Good Big Brother

I took Raf to have a haircut this evening and afterward we stopped at the bookstore which sells trains. What a sweet big brother Raf is. He wanted to buy lots of trains for "Baby Charlie", and as we left the mall area to drive home he practically had a breakdown because he wanted to look for "baby clothes to buy for Baby Charlie..."

I promised we'd look tomorrow.

I admit that I was a little skeptical about his desire to buy trains for his little brother (more like a pretext for us buying them for him!) but it was very sweet that he wanted to look for clothes for his little sibling.

Freedom and Toddlers

We made it to 36 weeks! Such a huge relief. I hadn't realized how anxious I was about poppet coming too early, but now I see how I have given barely any thought to the birth itself, imagining that I would be at Maine Med and at the mercy of a very medicalized birth replete with intervention after intervention. Maine Med is a really super place to have a baby, but I would have been there with high risk OBs and not exactly my ideal.

To celebrate I booked myself a hot stone pedicure for this morning - using a voucher I had gotten from Rafi for my birthday and mother's day. It was absolute bliss. 90 mins of soaking, scrubbing, massaging... aw. The pedicurist even painted little baby feet on my big toenail. Very cute.

Rich and I met for a very quick picnic in the park and then we headed to our 36 week midwife appointment. I had a non-stress test, which, when Baby Toast eventually woke up, passed with flying colours. The midwife I saw today thinks that I may make it further than we imagined, and I do hope so as it would be nice to spend some time with Rafi.

Mind you, Raf seems more interested in going to school and playing with his friends than playing with his mama. I picked him up this afternoon and he didn't want to come home with me! I was a little early collecting him and he was in another school room with a big group of boys who were about to play trains. Well, this was terrible timing on my part. I did finally get a hug and a kiss (but no running to my arms, as usual) and then a declaration that he didn't want to go home and wanted to play at school... I literally had to carry him out of the building. When we returned home all Raf wanted to do was play with his trains - and trying to cajole him to walk the dogs around the block with me was a complete failure.

He is REALLY into trains, right now. This morning the first words out of his mouth were, "kiss trains". Um.

His second love is a new friend at school. Dan, the support teacher, said yesterday that he and Rowan were playing a lot together and Raf wouldn't even go outside without him. Dan made another comment about Raf loving Rowan, and I asked, "does Rowan love Raf as much as Raf loves Rowan?" Dan responded, "sort of, but Rowan also like his space".

I have to admit that I was filled with dread that this could mean some rejection for Raf. Raf is an incredibly open little boy, and if he likes you - especially if you're a little boy - he'll want to really be close and play a lot. With his cousin Rory you could see that Raf was much more into Rory than the other way around, and I have to say that I felt a bit sad for Raf who seemed sad when Rors didn't want to hold his hand or didn't want to play with him. I know it's something that Raf will have to go through, but I would do just about anything to protect Raf from feeling rejected.

Alas, there's not much we can do other than make sure his confidence is good and his self-esteem remains in tact. And I am pretty sure that I feel the rejection more acutely than Raf!!

The good news, though, is that Raf really loves school and he has found some friends. In fact when I went into the school and spent a couple of hours with Raf in his new classroom, I thought that the little boy Rowan might turn out to be a friend for Raf!

Here he is relaxing after a hard day... he was super tired. 

Gear Recommendations

Just returned from my (almost) 36 week scan. Everything looks great - and it looks as though the little poppet has had a growth spurt as he seems to be now measuring/weighing around the 50th percentile. Like Raf, he has little femurs and a very big tummy (which was measuring small during the last scan), but a very normal sized head. Music to my ears! We didn't have the friendliest of sonographers today, sadly, and it was very rushed with no pics, but nonetheless it was a relief to hear that everything is as it should be.

So... just 1 and a half days of bed rest left. Seems very surreal to think that I've been mostly confined to my bed for close to 6 weeks, and can I admit that I may miss elements to lying around and watching TV? I think I have tapped in to my lazy gene and have indeed embraced it with some relish. I know that I am going to have quite the awakening come Thursday.

I'm very excited and relieved, though, to have almost made it to 36 weeks and now I can really start to think about the birth and also last minute things we need to get. I could actually do with some advice/recommendations.

