the jellyball family blog

I can hardly believe that my big fella is almost four and half months. Every day he's growing so fast and changing so much, that I can hardly believe all this time has gone by. Sometimes I look at him and am amazed that THAT used to be in my belly.

I've been meaning to write down my memories of the birth, because I know the details of it will get fuzzy as the years go by.

So I finally did just that today. It's a long story, but it was also a long labour. If you're interested to read it, please do. If you're squeamish, don't worry, I didn't get into any of the dirty details - but mostly because I didn't actually see any of it. (For that, you will have to ask Luc, who witnessed everything. And I mean, everything.)

Click here to read Caleb's birth story.

Looks like labour has started... I'm writing this between two contractions. It started about 12:30am (I know, this baby has impeccable timing) with a belly-shaking contraction that woke me right up. Anyway, we will email everyone once we're back from the hospital and update the site then.

Think positive, pain-free thoughts for me, people!

Dear Meatball,

Ok. So you're really liking it there in the womb huh? I don't blame you. You have a pretty nice sleeping schedule, you get chauffered around everywhere you go, and you don't even have to really feed yourself. Hell, make some room in there - I want to be in there too!

Seems like my belly has dropped even further and I have no idea how I managed to get so big in the last few weeks!

I know you will be making your exit at your own time and pace, so we'll try to be patient. This week, it's become clearly evident that there are a lot of very excited peple waiting for your arrival. You should know that there is so much love waiting for you on the other side! Companies are losing employee productivity! The anticipation is really building up and everyone is dying to become aunts and uncles!

But no pressure, really.

I've probably said it enough, but I'll say it again. We can't wait to meet you, already!

Big belly hugs to my boy.

Love,
Mommy

Status: Still pregnant!

We went to the doctor's for my weekly checkup today and talked about the game plan. We are still well within the realm of "normal" and the baby still has up to 2 weeks past his due date before he'll be evicted from the womb.

I'll be going in for an ultrasound on Monday - which is standard procedure to check on babies who are overdue. I have a regularly scheduled checkup on Wednesday for some last minute examinations before they put me on the list to be induced on Thursday.

Even then, Thursday is not a sure thing - I'll be on call all day on Thursday for when they have an opening in labour & delivery. If it happens to be a particularly busy day on Thursday, then it would likely be on Friday.

And for those of you who are into astrology, today's the last possible day for this baby to be a Virgo!

Status: Hangin' tough.

I'll be updating the yellow box on the right whenever I get a chance, so check there for the most recent status update.

Definitely starting to feel more tired these last few days - sore, stiff, and waddling even slower than before. I'm so looking forward to shedding some of these 30 extra pounds!

The best excuse I've heard so far about why the baby's been late: "It takes time to make a masterpiece."

My running list of what people are telling me to do to kickstart labour:

1) Sex. ("What makes it go in is what makes it come out.")

2) Get on my hands and knees and scrub the floor.

3) Eat lots of pretzels and salty foods.

4) Eat spicy food.

5) Go for a long walk/run.

Status @ 3:09pm - Baby still holding on tight in the belly.

Luc was calling every other hour yesterday to see if labour had started, then realized that it was getting a little ridiculous. So then he started inventing other reasons to call.

"I was just calling to ask you if you knew that the paper cups from Treats Cafe are made in Brampton, Ontario?"

Status: No signs of baby as of 7pm! This morning, Luc actually tried to bribe the baby out of the womb by offering to buy him something from Toys 'R Us.... shameful!

Status: No baby as of 4pm today!

Dear Sweet Baby,

Well, we've made it to the full forty weeks! A lot of bets were lost this week, and there are a few more outstanding predictions for the weekend! Your aunt Julie says that more women give birth on a full moon, which is Sunday - your due date! Ooooooo...

People have reported that they are taking their cell phones with them everywhere - into meetings at work, into the bathroom, leaving them by their bedside at night - our close friends and family are literally on call to give us their well wishes and support!

I've been feeling really good this week - both physically and mentally. Physically, it's getting harder to sleep these days - I've got a sore back, sore hips, sore everything, not to mention the grace and mobility of a beached whale. But once I'm out of bed, I'm usually feeling much better - you can definitely upgrade my agility to that of a large elephant.

This week, I also worked on your baby book - which has been something of a stressful ordeal for me. My mom had a baby book for me, and I always loved looking at it. So I went and bought one from the store, but kept putting off starting to fill it in, because it just felt so overwhelming.

I finally decided a few weeks ago that I wasn't going to use it, because I didn't want to do a bad job at filling it out and have you end up with this half-filled in baby book. So I went and got a blank binder scrapbook and in the space of an afternoon, I designed your very own unique baby book. (I know, how so VERY Martha Stewart of me!)

So now, we get to tell your story, the way we want to tell it, and track everything from your first poopy to the first time you pick your nose - should we want to record that precious, momentous occasion.

This weekend, we'll be attempting to save our energy while still trying to get things done around the house. Next week, I will probably send your dad out with the car to work and stay put at home most of the week. I plan to watch lots of movies (the kind of kissy-touchy-feely stuff that your dad doesn't really go for) and read some books - and generally just relax at home while I wait for your arrival. I even bought a few canvases recently thinking that I might have time to paint a few things for you!

I have a feeling you might be a little on the "late" side - you seem to be pretty happy there in the womb, though lately your movements seem to be saying "Hey, it's getting tight in here! Make some room, will ya?"

You know where there's more room? Out here! Come check it out, it's pretty spacious and well-decorated.

See you soon, munchkin.

Love,
Mommy & Papa

p.s. I'll start posting status updates more frequently next week just to let everyone know what's going on!

I haven't put on more than a pound or two since last week, but I certainly look like I have. I think there's a slight scale (no pun intended) issue between last week's belly pic and this week's.

Last week, we were at the St-Hubert when the guy at the next table saw me rubbing my belly, at which point he looked at his own pot belly and decided to start rubbing his too. After the laughter subsided, he said "What are you, seven months pregnant?"

So this is last week:

And here is this week:

Note the relative size of the ass (which, ahem, has not gotten any bigger since last week. I think...) when you are wondering how I seem to have exploded since last week. Who knows, maybe I have!

Nonetheless, I am starting to look more and more like a woman who's about to pop out a baby!