Andy's 1st tooth!

We now know why Andy has been so miserable the last week or so - he has his first tooth! Yay!

6 months and the bear

Playing in the snow!

Andy had his first play in the snow day today. He wore the blue and yellow winter coat that Owen had given to him as a baby but never wore, and it fit perfectly! And I bundled him up, and put him in the black carrier under my coat and off we went for a walk down the street with Papa and Owen.

Merry Christmas!

5 month photos with the bear

Car seat carrier

I had this car seat carrier given to me (thanks Heather) as a gift, and I LOVE IT!

I was afraid that it wouldn't really work for me as I am so tall, but I have to admit that I really do love it - it works great! 

The point of this carrier is not to have to carry the car seat in your hand, or on your arm, which can really hurt!

You can get yours at Lellow on Mill St. in Chilliwack.

And here is the story behind my picture... below is a picture that is on the packaging for this carrier (called the Flying Falcon for some reason). There were a few different funny pics, but we decided to recreate this one. Although this carrier is good, I'd still only use it for short periods of time, like from the car to the mall, or from the car to the grocery store. I would never do my full shopping with this 

carrier - it is just way too heavy. I mean, my kid is 17lbs, and my car seat is like 20 lbs, so why would I carry around 40lbs when I can put the baby and car seat in a stroller or buggy. 

But I thought this picture was just too funny not to recreate. Here you go Heather - this is for you! And thanks again for the gift!

Rice Cereal!

Yesterday Andy had his first taste of rice cereal! I think it was more fun for me, but Andy seemed to like it too! :)

I bought the Heinz Organic kind because it doesn't have any skim milk powder in it, as Andy is allergic to milk. 

Andy is over 5 months, and will be 6 months old the day after Christmas, so even though we are a little early in introducing food to him, Andy is close enough in age that we thought it was OK. I did check with Andy's pediatrician too, and he said it was OK. 

I was surprised how much of the cereal Andy actually ate - not just put in his mouth and spit right back out. He probably consumed more than a teaspoon, but less than a tablespoon. I know it isn't much, but think of how small his tummy is!

We're back to trying tricks

Andy prefers to sleep with his head elevated, like in the swing or cuddle seat. And we are tired of waking up 4+ times a night just to put his soother back in because he is uncomfortable sleeping (mind you, this happens in the swing and cuddle seat too). So we are trying a new trick. Today I put a very thin pillow under his sheet, and then put 3 rolled up blankets on top. The will (hopefully) keep Andy from rolling. These blankets are positioned to his sides and above where his head will go. Hopefully they will keep him in the middle. I am hoping that the pillow, although very thin, will elevate Andy's head enough so he is more comfy. And I also put the bumper pads on his crib today too. 

My little poser!

Here we go again...

Andy has another ear infection. We think he is teething. It figures. Just as soon as his colic is over, and he finally gets over his cold, we have teething. Lovely. 

4 months old

New and improved Andy!

Hmmm... it won't let me copy and paste my journal entry here. I wonder why - see the comment to see my posting.

We switched again...

Andy is now on soy milk - Similac Isomil to be exact. Since then he has stopped screaming like someone is stabbing him all the time. He now whines and fusses and cries like a regular baby. You have to understand that Andy is now 103 days old and he has never (NEVER) done that. He is either sleeping, happy (babbling, laughing, talking cooing, etc.), awake and quiet (very rarely!), or screaming like someone is stabbing him. 

Since we switched him to soy he seems to be doing much better. That was about a week ago. 

Andy's 3 month bear photo!

what do we do now?

Last night was awful. Andy was up just about every hour – all night long. He went to bed last night at 10, got up to eat at midnight, needed the sucker at 1 and 1:10, so I brought him into bed with us at 1:10. He needed the sucker all night and wanted to eat again at 3. Gabe fed him and gave him amoxicilin and Andy wanted to be awake. Gabe put him in the swing and slept on the couch. And then Andy was up again wanting his sucker all night until we brought him back into bed with us at 7, and then he slept good until 8. It was a really rough night!


3 times today Andy has had major, tummy-emptying pukes. All over him and whatever he is laying on (including our bedding). So not fun. We are going to try giving him soy based formula to see if that is better for his little tummy. We can't think of what else to do.

