22 Weeks

Week: 22

Weight Gained: I don't even want to talk about it....

Belly Button: Still in and shallow

Cravings: Anything with salt. I Know it's not good for me but it's all I want!

Sleep: Very tough. I am using a sleep wedge pillow and I now rely on a pillow between my knees to keep my hips from aching.

Best Moment of the Week: I have two. Meeting our fabulous OBGYN (she is one of my new favourite people) and waking up on Saturday morning to find David playing some Frank Sinatra for the baby on our IPod

Worst Moment of the Week: Staying home sick on Wednesday because I couldn't move. I somehow managed to throw my back out sleeping.

Thoughts from Dad: "I wonder what you are going to be like? Are your kicks into your mothers stomach artistic dance steps, athletic movements or are you just impatient and trying to kick your way out? Maybe I am the impatient one and just want to know what you are going to be like?

This week was a little bit of a rollercoaster. We had such a great time meeting the OB and David is really starting to get very attached to Baby E. On the other hand, I have been having a very hard time with sleep and my joints and back have been killing me. I think that I am starting to feel the extra weight that I have gained in the last five months.

I have been super busy with the Minerva Foundation Dinner and the Run For the Cure this past week. I am starting to notice that I don't have as much energy to do all of the things that I would like to do. Thankfully all of my charity events will be done next week.

We are continuing to work on the nursery and have begun reorganizing the rest of the condo. We are hoping to clear out as much space as possible so that we have room for all of the extras that will come with Baby E.

We have a busy week this week but I will try to update when possible.

S

Sleep Sucks.

I am seriously lacking in the sleep department. I try to go to bed early, but when I do the baby is wide awake and kicking away.

My latest struggle has been getting comfortable. I used to love my bed and now I hate it. I am now sleeping with a pillow between my knees and a wedge pillow under my belly. I wake up every morning with major pains in my lower back and I cannot even begin to tell you how uncomfortable it is when your legs and hips go numb when you are trying to sleep.

I think my days of glorious, easy, sleep filled nights are officially over.

Crap.

S

I Love My OB

It has taken me a while to get to this post because we have had quite a busy week.

We had our first OBGYN appointment on Tuesday! We met Dr. McCubbin in her office which is located across the parking lot from the Grey Nuns Hospital. We love that everything we need is soooo close!

Everyone had been telling me horror stories about waiting for up to two hours to get into an appointment with their OB. We arrived right on time and only waited about fifteen minutes to be let in. Her offices were small but clean and new and we felt really comfortable.

Her nurse Margie was the first to meet with us and she was fantastic. She gave us a run through of what to expect at each visit and gave us some printed information to take home and look over. After taking my blood pressure (perfect as always) she weighed me (I don't even want to talk about it) and we were left to wait for the doctor.

She came in and we were both immediately comfortable with her. She is such a warm person. She is very efficient and gets the job done, which we both loved. I don't necessarily want someone to hold my hand through this entire process, that's what I have David for, but it does help that she has fantastic bedside manner. Her efficiency makes me comfortable too. It leads me to believe that she really knows what she is talking about.

She asked me a few questions and then we listed to the baby's heart beat. She found it right away! After a few kicks from the baby we were able to measure the heart rate at 150 bpm which is very strong. We also found out that a baby's heart rate can increase by 10-15bpm just with the move of a leg or arm. Very cool.

Our favourite part of the entire appointment was when she asked us if we had any questions. I couldn't believe that she was actually taking the time to make sure that we had all of the information we needed! She answered all of our questions and reassured us that everything is going really well.

Our next appointment with her is October 19th and we are so excited!

More to come!

S

The Nursery is Under Way!

We accomplished so much on the baby's nursery this weekend.

On Friday our friend Brian came over to help us move the last of the furniture (two mattresses and a box spring) over to David's parents house. It was so nice of him and it was great to finally have that room cleared out.

After he left I was so excited that I couldn't wait to get paint for the room. I made David go to Home Depot before they closed to pick up everything that we would need to paint the room the next day. We managed to paint the entire room on Saturday. David was fantastic and did most of it on his own. Apparently my body can't handle working as hard as it used to....

