Weekly Chat August 13 -19 - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[hyde]

FoB, happy belated birthday to your daughter. :)

WCM, a hug. I'm sorry you're feeling so blah.. hoping the clouds will part and you'll get a break from feeling that way soon.

This is my week to feel like I'm so far behind on the chat thread- it's been busy! So I'll just have to leave it at- happy for everyone's happiness, sorry for your troubles. Truly. In a few short weeks we'll be leaving these heavy bellies and aching bones behind (and trading them in for sore nipples and a whole new kind of tired, but hey- there will be BABIES!).

On that note, I can't believe these BABIES! In our DDC! This is really happening, huh?

AFM, had a pretty low-key weekend. Finished prepping all the diapers and washed baby clothes/blankets/etc. Went to a newborn care class that was kiiiind of not that helpful (thought the same of the birthing classes, actually), but it did allow us to get to know the LC we'd probably call in case of any problems. Worked with hubby to make a list of things we still need to do, which mostly comes down to a) ordering birth kit, b) cooking, c) writing out newborn care plan and packing bag in case of transfer, and d) installing car seat. There are a couple of other little things but we're pretty much ready to rock. Yesterday I got the car washed and made a manicotti and a big batch of white bean turkey chili to freeze. I'll make some muffiny things later in the week and maybe bump up the shredded chicken supply, and I've put my husband on notice that he's on sancocho duty this weekend.. that's really tasty soup/stew that will be great to thaw and eat. :)

Knocking on wood as I type this, but the last week or two have not been that bad..? It's incredible how quickly one can adjust to new normals, and I guess I've gotten used to using other muscles to pull or push myself up or out so it seems less arduous. I remember laughing in the middle of the night the other night because I pushed/pulled my belly up just enough and then just let momentum do its thing to roll me over the rest of the way.. that probably doesn't make sense, oh well. :) My chiro adjustments the past two weeks have been really light- so thankful for this, for not needing more. Who knows what the next 4(+/-) weeks will bring.. trying to enjoy the okayness while it lasts!

Anybody else experiencing stiff hands in the morning? I've had this the past couple of days. Almost arthritis-y, but not really painful.

[hyde]

Originally Posted by ascher21 

I still have bruises on my back from that awful massage I got.

Oh, ascher.. I wanted to commiserate with you about this when you first posted- I'm so sorry to hear that it's still painful! That is really not a good thing. I ended up canceling my appointments for last/this/next week and am undecided on one I still have at the end of the month.. I got a few from an apparently really good masseuse at my chiropractor's, but they did hurt and, to add insult to injury, they didn't really do anything for me. If I go back I know I have to be way more clear about what's up (I did the same thing as you, commenting ouch, or that hurts, but that wasn't enough?)--but I also am kind of feeling like, as surprising as this is to me, maybe prenatal massage is a solution in need of a problem for me. I'm thinking I'll probably just keep up with these miraculous adjustments and drop the massage, at least until after the birth.

[Princessjules]

Originally Posted by ascher21 

Started reading "The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding". How wonderful is that book?

Um SUPER wonderful! That is definitely one of my favs!

Just got back from my US and the placenta is where it should be! and the baby is head down so I am totally good to go on our HB! MW had a birth though so I will have to reschedule my appt for next week. Did you guys know they can see hair on the US? Apparently this baby has alot...

[activealli]

Ive been having some really strong contractions and the baby is really low, as well. Sunday we went for an hour walk/hike and when I got home I was in pain. I felt like I was pushing her out already. I could feel her head really low on my pelvis, stretching out my c-section scar. I was having some pretty strong contractions. I had to have my husband take over my son for a little while so I could lay down a bit to take the pressure off.

