21 Weeks

Banana Baby. Brandi-Lee at 21 weeks, Chris at approximately 1,436 weeks.

Today I am 21 weeks along, or for those that don't like counting by weeks, 5 months and 1 week. My tummy is definitely growing, and I mostly really like it for various reasons: first of all, people can kind of stop wondering if I've just put on a few pounds. I actually look pregnant. As you can see from the banana, that's what size our little one is...about 10.5 inches. (I was so confused why the baby jumped from being 6.5 inches last week to 10.5 inches...apparently they measure from crown to feet now, and not crown to rump. Something I learned...) He or she has little fingernails and hair, and they are able to taste the amniotic fluid in which it lives in! Tasty. Apparently what I eat affects the flavour of said fluid: Studies show that after birth, babies are most interested in tastes they've already experienced through amniotic fluid (thebump.com). So I guess I should start eating more veggies. We also had our second appointment with our midwife, and Chris was able to come! Nothing crazy to report, but basically she checked my heart beat, lungs, kidneys and all that jazz by poking me and listening with a stethoscope. She measured my uterus (again by poking around on my tummy). We also got to hear baby's heartbeat which sounded like galloping horses. It's in the 150's, which we're told is also good. So basically, our baby is doing really well and is healthy! Thumbs up for our little Douce.

20 Weeks | Half Way There!

We have now hit the half way mark! I am now 20 weeks (or 5 months). Also, our baby is apparently the size of a small cantaloupe. I like that they measure children to the size of produce. In other news, I am feeling more little kicks and flutters, mostly in the evening when I go to bed. Also, sometimes when I'm sitting at my desk at work. And sometimes he or she will rest somewhere in my bladder region and I tell him or her to do something else. Sometimes he or she listens, sometimes not.

What Would You Name our Kid?

Naming a human being is probably one of the most important choices in the whole parenting process. This name will be this person's 'label' for the rest of their lives, even after they are old and gone...so it better be a good one. Talk about pressure! As a kid I didn't know any other Brandi-Lee's, and not many with a hyphen in their name. I wanted to blend in with my friends and have a name like Crystal or Laura, but now I'm cool having a name not many others have. (Even though the vast majority of the population can not spell it...thank you mother. This we will take in to consideration when naming our baby!) There are other factors to take in to consideration. For instance:

• What nicknames can come from this? ('Harry' or 'Dick' pretty much leaves that one wide open)
• What people are attached with this name? (I doubt there have been many little Adolph's running around in the past 60 years)
• Do the first and last name sound good when said together? (I went to school with a 'Harry Wong'...)
• Will this name still be good in 50 years? (there's a reason why nobody names their baby Gaylord anymore)
• What kind of words rhyme with that name? (eg: Regina. Think about it.)
• Is it easy to spell? (Try to get a five year child old to spell Betelgeuse. Also try to get other five year olds not to make fun of that child.)
• Does it make other people go, "What?" (eg: Bono's child, Elijah Bob Patricus Guggi Q Hewson. I also met a kid named 'Blade Steele')
• Do the initials spell something? Mine used to be B.O. (Again, thanks mom. I blame it on your youth...wink.)

Chris and I have a few floating around in our heads and on our 'list', but I think it would be fun to see what you think would be a good name for our baby girl or boy! Any suggestions?

19 Weeks & Ultrasound

Brandi-Lee at 19 weeks

Our baby! (a picture of a picture...)

Another photo of our baby. Let's face it, it kind of looks like something that would haunt you in your sleep.

Today was fantastic! Chris and I went for our ultrasound and it was incredible. Again, it was tough to drink all that water and not pee, but I persevered and all was well (I didn't wet my pants). After my time with the technician, him pressing HARD on my stomach at some points, he called Chris in. The baby was moving all around, nodded it's head and moved its arms...so cute! I was so happy Chris was able to witness that. I can feel some stuff in there when the baby moves around so it might feel a bit more 'real' to me, so the fact that Chris was able to experience that made me happy. As we looked at our baby move around it was hard to keep the smile off my face...it was almost surreal to think that was our baby! OURS. Wow. Chris' thoughts on seeing the baby: So a lot of the time the reality of us being pregnant doesn't seem to set in. My body isn't the one that's changing (at least due to pregnancy), I don't feel anything move in my belly, I don't have nauseous spells or weird cravings so the fact that there is a child growing in B's tummy often slips my mind. Even looking at a photo of the ultra sound doesn't seem real. That being said, today I saw my child moving in Brandi-Lee's uterus and it was RAD! Good to see lil' Deuce rolling around in there, snug as a bug, having it made in the shade. To see life, real and healthy is what I think I needed to see to help me somehow connect with my child. Now if I could start teaching guitar chords in utero...hmmm Mugging News - totally unrelated to pregnancy. If you haven't yet you can read our mugging store here. As we drove back from our appointment, I saw a guy riding his bike wearing a black hooded coat, wearing a black hat. He looked over his shoulder for some reason and it hit me - "Chris! That's him" I said. "Who? What are you talking about?" Chris looked around. "The guy that mugged us! That's him!" I was yelling by this time. Chris asked if I was serious and stopped the car, got his phone out and took a photo of him! He then proceeded to drive and yelled out the window, "I GOT YOUR PICTURE BUDDY! I GOT YOUR PICTURE NOW!" (George Costanza style) I wasn't looking (half out of embarassment) but Chris said he put his hood up and looked the other way. I have no idea if the RCMP will even care about the photo, but if nothing else comes from it, I hope we scared the pants of that dude.

