10.31.08
The Birthday Story….
Oh yes, I almost forgot to share my birthday story and what special thing my husband did! (And what funny thing my Mother-in-law did in response!!! Sorry Mom, but I have to tell it!)
So, as usual, in the morning, my husband gets up before the sun shines its face and I stay sleeping for a couple more hours. On my birthday morning, I am woken up to kisses and him saying “happy birthday”. I go to grab his hand and they are freezing!!!! So is his nose and his cheeks are red. I ask him, “what have you been up to”…and he said “nothing, the usual”. Which I just accepted — either he was doing work on the house or going for one of his long morning walks. I think to myself it must be REALLY cold outside as I hover under the covers a little more…..
When I *eventually* wake up, we decide to go for a walk and as I take my first steps onto the back deck to go outside, I see the deck covered with leaves. It’s no shock to me for we are surrounded by trees…but it IS interesting that the leaves grouped themselves together…either it must be REALLY cold confirming my earlier thought that the leaves are trying to stay warm or there is some weird Canadian wind pattern that I need to learn about for its just…odd. I think and say outloud “wow, hon, it’s almost like they are stairs so I will step between them”. At this point, my husband just laughs and says to look harder at the leaves. Um, what?! He then said “In fact, start over here at this point…..” and takes me to the other side of the deck, being ultra careful not to step on the leaves. Looking at it harder, I realize the leaves say “Happy Birthday!” (Yes, even an exclamation point was there). Wow, these are some really smart leaves — they can talk! Just kidding…
The left picture says “happy” and the right picture says “birthday” kind of angled…
And then my husband says to look at the other tiers of the deck and the birthday message continued….
So that is why my husband was an interesting shade of “frozen-red” cold this morning! He spent some time arranging the cold, wet leaves! How creative and what fun! I love that about him.
During the day, I smiled every so often just thinking about my birthday message out on the deck and the effort my husband put into it….just a nice warm feeling.
Then my mother in law came over in the afternoon to have some cake and tea w/us…
I happened to be on the phone with a friend from church who was wishing me a happy bday..and I hear my MIL’s car pulling into the driveway and I just knew…..so as I was telling my friend “just hold on one sec”…..I went to pull open the back door….but it jammed (I had just put a throw rug for the wet boots and stuff down and it was still curled from the wrapping so the door kept getting stuck on it……and we know how flexible I now am to just bend down and fix the darn rug!)….and that’s when I saw it happening…
From behind the glass door, I see my MIL coming up the stairs onto the deck and seeing the “mess” of leaves, she *very* enthusiastically uses her feet to kick away the leaves that are “scattered” all over the place. She starts cleaning up destroying my birthday greeting! The one that my husband subjected himself to potential hypothermia for.
And there I am, banging on the window of the door…”no….stop“….and choke out “my..birthday… greeting“…It’s panic on the inside of the house but on the outside, she can barely hear me, and all one would see is me, looking like a caged animal peering out the window, mouthing words but just seeing the window fog up.
Miracle! The door un-jams itself…and I run out, “stop cleaning up“! It says, “happy birthday“. “Oh”, is her response. Blank look on my part.
Mind you, my friend was still on the other line and heard the whole thing and was laughing!!!
So it’s a funny story but you know what? I actually got a second birth-day greeting…for my MIL slaughtered scattered the “day” part and it ended up just saying “Happy Birth”. AMEN!!! I sure hope so!
..4 Month Markdown…and it shows!
Whew! I’ve had a bit of energy these past couple of weeks (hooray, for passing the 1st trimester!)…but lately, I’ve really been digging my sleep and feeling low energy all over again. Boo. Put it this way, it’s 2pm in the afternoon and I’m thinking/dreaming of when we get to go to bed…and I may have just got up 4-5 hours ago! That’s pretty bad, huh? I’m wiped just from making spending an hour in the kitchen and making a casserole. Well, there goes my nesting dreams of being the “bestest cook/mom” (as our kids would say because my dishes are killer!) I mean, the other night, I burned steaming asparagus! I just forgot about it and so wrapped up in “just sitting down a moment”. Sheesh.
