February Mamas~ Week of Jan. 17-23

[Boobs]

Hope I'm doing this right! We might have another baby or two in this group this week!!!


kavamamakava February home waterbirth
Kater07 February
Isabeau due early February
3 Little Birds due Feb 1
Chiku due Feb 1 birthing center
Parker'smommy (Heather) due Feb 1
Lisashepp (Lisa) due Feb 1 homebirth
Sadkitty. Due Feb 1st
Dandylion (Stephanie) due Feb 2
Truvie due Feb 2
Lasofia due Feb 2, homebirth
PeacefulVegan, due Feb 3 home waterbirth
Lou due Feb 3
Orange due Feb 3 Birth Center with OB
Twin Mom (Deb) Due Feb 4, VBA2C homebirth
Free Thinker (Mandy) due Feb 5
Wtchyhlr (Joy) due Feb 5, homebirth
HelloKitty (Kitty) due Feb 6
Letabug (Arleta) due Feb 6
LianneM due Feb 7 homebirth
TexasSuz (Susan) due Feb 7
Happymamajenni (Jenni) due Feb 7 hospital/OBGYN
Lousli Hazel born 12/21. CONGRATULATIONS LESLEY!!
Parthenia due Feb 7 home waterbirth
DeirdreAlison (Deirdre) due 1st week Feb homebirth, maybe waterbirth
New Life Due Feb 8
kimbalicious due Feb 9 - hospital birth with midwives
ElizaBird (Eliza) due Feb 9 - home waterbirth of twins
Shannon 0218- due Feb 11 hospital birth with great OB
ella-makes-3 (Jasmine) - due ~ Feb. 11 midwife/natural birth at birth center
Marcella due Feb 11 homebirth
HeleneP, due Feb 12
Tug (Terenia), baby #2 due Feb 12
lisabc311, baby#2, due Feb 13
Firefly due Feb 13
Christi due Feb 14 hospital birth with fab OB
Periwinkle due Feb 14
Fairymomma (Pamela) due Feb 14
Jorie (Margorie) due Feb 14
AmBam (Amber) due Feb 14 homebirth
rose angel (Karen) due Feb 16
mama2m&m (Denise) due Feb 16
HydeParkB due Feb 17
Karennnnn (Karen) due Feb 17
Coopsmama (Kristen) Due Feb 17
Bella'smamma (Cecily) due Feb 17
luvmytwo (Karen) due Feb 17
HydeParkB (Bridget) due Feb 17
Gretchen Due Feb 18
Zandersmom due Feb 18
weesej (Jen) Due Feb 19 homebirth
Ekblad7+ (Amy) due Feb 20 Homebirth
kinsey43 (Kinsey) due after Feb 20
heveasoul due Feb 21, h/b with m/w
veggiemommy (Holly), due Feb 21
Shyly (Monica) Due Feb 21 home water birth
mehndimama (Stell) due Feb 22 unassisted homebirth
Emmama due Feb 22, homebirth
Mainemon (Susan) due Feb 23 homebirth w/midwife
Mama2Chloe (Tricia) due 25 Feb #2
Threeforme2005 (Traci) due Feb 25
artgirl (Kelly) #2 Feb. 26
munki'sMom (Tammy), baby #2 due Feb 26
woolfairy (Elle) due Feb 27, baby #2 homebirth
Maprilynne (Aprilynne) due Feb 28, birth center
KateSt. Late Feb. Homebirth
4Given (Stacey) due end of Feb
Welcome Sara May!! Born to faerybugmady on Jan 7

Hang in there, Mommies! We are all getting so close to meeting our new babies!

[lisabc311]

Hey, can you add me to the list?

I am due with #2 on Feb. 13.

Thanks!

[lisabc311]

I have a question for those of you having baby #2 or more...

Who will be watching your other kiddo(s) when you have the baby (assuming you are having a hospital birth)?

This is a major dilemna for us right now. My Mom passed away when I was a child, and my Dad recently remarried. But we have VERY different parenting styles and she has made a few comments which cause me to lose any trust that was there. It will cause a major upheaval not to have her watch our DS (he's 2 1/2) but I am not willing to do something I am uncomfortable with either.

Oh, and my DH will be going home at night to stay with DS (he has never gone to sleep with anyone else and still cosleeps about 50% of the time) and he will also be bringing him to the hospital to spend most of the day with us. So it won't be constant or anything...but still I need someone to watch him for the birth and occasionally other times so that DH can spend *some* time with us in the hospital. KWIM?

