Sorry I didn't write last week. I've been trying to keep up on writing at least once a week but last week was soooo hectic with all the running around. On Saturday we went over to Al and Deb's house (our last outing) and by then I was so exhausted I felt as if I was on some strong sleeping pills and actually fell asleep in the chair! On Sunday, we finally stayed home and did nothing, it was wonderful :) Actually, I had fun this Christmas and everywhere we went was a continuous stream of questions from more distant family and the constant reminder that this time next year Dan and I will have an 8 month old... Crazy.
Now I am 23 weeks along and feeling the baby kicking like crazy. He's so active and almost never stops moving, seriously. I never went through this with Tyler, actually, I made two extra visits to the doctor, while pregnant with Tyler, because I *didn't* feel him moving enough and thought something might be wrong. Not the case here... It's gotten so bad that all of my dreams are about people kicking or punching me in the stomach!! On another note, the baby email says that at this point he can hear all the same sounds I do, just more muffled, he now weighs about 1 pound and would be about 11 inches long, the size of a large mango.
As for my health, I've been feeling awesome, most of my ability to eat a variety of foods has returned (except for spaghetti) and my super smelling ability has calmed down somewhat. My blood pressure has remained unusually normal (something I don't even really see when I'm not pregnant) and long walks... generally the after xmas sales at the mall... cause the muscles in my stomach to tense up and really hurt.
I am almost always hungry and I feel like a bottomless pit, so if I'm not constantly eating and drinking water I feel very sick or these HUGE unbearable hunger pangs until I do eat. Now, I am bigger in the stomach area than I ever was with Tyler, all of my clothing is maternity clothing. If you remember from previous posts, when I was pregnant with Tyler I had only 1 pair of pants and 1 shirt that I wore once in my 8th month. This time though, at the beginning of my pregnancy, I thought I'd be able to get by with only a couple pairs of maternity pants but now even my shirts don't fit me and ride up to my upper stomach. I feel like I'm lugging a bowling ball around and turning from one side to the other in bed is tough too. Don't really want to know what it will be like in a few weeks!! :)
I have my next doctor appt on Monday, so I will post anything new we hear while we are there. I feel very lucky that Dan goes to every single doctor appointment with me, something that most women don't get from their partner.
Dan and I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and time off work and that 2010 will be even greater for you all, we know it will be for us!
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
21 weeks or 5 months and 1 week!!
21 weeks already, my how the time is flying! I was talking to my sister-in-law, Tress the other day and said 21 weeks to which she replied "don't say it like that? Tell me how many months!!" Then I remembered how much I hate it when people do that to me too, like a mother saying their 1 year and 3 month old child is 15 months!! I mean come on people, don't make me figure out your precious child's age, I don't care enough and I'll just make up my own number!! Besides, really... once they are over a year, shouldn't you just spare us all and say "my kid is 1 yr old." Heck if you really want to be specific, you can say "my kid is 1 yr and 3 months old." Anyway, so now I find myself doing the same thing... However, in my defense, all the baby emails, websites, doctors, nurses, hospital staff and anyone else you deal with refer to it as 21 weeks and get confused if you say 5 months and one week. So, I did get used to saying how far along I was in weeks and actually, I'm the one left figuring out how far along I am in months!
Anyway... 21 weeks, 5 months 1 week, either way, the baby is still developing. The weekly email I get says the baby is now the size of a carrot and eyebrows and eyelids are now present. Also, both Dan and I can feel the baby moving around, which usually happens early evenings and at bed time. Overall, I feel great, my blood pressure has stayed down and not much sickness (other than a couple colds). I am always hungry even though I feel like I eat all day and I can't get enough sour candy and food. None of my clothing, even the maternity stuff, fits. It's too tight, too big, too short, or too loose, getting dressed is a huge chore! That and the fact that I have a heck of a time turning over in bed because my stomach feels so heavy are really my only two complaints. Other than that though, everything is wonderful :)
Dan and I have decided on the name Connor Lucien Rozon and have started collecting some baby things like a crib and a bathtub and also registered at babiesrus.ca which actually made me have an emotional pregnant woman breakdown. I was happily browsing through babies 'r' us online inventory and picking out things, when I noticed that there were some things on my registry that I didn't pick out. So, I deleted them and tried again... same thing! What I found out, that babies 'r' us, in their desire to be "helpful" to the shopping mom, substitutes a "similar" product if the one you chose is out of stock. However, their substitutions are horrible! For example, I picked out some blue baby socks that were out of stock and they substituted it with pink! I mean sheesh, at least stick to the general gender color! And a pair of lion slippers was substituted with an elephant stuffed animal!?? But what really did me in, was trying to register for a bassinet. I selected a brown "jungle spots" one and it won't let you just pick the bassinet, it puts the entire bedroom set in it! So, instead of the $100 bassinet, it has me registered with the near $500 set! I don't want the bedding, crib, highchair, stroller and playpen! So, by this point I'm nearing my breaking point, I delete the set and after trying to select *just* the bassinet, give up and decide that I'll just select a different one. I go to their bassinet section to find that they have 11 choices of bassinets, 1 blue one, 1 jungle spots one and 9 PINK ones!!!!!! I could no longer take it and burst out sobbing then went and took a nap, figured I'd try again later.
I explained to Dan that the first, I'd say, two years of shopping for a baby boy is really hard. Apparently, all the retailers think that everyone either only has baby girls or that only those with baby girls do any shopping. So, for two years you are inundated with pink, pink, pink and an occasional peach-pink. I've been in stores where, if you glance over the racks of the entire baby section the main color is pink and I found the *one* *single* rack of "blue" clothing tucked in a back corner by the bathrooms. ARGH! Anyway... after about two or three years, the boy selection gets really cute and balances out with the girl's sections. But, seriously, if I had the money, I'd open up a boy's only baby clothing store, I'm sure there would be many appreciative baby boy mothers out there!
Anyway... 21 weeks, 5 months 1 week, either way, the baby is still developing. The weekly email I get says the baby is now the size of a carrot and eyebrows and eyelids are now present. Also, both Dan and I can feel the baby moving around, which usually happens early evenings and at bed time. Overall, I feel great, my blood pressure has stayed down and not much sickness (other than a couple colds). I am always hungry even though I feel like I eat all day and I can't get enough sour candy and food. None of my clothing, even the maternity stuff, fits. It's too tight, too big, too short, or too loose, getting dressed is a huge chore! That and the fact that I have a heck of a time turning over in bed because my stomach feels so heavy are really my only two complaints. Other than that though, everything is wonderful :)
Dan and I have decided on the name Connor Lucien Rozon and have started collecting some baby things like a crib and a bathtub and also registered at babiesrus.ca which actually made me have an emotional pregnant woman breakdown. I was happily browsing through babies 'r' us online inventory and picking out things, when I noticed that there were some things on my registry that I didn't pick out. So, I deleted them and tried again... same thing! What I found out, that babies 'r' us, in their desire to be "helpful" to the shopping mom, substitutes a "similar" product if the one you chose is out of stock. However, their substitutions are horrible! For example, I picked out some blue baby socks that were out of stock and they substituted it with pink! I mean sheesh, at least stick to the general gender color! And a pair of lion slippers was substituted with an elephant stuffed animal!?? But what really did me in, was trying to register for a bassinet. I selected a brown "jungle spots" one and it won't let you just pick the bassinet, it puts the entire bedroom set in it! So, instead of the $100 bassinet, it has me registered with the near $500 set! I don't want the bedding, crib, highchair, stroller and playpen! So, by this point I'm nearing my breaking point, I delete the set and after trying to select *just* the bassinet, give up and decide that I'll just select a different one. I go to their bassinet section to find that they have 11 choices of bassinets, 1 blue one, 1 jungle spots one and 9 PINK ones!!!!!! I could no longer take it and burst out sobbing then went and took a nap, figured I'd try again later.
