36 weeks and potty-training!

That's me a couple of minutes ago! I thought I better take a pic of the belly given that the one with Oliver the 36weeks one was the very last of the pregnancy...which I only manage to post with the birth story. All is well, getting over this last cold/cough combo and managing a bit more sleep. Regular baby movements keep me happy and I sure hope he's still growing. No fluid retention to speak of this pregnancy which is fantastic and I can still wear my rings which are only marginally tight in the morning. Looking forward to friday OB appointment and I decided that I better have a bag ready for the hospital...with Oliver I didn't! So this is what I'll do this afternoon.

Kitchen is almost finished, in fact it's finished but we are trying some methods to darken the added granite top to make it more similar to the rest, so a post will definitely come soon!

The biggest news of all though is that we started yesterday potty-training Oliver. We have 4 days of holidays and it was my neighbour who suggested to give it a go. We skipped pull-up pants and went straight to cotton underpants as soon as he woke up yesterday morning. I bought a Star Chart to mark his progress and we also skipped the potty altogether choosing the toilet seat reductor instead. We made a big ceremony yesterday morning of how he was a big boy and to tell us if he had to pee. Remember it's been 18 months that he poos only in the loo (ok, of course occasionally he would poo in the nappy but very rarely) so he has the association of loo-poo but not so much for pee which is mostly accidental when it happens in the loo.
Anyway, yesterday morning we had 3 accidents to which he reacted very surprised that he was wet! And immediately he would say "I do popo..." no worries, we reassured him, changed his underpants and pants and kept bringing him to the loo at regular intervals. He was mostly successful and seemed to really enjoy this new thing. He never had other accidents till after dinner. I had read that it's important to wait for the child to realise that if you have not brought him to the loo and he needs to go, he has to tell you, so letting him wet occasionally is a good thing. He did pee a bit, wetting the pants, but stopped immediately, called me saying "popo!" and off we went to finish the business in the loo! By the end of the day we had so many stars in the chart he was delighted! We are not worrying about nights for now, with Phoenix on the way in a very short time I don't think i'd have the energy of getting up and changing beds! Daytime is huge already!
Then today we NEVER had an accident (yet!), he told us twice he had to go BEFOREHAND! So so happy and he really seems to understand this is what mamma and papa' do all the time given that we don't wear nappies! I put on a nappy for his afternoon nap, telling him this is just in case he pees while sleeping and not to worry we'll take it off as soon as he's up and we'll put the underpants back on. He seemed happy with that too.
If this works out as I hope it will, I will resize all our nappies to new-born settings for Phoenix so that he can enjoy them for very early on!

Ticking along: OB visit

Phoenix is still growing! All looks good, fluids, placenta, blood-flow through the cord and the little belly is two weeks fatter than two weeks ago! The head was not measured this time but to me it looked pretty much the same circumference as the belly which I take it's as it should be.

Dr. W is really thorough and measured the baby 3 times, he will see me again on the 5th of April and the plan for now is to keep a very close eye on growth and see how it all progresses. If nothing happens by the due date, he has suggested a planned c-section so that I'm not going overdue and I agree, there is no point in chancing our luck. He said also my chance of the waters going early is about 15% which sounds pretty low to me but who knows! He then said that should the growth slow down then we have to intervene sooner but in total safety for the baby. 35 weeks is already a very good place to be in and he feels we are good to go anytime.

Sooo I feel better, keeping an eye on baby movements and try to cope the best I can with the sea-sickness sensation I get mostly after breakfast...
The first day of the students being back went well, very busy for me but once this week is over I have very little left to do.

In other news, last night I got a skype call from the Ultimate Vet Hero!! So nice to talk to her and of course I could see the lovely sunshine of Cali which made me really longing for the holidays we had last summer...I'm going to make a real effort to be able to spend a few months there if I can get some sort of sabbatical once i'm back from maternity leave!

34 and 35

Not much to report really, but I'm 35 weeks today and doing well (I think!)

I suppose I'm entering a bit of an anxious phase as Oliver stopped growing at 34 weeks and Phoenix started from the beginning being a bit behind (about a week behind). On Monday I have my OB appointment, I'm going on my own as it's late afternoon and Mike will have to pick up Oliver from the creche. Somehow I have a bad feeling (but that's not new with me, is it?) I started worrying as I remembered that at my last scan almost 2 weeks ago, the head circumference was measuring behind the abdominal circumference (I can't remember how much but at least a week if not two). Dr. W didn't say anything just that he's happy the baby is growing as it should, that it's not a big baby but all looks great. And yet... I can't believe I'm falling again in the loop of negative thinking...
I also have AGAIN a cold/cough mix which is really annoying, it's like the soundtrack of this pregnancy. I think I may have been 2 weeks at the most without some sort of viral infection, I put this down to the fact that this pregnancy I have not done the flu vaccine. Ah well, too late now anyway.

