Baby It's Cold Outside

Hey Baby!

Looks like you'll come into the world while it's in a deep freeze! Temperatures are supposed to dip to -20 and beyond with the wind chill this weekend until Tuesday, January 25th. We're pretty sure you'll either be here or well on your way by then.

Good thing I packed a little snowsuit, hat, mittens and warm onesies for you. We'll warm up the car for your first trip home, we promise!

Tomorrow I am officially 41 weeks pregnant and you're nowhere in sight...looks like an induction junction early next week for us baby unless you feel like coming earlier. It would be nice because then we wouldn't have to answer the phone and talk to a number of people wondering if we accidentally forgot to mention your arrival....

Hope to meet you soon.

Hello Baby?

Dear Baby,

Well, your due date has come and gone. I didn't think you would be in any rush to meet us given the comfortable quarters you're currently in, but your absence is making us wonder just when you'll be ready. Will it be another week? Another day?

There's really not a lot for Mom to do while you bide your time. The house is clean and poor Dad gets an earful whenever anything is put back out of place (or not put back at all)! It's safe to say the house is ready for you to arrive and we're both very excited and anxious about that arrival...whenever that may be. It's up to you baby!

Tomorrow we'll go see the doctor and she'll tell us if there's been any progress made and if you're showing signs of entering the world soon. If not I'm sure there will be induction discussions and perhaps even a date set. I will be 40 weeks and 4 days pregnant tomorrow.

Your Dad has been very tired because of the commute to work every day and I have to admit I'm mentally almost done from all of the anticipation. After your arrival, I'm sure we'll feel we were very well rested in retrospect (but it sure doesn't feel that way now).

We're happy you are coming soon! Maybe sooner rather than later?

Have You Had That Baby Yet?

So a lot of people are probably wondering when our baby will arrive...just like we are...trust me :)

I found a great website that gives you a breakdown of percentages for each day you are pregnant both before and after your 'due' date. I think due dates are relative anyway and our little 'pork' upine will come out when she's good and ready!

Have you had that baby yet?

36.9% of babies are born by 39 weeks, 4 days (today, January 12th, 2011 I am 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant)

4.2% of babies are born on 39 weeks, 4 days.

If you are still pregnant at 39 weeks, 4 days, there is a...

6.7% chance you will have the baby today

20.8% chance you will have the baby in the next 3 days

34.7% chance you will have the baby in the next 5 days

48% chance you will have the baby in the next 7 days (which would take us to January 19th, 2011)

The Last Sunday?

Good morning. It's a beautiful sunny day here and there was a light dusting of snow overnight making it a treat to look out the window this morning. It's 9:00 AM and Luke is still sleeping. I won't bother him to get up soon because A) he went to bed much later than my 9:30 PM bedtime and B) this could be his last Sunday morning sleep in for a long time...and mine too.

Baby Jones is due in less than one week so next Sunday may be one of our first full days as parents. This doesn't mean I think she will actually arrive on her due date of Saturday, January 15th, 2011 but there is a 5% chance she will. I still vote on a late, on her own time, driving us to drink due to the anticipation arrival ;)

Last night I dreamed that I was out for dinner with my Bad Girls Group (a bible group) and I was both drinking wine and smoking a cigarette while still waiting for our baby girl to be born. Not that I'm on a huge high horse...I used to drink my fair share of sweet red wine and would even have a cigarette once in a blue moon for fun before being pregnant. And on New Year's (at 38 weeks) I had some sparkling wine to toast in 2011, but this dream made me wonder if I am actually capable of being a good Mom or if I'm just yearning for my body to be MINE again! Let's go with the last bit.

Now I'm off to enjoy a long, leisurely last Sunday (?).

Photos

I know I've promised photos but I've changed my mind. We have always determined that the Internet won't be the place to share photos of our baby...think Facebook baby bonanzas. Apparently Canadians are the most likely to post pictures online of their little ones, perhaps without thinking through the ramifications these photos may have later on as their little ones become adults. Posting photos of myself and my belly is one thing...posting photos of our baby is a completely different deal.

That said, please leave a comment if you'd like me to send you pictures of the baby directly to your email account. I'll trust you to forward them or send them on to others we'd approve of but not post them elsewhere online.

Blogger is also incredibly slow at uploading photos so my belly shots can be sent by hotmail as well! Just let me know.

25 Days (or less) Until Our Baby Gets Here!

6 Weeks to Go

Hello!

