When I went into labour with Ella, I KNEW that I was in labour. From the time it started to the time it finished was 13.5 hours and I had my wonderful little girl in the world. This baby has given us a whole other plan.
Almost two weeks ago now (When I was 38 weeks) I started to have contractions at 10:30 on Tuesday Novemeber 23. By 2am my contractions were every three minutes lasting for 30 to 70 seconds each time. Matt called my mom to come over while Ella was asleep. We were tired, I had had maybe two hours of sleep, but excited, we were going to meet our little baby! Or at least we thought that we were. The resident and the nurse come in to see how things are moving along, only to tell me that I am 2cms dialated. By 9am that morning my Dr came in to check and see how things were going to tell us that I was still at 2cms. So off we went home, and the contractions stopped completely. Alright, I'm only at 38 weeks, baby is just still cooking. I was told I could end up there in a couple of hours or it could take a few days, or a week. When it comes to things like this I hate the uncertainty!
A week goes by, mostly I had just been feeling crampy, like when its that time of the month. Monday night into Tuesday morning (Novemeber 30th) contractions pick up again. They feel a lot stronger than the week before and are now 2 minutes apart lasting around 30 to 50 seconds each time. By 5am we once again call my mom to come over and think "This is it!" Again, I am hooked up to the monitors and the resident Dr and nurse come in to check me. After nearly 13 hours of contractions they tell me that I am still only 2cms! I just about started crying! We decide then that we will go back home and see how the day goes. I had a scheduled Drs appointment for that afternoon, so no point in him coming to the hospital to check me there, I would see him later.
The afternoon gets here and Matt and I leave for the Drs office. He does a check, still 2cms, and then does a membrane stripping. As uncomfortable as that is I was welcoming it. Hopefully that will move things along. He tells me to book an appointment for Friday or Monday, suggesting that I wont need the appointment but that if I don't book it I will need it, you know, Murphy's law.
I booked for Friday, I hate waiting.
He also offered that if I want to be induced that he wouldn't take it off the table, but that he would prefer that I wait until at least after my due date. The baby is fine, he is just worried now that I am tired and how it will affect me. Yes, I am tired but waiting sounds like the better option for our little baby.
Today is Friday. Since my appointment there have been a few changes, like loss of plug. No contractions have resumed though. And I am just very tired! I'm really hoping that something happens today, though I'm sure I will be saying that everyday until something DOES happen.
I'll have to update later after my appointment. :)
I think for me right now the thing that freaks me out the most is my water randomly breaking. That didn't happen with Ella, it broke at 10cms in the hospital. And while that freaks me out, I'd wish it would happen so at least I know then that this baby will be here and I wont get sent home from the hospital a third time!
Post written December 3 2010 moved from previous blog
Friday, April 29, 2011
The Count Down is On!
Alright, so I have been counting down since I got pregnant, you know with my pregnancy ticker and all, but now my due date is only 2 weeks away!
Most days lately I am just exhausted. My whole body aches all over and the amount of pressure this baby is putting in places, well its not a comfortable feeling! Suddenly today I have this burst of energy! I've been cleaning, doing laundry, baking and all with a sick toddler on top of it. I've been shopping for Christmas and everything in that department is pretty well done, our tree is up and now its time to get wrapping! I'm sure I'd have my Christmas cards finished and sent out already too but I'm waiting to send those once I know what this baby's name is!
It is really strange that suddenly I am starting to relax. While most women are going into panic mode about their baby's arrival I am patiently welcoming it. There are still things that I need to do, like pack my hospital bag and the baby's bag, and a bag for DD for wherever she ends up (its going to be a call the grandparents and whoever is avliable first will take her kind of deal.) Maybe my being so panicked before is what is giving me a more calm sense now.
While my urgency is lessening, Matt's seems to be increasing. He's now worrying about how much work he has to do at work and is wanting to stay late to get it all done. All of those things I had been asking about before were suddenly done in a weekend. He's now saying things like " it could be any day and a baby could be sleeping in that bassinett."
Really now its all a waiting game... I can't wait to meet this little person that I already love so much!
