New Routines!

At the moment that I started writing this post, Vianna is sleeping in our bed and Pishi has gone out for his appointments and I have got time to quickly write and update! As my cousin and her husband left us last week, things are going back to Normal. No more crazy night out in down Town! Well, when they were here we did different things. The highlight was our night out with my brother, his friend and them and us! It was actually our first night out together for Pishi and I. We went to le papillon for dinner and I must say the food was excellent. It is a French Canadian restaurant which has won several cooking awards. Next we had deseart at Panorama Lounge. Even though just before we head to down town it was raining cats and dogs but by the time we started our night the weather was great! The view from Panorama was fantastic and I was happy that my cousin and her husband enjoyed it. The memory of the night is captured at Panorama deck with an instant photo by a couple from China! They had a coold camera and offered to take a picture of us!
Even though we wanted to go somewhere else afterwards but I was really tired! Specially when I called my mom and she said that Vianna was crying a lot before sleeping, my mood changed. Never the less it was a great night and when we went to pick the princess up, she was sleeping peacefully and I couldn't explain the joy I felt by seeing her. It was only 4 hours that she wasn't with me!! It was always strange to me when I saw all these mothers and their children being so attached to each other but I think I am getting a bad case of that attachment!
Every day I fall more in love with her and I can't stop smelling and kissing her! When I look at her pictures when she was just born and now and see how grown she has become, I just get filled with joy to know that I spent this amazing time with her. I honestly don't know how I am going to go back to work!
I hear all these stories about nannies and day cares and etc and I am confused as how to make this decision. I like to continue my career but Vianna has become my number one priority.
I am also becoming addicted to either working out or going out every day! The boot camp is great. I feel being at home our life has changed for good. I love spending time at home with Vianna and also making sure Pishi and I are eating nutritional food. I plan for house work everyday and I actually enjoy the results.
I completed the building newsletter and submitted to the board and yesterday I saw it posted in our building! I am glad I decided to do this. Although I must admit I wouldn't have been able to meet the deadlines without Pishi's help!
In the past couple of weeks, we started having friends over and that is great accomplishment for us! Vianna has been cooperative.
Pishi's parents and brother will be landing in Toronto in two weeks and we are very excited to have them in Canada. Pishi already started looking for plans for the labour day long weekend!
I have to finalize our pregnancy photo and also get her 3 month photo shoot appointment! Also try to see if there are courses that I can take in September!
For now I want to book my massage appointments and Spa treatments! I should get going and clean the kitchen before princess wakes up!

3 months has passed!

Last week we celebrated Vianna's third month's birthday! We waited actually did it on 11th as we were waiting for my dad to arrive from Iran and cousin and her husband to come back to Toronto. It was a memorable night! Specially when her cake fell on the ground when Pishi fall down! Don't worry he is doing fine, the cake though was squished from one side! The whole family was finally together after a 5 months! My brother finally came back from his overdue business trip! He brought Vianna a kitty bag. It is very cute considering that it is the same size as Vianna!
Our little princess is practicing her rolling and talking! She makes lots of noise and looks straight in to your eyes when is attempting to talk to us. When I kiss her all over her body, she get so excited! Over the weekend, we went to Rice Lake where my parents and their friends and cousin were staying in a cottage. She loved this one day trip! I put on her new clothes that her grandmother bought and she was a good baby girl for the most part! She loves trees and leaves! She looks at them with strange admiration specially when the wind moves the leaves. She encountered her first experience with a dog as well. She looked at the dog and the funny thing was that normally I am not too comfortable being close to a dog but this time when I was explaining to Vianna about dogs, this dog came near me and sat beside my foot and started rolling! This was a big dog now but he looked beautiful although would be even better if cleaned up! The poor dog was hot! He kept on going in to the lake and coming out!
Life has become more manageable as Vianna tends to keep herself busy with her toys and let me do cooking and cleaning although for the most part she still uses me as her vehicle to take her around so she can see things. She is extremely curious. Our visit to the Osteopath was an interesting one yesterday. She was quite surprised by Vianna's movement. She kept on saying, is she really 3 months old? Finally I asked her why and she explained that the movements, her attention and curiosity is of a four or five month old baby! We were surprised because she started these when she was 2.5 months old. I think she now recognizes who I am because when she is being held by someone else, she looks for me and when I come close to her she opens her arms as if she wants me to hug her. She also moves around when she is held, bending to different each side. Yesterday I was so surprised to see her hold my hand and starting to putting her lips and tongue over my hand and for arm! She is mimicking what I do with her hand when I kiss her hand and for arm! I was pleasantly surprised!
I washed new toys for her so she can play with them. She specially loves a toy I bought her last year before even she was born!
Life couldn't be sweeter and keep falling more and more in love with her every minute I hold her!

