~*Weekly Chat Thread for March 1st-7th*~ « Back to Group Discussions

[LeighPF]

My brother and his girlfriend's visit is going well. Kitchen cabinets are half painted so far, they gave been great with the kids and my brother has decided that since I am pregnant I am excused from snowballs, being shot with nurf guns and being chased down and tickled. Nice for a change.

But we have been being tourists to hard and are all worn out. So hopefully a quiet day today.

Also, I can not believe it is March.

[GISDiva]

Ooo, painting projects!  I am so hoping we get some of that done this spring when we can open the windows and such, I really really hate our boring white walls in the kitchen.  We have leftover paint from the basement and everything, I just need some warm days for some fresh air.  :)

Glad to hear the nerf weapons aren't pointed in your general direction. 

[Banana731]

I have been painting my tiny little bathroom since before I was pregnant. Sigh. The supplies are still in the tub :/

[thecoffeebean]

Banana- We moved into our house 4 months ago, and I can tell you- I have SO many painting projects I'd like to get started. The house still feels a little like it belongs to the precious owners because of some of their questionable decorating decisions. The trouble is, I lack motivation right now! Argh! I am going to set a goal for myself this month to get at least a few little projects done. I imagine once I do those I'll be more excited to tackle the others.

[CrunchyMama19]

So is it safe to paint while pregnant? My MIL is taking my girls for a week at the end of the month and I would LOVE to paint. The last tenant has this awful peach/beige color in the whole downstairs and it is hideous. I am going to do white, with one colored accent wall with each room. I just wasn't sure if it was safe to paint with the fumes and such while pregnant.

It has been so dreary here in the south. It is cold, gray, and rainy and has been for weeks! My girls are literally climbing the walls they are so couped up and so am I! It doesn't help that we are relatively new to this town, there is not a whole lot to do and we don't know very many people yet. Sigh...we tried to meetup with a parenting group this week but it just didn't pan out. Hoping that things start getting brighter on all fronts here soon.

[carmen358]

We'll have a couple of painting projects coming up too. We are painting a feature wall in DD's bedroom in the new house and maybe our bedroom too. Other than we'll leave it the way it is - DP had the house painted after the last renters moved out and it's still  in good shape and is a neutral colour. My main goals for the house for the first few months are to get DD's room set up so the transition will be a really positive experience for her (she is picking the colours, etc.)....she still sleeps with us but who knows what the move will bring. I also want to make sure we have our newborn stuff out, washed and put away. Other than that, as long as we're in the house I'm ok with it.

When are you all planning on stopping work? I am thinking about working up until due date but might be forced to go off mid July because our care provider goes on vacation for a month then (DD goes to her house 2 days a week).

[CraftyMcGluestick]

Originally Posted by CrunchyMama19 

So is it safe to paint while pregnant? My MIL is taking my girls for a week at the end of the month and I would LOVE to paint. The last tenant has this awful peach/beige color in the whole downstairs and it is hideous. I am going to do white, with one colored accent wall with each room. I just wasn't sure if it was safe to paint with the fumes and such while pregnant.

It has been so dreary here in the south. It is cold, gray, and rainy and has been for weeks! My girls are literally climbing the walls they are so couped up and so am I! It doesn't help that we are relatively new to this town, there is not a whole lot to do and we don't know very many people yet. Sigh...we tried to meetup with a parenting group this week but it just didn't pan out. Hoping that things start getting brighter on all fronts here soon.

I am not an expert on what is technically safe or not, but I literally go by the smell test. If the smell bothers me after 60 seconds in a room with it, I get the heck out of dodge. I won't go in salons or any manicure place where there are fumes, even for a few minutes. I would think your best bets, if you DO paint, are low VOC paints. I forget the brands, but I think even common ones like Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams have low or no-VOC lines. I also don't know if there is a causal relationship here, but when my next door neighbor was pregnant, I saw her spray painting like almost every single day. I am not kidding- door knobs, furniture, etc. and not outside, usually in her garage. And she had a really weird/difficult premature birth and her baby was in the NICU for weeks. I have NO IDEA if this was at all related to the constant spray painting and I do not call "science!" On her, but it gave me the willies enough to never do it.

Originally Posted by carmen358 

We'll have a couple of painting projects coming up too. We are painting a feature wall in DD's bedroom in the new house and maybe our bedroom too. Other than we'll leave it the way it is - DP had the house painted after the last renters moved out and it's still  in good shape and is a neutral colour. My main goals for the house for the first few months are to get DD's room set up so the transition will be a really positive experience for her (she is picking the colours, etc.)....she still sleeps with us but who knows what the move will bring. I also want to make sure we have our newborn stuff out, washed and put away. Other than that, as long as we're in the house I'm ok with it.

When are you all planning on stopping work? I am thinking about working up until due date but might be forced to go off mid July because our care provider goes on vacation for a month then (DD goes to her house 2 days a week).

With DS, I was due September 1 and I worked until September 13. He was born at 2 am September 14. That was insane! I was so stressed! No wonder I couldn't seem to go into labor (until my body finally cried uncle). But I didn't want to burn my veeeery limited maternity leave before he was here. This time I am quitting my job totally and with a 7/29 EDD, I am not going to be there one day past 7/15. And even if I weren't quitting, I would definitely leave out within a few days before my EDD. It was just too hard on my body to work like crazy with no breathing room or mental space to prepare. Not to mention, I could not pull my desk chair all the way to my desk because of my big old body! Ha!

