Noah is here!

11^th of October 2011 (2 weeks and 2 day old)

Hey everyone!

Noah was born on September 25^th 2011 at 1:14 am. He weighs 9 pounds and measures 20 ¼ inches. He had to be delivered via c-section due to many reasons (to discuss later). He’s perfect. He has gray-blue eyes, blond hair and looks identical to his dad. Seriously, is that kid even mine? 

We decided not to post any pictures of Noah online but believe me, the kid is cute. His favorite activity is sleeping and boobing. He is a very calm baby but he gets gassy and fussy at night. We are still working on a solution for that. We are obviously blessed to have him but it’s also a lot of work. I don’t know how I could do it alone. Stephen is doing well, tired but well. 

I’m sorry if this message seems to be all over the place (it is!) but I’m writing this in a rush before baby wakes up! 

Thank you for reading and for your patience.

Pregnant at a wedding

September 2^nd 2011 (39 weeks)

Hey Little hmm…Kinda big Bean..

A few weeks ago we had this huge event. I’m guessing you remember it because Mommy had lots of sugar to eat and we did a lot of exercise that day. It was Sonia’s and Konrad’s wedding! I wanted to write a bit about the wedding but mostly write about tips for pregnant ladies out there attending weddings. 

So, about the wedding, it was really nice. Very traditional and simple and it really represented Sonia and Konrad. Everything going from the mass celebration to the reception was excellent. We had a very pleasant night. We had lots of virgin pinacoladas… and lots of sweets…as I mentioned. We ended up gaining 2.5 pounds in 1 week. It’s fine though, we haven’t taken any more weight since then but it was scary…Damn good food…

Now, for all you pregnant ladies out there that are pregnant and assisting weddings, I have great advice for you especially if you are in the bridal party. 

-          Get a good night of sleep: Don’t go to bed late. Get as much sleep as possible. This is important because when pregnant and tired your system tends to get back at you. You feel nauseous, your head spins, you are dehydrated and you end up throwing up. All things that are not fun at a wedding. If you are a guest, you can always leave early if you don’t feel good but when you are part of the bridal party, you want to be there and actually be part of the wedding. If you have difficulties sleeping and you have medication against nausea (such as diclectin) take one pill or two (whatever your usual dosage is) before going to bed. You might feel sleepy during the morning though (I was sleeping at the hairdresser).

-          Feel comfortable: I was 8 months pregnant at my sister’s wedding. My major concern was to get a dress that would fit. We didn’t take any chance and got it custom made. I was pretty satisfied. I suggest you doing that if you can’t find anything that fits (or you’re afraid not to find anything.) In my case, it cost me about the same price as buying a dress. Next; shoes. Please, please, PLEASE don’t bring new shoes. If you do, make sure you have an extra pair of shoes. Yes- even when it’s flip flops. Your feet might be swollen by the end of the night; it might just hurt with new shoes (even if they felt super comfy at first).

-          Don’t be afraid to sit down: If you’re tired, if your feet start to hurt, if you’re having contractions and if you feel weak just sit down. Even if everyone is standing up, just sit down. The reason is pretty simple; if you keep standing up you’ll end up with swollen feet, with stronger Braxton hicks or you might faint. So do yourself (and everyone else) a favor and just sit down if you don’t feel well.

-          Eat slowly: You should know by now that your stomach is sort of compressed by hum…the baby. If you eat too fast you might suddenly feel like you’re going to throw up. Take your time to digest and to appreciate your meal. Also, stay hydrated. I can’t remember how much water I had and I still felt that I needed more (granted it was a super-hot day.)

-          Dance, drink & have fun: Being pregnant is not a disease so don’t act like you’re sick (unless you’re actually not feeling well). Instead go down to the dance floor, enjoy the dances, participate in games and have fun. Also, it’s not because you’re pregnant that you can’t drink…go to the bar and ask for virgin drinks…pina coladas, Shirley temples and daiquiris are all excellent drinks (well to my liking.) 

This is my advice for you ladies. It’s perfectly doable to attend a wedding while pregnant (obviously). Just keep in mind to feel comfortable and to enjoy your time. 

