Month: January 2016

Back in August, I acquired a Fitbit Charge HR from my lovely wife.  On one hand, I tried my best to stay fairly active knowing that heart disease runs in the family, but on the other hand, I wondered if I was doing enough.

I have to say that I have officially jumped aboard the fitness train in the past six months and it’s all because of this little gadget strapped around my wrist.

I’m sure you’ve all heard about these devices but for the kids of the future reading this blog, it’s basically an overpowered pedometer which also tracks your heart rate.

Lately, my obsessions have been:

• How can I get to my 10,000 steps today?
• Oooh, they added a new feature called ‘Active Minutes’.  What do you mean 10,000 steps isn’t considered active?  Oh, it’s because it defines an active minute by the level of your heart rate.
• Now I’m all about getting active minutes.  I walk fast to and from my office.  I hop on the elliptical every night now.  Anything to get into the active minute zone.
• This past week I’ve been thinking about John and how he has lost weight on a diet.  How can I leverage that thinking into making me more fit?
• Fitbit also asks for you to set a goal for your ideal weight.  I never bothered doing that because I was more concerned about having a healthy heart.  So I started thinking about it and entered that I wanted to lose 20 pounds.  What harm could come of that?
• Now I’m starting to log the food I eat each day and it’s comparing how many calories I have coming in vs. how many are going out.

I have to say that as a device, I know it’s not the most accurate thing in the world (I mean, how does it REALLY know how many calories I’m burning based on my height/weight/gender…it can only be estimates), but I have to say that it’s really interesting how my mind gets shifted into another realm when I start seeing that I’m not maximizing the amount I can be doing.  For example, on Sunday, I wasn’t doing all that much around the house which meant that my ‘calories out’ bar on the bar graph was slowly being taken over by the ‘calories in’ bar graph of food that I was eating during the day.  So what did I do at the end of the day?  Got on the elliptical so I could skyrocket that ‘calorie out’ bar way above the ‘calories in’.  If I wasn’t paying attention to this Fitbit, I probably would have just been on my merry way to sitting down at the tv.

That’s another interesting point to consider…I used to bring my bicycle downstairs in the winter and watch tv while biking.  However, there is the ass factor to consider and that is if you don’t bike all that much, you’re going to be quite sore all the time.  I asked Uncle Gerry how to overcome this and I’m pretty sure he said something nice but underneath it was saying “Suck it up and power through!”  🙂

But the elliptical has become a favourite machine of mine in the house.  I don’t find it too intense but at the same time, if I want it to be intense, I can do so by pedaling backwards, using my arms to push/pull instead of using my feet…it’s neat!  I place it in front of the tv and get to catch up on some shows.  (P.S., I just finished Jessica Jones and I have to say…meh).

So…all this to say that it’s been interesting to see how much I have changed since August past to this point.  Who knows if I will stick with it?  I am notorious for just bailing on fitness after awhile.  But I feel that technology has finally figured out how to make fitness fun for the people who don’t find fitness all that fun.

Vero and I are pretty stoked that Pearl Jam is coming to town in the middle of May.  It’s a few weeks before the due date so I would be taking a chance trying to go to the Quebec City and Toronto show…imagine missing the birth of my own child!

However, we are also wondering if Vero will go into labour during the show due to sheer awesomeness which the kid will be exposed to.  Secretly I hope this is the case…imagine the story to tell that kid!  We’re totally calling the kid Boom if that happens! (named after Pearl Jam keyboardist Boom Gaspar for all those following along!)

In other news, we managed to acquire a crib from Chantal and John which is super appreciated.  We assembled in the living room and lo and behold, it’s too big to go through a doorway into the baby’s room!  Ah well, the room needs to be cleared out to be painted anyhow!

We are also scoping out daycare options as the City of Ottawa suggest we put our names on the waiting list during the second trimester.  I have to say I wasn’t prepared for that to happen so soon so it’s been an interesting few weeks of research.  Special thanks to Carol who helped us understand the nuances of daycare centers vs. home daycare and how licensing works through all of that.  It’s a lot to think about when you try and figure out who should be taking care of your child throughout the day.  At least we managed to figure out that it doesn’t make much sense for one of us to stay home full time until we have three kids (not that we are having three kids, I’m just saying that’s where the break even point breaks).  At one point during my calculations we were freaking out because it showed that we couldn’t even really afford where we lived right now!  Vero pointed out that I had somehow managed to copy and paste our mortgage payment TWICE into the document.  Whew!

It’s a girl, at least according to the old wives tales available to mankind to use to determine what gender their baby will be.

Last night Vero and I looked up a ton of old wives tales in relation to pregnancy and here is how they all fared.

