Weekly chat thread, October 17-23

[slightly crunchy]

Hi everybody,

I'm sitting around this morning on the computer and decided to start the new thread.

I hope everyone is feeling a little bit better! Anna?? Crysmom?

Robugmom, hope that spotting stays away for you.

Jenn, sorry you are feeling low. I have had moments like that too the past couple of weeks. I am hoping it will settle out with the hormones. :

Welcome, jjquilter!

Almost 11 weeks here. Nausea is so much better, but still am falling asleep almost right after dh gets home. I miss being fully present for bedtimes for my little boy.

I have an appointment next week with the MW and trying to decide whether I will let her check with the doppler or not. I really, really want to hear that heartbeat! Maybe we will just do it this time and then ask for the fetoscope after that...

I am tired but getting so bored with just hanging around! I can't wait to get some energy back! I can't remember last time when that happened, maybe 14 or 16 weeks? My pants are so tight now. I am desperately awaiting my "transitional" maternity pants from Gap to get here. Please, no one flame me for Gap shopping. :LOL They have good prices and I can't stand Motherhood Maternity.

Off for the day for family time.

Have a great week!

[hubris]

Don't worry, I won't flame you for shopping at the GAP. I would, too, if they would sell mat clothes in the actual stores. I'm a try-99-items-on-and-buy-one kind of girl. Short and curvy. What fun.

Glad you're feeling somewhat better. I'm feeling WORSE! Not fair! 8 weeks pg today and before I really wasn't having much of a problem with nausea, just didn't have much of an appetite. Now I don't want to eat at all, smells are bothering me more, if I don't eat I feel sick, if I eat I feel sick, ugh. It's still not bad in the grand scheme of things - nowhere near as bad as it was with Griffin, and even then, I didn't only threw up once during that pregnancy. So I guess I shouldn't complain, I'm not that sick. But it's still not fun. And I'm sooooo tired all the time! Why did I do this to myself?

[robugmum]

9 weeks

LOL, I have been asking myself the same question! This is the first pregnancy we've actually planned. I think I actually managed to make myself forget how perfectly awful I feel when I'm pregnant! If I really remembered I can't imagine I would have actually tried to get pregnant! Oh well, only 31 more weeks (give or take) to go!

I hope everyone else is doing well. Well, as well as can be expected given the nausea, vomiting, reflux, heartburn, bloating, uti's and tiredness (have I missed any?)!

Hang in there everyone!

[gingerlane]

Hey everyone. Am also feeling the blahs, but I keep thinking how much easier I have it than most! I know it will go away soon (ah, blessed second trimester) and am looking forward to not being able to fit in my pants.

We just started doing the pregnancy pics in my blog and was appalled at how FAT I already look on camera. Never lost all my weight from dd, so I guess I have a head start. Still makes you grimace when you just look fat and not yet pregnant.

Anyway, just doing my thing and eating too much candy (now that couldn't have anything to do with looking fat, could it?) and trying to stay awake at work.

Nice to be here.

[Len]

11 w

:
I think I skipped last week's thread : DS had to stay home from school all week so my computer time was greatly diminished.

I tried to wear my jeans yesterday, and they are officially too tight now I don't really feel like spending money on maternity stuff, I'll start checking e-bay for that....

I had a MW appointment last week, and gosh I think I screwed it up. I came out of there wishing I wasn't pregnant, or at least that I had longer than 8 months to prepare... I couldn't talk to her about DS's birth (planned homebirth that ended in c-sect) because everytime I tried I just got too emotional and couldn't get the words out of my mouth.... and DS was there with me so I didn't want to upset him or anything... I'm not sure I liked her a lot anyway.... I have another app this wednesday with a different MW, and she will come to my home this time.... we'll see..

I think my main issue is that I feel I need to have a homebirth this time, because I'm really scared of the hospital.... but I've realized that what I should look for is a good and positive birth, even if it's a planned hospital birth...

Other than that, I'm still nauseous once in a while, and DH is suffering because besides not wanting to eat anything, I don't feel like cooking at all. I could live on fresh fruit and ice cream .

Robugmum, I'm glad to see your baby is sticking strongly! Hopefully we'll meet IRL soon and chat about all this pregnancy stuff :

[schatz]

Morning mamas!

