So I am now 22 weeks and 2 days pregnant. In terms of symptoms the only new symptom that has started again was my weird dreams. I had really weird, sometimes a bit scary, type of dreams at the beginning of my pregnancy but that was only towards the beginning/middle of the 1st trimester. The last couple days I have been waking up due to my dreams. I am not sure what has been causing it. I read that it could be due to lack of sleep or even taking vitamins (especially B vitamins) too close to bedtime. Hopefully it stops soon and I can get a good nights sleep again. Other than that, I have been feeling pretty good.
So I started on my gift registry a several of weeks ago (maybe around 16 weeks pregnant). I just started it online at Babies R'Us. Since it was started when we didn't know what the gender of the baby was, I just started by putting on gender neutral items. I put this cute sleeping sheep, some binkies (soothers), breast pads, baby monitor etc. I was really finding it hard to put stuff on it for a couple of reasons. First of all, I wanted gender specific items for stuff like sheets and wash clothes. Secondly, I wanted to wait until we had the "Bringing the Baby Home" prenatal class before deciding on a car seat and items like that (since the class will tell us what features to look for) and thirdly, I felt like I needed to see certain items, like the glider/rocker, in person to make sure it was comfortable before making such a big purchase.
I have now expanded on my registry and I started a registry on babylistregistry.com. It is a website where you can add various items from various stores. I love it because I really like certain items that are only available at certain stores. For example, I really like cloth diapers and natural wipes etc. that might be available at seventh generation but not sold at big baby stores like Babies R'Us. I am almost done the registry. The only items I really need to add is the car seat, stroller, and glider. I really hope to go to stores this weekend and pick out these items. I already have an idea of the car seat and stroller I want but I want to make sure these items will fit in our car. I will post a link to our baby registry below:
http://babyli.st/baby-spiegelman
So we had our first prenatal class last Sunday. It was 3 hours and the instructor came to our house since she had to cancel the regular weekend course due to low attendance. The title of the course was "Bringing baby home". It dealt with lots of topics such as baby care, cloth diapers, babywearing, car seats, what baby items are needed etc. I found this course really practical and I would highly recommend it. We got to practice swaddling and learned a lot about cloth diapers which I found handy. I decided that I think I am going to start out with the bummies prefold cloth diapers as they seem the most economical and still easy enough to use. Plus a friend from highschool highly recommended them. I also like that the material is great even for babies with sensitive skin. At first I was thinking about the Apple Cheeks diapers but they are made of microfiber which some babies are sensitive to. I added some bummies to our registry so hopefully someone decides to buy us some of those. The instructor said that she would send me a bunch of links with additional information but I never received an email from her. I should really check my junk mail...
Well its Friday evening and I have the next 5 days off for the Canada Day long weekend...thanks for reading my blog and chat with you next week...
Friday, 27 June 2014
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
21 weeks -Travelling while Pregnant & 2nd Midwife Appointment
So I am 21 weeks pregnant. I feel like I am officially at my 1/2 way point since my midwife won't let me go past 42 weeks. At this point I am way too excited for our precious baby boy to be born so I really hope it doesn't go to 42 weeks. However, I also really want to go into labour naturally and not be induced so I think I will be waiting the full 42 weeks if necessary (unless it is medically necessary not to obviously).
So yesterday was my & Mitch's 2nd wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going up to Montebello QC for a couple of days. It is a huge log cabin style hotel. Amazing fireplace in the lobby (which is only on in the winter), lots of seasonal outdoor stuff to do, some at an additional charge. Some of the summer stuff included pontoon tours, kayak/canoe rentals, horseback riding, ATV rentals, mini putt, horseshoes, and 5k walking trail. They also have a really nice outdoor pool with lounge chairs but that didn't open until next week. Since I am pregnant I couldn't go on the ATV's or horseback riding which I would have enjoyed otherwise but we did walk around the property a bit (which was located right by the water), played mini putt, and enjoyed a nice pontoon tour. We were going to rent a canoe on our last morning there before we checked out but we got up and had breakfast a bit later than expected.
We had a good time but overall I would have enjoyed it more if I could have went horseback riding and on the ATV's. I am not a big camper by any means but I really like outdoor activities like boating, hiking, ATV's and I started liking horseback riding too. I only tried horseback riding last summer in Texas but it was so much fun.
There was really nice restaurants at the hotel and in the small town of Montebello. The first night we just had a quick bite to eat because we took my dad out for a huge Father's Day brunch and were still pretty stuffed at dinner. Last night we went out for our fancy anniversary dinner at Napolean's which is just down the street from the hotel. It is an Italian restaurant and the food was amazing.