Carrying high vs. carrying low – Boy

Is the heart rate above 140 bpm – girl

Does Vero have a sweet tooth right now?  – Girl

Chinese Birth Chart (which claims 90% accuracy, wow!) – Boy

Picking up a house key from my hand – Boy

Acne – Girl

Ring over stomach – Boy

Morning Sickness – Girl

Smooth Skin – Girl

Nice hair – Boy

Weight distribution – Boy

Warm feet – Girl

Left breast vs. right breast…which is bigger – Girl

Mood – Boy

Dream – Boy

Preference of sleep position – Girl

No headaches – Girl

Baby names – Girl

Verdict:

Girl: 10

Boy: 8

I’m not going to describe the details of all these tests since they are out in the wild if anyone wants to look it up.  Needless to say, they are fun things to try, but come on…the girl vote squeaked by and I’m sure if we just found more tests we could have made the boy vote squeak by!

Later this night, Vero said the baby was kicking again and I got to feel it for the first time in my life.  What can I say about the experience?  It was very freaky.  When I first saw the heartbeat on the ultrasound monitor, I realized there was something growing inside Vero.  But this hit an entirely different level and I must admit it freaked me out a little knowing that there is now physical contact between Vero, the baby and myself.  It’s a cool feeling at the same time.  But now I feel bad for the kid being stuck in that cramped space for another five months (let alone the feeling Vero must be having during all this time as well!)

Continuing the story of the ultrasound after I declared ‘Je suis bander!”, we arrived for the appointment and went into the ultrasound technician’s room.

Not only did our technician live in Vars, but she was also from Smooth Rock Falls!  Small world!

An ultrasound is quite an interesting view of the world…let me tell you, I have a hard time telling what is what.  At one point they were telling us to look at the face and I was pretty sure I saw the face of Skeletor on the screen!  Then I realized I was looking at it completely wrong.

We have decided not to find out the gender of the baby (which has prompted interesting reactions from friends and family ranging from “Good for you!” to “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?!”

So even if there was a penis on the screen, I don’t even think I would be able to tell what it is.  I will tell you that I did see something that looked like those space slugs from Star Trek – The Next Generation where Reginald Barclay is stuck in the transporter, but hey, who am I to know what that space slug actually is supposed to be on an ultrasound?

Our baby was known as the yoga master in that ultrasound appointment because it had their feet up near their ears.  Unfortunately, that meant that the technician couldn’t get some scans that she needed.  She asked that we take a break and move around a bit.

Vero attemped la danse des canard to shake things up and then sang ‘Shake it up baby now’ to get that baby moving.  Alas, that didn’t do much so we were asked to take twenty minutes, drink some juice and move around the hospital for twenty minutes.

Vero went into overdrive and realized that if we wanted to avoid coming back from another appointment, it was time to pull out the ‘Eye of the Tiger’!  She pulled out her best boxing moves and did some shadow boxing in the hallways of Montfort hospital.  Where is the security footage when you need it?

I also convinced her to step outside the hospital for a few minutes so that the shock of -30 degrees might get the baby moving.

Luckily, something worked out right and the baby went into a better position so we could take a better shot!  From what we could tell, everything looked fine, but hey, we aren’t experts.  I suppose we’ll hear from the doctor if anything peculiar has popped up.

To begin this story, you have to know that Vero and I went cross country skiing on Sunday which resulted in me being sore on Monday.

So Vero and I head to Montfort Hospital for our second ultrasound on Monday. Exciting times, we get to potentially see more things happening than last time!

As we are walking up to the main entrance of Montfort, I can feel the soreness of my legs and so I’m in the process of doing a stretch mid-stride and I say to Vero:

(In French) “Boy, am I sore!”

Vero does a double take and so do the old couple walking on by.

I recognize this double take. It means I must have messed up something in French.

“What did you just say?” Vero asks.

“Boy, am I sore!” I reply.

She starts laughing hysterically and now I know I have clearly falling into the Anglophone trap. You know the trap I’m talking about…the one where there are so many words stumbling through your brain that sometimes, you just use the wrong one.

“What did I say?!” I ask.

“You should said “Boy, I have an erection!”

Kids, just remember that “Je suis racker” and “Je suis bander” are not interchangeable and racker is the appropriate word to say you are sore (excuse my conjugation/spelling), I’m still not sure how it’s spelled.

I just hope the old lady passing by didn’t tell her husband “I wish you would say that to me once in awhile.”

Like every other working Canadian right now, I’m not looking forward to returning to work tomorrow.  Gone are the mornings of sleeping in, nursing a hangover and thinking “Hmm…what shall I do today?” (although I’m sure that’s what retirement is like!)

At least Vero and I were smart enough to make the most out of a nice zero degree day and went cross country skiing.  It’s always a struggle to get me out and doing some form of physical activity but when I get there, I’m quite happy.  It was a perfect day out in the woods (other than the constant non-existence of sunshine without cloud cover around Ottawa) with Vero and it makes me realize that cross country skiing is a fabulous way to spend an hour on a Sunday.

We also put away the Christmas decorations which always is the worst part of my year.  Why can’t we just leave the lights up all year long?

So what does next week hold for me?  I’m sure that it will take a day or two to get settled back into the routine of work.  There are probably tons of Christmas decorations to take down if no one has done so already.  Plus it’s time to gear up for the upcoming baby!  Vero has started her lists so now it’s time to keep an eye open on Kijiji for some good deals to be had.

