chit chat October!! « Back to Group Discussions

[tekcez]

Thought I'd go ahead and get October's chit chat thread started.  It IS October.  I'm trying to wrap my head around it.  Not many weekends left to get things done...This weekend will be spent with family in Houston.  We have a nightmare of a family photo shoot tomorrow morning.  It will be my parents, our family, my brother's family, my aunt's family, and my dad's cousins family.  My mom informed me that there is a color theme: brown, blue, and red.  Oh jeez.  I peeked at the website of the photographer involved.  He is a fan of the family totem. You know, where everybody sort of stacks on top of each other.  Blargh. Plus it's scheduled very close to ds's nap time so we will definitely be knocked off schedule.  Not great as we are seeing David Byrne tomorrow night and leaving ds at my parent's house with my brother and sister in law.  We really need him to be in bed before we leave.  There will be 5 children under 4 involved in this photo shoot.  I'm trying to be chill about it...

Next weekend is the baby shower my MIL is throwing for me.  I have an amazon registry that I'm about 99% certain no one has even looked at.  We need to pick up a garage fridge/freezer next weekend, too.  Then after the shower, I can start buying the few things we really do need and hopefully have a powerful nesting surge to get things wrapped up.  I would love to get the master bedroom and nursery painted, but that might be overreaching.  

On I side note, I realllllly need to stop watching A Baby Story.  It's on everyday right after I get DS down for a nap, so I watch it while I'm eating lunch.  It is infuriating for the most part, but I do get teary and think about this baby girl when the baby makes an entrance.  I don't think I can listen to another ob telling a woman that she'll have to have a section and there's no way to know why she isn't dilating or why the baby is in distress after she's been induced 3 days after her due date due to discomfort, though.  That sort of birth scenario is really not what I need to be filling my head with as the possibility of a hospital birth is real for me at this point.  

As of tomorrow it's 5 weeks to edd.  Oh my!

Hope all of you mamas are feeling well and getting things done.  I'm getting really excited to meet these babies!

[JodiAriel]

I have officially been done working for a week now and am starting to get a little bored being home all day especially since I can't do a whole lot.  I am trying to keep the house picked up, laundry, dishes etc but there are all these big projects and errands I want to run that I just am physically unable to do.  The docs are thrilled that I have made it this far... my goal date in my head is next Thursday cause I think 10/11/12 would be a cool birthday and it puts me 1 day over full term for twins.

In other news as of my MFM appt this week BOTH babies are head down!!! I am so thrilled because this means there is nothing standing in my way of a vaginal delivery now and I am GBS- so I can stay home as long as I possibly can. 

So for now I am just sitting home baking babies and realizing daytime TV sucks. 

[franjapany]

Ha, october chit-chat :) Tomorrow I am exactly a month away from my EDD... My bronchitis is getting a little better, day by day. It feels freakishly slow though, getting well again while pregnant. My immune system must be really down.

On another note: we just got a call from our new land lord that we'll get the keys to the place tomorrow! YAAAAYYYY!!! That's nine days early and I don't have to tell any of you how much that means, considering the circumstances ;) nine days! awesome. This baby might get a chance not to be born into utter chaos after all. We might even have the place ready enough for me to feel at home a little and have a homebirth after all... fingers crossed - we'll see.

tekzec - the photo shoot sounds nightmarish! I hate it when people don't consider children's nap times when scheduling events like that :(

Oh, and you had me confused for a moment when you said you were looking forward to 'meeting these babies' - what, she is having twins too? LOL then I realized you were talking about all our DDC-babies. We are gonna have sooo many cute baby-photos to look at soon :)

jodiAriel - yay for two babies being head down! A friend of mine just had twins in hospital. The first one had the most amazing birth, where mom could just do her thing and catch her baby without being interrupted or hassled by anyone. And then the second one didn'T come immediately and turned with her feet down. The mom's guess is, she just needed to readjust and get used to that new space in utero, but the doctors and midwifes all got stressed out and started pushing about on the belly and the little one was soon in distress (the whole thing was 15 minutes after the birth of No1!) and they took her out via cesarian. Ugh. My mw was infuriated when she heard. The mom is convinced that, had she been given a little time the twin girl would have been born just as easily. Who knows.

[sere234]

Tekcez- Last weekend my in-laws scheduled a family birthday party during nap time in a restaurant. Boy was that fun! Hope your pictures go well! We don't have cable so I'm never tempted to watch Baby Story. I'm sure I would though if given the chance and I'd be yelling at them with you!

Jodi- WOW! What great news about the babies both being head down!! And you've made it so far with them :) How awesome! 

Franjapany- YAY about the house! Fingers crossed for unpacking and having things set up for the babe's arrival!!

So our shower faucet broke about 1.5 months ago and it took me that long to call plumbers for quotes and actually schedule one to come to come. We had the money in savings but I hated to spend it. Plus I'm a slacker :) So yeah, I was taking baths as a big pregnant lady every few days and it was not too comfortable! The tub is fairly small too.... But 2 days ago I got to take a real shower in my own house again! It was so wonderful!!!!! Sigh! 

Went to my midwife today, baby is measuring 35.5 weeks and I am 35 weeks tomorrow. Can't wait for this little dude's arrival!!

[finnegansmom]

tekcez, I cannot watch a Baby Story!  OMG I always end up yelling at the TV.  I work from home and sometimes it's just me and the toddler and since he doesn't speak much, the TV is nice to break the silence and that show seems to be always on but I just get so annoyed as well.....like when they decide to augment the labor because of not progresssing after 5 hours on their back.  Really?  I did see one where it was a natural birth, and it was kind of awesome, because unlike those epidural births where the mother doesn't really sound like she's giving birth (or at least doesn't sound like I do when I give birth, LOL) this woman did and she was all about nursing and delayed cord clamping.

