Big Boy

Dann and I headed to my ultrasound appointment yesterday and everything went well. My placenta has moved up into place, so no worries about a c-section at 37 weeks. The tech stated everything looked really good. Of course, it was hard to see much as there is not a lot of room left inside. One minute you could see the spine, then just the head, but never the whole body at one time. I asked the tech how big the baby was at this point in my pregnancy? The tech did some calculating and then stated that the baby is bigger than normal for 34 weeks.

The tech went on to say that the baby's weight is 6lbs 5oz (approximately), as of yesterday ...YIKES!! Everything I have ever read states the baby gains the most weight in the last 4 weeks of pregnancy (averaging between 1/2 pound to a full pound each week). With that said, I still have 6 weeks to go, thus if I carry to term he will be well over 9 lbs... can you say DRUGS!!

The photos seemed appropriate.... BIG BOY!!

Officially Off Work

I went to the doctor yesterday for my regular check-up. My doctor is on vacation so his associate was filling in. The new Doc intorduced himself and asked me how I was doing? I told him I was tired, uncomfortable, my feet/hips hurt and looking to be done work. He just smiled and said, but you are only 32 weeks! I corrected him and said "just shy of 34 weeks" (but who is counting... hahaha)!!

The doctor listened to the baby's heart, which was good (150 beats/minute) and he measured my belly, which was fine. Then he said, "I noticed your blood pressure is up - 146/64 (it has never been high, with Emma or otherwise) and there was protein in your urine." Of course I knew that's not good. The Doc told me he was concerned about onset of pre-eclampsia, thus he wanted me to go to the hospital for blood work and a non-stress test. So before I left his office, with everything he just told me, I asked him again to put me on medical leave from work, to which he answered, "no, I think you should wait for your regular doctor to do that." I must have sounded desperate when I stated, "he's not back for another 2 weeks!" I went on to say that I am on my feet a lot of the day at work, dealing with the public and their problems, interviewing clients, blah blah blah! He looked at me funny and said, "are you really on your feet for most of the day?" I said, "yes." He still was not going to budge and recommended going to see my family doctor.

Anyway... on my way to the hospital, I stopped off at my family doctor's office to make an appointment and his office was closed (he is away on vacation too... UGGGHHH!!)! As I drove to the hospital all I kept thinking was how I could send my medical form to Dr. Rossouw in PR so he could sign it (sure do miss him and that close relationship)!!!

I arrived at the hospital and waited 50 minutes at patient check in (way too many people, not enough staff), then I was sent to the lab for blood work. 40 minutes later, 2 tubes of blood were drawn and then it was up to maternity for the non-stress test. Surprisingly enough, there was only one lady in labour, thus the nurse was able to hook me up to the machine right away and I sat for approximately 30 minutes listening to my baby's heart beat, his movement, and then he got the hick-ups, which was loud on the monitor (it was fun to listen to). The nurse took my blood pressure again, and it was 121/70. The nurse was satisfied that the baby was fine and she liked all the movement etc (he was not under any stress). She asked me for another urine sample, so they could check for protein, thus it was off to the bathroom. My urine came back fine, no protein. The nurse asked me to wait as the lab was processing my blood and she wanted the results back before she would release me. As I was waiting, the Doc poked his head into the room I was in and passed me my medical note. He said that he thought about what I said, and it probably would be best if I was not working anymore (I guess he needed a few hours to wrap his head around my desperation and my health). My blood work came back and it was fine... so who knows why my blood pressure was up and who knows where the protein came from. The doctor will be montioring this and of course I have to watch for the symptoms of pre-eclampsia just in case. That brings you all up to speed on me and the baby.

On a different note, when I went for my sugar testing (the orange pop drink) 2 months ago, I saw an ad in a magazine for these cute baby shoe charms. I fell in love with them, so I took note of the designer's name: Aaron Basha and thought I would look up his website. Needless to say, my expensive tastes have not changed over the years. The charms are "silly" expensive (over $2000 American). What I thought were rhinestones are diamonds set in white gold!! Hard to justify getting one for each of my children, but I still love them. If you want to check out all his charms etc, the website is: www.aaronbasha.com

