Week of September 20 - the Home Stretch!

[Piglet68]

October Mamas Roll Call

momtol&a
Yoga mama
snugglebutter 10/01
mirthfulmum 10/03 BOY! Harrison Eliot Smith
*prediction: last week of Sept, 8 hrs labour*
TracyK 10/04
mhurst 10/04
kraftykathy 10/04 *prediction: Oct 4, short labour, girl*
Jillerina 10/04 *prediction: Oct 6, 6 hrs labour*
water 10/06
KateMary 10/06 *Ruby Ava born 09/25*
Proudly AP 10/08
MamaEmerald 10/08
nikwik 10/8 GIRL!
mayasmama 10/08 GIRL!
FutureMama 10/09 BOY! Miles Rocket
bluehalo 10/10 BOY! Noah Daniel
allformyboys 10/11
Lucysmama 10/12 *prediction: girl, Oct 8, 16 hrs labour*
bendmom 10/12
ashleepurdie 10/12 *prediction: boy, 12 hours easy labour*
momadance 10/13 BOY! Gabriel Reed...? or will it be Zappa?
*prediction: Oct 23rd*
Mandi 10/14
rhemp 10/14
wannabmommie 10/15
MTBto5 10/15
krnflwr 10/16 GIRL! Emma Grace *prediction: Oct 16th, 10 hours labour*
gmvh 10/16 *Twins! Owen and Gwynnen born 10/25*
Piglet68 10/18 BOY! Sasha Adam scheduled cesarian October 8
MommyMuse 10/19
JenDoula 10/19
BeansMomma 10/20 GIRL!
Mom2Lily 10/20
CourtneyandLogan 10/21 BOY! Zander Julian
*prediction: Oct 18 or 28*
OakEmber 10/21 BOY! Oakley Kai
*prediction: Oct 6 - 10, 6 hours labour*
mtnjenny 10/22
Ekatherina 10/22
Stanleymama 10/23 BOY! *prediction: Oct 18, short easy labour*
gottaknit 10/24 *prediction: Oct 31 - Nov 4, > 9 lbs*
3boyz4us 10/24 *expected Oct 22*
Ctmom70 10/24 BOY! Alex Richard
*prediction: Oct 14, 5 hrs labour*
Kim22 10/24 BOY!
aspiring mama 10/25
sunshinegal 10/25 Fiona
AngelBee 10/25 BOY! Angelo Richard
truebluexf 10/27 *prediction: Oct 11, 8 hrs labour, boy*
Soogie 10/27 *prediction: Oct 27 or 28*
ameliabedelia 10/29 GIRL! Greta Marie
*prediction: Oct 17, 10 hrs labour*
flitters 10/30
BeauGeek 10/30
AnnR33 10/31
guinnessinu 10/31 TWINS! BOY! and BOY!
BlueMoonTime 10/31 GIRL! Alexis

Morning Ladies! Well, for those of us on the West Coast it's still morning, lol. Nice to be back doing the weekly thread and keeping up with y'all a bit better.

Question of the Week: Okay, we're going to get a bit risque here, lol...has the love life pretty much gone into hibernation and, if so, how well do you think your partner is going to handle it?

DH hasn't seen any action in at least a couple months now, and knows the dry spell won't be lifting any time soon. I know he misses the intimacy, heck we barely get a chance to cuddle, what with my 6 pillows forming a wall around me, and DD occupying what little of my body is still accessable, lol. I'm lucky that DH tolerates it all well. He does understand, and he's crazy enough about being a papa that he feels it's all worth it. I feel bad for him (I think he misses it more than I do), but also feel blessed that he's so easygoing and understanding. I would not want to deal with that sort of pressure at this time!

So, I'm 36 weeks! today. The house is finally starting to look like a home, basically just have the kids' room to tackle (thanks for the tip about putting a dust cover over the diapers, whoever that was!). I also feel like I'm suddenly short on things like onesies, etc...so I think I'll be devoting this week to taking a true inventory of clothes, blankets, etc and doing some final shopping.

[Lucysmama]

Happy Monday everyone!