Ive been having a lot of "irritability", mostly brought on by stress. I am a self employed internet marketer and there was a problem with my wire transfer payment so my paycheck is over 2 weeks late. The last thing I want to worry about right now is if there is a problem with our business. This business is my husband and my primary source of income! The company we work for has spotty HR, so its hard to get clear answers from them about what is going on all the time. I am taking an online class right now on to become a technical writer (my MIL is the instructor and wants to take me on as a partner after I finish the course as she heads into retirement and doesnt want to lighten her work load a bit and look for someone to take over clients... so its a great opportunity for me!). BUT, all of this when Im 37 weeks (on wednesday) with an 11.5 month old is just too much right now! Everyone keeps telling me not to stress because its bad for the baby and could put me into labor, but I have no choice but to worry and work as much as I can right now! We are having to charge up our credit cards even  more just to get groceries, pay the bills, etc, because we depleted a lot of our savings buying our home we live in right now.

This weeks schedule: today (Tuesday) home visit with the home birth OB, his midwife, doula and the back up doula, wednesday- couples therapy to work on dealing with the stress of both of us working from home and from the traumatic pregnancy and rough first few months of our sons life and prepare for another baby (unexpected pregnancy... ), Thursday is my sons annual therapy review which I am freaking out about because it is always hard to head how far behind your child is compared to a typical child, even though I know he is doing well for himself. He is 11.5 months and a crawling machine, but he is still on purees, lacks a lot of skills like pincher grasp to self feed, etc. Friday is another doula appt. Around all of these appts I am trying to get everything together for the home birth, trying to get 2 weeks done of the online tech writing course, dealing with my 10 other businesses that I operate (www.PrettyPonyInc.com, www.MerchantAccount.org, www.ComfortGrips.com... just to name a few), take care of the horses and the house and our pets, oh and our 11.5 month old (luckily we have a nanny or else I think I would have seriously had a mental breakdown by now). 

Ok enough ranting! I wish I could be like many pregnant women and just relax and enjoy the last few weeks of this pregnancy and focus on my upcoming home birth. I am racked with so much guilt over how stressed I am, that I am having a hard time just eating and drinking water without getting nauseated! ARGHH!!

[help007]

Hello, everyone! It is fun to think that, as time goes on, our numbers will more than double by October =D And August isn't, yet, halfway over, and so many people feel like it could already happen =D I guess I'm all grins because this baby is still riding high, and still far smaller than our 7+ and 8+ pound boys, so I can enjoy everyone's stories without feeling like I'm next.

I'm much more inclined to nesting this time around, but: on Friday, DH had an accident on his bicycling on his way to work. He spun out on some gravel at the bottom of a steep hill (so he was going pretty fast), and he was really shaken up. Nothing broken, but lots of bruises, body aches, and a bike helmet in a bad state that makes us all so, so incredibly happy that bike helmets exist! In fact, we're going to keep it on the wall in the garage so, as the kids grow, they have a reminder of what can happen to your head(!) if you are in a bike accident without a helmet.

So, while I'm trying to clean and organize, there's no one in the house well equipped to carry a 50# box down stairs to the basement, or bring boxes up from the basement to the 2nd floor bedrooms. We're certainly making due, but what timing! It is also really difficult for the boys to understand why they can't climb all over Daddy while he's resting. Getting back to work on Monday was actually quite a relief for him! As a pregnant SAHM, I'm a bit jealous =/

Baby and I are doing great; surprisingly few body aches- just hip problems when I'm trying to sleep, and pelvic stretching pain when I've been sitting too long and then get up. With the boys at a short camp, today, I really have to remind myself to fix a meal for lunch rather than just snack all morning!! I guess it is about that time- I just wish the contents of the fridge would mix things up a bit between times I open the door.

[Worldshakerz]

Wow, I was offline for about two days and come back and more babies have been born - how exciting! 

