Ode to Pregnancy - Take Two

I'm laying in bed but cannot sleep

feeling the kicks of little feet.

Repeatedly up at night to pee

often as many times as three.

Leg cramps so bad I curse and swear

stretching without pain is now rare.

Putting on shoes has become such a chore

I've even worn slippers out the door.

The clean and clear face I usually had

is now covered in acne that's quite bad.

Three flights of stairs these days make me weak

and so out of breath it's hard to speak.

The migraine pain is though to take

but most drugs are banned for baby's sake.

Yet in the end I know it'll be fine

when I hold that sweet baby of mine.

For now, I ask you bare with me

and enjoy my poem of misery.

by Tammy

Baby Kicks

So I tried to video tape our baby kicking. When you are here in person watching it it looks way more impressive but here is a glimpse of what it looks like on video tape. It is also hard to tell the kicks from my breathing but if you look carefully you will see.

It starts off with a big kick and ends with a big kick and in the middle is just a bunch of moving and wiggling.

Soccer Videos

As it turns out Rawley coach was wrong and they do play again this weekend. Hopefully they do not get rained out. This will be Rawley's last game then he has a stretch before anything else starts. April 10th he will start swimming lessons.

Soccer has been a wonderful yet stressful learning experience for Rawley. Game days usually go over well and Rawley plays hard, but Tuesday night practices were another story. Evenings are not Rawley's best times as he struggles to control his body. Having said that, through out the whole season we only left in the middle of practice twice, so I think that is pretty good.

~ Rawley first goal at his last game ~

~ Second goal ~

~ Big huge goalie kick ~

~ Nice save ~

The game the video was from Rawley played on the field the first have and in goal the second. He is one of the fastest kids on the team and has a killer goalie kick. Most his kicks made it half way down the field. The team they played were a really good team and usually pulverize us, but this game was pretty even. Our boys are getting so good now, it is sad the season is ending. I am certainly going to miss watching them run up and down the field. I will also miss socializing with the other moms.

Please Don't End

This past week and a half have been so enjoyable with the Olympics on. Rawley seems to enjoy any event that is on and it has been fun to watch him get excited.

I have been watching the Olympics at work as well. Last week the manager was gone so it was easy to stream online through out the day, but since he has returned I have not stopped. Somehow I feel that it is excusable that I watch it I have nothing else to do, when I do have work I get it done asap and I am supporting my country.

It has made my very long drawn out days enjoyable....well tolerable at least. Curling games are great because they take up almost 3 hours of my time. Considering I get to work at about 7:50 and am done my work for the day by 8:20, I have a lot of down time.

I have found nearly all the events enjoyable. I don't care much for Biathlon and Cross Country, but everything else can hold my attention pretty well.

I have to admit that we have spent more time at home and on the couch than is probably healthy though. I guess that is the only downside I see to it.

Spending time on the couch has been good for a few things. My head feels much better when I am laying down and Nudge kicks and jumps and spins and turns when I am laying down. We have been able to see the movements for about a week, but last night was crazy. Ryan and I were both laughing. My belly was jumping all over the place and kinda doing the wave. One side would jump then the other. It was up high then it was down low.

I know this is my second pregnancy but Rawley never moved. He was always in the exact same position; never kicked, never played and never had the hiccups. So this is a very new experience for me and it is totally weird and wonderful. I plan to video tape it tonight and see if I can get some good kicks on my blog for everyone (whether you are interested or not).

So thank you Olympics for being so wonderfully entertaining and for causing me to veg so much on the couch at night. I will miss you when you are over.

Ode To Pregnancy

Pregnancy....you suck!

It's a Boy!!!

We had out 3D Ultrasound today with UCBaby. There was plenty of sugar consumed along with a medium Iced Capp. (Sorry Tina, my last milkshake did not sit well) When we got in the first thing she did was find and record the heartbeat for us. Then we looked for the parts so we could determine the sex. She let us guess and I was pretty sure I saw a penis, but didn't want to say it. Ryan said it and he was right. There it was clear as day staring us in the face.

Unfortunately that was all Nudge wanted to show us. He was laying with both hands and both feet over his face. The tech tried to move him several ways. Then she made me get up and walk around. I ate some chocolate and poked around. We tried and second time and it ended up being even worse. Our session was stopped right then and rebooked for April 3rd.

