37 weeks in Pregnancy 2 with ezekiel

37 weeks pregnant with ezekiel

i found it quite interesting to read how i was feeling during my last pregnancy. funny thing is, my mom is lined up to take care of the kids again this time and she JUST got back from a monthe long vacation (so me going early would be pretty inconvenient, going very late would be better so she'd be back to work for awhile). she goes back to work on Tuesday. last time she was about to have surgery that could have been major but wouldnt know until afterwards. ha ha. funny how things are lining up similarly. but it all worked out fine. actually, derek's parents were here last time and if i go over 10 days late this time, they will be here again! they arrive Oct 1 and stay until the 8th.

37 weeks pregnant = Full Term by some standards...

pregnancy 3
august 30 2008
37 weeks

well, i really do want some opinions on something:

situation: next dr.'s appointment (friday sep 5) i will be one day short of 38 weeks. he has offered to see if i'm dilated. if i am, he has offered to "stir the pot" which would be to strip the membranes to try to get me into labour next week. my dr. who i REALLY want to deliver with is going away September 13 to 19th. My due date is September 20th. sooo, basically he would be trying to help me deliver before September 12th.

the decision: so i figure i have 2 choices:
1. say yes to him checking me and to stripping the membranes and see what happens.

2. say yes to him checking me, but no thanks to anything beyond that and just wait and see how long it takes for me to naturally go into labour.
bearing in mind, that i was 10days late with my last, 2 days late with my first.

at 10 days late last time, both baby and i were perfectly healthy and could have gone longer. i did not intend on having a chemical induction last time. my dr. offered to break my waters (i'm strep b pos again this time, i have been for each pregnancy which means when my waters break, i have to be at the hospital until the baby's born for the antibiotics).
however, the day i was admitted, my dr. was not available and the other dr. said he couldnt break my waters and had to do the chemical induction instead. having been through that now, i do not plan on agreeing to that again as it was crazy-painful.

i am very fearful of not having my dr. there b/c last time it was a bit of disaster with the nurses except for the one who was previously trained as a midwife, who totally helped me manage my pain through movements, and then delivered ezekiel b/c he came FAST and the dr. was not there in time.

originally, i wanted to let this pregnancy go late. even if its over 10 days late. i want to have a natural labouring experience, drug-free. i've done it once and it was a great experience (other than the chemical induction part). the reason i started to think "lets get this baby out soon" is because i had a very busy week and my body hurt like crazy! and i thought i could not handle any more time like this. after having a more mellow week, i am leaning towards this 2nd decision because my body does not hurt as much, although it is still very uncomfortable.

also, ezekiel is 21 months. he does not listen well to "no, dont throw food...hard toys...shoes...anything but balls." "no, dont hit...mommy...daddy...diedre...kitties." "please be gentle with the...kitty...your sister...mommy....daddy..." once in awhile he surprises us with listening to a reprimand, but mostly we know he understands so many things, but for some reason we cant say these things in a way that he will obey. its very frustrating (as it should be...he's almost 2!).

another thing about him is he is constantly telling us he has peed or pooed in his diaper and asks to go on the potty but he has never done anything on there. he even refuses diapers somedays which thankfully hasnt turned into a big mess, but it definitely has the potential. the more tired i am, the less uncontained messes i want to deal with. so giving him another full month to grow, learn, try potty learning a little, talk more, and just to spend time with.

so what do you think? decision 1 or 2?

update: i also wanted to mention derek's opinion on the situation: his noted that i went into full labour with diedre because a nurse broke my waters (without my or my dr.'s permission) and committed me to labouring in the hospital. when diedre was born the next morning, she was covered in vernix and the dr. said "oh, she couldve cooked a little longer!"

in her ultrasounds and afterwards, diedre had some issues with kidneys being slightly large, she also had something else swollen that she had to get multiple xrays for (i cant remember what right now...but the belly button dr. at Children's discovered it when he was checking to see if she had a herniated belly button (which she did not)). and then she also had very bad ear infections for several months and ended up getting ear tubes around 18 months i think and hasnt had one since. so that being written, derek wonders if she did not gestate long enough, thanks to the nurse, and therefore had those various issues.

pics from the last few days

diedre took the camera and went around taking more pictures that you can see here.

ezekiel tried on his monkey costume and was watching daddy & diedre work outside on the retaining wall.

diedre wanted to try on the outfit too, its an 18 month old outfit.

and yes, i got suckered into getting 2 kittens. here is diedre cuddling with Cloudy

and here she is cuddling with Hattie. she is obviously old enough to handle this kittens as she is proving to be very gentle. see more pictures of the animal antics here.

