one month

One month of waiting and all you get is this tiny blog post of an update into the most intense month of our lives. It is all I can do for now, bear with me, there is still a lot going on for us!

Gavin Mathieu B. born on February 14th, 2012

3:34pm, 51 cm, 3.57kg (7lbs, 14 oz)

Brothers

Our new island home

So good to have my arms full of this...

Alex and I make a yummy meal with a fresh catch from the local market

Pool Time!

still waiting

Today was a day we meant to spend organizing and packing stuff up, but instead we had other things that took up our time. One of those things was going to the hospital for some monitoring as suggested by the doctor. Nothing was wrong or concerning to us, it was just a check-up. Everything still looks perfect, his heart is beating normally, and he's moving well. I'm dialated only 1.5cm, so I'm definitely not in labor yet. During the monitoring, I had a small contraction, but didn't even feel it. Alex is supposed to start his new job by next Monday, so we are getting a little stressed that he will end up leaving before us. sigh.

Luc is mid-throw here.

This morning we had to go down to the seafront, which was alive with waves because of a cyclone passing through the day before. We barely got any rain from it, just some big gusts of wind, really. It is supposed to hit Madagascar really hard.

pregnancy update - are we there yet?

I still look like this...

we thought he might want to join us on the night of the full moon,

but instead he just played soccer in my belly

Hope he'll get here soon!

36 weeks...plus a few days

We're SOOOO close now folks.
I have been telling Alex that I feel like this baby is going to come early. I can just feel it. Just like how I could feel we were definitely going to have a girl. Yeah, so count on that.
I wouldn't mind if he showed up early though. I'm ready. I mean, I haven't set up the bed, or changing table, or washed out all the baby linens and other items we used 3 years ago, not to mention even packed a hospital bag, but you know, I'm ready.

That's a lot of baby right there

While this picture clearly shows the belly, it also looks like I forgot to put on underwear. I assure you, it's there

2 weeks ago, you could say I was in a full-blown nesting phase. While that desire still persists, we have other issues coming at us that put me in a 180° change of direction. I still cannot divluge details, but I assure you, when we know something is sure, you'll know.

pregnancy update-between 30 and 31 weeks

I can't believe I'm this far into the pregnancy now. It's gone by faster than I thought it would, and certainly faster than it felt the first time. During my pregnancy with Luc I felt like it would NEVER end, and I would just whine about wanting my body back for myself.

There's nothing huge to report at this stage except that I'm getting huge. I feel like a penguin, but a lot less cute. I've gained something like 7kg so far, and it's getting uncomfortable. I move slower, and with a lot less grace.
And wow, looking at this picture, I guess it's time to cut my hair again. It's been nice to have faster growing hair, so I am trimming it as little as possible in order to keep the length. Pretty soon I will have it up all the time anyways because it will be oppressively hot. Enough about hair.
Last update I mentioned naming the baby something that starts with a G, and perhaps I worded it a little awkwardly, because then my family was asking questions like "why does the name have to start with a G?" No, no, it's just a name I found, that is on a very short list of other possibilities. And by short I mean there's only one other name, one that Alex came up with, and that one starts with a T.

The fatigue is back. I've got to rest more than ever now, which is hard because I like to be productive sometimes.
I haven't made a single thing yet for the baby. Will all those projects happen like I originally planned? I don't know. Right now I'm trying to focus on a few various house projects that need to be completed beforehand. Alex has some extra vacation days to use up before the end of January, so hopefully we'll be able to use those to our benefit.

playing in the rain/photoshoot

There is nothing quite like playing and splashing in the rain when you're a kid. The rain may be cold but the sensation of it hitting your skin and the feel of water beneath your feet is so good, you don't even notice a chill. It seems like the rainy season is upon us now. Sunny, beautiful mornings turn into very wet afternoons. The kind of days where you have to start your laundry early or it will be soaked before it dries. (haha, boring point, I know!) Alex and I love watching Luc in moments like this. He had such a great time, that we turned it into a photoshoot, (mainly because the video camera was out of battery) for Luc and for me. We haven't taken as many belly pictures for this pregnancy, but don't worry, I'll be sharing those later.

he was running up and down the length of the back of our house

Ok, one belly pic, here you go

handsome guy!

some fears

These pregnancy updates wouldn't be complete unless I addressed some of the anxiety I've been feeling recently. At one point this week, it kept me up until 3am, but I couldn't get it written here.

that's Luc in there

I worry there will be an issue during labor that will force me to give up on the idea of having a drug-free birth.
I worry something will be unhealthy or abnormal for this boy.
I worry about the pain and healing process after the birth.
I worry about feeling overstressed. (getting stressed about having stress in the future, I know, it's crazy.)
I worry about not being able to breastfeed.
I worry about how my (and our) parenting will evolve once this new babe arrives.
I worry how Luc will react and then interact with his new brother.

the first day back home with Luc

Writting it all down helps me to make more sense of it and simply get it out of my system. Looking at the calender, I realised something else too. Perhaps the source of this anxiety came from fears connected to the miscarriage I had back in March. The baby would have been born mid-November. 