The funny thing is I am totally okay with this. I feel bad that Mom & Dad in Manitoba and Meredith did not get much of a show while streaming online, but I am actually happy. We booked the ultrasound so early because we really wanted to know what the sex was. Booking early always means the pictures are not as good though. So really we get the best of both. We got to find out the sex and now we get to go back (free of charge) in 6 weeks to get a better look. To top it off, it just so happens that in six weeks Ryan's parents are going to be here visiting so they will get to come with us. This makes me really happy.

I was hoping for a girl. I am not sure what the main reason was.
~ I was feeling that a girl would complete our family.
~ I was such a tom boy growing up who hated pink and played in the dirt; maybe I wanted a girl so I could live vicariously through her.
~ Everything I have looked at that was pink was cute, nothing blue appealed to me.
~ I already picked a girl's name and I really loved it.
~ I have done the boy thing and wanted to have a little girl to bond with
~ But I think the main reason is I know how expensive children are to raise and I know that our chances of getting to try again are slim.

So to be truly honest at first I was a little sad. I am over it now though and really looking forward to meeting our little boy. We are going to have too look more seriously at the boys section of the baby name book though because I have no idea what me are going to name this little boy.

I headed out to do some shopping today and found it a little hard. The first 3 stores I went to I found nothing blue that I liked. I knew it would pass so I kept looking. Finally at Walmart I found this jumper that was cute
Then I went to The Gap to cruise the sale racks. I found these adorable pants with bear paw feet. They are 3-6 months so should be wearable Oct-Dec. They were $7 on sale.
I was happy but still not ecstatic yet. Not wanting to give up, I stopped in at Please Mum. They were were havaing a great sale; everything in the store was 50% off the original price. I browsed for a bit and then I found this Hat…..
All of a sudden I was excited for my little boy. It sounds ridiculous and I don’t know if it is pregnancy hormones or I am just crazy, but this little hat completely changed my outlook, my mood, my emotions…. Silly.

Then the shopping bug got me and even though the mall was closing in 10 minutes I decided to head to The Bay before being done for the day. There I found the following diaper shirts. I realize the one on the right will only fit the baby for like 1 week, but at least he will have something that fits him that first week. I remember when Rawley was born he was swimming in all his clothes, nothing fit him at all. Besides the diaper shirt was only $3.99 so I do not feel bad about the purchase at all.

Tick Tock Tick Tock

Today is taking forever. I am the only one in the office and it is so quiet here. I have Jeff Dunham playing in the background but need something else to do. So here I sit and type.

I don't really have anything to type about.

I have been doodling baby names on paper most the morning besides playing a few games on Facebook and chatting with a friend on Facebook..... We have our girls name picked out for sure. If it is a boy we have a couple we like.. Well I have 2 names I like. Ryan has not really looked through the baby name book yet. He likes one of the ones I like but I never asked him about the other... It will just be easier if it is a girl then we can be done with the name picking.

Tomorrow is the big day. We have our 3D ultrasound at 10am. Ryan's parents and Meredith (my sister in law) will be streaming online to watch the ultrasound. It should be about 30 minutes long and we will be able to find out the sex. Well they cannot guarantee it, but if for some reason they cannot determine the sex they will have us back for a free session on another day to try again. Nudge has been kicking a lot and moving around so hopefully will feel like sharing.

We get a 30 min DVD and photos with our session. Right after we are done there I will be taking the boys to the Skytrain to head off to their Olympics event then I will head over to my Grandma & Grandpa's. I am bringing our portable DVD player with me so they can watch the DVD of the baby. They can sit around and marvel at modern technology.

THEN... I am going shopping. I have waited sooooo long to buy anything for the baby, once I know tomorrow I am going to buy some stuff. Nothing big, but a few fun things... Just because I can.

Well, that's all I got.
Happy Friday!!

MRI Failure

So, I had my MRI yesterday. It did not go so well.

I got there and lied down on the board, they braced my head and slide me in. I had my eyes closed but then for some reason opened them. I could not believe how small the tube was that they slide me into. I instantly started to panic, my heart was pounding, I started crying. I tried for what felt like forever to calm myself (was probably more like 10 seconds) but could not. I had a squeeze the emergency ball so they could pull me out.

