June Mamas April 25-May 1

[Smithie]

Omigod! May!

We have a midwife appt tomorrow, she's going to do my hemocrit again and see whether I've gotten my iron level up.

I just finished "Giving Birth: A Journey Into the World of Mothers and Midwives."

This is the 35th week for me if you believe the radiologist. Pregnancy hasn't been bad, but I'd just as soon have the baby now.

How's everybody else?

[eilonwy]

Good morning!

I've been feeling kind of icky since yesterday afternoon.. nothing I can pinpoint really, just generally icky. I've got a headache, I'm very itchy, my appetite was seriously gone yesterday (I ate a doughnut and thought I was going to explode!) and ... Maybe it's the weather.

Eli peed in the potty three times yesterday for Mike and even once for me! Yesterday in the morning after I left for Sunday school, Mike learned what I meant when I said that Eli is seriously desperate to get out of diapers, so he showed him the potty and reminded him and Eli took off his diaper & sat down and peed all by himself twice! Mike says he's willing to work with Eli in the afternoons. It was really exciting for him, and I'm so glad that he can see what I've been talking about now. Soon, we'll have a new problem.. where on earth can I find underpants that small?! I've never seen anything smaller than a 2T, and my son doesn't have enough hips for those.. I wonder if anyone makes 9-12 month sized underpants... or smaller... :LOL

[dharmama]

First post on the new MDC for me. I'm not very good with change especially the fact that some smilies are gone or have changed - this is "rolleyes" now...

:

and my other favorite one...the one that looks like a big sigh is gone.

Okay enough of my

[eilonwy]

That's : ? I liked it better before.. that one looks more like a smirk, kwim?

[3girlsmommy]

Morning ladies! I am now 32 weeks pregnant! And it's starting to freak me out!!! All of a sudden I'm hit with the realization that I will soon have 3 kids to take care of and I'm just not sure how I'm going to do it!!! My 2 year old is really testing her limits lately and it is really overwelling me. I know it's normal 2 year old behavior but UGH!! I just want my happy easy going kids back. I'm sure it doesn't help that I'm not sleeping well lately. Even when I get into bed at a decent hour it takes me forever to fall asleep only to be woken up with the urge to pee! So I have been averaging around 4 or 5 hours a night and my dh has the nerve to compain about not geting enough sleep! I need a vacation!!!

Also anyone else have a breakdancer growing in their belly?? It feels like this little one is doing those funky breakdancing head spins on my bladder and cervix. It's an interesting sensation to say the least!

Alright I need to go shower! Sorry for the whine!!!

[Greaseball]

Well I don't know about this new design...what was so wrong with the old one?

Lately I've been feeling really run down and needing extra naps. I take more iron, just in case that's what's wrong. Dh is so busy with school it's almost like he's got a full-time job, and I've just been so frustrated with trying to take care of myself, dd and the house...I'm not used to being a full-time SAHM! It's always been dh and I sharing everything. I must have sent dd to her room 10 times yesterday - just didn't know what else to do.

She's always liked going outside and chasing the chickens, but lately she's decided she wants to pick them up, not just run after them. So she runs around yelling "Wait! Wait!" She gets really upset that they don't wait. And there is this neighbor cat that has been hanging around our place, and she catches it and just hugs and pets it for as long as it will stay, but when it finally manages to break free, she screams like I've never heard her scream before. She broke her leg once a while back, and she screams more about the cat running away than she did about that. I wonder where such a little girl gets a huge voice like that? When I hear other children screaming, they sound somehow muted. But then, dh is an opera singer, so he may have passed on his big voice.

In other news, yesterday this neighborhood preschooler smeared a bunch of mud on my car for the second time. He also threw mud at a neighbor's window. So I go over to his house for the 2nd time, trying to get in touch with the parents so he can come clean it up, and I get the same response - "They aren't here. I don't know when they will be back." I'm starting to wonder if this kid has any parents. I have already called CPS on them for letting a 4-year-old roam the neighborhood unsupervised all day, and they told me to call the police if I ever see him near my place again. So I'm going to try one more time to get him to clean my car, or to get the nonexistent parents to do it, before calling the police.

