10 Lbs and Video

Christophe's last midwife appointment went down without a hitch yesterday. He's 10 lbs, 4.65 oz, which means he's been gaining 1.5oz a day on breastmilk alone, great news for us. So there's no further concerns, and we can now pretty much go to feeding on demand, although there's no harm in encouraging him to eat during the day.

Flickr.com is now video-capable, so we'll have to post some video of Christophe sometime soon.

9 lbs: No More Formula

We had an appointment with the midwives this afternoon, and Christophe was weighed again. He's nine pounds, 140z more than the last visit a week ago, or an average of two ounces gained per day. This is high enough that Christie has suggested we stop supplementing with formula, and revert to breastfeeding only.



Since that was always our desire, this is a pleasing development. Not to mention, that means that Christophe's doing well in terms of growth and weight gain.

Christophe: Part III

So, once Christophe was born, they put him on Pierrette's chest, vernix and all. Although it's not uncommon to move right into initial breast-feeding at this point, that couldn't be done because Christophe couldn't reach -- his umbilical cord was shorter than is normal.

As an aside, umbilical cords are lumpier than I expected. I expected something pretty smooth, but it was twisty and lumpy. I wish I'd gotten a clearer picture, but you can google-search for it. So we waited for the cord to stop pulsing, then clamped the cord and I cut it.

Having the father 'cut the cord' is laden with symbology I wasn't entirely keen to explore, but there are so few parts of the delivery process I can really help with, so I caved to tradition. It was sinewy, like, well, sinews. Or rope, maybe. Gristly muscle. All that sort of thing.

After that, some of the vernix was rubbed in, and Pierrette got to hold Christophe while the placenta (which, to be honest, looks like the bag of organs that comes in a turkey, but bigger) was birthed. Watching my new son and wife interact was pretty emotional. We called a few people -- mostly relatives. After that, Christophe got to practice his first latch, he was weighed and measured, and we dressed him.

The midwives did their best to cram a few more bits of information in my head, but lack of sleep and being a little dazed drove most of it back out. By about 3:30, we were all set to leave, so we bundled up all our belongings, said our goodbyes, and went to the front desk to pick up Christophe's new baby health card, then from there to the car, and home.

Early in the morning, I left messages for Pierrette's parents and my parents, but also for Kim and Baz, who live close enough by, and have been through this experience, so it wasn't incredibly inconvenient (we hope) to ask them to pick up a few things for us -- in particular, the infant car seat, which I had left behind at Pierrette's request so as to not "jinx it," but which we obviously needed, and a few other things from the important to the inconsequential (cake!)

They arrived with those items when Pierrette was in active labour, so we didn't get to see them, although I could hear them from the tub-area where Pierrette was, including little Sebastian. When we returned home, we discovered that Kim and Lisa had set up the bedroom for us -- baby clothes, some diapers, quite possibly even some tidying, and baby's name all laid out for us. Considering we were dead tired at that point, it was a very welcome and pleasant surprise. For those of you following the last few posts, it was the setup I documented on our return and put in the first Christophe blog post to announce his name:

Update - Early Labour

I just had a hour long nap now I am hungary and waiting for Geoff to get home. He went out to pick up some groceries so we would have some food in the house as I was planning on going grocery shopping tonight.

Since the last post the midwives came by my BP is fine however they will re-check it tomorrow morning to be safe. The contraction that I once did not even notice are now accompanied with back ache and mild cramping.

Around 8pm or so we called Christie because I had some "bloody show" so she came to check on me once again. BP still fine now 3cm dilated and 65% effaced.

The Birth pool arrived I will ask Geoff to post a picture if he has time. They came in to do an emergency pool installation for us. The couple that came to install the pool was very kind and so far I would recommend them to anyone. You can get more information about there pools here.

After the pool was installed Geoff when off to pick up some groceries after I made a list will all my special request and he also stopped by Kim and Basil's to make sure the car seat is properly installed.

The midwives want me to try to rest, when I am not resting try to time the contractions and count babies movements.