I was so embarrassed. I apologized and told the tech that I have had MRIs before and been fine. She asked if I wanted to stop or try again. She also told me not to open my eyes at all and even offered to cover them with a clothe.

I decided to try again. I left my arms down so that my hands could hang outside of the tube. This for some reason made me feel somewhat calmer. At least I knew the edge was there somewhere and that if I really needed to I could get myself out.

I still panicked a lot, my heart was pounding so hard. Obviously Nudge was wondering what on earth was going on because as my heart raced he/she flipped and kicked and moved about a lot. I couldn't sing to myself (which is how I usually self soothe) because I could not move my head/face at all so I hummed. I hummed as many upbeat happy songs as I could think of and I hummed as loud as I could.

25 minutes felt like eternity in there. It was awful.

Yesterday I was really down on myself for being so spastic, but today I prefer to blame the machine. The last MRIs I had were in Nanaimo and the machine was totally different.

In Nanaimo:
~ The tube is much bigger; at least 10 inches between my face & the machine wall
~ The tube is lit on the inside
~ There is a mirror on the inside so you can see out of the tunnel
~ I had ear phone to listen to music
~ The technicians were very soothing and wonderful
~ The technicians talked me through it on the speakers
~ I think the tube was open on both ends

~Nanaimo one looked like this~

In Abbotsford:
~ The tube is tiny; like 3 inches between my face and the wall
~ The tube was quite dark inside (compared to Nanaimo)
~ There was no mirror and I could see nothing
~ I had ear plugs...no music to sooth
~ The technicians were cold and unfriendly
~ The technicians did not talk to me at all to tell me what was happening.
~ The tube was closed at other end.

~ The Abbotsford one was more like these two~

~Next time I want one one these MRI scanners~

*pictures were taken from Google Images.

Did It Really Happen?

I slept through the night last night. All the way through the night!!! From 11:15 till 5:20... I cannot even remember the last time I slept through the night. It was amazing. What a wonderful way to start the morning.

Last night was Rawley's last night seeing his soccer friends. He still wanted to go to practice even though he is not going to playing in the tournament this weekend. I am glad he went and had a good time with all his friends. I went and visited with one of the soccer moms. She offered to pick up Rawley's medal or award this Saturday for him.

We came home and watched the men's hockey game we had taped. Rawley likes Jerome Iginla even more now... I think he will forever be a Calgary Flames fan.... I don't know where I went wrong with him.... (just kidding).

I am off to the hospital this morning for my MRI. It's not all bad, at least I get to ditch work for a while. :)

Oh and one last little tidbit of my totally all over the place blog post..... We go for our 3D Ultrasound in 3 days. :)
Think Pink!!! ;)

Another Weekend Gone

Friday we had our 3rd Medical Ultrasound. I think it went well, the tech was pointing out some of the organs to us so I assume she was able to see them all. In New West they do not do Sex Determination until 25 weeks so they were not going to look for us. No big deal, we find out this Saturday anyway. I don't know if they would have been able to tell if they wanted because baby was facing my back, which makes seeing the front hard. Nudge had its head down and feet straight up in the air. Nudge was also not curled up at all but fully stretched out and kicking A LOT. That's 10.5 inches fully vertical inside my tummy. Wow. The pictures are not great but I felt the need to post them anyway.

~Tech said that the spine has a great curve~

~This is the face looking from the back of the head~

Our weekend has been one full of medication. Rawley does have an ear infection. My dad took him to the doctor on Friday to get checked out. The doctor put him on Amoxicillin (same old same old). Rawley has a chewable tablet form though instead of the liquid that has to be refrigerated. He still says it tastes awful and I believe him. He is also taking one regular strength adult Tylenol every 4 hours until the pain goes away. It is hard to remember who had to take what and when... How does Ryan remain so healthy?

~left three are mine, right three are Rawley's~

I am finding it hard to follow the directions on my T3s. I am suppose to take 3 at a time every 4 hours as needed. The problem is I don't know how much I need. If I wake up with a small headache I don't want to take all 3 because the pain doesn't not seem bad enough, but I have noticed if I only take 1 then the headache gets worse. Yesterday I under medicated myself and ended up in tears again, so I am trying to take 2 at the first sign of a headache now. Seems that so far today it is working. The down side of taking that much is I have the shakes all day.

