bath time!

Liam loves bath time :)

Liam!

Here's just some pictures of what we've been up to lately.. It generally consists of eating and sleeping.

Liam's birth story

I thought I would share with you the story of my labour with little Liam :)

Here we go!

I woke up at about 3:30 am on November 5 with cramps. I didn't think too much of it cause I'd been having cramps off and on all week. After going to the bathroom and generally not feeling well I thought maybe what we had for supper just wasn't sitting well. I got back into bed, but the cramps just got worse and I thought maybe I had a contraction. I started timing the contractions and by 4am they were about 45 seconds long and 4 minutes apart! I couldn't believe it! I woke Simon and decided to have a warm bath to ease the pain. After a very short time in the bath and after the contractions just kept coming every 4 minutes I decided to call the hospital to see if we should go in yet. I was told that we should go to the hospital when the contractions were 5 minutes apart, one minute long and had been occurring for an hour. I talked to the nurse in the birthing unit and she said we should come in. It just happens that Simon's brother Adam was here visiting us for the weekend so Simon sent him a text message to let him know we were leaving and Adam decided to come with us to the hospital.

By the time we got to the hospital at around 5:30 am I was still having contractions about 4 minutes apart and a minute long. After I was checked in and such the nurse informed us that I was already 4cm dilated! It was all happening so fast! They also told us that my doctor was on that morning! Lucky us! So we were left alone for awhile to have contractions and "get comfortable". There was someone else who came in the same time as us who had an emergency cesarean so we really were left to ourselves (well I had my one nurse).

Around  8 am I decided it was time for an epidural. Contractions were about 2 minutes apart and hurt real bad! Since it was shift change I was lucky to get one when I did. It was wonderful! Well after the whole needle in the back thing and when the drugs kicked in. My doctor came to see me before she left and at this time I was 8 cm dilated! Woah! I spent the next couple hours relaxing and enjoying the epidural. I may have even slept for about  half an hour.

About 10 am I was fully dilated and could push when I felt like I needed to. I think I started to push somewhere around 10:30. Baby's head was really low to start with so they thought it shouldn't take too long. After an hour or so of pushing with not too much happening, the doctors figured out that baby's head was slightly tilted and couldn't get past the pelvic bone. This was frustrating! Another while later they started oxytocin. Since nothing was really working and I was getting tired (and in pain even though the epidural was still in effect) they told me to take a half hour rest (!) from pushing! This was hard!! I lay there and tried not to push and was in lotsa pain! After that half hour and when the oxytocin had done some work I started to push again and at 1:52 Liam was born! I'm not sure how long this pushing was, but the baby was out yay! And they didn't have to use any interventions!

Liam was put right on my chest and kept sliding into my chin cause he was all gooey! After a bit the nurse took him and cleaned him up and then daddy got to hold him.

That's that!
About 10 hours of labour, including 3 hours of pushing and Voila!

Mommy and Liam

Daddy and Liam

Uncle Adam and Liam

Introducing...

Make your own announcement

Due date!

Hello and happy due date to you!

T'would definetly be a happy due date if baby decided to show up today! I'm ready for baby to come out into the world now. I've been having cramping and a couple contractions here and there but nothing significant. Oh and I just remembered that I forgot to make a doctors appointment for next week oops. Maybe baby will just have to come so I don't have to go in! I'm not sure that I can get in if I call next week. Hehe oops!

Anywho here is a picture of the happy family on our due date :) enjoy and think baby-having thoughts this weekend!

Week 38

T-10 days until baby is scheduled to arrive! 

Here's some pictures from the baby shower Sophie had for me/us at the beginning of October :) 

Two Weeks to go!

Since the baby's due date is getting very very close I have started a baby pool!

Here is the link if you'd like to participate!
www.expectnet.com/game 
and enter "BabyCripps" in the "invited guests" box on the left. 

That's all for now. I'm tired today.

Thanksgiving weekend

Hello!

This weekend was long. A long weekend. Simon was doing a first aid course all day Saturday and Sunday so I was home alone again. On Sunday I made a turkey dinner for about 6 people.. but there were only the 2 of us here to eat it (don't worry, we didn't even invite anyone else over, I just made lots of food!)

