Our 1st class!

Our first class went fairly well, the room was full with about 15 couples (30 people) - most of them were our age except for one couple, the guy looked old enough to be my Dad!! And his partner didn't seem much younger, they looked like they were in their mid forties!! We started out playing this "Bingo" game that was really just to get us talking to all the other couples cause we never did win anything for having a line or full card!! ;) After that we watched a movie that wasn't too graphic, it showed us exactly what your body goes through in order to give birth - like how this baby needs to fit through your pelvic bones and how the bones expand!! The more I watched and listened to the lady the more freaked out I got!! :o So I guess things haven't changed too much in the years cause the movie we watched looked like it was made the year I was born!! The movie also talked about different positions you could use to relieve some pain or "discomfort" you might be having! Then we got to try out all the different positions, I think my favorite one was where I lean on the wall with my arms up and hubby rubs my back!! ;) We also got to listen to a relaxation tape while laying on these mats - it was OK but the lady talking on the tape had too much saliva and you could hear every time she swallowed .... it was kinda distracting! Next week we need to bring our pillows, the 3rd week we get to tour the hospital but since I will hopefully not be giving birth at this hospital we may skip this tour or just go for half the class, and the last week is breast feeding week so we need to bring a teddy bear.

Weekend went way too fast!

Well the weekend was a good one but it seemed way too short, I seriously woke up this morning wondering why my alarm was going off .... I could have sworn it was Sunday! ?!

Friday night we ended up going over to a friends house, it was a nice visit but everyone there was a smoker and after hanging out for four hours in the tiny apartment that was full of smoke I started to feel quite sick, we ended up getting home around 1:30am.

The bowling banquet was Saturday night so I didn't do too much during the day and hubby was out at the track getting it "race ready". I wasn't very happy with the banquet, a few years ago when my FIL was treasurer we voted to change the order prizes were handed out and that we should do all the team prizes before the high single prizes. This worked out good cause then people that were really good bowlers didn't end up with 5 prizes before the not so good teams even got one prize! This year however they went back to the old way of handing out all the personal prizes first then the playoff prizes so by the time our team went up to pick prizes there wasn't very much left and we had crap to pick from! I feel riped off cause I paid $72 to bowl for the year (the same as everyone else) but since our team didn't do very well the prize I got was a pasta bowl set that I will never use and a $10 gift card for IGA and hubby ended up with vases, a ice bucket and some wine glasses!! :( I wish they would have kept the order the same as last year, and we thought that the lady in charge grouped too many prizes so when you got your prize you might have ended up with 3 like my hubby cause she considered that one prize! ? If she would have left them separate then maybe I would have had more of a selection to chose from or a better chance of getting a "door prize" !? It just made me really angry that we paid $144 for a $20 meal and two $30 prizes, I probably wouldn't be as angry if the prize was something I wanted or could use!? As for the meal, it was OK - lots of carbs which normally would be bad but since it's really the only thing that I can have it turned out OK! There was buns (of course), 2 salads (cesar and pasta), a pickle and cheese tray, perogies, cabbage rolls, mashed potatoes, roast beef, roast chicken and mixed veggies. I was also angry that we had to pay for pop and water!! Most event now a day's try to promote safe driving and let the designated drivers have pop or water for free!! I think we should have raised enough money through the year to pay for a couple pops and if we didn't then they should have raised the price of booze by $0.50 to cover the cost!! O -- and the lady in charge of buying prizes apparently spent money of her own so she set up a 50/50 draw so that she could get her money back!! I think this is BS ~ it's not my fault she spent too much money, she was treasurer and should have been keeping better track of the books and known how much money was in the bank! I think she just did it to give herself a wage for the season .... needless to say we didn't buy any 50/50 tickets! If it's the same people in charge next year, I'm not bowling!

Saturday night after the banquet we were going to go over to a friends house to celebrate his birthday but he ended up going out of town so we stayed home. Sunday hubby went back to the track to try and get things ready for this weekend and I stayed home to clean. I forgot to mention that on Saturday I made some more dog cookies - the hamburger ones this time! She seems to really like them and they don't seem to give her as much gas as the pea/ garlic cookies did! ;) Tonight we have our first prenatal class, I'm not sure what to expect, I really don't want to pretend to be going through labor practicing my breathing skills around all these strangers so hopefully we won't be doing that!?

