Mom in the vegetable patch
A new tomato planting technique
Watering thistles (all the easier to pull them out, apparently.)
Taking a break from forking weeds.
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| Hey, someone has to keep track of all these tools! |
Thursday, 31 May 2012
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Meeting My Obstetrician
Yesterday my mom and I drove to the Walkerton Hospital, and had my first meeting with Dr. Schipper, the obstetrician recommended by my mom's family doctor. Aside from getting told to go to three completely different locations by three different people and therefore arriving for the appointment a bit late, everything went smoothly. I was asked the exact same questions as all my previous first-time appointments. I guess that happens when you go through three different doctors in one pregnancy. But seriously, all the answers are in my records sitting on your lap. Why do we have to go over all this again? The main difference this time was that Dr. Schipper's opening comment as she sat down was
"So, this baby was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it? How are you feeling about it now?"
That is something no doctor has asked me this entire time, and I appreciated it. She also wanted to know about Taz. Whether or not he was still in the picture, what he does for a living, what our future plans were, etc, etc. It was a pretty in-depth appointment, and she seemed much more interested in me and my concerns than anyone else I had encountered in the medical field along this journey.
I finally know where I'll be delivering Amelia, and was able to get a tour and ask all my pressing questions. Here are the main points:
1. The birthing centre has 6 private birthing rooms, where you labour, deliver, and recover. Your baby rooms in with you. Each room has a separate bathroom with a jacuzzi, a couch, a kitchenette and lots of windows.
2. Partners and grandparents have 24-hour access for visiting. Partners are encouraged to stay with mom and baby
3. Natural pain relief is encouraged, and currently there are no epidurals available at this location. The nurses I spoke with seemed very concerned with making sure mothers are relaxed and comfortable, and medical interventions, even as small as an IV are totally at the mother's discretion. Fetal heart rate monitering is not constant, nor does Dr. Schipper seem to push it. She said it can often appear to indicate distress even though the baby is perfectly fine, and this causes stress for everyone else, so it is best done intermittently only as required. I think this is great!
4. Mom and baby are often discharged after 24 hours if everything went smoothly, but if mom wants to stay longer to get more help with breastfeeding, etc. that's ok too.
As we were leaving after our tour, a newborn baby in one of the rooms began to cry. My mom smiled and said "I love that sound". I asked her why. She says I will learn to love it too. It's communicating.
We'll see.
Oh, one more thing: I haven't gained anything since my last doctor's appointment, three weeks ago. I don't know if this should concern me or not. The doctor said it isn't a big deal for now. I think its probably all the extra exercise I get from working outdoors and moving all day long. I just hope baby's ok. She is moving around tonnes, and giving great big belly morphing kicks, so for now I won't worry. I have another appointment in two week's time, and will see how things look from there.
We may even get another ultrasound next appointment, if Dr. Schipper can't determine what position the baby is in. She couldn't this time, and man, that probing is painful!
"So, this baby was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it? How are you feeling about it now?"
That is something no doctor has asked me this entire time, and I appreciated it. She also wanted to know about Taz. Whether or not he was still in the picture, what he does for a living, what our future plans were, etc, etc. It was a pretty in-depth appointment, and she seemed much more interested in me and my concerns than anyone else I had encountered in the medical field along this journey.
I finally know where I'll be delivering Amelia, and was able to get a tour and ask all my pressing questions. Here are the main points:
1. The birthing centre has 6 private birthing rooms, where you labour, deliver, and recover. Your baby rooms in with you. Each room has a separate bathroom with a jacuzzi, a couch, a kitchenette and lots of windows.
2. Partners and grandparents have 24-hour access for visiting. Partners are encouraged to stay with mom and baby
3. Natural pain relief is encouraged, and currently there are no epidurals available at this location. The nurses I spoke with seemed very concerned with making sure mothers are relaxed and comfortable, and medical interventions, even as small as an IV are totally at the mother's discretion. Fetal heart rate monitering is not constant, nor does Dr. Schipper seem to push it. She said it can often appear to indicate distress even though the baby is perfectly fine, and this causes stress for everyone else, so it is best done intermittently only as required. I think this is great!
