prego stats - week 25

Total weight gain: 11-12lbs (not 100% sure)

How big is baby: a rutabaga whatever that is :)

Maternity Clothes: yes, sir.

Sleep: Most days now I go without a nap and am OK with 8 hours at night. But probably every third or forth day I absolutely need to sleep when the kids are taking their naps. It catches up with me, it seems.

Best moment this week: coming home from holidays, adjusting back to being with our kids (it took a few days, for sure!), seeing our church family again, eating great food from my new cook book, etc (it's been a good week!)

Movement: SO much movement. The baby is hardly ever sleeping/still! She does somersaults instead of kicking now, and it's exhausting but fun.

Food cravings: just food, period. I'm eating a LOT.

Food aversions: none.

Gender: GIRL GIRL GIRL. still so excited.

Labor signs: n/a

Belly button in or out: out

What I miss: energy, ability to do more physically with my kids (parks, walks, carrying them whenever)

What I'm not loving: nearly-debilitating back pain has begun, similar to during my final month with Oli, except I still have 3 months of pregnancy. NOT COOL. I am wearing a maternity support belt all day, taking Tylenol regularly, and neither seems to be helping much at all. Hopefully it's not 15 more weeks of this nonstop!

What I’m looking forward to: my baby shower that my girl Morgan is throwing for me! I didn't get one with Oli (understandably), but was so touched when my friend offered to throw me one for baby3!

What I'm loving: being reunited with the kids again, being home, knowing babygirl is doing well (I had two appointments in the last few days - glucose test + check up and both were great!)

Milestone(s): have a name, are researching cars and new carseats to fit three kids in a non-van :)

prego stats - weeks 22-24

For weeks 22-24 I was on holidays with my hubster WITHOUT our kids! It was incredible. It was our first vacation without them and we loved it SO much. Some days I felt like I needed to do more since I was on holidays, but then I remembered that it was perfectly OK to let Brad go off exploring and to stay in our rental and sleep for huge portions of the day - what else does a prego with 2 toddlers need while on vacation, really??

Here's my stats for those weeks, I know I'm behind!

Total weight gain: 10lbs

How big is baby: spaghetti squash, large mango, ear of corn

Maternity Clothes: pretty much all the time - especially shirts since my bump is really large out front. some low rise pants still fit but I'm most comfortable in maternity.

Sleep: i did a LOT of this...

Best moment this week: all of it! having time away from our other saplings was so helpful to my soul. I returned refreshed to be an intentional parent, and physically rested to do the task.

Movement: loads and loads. girlfriend knows how to bust a move.

Food cravings: we ate some really amazing food on holidays, so ALL OF THAT, plus anything sweet and filling (carbs are my friend!)

Food aversions: zero!

Gender: petit fille

Labor signs: n/a

Belly button in or out: out

What I miss: I missed the kids slightly, in the 2nd week, but really nothing. I was in a pregnancy sweet spot. Maybe energy, as I could have used some more :)
 

What I'm not loving: lower back pain began at about 24 weeks. not a good sign!
 

What I’m looking forward to:  le bebe!

What I'm loving: WE CHOSE A NAME! We had it narrowed down to two for a long time and I was strongly adamant about one and Brad was open to both and not sure of either. We ended up going with the name I didn't prefer as strongly after seeing it everywhere on holidays :)

Milestone(s): see above :)

prego stats - week 9

How far along: 9 weeks

Total weight gain: 0 lbs? I finally started eating regularly this week again and haven't vomited in days (eureka!) so I'm probably still not over or under.

How big is baby: size of a grape

Maternity Clothes: yep. I haven't worn my regular jeans in a while, but am wearing my one pair of Old Navy Maternity skinny jegging jeans over and over again. And yoga pants, obvi.

Sleep: napping almost every day @ 9:30am for 2 hours (when my kiddies nap, bless their hearts) and sleeping at least 8 hours and sometimes 12. Never feels like enough though!

Best moment this week: Diclectin kicked in and started WORKING!! My nausea is at bay 90% of the time. Thank the good LORD. 

Movement: too early.