31 week doctor appt

My doctor appointment yesterday was awesome! I left work at 12:30 for my 1:20 appointment cause it is kinda a long drive and you never know how traffic or the roads are, yesterday they happened to be good cause I got to my appt at 1:05!! I'm sure that's record time!? The parking lot at the office was completely empty which was very odd, usually I have to search for a parking spot that is a good hike away! So I get to the office and tell them I'm there, I go do my thing (pee in a cup ~ negative protein and sugar) and before I could sit down they tell me to go to the blood pressure machine (123/68 ~ not bad) and right after that I go get weighed (gained 2lbs ~ not bad). Usually after I do all these things I have to go back to the waiting room to wait for an examining room but yesterday I went straight into one after I got weighed and before I could even put my shoes back on the doctor walked in!! I was amazed at how things just clicked along, no waiting in the room, it was great. As I mentioned before my regular doctor is on holidays so this time I had to see a new doctor ~ he was awesome!!! I kinda wish I could change my doctor and see him from now on!! When I was younger I always shy'd away from the male doctors but now I'm thinking I was wrong by judging them before trying one?! So anyway ..... he walks in the room and asks how I am, mentions how I'm 31 weeks along and how he noticed in my chart how I was having problems with my gallbladder and how things were going with that. It was amazing that he was just the doctor filling in but yet seemed to care and know so much about me - like he actually looked up my history before seeing me! Not even my regular doctor can remember what week I'm at! ? He told me I measure at 32cm which is just over the 50% (if your 31 weeks you should be 31cm pelvic to top of uterus) so I'm close, babies heart beat was 140bpm (as usual) and he felt where the baby was (he figures head down !!). I was surprised to hear that baby is already head down and this was the first time the doctor told me what I measured. He was really nice and the best part was that I was out of the office before my appt was even suppose to start!! In my car by 1:18 and I didn't feel like he rushed me out it just went really smooth and there was no problems!! So I after the appt I went to visit one of my girlfriends that lives out there, stayed a little longer then planned but we had lots to talk about (I haven't seen her in quite a while) so I didn't get home till 5:30 but it was a good day!

Surgery scheduled

Well I got to leave work early yesterday for my doctor appointment with the surgeon. The appointment went well, the doctor seems really nice, she explained the surgery to me and we scheduled it for August 14th! She figured it would be best if I waited a month after baby was born to have the surgery and honestly I have no idea!? I've never had a kid before, I don't know how I'm going to feel!? So she also let me know that even though it is "day surgery" I will probably be away from baby for most of the day so if I'm breast feeding I will need to prepare for that! There was a 1 in 200 chance that something might happen and she may have to open me up like how they used to remove the gallbladder and if this were too happen I would be spending a few nights in the hospital. If I spend a few days in the hospital and also want my baby there with me she said that I also have to ask someone else to be there too! When ever baby is at the hospital someone has to be responsible for it besides me .. just in case! ? Which makes sense, the nurses aren't paid to be baby sitters! So I get to leave early again today for another doctor appointment, this on is in St.Albert so I have to leave extra early to get there. It should be a fairly fast appt, I don't have many concerns except that I have been experiencing some cramping lately. I'm sure it's probably just braxton hicks or baby making room but they sure are a pain! I didn't sleep so well last night, it was like at 1:30am I just woke up and didn't feel tired anymore!? Like 3 hours of sleep was enough!!??! So I got up and had a glass of milk and tried to fall back asleep, eventually I did.

I still need to do the hospital tour thing and I think pre-register (I'm not sure if my hospital does that or not?), so maybe on my next appointment I will also book a tour?! The basement seems to be going fairly well now, thanks to FIL! It doesn't feel like there is too much left to do down there before we can move furniture around but if I actually wrote down all the things that still need to be done ... there is a lot left too do!! I'm hoping that by mid May we will be working on the baby room!?

Winter's back !!