The house project is coming along really nicely, Mike has now tiled and painted the new added bit in the kitchen and I think today finally he's going to put up the under-counter lights. I have taken pics of the various phases so I will have a dedicated post once all is nice and tidy. My next project is changing the front door...we'll see if that'll happen anytime soon!

Oliver has been transitioned in the upper toddler room in the creche and as always it's been just fine. I think it's great that they always move a few children at the same time, so his two besties are always with him and then of course he rejoins the slightly older children that had moved a few months back so everything is made real easy. The new carers are lovely too, young and enthusiastic, they showed us that in this room they encourage children to climb up a stepladder to get onto the changing table but they also start actively looking for signs that a child is ready to potty-train and we think Oliver is definitely almost there. It's now two full weeks that Oliver sleeps in the big boy bed and it's absolutely fine, I'm really happy we have been able to do this without too much drama.

Finally on the work front, three more weeks to maternity leave but I'm doing well so I'm happy to keep going. Term starts again on monday after the spring break and the only thing I'm not looking forward to is the madness of the parking situation...early mornings here we go again...

Auntie Fran

My niece was born this morning around 4am. Mum and baby are doing well, I can't believe my sister is a mamma too! They called the baby Clarissa and she is the cutest little thing. I hope to meet her very soon.

In other news I'm 33w3d today and yesterday I had my check up. Phoenix is doing well and growing! Blood flow through the cord is good and everything looks fine. I had another puking incident yesterday morning, so strange, I just had a glass of water with my vitamins and it came all back up...

Big thing to record here is that Oliver has been sleeping in his big boy bed since last friday night. It is still taking a bit of time to settle (keeps getting out of the room) but we have started applying again the method of the controlled crying keeping the door closed and it's getting better every day. We are already back to normal going to bed time. He may get up once as he loses his soother and can't find it in the bigger bed, so I have a reserve one which I promptly give him and he goes back to sleep. The move to the big room has been paralleled by the arrival in the bed by his new best cuddly toy "Baa Baa" alias Shaun the Sheep with which he's now totally in love! Of course the fact that his new duvet is made with the wool from Baa Baa makes it almost magic...

Mindfulness is going really well, though I have to admit this week I have not been too persistent with the exercises...but I really like it and keep it up. I will have a dedicated post to it soon I promise! Same as I'll post pics of the kitchen as soon as Mike has finished with the details!

32 weeks

This one feels like another milestone! Weight check this morning is still +11kg which means I have not put on weight in the last two weeks wohhooo! Phoenix moving about very nicely and reassuringly every day and I have quite a few Braxton Hicks daily, but not painful and mostly linked to me walking or doing the stairs. My sister on the other hand has hit 38 weeks! But for now all is quiet in her quarter too.

Thank you for the suggestions on the blocked nose (I'm adding this paragraph at 4.45 am as I the situation is not much improved!), I have bought a marine water nasal spray, I think it helps a bit, but it's not a miracle solution unfortunately...the best thing for me seems to be a combination of such spray, two pillows and getting up in the middle of the night to drink something warm like a camomille or mint tea...needless to say I'm not in the best form in the mornings...thankfully Mike has let me sleep in on weekends and I also manage to go for a nap in the afternoon. Weekdays are tough though.

I attended my first mindfulness class and I LOVED IT. I realised pretty quickly that was what I was looking for, a form of meditation which is practical and almost scientific in the way it's taught. I can't wait for my next session on thursday!

Oliver is now sleeping with the side of his cot open and I'm waiting for the arrival of his duvet (I bought a lovely natural wool duvet from the UK) and we will start having him sleeping in the big boy's room. He seems very happy about the new deal, in the morning he does show up in our bedroom for about 7.15 am which I suppose is not too bad at all! He is then happy to cuddle with us till we get up for his milk. During the week there is very little cuddling time but the weekends are great.

The kitchen was fitted last thursday, we still have to finish the granit top (and we found a practically identical match!!) and Mike is fitting lights under the upper units. Will definitely post pics of the evolution. Off to watch some telly now!