Today I put up the wall decal that we ordered on Etsy and it looks amazing! It took me about two hours to get it on the wall but it was completely worth it.

We cannot wait to order the furniture to finish the room. We should be ordering it soon and once we get it all in we will put up the shelf we bought for the room and we can start loading all of the bits and pieces into the nursery.

We really hope to have the room finished by the beginning of December. Fingers crossed!

Here are a few pictures from the weekend...

S

21 Weeks

Week: 21

Weight Gained: 15 so Far!

Belly Button: Getting really shallow... I can see it changing every day.

Cravings: Buster Bars from DQ... It's the first time I have wanted ice cream in a looonnggg time.

Sleep: Getting less and less comfortable. I am starting to have to use pillows to get more comfortable.

Movement: Lots of little kicks and wiggles on a regular basis. I had one amazingly strong kick while I was sitting at work this week. It was so strong that it made me shoot back in my seat. It actually startled me quite a bit.

Best Moment of the Week: Hearing the heartbeat of our little bean. We also found out the test results from our Ultrasound and everything is perfect!

Worst Moment of the Week: Finding out that I had gained 9 pounds since my last appointment

Thoughts from Dad: "Baby, I have been reading about how to put you on a flex schedule all week. Mommy says that it will work but we will see...."

This week has been pretty busy. We have been working to clean up the last few items in the baby's bedroom and we have begun to think about what we will need for when the baby arrives. Getting the registry organized felt really good and it created a list for us to work from.


We are looking forward to this week. We have an OBGYN appointment on Tuesday with Dr. McCubbin and we cannot wait to meet her.


We will fill you in on more when after our appointment.



S

Baby's First Shopping Spree....

For those of you who don't know... we Eliuk's like clothing. Our closet recently had a total and complete meltdown of mass proportions as a result of our excessive love for fashion. Now... David will tell you that it's all me but he has quite the affinity for nice business attire and spandex items..... for racing of course.

So today was Baby E's first clothing chopping spree. Old Navy is officially shipping to Canada and I managed to put a hefty dent in my wallet by ordering over 20 items! I know.... it's excessive.... but it's all so darn cute! We have decided that this will be our one big clothing purchase and everything else will come along as we go.

Hopefully Baby E likes fashion as much as we do!

S

20 Week+ Doctor's Appointment

We had a doctor's appointment on Monday that I have been meaning to talk about. I think I have been putting it off because I am slightly in denial about the entire thing.

Everything went very well. Baby E's heartrate is strong and consistent and the results from the ultrasound were amazing. We are measuring right on target and there were no abnormalities found.

Here's where everything goes wrong... since my last appointment five weeks ago I have gained 9 pounds! 9 pounds! Everyone tells me that is a normal weight gain but my doctor tells me that I am not gaining enough. What?! Not gaining enough?! That's crazy..... I have never been asked to put on more weight.

We have our first appointment with our OBGYN Dr. McCubbin next Tuesday. Hopefully I can find out more then about whether or not we are on the right track with weight gain. I am really hoping to only gain around 30 pounds or so. I guess we'll see!

S

Wiggles and Kicks

Baby E has been very active lately. He/she has been throwing a pretty big dance party in my belly and I am still not used to it yet. I think that some of the people I work with are starting to question my sanity because I regularly have to stop mid sentence to deal with the baby's movements.

Baby E has not kicked hard enough for David to feel yet but we hope it happens soon! I think he is getting sick of sitting on the couch with his hand on my stomach for long periods of time.

S

An Open Letter to Baby E

Dear Baby E,

I thought that it was about time to start writing to you on a regular basis. I want you to be able to look back and read through my thoughts as I was pregnant with you. You may not appreciate it during the first twenty years of your life, but there will come a day when you will be interested in this sort of thing.

I want you to know how loved you are already. You are the most terrifyingly exciting thing to ever happen to us and we cannot wait to meet you. You have become our favorite thing to talk about, even if no one else cares as much as we do. I think about you constantly and so does your dad.