I explained to Dan that the first, I'd say, two years of shopping for a baby boy is really hard. Apparently, all the retailers think that everyone either only has baby girls or that only those with baby girls do any shopping. So, for two years you are inundated with pink, pink, pink and an occasional peach-pink. I've been in stores where, if you glance over the racks of the entire baby section the main color is pink and I found the *one* *single* rack of "blue" clothing tucked in a back corner by the bathrooms. ARGH! Anyway... after about two or three years, the boy selection gets really cute and balances out with the girl's sections. But, seriously, if I had the money, I'd open up a boy's only baby clothing store, I'm sure there would be many appreciative baby boy mothers out there!
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Half way there!
So, this week I'm 20 weeks along, it's crazy to me how fast the time is flying by. I have only been sick a couple of times and I feel really good, I forget I'm pregnant a lot because I don't *feel* pregnant.
A lot has happened this last week. Dan and I found a really, really nice apt in the Bayshore area, signed the lease, and I am super excited to move, mid Jan. There is everything from indoor and outdoor pools, heated indoor parking, parks, it's very close to an elementary school (right on the other side of the park), in suite storage and even guest suites in the basement so when my mom and dad come to visit this summer, they won't have to stay in a motel.
On Thurs last week I had an ultrasound. It was a very long appointment, running over an hour. The girl doing the ultrasound was obviously in training and had her "mentor" over her shoulder, an older guy, pointing out this and that to her. At the end of the appointment, we asked what the sex of the baby was, to which the trainee looked at the man and said "can you check I can never tell." So, he sat down and started looking around on the computer monitor. He says, repeating what I said earlier, "you have a boy already?" To which I reply "Yes" again. "Oh that's good, looks like a girl this time..." I get all excited on the inside, then he adds "I think..." He is still poking the device all around my stomach and rather roughly! "Yep, I believe it's a girl." I try not to get too excited, these things can be inaccurate... "Probably," he adds again, grr. Still I'm biting my tongue and waiting, not saying a word either way. Another minute. "Oh wait no no... there's the penis and testicles" he says pointing them out to Dan, "yep definitely a boy. See how BIG it is??" Dan laughs and I smile not exactly what I wanted, but there's always next time, "Besides," I tell Dan in the car, "Boys are so easy to raise." We came away with one picture (they are very stingy with the U/S pics up here in Canada)
He actually printed us two but the tech didn't give us the other one and we didn't realize it until we left. So, I've included the one we got. In the picture you can see the long spine and the baby's head. And, it looks like I'm having a baby skeleton! :) You can click on the picture to see it bigger.
Anyway, when I get home I start making phone calls, Tyler is very happy because now the room will be "boyish and not all ponies and princesses." My sister's response was "yay, now we can stay even!!" (she has two boys). Dan, Tyler and I all decided on a baby room theme to decorate the room once we move as well. We are going to do a dinosaur themed room and Dan is going to paint big dinosaurs on the walls. This is another reason I'm looking forward to moving, so we can get on with setting up the baby's room.
So, other than that, had another doctors appt yesterday, he said everything seemed fine with the baby. My blood pressure was a little high but he didn't seem concerned at this point. I was really nervous that I'd have to see nurse hulk again, especially since I got a cold again last week and have a mild cough, however it was a different nurse and she was much nicer. I even accidentally coughed right in front of her and she didn't even blink! PHEW!! I have been eating non stop and I haven't gained a single pound, I'm still the same weight as I was pre-pregnancy, but the baby is still growing. It was a longer doctor appointment because we had a lot of paperwork and a birth plan to go over with him this time, but other than that, it was a normal visit. Also, I changed the blog around a bit to be a bit more blue/gray than the previous pink/gray as I felt it was more appropriate :)
A lot has happened this last week. Dan and I found a really, really nice apt in the Bayshore area, signed the lease, and I am super excited to move, mid Jan. There is everything from indoor and outdoor pools, heated indoor parking, parks, it's very close to an elementary school (right on the other side of the park), in suite storage and even guest suites in the basement so when my mom and dad come to visit this summer, they won't have to stay in a motel.
On Thurs last week I had an ultrasound. It was a very long appointment, running over an hour. The girl doing the ultrasound was obviously in training and had her "mentor" over her shoulder, an older guy, pointing out this and that to her. At the end of the appointment, we asked what the sex of the baby was, to which the trainee looked at the man and said "can you check I can never tell." So, he sat down and started looking around on the computer monitor. He says, repeating what I said earlier, "you have a boy already?" To which I reply "Yes" again. "Oh that's good, looks like a girl this time..." I get all excited on the inside, then he adds "I think..." He is still poking the device all around my stomach and rather roughly! "Yep, I believe it's a girl." I try not to get too excited, these things can be inaccurate... "Probably," he adds again, grr. Still I'm biting my tongue and waiting, not saying a word either way. Another minute. "Oh wait no no... there's the penis and testicles" he says pointing them out to Dan, "yep definitely a boy. See how BIG it is??" Dan laughs and I smile not exactly what I wanted, but there's always next time, "Besides," I tell Dan in the car, "Boys are so easy to raise." We came away with one picture (they are very stingy with the U/S pics up here in Canada)
He actually printed us two but the tech didn't give us the other one and we didn't realize it until we left. So, I've included the one we got. In the picture you can see the long spine and the baby's head. And, it looks like I'm having a baby skeleton! :) You can click on the picture to see it bigger.Anyway, when I get home I start making phone calls, Tyler is very happy because now the room will be "boyish and not all ponies and princesses." My sister's response was "yay, now we can stay even!!" (she has two boys). Dan, Tyler and I all decided on a baby room theme to decorate the room once we move as well. We are going to do a dinosaur themed room and Dan is going to paint big dinosaurs on the walls. This is another reason I'm looking forward to moving, so we can get on with setting up the baby's room.
So, other than that, had another doctors appt yesterday, he said everything seemed fine with the baby. My blood pressure was a little high but he didn't seem concerned at this point. I was really nervous that I'd have to see nurse hulk again, especially since I got a cold again last week and have a mild cough, however it was a different nurse and she was much nicer. I even accidentally coughed right in front of her and she didn't even blink! PHEW!! I have been eating non stop and I haven't gained a single pound, I'm still the same weight as I was pre-pregnancy, but the baby is still growing. It was a longer doctor appointment because we had a lot of paperwork and a birth plan to go over with him this time, but other than that, it was a normal visit. Also, I changed the blog around a bit to be a bit more blue/gray than the previous pink/gray as I felt it was more appropriate :)
Monday, November 30, 2009
Upcoming Ultrasound
So, Tuesday, Dec 1st, is Dan's birthday, he can't take it off work. He took of Wednesday though, which is an even more important day for us, the day I get my ultrasound. Had he had Tues off, he may not have been able to go with me for this!
During the ultrasound, we plan on finding out what the sex of the baby is. I hate waiting until delivery to find out. I'm not much in to the "unisex" baby colors of pastel green and yellow. I want to decorate the room in our new place as well (although I think we are going with a unisex baby theme, teddy bears) Also, I find out that you bond much better with your baby if you know what it will be before hand, then you can refer to my son or my daughter and even call them by their soon to be name. I find it much more personal than referring to the baby as "it" for 9 months!
