Leap Day Baby?

...well I don't think so. Thought it might be cool if we had a Leap Day baby being that it is not a very common occurrence. But with odds of 1 in 1,461 and the fact that I was still only 2cm dilated on Tuesday at the doctor makes me think it's unlikely. Guess you still never know!

We were keen to have Maëlle born on St. Paddy's Day and we went into labour that night, missed the mark and she was born on the 18th but still close.

Looks and feels like this baby is going to make us wait. The head is still not very low and I haven't experienced any contractions yet to help move it down. Our original due date based on the calendar is March 5, but I think the detailed ultrasound dated her at March 3...

Guess regardless within 2 weeks we will be welcoming baby to the world! So excited.

Wall Decal Up in Baby's Room

Our tree wall decal arrived just in time to get it up before baby's arrival. So excited with the way it turned out. I enjoyed painting Maëlle's room, but this was so much less work and stress! Still had to work through 70+ individual sticker pieces, but thank goodness they are all reposition able and super easy to peel off and try again.

Everything Checking Out Okay. Phew!

After all the extra tests we were luckily reassured that everything looks and measures normal. It may have just been something I ate before the doctor's visit that got the baby so excited!

It was fun to have an ultrasound so late in the pregnancy. We got a great look at baby. Busy sucking on the umbilical cord and yawning. We got to see and measure the heart rate several times to confirm that everything was okay. We also got to see the lungs and the baby breath.

Here is a side profile of her face.

Met with an obstetrician the next day to review the ultrasound and everything checked out okay and on target. Baby was estimated at 7lbs, 4oz. He mentioned that her head and body measure in the norm, but that she has a large trunk! Hmmm, no more ice cream for me I guess! He felt that we are on target to have a baby about the same size as Maëlle was at birth.

Better safe than sorry, and nice to have all that extra reassurance that everything is okay with baby 2. Now back to the waiting game. Next doctor's appointment is tomorrow.

Today marks 1 week till Due Date.

Not the Day I Planned

Today has been an interesting day!

I had my whole day planned out. Maëlle still had a daycare day today so planned to drop her off in the morning, quick visit with the doctor, grocery shopping, then time at home to clean, organize, cook a nice dinner...maybe even squeeze in a nap (Maëlle was up at 5:30am)!

At the doctor she spent a long time listening to the baby's heart rate. She then proceeded to the internal exam - 2cm dilated, then wanted to listen to the heart rate again. Spent a long time listening again. I didn't pick up on anything, seemed strong and steady to me. She mentioned that it seemed a little irregular and fast, so just to be safe she sent me to the hospital to get a non-stress test done.

Spent 2 hours at the hospital in the morning waiting and hooked up to the monitor. The heart rate was jumping anywhere between 135-185 and fairly inconsistent. T

he nurses didn't seem alarmed by it, but just to be sure (and with talking to my doctor) did ask for me to return that afternoon to test again. Soooo wasted time in town going for lunch and shopping before heading back at 3:30pm with Doug to test again. The rate had slowed considerably and seemed more consistent this time, usually between 115-145.

By 4:30 they didn't seem too concerned but wanted to check to see if my doctor wanted to see the results in person. She referred to an OBGYN on duty who ordered a blood and urine test and kept me waiting for answers. We ran out of time so Doug had to leave to pick up Maëlle from daycare. She was really good when she came to visit, sat on the bed with me and pointed to 'baby', but naturally got restless quick

ly and threw a huge fit when Doug took her away. Mostly likely scared to leave Mommy in a weird place. Finally the doctor showed up only to say that things looked fine and it is normal for baby's heart rate to fluctuate.

Although 'normal' they still have booked me for an ultrasound tomorrow, a follow up appointment with this doctor Thursday, and then back to hospital for another non-stress test on Friday!

By the time we got home it was after 7pm, no dinner, groceries had been in the car since 3pm (luckily it's cold out), and all Maëlle could say on the drive was "I want to go home". Me too Maëlle! Hopefully every

thing is okay and we get some better answers on all this testing tomorrow.

Last Day for Work

February 15th marked my last day at work. Enjoyed being taken out for lunch with my co-workers. It was a busy day, and strange to be one of the last people to leave the office that day with all the last minute things I promised to take care of. Weird to just walk away, but at the same time also okay with it all and the feeling of being 'done' at the same time.

