Weekly Chat, July 4th-10th

[beachbaby]

Hope nobody minds me posting the weekly chat this time around!

Things are going well here--feeling great and enjoying summer and being in our new house. Planted some flowers and herbs and generally settling in and making the house more home-like.

somewhat baby-related: went to a bridal shower for a cousin who I haven't seen in a year or so (and lots of other women I didn't know). Somehow (of course) talk turned to babies.

First, talking about SIDS and the whole "back to sleep" advice and the older women (now grandmas) talking about not having all those "rules" when they were raising their own babies. Then, they moved on to co-sleeping. Luckily one mama stood up for it and mentioned how "families need to make choices that work best for them" when others started bashing it. One mother even admitted to locking her child in his room at night to keep him in bed! My sister and I took that as our cue to leave the party!

Yeesh. I kept quiet mostly during the whole exchange, mostly because I felt really uncomfortable sharing my "true" self with these people I hardly know and thought I would be outnumbered for expressing any sort of non-mainstream opinion. I really wanted to comment in agreement to the pro co-sleeping mama, but felt talked-over by all the loudmouths. Sigh. I'm just really bad with anything close to confrontation. Plus, I didn't really feel like wasting my energy on those people who I'll never see again, yk?

Do ya'll find it hard to listen to that kind of unsolicited advice? Or does it get easier to ignore as time goes on? That's the one thing I think about (and dread) as I become more obviously pregnant--strangers and others offering their opinions on anything and everything relating to pregnancy, birth, babies, and child-rearing.

Enough rambling from me! Hope all you mamas are having a fun 4th of July and a good start to your week.

[trmpetplaya]

I missed last week's discussion due to busy-ness and being a bit sick (still am... sore throat and stuffy nose and ears ). Things are going well around here! We got rid of so much stuff that we didn't need during the Rotary auction/rummage sale and we got some really adorable baby stuff for almost nothing there too

Speaking of unsolicited advice... the father of a high school friend of mine was volunteering at the Rotary and I showed him the adorable little Moses basket bassinet that we found for 10% of the new price ($20 instead of $200). He asked if we were going to be getting a stroller (we certainly COULD have... because there were tons to choose from!) and I said nope, that we were planning on using slings. So he told us that we were foolish young parents (WTFrick??? He only has two children). I told him that I trust the mother of 7 who goes to our church who very strongly advocated baby-wearing to me IRL.

He said, "Oh, you'll learn." in a very patronising way. Yeah, sure. In my college psychology classes I learned that when people say things to others who they don't really know, that they're really talking about themselves... So I choose to interpret his words to really mean "I am a foolish old parent who is trapped by what society dictates is the proper way to raise a child and I will learn in five years when you have never bought a stroller and have a wonderful child that societal norms are not the be all and end all of life."

I found a copy of "The Family Bed" at Rotary and you really should read it before trying to discuss co-sleeping with people like that, beachbaby . I've read enough about EC to tell everyone and anyone about it and now I feel way more confident about telling people about co-sleeping! I try out all my explanations on my mother first because she's really open-minded about AP, but she doesn't know anything about it until I tell her The only topics I haven't discussed with her are circumcision (both my brothers and my father are cut - though if I have a boy she will know why we chose not to!) and vaccination, though I think I told her that we're delaying vax. I just didn't say the "forever" part!

Just reinterpret the unsolicited advice to be more about the person giving it (because it is) than it is about you. The people giving it are going by their own experiences and don't really know anything except what they've heard and experienced. It has nothing to do with you. It has far more to do with the lies and misinformation that travel far better than the truth does. It's hard to let it run off your back, but it's easier when you remember that

Some things I learned from that book: Most babies aren't susceptible to SIDS after they're 2 months old (could that have anything to do with the fact that babies get vaxed at 2 months? Naw, couldn't be!) when they're stronger and better able to move their heads if they were being smothered than when they're first born. There's a story in the book about a mother who woke up and watched her husband roll on top of her three week old and the baby made noise and pushed and the father rolled off the baby and neither the baby or the father woke up at all and everything was fine

love and peace.

[flapjack]

I'd disagree with the "babies aren't even susceptible to SIDS" part- the death rate starts rising after 6 weeks over here.For me, all I can do is to keep my babies close and happy- there's not enough evidence for me to believe that sleeping one way round or another, vaccinating, not vaccinating, etc. will make any huge difference. Intuition, IMO, is everything.

