weekly thread nov.28th-4th - Page 6

[Changed]

OK i'll stop pumping and just let them drip? I talked to my midwife and she said to drink a few cups of peppermint tea to dry thing up just a little bit. I took some more motrin and I have ice packs in my bra. DH is at the store getting the tea and some bags of frozen peas. He's not really getting how badly this hurts but is helping however he can.

[cinnamonamon]

mhl, if I remember right, the trick is to only pump/express til it stops dripping -- just don't try to pump til you're "dry" on that side, kwim? Cabbage leaves in your bra are supposed to help too -- but don't do it for too long, you can actually dry up too much using them.

Ahhh...the joys of new nurslings...the thought of going through all that at the moment just makes me want to cry...I'm so tired...

[~MommyAmanda]

I second the cabbage leaves!

Here is my new plan. Jaydie's birthday party is at 4 pm on Sunday afternooon. By 6 everyone will be gone and at 6:30 I will start contracting and we will have a baby by midnight!

[mamamoo]

If you hand express I think you can better control how much you are getting out(not too much). Just put your thumb above your aerola, and your bottom fingers on below your aerola, and you will make a rolling motion towards your nipple, does that make sense? Do it very gently...you can do it enough to take some of the pressure off(and make latch on easier). Hope it evens out soon...I know how much it hurts!! I swear I have read that lots of women don't get engorged, but I have babies that want to nurse every hour or more sometimes, and I have always gotten engorged...the only thing I have going for me is that I am usually nursing an older child so they can help me out when it gets to painful. :LOL

I am planning on having my placenta dried to capsulize too...I just didn't know if would be ok after sitting in the fridge for a while, then freezing...what do you think?

Debi

[michray]

You all are so funny about my mom! She didn't quit today either.. took one look in our pantry and freezer.. then promptly spent $200 on groceries! I have to say that this will be a HUGE help since our one income family has to very often get creative with the food budget
Mom also managed to get my car cleaned out today, change all the sheets ( AGAIN!) and vacuum the entire house. I wonder if I can convince her to just move down here
I was having pretty strong, steady contractions for about 3 hours, but I just took a bath and they seem to have slowed down. I added a few drops of clary sage and lavender to the bath in the hopes of keeping them going, but I dun think it worked
I am SERIOUSLY considering breaking out the breastpump and giving it a try, but mom suggested I relax for a bit then go to bed.
*sigh* I really am not in a rush to have her, but I hate having the ctx and getting so achy and tired from them, just to have them peter out. LOL, I just keep telling myself that noone has stayed pregnant forever!
Hang in there mamas!!!

[Jessviola]

37 weeks 1 day

Why does it seem like the more I get done, the more I still have to do??? I've been laid back this whole time, feeling very prepared, and then now all of a sudden I feel like nothing is ready or in place, and it's not!

Well ok, some things are, but lots of things aren't. I'm finally all set with MWs I like, a nice birth center, a new ped. I've made enough wool covers I think, but have nothing to stuff them with!!! :LOL I keep waffling between ordering a bunch of UBCPFs (but that would require convincing dh to let me spend the $$) and working on a fitted pattern that may or may not work. Here's a biggie, I don't think our one car can fit two carseats!!! We still have an infant seat from when dd was born, but our car is an Acura Integra hatchback with a tiny back seat. And I still haven't figured out who can watch dd when I'm at the center. But I've gotten almost all of my Christmas shopping/making done which is very good for me :LOL

[cinnamonamon]

Well Michray...I suppose if only one person gets to enjoy your mother, then it should be you... :LOL

Good luck with the on & off contrax -- I've been having more & more, but they stop as soon as I sit down. I figure it will happen when it happens, lol. Of course that's easy for me to say now when I'm not in a great deal of pain...

[Jessviola]

Is anyone else feeling a stabbing in their cervix? I've been having this a lot lately and it's even causing me to walk funny sometimes :LOL I'm wondering if it means that this baby has a hand up by his head? Could it be that he's poking/scratching me with those sharp little nails? Or could it be my cervix dialating? I haven't had any internal checks so I have no clue if anything's going on. Something else I haven't thought of? It's not particularly bothersome, but I just want to know what's going on.

