24 Weeks

We started feeling larger baby movements this past week.  At my appt. last week, our doctor put the heart rate monitor on my stomach and at that moment the baby kicked back at her pretty hard.  That was the first large movement I had felt.   She said we would then hear the heart rate increase post movement, which we did....indicating a healthy baby.  She said a sick baby wouldn't respond like that to movement.  Pretty neat.  The kicking is so weird, and so amazing....like someone poking a stick at you from the inside, but an very nice reminder that the baby is there and active.  Eric recently put his head on my stomach and the baby gave him a pretty strong punch to his eye.  Quite entertaining.

I've been really enjoying a lot of fruit, so I guess that is my craving....Honey Crisp apples, grapes, oranges, kiwi, blueberries, and blackberries.  I even found some watermelon, strawberries, and pineapple for descent prices & it was all really good!  Kind of a risk to buy out of season, but it had great flavor.  I went through a week of the stereotypical pickle craving, or more of a 'liking'.  For awhile, I could only eat tiny meals as I would fill up quickly, but now I am fully capable of eating full meals.  Thankfully, in the past, I only drank pop or coffee for flavor and enjoyment, so limiting caffeine has not been a problem.

As far as names go, I have a list of about 20 boys & girls names each, with nothing truly standing out yet.  Naming a child for the rest of their life is not the easiest task.  Eric thinks my girl list is much better than the boys', referring to the boys list as "too feminine" or "too English (?)."  Eric is definitely more of a "like it & buy it" type of person & I am a "look around until I see the right item & for the right price....and then still think on it a little while."  We'll see how this works out with naming.  Our friend Josh suggested naming the baby after either Ella Fitzgerald, Stevie Wonder, or Frank Sinatra, as he is a musician.  Our friend Megan just simply wants us to name it Megan, girl or boy.  At one point, I really liked Gillian.  I kept saying "Gillian Micheels" and thinking it sounded familiar.  I then realized that is the name of the Biggest Loser trainer, just spelled differently.  That doesn't really matter, but I think that is probably out.  Maybe something will just come to us... 

Working & Skating.

We had one of the busiest weeks since we've moved here, but it was great.  I had three days of a very thorough all staff orientation, including training to learn about the Aboriginal culture, specific transfer training and joining the union.  I then started in the ortho therapy dept. at the hospital Thru & Fri, meeting with the manager going over codes, policies, and shadowing two of the OTs.  I'll shared more of the differences in the health care and therapy end of things when I learn a bit more.

My days have been a bit of Trains, Planes, and Automobiles, trying to figure out the best ways to get to and from work.  There is no parking for staff at the hospital without walking at least 20 min, so Eric got a parking spot at the university and can drop me off in the mornings (the hosp. is luckily just over the river from the university).  After my job, I can catch a free staff shuttle to the other hospital which is on campus and then walk 10 min. to Eric's office.  I took a couple different routes to get it down to 10 min.  One of my options is walking through the building tunnel system, which is nice in rain or snow.  If I miss the last shuttle, it's about a 45 min walk.  Not the worst way to end the day; much preferred to sitting in traffic.  As a whole, I was very pleased with my first week.

Laundry and meals took a back seat this week.  Eric even jokingly commented mid-week "what happened to my laundry lady?"  It really was quite easy to keep up with when I was home. 

Eric went ice skating on Monday night at a free skating rink downtown, where you can also check out skates for free.  His first experience was last week and he is already seeing some improvement.  I didn't join, since I haven't skated for a long time and didn't want to risk falling down.  Eric's a great sport with sharing his skills through video.  Enjoy.

Just starting out.  A lady later asked if she could use the walker for her child.  Eric said yes, but commented that her son had much less distance to fall!

Back to the real world...

I am pleased to announce that I will finally be starting a job on Jan 3, Jan. 15, Jan. 30, Feb. 13th!  My start date has been changed three times due to work visa delays, but now I am good to go!  I am so thankful that my job was willing to wait for me....well, I think it is either wait for me or have no one, as OTs are in a shortage here.  Either way, works for me.

I'm starting at one of the three hospitals in town in orthopedics, temporary covering a maternity leave. Perfect!  In the health region, OTs are hired by the region & then placed temporarily where the need is, at any hospital, clinic, or other center within the region.  There are other private companies, like clinics, but the main hospitals are in the "region."  Eventually, once a health care worker is in the system, one can see what positions are open internally & apply for a place to work more permanently.  I think this system is really interesting, as it makes for very flexible workers & you get a taste of a variety of areas/departments.