Well I am off to see if I can have another nap.

Pregnancy Rant

Now that I have past the 8 month mark I am going to share all the things I have learned and discovered about being pregnant. (Well at lease for me because I am led to believe the experience is different from person to person.

WARNING - some of you may think some items are gross or to descriptive...

• Minty toothpaste can make one want to puke, all natural toothpaste is much better
• Lemonade - yummy
• Heart burn - not so yummy (Can you believe I never had heart burn before)
• Cal Meg by Genestra is a great remedy for heart burn until you experience the evilest of heart burns then Tums become your best friend
• Smoothie Tums taste better then all the others
• Scrambled eggs - yummy
• Scrambled eggs with vegetables (kinda like a deconstructed omelet) - YUMMY
• Sacrificing things you love because you know there is another person inside of you
• Unconditional love for someone you have not even met yet
• Crying for no apparent reason
• Crying for what seems to be a good reason at the time however your husband thinks you have gone mad
• long soaks in the tub are amazing
• The feeling of a little person kicking you in the ribs (somehow this makes me smile even though it hurts)
• Restless legs syndrome - RLS (now I understand how Geoff often feels)
• Magnelevures by Unda is amazing for RLS - however very expensive
• That raspberry leaf tea taste pretty good; however after 2 months of it its the worst drink on earth
• A re-appreciation for raspberry leaf tea once my naturophath switch me to raspberry leaf tea extracts
• When you are pregnant you always seem to drop everything (force the lady with the big belly to bend down)
• Pee pee pee that is all I have to say
• Yeast infections (would you believe I never had one until I was pregnant)
• The stomach flue is never fun however; it is really bad when you are stuck on the bathroom floor and can not get up due to the combination of a big belly and no energy.
• Extremely cut little boys clothing
• Everything in the world seems to have toxic chemicals in it
• Baby toys are fun and cute and expensive
• That everyone wants to touch your belly
• That everyone has something to share about there experience with children, even people who do not have kids
• The whole world is pregnant (every wheres I go I see women with swollen bellies; I guess you just don't notice them until you are one of them)
• Pillows lots and lots of pillows are the only way you can get comfortable
• Carpal tunnel syndrome and how to cope with it
• Hip pain ( I guess this is a good pain; since your hips need to widen to let baby threw)
• Maternity underwear rule they are so comfy (I think I may even continue wearing them after)
• Yoga is a saving grace
• Shiatsu is complicated when you have restless legs ( it's hard to stay still for the therapist to work)
• Not to be afraid to ask for help
• How much my husband really loves me
• Having a TV in the bedroom is really not that bad even though I fought it for 7 years.
• There is nothing good on the after midnight
• Doing dishes when you are "fat" hurts your back
• I can no longer reach the bottom of the washing machine
• Watching other peoples kids make me smile
• Finding baby clothes in my laundry is neat
• Opening and installing your car seat kinda makes everything feel real
• Having a car seat in your car is weird
• Selecting items for your wee one is made way too complicated by an over saturated market full of junk and useless items for babies
• Everyone and there sister will have an opinion on a home birth ( not always a positive one)
• Midwives rule
• One can never drink enough water
• Seeing your baby for the first time (ultrasound) is the best feeling in the world
• Leaky breast
• No belly button
• Confirmation that the brown spot at the bottom of my belly button is really a birth mark and not dirt stuck there for 29 years (oops I just gave away my age)
• Spicy foods give you heart burn however I crave them so I seem to forget this one over an and over again
• Anything related to babies on TV will make you cry
• Sore shoulders from sleeping on your side
• Nesting
• Lopsided bellies - this one makes me smile
• It is amazing how much energy you can have when you are an insomniac; however eventually you crash and sleep.
• That good friends are hard to come by and we are lucky we have a few (you know who you are)
• How much Geoff's family is really mine too
• How much I miss my mom and dad
• That the world does not stop if you leave work at 5pm
• How to say no (sometimes)
• A stuffed up nose - all the time
• Being able to eat all sorts of things that I used to have intolerances too, baby gave me super stomach .