….but it’s all good and I’ve got my Kool-aid smile on for baby dot made 4 months this week. Yeah!
And sticking with routine—here is the “fruity” baby dot…
Surprise, surprise. It’s an avocado. I was really craving these a couple of weeks ago, as mentioned in a previous blog entry. (Subsequently, I went and made a huge batch of guacamole shortly after that craving revealed itself, hogged out on it that night and then the next day, couldn’t even *think* about eating a bit more! So, I just keep pushing it onto my husband. Figures!) Here’s a great recipe for guacamole either which way. I will pretend I don’t see it posted on the blog to prevent myself from gagging…:P
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/favorite-guacamole?autonomy_kw=guacamole&rsc=image_3
But here is my 4 month picture….we’re popping out…
Actually, looking at the picture, I look um, wierd. Where did my spine go?! I’m almost a box shape.
I *thought* I was standing up straight.
And we won’t talk about the crazy dreams I am having….whoa! Actually, back to the topic of sleep….man, is it an ordeal to turn over! A lot of grunting and it’s like I’m in a 12 step program: move left leg, pull right leg over left leg, grab side of bed, with right hand, simultaneously hold chest and stomach with left arm/hand so it doesn’t hurt, pull w/all strength possible to turn…..only half way. Now I am a beached whale on my back and really wondering if I could sleep like this or try and turn the remaining half. But you know what comes to mind…oh yeah, I have to use the washroom…so gonna have to get up ALL the way….
Yeah, that’s the excitement at 4am!
10.23.08
…already a busy mom..
So what an interesting last week!
My husband and his mom painted our dining room (from a bright red to a soft gray — pics in a future blog), we attended our first prenatal class, we moved around our living room so as to better circulate the heat (it’s getting cold in Canada!), I continued to “decorate/nest” (more pics to come), but both baby and I celebrated some “birthday milestones”. I turned 31 yesterday and baby turned 15 weeks — we’re almost at 4 months! Amen! 
I’m definitely having the pregnancy-glow with the news that we are now in our 2nd trimester…and actually *almost* half way through the pregnancy!
This week, baby dot is an apple…..weighing in about 2 oz and about 4 inches long. So I just had to get my ruler out and find out what else is 4 inches long…..that’s a little longer than my middle finger, than a regular sized credit-card and about half my shoe-size! I know, I know…all mundane facts, but fascinating to this mother-to-be. I wonder if I might be looking at today a little differently — what else can I measure??
During this week, the baby is practicing its breathing, is still moving around (dancing, playing imaginary soccer…) and forming its taste buds. Supposedly, the baby is now sensitive to light…so according to BabyCenter Canada, if we were to beam a flashlight on my belly, the baby would shy away, move away from the light and I would feel it move. Hmmm, we are gonna have to try that! Wait, is that mean? 
I’ve been having some headaches — almost every morning I wake up with one. I feel they are dehydration headaches (I’ve never been a big water drinker in the first place)….or ones that come when you are getting congested from a cold. According to the research, this is normal and a result of hormonal changes and increased blood flow to the mucous membranes. Great. Do you know there is even a term for this: “rhinitis of pregnancy“. Again, great. Apparently, I have to watch out for potential nosebleeds. Oh, sure. Remember my last post about my potential cyst popping while I am on line at the grocery store? Yeah, a simultaneous nosebIeed is just the finishing touch I was looking for!
Some interesting facts about the apple.
1. The ancestor of the apple is native to Kazahstan. Yeah, my thoughts exactly. What?! And the scientific name is Malus domestica or Malus sieversii.
2. The first apple orchard on the North American continent was said to be near Boston in 1625. That’s cool especially when I lived in Boston and did my first apple-picking there!
3. The forbidden fruit of the Bible is mistakenly identified as an apple. According to Wiki, this may have been the result of Renaissance painters adding Greek Mythology into the Biblical scenes they were doing. (Btw, it’s more likely the fruit was a pomegranate — which baby is about the size of now too. Interesting….). What’s further interesting from this is that the apple has become symbolic for the fall, temptation, evil and immortality and this idea is even found in its scientific name, (malus – apple; malum – evil) and even in Spanish, mal or mala means a bad thing.