There used to be a show on as well "bringing home baby", not sure if it's still on, but it details the first 36 hours of bringing home the baby...and pretty much every episode involved the phrase "well breastfeeding didn't work out" and the baby was always shown with a huge pacifier....didn't work out at 2-3 days old?  what?  kind of bummed me out. 

In other news, my oldest son turned 6 today.  Can't believe it.  He had a half day at school and we all went to this amusement park which had a thomas the train engine there.  I am so tired, my ankles are like cantelopes.  I can't believe how swollen they are....I'm in bed for the night snuggled up to a cup of RRL tea and trusty laptop with which I'll do some online shopping to make me feel better.  :)

[Carinthia]

Finnegansmom - Wow! I have a almost 6 year old as well, unbelievable! Congratulations and happy birthday! And my feet and fingers are so swollen too- what a crazy day!! We had 2 adorable kittens show up at the house for the last few days! But we already have 3 pets .... finally today I found a place for them! The car tire had 2 nails in it and I never even made it to the grocery store..

November 1st is the date for my c-section. I can't believe it! 4 weeks away!!!

jodiAriel - good news indeed about your babies! Yay!!!

[MrsKoehn]

Originally Posted by tekcez 

Thought I'd go ahead and get October's chit chat thread started.  It IS October.  I'm trying to wrap my head around it.  Not many weekends left to get things done...This weekend will be spent with family in Houston.  We have a nightmare of a family photo shoot tomorrow morning.  It will be my parents, our family, my brother's family, my aunt's family, and my dad's cousins family.  My mom informed me that there is a color theme: brown, blue, and red.  Oh jeez.  I peeked at the website of the photographer involved.  He is a fan of the family totem. You know, where everybody sort of stacks on top of each other.  Blargh. Plus it's scheduled very close to ds's nap time so we will definitely be knocked off schedule.  Not great as we are seeing David Byrne tomorrow night and leaving ds at my parent's house with my brother and sister in law.  We really need him to be in bed before we leave.  There will be 5 children under 4 involved in this photo shoot.  I'm trying to be chill about it...

Next weekend is the baby shower my MIL is throwing for me.  I have an amazon registry that I'm about 99% certain no one has even looked at.  We need to pick up a garage fridge/freezer next weekend, too.  Then after the shower, I can start buying the few things we really do need and hopefully have a powerful nesting surge to get things wrapped up.  I would love to get the master bedroom and nursery painted, but that might be overreaching.  

On I side note, I realllllly need to stop watching A Baby Story.  It's on everyday right after I get DS down for a nap, so I watch it while I'm eating lunch.  It is infuriating for the most part, but I do get teary and think about this baby girl when the baby makes an entrance.  I don't think I can listen to another ob telling a woman that she'll have to have a section and there's no way to know why she isn't dilating or why the baby is in distress after she's been induced 3 days after her due date due to discomfort, though.  That sort of birth scenario is really not what I need to be filling my head with as the possibility of a hospital birth is real for me at this point.  

As of tomorrow it's 5 weeks to edd.  Oh my!

Hope all of you mamas are feeling well and getting things done.  I'm getting really excited to meet these babies!

Ohhh, I hope that went well! It's what, almost 3 in TX, so I hope you're somewhere chillin' out.

I know how you feel about the registry. That was how it was when we got married. This time, I haven't even made mine public. It's more for my information than anything but I might make it open so my Mom can look at it.

I'm so glad we don't have a TV. There's enough on the radio and internet to burn my bacon.

Yeah! I hit the 5 weeks till EDD this past Wed, so wow, coming SO FAST!!!!!

Baby moving around makes me pretty uncomfortable, and I'm just not feeling going out and cleaning the yard up since the stupid dog got in the trash BIG TIME. Hubby's going to have to do it or call his sisters to come do it for us. I cleaned up probably 1/4 that much a week or two ago and it was totally my limit. I'm not even trying this one. I got my birth supply list double checked this morning and moved it all to under the sink. There's more room. I crammed what was under there before in the smaller cabinet where I had the supplies before. I've got the sheets and stuff that needs sanitized going right now. Then I need to GET OFF THE PC and sew a patch on one of the fitted sheets and make some big "tea bags" for the postpartum bath mix I got. Then I need to make supper. Or maybe we'll change tomorrow's left overs for today's meal so I don't have to....

Originally Posted by JodiAriel 

I have officially been done working for a week now and am starting to get a little bored being home all day especially since I can't do a whole lot.  I am trying to keep the house picked up, laundry, dishes etc but there are all these big projects and errands I want to run that I just am physically unable to do.  The docs are thrilled that I have made it this far... my goal date in my head is next Thursday cause I think 10/11/12 would be a cool birthday and it puts me 1 day over full term for twins.

In other news as of my MFM appt this week BOTH babies are head down!!! I am so thrilled because this means there is nothing standing in my way of a vaginal delivery now and I am GBS- so I can stay home as long as I possibly can. 

So for now I am just sitting home baking babies and realizing daytime TV sucks. 

Yes, do have them next Thurs. That's our 4th anniversary. It's a good day. : )

Yeah that they're both head down! Stay that way, babies!  : )

Originally Posted by franjapany 

Ha, October chit-chat :) Tomorrow I am exactly a month away from my EDD... My bronchitis is getting a little better, day by day. It feels freakishly slow though, getting well again while pregnant. My immune system must be really down.