As many of you know, I'm convinced I'm having a boy, that way, when I find out it's a boy, I'll be happy. Of course, if I find out otherwise then it will be a surprise, but at least I won't be in for this huge "letdown" so many experience when they get their hopes set on one sex or the other.
Well, needless to say, the closer the ultrasound gets to the date the more nervous I am. I am nervous that they won't be able to see the sex of the baby and if they do, what it will be! I am nervous that I will cry when they tell me, the way I did when I found out Tyler was going to be a boy. Which is weird, because I don't mind if it's a boy, trust me, Dan will be a great dad to a little boy, he loves sports, wrestling and "boy" type activities that I couldn't or wouldn't do with a son. Anyway, we'll post or call people if/when we find out.
The conclusion I've come to is, even though people say they dont care what the baby is, they just want it to be healthy, I believe that it's a lie, secretly deep down, they and their family want a certain sex. But, by verbally saying you don't care, it is possible to convince yourself and your family that it really doesn't matter! :)
During the ultrasound, we plan on finding out what the sex of the baby is. I hate waiting until delivery to find out. I'm not much in to the "unisex" baby colors of pastel green and yellow. I want to decorate the room in our new place as well (although I think we are going with a unisex baby theme, teddy bears) Also, I find out that you bond much better with your baby if you know what it will be before hand, then you can refer to my son or my daughter and even call them by their soon to be name. I find it much more personal than referring to the baby as "it" for 9 months!
As many of you know, I'm convinced I'm having a boy, that way, when I find out it's a boy, I'll be happy. Of course, if I find out otherwise then it will be a surprise, but at least I won't be in for this huge "letdown" so many experience when they get their hopes set on one sex or the other.
Well, needless to say, the closer the ultrasound gets to the date the more nervous I am. I am nervous that they won't be able to see the sex of the baby and if they do, what it will be! I am nervous that I will cry when they tell me, the way I did when I found out Tyler was going to be a boy. Which is weird, because I don't mind if it's a boy, trust me, Dan will be a great dad to a little boy, he loves sports, wrestling and "boy" type activities that I couldn't or wouldn't do with a son. Anyway, we'll post or call people if/when we find out.
The conclusion I've come to is, even though people say they dont care what the baby is, they just want it to be healthy, I believe that it's a lie, secretly deep down, they and their family want a certain sex. But, by verbally saying you don't care, it is possible to convince yourself and your family that it really doesn't matter! :)
Thursday, November 12, 2009
I am not diseased!
((To start, I know a lot of you read this only in email and if you are, you may not be able to see the lovely cartoon illustration I made to go along with this post, so please, for the full experience view the blog site at babyrozon.blogspot.com. If you can see the illustration, in your email, then please carry on :) The blog space is limited and the cartoon is two frames, but it will show both frames if you just mouse over it!!))
My latest visit to the doctor was on Tuesday. Dan and I arrived, to a virtually empty waiting room and I did my usual pee in the jar test and went in with the nurse to the nurses station. The friendly, gray-haired nurse introduced herself and took my blood pressure, which was still very normal. She wrote a few thing on her clip board while we chatted and then asked me to step on the scale. As I was stepping up, I made the horrible mistake of clearing my throat.
My latest visit to the doctor was on Tuesday. Dan and I arrived, to a virtually empty waiting room and I did my usual pee in the jar test and went in with the nurse to the nurses station. The friendly, gray-haired nurse introduced herself and took my blood pressure, which was still very normal. She wrote a few thing on her clip board while we chatted and then asked me to step on the scale. As I was stepping up, I made the horrible mistake of clearing my throat.
"Oh, sweetie, do you have a cough?" I hear the concerned nurse ask.
"No, no, just a bit of allergies... I had a cold about a month ago, might be a lingering cough... ya know how that is," I laugh, thinking how sweet it is of her to be so concerned as I step up onto the scale.
Next thing I know, the nurse has hulked into some crazy anti swine flu monster and is breathing heavily down my neck.
"Well..." she grumbles, "Everyone with a cough has to wear this!!" She thrusts a surgeons mask into my hand and stands there with her arms crossed waiting for me to put it on. I sigh and meekly take it from her, slipping the thing over my ears and covering my nose with it before she returns to her former self.
Now, if you have ever had to wear one of those things, it's hot as hell and it makes you feel as if you are suffocating, which was only made worse by the fact that my lungs are squished up and I have a hard enough time breathing as it is.
Anyway, Nurse Hulk, weighs me and then marches me back into the waiting room like some freakish alien. "It'll be fine," I think, comforting myself, "No one was even in the waiting room except Dan." Of course, by now, that's all changed and the place is literally packed. I scamper over to Dan, with my head down, watching all the patients (most of them pregnant) shuffle away or make the wide circle around me. I whip off the mask as soon as the nurse disappears around the corner. I'm sure by now all the people in there are sanitizing their hands and holding their breath. I couldn't blame them, I would have done the same thing, I'm sure!
Now, I'm sitting there, waiting to be called into the dr.'s office and all I can think about is how much I have to cough, so I am gulping down water, but my throat is now burning and begging me to cough and clear it and I'm out of water... So, I slip the mask back on and manage the tiniest cough I can... Well, if you know how it is when you have an itch you refuse to scratch... It was like that, the tiny cough only made it worse. I sigh and hack out a big (and I'm sure, very swine flu like) sounding cough.
After what felt like hours, the nurse called me back into the dr.'s office and I began my walk of shame through the waiting room once again. Of course, as soon as I was in the office and the evil nurse had shut the door I took the mask off.
The doctor came in, this was our first meeting, he was very kind, probably late 40's with pierced ears and jeans... the type of doctor that isn't really "doctorly" but more like "hey want to go grab a beer after your kid is born?" type of doctor. I can imagine he was a hippy back in the day. He was cool and answered all my questions then told me to hop up on the table to listen to the heartbeat. I went to the door and called Dan in so he could hear it too.
Dr. McCarthy had me lay back and measured my belly, which he said was 15 (inches? cm? no idea) but he said it was perfect for 16 weeks. We listened to the heartbeat which sounded more like a woosh and was 144 beats a minute. Again, he said that was great and sat me up. He bid us farewell and sent us on our way.
On the way out, I kept the mask stuffed deep in my pocket, my hand gripping it tightly. We walked down the long hall and I prayed Nurse Hulk wouldn't see me on the way out. Thankfully, the waiting room was now filled with a new set of patients and, having already had set up all my future appointments, slipped quickly out the door to the safety of my own car! phew...
Monday, November 9, 2009
Baby Names
As many of you know, picking out a baby name is hard work... After all the kid has to spend their entire life with that name, no matter how horrible it is. (Well I guess there are nicknames, middle names and name changes). Dan and I have been going through a ton of baby naming sites and having a lot of discussions on names. After going through life with a short name that rhymes with just about everything (Shari) and a full name that has never once been pronounced correctly (Sharone) and both names never having been spelled correctly by another person (other than my mother) I am very particular about the type of name we choose. I want a simple name with no fancy spellings (Tylor? Caden?? Zavier? Sharone? Etc...) that everyone can pronounce and isn't really big on the name bullying.
So, here's what we've come up with so far:
We agreed on the girl's name of Chloë. According to babynamesworld.com Chloë is recommended by 76% of the people, occasionally mispronounced, 55% say it's always misspelled, and 81% say they were never bullied because of their name. Bullying includes things like name being purposely mispronounced, and Slowy Chloë. All pretty small "infractions" if you ask me!
