The worst night so far

You ever get those nights that you just can not sleep? That was my night last night. I went to bed around 9:30 which is normal for me. Then I was up every hour to hour and a half having to pee or switch positions (something I can not do while sleeping anymore). When I woke up at 4:15 this morning I could not get back to sleep. I was so uncomfortable it was crazy. There was some serious pelvis pressure- it felt like the baby’s head was going to fall out. I know its not going to actually fall out but trust me, that’s what it felt like. So I laid in bed, watching the room get brighter by the minute. I also played some brick breaker under the blanket so the light from my phone wouldn’t bother Brett. When his alarm went off at 6 I was super excited that I could turn the TV on, finally. Yes I could have gone downstairs to watch TV but the couch is just not as comfortable as being in bed.

I had my weekly doctor’s appointment this morning at 9 so I figured they would check me again to see how things are progressing down there. Even after knowing what happened on Sunday night they still didn’t check me internally. She did poke around on the outside and said the head is down a lot lower than last week. Its now half way in my pelvis, not just 1/5, so that would be why I have all the pressure. She said now we just sit and wait for more contractions. I am going for a walk tonight! I want this kid out!!

False Alarm

11:53pm I wake up Sunday night because I have to go the bathroom. I go and crawl back into bed and lay there for 15 minutes. By 12:07am I am completely uncomfortable with extreme back pain. I decide to hop in the tub and soak for a bit to try and relieve the pain. After 20-30 minutes soaking and playing Brick Breaker I think that I am tired enough that I will just fall asleep no matter the pain I am still feeling. So back to bed I go. While I am lying there with all this back pain I put my hands on my belly and notice its HARD. Not regular pregnancy hard but hard all over. This mixed with the back pain which was shooting forward like a period cramp got me thinking... is this labour? After looking at the clock and thinking that I shouldn't wake Brett up yet because its not happening a lot and he has to get up for work. So I stayed there, breathing away the pain, (by away I mean through, because the pain did not go away) watching the clock to see how much time is between these possible contractions. I tried moving myself into different positions because they say that Braxton Hicks contractions can go away or ease up if you move, this did not happen. So the time between each feeling was not a lot- only 5 minutes. According to all the doctors and classes they say to call the maternity ward and come in when contractions are 5 minutes apart for an hour. It had been happening a while now and thought maybe I should wake Brett up and see if he thinks the same about my belly getting hard. He confirmed that yes my belly was hard and after looking over some papers we thought okay let's call and see what they say.

So I called and the nurse told me the maternity ward was on diversion. Meaning they are so busy that anyone of their patients in labour have to go to another hospital but they can have me come in for an assessment. So we packed up our stuff, just in case. While doing all this my biggest 2 concerns were that I needed to take off my mascara because its not waterproof and if I end up in the shower at the hospital I can not have it running down my face and I want to do my hair. Two things that don't normally concern me. Off to the hospital we go. In the back of my head I am thinking what if they look at me and laugh and say these are not contractions you crazy nut. So we get there and the busy maternity ward seems dead as we walk in. First thing I see are brand new twins being rolled to the nursery-awww so cute! After peeing in a cup I get put in the assessment room and the nice, overly happy for 2am nurse comes in. We listen to the heartbeat and wait for a contraction. I am explaining what I have been feeling and she tells me that yes I am feeling contractions but they don't seem to be getting too intense. She checks me and I am still 1cm dilated but my cervix has softened and has moved forward. She looks at me and says, "you may not think this is a good thing, but I don't want to send you to Burnaby. Go home, try and sleep and hope that things progress around 8am when we should have room for you. I understand sleeping may seem impossible with the pain but we can give you something like Ativan to help you sleep because you could still be days away and you are going to need to rest." I declined the drugs and she explained that if the back pain gets worse I can try regular Tylenol if I am comfortable with that. She told us if things get worse to come back but if possible stay at home until 8am.

Back in the car, headed for home. I am feelings some sadness as I did hope that I could get to meet our little one. Once we got home I crawled into bed and positioned myself with pillows. After laying there for over an hour I must have dozed off. I woke up at 5:38am, went pee, got back in bed and waited... nothing. No more contractions. I still had the back pain but it stayed in my back and I did not get a hard tummy. So what 2 hours of painful contractions and then it just stops? Seriously? Come on now, I was so ready! Well now we just sit around and wait for things to happen. By sit I mean I am going to do groceries and buy beer for tonight's ball game. I guess this baby just knows that if it came out now my dad would miss it. Gotta wait til the 26th!