Yesterday was grocery shopping day as is every Sunday. We always buy the which ever cookies are on sale that week. Rawley saw hockey Oreos and wanted them so bad and guess what... they were on sale. He is so thrilled.

Other than that we have had a pretty good weekend. Any time we were near a TV Rawley was glued to the Olympics. I feel slightly guilty that his TV watching is like 6 hours above the daily recommendation, but I know that this is something very special to him. Saturday was Rawley's last soccer game of the year and he played like it was. He got two goals in the first half then played Goalie the second half. Rawley has the longest goalie kick of anyone on his team. The ball usually ends up half way down the field when he kicks it. I was a proud mom. We went and visited my grandparents on Saturday afternoon and watched some Olympics there. Yesterday we managed to pull Rawley away from the TV long enough to go swimming. Both mine and Rawley's medications were working and it felt great to actually do something other than lay on the couch.

Then just as fast as it came the weekend was over. Boo.

Oh The Guilt

Last night close to bedtime Rawley was complaining he had a headache. I assumed he just had a headache because I had a headache. I have been laying on the couch getting waited on because of my headache so I figured he just wanted in on it.

Then he woke up at 11:30 and came to tell me his head really hurt. He kinda had a half cry thing going on. I could not decipher whether is was a fake cry or an 'I am half asleep cry'. I gave him some Motrin and water and sent him back to bed. Still not really sure if he was making it up or not.

This morning when I went to wake him up he said, "NO! I have to go see a doctor or something, it is not my head it is my ear and it really hurts!"

oh no, I think Rawley may have an ear infections. Guilt #1 was not really thinking anything was wrong. Poor Rawley. His ear is very red and hurts a lot. I checked his temp and it was not high but our thermometer was bought in May or 2002 (when Rawley was born) so it may not be accurate.

Guilt #2... I sent him to school anyway. I know I am an awful awful mom!! At least I think I am. The thing is....I missed 3 hours of work yesterday (see end of post) and am going to miss 3 hours of work today to go for our ultrasound in New West. I can't miss any more work. Specially since the manager is away till the 22nd and I am running the office. Ryan has also missed work for doctors appointment and ultrasounds and his boss has expressed that he is not cool with it. CRAP!!!

I do not expect Rawley to stay at school all day suffering from what I believe is an ear infection... I just need him to hold out till like 10/10:30 so that my dad can get some sleep before having to pick him up from school and take him to the doctor. Oh my dad also has Rawley till 6 tonight, until we come back from our ultrasound. Being that my dad is not feeling well it is exhausting for him to have Rawley all day. Which is Guilt #3.

Thank God I get to see Nudge today on the little screen... that should make me feel a little better.

* I missed 3 hours of work yesterday. I have having the worst of all my headaches yesterday. To the point of crying. I called my doctors office and they wanted to see me. The doctor wrote me a prescription but wanted me to see a neurologist. The neurologist just happened to be at the ER in Abby and had some free time so he asked to see me right away. After checking me out doing some minor tests he concluded it is probably just migraines. The weird thing is that I have no history of migraines and it is odd to start having them during pregnancy (awful hormonal headaches are normal, migraines are not) It also was concerning that this was week 6 of the headaches on an almost everyday basis. So, he wants an MRI to rule out some other possibilities. He is not really concerned that it is anything more but would feel better ruling them out.
Next week I have my MRI, until then I am on High Blood Pressure pills 3x a day and T3 with codeine and caffeine as needed, up to 3 at a time every 4 hours. If in the end my MRI comes back normal but the meds are not working they will give me steroids.

All of the above is safe for me and baby. The neurologist said what is not safe for me and baby is to be in this much pain for such a long time.

I feel relieved just knowing that we are going to fix it. Not today and probably not tomorrow, but it relief is in the future.

Did I mention that I cannot wait to see Nudge today on that little ultrasound screen.... Somehow seeing that little baby makes me feel that this is all worth it. I guess that is normal.

I lied

Okay... I lied!
My headaches are not tolerable... not at all, not even in the slightest and I am MISERABLE!!

