THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life - June Edition
Updated: Jun 18, 2021
May was such a crazy month because I wasn’t at home at all. I’m feeling unbelievably relieved to be back at home now so that I can focus back in on my regular routine and healthy lifestyle! I usually love being away, but right now I want nothing more than to be at home!
First I was in Regina and I really loved getting to spend a bunch of quality time with my family. I only get to see them a few times a year, so I was glad to make the most of it!
Then Rachelle showed up and we went to the Regina Hedley concert equipped with our VIP passes! We don’t get to see the band in person these days, not like the old days, that’s for sure! So it was amazing to see them and to say hello. And you know, full-body hugs. *sigh*
After that Rachelle and I drove off to Edmonton! Edmonton still feels very much like home to me and I love being there so much. I always feel like one of the greatest versions of myself when I’m there!
And of course absolutely nothing is better than being reunited with my best-ever besties. ♥
The four of us went down to Calgary to see the Hedley concert there and spent one night in a hotel. Our hotel times are some of my most favourite times!
Amy was 33 weeks pregnant at the time of these photos and she should be having the baby this month!!! Obviously we could not be more excited about this!
I also got to see Lacey, who amazingly drove in to Calgary from Canmore to have dinner with us!
Lastly, we saw Hedley in Edmonton and tour 2016 was complete. It went by too fast and I was sad for it to be over. :( But I suppose that getting to go to five of their tour dates is certainly nothing to complain about!
Tim arrived in Edmonton and we spent the rest of our time there having tons of fun with our friends, eating too much food, and just being happy to be there.
After an amazing Edmonton time, we returned to Regina. We had Sarah and Shane’s engagement party at our favourite sushi restaurant, Enso! Our high school classmate Kenta owns/is the chef at Enso and he was so awesome and accommodating to us. He let us shut down the whole restaurant for free, plus gave all of the guests free dessert. When in Regina: EAT AT ENSO.
I loved getting to celebrate the first of Sarah’s wedding festivities and of course it was wonderful to see a bunch of my Regina ladyfriends! ♥
I spent the rest of my time in Regina taking it easy, hanging out with my family, and spending time with friends when I could!
I really loved getting to connect with so many of you over the past month and even if I didn’t get to see you for very long, I always value your friendship and the time that I do get. You guys are my team. ♥
BABY WATCH 2016:
Let’s face it, this whole baby thing has been at the forefront of my mind this entire month. Kinda hard for it not to be!!! Part of me still feels a lot like this...
...But I’m also really starting to come around and feel pretty excited. Mostly, I’m still in disbelief and fail to fully comprehend that this whole thing is going to result in a human child.
I found out that I was pregnant the same day that I left for Regina, so I’ve spent the entire pregnancy away from home and just winging it so far. So now I’ll catch you up on everything that has been happening!
The last thing that I’d told you guys was that we’d finished month #2 of trying and that we were waiting to see how that turned out. Apparently it turned out well! This is how we did it:
I used an app on my phone called Ovia to track my fertility and I totally recommend it! It made things so simple and easy! The above screenshot shows you pretty clearly what happened. We had the sex a bunch of days in a row and then waited. I started experiencing the exact same pregnancy symptoms as the previous month (on our Asia trip), except this time they stayed and got more obvious. The most obvious symptom for me was sore boobs. So I was feeling pretty sure about things, but didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I also experienced light cramps which were confusing because it seemed like they could also be indicating my period. You’re supposed to be able to take a pregnancy test on the day that you are expecting your period (again, the app was very helpful with this) but since I was leaving for Regina I decided to take the test a day early. I didn’t want Tim to miss out on it!! I was hopeful that one day wouldn’t make too much difference.
I got up in the morning and took the test. It showed up as “positive” in only a few seconds! I forced myself to wait the entire 3 minutes, just in case. Tim was still in bed, so I jumped back into the bed with the test in my hand and said “so this test is positive!” I think we were in a bit of shock and disbelief! I took a second pregnancy test just to be sure (they came in a two pack, ha ha) and it was positive right away as well.
We called Tim’s parents that morning to tell them the news! Since I was flying to Regina that afternoon, I waited to tell my parents in person! Everyone was very excited! That evening I posted the note to break the news to everyone else that we wanted to tell! I realize that it’s very early, but it’s important to me to be able to share news and have a support system of close people in place right from the beginning, no matter what happens.
And you guys are an amazing support system to have especially since of the 22 of you, 15 of you are already Moms! And 5 of you are also currently pregnant!
Month 1!
I started taking weekly photos (of course) at 4 weeks! (But some of you may know that those first two weeks are total BS, ha ha!)
