For Your Amusement

Only Canadian kids could possibly be THIS bored.

Okay, Seriously...

....WHERE is the OFF BUTTON on this Thing?!?!?!?!?

Last night was HORRIBLE! We fed at 11:30, she was up at midnight. Then we fed three more times and walked and rocked and nothing. Wide awake was she. At 4am, she finally decided to sleep. A bit.

Exhausted really does not begin to describe this, but you know me - there's a funny moment in there somewhere, so, may I present "Midnight: A Conversation":

Husband to Little Sasquatch, Little Octopus, or the Super Pooper (we're tossing around ideas here): Hey You, it's time for bed. Are you all ready for sleep?

LS, LO, or SP responds with a sigh and holds up one hand with her index finger pointing, followed by the loudest excrement-producing sound imaginable.

Bren (laughing like an idiot and actually slapping her knee): Hah! That was great! Is there an onomatopoeia for that?

Evil look from Husband.

Bren: No really, how would you spell that sound?

The Next 007

So without going into too much detail, here’s the scoop. My water broke at 3:30 on Saturday (today is the actual due date you’ll notice). I was feeling just fine so we finished setting up the nursery and ate a piece of our rhubarb pie (look, I'm Menno and it was fresh out of the oven). We left for the hospital just after 5 and that's when the first contraction started. I had only been at 2 1/2 cm on Friday afternoon and by 7pm on Saturday I was at 6. By 9, I was at 9 1/2, so I pushed for an hour (So in explanation of the post title: It. Is. HELL. And I am convinced I have now endured enough screaming and torture to at least audition to be the next 007 - oi vey! Seriously, I think the whole block probably heard me – at one point we figured maybe I was scaring her and that’s why through about six contractions, only half her head was out…) and then there she was.

Now here’s the funny story: on Friday at the clinic, we saw Laura & Aaron, the couple from our childbirth ed class who were due exactly a week after us. Laura said the doctor told her if she didn't go into labour on Friday night, she should come in first thing Saturday morning and they would get things started. (I think I posted about that already and yes, I was jealous.) So on Saturday morning, I made them a congratulations card and we were going to just leave it on the windshield of their car. Nope. Our delivery nurse gave it to them instead - they were right across the hall in the birthing wing. :) They ended up having a girl too, so our girls were mere ounces apart, a quarter of an inch apart, and about two hours and technically one date apart and got to be nursery-mates for a couple days. Very fun.

And without further adieu, here she is:

Anja Helena Leanne J.
18 June 07
10:02pm
7lbs, 19 1/4 inches

Oh, and here's the name explanation:

Anja - It's Russian and it means gracious and merciful.
Helena - After Bren's Grama. (Greek for 'light')
Leanne - after five of the most incredible women I know because,
conveniently enough, you all have either Leigh or Anne or Leanne as a middle name.
So, Chandra Anne, Tamra Leanne, Kara Anne, Erin Leigh, and Lindsay E. Anne - thank you for the role you've played in shaping me into the woman I am (and I mean that in the least cliched way possible)!
I love you!

And can I just say: she has the best Dad EVER.

A Funny Thing Just Happened....

So, um, yeah....my water just broke. Thought I should let you all know.

Very ironic since about a week ago I told Husband: 'You just wait. We'll just get the crib set up and she'll come.'

We just finished the crib before lunch.

And I just pulled my rhubarb pie out of the oven. (Don't worry, I called the Midwife and she said I could have a piece before I go to the hospital!)

Look Fast!

These might just self-destruct in 24 hours so catch 'em while you can....

Today's appointment showed hardly any change from last week; only minimal progression. On the plus-side (for somebody else!), one of the girls from our childbirth ed class who WAS due exactly a week after me, gets to have her baby tomorrow if it doesn't come tonight. *sigh*

Seriously though: GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!!!!!
(So do I look like how you pictured me?)

In Case You're Still Wondering

Yeah, in case there's anybody out there still checking my blog for new posts....my apologies for being such a slacker. I have been feeling quite rotten the last couple weeks and have just not felt like posting anything since it would all be complaints anyway.

The kid is still where she's been for the past nine months. I know she doesn't fit, she must know she doesn't fit, but young brains obviously can't put 2 and 2 together yet. In the meantime, her nursery is almost finished. Husband has a wee bit of painting left on the dresser and then we can move in the carpet and the rest of the furniture.

We went for a baby shopping trip today. We thought since we're down to 6 days (!!!), we should commence with buying all the wipes and creams and pads, etc that we might need in the next little while, along with a good supply of shampoo and toilet paper. We also bought our very first diaper pail. Oh boy! Talk. About. Excitement. (Seriously though, it's a great colour. If I was feeling ambitious, I'd even post a picture for you. But I'm not.)

In other news, we're house/cat-watching for one of Husband's coworkers. After a 2-3 day absence, her cat, which she assured us would come back in the evening if let out for the day, FINALLY came back late last night. And one of our cats who was lost in our own house since yesterday afternoon was finally discovered this morning. Husband figured if she could've been crossing her legs doing a potty-dance she would've been. She headed straight for the cat box when she was released.

Really though, if we can lose one of our own cats in our own house, what does this bode for our future children???

You Had to Know This Was Coming

A friend recently commented that she couldn't believe I hadn't been complaining more about my pregnancy on my blog. Well, the time has come: I'm nauseous, tired, sore, and so DONE with this business of baby-growing and if in the next few weeks (yes, I said few - know why? Because last Friday, the Midwife told me it'll be "at least another four weeks." FOUR FREAKING WEEKS!) you find my blog riddled with various gestational complaints, be ye not surprised. It doesn't mean there isn't other stuff going on in our lives, it just means I'm unable to focus on anything else. Argh!

Some moms-to-be write wee letters to their impending arrivals, expressing their love and excitement and all sorts of other sap. I have chosen to include mine here:

An Open Note to the Mystery Baby:

For 8 months and 2 weeks now, you have been nestled in the abyss that is my uterus. Whilst you have been busy growing (hopefully) copious amounts of brown hair and (hopefully) blue eyes, along with developing several weird idiosyncrasies and personality traits (undoubtedly inherited from your father), it has become exceedingly apparent that you are running out of room. So don't take this the wrong way because we like you and all, but

GET. OUT. NOW.

Sincerely with love,
Mum & Dad

A Conversation

This is a conversation that occurred between me and Husband last night (needless to say, rather close to bedtime):

Bren: Um, what are you doing? Why are you smelling my pant-leg?

Husband: Because it smells good.

Bren (thinking it's probably because it smells like nice clean laundry): What does it smell like?

Husband: I can't quite place it. Something from a birthday party a long time ago. Maybe when I was 10.

Bren: Stop smelling my pants.

Husband: But they smell good.

Bren: I'm blogging about this.

Husband: Fine. *sniff, sniff*