He has Arrived!

Hey everyone, 


Not much time for a good long post, but just wanted to let you know that Peanut has finally arrived! 


His arrival involved:


2 induction attempts
3 days of hard labour
1 fever
2 hospitals
1 ambulance ride
1 midwife
5 doctors
a ton of lifesaving nurses
a gaggle of residents with lots of questions
1 last ditch attempt at delivery 
and eventually 1 cesarean section


all to bring us one happy, huge, bouncing baby boy! 


Baby Finnley was born at 1:16pm weighing a whopping 10 lbs 4 oz, 22.5 inches long. 


He is the cutest little gremlin any parent could ask for. We are so in love, and are recovering well. Adjusting to life as a new family is a challenge, but it sure is AWESOME. 

Our Mini Shoot with Blue Lemon Photography

As mentioned in my previous post about our DIY Mat Photos, we really wanted to have a nice big photoshoot for this pregnancy, as well as for newborn photos as well. Unfortunately, the reduced income that comes with having the baby has kept us from that. 


So, when a friend posted about Blue Lemon Photography's mini shoots, I was incredibly interested. Marie has this brilliant idea that many families want great photos, but it's just not in the budget for everyone. So she holds mini-shoots, where she sets up in an outdoor location and you can book a 30 minute mini-shoot with her, all for an incredibly low price. It was EXACTLY what we were looking for! I loved our DIY shots, but I also wanted some with Hubby in them (well, more than just his hand). This was such a great opportunity, and to top it all off, Marie was shooting in the same place where we got married. It was meant to be. 


Here are a few of my favourites from the shoot:

 

Marie was fantastic to work with, and we had a ton of fun. Head on over to Blue Lemon Photography's Facebook page to see more of Marie's work, and to give her some love. Calgary friends might want to be on the watch for another mini-shoot marathon...hopefully she has another! 

Still Pregnant

Well, today we are officially 4 days overdue, according to our due date given to us by the doctors. They decided to move it up a week, as Peanut is apparently rather large, and has been since the very beginning. It's sort of an arbitrary date, since it's decided by an ultrasound measurement. But still, it's the date the doctor's are using, and so it makes a big difference.


We had our appointment yesterday, and they have scheduled us for induction on Monday. We really are hoping to avoid induction, as we are hoping to have a "natural" birth. I feel that using induction methods will increase the probability that I will request pain meds, which will probably increase the chance that further augmentation will be needed. And we want to try and avoid that.


To be clear, I am not opposed to using pain medication to get through the labour. To be honest, I have no frickin clue what labour is going to be like, or how I will handle it, or how Hubby and Peanut will handle it. There are just way too many unknowns to be able to have a birth "plan". We have our preferences and our hopes, but that is all we can really have at this point. I might have one contraction, and scream in a dramatic fashion "I can't do this! Bring me the drugs!" and it could all be a moot point. However, that being said, I don't necessarily think that modern medical inventions have improved the process of labour and birth that women have been successful in for millions of years (or however many years people have been on the planet...). So yeah, that's that.

39 Weeks...the 40 week one was me in a bikini...sorry! Not blog appropriate! 

So on Friday we go in for another ultrasound and a Non-stress test to see if Peanut is still happy as a clam in there, or if he is getting a little frustrated. The non-stress test is basically a procedure where they hook you up to monitor both your contractions, and baby's heart rate and see if everything is hunky-dory. I am pretty sure everything is A-OK in there, as Peanut is still kicking and squirming around like a champ. Even if things are getting a little tight (and I have the newly developed stretch marks to prove it...sigh). If everything is ok, then we wait for the weekend, and hope he decides that Saturday is an awesome day to be born. Maybe the threat of eviction will convince him to get moving?!


If not, we go in on Monday morning to start induction with Cervidil. They will let us go for about 2 days with this before they get more aggressive.


