Birth Story
Labour started at 1am on the 24th when I woke up after falling asleep on the couch to my water broken (good thing for leather!). I was just having mild cramping at that point, but I had to go into the hospital to get my first dose of antibiotics (I had a positive GBS test). By the time I got cleaned up and into the hospital I was having contractions about 12-15 minutes apart. I talked a really nice nurse into giving me the 6 hour antibiotic (instead of the 4 hour one) so that I could go home and get a longer rest. I got the antibiotic at 3am so I would have to be back to get my next dose at 9am. The nurse checked me and told me I was 1.5 cm and 50% effaced. When we got home I slept on and off for an hour or so, and at that time contractions were about 5 minutes apart and lasting 1-2 minutes long. It was worse to try to sleep during the break, because it just made me feel like I had no break and was constantly waking up in pain. I called my doula and she said to use a warm shower to try to make the contractions shorter because a 2 minute contraction was fairly long. I got into the shower and that helped a lot with both the intensity and the length of the contractions. I stayed in the shower until we ran out of hot water. After I got dressed, we started timing the contractions again which were about 3-5 minutes apart and still lasting at least 1 minute long. Aaron was starting to think we should be heading to the hospital soon. We decided to go since it was almost 9am anyways and I wanted to use their hot water. We called our doula to get her to meet us there. We had to wait in the waiting room for about 30 minutes (which was NOT fun at all sitting there with contractions) before the let us into triage so that I could get my next dose of antibiotics. At that time they stuck a rookie nurse on me who checked me and said I was 2 cm but she couldn't tell how effaced I was (are you kidding me, get out of here and send me someone good!). By the time that was all done and we got settled into a room, it was about 10am. Our doula met us there and kept me company while Aaron made 3 trips down to the car to get all our stuff. We laughed thinking about how many trips it would take to leave with another little person. After using the bathroom a few times, I told Aaron he needed to fix the toilet paper roll because I was going to go crazy if I had to go through another contraction sitting on the can ripping teeny tiny pieces of toilet paper off the roll at a time. He went in there and just took the whole roll off the holder (thanks!). I decided to try the warm shower again, but for some reason it was not as comfortable as it was at home. Dr. Mahungu came in around 1pm and said I was 3cm and 80% effaced. She started talking about augmenting my labour with oxytocin since my membranes had been ruptured for 12 hours and I was GBS positive. That also meant continuous fetal monitoring, which meant being stuck in bed. I knew that if she did that I would not be able to handle the contractions without some sort of pain medication, so I flat out said no and told Aaron and our doula to not let her do it. Aaron did a good job of convincing her to wait for another hour or so just to see what happened. The doctor came back after an hour to check me and said I was 4 cm and 100% effaced. She started pushing the oxytocin again and somehow Aaron bought me another 2 hours. Those 2 hours were very hard labour. It was so intense that several times I almost caved about the pain meds, but I kept talking myself out of it. After about an hour, I started throwing up a lot (which actually felt pretty good) and I had a feeling I was in transition. I needed to lie down for a little while, so I got into bed on my side and dozed a bit in between the most intense contractions yet. They were so strong it took everything I had not to scream at the top of my lungs. I somehow managed to keep myself calm and relaxed. At around 3pm I started to feel the urge to push so my doula got a nurse to go and get the doctor. At 3:20pm the doctor checked me and said that I was 10cm and ready to push (I knew that, that’s why we came to get you). I did a few pushes on my side but my leg kept cramping up from trying to hold it in the air, so we switched to squatting at the birthing bar. That was much better and after just a few pushes our doula said that she could start to see your head. At that point, the doctor came in and announced that she had to go and do a c-section. The nurses told her that they didn't think that she had enough time for that, but she went anyways. The nurse started to get ready to deliver the baby, just in case the doctor didn’t make it back in time. She was back really quickly (about 15 minutes - I think she must have gotten another doctor to close up the c-section). At that time the baby was starting to crown so they put me back into a semi-sitting position, which actually felt pretty good at that point. On my next push the doctor started to count at me but I ignored her and our doula told her to stop because I didn't need her to do that (thanks!). I took my time during crowning, which stung really badly. Once the head was out, it