Winter is back with a vengeance! I think we got more snow this weekend then we have all winter! It's amazing to think that last weekend we were outside racking leaves and trimming the hedge and this weekend hubby was outside in his insulated coveralls shoveling knee deep snow!!! :o So needless to say this weekend was pretty uneventful, I stayed in the house cleaning and baking cookies and hubby went to the car show for 7 hours!!! Thank goodness the FIL came over on Sunday to help on the basement or it probably wouldn't be much further along then it was last weekend~! FIL mudded all the walls (the first coat) and it probably needs one more coat then hubby can put some primer on the walls. Racing was suppose to start this weekend coming up but with all the snow we just got I don't think it's going to happen, which could be a good thing cause we also have our bowling banquet so maybe now hubby can work more on the basement .... if racing is cancelled! ?

I have two doctors appointments this week, one on Wednesday with the gallbladder surgeon (kinda like a consultation I think?) and one on Thursday for my 31 week appointment except that my doctor took two weeks off to go to Cuba so I have to see a different doctor - one I've never seen before ?! I finally got our personal taxes done on the weekend and I must say I am quite happy with our return!! :) Hopefully the tax program figured everything out properly!!

Last night of bowling! :)

Tonight is the last night of bowling!! :> I'm very excited about that!! It seems like the end is just in time, I am starting to feel more tired after work then I have before and just taking the dog for a quick walk seems to be such a chore most nights! I do give myself credit though for lasting the whole season, there were two other ladies that got pregnant during the bowling year and both of them quit ~ said it was too hard?! Next weekend is our banquet where we will receive bowling prizes and awards for high scores, I don't think our team will do as good as last year (last year we won the big trophy and got to pick our prizes first!) but it was still nice to have a night out during the winter months. I'm a little concerned with going to the banquet only because we also get a meal and I won't know how the food was cooked, I'm worried that I might be stuck eating only salads?

I am starting to get more uncomfortable, I have pains in my sides at night (especially when my bladder is full) I figure it's cause baby has no room to move and it puts pressure on all everything else!? I have a kink in my neck, probably cause I am only sleeping on my left side ~ it seems to be the most comfortable and supposedly the best for baby and me!? I find it hard to believe that I used to be 50lbs heavier then I am now and I find things to be difficult now! ? I can't even fathom being that heavy again? Everything seems to take so much more energy now, I find myself trying to catch my breath more often then before and the sad part is that I'm probably not even at my biggest yet! ? I keep thinking that as long as my rings still fit I must be doing OK - cause that means that most/ all the weight is going to the places it should be?!

I must also mention that the Dairy Queen commercials for their new "Tin roof blizzard" is driving me absolutely batty!! hmmmm .... it looks soooo good and I can't wait to be able to eat one after my gallbladder is out!! ;) I think this is at the top of my must have list!! ;)

More Pics ...

Before:

21 Weeks:
29 Weeks:

Front view - Before:

Present - 29 weeks:

I suppose looking at all the pics now I don't think it's too bad, at first when I compared my 21 week pic to the 29 week pic I was amazed at how much bigger I was but now I don't think it's so bad? Maybe I'm just used to looking at it? I would have to say that about 90% of people I know say I look small for 29 weeks and only about 10% say I look big? I have been looking at other ladies pics on one of the forums I go to regularly and think that some of them are about the same size, some are way smaller and some are really big! But for the most part I think I'm the same size as most of them and weight wise I have gained the same as most of the ladies too. I can't believe I have to go back to the doctor again next week, it feels like I was just there! ? I don't know why you have to go so often at this stage, I can't imagine anything changing? Although I did jump on the scale this morning and found out that I have lost 2lbs! ?

Weekend review ....

Well we had a fairly busy weekend and I know I didn't get my belly pic posted .... hopefully tonight! ;) Instead we had friends over on Friday night, Saturday we had a meeting at the race track with all the employees that are returning. It was nice to see our "summer" friends again and of course everyone was curious to see just how big I am, they haven't seen me since we made our announcement and I wasn't even showing yet! The meeting lasted a lot longer then I thought it was going to be, all the boys ended up getting put to work while the girls stood around and talked! ;) By the time we left it was almost 2 and I was starving so we went for lunch with everyone and didn't get home till close to 4pm!! Sunday I managed to get some of my housework done but since it was so nice out I decided to leave my indoor chores and do stuff outside. I cleaned my car, inside and out, did a little racking, went for a haircut and went shopping to Costco and the bookstore. I picked up a baby name book so we can finally maybe get one picked out? And I picked up "Life Laughs" by Jenny McCartney ~ the same author as "Belly Laughs", it was on sale for $5.00 and I really liked the other book so I figured I couldn't go wrong! ;)