I looked completely normal, of course. But I thought that it would be a good idea to get a photo of what the starting point is!
This is what happened inside of my body in the first month...
Look at that adorable ball of cells that we had made! :P
In month one, I felt totally normal and fine and good! My biggest symptoms were still the sore boobs and light cramps. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known that anything was even different. I knew right away that I wanted to have a midwife and a doula for my pregnancy and that I want to deliver in a hospital. Midwives are extremely difficult to get in Quebec (because everything that Quebec does needs to be difficult) so I called the organization immediately. I only ever got through to a voicemail and was waiting for a call back.
I intend to keep up my current schedule of attending yoga classes four days a week! I hope that I’ll be able to keep this up all the way throughout the pregnancy, transitioning into prenatal classes at some point.
So now you’re caught up on what happened in month one! Onto month two!
Month 2!
If it looks like I’ve started “showing” at all this month, let me assure you that it’s just a food baby due to all of the eating that I’d been doing and general bloatiness...
Before getting pregnant I was at 114 pounds (which was AWESOME and a perfect weight for me) and now I’m at 118 pounds. I’m excited to stay super healthy and strong and active throughout the entire pregnancy as much as possible! I want to get right back down to where I started when this is all over with!!
This is what happened inside of my body in the second month...
It’s definitely more of something now... Which is kinda terrifying. It has a FACE.
In month two, I felt worse. Some days I would still feel totally fine and amazing! But other days I felt like total crap. I was tired, bloated and nauseous. I vomited once. I learned pretty quickly that keeping a full stomach helped to keep the barfy feelings at bay. My box of Premium Plus crackers next to my bed (to eat as soon as I wake up) have become my best friend. But then having to feel “full” all the time isn’t exactly a wonderful feeling either. I’m doing my best to power through. Thankfully my appetite hasn’t been affected and I haven’t felt any aversions to food at all.
During week 5, while I was in Edmonton, the cramps that I’d been experiencing had gotten pretty strong. There was never any blood, but one night the cramps were so strong that they woke me up and were super intense for about half an hour. After that episode I decided to visit a walk-in clinic (conveniently the same place that I used to go to when I lived there). My main concern was that it could be an ectopic pregnancy and obviously I wanted to have that addressed medically if that was the case! The doctor had me get an ultrasound done, as well as a blood test and urine test. So that was good because at least I finally got medical confirmation that I am in fact pregnant, ha ha. And the ultrasound was neat because I could see that it was really in there. Not that I could see much of anything, just the yolk sack, really. But the technician said that it’s where it’s supposed to be. The doctor concluded that the cramps were just from my uterus blowing up all over the place, ha ha ha! So that was good to know! The cramps have also lessened quite substantially now, although I still feel them once in a while.
Two weeks after starting to call the midwife like every other day and leaving repeated messages I finally got a call back!! And they have space for me! I am so relieved that I’ll be able to go about this in my preferred way - what a load off of my shoulders! I have my first doula appointment on June 8th and my first midwife appointment on June 22nd. Really looking forward to getting those two initial things out of the way and rolling! Plus it’ll be nice to get a more official due date!
I made my very first baby purchases and maternity clothes purchases!
So now you’re completely baby-up-to-date!
And now it’s June and summery and wonderful!
Our June is mostly low-key, which is a giant relief. It’ll be really great to just be normal and at home while I finish off my first trimester.
The Montreal Fringe is going on, and of course I’d love to check out a few of those performances!
Sarah and Darren are coming to visit from Toronto and that’ll be great since they haven’t been to our place in Montreal yet!
And the end of the month is me and Tim’s 3rd wedding anniversary! We have some fun plans for this one. We’re going to see the new Cirque du Soleil show called LUZIA and then we’re having dinner at a very famous restaurant called Joe Beef (the 4th best restaurant in Canada this year) which we haven’t tried yet! I’m super looking forward to that day!!
THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!:
June 14th is Amy Bull’s 8th wedding anniversary!
How has this much time already passed??? I hope that you and Ray get to have a special celebration - your last one as a family of three!
June 20th is Laura Young’s 1st wedding anniversary!
I hope that you and Matt’s first year of wedded bliss has been magical! If your anniversary is half as beautiful as your wedding day, it’ll be perfect!
June 24th is Sarah Turnbull’s 34th birthday!
I hope that you have a super special day filled with tons of spoiling from Shane! I love you so much and I’m so grateful for every single year of our friendship because each one brings new adventures and new life experiences. I love that you’re always by my side through it all. I’m so excited that we get to spend the next year planning the most perfect wedding for you!
June 30th is MY 3rd wedding anniversary!
We did it for another year! I’m so excited to embark on our next chapter of life with this incredible guy. ♥
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