4. Apple seeds are mildly poisonous (!!!!) containing a small amount of amygdalin, a cyanogenic glycoside. Even though it’s not considered dangerous “enough” to humans, it can affect birds.
5. Remember the slogan: “An apple a day keeps thector away“….this may have been “encouraged” by farmers trying to get higher sales and counter the “evil fruit” idea. Research does suggest that apples may reduce the risk of colon, prostrate and lung cancer.
So, on that note…here is a recipe for classic American Apple Pie….
http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=8947
Stay tuned for my next blog — and find out what my husband did for my birthday!! How creative and fun! And then what my mother-in-law did in response!
10.17.08
…gonna need some running shoes, apparently! **Ultrasound pics**
We just got back from our ultrasound…..good news and GREAT news!!!
Good news: It’s a fibroid, not a cyst so I don’t have to worry about the crazy “popping” that could come with a cyst. It’s about 2inches and so far away from the baby, that the tech said it shouldn’t interfere with the baby. At my 20 week ultrasound, it will be measured again to see how fast/how much its grown.
Great news: The baby is doing really well and hehehe it was EXTREMELY active. It kept kicking its legs and moving — maybe we have a future soccer player on our hands! So much so that the tech said: “You’re gonna need running shoes to keep up with this little one”. Yeah, that’s my husband’s baby!
In this first picture, the baby is waving “bye”.
The second picture from the first set, the baby actually has its butt in the air and is face down….(already the mother in me asks, “what are you doing child”?)
In these last pictures, the baby is facing the “camera”, being suffocated by I don’t know what….is that my bladder? nahh….
10.15.08
Sympathy or Sym”pathetic”?? CONTEST INVOLVED!!!
This is the first time I’ve heard of this….and it’s true.
“Sympathetic pregnancy” or “Couvade” comes from the french word couvee meaning “to hatch”. It’s the explanation for why my husband is starting to wonder if he is gaining weight or uses the washroom as often as I do. It’s also the explanation for the “you’ve gotta be kidding ” face on me. I admit, it’s not as bad as about a month ago and its definitely funnier now. Wasn’t so funny when it was happening. Now both of us were waking up in the middle of the night for marathon pees. However, for him, it was easier; He would be able to go back to sleep. That wasn’t so easy of a feat for me! So, when he would get up during the night, I would have to try and trick my body into thinking that I was still asleep and not be distracted awake! So the “competition” is on, shall I say…
and the pics to prove it…..
Honey, my belly BLOWS yours out of the amniotic water! Ha, I win! Stop trying to stick yours out!
Happy 3.5 (14 weeks) months to Baby Dot! According to BabyCenter Canada, you’re a lemon. But you’re perfect in our eyes!
So neat this week, our little baby dot is growing his first hair….and well this is a funny story for us. People have always said that we (my husband and I) look alike…so we know the baby will “look” like our little “mini-me”….but we have no idea what skin color or hair color the baby will have. We are both brown-skinned, our mothers are both light skin with green and hazel eyes, red and blonde hair, my dad is brown-skinned and brown eyed and my father in law is dark skin, dark hair! Sooo……this is like a geneticist’s dream come true. We can have the extreme “I have no idea what your background” baby with dark skin and red hair, the “true-blend” of brown skin and brown eyes or the contrasting “Vanessa Williams” look with brown skin and light eyes….
So I thought it might be fun to hold a little contest…..you choose from which you think our baby is gonna look like and I will choose (using random.org) the prize winner from among those that chose the right “combo”. Granted, this is a “long-term” contest. We’re not due until mid-April!
Here are your choices:
a) fair skin, green/hazel eyes, red hair
b) fair skin, brown eyes, red hair
c) fair skin, green/hazel eyes, brown hair
d) fair skin, brown eyes, brown hair
e) brown skin, green/hazel eyes, red hair
f) brown skin, brown eyes, red hair
g) brown skin, green/hazel eyes, brown hair
h) brown skin, brown eyes, brown hair
i) dark skin, green/hazel eyes, red hair
j) dark skin, brown eyes, red hair
k) dark skin, green/hazel eyes, brown hair
l) dark skin, brown eyes, brown hair
A $25 gift certificate to somewhere awesome is involved!!!!…..
