Oh, that hair...

He's become somewhat famous for it.

(Pictures taken at 4.5 weeks)

Birth Story of Victor Emmanuel Flynn

Well, I finally had the chance (and time) to write out my birth story…or what I remember of it anyway. Even though it has only been 4 weeks, it feels like a lifetime ago, so the details might not be 100% accurate, but I think that I captured the essence of my experience, which is the important part.

(Of course what I have written below might have some personal/graphic information, so if you’re squeamish about birth stories you might want to skip this post…also, it’s quite long and rambling, as usual with me!)

I guess that you could say my labour technically got started on the morning of February 25th when I went in for my 38 week appointment at the IWK. My doctor, Dr. Scott, was on vacation for the week, so I met with Dr. Somerset in her place. He went over the benefits and risks of an epidural and induction with me, as well as what to expect from my labour in general. He then examined me and saw that I was 3-4cm dilated already and that my cervix was ‘excellent’, so he decided to sweep my membranes to see if it could get things moving along to avoid induction. He scheduled an induction for March 3rd just in case and then sent me on my way. The rest of the day was pretty normal, I didn’t feel any different except for the occasional Braxton Hicks contraction, which apparently I had been having for a few weeks but didn’t realize (I just thought the baby was bulging out, it was always completely painless, a nurse had to tell me I was having them and that it wasn’t just the baby.) I went out to lunch with the girls from work, came home, packed a bit more, then Dan and I went to bed. I had been feeling quite uncomfortable in our bed for the past couple of weeks, so at around midnight or so I decided to go out onto the couch to see if it would be more comfortable.

At around 2am, while still trying to get comfortable, I felt this weird thud/pop sensation across my entire lower abdomen, something I hadn’t felt before. It was almost like a giant elastic band snapping inside. I got up and went to the bathroom, and the leaking just would not stop...my water had broken. I waited a little bit before waking Dan up to make sure that it was the real deal, and when the water starting coming out more and more in gushes, I knew it was time to go. I woke Dan up, who was in shock when I told him (much like when I woke him up to tell him I was pregnant, ha!), and then went back to the bathroom to continue leaking…and leaking, and leaking. So much fluid! The contractions started shortly after my water broke, but they weren’t that bad; in fact, I wasn’t even sure if they were really contractions, even though they were coming about every 6-8 mins apart. I remember saying to Dan ‘oh, there’s one’ every time I had a contraction, but most of the time I didn’t even have to breathe through them. They were mostly painless so I thought maybe they were still Braxton Hicks contractions. Anyway, I felt ok enough to not feel the need to go to the hospital right away (I assumed at this point that I had plenty of time), so I asked Dan to make a mix CD for the hospital while we got our bags ready and I changed/brushed my teeth. I also called my mom to let her know that my water had broken and that they could head to Halifax in the morning.

So at around 3am I felt like the leaking had pretty much stopped, so we left for the hospital; the contractions were getting stronger at that point but I could still get through them with a bit of breathing and squirming. We got to the IWK, registered and went up to the Labour Assessment Unit. This part of the process frustrated me; I was obviously in labour, but they took their sweet time making that assessment themselves. We ended up staying there for about 45 mins, and during that time the contractions seemed to get exponentially worse. Now, as classy as this sounds, when the contractions were bad, I felt the most relief sitting on the toilet, so I spent most of the time in the bathroom. The contractions were coming closer together now, probably every 3-5 mins apart. Dan was great at helping me through them, so when sitting on the toilet stopped helping, I decided to use him as my focal point. He would hold my hand and look at me right in the eyes while I had the contraction, and I would breathe through it, saying ‘ok, ok, ok’ as it subsided. Finally, they let us go to the Birthing Unit at around 4am.

By the time we got there the contractions were quite painful and I wanted to just stay in the bathroom. The nurses joked that if they had let me, I would have had the baby in the bathroom right then and there. They coaxed me out and hooked me up to an IV, and the Anaestheologist came in to offer me the epidural. And, despite all my complaining and insisting on not having one, I gave in pretty easily; I knew that it was what the doctors thought was best, and honestly the pain was getting quite intense so a bit of relief sounded quite appealing. So anyway, she gave me the epidural, and it was at that moment that I had the worse contraction of all. I was hunched over so that she could put the needle in my back, and I absolutely could not move while she was putting it in, but the pain was so intense that Dan and the nurse had to hold me down to keep me from squirming right off the bed. That was the one contraction where I actually screamed in pain (I wasn’t much of a noise maker before or after that point.)

