I cannot believe how quickly times flies by (when you have no sleep). Oliver is one month old today! He's already a big boy! We have really been through so much in such a short time with him already, learning more about him everyday, and about ourselves as well. I have learned that somehow, without sleep, without makeup, without a shower...someone still can love me. I personally would stay away (I don't enjoy being a stinky grump), but I guess I'm needed! ;)
This picture was taken right before we left the hospital with him. I can't believe how small he looks in his car seat!
Our little man doesn't enjoy sleeping...or being quiet, unless he's around our families and is trying to prove us wrong. When it's just the three of us, he tends to be a bit cranky, especially during feeding times. When he's hungry, he goes insane, whipping his head back and forth, chomping at me with his piranah gums, making an adorable, "uh-huh, uh-huh" sound. We've had to put little mitts on him, because he also tries tearing me apart. We are still working on breastfeeding, as it hasn't gone so smoothly. He's a lazy latcher and I'm partly broken, so it's going to be an ongoing learning experience for the both of us.
Since day one he's held his head up, showing how strong he is, and was so alert and focused. He really seems to study everything and has already started smiling and sticking out his tongue in response to our encouragement. I can't tell you how rewarding it all is to see him smile for real at me. It makes my heart melt. :) I am so tired and have no time to sleep between feedings (every 2-3 hours), diaper changes, cleaning, showering (ha, ya right) and such. But I figure that even if I did have time to nap, I'd hate to because I might miss something important or precious. He has totally become our world, and we seem so much more complete with him here with us.
He loves rocking back and forth, bouncing up and down and just vibrating. He snores like Neko when he sleeps, loves listening to me sing (badly) and loves sleeping on daddy. I often have a hard time coming up with songs to sing on the spot, so I seem to resort to singing songs from Disney Afternoon, like the theme song to Tale Spin, Ducktales or Rescue Rangers. Oliver has just started sleeping in his cradle, though it seems to be a hit and miss thing. Sometimes he sleeps, sometimes he cries bloody murder.
He loves staring at our artwork on the walls, the bumble bees on his crib bedding and watching the pets walk back and forth. He gets lots of licks from Neko who thinks she is his mother, gets licked from Sawyer who thinks that Oliver can take him out for walks to pee, and gets head rubs from Nobi who is slowly coming around to his new little brother. He also seems to enjoy bath time, which is great!
He enjoys his new Surfboard playmat, as he loves tummy time. When he sleeps with us in our bed (most nights), he sleeps on our chests on his tummy, so he's very good at strengthening his neck. He also has strong little legs and tries holding himself up on them when he hold him under his little arms to make him dance. He watches a lot of the Food network with me and enjoys going for walks around the house with daddy.
Our poor little goose has a rash right now that started off looking like acne, but now looks more like eczema or something. We are going to the doctor this week, so I'll let you all know what we find out.
Heck, enjoy some more random photos! :D
Love you Champion! (I call him that, for some reason...)
As our due date approached and then passed by, I frantically tried getting everything in order for the arrival of our little one. Little did we know, Muppet had no plans on arriving on time, in fact, our little monster decided to stay so long, that our doctor decided we needed to be induced on December 27. Originally she wanted us to come in on Boxing Day, but later decided we'd probably like a day of shopping. We were so crushed to hear that we would have to be induced, and I spent all the days leading up to our induction crying and trying to figure out how we could postpone our appointment. We both really wanted to do things as naturally as we could, and didn't want to force the baby out before it was ready, as this was truly the opposite of our plans. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any answer, so I tired to face the upcoming hospital visit as positively as possible (not so easy).
I did keep busy though by finishing up Muppet's Christmas stocking, though I was so sad to know the baby would be missing Christmas holidays and all the presents we had gotten for the little one, including the most adorable Baby's First Christmas ornament made by our friend Lesley Wellington from 'The Cat's Pyjamas'. She makes the cutest cake toppers and ornaments and I know I will be buying many for years to come! You can purchase her amazing and unique artwork from her website which links to her Etsy store: www.lesleywellington.ca.
