16 Weeks - Avocado

Weekly Pregnancy Journal



How far along: 16 w, 0 d

Total weight gain/loss: + 9.4

Maternity clothes: Absolutely. And on Friday I went shopping again and bought 2 mat bathing suits for our bahamas trip, and some shirts from Old Navy.

Stretch marks: Not yet - and I bought some stretch mark cream now.

Sleep: Is great

Best moment this week: Um... It was a pretty good week, but nothing really major in terms of pregnancy moments. I guess it would be when someone I don't really know at work asked if I'm expecting - I guess that means that I'm looking more pregnant than fat these days :)

Movement: Still can't feel anything

Cravings: Nothing really.

Aversions: None

Gender: No idea.

Labour Signs: None

Belly Button in or out: In, but it's definitely starting to change shape.

What I miss: Alcohol. We were at my sister-in-law's for most of the weekend while our condo was being perused by strangers, and I was acutely reminded of how much I would like a Corona to go along with the BBQ'd goodness. Brutal. Also, we went to the liquor store on Saturday to get some wine to put in our wine rack (also for the open house) and it was painful.

What I'm looking forward To: Bahamas! And an ultrasound in 2 weeks!

Weekly Wisdom: I need to quit worrying about my weight and just focus on eating well.

Symptoms this week: A bit of light brownish spotting this weekend, but I think I just overdid it trying to get ready for the open house on Saturday. It's gone now, and otherwise, I feel great.



Watch what you say... tiny bones forming in baby's ears mean the little one can now pick up your voice. Eyebrows, lashes and hair are starting to fill in, and taste buds are forming. And, if you're interested, an ultrasound might be able to determine gender.

A perk

They're doing the annual Spring carpet cleaning at the office this weekend, so the department is busy moving boxes that have been permanently fixed to the floor for the past 6 months up on top of filing cabinets and tables.

And I don't have to help.

The one guy in my department said, "Well, Daphne is exempt because of her condition". It makes me sound like I'm dying, but I'll get over it if it means I don't have to lug dusty boxes around today, and then back to their original spots on Monday.

Score!

Whose bellybutton is this?

So yesterday, as I was busy moisturizing after my shower, I looked in the mirror and saw something shocking. There appears to be a big, gaping hole in my stomach where my little and deep belly button used to be. All of a sudden, it has changed - it's huge and wide and you can see straight in - it's not the shadowed little circle it used to be.

I showed Nick when he woke up and he said, "I don't think I've ever been able to see the 'back' of your bellybutton before!" Meaning that it went in so far that it just seemed like a black hole.

And so it begins. I hope it just continues to flatten out and doesn't ever pop out... though I know that's probably an unrealistic hope.

Also, my belly's starting to feel less like a big roll of fat, and more like a thin layer of fat covering a hard baby bump. Which is awesome :) I don't mind feeling like a whale if it's a hard bump, but when it just looks like I've been eating too much, well, that's not so cute.

spot on - from theBump

Dear Non-Pregnant Person,

I hope you find these guidelines helpful in your interactions with pregnant women as failing to follow them may result in serious physical harm. If you are thinking, "surely she doesn't mean me," then you should probably read this twice.

1. The appropriate response to a couple telling you they are having a baby is 'Congratulations!' with enthusiasm. Any other response makes you a jerk.
   
2. Through the wonders of science, we now know that babies are made ONLY by the mother and father - not grandparents. Unless the baby is in your uterus or you are the man that helped put it there, you may not ever use the phrase 'my baby'.
   
3. On the same note, unless you made the baby as defined in #2, the pregnancy, birth and raising of the child are not about you. You do not have input. No one wants to hear your opinion unless they ask for it...
   
4. The body of a pregnant woman should be treated the same as any other body. You would not randomly touch someone's stomach if they were not pregnant, nor would you inquire into the condition of their uterus, cervix or how they plan to use their breasts. Pregnancy does not remove all traces of privacy from a woman.
   