Rough night!

Last night was pretty good for the first half and pretty bad for the second. Elia watched the boys so Gabe and I could go out and celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary. We got home at 10:30, and Andy had had his last bottle at 9:30 and fallen asleep at 9:45pm. So he was down for the night. And he slept until 2:30, had a nice big 5.5oz bottle, took his medicine, got a clean diaper on, and was the happiest baby in the world. But he wanted to be awake and playing. I let him for 20 minutes, and then I put Andy in his crib as I was tired and wanted to go back to bed. But I got up at least 6 times in the next half an hour to put his soother back in. Finally I just stayed in this room (in the rocking chair) and kept putting the soother back in his mouth. Then I swaddled him (around 3:30) and he nodded off just before 4am. But at 6am he was awake again, so Gabe brought him into our bed and he slept well until the alarm went off at 8am.

I'm a zombie this morning

I had to put the soother back in at 1:30am, 3am, 3:45, 4:45, and 5:10. Then I finally got up and fed him at 5:15. He was happy and fell asleep around 6am. These night time feeds are getting longer and longer. I don't like that.

Andy's baptism...

Last night Andy was up a lot. Gabe slept on the couch with Andy in the swing a he put the soother back in a bunch of times. Andy fed at 2:10 (6oz) and 6:50am (3oz).

Andy has such fantastic happy mornings now that he is feeling better!

Andy was baptized today! He slept in Krista's arms until we undressed him. He cried when he was baptized, but calmed down afterwards, and actually didn't fuss nearly as much as we excepted. He even did better than Owen had when he was baptized! We took lots of pictures, and kept some of his hair from the tonturing for his baby book. Lots of people came to watch the baptism: all 4 of the Moore's, the Bhulers, the Harmes's, the Martel's, Ted and Helen Francis, Grandma and Grandma, Elia, and Leila.

And then we had a BBQ at our house afterwards to celebrate and a lot of people came to that too: Sean and Cari, the Harmes's, the Martel's, all of the Francis's and Kim's boyfriend Jason, Grandma and Grandma, the Jordan's, Lindsay Friesen and her husband, Gabe Friesen, the Farley's, Rhiannon and Theo, Christie Gilbank, Eddie Bhuler, and Sid and Melissa Ketel.

In this last picture you can see us and Andy's godparents - Matthew and Krista Francis (they are Owen's godparents too).

Andy's 1st ear infection

Andy screamed all night. I am so glad we had our Doctors appointment today. He has a raging ear infection in his right ear. My poor little baby!

Guess who loves his Mommy?!?

Andy does!

Owen is a Papa's boy (always has been), and it looks like Andy will favor his Mama! Yay for me!

Andy is 10 weeks old today and going threough a growth spurt! He is now wearing size 3month (or 0-3 months, depending on the brand) clothes and size 2 diapers! He is still in a size 1 shoe (but that may be becasue his size 1 shoes are so cute I'll cram his foot in there for as long as I can!).

All smiles!

Andy smiles a lot now these days! And I LOVE his smile and his little laugh! They are just too cute!!!!!!

Andy has this star that lights up and plays music and it is his favorite toy right now (well, the only one he even really cares for at all besides his jumperoo). Here he is smiling at the star...

Baby Shower!

The ladies of St. Herman's (our Church) threw us a baby shower yesterday! Thanks to everyone who came - it was so nice to be able to sit and chat with you all!

And thank you to everyone who brought food and gifts - everything was so fantastic!

Andy's 1st ambulance ride and Hospital visit

Last night was brutal. Bru-tal! Andy had his last feed at 10:50 last night – I wanted him to eat late so he would sleep in late, like normal. But he was up at 2. I put his soother back in 3 times before getting up to feed him at 2:25am. He ate 6oz and was up for the full hour and then never seemed to be himself again for the rest of the day. He was up pretty much all night crying and screaming, not really wanting his soother or a bottle. We fed him another 2oz at 5am and then he screamed until another small feed (1.5oz) at 7:40am.

He cried all day long with small naps and a few 10-25 minutes of happiness throughout the day. But mostly he cried and screamed all day long. He ate 1oz at 1pm and 1 oz at 2:20pm. We attempted to feed him multiple times until Gabe took him to the clinic at 7:30pm. They were closed so he went to the Hospital but the line up was really long so he came home. We have Andy 1ml of Tylenol every 4 hours or so (5 times in total).