On Christmas eve, we headed to Chris' family's house to celebrate Christmas. It was a little difficult to get into the spirit of the holidays knowing our baby wouldn't be able to celebrate with us, but everyone did their best to keep us in good spirits and even helped me keep my mind off of the sad news by looking up natural ways to induce labour. We read that drinking red raspberry leaf tea, primrose oil, pineapple juice and walking around a lot can help speed up labour. At this point, I was willing to try anything, so I spend Christmas eve drowning in tea and juice and playing with Sawyer at the dog park in the snow. All day I had constant braxton hicks contractions, but around 11pm, after opening Christmas presents, I started to notice the contractions were coming in a pattern. I quietly began timing them, without telling anyone, and after an hour of them being evenly spaced out, I showed Chris. Neither of us wanted to get our hopes up, as we had experienced this before, and they just turned out to be plain old braxton hicks, so we decided to just keep an eye on them. As the evening wore on, they got stronger and more frequent until they were 3 minutes apart. We decided to head home so I could labour at home (if this was labour) and be closer to the hospital. All night I had contractions, until finally around 4am Christmas day, we decided to go to the hospital.
At the hospital they decided that I needed to dilate more before they could admit me, so they had me walk around for 2 hours through the mostly empty hospital. Thank goodness for all those railings throughout the hallways! I was constantly stopping, turning to the wall, gripping the railing and pressing my head into the wall. By the end of our hospital adventure, my forehead was very bruised. I was finally admitted into the hospital and brought into our room, which was the room of my dreams! It was large with it's own bathroom, kitchen, rocking chair, television and birthing ball. It was nice and private, which was very important to me. They found my contractions to be strong, but not quick enough, as they slowed down from 2-3 minutes apart, to 5-6 minutes, so they had me go and walk the halls again to see if that would speed things up. Around 7am, I called my family, as they were expecting us to show up for Christmas breakfast around 8am, and I was pretty sure we weren't going to make it. ;)
After calling my mom, we went to see if we were progressing, but sadly my body was not learning how to labour properly. They decided to break my water, and when they did that, they found that the baby had already passed some meconium inside me which can be a sign of the baby being under stress, or simply be dangerous for the baby to ingest while in utero. They decided they needed to monitor the baby, so I had to be hooked up to some machines and had to stay in my bed (which was exactly what I didn't want). Again, I was a little crushed. After a few hours of moitoring, our nurse spoke to the doctor and they decided that the baby looked okay, and that I was able to walk around as long as I checked in every half hour for monitoring. I am so thankful for our nurse. She really understood how I felt, and tried to do everything to make this labour easy on us.
After 5 hours of not progressing any further, they decided I had to have pitocin to speed up my contractions. Apparently my body was not getting the hang of this "labour" process. I again didn't want any medical intervention, but knew they were concerned about the baby being inside with meconium, so I said yes. My labour pains intensified strongly from then on, as pitocin not only speeds up contractions, but makes them sharper as well. I tried to deal with the pain, but it came to a point where I was so tired from having no sleep and being confined to a bed again that I gave in and got an epidural. My feelings on the epidural are mixed, as I really appreciated the sleep I was able to get, and don't think I could have pushed in the final stages of labour without it, but I didn't like feeling just strong pressure without the sharper pain, as it didn't make sense in my mind. I also hated being confined to bed. They found the baby was sunny side up, which was causing me to have intense pain in my lower back, so in came the "Baby Whisperer", who reached in the turned the baby around. It was a little crazy!