Baby Furniture in Montreal

August 24^th 2011 (37 weeks 5 days),

Hello followers/ Internet readers,

This post is mainly for informative purposes when buying baby furniture in Montreal. As first time parents, my husband and I wanted to make sure Noah would get a secure, solid and cute furniture set. Our room wasn’t too big, so we just wanted a bassinette and a changing table with drawers. We started by looking at Baby r’us. What we didn’t like about it was the price vs. quality of the products. Some of the sets we looked could easily scratch and cost around 1000$. We just wanted a set, so at first we picked a set there. It was a cherry red wood bassinette with a changing table and it cost us about 800$. Not too bad. Then when we checked out, the cashier asks us “hmm, what kind of car do you drive?” So we said “a Honda Accord.” She looked at us and said “that’s too small, the changing table comes assembled.” Great…Can we get it delivered? The answer was “yes” but they could charge us anywhere from 80$ + Hmmm…great. We took it but as soon as we left the shop we had that “that doesn’t feel right” feeling. You know, the same feeling you get when you buy something that you know you will regret. I got furniture just because I didn’t want to shop around and I knew I would regret it…so we returned it. So, conclusion with Baby r’us: Nice furniture, okay selection but very expensive for the quality you actually get. Also, delivery is crap. 

Then, I was looking online for baby furniture and I found a place called Bo Bébé. I would like to start by saying that they have a lot of choices and that the quality of their furniture depends on what you are willing to pay. The husband and I were pretty pleased by their cribs and changing tables. Honestly, it was cute and for what we were willing to pay the quality looked amazing. We also had the option to mix and match sets and we can order it in the same color. We choose the “oak” color in a certain collection (can’t remember the name) but we were still looking for a changing table and that’s where it all went wrong. 

We were looking at a changing table from the same collection when we read on the tag that it said “Only available in white and moka.” In our mind we think “Damn it, we want it in oak.” That’s when a sales person came to see it. She asked if everything was okay and I told her “yeah, everything is okay, we found a crib but we are looking for a changing table. We love this one but it’s not available in oak.” She then proceeds to ask “But…how do you know it’s not available in oak? Do you work here?” My husband proceeded to say “It’s written on the tag.” We both laughed, a nervous laugh and she just proceeded to say “Let me go check.” Turns out she had three oak changing tables left. Amazing, we took one along with the crib. Once we got to the cash the drama began. I asked about the sizes of the boxes and whether or not we could bring them in the car. She had to call sales woman and ask her. She replied that the boxes were way too big and that there was no way we could fit it in the car. Okay. The odd thing is that on the crib there were the dimensions of the box and honestly, I was sure it would fit. So I asked her if we could see the boxes and try to fit them (maybe not together, but one at a time). She said “absolutely not because the boxes have to be brought down from the third level down to the first.” Okay, so it’s impossible to see the boxes. At that point I just told her “Nevermind, we’ll cancel the transaction.” Something just sounded extremely fishy…When I said that, she became much less rude and instead told us “but why will you cancel it? We will try everything to make it fit in your car if that’s what you like. We can have it roped to the top of the car and see how it will go.” After calming myself and after my husband convincing me that I had gone too far we decided to take it. We asked how much delivery would be. So the cashier asked a manager who just replied “hmmm, make it 60$ and add 10$ per piece of furniture” And she then looked at me and said “I strongly suggest you getting the delivery because if you take it yourself and it’s scratched we won’t refund.” EXCUSE ME? First you make up a price out of your A…Mind! And then you tell me that if the furniture is damaged it’s MY fault? Whatever. I didn’t want to argue. We took the delivery and done. It cost us more than at Baby r’us but we agreed that we preferred the furniture. Then, for the delivery to occur we had to contact a certain Angela…WE had to call her. Okay. 

This was on Saturday, so I let the week end pass by and called Angela on Monday. Someone said she was busy and that she would call me back. Tuesday I still hadn’t got any news. Called back Wednesday. Nada. Same message “Angela is busy, she will call back.” So Thursday I had enough. I called and said that I had been calling since Monday and that she better call back today!” Here is the dilemma; we had 7 days to get a refund and 30 days to get a store credit. So, we either needed to get the furniture before Saturday to make sure everything was okay or gamble the risk that something would go wrong and that we would have a 900$ store credit at a store that was crap. At that point, I was sure that Angela was just making sure to delay our delivery. 

