I took Natasha for her 1-year doctor's checkup yesterday. And it's quite funny and sad all at once how she clearly remembers the doctor's office and associates it with pain and unhappiness on her part. The last time we were there was for her 10-month checkup, but she still remembers it very very well. Anyway, we had to stay in the waiting room for about fifteen minutes before they called us in, during which Natasha was pretty cheerful. But once the secretary finally called us, I had to sit Natasha on the bed and undress her to a diaper. That is when she went crazy.

Her entire body started shaking, then she was in tears, and shortly after she was screaming bloody murder. She was shaking and crying so hard it was very difficult to control her; the pacifier in her mouth was not helping either. And all of this was before the pediatrician came in. I somehow managed to undress her and she finally calmed down just a tiny little bit. When the Pedi walked in, Natasha completely froze in my hands and started watching his every move. She watched as he sat down and asked me some questions about her development, eating, sleeping, and so on. He then wanted me to place her on the baby scale so we could weigh her... that is when tantrum #2 began...

Natasha was screaming so hard, the entire scale was shaking! The doctor managed to take her weight though, and then I placed her back on the bed to measure her height and do other standard procedures. I had to restrain Natasha's hands and legs so the Pedi could measure her length, check her ears, nose, and listen to her heart. He wanted to check her seven teeth too, but decided not too as she seemed to be ready to bite his finger off! I don't blame him...

Anyway, after all this fun was over, it was time for the "best" part: her 2 vaccines - MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella), and Men-C conjugate. Natasha got the MMR in one arm and the Men-C conjugate in the second arm. She screamed all through, but the vaccines were really really quick. After that was over with, the Pedi told us to come back when she's 15-months old and left the room. Poor Natasha continued her hysterics as I tried to dress her back up, but back in the waiting room she calmed down and was happily sucking her pacifier. Once out of the office, she was magically back to her normal self. She hasn't shown any signs of fever yet, so hopefully she won't develop any after-effects. Here are her stats:

Weight: 19 lbs (8.63 kg) - between percentile 10 and 25
Height: 32.1 inches (81.5cm) - above percentile 95
Head Circ: 17.3 inches (44cm) - between percentile 10 and 25

UPDATE - September 26, 2006

So, to help himself sleep at night, Matthew decided to pick his own photos for the Look-alike Meter because, according to him, I chose a biased photo where Natasha looks more like me. [Insert lots of eye rolling here]. Anyway, he went and selected a photo where she looked just like him. And here's the result:

 
I am sorry, Matthew, but this result has not proven it otherwise! The results are very close to the outcome of the meter below, which indicated a tiny difference of 3%. This one came out with a difference of zero. Haha! Anyway, we do all know this is just for fun, and it was fun indeed!

I saw this posted on Yvy's blog and thought it was funny. Now there is proof Natasha looks more like me! 
(even if it's only by 3%).

Since I had to work 9-5 yesterday, I am somewhat late with this post. But at 8:33am yesterday, my little angel turned one and I seriously don't know where the time went. It seems as if only yesterday we came home from the hospital with a tiny newborn wrapped up in a big blanket, and yet an entire year has passed since then. It's very bittersweet. But it has been such an amazing year, probably the best, and I can't even remember what life felt like before she came along. Of course we had our ups and downs throughout the year, but to answer the infamous question my single friends ask me: is it all worth it? The answer would simply be "yes".

Here she is, 1-day old and 1-year old.

Here's a short (or not-so-short) recap of her birth story:

Natasha Maria
Born: Sept 18, 2006 
EDD: Sept 11, 2006
8:33 am
7lbs 11oz
20 inches
reg. birth w/ an epidural

I started having slight contractions on the evening of September 15, 2006. I was supposed to be at my office's summer party that day (Friday) but didn't feel right in the morning, and decided not to go. The pain started in my low back, and the contractions were spaced 15-20min apart. My OB advised to go to the hospital when they're 5min apart, so I waited. Matthew and I spent the entire night timing contractions, and I was chatting with my mom through MSN Messenger - she helped me determine if it was true labour or not.

