March Chat Thread - Page 5 « Back to Group Discussions

[Munchkin08]

35 weeks/35 days to go as of today!

[1babysmom]

I am feeling so strangely unsettled today and it is driving me bonkers.  Started the second I started to become "concious" as I was waking up and hasn't gone away.  I am usually pretty good at identifying stressors in my life (so that I can eliminate them) but this time I've got nothin'!  Which makes me nervous, feels like I am forgetting something....

[BaileyB]

I have had a couple of evenings like that this pregnancy. I just can't sit down and just pace the house and then I usually get agitated but don't know why. It is really annoying. I think the last time I felt like that I was only 28 weeks so not like close to labor and it is not like nesting, just restless and agitated.

[Cananny]

Here are some new pics of the boys.. they are 9 days old today!

[bmcneal]

Originally Posted by Cananny 

Here are some new pics of the boys.. they are 9 days old today!

Oh my goodness, cananny! They are *so* adorable!

[BeanBean06]

Adorable Cananny!!!!

[TIFF4NY]

Aww yay Cananny! They are so sweet! How are you all doing?

[IronMam]

Yay Cananny! They're so cute! Thank you SO much for taking the time to share pictures with all of us! :D

-DP just got invited to the University of Cincinnati's VERY last interview day. It's only for a spot on the wait list, but since we found out about the high stats issue, it seems like a good thing to do as he'd probably get a slot on the top of the list, and they take anywhere from 15-70 people off the list each year. The interview is NEXT week though, so now we're rushing to figure out travel plans. I'd like us to all drive down together, so that I can surprise my mom/visit my family. But, as expensive as flying is, it'd still be comparable, and possibly cheaper, for him to fly there by himself, than all three of us road trip it (since it would take 3 days driving both ways, so that 4 nights in hotels + we'd need to get new tires/have the car checked out first).

[firespiritmelody]

Cannany, they're beautiful! 9 days already!! How are they doing? Can't wait to hear an update when you're up to it!

IronMam, that's great news! Crossing my fingers for you!!

1BM - I've had that restless feeling too, unfortunately, mine is stress related and there's little I can do to remedy it. Maybe it's some "it's getting close" nesting for you though?? The need to tie up loose ends??

AFM - My stress level is through the flipping roof and I don't know what we're going to do about it. First and foremost, the stupid city is being ... I don't even know what the right word is... stubborn? Slow? Ridiculous?? When it comes to issuing the needed permits for us to complete the relocation of our business. We had hired a broker to help us find an appropriate new spot (basically a real estate agent for business leases) and they seemed pretty helpful even though the first couple of places that we were interested in ended up falling through. We finally found what we thought was going to be the perfect spot, with their help, and signed a very favorable lease. We started moving in and getting set up pretty much right away - we had no choice but to close our previous location on the date that we did so we were completely closed for business and anxious to get set back up - for one, it's the only source of income for my family (dh is a sahd) plus we have a staff of about 8 that we were trying to keep employed. Anyway, I immediately started getting the various paperwork for the city and state updated and submitted. I figured this was going to be no big deal since we'd already been in business, in the same county, for 8 1/2 years. Apparently, I was wrong. 

So, the space we moved into was previously a cafe and pizza place. So this city needed us to file for a "change of use" for the space. OK, no big deal, just some extra paperwork. Other then it's been a NIGHTMARE! What we're finding out is that really the awesome landlord who we've been really enjoying working with so far, should have applied for the COU and all that before renting to us. We've jumped through a bunch of hoops, turned in site plans and specs and all sorts of crap numerous times, etc and it's just been one road block after another. Here we are, over a month later, and we're still not officially open for business. We're operating minimally "under the table" because well, we have to. I'm a specialty store - we sell animal food that you just can't get anywhere else and people need it, so, I'm selling it to them, even though it's illegal for me to do so. Of  course it's not enough to pay the bills and what little I had saved up for the move has been spent. At this point I don't know how I'm going to make rent for myself (which is due today) or payroll for my employees on Friday.

