August 18 and no baby yet...

This post isn't a rant about me anxiously awaiting Paxlet's arrival or that I want him here now! His EDD isn't until this coming Tuesday/Wednesday and I'm perfectly happy to let him come at his own pace (for now *grin*). What this post is, is the results of a game we played at my Finnish baby shower.

This particular game that was played at the baby shower included a combination of questions that were asked of the participants about Paxlet's arrival and delivery. The questions were: When do you think Paxlet will arrive, his length (cm), weight (grams), up to 3 names the parents might use, Paxlet's Apgar score, What JustHeather might say during labour, JustHeather's expectations of birth/labour and Mr Siili's reaction to labour.

It was fun for Mr Siili and I to go over the responses together after the party and see what people said. Some of made us laugh (I hope I'm not that mean during labour) and others make me shudder (September 1st for Paxlet's arrival?!).

click picture for a larger view of the responses

Now it's just a matter of waiting to see who has guessed the most items as correctly as possible and we'll have a winner! But unless labour starts NOW and Paxlet arrives before midnight (less than 14 hours away), the first 3 ladies won't be correct on their date guess-timation.

I have been definitely having more Braxton Hicks contractions. Sometimes even several an hour. They aren't painful, only mildly uncomfortable or annoying, now that I know what I'm experiencing. Let the good times begin!
 

Best virtual baby shower EVER - photos

Below are the items we received from the baby shower* on Saturday from my family and friends in the US.

With many of the gifts my family sent, the items followed one of a few themes: lion, giraffe, elephant, green, frogs and basketball. The lion/Leo is for me and also Paxlet, if he is born before the 23rd. Giraffes are for Mr Siili, because when we first met, he made some silly comment about giraffes (which totally confused me at the time) and I started buying him giraffe stuff. Elephants are because my mom's maiden name sort of sounds like 'elephant' and she had a thing for collecting elephants for many years. Green and frogs, well I love both and Paxlet is going to have to deal with that until he can make known his own color and animal choices. Mr Siili plays basketball, so that one was easy enough.

My mom had found these bags at some point and was saving them for Mr Siili and I. I think I might frame them and put them on the wall.

This was my fall/winter/snow suit when I was first born. My mom had saved it and my stepmom and sister found it and sent it in the package. I was born about a month before Paxlet will be born, so I'm hoping he'll still fit in this when it gets colder out.

These were all items that at least one of us kids have used previously.

My mom knitted the bulk of each of these items, but didn't get them finished. My stepmom (top) and MIL (botties and bottom) finished them for us. All grandmothers have had a hand in these items and made them possible!

My stepmom crocheted each of these items with yarn from my mom's stash. The hat/beret in the upper left hand corner is for me to use on days when I just can't be bothered to wash my greasy hair. LOL Also, the sweater is the first my stepmom had ever done.

This bonnet and pants were made by my MIL. I think they'll go quite well with the sweaters shown above.

My aunt made this amazing fleece blanket.

Karen, a family friend, made these tye-die onsies and socks for us. They are all different sizes so we should have some amazing tye-die items for some time.

My sister found this cute lion puppet/washcloth a while ago. And the purple corduroy Sketchers are something my mom bought for my sister, so I only have them on loan.

These are all items my mom had bought in preparation for a grandchild (second-hand). The Snugli (top left) is handmade and is like the one she had for my younger siblings. She loved it so much that she wanted to share it with us kids. The food mill (top right), I remember us having one for my younger siblings and almost bought one here a week or so ago. So glad I waited. The white onesie is Baby Dior and from what my stepmom says, my mom was so excited to find that as every baby needs something uber brand name. LOL The white thing in the middle is just a thick cloth that can be used for whatever (for ex, changing blanket). The green corduroy pants are just amazing and I want a pair like that for myself. And the blanket (actually it is a duvet, but my stepmom and sister didn't realize that, tee hee) at the bottom is just cute, even with the itty bitty bit of pink.

