Queer and Pregnant: October, November and December - Page 4

[AmandaHope]

Carmen: What an encouraging cosleeping story.  I rarely hear about cosleeping babies/kids sleeping through the night.

Omom: YAY for feeling the babe!  So exciting and wonderful.

Escher: I went to a chiropractor once/month for the whole pregnancy up until 37 weeks, and he didn't even specialize in pregnancy.  I also felt uneasy at times with the lower back adjustment, but I never had any trouble, and I do think it may have helped with the wicked fast labor.  It is funny, because I haven't been back since, but my back and shoulders are a sore from carrying L in the sling so much.  I really should call for an appointment...

Juliet: Sorry about the scare.  L was moving very little on the day she ended up being born, which made me really nervous (and motivated a NST).  That's a scary feeling, especially right at the end.  Glad everything is fine. 

Isa: YUCK.  So sorry you had to deal with horrible sinus pain.  Your recliner and glider plans sound fabulous, though, and I hope you get to enjoy shopping for them soon.  I love the glider that we got when I was pregnant with Z.  It is Dutalier, and we purposefully got it in a fabric that works with our living room stuff so that it was still useful once I wasn't nursing anymore.  It is in our family room now, though I want to move it up to the baby's room so that I have somewhere comfy to nurse upstairs other than the bed, which is hard to climb in and out of with the co-sleeper attached to the side. 

Pigirl: Hi!  How goes it?  How is motherhood the second time around? 

Seraf and Cananny (via PM): THANKS for the bottle tips.  I bought an early sippy cup just in case.  L nursed right before I left at 11am and has only eaten an ounce of milk since then (she has been asleep since I got home).  She finally took the ounce from the third type of nipple that DP tried.  But she went down for a nap right after the ounce, so apparently it was enough for her at that moment. I'm glad I'm home now, because she is going to be a HUNGRY girl when she wakes up. Yikes.  By the way, re pumping, you just pump once for each time you would normally expect to nurse, right?  I only pumped once for a little while, which doesn't feel like enough. Maybe next time I'll do more.  

Wehrli: We use those fleece blanket sleeper things (the kind without sleeves, so you put them in a sleeper underneath and then zip them into the blanket sleeper over it).  L's hands still get cold when she is in the cosleeper, which bothers me, but the rest of her is warm, I think.  The key to our night-time sanity and cuddle time (when we get it) is to start her off in the co-sleeper, and then she moves into the bed in the wee morning hours when she wakes up to nurse.  At that point, DP sometimes moves into the guest room, and sometimes she takes L with her so that I can sleep without interruptions.  This compromise works for us--we get some cuddle time, and each of us gets some time sleeping with L without worrying about squishing her or covering her head with the blankets by accident.  A few times that we have put a blanket on her in her co-sleeper, she has managed to squirm around and pull the blanket over her head.  That's when we bought the blanket sleepers. I fear the day when DP tries to get me to put her in the crib. 

[starling&diesel]

nak (my new normal ... again)

co-sleeping: E has slept with us since she was born.  We swaddled her early on and used a positioner to make sure she didn't roll.  We kept her high up the bed until she was done with swaddling and could latch on on her own.  We've also always used duvets with no problem.  She was a January baby and we just dressed her accordingly, considering she kicks off covers.  She's in one bed with dp now while i'm in another with Mister Yet-to-be-named.   E has slept well since about five months, through the night (except to rouse to latch on) since about ten months or so.  I consider co-sleeping the easiest thing to do to bond with babies ... especially the non-gestational parent. 

low-supply: Baby is down 14% so we've started supplementing with syringe and tube, along with the herbs, meds, etc.  I hate that we're going down this path again.  So soul-crushing.  I've spent most of the day crying.  Thank god for the donor milk bank!  Now if I could just stop crying about it.  I knew this was going to happen, but I had silly hopes that something might've changed.  I hate that this all comes into play on the day that that wave of post-partum hormones come crashing in something fierce.

Ad Astra: Welcome, welcome!

More later.

ps. AmandaH: dd drank from a shot glass from four months, open cup by five. Never had a bottle.  Even with using the supplementer.

[seraf]

Starling, I'm so sorryabout yoursupply problem. I'm thrilled you know how to handle it. These other girls might be good with dishes and cooking, but if I could give you half my supply I think life would be so much easier for both of us. I'm thinking milky thoughts for you. Oh, I doubt it will work, but can you nurse E on one side while he nurses the other and then just keep switching him from boob to boob as log as he will take it? And encourage E to nurse, too, since you're still so early maybe it will bump up your supply more? Try to convince your boobs that you have an army to feed or soemething? I wish there was something we could do.

