Liquid Gold

I only WISH this was my own freezer full of breastmilk!!!

My goodness this stuff is amazing!! 

I developed this nasty rash on my face that looks just like Sadie's rash on her cheeks (only 100 times worse). Someone suggested I try applying breastmilk to my face. Hmmmm... okay! So I tried it and WOW did it feel NICE! It was so soothing - even if it didn't clear up the rash it sure felt great. The next morning I looked in the mirror and my face looked so much better! I could not believe it! It actually works! I've been reading up on it and breastmilk seems to heal many different ailments. Here's an article I read: 

10 Great Ways to Use Breastmilk

Say Cheese!

My baby isn't even a month old and I swear the Walmart photographer was waiting for her to look at the camera and say "cheese". We prop up Sadie and the lady starts shouting "Sadie"over and over again and shaking a teddy bear that was about 4 feet away. For, what seemed like eons, she was doing everything except take a picture. Why wasn't she taking a picture?! Come on, lady we've been waiting for over an hour and she's going to get hungry! I felt like screaming!

Click.

FINALLY! She snapped a shot. And... there she goes again "SADIE SADIE SADIE!"

Okay perfect opportunity for picture! Come on take a picture! And GONE goes a great shot. Why didn't you just click the button?

At this point I asked her "Are you only allowed to take so many shots?"

"Oh, no, we can take as many as we want, SADIE SADIE SADIE!"

Another opportunity comes. Perfect! Cute! Awww Sadie you are so cute! And....
GONE.

CLICK.  "AH, COME ON LADY!"

Then came the family photo and again "SADIE! SADIE! Look at the camera!"  She CAN"T SEE THE CAMERA FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! It was the most frustrating experience as a mom so far!
How did I hold it together for the, what, 10 pictures she took in that 40 minutes that passed?

"Okay I'll get these pictures together and call you when they are ready"

Graham and I waited as patiently as we could, trying our best not to rip each others heads off in front of everyone in the store. "Okay, your pictures are ready! Here are the best 5, in my opinion!"

"This one is the best, it's not too bad, it doesn't look like his (Graham's) eyes are closed, it just look like he's squinting a bit"  ARE YOU FOR REAL? Where's Ashton, we're being Punk'd right?!

After looking at 4 or 5 very poorly done pictures I tell her "I'm sorry, we're not going to take any of these"
"oh, okay, would you like to make an appointment with a more experienced photographer?"

Thank goodness we did not pay a sitting fee!!!!

Why? Why? Why did we go to Walmart??!?!?! Well, we couldn't find an affordable professional photographer so we gave it a chance.  We were pretty much just after the backdrops. How badly could it really go? Worse than I could have ever imagined.

So forget Walmart. I took my own pictures of Sadie! Here they are. Much better than Walmart.

The Princess has arrived!

Baby Sadie

Born November 20th 2010 at 6:58am

Measuring 20 inches

Weighing 6 lbs 11 oz

We are so incredibly grateful for this beautiful healthy baby we brought into this world. It's been two months since our little girl made her appearance and it has been the most wonderful (and exhausting) two months of our lives. It has been so exciting to watch her grow and we are so excited about the weeks, months, years ahead.

Birth story:

Contractions started Friday at about 5pm (one week overdue). I was having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions with menstrual type pains for weeks leading up to this but these contractions had a new kind of pain/pressure so I was pretty sure this was it! I laboured at home for a few hours got some things done around the house then drove into the city and spent a couple hours at my in-laws. I used a TENS machine which helped in the beginning. Went into the hospital at 11pm. Should have gone earlier! Contractions were so painful at this point- TENS didn't do a thing. I was 4 cm dilated and got my own room fairly quickly. Asked for epidural right away but it was going to take a while for him to get there. Tried laughing gas, only made me dizzy. I wasn't going to try narcotics because of my reaction to Demerol but I couldn't take the pain so I got Fentanyl. This took the edge off and with the TENS the pain was bearable. It took a very long time to get the epidural. Finally got it and it took ALL of the pain away. I was able to get some sleep and woke up to nurses scurrying about. Baby's heart rate dropped. She had a bowel movement. Waters broke when they examined me and baby at this point. My doctor was then called because it was time to push. Baby's heart rate returned to normal. Doctor arrived, did some pushing but because of the drop in heart rate and the meconium dr, wanted her out faster so she used the vacuum for a few pushes. Baby was out half an hour later, at 6:58 am. The umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck twice! Didn't cause any problems though - Dr said this was common. Labour lasted 14 hours total. I remember being wide awake for the delivery, I remember seeing her for the first time and holding her but the following hours were a blur. I next remember waking up feeling like I was hit by a bus! Wow! I must have skipped over the postpartum sections of all the books I read because I did not anticipate the recovery period! Wowza. Took a good two weeks to feel okay on my feet. Thank goodness for my superman husband who did so much during those first two weeks! 

