The Van - Our Baby Mobile!

Despite some of the nay-sayers in my life, Tyler & I are very excited about the van we purchased, a 2001 Pontiac Montana. On Sunday, August 16th we decided we should get a van or SUV & by Saturday, August 22nd we had purchased it! We bought the van for $3250 which was the lower end of the range that was considered fair value as per our AMA research, then we spent about $250 for detail work to clean it up to a nice standard (I'm pretty sure the van was family owned for it's life & then was worked on, on a farm for the last few months so it was a bit dirty & stinky). Tyler & I were both really happy with the detailing work so we consider that we basically paid $3500 for the van, a very fair price in our opinion.

To answer the question we keep getting "why did you opt for a van vs an SUV (or even a roomier car)" I have one word COST. When it comes to SUV's they are more expensive to purchase, more expensive to insure, and more expensive to run (gas, maintenance, etc). Yes they are a little more fashionable, but I've been looking at the ones on the road lately & I'm not sure that they are actually competetive with vans for interior space. They have more room then my car sure, but they aren't that much of an upgrade for space compared to the van. I'm looking a little longer term than just for right now & I don't want to get a bigger car, just to need more space in a year or two years.

A lot of the vans we were looking at in the 7 - 9 year old range were about $5000 or less and there were a lot on the market to choose from (so definitely a buyer's market). The used SUV's that were available were at the lowest about $8-9,000 and often in the $12-14,000 range (though it should be noted that they were newer years). The whole advantage of buying this type of vehicle right now was for 1) space & 2) that we could pay cash for it and not be digging ourselves a financial hole. It's entirely possibly that SUV's are more expensive because they retain their values better, but for us, we aren't really looking for something we can resale at the moment. More of a vehicle that will get us through this transitional period without causing money strain. Thus why we opted for a van. We both test drove this van (& it was the only one we went to see & test drive) and decided to snap it up as it was the best deal we saw online.

Some details about our new vehicle...

-it had about 139,500 km on it, which is really low (I have 126,000+ on my 2005 Ion!),

-it has a white exterior with black trim, tinted back windows & grey interior,

-it had a safety inspection done on it in July 2009,

-the person we bought it from, got it at an auction because the hood had come loose & smashed the windshield. He owns an autobody shop so he did all the repairs himself (plus a few other minor things like the driver's side mirror was replaced),

-our baby seat fits in it beautifully,

-it has a VHS player (a dead technology it's true, but we still own quite a few VHS's especially Disney movies),

-fun radio controls on my steering wheel,

-dual sliding doors,

-seats 8 people with the two bench rows OR me, tyler, our baby & our dogs + all my travel crap LOL

-each back seat folds down individually so you can space out fighting kids (or other relationships), have access to cup holders, etc,

-cruise control (which I did NOT have with my Saturn Ion), looking forward to learning how to use that,

-power windows! For the first time in my life I own a vehicle with power windows LOL

-I've been "practising" driving with the van all week & I am getting a lot more comfortable (though my car is much nicer for 'zipping' around LOL).

I'll post some pics here of the interior, post-detailing so y'all can see how nice it looks now! I'm looking forward to "accessorizing" my new wheels!!

Now I'd like to vent a moment about the nay-sayers. They are... my friends Vanessa & Melody, my sister Calli & Tyler's brother Tyrone. With Vanessa & Melody, I had been having a direct phone conversation with them where I said "I'm so excited, we are looking for a van!" (a.k.a. clearly enthused) and they were all like "Why? I would never be caught dead driving a van. I'd get an SUV." Well how nice for you. However, with our lives, budget is more important than "image" so we are perfectly happy getting a van, and since I am obviously happy about it, why can't you keep that thought to yourself and just be excited FOR me? It really irked me, especially as Vanessa followed it up with "just joking" comments when I posted the picture on facebook.

My sister also commented negatively on facebook & she gets a little more leeway since she is 19 and wasn't directly told about my excitedness BUT her comments still annoys me.

P.S. It smells pretty now too.
P.P.S. I stocked the van with a black garbage bag & a big towel in case my water breaks & I continue to have leakage to the hospital so that I don't ruin the $250 detailing work!!

Aug 28/09 Prenatal Appt & Dr. Joelle

Had my weekly prenatal appointment today with Dr.Williams. Pretty sure it was my first time meeting him. He reminded me a bit of an absent-minded professor as he seemed a bit "off" his game. I'd put him in his mid-30s to 40s though so I don't think it's from inexperience.

Blood Pressure: 120/80 - perfect

Weight: no change from last week, so at +6 lbs from original starting weight

Belly Measurement: don't know, but asked if it was good & he said yes

Urine Proteins: negative, which is a good thing

GBS/Strep B result: negative, which is also good. not really a huge deal if you're positive. If you are positive they give you two rounds of antibotics once you go into labor. However, if they can't give you the full round of antibodics before baby comes, then they will be extra cautious and do extra stuff with baby.

Feet Swelling: it's gone up & down depending how much I'm on my feet, how much I get them up & how much salt I consume so I don't think it's related to my blood pressure (especially as my blood pressure it good).

So it was an uneventful appointment which is really a good sign. I'll be 37 weeks tomorrow (Saturday). Booked my next appointment for one week away.