A few more things my mom had purchased. The lighter yellow sleeper (middle top) has a giraffe on it. The two orange items (right hand side) have basketballs. And the Hawaiian shirt is in honor of my dad because he wears lots of these shirts. Now Paxlet will be able to match his grandpa.

 Pooh stuff is from long time family friend, Tess and her family. Mansi thinks these are for her and wants to play with them. Doh!

 My stepmom, sister and (step)grandma went on a shopping spree for these items. I love them. Especially the two onesies at the lower left hand corner (My auntie rocks and My uncle(s) is awesome).

And that my friends, is the other half of why I had the best virtual baby shower ever.

* There are a couple of items that my dad will bring when he comes in September: a breast feeding blanket/bib (to cover myself and child), a set of natural driftwood 'blocks' and a bright, colorful and whimsical painting of flowers.

Best virtual baby shower EVER

My family and friends in the US hosted a virtual baby shower for me via Skype (with web cam) on Saturday (evening my time, early day their time). This party never would have been possible without Skype and our webcams. It was amazing!! I loved being able to see everyone while we chatted, they had coffee & cupcakes (we had just eaten dinner), opened gifts, played games and just hung out.

The start of the party was marked by everyone entering the party room, parading in front of the web cam with a balloon under their shirt. The guys were included in this stunt. It was pretty funny seeing my dad with a bit round tummy. Everyone was moaning, waddling and "complaining" about how tired they were from carrying their 'load'. It was funny and brilliant!!

As the US part of the party drank their coffee and at a cupcake, I started opening gifts. My stepmom and sister had collected gifts during June and then sent the package near the beginning of July to get it here on time for the party. The package only took 10 days to ship and I had it sitting in my living room for almost 2 weeks before the party. I don't feel I  can't do the gifts we've received justice by just describing them, so I'll post some pictures in the next post right after this.

A few of people in the US had their gifts there with them, so they opened them for us and showed them around. My dad will bring them to me when he comes to visit in September. After gifts we played a few quick games. There was guessing how many jelly beans were in a 120ml sized bottle (102), how big around my tummy is (42 inches) and a name game. Everyone shared their favorite name with us and Mr Siili and I picked which one, out of the list, was our favorite (Niklas). Although, it doesn't mean we have to name Paxlet that. *grin* The party ended with everyone in the US eating lunch and those of us in Finland going to bed. I dreamt about the baby shower all night.

I am completely at a loss for words of how amazed, humbled and thankful I am for my family and friends and what they have done for Mr Siili, Paxlet and I. I just don't know how to describe what I'm feeling. My family is so excited for Paxlet to arrive in this world. It is my parents' first grandchild and my siblings' first nephew. It's at times like this that I am a bit sad that we live so far away.

Not only did my stepmom, (step)grandma and sister go shopping together to get us some insanely cute stuff, but my stepmom and sister dug through my mom's stuff and found items that she had been saving for her future grandkid(s). Some of the items belonged to each of us kids when we were little and others were stuff she had purchased because she liked them and/or had one like that when we were little and liked the product. So I now have a full arsenal of amazing stuff!

What is killing me right now as I type this and has me in full out sobbing tears is the knowledge that my mom wasn't able to experience the baby shower. She will never get to meet her first grandchild and never see the stuff that she lovingly saved and gathered be put into use by her grandkids. And from all the stuff we received from my mom (Grandma Robbin), you can tell that she was so freaking excited to have a grandchild. The small comfort I have right now from this, is knowing how much she wanted a grandchild by the preparations she had already made, before any of us kids had ever even gotten pregnant. I am thankful that I had told my mom that we were trying to get pregnant and that she knew what we were going through in order to have a kid and give her a grandchild. (I've woken Rusty, the 'old boy' cat, up and he's come to see what is wrong.)