They topped up my epidural with another medication that would wear off when it came time to push, and that just knocked me out. I couldn't feel anything, not even pressure, and I fell into a deep sleep. The next thing I know is someone is shaking my shoulder and telling me it was time to push! Push what? I didn't even know I was still in labour! I was supposed to push with each contraction, but because of the drugs, I couldn't even feel when I was having them at first. After a while, the drugs began wearing off, and the pain came back. All I wanted to do was get up and walk around, but I was hooked up to machines and my legs were numb from the epidural, so I was unable to. This became the worst part of my labour. I would take the pain over not being able to move around any day! I started to feel claustrophobic and began panicking. I kept saying, "I need to get up, I need to get out of here!" The nurse and Chris both tried keeping me calm, but I could see the worry in Chris' eyes and just wanted the whole ordeal to be over. As I pushed and the baby's head came out, they told me to wait and not to push, and I'm pretty sure I freaked out and said, "Either take it out or put it back in!" I was not happy with it being half in and half out. *shudder* With the next contraction I pushed hard, and finally our little Muppet was born!
Chris, the proud new papa, looked down and exclaimed, "It's a boy!" I have never seen him prouder. :) Chris even cut the cord! As they cleaned him up (and stitched me up), I remember saying, "He's so cute..and I can't even see him!" That's really how you feel, no matter what they look like, to you, your child is the most amazing and beautiful baby ever created. In that moment, I couldn't tear my eyes away from Chris and the baby. It is a vision I never want to forget, as I've never seen such pure love shown before.
Little Oliver Sullivan Ysebert Gallant-Turner *whew* was born December 26 at 1:20am, weighing 7lbs 4.6 ounces and measuring 20 inches in length. He just missed Christmas and was a little grouchy because of that. He also made us miss Christmas, so we think of him as our little Grinch. :) I also think it's interesting that he arrived the day before we were going to be induced. Maybe that was his gift to us. I have to say, this is a Christmas we will never forget, and now this wonderful winter holiday will be even more special to us each year, as we truly spent Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day waiting for the arrival of the best Christmas present ever.
And I have to say...Our hearts grew three sizes that day. <3
Well, week 39 was a week for preparation I tell ya! I spent much of the week having more intense braxton hicks contractions that seem to be happening more frequently, feeling Muppet do the mambo (I swear it's more active then normal lately) and crazy nesting.
One night I had such intense contractions, I almost woke Chris up as I thought I was going into labour. It took me a long time to get to bed that night, as Muppet was very active, and then for the next 3 hours, it was a routine of having a contraction, followed by Muppet protesting with lots of movement, and so on. I also started to feel nauseated so I moved from bed to sitting on my birthing ball to try to make the contraction leave. Apparently, braxton hicks contractions generally go away when you change positions unlike real contractions. Sadly, this was not the case that night. I tried walking around the room, sitting in a chair, laying in different positions in bed, but nothing worked. Eventually they died down though, and I was able to sleep. I don't know what it is, but since that night Muppet has been crazy active, flipping around completely, kicking hard and nudging my bladder with it's head. It must be practicing it's exit routine. It mostly does it at night, and always responds quite intensely after each contraction.
Since that wild, sleepless night, I've gone into crazy nesting mode. The other day I decided to clean things that truly had nothing to do with the baby. I started cleaning closets, cupboards, breaking down boxes, looking for clothes to donate, organizing my hallowe'en costumes and folding my fabric I use to make my stuffies. The sudden burst of random energy had me a little nervous, as I was sure this was a sign the baby was coming. But no, at the end of the day, I dropped in bed, totally exhausted. I did get a lot done that day though... :) Next time, I'll clean things that are more important...like the bathroom, or the fridge. ;)
I did do more cooking as well during my frantic cleaning phase. I made a belly warming beef stew that was so full of flavour. It reminded me of a yummy roast dinner with veggies and yorkshire pudding...mmmm.... Again, a delicious soup for the winter months. Luckily we have some left over, so we have a meal or two ready for when Muppet is here. :)
Finally, after 9 months, we were able to do something I had been just dying to do. We parked in the 'Expectant Mother's' parking spot!! I was so excited that I made Chris take a picture of the sign. I know it's dorky, but hey, you can only do it so many times in life, you might as well enjoy it! ;)
We had our prenatal the other day as well, and I was supposed to get an internal pelvic exam, but after doing some research, I decided to ask the doctor to wait until I was at least 40 weeks along. Since it wasn't really necessary as I haven't had any spotting, the baby is still (very) active and I am not really wondering if I'm dilated or not, I didn't see the need to risk jump starting labour or introducing infection or bacteria into my body. The doctor was great and had no problem with my request, so all my practicing my reasons for not wanting the examination in the mirror was a waste of time. :) Oh well!