So anyway, that's where things stand with us. I know that many mommys-to-be go through this excruciation waiting period, and race against the clock to go into labour naturally. It sucks.


On the other hand, it is super exciting to know we will meet our new little dude most likely within the week. Too crazy! I still have trouble wrapping my head around it! It's funny to be hoping and wishing to go into labour, but still be terrified of being a parent. But I am sure that is a VERY common feeling.


So, the blog might be a little quiet in the next little bit, as we may be otherwise occupied. There will be updates, and photos, and stories, oh my! But they may be a little slow in coming. So bear with me. Thanks for reading along, and thanks for all your wonderful comments. They mean so much!


xoxo

Our DIY Maternity Photos

Photography is really important to Hubby and I. There is nothing more stunning than a gorgeous photo. We really really wanted to do maternity photos when we found out we were expecting, but it was just too expensive to fit into our budget. Which made me really sad, since this is our first pregnancy, and I wanted to have some photos to show to our little guy when he grows up, and to look back fondly on when I get old and grey.

Hubby thought we should try and do some ourselves, and I was totally on board with the idea. Photography is one of his hobbies, although he primarily does travel photography, and so doesn't have too much experience with portraits. I wan't too worried about this aspect, however our equipment was rather lacking. Hubby's camera is a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT. It is quite old (complete with a bandaid holding the battery in), and has been around South East Asia in a backpack quite a few times. We also only have an old flash from Hubby's dad, and no studio lighting whatsoever. Armed with these challenges, we set out to try and take some photos.


The only place in our house where we could get suitable lighting was right in front of our bedroom window in the morning. We have linen curtains, so we just pulled them shut and shot in front of the window. It made for some cool light effects, and we just had to edit out the seam where the 2 curtains met. Easy-peasy.

He also enjoys playing with photos in Lightroom and Photoshop, so after we took the photos, he fiddled around to get the look he was trying to get. I think they turned out great. So thankful to have such a talented Hubby! It is even better knowing that all they cost us was a little time and effort. 

I love this one! 




Here are some of Hubby's faves: 

Hobbit Feet

So, it seems that since the beautiful weather has finally arrived in Calgary, that I am now getting the typical "it sucks to be preggo in the hot summer" complaints. By far the worst of these is my new Hobbit feet. 


I have never really had the most attractive legs in the world. My brother says I have the fattest knees ever. I know that this is true, and not just my brother being my brother because of my experience of when I went to physiotherapy those 2 times. When I went in for the first time the therapist said "Oh my! Wow! Your knees are sooooo swollen". But they weren't swollen. That's just how they always are. Fat and pudgy. (The second time she used that electrocution machine that makes your muscles contract and I passed out, so then I didn't go back.) So it's obviously an objective, observable fact: I have pudgy knees. So imagine what they look like now that I have gained about 50 lbs due to pregnancy, and am retaining water like crazy. It is not an attractive sight. I am living in maxi-dresses. 


And now my feet have developed the beloved pregnancy swell. And they look like Hobbit feet (without the hair, thank GOODNESS!). They are fat and puffy and I have stubby little toes that stick out and they are on the end of my puffy ankles, which are connected (eventually) to my pudgy knees. Did I mention I wear maxi dresses EVERY DAY?!?


Here is photographic evidence (it is also evidence that I can't really reach my toes to give them a nice little pedicure...ick): 

Mmmm...is it time for second-breakfast yet?

When I told Hubby I felt like Frodo, he laughed and said "you are even wearing the ring around your neck!". Awesome. But this is also a true fact, since my fingers have been too swollen to wear my rings since like week 20. So I couldn't really get too mad. Because it is true, and a little bit funny. 


My mom will absolutely hate this post, because she hates feet. Love you mom! 


Only 1 more week until Peanut is due...and craziness will ensue! 


Oh, and if you are interested in making a guess as to when we will arrive and how big huge he will be, head on over to our baby pool to make a wager. 

