Birthday Wishes

Just wanted to shout out a Happy Birthday to my sister Pam. I hope your day is filled with happiness, good cheer and lots of love.

Cheryl xo

And the Fun Begins

Oliver has decided at 6.5 months that he is going to start to crawl. He isn't up on all fours crawling, he does an army crawl. Jack didn't do this until he was 8 months old. I thought I was good for another month and half. He's still just learning and is still pretty slow, luckily. Jack has slowly been learning he can't leave his toys on the floor around Oliver anymore because when he does, they tend to get taste tested. He doesn't like it very much when Oliver "eats" his toys. And so the fun begins.

Midwives

When I was pregnant with Jack, I had an OB/GYN as my primary caregiver throughout my pregnancy. I found every visit to be the same. Very impersonal. I don't think he once ever called me by my name. To top it all off, obstetricians work on an on-call schedule at the hospital so chances were he would not be the one delivering my baby (which he didn't). We didn't build any sort of relationship. In fact, if I had returned there for my second pregnancy, I would bet that he wouldn't remember that I was once before a patient of his. When I became pregnant with Oliver, I didn't think twice about choosing a midwife.
In Ontario, midwifery is fully funded by the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. A midwife is a primary caregiver, which means that she can provide all the care necessary for a healthy woman and her baby throughout pregnancy, birth and for six weeks afterward. With a midwife, you have a choice between a hospital or home birth.
I loved my team of midwives. They were so wonderful. They took an interest in not only my pregnancy but my family as well. Another great thing about midwives, is they are available 24/7 for any questions/concerns you have that are pregnancy related.
I knew having a midwife was the best choice for me. It wasn't until the day I gave birth, that I realized just how wonderful and supportive these women truly are.
Having gone into labor, I called the midwife and she (Andrea) told me she would be over within 40 minutes to assess if it was time to go to the hospital. Upon arrival and finding out I was already 9cm dilated , she suggested we stay put and have our baby at home. She called for backup as they always deliver in teams of 2. OMG! I couldn't believe my ears. Have my baby at home? I never even considered this an option. She assured me she had everything necessary in the trunk of her car. She returned from her car with the supplies needed. I was freaked right out. Andrea calmed me right now. She remained so calm and supportive through the rest of my labor and delivery. I could not have asked for a better birthing experience, even if it did happen at home unplanned with no drugs. I don't know if I would do the whole home birth again next time, but I know without a doubt I will have a midwife.

Potty Training

When I decided it was time to say good-bye to diapers for Jack, I thought it was going to be a week of messes and be done with. Ha. Little did I know Jack was having nothing to do with that. First off, he refused to use the potty. It was only upon coming across a Thomas and Friends toilet seat that he became interested and actually starting sitting on the toilet to go pee. We moved from pull-ups to underwear. He's even pooping in the toilet. Not all the time, but at least most of the time. We even have night time tackled. And then it just hasn't progressed any further. In fact, it's even worse. Jack never poops in the toilet. Never. As in, he always poops in his pants. He doesn't even try. I try really hard to remind myself he's only 3, give it some time but really, who is interested in cleaning poopy underwear every day? I don't understand this whole "you shouldn't scold him for accidents". Am I just supposed to act like it's normal and okay he is pooing his pants? I dump it in the toilet, "See Jack, when we poo we poo in the toilet. Maybe next time we'll make it". That's a lot of next times. We still aren't making it. It is really, very frustrating.
And then Jack reminds me about all the other reasons I love him so much.

The Common Cold

Don't you just hate the common cold? Sniffling, coughing. All around just feeling crappy. There is nothing to make you feel better unless you want to consume something that just might knock you on your ass. I have two kids to look after, that's not an option. What is even greater than having a cold yourself? When you try your hardest to not spread your germs to your children, but are unsuccessful. Is that even possible? Seriously. How does a sick mother keep her children from becoming sick? I want to know the secret.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy, fishy

Every April I like to take a walk down to the Bowmanville Creek to the Goodyear Dam to watch the fish try to make their way upstream. I'm pretty sure the fish are salmon. I'm also pretty sure they do this to spawn. This year was even more fun because Jack also got to watch the fish jumping out of the water trying to make it over the dam. He thought this was pretty exciting.
What he isn't going to find so exciting, is seeing/smelling all the dead fish that are to follow.

In Memory of Ava

Just like most people today, I have a Facebook account. Facebook has allowed me to connect with friends and acquaintances from college, high school and before. Today, my thoughts and prayers are with one of these acquaintances. Her name is Karla. I know Karla from high school. Aside from having a few classes together, we never really spoke much. Looking over Karla's Facebook profile I came across a link she had posted. This link brought me to her blog. I started to read it. It is this first visit to her blog that I learned so much about her.
On this day in 2005, Karla gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Ava. It is also on this same day she and her husband had to do what no parent should ever have to. They had to say good bye. Ava lived for only 7 short hours. Every year Karla and her family release balloons in the air in honor of her. This year, I also plan to do the same. I plan to do this every year for Karla, to honor the memory of her baby girl. It's the least I can do. May you always rest in peace. xo

You'll want to know more:
http://www.untanglingknots.com/