I'm looking for a different type of bottle to feed the baby expressed breast milk once I return to work. Raf never really took to a bottle and would basically wait until I got home to feed. He's sometimes take the bare minimum to stave off absolute hunger but would then eat in a frenzied way - all evening and much of the night. I would love to avoid that this time because this kiddo will be much younger when I return to work and will need milk much more regularly than a 6 month old.

I'm looking at the Tommee Tippee bottles... a bit spendy but I've heard very good things about them. Does anyone have any good experience/or recommendations?

The other item I'm looking for is a cover for when I wear the baby. Because Raf was a summer baby we didn't have to worry about keeping him warm in the sling/carrier but things will get cold quickly so I need something that will work with a moby and an ergo/becco. I like the idea of a cover instead of bundling them up for walks in clothes because often Raf would fall asleep on walks and if he was dressed appropriately he could take a long nap, still attached to me, when we were back in the house.

Would love to know what people have used!

Sprinkle!

I wasn't feeling at all confident that I'd make it to my own baby sprinkle on Saturday. For almost 36 hours I was having some pretty noticeable contractions, cramping, and backache. Nothing impacted how I felt - not a change in position, more fluids, etc. Although it was all pretty continuous there was no emerging rhythm or intensifying of symptoms so I held off calling my midwife knowing that I'd be sent to the tertiary hospital for monitoring. Jen graciously said we could postpone the sprinkle, but honestly I'd really been looking forward to it after over 5 weeks in exiled bed rest.

Someone was smiling down on me because on Saturday evening, around 10pm, everything just abruptly stopped. Just stopped, out of no where. I went to bed and aside from the every half hour loo breaks, not one contraction or bit of cramping woke me up.

I felt super waking up on Sunday. Poor old Rich was a bit behind on the 'to do' list so I must admit that I helped clean the house up (but no cramping as I did it :) ). Jen had offered to have the sprinkle at our place so I wouldn't have to leave my chair, and it was great because it meant that Rich felt compelled to get that 'to do' list down. So up went pictures upstairs that we've been meaning to put up since Christmas, and we even managed to declutter a few areas badly in need of decluttering.

Ayala popped around at 9:30 to begin some gorgeous smelling apple cider, and Jen arrived soon after to set things up. I was upstairs the entire time and didn't really know what was going on... Rich came up to confirm that, indeed, Jen et al. had gone to so much trouble as they decorated the downstairs with beautiful flowers, sweet baby items, and an assortment of food and drinks. Jen set up a table with tons of plain onesies and paints and each guest, throughout the afternoon decorated one. It was so lovely!

 

I'll take some photos of some of the others as there were some great shirts! 

Everyone came with some very yummy food to share.. and I have to say that it was not so much a sprinkle but a shower as people had really been generous in bringing gifts for Baby Toast, me, and Rafi. 

I can't convey how thoughtful Jen had been. We hadn't invited lots of people but almost everyone Jen invited was able to be there, and truly it was a wonderful group of women who were funny, kind, and thoughtful. Jen bought with her a bag of pretty beads and a wire to make a bracelet and everyone picked a bead and as they threaded it each person said something they wished for Baby Toast, and (of course this was a bit mortifying but also incredibly touching) what they like/love/admire about me. I was pretty overwhelmed by the generous and sweet sentiments and I don't think I've ever felt as grateful for my friends as I do now.

Baby Toast received some beautiful outfits, toys, socks, shoes, and more. His mama received a much needed eye pillow, some plush slippers, diaper bag. lotions, candles, creams, bath salts. magazines, flowers (oh, a huge bunch of flowers!) and two very pretty plants... oh, even more than that! And Raf got a really cool self-feeder and some paints and crayons. I really wasn't expecting gifts so I have to say that it was a super nice surprise, especially after our mould debacle.

We were also very lucky to have Ayala there with her camera, and she captured some super shots! Sadly I was clearly pulling odd faces throughout the day :)

Kind, thoughtful - Beth.

The enormous - GIGANTIC - bunch of flowers from dear Tracey. I was trying not to fall backwards here. 

One of my most cherished friends in the world.. Kate!