With the help of Pishi the newsletter draft is prepared and hopefully once I meet with our building manager I can send the finalized version by end of this week. I am intending to send Vianna's passport application this week. Her passport photo is super cute!

I have started working out with fully capacity! I am intending to get a flat belly! So much to do and so little time I thought staying at home I will have time to do things but Vianna wants and needs 100% attention!

First trip

Lots of firsts this month from princess Vianna. She has learnt to grab stuff. Specially my hair! I think I have to cut it soon as every time I hold her when I have to put her down her fist has my hair in it!
My little one smiles all the time and laughed out loud as her grandmother puts it as she saw little birds eating bread crumbles for a few minutes!
She makes noises when she is in her bed with her toys as if she is talking to them, I find it fascinating for two and a half baby to have evolved so much!
Yesterday was Vianna's first trip! Along with my parents  and my cousin and her husband who flew from Sweden to here to spend a month with us, we went to Niagara Falls. She was a happy baby throughout and enjoyed the trip with lots of laughter!
She will be 3 months in a few days and I can't beilieve where the time has gone! It has been 3 months since I stopped working and I am slowly getting use to the new life! Vianna still takes most of my time but I have to really start cooking! We are getting close to finishing all the good food Pishi's mom left for us in the freezer and I can't rely on my mom's cooking all the time! I just have to start cooking:-). As we are completing re-decoration of our place, I am intending to invite friends over to our place.
I have to start looking for daycares for Vianna as well. I already have booked one for her but I need to look for more just in case!
I have started to create a news letter for our apartment! The first edition is to be published by end of July!
I have to start looking for mommy and baby classes close to our place and find some time to plan the next 9 months, I want to see if I can take a course in September. I feel I am not using my brain since Vianna's birth! I am learning new things as she grows up but want to do more!
It has been great to have my cousin and her husband here. It has been great spending time with them. I wish they lived here in Toronto!

2 months passed

Yesterday, Princess Vianna marked her 2 month anniversary! We celebrated her 2 month birthday at my parent's place. We took pictures with her while she was asleep. It was pretty poetic with her 2 candles!
I started going to my Chiropractor today and went through re-assessment. She recommended me to start with 2 days a week and based on the progress it will be reduced to once a week. I was at once a week point during pregnancy and it definitely helped ease the back pain caused by pregnancy. After Vianna's birth, I really didn't have a problem. Nursing can put a toll on me but at this point I want to prevent having back pains in the future similar to what my mom and many other women go through later in their lives. I am going to schedule a message as well to make it more effective and relax a bit, now that life is a bit back to normal!
Vianna will start her vaccination schedule from Tomorrow and I am worried as how she will react to the 3 vaccines she is about to get.
Our home is going through major redecoration since we are setting up the princess's room. Once it is set up I can play house and invite friend's over.
During my mat. leave I want to at least do 4 things. I want to get my P. Eng., write CQE/ CQA exam, take creative classes like drawing/painting/sewing or floral design and make couple of dresses for the princess.
I also want to try different recipe's for cooking and backing and definitely get back into shape but doing more exercises.
I also have to start looking for the mummy and baby classes and start having play dates for Vianna.
In the past couple of weeks Iran's election fever and watching the debates and news and talking about them with friends and family has been very exciting. Too bad we can't vote here! My thoughts on to vote or not to vote, is to vote in order to practice our citizenship's right. My thoughts on not voting is to the only way this works is if minimum number of eligible voters in order to make the election formal as per Constitution not vote.

56 days has passed!

Today is the 8th week that Vianna is with us! I was thinking today about how our lives have changes for good since her birth. I love being at home with her but it is fun to get to know her. At times it is challenging to know exactly what she needs but learning her facial expression and sounds she makes have helped us attend to her needs better. Although sometimes we just go with the process of elimination and we try all until one sticks!
Day 43 was the first day after Vianna's birth that I drove our car! It felt strange not driving for 43 days! I was more cautious!! After Pishi's accident in April, I want to minimize interaction with insurance!
Day 54 was the first day after her birth that I drove the car with her! Destination was my mom's place and she cooperated! She prefers that I drive all the time and pass the red lights as well! It was nice to drive just the 2 of us! The car sit is heavy for me and I asked pishi to leave it in the car so I can hold her to the car instead of her in the car seat.
Last Friday was the last day that Vianna and I were at the care of the midwife services. I must say saying good bye to Andrea was emotional. She made my pregnancy experience amazing. The level of care exceeded my expectation. I would never had gotten the same level of care had I been with an OB.

