Wellington Watch, 30 weeks

30wks (7.5 months)

Weight gain so far: 23lbs

Extra cool (and ODD) milestone this week:

As of this week, my weight has officially reached what it was before I started Weight Watchers 3 years ago. As odd as it is to see that number on the scale again, I have to admit that I'm proud that it took me becoming seven and a half months pregnant to gain all the weight back. (For the record, I had gained some back before getting pregnant...but that's not the point people!).

Doctor Appointment:

Not much to report here. Wellington's head is still down, wedged between my pelvic bones. He's kicking up a storm, which I love. Doctor isn't concerned about the 'iron' thing, so no more blood tests. She also pointed out that I'm almost at the 'single digit weeks left' mark. The male resident that was with her asked me if I've felt any contractions yet. Excuse me, Sir, but I think it's far too early to be asking me that question. Now, do not mention that word in front of me again, until Wellington is at least 37 weeks along. Thanks.

Symptoms/Feelings/Etc:

1) My eyesight has gone to hell. Some days I wonder if I should even be allowed to drive.

2) I've now entered the waddling stage of pregnancy.

3) I have definitely noticed the decrease in lung capacity. It is embarrassing how quickly I can become breathless, doing almost nothing.

4) The belching. Oh, the belching. Sorry Warren.

Warren story:

I'm not sure if this is truly baby related, but I think it speaks to Warren's nurturing side (or CRAZY side?).

I came home from work yesterday, and as I was walking up the front steps, I glanced down at the corner of the door - something drew my eye there.

Warren: Don't look!

Which of course made me look. Clinging to the corner of the exterior wall, down by the ground by the door, was a little, black, furry mammal of some sort. On the ground just beneath it was a little blue tupperware lid with something on it.

Amanda: What. Is. THAT?

Warren: Ummm...I don't know, but I think it's a bat.

Amanda: A WHAT?!

Warren: I think it's sick, so I'm nursing it back to health.

Amanda: Nursing it back to HEALTH?!

Warren: Ya. I've left it some crumbled up dog food.

Amanda: DOG FOOD?!

This new guest of ours has been named Bruce (aka Bruce Wayne, aka The Batman). We're still not sure what Bruce IS exactly, or what's wrong with him, or what he likes to eat.

Yet more evidence that my husband is truly RIDICULOUS. If Warren comes home to find Bruce dead, laying on his back with his stiff little paws/hands/legs/claws/wings up in the air, I'm pretty sure we'll be having a funeral for him. And in case you're wondering, the answer is yes. Yes, you will all be expected to attend.

(Editor's note: happy to report that since this was written, Bruce has disappeared, or 'flown away' as Warren likes to believe).

5 On Friday: April 24th, 2009

1. There is an add on the bus that cracks me up every time I see it. There is a photo of a woman yelling at a man over his shoulder. The headline reads "Hear Life!". The caption below reads "Because a hearing aid is cheaper than a divorce". Reminds me of my Grandma & Grandpa. Grandma is always 'yelling' at Grandpa, but really it's just because his hearing has gone to hell.

"Peter! PETER! AMANDA is ON THE PHONE! Do you want to SAY HI??!!".

2. I've decided we need a new oven/stove. First, I scorched the bottom of my left arm making pancakes. Then, I scorched the top of my left arm cooking a roast. I blame the oven. It's old and cranky. A new shiny oven wouldn't take out it's anger on me this way, I'm sure of it.

PS - if anyone finds oven mitts that go all the way up to your shoulders, please buy me a pair.

3. I am shocked and amazed at how much recyclable stuff I used to throw away before we got our City of Calgary blue box. I still catch myself going to chuck something, only to realise I can toss it in the giant blue box. I'm excited about the program, but I'm fully expecting City Council to up the cost every year from now until eternity.

4. My mom was really confused by my last 5 on Friday post. She thought Warren & I crank Barbie Girl in the car. So to be CLEAR - we crank Poker Face. There is one line in Poker Face that REMINDS us of Barbie Girl. We are not stuck in the 1990's. I swear. And  mom, you really need to FOCUS when you're reading my blog. This stuff is very complex.

