THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life - December Edition
Updated: Jun 18, 2021
Freakin’ December.
This seemed so far away... Until it wasn’t.
At the beginning of November we went to Muskoka for our last Golem cottage weekend of the year. The most exciting part about this was getting to meet our newest niece Madison, of course, who was three weeks old at the time. She was super tiny and sweet and adorable. She looks so much like Tim’s brother. It was blowing my mind that I’m going to have my own one of these soon.
We had general awesome family hangouts and I also got Tim to take a few maternity pics of me while we were there. I wanted to take advantage of the pretty outdoor environment since our actual maternity photography was going to be done in a studio.
We also did our annual Golem family photo (which we usually take at Christmas) since Tim and I won’t be going to London for Christmas this year. Every year that you see this photo from now on will just have more and more children in it... Until there are like eight of them or something... o_O
Then I flew off to Regina for a week! I was at 31 weeks and the airlines let you fly up until 36 weeks of pregnancy. I had a note from my midwife just in case anyone had a problem with me. But not a single person, employee or fellow passenger, even bat an eye about it. So that was good!
Regina was such a nice time. I felt like I was able to have a lot of valuable opportunities to connect with a bunch of you, which doesn’t always happen easily. A very wonderful surprise was that Nicole and Rachelle drove all the way from Edmonton so that they could be there! Talk about going above and beyond the friendship call of duty!! They literally jumped into my bed (while I was sleeping) when they arrived and it was the best. ♥
Sarah is way into body paint and I was more than happy to be her preggo canvas on several occasions!! Lilies all over this baby? Um, yes.
I had my Baby Shower and it was awesome. My Mom wanted it to be a fancy party with nice food and pretty decorations, so it was held at Hotel Sask. I wanted it to be a hippy party, which is where the Mother Blessing part comes in. It was totally perfect and the best of both worlds! Thank you all so much for indulging my weird yoga hippy side, friends!! Ha ha!
I am so grateful to everyone who was able to attend (Candice also traveled to be there from Saskatoon!) and to my Mom for organizing everything (I hear that Sarah helped a lot as well!). You guys are all the best. ♥
And thank you SO MUCH to everyone who brought/sent me a bead for my awesome woman-power necklace!!! I love you and your beautiful notes made me cry! I’m going to make the beads into a mala-style necklace to wear during labour that will remind me of your presence and of my circle of love and support. It'll basically be the most special thing that I've ever owned. You WILL see pictures of me wearing this during my labour and you will be by my side helping me through!! ♥
If you didn’t get around to sending me a bead, there’s still time! I’d absolutely love for you to be a part of it! ♥
5718 Rue Saint-Urbain
Montreal, Quebec
H2T 2X3
And if any of you liked this idea and want to make your own necklace for your upcoming/future labours - let me know! I would absolutely LOVE to send you a bead!!!
We’ve started to get ready for Christmas around our house and are embracing the fact that this Christmas won’t involve traveling or any of the usual things that we normally do. Now that I’m comfortable with the idea, I think that it’ll be kinda nice. Our tree is up and it feels all festive all up in here!
BABY WATCH 2016:
As of yesterday, I have now reached 34 weeks of pregnancy, which means that I have been pregnant for over eight months! Time is going by frighteningly fast now. You’d think that I would be more mentally prepared by this point, but I’m not sure that I am.
Month 8!
Thankfully I still feel really good, despite my ever-growing size!
I am now at 144 pounds, which means that I have now gained 30 pounds since this all began. I’m feeling good about this!
This is what happened inside of my body in the eighth month...
Previously, I had been referring to Month 5 of pregnancy as the “party month” because everything was so easy during that month and I felt so great. I would say that Month 8 is in second place as a pretty smooth and easy month! Month 7 had been a bit achy, but now those problems have all but disappeared. I feel more energized and positive than ever and just plain happy! I had been a bit down about dialing back my yoga practice, but as it turns out, I’m doing just as much yoga as before (3-4 days a week), the only difference is that they’re Prenatal classes now. And on the days when I don’t have it in me to do a class, I sit on my yoga mat and meditate instead. When we were in New York City we walked an average of 20,000 steps per day and climbed an average of 28 floors per day (for three days)!! So I’m still moving a lot, keeping active, and keeping myself in shape. I still don’t need to get up during the night to pee, but when I do have to pee I’ve gotta get myself to a toilet immediately or else I’ll pee my pants. My dignity has never felt so good! HA HA HA! I’m not really experiencing any so-called “pregnancy brain” and haven’t noticed myself doing any strange or forgetful things. I still feel pretty sharp! Still no backaches, stretch marks, insomnia, and no Braxton-Hicks contractions yet either. I feel like I would know them if I felt them?? Constipation threatened to become an issue, but I made short work of that problem! Ha ha! (So, so much fiber...) And heartburn has gotten a bit worse, but is nothing that a TUMS can’t handle.
I had my first Prenatal Massage while in Regina at Just For You Day Spa (a shower gift from my Mom), which was GLORIOUS!!! And now I want them every day. Ha ha ha! I also attended a nice Prenatal Yoga class at Bodhi Tree Yoga. While at this class I learned that the entire Regina region only has four midwives available to them, which I found quite shocking. And I thought it was difficult to get one in Montreal...
