I'm 13 weeks pregnant and scared to death to give birth again. Eva's birth went everything but smooth. I never posted her birth story, because honestly, it's not something I want to remember.

When I met with my new (amazing!) Doctor at my first prenatal appointment, he asked how my first birth went. I replied "horrible, everything went wrong". He asked specifically what went wrong. But my oh my, what went right? After hearing everything, he agreed. And will be going above and beyond to make sure this birth goes better. He even said he'll call ahead to the hospital, and make sure I have the best, most experienced staff there for me. Cool.

I won't go into gory details. But I'll tell you this, I'm pretty sure this next birth can't trump the awfulness of the first. And I'll do everything in my power to make sure it's better.

Hence, the idea of getting a Doula. I really need a support person, and that's precisely what a Doula does- encourages and supports. And, before last night, Nich has never really been into the birthing thing.

But, when the Doula couldn't make it to our meeting last night, we got to talking. And he got it out of me that of course I would rather have him be my support person, rather than paying someone else the big bucks to do the job. And it turns out, that this time he really wants to get into it. He wants to learn all about it, and be there to offer comfort and support this time. (Don't ask what he was doing last time, but it rhymes with leeping).

And I just read this miraculous hypnobirthing story (hi! sorry, i don't know you, hope it's ok i linked to you). And I'm like, ohhhhhh, hook me up with the hypnobirthing! So, we went to Chapters and bought a book and cd. It is very important to me to try for a natural birth this time (I know, crazy!). I feel the whole thing went downhill with all their interventions which really could have been avoided. I know labour and delivery don't always go as planned. Ha ha, you really don't need to remind me of that. But, it's what I'm hoping for and trying for.

So, now we're trying to figure out our plan. Should we forget the doula? Should we try the hypnobirthing? Should I have a chica family/friend there as well for some womanly support?

We're praying about it. I just hope it goes better this time.

It's a hot chocolate kind of day. It's dark, rainy and overcast at 2 in the afternoon. My baby girl is snug in her bed having a long nap. And I just woke up from a little cat-nap (with my kitty) on the couch. The fireplace is warming up our freezing cold house, and I ate Chicken Noodle Soup for lunch. At first I was dreading saying goodbye to summer, but now I remember why I love Fall.

All of the above and pumpkin spice latte's from Starbucks.

I LOVE baby things. I love teeny baby clothes, baby gear, baby everything. And, when Eva grew out of all her cute, little baby things, Nich and I were sure there were no babies in our future, we gave it all away to friends with new babies themselves.

So, I gotta restock! There are a few things I can borrow from friends (thanks Dykstras!), but still some things left I gotta find myself. And, yesterday, Toys R Us was having their Baby Sale. So, I went and picked up our very first of the baby gear:



A Boppy Swing! It is so comfy, small and portable. It's so light and teeny it will do double duty as a bouncy chair as well. And, bonus, Nich likes, no LOVES it, because of its neutral colour palette.






And I have a good 6 months to find a few more things on my wish list...






A cradle! We need something that will rock our baby bean to sleep in the middle of the night. We never had anything like this for Eva, and we had to continuously bounce the bouncy chair with our foot (which is hard!) for 20 minutes at a time throughout the night.








A Boppy pillow! Does anyone have one I can borrow?








A Double Stroller! I have my eye on a Phil & Ted's E3. This stroller is so perfect because the second seat can be unattached. And I'll have a 2 1/2 year old that will probably want to walk on short stints to the park. But will get tired going on long Mommy walks.

And when Eva outgrows strollers altogether, it will be a single stroller for Baby Bean.







A playpen with bassinet and change table. Oh my goodness. This is the must-have for me. I had a HARD time moving around after I gave birth (we can thank the 4th degree tear for that). And maneuvering myself to change diapers on the floor/couch/wherever was tough stuff. I'm looking forward to being able to stand and change my little newborn. And the other bonus is the bassinet. This will be nap area for Baby Bean for quite some time. We'll have it downstairs for the first while, and then move it to our room, so Eva and Baby Bean can nap/quiet time in different rooms.

This morning we discovered a new park in Surrey with some good friends of ours. There was a huge playground, that the kids enjoyed immensely. And there was also a train ride! It was so cute, and a lot of fun. I took just a few pictures, well, actually I couldn't help myself. I took about 80 shots. But, who wouldn't? The kids were just so cute, and they were having so much fun...

Just found out I was pregnant (no belly yet!)

Week 9

And more current belly pics to come. Just too lazy to break out the camera right now.

Mexico was amazing. I would write more, but i have a nice headache/jet-lag/morning sickness thing going on. So, I'll just upload some pics.

Picture with the Spanish band

We're about to go snorkeling in Playa Del Carmen. This turned out to be a great adventure, involving huge waves, pelting rain, a teeny uncovered boat, and a big, scary boat-driver man named Mario that only spoke Spanish.

All in all, it was a perfect trip, at the best resort in Playa Del Carmen. We booked a jacuzzie suite, which to our surprise, came complete with a sundeck the size of our main floor at home, a living room, bedroom, and two bathrooms. Everything was luxurious and amazing, from the comfy King-size bed, to the 4-course evening meals. There was 24-hour room service that we took advantage of, as we relaxed in the huge jacuzzi on the sundeck. And lots of activities to take part in like Yoga on the beach, spin class in the pool, and Salsa dancing lessons.

We are so thankful that we got to go, and enjoyed every minute of it. But, the best part just might have been the reuniting with our baby girl at the end of it all.