Weekly Chat ~ Jan 28 - Feb 3 « Back to Group Discussions

[Quinalla]

May doesn't seem so far away all of a sudden! Here are a few posts to get us started:

Originally Posted by PhilsBabyMama 

Originally Posted by TwilightJoy 

I've read recently about the benefits of a strong amniotic sac and baby being born in the caul. I started a thread in I'm Pregnant, if you'd like to check it out! http://www.mothering.com/community/t/1373170/supplements-for-a-strong-amniotic-sac

Maddox was born in the caul. It was really cool. I think it kind of cushioned him during the pushing. It took a few pushes with his head sliding back and forth before it came out, and then the rest of him squirted out immediately. He shot out like a torpedo, making a wake in the tub (water birth) and then the amniotic sac kind of fell apart as we reached for him. I've also read that getting enough protein can help strengthen the sac. I was getting at least 80 grams a day (70 being the minimum rec for pregnant women) so maybe there's something to that?

As far as the GD testing, I don't do it. I didn't with Maddox and won't be with this baby either. Here's a reprint of an interesting article by Henci Goer for those interested: http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/gdhgoer.html

Glad my husband and I are on the same page about circumcision this time around. When I was pregnant with Maddox, my husband was super supportive of everything I wanted, even though it seemed foreign to him. If he wasn't sure why I wanted to do something (like birth outside of a hospital setting, breastfeed, cloth diaper, etc.) he'd ask and we'd talk about it, but it was all up to me.

But with circumcision he put his foot down for some reason. He wanted it done, period, no discussion. He's never been stubborn like that before, and it was a little daunting, but as far as stubbornness goes, I win. I emailed him articles for months on the benefits of leaving babies intact. Apparently, that softened him up a bit and he was reading them, although he never told me. Then at one of my appointments, he asked my midwife what the medical benefits of circumcision were and she said "There are none." We'll that threw him a bit, but I guess he was still torn.

One day he came home from work and I was hysterical. I'd watched a video of a routine infant circumcision and it was the worst thing I've ever seen. I told him that if he wanted our baby to live through that, the least he could do was watch it. He declined, but said he'd been thinking a lot about it and decided if there wasn't a medical reason to do surgery then what was the point? Thank goodness, because I had already decided that I wouldn't let it happen come hell or high water and if that meant relationship issues for us then so be it.

Five years later, my husband has turned in to a staunch supporter of leaving boys intact, so this little guy I'm carrying will be left the way nature made him without any heated discussion.

Timesaway, hope things settle down for you soon! You and the little guy are in my thoughts.

Originally Posted by sweetlowmom 

uff, i haven't ever posted on the chat thread but i figure it's about time to do so!!

first off, timewsay i am so sorry you are going through such a hard time ... sending you all kinds of strong thoughts for your body mind soul and relationship! you are going through a ton of hard stuff right now and i wish bf was there to support you. big hugs.

i wanted to comment on the circ issue ... we don't know right now if babe is a boy or a girl as at my 20 week appt he/she would not reveal. i have another ultrasound in feb so maybe we'll find out then. anyway, aside from the obligatory i will be happy with any healthy baby, especially after two miscarriages, i had sort of wanted a boy, to revel in the craziness of DS having a brother. but. i don't want to deal with the circ issue again. DH is circed and it is very important to him, it is an important part of his culture. in fact he was circed at 12 years old in a big ceremony ... so he knows what the damn operation looks like! he watched his own and STILL supports it. maybe he supports it just because he had to go through that, though ... that said, i gave birth to DS in the US while DH was in Spain (long story), and since he really really wanted it, and my family all supported it too, i caved. since insurance paid for it if you do in the hospital, i went for it ... but i wouldn't let DS go alone. i figured that the least i could do if i was going to put him through such a traumatic surgery was be there with him. oh it was absolute hell, absolute hell. now it's over and done with but i still sometimes feel sick about it. my sister is a dr and has apparently seen some horrid foreskin infections and so was pro-circ, but still ... this time around, we are in spain and here it is not a routine procedure, so i don´t know how things will work out. i suppose we'll deal with it once babe is born ... maybe i'll be lucky to have a girl and not have to deal LOL!!! (of course, it would be great to have a girl for other reasons, too haha ... who knows what will happen ...). anyway i just wanted to chime in.

hope everyone has a good week!

