February '09 Mamas ~ Childhood Chat :) - Page 9

[justKate]

Happy Easter if you're celebrating! I'm still here, still pg.

[Vegan Princess]

Aww boo Kate - was hoping the new babe could wear her new easter dress today. 

I hope everyone has a lovely day. Makenna is eating all of her candy today, it seems. Though she didn't get too much. DH's relatives invited us over for an easter dinner and egg hunt this afternoon - so I fear she'll be eating a ton more over there. Oh well, tomorrow is a fresh day. :-) 

I made it through lent with no desserts. Last night we went out for ice cream sundaes. I'm eating candy today. And then I'm going back to just eating dessert once or twice/week bc I really think it is the best thing for me! :-)

Cindy

[Mal85]

Happy Easter, everyone. I'm sick here. Owyn tested positive for strep throat on Friday and I'm fairly certain I've come down with it too. I called the on call doc this morning to try and get a prescription called in and she refused. Apparently you don't get strep throat over the age of 15. Which is news to me. I have all the symptoms, including lovely puss pockets in the back of my mouth. I barely made it through church this morning and ended up sending DH to our family Easter dinner without me. Greta hung out here, taking a nap and he came to pick her up when she woke up. I hate that I'm missing her first Easter. 

Owyn was very excited for Easter this morning. We dyed eggs at my sister's last night. All the little girls got baths and some were getting those sponge rollers in their hair for this morning. I didn't bother, thinking Owyn would hate them. She came begging for them after all the other little girls got them. She actually slept in them, I was shocked! It turned out way cute, we might have to try it again sometime. She got a Wonder Pets DVD collection in her basket this morning and said "How'd that Easter bunny know I love Wonder Pets?!" It was very cute. Greta even enjoyed it thoroughly. She was all smiles and grabbing for her basket. She got an amber necklace and they both got swim suits as well. 

I did feel okay when they got their baskets this morning, so at least I got to enjoy that with them. Now, I get to suffer through the night and go get some drugs tomorrow. What a great way to spend my last break from work before the end of the school year. 

[Everrgreen]

Mal - Oh no!  I'm sorry you're sick :(  It sounds like you got to enjoy Easter morning though so that's good!  Hopefully you'll recover quickly.  

Cindy - Good for you for giving up desserts!  I sort of like the idea of going sugar-free but it's so hard..

I have been cringing a bit at the chocolate R has had.  I got him a modest amount but then my cousin went and got him a ton of stuff.  I've been letting him eat a lot, I figure the sooner it's gone the better lol.  And I let him have it out when we had family around so he'd share most of it :P

Kate - *hugs*  Before you know it you'll be busy with a newborn wishing she was back in your belly.  Ok, maybe you won't wish that, I did a bit with R though 

[Vegan Princess]

Feel better Mal!!

Oh man - the egg hunt this afternoon was ridiculous. Like 5 different people all brought eggs. So each kid got TONS. A few have pretzels and cheddar whales but the rest are candy. I'm not sure how to get rid of them all without her freaking out. I think it will have to happen gradually. Argh. 

Everr: I didn't give up sugar. That is too hard! Just dessert. So no cake or cookies or chocolate. But it was ok if my morning scone had chocolate chips or I had chocolate chip pancakes. Still can have sugar in my rare decaf coffee, etc. You get the point. Though I'm sure i'd be well served to just give up sugar all together!

I've still managed to gain 7lbs already, even having not eaten dessert for the last 40+ days. I probably gained a few lbs gorging on dessert before that though. I looked back at my chart from my last midwife (I have a copy of all those records) and at exactly this point w/M she has me recorded as having gained 7 lbs - but that I swore up and down I only gained 3 according to my scale and that she was all concerned about my fear of gaining weight bc I argued that with her. So I think I only gained 3 at this point last time. I need to start being active again! 

Cindy

[Vegan Princess]

Oh I think I forgot to mention that we have our care/birth plan figured out!!! The apprentice midwife that worked at the birth center when I had Makenna is now a homebirth midwife. She just passed her licensing exams recently. She works closely with a midwife who has been doing births for 20+ years. We are going to be her first official client on her own from start to end. But the experienced midwife is fine with answering any questions about prenatals that she may have and will also be present at the birth. She is a very sweet gal that I always felt super comfortble and comforted around. She did most of our prenatals with Makenna. The midwife was always in the building but not always the one sitting and talking with us. And because I know the more experienced midwife is there to consult with if anything crazy comes up and will be at the birth, we feel totally comfortable with her. And she is charging us 2/3 of what the others midwife we were considering charges. So that makes paying for a homebirth seem much more manageable. Yay!

