Friday, June 13, 2008

An Explanation of sorts...

You may have wondered why I have recently been failing as a blogger, some of you already know. I have been sick and lazy for a while now, not feeling like blogging or even taking photos. There was a period where I probably spent 2 weeks straight on the couch. Why? Because I have a mini freeloader riding the Jen train, who we have been affectionately calling "The Babe".

Well I'm just one week off my second trimester and thought Friday the 13th was a nice day to announce it to everyone. The last weeks have been a ride, and I can't say it's been a good ride. There has been a crazy lack in energy and a steady nausea that has taken me off my feet. Things taste weird and smell even worse. I haven't touched a cup of coffee because I can't stand the smell, and the funny thing is that the aroma of coffee used to be one of my favourites. It's been a ride, starting from weirdness at the health centre to throwing up in the health centre parking lot. To waking up at all hours to pee to sleeping at all hours randomly. This tiny little creature that I know nothing about has completely taken over my body.

Living in the north has posed all sorts of issues, problems and concerns of a baby. Who knew something so small could be such a a life changing force. So the questions start to arise. Can Nathan be there for the birth? Can I get baby furniture in the mail? How many diapers do I need on the sealift? Diapers cost how MUCH? Should I use cloth diapers (I don't think so, as my brother put it, he does not want to spatula out the "pamps")?

Anyways more to come later. If there are any northern mommies that want to leave tips or links that would be fantastic! :) And so starts this new adventure, or at least I can blog about it now.

27 comments:

Julie said...

Yay for new mommy Jen! I'm glad you are now able to share your wonderful news!

I look forward to reading about little baby Bacon adventures!

Kennie said...

Yay for new mommy Jen and new daddy Nathan! As Julie already stated, glad that you're now able to share the news with all too!

Congrats to both!

Anonymous said...

Hey congratulations!

And sorry I can't look at a picture of pregnancy test without thinking of the iPod commercial where the girl pees on the iPod... "Uh, that's my iPod."... "So am I pregnant?"

Allmycke said...

Congratulations!
I was kind of thinking that there might be a tiny reason like this why you've been a rare read lately...
My sister used cloth diapers for her daughter and I know she was very pleased. The price is right, less risk of various rashes and stuff, potty training happens faster...(cloth gets wet, while regular diapers "stay dry" too long, apparently) not to mention the environmental aspect of it all.

However - everyone should decide on their own what course to take!

Megan said...

Congratulations!

I had my son in Inuvik. Northern babies are the best kind.

Rob, Tina and the boys said...

Thank god you finally posted it! I've been bursting at the seams to comment on it!! I'm beyond thrilled for you guys.

Anonymous said...

CoNgRaTuLaTiOnS! Wow! So exciting! I have a one year old boy.

He grew so fast it was hard to tell how many diapers of a particular size to get. He was too big for newborn sizes and by the time he was 5 months was wearing size 5 already. But he is a big kid.

I ordered big items from sears.ca and toysrus.ca

And I also ordered things from grandrivertoys.ca (they have cool wooden things that can be personalized). My sister got us some pretty neat-o things from here.

I hope the adversion to foods/smells and the tired-ness goes away soon!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations! How fun and exciting!

Lindsay Gee said...

Did you keep the test? Kinda gross keeping a stick you pissed on but when the kid becomes a teenager it would be pretty funny to waive it in front of its face. HA HA HA.

Take care of the mini bump. You now have one of the greatest excuses to sit and relax. So take it easy. I want to poke it next time I see you. :)

Julie said...

In the words of Salt and Pepa..

Oooooh baby baaaaby! Oh baby baby! Oooooh baaaaaby baby! Oh baby baby!

jen said...

Haha Thanks everyone..

Clare, have you ever seen the commercial for clear blue? "the most sophisticated piece of technology you will every pee on!" LOL if woman are peeing on ipods, that statement isn't true.

Megan,
Northern Babies are awesome, but I'm going down south because I'm not living by myself for a month in Iqaluit waiting for the baby. They make you leave your community a month in advance during a period warmly called "confinement" lol.

In Iqaluit,
Thanks for the sites!

Lindsay,
LOL I took a photo of it and threw it out. Ok and I don't think the result lasts until say when the child is graduating high school. I think it pretty much expires in like 10 minutes, meaning the little pink stripes go away. Plus there was pee on it. So into the garbage it went.

Indigo said...

Very cool. And so exciting. A new adventure, birthing and motherhood. Possiblt the best adaventure one can have really. You will quickly learn how to do everything one-armed that you used to do two-armed. I learned that having a child is like giving your heart license to walk around outside your body for the rest of your life. Enjoy your next 6 months of freedom, nausea and all.

Why not get a mix of both, diapers I mean. Cloth diapers for when you are home and non biodegradable landfill hoggers for when you are travelling and just not up to it. Hey! there's an enterprise for someone in CD - a diaper service.

Rob, Tina and the boys said...

I kept my pee stick. I honestly forgot out it until I was moving up North. It was in the drawer for the better part of 2 years and the lines were still there. :)

jen said...

