Leah, Emma and Claire (and Jen and John)

I had my ob appt this morning. The girls and John came with me. I have been having some could be labour moments over the past few days and I didn’t want to be stuck in North York by myself with the car. I am a big baby when it comes to delivering children.

Dr Shuen examined my belly. The baby is still head down and high up. I am also still measuring 39 weeks. He seemed quite pleased that I wasn’t over 40 weeks and decided to give me another week until he checked my cervix.

When I went into labour with the girls I wasn’t even sure I was in labour. By the time I called Bonnie to ask if I was just being silly I had already been in early labour for 12 hours. When I was checked at the hospital an hour later I was already 2-3cm dilated and having contractions that made the nurses monitoring the central station ask if I had been given pitocin. I was feeling pretty much normal.

Dr Shuen wants me to go to the hospital as soon as I feel anything. I am a bit nervous about my ability to diagnose labour and even more nervous about what happens if I miss the signs! Thursday night I was getting consitent tightening with slight pain for over 3 hours. I went to bed and told John if I couldn’t sleep through it we would go. I slept fine. Last night it started up again but again went away.

Today I asked Dr Shuen for some more specific guidelines on when to come in. He decided to check my cervix just so we would know. Cervix is closed tight. No baby anytime soon. My pelvis on the other hand is apparently very narrow. The concerned voice was back. Apparently I am built for 4 and 5lbs babies - not so sure how a turkey will go. He’s back on section in the interest of everyone involved.

 We’ll talk dates next week - he figures sometime after the 7th.

Now I don’t expect my pelvic bones to suddenly shift so I think this is the end of the section/no section talk. After two evenings of “should we call in the backup and get to North York” a nice planned stress free section doesn’t bother me one bit.

The girls were funny at the appointment. Every week they ask if they can come to the baby doctor with me and are disappointed when I say no so this was a big treat. John brought them in to listen to the heartbeat then we went back to the waiting room to wait to see the doctor. Emma kept on saying “Is it my turn?” and when we kept on saying not yet she took it up a level to “My ear is sore. I need to see the baby doctor.”…then Leah’s tummy was sore… Once we were in with the ob they both sat on John’s lap and watched intently as he measured my belly. After he was done John had to get them both up on the table so he could measure their “big bellies”. Needless to say they won’t be attending the birth of baby C - I can only imagine what they would come out of that room saying!

We survived!

The girls did really well with Christmas this year. It was the first year of them understanding what was going on and it was really quite something to watch them take it all in.

I think their favourite part of the whole thing was being around so many people and so much action for two days straight. As soon as we got in the car to drive to Bonnie’s they started talking about all the people they were going to see. When we told them it was Great Grandpa’s birthday the excitement mounted at the thought of cake and singing him Happy Birthday. We arrived to a house full of people and we thought for sure they’d be shy but they jumped right in. Dancing, singing, laughing and following anyone around who was willing. I don’t think either of them spent more than 2 minutes with us the entire evening - there was just too many people to see and things to do. The funniest part of the evening was Great Grandpa trying to get the girls to bang on the table and chant cake and Emma telling him he needed to say please then following that up with him needing to be patient…at least she didn’t ask him if he needed to go in the playpen!

When we got back to Great Grandpa’s Drew helped them put out two cookies and some milk for Santa and Rudolph (we couldn’t forget Rudoph!). The girls got right into the twin beds and settled with minimal effort. They were up at a very punishing 6:30am and our efforts at trying to get them to lay quietly for just a bit longer so those not used to waking up in the dark could sleep were met with “No, we want to WAKE UP and go see Santa!!”. Hard to argue with that.

Their first reaction was squeals of excitement over the missing cookies and milk. We were quickly told that they needed another cookie for Santa and Rudolph. When we told them to look at what was beside the empty plate they saw the blue dog and the yellow cat. They were pretty excited. It was pretty cute. Nana then gave them Magna Doodles which they played with until everyone else managed to drag themselves out of bed.

