on the storm front

woke up to freezing rain pounding on the window
which mixed with the snow might make a fun walk for me today to get more tests done
i tell you
in the past several months i think i have had more appointments, blood work, and other tests than in the past decade!
and still another ultrasound to come
the first one i couldn't even focus on as my bladder was feeling full enough to burst
i just kept focussing on not peeing
so thankfully steve was there to report what happened as i went into a meditative state to distract myself from the discomfort of a full bladder at the end of my first trimester

but the bloodwork is always interesting
i am not afraid of needles in any way...i watch the blood seep out as it is drawn into those tiny vials
but i have deep rooted veins that hide from the surface
so the needle insertion can be a bit painful
i had a student midwife fumble around under the tutelage of my midwife
and she left a bit of a track marked look on my arm
when she missed a 4th time the midwife was like ok that's it enough chances for you
and plunged into the vein and filled the 4 tubes in no time

plus finding out i actually have a rare, negative blood type when i thought i had a common one

the things you learn

so i am off to brace myself against the storm and get some more blood sucked out this morning

now that i am in my third trimester...

...thought i should post a pic of what i look like today at 28wks and 2 days pregnant

fun with names

have already picked out the name for the baby boy but i enjoyed this name site as it has history, popularity, namesakes, etc. kind of fun actually

http://www.behindthename.com/

and now a few afters

we lost some our upstairs den space with the new bathroom. but in the den the window was replaced with a french door and in the bathroom a bizarre rusted door was replaced with a much smaller window. the pictures don't really give the whole story. the bathroom is tiled all the way around to 4ft high, usual sort of whirpool bath and raindrop shower head and then cherry vanity with a plain porcelain sink. simple, and tried to keep the feeling of late victorian/early edwardian with the tiling. i like it, it fits this old house. and it is nice to house our extensive native art collection throughout.
and some of the chair railing that has been done in all of the hallways up and down stairs.

before and after photo time!

ok...it has been a while since our first set of renos were done so thought it was time to put in a few before shots and next blog some afters...oh and a photo of roisin from december

so the photos are the downstairs and upstairs bathrooms and the kitchen before...thank god for living in between chinatown and little italy - lots of cheap, and good food for the 2 months we didn't have a kitchen.

oh and the renos to the upstairs bathroom were while i was the 1st trimester peeing queen so for days i had to trek downstairs several times a night - depends were looking really good let me tell you.

there was a lot to clear...a lot demolished...a lot of dust...but it is done

joys of pregnancy

just back from the trip late last night
hence no blogs for the past several weeks
don't even want to talk about how nice it was to get away
so
now that i have been pregnant for half a year
suppose i have been reflecting on it
and what i have discovered about myself

i have an incredible capacity for paranoia - incessant worrying - piling stress on myself as if every pang and twitch is laden with doom

i hate dreams - at least the ones i have had since this pregnancy began - vivid, lucid, stress-infused dreams

i don't sleep well - even though i am tired a lot, my capacity for sleep has not increased so i am sort of moving about in a fog of lethargy most of the time

i am more forgiving of myself than i thought - i see a few veins popping and a little stretchmark or two and that is life, i am not fretting about it

i miss a great glass of port - enough said...may can't come sooner...can it?

i enjoy spending time on my own - i think this is more responding to the impending change about to hit me in a few months

i miss my friends and family - it is nice having a few good friends, and my brother here, but it just isn't the same as the people you grew up with

i am not a big fan of being pregnant - some women revel in it, i think i am just more about it being the means to an end. i am not "enjoying" it i guess as i should be, i think the joy will be present when i get to meet this little boy and man can he kick...a lot...at any time of the day or night