5. Likewise, no woman wants to hear comments on her weight... ever. A pregnant woman does not find it flattering that you think she is about is pop, must be having twins, looks swollen or has gained weight in her face. Telling her she looks too small only makes her worry that she is somehow starving her baby. Making such comments gives her license to critique your physical appearance and you may not act offended. The only acceptable comment on appearance is 'You look fabulous!'.
   
6. By the time we are 20-30 years old, most of us have picked up on the fact that the summer is hot. We are hot every summer when we are not pregnant. We don't need you to point out that we will be miserably hot before the baby comes. Nor do we need to know how badly you will feel for us because we will be pregnant during the summer and how glad you are that YOU will not be pregnant this coming summer.
   
7. There is a reason that tickets to Labor & Delivery are not yet sold on Ticketmaster. Childbirth is actually not a public event. It may sound crazy, but some women really do not relish the idea of their mother, mother-in-law or a host of other family members seeing their bare butt and genitals. Also, some people simply feel like the birth of their child is a private and emotional moment to be shared only by the parents. You weren't invited to be there when the baby was created, you probably won't be invited to be there when it comes out either.
   
8. Like everything else in life, unless you receive an invitation, you are NOT invited. This includes doctor's appointments, ultrasounds, labour, delivery, the hospital and the new parents' home. You do not decide if you will be there for the birth or if you will move in with the new parents to 'help out'. If your assistance is desired, rest assured that you will be asked for it.
   
9. If you are asked to help after the birth, this means you should clean up the house, help with cooking meals, and generally stay out of the way. Holding the baby more than the parents, interfering with breastfeeding and sleeping schedules and making a woman who is still leaking fluid from multiple locations lift a finger in housework is not helping.
   
10. The only people entitled to time with the baby are the parents. Whether they choose to have you at the hospital for the birth or ask for you to wait three weeks to visit, appreciate that you are being given the privilege of seeing their child. Complaining or showing disappointment only encourages the parents to include you less.
    
    Sincerely,
    All the Pregnant Women in the World

15 Weeks - Naval Orange

Weekly Pregnancy Journal


How far along: 15 w, 0 d

Total weight gain/loss: + 9. I know that's not supposed to bother me, but it does anyway. I'm looking pregnant, but I feel like a fraud because there's definitely some lump over the bump - even above the belly button, though I know my ute hasn't expanded up there yet. I need to stop worrying about this.

Maternity clothes: Yup. Last week I hit a new low in my fashion style - I bought some mat pants at Wal*Mart. I don't think I've ever blogged about it before, but that place is my nemesis. I hate it... but the jeans were only $25. ...And I hate myself for getting sucked in by cheap pants.

Stretch marks: No

Sleep: Is great

Best moment this week: Finding out about our surprise trip to Bahamas! Nick and I went out for dinner on our anniversary and he put our trip itinerary in my card. I was so surprised! It's just a 4 day, but I'm so excited to sit on the beach and for the first time not feel bad about looking like a whale. :)
Also, we went to my SIL's yesterday and she showed us a bunch of baby stuff we'll be inheriting from her, including a beautiful cherry crib and bouncy chairs and such. Sweet :)

Movement: Still just in the bowels

Food cravings: Nothing really. I'm still hungry every few hours, but I'm eating normal food.

Aversions: None

Gender: No idea.

Labour Signs: None

Belly Button in or out: In

What I miss: 'living' in our condo. It's listed now, so everything has to be spotless *just in case*. It's nice that it's always clean, but having to plan when I do laundry so it's not hanging up when we leave the house isn't fun.

What I'm looking forward To: Bahamas!

Weekly Wisdom: Um.... I don't think I've been very wise this week. No wisdoms.

Symptoms this week: I just feel huge.



Continuing the march towards normal proportions, baby's legs now outmeasure the arms. And, finally, all four limbs have functional joints. Your fetus is squirming and wiggling like crazy down in the womb, though you probably still can't feel the movements.

A list...