Once the epidural was in, though, things completely changed. This was probably at 4:30am or so. They hadn’t had time to check me until this point, and when they finally did, I was shocked to find out that I was 10cm dilated and they thought I could start pushing, after only 2 and a half hours of labour! The epidural was still taking effect but already I was feeling much better (and much number). By 5am the doctors were there and I was ready to start pushing. I couldn’t really feel when a contraction was coming, but I did feel a bit of pressure, so I pushed when that happened. As discussed, the doctors wanted me not to push too vigorously, so they tried using a vacuum to help him out. Unfortunately every time they turned his head into the correct position for the vacuum, he would turn back to the way he was. They also said that all his now infamous hair was getting in the way of the vacuum. They tried a few times but every time the vacuum popped off his head, so they decided to let him move down a bit farther on his own with the help of the contractions. During all of this I didn’t feel much pain, just pressure and a bit of discomfort. Dan held my hand and I used him as my focal point when I needed it, but overall it wasn’t that bad. The doctors (not Dr. Scott) decided to ‘top up’ my epidural so that I really wouldn’t feel the urge to push while we waited, and they also gave me some oxytocin to increase the intensity of the contractions to get him moving a bit more.

Between around 5:30 and 7:00am, Dan and I relaxed. It sounds crazy to say that that’s what we did, but I was in no pain whatsoever and we had nothing to do but to wait for the baby to move down a bit further. After being awake for over 3 intense hours, Dan was getting pretty tired so he caught a few hours of sleep, and I dozed as much as I could (the nurses were checking me routinely so I couldn’t really get to sleep). I was also super numb from all the drugs and literally could not move anything from the waist down, so getting into a comfortable position and not feeling ‘weird’ was difficult (this was one of the things I really didn’t like about the epidural, I had absolutely no control over my body). I didn’t feel any of the contractions either, only a slight pressure to push, probably at every 3rd or 4th contraction. I told the nurse every time I felt it and told her that I was going to push a little bit and they said it was ok. I wasn’t worried at this point, just excited to finally meet him. The doctors did tell me that if he wasn’t further down by the time they came back that they would have to consider bringing me to the OR to get him out, which made me kind of anxious, but I was optimistic that things would be ok.

At 7am the doctors came back and were really happy with the progress that we had made, they said his head was really low and we could start pushing again. After about 30 mins of fairly easy pushing (since I wasn’t allowed to push more than I would for a BM) and with some help of forceps (instead of a vacuum), Victor was born at 7:32am. The moment was beyond words; tears immediately came to my eyes when they laid him down on my chest, and I was just so overwhelmed. The moment was fleeting though, since they took him almost immediately to get cleaned and checked. Dan went over with him while I was getting my stitches (they had to do an episiotomy in order to use the forceps; disturbingly, they didn’t tell me they were going to do it, I found out after the fact when I asked them if I had torn and they said “no, we cut you.” I was NOT impressed.) Dan brought him back shortly after and we were properly introduced. I couldn’t stop crying from happiness and Dan was in giddy awe of him. He was squishy, pink, bruised, hairy and perfect. It was hard to comprehend that he was finally here.

And that’s how we became a little family.

(I don’t want to get in too much about the hospital stay afterwards, needless to say spending nearly a week in a noisy and very crowded hospital ward with a jaundiced baby who wasn’t gaining any weight while under hormonal isolation/anxiety, not to mention the fact that Dan and my parents had to move our apartment the very next day, wasn’t a pleasant experience, but we got through it and are now thriving.)

So that’s it, my birth story. Being the non-super mushy person that I am, I won’t write how it was a life changing moment, or how my love for this little being was immediate and intense, nor how I feel like life if now complete with him…but it’s all true.

Some of the clichés are true.

Until next time,
G.

Time with Bill and First Walk

Well, since my parents' stupid computer won't open the Word document with my birth story, I guess I'll share a few new pics of the little man (don't expect much else over the next few months, ha!)

