little bitty girl

I have been getting some requests for my birth story so here it is. It's going to be a long entry so feel free to skip this one!

Stefan and I always considered a natural birth. It wasn't a case of "We must absolutely have a natural birth", but more of a "If we could accomplish this, then we would try." There were several reasons for this - friends who had natural births seemed to have bounced back from the birth experience faster than those who didn't. But for me the real reason was the epidural. I mean, have you seen how long the needle is? I don't even really like getting regular shots to begin with, so the idea of having a needle inserted into my spine scared the crap out of me.

We decided that in order to accomplish this, we really would benefit from the help of a doula. I liked the idea of someone who was there solely for me, to help me through the journey of childbirth. I wanted him to have a good birth experience as well without me killing him in the process. So the search for a doula began.

In the meantime, we still had hospitals to consider. Living downtown gave us the benefit of several different choices. My regular doctor was away during this time when I had to make a decision. The doctor covering her vacation, Dr. L, a family physician specializing in births gave me her input on all the hospitals that she had worked at and then suggested Toronto East General Hospital, which also happened to be the hospital closest to us in distance.

There was a lot to recommend the hospital - the obstetrics ward had been renovated in the past few years, rooms were large with many of them having private baths, they had a fantastic breast feeding clinic, and were known to be very "Mother friendly" - as in they respected a mother's choice to implement their birth plan to the best of their abilities.

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Posted in Pregnancy

Tick Tock Tick Tock...

Baby shows no signs of wanting to come. Perhaps it will play a trick on us and show up on April's Fool's Day. I am not really feeling that "I MUST GET THIS CHILD OUT!!" just yet but it is definitely getting more difficult to move around. Oh, and there's the lovely piggy feet one develops.

The excitement is definitely building but part of me still cannot fathom that I am having a child! Stefan is definitely more impatient and asked BiB last night when he/she might show up as "Papa is excited to see your little face." If the treatment of Mindy is any indication of how Stefan will be as a father, BiB is going to be very adored by his/her father.

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Posted in Family Shenanigans, Needles, Bows and Toes, Pregnancy

Things have been so busy that I haven't had a chance to do an update until now. As you can see, I am considerably larger than my last posting. Stefan's new favourite nickname for me is "big balloon lady" and I keep on trying to tell him that it's not so flattering to be called that. I feel huge although people keep commenting how small I am for how far I am along. I am not sure whether I can get any bigger and still be able to be as mobile as I am now.

I wrapped up work last week and the last month was busy to say the least. It's a little strange being at home and in my head, it's like I am on a staycation and I am due to go back next week. Everyone was asking me whether I was excited to be on maternity leave but in all honesty, I don't think my head will be there until the baby actually comes.

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Posted in Pregnancy

It's been awhile since I've done a belly update and I have grown considerably since the last time. Unfortunately, I also cannot seem to find my camera... Add it to my list of things to do before the baby comes.

Whether I want to admit it or not, this child will be here soon enough. Stefan and I went to an all day prenatal class today and luckily enough it was a nice small class with only 6 couples. I am not sure yet whether the class was particularly helpful or not; as a lot of the information is available in the baby books one feels compelled to read, and you can always watch other people's births via YouTube.

One thing that I had never seen before however was the birthing of the placenta and all I can say is that it ranks pretty high up there in the ick factor. I think for most of the dads, they were even more appalled by that than by the actual birth.

The good thing is that we got to tour the facilities and everyone at the hospital seemed very nice and friendly. The best thing that came out from that class was that the instructor said that the husbands had to give the wives 15 minute back rubs starting this week for 4 days and then increase it by 5 minutes per week. Since I have about 6 weeks to go, I have some very long rubs coming my way. It's all to help the dads practise pain relieving techniques. Now to try to figure out how to prolong this treat long after the baby comes!

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Posted in Pregnancy

So the other night, I looked down and realized that I could not see my feet. When the heck did this happen? I know it's ridiculous not to expect this stage but I am nonetheless still slightly taken aback whenever I look down. Just the other day, I misjudged the size of my belly and tried to squeeze through a tight space and ended up bruising my belly button. Stefan, needless to say, was not pleased...The doctor had to reassure him that no damage had been done. I can't even begin to imagine how protective he's going to be when the child is actually out of my body.

Another unexpected change is that I seemed to have lost the ability to roll myself over. Sometimes I find myself sleeping on my back. And then I have to nudge and ask Stef to turn me over. Except most times I am deeply asleep and all I can do is grunt and wave a hapless hand. For some reason, Stefan finds this uproariously funny and says that I look like a turtle caught on its back in the middle of the road. Sometimes I really wish boys could be pregnant for even just one day, just for them to see how bewildering all this is.