I know it's impossible and silly to think this, but I'd give up any and all of the material items we have received to just have my mom here. I know it doesn't work that way and that it's impossible, but I can't help but feel it and think it. At the same time I am thankful for my stepmom (and that or relationship has gotten much better) and my mother-in-law. I love my family and friends. I know I am not alone. Not in my thoughts, nor life, yet sometimes a girl just wants her mom.

My grandmother would be so proud of me

My friends threw me a not-so-surprise baby shower on Sunday June 17th. And let me tell you, it was a great afternoon!! The reason it wasn't a total surprise was that I knew it was going to happen, on the 17th and at 3pm. I had also provided a list of names/emails of the people I would like to invite, but it didn't mean they would all come. Other than that, I had no idea what was going to happen.

Well, 3pm rolled around and no one had showed up yet. Finally a bit after 3 the first person showed up and after there several more arrived. They brought food, laughter, chatter, gifts and themselves! It was so hard to just sit down and let everyone handle the last minute preparations and what not. But it worked out quite well.

I had school friends, co-workers and my MIL with me on this day.

But the reason I think of my grandmother in all of this is that I sent out thank you cards. I didn't just email everyone my thank yous, or only tell them thank you in person the next time I saw, although I have done that too, but I sent real snail mail cards to every single person who joined in on this special day. Growing up, my dad's mom would always send each of us kids a pack of thank you cards along with the gift she sent us. We were always sure to write her a thank you card, if no one else. But this time around, I felt it very important to let my friends know how much I appreciated their efforts towards me, Mr Siili and Paxlet.

So, I made thank you cards and envelopes. They cards and envelopes aren't anything elaborate, but I totally love them and enjoyed myself making them. Everything I used was something I already had on hand. 

The cards (first picture below) are made with postcard sized (store bought) card stock to which I sewed a same size piece of foam onto the card. I just sewed a rectangle all the way around about one and a half centimeters from the edge. I then used a dot (or two) of double sided tape to secure the handmade paper design on the front (made with cookie cutters I own). On the back of the cards I wrote my thank you.

The envelopes were made with handmade paper (top row) or paper that was decorated by myself. I quickly Googled for DIY envelopes to get an idea of something simple and quick, and the bottom picture is what I came up with.

 

31 weeks

Total Weight Loss/Gain: I'm an even 80 kilos this week. That puts me up 14 kilos from my start weight. Still not worrying about my weight, but I do think a little bit (only a bit, mind you) before eating some of the sweets I want.

Maternity Clothes: Totally loving the clothes I bought last week. I hope I now have enough to get me through the rest of this pregnancy.

Stretch marks: I had a neuvola appointment this morning and the nurse commented on how beautifully round and stretch mark-less my tummy is. I could only grin.

Sleep: Getting enough sleep is an off and on thing. Some days I feel quite rested, others I just don't want to get out of bed. Today I actually took a nap and I'm feeling great at the moment. I don't always want to take a nap because I know it doesn't guarantee that I'll wake up refreshed and pleasant (poor Mr Siili).

Movement: Paxlet is still mostly kicking me on my right side. It's quite funny (for lack of a better word) when he kicks me and the right side of my tummy is hard with his body, yet the left side is left soft and 'empty'.

Cravings/Aversions: I'm going to the store to get me more fruits today, especially nectarines and watermelon.

During this last week, Mr Siili and I bought some nectarines. I picked out 3 and he picked out 2. I ate my 3 in the first day and a half. I posted on Facebook and joked with Mr Siili that I was going to eat his too if he didn't eat them soon. Soon after, when moving Mr Siili's nectarines from the counter to the table, one jumped out of my hand and onto the floor. It got bruised. Mr Siili didn't eat it that night, so I ate it the next morning. I couldn't let the bruise get worse! And just today, I re-spied his last nectarine on the table. It no longer exists in fruit form. *big grin*

Gender: It's a boy!!
As the neuvola nurse was checking my tummy size (fundal height) today she was quite sure she felt an arm or leg at the top of my uterus. I know that isn't anything earth shattering or relevant in terms of my pregnancy, but it made me smile. Paxlet and uterus are measuring just right for 31 weeks.

