Simple things

Today I enjoyed spending some time at the new Starbucks at Clair and Gordon in Guelph. I sat in the sun and sipped my Iced Blueberry White Tea Lemonade and wrote in my new journal and read Sacred Parenting and spent some time taking some pictures.
It was a good morning.

Sickened by Sportsnet

Well Sportsnet has lowered itself beyond what I thought was possible for a sports station.
Today Sportsnet announced that they had amateur footage of a lap dance being given on a golf course and they wanted to poll their viewers to see if they wanted to see it or not. The deal was that if 75% of people wanted to see it, they would show it.
75%? Really? You think it will be THAT hard to get 75% of people (predominantly men who watch a sports station) to log in and vote that they want to see a FREE lap dance!??!
Sick.
So I voted that I didn't want to see it, but noticed that their numbers had already sky rocketed to 88% voting YES.
This is why I think it's sick, pathetic and wrong that Sportsnet broadcasted that extremely inappropriate video (they DID show it):
1. One of the broadcasters said it was "news" and they want to bring the "news" to the people. Oh that's a bunch of crap. You don't have clips of the latest happenings in the economy or business, do you? That's news to some people. News my eye.
2. A lap dance is NOT sports. I don't care WHERE it happened, golf course or not...lap dancing is a highly sexual, explicit and inappropriate thing to be showing on public television that anyone can view. You're a SPORTS station - SHOW SPORTS.
3. What a wimpy act to "poll" the viewers as opposed to making a decision for yourself what YOUR programming will be - so that when people like me write in to complain you can just say, "Oh it wasn't us...we just polled the viewers and THEY decided." That is so weak and pathetic. Why don't you just say you didn't have the guts to take the heat for a decision to show sleazy footage so your ratings would get a boost?
Sick, sick, sick.
I'm livid.
Anyone else want to boycott Sportsnet?
Write with your complaints and disgust to: feedback@sportsnet.rogers.com

practice

I was watching a sports show with Jamie the other day and they had the top 50 sports blow ups. This one made me laugh at the repetitive stupidity that is somehow acceptable within the sports media.
"We not talkin' 'bout the game...we talkin' 'bout PRACTICE."
Count how many times AI says "practice". You won't be disappointed.

Nope. My calculations were right. I'm only 23 weeks.

midwife appointment

Today was our appointment with our midwife. It was good. I heard more from her about the placenta situation and she didn't seem worried and my placenta is only partially covering the cervix as opposed to lying directly over it. Sweet. We got to hear the baby's heart beat for the first time. It was so loud and amazing!
Other than that...it was good. There's a new intern there and she seemed nice and helpful.
We talked about pre-term labour and cord blood samples and lots of stuff.
Oh and I'm going to get screened for glucose levels since diabetes does run in my immediate family now. I'm not worried, though. My pee tests have been negative for glucose so it's all good. So far.
I just have to curb my love of sweet cereals I think. Boo.
C'est tout.
Oh and apparently I'm 24 weeks and 2 days? Huh. I thought I was only 23. Sweet! I'll have to recalculate.

placenta

Today's trip to Wasaga beach for our 3 year anniversary was a lot of fun. And quite relaxing! I got to wear my new prego bathing suit and even out my tan. :)
On the way there, I got a call from my midwife who got the results from my ultrasound. Apparently I have a low-lying placenta which basically means that my placenta is lying over my cervix. So this will mean I'll go in for one more ultrasound in my 3rd trimester to find out if it has "moved" (it doesn't actually move, but as the uterus grows it can gravitate toward the top of the uterus) or not.
Only 10% of women who have a low-lying placenta (also called Previa) in their 2nd trimester still have it in their 3rd trimester. So that's a good stat.
However if it does stay over my cervix until the end, the only way to get the baby out will be by C-section.
My worst fear. Not that there's anything wrong with a C-section, but it's just the thing I want least. So we'll see. But I'm not worrying too much because there's really nothing I can do about it. It's all a waiting game at this point.

registries and kicking

Some updates:

On Friday (2 days ago) Jamie and I drove into TO to do our registry at Babies R Us. With both our moms. It was fun, but tiring. The longest to figure out, I think, was the stroller. But it was fun playing around with all of them, pushing them around the store and pondering how much our lives are going to change. So much stuff! Of course, no one says you MUST have all these things (other than a car seat and...perhaps a stroller...) but it sure is fun to look at it all.
So we hummed and hawed and eventually decided on registering for a Graco stroller with matching infant car seat/carrier.
So that was fun.
Last night while reading in bed, the baby started to kick. So I told Jamie to put his hand on my stomach and just continue reading in case the baby kicked again. And just as I looked at Jamie after I felt a kick, Jamie gasped! He felt the baby! Hooray! I laughed out loud - it was so exciting. It's fun to be able to share with Jamie what I've been feeling for the past month and a bit now.
Tomorrow is our 3 year anniversary and we'll probably celebrate with a fun trip to the beach and a picnic lunch or something.
Tuesday is our first midwife appointment since we've been back so that will be good to see C again and chat with her and update her with all that's been going on. It will also be good to hear back from the ultrasound in more detail to verify that everything looks good and healthy.

Week 23

lost

I lost my journal that has all my pregnancy thoughts up to now in it.
This makes me very sad. And anxious. I don't necessarily want anyone else to read it. That's why it's in a journal and not on the internet.
*sigh*
If anyone finds a thick, spiral-bound journal that has turquoise flowers on the front cover, please tell me and return to me asap!
Thanks.
*dejected look on my face*

lost

I've lost my journal. It could be anywhere from here to Calgary. I remember the last time I wrote in it and I was with Beth except I can't remember where that was. And now everything (mostly) is unpacked and I can't find it anywhere. Did I leave it somewhere? In the residence in Calgary? That would suck. It's got a lot of my thoughts on being pregnant in there. I don't want to lose that. And also I had lots to write about since I couldn't fall asleep, but now I'm more concerned with where my journal is and even more awake than I was before.
Darn!
I could check in the room, but Jamie is sleeping - as are most normal people at 1:43am.
*sigh*
*plagued with one of those anxious/sick-to-your-stomach feelings*
bah.
If anyone sees a natural brownish journal that is spiral-bound, thicker than most journals and has turquoise flowers on the front cover - please let me know!

Baby Strickie at 22 weeks

So this is the newest update and picture of Baby Strickland. The top picture is the baby yawning (the technician said, "I don't know what you're doing to this baby, but it hasn't stopped yawning this entire time!" I laughed.) and in the bottom the baby is just sitting contentedly.
It was cool to see how much the baby had grown and was very exciting for both Jamie and I.
Halfway there!

a big day!

Ultrasound in T-minus 55 minutes. Have I drank my 40 oz. of water yet? Bah! Of course not.
I guess I should get on that.
I'm excited!!!

Road Trip Home

So 4 days, 3 provinces and 4 states later Jamie and I are back in Guelph, Ontario.
It sure does feel good to be back - in the heat. :)
Some highlights (or not):

1. Getting stopped twice going into the States (once going into North Dakota and once going into Michigan) and getting our entire car (luggage and all) searched and being individually questioned. I guess you never know with us missionaries. We're a sketchy lot. Especially the pregnant ones.

2. Driving through some beautiful little cottage towns on the edge of Lake Superior. I love summer!

3. Finding Jujyfruit candies at a gas stop we made. They really do stick to your teeth!

4. Getting two giant bugs fly through my open window. One splattered on my face and the other landed on my arm. Dead and icky.

5. Reading parenting books out loud to Jamie.

6. Visiting some good friends in the Soo.

7. Listening to Fall Out Boy really, really loud.

It was a good trip, but a long trip and I'm glad to be home.

Week 22

Omphaloskepsis (look it up)

Newest update:
My belly button is getting smaller!
Some may know this fact about me, but I have a deep belly button. I happened to gaze at my navel the other day only to realize that it's no longer as deep. I have somewhat of a regular belly button now. This was quite the discovery for me - and I must admit I keep looking at it now and giggling every now and again.
Very exciting.

Week 21

sleep

I'm never quite sure if I'll sleep well or not. Each night I approach with a certain trepidation.
Will I be too hot? Too cold?
Will I be able to sleep comfortably on my side or can I get some time sleeping on my back?
Should I risk sleeping on my right side when my arm constantly falls asleep and ends up being extremely painful?
How many times will I get up to pee or will I sleep solidly throughout the entire night?
I miss my own bed.
And it's not about me being tired or not. I'm tired pretty much every night. I am just a stomach sleeper and it's far too uncomfortable to sleep on my stomach at this point.
Last night was a good sleep. The night before...not so good.
What will tonight hold?