QOTW: Yeah, there's no hanky-panky over here. That sounds SO uncomfortable now that baby is engaged. I can't imagine putting anything else in my already crowded pelvis. Dh doesn't seem to mind so much, he knew it was coming. When I had dd, we had sex again at 2 weeks postpartum, so it wasn't much of a wait at all!

Once I get to 39-40 weeks, we will probably have sex to help move things along....but I feel like I am "taking one for the team" because I really don't enjoy late-term sex.

[stanleymama]

ok so I just posted under momadances thread...which is it gonna be?

QOTW: Still some loving going on here. I haven't lost the mood at all, though its not exactly as exciting, still good though to feel close. I also am ready 5 weeks postpartum, so dh doesn't suffer too much. I have a good friend though who is really struggling with this. Her baby is 4.5 mos. old, she is on ppd meds and has no mood for sex. Her dh is really struggling, but yet is supportive. She has no appetite either. Did any of you mamas go through this, and do you have any advice for me to pass onto her?

[AnnR33]

Hi All!
QOTW: We've actually been "business as usual" here until last week when I said-that's it for you! LOL It was too uncomfortable and afterwards I had a leg cramp forever...DH said he's surprised it lasted as long as it did Now he's been joking all week about his long suffering-wah wah

Actually have some sun in WA today so heading to the park...
Ann

[bluehalo]

37 weeks 2 days. ack!

QOTW: We've had a pretty active weekend, as far as intimate activities go I have to say I'm a bit more motivated by the cervical ripening benefits of his semen than actual physical desire. But I do enjoy the intimacy and closeness, etc. It's certainly a challenge to figure out the most comfortable way to make things happen, but fortunately DH is a good sport and very gentle and willing to go slow while we figure things out. We usually end up in giggles b/c it feels so silly trying to figure out a way that's both effective and comfortable.

I guess it was Saturday night? ... that I wondered if it was in the beginnings of early labor. I was having very regular BHs, which were increadingly intense, more uncomfortable than truly painful ... anyway, when we went to bed, I really wouldn't have been suprised to have been woken up in the middle of the night with something "real" going on. Fortunately, things died down and I'm back to business as usual (which is a fairly good deal of BH contrax, through out the day, but nothing *that* regular or intense). It was a real wake up call though ... I was like, Oh! I'm not ready! I still need to ___ and __ and ___ *lol*

Off to take DS to violin ... hope you guys are having a great Monday!

[ashleep]

Hello, all! Hope everybody had a great weekend. It is so beautiful here right now!! There's so much to do as far as baby stuff goes, but all I want to do is sit outside and knit! (I just learned how and am totally addicted. )

Piglet thanks so much for asking this question! I was going to bring it up myself because I've been wondering...

QOTW: Well, I'm afraid I might be an oddball on this one. I have been wantin' some lovin' the entire time, but dh has been weirded out by it. After the 21 week ultrasound (when we were still going to an ob), and he actually saw the baby I guess it really clicked for him that there was a baby in there. It's been really hard for me to adjust to because we had a great sex life pre-preg. Now we DTD about once a month, and it's usually because I just don't take no for an answer . Needless to say I've had some insecurity issues, as if it wasn't strange enough just gaining weight and having my hormones go totally nuts, and then to feel completely undesired... But he's tried really hard to let me know that 'it's not you it's me', sooooo BOB and I have become really good friends. : (BOB=battery-operated-boyfriend ) I've told him 'Get it while you can buddy 'cause it's all gonna change'. I just don't think he gets it though ...

Alright, I've tried to convince myself to clean and be productive, but it isn't working. Gotta get outside...

[gottaknit]

35 weeks 1 day!

Yep, I'm still here and still pregnant! (Hey, why is there no "wipes sweat from brow with relief - Whew!" smiley?) Thanks for your concern, Kimberly!

After an incredibly boring day in bed, things slowed down quite a bit and I'm back to normal random BH contractions. I'm taking 1500 mg Calcium and a dropper-full of Crampbark tincture every two hours to keep the contractions in check. I'm back at work, which is good, because at home I go crazy wanting to "get things done". At work I sit and surf the internet. heh heh just kidding....

So I just have to keep this baby in for a week and then I'll stop with the tincture and let nature take it's course.... I'll probably still be pregnant on Halloween.