But after 4 or 5 hours of constant screaming, Gabe called the Health Clinic. Andy had been doing this weird hiccup sounding thing that seemed to be worse when he cried, and when he attempted to drink. It seemed like he was having trouble breathing and swallowing. The BC Health Nurses Line nurse said it sounded like he was having seizures and that we should call 911. So we did and I rode with Andy to the Hospital in the ambulance as Gabe followed in the car behind us. Elia stayed home with Owen. And of course, Andy stopped crying just before the paramedics got to the house and almost didn't complain, cry, or hiccup at all since then. He did have a few of the weird hiccup things in the ambulance though and the paramedics said it sounded like he was struggling to breathe.

Once at the Hospital we were seen to right away. We told our story to 4 nurses and 2 Doctors. Andy had a poop there and seemed to be better once he did that. We did attempt to feed Andy a bottle there, twice, and he refused to eat the first time,but at 11:30pm he ate 1oz. He had a good crying fit and the Doctors listened to his heart and lungs. They checked his ears, throat, back, chest, and checked his heart rate and circulation. They figure Andy is just having a bad reaction to the immunization shots he got yesterday but that it isn't an infection or allergic reaction. We attempted to feed him one last time but Andy didn't eat. We went home just before midnight and on the way out (this part kills me), Andy smiled at the Nurses. Why didn't he just say “My parents are idiots. They over reacted.”

I even said to Gabe while we were there “I'm glad Andy is feeling better, but I wish he cried a bit just to show the Doctors why we are here.”

He seems to be acting normal now (it is 12:30am) and I hope he eats a bit more and then sleeps. He hardly slept all day so I am hoping he'll sleep through the night. Today was brutal for me and I need a good sleep just as much as Andy does.

Jumperoo!

Andy loves to jump - he has from the very beginning, So Grandpa Kim bought him this Jumperoo. And Andy loves it!

Andy's is 2 months old!

Click here to see Andy's 1 month bear picture.

Click here to see Owen's 2 month bear picture.

Fashion Show!

As Andy is growing out of a lot of his newborn sized clothes (he is 12lbs 13oz now!), I had to do a fashion show and photo shoot before Iput them all away for good.

sleeping good!

Last night was another goo done! Andy ate at 10pm last night, and went to sleep around 11pm. He then slept until 5:10am! He ate 5oz at 5:15, had a huge puke, and then it took me an hour to do the whole routine (by then the sun was rising). I was worried he would be up soon after that, but he slept good until 9:40! That is more than 7 hours between feeds and sleeps – that is awesome!

I honestly credit the Miracle Blanket for his good sleeping these past few nights! He doesn't even have to come into our room anymore – I just put him down in his crib, on the nursing pillow all swaddled up. I don't even have to go back in and put the sucker in and all of that (at least not more than once within 2 minutes of laying him down). It is great!

The Miracle Blanket is a mircale!

I bought this blanket online about a month ago and only really started using it now as the weather was too hot to swaddle Andy for the last few weeks. Andy has never had a good sleep from his middle-of-the-night feed to the morning feed , and that has been really hard on us as I don't sleep much a tall, and that is the time of night we really need our skeep. Otherwise it feel slike we have been up since 3:30am - and sometime we have been!

So I swaddled Andy all up in the blanket last nightand put him in his crib at 2am - and he slept until 7 without making a peep! And he is in his bed again now for his morning nap all swaddled up and sleeping heavy. This blanket is awesome!

http://www.miracleblanket.com/

Colic update

Well, we can now officially say that Andy is colic free. Yay! I don't know if he just grew out of it, or the chiropractor massage worked wonders, but it is all gone! They do say it peaks at 6 weeks, and we found that Andy's 6th week of life was terrible for colic. But now, at almost 8 weeks old, it is all gone. (knock on wood!)

Andy had his 2 month check up yesterday and he is happy and healthy! And 12lbs 5oz - my big boy!

Coping with colic

Yesterday we heard that these 2 things help with colic:

• infant massage from a chiropractor (3 times in a wek should do the trick)
• a drug called “BENTYLOL” (the trade name), also known as “DICYCOLMINE” (the generic name)

So today we will try both. Has anyone else heard of these, or any other ways of helping with colic?

