jujubes, etc. In the end we had a super-concentrated sugary drink.
What cuties eh?
On a completely unrelated note, I had a very strange dream last night. Adam and I were taking a first aid course, only this time be were at a house. I got the impression that some real emergency (murder, horrible accident) had happened at the house and our class was acting it out to teach us what we would in that situation.
Then the teacher (who was a man, even though our real teacher was a woman) led us into the woods on the trail of the murderer, who may or may not have been a grizzly bear. I thought we were only going a few steps into the woods so I neglected to put my shoes on when we left the house. We went deeper and deeper and I kept waiting for the guy to turn around. He didn't so finally Adam and I left the group and went back to the house to get our shoes.
For some reason I wanted a cup of water and a cup of sugar. There was a Wendy's in the house and we went there. We had two of those wax paper Wendy's cups for them to fill. Adam ordered a cup of sugar, a cup of water and an ice tea. The girl at the counter was all confused. Instead of getting us a cup of sugar, she filled the cup with all kinds of stuff they use to make drinks sugary; fruity syrups, jujubes, etc. In the end we had a super-concentrated sugary drink.
Saturday, January 27, 2007
I'm trained in first aid...can I help you?
Because we're all about not having a choking baby, my husband decided it was a good idea for us to take a St. John's Ambulance First Aid Course. So we spent the day breathing into dummies, tying scarves around each other, and watching videos of pretend injury victims. My favourite video segment was the one on amputation. Good clean fun.
So you'll be happy to know that my husband and I are now capable of helping an adult, child, or infant who is choking, bleeding, has an amputated finger, is having a diabetic emergency, or an asthma attack, or an anaphylactic reaction, or a heart attack, or a seizure. Well, at least we have a certificate that says we can do those things and that's really what's important.
I figure, given the sense of humour of the universe, you only really need training like this when you don't have it. So by taking this course, Adam and I have prevented ourselves from ever having to face any kind of emergency.
So you'll be happy to know that my husband and I are now capable of helping an adult, child, or infant who is choking, bleeding, has an amputated finger, is having a diabetic emergency, or an asthma attack, or an anaphylactic reaction, or a heart attack, or a seizure. Well, at least we have a certificate that says we can do those things and that's really what's important.
I figure, given the sense of humour of the universe, you only really need training like this when you don't have it. So by taking this course, Adam and I have prevented ourselves from ever having to face any kind of emergency.
Friday, January 26, 2007
This week and beyond
Tuesday
My last prenatal appointment, my obstetrician had to rush off to an emergency C-section. My husband and I were in the waiting room with two other ladies. One came in before us and the other came in after us. The receptionist was sending people away and telling them to come back in the afternoon, but she didn't say anything to us until one of the other women said "Excuse me, is he still going to be able to see us?" That's when the lady who came after us was told to leave and come back later. About a half-hour later the lady who came in before us was told to leave as well. She was having a test done that was going to take longer than my five-minute measure-the-belly-and-hear-the-heart appointment. The woman had already been waiting an hour but she was very gracious. So the doctor called us in, took my blood pressure, measured my belly, listened to my baby's heart, and asked if I had any questions or concerns. My biggest concern at that point was that some poor woman was waiting on an operating table for him to cut her open! I wish that woman and her baby good health and I certainly hope everything went well.
Yesterday
My friend Becca is going to have a baby in less than a week. Her due date was January 27th, but the pushed it back to the 21st because her baby was measuring large at her last ultrasound. So technically she is now overdue. Anyway, yesterday she went in for something called a "membrane sweep" that's supposed to get things all kick started. As far as I understand it, the doctor reaches up where the sun don't shine and separates the membrane from the uteran wall, kind of like separating the skin from the shell of a hardboiled egg. This should put a woman in labour in anywhere from six hours and 3 days. Becca and Drew (Becca's husband) came over after the sweep. I was hoping that Becca would go into labour right there. I'm thinking it's like yawning. If two pregnant women are together and one goes into labour, then the other one will too, right? Well nothing happened. If nothing happens by the 31st they'll induce.
After Becca and Drew left we went over to my Mom's house for some homemade chinese food. My Mom makes the best wonton soup ever. My nephew was dressed like a penguin, complete with orange ovenmitts on his feet.
Today
Today is my last Writer's Group for a while. We meet every two weeks to one month to comment on each other's writing and drink tea. I'm hosting tonight because the group doesn't want me driving all the way to Mississauga or Etobicoke so close to my due date (visions of me giving birth by the side of an icy highway in the middle of the night). Since there's only 3 people in our group it will collapse when I'm not there. We'll do it over the internet for a while (no tea) and when I get settled with the baby and stuff we'll start the group up again. Who knows when that will be. I'm going to go by milk because normal people have milk in their tea and don't, like me, turn it into lemonade by adding half a lemon and three spoons of sugar.
In T-minus...
Check out the countdown on my husband's blog to see how long I have until my baby is born, right down to the millisecond. At the time of this entry I has 9 days and 11 hours to go. If only things were that exact. Of course, I'll probably still be pregnant on V-day. If I am, Adam and I will go out for a romantic dinner at a Mexican restaurant.
