tiffany's spot

The only downside about knowing that I was going to have a girl the last time that I was pregnant was not preparing for a boy too. I know it sounds silly, but generally we have names picked out for either a boy or a girl. We have little clothes ready for a boy or a girl. This last time? It was all about Elliot. We didn't even bother picking out a boy's name just in case. I kind of feel like the little Boy That Could Have Been got ripped off a little. Poor little would-be guy. Steven and I always had a harder time picking out boy names than girl. Somehow we agreed on Tennyson. Odd, because it's kind of a different name. It amazes me that we both liked it. We argue a little over who thought it up first. I kind of let him think he did. Near the end of my 3rd pregnancy, I finally got fed up and told Steven that I really liked Mitchell, and since he didn't hate it we were going to use it unless he came up with something we liked better. It's not that he didn't like ...

For the first time in years my kids' immunizations are up to date. I'm seriously considering nominating myself for mother of the year. Elliot had her 4 month needle this morning. She only cried until I picked her up. She loves her mommy and gets over her owies quickly. I know what you're thinking; she's only 4 months old, what does she know about owies ? I don't know if you've met my family. Love hurts sometimes, especially when you're four months old and can't either run away or shove people off you. My four month old is more than 17 pounds. I sure know how to feed them. Mitchie had his 18 month needle this morning. I'm a little forgetful sometimes. I know he's 27 months old, but in my defense, he had his 6 month needle somewhere around his first birthday, and the nurse told me he had to wait a year between the 6 month and the 18 month needles. I cannot be expected to remember something like that for a whole year. Not going to happen. I'...

In response to Candice's What's in a Name blog post: Choosing a baby name is both fun and a royal pain in the youknowwhat . Steven and I could never agree. I'd suggest names and he's hum and haw and say no. And then he wouldn't suggest anything either! I had chosen Jordan Patricia for my firstborn daughter when I was 16. I knew that someday I'd get married and my first baby would be a girl and that my husband would just let me use the name I loved all those years! With Tennyson (and I always said I'd never use a T name) I suggested names constantly and Steven would say no, until one day one of us came up with Tennyson. We argue over whose idea it was. Steven really really loved it, and I liked it but worried that it was too weird for the general public. We used it. The general public can mind their own business sometimes. Mitchell - we never agreed on a name. In August I finally said that unless he came up with something better we were going to name the bab...

Here are the proudest big brothers and big sister you ever did see, and their new baby sister! Elliot Lynne Born July 2 nd at 7:48am 8 lbs 8.7 oz 21 inches long For more pictures, click here !

It's starting to look like this baby may actually not come in June. Defiant already and not even here yet. I've decided to start making plans for my days as though I'm not going to have a baby. I had it all planned out that I would have my baby last Friday because that's when all my June plans were finished up and I was free and clear to go ahead and deliver. Then I had some labour on Friday and nothing happened. I'm driving myself a little nuts. Tonight Steven and I are going to go to dinner and a movie. The other day I mentioned to Steven that I'd been driving myself crazy with waiting every minute of every day for contractions that either didn't come, or that came and didn't mean anything. I told him it was too bad that we couldn't find a sitter and go to a movie on Tuesday or something. The man found me a sitter. He's a dream. So is his dad - thanks dad! So, dinner and a movie tonight. Hopefully a baby later on tonight, but if not, my mom ha...

Today has been the worst day. Last night I went out with the girls and ate a big supper. I felt like a brick was sitting in the pit of my stomach after that. I came home and spent half the night not sleeping. This morning I didn't feel so well. My stomach still hurt, I woke up with a headache (usually happens after a night of crappy sleep) and I was so stinkin tired. I went to diaper gym and hung out with the girls, trying unsuccessfully to have patience with my ornery children. This afternoon I had a few "stomach troubles" (nice euphemism eh?) and continued not feeling so hot. Around 3 it occurred to me that I hadn't felt the baby move today. My stomach was rock hard and sore and back pain had set in. I went and laid on the bed and tried to relax. No movement. I rubbed my stomach and tried to disturb Petunia a bit. Still no movement. I changed positions a couple of times, I tried laying partly on my stomach to squish her a little. She's usually really responsi...

Sometimes I feel a little sorry for my doctor. Then I remember that he's not pregnant and suffering life's pregnancy injustices daily. Did I mention that Rolaids have left the country? Or that I only have two antacids left? I'm saving them for after cheesecake. That's unfair too, because who wants to ruin the afterglow of cheesecake with a tums? Today at my appointment he came in and asked how I was doing. "Fine" I sighed. He chuckled. I said "I think you should just yank her out of there today, that would be awesome." He laughs. I think because he's a little afraid and he's not sure if I'm serious or not, but he's desperately hoping that I'm not going to hold him hostage with a tongue depressor until he makes the baby appear outside of me. For the record: I have never been much of a pregnancy wuss before. I'm feeling pretty complainy these days though. With the other three pregnancies I refused to complain. Wanna know why...