Isa, you will have 2 chairs instead of a couch?  Randomly (just in case it happens to you, too) I can't sit in deep chairs/couches/recliners comfortably at this point in my pregnancy, anything that rounds my low back, really.  Hopefully any chair you get will not present that issue for you. I don't have any brilliant ideas for the sinuses. 

Wehrli, yay for cuddle time. 

Pi, hi, how are you doing?

Escher, hopefully yellow will chime in about the chiropractor, I seem to remember that she was a frequent flyer. I thought y'all were using a crib?  The blanket thing is a bigger deal because it's so cold in our house. The real plan for our crazy bed is, twin and full side by side (we are going to have 2 babies in bed with us this summer) then fleece blankets to prevent moisture transfer to the mattress, the sheets, then another smaller fleece blanket under the baby, then something absorbent, then baby wearing fleece or wool on top, or some type of sleep sack, leg warmers or long socks and maybe a belt with a flat tucked in. If we tuck a flat in, I would skip the absorbent layer on top of the fleece. Baby will be covered with my blanket as needed and sleep beside me, between us or beside Sara, depending on what's going on and who needs cuddles from whom. I really don't know how much Sara will want the baby beside her, I mean cute sleeping baby, sure, but kicking, fussing, snorting baby while pregnant?  I'm hoping she sleeps through a lot of it. 

AmandaHope, yay!  What nipple did she take?  Neither of my first 2 babies would take a bottle, so I would love a recommendation. 

My cold is making me crazy. If I didn't wet my pants a little every single sneeze, I wouldn't care half as much. Yeesh. 

[prettyisa]

AHope—glad she figured out the nipple issue and that L didn’t need too much to soothe her until you got back!

Starling—I’m so sorry about the need to supplement! As long as he’s getting what he needs to gain, though, I suppose you’ve gotta do whatever works, right? Sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the big name reveal! Are you going to wait for his 8th day to tell it to the world (once you decide, of course)?

Seraf—We’ll still have a couch—only one instead of two and two chairs to top up our living room seating situation. I thought about just leaving things the way they are, but to be honest we’re not terribly comfortable with the two couches, so I think that the chairs will be an improvement, and I like the idea of having more options for sitting once I’ll be doing so very much of it! That sounds like quite a bed setup you’ve got planned! I think it’ll be nice to be able to switch off babies as needed for appropriate snuggles…

AFM—sinus hell continues. I feel bad every time I blow my nose because everyone must think it’s so gross. Oh, well. Not much I can do except soldier on. I’ve got a friend in town tonight, so I’m hoping we can stop yapping in time for me to get a decent night’s sleep.

[AmandaHope]

Seraf: She took (the big one ounce) from a Playtex latex nipple--the kind that is flat on top.  Lilah doesn't seem to like silicone, which is standard on most bottles now, apparently.  Playtex has a wide base, which helps her, I think.  She needs to have her lips pressed against something, not just on a nipple.  Anyway, like I said, the only took the ounce before she started fussing, but I guess it still counts for something.  Ok, and my cold is driving me nuts, too.  I can't take anything without affecting milk supply, right? ARGH.   I'm not even wetting my pants, and I'm super cranky.

Starling: Those hormones on days 3-5 are a WRECK.  Holy crap.  I cried nearly constantly, and I had neither major abdominal surgery nor a supply issue to deal with.  Biggest hugs during this super intense time for you.  I know you know this already, but I'll say it anyway: it gets so much easier, so hang in there, and know we are all rooting for you (no pun intended).  Btw, how exactly do you nurse at the keyboard?  I have yet to figure this out.  I feel like I need at least one hand to support Lilah, but you can do it with a newborn!  Impressive. 

[onemommyonemama]

astra - WELCOME! and YIPPEE!

sara - So happy that telling your folks was great!

library -  We took one side off of her crib and made a bigger 'cosleeper'. We just adjusted the mattress on our bed and her crib so they were even hight - put rubber under the crib so it wouldn't slide (we have laminate floors) and squished it all together with some blankets stuck in the little crack to make one bigger bed. We only had a double bed then and it was great - more space for us, and still cosleeping. Not sure if it is an option for you - but worked really well for us. With our double bed it worked to have the mattress on a frame and it was a good height. When we got a queen we just had the mattress and the base/foundation with no frame and it was a good height.

