Pregnancy Journal - 28 Weeks

Weight and Measurements
Pre-pregnancy weight: 105 lbs
Pre-pregnancy waist: 26 in.

27 Weeks: 121 lbs, 34 in.
28 Weeks: 122 lbs, 35 in.

Firsts
First thought about pre-term labour: February 23, 2011. After going to the bathroom in the middle of the night I felt a slight trickle. Although it was nothing, it still got me thinking about what would happen if Jessica were born now. How unprepared we would be, how hectic life would become, the challenges of having a premature baby, and all of that while caring for Emily. It was a pretty scary thought (and of course I struggled to get back to sleep after that!).

Fun Fact
The third trimester begins! We're in the home stretch.

Journal Entry
Ideas for my postpartum plan...

I did a little research about postpartum plans and found most of my information here. I didn't have an official postpartum plan with Emily so I'm curious if this will make a difference.

1. Support for rest in the early days. Assuming Steve can handle it (which I'm sure he can!), most of my support for rest will come from him. He'll be here and able to take care of Emily full time so that I can rest when Jessica rests. Hopefully Steve will be able to catch up on missed sleep during Emily's naps!

2. The need to have a group of friends who are also parents of young babies. Steve's brother's family just had their third baby, so I'll likely look to them for some advice and support. I'm also lucky enough to be a part of blogland -- where most of us are having our second baby around the same time! I'm sure I'll be looking to all of you to share experiences, give advice, and empathize with our new life. 

3. Nutritious meals and hydration. I'm not too worried about this since we eat healthy already and Steve's great in the kitchen. We definitely plan to cook a few meals and freeze them in advance to help us out on busy days. I'm sure my parents will be up for cooking/preparing a few meals for us too.

4. The need for knowledgeable, empowering breastfeeding support. When Emily was born I had several meetings and phone calls with a lactation consultant, so I definitely plan to contact her again if needed. She provided me with tons of information, encouragement, and solid plans to guide me through breastfeeding (in other words, I'm not afraid or embarrassed to seek out professional help!). I found it a little hard to seek advice from friends/family about breastfeeding, however, since every woman's experience is so different. Instead (sadly) I sometimes felt judged and/or isolated since my situation was so unique.

5. Mommy and Daddy time. I'm not going to lie, I probably won't do very well with this even if I plan it. As you may know, it took me and Steve 9 months before we went out on a "date" without Emily. I can only imagine it being harder with two children. Good thing is neither of us feels it's a necessary way to "keep the relationship strong". In any case, I'm sure my parents and Steve's family would be more than willing to help us out... We'll see how it goes. In the early months, the main activity that helps me to feel nurtured, rested, and energized is Pilates, so I definitely plan to set some time aside for that.

Overall
Dresses are becoming shirts, shirts are getting too short, and my belly is nice and round.

Today's Happenings

Here is what we (and by we I mean my parents) have been up to today...

... sprucing up our dining room with a chair rail and wainscoting!! I played more of an "on-site supervisor/babysitter" role while they did all the hard work ;).

The chair rail is up in Emily's new room too and everything looks great! Painters are starting on Monday so things are really starting to come together. Hopefully in about a month I'll be able to just sit back, relax, and wait for Baby #2's arrival.

Animal TV and Laptop Pictures

We've been pretty strict with Emily about the "no TV" rule until she turns two, minus a few Caspar Babypants music videos on YouTube and football whenever Steve's watching it. The other day, however, Steve decided it was time to introduce Emily to a little TV: Planet Earth videos. She loves animals of all kinds, so of course she was immediately captivated by this series.

Every day since then, Steve cuddles up on the couch with his girl and watches about 10 minutes of footage with her (about all that she can handle before getting bored and wanting to do something else). She loves it!

Another thing that we've recently introduced Emily to is how to browse pictures on a laptop. It might seem crazy to allow our 18-month-old to "play" with a laptop, but we don't think much about it (she's only allowed on my old laptop anyway).

We taught her how to use the "next" key, so she'll open up the laptop and start browsing pictures by herself (we usually leave a slideshow on for her). It's pretty cute if you ask me!

Seeing pictures of herself, her mommy, daddy, friends, and family makes her so happy!

Memory Lane: Our First Apartment

Steve and I moved into our first apartment together in summer 2006. We were still in Waterloo; I had one more semester of my undergrad left and Steve had two. We found a great place just at the corner of campus and we had a wonderful time making it our "home".

Entrance

Living Room

Dining Room (shared with living room)

Kitchen

Breakfast Nook

Office

Half Bath

Master Bedroom

Bathroom

Floor plan & dimensions

Fortunately, the transition from "boyfriend/girlfriend" to "living together" went very smoothly for us. We had a nice little routine, communicated often if anything bothered us, and developed a great partnership with household duties (like cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc). This is also the place where Steve proposed!

Cooking for our first ever dinner party

Studying hard

One thing I remember most about our apartment is how great it smelled. The building itself had a funky cleaning-products-and-perfume smell, but the second you walked into our apartment, it was a refreshing and familiar smell.

We lived there for a year, then moved to our current house in Kingston. Even though we weren't there for long, our first apartment will always have a special place in my heart.

Packing/moving day!

Officially moved out -- on our way to Kingston

Next up on Memory Lane: New Brunswick 2005

Pregnancy Journal - 27 Weeks

Weight and Measurements
Pre-pregnancy weight: 105 lbs
Pre-pregnancy waist: 26 in.

