Thursday: My condolences for your loss. I am sorry that it is corresponding with your labor and end of pregnancy. ((Hugs))
Sally: Woohooo! Come on sweet baby!!! Good luck mama!
I will come back later to catch up, so tired and uncomfortable, not sleeping.
hugs mamas!
Oh RedTree, so sorry to hear about the BP issue...you know I can commiserate! Mine has come down and stayed down with some relaxation, bedrest and BP meds. Not my favourite option, but it's working, and whatever helps the baby get all the oxygen he needs is okay by me! I'll send you all my good, low BP vibes 
Thanks so much for the kind words, everyone! I really appreciate it - I feel like my IRL friends don't want to hear me whine about my PG anymore...=)
Good luck, sally!! And here: 
Baby dust to everyone but me this week!
Thursday--So sorry for your loss. Sending lots of stay in there vibes your way.
RedTree-sorry for all the craziness. Hope your bp and everything calms down.
ASM, well, sure enough I'm GBS+ again. I was really hoping that all the probiotics I was taking would help, but I guess it wasn't to be. I know there are far worse things but I'm pretty devistated at the moment, and just so confused about what to do. As I've mentioned before I am allergic to penicillin and caught c diff from the antibiotic they used last time, which is a pretty horrible infection, and because I've had it before my chances of catching it again in the hospital on antibiotics are extremely high. At the same time, I can't get beyond the real risk to the baby from not treating the strep B--I know people differ about this but to me the 1:200 or so chance of the baby contracting Strep B and then the 10-20% mortality if they do even with immediate treatment seems pretty substantial. But how to balance that with the real risks from c.diff, which could range anywhere from being miserable for a week or so to stays in the hospital separated from my newborn, to not being able to breastfeed to its own risk of mortality, a pretty small risk given that I'm otherwise healthy but not neglible either (overall the mortality rate is apparently about 6%, although far and away most of the deaths are in the elderly and infirm). Feeling pretty defeated about all of it right now, although better than when I first found out last night. I know that in the end it will probably be fine, but all the risks and especially trying to weigh the relative risks feels overwhelming, and so far I haven't been able to get any meaningful advice from my doctors, especially since I've yet to find someone who knows a signficant amount about both step B in newborns and c. diff. in adults. Not to mention that I hate the idea of having to get to the hospital early for an IV, although honestly that's the least of my worries right now. Sigh . . .
Anyway, sorry to complain. I'm very excited for all of you who just had or are having your babies right now!! And sending any labor vibes I'm getting out to all of you who are hoping to jumpstart labor, since I'm hoping this little girl stays in there for a few more weeks.
By the way, anyone else not have a name yet?? We really want to have a name before the birth, but here we are with a little over two weeks until my due date and still no name.
So sorry you have to deal with all that rebecca10. Hard to get to the end of pregnancy and feel you have to make tough decisions about your health/baby's health. I'm know whatever decision you make will be the right one for you and baby. I'm looking forward to hearing that you and baby are both safe and sound after the birth.
AFM, I came home to write thank you notes and clean the house and ended up watching 2 episodes of Glee instead. Shame on me!
just sitting here, waiting for someone to post they had a baby. although, I hope it is me. but probably not since I am still no symptoms. I know I know, I should just shut up already.
Huge hug to you, Rebecca! I'm sorry you have to deal w a decision like this right now. I hope you can come to one you feel safe pursuing. Its frustrating when you can't find someone to offer advice from a place of experience and knowledge about both of your concerns. Have you looked at alternative treatments/re-testing? I think you can re-test up to 8 days before delivery and also test baby at delivery.
Congrats to NewMumJoy!! I can't wait to see a pic of your little man!
RedTree - I hope you're able to get that BP under control soon, so you can relax throughthe rest of this pregnancy. I'm sending calm vibes your way!
AFM, I'm getting ready to head out to my 39wk(+4days!) appt. Not expecting anything exciting, no indications of change here. I feel like I could be pregnant indefinitely at this point. Strangely, I'm feeling really good, although this belly is looking more and more like something I strapped on. Her movement is getting interesting, definitely not slowing down and, whoa, do I feel it when she gets going! I'm sorry I'm a little quiet these days. I'm really trying to get everything squared away before our EDD on Sunday so I can just relax and do fun projects for the duration. :) Get a good vibe going to welcome her home to. I hope everyone's feeling great! I love seeing all the updates and beautiful LO's. 
Congrats to all the August Mama's out there!
38 weeks here, baby is head down but still very high! Any suggestions on how to get baby to drop? I've been having BH contractions like crazy for the past month, I was hoping they would help push baby down, but I don't think they are.
LeAnn, I'm right there with ya, and fairly certain that I may just stay pregnant forever. 38 weeks today. I have a feeling that baby wants a mid-September birthday, which would mean I have a whole month left to go if my hunch is correct. How I would love to be pleasantly surprised by an earlier arrival!