The one challenge is that when she was napping and able to crawl she could wake up and shimy herself onto our bed and on the floor. One day we were talking as she was (we thought) napping and heard the door stop twange (boin-oin-oing). You know those things kids love to play with? Anyways we both ran into the room because it could only mean she had some how gotten off the bed by herself. And she had. She was fine. No injuries, and no sign as to how she had safely gotten off the bed... We built a pillow fortress to block her in from then on and listened more carefully for her to wake up. A well placed snack or drink helped to keep her safely on the bed before we got to her too... and eventually she could safely make the transition when she woke up and it wasn't a worry.

wehrli - happy 6 months Silas! wow! time is flying! and escher! you are so close to giving birth. Wasn't it just last week that you were pep talking me about how awesome the second trimester is? things are moving so fast.

seraf and isa - best with your colds/sinus pain. Hope you are both feeling perfect soon.

starling - thinking of you as you move through the challenges of these first days and getting things established. I'm sorry that supply is an issue right now. I hope that things become simpler as soon as possible. Supplimenting and building supply can take some much time and energy - you are awesome, it will get better - I hope very very soon. Little unnamed one is lucky to have a fam so committed. We can't wait to hear his name (no pressure!)! So excited for you!

[CrystalPerez]

Isa- an ice pack for the headache! I have had to lock myself in a dark room with an ice pack wrapped around my head/neck at least 5 times since being prego. It usually helps enough at least for me to sleep it off. I got really congested and stuffed up a few weeks ago and the humidifier helped me with that. (Good thing I checked with my Dr. before using vicks vapor in the humidifier!)

Escher- I agree that if your chiro specializes in doing it in pregnant women that it should be super safe. I'm glad it helps you, I hated the chiro! But I think thats partly because it was an old creepy man.

Wherli- I can't believe its been 6 months either!! It seems like it was just a month ago I was reading your announcement.

Ad Astra- Welcome and congrats!!!

Sarah- I'm glad it went well teling your parents!

AFM, I got DP on the midwife/all natural birth wagon with me!!! I wasn't sure until today when she was on the phone with her sister and was telling her how great it was going to be with a midwife and her sister was obviously disagreeing. She even told her sister she HAS to watch "The Business of Being Born". I guess it just took watching it for a second time around to sink in. I tried to get info about midwives delivering at my OB apt today but no help was given to me so I did some research and found out that at Sutter Davis (30min away from me) most births are with midwives (and they have birthing tubs etc.) so I am going to see about transfering there. My OB's office makes it seem like only OBs can deliver at the hospital in Sac does anyone know if that is usually the case? I'm the kind of person that is easily pressured I guess you could say, so I really don't want an OB pushing medical interventions on me. Anyways, I got new super bright headlights today, can't wait to test them out when I go to pick DP up from work at 1am.

[seraf]

Starling, sending you milky thoughts.

Isa, I'm sorry about your continued sinus trouble.  Here's a list of stuff that's supposed to be safe during pregnancy.  The reason I have such a complex bed set up, well, it's huge because there will be 4 people in it, but I used to have a bed with a massive PUL mattress protector and it made me sweat, so I always had blankets between it and the sheet.  We usually keep a fleece blanket between the mattress and the sheet now just for random accidents.  Sick kid, spilled water, just in case.  Then fleece blanket on top of the sheets to keep the sheet dry.  I used to wake up with wet hair from leaking so much milk in the night, yuck.  Then baby barf and pee on top of that is just a crazy amount of fluid on the sheets.  I am bad at waking fully at night, I have been known to take a wet diaper off a baby and forget to put one back on, hence the redundancy in the system.  I guess it worked out, tho, because Ari was dry at night before a year.

AmandaHope, I think I took sudafed once while nursing. I nursed and then took it.  We had milk in the fridge in case Ari needed some, but she just nursed when she was hungry again.  It didn't dry my milk up too much, but it dried my head up so much it hurt to blink.  I never took more.

OMOM, too funny about her crawling out of bed.  I used to know kids who were taught how to get off the bed as soon as they could crawl, taught to go down the stairs, too.  Never had a baby gate. 
 

Crystal, yay for getting DP on the midwife train.  

Not much going on here.  I think breakfast, clean teeth and take the dog for a walk and Ari has some sewing project.  I'm sure I should clean.  And cook.  And go grocery shopping.  I think this is my last Thursday without a doctor appointment, I'm planning to enjoy it.

[justrose13]

ugh... I spoke too soon... S was up practically all night... that's the last time I share good sleep news. lol no, really, I've had a cold and I think he's got it now too. he's been super congested all night. and he's teething, I'm sure of it.

so what's with the nose freida or whatever it is. I think I gotta go get one today because bulb nasal aspirators do.not.work. at least not for the kind of snot he's got going on. I can hear it in there but it's not coming out with the snot sucker we have.

sooooo tiiirrrreeeddddd.....

[AmandaHope]

Wehrli: This is it.   If I spray a few drops of saline into Lilah's nostril first to loosen things up, this thing works like a charm.  And really, the snot can't get into your mouth, though it is hard to convince yourself of that in the moment.  I've used it 3 times in the last 24 hours.  And congrats on six months!  Wow--time flies, even when it feels like it is dragging, like on days when you are so very tired.  I hope you can rest along with S today.  I just got up from a morning nap with Lilah, since I'm trying to kick this cold so it doesn't ruin my weekend.

Seraf: Enjoy your mellow Thursday! 

Crystal: Go you!  How fantastic that your DP is coming around to the possibility of natural birth!  I changed from highly medicalized midwives to an independent midwifery group (and drove 45-60 minutes each way for every visit), and it was worth every drop of gas and every minute of time.  If you are easily pressured, it pays to make sure that your caregiver shares your own preferences and understandings about birth so that you are not pressured into  interventions that are simply medical protocol rather than in the best interest of you and your baby.  And you need someone who will really listen to you.  In my experience, midwives are SO MUCH more responsive to your own individual desires and needs, though there is no guarantee, of course.  Good luck!

AFM: UGH. Colds are evil.  But amazingly, Lilah slept well last night (with an initial 5 hour stretch), so I'm not a complete mess.  I broke down and took Tylenol Cold after L's last nurse at 11pm, and I didn't wake up until she did at 4am.  So that seemed to work out well. 

[seraf]

Wehrli, sorry to hear about the bad sleep night.  That always seems to happen after we brag.

AmandaHope, yay for the good night sleep.

I have been sleeping pretty well lately.  Well, I'm still getting up several times a night, but I can fall back asleep afterward lately, which I really appreciate.  In thinking about cleaning and nesting, I'm thinking maybe I should take down the 2009 calender. Hmm.  Just a hunch.  I think tonight I am going to order a bunch of stuff online.  I still want a pair of snap pliers and snaps, a milk saver, LEDs.  I can't remember what else.  I had a list of junk to buy.  Nose sucker?  I got paper bags at the store last night to sanitize some blankets and towels and whatnot, but we broke the bags carrying groceries in.

Oh, I got my first girl prediction last night.  Girl in the Chinese restaurant last night asked, expressed the standard surprise that I didn't know and then felt my belly all around the baby and proclaimed girl.  I thought it was kind of funny.  I don't get a lot of belly touchers (last time someone outside of my immediate family touched my belly was in DC), I think I look rather unapproachable most of the time so it amused me.

QOTD: How is your partner doing?  And how much time will your partner be taking off work?

My partner seems tired but excited.  I have been having so many contractions and I'm expecting a fast labor and with her working 2 hours away, well, she is thinking a lot about the upcoming birth and how much she wants to be here.  I really think she is putting more thought into it than I am (but I'm slightly more go-with-the-flow by nature, much to her frustration at times).

My partner's partner is feeling how much harder it is to say "I'm expecting a baby in May" while not expecting that child through a pregnancy of my own.  Work is the one that got me started on that one.  I didn't come out about being pregnant until it was unavoidable because I didn't want the extra, "you can't do that" attention.  But now that I have purely happy news, I can't really share it because I'm in the closet  (which is a good thing at my job).  Speaking of work, they have been telling me that they have me covered when I leave.  I only told them, what? 4 months ago?  Anyway, they apparently didn't tell the girl they were planning on having cover for me because she has another job and now they have to scramble to find someone else.  I'm pretty grumpy about that.

When I have the baby, I'm not sure how much time Sara will be taking off.  When Sara gives birth I would like to take another month off at least, it will be after tax time so it should be financially feasible.  Sara is also hoping to go on a 10 day trip a couple of months after #1 arrives (good grief, anyone have a better idea for how to express which unborn child I'm talking about?  Guess I will only have that issue for another month) and her dad told her it would be too hard  on me for her to leave me alone with the baby for so long.

Whew, wrote a novel.  Now off to clean the kitchen.  Again.

[escher]

Hi Everyone,

Seraf: Wow, I feel honored that I got to touch your belly. I'm sorry you're having so many contractions. I'm glad that you're still sleeping pretty well! We are hoping to use a crib, but we're also committed to getting as much sleep as possible, and we know that is likely to mean the kid is in our bed sometimes.

QOTD: My wife will be taking off about two months when the baby arrives, more time later. I'm really looking forward to the time we'll both be home. Overall she is doing well and really looking forward to meeting the baby, but we're also both a bit nervous about how everything is about to change in our lives.

AmandaHope: I'm sorry you're dealing with a cold. I hope you feel all better soon!

Crystal: Hooray for getting your partner on board!

Isa: How are you feeling? Any better?

I'm sorry that I don't have time to do more complete personals today.

AFM: We decided to go with a diaper service for the first month or two. We already have a stash of flats and we're looking forward to using them, but we got overwhelmed by the idea of having to do tons of diaper washing in the early days when we're just trying to figure out how to be moms. Hopefully the diaper service will be helpful.
I'm having more BH these days, some of which are somewhat uncomfortable, but nothing actively painful. I think the baby is hanging out lower these days. Walking is still hard, but I do think the chiropractor is helping some.
We have another midwife appointment today and I'm looking forward to it. This is the appointment where they check to make sure that we have all the supplies we need.
20 days until our due date!

[prettyisa]

Crystal—yay for getting her signed on! Ricki Lake can do that to people…How did the headlights work out?

Wehrli—they’re super-gross looking, but I have some friends who have grown very fond of them. Good luck figuring out S’ cold and sleep setup!

Seraf—I’d say call the one you’re carrying Riot. And Sara’s…hmm..I was going to make a joke about calling it ‘S’ since that’s the next letter in the alphabet, but you have enough of those at your house! Maybe ‘T’? Or you could go the opposite way and borrow our next in-utero name and call it Makepeace. My DP won’t mind. Even if you change your minds about what to name them when they’re born, it would help keep them straight for the next month or so.

Escher—that hadn’t even occurred to me! There’s a diaper service around here but I figured it’d be better to just wash at home. However, the idea of getting them to come and do it for a month or two sounds like a brilliant plan!

AFM--*snuffle* Things are slightly better. Yesterday I ended up at home on the couch in a pile of tissues, but some benedryl before bed seemed to help and I woke up this morning still gross, but without the headache and the totally stuffed ears, so I’m grateful for that.

We’re planning to stagger our mat. leaves after the first week or so of being home together once the baby shows up. I’ll go first, for as long as I can (probably in the region of 4-5 months, depending on how much I can drag it out). The last 3-4 weeks we’re planning to overlap so we can go down to FL and see her relatives for an extended visit, and then when we get back I’ll head back to work and DP will stay home for another 8 weeks. Of course, we’ll see how things play out in reality, but this would be our ideal setup.

[onemommyonemama]

18 weeks today. Yippee!

I hope all are well. We have a rare hot day up here - 22 degrees. T-shirt weather after having fleecy weather :)

Okay - I have a question - QOTD2 -  I need some maternity pants and I dont want to make them. JUst not feasable right now. But I want boyish pants. I really hate girly pants like flares and tight ones and boot cut or whatever. I want cut boy pants with a huge belly allowance. Anyone? tips? gar. So far no luck at the second hand or first hand stores but the search continues. Business idea - someone make some line of awesome tom boy/ boyish mat clothes.

QOTD1 - We have 12 months mat leave to work with, but the birth mom has to take 3 of them. So I will take three and my DW will take the other 9 months. We will take them simultaniously. I work from home part time - so we will share that work once I have to start again. At 9 months she will go back to work 2/3 time (which as a teacher means half days in the classroom with prep at home). and I'll continue to work part time and we will juggle back and forth like before. I can't wait to get back into having her home. Right now she is full time, I"m with DD all day and working part time (somehow) and it is a little too much. I miss my serene quiet work hours in the morning while they are out playing :)

I hope all are well. It is thanksgiving weekend for us in Canada and it is so beautiful. Leaves are changing colours and falling, all the harvest from our garden is being put away. I love this time of year. HAPPY (canadian) THANKSGIVING!

[LibraryLady]

Hey ladies~ Alice is snoozing and I don't know how long I'll have, but I wanted to drop by and make sure everyone's ok. I'm LOVING my long weekend~ hung out with my sister yesterday, hanging out with Alice today. THANK YOU for all your co-sleeping advice and experiences. I think I'm going to advocate a little harder to keep her with me/us. The two-blankets idea sounds like a good one, and I"m sorry for DP but she'll just have to cope a bit this year. Though OMOM's crib suggestion is good. I'll look into that.

Starling~ Thinking of you every day. Low-supply's no fun, but keep on going xo

WEHRLI~ I second AHope's endorsement of the Nosefrieda. It's so much easier and faster and after you do it once you won't worry again about the nightmare snotsucking scenario. 

Seraf/Sara~ Sorry to double up on you, but I do bundle you up in my mind!  Keep us posted about your trip to Little Rock and we'll see what we can do.

Isa~ Sorry you're feeling under the weather. That and feeling preggo are no combination.

Crystal~ SO GLAD you got your sweetie on board. I travelled 30 minutes to the midwife/hospital to get the birth I wanted. 

Escher~ Totally jealous of your diaper service. Smart idea. I tell all my gay boy friends that if they want to do something nice for a new mama, go do her dishes and run a load of laundry. 

I"m forgetting people, but loving you all.  She's still snoozing, I can't believe it!! Knock wood...

[seraf]

Escher, haha, you are very special but I certainly don't get the pets I hear other pregnant women complain about. I figure I look like a pit bull or something. I'm glad you figured something out for the first couple of months of diapering. 

Isa, we have been calling both babies by name for a while. But there's also a lot of my baby/your baby thrown in. I figured if we used names or initials on here it would confuse new people but it's probably not that big of a deal. Here's my question, if so many of us are sick RIGHT NOW, how amazingly fast do colds spread?  Most of us who are sick are midwesterners but geeze. 

OMOM, My whole first pregnancy I wore men's pants sized up one size, low rise are nicer if you can find them but I just rolled down the waistband if they were sagging too low (but that how I wore my pants before I got pregnant, too). I may have even sported suspenders at one point.  Overalls are amusingly un-feminine, but I would need jumbo to get them to close on the sides at this point. But now my maternity pants are all jeans and cargo pants so they don't offend me too much. Except that they won't stay up for anything. 

Library, we are aiming for the week between Christmas and New Year. I'm hoping to start working again on new years day and it's a 2 day drive home so closer to the middle of that week would probably be better if y'all are going to be around.  Otherwise I'm not a great planner so if you make a plan that's hard and fast, well Sara will be the one to make it happen on our end. Is there anything around halfway? The map didn't look very promising. 

My brother's wife is in labor, I hear.  Her due date is Sunday. Hopefully I will get word in the morning that their son was born. Escher, haha, you are very special but I certainly don't get the pets I hear other pregnant women complain about. I figure I look like a pit bull or something. I'm glad you figured something out for the first couple of months of diapering. 

Isa, we have been calling both babies by name for a while. But there's also a lot of my baby/your baby thrown in. I figured if we used names or initials on here it would confuse new people but it's probably not that big of a deal. Here's my question, if so many of us are sick RIGHT NOW, how amazingly fast do colds spread?  Most of us who are sick are midwesterners but geeze. 

OMOM, My whole first pregnancy I wore men's pants sized up one size, low rise are nicer if you can find them but I just rolled down the waistband if they were sagging too low (but that how I wore my pants before I got pregnant, too). I may have even sported suspenders at one point.  Overalls are amusingly un-feminine, but I would need jumbo to get them to close on the sides at this point. But now my maternity pants are all jeans and cargo pants so they don't offend me too much. Except that they won't stay up for anything. 

Library, we are aiming for the week between Christmas and New Year. I'm hoping to start working again on new years day and it's a 2 day drive home so closer to the middle of that week would probably be better if y'all are going to be around.  Otherwise I'm not a great planner so if you make a plan that's hard and fast, well Sara will be the one to make it happen on our end. Is there anything around halfway? The map didn't look very promising. 

My brother's wife is in labor, I hear.  Her due date is Sunday. Hopefully I will get word in the morning that their son was born. 

[CrystalPerez]

QOTD-My partner is cranky and hormonal most of the time. She wants to take a week or 2 off but I told her if I end up needing a C section or am having a hard time healing she has to take at least a month off. She doesn't want to get used to not working because her job is so physical (she builds pallets for Pepsi).

QOTD2-I have no good ideas! maybe just wear a bigger size boy pants and get a belly band thing?

[LibraryLady]

Only have a moment but wanted to say Alice is six months old today! I can't believe it!!

[justrose13]

Happy half-birthday, Alice!!

[seraf]

Happy half birthday Alice. And happy belated half birthday Silas.

My brother's baby is celebrating his birth today, too. I got to see a picture of a sleepy mama and a sleep blue handed baby.