See all Aiden photos here

On October 23, just as I was going to bed, my water broke. I wasn’t sure at first, so I kept waiting for labor to start. No luck. By 6am, when I was sure my water had broken but labor hadn’t started, we went to the hospital. They assessed that the baby was ok and asked me to return when they had more nurses. Because my membranes had ruptured prematurely, I had to be induced into labor.

At 1pm, I was put on the oxytocin drip. By 8pm, labor was still pretty manageable… because my body hadn’t started laboring on its own yet. Within 2 hours, all that changed. After being on the maximum drip for 30 minutes, my labor kicked into overdrive. My contractions became painful and back-to-back, almost no down time in between. The drip was stopped but my body kept up the same pace. Being only 3cm dilated at the point, and having such intense contractions, I opted for the epidural. This was not something I wanted to do, but I’m glad I did. Thankfully there were no complications as a result. Just 3 hours later I was ready to push and an hour later our baby was born! Within a half hour he had latched on and was a loud and happy baby.

Through the night, while recovering from the labor and epidural, we learned to take care of our baby. And tried to come up with a name. We had a short list, at the top of which was Aiden. It was the one name that Ianiv & I both independently put on our individual lists and it still felt right. One of the other names on the list was Riley and, when reviewing the list, it stood out to Ianiv. When I heard it at this point I instantly thought it should be a middle name, and so we quickly landed on Aiden Riley for our new little boy.

We stayed in the hospital until Sunday afternoon then returned home. Ianiv’s mother and sister both stayed with us at this time to help take care of Aiden – and us – as we adapted to our new family. It was great to have the support. Aiden has been a wonderful baby so far – very alert, very strong. He could roll onto his side from day 1 and can hold his head up for quite some time! Amazing to watch him grow and learn.

Though we got off to a good start with breastfeeding, that has remained our largest challenge to date. Aiden is a very good breastfeeder but my milk supply has been slow to come in. His weight dropped quickly after we returned home and he’s yet to return to his birth weight, which is past when he should have done so. Partially this was due to his placid nature, but partially it’s just difficult to monitor his weight at home. We have had some nurse visits, but they are swamped with H1N1 stuff, and community drop-ins are not every day. It was therefore a few days before we realized he still needed formula. Now he’s back on track and should resume his growth pattern within a couple of days. But oy, so stressful! Meanwhile, we’re doing everything we can to get up my own milk supply – lots of fluids, good food, pumping, Domperidone, fenugreek and nursing tea. We’re trying it all. Right now I’m producing about half of what he needs. Hopefully that improves soon.

Aside from these hurdles, we’re adapting well to life as a family. Aiden has already been out for coffee twice! Any surprises there? ;)

At 37 weeks, John Biehler came over and did a maternity shoot with us. The full set is here. It felt great to have the photos done and to enjoy the beautiful aspects of pregnancy. Thanks John!

Of course, it’s not all beautiful at this stage in the game! Aside from the excitement of soon meeting our son, there’s also anxiety, nervousness, frustration and so much more. Waiting these last 2 weeks has been very difficult. We take it one single day at a time and slowly we move forward. We just want to finally be in labor! Who ever thought I’d look forward to pain? But that’s how it is.

So, we still have no idea when baby will make his appearance. My doctor, and many researchers, believes that the baby sends out a chemical signal to trigger labor when he/she is ready. No matter how ready your body is, baby sends that signal. So, for now we wait. Anxiously. ;)

My doctor’s exam this week showed that the baby’s head was “very low” and indications were that I was presenting at around 38 weeks. This means that I will probably deliver at or before I am 40 weeks pregnant, but not after (as is statistically more common for a first pregnancy).

This is definitely exciting news! If anyone has seen me within the last week, you would hear me say, without doubt, “I’m done.” The pregnancy definitely hit a difficult place. Though I was able to breathe better when the baby dropped a couple of weeks ago, I have had a harder and harder time sleeping. Partly due to the “light sleeping” the pregnant women go through to “prepare for baby” (what a load of crap that is, don’t we go through enough??) but mostly due to discomfort. I have severe pain near my pelvis / hip joint, particularly on the left side (the side I have to sleep on) and, due to swelling and this side-sleeping, issues with my arm pain have resurfaced. In the morning, I have a fair amount of nerve pain in my hand which restricts me from even being able to make a fist.

Speaking of swelling, I’m really looking forward to dropping that! It hasn’t been “horrible”, in terms of aesthetics, but I do have lovely white splotches all over my legs and now on my arms and hands too from this excess water. The bonus will come when my weight drops quickly from all this water dissipating after the baby is born! And, of course, I’m looking forward to wearing shoes other than my Birkenstocks (the only shoes that have fit for months).

So, I’m definitely ready for baby to come! That said, there are things I know I’ll soon miss. Despite how ‘aggressive’ the baby has been with his kicking and squirming, I know I’ll miss this special time with him. It’s a very amazing process and connection to be a part of. Yes, pregnancy is difficult. But it’s also absolutely amazing. To feel him kick and move his little bum around, to see him respond when Ianiv talks to him or to feel all his little bouts of hiccups… just so cute.