Yesterday was Vianna's first visit at a pediatrician.She was very calm and good at taking the history and gave us good pointers. My princess is gaining weight in a good pace but what has surprised us is her height! She is taller than average babies at her age.
Nursing dramas thankfully is subsiding and she is getting slowly to a routine. For the past 3 nights she has slept for at least 7-8 hours like adults and yours truly and Pishi are enjoying good night sleep! Now we need to shift her from eating on demand to scheduled eating.
On day 53 we started her to sleep in her crib in her own room. She graduated from sleeping in a bassinet in our room! It was a strange feeling the first night when she slept in her own room! Thankfully her long sleep hours started when she is in her own room. I am glad we didn't have any drama and it seems she likes her room! I want to decorate it with some rainbow color stickers.

I can't believe how much holding and smelling her gives me joy and happiness. I am listening to Dr. Holakouee 's CDs on child development from birth to 18 years. I have been listening to his other CDs on child development and this set is a good summary.
Life in general couldn't have been better. I guess Oxytocin does do wonders! I thought at first I will miss work by being at home but Vianna keeps me so busy and happy that I don't miss work. May be it is too early to judge but I am sure it also helps a lot that Pishi works from home most of the time and his work hours are flexible. It allows him to attend all our baby's appointments with me and help me when I need help during the day taking care of our princess!

40 days!

My princess passed her 40 day mark yesterday! On day 39 we went to Edward's Garden with Pishi's parents and it was lots of fun. Vianna was happy being in the park. The park was busy and loved the flowers. Afterwards we went to Richtree for dinner. This was Vianna's first restaurant dinning! She was quite good and we enjoyed dinner.
We spent day 40 at my mom's place and enjoyed their garden. Vianna couldn't stop looking at all the flowers and trees! She seems to be extremely curious!
I love how my parents and Pishi's parents talk to her and spoil her! They have been very helpful. It is general belief that by 40 days the hard part of being new parents is over and today on day 41, she was very cooperative! I hope she sleeps well tonight. In general I think she doesn't sleep as much as a baby at her age should. Today was an exception that she slept 3.5 hours straight! My milk supply seems to be okay too. Hopefully it stays like this for the full year and matches to her demands!

Her rooms is coming along as Pishi got his new desk and the office is being relocated! She has started to make sounds when we talk to her as if she wants to talk to us. She gets bored very quickly and Pishi and I have to be creative in getting her occupied! Yesterday she tried to laugh out loud like her mom!
Days become nights very quickly and I am slowly trying to get the hang of the routine of motherhood. Next week Pishi's parents will go back to Iran and that would be the test to see how we would survive! Of course my parents are here and still we are lucky to get their help but there would be less hands!
I will go to my dentist for my regular check this week since I miss the last time due to pregnancy and I am thinking of booking both chiropractor's and message appointment in couple of weeks to ensure I am energized!
With Vianna in the picture, going to kids birthday parties are more fun! She will be going to her friend's birthday party this week and I am very excited to see my friends after giving birth to Vianna.

One month has passed!

I can't believe that Vianna has passed the 1 month time point. During this time, Pishi and I have learnt a wealth of knowledge about breast feeding and baby's sleeping habits!
Breast feeding has been a challenge but I have not given in. Even though we are giving Vianna Formula with bottle during the night and at times during the day if she wants it. I am determined to have her feed off my milk whether it is from the breast or not!

The herbal capsules, Fenegriek and Blessed thistle has helped with my milk supply. I am trying to avoid medication at all cost. Hopefully I don't need it.

Every day I am taking pictures of Vianna so later on we can see her growth! I am keeping an excel sheet of her feeding, poos and pees to see if I can see a trend!

We have been seeing lactation specialists and an osteopath to help her with latching, I am seeing somewhat improvement. I can't wait for her to fully gets feed off my breast and be completely content.

For her 1 month, we went to my parent's house. My in laws also came along and we had lots of fun with her! She got beautiful gifts and we ate her first birthday cake! Her uncle sent her a flower bouquet from Saudi Arabia! It was a very nice surprise. I can't to see his expression once he actually holds and sees her. I am planning to celebrate every month for her until she is 1 year old and then celebrate annually!

