Thought I would make us a new one!
How are all you ladies doing?
I'm 22 weeks and up 10lbs ... I'm pretty proud of that. All vitals are good.
My boobs have started leaking already! It's just clear, but it feels like I'm making milk in there!
Hope everyone is well and that the birth plans/baby preparations are coming along smoothly!
) I decided I'd rather have birth attendants that I trusted vs the setting that I wanted. BUT when I read this book it makes me want to just do a UC and call it good. I just hate the bustle surrounding the hospital birth. They dont REALLY need to weigh or fully assess the baby right then, and although we wont be vaxing I wouldn't mind if we just skipped the vit K shot. If he's pink and crying he's good- they can count toes later! So, I'm still conflicted but we'll see I guess as it gets closer. Maybe I'll just labor quickly and have no option 
I'm 22w2d today and seem to be packing on the pounds compared to you other mommas. I posted this story in the Aug DDC but guess I should share here too. Might be a little TMI so read at your own risk: At my 20 week appt I was up 19lbs weighing in @ 160 (11lbs in the last month alone). I was a little freaked that I had gained so much weight in one month. Turns out I was just really, really constipated--to the point it became uncomfortable to sit down. I finally was able to go to the bathroom and felt so much better. I mean my whole demeanor changed. It was such a relief. I got back on the scale about a week later at my trainer's studio and was down to 154--PHEW! That was such a relief on my brain. I know weight doesn't matter to an extent because it's all for baby but the whole 11lbs in one month was a little crazy for me.
My tummy is still quite small-- I think. It is finally starting to round out a bit and look a little more pg "ish" rather than just fluff. If you didn't know me though, you would still think that I had just been packing on the pounds.
My boobs have starting leaking clear fluid as well. I only noticed because I need to check them daily (for hair slivers). As a pet groomer I frequently get hair slivers in my nipples. Let me tell you that is none too pleasant . I keep telling DH that our poor DS is going to get hairballs from his momma--GROSS! Needless to say I have to check and pluck daily and will do that as well if /when I decide to go back to work.
I've been kind of freaking out the last couple of days with worrying. So many people I know are pregnant and a few of the stories have been scary. One of the mommas lost her baby at 8 months due to a kinked cord. I know that chances of that are slim to none but sometimes my mind just races. Yesterday I couldn't stop crying due to all the negative things I had heard. I finally had to just snap out of it and try to find all the positive things to focus on instead of the scary/negative things.
On the positive side:
Two of my girlfriends just had babies in the last couple of weeks each with a kind of neat birth story. The first had identical twin boys which she was able to deliver vaginally in the hospital. It was amazing! They were really slow and gentile with her (she had to be induced) but the boys were born 5 hours apart (2nd guy was posterior) and they let her continue without forcing a C-section on her.
The second was originally going to have a hospital birth with a MW but decided at 38wks that a home/water birth is truly what she wanted so she switched. She got her home birth...not to sure of the water birth (labor was kind of fast) but the neat twist in this was that if she did have a hospital birth she would have had to deliver with an OB. Her MW was called out of town on a family emergency.
I just thought those were two positive stories to share.
Booked a flight to head back East and see my family in early May. It will be nice for the family to be able to see me while I'm pregnant other than a few random Face Book pics. My grandfather has terminal cancer and the family is celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. I thought it would be good to get to see him "one last time" due to the fact that we probably won't be able to make the funeral due to time, expense and pregnancy being so far along or the baby being so young (provided he makes it to Aug) so it will be a bit of "closure" for me.
@ Mamahen-- the diet is called the Brewer Diet and it seems to be quiet a bit of food for most people. I have been trying to follow it but am not strictly on it. The big thing is the 100 grams of protein. Some days I'm good and then others I'm no where near that. My eating habits have really been all over the place.
I guess I'll stop rambling now... hope everyone has a great week!
I'm 23 weeks tomorrow and have gained... (drums)... 34 lbs. Yeah, it's a shame really. I'm actually very tiny to begin with (I weighed about 100 pre-pregnancy) and gained 50 lbs with my first child. I hope this makes everyone feel better :) Really though, despite the similar weight gain between pregnancy one and two, I feel absolutely gigantic. I know they say the second time is different. I'll just be happy when this baby comes. My back and hips are aching more this time around. The best part is that the pregnancy has motivated me into eating extremely healthy again. The hardest part so far has been my two year old. It's been difficult for him to accept that I cannot carry him anymore, or as much.