[carmen358]

I worked up until a week and a half before DD's due date (she was due Jan.3) and she came early...Dec. 30th! I think I'll like having the extra 2 weeks off for the reasons you mentioned. I wonder if this one will decide to come early as well...

[GISDiva]

I was still working the day my water broke. In fact, I had gone from work to my midwife appointment and I told her I was sure I'd go over and that I didn't feel anything going on at all. 8 pm that night, surprise! He was born the next evening...

I have a fairly low-stress job, so I expect I will be working until I can't again, unless something comes up.

[thecoffeebean]

With DD, I worked up until my due date. As a teacher, I made that decision so I could finish up plans for my substitute teacher and prepare the classroom for her. DD came 5 days later, which was just about perfect. This time I'm a stay-at-home mom, so I'll probably work up until the day I go into labor. :-)

[LeighPF]

With the painting, now with the really low VOC paints (which are everywhere, just ask the paint guy) the main worry is falling. I can not smell the paint I am using (Benjamin Moore Advance) and am doing the lower cupboards while she does the high ones. I think the smell test is a good one. I opened a pot of wood filler, and closed it up right away, it was so much. Of course if there will be lead paint issues and sanding, let someone else do it (and clean up properly)

[somegirl99]

Last time I planned to work up to my due date, but went into labor at 38.5 weeks, on a Saturday that DH was working in the office and I was working at home.  I remember being annoyed at these stupid cramps that kept interrupting my train of thought , but I ended up being pretty productive and I still laugh every time I see that particular set of documents I was working on.  Finally figured it out in the afternoon when they picked up a bit and I started timing them. 

My job now is fairly low stress and I can work from home when I want, so I'll probably plan on something similar.

[mamapigeon]

Wow, all the painting projects sound exciting! I'm hoping that I'll have some painting to do this spring as well.

Anyone already working on gardening? We're moving at the end of the month, or sometime in early April and I am counting the days until I can get my hands muddy!

[FarmerCathy]

Originally Posted by mamapigeon 

Wow, all the painting projects sound exciting! I'm hoping that I'll have some painting to do this spring as well.

Anyone already working on gardening? We're moving at the end of the month, or sometime in early April and I am counting the days until I can get my hands muddy!

I so wish I could garden at the end of the month.  No way here, lol.   Biding my time.  It's sunny today and I put all the houseplants as close as I can to the sun.

[thecoffeebean]

Our new house is south-facing, so the back yard is pretty shady. I think eventually we could tear out the rock that's along the back fence and make that into garden space. But that probably won't happen this year!

[Jacksonmom]

We have peas and turnips in the ground.  The rest of our cool weather crops will be seeded in 2 weeks.   SO ready for spring.

[Calladona]

Hey ladies, oh my lord...  15 weeks today and I feel SO PREGNANT.  I guess this is what 4 in 5 years does to your body!!  I am already feeling some mild SPD, tons of BHs, belly is "huge" AND I'm starting to have my characteristic "rib pain" that I get when my belly gets bigger.  All I'm missing is crazy baby movements!!

 

Anyway, to the topics at hand.  I've painted during pregnancy before and would do it again, but we're renters and I feel no desire to pain someone else's house for them (well except that thei owners did such a TERRIBLE job painting, it does tweak my OCD).

 

Job - I haven't worked since I was pregnant with my oldest.  I was "blessed" that we moved at 20 weeks and planned to have me SAH anyway, so I just didn't bother finding a new job.  That said, my "job" now as SAHM is 24/7 and I obviously do it up until my labor hits full force. ;)  If I had a normal job though, I think I'd plan to work until I went into labor anyway, it's just my personality...

 

Gardening, oh yes!  I just bought an e-book on "apartment gardening" since our only available space is a deck.  I'm trying to get through it hoping to do some veggies this spring/summer!

[somegirl99]

DH just picked up a bunch of seeds today - peas, beans, radishes, cucumber - and we are going to try the garden in a different location this year, as the spot we used the last three years hasn't been great.

[Mama505]

I would love to paint!  The previous tenants painted our new place like an easter bunny cave:  all pastels, but dark gray versions of the traditional easter-y colors.  But I don't know how long we are going to be in this house and, like Calladona said, I don't want to put the work into a place that isn't ours and wont be ours for a longer time.  Also, if I am going to put a lot of work into an impermanent home, I would like that work to go into the garden!  I can't wait.  DS and I started some seeds last week inside so that we can build beds outside.  I hope we have enough room for all of the seeds we picked!

Calladona-  My belly is huge too!  I don't think I even really realized it until my DH took a picture of me and DS at the park yesterday.  I was helping him climb a tree and reaching up.  Later when I put the pictures on the computer, I was like "What the ___?!  Is that me already?  That is wild!"  It is really neat to start looking pregnant though, not just like I am outgrowing my jeans!

[LeighPF]

I am really liking the really belly too, not just too wide for all my pants.

I am still not feeling much movement. Mostly because I have been so busy it is hard to sit down and concentrate.