At 39 weeks, Muppet is truly ready to go. It is still continuing to plump up so it can regulate temperature when it is out in the world. It is starting to lose old layers of skin, so newer skin can form. At my last prenatal, I had lost weight, which is seen as a sign that the baby is done growing in there and will be coming into the world pretty soon. Muppet's heart rate was 147, is still head down and has it's back turned on my left side with it's feet on my right side, which we had kind of guessed as we had been playing "grab the foot" the night before in bed. :)
Well, it looks like I'm making it to 40 weeks! Muppet is not an early bird after all! It is like it's parents... ;) I suspect it will be soon though, as those crazy Toni Braxton Hicks contractions (as Chris calls them) are increasing everyday, and the baby seems to be heading south for the winter. ;) It is really doing a number on my bladder, I tell ya! It still seems unreal that very soon we will actually be holding a real baby in our arms. This has been the most amazing adventure we've ever been on, and even when I was sick and sore, I enjoyed every minute of it. I know I will never be able to do anything more important or special in my life, and I am so glad I was able to share it with all my loved ones.
*Note: My sister and brother are now home for the holidays, and we are just waiting for Chris' brother and our soon to be sister-in-law to arrive. Hopefully Muppet holds out until everyone is home safe and sound!
Week 33 was a busy week (it seems like each week is rather busy, now that I think of it...). We were able to take Muppet to another concert, this time with Canadian indie folk-rock musician Dan Mangan who is best known for his songs "Robots" and "Road Regrets" at the Aeolian Hall. The opening bands were also amazing! The first opening band (The Crackling) featured the drummer from Dan Mangan's tour, highlighting as the lead singer with the rest of the band mates playing along and for one song, Dan Mangan actually came out and played the drums, so it was a bit of a role reversal. We had an amazing time, as the music was spectacular, the band was incredibly charismatic and, and hey, how can you have a boring night when you are encouraged to join in singing with the bands? The hall was packed, the acoustics were wonderful and the crowd was such an odd mix of hipsters and elderly needing hip replacements! Also, I felt like we were drowning in a sea of plaid. At one point, I leaned over and asked Chris if we had mistakenly gone to a lumberjack convention. After the concert, which included a super fun sing-along of "Robots", we were able to meet the musicians, and they were so humble and generous. One of them even has a side project writing children's music, which I cannot wait to hear!
We got their autographs, talked a bit, and Chris even bought me an adorable Dan Mangan shirt! (Please note, that is NOT my body... My shirt is "slightly" stretched around the midsection... ;) Muppet is so lucky to have been exposed to so much talent before he/she is even a year old! We are pretty sure that Muppet will be a Dan Mangan fan for life, as it bopped around like crazy through the whole concert.
If you haven't been exposed to the brilliant music of Dan Mangan, I invite you to click on the link below! He's truly a great artist and I'm so proud he's Canadian. :)
Our next fun activity was going to our prenatal class, which we have become quite fond of. We not only enjoy learning about pregnancy and labour together, but we also enjoy having an extracurricular activity that we can both take part in. We are now trying to figure out what fun classes we can take together in the future, after the baby is born. In this class, we learned all about the different stages of labour, different pushing positions, and we even watched a video. Luckily for us, this video was not from the 70's or 80's like most of them seem to be. :) After class, I was pretty set on wanting to get a birthing ball, as I think it would really help me cope during labour.
All during week 33, I suffered with a crazy bad cold, which ended up going into my chest, causing me to have some bronchial irritation. The unfortunate thing is that you can't really take much for illness when you are pregnant, because you don't want the medication to affect the baby, so mostly I just stayed in bed shivering, sneezing, coughing and whining. I even ended up taking a day off work (which I never do) because I was feeling so weak.