The adventure continues...

Our crazy long weekend

Easter Weekend: Four whole days off… well for Brett, I am permanently off! So the weekend started off wild and crazy. Thursday we had dinner at my parents and stayed and watched the Canucks game. It was such a great game both Brett and my dad fell asleep. Friday we woke up and Brett started working on building some shelves for the garage. After that we planned on watching the Flames lose to the Oilers at Mengil and Magalie’s place but Sportsnet was not showing us the game- stupid jerks! Saturday I cleaned the house while Brett made himself a fancy work bench for in the garage then we headed over to Rob and Holly’s place and hung out there. Stacey and Bonnie were over and that meant I got to see baby Evan. By baby Evan, I mean giant Evan who is just about 8 months old but looks like he is 2 years old. This kid is frigging sweet! I love the way he looks at Brett, its just too cute. Its like he is mesmerized by the beard. Sunday and Monday were spent doing things around the house, like I said it was a Wild and Crazy weekend for us.

Pregnancy Update: (If you do not want details stop reading now!) Thursday I had my weekly doctor’s appointment. These appointments are not normally a big deal. I go in, pee in a cup, get weighed, they check my blood pressure and feel my belly and off I go. Well this time was slightly different. One thing nobody tells you until you get pregnant is that there is this test you have to do. It’s not a test you can study for- it’s a swab they do. Now this maybe more information than you need to know but hey at least you will know about it before you go and get pregnant. it’s a Group B Streptococcus test. In order for the doctors to know if you have this they stick a q-tip around your bum. Now it sounds horrible and it was not fun however I will let you all know its not as bad as a pap, so don’t let this scare you out of kids. Anyways the reason I brought up this test is that in all my appointments so far I have not had to take any clothes off and wouldn’t need to until 38-39 weeks when they normally check you internally to see how things are going. This time because of my joyful test my pants were sitting on the chair rather than being on my body. Turns out this was ok. The night before while we were at baseball I felt like I was having a bunch of Braxton Hicks contractions and when I mentioned that to the doctor he thought it would be best to check my cervix. He thought it was a little early for it to be doing anything but thought he would check just to see. Well, my cervix has started to soften. This means that the ball has started to roll. The doctor did say that it could still take weeks for me to go into labour OR it could happen anytime now. He suggested packing my bag so I am ready, something Brett has been telling me to do for a week now! So basically I am a ticking time bomb. This baby could come out anytime and that thought is super exciting and very frustrating. I am not patient when I know something is going to happen and I don’t get to know when. My dad is away April 18-24 and then my mom is gone April 24-25 so I am guessing the baby will try and make an appearance then just to be difficult. If I could pick any day I would pick April 16 or April 26. I will guess its not coming until sometime in May though.

Ok folks, what are your picks?
Date, time, sex, weight…

Sometimes I impress myself

Well its 11:00am and I am feeling great. I am on week 4 of not working and starting to get the hang of this not working thing. You would think it would be easy but surprisingly it hasn't been. I have not really been sleeping in simply because I don't really sleep any longer than 2 hours without waking up these days. So my days normally consist of waking up around 6am, watching Grey's Anatomy (I am re-watching the series from season 1), having a short cat nap, eat breakfast, tidy up a bit, run some errands and/or go for coffee with someone, make dinner and then Brett and I hang out in front of the tv for a bit before heading to bed.

Today on the other hand, I was up and showered and out of the house by 9am AND I had already done some laundry and cleaned the kitchen! I went and did the grocery shopping and delievered an Iced Capp to Brett at work. Its now 11am and I am going to change over the laundry and then head to Babies r Us to return the bottles that we bought on the weekend and maybe look around a bit at all the cute baby stuff.

This weekend Brett and I went to pick up a few more things for the baby. We got a mattress cover for the crib, some bottles (which I am bringing back because I can get the same ones from Extra Foods for waaay cheaper), some soothers, diaper rash cream, crib sheets and we finally got the foam mattress cut for the bassinette! I think we are ALMOST ready. I do need to pack a bag for the hospital so its ready to go whenever this little one is ready but most of the stuff I need to pack is waiting in the crib to be put in a bag.

What else will today hold for me? Okay maybe a little nap, we will see, I have been up since 6 so I do deserve one!