I hear ya about the pants! A friend of mine offered to loan me a couple pairs of GAP transition pants that she has but I know my butt won't fit into them so there's no use in trying. I am getting some clothes from another friend whose butt is more like mine and she might have some transition pants too (I hope). But, for now I just feel fat.

Dh keeps teasing me because I'm "eating like a horse". Well, if I don't, then I will puke and just lay around the house so I eat. Yesterday I ate breakfast, felt pukey for the rest of the morning and finally broke down a heated up some left over sauerkraut and spareribs from the night before at 10:30 AM!!! And then, I ate pizza for lunch at 12:30. Ahh, but I did feel better. Luckily, I've really only gained about 6 pounds with all of this eating.

So, last week Wed or Thur I broke down and decided to nightwean dd. She's almost 22 months old and I know she sleeps without nursing at night when I have to go out of town for work. So last week she woke up at 12:45 and then again at 1:30 a.m. This has been going on for a while and I was growing to resent her nursing so I just had to do it. I told her boobies went night-night and she would have to wait for morning. Well, she wailed for about 20 minutes which was awful. But, every night since, she's fussed a little and then gone back to sleep and has been sleeping in longer stretches. I think it was a good decision for us but a hard one.

Wow, sorry for the book. I guess I'm feeling chatty this morning. Happy Monday!

[Velvet005]

12 weeks and counting

It won't be long before all you pukey and tired mama's start feeling better so hang in there !!!

Schatz and Len - My pants are getting too tight for me too. What are transitionals? Can you get them even if you're not really showing yet?

I don't really know where to shop for maternity clothes. I have looked at the Gap website but I don't like to buy clothes without trying them on first.

I had a much better weekend once we got home from Gatlinburg and I got rested. Yesterday, I got the cleaning bug and cleaned our bedroom inside out and got the laundry caught up. There is still much to be done for things to be back to "normal" (if there is such a thing :LOL )

Anna- how are you doing? Are you hanging in there?

gingerlane- we're glad your here I've been eatting too much candy and ice cream too but it sure is yummy

[schatz]

Originally Posted by Velvet005

Schatz and Len - My pants are getting too tight for me too. What are transitionals? Can you get them even if you're not really showing yet?

I don't really know where to shop for maternity clothes. I have looked at the Gap website but I don't like to buy clothes without trying them on first.

I think transitional pants are the ones at the GAP for 3-6 months. They don't have a panel or anything but sit sort of low in front. Look here for a picture. The models look pretty small in the belly.

I remember with dd I wore some stretchy maternity pants early on and just rolled over the waist band a few times to take up the slack. I think I got them at Penney's. Target has some nice maternity clothes. Right now I'm wearing a pair of pants that are a size bigger than my normal size (got them brand new at a thrift store but they are originally from Target) for $7. I can also still fit into a couple pairs of my khakis if I put a hair rubberband through the buttonhole to extend the waist. It's getting tricky though because I work full-time and I can't look like total dork.

eta: if you buy gap maternity on-line, you can return it to a store so you only have to pay shipping one way.

[LinzluvsGJ]

I'm about 9 weeks and I'm now feeling aweful a lot. I went thinking I was getting it easy w/ only mild nausea, then the past 4-5 days have been terrible with feeling pukey (though thankfully I have calmed my gag reflexes so far and haven't thrown up) and extremely exhausted. I'm just waiting until DD takes her nap this afternoon so I can get more sleep!

[Desdamona]

Crunchy -- I think that Old Navy has a free exchange policy if you need a different size for maternity clothes. You might want to check their website. Their pants and basic cotton tees aren't priced too badly.
I'm debating whether to go fishing for the heartbeat at my 12 wk appt, too. I'd really like the boys to hear it with us so there is some "concrete" proof there is a baby growing inside momma. Not just the crazy parents telling them that we are going to have a baby in May.

Jess -- Smells are enemy #1 over here. I'm gaggin everytime I change Gabriel diapers. I walked by the sushi dept at the grocery and there was an overwhelming smell of bleach (YUM -- just what I want with my raw fish... CLOROX!!) and near puked. Many other examples I could point out... Try mouth breathing and repeat, "And this too shall pass..."