 

[Quinalla]

Well game night Friday was very fun! Two guys from my DH's work that we've played various computer and tabletop role-playing games with before came over, one brought his 9-year-old daughter, and we played a huge variety of board games and one dice game. These are all more European-style board game, so not like Monopoly or anything like that. Ticket to Ride, Pandemic & Zombie Dice were three of the ones we played, I can't recall the names of the others as DH's friend brought them. Then DH and I tried King of Tokyo on Saturday ourselves and it is a nice quick and easy game we can try next time. DD stayed up late, till about 9:30, as they didn't arrive until a little after 7:30, she was being pretty good though watching some Adventure Time, playing with the 9-year-old who was alternating taking her turn in the games (she sat out one of them), playing with DD and watching Adventure Time with DD. I had a great time and everyone left just before midnight so we weren't even up too late and it was nice hosting as we just dumped out the chip crumbs, put the dishes in the sink and went to bed!

DH finished painting the nursery (though he will touch up a few spots as he is a perfectionist ) on Sunday, it looks good! I got donated some clothes/items to Goodwill on Friday and will send more this week, already packed up a trash bag of clothes. We are trying to really cut out the rest of stuff that we don't need and anything that also doesn't have a home is going to have to go too as we just don't want junk everywhere anymore. We've gotten rid of so much, but it just gets harder as you get further into it.

TwilightJoy, sorry about the RLP, I will say for me they are so much sharper in pain than labor ever was. Labor contractions for me anyway had a nice slow buildup to their intense point, so it was easier to prepare for them. RLP also catch me off guard! Don't worry about not being able to keep up, we all have busy times where we can't I posted in your other thread, but yeah DD was nearly born in caul, my water broke with her well into pushing and honestly the OB may have broken it, I have no clue as I had no recollection of it breaking and DH wasn't sure, just remembers that it went everywhere!

Thanks for all who gave their thoughts and experiences on circumcision. I think it will go ok with DH as he can be won over by logic on anything given some time. I hope for those of you going through it with your partners/DH's that it goes well for you too!

[CoBabyMaker]

(My friend might be in labor and I am SO excited for her! OK, just had to share that.)

Katie, Sounds like you had a great game night!  Sounds like fun!  DH loves Ticket to Ride.  We are way overdue for game night here!  We used to do it all the time but when everyone's kids have to go to bed it get's tricky.

That is so great that your DH got the nursery painted already! 

Saturday night we switched some furniture around which is great progress.  It was like musical dressers and hutch.  I am still not sure where to put all the homeschooling and art materials so I am REALLY hoping we can put in a proper closet where some junky cabinets are now before baby comes.  There is technically space in the babies room but then I don't have access if he is napping, which would be the easiest time to do school/crafts. 

It's been a great couple days after a rough day on Saturday.  Some days DD1 just acts rude, disrespectful and fights with everyone all.day.long and that was Saturday.  It's so tiring and I ended up losing my patience.  ;(  But yesterday DH took each of the girls on a one on one date while I had special time at home with the other.  That helped a lot and the rest of the day went much better, today has been fine again.  Thank God! 

Oh I'm just waiting on pins and needles to hear from my friend!  We are watching her boys while she is laboring so I am excited to find out and meet this new little one!<false alarm, they slowed down again.  Probably soon though.>

Edited by CoBabyMaker - 1/28/13 at 2:30pm

[nstewart]

Holy moly!  It's practically February!

