Last trimester - home stretch - March '05 thread

[schatz]

Hey Mamas,

The February thread went great for a while and then sort of peetered out so I thought I'd start a March thread.

We should all be in the third trimester now, yes? Yea for us Let's hope these last 8-12 weeks go well for us all. Some of us have been writing about how tired we suddenly are. Last night I made some popcorn for dh before the Amazing Race (yes, we are addicts) started. He wanted me to watch the beginning with him and dd. I told him I was just too tired and cranky and went to bed. I think my short fuse is bothering me more this week than my tiredness -- not sure if my temper is more tied to hormones or exhaustion.... hmmm.... ah, well, I feel good this morning.

So, my OB is finding out just what a rebel mama I am. We have a good relationship but I was nervous last month knowing I was going to refuse the 28-week Rhogam shot and waiting for her reaction. I went in at 27 weeks and had the all the routine stuff done -- the GTT (hate that orange drink), blood draw for Rh+ antibodies, iron levels, etc. Then when they called me to come in for my shot the following week, I politely said I would pass on that and they could protest all they wanted but I wasn't changing my mind. So.... the next day my doc gives me a call at home and we have a chat. It went pretty well after she realized I really did understand what was going on. I just said that based on the studies I have read, the prophylatic shot only reduces the rate of sensitization by 1% and no one has really studied the effects on the babies. And, I don't have any risk factors for sensitization but if that changes (ie., I get in an accident, fall, have to have some invasive procedure done), that I would have the shot and that would be ok because antibodies don't instantly build up. So we're all good there.

Oh, but my doc did make one flippant comment at the beginning when she asked if I was opting out of the shot because I thought it caused autism and that the media thinks that everything causes autism these days. I overlooked that comment since I do think that there is a connection between vaccines, chemicals, environment, etc and autism. I also think the Rhogam shot contributed to my dd's low red blood cell count at birth but I didn't go there either.

So then after I got off the phone, dh asks what the doc wanted. So I told him about my decision to decline the shot. Of course, he hasn't read anything about it so I explained it a bit. He was a bit miffed that I didn't discuss it ahead of time but I pointed out that he wouldn't have put much effort into thinking about it had I brought it up before. But, the bottom line is he's not big on injecting or ingesting extra things in general (he rarely takes aspirin) so he's on board too.

I think this new babe has gone head down. At least there is a lot of action at the top of my belly so unless this kid is doing overhead arm raises with a vengence, I'm feeling feet up high. Yea!

I still have a few house projects to get done in the next few weeks but also have a baby shower for a cousin this weekend and then a big resale to go to next weekend. The resale is run by our local Mothers of Multiples group and it's like going to 50 garage sales in one day. It's amazing. Check for one in your area. Ours is open to the public after the first hour or so. There's an entire high school gym full of clothes.

So, that's what's up with me lately. How's everyone else doing?

~Hope

[Mama Bee]

Hi, Hope! Good for you for sticking to your convictions with your dr. It's really hard sometimes. Things are good here... 29 weeks today. OMG... guess that means 30 weeks next week. When I remember have very pregnant I am and that DS #1 came two weeks prior to his due date, I get little butterflies in my tummy (different from the great big elephant that's in there all the rest of the time)!

This pregnancy really seems to have flown by. My energy is coming in fits and bursts... nothing like the second trimester but I think I'm beginning to nest. Is it too early for nesting? My diaper stash is almost complete. We still need a car seat and I've only gotten a couple of things off my home-birth supply list.

I'm not sure where my baby is... I think, perhaps, he's still all over the place. Sometimes there's movement down under my public bone, sometimes it's up under my ribs, sometimes he's over on the side... basically, he's everywhere. I'm anxious for my midwife visit on Saturday. I'm hoping she call tell me a little more about where he is. I feel around my belly and only get poked and prodded right back!