3 great things: baby stuff!

We don't NEED much for this second boy (other than diapers). But I've still found things that I think are cute, of course! This is NOT a plea for anyone to actually buy anything, I just wanted to share the cuteness. :)

This onesie and bib muscle car set

These hippie diapers (I don't think I would actually use these unless I knew the dyes were safe for a baby's bum, and even then, I'm not sure I like the idea of any dyes next to baby's most sensitive skin for a prolonged period.) But they are hella cool. 

 (This is more what we're probably going to order for diapers)

I love this red peace chicken onesie!

pregnancy update - 24 weeks tomorrow

We went to St. Rose this past sunday to have a picnic on the old lava rock beach.

I have another scheduled Dr's appt tomorrow.
I plan on asking him about midwives and starting my research to find one. 
I'm beginning to have to stand sideways at the kitchen counter.
My back is beginning to ache, but I've found a way to help it feel better.
I have to lay on my back (on the yoga mat) and bring my knees up, then roll from side to side.
I've got a craft list that may be too long.
I did a mini clothing exchange with a friend and that shirt up there is from her.
She had a bunch of longer length shirts which I love.
I've been cheating a little bit on my no-coffee rule; some days I just can't resist a small cup.
My weight gain has stayed on track, I'm up about 4kg total, depending on the time of the day.
The sleep issues have been all smoothed over for a few weeks now, and I wake up feeling refreshed, thankfully.
My belly button has popped back out.
This boy likes to dance around in my belly when it's naptime (yes I take one too!) but otherwise he is pretty content to just hang (or sleep?) most of the day away.
No major inspiration yet for names.
We're going to keep it a secret anyways until he's born.
We ordered this book (I want to make the tent pictured on the cover!) through Amazon waaay back in July to have it delivered to Alex's parents house, but it didn't make it there before our vacation ended. It hasn't made it's way here yet. Now I'm really itching to get it so I can start on a few baby projects.
I finally watched The Business of Being Born. Whoa. You should watch it too, I don't care who you are, go, now.
Also, have you ever seen the film Babies? Take note, you need to watch this one too.
I think Luc and I are going to rewatch it as the time gets closer to his brother's arrival.
Ok last film plug. Luc loves this one, OCEANS. (We watch the french version.) He is particularly fascinated by the orca eating the seals.
I want to eat sushi. Mad cravings.
And chocolate too. But that's normal for me.
:)

22 weeks + 3 days

According to the echographie sonogram I had this morning, that is.
Along with some cool 3-D pictures of the babe, we saw that everything looks to be in normal, healthy working order.
And....






































it's a BOY!!!!!
We are so happy, happy, happy! But I do feel a bit silly because I felt for certain that it was a girl. In fact, I was a little afraid of feeling disappointed if we found out that it would not be a girl, but that is not the case at all. I wasn't the only one who felt sure this little one would balance the gender equation in our family, so I guess I'm not alone in being wrong about it! haha!

maternity wear

So, I've started on some maternity/nursing tops and here's what we've got so far...they're really nothing to show-off, but here you go anyway. I had kept a few ginormous T-shirts around in my closet, and had never worn them, but didn't want to get rid of them because a couple were peace corps shirts or had other special meaning. This was one of them. All I did to make it less of a boxy tee was to cut the sleeves off at an angle, and cut a new, wider neckhole. I didn't even measure (you can probably tell, eh?), I just eyeballed it. I did this with 2 other T-shirts, and now I feel like I could wear these all the time, because they are so comfy! Plus, they have ample growing room which will be nice in that last month of pregnancy when it will be a million degrees outside.

Remember when I said I had started on a maternity shirt from a men's dress shirt? This was it.

And this is what it became. They look like different shirts because basically, um, they are.  I screwed up the sleeves part so bad on the blue one that it just wasn't going to work anymore unless I took it in on the sides, and that is NOT was I was trying to do with a shirt meant to accomodate a growing belly. Ohwell, I left it in my stash for another time, and will fix it later when I don't have a pregnant body anymore. So, this shirt in the picture below was another of my thrift store finds in the men's section. It was an XL tunic, and I really liked that I wouldn't have to alter the neckline at all, so the only thing I ended up doing was cutting off the gigantic sleeves. Plenty of room for a big belly!

pregnancy update-between 18 and 19 weeks

via pinterest via le loveimage.blogspot.com

I'm feeling so good now people!
This is the part of pregnancy that's easy; no more nausea, most of the fatigue has subsided (for now), and the belly isn't too big yet.
I'm also relieved that my eating is back to normal; I'm not craving so much fat and sugar anymore, and cooking vegetables doesn't gross me out anymore either. That was kind of disturbing for me during the first 3 months because you read all this medical literature about how eating healthy is so important in the first trimester, and it was hard for me to even look at a plate of salad. Ultimately, I'm not worried about it, because I think what's more important is the state your body is in BEFORE you get pregnant.