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Posted in Pregnancy

Woah! Time has flown...I cannot believe that it's week 28...12 more weeks to go and baby will be here. As you can see, I've grown quite a bit more than the last time I posted a picture of my belly.

My belly button is finally popping out and boy, is the center of it ever white! I guess it makes sense since it's never seen the light of day. There's an ongoing joke between Stefan and myself because for some reason, my belly button is ridiculously deep. He's convinced that when the belly button finally does pop, it will reveal new ecosystems!

BiB is so active now, it's unbelievable. I think he/she has inherited Stefan's athletic genes and is constantly kicking and punching. But now, I can feel limbs actually move across my stomach. The little alien in the belly is definitely growing! Its new game is that it will repeatedly kick me in the exact same spot for about 3 hours straight and will only pause when Stefan tells him/her to behave him/herself.

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Posted in Family Shenanigans, Pregnancy

We just finished week 24, which is 6 months. I can't get over the fact that BiB will be here in about 3 months or so. I definitely have a bump now but it still seems so small. It's hard to believe that a little human being lives inside me. I can definitely feel more movement and for some reason BiB loves to kick/punch his/her Papa in his face when he gets too close.

Poor Mindy got a first taste of the baby this month as well. She was lying on my belly one day when BiB decided to kick Mindy in the stomach. Mindy took a big leap off the belly and looked very bewildered. I couldn't help but laugh as she kept patting my stomach, trying to figure out what the heck was going on. I wonder if it's possible for cats to hear the baby's heartbeat...

We still have so much to do in this short time but I am trying really hard to keep things in perspective and spend as personal time with Stefan. I just realized that these next few months will be the last we have together as just us...

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Posted in Me-ness, Pregnancy

I've been getting asked a lot whether or not I want a boy or a girl. I suppose it's a natural enough question to ask and my answer has always been I really don't care as long as it's healthy. It's a cliche answer I know, and people always look skeptically and say, "You must have a preference!" The truth is, I really don't.

Early in our pregnancy, perhaps after a week of finding out, I had really bad cramping and then some spotting. My doctor immediately scheduled an ultrasound to make sure that I had not miscarried. I went to the ultrasound and waited for the results. And the results were not good.

It turned out that the fetus had no heartbeat. I was told that it could either just be too early for a heartbeat or that the pregnancy simply was no longer viable. We had to wait 2 weeks before getting another ultrasound to confirm either result.

And so we waited. 2 whole long weeks.

And obviously, you know the results. But I can't even tell you how incredibly ecstatic and grateful we both felt when we saw BiB's little heart beat at the second ultrasound. And it also made me realize that having child is such a crazy science experiment and that so many things can go wrong. So I am so happy to have made it just this far along...

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Posted in Pregnancy

This is our baby, whom we call BiB (Baby in Belly). ... Here is his/her's latest ultrasound. (I think he/she looks like me!) We can never seem to get a clear one because BiB is always too active. The technician, a rather stern brusque woman, quite hates us as 20 minute ultrasounds always become 45 minutes to 1 hour ones. I don't blame her, sometimes I get a little embarrassed that he/she can never just settle down for the woman to do her job.

The last time Stefan was at the ultrasound with me, BiB took a huge yawn and then started krumping. For those of you who don't know what that is, you can watch a video of what it is here. And the woman just said, "See? That is what he/she does every single time, the ENTIRE time!!" I just have to laugh and hope BiB got my mad dancing skills.

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Posted in Family Shenanigans, Lurves, Pregnancy

Well, Stefan is NOT pregnant, but I definitely am. This is me in my 22nd week. Yes, we're up to our usual tricks of keeping things quiet to ourselves. I think if we could have gone through the whole 9 months without saying a word, we really would have. This has been a really special time for Stefan and I.

So far, I have been extremely lucky. Other than a mini scare in the beginning, I have had none of the usual symptoms. Other than growing larger in the belly and chest area and getting the pregnancy tiredness, I feel almost exactly the same. I was really hoping for weird pregnancy cravings but so far, all I have wanted has been fruit, vegetables and yogurt. BORING...

Actually, I lied.

I seemed to have developed teenage acne, something I never had even as a teenager. Mama Kang thinks it could be a girl as I "sucked the beauty" out of her too.

All in all, it feels like a crazy science experiment... one that doesn't quite yet seem real.

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Posted in Lurves, Married Life, Pregnancy, Stefan