5. Latest gift from my mother-in-law: A pair of red Wellington rain boots! Or 'Wellies' as they're properly called in England.

6. Some exciting changes might happen in the Cronin household in May. My Dad has planted the idea that he will help us renovate the ridiculously out-dated (and moisture damaged) upstairs bathroom...and finally finish the Pub fireplace. Will it happen? He is smokin' busy with work these days, but I have faith that he will have some loyalty to his pregnant daughter, or 'Grampa Guilt' as I like to call it :-)

7. Super cool videos of baby development for anyone who is interested. Only downside is you have to sit through a long Winnie The Pooh movie preview before you can view them...

Wellington Watch, 29 Weeks

29wks (7 months, 1 week)

Weight gain so far: 20.5 lbs

Extra cool milestone this week:

Warren felt the baby move :-) It made me so happy, because anything that lets him in on the experience just brings us closer. He's always asking me 'What does it feel like?', and now he finally has an idea. He felt the full belly 'quiver/tremor' type movements, as well as the more isolated 'kick' type movements. I have to say, I'm really enjoying this stage of pregnancy because I can feel so much movement, and it's not uncomfortable or painful yet. I can still breathe and I don't have an elbow lodged in my rib cage.

Last night I SAW Wellington move. Soft, gentle ripples across my belly. LOVE IT!

Also - Wellington would have a 9 out of 10 chance of survival if he was born this week.

Doctor Appointment:

This week I popped in to get the Rh Negative shot, so that my blood doesn't attack Wellington's blood. My mother in law is RH negative, and when she was pregnant with Warren she had to be hospitalized because they didn't have a shot back then. I'm so lucky to be pregnant in this day & age.

Oh - and I've officially been upgraded to the 'Every 2 weeks' appointment schedule.

Symptoms/Feelings/Etc:

1) Some days my body is just WRECKED by bed time. My feet, legs and lower back just ACHE beyond belief and I feel like I'm 100 years old. I gave Warren the official warning that I've now entered the 'I need a foot rub' stage of pregnancy. And it's not that I need a foot rub to relax or because I'm a diva - it's that the bones and muscles in my feet actually need to be rubbed BACK TO LIFE, otherwise they will die a slow, painful death and fall off.

2) For some reason, my legs & arms have gotten really soft & mushy - more so than usual. Boo! And I can't blame it entirely on lack of exercise, because it's not like I was following a strict regiment of squats and weight lifting before.

3) I have found myself being more irritable lately. So far I'm able to identify those days/moments, and can give Warren fair warning...because it's often things he's doing that irritate me. If he does something klutzy, if he takes a long time to say something really simple, if he's lost something in the house and is rummaging around looking for it, etc. Any of these situations bring out a snarly comment. Like Monday night, when he BBQ'd burgers for us. He came into the kitchen with the cooked patties on a plate and stopped in his tracks and said 'Crap, I forgot the cheese'. I glared at him and said rudely 'I knew you would.' Basically implying that I assume he's a forgetful idiot. Poor guy. I apologized when I realised how awful my comment sounded, but still. The guy just made me a burger! And it's just cheese!

Belly Pics:

Figured it's time for an updated belly pic. This is my 'sassy' top. I call it my 'sassy' top, because it's an animal print...and if you pair anything with hoop earrings, it's instantly sassy, right?

Seeing the photos though, I realise there is nothing sassy about being pregnant. I don’t think I could go clubbin' in this outfit. Is that what the kids call it these days? Clubbin'?

Wellington Watch, 28 weeks

28wks (7 months)

Weight gain so far: 18 lbs

I LOVE THIS:

Hello Baby Book #1
Hello Baby Book #2

Can't wait to see if she's able to bring down the price a bit. Hard to justify the current cost of the 'big' version (even if we received it as a gift - I'd feel bad if someone bought us a $150 baby book!).

I WANT THIS:

Wellington, You Are Awesome Poster.

