MM is headed to Africa and Europe, O My!

MM is about to be a world-wide traveler, for the 2nd time since she's been in my belly!
The first time we just didn't know she was there yet... Not negligent parents, just unaware :)
The story is, we were headed to Africa over December to do some planning for this trip that we're about to take. On the way we stopped in France for some meetings with people who we're working alongside with both in Africa and elsewhere. But it was a NIGHTMARE.

Yes I was pregnant and didn't know it, so the obvious nightmarish, confusing symptoms were alive and well - vomiting, extreme fatigue, heightened senses to say the least... But then there was the evening we spend sleeping in a hallway since the hotel we booked with (in France, in December...yeah. bur.) closed at NINE PM. What kind of hotel locks it's doors at NINE PM? Nobody knows, but there we were. Locked out. One in the morning. In France. In December. Cold. Unknowingly Pregnant.

The good times don't stop there. We slept in a hallway until the hotel opened at 6am and then were showed to our room that we STILL HAD TO PAY FOR. But on our way to our room, we found a stash of pillows and blankets, all hotel fresh and folded, waiting to be used. STEPS FROM WHERE WE SLEPT. Under coats. On running shows and scarves as pillows. Yeah. Ouch.

So needless to say MM has had many adventures, some overseas, since she's been around, but this next one is sure to be memorable - for us if not her :)
We'll be away for 8 weeks in total - 6 weeks in Africa, 2 weeks in France afterward to relax (yes, the glorious fact is that our plane for our work trip flies through France to get to Africa, so we can delay our trip home and stay in France for no extra expenses!).

So excited for us and MM.... the stories we'll tell her when she grows up :)

mm @ 22 weeks!

MM is 11 inches and almost 1 pound this week!!! She has lips, eyelids, eyebrows, and tiny tooth buds for BOTH adult and baby teeth! Plus her eyes and pancreas are in final stages of formation and then she basically just needs to grow and fatten up the next couple of months until she's "ready" Plus they say she's the length though not weight of a spaghetti squash this week :)

GONE 'TIL JULY

We're heading on a work trip to Africa for 6 weeks then taking advantage of our location in the world and taking our vacation afterward in France!

First family vacation :D

So I won't be blogging until at least July 1st. WOW. This will be hard, I LOVE blogging, it's become part of my day, even if only the 5 minutes it takes to write a post. Oh well, adventures are to be had!

See you in 8-ish weeks!

the mom club

I feel like since becoming pregnant, every mom out there and I have this weird special bond, that can't be explained by any other thing. It's like I've entered this club and now I get the inside scoop on all-things-mom: best deals on baby related products, tips, crazy personal health information and conversation, you name it.

Take today.
I'm at the dentist and my hygienist who I've met twice in my life starts telling me about her 1-year-old and she "finally got him off the boob".
Am I hearing this correctly?
But it's completely normal, because I'm in the club.
Then she goes on and on about how expensive baby things are (this I can relate to having just finished my registry and feeling super guilty that I'm actually asking people to BUY ME this stuff that costs a fortune).
But it doesn't end there over a mutual hatred yet appreciation for "the good stuff" - you know, not cheaping out and buying the less expensive baby gear that simply doesn't last as long or isn't as high quality.

THEN SHE OFFERS ME HER BREAST PUMP.

She's only used it once, it was the same brand that they give you to try at all the Montreal Hospitals and she had two and now needs zero since we all know her son is "off the boob". She said she'll just bring it to her office this week and we can come get it. Simply to save me the money of buying a new one (though I'll buy the breast shields and bottles obviously)!

Her final words, "hey I know what it's like, I'm a mom too"

Love being in the club :)

2 Weeks of Bumpage

@ almost 21 weeks {note the belly button that was formally an inny...}

boom! prego!

and again @ almost 22 weeks on the way to the worst Dentist appointment ever {it's true what they say, pregnant women's gums GUSH at the dentist}

I think I look less pregnant at almost 22 weeks than I did at almost 21 weeks... all in the clothes or lack there of I guess {in my new Old Navy maternity skirt!}

This lady is having a baby girl :)
{I don't think I'll get tired of saying that for a LONG time!}

for my little girl!!!