If I have the baby during the day I want DS to be the first one to see his baby brother, so he will be at the hospital. I am even considering waking him in the middle of the night, if need be, and bringing him with us. Or will that just be a toddler disaster?

I have to figure something out soon! HELP!

[threeforme2005]

Good morning ladies

Shannon, thinking of you this morning and hoping your BP is staying in limbo.

Lisa, my MIL is going to watch the kids when I'm in the hospital. My parents live 2000 miles away and she and my FIL are all the family I have here for right now. If they weren't able to watch the kids I really don't know what I would do. I hope you can find a suitable solution for your DS.

Last night was a rough night. I think the baby has settled further down into my pelvis because I have to pee a lot more during the night than I have in previous weeks. I've been able to go all night with only getting up once. Last night I was up 4 times. That's a lot for me. So I'm thinking something is going on with my body.

My BH's have also kicked it up by about 3 fold now. I can't believe how many I'm getting. They also are bringing on more menstral cramp type pains now. I still have a good 4-5 weeks to go though so I'm not in a hurry, but things are definitely progressing down there.

[wtchyhlr]

Monring ladies... having a lazy day here...
Traci - I've been up to pee no fewer than 3-5x a night for months.... who knows what i'll do when baby drops more....

[Pinoikoi]

As for the watching the kiddos thing... last time I was pg, a girlfriend offered to watch the kiddos, and then at the last minute told me exactly which days she would be unavailable... (yeah, like I could plan my labor like that). Eventually my MIL stepped in. She probably will again. Luckily my step ds is almost 16, so he can help out a bit too. DH drove back and forth, hosp to home like every couple hours, checking in on everyone.

Lots of cramping here too. Got checked on Fri, I am dilated to 1 :LOL. (after last night, though, I must be at 2!) Anyway, the dr said the baby should be close to 8 lbs, and will come before the end of the month. Fine by me, I was worried about the 35 week thing.

Mainly, I am having a panic attack (nearly) that this may indeed be a boy. I packed a girly outfit and a boyish one... but knowing dh's track record... One, I don't want another circumcision and dh is SO unmoving about it... Second, if I have a girl, I KNOW I can call it quits..

My boss told me he thinks its another boy. I asked him if he wanted to live to be 54. Well, anyway, not supposed to be working today, but have grades to get in. Just thought I would check in and say hi to everyone.

Also, I got my 6 little righteous baby fits like a mitten newborn diapers the other day. They are SO cute!

[tug]

gretchen - congrats on the dipes and i hope (for the various reasons you listed) that you get that girl!

shannon - hoping your bp stays down. i hope steve knows how to get on here and let us know what's going on with you like lesley's fabulous dh!

traci and joy - i'm now right there with you with the peeing all night long. what a great way to get lots of rest before the baby comes!

lisa - i am in a very similar situation with my ds. my mother passed away 7 1/2 years ago. my mil has bought an airline ticket to come down for the birth but her ticket is for only 4 days before my due date (i went three weeks early last time and am at risk for an early one this time because of a subchorionic hemmorhage early on this time). she says she can move her ticket up but it's now carnival season here so getting a flight down might be a challenge. a friend has offerred to watch ds but i'm not totally 100% comfortable with that. i think we'll do sort of like gretchen and you described and have dh go back and forth. not great, but the best we can come up with.

we put the bassinette together today (for naps and, um, parental "alone time" ), and ds had a fit when we wouldn't let him climb in. wow. i hope he will not be this jealous about everything. it broke my heart - he was trying to climb in and was saying "i in, mommy, i in, james's bed." . it's so weird to imagine having another that i will love as much as i love him...

hope everybody has a good day!

terenia

[Periwinkle]

36w+0d

Hi ladies.

I had my 36 week checkup with my midwife this morning. Everything looks great with me and baby. She did the swabs for GBS but I told her I didn't want an internal exam and she was totally fine with that since she said it doesn't really change anything anyway.

We went over my birth plan in detail, which was great because I had a lot of questions about hospital policies -- since I'm attempting a VBAC I am delivering in a hospital, but am hoping to have a drug/intervention-free L&D anyway.

Only one piece of bad news but it's a biggie... baby is breech. I am now loaded up with moxibustion, chrio, accupuncture etc. referrals. Oh lordy. I'm also really annoyed because if it gets to the point of doing a version it turns out it's not really an option for me (a VBAC) -- because they do a version in the hospital and then induce you immediately. (I can't be induced/augmented due to risk of uterine rupture with meds.) So it's the baby turns "naturally" (or with chiro, moxi, home exercises, etc.) or I have to do a scheduled c-sec.

