Painting Begins!

Last night Cal and I, well mostly Cal, primed the walls in the babies room. Do you know how much we love painting?? Not at all!!! Ahhhh... We had to lock Jazz in the furnace room because he jumped up on the window sill and got his back feet and tail in the paint!! Then he got into the cold air return and was stuck in there for awhile! Crazy cat! Heidi was pretty good though! Cal also bought batteries for the swing and set it up in the family room! It's neat to see it there!! Soon a little baby will be laying in it! We are getting very excited!! The baby is moving like crazy. I can often just sit down and watch my stomach move! Of course at the times I want to show people it doesn't do it! Stage fright?!? I start another prenatal aqua fit class tonight. A lot of the same girls will be returning for this one, so it will be nice to see them again. The last class is April 26th. I don't know if I've posted this or not, but the doctor moved my due date to April 27th (only 2 days sooner so not much change)! So we will see if I make it to the last class! Hope everyone is well and we will talk to you soon!

Luv Tracy, Cal and Baby

Hello!

So Thursday we had another routine appointment. The babies heartbeat was 148 bpm. Everything is going good, the baby is measuring right in line with 32 weeks, but my weight gain is not! Apparently the doctor likes to see you gain approx. 1 lb per week in the last trimester and I didn't come anywhere near that. So next appointment she may investigate why if I don't gain 2-3 lbs. I only hope that after I have the baby I'll have trouble gaining weight too!! Because lord knows before this pregnancy I had no problem gaining weight!! Anyways, the baby is growing good and everything appears to be good with him/her! We still haven't gotten around to painting the room yet, but tomorrow we are definitely buying the paint! I am having such a hard time with choosing colors/decor!! But I think we are settled on a neutral color and then after the baby is born we will decorate with more specific boy or girl accessories! What do you think we should do??! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Luv Tracy

A great weekend and Another great class!

Today we had our second prenatal class! It went great! Learned about the different stages of labour and what we will be going through and how to help all the possible side effects! Cal has learned some new massage techniques and a bit about his role as a coach! He'll be an awesome coach!! We thought the video we watched last week was as "graphic" as it would get, but found out differently this class! 3 words - Crowning up close! Cal figures he has a pretty good idea of what I will be going through during labour, because the nurse said any male who has had kidney stones has came very close to experiencing the pain of labour. And Cal has had kidney stones 3 times, so it's like being in labour 3 times! I also learned that if I can make it to the Transition phase, which is the quickest but most painful, without an epidural I can do it without one!! I also have a really funny story about one couple, but it's too long to write here so remind me to tell you about it next time we talk!

Candace visited this weekend and we had a great time shopping (we had to check out E-Children of course) and visiting! We took a few quick pic's together on Sunday morning, but we really should have taken them Saturday night when we were a little more "put together"! We will take more next visit! Candace and Lindsey are hoping to make it up for a visit before the end of April. It was great to see Candace and we had to laugh when we gave each other a hug and our belly's bumped!! I only wish we lived closer. It's crazy because we have so many of the same ideas and values and it's really nice to talk with someone who thinks the same as you!! So thanks Candace for the visit! We did decide this weekend that we could be in trouble if we lived closer - we'd be shopping all the time!

I posted another picture, without the white shirt on this time because it is really too snug now! Take care and we hope to talk to you soon! Love your comments, keep 'em coming!

Love Cal, Tracy and Baby

1st Prenatal Class!

Yesterday we had our first prenatal class from 7-9 pm. It was pretty interesting!! The classes are once a week for six weeks (the last week we have 2 classes). We will certainly learn a lot of valuable knowledge! Last night we watched a video of a woman deliver who had absolutely no pain medication! Wow! It was a fun night and we met other couples who are due around the same date as us! Of course there were a few jokesters in the group who lightened the mood at times and kept us laughing!! We had a break with snacks and refreshments half way through and each class 2 couples will bring snacks for everyone. Our instructor informed us that she is known in the Capital Health region for providing the best refreshments, so I guess we got lucky!? Hope everyone is well, take care and we'll talk to you soon!

Luv Tracy

February 20!!

We just wanted to wish soon-to-be Grandma Smith a Very Happy Birthday!! We had a nice dinner tonight to celebrate! Hope you have a great day! We love you!!

