New Chat Thread!!! MARCHing into the 3rd trimester!! - Page 2

[Mamatoabunch]

Originally Posted by tracymom1 

But, on a pleasant note, I did find these at the fabric store yesterday - how is it I am on my 3rd baby and did not know these pre-made wonders exist??!!  Brilliant!

Ugh, MIL is coming over today and she only has a vague idea of our financial issues.  DH will be here so I have to put on the "happy-smiley-everything's-great" show.  It's exhausting just thinking about it.

I knew those panels existed, but never tried to use them. I made skirts w/ Eiley, out of plain knit for the panel. It worked okish.

I so hear you on the MIL visit and putting on a happy face, nothing is wrong. Dh is just like that and his family. I hate it. But now my MIL is passed and she no longer calls and that makes me sad. 

[Snowflake777]

Originally Posted by tracymom1 

my biggest problem though is that combined with the depression comes fatigue and for me, that spells the ultimate in laziness.  Nothing gets done, I feel guilty which feeds into the depression, so still nothing gets done and the cycle continues.  I have no idea how to get it under control.  I have some homeopathic remedies that should help but haven't started them yet.

I know exactly what you mean!

I'm feeling a bit out of sorts too. Not a full-blown depression, just kind of cranky and unmotivated. I'm just so over winter.

I think a big part of my problem is that I stopped taking my omega 3/vitamin D tablets a couple of weeks ago because they were making me throw up. I need to get back on track with those. I'm going try taking them before bed so that I (hopefully) sleep through the nausea.

On the plus side, DH has been remarkably patient with me. He usually isn't this understanding, and it's made a huge difference. :)

[MaryElizabeth]

I can chime in about the laziness and depression that's been creeping in on me too lately! We are in the middle of a home renovation and has gotten nowhere...  It really bothers me to have things unfinished and "dirty". My hubby works, goes to school, and is my handyman so he is really getting it from every which way right now. I try to do little things like paint and pick out all the things we need to buy but honestly all I feel like doing is laying on the couch with DD while she watches Dora.

I've been slowly talking my DH into hiring some of the work out so that I can get this house done before the baby comes! We have to put in on the market in July bc we are being relocated to OK in October. I got a painting estimate for the upstairs bedrooms, hallway, and two tiny bathrooms and it was $1200 :( I really wanted it to be around $750.... I don't think that I can talk DH into spending that kind of money. Even though that would take a huge load off of me!

Also been going through some food/poop issues with DD. She has drastically reduced the foods she will eat and last week started in with the diarrhea. It was baaaad for about 4 days and now it is just loose, frequent poops. I don't know what could be causing this other than fruit. She normally has 75/25 water/juice (which is Naked Green Machine or Simply Apple/Orange) I've cut out all the apple juice and been giving her water with just a splash of some orange juice, but the fruit thing has been harder. She will normally eat almost anything that I make, but here lately it's been no to literally everything. She has had some chicken nuggets, hotdogs, french fries, and pizza the last few days. <--- Terrible, I know!!! But I feel like she eats nothing and needs something in her belly! Funnily enough it seems that the "junk" food lets her have a better tummy day than the days that I force something healthful down her.

She does eat a big bowl of oatmeal every morning with a banana... so at least thats something :(

Here's to hoping that she eats some of the tuna and quinoa I'm making tonight!!

Can't believe it's March already! We are going to be so busy......

[Smokering]

Heh; I'm so over summer! I think I get reverse seasonal affective disorder, or something - I hate sun, I hate heat and I hate humidity, all of which we have in abundance right now. And DD still keeps crawling into our bed at night, all sticky and clammy and hot, and insists on adhering to me. I haven't slept through the night for... yikes, I dunno, over three years? So a few months' break before the new baby comes would be really, really nice. But between DD and the weather - nope.

Also, it's too hot to sew, which partly explains the lethargy/laziness/procrastination issue. I did get inspired and start making a baby shirt last night, though! It was already cut out, so I skipped the most awful part of the sewing process. :p (Well, except for the buttonholes, which I have yet to master...) Hopefully I'll finish it today, which might give me a slight sense of achievement...