What the?!? Things I Didn't Expect to Happen in Pregnancy

Being a big reader, I thought I had read about every symptom and side-effect of pregnancy known to man (and woman). I knew about all the usual suspects, like morning sickness, moodiness, constipation, swelling, the appearance of a linea negra, and sciatica. I was prepared to meet them all, and luckily escaped a few. 

So, imagine my surprise when I started encountering some issues that I hadn't read about. Of course, I turned to Google, but usually this is never a good idea when pregnant. Almost always there will be a plethora of articles about how you have some rare disorder and your baby is in danger, and then you start to freak out. Most of the time, the answer from medical professionals is "oh, that's common in pregnancy". Sometimes I wonder if I told a doctor that I am incapable of speech and can only communicate through song if they would just smile politely and say "oh, that's common in pregnancy". 

So, I have compiled a list of the things I never expected to happen to me, and which took me by surprise when they started. 

1. Sore Knuckles/Hands/Wrists: Just after I finished working, so about month 8 or so, my hands started to get very achy in the mornings. It started off feeling like a stiffness. I attributed this to swollen joints, although I didn't have any noticeable swelling. It began to get worse, and as of now when I wake up in the morning, I can't make a fist, grasp a door knob, hold a pen, etc. This usually persists for a few hours, and then it lets up enough that I can function pretty well. I can't put any weight on my wrists now, though. The explanation for this is not just swelling; it's pregnancy induced Carpal Tunnel syndrome. This was a bit of a shocker to me. After finding out this is common in pregnancy (surprise!), I asked the doctor why. I especially was curious as to why it was worse after sleeping. He said that the increased amount of fluid in your body puts extra pressure on the ligaments in the carpal tunnel. When you are standing and moving around, the fluid drains down to your extremities (hence my Frodo Baggins feet), but when you are lying down, it sort of pools evenly around the body. Ahhhhh...you are wise, good doctor. Apparently no help for this but delivering the baby. You can wear wrist splints to help a bit, but that's about it. 

2. Abdominal Nerve Pain: Once my belly started to get noticeably bigger, I started getting this numb area at the bottom of my rib cage/top of my belly. It was a rather bizarre feeling, to be honest. It's right at the spot where my bra band sits, so it was getting really annoying. Now that my belly is huge, it has become a burning, shooting pain that happens every now and then. Some days it's really bad, and others it's not too bad. When you Google this one, there are lots and lots of pregnant women who seem to be complaining of this, and most don't know what it is, and they haven't gotten any answers from their doctors. After bringing it up a couple times at my appointments, and getting the standard "this is common in pregnancy" but no one ever telling me what it is, I finally got a doctor who seemed to know right away what I was talking about. She said the nerve at that spot was being compressed, which was causing the numbness. Now, it has become inflamed, which is causing the pain. Again, nothing can be done, just delivering the baby (notice a trend here...??). Maybe ice and/or heat. I find those make it worse for me though. 

3. Skin Changes: I was prepared for the changes to my skin that you commonly find in pregnancy books, like the linea negra appearing on my belly (yup, got that one), the "mask of pregnancy" (luckily escaped that one), and so on. What I wasn't prepared for was the appearance of more moles and beauty marks. I have quite a few speckles throughout my body, but all of a sudden I thought I was going crazy, as I started noticing spots where there were no spots before. I couldn't be 100% positive that they were new though. By now, I know for a fact that they are new, since I turned more awareness to them. Eventually, I also started getting (ew, this part creeps me out) tiny little tags of skin developing around my neck where my necklace was rubbing, and under my arms where my bra meets the skin. What the heck?!?! This one is also apparently common in pregnancy, due to the amount of hormones coursing through your veins. I am assuming all my new spots are permanent, but I guess time will tell. 

So, those are the big ones that took me by surprise. I am really hoping there aren't any surprises awaiting me in the whole labour and delivery thing (which is only about 2 weeks away. HOLY CRAP!).