Taking that day off of work also shortened my work week, which was kind of sad, as that was my last week of work before I started my maternity leave, and even though I was still sick, I made sure I went for my last day, as I knew I was going to miss everyone. I can't believe I am all done! In one way, it feels great, because now I have time to focus on getting everything set and ready before the baby comes, but on the other hand, I do feel a little out of the loop. So far though, I am not bored. :) I have no time for boredom! Christmas is coming!
Speaking of Christmas, during week 33, I took down all my fall and Hallowe'en decorations and put up my winter decorations. I haven't gone into "full-on" Christmas yet (I wait for the snow to fall first before Santa can make an appearance), but I did put out my snowmen and Christmas coloured candles, potpourri and blankets. I am going to work on making a Christmas pillow this year too, with a snowman stitched on it. I felt the need to get my winter decorations out because I am starting to worry I won't have time to decorate once December hits. I don't want to be behind in case the baby comes early! I guess it's a good thing we bought a fake pre-lit Christmas tree last year, as I don't imagine I will want to cut down a tree and string lights on it this year, with the baby coming so close to Christmas. * Note: It takes me a couple days to put lights on the tree because I am crazy and believe each branch needs 2 sets of lights on it, and you cannot just throw them on, or wind them around the tree...yes, this is a very stressful process, but once it is done, you can't see anything but the tree...for real, it's blinding. I blame my mother for this obsessive compulsiveness. ;)
Every year my family goes to different tree farms to find the perfect Christmas tree. We have been doing this since I was born, I'm pretty sure. It is so much fun! We all bundle up in snowsuits, head out into the fields and start judging trees. (This process can take a long time, as my mother and I are very picky...). At the end of our day (truly, it does take the whole day), we go and sit by the fire-pits and drink hot chocolate or cider and go for wagon rides through the farm. Sometimes the farm has marshmallows for roasting, or free candy canes. Mmm! I'm still going to go this year, though I'll probably have to wear my father's snowsuit, as I'm pretty sure I won't fit in mine. I just love the family tradition, and even though I won't be buying a tree this year, you can bet I'll be scoping out the trees for next Christmas, as we can't wait to include Muppet in on this family adventure!
During week 33, Muppet weighed a little over 4 pounds, about the same amount as a pineapple! Right now, the baby is gaining around 1/2 pound a week, so the weight gain isn't just because of all the cookies I've been eating... ;) Apparently, the amniotic fluid has also reached it's maximum level, leaving less cushioning in my belly, which is why Muppet's movements feel so much stronger and intense lately. I have to say, Muppet is one strong baby! Somedays, Muppet stretches both upwards and downwards at the same time, resulting in me having to suddenly pee while clutching my ribs. :) I really enjoy watching the rolling motions of my tummy, and feeling the hardness of a little foot through my skin. Sometimes it is so hard to imagine that Muppet's little foot, that so far has only existed inside me, will one day be kicking a ball, or tap dancing on the floor.
My book choice this week is called "Someday", and is written by Alison McGhee. It is a wonderfully touching story that I consider to be the new "Love You Forever". Don't get me wrong! I love "Love You Forever", and I will surely have that one on my shelf, but it is nice to have options under the tear-jerker category in children's literature.
"Someday" is a beautifully illustrated story about a mother's love, hopes and dreams for her child as the child goes through many milestones in her life, until life goes full circle, "Someday I will watch you brushing your child's hair". It's a very simple, but moving story of motherhood that touches on a child's highest highs, and saddest sorrows, because truly, that is what life is all about. I gave this book to my mom when I found out we were expecting, as it really captured how she was feeling, watching me go through another milestone as her daughter, but now, also as an expectant mother.
Please read this book with a box of tissues beside you...
