She has arrived!!

Please welcome Jorja Marlene Maslany! Born Jan. 23 at 1240 weighing in at 3. 18kg and 49cm long. She has a ton of blond hair, and at this point blue eyes! Pretty different from her parents who have brown hair and either green or brown eyes. Luckily, she has enough features of us that we are sure we took the correct baby home, haha.
As much as labour and delivery was NOT how we wanted it to go at all (emergency csection after 2.5 hours of pushing, and toxic doses of local anesthetic), and breastfeeding is a bust, we love our little monkey to pieces! She is so beautiful and the light of our lives.
My hubby is amazing as well. So loving, so caring, so great. He has really taken to fatherhood. In fact, so much so that he was sad today when I wouldn't let him feed her. He has also sang her her first lullaby - a German march song (translated as "The Tank Song"). She loves it!

Belly photos - last set

This is 37 weeks. Not too much longer to go!




39 weeks! I was very fortunate to not get any stretch marks during my pregnancy, so my belly is still quite nice. Now, just the waiting.....

On her own terms

I have made a big decision. OK, not that big. I was trying all these different things to get baby to come: Red Raspberry Leaf tea, pineapple, bouncing on a yoga ball, evening primrose oil, spicy food.... None of it has worked. I am sick of the tea and everything else. So, I have decided to let her come on her own terms. Really, let's be realistic. That is what is going to happen anyway.
I shouldn't be rushing this, I guess. You really have a short period of time to enjoy your pregnancy. And, unless you are the Duggers, you aren't going to be pregnant every year and have 19 kids (Yuck). So, you should try to enjoy it. And I have. I have had such a good pregnancy. I really can't complain. No complications, no problems. I am still fairly small, haven't gained too much weight, and don't even have stretch marks!
But, it is getting to be enough. Today at work I felt just awful. I was short of breath even just sitting there. Then, I had belly pains, gas and bloating. Not to mention her stretching into my liver and giving me gallbladder pains. So, I am not enjoying everything. And, I do wish she would come. But, I am still not going to do anything about it. She will come eventually. In the meantime, I have some projects and work to keep me busy. Only 9 days until my due date. The countdown is on. Now, if she will just listen and not go postdates!

sleep?

It seems like all I have done during this pregnancy is worry. In the beginning it was: Is there two? Is she OK? Is there an anomaly? Then, it was: Is she growing enough? Is she OK?
Now, it's: What will labour be like? Will I be OK? What will it be like at home with her? Will I be a good mom? How will we cope?
Does it ever get better/easier? Do you ever stop worrying? I am thinking not. I am an adult (who will not reveal her age), and I know my parents still worry about me. I guess it is just something I will have to get used to.
Unfortunately, it is affecting my sleep. That, and my constantly stuff nose (although I don't have a cold). Being unable to breathe, and unable to turn my brain off, makes for very few hours of ZZZzzs. It would be nice to have a nap some days, which I do some days, but I am still working, so most days not. Alas.
Now that I am 38 weeks, I am starting to really want to meet this little girl. There are all these old wives tales about bringing on labour, but I don't actually think anything works. I think I am just destined to wait. As long as she is still OK, I should be happy right?
Well, I will post more belly pics and baby pics hopefully soon!!

Belly photos - set 4

Well, I am getting closer and closer to the end of this pregnancy. There are only a few short weeks left. It has gone by so fast! I may have one more set of photos, or not, I guess we'll see!
This is 33 weeks. I have finally developed a little basketball. She is a wiggly little worm in there!



This is 35 weeks. People are commenting now on my belly. Some say, "Wow, look at your belly!", and to that I say, "it should be big, there is only 5 weeks or less left!". Some comment on how small I still am, and to that I say, "She is measuring perfect!". Everyone has some comment.
I think she is running out of room in there. She expresses her protest by kicking me in the ribs and pressing on my gallbladder giving me pain! She is still a wiggly worm. Her and my hubby have a new game where he tickles her feet (once he asks me if that is what he is feeling), and she kicks him back! I just laugh through all this.
Peanut still does not have an actual name, but she sure managed to get the loot this Christmas. Everything from clothes to toys and books to her very first "Tiffany's" ornament! She is spoiled already!


I am hoping that as my life changes yet again, I will be able to document some of the new challenges and adventures! See you in the New Year!

ghost of christmas future

Merry Christmas, everyone!!
This year will be VASTLY different than next year. This year, my husband and I worked on Christmas Day (today). I am only emergency call-back, and am hoping to not have to come in, but he is Labour and Birth and has to be there all day. We went to my parent's house yesterday, and to the in-laws tomorrow. It was quiet, with only adults. The only hint of something different to come were the presents addressed to "Daddy" and "Mommy" with baby gifts inside.
Next year will be SO different, I can only imagine. Santa will visit, there will be much merriment and laughter, and a little bit of chaos and disarray! I think it will be great! "Baby Maslany" will be almost a year old. Sure she won't remember, or really get it, but it will still be fabulous.
So, this year, we have a quiet time, and look forward to what awaits us next year.
Cheers, and Merry Christmas!

Child care woes

I can't believe what this blog has become. It really reflects how all encompassing being pregnant is, at least for me. I am SO happy I didn't try to attempt this while in residency. I just wouldn't have been able to focus. Good job to those who did, but not me! And, waiting gave my hubby and I a chance to have some fun and do some traveling without kids.
Now, however, I have concerns that I never thought I would have before we got pregnant: Child care. A friend of mine said that I should have put my name on a waiting list for Day Cares MONTHS ago. What?! This kid isn't even born yet! I thought, surely not in Saskatchewan. Our population is not that big, it can't be that bad. Well, clearly I am wrong. I found a fantastic Day Care yesterday that will take a child as young as I want, and they have a wait list - over a YEAR!
So, now I am freaked. How does one find childcare? Do you go the nanny route? And if so, live-in or live-out? Do you go the Day Care route? Or do you bite the bullet and be a stay-at-home parent? The last, I have to admit, is the least pallatable. I didn't go to school for 14 years to spend my time at home. So, if you decide one way, how do you go about setting it up? How do you find someone you trust to leave your child with? There are a lot of crazies out there.
I am hoping we will be lucky and find something suitable. We do have 7 months to find something, so cross your fingers!!