Weekly Chat Thread June 6-13th - Page 2

[sarahtar]

jeninejessica - that doula/photographer situation sounds ideal, I'm glad you're so happy with that!

I really wanted a photographer at my last birth, but ultimately, what I want when I'm in labor is to be left the heck alone, and the only photographer I could imagine letting into my personal space like that had just had a baby. So I'm trying to decide about this time. Already in my house, I will have the MW (who largely hangs out unobtrusively in the corner), her assistant (ditto), my husband (who alternates between being annoying and being helpful, though he had stomach flu during my last labor), my doula, both kids (who will be 7 and 3), an adult to care for the kids, and of course me. So I need to decide how many more people I want to have bothering me, lol. I know a local doula who's also a gifted photographer, but she's tall and skinny and weighs about as much as I do (about 100). One of the reasons I like the doula I've always used is that she's a bit shorter than I am and pretty fluffy. She's comfortable. I can hug her, and lean on her, and bury my head on her soft shoulder and not worry about pushing her over. (DH is too tall for this.) LOL.

[mamaecho]

I'm super excited because one of my best friends does photography (amazingly beautiful photography, and I've worked for her for over a year as well) so she will be doing the birth photography. Another friend is also a photographer so they are both doing newborn sessions so I can't wait to see my baby in my friend's eyes :)

[mammamo]

Hooray for everyones good news!! I'm still on the fence about finding out, my kind of want to find out and kind of not. I'm an end of Dec EDD so I have some time to think about it.

[SierraBella]

Originally Posted by mamaecho 

I'm super excited because one of my best friends does photography (amazingly beautiful photography, and I've worked for her for over a year as well) so she will be doing the birth photography. Another friend is also a photographer so they are both doing newborn sessions so I can't wait to see my baby in my friend's eyes :)

Yay!!! I have similar news! One of my friends, who is also an amazing photographer, is going to give me a friend's discount on her birth photography package, which includes maternity, birth and newborn pics!
 

[wendizbaby]

Originally Posted by SierraBella 

I went and bought some summer dresses at Old Navy.. they aren't maternity, but I think my belly will fit in them fine for the summer until its too cold to wear them. They also had some shorts with elastic waists that might work for you to.

Thanks for the tip!  I just went and got a cute dress and some nice skirts that will more then grow with my belly!

[BennyPai]

I have been a lump for WEEKS.  All I really want to do is sleep, eat, and drink.  Yesterday and today I spent some time dancing to eighties music videos with my two-year-old, though, and it felt very good.  I immediately had to eat afterward, though.  My body burns through all my food soooo fast.

I had a close friend photograph my last pregnancy.  I've moved since then, and haven't had the opportunity to form such a close bond with the women I've met so far.  I need to make it a priority to get involved here and get to know the network of natural-minded parents.

I had to drive to NC last Tuesday with my family for a Wednesday morning funeral.  23 hours on the road each way, and I'm still worn out and I'm left with an itchy, bumpy heat rash that doesn't quite want to go away.  :(  I haven't had one in years.  I was prone to them when I was pregnant with my first daughter in NC and the dermatologist said I had a mild sun allergy that might be intensified with pregnancy.  She suggested SPF 50+ and it worked.  Wish I'd had time to pick some up last week.  Anyone else here more sun-sensitive during pregnancy?

[insidevoice]

Originally Posted by BennyPai 

 Anyone else here more sun-sensitive during pregnancy?

Hi, I worked for a brief time in my garden a few days ago.  I am still dayglo lobster red.  I also have a GORGEOUS lupus butterfly rash going on.  I am planning to invest in concealer.  In fact, I may buy stock in the stuff since I kind of look like the caricatures of rosy-cheeked hobbits at this point. 

I have some SPF 70 stuff to use, and even that isn't enough if I spend more than 20 minutes in the direct sun. 

[onetwoten]

Yeah, a few weeks ago, I burned for the first time EVER while in my own country. I've only ever burned in tropical destinations, and even then, only after hours and hours on the beach. 

I'm very glad about the doula/photog. I was struggling with that too, because all of the advertised birth photogs here... well tbh, even their websites annoy me. I don't enjoy the photos either. So I wasn't looking forward to that being my option. I don't want to pose and such, I just want someone capturing details, and I think this woman would do that-- little details along the way, while still being what I need her to be. I didn't want to have to get a separate doula and photographer fore xactly the reason you mentioned-- just too many people by the time it all adds up. 

