Back to work update

Just thought I would write a quick update and let everyone know how my first couple of weeks back to work have been!

The morning drop offs have actually been much easier than I expected. Levi happily goes to Ash or Meghan and seems to have alot of fun during the day. He gets to play with a few friends, go to the library and the park! He's a busy guy. So far he hasn't had any super rough days which is such a relief to me. I think had he cried the first day I dropped him off, I might have called into work! I am extremely grateful that he is friendly and easily adapts to the change that we've thrust on him.

As for me, my days have been alright! It's a bit tough getting back into things at work as I have to pick up right where I left off. I've got to get back into the swing of things there.

I am finding it a bit tricky to balance my evenings. By the time I get home from work, I nurse the baby, eat dinner, play for a few minutes and then he gets ready for bed. I don't get much time with him in the evenings lately which sucks. I'm finding things a little hard to balance time with friends, my family and keep on top of things at my house. By the end of the night I am TIRED. I'm sure things will get easier as we work out the kinks in the routine but for now, it's tough. Its only been two weeks and I am exhausted.

Anyways, I just thought I would give you an update on how things are going! And if anyone has any tips on how to stay organized and make this transition easier I would appreciate them!!!

Thanks friends!

One More Day

I am sitting on my couch on a cloudy Sunday afternoon while my two men nap. 

This past couple of days have been a whirlwind of fun and family time. Rob took Friday off of work which was a wonderful surprise. We spent the afternoon together at The Museum in Kitchener. It was alot of fun walking around and letting the wee man touch and watch everything. He is so curious and loves to watch people and figure things out for himself. We really enjoyed the time together.

Saturday was a busy day with doing some housework and trying to get things ready for going back to work. We did some errands and spent the day mostly around the house. We had fun playing games with our little guy and enjoying the days together.

Now its nap time. My head is swirling too much to sleep but it's nice to enjoy the quiet. I have been grateful for the words of encouragement and the prayers as we prepare for this change. It's going to be difficult to get used to waking up to an alarm again! I'm hoping to spend the evening relaxing, packing bags and lunches and snuggling my wee man.

I will keep you posted as the week progresses and how things are going. 

Next week at this time we will be celebrating Mr. Levi's first ever birthday! I cannot believe that he is almost a year old already! Where the heck did the time go?! My little baby man is turning into a little boy! Eeeek!

The count down is on!

I am not officially only a couple of days away to going back to work!

These past two weeks have been BUSY. I have tried to get in a bunch of errands and whatnot before being gone all day. Took the car into the shop to get an oil change and change the winter to summer tires, went out to get a haircut, and spent a couple of days with my dad in London. We've tried to squeeze quite a few things in. Then, Rob surprised me by coming home earlier this week and telling me that he booked Friday off so we could spend a long weekend together before I start work again. Isn't that so sweet! Now we have to decide what to do. Should we use the time to get a few things done around the house or take a little day trip? We're very undecided! I guess we'll see how we're feeling in the morning.

I am anxious to get into our new routine. I'm not looking forward to being away from the wee man all day long, but I am looking forward to us figuring out our new routine. I am trying to be as organized as I can be and make sure that I am going to have things done the night before. Anyone have any tips on how to be ready and make it out the door on time with a one year old?!

Thanks to everyone who has been thinking about us and praying for us as we approach this new change. It's been so wonderful to have the support. I know things will get easier and we'll get used to the change, I think just the inital week or two is going to be the most difficult. I'm looking forward to getting through the first couple difficult days that way I know things will get easier. Thanks again for all of your support up to this point.

Back to Chaos

Sadly, the time has come for me to start planning my big return to the working world.

I cannot believe that one year has flown by already. It's been such an amazingly wonderful journey to watch my little man grow up so far. It's been so fabulous to see him learn and watch him start to develop his little personality. He is going to be one year old in only a matter of weeks!! Eeeek!! Where did my little baby go!?

I am less than two weeks away to getting back into the working world. It's causing me some MAJOR stress and sadness. Returning to work means not being able to spend every day with my little man. It means early mornings, stressful days and short evenings with my baby. Not only that, but I am getting back into a work environment that is fast paced and can be extremely frustrating (depending on the day). This past year I have enjoyed slow days, lazy afternoons and mostly stress free days. I dread the dramatic change that is going to hit in a few short days. I'm soaking in every single moment with my wee man before I leave him for 8+ hours a day.

