April Showers Bring May Flowers - May Thread for Sept. Mamas! - Page 9

[Cuddlemama]

~SIGH~...Anybody got an extra box of tissues?

I've been crying for so long my eyelids are all swollen. A dear online friend lost her 2.5 month old baby boy to SIDS a couple of days ago and I'm drowning in sorrow for her family.

And, to add a capful of guilt onto the sorrow, I'm becoming ever more paranoid that something dreadful will happen to this baby. I've never had a peaceful day with this pregnancy and the fear is starting to be more than I can handle. It doesn't help that I'm bleeding through pad after pad today, with no end in sight.

Ok, enough of my glum and gloom. I just needed a place to let this go so that I don't carry it into my afternoon rest time with my own sweet babies. Off to cuddle two sweaty, stinky toddlers for a couple of hours while their daddy goes to a meeting.

~Leigh (who is 21.1 weeks today...a step closer to viability with every coming morning)

[Caroline248]

Anna...get out of that slump...it took the good weather for me to get out of mine. It will pass, try to get somer st and take care of yourself.

Leigh, so sorry for you. How very sad for your friend. Does your dr know you are bleeding so heavily today? YOu deserve to go cuddle your babies...there is something about your own childs sweat that is sweet!!

Caroline

[JenInMpls]

Leigh, I'm counting the days for you with my fingers crossed. I hope you're feeling better soon... not just physically, but mentally too. Such sad news.

Linda - I suppose I've got some distortion on the edges but you know, my eyes have been lousy my whole life and I guess I just don't notice anymore. Plus I'm used to wearing small glasses, and the one time I tried putting contacts in, I blinked and they flew across the room. Something about my "eyelids being too tight".

I'm in a grey mood because the secretary at our school is giving me the silent treatment, and I can't figure out why. So I'm here at Dunn Bros drowning my sorrow in a decaf chai. Just burnt my tongue... great. It rained earlier and now a cool front is obviously moving in because it's seriously colder now than it was even an hour ago. And this weather is going to hit our pentathletes in their tents? Yuck.

A woman with seriously big hair just came in. Maybe that's what I need to do to my long hair!! Tease it!!!

Hm... can't see it.

j

[banana girl]

Super Huge Heeebee Geebees!

Yucky creepy crawlies!!!! I swear to god, that I just saw a guy walk past my office door that I had a one night stand with when i was 17!!!!!! AAAAAAARRGGH!!!! I'm crossing my fingers in hopes he will not decide to come buy a stamp.....O.k. just had to tell someone.....

spiders crawling across my spine.
Anna Banana

[Mom2baldie]

Kim,

Good luck on the med. transcription course!
Im sorry about your sister! That sounds really horrible and I cant imagine how scary that was for her.
I took the kids swimming for the 1st time on Monday. The water was freezing, but Riley LOVED it and remembered how to swim from last summer. I havent been yet. What kind of bathing suit do you have? I thought I could just wear my bikini from last year, but the top is kindof tight for some reason...You certainly cant tell if my boobs are bigger!!!

Sarah,

Paityn was much more active that Riley was in utero, yet shes always been an extremely calm and happy child! I worried a lot about having 2 high needs kids when I was prego with her, and to be honest, Im doing it again this time. Riley is so *challenging* to say the least, that I seriously would have a hard time with 2 kids like him.
Also, I tore with my VBAC as well, and thats my main worry for this birth. I really dont want to tear at all, but last time I HATED pushing (so pushed HARD) and I dont think it will be any different this Sept.

Chumani,

Thank you so much for the Mothers Day card. That was really sweet of you to do for everyone!

Jen,

I am a cancer (water sign) and supposedly when upset or angry we just withdraw... I know thats def. what I do. I think water signs are supposed to be very sensitive, emotional... I dont know that much about it though. I am who I am and dont need my horoscope to tell me how to act.

[Mom2baldie]

Danielle,

We have a compost bin also! I love composting. We actually just have ours in 2 large trashcans because we dont really have a good spot in the yard for it. It will be nice if we get the land so we will have room for everything!

Man, I dodnt know that you had to have 10 inches to donate to Locks of Love. When I got my hair cut 2 weeks or so ago, the lady said it was about 9 inches off. Thats crappy. I wish I wouldve known or thought about that.

