week of April 19

[Piglet68]

Hello October Mamas! I posted this Sunday night to make sure it was up for y'all Monday morning.

October Mamas Roll Call

momtol&a
chrissy 09/28 (honorary October mom!)
snugglebutter 10/01
mirthfulmum 10/03
TracyK 10/04
mhurst 10/04
kraftykathy 10/04
Jillerina 10/04
water 10/06
Proudly AP 10/08
FutureMama 10/09
allformyboys 10/11
Lucysmama 10/12
bendmom 10/12
momadance 10/13
Mandi 10/14
rhemp 10/14
wannabmommie 10/18
Piglet68 10/18
BeauGeek 10/20
BeansMomma 10/20
CourtneyandLogan 10/21
ScooterMama1 10/21
EmbersMOM 10/21
Stanleymama 10/23
3boyz4us 10/24
Ctmom70 10/24
aspiring mama 10/25
truebluexf 10/27
ameliabedelia 10/29
flitters 10/30
Soogie 10/31
AnnR33 10/31

Hope everybody had a nice weekend. Summer finally arrived in Cleveland and DD and I spent Sunday at the zoo. I'm feeling better - a bit more energy, no nausea recently (knock on wood).

QOTW: Do you/will you have a nursery, and if so have you done any decorating?

We don't have one, never have, but we're going to be moving some time either before or shortly after this birth. I'd like to set up a proper changing station this time, and have somewhere to put the kids clothes (now that there's two of them, there isn't enough room in our bedroom) so if we have an extra room I'm going to do a little something with it. We'll still be family bedding it for a while, but when the little one is old enough, we'll probably move them to a sibling bed.

[momadance]

Good Monday morning mamas Smoky Mtn. National Park was awesome! We were able to hike about 3.5 miles on Friday and between 4-5 on Saturday. It was so theraputic and rejuvinating. It's the first time in a long time Dh and I were able to log miles like that together! Very romantic! I paid for it on Sunday though! My shins are killing me for attacking those inclines. It was bittersweet to see Ds handle as much of the hike as he did. He did awesome with his little legs. Daddy had to carry him a bit, but he was such a big boy We all "swam" a bit in the rushing Mtn. streams!

I think this little baby inside me must have doubled in size this weekend! My belly is a little bigger, but I can feel movement daily. Little jabs, and the pressure on my bladder is intense. I pee, and when I'm done it feels like baby's sitting on it trying to get me to go again. After I eat I feel little jabs like punches as if baby's saying "don't eat so much, I'm running out of room!"

QOTW: NO nursery here. Baby will be rooming with us and then we'll have moved by the time theres room for it's own space.

My QOTW: Is anyone else feeling like they REALLY have to take advantage of these last months it's just you and Dh, or you Dh and DS? We are!

[Wabi Sabi]

QOTW: Yes and no. We have a small bedroom next to ours that is currently used as my husband's office/studio. It currently contains his computer and other office equipment, as well as his drum set, hand drums and excercise machine. Yep, its a crowded little room!

Anyhow, we've decided to finish off part of the garage and move all of his stuff out there so that we'll be able to have a room for the baby. However, we have no plans to do this in the immediate future. We may be able to do it this fall just before the baby is born, but then again it may have to wait until next year. Right now it just all depends on coming up with the money to do it!

When we eventually get the room done, I plan on having a crib, a twin bed, a dresser and some toy storage in there. However, I don't really anticipate the baby actually using the room for at least a while. Realistically the baby will be in our room, the "nursery" will just be a place to store his/her things. Additionally, since we plan on putting a twin bed in there, it will also serve as a guest room since my mother-in-law will want to visit frequently and right now there is no place for her to sleep other than the couch! When the kid gets older we'll transition it into more of a "real" bedroom for him/her and when a sibling comes along, it'll be a shared room.

Whew. that was a long-winded answer to a simple question!

On another note, I love my mother-in-law! Yesterday we met up with her and took a little trip to the only Old Navy in our state with maternity clothes- a little over an hour away. She bought me an entire summer wardrobe! Really, I now have more and nicer maternity clothes than I have regular summer clothes! She is so excited about this baby- she'll be 70 by the time s/he is born and since my husband is an only child, this will be here first granchild! She has waited a L-O-N-G time for this!

[Lucysmama]

Hi mamas!!!

I'm with you, momadance...my babe is thumping me all the time!!! I was just sitting here reading to dd, and I was distracted. Then I stopped reading and realized I was distracted because the babe was moving so much. I'm just not used to feeling that yet!