We aren't strangers to changing environments, that's for sure. These past few years, Rob and I have had some major changes in our lifestyle. Get married, buy a house and change jobs (all within 3 weeks), then a few months later, we aquired a roommate, two years later roommate moves out and within a few months we had a baby! One change after the other.

However, this change is causing me alot of stress. I hate the fact that I won't be able to spend as much time with Levi. I am also not really sure where I feel called in my life currently. Is working in the Insurance industry my future? If so, that's great! I do enjoy my job but I'm not totally sure its where I need to be right now. I will likely feel a bit better after I get back into the swing of things.

Unfortunately, returning to work at this point is a financial necessity. These past couple of months have been rough financially. Thankfully the Lord has provided and we have somehow managed to have food on the table and our bills paid on time. He truly does provide. Though, the frustrating part is that I am going to go back to work only to make the same as what I am making on EI because now we have to pay for childcare! Who knew that babysitting was going to be expensive! I am very fortunate to have a few friends who are willing to look after our little man and be a bit flexible with finances. For that I am extremely grateful.

Anyways, as I prepare for the change that is ahead, any tips and advice from working parents is welcome! How do I ease into this big transition, for myself and my wee guy? Been alot of tears and alot of prayer of this past two weeks and I have no doubt that will continue into the next couple.

Levi's Entrance part 2

Now this is the part of the story that actually gets interesting!

So, we arrived at CMH around 2am.

Since it was a strange hour of the night, the main entrance was closed and I had to go in through Emerge. the maternity floor is at the back of the hospital on the 4th floor. I waited inside the Emerge doors for Marijke to park and her and Rob to grab all of our things from the car. I laboured while having everyone in the Emergency room watching me crouch on the floor every couple of minutes....awkward!

They tried to encourage me to sit in a wheel chair but because I was unable to sit down, that wasn't an option. Therefore, I had to walk myself from Emerge to the 4th floor while leaning over a wheel chair. The security officer at Emerge walked with us all the way upstairs. It was a slow process as I had to drop to the floor every couple of minutes for a contraction. THe midwives met us outside of registration and walked us into the room. Right off the bat they ran me a hot tub in the fancy labor tubs. Rob sat outside and got us all registered.

We spent several hours wondering in the room, in and out of a hot tub, trying different laboring positions, but it was tricky to get comfy as I couldn't sit. The midwives were very supportive, and hands on when I needed them. After several hours, they confirmed that my cervix was caught over Levi's head so he was not moving downwards. Our midwife attempted to remove it manually but it was incredibly painful and didn't seem to be making much of a difference. They ended up bringing me some herbal meds to help dissolve the cervix.

By this point, I was exhausted. The midwives gave me laughing gas, which ended up giving me a little bit of a break. At first, I didn't enjoy it because I felt I was suffocating. A bit later it was nice to be able to feel a little relaxed. I had said early on in my pregnancy that I did not want an epideral, but at this point I was asking for it! I was incredibly tired. Thankfully Mr. Levi's heart rate was normal and unaffected this entire time.

Finally, once my cervix had dissolved, I was able to start pushing. Since it was my first time, I didn't really know what I was doing, so it took a while for me to get the hang of it. All the while, the midwives were monitoring the heart rate of my very content and chill babe. After 2 hours of active pushing, he finally made his way into the world. 8:29am on May 3rd Mr. Levi arrived! Tante Marijke was able to capture some very special pictures taken within minutes of his arrival. Marijke was the one to cut his umbilical cord. It was such a special time!

The relief that he was finally out was amazing. It was so great to see him and know he was safe and healthy. I was ready to sleep...for weeks! I was so proud of myself for having lasted so long and was able to deliver him without any medications!

We spent the rest of the day at the hospital attempting to sleep but more just in awe of our little man. We had lots of visitors that day and ended up taking him home at 11pm that same night. It was amazing to take him home and sleep in our own bed.

(Of course, there are alot more details and whatnot involved but this is the basic story!)

