shower!

I'm snowed in today at home, so I finally had a chance to upload pics from my baby shower this weekend! This is one of the few photos where my crazy roots aren't too trashingly obvious, and my nose isn't as pink from the cold I've had (with terrible heartburn) for a week now!

It was a lot of fun to see everyone, and there were a whole lot of people! I was completely overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. So many cute gifts for her... she will be very well dressed and cozy in all of her new clothes and handmade blankets. And, she had better be a girl, because we got a lot of pink! We got a lot of gear too, and most suprisingly, a video camera from dad-in-law that nobody knew about. The girls did a great job planning it, and I was thrilled to arrive and see two big trays of... cupcakes!

I might be writing thank you cards for the rest of my life, so until you get yours, thank you so much. Our baby is very lucky to have all of you and we're excited to introduce her.

baby crafting

Feeling much better emotionally, although I've been home sick for the past few days with a virus/sore throat. I got checked out yesterday to make sure it wasn't anything serious, and it's not... I was just prescribed lots of rest and fluids. Am feeling better today, though I just got a phone call that an already expensive regular car servicing now has a $600 repair tacked onto it that we can't afford. Why do these things always happen right before major, expensive life events?? A similar thing happened right before our wedding too. Ugh.

Anyway, some pics of recent projects for the baby... a fabric wall hanging (I know the lines aren't all perfectly straight, I wanted a more hand-made look!) and a knit kitty that will rock out the nursery and toy box. I made a similar kitty as a gift before, and used some Irish worsted wool from other projects to make this one in a different colour scheme. Here's the pattern from Knitty.

I have some new wool to knit the clothes I found patterns for, but I'm also very tempted by using fabric I have stashed away to make this initial pillow!

emotional rollercoaster

Last night consisted of two emotional and hormonally-fueled crying sessions. The first was prompted by confessing to Ian how I've been feeling this past week or so, which is largely freaked out/scared/nervous about both labour and what life will be like as a brand new mom. I have felt guilty enough about feeling this way, but compounding it is the fact that everywhere I turn, people are telling me how excited and happy I must be. Of course I am, and of course I appreciate why they are saying that, but trust me... when you are having an emotional day and you can't smile back with 100% conviction, the guilt meter goes through the roof. I feel our innocent little baby wiggling around in my belly, who will just need me and be clueless of me being anything but her mom, and I feel like a horrible person for dwelling on anything less.

I got about four words into telling Ian this, and the tears came flooding out. It was a blubbering, 'I'm a bad mom already!!' kind of scene. He made me feel much better and assured me that there is nothing wrong with me, so I do feel better today.
The second crying session of the night? We watched 'Barnyard' (yes, the cartoon), and one sad scene involves a parent and child... with Peter Gabriel's 'Father, Son' playing in the background, no less... too much!!

On different note... here's another CD that looks promising called For the Kids. I found it by Googling lyrics to The Rainbow Connection, which I plan to sing to her when out of range of the baby monitor! It's covered by Sarah McLachlan on this CD. There are also fun tracks by the Barenaked Ladies (La, La, La, Lemon!) and Cake, plus a more questionable one by Tom Waits...

32 weeks and what i didn't expect about expecting

Ian actually snapped this pic of my belly at 31 weeks, and I swear I have grown since then! At this week's checkup I learned that the baby is currrently in breech position, but that there's still plenty of time for her to move into a head-down position. At least now I know what body parts are what when she's on the move -- the latest is pressing feet/knees or head up against my uterus like she's stretching or doing yoga.

There are plenty of physical things I never knew about pregnancy. Here are just a few of the things I've experienced:

1. If you hate to shave your legs, get pregnant. Beginning at about the 5 month mark, the hair on my legs virtually stopped growing. I only shave about once a month!

2. Breathlessness. I get out of breath very easily, with everything pushing up against my diaphragm and lungs, which has increased until the baby drops some more. Some days I sound like that Stevie kid from Malcolm in the Middle when I talk, taking deep breaths in between words!

3. Perpetual sniffles. There is now a Kleenex box in almost every room of the house.

4. Clumsiness. I drop things constantly, which is a cruel irony when you're pregnant... it's very difficult (and frustrating) to try and pick things up off the floor! I need some long handled tongs or a pick!

5. Underwire bras are evil. With organs shifted and a baby pressing up against my ribs, sometimes it's all I can do to keep from going crazy when wearing an underwire bra. Ian has found them on the bannister, draped over tables, wherever I happen to be when I finally have had enough and rip it off.

6. Insulation and itchiness. A benefit of being pregnant during the winter is having a built-in heater. I get overheated really easily in places like malls, the office, etc. And what else happens when I get hot? My belly itches! (BTW - the Body Shop's Body Butter in Cocoa Butter is heavenly for this)

7. Naps are wonderful. I'm getting tired again now, particularly in the evening like I was in my first trimester. I'm off to take a nap now!

Snoogle pillow update... so far so good! I definitely recommend it. It's no miracle worker, but I've had some significant improvement in my hip pain from sleeping with it. It's giant, shaped like a 'C', and takes up a lot of the bed! The best position I've found is the back to belly -- the long part curves down my back, between my thighs/knees, and is then just wedged under my belly for added support. I've gone from waking up at least every hour to a 3-4 stretch of sleep at first, then every 1-2 hours after that.

rockin' the baby

As many new moms-to-be can attest to, there are lots of questions we ask ourselves in thinking about how to raise a happy, intelligent, productive, well-adjusted little member of the next generation... and one perennial debate seems to be over music. Does exposure to classical music help, in the womb and out? Baby Einstein? Traditional lullabies or contemporary ones? Or, do babies just want to rock out in the nursery?

This article from today's issue of Daily Candy cracks me up. Now you can have the best of both worlds with Full Metal Diaper, which offers crib-friendly instrumental versions of Guns n Roses and Metallica, or St. Elmo's Pacifier with 80s hits by Duran Duran and more.

Read the article here!