Dr. Joelle

I've decided to try out a new chiropractor for a few reasons.

-My current chiropractor is fine, but I can't help but feel that he is complacent in my adjustments. I just feel a little too rushed during the appointments.

-Dr. Joelle is from my "Independant Achievers" group which is for women in business to network, so I thought I should give her a try.

-She specializes in prenatal & postnatal chiropractic care as well as chiropractic for children.

My first appointment and assessment was today. Normally it is $65 for the first session, but I found out that part of the fee is waived for I.A. members so it was only $35, score! It was really exciting to talk with Dr.Joelle. She definitely has a different focus from my previous chiropractor as right away she asked me about my baby's position. All I knew was that his head was down at my last week's appointment but she had concerns, from the shape of my belly, that he was posterior (meaning that his bum would be to my back instead of to my front) or at least maybe to the side too much rather than centered. This could cause painful back labor and also in the meantime could cause some pelvic & hip pain.

So she tested all of my reflexes & did a bit of a manual exam on me. Then she did some "typical" chiropractic adjustments as of which felt amazing (when you are out of alignment it feels so good to 'click' back into alignment). She felt around for baby and said what she felt lined up with what she had thought. She did some new adjustments and did a stretch type thing of the muscle that is underside my abdomen. Boy did that feel good in that bad kind of why...where it hurts but you know its a positive hurt. Then she had some homework for me:

-continue drinking red leaf raspberry tea. I've kind of been sporadic about it, so she suggests drinking at least a pot a day.

-start taking evening primrose oil. One capsule orally & one capsule vaginally daily (more info on the reason for this below).

-whenever laying day, lay on my right side with my left leg elevated. This should help baby slip better into the center of my abdomen/uterus.

-Get down on all fours a few times a day, for 20-30 minutes. She suggested getting an exercise ball and sprawling over that. This position helps to pull baby away from my spine.

Um, I think that's it. I get to see her again on Tuesday & Thursday this upcoming week. She's a very interesting lady with a lot of knowledge & she herself has given birth 3 times, all of them at home & in water.

She also has a lending library of book resources as well as several copies of the DVD "The Business of Being Born". I have seen the last half of it by chance on my digital cable but never did catch the first half (which really explains why they made the documentry I'm sure) so I borrowed it to watch. I also have a prenatal massage on Tuesday that I am very much looking forward to...and the first massage you book is 1/2 off so I'm happy about that as well!

Evening primrose oil is a natural source of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins act to soften and ripen the cervix. This can aid in dilation and effacement. However, since the prostaglandins found in evening primrose oil are natural, they do not affect the body of a woman who is not otherwise ready to go into labor. This means that they are unlikely to trigger labor much earlier than it would naturally occur.

Though evening primrose oil is not likely to trigger labor directly, you can still take evening primrose oil to help the body in its natural process. Many midwives recommend starting a supplement of evening primrose oil during the 34th week of pregnancy. You can start by taking one or two 500 mg capsules every day. When you reach 38 weeks, you can begin taking up to four capsules of evening primrose oil every day. At this time, you can also begin inserting one or two capsules vaginally every day as well. This can be a more effective method of softening the cervix, since the oil will come in direct contant with the cervix. You can do this every night before bed, which gives the evening primrose oil plenty of time to be absorbed while you sleep.

Hospital Orientation & a Small Hospital Visit on Friday

On Thursday, Tyler & I went to our orientation at the Red Deer hospital. I’m impressed with Tyler because he worked Thursday & wanted to work Friday (as it is overtime) so he borrowed his dad’s SUV and drove up just for the orientation. I’ve been really looking forward to this orientation for a while as I’m a visual girl & I had no idea what to visualize in the hospital and was hoping the orientation would help.

I thought we’d get to do a hospital tour, but found out shortly into the spiel that there is a crazy baby boom and that they are averaging at least 200/births a month in Red Deer with more pregnant people coming in for the orientations so it’s just not feasible anymore to parade a large group up to the ward only to find out we can’t go in. I was going to be disappointed until she said that they had pictures of the rooms in their slideshow so I still got my visuals. There were 11 pregnant ladies in the room with all of them having partners there except for two. We went around the room saying our names, due date, etc. Of the 11 women, the due dates only ranged from Sept 19 – 23…only a four day spread. I don’t think they were exaggerating about their statistics! We had Nurse Jessica running the session, which was 2 hours, and could have been a really dry two hours but she was hilarious. I don’t know how old she was (I’d say equal to my age or older) but she had a really youthful energy and hilarious, sarcastic manner. Totally suited me LOL For example, she told us that if we come in with perfect hair, makeup & giggling and tell her we’re in labor she will probably send us home. Meanwhile if we come in with a messy side pony tail, a freaked out looking partner and we look really agitated and grumpy, then yes we’re probably really in labor!

For each topic she talked about she provided an anecdote or a humorous way of portraying it. I do have some examples but I don’t think they’ll translate too well in writing…as the tone of voice & gesturing really added to it.