I have tried Tylenol, Tylenol extra strength and Tylenol 3.
I have stayed away from caffeine, even chocolate
I have been drinking litre upon litre of water
I iced my neck
I have bought a special Obus Form pillow
I have been doing my neck exercises my Chiropractor gave me
I even took at Advil 400 because I can't handle the pain (as directed by my doctor*)

Nothing is working and I am miserable person to be around. I can't even stand myself.... How's that?


Just so all the judgemental people out there don't judge me.

* Advil is okay to take during pregnancy up until 34 weeks. my doctor will let me take it till 32 weeks just to be safe. The reason it is said to be unsafe is the little valve in your baby that allows them to be water breathers while in your tummy can malfunction when Advil is consumed thus turning them into air breather while under water....causing drowning. The thing is that valve doesn't even get used until you are 34 weeks pregnant, up until then the valve is by passed and your baby is naturally a water breather..... She had some more technical medical type words for it, but that is the idea. So, if I feel the need I should be taking Advil. *

Mommy Meltdown

Well the pregnancy hormones have definitely started up; the problem is I cannot tell when my emotions are realistic and normal or crazy and hormonal....

I just got an email this morning from Rawley's soccer coach and I had a little cry.
Rawley loves soccer and he is very good at it. The problem is that we have already had about 8-10 games cancelled due to rain or frozen fields. This past weekend our game was cancelled because the fields were closed for the torch run. I think this was stupid because the soccer field was not used for any part of the torch run AND anything they did do to set up for the torch run was done on Sunday not on Saturday when Rawley was suppose to play.

Now, we just received an email saying that next Saturday the 20th will be the final day of soccer.(even though his schedule goes to the 27th) The teams will each be playing 3 games throughout the day and then the awards ceremony will follow. The 20th is also the day we have our 3D ultrasound in the morning and then the boys have the Olympic curling event in the afternoon..... Ahhh.

I am so so upset that Rawley is going to miss out on his first huge soccer event. He keeps talking about how sad he will be when soccer is over and now he doesn't even get to attend the final games and the award ceremonies.... I am so sad for him that I cried.

I don't know what to do. There is no way he can go to both and knowing he is missing out is going to really upset him. There is no way we can not tell him though either because the coach and all the teammates will be talking about it this weekend at the game and at practice next week.

Half Way

This Sunday marked the half way point for Nudge. We are 20 weeks and 2 days today. I have enjoyed reading all the new information about my baby.

Apparently now we measure from head to toe instead of head to rump. Which means my baby is going to be about 10.5 inches long by the end of the week. That is kind of hard to believe. Last night Rawley got out the measuring tape and found 10.5 inches on it. When he held it up to my belly he didn't quite understand how it was possible. I had to take the Tape Measure and roll the top over for the head and the bottom under for the legs... It actually fits quite well.....He gets it now.

The heartbeat is strong enough now that it can be heard with a regular stethoscope instead of having to use the Doppler. Does anyone have a stethoscope they want to let us borrow? How cool would have be to listen to your baby whenever you want?!

Baby is big enough and active enough now that the kicks are felt a lot more. There have been times at work where I just get walloped, but of course as soon as I lay down at home and we stare at my belly....nothing happens. Ryan & Rawley have yet to see or feel anything.

We have or next medical Ultrasound this Friday @ 4:30. Conveniently we have to drive out to New Westminster on the day of opening ceremonies for the Olympics... I have no idea what time to leave Abbotsford to ensure we get there in time. Earlier the better I suppose... Then we have time to stop and get Chocolate milkshakes on the way... That ought to perk up the baby a bit (Thanks for the tip Tina)

Last night Rawley spent the latter half of dinner speaking to my belly. He was telling it that if it learns to talk it should tell us if it is a boy or girl and that we they check on Friday it should show us. He went on for a while.... I stopped listening. I do think it is cute when he talks to my belly.

He also asked me the other day, "If it is a boy are we keeping the name 'Nudge'?"....ah that would be a 'no'.

Sunday on our way to the Torch ceremony Rawley had said that he wished the baby would come now so that it didn't miss the Olympics. We had to explain to him that the baby would have a hard time surviving if it was born now because it is not quite ready. He seemed to understand but was genuinely sad that Nudge would miss the Olympics and this once in a life time chance.

