Spotlight on... Sweetiebird! Feb 24-27

[LindsayK]

Here's a few questions to get you started... feel free to add more info to this!

EDD:
Name:
Age:
Location:
Family:
Baby's Gender (hopes or guesses):
Names you like:Secret!
Birth Plans/Preferences:
Strangest craving/aversion this pregnancy:
Hobbies/Interests:
Occupation:
How you met your SO:
How you ended up at MDC:

[sweetiebird]

EDD: August 18

Name: Wendy

Age: 32... will probably be 33 when this baby comes (my b-day is in August too)

Location: Toronto, Ontario

Family: DH and one son, Duncan, who is 14 months

Baby's Gender (hopes or guesses): I'm not sure, but DH is convinced that it is a girl. We haven't decided if we'll find out at our u/s or not (March 25!!)

Names you like: Middle name will be Grace for a girl (my mom's name is Grace) and Henry for a boy (my dad's name is Henry. DS' middle name is a family name on DH's side, so this time it's my family's turn

Birth Plans/Preferences: I'm having a homebirth this time. I had midwives with Duncan and had a hospital birth. It went really well, so this time I'm going to try it at home. I'm really excited about it. I just need to get my mom fully onboard. She's a nurse and will think about the worst possible outcome. If she is 100% fully supportive she won't be at the birth. I need everyone who is there to be on our side 100%. I need positive vibes!

Strangest craving/aversion this pregnancy: Hmm. I can't stand the smell of any hard liquor drink. It makes my stomach turn and my super smeller really picks that out. For a while I was loving the Dr Oetker frozen pizzas, but thankfully I'm over that and am eating better again.

Hobbies/Interests: I'm really interested in Child Passenger Safety, and am hoping to become a tech in the near future. I love to read, but lately I haven't really read anything that great. I like logic puzzles and sudoku and that sort of thing. I used to play Ultimate Frisbee and it was great! Hopefully next year I can play again.

Occupation: At the moment I'm at SAHM, but before Duncan I was a pastry chef. I used to work at a hotel in town here, and then my DH and I worked for a family. We were at their cottage in the summer and their chalet in the winter. It was mainly a weekend job, except over Christmas holidays and the summer break (July/Aug). We did that for 2 years. It was crazy!! I was at work when I went into labour with Duncan.

How you met your SO: We met at work. He's a chef (and a good one, if I do say so myself). We worked in a big kitchen (about 75 employees) and he was a manager (sous-chef). Technically we were going against the rules. But it was great!

How you ended up at MDC: Hmmm. I was looking into tandem nursing and nursing while pregnant and Mothering had some good articles... from there I read more, checked out MDC, decided it fit better with me then the board I was a part of with Duncan. The rest is history. I'm a bit of a lurker and I try to post, but I find it hard sometimes. I'm not exactly sure why. I get shy I think. Strange really. Looking forward to getting to know everyone!

Wendy

[Dahlea]

Why did you become
a chef?
What's your favorite thing to make? (I'm hungry!)
I'm still nursing my toddler too!

[sweetiebird]

I was in university and I hated my program. I was getting depressed but I loved to cook. I was a waitress at a popular place in town so I knew something about the business. My boyfriend at the time basically pushed me into going into cooking school. I am very thankful! I was planning on working in the main or hot side of the kitchen, but apparently that wasn't to be. I did a placement for school at an upscale hotel in Toronto and they hired me after it was over. I worked in the pastry kitchen for 2 weeks because they were short staffed. I really liked it and the Pastry Chef (or manager) like me and asked if I wanted to stay. So I did. I learned so much working there, it was great!

My favourite thing to make has to be ice cream. Yum!! It tastes so much better than the stuff you buy at the store. Soo good. I don't make it all the time, but I do love making different flavours. Earl Grey (tea) is one of my favs.

[kdaisy]

I totally relate about being a lurker. I don't post a lot, either. I like to think what I do post was well thought out and meaningful

How is nursing going?

Does being a chef mean your husband doesn't want to cook at home?

[sweetiebird]

Lol kdaisy!

Nursing is going well so far. I haven't noticed any supply issues yet. I do think that my nipples are a bit more sensitive now than they were in the first trimester which wasn't what I was expecting. It's not horrible or anything, just a bit annoying. I also think that DS is getting lazy with his latch *sigh*. Something to work on.

We definitely do our share of takeout and delivery ... shhh. We're trying to cut back though... it's not healthy and we're trying to save $$ for a new car for me. He can only cook at home on the weekends though, as he doens't get home from work until after dinner. He's a Personal Chef/Corporate Chef and cooks breakfast, lunch and dinner for a couple.

[LindsayK]

I visited Toronto about a year ago - what an awesome city! Are you from there originally?

Tell us more about your homebirth plans/hopes! Have you hired a midwife yet? How do you think you might want to labor this time around?

What's your birthday?

[sweetiebird]

Lindsay, yes I think Toronto is pretty neat too I live in a beautiful area near High Park, a huge park in the city with great walking and an outdoor pool, tennis courts, outdoor skating rink, etc. It's pretty amazing.

I'm not from Toronto. I grew up about an hour and a half west of here in a small city (30 000). My parents are still there so we go back often (once a month or so). I've been in Toronto for about 5 years.

Homebirth plans. Well I have no desire to have a waterbirth. Baths always sound like a good idea to me, but every time I try, I get it all set up and within 5 minutes I want out because I'm either overheating or am cold. So I think that a waterbirth would be a waste on me. I'm hoping for it to be relaxed and easy going. Last time I was able to talk and joke between contractions... at least until it got serious in transition, and I hope to replicate that. I'm not sure if I want my mom to be there. We'll see. She was there for DS's birth. We don't have a plan for DS yet. We have to come up with something. It's a bit more difficult when you don't have any family in the area. A good friend of mine is living relatively close by, but she is pregnant too and is due 4 weeks before me. So there goes that idea. We'll figure something out. I don't think that I'll want him there because he'll be 19 months old and probably quite a handful.

Yes, we have a midwife. I've had two appointments so far. In Ontario you get the choice of having a dr or a midwife. Both options are covered by OHIP (Ontario Health Insurance Plan). Getting in with a midwife can be hard, but I got lucky. I also called before the pee dried on the stick! Hopefully it all goes well, but so far I like the one I've had so far. They practice in teams of two, and I've met one so far. My next appointment is with the other one.

My birthday is August 2