36 Years Young

My 36th Birhtday this past week was low key but perfect in every way. After a long day at work, I came home to a traditional Philippineo birthday dish, which consisted of noodles, chicken and vegtables. I do not know how to spell it's name in philippineo, so we'll leave it at that. It was tasty, but the carrot cake to follow was even better (cream cheese icing)!! Rowena (top left behind me) and her good friend Vangie (beside Emma) helped us celebrate, which was perfect (Vangie also brought me flowers... how nice).
Dann and Emma bought me a "Birthday Tree" which we planted in our backyard. It is a little small this year, but I am sure within the next year or two, it will grow leaps and bounds. It is a "Showy Spruce Tree" and the fall leaves will be red and orange, which are my favorite fall colors.
After a great day, Emma wanted to take a photo outside our front door kissing her baby brother... she is very excited about his arrival!!

Garage Sale

My parents arrived last Thursday evening to give Dann & I a hand with our garage sale. We organized all of our junk Thursday evening and Friday, and the sale was to start Friday afternoon around 4:00 p.m. People were showing up by 2:45 p.m., thus it was a crazy afternoon. There were lots of ladies and many of Emma's baby clothes and toddler clothes sold like hot-cakes.

I did not take any photos of the numerous tables filled with our garbage, but I am sure you get the idea!!

Our Garbage...

Amazingly enough, our trash was someone elses treasure, because by the end of the second day, 90% of our items were sold. We had a few big items which sold (rug, futon & bike), but the rest of the money made was on Emma's clothes and miscellaneous clutter. We did very well and only took one bag of clothes and one box of junk to the Salavation Army Thrift Store.

Someone's Treasure

The best part of the sale, aside from the $$$$, was how uncluttered our basement, storage room and garage became! Dann and Dad spent Sunday and Monday cleaning up the garage and organizing. This made Dann so happy, until Dad found a little friend who was trying to set up a residence in an electrical outlet in the garage. Lucky for us and not so lucky for him, the "rodent" met his maker as he got electrocuted trying to build his house.

Dann was freakin' out that a mouse might have become our newest family pet. After we took a few photos of the friendly feller, Dad turffed it over our back fence into the big open field.

I was going to name him "Mickey", but then thought that might cause some unnecessary questions with Emma.

Cool Web Page

Hey everyone... here is a cool web page:

www.snakesonaplane.com

For those of you who may have received a phone call from Samuel Jackson, and did not know where it came from... check out the link.

Dann and I had hours of fun with it.

A Weeks Worth Of Bloggin'

It's been a while since I posted something, so I figured I would sum up the week!

Here is some food for thought... have you ever seen Orange Cauliflower Head?

We were shopping in Save On Foods last weekend and saw one. I have never seen an orange cauliflower, so I bought one, wondering if it would taste different? Well, it tastes the same, just looks sexier in the bowl!! I took a photo of it, for those of you who have never seen such a "pretty" cauliflower head!

When Emma is not busy swinging, bouncing, reading or playing dress-up, she enjoys helping Rowena (and me) in the kitchen. She insisted on washing the dishes after dinner all week. Hey I am not complaining, as I know it won't last forever. Heck, the time she's a teenager, I will probably have to beg her for help in the kitchen!

This weekend the "RCMP Musical Ride" was in town performing. We thought we would bring Emma to watch the show. She really enjoyed watching the horses and loved all the Mounties in their Red Serge.

We managed to get some great photos of the different formations, but I only posted a couple of them.

Emma had fun after the show at the "meet & greet". The kids loved being able to walk up to all the horses and pet them etc. We even got to go to the barn/stables afterwards and watch all the members brush down the horses, polish up their leather and then give the beauties a snack.

Emma was so excited when she got to feed "Sassy". The handler got Sassy out of her stall, and walked her over to Emma (just a couple feet away), but instead of leaving the food on the palm of her hand and offering it to the horse, Emma threw the food at the horse, which landed in a pile of hay. Sassy of course is looking at Emma like... "Hey, that was my treat you threw away!" It was pretty funny, and Emma did not see the problem in it at all. The horses are huge, so I did not really expect Emma to let the horse come down to her and eat off her hand. She really enjoyed the whole experience.

Emma also managed to collect some of the Musical Ride police cards, which she was excited about. I think she will remember this outing for a long time to come!

Finally... today we headed out to do some shopping. Emma decided on a flower dress and a head band. I thought she looked so cute, I had to take a photo before we left the house. She is growing up so fast, it's hard to believe some days!