XOXOX
Cal, Tracy and Baby

29 Weeks, 4 Days!

Hello! Today we had a doctor's appointment and everything went really well! The babies heartbeat was 132 bpm. Its heartbeats have pretty much ranged between 172 (in the early days) and 129!! Very hard to predict the sex with the wide range of heartbeats! I had another lady at work today tell me she thinks it is a boy. The consensus seems to be boy, but the odd person has said it's a girl. It is interesting to hear all the reasons and theories! The way they predict is if you are carrying low/high, if you look more beautiful/tired than usual, if you're carrying all out front or in your behind!!!, etc., etc.! We will certainly prove a lot of people wrong if we have a girl! Everyone always ask what we want and I always say either as long as it is healthy, which is a bit of a "cliche", but it is so true! I think most people would agree that you really don't have a preference when you are pregnant. I think before I was pregnant I leaned towards one way, but now we are just so excited to be parents and meet the baby that it really doesn't matter what sex it is! I've definitely noticed an increase in some of my pregnancy symptoms! The heartburn is unreal, which is usually cured by Tums or Zantac, finding a comfortable sleep position is getting harder, my ankles are swelling, my back is bothering me sometimes and I'm back to being as tired as I was in the 1st trimester!! But overall everything is great and I really can't complain! You have to expect changes considering the miracle that is occurring within you!! We now have to see the doctor every 2 weeks and apparently closer to the due date you see the doctor every week. I hope all is well with everyone and everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!!

Love Tracy, Cal and Baby

It Will Change Your Life

Here is an excerpt from the story I mentioned in my last post (a little long ...):

My daughter and I were sitting at lunch when she casually mentions that she and my son-in-law are thinking of "starting a family."

"We're taking a survey," she says. "Do you think we should have a baby?"

"It will change your life." I say carefully, keeping my tone neutral.

"I know," she says. "No more sleeping in on Saturdays, no more spontaneous vacations."

But that is not what I mean at all. I look at my daughter, trying to decide what to tell her.

I want her to know what she will never learn in child-birth classes. I want to tell her that the physical wounds of childbearing heal, but that becoming a mother will leave her with an emotional wound so raw that she will be forever vulnerable.

I consider warning her that she will never read a newspaper again without asking, "What if that had been my child?" That every plane crash, every fire will haunt her. That when she sees pictures of starving children she will wonder if anything could be worse than watching your child die.

I look at her carefully manicured nails and stylish outfit and think that no matter how sophisticated she is, becoming a mother will reduce her to the primitive level of a bear protecting her cub. That an urgent call of "Mom!" will cause her to drop a souffle or her best crystal without a moment's hesitation.

I feel I should warn her that no matter how many years she has invested in her career, she will be professionally derailed by motherhood. She might arrange for child care, but one day she will be going into an important meeting and she will think about her baby's sweet smell. She will have to use every ounce of discipline to keep from running home, just to make sure her child is all right.

I want my daughter to know that everyday decisions will no longer be routine. That a five-year-old boy's desire to go to the men's room rather than the women's at the mall will become a major dilemma. That right there, in the midst of clattering trays and screaming children, issues of independence and gender identity will be weighed against the prospect that a child molester may be lurking in the restroom. However decisive she may be at the office, she will second-guess herself constantly as a mother.

Looking at my attractive daughter, I want to assure her that eventually she will shed the pounds of pregnancy, but she will never feel the same about herself. That her life, now so important, will be of less value to her once she has a child. That she would give it up in a moment to save her offspring, but will also begin to hope for more years - not to accomplish her own dreams, but to watch her children accomplish theirs. I want her to know that a cesarean scar or shiny stretch marks will become badges of honor.

My daughter's relationship with her husband will change, but not in the ways she thinks. I wish she could understand how much more you can love a man who is always careful to powder that baby or who never hesitates to play with his son or daughter. I think she should know that she will fall in love with her husband again for reasons she would now find very unromantic.

I wish my daughter could sense the bond she will feel with women throughout history who have tried desperately to stop war and prejudice and drunk driving. I hope she will understand why I can think rationally about most issues but become temporarily insane when I discuss the threats of nuclear war to my children's future.

I want to describe to my daughter the exhilaration of seeing your child learn to hit a baseball. I want to capture for her the belly laugh of a baby who is touching the soft fur of a dog for the first time. I want her to taste the joy that is so real it hurts.

My daughter's quizzical look makes me realize that tears have formed in my eyes. "You'll never regret it," I say finally. Then I reach across the table, squeeze my daughter's hand, and offer a prayer for her and me and all of the mere mortal women who stumble their way into the holiest of callings.