The first batch of shots are from our first walk on Saturday. It was sooo nice out, we didn't even need to wear coats, so we bundled the baby up in some warm clothes, put him in our new carrier after a feeding and off we went (he fell asleep shortly after we left the house). It was really nice getting out together (as you can imagine, we haven't left the house much in the last 3 weeks!) I'm hoping that the good weather will stay a bit longer so that we can make our walks a daily occurence.

(Dan took these shots, he's getting really good!)

The second batch are super cute shots of Victor and his new 'best friend', Bill the Lamb (Dan named him, not me). It was adorable, we put Victor down one day for his daily tummy/gym time, and I decided to put Bill (a shower gift from last week) in front of him to see if he would like it...and he just stared and stared at him with big bright eyes. I think that it's the beady black eyes on the cream face that keep his attention, but whatever it is, Bill has become his new 'gazing' object. It's the first thing he's really focused on besides our faces, it's too cute!

(Also a few indoor shots of me and the bébé that Dan took last week.)

A few quick observations about Victor at 3 weeks:

-He doesn't sleep for long periods of time, unless he's in his car seat or has been awake for a long, long time beforehand; he usually averages 2-2.5 hours.

-Speaking of being awake, he's gotten into this habit of being awake for long stretches in the morning and late at night, usually between 9pm and 2am, and 8am and 11am in the mornings. Overall though, we really have no 'schedule'.

-He's really good at moving and lifting his head already, and I've been nearly knocked out with a few headbutts! He also flails his arms quite a bit, and can shimy his way up my chest when I lay him down on it. Much more mobile than I thought!

-He gives us little smiles from time to time, and even though they are completely random and involuntary, I love them.

-When he yawns, he always draws his head up into his neck afterwards and looks sideways, almost like he's embarassed, it's really cute.

(And of course, Shimi, our other baby)

Well, that's all for now, hopefully next time we're in town I'll be able to post my birth story. I also have some other things I want to post, so hopefully I'll have time in the coming weeks and will be able to get back in the habit soon!

Until next time,

G.

Officially MIA

Hey all (or anyone who's still checking this blog), I know that I said I would be back soon, but it turns out that we can't get Internet out at our new place (boo), so I'm very limited in what I can do online, we're in town at my parents' about once a week, meaning I only have a couple hours of Internet access, so I'm going to try and write some blogs posts at home and then post them when I come into town, but as I'm discovering, time seems to escape you when you're busy being a mama.

Victor is 17 days old today. It seems like he's been here forever though, we love having him around. We took him to his first doctor's appointment today to get weighed and to see if the jaundice has stayed away, and everything was great, he now weighs 8lbs, 8oz, 20 and 3/4 inches long...he's a healthy boy :) He loves to eat, kind of loves to sleep (very lightly!) and is starting to be awake more and more, which is fun. We're lacking in sleep and time to do much it seems, but we're really enjoying being out at the camp and getting used to being a family.

Anyway, I hope to post my birth story soon (before I forget!), but until then, here are some pics of the little man himself. Unfortunately the camp is quite dark so a lot of the photos have this terrible yellow light to them (and it's not helping that he's still kind of jaundiced), but I hope to do a little mini newborn shoot next week in some decent light.

1 week old.

2 weeks old.

Heading home from the hospital (6 days old)

My new favourite picture...my boys :)

Tummy time

Little bébé

And, just to show how much snow there is out at the camp, this is a picture of Dan shovelling over 2 feet of snow off the roof of the camp, down onto the 4 feet of snow on the ground...in the back part of the camp he was able to simply climb up the snowbank and onto the roof! It's insane.

Until next time,

G.

He's here...

Victor Emmanuel Flynn
Born on Friday, Feb. 26th at 7:32am after 5 1/2 hours of labour
7lbs and 13 ounces, 20 inches
and Perfect :)

Be back later (not sure when) with more updates and pictures.

G. and Victor

Last Bump-related post, I promise!

Just checking in to say that yes, we're still here, my poor blog has been neglected to no end, but with everything else that's going on, that's just the way it's going to have to be for a little while I think. I'll hopefully be back in the somewhat-normal swing of things by Spring (I'll need a blog makeover before then for sure!)