So I got a call yesterday from one of the OB's whom I had been told was retiring in August (and thus not taking me...) with the date for my first appointment... *scratches head*. And then I got a call today from my GP with my ultrasound date... but then won't answer when I call back to find out what it is. Gah. I am so sick of talking to doctors offices. I DONT NEED ANYTHING FROM YOU! COME BACK IN FIVE MONTHS! lol. It's just hard when I don't feel like there's much point to an appointment and all that, you know? I want an ultrasound at 20 weeks, but that's the only thing I really feel I need them from until the birth... I can weight myself, check the HB, monitor BP and HR, and everything myself... All they are going to do is try to force extra testing I don't need... 

[Amanda Williams]

Hi gals,

I've been offline for a few days. I caught the stomach flu and was DOWN and out for a while. It was absolutely terrible! I hardly drank 8 ounces yesterday and ate nothing. I am so afraid that the pukes and dukes are going to come back! One of my four kiddos had it last night and I am praying no one else will catch it. It was nasty!

I have another appt. next week. I will be 12 weeks on Tuesday and have absolutely NO connection with baby or even with the idea of a new babe. :( This has been a tough season for my family and I expect it to only get harder over the next few month.

I know we are blessed to be able to conceive and I know I will adore this babe! Second trimester and nesting, please come soon!!

[LilMomma83]

I have been so busy and tired I haven't been on here in almost a week! Crazy!

Gender- I am SUPER excited to find out, I'm 13 weeks so I suppose 5-7 more weeks...I am having the hardest time waiting, and so are all my friends and family lol - this is baby #3 and I have 2 boys so people (including me) cannot wait to see if this is another boy or if it is a girl... I brought the kids to my appointment earlier this week and they were so cute, they listened to the heartbeat and my 4yo was like, "so what is it? A girl or a boy?" LOL my almost 2 year old was cute too - he lifted up his shirt and said, "my turn!" Everything is great, and I have gained some weight, but, not a whole lot - I think I am up like 3 or 4 pounds from me pre pregnancy weight (and usually I gain 10-15 in the first trimester, so I think I am starting off better, which is great sense I am starting this pregnancy almost the same weight I was at 10 months pregnant with DS2!)

Old Navy dresses- My hubby was just encouraging me to get some! I saw a commercial and they looks like they would work fine, so I might do that - especially sense it has been so beastly hot today. It was 110F today and the humidity was like 40% or something...walked outside and thought I was going to throw up just from the air quality... its also really hazy looking and nasty...

On unrelated news, I finally got a job offer for a FT job in my field, and its at a college, so I can go to grad school for free! I'm super excited...even though I was looking forward to enjoying NOT being in school with this baby (I was a FT student during the babyhood of my first two). Anyway, I am so relieved, I was so afraid I would not find one and now I am completly in maternity clothes, so pregnancy would be impossible to hide. OH, and I only had 9 days off when DS2 was born, but, because of the way the holidays work I should get about 3 paid weeks (or more) and then I will probably be able to take another 1-2 unpaid or at least work PT or from home or something...so I guess God knew what he was doing letting me get pregnant sooner than I planned - the timing could not be better!

[SierraBella]

Originally Posted by LilMomma83 

I have been so busy and tired I haven't been on here in almost a week! Crazy!

Gender- I am SUPER excited to find out, I'm 13 weeks so I suppose 5-7 more weeks...I am having the hardest time waiting, and so are all my friends and family lol - this is baby #3 and I have 2 boys so people (including me) cannot wait to see if this is another boy or if it is a girl... I brought the kids to my appointment earlier this week and they were so cute, they listened to the heartbeat and my 4yo was like, "so what is it? A girl or a boy?" LOL my almost 2 year old was cute too - he lifted up his shirt and said, "my turn!" Everything is great, and I have gained some weight, but, not a whole lot - I think I am up like 3 or 4 pounds from me pre pregnancy weight (and usually I gain 10-15 in the first trimester, so I think I am starting off better, which is great sense I am starting this pregnancy almost the same weight I was at 10 months pregnant with DS2!)

Old Navy dresses- My hubby was just encouraging me to get some! I saw a commercial and they looks like they would work fine, so I might do that - especially sense it has been so beastly hot today. It was 110F today and the humidity was like 40% or something...walked outside and thought I was going to throw up just from the air quality... its also really hazy looking and nasty...

On unrelated news, I finally got a job offer for a FT job in my field, and its at a college, so I can go to grad school for free! I'm super excited...even though I was looking forward to enjoying NOT being in school with this baby (I was a FT student during the babyhood of my first two). Anyway, I am so relieved, I was so afraid I would not find one and now I am completly in maternity clothes, so pregnancy would be impossible to hide. OH, and I only had 9 days off when DS2 was born, but, because of the way the holidays work I should get about 3 paid weeks (or more) and then I will probably be able to take another 1-2 unpaid or at least work PT or from home or something...so I guess God knew what he was doing letting me get pregnant sooner than I planned - the timing could not be better!