Andy gets Churched!

Andy got Churched today!

thirty nine days old

Boy am I tired this morning!

July 30, 2008 (day thirty five)

Andy was very cranky from 9pm-midnight last night, and he exhausted both Gabe and I at night as he always does. I don't know why this is his rough time of day, but it is and always has been. I guess we should just get used to it for the time being.

Andy was up every other hour last night – 5 feeds in 1 night – what is up with that?! It was the night with the most feeds in his whole life. He must be having a growth spurt! I read today (online) that formula fed babies should be eating more per feed, but having less feeds throughout the day as the formula takes longer them to digest. But that isn't the case with Andy at all. He ate way less often with the boob. He must be growing right now and that is why he feeds every other hour. I just wish he didn't do it at night. It won't last forever though... right???

Here is another good one...

http://www.babble.com/content/articles/features/dispatches/tuttle/Milk-Money-Is-breastfeeding-really-cheaper-than-formula-Not-always/

Milk Money - Is breastfeeding really cheaper than formula? Not always.
by Kate Tuttle
July 7, 2008

You hear it all the time: one of the reasons to choose breastfeeding over formula, in addition to all the well-known health advantages, is that it's free. No need to stockpile expensive formula, bottles, and so forth. You can meet your baby's nutritional needs, for the first six months at least, with zero economic outlay. Just think of how much more you can deposit into junior's college fund!

But if breastfeeding's so cheap, why do so many women spend so much money doing it? Between the lactation consultants, nursing bras and tanks, Boppy pillows with vintage cloth covers from Etsy, and a hospital-grade breast pump for when mama goes back to work, a nursing mother can end up spending a small fortune. And that's not even counting the financial hit involved in taking time away from work or negotiating a schedule that allows for nursing or pump breaks. If breastfeeding's so cheap, why do so many women spend so much money doing it? Every mother is different, and so is every baby. So it's impossible to quantify the expenses of the average nursing or bottle-feeding mother: and many, many women do both. But a little research and a handy chart can provide ballpark figures for just how much each option costs.

A very good article on breastfeeding VS formula feeding...

The Breastfeeding Conspiracy
~Believe it or not, formula isn't poison.~
by Marjorie Ingall
December 11, 2006

When my daughter Josie was a few weeks old, I started going to a support group for new moms. Most of us looked like we hadn't slept since the Carter administration. Epic tales were sung of colicky infants, dread about returning to work, exhaustion so severe it caused hallucinations. (I personally remember watching the bathroom rug crawl across the floor like a flattened Muppet.) Many of us cried over our struggles with breastfeeding: Plugged milk ducts, engorgement, nipples so thrashed and bloody they looked like raw hamburger, babies who couldn't latch on and kept losing weight. But some group members, those who'd had no problems nursing, kept insisting that we simply needed to try harder. Call a different lactation consultant. Use nipple cream. Butch up. Didn't we want what was best for our babies?

Exclusive breastfeeding is tough, and the temptation to give up is strong. Formula companies pimp their products, tucking bottles into the going-home bags of brand-new moms as they're released from the hospital, sending coupons to their homes, sponsoring medical guides and filling parenting magazines with ads. But breastfeeding advocates push hard too. Think of last year's public health campaign that compared not-breastfeeding to riding a mechanical bull while pregnant. In my ultrasound doc's office, there was a big poster headlined "THE TOP 12 REASONS TO BREASTFEED." The reasons included "Your baby will be smarter" and "You will lose weight faster."

Well, look, there's little doubt that breast is best, if you can manage it. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends breastfeeding for a year. Breastfed babies have been shown to have less diarrhea and fewer colds and ear infections than formula-fed babies. Studies indicate that they're less likely to die of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or develop lymphoma later in life. (More on these studies later.) Breastfeeding is also free and super-portable, whereas formula can cost from $1,000 to $2,400 a year. Given the vitriol aimed at formula-feeding mothers, in online forums and on the street, one might suspect formula was pure poison.

