The Push Before the Pushing.

Well today is my due date and for the last two weeks I've been trying to gently nudge my body and Baby into action. Like all preggos at the end of the journey I'm exhausted, sore and completely ready to get this show on the road. At 36 weeks I had many pre-labour symptoms and I thought for sure that I would deliver early. But everything stalled and nothing has changed in weeks.

I'm not ready yet to take any drastic measures to jump-start labour but I have been trying a few things this past couple weeks to get my body "ripe" for action.

Walking

The beautiful Minoru Chapel on a fall afternoon

I have been on the big side through this entire pregnancy. I guess because I had a small frame and torso to begin with there was nowhere for Baby to go except straight out in front. So exercise really slowed down for me early on because the extra weight out front put so much pressure on the ligaments in my abdomen and pelvis. Even walking a couple blocks back at 15 weeks was too much some days.

But since my due date has been approaching (and is now here) I have been trying to walk for a little while each day. Some days I feel fine and other days I get a block from home and the pain is so bad I have to sit on the curb until it subsides and I can walk back.

Since we moved we are close to Minoru Park and it's nice to walk over there on the good days.

Pressure Points

J has been pressing some pressure points in my feet and ankles that are supposed to help prepare the cervix for labour, help the baby drop into position and induce labour. If you're interested in trying these techniques get the OK from your doctor. We watched some videos on YouTube to learn where the right spots are. Click here to see one of the videos we watched. However it certainly hasn't induced labour and my lady bits didn't change much from one week to the next so either we haven't actually found the right spots or it doesn't always work.

Lemon Verbena Tea

A couple weeks ago my midwife gave me some verbena oil and a recipe for a cervical-ripening tea in the hopes that it would speed things up a bit. Again I don't really know if it works but I'm still trying (got a cup of the brew beside me right now). The recipe calls for a stick of cinnamon, cloves, ginger root and the verbena oil. You brew the tea and then add a couple drops of the oil afterwards. My midwife said to drink it at most only every other day so make sure you find out how much is too much before you start downing it every night before bed.

Acupuncture

After finding out today that there is still little sign that Baby is on the way my midwife suggested I try some acupuncture. I used to go to a great acupuncturist in West Vancouver because I hate needles and he was/is well-known for getting them in without the patient feeling it. But treatments are really expensive so J and I couldn't afford to splurge on this method of labour-induction.

But my midwife told me about a place in Vancouver called Poke which calls itself community acupuncture. It's a really cool little place at Kingsway and Main St. where you sit in a room filled with comfy recliners and other patients and one acupuncturist treats everyone. The atmosphere is super quite and chill just like a spa and everyone was so relaxed they were sleeping.

The best part is that the price works on a sliding scale so you pay between $20 and $40 per session -- whatever you can afford. Poke makes acupuncture available to people who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford the treatments so it's a great service to the community. But...

I hate needles. I don't find acupuncture relaxing at all. While everyone else lay peacefully in their recliners with eyes closed and blissful smiles on their faces I sat upright, frozen, with eyes as big as saucers scanning the room for a distraction. I had flashbacks to my past acupuncturist in who was so irritated with my inability to relax during his treatments that more than once he threatened to not allow me to return. I remember he used to leave the room and I would spend the half-hour of "relaxation time" laying perfectly still so as not to shake the needles and counting all the right angles in the room. There were a lot because the neon ceiling lights were covered with those grates with all the little squares. Pathetic, I know. But his treatment did work and so I have hope that the lady at Poke made some progress today.

My eyes still feel a little crossed from spending twenty minutes staring at the needle jutting out of my forehead. When she put it in she said that most people get one in that spot because "it feels so good". Uh huh. It freaked me out so much I finally took it out and then at the end of the session I lied and said it fell out. Of course by then I had pricked my fingers several times because I was nervously playing with it while I waited for my 20 minutes to be up.

FYI: If you're one of those freaks that find having needles stuck in your body enjoyable, Poke allows you to stay for as long as you'd like. Apparently many patients doze off for an hour or so. I did not. But I do have another appointment in a couple days.

My Pregnancy Tumor: the pain in my neck.

