Found an article on gender predictors just now when I was googling for the String test. It's a funny article - all sorts of "sworn by" predictors and old wives tales. But Draino? That's not coming near me! I won't even clean with chemicals so I'm not about to mix my pee with them!

This is what I found out about myself from the article...

Did the string test first, with my wedding band. The cats thought it was a toy and started to play with it as I was holding it over my belly. When I finally got them away, IT DIDN'T MOVE. Not a bit! Once it settled, it really settled and didn't move an inch. Just my luck.

I looked into the Heartrate predictor next, and sure enough, it's over 140 each time. Which means a girl. I thought ALL babies' heartrates were over 140, but I guess not. Boys are under. So "they" say.

Chinese Fertility Chart: According to this, I'm having a girl. But the funny thing is, I checked into it when I found out I was pregnant and I thought it said Boy. I forgot, I guess, that we conceived in May, not April. All this time and it said Girl. My manicurist is Veitnamese and she swears by it. She planned both of her pregnancies around it and they both came true! (She's Vietnamese but follows alot, actually most, of the Chinese traditions. AND superstitions. Her mother is the one who told me not to rub my belly. Well, she told me that "they say..." but to rub it anyway.)

When my girlfriend, Dena, told me she was pregnant I sent the chart to her and it said she'd be having a boy, even though she SWORE she was having a girl. We both thought she would have the girl and I would have the boy. But... she's having a boy afterall, just like the chart says!

Actually, according to all the wives tales we're having a girl. And a little psychic person I know said it was a girl too. But my dreams said Boy.

Until the last one.

We'll find out soon enough I suppose. Possibly in 5 days.... :0

And since we're talking about gender predictors and all that... I thought this was cute. It's the first known picture of Michael Phelps. Borrowed without permission from Running A Hospital.

What methods and tricks did you use to predict pink or blue? And were they on the money?

Leave me a comment, let me know!

Week 18!

I read somewhere yesterday that rubbing my belly will help the baby bond with me, and vice versa of course, so I'm totally doing that and sending lots of love and light and good mojo to him/her. However, there is a superstition that says not to rub your belly or the child will be a spoiled one.

Who cares? I don't mind at all. Although he'll have to settle with being spoiled with love, not money.

Until we are multi-millionaires, then we can spoil him with money. And until that time rolls around, we'll spoil with love and Superstore coupons. :)

Anyway, I got way off the topic here.

How fascinating is this: a baby can already learn, remember and recognize before it's born.

The baby is now about 6" and 190 grams. His growth will slow down a bit now (I didn't really think it was that quick actually. But what do I know? I've never had anything growing inside of me before. Except hunger. And thirst. And those aren't nearly as pleasant.)

Basically, the baby is about the size of a can of soup. Hmmm... that seems somehow smaller than an avacado. Or around the same. Whatever week 17 was.

Baby is now starting to produce a protective covering along the nerves, called Myelin. (There. That's the scientific aspect for today.)

Donald and I both dreamt the other night that we had a girl. Hmmmm..

And, apparently I'm carrying high, so that's a sign of a girl.

AND, I'm liking sweets (hot fudge sundae almost each night!) and according to my friend Mona, that's a sign of a girl too.

What are the signs of a boy? The exact opposite, I'm sure, but what else? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

I'll post a belly shot over the next few days. I'm too tired to hunt for my camera right now!

Hello to Dad and Marian who FINALLY have the internet and are reading now. (Love you!)

Later.
s.

I forgot how much I love Gordon Lightfoot until just now when I started listening to Cotton Jenny. I love Anne Murray's version too, but there's just something about Gord.... Have a listen here: I have no idea what the photo slide show is about but can't find it anywhere else.

I think what I'm going to do is create a list of songs for my brother to learn so that he can sing this little one to sleep when he's over. (You SO know a party is going to break out if Simon brings his guitar!)

So I'll start with Cotton Jenny (and there's a GREAT tambourine solo in it for me!). Simon, if you ever read this, keep your eyes peeled to the right sidebar. That's where your list will be.