I see everyone else likes to garden as much as I do. I dont have much of an edible garden this year - only tomatoes and strawberries, but have really pretty flower beds. Ive been able to plant several new flowering bushes and vines so far and Im excited to see how much they grow before the summer heat gets here. Vines are def. my favorite - we have clematis, climbing rose, honeysuckle, morning glories and trumpet vine growing in various places around the house. I wish I had room for more!

Leigh,

Im so sorry you are having to go through this. You sound like such a strong person. I dont think I would be able to handle all that near as well.
Thats terrible about your friends baby. I just cant even imagine...

[Mom2baldie]

Jen,

Ive heard that also about your vision changing with pregnancy. Several times recently Ive thought that I need to get new prescriptions for my glasses and contacts, but we dont have vision insurance so it wont be happening any time soon. I havent been to an eye Dr. in so long, Im scared to go and find out how much worse my eyes are. Ive been wearing glasses for a very long time also - since 3rd grade I believe.


Well, thats probably all from me today! Talk to everyone tomorrow!

[banana girl]

Weird co-incidences
#1
I have eaten almost an entire watermelon mostly by myself in about 3 days. (It was Savannah's "watermelon, watermelon, i can't hear you!" that set me off)

#2
Have been saying almost daily that I MUST get a haircut soon!

#3
Have had 4 conversations with different people about virgo's and heard different info from each person!

Weird...

so, what do you think guys... have we spent so much time getting to know each other that we are like all tuning in one the same wave length or something? Or, do all pregnant women fixate on fruit, hair cuts and astrological signs?

with love
Anna Banana

[sistermama]

Lynsey, I worry about the same thing too! It takes so much energy to keep Jack happy and on an even keel. It makes me so mad when people tell me I'm "lucky" to have such a good kid and I think - "I bust my ass to keep that kid "good"!!!!" He's brilliant and funny but also so demanding and active. If I have another like him, I don't know what I'll do - deal I guess!

I'm so jealous of all you gardeners. I have such good intentions, but it never comes to fruition! Plus it seems hard to grow veggies and the like in florida - so hot, crappy sand, etc. I am going to try at least container gardening when we get moved, though.

I had such a trying day at work. There's this company I have to deal with all the time, and they are so sanctimonious and patronizing - THEY never do anything wrong, etc. so when I have to get an error or something corrected, I end up literally having to YELL at them over the phone before they will shut up and listen to me. I can imagine the rep I have with them. Basically, their whole attitude is always, "you just don't understand, know, realize." Today a woman explained to me how adding and subtracting are opposites - REALLY!!!!????? It is so draining. At least I don't have to work tomorrow - in an office anyway!!!

[cottonwood]

Leigh, that sounds so scary. I hope it gets better soon and stops causing you so much stress!

Jen, I wonder if your contacts just weren't fitted right? I mean, the plastic is so thin... seems like if you can lift your eyelid off your eye you should be able to fit a contact in there! Also, were these soft or hard contacts? It seems like most people are good only with one or the other. It's definitely a big hassle to get used to them, but for me the clarity of vision was really worth it. Have you considered laser surgery? Scares the bejeebers out of me personally...

Sarah, sorry about your awful day. I had to quit work about halfway through my pregnancy (lucky that I was able to) because I just could not handle the stress while pregnant. In fact, how I found out I was pregnant (first time) was that I had a complete break down at work -- over nothing, really -- and thinking I was losing my mind, I drove myself to urgent care at the hospital. The FIRST thing they asked me was "Is there a chance you're pregnant?" I was so annoyed, I thought, "what does that have to do with anything?" Ha ha!

[adventuregirl]

Oh Leigh, snuggle with those little ones good, it will make you feel better, even if its just a little bit. How awful for your friend, that is so horribly scary and heartbreakingly sad. As much as letting your feelings for her flow is good, remember that more stress to you is not good for the babe, so do your best to let go and not wallow. I know, incredibly harder to do than say, but you need to take extra special care right now.

Regarding vision, I've seen 20/20 all my life and have been worried that pregnancy might mess it up, I have been feeling like I can't see as far as I used to. But I just got my eyes checked last week for my job and was 20/20, so hopefully I won't experience any changes.

OK, gotta go clean up and start dinner, we are having guests tonight. We are getting a bunch of snow suddenly, and are going to enjoy our first snowy soak in the hot tub, whooppeee!!! I have a mw appt tomorrow, very excited!

