Lilypie tickers
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Silverdollar has Sand-dollars!
Last night DH was looking at my breasts when we were in bed, and he thinks the brown part around the nipples has grown so large he compared them to... wait for it... sand dollars! Whoa! My breasts are getting so large they are now their own eco-system growing sea life.
Monday, 29 August 2011
Belly Pics
I've had some requests for belly pics, so here goes...
I've done them every 2 weeks since I started showing. It's getting larger, but there still a ways to go yet.
I've done them every 2 weeks since I started showing. It's getting larger, but there still a ways to go yet.
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| 10 weeks |
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| 12 weeks |
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| 14 weeks |
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| 16 weeks |
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| 18 weeks |
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| 20 weeks |
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| 22 weeks |
Saturday, 27 August 2011
Birthday Sunshine
Wow, it's been a nice week. We had to revamp our kayak vacation plans after DH broke his finger. We ended up camping in our van across the pond on the nearby Sunshine Coast. Highlights included warm summer sun, uncrowded campsites, and daily swims at various beaches. I guess you could call it a babymoon.
For my birthday on Thursday, DH surprised me with a room at a resort and dinner out at a really nice restaurant (both repeat places we first visited on our honeymoon). It felt similarly blissful as it did a few years ago. I got to thinking about how much I enjoyed my birthday this year. The last several birthdays brought with them mixed feelings because my egg supply was rapidly deteriorating and it served as a stark reminder of my declining fertility and dwindling odds of conceiving. I actually felt totally fine about this birthday. I'm 34 now, but that one year older doesn't really matter anymore now that I'm carrying a baby. I can now handle all the grey hair, wrinkles, and shriveled ovaries that will come my way -I'll gladly give up my youth for this little person to be.
For my birthday on Thursday, DH surprised me with a room at a resort and dinner out at a really nice restaurant (both repeat places we first visited on our honeymoon). It felt similarly blissful as it did a few years ago. I got to thinking about how much I enjoyed my birthday this year. The last several birthdays brought with them mixed feelings because my egg supply was rapidly deteriorating and it served as a stark reminder of my declining fertility and dwindling odds of conceiving. I actually felt totally fine about this birthday. I'm 34 now, but that one year older doesn't really matter anymore now that I'm carrying a baby. I can now handle all the grey hair, wrinkles, and shriveled ovaries that will come my way -I'll gladly give up my youth for this little person to be.
Sunday, 21 August 2011
Change of Plans
I have this week booked off work for vacation, the remaining 2 weeks I am saving for December so I don't have to work up to the very end of the pregnnacy. DH and I had this fabulous 5 day kayak trip planned in Johnstone Strait -an area frequented by orca whales. Both of us were really looking forward to the trip, and once baby Silver comes we won't be able to go to places like this for a little while.
On Friday DH broke his left ring finger when he fell off his bike. It's a spiral fracture, so they put him in this huge splint that goes from his finger tips to just below his elbow. He has to wear that for the first 10 days and then will be able to reduce down to just a finger splint or taping the finger to the neighbouring one. Unfortunately he can't really grip or manage his paddle properly in the current splint, so we've been brainstorming alternative places to go. Last night we came up with a plan. We are going to take our van and go camping on the Sunshine Coast north of Vancouver. We'll do some day hikes and explore that area a bit more that we have before. If DH's finger is better in a couple of weeks we'll go kayaking where we'd planned on the Labour Day long weekend.
On Friday DH broke his left ring finger when he fell off his bike. It's a spiral fracture, so they put him in this huge splint that goes from his finger tips to just below his elbow. He has to wear that for the first 10 days and then will be able to reduce down to just a finger splint or taping the finger to the neighbouring one. Unfortunately he can't really grip or manage his paddle properly in the current splint, so we've been brainstorming alternative places to go. Last night we came up with a plan. We are going to take our van and go camping on the Sunshine Coast north of Vancouver. We'll do some day hikes and explore that area a bit more that we have before. If DH's finger is better in a couple of weeks we'll go kayaking where we'd planned on the Labour Day long weekend.
Thursday, 18 August 2011
20 Week Ultrasound
I had my 6th ultrasound yesterday -this was however the first routine one in the public clinic. Often it is the only one normally pregnant people have. Usually women arrive with their partner and sometimes a whole troop of family and friends trailing behind. They actually have started implementing new rules to curb the audience, and will only allow the patient in to the room for the medical part of the exam, and then one family member to come in to view the pictures afterwards. I arrived on my lonesome. The receptionist awkwardly asked me if I was waiting for anyone else to come. No, I said, I'm on my own today. Later when the technician asked if I had anyone with me, and if I was having this baby on my own. LOL! No, but my husband is working out of town all week, and the poor guy has sat through 30+ ultrasounds of my ovaries and has shared in the 5 previous peeks at this baby, so it wasn't a big deal for him to miss this one. She probably thinks he's a deadbeat dad!
