Infant Carseat Adventures.

Leave a comment

infant car seatI’ve been looking at our new infant car seat, trying to figure it out, and I finally get how to work all of the straps.  However, with this particular car seat you have to take all the straps off in order to take out the infant headrest.  WHY?  I am so close to just cutting it off.  Some velcro would have been nice so it could come on and off in seconds.  Who invents these contraptions?  After a little bit of swearing, the infant head rest was removed and now baby boy has a built-in snowsuit attached to his car seat.  Man I wish I was small enough to crawl inside!

I’ve washed all of the baby clothes and have them packed away for the move.  I can’t believe this kid already has enough 34 weeks pregnantclothes to fill an entire garbage bag!  We can’t possibly fit all of the baby stuff in the car in one go and now I understand the need for a minivan!  I still refuse to give in and trade in our sedan for a soccer mom mobile.  I think the next car will be a Land Rover, Range Rover, or an M6 (yes please).

At 34 weeks I am pretty happy with the way things are going.  So far there are no stretch marks to speak of and everyone says how small I look – although I still don’t believe them even though they threaten to punch me in the face.  They know I will just punch them back – harder.

Unfortunately, I ripped my favourite (and only) pair of maternity jeans 2 weeks ago and had to finally go buy some jogging pants.  I may NEVER take them off.  I’m measuring right on schedule at 33cm so here’s hoping this baby is a reasonable size.  Hopefully he got the memo about coming out no later than his due date and within 3 hours of rushes starting 😉

Hello! Contractions Already?

Leave a comment

I’ve been having a really hard time sleeping lately and last night was no exception.  In the middle of the night, I had a contraction that was so intense I thought I might die in childbirth if I go through with my desire to birth naturally!

I felt the entire left side of my uterus contract for about 5 seconds and the pain was so intense that I couldn’t string 2 thoughts together.  I don’t even remember what happened next, but I must have fallen asleep.  Hours later I woke up in a panic wondering what the hell had happened.  Baby boy is happily kicking away at the moment, so whatever it was I guess it was “normal”?  Something to ask the midwife.

I was pretty lucky up until a few weeks ago with this pregnancy.  I thought I was in the clear for the easiest pregnancy ever!  WRONG.  About 2 weeks ago I started experiencing nerve pain in my chest and back.  Just under my right breast, there is a spot that is both numb and extremely painful.  Impossible you say? Apparently not.

It turns out that this added baby weight in my abdomen is causing some funky things to happen to my nervous system.  So I’ve got this pain in my ribs that is interconnected with the lower fibers of my right trapezius muscle which also hurts tremendously.

But when people ask how I’m doing, I just say GREAT!  Because that’s how I want to feel.  Like Paul Harvey used to say: and now you know the REST of the story.

Baby Shower Adventures

Leave a comment

Our baby shower cake made by Juanita from Sweetthings.ca!

I wanted to avoid the whole “group of women that don’t know each other and everything is incredibly awkward” party, so I resisted letting anyone throw me a baby shower for the longest time.  We eventually decided to have more of a party slash baby shower and celebrate this moment with our close friends.  I am so glad we did!  The shower ended up being a lot of fun and hopefully we started a trend in awesome couples’ baby showers!

The party was full of good friends, family, and incredible food.  I wish I had been able to find my camera, but days of searching for it turned up nothing!  I have no pictures of our delicious spread but I do have pictures that a good friend took of the event, so I am thankful for that.  The best part was that Yuri and I got to share the special occasion together, and opening baby gifts with 25 people staring at us was a little less stressful for me!  I SO do not like being the center of attention, unless I have a drink of courage beforehand, and there was no going that route this time! In fact, if we have 4 kids like I’ve always wanted I won’t be having a drink for about 8 more years!

Me explaining what the hell a Twirly Whirly is to Yuri!

I loved having all of our close friends and family here – guys and girls – and I think everyone had a good time.  Tamara made every couple a Christmas stocking with some goodies and a baby bottle for everyone to drink out of for the evening!  So cute.  She provided us with dinner and the tastiest carrot cupcakes ever! Yuri and I ordered a special elephant cake to go along with our baby’s elephant themed room that we’re planning in the new house and everyone got delicious Felix and Norton cookies to take home!

I have to admit, shower games were probably the part I was dreading the most about a baby shower, but they were fun and didn’t include anything along the lines of “guess how big mommy’s tummy has gotten!”.  Tamara planned 2 games and even had special cards made for them.  In hindsight, I wish I’d had someone take a picture of them! Oops.  They were something along the lines of “Guess this kid’s celebrity parents” and “Multiple choice about the parents-to-be.”  Good times.