We have had an amazing time so far preparing for your arrival. We try to envision what it will be like when we finally see you and hold you for the first time, but we really have no idea. I find myself asking friends of mine who are young parents what it was like when they met their baby for the first time. They can never fully explain the emotions they went through but the look on their faces as they try to put it into words says it all.

We have started putting together your room and registered for your first gifts, most of which you will not remember. We have discovered how much fun it can be buying things for someone else and have to stop ourselves from spending your college fund on fun toys.

Last week we saw you for the second time. I couldn’t believe how big you are getting and daddy was in awe. Your uncle Matt and Grandpa Lee were also there to see you and after counting all of your tiny toes on the grainy screen you had us all in the palm of your hand.

I have been enjoying our quiet time together as well. I love lying in bed waiting for you to kick me or roll over. It reminds me that I am never alone and I am a huge part of creating something incredible.

Lots of Love and hugs and kisses,

Your Mom

Registry Fun!

We have officially registered for Baby gear!

Yesterday we made our way down to Babies R' Us to create our baby registry for Baby E. We have had quite a few people ask us what we want for the baby or Christmas and we had no idea. We figured that this would be the most efficient way to let everyone know.

I was very overwhelmed walking into the store. It is HUGE and there are wall to wall items. As a first time parent it is hard to distinguish between the things you think are cool and the things that you will actually need. We tried to keep it simple but it is just so damn exciting!

David demanded to hold the scanning gun which I allowed because I know it keeps his attention focused. We went through the store, row by row, scanning everything we could think of that we may need. It took almost two hours and a lot of quick decisions but here is the final product:

STEPHANIE ELIUK's Baby Registry

Can't wait to start learning how to use all of it!

S

PS. I think that David was secretly most excited about all of the cool toys. I let him have free reign in that department and I am pretty sure that he picked everything that he would want to play with. I am curious to see whether or not he uses it more than Baby E.

Half Baked! 20 Weeks!

Week: 20

Weight Gained: Don't know... I have been intentionally avoiding the scale until my next doctor's appointment.

Belly Button: Starting to get really sore.... But I don't know if it will ever pop.

Cravings: Hot Tamales! I am obsessed with cinnamon right now.

Sleep: I need more of it.... and the sleep I do get is uncomfortable. It is hard to stay in one position for a long time now.

Best Moment of the Week: Cleaning out our spare bedroom in preparation for the baby.

Worst Moment of the Week: Having a massive breakdown after David brought me the wrong pants when he picked me up from work to go to dinner with his parents.... I really couldn't control it. I asked him to bring me black leggings and he brought me a pair of nylons and a pair of yoga pants.... not what I wanted. It was a dumb meltdown.

Thoughts from Dad: "Why can't I feel you yet baby? I am getting impatient."

This week was looooonnnnngg...... We have been so busy that we haven't had any time to really settle down and relax. It has been really tough to catch up on sleep and work on the nursery so we were happy when we could do both by the end of the week.

I have been having a tougher time physically this week too. I have been having a lot of tightness and cramping in my stomach that I can only chalk up to growing. I have no idea why I am getting so big, so quickly! I feel huge! I look at photos of other women at this stage and they are no where as big as I am. We have a feeling that at our appointment on Monday the doctor will tell us that we are further along than we thought.

David is getting more interested in my belly. He has been paying more attention to it lately, hoping that he will feel the baby kick. We are hoping that it will happen soon but don't expect it to happen for another couple of weeks.

We have big plans to get more done in the nursery this week so we will keep you updated on how it goes!

S

Progress on the Nursery

We have been busy little bees in the Eliuk household... I have officially started nesting people! This means that I am creating a lot of work for myself and a lot of work for David [sorry hubby:)].

We have officially begun working on the nursery. We are obviously going to go with a gender neutral theme and in keeping with our favourite color scheme, green and brown, we have decided to go with a woodland creatures theme.

We have packed up all of the bedding from the spare bed and leaned the mattresses up against the wall. This means that my dad no longer has a bed to sleep in when he comes to visit [sorry dad!]. Last night we took apart the desk and started cleaning out some of our old files. We posted our computer monitor on Kijiji last night and this morning I had a million emails in my inbox requesting it! We also posted our wireless keyboard and mouse and a few leftover vases from the wedding last summer. Hopefully we get a few hits on the other ads and we can start clearing things out.