I had a midwife appointment this morning that went well. My urinalysis came back all clear - no asymptomatic UTI. It's probably just this mild yeast infection I have that is causing some irritation. I need to up my probiotics. I have only gained 21 pounds this pregnancy which I'm so happy about, since I started out "fluffier" this time around. I started taking 5-W today...it has red raspberry, dong qua, black cohosh, a few other things. I drink RRL tea too but not consistently. We are going to the midwife's office Friday after DH gets off work so he can get an "emergency childbirth class". My midwife will just go over some things with him one on one, so he can feel prepared if my labor goes so fast that she doesn't get there in time (this happened with my daughter - he did fine but he feels nervous about it and the idea of this little prep class is helping ease his mind). We had the baby shower on Saturday, I got lots of super cute clothes - a few homemade blankets and burp cloths too. Lots of baby wash cloths, receiving blankets, and bassinet sheets. It was mostly just fun to have a house full of women/mommies chatting and celebrating. I'm really starting to get excited about meeting little Benji! And my husband cracks me up - Benji can pull off some pretty strong kicks and DH is calling his moves "Benjitsu". LMAO. I was so tired Sunday, day after the shower, I had slept 9 hours the night before but took a 3 hour nap! I have so much to do and all I want to do lately is nap. 

Activealli, I hope you do get some rest and have some peaceful moments after you get all these appointments done and your work/paycheck situation straightened out. 

Help, I'm glad he didn't break any bones, how scary! 

Princessjules, good news on the ultrasound :-). 

[AnyaRose]

Oof, I've been out for a few weeks. I went on a huge long road trip down to see some very close friends of mine (they own an Inn and thus couldn't visit me). It was so relieving. Many of you know a bit about my story... Living with my sister has been very temperamental... I hadn't spoken with her for nearly a year before I moved in at 20 weeks pregnant so it was a bit of a shocker for the both of us, I think We aren't close. She is supportive though, which is more than I can say for Nico's father. (; Regardless it was SO nice to go visit my friends. It's a family that owns a B&B in the app mountains (BEAUTIFUL) and honestly, they are like my family. I was almost in tears with how much I missed them. GREAT trip... regardless of the 9 hour car ride. (; 

Other news, I finally moved into my new apartment! My baby and I are sharing a room and I'm finally getting to set it up. I'll probably post pictures of it soon, because I'm pretty excited about it all. (: haha. I have been feeling really great these days. I get worn out a little easier (like unpacking a few boxes and taking a break then going back to it), but that's about it. I measured my belly and found out I grew 3 inches in circumference in a little over a week........ which is a little outrageous. Haha, I guess he went through a growth spurt? Who knows. 

I've also hit the point where when people hear how many weeks I am, they say, "Ah, about to pop then!" which I think is funny... (I'm 34 weeks). Before this week, it was just a nice smile or something... so the newness of this "popping" comment is pretty funny to me. So long as it's AFTER I say how far along I am.... >> Haha. 

Does anyone else have their baby spots set up? I'd LOVE to see pictures, even if they are pretty plain. (: 

[Ava's Mama]

Anya - so glad you had a wonderful visit with friends AND that you finally get to nest!!

Anyone else have a toddler that gets out of bed a billion times before actually going to sleep...off to toddler wrangle...

[AnyaRose]

Oh, also, does anyone know of a good video monitor from Babies R Us? I'm a little over my head, but have a great gift card for one... 

[judybean]

Midwife just stopped by for a home visit and all looks great -- especially blood pressure issues!  Thank goodness!!!!  Although, I'll admit, that when she didn't even really want to look around the house (I don't know, I just thought she might?), I almost dragged her downstairs to the basement to see how CLEAN it was (um, it's a feat more unusual than Halley's Comet, I'd say)... but, she had been travelling a lot already visiting various clients in northern WY, so I figured she'd probably want to get on her way ;)  All that to say, we cleaned up the WHOLE house (except my sewing room) and didn't even have to yet!  ... BUT!!!  I'm SOOOOO glad it's in good shape right now!  Gosh, I hope we can hold onto this for at least just a few weeks!

Here it's miserably smoky (fires burning around the region) and just yucky.  The sunlight shining on things is orange.  THe sky just looks a brownish-greyish yuck.