The 2nd song will totally be an Anne Murray song, I just don't know which one because I love them all. Probably some Ian Thomas thrown in for good measure ("...painted ladies and a bottle of wine, mama..."). Did you know that Ian Thomas is Dave Thomas' brother? Dave Thomas as in Bob & Doug MacKenzie!

Take off, eh?

Such a Canadian theme going here. Good times. I'm sure I've totally messed up the American readers. Whatevs.

Hmmm, I'm going to need some Conway Twitty and Ronnie Milsap too. Not so Canadian, but great tunes.

How much you want to bet that I'll be the one who falls asleep?

Like one time when I lived in Halifax, I was trying to teach my cat, Abu (AKA the cat that nobody else in the family wanted) to Sit. I had a little cat treat in my hand and was in the kitchen trying to train her. (Yeah, I know.) Anyways, I kept hearing a funny sound behind me each time I said, "Sit". I never thought anything of it. Fast forward 20 minutes (ok, ok, probably 3 minutes. You ever try to teach a cat to sit?), and I tried in one last time. I heard the sound again and looked behind me and it was my dog, Sarah! She wanted the treat and each time I said, "Sit" to Abu, Sarah would do it! It was friggin' hilarious!

Oh I miss her. She would have been great with the baby. But I must admit, Donald and I think that Chicken is Sarah reincarnated. Seriously.

Tomorrow we're at 18 weeks! That means only one more week until the detailed ultrasound and we'll find out if we're painting the nursery pink or blue!

Later.

s.

Insomnia is a bitch.

Leg cramps too.

S.

Am I the only one who thinks The Ceeb's coverage of the 2008 Olympics completely sucks?

Seriously, if I have a girl in here (I know, I know...) she's going to be in synchro (boring website alert). I'm not sure when we're going to fit it into her schedule, because there's also Chinese school and modelling. And perhaps figure skating in winter. But still, one day she'll be in synchro. And it took me up to DAY SIXTEEN to find it!!! And it was on NBC! I am so disappointed in The Ceeb. Come on, friggin' water polo?

On the other hand, if we have a boy, I think CBC did a FANTASTIC job of covering the Olympics.

And now there's a skunk in my yard so I've got to go close the back windows.

Either that, or someone in the neighbourhood has a grow-op and is harvesting.

'Night.

What's with the turnip picture?

That's about how much the baby weighs right now!

The little guy is 5 ounces - that's 141.75 grams (which is usually the amount of roast beef I get at the deli. Back when I could eat deli meat.)

(Not trying to liken my baby to deli meat, but hey, I just likened him to a turnip. Or as my girlfriend Margaret would say, "la turnipe".) (Crazy newfies.)

He's 5.12 inches long, crown to rump. That's almost 1/2 a foot! Now it's all coming together, and I can get my head around his size. He's actually large enough to give me a good kick, but it still doesn't feel like a "kick". Just fluttery.

And, actually, a bit gassy.

Excuse me.

His hearing is more fine-tuned, so I'm talking to him more and more. At first I was like, "what the hell do you say to something the size of an lima bean, who's ears are on his neck, and intestines on the OUTSIDE? And then I just thought, whatever! I can talk to my little baby about whatever. So I gab away all the time.

Not while I'm watching tv however. It drives me bananas when people are chatty-friggin-cathies during a good show.

His vocal chords are formed. He actually goes through the motions of crying, but doesn't make a peep becuase there's no air.

Meconium is accumulating in the bowl. What's in there now will actually be his first poo!

Excuse me.

All for now. I have two more weeks of looking at this picture, and then there will be a new one. So enjoy along with me:

Overheard in East Van:

Donald: How'd Jesus get on your sandwich?

Me: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Donald: No, seriously. How'd you do that?

Me: No, seriously, HAHAHAHAHAHA!

And then: Trust me honey, if Jesus acutally shows up for lunch one day, you can TOTALLY name the baby Joshua.

Week 17!

Where to start? I might break this up into a few posts so, a) as not to bore you and b) I have something to post this week! Or, I've added more pictures this week for a bit of fun. Whatevs....