Symptoms: I've been a bit tired lately and my iron is a tiny bit low, so I'm going to take some iron again. But I'm not 100% convinced that this tiredness is due to lack of iron. I know I just haven't been sleeping as well, for one reason or another, like usual.

I've eaten too much food in one go a couple of times this last week, which has left me feeling quite yucky. It's all my own fault though. LOL

I'm finding that I need to sit up more and definitely not slouch. Slouching leaves me breathless and also a very uncomfortable tummy.

What I miss: I miss being able to spring up out of bed so easily. And as usual, there really isn't much else I can think of that I miss. I'm still doing most of what I normally do, just taking it a bit slower.

What I look forward to: Juhannus (mid-summer) is this weekend. I hope we'll grill some makkara (sausages), as that is sounding really yummy to me right now.

Only 2 more weeks of work (plus a day or so) when I go back next week. I'm so thrilled that I'll be off from work and that it is finally my turn to get to experience this thing called 'maternity leave'!

Next week is the final parenting course. It will be about birth. I look forward to hearing what they have to say, as I really haven't thought too much about my upcoming birthing experience, other than it will happen. I also wonder if I'm being a bit naive about thinking that I can maybe do it naturally. Yet, I am not against needing medications, if I feel so when the time comes. This is a subject to think about more in the near future.

Moods: I've been a bit weepy and moody this last week. I know part of it is due to missing my mom.

Milestones: Paxlet is the size of a squash, yet again this week! He is the weight of 4 navel oranges, which is about 1600g.

Medical concerns: I think the yeast infection is better, but I'm still watching for symptoms that it hasn't fully gone away or that it has made a come back.

I have been having some asthma issues with feeling like I can't get enough air, but that is easily solved with using my inhaler.

Misc:  I tried to do a little something nice for Mr Siili on Sunday morning for Father's day, although in Finland this date doesn't happen until the fall. The place I wanted to take him wasn't open for another 30 minutes when we arrived, so we went back home and will maybe go there another day. I was bummed that my little plan didn't work out.

Then Mr Siili and I had a heated argument about all the crap in our place and not having enough room to put it. It started because Mansi knocked over the computer siding and gouged a hole in the floor. Mr Siili thinks if we had no crap, that everything would already be in it's place and this wouldn't have happened. I'll concede that we do have a lot of crap, but I don't think we have as much unnecessary stuff as he thinks. In my opinion, it is more a matter of storage spaces being different in this new place than our old place and therefore it will take some time to figure everything out. He's unhappy and stressed that the house isn't 100% ready now, just over 3 weeks after moving.

In other events, my baby shower later in the day on Sunday was awesome! I had my best and greatest friends (and co-workers) with me. We talked, ate (too much), laughed, played a few games and I opened presents.

The games were fun, easy and didn't take too long. No eating poo out of diapers here!!! Blech. We played a memory game, word scramble game (with Finnish & English words), identify the given Moomin characters by name and the last one was the funniest. There were 8-9 questions/items that people had to answer and only once Paxlet is born, will we know the winner. My friends had to guess the date Paxlet would be born on, his weight and height, plus suggest some names he might be called, what I might yell or say during delivery and so on. It was quite amusing reading the answers the following day. I sure hope I don't go 2 weeks over the due date. In fact, I've talked with Paxlet and he is welcome to come a few days early.

I (we) received a green bathtub and green hooded froggy towel, several pieces of clothing (many are green), a small diaper bag that can attach to the stroller, a mirror to put on the headrest of the car so I/we can easily see the baby while driving, a baby monitor, a kitty mug for me and a Baby guide (for engineers) book for Mr Siili. I also can't forget that my BIL & SIL gave us their recently used (for their 3rd child) infant car seat.

