Baby Shower

On November 17, our good friend, Stephanie and her parents, Bob and Sue Gill, were kind enough to host a WONDERFUL baby shower for Colin and I. It felt so nice to be spoiled by all our friends for the whole afternoon! We played several shower games (how big is the belly, don't say the word "baby", and draw a baby on you head) which led to quite a lot of laughter.

After the games we partook of a lovely potluck lunch (my fav was the sushi and all the chocolate, of course) and then I was put into a rocking chair for about an hour while the various guests came by one and a time and applied henna to my belly (as seen in the photos above).

After the very fun henna experience we opened all of the wonderfully thoughtful gifts that were brought to us by our dear, dear friends. It's funny how overwhelming the outpouring of love has been this year for both Colin and I. First with our wedding and now with baby Thea on the way... well... all we can say is that we appreciate all your love, best wishes, and support SO MUCH... now more than ever!

It is now 12 days until due date (which means any time in the next month or so). We have almost everything together now for our home birth (fingers crossed that we don't need to go to the hospital for any reason). It's just a matter of waiting for Thea to pop out now. It is such an exciting and joyful time waiting to see who this new person will be... we can't wait!

Sprit of Midwifery

(Some photos taken this weekend for me by my friend Mike Hrycyk... thank you Mike!)




Hi one and all! I had a great time this past weekend at the midwifery conference in Vancouver. It was two days of talks on recent findings, research articles and thesis projects, along with some great informal discussions with midwives from around the country (and some from across borders too) about midwifery as it is, where it is going and how we can help to get it there.





There were a few talks that stand out in my mind especially: One was a research project on 5 years of home birth. The results of that study were quite groundbreaking. They showed that in most areas of labour and delivery, home birth is a safer, better alternative to hospital births (attended either by a midwife OR a GP/obstetrician). This study was important because it will help to pave the way for greater advances in legislation in provinces where midwifery is not yet regulated/funded and for other pro-midwifery endeavors.


Another research project that was very enlightening was one about university students' attitudes towards birth. It was somewhat surprising to see what the results of a UBC-wide survery were (hopefully they will post these findings online and I will be able to link to them for those interested).


There were many other wonderful talks including ones about post-partum obsessive complusive disorder, spirituality in midwifery and others that were completely facinating.





On a personal note, I had a wonderful time meeting so many wonderful, thought-provoking women. I had the great experience of meeting with some of the current UBC midwifery students and getting to talk to them about their experiences and thoughts. As I said, it was a wonderful weekend!





I also had a fantastic time at Mike and Jessica's place. Thank you so much for being great hosts this weekend guys! On Friday night we went to Langley for a birthday party with some of their friends, Cory and Mike, and had a wonderful time eating Chinese food and meeting their fantastic kids!





On Saturday we went out for dinner at the Eatery (my fav sushi place in Vancouver) and had a nice intimate dinner with some friends. It didn't go very late (which is probably for the best given that I was REALLY tired by then). After dinner we headed back to M&J's place and Mike took some really nice photos of my preggers belly. We then watched all of 10 minutes of a movie before passing out on the couch and then heading off to bed.





Sunday morning we made a quick trip to Granville Island (where I had cheese croissant, chocolate eclair and apple strudel for breakfast... mmmm...) and then to the ferry where we arrived just in time to run across to the car loading deck and throw me onto the ferry.





I had an amazing three days but the best part of it was coming home to my island and seeing Colin's smiling, wonderful face waiting for me at the front of the arrivals area. Sigh... maybe it is the newly-wed in me talking but I missed him every minute I was gone and it was the best feeling ever to be back home in his arms again...