was just one more big push and it was all over. At 4:21pm Dayton was born (after almost exactly 1 hour of pushing). They gave him to me right away and he let out a couple of cries. Aaron cut the cord after about 30 seconds. Another push and the placenta was out. At that point I started to hemorrhage, so Aaron took Dayton to the warmer to get weighed (8lbs 4oz), measured (21”), and cleaned up while they tried to get the bleeding to stop with uterine massage. That didn't work, so I agreed to oxytocin to try to get it to stop. Even after a huge dosage that didn't work very well, so they had to check to see if I had any clots or placental fragments left that were causing my uterus not to close up properly. The pain of the doctor removing the clots was absolutely excruciating. It was 10 times worse than all of labour put together. They gave me the laughing gas to try to "take the edge off", but it did absolutely nothing. At one point I almost kicked the doctor just out of instinct because it hurt so bad (they had 2 nurses holding me down plus our doula tying to distract me). Aaron was really worried and asked if they could give me something for the pain. They said no, the only thing they could do was knock me out, which no one really wanted. After what seemed like a really long time, the bleeding started to slow down and the doctor said I didn’t need any stitches. The nurse brought Dayton back to me so that I could feed him. He latched on, no problem and ate for about 20 minutes while watching us all watching him. He was a cute and perfect baby boy!
Almost Done!!??!!
These last few weeks have really dragged on. I thought it was going to go by fast, but every day seems like it lasts a week. I think if I have to wait for 2 more weeks after my due date, I'll go crazy! I posted a 36 week picture and a 39 week picture. My belly has definitely gotten a lot bigger in the past few weeks. I've started to get pretty uncomfortable these past few days. I'm not going to hydrofit anymore because the stupid float belt that you have to wear pushes the baby up and gives me really bad heartburn. I basically spend the whole class trying to keep my stomach acid down.
We managed to finally move my office at West Tec home so that I can do everything that I usually do there, here. We set up the home computer to network with the office, so it is just like I'm there (except I can't help out by answering the phone). While doing all the packing and moving boxes etc. I was having a lot of cramping and braxton hicks contractions. I figured that could only be helping things along, so I spent 2 days straight doing the move. At my 39 week appointment I saw a new doctor because Dr. Schuurman was doing her hospital rounds. After the checkup she said to make another appointment in a week, but she didn't think that I was going to make it because of all the cramping that I had been having. She said if I wanted the baby out I should go for a walk. If I wasn't ready yet, then I should lay down as much as possible. On Tuesday night Aaron promised to go for a walk with me, so we headed out just before dinner with Dually. It was raining with a really icy cold wind, so we didn't get very far before deciding to turn back. On Wednesday night I convinced Aaron to go to the mall with me so that we could spend a few hours walking around (Aaron hates the mall, so I was happy that he agreed). After 2 hours of walking, I didn't feel anything but just plain sore so we headed back. I guess I'll make it to my next appointment afterall.
Nursery is Done!
Because of all the rain, Aaron had to take a break from renovating the back yard and got to spend a bit of time finishing off the nursery. He put up the border (we decided not to paint), hung a new blind, and put up some shelves. I took a piece of bedding down to the big Michael's craft store in Langley and bought the wooden letters, some ribbon, and paint to match the colors in the quilt. Three coats of paint later, I got Aaron to hang them up. I think we are done besides trying to find a small rug that will work in there. the room is so darn small that I couldn't get very many good pictures, but you get the idea.
34 Weeks - Start the Countdown
The countdown is on... only 6 more weeks *hopefully*, although apparently the average for a first child is to be 8 days late (if there is no induction involved). I picked up a few "essentials" the other day like wipes, baby powder, newborn diapers, etc. The diapers say that they are good for up to 10 lbs. I figure that if my kid doesn't fit into those then I'll have other things to worry about than a diaper that doesn't fit. I should probably pick up a few of the next size up just in case, since they will get used eventually. I also washed all the baby's clothes, sheets and blankets that I have so far, so those are ready to be used. Aaron and I are down to 1 last prenatal class (this tuesday) and then we are done! They haven't been incredibly useful, only because I am a research-aholic and have already read about 3 books on pregnancy, 4 books on birth, a book on breastfeeding and 2 books on how to care for a newborn (I know, ridiculous, it's a sickness really...).