Saturday, September 16, my contractions were about 6-7min apart, a little more painful, and my mom insisted they drive us to the hospital for a check up. So we made the 40min trip, just to be sent back home because "my pain was not strong enough", and I was "only 1/4 of a cm dilated". So back home we went.

Matthew and I didn't sleep that night again, and instead we timed contractions and panicked. The pain was getting more intense and neither of us could sleep or rest or do anything else for that matter. Towards the morning hours, I couldn't stand straight anymore and needed to lean on the wall or on Matthew for support at each and every contraction.

By Sunday, September 17, they were 4-5min apart and very painful - my parents drove us to the hospital once again that morning. "Go home", said the nurse. "Your pain is still not strong enough. You are 1cm dilated. This can go for days with baby #1." At that point I started crying because I was afraid to go home in fear of delivering in the car (doesn't everyone have that nightmare?) But we still went home. No use wandering around the cold hospital hallways.

That day was terrible. I was crying through each contraction, unable to talk, walk, smile, or laugh. My mom was insisting on driving back, but at the same time we were afraid of being sent back home again. By 7:00pm we (or I) have had ENOUGH. We drove over for the 3rd time.

This time I got admitted. I was 2cm dilated and the contractions were 3-5min apart. Finally I got a room. It was 8:30pm. From that point and until 2am I suffered through the contractions, but then decided I couldn't take it any longer. I requested an Epidural and by 3am I was finally pain-free. Epidural was like Heaven at the time. Finally, I got some rest. So did Matthew and my mom who stayed with me in the room.

At 7:30am, on Monday, September 18, the nurse announced I was 10cm dilated. Time to push. YAY?
Natasha came into the world at 8:33am with a headful of sticky black hair.

We were released from the hospital on Wednesday, September 20.

Today I spent over two hours reorganizing Natasha's closet. It's not that it was disorganized, but it mainly had all her summer outfits out and since it's getting rather chilly, I needed to get all her fall and winter outfits out and handy. Not every day is cold now, but even when it's 18°C outside and windy, Natasha gets too cold in a simple t-shirt and so I needed all her long-sleeve stuff out as well. And let me tell you it took forever... This child has about five times as many clothes as Matthew and I put together! There are items in her closet such as shirts, pants, dresses and other things that she only wore once or twice before she outgrew them - there were simply not enough days to wear every single item she owned! Some of these items were passed down to us from family or friends, and others were new that either I bought for her, or someone else did as a gift. And of course she looks cute in everything, but like I already said, it was almost impossible to wear everything!

Anyway, today I removed all her t-shirts and tank tops from the hangers and folded them into one of the drawers in her dresser. In their place I now have hanging her long-sleeve tops and blouses. I find it much easier and more convenient to grab stuff off the hangers than dig through a drawer for what I might need. Her shorts are also folded in a drawer in case we still get some warm enough days to wear them. I think she's more than ready for the fall to arrive!

On a different but related note, she has about 5-6 huge boxes at the bottom of her closet filled with 18-24 months outfits. This child has enough clothes for at least another year, if not more. She got a lot of 18-24 size outfits for her birthday from Matthew's family, and a few days ago she got about a ton more clothes from my grandparents who live in Israel. And then yesterday, we celebrated her birthday at my parents' place, where needless to say, she got a gazillion more new items to wear. I just wish we had more room to store her future wardrobe, but right now we're doing more-or-less okay with storing everything is cardboard boxes and large gift bags.

I hear from moms of boys that this only happens to moms of girls...But who knows!

Natasha has started spending the majority of her day cruising. And by cruising I mean grabbing unto furniture, pulling herself up to a standing position, and then walking along by holding tight to that particular piece of furniture. She knows better than letting go because, as she learned about two weeks ago, letting go means falling flat on your back into our hard floors and it hurts. My mother-in-law can testify to this, as she was on the phone with Matthew when this incident happened and heard her wails and screams very well! Anyway, babies are not stupid, and Natasha now knows and understands the consequence of letting go. So she taught herself how to sit back down on the floor and how to get up again and it almost looks like she's exercising - up and down, up and down! It's quite funny watching her.

