Tales from the belly

During my pregnancy, I subscribed to a little website to track our progress. I thought I would transfer my thoughts to the blog. Ah, the ramblings of a crazy preggo....

Mon, Sep 3, 2007 It's the final countdown....(cue cheesy song)
Well, we're getting down to the wire. There's just about a month to go, before the newest Stisso makes it's grand entry. The nursery is in progress, the carseat is ready to be installed, the labour pool and homebirth supplies are being collected...yes, you heard right. Homebirth. Labour pool.

Matiss and I made the decision many months ago that we would have this baby in the comfort of our own home, so long as things are looking good. For those of you who are shocked, appalled, or generally concerned about our choice, fear not. After months of research and discussion with our midwife, we're as confident as ever that things will go well. The midwives bring all emergency equipment to the house, though we don't expect to need it. In the event that the labour isn't progressing wonderfully, a change of scenery may be warranted, but it'll be made well in advance of any big emergencies. It's actually not that uncommon for couples to have their children at home in other developed countries, mostly in Europe. Just in case you're wondering, no study has shown that an attended homebirth is less safe than a hospital birth.

Why on earth would we want to do this? Well, not having to travel back and forth from the hospital is one bonus. I can eat my own food, watch my own t.v., talk on my phone, use my own shower, and walk around my own house/neighbourhood while my labour is starting out. The benefit of feeling at ease in my own surroundings is likely to help my labour progress at a good rate, and the privacy that I'll have with Matiss and the midwives (and nobody else) watching over me (and loving me, and caring for me) will allow me to relax as much as possible. Finally, nothing makes me happier than to imagine Matiss, myself, and the babe in our own bed, cuddling and enjoying the moment, just after the birth. No doctors, nurses, discharge papers, or travelling. Just us and our new life together. How sweet!


Mon, Aug 13, 2007 - Random analogy: baby, and Lord of the Rings.
I'm beginning to wonder about the monster. Since nobody knows if this baby is a boy or a girl, people have to come up with gender-neutral names (uh, like monster). Penny has been calling the babe 'precious' for months now. I keep trying to tell her that 'precious' is also the nickname for an evil ring of power that threatens to destroy mankind in LOTR, but it hasn't phased her. I'm still keeping an eye on her, just to make sure she doesn't start displaying signs of turning into Gollum.

So then we had an impromptu ultrasound last week. It was taped, but the tape didn't work, so I can't show it to you. What I can say is that the babe is HUGE now (not that I needed an ultrasound to show me this...the cramped living quarters are becoming apparent to both me and the monster these days). Also, it's fully developed, which is neat - breathing, swallowing, and looking around. In fact, it was staring directly at the camera for the whole ultrasound. Admittedly, the staring 'eye' was a bit unsettling, especially for Matiss (don't worry, it has two eyes...we were just looking at the profile). I just realized this morning that there's another eye that unhinges people when it stares into your soul....THE eye. The eye of the dark lord, Sauron.

I'm beginning to wonder where this is going.

In other news, Matiss and I painted the nursery and Matiss singlehandedly assembled the crib this weekend. It's now the only clean room in the house. I heard Matiss giggle as he walked by it this morning. Things are definitely going to get interesting from here on out.


Thu, Jul 19, 2007 - The extreme sport of pregnancy.
Until now, pregnancy has been just dreamy. A beautiful growing belly, great hair days, and cute baby-moments like feeling them hiccup and seeing them on ultrasounds. Oh sure, there was a little bit of nausea, and a few aches and pains, but things have been completely manageable.