Post written November 23 2010 moved from previous blog
Most days lately I am just exhausted. My whole body aches all over and the amount of pressure this baby is putting in places, well its not a comfortable feeling! Suddenly today I have this burst of energy! I've been cleaning, doing laundry, baking and all with a sick toddler on top of it. I've been shopping for Christmas and everything in that department is pretty well done, our tree is up and now its time to get wrapping! I'm sure I'd have my Christmas cards finished and sent out already too but I'm waiting to send those once I know what this baby's name is!
It is really strange that suddenly I am starting to relax. While most women are going into panic mode about their baby's arrival I am patiently welcoming it. There are still things that I need to do, like pack my hospital bag and the baby's bag, and a bag for DD for wherever she ends up (its going to be a call the grandparents and whoever is avliable first will take her kind of deal.) Maybe my being so panicked before is what is giving me a more calm sense now.
While my urgency is lessening, Matt's seems to be increasing. He's now worrying about how much work he has to do at work and is wanting to stay late to get it all done. All of those things I had been asking about before were suddenly done in a weekend. He's now saying things like " it could be any day and a baby could be sleeping in that bassinett."
Really now its all a waiting game... I can't wait to meet this little person that I already love so much!
Post written November 23 2010 moved from previous blog
Potty Training and Diapers
When Ella was only 18 months old I was out at Toys R Us and decided, I was going to get her a potty. I can't remember why I then decided I was going to get her one, I think it had something to do with my having a gift card. Originally I was there getting her a new True Fit carseat, (the previous one had been in an accident) which I did get. Anyhow, I brought that potty home and in two days she used it four times. Now was she ready to use the potty then? Maybe. We never really pushed it though. At the time it was more of a novelty for her to sit on it while watching Elmo than understanding that she was going on the potty.
When she turned two I decided to try it a bit more with her. For a few months she would get SO upset anytime I even mentioned the potty. Naturally, when I would go to the washroom she would come with me (I mean what mom goes to the bathroom by themselves anymore?!) and she would want to sit on her potty but wouldn't ever "go."
All I kept on hearing from other people was "You want her potty trained before that baby gets here!" I thought 'Well, sure that would be nice, only one kid in diapers' but I wasn't going to pressure her. This had to be something that SHE wanted to do. The more you pressure a kid about something like this the less likely they are going to do it I find. And who was to say that she even <em>knew</em> that she needed to use the potty yet? Some kids take a long time to grasp that understanding of "I have to go!"
Almost three weeks ago now Ella comes to me (it was a Tuesday) and tells me that she wants to use the potty. I then roll my eyes and say alright. I have heard this "I want to use the potty" line many times and nothing happens. Are you ever going to say no to them? Absolutely not! It could be that time that they actually use the potty, which in this case, it was! I called this Day one. She spent the rest of the day in panties, wet each and every pair that I put on her, but I wasn't worried about that. I just kept her off any carpet!
Day two rolls around. She gets up and I put her in panties. I have training pants here but I'm not a fan of them. Any time I had asked her about them before she just thought that she was going swimming. I can't say I blame her, Pull ups are exactly the same thing as those little swimmers that we would put on her to take her to swimming lessons. To my surprise she had 4 misses and 4 hits that day! I was so proud of her!
I should mention, I have never seen a kid so hard on themself when they have an accident. Many kids are just like "oh my pants are wet" or they don't even notice. Ella would wet herself and just start bawling! I had to reassure her that it was okay to have an accident, that she was learning, that I wasn't mad at her and that this was something we could easily clean up. That being said, her attitude when she went on the potty was the completely the same, only in a good way. She would get so excited! She'd have to call Daddy at work, then call Grandma at work. She wanted the whole world to know what a big girl she was!
Day three was a step backwards. She wasn't feeling well, we had 12 kids in the house from the construction of the park, so I let her wear a diaper that day. She still wound up using the potty, but only once. By the time Monday rolled around she wore her panties the whole day and did not have a single accident. That was almost two weeks ago and she has not had an accident since.
Everyone keeps asking me how I did it. I just tell them that it wasn't me, it was all her. Other than being there for her to take her to the bathroom and being patient and comforting when she had an accident, I had nothing to do with this! She knew when she was ready and she let us know. I know all kids aren't going to be like that, some are going to take a lot of work to help along, but I really think that waiting until they are ready and not pushing them is the key component.