Only 6 weeks to go and grow. Everyone thinks I'll deliver early as my belly is quite large now but I think our little one isn't ready to go anywhere just yet. See the letter below for the reason why:

Dear Baby,

Daddy and I spent most of the day yesterday fixing up your room and arranging your clothes, furniture and toys in anticipation of your arrival in January 2011. Mommy also went for a manicure with Aunt Sandra to relax and enjoy some pampering. The hand and arm massage they gave felt amazing, especially because of all of the fluid Mommy's hands are retaining lately. Her engagement ring had to come off and will stay off until you are here.

We know you are comfortable in there but could you please do us a favour and try to turn down into the proper birthing position? Right now you're laying diagonally across my belly with your head pointing toward my right arm and your bum and feet pointing down toward my left hip. You're never going to come out that way unless it's by a c-section and Mom really doesn't want to have one of those! You can do it. Just perform some acrobatics in there and get it done. You only have another few weeks to flip over so please make this a priority baby.

We're getting very excited to meet you but we won't lie: you make us a little nervous. We're hoping we can be the very best parents a baby could wish for and we hope you like us when you arrive. Some people say babies choose their parents before they're born. Thank you for choosing us. We know you are going to make our lives rich and full of love and life.

Your stroller is ordered. It's pretty trendy and urban. It's called the Sola and it's made by a UK company called Mommas and Poppas. We liked that it was very easy to maneuver, store and had great flexibility for when you are a little baby right up until you are a little girl. You'll have to thank Grandma Gallagher for this item!

Your crib is coming in soon too. It's a beautiful green colour and fits into the nursery colour-scheme perfectly. Your Daddy picked it out...he has a great eye for quality and detail. When you get here please remember to thank Grandma and Grandpa Jones for your beautiful bed.

Mommy is feeling great and is getting ready to say goodbye to her job for a full year. In two weeks she will officially be on maternity leave. She's looking forward to creating phone lists and organizing all of the resources for when you arrive, finishing your nursery, organizing the basement, cleaning the floors with the new Shark Steamer and reorganizing all of the cabinets so they are safe for you. Oh, and maybe putting her feet up and enjoying the holiday season a little too!

We love you baby and hope to see you in about six weeks!

Mom and Dad.

9 Weeks To Go

The countdown is on. As of yesterday there are officially 9 weeks to go. A little sense of panic is now setting in as we busily prepare the baby's room and order a crib, buy a stroller, decide on colours, wonder if we need a high chair right away, wonder what we're missing, wonder if we're ready...yes, excited but a little stressful as well. As long as the baby is happy and healthy we'll be good but I'm the type of person who likes things just "so" and in this situation, I'm going to be even more insistent that everything is just "so." So here we go!

Luke is in the baby's room taping, painting with no VOC paint and basically getting all of the "big" work out of the way. He'll also be putting up the crib in five weeks when it arrives. We ordered a beautiful green 3 in 1 crib from Mother Hubbard. It's a company in Toronto and they cut the wood on site as well as paint or treat it at their factory. Canadian-made for our Canadian baby!

We also looked at a huge selection of high and low end strollers and are now trying to make a decision. There are so many options at so many different price points...and we originally thought the Quinny was high-end! Most importantly we'll need a car seat, so that will drive our ultimate decision for a travel system for our baby girl, as will the price.

I'm feeling overwhelmed about how quickly this is all coming up as well as by the information and multiple decisions we'll be required to make over the next few weeks. What if baby comes early? What if we don't have everything she needs by then? Sweet panic is setting in....I'll make it. Luke is pretty calm and is good at settling me down.

The baby dreams are picking up again. For two nights in a row I've dreamed about our baby. The first night we had a baby girl and the doctor went out to buy me a capucino. I was also moving my own hospital bed around the room...? The second night I dreamed we had a baby boy and I left him with my Mom and he went missing...dragged somewhere by an animal. It was horrible. Valium would have been a blessing during that dream. Maybe it was all the tums I swallowed for heartburn before going to bed!

I'm so looking forward to the Christmas season when work is done and I can focus on everything baby. 5 weeks from now I will be done work for an entire year. This will be our last Christmas as just us two and our first as a married couple.

It's a lovely time.

Almost 30 Weeks Update

After driving home from a check-up this afternoon I realized how busy I've become and how I've forgotten the whole purpose of this blog!

