The Arrival

I don't have a lot of time so I will keep this fairly short. On Thursday, we welcomed our son, Iain James Gideon N. I was set for induction (on my due date) because of my blood pressure (I have terrible white-coat and it was all over the map). I think that my o.b. and I were more scared of his size than anything else but I believe that suspected "big baby" is not considered a reason for induction. Funny thing is, when we arrived at the hospital, my b.p. was actually low and while it wasn't a scary problem, it was closer to low than high the entire time. Anyway, on the way to the hospital, I started to feel a bit crampy and by the time the doctor got to me, it looked like I might be starting to go into labour on my own. They decided to break my water and hold off doing anything else to see how things progressed. I slowly progressed and then, just when they were thinking that they would have to start a pitocin drip, things ramped up on their own and I ended up not having to be strapped to monitors the entire time and on my back, which I had been worried about. I was also thrilled because my doula suggested that if I had a nurse I really wanted to ask for her and it just happened that J, the nurse who was SO fantastic when I had Pk, was on duty and she was my nurse. Between she and my doula, I have to say that it was a great delivery experience (as far as these things go) and while Iain did end up being HUGE, he was so much easier to deliver than Pk. The actual delivery took less than 10 minutes and the pushing was easy. The worst part was a weird pain in my hip that I had for the last 20 minutes or so (but luckily, my doula and the nurse were able to help a bit).

Iain James Gideon N was born at 6:41 p.m. on Thursday, June 17th at 10 lbs, 2 oz and 22.5 inches long. He was the biggest baby in the hospital while we were there. I had an epidural but we tried to keep it to as low as possible and I have to say, I can't believe how good I felt afterwards and I have been feel great since, other than the fact that Iain has hit the difficult stage of things - he slept wonderfully the first 24 hours (which I didn't really get to enjoy since there were no private rooms and my roommate's baby screamed the entire time) but overall, he seems to be fairly mellow most of the time. He's a tough little nut, which is great, since with his big size, there were things that had to be checked really carefully (they were concerned about his glucose and that he might need supplementation but his sugars were perfect and there was some concern that his bilirubin might be a problem, again since he was so big, but the numbers were really, really good and so far, no sign of jaundice).

Guess I haven't been so short after all - just a few other facts - Iain ("God is Gracious") is the Scots Gaelic spelling (we didn't make it up!) and is from John, my grandfather's name and a name that Michael's father had really been pulling for, James is after my great-grandfather and our church and Gideon comes from the Old Testament story when God has Gideon go into battle with only 300 men so that it is clear that the victory came from God - we feel like God has really been active in our lives in the last year or so.

Craft Ideas

I have been meaning to post these ideas and links for a while and realised this morning that if they don't go up today, they probably aren't going up. Hope you like them as much as I do.

The first two ideas are for gifts that work really well for Mother's Day/Father's Day.

Pk and I made the necklaces for Mother's Day - we did one for each grandma and one for me. I couldn't get over how easy they were to make and they have such a nice personal touch. Click on this link for directions for making one yourself.

These suncatchers were really easy to make, as well, and Pk LOVED doing these. I just went to the dollar store and bought a selection of glass rocks and beads. They take forever to dry but look quite pretty when they are done. For directions for making these, click on this link.

Finally, I love this idea. We modified it a bit - instead of stamping on leaves to make a pattern, I just bought a bunch of fabric paint and after I did the lettering for the baby and let the shirt dry, I let Pk go to town decorating it so that when the baby comes home from the hospital, he will be wearing the shirt that his sister made for him and actually, we had Pk make a shirt of her own that says "Big Sister" on it. I loved the idea and hope that this will help her to feel a part of this. For more information, click on the link here.

I don't think I will have much time for crafting in the next little while so enjoy the ideas now!

*NEW* Pepsi Ad | World Cup 2010 | Oh Africa - Akon | Messi Henry Kaka La...

The time is passing very slowly right now as I wait and wait and wait... The World Cup is making things more fun. England is "our" team but I have to admit, I have a big soft spot for the Cote D'Ivoire and Drogba. Thought this ad was kind of cute...

Does This Happen to You?

Someone is visiting and leaving comments in an Asian language, not sure which. I haven't been able to track down who. I am just wondering, does this happen to anyone else? Is this spam or is this someone who is trying to leave legitimate comments and doesn't know their comments are not in English?

Just when it seems to be sorted out...