Yesterday was mother's day and this is the first year that I am a mom! It is a wonderful feeling and I can't express how happy I am to have Vianna in our lives. Some times I just want to hold her so tight and just smell her when she is sleeping! She is so innocent!

I got beautiful gifts from my in laws and my parents and pishi for mother's day. I can't wait to wear them all:-)

I also got to see one of my friend's whose son is 1 day older than Vianna last week. It was nice to talk about baby stuff and get feedback.

Over the past month, I have gone out several times and can't wait my stitches to get healed fully so I can start going to the gym! Pishi has been extraordinary helpful and understanding and I can't thank him enough. I am blessed and lucky to have him as my partner in life.

We have to start the applications for her passports soon so we can travel with her! I can't wait for all the great things we will be doing with her. I can see things are getting easier as she is getting closer to the 40 day mark although I must say, I have numerous help and support and I am grateful for all of those!

Princess Vianna

This is the story of Princess Vianna's entrance into Pishi and my life!

The ultrasound had indicated that she is suppose to grace us March 29th, 2013 however we both knew that date is not accurate. Despite that I started my mat. leave on April 2nd and started completing that last minute pending items while the wait for the labour pains continued! I had a blast in the last few days before her entrance, I continued with My chiropractor appointment and got a hair cut and on April 8th, based on our discussion with my midwife, we decided to get induced on Tuesday so we have a baby by Wednesday or Thursday latest.
The last ultrasound was done on Monday the 8th by the same obstetrician at the beginning of my pregnancy when we were debating to stay with an O.B. or use midwifery services.
Ultrasound showed she is doing fine and had gained weight and that she is an active little angle. I was pretty happy that he was the one who did the last check considering that he is one of the best O.B. in town.
On Tuesday afternoon, I went for a massage and had dinner with Pishi and we went to the hospital for induction at 6:30 pm. My midwife told me that she wants the on call O.B. to do the induction. I think considering my screams during the that the last sweepings attempts, she decided someone else to do the work! The doctor had to do 2 attempts of inserting the Cervidil because the first one, I had to stop her to go to pee but the second attempt was successful, that is with Pishi and my midwife holding me down!
We were told that Cervidil is hit and miss and I may or may not feel the labour pains and that even if I feel it, it would be in 12 hours or so. Once the doctor inserted the drug which was hooked to a thread that looked like a shoe lace. Both baby and I were monitored using the heart and uterus monitor for heart rate and contractions. Before even getting the drug, I was put on monitor and interestingly, my midwife said, did you feel the contractions and I said no. She said she saw 2 but at that time, we concluded that it was Braxton Hicks contractions!
The 2 hour monitor after insertion of the drug went smoothly and everything was fine. We left the hospital around 10:00 and I told Pishi let's go for our last dinner before our baby is born, so we drove to Richtree resturant for our last couple burger and fries! but they had just had closed. So Pishi suggested to get the fries from Hero Burger next to it. We drove home had the fries while watching an episode of House and by 11:15 I went to bed. I felt period like pains around 1:30 and it got worse and worse as the time passed, Pishi was awake through it and was using the contraction App. on his iPhone to see when we reach the 511 rule. At first the contractions were irregular but by 2:45 it became really sharp and I was in alot of pain during each contractions, the contractions were more regular and even closer, I kept on telling Pishi to call the midwife and he kept on telling me that we are not there yet. By 3:30 I was literary screaming and I thought, neighbours will call 911! but thankfully no one including security came to our apartment because of my screams! At that point, Pishi called the midwife and when she hear me over the phone, she told us to remove the drug and go to the hospital and meet her there. She also told Pishi that if I have started pushing to call her again.
We removed the drug and drove to the hospital while my contractions became stronger by the minute. He dropped me off the hospital door and thankfully there was a girl standing there, she quickly opened the door and pishi helped inside and I started walking toward the elevator, while pishi went to lock the car. As I was walking toward the elevator, had more contractions and screamed further but interestingly no one was around, we went to the assessment room, second floor and pishi left to take the car to the parking lot. As I was waiting for my midwife to arrive, at each contractions, I was screaming! Although there were more couples there, they all seemed fine and no one was screaming. Even one girl behind the curtains told me to shut up! I couldn't really stop myself not to scream as that was the only way I could manage it. The nurse knew me as I was there a few hours ago and I told her, I can't not scream and she hold me to scream as much as I want!
