40 weeks aka Where's Paxlet?

I'll tell you where Paxlet is, right where he's been for the last 39 other weeks. And it doesn't look like he has any plan of coming out soon. Sure, I've been having a lot of Braxton Hick contractions this past week, but that's about it. I'm sure I'm not even feeling half of them, as I only notice some of them by feeling my tummy and realizing it is 'hard'. I know he'll come out in his own time, but I'm now at the point that he has made great use of my uterus for 40 weeks and I'd like him to now come out.

Also, I know today is Tuesday, but as I pointed out last week, the 21st of August is the official due date according to the doctors, hospital and government (where I'm getting my maternity pay). Because of this, I decided to give my weekly update today instead of tomorrow. I'm also sort of hoping maybe this will bring the real contractions on and I'll be in the hospital soon delivering my little one.

Total Weight Loss/Gain: At the neuvola appointment today, I'm up another kilo or so, most likely because of swelling. I'm at 88,1 kilos.

Stretch marks: There was about 3 minutes this week when I thought I had 2 stretch mark lines, one on each side of my tummy. I say 3 minutes only, because that is how long it took me to waddle up the stairs and look in the full length mirror after Mr Siili mentioned the marks. It turns out they are not stretch marks, but scars from my laparoscopic surgery 2,5 years ago, to diagnose and remove the endometrisos I have.

Sleep: Still sleeping well, when I sleep. Although, the last few nights I have been having major dreams and nightmares.

Movement: As usual, Paxlet moves like a wiggle worm. I've tried to take pictures of how lopsided he makes my tummy, but they just don't show up well. (See?) Basically the right half of my tummy is much larger and harder than the empty left half.

Gender: It's a boy!!
Symptoms: Swelling is still my worst symptom. Having said that, I know I have it pretty easy, but I still don't like my fingers hurting like this.

I have noticed that if I don't drink enough water (like yesterday) I feel queasy and have a bad headache.

What I look forward to: I truly look forward to finding out what real labor contractions are like. And after that, I look forward to having Paxlet in my arms and finally deciding on a name by which we will call him.

Moods: I'm just trucking right along. I even sort of got Mr Siili to agree that I haven't been that moody or horrible during this entire pregnancy and right now is no different. Sure I've had my moments, but who doesn't?!

Milestones: Paxlet is the size of a watermelon! Is there anything else bigger for Paxlet to be compared to?


My little boy has taken full use of my uterus! That's pretty amazing, especially since I've read about so many babies coming too early in the IF community.

Medical concerns: The neuvola nurse and midwife student didn't see much of anything today to make them concerned. My hemoglobin did finally fall to below 100 (it was at 99 today), but the nurse said there wasn't much to be done right now this close to delivery. So, I'll just continue to take the iron supplement like I have been and hope I don't bleed too much during delivery.

Also, as today is Paxlet's due date, the nevola nurse and midwife student will be sending a letter to the hospital to inform them of my/our status. If I still don't arrive at the hospital within the next 10 days or so in labor, the hospital will send me a letter informing me when to come in to get this started manually. I really hope Paxlet decides to come on his own before then.

Misc: This sight still cracks me up after all this time. Mansi is such a goofball, but she is our goofball that fits quite well into our family.

Does anyone have any suggestions to help get labor started? I vacuumed our entire house yesterday (ouch) and nothing more than a lot of BH. I've taken short walks. I will see if I can tempt Mr Siili for some "between the sheets" time, but after the major failure from a couple of weeks ago, I'm not sure it will work.

This week's bump pictures can be seen in the Paxlet Pictures tab.
 I actually managed to remember a 39 week picture. Let's see if I can remember to get today's taken this evening.

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Pregnancy brain

No, not pregnancy on the brain, but pregnancy brain! I try not to blame many things on hormones (like PMS) as much as I can, but really, sometimes things are just too coincidental and funny to not be blamed on hormones.

Last night I was so tired that I had already crawled into bed and completely forgotten about Paxlet pictures by the time Mr Siili got home. So, the pictures weren't taken until this evening and they are now ready to be viewed.

Today at work a lady started chatting with me asking me questions about a banking issue for the unit I work with. I replied to her and asked a few questions of my own. And then I remembered that during our morning coffee break we (with our entire group, but instigated by her) had talked about earthquakes, how they are measured and what is the difference between Richter and magnitude. So I quickly Googled it and started copying and pasting some of the more interesting parts of the page I found. She ignored this bit of chat and continued to ask a couple of things about her issue and then said she'd get back to me after lunch.

