Bun might not have been the right word...

I think 7-layer gateau might have been more appropriate!

Kyle John Cameron was born on Thursday May 6th, at 8.30am weighing in at an astonishing 9lbs and 15 and a half ounces, and measuring 22 inches.

At my last appointment before the scheduled induction, the doctor and I agreed that a caesarean section was probably going to be the best way to deliver this baby. So we checked in at the hospital on Thursday morning, got hooked up to the IVs, met with all the doctors and nurses and then we got the show started. Of course, true to form, little Kyle was still squirming and moving around when they got into the uterus, before they delivered him! Then as they finally pulled him out, everyone was just shocked at how big he was because it just didn't seem like he would be from looking at me. I guess he's good at hiding!

Recovery at the hospital was long and boring, an endless parade of doctors and nurses and pills and tests. Day 1 was the hardest because I was almost literally tied to the bed, but once I was out of bed on day 2, things turned around. By day 3 I was raring to go home, and at around 12noon we left for home.

Today has been day 2 at home and it's gone pretty well. He's sleeping like a trooper, getting some great 4 hour stretches in here and there. Our first night was quite an ordeal as we tried to figure out night nursing, something we didn't have to really deal with in the hospital. But we're getting there and I think that we'll be on track and ready to go by the time John returns to work on Friday. Tomorrow Kyle has his first appointment with the pediatrician, so we'll see how he's doing since we've been put in charge!

Obviously the bun is now out my oven, so I have a new blog in the works to follow the adventures of our little munchkins as we start this new chapter. So head on over to kikiandkyle.blogspot.com in the coming weeks to see what's new with us as Catie starts summer vacation and Kyle learns to do more than just poop and eat.

Thanks for following my somewhat adventurous ride, and I hope to see you over there soon!

Two more days of sitting around left

Well I'm not counting today since it's pretty much done!

Thursday is the big day, John has banned me from going out alone now so I have two more days of waiting around at home for Thursday to roll around.

We are reporting to the hospital at 6.30am, and will be going from there.

So stay tuned for further news!

This time next week...

I should have a bouncing baby boy in my arms!

It's been an eventful week, with several false alarms, including a trip to the OB to see if my water had broken this afternoon (it hadn't).

Tomorrow morning I get to meet the doctor who will doing my induction next week if I make it that far. As luck would have it they scheduled me with the one doctor I haven't actually met yet as she only just returned from maternity leave! At least that means she should have a little extra sympathy for me...

May 6th is the big day!

Today I met with my doctor who has scheduled me to be induced on May 6th, so if the cheese monster doesn't come before then that will be the the big day!

Reality is certainly starting to kick in as I realise that this is less than 2 weeks away! But I'm excited and looking forward to meeting him and having him around to watch me eat all that chocolate. And pizza. And ice-cream.

Holy Big Baby!

Today we went to get an ultrasound to check on the 'little' guy's growth. Wowee! He is measuring in at 40 weeks already, and a whopping 7lbs 9oz! Caitlin only weighed 8lbs 4oz when she was born 5 weeks later than this, so I am a little terrified!

I'm hoping he is still going to come of his own accord in the coming week, but if he doesn't then I'm definitely going to ask to be induced.

Stay tuned!

The home stretch?

As I head towards 37 weeks and being officially full-term, it's getting interesting around here!

Erin and Sonia came to visit on Wednesday which was great, but as I laid in bed that night there were quite a few contractions. Then yesterday I had quite a lot more, to the point where I thought today might actually be the day. Sadly I woke up this morning feeling very tired, but a lot further away from delivery. I had been sure yesterday that he had dropped into position, but today I think he's floated back up. Just as I think he's ready, he changes his mind!

Well I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow so we'll see if all the contractions have actually been doing anything. I have a very strong feeling that it's going to be a long wait but a girl can dream!

Busted!

Today my OB's office called me while I was out at Walgreens picking up Kiki's prescription. And I'm supposed to be on bed rest...