@ mamahen: everything really does feel better after you've poo'd, so my husband says ;)
) I decided I'd rather have birth attendants that I trusted vs the setting that I wanted. BUT when I read this book it makes me want to just do a UC and call it good. I just hate the bustle surrounding the hospital birth. They dont REALLY need to weigh or fully assess the baby right then, and although we wont be vaxing I wouldn't mind if we just skipped the vit K shot. If he's pink and crying he's good- they can count toes later! So, I'm still conflicted but we'll see I guess as it gets closer. Maybe I'll just labor quickly and have no option 
Hey Mamhen ~ You can tell them the baby doesn't need a vit. K shot ... esp. if he is not getting circ'd! You can just write it into the birth plan. I had them give it to my boys orally ... which confused the nurse, but whatever! I don't think it's neccessary,. I think the time after birth is soo important for bonding and nurses are just so set on a routine that they forget all about that. I know that you want birth attendants that you trust ... but how do you know you will get that in a hospital setting? Your birth attendant could be anyone with their own agenda! I'm so less trusting of doctors, nurses, and hospitals, than I would be with say a midwife, lay midwife, doula, etc. What do you think your biggest hangup is about having a homebirth?! Is it that you haven't found the right midwife or something else? You still have plenty of time to meet the right person. Do you have a doula? If you do decide on a hospital birth, at least you will be going in with one person you can trust and who can back up your decisions! Good luck with your decision!
Hey Mamhen ~ You can tell them the baby doesn't need a vit. K shot ... esp. if he is not getting circ'd! You can just write it into the birth plan. I had them give it to my boys orally ... which confused the nurse, but whatever! I don't think it's neccessary,. I think the time after birth is soo important for bonding and nurses are just so set on a routine that they forget all about that. I know that you want birth attendants that you trust ... but how do you know you will get that in a hospital setting? Your birth attendant could be anyone with their own agenda! I'm so less trusting of doctors, nurses, and hospitals, than I would be with say a midwife, lay midwife, doula, etc. What do you think your biggest hangup is about having a homebirth?! Is it that you haven't found the right midwife or something else? You still have plenty of time to meet the right person. Do you have a doula? If you do decide on a hospital birth, at least you will be going in with one person you can trust and who can back up your decisions! Good luck with your decision!
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I'm 23 weeks tomorrow and have gained... (drums)... 34 lbs. Yeah, it's a shame really. I'm actually very tiny to begin with (I weighed about 100 pre-pregnancy) and gained 50 lbs with my first child. I hope this makes everyone feel better :) Really though, despite the similar weight gain between pregnancy one and two, I feel absolutely gigantic.
If it makes you feel any better, I've gained 38 or 39 lbs already. I'm well on my way to having another 60 lb weight gain like I did with my first 2 children (my 3rd & 4th were 35 lbs, but I also started off heavier with them).
I haven't weighed myself since my last OB visit in the beginning of March. At that point I gained 20 lb. The last week I see that my belly is much firmer looking and feels more baby and less fat. I am also feeling much heavier and sometimes short of breath.
I have been feeling a lot of anxiety and stressing over little things. I am getting obsessive over things like what to name the baby and how to set my house up for baby. I know that I will have all I really need because when I had DS 12 years ago I had nothing but a car seat, a sling, some hand-me-down clothes, and a rocking chair. He did fine. I wish DH could understand that my anxiety over little things is hormonal and I am trying very hard not to get caught up in it. Anyone else having anxiety or mood swings?
Yes, sort of. I asked my husband to go in our storage unit and bring home our baby clothes so I could go through them. He said we didn't need to just yet. So I burst out into tears and told him he didn't understand and that I needed to go through the clothes :) That's logical, right?
I haven't weighed myself since my last OB visit in the beginning of March. At that point I gained 20 lb. The last week I see that my belly is much firmer looking and feels more baby and less fat. I am also feeling much heavier and sometimes short of breath.
I have been feeling a lot of anxiety and stressing over little things. I am getting obsessive over things like what to name the baby and how to set my house up for baby. I know that I will have all I really need because when I had DS 12 years ago I had nothing but a car seat, a sling, some hand-me-down clothes, and a rocking chair. He did fine. I wish DH could understand that my anxiety over little things is hormonal and I am trying very hard not to get caught up in it. Anyone else having anxiety or mood swings?
Is anyone else crying A LOT? I seem to cry everyday. ugh!
I've gained about 8 lbs at 25 wks, which is good b/c I was 50 lbs overweight to begin with. I hope I can keep it to 15lbs total which is looking good at this point. I get full so much faster these days too so I feel like I'm eating a lot, but I guess I'm
Seeing my midwives today for my monthly check-in.
Is anyone else crying A LOT? I seem to cry everyday. ugh!
Me, me, me! I can't seem to stop! I feel bad for my husband because he's getting the brunt of it and nothing he says or does makes it better. I feel like a crazy person. 