I have been feeling pretty good. Normal pregnancy stuff I think. The smallest amount of physical work makes me tired. I try to take the stairs everyday from the parking garage to our 3rd floor apartment... By the time I reach the top I am completely out of breath. Even singing in the car sometimes leaves me breathless. My gastritis is back with a vengeance... but as long as I take my Zantac I seem to survive though.

My skin in freaking out. When I was pregnant with Rawley I read that you can get acne everywhere, more moles and red spots all over your body.....I never did though. This time I am. I have like 40 more little moles than I have ever has and little tiny red marks all over my arm, chest and neck. The acne started right away but it seems that my new TeaTree Oil Face Wash form The Body Shop is actually working. Instead of waking up with 5-15 huge new zits, I wake up with 1 or 2. That I can totally handle.

The headaches still come on about everyday but they don't last nearly as long. My new doctor also told me to use Peppermint Oil. She said the 1st trimester is the only time you really have to worry and even then the chance of anything happening is quite small. So, I hope to pick some up tonight or tomorrow.

Overall I am feeling pretty good at this point in my pregnancy. Now I just need to know.... " Nudge, are you a boy or a girl?"

Note: Above photo was borrowed from http://www.alphamom.com/pregnancy-calendar/2008/06/weekly-pregnancy-calendar-week.php#more

Weekend On A Budget

As I mentioned before we are planning on going away for a weekend for Ryan's birthday. We decided we will go down to Seattle. We found some good hotel rates and now just need to save the money. The trouble with that is we have little to nothing to spend on fun stuff for the weekend. No eating out and no expensive entertainment.

We got lucky this weekend because the weather was unreal and there was a lot going on. Friday night we cleaned and de-cluttered our house so we kept pretty busy.

Saturday we had a ton of errands to run. Stuff we had been putting off for weeks and we finally just got to it. Besides the occasional whining Rawley was pretty good the whole time. When we were done everything on the list we went down the the driving range to smack some balls around. Rawley loves to do this (so do Ryan and I).

~ I think he has a better frame than I do~

~Nudge and I managed to hold our own~


~We all know Ryan is a pro~

It was so beautiful out and I was not ready to go home so we headed down to the River to walk along the Matsqui trails. Rawley automatically complains about anything so of course he did not want to walk buy the river. In the end he had a pretty good time.



Sunday we didn't have to plan too much because the Super Bowl was on and the torch was coming to Abbotsford. We went grocery shopping in the morning than came home and got ready for company. Tom & Jeannine came over to watch the SuperBowl with us. I made a bunch of appetizers before hand so we all enjoyed some snacks. Oddly enough I actually enjoyed watching the game. I never really cared too much for football before, but I never understood it either. When we went to the BC Lions game this year I kinda figured most of it out and now I enjoy it.

~Double baked Potatoes ~

We had to miss the last 3 minutes of the football game to make it down to the stadium before the torch arrived. We made it just in time and Rawley was ready to cheer. He had some 'Bam Bams' (loud plastic clappers), a tattoo, and a tambourine from RBC and the we got some Canada Flags from the Coke truck. The Flame came in about 4 minutes after we got there and Rawley insisted we run with it down the walkway and onto the track. Once we were on the field we made our way to the stage to watch them light the big flame there and see the performances. It was a really great evening. Some people were a little too eager to get the the front on the pack. I had Rawley on my shoulders and a very rude women tried to push through us, which knocked we over into the man in front of me who in turn also knocked over a few people in front of him. The best part was when he turned around and yelled at me. I firmly told him that it was in fact not me and I had been pushed over. Gees.

~ Rawley & I before the stampede took us out ~

~ Little Inukshuks dancing on the stage ~

I don't remember the name of the dance club that performed but they were really good. Rawley had seen them previously with his school so he was all excited. They sang a few songs and did some great dances. It was really fun to watch. I am definitely glad we got to experience the whole torch thing with Rawley. I didn't think it was going to be anything special but being there and being part of it and hearing Rawley scream and cheer at everything they said was totally worth going. It was even worth keeping Rawley up an hour late on a Sunday night.

We had a great fun filled weekend and spent less than $40.00. Now... what will we do next weekend?

Counting Down

We have so many exciting things coming up it is hard to keep track of everything.