But given the vitriol aimed at formula-feeding mothers, in online forums and on the street, one might suspect formula was pure poison. Jill Davidson, thirty-four, of Providence, RI, an educational consultant, was the mother of a newborn when she was invited to speak at a conference in Chicago. She was able to fly her mother from Connecticut to stay with her and care for the baby. Davidson pumped in her hotel room, then handed the baby off to her mother to feed. As her sixty-something mother sat in the hotel lobby feeding the baby, a woman passing by hissed, "Shame on you! You should be breastfeeding that baby!" That's been the tenor of the breastfeeding discussion in recent years: women (even menopausal ones!) who don't do it must be either ignorant or abusive.

But women formula-feed for many different reasons. Some have medical issues, like Ginny Falk, whose daughter had a cleft palate. Some are viscerally disgusted by nursing, like my friend Judith. Some have jobs that are incompatible with nursing or pumping, like Debra Siegel, thirty, a marketing executive in Los Angeles. She worked in "a warehouse full of men. I didn't have an office; I'd have had to pump in the bathroom. And I needed the job; my husband was unemployed at the time." For Debra, returning to work was hard enough. Adding the stress of breastfeeding felt impossible. "I felt suicidal having to leave my baby, but I had no choice," she says. "I was the sole support of my family. So I decided not to even try to breastfeed. I'd talked to a lot of people and knew it took a while to get into a groove, and since I had to go back to work, I didn't want to spend my entire maternity leave feeling panicked and miserable. But as I got closer to my due date, people got more and more aggressive telling me I was selfish."

Click here to see the whole article... http://www.babble.com/content/articles/features/dispatches/ingall/index.aspx

Our feeding problems are over!

Andy has colic really bad for his first 3 weeks of life. So Gabe and I decided to do an experiment. We formula fed Andy for 2 days and 2 nights. First we gave him Good Start (the formual we had in teh house), and then we switched to Similac Alimentum (for babies with food allergic and lactose intolerance - specifically made for colicy, fussy, gassy babies). And Andy was like a new kid - he was happy and smiling, and slept well too! So on the third day we re-introduced the boob. First off, I wanted to see if he would take the boob OK again, and secondly we wanted to see what happened to him tummy/mood when we switched back. And cranky old Andy came back. But now we could tell that his cries weren't just fussy cries, but cries of pain. We could tell that he was having some sort of bad reaction to my milk. So after only 2 breastfeeds that day we switched back to Alimentum for the rest of that day, that night, and the next day (which is today). Andy happy Andy is back. So I am done breastfeeding.


I have a lot of food allergies myself and struggle with lactose intolerance, so we don't know what it is that is affecting Andy's tummy, but our family Doctor is almost 100% sure than Andy has at least 1 food allergy. We will have to be very careful when introducing foods to him in 5 months.


Since switching to formula, we have heard a few stories from friends about their colicky babies, and how formaula (this one particularly) helped them as well. I cried myself to sleep the first night we fed Andy formual and he was happy. I had a feeling that taking him off the boob would help him out, and I didn't want to give up breastfeeding. But after listening to him scream all day when we re-introduced the boob, and watching him struggle to pass gas, as he turned red and cried for hours was not worth it. I am sacrificing a really big thing here - I didn't get to breastfeed Owen either, and I thought I would get to breastfeed Andy longer than just one month. But it isn't meant to be. So I am done. And I am OK with that. Andy is a happy baby now (he even is smiling now and it just melts my heart!). I am sad for what I had to give up, but I would give up so much more to make sure my babies aren't in pain.


If anyone out there is struggling with a colicky baby, I suggest trying Similac Alimentium. It has worked wonders inour house!

Andy's 1 month photo with the bear

Every month until he was 18 months old, Owen had his picture taken with this bear. Now it is Andy's turn!

From happy to mad in 2 seconds flat

Andy has colic. He is a terribly cranky brute, and if he is awake he is screaming. It has been really hard on all of us. We are sleep depreived and that makes it all worse of course. Thank goodness Andy loves the sling (and Ijust got a really good one), becasue he doesn't like the sing, bouncy seat, cuddle seat, or lying down. He is just such a fussy baby!

Andy is 4 weeks old today. He weighs 10lbs 4oz, and is still wearing clothes that fit up to 8lbs. He is very long and lean! He has beautiful, full, pouty lips and really big hands and feet. Like his big brother Owen, I think Andy will be quite tall.