Let's start with me and The D-Man. We simply cannot agree on boy names. I know we have lots of time, and the little guys' name wil come, it's just that I came up with a GREAT one and I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT! But he says no-go because it's also the name of a restaurant that his parents love. I forgot about that. But it's such a great name!

I'm going to keep on working on him on this one. It really is THAT great!

(See Jesus in the sammy?)

The name Donald picked means, "God is my salvation." NO WAY. Nothing with religious overtures like that. Yuck. (Apologies in advance for those of you who are named after Jesus or something...your names are beautiful, I'm sure, it's just a personal preference that I don't want religion as part of my child's name.)

Then again, the name I picked for a girl is the name of a witch. (And no, it's not Wendy!)

We've got a doppler!

My sister-in-law had her daughter 2 months premature (both are doing well) and so they offered their doppler to us! It comes at a great time really, after the aches and pains and symptoms of the first trimester are over, and before the baby is rockin' and rollin' like mad in there. There are a few weeks in between all that action, which is right now, so it eases my worry when I can hear his heartbeat. I tried it about 4 times the night I got it to make sure I knew what I was looking for, and no mistaking, the lound sound of galloping horses was about 2-3 inches below my belly-button. I found him! So I surprised Donald with it in the morning before he went to work. It was great! The cats are really curious and both of them jump up on the bed when I'm doing it, and they won't leave me alone for about 1/2 hour afterwards. Immediately on my belly, or trying to lay close to me or sit on my lap or whatever. They love it too!

I'm pretty sure I've finally gained a bit of weight. I think about 5 lbs. I'm using my scale at home and it isn't the best, so I'll know more at week 19 after my ultrasound and doctor's visit.

This person is not me. They look like they get better sleep than I do. (And truth be told, I have much better hair.)

I bought a body pillow yesterday to help me get comfy at night. It's massive! It's rather annoying, it's so big, and hard to maneuver under the covers so REALLY annoying when I want to turn over (it's like there's 3 of us in the bed.) (Ok, it's like there's FIVE of us in the bed... me, Don, baby (hey, he counts!), Chicken and Ling Ling). But I slept through the night last night, so I'm happy with the $13.00 purchase.

This is not the baby. If it was a whole cantaloupe, and without the kiwi and carrots, it's the size of my uterus right now.

My uterus is now the size of a cantaloupe and has shifted to my centre of gravity. This, coupled with my low blood pressure, is causing the dizziness whenever I stand up a bit too quickly.

And that's all for today. Instead of leaving you with a picture of me and my belly, I'll leave you with this video:

More this week on how the baby is doing in there!

I love the whole "it is what it is" concept, because really, it's just that.

It is what it is.

It's nothing other than what it is.

Do you see the vastness in that? Feel it? It's kinda cool. And really freeing. Ahhh, I love those moments when I realize just how small I am in the big picture.

Just how much bigger than me the universe is.

Take my belly for instance.

First, nobody believed I was showing as early as I was.

And now, nobody can believe I'm "as big" as I am for so early on.

I just thought I was normal for 16 weeks (and today, 4 days). Some people are bigger, some are smaller, I know that, but I just figured I was average.

And then in a matter of FIVE SECONDS today, this conversation happened while shopping:

Me, to clerk: Is everything in this store maternity, or do you also have non-maternity?

Clerk: It's all maternity. And then, Are you pregnant?

Me: Yes. I'm not fat. I'm pregnant, bitch. (ok, so there was no Bitch part.) (Ok, there WAS but it was in my head.) (Just for that remark I shopped for 35 minutes after closing and had her running from one end of the store to the other.)

And then the gal that was in the dressing room beside me says, "I can't believe she asked you that. If that was a few months ago, I would have clocked her!" And, "How far along are you?"

Me: Four months.

Girl: Me too. I'm 17 weeks. What are you?

Me: 16.