On another note: we just got a call from our new land lord that we'll get the keys to the place tomorrow! YAAAAYYYY!!! That's nine days early and I don't have to tell any of you how much that means, considering the circumstances ;) nine days! awesome. This baby might get a chance not to be born into utter chaos after all. We might even have the place ready enough for me to feel at home a little and have a homebirth after all... fingers crossed - we'll see.

Glad you're getting better, hope it goes faster now that you're on the downhill side. Just don't do what I always do and overdo it and get sick again...

How wonderful that you can get in early! That IS a blessing at this stage in the game. 9 days is EVERYTHING. Doing the happy dance for you!!!!

Originally Posted by sere234 

Tekcez- Last weekend my in-laws scheduled a family birthday party during nap time in a restaurant. Boy was that fun! Hope your pictures go well! We don't have cable so I'm never tempted to watch Baby Story. I'm sure I would though if given the chance and I'd be yelling at them with you!

So our shower faucet broke about 1.5 months ago and it took me that long to call plumbers for quotes and actually schedule one to come to come. We had the money in savings but I hated to spend it. Plus I'm a slacker :) So yeah, I was taking baths as a big pregnant lady every few days and it was not too comfortable! The tub is fairly small too.... But 2 days ago I got to take a real shower in my own house again! It was so wonderful!!!!! Sigh! 

Went to my midwife today, baby is measuring 35.5 weeks and I am 35 weeks tomorrow. Can't wait for this little dude's arrival!!

Groan, why do people schedule things like that at nap times? Lol You'd think they'd remember the WORLD revolves around nap time.

Lol you are a slacker! My hubby would be the same way if he were in charge of things like that. Oh wait, he is since he is the fixer person.

Originally Posted by finnegansmom 

In other news, my oldest son turned 6 today.  Can't believe it.  He had a half day at school and we all went to this amusement park which had a thomas the train engine there.  I am so tired, my ankles are like cantelopes.  I can't believe how swollen they are....I'm in bed for the night snuggled up to a cup of RRL tea and trusty laptop with which I'll do some online shopping to make me feel better.  :)

Happy Birthday! Sounds like you had fun - beside the swelling.  : (  Hope the shopping helped you feel better!  :)
Thankfully, I haven't had any swelling to speak of so far. Fingers crossed!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Carinthia 

Finnegansmom - Wow! I have a almost 6 year old as well, unbelievable! Congratulations and happy birthday! And my feet and fingers are so swollen too- what a crazy day!! We had 2 adorable kittens show up at the house for the last few days! But we already have 3 pets .... finally today I found a place for them! The car tire had 2 nails in it and I never even made it to the grocery store..

November 1st is the date for my c-section. I can't believe it! 4 weeks away!!!

jodiAriel - good news indeed about your babies! Yay!!!

Yeah to finding homes for the kittens! We've got 7 puppies that will be ready to be sold ON MY DUE DATE. Nice timing dogs. We'd been hoping she'd get pregnant for months, oh well. I just hope we can sell them quickly. I'm going to take pics of them and post them early, taking deposits. Maybe next week or the week after.

Wow, November 1 is going to come up fast!

[guen]

Teckez, I laughed at the way you put it "not many weekends left to get things done".  That is exactly how I've been thinking of it!  There is no way we can get things during the week with all that crazy that goes on around here weekdays!  Weekends aren't much less crazy but at least DH is around, so that's when we tackle our to do list.  I was hoping to have that pre-baby to do list pretty much finished by the end of this weekend, since DH has been off since last Wednesday (holiday followed by two days off and then the weekend) but this bizarre attack of complete exhaustion has knocked me out of the running.  I've been pretty much useless. :-(  But DH has gotten an awful lot done, including finishing converting the baby cot to a co-sleeper.  Now I need to empty it of the 50,000 stuffies and baby dolls the 3 y.o. has stored in there and put clean bedding on it.  Where to with all the stuffies and dolls???

I'm considering going ahead discussing doing the gestational diabetes test with my OB.  I'm so afraid to do it because I passed out last time in the middle of the uni menza afterwards and ended up being taken to hospital.  The whole experience was awful.  But my excessive thirst, exhaustion, dizzieness, etc. is making me wonder and I'd just like to cross GDD off the list of concerns. 

I'm feeling frustrated and discouraged at this point because I'm considering firing my midwives, thus giving up my birth room birth.  This would leave me with the choice of a hospital birth <shudder> or a UC.  Not keen on a UC due to circumstances. Unfortunately, the younger of the two midwives in the duo (and it's a crap shoot which one will attend your birth, depending on who's on call when you go into labour) makes me crazy.  Honestly, this is the last sort of person I would ever want at my birth.  She's a bit of little twit know-it-all who is too busy trying to establish that she knows more than you do to even listen to you.  I'm prettysure the little twit has never even given birth herself.  I've tried to warm to her but I can't.  I just want to choke her.  So.  This leaves me at 33 weeks and not really sure where or how I'll deliver.  

DS is giving me a hard time about wanting to celebrate his 12th birthday in a couple of weeks by inviting a whole gang of his adolescent friends over.  I'm not excited about this prospect.  At this stage of the game, I'm just not feeling like playing hostess to or sharing my home with a bunch of wild boys.  Even for a few hours.  I'm trying to convince him January would be much better!  DD15 celebrated her birthday by going in to the city with a group of her friends for the day.  That worked for me! 

[sere234]

Guen- With the way you've been feeling, maybe getting a GD test done would help alleviate your fears. I'm so sorry you've got to deal with maybe finding a new care provider at this point in your pregnancy! Ugh.

Just wanted to say: my DS slept through the night last night!  Wow!! From 10:00 pm to 7 am without a single bad dream or waking. This has only happened 2 or 3 times in his life so it's pretty exciting for us!  And of course as I walk past DS (sleeping soundly) on my way to pee about 5 times a night I'm a little jealous of his sleep, no matter how bad it may be!