QOTW: Nope, no nursery. We have 3 bedrooms upstairs, and one is ours, one is dd's (which she sleeps in maybe 40% of the time.) and one we use as a study. We plan to bring the changing table from dd's room to the study so we can have a place to change the baby without waking dd in the night.

My mom asked me if we needed nursery furniture and I said, "No, the baby is going to room with us." She said, "Oh. Okay...." in this snarky little tone that only my mom does - she seems to say, "You're nuts." and "I don't like the sound of that" with just those two words. : We get that a lot from her.

It's kind of liberating not to worry about those big purchases. We really only need a few things - smaller cloth diapers, a new sling, and boy clothes if we have a boy!

[rhemp]

Jumping in

I don't have much to "report" at the moment. But I wanted to say hi with an edd of Oct. 14. We're feeling okay. Fighting yeasty beasties and the sugar cravings that go with them.
QOTW: Nope, no nursery. Hopefully though we will get a king bed before this child arrives or ds will migrate ( ) or we's gonna be CRAMPED!!

[Piglet68]

Hi Rachael!

I've added you to the list...

It's so funny reading everybody's answers to the QOTW. When I was pregnant with DD, I was on a mainstream board, and that's all anybody talked about - what "theme" to go with (Winnie the Pooh versus zebra stripes, ugh!) etc. And then there was me with no nursery, no cribs or other baby furniture items to buy... YOu guys seem much more "normal" to me!

[Jillerina]

It is finally WARM in Montreal!!! I can't believe how much the temperature effects how I feel. I've been struggling with a nasty sinus/head cold for the past several days but today it is hardly bothering me at all! I coulden't be happier (DD too).

I've been having lots of faint/dizzy spells lately too. I don't know if it is related to the cold and my general weakness or not. DH laughs at me every time I get off a chair, I walk a few paces then hang my head between my knees until the fuzzy feeling passes.

rhemp- I'm with you fighting the nasty yeasties. Is this going to be an ongoing battle throughout my pregnancy? I didn't get one yest infection during my last pg so I don't know what to expect.

About the QOTW, no I won't be doing anything particular to set up space for the new babe. Clara has a room (our only other bedroom) with a dresser, bookshelf and a single matress on the floor. I'll rearrange the dresser so that there is space for both their clothes but that is about as much as I'm planning right now. I'm considering getting a crib this time just so that there will be a safe place to let the baby sleep during the day when I am busy with Clara but I'm still in negotiations with DH about this.

Hope everone else's day is as lovely as ours!

[AnnR33]

QOTW-It's so funny I hear first time moms getting excited about a nursery and hey, I was too back then. But my first never slept in there and my second slept in there all of a handful of times so we finally got rid of the crib a few months ago since it was just collecting dust. I wonder how many nurseries REALLY get used?
My DH is a little annoyed at the fact I'm not trying to get our 5yr old and 2 yr old to sleep in there own bed now so they won't be upset when the babe comes along but I say-when the time comes it'll all work out-even if they're sleeping on the floor next to us LOL. We only have a queen and though I've bugged DH to get a king he refuses since our rm is small. Oh well-that's why the kids and I sleep in the queen and he's usually in the my son's twin-he he
I do use a bassinet sometimes but that just sits next to our bed-I'm hoping that my Dh will make a arms reach type bed this time around.

12wks and counting here-going in to hear the heartbeat on Tuesday since I had my big spotting scare this weekend but think all is fine now. My first official OB appt isn't until next Tues and I dread seeing how much weight I've gained
Take care
Ann

[flitters]

hello! i hope everyone is off to a good week!

ann, i'm very happy to hear your spotting has stopped - i hope you have a great appointment!

jillerina, i get dizzy spells too, but usually if i haven't eaten recently so i've been eating even more frequent smaller "meals".

i'm not having a problem with yeast right now but i have felt twice like one might be coming.
<TMI>
what i do then (and i have haed really good results with this method) is when i'm in the shower i put my finger inside my vagina and sort of wipe it out and then lightly rinse it off with ONLY water - no soap. i do this a couple times a day and i think it helps remove the extra yeasties and let the healthy bacteria get their relative numbers back up.
</TMI>


QOTW: well, we have a small spare bedroom where we used to store lots of stuff that we have begun to clear out to be a kid room. i pulled the ugly brown wallpaper off a few months ago and dh painted it with one-coat-white which has a light blue hue to it. we will pull out the old carpet and probably put in pergo floors (unless the floor is not flat enough - our house is very old). then some minor touch up work (it needs new blinds, a new electric outlet and some other stuff). However, we are putting our queen size bed in there (we recently upgraded to a king) and just regular furniture like a dresser of some sort and a shelf. Since the baby will sleep with us that will be mostly a guest room where we also keep the baby's stuff. Then at some point when he or she wants a room, there it will be and our child can decorate it personally. So it isn't a normal nursery but it is a room we have now designated to be for our baby, eventually.