Of things that bother me

1. That one of our managers writes her smiley face emoticons backwards (-;
2. People who shuffle their feet
3. Toilet paper rolls on 'backward'. The free edge should fall down the front, not the back.
4. That my husband seems incapable of putting his damn hair gel and comb back in the drawer when he's done with them
5. When doctor's office waiting rooms only have 2 year old copies of Sports Illustrated to flip through on your ridiculously long wait. Come on - you make enough money to spring for a couple of magazine subscriptions.
6. That one of my colleagues talks to her email as she's reading it. She has no internal monologue. "How am I supposed to answer that?? Well, I'm not writing back to you right now."
7. The long and cumbersome process that is submitting my expenses at work
8. Packing for weekends in London
9. Putting laundry away

That's all that's on my mind right now. Back to work for another hour, and then I'm going home. Long weekend!

14 Weeks - Lemon

Weekly Pregnancy Journal

How far along: 14 w, 0 d

Total weight gain/loss: + 6.8. Ugh. And I've been eating better this week too. I'm going to be a whale.

Maternity clothes: Yes, and it's wonderful. I'm still wearing my non-mat jeans (the new ones fall down) and some non-mat shirts, but otherwise, I'm as comfy as can be.

Stretch marks: No

Sleep: Is great

Best moment this week: Buying a house! WOOOOO! Getting a Mother's Day card from our little brownie (I think daddy helped him/her do the shopping ;)

Movement: Still just in the bowels

Food cravings: Nothing really - my appetite has waned a bit. I'm absolutely starving every few hours or so, but I don't eat very much in one sitting. Like, a yogurt and banana or half a sandwich pretty much does it for me.

Aversions: None

Gender: Maybe a girl? But really, no idea.

Labour Signs: None

Belly Button in or out: In

What I miss: Still would love a glass of wine.

What I am looking forward to: Getting pictures of our new house!

Weekly Wisdom: It's just as well we didn't buy that last house, because it just wasn't meant to be. When it's right, you won't have to convince yourself.

Symptoms this week: Um... other than the bleeding gums, I'm feeling pretty fabulous.
Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth.

Here it is!

Pictures of the inside of the house to follow after the home inspection on Tuesday.

But I took a drive-by on Friday, so here's the front of our new house!

We Bought a House!

We went to see a house last night in the area we've been eyeing, and Nick somehow knew (even before we saw a listing or pictures) that we were going to buy it. Apparently, our realtor knew too, since he brought already-drafted purchasing papers to the showing.

We love it. It's perfect.

The area is so family friendly

• there were a ton of kids outside playing in the evening
• it's a quiet crescent
• there's a park really closeby with a baseball diamond, tennis courts and a playground
• it's walking distance to the elementary school
• there are two Montossoris right in the neighbourhood
• neighbours were out chatting in their driveways

The house is perfect.

• The backyard is beautiful, and comes complete with an interlocking brick patio, a hot tub, a gazebo, a shed, and tons of grass and gardens and room for a play set
• The kitchen is gorgeous, with a $9000 professional gas oven and range hood
• The living/dining rooms have beautiful cherry floors
• Main floor office
• 4 bedrooms upstairs - one of which we may turn into a kick-ass walk-in closet and ensuite bath
• a beautifully done bathroom, that we'll unfortunately have to wreck... they put in an incredible shower, but we'll need a bathtub with kids
• The basement is so well done and has a really cool bar under the stairs, and they threw in their pool table because they have nowhere to move it to in their apartment
• The downstairs guest room and bathroom are spacious
• And there's a laundry chute! How cool is that??

We don't get possession until July 31, which seems forever away, but I'm sure once we have our condo ready for sale and on the market, it'll fly by.

I can't wait to go back to our house and take pictures and start planning out what paint colours we want. And then we can start shopping for baby furniture and a dining room suite!

We bought it at list price, which was totally fair for the neighbourhood and the beauty of the house. And it was well within our price range, so we can't go wrong!