5 pin bowling ~ playoffs

Last night was the first night of playoffs and we didn't do too well. I think we are in last place, not that it's a huge deal to me, I don't really care what place I come in but it is nice to be able to pick your prize before all the good ones are gone!? I'm not really a competitive type person when it comes to sports, I remember when I was younger and involved in Judo I would just stand there and wait for the other competitor to make the first move. After all my parents always taught me that it's not nice to throw the first punch! ;) And of course I would get my butt kicked and never win! :( Except at one tournament .... I actually one .... 3rd place!! I was so excited until my brother informed me that there were only 3 girls in my weight category ~ therefor winning by default! But I still have that 3rd place trophy and still believe that I 'won' it~! ;) So anyway, there is only one more week left of bowling (thankfully), then the following week is our bowling banquet and the weekend after that is racing!! Not even one week off.... I'm still uncertain if I am going to be working at the track, the extra money is always nice especially since it is kinda under the table and it won't affect my mat. pay. But then I think about leaving my newborn baby only weeks old for 8 + hours and wonder if I will be able too, I will hopefully still be breast feeding then and I know that baby will be hungry every three hours or so and being a first time mom (which have been known to have a little separation anxiety issues) .... I'm just not sure!?

I got hubby to take a pic of me yesterday so now all I need to do is get it on the computer!! :) I was comparing my 21 week pic to this one (29 weeks) and I am amazed at the size difference! Hopefully you will get to see them this weekend!? ;)

**** I forgot to mention yesterday that I am not Rh-, the doctor informed me that I am A+ blood type which I had no idea and just kinda assumed I was O (one of the more common ones) and I think hubby is A- so everything is good for the Rh factor! :) ****

28 week doctor appointment

The doctor appointment went good yesterday, I invited my mom to come with me to hear the heartbeat so I picked her up on my way. The doctor was actually somewhat on time, the nurse took my BP (117/68), weight and made sure there was no protein or sugar in my urine. Everything checked out good, baby is measuring right where it should be and the doctor says my weight and size is also right where it should be! :) Guess I'm not a cow after all!? I will try really hard this weekend to post comparison pics and you can decided for yourself! ;) Since the doctor was running somewhat on time I actually got home at a decent time even with dropping my mom off at home so hubby and I went out for dinner to Chili's. I am now on a every two week doctor visit schedule so I can only imagine that the time will fly by even faster now!! I asked yesterday and she said that they don't do pelvics until you are at about 35 weeks and then at 38 weeks they check again. So as I was entering my next two appointments into my phone I realised just how close this baby is about to arrive and we still DON'T have a name!!! :o I could honestly care less if the baby room is done or not it's not like baby is going to know that it's crib is in the office instead of it's bedroom for the first week or so!? But a name is a little more important and it isn't something you should just think of on a whim?!

New stove ...... almost!?

I almost got myself a new stove last night!~! On the way home from work I decided I wanted to make homemade pizza for supper (since that is the only way I can really have pizza right now) so as I started to decorate the pita bread with all the different veggies I realized I hadn't turned the oven on yet. So I went to preheat it, I turn the nob (as usual) and pushed a button to set the temperature .... the stove beeped twice at me - which isn't normal and then the clock part froze up .... I couldn't set the temperature!? So what is a starving pregnant lady to do? First I call hubby, tell him I broke the stove and that he is the "fixer" and needs to fix it if he wants supper. He asks what I did and why!? WTH ?? Like I did this on purpose .... I'm starving and really want pizza! ?! ;) Now maybe if I was just doing cookies or something !? he he He went downstairs and played with the fuse box, pulled some fuses out of the back of the top of the stove that I didn't even know existed!? But to no avail ... nothing worked! I was just about to suggest we go shopping when I fiddled with the nobs, set the time (cause the blinking was driving me nuts) and to my surprise it was working! So good news is that we got to have homemade pizza for supper but bad news is that I have to wait a little longer for my new stove! :(

I get to leave early today, probably around 2pm for my doctor appointment at 3 in St.Albert. Although even though I get to leave early I probably still won't get home till 5 or later!? I think this is the last 'simple' doctors appointment, my next one will probably involve a pelvic exam as well!? I will also find out today if I passed my diabetes's test, which I can only assume I did cause I did that test like 2 weeks ago and never got a phone call!?

