30 weeks

It's been about a month again since my last post and the time has passed in the blink of an eye. Even though we still have 2 months left till your due date, to me it seems like just around the corner.

Things have been going really well I think. Feeling good and you have been moving tons! We had a little scare last week though. I had some spotting and went to the hospital to get checked. Our low lying placenta made people worry. They put you on the monitor and u passed with flying colours. Placenta still hasn't moved all the way out of the way yet. I was pretty upset. I really want u to be born naturally and for us to work together on it. I'm still hoping we can. Your daddy was really worried about you but once u showed everyone how healthy u are he felt better and helped me feel better too. Now we r on orders to take it easy so no crossfit or lifting.

No lifting is going to be a tricky one since we are moving!! We finally found an acreage and after a stressful few weeks our financing has been approved. I always thought people who moved late in pregnancy were absolutely nuts, but here I am doing it. Must have jinxed myself. And is that's not enough we don't get possession until a week before Christmas. Yikes! Oh well. We are going to be very happy there. :)

25 and a half weeks

25 plus already. Over 6 months! Finally getting the round baby bump, not just a tummy that looks like I may have been eating too many cheeseburgers. (If I did eat cheeseburgers that is.) ;) SCOBY has been moving around a lot. I really want a few people besides josh to be able to feel him/her move but it seems whenever I get around other people for a bit of time, that's when u get quiet. Go figure. Kinda frustrating but I guess still have a few more months.

Thanksgiving has come and gone. Three dinners and so much yummy food. I made a great paleo stuffing and we tried turducken. Yum. Also got to have pie as I bought some from a local gluten free bakery. What a nice treat. Had too much of it though.

On thanksgiving day my mom went to Mexico for cancer treatment. Will be there for ten more days. I'm hoping it helps and she and Scott learn some healthy lifestyle changes. Josh and I have been trying to get them and my sister's family on paleo for awhile. To their credit mom and Scott have learned a couple things.

Halloween is right around the corner and I got nothin. Last month was hoping to think of a cool pregnant costume or something but no inspiration. I've looked online but I can't think of anything that hasn't already been done a thousand times. We don't really have anything planned anyway.

The weeks just seem to be ticking by at a hugely rapid pace. I think I have been feeling pretty darn good considering. I will be starting my hypnobabies prenatal class soon. Excited about that. Time to prepare for having this SCOBY!

24 weeks

Okay I'm not quite 24 weeks but that's only 2 days away. I was a little bit shocked that is has been almost a month since my last post.

Let's see, what has been going on.

We picked a doula so that is one less thing. Midwife appointments are going well. The day of the last meeting about a week ago SCOBY woke up at 6 am and I swear didn't stop moving until week into the afternoon. So cool. Now it's moving quite a bit every day. Hope that means you're happy in there!

I gave in and bought some maternity clothes. Josh has always bugged me about being stubborn on that. I found some second hand things that should work well. Today one of the regular dress pants I have been using ( ones I kept when I lost weight) were too tight so switched to the other pair. :( Trying to face facts that I am getting bigger. I can even rest my hand on top of my belly. So surreal! Lol

Still have lots of things on my mind to get done, but crossing other things off helps. Freezer is getting stocked with soups and lots of applesauce for later. We just got our grass fed pork share today and both freezers are full! We still have a beef share coming. As well as a pork one for winter. I feel good knowing if we ever got snowed in we would have no worries about food. The days are definitely getting shorter and colder!

So many changes. I feel like I am just starting to get this pregnancy thing figured out and then realize I will have a whole new learning curve once SCOBY is born. Got me a little scared one day. Good thing josh is there for me to talk to. Love that guy so much.

Doula Dilema

Before I got pregnant I learned a little about what a doula is and decided when I was with child that I would look into getting one. Put in simple terms a doula is a labour helper and will pretty much do whatever you need them to do. Within reason of course and besides giving birth for you. 😉

Pretty much the day after I peed on that stick and it was positive I contacted the two local midwifery groups. The advice I was given was to contact them as soon as I might even think I was pregnant 😉 and I guess I should have listened because they both said they were full for the time of my due date. It was disappointing but not much could be done except ask to be put on the waiting list. We started looking into doulas then since we knew we would need help navigating all the hospital policy and such that we had wanted to avoid by getting a midwife.

Then last month we won the lottery. The Blessing Way midwife group in Rocky Mountain House called. They had gotten a third midwife and were taking new clients! Happy day! But stressful. We had to go there for an interview within two days. Luckily they saw us in the evening and Josh was off work. I was worried that it would not work out since they are in Rocky or we would have to choose between risking travelling there in winter for my birth or at the hospital in Red Deer. But it was no contest. We had such a good interview and things just felt right we decided that night to go with the midwives.

We aren't really sure exactly where I might be giving birth. They might come to Red Deer for a home birth, which is my first choice, we could find a birth friendly place in Rocky, or it may be in Red Deer or Rocky hospital. Depends on so many factors. I've pretty much made myself okay with the fact that I need to be flexible and take things as they come.

So back to the doula issue. When we got in with the midwives I wasn't sure we needed a doula anymore, but it seems it's still a good way to go. We have interviewed about 5 as you need to find the right person. We were told when you meet "the one" you will just know. What BS! We have it narrowed to three and they all seem great for completely different reasons and personalities. Like comparing apples and oranges. We plan to make a decision by end of month though.

