Anyone else have a super active baby? For the longest time he did not seem to move so much, just little bumps here and there, but lately it seems he is doing salsa in my poor belly. It makes me feel nauseous the movements are so strong.
Mine is doing the chacha, mostly on my bladder or when I'm trying to sleep..
Yes, this is my most active of all! She is always making her presence known.... a little annoying sometimes, but better than the opposite problem :)
All my other farmer-ish friends out there: I'm wondering how I'm going to feed and water the chickens in the winter with a toddler and a newborn. Any tips? I guess I'll set DS in front of the TV and take newbie out with me? Or wait until newbie is sleeping and take toddler out with me? Dang, feeding and watering chickens when it's cold outside and snowy. Fun! 
I can recommend having a 10-yr-old first...! 
Seriously, when I had two littlies at the same time I went ahead and built a hopper for my little flock of 15-20 birds, and splurged on an electric heated waterer. That way I only had to feed every other day and fill up the water daily-- but that could be in the middle of the day, and wasn't part of the morning or evening routines, which are hectic enough already. And my kids learned very early how to be responsible with a basket of eggs!!
What I'm mainly worried about is that the goat won't dry up before LO arrives. DD10 and DH don't feel comfortable with the cleaning/filtering/pasteurizing-or-freezing routine that goes with keeping the milk. I guess if it goes that way, the chickens will get lots of extra milk protein!
WendelB-we've talked about having a little dairy goat, but it isn't something we want to take on right now. We've also talked about having a couple fixed boys to take out the kudzu.
So it seems that depending on where baby is laying determines my appetite. She shifted this afternoon and I am starving!!! So far I've had (and this is embarrassing):
a delicious salad with salty feta, olives, mushrooms, bell peppers and tomatoes
half a calzone complete with mozzarella, rocotta, pepperoni, ham, olives and mushrooms
I am about to eat:
pb&j sandwich
honey crisp apple
huge ass mug of french vanilla decaf coffee
What is wrong with me?? My insulin was upped again, so I'll see what my numbers are later though even with all that I'm not too much over my carb count.
Today we hit up a few stores, I picked up a new pair of ear buds, which I love, I told dh they are cheaper then a doula :) I am just discovering the world of podcasts, anyone have any favs? Tonight I put one up for ds that was some kind of bedtime meditation for kids, he was out within 10 mins. I don't know that I can ever repeat that outcome, but I'm willing to try! I also bought some Ray Lamontagne. So a pretty good day. WEll, other then poor ds sitting in an ant hill outside the book store and being swarmed. Dh had taken the car to run to the grocery store, poor ds got it bad. I got them off before they got to his face though. There's a reason folks call them 'fire ants' my fingers are still itchy.
I haven't been keeping up with the DDC lately. My dear father-in-law passed away (somewhat unexpectedly) and with ALL the other house stuff going on, I don't have time to read or post anything lately. 
It's a gorgeous and lazy Sunday though, and I am trying to enjoy the day!
DH has a bulging disc in his back, so not much renovating/remodeling has been going on. We hope to get a bunch done this week though. The house needs to be painted before it starts raining, to protect all the new siding we just put up. Flooring is 60% installed.
Anyways, I am getting SO SO SO excited to meet this new little person!!!! 
We are still searching names, and I am just *praying* we don't have a boy, because we are both completely stumped on the name front! 
My ribs and upper abdomen are *killing* me, and are the most painful of any pregnancy so far. I think this baby will be our biggest one yet. Our biggest was 8 lb 6 oz., so I'm thinking at least that much this time.
And, so weird, I'm having this pregnancy-induced inner-ear problem that is driving me freaking NUTS. 
My right ear gets plugged every time I swallow, talk, eat, yawn etc.,. I bend over a million times a day to clear my ear. This is the worst pregnancy side-effect I've had to deal with. Worse than HG. Worse than separated pubic bones. The only remedy is, SURPRISE, *giving birth*. So yay, a few more weeks of this insanity.
There is so much more to be done to prepare for the birth and baby, and the days are ticking away like leaves falling off the trees right now!
Sarah--I was so happy to be done dog sitting at the end of August. We had a little dachshund with us for 3 months. She was easy, but just looking after another creature was a pain. I probably would have lost it if she had made german shepherd sized poo mess all over my house. Also I had my own one-sided emotional barffest on dh Friday night. He had been working so much that we hadn't really spoken to each other meaningfully for a couple of weeks. He finally finished up a project and came home early on Friday. He was going to help me clean the house because my mom and grandmother came in for the baby shower my MIL threw for me. He picked up a few toys from the floor and then opened a beer and started watching sports. The house was seriously in a horrible state. Instead of saying something I just stomped around and cleaned by myself while having tons of intense bh contractions and working myself up in to a passive aggressive fury. When he finally asked if I was mad, I just went off on him and went to bed. He stayed up and cleaned for like 3 more hours. When I woke up he had scrubbed the entire front part of the house, but he was all pouty and feeling like a martyr because he didn't sleep much. It took a buffering family event for us to be able to talk. Things are better now, but man, we need to make sure we don't stop talking for 2 weeks again. Bad things happen.
