A little over a week after finding out I was pregnant, I was packing up for a two week solo trip to Calgary and Edmonton, in Canada, for work. As luck would have it, our client was going live onto SAP the first week of May, so off to Canada I went to support a Service Center during the transition! Although I had been to Canada just a few months earlier in December, for a similar experience, this time was completely different. This time, I had a new little passenger on board with me (the size of a lentil bean)! Of course, I was nervous about traveling so early on in my pregnancy (as was my Mom, naturally). Since I knew I would be traveling alone, thoughts around whether it was safe to fly, carry my own luggage, work hectic long days, etc., were running through my head. However, after talking to my doctor and getting the reassurance of "Yes, of course it's OK to travel. It's the best time while the baby is little. Just make sure to walk around and drink plenty of water," made me feel more comfortable. So, off to Canada we went!
Canada marked the beginning of my experience with "pregnancy symptoms," of which I had been reading about, but hoping to avoid. Oh and they came on full force! Although I was never physically sick, I quickly learned that these next few weeks were going to be rough. For me, there was no morning sickness, just all day nausea. This was the end of most all foods tasting good to me. It's the worst feeling being hungry and finding out everything you try to eat (which sounds good) makes you want to gag. However, I kept reminding myself that it was all for a good cause, and that these feelings would only be temporary. At the breakfast buffet my hotel had every morning, I soon figured out that cereal, orange juice and fruit (mostly pineapple and apples) tasted great! However, powdered eggs and bacon, forget it! Finding fast food lunch items that I could handle (what, no more turkey sandwiches?!) was a struggle, and dinner was hit and miss every time (see ya Chicken Parmesan, salmon and veggies, tacos, soup, broccoli, anything; two bites and you're out). For the majority of our stay in Canada my diet consisted of cereal, orange juice, yogurt, Tim Horton's breakfast sandwiches (sausage, egg and cheese on a biscuit, please!), granola bars and either chicken sandwiches or cheeseburgers from Wendy's. Whatever works! One major plus about traveling solo though, was definitely the fact that I was able to go to bed by 8:30 or 9 p.m. every night! Amazing!
The saving grace which I looked forward every morning before heading into a big day at work was breakfast and the daily update on my Baby Center and Health & Pregnancy phone apps! Oh what our phones can do these days. Getting to read about all of the new developments Baby Gibbs was making on that trip amazed me every day (nose, mouth and ears begin to take shape, tissue for lungs begins to grow, baby's brain, muscles and bones begin to form, hands and feet begin to emerge, the "tail" of the once tadpole looking baby is now gone...). It was surreal to think that over the course of the trip, Baby G grew so much, starting from the size of a lentil bean and graduating to the size of a kidney bean by the time we left!
After spending one week in Calgary, I was scheduled to be on-site in Edmonton the following week. But first, over the weekend, everyone kept telling me that I had to go to Banff on my drive up to Edmonton. Banff National Park is about 1.5 hours west of Calgary, in the Canadian Rockies. Edmonton is about 3 hours north of Calgary. Being so close to the spot where so many Canadians and visitors from around the world come to visit either for a short holiday weekend, or for a mountain getaway, I had to stop and see Banff for the day. So glad I did - it is absolutely beautiful! Definitely a spot to come back to with Phil and our future family one day!
7 weeks pregnant @ Banff National Park
(Baby is the size of a blueberry!)
Shopping on Banff's main street. Felt like I was back in Switzerland, surrounded by the mountains. It was such a peaceful town; a must to go back and spend more time at!
The famous Banff Springs Hotel. Looks like a castle, inside & out!
The amazing view of the Canadian Rockies,
from the deck at the Banff Springs Hotel
And of course, I couldn't leave Banff without getting a little souvenir for Baby Gibbs. After all, this was his/her first trip to Canada. Had to get something to remember it by! For a December baby, we decided on the little "Bear Bottom" red long john onesie, on the left. :)
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