Emmis First Week = Tiring for Mommy and Daddy!

Oh My Ouch!!!!!!!

So She finally came, and holy crap balls- did it ever frickin hurt!

It started on Wednesday night. At about 9:00 I started to get the real contractions - not the fake ones I had been having for the past month. They started off pretty tame and they were not really regular - coming about every 15 minutes, give or take five minutes- so Chris and I decided to go to bed early and try to get some sleep to get ready for the big event. My midwives had previously given me instruction to take gravol and extra-strength tylenol so that I could get to sleep more easily, and not to worry - because "if it really is labour, you won't sleep through it". Well, they were right.............................................

I never did get to sleep because the contractions kept getting stronger - I had quite a bit of lower back pain so I kept taking baths and showers to try and alleviate some of the discomfort. By 4:00 the next morning, I couldn't deal with the pain alone anymore - and woke Chris up to help me get through them. At this point they were still about 10-15 minutes apart, but so strong that I ended up crying and moaning my way through most of them, but with the help of Chris' strong arms pressing on my hips and back - we managed to make it until 6:00, just the two of us, going through labour together at the house.

At about 5:30 the contractions jumped to 3 minutes apart and we knew it was time to page the midwife. I laboured on hands and knees in the shower while Chris explained everything to the midwife - normally she talks to the mother to make sure that she is actually in labour, but in my case she could clearly hear that I was, and quickly determined that talking on the phone wouldn't be a skill I was currently in possession of. Her quick instructions were to pack everything up, and head to the birthing center at the hospital.

The car ride was were I believe I made most of my labouring progress. Because Chris was driving, and I didn't want to scare him into an accident, I had to go deep within myself to deal with the pain - eyes closed, focused on the flow of the contractions, chanting "I'm okay" over and over again quietly to myself.

We arrived at about 8:00 on the morning of Thursday August 30, 2007 to the Queensway Carleton Hospital in Ottawa where Mum and our two midwives were waiting for us. I got signed in and walked to our birthing room at the back of the birthing wing (I later found out that this is the room designated for non-epidural births so that fewer expectant mothers will be subjected to the screams that will leave this room during the birthing process).

Once there, my midwives did a check to see how far along I was and it turns out that the previous month of contractions and all of our work at home had paid off, I was completely thinned out and 5 cm dilated - amazing for a first baby! So we began the labouring process in the hospital- we filled up the jacuzzi tub and I got in but the relief was momentary as my labour was progressing much faster than we thought. By 10:00 I was fully dilated and ready to start pushing with my contractions coming one on top of the other. My midwives kept telling me that once I started pushing - I would get some relief from the pain - but unfortunately the relief never came....................Emmi was stuck and she wasn't going anywhere!

After an hour of pushing in excruciating pain and screaming at the top of my lungs - I finally had to grab my midwife, look her in the eye, and say "I can't do this anymore - she is not coming out. You have to do something! SHE IS KILLING ME!!!!!!!!" At this point, my midwife realized the gravity of the situation and found a doctor who could do something to help me. He got me in the stirrups and proceeded to freeze the inside of my vagina with a local anaesthetic. It pinched a little - but Chris watched it and said it was the grossest thing he had ever seen - the needle was huge! After this he gave me an episiotomy and said that if I couldn't push this baby out now, he would have to get the vacuum ready. Now, I wanted as little intervention as possible, and felt like I had already received way more than I ever wanted and every time I pushed, Emmis heart beat was dropping way to low- so I sucked all of my energy up and pushed as hard as I could - twice. By the second push, at 11:20 am- the baby was out and the relief was best thing I have ever felt in my life.

After this point, I don't remember much for about half an hour- I do know that there was meconium in the bag of waters so they brought in a respiratory specialist who took care of Emmi right after she was born - and she was fine so they handed her off to me while I was still in the stirrups.

Weighing in at 7lbs 8oz.

After about 45 minutes, the doctor finally made is way back into my room to stitch me up. By this time, the freezing had warn off and so had the labouring adrenaline- so the nitrous oxide became my best friend - the stitching still hurt, but I found it really funny!

Chris was amazing and held my hand through everything - he knew when to touch me and when to leave me alone and he knew enough not to talk at all through the whole ordeal. I couldn't have done it without him.