Other than that the night was about having a good time with friends who will be there to watch our baby grow.  For the longest time I had thought about it as a party, so it was a bit shocking when we ended up with so many presents!  Thank you everyone!

We Must Be Crazy.

Leave a comment

With a baby on the way in January, you would think that we already had enough on our plates.  But then we had to go and buy a house outside of the city that needs a little love and care and sell our loft.  It turns out the buying and the selling were the easy parts.  Now we’re moving 2 weeks before the baby is due and starting 3-4 weeks of renovations on the floors, walls, kitchen, and bathroom!

I am starting to panic.  Not only will we be living with my mother-in-law while the renovations are going on, but we’ll be living with her over the baby’s due date!  We’re losing our midwives and our planned home birth and transferring to an area where they don’t allow midwives in the hospital.  I have absolutely no idea how it’s all going to pan out.  Best-case-scenario: Transfer to new midwives and renovations are complete by the time baby comes.  Otherwise, transfer to new midwives and have home birth at mother-in-law’s house.  Eek.  The whole point of a home birth was so that I could RELAX in my own environment…right.

Evidence.

1 Comment

5 weeks pregnant

The baby stretched himself out this morning and found my ribs for the first time.  It’s surprising to be woken up in the morning by a quick shot to the ribs, especially when you are alone in bed, but I guess that’s what happens when you’re nearly 28 weeks along in this journey.

For everyone who has been bugging me for a photo, here it is!  I can’t believe this was me just FIVE months ago.  These days I can’t even fit into my ginormous Canada Goose jacket!

I don’t know how I am going to survive a Canadian winter, but I refuse to spend $500 on a winter maternity jacket!  Although, I discovered that I can wear my ski jacket lining under my fall maternity jacket, obviously without doing it up, so I might be okay – just a little puffy-looking.

28 weeks pregnant

Tomorrow I’ll be 28 weeks, with 12 more to go.  It should be interesting to see how big I get considering I have zero motivation to work out and that I feel larger than life already.  I know I should be lifting weights and getting some sort of cardio, but taking the dogs for a walk is going to have to do.  I may just regret that decision in 12 weeks’ time, but I’ll have no choice but to deal with the consequences at that point!  All I know is that I am heading to hot yoga the first chance I get!

It’s a Coffee Kind of Morning.

Leave a comment

Sometimes all I want is a coffee.  Even when pregnant. No – especially when pregnant.  It seems the third trimester has brought with it the feelings of queasiness in the morning that I thought I was rid of and the only thing I felt like having this morning was coffee.

So, now I’m sitting in our favourite coffee shop sipping a delicious decaf soy latte.  Mmm.  It’s hitting the spot like nothing else.  Water makes me want to throw up, and so does food.  Coffee seems to be the buffer this morning that keeps everything else down!  And while I never thought I would ever drink coffee while pregnant, I guess you really never can say never until you’ve experienced something for yourself.

So, I’m a hypocrite.  I’ll admit it.  At least it’s decaf: Swiss water decaf.  Only the best for my baby 🙂 Ha.

People Say Some Pretty Unbelieveable Things…

Leave a comment

There are many things that get me fired up about parenting and the nutrition aspect is probably my hottest button.  I cannot believe a pregnant woman actually wrote this:

“Whats the point of giving him/her a few months of organic homemade pureed baby food, when in a year he’s gonna be eating Kraft Mac N Cheese anyway?”

I’m sorry, is your baby going off to college when he’s one year old?  Babies will only eat Kraft Mac N Cheese if you make it for them!  This is insane.  It brings me back to my waitressing days when a couple with a barely 1-year old asked for french fries at 7am because “it’s the only thing he will eat.”  Way to be good parents! Whose fault is that?

And yes, there is a point of feeding a baby organic homemade pureed baby food:  It’s cheaper, more nutritious, tastes better, comes complete with enzymes for digestion, and it’s not full of artificial colours, flavours, or preservatives. Anything that sits on a shelf with no refrigeration for months is not going in my baby’s mouth. No, I will not prepare my baby’s food for the sole purpose of bragging rights; so I can be that bitch at mommy and me who thinks she’s better than everyone else.  No, I will prepare my baby’s food because I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I understand that people are busy and they’re looking for the magic bullet that gets food on the table without any work on their part, but how much effort does it take to blend some carrots or mash some peas?

The Barefoot (and Pregnant) Contessa

Leave a comment

With the weather getting colder and my belly getting bigger, there is no better time than the present to get back into the kitchen and refine my cooking skills.  I need to get into some sort of groove before this baby comes.  I can’t imagine quitting my job just days before this little one’s arrival and then trying to juggle an entire new life all at once!  So bring on the cook and un-cook books!