LilMomma- We have loads in common! My two boys are also 4 and almost 2.. are you hoping for a girl this time? Congrats on the job! What will you be doing? This will be my third child as a student! I started when DS1 was 3 months old and have gone PT and FT since. I am going FT for the fall and PT after baby is born this time. Also, this baby is due during finals week! Hopefully my professors will be understanding and work with me in case baby comes then.

I bought those dresses the other day, but it's been raining ever since! I can't wait for it to be warm!
 

[LilMomma83]

Originally Posted by SierraBella 

LilMomma- We have loads in common! My two boys are also 4 and almost 2.. are you hoping for a girl this time? Congrats on the job! What will you be doing? This will be my third child as a student! I started when DS1 was 3 months old and have gone PT and FT since. I am going FT for the fall and PT after baby is born this time. Also, this baby is due during finals week! Hopefully my professors will be understanding and work with me in case baby comes then.

I bought those dresses the other day, but it's been raining ever since! I can't wait for it to be warm!
 

I am totally hoping for a girl! LOL! You? I am doing aquatic and facilities management at a private university - its a newly created position, so I really don't know what to expect yet! My DS1 was born the week before finals, and my professors were really awesome and just gave me "incompletes" that I had until the end of the following semester to finish - that said, I wish I had just gone back and taken them because I really procrastinated on it! IT was really fun bringing the baby in and introducing him to my professors when I turned in my finals (they ended up all giving me take home assignments instead of exams). I am not really sure when I will start, sense I have not even applied for grad school yet...so the baby might be nearly a year by the time I start - though honestly that is worse than a newborn in some ways I think! The good thing is pumping was really hard last time, but, sense I will be (hopefully) attending school at my place of work I should have a pumping place set up (I have no idea how they are with this, but, I am going to make them ok with it! I think I have a shared office...but, if I am managing the facility, I should be able to devote something or even reserve a room several times a day or something!

[SierraBella]

Originally Posted by LilMomma83 


I am totally hoping for a girl! LOL! You? I am doing aquatic and facilities management at a private university - its a newly created position, so I really don't know what to expect yet! My DS1 was born the week before finals, and my professors were really awesome and just gave me "incompletes" that I had until the end of the following semester to finish - that said, I wish I had just gone back and taken them because I really procrastinated on it! IT was really fun bringing the baby in and introducing him to my professors when I turned in my finals (they ended up all giving me take home assignments instead of exams). I am not really sure when I will start, sense I have not even applied for grad school yet...so the baby might be nearly a year by the time I start - though honestly that is worse than a newborn in some ways I think! The good thing is pumping was really hard last time, but, sense I will be (hopefully) attending school at my place of work I should have a pumping place set up (I have no idea how they are with this, but, I am going to make them ok with it! I think I have a shared office...but, if I am managing the facility, I should be able to devote something or even reserve a room several times a day or something!

I am totally hoping for a girl too! I really can't wait to know for sure! Many of my female professors allow students to use their offices for pumping and nursing, so maybe you can talk to some of them about it? Or, make sure whoever you are sharing an office with is aware that you could be pumping in there at times. My university actually has a lot of nursing rooms throughout campus, but it's a pretty large school, and in an area that people have LOTS of babies.

News from my world... I got a text from DF this morning that he is coming home TONIGHT!!!! He was able to reroute his flight and come straight home, instead of having to go back to CA then flying home tomorrow morning. YAY!!!! It's been the longest month EVER!

Also, I am 14 weeks today, and realized I haven't had a bleed from my SCH for over a month! That must mean it's totally cleared up! I still feel movement, like on my cervix, but nothing on the outside yet (I felt my other 2 very early on the outside).

[mandalamama]

hi mamas!

i am happy to announce i am officially having an alien. *lol* u/s this morning, everything seems just fine. mostly we saw his/her back, is a shy one! next u/s at 18 weeks. (i wouldn't get so many but i'm 44 and have pre-existing health problems.) i'm so lucky, we have more midwives than dr's here! i'm proud of myself because i refused the internal exam, unless they found anything troubling on the u/s. no troubles. last pg, i let myself get talked into way too much internal shenanigans early in my pg. (before i found MDC!) i basically said, "if you don't want me to be at risk for infection, keep things out of my hoo-hah."

i have a summer cold, though. *achoo!* every time i sneeze i feel like i'm going to pee myself. i'm always thirsty and always sipping, no sense getting dehydrated. a local mama gave me a great idea, she says she used cloth diaper liners for the "leaks."