As for middle names, we have tossed around Corrine, Rhea and my grandmother's name of Lena or Mary. So here's the list of the complete name:
Chloë Corrine Rozon
Chloë Rhea Rozon
Chloë Lena Rozon
Chloë Mary Rozon
As for boys names, that's a little more work and we have yet to nail a name down, despite my being convinced that we are having a boy. It seems that the "nice" sounding boy names we agree on are either too popular, such as any name ending with an "en" (Kaden and Aiden), not popular enough (such as Xavier and Zander) or endlessly misspelled and mispronounced (again Xavier).
We did agree on one name... sort of... and that's Tyce. We got it from the name of the wonderful choreographer from So You Think You Can Dance. I can't find much info on this name as most say it's short for Tyson (which I definitely wont go for due to Mike Tyson and Tyson Chicken). We got it from the name of the wonderful choreographer from So You Think You Can Dance. However, I'm not too keen on the idea of it as a first name because it seems too close to Tyler and both would have the same shortened nickname. Dan doesn't seem to think this is a problem though, however, I'm much more agreeable to it being a middle name.
Our first choice is Lucian, this is a family name from Dan's side of the family. I think it's very mysterious sounding, quite unique but a bit old fashioned. However, it is a family name and I like giving those preference. It's not a great name for a child, in my opinion, but for an adult I feel it's a very "strong" male name. It's gaining more popularity recently due to it's use as character names in movies. babynameworld.com says that Lucian means light in Latin. 82% of people recommend this name, 60% say it's occasionally misspelled, 48% were never bullied, 90% say they like being named Lucian. Most of the teasing was simply being called Luci or a girl.
I like the name Basil, personally, and Dan "sort of" likes it. He doesn't think it'd make a good hockey player name... haha. But I think Basil Tyce Rozon is very nice sounding. Again, babynameworld says that Basil is a latin name meaning kingly. 80% of people recommend the name Basil, it's only occasionally misspelled, and bullying includes things like being called a Spice or told their name was "lame." Again, not too high on name bullying list.
Another name we are considering River. To me, River is very unique and brings about a sense of peace and tranquility that is often seen from bodies of water. River Rozon flows together smoothly too (no pun intended!!). And yes, it is a unisex name, but as far as I'm concerned, most names ending in a hard consonant sound are masculine. babynameworld says that from the people named River 79% suggest it and 88% like being named River. 88% also say it's never mispronounced or misspelled and 49% say they were never bullied because of their name. Bullying included being called River Dance, Lake, Pond, Flood and "Your name is stupid."
The final name (at least so far) we are considering is Jett. Jett is a black gemstone. To me it's a very masculine name, pretty unique and would most likely always be misspelled as Jet. 79% of people named Jett recommend it, 54% say they were *never* bullied because of their name and bullying included being called an airplane, asking if they could fly someone to a location and called Jet Dry. Of course the drawbacks are that the initials of Jett Rozon are JR and he might be called Junior a lot!!! And yes, we are aware that it's the name of a rock group as well as Joan Jett, but being named after rock is cool anyway. :)
So the list of boy names would be:
Lucian Tyce Rozon
Basil Lucian Rozon
River Lucian Rozon
Jett Lucian Rozon
Tyce Lucian Rozon
With how mean kids in school are, it's virtually impossible to find a name that someone couldn't figure out how to make fun of and at the same time find a name that you both agree on, that doesn't bring up a "bad" person in your mind or a stupid movie or celeb and that isn't overused.
So let us know what you think and if you guys have any suggestions or family names!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Permanent Residence Pickles
Well, after about 2 months of continuous paperwork and collecting everything from birth certificates to addresses of where I lived in the past 10 years, we finally sent out the permanent residence paperwork! Actually, it was still missing a few things, we just included letters that they are on the way. For example, my fingerprints from the US FBI. The Immigration website is not at all helpful as it states in some places that you need to send the application with fingerprints and in others states that it's ok to apply without them as long as you send them in later. Well, being that it's several weeks wait to get the fingerprints back from the FBI, we decided to send them in later, only to find out the day we were sending them in that indeed we were supposed to send them in together! So, we rushed out to get my fingerprints done and mailed to the FBI, then figured we'd send the application in anyway along with a letter explaining where the fingerprints were. So, now it's all about waiting...
As far as the pregnancy goes, I am now almost 14 weeks along and none of my old clothes fit me anymore; my pants are too tight and my shirts are too short. I need more maternity clothing. I currently look like I did when I was six months pregnant with Tyler!! As I think I've mentioned before, I wore regular clothing up until I went into the hospital with my first. I've still had no morning sickness, yay! However, I am having food cravings like crazy! I go through almost a jar of pickles every other day!!! :) Other cravings include: raspberries, chinese food and candy (especially sour candy). It's a weird combination. My memory has totally left me as well, something I read was common in 50% of pregnancies! It has left me having to write down *every* appointment including shopping, visiting people, calling someone as well as dr. appts. It also has me asking Dan the same questions over and over again. I think I asked him 3 or 4 times the other day what day it was, then still couldn't remember, I'm sure it's driving him crazy lol. Well, it's one of the least horrible pregnancy "side effects."
Other than that everything has been going well, I had to get on some antibiotics and they gave me the liquid kind (due to my allergy to pills) but it's this disgusting banana flavor... ugh. Three times a day I have to gag that stuff down! Only good thing about it is that the pharmacy included a syringe, so I can literally squirt it down the back of my throat. Anyway, it's nasty, nasty, nasty stuff and I will be so glad when Friday comes around and I can be done with it! My next Dr. appt is in Nov. though if anything interesting happens between now and then, we'll let you all know :) I hope you are all doing well!!
As far as the pregnancy goes, I am now almost 14 weeks along and none of my old clothes fit me anymore; my pants are too tight and my shirts are too short. I need more maternity clothing. I currently look like I did when I was six months pregnant with Tyler!! As I think I've mentioned before, I wore regular clothing up until I went into the hospital with my first. I've still had no morning sickness, yay! However, I am having food cravings like crazy! I go through almost a jar of pickles every other day!!! :) Other cravings include: raspberries, chinese food and candy (especially sour candy). It's a weird combination. My memory has totally left me as well, something I read was common in 50% of pregnancies! It has left me having to write down *every* appointment including shopping, visiting people, calling someone as well as dr. appts. It also has me asking Dan the same questions over and over again. I think I asked him 3 or 4 times the other day what day it was, then still couldn't remember, I'm sure it's driving him crazy lol. Well, it's one of the least horrible pregnancy "side effects."
Other than that everything has been going well, I had to get on some antibiotics and they gave me the liquid kind (due to my allergy to pills) but it's this disgusting banana flavor... ugh. Three times a day I have to gag that stuff down! Only good thing about it is that the pharmacy included a syringe, so I can literally squirt it down the back of my throat. Anyway, it's nasty, nasty, nasty stuff and I will be so glad when Friday comes around and I can be done with it! My next Dr. appt is in Nov. though if anything interesting happens between now and then, we'll let you all know :) I hope you are all doing well!!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Ultrasound and Due Date
So yesterday was my first doctor visit. Finally! Actually, I didn't much sweat the first visit, I mean once you've done this before you basically know what to do... take a prenatal multi, don't take medicines, don't eat fish, don't sit in a hottub... anyway, I knew the drill, so I figured as long as I didn't have any issues, I'd just enjoy my very long visit to California and worry about seeing a doctor when I got back to Ottawa.
