Coucoumellisms

I know this is something that doesn't really matter, and something that will probably take care of itself later... But I DON'T CARE , I am going to be shallow anyway. I went to the doctor's office the other day. We were trying to weigh the baby. I had to step on the scale and then hold the baby. I wasn't quite sure, but I think the scale read 179 lbs for me!!! Ackkkk !!! So I came home and weighed myself on the scale here, and it read 170 lbs. Better, but still,... very disappointing. I shouldn't weigh more than 5 lbs above my pre-pregnancy weight. I didn't gain more than 5 lbs with previous pregnancies. See? I knew this would happen, I had finally lost that 15 extra lbs I've been lugging around since 1997 and 3 months later I get pregnant again, goodbye slim figure... Now I have to lose it all, all over again. And who knows how long that'll take? Then, I go and weigh myself on the other scale downstairs, and IT reads about 178!!! Double ACK...

December 6, 2005 A couple of hours before giving birth Gabriel and Nicolas Nicolas Auntie Rose Anne and Nicolas Jean-Alexandre and Nicolas Me, with Nicolas

Nicolas just smiled at me this morning!! He is exactly three weeks old today. Last night, we slept a bit better. But he still has a cold, so that creates some difficulty breathing. But at least it's not too bad of a cold.

Yesterday was nice, and relaxed. Just hung out in pyjamas most of the time... Not getting much sleep at night though... I am sooooo looking forward to getting over the newborn stage... I have never enjoyed it, and have never been sorry it's over. They drink all the time, are rarely awake, happy and NOT drinking. I get ver little sleep at night, they aren't all that cute and they don't qite fill out their clothes yet. I know, I know, there are moms out there who just love this stage. Good for them,... Maybe if I had nothing else to do in a day but sit around and take care of a baby while someone else took care of everything else, things would be different. Unfortunately, I have neither cook nor maids, and I have 4 other children to boot.

Here in Québec we have one month after the baby is born to register the birth, after which we are penalized and it's a bunch of trouble. Nicolas is already 15 days old today. All the papers are ready for him to be registered. Everything is filled out and ready to go, except for one thing. Since he was born at home, "unassisted" (since I had a renegade mid-wife, the birth was "unassisted"), I need a paper signed by a doctor saying he saw me with a newborn baby. I have only two more weeks in which to get this and send everything out. But,... I can't even find a doctor willing to look at my baby and sign a paper saying he saw a newborn baby!!! I tried to make an appointment to see my gynecologist, early last week, but the secretary put me on a waiting list. So I called up my family doctor who's office is at least a half hour to 45 mins away. (In a different city.) And his secretary didn't think he "did" that. (Now how hard could it be to do t...

THREE THINGS ABOUT YOU!!! Copy and re-post into your own bulletin with your three things... Three names you go by: 1. Coucoumelle (over the internet) 2. Juana la Cubana (to a few people in Paraguay, and on my blog) 3. Mom, Mommy, Maman... Three parts of your heritage: 1. Ummm, I grew up in Moose Factory, that's a major part of my heritage, I can't claim to be Cree or anything, but Cree people definitely had an influence on how I act and how I think. (Going to live in a non-native environment was actually a culture shock to me, and it took a few years to figure it out!!) 2. French-Canadian 3. Scottish/English-Canadian (My siblings and I have finally come to the conclusion that we just don't fit in anywhere, English-Canadians think we're French, French-Canadians think we're English, and of course noone's going to mistake us for Cree (heh heh). Or maybe it's just that we're truly Canadian?) Three things that scar...

... and all her family today. They lost their father in May to cancer, and just lost their mother to cancer today at 9:45 am.

Bob now has a name. Jean-Alexandre, Marc and I sat down together and debated about the issue and came up with the winning name: Nicolas Raphaël. Nicolas because Marc and I both like that name AND because he was born on the feastday of St. Nicholas. Raphaël because Jean-Alexandre really wanted to call him that and it was also one of Marc's favourites. The name Bob has stuck however. Jean-Alexandre still affectionately calls him Bob, and even I think of him sometimes as Bob. In fact, sometimes I have a hard time to come up with his real name, as Gabriel, Raphaël, Bob or even the dog's name; Toby come into my head first!!! So, it's another name that works really well in both French and English, and consequently, also in Spanish. Jean-Alexandre is the only one with a name that only works well in French. But when I had him, I hadn't envisioned ever leaving Québec to live elsewhere.

...Bob (As Jean-Alexandre calls him, since we still have no name for him yet.)

On Tuesday December 6th, I got out of bed at around 6:30 in the morning to get the children up and ready for school. It was at that moment that I started to feel contractions. These were no Braxton-Hicks contractions. These were real contractions, not very strong yet, but real. At just after 8:00 am, I called my sister Rose Anne in Sherbrooke to let her know that the baby was most likely going to come a little earlier than expected. I didn't call the midwife right away, I wanted to make sure that it wasn't all just going to stop all of a sudden first. I went to my scheduled gynecologist appointment at 9:30 am. I was hoping the contractions wouldn't get any worse while I was there, and I hoped they wouldn't notice anything. Noone noticed anything was going on. In fact, the gynecologist I saw even remarked that I was at 39 weeks and that if I hadn't given birth by next week, we could envision an induction!! That, even after I had made it quite clear that I didn't ...

Well, I'm getting some serious activity here. Can't guarantee yet whether or not it's actually going to develope into something, but I'm getting some contractions that hurt and they've been quite regular since I got up. At first I thought maybe it was just gas, but it didn't go away even after I went to the bathroom. If I lie down again, they might possibly go away? Who knows...

Today is the second Sunday of Advent. It is also December 4, the Eve of St-Nicholas 's Feastday. Tonight, my children will be leaving carrots out for St. Nicholas's horse and in the morning they should find some gold coins... (chocolate gold-foil covered coins). I have to get out the story of St. Nicholas again, and read it to them. I have decided with Gabriel what we are going to make for him to put in the stockings for everyone. I can't say here what that might be, because Auntie Rose Anne might see it and we wouldn't want her to know what he's putting in her stocking now would we? Auntie Rose Anne will be spending Christmas with us. (Yay!) Maryssa has already done something, and Jean-Alexandre knows what he's doing, so now, I just have to find something to do with Dominic. I am starting to get nervous/excited about giving birth. I've never done this at home before, so I am wondering how much better it will be, and hoping/expecting that it will be better t...

http://www.cresourcei.org/cyadvent.html The Advent wreath is an increasingly popular symbol of the beginning of the Church year in many churches as well as homes. It is a circular evergreen wreath (real or artificial) with five candles, four around the wreath and one in the center. Since the wreath is symbolic and a vehicle to tell the Christmas story, there are various ways to understand the symbolism. The exact meaning given to the various aspects of the wreath is not as important as the story to which it invites us to listen, and participate. The circle of the wreath reminds us of God Himself, His eternity and endless mercy, which has no beginning or end. The green of the wreath speaks of the hope that we have in God, the hope of newness, of renewal, of eternal life. Candles symbolize the light of God coming into the world through the birth of His so...