Overall, it was a great time but there was a couple of disappointing things about the trip. First, the outdoor pool wasn't open and my big plan was just to lounge by the pool for a lot of the time, 2nd my allergies were driving me nuts. I couldn't stop sneezing much of the 1st night we were there as well as the 2nd day there. I think it was something in the building because I finally decided to turn off the AC and open a window and it was a lot better. Thirdly, there wasn't much of a nightlife. Mitch and I aren't big party animals but next time I think we will bring games or cards or something.
I included a couple pictures from our getaway down below. I definitely think it is a great family vacation spot in the summer or winter. Some of the winter activities include curling, skating, snow-shoeing, and even dog sledding. I definitely plan to go again and might even try it in the winter next time!
I had my 2nd midwife appointment today with what is supposed to be my secondary midwife. I still have yet to meet my primary midwife.
My midwife appointment went pretty well. She was a bit late because the traffic is horrendous near by because of construction. I can't really complain because I was about 20 minutes late for my last appointment. I got back my ultrasound results and everything came back perfect. I am pretty sure she said that based on my current results I won't be scheduled for any more ultrasounds unless they think that they are necessary at a later date. The baby is measuring almost perfectly for all the measurements which is great. She said that at a later date (I think around 30 weeks) they will start measuring my belly manually to see the baby's growth. If they become concerned that the baby is not growing enough, they may send me for another ultrasound just to make sure it's nothing serious. I was so relieved that all the measurements came back perfect. She also took my blood pressure and listened to the heartbeat on the doppler which was nice.
The midwife briefly discussed nutrition and wanted to make sure that I was eating enough fats and protein which I think I am. I got the feeling that she thought I was a bit on the smaller size in terms of weight gain but she also explained that unless they thought you were gaining way too much weight or were too heavy when you first got pregnant or way underweight, that they don't do regular weigh ins. I mentioned that as of last week, I had only gained 1lb but she didn't seem too concerned. I think that it is more of a concern if I don't really gain weight the 2nd half of the pregnancy. As I mentioned in previous posts, I think that it may be due to muscle loss. I haven't been to the gym in a bit so I haven't weighed myself in over a week. However, I do think my belly has gotten way bigger in the last week or so.
At the end of the appointment I briefly brought up the glucose test and she stated that she will discuss it more at our next appointment. We left in a rush because Mitch was meeting someone so I didn't even have time to schedule my next appointment but she stated that I can call and schedule it at any time. I will definitely try and schedule it tomorrow. My next appointment is supposed to be in 1 month!
So yesterday was my & Mitch's 2nd wedding anniversary. We celebrated by going up to Montebello QC for a couple of days. It is a huge log cabin style hotel. Amazing fireplace in the lobby (which is only on in the winter), lots of seasonal outdoor stuff to do, some at an additional charge. Some of the summer stuff included pontoon tours, kayak/canoe rentals, horseback riding, ATV rentals, mini putt, horseshoes, and 5k walking trail. They also have a really nice outdoor pool with lounge chairs but that didn't open until next week. Since I am pregnant I couldn't go on the ATV's or horseback riding which I would have enjoyed otherwise but we did walk around the property a bit (which was located right by the water), played mini putt, and enjoyed a nice pontoon tour. We were going to rent a canoe on our last morning there before we checked out but we got up and had breakfast a bit later than expected.
We had a good time but overall I would have enjoyed it more if I could have went horseback riding and on the ATV's. I am not a big camper by any means but I really like outdoor activities like boating, hiking, ATV's and I started liking horseback riding too. I only tried horseback riding last summer in Texas but it was so much fun.
There was really nice restaurants at the hotel and in the small town of Montebello. The first night we just had a quick bite to eat because we took my dad out for a huge Father's Day brunch and were still pretty stuffed at dinner. Last night we went out for our fancy anniversary dinner at Napolean's which is just down the street from the hotel. It is an Italian restaurant and the food was amazing.
Overall, it was a great time but there was a couple of disappointing things about the trip. First, the outdoor pool wasn't open and my big plan was just to lounge by the pool for a lot of the time, 2nd my allergies were driving me nuts. I couldn't stop sneezing much of the 1st night we were there as well as the 2nd day there. I think it was something in the building because I finally decided to turn off the AC and open a window and it was a lot better. Thirdly, there wasn't much of a nightlife. Mitch and I aren't big party animals but next time I think we will bring games or cards or something.