I still have loads of sewing to do. DS broke my sewing machine last week so that kind of stalled things but I'm ready to get busy again. I kind of feel like I've been procrastinating but I don't think that's it, really. I think it's just harder to get things done this time around b/c I have a toddler to keep up with while trying to prepare, kwim?

Anyway, I haven't participated in the monthly threads... I mean to every month and then I forget and they're already super long by the time I see them. So, I can't wait to chat with you ladies and get to know you better.

Brook

[Marlet]

I figure I'll hop on in before this gets crazy long. I have the same problem with getting in here and posting, by the time I remember it's a million and a half pages long.

The baby is like a mini mariachi band in my stomach. Literally pumping everything she's got into various organs. I think it's the oddest when I sit down and I'm stopped short cause of a foot smack center on my rib. Usually I can push it out of the way but she moves it right back! DH can barely get her to move for him. He taps on my stomach to get her attention and he gets nothing. The minute he moves his hand away though hello marching band! :LOL

I have the strangest stretch marks on my chest. They are only there if I don't wear a bra at night and then they disappear about twenty minutes after I get up. I'm not sure if I am imagining them or not but they throw me off every time. Luckily my body has skipped those all together.

We have nothing ready birth kit wise (doing a UC). I have a room (or rooms I should say) that would seem nice to me now but who knows when the time comes. Same with a list of music I put together. I wish I had some great smelling candles. I'm so picky on scent though and the strength of it that I know going out and getting some now would not be a good idea.

We both agreed on no one being here til later. I have tried to convince DH that I don't want anyone here for a few days but he seems to think I am going to want to let his mom come over and cook for us. I told him I will have more than I can handle without his mom (and dad) being there. He keeps trying to say he's done this before......

I thought the baby was going to come closer to the end of the month but now I think it'll be here the first week. We'll see.....she seems to want out pretty bad.

[Velvet005]

31+ weeks

I can't believe how fast the time is going. It seemed to have slowed odwn for a minute but now it is back to flying with the wings in full flight.
I am excited because dh and I have been talking about the circing issue (as you can tell from my sig )and he does not believe it is neccessary and thinks it is silly to have a child circumsised based on looking like the dad. My dh says he feels circumsision has not done him any good. He says when he gets an errection (am I allowed to say that? It is natural for men ) it feels unnatural and the skin is too tight. He said if Peanut wants to be circumsized that will be his choice to make when he is older. He doesn't feel it's right to make a desicion like that for someone else about their own body. So, I am so glad he feels that way because I was a little worried when I brought the issue up. We know not to bring up the issue with the older generation. They have this belief that it has to be done and is a serious health issue. He told his mother a while ago that we weren't going to have it done (he said it jokingly - sort of to fill her out on the issue) and she said "You are too going to have that done!!!" What a surprise she will have!!!!
I asked dh if her opinion on it is going to make him change his mind and he said "No, it's not anyone else's child, it's ours" I am glad we are seeing eye to eye on this.

I am not having the Rhogam shot either but that is because dh and I are both Rh- I have not done any research on the issue because it really hasn't been neccessary in our case.

I think this peanut is all over the place still but I mostly still feel movement down low. Sometimes I feel tickles in my rbs but not as often as I do on the side or down low .... soon as I say that I feel something in my rib
I hope he turns head down very soon. I am going to have positive thoughts about it.

How is everyone else's week going?

[Marlet]

I'm glad we are having a girl. The whole circumcision issue doesn't apply to us yet, however his first son isn't. His ex-wife beat him on that one.

I'm not getting any shots done for a myriad of reasons but one of them is : I HATE getting shots. My nerves aren't right (I think). You know when the doctor pushes the needle in how your skin indents before it breaks and then the needle is in? I feel the break in my skin and everything but once the needle is in I feel nothing. (I also feel nothing when they take the swab in a pap and everyone else I know can). Childish I'm sure but the pain is a lot more than I can take (usually only on things going in...never coming out....I think I'm wired backwards).