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| Discussing my birth plan with Marilyn, a nurse at the birthing centre |
4. Mom and baby are often discharged after 24 hours if everything went smoothly, but if mom wants to stay longer to get more help with breastfeeding, etc. that's ok too.
As we were leaving after our tour, a newborn baby in one of the rooms began to cry. My mom smiled and said "I love that sound". I asked her why. She says I will learn to love it too. It's communicating.
We'll see.
Oh, one more thing: I haven't gained anything since my last doctor's appointment, three weeks ago. I don't know if this should concern me or not. The doctor said it isn't a big deal for now. I think its probably all the extra exercise I get from working outdoors and moving all day long. I just hope baby's ok. She is moving around tonnes, and giving great big belly morphing kicks, so for now I won't worry. I have another appointment in two week's time, and will see how things look from there.
We may even get another ultrasound next appointment, if Dr. Schipper can't determine what position the baby is in. She couldn't this time, and man, that probing is painful!
Milestone: 8 months!!
I haven't posted in awhile, for a number of reasons.
The first is that we lost my grandfather on May 14th. It was a hard blow to our entire family, my mom especially. She spent the week or so before he passed away travelling back and forth from marmora, and luckily she wasn't trucking with dad, so she was with him when he died. The week after that was full of funeral arrangements, and we all traveled to Marmora for the day of the funeral. I haven't seen some of those faces in 2 years. Funny how a funeral brings everyone together in a shared sense of closeness, despite the time apart. Everyone is rallying around my grandmother, which is nice to see, and makes me appreciate how strong our family connection really is. With the 5 hour drive there, 3 hours for the funeral, and the 5 hour drive back, it made for a long day.
The second reason is that with the week that was lost, there was a lot of farm work that needed to be caught up on. Mom calls it "going gangbusters" and that's what we have been doing ever since. I wish I could scan her daily chore lists and upload them to the blog. Every morning, a new updated list for mom, one for myself, and one for danny are posted on the fridge. I've been doing all kinds of new stuff! Yesterday, I learned how to rake and seed bare ground so that grass will grow. And I learned how to spread cedar mulch around the dozen or so new trees that were planted last week. Today was mostly maintenance, such as watering all the new vegetable gardens, but I also got to plant a bunch of annuals in the arbour garden. I've been hilling potatoes, laying out and planting vegetable plots, attacking twitch grass wherever it appears in the gardens, shoveling sod and rocks, the list goes on. All of it is WAY more physically demanding than I thought I would be capable of this far along in my pregnancy, but its actually making me stronger. Exhausted at the end of the day, but stronger overall.
Yesterday I took a run to town to pick up 15 bags of mulch mom had purchased. With no one readily available to help me, I loaded the 56L bags myself, plus two 70L bags of soil on top. Mom promises all this physical activity will make labour easier. I sure hope so! Right now, it makes eating easier, and getting to sleep a breeze!
However, it makes blogging really difficult. We work outside rain or shine, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., only stopping to grab a quick lunch. Then Taz comes home, and I make dinner and visit with him until he is too tired to stay awake anymore (around 9 p.m.) Then, because I get up at 5:30 to help him with breakfast and lunch, and sometimes drive him to work, I go to bed too. There is literally NO time to blog!
We reached the 8 month milestone, and I had every intention of blogging about it, but no dice. Now we are closer to 33 weeks.
8 months sounds so crazy!! In less than 8 weeks I will be holding my daughter! With all the wedding prep, I haven't had much time to reflect on this, and I haven't packed a hospital bag, or pre-washed any baby clothes. Diaper making has come to a complete halt. I hope this little one makes it to her due date, because any earlier and I won't be ready, I don't think!