Len -- s to you Mamma. I know how you feel about HAVING to have a homebirth. I felt the same way during my pregnancy with Gabriel. I was fortunate to have a realy good birth with him. I don't know if I would be "sane" had things gone bad. The pain (emotional) of a c/sect never really goes away until you prove to yourself and those around you that you are a total capable birthing goddess. At least it was in my case. Take your time with these interviews. If it helps write everything that you want to convey beforehand and then that way you can refer back to the page if you start getting overwhelmed. Make sure your DH (dp) TRULY knows and UNDERSTANDS the pain you feel. Mine didn't get it until a week before we concieved Gabriel. Almost 4 years. It's such a relief to know that you have them onboard when it comes time. I wish you could come to a meeting next month that I am speaking at about VBAC's. Any chance you want to swing over to Long Island, NY??

Schatz -- So nightweaning is working for you... I am envious. Of course right now is a good time for me to attempt it (G-boy has a bit of a cold) but I think the boy would lose him mind if I told hi that nahh-nahh's went to sleep. LOL I have another 6 months to work on it before peanut is here so I'm not going to worry about it.

Lindsey -- I hope you are feeling better soon. I am coming out of the queasy haze. Try to eat little meals that are high in protien. It's worked for me so far ((knock on wood!)). And you need the rest so take 'em while your dd is still napping herself!

As for me things are going well. The queasiness is fading, as long as i remember to eat something every 1½-2hrs. Feels like i am eating all the time though. No weight gain. But I am sure I am going to pack them on over the winter.

I am finally getting back on schedule. Making a menu and preparing dinner at least 4 times a wekk. I felt bad with the amount of fast food that came through this house in the past month and a half. So tonight Old Bay Roasted Chicken and Fall Veggies is on the menu. I can't wait to have that going, the smells that fill my house... yumm! It always bring me back to when my mom made it right after I came home from having Donovan. It is one of the best memories I have recovering from my c/sect.

I, too, am officially out of my jeans. Even my fat jeans. I have a couple of yoga stretch pants that are working well, but like I told my dh today, I wish i could stay skinny(er) a bit longer and then POP and be full out maternity clothes wearing because the inbetween stuff stinks... As i hitch up these maternity jeans for the umteenth time today. The ladies in trader joe's go a kick out of me, wearing my sling, nursing and pulling up my pants all while selecting dried fruit and nuts... I must have been a sight though. :LOL

[hubris]

Len, I'm sorry your MW visit was so hard! I had a hard birth with Griff - 4 hours of pushing during which he was just STUCK - and then they called in the OB (I had had a MW up to then) and she treated the whole situation like it was the biggest, more dire emergency in the world, and she really wanted to go to C/S but we insisted on trying the vacuum, and she only did so grudgingly. It worked but she harassed me about getting an epidural (I refused), cut a big ol' episiotomy that tore and wasn't sutured well and took 6 weeks to fully heal, and they took Griff from the room, didn't even tell us if we had a son or a daughter or let me hold him - just took him for no reason. It was horrid. I couldn't talk about it for a long, long time. to you for going through a birth that didn't go the way you had hoped and left you with physical/emotional scars. I hope we both have happier endings this time.


I complained about smells before, but today has been worse! Oh. My. Goodness. Griff has had the smelliest poops today and I just can't take it any more! For half a second I thought about switching to disposables :, but I would still have to wipe a poopy bum, and sposies smell worse to me, and I would feel guilty about the landfills and such...ugh...

Is there a natural, AP way to stop my son from pooping for a few weeks? :LOL (totally joking!)

Does anybody else find themselves completely unable to face any protein-heavy foods? I can't even think about meat, it makes me feel so UGH. And the smells of cheese, nuts, eggs all really bothers me. Milk is about the only thing I can endure. Ugh again.

On the clothing front - I did have some "transitional" pants last time around, although I don't think they were officially called that. I found that I needed different pants for the 2nd and 3rd trimesters. That whole buy-your-pre-pg-size thing is a crock of you-know-what. My transitionals had soft waistbands and a big flat hook thingie (what is that called) instead of a snap, so they didn't poke me like the waistbands on my normal pants did.