But every night around 9am, Andy screams for 2-3 hours straight. Oddly enough, those are the house he would wake up and kick the crapout of me when he was inside the womb. He has terribly bad gas and these evening hours and when it is the worst (for some reason).

Birth announcement!

3 weeks old

We finally got some sleep!

Last night was great! Andy ate at 9pm and then I had a nap, and then Andy fed at midnight, and then Gabe and I were in bed by 12:30. Both those feeds were really good (both sides and not a lot of gas). Andy woke up to eat at 3am and had another really good feed and then went straight back to sleep (maybe 10 minutes of walking and rocking), and then Andy slept until 7:50! I actually went into his room to wake him up to eat next! I heard him squawk once at 4am, and once again at 7, but he didn't wake up, so I stayed in bed. It was a fantastic night!

4oz poop!

We decided to weigh Andy on the baby scale and it said he was 10lbs. I found that hard to believe as he was only 9lbs 2oz less than a week ago (on Monday the 14th), but then we noticed he had had a huge poop (which came out onto his clothes, and on Papa's shirt too, so we weighed him again. He weighs 9lbs 6oz – the poop was 4oz!

"9lbs, 2oz... eyes of blue..."

Andy is now 9lbs 2oz. He is a ferocious eater and we are nowhere close to a sleep schedule yet.

Wait a minute...

... that isn't a boob!

Dimple

Andy has a dimple in his right cheek - see it?

Puppy dog eyes

Andy has the most beautiful eyes. They are puppy dog eyes. He will be able to use them, and his gorgeous little mouth with his pouty lips, to get whatever he wants out of Grandma and Grandpa later in life. And he'll be a babe-magnet... I can tell. :)

Big feet, little feet

Day 10 - family shots

Brothers

Brothers are a wonderful thing. At least that is what Owen thinks. He is just nuts about his new little brother Andy. And I'm sure Andy will be just as crazy about Owen as soon as he figures out how great he is too.



Andy is so tiny - especially compared to Owen (and Owen's

head!). Andy was 7lbs 14 oz. when he was born and he is now 7lbs 11oz. Owen was never this little on the outside. I love how Andy just curls up on my chest and tucks his arms and legs underneath him. He is like a baby frog!

The activities of day five...

We had a pretty busy day today. First, your Papa, you, and me all went to the Health Clinic where you were weighed (7lbs 11 oz). Then we went to your Papa's work to show you off. Then, after a few hours of being alone (just you and me) which was soooo nice (we got to do a photo shoot!), we all went to the Jordan's house for a Canada Day party, and you met a bunch of people from Church and were 'named'.Your chosen saints name is David the Prophet (King David).

During Andy's photo shoot, he peed on himself. Well, it was before the shoot actually. I was changing his bum and didn't get the new diaper on in time and Andy peed all over his face, in his mouth,. On the couch and floor – pretty much everywhere! So I undressed him, changed his bum properly, and wiped him down. And seeing as he was then naked, awake, and fairly happy (he didn't seem to mind peeing on himself at all), I decided it was the perfect time for a photo shoot! And he was happy to let me take a hundred pics or so – what a great little model he is!

Introducing Andy!

Andrew "Andy" David Gabriel Lanteigne was born at 3:42am on Thursday, June 26th. He weighed 7lbs 14 oz and was 53 cm (20.75") long. He is perfrect!

Here he is with Dr. Madill.

This is it!

I am in labor! My contractions started at 4pm abd by 6:30 they were every 10 minutes apart, It is 10:45pm now and they are still 10 mins apart, but the contractions are long and strong now! We're going to tough this out at home for as long as we can, but I am 99.9% sure I'll have a baby before noon tomorrow. It looks like June 26th is the date!

If you see the facebook update or get a call about the baby being born, than YES - please come visit us at the Hospital tomorrow. We would love to see you there!

Keeping busy

I have been busy making plans to keep myself busy as this baby doesn't seem to want out quite yet. Yesterday, while Owen went to daycare, I went shopping with my Mom, then we got pedicures and went out to dinner with another girlfriend. Today I had a friend come over for coffee and muffins and a visit. Tonight I am going to Gabe's ball game. Tomorrow I have a nice long walk scheduled with my Mom and Owen. And Friday my sister-in-law is coming overto clean my house while I finish sewing Owen's curtains. Saturday I am going golfing with the girls from Club and then having a rockin' night as to hope and get things going if labor hasn't started by then already.