OK it is FAR too fun looking for and shopping for GIRLS STUFF.
I think I'd be happy if I just bought things for HER the rest of my life and never for myself...
OK wild dramatization, but it is so much MORE fun knowing it's for her than for myself.

Maybe I have more insight to my mom's life now.
She rarely bought herself anything new when we were growing up, but would treat us often.
Not that she was decked in 80's gear come the 90's, she was a stylin' mom, but she made personal sacrifices for me and Lisa instead of treating herself first. Come to think of it, in every arena of life my mom put us and my dad, basically our family first. Gosh... I'm only appreciating NOW (23 years after it all began) what a GREAT MOM I have.

Now, onto things I've already found that I must get for MMe (yes, it's a GIRL so since we're in French-land, now this means there must be an 'e' at the end :)

1. A Slip Cover for her BabyBjorn Carrier
   (we're getting black so we can reuse it with any future boy babies just as easily, but I found these adorable slipcovers for BabyBjorns for $25 on ebay.com (unfortunately for me, not ebay.ca).
   
   
2. Shoes from the Etsy Shop, Gracious May
   I posted about these back in January. They.are.adorable. The question is, what pair will I buy her? They're not cheap, but I think she needs just one pair :)
   
   

MM is a...

GIRL!
sooooooo many of us were wrong :)
we are THRILLED!
~
not putting it on facebook until later tonight,
I figured my loyal readers should get first dibs!

HEY MOMS!

I need your help!

Comment about what you'd suggest me adding to my baby registry.

I've already got the big things down pat - stroller, car seat, a bumbo, and a babybjorn, I need tips on other things though, like Lydia's tip on the Miracle Blanket, or Vanessa's on Sophie the Giraffe.

And ongoing advice about breastpumps because I am clueless!

progress

I have made a lot of this today: in regards to sleep (a nap was had! thank you GOD), in regards to being more prepared to be a mom, and a stylin' prego!

I was a disaster this morning. Poor Brad. A pure disaster. There was nothing he could do, my stomach was still aching and I was a zombie... extremely little sleep but the baby was kicking away and my stomach was too painful to relax. I decided I needed to get out of the house. So I headed to Old Navy because they had an e-coupon for 20% off your whole purchase until the 22nd, and I needed to prego summer bottoms: skirts and shorts.

Done and done, I got great deals on 2 skirts and 2 pairs of shorts. Which is kind of important since I'm leaving for Africa in 7 days and only had long pants to pack until today (not ideal for the 40 degree weather we're anticipating!!)

Then I came home and SLEPT! What a wonderful 2 hours. I didn't think it was possible since my stomach was still hurting a lot, but the extreme fatigue won over the dull pain, and I awoke a new person. Then, inspired by my friend Rachel's new wedding registry, I registered for my upcoming baby shower.

This was brutal until I remembered Rachel's use of www.myregistry.com
A brilliant idea - it's an online registry, much like Toys-aren't-us (which had less than HALF of the things on my list in stock) but it covers many stores, including Amazon.com
So you can have things on your list from places like Target, Ikea, online sites, etc, and buyers can just buy them online, or go to the stores if there's one close and get your goods.

I was so set on this one stroller and then was really frustrated when Toys-r-us didn't have it. Along with most other things I was "set on". But you better believe it's available on www.myregistry.com!

Also feeling slightly better though the tummy achy feeling is still there. I'll be sure to mention it to the doc tomorrow when WE FIND OUT MM'S GENDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In Other News: GO HABS!

another sleepless night...

I'm beginning to wonder how a pregnant woman can last a day on her feet without sleeping more than an hour or so... yet it's happening! Night, after night. The weirdest thing is by 9am, I'm not really tired anymore. Maybe I'll nap this aft, or just go to bed early tonight, but there is seriously some adrenaline coursing through my veins at this point and i.am.awake.