Even with the baby on the way I can now say that I will never have to buy diapers again. We just purchased 36 KaWaii pocket diapers. This is one of those situations where I can easily say "I wish I knew then, what I know now." We just spent over the last two years buying disposable diapers, and in two ebay auctions I now have enough diapers to get this little babe through the next two years! Live and let learn right?! I had Matt convinced when I showed him the numbers more than anything. Using a diaper calculator on diaperpin.com, I discovered that in a year and a half we would save $1100!
The diapers arrived in the mail yesterday, and I have never been so excited about a diaper in my entire life! They are even more beautiful in person than they are in the picture! And oh so soft! The humor of my wonderful husband says " I wonder if you'll still be just as excited about them when they are covered in poop." I am sure I will be when I see them on that cute little baby bum!
Post written November 6 2010 moved from previous blog
When she turned two I decided to try it a bit more with her. For a few months she would get SO upset anytime I even mentioned the potty. Naturally, when I would go to the washroom she would come with me (I mean what mom goes to the bathroom by themselves anymore?!) and she would want to sit on her potty but wouldn't ever "go."
All I kept on hearing from other people was "You want her potty trained before that baby gets here!" I thought 'Well, sure that would be nice, only one kid in diapers' but I wasn't going to pressure her. This had to be something that SHE wanted to do. The more you pressure a kid about something like this the less likely they are going to do it I find. And who was to say that she even <em>knew</em> that she needed to use the potty yet? Some kids take a long time to grasp that understanding of "I have to go!"
Almost three weeks ago now Ella comes to me (it was a Tuesday) and tells me that she wants to use the potty. I then roll my eyes and say alright. I have heard this "I want to use the potty" line many times and nothing happens. Are you ever going to say no to them? Absolutely not! It could be that time that they actually use the potty, which in this case, it was! I called this Day one. She spent the rest of the day in panties, wet each and every pair that I put on her, but I wasn't worried about that. I just kept her off any carpet!
Day two rolls around. She gets up and I put her in panties. I have training pants here but I'm not a fan of them. Any time I had asked her about them before she just thought that she was going swimming. I can't say I blame her, Pull ups are exactly the same thing as those little swimmers that we would put on her to take her to swimming lessons. To my surprise she had 4 misses and 4 hits that day! I was so proud of her!
I should mention, I have never seen a kid so hard on themself when they have an accident. Many kids are just like "oh my pants are wet" or they don't even notice. Ella would wet herself and just start bawling! I had to reassure her that it was okay to have an accident, that she was learning, that I wasn't mad at her and that this was something we could easily clean up. That being said, her attitude when she went on the potty was the completely the same, only in a good way. She would get so excited! She'd have to call Daddy at work, then call Grandma at work. She wanted the whole world to know what a big girl she was!
Day three was a step backwards. She wasn't feeling well, we had 12 kids in the house from the construction of the park, so I let her wear a diaper that day. She still wound up using the potty, but only once. By the time Monday rolled around she wore her panties the whole day and did not have a single accident. That was almost two weeks ago and she has not had an accident since.
Everyone keeps asking me how I did it. I just tell them that it wasn't me, it was all her. Other than being there for her to take her to the bathroom and being patient and comforting when she had an accident, I had nothing to do with this! She knew when she was ready and she let us know. I know all kids aren't going to be like that, some are going to take a lot of work to help along, but I really think that waiting until they are ready and not pushing them is the key component.
Even with the baby on the way I can now say that I will never have to buy diapers again. We just purchased 36 KaWaii pocket diapers. This is one of those situations where I can easily say "I wish I knew then, what I know now." We just spent over the last two years buying disposable diapers, and in two ebay auctions I now have enough diapers to get this little babe through the next two years! Live and let learn right?! I had Matt convinced when I showed him the numbers more than anything. Using a diaper calculator on diaperpin.com, I discovered that in a year and a half we would save $1100!
The diapers arrived in the mail yesterday, and I have never been so excited about a diaper in my entire life! They are even more beautiful in person than they are in the picture! And oh so soft! The humor of my wonderful husband says " I wonder if you'll still be just as excited about them when they are covered in poop." I am sure I will be when I see them on that cute little baby bum!