However, in this last trimester, I have been unkindly thrust into a new world. My bubble is bursting, friends. I fear the future. What I've learned this week alone:

* Kicks to the ribs are NOT cute. They hurt...they hurt alot. Since I don't have access to the underside of my ribcage, I can't do anything to prevent them, and I can't even brace for them. When did this kid have time to be trained in martial arts, anyway?
* While I always knew that the belly would get in the way, I didn't realize that it would limit my movements by threatening injury. This morning, I got out of bed like I always do - by sitting up. Only this time I managed to pull my abdominal muscles in the process. Yes, I have injured myself getting out of bed. Wow. Also, when I drop something on the ground now, there's an internal discussion on whether it's worth picking up. Again, this has nothing to do with laziness, and everything to do with pain management. Compression of organs is no laughing matter.
* I can't believe I'm going to write this out: I'm finding the idea of adult diapers more and more appealing. Okay, so I don't need a diaper, but with my bladder becoming more and more senile, I'm at least thankful to know that they exist. Yep. That's all I'm going to say about that.

Anyway, I have been awoken, both literally and figuratively. I can't go back now. I can only look back fondly on the days I could run my pregnant belly up hills, without needing medical assistance. Only 10 weeks to go. Pray for me, friends.



Fri, Jul 13, 2007 - It's all downhill from here!
Well, I'm now in my third trimester - less than three months until this baby makes the grand appearance! As you might have seen in the photo album, my belly is getting much bigger, though it's only starting to get in the way - I have lost direct eye contact with all anatomy below the waist, and bending over is becoming a challenge.

The monster is active and likes to massage my organs from the inside. I think it's possible that the baby has inherited Matiss' handyman skills, and is performing large-scale renovations in the baby-condo that is my womb. I also experience almost daily baby-hiccups, which are both amusing and very distracting. According to my baby books, the monster can now see, hear, smell, and taste - everything is in place and from here on out, the only real changes will be some development of the lungs and brain, and packing on the baby fat.

We have started seeing our midwives more often, and they're great as always. For those of you who didn't know, we're striving towards having a homebirth, and we've started discussing the logistics of this in more detail. We're both really excited about it, and if all goes well, I think it will be an amazing experience. Don't worry - it only works at home if both mom and baby are in perfect health throughout the labour, and even in an emergency, the midwives have all the necessary equipment and protocols that we'd have in the hospital. The neighbours might be in for a show, however!


Fri, Jun 1, 2007 - Tales from the X(ray)-files
We went for our second ultrasound today, and finally got a couple of pictures. What we've learned in all of this is that the baby is definitely NOT a morning person, much like mamma. Last time, it turned it's back on us and went to sleep. This time, it was pretty much curled up on its placenta pillow, and mostly just yawned the entire time (which was pretty neat to see). The baby still kept its back to us for much of it, and even if we wanted to know what gender it was (which we don't), it remains a safely guarded secret, as it kept its legs curled under itself for most of the ultrasound (except to do a little tap dance on my bladder at one point. Good stuff!). Baby's weight is just over a pound, and everything's measuring well.

We did manage to get a couple of shots this time, which you can see in the photo album section (there are two pictures). Both are a bit strange: in the first one, the baby's doing some kind of yoga move or something. It's lying on its belly with the back of the head facing us (to show me what a big brain it has?) - and it's sucking its thumb in the back. The second picture, which reminds me of something out of the X-files, is a front picture of the baby's face in mid-yawn. Looks like an alien...but an adorable alien, no doubt. The pictures are cute, creepy, and convoluted all at once, but we still love looking at them. I just hope the baby is cuter in real life, heh heh...


Tue, May 22, 2007 - First contact...
I'm now 21 weeks - into my sixth month. Can you believe it? Over the last week, the baby has started moving around quite a bit. If I rest with my hand on my belly, I can feel the occasional jab from the outside, too! Matiss was finally able to experience this the other night, for the first time. The babe gave its Papa two swift kicks - the first of many, I'm sure!

We were able to record the heartbeat off the doppler machine we rented this month. So, if you're interested in hearing what a baby's heartbeat sounds like in utero, check out the 'video' section of this website. It's pretty cool!


Tue, May 15, 2007 - Over the hump!
So, here we are...at 20 weeks. That means we're halfway through this pregnancy already. Does that make anybody else a bit nervous? Things are progressing nicely - I've finally accepted that this bump is due to a little monster in my belly. I can finally feel the little flutters and kicks I've been waiting for - I usually get a couple good sessions in each day.