Food cravings: Now that I'm not nauseous 24/7, I can actually eat again which is a blessing. I've been cooking more usual dinners lately, but also am still slacking a ton and serving my dear husband cereal or pasta for dinner. It's just a season :)

Food aversions: Still averse to meats as a whole, but am eating bits more than I was before (when I was eating none). 

Gender: too soon, though we've been day dreaming about having a boy!

Labor signs: ask me in 30 weeks!

Belly button in or out: In still - I'm shocked. At this point with my pregnancy with Oli I was already poking out, but then again I had given birth only 6 months or so earlier! This time my body had more time to heal so maybe that's why I still have an "inny". I'm sure by 30+ weeks I'll have a huge "outie" like before though!

What I miss: Energy. It's been mild for February in Montreal and normally I'd take the chance to hit the park with my kids, but I'm just too zonked. I think we're all getting sick of the same toys and books and scenery so hopefully I am up to a trip out soon.

What I'm not loving: Lack of energy and the fact that to get outdoors I have to walk (with two toddlers) down a long, twisted, flight of stairs. Living on the 2nd level is tough in times like these (and not having an elevator).

What I’m looking forward to: Knowing the gender! We are SO stumped for a name and have two for each gender that we constantly flip flop between, so narrowing it down to 2 instead of 4 names will be a relief! Plus we just can't wait to know more about the little grape.

What I'm loving: not being nauseous is delightful, and recently I got over a terrible sinus cold that was very painful. Though I'm tired and unmotivated a bit these days, I'm doing SO much better than last week and am so thankful!

Milestone(s):Diclectin started to work? And definitely showing. For all you nay sayers, just trust me ok? Or look at my Instagram pics ;)

picking a name for baby #3

Choosing a name for Oli was really easy - especially when we found out he was a boy. We just picked the boy name we didn't use when we found out Lily was a girl! So we didn't have to really think about it, though with baby #3 we have had a really hard time.

See, I always have had two lists of names. A boys list and a girls list. And in recent years, Lily and Olivier were both on those lists, though they took turns at the #1 spot (Lily was almost Ava and Oli was almost Max!). Now that we have one of each, the third baby's name isn't as easy to decide upon since our top two names are used up.

Here's things we consider when choosing a name for our kids:

1. Far and above the most important characteristic of a name is that it's bilingual.
   I used to be really drawn to Scottish boy names like Ian, Cameron, or Aiden but none of those work well in Quebecois French. Sure, you can add a French accent to any name, but we're here for the long haul and want our kids to fit in with their classmates in all-French school. Just ask my husband, Brad, how hard it's been with such an English name!
2. Next, is obvious - do we agree on a name?
   Brad and I have THE HARDEST time agreeing on names. I love old fashioned girls names, dubbed "Old Lady Names" by him. He's not on the same page as me :(
3. Personally, I like shorter names.
   I tend to be a fan of names with 2 syllables or less. Not a hard and fast rule, but in most of the names I like, that's the case: Lily, Oli, Max, Ava are all good examples.
4. Middle names are reserved to honour family.
   We thought Oli was our last biological child, and thus the last child we would get to name, so we gave him both of Brad's brother's names. Brad already carries his father's name as a middle name, so we figured that was fair. If we have a second boy he will likely have my dad's name as his middle name. Lily's middle name is Catherine after my mom and if we have a second girl her middle name will definitely be Rose, after Brad's mom. 
5. We also choose names that we like together for siblings.
   I'm not sure why this matters, since you rarely say all of your kids name's at once, but Once we chose the name Lily for our daughter, we had to find a name for our son that meshed well with it. For instance, Since our first two are named Lily and Oli, it would be unlikely that we'd choose a longer name (Isabelle or Charlotte for example are two names I love but wouldn't
   fit" with Lily and Oli) or a name that sounded differently. Hard to exactly describe what I mean here, but I think you get it. 
6. Though people often assume since Brad is a pastor and we are followers of Jesus that we would choose Bible names, we have never been big on them.
   Maybe because every person in the Bible is so flawed (except Jesus!) so it wouldn't seem right naming our child after them, or just because most of the names are so darn hard to pronounce. Plus most of our families aren't Christians so the names would seem odd to them. (We seriously considered Levi long ago when I was pregnant with Lily and that was the vibe we got).