But!  Tomorrow's HIGH TEMPERATURE is supposed to be 77*!  And Thursday is supposed to be just 75*!!  And the lows?!  53* and 51*!!!  Having had So Many Stinkin' Days of 90*+ and 100*+ this summer, this is pretty much a miracle and it makes my heart leap with joy!

[help007]

Originally Posted by AnyaRose 

Oh, also, does anyone know of a good video monitor from Babies R Us? I'm a little over my head, but have a great gift card for one... 

I recommend checking out the reviews on Amazon.com, and seeing which highly rated models are also available at BRU. That is how I do most of my shopping!

[AnyaRose]

I think I'm just going to use another computer to Skype with him... Why not? At nights we'll share a room so there don't seem to be any problems, right?

[help007]

Originally Posted by AnyaRose 

Does anyone else have their baby spots set up? I'd LOVE to see pictures, even if they are pretty plain. (: 

Great idea for a new thread! Tomorrow, I'll take picks of my craigslist-acquired baby room =) Funny thing is that we don't use the nursery until the babies get squirmy at night and I can no longer get any sleep with them moving around. For us, that is around 4 months.

[ascher21]

AnyaRose:  I just did a post on our room. It is VERY plain because we rent and can't paint. Everything I did was very minimal and can easily be removed when we move. It's not terribly impressive, but I'm not pushing myself to over-design something I won't be living in forever!

Here's the link: http://www.dontsewangrybaby.blogspot.com/

[MissE]

@anyarose: Glad to hear you're moved into your new place. As nice as living with familly might be, it's a lot nicer having your own space.

@Judybean: I'm breathing a sigh of relief for you for cooler temps. I can only imagine how miserable you must have been with no a/c in this heat. I mean, I'm dying in our house cause the AC cannot even get the temp lower than 80 degrees during the day. Needless to say, I'm not outside a whole lot these days :).

@FlowerofBliss: It's my DD birthday tomorrow too. August 15, and she'll turn 4 years old. What a big girl. We'll have her birthday party on the weekend.

[crystal_buffaloe]

Count me in with the cleaning! I was on a roll today and if I'm feeling good tomorrow maybe I'll make some more progress.

I'm feeling maybe a little foolish about this big trip I have planned next week with everybody having babies already, but I also don't feel anywhere near "close" -- but if something *were* to happen early, I'd really feel dumb about travelling 7 hours away at 35 weeks :/ I decided that I really didn't want to drive DD by myself in the car for that long, so DH offered to drive me up, then another friend is going to pick me up (I'm paying her!) and we'll stay the night with some mutual friends about 1/2 way between on the way back. It means adding another day onto the trip (since DH can only drive up one day) and that I won't have a car while I'm there, but I just feel more comfortable not being by myself for some reason.

Not much to report on the pregnancy end, mostly I'm just kind of tired. We went to the zoo on Sunday and I had a good time (and the weather was wonderful), but I had to just sit down while DD & DH went around the small primates and then I actually lay down on a bench while they played in a grassy area for a while. In my defense, we were there from 1 until 7, but still, it was TIRING!

[judybean]

Crystal_buffaloe-- I think it's good you figured out something you're comfortable with for your trip!

I'll be travelling 5-6 hours away next Monday-Wednesday (37w2d-37w4d), but I'll have our four girls, dh, and possibly MIL with us. In talking with my midwife today, she has some contacts with other midwives in the area (my midwife life three hours north of me, and we'll be travelling sixish hours south from where I live), so I suppose we'll bring the car seat and the birth kit but hope we won't have to use it! That would make for a wild ordination for sure

Tomorrow (Aug 15) is my dh's birthday Looks like a good day for birthdays in the DDC!

[Carlin]

I actually got a little cleaning done today too! It was cool and rainy, so I finally felt up to tackling the kitchen. I've been trying to minimize using hot water in the hot weather we've had lately so I just haven't been on top of it, and it was getting pretty gross. Tomorrow is supposed to be fairly cool too, so I'm hoping to get some more done before it gets hot again this weekend.