We both look at each other bellies and laughed our heads off. She's alot smaller than me. Like, I would have to really wonder if she was pregnant. I mean, you could tell, but it didn't look big enough that you'd have the balls to ask her. Like at the 10/11 week range, when you've got that spare tire happening and want to tell people that you're pregnant, not getting fat, and people are totally looking at you and wondering if you're pregnant or just putting on a couple of pounds.

Anyway, we had a scream in the store. At one point she walked into my dressing room by mistake and ended up buying 3 of the tops that I had in there but didn't like. So I went routing in her dressing room. It was hilarious.

What wasn't hilarious, however, was the amount of money I spent. I only went in for a pair of yoga pants ($24.95) and spent $144.00. But got such cute things!

Anyway, I'm way off track here. The point of all this rambling is "it is what it is."

There's no rhyme nor reason to pregancy and how you grow and develop. No two are the same. It just is what it is. I was angry when people didn't believe that I was showing early. I mean, I was really angry (why I just didn't take a picture and stick it on the blog, or email it to them, I don't know). "Oh, you can't be", they said. "That's impossible". (The "thinkers" of the world. The linear minds.)

It was such a waste of energy, to try to defend my pregnant self from their judgement. Who cares if they don't believe me. Who cares. My body is showing me something else. The universe is unveiling a mystery to me. And that mystery is, "It is what it is. No matter what you try to do about it, no matter how much you think about it and try to figure it out, it simply Is What it Is."

My boobs are another great example. I quickly dashed into a store for a new bra today, because I have totally outgrown mine (YIPPEEEEEE!!!!). I asked her to measure me and she told me I was a xxA.

"Uh, no, that's my normal size and I'm totally busting out and bulging over".

"Well, that's what the measurement said."

"Ok, let's do this. Find me one in my size and find me one in X size and Y size."

Well, turns out I'm size Y. No matter what the measuring tape said (thinkers), the body know better (feelers).

Cleavage doesn't lie.

As my friend Alix would say, "Some things are meant to remain a mystery." And she's right. Personally, I wouldn't want to know everything. Life wouldn't be nearly as exciting.

So I'll take my 16 week, 4 day belly, and I'll be happy with the size of it and the shape of it, knowing that it's me, it is what it is, and that the universe has bigger things working for me than the size of my belly.

S.

Ok, ok, this should be the end of it until mid-September. I dreamt last night it was a boy. And no mistaking it. I was having an ultrasound and the technician pointed to a certain area on the image and said, "Yup, it's definitely a boy."

So there you go.

S.

Forgot to mention earlier about a dream I had last night. I had twins! A boy and a girl. And they looked so Chinese! Not so much "caucasian asian" as Chinese. They were wrapped in red silk and just darling!

My doctor, on my 9 week ultrasound, only saw and heard one baby, so I know there's not two in there (boo hoo, I SO wanted twins).

But just for the fun of it, let's look at what my favourite Christmas present of all time (pictured above) says about it. And if it is unfavourable, I'll simply trail off and say goodnight.

In dreams, twins often represent two aspects of your personality. If they are not identical, they suggest conflict between....

Goodnight.

s.

The little thing is about the size of an avacado! That's alot bigger than I imagined. No wonder I can feel it swishing around in there. Actually, it's not swishing anymore, it's actually moving around! Wild.

Apparently she plays with her umbilical cord. (What else is a girl to do when there's 5 more months of nothing to do?) (Except grow and function.... :0)

And yes, I said girl. For some reason I changed my mind a bit and think it's a girl. Not totally, but whenever I talk about it, I say, "She". It surprised me at first, I mean, I'm having a boy! Where did this Girl stuff come from?! My girlfriend Nicola's daughter Ruby (2 yrs) said it's a girl too. We'll see soon enough!

Something I found interesting, if not a tad terrifying: his ears have moved to his head from his NECK. When the hell were they on his neck?

They say insomnia hits around this time, and boy has it ever! I'm awake until midnight or 1am, not tired at all, I fall asleep around 1am or so only to wake up between 3 and 4 and can't sleep. So I get up and watch the home shopping channel, infomercials, CNN, whatever is on. And I do that for a couple of hours, until falling asleep finally around 6am again. It's tiring!

