Two Monkeys: Nicholas & Joshua Read

The time is flying by and I am reminded every day by certain changes that the time for the 'birth' is creeping up. In one part of my mind, I'm able to separate the thoughts of excruciating pain from my mind, and on the other side, I'm anxious to meet the little guy. The wonderful part is that he's coming soon and we're pretty much ready for him at this point. Some noticeable changes in the pregnancy have included the following: Breathlessness: Wow - who would have thought such a tiny baby could occupy so much real estate in my belly. I feel more breathless, which is expected in the 3rd trimester, more and more each day. I have to breathe deeper just to feel that I got a good breath in, and have to not talk as much - as that causes me to pant a bit more. I find that when I get excited on a topic gets me breathless as well. Happy as can be: I read a lot about women getting emotional during pregnancy, which has to some extent affected me - especially when I s...

My weekly Friday treats have been a nice shawarma with garlic and sweet sauce at Andalo's after my pregnancy massage, followed by a decaf Americano at Starbucks. The guy at Andalo's found out last week that I was having a boy, and when I ordered my chicken shawarma today - he told his worker to make it a double. Holy Cow! I don't think I looked that hungry, but sure - I'll eat it! It was double the size of a normal one, and by the time I was ready to eat it, I wolfed down the entire thing no problem! I never thought having a big belly warranted men serving me a super sized shawarma! I wasn't even hungry for dinner tonight as it filled me up for the whole day. I still went for my coffee and even got a chocolate chip banana bread dessert.

Here's my growing belly at 31 weeks. Surprisingly, I haven't had too many people coming up and patting it. I do find myself being more and more protective of it in crowded locations and I am more anxious in the car. It must be a mother's natural instinct. I even avoided eating some pork last week that sat on my desk for 2 hours. Normally, my stomach of steel never let me down. This time, I decided to not take the risk. Check out the belly at 31 weeks - 9 more to go!  

Some belly shots from the 30th week - it's now big enough that people are taking notice.

Nicholas is going to have so many friends by the time he's born! We visited his little friend Liam Nicolas Smith this morning. His mom, Mary, is doing extremely well and Mackenna's mom, Tania, is excited to have two little boys ready to meet her little girl. Here's a pic that Adam took for us after breakfast. Liam has a full set of hair as you can see and was a cutie pie.

Last weekend, we enjoyed an amazing walk on Sunday afternoon at Pink Lake in the Gatineau's. The leaves are on the bring of changing their colors, so we were able to enjoy some red and orange trees. They are still mostly green at the moment, but a few short weeks will definitely mark the true colors of fall.

I have to say that Yoga has been a tremendous activity during pregnancy. I am now taking my second round of yoga on Saturday mornings at Dovercourt - Shanti Prenatal - and it's been very soothing and good for my limbs. I also did a yoga class at IBM yesterday and was amazed at my flexible ligaments as I was able to do the front splits on my right side. I inched down slowly, the went lower until I reached the floor - just like when I was 10. I've always been flexible, but couldn't believe that I still had it in me. I don't think I'll make it a regular activity, just in case a ligament snaps and I lose the ability to push when I'm 10 weeks away. The Saturday classes are definitely not that intense, but has taught me some great techniques that I hope to remember when the time comes for delivery.