March 27-April 3

[dharmama]

Just thought I'd test out this new forum. I guess we should start next week's June mommies thread in here.

~Erin

[Smithie]

Great idea!

Julie, I wear the VS panties too - only I'm wearing TWO sizes larger than normal and I may go up another size before this is all over. I like the low-rise V-strings - no panty lines to show through the crappy fake fabric of my maternity pants.

The dresses I ordered off Ebay came yesterday - now I'm just waiting for pants and a sweater set off TP, then I should be set for the duration (knock on wood). The Ebay dresses have veeeeery thin straps, though, so I'm not sure what to wear under them. My comfy Decent Exposures bras have straps that my grandma would consider frumpy. Maybe I'll wind up getting another couple of cardigans to cover the bra-strap area.

Changing my bedding and vacumming the bedroom gave me some relief from the House of Many Allergans, but now I'm sneezing my head off again. I can't wait until I can go back on Flonase.

[wildthing]

Cool that they started a due date forum. It can get confusing looking through all the regular threads to find the one you want.

CLothes....I am a clothes whore when I am pregnant. I really am picky about what I wear while pregnant. I have very specific styles that I like. I want to look good and be comfortable. Also, I keep all of my maternity clothes, and usually get to wear them for another pregnancy anyway. I have some clothes that I have worn through 3 or 4 kids. I used to reallyl ike Target for their maternity clothes, but yeah, now they kind of suck. I did get 2 camisole tops and a long sleeve button up that I wear together, and I love it. I also love Old Navy clearance. There is a store down the block from me, so I check it out frequently.

Underwear....I hate underwear on my stomach, and I also hate underwear wedgies (okay, I hate all wedgies :LOL ). I wear my regular bikini panties throughout my pregnancies, a six pack I get from Costco.

Speaking of clothes, I am going to the baby re-sale shop to get some baby things. I haven't had time to think about it before now, but I am going today. I have things left over from Gunnar, but I sent the bulk of it to an on-line freind in need right after he outgrew it all. Oh, and Julie....your humanitarian efforts (the mama who needed the stroller) will certainly be paid back to you someday...karma.

Little Crush is growing well. I get punched in the bladder, kicked in the butt (from the inside...weird feeling), pounded in the ribs, poked in the cervix, and have heartburn half the night....and I love every minute of it!

Have a great Saturday ladies!

[3girlsmommy]

HEy Ladies! Just chiming in to subscribe! Dh & a friend's dh are building some shelves today! Yipeee!!! Maybe I'll be able to clear out some junk from the baby's room. Wish me luck!!

[dharmama]

Took my first pregnancy tumble today. It wasn't too bad but it just scared me. I was coming out of the tack/feed shop...all I was carrying was a tiny little sheep halter...but I just missed the top step and went woooosh down to my butt.

Luckily I landed square on my butt so aside from a scraped elbow, I'm fine and I'm sure the baby is fine in her cushy world.

Oh and this was kind of funny. I went to Home Depot today too to get some parts to fix a leaky faucet that is driving me

The guys that work there were all VERY helpful. Every aisle I walked on someone offered to help me. I'm assuming it's the because I've shopped there plenty of times where I had to hunt to find ANYONE who could answer a question. Today...I was fighting off salesmen. :LOL And they all called me ma'am.

~Erin

[Smithie]

signs and symptoms

I tripped over my nursing stool earlier this week (oh the irony), but aside from a scraped ankle I seem to be fine. It was very scary though.

In other news, my uterus has seemed much more tense these past fews days than previously. It's not BH contrax, I know what those feel like, it's just generally harder and less yielding. Anybody else experiencing that?

Oh, and there is officually No More Room for my stomach. Mild heartburn for the last 72 hours. Ouch.

[Greaseball]

So, is anyone else not taking a childbirth class?

I don't want to take hospital classes and don't know of any homebirth classes, and I figured since my midwives are going to be there the entire time they will be able to suggest things to me if I'm having a hard time.

[2BMamaof3]

I didn't take any childbirth classes last time around. I didn't think they were necessary...but MAYBE they would have prepared my dear husband for what he could expect in labour.

Anyway...this time around we ARE taking childbirth classes (a birthin' again class from the birthing within teacher) and I'm hiring a doula.

Abby

[rubelin]

oh, cool, a whole board of our own

Wow, it seems everyone is getting hurt lately. Slow down mommas!! Perhaps it's those big bellies getting in the way?? I am being SOOOO careful lately and each new post about an injury has me walking slower and slower. If one more of you says they've fallen down, I might just put myself on bedrest out of fear that I'll be next, lol!!

I'm gonna need some shorts soon. I've got a few knit ones that still fit but they aren't that nice so I only wear them around the house and I only fit 2 other pairs of old linen ones that I got after I had Ben. They aren't Mat, just loose ones that aren't so loose on me now I did like the Target stuff when I was preg with Ben, but haven't seen one thing that I like this time. I have a cart on Gap and Old Navy right now that I keep putting things in and taking things out of. I'm just waiting to have the money to actually buy something. I really hate this time of year, we are always broke from Xmas until DH gets his annual bonus in May and it sucks to be broke!

So Dan finally felt the baby move today! I had him put his hand really lightly on me so as not to soothe the babe back to sleep and it worked He's much happier now.

OK, gotta go find some lunch. Hope you're all having a good weekend!!

OH! ETA - We're not doing a class this time. We did Lamaze at the hosp last time and it was kinda worthless, though cool to see the birth videos and anatomy charts. I do want to get some HB videos to watch with Benny and we might check out some more birth books, but we feel pretty prepared for this.

[Ceili]

Smithie and dharma, glad you guys are okay.

I think I broke my big toe on my tumble down the stairs the other night. With my center of gravity being all out of whack, it's making standing up rather challenging.

I'm a VS girl too. I love their low-rise bikinis and since all my extra weight seems to have gone to my chest or my thighs I can still fit nicely into my old stretched out ones.

I need some new shorts, but I can't stand to wear anything with a panel in it. Maybe I can find some loose knit shorts.

I keep going back and forth on taking birth classes. Though I did order my hypnobabies cds this week.

[Queen of Cups]

We're doing the Hypnobabies Home Study course, and I feel very prepared. Since I'll be birthing in a hospital, we are going to take the tour there and do the whole pre-admitting thing, but not any formal classes. I have a BS in Biology, so I feel very well prepared as far as textbook-based information goes.

I have a bunch of work to do before Monday, but I think I'll leave that until tomorrow. I'm too exhausted to work on anything today. I was up sick last night - I thought for awhile that I had food poisoning! DH was very worried... I ended up falling asleep on the couch (laying down in bed was very uncomfortable) and woke up this morning feeling much better. I find that lately my stomach is very sesitive...

[Greaseball]

What is hypnobabies?

[Doodlebugsmom]

Ok, enough falling! I think we've pretty much had our pregnancy fall, so we're through, right?

A friend of mine just gave me two garbage bags full of spring/summer maternity clothes! They are are in great condition and even hip. Well, as hip as maternity clothes can be! I won't have to buy one single thing. Well, I do plan on getting a pair of Naot sandals in the next couple of weeks.

We aren't taking in cb classes this time around. We took a Lamaze-type class last time, and nothing could've prepared me for my too-fast labor!

Queenie, sorry you were so sick last night. I'm glad you're starting to feel better.

[Queen of Cups]

Hypnobabies

Greaseball, go to http://www.hypnobabies.com to check it out! Its a fabulous home-study hypnosis for childbirth course. For $120, you get a full set of CDs, a workbook/textbook, and all kinds of hand-outs. The course was designed by a former Bradley Instructor who got into hypnosis. It teaches eyes-open hypnosis, where you are completely awake and aware during your birthing time, but feel no pain. I've found it incredibly helpful for pregnancy concerns like backaches and leg cramps - once I use my cue words the pain leaves instantly. Its helped me to feel ready and prepared and excited about birth, rather than worried about it. I HIGHLY reccomend it!

[mattjule]

Susan-I know exactly how you feel with regard to too-fast labor and cb classes.