We also went on our hospital tour at Surrey Memorial. It's nice to know what door to go in and where to go before hand. The new maternity ward is pretty nice. All the rooms are private and are decorated to be fairly "homey". You don't really see much medical equipment until you start opening cabinets. Aaron's favourite part is that the laughing gas is just there to be used "unsupervised". I'm thinking he's gonna have a good time. There is also a shared kitchen that you can use to store your food, keep your popsicles frozen, heat up some soup, or whatever. They actually let you eat during labour now - screw the damn ice chips. Although they do warn you to eat things that you won't mind revisiting later on, since you will probably throw it up if you don't pick really mild things (like a banana, yogurt, popsicles, soup etc). For a normal delivery, you are usually discharged within 24 hours of birth, give or take a few hours (they aren't going to make you go home in the middle of the night) - a far cry from the 3-4 days that they used to make you stay. One lady on our tour was like "if we are tired, can we send the baby to the nursery?". The tour guide was like "no... unless the baby is sick, it rooms in with you at all times". Then the lady said "oh, cause we are just trying to choose a hospital, and the other hospital will let you send the baby to the nursery". Everyone was looking at her like "Good god, who is this woman trying to pawn her baby off on other people already???" hahaha, some people... Then there was this other guy who asked if the hospital was set up with wireless internet so he could send out a birth announcement from his laptop from the hospital. The tour guide didn't know, so then this other guy piped in and said "ya, and there is no starbucks nearby either, so you won't be able to get any from there (meaning steal starbucks' wireless internet signal since they all have it and you can sometimes steal it if you are close enough). Aaron didn't get it and thought that the guy was just being an ass telling the other guy that he wouldn't be able to get his gourmet coffee while his wife was in labour. He was ready to gang up with the other guy and mouth the guy off until I explained to him what the guy was trying to say. Now THAT would have been funny...
Birth Plan
Since there are so many philosophies and choices during labour and birth these days, most doctors and midwives encourage their patients to write a "birth plan". Your birth plan basically communicates your wishes to your doctor, nurses and labour support people so that you don't have to do any explaining during labour. I went over mine with my doula and my doctor today and they both said that it was doable and reasonable, so here it is:
Our Wishes for Labour, Delivery, and Postpartum
Amanda and Aaron McKellar
Patient of Dr. Irma Schuurman
Estimated Due Date: November 23, 2006
Our goal is to have a natural childbirth with as few interventions as possible. We would like to stick to our birth plan, but we realize that emergencies do occur and we may need to deviate from our initial wishes. If this occurs, we would like to be consulted and have the risks and benefits of any proposed procedure explained to us beforehand. The following is a list of our wishes:
Labour
- I prefer to remain at home during early labour, as long as the baby and I are safe and comfortable.
- Once active labour is well established, we will proceed to Surrey Memorial Hospital where we have pre-registered.
- A hospital room with a bathtub to use for pain relief is preferred. A room with a shower will do if no bathtub is available.
- People to be present during labour and birth are Aaron and our doula Vicki Kunzli. Please keep all other visitors outside until after the birth. No excess hospital staff please.
- I would like to be free to eat and drink as needed throughout labour.
- I would prefer not to be hooked up to an IV as long as I do not become dehydrated. If IV prep is required, I would prefer a heparin lock.
- As long as the baby is not in danger, I would like to avoid having labour induced or augmented in any way. I would prefer not to have my membranes stripped, my water broken, prostaglandin gel applied, or pitocin administered.
- I would prefer for my water to break on its own unless labour is particularly long and the baby’s head is fully engaged. If this is the case, I would like to be consulted before an amniotomy is preformed.
- I wish to be free to move around as desired throughout labour.
- I would like for the baby to be monitored periodically, not continually. If the need arises for continual fetal monitoring, I would still like to be able to stand and sit instead of being confined to bed. Please use internal fetal monitoring as an absolute last resort.
- I wish for a drug free labour – please do not offer me drugs. If I change my mind and would like medicated pain relief, I will ask for it.