On a happier note, the baby shower was really nice. DS got to play with his 2 same-age cousins. We got quite a few clothes, which was precisely what we didn't need, but I sent some of the stuff that I knew I wouldn't use back with my grandmother to take to her church donation center. Mostly it felt good to see family. I was so happy to spend the rest of the evening going through photos for ds's baby book that I haven't kept up with and talking about birth with my mom and grandmother. My grandmother was alone and unconscious for all but 1 of her 5 births! She is amazed by all the choice that we get to exercise these days. I have to remind myself of that when I start dreading the possibility of things not going exactly as I would like.
Thymemama--so sorry to hear about your father-in-law. That must be hard on everyone. Adding a family death to a house remodel and impending birth sounds tough. I hope you guys get some peace from his unexpected passing and get lots of remodling done, too! I have vertigo that is definitely aggravated during pregnancy. Ear and balance problems are awful. I also have a couple of baby feet either firmly pressing against or forcefully trailing along the lower right edge of my ribcage. Add that to a head that is so low that I can't believe I have 4 more weeks to my EDD, and things are getting realllly uncomfortable.
I'm staying positive, though! I ordered a bunch of the stuff we really needed off my baby registry, so this week will begin the major nesting push. I finally splurged for a decent nursing bra. And the bedroom furniture that we ordered when we moved into the house in July has finally shipped!! Monday of next week we should be able to put our bedroom together and feel settled in completely. It's amazing how much I neeeeeed some order right now. Before kids, I had always been a happy mess.
Ugh, insomnia nesting.... I've been awake since before 2, tried for about 40 minutes to get back to sleep and then felt the overwhelming need to clean. We're meeting a friend and her kids at the pumpkin patch today. I don't know how I'm going to survive today....
Last night was awful. Between not being able to breathe, coughing (from this lovely bug DD15 just had to share with me), miserable heartburn that resisted everything I threw at it and having to run to the loo 7 times and finally, DD3 insisting on either stealing my pillow, lying on me or hugging my arm, I got no sleep at all. I think I finally fell asleep around 5 am and was woken at 830 am. Now I'm going to finish here and go back to sleep because if I don't, I'm going to fall asleep on my laptop!
:( Hope you're able to get some sleep. I'm waiting for that "oh yeah, I should be sleeping right now" wave to hit my body. It's nearly 5, I have to be up by 7, my window is getting too slim....
Oh gosh, I hate that. Knowing you have to be up soon and the time is gettng shorter. :-( It makes it even harder to get to sleep. It's nearly noon here, but DD15 is off from school (written off sick since last Wed. until tomorrow) so she can hold the fort while I try to get some sleep. I hope you manage to get a nap in today!!!!
lol I look forward to those days! Right now, my 6 yo loves to be mother hen (despite my insistence that she is not) so she'll eat it up in the beginning, getting to be in charge. I'm sure she'll learn to hate it :) Not that I'm wanting the next ten years to go by fast :p
Thanks! Nap is unlikely, those friends are supposed to come back to my house for a homeschool co-op thing after the pumpkin patch then DD1 has pictures at soccer practice this evening. *bangs head on wall*
On a happier note, the baby shower was really nice. DS got to play with his 2 same-age cousins. We got quite a few clothes, which was precisely what we didn't need, but I sent some of the stuff that I knew I wouldn't use back with my grandmother to take to her church donation center. Mostly it felt good to see family. I was so happy to spend the rest of the evening going through photos for ds's baby book that I haven't kept up with and talking about birth with my mom and grandmother. My grandmother was alone and unconscious for all but 1 of her 5 births! She is amazed by all the choice that we get to exercise these days. I have to remind myself of that when I start dreading the possibility of things not going exactly as I would like.
Yay, someone got a fun shower!
:( Hope you're able to get some sleep. I'm waiting for that "oh yeah, I should be sleeping right now" wave to hit my body. It's nearly 5, I have to be up by 7, my window is getting too slim....
I need to stop cleaning at some point too. I just want to get stuff done, its frusterating that so much is unfinished.
Try is the operative word. Speaking of which, I better go try that....
Okay, I don't have time to read it all, just wanted to pop in and say I haven't gone into labor or hiding. PC was down a couple days and I have also been swamped.
SO
I'm "full term" today. I could have my homebirth! Yeah! But my MW is still out of the country till next Fri, when I"ll have the home visit. Lots of fun!