Post written November 6 2010 moved from previous blog
I've Become a Crunchy Momma!
First off maybe you don't know what I mean by my title. I'm not sure where this term ever came from, or really how to "define" the term but basically a crunchy mom is someone who; baby wears, co-sleeps, cloth diapers, extended breast feeds, cross feeds (or is not opposed to cross feeding) home schools, home births... and the list could go on. Now this isn't to say that all "crunchy" moms practice all of these things.
Realising that I have become a "Crunchy Mom"
Last night I was at a baby shower of a friend who recently had her baby (almost 2 weeks ago now) being that we are at a baby shower with a new baby a lot of discussions about babies are bound to come up. I'll explain what happened with a few of the topics.
First off we were discussing how long she was in labour, 35.5 hrs. That is a long labour! Somehow in this conversation epidurals came up. For some reason here the minute you are pregnant it seems to be assumed that you are going to get an epidural. Right now due to circumstances at the one and only hospital you can birth at in the city, you are unable to get an epidural after 12am. So people turn to me and say "what are you going to do?!" When tell them that I wasn't planning to get one anyway so its not a big deal, they look at me like my hair is on fire! Everyone has the right to their OWN choices, espeically when it comes to the birth that they want. If you chose to get an epidural than by all means, get one. My experience with having an epidural did not go over well (as I have posted about before) so this time I'm choosing not to get one. Does this mean I am crazy? Maybe to some, but to me it really doesn't.
Eventually the topic of diapers came up. My friend had sent her husband out to get diapers. I mentioned to her that if she is going to use disposables that Costco is a good place to get them based on their cost, as well as the diaper genie refills there are cheaper. (I just spent the last 27 months using disposable diapers so I have some knowledge of these things.) She mentions that she doesn't have a diaper genie but that she wants one. So I tell her that mine is for sale, with one full refill and one started fill. Again, I am given a funny look and asked "aren't you going to be using it for this baby?" By this point I almost want to stop talking but I go on and tell them since everyone seems to be waiting for an answer. "No," I respond, "I'm going to be using cloth diapers with this baby." Her mom says, "Well jeeze! We were all so excited when Pampers came out and here these women are going back to using cloth." So, then I felt the need to explain a little bit and in very nice terms. "Cloth diapers are going to save me $1100 in the next year and a half alone." Suddenly her mother shoots a look over at her like "YOU should do that!" My friend replies that she couldn't be bothered to do the cleaning and would rather spend the money, again, nothing wrong with that. Had you asked me about cloth diapers when my daughter was born I would have said the same thing, but you live and learn.
Three of the women at this party are nurses. When the baby needed to be nursed breastfeeding became the topic. These are all things that I enjoy talking about, with the right people of course. One of the nurses ends up discussing how before they said formula was better and now they are back to saying that breast milk is the best solution, and how they should just make up their minds. Thankfully she went on to say that is because of antibodies in the breast milk that aren't found in formula. So I pipe up, "right, which is just why many hospitals, including Saskatoon, are starting to promote cross nursing." One of the nurses scrunches up her face and everyone else wants to know what I mean, which then leads me to having to explain that cross nursing is when one woman nurses another's baby, or the baby is fed breast milk from a donor through use of syringe or bottle. It seemed everyone turned their nose up to this and I just didn't say anything more.
I'll be flat out honest, when I first heard of that a year or so ago, I thought probably the same thing that they all thought. I mean, I supplemented my daughter with formula. You do what you have to as a parent. I had a heck of a time trying to nurse her and by the time I decided that this was enough she was 7.5 months old and mostly on formula. But I fought as hard as I knew how at that point. I know more now than I did then about how to keep going with it, which is all a part of parenting. Parenting is never just about your child learning something its always going to be about all parties learning new things and learning about themselves. Have I now come around to the idea of cross nursing? Absolutely. I think I might feel a bit off if I was just babysitting someone else's baby for an afternoon and popped them on my breast to feed, but when it comes to babies in hospitals, adoption, or nursing children in a third world country, I am all for cross nursing and thankful that there are women out there willing to nurse or donate breast milk to other babies.
