37 Weeks - 3 Weeks to go...

So today marks a major milestone - I'm 37 weeks pregnant, and therefore baby is now considered to be "Full Term", and ready to be born any day. This week in pregnancy seemed so far out of reach at the beginning of my pregnancy, and it seems like time just flew by, and it snuck up on me. We're working on some of the final preparations - like setting up the playpen which baby will be sleeping in for the first few months in our bedroom this past weekend, and I also have to add some final items to my hospital bag and diaper bag, which are already stowed in the trunk of our truck.

The nursery is all ready to go though, and so I was finally able to take some photos on my day off this past Friday. Most of the baby clothes are washed - just two more loads need to be done, but we're seriously starting to run out of closet space, so let's hope they still fit in there.

And now that we're so close to the birth, I'll finally release the little guy's name - it will be Riley Mayson Henry.

I also had another appointment with my midwife this morning, and my plans to work until the end of the pregnancy were quashed. My blood pressure has started to rise, and the midwife thinks my schedule is too hectic, and that I don't sleep enough, and has recommended I start maternity leave sooner rather than later. So I have decided that since it's best for the baby and me, this Friday will be my last day at work. My boss was very understanding about everything as well, which made the whole process a lot easier. The midwife also said that according to my symptoms, measurements, and the baby having dropped 2.5 weeks ago and being engaged in my pelvis, she guesses that I'll go into labour sometime this week or next. She said it could still take longer of course, but she didn't it would.

That means stepping everything into high gear, and getting everything on the "To Do List" done.

So without further ado - here are the photos of the nursery:

Riley's rubber ducky collection (he's actually gotten 4 more in the meantime):


The hamper and his shoes:


His name above his crib:


The comfy chair, with nursing pillow:

Part of his closet (look at all those clothes!!!!):

His crib:


The change table and hamper:

36 Weeks...only 4 weeks to go

Yikes, there are only 4 weeks left - meaning in just 1 week baby will be considered "full-term", so technically he could come at any time. The thought still scares the begeebies outta me - I can still hardly believe that I'll be responsible for this little guy who will one day call me "mom".

Well this past weekend hubs and I had some maternity photos taken, and then we headed off to the city of Kingston. Every year on the weekend between our birthdays (his is Nov. 9th, mine Nov. 19th), we drive to Kingston, to start our Christmas shopping, and to do a little bit of sight seeing. Hubs also started a tradition the first year we got married - he buys me a Christmas ornament from this one very special little shop called "Truks" right downtown Kingston. It's just a little flower shop, that also sells the most unique decorative items, and he insists on buying the ornament there each year. I LOVE the tradition, and I adore my dear hubby, and what lengths he goes to just to bring a smile to my face!

Now without further ado, here are some of our mat pics:

5 weeks and 1 day to go....or not?

Yesterday was a great day. My awesome little sister and my mom threw hubs and I a co-ed baby shower. They went all out with decorations, and awesome party room that the entire family prepped, and the cutest little invitations. Hubs is suffering from a bad cold so we weren't sure if he was going to come with me, but he popped some DayQuill and sucked it up for the afternoon, and we both had an amazing time. We were surrounded by most of our loving families and friends, and got spoiled rotten on top of it, which we are ever so grateful for! I'll post pics as soon as some get sent to me (I didn't take ANY), but the family took lots, so I can't wait to post them!!!

And well, once the evening drew to a close, we dropped by my parents' place for another slice of cake (yummy!!!), and then headed home. Hubs literally took a swig of NyQuill, and went to pass out. I joined him after doing some more laundry and tidying a few things.

Well I hit the pillow, turned off the light, and snuggled in to get comfy....when I suddenly felt a contraction. Okay, well that's nothing new, I've had Braxton Hicks contractions for a while now - but this one felt stronger. So the light came back on, and when I looked down, I saw my belly turn into a big lump, and it was so intense that my belly button popped out. I'm thinking "No, it couldn't be....this is just another BH contraction, just a little stronger than usual." So I turn the light off again, get settled....and sure enough 10 minutes later another contraction starts, just as intense as the first. Now it's got my full attention. 2 more contractions come at similar intervals, and at this point I wake hubs up to give him a heads up - he of course is completely doped up on NyQuill, and I'm thinking that this is so not the right night to go into labour.

