Yesterday, we had our first appointment with our new midwives, the KW ones, and met our primary midwife, Carole. She's great, the office is great, everyone is friendly, and it's very similar to the Mississauga midwife practice (do-it-yourself weight and urine tests, homey atmosphere, etc). Miriam and Josh came too since we were all in KW for the day, and Miriam enjoyed cuddling the rubber fetus models. She wanted to take the biggest one home! The baby's heart rate was a nice 145, everything is growing on track, the baby was active, my weight is 137 lbs, and my blood pressure is perfect.
At one point, Carole asked Miriam "is it a boy or a girl in mama's tummy?", and Miriam, sitting on the couch with Josh reading a book, looked at Carole with a very serious face and answered without hesitation "boy". At that reply, Carole said she's now certain that the baby is indeed a boy, since based on her experience (+10 years), young children are rarely wrong at "predicting" the baby's sex. She's done some anecdotal studies about this phenomenon, and it amazes her how accurate the predictions are, almost like young kids have some sort of mysterious intuition. She said "if this baby is not a boy, I'll eat my hat!". Josh, ever the skeptic, joked that we should ask his parents' dog Trax, to predict the sex as well, since animals are said to be intuitive as well! It will be interesting to see if Miriam's prediction is right (50% chance, I guess!).
After the appointment, we spent the day at the new house, Josh doing yard work and some renovations in the basement, Miriam chasing butterflies in the yard with glee, "helping" Josh to water the new plants, and digging for grubs, and me, sitting on the deck steps trying to be comfortable, filling out paperwork for the midwives, and counting the hours until the evening when we had our hospital tour scheduled.
The three of us then went to the hospital tour, and it was neat to be back at GRH. Not much has changed, and even the same people still work at Tim Horton's that I remember from last year. We were one of about six couples (the only ones not having their first!), and one of two using midwives instead of OBs. The birthing unit is beautiful, new, updated, all private LBP rooms, huge and comfy, with private bathrooms each with jacuzzi tubs, couches for sleep-overs, a fully-stocked kitchen, a new family waiting room (which is thankfully not too close to the birth room, to prevent ecstatic grandma sneak-ins), and enough room to actually walk around in, instead of being forced to wander the halls while in labour. I AM SO EXCITED! I wanted to check in immediately, and to spend the rest of the pregnancy there! Of course, we'll probably not use the majority of the amenities, like the robust meals, or the endless snacks in the kitchen, since we'll likely get out about four hours after the birth, but we'll be sure to take advantage before the baby is born. So compared to Trillium, where Miriam was born, GRH is a five star resort!
Other news:
I've tested my blood sugar three times at work so far, both before and after meals, since I'm skipping the glucose tolerance screening and testing that pregnant women get offered. My CBGs have been 5.0, 6.1, and 4.9 (that was after two mini cupcakes, too!). So it's safe to say I don't have gestational diabetes, happily.
I was in baby-mode this weekend, and purchased a sweet coming-home outfit for the baby. It's pale green, with big colourful dots all over it. I also got a few green onesies. We have enough blankets and hats, and last week, Josh bought the car seat and got it installed, so we're almost all ready! I also unpacked all the baby clothes and diapers and blankets into the new dresser/change table combo we got from my mom's friend at work.
I also went to a bead store and bought a bag of beads for my due date club bead swap. It's through my online due date club, and the way it works is that all the members (there are 28 of us) buy 28 beads, which we send to a central person with a self-addressed envelope, who then distributes all the beads so that each person gets one bead from each other person, along with a positive and inspirational message. When you get your set of beads, you make a necklace/chain to be used as a sort of souvenir from this pregnancy. Some people also use them during labour, as focus points, or as nursing necklaces. I've never done it before, but bead swaps have been going on as long as due date clubs have existed, and each month does their own. It sounds like such a fun idea! I love the community, connection, inspiration, and knowledge that there are a bunch of us going through this together. We have to mail our beads out by the end of April, and I can't wait to see the lovely beads I'll get back. I'll have to post a picture of my finished necklace when it's done, which might look something like this:
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