It was just at this point that I realized that I had become the crunchy granola mom. I guess my way of life and thinking had just been changing over time and I never really realized that the way I now think of things had become so green and liberal. This isn't something that happened to me over night; it is something that has happened within my own self learning and plenty of reading, over the last 2.5 years. And I am sure something that will continue to happen. I am never going to say to anyone that the way that I think is better than what they think. I might offer useful information, especially if it involves carseat or baby wearing safety. I mean lets face it, I am a mother and someone who loves ALL children, I'd hate to know that someone's child was hurt because I didn't offer the education, or repost an awesome video about being safe with your child on my facebook page.
I'm proud of all that I have learned, proud that I have become a crunchy momma. Last week I told Matt that I have really come to love this "world of mommy-hood/parenting" as I called it. Then I really had no idea that there was another term. So please don't scrutinize me like I have alien antae growing from my head, because I really love what I have learned and the person that I have become in this "world of mom!"
Post written November 4 2010 moved from previous blog
Realising that I have become a "Crunchy Mom"
Last night I was at a baby shower of a friend who recently had her baby (almost 2 weeks ago now) being that we are at a baby shower with a new baby a lot of discussions about babies are bound to come up. I'll explain what happened with a few of the topics.
First off we were discussing how long she was in labour, 35.5 hrs. That is a long labour! Somehow in this conversation epidurals came up. For some reason here the minute you are pregnant it seems to be assumed that you are going to get an epidural. Right now due to circumstances at the one and only hospital you can birth at in the city, you are unable to get an epidural after 12am. So people turn to me and say "what are you going to do?!" When tell them that I wasn't planning to get one anyway so its not a big deal, they look at me like my hair is on fire! Everyone has the right to their OWN choices, espeically when it comes to the birth that they want. If you chose to get an epidural than by all means, get one. My experience with having an epidural did not go over well (as I have posted about before) so this time I'm choosing not to get one. Does this mean I am crazy? Maybe to some, but to me it really doesn't.
Eventually the topic of diapers came up. My friend had sent her husband out to get diapers. I mentioned to her that if she is going to use disposables that Costco is a good place to get them based on their cost, as well as the diaper genie refills there are cheaper. (I just spent the last 27 months using disposable diapers so I have some knowledge of these things.) She mentions that she doesn't have a diaper genie but that she wants one. So I tell her that mine is for sale, with one full refill and one started fill. Again, I am given a funny look and asked "aren't you going to be using it for this baby?" By this point I almost want to stop talking but I go on and tell them since everyone seems to be waiting for an answer. "No," I respond, "I'm going to be using cloth diapers with this baby." Her mom says, "Well jeeze! We were all so excited when Pampers came out and here these women are going back to using cloth." So, then I felt the need to explain a little bit and in very nice terms. "Cloth diapers are going to save me $1100 in the next year and a half alone." Suddenly her mother shoots a look over at her like "YOU should do that!" My friend replies that she couldn't be bothered to do the cleaning and would rather spend the money, again, nothing wrong with that. Had you asked me about cloth diapers when my daughter was born I would have said the same thing, but you live and learn.
Three of the women at this party are nurses. When the baby needed to be nursed breastfeeding became the topic. These are all things that I enjoy talking about, with the right people of course. One of the nurses ends up discussing how before they said formula was better and now they are back to saying that breast milk is the best solution, and how they should just make up their minds. Thankfully she went on to say that is because of antibodies in the breast milk that aren't found in formula. So I pipe up, "right, which is just why many hospitals, including Saskatoon, are starting to promote cross nursing." One of the nurses scrunches up her face and everyone else wants to know what I mean, which then leads me to having to explain that cross nursing is when one woman nurses another's baby, or the baby is fed breast milk from a donor through use of syringe or bottle. It seemed everyone turned their nose up to this and I just didn't say anything more.
I'll be flat out honest, when I first heard of that a year or so ago, I thought probably the same thing that they all thought. I mean, I supplemented my daughter with formula. You do what you have to as a parent. I had a heck of a time trying to nurse her and by the time I decided that this was enough she was 7.5 months old and mostly on formula. But I fought as hard as I knew how at that point. I know more now than I did then about how to keep going with it, which is all a part of parenting. Parenting is never just about your child learning something its always going to be about all parties learning new things and learning about themselves. Have I now come around to the idea of cross nursing? Absolutely. I think I might feel a bit off if I was just babysitting someone else's baby for an afternoon and popped them on my breast to feed, but when it comes to babies in hospitals, adoption, or nursing children in a third world country, I am all for cross nursing and thankful that there are women out there willing to nurse or donate breast milk to other babies.