Finally Pishi and midwife came in at the same time, I told her that I want Eepidural to manage my pain and she smiled and said, I kind of knew you would want it and already I have called the doctor. We went to the birthing suite and I was placed on the bed. With every contractions, I was shivering crazy! I kept on telling poor Pishi that it was his fault for coming late if they can't administer Epidural and kept on asking the midwife where is the doctor and she told me that he is with another patient! Finally he came in. My fear was that during contractions I could not stay still as I was shaking and screaming. My midwife, inserted the IV line on my wrist to be ready and then her and Pishi held my hands during the time the catheter was being put in back. I was praying that I don't move and kept on remembering what my aunt had told me about not moving my head during administration of Epidural otherwise I would get a bad headache afterwards. The anaesthetist first numbed the area and we waited for contraction to pass and then he started the process. Thankfully he was pretty pleased with my spine as he was able to get to where needed easily and fast. As soon as the drug rushed into my body, I felt numbness in my feet as I was sitting on the side of the bed and the contraction pain were gone. They asked me to lay down and  kept tilting me side to side to make sure the drug is equally distributed. Within less than 5 minutes, I was completely relaxed and was about to fall asleep and that is when the drama started!
Because of my pain, prior to administration of Epidural, my midwife, couldn't examine to see how far I have dilated. Once I was relaxed, she went ahead to examine and said with suprise that I was dilated 9 cm! During her examination, my water broke. Even though I was numb, I felt when my water broke. She inserted a catheter to my bladder and the I kept saying I don't have to pee why is the catheter being inserted. I was worried it hurt but because I was numb it didn't hurt at all, not during installation and not even during removal. At the same time, my blood pressure dropped drastically and baby's heart rate became irregular. She immediately, called the other nurses for assistance. They kept tilting me back and forth trying to get the baby's heart rate and the monitor, kept showing 150 then 70 and all over the place. The on call obstetrician came in and my midwife explained the sequence of event and she examined me again and said, she feels only dilation of 5 cm but cervix has effaced . However by then my contractions started to slow down and stopped! They waited a few more minutes to get a steady baby heart rate and when it wasn't achieved, I saw the fear in my midwife's face. The OB said that we can't wait anymore and that they baby is in distress. We have to do an emergency C-section. She explained quickly the dangers and without getting me sign a consent form as soon as I said yes, she herself started to drag my bed out of the room. It was then that that I felt fearful for Vianna. They took me to the operating room and called Code pink, as soon as the page went out by the system, it felt like I am in one of "House" episodes, 15 people rushed in. they put a panel between my belly so I can't see the operation. They started putting Betadine on my belly and I could feel it. As the OB was ready to cut me I started yelling wait, at least give me more anaesthetic, I still can feel what's going on! The anaesthetist came over my head and I think he injected more drugs. They started cutting me. I didn't feel pain but I could feel the pressure and the OB's hand when she was pushing different organs aside and trying to get the baby out. I felt so weak and the only thing i could actually feel were my hands. I was put in a cross like position and hands were fallen off the slabs. I could only put them back on. With all the things going on, the only thing I was thinking about was the baby's health and the thought of her not making it even crossed my mind, I was wanted to cry but there were no tears, I couldn't heart was wrenching and at that point, I saw Pishi came in with scrubs, they only thing i could see was his wide shocked eyes!
Another thing I kept on thinking during that time was the sterility of the operating room! Only a crazy person like me think about this at the time of this crisis! I felt like the operating room door wasn't closed and I was looking for air locks but I couldn't see it afterwards when Pishi and I were talking he mentioned that there were airlocks and I also realized that the time that the OB wasn't there she was scrubbing in.
Going back to the story! They finally got Vianna out and I saw them move her to a station to examine her in a flash. My midwife said she is okay and the doctors were checking and doing the routine activity. In the mean while, the OB was stitching. I felt that part took longer than the actual taking the baby out! They confirmed that baby was fine but there was some water in her longs and that they are taking her to NICU for observation. They brought her to my face and rubbed her face to my face. I can't possibly explain how I felt at that moment. I was still worried for her but the joy that filled my heart was incredible.
All that time, Pishi was on my side over my head not even for a second took her eyes off me.
Our princess was born at 6:20 on April 10th and everything happened so quickly that by the time Pishi ran to the car to get the cord bank kit it was too late. When the OB asked if anyone knows if we are keeping, with all the strength I had, I yelled out yes! But since she didn't have the kit, they prepared it with the company that works with NYGH.