One thing I learned:
If/when your water breaks note the time (as they will ask) as well as the color & any odor. Brown/greenish indicates that baby has had a bowel movement and this can affect their health and will require extra assessments post birth. Red can indicate blood and a variety of different issues. Yellow indicates that you just peed yourself. You don’t want to call everyone you know announcing that baby is coming & then have to call them back and say “actually I just peed my pants” [awesome story about that to come.] In addition to noting color they asked that we put on a panty liner or something that can continue to absorb some of the fluid so they can do a litmus test on it at the hospital. We are NOT to use a super absorbent with wings, etc as it does the job too well and doesn’t give them enough liquid to work with. Also if there is a lot of blood you are supposed to bring in everything that you bled on (sheets, clothes, etc) so they can assess how much you’ve lost.

She gave us her suggestions for what to pack for your hospital bag which I left at home or I’d have written them out for you. And she suggested that we leave our “48 step full size clinique facial set” at home as we’ll be choosing naps over skin care. For the record I am still packing my 3-7 step mini set from BeautiControl. Sometimes having a clean fresh face makes all the difference…if I don’t use it, no big deal as it’s just a mini set & not that big. Plus I have a mini bag of travel stuff always packed from traveling so much (it has all my face stuff, deodorant, tooth brush etc together in one bag) so it’s actually less work for me just to pack that.
Yesterday I bought a set of sports bras (as I don’t own any, something to do with the fact that I don’t do anything sporty I’m sure) that I plan to wear at the very least under a hospital gown. I want to go look for something night gown-y that I’d be comfortable wearing in the hospital but that won’t break my heart if it gets ruined. It was also suggested that we have slippers or some sort of foot wear so I want to find a cheap pair of those. I’m going to check out Zellers this week for that (I’ve already been to the North Walmart & didn’t have luck there).

This is going to come across really vain, but I want to look as good as possible for baby’s first pictures. Since I am such a pale & pasty girl I have a tendency to look completely horrible when I have bad hair & no make-up combined with little sleep and lots of strain. I know I’ll be scrapbooking these pictures and looking at them forever so I don’t want to feel negative about myself in them. People like Kim, or my sister & brother have this naturally tanned glow that helps them look good all the time which I am jealous about. With my purple under-eyes and blotchiness I will probably look like death. I’ll try to do what I can about that depending on the situation, but at the very least I can hopefully control the clothes & color of the clothing I am wearing so that it can be of more flattering shades.

I got a little off topic there so back to the hospital orientation. Very recently they have changed their policies so that dads are not allowed to spend the night (post birth of course). It is a safety issue for other women in the ward as well as for spacing in the room as the babies room-in with mom and in double rooms with 2 moms, 2 babies & 2 dads it is just too many obstacles if they need to get to a baby in a hurry. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about that at the time, but I totally understand where they are coming from. If you are sharing a room with another lady it would be weird to be left alone with her partner in there. However, the nurse said that they try to stack the rooms in such a way that if possible you are alone and if you aren’t then they try to put the person leaving the soonest in with the person the longest type deal.

People in your room during labor: pretty much you can have whoever you want in your room while you are in labor. During the actual deliver they ask it be limited to two people. Jessica said that if there is someone in the room that you don’t want there (such as a mother-in-law) to feel free to “use your nurse” to get them to leave. That way you & hubby don’t get any hard feelings aimed at you. I think that is really cool & a good idea. At this point I can’t imagine wanting anyone but Tyler in the room but I could change my mind and like that I can.
So after the orientation I was a little bit concerned over the size of my feet & ankles which had swollen quite a bit in a matter of days. I thought I would consult my ‘babycenter’ pregnancy book to see what remedies they offered. Swelling is referred to as edema and isn’t a huge concern UNLESS it is accompanied with some other symptoms…listed as: nausea (which I’ve had), headaches (which I’ve had), vision issues (not really), uterus pains at the top (not that I’ve specifically noticed) and sudden swelling (which I felt had been the case as I hadn’t noticed it before then all of a sudden I had flintstone feet on Tuesday). These symptoms can indicate a condition called pre-eclampsia which can be quite serious and may lead to bed rest, induction &/or c-section.
I’m reading this at 10 o’clock on Thursday night & Tyler just left to go back to work and I was a little freaked out by it. Everything had been going pretty well during the pregnancy and I didn’t want things to suddenly take a turn for the worse. I had my prenatal appointment booked for Monday and I was torn because I don’t want to be a hypochondriac and insist on going to the doctor on Friday but I don’t want to ignore symptoms or wait and regret that. So on Friday morning I called the clinic and said that I had an appointment for Monday but I was having some symptoms that I wasn’t sure if I should be worried about so was wondering if there was someone who could advise me if I needed to come in. It turned out that they had an opening in the prenatal clinic that day at 11:50am and they suggested that I could just switch my appointment to that day. This worked out perfectly as it was a female doc working at the clinic that day so she was able to do my Strep B test that day as well instead of having the male doc doing it on the Monday.

At the appointment, Dr.Courellis took my blood pressure & tested my urine for protein and both were in the normal range. If I actually had pre-eclampsia I would have had high blood pressure. However, she saw that I was a little worried/freaked out so she said I could go for a non-stress test at the hospital just to ensure baby was fine if I wanted (as I was having a triage of symptoms that do indicate possible issues). The test was suppose to be about 20 minutes and I didn’t have anything going on for the rest of the day so I opted to go do it (better safe than sorry). It also provided me with an opportunity to go up to Unit 25 (the maternity unit) and see where it was and experience it.