- I would like internal exams to be kept to a minimum to reduce the chance of accidentally rupturing the amniotic sac, and to reduce the chance of infection after my water has broken.
- As long as the baby is doing well, I’d like my labour to progress on its own timeline, without any rigid restrictions.
Delivery
- I would like to push instinctively – please do not direct me to push. However, if I am pushing ineffectively, please DO let me know.
- I would like to push in the position I find the most helpful at the time – most likely a vertical position of some kind. If I must be horizontal, I would prefer to push in a side lying position.
- As long as the baby is doing well, I’d like the pushing stage of my labour to be free of any rigid time restrictions.
- As long as the baby is doing well, I would like to stop pushing as the baby crowns to allow time for gradual stretching of the perineum to help avoid tearing.
- Please do not perform an episiotomy without my consent. I will only agree to an episiotomy if the baby is in distress and needs to be delivered quickly – I would like to be involved in this decision. I would prefer to tear naturally.
- If assistance during delivery is absolutely necessary, please try to use vacuum extraction first, rather than forceps.
- Please delay clamping the umbilical cord until the cord stops pulsating on its own.
- Aaron would like to cut the cord.
- I prefer to deliver the placenta in my own time, without the use of any drugs or cord traction to speed up the process. If pitocin were to be deemed necessary to deliver the placenta or to stop hemorrhaging, please consult me first – I would prefer to use natural remedies such as immediate breastfeeding and uterine massage.
Postpartum
- I would like my baby to be placed on my abdomen immediately after birth.
- We would like for any evaluation of our baby to be done with our baby on my abdomen.
- If our baby needs any warming, we would prefer to use skin-to-skin contact and blankets. If it is necessary for our baby to go to the warmer, Aaron will accompany our baby.
- We would like for any non-essential medical treatments and tests for our baby to be postponed for at least 1 hour after birth.
- We would prefer for our baby to not be given eye drops after birth. We understand that we will have to sign a waiver to refuse this procedure.
- We would like to be responsible for giving our baby its first bath.
- I would like to attempt breastfeeding immediately after birth.
- I would like a local anesthetic for the repair of any perineum tears.
- We would like for our baby to room in with us at all times during our hospital stay.
- We wish for our baby to be exclusively breastfed on demand. Please do not offer anything to our baby, including formula, water, a bottle, or a pacifier.
- If our baby needs to be taken from our room for emergency treatment, Aaron will accompany our baby at all times.
Update - 31 weeks
There hasn't been a belly picture in a while, so here it is. I'm starting to get a bit uncomfortable when I try to sit, which is unfortunate since I get even more uncomfortable when I stand for a long period of time. Up until now I haven't really had any complaints, now I have 2 - heartburn (only when lying on the couch after dinner) and the 1 am and 4 am bathroom trips. I suppose all-in-all, if those are my only 2 complaints then I'm doing pretty good. At 31 weeks, the baby is 16 inches long and just over 3 lbs. He is supposed to gain about 1/2 a pound per week for the next 9 weeks. For the past few weeks, the baby has been decidedly head down (hence the constant need to pee), so I get a few really good kicks to the ribs each day (usually as soon as I relax at night).
Other than that, the only real updates are that all my dr. appointments have been very uneventful, pretty much the same every time - pee in a cup, listen to the baby's heartbeat (normal), check how much weight I have gained (normal, even though Dr. Schuurman is known as the weight nazi), measure my belly (normal - apparently the length in centimeters from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus is supposed to be equal to the number of weeks you are along), take my blood pressure (normal), ask if I have any complains or questions (no), make another appointment. The wait to see the doctor is always 3 times longer than the actual appointment, which is even more irritating now that I have to go every 2 weeks. I had my blood test for Gestational Diabetes which came back negative, and I had my second ultrasound at the hospital since my first one was not complete due to the baby's position. Everything checked out fine and on schedule. While I was there I pre-registered for the birth, so I'm pretty much all ready to go! Oh ya, only 5 of the labour rooms have tubs (the rest just have showers) and they are on a first come, first served basis, so I have to remember to ask for one of those rooms.... I'm thinking that will have to be one of Aaron's jobs since it won't be the first thing on my mind.
