Friday, April 21, 2006

Blah

Well, I've got another doctor appointment today in Fredericton. Just the weekly visit that is normal at this point in my pregnancy, nothing serious... But I'm still getting ready for the possibility that I'll be admitted to be induced. Last week when I went to the Ob/Gyn they found that I am slightly toxic... as in Toxemia.(also called pre-ecclampsia) Basically my blood pressure was elevated and they found protein in my urine. There were no other symptoms, though there are lots to watch out for.

I was also toxic when I was pregnant with Olivia as well, but it never occured until I was already a week overdue, so they just went ahead and induced right then and there. I'm just not sure at what point they would look at inducing this pregnancy if it doesn't improve and if I don't go into labour on my own. I'm 38 weeks now, so there should be no risk to taking the baby at this point. She's considered full term and everything (lungs etc) should be developed properly.

I mentioned the possibility to my mom on the phone this morning and she pointed out that if they induced today I just may end up having the baby on my birthday, which is tomorrow. And although that would be nice, I still don't relish the idea of being in the hospital for my birthday. lol. Besides... it's not as if it's something to get very excited about. It's not that unique a thing in my family. On My mom's side of the family, my Grandfather and uncle (his middle son) share the same birthday. My two younger cousins (bro and sis) share a birthday -- and no they're not twins, they were born two years apart. On my Dad's side, my dad, his sister and their first cousin all share the same birthday, and the same first cousin has two sisters who share THEIR birthday as well...

Many people assume when I tell them this that they are all LARGE families with lots of kids, but they're actually fairly small families. Dad is one of 4 kids and their cousins are 4 kids, so basically 3 out of 8 kids share one birthday and 2 of 8 share the other... so 5 kids, brothers, sisters and cousins all share 2 birthdays. kind of freaky. My grandparents on mom's side only had 5 kids, so 1 of 5 share with my Grandfather, and my younger cousins who share a birthday are 2 of only 3 kids... I mean, if you actually calculate what the odds are with that happening so many times in one extended family, it's probably very unlikely.

I know a woman I used to work with who I discussed this with one time. She said that both she and her husband come from fairly large families. One of them, I can't remember which, is actually one of 13 kids. And she said that of all the children, cousins, grandchildren and extended family on BOTH sides she could only think of one pair of people who shared a birthday and they weren't anyone who was super closely related. I think it was a sister of her husband and 2nd cousin on her side or something like that.

Anyway, enough about my freaky ass family. (lol) Just wish me luck with my appointment today and keep your fingers crossed that they don't induce me today. Besides, if they induce me today I don't get my birthday supper and movie tonight. Mom's watching Olivia so we can get one last date night before I'm stuck with an infant on my boob every 2 hours for the next several months. lol

Well, I should go now. I need to try to get everything ready before I wake Jason up. He worked night shift last night, so didn't get home until 7 this morning, and I'd like to have Olivia all ready to go to mom's before I have to wake him up in an hour. I hate waking him, but we have to leave here by 12:30 at the latest if I'm to make my appointment in time.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

2006 Census: Release of Personal Data after 92 Years

The following was taken from the 2006 Census Website

2006 Census: Release of Personal Data after 92 Years

In early May, all households across the country will receive a census questionnaire. Eighty percent of households will receive a short form questionnaire with eight questions, while 20% will receive a long form questionnaire with 61 questions. The long and short form questionnaire each include the following question (number 8 on the short form or number 53 on the long form) on the release of personal data after 92 years.

Consent to the release of census information in 92 years will help future generations better understand the Canada of today, and will greatly benefit historical, academic and genealogical research.

The following question is for all persons who usually live here including those less than 15 years old. If you are answering on behalf of other people, please consult each person.

53

The Statistics Act guarantees the confidentiality of your census information. Only if you mark "YES" to this question will your personal information be made public, 92 years after the 2006 Census. If you mark "NO" or leave the answer blank, your personal information will never be made publicly available.
Does this person agree to make his/her 2006 Census information available for public release in 2098 (92 years after the census)?