We figure we'll wait until Wellington is born to order one. We're still trying to think of what 'word' we would use. Personally, I think 'Awesome' sums it up pretty well, but Warren wants something a bit more personal. Maybe once he's born, the word will come to us. Words I hope don't apply:

Wellington You Are Colicky
Wellington You Should Nap More
Wellington You Are Trouble

Haha. He'll be loved and cherished even if all the above apply though :-)

Doctor Appointment:

Some blood work came back and it turns out I'm iron deficient. This surprised me, because when I look up iron rich foods, they are all things I eat on a regular, if not daily basis. Almonds, cashews, dried apricots, tuna & spinach. Turns out little Wellington is quite the iron mooch.

Wellington You Are A Mooch (but I forgive you).

I may have to resort to drinking prune juice, but before that I will gladly eat some egg-filled breakfast sandwiches in the mornings, and steak sandwiches at night. Doctor's orders people, doctor's orders...

Also at the doctor's appointment this week, my doc was able to feel around my belly and determine how Wellington was positioned. I found this fascinating, because when I feel around I'll be damned if I can identify a head, foot or butt. Anyways, his feet are on my right side, his butt is on my left side, and his head is perched quite nicely upon my hoo-haw. Even though I'm sure that positioning will become very uncomfortable (for my hoo-haw), I hope he stays that way!

Family Portrait / Pseudo Belly Pic:

Warren's latest camera gadget, that he just picked up today, is a camera remote. No more setting the timer and running to get into frame. Now we just pose and press the button on a tiny remote and say 'cheese'. So we took a couple impromptu self portraits after work today.

The first is the fully impromptu photo, the second is the 'adjusted' photo - I positioned myself so my blossoming belly would show (and blossoming cheeks - WHOA!), and Warren took off his glasses. Pretty cool little gadget, I must say!

5 On Friday: April 10th, 2009

1. I was telling my mom how Wellington kicked me so hard the other day, that my arm bounced right off my belly. Then I jokingly said we should name him 'Hercules'. This got us onto the topic of this terrible cartoon Adam & I used to watch when we were kids. Well, thanks to the miracle that is You Tube - I found an old clip from the show! Mom, this one is for you...



2. The following song is the latest guilty pleasure added to our iTunes library. It's always the first song we crank when we get in the car.

At the 1:03 mark, there is a male voice that kicks in that says 'She's got me, like nobody'. We think this vocal sounds a LOT like Aqua's 'Barbie Girl', so when that part of the song comes, we sing 'Come on Barbie, let's go party' and it fits perfectly! (Editor's note: embedding was disabled, so here is an old fashioned link...)

Lady Gaga 'Poker Face'

3. We recently discovered the virtues of Superstore. We did a spur of the moment grocery shop there last week, and a load of groceries that I estimated would have been around $200 at Safeway, costs $131 at Superstore. We are SOLD. Now we just have to figure out when the 'quiet times' are...

4. A HUGE THANK-YOU to Erin who brought us a car seat, 2 bases & matching stroller. This way, we don't have to worry about finding the perfect stroller before Wellington comes. We can see how we like this one, BEFORE going out and spending $600 on a new one. This makes us so happy :-)

5. Anyone seen Monsters Vs Aliens? We're thinking of going, but aren't sure if it's just a 'kids' movie.

Sad Day in the Blogosphere

Large, swollen tears stream down my face as I read over this weeks Wellington Watch. As I sit at my computer, typing my way through the joy that is expecting a baby, the Blogosphere is mourning.

First, I heard the news on Redneck Mommy. Then Baby On Bored. Next on Flotsam. Then...on Backpacking Dad.

I do not know any of these people personally. I only read their blogs. I first clicked on The Spohrs Are Multiplying months ago, because I thought the name was funny.

It's just so sad.

Wellington Watch, 27 weeks

27 wks (6 months, 3 weeks)

Weight gain so far: 16.5 lbs

What we did with our time:

I totally expect that once Wellington has made his grand entrance into this ridiculous family of ours, we'll be hard pressed to remember what exactly we spent all our time doing, before we were parents. So I thought I'd document a typical day in the life of Warren & Amanda...for nostalgia sake.