Its hard already

Last night marked the first ball game of the season which I did not get to play in. I sat and kept score the entire game. Now I know why I didn't play. I am pregnant! And yes I wanted to get pregnant so really I should not be complaining. However this is the ONE thing that I have not been able to do since getting pregnant and its not easy. I did not drink, smoke or do any drugs before getting pregnant so I haven't missed out on doing those things since going off the pill. Ball though, is not near as fun when you are sitting on the bench. After the first three innings Randy looked at me and asked "what's wrong," and nothing was WRONG, I was just BORED. Its not the same as going to watch the Cannons play because I am not part of that team. I am not used to playing at their games. I play on the Axels and that bench is not where I am used to being.

There are many reasons why I don't want to have a C-Section most of them are to do with fear and the hard recovery I would have to face while trying to take care of a newborn. Another reason for not wanting a C-Section is that would mean I am on the bench for the entire ball season and that is just not okay. I would love to just get out there and play half a game every now and then. Just thinking about going up to bat and hitting a ball is so very exciting to me! (And no I do not plan on just leaving the baby on the bench! Brett would have to play the opposite half of the game that I would be playing.)

This year I thought hey I am home, I have some free time, I can help Amanda by taking care of the beer fund. So the drinks are $3.00 each which is slightly annoying when you get a $20.00 bill and it doesn't devide properly. So I told everyone that $20.00 will get them 7 drinks. Yes I know a HUGE savings of $1.00 BUT as soon as I said that everyone was handing me $20.00 to get the deal! Kyle may or may not have scrounged around in his truck for another $5.00 so he could get the deal. Yes I felt kind of bad taking his coffee money but it makes it so much easier! At times like this a dollar savings can make a difference:)

Its almost the end already

It seems like just yesterday I was two days late and convinced I was not pregnant. We thought we would go and buy a test just for fun- there’s no way it could have happened that fast?! Well the first test was faint and we didn’t know if we were seeing a second line because it was really there or because we wanted it to be there. When we took one the next day it was there for sure. We ended up doing the test at Brett’s parents (they were not home, but Bonnie was). We didn’t think she knew what we were up to but she figured it out. And when she saw it, she confirmed it- “you’re pregnant!.” That was back on August 22, 2008. So the next step was telling our family. We didn’t wait because a) they knew we were trying, b) we were too friggin excited to wait, and c) if anything were to go wrong they would know about it anyways. My parents were up at Green Lake and after debating whether or not to wait and tell them in person or call them, I opted to call. Its news I know they would want to hear from me and not somebody else. I always thought they second I found out I was preggers I would ball my eyes out but I held it together UNTIL I talked to my dad, that’s when the tears came on. Everyone was excited (I am sure some people were surprised it happened so fast since we had only been off the pill for a month and a half or so).

A week after finding out was Jeremy and Katie’s wedding. All we wanted to do was tell everyone we were going to have a baby but we did not want to take anything away from their special day so we told ourselves we wouldn’t say anything. Three or four days before the wedding we stopped by Jeremy and Katie’s so I could borrow a shirt. We walked in and Jeremy had two shots poured, one for him and one for Brett. This was a little bit odd since we had not said anything to anyone yet. After looking through Katie’s clothes, picking out a shirt, finding a giant spider and trying on Katie’s grad dress we all sat down. That’s when Katie looks at us and just making conversation says, “So, what’s new?” Brett and I just look at each other with this look of ‘do we say something’ on our faces. We then told them but explained that we were not telling friends until AFTER the wedding. I think Brett and Jeremy then had another shot of Jagger.
When people know you are trying to get pregnant its really hard to lie when they are always asking you if you’re pregnant yet. We (well I) hid the news well, Brett ended up confessing to Terry and Diana at the wedding after a lot of beers. All in all I think we did ok.

It was kind of a weird thing to tell people only because there were some people we wanted to tell right away and others we thought we should wait just in case. Eventually it was common knowledge and it was then really exciting to not have to try and hide it. Family knew, friends knew and work knew. So what was the next step. I had gone to the doctor’s office just after taking the home pregnancy test and they originally told me I was not pregnant. After making the doctor look at the results (not just the MOA) I was then reassured that yes I was indeed pregnant. So I made my next appointment for the next month. Waiting for that appointment took forever. When you are only just pregnant you really only feel pregnant if you have symptoms. Which I didn’t really get, well not the morning sickness at least, which was a wonderful thing to miss out on. Yeah I had sore boobs and I was tired but meh I can handle that! So I go to my next appointment hoping to hear the heartbeat for the first time but it was still too early. Everything was going fine so I made my next appointment for the next month.