Yes


No


Beginning with the 2006 Census, people in Canada will be asked to consent to public access to their census records 92 years after the census. For those who give explicit permission, Statistics Canada will transfer their information to Library and Archives Canada in 2098, which in turn will make it publicly available. For those who do not give permission, their personal information will not be transferred.

Statistics Canada is givingn everyone who completes the census the option of deciding if their census records should be released in 92 years. Informed consent about the use of one’s personal information is a matter of fundamental privacy protection. Everyone who provides census information should decide for themselves if they want their personal census records to be made publicly available in the future.

On Tuesday, May 16, 2006, become part of history and “count yourself in”!

Now for my comments on the issue, which of course is why all 2 or 3 of you read this blog, so I'll keep you waiting no longer.

I do understand why they are including this question on the questionaire, but what I don't get is why if nothing is checked, it's assumed that you DO NOT want your information released. Most people, in my opinion and in my observance, really don't give a $h*t one way or the other... If someone is REALLY against having their information relased, they're going to be sure to check the "no" box, whereas if they don't care, they might not check anything...

What this means is that a lot of people who don't have a strong opinion one way or the other are going to skip that question, or just honestly forget to answer it, and that will preclude their information from being shared when the census data is released. The main people that affects are our decendants who might be trying to research their family. For anyone who has tried to do this in any way, you know that this is already a fairly large and difficult undertaking in many ways, let alone if this information was kept from you because someone "forgot" to check a box in 2006!

In case you can't tell, this one really bugs me... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE check "yes" on the census form to allow your information to be relased in 92 years. Honestly, how is it ever going to affect YOU personally? It's not. You'll be long gone by that time, but it will allow future family members to know a little bit more about you and who you were!

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Tuesday Musings

Well, I just realized that it's been 3 weeks since I last posted. I'm pretty pathetic when it comes to keeping up with this blogging thing. I knew that would happen eventually, but I didn't think it would take less than a month to lose it's novelty for me. That's a pretty quick one this time around.

I've got about 2 weeks to go until my due date and I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new baby (girl). We've still got no idea for sure what we're naming her yet. We've got two names in mind right now, but I'm not saying them to ANYONE because I know that I'll just change my mind as soon as I tell people what I'm thinking... It's happened several times so far already, so I think I'll just wait and see what she ends up looking like before we decide on the name for sure, and before we tell anyone!

I was having Braxton-Hicks contractions last night... That's "False Labour" for those of you who don't know about this kind of thing. About 11:00 last night I started feeling my abdomen tensing with mild contractions. They were about 10 minutes apart and weren't very painful, but I felt it enough that I definitely knew it was happening. I had about 4 of them at around 10 minutes apart each and then the 5th was only 5 minutes after the last one... That one kind of freaked me out because if it was going from 10 minutes to 5 minutes that fast I might not have a whole lot of time to get ready and get to Fredericton... But I decided to wait a few more minutes before I really freaked out and woke Jason up. The next contraction was over 15 minutes later and I was pretty sure then that it was only Braxton-Hicks contractions...

False Labour/ Braxton-Hicks often doesn't follow the natural progression of labour and can get closer together for a while, then further apart, while real labour won't go from 5 minutes to 15 minutes and then back again. The times only get closer together with real labour... So I waited a bit longer and it was over 30 minutes before the next one... so with that I went to bed, but I was woken up 3 or 4 times last night with more Braxton-Hicks. So this morning I'm pretty tired.

Since I haven't posted anything in a while I decided to throw in a few pictures. Here's one of Olivia on Easter Sunday in her new Easter Dress that her Nannie Darrah bought her. Isn't she adorable!

The second picture is of the Easter eggs we coloured the other day. I bought a dye kit and we made them. Note to self: A two year old isn't the best partner when using chemical dyes!!! *lol*

Finally, here is a picture of Olivia on Easter morning throwing a fit after being told that she couldn't eat any more chocolate until after she ate breakfast!

Some (but not all) blinkies adopted from:

Others found randomly around the net and put here to use for my own nefarious purposes! Muahahahaha. (*J/K*)