If anyone has any home exercises or techniques that have worked for you, please let me know or feel free to PM me.

[woolfairy]

Lisa: I don't really know what we will do with DS. We have talked to DH's sister about flying out to be with him, but honestly I don't think that will work out. Unfortunately, all of our friends have litle ones of their own and can't be on call like that to come and be with him. Our midwife mentioned at her last visit that her 18yo daughter sometimes accompanies her to births to help with older children and I think that is something we will be looking into this week. (Our next appt is tomorrow morning, so we'll talk to her about it then) If we were doing a hospital birth, I would definately find someone to be with him at home. He can be a menace at HMO prenatal appts and I can't focus on them, I can't imagine what birth would be like with me attempting to focus on him.

In other news, the contract job that was supposed to pay DH has not cut him a check yet, which means that we haven't paid our homebirth midwife yet. DH is witholding delivery on the work he has done for them until they pay him, which blows, but he isn't even asking for the full amount, just about 1/3 of the total. When they pay that, he will deliver the full amount of work (which is already done) Plus, that is where the money is to buy what we need for the new one. So we are in a holding pattern until the check comes through. Grrrrrrr.......

Off to run errands today and try to figure out what food to buy at Trader Joe's, because making menus has been a joke lately. I only wish I had real cravings, because this general pregnancy long food aversoin thing is getting old for my poor family and myself.

[Christi]

Hi everyone
I just wanted to check in. We did get the internet. My parents sent us a digital camera for christmas so we had to get it. They want pictures.
My mom isn't going to be able to come till like a week after my due date. I hope I don't go early. I really want her around. We just moved here adn I have one friend who will watch Gareth while I'm in labor. I'm delivering at a birth center. You only stay for a few hours after the birth. I'm a little bit nervous about that. It was so nice to have the nurses taking care of me after Gareth was born. I loved all of my nurses.

So for the second time during this pregnancy my husband has lost his job. We just moved 2000 miles from home. We sold our house and left everybody we know. We moved out here for a new start. The company who hired his told him that he didn't know enough and that they don't want to take the time to train him. How nice.. They knew he just finished tech school and he only had 6 months work experience. So now we are in limbo. Thinking about moving back to Iowa where it is much cheaper to live. Thankfully we only signed a 6 month lease.
Right now I can only focus on the baby. I can't stress about his job situation. Please keep us in your thoughts. We havent' told anyone back home yet. That is going to be a hard one. I know my parents will be thrilled that we are moving back. Dh is thinking about going to grad school. I just hope he figures out what he wants. He went to tech school for heating and air conditioning. He loves the technical side of it. He didn't realize how stressful of a job it is. He was working such long hours we hardly ever saw him.

The baby is growing a ton. My maternity clothes are getting really tight. I only have a few things to wear. my pelvic bones are constantly sore. And heartburn is horrible. I'm getting excited about baby being born.
Hope all is well with everyone

[lisabc311]

Traci- That's nice that you have your in-laws and feel secure with them. I really need to figure this out soon- it's really been bugging me.

Gretchen- I'm thinking that is probably going to be our best option. I will just minimize the amount of time that she watches him. She'll give us a hard time, for sure, but I'm not going to waver. I *have* to feel that DS is secure when I am away.

terenia- I'm sorry to hear about your Mother. We are sort of in the same boat here.

Periwinkle- As for that breech baby....did your midwife tell you about the "breech tilt"? I'm a Lamaze instructor and I have told some of my couples about this technique and it's been fairly successful in most cases! Here's how to do it....lay with your butt against a wall and your legs going straight up the wall. Pile A LOT of pillows under your back, though, so you are not laying flat. Lay in this position for 15 minute intervals, 3x a day. I hope it helps nudge that little one into position!

Elle- I know what you mean about having DC with you at prenatal visits! It gets nuts with my 2 1/2 year old. Especially when we are waiting in the exam room. He wants to play with the "toxic waste" container, put his mouth on the stirrups (blech!), and dig through drawers with speculums! I'm always ready to pull my hair out by the time the doctor walks in! So I can just imagine that it wouldn't be very relaxing with him at the hospital unless I had someone there to just entertain him. I think having your midwife's DD there would be a great thing!

Christi- I'm so sorry to hear about your DH's job! What awful timing! I will keep you in my thoughts that something comes up soon so you don't have that added stress.

