The Talens' Tales

 Everyone I had talked to said that the third baby is kind of the wild card, especially when it came to labour and delivery. And for me, they were right. In fact this whole pregnancy has been a bit different from my other two. I am not sure if it was because I am older or I was just paying more attention, but it was not as easy as my first two. My first two kids were both 10 days early. So, I sort of figured this one would be early too. But, 10 days early came and went and no baby. But I had been having contractions on and off for a week already, so I was pretty sure my body was getting ready. So, on Tuesday morning, April 26th, I woke up for the day and noticed I did not feel rested at all. I just pushed through the morning things, got the kids ready and then just took it easy. When Wilbert came in for coffee time, I told him I really needed a nap and I was having contractions about every 10 minutes. So Wilbert took the kids outside with him after coffee time and I had a lov...

Gideon Michael - Born on April 26th at 11:33 pm. 9 lbs 6 oz and 20.5 inches long. It is hard to believe that he is one week old already! We are all doing well and just love this little guy. His siblings can't get enough of him, especially his big brother.  More to come later!

Spring will arrive on the Island some day. The kids found the first crocuses in bloom the other day,  And everyone but myself (since bending it not so easy these days) has started on some yard clean-up. I am so thankful that Wilbert, the kids and my in-laws have been pitching in to help. And now we are really just awaiting the arrival of baby. Meals are in the the freezer. Baby gear and clothes are ready to go. My hospital bag packing has started. I am making no commitments to anything for the next few weeks. So probably the next time I check in it will be after our new little one arrives.

I will admit that I have been pretty terrible providing any updates about this pregnancy, It is hard to believe, but we are creeping up on 32 weeks already. This is a picture of me from around 30 weeks. It no longer surprises or bothers me when someone assumes I am due any day and then seems rather horrified to find out I have 8 weeks to go. I am rather large, but it is my third pregnancy. If this baby is anything like his or her siblings, we actually have closer to 6 weeks to go, so we shall see how that turns out. Overall, I feel pretty good. I have learned that I have to rest during the day though, otherwise the next day is not very good. So, I am working hard at taking care of my family and myself and some of the extra things are falling to way side, which is okay.

Today we got to have a look at Baby T #3. And we are pleased to report that everything looked just fine.  Baby sucking on its thumb. Just like its siblings, baby wasn't totally cooperative for the exam, so we get to go back in a few weeks so the ultra sound tech can get a good look at the spine and kidneys. As Wilbert said to our ultra sound tech (who was the best one we have every had), "it is hard to know how people believe there isn't a God when you see something like this." We are praising God for a healthy looking baby so far.

This birth story was much smoother and bit more predictable than the first birth story . But, it was still full of surprises. The whole pregnancy, I had been trying to convince myself that this baby would be late. Joash was 10 days early, but I didn't want to get my hopes up too much that baby #2 would also be early. On Thursday, May 16th, it was the last day I was planning on tutoring a student that I had been working with at the local Christian School. I felt really "off" when I got up. Nothing to really indicate labour, but just a bit funny. But, I really wanted my student to have closure and to say good bye and stuff, so I just pushed through and got myself ready and went to school. By the time I got there, I felt fine. The rest of the day I felt fine too and even cleaned some random stuff and baked a batch of cookies. That's right. I was nesting. I woke up around 1:40 am Friday morning to go to the bathroom. I stood up and my water broke. No question...

Mataya Anne ~ born May 17 at 5:24 am. 7lbs 15 oz and 19.5 inches long. She is a week old already and doing terrific. Both her parents and big brother are in love!

First, a nice picture of Joash and I. He and Wilbert made a nice card for me for Mother's Day. Joash drew snakes on it (including a new kind, a tiger snake.) They also put together a little bunch of flowers for me from our yard. "One for each of us," the card said. There were two tulips, a daffodil and one little tulip that was not quite all the way ready to bloom. It was very cute.  Now this next picture, I don't even really want to post, but Wilbert says I should, since my family should know what I look like. We are now 11 days away from the due date of Baby T #2. The baby has "dropped" and I look gigantic. Joash was born 10 days, so who knows what tomorrow may bring. I am so ready for this baby to make its appearance. But, since I think it will come early, it will probably be a week late. So, I need to pray for patience.