TJ, I haven't had a chance to look at your other thread yet, but I will.  DS wasn't born in the caul, but my doctor broke my water at some point into the pushing stage I think just a few mins before DS was born.  She asked if I minded since it would avoid her getting splatered, so I said yes. 

Sweetlow, what part of Spain do you live in?  DH and I have traveled there a few times, and he lived in Barcelona for 4 months while he did his masters.  I absolutely loved my time there, and would love to go back. 

Katie, game night sounds like it was fun!  DH and I want to have company over soon too.  It's tough with everyone having little kids though, because evenings are mostly out unless they don't mind putting their little ones down at our house, which I always hate doing at other people's houses so don't blame anyone for not wanting to do at mine.  Ah well, summer will mean afternoon BBQs again.   Yay on having the nursery painted!  That's a big step!

Co, yay for your friend!  So exciting!!  I'm sorry you had such a rough day with DD1.  My friends call it the F.U. fours.  lol. 

DH and I had a great get-away in Palm Springs.  While it was kind of cloudy and rained a bit, it felt warm to us canucks and we enjoyed wandering around outside for most of the weekend, or sitting by the pool at our hotel.  I had big dreams of sleeping in all three days and I think the latest I made it was 8:30!  I guess that's 2 hours later than I usually get up, but still!  DS did great while we were away.  I think my parents had him too busy to miss us at all.  We called Saturday night and he essentially talked to me for 1 minute, told me he was eating icecream, and that he'd gone to the zoo, and then "bye mommy, going to play hockey with papa" and walked away from the phone!  HA!  And I was worried he'd miss me...Oh, and I couldn't resist buying a couple really cute newborn things, one at the outlet mall and two at Target.  One was even gender neutral, but I bought two really cute pink onsies because I have NO girl stuff, and there's a 50 percent chance this baby is a she.  If baby is a boy I will give them to a friend.  I have enough friends having babies these days that won't be hard!

This week I need to get started on that long to do list of mine.  DH will hang the shelving in the playroom, and I'll work on bringing all the toys down and organizing them, etc.  I want to do some decorating in that room but realistically it can be pretty low on the priority list and happen this summer or even next fall when I'm home on mat leave.  Then I'll have time to craft/make a lot of what I have for ideas and art, etc. so won't have to go buy stuff. 

Hope everyone is doing well.

[BaileyB]

Quinalla - That game night sounds fun! We had some unexpected social fun this weekend too. Congrats on getting the nursery painted. I have been afraid to start any painting projects for fear I would run out of energy and it would be left halfway done...and DH is a terrible painter and he hates it.  What color did you pick?

Cobabymaker -  How exciting with your friend in labor. My bff is due the third week of March and I am really excited for her to have her baby. Sorry you had a rough day with your DD. I def have those too. DD likes to sass the dogs and for some reason she gets the word hate mixed up with hey, as in "hey!! Dont do that!" and even though I know it is just her getting confused it practically boils my blood when I hear her say Hate! to anything.

Nstewart - I am so jealous of your trip! I could use some sun BAD!

I am feeling a little better about myself today. I have been feeling so fat and lazy and just not cute. I am out of clothes to wear. I have 1 pair of sweatpants that now have paint on them and 1 pair of cheap jeggings whose seams are being tested every time I wear them and maybe 3-4 shirts. I was feeling bad about it because I know we are trying to pay off some debt and stick to kind of a strict budget and with DD's bday next week I was both stressed about not having clothes to wear to her party but not wanting to spend the money to get new clothes either. Well, now DH is going out of town for work Thur and Fri and he "okay'd" the shopping funds. I felt bad because I felt like I was putting us over the budget but I feel better that he looked at some banking stuff on his own to see if we should spend it or not.