36 weeks pregnant

pregnancy 3
august 23 2008
36 weeks

well, i'm feeling pretty "done" with this pregnancy. it could be because i overdid it all last week with something to do everyday (gymnastics, radiohead concert). next week should be a little more low-key.

i think i need to focus on my kids and enjoying the time i get to spend with them until baby arrives. its hard of course, b/c i get tired easily and i have a hard time getting around b/c of my size.

i'm feeling overwhelmed by my messy house and the pre-baby chores i want to get done. after having such a busy week, the house is a disaster. but on a good note, some pre-baby plans have come into effect: derek put our bed up onto a frame so we could store stuff underneath it. ezekiel's room has gotten cleared out of alot of extra furniture, and as soon as i can get the change table cleared off, i will lend it to my tenant downstairs, making even more room in there.

i'm on weekly dr. appts now until baby's arrival. kind of alot of driving as its 35 minutes away and always ends up being a bit of a trip.

thankfully, our babysitter is back from her vacation so i hope to have her help me out with the kids and cleaning as much as needed (since derek is often out doing extra jobs). i wish i had the energy to take the kids to the park, but i cannot chase ezekiel if he decides to run off (not his usual thing to do, but you never know).

gymnastics camp

diedre and some friends signed up for gymnastics camp. it was 5 days, 9am to 10am.

i got pretty tired of chasing ezekiel around by day 4 (and i missed day 3 ha ha b/c of going to radiohead tuesday night and ezekiel being sick the next morning so derek took diedre). so i brought a stroller for him today to keep him contained during some especially rascally periods (ie. highbeam).

it totally tired me out to go do this every day and diedre too! she napped most days and would just babble on non-sensically after the class (usually arguing with me about something like how she will have a popsicle when we get home; but i said there werent any there; but she wanted it...).

day 4, walking on a very low balance beam

earlier today, stretching

nice leap off the bench

doing the "bridge" on top of the big mat

certificate and ribbon: and the thing you fear most when they're handing out certificates happened...there was none for diedre so the teacher wrote her name on one while everyone else had been clapped for and was off getting candy...
she was still proud of course, she's 3!

but i noticed it was a certificate for intermediate class...but i'm pretty sure this was the beginners one ha ha. oh well, my Type A personality almost went back in to get the instructor (who obviously felt bad about missing diedre) to write out a proper one...but i figured the pink ribbon was more exciting than the paper anyway!

the teacher said that diedre was a good listener and seemed impressed with some of the skills she showed. that's our girl ;P
she definitely seemed to have more graceful skills than the boys in the class. she was the only girl, so it was easy to spot the differences.

see the full album of the gymnastics camp's last two days!

camping on the hottest weekend EVER!

here's my man preparing breakfast on saturday. he was seriously so helpful and would do anything i asked and many things without me needing to ask. he completely did all the bathroom trips with diedre b/c i could barely fit in the stall myself!!

our friends were also really helpful with the kids as i could do a bare minimum around camp. heather and andrew led the way on a hike for all the big kids (and poppy) while joanna and i stayed at camp with gabe and zeke.

diedre and miles running together

heather was trying to get all the adults to join in on a group photo. while they were moving that way, derek used our timer to get some pictures. look at that big belly!!! it was almost bedtime so i'm sure it was swelling ha ha. here i am at 35 weeks pregnant and camping in the heat!

david asked me to please take a picture of all their slugs and snails on the log.

the whole camping album from the salmon camera

5 weeks to go!!!

pregnancy 3
august 16 2008
35 weeks
5 weeks left = 35 days left


me @ 35 weeks with my second pregnancy (ezekiel).


me @ 35 weeks with my first pregnancy (diedre)
~~
yes, the belly is getting HUGE.
apparently baby is over 5 lbs now and around 18 inches in length. my previous babies were 7lbs 10oz & 7lbs 11oz and both 22 inches long--so we're not too far from that at all!

i wont be able to do anymore aquafit. my last day there i did water wellness which was a little less jumping in the water. but this week coming diedre is in gymnastics M-F and it conflicts with the water classes so i cant go. then next week the pool shuts down for 3 weeks, until september 15 which is around when i'm due anyway! i'm pretty disappointed by all this, so i may see if other pools in the area are open because it just feels so good to be in water. oh and another thing, my swimsuits are barely fitting! my belly is just too big for those suits. i had to throw out the one i was using for the pool b/c it was starting to shred...from the chlorine and from 3 pregnancies :)

i spent alot of time in the lake on saturday. it felt wonderful! i could barely notice the heat. camping was very doable since we arrived well after dark on friday night and although saturday was very hot, our friends were content to just hang around our shaded camp most of the day and head to the lake during the hottest part of the day. derek bought a new air mattress that was so perfect for the tent. it was very firm and comfortable. ahhh. i survived!