We opened our business with nothing - no one has ever given us a loan, line of credit, credit card, NOTHING the entire time we've been open - we've always been "too risky" for one reason or another so I doubt anyone is going to do anything for us now. But dang it, we've been in business for *8 1/2* years for crying out loud. SOMEONE should want to help us! 

So, my poor hubby is back down at the city building again today trying to figure out what they're saying is wrong now. When they called this morning they hinted that they may deny the application all together which would mean we'd have to find another new space. Which, if that's the case, we'll have to get our lawyer involved to see what we can do to re-coop some of the money we've spent getting into the space (like our deposits and such) so that we can start looking for something else. Which, I'm sure I don't need to point out is going to be a total nightmare considering I'm 36 1/2 weeks pregnant right now

On top of that, I had my home visit with my mw of Friday and it left me feeling frustrated and depressed. My mw is really a lovely lady and I have no reason to doubt her abilities as a mw etc but I'm still having a really hard time dealing with the fact that she's not *my mw* - to translate, the mw who delivered my last two babies passed away last year (from ALS) and the closer I get to having this baby, the more sad I am that she's not here. She was just such an amazing lady and my heart is so broken that her life was cut short by a stupid disease. Ug. So, anyway, I am blessed to live in an area where home birth is both legal and covered by the states health care program and we have a fair number of qualified mw's to choose from. HOWEVER, having worked as a doula and being part of this community, I know the good the bad and the ugly about a lot of the mw's in the area and know that there are several that I would NOT want to work with. So, even though I feel like I picked the best one, she still isn't who I want at my birth and I'm having a hard time dealing with that.

Ok, back to the home visit. So, during the bulk of the move, I had to bring all of my office home - it was about a dozen boxes of stuff, plus I housed several of the critters we didn't find homes for before the move. I had about a dozen various cages of critters piled in my living room, on top of the critters that we own,which is quite a few by most peoples standards. Add to that the physical requirements of moving, we've been BUSY busy busy. I've had no free time at all. In addition to that, we've all been sick - my ears are still not back to normal despite a full course of antibiotics (though I am feeling mostly better) I had kids out of school off and on for two weeks, etc. We were also blessed with a baby shower and then the following weekend had our 2 day intensive birth prep workshop. We've also been working on sorting out the clothes that we don't need to save for hand-me-downs since this is our last baby and it's a boy, we're able to get rid of anything my youngest dd has grown out of so we've had 13 years worth of clothing piled in our house that we're trying to sort - keeping a few things for sentimental reasons, sorting some out for goodwill and the rest to try and sell at consignment. All of this means my house is pretty chaotic right now.

All of my girls have been "on time" or "late" so I (maybe falsely) feel like I have some time still to get it all worked out and suitable for the baby to come but my mw pretty much said she didn't think we were good candidates for a hb and that we should consider transferring care to the local FSBC. Are you kidding me?? Do you think I WANT my house to look like this, or that I want to bring a baby into this chaos?? No, of course I don't. I'm just so frustrated. She basically said she didn't think we'd be able to get the chaos under control in time and that she couldn't work like this. I should add that my house isn't dirty - it's just small and we're already a family of 5 so there's a lot of *stuff* but it's not dirty. I'm so frustrated. Like I didn't know *how much* work we have to do and how little time, but really, thanks for making me feel more like crap for not being superwoman and being able to do it all at once. Ug.

Did I mention that my doula (and good friend who's been at all of my births) and her 2 main back ups as well as my mw will be out of town shortly after my dd so there is a distinct possibility that pretty much my entire birth team will be the "back ups" at my birth. I'm not dealing well with that either. Stupid Midwifery Today Conference.

So yeah, that's my week. I give up.