This weekend we will be in full swing and hope to have most of it cleared out so we can start painting.... YAY! I also purchased a decal from Etsy that will become part of the room. Here are a few of the items you can look forward to seeing in the room once it is complete:

Can't wait to see it all put together!

S

Full Time Work and Pregnancy

I have been having a really hard time with motivation lately. I have been so exceedingly tired and haven't really wanted to do anything other than work on our condo and the baby's room. I have been finding it harder and harder to leave the house in the morning when all I want to do is get to work on a stack of projects that have been waiting for me for some time now.

I am not complaining about having to work full time through my pregnancy.... most women do and I never expected to do otherwise. I just never expected it to be this hard.

David can see that I am really struggling lately and I know it is hard for him to watch me go through it. We are hoping that this is just a phase and we will get through it soon.

We have started working on the baby's room which is helping me keep busy. I am really enjoying the time that we are spending with each other working on such an important project. It is great to do something together that we are both so passionate about. We can't wait to finish the room! It is going to look so great when it is finished.

I guess I just have to get through the work days so that I can come home and see my husband and we can work towards our future together.

Here's to a more motivated, productive day tomorrow!

S

19 Weeks

Week: 19

Weight Gained: Somewhere around 7lbs still

Belly Button: Starting to hurt! I think that it is really working it's way to the surface.

Cravings: 7Up slurpees and other frozen drinks.... and White Wine! I wish I could have a glass.

Best Moment of the Week: Seeing our little bean at our mid-point ultrasound. We were able to see little toes and fingers... so cute!

Worst Moment of the Week: Having to drive home 11 hrs the day after Ironman.... yuck!

Thoughts From Dad: "Baby! Why are you letting mom feel your kicks and not me?!"

This was such a busy week! we arrived home late on Monday night and we were back to work early Tuesday morning. My dad flew in on Wednesday morning and we have been running around ever since. The house was a disaster zone after being away for 10 days and we had a mountain of laundry. To top everything off the entire rack in the closet had collapsed on my the night before we left for vacation so I had to put everything back together. I also spent the entire week with a wicked cold.

The best part of the week was going to the ultrasound on Thursday. I met up with Dave and I went into the room alone for the first part of the session. It took the tech about half an hour do take all of the photos and measurements and I took the opportunity to have a small nap. When she was done she called in Dave and my dad and brother Matt who had been hanging out.

The baby looks perfect! I cannot believe how big it is getting and how much detail we can see. I think that David was most excited to see little toes for the first time. The heartrate was at 133bpm at the time of the ultrasound and we got to see everything, from the brain and skull to the toes.

Here is a picture from the Ultrasound:

Hopefully this next week is a little bit slower and more relaxing!

S

Freebies!

So one of the things that we are so thankful for are our fabulous friends and family. They are fantastic and thoughtful and we couldn't ask for more.

My side of the family is currently going through a major baby boom. My aunts have younger children and all of my cousins also have young children so we are fortunate enough to get a ton of hand-me-downs. Here are a few of the things that we have been given or will be given soon:

- BOB Stroller
- Graco Infant Carseat
- Maternity Clothes
- Sleep Sack

We just want to say THANK YOU to those family members who are passing down such amazing things.

S

David is an Ironman!

My husband is my personal hero. He is a rockstar. An athletic God. He is the kind of person I aspire to be.

My husband is officially an Ironman.

For those of you who don't know, here are the Ironman distances:

- Swim 3.8km

- Bike 180km

- Run 42km

That's a LONG way people!

David managed to finish the entire thing in 11 hrs 21 mins! He did the entire thing with smile on his face and an incredible amount of positivity. Ironman is something that we always knew David would do, but figured it was something that he would accomplish in his 30s. He ha officially accomplished it at 27.

