Riley's Out As Long As He Was In Post

So today marks 40 Weeks and 1 Day since Riley was born - the exact same amount of time as I was pregnant with him, so I though that warrants a post with some photos to show just how much he's grown.

1 Month Old:

2 Months Old:

3 Months Old:

Cleft Lip Surgery:

4 Months Old:

5 Months Old:

6 Months Old:

His Swimsuit:

7 Months Old:

He LOVES swimming in his giraffe pool:

8 Months Old:

Minutes before the Cleft Palate Surgery:

9 Months Old: And just some recent photos of our little clown...

Updated photos of our little guy!

Here's Riley in the laundry basket...

And riding on Sophie, his giraffe for the first time...
Here he is in what we refer to as his clown costume - but it's actually hospital scrubs and slippers - the photo was taken just minutes before his Cleft Palate surgery...

With his arm braces - this was days after his surgery - he had to wear the braces so that he wouldn't be able to stick anything into his mouth, and open the stitches...

And here he is enjoying his first cracker ever - we were at Swiss Chalet...yummy!

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: