First Time Moms-To-Be Club - Page 4

[LivingSky]

Hey everyone!

Well, on to March! I figured I'd bring the old thread back up to the first page so we have our list of due dates again.

How is everyone feeling?

I'm kind of freaking out this morning. This afternoon is our anatomy scan. It's been 7 weeks since our last ultrasound, and while we did hear the heartbeat 4 weeks ago at our last midwife appointment, I'm still unreasonably afraid that today we'll find out something is wrong. It's the first time in the pregnancy that I've felt this paranoid. I hope it's just nerves and not forewarning, kwim? I think part of it is that I really still haven't felt the baby move, and so many other people seem to be feeling theirs move weeks ago.

Okay, enough negative! Today we're going to hopefully find out the sex of the baby. I'm kind of hoping for a girl, only because we already agreed on a girl's name - while I'd LOVE a boy, we can't decide on a name! We're thinking we won't tell anyone else what the sex is though, until after our baby shower(s). We don't want a whole bunch of sex-specific stuff, we'd much rather gender neutral clotes and things.

Anyway, please wish me luck for this afternoon! I could use the good thoughts today!

[yell]

I am new here but would love to join the chat.
I'm Danielle and due July 30th.

Living Sky-- What boy/girl names do you have picked? I am feeling the same exact way as you are right now. I maybe felt the baby a handful of times, but I'm not even convinced it was the baby. And on top of that I'm still not really showing. So I have convinced myself that something must be wrong. My anatomy scan isn't until the 14th. I am sending good vibes your way today though, and I'm sure everything is fine. Being overly nervous is part of being a first timer I think, it's our induction into the club of parenthood.

[Mama Metis]

Good luck today Living Sky! I'm due at the beginning of July, and I felt like you and Yell do a few weeks ago. Now I feel the baby almost every day and I'm definitely showing. A couple of weeks will make a huge difference at this stage. You may also have an anterior placenta, which can make it harder to feel the baby move. You can find that out at your scan this afternoon. I bet everything will go great!

[melinstar]

Just a note of admiration for you first time moms.....

For the past couple of weeks while trying to digest the news that Mothering magazine is folding, I reflected on how I only accidentally came to discover Mothering about 6 months into my daughter's life (that was 2 years ago--she's my first child).  I luckily have a friend who had recommended Dr. Sears' Baby Book as a reference prior to DD's birth, so I had the AP foundation, but it wasn't until I got my Mothering magazine subscription that a more natural parenting way of life truly took hold--and was validated.  I'm sharing my experience on this thread to commend all your first time moms-to-be on already being so in tune with the parenting and lifestyle principles Mothering magazine--and these forums (which I have always stalked, but only recently joined)--encourage.  I wish I had been here as early as you all are, and I am saddened that Mothering magazine will no longer be a resource for any of us, but especially first-timers.  I just hope google searches will lead more women seeking parenting advice and support to MDC, so they, too, who do not find out about Mothering from a friend, can accidentally come to it like I did.

[LivingSky]

melinstar: Shows how up to date I am - I had no idea Mothering Magazine was folding. That's too bad Hopefully more and more women do find this board. I certainly don't know what I'd do without it! Someone on another completely unrelated board mentioned MDC when one of the other posters was looking for a midwife in her area - I was about 3 months into TTC at the time, and once I came here, I've never looked back! MDC is like a family.

yell: You've been added to the first post! Welcome!! Sorry you have to wait so long for your anatomy scan - I almost went nuts waiting until now, and I'm only a couple days ahead of you (due on the 26th or 27th, depending on who you ask )

Mama Metis: That's what I'm hoping for! I'd like to start feeling movements soon. At my midwife appt when I was 15 weeks she said she was sure I'd start feeling baby by this appointment at 19 weeks, so I'm just getting impatient!! I'm definitely showing, so that does help - of course I was overweight to start with and so I still mostly look fat instead of pregnant.

Anyway! My anatomy scan went well, I was worrying for nothing I do indeed have an anterior placenta. I can never remember whether it's anterior or posterior where you feel the baby less. Anyway, baby is measuring a full week or more ahead, so apparenty I cook fast! And, DH and I were completely wrong - we were both sure it would be a girl, but, nope! Looks like a son for us! We're both absolutely thrilled

Except now we have to keep trying to figure out a boy name - ARGH! We had decided on Madison for a girl, but we can barely even get suggestions for a boy that we both like. I'm completely stumped. Any and all suggestions are welcome!