As I've been sitting here typing this post up, the construction men have been working an extra long day (it's now 6pm) getting the yard prepared. When we moved in, the insides of all the houses were finished, but the outside of the houses and yards are not scheduled to be completed until the end of July. Our yard has been flattened, raked, the mulch put on the borders and who knows what else will be done today. Eventually we'll have grass!

This week's bump pictures can be seen in the Paxlet Pictures tab.
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Bursting with sheer happiness, literally (part 2)

The below event took place about a month and a half ago, but I never posted it then because I was too lazy and just never got around to finish writing it. Even though this is part two, it actually happened first.

Sunday was the most beautiful weather we've had so far this year. The sun was shining, it was even warm, and there was only a small breeze. Spring is really going to arrive. I texted my friend, R, and asked if she was willing and able to go for a couple of kilometer walk around the lake near her house.

R and I walked and talked about everything under the sun (like always), but mostly about kids (her almost 3 year old) and our pregnancies. You see, she's 5 weeks behind me and I'm totally thrilled that I have a close friend going through this (pregnancy, maternity leave, etc.) with me. I was 'worried' that all my friends would be done having kids and my Paxlet would be the lone little one.

There was just one topic that I was a bit worried about bringing up: a baby shower. That morning in fact, before crawling out of bed I instigated a baby shower chat and cry with Mr Siili. I desperately want a baby shower, I always have. But when I think of my last cousin that had a baby and a shower, all my aunts and stepmom were there in person, my mom too. I will never get to have that. For one, my mom will not ever be able to go to another baby shower, no matter where in the world I am. Also, being half way around the world from family, there is no way we'll all be able to get together for a baby shower to welcome my Paxlet to this world. It's not about the gifts, though they are nice, it's about being with my family to celebrate a much waited for and wanted time in my life.

Since R and I talk about basically everything together, I figured I could talk to her about this topic too. I related the above to her, most of it through tears. Being the friend that R is, she stopped walking, gave me a huge hug and told me, "Heather, I remember you made a comment about wanting a baby shower years ago when we were throwing a shower for another friend. Don't worry, we're planning you a shower, just not yet as it's too early still". I couldn't help but laugh a little and cry some more.

I really do have the best of friends and family. And it really was a beautiful day and the start of spring (even if more snow came after that).

Bursting with sheer happiness, literally

My stepmom has been trying to get a hold of me the last few days, but Skype is having issues. So tonight we connected via Facebook chat. She wanted to ask me what I thought of a virtual baby shower via Skype (if it is working later this summer) and video. (So, "now", my MIL said. *grin*) I have to say, I'm so totally happy beyond words. I honestly didn't think I'd receive a baby shower from my US family and close family friends. In fact, I had a tearful discussion about this exact topic with a close friend of mine a month or so ago (that blog post is half finished). We just discussed the possibilities of how the logistics of it would work (items posted well in advance, etc), things I would need (I have no idea), things I would want (I don't have much of an idea about that either, but I thought of a few things), the colors I prefer (NO pink) and so on. And just sitting here having this conversation and typing all of this stuff up got me crying! Mr Siili asked me what was wrong and I told him nothing was wrong, these were tears of happiness. He thought that was a good thing. I agree.

I'm feeling quite lucky to have the family I do!

Baby showers

As everyone knows, I am no where near the time a person would have a baby shower thrown for them, yet things like this cross my mind on occasion. This particular thought has come around several times already. In the past, my friends (and I) have delighted in throwing surprise parties for each other. (My 30th & "bachelorette" were major surprises among those.) Now, I don't expect anything nor do I want to presume anything, but if a baby shower were to be given in my honour, it would be nice to know about it beforehand. Such details as the date & when to show up. I don't need to know any other details.

So, yeah, that is one of the many thoughts that run through my head quite often.