September Mommies, March Thread - Page 9

[Caroline248]

Jen..real quick..I have to run...but I was the "perfect" eater with my first, I even had a journal that I kept track of my daily intake....I relaxed a bit with my second, and by my third, I decided that coffee couldn't be THAT bad if I had it every other day...I definatly slacked on the third. The only difference in them all was my third was the smallest, but also was early as opposed to late like the other two. WIth this one, I am not drinking ANY coffee, just can't tolerate it now...but I also can't eat veggies...

My point is, I am NOT stressing this. MY midwife keeps telling me, the baby gets first dibs..you get whatever is left over. So I am only hurting myself..I can live with that!! Just do your best, I am sure you are not being obviously harmful!!

Caroline

[Lazuli]

Jen - I would like the doll pattern. I think I could make one easily. I have some cute flannel in the other room and a pattern for a stuffed lamb that I'm goign to make. (I'd bought the fabric and pattern to make a present for my cousin's little boy, never got it made...oops!)

I'm worried about food myself. I haven't gained any weight, which worries me a little. I weighed 208 when I got pregnant, and I'm down to right around 190, some days the scale dips under 190, other days it goes up to 195, but for the most part is staying right at 190. I try to eat, but it's hard because nothing sounds appetizing. I make myself eat things, but I should be eating more. I also have the problem that I know nothing about meal planning or servings/portions. I've been making myself eat eggs even though I really don't like them. I think the whole eating/food thing is stressing me out / making me worry.

Lazuli

[adventuregirl]

Happy St Patricks Day! One of my favorite holidays, and the first that I can't have me a Guinness, wah! I'll have a sip at dinner, we are having friends over for a traditional Irish meal, it will be fun!

Anna, sounds like some soul searching is in order for you. I totally understand the logisitics issue, but you just have to decide if it is worth it to you. How strongly do you feel about each scenario?Seriously think about how you would feel to do it in the hospital, how about a birth center? Some people feel strongly enough about homebirth, they will make it work no matter what they have to do, some feel the stress of making it work is not worth it, and feel OK with a different birth scenario. You have time, so really explore all of your options.

Jen, first of all, don't feel guilty about butter, you need whats in there and its all a myth that its bad for you anyway. Remember that books are just a guide, and it really helps to look at your amounts on a week scale rather than daily, there will be some days you eat a ton of veggies and days that you don't. It often balances out, and if you don't quite get it all, hey, that's what prenatals are for. My mw doesn't reccomend prenatals, she is heavier on the diet. I still take them kind of as a safeguard in case I'm not getting everything I need from food. When I was feeling nauseated, I couldn't look at a green veggie, but now I'm way into them, I didn't feel too bad since I knew the prenatals were giving me the vits I was missing. I think a conscious effort to eat well and not letting yourself stress too much is a good road, you will make good choices and the stress isn't good for you or the baby.

Lazuli, I have read that its not a big worry if you start out at a bigger size and don't gain much in your pregnancy. It sucks when nothing is appetizing, but hopefully that will pass. Hang in there and try not to stress too much.

Sarah, I have been hoping to hear of someone here feeling movements! I am really conscious of it, but don't think I've actually felt anything yet. I know I am about in the stage where early feelers feel movement and I am so hoping to be one of them!

Steph, that is wonderful that you only have a week of work left, yay!

:

[Jodie]

I'm with you Lazuli.
I am 180 and have not gained any weight. Sometimes my scale dips to 175, but hovers around 180.
I don't think I eat near as much as I should, just don't really want to. I had a few days where there were no gagy feelings and I could not get full. Now its back to feeling gagy and no real appetite. Also my family has a history of growing small babes. I was only 6#130z when born and I was 3 weeks late. I want to grow at least a 7#er idealy an 8#, so I feel like I should be eating more. You can only force yourself to eat so much. This is probably something we shouldn't stress over. I've just been trying to eat as much as I can when I wanna. But I know not worring and stressing over stuff is easier said than done.

I did have to fill out a diet for my midwife and she said it looked great just to eat more greens and all should be fine. So I quess I shouldn't be worrying, but I still do.