It was only a couple of hours later, when I realized that the person who had started chatting with me was Niina something-hill (not our team) and not Nina somethingdifferent-hill (our team). I had been rambling on about a subject to someone who had no clue what I was talking about! And she didn't even say anything. Although, to find out later, she hadn't even read those bits until I mentioned my goof up to her, as she was so focused on her issue. She said I'm not the only one who has done this. Man, I was so embarrassed, but I still told Nina from our team what I had done. I could hear her laughing across the room and she told me I had good reason to have lapses in my thinking. This isn't the first time I've done this since being pregnant, although the other time was with 2 different Heidi's.

 

I have my chiropractor appointment tomorrow at 16:30. I'm so freakin' excited! Mr Siili helped me find the chiro (from the phone book and the first one on the list) just over 13 years ago when I was visiting here for 3 months. The guy spoke great English, listens to me when I say something doesn't feel quite right after an adjustment and takes a second look and understands my owl-like (or some even say exorcist) neck. I've only ever gone to one other chiropractor here in Finland and I left there in worse pain than when I had gone in. I hope to not have to look for a new one for many years to come. 

Through pictures on the desk, I've watched my chiropractor's two boys grow from itty bitty babies to the young boy and almost teen that they are now. I'm kind of excited to be able to finally go to him and be pregnant myself. Someone who has "known" me my entire Finnish existence and he gets to see another side of me. I'm also excited to see how chiro treatments are different, if at all, now that I'm pregnant and can't really comfortably lay on my tummy.

 

But the greatest thing is, I know my neck and lower back will feel much better after the treatment. I love my chiro!

A couple of pictures that I just couldn't resist sharing to end this post.

Mansi

Rusty

Why I starved my cats for 12 hours for nothing (and more good stuff)

It's Friday and it couldn't have arrived fast enough! Thankfully next week will only be a 4 day week as we have Long Friday (pitkäperjantai) off from work. It will also be a 4 day weekend as we also have the Monday after Easter (2. pääsiäispäivä) free from work, which means another short week the following week.

Seeing that Easter is near, it means spring is on it's way and snow is melting. And now that the snow is melting, I need to switch to summer tires on my car again. But, my summer tires are so old and one of them won't even old air pressure, I need new ones. So, I called my FIL today and asked if he'd help me again get new tires. He said it wouldn't be a problem as he needs some for himself and one of his daughters. This means that Mr Siili and I will most likely be going to his parents house for Easter weekend so I can change the tires. Yes, that's right, I will be changing the tires! The men will just make sure the tires are on tight.

As I mentioned a couple of times earlier this week, Rusty has been acting a bit old. He is 12 years old/young after all, but I'm not ready for him to be old-old. Just to ease my mind, I decided I should take him and Mansi to the vet to have a check up. During the call to make the appointment, I explained the symptoms and age of Rusty to the vet andshe suggested some blood tests to check if everything was ok. In order to get the best results, the cats shouldn't eat for some time beforehand. So, I took their food away at midnight and our appointment was at 10:45 am today. Rusty woke up every couple of hours, went to check if his food was back and then came back to the bedroom to whine let me know that his food still wasn't there. Then I would pick him up and he's sleep for another while before repeating the process again, all night long. Needless to say, between my getting up to go pee and his alerting me to the food situation (or lack thereof), I didn't sleep too well.

I got the cats to the vet and Mansi has a bit of plaque, but other than that she checked out just fine. She was complimented on her beautiful and shiny coat. Rusty also has a bit of plaque and some pink-er gums, but no action is needed just yet and we can just watch it for now. They asked me about his pee and poo habits along with his water intake, etc. I told them that I hadn't seen any change in any of that lately. It's just that he's been acting a bit 'old'. The vets mentioned dementia and that's what has stuck in my mind most. So, because he doesn't seem to be having any of the major indicators of something wrong, I decided not to get his blood tested. Yeah, I know! I tortured my cats for almost 12 hours all for nothing!