I included a couple pictures from our getaway down below. I definitely think it is a great family vacation spot in the summer or winter. Some of the winter activities include curling, skating, snow-shoeing, and even dog sledding. I definitely plan to go again and might even try it in the winter next time!
I had my 2nd midwife appointment today with what is supposed to be my secondary midwife. I still have yet to meet my primary midwife.
My midwife appointment went pretty well. She was a bit late because the traffic is horrendous near by because of construction. I can't really complain because I was about 20 minutes late for my last appointment. I got back my ultrasound results and everything came back perfect. I am pretty sure she said that based on my current results I won't be scheduled for any more ultrasounds unless they think that they are necessary at a later date. The baby is measuring almost perfectly for all the measurements which is great. She said that at a later date (I think around 30 weeks) they will start measuring my belly manually to see the baby's growth. If they become concerned that the baby is not growing enough, they may send me for another ultrasound just to make sure it's nothing serious. I was so relieved that all the measurements came back perfect. She also took my blood pressure and listened to the heartbeat on the doppler which was nice.
The midwife briefly discussed nutrition and wanted to make sure that I was eating enough fats and protein which I think I am. I got the feeling that she thought I was a bit on the smaller size in terms of weight gain but she also explained that unless they thought you were gaining way too much weight or were too heavy when you first got pregnant or way underweight, that they don't do regular weigh ins. I mentioned that as of last week, I had only gained 1lb but she didn't seem too concerned. I think that it is more of a concern if I don't really gain weight the 2nd half of the pregnancy. As I mentioned in previous posts, I think that it may be due to muscle loss. I haven't been to the gym in a bit so I haven't weighed myself in over a week. However, I do think my belly has gotten way bigger in the last week or so.
At the end of the appointment I briefly brought up the glucose test and she stated that she will discuss it more at our next appointment. We left in a rush because Mitch was meeting someone so I didn't even have time to schedule my next appointment but she stated that I can call and schedule it at any time. I will definitely try and schedule it tomorrow. My next appointment is supposed to be in 1 month!
Saturday, 14 June 2014
20 Weeks Pregnant - Gender Reveal
So I am 20 weeks and 2 days pregnant. The big news this week is that we had our 20 week ultrasound where they look at and measure all the baby's organs such as the heart, kidneys, head, etc. and they are usually able to confirm the gender. I was told that the ultrasound itself takes between 30-60 minutes but mine took a lot less than that. It only took about 15-20 minutes. The tech didn't really reveal too much information. She explained what she was looking at during the ultrasound but she didn't reveal any abnormalities or anything. I don't really think she is allowed. The results go to the doctor or midwife and then they are the ones who would reveal the results to us. We have our next midwife appointment next Wednesday so at least we don't really have to wait too long. Overall, I think the ultrasound went well. I am thinking that it is a good sign that it was short. It would seem that if they did see stuff out of the ordinary that they would take more time and get more pictures.
When we went in for the ultrasound, we told the tech that we wanted her to write down the gender and put it in an envelope because we had planned a mini gender reveal party at my mom's house. She agreed to do this and gave us the envelope after our ultrasound was done. Mitch was a bit worried at first because it looked like the paper inside the envelope was pink so he thought it correlated to the gender. He actually checked with the receptionist. She explained that they use orange paper and showed it to us so he felt a bit better.
For our gender reveal party, we bought a box that was decorated blue and pink and there was a little heart painted in chalkboard paint where we wrote "Blue or Pink? What do you think?". We brought the box and the envelope to the party store and they filled up the box and sealed it. We then opened it when we got to my mom's house so we all found out at the same time. We also bought some plain cupcakes and then some blue and pink icing so we could decorate them appropriately once we found out what the gender was. I would say the guesses on the gender was pretty split. I was indecisive, at first I thought it was a boy, then for the longest time I thought it was a girl and then the weekend before I started to think it was a boy! My husband thought it was going to be a girl, my mom and sister-in-law also thought a girl. My sister thought a boy and I know my dad really wanted a boy.
So for all of you wondering...We will be having a baby BOY!!!
I will put a picture of the box and balloons from the gender reveal party down below.
After we had the little celebration at my mom's, we went over to Mitch's sister's house and revealed the news to them. By this point we obviously knew what the gender was but we did the same kind of reveal with them. It was pouring rain the day of the reveal party so we opened the box with the balloons inside instead of outside. Therefore, we were able to re-use the balloons at Mitch's sister's house as well.