[yell]

LivingSky:

Congrats,great to hear everything is ok and baby is well!!  I have an anterior placenta too.  Anterior means toward the front of your body and posterior means towards the back (probably one of the only things I remember from  Anatomy & Physiology 1 and 2, haha).

My husband and I didn't totally agree on a boy's name either.  The girls name was a cinch.  Maybe men care more about the boys name because they can relate more?  Our girl name is Ada.  If it is a boy I would LOVE Otis, but that got quickly vetoed.  I can't help it, I just LOVE Otis Redding that much =)

The only agreeable boys name we have is Jackson which I'm a little "eh" about because it's grown in popularity so much, but still a good solid name. 

Melinstar:

That's nice of you to say.  And it's great to have this resource available, to be able to talk to other women about what's going on.  I'm the first of all of my friends to get pregnant, and I have no siblings, so I don't have many people to talk to that understand. 

[mugglesmom]

Livingsky-So glad everything went well!  Worry seems to be an ongoing symptom of pregnancy.  I have to remind myself not to freak out everyday about every little thing.

We aren't finding out the gender but I'm thinking boy.  We have a girl's name chosen and I thought we had a boy's name too but DH just informed me he's changed his mind about it.  Grrrr, we were naming the boy after his dad and now he doesn't like it any more?  Not cool.  I honestly can't think of one name that I like.  It seems like all of the boy names I can think of are so boring and have no meaning to us. 

Now I'm just going to have to convince him that one of the Harry Potter names I love are completely acceptable!

yell- I LOVE the name Otis!  I'll try not to steal it from you

[LivingSky]

yell: Ada is a great girl's name! I do like Otis as well. Funnily enough, Jackson was the boy's name we originally agreed on before we even got pregnant - but we're both not really sold on it. So it's still on our list, and it does have meaning for us - my godfather's last name was Jackson and he passed away last year - but I'm just not sure. We also have Mason on our list, and today we added Kaiden.

mugglesmom: There's some great Harry Potter names that are completely acceptable! I mean, I probably wouldn't name a kid Voldemort, but other than that you should be pretty safe

[LivingSky]

Oh, and yell, I really get where you're coming from regarding not really having anyone in real life who can relate to pregnancy. Many of DH's and I's friends don't want kids - most of the ones who do are older than us and already have kids who are teens or pre-teens. So we're a bit concerned about actually finding people with small children to socialize with, or at least people who are accepting of small children. It really makes me appreciate having MDC!

[ebegreen]

Hi all. I wanted to check in with the first time mom's!  I'm 22 weeks today.  It's strange to think I could be more than halfway through this pregnancy already.  I am one of those lucky women who is blessed to have a wonderfully easy pregnancy so far.  I feel amazing!   I can't wait for it to get warmer so I can get out in the garden, planting seeds in the warm earth and thinking about how those seeds will grow and blossom as our baby is born.  

I have been putting my hands on my belly early in the morning when I feel the baby moving and I can feel baby pressing back on my hand.

We are starting to think about baby gear, which has been stressful.  We have a small house with limited storage, I'm just dreading our friends and family going overboard and being overloaded with a ton  of plastic crap.  Anyone have suggestions of how to gently let people know that you would prefer only the essentials, second hand, cotton, wood, or organic baby things? 

[LivingSky]

ebegreen: I just got my seed order on Friday! I'm excited to plant but I think I'm not going to start my inside planting until April this year. Our spring is supposed to be long and cold so no point in starting too early. I'm hoping to get everything planted outside by the end of May, so if I start them inside in mid April we should be good. I usually only do vegetables but I got some flower seeds this year that I'm pretty excited about. Once DH and I get a lot of our junk gone, we'll have room for some nice potted plants in the house. That will be novel We have a very limited amount of insside space as well so we have to do a major purge of our stuff before baby arrives!