Also because, things happened so quickly, the operating crew didn't have time to verify the number of surgical instruments they started with! So once everything was completed, they brought in the X-ray machine and took an X-ray to ensure nothing is left inside me! They had to do it 2 times, because the first time, they saw something but it was part of the blanket! The OB gave the green light and then, they took me to the recovery room. I was shivering uncontrollably. They kept of putting hot blanket on me and still was cold. The nurse told me that she can't put anymore blanket on me because my body temperature was rising! She told me to inhale count to five and then exhale to control the shivering and it actually helped but I was still very cold. They told me it was the effect of the drugs at the same time another anaesthetist came over with big needles and inserted them into my belly on both sides with more pain medication.
Meanwhile, pishi started filling in the information for the other cord blood banking company as they had to come and pick it up within an hour! Later on when pishi followed up with the company we chose, we were pleasantly surprised that the other cord blood banking company waved all fees and returned all the money back to us.
My midwife said to me around 7:45am, "I thought I couldn't get away from a meeting I have at 8:00 because of your birth but due to the change in plan I have to go now"! The recovery room nurse, kept on checking my vitals every 15 minutes and wrote the report. Pishi brought everything to our room and by 9:00 I was discharged to the mom and baby area. Even though we had requested a private room, only Semi Private rooms were available. It seems that night and day, they were very busy with spike in baby birth! The nurse assigned to me was an Afghan lady and she was very nice. By 10:30 I called my mom and told her that we are at the hospital and that the baby is born! She couldn't believe it. She was furious with me and thought that I purposely didn't tell her that we had gone to the hospital, similar to what she did with her mom! I kept on telling her that it wasn't on purpose and that things went down so quickly that there was not time.
Within 15 minutes she came to the hospital and told me that she was awake before 6:00 and was thinking of me! I guess telepathically she kind of felt I was in distress! I was given only liquids for the first 8 hours on the first day and stayed in the hospital for 4 days and 3 nights. During which, the nurses and the lactation specialist were very helpful. We had 2 neighbours in our room. Both had boys and both were crying alot and our princess was quite content once they brought her from NICU on the 3rd day.
Within 2 hours from her birth, her lungs were doing fine. Her doctor decided to keep her further for observation which ended up to be better for me as I was completely out of it due to the C-section. Although at the time, I was being frustrated from moving back and forth between departments and wanted to know why they are not releasing her! I guess I was getting depressed why every mom had their child next to her bed and mine wasn't! Come to think of it, it was all emotional and it was better that she was being monitored scientifically! All other babies were crying non stop and really did not have the same level of care. Our princess and I had the utmost level of care! The nurse was calling us every 3 hours for feeding her and once her blood sugar was established to be steady and she was peeing as per her feed, she was released to me, not even to her father. When they brought her to our room, I was in the shower and they waited for me! They checked our name tag bar codes to match and the nurse read her info for me to sign to ensure they are giving me the right baby!
During our stay another friend of ours who also had given birth a day before me came to visit me and gave me good advice. We got a photo package from the hospital which ended up to be a good decision. The pictures of our princess at the hospital ended up to be beautiful. The good thing was that the shooting happened when my parents were there too and they also are in the pictures! The photographer said I normally do 40 pictures but your baby is beautiful that I have done 70! She gave us the presentation, calender and the original pictures on a CD the same day within couple of hours and the price was very reasonable considering that some will go back to the hospital.
During my stay, the food service was good, the menu had variety of foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Pishi, Vianna and I came home on Saturday April 13th and we couldn't be more over joyed to be at home. Later my mom came with food and in the afternoon Pishi's parents arrived from Iran!
I can't thank Pishi and my family more for their support during the time of Vianna's birth and recovery at the hospital. I thank God that everything went well. I started writing this story a few days back and kept interrupted by her needs but finally I am done transcribing all the memories of her arrival in this world. May a day come for her to read this and know what had gone on before, during and after her birth! Since we have come home, we were blessed with numerous phone calls and messages from all our family and friends from all over the world. We indeed are very lucky.