I have BRUTAL indigestion. Brutal. No matter what I eat. Especially, and this is so sad, chocolate chip cookies. I keep forgetting to pick up Tums when I'm out. And I really get mad about it later on!

My blood pressure is still low, I'm assuming, because I can't stand too quickly without getting a rush. And I feel like a trainwreck most mornings. Just for the first 5 seconds or so. Almost hung-over feeling. Kind feel like this looks:

That's my girl Ling Ling. Not so glamorous at this angle!

I'm going to start yoga again... just have to find yoga clothes to fit! Another reason to go shopping.

Here I am at 16 weeks on the nose:

That's all for now.
s.

Here's a link to some Chinese superstitions around pregnany. I wish I never read them! And shhh... don't tell Donald about them or he'll make me follow them to a tee. One thing though, mom... you're keeping the stroller we buy in your house until the baby is born! AND, I'm giving you the clothes we have for him next time I see you. You can keep these at your house too. (Because I know you have SO much storage space!) I can't find anything on the web about our unborn baby being jealous of the other children's attention (uh, yeah) so I think they're crazy, but whatevs. I love them, looney as they may be.

S.

Just wanted to take a minute and say thank you to everyone who is leaving comments. There are only a few but I SO enjoy them. I love hearing from people, so thank you thank you thank you! I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to read my blog and carry on with me, let alone leaving a comment.

Thanks so much!

Decisions, Decisions.

I'm contemplating cloth diapers for Baby Lee. I'm looking, so far, at two services: Happy Nappy and just found Diapers Naturally (hmmmm... they don't even have a website). I have more research to do, but it's looking more and more like cloth.

And I don't even have to wash them!

Random fact about me: I've NEVER changed a diaper. I've never babysat an infant so I've never had to. I'm 38, having my first baby, and I don't know how to change a diaper.

Screw cloth diapers. I'm getting a nanny.

S.

Happy 15 Weeks!

I've got to start by saying it's 32 degress in Vancouver today. Thank God for Dairy Queen Blizzards. But ice cream makes me so thirsty so I down a bunch of water afterwards. And then just wish I had a pool to jump in. And then realize that I don't look like I used to in a bikini. And then have a moment, just a moment, of fear, and then I'm fine again.

So here we are at week 15. Feeling great. Still need a 20-minute nap in the afternoon but that's ok, I deserve it!

I've started to clean out my closet and put away the clothes that don't fit me anymore. Which means all of them. And having a rancher means there's not alot of space to store stuff, especially when we rent out our basement! That's when Ikea comes in handy. They're the BEST for storage solutions. Went wandering around there today and found some clothes bins that slide under your bed, so that's where my old clothes are going. Which means? I get to go SHOPPING!

Noticed something very bizarre today... when I was walking through IKEA I looked at myself in the mirror and saw the strangest sight (and no, not talking about my own reflection).

My bellybutton.

Seriously. I saw the outline of it through my teeshirt. AND IT'S HUGE. It's stretched! I don't know what's going on but it's seriously massive. I swear, I get nervous it could reach out and grab something. Or swallow up a small animal. It's the strangest thing.

On to the baby:

It's 3.98 inches and weighs 2.47 ounces!

I don't know what 2.47 ounces is!

The baby has an adult's taste buds. He also gets the hiccups - frequently! He's moving around like mad in there (I've got to say, I haven't felt a kick or solid movement, but I've felt him swishing around already. Hard to explain. Best way to describe right now is it's like I'm getting tickled from the inside. Nobody believes me, but nobody believed that I was showing early either so what does that tell you about the people I choose to confide in?!! I need more supportive friends!).

His legs are finally growing longer than his arms - but if he's anything like his mom, he'll have the longest arms in the world.

Right, Moira?

All his joints and limbs can move. He can suck his thumb. His bones have begun hardening.