I've been thinking about maternity clothing today. I'm not terribly close to needing it, but I'm pretty sure I'll end up buying a couple of items this winter. Griff was a Dec baby so all my clothing will be backward as far as sizes and seasons go, plus I gained weight last year so I'm not sure how the thighs and butts of my old pants will fit. Bleah.

Anyway, this morning I was remembering how the Motherhood group (Motherhood, Mimi, Pea in the Pod) sold my info last time and I got tons of formula and sposie stuff and enormous amounts of other junk mail. I thought I'd bring it up as a heads-up to those of us who plan to shop in the near future. Don't give them ANY personal info if you don't want this junk mail! They will tell you that they have to have it or they can't complete the sale in their computer system...well, they can figure out a way. I won't be giving them my info. Can they even legally tell a customer that they require it? Seems fishy.

[gingerlane]

Originally Posted by funshine

Anyway, this morning I was remembering how the Motherhood group (Motherhood, Mimi, Pea in the Pod) sold my info last time and I got tons of formula and sposie stuff and enormous amounts of other junk mail. I thought I'd bring it up as a heads-up to those of us who plan to shop in the near future. Don't give them ANY personal info if you don't want this junk mail! They will tell you that they have to have it or they can't complete the sale in their computer system...well, they can figure out a way. I won't be giving them my info. Can they even legally tell a customer that they require it? Seems fishy.

DH and I deal with this all the time. We utterly REFUSE to give them our personal info. You're buying clothing, not buying season tickets to the theatre, OF COURSE they can do it without your info. Silly people in Marketing. Just tell them you'll have to buy elsewhere and they'll come up with something!

As for the smells... we've started using rice paper liners in dd's dipes 'cause I can deal with wiping her (mostly) but cannot cope with scraping her peanut butter poops out of her dipes. Makes me gag! They're working most of the time for us. DH is doing most of the diaper changes though, so I'm a lucky gal.

Back to work for me!

[KayleeZoo]

Hi you guys!

Boy, I'll be glad when everyone is feeling 100% better, and gushing about feeling those little baby elbows and knees poking out instead of puking :LOL I know I'll be really glad when I get to that point :LOL

I can't believe I've already gained 5.5 lbs- I've been so much sicker this time and have gained more than I did with either one of my kids at this point. Pregnancy is weird And NONE of my jeans fit, either. I wore an old pair of mat. jeans today and pulled them up about 67 times. I need some in between stuff I guess. Never wore mat. stuff before 20 wks with my other stuff- guess my belly is pretty "stretchy" this time around. You gals that have a GAP that sells maternity are so lucky! I just can't order clothes for me and have them fit.

Went and had my us today- I'm measuring 12w2d. Thought I was only 11w at the latest- so my due date is bumped to April 30 and we got lots of good pics of the little pea My 21mo old kept saying, "OH! New Baby! Hold it!" during the us

Hope everyone has a great week and starts feeling more normal and less yucky Good luck to those with appointments!

[hubris]

Originally Posted by KayleeZoo

My 21mo old kept saying, "OH! New Baby! Hold it!" during the us

Awwwwwww! My guy is almost 22 mos and he is just clueless about the whole thing. He isn't as advanced language-wise as Lexi's seems to be, though, so maybe that's part of it.

Gingerlane, I WISH the rice paper would work. My problem isn't cleaning off the dipe so much as opening it up, getting hit in the face with the stench, and then having to wipe his bum. I actually called to my husband this morning to come rescue me, but he was showering and couldn't hear me, the lucky guy! We have a mini-shower, which helps a lot with the clean-up, although I did find myself feeling quite queasy while rinsing today, and having to flush a LOT - couldn't stand to see it, smell it, anything. 12 weeks can't come fast enough for me!!

[annakiss]

Well aren't we a talkative bunch! No, not feeling better over here. The ladies from my playgroup(s) are coming on Wednesday to clean for me and help with Aleks, which is a huge relief. I get to lay around and try not to throw up, as per my usual. I am definitely getting emotional now and yesterday felt downright depressed until I started work on this years' Holiday cards (I did a papercut collage of the whole family, new baby included, so cute - had to go buy a new scanner today so I can finish them by scanning them in then printing them). The depression is either pregnancy related or poverty related, or both (most likely). I'm so sick of my husband being in school at this point. I just want to have real income (look who's talking - the lady who just bought a new scanner ) for once in our life. It always gets scary when I don't have the money situation all figured out and am in the process of bringing another body to our little group I figured it out today though and all will be okay (hence the scanner). I'm babbling relentlessly now. Must stop.