The first is that we lost my grandfather on May 14th. It was a hard blow to our entire family, my mom especially. She spent the week or so before he passed away travelling back and forth from marmora, and luckily she wasn't trucking with dad, so she was with him when he died. The week after that was full of funeral arrangements, and we all traveled to Marmora for the day of the funeral. I haven't seen some of those faces in 2 years. Funny how a funeral brings everyone together in a shared sense of closeness, despite the time apart. Everyone is rallying around my grandmother, which is nice to see, and makes me appreciate how strong our family connection really is. With the 5 hour drive there, 3 hours for the funeral, and the 5 hour drive back, it made for a long day.
The second reason is that with the week that was lost, there was a lot of farm work that needed to be caught up on. Mom calls it "going gangbusters" and that's what we have been doing ever since. I wish I could scan her daily chore lists and upload them to the blog. Every morning, a new updated list for mom, one for myself, and one for danny are posted on the fridge. I've been doing all kinds of new stuff! Yesterday, I learned how to rake and seed bare ground so that grass will grow. And I learned how to spread cedar mulch around the dozen or so new trees that were planted last week. Today was mostly maintenance, such as watering all the new vegetable gardens, but I also got to plant a bunch of annuals in the arbour garden. I've been hilling potatoes, laying out and planting vegetable plots, attacking twitch grass wherever it appears in the gardens, shoveling sod and rocks, the list goes on. All of it is WAY more physically demanding than I thought I would be capable of this far along in my pregnancy, but its actually making me stronger. Exhausted at the end of the day, but stronger overall.
Yesterday I took a run to town to pick up 15 bags of mulch mom had purchased. With no one readily available to help me, I loaded the 56L bags myself, plus two 70L bags of soil on top. Mom promises all this physical activity will make labour easier. I sure hope so! Right now, it makes eating easier, and getting to sleep a breeze!
However, it makes blogging really difficult. We work outside rain or shine, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., only stopping to grab a quick lunch. Then Taz comes home, and I make dinner and visit with him until he is too tired to stay awake anymore (around 9 p.m.) Then, because I get up at 5:30 to help him with breakfast and lunch, and sometimes drive him to work, I go to bed too. There is literally NO time to blog!
We reached the 8 month milestone, and I had every intention of blogging about it, but no dice. Now we are closer to 33 weeks.
8 months sounds so crazy!! In less than 8 weeks I will be holding my daughter! With all the wedding prep, I haven't had much time to reflect on this, and I haven't packed a hospital bag, or pre-washed any baby clothes. Diaper making has come to a complete halt. I hope this little one makes it to her due date, because any earlier and I won't be ready, I don't think!
Friday, 11 May 2012
My Fertility Blanket
I was looking at the pictures of the prefolds in the last post, and I realized that I got a bit of my Bavarian blanket in the top left corner of the picture. I haven't posted about crocheting much, but it is a skill I learned from my mom when I was young, and it was a passion before knitting, before sewing, and before baby. I've made hats, full-sized blankets, baby blankets, and have more than a few half-finished projects lurking around.
But THIS particular blanket is special.
But THIS particular blanket is special.
This is Bavarian Crochet. Its a stitch sequence that takes a long long time, and there is not much gain on each row. But the finished project is beautiful, and in my opinion, well worth it.
When I started this blanket, I knew without a doubt that it was going to be a baby blanket. The colours, the little diamond pattern, everything about it said "baby". And with the amount of time and effort I was putting into it, I knew it wasn't going to anyone but me. I have seen too many handmade crochet baby blankets, hundreds of hours of work, for sale at Value Village, for less than $5. That wasn't going to happen to this one.
So for most of last spring and summer, if Taz drove the car, I was in the passenger seat, crocheting. Mornings when I woke up first, I would have a quiet half hour to myself to work on it, while he breathed quietly beside me, still deep asleep.
I used a lot (and I mean a LOT) of the time to daydream about what our future looked like. How many kids? What would they look like? What would it feel like to hold our child in my arms? Sometimes we would talk about it together, imagine where we would end up, and joke about the traits our children might inherit, but most of the time, it was just me and my thoughts. And most of those thoughts were about babies. About how this blanket would one day be wrapped around a baby of my very own. How it would be half me, and half the love of my life. I poured countless hours of love into that blanket, never knowing exactly when I would be using it.