What makes it worse is DH's freaking efficiency. He started his own business last year, which is booming; every day he gets fanmail from people who think his work is the best thing since smoked paprika; he makes tons of money per hour (not tons all up, exactly, but I imagine he'll be very successful in a few years); and is generally fulfilling the entrepreneurial dream. Slowly building up a passive income, writing ebooks, becoming respected in his field, yadda yadda.

None of which I should complain about, of course! I'm glad he's home, and doing well, and enjoying work for the first time in years (he was on a helpdesk for WAY too long before that, and going slowly stir-crazy). And part of the reason I married him was because I admired his brain. But right now, it just throws my own depression and general uselessness into stark relief. I don't feel good at anything, and I feel like DH thinks the less of me because I don't start up some fantastic working-from-home business. He says he doesn't, but I still feel vaguely like I'm unworthy of being half of a Successful, High-Flying Couple. He keeps coming up with totally impractical ideas, like "Well, don't be depressed, write a cookbook!" or "Well, if you feel useless, why don't you learn to do copywriting like me?", or "You should take a design course, I bet you could sell nice maternity clothes online", or "Well, finish your novel". It's sweet that he thinks I'm capable of these things, but I don't know who he expects to take care of DD while I'm doing it... (Plus, as I've tried to explain, being good at cooking doesn't exactly translate to "People will buy a cookbook from someone they've never heard of"... and so on.) So that just makes me feel even more lame. It's not that I want a job either - and sadly, with the marketable skills I possess, it'd only be a minimum-wage retail-type job anyway, which would hardly make me feel like DH and I were both on the same level of success - but I want to do something that makes me feel less like a useless drain on society. Except that I don't want to do anything. (And yes, I know the whole "You're creating a new life, that's an accomplishment" line, but right now I don't buy it. Fourteen-year-old drug addicts can "accomplish" that, so I'm not convinced it's a particularly unique or noteworthy contribution in my case.)

Clearly I should have married an underachieving dimwit so I could feel good about myself. :p

[jshannyn519]

I can sympathize with feeling depressed. I have dealt with major depression since the age of 15 and it seems like my hormones just exacerbate it. I get REALLY depressed when it's cold and grey outside, which was a major factor in moving from the mountains of Oregon to the plains of North Texas. With the weather being better the past few weeks I've been outside in the sun as much as humanly possible. I've been doing my studying and reading on the patio in the sun, without sunscreen which is terrible because I'm so fair skinned! But I really don't want anything interfering with those UV rays on my skin. I just feel so much better when I get that daily dose of fresh air and pure sunshine.

I've been feeling really overwhelmed with all the projects on our house too. It's an old house, we moved in about 18 months ago, and there's ALWAYS something that needs to be done. The house stuff on top of my school stuff with baby stuff added to it has been a bit much for me lately. However, I was updating my school calendar a few minutes ago and I realized that I only have 4 clinical days left in my Med/Surg class! I have 7 days left in my Psych clinical, and only 3 of those are even in the hospital. We are somehow halfway through this semester already and it's such a relief to know that it will all be over in a few short weeks.

[erigeron]

Creating a new life may be something that lots of people can do, but not everybody can/does raise a kid WELL. You're investing your time in your daughter and soon in your new little one, and that's something, I think, and typically undervalued by society.

I had an omelet for breakfast this morning. that's 2 eggs out of the way for the day! Yeah!

[Smokering]

I just feel so much better when I get that daily dose of fresh air and pure sunshine.

