body pillow plans, yoga flop, belly & project updates

I think I need a body pillow. The multiple pillow arrangement I have been using is not quite cutting it. Plus I wake up Hubby every time I roll over and rearrange myself. I'll be trudging over to the ever crowded Dufferin Mall later today to check out what they have at Babies 'r Us. Sans Hubby. He loathes the Duff Mall, especially on weekends. Going solo is okay with me, as it will give me time to browse cutesy baby things on my own.

I'll also try to find a basket type thing to bungie to the back of my bike, as I am getting tired of lugging around bags on my body while I am riding. Yes, I am still riding when weather permits! So, in the last two weeks that hasn't been often. I did use the bike to jaunt over to my pre-natal yoga class yesterday.

That class was a flop. I've been once before.(I also try to catch a Monday night hatha yoga class that is easily adaptable for pregnant moi). I arrived yesterday all psyched for some preggo talk and good stretching, only to find that there is a substitute teacher. 'No problem', I think. I arrange my mat and make small talk with the sub. She asks me about my yoga experience and she tells me she does Kundalini yoga. Means nothing to me. She says it involves a lot of breath work.

No other students arrive. Hmmmm... great! A personalized class! We begin.

I realize almost immediately that this Kundalini thing might be too woo-woo for me. Extra chanting at the beginning and she tells me there will be a song at the end. A song! Uh-oh! I can't sing! And, excuse me, what happened to a little check-in talk about how my body feels and what I'd like to focus on in class?! No check-in. No pregnancy chit-chat and tips. I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this 'pre-natal' class with the 'non-natal' sub.

As the class progresses, I uncomfortably discover that Kundalini yoga is ALL about breathing and has very little to do with good stretching for pregnant bodies. Sub Teacher leads me in a few limited stretches that she does not adapt for my pregnant belly. I adapt them myself. We sit in a so-called Easy Position for most of the class. My left foot falls asleep and starts to ache at the ankle. My ass starts to hurt more than its usual pregnant stiff hurt. I eventually give up on 'easy position'. I tried not to hyperventilate with all the short, fast nostril breathing.

I almost lost it when we got to the block-a-nostril-and-breathe-quickly-through-the-other-nostril exercise. My allergy irritated sinuses did not cooperate. I imagine that Sub Teacher could sense my frustration because she then launched into the Patience Pose. Sit in 'easy position' with arms lifted straight out to the sides at shoulder height, palms up. Flex your middle finger up and down quickly. Breathe in and out synchronized with finger flexing. Do this for 3 minutes. Try not hyperventilate or faint. Be patient. Patience Pose will end eventually.

Be patient again while singing begins and goes on and on.

Look forward to Hatha Yoga on Monday night for a corrective experience.

Here's updated belly photos for week 23:




These don't look much different than week 15 or 18 pics, but in real life it sure looks bigger. My uterus has grown beyond my belly button already.

I am working on finishing up a couple of baby crochet projects, but no photos yet. I'm thinking of a summer cutesy dress for our Babe to wear next summer. I'm also going to start a summer shrug for myself. In a week I leave for a cottage with my sewing machine in tow - baby curtains will be made under the watchful eye of experienced sewing friend, T!

Here's a photo of the beginnings of my second knit project. (I still can't reveal a photo of the first completed top secret knit project, as it has not be delivered to my friend yet).

long awaited vacation report

View my SF vacation report here. Sorry for the delay!

Nuclear pregnant meltdown

It was ugly. After another challenging morning at a community appointment, I arrived back at the office completely drained, hungry, achy, and emotional. Nuclear pregnant meltdown followed within 45 minutes. Thank goodness I work with super supportive social worker types. All women. All much more aware of my limits as a Mom-to-be than I am.

After a drive home, an epsom salts bath, a long nap, and a nutritious meal, I feel better.

Lesson learned. My expectations of myself have to change.

It has been hard for me not being able to do everything I used to be able to do. It took me two weeks to get the baby's room painted. After planting my flower bed the other weekend, I could barely do anything else. Walking to work (4km) is taking almost an hour now and is exhausting.

I'm still riding my bike (easier and faster than walking) and hope to hang on to that as long as possible.

Kids in the Hall

Hubby and I got comp tickets to the last Kids in the Hall show in Toronto this week; the last show of their eight week North American tour. We saw their warm up show last summer in Montreal at the Comedy Festival. The Toronto show had a couple of new skits and was unique if only because Kevin McDonald had practically lost his voice. The Kids did a lot of cracking up on stage about that.

Because Mark McKinney is working with Hubby on his show, we got passes to the after-party! Here are some shots:

Hubby and good friends, C & S, enjoying the party!


Me with Dave Foley!


All of us with Mark...


The girls with Mark!


Before the show we ate at Harlem on Richmond. Wonderful! We will go back on a night when we aren't rushing to get to Massey Hall. It was a great night out! I didn't get to bed until close to midnight! That is WAAAAY this past pregnant woman's bedtime!

Amateur green thumb

When we bought our house last Winter we knew the yard would need work. When Spring arrived I felt beaten down by the jungle of weeds and overgrowth that appeared back there. I did a bit of research online and decided to solarize the entire yard to kill the jungle. I covered all the growth with sheets of heavy black plastic that I found in the roofing aisle of Rona.

Here's a picture from this Spring. The plastic is still there covered up by the leaves.



Here's a shot looking towards the back of the house. Not so pretty.



Last summer we met with a landscaper and told her our dream for the yard. She drew up some plans and quoted us a price. We postponed the project. Since Hubby had a great year with his show, we booked our landscaper for her first outdoor spot this season. While we waited for the date to arrive, Hubby entered us into a Home Depot contest for a new back yard. The winner hasn't been announced yet.

Here is the result of our landscaper and her crew's hard work. That's Lynn, our landscaper, in the first two shots:






We picked up the great teak patio furniture off of Kijiji! It rocks!

So, here's what I did today:





Me working on the shade garden. Check out the milk jugs and belly!





The shade garden:



The sun garden:



It's my first garden! I've given myself permission to make mistakes this year. I figure it can only improve as I learn. I read some bits of a few books tnat I took out of the library and prepared a list of shade and sun plants before we went to the local garden centre. Thanks to Hubby for helping with the selections.

After two hours of bending, digging, watering and cleaning up (I missed my pre-natal yoga class) I was exhausted! My shower felt great!

Soccer kicks!

This isn't the clearest of ultrasound photos, but maybe you can make out the head on the right. There's an ear, a little dent that's an eye above a cheek curve and you can see a little hand tucked under her chin at the top centre of the photo. See the little fingers sticking up?!

That's right! Her! A girl! GIRL POWER! I truly felt that we were having a boy, but during week 17 I had a dream of a baby girl. The dreams don't lie.

Just this past Thursday I started to feel real poking and kicking in my belly. I think she's at soccer practice. Hubby was even able to feel one of her goals! Up until today, she's been active just at bedtime, but even as I write this entry she's flip flopping around and getting cozy.

I've painted the trim in her room and we started and finished the feature wall today (Antique Map, a nice light blue with a hint of green). I can't do as many things in one day as I used to be able to, so getting the whole room painted has taken a lot longer than usual.

I hope to get some light green curtains sewn up during my cottage retreat week in early July. Thanks in advance to friend T for her expert sewing tips.

Well, it is the time of night that I retire to couch to rest my ribs.