And just like the blanket and I willed it to be so, with less than a row to go, I got pregnant. It is henceforth, and will forever be known as my very own fertility blanket.
Diaper Diary Woes Part IV
What $30 Can Get You:
1. One Bumgenius freetime, all-in-one, one-size cloth diaper, including taxes. (May run a bit over $30 for shipping
or...
2. 3 handmade newborn prefolds, plus 10 handmade, double sided matching wipes, in the flannel colour of my choosing, plus enough fabric and microfibre towels to make 3 more prefolds, and a dozen more wipes. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
Behold, my very first adventure with a sewing machine and a serger!
The wipes are pieces of facecloths I bought as a pack of 6 and after much trial and error, cut into pieces and backed with the leftover flannel I had. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I want to do these, but today I broke the serger needle, so I will have to wait until mom and dad get back from wherever they are this week, and we get that sorted out. Changing the needle myself wouldn't be hard, but finding the needle in this house? Probably impossible. And I have more pressing issues to attend...
...Like blowing my nose. Holy shit, this cold has knocked me for a loop! I don't get sick very often, so when I do, it is usually a doozy. This is my first cold in twelve months, and its making up for all the little colds I didn't get. Today is another sunny beautiful day out, and I should be outside fighting the endless battle against weeds, but I keep getting the chills and then the sweats, and I have a sinus pressure headache that makes me think some serious tectonic shifting is going on up there. Its a day for indoors and self-pity.
On a more positive note, my wonderful mummy managed to find a store in tiny Campbelford (or something like that) that carried Babyville Boutique items, such as precut PUL and Fold Over Elastic!! She went on a bit of a shopping spree, and now there is a shopping bag full of goodies just waiting to be explored. She bought the "Cloth Diapering Made Easy" book with all the patterns too, and I've read it over a couple times and picked out what I want to make. I still think I'll go the practical route, and make covers with no liner (easier to keep clean, and you don't have to change them with each diaper change the way you would have to if they had a fleece or flannel liner that got wet). But I can see how some patterns could be modified, and I can't wait to get started!! I'm going to wait until she gets back though, because I have a million questions and would rather have someone experienced on hand to answer them.
This is my sewing station, all set up in our bedroom, with a view over the front gardens. I am beginning to understand why people really get into this. It is quite relaxing!
1. One Bumgenius freetime, all-in-one, one-size cloth diaper, including taxes. (May run a bit over $30 for shipping
or...
2. 3 handmade newborn prefolds, plus 10 handmade, double sided matching wipes, in the flannel colour of my choosing, plus enough fabric and microfibre towels to make 3 more prefolds, and a dozen more wipes. I just haven't gotten around to it yet.
Behold, my very first adventure with a sewing machine and a serger!
The top three pieces have microfibre towels folded into thirds in the middle, which are sewn together, and then sewn into the flannel liner. And in the middle of the microfibre, is a hefty piece....of SHAMWOW! I figure, since that nifty cloth is so good at absorbing pop spills out of carpet, it should work just as well with baby pee.
The wipes are pieces of facecloths I bought as a pack of 6 and after much trial and error, cut into pieces and backed with the leftover flannel I had. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I want to do these, but today I broke the serger needle, so I will have to wait until mom and dad get back from wherever they are this week, and we get that sorted out. Changing the needle myself wouldn't be hard, but finding the needle in this house? Probably impossible. And I have more pressing issues to attend...
...Like blowing my nose. Holy shit, this cold has knocked me for a loop! I don't get sick very often, so when I do, it is usually a doozy. This is my first cold in twelve months, and its making up for all the little colds I didn't get. Today is another sunny beautiful day out, and I should be outside fighting the endless battle against weeds, but I keep getting the chills and then the sweats, and I have a sinus pressure headache that makes me think some serious tectonic shifting is going on up there. Its a day for indoors and self-pity.