We have had a really busy and different week here so far and Joash has been a bit out of whack because of it. So today, he is taking a good nap, which I think he has needed since Sunday. So just a little update from us.  Joash loves spending time with his dad. He has been going for lots of tractor rides and spending extra time in the barn and that has been fun. Sometimes Dad is pretty tired, though. In these next two pictures, Wilbert is asleep after having a meeting the night before. Imagine Joash talking non-stop and moving all around and driving his loader into Wilbert. Wilbert slept through it all.  I also think Joash misses his Oma and Opa. He wants to go to their house all of the time and yesterday he told me he wanted to go on an airplane and see Oma and Opa. We are glad they are enjoying their time away, but we look forward to them being home again soon. And, a new pregnancy picture for you. I don't think the stripes are really helping how big my...

We had our ultrasound. Actually we had 2 and, no, we did not find out the gender of our baby. We had to have two ultrasounds because during the first one, the baby was turned in a funny position and refused to move around despite drinking some juice and taking three different walks around the  ward. So the technician was unable to get all of the pictures and measurements needed.  So we headed back today. This time the baby was in a great position, but it was so active the technician had a difficult time getting a clear view for all of the pictures she needed. She had to be quick, but in the end she got them all. So here is a glimpse of Baby T #2! In this first one, the baby is looking right at you, but it is covering up part of its face with its hand.  And this one shows pretty much the whole length of the baby. It is basically doing a headstand in my body. It was nice to see the baby twice, but I look forward to meeting it face to face in about 20 weeks.

Well, there is a pregnancy picture for all you wondering what I am looking like. We took this today and I am at 20 weeks. You can do a comparison to my l ast pregnancy  if you like. It is different this second time around. I think I look different then I did last time. I don't really feel big yet at all. And this is the first picture we have taken of the belly growing process. Last time, we started back at 14 weeks . And that is how it goes I guess. Though now that we are half way, I have started to make a mental list of what needs to happen before this baby comes. The biggest thing is to get Joash settled in a "big boy" bed and then moved stuff into the guest room that is going to become the baby's room. Joash seems excited about the idea of a big boy bed, but has shown no interest in potty training at all. And while it would be nice to not have two kids in diapers, I am not going to push him until he is ready. I mean how can you potty train a two year old who r...

Joash has really taken to playing with dolls. He is also really taken with any baby he sees while we are out and about. And all of this is so good, since we are excited to say that we will be welcoming a new baby into our home in May! When we talk to Joash about the new baby, he usually gets really excited. Sometimes he even says he would like two babies. We hope he is wrong about that one for the time being. And this week, if you ask him if he would like a girl or a boy baby, he quickly answers, "Boy!" We will have to wait and see if he is right.

So, my wonderful husband started a long and elaborate post shortly after Joash was born about the day of his birth. If he ever finishes it...well I would be surprised. Trying to finish everything we were going to do before the little guy came into this world is enough work in and of itself. And since today is the one day after the day we expected him to arrive, I will give you a few details. The key to the whole story is that my husbands's parents were gone to the Netherlands, trying to squeeze in a trip before the baby came. They even went earlier then they first intended to on account of the baby being born. So, we were in charge of the farm and my husband's sister who is in high school. We were staying at the farm since that is a million times easier than running back and forth all of the time. I was doing enough running myself, getting things from our house and getting my sister-in-law to all of her stuff. On Monday, October 25th, the day before my husband's parents wer...

We are quite settled into our house now. I thought I would quick post some updated pictures of the rooms that were not quite put together the last time I posted. First, the living room. The baby things are starting to accumulate in the corner. A family from church gave us a bouncy seat and swing that they are finished with. We left this corner open for baby stuff and I think it will work out well since the corner is visible from the kitchen. Looking the other way into the living room. The fire place is on the wall to the left, so the couch is facing it. And the one you all have been waiting for, I am sure. The baby's room. This is a view from the back corner. The crib is ready to go and we were able to fit the changing table that Wilbert's dad made before he was born. I made the curtains and the crib skirt. There is a drawer that is on wheels under the crib, so it is a nice storage space. I also made the wall hanging from a mobile that I had as a baby. So there is a little bit...