26 Weeks: 119 lbs, 33 in.
27 Weeks: 121 lbs, 34 in.

Firsts
First appointment with my OB/GYN: February 17, 2011 (my previous appointments have all been with my family doctor).

Journal Entry
Musings...

- Give me some cherry tomatoes, feta cheese (pasteurized, of course!), fresh basil, s & p, oil, and balsamic vinegar... and I'm in heaven. I've been eating this salad throughout the entire pregnancy so far.

- The two main things I wonder about Jessica are: what will she look like? (will she look like me? Steve? Emily? Will she have lots of hair, like Emily did? Blue eyes?) and how will she nurse?

- I much preferred being pregnant in the summer (so far). Sure, the weather was hot at times (it was actually unseasonably cold in the summer of 2009), but I really miss my cute summer pregnancy clothes! Winter maternity wear just makes me feel big and bulky. Those fun little dresses, skirts, tops, capris, and shorts were so much more flattering!

- My winter coat is starting to get really tight. I sure hope the weather warms up so that I can avoid buying another one.

- This week I went to the fabric store and bought a couple of patterns for little girls' dresses. I got so excited about the thought of both my girls getting to wear what I make and sewing matching outfits for them (since the patterns come in many sizes). Now I know how my mom felt!

- Feels like we've been so busy this week with Valentine's day, working on Emily's room, shopping, sewing, prepping for the painting, and seeing friends/family. We have another busy week ahead and my to-do/buy list is still very long, but it helps that I'm getting a bit accomplished every day.

Overall 
Experiencing some uncomfortableness in the hips, frequent wakings at night, and nasal congestion. I've had bad nasal congestion throughout the pregnancy, but since I suffer from year-round allergies I don't think much about it. Other than that, enjoying those baby kicks! 

About Emily

"Emily" forgot to share a few things about herself during her last interview. I thought I'd write some things now so that I don't forget them.

- Emily loves to share. She'll be cuddling with her blanket or pyjama and insist and Steve and I cuddle too.

- She also loves to smell things (just like her mommy). On the list of things she smells daily are blankets, spices, and flowers (usually fake ones in books).

- "mmnum-mmnum" is the word she uses for "food", "yummy", "eat/eating", and "I'm hungry". For example, she'll say it as a response to "would you like a snack?" and "how's your lunch/supper/snack?", or she'll just blurt it out around meal times and when people are eating. It's the cutest-sounding word we hear all day.

- When I go get her in the morning, the first words out of her mouth are "up", "mmnum-mmnum", followed by "baby" or "boo boo", depending on what she's thinking about: her baby doll in the next room or the boo boo on her ankle.

- Speaking of boo boos, Emily still has a terrible habit of scratching any/all boo boos she can find. We constantly have to pull her hands away and say "we don't scratch our boo boos" (and explain why), but the second we turn around she's scratching them again. If there isn't a band-aid on it then she will likely draw blood from scratching. We definitely need to talk to the doctor about this at her next appointment since her skin problems never seem to heal fully.

- During her almost 18 months of life, Emily's only gotten sick once -- a mild cold. This seems strange to me, but I'm guessing it's mostly because she's rarely in large public/sharing situations. It's still hard to believe that she has yet to have an eye/ear infection, stomach bug, cough, fever, bad cold, etc.

- Every day she just gets sweeter, cuter, smarter, and more fun. Overall I'd say her personality is still very shy (especially around strangers) and mild. She doesn't test our limits very often (yet!) and is very good as listening to us and following directions.

- I feel incredibly lucky to have her as a daughter!

The Cutest Pigtails I've Ever Seen

Emily, sporting her very first set of pigtails

Given how incredibly cute she is, I wonder why I waited so long to style her hair like this in the first place!

Sewing Project: Ironing Board Cover

Like I mentioned before, I've fallen in love with sewing all over again (or maybe it's just the nesting instinct). I've been finding random projects around the house and sewing whenever I have spare time.

Here's a fun and easy project that anyone with a sewing machine can try: an ironing board cover.

Before                               After

My ironing board was in desperate need of a makeover. I found some fun fabric lying around and was determined to make my own new cover. I finished it in one day (4-5 sessions lasting 5-10 minutes each) -- basically whenever I had free time.

Here's how you can make one too in just 7 simple steps.

Materials needed:
- Enough fabric to cover your board
- Thread
- Thin elastic

Step 1: Cut your fabric to the shape of your ironing board, with an extra 3 inches around the edges.

Step 2: Pin a 1/2-inch seam around the edge of your fabric. For speed and simplicity I used my iron to create the seam.

Step 3: Use a zig-zag stitch to sew around the edge of the cover, leaving an opening at the end to thread the elastic. The zig-zag stitch will prevent the material from fraying when washed.

Step 4: Tie a safety pin to the end of your elastic and thread the elastic through the entire cover.

Step 4 is the longest and possibly most boring step, so preferably do it while doing something fun, like watching TV or watching your kids play:

Step 5: Take your funny-looking cover and slip it over the ironing board, tightening the elastic until you get a good, tight fit.

Step 6: Safety-pin or stitch the elastic in place and cut off the extra ends. Out of pure laziness I just left the safety pin on (also so that I could re-adjust the tension in the future).

View from underneath

Step 7: Admire your new ironing board cover!