[4under6]

Lazuli-
Many heavier women don't gain much weight during pregnancy- me for one. I started out about 30 pounds heavier than you with my 3rd and gained only 7 pounds! And trust me, I eat, and I eat pretty decent foods. And I had a healthy baby weighing 6/8, but she was early.
Last time I was weighed, I had gained about 3 pounds from before I was pg, and I have another prenatal on Friday, so we'll see.

[hjohnson]

I hate the book What To Eat When you are Expecting. Makes you feel guilty if you even think about anything with sugar in it.

[sistermama]

Jen - the pregnancy guilt is just preparation for the overwhelming sometimes crippling mother guilt!!!!

Lazuli - I was 215 when I got pregnant and now I'm 205, but I'm thinking the gaining will start soon now that I'm not puking twice a day. No worries - any mom who cares enough to be on this thread is most likely doing the best they can to take care of themselves.

I ate a HUGE dinner out last night and it was so nice to eat all I wanted and not feel sick, plus to drink glasses of iced tea! People not from the south usually don't understand how were are about our iced tea down here, and I haven't been able to stomach any for months!

Spring break is this week, so the playground was crawling with unsupervised day care groups. I had to be playground patrol and do other people's jobs for them. One "teacher" was encouraging her charges in a game where 2 would stand on a metal balance beam and fight eachother off of it, ala Survivor. I wanted to follow them back to the daycare and wait on their parents to let them know. I settled for calling the daycare facility instead.....

[hjohnson]

What did the daycare facility say? I would be in shock if I was a parent of one of those kids playing that game.

[sistermama]

Well, there were kids screaming in the background when I called, and it really didn't seem like the woman was that shocked and horrified. The van had the phone number on it, but not the name of the daycare place. I'm hoping she will at least address it with the staff, it can't be fun to get a phone call like that. I work at a children's nonprofit and I know we in the office would go crazy if we had a report like that!

[hjohnson]

Too bad you couldn't find the name of the Daycare Center. From the sound of it, I would be warning people to stay away from there.

[banana girl]

SNOW! OH NO!

It snowed here today..... BAH! Where is that spring that I keep dreaming of?

I have an appointment tomorrow and my hubby is going with me. We are gonna try and compile a list of questions and concerns so we can discuss our birthing plan and see how the MD reacts. Am feeling nervous about refusing an ultrasound again, but the hubby and i are in agreement that it simply isn't nessesary right now. If it's twins, there's time to find that out, and it really doesn't seem likely to us that I am a month farther along than we thought.
We realized something weird was going on with me at about 2 weeks, at 6 weeks I started barfing and now at 12 + weeks I am starting to feel better. All that makes sense. why should we freak out because I am bigger than she "expected". How about measuring my fundle height... huh?

wish me luck, and strength
with love and kisses
Anna

[JenInMpls]

*lovestrengthlovestrengthlovestrength* Anna if the snow is the same snow we had it will be gone by midday tomorrow. We had 2.5 inches when I woke up and it is all gone, gone gone now. Was a gorgeous day today here, pushing 50 degrees. Good luck at the appt and you too Danielle!!

I thought I had started off pregnancy somewhere around 190 but I had been training for an inline 1/2 marathon starting in November and it could be that I had lost some weight before getting pregnant; at any rate I weighed in at my 8-week appt at 184 and the 12-week at 177. I had to come back 2 weeks later and be weighed again and was up to a whopping 178 we'll see this next time. I'm definitely curious because I weighed 180 or so when Jo and I married and my rings are *way* loose right now; I lose weight in the strangest places.

The same colleague who gave me What to Eat when you're expecting also gave me What to Expect in the First year. Trust me: don't bother. In the first 20 pages alone it told me about why circumcision is medically a good idea, why cloth diapering is a pain and not worth it, and that I should consider getting a walker for my nursery. Phew!

