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Friday, April 29, 2011

19 Weeks Pt. 2

I guess it's true that all good things come to those who wait. Let's begin by saying that Pauly has had a slow start in mastering some things. Not abnormally slow but slower than I'm used to. This week made up for a lot.

The little dude has never liked tummy time so getting him to crawl has been a work in progress. I can happily say he has mastered the art. In his own special way of course! He started by sitting up on his own. Easy peasy. From there he managed to lean on his hands with one leg extended to the side and the other still tucked under his bum. That's where he was for a while. He would rock back and forth lifting his bum off the ground but never managed to get his bent leg out from under him. And when you'd try to help him out...plop! On his tummy he'd be and the whining and crying would begin. Now he has figured out that he can lift his extended leg and drag the other to move foreword. Tah dah! The Pauly crawl. There is no stopping him now :)
And to add the cherry on top, the following day he started going into a sitting position on his own. It's actually very amusing. He doesn't like rolling over so it you put him on his tummy, he'll be sitting up and crawling in less than 5 seconds. My how much he's grown in the last week.

This made for a very happy Easter. The weekend started with a Fish and Chips dinner with my in-laws. We had a good time chatting and dining together. Then Easter Sunday was spent at my sister's. Again good food and good conversation. The kids also had a blast playing together except for Ciarán. He decided to have a loooong nap.

For a long while I've been contemplating on replacing my Hoover vacuum with a very coveted Dyson. Now, my hoover isn't a bad vacuum but over the years I was spending more and more time trying to get all the dog hair out of the carpet. I probably would have put up with it except for one important point. Pauly was going to be crawling and picking things up off the floor, and I didn't want everything covered in dog hair. So over the last few months I've been researching and watching for sales. It didn't take long for me to decide which Dyson model I wanted but these vacuums NEVER go on sale. So I though of other ways I could get one cheaper. I even e-mailed Dyson to ask if they had any promotions or coupons I could take advantage of. They only directed me to their refurbished section. I didn't have a problem buying a refurbished vacuum but they didn't have the model I wanted. I thought about picking one up in the USA since the dollar is so strong but they didn't sell the model I wanted there. So it was back to the old drawing board. I did a little more research and found that if you subscribe to Bed Bath and Beyond, they'll send you a 20% off coupon and keep you updated on sales and other discounts available. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to use this coupon on a Dyson but what did I have to loose? So I got my coupon and it so happens that Dyson vacuums were $100 off at The Bay the weekend I decided to look into using my coupon. You read it right. The vacuum that never goes on sale, was on sale. But, it was still cheaper to pay full price and get 20% off than only getting $100 off. So I called Bed Bath and Beyond to find out if they had my model in stock and the lady on the phone surprised me by saying they cost the same as the sale price at The Bay, but they didn't have any in the store. I said "oh, you've got them on sale too!"
She said "no that's our regular price."
"Really?" I said. "OK well what's the next closest store that has them in stock?"
"Oakville. But you might want to call them just to be sure"
"OK I will. And I'll be able to use my coupon to buy the Dyson"
"Yes, absolutely"
I was so excited. I called the Oakville store and they quoted the same price and told me they had 3 in the store. So off I went. But when I got there (about an hour later), the ticketed price was not the price they told me. I could feel my blood begin to boil so I took a deep breath and walked to Customer Service. I calmly explained what happened and they called the manager for me. I once again calmly explained to him what happened and he told me he could give me the quoted price but he couldn't take my coupon. I asked why and he said that they weren't taking that coupon for the Dyson. That's when the cashier piped up and said the STORE manager said they were allowed to. So the guy let me use the coupon. So all in all I saved a whopping $230 on vacuum that NEVER goes on sale :)
I was very happy. And now I have a vacuum that picks up all the dog hair (amongst many other microscopic particles) and it will "never loose suction". Thank you James Dyson.
As for the lil' bean, this week he/she is the size of medium zucchini which is about 6 inches crown to rump. He/she is now covered in vernix to protect it from the amniotic fluid and the skin underneath appears red due to the visible blood vessels. There are motor neurones developing which are nerves that will connect the muscles to the brain. And along with that comes sensory development. The brain is designating areas for smell, touch, taste, hearing and vision. Under the gums, there are permanent teeth buds developing behind the already formed milk teeth buds. His/her arms and legs are now proportioned to each other and the rest of the body. There is hair sprouting from the scalp this week as well.

Tasty Corn

Here's a little video of Paul eating a tasty piece of corn on the cob.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

18 Weeks Pt. 2

I'd like to start off by saying that I've finally experienced the pregnancy cravings that everyone keeps asking about. With Pauly it was different. I usually though of something I'd like to have, went out to get it and I was satisfied. Not so this time around.