This week has gone better, I had some contractions on Wednesday night but nothing a few gallons of water and a lot of rest couldn't fix. I had my weekly appointment at (ouch) 7.10 this morning, all good news, I even lost half a pound since last week!

I will be having one last ultrasound to check growth at 37 weeks (3 weeks time) so there should hopefully be more pictures, although I'm hoping that he'll be so big by then that they'll induce me. Fingers crossed anyway!

In the meantime, I got my cord blood donation kit today and I have filled out all the paperwork and put it all in my bag already. Feeling very proud of myself on that one.

Bed rest sucks!

Last Friday my wonderful former colleagues threw me a surprise shower lunch, it was really great to see them all and they brought me such wonderful gifts - and a cake I couldn't eat!

But in true ABN tradition, that evening the contractions started back up. They weren't painful, just uncomfortable. I was actually at a childbirth class and it was the nurse that had me wondering if it was something to worry about!

By Saturday morning they weren't really going away so I headed off to my weekly doctor appointment, at which point they sent me to the hospital for closer monitoring. 4 hours and a couple magic pills later and I was all better. He's not showing any other signs of wanting to be born yet so they think it's just a matter of bed rest and keeping hydrated for the next few weeks.

It looks like we might be having an April birthday anyway. Which may mean my plan of buying only larger clothes for my bound to be late baby might backfire, but we'll see!

In the meantime I'm now off work permanently, and hanging out at home with my trusty tivo and my cute new netbook. So hopefully I'll make more of an effort to post more often!

Foods that will be welcomed by any and all visitors!

I am creating a list of foods I can't wait to eat in 8 weeks time!

Let's start with the obvious - sugar. I am looking forward to making up for lost time in Cadbury's Creme Eggs and Nestle Mini Eggs, and a brownie had better be waiting for me in that post-partum room or I will be angry!

I'm also looking forward to eating a giant bowl of pasta with marinara sauce. A lot of pasta and a lot of sauce. Covered in parmesan.

And a big ol' plate of sushi. The tuna kind. The raw tuna kind.

Beer. Heineken. Cold.

Ice-cream.

Fruit.

Mmmmmmmmmm.......................................

Close - but no cigar - yet!

So a little update with what I've been having fun with over the last few weeks...

Gestational diabetes - I wouldn't wish this on anyone. It's like Weight Watchers, except if you cheat everyone is going to tell you it will hurt the baby. And I'm pretty sure most of us know what telling someone they can't have something does for how much they want that thing!

So far I've been controlling it fairly well, there have been a few times when my blood sugar spiked and one or two low readings, but generally these were because I couldn't stick to my planned diet - work lunch, train delay etc.

I haven't really gained any weight in the last 4 weeks and I had been packing it on before then, so at least I can console myself with that.

The other complications - let's just say that if I am not posting about this online then you know it must be something pretty embarassing! But suffice to say combined with the GD, I am not having a fun time.

And then - it happened.

I was at work on Wednesday, busy cursing away at the incompetents that came before me, when I got a little contraction. 10 minutes later, another. Then, 10 minutes later, another. It got to about 90 minutes of this and I called John. Then I called the OB. John came all the way downtown to pick me up from work, we raced up to the OB's office, they hooked me up to all the bingy machines, and then - they stopped.

They tested me for a substance called fetal fibronectin which is only present in the 1-2 weeks before the baby decides they will show up, so luckily this came back negative. No BBL for at least another 10-14 days.

I have been bedrested ever since, luckily since the above-mentioned test came back negative I could stay home rather than have to be admitted. I am cleared to go back to work on Monday but I am very nervous. So I will be taking it even easier than I thought possible between now and then, and taking my sweet ol' time to make it in on Monday morning.

If it happens again before my planned last day of work on March 31st I'll be put on disability which means no more work, which sounds nice but I'd rather not have any more contractions thanks! So we'll see if I make it to 3/31. Here's hoping.