10.14.08
…new developments…
Does anyone else feel the time just goes by so quickly?? Like it’s Mid-October now, we’ve had Canadian Thanksgiving yesterday, I’m turning 31 next week, baby dot will make 4 months and I see Christmas decorations up in the stores! Crazy, eh?
Well, in the meantime, I have been nesting busy. Ok, really, anyway you look at it, it’s still nesting. But some days are just, blah. I can’t do much but complain about how tired I am. And it’s so unlike me to not be able to do 50 things in one sitting! Take today for instance. My husband was up at 6:45am (I know…I know..) and so even though I was really tired and hadn’t actually slept that great, I couldn’t go back to sleep and well (surprise, surprise) I was hungry. So I got up around 7:30, went downstairs and had breakfast that (YEAH!) my wonderful husband had made. I couldn’t shake the tiredness so I went back to sleep from 9-11am! And since then (about 4 hours..) I’ve made my husband lunch, put baby clothes away, cleaned the hallway fan, swept the dining room and made some more wall outlet covers. Yes, that’s it. Oh, yeah and ate about 20 jelly beans in the process!
Regarding some new developments…we had our midwife appointment last week. We got to hear the baby’s heartbeat again (amen!) but the midwife was concerned about the growing “thing” on the right side of my belly….either a fibroid or a cyst. And so this is what I have to look forward to… If it’s a cyst, it should be “popping” any moment. Um, okay?! Not only does that sound extremely painful, ghastly and despairing, but visions of this happening while I am either driving, just talking to someone or when outside by myself run through my head. That could be bad. You know how it is when you catch someone mid-bite and it just looks like some wierd combination of funny yet-ghoulish. Yeah. I don’t want to be in the grocery store with a line of people behind me, handing over my money and then have this crazy outburst and accompanying face that then scares the children and their families behind me in line. Not to mention the pain. We won’t even go there….. But if its a fibroid, apparently, I have to live with it and deal with it post-pregnancy. The midwife says that it’s not on the uterus so it won’t cause baby dot any problems. Is it like just floating around?? Anyhow, I “lucked” out with an ultrasound this Friday to check it out but the bonus is that we get to see baby as a result! Not a bad trade-off. Though, ugh, drinking 32oz of water won’t be the highlight of my day —- need I remind ppl that I have a fibroid cyst “thing” that will make this (and holding!) of water even more difficult??
Another interesting development. I can now see inside my belly button. Yes, you read that right. My stomach has currently stretched enough that my once “inny” is slowly opening up. I can see the little knob inside my belly button. No worries, I’ve spared the pictures, but my husband and I thought it was pretty interesting. Like Discovery Channel interesting.
The last “development” is a cough that overtakes me right after eating. And I don’t mean any dainty cough. This is like old man with pneumonia cough. I eat. I am happy. I smile at my husband, beaming with the knowledge that I am eating for two so that is why I just ate twice as much as him…and then it starts. The cute little tickle in my throat becomes this out of control boxing match for air……a round lasts about a minute. And then I look pathetic. My face is all red (mind you, I am brown skinned…), my eyes are all watery, I’m gasping for air…. It really does suck for after I eat, I want to lay down but as I’ve found this only brings on the coughing fit quicker….maybe my stomach isn’t used to being pressed on or moved upwards….but really, I’m only in my 3rd month…it’s gonna be pressed on even more in the next 6 months!
I realized that in my nesting my busyness I hadn’t updated the blog last week with what fruit baby was. Well, I had checked it out…..and it wasn’t a fruit. I guess I wasn’t too fond of what looked like a half-bitten “shrimp” picture. I don’t normally like shrimp so I inadvertently didn’t post something…guess I am already being particular about what I am going to associate the baby with!
K, so I am gonna see what “project” I can tackle now as I have a bit more energy. Must of been the 20 jellybeans!
10.07.08
nesting…and musing on guacamole…
The last couple of days have been great! I have definitely been in nesting mode and working on cutting down items on the infamous three-page “To-Do Before Dot Arrives” list. A lot of the items are craft items, you know, the characteristic female “aesthetic” factor…but a lot does require painting, spraying etc…which as I said, I need Mr. Dot to help out. And I am glad to say, that he has. Happily!