[chrissy]

boy in lap.

look here:

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?...Wzqo&notag=1\\

[sistermama]

Chrissy, now thats what I call a Baby Story belly! It looks so perfect and cute! The pic of Noah gazing at your belly made me teary - that's the kind of shot you pay a photographer big money to get! I so wish we could get Jack and Noah together - they look almost exactly the same size and seem to have the same little twinkle of mischief!

[JenInMpls]

Wowie Chrissy's bellybutton has popped!!!! You look super!

Linda - Ugh, I can't even stand thinking about Lasik, it just weirds me out thinking of a laser on my eyes. And what kind of long-term studies have they done? Anyone who had Lasik 30, 40 years ago and how they're doing today? I'm happy to continue wearing glasses. I even have prescription swim goggles! It could be that the contacts weren't fitted properly, but frankly, I probably don't have the energy or the attentiveness to take care of contact lenses. And I'd still want to wear my glasses anyway!! Lynsey - I go for an eye appt every year because glaucoma runs in my family. In fact, we had to scrap my #1 pick for a sperm donor because his grandma and mother have glaucoma, that would have been a major genetic bullet that no kid of mine would have been able to dodge.

Anna I'm glad that you seem to be back up to speed. Yeah, that is a heebeegeebee moment. I haven't had any of those before - just saw my HS boyfriend once at Don Pablo's and was a bit bitter that he had gotten better looking with age

OK, I ought to just go watch West Wing instead of listening to it with one ear!!

Jen, who needs a neckrub

[greenbeing]

Ah, snow. I was surprised to see it tonight. Maybe after living here a couple more years I'll get used to the whole snow in April and May thing.

Leigh-I'm sorry to hear about your friend. Take care and enjoy cuddling with those toddlers of yours.

Went to look at a place today-way too small and dark. Oh well, gotta keep on looking.

[msrog]

Phew, finally caught up again, Chatty Pattys...

(Baby A wriggling lots right now, so cool.) Hmmm. She seems to move around a lot more than her sister. In fact, she's on the left, and whenever I lie on my left side, she wiggles like she's freaking out about being squashed by Baby B... but when I lie on my right, Baby B seems she could care less. It will be fun to see if they end up with opposite temperaments like that once they arrive!

Lynsey, YAY to your homeschooling decision! I'm so excited for you and dh and Riley (and his sister, right?) We went to the spring homeschool convention a couple weeks ago here, my second and dh's first, and he seemed to really like Abeka's curriculum. I had fun this first year "practicing" homeschool (Nicolas is 8/28/98 birthday, so I didn't have to register him into the county school system until this year. We will claim him as a kindergartner, but do a lot of first grade work.) I liked using Five in a Row a lot this year, and I also liked just hodge podging stuff together, like a relaxed homeschooler concept. We went places (cool field trips as well as regular errands), took walks, read lots of books, played board games and card games, used the magnifying glass in the sun, helped Granddaddy garden, and worked in a Reader Rabbit workbook he got from the bookstore, and he learned a lot from his Leap Pad and educational CD-Roms, like Reader Rabbit, Jumpstart Kindergarten, Living Books, Arthur's Learning Adventure, etc. Everyone always comments to me about how smart he is. And usually very articulate and well behaved. My hubby wouuld prefer a more structured environment, so I'm sure we'll end up with a bit of both; probably structured math and writing, and more loose history, art, science, etc.
- Also, congrats on the farm; I really hope it works out for you!!!

Kim, I was so sorry to hear your sister had the run-in with the pit bull -- how awful!!! Will they do some sort of skin graft and reconstruction?
- Also, we went swimming for the first time this season last week, while in Arizona. Wonderful! The temps were 101, so without the pool it would have been unbearable unless we stayed inside all day. I wore a borrowed tankini and pulled the top up to my boobs so my belly could get a little tan. I was on a float that lets you sink a bit into the water, so I stayed cool but still got some color and vitamin D! Nicolas had a blast with his cousin. He still has to use a life vest or floats of some sort. Hopefully this will be the summer he finally figures out swimming...

Leigh, I hate that you're bleeding so much while also worrying about your friend!!! How terrible for her. Please think positive thoughts and rest so you keep yourself and baby healthy. You might want to search this site for threads on SIDS and losing a baby, so you'll know what your friend needs from you. I understand it's easy to back away, thinking they will find it painful to talk or be around you since you're pregnant, but she may very well need your support more than anyone else's...