A few things:

-I made the collage above last week and put it up on my Flickr/Facebook but forgot to post it here (sometimes I feel foolish for posting things in so many spots, but it has to be done I guess). Anyway, it covers all of my Belly shots from Weeks 18 to 36.5. I didn't bother posting the 12 Week or 15 Week shots because they weren't taken in front of the garage door so they don't match, and plus I wasn't showing then anyway so...I probably should take a 37.5 Weeks shot, but I don't think I have it in me to find clothes that would look decent in a photo, so this is how it will stay. And plus, if the baby sticks around inside until next weekend, then I'll take a 38.5 Weeks shot instead. Anyway, it's really neat to see the progression of my bump (and the lack of creativity in my outfits later on, haha), it's been a long journey in a way, but at the same time it flew by, and I can't wait to make some sort of photobook or mini with these shots.

-I'm SO ready for Winter to be over...I waited as long as I could before making any sort of statement like that because really, where I live, Winter runs into the middle of April usually so wishing for Spring in January or February is just silly and counter-productive. It's not so much Spring that I need, I don't mind the snow or colder temps (it's been pretty mild here actually, most of the time just above freezing), it's just plain ole' SUNSHINE that I want. It's been a long stretch of gray here so it makes the days much less bright, my moods would be lifted quite a bit if only I could feel some warm light coming in through the windows. Soon enough I suppose...

-So this is it, this is our last week here, and if we had things our way, the week we'd meet our little bébé. I'm going to the doctor on Thursday for my last check-up, if things haven't progressed or started by then, they're going to set a date for inducing me the week after. Since I'm not a huge fan of the idea of inducing, I'd really like to start this thing beforehand, but I haven't felt a single thing that would indicate that our little Flynn isn't perfectly happy where he's at, so I'm not super hopeful that it'll happen like we want. But it's ok, I know that within the next couple of weeks he'll be here and one way or another, we'll get through it and we'll be a little family soon :)

-Dan and I went out to see Shutter Island last night and in my preggo brain state, I couldn't stop dreaming/ thinking about it all night. 'Twas strange. We also went out to eat and did groceries, and I kept saying to him "this is the last time we're going to be doing this here in Halifax" (or at all for a little while!) It's kind of sad really, I will miss this city and the people I've gotten to know over the years here, but I still truly feel like it's time to move on and that we'll be happy in NB again. Now Dan on the other hand, he may need a bit more convincing, but it'll happen with time.

(We also talked about how we're so different when it comes to making changes: Dan is really good at trying new things and breaking outside of his daily routine when it comes to the smaller things in life, but important and/or permanent changes worry him, while as I'm really good at making big, life-altering decisions without much fear or worry, but trying to get me to try a new restaurant or watch a movie I'm not familiar with and I get really uncomfortable. Another case of us being opposites that attract I guess.)

-We're almost completely packed up, all that's left really is the kitchen, our clothes and a few other little things, so I'm hoping that by the middle of this week everything will be ready to go. I also want to get started on cleaning this place up a little bit, so those 2 tasks are going to be my main mission for the week.

-I went in to work (at HPP) 2 days last week to clean up my stuff and get a few final things sorted out, and I must say that I'm really happy that I did, I got to say goodbye to some people and I can now leave that job feeling like I did as much as I could under the circumstances. Along with missing Halifax, part of me will really miss that job (my first truly 'grown up' job), but I'm more excited for what the future will bring for me when I decide to return to work, so I'll look back at my 3 years there with fondness (mostly) and will carry forward all the skills I learned while there into my future endeavours.

Ok, that's quite enough rambling, but like I said, I may not be back for awhile so I need to get it all out! (I may be back this week but I can't promise anything.)

One last thing though, I thought that now might be a good time to start doing a 'baby pool' to see what everyone's guesses will be about this little guy, so if you want to leave your guesses in the comments (or send me an email or post on my Facebook, for the family), I'll keep track and will maybe do a little giveaway for whoever is the closest :)

Here's what you can guess:
Date he'll be born (if not induced):
Time:
Weight:
Length:
Name will start with a __:

I guess that's everything, I'll most likely be back with an update if I do end up being induced, otherwise the next time you'll see me it'll be with a few pictures of my new son :)

Peace,
G.

I can see the finish line...

Well, here we are, 36 and a half weeks, nearly full-term, and nearly time to meet! It's so crazy, I never thought I'd get here, and at the moment I'm constantly juggling between wanting it to come faster, and wanting it to slow down (usually I want it to happen faster when I'm sore and feel huge, and usually want it to slow down when I look at everything that still needs to be done!) Overall though I'm still filled with much excitement at what's to come in the next few weeks, it's a constant waiting game, but it's going to be a wonderful finish.