Now that this baby is kicking constantly, it is a constant reminder that I’m going to have my hands full in a few months.  I am starting to feel the pressure!

The house is spotless for the first time in a long time, and I’ve been experimenting with new recipes for the past week or so.  I’ve made carrot soup, mushroom soup, Moroccan chicken tajine, chicken mango chutney, chili, and a pumpkin/banana pie that we had to throw out so we wouldn’t eat it all!  I’ve taken pictures of most of them but I’ve lost the cord that connects my camera to the computer…so sad.

Here’s the latest and greatest that has come out of my kitchen!

Coconut Carrot Soup

2 lb carrots

2 yellow onions

3 cloves garlic

3 tbsp butter

1 tbsp fresh, grated ginger

1/4 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp pepper

pinch cayenne

900 ml Vegetable or Chicken Stock (1 container such as PC Blue Menu )

1/2 package Grace, Pure Creamed Coconut (or 1 can coconut milk)

2 tbsp lime juice

honey or maple syrup, to taste (I used about 2 tbsp of honey)

fresh cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Chop up the carrot, onion, and garlic, and place in a medium sized pot with the butter.  Cook on medium heat for approximately 10 minutes.

Add the ginger, cumin, curry, salt, pepper, and cayenne, and stir thoroughly for two minutes.  Then, add the stock.  Heat mixture until boiling and then simmer for 15 minutes, partially covered.

If you’re using creamed coconut, place half of the Grace Pure Creamed Coconut package in a bowl and ladle a cup of soup stock from the pot over top.  Mix well.  This will only take a minute and you will have some delicious coconut cream to add to your soup!

Add the coconut cream (or coconut milk) to the soup along with the lime juice.  Add honey to taste.  Simmer for another 5-10 minutes with the lid off.  If you use Grace’s coconut cream, be sure to add an extra cup of water or stock to the soup to make up for its lack of moisture.

Remove soup from its heat source and cool slightly before pouring it into a blender and smoothing it out.  Once the soup is smooth, you can return it to the pot or serve directly.  Garnish with cilantro and serve!

126 More Days.

1 Comment

There are only 126 more days; 18 weeks; or 4 months until this little baby is due.  Any way you look at it, there’s not a lot of time left!  And with time slowly closing in on the date, there is much to do!

And with Thanksgiving just around the corner, I am reminded of all the things that I am thankful for.  First of all, I am thankful that I am retiring from the world of waitressing in exactly 17 more days. Given, I’ve only been working 1-2 times a week, so I have already checked out for all intents and purposes.  There is nothing quite as relaxing as the care-free nature of checking out early.  I think it even makes me a better waitress.  You can yell at me just because you’re in a bad mood (and believe me, some people do) and I won’t give a shit.  So go ahead and try me.

Secondly, I am thankful that I will get to stay at home with our kids and raise them to be little mindful free-thinkers.  They won’t be babysat by someone’s television like I can remember, nor will they be chased around a basement and spanked for being too noisy during nap time. What was the point of relegating us to the basement if we couldn’t do anything whilst there? I am thankful that they won’t have memories of the babysitter scolding them for chewing the chicken in their chicken noodle soup. “You don’t need to chew the chicken.  Just swallow it!”  Are you kidding?  I was only 6 and I knew this woman was a wacko!  Please kids, chew your chicken.

Thirdly, I am thankful for pumpkin pie.  If you are a pie of the pumpkin variety and you get within eating distance of me, you should be afraid – very afraid.  The whipped cream is waiting, my friend.  So please, do stop by for a bite to eat.

After the pie, I am thankful that I have a boyfriend slash husband who values the same things I do in life. To be honest, he wouldn’t be my boyfriend slash husband if he didn’t!  We both want to escape the city and raise our kids somewhere where the air is clean, the lake is close, and the community is tight.  We’ll carry the kayaks to the water in the summer, and cross country ski and skate in the winter.  We’ll have a yard where we can grow a garden and the kids and dogs can play, and a driveway worthy of some good, competitive street hockey.

And although there are many more things I am grateful for, such as puppies, flip flops, Dexter’s return this weekend, maternity pants, and green juice, if I listed them all, you’d have to read a novel.  So, go bake yourself a pie, top it with real whipped cream, and think about all the things that make life grand!

Baby Kicks!

Leave a comment

There is something just magical about those first baby movements.  It all becomes really…real.  You think it’s real when you hear the heart beat.  You think it’s real when you see the ultrasound image squiggling about, but it becomes startlingly real when you feel those first kicks.  There is a living thing growing inside me.  How very Sci-Fi.  Only 155 more days!