They were very good at opening up presents and waiting their turn. They got lots of new toys - some of which were opened and some we are saving as distractions for when Baby C comes home. Thankfully they had a really good nap and they were ready to go when everyone started arriving for Christmas Dinner.

Of course it wouldn’t be a true holiday in our little family without some of us being sick. The girls had pretty bad colds (although you’d never know except for the constant stream of snot and the nasty coughs) and John had a full blown sinus infection by Christmas Day. The girls did extremely well and lucky for everyone else but us they didn’t start to fall apart until we got home yesterday. They refused to nap although they desperately needed sleep and the day was spent with John and I attempting to keep everyone calm while counting the minutes until bedtime and trying not snap at each other in our state of exhaustion/sickness. Ah there has to be some humour in us adding a newborn to the mix sometime in the next few weeks! I keep on joking to John about how most families we know have their kids either 2 or 4 years apart. Somedays you start to really understand the birth control effects of two year olds

So now we have a few days to relax before John goes back to work. The girls and John are still pretty sick today so we went to Costco and bought medicine in bulk. No news on Baby C except that I was so incredibly uncomfortable at John’s Grandpa’s. I am now a walking commercial for the makers of John’s recliner and the memory foam on our bed. I have noticed that I am much more comfortable sleeping this time around but I never attributed it to the memory foam. I love that foam now. It’s right up there with DVR

I have posted some pictures on Flickr from Christmas Day. John’s mom took a ton with her camera so once I get those I’ll put them up as well.

Emma thanking Santa for her blue dog

Leah thanking Santa for her yellow cat

“Emma, I think we killed Santa. Quick, put him back in the chair before anyone notices.”

“Perfect…nobody will notice. Now let’s sit on his lap and look cute!”

My apologies for not sending out cards this year…it was something that got cut when John gave me the “what things can we do to make your life easier” speech a few weeks ago. I also cut out participating in our annual book club cookie exchange - pretty happy with that decision seeing as I would be looking at 8 dozen sugary goodies every time I went into the freezer knowing I couldn’t have them.

We’re off to Oshawa in a couple of hours to spend Christmas with John’s family. My Mom and Dad are celebrating with the Mexicans this year - apparently it is a bit more festive than Florida. It is John’s Grandpa’s 94th birthday today and we’ll celebrate it at Bonnie’s. The plan for now is for us to stay over at John’s Grandpa’s until boxing day. We’ll see how the girls do in new beds. They are both pretty congested with a bad cold right now so we’ll have nighttime Dimetapp helping us out in the sleep department.

The girls are extremely excited about Christmas. They are still asking for a blue dog and a yellow cat from Santa. Santa told me he ordered the elusive yellow cat online and it had not yet arrived but that he had found an acceptable replacement. Santa feels pretty bad about the stuff not getting here on time and is pretty annoyed at Canada Post. Oh well what can you do. John said I should tell Santa he should be happy they didn’t ask for that Tickle Me Elmo that goes into convulsions and is apparently pretty hard to find

Merry Christmas everyone!

A quick update since I can check the stats and see that lots of people are checking back here regulary - I’m assuming to see if we’ve had a baby

No baby yet. Doesn’t look like there will be a baby anytime soon. Hopefully I don’t eat those words…

-Baby C is still head down but still very high (hasn’t dropped even a bit)

-My belly is measuring only 37 weeks today. Dr Shuen thinks maybe some of the fluid is going down or the change in baby position caused the decrease. He is not concerned…maybe even a bit pleased.

-I passed the 2 hour glucose test so no gestational diabetes. Unfortunately I still haven’t been given the go ahead to gorge myself on Christmas chocolate. 

-I don’t think I mentioned I lost 2lbs last week and didn’t gain any this week. Blood pressure is fine and there is no protein in my urine.

-Ultrasound I had on Monday was fine. I will proabably have another one in the New Year.

The plan right now is to just wait and see. I will continue to go to weekly ob appts. He has no plans of even thinking about inducing me until the baby drops.