As for how I'm feeling, overall I still feel pretty good, my energy levels and appetite are about the same, no crazy mood swings or freak-outs, the only thing that I can really complain about is having a bit of difficulty sleeping/breathing at night, and just the overall feeling of being BIG. I'm up to 153lbs as of Thursday, so I'm nearing or have passed the 30lbs mark, which is about where I'm supposed to be, but still, I definitely notice the extra weight on my legs and joints (we're guessing that the baby is between 6 and 6.5 lbs, so still a few more ounces to go). My groin muscles are still sore from when I pulled them (not once but twice), so that makes moving even harder, but I try to get around as much as possible and not let it stop me. I'm still technically on bed rest, but my doctors have given me the ok to go out for short walks and to resume light activities, so for the past week or so I've been doing some housework and leaving the apartment with Dan, which has really helped me feel 'back to normal'. As I mentioned before, the doctors are looking at inducing me at 39 Weeks at this point, so I'm hoping that by doing these light activities it will kick things into gear before induction becomes necessary. If our plans go how we're thinking/wanting them to go, that means that the baby will be born in less than 2 weeks!

Most days I still take the time to feel my belly and to watch him tumble and roll, and I grab the little feet/arms/legs/elbows/hands when I can and imagine how they will look and feel 'in real life'. The occasional rib-kick aside, I think that I'm actually going to miss feeling these little movements inside. I'm sure that having him here in front of me will make up for it though :)

Well that's all, just wanted to share my current state, and like I said, if things go according to our plan, I might not be taking another Belly Shot, since he'll be here soon after 38 Weeks (I may take a 37.5 Week shot next weekend, depending on how busy we are.) I've really enjoyed doing these Belly shots, as crude and as simple as they are, it's been amazing to watch and see the progression, I will definitely do it again (hopefully in a more creative way) with my next baby. (I'll also be taking these shots and either making a little mini with my blog posts, or doing a photobook, I'm not sure yet.)

What have all you mums done with your Belly shots, if anything?

Happy Weekend, I'm off to watch New Moon (finally!)
G.

Wow, more clothing options are needed...

So, I didn't notice until I was editing the pics, but my 34.5 Weeks shots have the same colour outfit as my 31.5 Weeks shots! (They are different pieces of clothing but they just look the same.) My wardrobe lately has been seriously and tragically cut down to a few pieces that I can wear and still feel comfortable in. Being on bedrest has made it so that I don't have to have maternity work clothes anymore, and since I can't go out shopping for new clothes, most days I'm just in some form of sweatpant and large shirt or sweater, with little care as to whether they match or how they look. Sad but true. I can't wait to get back into normal clothes!

Anyway, I again neglected to keep up the 2 week schedule for these shots, so from now on I guess we're moving on to 3 weeks. I still don't notice myself getting bigger but I definitely am, it's really just hard to imagine, even at this point...the denial is very strong in me.

Five and a half weeks to go, bring it on!

Happy Saturday,
G.

PS-On Thursday night Dan and I went out to supper with Dan's mom (her last night with us) and as I was walking out of the restaurant with my coat unbuttoned-because I can't button it up anymore-I heard someone behind me say "how far along are you?" I didn't know who it was so I turned around and it was a girl about my age sitting at a table with probably 6 or 8 of her friends. I went over and told her I was 34 weeks and she looked at me and said "well you look fantastic!" I was so surprised, I didn't know what to say, so I said what I always say when someone compliments me on my prego appearance: "Thanks, I feel BIG." She then said "Oh no, well you look great!" I then thanked her again and left, but it truly made my day that a complete stranger would take the time to compliment me on my appearance, especially in this state. A little bit of kindness can go a long way.

Random thoughts on this whole *parenting* thing [@ 34 Weeks]

I know that:

*I'll say that I won't let my baby watch TV until after he's 2....but he will.

*I'll say that I won't give in and use bribes/threats to get him to behave...but I will.

*I'll say that he will only play with educational, natural, pretty toys...but he won't.

*I'll say that he'll breastfeed exclusively until he's 6 months and breastfeed until he's at least 1...but we'll see.