Well, for the first visit, I didn't see the OB, Paul McCarthy (who I am sure I'll accidently call by a familiar Beatle's name when I meet him:) I saw his associate Dr. Rangwalla. Dan came with me, which made me very happy. Dr. Rangwalla and his medical student shadow were very nice, he asked us all the standard questions... any diseases in the family, any bleeding, etc... then charged us a nice fee of $60 and sent us on our way. The receptionist, when I told her I didn't have OHIP (free health coverage for Canadian citizens) and that I was paying for all of these out of pocket then explained that most visits would only cost $30 dollars, that's not bad at all. She then scheduled a visit with a lab for an ultrasound and some blood work which happened to the very next day at 2:30.
So, today, Dan came home from work early and took me to the hospital lab. The ultrasound lady was pushy and when we checked in, called us in immediately, in a huge rush. In fact it was so fast that Dan didn't even know he was invited in, so I went in the room and she shut the door and I asked her to wait because he was coming and she was like "well he better hurry..." so I opened the door and go back to the waiting room and bring him in. Later, when I asked where he went, he said he just sat back down, he thought it was like an Xray and that he couldn't come in! lol. Sometimes, I forget he's unfamiliar with the whole process and gets lost easy. :) I told him as long as he comes with me to these appointments he's welcome to come in to all of them, no matter what.
Well after some cold lube spread around my belly, we saw the first pictures of the baby! They were fuzzy and staticy (as I'm sure most of you know how ultrasound pics go) and we opted not to get a picture as the place charged you $3 per pic, we figured we'd get them at the next ultrasound when things are more "defined." And just a side note, ugh at how much everything costs in the city, seriously. Anywho, after she took some measurements and confirmed an April 25th due date (I've adjusted the widget accordingly) she sent us on our way and the receptionist thanked us by handing us a bill for $182 bucks! ouch. Paying out of pocket is already killing us!!
After the ultrasound, we headed to the next lab to get all the blood work done, it was just downstairs. That ran us another $120 dollars and 8 huge vials of my blood. I think they should be paying me for all that blood. And that was about it. When we came out of the hospital, it was snowing!!
Well, all my appointments are scheduled with Paul McCartney up until May 2010. So, I don't have another baby appointment for 4 weeks, however on Monday I have a visit with a doctor for permanent residency, the one that tells the Canadian government that I don't have any diseases or issues as my reason for trying to immigrate, that's going to run us yet another $180 bucks and I have to get more blood drawn. But, we are glad most of the tests are out of the way, and after this Monday visit, I can send my perm residence paperwork in and hopefully by the next few OB visits I will have coverage, keeping my fingers crossed!
Well, for the first visit, I didn't see the OB, Paul McCarthy (who I am sure I'll accidently call by a familiar Beatle's name when I meet him:) I saw his associate Dr. Rangwalla. Dan came with me, which made me very happy. Dr. Rangwalla and his medical student shadow were very nice, he asked us all the standard questions... any diseases in the family, any bleeding, etc... then charged us a nice fee of $60 and sent us on our way. The receptionist, when I told her I didn't have OHIP (free health coverage for Canadian citizens) and that I was paying for all of these out of pocket then explained that most visits would only cost $30 dollars, that's not bad at all. She then scheduled a visit with a lab for an ultrasound and some blood work which happened to the very next day at 2:30.
So, today, Dan came home from work early and took me to the hospital lab. The ultrasound lady was pushy and when we checked in, called us in immediately, in a huge rush. In fact it was so fast that Dan didn't even know he was invited in, so I went in the room and she shut the door and I asked her to wait because he was coming and she was like "well he better hurry..." so I opened the door and go back to the waiting room and bring him in. Later, when I asked where he went, he said he just sat back down, he thought it was like an Xray and that he couldn't come in! lol. Sometimes, I forget he's unfamiliar with the whole process and gets lost easy. :) I told him as long as he comes with me to these appointments he's welcome to come in to all of them, no matter what.
Well after some cold lube spread around my belly, we saw the first pictures of the baby! They were fuzzy and staticy (as I'm sure most of you know how ultrasound pics go) and we opted not to get a picture as the place charged you $3 per pic, we figured we'd get them at the next ultrasound when things are more "defined." And just a side note, ugh at how much everything costs in the city, seriously. Anywho, after she took some measurements and confirmed an April 25th due date (I've adjusted the widget accordingly) she sent us on our way and the receptionist thanked us by handing us a bill for $182 bucks! ouch. Paying out of pocket is already killing us!!
After the ultrasound, we headed to the next lab to get all the blood work done, it was just downstairs. That ran us another $120 dollars and 8 huge vials of my blood. I think they should be paying me for all that blood. And that was about it. When we came out of the hospital, it was snowing!!
Well, all my appointments are scheduled with Paul McCartney up until May 2010. So, I don't have another baby appointment for 4 weeks, however on Monday I have a visit with a doctor for permanent residency, the one that tells the Canadian government that I don't have any diseases or issues as my reason for trying to immigrate, that's going to run us yet another $180 bucks and I have to get more blood drawn. But, we are glad most of the tests are out of the way, and after this Monday visit, I can send my perm residence paperwork in and hopefully by the next few OB visits I will have coverage, keeping my fingers crossed!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Canada and the U.S
There is so much here that gets taken for granted, that .. I think when all this is said and done, we'll be able to take a step back and laugh at some of the things.
This if course is a new process for me, I've never gone through any of this. However, for Shari, it is something she's gone through, just in a different country. She asks me a lot about how we should do things as far as booking an appointment and such, and most of the time my response is: "I don't know, go to a clinic, get a referal?' 'Go to the hospital, they tell you what to do?' Etc etc. To which she states is rediculous, as why would you go to the hospital to get a referal for something that is so obvious.
Yet in almost every case, that's been how it works. I've concluded, that our health care system in Canada, is dumby proof - but completely non-cost effective, as we are finding out first hand. Everything requires two appointments pretty much. Which is fine, if you don't have to pay for those appointments. Not very fun when you do. But leads me to dwell on how much our health care system could save, if they'd just allow people to call specialists directly to make appointments for obvious things, rather than requiring a referral for everything.
Maybe after this is all said and done, and I've finished writing my book on the immigration process, I'll send my book to parliament and they can save a few million a year, just by taking out the middle man in the health care system.
This if course is a new process for me, I've never gone through any of this. However, for Shari, it is something she's gone through, just in a different country. She asks me a lot about how we should do things as far as booking an appointment and such, and most of the time my response is: "I don't know, go to a clinic, get a referal?' 'Go to the hospital, they tell you what to do?' Etc etc. To which she states is rediculous, as why would you go to the hospital to get a referal for something that is so obvious.
Yet in almost every case, that's been how it works. I've concluded, that our health care system in Canada, is dumby proof - but completely non-cost effective, as we are finding out first hand. Everything requires two appointments pretty much. Which is fine, if you don't have to pay for those appointments. Not very fun when you do. But leads me to dwell on how much our health care system could save, if they'd just allow people to call specialists directly to make appointments for obvious things, rather than requiring a referral for everything.
Maybe after this is all said and done, and I've finished writing my book on the immigration process, I'll send my book to parliament and they can save a few million a year, just by taking out the middle man in the health care system.
