May mamas, it's MAY!!!!

[KKmama]

Here's a new thread. Post away.

[fiddlefern]

Wow- we're quiet today- anyone out having a baby?

Friday was my last official day of work, but I went in to work 11 hrs Saturday and I'm going in all day tomorrow, unpaid. A teacher's job is never done- I just can't let go. I'm going to hide and avoid the kids (it would be too hard on them to see me after saying goodbye, I think), but I have a lot of paperwork/ transition stuff to do with my replacement.

I'm telling myself very firmly that whatever I don't get done tomorrow, doesn't get done. Even my replacement assured me, "just walk away- the kids will survive."

I'm due the 12th, but I just don't relate at all to the desire to have baby out. Maybe because I'm a first timer. Maybe I'm just unconsciously scared to become a full-time-life-long-parent, so I'm avoiding even THINKING that it could be any time soon. My personal sense (or hope?) is that baby will come on the 18th.

Peace, happiness, rest, and lovely weather to you all.

fiddlefern

[merpk]

It's May. Gotta work on those breathing&relaxing things today (better late than never :LOL) ...

Am totally ready for this to be happening already. Can't roll over in bed without hugely kvetching and waking up the whole family ... arms getting numb, sciatica getting out of hand ... the kids are tired of me being tired, too.

Please, someone, anyone, have a baby so I know this is real ... :LOL

[emmalola]

I just recently found this board, and I'm so pleased to meet everyone.

I am in absolute disbelief that it is May already. I'm not due until May 25th, but I am really hoping that he decides to make an early appearance. I think I want him early because I am so anxious to get this next part of my life started! He's my first also. I also wouldn't mind having him early so I could get extensions on all the papers and tests I have to take before the end of the semester (which happens to be this week....)

And I too am struggling with getting in and out of bed, up and down from my chair, out of my apartment down the three flights of stairs. Hip pain is for the birds!

Happy to meet everyone! congratulations on making it to May!

[Jennifer3141]

Hi everyone!

I just recently found this board too. It's good to be here.

Amy, I found myself giggling over your post. One of our cats has taken to sleeping in the bassinet because she was so disgusted with my current roll over technique.

I'm close but there's no sign of her impending arrival and half of me wants her out NOW so I can play with her, meet her, breastfeed, try all these CD's, etc. etc. and half of me wants her to stay in there forever because she's safe and a whole lot easier to care for in there!

Jen

[PattyCakes]

welcome Jennifer3141 and Emmalola and congrats on your babies!!

my last day was Friday and today is my first day not working. it feels WIERD! really wierd! I keep thinking I should be checking my email or the servers or something. Dh went into work today without me - (we used to work together). He said it felt really wierd and a bit lonely to know that I won't be going into work with him anymore.

I want to get nesting but frankly, I don't even know where to start! I'm afraid to get too much done too early (I'm not due for another 3 weeks or so, but have an inkling I'm going to go a bit early) and I don't want to just be sitting around *waiting* for baby to arrive.

Oop! Package just arrived! Baby stuff from home. Gotta run! Have a great day mamas!

[mamameg]

Happy May, Mamas! We're all getting so close!!!

It's been toooo long since I posted. I simply have not had the focus to sit down and write about myself lately, but i do read to see how everyone else is doing. Seems like everyone is doing pretty well, just playing the waiting game at this point.

I've been off work for the last 2 weeks and it's been WONDERFUL! I can take a nap whenever I feel like it! This alone has made a huge difference in how I feel. I hadn't noticed the toll work was taking on my until after I get out of there. My fatgiue has reduced drastically and overall, I just feel so much better.

Fiddlefern - I'm with you... I am not relating to the desire to have the baby out, either. I am 38 weeks, and everyone asks me, "Are you SO ready to have the baby?" Ummmm... no, not really. I mean, of course I'm excited to meet the baby, but I'm not feeling desperate to have the pregnancy be over the way most people are assuming. Which is good, considering I honestly feel like I'll be delivering a good week or so past my due date (5/18).

That said, I must acknowledge, I've had a pretty easy pregnancy. Minimal nausea in the beginning, headburn all the way through, but even that's been bearable. My back has been sort of sore off and on, but again, it's been mild and bearable. Mood swings have come and gone, but even those haven't been that bad. Overall, I've had an enjoyable pregnancy!

The most unejoyable thing was, of course, my late-breaking herpes diagnosis. Update on that is I am currently on suppressive therapy and if all goes well (which it should) I should have no problem having a normal, med-free, vaginal birth. BUT, if something does happen (outbreak), I will have to have a c-s, but I'm in a good head-space about that. It certainly wouldn't be ideal, but I would rather do it than chance exposing my baby to herpes. My doula tells me she has worked with several women with herpes over the years and she's never seen on have to have a c-s, so that makes me feel better, too. Odds are everything will go smoothly. Thanks again to everyone who offered support during my crisis period - it REALLY helped a lot.