Last day of work photo - 37 Weeks

Baby's Room Ready... Are We?

Finally took some photos of the new room for baby. We painted the walls (2 green, 2 pink) and set up a new crib and dresser. The special decorating touches are yet to come. I've ordered a large tree wall decal for the wall (should arrive any day in the mail) and we have some matching items I ordered online that Sandra and Norm will be bringing back from the US (lamp, valance, artwork). Here are some photos to get a feel for the room and to see the bedding.

The big question is now that the room is ready, are we? Well can you ever really be ready?! The bags are mostly packed, camera batteries charged, diapers bought. Guess that is all we can do for now. The waiting game begins.

February or March Baby??

Our official due date for baby 2 is March 5th. With Maëlle I went 5 days past due date, so I guess in my mind I figure I'll also go past due with this one...but perhaps not so! We are already starting into our 36th week, only 4 weeks 5 days to go. Today at my doctor's appointment I was measuring 37cm, which is just slightly ahead and the doctor commented that she thought I wouldn't go past March 1st!! Of course just a prediction, but I think it will jump start Doug and I to seriously get ready. Thinking a weekend shopping trip to pick up newborn diapers, finishing off the baby's room, and tackling some jobs like re-grouting the bathroom are in order.

Time to get excited...or start freaking out!

Now to figure out a name too.

Photos - 31 Weeks

Feelin' good...lookin' good ;) hahaha

"I love Rock n'Roll"

This new baby is sure a mover and shaker. Most evenings I am surprised by the amount of movement I feel with this baby. Decided to try playing some music to it the other night and we got quite the reaction! Elvis and AC/DC got the most 'dancing'. Tried to capture some on the video. I was holding my breath most of the time, so the movement you see is all the baby.

Happy New Year - Countdown is On

Well with counting down to midnight last night, it made me reflect that 2012 will be a very exciting year for us...and also that our own countdown is on. 9, 8, 7...

Only 9 weeks to go. I also came to the realization that 2012 is a leap year and with an early March due date, a February 29th baby could be possible. Crazy thought. Pretty sure kids hate not having their real birthday as children, but adults probably love telling people they are only a quarter of their age!!

Took a photo by the tree to compare 2009 Christmas to this year knowing I was wearing the same top. The left is 2009 and the right is December 26.

No Joke

Well I guess I shouldn't have joked about my glucose test. Turned out that I actually failed the first one and was sent back for a re-test. I blame the large lunch out that I ate before going for the testing!

Bad news was the 2nd test involved 3 needles and 2 hours stuck at the lab, but the good news is that the test came back okay and everything is fine with the baby. They said it must have been a false positive on the first one. Phew. Just in time for holiday treats ;)

Sugar Sugar

It seems that I have gotten to that phase in pregnancy again when I'm so thirsty. My drink of choice usually...juice. Hmmm perhaps I should go cold turkey now in hopes of getting most of that sugar out of my system before my glucose testing tomorrow!

Actually looking forward to having the hour to have to sit there and wait to do the test. Planning to bring some work along and write out all my hamper packing forms for work. Seems so funny to be on the same schedule as last time with Maëlle. I worked on these forms the last time I had the test with her.

Hoping for a good result back from the test :)

I'll save guzzling one of those Costco size cranberry juices all myself in one weekend, till after the test tomorrow. Managed to drink that much last pregnancy...and that was with mixing the juice with half water each time. Thirsty!

"It's very pink!"

Once we found out we were having a girl, it got me excited to plan the baby's room. I had a vision to involve birds somehow, but in doing some initial web searching for inspiration I couldn't quite find what I had envisioned in my mind. Then by chance I came upon a bed set being sold brand new through a woman on Craigslist. It was perfect and has become the inspiration for the new room.

The set is called 'Love Birds' and matches well with a large tree wall sticker I want to order online (no hand painting designs this time!). We took the bed set into the paint store and decided to go with painting 2 walls pink and 2 walls green to match the bedding.