My Mum was also awesome, although, there was an awful lot of crying on her part :) - I think it was a lot harder to watch than she thought it was going to be - she helped a lot just by being there.

Well, the Day has Arrived and........Nothing!

So it is officially my due date, and although I have been having regularly strong contractions for the past month, I am NOT in labour.

If this doesn't change soon, I don't know what I am going to do? I feel like an overstuffed turkey who is about to pop and all I want to do is be done with the whole production.

Chris and I are having flashing moments of being scared to death and of being so excited we don't know what to do with ourselves. Luckily for me, Chris has managed to book holidays, starting Monday, until the baby is born; so he is now officially on parental leave - which means he can keep me occupied until our little princess decides to make her grand entrance.

We can't wait to meet her, and as soon as she decides to make her appearance, we will be sure to post some pictures. Stay tuned- it won't be long now!

Surprise!!!!! No One has Ever Pulled One Over On Me!

First, I want to say Thank-you to everyone who came to my surprise shower on Sunday. It was completely unexpected and absolutely appreciated.

It all began two weeks ago when I was invited to an afternoon BBQ at Vanessa and Mitch's to celebrate the long weekend- A yearly tradition that Chris and I were fortunate enough to be invited to this year. Amber and I discussed all the details over the following two weeks - we would get together on Sunday morning, pick up supplies, and go back to her place to make some appetizers to take with us, and then the boys and us would head over to Vanessa's for some good eats and so that Chris could get his drink on - Nothing at all suspicious.

Being the overly prepared person I am, I suggested that we stop at the liquor store and beer store while we were out, so that we could all pick up the drinks we would want for the party. Without knowing this, I apparently foiled a plan that was in place- Chris, Simon, Amber and I were supposed to head over to Vanessa's and then Simon was supposed to pretend that he forgot to get beer so that Chris and Simon would have to "head over to the beer store" while Amber and I would head up to Van's on our own (through the store - because Amber wanted me to "look at an install she was working on") and Simon and Chris would actually head around the back of the store, park, and head upstairs before I arrived. The on-the-morning-plan actually worked really well.......

Same sort of plan, but Mitch beeped Amber to get the boys to go and help him at the warehouse as we headed out the door. Amber really sold it by saying "What the hell is Mitch doing at the warehouse on a Sunday - god it pisses me off!" - very convincing acting that I believed without a second thought. So, the boys dropped us off, we went into the store to look at the "installation", and Mitch beeped us again to ask where the boys were (now I know it was actually to let Amber know that the boys had parked the car, and were upstairs, so it was safe to bring me up).

When I walked in the door, everyone yelled "surprise" and Simon was front and center getting a pretty nice shot of my surprised face I'm sure. And I truly was shocked - it actually took a minute for me to figure out what was going on. Once I started to recognize faces it started to dawn on me, and then I saw Chris' mom - Mary, and his grandmother - and then I completely understood that it was a baby shower.

I am still fixated on it today, because I can't figure out how everyone has kept it a secret from me for two weeks. I am generally way more observant than that, especially when it comes to figuring out when my Mum is doing something sneaky LOL. I have decided that it only worked because of my baby brain - I need to believe that I am not that stupid, and that all of my closest friends and family don't really find it that easy to lie to me :)

Again, Thank-you to everyone for coming, and of course for the beautiful gifts. And a special thank-you to Amber for planning such a wonderful surprise, and everyone else who helped and hosted - it was a very special day that I will remember always. XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Just in case anyone missed it, or is interested in the gifts that Emmi will get to enjoy - here are some pictures of what we received........

36 weeks (she is going to be here soon, and it is really starting to sink in!)

We had our final ultrasound yesterday, and unfortunately we don't have any photos to show for it. At this point, Emmi is pretty much in the final position she will be in since she has gotten so big and there doesn't seem to be any space left for her to flip around. She is in the proper head down position, facing my back, with her feet over to one side - As a result there wasn't much to take a picture of because her face was hidden from sight for the entire ultrasound. Since the last one, she has gained another pound and is weighing in at about 6lbs. At this rate, we should end up with a healthy 8-ish-pound baby. My guess is 8lbs 2oz. if she makes it to term (which seems likely since everything else she has done has been right on cue).