Typical Week Day:

6:30am - Amanda wakes up, has a shower.
6:50am - Amanda has a bowl of cereal, reads daily ilovelife blog post.
7:05am - Amanda gets ready for work.
7:50am - Amanda leaves for the bus, Warren wakes up.
8:30 - 5:00pm - Amanda works at the office.
5:30pm - Amanda arrives home, winds down by watching Global National & 1st 20 minutes of Global Calgary.
6:20pm onward - evening could be made up of any combination of the following: dog walk, nap (often a result of falling asleep while watching the news), cooking dinner, impromptu dinner out, dinner with friends, evening in front of the TV, shopping, house chores, yoga, reading, bath, painting my nails, blogging.
9:30 or 10:00 - Amanda reads in bed until she's sleepy.

Typical Weekend (when Warren is off work):

7:30 or 8:00am - Warren wakes up.
8:00 or 8:30am - Amanda wakes up.
8:30am - 10:30am - Warren & Amanda laze around, surf the net, have coffee and toast, shower & take time getting ready.
10:30am - go out for breakfast (maybe Limericks, Seanachie Pub, Phils or the Lido).
12:00pm - go shopping - Ikea, Kensington, Consignment gallery, Home Depot, groceries...
2:00pm - nap.
3:30pm - house chores, walk dogs, putz.
5:00pm - feed dogs.
5:00pm onwards - evenings spent going out for dinner, having friends or family over, drive to Bragg Creek with the dogs & a Ricky Gervais Podcast, going to a movie (impromptu), hanging out at Chapters & browsing HMV, having a beer & pizza night in front of the boob tube.

Name guesses:

Warren's mom has started a 'name' pool. We aren't supposed to know what people are guessing, but a few people have let it slip. Here are some of the guesses we know of so far:

- Tobias (Toby for short!)
- Heath
- Daniel Wellington Warenko Cronin (This is my brother's guess - he went for the full name, 2 middle names and all. He's convinced 'Wellington' will make it into the real name somehow. Only time will tell...heh,heh.).

I have to say - those are some sharp names! Can't wait to read them all.

Adam story:

My younger brother (but not youngest brother) Adam, who is 28 this summer, has this odd fear/fascination with my belly. He'll look at it and ask "What does it look like? Is it sick? Can I see?". Then he covers his eyes like he's watching a suspenseful horror movie and says "Oh God! Is it gross? Let me see...no wait! What does it look like? Will it be sick?". I'm not sure what horrors he expects to see...maybe stretch marks? Anyway, instead of lifting up my shirt, I showed him the pictures I took, to which he replied "It just looks like you're arching your back and sticking out your stomach!". This annoyed me, so I tried to trace the picture with my fingers to show him what part was 'the bump', and what part was 'the old me'. To which he replied, "Ya right, you were never that thin".

That guy sure knows all the right things to say.

Symptoms/Feelings/Etc:

- Lately I've been getting the dreaded 'leg cramps', that are sometimes painful enough that I want to take my own life.

- Unfortunately for Warren, I've also been experiencing the uncontrollable belching/gassy sounds. Whenever it happens though, I just say, "Wellington! Stop that!".

- In a lot of ways I'm glad I have an office job while pregnant. It gets me wearing different outfits and jewellery and I still do my hair & make-up. Otherwise I think I'd live in yoga pants and a house coat, with my hair pulled up into a hap-hazard pony tail on the top of my head.

- My feet & legs are starting to swell - ever so slightly. Just enough that I don't recognize them as my own. I guess a 'thin' ankle is something I used to take for granted.

- My emotions and thoughts about becoming a parent are a bit of a roller coaster. I'd say right now, they're 90% excited/looking forward to holding little Wellington, smelling his head and stroking his gentle little hands, and 10% terrified that my life, my Self and my relationship with Warren will be completely unrecognizable. I have a feeling this 90/10 split will shift the closer we get to the Birth Day.

Nursery progress:

Still haven't put the crib together, and we've accumulated a lot more items since these were taken, but here's what it looked like when it was sparse and tidy!