So what names are we considering for baby #3?? Wouldn't you like to know!! I'm not going to share the top two names we've narrowed it down to for each gender, but I'll let you know of some we very seriously thought about but took off the list recently.

GIRLS:
Sophie (we LOVED but then met good friends with a daughter with this name and now it seems like their name)
Mai (May in French; was always more a name I liked and was convincing Brad)
Sola (a little too exotic)
Annick (a Quebecois name that we both love but doesn't fit in with "Lily" and "Oli")
Esme (that was short-lived),
Lucie (I loved but Brad thought it was "too old fashioned")

BOYS:
Max (I still do love this name, but Brad and I are both more excited about the other two)
Felix (I love this name and it's common in French but it never tipped the scales. Can you tell I like names with Xs?)
Cyril (this is a French name but didn't sound right with "Lily" and "Oli"

So four names remain. 2 boys names and 2 girls names. We probably won't decide for a long time, but when we do, I'll let you know the name that didn't make the cut. But the real name will have to wait until baby's birthday!

How do you choose names?

on naming humans

what an honour and responsibility...
to give a human being their name
it's huge.

that's one thing I lament about adopting an older child.
we won't get to name him/her.
when you adopt an infant, sure, give them a new name, they won't know the difference.
but when you adopt a child, they already know their name. you can't go around changing it.

we thought long and hard about the names Lily Catherine and Olivier Michael Robert, but for our next "babies" we'll be happy enough to give them one name: Morrice.

33 week thoughts & FAQ

6 weeks and a coupla days to go - or even sooner (and maybe later)!

Current life situation: living amidst boxes and adjusting to a new sleep schedule (Lily's, but as a result mine). Moving in 6 days.

Current JOYS of being pregnant: ha! I am forcing myself to write something in this category... not easy... let's see... ummmmm I'm excited to meet this boy. the ultrasound was a BIG joy. LG was yawning and blinking a lot so we saw his eyes and mouth well (Lily was asleep during her 32 week US). 

Current BENEFITS to being prego: hubby is doing a LOT of things that I'd usually be doing. He's rising to the occasion big time. also I'm super motivated to get things done since I know when LG is born it'll be much harder... so one benefit is getting my but in gear (Xmas stockings and various sewing projects are completed!)

Current SYMPTOMS: along with the 3rd trimester ones I already mentioned,  just lots and lots and lots of pain/pressure. limping around the house and not really leaving the house because we don't have a car and the doctor insisted that I stay off my feet to the max :(

Oh, and mommy-brain like woah. I can't remember where I put a SINGLE THING. It's horrible. That, and clumsiness. I heard pregnant women were more forgetful and clumsy but didn't experience it too too much with Lily. This time I'm getting injured a ton. Even had a trip to the emergency room from one knife incident, and a second knife incident left me with glue holding together another wound. ouch.

Most Excited About: newborn snuggles. i looked at some pictures of Lily when she was 2 months old today and my heart became mush. just a bag of bones, and always wanting to cuddle. LG may be our last infant child, so I intend to really soak those early months up - even in hectic times.

Most Afraid About: my water breaking in a weird place (like church or on the metro), going into labour and not being able to reach Brad or find a sitter/caretaker for Lily, going into labour anytime before 37 weeks...

FAQ: 

have you chosen his name yet? 

- yes. we had it from when we didn't know if Lily was a boy or a girl, so it was easy peasy.

have you written a birth plan yet?

- no but we aren't planning to. we'll just plan to trust the doctors and get through it as comfortably as possible (so yes I plan to get an epidural for those wondering!!)

are you having friends/family in the delivery room or at the hospital?

- NO. just like last time, we intend it to be a very intimate experience. just Brad and I. it was so perfect for us during Lily's birth and first 2 days that we wouldn't have it any other way. Now, to find someone to take L off our hands...

are you having any family stay with you after the birth?