*I'll say that he'll never come into the bed with us...but he will.

*I'll say that he'll only eat healthy and will never touch a chip, cookie or hamburger until he's older...but he will.

*I'll say that he'll always be cutely dressed with his face and hands clean...but he won't.

*I'll say that Dan and I won't just talk about the kids all the time...but we will (for awhile at least).

*I'll say that I will make an effort to not look frumpy or too "mom-ish"...but I might not.

*I'll say that I can handle all the housework, side jobs, budgeting and primary parenting on my own...but I won't be able to.

I also know that:

*I'll use the car seat as a place for him to sleep if it works.

*I'll stick him in front of the TV or some other form of media to get a few minutes of quiet.

*I'll feel frustrated at times and will wish for my non-kid life (and free time) again.

*I'll feel guilty for leaving him to go out at times. Then I'll feel dumb about feeling guilty.

*I'll get discouraged when I find myself struggling to speak to him in French.

*I'll be constantly judging myself and comparing myself to other moms.

*I'll wonder if I'm doing a good job.

*I'll overlook something kind of serious because I'd rather "assume everything is ok".

And yet I know:

*I'll read to him and expose him to as much music and art as possible.

*I will never switch over to English with him. Ever.

*He will be surrounded by his family and our friends who will love him.

*Dan and I will make time for each other.

*I won't be afraid to hug him or tell him I love him. Or to kiss Dan in front of him.

*We will go outside as much as possible.

*He will be photographed A LOT.

*I will continue to enjoy the things I enjoy now like photography, scrapbooking, blogging, etc (maybe just not as much).

*I'll be a good mother to him.

Nursery Dreams (again)

**Note: I must precede this post by saying that I am NOT a sketcher or drawer of any kind, so please excuse my childlike doodles...

With only 8 weeks (max) left before this little one comes I'm once again thinking about a dream nursery (one that I'm thinking I'll only attempt once we get our house), so one night in my bedrest driven boredom I actually tried to draw my ideal nursery (or one wall of it anyway.)

I picture it being a moderate size room (nothing huge) in an old house with tall ceilings, white wainscoting along the bottom half of the room, pear green walls, lots of light coming in from a fairly big window, dark wood floors (dark chocolate brown) and lots of cute decorations. On this wall in particular (the one I picture a change table of some sort being on) I wanted to create a wall full of prints, cute items and lots of pics. I'll probably get some floating white shelves from Ikea and add a picture wire underneath one of the shelves, with a triptych of hand painted canvases under the other. The items on the shelves will probably change with the season and as the baby gets bigger, but this is how I picture it now.

Here's a little collage of some of the items I mention in my sketch (plus some others I just like...all of these items can be found in my Etsy Favs if you're interested in the particular shops):

PDF printable calendar, birth announcement print, an inspiration for the triptych, green poms to float from the ceiling, my fav plush fox, an Ashleyg print (I already have this one), Black Apple print, spray painted owl, another cute fox print.

I've also been thinking a lot about the newborn shots and shoots I'll be doing once he arrives and I'm thinking that this little bear hat would be perfect for them:

Beyond adorable, right?

Well that's all for now, just thought I'd share where my brain currently resides (when it's not frantically thinking of do-to lists, that is.)

Be back soon with my latest belly shot/v-log and some more random baby thoughts (and then I promise I'll try to blog about something else!)

What's an ideal nursery look like to you, for all the moms and moms-to-be out there? Am I being realistic in my design aspirations?

Random thoughts on this whole baby thing [@ 29 Weeks]

Here we go, another batch of random thoughts from an increasingly large pregnant lady:

*Now that I'm in my 3rd trimester, the energy levels are definitely coming down a bit and it's kind of disappointing me since I still have so much to do! The past week I've been feeling quite tired and drained, the extra weight/difficulty in movement is certainly contributing to it I think, which is normal, but still, it was fun to feel like my old self for awhile. Also starting to wake up at night a couple of times due to having to pee/leg cramps, so that's adding to tiredness too. I will never be rested again! haha.

*I have no clothes. Yet again.