So anyways, I got up again to time the contractions - which then started to get less and less intense - Braxton Hicks, I knew it. Back to bed I go....only to have them start full force again. What the heck is going on? I was exhausted at this point, and figured that I should probably try to get some sleep either way - if this was the real deal, I'd need all the energy I could get - if not, I'd need to be able to keep my eyes open at work in the morning.

In the end I woke up a few more times to go to the bathroom - each time my belly was really tight and hard, but the contractions themselves tapered off towards morning, and at 4:45am the alarm clock woke me up as usual. I was crampy, but nothing more - so here I am at work. Too bad - I mean I don't want him to be born prematurely, but at the same time I know he should be fine at 35 weeks gestation, and today is hubbies' birthday too, so this would have been the best birthday gift ever. Oh well, he'll just have to make due with the CD and German Beer I bought him.

Everything's pointing to my body getting ready for birth: more intense contractions, baby dropped lower into my pelvis, loosing my appetite, and a few more symptoms that are a little too TMI for a blog. So something tells me baby boy won't be holding out for December, and the whole family's betting on a November baby. I guess we'll see what the coming days/weeks bring, either way we're ready for him now, so any day is fine with me!

I'm soooo tired these days...

It seems like no matter what time I get to bed these days, I'm always still extremely tired throughout the day. Right now it's just after 9am, I've been at work for a measly 2 hours, and I'm already counting down the hours till I get to go home and go back to bed.

Last night I got a whole 4 hours of sleep - yay. Days like today are the ones where I re-think my strategy of working right up until baby's birth - I keep thinking that maybe I should have taken some time off beforehand, but then again it'll take precious time away from the 10 months of mat leave I will be taking.

Anyways, just a pity post today, not much else to say other than that, and we're obviously anxiously awaiting baby's birth!

That little bugger!!!

So this year I decided to buy another pumpkin for Halloween, and I left it on our patio table till we got a little closer to October 31st, so it wouldn't spoil prematurely if I cut it too soon. Well Saturday morning rolled around, and I still hadn't carved it, and hubs asked if I still planned on doing that, or if I wanted him to do it.

I told him I wasn't sure yet (yes, I knew I only had a few hours to get this done), and went into the dining room to let the dogs in from outside. Well when I looked out on the deck, I realized my decision had been made for me...our pup, Koda, had taken it upon himself to decorate the pumpkin for us - either that or he was just hungry (I swear that dog eats everything).

So here's what I found on the deck - Koda and the mangled pumpkin:

6 weeks to go...

So today marks 34 weeks, and only 6 weeks to go until the little man is supposed to arrive. I think I've definitely hit that point that every pregnant woman eventually hits, where the discomfort of the big belly and the aches and pains start getting to you, and you're really getting anxious for baby to be born. I LOVE feeling our baby move, but I could also do without those 3-4 bathroom trips per night, the crampiness, aching belly, insane heartburn, and newly returned nausea.

Hubs and I finally managed to finish the nursery this past weekend, and I'll be posting some pics as soon as we hang the last 2 paintings up - it turned out better than I thought it would, and we're both really happy with how it looks. We also managed to install the car seat in our truck, which was easier than I feared - once hubs caved and let me follow the directions of course, because he just *had* to try it without the instructions (no worries, I was gonna double check to make sure it was done properly either way)...men!

So now that all that is finished, and we're almost done washing all the baby clothes, we just have to pack the rest of the hospital bag, and then we'll be all ready for baby to arrive.

My awesome little sister and mom are also throwing us a co-ed baby shower this weekend, and we can't wait to go! It was supposed to be a surprise, but apparently our schedule was so hectic that they couldn't plan it without at least telling us about it, since they were afraid we might otherwise not make it to our own shower...lol!

Anyways, I don't have any new pics of the bump, but I'll be sure to post photos of the shower next week.