[mckittre]

Cindy - I'm so glad you've figured out the midwife -that sounds like a great setup.

Kate - Hang in there!  With L, the wait beyond her due date felt interminable, and I agonized every day of it, discussing/arguing with the midwives (at the end), etc..., but as soon as she was born, it all vanished behind that beautiful newborn face.

Mal - Yuck!  Hope you're better soon.

We had an awesome Easter here.  Woke up to light snow, dressed up in warm clothes, and joined friends at the beach to enjoy one of the lowest tides of the year!  We did hide Easter eggs in the tidepools, but the kids preferred to hunt the real tidepool creatures (me too).  Then we had a campfire potluck, and all went home.  K doesn't yet know that Easter is supposed to involve baskets of chocolate, so we elected not to tell him.  But his daddy told him that the "Easter Sandlance" hid the eggs in the tidepools, so now he's talking to us about how the eggs were laid by this sandlance (a tiny intertidal fish), given to us to color, then given back to the fish to hide them.  As if our kid wasn't odd enough already.

[Thursday Girl]

kate, i know it sucks to wait ti meet your baby, but just remember she will come when she is ready, she's just not quite ready yet,

Sue- adults can totally get strep throat but it's way worse as an adult, i got it once and it felt like i had been hit by a mac truck. I hope you feel better soon and someone gives you some dang medicine.

Everr- sorry the interview didn't go as well as you would have hoped.

Easter- we had a good easter, our kids ate gobs of candy. My oldest, Jewel ate so much candy and then went on a swing and got spun and spun and then got in the car and puked into a bucket, poor thing, the kids has always been a puker and never been able to handle large amounts of junk food. Juniper was super excited abut the easter bunny coming, she kept asking when he was going to come bring her presents.  My Josie sat down to eat her chocolate bunny then walked out with it almost finished said it was melting and that she didn't want anymore. she asked if she had to finish it. poor thing, I'm not sure why she would think that since we never make them finish their food.

This weekend was busy. I went to a barbeque satruday and Chris was supposed to meet me but had to much work. It was really fun seeing all my friends and the big kids had a great time swimming all day. Then on Easter we went to my friends for a food and an easter egg hunt.  I was exhausted by the time we got home sunday evening and my bleeding had picked up. yeah it may have been a bit much 8-9 days post partum. I plan on spending today in bed...until later when Hubs gets back from work, then I will help drag trash and buidling materials to the front yard for SWEEP ( the city comes and picks up large amounts of trash once a year) and I really need to do laundry today..okay maybe I'll rest.

[starling&diesel]

Kate ... Soon, soon, soon!

Mal ... Do you feel any better?  Adults can totally get strep throat.  What a weird thing to say!

Cindy ... Yay for birth plans!  I think going with newly certified professionals is a great idea, having been one once myself.  They do tend to charge less, and yet they are SO vigilant and up-to-date and on their game with tonnes of energy and excitement, and, as you say, they usually work with a more experienced mentor in case things go pear-shaped, which is oh so very rare.  Good for you for sorting it out! 

Erin ... Wonderful pictures!  Your Easter sounds magical.

Sue ... How was your Easter?  Matching dresses?

Courtney ... Take it easy, woman!

AFM: Our holiday to the West Coast of Vancouver Island was a total disaster.  We got to our gorgeous waterfront cabins, took an evening stroll along the beach, and then promptly fell victim to a horrific stomach virus, one after the other.  Seven out of nine of us got it.  It was pure, liquid evil.  I wish we'd never gone.  There is nothing like being far from the comforts of home with barfing, poop-exploding children, and then add the adults in and it's good times all around.  We limped home on Friday, then celebrated Easter while my partner's family was still here (recovering).  But no one wanted Easter dinner proper, so it was mostly just chocolates and goodies for the kids.  When the family left and my partner went to work on Saturday, the kids and I went to Stanley Park to ride the Easter train, see the Easter bunny, watch a puppet show and do an egg hunt.  Then our co-op had an egg hunt yesterday, which was loads of fun.  E traded her chocolate for a new Bingo game, which she's really enjoying. 

