Exploring the Zoo with my little Penguin

Yesterday Parker and I went to the zoo with one of my friends and her son.  I wasn't sure how Parker would take to the zoo.  But I think it was a successful trip!

First stop was the Pandas.  The pandas are only at the zoo for a few years, and since there are babies right now I knew that I had to see them!  It was the only exhibit that had a line.  They were pretty cute and Parker was pretty excited when he saw that they were moving.

 I don't think Parker had any idea that this lazy camel was actually alive.

 After we did the Pandas and the Eurasia exhibit, it was already time for lunch!  We headed out to the car on the zoomobile.  The kids loved the zoomobile and Parker sat on my lap an looked around.  It actually took us through some animals that you wouldn't be able to see otherwise.  Parker liked the Yaks.to eat a picnic lunch.  Then it was splash pad time!  I wish I had a video of Parker at the splash pad.  He loved it.  He just ran all over and I chased him.  It was definitely the highlight of his day.  

After the splash pad we got back into the stroller and took off for Africa.  First stop was the Rhinos.  I said "Parker look at the Rhinos", but when I looked down the kid was fast asleep.  He continued to sleep until we got on the zoomobile at the end of Africa.

 Definitely one of the best parts of the day was seeing Juno, the baby polar bear.  She was so cute, and the kids seemed pretty enthralled too!

No zoo trip would be complete without a visit to the penguins.  First we went to see them swimming underwater.

 This was Parker's expression when he saw them.

 Parker and Declan also liked to watch them swim from up top.  And so did mommy!

 We decided to stay at a hotel in Markham for the night.  It was an adventure!  Two tired kiddos and two tired mamas!  

Declan is just over 2 and Parker is almost one and a half.  So they aren't really the best at sharing.  We had a few fights over the digger.  But we all made it out alive and were ready to head home this morning!

I had wondered what the zoo would be like with a young toddler.  Honestly low expectations were key.  We did what we could, I let him sleep when he wanted to and didn't worry about him missing anything.  Because he doesn't know that he missed anything!  We also skipped the indoor exhibits and anything that we didn't think the kids would really get.  But I had a lot of fun too!  

Pregnancy Weeks 14-18

No picture, but here is what I recorded for 12 weeks:

•          The cravings!  Last time I just craved carbs as a whole, which was easy, because I could always satisfy the craving.  This time I find myself craving something more specific.  The other day I had to stop on my way home to get Miss Vickie’s Salt and Vinegar chips.  I have never craved chips in my life because I’m a chocolate person so it was a weird feeling.
•       I’m feeling pretty good, the fatigue still hits me hard sometimes, but that might just be because I’m a mom with a busy kid who doesn’t always get a full nights sleep
•          I got my snoogle pillow out this week and it’s wonderful.  Ryan isn’t happy about it, but I sleep so much better with it!
•          I’m excited to start talking about names, I love knowing what we are naming the baby.  We still have a name picked out for a girl so we will see if that sticks, but we are starting from square one for boys names, so it could be interesting!
•          I’ve been on the hunt for a double stroller.  I’m hoping to find a good deal on a used City Select so I’ve been keeping my eyes open on kijiji because you have to jump on them fast when someone posts them

13 Weeks

• We told some of our extended family about the baby last weekend as well as our friends.  It’s nice to have it out in the open!
•  Still just showing mostly in the evening, I can tell during the day but nobody else can. But at night I look super pregnant.
•  I still fit into my regular pants, which is nice.
•  I got a call from my midwife this week to let me know that I tested positive for ureaplasma, which is linked to preterm labour.  I was looking it up to try to decide if I wanted to treat it or not and only found really bad things about people going into labour at 24 weeks…I’m trying not to freak out until I talk to my midwife more about it at my appointment next week
• I would say I’m not as tired (except for Parker having a cold and waking up 3 times a night doesn’t help) and I feel pretty good most of the time.  My boobs are more sore than they were in the first trimester and are fuller.

14 Weeks

• I announced my pregnancy at work this week, nice to have everything out in the open and can stop whispering to the people who know about it
• We picked names….maybe…. I’m not fully set on the boys name, but I’m thinking Ryan is so it will probably stick
• Up 3 lbs so far, I’m happy with that
• My midwife suggested going to a naturopath about the ureaplasma.  I’m trying not to worry about it too much as there isn’t that much I can do
• Parker got an ear infection so we spent 3+ hours at the hospital.  Of course he was happy while we were there and so I spent 3 hours chasing him up and down the halls cause he would not sit still.  This made for one tired out mama!