I found out today that I have to have another medical ultrasound. The baby not only hiding the sexual organs from the tech, apparently also wasn't keen on showing off it's heart and kidneys. The test came back inconclusive so they need another ultrasound to try to get a better look. It does not appear there is any cause for concern they just want some confirmation on that.
Abbotsford would not take me because they did not do my original scan and Langley is backed up till the end of March so we will be off to CML HealthCare Imaging in New Westminster.

February 12th: Medical Ultrasound, with chance of finding out sex of baby, if nothing else another sneak peek at our little one.

February 20th: 3D Ultrasound. One that Rawley can be part of and we will most likely get to find out the sex of baby on this day. If they cannot determine it they will book us a complimentary appointment to try again.

also on February 20th: Ryan & Rawley will be going to the Olympics.

March 8th: Ryan's birthday. We plan to take a trip either to Seattle for the weekend or Victoria.

March 31st: Ryan's parents come out for a visit. We did not think we were going to see them until June when they come out to meet the new baby, but we somehow got lucky. They are taking a spring trip with friends to Alberta and it just made sense to come the extra province to see us. I am more than thrilled that they are coming. I know that we will see them lots once baby is born, but it was sad to do the whole pregnancy thing without them around at all. Plus we will get to spend Easter with them. Not as good as Christmas, but I will take it.

Then there is a long haul before June 27th: Baby's due date, but we throw Mothers Day, Rawleys' Birthday and Father's Day in there and it won't be so bad.

It makes waiting for baby's big day much easier when there are all these little things to look forward to along the way.

Let the Crazy Dreams Begin

I have already had some pretty crazy dreams, but this one was my worst.

I had a dream last night that went like this.....

'We were taking a Limo to one of our final doctors appointment before Nudge's due date. The limo was equipped with an ultrasound machine and a technician. We still were not aware of the sex of the baby so we got to take a peek in the limo. Sure enough it was a boy.

Once we got to the doctors office my Grandpa was my doctor. He checked me all out and decided it was best if the baby was born right away. So he tried to cut me open right there in the office. Worse yet was he decided it was not going to hurt that much and he was not going to freeze my lower half or knock me out or anything. I started crying and screaming as he approached me with a scalpel. Also, my entire family and extended family were in the room with me telling me to cut it out and stop screaming....everyone was acting like I was making a big deal out of nothing while my crazy Grandpa wanted to cut me wide open with out numbing me.'

I woke up and my heart was racing, I was sweating...and I didn't fall asleep again all night. Instead I stayed awake and freaked out about the fact that in just over 20 weeks that baby is going to have to come out one way or another. Thank you overactive brain for making my night miserable.

The Weekend in a Nutshell

Friday I felt pretty crappy all day so I figured I just needed some exercise. We decided to go for a walk after dinner and worked our way up to the mall and back. Although the walk was good for me I certainly did not feel any better afterwords.

Saturday we went and watched Rawley's soccer game in the rain. The kids don't seem to care at all that it is pouring and they had a great time. Rawley's team won 6-1. Then Meredith took my out for a late birthday lunch at Tracycakes in downtown. It was nice to get out just the two of us...childless. We followed that with hair cuts at Fusion. I didn't really know what I wanted going in. I knew I did not want to lose a lot of length. So I went with some side swept bangs (that don't show well in this photo) and some choppy layers.

Saturday afternoon Ryan helped my dad with a trip to the dump, I had a nap and Ralwey played nine ball by himself. It was so peaceful. We had pizza for dinner because I was to lazy to cook. Following that I had a massive gastritis/ heart burn/acid reflux attack. 2 Tylenol, 2 Zantac and 2 Gaviscon later.... I survived. Hmm Nudge does not like Pizza maybe?

Sunday was pretty uneventful; church, grocery shopping, walmart, Chevron for gas and slurpees, then off for a walk in the wilderness. The wilderness should come with more bathrooms.

~This board walk leads to a path from Clearbrook Rd to..Blue Ridge(if we went the whole way)~

~ I had never seen ferns growing our of tree trunks like this. Pretty cool~

Rawley reminded us last night that we forgot the most important part of my birthday...The Cake. So we went and Rawley picked out this very sweet chocolate caramel cake. If you use your imagination you can see that Ryan wrote "27" with the candles. They sang, I blew out the candles, and the weekend was over. boo.