[bmcneal]

Originally Posted by firespiritmelody 

AFM - My stress level is through the flipping roof and I don't know what we're going to do about it. First and foremost, the stupid city is being ... I don't even know what the right word is... stubborn? Slow? Ridiculous?? When it comes to issuing the needed permits for us to complete the relocation of our business. We had hired a broker to help us find an appropriate new spot (basically a real estate agent for business leases) and they seemed pretty helpful even though the first couple of places that we were interested in ended up falling through. We finally found what we thought was going to be the perfect spot, with their help, and signed a very favorable lease. We started moving in and getting set up pretty much right away - we had no choice but to close our previous location on the date that we did so we were completely closed for business and anxious to get set back up - for one, it's the only source of income for my family (dh is a sahd) plus we have a staff of about 8 that we were trying to keep employed. Anyway, I immediately started getting the various paperwork for the city and state updated and submitted. I figured this was going to be no big deal since we'd already been in business, in the same county, for 8 1/2 years. Apparently, I was wrong. 

So, the space we moved into was previously a cafe and pizza place. So this city needed us to file for a "change of use" for the space. OK, no big deal, just some extra paperwork. Other then it's been a NIGHTMARE! What we're finding out is that really the awesome landlord who we've been really enjoying working with so far, should have applied for the COU and all that before renting to us. We've jumped through a bunch of hoops, turned in site plans and specs and all sorts of crap numerous times, etc and it's just been one road block after another. Here we are, over a month later, and we're still not officially open for business. We're operating minimally "under the table" because well, we have to. I'm a specialty store - we sell animal food that you just can't get anywhere else and people need it, so, I'm selling it to them, even though it's illegal for me to do so. Of  course it's not enough to pay the bills and what little I had saved up for the move has been spent. At this point I don't know how I'm going to make rent for myself (which is due today) or payroll for my employees on Friday.

We opened our business with nothing - no one has ever given us a loan, line of credit, credit card, NOTHING the entire time we've been open - we've always been "too risky" for one reason or another so I doubt anyone is going to do anything for us now. But dang it, we've been in business for *8 1/2* years for crying out loud. SOMEONE should want to help us! 

So, my poor hubby is back down at the city building again today trying to figure out what they're saying is wrong now. When they called this morning they hinted that they may deny the application all together which would mean we'd have to find another new space. Which, if that's the case, we'll have to get our lawyer involved to see what we can do to re-coop some of the money we've spent getting into the space (like our deposits and such) so that we can start looking for something else. Which, I'm sure I don't need to point out is going to be a total nightmare considering I'm 36 1/2 weeks pregnant right now

On top of that, I had my home visit with my mw of Friday and it left me feeling frustrated and depressed. My mw is really a lovely lady and I have no reason to doubt her abilities as a mw etc but I'm still having a really hard time dealing with the fact that she's not *my mw* - to translate, the mw who delivered my last two babies passed away last year (from ALS) and the closer I get to having this baby, the more sad I am that she's not here. She was just such an amazing lady and my heart is so broken that her life was cut short by a stupid disease. Ug. So, anyway, I am blessed to live in an area where home birth is both legal and covered by the states health care program and we have a fair number of qualified mw's to choose from. HOWEVER, having worked as a doula and being part of this community, I know the good the bad and the ugly about a lot of the mw's in the area and know that there are several that I would NOT want to work with. So, even though I feel like I picked the best one, she still isn't who I want at my birth and I'm having a hard time dealing with that.

Ok, back to the home visit. So, during the bulk of the move, I had to bring all of my office home - it was about a dozen boxes of stuff, plus I housed several of the critters we didn't find homes for before the move. I had about a dozen various cages of critters piled in my living room, on top of the critters that we own,which is quite a few by most peoples standards. Add to that the physical requirements of moving, we've been BUSY busy busy. I've had no free time at all. In addition to that, we've all been sick - my ears are still not back to normal despite a full course of antibiotics (though I am feeling mostly better) I had kids out of school off and on for two weeks, etc. We were also blessed with a baby shower and then the following weekend had our 2 day intensive birth prep workshop. We've also been working on sorting out the clothes that we don't need to save for hand-me-downs since this is our last baby and it's a boy, we're able to get rid of anything my youngest dd has grown out of so we've had 13 years worth of clothing piled in our house that we're trying to sort - keeping a few things for sentimental reasons, sorting some out for goodwill and the rest to try and sell at consignment. All of this means my house is pretty chaotic right now.

