So being now officially past 37weeks, this baby is considered full-term. Everyday I wake up thinking, "Maybe today we will have our baby!" (Eventhough I could be saying this for the next 4 weeks!)
I've starting drinking rasberry leaf tea, and taking evening primrose oil, and I keep on walking, and walking, and walking about 2 hours a day, I've even been picking up the pace to try and "get things going".
Yesterday while swimming I started (or continued, by making an organized list ... ooh the things you do to occupy your mind while following the black line on the bottom of the pool - I've even tried doing long division...) thinking about the things I am looking forward to post-partum:
1. The first on my list is the actual labour. I know this sounds crazy, and perhaps when I'm going through it, I will take back these words, but I am excited to go through what I have been reading so much about, taking courses on, and listening to stories about. I honestly feel like I'm sitting in the airport gate, waiting to get on a plane that will take me on an incredible journey. But the waiting is the hardest part! Having no control is something I totally struggle with.
2. And the labour means I get to finally meet this little one. Is it a boy or a girl? How big? Who does it look like? Holding it, and being in general bliss with it. (Btw I hate calling it "it".)
The rest of the list is in no particular order:
3. Putting on my pants and socks and boots without feeling like it's the most collosal pain-in-the-butt workout of the day! In general, doing things that require you to bend down, clean, pick things up off the floor, feed the dog, pick up dog poo etc.
4. Sleep with comfort. No backache, no pillows as support, no tossing and turning every hour, watching the clock slowing tick until a reasonable hour of getting up. Not to mention the minimum of 4 trips to the bathroom.
5. Getting my heart-rate up. It has been over a year since I last gave my heart a real little workout. I have been diligently keeping my heart in a respectable and conservative zone, deemed more safe for carrying babies. I long for a good sweat and a good hurt in running, swimming and biking. Bring on the pain!
6. Along the lines of # 5 - running. I gave up my pregnant running around 34 weeks, but it wasn't anything very satisfying, it was barely running. I can't wait to get my legs moving faster, breath hard and get to that place where I'm caught in a back-and-forth between my mind and body (much like the angel and devil bantering on your shoulders). Where my mind is telling me "Ok, you can't keep this up, you need to stop." But my autopilot body, just keeps on going, and my mind continues, saying, "Ok, so you're getting it done, so far, but look out ahead, there's a hill, better slow down..." But the body responds by speeding up. I love to push the body past the mind, to do things without thinking of the consequence (heart, lungs, legs blowing-up).
7. In order to be able to more easily accomplish # 6, I'll need to lose the extra weight. I wonder how much I will shed automatically after the baby is born. Just the weight of the baby and the water, will be substantial. And then, the excess fat I have packed on in my arms, legs, back, butt etc. You just can't avoid the fat that automatically builds up for future breastfeeding. However, I have actually lost weight these past two weeks. Well if I stopped gaining weight, but the baby continues to grow, the weight must be re-distributing itself, from extra mommy-fat to, extra baby-fat. Basically, I am really looking forward to getting my body back.
8. In general, getting out-of-limbo. I feel like I'm in limbo, waiting for the next part of my life to begin.
9. Seeing Colin as a dad. I'm pumped for him to be a dad, I know he will be a great dad.
10. Wine and coffee! I miss them so... I miss wine more, if I had to choose one. I am buying a few bottles to sip at in the weeks after birth in the evening. So if you want to pop by and visit the baby, bring a bottle of red wine! (Yes, yes, I know you have to limit and time your intake while breastfeeding.)
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Saturday, November 19, 2011
On the trainer ...
I didn't realize how funny and ridiculous I looked!
Project # 37, clean and organize basement...
Project # 37, clean and organize basement...
Sunday, November 13, 2011
I have all the lifeguards worried!
As I mentioned before, I've been able to keep up swimming even as I really start to slow down and feel absolutely uncomfortable at all times. It's funny, my swimming has actually been improving, I can go longer and longer and feel stronger all the time in the water.
Cochrane is a small town, so you quickly get to know the people you see all the time, not to mention that people are just very friendly and talkative here. That added to the fact that being pregnant seems to elicit constant smiles and conversation from strangers. (I admit sometimes I get sick of people always smiling at me, and I just want to be invisible for a day - impossible with massive belly!)
People at the pool have their bets on what I'm going to have, most say it's going to be a boy, I still think girl...
Yesterday Colin and I learned that what we had previously been joking about, was actually true... We always joked that the lifeguards had a code word for when I entered the building - like "watermelon", so they would be on their guard for sudden emergency water birth!