I'm sure whoever we choose will be wonderful!

Movement

We finally felt you move a couples days ago. Your mom and dad are a little slow sometimes and it took us awhile to realize it was you. Maybe someday I will be able to fully describe to you how truly amazing it was to feel you alive and kicking. It was like you were letting us know you were in there, knocking from the inside.

I wasn't able or believe it until I got your dad to come over and feel you knocking. He thought it was you and I started to cry. So happy to finally meet you, after so much time. Can't wait until next time I feel you move. Can't wait until we see each other face to face.

<3

Oh baby!

We had another ultrasound today and it was so amazing! There really is a little person growing in there! With arms and legs and all that stuff! No longer just a peanut with a heartbeat. So lucky to be able to have Josh come, since he is working today and tomorrow. We closed our eyes for the parts where we might accidentally see the sex of the baby. I think Josh cold tell what we were looking at most of the time. Hopefully he didn't see anything in the other shots to give us a clue. He wouldn't tell if he did, but I wouldn't want the surprise ruined for him.

Another reality check for sure. Things get surreal between ultrasound and appointments where we hear the heartbeat. Bought a stroller, car seat and adapter the other day. Our first big purchase for Scoby. Kinda real, but not like this for sure.

Doctor has one concern that my placenta is low, so he cautioned me to take it easy. Good thing I don't have anymore obstacle races planned! ;)

Spartan Race

My final race of the season was just this last Saturday and it was great! Spartan Super, 14 km and 20 obstacles. Made it in 2 hours and twenty minutes. Quite impressed as I was expecting over 3 hours. Josh and Becky stayed with me and helped out. I think I only really felt I needed to start walking at about the 3/4 mark. As I jogged along some of the trails I talked to Scoby in my head and told him/her we can do it. Poor little thing being bounced around for over 2 hours! Only missed the spear throw and rope climb again this time. I got higher on the rope climb than the Sprint, but it was at the end and I was just too tired I think. Oh and real fire to jump over!! Hoping that will be a good pic. I asked for two medals at the end. When I told the medal girls I was almost 5 months pregnant one looked very concerned, asking me if I felt okay and I swear she was looking around for the EMT's. lol. We didn't stay long as it was pretty chilly by the time we were done. Post race eats at Cities with lots of racers and Josh's mom and sis was goood.

Next day Josh said I was pretty awesome. I kinda shrugged it off a bit, maybe not awesome but kinda cool.

I did order a tab for Scoby's medal that will say how old he/she was when we did the race. It was the first Super Spartan for both of us. I'm glad though that I'm the only one with blisters, bumps, scrapes, bruises and sore muscles. ;)

Dreams

It seems most people call the little one growing inside them some kind of nickname. Ours so far have been peanut, hummingbird, sprout and scoby. Now if you make or have drank kombucha before (a fermented tea drink) you will know what scoby means. For everyone else it means symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast. Weird I know, but some people call their little one alien or parasite so scoby seems a little better to me. ;)

I have been feeling like I am in this in-between stage of my pregnancy. In the first trimester when I was feeling ill most of the time I knew I was pregnant. Since starting my second trimester I have been feeling better. The crazy thing is when I am feeling well all the time it makes me worry if I should be feeling ill. lol. My belly has been growing but it doesn't have that roundness yet that seems to be the big image if what pregnancy looks like. And I don't think I have felt scoby move yet, which really makes me wonder and feel a little guilty at times.

But I finally did have a dream about you last night scoby. I dreamt that you were born a girl and while I don't remember all the details I do remember finally feeling a connection to you. And that sense of awe and wonder people talk about when their child is born. Just staring at this little being who came from me and your daddy. There were no fears and worries at that moment. Just us three, studying each other in silence. And happiness of course!

Back to School

Ah back to school! I remember the days my mom used to make us stand beside each other on the first day of school so she could take a picture. After a few years, especially in my teens, I hated this ritual but still complied. Josh pointed out that in about 6 years or so all the facebook posts and pics of first day of school could be us. Another weird, stressful and somehow nice feeling this evoked. He said could be us though. Since we have become more aware of alternatives to society's status quo in all aspects of life for a time I was thinking about homeschooling if we ever had children. I know it is a long ways way, but something to think about. Today's schools just seemed so messed up at times on what they teach and how they treat children and parents. What do you think of home school vs traditional school?

New Season 2

Wow! Look slike it has been almost exactly a year since my last post. Crazy! I got an annonymous comment on one of my posts and it seems it has sparked my interest in blogging again. I will most likely fall off the wagon again soon but oh well! :) Big News! I'M PREGNANT! Yes, 18 weeks. It took us 16 months to conceive but finally happened. Excited and terrified doesn't seem to be an accurate description, but how do you express all the emotions supprounding something like this. I do think I am doing pretty well keeping myself from being overwhelmed though. Everyone knows. We told family and facebook the beginning of the month. Was a relief and the weeks have gone by so fast since then! We won the lottery and got into midwife care (we will see if home birth is stil an option) and we should be deciding on a doula by the end of September. Even better news?! It's fall again already! Summer was way too short and I admit I was sad to see my favorite season come so quickly but I have now accepted that it is almost time to start to PUMPKIN ALL THE THINGS! ;)