The most gorgeous Tracey M, who does a fine British accent. 

Rich... before he headed out with Boy Wonder. 

Our lovely neighbour, Margaret, the artist, who won the award for most creative and funny onesie design!

Oh, and dear, dear Jen! Is there a better friend anyone could wish for?

Lovely Susan.

Dear, generous friend Amy.

The wonderful, friendly, and warm - Karla!

The lovely, sweet Alicia who has the best taste in all things clothing and design!

Sweet, sweet outfits. 

This is my favourite shirt... designed by Jen's daughter - Sage. It sounds like it could be a logo for some trendy design company. 

The downside of Ayala being the photographer is that I didn't get a snap of her...  this is just a selection of some super photos. I'll post a few more in the next day or so.

Such a happy, joyful day... and only 2 days until the end of bed rest! 

Another Day

Thanks for all the good thoughts, everyone. I had a very difficult night with lots of rhythmic backache and sharp pain, which kept me up for most of it. I was very close to calling my midwife but I know that since I'm not quite 36 weeks I'd just be directed to the bigger hospital, and since I am on a first name basis with their OB residents (given how many times I've been there for monitoring) I waited it out. The discomfort didn't - and hasn't - gone away, but it's not as intense and it's not especially rhythmic. I'm not nearly as confident now that we'll make it much longer - but I am really hoping. 

I do think this little one has dropped a little more, though, as I can now eat a little more and when I got up today I had electrical type impulses shooting down one of my thighs, and those fists are really aiming low. 

Today, for the first time, I also experienced some serious nesting impulses. I've had a few urges before now but today it seemed imperative that everything be done. This extends to getting pictures up, windows cleaned, and, for some odd reason, all my clothes in storage organized. Clearly this isn't a great time for such an urge to kick in as Rich is basically in charge of doing it all while being the primary caregiver to a 3 year old. So.. the house is mostly in shambles, and Rich has a very long 'to do' list. 

While I was trying to catch up on a bit of rest this morning, Rich had a 'to do' list reprieve and took Raf to his first football game. It was team photograph day so the times were later than they usually will be. He had so much fun. Mind you, when he returned home he was arguing with Rich about whether the ball was called a football (yes!) or a soccer ball. Oh dear. 

I'm sure Rich will upload some more photos and write about the afternoon as he has a lot of Raf and Dad adventures to blog about. 

Tomorrow they'll be off again as some of my friends are coming over the throw me a little baby sprinkle! It's going to be lovely to see everyone - though I am going to have to have a good talk with Poppet if he gives the impression of joining us tonight or tomorrow!

Stay Put, Toast.

A quick note to ask for a collective 'stay put'. I had a very uncomfortable night and today I had quite a bit of rhythmic back pain and lots and lots of cramping. I only got out of bed today to collect Raf from school (Rich had class), and I am just hoping and hoping and hoping that baby Toast does not come before Thursday (36 weeks).

He simply cannot come this soon. I have so much to still order.

Home stretch

Today we officially reached 35 weeks. We're in the home stretch, and I'm really feeling so excited about the prospect of having another little boy. I confess that I had a few days of gender disappointment when we discovered we were having another boy, but soon after we found out I couldn't imagine it being any different.  Now we're very close to meeting him, and all the difficulties we've had seem very much worth it.

We do have a lot to do. Installing the car seat (not sure of how to configure the seats in my car.. any suggestions for placing an infant and a convertible seat in a car that would take 3 seats?). I need to get moving and order some cloth diapers so I can wash and organize them. I also need to work on getting a few things for Raf for when he comes to meet Toast - as gifts from his baby brother. I did order him a sweet little teeshirt with a red train on it, and we've talked about getting him a toddler camera and a new bridge for his train set. Oh, and then I ought to really repack bags (hastily packed when I was admitted for one of the hospital stays a few weeks ago.)

Baby Toast's little sleepers came and today I washed them... they are so diddy.

People have been incredibly kind and today, as I ordered a couple of things from our Amazon wish list, I discovered that we have at least a couple of secret shoppers who have bought up a few things. It would be a bit of an understatement to say that I was pretty touched. There may have been some tears and a few murmurings of gratitude for some really phenomenal friends.