Well Colin learned from the pool manager, that the young lifeguards did in fact get quite nervous when I arrived! I think this is so funny, because I remember the same exact thing happening to me when I was a lifeguard long ago. There was this women that swam through her pregnancy and with each progressive week I would get more and more nervous about her actually going into labour!
Now I realize that the chances of this actually happening are super low. But it makes me want to suddenly clutch my belly, doubled over in alarm, just to keep them on their toes!
Cochrane is a small town, so you quickly get to know the people you see all the time, not to mention that people are just very friendly and talkative here. That added to the fact that being pregnant seems to elicit constant smiles and conversation from strangers. (I admit sometimes I get sick of people always smiling at me, and I just want to be invisible for a day - impossible with massive belly!)
People at the pool have their bets on what I'm going to have, most say it's going to be a boy, I still think girl...
Yesterday Colin and I learned that what we had previously been joking about, was actually true... We always joked that the lifeguards had a code word for when I entered the building - like "watermelon", so they would be on their guard for sudden emergency water birth!
Well Colin learned from the pool manager, that the young lifeguards did in fact get quite nervous when I arrived! I think this is so funny, because I remember the same exact thing happening to me when I was a lifeguard long ago. There was this women that swam through her pregnancy and with each progressive week I would get more and more nervous about her actually going into labour!
Now I realize that the chances of this actually happening are super low. But it makes me want to suddenly clutch my belly, doubled over in alarm, just to keep them on their toes!
Here I am 37 weeks looking spectacular in my stylish maternity suit!
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
It was scary at the time, but mostly embarassing now...
Out for our nice morning walk...
I gave up running almost 2 weeks ago, around 34 weeks, so it's all about the brisk walk now. I get in about 2 hours of walking a day with Pearl. Still swimming and riding the trainer though, I don't think I'll ever have to give those up.
So we're walking along, it's a beautiful morning, clear sunny sky, not too cold, and I thinking of all sorts of wonderful things that put a slight smile on my face. The roast I'm going to cook, the delicious gravy I'm going to make for it, inviting my parents over to join us, the Christmas crafts I'm going start soon, the food gifts I'm going to make with my old canning jars, the baby of course, the fact that he or she will be considered full term in less than two weeks, the things I'm going to start doing soon that can supposedly start labour... just enjoying being lost in my head.
Along the path we go...
Side note - Pearl is off leash, it's not an off-leash area, but I rarely see anyone on the paths and when we do run into people with dogs, she always comes to me immediately so I can leash her up.
Another side note - Pearl is not a great leash walker, she gets very insecure around big dogs which leads to her putting on a big bravado show of aggressiveness. She will growl and try to lung at the other dog. Bad, I know, but as soon as she is off leash, she is fine and becomes submissive when meeting other dogs.
Walking ahead of me, Pearl spots some people, a lady with two rottweilers. She immediately stops and allows me to catch up to her so she can be put on leash. Good dog so far...
We are about 25 meters from them. I have seen this lady before, she always makes her dogs sit down to allow other dogs to pass by. A trick I use at times so Pearl stays calm and submissive, so I am already wary of these massive rotties...
Pearl is on my right, and we walk close to the bushes by the edge of the path, rotties on our left. I look up and smile a greeting, and Pearl suddenly thinks she has to show these two huge rottweilers how tough she is, and starts growling, her hair rising on her neck and bum while lunging front legs off the ground.
Side note - pregnant women have terrible balance. They can also be even more irrational / emotional than what might be considered "normal" in any given monthly outburst...
I quicken my pace and struggle slightly with Pearl. Then it took a turn for the worse. The two dogs lunged at us. Suddenly there were dogs at my legs, Pearl was freaking out, her growls had transformed to scared squealing. I lose my balance, I'm scared in the middle of a dog fight, rottweilers upon us. I think I may be either crying or screaming, I hear myself repeating "I'm scared, I'm scared". I stumble into the bushes, instinctively trying to get away from vicious dog attack. I drop the leash in an attempt to gain balance, and put my hands down as I fall on my butt in the bushes, roll to my side in fetal position clutching at my belly. I'm crying and maybe slightly screaming, totally in a panic, an instinctual save-the-baby moment, fight or flight, rational mind gone.
I snap out of it, and hear the lady: "Can you get up? Are you alright?"
I look around and see two happy cute faces staring down at me, tails wagging. Probably about to give me wet sloppy kisses, and certainly smiling, the way only dogs can.