Doula
After reading a bit about how a Doula can help during labour, I decided to try to convince Aaron that we should get one. He didn't go for it at first. He was insulted that I was trying to "replace him", even though that was obviously not the case. After talking about it for a bit, he started to see that this could be a good thing... the pressure would be off him having to know how to help me during labour and he could participate as much as he wanted to instead of being responsible for everything.
For those that don't know, a Doula is a certified birth attendant that helps the mom with the pain and endurance of labour. She is not a nurse and doesn't do any sort of medical procedures, she's just there for emotional and physical support. She meets with you a few times during pregnancy to see how things are going and to go over with you what your "ideal" birth would be like, and goes over exercises and positions to practice before labour. Then she comes to your house when labour starts and helps you be comfortable there for as long as possible before going with you to the hospital. She stays with you through the entire birth and leaves about an hour afterwards, after she is sure that feeding is going ok. Then she visits you at home about a week later to see if you have any questions or if you need help with anything. Here are a few interesting facts on Doulas:
When a Doula is present it results in:
- a 25% reduction in the length of labour
- a greater than 50% drop in c-sections
- a 60% drop in the mother's request for an epidural
- a 30% drop in the mother's request for other drugs
- a 40% drop in the use of oxytocin and forceps
- a higher incidence of breast feeding success
After interviewing a few Doulas by email, we met with the one we liked the best and then decided to hire her. She will even take some (tasteful) pictures during labour and then write you up a birth story to give to you at your home visit after the birth!
Crib and Dresser
My mom and dad decided that they were going to get us our crib and change table for a gift. My mom and I went shopping for the day so that we could decide which one to get. We settled on the Storkcraft "Aspen" crib with the matching dresser/change table combo. Thanks guys! My dad came over that night and we set up the dresser. Aaron and I set up the crib the next night. We haven't really done much to the room besides put in the furniture. The room is so small that there is not much that we can do in there. We will probably put up a border and some shelving over the change table. The only other things that I'll get is a small rug and some sort of a window blind/curtain. Can't do too much more or there won't be room for a baby :)
More 3D ultrasound pictures
At our second appointment the little guy was a bit more cooperative. We had a different tech this time and she confirmed the gender for us with a 99.9% confidance level. Here are a few of the pictures that we got. If you click on the links you can see all of the pictures from both appointments (there are about 50 of them). We also got our DVD where you can actually see the baby's movements. It's pretty neat, although Aaron is compleatly sick of it since we have had to watch it with several different people.
Warning - Gender Spoiler!!
DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE GENDER!! We went for our 3D ultrasound today and found out that we are having....... a boy! The ultrasound guy said he is 99% sure, but Aaron is still unconvinced because he didn't "see it" very clearly. Jeeze, just trust the professional would you!?! So we went in for our 3pm appointment and, of course, the kid has its back to us THE ENTIRE TIME. The only pictures that we could get were of the kid's ear and back of the head. He then moved slightly so that we would be able to see the side of his face, only to immediately stick his hand up and cover his entire face. After an hour of this (broken up with me walking around, doing lunges, and poking my belly), we decided to come back at 6pm to see if the position had changed. The tech recommended a milkshake so we stopped at McDonalds and I got a big chocolate one. We got back at 6pm and (yay) he was now somewhat facing forward. The tech started to try to take some pictures but the software they were using kept crashing so he had to reboot. After the computer came back up, we took another look and got just this one profile picture before he stuck his arm and hand back over his face and turned around... and stayed there... for 30 minutes. The tech finally gave up and told me that I can come back another day and he would try again. I posted the only picture I have so far, but I'll post (hopefully) better ones after my next appointment. I also posted another belly picture since there hasn't been one for a while.
Half way there!
Just a quick picture update. Here is the "half way" picture. Still a pretty pathetic tummy. I'm starting to be able to feel kicks on the outside now, but Aaron hasn't been quick enough yet to feel it. Everytime he puts his hand on there the kid stops, so Aaron just thinks I'm making it up.
2D Ultrasound
Today was my routine 2D ultrasound at the hospital. The ultrasound tech was really nice and spent lots of time with us looking at all the baby parts. We could even see the brain and the heart, which was pretty weird. As the heart was beating, you could actually see all four chambers working away. The outcome was that everything looked as it shoud, and my due date looked exactly right.