[Doodlebugsmom]

Sandi, our two year olds must be at about the same stage. My dd has really been testing my limits too. I wonder how in the heck I'm going to manage when the baby comes. I'm sure I'll just wear him in the sling constantly and go about things just as I do now. I have been feeling very overwhelmed and I keep talking about a vacation! We won't be able to take one until fall though. I have also been averaging 4-5 hours of sleep/night. I usually sneak in a nap in the afternoon for about 1/2 hour. I let dd watch Dora the Explorer just so I can get that 1/2 hour of sleep! Sometimes I feel bad for that, but I'm not sure I'd make it through the day otherwise.

[Ceili]

I've been really tired the past few weeks, especially after I eat lunch. I just can't seem to stay awake. It just sort of sneaks up on me. I'll be fine one minute and the next i'll be in tears if I can't lie down right then. It's not such a problem when I'm at home, but when we were out for lunch yesterday it wasn't so convient. I did get a nice nap in the car on the way home though.

[eilonwy]

I'm exhausted, too. *sigh* I'm also feeling kind of paranoid, and strange.. I have a sneaking suspcion that my water has broken. I'm debating about having it checked. I didn't think I was having any contractions, but when I stood up and felt my belly, it told a different story. They're not painful at all, but I've got this dull low backache that's really getting on my nerves and a headache too.

I forced myself to eat some cereal, but ended up feeding most of it to Eli. Half of his lunch is still sitting around; normally we share something. I wonder if there's any way to find out if your water has broken without going to the hospital? It's such a pain in the neck! I have an appoinment on Wednesday anyway, so if my water hasn't broken we'll have wasted the gas on a trip for nothing.. even if it has, what will they do besides put me on bedrest and say "don't put anything into your vagina"? Well, they'll monitor NewBean for a while... *sigh* I'm just so irritated by all this! I'd love to think that I'll know absolutely for certain when my water breaks, but I know from experience that I can't be sure... I'm losing my mind!

[ksjhwkr]

I'm not too sure about this new format...hmm....
Anyway. I am 32 weeks today and just can not wait!!! After Emma died, both dh and I had this intense need to fill our arms again. It is a physical ache like I've never experienced before. So, as the weeks draw nearer, I just am feeling that ache so much more.
This is a bit of a difficult week for us. On May 2, Emma will have been gone longer than she was here. That just blows my mind. It's like I half expected time to stop when she died. I am just glad that I don't have to wait too much longer for her little sibling to come and play.
I am also really tired lately. I could sleep all day! Must be my body gearing up to give birth or something!
I had a wonderful appointment with my midwife last week. I found out the baby is head down. This is such a big deal for me because Emma never was! She was footling breech and when my water broke, there was a foot presenting. So, it was off to the operating room for me! So, having a head down baby is so wonderful! It's a very different experience too! I'm not used to hiccups down so low and kicks up so high! But, I sure do like the fist in the cervix much more than the feet kicking my cervix!!!
I hope everyone had a great weekend!!!!! Talk to you more later!

[Queen of Cups]

So, after feeling a little "off" for the past couple of days, I went to see the midwife today and ask her to check me. (I had been a real pain about requesting that she not do internals unless completely necessary, so I had to swallow my pride to ask her to check me!) It turns out that I'm 3-4 centimeters, thinned out, and the baby is quite low in the pelvis. You should have seen her face!! She didn't offer to check me when I told her that I was worried I was having pre-term labor, I think she thought I was over-reacting. It might sound silly, but I dreamt last night that I called the office and they told me to come in and get checked, so I figured maybe I should act on that dream.

Right now I'm 34 weeks 6 days according to my LMP (according to my ovulation tracking I'm 34w2d). After 30 minutes on the NST monitor, they found I was having a surge about every 10 minutes. These surges aren't painful, but I'd been feeling very crampy all weekend.

The midwife's goal is to keep the baby inside at least 8 more days, till I'm 36 weeks. I'm now on a low dose of a medicine to relax smooth muscles and am on bed rest until I hit 36 weeks - she said its up to me then if I want to get up or stay down. My goal is to last until May 19th! (For those of you doing HypnoBabies, I've printed out the Baby Stay In script and plan on starting that today!)