On November 17th I had what should be my final ultrasound at 32 weeks. It was necessary for me to have this one done because my placenta was a bit low at the previous ultrasound and they needed to check that it had moved up and out of the way. Which it has! So that was very good news. Both a technician and a doctor went through and did all of the baby’s anatomical measurements again and everything looks healthy and great! They estimated that the baby weighed 4.4 pounds at that point. Again, we told them that we did not want to know the gender, so they had us cover our eyes at some parts. The baby is positioned head-down like it’s supposed to be. They gave us three new photos of the baby, but it’s so much more cramped in there now that it’s way more difficult to see things nicely. The best one was this closeup of the baby’s face!!
...And now I’m more convinced than ever that it’s a baby boy and that we’ve actually just cloned Tim...
While we were at the hospital having the ultrasound done we went up to the maternity ward to ask about booking a hospital tour. We were informed that they “no longer do hospital tours.” So that was disappointing. We got to see a bit of the ward and rooms just by walking around, but that was it. This officially solidified that I am going to be giving birth at the birthing centre. Both Tim and I feel very confident and pleased with this choice!
On November 18th we had or first official one-on-one meeting with our doula, Laurel. She came to our house to meet up and we chatted for about an hour and a half. In this meeting we mostly went over basic questions about us and our general desires for the birth. Everyone seems to be on the same page. Having a doula seems like such an invaluable service to me now and I am so thankful that we chose to have one. We talked about all of our preferences and it’s so nice and reassuring that we’ll have someone there who has gotten to know us and who will be keeping our best interests at heart. She is going to help me rock this so hard!! On November 21st I had my 5th midwife appointment. This is the first one that Tim didn’t attend with me because he needed to be at work. He didn’t miss much, it was pretty much more of the same. The appointment took about 45 minutes and I was weighed, urine was tested, blood pressure was taken, stomach was measured, and baby’s heartbeat was listened to. Everything was happy and healthy! The baby was still positioned head-down and seems to be staying that way. Marie-Ève talked about some of the upcoming tests that I’ll need to do, none of which were a surprise to me. I also told her that I can feel the baby hiccuping all the time now and she said that this means that the baby is swallowing a lot and likes to taste everything. She said that he/she is a “gourmand!” My foodie baby is happening! :D My next midwife appointment was scheduled to be in three weeks.
On November 22nd I had my maternity photography shoot (at 32 weeks) with Bianca Morello Photography! It was a ton of fun. We shot the whole thing in her studio and she had someone there to do my hair and makeup. Tim showed up near the end so that we could get some shots with him as well. I absolutely love the work that she did! She completely understood who I am/we are and the vision that I had for the pictures. Worth every penny! She is going to be shooting our newborn photography as well.
On December 1st (today!) we had our second meeting with our doula. She came to our house again and we talked for another hour and a half or so. This time we focused a lot more on the actual labour and delivery, and how all of that is going to go. She seems to think that I have a really good, positive attitude about it all. And that my yoga background is going to be very beneficial and puts me “ahead of the game.” I’m prepared to go with the flow as much as is needed, and I really do feel confident in my whole team. If all is going well and Tim feels up to it, we’re hoping that Tim will be the one to catch the baby! (Midwives are cool with that!) We also talked about what is going to happen with the placenta... Firstly, I definitely want to look at it! But I’m also strongly considering encapsulating it. Yes, so that I can ingest it. It’s supposed to really help with postpartum depression, which I’m 50/50 concerned about. You know, because of the whole life-stealing baby and all... Laurel is going to put me in touch with some ladies who can take care of that for me. Couldn’t hurt!
Now you’re completely baby-up-to-date!
Okay December!! I can’t believe that I’m saying that! I feel like it snuck up on me even more than it usually does. I feel like it should still be summer and that I should still be saying that “the baby is far away.” December is more appointments, but also fairly quiet, like a calm before a storm.
Next Tuesday my yoga studio asked me to be a part of a photo shoot that they’re doing to advertise their prenatal and family yoga classes. These photos will be used on their website, etc. I’m pretty excited to have been approached about that!
BioWare has their Christmas party, which is always epic. Can’t wait to see what it’s like this year!
And then holy crap, Christmas and New Years!! As I mentioned before, we are staying at home in Montreal this year. It’s just too close to the baby’s due date to travel and I wouldn’t be allowed to fly anymore anyway. It’ll be strange, that’s for sure. This will be the first time that Tim or I have ever spent Christmas without our families. I’ll miss the craziness of traveling around and seeing everyone for sure. But now that I’m used to the idea, I think that it’ll be kinda nice for Tim and I to have that quiet time alone together before everything happens. Tim gets a week off of work for the holidays, so we’ll still have our own little Christmas and a Christmas dinner... It’ll be pretty cute. I keep referring to it as our “sad Christmas,” but actually it should be nice. :)
I wish you all beautiful holidays surrounded by everyone that you love! I will be thinking of you! ♥
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