Wednesday April 1st, 2020
5:48am, kitchen counter

Good morning beautiful! I am sitting here waiting for my piece of toast to be ready and for the boys to wake-up—your dad & brother. It’s a perfect time to connect with you! There are several things I want to share with you so let’s jump-in, one at a time!

WHAT’S GOING ON CURRENTLY AMIDST THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC: It’s a crazy time in the world right now. A time where we all must work together in order to slow down & eventually stop the spread of this virus. Currently, 871,544 cases have been confirmed worldwide—this number is probably just a % of the truth as many will never get tested or reported. There have been 43,157 deaths—101 in Canada. *covid.help*

We are all quarantined and practicing physical distancing in order to prevent he spread. This means: staying home and keeping a 1-2m distance from others when we got out.

For you & I this pandemic means we need to be extra careful so that we remain in great health for your arrival! Our doctor’s visits are mostly by phone—although I did get to see you on the ultrasound last week and must go in to see Dr. Guindon next week for a StrepB test.

And as of right now, once I go into labour, your dad & I will be the only ones allowed at the birthing unit. And it is probably that you won’t get held by your grandparents & family for some time. But things could change by that time—and I sure hope so, for the better!

No matter what, we will come out of this experience stronger than before and your dad & I are so lucky to live here & to be in the position that we are in!

Ok. That’s enough COVID-19 news!

YOUR NAME! Your dad & I had a good time brainstorming names for you. As you know, Rose, has been my favourite, however dad didn’t love it, so we played around. I had used a coaching exercise where you write every letter of the alphabet and then I brainstormed names for each. Your dad and I went through the ABCs again and came out with 15 names. From that list, we each selected our top 10 and the rule was that only the ones that were on both of our lists would move on. Rose got eliminated here! And we then had 7. We then chose our top 4 and the following are what’s left: Clara, Alicia, Eva, Elena.

My favourite is Clara & your dad prefers Alicia. My concern with Alicia is the numerous ways it is pronounced and spelt: Alesha, Alessia, Aleysha, etc. But as always, time will tell. I think that we will wait to meet you to decide. But isn’t Clara Rose Chabert lovely? 🙂

VIPASSANA! You and I spent 10 days at the Vipassana meditation centre in February (5th-16th). It was such an amazing experience to do this pregnant. The centre made sure we were comfortable and we had the chance to meditate and connect. You moved a ton! I loved that I could feel you and see your moves from the outside. I’ll admit that Vipassana is also quite challenging. I missed your dad, the 4am wake-up time is tough (although its been our routine the last few days!), and the mind resists the practice. Yet, it’s AMAZING! So powerful and as a midwife who was at the course told me on the day we could speak: “it’s like hypno-birthing on crack!” I do feel it prepared us for delivery & what’s to come.

Your dad was supposed to leave today for a 3-day course, however all courses are postponed due to COVID-19. But we get to be here together with Mathéo too!

GRANDMA LINDA: My beautiful mother is doing well! She had a rough patch while I was at Vipassana and I worried about that happening, yet, I needed to surrender control & trust. She is now doing much better and being super careful with what is going on. Your grandpa has been home as dental clinics are closed—unless there is an emergency, in which case the youngest dentist on team is stepping in. I think your grandparents are enjoying this time—or rather, making the most of it. They have disinfected & tidied the house and cooking a lot—as we are too! They can’t wait to meet you and as aunt Louise said you are the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! (The 🌈 is the chosen symbol of hope during the pandemic)

Your grandma took the knitted outfits that my grandmothers made for you! I can’t wait to see you in those cute sweaters, bonnets, & socks!

PHOTOSHOOT! Last week I did a little at home photoshoot to capture the glow & bump you’ve created in me. The photos are pretty and now I can’t wait to take a few with dad! He wanted to wait to get his haircut, but it might take a while before his hairdresser can get back to work—so we will do without. In any case, I think your dad is always handsome! I just know that he wanted to look great for you.

Talking about your dad, I’m gonna go cuddle up next to him in bed. 💕

.xoxo.