The non-stress test is done in the same assessment room that I will go to when I go into labor. There are four beds in the room & when I got there, there was one other woman already on one bed. The nurse wanted a urine sample but luckily when you’re pregnant you have to pee all the time so that wasn’t an issue LOL Shortly after I settled onto the bed, two other women showed up so there was a full room and only one nurse on. We were all separated by curtains, however it’s a small hospital room so I could easily hear all the conversations going on around me. Woman #1 was there because her water had broken and that was disconcerting as this was baby number two and she was scheduled for a c-section but not until Sept 15th. She said she had been at work moving around some boxes and all of a sudden she had fluid all the way down her legs (she was wearing gray slacks that would have shown wet spots and I didn’t see any so I think she may have changed before she got there). They hooked her up to the same non-stress test that I was going to be getting (it measures baby’s heartbeat & if you are having any contractions) and proceeded to do the litmus test and an internal exam. It took a while, probably about 45 minutes, but they told her that her results were negative and that her water hadn’t broken and she wasn’t in labor. Reading between the lines: she peed herself. I heard her sound very confused and ask the nurse what happened then and the nurse was like “well our bladders are getting a lot of pressure on them and are squished so…” Ugh, I hope she didn’t call too many people and announce that she was having the baby! Plus she had done it at work so she’d have to explain to everyone there…just goes to show you that what Jessica told us the night before was very KEY to remember LOL

Couple #2 were having their first baby and were from Drayton Valley or Drumheller (I can’t remember which as I always confuse the two). Hubby was a doctor but didn’t practice obstetricians and both were from somewhere in Africa I think (I can’t 100% remember). She had been induced but wasn’t having any labor yet so they wanted to double check the signs before they drove all the way home. The nurse on that afternoon was from England so she struck up a conversation with them about him being a doctor in his own country. He said he doesn’t like practicing obstetricians because in his country the midwives were very arrogant or misinformed and wouldn’t call him until essentially it was too late for him to do anything. So he saw a lot of needless baby deaths. That was sad to hear. They ended up leaving without any signs of labor.

Pregnant lady #3 was there because she was concerned about the low frequency of baby movements. Her mom & 4 year old were there and they kept bumping my curtain which was really annoying. Her results were normal so she also left.

All three of the other ladies got to leave before me, and another couple came in with their 4 year old. Apparently they had gotten into an automobile accident (minor fender bender) so were double checking on baby. I can’t describe exactly why, but they were a very weird family.

My tests went well. I was there from maybe 12:30pm until nearly 2pm. The reason it apparently took so long was because my baby decided to sleep most of the time and so she was waiting for a read out once he awoke. If I had known that I might have poked & prodded him a bit LOL She called the doctor I saw that day and reported that “his sleep cycle was a little long but activity was good after that”. I couldn’t help but think “woo hoo, maybe I have a great sleeper!” ha ha They also tested my blood pressure again which was 121/69 which is considered normal and tested my urine which had “slight” traces of protein but nothing they were concerned about so all is good.

The receptionist at my clinic suggested that I could test my blood pressure at any pharmacy that has those machines if I wanted to keep an eye on it (rather than coming in to the doctor). I did it at Walmart yesterday but was having some anxiety for some reason and found it very high. I decided to ignore that result and retest again in a couple days as my blood pressure has been almost perfect the entire pregnancy.

When I left the hospital a guy in a black truck yelled "hey Crystal!" and then a blonde girl got into the truck. My first instinct was that it was Scott & Shelley as it kind of sounded like Scott & looked like Shelley. I walkd over and it turned out to be a guy I graduated high school with (Ryan Eastman for those of you who went to high school with me) and his baby mama Lana I think her name is (who was less than friendly I might add). They were there getting tubes put into their toddler's ears (an outpatient surgery I believe). Apparently the baby mama & toddler (who's name is Rylyn - a combo of mom & dad's names) live in Red Deer now so he's thinking of moving to the area from Grimshaw. Eastman (as I call him) has for the most part always been really nice & friendly to me and seems like a decent enough guy. It was fun & weird to run into him so randomly!

Question for the Mommies who Read This

Do you, or did you, use special detergent for your baby clothes?

Point to Ponder from Tut

I get emails weekdaily, from "the Universe". This was Monday's...

If you could actually stand in someone else's shoes, Crystal, to hear what they hear, see what they see, and feel what they feel, you would honestly wonder what planet they live on, and be totally blown away by how different their "reality" is from yours.

New 'Do Tomorrow!

I’m getting my hair done tomorrow & I am very excited. I’ve stuck to a pretty similar ‘do for a while now as I’ve been really happy with it, but I’m ready to “edge it up” a bit. I bought a ridiculously expensive hair magazine to look through and find some styles that I liked parts of. I of course will have to consult with Megan, my ‘personal stylist’, before we for sure decide but I think I’ll be getting some fringe (a.k.a. bangs), and maybe keeping the length in the front and making the back to front angle more drastic.