I can't believe this - I have to laugh. I spent my entire pregnancy worried that I was going to face early induction due to high blood pressure. Just say the word "doctor's office" to me and my b.p. starts to climb. By the time I get in there, my heart is racing and most of the time, my b.p. is sky-high. It wasn't too bad with my G.P. since she and I get along really well and she really knows me and we tend to chat quite a bit so by the time it is taken, I am really at ease. My o.b. is wonderful but the first time I saw him, I was waiting on my glucose test results and since everyone was commenting on how huge I was, I assumed that I was going to come up diabetic and the idea terrified me. Typically, my sugars were totally fine but I had worked myself up so much that my b.p. was high. Because it was high the first time, every appointment after that, I was afraid it would be high, so it would be. My o.b. and I worked out that I would have a 20 minute "boredom time" in the exam room and I would buy a blood pressure cuff and take it at home daily. Since then, we have worked it out but of course, at the beginning of every appointment, it is always high.

Last week, I hit a new high and while it came down by the end of the appointment to being normal, my o.b. strongly suggested induction and a non-stress test at the hospital last Thursday. I got him to agree to wait until this week (I am 40 weeks on Thursday and the o.b. on call is one I like) despite the fact that my b.p. was obviously concerning him a bit. The n.s.t. was a totally stressful experience (why does being hooked up to a monitor push me over the edge like that???) and of course, the b.p. was sky high.

I went into the weekend knowing that induction this week was all but certain. I had somewhat mixed feelings. I do have an "ideal birth" in my mind (you know, quick, easy, no epidural, "natural" etc) and I feel a bit of guilt for allowing myself to let that go. I know that women rarely have babies bigger than they can deliver and heck, I have made it to 40 weeks, which is great. I feel a bit of guilt for copping out and going this route but to be honest, at this point, there is a lot to be said for the induction. I have the dogs taken care of, Pk arranged and in a way that isn't terribly stressful for her (drop her off at daycare on Thursday morning and she will just stay overnight and be picked up by either dh and I on Friday if things go well at the hospital or by dh's parents who are coming on Friday so that either way, she is taken care of), dh can arrange things at work and I don't have to be so afraid of knowing when to go to the hospital. For a control freak like me, it allows me about as much control as I can get without actually having a scheduled c-section (and not that I have a problem with people who choose to do that, especially those who have had a c-section before, I just want to be home and mobile as soon as possible so a c-section would interfere with those plans - and heck, I have already destroyed my pelvic floor, why wreck another part of my anatomy?) And, like it or not, I am afraid of an overly big baby, whether that is a certainty or not. Yes, ultrasounds are notoriously unreliable after a certain point but this is not my first baby, Pk was 9 lbs 1 oz and this is a second baby and a boy and we definitely have a family pattern of big babies. Whether my body "can" deliver a huge baby, do I really want to if I can go with a "large" baby, as opposed to a total goliath?

So, I went to the doc today feeling quite calm. Plans are made, things are organized and my week is probably set unless baby decides to come on his own early. My o.b. comes in, takes my b.p. and begins to laugh. "What is funny?" I asked. "Is it high?" His reply was, "You are really trying to make things complicated. Last week, induction was totally clear. Today, your b.p. is completely and totally normal. It's not so clear cut anymore." I couldn't believe it. We had a long chat and ultimately decided that induction still makes sense. Given that I am already dilating and having a lot of cramping and that the baby is big and my b.p. is "suspect" at times, we can certainly justify the induction. It's not like we are doing this for convenience (well, not totally) or that it is totally medically non-indicated. I do wonder if I am cheating a bit and taking the easy road but to be honest, I have hit that point of pregnancy where I don't want to be pregnant anymore and I feel like I need to move on. I have had enough stress and it's time to move to the next stage.

The best laid plans...

Life in Plan B

What a day. As you know, my mother came up to watch Pk. She has been erratic lately and we have been wondering what was going on. She used to be very helpful but this time, she has really gotten in the way - sleeping a lot of the time, leaving the house a mess and really, really scatterbrained (right down to not being able to put a bag of milk in a milkjug - I almost killed her the other night when I was getting ready for bed and she managed to dump milk all over the fridge and I had to spend half an hour scrubbing everything down, washing it all and even doing all the crispers and all because she hadn't put the bag in right - I didn't think it took a degree to see that the bag was almost half-way out of the jug). I have been feeling really ungrateful and grouchy because she wants to help but on the other hand, I wasn't even sure I felt like I could leave Pk with her.

Yesterday, dad came up and mom admitted that she hasn't been feeling very well (no, really???) Next thing we knew, this morning, we all piled in the car to drive she and dad back down to the city - she had decided that she wasn't well enough to stay. I had a hard time not crying (which probably wasn't the safest thing given that I was driving - my parents don't drive). I was so overwhelmed by feeling selfish and guilty but also, trying not to panic - I am not feeling right (the pressure from the baby and the constant braxton-hicks really makes me think that it is going to be anytime) and my childcare was driving away. I think I told you, Pippa's sitter has said that she will take her for us but she isn't back from a trip to the U.S until sometime tomorrow. And, to top it all off, the good friend of ours who always takes the dogs for us leaves for California on Tuesday and with two Brittanys, who are fairly active, we can't just ask any neighbour to come in to take care of them. It was all I could do not to just break down and sob and yet, I felt so nasty and petty and selfish.

