week 34 - Little melancholy

Over the past few months, without guilt, I wrote about my nipples, my pubic hair, my sex life. However, I feel uncomfortable writing about something that went through my mind this week because I'm worried that some people might questioned my pregnancy...I should know since I did it to other expecting couples in the past!

I was ready to get in the shower when Dan showed up in the bathroom. Since I was facing him, he could see the reflexion of my I-don't-look-pregnant back in the mirror. As a joke, he looked at the mirror and said "freedom" than turned my body 90 degrees to expose my big naked belly and said "no freedom"!

This innocent joke slowly transformed into a debate in my head. Is it bad for a pregnant woman to feel melancholic because she (Claudia) won't be able take a trip to Scandinavia, get this great event planning job or even sleep until noon on Saturday because, well, just because she (Claudia) feels like it?

Until this week, I always believed that expecting couples that would think about their freedom were just not ready to be parents. It is so easy to judge: How can you think about your freedom when you will soon welcome a baby into this world? You have to change your priorities!

Now entering my 35th week, rolling my hips on my exercise ball while holding the laptop, I truly think that this questioning about freedom is actually part of the process of becoming a sane parent. As far as my mental debate went, I concluded that parents don't have to become slaves to their kids, they just have to include them in their hopes and dreams.

Call me naive but hopefully in a year, with some planning, we might have a fika in Stockholm while our little Alice is quietly sleeping, with us, in her baby carrier!

Ignorant Claudia - weekly question

So far, I didn't do much crafts for the nursery. However, Friday, I took the sewing machine out because there is more to life than eating at 6:45pm and sleeping at 8:00pm! So I used some lovely ribbons that I was keeping for the perfect project (um...for the past two years) and made two pacifier clips from this tutorial.

I think that my pacifier clips are pretty cute. However, I realized that just like a lot of baby items, there is always a bit of controversy. Some people are perfectly fine with giving a pacifier to a baby while other will never consider it.

So, ignorant Claudia wants to know: should I give my baby a pacifier?

I also made, as my husband says, a Sophie hanging device. We got the toy as a gift and it would suck to lose this fancy squeaky giraffe at the park this summer.

week 33 - Dan and the raccoon

Husbands are funny (well, I don't know what I'm talking about so I will rephrase it as "my husband is funny")!

For the past few months, everybody was convinced that we were going to have a boy because my belly is pretty low. I mean, how can I argue with a cashier at the grocery store or a bus driver?!? As a consequence, after 8 months of "it's a boy", we were also getting ready for a little dude.

When we found out that our kiddo was a girl, Dan looked a bit puzzled. He told me, on our way home: "but, I don't know what to do with a baby girl". I love Dan like there is no tomorrow but between you and me he would not know what to do with a boy either. Anyway!

For the first time this week, he spontaneously got a little "not necessary item" for Alice (and I have NOTHING to do with it). I honestly think that Dan and the raccoon will have a whole lot of fun with our baby girl.

note: sorry if my striped top gives you a seizure!

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Week 32

Pregnancy is such a rollercoaster!

One day, I tell Dan that I think that I'm a pretty hot pregnant lady, you know, while making a silly pose in the door frame! The day after, I cry about my new double chin, my lack of skin elasticity on my butt, my zits on my chin...you get the picture!

So, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my husband who has to deal with my mood swings. When a woman gets pregnant it is common knowledge for men to shut the hell up and move on! Dan does a great job at it! However, even during my emotional breakdowns, I look at him and I see in his eyes that we are in this together.

Even if giving birth scares me, I just can't wait to see this tiny baby girl skin-to-skin with Dan!

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In Montreal, the kangaroo care method is not only for preterm babies. It is common for the medical staff to wait up to 2 hours before cleaning the baby. In my birth plan, I wrote that my husband will also do the skin-to-skin...after all, he truly deserves this special bonding with his daughter.

Right this second I got from my dad...

a super cute cuckoo clock for the nursery!

Oh, I also wanted to thank you for all your comments about the state of my pubic hair during labor! Honestly, you guys rock!!!

This week I watched...

...The Business of Being Born. Of all the documentaries that we watched, this was our favorite. Babies was adorable but lacked substance and The First Cry was bad unless you are planning to give birth with a dolphin between your legs! The Business of Being Born was informative and entertaining enough for a pregnant lady with digestive issues and a husband who really doesn't care about Ricki Lake (executive producer).

In the French part of Canada, we have two hobbies: bitching about the weather and bitching about our medical system. After I watched this documentary that questioned the way American women have babies, I realized that I should maybe focus more on the weather and less on our medical system.

It truly breaks my heart to think about women who have no choice but to work until they give birth, who have to wait for insurance approval before they can get a medical follow up, who are forced to go through medical procedures while in labor and who have to go back to work two months after they gave birth.

