Speed Trials

What is up with this whole “nesting” thing?

I’ve received a few comments lately about how I must be getting the house (or at least the baby’s room) ready for the big arrival in 6 weeks.  Truly, I thought I’d be all over that too. I usually love to organize things and to keep a tidy house, but the nesting instinct is definitely NOT present in me these days. I’m finding it difficult to even maintain an acceptable level of cleanliness around here most days.

I’m also still not going crazy with baby stuff. I tried to register for baby things for my upcoming shower, but I did such a pitiful job of it that Angelo’s mother and aunt actually cornered me at a family function for a mini-intervention. They were upset that the only things I put on there were j-cloths and baby shampoo.

The only thing that I really want to do is buy him his cloth diapers, and even though I should dutifully wait till after my shower, I think I’m going to sneak into the Extraordinary Baby Shoppe this weekend and buy my first one myself. Maybe that will kickstart my nesting instinct!

In the meantime, here’s a short list of things I’d rather do than clean my house:

• Watch my belly – seriously, I spend hours at a time doing this
• Read (mostly ridiculous) threads on my Babycentre birth month group
• Eat yogurt right out of the container
• Urge my baby to turn around (“Turn, Baby, turn!”)
• Watch Jeopardy!
• Lay awake at night bemoaning that I will never be rested ever again.

So there you have it, one Pregnancy Myth debunked. Nesting is for the birds!!!

2008: I was working at artengine, an artist-run-centre dedicated to electronic art. It was hands-down the coolest job I ever had, because I got to help put on media art exhibitions like Superfan – where sports and art collide!!

“I’m #2″ by Liz Garlicki

The opening of the show was a party at a downtown Ottawa bar and featured Goldsprint competitions. If you don’t know about Goldsprints, basically picture two bikes on rollers hooked up to a computer that tracks distance and speed.  Two racers face off in a 500m sprint, and the crowd gets to cheer on the racers by watching the progression displayed on a screen overhead.

Here’s a video of Angelo killing it against our friend and fellow bike messenger Pierre.

And in case you’re wondering, no one feels ‘right’ for the rest of the night after completing goldsprints!! (especially if you’ve had a few drinks to steel your courage )

Looking back on the first half of 2010, it was mostly spent rehabilitating my knee that I destroyed playing roller derby. (here‘s the post that describes what was wrong with my knee).  All of my physio exercises and patience during those six months led me to run the funnest race of my life – the 2010 Hintonburg 5k. I ran it in 24 minutes, and while I was stoked about my time, I was even more ecstatic that I felt NO PAIN whatsoever running it.

This is me at the 2010 Hintonburg Centennial 5k.

I vowed to run the race every year, because it had been so fun. (and because I love Hintonburg). But when I realized I was going to be 7 months pregnant during this year’s race, I figured I’d do the next best thing – volunteer for it.

I was a marshall on the route (at the Huron/Spencer intersection) and it was a really fun time.

I manned the barricades like a champ!!

And I sported the safety vest like a pro!!

150 runners braved the hot and humid weather to run the race this year.  You absolutely could not have predicted that Ottawa would be hit with a crazy thunderstorm that would take down the Bluesfest Main Stage only 10 hours later. The runners did a great job, and the kids who ran the 1k race were just about the cutest things ever!!  I can’t wait for Meatball to be big enough to run a race with his momma!!

Here is the link to the stats of the race.  The winner finished it in 16:44. Congrats to all the racers, and I’ll see you at the starting line next year!!!

Well, I’m really in the home stretch now… 8 weeks to go!!! Huzzah! This is what I look like now:

The belly is really growing, which is great, though I get the odd day or two where everything feels stretched to the limit.  I’ve also succumbed to moments of anxiety and fear regarding the actual birth.  The reality of what I will soon go through is definitely starting to sink in!