When Jordan was about 22 months old we excitedly transferred her to a twin bed. After all, we needed the crib for the new baby, due in about a month. It was horrible. You know how with the first kid you're all excited to have them do the "next thing" all the time? Sitting up, crawling, walking, getting out of a high chair, moving to a new bed, etc. How naive we were. Jordan's a busy kid. She runs from morning until night. She doesn't walk anywhere. She was a very busy toddler. There was no way she was going to stay in that bed. It took years before we were able to get her to stay in there without a fight. I tried everything - the super nanny thing where a parent sits there forever until the kid falls asleep (didn't work. she'd just outlast me and then sneak out), spanking, tossing her back in there 800 times. Nothing worked. Finally a friend suggested locking the door so she couldn't get out. I wrestled with that one, but finally tried it. She raged. S...

I painted the girls' room over the weekend. Alright, to be honest, I decided we were going to paint, and then I painted a bit, and then I sort of let Steven take over. I'm pooped by the afternoon. I made sure to make jokes about how lazy he was when he asked me to pour him some more paint or move out of his way. I'm sure it was much appreciated. The room rocks, by the way. I'll have to put some pictures on here soon. It's very pink, but still rocks. I am having rotten bouts of heart burn today. I'm sure the 600ml coke I just drank had nothing to do with it. I'm blaming the baby - and more importantly, Steven, for putting it in there. Jordan and Tennyson had their first baseball game tonight. They've had some practices, but not a game yet. I shouldn't say game, I should say "game". It was interesting. Imagine trying to get a bunch of preschoolers to pay attention between batters. Good thing they're all so dang cute. It wouldn't have...

Today I went to see the doctor. Usually he asks me how I'm doing and I say fine. Today I gave him a list of grievances - you know, dizzy spells, not sleeping, feeling like poopoocaca for the last few days. He said that was good, because the baby was growing. Apparently I'm not nearly as scary as I thought. I was going to haul out my inner bitch, but to be honest, as much as I sound all tough on here, my inner bitch is kind of a pussy in real life. To help me out, he upped my iron intake even more. I'm so excited to add "major constipation" to my list of grievances.

I was upstairs, feeding my kids breakfast, and I had this entire post idea in my head. I was planning on coming down here and writing it when I had a minute. Now I don't remember it. This tends to be a trend these days. I have the memory of a goldfish. It's not that I don't want to blog, I just can't remember the good stuff when I sit at the computer! I even have the kids all occupied cleaning up the toy room next to me. I'm sure that if I went to check on them right now they'd be cleaning, and not climbing over the baby gate, eating chalk, or taking out more toys. Actually, I know they're not taking out more toys, because they're already all out. Remember when I said that I walked usually 6 miles a day, 6 days a week? I should never write these things. I think that my body has suddenly realized it's pregnant. As if the big expanding belly and the heartburn didn't alert it any earlier. The other day as I was just past the five mile mark I sudd...

Because I don't. It's funny when I say that , because people look at me like I'm a little mental. You know, mother of four, pregnant for years. I never said I didn't like my kids. Love 'em. Sadly, there's only one way to grow one, and until you can just ovulate onto an ivy and have the baby grow up near the ceiling in an ivy pod in a corner I'll have to do it the old fashioned way. Sheesh anyway. I should take a picture. I'm "blossoming" every day. Ha! Blossoming. I love when people try to use euphemisms . Makes me feel like a big beautiful fat flower. I actually think other women are awfully cute when they're pregnant. I told a friend the other day that she was starting to look pregnant. She's a few months behind me. I hope she realized that I meant it as a compliment, she looks very good! Yet, when I'm pregnant and start to look it and feel it, it's more like "for shit sake. Now I have to get fat again." Side note:...

I'm getting pretty excited about meeting Petunia. Did I mention that's her name? At least while she's in utero. I can see it sticking. The kids talk about her like they talk about each other, and Jordan and Tennyson both call her Petunia without hesitation. Jordan wants to know why that can't just be her name. Unfortunately for her, I just don't want to name my littlest daughter after the cheap flowers evereyone uses to fill up space in flower beds. We actually do have a name, but we're keeping it a surprise until the big day! It's cute! It has a T in it somewhere. That's the only hint you get. I'm really excited to meet her. We know this is our last baby (for sure!!) and I know that although I'll be excited for her little milestones, I know that it'll be the last first steps, the last first smile, the last everything. I can see how people are sad when their kids grow up. As much as I sometimes think "If only he was just a little older ,...