Today DD and I did our regular errands in town but we also picked out her bday decorations. The lady at the grocery store told her happy birthday so now she has been saying it to, which is really cute. I also feel better that I got some things at the store that will help me eat healthier and strategize against my raging sugar cravings. Mostly just some frozen fruit that I can use to make protein smoothies and lemons for my water. I think my sugar cravings and new-found tiredness are going hand in hand so I am trying to force myself to take a nap when DD does during the day, and lastnite I walked on the treadmill for a bit.

Not to ramble on and on but lastnite EVERY TIME! I went to roll over I could HEAR my pubic bone pop! I think maybe this baby will just fall out because of how separated my pelvis is. This morning when I woke up I was walking bow legged.

[BaileyB]

OMG I just realized how not long these 13 weeks are going to go! I don't know why it just hit me when last week it felt like it was never going to end. This coming Sat I have DD's bday party, then our phone upgrades, and I need/want to get the baby's leg warmers and bonnet and get caught up with our finances, then March I was going to do baby chicks and start our flower seeds with DD, then Easter and then up to 4 weeks after that the baby comes! Bahh!

[PhilsBabyMama]

I may have over done it a bit. We got some snow today, so I bundled up my little man and went out and shoveled the driveway. It felt great at the time and it was only a few inches so I wasn't straining at all. I think making sure to bend at the knees and lift may be better for your back, but is not necessarily better for your pubic bone! Haha! Then we went on a really nice, quiet walk on paths in our neighborhood through the falling snow. It was beautiful and Maddox really enjoyed it, but now it feels like someone kicked me in the crotch! It's been so cold (I think 12 degrees was our high last week and -25 was our low) that we've been stuck inside and I've been feeling lethargic from lack of exercise, so I couldn't resist the balmy (ha!) 22 degree weather outside!

[TwilightJoy]

Originally Posted by Quinalla 

TwilightJoy, sorry about the RLP, I will say for me they are so much sharper in pain than labor ever was. Labor contractions for me anyway had a nice slow buildup to their intense point, so it was easier to prepare for them. RLP also catch me off guard!

Thank you, this was just what I needed to read tonight. I am starting to get really worried about how bad the RLP has been the past few days, and this is #1 for me so I've been wondering if it's really braxton hicks or something and not RLP. It's reassuring to read about how intense they can be.

I'm taking calming, deep breaths.

[nstewart]

Originally Posted by TwilightJoy 






Thank you, this was just what I needed to read tonight. I am starting to get really worried about how bad the RLP has been the past few days, and this is #1 for me so I've been wondering if it's really braxton hicks or something and not RLP. It's reassuring to read about how intense they can be.

I'm taking calming, deep breaths.

Awh....

Seriously, Katie is right.  I had some frequently for several weeks that were so bad I'd have to stop, stand still, and lean over just to handle the pain.  And if it makes you feel any better I've only had a few mild ones this go round.

[FarmerMomma]

Feeling better since my cold. Only blowing nose at night and morning now. Trying to catch up on the house. I made a big dent in laundry today and a little dent in the kitchen. DS got a new computer game that he likes so I had some time. Not huge on screen time but computer stuff he will stop on his own after a while. I need a new plan for cleaning tomorrow.

We will be making some valentines. I signed up for a homeschool swap and we'll send some to a few out of state friends.

Went to a new yoga class tonight. Not as good as my other but DS got to hang out w a good friend. We didn't make it yoga on Saturday cause we really needed to sleep in.

Saw my boyfriend for like 2 hours this weekend. Sigh. He says he wants to come up for midwife appointment. Waiting on a birth so she can schedule but he's probably gonna have to take off work. We'll see if that happens.

Having some trouble getting medical back up together. Can get backup plan together but not backup for midwife locally. So double visits locally or 1.5 hours away visits not 5 year old friendly, need to see how many 2 or 3 I think.

Hope everyone has a great week. Lots of baby bonding to y'all.