Immediately embarrassed beyond social norms. I don't know how to even look the women in the eyes. Still slightly hysterical, I get up, in an awkward, in-the-ninth-month-of-pregnancy-way. She is trying to see if I'm ok, I look at her, and then at her two sweet rotties and turn away, completely embarrassed. "I'm fine, I just want to get out of here," I tell her and start walking away. But Pearl, of course had backtracked, she still wasn't about to pass by the dogs. My wimpy dog had bailed on me in time of crisis! She saved herself and left me to be eaten by the dogs! I had to go back and get her, all the while the woman trying to say sorry and see if I was ok. I was trying ignore her, and get out of there as quickly as possible, still sniffling snot and wiping tears.
I walked home, very distraught, not knowing exactly how I felt about the whole ordeal. Scared, shocked, embarrassed, angry. I can now laugh. If someone had videoed that episode it would be a very funny you tube clip entitled: "Crazy huge pregnant lady freaks out over friendly rottweilers".
Now I hope to see that lady again, to make it a little better, and express how stupid I feel!
I gave up running almost 2 weeks ago, around 34 weeks, so it's all about the brisk walk now. I get in about 2 hours of walking a day with Pearl. Still swimming and riding the trainer though, I don't think I'll ever have to give those up.
So we're walking along, it's a beautiful morning, clear sunny sky, not too cold, and I thinking of all sorts of wonderful things that put a slight smile on my face. The roast I'm going to cook, the delicious gravy I'm going to make for it, inviting my parents over to join us, the Christmas crafts I'm going start soon, the food gifts I'm going to make with my old canning jars, the baby of course, the fact that he or she will be considered full term in less than two weeks, the things I'm going to start doing soon that can supposedly start labour... just enjoying being lost in my head.
Along the path we go...
Side note - Pearl is off leash, it's not an off-leash area, but I rarely see anyone on the paths and when we do run into people with dogs, she always comes to me immediately so I can leash her up.
Another side note - Pearl is not a great leash walker, she gets very insecure around big dogs which leads to her putting on a big bravado show of aggressiveness. She will growl and try to lung at the other dog. Bad, I know, but as soon as she is off leash, she is fine and becomes submissive when meeting other dogs.
Walking ahead of me, Pearl spots some people, a lady with two rottweilers. She immediately stops and allows me to catch up to her so she can be put on leash. Good dog so far...
We are about 25 meters from them. I have seen this lady before, she always makes her dogs sit down to allow other dogs to pass by. A trick I use at times so Pearl stays calm and submissive, so I am already wary of these massive rotties...
Pearl is on my right, and we walk close to the bushes by the edge of the path, rotties on our left. I look up and smile a greeting, and Pearl suddenly thinks she has to show these two huge rottweilers how tough she is, and starts growling, her hair rising on her neck and bum while lunging front legs off the ground.
Side note - pregnant women have terrible balance. They can also be even more irrational / emotional than what might be considered "normal" in any given monthly outburst...
I quicken my pace and struggle slightly with Pearl. Then it took a turn for the worse. The two dogs lunged at us. Suddenly there were dogs at my legs, Pearl was freaking out, her growls had transformed to scared squealing. I lose my balance, I'm scared in the middle of a dog fight, rottweilers upon us. I think I may be either crying or screaming, I hear myself repeating "I'm scared, I'm scared". I stumble into the bushes, instinctively trying to get away from vicious dog attack. I drop the leash in an attempt to gain balance, and put my hands down as I fall on my butt in the bushes, roll to my side in fetal position clutching at my belly. I'm crying and maybe slightly screaming, totally in a panic, an instinctual save-the-baby moment, fight or flight, rational mind gone.
I snap out of it, and hear the lady: "Can you get up? Are you alright?"
I look around and see two happy cute faces staring down at me, tails wagging. Probably about to give me wet sloppy kisses, and certainly smiling, the way only dogs can.
Immediately embarrassed beyond social norms. I don't know how to even look the women in the eyes. Still slightly hysterical, I get up, in an awkward, in-the-ninth-month-of-pregnancy-way. She is trying to see if I'm ok, I look at her, and then at her two sweet rotties and turn away, completely embarrassed. "I'm fine, I just want to get out of here," I tell her and start walking away. But Pearl, of course had backtracked, she still wasn't about to pass by the dogs. My wimpy dog had bailed on me in time of crisis! She saved herself and left me to be eaten by the dogs! I had to go back and get her, all the while the woman trying to say sorry and see if I was ok. I was trying ignore her, and get out of there as quickly as possible, still sniffling snot and wiping tears.
I walked home, very distraught, not knowing exactly how I felt about the whole ordeal. Scared, shocked, embarrassed, angry. I can now laugh. If someone had videoed that episode it would be a very funny you tube clip entitled: "Crazy huge pregnant lady freaks out over friendly rottweilers".
Now I hope to see that lady again, to make it a little better, and express how stupid I feel!
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