I also had my midwife appointment yesterday, and everything's looking good. Baby's heartbeat is 146bpm, and I'm measuring 34cm, so bang on for 34 weeks. There are a few minor issues though - with my sugar being right on the borderline, they're worried about Gestational Diabetes, so on Saturday morning I will have to go for a 3 hour blood test. My iron results also came back as low despite the daily iron supplements I take, so I'm being retested for that as well at the same time. Fun times - could there possibly be a better way to spend my Saturday morning? Bah!

New Belly Pics

I had my camera out last night, and was dressed somewhat decently, so I decided to take a few belly pics before stashing the camera away again. So here's the baby bump at 33 weeks on the nose:

And I finally had some time to put together somewhat of a progression of the belly growth, so here it is:

And last but not least, I took a pic of our baby boy's coming home outfit - it's polar fleece, and has built in mitts and foot coverings to keep him nice and toasty. It looks huge in this pic, but it's only a size "3 months" in case he's a big baby - we'll also bring a sleeper and socks and a hat for underneath of course, along with the Bunting Bag if it's an extremely cold day.

Only 7 weeks to go...

Wow, time flies, doesn't it? I'm 33 weeks pregnant today, and that means there are only 4 weeks left till baby boy is considered "full term" and could arrive any time.

This past week has obviously been bitter sweet with the passing of our little bunny, but I'm trying to remember the good times with him, and to look forward to our baby being born.

I'm starting to get a little nervous about the birth itself, and hope that everything goes smoothly. But although I've enjoyed pregnancy, I've also experienced enough complications and discomforts to be happy that it's coming to an end. I like feeling baby boy moving in my belly, and feeling his hiccups and movements still amazes me, but at the same time I'm so ready to be able to look at him and hold him in my arms instead.

I also wouldn't mind a nice glass of wine and fitting into my pre-pregnancy jeans again :-P When I told my mom that I felt like a whale just a few weeks ago, she said: "Well...maybe a small whale...." Thanks mom! But yeah, I can't wait to be able to get off the couch unassisted again, and seeing my toes when I look down would be nice too!

So anyways, this past weekend hubs and I went for a walk at Mackenzie King Estate, and took some pretty pics of the trees. Here they are:

The trail from Kingsmere to Mackenzie King:

Fall foliage:

Hubs:

It was a really nice, sunny day...

Moi:

Me again with the belly poking out:

This is the official residence of the Speech Writer of the House of Commons, located at Kingsmere:

Rest in peace, Peppy Baby!

This past Thursday, October 22nd, 2009 at 7pm, little Peppy closed his eyes for the last time.

Over the past year Peppy slowly started to loose his eye sight due to cateracts. He was 11 years old, but despite his age and sight issues, he was still a happy little bunny, and loved his daily yoghurt drops, veggies, and cuddles. In September he had some issues with his eyes tearing up too much, but that was quickly alleviated with an eye lubricant prescribed by the vet. He seemed to be doing great otherwise after that.

But last week things took a turn for the worse - we'd noticed Pep had been favouring not lifting his back legs sometimes, but we chalked it up to old age. However on Monday night of last week Peppy started stumbling, falling over, and his sense of balance was off. We made a vet appointment for Thursday evening when he didn't seem to be getting better, and good thing, because as the days went on he didn't want to get up at all anymore, and by Wednesday night he stopped eating and drinking.

Every night when we got home from work, hubs made dinner, so I could have time to cuddle and spend time with Peppy. I guess we both knew his time was drawing to an end. I cuddled him, watched TV with him, fed him his favourite foods while he still ate, and gave him a bath since he could no longer clean himself.

On Thursday night we came home after work, ate a sandwich all the while holding Peppy, and then made our way to the vet's office. Something told me this would be the last time I'd get to see the little guy, and sadly, I was right.

After examining Peppy, the vet told us that he either had a really bad internal infection which had slim chances of being cured, or it was a tumour. Either diagnosis had a very bleek outlook, and long, invasive and expensive treatments were involved. Due to Peppy's old age they were not likely to buy him much more time either, and would prolong his suffering, so I once again had to make one of the hardest decisions. I decided that Peppy had suffered enough, and I couldn't stand seeing him in pain any longer.