Belly Cast! I had mine done last weekend and it was SO cool! I love it so much! I am still mulling over how I might like to paint it - so many options! I'm so glad I did it. It will be a very cool memento.

This is my week to get all my stuff done - pack hospital bag TODAY, wash baby clothes, pick up the last of the new baby essentials. Am I completely behind schedule, or what? Such is my life!

I guess that's about if for now. Oh wait... I should also mention that my belly is especially protruding this morning.

And now I'm off to try to get something done around here. Ha!

Megan

[Defenestrator]

Hey May Mamas!

Somebody hurry up and have a baby already! I betcha that one of us is out there in laborland right now . . . As for me, I think I am never going to finish being pregnant. Same old, same old, every day. Heartburn, cramping, less than comfy sleep. I feel like I am trapped in Groundhog Day, and I am not even at my due date yet!

I had a really nice mother blessing yesterday, thrown by my awesome midwives. There were just six of us there, but I got spoiled. One of the midwives gave me a new native sling, which is cool because I have never used a pouch-style sling on my own baby, and they both chipped in for a mother/baby package with the cranio-sacral therapist who used to share office space with us. That is very cool because my first ds had a lot of head molding and spent his first week with us crying a lot in pain as things shifted around. I didn't know about cranio-sacral therapy then, but it will be nice to have the therapist as a resource now. If I don't need her for the baby, I will just have her work on the ever-present kink in my neck!

I ate the leftover party food for breakfast this morning and will probably run out to the jewelry supply store to get some filament to string the beads I was given for a labor necklace. Once I have that done, I can consider myself ready. The house is still a big mess, but I am shifting from major disaster to merely clutter and would welcome the baby anytime.

My ds is showing some stress. He has been wanting to sleep in between me and dh for the past few nights (usually he is in a toddler bed beside us). This is hard on me because he is a total bed hog and I am usually shoved to about a 6" space on the edge of the bed where my achy pregnant body proceeds to dissolve in a fit of numbness and soreness. He has also been throwing really random control-oriented tantrums. This morning there was much wailing and thrashing because I was brushing my teeth in daylight a la "Maaaamaaa, you're not allowed to brush your teeth when it is light ouuuut!" If anyone else figures out what that is all about, I would like to know. Until then, I am just scheduling in big chunks of my day for one-on-one time where we just play games or draw together or whatever and I don't try to get anything else done so that he feels like he is getting more of my attention.

Any co-sleepers with two or more kids here? Plan A was that we were going to gently transition ds to his own bed in his own room a couple of months ago and that just didn't happen. I know for sure that it would be cruel and difficult to send him out now or soon after the baby comes, but I am concerned about safety with the new baby. I have thought about splitting up the family and sending dh off to sleep with him in his bed (he has a double) for a month or so while I have a brand-newborn. I have also thought about side-caring a crib or other bed so that the baby is in its own space. Ds likes to snuggle as close as possible to me and I am worried about him smothering the new baby. We currently have a queen futon on a frame about 12" off the ground. The toddler bed is attached to my side and ds starts out there most nights and makes it through the night there about 80% of the time (except for this past week).

Anyway, I have gone on long enough I hope everyone is doing well, especially our first-time mamas.

Stacia

[Jacqueline]

Hi everyone,
Sounds like we're all in about the same place...wanting the baby here, but also realizing we've got a lot to do! I envy those of you who have already left your jobs. I have 8 days left (my last day is Wednesday May 12.) I'm working mostly cause we already won't have income in June anyway, so we need the money as long as we can get it! But, it's getting harder. I really feel the need for a nap each day and it just doesn't happen. Oh well. Just a few more days.

We had our last baby shower this weekend and it was really fun. This was thrown by our good friends and was co-ed, so we really enjoyed it. We now have just about everything we need for the beginnings with our little one. We used all our Target gift cards last night and got the last few "big" things...car seat, breast pump, changing pad, baby papasan. We were also given a nice wad of cash by my office, so we plan to purchase our cloth diaper starter package as well as the Maya Wrap pouch.

Well, I better get back to work. Everyone keep taking care of yourselves. We're definitely in the home stretch.

[MorningDove]

No baby yet. Sigh. . . ..
My due date isn't until tomorrow (may 4) so I shouldn't be whining. I guess I just got a little excited when I started to show some signs last week. Oh well, I did tell this baby to stay in until May. We were thinking a Beltane birthday would have been pretty cool, but obviously that didn't happen. All my mom's babies went late, but tomorrow is the full moon and it will be exactly the correct number of weeks after this baby was conceived (conceived on a full moon day, too). That has to mean something, right? My only real sign today is that the front of my cubic bone seems to be more sore than usual.
I have a doctor's appt this afternoon. I'm pretty sure she is going to want to check my cervix. Even though it doesn't really mean anything at this point, I guess they want to make sure I'm showing some readiness. Hopefully, the blood pressure will still be good or I'm probably facing the prospect of being induced. At the very least, she will probably be pretty adamant about stripping my membranes - which I'm going to resist as long as the blood pressure is good. All this waiting wouldn't be quite as bad if I wasn't bound to the couch. Yesterday evening I was going so insane, I went for a walk. I want to do what's best for baby (obey bed rest), but an insane mama isn't good for baby either.