As for "green" stuff - we are having a baby shower with a "Go Green!" theme. DH and I both actually love the color green, so it's a dual purpose theme. We are trying to cnvince everyone to buy us green items for the baby, as well as stick to organic stuff where possible - or at least with second hand things so we're not creating so much waste. We haven't told anyone the sex of the baby so we're going to do the big reveal at the shower (that way people will have to avoid sex-specific gifts!). We're also hoping people will stick with gift cards so that we can use those to purchase the big ticket items that we actually need, instead of a bnch of stuff that we don't!

[Katie8681]

Hi due-date friends!  Just thought I'd introduce myself.  I'm 22 weeks today with my first, a little boy.  I have zero pregnant friends IRL so I need some online buddies!  This is the most amazing experience of my life.  I'm feeling the baby boot at me every day.  DH can feel him too!  We are reeeeally easily entertained by this.  Nice to meet all of you  :)

[LivingSky]

Welcome Katie8681! Glad to have you with us If you let me know your due date I'll add you to the first post!

[yell]

Hi Katie--

I see you live in Louisianna and I am jealous.  I'm in Pa and is STILL too cold here.  I can't wait to get into dresses, wearing pants is driving me nuts.  They feel so constricting right now, especially my work pants (which I had to go from a reg size 6 to a size 8 maternity in, which I'm not happy about and are starting to feel snug in my thighs to boot!)

Speaking of things getting snug...I had an appt with my OB last week and I had discovered that at 19 weeks I had gained 17 lbs.  I sat in his office and cried (embarassing).  I guess being a first timer I thought I would be the norm so it was disappointing to see myself on the high end.  Pre-pregnancy I was a runner, and while I still do cardio (switched to walking), I know that this severely contributed to my weight gain.  While I was running I could eat whatever I wanted because I always made up for it.  I think I kept eating that way (but actually worse in the first tri.) without the running and started packing on the pounds. 

I feel bad being so upset because I should be happy that I have a  healthy baby in there instead of focusing on the weight gain.  But like I've said before in this thread, I'm still not really showing- just looking chubby.  And I only THINK I feel the baby sometimes (my husband can't feel it), so I'm not really experiencing any of the good stuff yet

Sorry for the long post!!

[boater]

Hi everyone!

I had my anatomy scan yesterday. It was my 1st ultrasound i didn't want to do it and we went back and forth about it for weeks but I eventually decided to comprimise (dh really wanted to do it for piece of mind) and i'm so glad i did. It was so moving! It is really nice to know that the baby is healthy and developing normally. It also sort of makes it feel that much more real. We opted not to find out the gender (tho I almost caved) but i thought i may have seen some boy parts? I also have an anterior placenta and was impatiently waiting for definitive movement but now the baby is moving a lot which is awesome!

As far as names go our list is definitely getting shorter. (Otis was on my list too but dh is not a fan). So far I am in love with

Beatrix Anne for a girl with "Bea" for a nickname. DH seems to be coming around to it slowly but surely although he really likes Audre. For a boy I like Wolfgang. Dh likes it but says he would only call him Wolf which is fine with me. Mostly he is very set on Asa for a boy.

I have been really having fun sewing for the baby i've been making lots of recycled wool soakers and longies. I've also been getting tons of hand-me-downs which are so fun to look through. I'm very lucky to have 3 cloth diapering moms passing stuff down to me. Already I have enough diapers to last me a week or more without washing if i wanted to (and all for free)! same with clothes, even after keeping only what i *love* i may never have to do laundry! I am feeling very blessed with abundance right now which is wonderful since we have very little money and before TTC I thought that might be a major stressor.

Anyone else nesting? Anyone planning registries or thinking about babyshowers/blessingways? what about childbirth ed., anyone signing up?

[ebegreen]

yell - what part of PA are you in?  I'm near Harrisburg.  I hear you, I can't wait for warmer weather!  I was jogging up until December but then it got so cold. It has been a long winter, I practice Pilates regularly, but because of all the snow have not been to classes as much as I would like.  Some days it is hard for me to accept that my body is changing, especially when my favorite jeans didn't fit anymore. I have large breasts, that got bigger  so I feel like people don't notice my belly as much, because my breasts are sooo out there.  My mom actually commented that she thought my thighs looked bigger (gee thanks Mom!). I guess thats where the extra fat storage went. My midwife told me that some women gain the most in the first and second trimester and then taper off toward the end and some don't gain any weight in the begining and then gain alot at the end, everyone is different.  Don't be too hard on yourself about the numbers on the scale. If you feel good and are staying active and eating healthy and baby is healthy that is what matters.   

