This is the year of THREE 2010 babies. 

First, my cousin Shannon gave birth to

Gracie Margaret Skolney

Born: January 21, 2010

Now, my sister, has had the second 2010 baby. Her third munchkin:

Ellamay Rose Park-Maciag

Born: May 30th, 2010 

Pictures found here.

There is only one left to be born... my rugrat.  Soon, people.  Soon.

Here's baby's new favourite clip. N and I re-watched Almost Famous a while back -- so good.

Week 34 is almost at an end.  Here's how round I've gotten.

Yesterday in particular, my extra roundness prompted some interesting questions amoung some feisty first graders.  Evasive tactics were applied.  It just didn't feel appropriate to be fielding questions like, " how long has that baby been in there?" and "how are you going to get that baby out of there?"  Not to mention my personal fave, "why do you want to have a baby?"

Everything has been moving along in a blur.  Last weekend, we started to assemble the nursery.  Crib and changing table area were created.  There is a lot of work still to do but it is coming along nicely.  Have a look:

We've also already finished 2 of 4, "first-time" baby classes we are taking at the hospital.  Last week, we watched 2 video-taped births and it was all I could do to not vomit after seeing the first one.  By the end of it I was in tears and they were not tears of happiness -- they were tears of fear.  I didn't even manage to make it through the second video, I found a nice piece of floor to focus on and practiced "breathing".   I go through bouts of crazy paranoia about delivering my little tiny dancer... but I am sure I'll survive.  Women have been having babies since the beginning of humankind... though after that first video I do question why... but I digress and will now tell the baby in my belly that I love him so to not scar my child before he arrives. You will be worth it! You will be worth it!  You will be worth it!  Tomorrow is class #3 -- the hospital tour.  Cannot foresee this being overly traumatic.

We've got lots to do around the house this weekend.  N is installing our new computer/home server.  We are going wireless, baby! Finally I'll be able to access all of our TV, movies, pictures, etc without plugging into the external hard drives.  It won't be as fun as camping last year but we'll survive -- besides camping with the little rug-rat next year is something I'm actually looking forward to!

Have a good May long weekend everyone!

K

This was a crazy week.  C-R-A-Z-Y! It was also a bit scary too.

It started normal enough with work, as per usual.  I was on my way home from work on Tuesday and was stopped due to a traffic back-up about 5 minutes from home when I was rear-ended.  Honestly, I remember sitting in my car thinking, "NOOOO!!"  Anyhow, damage to my car didn't seem too bad but the guy that hit me crunched up the front end of his car.  I, admittedly, was a bit shook up but we traded info and I went home.  N and my dad both told me I should go to the doctor as a precaution (as I am in my eighth month of pregnancy) but I really didn't want to -- and I had my regular OB appointment the next day anyway.  I just wanted to lie down and that was impossible as I had to look up how to file a claim in Ontario. Anyhow, it was a long day with a bit of drama and it ended late as we had to go to a collision reporting centre and report the accident later that night.  Apparently you have to do this within 24 hours of the accident and seeing as I had to work the next morning and had a doctor's appointment in the afternoon - we had to get it done that night.  By the end of the night, I was exhausted.

Wednesday morning started normal enough.  I went to work.  It was disgustingly humid.  Nothing like sweating uncomfortably by 8:30am. The schools here have no a/c and the classrooms, particularly on the second floor, can be unbearable at times.  Seeing as this was only May 5, the fans were not out in full force and so you just had to grin and bear it.

I made it through the morning and busted it home as I had to get to my afternoon doctor's appointment.  When I got there, the waiting room was empty (which was odd as it is usually hoppin').  As a result,  I got in to see my doctor relatively quickly.  I mentioned my accident the day before and was scolded and told that I should have proceeded to the hospital for a check-up as a precaution.  Still, she didn't seem overly concerned, she just said next time I'd know.  All seemed to be going fine, until she took my blood pressure.  It was high.  Very high.  So high that she immediately sent me to the hospital where I was admitted in the labour triage area.

In total, I was there for about 5 hours before they discharged me (my BP was normal by this time).  I was hooked up to a machine that monitored the baby's heart rate and also monitored my uterus for any contractions I could be having but not feeling.  Baby was/is fine. No contractions.

They also ran a battery of tests... blood-work, urine analysis, etc.  I was being screened for pre-eclampsia.  Results came back negative but I was told that given that my BP was spiking (this was not the first time it was elevated -- just the first time it was high enough to set off alarms), I was to be closely monitored.  I now have to see either my OB or BP specialist every week.  I was also given a long list of symptoms... any of which if I experience, I need to return to the hospital ASAP.  The fear is that I am going to develop some blood-pressure related complications and that would potentially mean having the baby early.  I've been told repeatedly now, that they don't think I'll make my due date.

Thursday morning, I was back at the hospital for a follow-up exam.  Everything was fine, BP was normal.  Still, I was told to scale back on work and to be prepared to stop completely on doctor's orders. So, I passed on work Thursday afternoon.  I was exhausted.  Thursday night, N and I went to our first pre-natal class. We are going to these classes Thursday nights through May.  While a bit hokey, I am glad we are taking them.  The first one was informative and gave us lots to think about.  Still, three hours seemed long and I was tired by the end of it.  Exhaustion seems to be a bit of a theme these days.... 

Thankfully, Friday was a Professional Day with my school board so I didn't have to go into work on Friday either.  This was great as it meant I could sleep guilt-free all day.  I should have been out getting estimates on my car so I can get the thing fixed but I was so tired. 

I've submitted paperwork to start my maternity leave from work on June 14 but I may be moving that date earlier.  Going to see how I feel for the next week or so.

I'll post again soon.  Yesterday we set up the crib/nursery and that was a bit of an ordeal... I really wish N would write this entry.  It would be hilarious, I am sure.