So while I stayed in the exam room, cuddling my baby bunny, and saying my goodbyes while bawling into his fur, my dear hubby took care of all the arrangements and the bill, so I didn't have to deal with any of that (what a sweetheart!).

And after some tearful minutes and final goodbyes, I handed the little guy over to the vet, who took him into the back room to do the procedure which relieved my bunny from all of his pain.

She then brought him back to me, wrapped in his towel in a box, with just his little head poking out - he looked like he was sleeping. We'd requested this so that we could burry him in my parents backyard.

Mom and dad were waiting for us (hubs had called ahead), and I gave Pep one last kiss before we closed his box, and dad took him out to the garden and buried him, while hubs drove home to take Peppy's cage out and clean any reminders of him away, so that I would only have fond memories of him. He kept his food bowl and water bottle as I'd asked - but packed it away in a box for now, since I can't look at it yet without crying. Meanwhile my mom kept me company and distracted me with knitting stuff and baby clothes, and I really appreciate her efforts - she even had me smiling again at one point.

Thank god for my amazing family - Peppy's passing was not easy for me at all, but they did everything they could to soften the blow. Eventhough I still get tears when I think about him, I also know he's in a better place, and no longer in pain, and that is a very comforting thought.

So here are a few pics of him - all taken after a bath - hence why he looks so fuzzy and unkempt...lol!


Can you tell he liked to chew wires? He was so lucky he never got a shock!!! We always had to keep a close eye on him when he was walking around.



Hi Pep! :-)




Rest in peace little guy, I miss you!

The single digit countdown has begun...8.5 weeks to go!

The other day hubs and I went to a wedding, and during supper we were seated at a table with a family that had a 7 week old baby girl. At this point it's obviously easy to see that I'm preggers, and after asking me all asorts of questions like "When are you due?" and "Is this your first?", they asked if I wanted to hold the baby girl. I jumped at the chance of course - she was absolutely adorable, and I can count on one hand how often I've held an infant in my lifetime.

So she's handed to me, and I'm looking at her tiny fingers, tiny little nose, cute ears, gorgeous eyes, and then it hits me....in just under 2 months, I 'll have a baby of my own. Oh.My.God. Suddenly I got nervous and even a little scared - the little girl must have sensed it, cause she started to squirm and whine, so I lifted her up a little more, made some funny noises, got her to smile, and all was well again. Crisis averted...for about 5 more minutes - then no noises, faces, or bouncing could stop the crying, and I passed her off to her family. Phew! That wasn't so bad...only that I won't be able to do that with our son.

So I'm hoping that my Mommy Instincts will kick in once our little one arrives, cause everything I've read and learned so far didn't help me at all when the little baby girl suddenly started to cry.

But despite the nervousness, and even the fear and apprehension of having our own baby, I also cannot wait till he gets here. I like being pregnant, and LOVE feeling his little feet kicking, and all the movement in my belly, but at the same time I'm also looking forward to not having pelvic pain, sore ribs, peeing every 5 minutes, and the latest finding: elevated blood sugar. So now I'm being sent for more tests and have to watch my sugar intake - I already miss cake!!!

Luckily baby turned exactly 2 weeks ago, and is now head down, and in a good position for a vaginal birth, so I'm crossing my fingers for a smooth waterbirth when the time comes.

Belly pic and 3D ultrasound

So I finally found some time to take a bally pic, and to even upload it online - it's about time too! This pic was taken at 28 weeks, 5 days - so just over a week ago. I had to cut off my head cause I couldn't stand how my face looked on camera - it must be a preggo thing, but I'll take a pic with my head attached soon. So here's the bump:

And without further ado, here's a 3D ultrasound picture of our little boy at 27 weeks:

And this is a photo of him 2 weeks later at our follow up ultrasound, at 29 weeks - his cheeks have gotten so chubby, and he looks adorable!!!

Time flies...