Tekcez, didn't you say son has bad dreams too? So sad to have to cuddle my little boy when he wakes crying "No no no no!" or "Mama! Fire!". 

[MrsKoehn]

Originally Posted by guen 

Teckez, I laughed at the way you put it "not many weekends left to get things done".  That is exactly how I've been thinking of it!  There is no way we can get things during the week with all that crazy that goes on around here weekdays!  Weekends aren't much less crazy but at least DH is around, so that's when we tackle our to do list.  I was hoping to have that pre-baby to do list pretty much finished by the end of this weekend, since DH has been off since last Wednesday (holiday followed by two days off and then the weekend) but this bizarre attack of complete exhaustion has knocked me out of the running.  I've been pretty much useless. :-(  But DH has gotten an awful lot done, including finishing converting the baby cot to a co-sleeper.  Now I need to empty it of the 50,000 stuffies and baby dolls the 3 y.o. has stored in there and put clean bedding on it.  Where to with all the stuffies and dolls???

I'm considering going ahead discussing doing the gestational diabetes test with my OB.  I'm so afraid to do it because I passed out last time in the middle of the uni menza afterwards and ended up being taken to hospital.  The whole experience was awful.  But my excessive thirst, exhaustion, dizzieness, etc. is making me wonder and I'd just like to cross GDD off the list of concerns. 

I'm feeling frustrated and discouraged at this point because I'm considering firing my midwives, thus giving up my birth room birth.  This would leave me with the choice of a hospital birth <shudder> or a UC.  Not keen on a UC due to circumstances. Unfortunately, the younger of the two midwives in the duo (and it's a crap shoot which one will attend your birth, depending on who's on call when you go into labour) makes me crazy.  Honestly, this is the last sort of person I would ever want at my birth.  She's a bit of little twit know-it-all who is too busy trying to establish that she knows more than you do to even listen to you.  I'm pretty sure the little twit has never even given birth herself.  I've tried to warm to her but I can't.  I just want to choke her.  So.  This leaves me at 33 weeks and not really sure where or how I'll deliver.  

DS is giving me a hard time about wanting to celebrate his 12th birthday in a couple of weeks by inviting a whole gang of his adolescent friends over.  I'm not excited about this prospect.  At this stage of the game, I'm just not feeling like playing hostess to or sharing my home with a bunch of wild boys.  Even for a few hours.  I'm trying to convince him January would be much better!  DD15 celebrated her birthday by going in to the city with a group of her friends for the day.  That worked for me! 

Can you just get a cheap home test from the store? I have my sister's old one bc she's finished having kids. Here at least, you can get a cheap one for about $25.

Doesn't sound like a fun place to be with your MWs. : ( Hope you get it worked out soon!

My brother did that sort of birthday thing to my Mom. We were all friends with a family who had a son my brother's age who was having a birthday. His mom had just died of cancer about 5 months before. They got Mom talked into having a bday party for him at our house. She got up that morning, went shopping EARLY, came home, got the party together (as much as I hadn't got done, I was almost 16 so could clean and make the cake), after that was over, she had to make enough potato refrigerator rolls (SO good but SO much work) for the entire church of probably 120-150 ppl for the next day. She was up till 12 a.m. working on that. Dad had volunteered her to do that (she was in the nursery) even though that Sunday, right before Thanksgiving, was her due date. Well, she woke up at 2 a.m. in labor. It turned out to be her longest and last. She was 42 and still only in labor 17 hrs, but that was her longest. She said she thinks she was just TOO TIRED.

So don't wear yourself out!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sere234 

Guen- With the way you've been feeling, maybe getting a GD test done would help alleviate your fears. I'm so sorry you've got to deal with maybe finding a new care provider at this point in your pregnancy! Ugh.

Just wanted to say: my DS slept through the night last night!  Wow!! From 10:00 pm to 7 am without a single bad dream or waking. This has only happened 2 or 3 times in his life so it's pretty exciting for us!  And of course as I walk past DS (sleeping soundly) on my way to pee about 5 times a night I'm a little jealous of his sleep, no matter how bad it may be!

Tekcez, didn't you say son has bad dreams too? So sad to have to cuddle my little boy when he wakes crying "No no no no!" or "Mama! Fire!". 

Yeah for son sleeping! That's great! : )

[tekcez]

Originally Posted by JodiAriel 

I have officially been done working for a week now and am starting to get a little bored being home all day especially since I can't do a whole lot.  I am trying to keep the house picked up, laundry, dishes etc but there are all these big projects and errands I want to run that I just am physically unable to do.  The docs are thrilled that I have made it this far... my goal date in my head is next Thursday cause I think 10/11/12 would be a cool birthday and it puts me 1 day over full term for twins.

In other news as of my MFM appt this week BOTH babies are head down!!! I am so thrilled because this means there is nothing standing in my way of a vaginal delivery now and I am GBS- so I can stay home as long as I possibly can. 

So for now I am just sitting home baking babies and realizing daytime TV sucks. 

Both babies head down!! Yay! I totally understand the feeling of having a million things to do that you can't actually do on your own.  DH's work load fluctuates quite a bit, and he's been really busy the past week.  Not great timing, but good that he's billing.  Next weekend he'll probably be working, and I'll be hanging with DS and twiddling my thumbs thinking of all the painting and fridge hauling that we should be doing. I'm going to have to recruit FIL, probably.  Bask in your boredom while you can though!!  Bask in it.  