I am not worried much about the size of the baby I grow. Of course I'm hoping s/he is not a whopper at 10 lbs or whatever, but that doesn't run in our family at all... my sis was just over 5 lbs and I was 5 lbs and change. Granted, my mom smoked and drank copious amounts of coffee during her pregnancies, which probably accounted for some of the low birth weight, but her sister also had small babies, and she didn't smoke. I'm hoping that's the case. Our donor is not a small guy, 5'10" and medium to large bone structure, hopefully not *too* broad shouldered! :LOL And oh, maybe, just maybe that baby will have the same red hair... cross your fingers!!!

Hopefully, too, this baby will *not* be like me and sit breech until about 3 days before birth.

Sarah, was it good sugared southern iced tea? There is nothing finer!!!

I got to go out to dinner on one of the faculty members Jo supports this evening... we ate Greek and the restaurant was accordingly deserted thanks to St. Paul's Irish roots! It was delicious and very fun to enjoy going out to eat.

And now it is time for little Jens to start getting ready for bed... nighty night,

j

[badomama]

Wow, maybe I'm glad that Tanzania doesn't really have any of those books. I'd be stressing out far more than my normal worry-wort self. I've been eating whatever (all kinds of fried things) and just trying to eat out at restaurants as much as possible--they import some healthier stuff. Last night I scored my california roll with wasabi again! Now I'm over that phase. I eat a ton of bread and cheese. I'm just relying on those vitamins for three more weeks. Sorry Jen that you don't find anything appetizing yet. I hope you will be up for Vietnamese soup by May!

Anna, I hope you find a good peaceful situation. It sounds like you are willing to put the effort into finding something.

Has anyone signed up for birthing classes yet? I've been trying to find a bradley class in the Twin Cities now because we will be on the road until June. Does anyone know the average cost? What are y'all leaning towards? Bradley? Lamaze? Study yourself? Been there done that don't need it?

Happy appointments to Anna and Danielle!
-Steph

[JenInMpls]

I would like to go to a Birthing from Within class, but the nearest mentor/teacher is in Madison (aha, Anna!). Oh well. We will be going to a childbirth/parenting prep class at Methodist Hospital where our Birth Center is located simply because that will look good for Jo's adoption work. I've told her that I'm sure there's nothing she'd learn at that parenting prep class that I couldn't teach her, but perhaps she will enjoy schmoozing with all the other hapless partners there who don't know how to wrap a baby in a blanket.

It's amazing the things I learned as a child being a kid who played with dolls and who babysat (two things Jo never did).

We won't be doing Bradley because neither of us can get past the extreme overuse of the phrase "husband-coached childbirth". I was interested at first, but we could not find ourselves within their language. Besides, Jo is convinced that she can in no way coach me to give birth. Assist, support, advocate and slip me food when the nurse isn't looking, but not coach! The birthing, she says, is in me. I guess she has a good point.

Lamaze, I have heard, works exactly against natural childbirth by tiring out a woman long before she should be. Any other opinions?

I need to get ready to go to school, as I am subbing for the music teacher today with the fourth grade. I've gotten to see them every day this week and twice tomorrow! Lucky children!

j

[adventuregirl]

We are doing an Informed Homebirth Class through my midwife. It's 7 weeks, 2.5 hour sessions and costs $200, covering everything about birth, relaxation, labor rehearsal, emergencies, baby, breastfeeding and postpartum. I'm not sure when we will start, I'll have to see when my midwife has them scheduled. I have an appointment next week, this will be a good topic to discuss.

I got a box of clothes from my aunt yesterday and I am so excited! I now have 5 new dresses that I will be able to wear for at least a few more months, if not the whole time, yay! I also got some tops that are long and roomy, long sleeve and sleeveless, just what I am needing! I just realized yesterday that two pairs of pants that fit a few days ago are tight enough to make purple marks on my belly from the buttons, ouch! So they are now on the only wear unbottuned pile. Pants selection shrinking.... dress selection increasing, phew! Glad its becoming dress season. I don't know why, but I am so resistant to buying clothes right now.

Anna and Danielle, hope your appointments are great!