Angela ended up calling Thursday night and she set the delivery according to where we lived. The delivery truck would only pass by in two weeks near our place. I told her at that point that I was going to get a refund and nevermind. She told me “really? You purchased the furniture and you’re going to get a refund because of the delivery date?” What sounds so odd about that? She said she would still keep me down and hung up. Thanks lady. 

Friday we went there and asked for a refund. Everything went well. The manager came and spoke to us saying “Is it because of a problem here? Did you see the same model less expensive? Did you get bad service? We can fix that, just tell me.” No. I just want my money. I don’t want to deal with this crappy company anymore. Oddly enough, at the same time there was a mom-to-be trying to get a refund for a baby sear. I wasn’t there for the whole story but the mom was madly pissed. She was telling the owner that she was 8 months pregnant and not wanting to deal with this stupid drama anymore…I can somewhat understand her. So, conclusion for Bo Bébé; Great prices, good selection, crappy service. Don’t go there for something that you cannot bring home yourself and if you happen to take something home in your car/ van/ SUV, open EVERYTHING there and make sure NOTHING is missing. I’ll never go back. 

After that we were pretty desperate to find a good set for Baby Noah. We came to the conclusion that we would shop around but not be seduced only by a nice set. We went to Meubles Clément in Laval and we weren’t at first impressed with their selection. We did however find a nice set that we would get. Next step: check for delivery or if we could take it in the car. We couldn’t take it right away because there was only one changing table available in the color and model we wanted and it was in Quebec city. They would have to bring it to Laval first. So we asked for delivery and she said; we’ve been in business for three generations and we really know how to manage our things (I think she sensed our hesitation). Delivery was 60$ and that included assembling the furniture and making sure everything was okay. Also, compared to Bo Bébé, they didn’t ask for all the money right away. She asked for a deposit and the rest would have to be paid at delivery. So we agreed and within a few days THEY contacted us for the delivery. We picked a date together and a time and once the day arrived they were there early. We actually weren’t home but my mom was. She only said nice things about the men who came to install the furniture AND they gave us the mattress for the changing table along with a dinosaur toy. Why, thank you. Conclusion for Meubles Clément; AWESOME service, good quality and good prices. The selection for cribs is somewhat restricted though. Much more choices for toddlers beds. We loved the overall experience and I’ll post pictures of the crib and changing table. They just match the room very well.

Quick update (week 30-37ish)

August 23^rd 2011 (37 weeks 4 days)

BABY NOAH!!!

I’m so sorry, I didn’t get to write an update since so long. The truth is that I’ve been partially lazy and partially busy. I’ll try to summarize what happened during these last few weeks. First, since our last update we had a UTI (urinary tract infection). We had to go to the hospital again and get monitored and checked for contractions. Mommy had no contractions and you were doing just fine. After a urine sample the results were conclusive; we had a UTI and had to take antibiotics. Not that we enjoyed that but if you don’t get a UTI treated during pregnancy it can lead to a bunch of other problems…not worth it- obviously. Once again, Daddy stayed with us the whole time. I’m really thankful for him being so amazing and supportive during this whole pregnancy. I know he doesn’t always understand but he is always so comprehensive in such a soft and loving way. Anyways, this is your blog…not Daddy’s so let’s talk about you! 

After the UTI, everything went well (let’s hope it keeps going that way!). Grandma and Grandpa came back from Italy and we went to get them at the airport. I had honestly missed them. They brought back tons of goodies for you. Grandma picked a Capri hoodie, a handmade bib, a white onesie, a cross, your first rosary and a little painting. Grandpa picked a Pinocchio for you. We hanged it in your room. Try not to break it when you grow up. 

Room painted but not decorated

After that, nothing too much went on. Everything went by really fast, we met another midwife, Jacqueline. In case we go into labor while Marie is on vacation, Jacqueline will be the one who will be assisting the birth. She’s very nice and she gave us some good positions to try in order for you to do a good rotation with your head. See, if your head is facing my stomach (fat) it will take you longer (apparently a minimum of 12 hours) for you to rotate and to descend into the birth canal. If you’ve rotated your head and if you face my side (fat) then you only have ¼ of the way to go (instead of ½). So we’re making sure that you’re well positioned. Everything else looks great. Your heartbeat is around 148-155. Apparently it’s high normal for a 34-36 week old baby! Doing good Noah! Nothing else to report…we started painting your nursery while Grandma and Grandpa were gone. We decided to use blue, yellow, brown and beige. At first, we weren’t going to use any yellow but Daddy dropped the brown paint on the floor before we started to paint and we decided that the brown was really a dark color…yellow would suit the room better. Anyways, we did a great job really. Mommy will keep writing but she will change post because I have a lot to tell you (and the rest of the Internet) about your baby furniture and about Sonia’s wedding! 