Quote:

Originally Posted by franjapany 

tekzec - the photo shoot sounds nightmarish! I hate it when people don't consider children's nap times when scheduling events like that :(

Oh, and you had me confused for a moment when you said you were looking forward to 'meeting these babies' - what, she is having twins too? LOL then I realized you were talking about all our DDC-babies. We are gonna have sooo many cute baby-photos to look at soon :)

The photo shoot wasn't as bad as it could have been.  The photographer wanted me "touching my womb" in each picture, though.  I was like, "First of all, my womb? Second of all, the belly doesn't necessarily have to take center stage in every shot."  Then my mom disclosed that this guy goes to my aunt's church.  He experienced a traumatic brain injury with significant frontal lobe damage and is getting back into his business after a very long rehab.  I was muuuuch less annoyed and actually felt glad that they chose him after that and impressed with how put together he was.  Perspective!!!  I do think there will be some great shots of our giant, happy family.    

As far as these babies go, I remember with my last ddc the big reveal when the babies got here because you got to see pictures of the babies and some of the mamas and partners and siblings.  I loved putting faces and families with the avatars.  Squeee!

Quote:

Originally Posted by finnegansmom 

tekcez, I cannot watch a Baby Story!  OMG I always end up yelling at the TV.  I work from home and sometimes it's just me and the toddler and since he doesn't speak much, the TV is nice to break the silence and that show seems to be always on but I just get so annoyed as well.....like when they decide to augment the labor because of not progresssing after 5 hours on their back.  Really?  I did see one where it was a natural birth, and it was kind of awesome, because unlike those epidural births where the mother doesn't really sound like she's giving birth (or at least doesn't sound like I do when I give birth, LOL) this woman did and she was all about nursing and delayed cord clamping.

Yeah, I should say I've been watching that show for a long time and recently I think there's been an uptick in the number of unmedicated births portrayed.  Still few and far between, but there was one not long ago that actually showed a home birth which was a nice change of pace for that show.  And happy belated birthday to your biggest boy!

Originally Posted by guen 

I'm considering going ahead discussing doing the gestational diabetes test with my OB.  I'm so afraid to do it because I passed out last time in the middle of the uni menza afterwards and ended up being taken to hospital.  The whole experience was awful.  But my excessive thirst, exhaustion, dizzieness, etc. is making me wonder and I'd just like to cross GDD off the list of concerns. 

I'm feeling frustrated and discouraged at this point because I'm considering firing my midwives, thus giving up my birth room birth.  This would leave me with the choice of a hospital birth <shudder> or a UC.  Not keen on a UC due to circumstances. Unfortunately, the younger of the two midwives in the duo (and it's a crap shoot which one will attend your birth, depending on who's on call when you go into labour) makes me crazy.  Honestly, this is the last sort of person I would ever want at my birth.  She's a bit of little twit know-it-all who is too busy trying to establish that she knows more than you do to even listen to you.  I'm prettysure the little twit has never even given birth herself.  I've tried to warm to her but I can't.  I just want to choke her.  So.  This leaves me at 33 weeks and not really sure where or how I'll deliver.  
 

At about 13 weeks into this pregnancy, the midwives ordered an a1c test, which is a hemoglobin test that can give you a value to determine what your glucose levels have been like over the past 3 months, I think.  I wonder if you could do that instead of the nasty drink torture test.  If the value is elevated, that would give you a pretty good idea of whether your troubles have been related to blood sugar.  Most people with GDM don't have any physical symptoms, though.  I must say that I had another awful cheat day yesterday due to some excessively delicious dulce de leche cupcake situation at my cousin's baby shower.  I felt so gross afterward.  I think it was more nausea from bombarding my stomach with rich, sugary butter cream...um, also there were cake balls and these gooey chewy chocolate cookie sandwiches that I may have grabbed, shoved in my mouth, hastily chewed, and swallowed before my better judgement had time to kick in.  

I've been having the same feeling about one of the midwives at my birthing center.  I know she has given birth zero times and raised zero babies.  I feel really annoyed when she tries to tell me that I should be exercising more or doing this or that.  Meanwhile, she has no regard for the 16 month old that is clinging to me in fear each time she brings out the blood pressure cuff and doppler.  I remember when I delivered DS being having about 2 fleeting feelings of disappointment that the midwife on call was not one of the ones I had hoped for.  After that I retreated into my birthing head and barely noticed she was there until after DS was born.  This time there is really only one midwife that I would be happy to have there.  Chances are it won't be her, but I feel better prepared to ask for what I need or to tell the midwife to back off if that's what needs to happen.  I hope you figure out your situation soon.  I know it stinks to be in limbo. 

In other news, the weather here has been so pleasantly chilly!  I know it's just a cold front and everything will warm up again before real fall weather hits, but the snap is having an great affect on my mood!  I'm hoping that DH will finish up his big project by Thursday so we can take DS to the super nice pumpkin patch outside of town and avoid the weekend crowds.  Sweaters, hot drinks, fires, red noses, stews.  Love it.  

[guen]

Sere234-- I hear you about the nightmares!  My youngest is 3 y.o. and co-sleeps.  She has never really slept through the night.  Lately she's been having nightmares which just add to her sleep troubles.  The worst is when she is angry about whatever happened in her dream and we can't even comfort her.  She just thrashes about angrily and can't be soothed.  <<yawn>>  I hope your little one has many more of those sleep-through nights and fewer nightmares!