The ultrasound tech said that our baby girl is definitely not shy (not unlike her sister) and was proudly on display to prove that she is not a boy. She said that she couldn't be more sure that this baby was 100% girl. Her words. Steven says I should go ahead and buy a few girl things, and get the girls' room ready. Steven says I should go ahead and dump all the old boy clothes on the spring garage sale. Steven says that despite my worries, he agrees with the ultrasound girl, and doesn't expect the baby to suddenly grow boy parts. Actually, in his words "where would he have hidden it? In his vagina?" We're so mature sometimes. My poll: Do I purge my house and sell off anything I don't need for a girl baby? Or do I play it extra safe and hang onto it, just in case?

Remember this post , where I confessed that I've been trying to freak Steven's freak a little about having twins? I have to admit, it was lots of fun, giving him multiple reasons constantly, watching him pretend to be cool and not believe me. The look on his face suggested otherwise. I had an ultrasound a couple of weeks ago. Here in town, they do the ultrasound first without the husband, and then once all the important stuff is done they let hubby in to see the baby for a few minutes. A friend of mine at playgroup told me that if Dee was the ultrasound tech, to say hi from her. Turns out, it was Dee. I told her "hi" from my friend and we chatted for the duration of the ultrasound. Just before she was about to fetch Steven I said "You know, I've been telling my husband for months that I'm sure there is more than one baby in there." She doesn't even hesitate: "So you want me to tell him that there are two?" Yes, yes I do. Steven comes ...

I've been teasing Steven about having multiples. I give him all these reasons why I know that I must be having twins. For example: I was nauseous this time. I never ever was before. This time, the whole first trimester and still on and off now. I was nauseous mere days after we would have conceived. I could feel my uterus when baby center said it should only be " thisbig ". The early weight gain. I'm sure it's not from cream-cheese iced cinnamon buns or epicure dip. I'm so tired. I'm always tired in the first trimester, but I still can't shake it. I'm sure it has nothing to do with early rising kids and not being able to sleep. Those are just a few. The best part is that when I talk like this Steven tries to be cool and shrug it off and act like I'm kidding, but seriously, his face turns a slightly darker shade of red. He's petrified. To be honest - I've always thought it would be cool to have twins. That being said, I've always...

Seems so unfair! I suppose there isn't really anything "unfair" about it. I just know I'm going to get fat now. Whatever. Have I ever mentioned I hate being pregnant? I especially hate the getting fat part. Steven thinks it's all cute, and when the belly "pops out" he can't keep his hands off it. I for one would love to forgo the bump for a nice pair of jeans. I love the new babies. And the old babies. Too bad I could just grow them in a vat of amniotic fluid in my house somewhere for nine months. Then I could sit and drink rye and coke and watch my baby float and change. They'll probably come out with this technology mere months after I'm done having this baby. To be honest, I find it going pretty quickly. This is especially odd since this is the only pregnancy of four that I've had any symptoms with. The first three months I felt pretty pukey . Never actually happened, but I sure felt like it a lot of the time. I think it's fast bec...

My not-so-secret fantasy is that I'll be one of those women for whom labour comes on so quickly that I have my baby either in my bathtub or in the car on the way to the hospital. I think my friends think I'm kidding. I can assure you I'm not. I've actually been disappointed each time it hasn't happened. Cross your fingers for me.

As I lay in bed, cuddling and nursing my new baby, the midwives checked his heartbeat, rate of breathing, etc. I tried calling my mom numerous times, as she shuts her phone off at night, and Steven was cleaning up the room and getting things back in order. I finally got my mom on the phone, probably just before 6am. "Can you hear that?" I asked. Tennyson was angrily crying at being weighed and measured. My mom gasped. "What did you do?! I just talked to you!" And she had, just 7 hours earlier. She had seen that I had tried to call around five, so when I finally did talk to her she thought I was going to tell her I was in labour. We laughed and talked for a few minutes, and then she assured me she'd try and leave work early to come see the baby. After I hung up he phone, my midwife Natalie regretfully informed me that we needed to go to the hospital. They had been monitoring Tennyson for a few hours now, and had noticed that his rate of breathing was well above t...

Seriously, I shouldn't even be giving you this, since nobody commented on chapter 1, but I'm just so nice. Sometimes. ***** I woke up at about 1:45am. I was having a contraction. I'd had some Braxton Hicks contractions for a couple of weeks already, but this was not one of them. I went to the washroom and discovered that my water was leaking. I was determined not to freak out and wake my midwife just yet, because women can labour forever before it gets really serious. I shut off the light and went back to the bed to use the stopwatch on my cell-phone to time a few contractions. It's recommended that women wait until contractions are about a minute long and 3 - 5 minutes apart (from the beginning of one contraction to the beginning of the next) before calling a doctor or midwife. My next contraction was big, painful, and lasted well over a minute. Less than a minute later the next big hairy contraction started. I flipped the lamp back on and shook Steven. I have never...