The issue getting to me lately is vaccinnations. We don't plan on doing it but his mom works at the health clinic here in town and I'm afraid she'll try and push us on it. She already thinks we live slightly off the wall. I know she won't scream or anything but I'd rather avoid all battlefronts on that one, kwim?

DH did ask me not to bf in front of friends (due to their wandering eyes and free flowing comments) so once again I am nervous about that. I know I can do it but I don't feel like I should have to leave the room if I don't want to. I guess it won't too big a deal though, I plan on having her in a sling as much as possible and I can just use the tail to cover myself. Dumb boys anyways!

[Mama Bee]

Circumcision was pretty much a non-issue with us. DS #1 is not circ'd and it hasn't even been disscussed with this babe.

I'm electing not to have Rh shots either (unless necessary for the same reasons already listed) or glucose. I can't decide about Hep B, though. We'll see... still have a few weeks to decide.

I think I may be starting to nest... isn't 29 weeks too early for that? Maybe I'm just imagining things.

[schatz]

Re: shots -- only Rh negative women with Rh positive husbands have to worry about Rhogam. My doc has been around long enough that she's seen one case of sensitization (where an Rh+ baby's blood mixes with the mom's negative blood and the mom builds up anti-bodies; this becomes a problem in later pregnancies) but they were pretty sure the blood mixing happened due to a serious fall. So, anyway, I'm a rebel because I question standard practices.

re: vaccines -- I was a lemming until my dd was 11 months old when I heard about the chicken pox vax -- I said "why vax for that?" Then I questioned them all. Dd hasn't gotten any since the six month round. This is another area where dh goes along with me. I think deep down he agrees that vaxes aren't all good but he doesn't really know why and hasn't done the research. But, I am very stubborn about this so he doesn't push much. He knows I've done the research. My parents sort of know that we stopped vaxing. I know my dad would agree with me but my mom is more trusting of modern medicine. But, she is also not pushy so she doesn't say anything. We haven't told other people.

re: breastfeeding in front of others -- once you start doing it and get comfortable, it will be no big deal. I've actually pumped in front of friends, family and even on an airplane sitting next to a stranger - it would have been easier to nurse my baby but she was at home. Pumping discreetly is much harder :LOL

re: circ -- I need to get dh on board with this too (not circing that is). I'm going to order the articles that Fleiss wrote for Mothering. I think it will be pretty easy to sell dh on this. :

Since I first became a mom, I've been constantly amazed at how people parent differently and make choices in their parenting that I don't expect. Things like bfing vs bottles, vaccines, solid foods, co-sleeping. I think if you all met me in person, you would think I'm some conservative, mainstream mama. But, I'm very much not mainstream in that regard. But, then I have friends who I would expect to be much more into AP and NFL but who only barely parent in that way (usually bf for a year because they should and that's it). Anyway, I'm just always surprised and I have been surprised by the kind of parent I have turned out to be and want to be.

Just my musings for today.

[schatz]

Originally Posted by Mama Bee

I'm electing not to have Rh shots either (unless necessary for the same reasons already listed) or glucose. I can't decide about Hep B, though. We'll see... still have a few weeks to decide.

Please read about HepB before you let the docs give this vaccine. There is NO rush at all -- it is only given at birth to "catch" people before they fall into groups at risk (drug users and people with multiple sex partners). We know so little about the immune system of a newborn .... anyway, I encourage you to read up on this. I would agree to Rhogam, vit K, eye drops, PKU test, etc. before I would let them give my newborn a HepB vax.

I hope I didn't offend -- just wanted to raise the point.