29 Weeks has come and gone and man, what a week it was! We had a lot of ups and downs, but we survived it and going strong as ever! One of the exciting 'up' things that happened for us this week was the purchase of a new table and chair set for our kitchen! When we moved into our house, we went to Sears Outlet and got an amazing deal on a kitchen table set ($15 per chair!), and well, we were quite happy with it...until we got cats and had guests coming over. Very quickly, our chairs began to show wear and tear as they were cushioned in white fabric (not so stain friendly), and the seats themselves began to fall off the chairs, causing people to fall onto the floor. We became embarrassed about the state of our chairs and were reluctant to have guests over for fear of their disgust or of them suing us due to fractured tail bones. Another reason I wanted new chairs was because as I was growing larger, I was becoming more and more afraid of falling and not being able to get back up...and I don't have a life alert bracelet. :) We had looked many times in the past, but each time we found a set, it was out of stock and we'd have to wait a couple months. Well, Chris and I can be impulse shoppers and we don't like having to wait. Once we decide something, we want it then and there is no stopping us! Luckily, we found a super nice table set that was in stock (though they were two chairs short, so we got them to sell us the floor model ones). All in all, I am so happy with our table and chairs! We are going to stain my old highchair to match the colour of the wood so Muppet will fit right in! Now we have a cozy little eating nook and we have already entertained both sets of parents on two separate occasions! It looks like we can go back to hosting get-togethers now!
One of the down moments sadly came because of our new table and chair set. When we got the set home, Chris had no one to help him bring it in, so I stubbornly insisted that I assist him. It seems that carrying the chairs was fine, but bringing in the huge box that contained the table...well, that was just plain silly of me. I must have pulled something because later the next day I had a lot of pain in my lower abdomen. At first I thought they were just cramps, but as the evening wore on, the pain became worse and worse and I started to get really nervous. I laid down to do my 'kick counting' (10 kicks/hour or call your doctor) to ensure Muppet was still active, and though the baby took a little longer than usual, I was able to get my 10 kicks in 10 minutes. I got up and sat down to dinner with my parents, but even sitting seemed to hurt. When they left, Chris insisted I lay down on the couch for awhile to rest. That seemed to work for a little, until I had to get up off the couch. The pain was almost unbearable! I had to get Chris to help me up, and the best way was for me to roll onto the floor and then up onto my feet. All night long as I tossed and turned, the pain persisted, and I almost considered going to the hospital, but come morning, the pain had subsided into a dull, sore muscle ache, so I knew I was going to be fine. I really need to listen to my body and realize that I am not Superwoman. My body's function is primarily to care for this little person inside of me, and so all my super human strength is currently being used up for that. Moving furniture and lifting heavy things must be put on hold for now...or I can learn to ask for help.
Another 'up' moment was the day of the Multiple Births Canada sale, where a whole bunch of gently used items like clothing and toys were for sale. I went with my mother and we found tons of things! I spent about $75 and came home with a huge garbage bag full of newborn gender neutral clothing, socks, blankets, stuffies and more. Mom came home with a bag just as full, filled with bibs, hats, socks, and clothing too. It was a long night, and the place was packed with scrambling mothers and confused looking fathers, and I was quite sore and tired by the end of our shopping experience. I did meet the creator of my Bellysling though, and that was very neat! She was super sweet and so excited to hear that I loved my maternity belt. Truly, I don't know what I would do without it!
The next 'down' was that someone decided to break into our vehicle on Thanksgiving night and steal our gadgets from inside. Chris admits that he may have forgotten to lock the car (which he never forgets to do) because his arms were full with Sawyer, his laptop bag and he was a little tired because of all the turkey. Sawyer was not the best guard dog either that night, but that's probably because he was in a little turkey coma of his own. When people steal, it just makes me very sad, because you truly feel violated as your personal space is invaded, and also because things that you work really hard for, or receive as a special gift just becomes a dollar sign to a thief. The real worth of the item isn't important to them. I was particularly sad, as one of the items they stole was my iPod (Chris gave it to me as a gift) which I had loaded up with music for Muppet. I truly hope the thief enjoys listening to Raffi, Anne Murray and Sesame Street.
