Time shift

This pregnancy has gone by crazy fast - much faster than when I was pregnant with Kate. Most of that is because you just can't focus as much on a pregnancy when you have a two year old demanding attention. But that changed mid-week and now it's crawling along. Mid-week marked the point in my first pregnancy that I gave birth. I am now more pregnant than I ever was that time. And having a first baby early moves the due date in your head, or at least it does in mine. Now every day seems slow and the weeks are set to crawl by. The due date is still three weeks away, but every morning I wonder 'Maybe today?'. I've had irregular but frequent contractions but nothing ever comes of it. I know that eventually something will come of it, but until then I've become a horribly impatient pregnant woman. I was very zen about my due date with Kate - fully expecting and prepared to go late. Then she came 3.5 weeks early. I don't know how to get into that mental state this time. Any suggestions?

Imagine photos here

I have some great photos of Kate from the past few weeks and I downloaded them onto my computer on Sunday. Then on Monday morning my computer died and they are trapped on the hard drive. They are safe, just not very accessible. Hopefully we'll figure out if we'll fix or replace my computer and then I'll get my stuff back. Until then, please imagine some very cute pictures of Kate.

Cleared for landing

Today marks 36 weeks in this pregnancy, which means now if labour starts, we can go to the birth center. Midwives aren't allowed to deliver before 36 weeks since the chance of respiratory issues are high before that point. I have become increasingly uncomfortable the last few days and tonight I can't find any way to sit that doesn't hurt. My upper and lower back, my ribs, my liver are all complaining. I know there are four weeks until the due date, but I'm really hoping it isn't that long. He's less work in than out, but I'm starting to feel ready for his arrival.

Enough complaining. Here is a belly shot.

Five Years

I'm not sure how it's possible that Mum has been gone for five years. I keep recalculating because it seems impossible for it to have been so long. I miss her. All the time. She got to meet her first grandchild and now she has three with two more on the way. She would have been over the moon to have FIVE grandchildren. She would have been the best nana EVER.

Who I am and how I am is because of you, mum. I love you and miss you everyday.

Coming up for air

It's been a rough two weeks around here. Right after New Year's Day, Kate came down with a stomach bug that had her vomiting for 24 hours. Then Graeme caught it too, right before his one week work trip to London (England, not Ontario). Then he was gone for a week and immediately upon returning he got sick again with the flu which wiped him out for four more days.

Which explains the lack of blog posts, the cranky pregnant woman and the dirty house. But, you can't see the dirty house from where you are, so let's pretend it's spotless.

Yikes, stuff to do!

I suddenly had the realization today that there is some stuff to do to get ready for this baby's arrival. It is so different than when we were waiting on Kate when things were done well in advance. Not this time. I do have clothes (thanks, Sheryl!) but no where to put them. And no diapers (or sense of how big my cloth diaper stash is for a wee one) or a change table set up in our room. Kate and I might be making a trip to IKEA tomorrow.

It's so boring, but I need to see the list, so just ignore it if you don't care.

What some of what needs to be done:
- set up changing area in our room
- get a dresser for the closet in Kate's room and organize both kid's clothes
- buy small diapers and wash/organize cloth diapers
- find a bag to use as a diaper bag for two kids
- finalize plan for Kate's care during labour/delivery
- fill freezer with meals

33 weeks

I'm now 33 weeks pregnant, which is kind of crazy. It seems to be going so much faster this time. I feel really good - especially since I started taking medicine for the heartburn a few weeks ago. It changed my whole world. I was suffering a lot from it, which I also did when I was pregnant with Kate. I decided that I was unwilling to suffer for ten weeks this time and asked the midwife for a solution. She suggested an over the counter acid reducer. It's great - two pills a day and I feel so much better. I wish I'd done this the first time.

I was reading over the blog from that pregnancy, and by this point I was already really swollen. This time, no swelling at all (so far). But that was also summer, which makes a lot of difference. Now that the heartburn is handled, I really have no complaints at all. I feel really good. Let's hope it continues for another 7-9 weeks.

(Belly shot, coming soon)

First day of the year

Yesterday morning we headed to a nearby park that we'd heard great things about but had never been to. It was great, and Kate played in some water with a bucket of sand. She probably could have stayed all day. Give that girl sand and water, and she's happy.

Christmas

Christmas was really fun this year. It's Kate's third, but the first one when she was old enough to hear about Santa and look forward to presents and stockings and cookie making. On Christmas Eve, we made cookies for Santa and she helped measure, mix and then decorate them. We left a few out along with a glass of egg nog for Santa. She was very excited that he would be eating her cookies.

I got to play Santa for the first time, filling the stockings and putting everything under the tree after she went to bed, and I loved it. I think we did a good job in choosing presents for Kate so that she got some good toys, but they are small and will last a long time. I also helped things by putting away a bunch of toys that she seldom played with to make some space for incoming presents. I felt the urge to buy her more things, so hopefully next year I will remember that just a couple of good toys is all she needs, not piles and piles of them.

On Christmas morning, in the usual tradition, stockings were opened first while everyone was still in their pajamas (or less, in one case).


And after stockings, there was breakfast, clothes and caffeinated drinks for the big people. Kate would play with a new present as soon as she opened it, so after awhile of pulling her away from something to open the next, we decided to just wait to open some more later in the day.

Post presents, we headed down to the lake for a walk and to play in the park. It was a sunny, although cool day and it was perfect to be outside for awhile. Westley had needed a bath earlier in the day, and he did his best to undo the work Graeme did to get him clean.







Later in the day, Kate settled into her chair for a show while we cooked a delicious dinner of prime rib, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire Puddings (only my second time making them and they turned out PERFECTLY. I wish I'd taken a picture. They were awesome), kale and brussel sprouts. A delcious Christmas dinner and a really great day.

Welcome, 2010

2010 has a lot to live up to, after the amazing year we have had. I think it has the potential to match 2009 though, what with an increasingly awesome two year old and a baby on the way. That's a pretty good foundation to build on and I'm very optimistic about the year ahead.

I have a few intentions for the coming year, although they are generally more of the same - be a better person, wife and mother. A more specific intention is to be kinder and more forgiving to myself. Someone please remind me of that after the baby comes and I feel like everything is falling apart around me.

I glanced back at the blog list for this past year and it's been dreadfully slim the last few months, with four posts in October, six in November and only three in December. I will try harder to update the blog more often with stories and pictures. I will start with a look back at the past year in the form of the first line of the first blog post from each month. And I promise pictures from the past few weeks will come soon as well as a pregnancy update.

January: Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2009 is joyous, prosperous and fun.
February: Around American Thanksgiving, Kate went on a nap strike.
March: On Thursday, we (Kate, Catherine and I) went to the zoo.
April: Today was the first swimming lesson of the year.
May: Yesterday morning we went for a hike down to one of our favourite places, a swimming hole on Barton Creek.
June: If Kate takes something potentially messy and ducks out of sight and then gets quiet for five minutes, chances are it will take longer than five minutes to clean up the mess.
July: It has been raining for four days now, but yesterday afternoon the sun came out for a bit.
August: Maybe you are wondering if fell off the planet.
September: Our internet has been out all weekend for some unknown reason.
October: This weekend marked week 20 of this pregnancy.
November: Snapshots of Kate's life - a typical weekend day.
December: Kate and I are heading to Ontario in the morning for a week at my sister's house.