In terms of color I think I’ll stick with my black/brown/blonde combo but hopefully change the pattern of it a bit. That’s kind of hard to do so I’m sure Megan will try to talk me out of that LOL I can’t wait, I’m hoping it’ll add a little pep into my step. I almost always photograph my hair once I get it done (I have like four years of hair styles photographed that I should do something fun with!) so if it photographs well, look forward to a pic.

A 180...

I’m not sure what happened over the last few months, but I went from being really apprehensive about nursing to being willing to try it to, lately, actually being excited about it! I’m not really sure what I am excited about, but I am. Maybe it’s just the reality of our baby actually arriving soon is starting to set in?

This might be an over share for some of you ladies, but I’ve been leaking just a tiny since about 24 weeks or so I think. The first time it happened I felt a coolness on my nipples, like a draft, so I checked them out and there was a tiny drop of liquid there. I’ve pretty much only had a drop or two here and there (no actually streaming happening, but I have heard of people with that experience). A drop is kind of neat… streaming would be very inconvenient & possibly embarrassing! Yesterday I borrowed a book from the library that looked modern enough (& short) to learn as much about nursing as possible before baby comes.

I still get very irritated by some of the arguments for nursing, as I just don’t believe them or think they are fact based. Then there are some arguments that are likely true most of the time, but certainly not EVERY time, and I hate how its’ presented in a very black & white way. Yes I agree that most of the time, something synthetic is probably not as good as the real thing, but at the same time the synthetic product will be more consistent in quality than the real thing. Even the book I’m reading now, presents the idea of giving even one bottle of formula as being potential hazardous long term as “we don’t know the effects of formula long term”. I seriously doubt it’ll be hazardous. Maybe I’m just too much of a radical thinker than a conservative thinker. On a side note: I think my original resistance to nursing came a lot from just not wanting to be brainwashed, or conform to this huge pressure as I like to investigate everything myself and make personal, individual decisions. The more pressure something comes with, the more likely I am to go in the other direction (i.e. why Tyler & I resisted first marriage & then babies for so long).

My ingenius new idea!

We went to Calgary yesterday with my car. I want to test out the carseat placement so we put it directly behind the passenger seat. We've already tried putting it in the center of our backseat but it takes up so much space that both front seats have to be pushed way up & it's not very functional for driving or passengering.

Let's just say I felt very cramped the whole way there, we had our dogs too and a few things for the day but no where near the amount of stuff we'll have once baby arrives. Then we ended up spending the night, unplanned as Tyler was too tired to drive home, and we slept on the futon. Well sleeping on my comfortable pillow top mattress can be painful enough right now so a futon made me feel like I had daggers all over my body this morning. On the drive home I had to disable the carseat so that I could put the seat back and stretch out a bit. Something that would basically not be an option once baby is here.

I had been thinking it would be nice to trade in my car for an SUV or van but I am almost done paying for it (January 2010) and was looking forward to being payment free for a while, especially with how our finances are right now. I briefly considered maybe getting a SUV/van instead of a truck for Tyler but if we want to use the Fifth Wheel my parents gave us we need a truck. Suddenly, when we got home it occurred to me that I could sell my car & get a used van/SUV (probably a van as they tend to have better mileage & be less expensive to purchase & insure). Then, it occured to me that if we could buy a van for less than my car is worth we'd have some extra money to put towards buying a truck we'd actually want (as that's been one of the hold ups of purchasing a truck right now). THEN, it occurred to me that we don't really need a truck until spring/summer for camping but we do need a second vehicle. So...if we go ahead & use the money we have now to buy a van that's about a 2000/2001/2002 then Tyler could just use my car as a secondary vehicle until we have the funds to purchase the type of truck we really want. And if we wait until spring/summer for the truck then we won't have to payout my loan on it either.

We have AMA and one of the membership features is being able to use the Gold Book, Black Book & VMR Canada to calculate used vehicle values for free. Each book gives you a low price which is what you'd get if you traded in your vehicle at a dealership, to a high value which is what the dealership would get when they sell it. Private sales go somewhere in between...so I got the following values for my 2005 Saturn Ion II:

VMR Canada: $5375 - 7200

Gold Book: $5475 - 8125

Black Book: $4500 - 6150

Taking the lowest value & the highest value of all three, I get a range of $4500 - $8125. I was pleasantly surprised as I assumed my car would be worth about half that... I figure I could start by asking $8,000 and then maybe have $6,500 as my bottom price (or there abouts). I think I have about $1500 left on my loan so if we do have to pay it off that's about $5000 towards our truck purchase minus what we get a van for. I think we can get a van for $2500 - $5000 range as it doesn't need to be supped up. For features I'm looking for a CD player, A/C & cruise control which seem to be almost standards!

I'm super pumped now as it seems like an ingenius idea and I can't believe we didn't think of this sooner! Maybe it's because the summer is essentially over now so we don't have any hopes of using the truck this year for camping so our eyes are open to other possibilities.

Red Raspberry Leaf Tea

What does Red Raspberry Leaf Do? Red Raspberry leaf does not start labor or promote contractions.It is NOT an emmenagogue or oxytocic herb. What it does is help strengthen the pelvic and uterine muscles so that once labor does start the muscles will be more efficient.