All of my girls have been "on time" or "late" so I (maybe falsely) feel like I have some time still to get it all worked out and suitable for the baby to come but my mw pretty much said she didn't think we were good candidates for a hb and that we should consider transferring care to the local FSBC. Are you kidding me?? Do you think I WANT my house to look like this, or that I want to bring a baby into this chaos?? No, of course I don't. I'm just so frustrated. She basically said she didn't think we'd be able to get the chaos under control in time and that she couldn't work like this. I should add that my house isn't dirty - it's just small and we're already a family of 5 so there's a lot of *stuff* but it's not dirty. I'm so frustrated. Like I didn't know *how much* work we have to do and how little time, but really, thanks for making me feel more like crap for not being superwoman and being able to do it all at once. Ug.

Did I mention that my doula (and good friend who's been at all of my births) and her 2 main back ups as well as my mw will be out of town shortly after my dd so there is a distinct possibility that pretty much my entire birth team will be the "back ups" at my birth. I'm not dealing well with that either. Stupid Midwifery Today Conference.

So yeah, that's my week. I give up.

 I'm so sorry! I can't find the different parts I wanted to respond to, so I'll just respond all here. I'm so sorry about *your* MW. It made me cry when I read that. I've never had MW, but I can tell it's very stressful for you to not have her.  I hope the city works with you, and gets their stuff in gear so you can move forward with your shop. I'm so sorry you are having to deal with all of this, especially right now.

[alaskanmomma]

Originally Posted by Cananny 


Here are some new pics of the boys.. they are 9 days old today!

Awwwwwwwww!

[alaskanmomma]

Originally Posted by firespiritmelody 

Cannany, they're beautiful! 9 days already!! How are they doing? Can't wait to hear an update when you're up to it!

IronMam, that's great news! Crossing my fingers for you!!

1BM - I've had that restless feeling too, unfortunately, mine is stress related and there's little I can do to remedy it. Maybe it's some "it's getting close" nesting for you though?? The need to tie up loose ends??


AFM - My stress level is through the flipping roof and I don't know what we're going to do about it. First and foremost, the stupid city is being ... I don't even know what the right word is... stubborn? Slow? Ridiculous?? When it comes to issuing the needed permits for us to complete the relocation of our business. We had hired a broker to help us find an appropriate new spot (basically a real estate agent for business leases) and they seemed pretty helpful even though the first couple of places that we were interested in ended up falling through. We finally found what we thought was going to be the perfect spot, with their help, and signed a very favorable lease. We started moving in and getting set up pretty much right away - we had no choice but to close our previous location on the date that we did so we were completely closed for business and anxious to get set back up - for one, it's the only source of income for my family (dh is a sahd) plus we have a staff of about 8 that we were trying to keep employed. Anyway, I immediately started getting the various paperwork for the city and state updated and submitted. I figured this was going to be no big deal since we'd already been in business, in the same county, for 8 1/2 years. Apparently, I was wrong. 

So, the space we moved into was previously a cafe and pizza place. So this city needed us to file for a "change of use" for the space. OK, no big deal, just some extra paperwork. Other then it's been a NIGHTMARE! What we're finding out is that really the awesome landlord who we've been really enjoying working with so far, should have applied for the COU and all that before renting to us. We've jumped through a bunch of hoops, turned in site plans and specs and all sorts of crap numerous times, etc and it's just been one road block after another. Here we are, over a month later, and we're still not officially open for business. We're operating minimally "under the table" because well, we have to. I'm a specialty store - we sell animal food that you just can't get anywhere else and people need it, so, I'm selling it to them, even though it's illegal for me to do so. Of  course it's not enough to pay the bills and what little I had saved up for the move has been spent. At this point I don't know how I'm going to make rent for myself (which is due today) or payroll for my employees on Friday.