The next 'up' moment for us was going out to see 'Hey Rosetta!' in concert. I was a little concerned about the volume of the music and how that would affect Little Muppet's ears, especially after the opening act (who I am pretty sure is an elementary school teacher by day, crazy "music" performer by night). He was a little nuts. He was standing on tables singing, making shadow puppets on the screen behind him, handing out tamborines to the crowd, playing with a huge parachute and caressing the hockey players on the tv screen behind me. Needless to say, I wanted to go home and so did Muppet as my stomach was hurting and becoming really tense due to the loud thumping and screeching of the music. Luckily, 'Hey Rosetta!' quickly took to the stage, and though I was tired, I went up to join Chris watch the band as I know how much he loves them. They always seem to put on a good show. They are one of the few bands that Chris loves that I actually enjoy, and I'm glad we could share our mutual interest with Muppet. I'm pretty sure Muppet liked the experience as it danced around for a bit, then just kicked once and awhile to the beat of the music while Chris rocked me back and forth and I rubbed my belly. It was very cozy. :)
Another person missing this Thanksgiving was my sister. She is currently going to school near Ottawa and wasn't able to come home either. We also missed her greatly, but we are so proud of how well she is doing in school. We are both very glad that everyone will be coming home for Christmas though, as they will all be here just in time to meet Muppet!
For Thanksgiving at my family's house, we went to the pumpkin patch to find ourselves the perfect pumpkins, then we went to visit my dad who was hard at work at his shop. He took a little break and we all had fun playing in the leaves, climbing trees (not me!), and just enjoying the fall sunshine. It was a beautiful day that really made you realize how much you truly have to be thankful for. I am just so thankful to have such loving families (near and far) that really care for us and support us. I know Muppet is especially thankful for stuffing and turkey... with some dill pickles and cranberries on the side...Yum!
As of week 29, Muppet is the size of a butternut squash! (Perfect for Thanksgiving!) Muppet is about 15 inches long and it's head is growing to make room for it's brain that is quickly developing more and more. Right now Muppet is absorbing lots of calcium, so I'm supposed to eat more dairy and cheese...ya right, as if I need another reason to eat cheese. ;)
Here is a quick clip on Muppet moving around in my tummy at 29 weeks. I like to watch it with the Jaws theme song playing in my head, as the movement reminds me of a shark swimming just below the surface of the water. Enjoy! :)
I currently am raking up on the spider vein count and my legs are getting super sore when I stand on them for long periods of time. Almost over night, I developed some around my ankle and now some are becoming varicose veins. After an 8 hour shift at work, my legs feel super bruised and I get very swollen. I guess I am one of those lucky pregnant women, eh? :)
One thing that is new to me is how swollen my feet and ankles have gotten! Over Thanksgiving they started looking like they were the ones eating all the food, not my tummy. Even with my feet propped up all day, the swelling remains. I can't fit into my shoes, heck, I can't even fit in my sandals! When I walk around, the skin feels like it's flopping...it's so gross. I really look like I should be riding around in Florida on my scooter with a turkey leg in my hand. I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow, so I'm going to ask about it, as it really is uncomfortable and gross. Also, I think this is the last time I can paint my toe nails...It took me forever to do it, and multiple positions. Chris, tag! You're it! ;)
I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving, and even if you couldn't be with loved ones, at least be comforted with the knowledge that you were in their hearts and were never forgotten! <3
Since day one he's held his head up, showing how strong he is, and was so alert and focused. He really seems to study everything and has already started smiling and sticking out his tongue in response to our encouragement. I can't tell you how rewarding it all is to see him smile for real at me. It makes my heart melt. :) I am so tired and have no time to sleep between feedings (every 2-3 hours), diaper changes, cleaning, showering (ha, ya right) and such. But I figure that even if I did have time to nap, I'd hate to because I might miss something important or precious. He has totally become our world, and we seem so much more complete with him here with us.