I am Dutch. I like a good deal. And today I came across two that I simply could not pass up. At Coffee Break today, I was sitting at a table with mostly young moms, the league I will soon be joining. Two of the moms were nursing their little babies and the discussion came to nursing covers, which they were both using. Everyone agreed one of the mom's had a really nice one. After she was done, we were all looking at it, seeing how hard it would be to make one. It was made by Udder Covers . When I got home, I decided to see just how much they ran to buy one, and I found this. Even thought it is dated back in February, I decided to give a try, and the code still worked! Why try to make one when you can get one for only the cost of shipping? So, I ordered one and then got another code to get the same deal on a pocket sling from Seven Everyday Slings ! Amazing! It almost seems to good to be true, but I did my research and I am pretty convinced it is all for real. So, I ordered one of th...

Yep. We are getting ever closer to the arrival of Baby T. My mom asked on Sunday if I was getting bigger, so I thought I better post the latest picture. And I think the answer is pretty obvious. Yes. And we are getting ready. I bought fabric today to make some curtains for the baby's room, so once those are up and finished, I will post a new picture of the room, since it is pretty much set up. Things are going very well. I feel great, but I can tell I am getting bigger. Bending is getting tough and there are shoes that just do not fit right now. I am getting up a couple times a night to use the bathroom, which I guess it is good training for when the baby actually arrives.

One of the things we needed to do when we arrived on the Island was get into the prenatal classes that are offered by the Public Health Department. Thankfully we were able to get into the class that started the week after we arrived. The classes have been really good. It has helped me to feel more prepared and know what to expect and how the health system works here. Last night was the hospital tour. And for whatever reason, that made the whole birth of our baby seem very real and very soon. We have six weeks yet, but that seems very soon. I think just seeing the rooms and knowing where we have to go and seeing all of the different machines and stuff hit me and made me understand how soon I will be there. I like many of the things that I learned. I will probably stay in the hospital for about 48 hours after the baby is born. They leave the baby in the room with you most of the time, so I will quickly learn what it means to take care of this little one before we go home. I am just so th...

A little up date on the little one and pregnancy. Here I am at 28 weeks, getting bigger by the day. I had my 28 week check up (hopefully my last on in the States) and everything look great. I am measuring at 28 weeks perfectly, my glucose test came back normal, the baby's heart beat is right at 150 and the baby is kicking and moving a lot. All is well as we continue to prepare for our move. The biggest thing on our minds right now is our house. It still has not sold and some possibilities that we had sort of fell through. We trust that God has a plan and his timing is perfect. We would really like to not have to worry about our house though once we get to the Island. I also made the plunge and bought some cloth diapers. I went with a sample pack, so I got four different diapers for a package deal. The plan is to try these diapers out once our baby is born and fits in them and see which ones we like best and then complete our set with about 12 more of the winning diaper.

I feel like I am living in a bubble right now. All of our summer plans are finished. My Canadian paper work is not here yet. So, we cannot move on the next step in our life yet...moving to PEI. My paper work is not late. It takes 5-7 months and in mid August it will be 6 months. But I am getting a bit impatient. But, I know I should not be. God's plan and timing is perfect, I believe that. Really, it is all that is keeping me from going crazy. There are still things we need to finish before we move. Getting the title for the trailer, selling our house, etc. So, I am thankful for time to do this. I am thankful that Wilbert can work for the farmer he is working for as long as we are here. We covet your prayer right now. Prayers for our patience as the last few things fall into place. Prayers that the paper work makes its way through the pipeline of government quickly. Prayers that when we do finally move, the travels will go okay for me as our baby continues to grow. "Now faith ...

Well, I have taken the plunge literally this past week. I have gone to two water aerobic sessions at the local pool and it has been a lot of fun. Everyone says how it is such a great exercise to do while you are pregnant and it has been crazy hot this week, so getting in a pool has been a lot of fun and very refreshing. It doesn't real feel like to are doing any thing that hard or that would work your muscles. But let me tell you, afterwards it is very clear to me that have been working out. Another interesting thing about water aerobics is that we are sharing the pool with a few kids who are having private swimming lessons. So, we have to dodge each other and we get to hear a few fun conversations. Here is my favorite from yesterday, which came in the middle of a lesson on water and pool safety: S(wimming Teacher): Should you run by the pool? C(hild, a boy, probably around age 4): No! S: Can you jump off the diving board any time you want? C: No! You need to have a life jacket on....