Last night my stomach was upset and I couldn't figure out if it was just a lot of kicking or something else. The kicking was pretty exciting to watch though, that's right. WATCH. Not feel, watch. My stomach was popping up spontaneously and in different spots each time. So wild. Like a sci-fi movie except real life and a sign of good health!

As fun though as it was, I was awake because of it until about 3am when I finally fell asleep until 4am and then was up again until about 7am and slept until 8:30am. And now I'm wide awake, starting the work day. What is wrong with me? I thought I was much more calm this time around as compared to the other recent all-nighter, but maybe I'm kidding myself. We find out TOMORROW what the sex of MM is and that excited me to no end. Plus we leave for North Africa in exactly 7 days. Lots happening in my life... Just not sleep.

mm @ 21 weeks!

a carrot!

Weird now how they're telling me the length only f the baby...which is kind of hard to picture since a carrot is also super skinny like a pencil... I liked it better when the baby center sideshow of veggies that resemble the fetus were round and more likely the shape of the baby, not just the length or size or weight. But there you have it - 10.5 inches, roughly the length of a carrot!

I'm loving this stage. My only symptom is fatigue and I'm feeling my baby kick several times every day (mostly at night right before bed which isn't ideal, but it's a sign that MM is healthy so I'm happy!).

Not to mention that in 3 more sleeps I get to discover if MM is a he or a she!!!!!!!!!!
Which reminds me, have you voted yet?
------------------>
Boys are winning by a bit, and I'm not surprised... it's what I've voted too!
Will find out soon :)

mind.games

ok so lately my brain has been thinking on overtime and it may be affecting me and MM more that I had bargained...

Take the fact that our friends just announced they're expecting twins + my non stop baby movement + my friend who found out she had twins at the 20 week ultrasound and no sooner b/c the doc's couldn't tell since the baby beats were SO close together they were identical = I convince myself I'm pregnant with twins and can't sleep for literally the.whole.night.

Then take my friend finding out her bun in the oven is a boy + us finding out in 6 days whether ours is a boy or girl = me thinking excitedly about the prospects of either a boy or a girl and yes, not sleeping for the.whole.night.

Did I mention how TIRED I am?
I just lie awake from 2am (when I woke up from my dream of having twins and just thinking about the whole gender thing in general) until NOW (2pm) thinking.
Not sleeping. Thinking.

Then I read this morning that when Mom is stressed or anxious or excited, baby is too.
Maybe THAT explains MM kicking me for literally 12 hours with no stopping.
Unless MM is MMs...
or maybe just 1 super baby who doesn't need sleep... apparently just like it's mama.

ps - if it's true and for some crazy miracle I'm having twins, the whole Natural Birth thing is going OUT THE WINDOW. Just clarifying that right now. Just something I thought up around 5am this morning :)

goodies

today was a great day :)

Just found out a friend who has been waiting to be entrusted as an adoptive mother has got the good word that her and her hubby will have not one but TWO new babies to call theirs. God is so good. I know he'll provide such a nurturing, safe, loving home with my friend and her hubby. So happy to see the 9 month process of waiting (ironic eh? the adoptive process took 9 months the exact same amount of time it would take to have a baby!) ending this way.

In other news, we had delicious black bean ho fun for dinner (I'm on a Chinese food kick!) and I'm feeling MM kick around the clock which makes me so much more aware that I'm somebody's mommy and I LOVE IT.

Brad says he's a bit jealous because it's like me and MM are a "team" and he wants to join!
Example: Brad is making some lunch and will ask "are you and the baby hungry?"
Pure team spirit and I feel it even stronger now that MM is kicking all day long reminding me that he/she is alive and well :)

Also, Brad is up to his old tricks again. What a good hubs! For my 20th week with MM he surprised me with a book I've been meaning to read since reading it's much later sequel, Outliers. I'm now the owner and current reader of The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell :)

Off to bed for a good read then a long sleep, unless MM has anything to say about it and wants to have soccer practice, which is just way too entertaining to pass up, even when I'm so tired I might fall asleep sitting up! Yes, my belly is actually RISING now with each kick... soooo cool!

