Introducing...

Emilie Helen! I apologize in advance for the delay in getting this posted, but let me start out by saying that this parenting business is HARD! I had about a million and one other things going on, especially the first two weeks she was with us.

Emilie Helen was born Sunday March 6th, 2011 at 2:34pm after a 22 hour induction. Emilie was born with a quite prominent heart murmur as well so our release from the hospital was delayed so we could have some further tests done, and then a follow-up appointment booked with a Pediatrician. She still has the murmur, although it has improved, so has to have further testing done to rule out anything serious.

I have so much to post, but this will all have to wait. Emilie is currently sleeping, and it was a long night, so I'm going to try and catch a few minutes sleep while I can. I won't leave before posting a few pictures for you all though.

Our first moments together.

Our little girl. 7lbs, 9ozs. And more than a little swollen from her journey.

Me with two of the most wonderful support people a person could ask for; my mom and my husband Andre.

Our little angel, just one day old.

Week #38

Otherwise known as the last week of my pregnancy! The week began as any other with the first of many appointments. First off that week was an appointment with my midwife. Everything was good. I was measuring slightly ahead of schedule, but not too much, and my blood pressure was good and I was feeling good. The midwife did a stretch and sweep to try and get things going (it didn't) in an effort to try and avoid an induction.

My second appointment was with the OB later on that week on Wednesday. We talked some more about how I was doing and it was decided that since Peanut was looking like she could be 8lbs or more, and since my Gestational Diabetes was going a little crazy again, it was best that I be induced. The big day was booked...March 5th, that very Saturday. For those of you that know me well, that was also my birthday, and more importantly the day my OB was on call.

Since my birthday plans were now cancelled we decided to celebrate a day early. So on Friday we had my mother and grandmother over for a nice dinner, then had the rest of the family over for some birthday cake. The only person who wasn't there was my dad, since he was working an afternoon shift at work that week so he was working. We had a great time, and made sure to snap my last belly shot ever.

Week #36!

Otherwise known as "HOLY CRAP THIS IS REALLY GOING TO HAPPEN!!"



First off we'll start with how big our little peanut really is:

So from their estimations Peanut is weighing a little more than the "average" fetus. We had another growth ultrasound on the 3rd of February and according to the tech our Peanut weighed in at a whopping 5lbs, 12ozs already. This may sound huge to some, but with the average weight gain for the baby at approx 0.5lbs/week for the rest of the pregnancy she will probably still be under 9lbs at birth, which is completely average, and awesome for a Gestational Diabetes Baby.

According to thebump.com, at 36 weeks Peanuts circulatory and immune systems are good to go. Her skin is getting smooth and soft, and her gums are rigid. The only thing we're waiting on right now are her little lungs. They are the only organs that are still maturing.

Peanut and I have a deal going that even though we're ready for her arrival, and cannot wait to meet our little girl, that she's not allowed to come until she can breathe all on her own!

Everything continues to be going really well pregnancy-wise. My sugars continue to be monitored closely every other week at the local Gestational Diabetes Clinic. I feel the odd pain in my low back, pelvis and groin, but that's been behaving the last week or so, so I've actually been feeling really good. Peanut continues to move inside like a little monkey. She's even at the point where if she feels like it she'll even respond when Andre and I talk to her, by giving us a little roll or kick. I've learned that Peanut has a stubborn streak, and will do things only on her terms. She also has hiccups daily which always make me smile since before getting pregnant, I was the one getting hiccups all the time.

For all of you out there waiting for a bump shot, here you go! This was taken at 35 weeks after getting home from my baby shower.

Happy New Year from Peanut!

This was our early Christmas present this year, another ultrasound! The one advantage to having Gestational Diabetes are the extra growth ultrasounds. We fell in love with our little Peanut even more after this ultrasound. She's fattened up so much since the 20wk ultrasound, and she is looking even more and more cute if I do say so myself! The final result of the ultrasound is that our little Peanut is right smack dab between the 50th and 95th percentile for growth, after asking my midwife some questions I found out that this means that she is perfectly NORMAL. This is a huge sigh of relief. So as of right now my GD has not caused our sweet little Peanut to be a huge baby. Let's hope she stays that way!




So since we know that Peanut is perfectly average sized right now, and I am 30 weeks (!!!!!) pregnant. Peanut is now the size of a squash!

It's hard to believe that I have a little tiny human growing inside of me that could potentially weigh just over 3 pounds! Craziness I tell you. She's moving around like crazy now, especially first thing in the morning when Andre and I eat breakfast together, and then again later at night when I'm relaxing after Andre has gone to bed. Last night I even felt what was unmistakably either a foot or a knee. What I do know for sure is that it was sharp and hard!