Happy Norouz, 1392

This is the first year that after many years, I didn't go to work on eid's day. Although, it was filled with multiple appointments it was a relaxing day in general.
Our little girl's ultrasound went well, she had gained more weight and everything was normal. Last week, we finished the last 2 things I wanted to do before nini is born. First we got my belly cast over the weekend which I am pretty happy with. Pishi prepared the material and applied on my belly. It would require a bit of more work to become a work of art! I took a day off on Tuesday and got ready to take maternity pictures. The pictures look great, now we have to choose which ones we want.

Yesterday, Friday the 29th was Good Friday and was suppose to be my due date (i.e. start of week 40) however, as I predicted, I haven't gone to labour yet. Instead, Pishi, my mom and I went downtown by the lake. As Pishi had to do some work, my mom and I enjoyed the beautiful sunny day, walking and enjoying the lake side. My electric shock waves in hip became more frequent by the evening but aside from discomfort of being horizontal while sleeping, I haven't got any pain yet. Nini is very active, specially she loves, kicking me in my left rib! Some times, she extend both her logs and arms at the same time and you should see my face then! I literary can't breathe. Last week which was my last week at work, I worked from home. My last day was Thursday, March 28th! Already I was thinking how am I going to go back to work in a year!! It is a strange feeling. It is the first time ever since I have gotten married that I won't be going to work! So far, I am trying to relax and enjoy the last few days before our baby girl change our life forever. Pishi has been extra caring in the last few days, I feel so blessed and spoiled by his constant attention. I love the way he looks at me. Specially when I tell him I feel I weigh like a whale when I am in bed. Rolling is the hardest move in the world for me now!

I am hoping our baby girl decide to come on Wednesday. I know it is ridiculous to schedule a natural birth! But to be honest that is the best time!:-). I am going to relax more and complete the last final clean up before she come so we are absolutely ready.

Despite all the theories I have read and heard for giving birth, I can't visualize it. I have to start visualizing a birth with no pain:-). Last week was my final Yoga class of the season and I am planning to continue with what we have learnt till our little princess is here to keep my body calm.

Now that I have more time, I will try to update my blog more. Pray for me to have an easy delivery!

Last days of 1391

It is the last few days of 1391 and as Pishi and I are getting ready for 1392 we are also getting ready to welcome our little princess. She has been growing and my last ultrasound is on the first day of 1392! I am at week 38 and only 2 more weeks left to go through the birth. Ah, the birth, that is the scary part for me right now. Not sure how it will go. I am hoping what the chiropractor is doing help with the birth. It definitely has helped with my back ache.

Last week, at work, my supervisor and the whole quality team surprised me with a baby shower. Our little princess, has got so many new things and adorable pink shoes and party outfits! Aside from that, one my previous colleagues from Teva gave her a gift as well. I am glad that we didn't buy too many clothes for her as she now has a full new wardrobe!

Her crib and dresser was delivered over the weekend and we bought the rest of her bath stuff from an organic shop down town.
I bought the belly cast kit and planning to get that done on Wednesday and we have spoken to a photographer already and hopefully we can take the maternity pictures next week.

I have been cleaning most of the weekend and once I can tick off the kitchen we are done with spring cleaning. Pishi has washed her hospital clothes and we are ready anytime she decides to grace this earth!

A few more days before I experience the mommy hood!

Baby Shower

Yesterday was our baby girl, baby shower. With the help of my parents and our family friends we were able to have a great party.

Our daughter is so lucky to have all these great family and friends in her life. She had received tons of gifts and her room will be able to be filled with her necessities!

The highlights were the diaper cake, the memory book that I made, the balloons, the beautiful decoration that her dad and our friend did on the walls and the fruit platters which contained amazing crafts of prems made out of fruit.

We had a few games and prizes that caused lots of laughter and fun and I got great advice! This week Pishi will be off for a conference in SF and we are getting close to the due date. I am at week 35 now and Tomorrow I will go for another ultra sound. My little baby girl has been behaving herself so far and I pray and hope that I have a safe delivery.

Third Trimester funs

Thankfully the results of the glucose test for identifying gestational diabetes were fine and I can continue with my sugar craving! Although I think it is in my head and I can go without it! For now I crave Pomegranate!
Last weekend Pishi and I were invited to one our friend's house. They have also invited another friend and both of them have a 7 month old babies. Surprisingly, I found them not too heavy and hopefully I can hold my own when she reaches that age! They were too cute. But I can see how their lives is absolutely revolves over their babies and we can't even complete a conversation!

Last weekend we also attended the Lamaze classes and we both found valuable information. Although knowledge is power, I still don't know if I will go with a medicated birth or not. I guess, I have to see how the labour goes. Most of my friends swear by Epidural but I do have friends that did it without not by choice but pure fact that by the time they wanted it, it was too late and the baby was ready to pop out! Aside from that, I hear a lot of mothers having difficulty with breast feeding. It's good to know about the breast feeding clinics and the lactation specialists that can help out.

