April General Chit-Chat - Page 3 « Back to Group Discussions

[fruitfulmomma]

We live on land owned by my mother-in-law and might build a new home on it someday, but in the meantime I get to start remodeling my kitchen soon - going to split it and make a laundry room! Also going to try to get our fruit trees planted this fall. Don't think I'll have the time to go full force into gardening this summer.

Hubby bought me some new Keen sandals today!

And is there some scientific law that says that all children within a certain radius must need to go potty as soon as mommy gets into the tub?

[scowgirl]

My nephew was born on Thursday and is gorgeous. 8 lb 10 oz and 21 3/4" long. He has a problem with his bowel, so he had surgery on Saturday to (hopefully) repair it. My brother said his heart sounded great when the cardiologist examined him, and he started breathing and crying right away. I am glad he is so good-sized and apparently otherwise healthy, because it's going to be a long slog recovering from the surgery and making sure everything is functioning properly. They are saying a 4-6 week hospital stay.

My brother and sister-in-law are so strong... they are obviously worried and exhausted, but getting through the day and staying upbeat for their older daughter. It's like a lead weight in my stomach worrying about this poor little baby having to go through surgery, worrying about infection, recovery, other possible conditions that were mentioned by the surgeons, etc. and he's not even my kid. I can't imagine what they are going through.

Obviously in the grand scheme of things, it's very lucky that this isn't more serious and that they are at an excellent hospital, and that he was born in this day and age when they have a much better chance of correcting these types of issues. I can't even think about what would have happened before they had the technology to become aware of this condition ahead of time, have a good shot at correcting it surgically, etc.

[fruitfulmomma]

Sorry to hear that Jennifer... Sounds like they knew ahead of time and were prepared for it when he was born??? We were planning a homebirth with our third and were told just hours before she was born, while I was in the hospital for an ultrasound, that she might have birth defects - enlarged heart and growth retardation of the limbs. We opted to induce through AROM and have her there so that we had access to whatever help she might need. The room got crazy when she was coming. She ended up spending a day in NICU but thankfully aside from a slightly enlarged heart she was okay.

Just got a big pile of baby fluff in the mail today....

Planet Wise Hanging Wet/Dry Bag (also have the med. wetbag in same print),Spearmint FB, Black Charlie Banana, Butterfly Charlie Banana, Crushed Berry FB, Bummis Super Snap in Bloom, Rumparooz NB Cover in Tulip, and missing from the pic is a GroVia NB AIO in Mod

[scowgirl]

Yes, they started suspecting the issue at the 20-wk ultrasound and put them under high-risk care, then confirmed on future ultrasounds that his bowel was not connected up properly. They wanted my SIL to carry him for as long as possible so he would grow and get stronger, and she did go almost full term before going into labor. It's just so hard to play the waiting game and hope he is OK, knowing that there is bad stuff that could be going on undetected.

I am glad your DD ended up being OK. That must have been so nerve-wracking.

Your diapers are so pretty!! :) I'm itching to get mine that we're registered for, but in theory someone could buy them for us (although I know no one will... if they are going to get us a gift, it will probably be the "lower hanging fruit" at Target or BRU) so we're holding off buying them for now.

[blumooned]

Jennifer - I hope your nephew is doing well & gets all the care he needs.  to you & your family.

Nickey - your diapers look great!  I was just thinking today about how much fun it will be to get out all the baby stuff & get it ready.  I'll probably wait a few more weeks & then pull it all out to see what's there!  We have the diapers DS used, but I'm thinking we might need a few more . . .

I feel like this baby does not stay still!!  At my last check-up, they told me to start doing "kick counts" to make sure the baby moves at least 10 times in 1 hour everyday.  Yeah, I get 10 movements in about 5 minutes!  Kicks, punches, headbutts - probably flips, too!  This is going to be one squirmy child!  If I remember correctly, DS was similar before he was born - although he just liked to stretch out a lot & push on me from the inside!  When he came out, he was still a stretcher & hated being swaddled!  I love how you can start to get a sense of their personalities before they're even here!

Since this is my 2nd pregnancy, I do a lot of comparing of this one to the last one.  Not really sure if that's good or bad, but I do.  I realized today that with pregnancy #1, I was really into being pregnant & learning about the fetus & how it was developing - I wasn't thinking a lot about actually getting the baby.  This time around, I just want the baby!!  I'm not super into being pregnant, I guess.  Of course, I do not want baby to arrive early, but I am ready to meet him/her!
 

[MaerynPearl]

My husband agreed to give me a budget for more cloth diapers for this baby (he's been holding off... I think he wants cute gender specific ones but we aren't finding out what we're having until birth)

So I'm very excited, this payday or next (depending on how quickly this payday disappears with buying my birth kit... gasp!) I get to go on a shopping spree of diapers! My first real purchase for this baby! I've bought a couple gender neutral outfits... but that's it. This is the first thing that acknowledges that I am actually having another baby!