[Quinalla]

CoBaby, congrats to your friend, how exciting! Sounds like the one-on-one time was nice with your girls, I know I always treasured one-on-one time with either parent as it was tough to get with 4 kids. I hear you on trying to find places for everything, that is what we are struggling with right now and also that I don't want to get stuff all put away only to have to move it again when we put carpet it, but I think I may just go ahead and do it, dunno!

nstewart, yeah it is hard with a bunch of young kids, that's why we hosted since we were the only ones in the group with a young one as I hate trying to put DD down anywhere that isn't home (or Grandmas, but even there it is harder). Even so, she stayed up way too late, but oh well, I was actually hoping we'd start after she was asleep, maybe next time we can start earlier so we can put her down only a little bit late. Glad the Palms Springs trip was fun for you, it is too funny different temperatures feel warm/cold depending what you are used to. I just saw something on facebook the other day that I've seen in many different forms, a picture of 50F in Michigan (a family having a picnic in jeans and t-shirts) and 50F in California (everyone wearing winter coats and hats looking miserable).

BaileyB, the color is a really light beige/grey/yellow, so just a hint of color to the white, but I really like how it turned out. The room still feels nice and cheery, but has a little something going on so it isn't just WHITE. I think we'll do a deeper color carpet in there to set it off. Sorry about your pubic bone popping, I am definitely catching myself doing the pregnancy waddle. Good for you for getting some food in the house to help get away from too much sugar, that always makes me tired too from the sugar crash, I feel like I am buying so much food this time, but I want to have plenty of good stuff around to eat in the office and home so I get plenty of nutritious food! Glad you are going to buy some new clothes, its no good to have nothing to wear. Also, I hear you on how much longer we all have left, ugh! I was such the perky, cheerful pregnant lady last time, I'm so not this time, I bet I was really annoying the crap out of everyone

PhilsBabyMama, ouch, I hope you feel better! I'm making DH do all the shoveling this winter, not that he would let me do it anyway. The walk sounds nice though!

TwilightJoy, seriously RLP hurt, even mild ones. They make me swear or just stop dead speechless. BH usually at worst feel like mild period cramps for me, usually it is more just a tightening feeling, and I never felt them first pregnancy anyway. I hope they give you a break soon!

FarmerMomma, glad you are feeling better and got some cleaning done. I hope you can get the midwife backup figured out and that your boyfriend steps up a little more!

My OB is still delivering at two hospitals (St Ann's which I gave birth in last time and Grant), but they are doing most of their deliveries at Grant and they said I might need to go there if it was the weekend and they already had someone there. I'd rather go to St Ann's again since I know it and they did a good job overall, and the drive/parking is easier, but I was alright with it. Well, I don't know if St Ann's just forgot to do this last time or if Grant is being a PITA, but I called yesterday to preregister with Grant as they have no online way to do it. First, I tried the number on the website, but got a "It's been changed" message, so tried the main line, got transferred 20 times (ok it was really 6 times, but still!) and finally got to the maternity pre-registration for Grant. Nice woman is taking down all my info over the phone and then she says she'll put me on hold and call my insurance and get an estimate. I say ok, I already know about how much it is going to cost me but fine, and comes back and gives me the figure and then says that it is their policy to collect that amount at the time of preregistration! I don't even know if I will be delivering at this hospital, so no way am I paying ahead of time and then not delivering and then waiting a month or more for them to pay me back, I'll pay after like I did last time. I was nice about it, but explained my OB goes to two hospitals and this was my second choice and I wasn't paying ahead of time, she was a bit flustered and said I could call back anytime and have anyone take care of it, well no thanks! Also, the way my insurance works now most of my deductible is going to be eaten up by tests/labs (like U/S and such) as they don't cover that now until I meet my deductible, so their estimate is probably wrong anyway. Is this standard now or something to pre-pay? I haven't preregistered with St Ann's yet as their webpage hasn't been working, but if they don't have this policy, I'm even more wanting to deliver there. They certainly didn't make me pay ahead last time. I can understand OBs/midwives/etc. having you pay ahead of time as they are actually seeing you the whole pregnancy and most of the $$ comes at birth, but the hospital? It's not like they are reserving a room for me or something

[BaileyB]

philsbabymomma - I am considering cleaning out our poor chickens house today since it is finally above freezing and suppose to get back into single digits by Thurs. On the one hand I know I am going to be even more sore than I already am today but on the other hand I know I am not going to get any smaller anytime soon....I think I am just going to suck it up and do it!