We did find out that she officially takes after my side of the family - the ultrasound tech kept mentioning how big her bum was, and how large her feet were - she actually referred to them as flippers. Luckily I didn't take it personally, and it really made me happy - She is actually mine LOL. I guess I will have to start preparing for my speeches about what the perfect body type is - "Big curvy butts are the most attractive! if you have a flat bum, your jeans will fall down in the back (right AC :) everyone secretly wants a huge bum!"

Speaking of huge bums; I have been so proud of my minimal weight gain, but just like the books said - you will gain the most at the end of your pregnancy. I am now up to a healthy 22-ish-pound weight gain, but I think I still look pretty good - no real changes in my body - just a big hard belly, and that, I can definitely deal with.

Lunch Bag Let Down!

We had our 34 week midwife appointment and ultrasound yesterday and it was less than spectacular, not that anything is wrong - just that the overall experience was less than overwhelming.

We went to a different ultrasound clinic than our last two, and it was pretty much the crappiest place on earth - the wall monitor was broken, so I didn't get to see any of the ultrasound, although Chris said that even being able to see the monitor - he couldn't really see anything anyways. I guess the baby is too big at this point to be able to see an overall image of her so they have to zero in on each part they want to see, so its sort of hard to decipher exactly what you are looking at.

Here are the pictures we ended up with..........................................

The following is a profile picture of Em with her hand sticking up in the air (I labelled the second one so you can get oriented in the first ultrasound picture)

The second picture is a frontal view of her face.
As I was looking at Emmi's face, I started to remember a picture of me when I was a baby. After looking at them, and comparing the two faces - it seems that my little one is going to look a lot like me when she is born. If you notice in the overlay - our eyes, nose,cheeks, and mouth are the same shape, and situated in the exact same spot on our little faces. So, although this picture is a little creepy, I think it is a pretty good representation? LOLAside from the disappointing pictures, we did learn that our little one weighs about 5 lbs and she is in the proper head down position. Her legs are crossed and she has a tendency to rub her feet together and across the underside of my right hand ribs. She is perfect in every way! She measures, weighs, is positioned, and is moving to the exact model that they measure all other babies to- absolutely perfect! She is also regularly practising her breathing exercises, getting herself fully prepared for her entrance into the world.

AND FINALLY, I am still referring to our Emmi as a little girl because we got a super good look at her bits, and as far as I am concerned, there is no question about it - WE ARE HAVING A PERFECT LITTLE GIRL!

33 weeks and 5 days.....Only 6 weeks to go!!!!!

..............and only 14 lbs gained in total!

I have to go and see my midwife every two weeks now, and since I last posted I've seen her twice. On the first visit I found out that my little sweetheart is completely sucking me dry of any and all nutrients I have been forcing into my body since I got pregnant and I am now on a high dosage iron supplement along with my folic acid, vitamin C, calcium, and an overall prenatal vitamin. Now, anyone who has ever had to take an iron supplement knows the havoc it can wreak on your digestive system but fortunately for me, I am one of the lucky ones and it has had very minimal impact on my inerds.

On the last visit, Chris couldn't make it to the appointment so my Mum came with me. She was very excited to hear the heart beat - but even more excited to hear the hiccups that her granddaughter was suffering from - "so cute".

Something hilarious was that this was the visit where the decided to discuss perineal massage with me. Not such a big deal when she was talking about how I could do it myself, but slightly more uncomfortable when she started showing us, with very graphic hand gestures, how "my partner" could do it for me. Luckily, mum is really good at being naive and can just ignore things that make her uncomfortable :)

To keep you up to date, I have another midwife appointment coming up in a week and on the same day we also have an ultrasound. They don't generally do ultrasounds at this point in your pregnancy, but our midwife has booked us for one at 34 weeks and one at 36 weeks to check growth (I have gotten really large! even with only gaining 14 lbs, my tummy is huge) and to check the baby's position. With my placenta in the front it is apparently really hard to feel the position of the baby and our midwife couldn't tell whether she was feeling a head or a butt low in my pelvis.

Assuming the Emmi is in the right position and it was a head she felt in my pelvis, she says that the baby is really low for a first pregnancy- which means yay for me! I have baby bearing hips that are nice and wide enough to allow a baby through. Fingers crossed for an easier than normal first birth, especially since I'm planning for it to be 100% au naturel!!!!!!!!!!