We opened our business with nothing - no one has ever given us a loan, line of credit, credit card, NOTHING the entire time we've been open - we've always been "too risky" for one reason or another so I doubt anyone is going to do anything for us now. But dang it, we've been in business for *8 1/2* years for crying out loud. SOMEONE should want to help us! 

So, my poor hubby is back down at the city building again today trying to figure out what they're saying is wrong now. When they called this morning they hinted that they may deny the application all together which would mean we'd have to find another new space. Which, if that's the case, we'll have to get our lawyer involved to see what we can do to re-coop some of the money we've spent getting into the space (like our deposits and such) so that we can start looking for something else. Which, I'm sure I don't need to point out is going to be a total nightmare considering I'm 36 1/2 weeks pregnant right now

On top of that, I had my home visit with my mw of Friday and it left me feeling frustrated and depressed. My mw is really a lovely lady and I have no reason to doubt her abilities as a mw etc but I'm still having a really hard time dealing with the fact that she's not *my mw* - to translate, the mw who delivered my last two babies passed away last year (from ALS) and the closer I get to having this baby, the more sad I am that she's not here. She was just such an amazing lady and my heart is so broken that her life was cut short by a stupid disease. Ug. So, anyway, I am blessed to live in an area where home birth is both legal and covered by the states health care program and we have a fair number of qualified mw's to choose from. HOWEVER, having worked as a doula and being part of this community, I know the good the bad and the ugly about a lot of the mw's in the area and know that there are several that I would NOT want to work with. So, even though I feel like I picked the best one, she still isn't who I want at my birth and I'm having a hard time dealing with that.

Ok, back to the home visit. So, during the bulk of the move, I had to bring all of my office home - it was about a dozen boxes of stuff, plus I housed several of the critters we didn't find homes for before the move. I had about a dozen various cages of critters piled in my living room, on top of the critters that we own,which is quite a few by most peoples standards. Add to that the physical requirements of moving, we've been BUSY busy busy. I've had no free time at all. In addition to that, we've all been sick - my ears are still not back to normal despite a full course of antibiotics (though I am feeling mostly better) I had kids out of school off and on for two weeks, etc. We were also blessed with a baby shower and then the following weekend had our 2 day intensive birth prep workshop. We've also been working on sorting out the clothes that we don't need to save for hand-me-downs since this is our last baby and it's a boy, we're able to get rid of anything my youngest dd has grown out of so we've had 13 years worth of clothing piled in our house that we're trying to sort - keeping a few things for sentimental reasons, sorting some out for goodwill and the rest to try and sell at consignment. All of this means my house is pretty chaotic right now.

All of my girls have been "on time" or "late" so I (maybe falsely) feel like I have some time still to get it all worked out and suitable for the baby to come but my mw pretty much said she didn't think we were good candidates for a hb and that we should consider transferring care to the local FSBC. Are you kidding me?? Do you think I WANT my house to look like this, or that I want to bring a baby into this chaos?? No, of course I don't. I'm just so frustrated. She basically said she didn't think we'd be able to get the chaos under control in time and that she couldn't work like this. I should add that my house isn't dirty - it's just small and we're already a family of 5 so there's a lot of *stuff* but it's not dirty. I'm so frustrated. Like I didn't know *how much* work we have to do and how little time, but really, thanks for making me feel more like crap for not being superwoman and being able to do it all at once. Ug.

Did I mention that my doula (and good friend who's been at all of my births) and her 2 main back ups as well as my mw will be out of town shortly after my dd so there is a distinct possibility that pretty much my entire birth team will be the "back ups" at my birth. I'm not dealing well with that either. Stupid Midwifery Today Conference.

So yeah, that's my week. I give up.

Oh my *big hugs* I hope everything works out for you!!