It was just at this point that I realized that I had become the crunchy granola mom. I guess my way of life and thinking had just been changing over time and I never really realized that the way I now think of things had become so green and liberal. This isn't something that happened to me over night; it is something that has happened within my own self learning and plenty of reading, over the last 2.5 years. And I am sure something that will continue to happen. I am never going to say to anyone that the way that I think is better than what they think. I might offer useful information, especially if it involves carseat or baby wearing safety. I mean lets face it, I am a mother and someone who loves ALL children, I'd hate to know that someone's child was hurt because I didn't offer the education, or repost an awesome video about being safe with your child on my facebook page.
I'm proud of all that I have learned, proud that I have become a crunchy momma. Last week I told Matt that I have really come to love this "world of mommy-hood/parenting" as I called it. Then I really had no idea that there was another term. So please don't scrutinize me like I have alien antae growing from my head, because I really love what I have learned and the person that I have become in this "world of mom!"
Post written November 4 2010 moved from previous blog
Community Feeling
This past year a group of moms and dads in our community decided that it would be a good idea to start up a community group to help fund a new park. Little did they know that group would end up doing more than just helping fund a park! When the message was sent out that this group was going to be starting I really wanted to join but I wasn't sure at the time if we were going to be moving or not. Now that I know we aren't moving I've joined them as an MAL (member at large.)
I have to say, this is some of the most fun I have had in a long time! We have lived in our house for two years and there are so many people even on my own street that I don't know. After running a meat fundraiser and a family day in the park, and discussing with the town it was decided that a new park would be built. Our community group managed to donate $5000 towards the park and the town paid the rest (another $20,000!)
This past Thursday while many of our significant others were at work a group of moms helped to put up the play structure. I volunteered my house as daycare for the day. With the help of another mom we watched up to 12 kids. We were quite surprised with how well all of the kids played together! The new playground is right behind my house so the kids also enjoyed watching the park come together.
This week we are going to be having a Halloween Family Dance. It feels really good to be able to help out with these events for our community. Within having our family dance we are also going to be fundraising money not just for municipal projects but also for a young baby who needs to go to Toronto for eye surgery. Unfortunately this family slips through the cracks for financial assistance from other groups. This isn't something that we initially intended to help out with, especially being such a new group, but it definitely feels good!
Post written October 26 2010 moved from previous blog
I have to say, this is some of the most fun I have had in a long time! We have lived in our house for two years and there are so many people even on my own street that I don't know. After running a meat fundraiser and a family day in the park, and discussing with the town it was decided that a new park would be built. Our community group managed to donate $5000 towards the park and the town paid the rest (another $20,000!)
This past Thursday while many of our significant others were at work a group of moms helped to put up the play structure. I volunteered my house as daycare for the day. With the help of another mom we watched up to 12 kids. We were quite surprised with how well all of the kids played together! The new playground is right behind my house so the kids also enjoyed watching the park come together.
This week we are going to be having a Halloween Family Dance. It feels really good to be able to help out with these events for our community. Within having our family dance we are also going to be fundraising money not just for municipal projects but also for a young baby who needs to go to Toronto for eye surgery. Unfortunately this family slips through the cracks for financial assistance from other groups. This isn't something that we initially intended to help out with, especially being such a new group, but it definitely feels good!
Post written October 26 2010 moved from previous blog
Thankful
Being that it is Thanksgiving weekend I thought that this would be a good idea to write about what I am thankful for.
I know it sounds really cliche to say that I am thankful to be here and thankful for the family that I am surrounded with, but I do have a really good reason as to why.
On Thursday my mother and I decided to drive to Regina to visit her mother and my Dads mother. We left in the morning had a visit with my Grandma and then had a visit with my Gran. Both visits went well and I was happy to see them both. I find it is really important to have a good relationship with your Grandparents. Not everyone is lucky enough to know their grandparents. Its also really important to me that Ella has a relationship with them. I don't know of any other child that has three sets of grandparents, three great grandmothers, a great grandfather and a great great grandmother. I don't even really know anyone else my own age who still has a living great grandparent.