[nym]

Well I am grouchy, grouchy, grouchy today. I have been stuck in this crappy apartment with DS for like a week straight, with no money and no food. We thought DH was to be paid on friday, but his boss said the 18th. I get all ready to go grocery shopping tongiht and DH comes home and says that the boss was too busy to pay him. Even though he works 12 hours a day, 7 days a fricken week.

So now I am sitting here sending out pissed off mad vibes at a guy who expects me to make him dinner.

WiTH WHAT?

eating fricken bananas for two days myself, what am I supposed to give him...

grrrrrr

[slightly crunchy]

I am sorry about those of you who are having financial troubles. DH and I were poor students for years and years, too, but didn't have kids then and I can't imagine how hard it must be. s

Well, the Gap 3-6 month pants are still too big and are going back. Last pregnancy I had the best pair of khaki pants; they had a little bit of belly room and an elastic waist, but covered the belly and no panel, worked great from 2-7 months and postpartum too as they didn't look like maternity. I have looked up and down through the house about 20 times and can't find them. The rest of the maternity stuff I had was skirts and dressier stuff for when I worked. I really don't want to wear sweatpants for the next 6 weeks, sigh.

Enough whining out of me.

Len, I hope you have a better experience with the next MW. Have you checked out the ICAN website? They have a mailing list and also local support groups, geared toward sorting through feelings about having a c-section and also for VBAC support. Talking about it seemed to help me. I think DH got pretty sick of me talking about the section and bringing it up every few months again for over 2 years, but it helped.

Schatz, glad the nightweaning is going fairly well. I too am eating constantly. Meals two hours apart sounds like my schedule around here! I think the only reason I have not gained a ton already is because I am still so nauseated at night that I have to stop eating after dinner.

Have a great day!

[hockeymama]

Hello all, sorry to see there's still much ickness going on. Vacation was pretty nice but I was sick for most of it so I can't really call it relaxing. Logan had a great time and so did my parents, so three out of four ain't bad I guess

I'm 11w4d today...a little further than we thought, had our u/s yesterday and found that out. With Logan we didn't have one until the halfway point so this was truly cool to me. Baboo is only 2 inches long but those little arms and legs were flailing and thankfully the heart was pumping away. Dh got excited when she showed us the umbilical cord, he thought we had a well endowed baby...wishful thinking

I am right along with all of you in that inbetween phase. I never lost the last 8 pounds with Boo and so I am starting to stick out, I've given up on my jeans and most of my skirts save for the elastic waist ones. My mom bought me some maternity pants but they're still a little too big in the waist but because I have bigger thighs these "fitted" pants don't "Fitted" me! Anyone know where I can find looser fitting ones?

Well, I hope everyone has a good week, hard to believe its almost November. I don't know about anyone else but I'm sure not ready for winter yet!

[cakes78413]

i got some great maternity pants at jc penney a couple years ago when i had dd. they have an elastic with button holes in it so you can adjust the waist. i have been wearing them lately on the biggest setting because my stomach is so grumpy that i cant have anything touch it. when i go out, i just adjust the button and wear a long shirt and viola! they stay up without the constant adjustment.

i have been feeling better lately. i was throwing up strictly during the day and dh never knew about it so he wasnt very sympathetic. the other night i threw up when he was home before bed and he has really been babying me since. i will be 12 weeks thursday and i have my first app. i am pretty excited about it and am expecting everything to go well.

once i can beat being tired, i will be able to get back into the swing of things. my friend and i are even going to take my two and her two kids swimming tomorrow...i must be feeling better.

[LinzluvsGJ]

I'm so jealous of all you getting sonograms already! I had 4 with Grace (two because of potential problems, the other two routine)... this time I get ONE. :mad: One at 20 weeks because that is all that Tricare covers for the military... it makes me annoyed. I really want to see the baby!