And he's mine! And I have the oddest look on my face!:

Lizzie emailed me (Hi Liz!) and said she reads this blog every day, so I'll try to update more than I am. Sometimes there's not much to say, but then at night I think of a whole bunch. I'm usually so good at immediate recall and recollection, but I'm finding that with the pregnancy I totally have baby-brain (I hate that term but there you go) and forget things, even/especially in mid-sentence.... where was I again? Oh yes, Post Scripts.

When Donald and I were STUCK ON THE RIDE FOR AN HOUR IN THE EARTHQUAKE, we had nothing to do but talk to each other and we were totally laughing at the adventures the baby is having and he's not even born yet. Trip to LA, Disneyland, getting caught in an earthquake, hitting Vegas in October... good times.

Speaking of trip to LA: not sick whatsoever on the plane. Not even an inkling. My stocmach did not drop, swirl, tell me off, nothing. These things work! Hmmm... might look into designing some "pretty" ones as they're kinda really ugly and boring. The bands I have are an ugly grey colour. Would be fun in bright colours. Kinda like crocs, they're so ugly I bought the brightest colour I could find. Go big or go home. Anyway, I digress.... I didn't know if they really worked before because everytime I wear them I'm also on either sea-sick pills that Simon used to bring from the cruiseship or ativan that my doctor prescribed when my trapezius was mucked up. (Yeah, that's a story for another day. Let's just say I'm looking for a new doctor. But God, I'm glad I had the prescription filled. Saved my ass on flights. Nothing like totally sleeping through fear. And then for two straight days after. Yeah, I'm really sensitive to drugs and they knock me right out. Except at the dentist, I always need 5 needles.)


Product placement didn't pan out. I found something cool (this usb easy button) but it was too commercial-like for them. They wanted more of a "cool stapler" kinda thing. Oh well, I can't see how they would have allowed logos anyway. I mean, talk about commercial!








I still miss beer.













Later.
s.

14 weeks, 4 days and all is well!

Had my monthly check up yesterday and all is welll! My blood pressure is low (80/50) but there's nothing to do about that. Just sucks that I get dizzy when I get out of bed in the morning or when I stand up. Not stand up quick, just stand up. That kinda sucks.

This is the first appointment Donald came with me. We got to hear the heartbeat for the first time, and together, so that was a great moment. I said to him, "See? It really IS in there!". His heart rate was 150 bpm and he was wiggling and dancing around in there.

My next appt. is on Sept 2, both for the detailed ultrasound and my normal monthly checkup. They'll be able to tell the baby's gender, but in Vancouver they won't tell you until after 20 weeks as there are still so many cultures that abort if it's a girl.

Yes, still to this day and in this country.

I'll find out the following week, so that's all good.

I'm not gaining weight at all, but it's nothing to fret about. I'm at 122, which is what I was at at 9 weeks. I'm just stretching outwards! Hunting down stretch-mark cream preventer now! (They say almond oil or wheat germ oil does wonders... but I don't want to smell like a snack.)

I'm thirsty all the time. Craving juices and pop actually, but having cold cold water instead (ok, I have the odd pop, but only one every couple of days). I'm craving fruit like mad so I'm happy about that! Loving the apples, nectarines and oranges, and all the fruit is coming in from the interior so it's local and lush and fresh and delicious!

Haven't been exercising AT ALL, so starting pre-natal yoga soon. Probably 2 times a week and then walking each night. I just don't like to walk alone, I find it boring, so I'm trying to persuade Donald to come home a bit earlier and walk with me after supper each night. Which means having supper before 8:30pm!

Enough about me. On to the baby!

He's growing his first hairs on his head, and his body is covered with lanugo. He can grasp things, squint, frown and grimace! (I suspect he grimaces every time Chicken or Ling Ling decide to lay on my belly and knead!)

His ears are functioning and there is evidence that he hears quite a bit... my voice, my heartbeat and external noises. The umbilical cord transports 300 quarts of fluids per day, completing a round trip every 30 seconds (whatever that means and whatever that does, but WOW!).

He is about 3.5-4 inches long and weighs 1.5 ounces. Pretty cool.

This is what he looks like at 14 weeks:

Later.
s.