Gotta hit the other posts. Here's to the next few days/ weeks for us all!
hi everybody:)
thought it was time to chime in again - but waaaay too busy/exhausted/tired to reply to all the threads, so chit-chat it is.
so we actually moved last weekend. and survived. it was... horrific (sp?)! I am usually a very well organised person, but preparing a move with two small kids and big time preggers AND a lovely DH who will never learn to realistically estimate the work that still needs to be done... not the best pre-conditions for a well organized move. Even two days before DH was totally positive we would be done in 2-3 hours. 
uhm, not even close. I knew it, bc we'Ve been there before, but there was little I could do about it. So we had three guy-friends helping with all the carrying, one lady-friend to watch the kids and me packing. At some point around noon I pretty much lost it and had a little break down, bc I just couldn't see the end of it. But then we somehow managed to all pull through and in the end most got done. We still have the old place til the end of the month, so DH keeps going back and fourth with a trailer and in the mean time we are almost finished with the old place and already have managed to get a little bit settled in the new place too. If anyone wonders: I certainly do not recommend moving so close to your due date!
On another note: I looked down at my feet this morning and my ankles were gone. Instead I now sport a pair of elephant feet. They actually are old aquaintances of mine, always turning up in the last few weeks of my pregnancies and taking their leave after baby is born, but man, are they ugly. and uncomfortable. oh, well. Off to some more unpacking of boxes.
ETA: I have about three weeks to go. Originally my EDD was Nov. 6th, but my mw moved the official date to the 11th, to buy us some time, just in case we need to go to the clinic after all. I just really would like some more time to get settled here and then remember to concentrate on the *other* big impending event - right now I am just so not in the zone to give birth... 
Franjapany!!! You survived the move!! Weren't you pretty sick for a while in there too? When your baby arrives, you totally deserve to sit and rest alllllll day long for weeks!
MrsKoehn- Hey, I'm full term tomorrow! I didn't think of that until you mentioned it!
OceansEve and Guen- I was actually up and sleepless the same night you were but earlier and didn't see your posts. I wanted some DDC midnight talking but got tired and fell asleep before you started yours! Hope you all managed to get some sleep!
Thymemama- So sorry to hear about your FIL.
The dog we were babysitting went home last night. It's kinda nice to be back to just cats, one tiny dog, 7 chickens, and my lovely toddler :) Seemed kinda quiet outside feeding and letting the animals play outside this morning. No giant dog romping around!!
It's a chilly rainy day here today, you know, that melancholy autumn weather. I love it :) My mom and grandmother are coming over for lunch so that will be fun! Need to go straighten the house up and clean the kitchen before they arrive.
Ugh, my whole crew is sick again! Second time this month, we were all under the weather two weeks ago. I love fall and winter, but I hate this part. Normally I'm a very healthy person, but pregnancy always makes me catch everything!! I'm convinced that we're just going to skip december activities this year, family and all. I don't need the added stress and sickness of all the get togethers.
Sere - I guess it was something in the air that night. I've gotten okay sleep the last two nights, but I've slept hard which usually translates to me not feeling like I got enough sleep. I need a big catch up in a bad way!
fran - I felt like that when we moved in Feb, we had a deadline to be out by and I had a complete breakdown because I knew there was no way we could get it all done in time. The people who bought our house managed to push it through in two weeks instead of the normal month so we were scrambling.
I'm so jealous of you ladies that are in the last weeks. 6 weeks feels like soooo long right now!!
Thanks for the support ladies. I really miss him. He was such a huge part of our lives, and I am just heartbroken that our new baby will never get to hear his voice or be held in his arms, not even once.
We're sick with a cold too on top of it all!!! I don't get sick very often, so I feel extra bitter about it when I do get sick. We all had a wicked, wicked chest cold when I birthed DS #1. Man, I'll tell you, labor and pushing is pretty dang crappy when you have deep chest congestion, a drippy nose and cracked ribs! I never, ever want to do that again, so I hope I feel better before this baby comes!
I have so much to do still. 
I have gotten really behind with my FIL dying, and just the pure lack of energy I am experiencing this pregnancy. 
WHERE is my crazy nesting energy????? I still have not gathered all my birth supplies or washed/prepped any of the baby's things. I don't have a birth space set up either. I'm due in 17 days! Oh well. It will all get done. Somehow.
Thyme Mama, I wanted to say how sorry I am for the lost of your FIL. I'm sorry he didn't get to hold this baby, but I do believe that our loved ones are near us, even after they've passed. *hugs*
I have a question. Has anyone experienced sharp shooting pains, like a side stitch? I have gotten a couple. One when the baby jammed it's little foot into my side, and last night, on my left side, the one I was laying on. I figure it's either muscle fatigue or, hehe, gas? I have a hard time determining what's going on with my internal organs these days. It really really really hurts, though! Just wondered if anyone else knew about these, if they're common...
Sounds like ligament pains to me. I get them REALLY bad when I sneeze, can't hardly move they hurt so bad. I get them other times too, but sneezing is the worst.
Thyme - I'm sorry about your FIL. My grandfather died when I just started dating my DH and it has always made me sad he didn't get to meet him. One of the last times I saw him he asked me if I was dating anyone (which he NEVER asked) I said yes and he asked if he was a keeper and I told him, " Yeah..... I think so."
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