[stanleymama]

Well I am having a very happy Monday. We heard the baby's this morning. I feel so much relief and I am getting even more excited. My dr. couldn't find it at first but the baby was just a little higher than he thought. I love that swish-swish sound

QOTW- No nursery here. The baby will start off with us and then be moved in with his/her brothers in their room. In fact we too don't need anything unless we have a girl. I want to get some Kisssaluvs 0's but we don't need them--so we will see. I always get each baby a new outfit, so they don't just have all hand-me-downs.

Anyways--I wish you all a happy pregnant belly week!

[ameliabedelia]

QOTW: No nursery here either. DD has her own room, she still sleeps with us, but she does have her own room, with our old queen-sized bed, which will be hers whenever she wants to sleep in it. In her room she has some toys and all her clothes and diapers.

The baby will sleep with us as well, but I haven't decided where I will put his/her clothes and toys, etc. I will probably clean out the closet in the 3rd bedroom and put his/her clothes, toys and diapers in that. I will also probably move the playpen with the changing tray into that room as well. When DD was little, I really used the changing tray (or whatever it is call, my pregnancy brain can't remember the right term :LOL) for her, but she is much too big for it now. There isn't too much room in DD's room for anymore clothes or toys. However, once this babe is old enough and wants to move out of our bed (like maybe baby is 2 and DD is 4), I am hoping that he/she will sleep with DD in the queen bed, for a few years, until they get too old to do that and don't want to anymore.

But, who knows. We may not even be living in this house by that time. We will see?

[ameliabedelia]

T I was just looking at our roll call and noticed that there are several people with the same due date and then several dates where no one is due. It just struck me as funny, how like 5 people are due on October 4th, but NO ONE is due on the 5th. I know due dates don't really mean anything, but it I just thought it was weird.

[kraftykathy]

Hi everyone,
Wow, we had that great weather this weekend too! Feels great doesn't it? I was so busy with visiting people this weekend that I didn't get any garden work done. Perhaps next weekend? I'm hoping to get dh to rototil the garden so I can start planning it out.
Tomorrow I have my second midwife appointment. I'll get my belly measured this time and get a chance to hear baby's heartbeat again! I'll be at 16 weeks!!! I can't wait to get more definate fetal movements. So far I'm still wondering if it's baby or gas or braxton hicks. Sometimes those tightenings of the uterus feel like a baby squirm or roll, ya know?
QOTW - no nursery here either. My first kid was born almost 10 years ago and we made a cute little room for her. We learned though how little it gets used those first few years. Heck my kids still prefer my room when I let them conk out there, lol! I'll set up our old crib though. It makes a great place to keep babies things like diapers or clothes or toys. It's a great place to put laundry too, heehee!
Have a great week everyone!

Kathy

[momadance]

AnnR33 Keep bugging Dh about that King Size! We got one last week and it is great! all 3 of us can sleep in there and not even bump into one another! Well, for now anyway, as a grow I'm not sure that'll be the case!

see the mw tommorow!

[Wabi Sabi]

Originally posted by ameliabedelia
T I was just looking at our roll call and noticed that there are several people with the same due date and then several dates where no one is due. It just struck me as funny, how like 5 people are due on October 4th, but NO ONE is due on the 5th. I know due dates don't really mean anything, but it I just thought it was weird.

I think it is because a lot of people like myself listed my EDD at 10/04 meaning not October 4th, but rather October '04. Does that make sense?

My EDD is actually Oct. 9 which makes me 15 weeks now...

[OakEmber]

Hello everyone. Tomorrow is my second appt with my midwife as well (Kathy too I noticed). I am very excited to hear the heartbeat and also to discuss the u/s that I had for dating purposes in the time since I saw her last...my EDD is Oct.22 with her so far but the u/s said Oct.15, it will be interesting to hear what she says about it. (She felt that my dates might be off because I only had 2 cycles after my m/c and that since I am planning a homebirth wanted to be sure as it has take place between 37-41 weeks I believe).