The only problem was that the kid was all curled up in a ball right down low the whole time and so she couldn't quite see what she needed to see for the spine and for where the cord attaches to the belly. Which means, I need to go in again for another ultrasound. I posted the pics that we got. The tech said that she is only aloud to give us one picture, but since her boss wasn't there, she gave us three :) I only posted 2 here because 2 of them are pretty much the same.
Getting the Flutters
18 weeks... tummy is slightly bigger. I'm finally starting to feel something strange going on in there. Feels like something tapping on the inside of my stomach muscles. I can definitely tell the difference between the baby twitches and the gas bubbles (at least I think I can... if I couldn't, how would I know?). Wardrobe choices are really getting cut down, especially for dressy clothes. I seem to have grown just enough so that anything fitted without any stretch looks ridiculous. Sounds like a good excuse for a bit of shopping ;)
2nd Doctor Appointment
16 weeks today (and a new picture). I had another doctor appointment today which was super quick... just pee in a cup, get weighed, take my blood pressure, check the baby's heartbeat and get out. Typical Dr. Schuurman "get down to business" style. She did ask me if I had any questions, but I didn't, so that was it. Oh, I remembered to ask what the baby's heart rate was this time. It was 150 BPM, smack dab in the middle of the "normal" range. At this point the baby (I really can't wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl so I can call it "he" or "she" instead of "it" or "the baby") is about 4 1/2 inches long from head to bum and weighs 3 1/2 ounces. Apparently durring the next 3 weeks it will go through a big growth spurt (doubling it's weight!). We'll see if the tummy grows accordingly.
2nd Trimester - Finally!
Today starts my second trimester. My nausea seems to have gone away almost completely and I feel much less tired. Here is my 13 week picture. not a heck of a lot of difference between it and the 11 week picture... when is this thing going to actually grow??!!?? Aaron came with me to my doctor's appointment last week and we got to hear the baby's heartbeat. It took the doc a few minutes to find it (which made me nervous), but she eventually found it way off to the side. Aaron said it sounds like a deep sea submarine in a war movie (it kinda made a "whoosh woosh woosh" sound). I forgot to ask what the heart rate was, but I'll ask at my next one. Other than that, the doc said that everything is looking really good and on schedule. My regular ultrasound is planned for when I'm 19 weeks and will be done at the hospital. The doc said that they won't tell me the sex of the baby at the hospital, but if I really want to know, I'll have to get it done on Scott Road (isn't is funny that they will tell you the sex on Scott Road...). Then she said that she really recommends that I go to the one at the hospital because they do a much better job of the ultrasound. I said that that is fine because I am planning on getting the 3D ultrasound done anyways in Langley. She said that the UC Baby place is very neat and they do a very good job there as well - just go after I'm 20 weeks and they will tell me if it's a boy or a girl, so that's the plan.
3D Ultrasound
There is a private clinic in Langley where you can get a 3D ultrasound done (for a fee of course) whenever you like! 3D ultrasounds are really neat because the literally look like a real picture of your baby, still in the womb. You can even get a 30 minute DVD made of you baby moving around, sucking its tumb, etc. Here's the link to their site:
UC Baby
I'm thinking of going around 20 weeks so that they will tell me if it's a boy or a girl. They won't tell you before 20 weeks because of some wackos that will abort if the baby is not the gender they prefer...
If I end up going, I will definitely post pics here.
First Belly Pic
I finally took a first belly picture. Not really a whole lot to see yet, but it's probably a good idea to have decent "before-ish" picture. This picture was taken on May 4th, which is 11 weeks, 0 days. According to the web, the baby is 1.5 inches long and weighs 0.25 ounces. Its skin is transparent still, so you can see all the blood vessels beneath it. Bones are hardening, tooth buds are appearing and all its fingers and toes have separated. My uterus has gone from the size of a small pear, to the size of a grapefruit.
The Ring Says...