I won't discuss parenting with people, because in my current emotionally fragile condition, I tend to end up feeling like a freak- if the topic comes up, I normally find a reason to excuse myself. (Which is ridiculous- I'll talk about sex, politics and religion with total strangers, but nappies? No way...)

[MelW]

Just a quick hello from my vacation- staying at my mil's right now. We went away for the weekend and went out with her boyfriend who guides whale watching tours. It was great to get away from the city and out on the water again- it's been years since I've been to a lot of the small coastal villages. Hopefully the weather will be nice enough to go kyacking in the next few days...

[MrsMoe]

Originally Posted by beachbaby

Do ya'll find it hard to listen to that kind of unsolicited advice? Or does it get easier to ignore as time goes on? That's the one thing I think about (and dread) as I become more obviously pregnant--strangers and others offering their opinions on anything and everything relating to pregnancy, birth, babies, and child-rearing.

Enough rambling from me! Hope all you mamas are having a fun 4th of July and a good start to your week.

Yes, I sure do. It gets annoying at times I remember with Emma's doctor, he gave me a really hard time about Emma sharing a bed with me. I was like, this is none of your business what bed she sleeps in, it has nothing to do with medicine :

[BensMom]

Morning all. It was a fun 3 day weekend, somewhat frustrating.

Frustrating because DS is still not talking (6 weeks now? i have lost count) and I am really getting to the despair point. Like nothing we do will make him talk. We have tried all kinds of bribery and withholding things. And I cannot seem to find an expert who know how to deal with it either. I feel very alone and up against the world, especially DH who is at the point where he is willing to make DS miserable (nothing but 3 meals a day until he decides to talk) and I not willing to do that. But what recourse do I have at this point? Nothing I have tried has worked!

Also frustrating because I am feeling the strain of us going to one income already. DH and I got in a huge fight yesterday because he is the kind of guy to talk about how we need to "tighten up" and no spend money, and then when it comes to what he wants...he has to have it right then and there. Like this stupid video game he had to have this week because he has a LAN party this weekend. I just fear that all of the pressure to live frugally will fall on me, but when he "needs" something, he'll get it. Grr. And when we were fighting, I realized that we had almost this exact fight in Hawaii, 5 years ago, before DS was even born! So its a long standing battle.

Waking up this morning was super hard, knowing that I will not have to get up so early soon. I think the end of the month will be last day at work, but man....that is so far away.... Almost 4 weeks from now.

But other than those things, I am feeling all kinds of bubbles and little kicks now. I am wearing a pair of transition pants I bought that were one size too big but not maternity and they are soo tight! I think this might be my last day wearing them. I need more pants.

Oh and about the advice...I think I am so much better prepared this time around. Not that I listened to the idiots last time, but I didnt have good combacks. Now I know that you can nurse successfully, you dont *have* to sleep train a baby, that all babies develop at their own pace, it goves me more confidence to face the idiots. Good luck, first time mamas, be strong! The advice will only get worse when the baby is here, so you just need to put on some good armor and stand by your convictions. And hang out at places like this a lot, where we all agree with you!

[Slackermom]

Beachbaby, about the unsolicited advice -- oh yeah, it really bothered me when I was pg with DD. I'd done so much research and felt so confident in my choices, and yet my coworkers (who are mostly older women with grown children) insisted on telling me how wrong I was about everything. Cloth diapers? You'll never last a week. Breastfeeding? Well, give it a try if you must, dear. Co-sleeping? You'll kill the baby! ...and so on. I used to get so upset about it. Plus, there were a couple of women who LOVED telling me their horror stories -- how many stitches they needed, how their sex lives were never the same again, how kids ruined their lives, how awful their hemmies were, etc. Oh, the joy! Finally, I posted a sign outside my office and called it "Michelle's Pregnancy Tarrifs". It was a list of possible infractions and associated fines. For example, if someone commented on my weight, they owed me a dollar. If someone related a childbirth horror story, they owed two dollars. If they criticized my parenting choices, two dollars, and so on. I think there were about ten things on the list, in all. Most people read the list and laughed, but got the point and never made a comment again. There were two people, however, who just couldn't help themselves. I made about $10 each off them!

This time, there hasn't been a comment at all. What can they say? I'm still cloth diapering and still breastfeeding, and they all think my DD is brilliant! Besides, now they have a different coworker to pick on. She's due with her first next month, and they're all over her, poor thing.