Today we got on the Skytrain and went to a new (to us) park, which was a blast.  It had tonnes of playground equipment and we went with a super-climber friend of ours, which meant E got inspired to push herself to do more and try new things, which was great to watch.  Lots of fun!  I've broken out the stroller, because H is mammoth.  I think my baby-wearing days are going to be limited.  He's having shots on Thursday, so we'll see how much he weighs then.  I'm guessing 20 pounds?  He's as big as E was at a year.

[Vegan Princess]

Oh man Starling! That sounds horrible! I'm so sorry you peaceful vacation plans were dashed. Glad you all made it back in one piece and still got to enjoy the weekend. It's so crazy how brothers and sisters can differ in size by so much!

Courtney: You are super woman! But perhaps even you should take it easy for another week or so. 

Erin: A tidepool easter egg hunt sounds magical! 

AFM: Had a nice day. We toured the Mrs Grossman's sticker factory this morning. They make all the stickers that come on rolls (plus a bunch of fancy ones that are sold by the sheet too). The tour was really cute and M got tons of stickers. We brought a friend so we both enjoyed it more and had lunch at the lake next door. This afternoon I checked out the big YMCA here. I have gone to a tiny one 10 minutes away for the past 3 yrs. Never looked at this one. But it is HUGE! And so nice! Has 3 indoor pools and an all day kinder gym with tons of things to play on, including a jumpy house. That is free with membership and so is family swim time. I've never wanted to go to this one bc of the parking situation - you have to park in a garage and get validated and pay at certain times. But they offer prenatal yoga and prenatal water aerobics - and the important thing is that they have childcare. Bc I can never make it to prenatal yoga during the week bc DH works too late. So I think we'll switch. The funny thing is, I've heard lots of moms tell me they just drop their kids at the childcare and go use the hot tub and sauna to get a break - they don't even always work out. LOL. Doubt I'd do that! But you never know. ;-) Child care costs $5/hr per kid at this one. It's only $2/hr at the Y I currently go to. Not a big deal for 1 kid, but with 2 it would really add up quick.

[AKislandgirl]

Starling: yikes! sounds terrible!! I'm glad that you made it home and were able to enjoy some Easter time though.

Kate: She'll be here! Soon, so soon!

Mal: Feeling any better?

Cindy: It must feel so good to have your birthing plan in place! Sounds like a great plan!!

Everr: Hear anything back on the job? I'm still crossing fingers for you.

Erin: Love the pictures. We did a beach egg hunt too. It was great fun!

AFU: We had a nice Easter with friends. Great potluck with kids and dogs running ammock. Our egg hunt was on the beach too. Loved watching all the kids in snowsuits scurrying about. Fiona got really into it!

We've had some rough days around here with her. I don't know if I told you guys about bringing wheat back into her diet? Anyway she's been eating it for the past 3 weeks so that we can do a blood test for celiacs. She needs it in her system so that we get an accurate test result. Anyway- it started out ok but has gotten worse and worse as time has gone on. Leg cramps, stomach cramps, constipation, itchy skin, crappy sleep, and so so so very emotional.  She's kind of a mess and I hate that I know that the food we are giving her makes her feel this way. Anyway she is getting her blood test today. I'm nervous about how that will go but DH will meet us there to take Maeve so I can hold her and try to keep her calm through it. Bringing the Rescue Remedy and a pack of gummy bunnies and crossing fingers it goes fast! I've given blood so many times but I still hate it. Preparing to plaster a smile on my face.

Maeve is doing great. We had her well baby visit yesterday. I'm having a hard time believing she's 6 months already! She rolls all over the place these days. Still pretty wobbly with sitting but getting stronger. We've given her a few tastes of food here and there but really waiting a bit for her to become a stronger sitter. She weighs 15 pounds and is 27 inches long. Fiona weighed 16 pounds at a year!

[Mal85]

It sounds like everyone here had a fairly nice Easter!

Courtney: Take it easy lady!!

Cindy: So glad you got the midwife situation figured out. Now you can just hang back and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy knowing you're in good hands. 

Starling: Sounds like an awful bug you guys got. What a damper on a fun trip! Sounds like Easter went well though.

Erin: I love those pics! Your life never ceases to amaze me, what lucky kids you have!

Sue: Will you be able to stop giving her wheat after the blood test? Your poor girl, feeling badly and now being stuck with a needle. I'll be thinking of her today and hopefully you guys get some answers soon.