ROCK THE VOTE

I find out MM's gender on April 20th (9 more days!!) so let me know what you think MM will be!

I already cast my vote (boy) - not that I have any previous experience to lead me that way, more of a hunch than anything.
You can vote until April 20th at 6pm and then I'll be revealing the gender!

HALF WAY THERE!!!

This is a HUGE deal for me! I feel like I've been pregnant forever... well since last year technically! Finally I'm seeing progress both in my own growth, and in the weeks passing. At the beginning, especially the worrisome first trimester, I felt like every day took forever to pass. Now weeks are flying by! And already we're at the half way point: 20 weeks!

Practically this means: VERY SOON (April 20th) we find out the sex of MM, I'm over the hump so to speak, MM is 10 inches long from head to heel (i.e. a banana's length!), and is creating POO! (well meconium, black tar-like poop in his/her bowels, but still a big deal!)
And the Baby Updates keep telling me in ounces how much MM weighs which doesn't mean very much to me. But I did the math and MM is 0.6 of a POUND today!
I just picture holding a pound of butter when baking or lifting 5 pound weights (yes, I'm that weak) which is probably what MM will weigh by July!
Amazing :)

a heavenly afternoon

Today I finished work by 3pm since I am again working tonight
from 7:30 - ?

In the hours between the two I went to heaven.

HEAVEN.

I stopped by Loni's since we haven't seen each other in way too long just one-on-one (and by that I always mean Loni + Matty + Dahlia + Olivia on one which is even better) and finally we both had the same time free. SO NICE. Just to hang out. Seriously. We did nothing.

HEAVEN.

Loni is a really chill woman (even with 3 kids aged 4 and under) and she relaxes me. We sat in her box-covered house (they're moving on Monday) and just chatted. But one of the best parts were her kids. I think she would take this as a compliment not an insult :)

When I first touched down in Montreal as Brad's "special friend" I would stay with Andy and Loni on those weekend visits. I'm pretty sure her kids (Matthew and Dahlia at that time) hated me. They were shy and I was a new face and only ever popped in and out. Well when I moved here I made it my mission to get them to like me.

Folks, it WORKED.

Today I sat in a chair just chatting with Loni while 4-year-old Matthew just cuddled in with me and talked to me. We laughed about silly things like Olivia's big diaper bum and Simile (hot like a fire! he learned and then got really good at it "hot like a jungle!"). I'd sat sitting on that chair, with a good friend and a cuddly little boy might have made the top of the charts for my week. Only to get better when Dahlia woke up from her name and asked for a story at the same time Loni had to help Andy with something. So I had baby Olivia balancing on one leg, Matty curled around my neck like a scarf, and Dahlia sitting on the arm of the chair while I read Berenstain Bears.

HEAVEN. I love those kiddos as if they were my own family, it makes me just completely awe-struck and a little terrified about how much I'll love my OWN kids some day :)

In addition, we all went over to Jamie's for a tea party so Matty could play with James and us girls could hang out. More Bliss. I LOVE JAMIE. She will help me so much when I have a babe, she's a wealth of knowledge and quite possibly could teach Early Childhood Education without having taken it herself.

So often I get down on living way out here in Quebec away from so many friends and family in Ontario, but God has really blessed me. I feel like I have BOTH here as I lay down new roots in Montreal. A heavenly afternoon indeed...

(kind of looks like Matty is plugging his ears to my story but I think he was just resting, it was by far the most affectionate and loving time I've ever spent with him :)

priority #2310629763

So my 2nd appointment with Dr. Hall was last Thursday. Still not understanding what Loni raved about... Shes pleasant enough, but really you can tell she wants to see me for no more than 5 minutes and basically doesn't care a whole lot about ME or MM whatsoever.

