Backwoods Wife

A Valentine's Day Gift

I've been rather busy this week.  In a very good way.  We have a brand new little daughter to snuggle!  Here she is, our sweet Emma!

 

Belly picture!

 

Eight days to go until baby's due date!

 

Acupuncture!

Yesterday I had an acupuncture session (and a nap once the needles were in!).  While the effect wasn't immediate, it definitely worked.  Last night I was able to roll over multiple times in my sleep without difficulty OR pain.  I was able to sit up in bed this morning without my back seizing up, and didn't need to hold onto something to pull myself up from sitting.  I walked down the stairs without having to hold onto the railing for support.  My back hasn't hurt, grabbed, seized, pinched, or clicked since I woke up.  I had forgotten what this feels like!  Hooray!  

Quick update

Still no baby! There are no plans to induce any time soon. Maybe after Thursday, we're not sure. Baby is happy and healthy so they don't want to rush him or her which is fine with us.

We are really missing the kids and home but are so thankful that Mom and Dad were able to look after them for us. I think we'd all be climbing the walls right now. It is way too cold up here!

Hopefully we will have baby in arms soon and when we do, I'll be back here to let you know.

Internet access is almost non-existent right now as there is a constant stream of teenagers using the computer. This is the first time I've been online since Friday sometime.

Change of plans

I went in for my regular prenatal check-up with the midwives on Thursday afternoon and the midwife picked up that baby's position had likely changed. She had one of the doctors do a quick ultrasound. Sure enough, it confirmed her suspicions - the baby had turned breech.This meant that I was no longer a candidate to stay in my community. I had to leave either that night on a medivac flight or the next morning on the scheduled flight if there was room. As I wasn't in labour, I requested the morning flight so I could pack and get the kids ready to go to my parents'.

I left at 6:30 am on the plane and spent most of the day at the hospital. I had an appointment with a local midwife, a locum obstetrician, followed by an attempted version (trying to turn the baby from the outside - it didn't work), and then another ultrasound to make sure that the baby was still in the position they thought it was.

If I have the baby before Tuesday I will likely have a breech VBAC (unless baby turns back on its own) but if the baby comes after Tuesday I may not be given a choice but have to have a c-section as the doctor on call for the rest of the week is not as VBAC or breech friendly. I REALLY DON'T WANT TO HAVE ANOTHER C-SECTION. The recovery takes so long comparatively and I have 2 little ones to chase around plus the new baby on the way. There is still a chance the baby could turn back on its own and that would likely allow me to have another VBAC as well.

Please pray that all will work out for the best. My husband left this morning to start driving up here to meet me and should be here sometime this evening (it's about an 8 hour drive). The kids are home with my mom and dad. I know they're in good hands but I sure miss them!! I have extremely limited internet access at the hotel but will let you know once baby arrives!

THANK YOU!!

Maternity clothes

One of the more frustrating things about being pregnant for me is finding clothes that fit. Emily was wondering if I wore maternity clothes or not. Yes and no. :) I found that for the first part of my pregnancies I would wear my regular clothes and would usually switch to maternity pants before I would switch to maternity shirts as my belly would make doing up the waist of my pants very uncomfortable.

In the second trimester I definitely needed both pants and shirts in maternity sizes but found that even size smalls were baggy until I had a definite belly. I had a selection of small and medium sized shirts but found that the mediums would hang off me in the shoulders even though they gave a bit more ease everywhere else.

The challenge as I got bigger was to find a way to keep my belly from sticking out of my shirts. This pregnancy I discovered Diviine ModesTee tanks. They are long and stretchy and hold their shape very well. They are non-maternity so I just ordered a size larger than I normally would to accommodate my belly in the third trimester. They go back to their original non-stretched shape after every wash. (They actually have a sale on right now.)