I am all about that...it's suppose to help you have shorter labors. I'm an avid tea drinker so it's not difficult for me to consume at least a cup a day of this stuff (recommended up to 4 cups a day). I add in my honey from Danielle's wedding (shout out!), and enjoy the yumminess :-)

More info from Wikipedia: Vitamin C and vitamin E are present in large amounts as well as Vitamin A and some B Complex. Increased Vitamin A intake in the form of the carotenoids of red raspberry leaf can aid the women’s immune system as well as facilitate healthy skin and bone development for the baby. Vitamin E serves to promote better circulation in the mother who is dramatically increasing her blood volume during pregnancy. The Red raspberry leaf also contains many essential minerals such as phosphorus, potassium, and an easily assimilated form of calcium. An increased availability of calcium is necessary in controlling nerve response to pain during childbirth and in aiding bone development in the fetus. It also contains fragrine, an alkaloid which help tone the muscles of the pelvic region including the uterus. This allows the uterus to contract more powerfully and effectively during labor. Also, many midwives report that it aids in focusing the pre-labor contractions that help a woman’s uterus to prepare for delivery. The high vitamin and mineral content help replace those lost via blood loss during delivery. Also, the alkaloids will continue toning the uterus as it returns to its usual size. In some women, the high mineral content may even help their milk to come in. Some people believe it is not recommended for breast feeding and use of the leaf should conclude with in 6 weeks of birth. However, according to Every Woman's Herbal, raspberry leaf tea will enrich the mother's milk, especially during periods when the baby is going through a growth spurt. Continuing to consume raspberry leaf after the baby is 6 weeks old is not dangerous to the mother or the infant and may be beneficial.

Baby Full!

I woke up Tuesday morning feeling "baby full". I'm not sure if my baby boy had a sudden growth spurt or something but pants I wore just on Monday feel tighter and it's more uncomfortable to sit forward or even straight up. I can't really explain it but I just feel like he's taking up more room in there!

My mom & sister made a last minute trip to come visit. :-D My sis found out she had Tuesday thru Friday off this week and wanted to come down. My parents didn't want her to risk the trip with her car (second hand, unreliable) so my mom managed to get a couple days off & come with her. Last night we went to Babies R Us and my sister decided to buy the Fischer Price Vibrating Bouncing chair I wanted (it has polar bears & penguins) which is awesome. My mom decided to buy us a Diaper Genie II Elite, some refills, a pack of newborn diapers (as they are only good to 10lbs & we don't know how big baby will be), a refill pack of wipes, 3 pack of receiving blankets, a soother string, a wrist rattle, a baby bottle, teether rails for the crib...it all came to about $200+ with my sister's chair so we didn't make out too bad!

It was fun. I assembled the bouncer when we got home, which is SO not my job usually, so it took a while but I got it :-)

Hiccups, Sleeping Positions, Priorities, Hospitals

Hiccups

I have read quite a bit, in my baby books, about baby hiccups. I had just finished telling Tyler, about a week and a half ago, that I hadn't felt anything like that when I felt it. It feels sort of like a rhythmic twitch every other second and has lasted for maybe a minute or two. If I hadn't read about it I might not have paid too much attention to it and just thought it was regular baby movement.

Sleeping Positions

It didn't take long after becoming pregnant before I was informed that I had to sleep on my side, not my back or stomach. Then, when I took the Early Prenatal class offered by our health unit, they went on to say that you need to sleep on your left side only. The theory was that there is an artery or organ on your right side & in your back that can be squished by the wait of baby/uterus and cause damage to mom &/or baby. As an avid side to stomach sleeper this was pretty difficult to thing to aim for and I got to the point where I just didn't care. A masseuse I knew told me that all you have to do to take the pressure off the back artery is to put a facecloth there. That little bit of cloth makes all the difference? Then I found some material online or in a book (can't remember) which said the sleep thing was a theory at best and that it had never been proven. A new theory was that if indeed blood flow was severed by the weight of baby/uterus, that mom would awake and change positions as she would sense a difference. That made a lot of sense to me as in reality I'd never heard of a pregnant women dying from blood loss while sleeping.

A couple months ago I asked Dr.Phillpot if I would hurt my baby if I ended up sleeping on my stomach. She said not at all, that the uterus is a really good protective barrier for baby. In fact, she said that the OB/GYN society people had released new information saying they no longer believed that it mattered how you slept. So sleep however you are comfortable ladies and enjoy it while you can!

Priorities

I have two schools of thought that seemingly contradict each other, but can work together I think. The first is that your children should be your number 1 priority & my second is that you have to take care of yourself first because "you can't pour water from an empty pitcher." I think I believe the second statement as long as it's not determental to your kids. For example, I think to be a successful parent you need to be happy in your relationships, spirtually fulfilled, physically nourished, etc. However, when it comes to the priorities in your life, like whether you should make & distribute Birthday/Christmas wish lists at 30, or go play a hockey game two days after your baby is born, I think you need to choose your kids.