Here are some projects that I have completed.
This is a fabric pinboard made from leftover fabric scraps and a real shiny chocolate brown ribbon
The original black frame was too small in it’s selected spot so to enlarge it, I made another fabric board and carefully attached the frame in the back. For an extra special touch, I added a matching flower pin. (Ok, actually the fabric was cut irregular in the bottom end – showing the stark white board – so I covered it up with pin. Clever, eh?)
I ended up making two of these for both sides of the fireplace.
So I am bored with the bland outlet covers. To add a little extra flair, I “cover” mine with paint, fabric or paper. The orangey-brown ones are for the front living room and the two blue ones
(kind of hard to tell) are for the family room.
No lie, this chair, I found in the trash. It’s originally from IKEA and someone threw it out because it was missing some screws. Originally, the seat is blue and the back is a darker silvery gray. Well, after rescuing it from the trash, I sprayed it a silvery ivory (can you tell in the photo?) and reupholstered the seat to an awesome royal purple. Works much better in the room!
I plan on making some awesome bow for the back (to show off my skills for my wedding business!).
You are probably wondering where does the idea of guacamole come in…(since I mentioned it in the title of this blog)??? Well, I’ve definitely had an increased interest in guacamole. I’ve always liked it, but I REALLY like it now that I am pregnant. It’s been somewhat of a craving about 3 times so far. Anyhow, last night, my husband and I were in bed, lights were out and I said, “I wonder what fruit Dot (baby) will be this week. I have to look it up. I wonder if it’s a guacamole.” He just started laughing for I should have said “avocado” but it was obvious what was on my mind. So we were chuckling for a bit also about how our baby is being sized up by various fruits and that reminded me of a previous conversation about “when is a food a fruit and when it is a vegetable”. Well, then, I absentmindedly said, “Well, see, guacamole is a fruit, for it has a big seed it in”. Then we started laughing again…..I could not stop referencing guacamole — I should have again said “avocado“.
So, it was very obvious that I was hungry but saying that I was only “a little hungry”. Well, when he brought me crackers, I munched and munched away. He was reading at this time and just turned to look at me for all was quiet in the room, except the stirrings of a pregnant and hungry woman munching, no, CHOMPING down saltines!
10.01.08
3 months…and pictures!
Wow, have I been wanting to get to this milestone! Our little fetus is three months and (since we are “stats-people”), the rate of miscarriage goes down by 65%! YES! Amen! Also, according to BabyCenter Canada pregnancy calendar, the nausea that is so prevalent during the 1st trimester subsides greatly….yes, thank you! So no more vomiting! (Now, the funny thing, is that while writing this blog…I started coughing and then vomited my breakfast! What a funny coincidence. Maybe baby isn’t going to let me off the hook that easy…..And talk about timing: my pregnancy book started the 12th week chapter with info on “Heartburn”. The two times that I have thrown up have been after drinking orange juice so maybe there is some connection between the acid there and heartburn. Any advice from readers???
Well, as always, with every week of growth….Our baby, at 12 weeks, is the size of a lime. What’s so fascinating from this week is that the baby is beginning to “show” its reflexes (i.e. closing its fingers when it touches its own palm, touching the soles of the feet make the toes curl etc.), the eyes have moved closer to the center of the face and s/he is looking more human!
An interesting fact about lime: in order to prevent scurvy during the 19th century, British sailors were issued a daily allowance of citrus such as lime, which led in time to the nickname “limey” for all Britons. It was later discovered that this beneficial effect derived from the quantities of Vitamin C the fruit contains. (taken from Wiki)
Key-Lime recipe anyone? http://www.foodtv.ca/recipes/recipedetails.aspx?dishid=3738
And as promised, here are pictures “along the way”. The first few pictures were taken at when I was only a few weeks pregnant…so see, I was pretty bloated from the start!
around 2 weeks…crazy, eh?
6 weeks
8 weeks
10 weeks
and the most current pictures…12 weeks!
