conversations with Georgie

Georgie " I don't have any sisters"

Me: "Do you want a sister?"

Georgie: "Naaaaaaa"

conversations with Georgie

me " Georgie what's your favourite animal?"

Georgie: "I don't know" shoulder shrug

me: "You don't?"

Georgie: "I don't know" shoulder shrug "Whatever"

me: "what?!"

when did 2 years turn into 16? Anyone approaching the two's, word of advice.... 

buckle up!

two

she's funny and fierce

she's sweet (every now and then) and saucy (a lot)

and today she's TWO!

Georgie is one of a kind, magnetic and fiery.
We love her beyond measure and are buckling up for a wild ride!

You can read her birth story here and here

Almost Eleven

This week I was feeling nostalgic about big buddha bellies and march heat waves 

(especially after another dose of cold temperatures and snow). Ahhh this picture. 35 weeks and waiting to meet our babe.  Little did we know we were about to meet our adorable, little ball of fire. Georgina. She has oodles of personality packed into her tiny body. She's wild. While Oliver is so particular and meticulous, Georgie is demanding and spontaneous. These two are going to have the best of times together and the worst I'm sure. Both headstrong but one emotional and the other brute force. 

As we near closer to the eleven month mark only to be followed up by the ONE year old mark, 

I'm in disbelief.  Our baby girl is heading towards Toddlerhood. 

Eeeeks. We need to buckle up this is surely going to be a bumpy ride!

This is what almost eleven months looks like. 

1/. 14 days  2/. one month  3/. two months  4/. three months  5/. almost eleven months  6/. 35 weeks

7/. four months  8/. ten months  9/. five months  10/. nine months 11/. eight months

12/. seven months   13/. six months 

The Homebirth of Georgina Kay Part 2

** if you missed Part One, click here**

By 5:30pm the contractions were coming regularly, not too strong but consistent so we started timing them. By 6:30 they were coming every 3-4 minutes and lasting nearly a minute. We paged our midwife and started filling up the tub! Charlotte and her student midwife Helen arrived by 7pm and another internal exam confirmed I was 8.5 cm. My secondary midwife Beth was called to come out and arrived shortly after. I felt great, my contractions were getting stronger but totally manageable. I was present, in the moment and able to chat with Guy and my wonderful midwives the entire time. With Oliver's labour I felt best on all fours rocking back and forth throughout the contraction.... actually I was pretty much on all fours throughout my entire labour with him and totally silent, I hardly spoke at all. But this time I felt best standing upright and moving with the contraction like a wave, I kept moving and walking around and sipped on hot water with lemon and honey (since I was still recovering from my cold). I also enjoyed a couple of my birthing staples (raspberry juice bars from M &M's) to cool me down, seriously I love these juice bars.... I stretched my back and calf muscles with the Aligned and Well exercises which felt amazing and of course Guy was there to massage my lower back through the contraction when I needed him to. But mostly I just walked around from room to room, made my hot water and lemon drinks at my leisure, listened to the birthing playlist I made and happily took in the moments leading up to the arrival of our little babe. Which I must say are (I think) a lot easier to do in your own environment.

The tub took some time to fill up since the connector didn't fit our faucet, we had to heat up pots on the stove instead of just using the tap. By 9 pm the tub was ready for me to get in and I was ready to get in! With Oliver, I felt the tub slowed my labour down and I was only in for about 20 minutes. This time it sped things up, I had only been in for about 30 minutes or so when I started feeling like pushing with each contraction. I decided to get out of the tub and get onto the mattress I set up in the kitchen. (Yes I birthed both my kids in the kitchen!) I laid on my back for another very quick internal exam , which confirmed it was go time. It was 9:37 when I got out of the tub and with 3 or maybe 4 pushes Georgina Kay was born at 9:52 pm. I was kneeling on the mattress but upright this time and gravity really did it's thing! She came out so fast, there was no head, then shoulder then other shoulder business. She came barreling out like a bullet!
 I could hear Charlotte saying "hear comes your bab.....it's here!" I scooped her up, had a quick look
and announced to everyone that we had a GIRL.

Within 3 minutes of her entering the world, she latched on like a pro! Georgina was so alert, eyes open and ready to be snuggled my her Mama. Total Perfection. We waited for the cord to stop pulsing before clamping it and this time Guy was ready to cut the cord (he didn't cut it with Oliver). The placenta was a little trickier this time, the cord detached and it wasn't as easy to deliver as it had been with Oliver. Charlotte helped slowly guide it out, careful to keep it in tact as she new I wanted to have it encapsulated (more on that later). A little maneuvering on both our parts and voila the placenta was out! It was much smaller than Oliver's which I thought was amazing and actually I never thought about placentas coming in such a variety of sizes... but they certainly do!