See, I don't. I think I'm immune to "cures". You know how people are always saying things like "I started taking 5-HTP and the difference in my mood was incredible", or "I can always tell when I've forgotten to take my spirulina", or "I feel great after I exercise"? I've tried all sorts of things along those lines, and I've never noticed a difference. I don't feel better when I eat less sugar; after going for a walk, I don't feel energised but hot, sweaty and tired; and every supplement on the market has had precisely zero noticeable effect on my mood/energy/health. (With the possible exception of my placenta capsules, which I do think delayed PPD until I forgot to keep taking them... I have some left over, but I'm not sure about taking hormoney stuff during pregnancy.) St John's Wort? Nothing. Vitamin D? Nothing. Protein-rich diet? Nope. B-complex for stress? Nada.

I keep taking some of them out of sheer bloody-mindedness, but it'd be really nice to find something that actually worked in a noticeable fashion.

Creating a new life may be something that lots of people can do, but not everybody can/does raise a kid WELL. You're investing your time in your daughter and soon in your new little one, and that's something, I think, and typically undervalued by society.

I dunno; DD is pretty darn awesome, but I think that's despite me rather than because of me. :p I'm not a great parent; or a great housekeeper, come to that. I think I'd feel a lot better at SAHMing if I were; but as it is I keep thinking "I got a perfect score on my English SATs, how can I not keep the house clean??" - which is a total non sequiter, of course, but still. I mean, yes, in theory I'm all for valuing mothering and not measuring worth by money-making ability or having a high-flying career; and I honestly don't feel that other SAHMs are wasting their time or not doing their bit or anything. I just feel rotten about it for me, and rotten about life in general to boot. Meh. Grumble. Blah.

On the bright side: fish for lunch, chicken Caesar salad for dinner tonight - which, apart from being one of the few foods I get semi-enthusiastic about these days, contains a poached egg. And I have a mango lassi for breakfast - lots of yoghurt. So at least I'm eating OK today!

[tracymom1]

Originally Posted by erigeron 

Creating a new life may be something that lots of people can do, but not everybody can/does raise a kid WELL. You're investing your time in your daughter and soon in your new little one, and that's something, I think, and typically undervalued by society.

Totally agreed - at least here in the states.  I know that in other places in this crazy world parenthood is viewed with MUCH more reverence than it is here.  Cooking up a baby in your body, giving birth, raising the little people - this is the very most important thing we will ever do.  This is why I no longer stress about things like the crumbs on the kitchen counter, the fact that the vacuum has been sitting in the living room for a week and not been used in all that time, the dust on the bookshelves or any of that housekeeping nonsense.  I mean, my house is clean enough, but by no means am I a "good housekeeper."  I much prefer to play with toys, do art projects, walk to the park or read with my little ones - I think that every minute spent feeding their little sponge minds with the wonderment of the world is a minute spent very well indeed.  The rest of it can wait. 

MaryElizabeth, we struggled with loose, runny poops for a while around here, too.  I found that a a really good probiotic helped, as well as switching to sprouted grain bread.  I used to make a smoothie with banana, rice, wheat grass and yogurt and even though it sounds kind of gross, it actually tastes okay and DS would have some every morning for a while.  Good luck - I know how hard it is when their little digestive systems get all out of whack. 

[Mamatoabunch]

Tracy I forgot to say prunes are helping me in that department. I eat 7 of these little one from the Sunsweet tub.

Crappy day here, lots of little irritations leading me to cry several times. And the juniper is pollinating. I have never been allergic to anything and even juniper until three years ago. I am miserable and of course my house is literally surrounded by the hateful trees, there are several right out my front door. I just started walking outdoors again and now I can't, at least until they stop.

[tracymom1]

Ugh!!! I totally hate prunes!!!  I want to love them, I really do.  I have tried them so, so many times and I hate them more and more as the years go by... I am thinking that I am just plagued with this stupid constipation until the end of this pregnancy.  Maybe I will have a very clear indication of when labor is about to begin because I will be emptying my bowels from the last several months (yes, yes, disgusting - sorry ).  I upped the magnesium and will get a stool softener tomorrow (but I am not sure that will help - when I do go it's not hard at all).  Oy, way TMI !!!