[scowgirl]

My husband got to meet my nephew yesterday. He is looking great! I guess he passed something like poop on Wednesday, so now he is free of tubes (except the IV that he is getting his food through right now) and they are talking about starting him on breast milk today. I'm certainly no expert, but I don't think they would have removed the tube that they were suctioning waste out of if they didn't think he had a good chance of starting to poop consistently on his own. He had a pacifier in when we went to visit him, and he was sucking on it really well. I guess one of the concerns is that he hasn't had any food by mouth since being born a week ago, so they are worried he may have trouble eating when the time comes. They are encouraging my brother and SIL to give him practice sucking, rub his lips, etc. to keep him interested in eating. I assume this is one of those pacifiers that is supposed to be compatible with breastfeeding, but I don't know too much about it.

Anyway, I hope he does well on his milk today and hopefully this will all be a nonissue very soon! He really is looking great. I hope his internal health is good too, but the signs seem good right now.

[GoofyInOK]

Scowgirl - so glad to hear that your nephew is doing better!  That sounded really scary.  I can't imagine how I would have reacted if that was my son.  

Fruitfulmomma - pretty, pretty diapers!  I haven't purchased any diapers yet...  I am a first time Mom, so I don't know what I will wind up liking or nor liking on the diaper front.  It's pretty intimidating, honestly.  I think I will start out with disposables, and then move on to cloth when I am feeling more secure about the whole business.  DH is still afraid of baby poop (sigh), so I want to get him used to it before going on to the advanced techniques.  LOL

Mae- YAY for getting diapers and baby clothes!  It is hard when trying to keep things gender neutral, I'm in the same boat.  We have a lot of stuff with duckies and frogs and whatnot from family.  I sure hope the kid likes duckies and frogs, lol!

I have started walking in the mornings again, and I feel like even though my hips and back hurt, my mood is generally much better when I get some exercise in.  Part of me is really ready to have this baby, but I have two more months at least.  Sigh.  How do you guys cope with the end stretch?

[lbkw]

Originally Posted by GoofyInOK 

Part of me is really ready to have this baby, but I have two more months at least.  Sigh.  How do you guys cope with the end stretch?

 I totally know what you mean! I am so not logistically or mentally ready to have the baby...and physically, I am not that uncomfortable. I just keep getting this feeling that the baby should be here soon. I guess soon in a relative sense really isn't inaccurate. But I keep reminding myself that the baby is really tiny and not ready to come for another 2+ months!

[ms.shell]

Originally Posted by lbkw 

 I totally know what you mean! I am so not logistically or mentally ready to have the baby...and physically, I am not that uncomfortable. I just keep getting this feeling that the baby should be here soon. I guess soon in a relative sense really isn't inaccurate. But I keep reminding myself that the baby is really tiny and not ready to come for another 2+ months!

It's a good thing, too, that baby won't be here for another 2 months, because I haven't started getting ready for him at all!  There isn't too much to do really, though, just make sure the 3 car seats we have will fit in my back seat, or else buy a new one if not, and then set up the crib.  I have been making a new crib quilt for him, and I went through our hand-me-downs and pulled out the baby things and cleared out a drawer for them.  I will need to (re)wash them and set up the crib in June, and I want to fill the freezer with easy stuff during June, too.  And for us, that's really it, but I am starting to feel a little strange that I haven't done more prepping for baby yet!  I just remembered we will need to buy a monitor, too; I guess I should start making a list, at least!

[ms.shell]

Whoa, I woke up this morning with a drastically different belly!  He dropped; I was thinking his reluctance to settle into position might mean he wouldn't drop so early like my other two did- I spent the last month and a half of my last pregancy with T's big hard head right between my legs, and it made sitting down feel weird and dangerous for him!  I guess this means D IS settled head down at this point now, so that means no more worry about that, at least.  Or maybe I will wake up tomorrow or another day with him sitting up high again; hopefully not.  My bump looked cuter sitting way up high than it does dropped down so low, though, and now my clothes fit much differently all of a sudden.

[Shinyredstar]

scowgirl - I'm glad to hear that things are looking positive. Sounds like the parents are getting good support from family. I hope that continues!

I'm kind of the opposite in terms of preparation. With a few exceptions, I've had everything ready to go for the last 3-4 weeks- I'd worked at stalking craigslist and garage sales for some second hand things and picking up the new or more expensive items here and there with each paycheck, and got some awesome hand-me-downs (a Medela Pump In Style and a GIANT laundry bag of diapers from a friend who'd just finished potty training her youngest daughter. Yay for friends!) so I'm feeling fairly ready. We're moving at the beginning of August, though, so I've missed out on the opportunity to work on a space for the babe- it's really just been mother-style hunting and gathering that will have to be put together later. It's definitely put a different twist on nesting than I had with my last pregnancies. I've had to come up with some creative ways to work out that energy.

[fruitfulmomma]

Started the May thread...not sure how to copy the link on my tablet but it is at the top of our groups threads.