On Monday we went to do a maternity photo shoot while I still have a large belly and while it is still nice out. Fall hasn't really hit here yet. I think it's rained maybe 4 days all of September and October so far. There's been so little rain "they" are concerned about the water levels in the river being too low. Anyways we took advantage of the 23 degree weather and headed up to Gatineau Park to take pictures. We also took a picnic of leftover turkey made into wraps. We took somewhere around 130 pictures... so I made some collages to share with you. Sorry there's a lot of them that I like! 

 

These were done at Rideau Hall.  

 These are some of my absolute favourite.

 Here are some "out-takes".

Simon thought this would be artistic...

Simon set the timer then as he walked into 

the picture hit the camera and it had to be reset..This is how he ended up in the picture..

I didn't know he was taking continuous shots of me throwing leaves.

I said we should sit facing each other and smooch, but didn't account for the fact that I can't lean in cause of my belly!

We had fun taking pictures, but were pooped by the end of the day. Good thing we had lots of leftovers to come home to! 

Simon's a pretty good photographer hey?

:)

Week 36

Week 36! 

It's finally here!

28 more days until baby is supposed to be here!

Let's re-cap... 

Nesting much?

Today I pooped myself out.. and it's not even 2pm!

I made 2 lasagna's to freeze, made chili in the slow cooker for supper tonight, and am currently making cinnamon buns. The hard part is done, they're just baking now.

We went to a kids consignment sale on Saturday. Bought some clothes, toys and a nursing pillow for under $35! I wanted to get a swing, but the one we really liked wasn't working properly so we gave up on it. On Sunday Sophie had a baby shower for me! Yay! I don't have any pictures from it yet, but when I do I will post them. So Monday I did 2 loads of baby laundry! One of clothes and one of blankets etc. I feel much better now that the baby room looks like a baby should live in it!

 

Here's Simon putting together the stroller. It's still not done... Simon thought we were done cause I left the room and I was in charge of the instructions. He just put the wheels on. I don't think there's much else to do, but I would like it to be put together properly. You can also see the play pen that we bought for the baby to sleep in for now. It's all matching :) 

Now time for me to sit on the couch and eat a cinnamon bun.. or two with my warm milk. We pre-ordered The Lion King on dvd, so t-rex and I are going to watch it!

Week 34

Here it is, the big week 34 picture!

Also check out my new hairdo :) It's kind of the same.. just short.

Lately..

Not much going on lately. 

I finished the baby blanket. 

Here's Simon modeling it.  

He was sick last weekend and napped a lot. 

He probably slept more over the weekend than he had all week long.

I had a nap yesterday too.

 After this.. hehe

Oh I got a hair cut too, but it's not presentable today.

I will take a picture on the weekend along with my big belly.

Week 34! Woah! 

Week 30

Baby seems to be hanging a lot lower (if that's possible) in this picture, although he/she seems to have discovered that there's more space in my belly if he/she stretches towards my ribs/lungs. Last week during baby's morning stretches he/she liked to push a foot against my ribs. I figured it was a foot cause when I was at the doctor she said baby is head down. According to the dr baby is good, well I assume so since I was in her office all of 5 minutes. Enough time to take measurements and feel baby's position then I was on my way!

I guess this is where no news is good news! I officially start my 2 week appointments now :) exciting! Only 10 or so weeks left! Exciting and scary at the same time! I will be glad to have my body back, but will probably miss all the kicks and movements in my belly. 

  It was cooler yesterday (about 16 degrees) and really windy. We actually were feeling the effects of Hurricane/tropical storm Irene. This happened last year too. It's crazy to think of how large those storms are that they reach all the way here from the coast! Anyways this was just before we went for a walk. I was happy that this pre-pregnancy shirt still fits me. It's one of the few. You can see a bit of the band on my jeans, but that was okay with me. The sweater didn't fare so well though, when I did it up Simon's comment was "You're going to burst the zipper open!" I changed into a larger sweater soon after the picture. I might need to dip into Simon's sweaters when it gets even cooler.

