Third Trimester Musings - or Woes

So I'm officially in my third trimester with this pregnancy.. time seems to be going slowly and quickly all at the same time if that makes any sense. I am around 30 1/2 weeks now.

This time around I am feeling so much bigger than I did with B..even though I have gained the same amount of weight thus far. Small things like bending over are really starting to become tasks. Back ache presents itself toward the end of every day. Sleep at night is restless...between waking to use the washroom and waking to switch sides to alleviate sore hips. Heartburn..common these days. Now I know why they say second and subsequent pregnancies aren't the walk in the park the first one can often be. Much of this is commonly voiced among the other women I know who are currently pregnant with their second or third children...however rarely do these women discuss difficulties with their children or their husbands as if others will surely judge and that a woman on her second or subsequent pregnancy should be able to handle any situation at home she might have since she likely had a hand in deciding to have another baby.

Well although the physical part of being pregnant again has been somewhat uncomfortable to say the least, to be perfectly honest, to add to all this, the antics of an almost 3 year old are tiring, stressful, and just plain difficult much of the time. I find myself feeling awful about the sometimes strained relationship between me and B these days. It's not his fault but yet it isn't totally mine either with the hormones and growing body. He is a really spirited character. I find it really hard to keep him stimulated in his environment at home. When he is not stimulated he starts to cause trouble and demand attention and when he is pleasant to be around it takes much effort on my part to maintain the mood by constantly offering up new activities for him (usually us) to do that I really haven't had the energy for. It sometimes worries me about what the future might have in store once the baby is here and demands a lot of my time as well. However, even though I feel like 70% of my time spent with my little man these days is spent with me feeling frustrated and impatient (sometimes powerless and at my wits end) and him equally upset. The other 30% of the time is wonderful - with the laughs, morning cuddles, hugs and kisses, witty remarks on his end... these are the times I truely cherish with him and reaffirm that it is all worth it. I guess we have to take the bad with the good like in any meaningful relationship. They don't call it "terrible twos" for nothing but it is called "terrible twos" for a reason.. because it is a phase which means like all phases it will eventually be outgrown.

The Big Brother of Almost 3!

I used to use this blog space as almost a journal to keep track of B's development. I now realize that I have been lacking a "journal-type" post as of late.

At almost 3 (end of April)

My "little" guy is really growing up..

- He is pretty darn near fully potty trained (FINALLY) we still have the occasional accident at school during playtime but none at home and a usually dry sleep

- On that note - has graduated to the next class up at Montessori with the "big kids". He absolutely loves it and never looks back at me anymore when I drop him off

- Very concerned about what is right and what is wrong and often tells us. He also provides constant reminders/prompts to mommy and daddy such as "are you driving the speed limit?"

- Extremely excited to be a big brother and calls his impending sibling "my baby"

- Enjoys sleeping in his new big boy bedroom in a bunkbed - still goes to bed between 7-7:30 and wakes up somewhere between 5:30 (YES 5:30) and 6:30 no fail..every morning. Although I'd rather him be an early riser than late to go down. It does also make the school drop offs much easier since he has a little while to wake up before we leave the house

- A big "helper". Loves to help daddy do almost anything..especially things that involve a hammer

- Also likes to stick things (small pieces of crayon) in his ear which we recently discovered after visiting the doctor for another issue

- Favourite activities include: Swimming Lessons with Grandma, colouring with crayons, watching Caillou, reading (this kid tries to sneak books in his bed when he is supposed to be sleeping - we have to remove the books from the bedroom)

- Favourite foods: Will eat nearly anything you put in front of him..veggies too except sweet potato and squash although we're working on it. Yogurt, fruit of any sort, cheerios, peanut butter and crackers or toast, spaghetti, pizza, and McDonalds fries seem to be hits these days.

In other news.. Baby #2 is doing well. Extremely active and my earlier placenta location issues seem to be resolving themselves nicely so yay for a likely uncomplicated birth. I have started taking pre-natal yoga which is awesome and I only have 3 weeks left of work. Oh yeah and a potential move is on the horizon.

Children, Environment, and Allergies

One Toronto Star Article in particular caught my attention today. This one indicates that a British Study found higher rates of peanut allergies in boys among more affluent families.

The article states that, "“Fussy parents” – parents who shield their children from all potential allergens in a hyper-clean environment from before birth – could be one explanation for the higher rate in more affluent homes".

Not sure how I feel about this hypothesis. Our family would definitely be considered to be among the middle class and despite recommendations to hold off on offering peanuts until the age of 3, we still introduced peanuts to our son earlier. However, we were careful to offer small amounts initially and monitor to determine whether or not there were any adverse effects. I am sometimes sad that the old "staple" peanut butter sandwich or peanut butter and crackers are no longer allowed in schools. That being said, I have become extremely sensitive to many foods since cutting them out of my diet initially for an elimination/reintroduction phase. Foods that previously did not bother me, now in some cases invoke a mild anaphylactic reaction which is somewhat remediated by anti-histamines. Maybe there is something to the hypothesis of the "fussy parent".

