Thursday, December 29, 2011

Belated Christmas Eve Belly

A belated Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Holidays to everyone!



Christmas Eve belly... I'm seriously kinda skeptical that my belly skin will actually be able to expand further as there is still another 4-7 weeks to go. Oh, and this is my new uniform. Black leggings, black stretchy H&M shirt, sweater or scarf optional.

Also, for the record, I'm doing a pointing dance at the belly... totally NOT giving Kitten baby a rude gesture!



Lowell at Baby Care Class, modelling slings with the other Dads.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Preggo underpants, baby class and Z has a big mouth pt.3

damn you Thyme and your stupid ugly comfy underpants....
I've had so many things that I wanted to talk about, but apparently preparing to move apartments again, preparing our two foster cats (or are we their "foster humans" since they technically took us into their home) for Israel, early Christmas with Lowell's Fam, going to Doctor's appointments, working and being 7 months pregnant has caused me to ignore the blog.

Okay, so maternity underwear. Something that I thought was completely unnecessary as "My ass hasn't gotten that fat" nor will it get "that fat". I thought buying some more of my really low-cut VS underpants would suffice. And they technically have.... as my ass, while it has gotten fat is not "that fat". However, no matter how low cut the underpants, they just aren't designed quite right. As a result of having to push the front way low enough to sit under the belly, the butt starts to sag and the thigh-holes don't sit right. At least this is what I found was happening with me. I was getting really sick of saggy-ass in my leggings... So I caved and got pregnant underpants and they're lovely.

We had our baby care class earlier this week. It was definitely informative, a little bit overwhelming and also kinda fun. Lowell and I looked like the youngest people there and I'm willing to put money on the fact that he was indeed the youngest person there. It was interesting to see the contrast in lifestyles too... many of the other couples were older and also people who owned big houses (this came up when we learned about having changing stations on "every floor" of your house), owned not just one but two cars (this came up when learning about car seats and installing car seats and some people had the dilemma of "which car do we install it in?") and most of them lived in the suburbs (this came up when we talked pediatricians).

We live in a one bedroom apartment downtown that we rent and have no car. But one of the many things that we learned was that you don't need a huge house to have a baby because you're sticking close to it for the first few months anyway and it's safest for baby to sleep in your room.

So if I had to use one more work to describe baby care class, it was that it was reassuring. While we may not be rich and have a huge house, we can be just as prepared as those other parents! And when Lowell is the same as as that gray-haired man sitting across from us, our Kitten baby will be in its 20's. So we're kinda ahead in that sense, ha!



We were out for dim sum this past weekend and I got yelled at by a stranger because of my big mouth. This kinda trashy looking Mom (yeah, yeah I'm as asshole... but that's the truth, she was kinda trashy looking) got all frazzled with her two girls and SCREAMS into one of their faces "STOP YELLING IN MY EAR!!!". The whole restaurant goes silent, as her shouting was really loud. And who screams in their child's face in public like that??? So I made a snarky remark of "Well that's good parenting right there". And she shoots back at me "You don't have kids, You keep your comments to yourself!" and continued to mutter to herself... So I admit, yeah, I don't have kids and I should have kept my comments to myself. But come on, lady! I don't have to have kids to know that you don't shout in her face... even if you're frustrated or frazzled and she's being a jerk. I don't think this kid was even being that bad, just being a normal kid getting antsy after a long meal. I dunno, maybe it'll change when I have my own kid but I certainly would hope that I never lose my mind like that, in public or at home, and SCREAM in her face.

After they got their bill and were getting bundled up to head back outside, the same Mom also encouraged the kids to do dozens of jumping jacks. Right after eating. I was really kinda hoping that at least one of them would puke all over trashy-Moms ugly shoes.

I've seen so many terrible parents and parents-to-be lately that while it makes me sad for them, it also makes me feel better about my not totally sucking at this Momma thing. I could never imagine screaming in my child's face or calling it names.

53 more days to go wooooop!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Baby Animals

I was ranting about this to Lowell yesterday so I decided to post a list. Did you know that baby eels are called elvers? I didn't.

Actually, this came about because I started calling the Kittenheart my "Cougar cub"... because now that I'm 28 and Lowell is still 23, our age difference totally sounds Cougar-esque again.

Anyway. I find baby animal names fascinating. Ferrets aren't listed, but their babies are called "kits". Like Beaver babies. Did you know that?