The tech began by entering my data into the system because they had no record of me having an obstetrical ultrasound yet. She began by asking the date of my last menstrual period. Ah, the age old question. Good thing I'd looked up the date that was 14 days before my egg retrieval and memorized this date. "March 26th" I announced. She then asked if I had regular 28 day cycle and if they'd given me an estimated due date. "Well it's an IVF baby so we are sure about our dates, and this baby is due Dec 31st, I'm 20 weeks + 4 days today".
She started to explain the whole ultrasound procedure, which I kind of chuckled about because I've had so many. I started to feel a bit nervous that they'd find something terribly wrong with the baby. I guess you never shake that worry when you've been through an ordeal to get where you are.
The tech can't tell you much, but I was done in about 30 minutes, and she didn't spend time re-measuring or dwelling on any areas so I'll take that as a good sign. As always, baby Silver is a real mover and had to be chased to get the measurements. I saw all 4 limbs, hands and feet that had the full compliment of fingers and toes, 4 chambers of the heart, the brain, and all the facial features. It looks like the baby is getting DH's nose : ) LOL. We are not finding out the gender, so that bit will be a surprise, but I had fun guessing what I was looking at when they scanned the baby's abdomen for all of the organs.
The baby measured 20 weeks 3 days, was 10.5 " long, and weighed approximately 12 oz (right on track). They gave me a few printed pictures for $15.
1. Side profile 2. Foot and leg 3. Front view of face with hand under chin
The tech began by entering my data into the system because they had no record of me having an obstetrical ultrasound yet. She began by asking the date of my last menstrual period. Ah, the age old question. Good thing I'd looked up the date that was 14 days before my egg retrieval and memorized this date. "March 26th" I announced. She then asked if I had regular 28 day cycle and if they'd given me an estimated due date. "Well it's an IVF baby so we are sure about our dates, and this baby is due Dec 31st, I'm 20 weeks + 4 days today".
She started to explain the whole ultrasound procedure, which I kind of chuckled about because I've had so many. I started to feel a bit nervous that they'd find something terribly wrong with the baby. I guess you never shake that worry when you've been through an ordeal to get where you are.
The tech can't tell you much, but I was done in about 30 minutes, and she didn't spend time re-measuring or dwelling on any areas so I'll take that as a good sign. As always, baby Silver is a real mover and had to be chased to get the measurements. I saw all 4 limbs, hands and feet that had the full compliment of fingers and toes, 4 chambers of the heart, the brain, and all the facial features. It looks like the baby is getting DH's nose : ) LOL. We are not finding out the gender, so that bit will be a surprise, but I had fun guessing what I was looking at when they scanned the baby's abdomen for all of the organs.
The baby measured 20 weeks 3 days, was 10.5 " long, and weighed approximately 12 oz (right on track). They gave me a few printed pictures for $15.
1. Side profile 2. Foot and leg 3. Front view of face with hand under chin
Monday, 15 August 2011
Crib Quilt and Binkie
I finished the quilt today! I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. Thanks to some great tips from an experienced quilter friend, I branched out and tried a free-form curly Q stitching pattern rather than just straight lines.
With the leftovers I made a little taggie binkie for little Silver to carry around and cuddle.
With the leftovers I made a little taggie binkie for little Silver to carry around and cuddle.
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Day in Victoria
I took a trip to Victoria yesterday. My DH went off on the hiking trip we had planned with a group of friends, but I had to back out of after the kidney stone. So instead, I decided to make use of the time to myself. I made an appointment with my counselor and arranged to meet some of my fellow VFC Pregnancy Pals for lunch.
I left plenty of time for the drive down because traffic in the summer can be unpredictable. I had a half hour to kill and low and behold my favorite fabric store was nearby. Oh dear, I can't be let loose in there without spending some money, and sure enough I found a fabric for the back of my crib quilt and some nice batting for the middle. Oh, and another soft & cuddly yellow fabric jumped off the shelf into my cart too. OK, it was good I only had 30 minutes.
It was so nice to see my counselor again. She nearly cried when she saw my belly because she wasn't sure if she'd ever see me sporting one of those. We talked about the pregnancy, debriefed the kidney stone scare, my work, my in-laws, our baby preparations -whew there was a lot. Anyway she gave me some good things to think about and as always, I left feeling better than I did going in.
