My First Baby

I got this sent to me by a friend on facebook and thought it would be fun to fill out.

1. Were you married at the time?
No

2. What was your reaction when you found out you were pregnant?
Terrified, disappointed, overwhelmed, sad... a whole lot of feelings being that I was 18 at the time and he was most definitely not planned.

3. How old were you?
18

4.How did you find out you were pregnant?
A pregnancy test @ 9 weeks. I thought I just had a bad case of the flu that didn't want to go away, and yes I was a bit naive ;)

5. Who did you tell first?
Nathan.. though he had to ask me straight out what the test said.

6. Did you want to find out the sex?
No... I really like the surprise

7. Due date?
His due date was July 29, 2004

8. Did you deliver early or late?
14 days early

9. Did you have morning sickness?
a bit

10. What did you crave?
I don't really remember having much for cravings with him

11. What irritated you the most?
I am a very irritable pregnant woman.. so a lot of things

12. What was your first child's sex?
Boy

13. How many pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy?
somewhere between 35 and 40

14. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?
Yes.. we got a false positive on the triple screen test and had to have an amnio to rule out the possibility of down syndrome

15. Where did you give birth?
Misrecordia in Edmonton Alberta

16. How many hours were you in labor?
22

17.Who drove you to the hospital?
Nathan

18 . Did you take medicine to ease the pain?
I had a shot of morphine at first and then about 18 hours in I got an epidural.. oh how i love the epidural

19 . How much did your child weigh?
7 lbs 2oz

20 . What did you name him/her?
Joel Ryan

21. How old is your first born today?
4 years and 6 months

22. Who does your child look like?
His daddy

23. Did you get mad at your husband during labor?
Nope

24. What was your reaction when you held your first baby for the first time?
Joy... and exhaustion

25. Who was with you in the delivery room?
Nathan and my Mom

26. Who were your first visitors?
everyone... there were a lot of people at the hospital waiting for him to be born

27. How long did you spend in the hospital?
1 day

28. Would you change anything in the delivery?
I wish I would have gotten the epidural sooner.

Please Pray

As some of you may know I am a part of an online forum where I chat with other moms who are also due in June. Well today 2 of the mom's on that board had their ultrasounds and found out their babies have very serious health issues, bad enough that their babies may not make it to be born into this world. I truly believe in the power of prayer and I ask if you pray please pray for these woman and their babies. As well, please pray that at our ultrasound on Tuesday everything goes well and that our baby is healthy.

Thankful Thursdays

Welcome to the 2nd edition of Thankful Thursdays! Thats right, I am actually going to stick to it and make a weekly segment out of this thing. Bet you didn't actually think it was possible. If you all want to join in either leave your list in the comments or leave a link back to your blog in the comments so I can go and check them out, and if enough people decide to join in I will make some sort of linky do for it, but I think I am getting ahead of myself.

This week I am thankful for getting to keep my original due date! It makes my pregnancy 3 days shorter in any event, and that makes me a happy lady. I just cannot wait to meet this little one that is growing within me.

This week I am thankful for the weather warming up. I don't care how much it snows, as long as the temperatures stay above zero I am celebrating! It just makes spring feel that much closer!

This week I am thankful for my family. They are such a wonderful support system and I am glad that they all live close enough that I can see them at any given time (even you Amber.. I really want to do another sleep over week at your place). I am also thankful for my inlaws. They are wonderful people and I really couldn't ask for a better extended family. I am truly blessed to be loved and respected by everyone in my life.

Wordless Wednesday- 20 Weeks

21 week Pregnancy Update

Mayhem Monday..

Or atleast today.. It was a very very busy day. I had my appointment with my thyroid specialist this morning at 10:30, so Nathan and the boys and I went into the city bright and early. My levels have all returned to normal and I shouldn't need to see her again unless my monthly blood work shows my levels have changed, but I don't foresee it happening. Then we came home, had lunch and I took Joel to school. From there I went to my 1st prenatal visit with my OBGYN. It was nice to see her again, and get checked. I got to hear baby's heartbeat and it was reading in at 165. They also told me that they are going to keep my due date as what my LMP (last menstrual period) says so I am actually due June 8, making me 21 weeks today. 3 days doesn't seem like a lot but it just means that my weeks switch that much quicker and if, God forbid, I need to be induced they will be able to do that 3 days sooner as well. Next Tuesday is my ultrasound and I cannot wait!

So in other news, we are not keeping, Buddy. We just decided he was too much work at this point, with a new baby coming, so we sadly are giving him back and hoping they can find the poor guy a home. He is a very sweet guy, and he has had a bit of a rough start. His owner passed away on Saturday morning from cancer, and Buddy has been living in a kennel for over a month. Now he just needs to find his furever home and I hope he finds it soon.

Our New House Guest

This is our new house guest, Buddy. Temporary or not? Only time will tell.

20 Week Update

Thankful Thursdays

Well I decided to start my own weekly entry about the things in my life that have especially blessed me this week. I think it is good for the soul to remember how much we actually have in our lives, and that we really don't have it as bad as we think we do.

This week I am thankful for making it to the half way point in my pregnancy! I am thankful that I can feel my little one moving, and that I am able to have another baby. There are so many woman that have trouble getting pregnant and it comes so easily for me.

This week I am thankful for healthy children. Even when my boys frustrate me, atleast they are healthy enough to drive me crazy. I am so thankful to be their mommy.