Being the time of year that it is dusk comes a lot sooner. I find this to to be a happy and sad thing. I only like it because I like to go for walks at dusk when it gets cooler and well Ella is asleep by the time darkness comes in the summer. Anyhow, my mother is driving home, she doesn't mind driving in the dark, especiallly since the highway is double lane the whole way home. A set of headlights is coming toward us and it looks to be like it is in the wrong lane. Sure enough the lights were on our side of the highway coming straight for us. Thanfully there was no one in the right lane and she was able to move over. This person was driving awfully fast, they had no idea what was going on, didn't swerve or anything. Combine that with the fact that my mom was doing the speed limit of 110km an hour. Had the two cars collided... lets just say we are very lucky to be here right now.
At first only shock hit me. Why on Earth was this person on the wrong side of the road?! There is no way that person is sober! We pulled to the side of the highway and my mom called 911. We have to get someone to get this person off the road before someone else is hit. She discusses it with the RCMP and we sit there for a bit while she regains her ability to drive after such a shock. Once she started to drive I began to think about my beautiful little two year old in the back seat, and the baby moving inside my body and just started to cry.
About 2o minutes down the highway, maybe even less than that, we see an ambulance with its lights on speeding by. All we can think is "oh my, I hope no one is seriously injured." That was the point when my mom started to cry. Thankfully we made it home safe and sound. I put my sleeping babe in her bed and just held my husband and cried, thanking God over and over again for keeping us safe.
Tonight my mom called. She said that the RCMP contacted her and that they will be asking for a statement from both of us. It turns out that there WAS an accident after due to this driver. The passenger side of his car collided with a semi. His vehicle is completely demolished, the axil on the semi broken, and he denies that he was drunk. The RCMP told her that three hours later his blood alcohol level was 2.54. That is three times the legal limit. I just have to shake my head, if that is what happened to a semi.... I don't even want to think of what would have happened to the four of us.
This weekend I am going to pay extra attention to what I am thankful for. Even on the days where my family is driving me absolutely crazy, I would take that over the alternative anyday. I have a beautiful little girl, a soon to be little baby in my arms, an amazing husband and all of the extended family that anyone could imagine. A house, a dog and a whole lot of love around me. I couldn't ask for better things to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Post written October 9 2010 moved from previous blog
I know it sounds really cliche to say that I am thankful to be here and thankful for the family that I am surrounded with, but I do have a really good reason as to why.
On Thursday my mother and I decided to drive to Regina to visit her mother and my Dads mother. We left in the morning had a visit with my Grandma and then had a visit with my Gran. Both visits went well and I was happy to see them both. I find it is really important to have a good relationship with your Grandparents. Not everyone is lucky enough to know their grandparents. Its also really important to me that Ella has a relationship with them. I don't know of any other child that has three sets of grandparents, three great grandmothers, a great grandfather and a great great grandmother. I don't even really know anyone else my own age who still has a living great grandparent.
Being the time of year that it is dusk comes a lot sooner. I find this to to be a happy and sad thing. I only like it because I like to go for walks at dusk when it gets cooler and well Ella is asleep by the time darkness comes in the summer. Anyhow, my mother is driving home, she doesn't mind driving in the dark, especiallly since the highway is double lane the whole way home. A set of headlights is coming toward us and it looks to be like it is in the wrong lane. Sure enough the lights were on our side of the highway coming straight for us. Thanfully there was no one in the right lane and she was able to move over. This person was driving awfully fast, they had no idea what was going on, didn't swerve or anything. Combine that with the fact that my mom was doing the speed limit of 110km an hour. Had the two cars collided... lets just say we are very lucky to be here right now.
At first only shock hit me. Why on Earth was this person on the wrong side of the road?! There is no way that person is sober! We pulled to the side of the highway and my mom called 911. We have to get someone to get this person off the road before someone else is hit. She discusses it with the RCMP and we sit there for a bit while she regains her ability to drive after such a shock. Once she started to drive I began to think about my beautiful little two year old in the back seat, and the baby moving inside my body and just started to cry.