now, i have a radiohead concert to go to on tuesday with my brother, then no big plans after that!

potty day & old pics

ezekiel has been asking to go on the potty. so the last 2 mornings, i've let him run around in underwear. he goes to the potty alot, but has yet to do anything on it.

i took a bunch of pics with my imac's photobooth this morning.
Click here to see the potty pictures.


i was going thru all the old pics from the photobooth and uploaded them to facebook.
Click here to see the silly family album.

we leave for camping on this very hot weekend in a few hours. it is 38 degrees (100 fahrenheit!!!) outside our house right now! we will probably really enjoy the ride in the van there and then spend our evening in the lake perhaps...

i had a really bad day on wednesday as far as overdoing it goes. my body hurt all evening and the next half day. i was really wondering how i would be able to pack for camping since i could barely walk around the house. and also wondering how i could even GO camping at all. i'll be 35 weeks pregnant tomorrow!

derek took over all the household duties to let me rest on wednesday night, and not feeling any better by thursday morning, my friend joanna took the kids for a few hours. it really helped. i was able to make all the lists for camping and just rest for a few hours, then get the kids back home for naptime and sleep. i felt much better last night and was able to go around packing today at a leisurely pace with fairly low pain.

with both previous pregnancies, my babies dropped early (7 or 8 months) and it really put alot of pain on the tendons of my groin. this pregnancy is no different except that i think my pelvis, tailbone, hip bones, and groin hurt more. ha ha.

so we are planning this camping trip, in heat of 33 or 34 degrees, that will only go down to 18 degrees tonight by midnight, and to 20 degrees by midnight on saturday...eep. we will just head home if it really doesnt work out. its basically a trip for diedre at this point as we (derek and i) prefer cool over hot.

have a great weekend!

6 weeks to go!!!

pregnancy 3
august 9 2008
34 weeks

wow. time will fly now. six weeks to go! i think the baby has dropped. my belly is feeling super heavy. after sitting for a few minutes, it hurts. after standing for a few minutes, it hurts. so i'm really trying to take things easy and enlist derek's help as much as he will let me ;P ha ha

the kids are doing great. ezekiel is talking ALOT and fast and hyper! he is very active and acts kind of crazy sometimes, but still has a great temperament. he is always trying to do things himself which i think is great. he is showing many signs of "two" like saying "no" "mine" "me do" alot. ha ha. he still doesnt listen great, but if i get him to look me right in the eyes when i'm talking it definitely seems to help. he kept insisting on putting on jackets last week when it was sooo hot. that was part of my reason for wanting to get rid of the furniture in his room. this one hanging wardrobe was where i kept his jackets and he could reach them, so it was alot of cleaning up what shouldnt have been messy!

i had one very successful day last week of organizing and minimizing around the house. i got rid of a large roll of carpet and underlay (on Freecycle) that we'd had for at least a year and also the kids furniture that was no longer necessary from ezekiel's room. i am probably going to lend out our change table to our tenant as we could use the extra room in ezekiel's room and we have room in the bathroom for a change station.

now i just need to tackle making up a newborn baby girl's and a newborn baby boy's clothing box for quick access once we find out what we're having. i have about 8 or more large bags of clothing to sort through as well as some (probably another 8 in various sizes) previously organized boxes. i'm not sure when/how to tackle it, but it would probably help if my kids were not needing my attention for a few hours, and i had the energy during that time. i'm hoping to weed out the items i dont want to keep at that time and then i can donate them. once i have all the clothes organized by age/sex then i can store the 6 months + ones back at my parents house.

we had a very great weekend with derek getting stuff organized around the house and yard. we picked up a new bedframe so that we could use the space under the bed for storage (joanna's suggestion). i need to store a few large baby items that i dont need until the baby is older (ie. exersaucer) and just some major reorganizing of our storage closet (to get alot of junk: tool boxes, sewing machine, climbing bags, instruments, etc.) out of our room. unfortunately there will be some heavy lifting so i'll have to really try to hold myself back from doing all that myself.

derek also did some work on our front yard retaining wall. once thats done, he will build a fence for the front yard and then he will get working on deconstructing the back yard (which includes tear down of our deck, levelling the hill, and then rebuilding fencing, decks (one for the hot tub), shed, etc.).