I'd like to work harder to record the progress of my pregnancy so that, one day, our little girl can read about the whole nine / ten months before we were able to hold her, kiss her and care for her.

If today's check up was any indication, she will be a spirited child with lots of attitude. She may even be stubborn. The tech had trouble measuring her because she would move and kick too hard during the exam. She even commented on how feisty baby is.

Our little girl is right on track for her projected birth date of January 15, 2011. Ten weeks away...and I thought Christmas was coming up quickly!

The baby is currently breech and her legs are up over her head so she's literally folded in half. Her cheeks are chubby and her hands are up over her face and head.

I'm getting more and more tired. Work is fast-paced and we are running from school to school so I'm starting to feel the effects. There's only a short time to go and I hope I can give the usual 100% up until that point. My last day is December 17th and I won't lie: I'm looking forward to it for the physical benefits.

Hoping to post more soon!

29 Weeks = The End of Seven Months!

Our wedding was exactly a week ago today. We are now Mr. and Mrs. Jones. I loved every minute of it and have really enjoyed introducing Luke to people as "my husband." Those are my two favourite words!

We celebrated our one-week anniversary by shopping for the baby's room. Our colour choices are white, green, pink and white. After shopping at Home Sense and IKEA we are off to a good start.

I really need to start posting pictures of everything so people can visualize all of these great events.

Today I also realized, with some relief, that I am now in my seventh month of pregnancy with only about a week to go until I hit eight months. I've been trying to count in weeks and convert over to months and thought I was about six and a half months pregnant. Thank goodness I was wrong as I'm getting quite large and a little uncomfortable at this point. It's a bit of weight off of my shoulders to know that I only have 11 weeks left until baby is delivered and spending time in her beautiful new nursery!

Hooray for misconceptions and hooray for seven months!

The 24 Week Update

Baby is getting bigger! She is over a pound now and it's really starting to show in my belly size.

I will post pictures soon of my growing stomach so that you can see the progression.

All is well with baby but now that she's so big there are some side effects for me. Last night I woke up to a terrible leg cramp which went away for a minute and then came back again. I can still feel it this evening. Ouch!

We've been keeping busy planning the last details of our wedding in 25 days!! Last Friday we went out for supper to a great Italian restaurant in town and came home to find a beautiful patio set all set up on our back deck. There were balloons and wedding bells attached and a card was under a candle on top. It was an early wedding present from friends!

Life is good.

22 Week Update

Hello!

Tomorrow we are 22 weeks pregnant. It's been a wonderful, exhilarating and sometimes stressful experience. It's hard to believe we will be strolling down the street with our baby in about four and a half months!

Work started on September 7th and it has been going really well. I'm happy to be back into the swing of things, keeping busy and reconnecting with my team. I'm less tired than the first trimester (thank goodness).

New: breaking out like a teenager! Except I never did have breakouts as a teenager so this is not fun.

: baby is almost one pound!

There are no new cravings to report, but I did have a massive heartburn attack two nights ago. Luke had some antacids so I took two and that helped enough to go to sleep. I haven't had any since so I'm hoping it was an isolated incident...please God let it be! It felt like I had eaten a whole pot of spaghetti sauce and it was creeping up my esophagus.

Well, that's it for now. I had a second ultrasound last week and the baby's spine is looking like it's in mint condition. They gave me four more pictures for the fridge :)

My second bridal shower is this weekend so I'm looking forward to showing off the bump to all of my friends and family.

I'm grateful for blessings.

It's A Girl!

So much for maternal instinct! I was wrong and our baby is a sweet little girl.

We couldn't possibly be any happier and it's a wonderful blessing to know our lives will be graced with her presence. I'm so happy she will have Luke as a father. He will be an incredible Dad. Not that I'm biased but this kid will have "Daddy's Little Girl" written all over her.

Happiness.

Morph Thing 2

18 Weeks

Cravings: mayonnaise, ribs, egg sandwiches ala the egg mcmuffin

Feeling: started feeling small fluttering movements yesterday, some days zonked and exhausted but much better than before

Looking forward to: finding out the sex of our baby in less than two weeks at our anatomy ultrasound

Sleep: Good with the exception of the early morning trips to the loo

What I miss: Eating sushi, sleeping on my stomach, being able to eat when I want and not when my body screams "feed me!", the really cute size 4 clothes at the mall

What I bought this week: My wedding dress!