Long Overdue Update!

As it turns out, this baby has kept me pretty busy (and she's not even born yet!) and as a result, I've neglected this blog! Well, if you're up for it, get comfortable - this post is a very lonnnnng update on the last few months.

I'm gonna go back as far as January, when we had a little poll on the right side of the blog to see what everyone thought our baby's gender would be. Well, it turns out you guys guessed pretty well! We are having a baby girl! We had to drive 2 hours to the nearest big(ger) city where there is a 3D/4D ultrasound clinic that is willing to tell people the gender (anything run by public health care on the island will no longer tell people, so we forked out the big bucks for the fancy private clinic). Boy was that ever an adventure! We went in for our appointment, but baby was being pretty modest. With a foot covering it's nether regions, the baby wasn't sharing any news with us. The ultrasound tech had me rolling from side to side, she was gently pushing on my belly from all sides, and she even had me get up and jump around a little. No luck. Baby wouldn't budge! Thankfully, the clinic staff were very understanding of the fact that we were 2 hours from home and en route to the next city over to visit friends and family for the weekend (so coming back another day wasn't really an option - we were hoping to be sharing the news later that day!). So we were sent away for an hour to drink a cold, sugary slurpie (which was pretty gross!) and come back for another try. Adam even drove a little too fast over some speed bumps hoping to 'bump' the baby's foot out of the way! When we got back to the clinic, it took about 10 seconds and we got our first clear shot and definitive results: we have a baby girl in there!! I will be the first to admit, I was a mess of tears. Even one of the techs cried a little. It was a pretty magnificent moment!

From the ultrasound clinic we headed to our former home town to visit friends and family and share our news. Mom was pretty excited. She adores the two grandsons she has already, but being an avid sewer and crafter, I could tell she was anxious for a little girl to make things for. I was definitely right - she was ecstatic! And since then she has been very busy with all sorts of patterns - she sews, crochets, crafts, etc. She's even found some super adorable outfits for the wee little one. We definitely have a very lucky baby coming our way!

February was a little less hectic. Just the usual doctor's appointments and baby prep. And by less hectic - I just mean less time spent on the road - not less busy! We've had a running to-do list since September when we found out we were expecting. The friends who know me best will probably not be the least bit surprised that this 'to-do list' is actually a giant spreadsheet of tasks, dates they need to be completed by, and who has to complete the task. I'm pretty happy to say we're only a couple tasks behind on our next task deadline, which is April 15th. I think the only things we need to do before then are pack the hospital bag, get the diaper bag set up, and make sure I have a stash of postpartum pads.

Oh - on that lovely note: I'm excited to be finally giving Lunapads cloth pads a try! I got their postpartum kit from one of my best friends as a shower gift and can't wait to try them. I've actually read they're much nicer after the birth since they're so much softer than conventional disposables (especially if you have stitches down there!). But I still want a package of disposables in case I don't have enough cloth to last between laundry loads. I'll have to let you know how I like them once I've used them!

So that brings us to March - the month of the baby shower and my birthday. Actually, both happened the same weekend! It was definitely a whirlwind of a weekend. We drove down to our old home town for the shower, which one of my best friends planned and hosted. It was perfect! I've been to a couple showers before and some feel pretty awkward, but I can honestly say I had tons of fun and think my friends and family did too! We did a potluck of finger food which was delicious and just sat around socializing for a little while. Given that I no longer live in the same city as all my wonderful friends, I probably could have spent the whole time just talking to them! But we did manage to fit in a few games. We did the game where we wear a soother on a necklace and can't say the word 'baby' for the whole shower. I was doing very well catching other people and collecting their soothers, but then a friend of mine caught me and took all of them away! It was pretty fun! We were also tested on our knowledge of baby animal names (some of these were surprisingly difficult!) and nursery rhymes and our taste buds got to test baby food. We had to take a little taste of unlabeled baby foods and try to decipher what they were. I have a new found sympathy for babies that have to eat that stuff! Hopefully when I get to the baby food making stage I can whip up somethings that are a little tastier than the jarred stuff we got to try! Finally, we ended the shower with presents. Our little one (and me too!!) are very, very spoiled! Given my raging hormones, I'm pretty surprised I didn't cry all the way through (one of my friends even gave me a card with her son's hand print in it - I love him!! It was so sweet!). I did tear up once, but only for a second!

Adam (and the dog!) picked me up after the shower and we drove another hour or so to the ferry terminal so we could get away for a couple nights on a smaller island and just enjoy a quiet weekend to ourselves. Despite a few setbacks with the cabin we rented, we were pretty happy to spend a whole weekend without technology, with a wood burning stove, and just us and the dog. It was beautiful, quiet and super peaceful. Adam even packed along some birthday presents for me and spoiled me rotten. I kept saying it was the best weekend of my life (with the shower and the island getaway) and, aside from our wedding weekend, I really think it was! It was probably the last time in a very long time that we will go away on our own without kids. So we really took the time to appreciate the silence and enjoy each other's company. I'm very lucky to have such a wonderful husband that I love to pieces!

 

And that brings us to April! I'm a little behind on updating this blog with belly photos, so here's one from 30 weeks and then the most recent one from last Friday, at 33 weeks.

 

It's not my favourite photo, since I had just worked all day and was truly exhausted. But it gives you an idea of how big this baby and belly are getting!
As for the goings on in April - we spent this past weekend at labour and delivery classes, we have a baby cpr class tomorrow, and next week is a breastfeeding class. So apparently this is the month when we learn what we're doing!


And that should bring us fully up to date! Hopefully I will keep this blog updated more regularly for those of you that check it (or maybe I should just say 'for mom' since I'm not sure if anyone else reads this!). :o)