Growing a mustache and the consequences that follow...

For those of you who don't already know, I am participating in the Movember fundraiser. Basically its a fun way to raise funds and awareness for prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is one of those "taboo" topics due to the location of the cancer development. If it wasn't bad enough going to the doctor's every year, the prostate check definitely is added to the list of "cons" during the routine yearly physical. One thing that I did not know what that prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men. It is going to be diagnosed in about 25,500 men this year, not including cases that go undiagnosed due to men's unwillingness to go for annual check-ups.
One of the caveats of this fundraiser is that I have to grow a mustache, this somewhat simple goal is made more difficult by my non-hairy genes.
What really sucks about growing a lame mustache, is that it makes me look extremely sketchy. I am now 2 weeks into this ordeal and so far the most common statement I have heard is "oh are you trying to grow a mustache??". As innocent as that question is, it hurts my everything specially since all I see when I look in the mirror is a hairy upper lip. Two weeks to go, and as much as I am hoping I will not look more sketchy... I know things will not get better on the sketchy-scale.

November!? where did the time go??

So i am procrastinating... I was just talking to my friend Ian and he told me we had not made an entry on this blog since JULY! Things have been a little chaotic since then, but that's no excuse. Things have been moving along. Naiya is now 4.5months and is growing rapidly. She started to try to feed herself the other day, but ended up with a giant peas explosion... turns out patience is required when feeding a baby since only about 1/3 of the food actually gets into the baby.
Winter is springing up slowly. It snowed here about three weeks ago but that all melted away, and now it seems like fall is slowly going away and winter is creeping in. I realized that I do not mind the cold at all. What really takes a toll on me is the lack of sun - right now the sun is rising at 7:34 AM and setting at 5:00 PM. In a week the sun will be rising 10mins later and setting 10mins earlier!! in ONE week! Losing 20mins of sunshine is a lot, considering we got at least 7 weeks to go until the shortest day of the year. This season I thought ahead and got some vitamin D pills, hope they do the trick to keep my energy high... I sure hope they work, specially when Naiya decides to wake up every 3 hrs at night.

Lazy Father's Day

It has taken me some time to realize that I am now a father... and I think I know why. When I was a kid I always looked at my dad as an invincible force, all knowing and all powerful. With time I came to realize that although he is an amazing inspiration in my life, he is just a man going about his life. Something about my initial idea of my dad has been implanted deep in my mind all these years, and now as I went through my transition into Fatherhood, I felt that I should become a "fatherly figure" overnight.
After the extremely hectic day of delivery, I realized something very profound.... I was still the same guy after Naiya arrived. I don't know if it had to do with my 'threadless' cartoon t-shirt I was wearing on the day of her birth or the fact that I still laugh a little when she's loudly filling out a diaper, but I am still the same 'immature' guy I was a week ago. It is very relieving to know that I did not become a different person from one day to the next and it is even better that even though I am the same guy, Naiya will look at me as her invincible and all-knowing father (if Im lucky, at least until she hits her teens).
One thing has changed for sure... I would do anything for her at anytime. The best example of this is waking up at 3am for 2 hrs to help Katie feed her and then try to get her to fall back asleep. Anyone who knows me knows I value my sleep... but now it has become an after thought. Sleeping 5 hrs a night has become "good enough" and coffee has become as essential as water to me. Initially, I thought that babies woke up throughout the night for up to 6 months... I am ready to commit to this 100%. No sleep for 6 months... no problem.. what's the worst that can happen? I only work in a lab.. right? Well turns out that the dreaded no-sleep time is actually 6 weeks on average! Last night Peanut only woke up once during the night... 3am feeding... right on schedule. No problem.. I appreciate the effort she made to let me sleep in on my first fathers day.

Still no sign of Peanut...but I met a clown

So a few days ago I decide to go and meet Carlos at school for lunch. I hadn't left the house in more than 24 hours and was getting restless, so I went on an "adventure day" (aka got dressed and ventures outside). I went to wait for the LRT and an old-ish woman walks up to me and stand uncomfortably close to me and says "so, you ready?". After a brief talk about peanut being due any day and that yes, she was my first, etc., she taps my tummy (awkward...), then looks at my shirt. On my shirt is a pattern with birds and hills and some houses (it sounds like a weird shirt but it's cool - from Threadless). She points to the houses and says "is that your castle?"...that's when i realize things were going to be a bit more interesting than talking to some lady at the LRT station. I answer "um ya", of course that's my castle...ya...and she kinda smiles and says something about her living her dreams, and how she's 66 but doesn't feel like it, and blah blah blah...as i kinda look around to see if there's anyone else around. Then a boy (about 13 or 14) with his friends jumps up and obnoxiously yells that the train is coming. Yes, a distraction. His friends are giggling and such, and then the woman turns to him and says "are you excited?". He kinda looks around and doesn't say anything, which apparently is the cue for the woman to reach into her purse and pull out 3 small beanbag balls that she then juggles and sings a songs "are you exciticated, exciticated exciticated..." (no spelling mistake there, that's what she really sang...). Me and the group of teens stare at this woman, really not knowing what to do. Then the train pulled up. She stopped juggling, reached into her purse again and pulled out a card..."Edmonton Caring Clowns Society - Blarney Bee"...and she says "I'd be glad to come to your baby's first birthday party". OK it makes a tad more sense now, she's a clown. I say "have a good day" and get on the train...not the same car she got into :)