 

Still Waiting!

Tomorrow I will be 41 weeks. One week overdue! Grandpa thinks it will happen on his birthday. He turns 80 this Sunday (1.5 more days). I sure hope it happens then - or before then!! This is just getting ridiculous! I really didn't think I'd go over. Boo. It's not fun waiting and waiting and waiting. 

I see the doctor Monday and she'll fax in a request to be induced. Hopefully there's not a long list of people and I'll be able to get in right away (Tuesday?). So... worst case I've got 4 more days before I meet this beautiful baby girl. We've been waiting for 10 months. What's another 4 days right? 

Come on, baby!!! 

Oh... and did I mention before that there's a full moon on my Grandpa's birthday? It better work this time!!!

Anytime now!

Well I'm into my 39th week and I'm dying with anticipation! I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning - only I don't know when Christmas morning will be here - could be tomorrow - could be 3 weeks from now. Come on baby girl, come see the world!! 

Renovations are getting finished bit by bit. The nursery is just about finished. I would like to make a painting or two and we also have to finish the closet. Here it is:

The area rug is only temporary - we have this one on the way:

The Princess is on Mat Leave

I made it to the very end!!! Today was my last day of work! 

The day started out horribly... our one year old dog, Morgan somehow got a hold of Gray's prescription medication, chewed through the cap and ate all of the pills. So instead of leaving to get to work for my very last day... I left the house to rush Morgan to the vet. Luckily I found the empty bottle before I left for work and luckily they were able to get him to spit up the majority of the pills (about 10 to 12). He is at home now and doing just fine. This day could have ended terribly. We are very fortunate!

This morning I went to the vet looking like this:

The day turned out to be pretty good! We had a lot of fun during our Halloween party in Kindergarten today and I received a nice farewell at the school assembly this afternoon. And now I'm at home, ready to enjoy a year with our little one. As soon as she arrives. Any day now chickey!!! I'll be 38 weeks in a couple of days. 

I spent my last day at work as a Princess. The Paper Bag Princess.

Dearest Husband...

Thank you for putting up with me and being patient with me during this time of instability and irrationality. 

I would say, for the most part, my mood has been great! Fantastic! But dare to make the wrong face or make a sigh at the wrong moment and the tears start to flow. I'm sorry to put you through that. I love you! Thank you for loving me.

Oh the joys of pregnancy. But we are almost there!!! I'm 35 weeks! Could be only a couple more weeks. Could be another 7 (please no!). 

A lot of people have been commenting that they think she's coming early. I really hope so. My sciatica has been really painful. Especially after a day of teaching Kindergarten. I have to remember to try and rest during the day (like that's going to happen!).  It's been feeling better this weekend - since I've been able to take it easy. 

I just found out the my mom (our birth partner) will be away the weekend of the ninth full moon! Oh dear. Now I'm really convinced it's going to happen that weekend! She told me to wait until Monday - there's less staff on the weekend. Okay, I'll wait :) 

Nine Full Moons

Almost a full moon :) I took this picture from my back yard.

There's a superstition about full moons and pregnancy. Some people believe that full moons can bring on labour. Apparently Labour and Delivery is busier when there's a full moon, same goes with Emergency Rooms.

One article I found points out that "people are 80% water.  And the changes in barometric pressure changes tides…does that change how we act or react?  Some say yes" 

ANYHOOO...