[Azadehhast]

I'm with you two in wanting a girl, but because of when in my cycle I conceived, it is most likely a boy. Only 6 months to wait to find out!
I'm so pleased to have arrived at the second trimester. Im mostly not nauseas, I'm able to take my vitamins again, and I can survive happily on 7-8 hours of sleep. I still feel pregnant, but I can do things again!
Hoping I'll start feeling some movement soon and thus have some real confirmation that there's actually a person in there (not that I really doubt it!). How early did you feel movement with your first?

I'm qlso looking forward to someday look pregnant and not remarkably fat. My belly button is shallow!
And my mother is visiting this weekend! I'm so thrilled, since I haven't seen her much in the last years, and not since October. A glad weekend of knitting together, planning baby sewing, talking about every little thing, and expelling bad energy about my mother-in-law, who is still stressing us out. Yay.

[SierraBella]

Originally Posted by Azadehhast 

I'm with you two in wanting a girl, but because of when in my cycle I conceived, it is most likely a boy. Only 6 months to wait to find out!
I'm so pleased to have arrived at the second trimester. Im mostly not nauseas, I'm able to take my vitamins again, and I can survive happily on 7-8 hours of sleep. I still feel pregnant, but I can do things again!
Hoping I'll start feeling some movement soon and thus have some real confirmation that there's actually a person in there (not that I really doubt it!). How early did you feel movement with your first?

I'm qlso looking forward to someday look pregnant and not remarkably fat. My belly button is shallow!
And my mother is visiting this weekend! I'm so thrilled, since I haven't seen her much in the last years, and not since October. A glad weekend of knitting together, planning baby sewing, talking about every little thing, and expelling bad energy about my mother-in-law, who is still stressing us out. Yay.

I felt my first about 15 weeks.. but that is pretty uncommon to feel it that early.

My DF's mom and siblings are coming into town this weekend. I've never met his parents or his younger siblings, so I am nervous and excited about it. This is their first grandbaby, but they're pretty religious, and we're not married yet, so I don't know what their going to think of me (plus I have two children from my previous marriage, and I'm 5 years older than my DF.. I so don't look good on paper!)

[carseatqueen]

Re: photographer. If I could change one thing about DS2s birth I would get more pictures. Granted, if I had someone coming they may not have made it anyway since the midwife's assistant didn't even make it, but still. I have pictures of him that are good, but the ones of all of us turned out really poorly. I'm not sure what I'm doing this time, except my mom will probably be here, so i think I'll have her take pictures right after. If my aspiring-photograper friend wants to I'd let her come, but I'm not sure I can pay her at this point. Perhaps she will want the practice.

In other news, I got my IUD out yesterday. I'm glad it's out and it went well. One funny thing- the assistent (My MW refered to an OB for the removal) just couldn't get over the fact that I was pregnant with an iud. LOL. when I was leaving and she could see my tummy she said, "Oh, wow, you really ARE pregnant!" I guess the u/s of the baby didn't convince her. It just cracks me up. And yes, I look pregnant already at almost 13 weeks. Not huge, but most certainly pregnant. I guess being short and small I just don't have anywhere else for it to go but out. I guess it's better than looking fat.

Thankfully, I've been slowly feeling better and better this week. Good thing, since Dh was gone for a few days this week. If I felt like I did last week the kids might have lived off cereal and chicken nuggets- at least for dinner. I have to get our house ready for our house-sitters to stay all week and pack for our vacation. I'm taking a one hour break while little guy sleeps, but I have a ton of stuff to still do. We leave tomorrow. Eek!

[onetwoten]

Originally Posted by Azadehhast 

I'm qlso looking forward to someday look pregnant and not remarkably fat. My belly button is shallow!

I'm looking pregnant already, but I've been amazed too at how shallow my belly button is getting. I wouldn't be surprised if it was flat by 20 weeks. Crazy crazy stuff going on in there I tell you. 

[karmamamaa]

hey ladies- glad everyone is doing well and most are feeling better.

I feel great 16 weeks still don't really look that pregnant out in public, but it depends on what I wear I suppose. Actually, it also depends on how much I ate as well, hehe.

On Thursday I'm hoping to find out the gender, my midwife does a quick ultrasound at every appt and gets some quick pictures printed out so at almost 17 weeks hopefully she'll let me know what she sees....failing that I have my big anatomical mid pregnancy ultrasound on the 30th so I definately know by then.

I'm thinking boy...DH thinks girl....

We'll see!