Crystal_B, I'm with you on feeling so far from "close." I'll be 35 weeks tomorrow and, while I do think baby is a little lower, s/he hasn't really dropped, I'm not having anything more than some strongish braxton-hicks, and I actually feel physically better than I did a month ago. I know things can change on a moments notice, but I'd be very surprised if I don't go to at least 40 weeks.

We spent most of the weekend at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. It's about a mile walk each way, but as it's held along a bank of our river valley (actually on a what is a ski hill during the winter) it's a mile down on the way there, and a mile up on the way back, then there's a lot of walking (and hills!) at the festival itself. By Saturday, I could really feel it in my pelvis and hips, but all in all I think they held up pretty well.

My main concern right now is that my 3 year old seems to be hitting an incredibly defiant and clingy stage all at once. Intellectually I get it - she's testing her independence, but at the same time needing some extra attachment and reassurance, but in practice I'm finding it very frustrating. I really hope she moves on, or at least mellows out a bit before the new baby gets here, or we are going to have some very challenging times.

As far as baby prep goes, I got a bunch of my newborn clothes back from a cousin, and sorted through my various bins so now they only need to be washed and put away. I've been looking for a 2nd hand dresser on kijiji, but so far I haven't found quite what I want so I don't actually have anywhere to put those clothes but at least it's some progress. Plus it was fun pulling out the really tiny, super cute newborn outfits!

[MIrandaM]

Carlin, I've been doing the same with the baby clothes . . . sorting though stuff I bought as a big lot (0-12m!) from an acquaintance plus all of the stuff we've been handed down and gifted. Found some sweet, sweet things and some hilariously bad outfits.  I'm ditching all of the "lil slugger" type stuff, but keeping one (american) football onsie that I know will make DH laugh. The sleeper-jams are what really get me, mmmmmmm babies! and especially the pre-worn stuff that's already a little soft and fuzzy from being washed a million times, awwwwww. 

Judybean, that's a great idea to bring the birth kit, I would never have thought of it.  Hope the trip is completely uneventful but fun :)

Ascher, love the nursery, love the bunting, love the quilt . . . I went back a bit into your blog and also love the cloth diapers you made!! you are one crafty momma, I envy that!

I'm prepping my CDs but I'm so sketch about ruining them that I'm hesitant to wash them.  I got Rumparooz and they use a less toxic waterproofing method that involves heat - so you shouldn't wash or dry them too hot, website says 'wash hot' but not to use sanitizing cycle . . . normal hot for a US washer is 130, but my washer is 145.  Am I the crazy lady who write to Rumparooz to find out what they mean by sanitizing cycle??

The other thing that's been on my mind is this freaking midwife appointment . . . I wish I didn't know that I was already 3cm dilated and 65-75% effaced (1cm of cervix height 'left') and cervix mid-positioned, because now I'm obsessing. It was my one and only check, but if I had it to do over again I would definitely decline. 

I'm cleared for birthing center in six more days but really can't picture him coming that soon (or ever, to be honest).  If the baby comes completely on his own, but early, like 37-38 weeks - is that the same kind of conditions as if we're induced at that gestational age?  In terms of lung development and all of that?  I would think that he wouldn't come until he's ready, but I'm starting to have doubts now.  Can someone please, please tell me if they were similarly effaced and dilated for weeks/months before they had their first baby?  I need a mental reframe!

-- I've been crazy irritable too, I wrote out this whole rant about the 1'000 irritating things that happened yesterday and decided that it was so negative that nobody needed to hear it!  I just need a very long, intense evening walk so that I have an opportunity to move my body and think and cry it out.  Not sure if my pelvis will go for that, maybe I'll try a long slow swim.   My feet are swelling now for the first time in the pregnancy, swimming should help. 

Vent over, thanks for hearing me out :)

Edited by MIrandaM - 8/15/12 at 4:22am

[LibraryMo]

Asher - that nursery is adorable!  I love all of the art you and your DH custom made, it's so pretty and personal!