Someone told me that it will be 9th full moon of your pregnancy (if it has any effect on you).

My cousin just had her baby the other day. She was 10 days overdue (even though the doctors said she would be 2 weeks early). GUESS WHAT! Yep, you guessed it! Full moon the night she went into labour!!

So then I looked at my 9th full moon and get this! For the past month or so I've been telling people I want to have the baby October 24th (ha ha, yeah right, I know I don't get to choose!) The 24th is my 37 week mark - where you are considered full term and can have the fancy hospital room in the low risk side of L&D :) Can you guess what happens October 23rd? RIGHT AGAIN! Full moon!!!Oh, you're laughing now :) you just wait!

She's got her momma's cheeks!

We went for our 3D ultrasound this evening and shared the experience with our parents. 

It was very cool! I thought it would help me to get through a little longer but it just made me even more impatient to meet her!!!

I see a resemblance to me as well as her grandfather! He's where the cheeks come from :) Though it is pretty hard to tell with these ultrasounds - 

a lot of the babies look just the same :) 

She made some pretty angry faces at us when the technician tried moving her around to get a better shot. I didn't realize they had so many expressions already! I wonder what she thinks of some of my music choices... 

Well here she is:

What a cute little button nose!!!! I love you baby girl!!!

Paint is on the walls!

My mom finished painting the baby's room with Sico colour Bottled Water and it looks AMAZING! I LOVE this colour!!!! I can't wait to see everything finished. Still to do are floors and baseboards. THANKS MOM!!!

On a side note... stepped on the scale yesterday and I've gained 20lbs so far! YIKES! Better get on that stationary bike and woah down on the chow down. haha

More Paint Colours!

We've decided on a wall colour for the main floor. All the walls are basically connected so it will be almost everywhere except the bedrooms and kitchen. It's called Manchester Tan by Benjamin Moore.

For the kitchen we are going to do a dark taupe.

The floors on the mainfloor will eventually match the dark hardwoods that we are installing upstairs. The kitchen we plan on doing in white cabinets and a dark counter top. We have stainless steel appliances.

I LOVE WHITE KITCHENS!!
Will post pictures when it's finished! 

Designer Momma

Wall Colour

I'm 99% decided on a wall colour. It's called Bottled Water by Sico Paint. I can't find any pictures online so I'll share some similar colours: 

Crib

Here's the crib we bought. We decided to go inexpensive, but I love it anyways :)

Graco - Ashleigh

Bedding

 The baby bedding we ordered.

ART

I ordered the birds, the flowers, and the owls.

A Splash of Colour

We might hang some lanterns, so far I have a blue, fuchsia, green, and purple. 

D

 

Dresser

 

From Ikea

Book Shelf

M

Martha Stewart 9 Cube Shelving Unit

Three White Lines

This should be an older post but since I just started blogging everything will be a little mixed up in the beginning. 

 Here is our baby girl at 12 weeks (but it was too early to know the sex)

This was at 18 weeks. One of many "money shots". We had quite a few clear views. Each one showing the 3 white lines! Nothing between the legs :) 

We will be getting a 3D ultrasound when baby is 29 or 30 weeks.

Two Pink Lines

We found out 6 months ago that we are pregnant! About 2 months ago we found out that it's a girl! We are so excited we can hardly contain ourselves. I have been loving the pregnancy. I love every moment of it. This is our first child. Graham and I met New Year's Eve year 2000 and married September 2007. Our baby girl will arrive November 2010. She will be the greatest birthday present imaginable for the both of us. Gray's birthday is November 11th and mine is the 17th.When I entered all the necessary info into websites they all estimated the due date as November 14th. What a perfect date. 14 is my favorite number and the 14th is 3 days after Graham's birthday and 3 days before mine. But when I went to my doctor she quickly calculated the date using the hand-held wheel chart and told me November 13th. The ultrasound technician told me the 16th and he's probably the most accurate "give or take 9 days"". I'll just stick with the 14th :)

Latest picture - 6 months

5 months, 1 week :)

Beginning of second trimester