[4under6]

Well, we of course are going the "been there, done that" route!
With my first birth, my husband was clueless and was not really into being my support. I got an epidural and yes, it was lovely!
With the second birth, my husband's sister Donna came with us, and was an outstanding doula, though she's really not a doua. She got me through the first 5 cm like a breeze, but I was SO programmed that I was going to get the epidural that I got it, and as nice as the first one was, this one was that much more horrid. It didn't work, and I had terrible complications. It was enough to make me say NEVER AGAIN.
With Lucy's birth, I wanted to go drug-free, and Donna was with us again, and I did indeed go drug free! Of course, the birth was only 1/2 hour from beginning to end, so I kind of "cheated", but still.....LOL!
And dear Donna will be at this birth, too. Hopefully I won't deliver in the car or on the side of the road! But, we have all already discussed that we will read up on emergency childbirth procedures, just in case. I did really want a homebirth but two things made me decide against it: we couldn't afford it, and Lucy had to be resuscitated when she was born, she almost had a cord accident, and I bled a lot after her birth. So, I will go the hospital route. But I feel so experienced at this now, plus I used to practice as a doula, so I know how to get what I want. PLUS, two women whose daughters are in Charlotte's dance class for the past two years, who I have become friendly with, are both labor and delivery nurses at the hospital give birth at! So that is definitely working in my favor.

Did I tell you all that I am already obsessed with cloth diapering??? This will be my first time doing it, and I'm already going nuts with it! I see myself becoming one of those diaper hyenas in no time!

[wardermom]

We've done this before, so we won't be taking any classes. We never have.
The best things I know are warm water in the tub, and counter pressure on my lower back. Plus a lot of encouraging words.

I've felt baby movement! It was later than some of my other pregnancies, but the placenta is anterior, so that could explain that.

Having that food chart on the fridge is really making me more aware of my diet. I just slide the thing over to show when I've had a serving of whatever, and I can keep track of how much of each kind of food I've eaten. Mind you, it doesn't have a section for sweet stuff. I have a problem with sugar, I like it too much. I guess I need to work on that.

[banana girl]

boring appointment = good appointment

Well, the appointment went well. My hubby came with and was mostly a usefull and well behaved man. although he did start giggling when the Doctor put on a really silly looking fetoscope. Bad boy! (She did look awfully silly though)
Anyway, for a 14 ish week mama (LMP) my fundle height was pretty big at at 17 cm. Soooooo....... I'm really thinking twins. I refused an ultrasound again, and refused doppler too. We couldn't hear a heartbeat with fetoscope yet, so didn't get the heartbeat thrill today. Ah well, no biggie.
We may go for the ultrasound later in the pregnancy, but I just can't believe I was pregnant the whole of December and didn't notice anything unusual. I pay alot of attention to my body. I am a super healthy chiropractic freak, I have had a thyroid condition for years and have got it under control. I pay attention when my body does anything weird.
I am so convinced that it is twins that i will be shocked if not. Twins... jeepers!

Well, i'm signing off, heading to the pool to go swimming tonight, so i gotta get my act together and head for home.

Love to all
Anna

[JenInMpls]

woo hoo! a double dose for Anna?

My twins in 3rd grade would be very excited for you! (They were quite disappointed when I said that it appears I am only carrying one.)

Glad it was good (and uneventful)!

jen

ps: I don't blame hubby. Fetoscopes do look funny. Does anyone know why they have to push with their head?

[sistermama]

Glad you had a good appt Anna. I went and gave my gallon of blood today so that my mw will have the results in time for my appt next week. Is it possible that we are all another MONTH pregnant already????

I think that we are going to take a Hypnobirthing class over the summer. I didn't take anything last time but was mentally in a really good place. I ended up with a hospital transfer and I just don't want to freak about that and end up transferring - so I'm hoping that the hypno and affirmation will help with that. The class is $200, includes book and cds and will just be us and one other couple. The instructor teaches it in her home and only lives about 1/4 mile from us.

I was off work today - Jack and I went to one of the Disney water parks (we have passes). It was the first time since August and it was so beautiful and relaxing. He napped there while I read my new Mothering and we lazy rivered for hours - it was lovely!!!

All you poor snow women can make me feel jealous of you when it is August and 100 degrees here!