Le Grand Phew

On Wednesday I was 19 weeks and 4 days pregnant, and we went in for our ultrasound.

Before I get to the results of said ultrasound, let me describe for you who have not had one what the process of getting a second trimester fetal ultrasound is like. When I booked the appointment, the woman told me to drink two litres of water starting two hours before my appointment. Maybe that was 1 litre of water 2 hours before, but I couldn't specifically remember, and went for the gusto just in case. I had two glasses before I left home – which is totally fine, I normally have a large glass in the morning – and then panicked on my way to town that I hadn't had enough and had sabotaged the entire process and so I had to stop and buy a bottle at a dépanneur. So that means two glasses of water, plus a bottle. Add to that my tea, which was too hot to drink so I sipped it slowly in the waiting room. I only made it through half a cup.

Well. By the time I was called in to get my hospital card the situation was already critical. I felt like perhaps my bladder was going to fall out of my body and land on the chair. I pictured it all swollen and pressing downward and I didn't think I would be able to make it from the waiting room to the ultrasound room. I made hubby hold my tea, because I didn't want to be reminded of the existence of liquid. I went in and begged them to let me pee, but the receptionist didn't speak English very well, and said "10 seconds". I took that to mean I would have my ultrasound in 10 seconds, but that was not the case. She meant I could pee for 10 seconds. Anyway once I sorted that out, I ran to the washroom and peed a bit. Turns out, once you've started peeing and you really have to go badly, it's quite hard to stop but stop I did, proudly. I went back into the office and they told me it would be another half an hour; I was irate. I sat in that waiting room and 10 seconds later the situation became gloomy once again. Hubby went to find the cafeteria to get something to eat, since he hadn't eaten breakfast and it was going on 11 am, and left me squirming in my chair. Finally I decided to take matters into my own hands. I angrily jogged to the bathroom, peed most of what I had, then marched out, dumped my tea into the water fountain, filled my cup with water, and started all over again. Man alive, it's torture to make someone drink all that water and then make them wait an additional 30 minutes. They should know that these things are timed very carefully….

The ultrasound technician was very nice, though language was still an issue. I could understand her, she just couldn't understand us completely. Anyway. She didn't have much of a sense of humour because when I asked her to please tell me that my baby's head wasn't too too big, she didn't get it. I think I even said "I don't want to pass a giant head" but nothing. Silence. I can't complain, as she was very sweet, patient when the baby wasn't cooperating, waited for the baby to get into a good position to see what sex it is even though it's not part of her required exam, and gave us four pictures to take home instead of the standard two.

All news was good news. This baby is freaking adorable, and so far perfectly healthy. We saw the heart pumping, the little empty stomach, the brain (a genius, of course), the little toes and fingers and nose and mouth and chin and everything. All in all I would estimate that all stretched out, baby is approximately 9 or 10 inches long (this includes legs, which don't usually get measured, as they're all folded up). By the end of it, I predictably had to pee like a racehorse once again. The moral of this story is that Gennyland only requires like one large glass of water before having a fetal ultrasound. Gennyland has a tiny bladder.

So here's the result: our beautiful baby girl. I have never seen anything so perfect in all my life.

Take that, snow.

I was right – spring is on its way. These days the temperatures are normally over 8 degrees, often as high as 12, and the snow is hastily making its exit. 'Tis the season of dog poo and snow mould, but I'm not complaining – my dryer broke down at the right time, because I've been happily hanging the laundry outside for the past couple of weeks.

Hubby and I took Rosie and hiked up the hill the other day to check for fallen deer antlers. We found nothing, but it was nice to get out and stretch my legs a bit. I found myself scampering up icy rock faces (not crazy high, don't anybody worry) and thought Dang, being pregnant's not that bad just yet. I am still fairly mobile, and I do believe my energy is restoring itself. Enough that the spring air has made me cleaning/organizing/renovating crazy, much to hubby's chagrin. I shouldn't say that – he's been patient and cooperative, it's just that I feel like everywhere I look something needs to be fixed or thrown out or cleaned or re-arranged. Maybe it's spring or maybe it's nesting but pretty soon it's going to make him snap, I'm sure of it. Thank god fishing season is around the corner and he'll be able to get away from me and my lists. Hi hubby, glad to have you until April 22.

I've been knitting quite a bit – I made a really cute bunting bag with a hood and pompom, which still needs to be finished off (ends woven in, zipper installed), and am working on an adorable little cardigan the colour of a cooked egg yolk. Mom says it's a girlie colour, but I can butch it up if need be. We'll see. Other projects on my list include a colourful baby blanket, which I hope to work on this summer so that I have something to occupy me in case labour is a drawn out process, and perhaps some little wooly pants to go with the egg yolk sweater – colour to be determined following the ultrasound. I'm sure I'll find 17 more things to knit along the way, but that's the list so far. I had started a sweater for myself and bought yarn for another sweater for hubby, but sorry hubby, grown-up knitting is on the back burner for awhile. I'm sure you understand. My mom's also been knitting, so my baby will never go cold. So far she has made the most beautiful white little outfit for bébé to wear home from the hospital or to receive visitors. It's light, so it'll be ok in August. She's also working on an adorable aran cable sweater. Remember how I once posted about how amazing my mom is? You should see the maternity clothes she's made me. I never have to set foot in Thyme Maternity to buy their crappy $69 pants again. She's even figured out maternity dress pants with the stretchy panel in front. She's such a pro.