Painting got underway on Sunday, and we now have 2 coats of pink on 2 walls. They look great, but as Doug keeps saying, "it's very pink, very pink"! We said the same thing about Maëlle's room too when the green when up, but now with furniture in it looks great. We're actually using the same green for the new baby's room. Pictures of the finished paint job coming soon!

Noreen Missed Her Calling

Way back in October I was downtown with friends on a 'girl's afternoon' when we were approached by a rough looking street woman (rough in that I didn't realize she was a woman until she told me her name!) at the light waiting to cross the street. She looked right at me and said, "I'm going to say that you are pregnant" which at the time was not obvious especially wearing a hoodie and puffy vest. I said "You're right, I am". What really got me was what she said next.

She said "I'm going to say you're 4 months along" (which was exactly correct) "And you're having a girl".

Little did everyone know around me, we had just had our 20 week detailed ultrasound and we had decided to find out the sex. This woman has missed her calling, a true fortune teller. We had just found out days prior that yes we are expecting another baby girl!

It was a difficult decision for me to find out this time, but I knew that Doug wanted to find out. We have just now started to tell more people. Gradually letting the cat out of the bag. Two little girls, sisters, so much fun...and pink!

The woman concluded before we crossed the street, "I'll go one step further and predict a name for her too, you should name her Noreen because that's my name, or go with your Mom's name."

Baby Noreen....um don't think it will make the short list, sorry!

This time two years ago...

I wore a T-shirt the other day that I clearly remembered wearing about this time of year when pregnant with Maëlle. I took a picture to make a comparison. I feel that my tummy is bigger this time around, but I think I may just be carrying differently.

Although there is a 2 week difference between due date for baby 2 and Maëlle's birthday, it turns out the photos are from the exact same week but two years apart. I was definitely quite a bit smaller the first time around, but I'm two weeks earlier than now in that shot. Still a big difference from the photo I have from week 25 two year ago though!

Comparing Bellies!

One of my co-workers is due just 5 days after me, so every time we see each other we compare who is bigger! We had a photo taken to settle the debate. I think we're pretty similar size but just carrying differently.

It's been fun to have someone going through the same things at the same time again. Her daughter also attends the same day care as Maelle so we are often swapping stories about them too.

There is a very distinct possibility that we could end up at the hospital delivering at the same time!

Crib Shopping

Just like 2 years ago when we bought Maëlle's bedroom set, we took advantage of the Toys R Us Friends & Family discount night. Tonight I was there again shopping for my work Christmas Hampers. I wasn't planning to purchase one, but found a crib that I really like so ordered it on sale. It is a convertible crib again but in a more cherry/lighter finish. Just need to search for a matching dresser/change table now.

It's all coming together! Making up for lost time. Excited to put this baby's room together and make it just as special as the time we put into Maëlle's.

Sharing the Movement!

This baby seems either way more active, or I'm just able to feel it better. Tonight Doug got to feel the baby move for the first time. I'm curious to see how much we feel/see towards the end. I'm anticipating much more than with Maëlle. We should get some good shots of 'alien' type limbs pushing through the skin!

Squirmy Little Banana

The 'What to Expect' app says that the baby is the size of a banana now...and I can feel it! For sure the best part of the pregnancy so far is being able to feel the baby move. It's been about a month now that I've been able to feel the little squirmer. I feel the baby most at night and many times when I'm driving. This baby seems very active. Could be partly because the placenta is not at the front this time, like it was with Maëlle, or maybe because this baby likes to party!

To find out or not to find out...

On the eve of our detailed ultrasound, I am left debating the big question...do you find out the baby's sex or do you leave it a surprise??

I thought that I would probably want to find out with a second baby, but I really enjoyed not knowing with Maëlle, and what did it really matter - within 24 hours of her birth her closet was full of pink clothes!

I am leaning towards not knowing, but Doug would like to find out. I suppose it may help with our bedroom dilemma (do we move Maëlle or keep her in her own room), may help to prepare Maëlle for the new baby's arrival, and help us to decide what to keep and what can get passed on to the new little girls around us.

As a compromise for now, I was thinking I might ask them to tell our doctor so that she can tell us when/if we ask or may do the write it and seal in an envelope thing.

The one thing I do know for tomorrow, is I definitely won't be drinking as much water as I did last time!!!!