[Velvet005]

Breastfeeding -This woman I know had a baby at the end of December. She b/f for about a 1-2 weeks and quit. She said was through with it but she tried and it just wasn't for her Then I found out yesterday that she is already feeding her baby cereal. Isn't it a little early for this or am I misunderstood? I thought babies were supposed to be on the bottle (if not b/f) until they were at LEAST 6mos and it is recommended longer than that before introducing foods. Not that it is my business to judge someone else on how they raise their child

[Marlet]

I was just talking to my stepmom and she asked what we are doing about a midwife since our moving plans have changed. So I told her we still have the same plan, no one attending but us. We got to talking and she knows we are doing cloth and what not. She told me we were hippies. I laughed and said no we're not. She said yup, just with a different name. :LOL

I'm not worried about bfing. I'm worried for my husband. He'd like me to leave the room or whatever but if I had my way I would walk around butt naked all day long!!! Too bad we have pervy friends who can't keep their comments to themselves (hence the please don't nurse in front of so and so).

His mom makes me nervous and I'm not sure why. She tandem nursed with her first two (the babies were born the same day but one was adopted) because the adopted baby wouldn't eat anything (my FIL force fed my mil's boob to her.....at least that's how the story has been told to me with some major blushing going on). :LOL

[Marlet]

Originally Posted by Velvet005

Breastfeeding -This woman I know had a baby at the end of December. She b/f for about a 1-2 weeks and quit. She said was through with it but she tried and it just wasn't for her Then I found out yesterday that she is already feeding her baby cereal. Isn't it a little early for this or am I misunderstood? I thought babies were supposed to be on the bottle (if not b/f) until they were at LEAST 6mos and it is recommended longer than that before introducing foods. Not that it is my business to judge someone else on how they raise their child

I asked the same thing the other day (a similar situation...the women's baby-originally exclusivly bf'd- "ate all the time" and wanted to know if she could put cereal in a bottle. Everyone she knew was doing it and it had happened to her and she was fine. What was the big deal?) and I got told that that is too young.

[nym]

Hey everyone...

Sounds like everyone is doing good. I saw my midwife yesterday, and I am doing good too! Am 31 weeks, and the baby is head down on my right side (hasn't changed positions in a few weeks now) and is nice and big (by feel)

I havent been doing much nesting, although my friend dropped off 5 garbage bags of girls clothes last night, so I sorted through those, putting aside the ones I wanted and packed the rest up. I have a ton of boys clothes from DS, so I was worried about girls stuff, not I dont have to be!

I'm slowly trying to wean DS before this baby is born, as I dont think Ill be able to tandem (emotionally etc), it is only half arsed working. I'm not pushing it too hard, and wont be too terribly upset if he doesnt wean, btu I would like it if he did.

I've been trying to cut sugar out of my diet, I did really well yesterday until my friend brought me a bag of mini eggs! : but today is a new day. I'd like to do a solid week of no refined sugar, and then take out breads.. and so forth. One reason I am working on this is to decrease my chance of geting PPD, sicne sugar is a main contributor. I am worried I will have PPD since I have depression now after seperating from my husband and being a single mama, etc.

I have been doing a ton of walking, since I don't have a car, and have lost a little bit of weight, well more that I haven't gained any. I have gained 4 pounds since xmas... so I am very happy about that. I find it is getting hard to walk at my normal speed and length, now that my hips are all soft and spready. But, I keep going!

Well, thats it for me!

[annakiss]

A baby's digestive system is not mature enough for solids until at least 4 months. That said, the best idea is to just follow a baby's cues. When they start grabbing for food, let them try a little. I can't think when DS actually got interested - I think we tried him out around 6 months. My little sister, on the other hand grabbed a bunch of mashed potatoes and shoved them in her mouth when she was just 3 months old.

To first time moms - everything you need to know about how to take care of your baby, your baby will teach you. It's nice to have something like The Baby Book for a reference and of course a doc in place for emergencies, etc. but in general, the babies know what they need and they will tell you.

This babe is still all over. Her head had been down, but she flipped to transverse again last night. I think she's at some weird angle but down right now. It's hard to tell sometimes. Once she's a lot bigger, I'll be able to feel for the back and can tell, but it's hard to feel from my position when she's still fairly little. She's not really little though, because she makes such a ruckus!