Back to work~!

Well I'm back to work after what felt like a pretty short weekend. Nothing too exciting happened this weekend, we were suppose to have a meeting at the race track Saturday night but we woke up Sat morning to a foot of snow so the track manager cancelled the meeting and moved it to next weekend. I ended up doing some baking instead on Sat, banana muffins for me and pea cookies for the dog! ;) She likes them, I think next weekend I might make some meat cookies for her (I need to use up some old hamburger in the freezer) - the only problem was that I don't seem to own a rolling pin so I had to use a wine bottle instead!? he he Sunday we went visiting and then we had my girlfriends son's 2nd birthday party, it was fun ~ he seemed to know that the gifts were for him and seemed more interested in unwrapping them this year! :) It was also nice to see some people at the party that I haven't seen for a while. When we got home I decided to make a batch of soup for my lunches, black bean and ham soup, it's not bad but I don't think I will make it again!? I liked the chicken noodle soup I made a lot more and think I will stick to that recipe!? So really that's about all that happened this weekend. I have a doctor appointment tomorrow, my 28 week appointment!! I can't believe I'm already in my 29th week and that I only have about 10 weeks left of work!!! :O

Baby is growing!

Woke up this morning to hubby telling me that it looks like my tummy has grown over night!! :o I actually think so too ~ for the last few days I have been feeling like my stomach was stretching and I was more hungry then usual yesterday. I feel like I'm big enough already but I realize that I am bound to get bigger still! I weighed in the other day at 201, so I have officially passed the 200 mark (which I knew I would) and I still weigh less then I did last year before I lost all the weight but I feel bigger then I was before?! I can't even imagine what I would weigh if I was able to eat whatever I wanted and not have to watch my fat intake! I think these gallstones might actually be keeping me somewhat on track! ;) Speaking of gallstones .... I have an appointment with the surgeon at the end of this month, just to get the ball rolling so that hopefully I won't have to wait too long after baby is born to have it removed!? I also have my 28 week doctor appointment next week (on Tuesday), this will be my last appointment on the four week interval ~ after this appointment it will be every two weeks!!! :o I can't believe I'm already at this point in the pregnancy!! On one of the pregnancy forums I visit regularly there are people posting that they have already had their babies - and they are on the June DDC (due date club)!! So I guess anything is possible, ideally we want to keep baby baking for at least another 10 weeks but I guess you just never know!? And plus we still don't have any names picked out so if we don't think about that soon we will end up calling it "Baby" forever!!!! ;)

Spring has sprung

Well spring has sprung .... at least in my garden it has! My tulips are coming through the soil and sprouting!! How exciting, and they look like they are in better shape then last year!? There seems to be more bulbs then last year so hopefully they will do a little better!? I would like to do some transplanting this year, I never got a chance to do last year but this year I should have lots of time in the fall to do yard work! ;) I want to move my Peony to a more sunny location in hopes that it may bloom, the plant is in good shape where it's at but just doesn't bloom so I suspect that it's because it is hidden behind our hedge and doesn't get enough sun ? I would really like to redo my entire front garden bed, I didn't really know much about planting when I planted all my bulbs and I didn't do them properly, plus when we put the soil in the bed we never put plastic under the dirt so I'm constantly pulling weeds and grass out! ? This will be my fall project, by then baby will be about 3 months old so baby can hang out in the stroller outside getting some fresh air while I work away at the garden! :)

I feel much better today, got my regular 8 hours of sleep last night so I feel refreshed! Plus after supper and taking the dog for a walk I had a nice bath to relax, it worked! ;) Hubby made more beef jerky last night, it was really good last time he made some but I think the slices were a little too thin so they weren't that chewy. This time he cut the pieces a little thicker so they should be more jerky like! ;) I'm suppose to go for lunch today with one of our customers, it's kinda awkward cause he is pissed off at out sales rep right now, so I feel like this lunch could either convince him to come back or send him to the competition? This weekend we have a meeting with the race track staff, I'm not sure if I will be attending or not? I probably will ~ it will be the same as last year .... a bunch of talk but no actions!? We also have a birthday party to attend this weekend ~ should be fun! ;)