Next week is my ultrasound and I'll be almost halfway through. I'm a bit worried about the ultrasound, only because we didn't do any of the 11 – 14 week genetic testing, so this is the first glimpse we'll have of the wee one since he or she was 3.7mm long and had no face. I hope it all goes well and will report back on the results, perhaps even with photos. He or she has started to kick me around a bit, I occasionally feel a light flicking sensation in my belly that isn't gas (I know my gas, and this isn't it).

I'm trying hard to pay attention at work, but it's frankly an uphill battle. The internet makes concentrating hard. I'm ticking down the days, so by my calculations, I have 95 working days left until I'm off on mat leave. Not that I'm counting or anything. At first I was like "mentally check out of work? No! Not me!" but here I am, signing up for prenatal and CPR classes, looking up ultrasound pictures online, and searching for a daycare spot for August 2011. I make it sound worse than it is, but overall, concentrating is a challenge, and baby stuff is fun and necessary. Whereas a couple of months ago I felt that August was a lifetime away, and I had all the time in the world to figure things out, all of a sudden I'm down to 5 months and things are starting to ramp up. My daycare search began late, apparently, at 17 weeks pregnant, and I've missed the boat on a couple of prenatal classes already. Our first baby shower is April 10, and already we've lined up stuff like an infant car seat, a playpen, and other necessities. Things are really moving now.

I'm going to take pictures of all the things I've made in the last while, because it's been awhile, and I've been busy. Aside from the knitting, I've also taken a pottery class (another pottery class) and made us a set of 8 plates for the cottage. They're all different sizes and colours but I think that's perfect for the cottage. They're quite cheery.

That's it for me this week- work will be busy from now until late next week, but by then I hope to have pictures of a healthy baby to show off. Fingers crossed.

 

 

Springing

There's something in the air these days, and it isn't freezing rain. There has been a shift in light and smell that makes me think that winter's finally on its way out, and spring is forcing its way in. The road is snow-less, and last night when I got home I found something in my bed that I haven't seen in about 5 months: mud. Apparently Rosie found the only mud she could roll in, and rolled in it.

This weekend I will be starting my seeds. I haven't yet made the final decision as to what I'm going to start, because every year I get tempted by things that I should know won't work out (red peppers, leeks, eggplants). This year I am going to focus on things we'll use, like tomatoes, several varieties of basil, squash, and maybe cucumbers. At the land, I intend to plant things like sweet potatoes and large squash, and just let 'em go crazy (it's all sand up there, with a nice layer of black earth on top) and hope to collect them sometime before or after I give birth in August. I already have garlic, rhubarb, blueberries and strawberries (for what it's worth) on the go in the garden, but they will all need a bit of TLC come spring. I will do normal potatoes in the bin once again, but I think I'll forget about onions this year – my soil was too heavy last year and it was so wet, and none of them got larger than a kumquat. I will once again have to dump in a load of topsoil, some peat moss, and some compost to mitigate the clay, which dominates by end of year.

So this weekend, I am going to start my tomatoes and basil. It's too early to do squash yet – they get pretty big pretty fast and it's almost better to just put them directly into the ground – but I need to do the tomatoes properly because every year they get all long and stringy. I want chubby fuzzy plants this year.

Speaking of chubby, in the best possible way, my cousin had her baby on Monday. She weighs 10 lbs 1oz so welcome to you, Azalea! Hope you like gardening with a name like that! Another sign of spring has been that babies and pregnant ladies are popping up all over the place. I myself have started to pop a wee bit – I no longer just look like I ate a big dinner. My tummy protrudes ever so slightly and it's as hard as a rock. Had a Doctor's appointment last week, and heard the wee lad/lady's heartbeat (135 bpm), so all is still well in womb-land. I am now nearing 17 weeks. I have an ultrasound March 24 and then on April 15 I get to start going to the OB-Gyn at the hospital where I will eventually give birth, instead of to my family doctor.

Another sign of spring: work's being done back at the homestead. I have reserved our lovely handyman Stuart for the week of April 18 to finally come and finish the siding on our house. He works super-fast and is cheerful and reasonably-priced so I am pretty excited. After that, we'll start moving the furniture around and getting ready for baby. Also happening in April, hubby's going to build us a dock up at our land, so I will have somewhere to lounge my beluga belly this summer. I look forward to rolling off of that dock when the sun gets too hot to handle. Too bad I can't drink beer. I wonder if I will fit into the bathroom of our trailer come late July…