boater - that's awsome you have a diaper stash already!  I was hoping to borrow some pre-folds from my friend, but she's expecting her second baby in October, so I'll have to give them back. I should start asking around the mom's circles to see if I can find some hand me downs.  We are not finding out the sex and have it narrowed down to 2 names boy and girl.  I love the name Beatrix and Bea is so cute for a nickname.   My husbands family has a tradition of B names for boys so we've decided not to go with a B name if it's a girl.  I would like to have a babyshower in May (my gosh thats going to be here soon!)  and I love the idea of a blessingway closer to the birth as a way to pamper the mother.  I can see myself doing the belly cast and then relaxing with my henna painted swollen belly, a flower and ribbon headress, and relaxing with my feet in an herbal bath.  

I'm taking Bradley childbirth classes, our midwife suggested we sign up early, so we did, now we only have 4 left!  leaves us lots of time to practice what we've learned. 

[Katie8681]

Thanks for the welcomes!  :)  I am due 7/11.  Yell, it's true, the weather here is BEAUTIFUL right now!  Not too much rain/flooding, doesn't get colder than about mid fifties, highs in low-mid seventies.  This will be paid for and then some in a few months, of course!  But by then I won't be here, as we are moving to North Cali in June, just as it will start feeling like an armpit here.  It was either move right before or right after the baby is born, so we went with before.  

What with all the moving around in my third trimester, I am thinking about doing the hypnobabies home study course.  It would really be nice to get into a prenatal yoga class in the new town, and meet some other new moms.  It's hard to even think about how I'm going to get baby gear in order prior to the birth, but I keep reminding myself that newborns don't really need that much outside of my boobs, a place to sleep, some clothes, and a bunch of diapers.  The rest is frosting!  (In my mind.  Of courrse he's my first, so maybe this is wishful thinking.)

Hey, I have an anterior placenta too, and I am feeling tons of movement... so weird!  I definitely feel him more on the sides and way down low, though.  Not so much front and center.  I'm 22wks.

[yell]

Ebegreen--

We are in the Philadelphia suburbs.  It's funny that you are from Harrisburg though because on my "to do" list today, I want to look for jobs for my husband in Harrisburg.  I'm sick of the congestion and how expensive it is here and my husband said there are a lot of jobs in his field in the Harrisburg area (he is a warehouse manager).  And also, my boobs are also huge and they are far bigger than my stomach.  I started with a 34D pre preg, and now I'm SQUEEZED into a 36DD which I need to upgrade from but I'm sick of buying new bras and clothes!!

boater--

I love love love Bea.  It is super cute!

I am also in the anterior placenta club.  I feel little movements (I think?) once in a while, but never in the middle and always on the sides.  My mom is planning the shower for June 5th which I am honestly not excited for.  The idea of sitting in a room full of women looking and talking about baby stuff makes me doze off just thinking about.  I didn't do a bridal shower either, we did a wedding shower which was waaaay more fun.  It consisted of great food, whiffle ball, kegs, jello shots, and swimming and was a blast.  I outlined no baby games or hats made out of bows or ribbons to my mom, so hopefully it won't be all that bad =/  Are you guys having all women at your showers?  I wanted my husband to be there but apparently this isn't what typically happens?

[talia1978]

Hi all!
My name's Lia and my husband and I are expecting our first in July of this year. Excited is just not a good enough word to express how we feel. I'm going for my second US in 8 days. I've been counting down since the last one
So glad to be a part of this community!

[LivingSky]

Hi talia1978! Welcome! If you let me know your due date, I'll add you to the list in the first post

yell: I know people typically do women-only baby showers, but "Jack and Jill" showers are becoming more popular. We are having a Jack and Jill shower because I just couldn't imagine not having DH there to share in the party. So we're inviting guys and gals! Heck, the shower is for you, so do what makes you happy! My mother was against the idea at first until she did some research and realized that they're becoming more accepted. And then she realized that I was going to do it my way no matter what, so why argue? We'll have games, but they'll be adult stuff like Catch-Phrase (I LOVE THAT GAME!)

We also didn't do a bridal shower - we actually only invited 8 people to our wedding, then had a big wedding reception/party about 6 months later. Way more fun