I am a bit better now. Dh helped me to see that in the long run, this is probably for the best. If mom had been watching Pk while we were at the hospital, we wouldn't have felt entirely secure. We at least have the dog situation dealt with - we thought about a kennel but had worried about 1. the high cost and 2. getting the dogs there when we knew we needed a hospital. Just on the off chance, I gave the kennel we usually use a call and they were fantastic (so often, when I am feeling the most panicked, the most wonderful people step up to help us). They gave us an AMAZING rate for the week, we willing to take the dogs today until next weekend (or longer, if need be) and just kept telling us not to worry, that had things under control. I couldn't find the dog's vax certificates and they were o.k. with using the ones on file - I can't tell you what a relief it is to know that the dogs are settled. It's hard having them away but at least I know they are safe, comfortable (they have an indoor/outdoor run and the indoor area is air-conditioned and cozy and they are together) and I don't have dogs underfoot when I am trying to deal with labour. The only awful part was leaving the kennel - I always have a hard time leaving them, even when I know that they are wonderfully cared for and when Pk started wailing, "My Chelsea! My Chelsea! I need my Chelsea", my poor hormonal heart thought it would break.

I am still pretty worried about Pk's care - I have no worries about her going to J's but I just hope my body will hold out and as I have said here before, I have trouble asking for help so I feel really guilty about asking J to do this for us. A friend told me that they usually don't keep you at the hospital longer than 24 - 36 hours for a vaginal delivery of a second child, so please, cross your fingers for me that all goes well and we can be home quickly. We had hoped that dh would be able to stay at the hospital with me and I have already resigned myself to the fact that, if anything goes funny, I will probably be there on my own so he can come home and be here for Pk at night. At least he will be there for the birth - when mom left this morning, I was trying to resign myself to the fact that if we couldn't round up childcare for Pk tonight/tomorrow, I would just have to deliver on my own with the doula and dh would come home with Pk. Yes, I do have a bad habit of moving to the worst case scenario and hormones with a bit of fear thrown in don't help.

Say a prayer for me that all goes well. I am trying not to let fear of how to manage it all spoil what should be an exciting time but I am having a bit of a hard time. Also, please pray that mom will deal with whatever is wrong. I think she has finally had to admit that she needs to deal with her doctor about her medications and how she is feeling. I think she gets scared (definitely a family trait) but unlike me, who goes into work mode and tries to fix things, mom tries to deny and lets things get totally out of hand. I would like her to be around for many years yet and I hope she will be willing to do whatever is necessary to heal herself.

Summer Joys

Strawberries by MVI

I have to start by warning you that I think I am officially nesting - today, I did a huge shop, made a quiche, prepared all kinds of vegetables, watched two World Cup games, made strawberry shortcake and went to buy fresh strawberries and peas and have about four blog posts that I was going to post (but I have finally run out of steam). Maybe we are getting close (but it would be nice to wait until the U.S./ England game is over tomorrow!)

The thing that made me think that I had truly lost my mind is that when I drove to our local farm whose strawberry sales began today, I actually considered doing "Pick-Your-Own" - never mind the fact that had I gotten down on the ground, I am not sure anything short of major farm machinery would have gotten me up again. I always pick strawberries and make jam and it's killing me that I won't be this year. On the other hand, Pk got to eat jewel-toned strawberries that were warm and fragrant, having just come out of the field, with the juice running down her arms. We came home, made strawberry shortcake and she helped me to shell the peas, eating about a third of them. I don't think that I ever saw peas in a pod when I was growing up and I love the fact that Pk is getting the chance to meet the farmers who grow her food and see food in its natural state. I know, I know, I am impressed by silly little things.

Since we are on the subject of strawberries, here are two of my favourite recipes:

Healthy strawberry shortcake from Laura at Heavenly Homemakers - this really impressed me, the cake is made with whole wheat flour and the only sweetener is honey and it was really, really good!

Strawberry and Spinach salad from Mothering - I have tried the dressing with Stevia with mixed results - it does call for a lot of sugar but it really is a yummy use for strawberries!

Here's hoping that baby holds off and I can get a few more posts done before the big day - I have a couple of great Father's Day crafts I have found online that I want to share and we just finished having our roof done and I would love to show you the lovely results!