             

 I was glad it was cooler yesterday. On Saturday I said that I wished it would rain on Sunday so we could stay inside all day and relax on the couch. We watched Avatar and I started crocheting a blankey for the baby. Up until now I hadn't found a pattern or yarn that I fancied enough for a baby blanket. It had to be special if I was going to be making it for our baby! I had this nice soft, thick cream and just bought a super soft orange to go with it. The pattern I found is a star shape! Perfect! It's different and special and Simon and I really like it so far. The pattern says it will be 40 inches from point to point when it's done. You can't see it too well in this picture, but I wanted to show how much I like burnt orange.. I mean it was our wedding colour for one.. This is my favourite shirt. It has ruffles too. I <3 ruffles! Also the orange yarn and you might not be able to see, but my favourite crochet hook is the same orange colour. It's the size that I like best though, it just happens to be orange.

Finally,

A look back on how far we've come... 

It's kind of unbelievable that I've gained 10 inches around my middle! 

It seems sort of "normal" to have a big belly now.

I now often wonder what it will be like when baby is "on his or her own" outside my belly. 

I guess we'll find out soon enough!

Date weekend!

Yesterday Simon took me on a date :) We went for a bit of a drive out to Balderson, Ontario. 

This is where they make Balderson Cheese. The "town" consists of a couple shops lining the "highway" in the middle of nowhere! It was a nice drive and we walked around the antique shops and the Amish furniture store. I fell in love with lots of the furniture... especially this kitchen. 

This is my dream kitchen.

 

 

The sink is large enough for even me to bathe in!

On Friday we went on a date as well. It didn't turn out so well, although it started great! We went to a fair in town, on a mission to find mini cinnamon donuts (they're practically non-existent out here!) Well we found them! 18 for $5 and they weren't all that mini! I ate them up! Well only about 6 of them... and then I felt sick. I was sick most of the night and the next day. It may have been from something else, but I think it was the yummy, greasy, cinnamony donuts! Too bad :( Simon sure was sad to have to eat the rest himself :p

Making the bed

Which side of the bed do you think is mine??

 

There are copious amounts of pillows on my side of the bed. Most of them get thrown onto the floor, but a couple key players get to stay the whole night.  

I thought this was funny yesterday when Simon made the bed.  When I make the bed I just pull the blankets over top all the pillows so it looks like there's small animals in our bed, and I leave most of the dejected pillows on the floor. I'm not one for picking things up off the floor lately.. It's just too darn far away!

Mont Tremblant + Week 27

Here are some pictures from our Anniversary trip to Mont Tremblant, Quebec. We had a nice week off together, ending with this trip away. Mont Tremblant is about a 2-hour drive North-East of here. It's much like Whistler, only a lot smaller. The first day we walked through the village and looked in all the shops (we found a "going home from the hospital" outfit for T-rex and bought it. The next day (our anniversary) we went swimming in the hotel's salt water pool (I was weightless, so nice!) and went up to the top of the mountain then out for dinner and more swimming in the evening. The last day we went swimming again :), drove around the lower village and lake then made our way home. 

  

At home we had a complete chicken dinner with stuffing and potatoes and veggies mm mmm!

 

Here is T-rex and myself on top of a mountain, posing for our week 27 shot. 

The not-so-little guy/girl is really starting to fill out my maternity clothes :)

My newest trick!

I have a new trick! 

Ta-Da!!

I really like to do this cause it also helps me to cool down from the outside and the inside. I am hot all the time lately, especially the palms of my hands and soles of my feet! T-Rex has started to move upwards and is now encroaching on my stomach. Welcome (or not so welcome) heartburn! I did my gestational diabetes test today. I've heard the drink is really gross... but I didn't think it was so bad. I mean I don't want to do it again any time soon. The first couple sips were okay, just flat orange pop, but it got harder to down as I went. It gave me a headache after awhile too, and it was boring waiting at the lab for an hour until they could take my blood. Fingers crossed that I don't have to do the 2 hour test, but I won't find out until my next dr appointment at the end of August.

We're off to Mont Tremblant, Quebec tomorrow for our 'big #5' anniversary :) I wanted to put up some wedding pictures, but they're not on this computer and I keep forgetting to find the cds..

Happy Anniversary Weekend!

Photoshoot at Rideau Hall

On Saturday I wanted to get outside and enjoy the summer. I haven't been going outside much when it's so hot. I wish we would've gone out on Sunday instead because it was about 35 degrees on Saturday and only 26 or so on Sunday, both before the humidity! At Rideau Hall (the Governor General's residence) even the guards had the day off cause it was too hot to be out there in those bear skin hats. I guess they had had most of last week off too.