Perhaps there is just a balance that needs to be maintained between taking personal time for you & your partner as well as building a life that fully includes your kids. It's probably not healthy to make your kids the "center of your life"...as they are one element of it (but a big element!). Example: Jennifer Persson's mom if you're from Grimshaw

Hospital

I have never really been in a hospital, at least for anything much related to me. Both my brother & sister have had physical injuries that caused them to spend a night or two there but I never have. I did have my miscarriage last December but I was never checked into the hospital. I've also spent a bit of time in hospitals visiting sick relatives (my Great Grandma when she had cancer, my Grandpa when he loads of problems for a few years).

The reason I bring this up, is that its really hard for me to visualize my birthing experience because I don't really know what to expect in regard to staying in the hospital. We are doing the "Better Beginnings" hospital orientation on Aug 20th, which will help, but won't fully fill in the gaps of my knowledge. I'm sure there will be all sorts of little details that will remain foreign to me unless the situation comes up...it kind of scares me!

Prenatal Appointment

Had my 34 weeks check up yesterday with Dr. Hawley (sp?). SHE is a new doctor in the area & part of my clinic also.

Weigh In - I am officially 6.5 lbs heavier than my original starting weight before being pregnant. Not bad I guess.

Measuring - My belly is measuring between 34 & 35 cm, which according to Dr.Hawley is right on track. I feel like my belly should protrude more but maybe I am just tall enough & wide enough for baby to have room.

Heart Rate - When she first put the monitor on baby's heart rate was at about 190, which is quite high. She waited a few seconds and it came back down to 140. She said it's a good sign that it spikes and returns to normal (normal being between 120 - 160) because it shows that he is responding to stimuli but that his resting heart rate is still good.

Blood Pressure - 130/70, I have always been good at this test LOL but I usually test a little more to 120/80.

Next Time: In two weeks time I am back with Dr.Moffat who just so happens to be a guy & just so happens to coincide with having to do the vagina/anal strep b test. BOO. I have never had a male doctor down there so yeah. I wasn't worried about delivering with a male doctor cuz I figure when you're in that stage you just want baby out, but I'm not all about doing that test in the office...oh well, that is life.

My Questions

Do we need to pre-arrange the circumcision? No, we can just come in when baby is about 1 week and make the arrangments then.

Is there a September schedule for the doctors so I know who to contact? Not really, and it can change very easily even if there was one. So I just have to go to the hospital when I am in labor and they'll contact the right doctor.

When do I need to make decisions about birth control methods post baby? Unless I was planning on getting a UTI (i think they're called) put in right after labor, then it can wait until the 6 week check up mark.

That's all there was...

Fun with props & Picnik.com

Here's a small preview of what I did last night...

My Crazy Mother

For those of you who know about my shopping addiction, I have a story to show that I come by it honestly.

My mom went to Grande Prairie a few weeks ago and went shopping at “the Children’s Place” I think it’s called. I told her to restrain herself but she bought a bunch of 0-3 months and a little 3-6 months clothes. She didn’t tell me what they looked like cuz she wanted them to be a surprise.

So last night she calls me to tell me that they went to Grande Prairie again and she went back to the same store. I asked if she restrained better this time and she said no. In fact, when she got home she realized she had bought some of the same clothes. And not only that, but in the same sizes LOL I said at least it’s a sign that you really liked them ha ha

What?!

In my weekly email newsletter from Babycenter, there was this little tidbit:

A Russian woman holds the record for having the most children. Between 1725 and 1765, she was pregnant 27 times and had 69 children.

All I can say is wow.

Lemon Cheesecake Pie Squares (no oven required)

Hey Folks, I had a craving for some graham cracker crusted dessert so I went in search of a recipe. A few different recipes appealed to me for different reasons so I kind of created my own recipe by mix & matching the layers I liked. Here's the final result (very yummy) if you'd like to try it yourselves...This isn't the best picture, but it's what's left of the sample I made Tyler & I as we are taking the dessert out to the in-laws (I can't serve a dessert without tasting it to make sure it's good!). I also listed the amount of time each layer takes to prepare to give you a ball park of how long the whole process is...& included cheat steps to save you time if wanted (I am all about the Rachael Ray inspired cheat steps - no heroes in my kitchen).

Crust (5 Minutes):
1 ½ Cups of Graham Crumbs
¼ Cup White Sugar
6 Tbsp Butter, melted

*Cheat Step: Buy pre-made graham pie crust

Cheesecake Layer (10 - 15 Minutes):
1 Pkg (250g) Cream Cheese, leave out of fridge for a while before making it to pre-soften
2 ½ Cups Milk
1 Pkg (sm) Vanilla Instant Pudding
½ Small Container of Cool Whip

*Cheat Step: Buy pre-made pudding...that's all I have for this layer. But it's worth the investment of time!