I've started to take advantage of feeling good these past 2 weeks and gotten a bunch of projects done, plus planned for a LOT more. (Am I nesting already?)
Get ready for a list of things I want to make:
A few weeks ago, I picked up 3 men's dress shirts at the thrift store with plans of turning them into maternity/nursing tops. I started on the first one yesterday after mentally figuring out what I wanted to do with it. I could have finished it during Luc's naptime yesterday, but I'm not entirely satisfied with the sleeves, so I think I'm going to rip the stitches out and try again. I hope I can get it done soon to post a pic here. After that, I have a pair of pants to alter. And then, I wanted to start on a couple of baby projects. I have a piece of fabric in a white and red print I picked up at the flea market a few months ago, that I want to turn into a crib sheet, and use the rest for a swaddling blanket. Also, I'm gathering little items to make a mobile and some wall decorations. The theme I'm going for is red, gender neutral, and modern.

I'm so excited! For everything!

we have a #2 on the way....

YES! It's true, we're expecting #2!

I was inspired by Vivat Veritas's pregnancy Q&A the other day and thought it'd be a great idea to do one like it here. I've already gotten a few of these questions from family and other friends who know, and thought I'd make them available to all who I share this blog with anyway.

How far along are you now? 16 weeks exactly

Have you had any nausea or other pregnancy symptoms? Around week 6, I started having nausea. It went from a mild discomfort to several rounds of meetings with the toilet. It could change from day to day, hour to hour. It prevented me from eating proper meals, and I definitly didn't feel like cooking anything. My energy levels were generally low, so when I did have some, I took advantage and tried to get a bunch of things done around the house. That maybe wasn't the best idea, because then I'd be really tired later. The nausea continued almost to week 15, but I've been feeling better this past week. It was a new experience for me, as I didn't experience anything like that when I was pregnant with Luc.

*So, what ARE you eating? You might remember earlier this year when I talked about cooking meat in our house. My taste buds have done a 180°, and now I'm eating more meat than I normally would, and having a hard time eating as many vegetables as I did before. I wonder if it's my body's way of trying to get extra protein for the pregnancy. I've even been craving things like hot dogs, which is just weird for me. Also on the list of cravings; english muffins, bagels, MD crabcakes, cheese dip from Guapo's, Twinbrook Deli, Pho, and fresh peaches (we can find them here, but they're imported from France and never in good condition). So basically, my food cravings match with this list of saturated fats, (this is a great article to read by the way!) Also, for the first time since living here, I bought candy to keep in our house. And Luc knows all about it, asking for a lollipop almost every day. I usually eat one with him when he does get one. I'm not a big candy person, so that surprised me as well. I suppose my nutritional reserves were pretty well stocked for this pregnancy, (which wasn't the case for the first one) so I shouldn't worry if I'm eating a little differently, or perhaps not up to my own healthy standards.
  
Coffee or tea? I quit drinking coffee very shortly after we found out I was pregnant. But it's winter here, and I do like a little bit of pick-me up in the morning, so I started on tea. My favorite is vanilla tea, but Chamomile is good too.

Weight gain?  2.5 to 3 kg so far. (2.2 lbs is equal to 1kg, I'll let you do the math.) Interestingly, the french guidelines recommend 9-12kg (20-26lbs) total of weight gain, while the US recommends 25-35lbs.

Sleep issues? In a word, yes. We're currently trying to work out the kinks. I'm going to save this topic for a separate post. When I do have a good night's sleep, though, I tend to have the strangest dreams.

Have any kind of new beauty routine? ha! Have I ever had much of a beauty routine? I just try to keep my skin hydrated, but I think that has more to do with it being winter now. I always put lotion on body parts where I expect the skin to stretch. Thankfully, I did not get any stretch marks in the last pregnancy and I hope that remains true this time. Other than that, my daily routine consists of brushing my teeth, and once in a while putting some mascara on. The hard part isn't keeping a beauty routine while pregnant, it's after the baby arrives that there is less time to say, brush your hair (or teeth!), keep your eyebrows from getting overly bushy, and to ever shave your legs.

I don't want to see it, but what does your belly button look like? I had an innie (sp?) before I got pregnant with Luc, which turned into an outie in the last month. It never returned to normal, and even now it's starting to protrude outwards again. I still look down at it and think "this is so weird".