October 8, 2008 I go to the doctor’s for my third visit since peeing on a stick and getting the double line, yes you are pregnant result. I lay down on the table and get the cold jelly on my tummy. The doctor takes out the Doppler and I hear what sounds like a train. That noise was not a train, it was our BABY’S heartbeat. Now I for the first time I FEEL pregnant! It was very exciting. Part of me was sad because Brett was not able to be at that appointment. When I told him I got to hear it he thought I was lying because the doctor had told us that there was a possibility we may not hear it until the next month. Brett came with me two weeks later and got to hear it which was exciting for both of us. it’s a crazy sound to hear for the first time because its just not what you would expect it to sound like.

A few months go by and things are coming along pretty good. We had gone to Chapters and bought ourselves some baby books and a name book. (Just a side note: picking a name is one of the hardest things about being pregnant) Late in November I was at work and on my much needed break. I sat down on the couch and felt something weird in my tummy. I didn’t think too much of it as it was quick and painless. The next day, same time I felt it again. Now I start to think about it. What could this be. After talking with some of the girls who have been pregnant before I start to think maybe, just maybe I am feeling the baby kick. Well the feeling started to happen more frequently and it got stronger and then I knew, yes it was the baby!

December 1, 2008 I was scheduled for my ultrasound. I drank all the water I was supposed to and I waited for Brett to get home so we could go. Well when he got home I was feeling great, then I stood up. When you have that much liquid inside you and you can not go pee its just not fun. I was in pain the entire way to the ultrasound lab (which wasn’t really that far but it felt like we were driving to 100 mile) and then it got worse as I waited for my name to get called. I remember walking into the room and the ultrasound tech asked how I was. I told him that I felt like I was going to explode. This is when I expected him to tell me I could go pee this much (he would then show me a cup and a line only two inches from the bottom. I expected this after hearing many females stories about how hard it is to only pee a little bit when you have to go that bad. But this guy looks at me and says, “go ahead, empty your bladder.” I think my jaw hit the floor at that point. Ok sir, if you say so I will gladly empty my bladder. So after the relief of going pee he starts doing his thing with the machine. The techs don’t really talk much when they are doing this and you can not see anything at this point and Brett is not in the room so you just lay there waiting to be told everything is good. Well our baby takes after its mom and doesn’t like cameras. It is hiding and didn’t give us that great of a view. We saw the spine, the head, an arm and part of its little bottom but nothing too clear. Looking back I think that maybe the pictures were not that great because he let me empty my bladder but who really knows. I went to my doctor’s the next week to go over the ultrasound and I was told that everything was fine but that I ovulate late so instead of being due April 26 I was now due May 8. Well although I was glad everything was good I was not looking forward to those extra days of being pregnant. I still think that maybe this baby will come out in April which would be cool because we don’t have any family members with birthdays in April so it would have its own birth month.

After hearing the heartbeat, feeling it move for the first time and seeing your baby for the first time there isn’t much that really happens that is new for the mom. At least there hasn’t been for me. What was really neat for me was when Brett felt the baby move for the first time. He was pretty sure he had felt it at the beginning of January but one night when we were in Vegas just laying in bed he knew for sure he felt it. He got booted hard and there was no way it was anything else. Now he doesn’t even need to have his hand on my belly to know its kicking, he can just look over and see my belly moving.

We are now five and a half weeks away from my latest due date of May 6. (I swear every doctor I see has their own date) We have the crib set up, we have two car seats and a stroller and a bunch of other things. Now we just need the baby and we are set. I am just starting to get uncomfortable, mostly after a long day. I have been off work for two weeks now due to back pain and I am getting cabin fever already.

Last night Brett and I went to a movie and then came home and sat on the couch for a good two hours throwing baby names at each other. I said if earlier that its not easy. It maybe super easy to find one you like but you want both parties to like the name, well not just like it but love it! This is not an easy task. We now have a list of names that we like and are trying to narrow it down to something that we both love. I am sure that once we meet our baby and learn more about its personality any name we pick we would end up loving but we want something that isn’t super popular but isn’t weird and its not going to cause our child to hate us for picking it. I tell ya it’s a big job!

So far, this journey has been amazing. I have loved being pregnant 98% of the time and Brett has been so supportive and excited. I do not think I could have found a better partner to have a baby with. I can not wait to see him hold our baby. The thought of it brings tears to my eyes. He is going to be the best daddy.

Tuesday I go back to the doctor’s office for my next check up. Lucky me, I get to go weekly now! Oh well it gets me out of the house! I wonder if there will be a new due date or something else for me to experience for the first time?! I guess I will have to wait and see…