Why Did I Choose A Midwife?

This is not my midwife.

I think when people hear the word 'midwife', they think of only home births and no pain relief. Another misconception is that they are primarily hippy women that burn incense, listen to Yanni and don't shave their armpits. While I am not privvy to the personal preference of every midwife, this is not true on the whole. My friend who has a midwife is having a home birth, while Chris and I are choosing to deliver in a hospital. I might even have drugs. I'm not sure if the midwife delivering will shave her armpits or not, but I don't really care, as long as she safely extracts that child from my womb. A few people have asked us why we chose to have a midwife instead of a obstetrician or doctor. Since it's been a common question, I decided to post it for anyone that was wondering. Keep in mind much of this is going on what my friends that have or have had midwives say, since this is our first kid, and therefore our first midwife experience... 1. At the moment I don't even have a family doctor! There's a pretty mean shortage here in BC, unfortunately. That was my first concern: was who was going to deliver our baby? I didn't love the feeling of having a strange (though qualified) doctor I have never seen prodding around 'down there'. 2. Better service. Midwives take more time at each appointment with you to answer questions and are thorough in telling what's going on (compared to a walk-in clinic). The first time I was at the walk-in to 'confirm' our pregnancy, the doctor basically just said, 'Yep, you're pregnant now go take these blood tests'. I thought it would be great to have the doctor be excited with us in this first experience, and have the time to answer questions and just inform us of things, since we have no clue! So far it's been that way with our midwife, so thumbs up. 3. It's free. It's covered by MSP, it costs us nothing, so why not? 4. At the birth, the midwife will be there for just me. My friend, who is a nurse at SMH says the doctors are often pulled in many different directions when it's busy, naturally. So sometimes the doctor doesn't even do the delivery...which is okay because a nurse does it (someone has to!), but you sometimes don't really know who is going to deliver! I like the assurance of knowing who will be delivering the baby. 5. In the event of an emergency... We have a pager number on hand so we can reach her at any time, day or night. 6. Lower risk. Check this out: Midwifery clients experienced lower rates of forceps, vacuum extractions, cesarean sections, episiotomies, infections and babies born requiring resuscitation, in studies where midwifery was compared to physician led care. (that's from bcmidwives.com) Sounds good to me! If you have any other questions, shoot.

Gotta Love Surrey

This has little to do with pregnancy, but I thought it was something some might find interesting. On Saturday evening, Chris and I were going to walk to Blockbuster to return a movie we rented. Just in front of our apartment building there is an alley that many people use, and when we were on it a couple guys on bicycles rode up to us and asked the time. After a few seconds the next thing we knew, one of them had Chris by the throat and told him to give him all his money...we were being mugged! Since one of them had brass knuckles and the other was holding a can of bear spray up to Chris, I didn't know what to do. Things weren't getting out of hand and since they told me to turn around (and called me a foul name) I decided to do so. Since we didn't have anything on us and Chris wouldn't let them have his wedding ring (they seemed strangely okay with that), they told us not to call the cops and we'd 'be cool'. Obviously after they were out of sight we promptly called the police, they came, and questioned us. We later found out they were circling around our neighbourhood and had the search helicopter out! All in all, it was a crazy experience but the whole time, we can honestly say we felt protected. Despite feeling a tad shaken up, I had no fear while the whole thing was happening, and Chris said the same. We know it could have been so much worse! Thank God!

First Midwife Appointment

What I peed on. No, those are not my fingers. Google.

I just returned from our very first midwife appointment (sadly, without my 'partner', Chris). It was pretty much full of form-filling and family history-telling but it was great. I didn't feel rushed and it felt very personal - not at all like going to the walk-in clinic of times past with a doctor that just wants to rush you out of there. It was great! After the in-depth interview, she got me to lay on the couch so she could feel where the baby is. After prodding a little she determined that he/she is just around and a little below my belly button. Movin' on up! This is where I wish Chris were there...I got to hear the baby's heartbeat again! It was funny because the midwife was trying to get it but our little Douce kept running away from her so she would get it then two seconds later she lost it, then she would chase him down and he would dart away again! She said he's (or she?) a very playful baby already. Ha! Once we were able to get him/her settled in a spot, that weird heartbeat sound filled the room. It was awesome and I almost teared up a bit! Almost. Embarassing Moment at the Doctors #1 They got me to pee on a stick to test for gestational sugar (or something? I don't know - I'm still new at this) and I walked out of the bathroom in to a group of five ladies chatting and laughing. They all turned and looked at me as I'm standing in a dark doorway holding a thin plastic strip with my urine hanging off the end, and all I could say was, "I have this stick thingy..." They chuckled and the receptionist was kind enough to come tell me to just toss it, that because it was such a light green (the stick, not my pee...) it was so low it's not a big deal. So they really didn't need to see me with the pee stick. Could have avoided that all together. Good to know.