The mystery of the OB/GYN
So tomorrow I'll be heading to Georgia, I just found out there will be no internet. This fact annoys me as the internet is my lifeline lol. Also, if I don't check my email daily it gets very full and I'll probably have 200-300 emails by the time I return! After Georgia I return to Canada, will arrive in Syracuse, NY on Tues the 6th. In baby news, the baby is now the size of a fig (1 and a half inches long) according to the weekly email and moving around freely. My nausea has subsided somewhat, but I have had a cold this last week and so whenever I cough, I gag! Not fun when you have a cold. But on with the story...
Got my first doctor appointment on the 13th. That was a fiasco trying to make an appointment... See, I say to my parents that Canada is pretty much just like the US in every way... and for the most part I still agree. However, there are these subtle differences, particularly because of the health care system there, that make it different. When you "break" these specific "protocols" people get pretty annoyed and ends up leaving the offender with a feeling of "what the hell do I do now??"
Anyway, so my story goes... In the US when you are pregnant, you look up the number of your nearest OB/GYN and you call the office and set up an appointment. That same doctor is with you through the whole pregnancy and beyond. So, a few weeks before my return up there, I looked up some ob/gyns and picked one and called them up. Well, the french woman, who I could hardly understand on the other end was more than simply impolite on the phone when she informed me that I have to call the hospital to make an appointment. When I tried to question her with my misunderstandings, she abruptly interupts me with the phone number and hangs up. So, being in my highly emotional state I begun to cry. Having a baby is one thing, but having a baby in a foreign country where you don't know the "rules" and having people be very rude about said rules and not understanding the rules can wear on a person's emotions. That's not to mention the whole money stress, which is yet another story... Anyway, so I'm left holding the phone, pondering why she'd want me to call the hospital. See, in the US the hospital is used for surgery, labor, emergencys, etc, you don't just call them to bug them or set up appointments or find doctors. So, I give it a few minutes, wipe my eyes and call up this number she gave me, of course I get another french greeting and I ask her for this place I *think* the woman, with the thick accent, said. Well, she's never heard of it, so after explaining the situation to her, she transfers me to what she believes is the office I'm looking for and I'm greeted with a "Hi, we are out of the office..." so I hang up.
I think at this point, Dan takes pity on me, because during this whole thing I'm on instant messenger with him explaining it, and he asks one of his workmates who supplies him with a doctor name and phone number that she used for her recent baby. So, I call this new number. The receptionist, fortunatly, doesn't have an accent and I explain the whole situation to her and that I'd like to see the doctor there. She wants to know who is referring me. Referring me? Why would I need a reference to see a doctor? I say no one, she asks "Who told you to call us." Heck if I know, it's someone Dan works with, "uh... Jean... but I dont know her last name." So, she says I need to go to my general practioner and get a referral to them, all I hear is more costs in my head now, I mean now I have to see a doctor to see a doctor?? I pay out of pocket for all these visits. Ok... so I say well I don't have a family doctor. "Please hold" I wait... She comes back, ok I'll put you in to see doctor. Great, now I have an appointment, I thank her. She says "oh one more thing, don't call this number, it's our *private* line." Argh, more rule breaking... I ask for the number to call, appologize and hang up.
Well, at least I have a doctor appointment now.
Got my first doctor appointment on the 13th. That was a fiasco trying to make an appointment... See, I say to my parents that Canada is pretty much just like the US in every way... and for the most part I still agree. However, there are these subtle differences, particularly because of the health care system there, that make it different. When you "break" these specific "protocols" people get pretty annoyed and ends up leaving the offender with a feeling of "what the hell do I do now??"
Anyway, so my story goes... In the US when you are pregnant, you look up the number of your nearest OB/GYN and you call the office and set up an appointment. That same doctor is with you through the whole pregnancy and beyond. So, a few weeks before my return up there, I looked up some ob/gyns and picked one and called them up. Well, the french woman, who I could hardly understand on the other end was more than simply impolite on the phone when she informed me that I have to call the hospital to make an appointment. When I tried to question her with my misunderstandings, she abruptly interupts me with the phone number and hangs up. So, being in my highly emotional state I begun to cry. Having a baby is one thing, but having a baby in a foreign country where you don't know the "rules" and having people be very rude about said rules and not understanding the rules can wear on a person's emotions. That's not to mention the whole money stress, which is yet another story... Anyway, so I'm left holding the phone, pondering why she'd want me to call the hospital. See, in the US the hospital is used for surgery, labor, emergencys, etc, you don't just call them to bug them or set up appointments or find doctors. So, I give it a few minutes, wipe my eyes and call up this number she gave me, of course I get another french greeting and I ask her for this place I *think* the woman, with the thick accent, said. Well, she's never heard of it, so after explaining the situation to her, she transfers me to what she believes is the office I'm looking for and I'm greeted with a "Hi, we are out of the office..." so I hang up.
I think at this point, Dan takes pity on me, because during this whole thing I'm on instant messenger with him explaining it, and he asks one of his workmates who supplies him with a doctor name and phone number that she used for her recent baby. So, I call this new number. The receptionist, fortunatly, doesn't have an accent and I explain the whole situation to her and that I'd like to see the doctor there. She wants to know who is referring me. Referring me? Why would I need a reference to see a doctor? I say no one, she asks "Who told you to call us." Heck if I know, it's someone Dan works with, "uh... Jean... but I dont know her last name." So, she says I need to go to my general practioner and get a referral to them, all I hear is more costs in my head now, I mean now I have to see a doctor to see a doctor?? I pay out of pocket for all these visits. Ok... so I say well I don't have a family doctor. "Please hold" I wait... She comes back, ok I'll put you in to see doctor
Well, at least I have a doctor appointment now.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
10 weeks
So, the weekly pregnancy email informed me that I am 10 weeks along today and explained to me why I have to get up two or three times a night to pee! According to them, the baby is now the size of a kumquat, which left me wondering, "what is the size of a kumquat?" and "should I blog first or go pee?" :) So, for those that are wondering the same thing I am (hopefully it's the first question) I have posted a picture of a kumquat. It's pretty small! The email also said really cool things like: nails and hair are forming, limbs can now bend, and from crown to rump the baby is about 1 1/4 inch long. The widget is starting to look more baby and less alien every week as well!
As for me, I've been pretty "normal" for the most part, still no morning sickness, the "smell" thing hasn't eased up and 90% of my favorite meals have been replaced by crackers, cheese, yogurt and fruit. Eating is a hard time of the day for me, it's pretty depressing. Every day I try something I like to see if I can "stomach" it only to find myself dumping or giving it away and heading back to the bland foods. Still haven't had morning sickness, but with Tyler I wasn't sick until trimester 2 and then I was really really really sick and needed medicine and everything. I am hoping that doesn't happen again!
Well, that is pretty much it, I head to Georgia for the family reunion in a week and back home a week after that and I cannot wait!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Still skirting that morning sickness... somehow...
I feel like I have some super powered dog nose. The smells around me are insanely intense and often send me into a very seasick like feeling. Each room in my parents house smells different and the smells are changing so rapidly it's driving my poor sniffer crazy (and more importantly my stomach). The kitchen smells like fried grease or burnt toast or sauces or meats whatever happens to be on the menu. Smells that are enjoyable to me at most times, say the smell of Febreze or a candle, now smell so perfumey and overpowering it makes my eyes water. Heck even the smell of food grosses me out, like baked cheese (and I *love* cheese) or melting butter. Ugh. Oh and the combination of smells is killing me! I innocently sprayed Febreze around my room then brought in some food and it about knocked me over! Every room stinks, bedrooms smell like sleep, the living room smells like candles, perfumes, whatever. The big blast of semi warm, smelly air you get in the face when you open the microwave. The bathroom smells like flowery poo! At random intervals I keep hiding my nose in my shirt, except the other day made the mistake of putting some perfume on and hid my nose right in a flowery burst of "sunshine" lol!!