I love you very much Little watermelon. 

Daddy is getting excited!

29 weeks of Little Bean

July 1^st 2011 (29 weeks)

Hi Baby Noah!

How’s life inside of me? I hope you’re comfortable. I know you’re starting to move a bit less. You’re running out of place. It’s no longer like when you were 20 or even 25 weeks. The good news is that you still have a lot of room to move around (just not as much). If you decided to (please don’t) you could still turn around and be breeched. Right now, your head is comfortably installed on my cervix and your legs are, what seem, suspending from my ribs. You’re in the perfect position to come out. Just not yet. 

This week was fun, nothing too much happened. Grandpa and Grandma went on vacation. Grandma called and she’s doing well. She didn’t get anything for any of us so far but she got you something. Lucky kid. You’re her favourite. It was hard to be without them because she’s not calling every day and well, we’re used to see her and talk to her every day. She’ll be here soon.

Other than that, we had fun last Saturday. We went to have dinner with a friend and daddy. So we went to have supper at St-Hubert and then we went to watch the fireworks. It was China night, the fireworks were okay, just not that great. The fun thing about that night is that we were in the gay Village. I am not used to Daddy getting hit on more than I am. I must admit I was getting jealous. So, anyways, good thing it was over soon. 

We also met with Grandpa D this week end. He’s doing great! Uncle Mark and Eric are also doing well. They’re working a lot.

So, take care Little Bean (you’ll always be a little bean even if you’re more like a cantaloupe right now).

Daddy and Mommy love you a lot!!!

Be safe in there!!

3D/4D scan at 28 weeks!

26^th of June 2011 (28 weeks)

Hi Noah!

I’m once again sorry to write this a week late. We had our last exam this week and a paper to write. It took a lot of energy and time to put the work together. In a happy note, now we are done school and I can consecrate myself to you and you only. You have been moving a lot and I can feel you move whenever I lie down. When you don’t move, I get worried but you always move. I figured out your pattern. You sleep from 8am to around 3pm (you still move during these times) and you nap from about 6 pm to 9pm (still move). The rest of the night and the day you move around like CRAZY. I love it! And at night I can sometimes feel you turn around and it feels really weird honestly but yea. So, let’s talk about this week!

We went to Grandpa D’s house on Friday for supper and we spent some time with him and your uncles. It was really fun! Grandpa also gave you a first gift; a little dog that belonged to Daddy when he was…well about your age. We left late but excited because the next day was your 3D/4D ultrasound. 

So the next day at 12’o clock we went to UCbaby in order to get our 3D/4D ultrasound. We finally got a glimpse of what you looked like. You have chubby cheeks, a cute nose and nicely shaped eyes. You’re able to open and to close them. You also like to play with your umbilical cord and put it in your mouth. You also enjoy holding it and pulling on it. You also LOVE to suck on your feet. You’re favourite position is to put a foot in your mouth while holding it with your hand and having one of your hands on your privates. You’re so cute!

Of course, we asked for a gender confirmation and you know what, WE WEREN’T ABLE TO GET ONE AT FIRST!!! You were shy and hid your genitals (Thanks Noah!). The technician was looking at the screen and she says that she can see the labia. Hmm, excuse me? Boys have labias also? No? Didn’t think so. So, we ask for her to be sure, but you wouldn’t move so we moved on to something else. At the end of the ultrasound, you still were hiding your parts so the technician asked mommy to get up and belly dance a bit. After moving around for around 2 minutes, Mommy laid back down and you finally got to move your hand (sorry for disturbing!!) and we could clearly see a scrotum. Now, girls don’t have scrotums so I was happy about that. You’re still our little boy! 

Grandma, Sonia, Titia, Grandma G and J-C (Mommy’s friend) got to also see your ultrasound (it was broadcasted life). To this day they still tell me how cute you are and how badly they want to meet you. Actually, now that we’ve seen you, we REALLY want to meet you. You’re already perfect…we can’t wait to finally have you and hold you. 