This week I am thankful for a husband who loves me, regardless of how many times I chew him out for things that really don't matter. I am so blessed to have him in my life. I am thankful that he treats me like a princess, and he truly loves me and treats me with the respect every woman deserves. I am thankful that he puts up with all my pregnancy hormones, especially the ones that make me ridiculously hard to deal with.

Wordless Wednesday- 19 Weeks

19 Weeks Pregnant

Part 1


Part 2

Gender Prediction #2

Joel and Colin weigh in on what they think we are having.

Oh the Hormones

Well I am super disappointed right now. They called me about 15 minutes ago and told me that they couldn't do my ultrasound because one of the techs called in sick. They rescheduled me for February 19th... a whole month and 7 days away. I am so sad. Like that is ridiculous. I guess it is easier to push my appointment back than reschedule everyone else, but are you fricken kidding me?!?! I hung up the phone and I just started bawling. I was really looking forward to it, like I think every pregnant woman is. I guess there isn't much I can do, so what else can I say.

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Well I made a few phone calls and was able to get myself booked for February 3rd instead of the 19th. Still not perfect but better than waiting over a month.

Keeping Up with The Jones

I thought I would write a post that isn't entirely about the baby. I feel like that sometimes consumes my mind and I want to visit some place else for a few minutes. Visit another place that has been weighing heavy on my heart lately.

The title kind of states where I am at. I am sure everyone has heard the term " Trying to Keep up with the Jones". Well I can definitely say that I am guilty of living my life there from time to time. Who doesn't want to have the nice things, and the nice house, and all the newest technologies. I know that I do. It makes me feel like I'm somebody. That I am better than those that don't have those fancy things. I can also tell you that I HATE this place. I hate the constant feeling of competition. The constant struggle to try and get to that place, and I hate the feeling that the material things in your life somehow dictate who I am as a person.

In the last couple months, Nathan and I have been struggling a bit with finances. Its not easy making it on one salary. It is something we both feel is important to us. That is, to have me stay at home with our kids and raise them and instill in them the things we believe are most important. We were driving this afternoon to go visit his mom, who is in the hospital with some gull bladder issues. Anyways, as we were driving I was trying to figure out our finances in my head. We want to work at being debt free, but at the same time I was like well how will I buy this and afford that and do this if we are putting all of our efforts towards paying down our debt. At that moment it dawned on me that I don't want to be dictated by things anymore. Our new baby doesn't need the fanciest clothes, or the newest piece of equipment to get by. They don't care. They don't know. I don't want our boys to grow up materialistic. I can already see it in Joel. He's a normal 4 year old that doesn't have any sense of what things cost and he wants to have the new toys and the coolest piece of techno crap. I don't want that for him. What do these things really matter anyways. When I die I am not going to wish I had this or that, I will be thinking about the time I spent with those I love and the difference I made in this world.

Wow this is a rambly post. I am no writer but I just wanted to get that off my chest. All in all I want to say that I am going to try this year to work at being a better me and not define it by the materialism that has become our world. I am blessed to have the things I do, and I want to appreciate those and not worry about whether my house is decorated beautifully or not. Who really cares anyways when all is said and done.

Gender Prediction

18 Weeks Pregnant

A Few Pictures

As promised here are a few pictures. The belly pictures is @ 17 weeks. The rest are from around Christmas.






This is a picture of Colin with my niece, Adeline (we call her Addie).

17 Weeks Pregnant

Hello Hello Everyone,
I hope everyone is doing well and had a great christmas and new years. I know I did. It has been so nice having Nathan off for 16 days (he is off until Monday the 5th), that I haven't really felt like updating lately. He is out for lunch with a friend right now and the boys are sleeping so I thought I would take a few moments and update everyone.

So as you probably already guessed, I am 17 weeks pregnant as of yesterday. Only 23 more to go. Hard to believe I have almost hit the half way point already. I swear it was just yesterday that I found out I was pregnant, or even that I wasn't pregnant yet, and was trying my best to get pregnant. But here I am 17 weeks in and feeling fantastic. My "morning" sickness is completely gone. I have lots of energy, and I am LOVING my expanding belly. I plan to take pictures today so I will post them in tomorrows entry.. or try anyways. I have been feeling the baby move more and more all the time and actually on New Years Eve while we were playing games with some family, s/he kicked me so hard it actually made me jump. It felt like a large bubble popped under my skin. It was a super awesome feeling!

I have also started a baby pool for everyone to go submit their vote on the gender and birthday of the baby. Feel free to go over and submit what you think. I think most of you have already submitted a vote but for those that haven't I would love for you to go and add one.GO HERE

In other news, Colin is officially off the soother!!! I have been throwing the idea around for a while but have been a little leery just because I don't like loosing sleep. But I didn't really have a choice yesterday when his final sucky broke.. so i cut the tip off and gave it back to him and he said "oh sucky broken.. have to buy some more" We told him nope and that was the end. He didn't ask for it again and has officially gone down for 2 naps and 2 bedtimes without a fuss!!! I am so proud of him and happy all at the same time. That gives me a good 5 months before the new little one comes to get him used to being without it.

Well I suppose that it about it. Don't forget to go vote on the baby pool, and I will hopefully post soon with some belly shots and random shots of the boys!

Here is a video as well.. wow some variety this entry!