Anyways it was a nice day and the gardens at Rideau Hall are pretty (although this was our first time there). We even saw 2 wedding parties taking pictures there too. One was an RCMP officer in his full dress. He must've been hot!

These are some of the pictures Simon took. He took some with the manual SLR camera and most of the same with the digital in case the film didn't turn out. We really want to get a DSLR to make this a bit less complicated. Simon really likes the shots he can get on the SLR but they don't always turn out on film how they looked through the lens. Maybe I should get him a DSLR for T-Rex's birthday. The only thing is, he wants the really expensive one, of course. 

 Bottom right: I was very excited to see coloured hydrangea's! You mostly see white flowering ones around here and these were a nice pale pink!

 

This one is Simon's favourite. He was a bit upset that my rings aren't in focus, but we'll see how it turned out on film. I can't wear my rings anymore, my fingers are too swollen, especially when its 35 degrees!

This one is my favourite. We're going to come back and do this one again in September or October when all the leaves are changing colour <3 since most of the trees in the background are oak and maple and since my belly will be much bigger then!

Week 24 1/2

Here is my week 24 belly photo as promised! 

It's actually almost a week 25 photo, but that's okay. I'm officially 6 months along! And FINALLY starting to show for real! People actually notice now. Some people are weird about it... they look me up and down and keep walking past.. it's kind of weird. Yes I have a baby growing in my belly. Some people at work will talk to me about it, some just kind of stare and some ignore it (or don't notice). A couple customers at work have told me I shouldn't be on my feet all day. I should ask them to get me an office job. One girl (no older than me, probably a bit younger, but older than 20) the other day came out of her fitting room (I'd been helping her the entire time) to give me back the clothes she didn't want and she just gasped and went "awww!" I guess she hadn't noticed t-rex until then. Silly girl.

I think this picture will be the last day I will wear those capris. They left horrible marks on my lower belly last night at work and made my belly really itchy. I really like them, they're linen and really nice for this heat. Also this tank top, I should invest in more. It's from Dynamite and is a "bubble" top, supposed to be loose and flow-y. It hangs on really nicely. And finally I got new sandals! I've wanted some really good supportive shoes all summer and finally Simon thought that yes it's worth the extra expense (I also thought they were expensive and I could go without). They're real Birkenstocks! My arches hurt the first couple days wearing them, but now they're great! The support is really nice. I was getting tired of wearing closed shoes (flats) with insoles; my feet were getting so hot!

I am sorry to talk about the heat for all you BCers. I was thinking yesterday that all we do here in Ottawa/Ontario is complain about the cold in the winter (cause it's so cold!) and the heat in the summer! And then this spring was pretty rainy (for Ottawa standards) and people just complained about the rain! I guess the best/only months to be in Ottawa are September and October (if it doesn't rain too much!) Simon and I were talking about moving back to BC in the near future. One of our concerns is the rain. I don't think we're used to it anymore, although I miss the sound of rain on the windows/roof. Even though our winters are needlessly cold and summers ridiculously humid/hot, it is sunny a lot of the time!

Well that's all for now :) Enjoy your weekend :)

Hello!

One day I looked out the window while eating breakfast and thought I saw mountains! Mount Baker to be exact... I was sadly mistaken, it was only clouds hanging out in the distance.  

 Here's an update of what we've been up to lately... I've been working a lot lately... well more than normal for me, but less than a regular person.. about 20 hours a week. After work I'm just pooped. I can't do much more than 4 hours on my feet all day.

We went to Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest one night cause Jeff's band Three Times Lucky was playing (a major feat and lifelong dream for them!)

I crocheted a blanket for my brand new niece.
I finished the very colourful afghan I had shown the start of in an earlier post, but I just don't have any pictures of the final product yet. Baby blankets take so much less time because they're so cute and little.

And some others of interest... 

a shirt my mom/dad sent me!

my mid-morning snack today - an orange, raspberry platz and a cup of tea!

I want to get a 24/25 week photo up, I just haven't taken one. I think t-rex has grown lots and is starting to grow up my belly rather than just sit on my bladder. I'll hopefully have that tomorrow!