My last prenatal appointment, my obstetrician had to rush off to an emergency C-section. My husband and I were in the waiting room with two other ladies. One came in before us and the other came in after us. The receptionist was sending people away and telling them to come back in the afternoon, but she didn't say anything to us until one of the other women said "Excuse me, is he still going to be able to see us?" That's when the lady who came after us was told to leave and come back later. About a half-hour later the lady who came in before us was told to leave as well. She was having a test done that was going to take longer than my five-minute measure-the-belly-and-hear-the-heart appointment. The woman had already been waiting an hour but she was very gracious. So the doctor called us in, took my blood pressure, measured my belly, listened to my baby's heart, and asked if I had any questions or concerns. My biggest concern at that point was that some poor woman was waiting on an operating table for him to cut her open! I wish that woman and her baby good health and I certainly hope everything went well.
Yesterday
My friend Becca is going to have a baby in less than a week. Her due date was January 27th, but the pushed it back to the 21st because her baby was measuring large at her last ultrasound. So technically she is now overdue. Anyway, yesterday she went in for something called a "membrane sweep" that's supposed to get things all kick started. As far as I understand it, the doctor reaches up where the sun don't shine and separates the membrane from the uteran wall, kind of like separating the skin from the shell of a hardboiled egg. This should put a woman in labour in anywhere from six hours and 3 days. Becca and Drew (Becca's husband) came over after the sweep. I was hoping that Becca would go into labour right there. I'm thinking it's like yawning. If two pregnant women are together and one goes into labour, then the other one will too, right? Well nothing happened. If nothing happens by the 31st they'll induce.
After Becca and Drew left we went over to my Mom's house for some homemade chinese food. My Mom makes the best wonton soup ever. My nephew was dressed like a penguin, complete with orange ovenmitts on his feet.
Today
Today is my last Writer's Group for a while. We meet every two weeks to one month to comment on each other's writing and drink tea. I'm hosting tonight because the group doesn't want me driving all the way to Mississauga or Etobicoke so close to my due date (visions of me giving birth by the side of an icy highway in the middle of the night). Since there's only 3 people in our group it will collapse when I'm not there. We'll do it over the internet for a while (no tea) and when I get settled with the baby and stuff we'll start the group up again. Who knows when that will be. I'm going to go by milk because normal people have milk in their tea and don't, like me, turn it into lemonade by adding half a lemon and three spoons of sugar.
In T-minus...
Check out the countdown on my husband's blog to see how long I have until my baby is born, right down to the millisecond. At the time of this entry I has 9 days and 11 hours to go. If only things were that exact. Of course, I'll probably still be pregnant on V-day. If I am, Adam and I will go out for a romantic dinner at a Mexican restaurant.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Six hundred two and a half hours!!!!!!!
I've done it! As of today I've worked the 600 hours needed to apply for maternity benefits. In fact, I'm two and a half hours over.
Special thanks to the good people at these fine establishments:
*company name censored*, aka the pink dust cloud, who hired me to work once a week just because I begged them to. And they fed me lunch.
Express Personnel, who worked their butts off trying to get me enough hours, and, when they had no work from clients, brought me in to do busy work in their office.
I'll be applying for my benefits on Friday, when the aforementioned employers will supposedly have my Records of Employment ready. I shall have to bring them a present.
Special thanks to the good people at these fine establishments:
*company name censored*, aka the pink dust cloud, who hired me to work once a week just because I begged them to. And they fed me lunch.
Express Personnel, who worked their butts off trying to get me enough hours, and, when they had no work from clients, brought me in to do busy work in their office.
I'll be applying for my benefits on Friday, when the aforementioned employers will supposedly have my Records of Employment ready. I shall have to bring them a present.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Rubber Ducks
I had a dream last night that an army of rubber duckies were coming after me. They were marching through a field. Well, I guess they weren't exactly marching because rubber duckies don't really have legs. And no, they didn't have guns or teeth or any feature that made them scarier than normal bath toys. They were just ordinary yellow rubber ducks. But there were so many of them!
My interpretation (based on the dream dictionary)
The ducks represent my flexibility (ducks can walk, fly, or swim, so they are super flexible.). Not sure if this duck interpretation extends to the rubber variety, but rubber is supposed to mean flexibility too. More likely that dreaming of bath toys has something to do with babies. Anyway the field represents great abundance, freedom, happiness and means I'm going through personal growth. I'm personally growing a big belly with a baby in it. The army could be an overpowering force working against me, but seeing I'm so darn flexible (and the army is made up of toy ducks), I'm not super worried about it.
My interpretation (based on the dream dictionary)
The ducks represent my flexibility (ducks can walk, fly, or swim, so they are super flexible.). Not sure if this duck interpretation extends to the rubber variety, but rubber is supposed to mean flexibility too. More likely that dreaming of bath toys has something to do with babies. Anyway the field represents great abundance, freedom, happiness and means I'm going through personal growth. I'm personally growing a big belly with a baby in it. The army could be an overpowering force working against me, but seeing I'm so darn flexible (and the army is made up of toy ducks), I'm not super worried about it.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Still Pregnant
I'm at work today in the flourescent pink dust cloud. Apparently my dad, who also works here, has started an office pool predicting when I'm going to pop. Someone here is going to make 100 bucks. Not me, I'm just going to make a baby.