It's crazy to think that its already been 9 months since this day. Time flies when your having fun! Mr. Levi has brought so much love and joy into our lives. I would go through all 32 hours again for him if I had to.

Welcome to the world little man!

Little Levi's Grand Entrance

Well friends, I decided that I wanted to share the details of little Levi's entrance into the world. I wanted to write this more for myself as a reminder of what a wonderfully beautiful day it was. (Don't worry I won't go all the way into all the nitty-gritty details!)

It was a LONG day. 32 hours of labour to be exact. Mr. man was in no big hurry that's for sure! I think the easiest way to go through the day is by timeline, so here goes...

12:44 am (May 2, Mr. Levi's scheduled due date) - I wake up during the night to slight cramping and to go pee. Went back to sleep no problem.

1:44am - Up again to pee. Accompanied by slight cramping again.

2:44, 3:45, 4:45, 5:45 - Up every hour with the same crampy feeling. Easily went back to sleep.

6:30am - Up to drive Rob to work. Explained how I had been up all night and let him know I would keep him posted. Came home from driving, took a gravol, had a warm bath and went back to bed.

9:30am - Woke up to serious crampy feeling. Decided not to stay in bed any longer.

Throughout the morning, contractions started coming every 20-30 minutes. I was able to lay comfortably on the couch until around noon.

12:00pm - Attempted to take another bath. Started to realize that I was unable to sit comfortably. Found that leaning over the bathtub was more comfortable.

12:30pm - Called Rob. Asked him to come home as I was stuck on the bathroom floor.

1:00 pm - Rob arrives home and helps me to the couch. I advised him to try to nap, but he wanted to wait up with me. We spent the afternoon watching TV shows, chatting, snacking all with me kneeling on a body pillow and leaning forward on my elbows onto the footrest of our rocking chair.

5:00pm - I attempted to try laying down again. Was feeling tired but realized that contractions were coming every 10-15 minutes. My "nap" lasted about 15 minutes.

Around that time we decided to start timing contractions (how often, how long they lasted). We also made some phone calls to our parents to let them know what was going on.

9:00 (ish)pm - Called the midwife. Advised her that the contractions were every 5 minutes or so and lasting a good minute each. She told me that she was at the hospital with another laboring mom and asked if we wanted to go there. We decided to stay home as I had found a comfortable place and knew this could still be a long night. She agreed to find a replacement midwife for the woman in the hospital and would come over once that was arranged.

9:30pm - Called Tante Marijke. She got up and came right over. She was going to be our labour support. And a fabulous one she was!

10:00 pm - My water broke! We called the midwife again and let her know. She let us know she was on her way!

10:30 pm - Tante Marijke showed up. Her and Rob were able to get a few household chores done at the house before the midwife and her student showed up.

11:00 pm - The midwives finally showed up! They checked me out right away and I was already 4.5 cm dialated. Since they had been at the hospital for several hours, they sat down and had something to eat and were able to chat with Marijke a bit. I went and attempted to sit in another tub. Problem being, I couldn't sit so needless to say, it didn't last long.

1:30 am - Midwives left for the hospital to set up the room. We called my family and they packed up and drove here from London very early in the morning. Such dedication! We packed up the car and Marijke drove us to the hospital. Unfortunately due to my lack of being able to sit, I had to kneel on the floor of the front seat with my arms up on the chair. Thankfully there is hardly any traffic at that time of the morning!

We arrived at the Cambridge Memorial Hospital around 2am.

This is where I'm going to leave this for now!

To Be Continued.......

How time flies...

Friends!

Who knew that this blog still existed?! Even after an entire year of no action, this page is still here. And so am I!!! This past year has been INSANE!!! I also have to say that I didn't have regular use of a computer until just recently (Thanks Bob!) so that inhibited my ability to keep on top of this blog.

Now that I have access to the computer again, I figured that I might try this out again. Now the trick will be trying to find the time to do it. I have a BUSY almost 9 month old that takes up most of my time.

2014 was a great year.  Most importantly of all, we welcomed our little Levi Albert into the world. I will write his birth story in an upcoming blog! He has brought so much joy and love into our lives.

Anyways, just thought I would get this started again!
Chat again soon!!!
Missy