QOTW: Well, on Sunday the midwife said that if we've been abstaining from intercourse because of the preterm labor scare, we don't need to anymore. Let's just say I changed the subject in a hurry. Didn't work though. The first thing out of DH's mouth when she left was, "Did you hear that? She thinks we should be having sex more!" Thanks but no thanks. I'm soooo tired! Poor DH.

Hope everyone's doing well. We'll be hearing some birth stories soon I think!

[krnflwr]

37 wks

Yup, not too much action going on around here lately. I feel like you, Piglet, that it is hard for DH to gain access between my fortress of pillows and a clingy toddler, and personally I'm just too exhausted most of the time to work up the energy. Sounds so sad to say. After Hannah's birth, it took me almost 7 months to get back into the swing of things. I wondered if it was the nursing horomones or what, but DH is a pretty understanding and patient guy, luckily. I plan on trying to arrange a "date" or two once it gets closer to our due date, but at this point I don't want to hurry anything along yet. My mom won't arrive until the 9th of Oct., and I really don't want to birth this babe w/o her here.
Oh, and Piglet, I think you can officially add Emma Grace as our name of choice on the master list, if you like. I have gotten the green light on the name choice from the important members of my family (mom, g-ma, godmother) and DH and I are tickled to find a name that we both love and agree on.
Hannah has been acting out in really extreme ways lately, and I am just so overwhelmed with her "two-ness", I could just scream. I'm getting very worried about what is going to happen when the baby arrives, if she is being so clingy and whiney, and then aggressive and combative, right now. And I just don't seem to have the patience I once had, so everything sets me off. She is asking to nurse like a dozen times a day, which is a huge increase (we were down to before bed and once in the morning). We are not being a good mama/child couple lately. She actually bit another child at LLL the other day, and then smacked another across the face. I totally lost it, yelled at her (in front of everyone) and then burst into tears. Arghhhh...who gave me a license to reproduce, anyway??

[stanleymama]

Nancy..glad to hear things have calmed down for you. I was concerned for you. Since we both are due around the same date, I know that this is still a bit too soon to have baby arrive.

Krnflwr...I really like the name Emma Grace..very pretty. Dh and I have had Emma Kate picked out for forever, but changed this pg. Doesn't matter though since we are having another boy

Ok, dh has the day off and we are off to watch a movie.

[True Blue]

34 weeks 5 days

Hi everyone! It's so nice to be home! Except I have so much to do LOL!!! Trying not to get overwhelmed and take it one thing at a time. Having fun rewashing baby stuff, washing the stuff I got this past week, stuff like that. Having less fun unpacking LOL.

QOTW: Well, not that I had a huge sex drive this pg (much more of a drive last time!) but due to preterm labor we haven't had sex since I was 21 weeks, with the exception of the 3 times around 28 weeks when it was supposed to safe again and then I had another UTI . On the bright side, another week and a half and we can DTD again. And hopefully get things rolling for birth. I really don't think this one is gonna make it to the edd (but I'm probably jinxing myself). DH has been doing pretty well, mostly bc he knows it is bc I CAN'T have sex vs I don't want to. Though I don't want to very often LOL but he doesn't have to know that.

Stanleymama -- I didn't have ppd but I had depression once and took meds for it for a while. For the first 6-8 weeks or so, it killed both my appetite and my sex drive, as well as my ability to enjoy sex very much. BUT it did go away after time, as did the numbness my emotions took on. After those first 6 weeks, I felt like my normal self again. All I can do is send a hug to your friend and tell her it will get better soon!!

Nancy -- glad to hear baby is staying put for now.

krnflwr -- don't worry, I sincerely doubt you and I could be the only ones with no patience left for our 2 year olds!! Sometimes I just totally lose it!!

Hey Piglet -- do you think we should start a list on the start page of births? I was just thinking Marnie (allformyboys) had her little boy late last week...our first birth!!!

[mirthfulmum]

Don't have much time to post but wanted to give a word of encouragement to ashleepurdie and answer the QOTW.