Annabelle, allergies are the worst.  When I moved out west, I couldn't figure out why it felt like I had the flu for 3 months - alas, I was surrounded by hay farms and for the first time ever had severe allergies.  Hugs. It sucks.  The only advice I have is neti pot, saline nasal spray (or homeopathic spray -HEEL makes a good one) and massaging your sinuses.  Which I am sure you are already doing.

[erigeron]

mamatoabunch, could you take a walk if you wore a surgical mask to screen out the juniper pollen? You should be able to get one at any pharmacy for $5 or less.

[Mamatoabunch]

Originally Posted by erigeron 

mamatoabunch, could you take a walk if you wore a surgical mask to screen out the juniper pollen? You should be able to get one at any pharmacy for $5 or less.

Dh said that he would bring some for me after I cried about it on the phone, LOL. But it would still get in my eyes, on my clothes, hands and still spread. It is just awful stuff. I freak if anyone evens leaves the door open, in a few days we will see it wafting from the trees. I am seriously considering OTC allergy meds, but no idea what is safe. I need to research it. 

[jshannyn519]

Originally Posted by Mamatoabunch 

Dh said that he would bring some for me after I cried about it on the phone, LOL. But it would still get in my eyes, on my clothes, hands and still spread. It is just awful stuff. I freak if anyone evens leaves the door open, in a few days we will see it wafting from the trees. I am seriously considering OTC allergy meds, but no idea what is safe. I need to research it. 

Juniper is awful. I'm massively allergic to it too. Thank goodness there's not much here in Texas! Benadryl is on the safe list for OTC allergy meds during pregnancy.

Claritin is Loratadine, which is not classified so the risk is unknown. Some of the Claritin tablets have psuedoephedrine in it which is not okay during pregnancy. Sudafed has it too. Zyrtec is a category C medication.

[Snowflake777]

I asked the pharmacist about allergy meds during pregnancy and he said he had nothing for me. :/ I hope you can find something that helps!

So much for taking my vitamins before bed. All that has achieved is me puking in the middle of the night. Yuck. I really needed that vitamin D, not to mention a decent night's sleep!

[Buddhamom]

I am allowed to take Chlortrimeton.  That and Benadryl are the only things allowed for allergies by my midwife.  But I have to say that Zicam works WONDERS!  It is homeopathic and you can get it at walmart.  It is a nasal gel. This winter has been long and harsh.  I still have snow covering my property...YUCK!  All winter though I made a point of putting a chair infront of our glass front door and either knitting or dozing off in the warmth of the sun and it was nice.

Ok, so my 1 hour naps have turned into 2 hour naps and suddenly I less energy at night again here.  BTW, I will be 27 weeks on Sunday. Glad i am not the only one feeling that fatigue starting to creep up again?  I still have had no constipation though whoo hoo.  Probably the 5 thousand fruits and veggies I eat a day and all that water *LOL*  I love to sit and watch the little arms and legs poke out, well, except when I am trying to sleep of course. I have to try and keep up my energy though because we have a barn to remove from the pasture that collapsed in the snow before the alpacas start having babies in 3 weeks!  That and all this snow is still in the pastures and my concern is even if it melts that means babies being born in mud which is bad for their temps in this cold. One of my midwives asked me about the GD and HIV test  last appt. and i declined.  She said she was fine with it since I have no risk of either, but she said she had to run it by the OBs at the practice because she is new.  My next appt. is 29 weeks and hopefully that is too late for the GD test if one off the doctors gives me flack.  DH is very supportive because he agrees I don't need them.  Besides I found out they tested me for HIV in my first set of bloodwork tests which I didn't realize   CT is one of the states where you have to actually opt out, not in, for the test and if you refuse they have the right to test babe after birth when they do the heel stick.

Edited by Buddhamom - 3/4/11 at 2:32am

[Mamatoabunch]

Originally Posted by jshannyn519 

Juniper is awful. I'm massively allergic to it too. Thank goodness there's not much here in Texas! Benadryl is on the safe list for OTC allergy meds during pregnancy.

