Introducing Ella

Yay! We did it.

Elizabeth (Ella) Marie Rose Treschak was born on Wednesday, October 3rd in the Greater Niagara General Hospital. She weighed in at eight pounds exactly.

I had an easy delivery as deliveries go. My contractions started around 4 am on Wednesday. I slept between the contractions until Jamie was getting up for work. At this point, we were unsure if they were real contractions or not. I spent the morning resting and tracking the contractions on my iPhone app. Yes, there is an app for that.

By 2pm, we decided to head to the hospital. When speaking with our midwives, it was speculated that my water had likely broken. I was experiencing gushes during contractions only. I thought that it would either all come out at once or slowly leak. This other option hadn't occurred to me and I confused it for having to go to the washroom for the usual reasons. It turns out that the baby was blocking the release of the amniotic fluid but the contractions allowed the liquid a path out. At the time, my contractions were still not following a regular pattern though. They were on average about ten to eleven minutes apart. But with my gestational diabetes, it was best to get to the hospital early. Jamie had already packed the car but we grabbed a few things and headed to Niagara Falls. In that hour, however, my contractions became quite regular, much stronger and much closer together. They were three minutes apart when we registered at the hospital and a nurse's check found that I was already nine cm apart. Things had sure sped up! So much for getting there early!

With that news, my room became a flurry of activity. I was answering questions, getting an IV put in (2 tries!), signing forms and humming through each contraction. Jamie was a great support. My doctor literally ran in and a midwife from another team helped me while my midwives were on their way. By 4 pm, I was ready to push. Jamie stood by my side the whole time. He even held my leg when needed. His presence strengthened me - as always. The room was filled with nurses, midwives and my doctor. There is no room for shyness when giving birth. ;)

All my prenatal yoga and preparations came in handy. By 4:58 pm and about an hour of pushing, I had a baby on my chest and was asking if she was a girl or a boy! Jamie and I were thrilled to hear that she is a girl. Truly, we were just happy to hear that she was born and healthy.

What an incredible experience! We are parents to a bright and beautiful baby girl. She is so precious and both Jamie and I feel the weight of parenthood - and the joy.

Since last Wednesday, we have been getting to know Ella. She has many expressions: the 'popeye' (only one eye open), the 'I don't think so' with her chin and lower lip jutting out, the 'figuring out the world' with her eyes greatly focused, as well as the 'food coma' and the 'feed me!' looks to name a few. She cries but can be quickly calmed and seems to be very patient with our inexperienced fumbling. She is also an expert poop artist, projectile and otherwise. We are so proud and happy to have her in our lives.

Our first night. 

Figuring out her Dad... :) 

Close up!

Our first Thanksgiving!

Here we go...

So I had an appointment with the midwife yesterday. I had asked for a stretch and sweep which is a simple procedure that stretches and sweeps around the cervix in order to encourage a woman to go into labour without any drugs involved. The midwife was able to do it and said that my cervix was already thinning. She was able to get to 3 cm. So if not before Thursday, a distinct possibility, my body is well on its way toward labour. Oh, dear... There's been no turning back for quite some time now, she says understating the obvious, but here we go...

Big Update

Well... here's a big update. If I haven't delivered by this coming Thursday, October 4th, my doctor is going to induce me. Ever since I started on the insulin and met my OB-Gyn, he said that he would induce me as early as 37 weeks and wouldn't let me go past my due date. It turns out that he meant it. So I have until Thursday to convince this baby to come out on his or her own. That's just five days  (the holiday weekend) before my due date so I've done really well.

Wish us luck and look for news by next Friday!

Belly Bump Pics!

I had no idea that my belly had grown so large! That sounds silly, I realize. But, alas, it is true. These pictures were taken the first weekend in September. So that only leads me to conclude how much larger I must be now! It is all for good purpose and I don't mind the belly... really... except when trying to roll over in bed... Here are my favourite shots. Enjoy.

 Our current family: Sadie and Lucy were so happy to be included!

The courthouse in Welland.

 Merritt Island in Welland.

Merritt Island in Welland.

Jamie playing with his action figures on my belly.

By the old Welland Canal.

Dad's 2 cents

I’m becoming a Dad. I still can’t get over that. I know I wanted to become one. I’ve always said having a family and friends is more important to me than anything in the world. 

I find there is a small amount of panic that sets in every once in a while. “Am I going to be a good Dad?” “Holy crap I don’t know the first thing about being a Dad.” These set in and then I come to the conclusion that it is because I worry about these things, that I will be a good Dad. 

I cannot describe the excitement that wells up in me when I think about all the awesome things that I get to do. I get to introduce a person who has never experienced music to The Beatles, Nirvana, The Black Keys! I get to take a child to Disneyland and experience the pure joy through their eyes all over again. I get to play again, in that “I don’t care who sees me making voices for my GI Joe’s” kind of way. The food! I can’t wait to teach my child the wonders of cooking a wholesome tasty meal. Also the wonders of enjoying a prepared one.

I said to Anne a few months ago, we are moving away from being the lead roles in our life. We're going to be supporting roles in our child’s story. 

Let the show begin!

37+5

Hello!

So I'm at 37 weeks and 5 days. I'm now set up to receive two ultrasounds a week. They are keeping track of the blood flow in the umbilical cord, the heartbeat, the fluid and some other stuff I'm sure. This all relates to having gestational diabetes and being on insulin. I had two ultrasounds this week and will continue to do so until I deliver. The first this week showed that everything was good. Although I haven't received the official report on the second one, the forthcoming technician said that it looked good too. I'm really hoping that this baby decides to come out on his or her own before they find a reason to induce. We'll see.  So on to week 38...

We've seen a preview of the baby bump pics I mentioned before and Jamie posted them on facebook. I'll add some here shortly. Oh my goodness, what a belly!

Thanks to a lot of hard work from Jamie and some great help from Regine, our nursery is coming together. All the final touches will have to wait until after the birth but the room is cleaned and filled with baby stuff. Life is filled with list making, buying things I had never even thought about before and going to appointments. But it is all getting done.

More updates to come...

37 weeks

Well, starting tomorrow, I’m 37 weeks along. My next ultrasound is on Tuesday.  I’m feeling fine and the baby is moving well. But this is officially the first week when they might call and say that I should be induced. No pressure!

Jamie and I are continuing to work on the nursery and anything else that we can think of to prepare. The car seat still needs to be installed and bags need to be packed. In the mean time, I’m going to two pre-natal yoga classes this week, one midwife appointment, one chiropractor appointment, one massage, a union meeting and still walking the dog everyday. That’s just what I can remember without checking my calendar.

One thing that I have noticed is that I don’t have the same endurance. I was working in the house yesterday and managed to hurt my ribs somehow. Maybe it was limb sticking into them, but more likely given the baby’s posture of late, I lifted up something I shouldn’t have. Last week, I went swimming with Regine at the community centre. As I got out of the water and the gravity hit me, it finally dawned on me how much weight I’m carrying around. I’ve only gained 26lbs, which is acceptable. But, oh my goodness, could I suddenly feel every ounce as I got out of that water. I’m taking more breaks now and I’ll have to start relying on Jamie to do more bending and lifting for me. My pointer finger and language skills will be getting an extra workout now. So will Jamie. It’s a good thing that I have him around. ;)