MrsKoehn-- I've never seen or heard of a home test. I doubt I could find such a thing in Germany.  I'll have a look though.  If I go ahead with the test, I will bring DH with me, walk no where afterwards and make sure I have a substantial, healthy snack to eat right there at the OB's office before I even get up to leave!   And OMGosh about your mother!  How is it no one bothered to take into account that she was nearly due???  I am taking the exhaustion thing very seriously and getting rather pushy about getting naps in.  I don't want to start labour exhausted, like I did with my last one.  I have to admit this pregnancy is kicking my posterior!  There is *definitely* a difference between pregnancy at 25 with my first and pregnancy at 40 with my fifth!

teckez-- I'm so glad to hear the photo shoot went better than expected.  When I read your first post about it, I thought "ugh, that's a recipe for disaster!"  We've never done such a large family photo as that, but I remember the last one we did with my parents, my sister's family with her (then) 5 kids and my family with our (then) 3 kids and that was hard enough! 

I think my biggest problem with this young midwife I'm dealing with is that she is likely going to want to be "hands on" and in my face during the birth, trying to get me to do what she wants me to do (because, as she says, she has "more experience" than I do) and that will send me right out of skin.  I birth quietly and don't want to be touched or talked to when I'm in pain.  During the times I've seen her, she's put so much energy into trying to convince me that she knows better than me and that I need to just do what I'm told, she doesn't even bother to listen to anything I say. I just can NOT have this woman at my birth.  I'd rather birth alone!  What really made my mind up that I wouldn't tolerate her any longer is when it occurred to me that my OB listens better and treats me with more respect than this midwife does.  My OB and I discuss options and make decisions together, always with the clear understanding that I'm calling the shots.  The midwife tells me "you need to do what I tell you".  Wow. Sorry, but those tactics don't work with me.  Especially when the only birthing experience you've had has been *attending* births and never actually birthing yourself!  Part of me kind of hopes this baby comes like my second one did.  I hadn't even realized I was in labour until I started grunting and feeling the need to bear down (it eases the discomfort for me to push with the contraction).  If the baby came at home without any need to be concerned about complications (because the baby is coming before I really realize I'm in labour), that wouldn't bother me a bit.  It would be nice if it happened when DH was home though!  I'd actually seriously consider a UC if we lived closer to a hospital (like we did when we lived in Munich), if I were younger, if I didn't have high blood pressure.  Too many ifs as it is, though. :-/
 

[tekcez]

Originally Posted by sere234 

Guen- With the way you've been feeling, maybe getting a GD test done would help alleviate your fears. I'm so sorry you've got to deal with maybe finding a new care provider at this point in your pregnancy! Ugh.

Just wanted to say: my DS slept through the night last night!  Wow!! From 10:00 pm to 7 am without a single bad dream or waking. This has only happened 2 or 3 times in his life so it's pretty exciting for us!  And of course as I walk past DS (sleeping soundly) on my way to pee about 5 times a night I'm a little jealous of his sleep, no matter how bad it may be!

Tekcez, didn't you say son has bad dreams too? So sad to have to cuddle my little boy when he wakes crying "No no no no!" or "Mama! Fire!". 

10 to 7!  WOW.  I wish you many, many more nights like that!  Yeah DS does seem to be having nightmares.  He actually had a pretty good week sleepwise, waking only about 4 or 5 times with only one or 2 of those wakings needing major attention. Then we went out of town for the weekend and he got sick again, so we're anticipating another few days of nightmares and screaming wake ups.  It IS so sad. Lately I think he's becoming a bit more conscious of what's going on when he wakes upset because he's realizing I'm there and settling a bit faster.  It's a lot less frustrating for me when he snaps out of it, smiles through the tears, says, "Mama mama mama," in a super relieved voice, grabs my head with both hands and gives me like 5 kisses.  Poor little dude.   

Originally Posted by guen 

I think my biggest problem with this young midwife I'm dealing with is that she is likely going to want to be "hands on" and in my face during the birth, trying to get me to do what she wants me to do (because, as she says, she has "more experience" than I do) and that will send me right out of skin.  I birth quietly and don't want to be touched or talked to when I'm in pain.  During the times I've seen her, she's put so much energy into trying to convince me that she knows better than me and that I need to just do what I'm told, she doesn't even bother to listen to anything I say. I just can NOT have this woman at my birth.  I'd rather birth alone!  What really made my mind up that I wouldn't tolerate her any longer is when it occurred to me that my OB listens better and treats me with more respect than this midwife does.  My OB and I discuss options and make decisions together, always with the clear understanding that I'm calling the shots.  The midwife tells me "you need to do what I tell you".  Wow. Sorry, but those tactics don't work with me.  Especially when the only birthing experience you've had has been *attending* births and never actually birthing yourself!  Part of me kind of hopes this baby comes like my second one did.  I hadn't even realized I was in labour until I started grunting and feeling the need to bear down (it eases the discomfort for me to push with the contraction).  If the baby came at home without any need to be concerned about complications (because the baby is coming before I really realize I'm in labour), that wouldn't bother me a bit.  It would be nice if it happened when DH was home though!  I'd actually seriously consider a UC if we lived closer to a hospital (like we did when we lived in Munich), if I were younger, if I didn't have high blood pressure.  Too many ifs as it is, though. :-/
 

Um, no, that interaction style would not work with me either.  Yuck!  You would think she would have a little respect for someone who has actually already birthed 4 babies.  I'm anxious for my next bc appointment with one of the midwives I actually like so that I can sort of go over their notes of how things went down last time vs my own take on it.  And to talk about the things I would like to do differently.  

[Simonsez2u]

Originally Posted by sere234 

Just wanted to say: my DS slept through the night last night!  Wow!! From 10:00 pm to 7 am without a single bad dream or waking.

That is so awesome!  Maybe this will be a new pattern for him.

Finnegansmom--I yell at the television as well when I watch A Baby Story but I am still drawn to it for some crazy reason. 