- again, no. Brad's dad and Debbie live 40 minutes away so they'll probably be the first to see LG, once we're discharged from the hospital, and then after that my family is coming for a weekend in late November followed by Brad's family the 1st weekend in December. That's also when we'll do our "Christmas" with them all because we're staying in Montreal this year for the first time (!!!) as a family of 4. 

We really benefited from not having live-in family help when Lily was born (though I totally understand why some people want their moms or families there 24/7 during the first little bit!). we learned to trust our instincts and learn on the fly right away, which was good for us.

are you breastfeeding?

- yes, Lord-willing!

are you cloth diapering?

- yes! after a few weeks whenever LG's umbilical cord comes off.

are you vaccinating?

- YES.

are you scared/worried/afraid?

- most days. two will be a HUGE adjustment. but we can do it!

are you taking maternity leave?

- oh ya! Thanks to my employer and the province of Quebec, I am taking my 2nd maternity leave and will be on it until Summer 2012.

is Brad taking paternity leave?

- yes! in QC the father gets 5 weeks in addition to the mother's 12 months. he'll take 1 week right away and then the remaining 4 later on during the 12 month period. With Lily he saved his 5 weeks until the middle/end of my maternity leave, and it just so happened I was in my 1st trimester of pregnancy with LG... so it was bliss. I got to sleep in (and puke, undisturbed) and he did the morning feeds :)

***

more names rejected...

Since our boy name is already chosen (and left over from when we didn't know if Lily were to be a girl or boy), the real trouble for us has been finding a girl name. Here's a short list of names I'd love to use that my hubby has rejected:

1. Penny
2. Penelope
3. Zoe (fair enough, his mom had a pet named Zoe so I get it...)
4. Chloe (can you tell I have a thing for names that end in the sound "ee"?)
5. Beatrice (B or Bia for short)
6. Camille
7. Isla
8. Mai (pronounced "May" but spelled the French way)

There are a couple others I didn't list because he hasn't said no yet... so I'm holding out hope! And only one name we both like, but haven't agreed is "the one" yet...

This is hard work!!

Grandma names: LOVE

Two friends of ours have recently had baby girls. Both in Quebec (thus needing a bi-lingual name), too. I just love the names I've seen coming up!!

Our first friends from church to have a baby girl, other than us, named her Audrey Erna. Ahhh, I'm such a sucker for old lady names, though Audrey isn't exclusivly known as being from our grandparents (though it's definitely got some history), Erna is just classic. Pure heritage name, and I LOVE IT! If only I could get Brad on board such such things...

Then we just heard the news that our friends Chuck and Sarah had a baby girl and named her Lucie Jane. Melt.My.Heart. LUCIE!?!?!? J'adore. Both classic, historical, even heritage type names. I can picture a grandma with either name, yet also a baby... Maybe because these type of names are more in these days? Either way, two beautiful choices that I just love.

Now if only I could get Brad on board for my classic, heritage name of choice: Beatrice! He says it's not happening any time soon :(

bilingual names

we are having a really hard time finding names we

a) both like

b) work in French (our kids will go to French school and live in QC so it's pretty important)

c)still work in English (all of the kids' family members are Anglophone and they'll still go to church and speak English at home)

ESPECIALLY for boy's names. Girls names tend to work easily in French and English because feminine sounds are often borrowed from French. Take Emily. Emilie, and just like that you have a French name. Or better yet, Amelie. But boys names are much harder. Most of the boys names I've mentioned liking we both agree could never work in French since they come from my Scottish background, and sound ridiculous when pronounced by anyone with a French or Quebecois accent (believe me, we've tried).

We have our names chosen for the first TWO girls we have (if we ever have girls!) but boys names, we haven't thought of any that we're both sold on. A lot of names that we like in French (i.e. Etienne) we don't like in English (Stephen). Or names we like in English (i.e. Luke) we don't like in French (Luc, pronounced "LOOK").

Sigh. I'm sure if we find out we are having a boy, 3 weeks from now, we'll start thinking more seriously and find something, but it's been a lost cause so far.

Suggestions welcome!!