I have no sense of humor anymore either. No one can tease me or make the slightest joke without me ending up in tears. Plus I'm so sleep deprived lately! when I wake up to pee in the night I can't get back to sleep for a few hours. I don't think that's helping my emotional state at all.
That being said I'm trying really hard to remember that overall I'm doing very well and I am lucky to be feeling as good as I do! So far I haven't had any problems and I'm just so happy to be expecting our first little babe in a few months. Sometimes it's hard to think that way when you're crying all the time though, especially when thoughts like that lead to tears too! 
mugglesmom- I am so super sensitive about anything anyone says. I can either get really angry or feel like bursting into tears. Ack! I didn't cry at all with my 1st.
Radicaleel, could you tell me how that works out for you? I use the hypnobirthing (I think that's it... I get them confused, the Monagan method one) and I literally fall asleep within 5 minutes each and every time. I don't think Ive made it through the relaxation track once. I am skeptical to buy the hypnobabies course because I feel like I'll just sleep.
I have a body pillow--not a "true" pg pillow and love it. It helps so much. DH not such a big fan because it's right between us. I guess we could change sides of the bed but then I might not be able to sleep. It's hard for me to sleep "out of position"
I got my hypnobabies in the mail the other day. I really need to crack it open and get to work on it. I'm excited. One of my girlfriends used it and LOVED it. Said it made 4 hours off labor pass by like it was 4 minutes.
I hope it has the same effect for me. She had a hospital birth though but hopefully that won't matter.
This is my first pregnancy and as of last week I'm up 15lbs at week 25. Although I spent yesterday with a friend who consistantly joked to others at a BBQ that I wasn't pregnant, just fat. Aside from being super sensitive these days anyway, that kind of "humor" is tough to take. I thought I was looking ok, then I got upset yesterday evening that I was just getting fat. But I'm over it now (just don't want to talk to her for long while!) and back to feeling glorious and proud of rockin' a baby belly. I'm due July 5th and plan to have a water birth attended by a midwife and my friend who is a doula, and hubby, too. I've been reading all of Ina May and lit on EC, baby wearing & co-sleeping... very exciting stuff. I live in Guatemala right now and far from friends & fam, and fellow pregnant ladies I can chat with, I end up walking a lot to get groceries and stuff (which has been good for me since I'm typically not a very faithful exerciser), but I've got a great birth setup and very wonderful partner in all of this. Enjoying every kick and moment of this!
Guatemama1 Welcome. It's so nice to have like-minded mommas here to chat with and get great ideas/support from.
No one jokes about me just being fat (I think they know better with my type of personality) but if you didn't know me, you would think that I was just chubby and not necessarily pregnant. My belly is finally starting to round out a bit but it's the top to bottom round type not just the cute little bump most of these mommas are sporting.
I'm pregnant with my first too and am enjoying all of it (well not the constipation but I think I'm over that now). DH has nicknamed our baby Awesome. He's been making me giggle the last couple of days. The other day while driving to work he was just somersaulting all over the place and it felt so weird but cool all at the same time. I was laughing the whole way to work.
Tonight he's been kicking/punching (not sure which) with such force my whole tummy was moving. Again, made me giggle.
I'm finally starting to finally "feel" pregnant. My non maternity shirts no longer fit very well and creep up my belly. I guess that's a good thing. I've had a hard time believing this pregnancy was real even will all the concrete evidence. I've never had a loss but it was just so surreal.
Radicaleel, could you tell me how that works out for you? I use the hypnobirthing (I think that's it... I get them confused, the Monagan method one) and I literally fall asleep within 5 minutes each and every time. I don't think Ive made it through the relaxation track once. I am skeptical to buy the hypnobabies course because I feel like I'll just sleep.
I used the Hypnobabies home study during my last pregnancy and fell asleep every single time I listened to it. Interestingly, I always woke up as the speaker was indicating that it was time to wake, but I really don't think I was experiencing "hypnotic amnesia" as the program would suggest. Despite that, I do feel like I benefited from it. I was really at peace with whatever labor was going to throw at me and overall my labor was pretty quick (although thanks in part to a nuchal arm - by no means was it painless). I will be doing it again, but mostly just to focus myself, get myself into the "this is natural, normal, and peaceful" frame of mind.
Interesting that last time I was much less anxious about the birth than this time. I'm usually super excited and looking forward to birthing this LO but sometimes I remember too much of last time and freak myself out. Ugh. I guess I'm trying to focus on this being a different birth, a different baby, and an entirely different situation. Not that my first was so terrible, because it really wasn't, but I'm hoping for something more serene I guess. lol I really don't even know what I'm hoping for because everything last time was really how I intended for it to be, besides his positioning. I suppose I'm hoping for a perfectly positioned baby.
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