On a more positive note, my wonderful mummy managed to find a store in tiny Campbelford (or something like that) that carried Babyville Boutique items, such as precut PUL and Fold Over Elastic!! She went on a bit of a shopping spree, and now there is a shopping bag full of goodies just waiting to be explored. She bought the "Cloth Diapering Made Easy" book with all the patterns too, and I've read it over a couple times and picked out what I want to make. I still think I'll go the practical route, and make covers with no liner (easier to keep clean, and you don't have to change them with each diaper change the way you would have to if they had a fleece or flannel liner that got wet). But I can see how some patterns could be modified, and I can't wait to get started!! I'm going to wait until she gets back though, because I have a million questions and would rather have someone experienced on hand to answer them.
This is my sewing station, all set up in our bedroom, with a view over the front gardens. I am beginning to understand why people really get into this. It is quite relaxing!
Aaaand a stack of serged, finished flats. I have 18 now in total. This is the only type of diaper my mom used on 6 kids! Crazy! I love her for her practicality, but I want cuteness too...
That makes 21 diapers down, at least 15 to go. Next: Diaper covers. Woo!
Thursday, 10 May 2012
Irony is....
Catching a cold just as the weather starts to turn warm. Today was sunny and beautiful out, but I felt the cold getting worse and worse as the day progressed. By 2 p.m., I couldn't breathe through my nose, and by 4 I felt completely drained. Normally, I'm a big fan of cold medicine, especially to sleep at night. But now, I'm not sure what I can and can't take. Even if I did know, our medicine box is buried somewhere in the mound of boxes left over from the move that I can't work up the motivation to tackle. I'm cooking Taz a nice dinner for when he gets home from his 11-hour shift, but it might as well be wet cardboard for all I will be able to taste of it. :(
I can't feel too sorry for myself though. Taz has the same cold (I caught it from him) and he puts in a hard day of labouring. Tonight will probably be an 8 o-clock bedtime for both of us if he feels as shitty as I do.
On the baby front, Amelia appears completely unaffected by how shitty her mom feels, and has been doing great big uterus stretching summersaults that change the entire shape of my belly. Try weeding while that is going on!
I can't feel too sorry for myself though. Taz has the same cold (I caught it from him) and he puts in a hard day of labouring. Tonight will probably be an 8 o-clock bedtime for both of us if he feels as shitty as I do.
On the baby front, Amelia appears completely unaffected by how shitty her mom feels, and has been doing great big uterus stretching summersaults that change the entire shape of my belly. Try weeding while that is going on!
Monday, 7 May 2012
The Events of Week 29
1. Taz got and started his new job as a landscape labourer for a company in Walkerton. I didn't know landscaping was this messy!
2. I decided I was waaay behind on baby bump pictures, and asked Taz to take some for me. I discovered about 5 minutes later that yes, you can still have "feeling butt ugly" days when pregnant. This is the best picture of the bunch, and I still hate it. Mostly because my hair refused to stay out of my eyes! But hey, the bump looks cute....
3. Speaking of bumps, I discovered the BEST way to keep your pants up while doing yard work. Millions of beer drinking men can't be wrong....
Suspenders are the way to go!! I can do all the bending, shovelling, raking, and laundry hanging I want with these suckers on, no problem! Sure, I may look like I just fell off of the turnip truck, but I can kick your butt if you say so without flashing mine.
4. I had my first doctor's appointment out here in Zurich. The staff here (with the exception of the receptionist, who is rather crabby) are much nicer than in Kingston! The woman who filled in for Dr. Teeple today let me listen to Amelia's heartbeat for as long as I liked. I can't believe how much stronger its getting these days! I have to book in a tour of the Walkerton hospital soon. Apparently they have nice birthing suites with jacuzzi tubs. Sounds good to me!
5. Alot of headway has been made in the cloth diaper saga, but that is a whole other post, with its own pictures and everything. For now, however, the rain has started up again, and I am going upstairs to bed to fall asleep listening to it. There really is nothing better than raindrops on a tin roof for lulling yourself to sleep.
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