Here’s a question I get asked a lot… Do I have cravings? Well, not for anything “weird.” Early in the pregnancy, and still a bit now, I’ve enjoyed lemons and limes (and lemonade) more than usual. For me, it helped with nausea (though I only had very mild first trimester issues). Now, I’d say that things I really enjoy are simply “enhanced” and the need for them becomes more urgent. More often than not I’ll crave french fries or ice cream or a muffin. However, I’m easily swayed by something I see on tv or hear about. If someone mentions Thai food I can crave it to the point of distraction, for example. That said, Ianiv has been a lucky husband – he’s rarely had to go out for any special “craving” trips. ;)

At the same time, we also checked the position of the baby. About two weeks prior to the ultrasound, baby boy had turned breech (bum down). He’s an active baby, even now, but at the time was making turns at least once a day (once I realized that’s what he was doing). As he grew bigger, it was a lot more uncomfortable for me when he’d decide to switch positions. Thankfully, perhaps by his own choice or some exercises I’d been doing, the baby turned back from the breech position and has remained head-down since late last week.

At 34 weeks, the baby has also started to “drop” slightly, making it a little easier on me for breathing, though increasing my low back pain and the intensity of my Braxton Hicks contractions. We still have 3 weeks until baby is considered “full term” (which he is considered from 37 to 42 weeks), though the doctor says that if labor starts now, it won’t be stopped. So he could really come any time! The ultrasound very rough estimate has baby at near to 6lbs already.

The pregnancy has progressed to the “very uncomfortable” stage. My pelvis and lower back are both pretty sore and loose, in preparation for the birth, and I have discomfort from the contractions and just the weight of the baby. I’m sure his kicks don’t help either ;) I also have a fair amount of water retention in my legs and feet, making them a bit sore.

We have completed 2 out of the 6 prenatal classes. Let’s hope we can finish the full 6 before baby is born!

When Vancouver had that record heat wave, I was definitely a mess. Feet so swollen I could barely walk. I was working on our couch at the time, since our house was being painted. That project took about 3 weeks, with our baby shower sandwiched in between.

Already it feels like a long time since that baby shower! The last two weeks have proven to be more challenging for me, pregnancy wise. I think I realize why people say the third trimester is hardest!

I was unable to return to working at my desk after our renovations were complete. The baby presses down and makes it difficult for me to breathe / for blood to circulate to my legs. So, I now work with my feet up on the couch, taking regular breaks to lie down or walk. This position has its problems for my neck and shoulder, of course. Sleeping is a whole other challenge. Despite being propped up – front and back – with loads of pillows, I have pain throughout the night. So, sleep is difficult. During the day, when the baby isn’t on my diaphragm, he’s often nudging his little rear up into my ribs or kicking the heck out of my mid-section. You add to that regular bouts of “pregnancy brain” (some of which I’m sure has to do with ups and downs in protein intake and glucose levels), and I’ve definitely been on a roller coaster.

That said, it’s not all horrible. I can still get away with eating spicy foods, and still enjoy coffee (though I’m back to decaf). Though I may be slow, I enjoy getting out and walking and, up until this week, was regularly attending a prenatal pilates class. It was fun! I’ve also love nesting in the baby’s room – now beautifully painted and adorned with all baby’s new furniture. And of course, as sore as his kicking can make me, I love feeling the baby twist and turn around and to see his little foot or arm push out my tummy.

We’ve already had our “tour” of the hospital in preparation for the birth. Next week we begin our prenatal classes. We also have another ultrasound to look forward to. So, we’re getting there. In retrospect, I’m sure the next 8 weeks will just fly by. For now, we’re just taking it a day at a time.

So far the baby is very healthy and growing the way it should. All our pre-screen tests came up normal, so that was good to hear. We don’t yet know the gender of our baby. During our last ultrasound, the baby had its legs up high but the umbilical cord was running right between them, covering any chance of seeing if we’re having a boy or girl!

Since there’s no “medical” reason to get another ultrasound, we’ve decided to get the “entertainment” ultrasound. Basically they call any ultrasound that just looks for gender an “entertainment ultrasound.” This is one you need to pay for yourself. Given that, we decided to have fun and get the 3D option. We’ve booked a 3D ultrasound on June 22nd (23 weeks in) to see the gender of our baby.

Right now, I’m feeling pretty good. Some of the pain and discomfort I had during the first trimester has passed. I still have difficulty sleeping, not being used to sleeping on my side plus the added weight of the baby causing some pain in my hips. I get very uncomfortable sitting and working through the day, so that’s been a challenge too. I’m growing more quickly now, so we’ll see how that changes as I get bigger!

I used these slides as my speaking points during the talk, although covered a lot more ground that was here. Raul, a great support during the day, also live blogged the session! You can read that here.

You can also download the presentation as PDF here.

The MostPublic Index identifies the Web’s 20 most visible individuals, those who are engaged in the world around them;

“This is the first attempt to take a group of people and say, ‘Let’s crunch the data and see when somebody says something, how many people do they reach with that message.’ “I think the list will surprise some people,” – Leonard Brody, CEO of NowPublic

Although I do “keep my head down” in many ways, I’m nothing if not prolific on the web. It’s a great honor to be a part of this list.

The Top 10 from the Vancouver MostPublic Index are:

1. Darren Barefoot         http://www.darrenbarefoot.com/
2. Tim Bray        http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/
3. Boris Mann        http://blog.bootuplabs.com/
4. Kris Krüg       http://kriskrug.com/
5. Roland Tanglao  http://rolandtanglao.com/
6. Tom Williams    http://www.givemeaning.com/blog/index.html
7. Megan Cole      http://www.megancole.org/
8. Rebecca Bollwitt         http://www.miss604.com/
9. Arieanna Schweber       http://www.blogaholics.ca/
10. Tod Maffin      http://todmaffin.com/

Check out the full Top 20 here. And have a look around the NowPublic site – if you haven’t seen it since the re-design, it’s well worth some of your time. The header is constantly changing too, which is great fun.

And yes, I’m aware the Vancouver Sun mis-spelled my name :(