I did get them some more fibre-rich food, and we'll see if that has any effect on them. But mainly we'll just continue to watch Rusty and see how he is. There is a product (I'll have to look at the brochure when I get home) that the vets suggested we give to Rusty in order to help with fighting dementia. But as I said, we'll wait and see a bit longer on how things play out. I just really want my cats to be ok. Rusty truly is my baby and a mamma's boy!

To make this day even better, I got some great news from work. Starting next month, there will be an increase in pay for everyone, which stemmed from the union strike and resulting negotiations last year. I personally will also be getting a small merit raise, based on my skills, performance during the last year, etc. There will also be a "one time bonus" for people. (Not quite sure if it is some people or all.) And!! April is the month when bonuses are given out based on last year's targets and profitability of the company. There couldn't be better timing for all of this! This will definitely make things nicer when thinking about buying some Paxlet stuff and also for our new house we'll be moving into soon.

And now, 20 minutes left at work, so I had probably get a couple of things wrapped up so I can go home and enjoy the kitties' and Mr Siili's company.

1 lonley frozen embryo + Xmas Quiz

I'm just so bummed right now, that I just don't have it in me to write a proper post. I got my letter in the mail on Friday that out of the 5 embyros we left growing the week before, only 1 of them made it to 5 days and into the freezer. One embryo! Only one! I'm so sad.

It's also only 4 more sleeps until I POAS. Time has passed..not slowly and not quickly, but just passed. Bleh.

Enough of this blah-ness, here's some fun xmas questions that the annoyed army wife recently posted that are sure to cheer everyone up, myself included. Hohohoho!

Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot chocolate, only because there isn't egg nog in Finland, unless I make my own and that is gross! I wouldn't drink much egg nog if I did get a hold of it, but a taste would be great. It's been way too long.

Colored lights on tree/house or white? None. We don't own any xmas lights. I do have puukynttelikkö (image below), which is a candelabra sort of thing that is very popular here in Finland. I just need to remember to dig it out of our closet and plug it in.

Xmas goats, Ms Mansi & puukynttelikkö

Do you hang mistletoe?  I don't think there is mistletoe in Finland. So, nope, we don't hang it here.

When do you put your decorations up? Uhm, when I have a kid. I almost forgot, I do sometimes make a gingerbread house. Below is last year's.

What is your favorite holiday dish? Do I really have to choose one? I love the rossoli salad (mentioned in this post), rutabaga and sweet potato casserole and all of the sweets! I also love my mom's pesto torta (recipe in this post).

Favorite Holiday memory as a child? Maybe the year all of us cousins were at grandma and grandpa's house for xmas. We saw Rudolf's nose in the distance, heard sleigh bells and hoof noises on the roof! It was so exciting!!

When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I have no clue. I just know that we had to pretend there was a Santa for our youngest brother.


Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? Growing up, we'd get to open one smallish gift on xmas eve. In Finland, Santa comes on xmas eve (kids get to meet him) and leaves all of the gifts. So, we open them all on xmas even and sleep in on xmas day.


How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I've never had a tree of my own since I've lived away from home. I also don't care for decorating it, so my mother-in-law usually does it.

Snow! Love it or Dread it?  At the beginning of the season, I love it. Give me until January or February, I'll tell you a different story.

Do you remember your favorite gift?  The two toys that come to mind are the Rubik's magick, which I still have, anda Magical Musical Thing (mine was blue). You could play it with your head (running the bar/stick back and forth).

What is your favorite Holiday Dessert?  Sweets and more sweets! I make tons of different cookies each year. Chocolate chip are always there.

What is your favorite holiday tradition? Family time.

Candy Canes: Yuck or Yum? I can eat about 1 peppermint and that's all. Other flavors, I might be able to eat a few more. Although, you only find a few (peppermint) candy canes here at all.

Favorite Christmas movie? I'm not that big on xmas movies, but maybe The Snowman is ok.

Saddest Christmas Song?  One Tin Solder

What is your favorite Christmas song? See above. I think we sang this in elementary school choir and it has just stuck with me ever since. I love the story of it.

It's my Friday and I'm going to the movies

Less than an hour at work and my wekeend starts! Hopefully I can leave in 30 min, tops! In order to leave work on time, this will have to be short.
That's right, I've taken Friday off from work! I did it just so I could go see Breaking Dawn part 1 at midnight and not have to worry about waking up early for work the next day (same day, but that point). I've been waiting for this night for a year now. Ever since the 3rd movie was released.