[Lynann]

Seems I've missed a LOT in the last few weeks of chatting. I've been dealing with sick little ones, then got sick too, but I'm beginning to feel better and back to chatty mode.

I'll also pitch in on the round ligament pain being way worse than labor contractions. When I get them I have to immediately stop what I'm doing, as I feel like I'm being stabbed.

It is really good to try and have a strong amniotic sack. My waters broke before labor started with DS1 (by 20 minutes) so he was a dry birth. Without the cushion of the amniotic fluid he got cemented into a asynclictic position that made me extremely slow to dilate. After 37 hours of contractions that started at only 5 min apart I was still only 8cm. I had to transfer to the hospital from our planned home birth at 24 hours because of stupid Florida laws, and after I reached 37 hours and still not fully dilated I was given a c/s for arrested dilation (I was stuck at 8cm for over 12 hours.) So with DS2 my CNM mentioned taking 1000mg of Vit C (with bioflavinoids) every day from 20 weeks to strengthen the amniotic sack. It worked because my waters didn't break with DS2 until that first spontaneous push. The difference between a dry and a wet birth were like night and day. Labor was more gradual, but much, much shorter as DS2 had that fluid cushion to get into position. The contractions were much easier for me to handle, and I only had 3 hours of active labor (with 5-6 hours of early labor) and 20 min of pushing with a bigger baby that had his hand up at his face.

I've been very nesty lately, but my focus has been on decluttering and organising the entire house. We finally got the kitchen safe enough to take down the safety gate and let the boys come into the kitchen. We also got their new play area set up upstairs with lots of toy storage too. It also helps keep down the mess that builds up in our main living space on the ground floor, which makes me a happier mama. Next on the list is to gut out our master suite so that it is easier for us to set up a space for the new baby in there. The baby will room in with us for at least 6 months, then if its a boy they will join the other boys in their room once they are sleeping through most of the night (at whatever age that happens after 6 months) or if its a girl then we will be converting our guest room into a girls room for her to move into, but not until after my parents visit at Christmas, as we'll need to keep it as a guest room until after they leave.

Its amazing to think we're almost at the 3rd trimester already. This pregnancy seems to be flying by right now. I'll be 26 weeks this week, then just another week until that 3rd trimester. I guess I had better get busy finishing all the little projects I need to do before I get set up for this one's arrival. And almost time to start cooking double amounts to feed the freezer for after the birth.

[CoBabyMaker]

NS, It sounds like you had a great trip!  I'm glad your DS did fine too.  50 degrees sounds nice to me too!

Bailey, I'm glad you'll be able to get some new things!  That is so nice and I know it helps me when I am feeling down about the way I look in pregnancy.  I have been feeling that way but I want to buy non-maternity clothes which makes no sense right now.  I've been buying shoes instead!

Farmer, I'm glad you're feeling better and catching up on things!

Katie, How weird about the hospital.  I wonder how they even get away with doing that.  There are so many variables!

Lyn, I never read if you got the results of your lupus testing.  Sounds like everything is going well for you though!