I know exactly what you're going through. When pregnant with Alias, Dh couldn't have sex with me after I started showing at about 15 weeks. He assured me that it had nothing to do with me but he just felt like a pervert having sex with a pregnant woman. He couldn't get over the "baby in the room watching me" feeling. I found it very frustrating and I needed a lot of reassurance that I was still attractive and that we would have sex again. So the guy went without from mid-December until I was ready again, about 10 weeks post pardum, so mid-August. This time we were able to have some semblance of a sex life until I hit about 20 weeks. The Dh just couldn't get over his sex while pregnant issues. Again the man is going without. The no sex thing is definately easier to handle this time around because I know that once Harrison is born and we settle into our new family routine that our sex life will come back. And hopefully sooner than later!

[momadance]

Hey Mama's!

QOTW: We've had lovin' twice during this preg. It's really no big deal. Dh is so super busy all the time, and falls into bed exhausted anyway, so it's a non-issue

Wow some of us are so close to having babes!

I got my hotsling in the mail today It's so pretty! It matches a blue paisley dress I've been wearing throughout this pregnancy!

krnflr Sorry to hear about Hannah. It'll pass withen the next day or so, it always does... I can totally understand the tears. I was bit by Ds last Saturday, and he broke the skin, and the muscle tissue was swolen and bruised for a few days...Now he's the sweetest little man that ever walked the earth. Life can be overwhelming for our little ones, especially when they sense their worlds about to be rocked, after having watched their precious laps disappear and their mama's have morphed into pregopatamus...

[ashleep]

Thanks for the reassurance, mirthfulmum. Glad to know other DHs are weird about it too. Dh actually said once he was 'afraid he was poking the baby' :LOL I assured him that if he was poking anything it was my cervix, but he didn't buy it.

It's good to hear you're still pregnant, gottaknit! Can you tell me what crampbark actually does? I was taking it before I got pregnant, but after we found out I quit almost all my herbs except RRL. Now we have an herb-friendly midwife that eased my fears and I'm anxious to restart my herbal regimen.

Krnflwr, we were actually debating between Emma and Ella for a girl name, but decided on Ella (Ella Lucille, actually). So I agree, Emma is a beautiful name!

[ashleep]

Court, thanks for getting me set up w/ the yahoo site. I just posted some of my own and checked out everyone else's. Ladies, you are all gorgeous and have beautiful families!!!!

[gottaknit]

Here's some info about Crampbark. It's basically a muscle relaxant and eases cramps.

http://www.herbs2000.com/herbs/herbs_crampbark.htm

I used to drink a tea called "female toner" when I had menstrual cramps, which had crampbark in it and also contained raspberry leaf, etc. It was quite tasty. The crampbark tincture is nasty! So bitter! I don't think it's something I would take just for the fun of it. I plan to stop once I'm at 36 weeks. But if you like to drink icky stuff this is the tincture for you!

[OakEmber]

Well...since we are sharing We are still having sex more than ususual, now don't get me wrong we aren't really overly active to begin with :LOL (I usually want it about once a week and we will often go a week and a half without noticing) I am the one driving it, for some reason this pregnancy has got me reved up...so we are usually doing it twice a weekish. Not getting very brave or experimental or anything, we've just been doing the same thing since about 16 weeks (tempted to use the doggy icon here, but that might get me in trouble :LOL).

As for resuming...with Ember I had an episotomy so it took a long time for me to want to attempt it (I also bled for 8 weeks). So the first time was after 8 weeks and it was really uncomfortalbe so it was another 5 weeks after that (at point it still wasn't comfortalbe for me). So between that and BF dryness we weren't very intimate often at all the first year.

Ashlee you cracked me up! I'll fess up to a little bit of one on one action too, although I don't have any toys to use, hehe.

Gottaknit, glad you are are still pregnant

Oh and Karin..., Hannah isn't the only one acting that way...I really think it must be that they can sense that something BIG is gonna happen soon...Ember is well over 2 years old and is acting the same way, super clingy, etc. My other friends all confirm that the same thing happened and they also wondered what they were in for when the baby was born, but thankfully they all say that it wasn't so bad once the baby arrived. Here's to hoping anyway And Emma Grace is a beautiful name!!