I'm working at home this week, writing a document, and the weather is heavenly so I'm outside with my laptop. Summer, finally! Ahhhhh. I have my first appointment with my OB today. It's not the same OB I had last time -- she's had to take on someone else's practice and doesn't have room for me, so I'm seeing a different dr and it's *gasp* a MAN! I've never, in my 36 years, gone to a male doctor. I'm kind of freaking out about it.

And I have another ultrasound on Friday! We're not finding out the gender, but I'm excited to see this little monkey!

[DreamsInDigital]

I find that I can't bear to talk to others about anything related to pregnancy, birth or child rearing. I just can't seem to keep my cool and I get into really heated discussions. I don't need the stress.
If anyone gives me bad advice I just say "That's not how we do things." If they persist, I usually get snarky.

[snugglebutter]

Howdy Mamas!

I've been a little absent. Last week started out rather crazy. I got accidentally hit very hard in the stomach with an oversized tennis ball (dog toy). Given our history, I was in total hysterics. It was evening, so we ended up getting to spend 1/2 the night in the ER. Thankfully, she was just fine! I didn't get to see any of the ultrasound but Dh enjoyed it. The next few days I was pretty sore, but didn't get any bruising at all.

Unsolicited advice - UGH! When I was pg with Kira I tried really hard to not advertise my non-mainstream choices (but I did answer honestly when asked). That cut down on some of the rude comments, but I still got a few. My stepmom was really the worst, especially with her epidural comments. I completely hid the cloth diaper issue from her, because I didn't want to waste my time with her ignorant responses. My plan was to just wait until she found out after the fact and things were already going well - less ammunition for her then. Thankfully she has backed off this time.

Sometimes the comments are just downright entertaining. I had this coworker last time - a sweet woman, but a number of cards were missing from the deck. At least a dozen times I had to hear about how she found out her son's gender at the 8 week ultrasound. :LOL I got very good at my "oh wow!" lol ........

Jellyfishy - your Pregnancy Terrifs..... that is just too funny!

I've been feeling movement and little kicks for some time now, but got my first "POW" from her last night. It was so fun! This weekend I ordered the Very Baby diaper pattern and a Kind Hearted Woman diaper, so now I am waiting for fun mail!

[Belleweather]

Ugh. I'm getting so much unsolicited advice at work! It seems like there's some kind of conspiracy to try to persuade me to move my care from the birth center to the local hospital just in case I should go into labour at work, which I think is so intrusive that there just aren't word for it -- especially since I'll be part time in the later half of my pregnancy.

I'm afraid I've started to be a little bit of a bitch about it, though... I came into the office on Friday with a cup of (decaf) iced coffee and one of our Administrative Assistants gasped and said "Is that *coffee*? You're not supposed to have caffine!" I totally jumped down her throat. But I'm pregnant, not an invalid! And what I put in my body is between me, my baby, and my midwife, not some random lady who has never even been pregnant!

[AmyGirl28]

Hi there. Well, my week is going okay. I haven't been feeling much movement lately and that has me a little concerned. I'm trying not to panic though. I am finally half way there! Whoo Hoo! My next ultrasound is on 7/14 and I can't wait! We have been having computer problems over here so I haven't been able to get online for awhile. But, I think that I have it fixed... I hope!

I can't comment on the unsoliceted advice because I am a SAHM. My family hasn't said much about me planning a VBAC. Lucky me I guess.

[gonnabeamom]

I haven't checked in quite a while. June was overfull. Some good stuff, a race that went well for DH (long weekend away) another relay, where I got to go someplace beautiful, a visit from as DH put it "your mother-in-law" which was not great but not as bad as it could have been, and then a get away weekend for me, while DH was away helping out a friend.

I think I've almost started breathing again, which I shouldn't because here comes a visit from my brother, and his family. I can't wait to see them, but I'd love it if there was somebody else around to do all the work that needs to be done to get ready.

In pregnancy related stuff, we had the U/S on Saturday. I was really ambivalent about it before hand, but it was really wonderful. The guy who did it has a one-man shop, and he's been doing it for 25 years, he explained everything, and the picture was really clear. We got to see the baby move around a ton, and I didn't feel any of it. This helps me not freak out when the baby is quiet for a while. He also changed settings on the equipement so that we wouldn't get any peaks, as I very much don't want to know until I meet the baby whether we are having a boy or a girl. I giggled the whole time, and cried afterward because I felt so relieved that they baby is okay.(I've got a history of losses, so I'm a bit of a nervous nellie)

The baby's movements have gotten more distinct lately, and I'm really enjoying that, but I'm more tired, and I've been morning sick again the past couple of days.