After the placenta was delivered, I just laid back, nursed and snuggled my sweet new baby and chatted happily with my midwives! I felt very different from how I did at Oliver's birth. With him I was totally exhausted and felt like I was on another planet while labouring and delivering him, a very happy planet of course but a foggy one. All the details are a bit hazy. This time I was alert and present and completely in the moment. While everything happened fast, the details are a lot more vivid. I continued to nurse her and Guy and I marveled at our newest creation.
Charlotte prepared my herbal bath and Georgie and I got in for a relaxing soak just as I had done
with Oliver. We cuddled and she nursed (some more)... this little girl sure was hungry.
I couldn't believe she was here, we had a little GIRL, it had all happened so fast and so easy
 and she was perfection!

The Homebirth of Georgina Kay Part 1

*** Note: since this post was getting a little on the wordy side, I decided to split it into 3 parts.
This is obviously Part 1, Part 2 and Reflections of a Homebirth to come soon*****

I have to admit Georgie's birth was a dream. It's almost comical even.

She may not have come early but she certainly came fast and willing when it was time.

I am still in shock about the (dare I say) ease of her labour and delivery (which I know may make some of you reading this want to punch me in my uterus) but after a horrendous week it was well deserved. Our beloved May-May passed away 2 days before her due date and my week got worse with a raging chest infection and nasty cold that put me out of commission for 3 days. Not to mention Guy's battle with a flu bug all while trying to parent a very active almost two year old.
I couldn't fathom going into labour and trying to push out a baby while feeling so sick and weak.

 I woke up on Wednesday morning, feeling somewhat human again and officially 5 days overdue. Although I didn't really feel overdue, I had actually felt more uncomfortable a few weeks prior and clearly the universe wasn't quite ready for her arrival anyway!  At about 7:45am I felt a sharp pain that only lasted a few seconds but stopped me in my tracks. Shortly after I felt a slow trickle as what was later confirmed as amniotic fluid. Guy and Oliver set out to work/sitters for the day and I got ready to go to the office briefly before my midwife appointment in the afternoon. Mild and totally irregular contractions ensued throughout the day but nothing alerting or confirming it was go time!

At noon(ish) I arrived at work and felt a gush of fluid as I was getting out of the car. I still wasn't having regular contractions so I kept about my business and finished up some ordering before my appointment. It wasn't until I got up to leave the office that I had a huge gush of fluid that soaked my pants! I ran to the bathroom to assess the situation and luckily my mom came in shortly after.
I handed her my pants which she proceeded to blow dry (with the spare blow dryer I keep at work not specifically for these types of situations but boy did it come in handy that day.... ).
After drying my pants and myself off I headed out to the midwives office.

I immediately told Beth that I was "pretty" sure I'm leaking fluid upon arrival, I explained the details and hopped up on her table for an exam. A swab quickly confirmed that I was indeed leaking amniotic fluid (which I wasn't really doubting at this point) and that I was about 5 cm dilated! Say whaaat? I couldn't believe it. I thought maybe I would have been dilated a cm or two but FIVE... that was crazy! She did a stretch and sweep and could stretch me to nearly 6 cm, which was so bizarre because I wasn't hardly having any contractions. There was still a sac of fluid around the baby's head so it was hind leak and Beth advised me to page them immediately if my water broke fully as the labour would progress quickly. She told me because I had been sick that my body might not be ready tonight, that I may need more rest but that this baby would be making his or her entrance in the next 24 hours. I got dressed (including a very sexy functional pair of mesh undies and large pad to absorb the fluid), finished up our appointment and headed home to sleep eat and mostly WAIT for things to progress.
(ummm yeah right, who can go to sleep at 3 o'clock in the afternoon after
 your midwife tells you that you are 5 cm dilated?... me either!)

I called Guy to let him know I was in "labour" but not having contractions so not to rush home from work but get ready because baby was coming this evening?, tonight? or sometime. I arranged for my mom to pick Oliver up from daycare and feed him supper and maybe have a sleepover... depending on what happened. Then I called my neighbour to be a backup in case I went into labour in the middle of night while Oliver was asleep and for some reason we would need to transfer to the hospital. Once all the arrangements for Oliver had been made, I felt energized and ready to go! So I waited and ate and waited. I cleaned a little, did some laundry and waited some more. My contractions were beginning to come a little more frequently but nothing steady yet. Guy got home from work around 4 pm and we waited. We just sat there and looked at each other like yep... having a baby. It was a very weird feeling knowing that I was that far dilated but not having regular contractions so technically I was in labour but didn't feel like I was actually in labour.  So to pass some more time I gathered my homebirth supplies and got the tub set up, ready to be filled.