My journey with classes was kind of weird. I asked my mw which one she suggested and she gave me the name of a lady. So we went to her house and had a class. We wanted to be in a group, but she didn't have any other clients at the time, so it ended up being a "private lesson". She acted like she was doing us a huge favor by charging us the group rate instead of private, like we had chosen private or something. I also felt that she was so into her "curriculum" that she wasn't hearing what I wanted to get out of the classes. So after that one I went back to my mw with my concerns and she gave me another woman's name. She was wonderful, same situation re: private lesson vs group, but she never tried to charge us b/c she didn't have any business. She used a mixture of stuff-excerpts from Birthing From Within, handouts of anatomy, artwork, etc. Seems that in the area I lived in, there was this new wave of "do whatever works" going on, so no definite pain management techniques were taught. We did do a lot of visualization/relaxation but when your labor is changing so fast, that stuff really doesn't work-there's just no time. So I feel like my classes were pretty pointless, except that our teacher turned out to be the birth attendant for Tain's birth. She didn't get there in time, but she had such a wonderful presence that it was great all the same.

So I feel like I learned enough from Tain's labor and birth that I am not going to take another class-not to mention the $ side of the coin (no pun intended LOL)!

[CryPixie83]

Originally posted by Greaseball
So, is anyone else not taking a childbirth class?

I'm skipping childbirth classes. We see our midwives (3 of them work together) every month for a pernatal and an hour-long homebirth support group and they answer any questions we have. Other than that, I trust my body to know what to do

I think we're going to take a breastfeeding class, but that's just to get local support since my midwives all live about 2 hours away lol

[Modesto Doula]

Wow!! I have spent all day (on and off) trying to catch up on last week's thread!
I wish I had time to check more often, but two little ones, a home based business and a serious comittment to a local birth professionals group keep me busy. I've been so busy I haven't had time to really think about getting ready for the baby... Of course, I still have lots of time, and don't have too much to do.
Im at 30 weeks already, and Ive got almost 12 to go. Can't tell by my belly though!! The lady at the chinese place thinks Im gonna pop anytime!
I have already bought most of a newborn stash of CDs, but I have some to go still. Even though I CDed DS as a newborn, I didnt have much, or much that I wanted to use again, I guess =)
I think thats all I've really done, even... I'm trying to transition DS out of our bed and into his sister's (the crib mattress next to our bed), but he is having NONE of that. Its a huge problem actually. We have a queen size bed, two adults, two body pillows, and a sideways sleeping 2 yr old. I end up without enough room to roll over! We really dont have room for another one, so DS has to switch, or Im gonna move into DDs room and sleep in her twin bed with the new one. Some nights, when Im coming back to bed from the bathroom, Im tempted to just sleep in there, by myself... Oh the luxury!! LOL.
I need to pull out the baby clothes and sort through them... and find a place for them, which is going to be an issue. Little ones dont need that much space, really, but the bigger ones already use every last bit, so Im not sure how I'll work it out. It will probably have something to do with the closet! Other than the clothes, we need to buy a bassinet. The one we used for our older two fell apart (a cheap $40 model my mom got for our first shower)- the metal leg supports just snapped apart when DS was a couple months old. Needless to say- not safe!! LOL
We also have to buy a van. We have faced the facts that three car seats are not going to fit into either of our cars. We barely have room for a super skinny person between the seats in either car. We still plan on having a couple more, so that means we have to bite the bullet and get the minivan. Damn, it hurts to think about trading in my little neon for some three row mama car!! My MIL says she wants to "help us" buy the van, which is a huge relief, cause we can't afford it on our own. The only problem is that we have no idea how much help she will be (she could decide anything between giving us 2K for the down or paying it off in cash), and she INSISTS we buy brand new... Which seems like a huge waste to me. I'd much rather plunk down money- ours or hers- on a year old lease return thats 10K cheaper than the one that still has to be broken in. What happens really won't be decided until she tells us how much shes going to help us. If I know my MIL, that will be when we get to a dealership!
I have yet to order the birth kit, but Ive been collecting pieces of it for a while. Call me crazy, but Im looking forward to the ugly little hat! I have one from DD and DS (hosp born) and I think my home born deserves one too. In fact, I am kinda disappointed that we wont have the "day old" baby photos that are so damn overpriced to go with the others. Anyone else? I'm thinking we might have to sneak out at 24 h to get to a studio. Isnt that awful?