I have been pretty lucky about unsolicited advice. Even MIL restrained herself to "Change tables aren't necessary, it's just really a waste" (???) The thing that's really getting to me is what I call Parental Hazing "You'll never sleep again" "Just wait for the (screaming/crying/spitting up/screaming I hate you/bills/soccer practice" "You've no idea what your are getting yourself into" I don't get this, don't any of these people enjoy their kids? Isn't it vaguely sadistic to tell someone something that they can't avoid is awful?

I think it's all making DH freak out. He thinks we have to fix everything before the baby comes. SIGH.

[beachbaby]

Thanks, all, for sharing your stories re: unsolicited advice: it helps to know I'm not alone. Usually I can let comments like those go, but I think because of other, unrelated issues with some of the people at the bridal shower, I took everything a little too personally. I can be over-sensitive anyway, and I'm sure the pregnancy hormones don't help! :LOL

I think, too, it's a little bit hard for me to be the "center of attention" and it's getting to the point that I'm obviously pregnant. So, sometimes I feel as if that makes me open to all sorts of comments/ criticisims/compliments that I usally wouldn't be unless I divulged some sort of personal infomation about myself, yk? Now, people just have to look at me in order to start making assumptions, handing out advice, etc.

more to say, but dinner is ready! DH is cooking on his new grill!

[Awaken]

wow- beachbaby, are you my twin? Everything you said above...ditto.

Ok, re: uncolicited advice- I have a really hard time with this. I know I should just let it roll off my back, but it really bothers me when people spout off about something that is patently false (ie, colseeping is unsafe, have to give birth at a hosp with a doctor, etc) I totally clam up when 'sensitive' topics like this arise, and I get totally tongue tied. This time is a little better than last time- because at least I have experienced a natural birth (gasp- without a doctor present!!), have breastfed, have been through every kind of sleep trial and survived. And because of the difficulties I've had with ds, I have spent the last 2.5 years researching pregnancy, childbirth, sleep issues, feeding issues, toddler behavior, etc so I am a lot more confident of my convictions and have more knowledge to back them up.

Hee hee hee- I am just imagining if we decide to do a homebirth, when people ask where I am delivering and I say "in my bathroom, if all goes as planned" what their reactions will be!! :LOL I already shocked the heck out of them when ds was 5 mos. old and I took him to a work dinner- everybody asked what all is he eating now, and I said "breastmilk"! They couldn't beleive he wasn't on solids, they acted liked he was so deprived and starved!

Jellyfishy- awesome about posting taboo conversation topics!! I totally love that! If only I had an office- my list would go up tomorrow!!

Jenn- Sorry about ds still not talking I had a thought- you've tried everything and he clearly doesn't want to do it, so does he *have* to talk? I mean, I know it's so sad and feels so distant to have him not communicating, but since you can't force him to do it, maybe just dropping the struggle would help you emotionally? Maybe when he sees you aren't focusing on it he would eventually decide to do it on his own. I don't presume to know your situation or where you are at, at ALL- but just thinking of my experience with ds- not that it is the same as what you're dealing with- basically refusing to eat every since he was 6 weeks old (you know how they say a newborn won't starve themselves- well, he would and did) and he just doesn't grow, and doesn't eat- he is 19# at 2 1/2 yrs old (we have friends with 6 month old babies bigger than he is)- and the nursing and then later trying to get him to eat was such an awful struggle and worry- it totally marred our first year together- when we stopped nursing at one yr, and then more recently when I just decided I wasn't going to be concerned about his eating and growth and just trust whatever was going on in his little mind and body- it was such a huge wieght lifted- and then we could focus on enjoying our time together since every day wasn't about trying to force him to eat. I hope that my sharing that isn't too forward- please forgive me and tell me to shut up if so.

Well sorry to write a book! Snuggle butter, what a totally frightening experience. I am SO glad you're ok!

[Kavita]

Originally Posted by Belleweather

I came into the office on Friday with a cup of (decaf) iced coffee and one of our Administrative Assistants gasped and said "Is that *coffee*? You're not supposed to have caffine!" I totally jumped down her throat.