Check out the temperatures here this week: 113, 112, 109, 106, 104, 98, 102. I may move into my sister-in-law's pool for the duration of August.
Check out the temperatures here this week: 113, 112, 109, 106, 104, 98, 102. I may move into my sister-in-law's pool for the duration of August.
Sounds fun to me! Wish I could join! I wish people had pools around here! Being weightless sounds blissful.
Keep cool Jenna!
Rebecca, we have our name for this one, but DS continued to be "lima bean" (his in utero name) for almost a week after birth...And the name we ended up with was literally out of the blue. Never even on our radar. So don't worry! It'll come to you when you see her!
Jenna, are you in the Central Valley? I'm in SoCal and it's been like that here too - 113 for a few days in a row and my car's air conditioning is broken...the only blessing to DH being gone is that I've stolen his air conditioned car for the week... :)
We don't have a name either, and I'm due in 11 days. But I'm also showing no signs of the baby dropping, so who knows when this will happen. He's moving like crazy, though! Big, wiggly movements, like he's dragging his feet around against me. It looks very alien-esque!
Penny - Sounds like us! Tons of movement, I swear she's more active now than ever. The whole belly shifts around, like I have a cat in a bag on my lap. :) Its crazy to watch and feel! She dropped last week after I took a walk, nothing major, just half an hour along the harbor and that evening I was super achy. The next day she was lower, super random. We have a favorite name but still not sure on the middle name. We're waiting until we meet her to make our final decision though, much to the my MIL's chagrin. :) I have a feeling she's itching to put a monogram on something. The names will definitely come when you get a look at that little face.
Jenna - Ouch! Those temps are rough! The pool sounds like heaven. I'd be right next to you! I didn't even get a check at my appt yesterday. I know nothing is happening in there and if it is, I'd rather let my body clue me in. My MW did say that they'll do one at my next appt (40wks+4d) and offer a membrane sweep/start talking induction. So hopefully we'll have some progress by then. Induction is definitely on my list of things to avoid.
Our appt went well. LO is low but not engaged. She's measuring on track and heartbeat was good. I might look at tips to get her engaged and see if I can get things moving in the right direction over the next week. For whatever reason, the hospital I'm delivering at starts pushing induction at 41wks. I'm going to try to push it to 42wks, if it comes to that and she's still comfy in there. Hopefully she'll pick her day sometime next week and save mama the trouble. :D It still feels so crazy to say that...next week. Next week, I will most likely have a baby! It just doesn't seem possible...
Thursday, We are sort of in the Central Valley. We live in a much smaller valley that shoots off of the Central Valley at the very top (about 1.5 hours North East of San Francisco).
Penny, no name here either! Thinking about names though is one of my most favorite things to do these days. I'm finding girl names so much easier than boy names. Maybe that means I'm having a girl? We love Hazel, Olive, Eden or Harper for a girl, and Rowan or Matteo are our boy front runners. But we'll see. I'm hoping it will be obvious what the name should be after the baby makes his/her appearance. I have a cousin who went 3 months (!!) without a name. Yikes!
LeAnn, so hopeful for you that baby either decides to be born soon or they let you go until 42 weeks! I wish that doctors would just give a 'due month' instead of a 'due date'. I read somewhere that only 10% of babies are born on their due date, and that going an extra two weeks is perfectly normal. I feel like it will be emotionally really tough if I go past August 30, even if I know that means that baby very probably just needs a bit more time to cook in there. :)
LeAnn, so hopeful for you that baby either decides to be born soon or they let you go until 42 weeks! I wish that doctors would just give a 'due month' instead of a 'due date'. I read somewhere that only 10% of babies are born on their due date, and that going an extra two weeks is perfectly normal. I feel like it will be emotionally really tough if I go past August 30, even if I know that means that baby very probably just needs a bit more time to cook in there. :)
Totally agree with the due month. I have a friend, who has unassisted births, and she claims to be due in a season 
never telling her due date. (For example: I am due late summer)
Pretty quiet around here these days. I hope that the new moms are enjoying their babes and those of the rest of us are getting ready to meet their families.
Rebecca, so sorry about the gbs. I really hope you can find an option that doesn't harm you and also keeps the baby safe.
Jenna, our temps are bad, but not quite that bad here. I am surprised to be dealing with it relatively well, though, as it sounds like you are.
LeAnn, I pretty much share your sentiments about wanting to avoid the induction and feeling as though I could be pregnant indefinitely at this point. What complicates our situation is that dh has all next week free from work, but doesn't want to miss the first day/days of school the next week. He's a teacher and has a special population of refugee students, so it's so important for him to build a good rapport with them immediately. I totally understand and really hope this little one comes in the next 6 days!