I took these pictures at 4:06 pm, as I was waiting for labour to start?
You can see in the 2nd pic I was having a contraction (not because I am making a weird face but because my belly is rock hard-notice the difference from the last 2 pics) also in the last pic you see the outline of the lady diaper I am wearing. Yes, when I got home from my appointment I traded the mesh undies and gi-normous pad for the Depends (Tena brand actually). I was leaking enough fluid that I had to labour with a diaper on! Luckily I had bought these bad boys for the postpartum period. Something I highly recommend doing!


The Homebirth of Georgina Kay to be continued......
Click here for Part 2

A month of Georgie!

Georgie is a month old! Wowza... fastest month ever!

She's growing so quickly and at our month appointment yesterday she weighed in at 10 lbs.

I have a feeling she's going to grow as fast as (faster than?) 

her brother because this little lady loves to eat. It's been a long/short month, like she's always been here but yet I'm shocked that she's a month old? If that makes sense to anyone but me!

She likes the swing, which her brother didn't care for much

but has to be positioned just right under the fan for optimal viewing.

Lights are also high on her list of entertainment.

She's sweaty... like her brother.

 And likes to be on the move, she does like being held but she wants you to be moving.

I think I'm going to have to try her in the ergo carrier again (she wasn't feeling the first attempt)

but I hope to actually get my money's worth with her...

Oliver hated it so I think I only used it once or twice with him.

It's been pretty hot here the last week so she's been naked a lot but

I do enjoy getting this gal dressed up in her girly clothes.

Cue pink, purple and ruffles!

Oliver can be very attentive to his little "Baby Georgie" (when he feels like it),

happily rocking her in the swing. Always needing to know where she is and what she's doing.

He loves helping me change her bum so he can tell me how stinky her poo is!

Being a mama of two kiddos is pretty wonderful.... exhausting and wonderful.



A Week Old

In the blink of an eye our little Georgie is already a week old!

She is sweet, beautiful and a total pooping machine.

Oliver is such a great big brother, giving her lots of gentle air kisses on near her tiny shoulder.

We are one really happy family over here!

Feeling really lucky to have struck gold twice!

Can't believe these beauties are mine.



Days of Pregnancy- 40 Weeks!

I am a bit in shock that today has come and almost gone with NO signs that this wee one wants to come out! Oliver's punctuality is even more appreciated now. It's been a tough week (not pregnancy related and more on that in another post) so I guess it was meant to be.

Can't wait to meet you little babe. xoxo

Days of Pregnancy Series

More Maternity Pix

I just picked up my DVD of images from Dana and ohhhh la la...... I am so pleased!

Here's a couple of my favs that weren't included in my original 35 week post
I'm so glad I got these taken this time because I definitely regret not getting them done with Oliver.

I am still floored that these were taken in March, in CANADA.

 The 25 + degree weather was so freakishly out of season! It worked out perfectly.

Days of Pregnancy- 38 WEEKS!

So here we are, 38 weeks and 4 days along!

10 days left to go until D.D, which is kind of mind blowing but I have to admit that my body is ready for this babe to come out now. Sleep is becoming a tad difficult, I just can't seem to get comfortable and when I finally do, I have to get up to pee. I haven't had nearly the same amount of swelling as I did with Oliver at this point but there is still 10 (potential) days to go, or more.... but hopefully less? I have been faithfully drinking a few brews of Organic Raspberry Leaf Tea each day and administering my capsule of Evening Primrose each night in hopes of prepping my body for labour. This baby is still thrashing about in there and last night as Guy was holding my belly this wee one was kicking up a storm! Glad to feel the healthy movement but ouch, getting hoofed by a full term baby repeatedly is a little painful. Painting is complete, closet is in and I'm stocking up on supplies other than some minor re-organizing we are READY (well the house is anyway) for this baby to arrive! Can't wait to meet you little babe. xoxo

Days of Pregnancy Series

Days of Pregnancy- 35 weeks!

My Maternity Photo Session with Dana!

These were taken last week when I was 35 weeks

The weather felt more like July not March which allowed for such great photos!

I decided to do the session just me and the belly, since I haven't had the same amount of time to reflect on this pregnancy as I did with Oliver (for obvious reasons) and I am so glad I did.

I couldn't be happier with how they turned out! Having the pictures taken in our home

and out in our backyard in G-hill makes it even more special.

Check out my Maternity Series here