Antelope – calf
Bear – cub
Beasts of prey – whelp
Beaver – kit
Birds - fledgling, nestling
Cat – kitten
Codfish - codling, sprat
Cow – calf
Deer - fawn, yearling
Dog - pup, puppy
Duck – duckling
Eagle – eaglet
Eel – elver
Elephant – calf
Elephant seal – weaner hehe.
Fish – fry
Fowl - chick, chicken
Fox - cub, pup
Frog - polliwog, tadpole
Goat – kid
Goose – gosling Speaking of which, who would've thought that Sean from Breaker High would turn into such a heart throb?
Grouse – cheeper
Guinea fowl – keet
Hawk – eyas
Hen – pullet
Hippo – calf
Horse - foal, yearling, or colt (male), filly (female)
Kangaroo – joey Probably one of my all-time favourites. WTF right?
Lion – cub
Owl – owlet
Partridge – cheeper
Pig - piglet, shoat, farrow, suckling
Pigeon - squab, squeaker
Quail – cheeper Seriously? Well that's just adorable.
Rabbit - bunny, kit
Rat – pup
Rhino – calf
Rooster – cockerel
Salmon - parr, smolt, grilse
Seal – pup
Shark – cub
Sheep - lamb, lambkins
Swan – cygnet
Tiger - cub, whelp
Turkey – poult
Whale – calf
Zebra - foal

Friday, December 9, 2011

The Snoogle


A few random thoughts:

We put together our stroller/infant carrier travel system thinger today and the Kittenheart officially has more wheels than we do.

To anyone who plans on being pregnant, don't do it without the Snoogle. At first I thought it seemed silly but about a month ago, I started having trouble getting comfortable when trying to sleep and thought "screw it, I'll but the stupid $60 pillow, can't hurt to give it a go!" and I do not regret it. I don't understand why the website looks like something from the 80's but it doesn't even matter, this crazy snake pillow is awesome. I still have grumpy uncomfortable nights but it's significantly improved. When I finally settle into a good spot with the Snoogle all snoogled up in front and my former long body pillow wedged up behind, it's just HEAVENLY.

I realize that I've been mopey and complaining a lot lately, but I wanted to be clear that as much as I'm any combination of tired, moody, achey, nauseous all the time lately, I'm very excited. I may whine when the baby bops me in the guts - it's a pretty strange yet awesome feeling and I kinda like it. The most surreal part lately is feeling our little drummer girl and knowing she's in there, but not having any idea what she looks like.

I just burped (or maybe hiccuped, who the frig knows?) and barfed in my mouth just a little bit. I'm just glad that the last thing I ate was an Andes mint chocolate and it wasn't totally disgusting puke for once!

sleeping sucks


It's starting to get reeeally hard to sleep. I really miss sleeping on my stomach but I've settled on sleeping on my side, as I've been told I'm supposed to. I wake up to the Kittenheart lodged sideways in my belly, little head pushing out one side, little butt sticking straight out the other and feet kicking under my boobs. It's really fun.

I get into my grouchy half asleep haze and sit up and growl and groan and punch the blankets (according to Lowell). Sometimes I grunt and growl and try to punch him too. The past two nights, I've woken to find myself standing in the bathroom, growling and swearing at the sink. It's weird because I've never been a sleepwalker. I don't remember hoisting myself out of bed or anything. I can't really explain it. I suppose it's been convenient as I have to pee all the time these days.

The otter doesn't really have anything to do with the entry. I just thought he was adorable and one day I'd like to sleep soundly on my belly again like that.

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Ultrasound reveals.... kitten PAW




Kittenheart's profile....and a kitten paw! (Do you see it? It's a full on kitty paw coming at her face)

It's official! There is a kitten in there!

Monday, December 5, 2011

To hyphenate or not

Ah the "to hyphenate or not to hyphenate" debate. One of my favourite blogs that I follow, A CUP OF JO, recently did an entry about hyphenating last names. This blog is awesome because she is fantastically stylish and smart and also has a baby in the city.