Now we just have to wait for the home inspection (which we expect will be easy since they moved in 5 years ago and have done an impeccable job renovating it). And then it's ours!

Yay for Nick and Daphne! We're homeowners - well, we were before, since we own this condo, and owned the last as well. But now, we get land! And two stories! And room for a barbecue!

Flossing...

... is excruciating.

I haven't flossed in a while, I'm not going to lie.
My flossing 'routine' is normally brought on by (a) visits to the dentist, (b) eating a bag of microwave popcorn while watching a movie, or (c) going to the Keg for dinner. It's not a normal part of my dental hygiene routine, because frankly, I hate it. And I know I should floss regularly... but I don't. So there.

For the past 2 months or so, I'll admit that I haven't picked up the floss once. I know, I know - "Don't neglect your gums!" But here's the thing - brushing my teeth has been a bit of an ordeal on and off these days. Sometimes it's fine, but sometimes just approaching my back teeth with my toothbrush makes me gag. It's a daily surprise whether my gag reflex will be on overdrive or not.

But the last week or so, I've noticed a bit of blood when I'm brushing - and I use a soft toothbrush, so there shouldn't be any blood.

So last night, I decided to floss. And holy crap, it looked like an old-fashioned vampire movie when I was done. Blood everywhere. I turned to smile at Nick to show him and he freaked out. It was gruesome. And today, my gums feel like I took a jackhammer to them!

Which normally would be enough to deter me from flossing for a while... but I know I have to keep at it. Because of the extra bloodflow going through my gums, apparently gum problems are really common during pregnancy. So I need to keep flossing. And this does not make me happy.

We're going to the Keg tonight... and I'm really not looking forward to the havoc this will surely wreak on my poor sensitive gums. I wonder if I can convince myself to forego the steak and get a salad or something instead....

13 Weeks - Peach

Weekly Pregnancy Journal

How far along: 13 w, 0 d - Woo Hoo for 2nd Tri!
Total weight gain/loss: + 5.6. Ouch. But in my defence, we spent basically every evening last week with our realtor, and ate nothing but fast food because we only had 5 minutes to eat. And we have no food in the house, because we've had no time to do groceries. Once we buy food, I'll be back to normal eating habits again and will hopefully slow down my quick progression to whale-hood.
Maternity clothes: I went shopping on Friday and bought some maternity clothes, and I've never been more comfortable in my life. Hooray!
Stretch marks: No
Sleep: Is normal
Best moment this week: Spilling the rest of the beans and finally just being pregnant instead of secretly pregnant!
Movement: Bowels - still totally normal. Baby - Apparently moving up a storm, but I still can't feel it.
Food cravings: Sandwiches, fruit. But I don't think that's really pregnancy related - I think we just need to do groceries, and I always want what isn't in the fridge.
Aversions: Nothing.
Gender: Still no idea.
Labour Signs: None
Belly Button in or out: In
What I miss: Still would love a glass of wine... but otherwise, I'm okay.
What I am looking forward to: Our next ultrasound... which won't be for weeks. My belly popping so I look truly pregnant! Getting my highlights touched up again (since it's 'controversial', I decided to wait until 2nd tri to get them done. I'm going to make an appointment for this Friday)
Weekly Wisdom: If you see a house you like, don't hum and haw over it - just buy it before someone else does!!

Symptoms this week:
I can see why people call this the golden stage of pregnancy - I feel great! I feel kind of fat still (looking forward to my tummy 'popping'), but otherwise, I feel fab!


Your fetus is forming teeth and vocal cords... savor this, their non-functional phase. Baby is approaching normal proportions, with a head now only one third the size of the body. Intestines are in the process of moving from the umbilical cord to baby's tummy. (Much more convenient.)

The rest of the beans - if it's on facebook, it's official

We changed our facebook statuses before dinner last night, and were so excited to get home from Oliver & Bonaccini's to see the madness that ensued.

Mine said: Daphne has a bun in the oven
Nick's said: Nick is preparing for the late-night ice cream & pickle runs.