We are skipping childbirth ed this time, but mainly cause I teach it, we will have a couple of doulas here along with the midwife and her asst, plus my mom and sisters to help my DH. I am watching videos with my children to get them used to the experience.

TIP: for those of you who want to skip classes, most hospital education centers rent out the videos for a small fee, some public libraries have them too. There are several that really are excellent, and they really do help, especially dads that are super visual and arent reading books.

And dont skip the breastfeeding classes, or getting to La Leche League before the baby is born! Those are super important. Birthing comes naturally if you have no fear, breastfeeding doesnt!

Geez, that was long... sorry. Im really gonna try and post shorter, and more often!!

[seedling]

Good morning and yeah for the new forum. Today we're having a bday party for my dd. It's just family coming over but still I cleaned the whole darn day yesterday until 1 am and am up at 6 am. I kind of didn't MEAN to be up at 6 am but that's the way it worked out. Why is it so hard to actually clean your house in one day with a kid and a husband around? I mean, I used to clean houses on the side and could do one in 4 hours. I worked my butt off all day yesterday and I still have to do the bathroom and the bedrooms today.

Anyway, we aren't taking a class this time. We did Bradley last time and I think we were very well prepared. So I plan to just review the materials again. I also have hour + long visits with my midwife and feel I have lots of opportunity to talk over stuff with her. We could've done a refresher course but it's too difficult to work out childcare plus my DH is so much busier this time than he was last time that I think it'd be hard to find a night he was free. I don't know if I'm being totally over-confidant this time or what but really the only anxiety I am feeling about the birth is trying to figure out the birthtub issue (old house, will floors handle tub). I have caught myself worrying about being overconfidant about labor. I mean, what if it's so totally different I'm caught off guard? But, honestly, most of the time, I've got none of the concerns that I had last time. I think I'll go into labor, deal with it as it happens and then push that baby out. I'm hoping I don't hemmorage this time but if I do, my midwife carries stuff to deal with that.

On the hormonal front, I've got to stop being so nasty to my DH. Granted, I think he deserves it a lot. I mean, from 4:00 on yesterday he was worthless thanks to that idiot box in my living room and basketball. I am SO SICK of basketball! Aggh! I generally accept that he just isn't willing to work as hard as I am at keeping the house up, etc. But lately it has been really, really driving me nuts. To the point that I'm crying and witchy. I feel very unconnected with him right now and that really sucks. But it's like we're in this cycle or something and somehow I've got to break out of it because I can't stand feeling so mad/sad/rejected/disgusted/etc/etc with him. I know a lot of this has got to be hormones. I mean, he did help me take dd in for her 3 year photos yesterday, play with her for an hour so I could walk around the mall while waiting for them to get developed, get an oil change on this truck and pick up some stuff from the store for me. Plus he did a moderate amount of child care stuff. That's a lot to get out of him on a Saturday. Oh, and he went to work for a couple of hours. So why am I so darn angry? I need to find a prayer that I can say very quickly through out the day to help me get past this. Sorry for the vent, but I KNOW this is pregnancy related.

Well, I'd better get going. My WONDERFUL sister is coming early today to mow the grass for us (while our mowers are being serviced). Her dh owns a landscaping business and she's just bringing his equipment up before the party to help us out. I LOVE HER. Anyway, my nephew will be coming early too which means I need to get my cleaning done so I can be available for him and dd.

Happy Sunday all.

[3girlsmommy]

Good Morning!!!
UGH! Why do home improvement projects ALWAYS take 10 times as long as they should????? Friends of ours came over yesterday to help dh build some shelves at the end of the hall between the girls rooms. It seemed like an easy project and quite straight foward. We got some of the wood for free from MIL's s.o. but in the end it wasn't wide enough because the walls aren't even. One side is 9 3/4 and the other is 9 7/8 and they changed the design a little bit and brought the shelves out a little more. So off the Home Depot to spend more money!! There goes our extra spending money this week!!! OUr friends left at 9:30 last night and they will be back at 1:00 this afternoon. I feel so bad because I never thought we would take up their whole weekend! It times like this that I really miss my daddy.