This post is about the gross side of pregnancy not the beautiful hand-knitted booties side of pregnancy so if you aren't ready for a dose of reality, take a pass on this one:

After all of the wonderful pregnancy symptoms I have suffered through over the last nine months one symptom stands above the rest as being the most horrible.

I'm not talking about morning sickness, bloating or edema (none of which are fun). I'm talking about my pregnancy tumor aka: pyogenic granuloma. Google it, it's fucking gross. I don't have any photos of mine but if I did I wouldn't post it for you because frankly its way too embarrassing. But I did draw you a picture of it on paint and trust me, its a pretty accurate representation.

This is my awesome paint picture. I'm proud of it.

So it started as a tiny little bump on my neck that I thought was a pimple. It just showed up one night. After a couple of days it was bigger and looked like it was full of blood, so then I thought it must be a blood blister. Instead of leaving it alone I pricked it with a pin, thinking I could let out the blood and it would go away. It didn't go away. I thought maybe a drop of blood would come out but instead it bled for twenty minutes and didn't get any smaller.

I went to my family doctor and she told me what it was and that approximately five per cent of pregnant women get them. We decided to freeze it off with liquid nitrogen like you would a wart. Supposedly that works sometimes. It didn't work on my tumor. It just made my tumor angry and it got bigger. I was still optimistic at this point that all it needed was another hit, so I went to the doctor a few days later and we tried to freeze it off again. And again this angered my tumor and it got even bigger.

So for over a week it kept growing and I went through a ton of band aids covering it up every time I left the house. As if walking around with a blood-filled tumor on my neck wasn't bad enough it would also decide to rupture like a volcano at night when I was sleeping and I would wake up covered in blood and looking like an extra from The Walking Dead. Pyogenic granulomas have their own supply of blood vessels and when they bleed they really, really bleed. The last time it burst it took me over an hour and a half to get it to stop and I decided I'd had enough. By the time I went back to the doctor it had grown to the size of a blueberry! The doc sent me to see a plastic surgeon to get it removed.

To remove these things the doctor freezes the area around it and then performs a curettage and cauterisation (they cut it off and burn the wound). I was worried about having a local anesthetic while I was still pregnant, but I was also worried about the damn thing blowing a gasket while I was pushing in labour...as if bleeding from down there isn't bad enough. I was also sick of wasting what little sleep I was getting at night on blood clean-up. Still, I would have waited until after the birth and let the damn thing double in size again if the doctor hadn't assured me that a little freezing at this late stage in pregnancy isn't dangerous for the baby.

The procedure took only a couple minutes and I was sooooooooo relieved to walk out of the surgeon's office without the red blueberry on my neck! Of course I never gave any thought to the after pain and my inability to take pain meds right now. Once the freezing wore off it did start to hurt and two days later it is still very sore. But today was the first time in a month that I didn't have to leave the house with band aids and scarves covering my neck.

Hopefully all you future preggos out there will fall into the 95 per cent of people who don't get a pregnancy tumor. I wasn't that lucky, but hey it could be worse...according to the Internet many pregnant women get them in their mouths or on their lips. THAT would be waaaay worse.

The Nursery.

Well it's only a matter of weeks (or maybe days) until Baby arrives and finally I think the nursery is complete. I originally had a whole different room in mind with a specific theme and specific items that I wanted to purchase. One of which was a full wall mural. However since we may not be living in this apartment for very long I decided to hold off on my grand design until Baby has a room that she will stay in for awhile. I was a little disappointed to not decorate how I had planned but I think the room turned out pretty cute anyway. Here are some pics of the nursery now:

The changing table and bookshelf are from IKEA. Neither are from the kid's section. I knew that there wouldn't be enough room for a dresser and a changing table so I chose to purchase a regular dresser and place a changing pad on top. The shelving therefore needed to be right beside the changing table to hold the diapers, cream etc. because it would be too awkward to reach those items while changing Baby if they were in a drawer below.

Here is the crib which I scored on sale. If you've read my previous post on the hassle I went through when buying it then you understand how happy I am to have it all set up now. The quilt is a beautiful hand-made gift from my recent boss, Stacey Murton. It works perfectly in the room.