I had another half hour to kill and since her office is right near a beach, so I went for a walk and sat in the warm sun on a log there. As I sat on the log, I made the observation that in the year that I've been seeing her it has always been too rainy and cool to enjoy the beach, until today. That is rather symbolic, I thought.
Next it was off to lunch. There were 5 women plus one very sweet baby. We met on ivf(dot)ca last spring/summer when we were all in the thick of fertility treatments at the same clinic. Most of us had met before a couple of times and have maintained contact since we got pregnant or had babies. Our bellies were an assortment of sizes as we have due dates in September, October, November, and myself in December. We yaked, and before we knew it a couple of hours had gone by.
After lunch I took a look in the maternity shop across the street (Bellies in Bloom). Yes, if anyone remembers way back in January this was the place I parked in front of when we the VFC Pals met for dinner, and I poached their wireless internet. Anyway, I found myself a nice dress to wear to a wedding we are attending in a couple of weeks. I tried on the few dresses I have at home recently and discovered that they all fit me like shirts instead of dresses. Yes, short hem lines might be in style, but this was beyond a short hemline in the front! So, thanks to a sale rack price plus a $10 coupon, for $35 I had myself a new dress that flatters my new figure. The photo makes the dress look skinny, but it's quite roomy below the bust.
One of the women invited me back to her place in the later afternoon. It was great to see her house and the adorable little nursery they've just completed. We sat and had drinks and ice cream on her sundeck.
At around 5pm I left Victoria for the drive home that usually takes just under 2 hours. 20 minutes later about 1/3 of the way up the Malahat mountain pass, the traffic was at a total standstill in both directions. Many people were turning around. Luckily I was able to find a shady patch where I turned off the engine and sat for the next hour just waiting. It didn't really bother me, aside from the fact that I was starting to get a little bit hungry, and needed to empty my bladder -again. There were impatient people wandering up and down the road with their phones trying to get some sense of what was going on. An ambulance came through, and I figured it could only be a bad accident. There were rumors of a 4 hour wait but soon traffic began moving from the other side and slowly we crept along awaiting our turn to get through the single lane alternating directions. Only a hundred cars ahead or so I saw the aftermath of the terrible crash that had closed the road (there is no alternative route around). Three cars were completely mangled and there was a large gasoline spill being cleaned up. I thought of the people involved and their families and had a sick feeling in my stomach and started to tear up.
Once safely over the pass I pulled off for a quick washroom stop, something to eat, and to collect myself for the drive home. I thought about how notorious that highway is for accidents and closures and how fortunate we have been to have stayed safe driving it so much this past couple of years. In fact, a tanker truck rolled and closed the road for over 24 hours just days after my egg retrieval. We were so lucky the timing was the way it was. I drove home at the speed limit, and noticed that very few of the other vehicles on the road were speeding. By 8:30 I was safely in my driveway and just about ready for bed.
Quite the jam packed day, but it was worth the drive. Today I'm staying put at home.
I left plenty of time for the drive down because traffic in the summer can be unpredictable. I had a half hour to kill and low and behold my favorite fabric store was nearby. Oh dear, I can't be let loose in there without spending some money, and sure enough I found a fabric for the back of my crib quilt and some nice batting for the middle. Oh, and another soft & cuddly yellow fabric jumped off the shelf into my cart too. OK, it was good I only had 30 minutes.
It was so nice to see my counselor again. She nearly cried when she saw my belly because she wasn't sure if she'd ever see me sporting one of those. We talked about the pregnancy, debriefed the kidney stone scare, my work, my in-laws, our baby preparations -whew there was a lot. Anyway she gave me some good things to think about and as always, I left feeling better than I did going in.
I had another half hour to kill and since her office is right near a beach, so I went for a walk and sat in the warm sun on a log there. As I sat on the log, I made the observation that in the year that I've been seeing her it has always been too rainy and cool to enjoy the beach, until today. That is rather symbolic, I thought.
Next it was off to lunch. There were 5 women plus one very sweet baby. We met on ivf(dot)ca last spring/summer when we were all in the thick of fertility treatments at the same clinic. Most of us had met before a couple of times and have maintained contact since we got pregnant or had babies. Our bellies were an assortment of sizes as we have due dates in September, October, November, and myself in December. We yaked, and before we knew it a couple of hours had gone by.