I know that it sounds naive but I told my husband that pregnant ladies that have to work with painful backs, water retention in their feet, ligament problems in their bellies and without proper rest in weeks should have a refugee status and move to Montreal (hello, one year paid maternity leave)!

And then I told him that all those women and I would have get-togethers and we would drink herbal tea, knit baby clothes, stitch receiving blankets and do prenatal (and postnatal) yoga! Yes, maybe I need to have more pregnant friends in my area!

Alice's "economical" nursery

I never had the chance to hold a newborn in my arms. Actually, you can count on one hand the number of times that I was in contact with a baby. I must say that this freaks me out but I know that with my husband by my side, I will figure it out...and because our doula will also be doing a few postnatal visits!

Because of our obvious lack of experience, working on the nursery was (is still) a challenge. It is not the first time that I write this but we are also a bit cheap! Well, not cheap in a negative way. Cheap in a "do we really need this?", "can I get it second hand?", "is there a better alternative to this expensive item?". According to this book, average American parents spend almost $7000 gearing up while expecting their first baby. So much cash!

Anyway, if I have enough energy and courage this weekend, we should pretty much finish Alice's "economical" nursery. Leaving me the joy to do a few crafts (burp clothes, pacifier holders, etc.) when my maternity leave will start next week.

So, I wanted to ask you, do you have any favorite nursery or baby craft related projects? I just finished the elephant pillow...total cost : $5 !!!

And now we know!

Monday, when we got back from our 32 weeks echography, I installed in the corner of our crib a matryoshka softie made by the very talented Ella from Little Red Caboose. Dan gave me this doll for our 6th month wedding anniversary (back in 2008).

Soon, this lovely doll will belong to our baby girl, Alice!
We could not be happier!!!

It took us a few seconds to realized that she was looking right at us! We didn't even know that this kind of "portrait" was possible. I have been staring at the picture ever since!

Ignorant Claudia - weekly question

If you believed that this maternity blog was too personal, well, you are about to choke on your herbal tea! I don't expect much comments (and I truly understand) but if I could get some guidance that would be very appreciated.

When you get pregnant, it is common to have a belly. And it gets bigger and bigger ever week. At a certain point, you can't see your feet (funny), your knees (annoying), your thighs (bad) and your pubic area (pathetic)! It is difficult enough to feel sexy when you gained 40lb so the least that you can do is to look decent in the last part that I mentioned. The thing is : you can't see the damn thing anymore!!! Ok, this is not the end of the world!

However, this made me think about the big day. I know that shaving for birth used to be something that nurses did to you when you arrived at the hospital. Luckily, it is not the case anymore (can you say awkward) but I read that it is getting very common for pregnant ladies to get a bikini or a Brazilian wax prior to give birth.

Fine, but how does it work? Should I write in my birth plan: getting my first contractions, going to the spa for a wax and after calling my doula? Or should I consider a simple trim to avoid the itchy growing back phase of a wax...you know, after a small pumpkin came out of my vagina! Or maybe I should just channel the inner hippie in me and go au naturel?

note: I like to include pictures with my posts but for everybody's sake I will skip it this time!

Week 31 - raised by wolves!

Talking to our waiter at brunch this morning:
Honestly, when is the last time you saw a pregnant lady with a tie dye wolf t-shirt?

Will our kid be ashamed of us??? Well, of course! It's part of the game right ;)

And for your information, this is what you get when you take care of your friend's dog while she goes on vacation at Old Orchard!

Turning 31 and the very end of week 30

Yesterday, it was my birthday! I turned 31 and at the same time I (ended my 3oth week) started my 31st week.

Things are kinda smooth but I honestly feel pretty "big". For example, my co-workers invited me for a delicious birthday lunch. On our way back, there was a steep hill. By the time I reached the top, I had no hat, no scarf, no mittens, my coat was wide open and I was sweating buckets. I can also add that two male coworkers helped me by holding my arm and pushing my back!!! It was funny but pretty pathetic at the same time!

Have a lovely weekend my friends xox

It sounds silly...

...but my belly button is so painful right now!!!

I know that when you are about to give birth, hopefully without unnecessary medical interventions, whining about a sore belly button sounds very futile. However, my soon to be outie is causing me some problems when, for example, I have to bend down to put my winter boots...ouch ouch ouch!!!

In other news, last weekend I went to the opening of a baby boutique with another couple that is expecting a baby this spring-summer. There were some activities, generous gift bags for the first 50 participants (and we made sure that we were there in time to get one) and some pretty nice door prizes.

As I told Dan when I looked at the winners list today, the end of the word is probably coming soon because I actually won! I got two funky booby looking bottles from Mimijumi and a fancy nursing bra of my choice from Bravado. So if you have any tips about nursing bras, please let me know because I'm clueless!