Ending the radio silence

I am sitting here, drinking a cup of red raspberry leaf tea, reflecting on the fact that it has been 18 months since I last had a cup. Yes - Teddy is 18 months old today! It deserves an entry all to itself, this milestone, but I did want to note it. Another milestone is the fact that I am approaching 35 weeks in this pregnancy. CRAZY!

So - the radio silence. There was stuff going on and I didn't want to talk about it until it was officially sorted out. And now it has been, so I can share.

June was a busy month, as I channeled as much of the 'nesting' energy I had into getting stuff ready for Baby #2 - clothes washed and put away, etc. Plus - basic life stuff needed tending (working full time + toddler = lots to do!).

The Canada Day/Independence Day long weekend was awesome! We once again headed south to a wedding in Michigan - my dear friend Katie got married in Ann Arbor on the 4th (congratulations, Katie and Nathan!!), and it was a blast. We hung out with old friends, we shopped, we met Arwen and Bryan and Camilla and Blaise -- it was great. Arwen and Bryan are amazing hosts and the kids are delightful; we had such a wonderful visit with them! All in all - a magnificent time.

And then...things started to get a bit strange. The heat and humidity started really taking a toll on me - massive swelling, horrible nausea, headaches, terrible fatigue. My blood pressure had been fluctuating over the past month, and I am iron deficient, so my midwives were a bit concerned (I have pica - all I want to do is eat ice. I am not kidding). I spent several days just relaxing, but I was getting Braxton-Hicks contractions every single time I moved and I just felt terrible. My midwives suggested that I limit work, and I did. But every single time I went in I felt like I had been hit by a truck and I spent all day with faux contractions, serious pelvic pressure and brutal low back pain.

The worst came overnight on Sunday the 11th - barely any sleep due to contstant B-H contractions and what were starting to feel like actual, very light contractions (I was 33 weeks at this point). I paged the midwives and they told me to head to the hospital for monitoring. Happily - I was not in pre-term labour. But they were concerned because all this was happening after I'd spent the weekend taking it easy. Not wanting to risk it, they told me to discontinue work.

And so - I did. I went in last Thursday to hand in my pass and Blackberry (and the team threw me a shower that they pulled together in 1.5 days!). I am on sick leave until I officially start my maternity leave in August, and I continue to take it easy. I am not on bedrest, thankfully, but I have found that anything more that 1 outing per day (like a family trip to Costco, for example) really takes it out of me.

I am not really sure the reason for this -- summer pregnancy? Or maybe my body is just telling me to chill (I try to cram too much into my days, I think, and it was taking a toll). I am so grateful that I have the ability to take this time to rest and to keep this kid cooking as long as possible.

So - that is the big news from here. Since I am off -- maybe I will blog a bit more? Stranger things have been known to happen, right?