After lunch I took a look in the maternity shop across the street (Bellies in Bloom). Yes, if anyone remembers way back in January this was the place I parked in front of when we the VFC Pals met for dinner, and I poached their wireless internet. Anyway, I found myself a nice dress to wear to a wedding we are attending in a couple of weeks. I tried on the few dresses I have at home recently and discovered that they all fit me like shirts instead of dresses. Yes, short hem lines might be in style, but this was beyond a short hemline in the front! So, thanks to a sale rack price plus a $10 coupon, for $35 I had myself a new dress that flatters my new figure. The photo makes the dress look skinny, but it's quite roomy below the bust.
One of the women invited me back to her place in the later afternoon. It was great to see her house and the adorable little nursery they've just completed. We sat and had drinks and ice cream on her sundeck.
At around 5pm I left Victoria for the drive home that usually takes just under 2 hours. 20 minutes later about 1/3 of the way up the Malahat mountain pass, the traffic was at a total standstill in both directions. Many people were turning around. Luckily I was able to find a shady patch where I turned off the engine and sat for the next hour just waiting. It didn't really bother me, aside from the fact that I was starting to get a little bit hungry, and needed to empty my bladder -again. There were impatient people wandering up and down the road with their phones trying to get some sense of what was going on. An ambulance came through, and I figured it could only be a bad accident. There were rumors of a 4 hour wait but soon traffic began moving from the other side and slowly we crept along awaiting our turn to get through the single lane alternating directions. Only a hundred cars ahead or so I saw the aftermath of the terrible crash that had closed the road (there is no alternative route around). Three cars were completely mangled and there was a large gasoline spill being cleaned up. I thought of the people involved and their families and had a sick feeling in my stomach and started to tear up.
Once safely over the pass I pulled off for a quick washroom stop, something to eat, and to collect myself for the drive home. I thought about how notorious that highway is for accidents and closures and how fortunate we have been to have stayed safe driving it so much this past couple of years. In fact, a tanker truck rolled and closed the road for over 24 hours just days after my egg retrieval. We were so lucky the timing was the way it was. I drove home at the speed limit, and noticed that very few of the other vehicles on the road were speeding. By 8:30 I was safely in my driveway and just about ready for bed.
Quite the jam packed day, but it was worth the drive. Today I'm staying put at home.
Wednesday, 10 August 2011
Nearing the 1/2 way point
On Saturday I will reach the 20 week milestone -halfway there. On one hand I am anxious to get to the delivery, and hold my own baby in my arms, while on the other I'm enjoying the experience of being pregnant so much that I actually don't want it to be over so soon. Knowing this will likely be my only opportunity at it, I'm really treasuring each stage as I go along. So it's this fine balance of hurry up, but don't go so fast I miss something.
I was looking back at our 11 week ultrasound scan photos the other day, and felt a strange twinge of sadness that baby Silver will never be the same as that ever again. It's only the beginning of firsts and stages, jeez I'm going to be a sentimental mess if this continues. Still, I'm waiting to breathe out another little bit next month when we reach the 24 week fetal viability milestone. Then maybe I'll feel comfortable buying a few baby items and relax just a little more. I still wake up every morning and think about how lucky we are to have beaten the odds like that.
I was looking back at our 11 week ultrasound scan photos the other day, and felt a strange twinge of sadness that baby Silver will never be the same as that ever again. It's only the beginning of firsts and stages, jeez I'm going to be a sentimental mess if this continues. Still, I'm waiting to breathe out another little bit next month when we reach the 24 week fetal viability milestone. Then maybe I'll feel comfortable buying a few baby items and relax just a little more. I still wake up every morning and think about how lucky we are to have beaten the odds like that.
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
Crib Quilt and Startings of A Nursery
After having a sewer's block for quite some time about this quilt design, I've finally got it. I wanted something that could be for either gender and something that could last past the baby stage too. I'm also a fan of bright colours over pastels and the room is north facing a forested ravine so it needs the intensity. The room is already a rich yellow hue, and the dresser we have is a dark wood, so the bedding will complement that quite well.
My sister helped me go on a fabric shopping spree last week, and I couldn't wait to get home and get all the pieces cut out and pieced together. The top is now finished, and the quilt just needs a middle and a back attached. I'm sure that it will come together sometime before the end of the year.
I'm going to make a valance for above the window with the leftover green fabric. I also picked up some red upholstery fabric to recover a rocking chair, again with a leafy print.It should be a real jungle in there for our little monkey.
My sister helped me go on a fabric shopping spree last week, and I couldn't wait to get home and get all the pieces cut out and pieced together. The top is now finished, and the quilt just needs a middle and a back attached. I'm sure that it will come together sometime before the end of the year.
I'm going to make a valance for above the window with the leftover green fabric. I also picked up some red upholstery fabric to recover a rocking chair, again with a leafy print.It should be a real jungle in there for our little monkey.
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