Otherwise I have been feeling really good. The odd ache and pain in my hips and low back. Some swelling in my ankles, but I am on my feet most of the day at work, so that's unavoidable. The belly is steadily getting bigger, and about three weeks ago I really started to feel pregnant, especially when getting into bed at night, I joke with Andre I need a crane! To give you an idea of how I look now here is a self-portrait I took of myself in Peanuts room. Don't get too excited though, we haven't started to decorate, so it's just a yellow room.

So without further ado I will end this blog entry with a picture of the the belly (and me) at 30 weeks:

Week #25

Almost two thirds of the way to the finish line!! Whoo Hooo! The good news is that I'm still feeling pretty darn good. I'm not feeling anymore sickness for the most part, aside from a random bit of nausea here and there. I'm not super tired, and for the most part I can still do everything that I did before, which is nice!


Everyone keeps asking about crazy cravings, and I haven't really had any honestly. This I'm thankful for as I have developed Gestational Diabetes, which has worsened to Insulin Dependent Diabetes in Pregnancy, and have to watch what I eat fairly closely. It's amazing all the food I'm expected to eat during the day, and mostly just have to watch the amount of carbohydrates that I eat. This means very little of my beloved chocolate is allowed. I have found that occasionally I can eat a regular dessert with no consequences to my sugar levels, so this is a nice bonus here and there.


I also had my first odd comment just this past Friday. Andre and I were at his work Christmas dinner/dance, and one of his co-workers asked me if I was carrying triplets because I was so big! I just laughed and reassured her that there was only one baby in there. It was an odd comment especially since I'm told multiple times a week that I'm carrying small.


Now onto Peanut!


Peanut has now grown to be the size of...

An Eggplant!!

She is now just over 1 1/2 pounds in weight! She is definitely a mover and a shaker (just like her Daddy!) and her equilibrium has kicked in as well, and she's starting to figure out right side up from upside down! This is definitely true in her case as I feel her starting to roll and flip a lot more. I can differentiate from her kicks and the more fluid rolling movements that she does during the day. The best part is that now her kicks are stronger so I can share the fun with family and friends that want to feel the movements too.

Week #24!

And an entire month since I last blogged about little Peanuts progress! In my defense there has been a ton of stuff going on around here, so I hope you're ready for today!


Up until now there has been so much development going on with our little peanut that every week she has grown so much that there is a new piece of produce to represent her size. Now that growth has slowed down a little bit, it will be one piece of produce a month. So for this month (month 5 according to http://www.thebump.com/ and month 6 according to What to Expect When You're Expecting) Peanut is approximately the size of a Papaya!

If you were to actually get a really good look at Peanut she would look like a perfect little baby already, a small baby, but a perfect little baby. Her skin is slowly becoming less see-through thanks to all that baby fat forming, and little capillaries (blood vessels) are forming giving her a nice pink colour.

I've actually been incredibly blessed by how good I've been feeling so far this pregnancy. I've actually found that I'm feeling just like my old self for the most part. The only negative is that I have been diagnosed with Insulin Dependent Diabetes in Pregnancy. Not exactly something that was part of my overall plan, but something that I have to deal with. I am being closely monitored at the Gestational Diabetes Clinic at the hospital where I am delivering, and meet with a Registered Dietitian every other week. The diet isn't horrible, and aside from the first week of carb withdrawl I am feeling really good. Thankfully I do not have any problems with needles, so the Insulin injections are going well so far.

I am being referred now to an Obstetrician (OB) since with the addition of Insulin I can no longer be treated by my Midwife. Although until I can get an appointment with an OB she will continue to be my primary caregiver, and will continue to stay on in a supportive role once I am transferred to the OB as well.

In good news though, there has been some definite movement over the last month! I am feeling Peanut moving daily, and just this weekend Andre and my mom got to feel her kick for the first time too! That was a wonderful thing to be able to share that with them.

The countdown is also on until my next ultrasound the week before Christmas! With Gestational Diabetes there is a risk of Peanut being a bigger baby, so I will be getting a few more ultrasounds to monitor her progress and make sure she stays a nice healthy size. They say there is a silver lining with everything right? Well I think the extra ultrasounds are the silver lining in this situation. Who could ask for a better early Christmas present then to see our little girl again?

The Big Reveal Part 2

I was going through pictures on our camera the other day, and totally realized that I hadn't watched the video from the morning we found out our little Peanut was a girl! So there I was reliving the moment in our livingroom, crying just as I did that morning. So I decided to do something for all of you friends and family out there, and share that moment with all of you.

It was an absolutely beautiful day that day, and here are a couple pictures that we shot before we realized that were were freezing our butts off and booted it back to the car.

The same place that Andre proposed!