[lauren]

Jess, I get a stabbing in my cervix everytime I stand up from sitting. I think I read it's just the baby's head and because the cervix is ripening it is getting more sensitive (nerve endings). So it's a good thing, I think.

Today is my due date! But I am also just getting on and off again contractions. I haven't been too aggressive about getting things moving, just taking the EPO (faithfully for 2 weeks, by mouth and vag.) taking naps while the kids are at school and nesting. But I am so ready!!!

My dh has a terrible stiff neck, saw the chiropractor last night but no better today. I need him to be in good shape for this!! OUr support person for our older children is having her own son's birthday party today. So I'm sure I'm giving my body mixed messages. Tomorrow would be better for everyone all around!

mhl, I am one who gets very engorged after birth even with big babies that nurse strongly, so my heart goes out to you. I do recall that it doesn't take too many days for things to even out. I think I used to hold a small bucket under my breasts and just let them leak a bit.

Everyone hang in there!!!!

[michray]

I get that stabbing feeling often and think that Lauren is correct.. the old cervix is awful sensitive these days

Lauren: Good luck! Perhaps yours will be the first of the Dec babies!!! I hope your DH is feeling up to par very soon.

[NeKisha]

9 days, 9 DAYS!

but i have to remind myself that they are just numbers and the baby will come whenever he/she wants. i havent been having any ctx that i know of, except for one strong one last night. i see my mw on mon and cannot wait. i want to know if ive dialated anymore. it was a pretty painful check last time, unexpected, so at least i know what to expect this time.

im going to miss my big belly. for the first time in a long time i feel totally comfortable with my body image. i could walk naked through a crowd of strangers and not think a single negative thought about my body. ill miss that.

i hope that the next time i am on here, i will be annoucing the birth of my son/daughter, but who knows, this little one might really want to come out that much closer to christmas : everything is ready for baby, i just have a couple of curtains to do that are pretty simple. i should really dye my other soaker, but besides that all i have left are some christmas presents to make and i figure those are what i can work on post-baby...theyre mostly crocheted things.

[whimsy]

Michray- I'm right there with ya! At 3am this morning, I was sure it was time. I'm getting physically and emotionally tired of it.

What is the breast pump protocol? I think I'll be breaking mine out today, but I don't want to wear my nipples raw.

[Jessviola]

Ok, cool, I hope we're all right about it just being the head because I don't want a hand there interfering with the dialation :LOL. Anyways, like I said, it's not too bothersome although it does take my breath away momentarily. I'm excited to be so aware of all the little changes taking place.

I'm feeling better today because I went ahead and ordered a bunch of UBCPF so now I'll be ok for diapering, PP bleeding and leaking breasts.

Lauren,
Happy Due Day! :LOL

NeKisha,
I totally hear you on missing the big belly. I was thinking about that last night and how much I missed having dd inside my belly, moving and kicking, even though it was so exciting to have her with us. I really do love being pregnant and am sad that I can't experience it longer. I know, you all want to kill me now, but despite the discomforts I'm just so in awe of what my body is doing. And even though my hips, butt and thighs have gotten huge, I don't care at all, and I love having a big old belly I don't have to worry about sucking in :LOL

[Jenelle]

About nesting...

Here is proof that my husband (and probably most of ours!) do not understand or share our "nesting" instinct.

Today I am cleaning the bathroom off our bedroom, which we hardly ever use because we haven't got it isn't finished and it has a very small shower and it is just kind of gross right now.

Dh comes in from outside, and I said "Sure, honey, you can help me out in here for awhile!" (Nicely, in a joking manner, but seriously there were a couple things I wanted him to do.)

He's like, "I don't even know why you're in here. I didn't ask for any of this. I can't even come in for a second without you telling me something to do." (Which isn't true. )

I was like, "Uh, you don't even know why I'm in here??? And you didn't ask for any of this??? This bathroom is disgusting and my parents are supposed to be coming to stay with Aidan when the baby is born, and sleeping in our bed" which I'm pointing to - because it's right there, outside this bathroom.

