Thankful Thursday - 71: INTRODUCING.... DOMINIC STUART KIMBER!!!

What a whirlwind few days it's been!
On December 27 at 01:59 am our precious boy Dominic made his great debut, kicking and screaming into our big scary world.

Weight: 8lb. 8oz. 
Length: 51cm (20 in)
Head Circumference: 35.5cm (14 in)

I'll save the nitty gritty details for the labor and delivery post (hope to have that written by next week sometime), but here's a spark-notes version...

December 26, 2016:
1115 - water broke 
1230 - contractions started (minor and varied times, but getting closer together)
1400 - contractions lasting 1 minute, 5 minutes apart
1500 - contractions lasting 1 minute, 3 minutes apart. Asked Doula to come
1700 - contractions lasting 1-1.5 minutes, 2-2.5 minutes apart. Doula strongly recommends we head for hospital.
1730 - arrive at hospital and wait in triage to be checked
1800 - 5cm dilated, almost fully effaced, and whisked away to my L&D room
2300 - 7cm dilated and asking for epidural (which didn't make it in time)

December 27, 2016
0040(?) - pushing contractions started
0050 - 9-9.5 cm dilated
0100 - 10cm dilated
0115 - head visible
0145 - started crowning
0159 - BORN!!!
0210 - placenta delivered

Maybe this is as much detail from this time that I'll want to remember! 

When D was born, I had David, my mom, Doula, Nurse and Midwife in the room and it was perfect! Not too many or too few people for me. 

Everything about that day was textbook. Our transition into parenthood has been smooth, we were at home before D was 36 hours old and he scored 10/10 on his Apgar test which is apparently very rare!

Thank you to all for your congratulations, well-wishes and offers of help! We all feel so incredibly loved and supported!

Hard to believe just 8 months ago we found out we were pregnant!
Now enjoy these few shots of our much-anticipated Baby-K on his first days!

38 WEEKS (SWISS CHARD): Dec 18-24

Tired mama!

• Baby is upwards of 7 lb at this point. That sounds like an ideal weight to give birth to... I'm worried that baby is larger than this already with the rate that I've been gaining weight. I can't tell where my weight gain is going though... fat stores for breast feeding? Water weight that is too spread out to notice? All in my belly? Baby?! 
• Baby-K is full term at this point and is ready for life in the outside world! Well... unless you ask him apparently. He is snug as a bug in a rug in there. Great for him... glad he's happy... Mommy is pretty miserable! Haha! Trying to cherish these last few days/weeks before he comes, but feeling PRETTY ready at this point! 
• Stretch marks (or as Amy reminded me to call them... love lines) are appearing more and more every day. I try to keep a good attitude about this. Makes me wonder if I appreciated my "smooth" skin pre-pregnancy enough! It will never ever be the same again.
• Along with the stretch marks comes the itchy belly! I am often caught with my hand up my shirt scratching away. No amount of cocoa butter, coconut oil, vitamin E oil or anything helps! Just going to have to deal with it! 
• I have considered starting to sleep on the couch in the night time because it is firmer than our bed, and easier to get off of when I have to go pee. Our bed is very comfortable memory foam, but it is becoming much to difficult to finagle my way out every 1.5-2 hours to pee in the middle of the night! 
• We had our 38 week midwife check-up on Monday. 
• Weight: 153 lb. (Total gain of 30 lb.) I have gained 11 lbs. in the last 4 weeks... That is 7+ lb more than "recommended"... I was giving myself a hard time, and feeling pretty discouraged. I knew I hadn't gotten as much exercise as typical, and I didn't have the best diet, but I couldn't believe I had gained that much! I told the midwives about the gain and even she was like, "But you look great! Where did all that weight go? You're all baby!" As it turns out I have started water retention. My legs are swelling up now. Bring on the sock lines and cankles! Have to drink lots of water and keep my feet elevated more often. Glamorous!
• Blood Pressure: 121/78
• Belly Measurement: 37 cm. This number is only "lower than expected" because baby has dropped so much already. She said, "Baby is quite low, but that's okay". I know it's okay! He's ready to come out! 
• Baby Heart Rate: 130 BPM. This number is also lower than it has been. Baby was resting, and Carol (midwife) said near the end of pregnancy the heart rate can slow down. Things are just getting snug in there I guess. 
• My results for my Group B Strep test came back negative!
• I get somewhat "nervous" as baby is full term in there just hanging out. I get worried that he's going to have his first little pooh in there and be under stressed and I won't notice. Babies produce meconium which is made up of some of the stuff they ingest from the amniotic fluid. It makes up their first poop which usually happens after they're born. Occasionally though, it can happen in the womb. If they then ingest that it can be very bad for baby. I know some moms who have had this happen and they say they "woke up one morning and something just didn't feel right." What does that mean? How will I know? 
• I know chances are everything will be perfectly fine, and I don't live in fear of something happening necessarily. I just like to be prepared, know what to look for, have as much knowledge as possible!
• I thought one evening that maybe my water was leaking. I stood up to go pee and when I went pee I noticed my underwear were wet already! I know of a few people who have had their water break and be leaking for a while before noticing or going to the hospital, so I was cautious of this. In the end I didn't notice any further leakage. Maybe Baby-K just succeeded in using my bladder as a punching bag haha. Who knows!
• Well... any "signs" or anything clearly were false alarms. Made it right through 38 weeks and still no baby! This is hard work! Haha
• We visited with Katrina and Brayden this week, and Kat and I had to get a side-by-side shot of our bellies. In this picture she is 32 weeks pregnant with her second little boy, and I'm 38 weeks pregnant with my first little boy!