*I'm trying really hard not to let all the doctor and medical stuff bother or worry me too much. So far a lot has been thrown at me (all the tests and appointments and worries about my heart/the cord/my cervix/the baby's growth/early labour/my sugar levels, giving me steroids and pushing beta blockers, etc, etc), but until I actually feel that something is wrong with either me or the baby, I'm not going to let it get to me. I feel healthy, I feel like the baby is healthy so that's how I'm going about the next 11 weeks, assuming everything is ok. Now, I'm being watched/looked after quite carefully and for that I'm very thankful (if a bit annoyed at all the time it's taking), but I don't want to let it consume my thoughts, I'd rather just enjoy the time I have with him and Dan now worry-free.

*I've gone for 3 ultrasounds so far (with another coming next week) and they are always great fun, the last time we got a good look at his lips and face...it's a little person in there, that's what I'm realizing the most now. No more alien baby, no more weird concept, but a real, adorable little guy who's part me and part Dan, and I'm getting more and more anxious to meet him :)

*My favourite part of this whole thing so far has been feeling him move. It's definitely more distinct now and I can almost tell what he's doing in there. In the past couple of weeks the kicks have become almost more of a dragging motion, like he's rolling over instead of just jerking around, and it tickles, oddly. I can't complain about him hurting my ribs yet, but I'm sure it'll come in the next 11 weeks or so. The feet are definitely higher up in my abdomen though, and sometimes I can pinch my skin a little and feel the outline of his little foot (or what I think is his foot anyway.) So cool. I'm still very much mesmerized by my belly.

*We STILL don't have all the things we need for him (like a crib or car seat), but we did get a stroller so I feel like we're getting there, slowly but surely. Our moving plans are just a teeny bit more definite (we've decided on a date at least), but everything else is still so up in the air that I don't feel like we can properly plan or purchase anything before we know more (which we should hopefully next month.) I think that once Christmas is over and things settle down a bit more, I'll be able to focus and go out for a few big shopping trips to pick up the things I need (I read something today about needing little baby washcloths and nail clippers, I didn't even think of that!)

*One of the best things we found out recently is that I can have a natural birth, which is great news. I won't lie and and say that I'm not nervous or a bit scared about labour though, for the longest time I had it in my head that I was getting a 'cop out' by being forced into a c-section, but now that I have to actually address the fact that I'm going to be giving birth naturally, there's lots to think about and consider. Dan and I have talked about it some already, and I'll probably develop a birth plan over the next few months, but I think that at this point it's still too much of a far-away concept for me to really deal with (and I'll probably continue saying that up until the moment it happens, ha!) I am excited about it though.

*The closer I'm getting to leaving work the guiltier I'm feeling about it. I don't want to start doubting our decision to move, but the people here are so great and my job has changed so much (for the better) over the last 6 months or so that it's really making me sad that I have to leave it. I know moving home is going to be great in so many ways (being close to our family, living in the same town as one of my best friends, having our kids grow up together, getting a house, living in the country, hopefully being able to stay home with the baby), but there are definitely things that I will miss about our life now.

*We're about 90% decided on the name, I've even addressed him as such a couple of times to try and get used to it...I think that whatever name we choose will sound weird until I actually see him, then hopefully the name will fit. I'm almost committed enough to buy one of these custom prints for the nursery, but I think I might hold off just a bit longer.

PS-It's not Maxwell.

Well that's enough for now, I still have 2 (possibly 3 if I do one 4 weeks after birth, which might be fun) v-logs left to do and 5 more Belly shots, time is flying! I'm really looking forward to the next few months though and to finally meeting my son.

Until next time, the thoughts keep piling up...

G.

More babbling and belly...

Here's my v-log for Weeks 20-26 (aka the best 6 weeks so far!) Sorry I ramble a lot in this one, but I also listed all of our baby name choices in case anyone is curious as to what this little guy will be called (I didn't reveal which one we chose though, that's going to be a surprise) :)

Please excuse the clearing of the throat and nervous hair stroking, I'm still not used to making these!

Weeks 20-26 from Genevieve Flynn on Vimeo.

And also here's my 26.5 Weeks belly shot. Not much difference between this and 2 weeks ago, but I can certainly feel a difference in my mobility, putting on my socks this morning was kind of a challenge, sheesh!

Baby oh baby, what to call you...