Tina,
The part where there is pee on it won it's place in the garbage for me lol.

Matt, Kara, Hunter and Cavan said...

Hurray!!! Glad you finally put it up here too! And I am with Tina- kept my pee stick as well.

Hope you don't barf for nine months like I did!

Say hi to baby for us!

Aida said...

omg, CONGRATULATIONS! i didnt keep my pee stick but i did took a picture of it. it was cool.

i second Kara, i hope you dont barf like me either when i was pregnant with Ben. it can be a little challenging being pregnant up north but look at it this way, the little baby is also a little heater and be glad that summer up in nunavut is short and not too warm since i cannot imagine being pregnant in summer in ontario, its too warm.

looking forward to hear your baby adventure.

Anonymous said...

Wow, how exciting Jen!!!! Congrats!!! As I just had my 'northern' baby (well, in the south, but we are heading back up north!) I probably have alot of info to share - I (think) I have figured out the right amount of diapers to order, and have a long list of the best places to order baby stuff - I will compile a list and e-mail it off to you. Feel free to shoot me an e-mail with anything you think I can help you with - very exciting time, but the whole northern thing adds a slight 'scary' tinge to it!!!

Anonymous said...

Jen, if you go to Youtube and search iPod Pregnancy Test you'll find it. The guy in it is Lance Krall.

And Jennifer and Ian from Nunablog can probably fill you in (pun intended) on cloth diapers, as they went that route. Bottom line with pampers and sealift... don't bother with the newborns you'll be done with them very quickly 2) You won't order enough 3) If you manage to order too many they're really easy to sell (unless there are no babies being born in Cape Dorset).

Aida said...

haha, we went on the cloth diapers train too, i think Kara is still doing it as well. ordering diapers on sealift can be crazy, we ordered it on our first sealift and it was horrendous..price wise. we are now on our 2nd year of sealift, what a difference it made minus the disposables. we however did use disposables on Ben during the first few weeks due to the newborn runny poop and sticky meconium. its difficult to gauge how many of what size you will need since with Ben, he was born 7 lbs 15 oz, i thought he will be for sure in size 1 for a while, turned out the little porker was 11 lbs at 6 weeks and by 2 months, he was already in size 2. i had to sell 3 large bags of diapers in arviat and glad to have sold it but we have a lot of babies born here.

i think you will be starting to get fitted for an amauti since you probably are not sporting a huge belly yet which makes it great to get a fit since your babe will be arriving in winter right?

email me if you want more tips, be happy to help.

psssttt, you get reimbursed per diem for every single day you are gone to deliver your baby and after. cant beat that one for having a baby up north! though the odd thing is they say once you are discharged, your per diem stop and you hv to either pay on your own or go home. i was allowed 25 days like Kara but her 25 days where given one lump sum while mine was given in 14 days space since they say if i went early which i did, the entitlement stops once i get discharged from the hospital. but of course that never happened and i still got my 25 days.

Aida said...

and btw, after your babe is born, learn to breastfeed. if you encounter issues with breastfeeding, contact a lactation consultant, a local La Leche League will be happy to help. your wallet will thank you for that since i am sure its crazier in Dorset but in Arviat, a 730 grams can of formula is around $29.99 and an infant drinks 8 - 12 times a day and with Ava, we went thru a can in 2 weeks to a can in 4 - 5 days when she got older. very pricy! so nothing beats "free" boob!lol

Anonymous said...

Oh my god, breastfeeding was so very painful for me! Very. Very very very. But I perservered and I am so grateful that I did. But there were times when my husband would say "he's hungry again" and I would want to cry or shout or something (like give it up altogether). Days 5 and 6 were the worse (my milk came in). And then was BAD for about 2 weeks. Then kinda bad for 2 months. Then okay.

But that's so far away right now! And I wonder what your readers think of all of this poop and breastmilk talk! Ha ha. But Aida is right... use disposables for the first little while. Seriously.

I LOVE to talk about babies and any questions you have throughout your pregnancy and after the birth, I would be happy to answer!

Karyn said...

Congratulations! I wondered if you were pregnant a few weeks ago when you mentioned being really tired.

No advice about giving birth in your situation, although I've had a few friends in the exact same sit. as you and their husbands managed to get down south in time, even with one whose baby showed up rather unexpectedly early and required a bit of a mad dash for replacements and trip out up there. I'm sure it will all work out well for you, too!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations, Jen! I was so happy to hear the news :-)

8 weeks to go here ;-)

Kate Nova said...

Congrats Jen! That is wonderful news. Stay well.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations Jen! I read your post earlier in the week but just as I was about to post a comment I had to shut down the computer as we were having a pretty violent thunderstorm complete with lightening and hail. So my guess is that it will be a girl.

:)

Shelagh said...

Congratulations Jen! I look forward to following your greatest adventure!

Anonymous said...

Not sure this is where I leave my comment. Just learning to surf.
I hear you had a birthday, happy birthday and congratulations on the baby to be, Matthew and Micheles MOM