Please send happy thoughts/prayers to me and the baby!

[mattjule]

It's not the color I object to, it's the disorienting reformatting. I feel cross-eyed for some reason, I think b/c my pregnant brain keeps trying to put things back where they used to be! At least it isn't so different that I can't get around and I suppose I'll get used to it.

Smithie-You had better not have that baby until this stuff is done! I only have the sheets and curtains left, plus shipping, so little James has to stay put! Every time I sew that stuff, the James Taylor song with the line "rock-a-bye sweet baby James" comes into my head...

I am not uncomfortable or tired, but I am only 31 wks. We've been having lots of playdates with our new friends, the boys get along so well together. I am so thankful.

I don't have much to say and stuff to do so I am going to get going.

[mattjule]

QoC-is there a chance that your dates are wrong? I mean, you have been pretty big throughtout your pregnancy-maybe it is all making sense now. I obviously don't know your situation, but that was my first thought after reading your post. But I'll send you baby stay in thoughts just in case!

[Queen of Cups]

I don't think my dates are wrong - I had only been off the Pill for about 2 weeks when I conceived! I was charting because I was fresh off the Pill and expected an irregular cycle. According to my chart, I conceived Sept 13th, which puts my due date at June 5th. But, from the beginning, I've felt I would go early (so has my mom and my m-i-l). I was measuring big earlier in the pregnancy, but the last month I've been right on with the fundal height... but the baby measured big in both ultrasounds.... so who knows??? I would like to wait at least one more week, though, preferably 2.

So far, though, I LOVE the painless surges and progress!

[3girlsmommy]

Originally Posted by Queen of Cups

(For those of you doing HypnoBabies, I've printed out the Baby Stay In script and plan on starting that today!)

Please send happy thoughts/prayers to me and the baby!

QoC- I was going to recommend that you get that script. I'm sending you baby stay in vibes!!

[ksjhwkr]

Oh, lots of baby stay vibes to you!!! Isn't it interesting, we really know our bodies! Do your script lots, and be good at your bedrest!!!! Wow, 8 more days, then you're free game!! Can't believe it!!! Good luck!

[Smithie]

I am such an ungrateful wench - heed me not, labor goddess!

I'd like to retract what I said earlier. I am NOT tired of being pregnant, I want to hit May 19th too, baby stay in! :

My mw is downright reluctant to do internal exams, but I've decided I want them from this point out. James is low, but not engaged, and my cervix is flattening, but still closed. I am right on track. She lent dh a little flip book so he can learn to tell how dilated I am, but told him not to mess around up there until I'm ready to go into labor.

I am seriously thinking of hiring someone to come put the last coat of paint on the nursery, because dh is really procrastinating. I will give him one more weekend.

[eilonwy]

QoC-- You need to keep that baby in for another week and a half so you can get your bracelet!

Speaking of which.. my belly is distinctly smaller. I'm only 30 weeks, so I'm holding out hope that NewBean has just slid back toward my spine. I took some rescue remedy and have been trying to keep busy despite the pain in my back, thinking maybe if my brain is occupied I won't worry so much. I just need to survive until Wednesday when I see my dr. again. I'm just totally irritated that I might be losing fluid so early! It's just not fair.

[Greaseball]

"On May 2, Emma will have been gone longer than she was here. That just blows my mind. It's like I half expected time to stop when she died."

That reminds me of this oldies song, I don't know the name of it, but it goes something like "Why does my heart go on beating/Why do these eyes of mine cry/Don't they know it's the end of the world/It ended when you said goodbye." It's about a breakup, but always makes me think of death. It's always hard to see others' lives go on as if nothing happened.

[ksjhwkr]

That is so true!!! That's how I feel so often. There is a new country song out that says, "It only hurts when I'm breathing, my heart only breaks when it's beating, my dreams only die when I'm dreaming...". That's how I feel, it only hurts when I breathe. Thanks for the kind words, I really appreciate them.