I am very much looking forward to the movie, but I'm also quite preoccupied with other stuff going on (new house + finances) at the moment that I'm not fully getting the excitement and build-up before the movie. Add hormones on top of stress and you've got a girl who is ready to cry at the drop of a hat. I have a feeling I'll cry at home before heading out to the movie this evening. I hope a good cry makes me feel a bit better, but also doesn't leave me with eyes that are too puffy.

In other words, Mansi got ahold of Moose yesterday! I managed to find him in the hallway, face down. Darn cat!

My Moose! -update

Yesterday, as I walked in the door after work, I found Moose in the hallway floor. I have no doubt who the culprit was. I scooped up Moose and kept him safe the rest of the evening. When I went to bed, I snuggled with Moose next to me, instead of just having him near my pillow.

I awoke sometime at O'dark-thirty to find Mansi hunched over next to my pillow staring intently at Moose! I quickly snatched Moose back into the safety of my arms and sleepily mumbled to Mansi, "That's My Moose! Not yours. Mine." And then fell back asleep until my alarm went off.

As I left for work, I made sure Moose was safely tucked under my pillow from the Mansi-monster. I hope Moose will still be safe when I get home this evening.

Once again, in other news:
I was a goof and mixed up the time for my clinic appointment today. I totally missed it by two hours. *hanging head in shame* I make all my appointments in Finnish. And when speaking (and writing) in Finnish, it is very common to use the 24-hour system. So, I made my appointment for 14:00 (four-teen), which I then turned it around in my mind as 4 (four), which is 16:00 (Four pm). And so, I thought my appointment was at 4pm today.

This is the first time in ages I have done this! :( I know I have this number issue (and yes, I do work with numbers for a living, I still think I'm dyslexic at times) and I work very hard to clarify times when speaking in Finnish. It didn't happen this time. Thankfully the lady at the clinic was very nice and I now have my appointment scheduled for next week's Wednesday at 13:00 = 1pm.

My moose!

This is my Moose. My mom knitted it and it is now mine. All mine. I sleep with Moose next to my pillow. I've slept this way every since I've gotten back from her memorial at the end of June.

This is Mansi. She is our 2 year old girl cat. Dont' let her cute and coy looks fools you. She's a terror to all toys and things that give her lip. She has been telling us that Moose is taunting and teasing her and that is why she keeps dragging Moose into other rooms to play with him. This does not make me happy, because Moose is all mine.

This is Rusty. Rusty is our 10.5 year old boy cat. He has nothing to do with this story, but he's so beautiful against this green blanket that I just couldn't resist sharing a picture of him.

The End.

In other news, I have an appointment with my clinic tomorrow afternoon in what I hope is the kick of to IVF #3.

Wordless Wednesday

Well, mostly wordless....

Our house (middle, left half) as of Oct. 16

When 2 hands aren't enough & proof that I changed my own tires on Sunday.

Mr Siili & I a few weeks back

A beautiful fall day (same day as above picture)

Why I bring random boxes home...

...easiest cat trap in the world.

7dpt with 3 day embryo

Everything seems to be a bit brighter and easier for the last few days. I'm "blaming" it on the girls brunch out on Sunday. I definitely feel better after talking to them and just hanging out. I hope we can do it a bit more often.

Today is 7dpt with a 3 day embryo. But I wonder, because it was frozen, does that mean it is now a 4 day embryo? I did think about testing this morning, but I didn't. I just didn't feel like putting a possible damper on this decent mood I've been having. And in any case, the doctor told me to wait until next week's Wednesday to test. That's a-whole-nother week away! I'm not sure I can wait that long, but let's see what happens. I do suspect AF will show this weekend (unless I do happen to be pregnant), as this has been a natural cycle and my natural cycle should end this weekend.

I've been thinking of "a day in the life of me" via photos for a little while. And that is what I did that today. The pictures are taken with my ZTE Blade phone-camera, so many are not of the best quality, but I like the way they have turned out anyway. I hope you enjoy!

Good Morning! A promising beautiful autumn morning.

Mansi (and Rusty, not shown) is watching for birdies in the bedroom.

Rusty needing a bit of mama-love before she heads to work. (Notice I have one sock on, one sock off.)