Claritin is Loratadine, which is not classified so the risk is unknown. Some of the Claritin tablets have psuedoephedrine in it which is not okay during pregnancy. Sudafed has it too. Zyrtec is a category C medication.

I woke up w/a severe headache and wanting to scratch my eyes, ears and face off. Ugh! I checked at www.safefetus.org and zyrtec and claritan are category B.

[erigeron]

I opted out of the HIV test too and my first midwife practice tested me for it anyway. (I've been tested a couple of times since my husband and I have been together, so I know I don't have it!) It wasn't a legal requirement like the syphilis and chlamydia tests. They just wanted me to sign a paper, which I didn't sign, and told them I didn't want the test, and then when I got the results back it was on there anyway. I was ticked off about that, but I'm not going to pursue it further unless I get billed by the insurance company.

I had a prenatal appointment today and discussed my concerns about the glucose tolerance test with the midwife. I have no violent objection to being tested for GD but I really don't like the idea of eating something high-sugar and not having the option to eat anything for another hour; that makes me worried I might crash given the way I tend to get hungry these days. She said the only risk factor I have is being over 24, which isn't much of a risk factor. I think if I'd declined testing altogether she would have been fine with that too. We decided to check a random blood sugar and an A1c instead of doing the OGTT.

I got a belly band at Target to see if I can wear some of my pre-pregnancy pants. Money is tight right now and I don't want to get a bunch of maternity pants (even if I could find something I like), and even though I've worn almost exclusively skirts for the past year+ I've started to get sick of them. I'm test-driving it right now by wearing a pair of jeans. It seems okay but I think this arrangement would work better if I were up and walking around. I know my butt has gotten bigger since I got pregnant so maybe I'll see if I have some pants with a little more room kicking around.

[veganyogamomma]

Originally Posted by nikie23 

Aaah!  Third trimester!! 

I had a minor freak-out the other day when I was looking at dates and realized I'm almost in my last trimester.  DH was laughing at me.  "What did we do?  Why did we think this is a good idea?!  We're going to have a BABY in less than 4 months!  Can we hit pause, I'm not ready!"  DH just gave me a hug and said "we'll be fine". 

I have a serious case of pregnancy-brain, too.  The other day I was talking to DH and completely lost my train of thought mid-sentence.  I had literally no idea what I was trying to tell him, couldn't remember what we'd been talking about, nothing.  Very strange experience.

Max's Mama, I hope you and the fam get better soon! 

"Pregnancy brain" has happened to me twice so far this week! It's literally like someone just shut the light off in my head mid-sentence! My husband thinks it is absolutely hysterical!

[BHappy]

x-posted in may ddc.

we have found the doula of our dreams! she is going to be the lay midwife i've always wanted....she's not a midwife, but a midwife's assistant and doula. her approach reminds me of the midwives at The Farm. she came to our house yesterday and stayed for a couple hours so we could chat and get to know one another. at one point i asked DH if we should "talk about it and get back to her" and he exclaims, "why?! no need. i think we know now!" i was so happy to see him really pleased and sensing the value this woman will bring to our birthing.

the way things have turned out, my CNM who delivered my daughter 10 years ago is not really connecting with us this time. even DH commented that she didn't even say hello to him when he came for the 20 week u/s. and now, my midwife's practice wants to ship me off to one of their OBs because i'm a VBAC (second time!). if i end up at the birth center, who knows who will be delivering my baby! on the other hand, the new doula is going to refer me to a previous client's OB who delivers at the same birth center. she loved this OB and said she was certain she was a midwife because of the way she approached the birth.

has anyone changed practices this far into pregnancy?

i'm feeling so happy today, and hopeful. must be the new moon!

xoxo

[Tumble Bumbles]

has anyone changed practices this far into pregnancy? 

Just wanted to chime in to answer this. Absolutely! With my last pregnancy (my first), I switched from an OB to a midwife at 27 weeks, then that midwife was way too medicalized for me, so I switched again at around 38 weeks. It's not too late until the baby is actually here

So glad you found a doula you clicked with :)