You all probably know this old wives tale, but for those that don't I'll explain. Note: there are about a million different variations of this test, this is just one of them. This test is supposed to tell you the gender of all the children you have been or will ever be pregnant with (including miscarriages), in order. OK, here's how it goes. Take your wedding ring, engagement ring, or some other ring and put it on the end of a thin chain or thread. Hold the end of the chain or thread with your right hand, holding the ring over your left palm. To start, raise the ring up and down 5 times over your palm, but don't touch the ring to your palm. Now, hold the ring a still as possible. The ring will either move in a circular pattern, or a straight line back and forth. Circle = girl, line = boy. The ring will stop and stand still between kids, then start up again. When it stops permanently, you're done.
I did this four separate times and got the exact same results each time. It says: Boy, Girl, Boy, Boy.... Girl. Now, as you all know, we only plan on four. I can think of 3 explanations for #5. 1) The last two are twins (or God forbid, the last three are triplets). 2) We have number 4 and decide that 3 boys and 1 girl sucks and try for another girl. 3) Sadly, one ends up being a miscarriage.
Ok, that's my fun for today. Give it a try and let me know what you get!
9 Week Update
Here is the 9 week link. Nothing too exciting is going on. Even though I've only gained 3.5 pounds, I feel like I'm gonna explode. I have to worst gut bloat ever and I think I'm retaining a few gallons of water. My nausea seems to have gotten very slightly better, although most foods still make me gag (not chocolate luckily). Once there is something to see, I'll post a picture of my tummy... right now all there is is bloat, and I'm sure no one wants to see that...
Getting Rid of the Junk
I finally convinced Aaron to go through all his boxes of "unknown things" that still hadn't been unpacked since we moved into our house (I figured that if he hadn't used it for the 2 years we had been there, then it was garbage. He insisted that there were "important things" in those boxes). It didn't take too much convincing to get him to start going through it since he is now pretty excited about getting the spare room all cleaned out so that we can paint and decorate. I can't believe how much junk we managed to get rid of. It must have been at least 2 very full pickup truck loads. Plus the Street Fighter arcade game went downstairs to Liam's place, and the pinball machine went into storage at the shop. So one day of organizing and the spare room is totally empty and the den is clean and organized (complete with a new filing cabinet to get rid of all the paper mess that drives me crazy - you know, the paper that you can't throw out but there never seems to be a good place to put it). Now to try to decide what color to paint...
7 Weeks and the Nausia Begins...
7 weeks down and our baby is now "the size of a raspberry". Up until now, my tummy has been fine, I haven't felt sick at all. Since last night I have felt totally gross. Every time I think of eating anything I get queasy in the stomach. Today at lunch the only think I could even think about eating was macaroni and cheese (the real kind with noodles and real cheese melted on top, not the kraft dinner kind), so I had to go home at lunch to make some. Hopefully this craziness doesn't last too long...
My first doctor's appointment was pretty boring. Pretty much just "yes, you are pregnant (duh), eat lots of fruits and vegetables, drink lots of milk, and take you prenatal vitamin (duh, duh, and duh)". Oh ya, then there was the "we only want to gain about 25 pounds during the pregnancy... we only need a 7 pound baby you know"........... hahaha.
Next appointment is on May11 where we will get to listen to the heartbeat. Hopefully that one will be more eventful.
Heart Starts Beating
I found this neat site that describes your pregnancy week by week. At 5 weeks, our baby is the size of a sesame seed and, amazingly enough, its heart starts to beat this week! Here's the link:
http://www.babycenter.com/mybabycenter/105.html
I'm pretty much pregnancy symptom free... except I have to pee a lot, and I'm hungrier, and my boobs are sore.... ok, maybe I have a few symptoms...but no morning sickness!
Pregnant Gals...
We found out today that our good friends Shaun and Sam are pregnant as well! Sam is due only 6 days after me. Congratualtions you guys!
Shared the News
We went over to my parents and to Aaron's parents yesterday to tell them the good news. Everyone was very excited! It didn't take long at all for the "Grandparents-to-be" to tell everyone that they know about the baby... which is good, saves us from having to make all those calls :)
Just Found Out!
After trying for a few months, Aaron and I just found out we are expecting our first baby! We are both very excited about the news. My self calculated due date is November 23, 2006. Doctor's appointment in a week for the "official" version...