AFM: I'm finally starting to feel better. I got in with the doc yesterday morning and feel just a little better with each dose of medicine. DH stayed home with us yesterday. Greta is working on her second tooth and was a crying mess all Sunday night into Monday morning. I was completely useless with the chills, followed by bouts of horrible sweats, followed by the chills. So, DH was up with her most of the night. Looks like I'll be back to normal just in time to go back to work. I'm glad I didn't have to take off work for this, but it sucks to spend my break taking care of one sick child, then nursing my own illness. 

With me being sick and Greta being crabby, Owyn has been taking full advantage of her new Wonder Pets DVDs. It's really all she's done. Today, a new treat came in the mail for her. I got her some reusable sticker sheets with little scenes to put them on. We got it for our road trip this summer, but I let her go ahead and play with it today. My energy level is still low and figured it would get her to stop watching Wonder Pets for a while. She has been having a blast with them!

Greta is getting bigger everyday. She's almost 15 lbs right now. She loves rolling around and is all grins anytime Owyn gives her any attention. We also started giving her some foods recently. She is almost sitting on her own and was obsessed with food! She's been trying to grab food off of our plates for weeks now, even opening her mouth every time we would take a bite in front of her. I've always said I had a feeling once she was old enough for food, she'd just loooove to eat and I was right! She devours everything we give her!

[Vegan Princess]

Hard to believe that all your tiny babies are getting so big so fast! I wonder why all the 1st babies were tiny and the 2nd babies are so much bigger? Even same sex siblings? 

Sue: I hope the blood test goes ok. Poor Fiona. I hope you are able to get rid of the wheat asap now that it's done. I had to give blood SO many times for this infertility/IVF process - and I still HATE it. Littles are so resilient. I bet the gummies will make her forget all about it.

AFM: I got in the pool and did laps using the kick board and tried a water zumba class (me and all the obese and old people). I didn't love the class so I went back to doing laps after 1/2 hour. Pretty bouncy yet not that great of a work out. It felt really good to be active for an hour though!

[Everrgreen]

Cindy - Good for you!  I sooo need to get active again and I don't even have the pregnancy excuse :P  That Y sounds AWESOME!  I would totally drop R off just to soak in the hot tub lol!

Mal - I'm glad you're feeling better!  I can't believe Greta is getting so big and starting to eat!  That's great :)

AK - Oh poor Fiona!  I hope she recovers quickly when you can take the wheat back out of her diet.  And that's awesome that Maeve is doing well!  I think R was around 20lb at 6 months!  

Starling - Oh no, I'm so sorry!  That sounds awful :(  I'm glad you're feeling better now, it always takes a while to fully recover from those things :(

Courtney - You better be resting!!  Sounds like you had a fun Easter but definitely remember to put your feet up sometimes!  That's funny that Josie thought she had to eat all her chocolate, poor girl!  

Erin - Your Easter sounds wonderful!  I love the pics!  What is that Katmai's looking at in the top pic?

Kate - Thinking of you...

AFM - I have a date on Thursday :D  The guy from the bus finally asked me!  I'm nervous.. And excited.. 

No word yet about that job.. I'm going to have to call him tomorrow though because I lost my cell phone today and that's the number he has.  I'm so mad about my phone.  I hope someone turns it in but I think someone has taken it for good.  I left it in class and went back for it about 15 minutes later when I realized and it was gone :(

[justKate]

Ever, yay for a date!  Can't wait to hear how it goes.

Erin, I agree, your kids are very lucky.  You are raising little adventurers and I hope the spirit sticks with them through adulthood.

Cindy, way to go on the water workout.  I'm jealous!  I bought a maternity swimsuit months and months ago and haven't used it ONCE.  So much for that.  Sounds like the midwife situation is working out perfectly!

Mal, glad you're feeling better, but it does suck that you were sick or taking care of O the entire break.  The sticker things--are they like colorforms?  I swear I can't find anything like that for Aubs.  I thought maybe they stopped making them for some reason.  I know I loved them as a kid.

Sue, poor Fiona.  Hopefully the blood test went alright and she can start to feel better soon!

Starling, sorry your vacation didn't go as planned--sickness always hits at the most inconvenient time. I can't get over how busy you seem to stay with the little ones!  How do you do it?

