Dr's appointments

The last two days held dr's appointments for Faith and I. Faith saw our family doc on Thursday morning as a follow-up check on her diagnosis of pneumonia last week. Yes, pneumonia. She is fine now, other than a lingering cough, but the week before Christmas was really interesting. I got a kidney stone on Monday night and we found out Faith had pneumonia on Tuesday. This was a great double-whammy of sick women in the house for George, but luckily my mom came up for a few days to help us out, and then George's parents arrived a day early to spell her off. (Having family to help out is a huge bonus.)

My doctor's appointment was with my OB yesterday to do the normal check on the baby and get the results from my most recent ultrasound. All good news. My blood pressure is down (thanks to being off work I suspect), my ultrasound showed NO MORE KIDNEY STONES!, the baby weighs about 3.3 lbs and his head down, and the OB thinks I'll get to about 35 weeks before I have junior b. And the best part...I had only gained 2.5 lbs since my last visit! And that's with plenty of Christmas gorging!

Oh yes, and if anyone is ever interested, kidney stones are worse than labour. First off, intense, sudden pain, second, you "give birth" to a kidney stone and not a warm, snuggly baby. I was very happy to hear that I don't need to expect any more of those suckers. I don't want another midnight trip the hospital! (Well I can handle it if it's a baby.)

Bigger and bigger

Tomorrow I hit 26 weeks, and I'm just getting bigger and bigger. Or rather, my stomach just keeps getting bigger and bigger...Yesterday I had another ultrasound to check on the position and growth of the baby.

First off, this one is definitely a boy. As I was watching the screen, he was cooperative enough to flash the ultrasound tech and I. That was about all the cooperating he did as he did not like getting poked and spent the better part of 45 minutes kicking like a horse. (He does a lot more kicking than Faith ever did.) He is also not cooperating in his position. He's decided to stay in the breech position, which explains why my ribs have been killing me. His little head is pushing up, up, up.

And, he is a very big boy...about 1 kg or 2.2 lbs right now. This in the 80th percentile according to the dr. Woohoo. Already a high achiever. :)

This morning Faith and I were eating breakfast when I showed her where the baby's head is sitting. I gave him a little poke and then he kicked me. Faith looked at me very seriously and said, "Mom. You shouldn't push the baby in the head." Sure, he can kick me in the cervix all day long, but I can't give him a little poke now and then.

Tonight I told her that we have to talk to the baby and tell him to turn around so he's facing head down. I explained that if he stays in the current position I have to have an operation to get the baby out.

Normally, when I put her to bed, we have a ritual of her saying goodnight to my tummy. Tonight, instead of her normal "goodnight baby", she said, "Turn around baby. My mommy's already had an operation and she doesn't need another one."

You got that right.

First baby pictures

Here's the first pictures of the baby, at 20 weeks. I had the ultrasound yesterday morning. The best part, aside from when they said I could pee, was seeing the baby moving around onscreen. I couldn't believe how active he was, and that I couldn't feel all that activity. Sure, I felt some of it, but at one point he moved from his front to his back and I didn't feel it at all!

And, yes, the Ultrasound tech let me know that the baby is likely a boy. It's not 100%, but apparently she saw the penis...or something that looked suspiciously like one. :)

George and I told Faith when we got home that night. When I told her the baby was a boy, she got a big smile on her face, so I think that's a good sign.
Although, she then went on to point out that sometimes they make mistakes and that it could still be a girl.

Later on, while we were sitting on our bed after her bath, I was braiding her hair. As I was doing this, I heard her whispering over and over, "Be a girl. Be a girl. Be a girl." When I asked what she was saying, she just smiled and said, "Nothing."

Good thing she has a few months to get used to the idea that she will be having a baby brother.


To translate the pictures

• the first is a shot of the baby's spine
• the second is the baby's feet
• the third is a face-on view
• the fourth is a side view

Discovering hell...

I have discovered hell, and it's having a cold when you're pregnant. The only medicine you can take is Tylenol, which we all know is soooo effective against a stuffed up nose. This meant I was off work for 2 1/2 days this week, and missed Faith's field trip to a cider mill. I'm finally recovered/ing and am just down to a cough now.

On Monday, I had my second OB appointment. This time I got a very nice intern. So, I've gained 4 lbs, have slightly elevated blood pressure (although he's not worried about it and neither am I as I have white coat syndrome), and the baby was so uncooperative that she couldn't get a heart rate. She'd catch the kid for a few seconds and then the baby would move away. This one is very active compared with Faith.

Monday night I started getting the cold, so I was out of commission for Tuesday evening when Faith went to her first Sparks meeting (pre-Brownies). She was very excited when she came home. "I get to go in a parade and sell coooookies!" I'm not sure why selling cookies is so exciting to a five year old. Actually, she gets to go in two parades...Remembrance Day and Santa Claus. And, she has a field trip to Toronto planned, as well as a New Year's Sleepover but not on New Year's. So, Sparks so far sounds like a good investment (not a cheap activity!).

We survived the rest of the week. And today we're going to my 10-year class reunion for university. (I think this means I'm getting old. :) It's homecoming football day, so we're going with friends and hoping not to get rained on. George, of course, thinks I'm crazy as I'm still coughing, but your 10 year reunion only happens once!

Catching up....

OK...now that I'm starting to feel somewhat normal again, I may actually be able to keep up with my blogging now. :)

Faith started her first day of senior kindergarten today. It was just 5 kids for today and then she starts in every day next week. It went pretty well. The parents got to stick around for the first 20 minutes or so, which meant she didn't say too much. Luckily she knew a couple of the kids, so this helped. She told me that she cried after I left, but I'm not sure I believed this as she was fine when I left the room. She was happy when I picked her up, and she said that she liked her teacher. I, on the other hand, have more homework to do than I had on a bad night in university. I have a packet of papers to read, fill out, and return. The pressure!

It was actually a pretty crazy weekend for us. Faith was sick on Friday...and the germs leaped to George and I. Luckily it was a quick thing. Saturday night, Duncan visited with his girlfriend, Deanna. This was the first time we met, but we'd had previous glowing reports from the parents. And, yes, she lived up to them! :)

Sunday was dinner with Paul and Kim and the kids. This meant that Ava and Faith went off and played for three hours and we basically had to monitor the squeals.

Monday was a playdate with our old baby sitter and kids, and a visit with an old co-workers kids. Tuesday was the first day of school, a doctor's appointment for Faith (including 2 needles!), and a little shopping for me so i can leave the house in something that does not resemble a tent.

So...essentially we're all exhausted and now I have to go back to work. Uggh. And, of course, my morning sickness has decided to come back during the last couple of days! This is supposed to be over with and now I can just gestate and get bigger!

Oh well. On the plus side, I think I actually felt the baby last night for the first time. Of course, it was at 3:30 am when I couldn't sleep, but at least it was something to think about through the insomnia.