I bought the tree wall decal at TJ's Kids in Vancouver. It was simple to put up and peels off without damaging the walls. This was the consolation purchase to not installing the full wall mural that I really wanted for her room. I was a little worried about placing the decal over her crib. I thought that maybe when she can stand up she would peel it off and eat it. But since we might not live here that long, or she might not be that curious I decided to just go for it. Obviously if you are placing peel-off stickers on the wall near the crib you need to make sure no pieces make their way into the crib where they could become a choking hazard.

All of the furniture except for the glider and ottoman are white. I wanted a sleek clean look, but because the glider will likely outlast the baby stuff and may end up in another room later so it seemed more fitting to go with a more adult espresso.

I think the lampshade is too much and should be exchanged for one in a solid colour.

STORAGE:

I actually thought that we would be able to use her closet for our things. After all, how much room can teeny tiny clothes take up? HAHAHAHA. Her closet is filled! In order to store all the clothes that she will grow into over the next year I stole two old narrow dressers from my parent's storage unit. It doesn't matter that they aren't pretty since I put them inside the closet.

I then bought some number stickers and labelled the drawers according to what size clothes are inside. Three to six months, seven to nine months etc.

The sleepers, onesies, hats, mitts, booties, socks and hair bands that she will be using for the first three months are stored in compartments in the changing table drawers. These white fabric organizers are available at IKEA and are great for sorting little items.

I found this bright green woven basket at HomeSense and it makes a perfect toy box.

LIGHTING:

Again from IKEA, although you can't get this one anymore. I bought this wall-mounted light for myself a few years ago and when I redecorated and didn't want to use it anymore I saved it in case I got the chance to put it in a baby room. I love it, it's really pretty, the coloured glass casts a nice soft glow and it matches the room perfectly.

A few years ago I was nannying a baby that had one of these in his nursery. It's a Moon In My Room, made by Uncle Milton. It's three dimensional (not flat like it appears in this pic) and it lights up and looks just like the real moon. It has different settings so baby can enjoy a full moon or any of its lunar phases. It automatically turns off after about 20 minutes and it has a remote control so I can open the door and turn it back on without coming in and disturbing baby, or an older child can turn it on without getting out of bed. I love this product. I bought it back in the day and saved it for my baby in case Uncle Milton stopped making it, which they haven't.

WALLS:

Aside from the big tree decal that I put up beside the crib I also found this one a few months ago at Army and Navy for about $3. I don't like birds in cages but this is OK because the bird is on the outside of the cage...also, it's not a real bird.

Another item that I saved for years. This was mine when I was little and I kept it safe in storage to use if I had a baby girl. Well, years (and years) later I am having a baby girl so it was rescued from storage. The frog prince is also a saved stuffy from my childhood.

And that's it. For now I'm just sitting at home and waiting for the big day. Any minute now...

The Baby Shower.

Because many of my girlfriends live far away, work different schedules or have children of their own I knew it would be too complicated to get everyone together for the shower. So I decided to have just a family-only baby shower and have individual visits with my friends and families I've worked for when they were in town or available. So this weekend was my baby shower with my family which I was really looking forward to.

My mom hosted the party and did a beautiful job of decorating the house and preparing goodies for the party. So here are a few shots of how everything looked.

The entry at the top of the stairs. I was banned from the house for days leading up to the party.

The colour scheme was pink and black with little Halloween touches thrown in for fun because the baby is due just before my favorite holiday.

Here is some grapefruit and raspberry punch and pink flamingo tooth picks. Most of the food was finger food and it was all great. So good I forgot to take photos. Oops.

Top shelf: My mom makes great lemon tarts.

My little cousin Lucy was the only child at the party because all of my other little cousins in Vancouver are boys and were therefore not welcome at the girly shower. She stayed busy decorating cupcakes for everyone.

We played a couple games but this was the cutest. My mom froze water and a pea in these little cups. When they melted it was supposed to represent my water breaking. The person whose pea floated (ice melted) first was the winner. My cousin Lyza won...but only because she licked her ice until she got the pea out! Cheater.