I had an ultrasound on July 12 (31 weeks, 4 days) and was given a whole slew of new information.  I went with my mom, who was pretty stoked to see the baby (the last time she was pregnant was 21 years ago and ultrasounds were nowhere near where they are now).  The technician was great and talked us through everything. Baby is still measuring like before – that is, he’s measuring a week ahead in terms of his head and abdomen, and he’s measuring a week behind on his femur.  I don’t know how two tall lanky people made a short stocky baby but that’s genes for you!

His kidneys are now considered “normal”, which is great because that was the whole reason for the additional ultrasound (they were swollen at his 19 week u/s).  In fact, while we were down there looking, he actually peed for us!!! It was not only the cutest thing in the whole world, it proved that the plumbing works!

She also did a biophysical exam, which is basically a measurement of the following four things: movement, breathing, amniotic fluid, and muscle tone. You’ll be happy to hear that little Meatball scored 8 out of 8, which is a big relief.

However, the last thing she wrote on her report, handwritten, was “Frank Breech @ 32 weeks”.

Dang.

Apparently the boy has his head up near my ribs, his bum sits along the right side of my belly (I knew that, you can SEE it I’m so lopsided) and his legs curl up towards his head on the left side of my belly, in a classic Frank Breech position.

photo of the three different types of breech babies.

I had a doctor’s appointment right after the ultrasound, and so we talked about it.  He reassured me that he doesn’t start to worry about breech babies until 35 weeks, which put my mind at ease.

But then I came home, and I started to worry about my baby’s ability to turn. See, the thing is, I have a septate uterus (also known as a heart-shaped uterus), which increases the chances of having a breech baby. So I was pretty keen on researching some natural ways to encourage my baby to turn. Things I can do right now that can’t hurt are a) Visualizing my baby turning, b) getting Angelo to talk to him at my lower abdomen, c) getting down on all fours for 10 minutes a few times a day, and c) getting into child’s pose (with chin tucked). All of these things are supposedly good for getting a baby to turn.

If in the next few weeks baby doesn’t turn, I will move on to more drastic measures. I will definitely try moxibustion, swimming, and doing hip tilts as described on spinningbabies.com.

I’m pretty set on delivering this kid vaginally, even if he is breech, because a c-section scares the crap out of me. And for someone who has as many adhesions inside her pelvis as I do, and since I want other kids in the future, abdominal surgery is the LAST thing I should be having. (our bodies tend to create adhesions after we’ve had surgery, and that means they could potentially damage my one remaining Fallopian tube).

The only silver lining to all of this is that a Frank Breech is the best type of breech for delivering vaginally, because the legs are out of the way, and the baby’s bum makes for a better fit in the pelvis, which ultimately will encourage contractions and reduce the risk of the umbilical cord slipping out and prolapsing.

Anyway, all of this is still premature because baby may very well turn on his own, but either way I’ll definitely keep you posted.

I spent the Canada Day long weekend at the Cottage, which was wonderfully relaxing and the best way to beat the heat and humidity! I was able to swim in the lake, lounge with a good book, and rest as much as possible.

The baby, on the other hand, was busy like he’s never been before. His movements now are much more robust, and he shifts his whole body around quite often. I actually love it, and I was able to show the family his “shark fin” which just melts my heart every time.

On Friday night, the rest of the fam had gone to bed, and I was staying up reading, when he started kicking the side of my belly. He kept kicking the same spot every 5 minutes or so, and I thought it was hilarious. After a while, I guess he got sleepy, because the kicks started to subside. I placed my hand over the spot where he had been kicking and rubbed gently, while I talked to him softly. What happened next actually broke my heart. Knowing that my hand was there, he stretched his foot out so it was right under my palm and left it there for a little while. I didn’t dare move a muscle. After maybe 20 seconds or so, he pulled away as he drifted off to sleep. 

My baby acknowledged me for the first time ever, and with that one little movement, he has me for the rest of my life.

I can’t wait to meet you, Meatball!!!