And then it is Sunday again. June 29th. A week past my due date and my Moms birthday. So we will probably take her and Dad out for lunch, or make them lunch, or go there for lunch, Somehow we will all have lunchy together on Sunday. Monday is June 30th, and Gabe is home from work, so we'll have a nice day at home (or maybe at the lake if the weather is hot like they predict it will be). I think I might get together with Stacey and her boys that day too. Tuesday is the holiday (so Owen and Gabe are both home with me again). And Wednesday is my next Dr's appointment. At that point... well, we'll see if I even get to that point.

But as you'll see, With the holiday long-weekend coming up, it would be terribly conveneient for this kid to come in teh next few days. A lot of people will be able to come visit us then as they have Monday or Tuesday (or both days) off work. My husbandand Mom included. So Gabe could be home with us (me, Owen, and baby) for a whole week withouth really having to take a week off of work. Hint hint baby - that would be very conveneient for us!!!!!!!!!!

Today's Doctor visit - a very weird visit!

Well I had a very weird appointment today - VERY weird. First off, my Dr wasn't there. SO I asked where she was. Wanna hear this??? She is on holidays until July 2nd - 2 weeks!!!! She never told us she would be away! Even last week when I made this weeks appointment we talked about how she would do an internal exam and we could talk about ways she may be able to help labor along (sweeping membranes, induction dates, etc.). So this new Dr (can't remember her name) looks at my chart and says "Ooooh, you've gained a bit of weight". SO NICE! That is NOT what you say to a pregnant lady who is overdue. And I say "No, actually, I haven't. I gained 60 with my son, so 30-35 is perfect for me." Bitch. She checks my blood pressure and listens to the heartbeat and all is good. And she goes on and on about how this baby is sooo big. So I tell her that I am measuring small and my Dr said this babe may be 7lbs something. NOT big.

Anyways, then she looks at my file again and says that due to my 17 week ultrasounbd, my due date should have been June 30th, so I may easily go another 2 weeks without being "overdue". And then she does the internal exam (I asked her to see if I was thinning or dialting at all as I have had so much pain and pressure down there in the last few days – it would be nice to know I am getting close... or not). She says the head is so low that I could go anytime now. And that is why, she thinks, I am measuring small – because half the baby is lower than my fundus even measures – so really I have a huge baby in me, but because the head is so low it measures small... and I could go any day now, or still wait 2 weeks. And then she said “I know that doesn't help you much”. Nope, it doesn't.

Tomorrow is my due date...

... and no baby yet.

Looking to pass the time

So now I have done everything on my list of things to do besides read the breastfeeding book, go through the 2 rubbermaid containers of baby clothes given to me, and finish Owen's curtains. I am procrastinating with the curtains. And I have baked and cooked and frozen it all 3 times now. So I am looking for more things to do. Any ideas on what can pass the time? I would normally be napping every day, but if I do I can't sleep at night. So no more naps.

Contractions

Contractions started today around 1-1:30pm. By 6:30pm they were every 10 minutes and getting stronger each time. By 7:30 I had called everyone to put them on "yellow alert". And then they were over. And not once since then. Grrrrrrrrrrrr. Maybe they will start again tomorrow.

Stupid blogger won't let me post properly, so read the comments below to see my actual post...

Making a list and checking it twice...

With just over a week before my due date with Baby2, I made a list of stuff I still need to get done before labor begins. I also made a list of what Gabe needs to do. Lets see who gets done first. I have already done a few items on my list. Today I completed #4- Bake and cook a lot and freeze it all. I made 2 lasagnia's and am now starting a zuccini loaf. I also made a list of the ingrediants I need to make banana bread, which I will do later.

Plus. I did dishes, landry, cleaned out the microwave, and cleaned the entire house (vacuumed, swept and mopped all the floors, cleaned bathrooms, tidied, etc.) with the help of my sister-in-law this morning as well (she did most of it).

And tonight I will work on #2- Get all text done in Owen's 2 scrapbook albums. I have about 1/4 of this done, and hope to get that 1/4 all done, so I will be 1/2 done by the end of tonight.