Right now, the only room I enjoy being in... as weird as it is... is the shop in the backyard. It has that old dusty "stuff" smell, like storage rooms and attics get. It's very plesant and unchanging and I have actually been just sitting in there relaxing when the smells get too overpowering. I hope this doesn't last long because anymore of this is seriously going to send me running to worship the porcelain god. :)
Right now, the only room I enjoy being in... as weird as it is... is the shop in the backyard. It has that old dusty "stuff" smell, like storage rooms and attics get. It's very plesant and unchanging and I have actually been just sitting in there relaxing when the smells get too overpowering. I hope this doesn't last long because anymore of this is seriously going to send me running to worship the porcelain god. :)
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
The size of a kidney bean?
So I get these little weekly emails about my pregnancy during the week. This week they said the baby is about the size of a kidney bean. Are you kidding me? I actually looked in my mom's cupboard for a kidney bean to compare, but I didn't see any so I compared it to an elbow noodle! If it's that tiny, why are my pants not fitting?? :)
Actually, I'm looking forward to "showing" this time around, when I was pregnant with my son, I was extremely sick and I lost so much weight that I never showed and since I had him at 8 months he never grew that final 9th month when you gain tons of weight. When I returned to work people were shocked that I was even pregnant! So, I kind of missed the annoying strangers coming up and asking how far I was and trying to touch my belly, like you hear so many preggo women complain about. I also only ever owned one pair of maternity pants and a blue maternity shirt. I will never forget rushing out at 8 months to the store to buy them. I didn't need them, I still fit in all my clothing easily heck some of it was big on me! But, since I was pregnant I just had to own *something* maternity! I bought my one outfit, wore it one time and was in the hospital having Tyler.
This time, here I am 8 weeks and I haven't gained a single pound except in my belly and the baby is the size of a kidney bean! So I put my pants on today and they were so uncomfortable and not squeezing... but putting an uncomfortable pressure on my belly so I actually went to the mall and bought a pair of maternity pants! I guess by the end of this pregnancy, I'll have more than a single maternity outfit :)
Actually, I'm looking forward to "showing" this time around, when I was pregnant with my son, I was extremely sick and I lost so much weight that I never showed and since I had him at 8 months he never grew that final 9th month when you gain tons of weight. When I returned to work people were shocked that I was even pregnant! So, I kind of missed the annoying strangers coming up and asking how far I was and trying to touch my belly, like you hear so many preggo women complain about. I also only ever owned one pair of maternity pants and a blue maternity shirt. I will never forget rushing out at 8 months to the store to buy them. I didn't need them, I still fit in all my clothing easily heck some of it was big on me! But, since I was pregnant I just had to own *something* maternity! I bought my one outfit, wore it one time and was in the hospital having Tyler.
This time, here I am 8 weeks and I haven't gained a single pound except in my belly and the baby is the size of a kidney bean! So I put my pants on today and they were so uncomfortable and not squeezing... but putting an uncomfortable pressure on my belly so I actually went to the mall and bought a pair of maternity pants! I guess by the end of this pregnancy, I'll have more than a single maternity outfit :)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Hard being apart.
When Shari had said that she'd be gone for over a month. I'd originally thought it would not be such a big deal. I mean, we've been apart for long periods of time before, it seemed like something that would be easily managed. However, it's turning out to be a lot more difficult than I would have originally anticipated. Especially with the baby and all, just those little things seem to be missed that much more.
It's definitely hard being apart for sure. And I know we both feel it. But at the same time, it makes you more appreciative I guess. Time can't move fast enough! I can't wait to have her here again.
It's definitely hard being apart for sure. And I know we both feel it. But at the same time, it makes you more appreciative I guess. Time can't move fast enough! I can't wait to have her here again.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
7 weeks today!
Just 7 weeks along, the little email I get about my pregnancy week to week tells me I'll probably be having morning sickness. I sure hope not. I was soooooo sick during my pregnancy with Tyler for months on end, so sick I had to take medicine for it and I lost 30 some pounds! So, hopefully I won't go through that again, it's horrible.
I installed a little baby widget on the right side of the blog. You can click on the day below the little picture of the baby to change it to weeks to come or how far. I think that its a neat widget. It's weird to see what the baby looks like inside of me at this point, kind of like a bean or something. The email said it's about the size of a blueberry now!
So, I see Dan wrote a blog about it "sinking in" that is true. Now that the dust has settled somewhat it is sinking in. I think it's sinking in a different way for me than for him though. You see, this is going to be my second baby and his first. He's still at that naive, blissful state where you think raising a baby is... well like on TV. The baby is always smiling and laughing and staring up at you with big blue eyes, patiently awaiting it's feeding time. What he doesn't know are the long nights of waking up every two hours all through the night for months to a screaming baby demanding to eat with a diaper full of liquid poo that pees all over you as soon as you lower the diaper. Getting spit up on every time it eats, pretty much having no nice clothes any longer. LOL Sure there are those happy times, but they are much fewer than Hollywood would have you believe. Ahh... what it would be like to be in that blissful, unknowing state he's in!! :)
I installed a little baby widget on the right side of the blog. You can click on the day below the little picture of the baby to change it to weeks to come or how far. I think that its a neat widget. It's weird to see what the baby looks like inside of me at this point, kind of like a bean or something. The email said it's about the size of a blueberry now!
So, I see Dan wrote a blog about it "sinking in" that is true. Now that the dust has settled somewhat it is sinking in. I think it's sinking in a different way for me than for him though. You see, this is going to be my second baby and his first. He's still at that naive, blissful state where you think raising a baby is... well like on TV. The baby is always smiling and laughing and staring up at you with big blue eyes, patiently awaiting it's feeding time. What he doesn't know are the long nights of waking up every two hours all through the night for months to a screaming baby demanding to eat with a diaper full of liquid poo that pees all over you as soon as you lower the diaper. Getting spit up on every time it eats, pretty much having no nice clothes any longer. LOL Sure there are those happy times, but they are much fewer than Hollywood would have you believe. Ahh... what it would be like to be in that blissful, unknowing state he's in!! :)
Monday, August 31, 2009
How it all began...
So, the two days before I left with my son, Tyler, for California, I was a couple days late and we decided I should take a pregnancy test. I was skeptical after all I was 2 days late max, could just be late! However, It came back positive... or so we thought... the line was so faint we thought it might be a mistake. After squinting at the incredibly light pink line for the allotted time listed on the box, we were still unsure, so Dan rushed out and bought 2 more tests!! I waited til the next morning and took it again only to find the same result. So, of course, I did what I always do in situations like this... I asked Google :) Well, I found out that a line is a line no matter how faint! We were super happy and started to call up his family and let them know the great news. Tyler was happy, he's wanted a baby brother or sister for years! I decided to wait until I got back to California to inform my family since I was going to see them the next day.
It's funny to me the questions people ask you when they first find out... Most of them were "was it planned?" and "are you getting married?" "Where will your baby be born?" First, it was planned, we just didn't think it would happen so fast. Hormone issues run in my family and the women generally take years to get pregnant, so when my birth control ran out in July, Dan and I talked about it and decided to give it a go. I figured it'd be quite some time (if at all) for this to happen and what do you know, by August 17th I had a positive pregnancy test! Crazy... Anyway, as for getting married, I don't think that a pregnancy is any reason to rush to the altar. You should get married because you both want to, not because you have to. I'm sure we will in the future, I just love weddings, just at this moment, one life changing event at a time, please!