I have all the clothes and diapers I will need for the first three months. I have a car seat from DS and I just bought a car yesterday that I'll be picking up on Saturday. Everything is pretty much washed and put in drawers too, but I should probably organize it all better before the actual arrival. As it is now, DS takes precendence, so his stuff is everywhere. I'll need to get my rubbermaid tubs out of the basement and switch around the older baby stuff and the clothes that DS has outgrown. I also had wanted to get him potty trained, but he's just not interested enough, so I'm not sure that it's going to happen. I haven't really tried too much at all, but I didn't think it was worth it to force the issue. I did not want to have two in diapers though, that's for sure. Oh well.

I haven't ordered my birth kit either, but I will probably wait on it for a few weeks to see where I'm at financially since I'm buying this car.

I'm definitely not ready for this baby yet, so it's good that I've got a little time. My baby shower is on the 19th, and I will be 29 weeks +5 days then. I'm 27 weeks +2 days right now. Time is flying by pretty quickly. Once DH is out of school, we'll be all ready, but then he'll be tremendously busy. At least he won't have to leave the house though.

I'm totally babbling now.

[Marlet]

I should get a move on. I don't have a crib or anything! I have diapers (I'm not sur ehow long they'll last me) and I have clothes and I have boobs but other than that nothing is done. Clothes are still in boxes and her room is yet to be done. I only have ten weeks left!!!!

I don't know what position the baby is in, I can guess but I'm not sure. I can feel the back though...she pokes it out of my side so I get to be lopsided.

We have a car seat but no car. It's ugly too and I hate it! I have it in the box still. It was given to me at my baby shower (which was early cause it was thrown by my sister who is due any time now) so I feel bad about being so picky about it. Oh well, not like we go anywhere really.

[wende]

I'm still hanging in there. I noticed yesterday (I check my own cervix) that I've started dilating a bit. I'm only 1cm and not terribly concerned. I could stay this way for months, lol. The baby is definately head down, I can feel his head through my cervix.

I still haven't bough anything for this baby. I feel like I need to get on the ball, especially if he decides to come early, but then I realize that if he comes early it won't matter because he'll be in the NICU anyhow. I think I'll start shopping in the next couple weeks. It stresses me out not to have a single baby item!

The circ'ing issue is definately a big one in this house. My oldest ds was circ'd because I didn't know any differently. The 20 month old wasn't circ'd, much to my dh's dismay. In fact, he still insists that ds will be circ'd. Now that we're having another boy we're doing the same old argument and he refuses to read anything contrary to what he believes, which is: it's cleaner to be circ'd, baby will have a funny looking penis if he's not circ'd, boys in the locker room will make fun of him, I don't know what it's like to be a boy so how can I make that decision, blah .

Otherwise, we are doing very well. Baby moves like crazy. I feel pretty good, though I have a head cold so I sometimes feel like I'm in a tunnel. Dh's job seems to be going well so far. The kids have been amazing at helping out around the house with me not being able to do much and have been horribly understanding

[annakiss]

Why do you need a crib?

[wende]

Originally Posted by annakiss

Why do you need a crib?

Where else is she going to store all the toys and clothes??

[annakiss]

Originally Posted by wende

Where else is she going to store all the toys and clothes??

Good point! :LOL

[Marlet]

Why do I need a crib?



Cause my stepmom said I could have hers and now she's having a spaz attack about her baby "not being a baby anymore" and I am enjoying myself! :LOL Mean I know, but damn it's fun!


We actually don't need it since we plan on co-sleeping for awhile anyway. I think I want one though so I can have the "cute little baby room" thing. I want a nursery so bad (make room for baby is a BAD show for me). For some reason if I get that crib I can rest easy and know I have everything (even if I don't)...make sense? I'm not sure it does to me. :LOL I feel so prepared otherwise I feel like I need something to fret over.

[schatz]

if you have a crib then you can easily make it a side car if you need more room for co-sleeping! That's what I did and it worked great! Right now mine is stored in the attic until this little one gets bigger and we need more room (and I couldn't get in and out of bed anymore with the crib attached nor could I change the sheets).