My process towards work was extremely long & draining, as I had to take the Canadian certification exam, similar to what I had to take post college in the U.S.  It was nerve-wracking to review everything again, but some things were well worth the review & a few topics "came together" in my head better than before.  I remember walking out of the U.S. exam in 2006 & saying " I am so glad I never have to take that again."  I could not believe that 5+ years later I was sitting in a room taking another board exam!  Anyway, I was so relieved to have passed!!   I also had to have my degree checked to ensure I went to a legit university and that process was way longer than I would have liked, but it is now done.  

I am looking forward to working again and to see how the Canadian health system differs, even though I will barely get started and have to leave for my own maternity leave.

Eric continues to really enjoy his job.  Last semester he taught a grad class on agribusiness research.  He had a grand total of seven students, all women.  This semester he has a 100 level agriculture course with 230 students (not all women).  He told them on the first day that he felt he was running for mayor, as the town he grew up in only had a population of about 230.  I think he is relating to the students well, adding a lot of real-life examples and YouTube clips, etc.  He generally throws in a few jokes or other stories to break up the lecture.  Sometimes the stories relate to the topic, sometimes they don't.  He teaches a lot about food and understanding marketing and packaging in relation to farming.  I even think it sounds interesting.

Enjoying the Small Things by Kelle Hampton

I want to share this as I really enjoy reading this blog and this post is especially inspiring.  This woman is an excellent writer, beautiful photographer, easy to relate to, and seems very honest.  In this most recent post, she talks about a few things that I had mentioned from The Happiness Project.  Especially about 'using the good stuff.'  I also really like her line "I'm old enough to understand that grown-up life can sometimes come with a sort of dissatisfying monotony."  She talks about ways to break this up in life.  I love that line, as I believe a lot of adults expect some major excitement in their lives all the time & are repeatedly disappointed or "searching" instead of just living.  Please click on the link below & enjoy......

Enjoying the Small Things

Well over half-way!

Almost 22 weeks....time is actually going by a bit fast if you ask me.....I must be growing as expected as I spoke with a lady who happened to do previous work as a midwife & she was dead on with guessing how far along I am.

I really am enjoying pregnancy, minus not being able to see anyone & "share" it with anyone, except Eric of course.  It really helps that I feel well.

I started a prenatal Pilates class; really low key, actually probably more low-key than the class I lead at the retirement home, but nice to be in a room full of other pregnant women.  And I like the focus on posture.  I do wish there was a bit more chit-chat, as we all stare at each other, curiously I'm sure, for an hour and then we just clean our mats & leave.  But I suppose, on a Wednesday night, most people are tired from work and/or want to get home to their families....

I definitely have grown in the last few weeks.  Finding clothes has started to become more of a challenge.  I haven't had the best luck with finding second-hand clothes and spending money on new clothes is just not very fun.  They have a Value Village here, similar to Goodwill, but they just have a tiny maternity section & the clothes look like the women had to have been pregnant 20 years ago.  I think I'm going to stick with the couple pairs of pants I have & just wear them often.  Saskatoon is definitely lacking in maternity lines, with no Target or Kohls.  The baby stores are also limited and, therefore, quite expensive, since they lack competition, and again a big gap with no Target.  (Target is arriving in 2013...but if they put it where I've heard they are putting it....in an already crowded area with limited parking, it is going to be mass-chaos.  I think Canadians are going to go nuts over Target.  It really is the type of store that is missing.....the in-between Walmart & the department stores).  I have also had limited luck with second-hand baby clothes.  I found two nice onesies, one I paid $1.99 but later was looking at Walmart & saw basically the same thing, except new of course, for $3.50, so I don't know if I really made out so well. 

We decided to enjoy the surprise & not find out the sex of the baby.   It adds a small challenge when looking for supplies, but it does take away the desire to buy too many cute boy or girl things that we probably wouldn't need anyway.

We are trying to form a list of items needed for this baby's arrival, but it is extremely overwhelming.  About a month ago I walked into a baby store, felt completely disconnected from everything & just had to walk out.  Thankfully, I have heard others who have done the same thing...it is such an emotional transition/process.  I am slowly getting better at looking at items and visualizing what we want/need.  Luckily, a lot of friends have had children, so we are getting some great suggestions.