Lastly, the baby will be born in Canada and I am currently in the process of applying for Permanent Residence in Canada. Making sure I was going to have medical coverage as a Canadian Visitor (my current status) was a huge run around. When we called Immigration to ask them about the pregnancy their answer was that they wont cover anything until the baby is born! Well, to me that didn't seem right, since proper prenatal care leads to a healthier baby not to mention this is the child of their own citizen and basically they were telling him they wouldn't cover it? Weird... anyway, it was a huge stressful situation... because we thought I may have to move back to California, where I'd be covered, to have the baby and then Dan would have to try to get time off work and fly back and forth and... ugh. Big mess. Anyway, again we asked the almighty Google and found out there are actually work-arounds to this, just for obvious reasons, immigration doesn't want you to know about them. So, Dan made the appropriate phone calls and within a few minutes I was covered! Well, verbally covered, still have to wait for exact directions on what to do... but it's the government and whether in the US or Canada they function the same! So, we were told to wait for two weeks for further instruction, for some reason I feel like I'm waiting for the Godfather to call in a favor on us lol...
So far everything for me has been running pretty smoothly. No morning sickness yet, although eggs really are disgusting and nearly put me there when I ate a bite of them the other day. Also, I do feel a little queasy when someone mentions something I view as disgusting. I am not really showing or anything although my belly is already getting firm and I can't suck my stomach in anymore. I have to get up every few hours in the night to go to the bathroom, that's annoying and I spend most of my day groggy from lack of sleep! Other than that, it's pretty awesome so far, can't wait to get back to Canada though, I miss Dan so much and wasn't really around him long enough for this to "sink in" and I'm excited to start a family with such a wonderful man :)
Anyway, so that's been the story so far, I'm only about 6 weeks along, still a long way to go. I'm glad it'll be during the winter though it's much more comfortable than a pregnant summer would be! I have yet to go to the Dr, which Google said was ok as most people don't realize their pregnant until 6 to 8 weeks and then you have a wait for a Dr appt anyway. So, I figure if there's any issues while I'm here in California, I'll go visit my old obgyn and pay out of pocket, if not I'll just wait until my return to Canada on Oct. 6th. After all I really want Daniel to be able to go to the first doctors appointment with me!
It's funny to me the questions people ask you when they first find out... Most of them were "was it planned?" and "are you getting married?" "Where will your baby be born?" First, it was planned, we just didn't think it would happen so fast. Hormone issues run in my family and the women generally take years to get pregnant, so when my birth control ran out in July, Dan and I talked about it and decided to give it a go. I figured it'd be quite some time (if at all) for this to happen and what do you know, by August 17th I had a positive pregnancy test! Crazy... Anyway, as for getting married, I don't think that a pregnancy is any reason to rush to the altar. You should get married because you both want to, not because you have to. I'm sure we will in the future, I just love weddings, just at this moment, one life changing event at a time, please!
Lastly, the baby will be born in Canada and I am currently in the process of applying for Permanent Residence in Canada. Making sure I was going to have medical coverage as a Canadian Visitor (my current status) was a huge run around. When we called Immigration to ask them about the pregnancy their answer was that they wont cover anything until the baby is born! Well, to me that didn't seem right, since proper prenatal care leads to a healthier baby not to mention this is the child of their own citizen and basically they were telling him they wouldn't cover it? Weird... anyway, it was a huge stressful situation... because we thought I may have to move back to California, where I'd be covered, to have the baby and then Dan would have to try to get time off work and fly back and forth and... ugh. Big mess. Anyway, again we asked the almighty Google and found out there are actually work-arounds to this, just for obvious reasons, immigration doesn't want you to know about them. So, Dan made the appropriate phone calls and within a few minutes I was covered! Well, verbally covered, still have to wait for exact directions on what to do... but it's the government and whether in the US or Canada they function the same! So, we were told to wait for two weeks for further instruction, for some reason I feel like I'm waiting for the Godfather to call in a favor on us lol...
So far everything for me has been running pretty smoothly. No morning sickness yet, although eggs really are disgusting and nearly put me there when I ate a bite of them the other day. Also, I do feel a little queasy when someone mentions something I view as disgusting. I am not really showing or anything although my belly is already getting firm and I can't suck my stomach in anymore. I have to get up every few hours in the night to go to the bathroom, that's annoying and I spend most of my day groggy from lack of sleep! Other than that, it's pretty awesome so far, can't wait to get back to Canada though, I miss Dan so much and wasn't really around him long enough for this to "sink in" and I'm excited to start a family with such a wonderful man :)
Anyway, so that's been the story so far, I'm only about 6 weeks along, still a long way to go. I'm glad it'll be during the winter though it's much more comfortable than a pregnant summer would be! I have yet to go to the Dr, which Google said was ok as most people don't realize their pregnant until 6 to 8 weeks and then you have a wait for a Dr appt anyway. So, I figure if there's any issues while I'm here in California, I'll go visit my old obgyn and pay out of pocket, if not I'll just wait until my return to Canada on Oct. 6th. After all I really want Daniel to be able to go to the first doctors appointment with me!
Finally Starting to sink in.
So, it's finally starting to sink in. I'm going to be a dad!
Been pretty crazy thus far, with so many questions to be answered and so many worries. But everything seems to be falling into place. When we first found out, I was pretty excited, but the worries about where it would be born, how we would get coverage - all these things, definitely took some of the steam out of it.
I was calling around like a mad man, calling immigrations, calling embassies, trying to find out a way to make sure that the baby could be born in Canada. Looked into insurance and how that works, found out that they generally only cover a pregnancy up to 6 months if you weren't covered before hand... I was pretty wired up, and further more, losing a lot of weight just due to stress.
As Shari said though, after looking up on google, found out that the thing to do was to call the local MP. Got some assurance from the person I spoke with that they'd see to it that Shari got covered. So, while I still think there is going to be some work involved, I'm a little more comfortable with that situation, so now, I can start feeling happy! :) It's a good feeling, and I really can't wait. I'm looking forward to Shari's return home, I miss her a lot. Especially with all that is going on, makes it that much harder to be away from her, but at least we have the internet! :)
So, now I can relax a bit (not too much though, still lots to do) and let it sink in and start enjoying the ride so to speak :)
Been pretty crazy thus far, with so many questions to be answered and so many worries. But everything seems to be falling into place. When we first found out, I was pretty excited, but the worries about where it would be born, how we would get coverage - all these things, definitely took some of the steam out of it.
I was calling around like a mad man, calling immigrations, calling embassies, trying to find out a way to make sure that the baby could be born in Canada. Looked into insurance and how that works, found out that they generally only cover a pregnancy up to 6 months if you weren't covered before hand... I was pretty wired up, and further more, losing a lot of weight just due to stress.
As Shari said though, after looking up on google, found out that the thing to do was to call the local MP. Got some assurance from the person I spoke with that they'd see to it that Shari got covered. So, while I still think there is going to be some work involved, I'm a little more comfortable with that situation, so now, I can start feeling happy! :) It's a good feeling, and I really can't wait. I'm looking forward to Shari's return home, I miss her a lot. Especially with all that is going on, makes it that much harder to be away from her, but at least we have the internet! :)
So, now I can relax a bit (not too much though, still lots to do) and let it sink in and start enjoying the ride so to speak :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