Much has happened since the last time I posted. Hubs and I decided to buy a house! After much discussion, we decided that we both want our son to grow up in a house that belongs to us, where he and the dogs have a yard to play, and where he's closer to all of his grandparents. So we took the plunge, and went house shopping, and within a few short weeks found a 3 berdoom, 3 bathroom townhouse that is absolutely perfect for us. We made an offer to the seller which was promptly accepted, went through the finacial paperwork hell, and are now proud homeowners.

We took posession of it on August 21st, and couldn't be happier with our decision. It is located just around the corner from my parents' place, and just down the street from my Mother In-Law, so we're surrounded by family.

Now it's just over a month later and we are still getting the last boxes unpacked, but are mostly settled in.

Apart from that, hubs also had a car accident at the end of July. He dropped me off at work, and continued on to his work place, when he got T-Boned by a guy who ran a red light with his pick-up truck. Hubs suffered a mild concussion and whiplash, and was a little shaken up, but otherwise fine. Thank god! Our poor SUV wasn't so lucky though, and after being towed to 2 different garages, and getting 2 diferent estimates, the insurance company deemed it to be a write off. And yes, this is the car that just replaced my GrandAm that was stolen in December. We only had it for a short 7 months, but it protected the most precious person in the world to me, and for that I'm grateful. And since it kept hubs so safe in the crash, and was otherwise a great vehicle, we decided to buy another one - although this time a new model, so we now drive a 2009 Ford Escape XLT. It's an awesome vehicle, and fits both of us, and both dogs, and the baby seat and stroller without any issues. Plus it's surprisingly good on gas, and a dream to drive.

So now we're just completing the finishing touches of our baby boy's nursery, and I can't wait till it's all done. I'm now in my 30th week of pregnancy and getting anxious to meet the little guy. Our move to a different city has changed a few things in terms of midwivery care though - since we now live outside of their province, a homebirth is no longer an option. We just literally moved across the river, but the laws and regulations differ, and forbid them from practicing here. But that's ok - we just slightly altered our plans - the plan now is to go to the hospital once I'm in labour, and to have a waterbirth there, in the prescence of my midwives. I know my mom is very relieved about that change/decision, since she feels more comfortable knowing the doctors are just a few feet away in case of a medical emergency.

As my due date comes closer I'm getting more nervous and anxious - and I have to admit, I have my fears about the birth, but I also can't wait to see my baby, and to see my husband hold our little boy in his arms.

I'll try to update this blog more often now that life has settled down again slightly with the move being over with, and hopefully I'll even get around to posting more pics again soon.

It's a Boy!

That's right, our little peanut is baby boy :-)

I don't have much time to write at the moment, nor will I be posting his name on this blog as too many curious people read it, but I will post his 19 week ultrasound photo. Isn't he a cutie?

Midwife

One of my big fears was that my newly discovered Bicornuate Uterus would put me in the high-risk category, and therefore prevent me from using a midwife rather than an OB/GYN for the pregnancy and birth.

Well we met with a midwife on Wednesday afternoon, and got great news - they've had patients before with my condition, and had no problems at all taking me on as a patient. The midwife (I won't mention her name to keep her privacy) was very optimistic, and told me not to look at the statistics, risks and stories online, since many of them were blown out of proportion and biased, since many women with bicornuate uteri never even know about their deformity unless a problem arises.

I am very relieved after Wednesdays' meeting, and very optimistic that everything will turn out just fine. She even said that I could still have a homebirth, and or waterbirth, if everything goes smoothly, but we will discuss that further on into the pregnancy, closer to labour.

Our next appointment with her is on June 3rd, and I cannot wait to see her again. I feel like I'm in great hands, and like she truly cares about my physical and emotional well-being. I'm also crossing my fingers that we'll be able to hear the heartbeat on a Doppler next time, since I'll be 12 weeks pregnant by then! :-)

8 weeks pregnant, 32 weeks to go...

Today I'm exactly 8 weeks pregnant, and feeling good. I'm quite nauseous every morning, but haven't actually been sick yet. I'm also extremely exhausted all day long and tend to take 2 hour naps after supper every night. My belly feels permanently bloated, and thanks to my crazy appetite, I can't go more than 2 hours without eating - otherwise I get dizzy. My cravings are all over the place - from Salami to ice cream of any kind, but mainly carbs and more carbs, thanks to which I've already gained a few pounds.