So overall a much better appt than last week. I’ve actually been feeling pretty good this past week. John’s dad was down so I was able to get a ton of stuff done. Baby C’s room is now sorted out and pretty well organized. I even managed to pack the bags we need for the hospital.

I think part of my energy might be a result of knowing I have help til the New Year. John is off til January 2nd and we don’t have much planned beyond relaxing and getting some stuff sorted out around the house. I am actually on break right now from putting all their current toys away. We will have one whole day of a toy free house tomorrow - I should take some pictures! 

-

I had the ultrasound today. Baby C is head down. I had mentioned to John yesterday that I wasn’t getting any crippling “my bladder is going to explode if this baby doesn’t knock it off” kicks but I didn’t clue in that the baby had turned. Of course it all makes sense now that I think back. I was expecting it to be uncomfortable when he/she flipped but nope. Now I’m thinking there’s tons of room for flips in there and who knows where it will settle.

He/she is measuring just under 7lbs (still big). I had yet another opportunity to find out the sex today but I was strong. Bonnie was in the room and it’s actually hard knowing that we could call her at any time and she could probably find out in minutes…assuming she closed her eyes today. Apparently the amount of fluid in my belly makes the ultrasounds crystal clear. They were all ohhing and ahhing at a face shot but as soon as I turned around to see the screen the little bugger put it’s hand in front of it’s face. That was the picture I got!

So I have no idea what Dr Shuen will say on Saturday. I honestly didn’t think the baby was going to turn and I had finally wrapped my head around a more controlled and planned delivery. Now we are back at the unknown. Oh well, not much I can do about it.

I’ll make this part brief.

-I failed the 1 hour glucose test I had last Saturday but only by a little bit. I got 9 something and I guess if you are over 10 you definitely have gestational diabetes. They asked me to do the 2 hour test

-I did the 2 hour test on Thursday morning. Who knows when I’ll get the results or what they’ll do with them seeing as it will be Christmas week. Dr Shuen still thinks the baby is fine…just big.

-I had an appt with Dr Shuen yesterday. I am 35 weeks today but my belly is measuring 39 weeks. The baby is still breech. He doesn’t think it will turn and the plan for now is to section me at 37.5 weeks (first week of January). We will discuss dates next Saturday at my now weekly ob appt.

-I have another ultrasound with the perinatologist tomorrow afternoon at the hospital to check the baby.

So that’s the news on Baby C. I must admit I went into freak out mode when he said I’d be sectioned at 37.5 weeks. It seems so close and with Christmas and New Years between now and then I know it’s going to fly by. John has the week between Christmas and New Years off so we have plenty of time to just relax and get ready. The funniest part of the whole thing is that Bonnie is the one who schedules the sections so she will get to pick Baby C’s birthday!

I have had a few “that sucks that you have to have a c section” comments but really I don’t care. Dr Shuen knows best as far as I am concerned…and after the girls there really and truly is nothing left to be bothered being vain about my belly I know recovery is going to be harder but it’s a fair trade off for the logistics of me going into labour with a hospital that depending on traffic/weather might be 1.5 hours away.

The girls are doing well. My mom broke down and asked me to take some pictures so I put some up on Flickr. It was really warm here today and they got to play outside. I really miss being able to be outside without worrying they’re going to freeze their fingers off. 

Our weekend flew by as usual. Yesterday I had the ob appt in the morning and then we did some shopping when I got home. Last night Drew and Jen came to watch the girls while we went into Toronto to celebrate Jeff’s 30th Birthday. Like true party animals we were home by 10:30pm but we had fun watching everyone else get drunk!

Yesterday the girls friend Grace had a baby brother Patrick. Patrick was supposed to come the same week Baby C is scheduled to arrive but I guess he didn’t want to share his birthday! 

We’ve had an interesting week around here. Things aren’t all sorted out quite yet but we’re getting there.

 Monday morning I had an ultrasound to check Baby C’s growth and my placenta. All the tech could tell me was “your doctor will receive a report and let you know” which was pretty disappointing since they always used to tell me the weights with the girls. I was 33 weeks 1 day when I had the ultrasound - the day I went into labour with the girls - so I had a pretty good idea of what I was looking at. It was pretty neat.