C.S. Lewis

I have just finished A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis. A book about grief after the death of a loved one, it is in fact, Lewis' journals after his wife of only 3 years passes away from cancer.
An interesting choice in reading material considering my current position of carrying a life within me. But once again, I am blown away by Lewis' ability to describe the indescribable and talk about life in a practical way yet bring it all back to God. In the midst of his sorrow he is honest and real and seeks to understand what death and grief says about God and His character.
I loved this paragraph, among many;
Am I, for instance, just sidling back to God because I know that if there's any road to H., it runs through Him? But then of course I know perfectly well that He can't be used as a road. If you're approaching Him not as the end goal but as a road, not as the end but as a means, you're not really approaching Him at all. That's what was really wrong with all those popular pictures of happy reunions "on the further shore;" not the simple-minded and very earthly images, but the fact that they make an End of what we get only as a by-product of the true End.
How many times do we "sidle back to God" as an effort to attain something besides God Himself?
Or this paragraph on sorrow and grief itself is so beautiful.
I thought I could describe a state; make a map of sorrow. Sorrow, however, turns out to be not a state but a process. It needs not a map but a history, and if I don't stop writing that history at some quite arbitrary point, there's no reason that I should ever stop. There is something new to be chronicled every day. Grief is like a long valley, a winding valley where any bend may reveal a totally new landscape. As I've already noted, not every bend does. Sometimes the surprise is the opposite one; you are presented with exactly the same sort of country you thought you had left behind miles ago. That is when you wonder whether the valley isn't a circular trench. But it isn't. There are partial recurrences, but the sequence doesn't repeat.

Disappointments

Well, Jamie and I did indeed go to this Second Hand Maternity Shop. It took us over 40 minutes to get there and we passed it the first time and found it hard to turn around during traffic. By the time we finally got there and looked around I was incredibly disappointed in their prices. Apparently they also have new clothes there too, but they charged ridiculous prices. $70 for a shirt?!? $300 for a dress?!?! Rubbish.
So that was disappointed and I felt so bad for dragging Jamie out - he was a good sport though.

some thoughts as of late

Well it's been noted by a couple people that I haven't really written much on this blog lately - just posted pictures. I guess at this point the picture tells more of where I'm at than anything else. But a little update on where I'm at, how I'm doing and whatnot would be appreciated I'm sure.
So I feel the baby move every day many times a day. I've tried to see if I could feel it from the outside, but it's hard to tell. I think Jamie and I may have to lie down and wait for a kick and see if he can feel it or not.
Usually I feel the baby in afternoons, often later on and in the evenings - not too late, though. I haven't been woken up at all from the baby yet which is nice and no late night trips to the bathroom yet either. Also nice.
I'm also as hungry as ever. Not unusually hungry, but I've definitely got my appetite back and am enjoying eating:

• cereal; I love having a huge bowl of really sugary cereal - not great for me, but at least I'm getting a good intake of milk!
• strawberries and berries in general - they're really good here for some reason and often on sale.
• sweets. But that's not anything new.
• cheese. Again, not anything new there.

I don't think I've had cravings really, but the things that I usually like, are still my favourites. Not too enthused about eggs but I've heard that's a common aversion for preggos.
Also I've really been diving into reading books on both Attachment Parenting and Babywise Parenting. At one point I got really overwhelmed and emotional wondering if I'd ever figure it out since they both attack the other philosophy and make it seem wrong. *sigh* I had to come to the conclusion that Jamie and I need to combine instinct, our personalities as well as thoughts and ideas from both philosophies. I took a rest from reading those books for a couple weeks but have recently picked up the Babywise book again.
I'm appreciating getting a fair look at both sides and am finding that they both are aiming for the same thing, just going about it slightly differently. In the end we just need to do what's best for our baby and what's best for us too.
I've had lots of thoughts swirling around my head over these past few weeks. Doubts, concerns, minor freak outs like "What have I gotten myself into?" and "I'm totally not ready for this - oh crap" but I can't imagine doing this without Jamie by my side. It's been such a blessing to have someone who is incredibly supportive and doesn't have to cope with all these crazy hormones who can give me a balanced approach to us becoming parents and the remind me with confidence that we'll be good parents who will love our children.
It's definitely eye opening to spend heaps of time with couples who have young kids and see the fussing, crying, feeding, napping, playing, laughing and general ups and downs of having a little one to care for.
Well, I guess that's enough for one post.
I'm hoping to go to a second hand maternity shop this afternoon for our day off - I just need to convince Jamie to come with me.

Week 20