There are bets marked down for as early as this Monday. That would suck because it would leave me with one shift to go before I make my 600 hours. I'm not too worried about it though, I'm sure I'll still be pregnant on Valentine's Day.
There are bets marked down for as early as this Monday. That would suck because it would leave me with one shift to go before I make my 600 hours. I'm not too worried about it though, I'm sure I'll still be pregnant on Valentine's Day.
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Pregnancy Party (aka Baby Shower)
First a little test: which of the people pictured above are genuine pregnant ladies, and which are wearing baloons under their shirts? (Answer at the end of this entry).
Today was shower day. My mother-in-law always goes all out every time she hosts a party and today was no exceptions, egg salads and crab salads and chicken wings and chicken fingers and cream puffs and my mother-in-law buzzing around going "Does anybody want ice cream? Does anybody want tea?" My mom made the ultimate carrot cake. There was a good mix of my friends and Polish folk, cousins-in-laws and the like.
And of course presents. My son will be nicely well dressed for his first year of life. The gift opening was accompanied by a rousing game of "Gift Bingo". This idea was shamelessy swiped from my friend Becca's baby shower and I highly recommend it for any gift-giving occasion. Before present unwrapping begins everyone fills out bingo cards with items they think might be in the gifts (bottles, stuffed toy, wipes, etc). Then cross them off as the presents are received. If someone get a line, she yells BINGO! and wins some trinket. This makes your guests less likely to have their eyes glaze over while you open your twentieth baby-blue bag full of blankets and onesies.
So a good time was had by all. Though when I got home I was disapointed that it was only 6:50pm, and nowhere near bedtime. I feel a wee bit sleepy.
Answers, from left to right: genuine pregnant lady (my friend Becca), balloon-wearing imposter (my nephew Hunter), balloon-wearing imposter (my sister Robin), and genuine pregnant lady (it's me!)
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Working in a happy pink cloud
Another fabulous day at *company name censored*, my Mom's friend's business. I'm working here once a week so that I can earn all my precious hours and get maternity benefits.
What the company does: They sell flourescent powder. Companies put the stuff in their pipes to check for leaks. The office is always covered in this pink dust which I'm told is non-toxic. My pink sneakers are getting pinker and pinker every time I come. Definitely not the type of office one dresses up for.
What I do: filing, posting bills on the computer, printing envelopes. I can't do those last two things right now because for some reason my computer isn't talking to the network. I consulted my two tech support people: my husband who advised me to reboot the computer, and my Dad who crawled under the desk checking all the connections. Neither troubleshooting technique worked. So I'm "testing" the internet while I wait for the other computer to be free. Seems to work.
In other news: I'm cooking a vegetarian meal for my friends Val and Justin tonight. Val told me that she doesn't want me to go to a lot of trouble but this week I'm in the mood to expand my cooking horizons. I'm making angelhair pasta with a basil pepper sauce and tabouli. If anything turns out I'll post it on my recipe blog. If nothing turns out I shall crawl into a hole and never speak of this again.
What the company does: They sell flourescent powder. Companies put the stuff in their pipes to check for leaks. The office is always covered in this pink dust which I'm told is non-toxic. My pink sneakers are getting pinker and pinker every time I come. Definitely not the type of office one dresses up for.
What I do: filing, posting bills on the computer, printing envelopes. I can't do those last two things right now because for some reason my computer isn't talking to the network. I consulted my two tech support people: my husband who advised me to reboot the computer, and my Dad who crawled under the desk checking all the connections. Neither troubleshooting technique worked. So I'm "testing" the internet while I wait for the other computer to be free. Seems to work.
In other news: I'm cooking a vegetarian meal for my friends Val and Justin tonight. Val told me that she doesn't want me to go to a lot of trouble but this week I'm in the mood to expand my cooking horizons. I'm making angelhair pasta with a basil pepper sauce and tabouli. If anything turns out I'll post it on my recipe blog. If nothing turns out I shall crawl into a hole and never speak of this again.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Belly shot
Now that I have a cool camera, I can take my own preggers belly shots. This is how my son's house looks when I'm looking down on it. Luckily, all my stretchmarks are on the underside of my belly so I can pretend they aren't there (until they start itching). They ominous shadows of my breasts, however, are always clearly visable.
In other news, I've almost got the 600 hours I need to apply for maternity benefits. I've been scraping together hours by working at a temp agency and at my mom's friends business. I have 33.5 hours to go and only 4 weeks left of pregnancy. Now it's a race.
And I know some of you care, so here's what kind of camera I have (based on what's printed on the outside of the thing). Let's see. It's a Lumix, made by Panasonic, DMC-FZ7. It's got a 12x optical zoom (to get super close-up goat pictures). It also says that it's 35mm equivalent, but it's digital (obviously). It takes rechargeable fancy batteries (instead of AAs). It's not an SLR but it sort of looks like a cute miniature version of one. Well, actually it's quite large compared to other cameras I've had.
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