Ahhhh Katrina, I remember when my belly was cute and small like yours and I thought I was huge. Sigh... those were the days! Haha :)

Christmas Festivities Begin!!

On December 16 we had our gift opening with my family. We normally do this on Christmas Eve after the church service, but thought we'd try something different this year! It's kind of nice to spread out the festivities so that we don't get "Christmas-ed out!"

We pick names for gifts, and Mom & Dad also got everyone some gifts as well. There were 10 of us there this year! I think it's the first time we've had that many (6 of us, plus our 4 significant others). Our last family Christmas before the grandchild(ren) start taking over!

This is as close as we get to a photo of David from this night! Haha

Thought we should get a shot of my *almost* 38 week belly

Mr. Sherman was so well behaved the whole night. He only tried a few times to sneak something off the table. 

Courtney made this amazing brie, brown sugar, craisin pull apart bread and threw it in the oven. SO delicious!

Gorgeous tree and so many presents!

Always an amazing spread of delicious food!

This picture is super cute. Mom & Dad celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary on December 20th as well. They are truly something to aspire to.

Thankful Thursday - 70

Been having some ups and downs this week, but there are still things to be grateful for...

1. We get to meet this little baby soon! That's my nice way of saying, "GET THIS THING OUT OF ME! I WANT MY BODY BACK!" Haha. I know my body will never be the same, but it would be nice to have my housecoat cover my belly again, and have some comfy clothes that fit over this belly, and be able to walk through the upstairs hallway with the laundry closet open without bumping into anything. 95% of the time I can maintain a good, positive, humorous attitude about things for which I am also grateful! 

2. Impromptu Date Nights. David and I had our prenatal class on Monday, and I remembered before-hand that I had a gift certificate from the Vault for my birthday. We headed out for an early dinner and enjoyed some delicious bites! I had lobster ravioli, and David had the braised lamb shank! Trying to keep up the impromptu dates before baby comes. Things will be looking different soon!

How could I forget we had this delicious Apple Crumble too?! 

3. Generosity. While I'm sure it helps that Baby-K is the first grandchild on both sides, and the first great-grandchild for my dad's parents AND our due date is close to Christmas, we have been so incredibly spoiled. We are so grateful for all the gifts we've received, as well as hand-me-downs, loaner items, and offers of help (already!). We are trying hard not to take all of this for granted. We are so privileged to be surrounded by such amazing family and friends. 

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas, and takes some time to consider the things they have to be thankful for this season! 

37 WEEKS (WINTER MELON) - Dec 11-17

Comparing this photo to the 36 week one is strange... Only one week apart. Belly is sitting lower and more... out? No wonder my lower back is so sore!

(Here's the 36 week one for reference...)

I started to "worry" that this might be the last week I'd have a chance to do bare-belly photos. Looks like I've made it another week, but I got sentimental!

As you can see, my belly-button is off centre (sitting more to my right). That is because most of baby's body is on my left! Lop-sided beach ball belly :)