I thought that having a gender reveal party was a special and fun way to find out so I would definitely recommend it to everyone who decides that they would like to find out the gender of their baby.
Now we can start shopping a registering for baby boy stuff. I have a few ideas in mind for how I want to decorate the nursery and cute things I want to buy so I am really looking forward to it!
When we went in for the ultrasound, we told the tech that we wanted her to write down the gender and put it in an envelope because we had planned a mini gender reveal party at my mom's house. She agreed to do this and gave us the envelope after our ultrasound was done. Mitch was a bit worried at first because it looked like the paper inside the envelope was pink so he thought it correlated to the gender. He actually checked with the receptionist. She explained that they use orange paper and showed it to us so he felt a bit better.
For our gender reveal party, we bought a box that was decorated blue and pink and there was a little heart painted in chalkboard paint where we wrote "Blue or Pink? What do you think?". We brought the box and the envelope to the party store and they filled up the box and sealed it. We then opened it when we got to my mom's house so we all found out at the same time. We also bought some plain cupcakes and then some blue and pink icing so we could decorate them appropriately once we found out what the gender was. I would say the guesses on the gender was pretty split. I was indecisive, at first I thought it was a boy, then for the longest time I thought it was a girl and then the weekend before I started to think it was a boy! My husband thought it was going to be a girl, my mom and sister-in-law also thought a girl. My sister thought a boy and I know my dad really wanted a boy.
So for all of you wondering...We will be having a baby BOY!!!
I will put a picture of the box and balloons from the gender reveal party down below.
After we had the little celebration at my mom's, we went over to Mitch's sister's house and revealed the news to them. By this point we obviously knew what the gender was but we did the same kind of reveal with them. It was pouring rain the day of the reveal party so we opened the box with the balloons inside instead of outside. Therefore, we were able to re-use the balloons at Mitch's sister's house as well.
I thought that having a gender reveal party was a special and fun way to find out so I would definitely recommend it to everyone who decides that they would like to find out the gender of their baby.
Now we can start shopping a registering for baby boy stuff. I have a few ideas in mind for how I want to decorate the nursery and cute things I want to buy so I am really looking forward to it!
Wednesday, 4 June 2014
19 Weeks Pregnant - Clearing out the bedrooms, More baby stuff, Hospital Presentation, and Movements?
So I am 19 weeks pregnant. Not too much new in terms of symptoms but my wrist is finally feeling better. I still have to finish my gardening including adding river rock and mulch and those bags are heavy so hopefully I don't hurt it again. I will definitely try and let Mitch lift the heavier bags.
I have noticed that my baby bump has gotten bigger this week. Well especially after I eat and even if I only eat a little bit. Slowly starting to look more pregnant. That is about it in terms of pregnancy symptoms...
So Mitch finally moved his office stuff down to the basement bedroom. Originally, we were going to use the office as the nursery and keep the 3rd bedroom upstairs as the guest-room. However, the current guest-room is bigger and really we just have a queen size bed in there so we decided to switch the rooms. The office will now be the new guest-room and the guest-room will be the nursery and Mitch's office is now in the basement. Most of his office stuff has been moved but we still have a lot of junk in the closets to go through before we start painting. My plan right now is to clean out the office, paint the office a light neutral colour (right now it is an ugly dark sky blue) and then move the bed in there. Once that room is set up, we will start painting and setting up the nursery. We don't plan to start painting until the weekend of July 12th so we have several weeks to finish cleaning it out but we are very busy the next few weekends as well.
Oh yeah we finally got the baby bassinet which is super nice and has a few different settings...
Today we went to the prenatal information session at the civic hospital which is where we intend to deliver. We chose this hospital since it is where our midwife has privileges. The information session was quite helpful. It was a slideshow presentation that showed us where to go when we get to the hospital, explained the admission process and when it is a good time to head to the hospital, showed pictures of the birthing units, OR in case of a c-section, the mother baby rooms (used after birth) and different parts of the hospital such as the cafeteria. I would have rather had an actual tour but I guess there were way too many people to give tours to. Overall, I found the session very informative and they had several nurses present to answer questions at the end of the presentation. I was very happy to find out that they have jacuzzi tubs/showers and that the baby stays with the mother unless there is an emergency and the mother can't be there. In that case they explained that they try their best to allow the father to go with the baby. All routine stuff such as the measurements and other testing is done in the room with the mother present. They definitely encourage skin to skin time and breastfeeding and best news yet is that they are making "delayed cord clamping" a standard practice. I was really worried that I would have trouble trying to advocate for delayed cord clamping so I was so happy to hear that it will be standard. I am not sure how long it will take before it is a completely standard procedure so it is still something I will put on my birth plan. It was also explained that if you are a midwife client, which we are, that the nurses are only available if you were to be transferred to an OB or if the secondary midwife hadn't arrived yet and you were delivering. There has to be two midwives present for delivery so in that case a nurse would step in. Again, if you are delivering at the civic, I would definitely recommend attending the session. I felt some of it was not relevant to midwife clients, especially if you weren't planning to stay in the hospital that long afterwards (I plan to leave around 3 hours after birth if I my midwife assesses me and thinks I am ready) but it is always good to have the information in case we are transferred to an OB.