Toys, Toys, Toys

One of the bloggers I read regularly recently featured a series of posts on "How We Do It" - I thought it was a great idea since everyone does things differently in their homes, it is nice to see different ways of running house without having someone tell you this is how it ought to be done. I decided to talk about toys since a number of visitors always comment on our house being rather "unconsumed" by kid paraphernalia. Maybe you're one of those people who cannot walk into a room in their house without seeing a number of toys either organized or strewn across the floor. At our house this is it....

Might I first say that our house is less than 1200 sq. feet which is "small" by today's starter home standards. We also don't have many closets or dedicated storage space and well since the rooms are small, sometimes it is difficult to fit in an extra piece of furniture to house toys.

Reasons why this system works for us:

• Aforementioned small house/lack of storage situation


• I don't like to dust - yet have bad allergies (dilemma) - and cleaning toys is pretty much last on my list of priorities - less toys means less toys to harbour bacteria and germs and ultimately less toys to clean


• Everything has its place and everything is easily seen. Before we had a toy bucket and only the items at the top were played with


• Toys don't end up in many rooms usually just the living room, adjoining hallway and kitchen and are always close to their "homes" when it comes time to clean up


• Less toys means less mess to clean up and since we always enforce a tidy prior to afternoon nap and bedtime, having fewer toys means a more manageable clean up for a 2 1/2 year old with a little bit of help from mom or dad if he's lucky


• The toys that are actually played with are limited to a wooden Thomas the Train Set (limited to as much track will fit in the small pink bucket), Mega Blocks (we had to buy an additional smaller bag - a $2 find at Value Village), about 1/2 bucket of Hot Wheels Cars (to drive on the train track - naturally), and occasionally the wooden puzzles and wooden tool set when mom and dad are around

I know many families have a toy room - we just don't have the additional space to have a dedicated toy room and since B likes to have us nearby while he plays, the living room is the natural play room of choice. Also..see ablove comment on not liking to clean.
What about they boy's bedroom? No toys there. There is a basket at the end of the bed which contains books for our nightly story - some of these books end up on the shelf in the living room from time to time.

I might have lied just a bit.. we do have a second small shelving unit for toys in the basement. When things aren't getting played with we rotate them up.

Other notes... the toy selection is going to go down even further 6 months from now as some space will need to be allocated for baby #2 as well! Also, we have bought very few toys for B. Most have been given to us second hand from families and friends. Since B has never seemed bored with what he has, we've never felt the need to go out and buy more toys. Also, many of our friends have rooms full of toys and their children only play with a few and make a mess with the rest.

How do others manage toys??

Re-Evaluating What is Important to Us.

As suggested by my last post.. I have been going through a crazy nesting phase as of late and have the extreme urge to purge..well my whole house. Days have been spent sorting. Baby items...kitchen items...linnen closet..bathroom vanity. I have also been posting a number of things for sale on Kijiji and having some success with that. Extra days that I have now without going to school or working gives me this little bit of extra time for which I am grateful.

Throughout the process, my budget has also gone under scrutiny and become tightened. I think in the impending arrival of another addition to the family this Spring, it has forced me to re-examine our lifestyle and values. I think a constant theme in my past few posts has been slowing down. And now, I really am. In a few short months I will be back at home, away from working...away from school... fully immersed once again in family life and community life as I will still have a couple of volunteer projects and activities that I will be involved in.

On Decluttering

Photo Credit: Miss Minimalist

Lately I have felt a real need to declutter my life. I'm beginning to feel trapped in my belongings. This desire has come along with my graduate school aspirations to do ethnographic research which would mean living in another place for a period of time. Consequently, I wouldn't be able to bring all the stuff I (we - husband included - although he has far less "stuff" than I) have accumulated over the past 6 years in various apartments and our current house.

Also, with a new babe coming this Spring. It only seems fitting to do some "spring cleaning" while sorting through all of B's old stuff in storage and since moving him into his Big Boy room. It also feels like I have so much more time on my hands since taking a leave from school this Winter.

It feels nice to let things go - freeing really. This weekend I sold our old dining room hutch which was taking up space amongst our new furniture, along with a mantel clock we've had kicking around but sadly no mantel to place it on. Although I loved the hutch - I felt no remorse when it went out the door.

I keep telling myself - only the essentials but alas it is a process. I'm very into this website on the topic.

2011: the Year of the Slowdown

On the 31st we recieved news that foreshadowed a year of slowing down. One of my midwives called with some "non-concerning" news on my ultrasound for baby #2. It appears that I have a very low-lying placenta in this pregnancy. Not officially placenta previa where the placenta covers the cervix, but close. But as a precautionary measure, my midwife advised me to take it easy and of course no intercourse until I can go for another ultrasound at 28 weeks. She was optimistic that the situation would correct itself.

Therefore I have begun the process of taking an early leave of absence from Graduate School. I had hoped to finish off this semester in April. However, I know it would be too stressful and since B was a month early I want to keep this baby in as long as possible. Not to mention I'd have to leave part way through the semester if at 28 weeks I do indeed have placenta previa since I would require bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy.

So 2011... back to working 3 days/week until late March and spending more time at home with this sweet little guy.