Afm, I had my 40.3 appointment today. His heartbeat is good, definitely very low (his position), my bp has been stable, but I was about 2 lbs down from last week, which worries me a bit. Cervix is softer but only a fingertip open and then she couldn't get more in to try a membrane sweep or anything. Now I'm bleeding, though, which is a little annoying. She said if it is more than a period amount to go in, but it seems relatively light. I did walk around the mall for an hour after the appt so now I'm going to take it easy the rest of the day. I had an u/s and he's about 7lbs 11 oz, give or take, and everything looks fine. I'll go back on Monday and have another u/s and regular appointment to see if I'm progressing, then we'll schedule an induction for Thurs (I'd go to hospital Wed night) which will be 41.3 if nothing has happened. Not looking forward to that, but I have hope he'll come soon! Come on little guy!! We want to meet you!
I stuck to "Middle of August" whenever someone asked when I was due and that just threw everyone for a loop!
Same with last time "Middle of May" and the time before "End of May".
People just can't handle the uncertainty! I can't count how many times people would pester me for an exact date and I'd stick with "Middle of August" "But what DAY are you due???" It got to be pretty annoying lol! I'd point out that babies come when they want (i.e. I've had a 41w, 38w, 40w and now 39w).
Things are going pretty good here, I had my first day of errands with 4 young children and SURVIVED! Woohoo! haha
We went to play group, then the municipal office (that was hairy), then I lectured the kids and the rest of our stops were much MUCH smoother, including the full grocery shop trip.
I am completely and utterly smitten with baby G. our daily routine is pretty much back to normal, he sleeps (don't shoot me please!) for a 6hr stretch, I nurse him and depending on what time that is (4 or 5am) I'll either fall back asleep for a bit or get up, get him changed/dressed and out to the barn to do morning chores before the other kids wake up. He'll sleep the next 3hrs at the barn and then has a few long naps during the day. Even though he's 10ft away from me at the barn, I just feel this separation anxiety all the time. I just want to snuggle him constantly! It's terrible LOL
Last Sunday we spent pretty much the whole day driving and the entire time, despite him being in his car seat *right beside me*, I just felt this ache to hold him. This has gotten worse with each child!
Anyway, he's eating really well and the kids seem to have adjusted to his arrival without a glitch. My 4yr old just loooovvveeeesss to hold him too and he's big and careful enough that he can walk around with the baby which really makes him happy.
What a wonderful report Tizzy!!
So after 4 babies, do you think there is a trick to getting them to sleep (like 6 hrs!) my first only slept two for months...MONTHS!!
I don't function without sleep so my ultimate goal is to nurse this kiddo all the live long day, and pray it sleeps thru the night, or at least in stretches.
Brief update: still not sure when DH is coming home, but had my MW appt today and there are no signs of imminent labor...phew! Got a lot of house cleaning this morning too while DS was at the sitter, so hopefully everything will work out fine. On the down side, I somehow lost 2 lbs, probably because I keep forgetting to eat lunch/am not that interested in eating nice dinners without DH, so MW is a little concerned...sigh. The one time in my life I ACCIDENTALLY lose 2 lbs!!
Hey everyone! Quick update and sorry no time for personals. I hope everyone who is still expecting is enjoying these last few days of rest and those who are cuddling their little ones are loving it.
Piper is doing super well. Her mom, on the other hand, is a bit of a basket case. I've been going back and forth between the hospital and home for feedings every three hours. I usually stay for the first three feedings, go home and sneak a nap and then back again until the midnight feeding. I can only pump enough right now to cover one feeding a day, so I stay at home for the 3am to get some sleep and then get back for the 6am. It's exhausting. As much as this hospital supports breastfeeding, they just don't have the resources to do it really well. There's one overnight room for moms with babes in the special care unit, but the only night it wasn't booked this week the rest of the maternity floor spilled over, so we probably lost our slot. Otherwise though, things are great. Piper is off all the monitors, which makes it much easier to cuddle, and there's a breastfeeding room where I can take her and hang out and nurse and pump and people pretty much leave us alone. She's nursing steadily, gaining weight, and if her bilirubin levels drop adequately by Saturday we can do the last two days of antibiotics on an outpatient basis. So we're keeping our fingers crossed that she'll be home by Saturday night.
Mostly, it's just emotionally and physically exhausting and I just want her home. DH has been wonderful, but is struggling with feeling helpless. We'll both feel a lot better when we can both cuddle her at home. On a somewhat hilarious but also totally awful note, our lab mix was so upset by our prolonged hospital stay that she has developed stress diarrhea and managed to hit both our living room rug and the new rug in the nursery. I stepped in the second round last night when I got up to pump. Needless to say, we will all be extremely glad when things are back to normal-ish.
Follow Mothering