[shannon0218]

Hi everyone, I didn't realize a new thread had been started but I posted on the old one. The jist, I'm in hospital, I'm miserable but for now, baby and I are doing alright and we are in a holding pattern.

[Periwinkle]

Shannon

I know you must be a nervous wreck now but you're definitely far enough along babe will be a-OK. And I also think you're far enough along that we can all safely get excited about the potential for another baby born on this thread!

Hope you and Molly get some rest and that you feel better very soon.

[Lousli]

Oh, so many things going on!

Peri, I really hope that your sweet baby turns! I know how much you wanted a VBAC with this one. I'll definately be thinking head-down thoughts for you.

Shannon, Oh my gosh. I know just how you feel (sort of). I knew when I went in to the hospital throwing up that something was wrong. I had this feeling that even though they said I'd be able to go home on bedrest that I wasn't going to come home until the baby was born. Fortunately, I think that even if Molly were to be born now, chances are really good she'd be okay. I know it is scray though. I will check in several times today.

I wanted to say more, but my timer went off and I told my daughter that I'd give her "nurse na-na" when the buzzer rang...

[milk_maker]

Wow, things seem to be really moving for everyone. I'm still sitting here not feeling much different.

I finished putting the changing table together today. I really hated the directions. It told you to put it together and then oh wait, those little pegs that weren't in the contents or anything...yeah...take the table apart and put the pegs in! I was pretty ticked. But it's together and it had better hold.

I'm getting ready to take a nap while dinner cooks and then I'm off to the land of cleaning because we have company coming for dinner (I think). I'm sooo tired and I just want to sleep.

Peri - do a search for breech position on google. I can't remember where I found it, but there is a yoga position (it's kind of advanced, but not too hard if DH helps) that's supposed to help the baby move.

Shannon - hope you don't go too crazy with your hospital stay and that Molly is okay.

[kimbalicious]

lisabc311 -- we were having a heck of time to find someone to act as our son's "doula" at the hospital. We really want him to attend the delivery and seems to want to as well. Finally we asked my bil (I had thought of it but never said anything to dh and he had been the same way). My BIL is thrilled! I thought it would be strange having another male there, but I'm feeling very comfortable with it. All the women I would have asked would be either too uncomfortable or unavailable -- I still find it amusing that the women would be more freaked than my BIL!

Also, thanks for the breech exercise -- my little one was transverse at the last check up (36 weeks) and my midwife was like ... try some breech exercises to help this little one move down into position I've felt this monkey bob down into the proper position (while dh talked to him/her through a papertowel tube) and then pop back up to starting point. I figure this little character just isn't ready yet.

s Shannon

Good Luck Periwinkle -- I'll be exercising along with you

Christi, please try not to have any more stress in your life

DH & I are in a weird mood today ... we are at 36 weeks 5 days that's when I went into labor with ds.....

Kimba
Who can't believe she stopped lurking long enough to post a decent lenght post!

[proudmamanow]

Hi everyone,
It's Jesse from the April thread (a frequent lurker on your thread, as I have some good friends here & find you have wonderful things to say).

I'm just popping in to tell Shannon that Beth & I are thinking of her & Molly & Steve & sending Molly lots of stay inside mom vibes & Shannon some peaceful, low bp vibes.



you've been through so much & I know very soon you will have a beautiful, healthy Molly in your arms, and all of this will just be a difficult, but fading memory

[Boobs]

I'll be thinking about you, Shannon!

[wtchyhlr]

Shannon - hang in there... i will think good, low bp thoughts for you....

Peri - and head down thoughts for you

As for me, I feel icky. I have pooped more today than i have in the last 2 weeks put together (sorry if tmi). Something I ate maybe? body cleaning itself out maybe? I dunnno. Baby has been really active, i am jsut tired. I DONT want to go to work tomorrow, however, my temp, who i have to crash course train to be able to help fill in while i'm out reports to me at 9am tomorrow. *sigh* So unless i'm in true labor... i will be at work. crash coursing her. UGH> That means i won't be here much tomorrow.

hugs and belly rubs...
joy

[heveasoul]

Shannon - s Hey everyone - I called Shannon at the hospital. In a holding pattern at this point. Pls send calming, low bp vibes...Shannon - hope you can rest and NOT go stir crazy. Call me if you want me to come visit. I can bring a copy of my meditation cd, or whatever it is that you think might help. It's great that you are there, forced to rest, and close to the monitoring and help you need at this time. Hope you find some sleep and pain help.

um, Joy...not to alarm you, but this wknd at my prenatal class, I learned that a sign of early labour is frequent loose bms...