the final countdown

Well, Peanut is due in 5 days. I can't believe it's finally almost that time...crazy! It's been fun the last few days when people ask me when I'm due and I say "next week". The funniest was when I was still at work running around like crazy (I use the word "running" loosely here) and people think I'm a little crazy. Carlos is sure I'm a work-a-holic, but I'm still in denial...well, partial denial. But, I'm officially on maternity leave as of tomorrow! I've been "nesting" for the past week or so on and off, but it's now kicked in full force...I've heard you know you're really nesting when you wash the floors...and I partially cleaned the kitchen floor today....just the area that was really dirty...that's the equivalent of the entire house in kt's world of nesting. haha. We did a HUGE grocery shopping yesterday...the farmer's market and superstore...so I think we're good for food until after the apocalypse...and today I baked muffins and cupcakes. Ya. Weird eh? Who knows what nesting will make me do this week...and considering I'm going to be home alone for most of the week, I'm sure I'll do lots of random things when I'm extremely bored and start talking to inanimate objects...I'll try to come write random entries here. This could be fun :P
So the bets are coming in for when Peanut will make her grand entrance. Carlos has been talking to her at least once a day to try to convince her to arrive on his birthday so we'll see if she's daddy's little girl and arrives for him on tuesday, or if she takes after her mom, says "f you guys, I'll come when I want" and arrives on like the 12th. Oh man...
OK well now it's time to play the waiting game...and hopefully my horoscope for today is right...it ended with "Be glad of what you've got and you are guaranteed to be glad of all you get later this week." (Phil Booth knows...)
ciao for now,
-kt (and p-nut)

a couple birthing videos later...

So I'm sitting here surfing facebook and feeling Peanut kick at my belly button, wondering how exactly I can go through labour without actually going through labour, without pain, without tearing or cutting, without an epidural, and without a c-section...I'm thinking it's not gonna be possible....just a guess. I wonder what the doctor would say if I wrote that in a "birth plan" and handed it to her. I think she'd probably laugh at me.
Carlos and I went to a prenatal class today and it was really informative...I'm pretty sure Carlos has had enough birthing videos to last him the rest of his life, and I'm pretty sure he's not gonna be watching Peanut's actual birth unless it's an accidental peak followed by an "OH MY GOD!", me yelling at him for freaking me out, and me kicking him out of the room. A good line today of the prenatal teacher, when asked about why we're taught breathing (lamaze) exercises to distract us, was "we'd teach you how to knit, but then you'd have a weapon". hahah so true. Oh and best part of the class today? Teaching partners how to massage backs and shoulders during labour. I could've fallen asleep on that chair. I'm guessing I won't be falling asleep through a contraction, but I hope it'll help...and Carlos is prepared for me to let him know otherwise...another pointer was that women don't commonly remember a lot of the "transition phase" (the hardest, most painful part of labour involving strong, frequent contractions and the final dilation before pushing) so partners shouldn't remember it either...aka Carlos is not allowed to take anything I say during transition seriously. I'm actually kind of curious what I'll end up saying...but we'll never know...cuz we'll forget the whole thing :)
I also think I've decided that I don't want an epidural. I think I may end up getting one, but I would really prefer not to for a variety of reasons...not feeling the process of labour, not being able to get up and walk/move into different positions, having to have a catheter, having much more monitoring of everything, the higher chance of using forceps...but then again, you feel absolutely no pain...so ask me again later...we'll see...
We've also been having a really hard time with naming Peanut...I don't think it's a good idea for a woman who is in the midst of the craziest hormone roller coaster in her life to be making decisions. I change my mind every few days...and what's making Carlos more frustrated than ever is that I add new names to our list every week or so. I think she may have to stay with Peanut after all.
Oh ya and one more thing about Peanut...she's moved again. Just as we got a handle on where she was, where she was kicking and what bumps were what, she woke me up in the middle of the night on Thursday night, moving around like crazy, before settling down in a new spot. It seems like she's still kicking upwards so we're hoping she's still head down...but her kicking is definitely lower (right above my belly button instead of up in the right side just below my ribs)...Carlos is thinking she may have dropped (it happens 2-4 weeks before babies are born...they drop down into the pelvis further and get into position for fitting through the pelvis)...but I'm not completely convinced of that yet. BUT the good news is that we get an ultrasound monday to figure out exactly what her position is (because she was breach, so the doctor wanted to make sure she turned around). So at least we don't have to wait long for the answer.
Well, that's all I really wanted to rant about today...random goings on in my head about the impending birth of Peanut...so now I'm gonna go relax in my new chair (we got a glider chair last weekend when mom was here visiting and Doug and Carlos put it together for me....so....comfy....it makes me very happy :) ...the chair is calling to me...)
ciao for now,
- kt

A letter to Mother Nature...

Dear Mother Nature (aka Gaea):
Quit making those annoying vegetable cocktail commercials and get back to work fixing the weather in Edmonton.
Sincerely,
Carlos

I have edited a lot of "mother-effs" from this version