Can you feel the baby moving yet? Just yesterday I felt the first noticable movements!

Are you going to find out if it's a boy or girl? Yep. The echographie is set for Oct 10th. (I cannot ever remember the word sonogram, the french word is just permanently burned into my brain, I always have to look it up.)

Will you tell me? I swear I won't tell anyone. Not sure yet if we'll be sharing the gender with others. My Mom wants me to tell her if it's a girl so she can start stocking us up on "cute outfits". We don't have many girls on either side of the family, so I think a lot of people are sort of hoping it will be a girl.

Thought of any names? I thought of one I really like for a girl, but it doesn't work in french, which is necessary. Other than that, no.

Exercise? I've been doing yoga 2-3 times a week, and Luc sometimes likes to join in. Other than that, we sometimes go to the footpath next to the sea for a long walk. I always feel better on the days I exercise, so I try to do a little something everyday.

What kind of terrible maternity clothes are you wearing these days? I'm only 4 months along, so things aren't super huge yet, and I can still make most of my clothes work. In the past couple of years, when clothes shopping, I've tried to buy clothes that could still look cute on a belly. Anything with an empire waist is good, and flowy dresses are my favorite because it makes getting dressed easier. Finding clothes to wear isn't really an issue for me until the last 2-3 months, so I've been looking for free patterns/tutorials online so I can make a few pieces of my own. (That's how I found Vivat Veritas, she has a great pregnancy series on her blog!) The bigger issue for me was finding clothes to wear after the baby, because breastfeeding meant I had to wear a top and bottom (no dresses!) and the top had to be kinda flowy, but I wanted it to hide my bra straps because I was always wearing an ugly nursing bra. If I make any maternity clothing for myself, I'm going to make sure it works for nursing as well.

Made any baby clothes yet? Nope, but I have a few patterns picked out in couple books, so I'm sure I'll make a few things, but I'm going to wait until we find out the gender. I've got a couple other baby projects in mind too, so we'll see how much I can actually accomplish.

Do you have a birth plan? When I first heard about the concept of writing up a birth plan, I had just gotten finished with my service in Madagascar, and was completely baffled by the idea of planning something that was so unpredictable, especially after all that I'd seen and experienced living in Ankaramibe. Now though, I can understand the need to write things down a little more, though it's not something we plan on doing for ourselves, nor is it really done here anyway. The only real plan is to have a healthy baby and a safe birthing process for both of us. That said, I'd like to do it without drugs, and hopefully to have an experienced midwife by my side for support. The doctor I see is a friend of my father-in-law's (he too, is an OB-GYN), so we have a great rapport with him, and he plans on delivering this baby for us just like he did for Luc. Also, I plan on watching "The Business of Being Born" sometime in the next few months.

Breast or Bottle? As with Luc, I plan on breastfeeding again. I learned soooo much that first time around that now I'll be way better prepared for this one, assuming there won't be any unforeseen problems. Luc nursed until he was 13 months old, so I hope to do as well or better with this baby too.

Diapers? We're going to try out cloth diapering! When Luc was 18 months old I tried to switch him to cloth, but he wouldn't tolerate it. I've been looking at lots of different places online to order the first bunch, and I've pretty much decided on prefolds, which means I also need diaper covers, of which there are millions of choices out there. I'm pretty excited about this, which is weird because it's just diapers!

Probably you've dreamed up a perfect nursery that will likely never happen. Tell me about it. Long before I got pregnant, I decided a red themed nursery would be good for either gender, so I've been thinking of different things I could make and do for it. I may post more about that later.

How are the 2 boys doing with the news of the coming arrival? Both Alex and Luc are doing well. We told Luc about the pregnancy about mid-way through the first trimester, and I'm glad we did. I think he understood that something new was going on with Mama, and was starting to act out in small ways. We still talk about "the baby in the belly" relatively often and he will come to me to give the sweetest little kiss or to put his hand on my belly. I've showed him pictures of when I was pregnant with him, and he likes to look through the photo album I made of his first year. I've also looked on Amazon for books to help us explain things a little more. We'll prepare him as much as we can, and then expect that the first 6 months after the baby is born will be the first major adjustment period for all of us.

What's one thing you can't wait to do after the baby is born? Eat sushi. Sleep on my stomach (when sleep does finally come!) Oops, that's two things.

What's one thing you will miss about pregnancy once it's over? Having a little bit of time to myself, or taking a nap at the same time Luc does.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did! If there's anything else I think of or you think of in the next 5 months, be sure to let me know, and I'll update this!

*You'll notice I didn't mention anything about craving chocolate, because I crave that all the time anyway. That hasn't changed since I've become pregnant again. :)