[1babysmom]

My new pump and my birth supplies arrived today! Officially ready for baby now that i have the latter.

Dang...ready too soon. Now the wait is just going to be that much longer. I do this EVERY time!!! I wish I could just let everything pile up so I am super busy and occupied until 40 wks!

[camprunner]

Cananny: What cute little guys!

FireSpiritMelody: Government tends to get in the way of a lot :( But how awesome that you started a business with cash!

We had a midwife appointment this morning and baby girl is head down. Yay! Nothing is ready though. I will be 35 weeks on Friday and I haven't opened the birth kit. The rest of the stuff is either scattered or hasn't been purchased.  Hopefully we will fix that soon.

[IronMam]

1babysmom: You can come over and work on some of my preparing. ;)

firespiritmelody: That SUCKS. All of it. So sorry you're dealing with all that. 

So, we're officially driving to Ohio. It's a 2,000+ mile road trip. It will take three days to get there. We leave Friday morning, drive until 12-1am, then drive all day the next day and the next. DH will have one day to rest up before interview day. He'll have to get up early that day and drive down to Cinci (which is 45 minutes from my parent's place, if traffic is good, which it probably won't be since it'll be rush hour).

So I am running around like a headless chicken trying to pack, plan, prep, etc. I spent hours and hours today planning out how far we'll drive each day, who will be driving which legs of the trip, and booking hotels (by the way, Priceline.com is definitely the place to go for cheap hotel rooms - got one room for $47)!

So, I'll only get to spend two days with my family, for 6 loooooooong days of driving. But with how seldom I see them, it's worth it...I think, I hope. lol

Anyhow, we won't get back until next Friday, so I probably won't post much for a while. Hope you all have a great week/weekend/week. 

[brooklyn_warbler]

You guys are so chatty this month!  I'm trying desperately to keep up and failing because I'm also completely overwhelmed with schoolwork! But hi!!  I'm lurking and trying to keep up with all of you!  Sorry for all the family/school/work issues everyone is navigating!
 

[BaileyB]

Sorry to post really off topic but I am looking for some input on my fundal height/feeling huge-ness. According to the average of all the due dates I have been given this pregnancy I should be roughly 32 weeks tomorrow. At my U/S 2 weeks ago they said baby was measuring ahead and moved my due date up a few days. The last few days, especially today, I have just been feeling massive. Not really weight wise but belly size and having such a hard time finding anything that fits me. I have been doing my own measurements and BP and using my doppler to do my own prenatals at home but have had a handful of prenatals with my OB too, and my notes have always matched what she has said. Anyway, I finally broke down and pulled out my measuring tape and measured my fundal height and I am measuring 35 cm! I was measuring 31 cm 2 weeks ago! Baby is moving a lot and I am really struggling to rock DD to sleep and am winded climbing upstairs and I am getting so crabby. I don't know what to think. Ever since around 28 weeks I have felt that I may go up to a month early but now maybe I actually could! My first babe was 5 lbs. 10 oz., second was 7 lbs 14 oz., so it's not like I have huge babies. WTH!?!?!? Can babies just grow faster and decide to come out early?

ETA: I don't have any GD and I am certain on my dates.

[1babysmom]

Who knows....my first 2 were 7lb and my third was almost 10lbs! I wouldn't change dates based on a later u/s's though, just based on my own experience (it makes expectations a lot harder) and the variations in measurements. It sounds like a bigger baby to me! But again, just based on my own experience.

[alaskanmomma]

Homebirthers: When do you blow up the birthing pool(if you use one?) and where do you plan on giving birth in the house :)?
 

I'm going to have the midwife bring her electronic pump at my 37w appointment and just store the pool in our closet when it's blown up.. and I haven't decided between birthing in the living room or my room, I think the living room will win over since it's more open and will fit the pool better, but like the idea of having the bed RIGHT THERE if I decide to land birth instead.

[MaineCoastMama]

Sounds like a big adventure, IronMam- enjoy it:)