It all started when I spotted a grapefruit at the grocery store a couple of weeks ago. It looked too delicious to leave behind so I bought 2 of them. Now, I've always liked grapefruit but, before this lil' bean I usually thought of it as an alternative to oranges. You know...I've had the sweet now let's have the sour. Well, after eating that first grapefruit I've never craved anything so bad. It's a good thing that these big sour balls are good for you because if they were filled with cocoa and sugar (aka chocolate), I'd be ruined. I had to force myself not to eat that second one right after the first. Instead I had it for breakfast the next morning. Then I had to deal with wanting another one and not having any in the house. So I called Paul and like the fantastic husband that he is, he stopped at the grocery store and brought home 2 more.

I paced them out this time. Only because there was a Citrus Truckload Sale happening that coming Wednesday. What is a Citrus Truckload Sale you ask? Exactly what it sounds like. A truck full of boxes containing navel oranges and ruby red grapefruit. The next logical question is how much is in a box? Well you can either purchase 20 lbs of oranges, or 20 lbs of grapefruit. Can you guess which one I bought? If you guessed grapefruit than you win. And what would you be winning? Nothing. Except for maybe a good laugh. After all, what am I going to do with 20 lbs of grapefruit? Well, I shared it. Actually I split the box with my sister. So over the last 4 days I've been having one grapefruit a day and my craving is still going strong. So next time (as embarrassing as this might be), I think I'll keep the entire box to myself because 10 lbs of grapefruit only gives you about 8 juicy, sour globes of goodness! The only problem...I think Wednesday was the last truckload sale for the season in our area. The next closest sale is about 50 minutes east of me. Is it worth it? We'll see once I polish off these last few grapefruits!

A few days before Good Friday my sister-in-law was telling me that the Real Canadian Superstore was having a sale at their photo studio. We decided to take Pauly and Logan in for some shots. They seemed to of had a good time (especially Logan) and the pictures will be a good keepsake of their first Easter together. The one down fall is that the special only included 5 minutes in front of the camera and we couldn't get Pauly to smile. Oh well. Maybe next year we'll get a group shot of all four cousins. I can just emagin how cute those pictures will be.

I also went to see the Midwife this week. They offered to do some extra exams since I haven't seen my family doctor in over a year. I quickly agreed since I like my midwives much more than my GP. Everything checked out fine. Thyroid feels fine, no lumps, no abnormal swelling in the abdomen, no varicose veins and my reflexes are ship shape. And then there's the usual bloodpressure and fetal heartrate check. All is good.
This week my lil' bean is the size of a bell pepper. All the organs are in place and will be getting more mature here on out. His/her translucent skin is now covered in lanugo and vernix will soon be on the way. The skin has actually formed into two layers this week, the epidermis and the dermis. Taste buds are starting to form and the bones are continuing to harden.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

17 Weeks Pt. 2

I would like to start by bragging about how great I feel.

I think 15 weeks of feeling ill gives me the right to gloat.

I feel FANTASTIC!! There, I'm done now :)

Things that have happened this week (in no particular order):
1) My sister came for a visit with my Godson Ciarán
2) I went to the Babytime show
3) Got my car repaired
4) Went to brunch with my sister-in-law who is expecting at the end of April

As you might have read, my sister had her 3rd child in January and I've had the luxury of seeing her more often. We live about 45 minutes from each other so usually we only see each other a couple times a month. Me being a homebody and her caring for 3 kids is usually the reason for our rare get togethers. Now that we're both not working and winter is subsiding, it's much easier to find time to do sister stuff. Mostly hang out and talk or window shop. I've really been enjoying it.

One evening this week Paul decided to go to Blockbuster with Pauly. A father and son outing he called it. When he got home he asked me if I had noticed anything weird going on with the Element. I said no and he told me there was a grinding noise coming from the brakes. I said I thought it was the usual noise you hear after the car has been sitting in the rain. He told me that it's the same noise but the rain wasn't causing it this time. He suspected the caliper was seizing. And as you would expect, I was not happy. Mostly because I had repaired this exact problem on the Tiburon less than a year before we traded it in. So I took the Element to the mechanic as it was too big a job for Paul to do on his own. The diagnosis was not only that the caliper that needed to be replaced but also the brakes and rotors. $$$ So the money I had been saving for a Dyson vacuum was relocated to the Element fund along with extra cash that would have been better spent on the new baby. C'est la vie.