You shoulda told her, "No, of course not--it's beer--I NEVER drink coffee before noon!" :LOL

I've been getting a lot of the glancing down too. There is a whole segment of people I haven't overtly told, and I seem to be showing variably still, so I could be pregnant but I could also just have gained some weight depending on what I'm wearing/how I'm standing, etc. So in addition to the "pregnancy stare" I've noticed some people looking me up and down or checking out my abdominal area, and I think they are like, "is she or isn't she?" A bunch of people seem to know or suspect, but a bunch of people are completely oblivious still. I've noticed that a lot of the current clothing styles have empire waists and weird busts and such and look a lot like maternity clothes anyway, and at the same time maternity clothes have gotten cuter and more "normal" in the current day and age, so I think that makes it harder for people too! I called a few friends who work in my organization, but in different departments now so I don't see them very often to tell them I'm pregnant, so they're not hurt when they hear it as a rumor from someone else and not from me!

Luckily I haven't gotten a lot of unsolicited advice--or at least, not annoying advice (yet!). Partly, I have been vocally pro-AP for years now, so people who know me generally knew where I stood on some of these issues before I got pregnant, and partly I don't share too much about my plans with people, esp. people that I know won't be supportive. As I've mentioned before, the cloth diapering plan has met with more "Oh My God, you don't want to do that, it's so much work, blah blah blah" than anything else! So when anybody says anything negative about that, I just smile and tell them, "well, that's what we're planning on doing, and if we decide later that it's not working for us, I'm sure that the stores will still be selling disposables at that time."

Most of the advice I've gotten so far is actually very positive and supportive and loving, not the mean "oh-you-just-wait" type, so I'll keep my fingers crossed! My sister has two kids and is really AP in a lot of respects and really supportive of me, my mom is for natural birth and breastfeeding and basically more or less respectful of my other choices. My IL's are no problem, they are all in India anyway so it's not like they could interfere too much even if they wanted to! Also, breastfeeding, co-sleeping, staying home with the baby, cloth diapering, not-circing (for Hindus) and baby carrying are the norm there anyway. So it doesn't even occur to them that we'd do anything different. I think if I wanted to formula feed, disposable diaper, put the kid in a crib down the hall, circ, and put the baby in full time daycare right away, THEN I might have disapproving in-laws! My MIL can be a little bossy but we're crazy about each other and we get along great. Also, we tend to be practically and philosophically very alike, so not a lot of conflict there! I should bring her to the U.S. and market her as an Indian New-Age pregnancy guru! :LOL Every time I talk to her, her advice is, "Wear loose and comfortable clothes! Eat good food! Read good books! Listen to good music! Be happy! Laugh! Take walks and get some exercise! Get lots of rest! Take a picture every month! And send me one!" Hey, I can get behind that advice!!

: Well, there's my novel for the week! The good highlight of the week was that we went away to Arizona's White Mountains for the weekend, and enjoyed getting out of extreme heat and into pine forests and alpine lakes. The BAD news was that I managed to somehow throw my lower back out (psoas muscle, I've done it before ) and was pretty uncomfortable and unable to move around very much for a chunk of the weekend. Good news again was that it didn't stop us from having fun, and it's better now!

[BensMom]

I hope that my sharing that isn't too forward- please forgive me and tell me to shut up if so.

Of course not, Mary! I take all advice in the spirit it was given and the only advice I am sick of is people telling me that I have not made life difficult enough for him. I call it the Turkish Prison approach. If we take away all fun, interaction, and joy in life, then surely he will talk, right? : But I dont think I'll get that kind of advice here and I appreciate you sharing your experience, as it sounds very similar.

Most of the time, we dont make a big deal about it. We just communicate via the signs he uses and we play what games we can. It just really sucks some of the fun out of it for me and DH because we can (barely) remember when he would talk and say cute things. And at least once a day, there is a time when we do not understand what DS is trying to sign, so he gets mad and hits or throws something. Its times like that when I just want to get in his head and tell him how much easier life would be if he just talked. BUt I do beleive he has a reason for this, so he has to work through it on his own. All I can do is make it easier for him to work through it. At least that is my theory of the week!

Anyway, back on topic, my lower back is starting to feel the belly strain. Last night I was doing dishes and just felt a lot of aching and strain in my lower back and had to lay down. Its different than the pelvis pain that I am seeing the chiro for. I guess I need to start doing some exercises to strengthen that area, since the belly is only going to get bigger. Is there anything anyone is doing for that area? Guess I need to get off my butt and find a pregnancy yoga video, like I have been planning for, oh...4 months now.

And I am feeeling a bit of pressure to get things done. LIke, the due date always seemed so far away, but maybe I need to get moving now, since in 1-2 months, I am going to be so big and tired and not wanting to do anything. So I feel this pressure to get the nursery ready, to get organized. Deep breath....

[3for3hb]

Hi everyone. I haven't been online since Sunday but not much has happened here anyway.