Our baby girl is growing consistently. She is about the size that she should be as I was a bit worried that she might be smaller as everyone who sees me, says: Oh you haven't gotten that big. That got me thinking that may be she is might be smaller than normal but thankfully she is the right size and she already at week 30th has found her way out! Although I know she will moving around till she gets too big to do so but it's good that she is not clueless!

She responses very well to piano notes. Every time I want to feel her kick, its enough to play a few notes and she shows her joy! Definitely I will start her on music lessons.
We have noticed that she responds to notes that clear and not complicated. Although I don't think she appreciated the music and gun shouts of the James Bond movie we watched last night in the movie theater!

Her bed and drawer is ready but since we don't have space yet, we decided to leave it with the warehouse until her room is ready. I think I am in a nesting period, where like birds I am trying to make things ready for her arrival!

I have conflicting feelings though about her birth. At times, I can't wait to see her and other times, I think how our life would be different and makes me want to gain as much relaxation now as possible! I know I have become spoiled but I really want to go on another get a way before she with us, it mostly would be a road trip to somewhere close but not sure where yet.

2013 and Baby stuff!!

Well 2013 has come and has had a great start. Pishi and I were off for 8 days for the holidays and it gave us time to tick off some of the baby tasks. Those included, decluttering the apartment, Phase I was the closets and now is phase II, which is the  baby room prep. I am almost done with the kitchen and I will be boxing some of the dishes that we seldom use. I want to have as much room as possible in the cabinets to ensure the baby stuff that needs to be put there is ready. Also we have started archiving and boxing all different documents and nothing gives more pleasure to get rid of old weight!

I have to increase my exercises frequency but I think I have become lazy! I am planning to start more frequently. The problem is that every time I go for an hour of gym, I feel she is moving down in my belly and makes me nervous that she might pop out ;-)! The midwife indicated that it wouldn't be the case and I shouldn't worry about it. Tomorrow, I will be tested for the gestational diabetes and I am eager to see the results, considering that I have gone home with sweets during this pregnancy!

Since last I updated, I have progressed in baby name category! Sabt e Ahval has a website that lists all the baby names and I find it very useful, as it has both both the names, the popularity and the meaning. The only problem was that it is not very user friendly, I had to spend almost a full day to export the names to excel! My criteria for choosing the names were that, it has to be of Persian origin, it has to have a strong meaning, it has to be easily pronounced by other cultures. I also considered the possible meanings of the name in other languages and also the popularity of the name.
This is how we narrowed it: First, I chose the ones that I liked from the list of more than 600 baby girl names based on alphabetical order and the criteria that I mentioned above, I narrowed to about 35 names. Then pishi chose the ones he liked from the ones I chose.
Before the start of the holidays, I got to meet with my university friends. Based on Pishi's narrowed list, I asked my friends to look at the names individually and chose whichever they liked. Then I asked them to pronounce it and see how they pronounce it. The results were actually interesting! As all of them are from different background, they gave great insight on their choices.
I wanted to have an unbiased approach so I decided to involve my family and Pishi's family in choosing the name, so we had debates on all 600 names. Actually Christmas day we spent the whole day reviewing the names! we had it shown on the TV and got votes based on different colors! The results of those discussions were 12 names.
In order to prioritize the names, we gave weights to the votes of family members, my self, pishi and my friends. Based on that we are at the final 5! I am sure we will get "the" one in time before she is born!

So far we have bought her stroller, car sit, play pen, bed, mattress and dresser and baby monitor. I must confess if it wasn't for Pishi we wouldn't have been able to buy the best options for our baby girl. He has done extensive research on each one and almost done with the baby registry. We are planning to have our baby shower some time end of February. I am trying to stay away from gender specific colors. I do not want to her to be trapped in that zone. Also this way, if our next one is a boy, he can use these colors as well!

Pregnancy has brought some back ache for me and since end of December, I have been going to Massage Therapy and I must confess I love it! It is extremely relaxing. I am intending to do so every 7-10 days until delivery, I have already come up with the schedule;-)

Friends and family have been great with all their advise on what is needed and what is not and we are deciding what's best for us.

Work has been great, I am not stressed at all, my boss is very understanding and no more crazy long hours. I still get emails from head hunters for other companies, which is great to know I still got it!

Our baby girl, has been kicking more every days, most of the time she is quite during work hours and as if she knows when to start being naughty! She usually kicks before I go to work and when is close to lunch time and when after work. I hope she continues to have a routine when she is born too. It would be good for all of us!

End of this week is our Lamaze session, pishi and I are looking forward to participating in the class and learn what to expect!

I am going now to research baby shower theme and games!