We woke up at 4:30a and we were a the race site by 5:30a. After body marking and checking the transition it was time to say goodbye and goodluck. Both David and I were really emotional when we said goodbye. I can't explain but I can tell you that we were not the only ones feeling this way. Looking around we were surrounded by family and friends embracing in emotional goodbyes with their loved ones. Ironman is just that big.

My family met me down at the race site and we spent the day running around taking photos. David crossed the finish line with arms in the air and we all went wild cheering. I couldn't get to him fast enough to make sure he was ok. There were many proud tears and sweaty hugs at that finish line.

I couldn't be any more of an embarrassingly proud wife. *Sigh* He's incredible.

S

18 Weeks

Week: 18
Weight Gained: 7lbs

Belly Button: Getting Shallower

Cravings: Tomato with Sea Salt and Ground Pepper

Sleep: Well.... we are sleeping in a tent most of this week so... NOT GREAT!

Best Moment of the Week: Having strangers notice my pregnancy for the first time

Worst Moment of the Week: Almost losing my nice dinner in the bathroom at the Delta Grand in Kelowna

What I am Looking Forward to: Our Ultrasound next week

Thoughts From Dad: "This kid better like the sun, because we are outdoor people."

We spent the week in the Kelowna at Triathlon Nationals and camping in Summerland in preparation for Ironman on Sunday. Sunday, August 22 was also our first anniversary!

The trip started out great! David surprised me by booking us into the beautiful Delta Grand on the water in Kelowna. We knew that this would be our big vacation this year so he was willing to splurge a little bit. I felt like a bit of an impostor walking into the hotel at first. We rolled up in our rusty Pathfinder and proceeded to have the bellboy help us with our "luggage" which included: Three backbacks, a rubbermaid bin full of race gear, a bike and a few extras.... classy.

We had amazing time getting couples massages and lounging by the pool and we managed to charge a small fortune in food to our room bill.

For our anniversary dinner we walked down to the Keg (Not much for options in Kelowna. We usually would have chosen a small, amazing, one-off restaurant.) and I indulged in lobster while David inhaled a giant piece of steak. Our first year has been amazing and we have so much to look back on. I can't wait t see what the next 50 hold!

On Tuesday we made our way to Summerland where we camped with friends and started making frequent trips into Penticton so that David could get everything ready for race day. It's funny to see how our camping style has changed. We used to sleep directly on the ground and I would go to bed fully clothed because I was so cold. Now I camp in style. The last two times we went to Jasper I hit up the spa instead of hiking and this time we set up the full aerobed inside of our tiny backpacking tent... nice.

More from Ironman later.


S

A Little Bit About Us

We decided to start this blog to keep all of our out of town relatives and friends in the loop on everthing that is going on in our household. Although I believe most of our readers will be those who already know us, here is a little bit of our backstory for those who don't.

This is David:
He is the love of my life and my best friend in the entire world.

This is me:
Our lives started together four years ago and we were married August 22, 2009, almost three years after we first met. Following our wedding we left on a two month honeymoon to Australia that brought about some of our favourite memories.

Here we are on our wedding day:

I come from a huge blended family of five kids. My siblings are hilarious. We didn't always get along growing up, but we can't get enough of each other now.

David comes from a smaller family. He has one older sister whom he gets along with famously even though they are seperated by a four year age gap.

Now I will admit, David and I didn't fall in love with each other because we had a lot in common..... we fell in love because we didn't. He is a conservative man with a love for the law, stats and facts. He is an avid triathlete who has competed in several World Triathlon Championships and one Ironman. He likes to plan and organize and is a whiz with a budget. I, on the other hand, am a bit of a free spirit. I am artistic and creative and often have ten projects that I am working on at any given time. I am much more impulsive and spontaneous and like to go with the flow. Although I too have competed in Triathlons, I have no where near the same drive as David to exceed at athletics. I think it is our opposite natures that have created such a balance in our lives.

We are also about to embark on one of the most exciting times of our lives... We are about to become parents. We found out in May of this year that we are expecting our first child on January 28, 2011 and we can't wait! It will be the first grandchild for our parents and the first great-grandchild for three of our grandparents.

I will start the blog off with a couple of updates on how the pregnancy has been going thus far.

Hope you all enjoy reading!

S