The whole thing made me realise how not ready I am to push this little fella out yet. I need more time to mentally prepare myself! So I've been busy with the Lamaze DVDs and my hospital bag is now fully packed.

Let's hope there are plenty more weeks until I need it!

32 years of chocolate has finally caught up to me...

So it happened. I have been hit with the gestational diabetes diagnosis. You cannot imagine how hard it is for me to not eat sugar! I swear my veins are filled with Cadburys Dairy Milk!

Worst of all is that I have been happily munching away for the last 3 weeks because my damn ob didn't bother to call me when my original test came back super high. It was while I went in for an emergency appointment for something else that the alternative ob happened to notice it on my file. Grr! And I'm paying how much for this?!

So I have to visit the diabetes doctors on Tuesday next week. I love that it's so serious that they rush the results out by the next day but you have to wait a week to get educated on how to manage it!

Do you think I can register for Cadbury's Dairy Milk?

I'm about ready to open my own baby store...

There's a corner of our living room that has slowly turned into the newest Babies R Us location. We have now got a stroller, bouncy chair, baby bath, two Baby Bjorns, a breast pump, sterilizer and set of bottles, as well as the rapidly filling drawer of clothes. It's starting to get a little crowded!

The only big things left on the list are the car-seat, pack and play and the monitor. Oh, and the cloth diapers.

Yes people I am going to attempt the impossible and cloth diaper. I recently learnt about the gDiaper hybrid cloth diaper system, which basically consists of a cloth outer pant and an insert either made of cloth or flushable materials that you basically change out of the pant each time you change the diaper. You can check them out at www.gdiapers.com, how cute?! I plan to use the cloth inserts at home, and the disposable/flushable inserts when out and about. And in case you are wondering where the poop goes, I'm going to use flushable liners in the diapers to contain it ready for flushing away.

Ok I know this might seem like I have lost my mind, but I think it sounds reasonably easy, and at less than $100 to get started it's a huge cost saving over disposable diapers. And I do feel just that little bit more environmentally friendly too! I'm planning to pick up my first starter pack to investigate tomorrow so I will be reporting back on how they look and feel shortly. Although I'm hoping it will still be another 14-16 weeks before I can update you on how they're working out!

24.5 week update

Today I had my 24.5 week appointment. Chunky Monkey is apparently measuring 2 full weeks ahead of where he is supposed to, which probably explains the 12lbs I have gained in the last 4 weeks!

Unfortunately since I am starving like Marvin pretty much 24/7, I don't see this changing anytime soon...I guess he really is going to take after his dad!

I also had my glucose test which I am hoping will not indicate gestational diabetes although it would make sense with the big old baby and the endless hunger I guess. Ugh. We'll see!

The ob also told me that I won't be going as late as I did with Kiki which was only 10 days, but I guess he has a golf game or something he needs to schedule...

T minus 4 months...

I was going to do steal Erin's line and do a state of the bump address but that's kind of cheating!

Today I am exactly 4 months away from the big day. It's a little scary! Twice in the last two days, I've had people be surprised to hear I am only so many months along so I guess I must be getting big. I certainly feel like I am suddenly a lot larger, not helped by the 5lbs I have gained since Christmas Eve. I'm starting to feel tired again, and I'm hungry all the time!

And then there is the after-lunch ice-cream craving...now that sounds awfully familiar!

Oops - 21 weeks and I've gotten lazy!

Yesterday was 21 weeks for baby boy Longworth. We celebrated with an anatomy scan at the hospital, and a trip to the city.

The scan went well, he is measuring 2 days ahead so is now due on our wedding anniversary, May 11th. Of course we all know you can take these things with a huge pinch of salt, so nobody needs to mark their calendars!

Unfortunately since we were at the hospital they were more about the medical images and less about the cute, so we don't have any great photos to share. I do think he looks a bit like his daddy on them but that might be because he looks grumpy!

Anyway, a happy new year to all, and stay tuned for week 22 news!