• Some of this post may be TMI... You've been warned... and will be warned again.
• The reality that baby could come any day is starting to sink in. I start taking more consideration into how far from home we go, where David's jobs are, what the road conditions are like, etc. Some days I'm so ready. Some days I get super nervous!
• Baby is 6.5 lb (ish) and probably around 20 inches long. I don't expect much (if any) more growth in length, but he will keep gaining weight until he's born! Maybe an early baby wouldn't be so bad after all... :S
• Baby doesn't have much room left in there, but he still finds ways to be active and kick around! Getting his exercise in... His latest favorite seems to be, "Let's see how far I can kick out and make mommy's stomach stretch to the side in a creepy cone shape!" I'll have to try get a picture that does this justice one day. Way too weird. 
I didn't capture a picture to show this, but check out this quick 30 second video I took looking down on my belly. The last 5 seconds is the craziest! SOOOO alien!! <3
• Baby didn't come on my 25th birthday (December 11), so that is a plus! My birthday remains MY birthday for a while longer! :)
• I'm having increased discomfort... heartburn, rib pain, back pain, restless sleep, frequent urination. Can't complain though, because I'm not working!! I can spend my baby-less days however I feel I need to. This most often involves some chores, random "to do's", blogging, watching a TV show, taking a nap... what a life. Haha!
• Our hospital bag is (mostly) packed, we have washed all the baby clothes, we have our car seat installed, we have the bassinet ready, we have been gradually (albeit maybe not enough) working with Sherlock to get him ready, I've applied for EI Maternity Leave benefits... we are almost ready for this baby to come! As ready as we'll ever be I guess. 
• I went to a physiotherapist who works with pregnant women and postpartum women. She showed me some stretches that are good for pregnancy as well as prepping for labor & delivery. Next time I see her will be 6-8 weeks after baby and we will focus more on recovery from delivery and strengthening my pelvic floor. 

• TMI SECTION:
• December 12 & 13 I was having "loose stools" for lack of a better word. This is NOT regular for me at all. I let the doula know as this is a common early sign of labor, and she assured me this can happen many times before labor actually starts, but to keep being aware of my body. EEK! 
• Update: Nothing ever came of that this week, but I'll be ready!
• This week I first noticed some lactation from my right breast while I was in the shower. I was able to express a little colostrum. I try every time out of curiosity, but nothing ever came of it until now! To be honest it freaked me out a little bit... This is all too real!

Thankful Thursday - 69

Ahhhhh. What to be grateful for this week?

1. An awesome start to Maternity Leave. I've just been relaxing and scratching things off the ole to do list like crazy! In addition to the things I accomplished in my blog post the other day, I have now also applied for EI, gotten a mani/pedi, gotten waxed, had a massage, wrapped Christmas presents, went to a show with David... What a life. Have to squeeze out every ounce of freedom now before this little bundle of joy joins us to suck up all our time!

I don't have a picture of my toes all completed, but they are bright pink with flowers on the big toes. Something to focus on while in labor! David's parents got me a gift certificate for a mani-pedi for my birthday. How thoughtful! So special to go get pampered :)

Hard to tell in this photo, but my nails are a bright sparkly red for the Christmas season! I am in love with them and the way they sparkle!

2. Fun birthday date night gift! David got us tickets to see the Potted Potter show at the Vogue for my birthday. We went on Tuesday, and had a blast! First we had dinner with Jeff & Adam at Corduroy Pizza place in Vancouver. WHAT delicious pizza! The Potted Potter show is a 2-man comedy show where they go through all 7 Harry Potter books with lots of comedic relief and audience participation. It is a little silly, and took a couple acts to get into it, but it from there we were splitting a gut! The show has amazing reviews, and it is brilliantly written. My favorite parts are always when things go off-script though, and with this much audience participation that was bound to happen! Very fun and entertaining date night! I am so glad we were able to do this before our lives change. 

Horrible photo of our delicious pizzas. On the left, Prosciutto and Pear - Prosciutto, pear, goat cheese, balsalmic reduction. On the right, Organic Spicy Lamb Sausage - caramelized onion, goat cheese, pesto. Ahhhhhhh-mazing.  

This restaurant was so cool. Just a tiny little dining room, and they were having open mic night, so there was live music from 7-730 while we were there. So very Vancouver!

The programs for the show came on a scroll. Love the attention to detail :)

3. Still feeling pretty well. It is very easy to complain at this point in pregnancy... I'm 8.5 months. Home stretch! Overall, I really shouldn't complain though I suppose. I am still mostly independent, and haven't been sick. Anything that comes up now is mostly just pre-labor symptoms, and regular ailments that come along with being 8.5 months pregnant. Who knows how long this baby will stay in there! I wake up every day with the reality that today could be the day! David and I are treasuring every moment together! 

Bad mirror selfie. This sweater is supposed to be a dress! I pulled it out for our date night on Tuesday and it works great as a cute maternity sweater. Finally something that fits me! (But only because it's designed to come down to the knees...)

This has nothing to do with how I'm feeling, but I walked past the nursery the other day and noticed that this is the view our baby/child gets from his bedroom window! So gorgeous right now with the snow, the clear skies, winter sunsets and Christmas lights. 

I could go on and on, but for the sake of being productive the rest of my day, I will wrap up this Thankful Thursday post here! :)