Before getting pregnant I'd vowed that I would go for daily walks once pregnant, and definitely continue my exercise routine at the gym - but now just the thought of hitting the gym makes me want to take a nap.

But despite all of those preggo symptoms, and the worry due to my uterus' deformity, I'm feeling great! I can't wait to get an actual baby belly - because at the moment I think quite a few people are under the impression that I'm just getting fat, however seeing me with ice cream 2 times a day may explain what they're basing their theory on ;-)

So, hubs and I are very excited, and have started emptying our former office, which will now become babies' nursery. I'll try to keep up with progress photos as much as I can for both my belly and the nursery.

Bicornuate Uterus

Yesterday, April 30th in the afternoon I got a phone call from the nurse at my doctor's office. She said the results from my ultrasound on Tuesday were in. She reiterated that baby is fine, everything looks good, and I can get a copy of the report for my midwife's files. Great. I hung up the phone and went back to work.

About 2 hours later I'd forgotten all about the call when the phone rang again. It was the same nurse - she'd forgotten to mention something to me: the ultrasound result showed that I have a Bicornuate Uterus. What's that? It means that my uterus is heart shaped - a normal uterus is shaped like an upside down triangle, however mine splits in two at the top. She also mentions that I have a septum at the top. No idea what that means either. The nurse explains that both are a birth defect, which could possibly cause a complication in my pregnancy, and I may not be able to have a midwife for my labour and birth, and may have to see an OB/GYN instead. I was disappointed, but took her advice to discuss the issue with my GP, and assumed everything would be fine from there. I will do what's best for the baby afterall, and if that means seeing an OB/GYN instead of having a waterbirth with a midwife, then so be it.

Since I still had some time to kill on this Thursday afternoon at work, I googled "Bicornuate Uterus" to get a little more informed on what I'm about to deal with. Google returned pages of results, and each result had a description starting with "Bicornuate Uterus" and it was in almost all descriptions followed immediately with "Miscarriage and Pre-Term Labour".The smile on my face faded, my heart started pounding, and I felt the tears welling in my eyes. I read page after page of statistics: 55-63% fetal survival rate, 15-20% chance of pre-term labour, babies of bicornuate moms 4 times more likely to be born with abnormalities, and the list went on. The cliff notes are that basically my uterus' deformity and the septum(division) may prevent me from carrying my baby to term, since my uterus is not capable of expanding enough to allow the baby to grow as it should. Once the baby outgrows its' space, my uterus will get over stretched, which triggers contractions and induces labour. In normal pregnancies this happens somewhere around 40 weeks. In my case it can happen as early as 20 weeks or even before that, at which point the baby will not be viable outside of the womb, so it would lead to either a miscarriage or a stillbirth. If the baby does survive longer than that, it could be born prematurely, or with birth abnormalities due to the small space the baby was forced to develop in.

My dreams of an uneventful pregnancy and natural waterbirth faded. They were replaced by statistics, fear, sadness, guilt, anxiety and a big dose of self pity. Why me? Why us? Haven't hubs and I dealt with enough obstacles throughout our lives? Can't just one thing go right for us, just this once? All we want is one healthy baby. Boy or girl, doesn't matter, just one. Please??? I'll be meeting with my GP and a midwife next week to see what our course of action will be. At this point I am debating foregoing the midwife in favour of modern medicine in case complications do arise. I know I'd feel more comfortable with a midwife, however I do worry that an experienced OB/GYN would be capable of closer and more accurate monitoring in this case. I'm very torn on this subject at the moment. Luckily I won't have to make a decision until next week, and not until I've spoken to my GP again, and she tells me just how severe my abnormality is, and what the best decision would be. In the meantime I'm trying to remain as optimistic as possible.

I spent half the night last night in shock and in tears over the news. Hubs came home with a bouquet of flowers, made supper, and then took me out for a drive and an Ice Cappuccino from Timmies. We talked, and cried, and talked some more.