The Abbotsford Airshow

Derek's boss took us and the work crew to the airshow as a work party. we met at McDonald's early in the morning and he bought us breakfast, then we continued on together to the airshow. we were there from about 9am to 4pm.

the kids did amazing considering the heat and lack of excitement at times. they were more interested in walking around looking at the planes than watching them fly.

diedre in the news helicopter

inside the people moving aircraft

our shady spot

i was well prepared with water and some fresh fruit and snacks for us. it was very hot for me, but i kept an umbrella over me at all times. ezekiel had a short nap in the stroller. then my umbrella blew inside out so we got ready to leave.

more pictures here

dinnertime

zeke looks so cute here! i had to capture it
and diedre looks lovely.

saying "please" to wanting to get out of the high chair

show off the hands

i think this is the first dinner that he has EVER asked for "more please" and he ate lots of meat (it was just ground beef in a red pasta sauce). he is usually not much of a meat eater.

i used to make pasta with the same red sauce and i'd always serve it with whole wheat bow ties, spiral or penne pasta and the kids would barely eat any. so i started serving either whole wheat spaghetti, spaghettini, or linguine and they eat and eat and eat! much better! i guess its more fun to eat those.

today

so sweet. she picked out her entire outfit.

so in style with the hairband and ponytail.

zeke waiting in the doctor's office.

we went to visit my friend Leah and her boys. she is due one week before me.

more preggy shots


no kids in this one! ha ha

diedre really wanted to be in pictures today


this was my favourite one of diedre.
we took ALOT of pictures of the kids jumping. Click here to see our jumping beans!

day out in white rock

the kids and i went out to hang out with the mellengers' in white rock while derek went on his first alpine climbing experience.

playing in the sandbox

cuddling their babies

throwing rocks into the ocean. "lookout! zeke has a big rock!"

more pictures here!

33 weeks pregnant

pregnancy 3
august 2 2008
33 weeks

well i think from my picture that the baby may have dropped slightly and that it has also plumped up a bit. so although baby dropping would help give more room for my stomach, the plumpness ends up leaving me in about the same position. i am definitely experiencing more heartburn which helps curtail late night eating and even overeating because it actually makes me feel quite terrible.

according to my pregnancy newsletter, baby is about 4lbs now and will gain a half pound per week until birth. diedre was 7 lbs 10 oz (at 2 days late) and ezekiel was 7lbs 11oz (and 10 days late!) so i'm hoping this baby will follow suit and not get super huge!

now that i've had my steak and lobster, i'm ready to get down to business with nesting. i really need to give away this large carpet thats been under ezekiel's crib and change table (it goes the length of his room) so i can get his room organized. we are also probably going to lend out our change table and set up a change station in the bathroom and living room. this will also allow for more room in ezekiel's room.

i spoke with a lady who knows she's having a girl (due 2 weeks before me) and she said that she's been buying girl clothes like crazy so the ultrasound had better be right. she said thats just part of being pregnant for her. i think for me, since i dont know what we are having, that it makes me want to buy more for diedre and ezekiel now.
so waiting in the wings, i've got:
-a crayola craft tub ($15 at Walmart--several crayola products that are sort of the next step up from crayons)
-a workman's hardhat with light (home depot for kids)
-a dr.'s set (it was on sale for $4 at Toys R Us)
-a Diego (which ezekiel calls "backpack") organization set (basket, hamper and hanging toy thingy--$12 at Walmart, regularly $20) for ezekiel's room (i plan to get rid of his toy box, change table, and this other coat hanging wardrobe thing, and use a few smaller items to organize things).

so some of these things (like maybe the craft tub) could be a gift from the new baby. i also really want to get zeke his own baby (since diedre is very possessive of her babies, she will let him play with them but they are definitely HERS). we already have 4 babies in the house so i think i should probably just pass on that idea and teach him that he can help care for the babies that are already here.

i had also ordered a toy Home Depot chainsaw, but then remembered that derek can buy a toy Stihl chainsaw for kids from the saw shop and he definitely wants that for zeke over a Home Depot brand one. so now i have to return that to Toys R Us.

i kind of like to stockpile gifts (as long as i dont forget) so that i have them ready for Christmas time and birthdays, however, that did kind of backfire last year. derek didnt want to give the gifts i had picked and he wanted to go shopping with me...which makes total sense, i was just trying to be prepared.

Going to Ontario

my parents are leaving for a trip to Ontario tomorrow.

so we went over for a quick visit today. They plan to take their time and drive there this next week. They could be gone for up to a month so i wanted to make sure to get some visiting in before they went.

what up, dawg?

zeke really loves sparky

admiring his pet

bowing to the master

"good dog!"