Pants are another story altogether. It is almost impossible to find maternity pants that fit. They either fit in the belly and are huge in the butt and legs or they are snug in the belly and fit well everywhere else. For each pregnancy I've had one "good" pair of black maternity pants and then made do with ones that don't fit as nicely. I've had some luck at Thyme Maternity (a Canadian company but you can find items on eBay), Liz Lange Maternity (from Target originally, but again, bought on eBay), and one very expensive pair of maternity jeans bought new on eBay (Seven For All Mankind I think...they have lasted me through 3 pregnancies so far).

The last month or so I tend to spend a lot of time in loose fitting non-maternity yoga or fitness pants and, if it's winter, flannel p.j. pants around the house. Basically anything that can sit under my belly. :)

I hope that helps Emily! If you have any more questions let me know. :)

On a side note, if you want really comfy maternity and non-maternity underwear and bras check out Bravado! Designs. They also make really great nursing bras.

Belly photos!

Not only is my belly big enough to hide my feet, it can hide a toddler too!



Hendrik finds taking pictures of the baby in Mommy's tummy very entertaining.

2 more weeks - give or take 2 weeks...

Two more weeks to go until the baby's due date. Before I became pregnant with our first baby I thought that obstetrics was a fairly precise science. Then you find out that your due date is accurate to plus or minus two weeks. Hmmn. Not so much.
We are quite certain of our due date though and I am really hoping that the baby is not going for the "plus two weeks" side of things. :)

I had an appointment with my midwife today and she feels that all is going really well. She doesn't think the baby's birth will be imminent but likely closer to the due date. So far the trend for me consists of the babies arriving 1 day before or 1 day after their due date. The midwife gave me some more homeopathics to take over the next couple of weeks to help prepare my body for the birth. I am relatively comfortable for being so large, aside from leg cramps at night and the awkwardness of moving around, and am trying to take advantage of that by doing some chores around the house that I may or may not get to right away after the baby arrives.

Speaking of chores, I better get to work. There are dishes calling my name, Christmas decorations to pack away (still! - they've been sitting in a pile for weeks now...), a bunny cage to clean and laundry to fold and put away. No excuse for boredom today! :p

Uber Pregnant

So big. So tired. So ready for this baby to be born.

I am really looking forward to carrying this baby around on the outside of me instead of the inside. It will be nice to roll over in bed without it taking at least 3 separate motions. I won't be missing the acid reflux either. I realize the tiredness is likely to continue for quite sometime but it will be a different kind of tired. Weird how being a different version of tired can be refreshing.

Don't get me wrong, I love babies. I love the end result of being pregnant. However, I am not one of those women who loves the state of pregnancy. I quite enjoying being able to move about freely and lift heavy things and pick things up off the floor without the danger of not being able to make it up on my own afterward.

Just under 4 weeks until baby is due and I can't wait! There is still a lot to be done before he or she arrives but I won't be complaining if baby's arrival interupts my housecleaning plans. :)

Getting ready for baby

I am starting to make some progress on the baby preparation front. I washed and dried a bunch of neutral coloured/themed baby clothes and blankets yesterday at my mom and dad's. Today I will fold them and store them in large Ziploc bags so they are ready to go if we have to go to Yellowknife to have the baby. If not, at least I know they are freshly washed and handy here at home.

I located the baby bed amidst the piles of boxes upstairs and found the infant car seat accessories, like head/hip supporters. I will be shopping around for a new car seat today as well. We've decided to buy a bigger one that Hendrik will use and that can convert into a booster seat for when he's older. Riley will move into his car seat, which we will change back to rear facing for now, and the new baby will take over the one Riley has been using. Hopefully the new car seat will be here in a week or so.

Next, we'll have to get the van sorted out and cleaned out a bit. It's been doubling as a wood hauling truck lately (it's an Astro van) so we can put the benches back in it. Our little Geo is not going to be big enough for 3 car seats and 2 adults.

I should pick up some newborn diapers for now as well. We have cloth diapers for all the kids but until we get our hot water heater functioning we're using disposables.