This is nesting, right, so that means I am close to having this baby, right?!?!?????

On the lookout for new names

I am re-posting this old post on names as Gabe told me last night he didn't like any on our current list. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

So please, if you have any good names, that fit the profile, please, please, please let me know!

Names for Baby2

Becasue we can't call him/her Baby 2 forever, we are shortlisting some of our favorite names. Please add some goodies if you can think of any, but here are my requirements:
1. The name must be gender specific
2. When you hear it, you should know how to spell it, and when you see the name, you should know how to say it. And I like original spelling - nothing spelled 'funky' or 'new'. Just give me a good old basic name.
3. The name must be just that - a human name - not a car part, a fruit, or a day of the week. And nothing made up either.
4. I don't want anything too popular (I don't want this little one to go to kindergarted with 6 other people in the class with the same name)
5. It must go with Lanteigne (So Lilly Leila Lanteigne may sound nice, but it is out - she'd have to be a super hero!)
6. And I don't want to use a first name that is already in our immediate family - I can be somewhat original

See, I have a lot of rules, but what else do you expect from me? :)

Ok, so here are our names so far:
Boy Names:Andy

That's it, so if you can think of more, please let us know!

Girl Names:
Penny
Evelyn (we'd call her Evy)
Monica
Brigette
Natalie (my recent favourite)


After that post we made a few changes. The girl names we liked were: Juliet, Penny, and Natalie. And those are the ones Gabe decided he didn;t liek anymore. Mind you, he went through this old list (the green one), and our list of names for Owen if he was a girl (Annette, Paige, Juliet, Evelyn, Helena) and didn; tlike them either. He hasn't come up with any new ones EVER so he is definatley one tough cookie to please!

No sleep for the wicked...?

I had the worst sleep last night in months. I don't know if I went longer than 30 minutes at a time. I tossed and turned, and nothing was comfortable. Owen got up 3 times and I got up twice to pee as well. I am very glad we aren't going to the aquarium today as planned.

Last night I decided to go to bed early and I couldn't. My belly was so hard and tight, and there was so much pressure. I was sooooooooo uncomfortable! And the baby was moving like crazy – and there isn't enough room in there for her to move like that! She hasn't danced around inside me like that for a long time now. Hopefully she is getting ready to come out soon. I cried last night I was so uncomfortable.

Close, but not yet...

A message to my baby at 38 weeks:

Well you may not come out today baby, or even this week, but we are getting closer! Dr LeGresley said you might come this week, but probably in the next 2 weeks for sure. My fundus is still at 34”, so you should be a nice small baby (thank you)! And you were awake and moving today with a hear rate at 150 beats per minute – that is the highest we have ever heard you. Your Papa and brother came to the Doctors appointment with me today, which was neat.

I told the Dr about everything that happened this past week (including a red swollen bump on my hand that turned out to just be a bug bite) and she said that is all normal and means we are getting closer.

And Sarah Hewlett, our Doula, came over tonight. We went over our birth plan, discussed what happens in a normal labor (I didn't have that with Owen), and I feel more prepared to have you now. I also feel like you may be closer to your due date, or my guess date of June 26th. So if you come early that would be nice, but I am not betting on it. Sarah told me about a few physical changes that will happen to me before I go into labor, and I don't have them yet. She figures I am 2-3 weeks away from having you still. And with 13 days until my due date, June 26th is looking pretty good. I did pack my Hospital bag today however.

See how I have dropped?!

I can push the top part of my belly down now becasue the baby has dropped, and now that top bit is all squishy (probably some internal organs that just LOVE getting puished around) :)

14 days until my due date... and counting!

A message to my baby

June 5, 2008

Hi Baby! Yesterday was a fun day for you and me – we got our pictures taken! Auntie Stacey came over and took a bunch of preggo pics of me. And today I blew one up, framed it, and put it in your room.

Also, yesterday (and so far all this morning as well), I have been having contractions (not real though) and pain. I think you are dropping and getting into position. I think your head is rubbing up against my pelvic bone. And it hurts! But at least you are getting ready to come out, so that is good! I am VERY ready for you to come out; we all are. Please come out soon!

- Mama

More pics from yesterday...

37.5 week photo shoot