Chrissy, your belly pics are GORGEOUS!!! I will have to do a "naked belly" one next time. It's fun to see the belly button! And what a sweet picture with Noah. I need one like that with Nicolas. (It looks like he's actually biting your belly button in the kissing one, haha.)

I could respond to other posts (Anna, Jen, etc.) but my back can't take any more sitting!!!!!!!!!! OUCH!

Sistermama and Chumani, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the special Mother's Day cards. How thoughtful! I wish I were more organized. It was all I could do to cram the present I got my mom into the mail two minutes before we left for the airport last week! I'll try to invent some other reason to send everyone a card... =O)

Much love to you all! I have my 22 wk OB appt tomorrow, then my first perinatal next week. (With twins, I will now begin alternating every two weeks with my OB and peri.) And I feel HUGE and a little more tired, and my back hurts and my nose is stuffed and allergies got worse in Arizona. Grrr. =O)

Caroline, aren't you coming here soon? Better email me!!! [e-mail].

God's best to you awesome September mommies.

[JenInMpls]

You know, being up at this time isn't so bad in spring and summer, when it's light out. Our usually wide awake neighborhood is quiet except for the sound of singing birds, which is a delightful change from the thumping basses from noisy cars and the mariachi music coming from the house on the other side of the alley. Of course there are the airplanes taking off, but they're not really avoidable... part of the price you pay for living 15 minutes from the airport and honestly not quite as annoying since the uneasy silence in the air in the days following 9/11.

I woke up, Sprout woke up, and then Eddie (yes, Eddie!) jumped up on the bed and sat next to us... which meant something was up. She's not a cuddler. So, after not being able to fall back asleep, I went downstairs to discover that when cleaning out the litter box last night, Jo had also emptied the crumbs out of their food bowl - but had not refilled it. Oops! Poor starving kitty (ha, ha).

It appears that the Ice Saints have arrived in Minnesota for one last attempt to resurrect winter. Here is the story (my translation, sorry if it's a little unwieldy, it's out of a book I have in German):

After some very beautiful, often summery warm days around the middle of May, there often comes a last outbreak of cold that is sometimes even accompanied by frost at night. The 12th, 13th and 14th of May are the days of the Ice Saints Pancratius, Servatius and Bonifatius. Cold Sophie follows them on the 15th. Warm-loving summer flowers and veggies should be planted after these dates...

There is a story that follows about a boy named Hans who encounters three old men with sacks on their back which are full of ice and snow, who make the wind blow fiercely and coldly, but who listens to his friends the frogs sing loudly to make the three old men (Pancratius, Servatius and Bonifatius) go back to King Winter's kingdom. Any mamas who want to tell that story to their children will have to embellish it on their own

Well, I might try going back to bed now. *wave*

j

[Caroline248]

I can't believe you all have snow...it is almost 90 here. Wow. But that is a nice story Jen....

I am NOT dealing with the heat very well. I can't imagine what August will be like. My 2cd daughter was due in mid-August, but came in mid-July, and I was not as big then as I am now. This is a BIG boy!!

Yes Savannah, I am coming a week from Sunday. I will email you next week when I know what my family has planned.


Oh, and Jen, your HS boyfriend???? Hmmmm, interesting. Does Jo know about your "other life"???? Maybe one day I will tell you about my HS girlfriend...(not really, just trying to make my boring hetero-sexual married to my high school BF sound more interesting).....although, there were the three years we broke up after our first child was born.....there are some wild stories....

Ok, I am apparently in an odd mood this morning...must have something to so with the fact hat is is not yet 9am and it is about 80 degrees in here....

Caroline

[greenbeing]

chrissy-you are beautiful!!!! I love your pictures, especially where Noah is kissing your belly.

[adventuregirl]

Chrissy, I called in my dh, pulled up my shirt and said, does my belly look like hers? He said yup, just about the same, hee-hee. I need to get a pic this week.

Meredith, you could always move to them mtns, there are lots of great places up here and I'd be so psyched to have you for a neighbor! Hey next time I'm in Denver, I'll PM you, we could have lunch or something, its really only an hour drive from here.

Caroline, you crack me up!

Off to yoga, will check in tomorrow!