So to hyphenate or not... Lowell and I have been talking about it a lot lately. The problem is, he's pretty easy-going and will go either way. We're pretty sure that if and when we ever get married in the future, I will keep my own last name. Lowell and I both grew up with different last names as our Mothers so it never seemed like a strange or unusual concept. His Mom decided to keep her maiden name after marriage and my parents were unmarried. However, now that the realization that I'm going to be a Mother has really sunk in, I realize that I quite like the idea of sharing a last name as my child. I never knew my Dad or anyone on his side of the family, so while I like my last name, I have no real attachment to it. I personally think it's a pretty cool sounding last name.... but I don't know one single other person with the same name!

Lowell's family has a cool sounding last name as well. I like the idea of our baby having his last name, but what if I feel left out later on? So in comes the whole hyphenating debate. I'm not opposed to the idea at all, but I don't think that our last names hyphenate particularly well. Both of our last names are pronounced like adjectives, though spelled differently from the actual adjectives. Either way we arrange it, the hyphenated last name winds up sounding like a description... a slightly pretentious description at that!

Man, and I thought coming up with a first name was hard enough!! Now we're waffling on the last name issue too! We really should just call her Kittenheart, one word, no first or last name and call it a day. I'm sure she'd love us for that one when she grows up!

Well, we still have about 69 days to decide. :D

Saturday, December 3, 2011

29 weeks & 6 days belly photos


29 weeks & 6 days belly... and my elbow patch sweater!


Big round belly!



Still round belly... non-squirming Kitten baby...





and then now, lumpy moving baby belly! (I should note that I was initially horrified by the "lumpy belly' photos and kept squealing at Lowell after he took them. It was bizarre to see the pics because I had no idea the belly could look for lumpy and uneven! I kept yelling "I don't look like that do I? The belly isn't THAT big is it???" But Apparently, I totally do and yes, it is THAT big.)

Friday, December 2, 2011

Birthday.

In 12 days, I will turn 28 years old. 28! That's the oldest I've ever been! I said that I didn't want anything for my Birthday this year... and that's true, I don't! All of my friends have been so beautifully generous already giving the Kittenheart, Lowell and I so many amazing gifts. I couldn't imagine asking for anything more! But.... if I were allowed to ask for anything , it would be for a maternity winter coat that miraculously doesn't look like a lumpy garbage bag on me and isn't all kinds of ridiculous expensive. And a "Yuzu and Cocoa" bath from Lush (*hint hint Lowell*).

I've always enjoyed celebrating my Birthday. I can recall something special about almost every Birthday.... especially my Birthday cakes. "Chocolate and purple" for 26. Chocolate espresso cheesecake from Dufflet for 24. Alien cat ice cream cake for 22. Crazy delicious chocolate praline feuilletine creation by my Momma for 18. And my favourite was probably the giant pink "8" she made for me when I turned, well, 8.

I wonder what cake I shall have this year... This will be my last Birthday as just me. Most likely my only Birthday I'll celebrate pregnant. By this time next year, the Kittenheart will be almost a year old. Craziness....

Kick counting app




I downloaded a "kick counter" app on my phone to keep track of baby movements. I'm usually pretty picky (paranoid) about downloading stuff but this seemed like it might be useful. From what I've read, Doctors and midwives will sometimes make slightly different recommendations but in general they tell you to look for 6 - 10 good movements every 2 or 3 hours.

Turns out the app was totally unnecessary because the Kittenheart takes after her Drummer Dad and is crazy. super. active. We like to joke that the twins were born at 28 weeks because Lowell was beating the crap out of his Brother in the womb and he wanted out.

Everytime I re-set the time, I reach 6 big kicks within the first half hour. Sometimes within the first 10 minutes. Last night, we sat in bed and I made Lowell stare at the belly shifting around like crazy. It was exactly like that scene in that movie where that Alien thing bursts out of the dude's belly. Exactly like that. It's a totally bizarre feeling... kinda neat because there's this tiny little human squirming around but it also makes me feel kinda skeevy and ticklish and I squeal out loud a lot when I get a big wallop to the front. I have much respect for twin-carrying mommas.... and mommas who are and have been more pregnant than me! I'm barely 30 weeks so that means the Kitten baby still has to more than triple in size! Eugh, Jebus!

Anyway, I do recommend the kick counter app. I got it from the Android marketplace but I'm sure it must exist on iThings. I also recommend the Onavo data tracker and Hungry Shark Part 1 & 2 (my favourite game!). Not Hungry Shark Part 3 though, nuh-uh. I hate the new rival shark in Hungry Shark 3. He's a fucking asshole.