Well, my poor friend is still pregnant.  She has had a lobe of her placenta that has been bleeding off and on throughout the pregnancy and it has been bleeding a lot.  She was hoping for a homebirth but after assessing everything and consulting her midwife they headed to the hospital for a c/s.  When she got to the hospital the bleeding stopped and the contractions petered out.  So at 12:30 last night they were sent home.  I just feel bad for them as this has been such a roller coaster time for them.  (They are also in the process of buying a short sale house that has been a lot of back and forth)  So we will wait.  It was a good practice run for her boys spending the night I guess and it made me finish the baby blanket.  I'm so tired though.  I didn't sleep well because I kept hoping they would call with news and then her boys tried to get up at 5:30.  Oh well, I'm glad I could help!  Just hoping to rest a bit this afternoon and I'm pretty sure we're having a movie night.

[BaileyB]

How nerve wracking for your friend! I hope everything goes well for her and that she is unpregnant soon.

So, I forgot it was my birthday today! haha. I didn't realize it until DH said Happy Birthday and went out the door to work. Then 2 of my cousins texted me happy birthday, and then Dh came home with flowers after work. So Happy Birthday to me! I celebrated by cleaning out our chicken house (yuck) but I was really glad that I am not extra sore tonight from it. Maybe I will be in the morning though. It felt good to feel productive and get something done that I had put off for a while. DH and I went to our money management class tonight and then to McDonald's to go over our 'homework' for the night only to realize that we had already done it and then we also discovered that in March we will start having an extra $200 a month coming in. Always good news.

[CoBabyMaker]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Bailey!   (And woot for an extra $200!)

[PhilsBabyMama]

Happy Birthday!!!

[nstewart]

Co, I hope your friend is doing alright and that baby arrives soon!  Hopefully you can catch up on some sleep tonight.

Bailey, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!    The extra $200 is great!  And I agree, it always feels so good to get done a chore that's been put off for a while.

[sweetlowmom]

Happy birthday Bailey!! An extra $200 a month is Fantastic news!! :)

nstewart, thanks for asking! We live in Granada, in the south - it's absolutely beautiful. I came over to study in 2005 and again in 2007, and met DH then. He is also an immigrant here (from Senegal) but has been here for about 12 years now, so more than me! DS was born in 2009 in the US, due to me trying to finish my masters, and then when I graduated I came back here. We love it! I miss the States sometimes, especially my family, but we are really happy here, which is the most important. It's been interesting navigating the different healthcare systems as a pregnant diabetic! The nice thing is that here everything is free! :) Quinalla how ludicrous that they want to make you pay ahead of time, good grief! What a hassle.

wishing everyone an easy-breezy wednesday!

[Quinalla]

Lynann, I hear you on getting the house organized, I've been loving the work we've gotten done so far! I can't believe it is almost the 3rd trimester either.

CoBaby, glad I'm not the only one who thought the hospital was ridiculous. I'm just not going to pay ahead, they can't make me right Your poor friend! Ah well, I'm glad the boys did well at your place and that you got the baby blanket done.

BaileyB, Happy Birthday I often forget about mine too, DH is actually the one who remembers birthdays really well and he teases me about forgetting. Congrats on the extra $200, that's awesome!

sweetlowmom, thanks, I was and still am pretty pissed at the hospital, glad I'm not the only one who thinks it is ridiculous. I'm not paying it ahead and I'm not delivering there unless I have to and I'm going to bring it up with my OB at my next appointment. I bet it is very different with the healthcare system, I'd be curious to hear the differences.

Cabinet guy and the head remodel guy are stopping by today at noon so I'll go to meet them, the cabinet guy wants to measure everything himself which is understandable. I'll sign the paperwork today so we can get on the schedule so this can all be done before the twins arrive. New kitchen, new bay window, new carpets in the rest of the house that haven't been replaced yet (still have the starter house cheapo carpet that is ~15 years old) and new solid doors and trim upstairs. It is going to be a hassle while the house is all torn up, but better now that after the twins arrive that's for sure!

I'm tired of the insomnia of the past two nights, ugh. Just tossing and turning so much! I am totally the whiny pregnant lady this go around too which I don't like either Ah well, I am loving my huge belly at least, it's really been fun to be so visibly pregnant for so long this time