As a consequence of not having a vehicle, I missed going to the Babytime show with my sister-in-law and mother-in-law. It was something I had really wanted to do since I wasn't able to attend last years baby show. So instead I kept myself busy until I heard back from the auto shop. By mid afternoon I had my car back, in working order but it was too late to meet the girls at the show. So instead I called up my sis to ask her to join me the following day. She unfortunately couldn't make it and I ended up going to the Babytime show with Pauly. A mom and son outing I'll call it! It was what you'd expect. Lots of vendors selling products or services and handing out samples. I spent a good portion of the late morning and early afternoon there and collected a giant goody bag of free stuff.

The next day was a little more slow paced. I left Pauly with daddy at headed off to brunch with my sister-in-law and a bunch of her family and friends. She is due at the very end of April with her second son and thought it would be nice to have one more get together before he arrived. It was also as expected. Good conversation over good food. There was only one thing that went wrong...I didn't bring a gift. I have a gift for the little one. It's gift wrapped and waiting for his arrival but I never thought to bring it with me. So while my sister-in-law opened gifts I sat there, wanting to kick myself in the ass for not thinking that maybe, just maybe gifts would be a part of this brunch. At least she can look forward to opening one more gift when her son finally decides it's to time meet his parents.

This week my lil' bean is now the size of a small pomegranate. The skeleton is starting to change from soft cartilage to bone and the umbilical cord is growing and getting stronger and thicker. My lil' bean has also started to put on a little bit of fat. He/she will take the next several months to gain the body fat needed to maintain their body temperature when they are born. I can't wait to get another look at this little person growing inside.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

16 Weeks Pt. 2

This week contained a wide variety of feelings. At first I was feeling nervous. Then I was feeling tired. Followed closely be sickly, tired (again) and finally amazing. Here's why...

Tuesday I had my appointment with the midwife where I was expecting results from my blood work and ultrasound. You always hope for the best but never know until the day arrives. Happily I can announce my glucose is low and iron is high. As for the scan, everything looks normal. Yippee! And I'm officially due on September 22, 2011

Being tired is a mandatory part of your first trimester but for some reason it poured into my second. It might of had something to do with having a cold and caring for a 9 month old baby who just doesn't want to sit still. I'd been trying to take it easy but there were times where I had to dig deep for that last ounce of energy in order to do those unavoidable things like feed the dog and myself!
My cold started out as a runny nose and escalated to congestion three or four days later. I was using Vicks successfully for a few days and thought I was getting better but I wasn't. One day I woke up and my nose was stuffy, my throat hurt and my head was pounding. The midwife informed me of what I could take to ease some of my symptoms and I promptly went home to slept while my mom watched Pauly. I decided instead to head out in the morning to deal with it. When I got up, I felt better. No headache, congestion or soar throat. Very strange. And that's when it all ended. Since Wednesday I haven't felt sick at all. And to top it all off, the weather was amazing this weekend. I even took Pauly to the park for the first time. Boy did he love the swing. I'll have to make it a routine when the weather is good.



This week my lil' bean has grown to be the size of an avocado, about 4 1/2 inches long. He/she is dancing around and probably sucking their fingers or toes, and playing with the umbilical cord. The head is now being held more upright and the neck is very developed. The eyes are still moving under the lids and the ears are almost in their permanent position. The heart is working to pump 25 quarts of blood every day and this will only increase as he/she grows. There is a growth spurt expected for the next few weeks and my lil' bean will be doubling his/her weight. As of now I am feeling great and hope it stays this way.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Clapping Baby

Here's a video of Pauly that I thought was too cute not to share.

Monday, April 4, 2011

15 Weeks Pt. 2

Right now I'm trying to figure out if I'll really be able to pull off at least one post a week like I did for my previous pregnancy. I think not...although I will try my best. Usually I'm so tired by the end of the night all I want to do is put my feet up and enjoy some quiet time before bed. And of course bedtime has changed. It used to be sometime between 11pm and 12am but not anymore. I'm usually in bed and asleep by 9:30 or 10pm.
Yes that's right. Early to bed and early to rise.
In my pre-baby world I though I could manage on 5 hours of sleep a night. And for the most part I did. In my post-baby world I value every single minute of shut eye. Playing, feeding, changing and traveling with a kid is tiring work.

As for my pregnancy, each day is getting better. My nausea is only present when I go more than 2 or 3 hours without eating. So food is constantly on my mind. I've also reached that point where I go from sort of hungry to starving in less than 2 minutes. And of course it's difficult to find healthy snacks while caring for Pauly but I'm sure I'll figure something out.

This week my lil' bean is about the size of an apple with legs that are now longer than the arms. Elbows and knees are able to move more freely and the eyebrows and scalp hair have begun to grow. The eyes can now sense light behind the eyelids even though they are still fused shut, and in a few weeks my lil' bean will be able to hear my voice.