And, here's the proof, ladies: He said, "And that's going to be tomorrow?"

And I'm like, "We don't know, now, do we?"

[cinnamonamon]

Ah men...gotta love em...otherwise we'd have to kill them for driving us crazy! :LOL

I hear you all on the poking in the cervix thing -- I actually asked my midwife and she said that wasn't his hand, it was my body (torturing me... :LOL).

I went to the grocery store & bought it out, then got yelled at by the clerk for picking up the flat of water bottles. Urrg -- I really get irritated when people do that to me -- I posted a rant in "I'm Pregnant" I was so ticked. :LOL Ah well, I suppose she meant well; humpfh..

But I now have lots and lots of yummy food (and I managed to avoid the bakery section...barely!), and when I got home, dh had done more work on the bookshelf -- it will have 1/2 the shelves up tomorrow night! And the other 1/2 a day or two later! FINALLY. Then the 27 million boxes of fabric, books, knick knacks, and arts & crafts stuff will have a home!

Anywhooo...I'd better scat & get some more work done while I feel up to it -- since Michray won't give up her mom, and mine won't come down til after the baby...

[nannymom]

ahhh that cervical pain...

I asked my MW and she said it is the efacing process. She said it can feel like a lot of pressure while something is poking you. I describe it more like a a round circle of needle being shoved into mer by a bowling ball. It feels awful.

I realized something this weekend... the minute it became december I started to think I was going to have this baby at any moment. It was pretty silly considering I'm not due untill the 19th. I am trying really hard to calm down about it so that when I go late or something I won't be to hysterical. I am just so ready to be done being pregnant and meet this little one.

p.s.- I was wondering if any one knows what happened to Gristastic (Chris)? I was thinking about her the other day and realized she hasn't posted in months and it made me worry.

[Eruditia]

So I was in the grocery store alone, waddling behind a cart with my 36 week belly, trying politely to keep to the right side of the aisle, when a very tall young man comes storming past and for some unknown reason insists on passing me on my right side, despite the half open aisle on the left. I didn't say anything but did sigh (I'm feeling very protective of my belly and am expecting people in stores and busses and the classroom to give me a bit more room these days, so it kind of irritated me that he expected me to get out of his way). The guy's response? A nice friendly f#*k you to the pregnant lady!!!!

Sheesh. I suppose I should be glad he didn't clip me one.

Other than that, I have FINALLY bought nursing bras, including a fabulously comfortable night bra, which I love and have been wearing every night since I bought it. I also bought my first bathrobe in like 10 years (usually I just throw a sweater on)--what comfort! what luxury! Who knew?

Good luck to everyone... we're in the final stretch...

Oh, and as for the body image thing--I do like the way I look pregnant, but I really have no particular joy in being pregnant. I guess I'm not the balanced earth mother type, but I'm really ready to get this over with. I miss my old body--my flexibilty and athleticism and physical freedom. I never realized how much my identity was tied up in being mobile! This is a great lesson for later in life--illness, old age, etc. and for empathizing for the less mobile among us. But boy oh boy, I can't wait to be back in shape enough to really shake my money maker and run full tilt...

[Jessviola]

Jenelle,
Sorry your dh is giving you a hard time with the nesting!

Carolynn,
Sorry about the stupid clerk. That's awesome about the bookcases though! Have fun organizing and going through all your fun supplies

Nannymom,
I feel that way too! It's funny, because this whole time I've been thinking that this baby would come late, but all of a sudden, every twinge I'm thinking "no, not yet, just a little longer!" :LOL And I just heard from Kris today (I was getting worried about her too because she's been MIA for a while-hopefully she won't mind if I post this update!) She said she's been in prodromal labor for a couple weeks now and hopes her baby comes soon!

Eruditia,
I'm always disappointed when people are inconsiderate of my belly too. We were in the supermarket today and trying to navigate the big old cart in front of this big old belly was not easy, yet people kept expecting me to be able to get out of their way or past them when there obviously wasn't enough room for us to fit :