[mirthfulmum]

38w 1d

The house is clean, well mostly, the boys' room is organized, had the baby shower yesterday, baby clothes are washed and put away, hospital bag is packed... okay I am officially ready to have this baby. Now if I can only get him to cooperate to make his grand entrance sooner than later.

It seems so strange to think that any day I could be holding little Harrison in my arms. Now that I feel like my life and home are in order I am feeling much more excited than anxious. I just hope that I don't have to wait until 2 weeks after my due date.

Karin - Emma Grace is a very pretty name. And it goes great with Hannah. Sorry to hear about the "terrible" twos strickign your house. I agree with momadance, in a few days it'll pass and you'll have your sweet little girl back. These last few days/weeks of pregnancy are hard on everyone. I too find myself a lot less patient and tolerant than usual. The kids must pick up on that.

Nancy - Phew! So happy to read that you and baby are doing better.

Kimberly - Sorry to read about your freind. I have been lucky enough not to have had PPD but I can empathize. My midwife actually suggested I take EPO orally after the baby is born if I experience any symptoms of PPD. She told me that it acts as a mood stabalizer and is totally safe to take when breast feeding. Perhaps EPO might help your friend.

I keep wondering what we're all going to do when our babies are born and we aren't part of a due date thread anymore. Will we all go our seperate ways or will there be a new thread that we could all gather at. I really hope that this all dosen't end in a month or two.

[momadance]

Ashlee that pic on the beach is so beautiful! You are one sexy mama! You have such a cute rain drop belly

Thanks for sharing! I love having a face to connect to the name

[OakEmber]

Mirthfulmum I must have missed that you were having a shower?!! How did it go? Get any cool things? Feel free to brag it up, hehe, you can PM!

Ashlee, I agree, you look great...after seeing you I must say your Dh is crazy :LOL J/K

That was a great idea whoever organized our pics into files? Courtney??

Yikes, Mirthfulmum...don't scare me like that?!! I guess we can post on the yahoo site if we need to, but I really like our "home" here too! Can we lobby for our own board, hehe?!

[kraftykathy]

Hey mama's, hope everyone had a great weekend. The weather has been spectacular here! We harvested our pumpkins yestarday. They are pretty small this year, but there are lots of them. My husband also made grape jelly from our own grapes last night. We had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch today, which was delicious. I being married to someone who enjoys cooking so very much! Last weekend it was pies - apple and pumpkin. It's very hard trying not to gain too much weight with that guy around, lol!

QOTW - Still getting some loving here . I've told him that he is going to have to do most of the work from now on though since I'm just so clumsy and immobile right now, ha-ha! I''ve been getting some really regular BH's afterwards! I'll get 20 minutes of strong, but not painful contractions every couple of minutes immediately after. It's kind of neat since I was so not into sex the other times I was pregnant. I didn't get to experience this. Also hubby is one of those who really loves the changes in my body right now. I think he feels more involved with this pregnancy because I want so much to share it with him. We've done the months of no action and he can be incredibly patient. But I'm glad that it's so different this time around! Since the baby's head is engaged, I showed him how he can actually feel the baby's head and he was thrilled with that! He didn't know how close it was! Oh, we talked to our midwife last week about having hubby catch our baby and she said she loves it when daddy catches! Last time I caught baby, but this time I wanted him to have something special to do. He is pretty excited about it!

To those with toddlers - Oh how I remember that stage! Just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you! Everyone blows up once in awhile. Be easy on yourself! It will get better

QOTW on the other thread - Dreams, I haven't had any theme for baby dreams. I guess I've had a couple about the birth, all good! I have had some anxiety dreams but they are about my son. He has a learning disability and I've had a couple of nightmares where other kids or sometimes grown ups are calling him dumb. I get so mad in those dreams! I just want to hit someone! As far as I know though, no one calls him that. I think it's just because I worry about him. He is such a sweet guy, I love him so much!

I'm also drinking tons of RRL tea. I picked tons of it last year, dried it and put it in my freezer. I usually add a bit of peppermint tea to it to add flavor. I've also started vit C and garlic. That's about it for supplements right now. I haven't been taking my prenatals lately but my iron level is actually good considering I was borderline anemic last year!

Whew - that's about it for me! I'm being a bit long winded today, lol! Have a nice everning mama's!

Kathy