Courtney, you better be resting!  You're another one--I have no idea how you manage to do so much.  Did you guys get the laundry room floor finished before Coraline arrived?  I also wanted to ask you about the pork and tomatillo chili--do you know how your friend makes it?  It sounds awesome and I think DH would go crazy over it.

AFM, still pg, 40+5 today.  I woke up this morning thinking I might be having a nice contraction but it was just my super full bladder.    I'm going to try to get Aubs to take a long walk with me today, but I'm not sure what we'll do.  Maybe the little playground by the river if its not too windy.  Ho hum, passing the time!

[Thursday Girl]

Sue- poor, poor Fiona. I hope at least this brings answers.

Mal- sorry about the sickies and on your break. we have had so many school breaks turn out like that.

Starling- what a miserable vacation. I'm so sorry .

Cindy- that Y sounds nice. sometimes I think about checking out the one in town, they offer discounts to poor people and I think we would qualify, but I wonder how much the kids activities would be on top of the monthly rate. And so neat about the midwife. it was really awesome working with the same midwife from last time, who is my friend now. 

Kate- it is hard to go over, I know. Josie was 10 days late, this will end soon and when it does and you are holding your baby it won't matter that you had to wait, and someday she will be 6 like my Josie and her birth will seem a million light years gone.

pork tomatillo chili- I NEED to get the recipe, my favorite food ever! I will share when I get it.

laundry floor did get finished before the birth and I REALLY need to do laundry. I did rest the other day, then this morning woke up and moved all the construction debris. Poor hubs is really sick and was puking every 20 minutes while we were doing it and has actually agreed to go to the doctor...tomorrow. he's working today. but it is pretty amazing he's going to the Dr b/c he NEVER agrees to go the Dr, but it's kind of scary if he is sick enough to actually go. at least he's working, if he was too sick to work I'd be really scared! I can't believe he let me do as much as I did this morning so the whole time I was dragging out the wood I was worried about him. I am sort of sore now and plan on not doing much today. story time at the library, dentist appointment with Jewel and maybe just one load of laundry...not folding it though. resting would be nice but necessity dictates that's not going to happen. I actually do feel surprisingly good, not like I had a baby 12 days ago.

here's my birth story

and a video my photographer made

[Vegan Princess]

Courtney: Maybe it's my hormones, but your birth story made me cry. So sweet. :-) I hope your DH feels better soon! 

Kate: I love what Courtney said about soon baby will be here and before you know it, the birth will seem a million miles away. So savor this time. But I hope it goes quick!

My DH is actually going to the doctor too and that never happens. He thinks he has a hernia. He ate some gigantic burrito for lunch yesterday and it made it apparent. His left side got all bulgy. Ick! I feel bad bc I couldn't help but laugh at him bc he was waxing poetic about not being able to believe that his favorite food gave him a hernia. LOL. It wasn't caused by the burrito though - likely from the ab workout he did w/his co-worker a few days ago - 1st workout in ages.

Cindy

[Everrgreen]

Courtney - Your birth story is so beautifully written - I was tearing up!  And the video is beautiful too!  

Kate - Soon soon.  Just try and keep busy and enjoy these last days/hours :)  

Cindy - Yikes!  Hope he's ok!

Someone called about my cellphone!!!  I had sent a text to my phone saying 'if you find this phone please call ...' with my mom's home number.  She got a call late last night.  I called the guy this morning and he has it but is only downtown at night (after 10pm) so he's going to leave it with security at the the theatre.  I hope he follows through, he seemed a tad sketchy, but he did call to let me know he had it so that's a good sign.  

[Mal85]

Oh Courtney, that was a beautiful birth story. It reminded me so much of my good friend's homebirth. The way we all just seemed to spend the day together, talking, laughing, enjoying each other's company while she worked on birthing a baby. Very relaxed, very bonding and so amazing.

Kate: The stickers are a lot like colorforms. It's by Melissa and Doug, they have several different kinds. Some with animals and different scenes. We got the one with household pictures. There's a living room, bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and backyard. She played with it for hours! Sometimes she wanted me to do one of the rooms, then she would take it apart and try to recreate what I made. I even had fun playing with it! We found it on Amazon. I was actually ordering new bottles for Greta and needed just a few more dollars for free shipping, these books are only $6! Best $6 I've spent in a long time!  http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-House-Reusable-Sticker/dp/B004PBLP5O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334170587&sr=8-2

[AKislandgirl]

Courtney: I'm a crying mess as I read your birth story and watch the video. Beautiful Mama!