On a happy note I bought the paint for the baby's room. I found a store that carries the no VOC paint and I had a coupon! I will never buy paint from Home Depot again! THis place was a piant store and the prices were cheaper, the guys a lot more knowledgable and they carried the paint out to my car for me! Now I just need to clean out the baby's room so I can paint it!


As far as childbirth classes go we ain't doing 'em! I did the doctor's classes with my first and they were worthless! It gave my dh a better idea of what to expect but in reality they sucked! The instructor made fun of the natural birthing mom and the mom who I think was using hypnosis on the childbirth video. It was not a great practice and both the doctor's and the childbirth instructor pushed drugs and lot of 'em! In fact the instructor was annoyed when on the hospital tour we demanded to see the hospital birth center where no drugs are allowed! As we were in the hall leaving the birth center she reminded everyone that they don't allow epidurals and then told us that once we go into the birth place it's ahrd to leave even if we decide we want drugs because the nurses feel so strongly about natural birth. The latter is totally not true but was the CRAP that my former practice use to tell all of their paitents to scare them out of going there. What a horrible group. I'm so glad that the video of the women getting the epi completly FREAKED me out! I loved and really enjoyed my birth place births and really look foward to my next one.
With my second we took hypnobirthing and with this one we are doing the hypnobabies home study course, which I absolutly LOVE!

I can't remember who talked about budgeting using the envelopes but could you explain a little more? I'm trying to get dh to share our budget w/ me. I feel like I'm always flying blind in that area. I never know if there is enough money for me to go shopping for extras like mud boot for the kids or whatever. Honestly I'm not sure he even knows which is scary! I need to find some good budgeting information and get him to use it!

Oh I had the most intense birthing dream. I was at the birth place and I was ready to push but all of a sudden I had to go to the bathroom but everyone kept coming in my room and talking to me. All sorts of friends showed up just to chat and say hi. I was trying to nicely tell them to go away but they wouldn't leave and then my birthing time stopped. The urge to push was gone! It was weird because the urge to push was so strong in my dream! Any dream interpretors out there???

Alright I've rambled enough! Have a great one and wish us luck with our shelving!

[wildthing]

We are not doing any childbirth classes this time. I didn't take one when I had my first baby. Dh and I took Lamaze at the hospital with #2 and #3....both were worthless. Yeah, the instructors all made fun of the women in the class who wanted no medication...whatever. I took a Bradley class with #4, and also had my first homebirth...I haven't taken a class since. I really never used anything I learned in the Bradley class, but being at home gave me the opportunity to do whatever felt right at the time, and that was enough for me.

I have made some progress in my nesting! :LOL I made, I think 8 or 10 small fitted diapers, and I have cut out 3 pre-folds and 4 covers. I am now doing mediums as well as smalls, since my babies typically outgrow the smalls in a matter of weeks. I am going to make up about a dozen organic french terry pre-folds to round everything out...maybe more. I also cut out a kimono last night to sew today.

Erin, when I was about 9 months pregnant with one of my babies, dh asked me to go to Home Depot to get a part for the toilet that we needed to fix. I walked in, went straight to the customer service desk and asked for some help so I wouldn't have to walk all over trying to find someone. The guy at the desk immediately ran off, found my part, and brought it back to me, then rang it up at the CS desk! Talk about service!

And yes...please stop falling everyone!! I took my tumble down a flight of stairs last month, so hopefully, I am set until June!

I met 2 CD mamas here in town yesterday. It was so cool. One owns a little shop on the coast, and another was on a board I am on. We met at the shop, and talked for 2 hours. So fun! The shopowner is going to be at the LLL Conference too.

Sandi, projects talking 10 x longer than they should is the story of my life. Dh, bless his heart, has the smarts to do a lot of things, but not the practical experience. He usually always runs into some snafoo that just adds on the time and expense. But he's a trooper and keeps on going until it is done.

Well, I was up until 1:00am cutting out fabric, then dh left to go to a draft for his Fantasy Baseball League at 6:30am, of course waking me up. I have all these *things* I want to make, buy, do, so I thought I might as well get up and start doing them.

Another question....what are you planning on having in your birth kit? My midwife always had one that we ordered from Cascade, but this time, I am putting my own together. Anyone ever heard of "Last 6 weeks" herbal?