Guen- Gosh that stinks about your midwife.  Do you think she is just overcompensating because she is the younger of the two with perhaps less experience?  I find that most people who try really hard to convince people of how much they know are really just insecure because of what they actually don't know.  I can not believe she is treating you that way when you have already experienced birth four times!  I am with you totally on not wanting to be touched or talked to during labor and birth and could not imagine someone in my face.  Good luck with whatever you decide.

AFM we have been enjoying some mighty fine weather here in the South.  I had a cup of hot apple cider yesterday and made an apple cinnamon cheesecake.  OMG talk about divine!  I just love this time of the year.  The kids and I have been picking up pecans from a tree across the street and we already have a gumbo pot full (that's a lot for those not familiar with that Louisiana form of measure ).  I am going to let them dry then take them to the cracker so they are easy to shell. 

I had an appointment today and the reality of how really close we are to delivering slapped me in the face when he told me "after your next appointment we will start seeing you every week and check you to see if you are dilating."  What!  You mean I am about to deliver this baby...like relatively soon?!  Holy smokes!  Maybe that explains the ache in my crotch lately.  Also, if the super taunt skin around my belly is any indication space is quickly running out.  It just has gone by so fast for me and DH too. 

[PacificMar]

Today a delightful three-year-old came to see me with his mother. I think his parents are planning on having another child, since his mother pointed out, "Look, the doctor has a baby in there," and when he trotted over and put his little hands on my belly, he asked, "Are you going to have more babies?" Then he shared his toddler wisdom with me: "When you're done having babies, then you have kids!" He was also interested in the life-sized plastic skeleton model, whom he described as "a bad lady" (as in horror-movie creature?) I love little-kid-think. So cute! 

I'm sorry to hear about the know-it-all midwives...I've encountered such folks before in other contexts, and that's why I'm a tad nervous about meeting our backup midwife this coming week. We love our primary midwife, and I'm hoping anybody she works with is someone she likes and would therefore be just as compatible with us, but I have this nagging worry about a "good cop, bad cop" situation. I'm sure it's not logical, but it's still there. 

How thoughtless to schedule activities that include children during the children's nap times--that strikes me as typical of a prevailing disrespectful attitude toward children in general. While many people seem eager to express their fondness for children with lots of material goods, electronics, and unhealthy foods, at the same time there's this general belief that children's routines aren't worthy of notice ("oh, you can just drag them along anywhere"). Some people we know, meaning to be helpful and kind, have reassured my husband and me that we can return to doing community theater fairly soon after the little one's born ("you can just take him/her to rehearsals," "they'll sleep through it," etc.). I know they're well-intentioned, but it seems that to them, the most desirable state is one where you can do what you like despite your children, whereas acknowledging that children are life-changing (and being OK about it) is an unnecessary sacrifice. 

Be well, mamas, babies, and families, as we approach November! 

[fayebond]

guen, your younger midwife would drive me batty.  One of the pediatricians we see is like that, and I can usually just smile and nod my way through those appointments.  But, they also tell me in advance who I will see when I call to set up said appointments, and lately I've just asked specifically for someone else.  I wish there was a way to get through to people like that that no, actually, you don't automatically want to do what they say to do just because they might have read more boooks/been at more births than you.  :) As a mathy bookworm its especially hard when they go, oh yes, new studies blah blah and I already read the stupid thing and it was so poorly put together that I don't buy half of what it says.  Maybe when you feel you're in labor you could have DH call them and be all like, oh, who is on call right now?  Younger lady?  Until when?  Thanks, bye.   And have some kind of plan for what to do next, wait it out, tell the staff you want the OB instead?  I hope you figure it out soon, or get a new practice. *HUGS*

tekez, do let us know how the baby shower goes!  I love baby showers, they're fun to me. 

sere234, yay for you!  DD is still waking up alot, but not too bad.  I keep waiting for her to just plain stay asleep!  Which reminds me I need to nap today, at some point....

simonez2u, my next appointmetn feels so close!  I want to meet this baby (when they AREN'T kicking my parts from inside), but at the same time, I feel woefully unprepared.  I find myself secretly wishing LO will wait until a week after the due date, just to give me more time to get stuff done.  Then I feel pressure down there and I forget all about that idea!

Tomorrow an appraiser is coming by to see if we can get the house refi-ed to a lower interest rate.  DH is like, chill, its $30 less a month, but I'm so excited anyway.  The accountant in me can't wait  The house still needs picking up in spots, but it hasn't been this clean EVER.  Literally, ever.  The upstairs is clean, the downstairs is clean, and its only a few tables hat need decluttering (okay, and my room, which has been a perpetual struggle).   And DH is coming home early to help with last minute tidying and outside stuff.  Anything that doesn't have a home by 7 pm tonight is getting stuffed into an empty dresser and shoved into the garage. 

Also tonight (yes, brilliant, lots of house things plus this) we are out of formula, so its off the store.  And drop off salvation army donations for the fifth time this year (cricky there is alot of junk in my house!).  Some of the junk is from garage saling this year (my brain is half there, so sometimes I hit it big because I havn't looked the tiem over carefully before making an offer, and other times, I have bought garbage, because I didn't look the item over carefully), and alot of it is from baby and birthday events where DD got plenty of nice but basically useless things. One toy in particualr I will be glad to see go.  Its supposed to play music when the button is pushed, but that's hardly necessary.  It plays a cutesy tune every time it is moved.  Literally, when I walked by the box in the garage to do laundry yesterday it played its song.  And throwing it around only makes it play twice (not that I tried that.. oh wait I did.)

[Sheri R]

I've been missing out on checking in with all you mamas!