I seem to be going through a tapped-out extrememly exhausted phase and it's a little depressing. It's all I can do to keep ds fed and in clean diapers. I'm sure it's a combination of being pregnant and nursing, trying to keep up with my toddler and keep him occupied, being basically alone all day long, not having money to go anywhere and do anything, and waking up multiple times a night. I told dh that I really need a day all to myself so I can just sleep. I can't seem to get enough of it. I've always been a morning person and these days I'm groggy and can't really get moving (get a shower etc) until like 2 or 3 in the afternoon. That's so unlike me and it really has its effect on the way our household seems to be holding up.

I'm eating well, taking my vitamins, drinking lots of fluids... I just can't figure out why all I want to/can do is lay on the couch and watch movies. It's freaking me out. I don't even have the energy to cook anymore. Dh has cooked every meal since Friday except for when we were at his parents' on Sunday. Plus I've finally gotten to the stage where my lungs are getting squished up apparently because it's starting to take more effort to breathe. I cried on dh's shoulder last night telling him how exhausted I was because I know it's only going to get more challenging from this point out. I always hated when people would say "you don't know what you're in for" when I was pg but at this point it's what I'm thinking about when this new baby comes.

Well, ds is taking a nap so I'm going to go lay down. He is still having to be nursed down to sleep for naps and the nipple stimulation from nursing gets my oxytocin flowing which gives me contractions which stimulates me and keeps me from being able to nap with him . I am all for CLW and it really is what I want to do, I just feel like nursing is taking too much out of me and I don't know how much longer I can hold out. It didn't help that when I went to the tandem nursing/nursing through pg thread there were a few mothers who felt during their pg like I do now who said that the irritating feeling of nursing a toddler stayed the same/got worse when the new baby came and one mother even advised that it is alot easier to wean a baby when you have a trickling milk supply that is mostly colostrum than when you have a full milk supply for the newborn. Sorry for that runon sentence! I am just so tired that I can't even think straight about this nursing thing. Whenever I refuse to nurse him (mainly because I'm empty or he just using me as a distraction ... poor kid he must be so bored because I"m so tired) he acts so hurt and then he cries and cries and I give in because IMO he really isn't ready to wean.
Enough of this ramble, I'm sure it belongs on the breastfeeding forum...

[samsmamma]

Hi all! I actually got my jury duty postponed because of my sono tomorrow (they are really strict here now and if you have anything coming up, you need to postpone), so now I'll go back in Sept, so that should be ok. If I can't make a business trip, I'll just skip it. Looks like most of my travel is going to be between now and the end of August, anyway, so it should be ok. But we'll see.

NOt much new - I have horrible indigestion and heartburn and papaya isn't working, so now i'm drinking bitters and soda a lot to calm it. But I still have a tough time eating at night. Baby is moving a bunch, but still is so much gentler than I would have expected - Sam was doing major league somersaults by this time. Wonder how this bodes for this one's personality (a mellow kid would be kind of cool!) Sam likes to take his stethoscope and try to listen to the baby, which is just so darling.

it's pretty quiet around here today. I'm out of tonw on business pretty much all next week, then back for a week, then off on vaca, so just trying to keep things moving along.

I'll post after tomorrow's sono!

[BensMom]

Willemsmama, you sound like you might be more tired than you should be. Have you considered getting your iron levels (or even possibly thyroid) checked? Sorry to butt in, and it could just be the nursing and pregnancy, but I would hate to think it was something that could be fixed easily and you are suffering in vain.

I hope you feel better soon!

[MelW]

I just lost a long reply- not used to my mil's computer.

s willemsmamma- sounds like you are working extra hard to nurture yourself and your son and your baby. I hope you can get some rest.

I'm still hoping for some better weather for the remainder of our vacation- lots of dark clouds looming today. Yesterday we had a wonderful hike along a riverside trail to a waterfall. There were lots of nice swimming holes along the way, but the water was a bit cold for swimming. It felt really good to get out for a good hike, though. I had a few tightenings/braxton hicks after a steep section of the trail- I'm happy that my body seems to be able to tell me when to slow down and rest.

Baby has been really active, especially in the early morning. I'm still mostly sleeping on my stomach (I've been a stomach sleeper my entire life, despite trying to train myself to change), but find the kicks feel a lot gentler if I roll over on to my side. Eventually I guess I'll have to give up the stomach sleeping entirely... How is everyone else sleeping?? I always feel so much more secure/comfortable on my stomach, so I need to adjust to a new position.