5 On Friday: April 3rd, 2009

1. I'm currently at war with our socks. We have a laundry basket full of un-matched socks, that have been un-matched for what seems like a year. When I was at Walmart last weekend, I loaded up on a whole wack of new socks, and now I plan to just out-and-out CHUCK the old ones, and start fresh. No looking back, no regrets. Good-bye stupid socks.

2. I have a 4-month white board calendar at my desk at work. I recently erased March, and added July. I wrote in bright red marker - the week of July 6th - BABY DUE THIS WEEK. It's odd to see the due date up on my work calendar...tick-tock-tick-tock.

3. We're going to make a pancake breakfast tomorrow! Complete with eggs, bacon and lots of fruit. Ahhh...the simple joys of life.

4. Advance tickets for Seinfeld go on sale tomorrow. I'm not holding out hope, because Ticketmaster is currently on my hit-list, but wish us luck anyways.

5. Warren & I took the day off together, and we ended up at Ikea. On the way out we both stopped in our tracks to gaze upon one of the over sized framed photos they had on display. It was a black & white (& some red) photo of our favorite place in the world. So we bought it.

(editors note: the bright white light in the middle is from my flash, and the darkness in the top right corner isn't actually part of the photo - don't know what caused that. I'm sure I'm also infringing on copyright laws by photographing the photo and posting it here...).

Wellington Watch, 26 weeks

26 wks (6.5 months)

Weight gain so far: 15.5lbs

Crazy Dream:

I woke up in the middle of the night and rolled over to snuggle Warren. I said "I had a really bad dream and need to hold you for a while". "What was it about?" he asked. "It was a labor dream" I replied. "Oh boy" he said, and we both fell back to sleep.

In the morning he asked what the details of the dream were...I'm sure hearing about someones dream isn't really interesting to most people, but I'm going to document it here anyways, for my own memories...

In the dream...I went into labor 3 months early (March 27th to be exact), but thankfully the baby came out healthy. Warren missed the birth because he went to the washroom. So my brother (??!!) was the one with me at the birth. He asked what name we had chosen, but in my shock/awe I couldn't remember. So he handed me a list of names he had made, and I chose from there. So our baby was named Russell. Then I asked the nurse how much the baby weighed and she looked at me like I was crazy. 'Does anyone weigh newborns anymore?" she asked. Then she walked over, begrudgingly, to the scale to weigh him, like I was asking her to move a mountain for me. He weighed 6 lbs, 1 ounce. Then I discovered that 'Russell' was speaking in full sentences. No one else seemed to think this was odd, but I was certain I had given birth to an alien child. He would actually say things like 'Mother, I am ready for your breast now'. It was freaky, but again, no one cared. Warren was completely indifferent to the whole thing, and once we were home, he got dressed and ready for work and asked me 'So, what are you going to do today?'. I replied sarcastically/angrily "Well - look after the new KID we have now!". Then he walked out the door "Okay, bye. See you when I get home".

After describing the dream to Warren, he looked at me and said "Hon, that's not a scary dream. Weird, yes. But not scary."But it felt so real, I woke up very frightened.

Oh - I forgot to mention that 'Russell' had features similar to the evil nemesis of Stewie in the Family Guy - the baby with the freckles & orange hair.

Warren stories:

My favorite thing Warren does these days is ask me, out of nowhere, "How's the boy?".

At the hospital on Tuesday, while we were hanging out 'counting movements', Warren leaned in close to my belly and said "Son, this your father speaking. This is the only time you will have permission to kick your mother".

Yesterday morning, when Warren woke up he asked me 'How are the movements?'. I replied 'Really good. I'm pretty sure Wellington is trying to make a fool out of me!'.

Pregnancy item I couldn't live without:

I recently discovered the magic of the WIRELESS BRA. Being somewhat chesty ever since puberty hit, I've always thought I needed an underwire. It wasn't until being pregnant that I've found underwires uncomfortable (sadly I bought 2 underwire maternity bras early in the pregnancy), so I bought my first wireless bra and I'm SOLD. Maybe permanently :-)

Impromptu Belly Pics (that I took myself):