Wednesday the ob office called to say that there was some concern over the amount (too much) of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby. They told me that a perinatologist appointment had been arranged for the next day. Now I know I get good service from Dr Shuen but a one day wait to see a perinatologist?! Between that and some googling we shouldn’t have done we were a bit freaked out. 

Drew watched the girls for us while we went to the appointment on Thursday. The doctor measured and thoroughly checked out Baby C via ultrasound. From what he can tell the baby is fine. His suspicion is that I have gestational diabetes even though I passed the test I had a couple months back. Baby C is big - 6lbs when he/she should be 4.5. At this rate Dr Shuen will be right about the 9lbs.

Dr Shuen called on Friday and the plan is to get me in to see a nutritionist who will teach me how to take my blood sugar and eat accordingly. I can’t get a referral until there is proof, not just a suspicion, of gestational diabetes so I had to go in and do another glucose test. I still wish they could make that stuff taste like Pepsi! So yesterday I went in to do the test and to see Dr Shuen. I am now measuring 36 cm and I had no protein in my urine. We will get the results back early in the week - hopefully (weird to be hoping for gestational diabetes I know) I will fail and we can move along. If I pass I don’t know, they are concerned about the baby’s size.

The other issue is that Baby C is breech. While this could resolve this late in the pregnancy (especially with the amount of fluid he/she is swimming around in), it also might not. Baby C might be a c section in the end. We’ll see. I don’t care at all just like I don’t care if it’s a boy or a girl. Healthy baby is all I care about.

Besides all the Baby C appointments things are ok. The girls did end up getting pretty sick and the antibiotics took most of the week to kick in for me. We are all feeling much better now. We had a pretty relaxing weekend. Today we took the girls to the Umbra factory sale in Toronto. I thought they were going to be a disaster but it was me who started to fall apart first. It did help that they both thought it was a riot to ride around in a box on the cart. I love the Umbra sale - I’m glad I got to go. We got some really nice stuff for around the house.

The girls are out swimming with John and Drew right now. I’ve had a couple of hours to myself which is very much appreciated. My patience is pretty low these days and I have to really try hard not to lose it with the girls. They are both doing really well. They have developed such vivid imaginations - last night they each had one of John’s tape measures and were pulling them around. All of a sudden they started saying Leah’s was a cat and Emma’s was a dog and that they were walking them. They even gave them names on their own (Chance and Jackson) and put them to bed in the cribs. They were 2.5 this week. I have to do an update…and take some pictures.

I will be 33 weeks tomorrow. I had an appointment with Dr Shuen this morning. I left Oakville in clear cool weather and drove across the city to find snow covered grass and flurries in North York. I remember when I was pregnant with the girls I used to say to John if I can make it til there are leaves on the trees then the babies should be ok. This time I’ve been telling myself if I can make it til I see snow it will be ok. I’ve seen my snow!

The baby is doing fine. The heartbeat was 153. I had trace amounts of protein in my urine but my blood pressure was fine so he’s not too concerned. I have the ultrasound on Monday to see if my low lying placenta has fixed itself. I am still measuring big - nearly 36 weeks. Dr Shuen is convinced the baby is going to be 9lbs. I still maintain that his predominantly teeny tiny “this basketball belly is a full term baby” asian patient base is biasing his opinion

The only other thing to report is that I am sick. I was very tired all week and I thought I had reached my limit but it turns out I was just getting sick. Thankfully it got really bad yesterday afternoon just in time to have John home for the weekend. I am really congested and it’s deep down in my chest. I asked Dr Shuen if there was anything I could take if it wasn’t better by next week and he told me to try and get some rest and drink plenty of fluids. Then I coughed and he heard the rumble in my chest. His tone changed immediately and he’s put me on antibiotics that he promised would be fine for the baby. The girls are also a bit congested but otherwise fine.