As I've mentioned before, we're getting pretty close to choosing our baby's name, but I'm still going back and forth between our 2-3 choices, and wondering if we should go with something else entirely. It's driving me nuts quite frankly, because I want to call this giant belly shown above something other than "bébé" (Dan, of course, has pretty well chosen, so it's just me holding the decision back). So I thought I would ask you all, my dear online/blog friends, for help.

What should we name Kid A?

Some things to consider:
1. It's a boy
2. No "J" or "K" names please (I'm just not a fan of them)
3. It has to be able to be said in French, or at least 'Frenchly". So a name like "James" would be out (even though I like it, despite the "J"-ness)
4. It can be unique, but nothing too extreme

So, will you help me? What names do you love/hate/think are interesting but would never attempt on your own child? Share in the comments if you can, you'll forever be remembered as helping the increasingly scattered and frenzied mind of a pregnant woman with way too much to do.

Happy mid-week, can't wait for the weekend already!

Now I know I'm biased...

...but that is one cute little baby! Big smile and a thumbs up for his Mama :)

Have a great weekend everyone, I have Monday off so I'll be back to blog more soon!

Nursery Thoughts

So, as I've mentioned before, Dan and I are planning on moving home to NB either about a month before the baby is born or shortly after (depending on what the doctors tell me), so this has caused a somewhat major issue when it comes to starting/decorating a nursery. I will either have very little time to get one ready, or worse yet, I won't have one for the first few months at all and will have to wait until we are more settled to get one ready. It all depends on where we live (we may be 'roughing' it for the first few months...more on that later though.) Because of all this, I'm quite unable to get started on any serious thinking about what we need for the baby and how to decorate his space, which is driving me nuts, being the [obsessive] planner that I am.

The other day while surfing around, however, I discovered a colour combo that I really loved, and decided immediately that it would be our little boy's room colours, whenever that happened to come to be. Behold:

Teal/bright blue, white, apple/pear green and chocolate brown. Oh yes. Boyish but not just blues, bright but not too bright, just perfect I think. Once this combination got into my head, I was able to begin thinking of a 'dream' nursery. My initial reaction was to have everything in white (even the floors if I could pull it off), then have bright accessories/furniture in the other 3 colours. Scandinavian or Ikea-ish. Something like this:

But then I started seeing different rooms full of colour on the wall and I fell equally in love with those, so now I'm on the fence as to what I want to do. Here are a few wonderful examples (I found all of these simply by googling 'nursery decor', so I'm sorry I don't have creds.)

I think that the last brown one is my favourite, so gorgeous! So I suppose it's lucky that I have some time to decide on the colour of the room, since I'm still not sure and it will depend on many different things.

As far as the decor goes, I know that I want lots and lots of art, cute pillows, a comfortable chair/glider, floating shelves (or an Ikea Expedite-type shelf like above), a whimsical mobile, and lots of little vintage and handmade touches here and there, made by me :) I don't want it to be too cutesy or cartooney (none of that store bought, movie-based decor), but I'm thinking that if I had to choose a 'theme', it would be "woodland wonderland" (I absolsutely love all the little tree and fox and owl and deer decorations they have for kid's rooms these days!) Mainly I just want it to be functional, fun, and a place where I will want to spend lots of time ('cause let's face it, the boy won't care, if ever, what his room looks like, lol.)

Here are a few cute things I've had saved in my Favs on Etsy that would go well with the colour combo/concept I've picked out (check out my Favs-bottom left sidebar-for the shop credits):

(I just like this because it's in French) :)

(A little reminder for me and for him)

And a few random pictures I've found along the way (the wall collage is by Rachel, I had no idea that her little guy's room had the exact same colour combo!)

So that's that, we'll see how everything turns out, but this is my current dream and train of thought. I suppose I should focus more on the basics like getting a crib and furniture before I start worrying about the colour of the walls and what art to put up, but that's just not how my mind works I suppose. Now that I have my colours though, things will move along much better I think.

This weekend I'm planning on doing some shopping for a few things I've been needing/wanting for awhile (including some maternity pants! also some more baby stuff), finishing up a little bit of scrapping and doing lots of research for the Christmas projects/gifts I'd like to attempt this year. It SNOWED (!!) this morning and it really got me in the holiday mood (I'm listening to Christmas music as I type), so I hope that my motivation will stay this high all weekend.

Be back soon to share some scrappies (and hopefully some non-baby related thoughts! lol)

Happy Weekend!
G
xox