I had one mission on Saturday and that was to get milk and while I was at it, some other groceries.  I had a thought that Costco on a Saturday is sort of like a suicide mission, but I had nothing else on my plate while Vero went to shop for maternity clothes so off I went.

I should have sensed the alarm bells as soon as I creeped into the parking lot and had to tour around two or three times to find a spot to park.  Or maybe it was the point where I went to the entrance and there were no carts left.  I went back to a cart area in the parking lot and managed to find one, but they were slim pickings.  Did everyone in Gloucester have a cart today?

Of course they did!  It was a little hectic inside so I stuck to the back aisles as much as possible (and also stumbled into Laura and her friend) but I made my way to the back of the store to pick up some milk.

I’m not sure if it’s my marathon viewings of The Walking Dead but the milk area looked like it fell victim to  a zombie apocalypse-like run for supplies.  There were three bags of skim milk left along the back wall with no 1% to be found.  What the heck!?

With that, I finished picking up other groceries and headed out to the parking lot which was a graveyard of vehicles.  As in…they were all still.  Not one was moving, but there were the sounds of horns and the visages of some very frustrated people out there.  In fact, I saw one guy who screaming to the point of being red in the face while his wife sat next to him.  I realized then that people should just relax in situations such as these and that’s what I did.

After fifteen minutes of sitting in the exact spot I was parked in, I realized that I may as well venture out and get some food.  Off to get a schwarma down the street!  I had no worries…it wasn’t like the parking lot was going to empty anytime soon.  I mean, if I couldn’t even reverse out of my spot in fifteen minutes, there was no way that would change for another 30 minutes while I had lunch.

I ended up back at the same situation I left and sat in the car and thought to myself “Well, I should take this as a sign to do something constructive with my time.”  Unfortunately all I had in the car was a user manual and a map book to read.  I then decided to pop in the new Corb Lund album my parents picked up for me and listened along while reading the lyrics.  I have to say that this was some prime quality time and I’m glad I took advantage of it as I did!  An hour later I finally managed to sneak my way out of the parking lot and headed to another grocery store to pick up some milk.  There’s no way I could come back empty handed!

The moral of this story?  Never go to Costco on a Saturday, let alone the first Saturday where they start accepting returns after the holidays.  Also, if life gives us an hour of time to do something…use it smartly…read a book, listen to some music or smartly just walk away and come back in an hour.  You’re not gaining anything by just sitting there getting frustrated.

Vero and I got back from a trip up North over the past week.  This year there seemed to be more time to do things whereas other years it feels like we don’t have much time at all.  We got to spend some great time at both our families houses as well as visit some people around town.  Abigail is two years old now and is quite exiting to be around.

If I had to rate my levels of interactions with children, I would say helping them when they cry is the lowest (of course…who really has that at a high level?), then playing with them is second and just watching them while they play by them self or walk around is my favourite interaction.  It’s really a marvel to try and understand what that kid is thinking and see what creativity is inside.  Prime example: the night we were leaving the North, Abigail started pouring cups of tea for herself and then decided to start offering it up to her Dad.  Mimicry is quite amazing.

John and I got some good jam sessions in during the holidays.  It’s a shame we don’t live closer because we gel together well.

On the baby front, I was glad to chat with Dad over the holidays as he eased some fears I had of whether or not we could offer children.  I know that we can definitely afford them, but I’m wired in a way that I need to understand the costs of a project.  There is little to no information on this subject and I can only assume it is because people just don’t have time to calculate this while taking care of a baby!  They just DO it.  Dad explained that back in the day (at least in his case), there wasn’t even much thought into whether or not a person could afford a kid…they just went ahead and had one and that was that.  After chatting a bit more about this at the dinner table with everyone, I am more at ease with having a kid from the financial side, but there are some unanswered questions out there.

Namely, at what point is it worth it to stay at home vs. put the kid in daycare.  That’s the big question right now and I know that we are 1.5 years away from having to do this, but preparation is never a bad thing.

We are very fortunate to have friends and family in our life who helped us out with the baby while we were there.  We ended up packing the Mazda CX-5 to the gills with baby stuff…a crib, TWO bassinets (one which was built by Vero’s dad for Vero when she was a baby), a change table, assorted odds and ends and Fredo, the stuffed monkey (thanks Andreane and Guillaume!).  It was a little insane bringing that all home and we almost had to leave Vero behind, but we figured out how to pack it.  Now my mission is to find a small little part which is missing from the crib.  At this point, the only lead I have on it is a used parts store down in the United States which sells it for $20USD but ships it internationally for $50!  Plus we need to buy a new mattress at a $100 so we’re debating whether or not to get a different crib.  I think I might just opt for shipping the part to Ogdensburg for $8.

Happy New Year’s to all!  Vero and I spent New Year’s Eve at home with a fire and watched The Hateful Eight which definitely was not one of Tarentino’s finest films.

Special thanks to Mom, Dad, Danielle and Gaetan for their hospitality and great food.  Mom, that roast and porketta stands in the halls of time as the greatest meal I ever had!