snow and such

Well, almost another week has gone by since I last posted. I thought that once I stopped working time would slow down a lot... but it just keeps on going!

On the baby front- I will be 35 weeks tomorrow. Only 2 more weeks till full term! Then I feel like I can just relax.. well not that I am not relaxed at the moment, but it's nice to know that you're in the 'safe' zone. Things are pretty safe now already, but it would be good to keep this little bun baking for at least a couple more weeks! Grandma B is coming on Jan 1 so we will see if he/she has made an appearance then yet!

Also, hatchbacks are not really designed for infant car seats. This is something I never really thought of, until this afternoon when I spend half an hour in the car trying to figure out the thing. Right now it is in the back middle... which allows pretty good access from both front doors.. but the drivers seat can't really lean all the way back. I am going out tonight so I'll see how it goes with driving. Luckily, tomorrow I am going to what they call a 'car seat clinic' run by local volunteers where they check things over. I know it doesn't seem like rocket science, but apparently a lot of people fail at putting the thing in right!

We got our first dumping of snow yesterday, resulting in the first snow day of the year! And after walking to our friend Dave's house to borrow his shovel (and trying one of his delicious apple turnovers), Brian shovelled out our driveway. After which we drove in the summer-tired car to buy our own shovel and some windshield washer fluid. Turns out we weren't very prepared yet... but now we are. Getting there, at least.

Anyway, not much else-  but this is the harbour right as we speak (courtesy of the Weather Network webcam- find out the weather outside without even looking out the window!!)

good morning!

pancakes made by the king of yummy breakfasts....

Nothing like Saturday breakfast.
Enjoy the weekend!!

Home days

So I am officially done working... aka started on maternity leave.

It was a bit of a step to actually do this- more than I thought it would be. I felt kind of stubborn about the whole thing.  I didn't even really acknowledge last Friday as my last shift. I had my suspicions it might be, but I still wasn't admitting it in my head.

But I have got my letter from the doctor, called my manager, and submitted my application to Service Canada. I crossed my name off from the casual list, dropped off my last pair of scrubs, and told people I was done working. So there you have it.

I know that I was getting too stressed out at work at times. There were not a lot of shifts available lately so it's probably a good time to stop. I don't need to be on my feet for 12 hours and come home all grumpy and irritable to my poor husband. And this baby could be here in 6 weeks.. or earlier! (or later of course, too).

So now I'm at home. Washing diapers, working on a scrapbook, cooking and cleaning and baking and being 'housewifey.' It's a bit of an adjustment, but I was already used to being home a couple days a week from the way my shifts went. I think it might be hard to wait for this baby to come at times, but I'll just have to find plenty to do to keep myself busy.

the scrapbook is from our epic roadtrip vacation this summer. here i am being housewifey in the forest. :)

The small things...

I would just like to say...
49 days till my due date, AND we have transitioned to honeydew melon territory.
Hurray!!

ps- you should leave me a comment to say hi-- because blogger tells me there are more of you reading this than I thought ;)

Happy Saturday!

November so far.. in pictures

A Sunday afternoon walk in Bowering Park

Trying out the new baby carrier

Sunday night... the father-to-be had a craving for something sweet and doughy... mmm, cinnamon buns!

32 weeks and counting

Got the crib set up! Swaddled baby modelled by White Rabbit

Handmade felt booties-- thanks Nissa!

Our baby room

Closet in the far left

Changing table/ shelf

Death and life

Yesterday was quite the day at work.

A woman, not yet 50, gets rushed in from a small outport community- the clot in her brain is blocking her blood flow and she can't move her legs. Or arms. Or speak or smile. She could be frozen like this.. strokes are relentless. Minutes are ticking by and time is precious- there is only a certain window when something can be done.  Rushed to the machines that can see inside, no seepage of red... so she is taken back to the emergency room. The neurologist walking hurriedly beside her stretcher as we navigate the busy hallways, asking for her permission to give her a drug that could change everything. Break up that clot, let the blood flow again and the movement return and the speech flow freely from her half-frozen lips. She could also bleed to death... but the potential benefit is greater than the high risk. To say no due to fear means to say no to the possibility of full movement and mobility and function... or delay it many, many months and possibly years.

She says yes. What else can she do? The dangerous, life-preserving medication flows through her veins. I watch her like a hawk, getting her to squeeze my hands and try to move her legs every fifteen minutes or so, checking her pupils under the light for reactivity rather than sluggishness-- a sign that blood might be invading her already vulnerable brain. 

A few hours later, she can move her leg. Answer my questions, slowly but surely. She goes to the ICU and this morning the neurologist tells me that she is doing great.

Supper time. A stretcher is rushed in, the paramedics alongside, pounding on this man's chest, doing the work that his heart has stopped doing. Breathing for him, the awkward cough-puff of the bag-valve mask, his chest rising and falling unnaturally as his lungs are fed by human hands. Everyone around the bed... trying to find a vein, epinephrine pushed into it... trying to stimulate the heart to take up what it has already surrendered. Everyone stand back, check for a pulse. The jagged lines of our artificial circulation on the screen cease. Left with a flat line. Nothing. Asystole. Try again, start over, two minutes on the clock. Sweat beading on those who are doing the work of that small powerful muscle. Keep going, check for life, watch the flatline... his face gets more and more blue. Twenty minutes, a valiant effort, the code is called. Step back, there he is- gone.  Only just 50. Silence.

The daughter comes in and her weeping is heard throughout the unit. Who is ever prepared for this?

You are our God and our times are in Your hands.

The baby within me kicks... that little heart started beating about half a year ago, longer than that maybe. Only the Father knows when it will cease to do so. For all of us.

Death and life. 

November is here!

Well, it's November first today. That means that this baby could be here next month! Unbelievable!

The cold is setting in here in St. John's. Though I guess that is to be expected. Our house is quite cozy and a lot easier to heat than the old place so that makes a big difference this year.

I am just hanging around at home this afternoon on a much-needed day off. I've always been a nesty type of person.... that has only gotten more so lately! They say that moms-to-be become even more nesty close to delivery... I don't know what I might do then, seeing as how I am now- haha! But I organized our spare room closets and bathroom cupboard, and tried to throw out some stuff I don't think we need anymore. Which isn't really that much, considering I try to 'purge' things on a regular basis. I just don't like accumulating stuff. Luckily, we don't really have a whole lot of excessive possessions in general... well we have been blessed with more than we ever really need of course-- but there is not a lot of junk in our house. Moving frequently tends to keep it that way. And thankfully, I am married to a man who also doesn't really enjoy the excessive procurement of possessions. It makes things more harmonious.

I also sat in our baby room rocking chair and admired the cute little diapers... yes I did, I confess.

Something interesting I have noticed in this whole pregnancy thing is how people react to a pregnant lady with an obvious belly (this is finally the case for me!).  There have been at least 2 people, both random strangers at work, who have looked at me and declared that I was having a girl. One at the hospital gift shop, the other the husband of one of my patients at work. Just out of the blue... 'You're having a girl". So strange! So we'll see if they were right... perhaps some people consider themselves to be prophetic baby gender predictors? Though, the 50% chance that they are right also makes a difference.

I don't want this blog to be all about the baby, but seeing as I feel him or her kicking me a lot of the time lately, he/she tends to be at the forefront of my thoughts. But I don't think that's a bad thing.