Lemon Layer (10 - 15 Minutes):
1 Pkg Lemon Pie Filling Mix
-As directions indicate you may need 2 yolks & water.
Substitute: Canned pie filling or pudding mix of any flavor you want
*Cheat Step: Using the pre-made canned pie filling or pre-made pudding

Whip Cream Topping (10 - 15 Minutes):
1 Medium Carton (500mL) Whipping Cream
¼ - ½ Cup White Sugar (to taste)
4 Drops Red Food Coloring (optional but it looks pretty)

*Cheat Step: Use Cool Whip or Canned Whip Cream


1. Combine all crust ingredients.
2. Press into a 9 x 13 glass dish (for show).
3. Put into fridge.
4. Beat cream cheese with ½ cup of milk to make creamy & smooth.
5. In a separate bowl, make vanilla pudding with only 2 cups of milk. Beat for 2 minutes, or as directed on pudding box.
6. Combine cream cheese mixture and vanilla pudding, beat until lump free.
7. Add cool whip in & beat until lump free.
8. Remove dish from fridge and pour in the cheesecake mixture as next layer.
9. Put in fridge.
10. Make lemon pie filling as directed, let cool a bit.
11. Remove dish from fridge and pour on lemon layer.
12. Put into fridge.
13. Beat whipping cream & food coloring on medium to high speed until it’s slightly stiff.
14. Add in sugar.
15. Continue beating until peaks form.
16. Remove dish from fridge and pour on whip cream layer.
17. Cover with saran wrap & keep refrigerated until served.

33 Weeks...Ahhh!

I cannot believe that I am 33 weeks pregnant today. That means baby could come anytime between the next 5 - 9 weeks. That totally just blows my mind.

It's not that I'm not excited to see our baby but for the most part, I am enjoying being pregnant and what that brings. I have the baby all to myself and no diapers to clean up or cries to hear. There's a certain amount of excuses you can use when you're pregnant related to your mood & tiredness that you just don't get again. Not to mention that I still feel like I have some research to do on the whole birth thing and what comes after (like breastfeeding, etc). I recently borrowed "Hypnobirthing" from the public library as Kyla suggested it as a good book and I am trying to be at least a little bit frugal and get it from the library instead of buying it. I'm only about a chapter in but it's interesting so far. The main premise, if you haven't heard about it, is that birth is a natural thing for our bodies to go through and that the fear of pain is what actually causes the pain. It continues that, if you can get to a place of birthing acceptance and self-hypnosis then you should only really feel pressue and not pain and finish the experience energized instead of exhausted.

I'm still on the part where I'm skeptical, but I REALLY like the sounds of all that LOL I truly do believe in the power of mind over matter as I've used it many times over the last few years...and if you believe in it then you either believe in it whole heartedly or not at all (there's no inbetween). AHEM - Kim who believes in mind over matter except for certain 'illnesses' that plague her and are different. That makes sense how? Kyla had a really positive birth experience and I've read a few testimonials that jive with it too. It really can't hurt to try it.

There is a center in Calgary where you can do a two day course with a instructor and that costs about $400 and includes a "text, 2 cds" and coaching for Tyler & I. I can still get in to her Aug 22/23 sessions so I guess that's something I need to think about...if I am doing this 100% then it would most likely be worth the investment, but it's not worth it if its just a whim. Something else to think about & discuss with Tyler.

Baby Room Update

Megan came back on Thursday afternoon and finished the mural work. We put all the furniture back in & took some pics. Tyler & I still had some other artwork and decals to hang so I put off posting other pics until those were mostly done. I had one set of decals that I wanted to make into a picture (in a frame) and I think it turned out really cute. I was sort of working with scraps for the background colors so it came out pretty good especially considering that! Though it's kind of weird to do this: we are going to hang it under the window.

I painted in this chimp & am very proud of myself for that, ha ha. Tyler put up the zebra border, and June, my master seamstress who is going to make a slipcover for the glider, is camping for a few weeks so I'm not sure when that is happening. Oh, and the curtains are from our bedding set.

Tyler hung the net basket hammock for our abundance of stuffed animals and I think it looks especially cute with the tree now. To the right of that is a white picture frame that has 2 ultrasound pics in it & will have baby's foot and hand prints once he arrives. Oh & I found some bins to put into the change table/dresser that coordinate and were 50% off woot. The middle one says "baby" on it repeatedly and the other two have polka dots.

We hung the "matching" artwork from the bedding set in the corner as two of them looked best on brown & one looked best on blue. It doesn't look like it but there is still lots of room over in that corner for storage of other things. The closet also finally has my scrapbooking stuff out of it (though it's just literally thrown into the spare room right now) so it has TONS of room left in it too - I'd say at least 60-70% is empty. We put the decal stickers on the doors: the closet has animal numbers & the door has animal alphabet. It kind of looks busy in this picture, but rest assured that it looks cute in person. The metal/glass shelf you're looking at still has lots of room on it as well. Only one of the baskets has stuff in it & I haven't done the 'final' placing of the shelf stuff.

The cube shelf still has lots of empty space on it too, which I'm happy about. On top I have an empty picture frame to fill, a family tree that we got for our wedding that I thought looked good in baby's room, and a lava lamp! Above is a footprints beach picture that is holographic - meaning it changes as you shift how you look at it.

So the room is as done as I'd like it to be until baby comes & I have a baby shower. I know I'll get other things to go in it (such as diapers, wipes, more blankets, possibly some toys, a baby, etc) so I'm glad there is still room in it to grow.

One last pic...here is the inside of the crib. It has three of my favorite stuffed animals in it: Cheeky Charlie the puppet from Dallas Aquarium, a lion & a hippo. Of course they might not stay in there as it could interfer with baby's breathing, but for now, it's their home!