But today I noticed that she crawled next to one of Matthew's house plants which sits in a big white pot on our floor. She knelt next to it, put her litte hand right into the soil and took some of it out! Yuck. And somehow some of that soil managed to get around her mouth. Needless to say, the plant is now at its new temporary, out-of-reach location until we can figure out what to do with it. Anyone got a cage?? I've noticed she also started pulling the lower kitchen cabinets out, and generally getting into things that are within her reach. Pulling curtains is another favourite activity as well as sticking little fingers into our bedroom fan which stands on the floor. Yep, it's definitely house proofing time!

So since starting work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I've been taking the public transit to transport Natasha to my mom's place for the day. And it's a fairly short bus ride, ten to fifteen minutes in the most, depending on the morning traffic. The problem is that by the time I actually arrive there, I am ready to pull some hair out. You would think that TTC riders were a litle more sensitive to mothers with strollers. Yes, strollers can get bulky on a busy morning bus loaded with business people, but the new accessible buses are a lot wider than the older ones, are made to be wheelchair friendly, and I think generally strollers are much narrower than wheelchairs. Then, why does it become such a problem?

Yesterday was a typical example. I loaded a morning bus, which after 10 minutes of standing in the same spot and not moving was announced to be out-of-service. Great. So we all get off and wait another good seven minutes for the next bus to arrive. When the next one finally showed up, all the impatient and late-for-work people stormed right into it, leaving me to get on last. Fine. So when I was finally able to get on, it was impossible to actually move into the bus because everyone decided to stand at the very front, practically blocking my way. Like, are you blind, people??? Do you not see a stroller coming in? And only some good 4-5 "excuse-me's" later was I able to pass by them. Ok, so I am in. I pushed down the breaks on the stroller and just wished this bus would hurry up.

Naturally, since the previous bus went out-of-service, there were at least 10 people waiting at the next several bus stops. And they all managed to get on so the bus was packed without any room left to breath. Fine, but what do they do next? Instead of holding on to the metallic polls the bus provides for support, people assume they can hold unto the stroller! What?? Excuse me???!! The stroller is not there to provide you support, if anything, you're pushing it down and can potentially break it this way. Is this not common sense?? I would think it was. As if it wasn't enough that I have people breathing down Natasha's neck, all I need is a broken stroller in the middle of a packed bus! Ugh.

And of course, when it was time to get off, I needed to throw another load of "excuse-me's" to actually get off, because no one sees a stroller trying to get off the bus. Or they pretend they don't see. And it's really frustrating. Now, let me elaborate and say that I normally love using our public transport system, but just I wish people were a bit more sensitive to mothers with strollers. It's not that hard to move over and make extra room.

Sorry for not updating in a while; I am back to work on a temporary, part-time basis and my daily routine is a little off right now.

Everything continues to change in Natasha-land. She's growing up and becoming a very determined and demanding little girl. She's now mastered the skill of crawling which leaves me to chase her around the apartment all day long. It can get really tiring. Last night, Matthew and I left her on the living room floor with a bunch of toys while we did some stuff in the kitchen. About a minute later I went to check on her, only she was not there! So off we went to look for her, only to find her in the bathroom, next to the toilet looking all proud of herself! I guess we are in for it now. But at the same time, she's getting tired of crawling everywhere - I think she realizes that no one else crawls but her and she is really determined to make walking her source of transportation. So she would start whining and crawl on top of me into a standing position and would continue whining until I hold her hand and let her walk. And let me tell you, she's pretty fast! She's practically running! But she still cannot balance on her own so she's pretty dependant on someone to hold her hand. My poor baby is trying so hard!

She's also started pointing at everything. It's the cutest thing, and we try to name the item she's pointing at so she starts learning what things are called. I think she learned this from watching BabyTV on Rogers - there is a toddler there that always points at things, and I think that is where she got it from. She's also turning one in exactly 11 days which reminds me to book her one-year doctor's appointment - I am really dreading it as I know she will scream at the sight of her pediatrician, but I know she'll scream even more when she gets her vaccines. Maybe Matthew should take a day off work and take her.........