Then on Thurs we are heading off for a little vacation to Vancouver for the weekend! I can't wait to take Ember to the Aquarium, she'll love it! And all the fresh seafood...mmm...I am hungry already! It's been 6 years since we've been there, and Ember's first time going...we plan on taking her to the ocean, hopefully we'll have good luck with the weather and the tide!

Momadance that touches on your question I guess, we are taking advantage of being able to travel relatively easily with the 3 of us!


QOTW: Nope no nursery for us either...DD has a bedroom that she doesn't use, LOL, and there will be room in there for the babies clothes too. We didn't have any baby furniture last time, no crib, change table or playpen, etc. but I am thinking about getting a bedside co-sleeper (anyone used one??) because I don't want DD to have to move out of our bed before she is ready and I don't think there is anymore room in ours (not without safety concerns). And it might be nice for naps too sometimes, I used to nap with DD most of the time but now during the baby's naps I will be wanting to focus some one on one time with Ember. We made the silly mistake of getting ourselves a nice new bedroom set last fall with a queen sized bed...what were we thinking, LOL...(actually I think DH was thinking a little too much about how 4 couldn't fit in it; his plan might backfire though, he might end up sleeping in the twin in the kids room, LOL).

[Lucysmama]

A bit T but Ann....

We just got a twin and pushed it against our queen. It's bigger than a king and has sooooooo much room! We have a small room too. Our bed goes from one wall to the other. So it is quite literally a "bedroom!" :LOL We have space for a bookshelf and a small wardrobe, and that's it! But it was MUCH cheaper than buying a new king.

[Piglet68]

FutureMama...I changed your date.

Let me know, everybody, if I have it wrong, or if it's updated.

We've had a king for some time now. When DD was about 3 months old, we lived for two months in a place with a double (not even a queen!). It was pretty crowded in there, lol. I couldn't live without my king. But I think we're going to end up putting a twin next to it. DD is a total bed hog. She takes up half the bed, and DH and I end up squished in the other half. :LOL

EmbersMOM - ooooh you are gonna have fun in Vancouver! The Aquarium is awesome! It's in Stanley Park, where there is also a long seawall to walk and plenty of beaches. So you can "do it all" in one place, lol. Where in BC do you live?

As for the question about cherishing time with family...DH had mentioned doing something together before baby is born, but that likely isn't going to happen. I am just trying to cherish my time with DD alone. It's a special time in our lives that will be so short when we look back on it. We are so used to just being 3, but also eagerly awaiting our new addition! So....we're not really doing anything special, but we talk about it alot and try to really cherish these unique times with DD.

[mirthfulmum]

QOTW: No nursery here either. Alias has his own room where we keep most of his toys, diapers and clothes but his bed is in our room. He has his toddler bed pushed up against our bed. He likes that he has his own space (and frankly we like it too) but Alias can crawl in and out of our bed whenever he wants. He spends 98% of the night sleeping spread eagel in his bed but from time to time he'll crawl on over for a snuggle sleep for twenty mintues or so and then roll back over into his bed so he can spread out.
When this new little babe arrives she/he will enjoy the same sleeping arangement that Alias enjoyed for the first year and a half of his life, Baby will sleep between me and my husband while their big brother sleeps in his toddler bed. And Alias' room will become a shared room for both kids' toys, diapers and clothes.

momadance's Q: We've talked about doing something special but we really don't have extra money as we're saving up for the new babes arrival (My husband is planning on taking 4 or 5 months parental leave but since you don't get full pay we're saving to help make up the difference.) I guess we are just trying to keep top of mind that this is Alias' last summer of being an only child. So we'll be really focusing on family time this summer, extra beach time, more trips to the Aquarium, and lots of time talking and teaching about becomming a big brother.

EmbersMOM: Alias LOVES, LOVES, LOVES! the Aquarium. They have a fantastic area for little kids under 8 called clown fish cove on the bottom level. I also heartily recommend checking out Science World while you're here too. They have an exhibit on now based on Richard Scary stories and the whole exhibit is built right at samll child level and is all about touching and sorting and moving. Alias could spends hours at the little grocery stand.

[OakEmber]

Piglet68- I will let you know what my offical due date will be today after I see my midwife. And I live in the Okanagan, home of the best BC summers IMO! I've lived here all my life except for the 2.5 years DH and I spent in Calgary (where Ember was born). I'm a small town girl


Mirthfulmum- Thanks for the advice, I was thinking that Science World would be a bit too old for Ember, but it's nice to know that they have a childrens exhibit right now...we'll definately keep that in mind. Do you know if they have any dinosaur exhibits? She'd be in heaven! Now if only we have enough time to fit everything in