As of this morning, I have 29 comments ranging from "Congratulations!" to "Holy Cow!" to "Are you just baking again, or do you really have a 'bun in the oven?'" And I got an email from an old friend who moved to BC a couple of years back, who knew about my old no-babies rule - she was floored, and happy for us, and curious if this was planned ;)

So that's it - the world knows. I'm wearing maternity clothes, and the world knows about our little brownie. It feels so liberating to not be hiding it anymore!

Now, I'm not just cautiously pregnant, I'm PREGNANT! And I'm going to be a mommy in 6 months!

Ahhhhhhh.......

I love maternity pants.

I went shopping after work and dropped nearly $500 on clothes (ack, I know! but necessary) and I'm so glad I did. I wore a new pair of mat pants and shirt to dinner tonight, and it was wonderful. I felt great, and I think I actually looked skinnier without the muffin top that was happening with my other pants.

I even bought a dress for the wedding we're going to in 2 weeks. It shows off my best assets (the girls) and is really flattering. I certainly don't fill out the belly that much, but it's pleated in the front, so it doesn't look like I'm wearing a maternity dress, per se.

And I bought 3 new bras at la Senza that are the most comfortable things ever - and I had to go up in band size, which meant the cup was a little bigger too. Whatever, they're comfortable.

AND I bought some maternity underwear, because my old favourite boy-cut style was starting to roll under my gut and they aren't 100% cotton, so they were getting really hot. So, I now am the sort of proud owner of under-belly bikinis, and under-belly thongs. Nice.

I'm so glad I finally told work, and now I can be comfortable!

I broke pants

I was trying to zip up a pair of pants that fit last week (with a bella band, but still - the zipper at least did up) and I broke them. I was trying so hard to pull them up that the zipper pull came right off.

Nick laughed hysterically when I told him. I didn't find it so funny. My closet is absolutely stacked with clothes, and nothing fits me. It's so frustrating.

Time to go shopping!

Spilling more beans - telling work!

I spilled more beans yesterday - I just couldn't wait to tell work. I was going to tell them today in our monthly meeting, but it got cancelled so I said screw waiting! So I waited until everyone got into the office, and then rallied everyone out of their desks and just pulled out the ultrasound picture. They were all so thrilled - and they totally knew. They said they had been talking about it for weeks, but were just waiting for me to tell them. Even the only guy in my department noticed - and I rarely ever see him!

What tipped them off:

• I stopped coming in in the mornings with a cappuccino made at home. Antonia even asked me how my capp. maker was a while back - I said great.... when in fact, coffee just tasted bad so I wasn't making it.
• My acne. They all noticed that (great). Good thing the meds are finally working!
• My weight. They all noticed that too. And they said that this is the first time I've just seemed content with getting bigger. I'm normally the one pushing everyone to do South Beach together, and now I'm advocating bigger pants.
• My eating habits - they said the saltines were a dead givaway. And while I only felt sick for a couple of weeks, those few times they saw me munching on crackers confirmed their suspicions.

Anyway, they're all really excited for me. I then went and told one of the Marketing Managers that I work closely with, and she was so excited - but she had no idea. She looked at my tummy as I was sitting in her office, and said this is the first time she'd noticed it.

And then I went and told the Marketing Director - who used to be my VP at the Internet Franchise. She was surprised... sort of. At dinner a few weeks ago with the old work crew, she noticed my tummy and that my face had gotten a little rounder - and thought it was weird because I was skinny everywhere else and I've always had such a narrow face. So she said she's glad her suspicions were correct, and she's really excited for me.

So, the only beans left to spill at work are to the President, who is the most family-friendly man ever. He'll be so happy for me, and I love that. I'll have to set up a meeting with him or something, because I rarely run in to him unless I'm writing a speech or something for him.

And tonight, I think we'll change our facebook statuses and watch the madness ensue! I plan on saying, "Daphne has a bun in the oven", and Nick's going to say, "Nick is heading out on an ice cream and pickles run" :)