So I think I finally felt the baby move or "flutters" this week. Like most people say, it is sometimes hard to tell if it is actually the baby. It kinda feels like mini muscle spasms or butterflies...it is really hard to describe but I am feeling them more and more. I definitely feel it more at night. Super exciting!!! Hopefully the baby's movements will become more distinct in the next couple weeks and I will know for sure that it is the baby kicking. Right now I assume it is the baby kicking cause it is becoming more and more frequent...
19 week weigh in = 128 lbs
Only one more week until we find out the gender!!! I am super excited!
I have noticed that my baby bump has gotten bigger this week. Well especially after I eat and even if I only eat a little bit. Slowly starting to look more pregnant. That is about it in terms of pregnancy symptoms...
So Mitch finally moved his office stuff down to the basement bedroom. Originally, we were going to use the office as the nursery and keep the 3rd bedroom upstairs as the guest-room. However, the current guest-room is bigger and really we just have a queen size bed in there so we decided to switch the rooms. The office will now be the new guest-room and the guest-room will be the nursery and Mitch's office is now in the basement. Most of his office stuff has been moved but we still have a lot of junk in the closets to go through before we start painting. My plan right now is to clean out the office, paint the office a light neutral colour (right now it is an ugly dark sky blue) and then move the bed in there. Once that room is set up, we will start painting and setting up the nursery. We don't plan to start painting until the weekend of July 12th so we have several weeks to finish cleaning it out but we are very busy the next few weekends as well.
Oh yeah we finally got the baby bassinet which is super nice and has a few different settings...
Today we went to the prenatal information session at the civic hospital which is where we intend to deliver. We chose this hospital since it is where our midwife has privileges. The information session was quite helpful. It was a slideshow presentation that showed us where to go when we get to the hospital, explained the admission process and when it is a good time to head to the hospital, showed pictures of the birthing units, OR in case of a c-section, the mother baby rooms (used after birth) and different parts of the hospital such as the cafeteria. I would have rather had an actual tour but I guess there were way too many people to give tours to. Overall, I found the session very informative and they had several nurses present to answer questions at the end of the presentation. I was very happy to find out that they have jacuzzi tubs/showers and that the baby stays with the mother unless there is an emergency and the mother can't be there. In that case they explained that they try their best to allow the father to go with the baby. All routine stuff such as the measurements and other testing is done in the room with the mother present. They definitely encourage skin to skin time and breastfeeding and best news yet is that they are making "delayed cord clamping" a standard practice. I was really worried that I would have trouble trying to advocate for delayed cord clamping so I was so happy to hear that it will be standard. I am not sure how long it will take before it is a completely standard procedure so it is still something I will put on my birth plan. It was also explained that if you are a midwife client, which we are, that the nurses are only available if you were to be transferred to an OB or if the secondary midwife hadn't arrived yet and you were delivering. There has to be two midwives present for delivery so in that case a nurse would step in. Again, if you are delivering at the civic, I would definitely recommend attending the session. I felt some of it was not relevant to midwife clients, especially if you weren't planning to stay in the hospital that long afterwards (I plan to leave around 3 hours after birth if I my midwife assesses me and thinks I am ready) but it is always good to have the information in case we are transferred to an OB.
So I think I finally felt the baby move or "flutters" this week. Like most people say, it is sometimes hard to tell if it is actually the baby. It kinda feels like mini muscle spasms or butterflies...it is really hard to describe but I am feeling them more and more. I definitely feel it more at night. Super exciting!!! Hopefully the baby's movements will become more distinct in the next couple weeks and I will know for sure that it is the baby kicking. Right now I assume it is the baby kicking cause it is becoming more and more frequent...
19 week weigh in = 128 lbs
Only one more week until we find out the gender!!! I am super excited!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)