Take care Baby Noah! We love you and we’re happy you’re still a boy!

Mommy and Daddy

           You having a smile for the camera

    Your lovely parts (covered by a hand)

         Your favorite activity (sucking on your foot)

Bleeding at 27 weeks

26^th of June 2011 (27 weeks)

Hey Baby Noah!!

I am writing this extremely late. I am currently 29 weeks pregnant but I really wanted to tell you how our 27 week went by. I think I will remember that Monday my whole life.

The week end had been great and everything was going for the best. Sunday night, Mommy went to the bathroom. When she wiped she saw a bit of blood on the toilet paper. Nothing to worry about, it happens when the skin is dry. Daddy came into the bathroom when I was about done and I told him that I was bleeding but that I wasn’t too worried. When I got up to flush, we both noticed there was blood in the water. We weren’t too happy but we weren’t worried either. 

Around 10pm, before going to bed, Mommy went to pee again and she was bleeding. A little more than before. I was sure it wasn’t bloody discharge because I wiped before peeing and everything was fine. It’s when I wiped after peeing that there was blood in the toilet paper. So I had blood in my urine. I looked it up online and everything was leading towards a urinary tract infection which sounded really odd to me because I didn’t have any symptoms at all. Usually, when I get UTI’s I can’t pee, it hurts, my bladder feels constantly full, etc. Nothing this time. 

Daddy and I still managed to sleep but we were worried. At 1 am I woke up and went to the bathroom again. I had more blood. It was more intense and the blood was getting darker (so it went from pale pink to hot red.) At that point, I couldn’t sleep anymore. I was dead worried about you. I didn’t care about me…all I wanted was to know you were okay. Although you were moving and being very active I wanted more. I wanted to KNOW for sure that there was no harm done to you and that you would be fine. So many thoughts went through my head and I ended up falling asleep out of extreme tiredness. At 6 am I was awake. I went to pee and there was more blood. I called my midwife right away. We had just gotten a new phone and it didn’t dial properly my midwife. I wasn’t aware of that. I waited and waited for her to call me back. I called her colleague and the midwife on call. Couldn’t get through any of them because of the new phone but I was worrying and worrying. I finally decided to call from my cell phone. I got through my midwife’s colleague (it was my midwife’s day off). 

She told me to go to the hospital because if it was an infection she wouldn’t be able to give me the appropriate medication (midwives can only prescribe certain medications). She sent my medical record to Lasalle hospital and told me to go in that they were expecting me.

It took Daddy and I a long time to get there. An hour at least. We were worried and tired. As soon as we arrived, the nurse gave me a room and told me to give two urine samples. If there was an infection, she would fine out an hour later with one of the samples. The other one was for a culture. So I gladly peed in her two samples and I found out that I had no more bleeding. Then, I was connected to a monitor for about 40 minutes. You were being very active and your heartbeat was doing great. When the nurse came to check on me she saw that you were doing great and that Mommy had no contractions…Good!

Mommy was also served a hot meal. Now I had never realized how much hospital food sucked but I was so hungry that it was GREAT! I shared the meal with Daddy though- he was also hungry. After that, Mommy was falling asleep. She kind of fell asleep in the hospital bed but it was cold.  The nurse finally came back about two hours later to tell us that the first urine sample came back normal and that the doctor says it happens to have blood in the urine while pregnant, so she wasn’t worried since it stopped. So we were allowed to leave. And we left…

So far, Mommy didn’t have any more bleeding at all. My midwife thinks it’s because I drank too much and my kidneys didn’t have time to filtrate everything. Perhaps that’s what it is. I’m just happy that everything turned out to be good. I had previously realized how much I cared for you but I honestly never knew how much Daddy and I would worry about you. We didn’t even meet you yet and we love you and care about you so much. We spent a night and a day worried and expecting the very best and preparing for the worse. It’s crazy how much your mind wonders. We were never scared of losing you but premature birth did come to mind. You are very precious to us and we love you Baby Noah. You’ll always be our growing Little Bean. 

That’s sadly the memory I keep of your 27^th week…

We love you very much and I can’t wait to meet you (but in a few weeks)! 

Take care of yourself Baby Noah. Daddy and Mommy love you A LOT!!