This is a typical appointment (Suzanne, Vanessa, tell me if this is normal, though probably not already in the fact that ya'll have midwives):

1. I go in, get weighed by the secretary (I've gained a full 5 pounds now since the advent of MM, woot!)

2. Secretary takes my blood pressure, and I go back to the waiting room (their magazine selection though is top notch... contemplating a subscription to Canadian House and Home or Canada's Style at Home)

3. I finally see Dr. Hall, she asks how I'm feeling

4. I get on the bed thingie, she check's MM's heartbeat (for all of 1 minute)

5. She measures my belly, mentions "your belly has grown"

6. She says "unless you have any questions, that's it" wherein I ask many questions and get extremely short and non-descriptive answers. (i.e. Q: is the heart beat good? A: yup. Q: what's normal for a baby's heartbeat? A: yours is normal)

7. I leave in all of 5 minutes. Nor necessarily having tons of questions unanswered, just feeling that shes giving me her bare minimum, she doesn't care much for the baby or me, and I'm #2310629763 on her priority list.

I think she operates on the "no news is good news" and "simple is better" policies. I just don't. ESPECIALLY when it's my first baby and I don't know what I'm doing. Remembering Suzanne's experiences hearing her baby's heartbeat, I'm jealous. Sooz knew the bmp of Baby Roz, she has INFORMATION to share on her blog and with her family about the baby's progress. FROM HER DOCTOR. My info comes from helpful pregnancy websites. Sheesh.

So yeah. I'm not impressed with Dr. Hall at all. She is nice, professional, if not cold, and rushes you out of her office the second you get in. And if I wanted a midwife (which I DID, trust me!) I couldn't give birth in a hospital - law in QC. I could give birth in a birthing centre for midwives only... but not a doctor or nurse in sight, and that's not my bag. But I hate how it's such polar opposites here. Why can't I give birth in a hospital WITH a midwife? Oh the glories I left behind in Ontario...

the real reason for Easter is JESUS

...NOT the Easter Bunny.

Just to remind ourselves for the billion-th time, we melted all of our Easter chocolate so it was delicious fondue and ate to the glory of God :)

~

FONDUE:
1. Simmer water in a small pot on medium,
place aluminum bowl over water
(for double-boiler effect)
2. Melt lots of chocolate
(in this case, 3 milk-chocolate Lindor bunnies)
3. add 1 TS canola oil
4. serve with fruit or whatever you want
(we did chocolate chip cookie pieces, pears, bananas...

mmmmmmmm

HE IS RISEN

SUNDAY IS HERE!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naajYZSbWdw

mm @ 19 weeks!

Apparently this is a crucial time for sensory development: MM's brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch. Some research suggests that MM may be able to hear my voice now, crazy!

Also the size of an heirloom tomato, so we're having tomato pizza tonight to celebrate :)

Brad also got to feel MM kicking for the first time last night. I've been feeling him/her kicking for over a week now but he's never been around when MM was kicking hard enough to feel from the outside, until last night! Was such a cool experience!

MM = a Hab's Fan?

Last night as had a great opportunity to go to a Habs game. Even though they lost it was SO GOOD! We live really close to the Bell Centre so we just walked over during the 1st period and hoped we could buy some tickets for a good price since it's impossible to get your hands on them otherwise.

Well we were 13 rows from the ice, amazing seats, retail price $106 for $45 a piece! So good, but the cutest was MM. I know babies can hear sound in the womb, so I'm guessing it's just the noise, but every time Montreal was on a breakaway and the crowd started getting load and cheering GO HABS GO, MM would begin to kick like mad! Plus seeing all the kids at the game in their jerseys made me so excited for our kids to cheer for the home team :)

just a pre-game belly shot (terrible quality I know, but Brad was busy so I had to take it myself, 18.5 weeks)