Happy May everyone.

[TurboClaudia]

I can't believe it's May! Even though we have one of the latest due dates, it's still a possibility that baby will show up late this month or perhaps early next month. That's not very long!

My body is definitely ready to not carry this baby around in utero anymore. I can't lie down for more than a few hours at a time anymore because the muscle/ligament/who knows what stretching at the top right corner of my uterus is just unbearable after a certain point. I would rather stand, walk, squat, kneel, perch on my exercise ball than lie down most of the time.

Mentally and emotionally, I think I'm starting to get ready to meet our baby. One night last week I was very emotional and thinking what are we getting ourselves into and I don't want our lives to change from how they are and the responsibility of it all could be overwhelming. I cried a bunch of times and talked to my partner and my best friend and wrote some stuff down and then I was better. I'm an emotional person anyway (Cancer Moonchild) and don't hide things very well...

I've been watching for Sarah (mcsarahb), who I've become friends with here in Portland, and I've noticed she hasn't been online for a few days, which is unusual... her partner was convinced the baby was going to be born on May 1st, so maybe she is in labor or has a baby or something... if we don't hear something by tonight, I'll know more after our birth class with our midwives, who are their midwives, too. I'll keep you updated!

sending everyone gentle belly rubs...

warmly,
claudia

[pottermamma]

So am I really the first??????

Our little boy, Kyler Morrow was born on his due date 4/30/04 At home at 5:07pm in the afternoon, with his brother watching, his dad, our 2 midwives and our friend in attendance. Laobr began that morning at 1:30 am. He came out weighing 8lbs 7 oz, 21 and 3/4 in long with a big ol head of 14 in. in circumferance (sp???) needless to say I tore quite nicely, but other than that we are doing well and he nurses like a CHAMP!!!!! Just awaiting the arrival of the milk and i think he will be very pleased!!!!!!

A funny story though (and hopefully I'll post the whole story later). Kyler was crowning and I was really workin hard and Ds was watching and I hear, "hey there's his penis"...I couldn't help but laugh cause all I could think was I wish you COULD really see his penis cause this baby (didn't know it was a boy yet) would be outta here then!!!!!! Ds did this for me a couple times throughout labor...him being there really helped relax me and make me laugh a few times!!!!!!! He really says he enjoyed watching his baby bro be born and is doing quite well with the transition. He is super proud to be a BIG BROTHER!!!!!!

Oh, and the blood pressure stayed up morning dove but was not a problem. I am now relieved though that I can get up off of the couch (well sort of, with this tear I'm still not doing toooooo much) but I can at least get off of my left side!!!!!! I hope the same holds true for you very soon. And don't feel guilty about the walking....I guess every care provider is dfferent cause our midwife wanted me to still walk, gently but walk but still walk every day...she even had me walking during labor....Which REALLY helped.

Hope some more of you get to go really soon. Birthin babies is truely amazing!!!!!!!

[mamameg]

Pottermamma!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS and WELCOME Kyler!!!

Glad to hear the birth went smoothly and that breatfeeding is sailing along. All the best to you and your family....

Megan

[Defenestrator]

Congratulations Pottermama! Glad to hear that the birth went so well. Enjoy the first few days with your little one!

[Sarah'sMama]

Welcome to the world little one! So glad to have our first birth announcement! Glad to hear things are going so well. Thanks for letting us know of his birth!

[TurboClaudia]

Welcome sweet baby Kyler!!!!!!!!!!

Sending you and your family lots of loving and peaceful vibes, pottermama...

warmly,
claudia

[KKmama]

Woo hoo! Congrats, Pottermama! Welcome Kyler! I have a big ol' goofy grin on my face for your whole family...

[emmalola]

congratulations! what a great start to a new month.

[kittymama]

Yay Pottermama, and welcome to your new little one! Glad to hear everything went well, and thanks for getting us started! I can't wait to read everyone else's wonderful birth stories (and to post one of my own)!

[scbegonias]

Welcome Kyler, and congratulations to you and yours, Pottermama!

What a wonderful event to get me off my butt and register for this thread. We all sound so...expectant.

I'm *only* at 37 weeks today and still feeling great. The babe has dropped a bit more in these past few days, and after a quiet spell is now a bit rambunctious at times. I just can't wait to meet him/her!

Happy birthing vibes to all of those embarking on the adventure...can't wait to hear.