About 2o minutes down the highway, maybe even less than that, we see an ambulance with its lights on speeding by. All we can think is "oh my, I hope no one is seriously injured." That was the point when my mom started to cry. Thankfully we made it home safe and sound. I put my sleeping babe in her bed and just held my husband and cried, thanking God over and over again for keeping us safe.
Tonight my mom called. She said that the RCMP contacted her and that they will be asking for a statement from both of us. It turns out that there WAS an accident after due to this driver. The passenger side of his car collided with a semi. His vehicle is completely demolished, the axil on the semi broken, and he denies that he was drunk. The RCMP told her that three hours later his blood alcohol level was 2.54. That is three times the legal limit. I just have to shake my head, if that is what happened to a semi.... I don't even want to think of what would have happened to the four of us.
This weekend I am going to pay extra attention to what I am thankful for. Even on the days where my family is driving me absolutely crazy, I would take that over the alternative anyday. I have a beautiful little girl, a soon to be little baby in my arms, an amazing husband and all of the extended family that anyone could imagine. A house, a dog and a whole lot of love around me. I couldn't ask for better things to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Post written October 9 2010 moved from previous blog
Nesting and Cravings
Two things that many men are never REALLY going to understand about pregnant women.
When I was pregnant with my daughter I didn't really experience many cravings. Quite often people would ask me if I had any cravings and really I would tell them that I was just craving food! My body would tell me that I was hungry so I would think of something and eat it. Much like everything else with this pregnancy, the situation with cravings is completely different!
Last weekend I was craving a Wendy's burger (I order a classic with cheese and never anything else if I eat there) I really had to hunt throught the house to find something that my body might find edible. Everything just made me sick. I think this is the part that a lot of men don't understand, that if we don't eat what our bodies want us to eat we might get sick from it- no matter how far into our pregnancy we are!
With this pregnancy I have hit my nesting phase a lot sooner. I feel so paniced about having everything ready for the baby. Trying to express this to Matt just doesn not seem to be getting through to him. Not long ago we moved Ella from the crib to a bed. When we did this we also moved her room to a new room down the hall. So it was not just getting one room ready but two rooms. So far Ella's room is almost done, just putting up pictures on her walls. The baby room is a whole other story. Being that I am 6 months pregnant, I need his help. There are things to purchase, not a lot but some, and all of the stuff that has been tucked under the stairs to come out and go through and see what I can use. Even if we have a girl all of the clothes I have are for a summer baby. And to top all of that off, that room really needs to be cleaned.
The sense of urgency is really lacking on his part! All I want is to be prepared, that way before the baby comes I can hopefully get a little bit of much needed rest!
Post written September 10 2010 moved from previous blog
When I was pregnant with my daughter I didn't really experience many cravings. Quite often people would ask me if I had any cravings and really I would tell them that I was just craving food! My body would tell me that I was hungry so I would think of something and eat it. Much like everything else with this pregnancy, the situation with cravings is completely different!
Last weekend I was craving a Wendy's burger (I order a classic with cheese and never anything else if I eat there) I really had to hunt throught the house to find something that my body might find edible. Everything just made me sick. I think this is the part that a lot of men don't understand, that if we don't eat what our bodies want us to eat we might get sick from it- no matter how far into our pregnancy we are!
With this pregnancy I have hit my nesting phase a lot sooner. I feel so paniced about having everything ready for the baby. Trying to express this to Matt just doesn not seem to be getting through to him. Not long ago we moved Ella from the crib to a bed. When we did this we also moved her room to a new room down the hall. So it was not just getting one room ready but two rooms. So far Ella's room is almost done, just putting up pictures on her walls. The baby room is a whole other story. Being that I am 6 months pregnant, I need his help. There are things to purchase, not a lot but some, and all of the stuff that has been tucked under the stairs to come out and go through and see what I can use. Even if we have a girl all of the clothes I have are for a summer baby. And to top all of that off, that room really needs to be cleaned.
The sense of urgency is really lacking on his part! All I want is to be prepared, that way before the baby comes I can hopefully get a little bit of much needed rest!
Post written September 10 2010 moved from previous blog
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)