Leaves frozen on the roof of my car this morning. First freeze of the year in my town. Brr!

This photo was an accident, but I love how it turned out anyway. Behind the wheel, and no, the car isn't on yet.

Waiting for my chiropractor. I've been going to this same guy for 13 years now, I love him!

My work space. I know it's very blurry, but it looks cool! Plus, I can't be sharing an work secrets now, can I?

After work I checked the air pressure in Lydia's (my car) tires. See her red spot? I love her red spot. I should blog about it how Lydia got her spot.

After purchasing a couple of new post stamps at the post office, I wandered around the crap-shop to see if there was anything new. There was a mix of Halloween and Xmas (front right). I didn't spend a cent! So proud of myself.

Pizzer for dinner! Unfortunately, both Mr Siili and I were disappointed in the new pizzas we tried this evening. :(

Rusty almost always greets and talks to me when I get home in the evening. Tonight was no exception, except for what he was talking about: holes in his (food) bowls. It is a serious matter and offense if there is a hole in his bowl, much less both bowls. Here is Mr Siili remeding the problem while I am trying to "set-up" a photo shoot about it (in his words). LOL

And now for a bit more Jasmine green tea and a bit of reading, then it's off to beddy-bye. (See my pj pants and Shanghai hotel slipper? *grin*)

Let me introduce our fur-kids

I recently read about Carlia's fur-babies over at The Stork Drop Zone. They are beautiful kitties with sweet personalities! It got me to thinking that I haven't really mentioned, much less introduced my fur-babies in the 3 years I've had this blog. So, without further ado, here are my 2 kitties. The light and joy of my life.

Rusty is 11 years old and 100% a mama's boy.

We got Rusty (and his brother, ^^Kantti^^) when they were about 4 months old (2000). Hubby and I fell in love with them instantly. So much personality and 100% sweet! Rusty took a bit longer to open up to us, but once he figured out humans gave wuv (love), he was all over it. Especially with his mama, me. He follows me around the house, herds me to bed at the appropriate time, tells me all about his day when I come home after work and scolds me if I stay out too late. He loves to snuggle with me and most mornings is found laying right next to me. Rusty will snuggle with hubby, when I'm not around or if I'm too wiggly.

Rusty loves: snuggles, Treat time (yes, he knows the word 'treats'), salmon, avocado, brushing, the Cat Dancer interactive toy, strings, hairbands and being too darn cute (his mama taught him well)! Rusty also knows how to open cupboard doors. He hates traveling in the carrier, but doesn't mind sleeping in it before or after the trip.

Mansi aka Mansikki is ~1.5 years old and our spaz kitty.

About 3 months after the loss of ^^Kantti^^, we adopted Mansi from a foster home. She came to us with the name Basted (Bastet - a feline goddess of Ancient Egyptian religion) where we changed it to Mansikki (daily name Mansi), which is a common name for cows in Finland. It means Strawberry. So, this little girl went from worshiped goddess to a cow. Sorry, girl! Her personality is still developing, but she has definitely become much more comfortable with us. Mansi doesn't automatically run if you take a step in her direction anymore, unless she's in a mood to play, which is almost always. This little girl is full of energy. She tears through the house at an amazing speed, careening off walls, corners and human legs if they are in the way. We've accidentally kicked her and spun her around as we've walked from one place to another and she runs between our feet. She doesn't seem phased by it though. She definitely likes her older brother (but we don't always think the same is true the other way around). We're glad we found her, spaz and all!

Mansi loves to play with her cow, play with the Cat Dancer, play with shoe strings, hunt bugs, play with the piece of whatever she found on the floor, play with my Puff the magic Dragon (which I have hidden from her and hubby wants me to give back to her. I say no!) and she loves snuggle time on her own terms. She has also learned that licking hubby gets her attention (he hates it!).

Brother and sister spending time together.

This was only 13 days after we got Mansi. I'm not sure who was in the chair first, but I have a feeling that it was Rusty. Mansi doesn't understand personal space or boundaries, but they didn't seem to mind too much sharing the chair this day. Mansi loves to walk up next to Rusty and flop on or very close to him. Sometimes he will bite her a bit and other times he tolerates his younger sister.

We love our kitties so much. They give us endless hours of entertainment, unconditional love and kittie bonks or nose nudges. I know our lives wouldn't be as complete without them.