I think I am crazy.  I took a last minute 4 week job teaching exchange students 4 days a week at a school 45 minutes from my house!  What am I thinking in my 8th/9th month of pregnancy??  Just hoping I make it through, because a bit of money would be nice since our insurance is crappy!

In baby news.... last appointment (a month ago!) baby was breech.  Saw my chiro and she did the webster technique.  I think I felt baby flip and next chiro appt. she said that baby had flipped. I'm still not 100%, but I see the midwives this week.  I have still only been seeing my midwives every 4 weeks - I guess because things are going well???

I would just love to make it past 37 weeks this time and it might also be cool to be able to labor at home for awhile instead of having my water break first.  Just wishes:)

Hope you all are feeling well and getting the rest you need before the 'big' day:)

[finnegansmom]

I would find issue with a younger midwife as well.  Probably any care provider I see would need to at least be my age (40) which is pretty ancient I guess.

Thankfully my midwife is older and has had 5 of her own, has a lot of experience with deliveries and does not think of me as AMA.  nice.

So I have a terrible chest cold...after terrible allergies for 2 months and then another not so bad cold, I finally got hit with a doozie. 

I've been coughing so much I've been heaving/vomiting.  I started taking robitussin yesterday, I had.  Sad thing is my 19 month old has the same thing...and we were both coughing and throwing up together earlier.  How sweet.  :(

[guen]

Originally Posted by fayebond 

guen, your younger midwife would drive me batty.  One of the pediatricians we see is like that, and I can usually just smile and nod my way through those appointments.  But, they also tell me in advance who I will see when I call to set up said appointments, and lately I've just asked specifically for someone else.  I wish there was a way to get through to people like that that no, actually, you don't automatically want to do what they say to do just because they might have read more boooks/been at more births than you.  :) As a mathy bookworm its especially hard when they go, oh yes, new studies blah blah and I already read the stupid thing and it was so poorly put together that I don't buy half of what it says.  Maybe when you feel you're in labor you could have DH call them and be all like, oh, who is on call right now?  Younger lady?  Until when?  Thanks, bye.   And have some kind of plan for what to do next, wait it out, tell the staff you want the OB instead?  I hope you figure it out soon, or get a new practice. *HUGS*

Well, there is a 250 Euro payment due when you turn 37 weeks which covers the midwives going on call for you for five weeks.  I understand this because independant midwives who attend births are struggling to make a living these days under current circumstances and I'm happy to pay it for a birth attendant I can trust.  However, we're a six-person family living on a single income and that kind of money is hard to come by.  If I could pay this "Rufbeiratschaftsgeld" relatively easily, I would just go ahead and pay it, form a back-up plan B and do exactly as you suggest.  If the young twit is on call when I go into labour, it's plan B.  Otherwise, onward with plan A.  But I can't afford to throw that 250 Euro away for nothing.  I'm all for waiting at home but my labours can be fast (as fast as 3 hours from start to baby) so, in that case, I'd have to be comfortable with going for a UC.  I'm going to be making some phone calls and see what I can find out for alternatives, but at 33 weeks, there is a good chance, most of the alternatives I'd be as happy with are probably booked up for my due date.  But there's no harm in trying, right? 

[MrsKoehn]

Originally Posted by guen 

MrsKoehn-- I've never seen or heard of a home test. I doubt I could find such a thing in Germany.  I'll have a look though.  If I go ahead with the test, I will bring DH with me, walk no where afterwards and make sure I have a substantial, healthy snack to eat right there at the OB's office before I even get up to leave!   And OMGosh about your mother!  How is it no one bothered to take into account that she was nearly due???  I am taking the exhaustion thing very seriously and getting rather pushy about getting naps in.  I don't want to start labour exhausted, like I did with my last one.  I have to admit this pregnancy is kicking my posterior!  There is *definitely* a difference between pregnancy at 25 with my first and pregnancy at 40 with my fifth!

I think my biggest problem with this young midwife I'm dealing with is that she is likely going to want to be "hands on" and in my face during the birth, trying to get me to do what she wants me to do (because, as she says, she has "more experience" than I do) and that will send me right out of skin.  I birth quietly and don't want to be touched or talked to when I'm in pain.  During the times I've seen her, she's put so much energy into trying to convince me that she knows better than me and that I need to just do what I'm told, she doesn't even bother to listen to anything I say. I just can NOT have this woman at my birth.  I'd rather birth alone!  What really made my mind up that I wouldn't tolerate her any longer is when it occurred to me that my OB listens better and treats me with more respect than this midwife does.  My OB and I discuss options and make decisions together, always with the clear understanding that I'm calling the shots.  The midwife tells me "you need to do what I tell you".  Wow. Sorry, but those tactics don't work with me.  Especially when the only birthing experience you've had has been *attending* births and never actually birthing yourself!  Part of me kind of hopes this baby comes like my second one did.  I hadn't even realized I was in labour until I started grunting and feeling the need to bear down (it eases the discomfort for me to push with the contraction).  If the baby came at home without any need to be concerned about complications (because the baby is coming before I really realize I'm in labour), that wouldn't bother me a bit.  It would be nice if it happened when DH was home though!  I'd actually seriously consider a UC if we lived closer to a hospital (like we did when we lived in Munich), if I were younger, if I didn't have high blood pressure.  Too many ifs as it is, though. :-/
 

No, apparently no one thought of Mom at all. This was #6 and from the time I was born (#1) she was periodically pregnant and doing things as usual. She was on more rest with this last one though. My sis and I pretty well took things over in the house from the start but ya, don't know what went wrong here. It was rough for sure!

I do hope she's not on call when you go into labor!

Originally Posted by Simonsez2u 

 It just has gone by so fast for me and DH too. 

Here too!