I am sure I can go on and on forever but we will end it here.

Midwife visit - Jan 10

Last Thursday morning we had a routine visit to the Midwives Clinic.  This time, I got to meet Sarah: she is a student midwife graduating at the end of March that will be attending the birth.  She is great.  There is something about students that I always love, and I can never place it.  She said she is excited to meet our Doula (Deanna) at the birth since she has heard from other midwives that Deanna is one of the best at what she does.  I also met Deborah briefly; she is considered our third midwife and will only be at the birth if both our primary and secondary midwives are already at births (so chances are she won't be there) but it's good to meet her just in case.  My next appointment will also be with her, since both Christie and Merhan are on vacation for the month of January.

I have to say one of the things I love about midwifery is that they do their best to make sure that you will know at least one person very well at your birth,  so you don't have a stranger helping and caring for you during the most emotional time of your life.

Despite the fact that mom was sicker then I think she has been for over 10 years;  (The last time I was this ill I think it's when I had Mono) baby was fine.

Mom's story first:

On Sunday I started feeling like I had upset bowels which caused me to go to the bathroom a lot,  I did not think twice about it since I have a lot of food sensitivities and it just felt like I ate something I should not have.  Lisa and I went out to do some errands during the day (Olympia Tile; Canadian Tire and Groceries) as 5pm was approaching I started feeling nauseous and light-headed.  As I am stubborn and wanted to finish my errands, I said "let's just hurry and do the groceries, you can help me and then we will go home."  I also grabbed a small snack because these days I sometimes get nauseous if I let my stomach go empty.  Well, was I ever wrong, we got to the grocery store and I started feeling worse so we left the cart as it was with a few bits in it and returned home promptly where I lied down.  Soon after that it all started.  I will leave it at: I vomited parts of me that I did not know was possible.  Once that stopped, the next morning around 4:30 am I now started re-hydrating myself but staying away from all foods until Tuesday, where we tried toast.  On Wednesday I was feeling up to eating bland foods in small amounts and am still at that point today.  If I eat too fast it irritates my stomach and I get killer heart burn that makes me feel like I am going to get sick. 

One thing I learned is that unborn babies can go 3 days or so without the mothers eating anything as long as you are drinking water; after that as long as you stay hydrated they can go for weeks even if mom is malnourished.  The only person that will suffer is mom.  However I don't recommend anyone to try this as it is always better to have a balanced diet.

Baby Story:

Baby is doing great he is in the cephalic position.  That is the clinical term for head down.  The has been head down since September so I am expecting a squished head baby when he born.  His heart beat is 140, a little lower then his typical 150, but Sarah said that is in the normal healthy range, so no worries.  However, she had a heard time finding the heart beat with the stethoscope since my tummy was louder then baby.  Baby must have had some 'sound show' the past week.

Yoga, sleep, birthing info night

Last night I started yoga again. I had stopped for a few weeks because I found it too difficult to get to class on time. I found a different class that starts 30 mins latter. This gives me enough time for a bit to eat. The instructor is this sweet lady for scotland, it's her own business so it's also nice to be supporting a independent teacher rather then a huge studio. The classes are held in the basement of a church near Queen and Carlaw, so I can get home fast afterwards.

That said because I yoga'ed last night I actually slept the entire night :-) It's amazing what a little exercise and stretching can do for one.

On wen. we when to a home birthing information session. I am seriously starting to think about doing a home birth. Alot of the myths and worries I have about home birthing are gone now. I am planning to do a drug free labour so why not do it in the comfort of my own home. My grandmother did it? Some of the things I was worried about was the cats - they said most of the times animals just hide or watch and you can always lock them up somewheres. I was also scared I would not have enough space but my midwives seem to be convinced that there is tones of room. All you need is a bed, shower/bath, long dresser and small table. Christie (my midwife) also mentioned that it would probably be much easier to try alternative methods if I was not dilating fast enough or wanted pain relief at home because there would be no medical staff to interfere.

Got to go I have a dentist appointment.