I'm trying to take it one day at a time - each day that baby is growing, healthy and closer to the due date is a good day and a step forward. I'm trying to focus on the positive stories of women who delivered healthy babies despite a bicornuate uterus. I'm trying to focus on the positive side of the statistics - that more than half of babies survive, and lead healthy and happy lives. Our baby WILL be one of the fighters who'll make it!

To give a visual description of my deformity, here is a picture that I found on a very helpful Yahoo! support group (Thank you for the link Kelly!).

The first ultrasound

Introducing: Little Baby Henry

Due to a medical concern my GP sent me for an early ultrasound to make sure everything with me and baby is ok.

On Tuesday April 28th, at 9am hubs and I drove to the ultrasound clinic in the pouring rain. We waited for a good 10 minutes in the office, both of us nervous, and me with a full bladder since I had to drink 30-60 oz of water prior to the ultrasound. A very sweet female technician then called us into Room 2, where I got to comfortably lie on the exam chair, and Mays took a seat beside me. They even had a second monitor set-up so the patient could see exactly what the technician sees.

As she started the ultrasound, I was grasping hubbies' hand, and I didn't loosen my grip until she found the baby, and the heartbeat flickered on the screen. It was a magical moment for sure, and such a relief. At 7 weeks, baby measures 9mm in length, and had a heartbeat of 120-122bpm - both are right on target. Hubs and I both left the clinic with huge smiles, and great relief that our baby is doing just fine.

Hopefully everything will go smoothly from here on in, and we'll have a bouncing baby girl or boy in our arms by Christmas Eve.

Pregnancy has been great so far. I'm totally exhausted just about every night after work, and often feel quite nauseous in the morning, but inspite of it all, I am so incredibly happy that our little one is on the way :-)

1+1=3

Mayson and I are happy to announce that the littlest Henry is on its' way! :-D


We found out last night, Tuesday April 7th, that we're expecting. Yay! The baby is due December 15th, 2009, right in time for Christmas.


The proud grandparents-to-be are extatic, and so are great- grandma and great-grandpa Henry, and great-grandma Stenz, all the way in Germany.


I'll try to keep the blog as updated as possible, but I'm not promising anything. I no longer have access to the net at work, and I'm exhausted when I'm finally at home every night, but I'll do my best. I have added a count-down ticker to the page though, so everyone can stay on top of how long baby still has to bake.


So here it is, the coveted positive test:

A pic I came across

While looking for those puppy pictures of Micah, I also came across a picture of Whisky and Mayson the day we got her. I love, love, love this picture:

Trip down memory lane...

A bit nostalgic for a Friday morning, but what the heck??? Having Koda in the house with all of his little antics, night time howling, and puppy toys reminds me of just 2 years ago when Micah was still as little as Koda is now. I went back through my pictures, and dug out some puppy pics of Mimi to compare.

The first picture I ever saw of Micah and her brothers, taken by her breeder. Micah is the brown puppy on the right, and the little grey guy on the lft is her brother Demon, owned coincidentally by a former co-worker of Mayson's:

Micah in the middle, with brother Demon on the right:

Micah at about 5 months old, in my parents' backyard:

Taken the same day as the last picture, while enjoying the sunshine on the deck.

Micah this past weekend, at 2.5 years old, at my mother in law's house:

Editing Scenery

I LOVE to take pics of sunsets and sunrises, but unfortunately my little point and shoot Kodak C763 doesn't capture any of the amazing colours that are usuallly in the sky. That's what Picnik is for!

On my walk after work this past fall, I 'd taken my camera with me, while I strolled along the river, accross the bridge to Quebec, and then along Alexandre-Taché in Hull.

Here's a pic I took while walking along the bike bath:

And here's the edited version:

The Museum of Civilization:

The edited version:

Some more photos

I was bored again this morning and playing around with Picnik, editing some more photos. They're pretty random, but here are the results:

One of our wedding pics:

Our Christmas tree this past year:

And Alex and I on our joint birthday party (can you tell we're November babies, and were ready for Christmas?):