Also, the midwife took pity on me and ordered another ultrasound...so hopefully we'll have some pictures to share with you soon!


Tue, May 8, 2007 - The ultrasound's in, and It's a.....
Brat! Maybe a boy, maybe a girl, definitely all brat.

We had our ultrasound today. Matiss, my mom, and I went in to see the wee babe. There it was, cute as a button, sucking it's thumb, squiggling around...we were all instantly in love, of course. Then it did a somersault, and a quick nosedive into my pelvis, turned its back to us, and refused to turn around again. Nothing the ultrasound technician did made any difference - this bean was happy snoozing where it was, and that was the end of that. So, we have NO pictures to show you, sadly. I've waited five months for this ultrasound (my first and only!) and I've got nothing to show for it...except a big silly grin, because as it turns out, this little brat is taking after its mother, it seems. I don't like being stirred that early in the morning, either, and good luck trying to get me to do what YOU want. Looks like Matiss is in trouble.


Thu, Apr 12, 2007 - There's a horse in my belly!
Yep....a galloping horse! Matiss and I were at the midwife's today, and we finally got the reassurance I've needed to start believing that this is actually happening. She found the baby's heartbeat right away - thumping away at a rate of 140 beats per minute. It sounded like a galloping horse, and it was the best sound! So, I guess my bloated belly is NOT just due to gas, as I tried to tell everyone. It finally feels like I'm walking around with a sidekick!

I've even felt the odd flutter, here and there. I refused to believe that it was anything other than...well, you know...gas....but now I'm starting to think that maybe we've got a little soccer player on our hands. Hopefully it's better at sports than it's mama.

So, I'm officially coming out of the pregnancy closet. I'm sharing this silly website with the world. I can blame my corny inclinations on hormones - that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. So, check back every now and then, to see the amazing growing belly. We're also hoping to post a soundbite of the galloping horse soon, and in about a month, this little bun will go for it's first photoshoot, via ultrasound.

There's a BABY in there!!!!!


Thu, Mar 22, 2007 - One down, two to go!
Well, we seem to have survived the first trimester. Most of you know our little secret now, though I refuse to let anyone get too excited before we hear a heartbeat, which should be in a few more weeks (that means you, mom and Shannon!)

So, what have we learned up until now? Not much, I'd say. I was blessed with very mild symptoms (not once have I hugged the bowl!), though I have yet to sleep through a night...where did my bladder go? I also have 1) sworn off asparagus, which I love, and 2) taken up eating hot dogs, which I don't love. I do have a nice little belly, but I'm sure it's not baby - I've been told that pregnant women get bloated. So, I'm nicely bloated, I guess.

I survived my first fun holiday sans booze. St. Patty's day was great - we had a party for Matiss, and I still got to sing Irish tunes at the bar, pound my fist on the table, and drink green....water. Meh. At least I wasn't hungover the next day. The next challenge will be getting through Canada day sober. Ouch!

I don't know when we'll share this site with you...partly because it's so cheesy, but so are many things associated with pregnancy and parenthood. Get used to it.


Mon, Jan 29, 2007 - Now that's a happy birthday!
On January 23rd, I celebrated my 31st birthday...and the first gift of the day was a positive pregnancy test! Matiss and I were both really happy, though it took several more tests (including a blood test) before I would believe that it wasn't some kind of twisted joke....so far, it seems that everything is as it seems, and we'll hopefully be adding a little Silins munchkin to the mix by next October. Yay!

A week later, and everything's pretty much the same, except that my bladder appears to be shrinking and I'll be enjoying my first superbowl without beer - and the Colts are in the finals, to boot! It's been some much-needed good news for our families, and we're looking forward to sharing all our adventures with you over the next few months.

Of course, we haven't told most of you yet...but you'll be hearing about it soon enough!