15 Weeks

•          This belly that comes and goes is weird.  Some days it’s here some days it’s not.
•          I kind of feel like I have a UTI.  Symptoms include frequent urination and getting up at night to pee.  Ok thanks google, that’s just pregnancy in general.
•          I can’t wait to feel movement, it could happen any time now, but with Parker I didn’t feel anything until 21 weeks.
•          I’m sleeping great with my snoogle pillow!
•          Hungry most of the time

17 Weeks

•          Reflux has started up a little bit although not all the time like last time
•          Sleeping pretty well and overall pretty comfortable
•          Craving carbs, not a huge fan of meat, I basically just want to get take out all the time
•          The naturopath has me on a bunch of pills to hopefully get rid of the ureaplasma, we will test again in a few weeks to see if it worked

18 Weeks

•          Up 9 lbs from pre-pregnancy weight, but this is where I was at when I started my pregnancy with Parker, so I’m ok with that!
•          Started feeling movement at the beginning of this week!  Some days there’s more than others an sometimes it’s really obvious and sometimes I have to be concentrating to feel it
•          I find it feels more like definite kicks than it did last time.  I can sometimes feel it from outside my body whereas the early kicks last time were more like flutters.  Does this mean my baby is massive?  Or just really strong?
•          Acid reflux is more steady
•          Had a midwife appointment – heartbeat was 144
•          Looking forward to the anatomy scan in 2 weeks!

Pregnancy to 13 Weeks

I told you that eventually I would get around to blogging about the pregnancy....I'm not quite as hardcore this time.  Although I want to be, I just don't have the time in the day to take weekly pictures and document as much, so I've tried to do as good as I can with it.  I'm more summarizing what I've been feeling.  Here is everything up until 13 weeks!

5 weeks

•         We can’t really believe that we are having another baby.  Are we crazy?
•         No symptoms prior to positive test
•          A bit of a sore back.  No sore boobs this time around though.

 7 Weeks

•          I’m tired all the time and can’t believe how early it started this time around.  Probably something to do with sleepless nights and chasing after a busy 15 month old
•          Definitely feeling more nausea this time around.  I especially have it in the morning, I don’t want to eat, nothing seems appetizing, but I have to or else I feel sick.  But it can also hit at any time during the day.  Specifically when I’m hungry or have eaten too much.  It’s a fine line…
•          When I wake up in the night I have a really hard time getting back to sleep
•          Crazy vivid dreams, I should be keeping a journal of them!  In one I was the Blue Jays 1^st basement, terrible idea!  I can’t catch to save my life. 
•          We told our families and I think surprised them all!
•          One day I took a picture of my belly because I looked 20 weeks pregnant.  It was clearly just bloating and went away, but it scared me.  Other than that I feel a bit chubbier.  I’ve been trying to eat well before real cravings hit as I know that first trimester is no excuse!

 9 Weeks

•          Still tired
•          Nausea hasn’t been quite as bad but can still hit me pretty hard at times
•          I told my boss and one other co-worker because we were talking about staffing and I felt bad keeping it a secret.  Then we went on an offsite meeting and it was hard to hide not being able to go in the hot tub or drink anything
•          The belly comes and goes
•          I have my midwife appointment this week.  Finally!  I’m looking forward to seeing the midwife and getting an ultrasound booked

11 Weeks

•          Had midwife appointment at 9 weeks. Isabelle was surprised I was back so soon!  It’s so nice to know what’s going on this time around, we got down to business at the appointment.  Because I had a preemie we are going to do some extra testing this time around to try to prevent that if possible, but there are no guarantees
•          I actually hadn’t gained any weight, if anything I’ve lost a few pounds, which kind of makes sense because my appetite was definitely not big while I wasn’t feeling well
•          Had an ultrasound at 10 weeks!  I drank too much water and had to pee a little bit 3 times during it and was very uncomfortable.  But Ryan and I both got to see the baby, which was amazing
•          I’ve been feeling pretty good overall.  Nausea isn’t too bad anymore and I’m generally less tired I would say, however weekend naps are still really nice.
• We are looking forward to telling more people next week about the pregnancy. 
• Next midwife appointment is at the end of May
• Some days by the end of the day I look very pregnant, but in the morning the belly is pretty small again, which is good for work so that people don’t catch on!