Adapting to Baby...

24^th of October 2011 (4 weeks 1 day)

Hi Noah,

I’m writing this as you as sleeping on your stomach by my side while the cat is sleeping between my legs. See, while you sleep on your stomach, we have to constantly watch you because it’s not considered safe. So, Mommy is giving up on sleeping time to make you sleep. Isn’t that great? I prefer to be sleep deprived then to hear you cry all morning though. Just a personal choice. Daddy is gone to work and we’re here…with Soleil. Lots of things have been going on during those past weeks. Probably too much to write on here or even to remember. You’re growing so fast. You had your three week appointment with the midwife and you’re doing great. You weight almost 10lbs and you’re 56cm long. You’re growing so fast!!! 5,5cm in 3 weeks dude! You’re also learning to do some sounds and you actually have a schedule at night (much appreciated-thanks). You fall asleep at 10pm after Mommy breastfeeds you, then you wake up at 2am for a diaper change and some more food. Next feeding is at 4am and then at 6am. Not too bad, right? Usually, after that you don’t have a schedule. Sometimes you’ll sleep till 11am, other times you’ll wake up every hour. Granted that when you wake up constantly you get very fussy. Not fun for neither of us. If you sleep a lot though, you’re in an excellent mood. We love that!

In the afternoon, when daddy arrives, he usually takes care of you. He’ll take you if you’re sleeping and if you’re not, he’ll make you sleep. Recently it’s gotten difficult because you LOVE to cry yourself to sleep. There is nothing we can do. You’re changed, fed, burped, no gas, you’re not cold or hot. You just want to cry and sleep. We still try to sooth you and hold you but you just cry in our arms. It’s hard for us but we know you’re just tired and want to go to bed…It gets hard for Daddy because he doesn’t like to hear you cry. Mommy is used to it and to be honest with you, I just embrace it… One day you’ll grow up and you will be able to communicate better with us. When you’ll be tired, you’ll say “Mom, I’m tired, read me a story so I can sleep please” (or something of the sort) but right now you just do “OOIN OOIN”. It will get better. We’re still trying to figure out what you mean when you do little sounds or little movements. We’ll get there- I promise. All that matters is that we love you and you…well…you don’t love us yet. Noah, whatever what happens to you in 15 years or so, whenever you feel like we’re working against you, please don’t forget all that we’ve done for you and that we were able to deal with you when we didn’t even know what was wrong. Just let us know what you want and need. We can deal with it. There is nothing that love can’t overcome and trust me- every day that goes by, we love you more. 

That’s the update we got for now. I’ll write more to you later- you’re waking up!

We love you Baby!

First week home

12^th of October 2011 (2 weeks and 3 days)

Hi Baby Noah,

I wanted to take some time while you were sleeping in my arms to tell you how precious you are to us. You were so wanted and waited for that to have you here with us sounds like a miracle. I’m pretty sure that’s what you are, our little miracle. Daddy and I are cherishing every moment we spend with you. We can’t wait for you to be older and to actually talk to us but at the same time, you’ve already grown so much since birth and I feel like time is running by us. So, we are taking a minute at a time and enjoying what life has given us. 

A few words about your first two weeks; we spent 3 nights at the hospital. The night you were born, no one slept. I didn’t really consider that a “night” per say. You were born at 1h14am and we were still up at 4 am. Mommy had a caesarean cut, so she couldn’t get up to pick you up. Grandma or daddy would be the ones who would have to take you when you cried and give you to me. That was hard for me. I felt that I couldn’t really do much except breastfeed you. I wanted to get up, take you and swaddle you but I couldn’t. The second night was fine. We had visitors during the day and everyone kept telling us how adorable you were. Daddy and I were thrilled but really really tired. The third night was our last night at the hospital. You were losing too much weight and nurses were putting too much stress on Mommy to breastfeed you more when inside of me I knew you would be fine. We came home. As much as at the hospital you had a perfect sleeping pattern, once you got home things got complicated. Mommy had much more milk and you drank very often. We were up a lot during the night and it wasn’t fun for either of us. Thank goodness that Daddy took a week off, Mommy couldn’t have done it without him. You also decided that sleeping wasn’t too much your thing. You preferred to stay up and cry. To be honest with you, that was fine when Daddy was not working but once he started work again, we didn’t appreciate it that much. We were both tired and we couldn’t stand it anymore. I didn’t expect it to be this exhausting and hard. 

Our schedule at night was something like this; you would wake up, daddy would change your diaper, Mommy would feed you, we would spend 2 hours to put you back to bed. You would fall asleep, we would sleep, you would wake up a few minutes later. We would then repeat the schedule. Ex.hau.sting. Feeding you was also not great at first. Mommy felt like giving up a couple of times. You weren’t gaining enough weight at first. Nurses wanted me to supplement breastmilk with formula and I didn’t want to. Mommy ended up having LOTS of milk to feed you. So the hard part was to feed you at every hour or so. With time it got better. You started to sleep a bit more at night. 

You’re not always an easy baby to deal with but we want you to know that we love you and we would do anything for you. You’re just so special to us and we feel blessed to have you in our life. So keep growing. We’ll keep loving you and be there for you.

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.