Spoooooky Weekly Chatter: Oct. 31 - Nov. 7

[*Amy*]

Good morning. Just wanted to be *the first* to wish everyone a happy Halloween!! OK, the truth is, I have been awake for the past hour so I finally decided to get up and eat a bagel.

Tomorrow will officially be OUR month - so whose babies are we going to meet this week??

My weekend was uneventful - spent quality time with DH on Saturday, and felt like total crap yesterday. I felt better by later in the evening though, so I'm hoping I have a better day today, if I can eventually get back to sleep for a few hours. I have my 36/37 week MW appointment today and we're testing for GBS so keep your fingers crossed for me!!

[HoneyTree]

Morning, Amy. It's just after 4 a.m. here, and some wicked heartburn nudged me into wakefullness and a vertical position. Where else to spend a few pre-dawn minutes than MDC?

Happy Halloween to everyone!! DH and I had a Halloween-themed date last night -- trip to Target to exchange some shower gifts, followed by a stop at the pumpkin patch to pick out a nice one, then a 7:40 showing of "Wallace and Grommit and the Were-Rabbit." And since I'm FINALLY FINSHED my student teaching, the only pressing things I have to do today is cook to freeze, clean a bit, and then wait for DH to get off work so we can carve the pumpkin (I ran out of steam by the time we got home last night). Even with this heavy melon that pushes all my organs up, I think I'm going to enjoy these last few weeks of quiet days!!!

So this is most of our month indeed! Happy end of October, mamas, and it's full speed ahead!!!

[flapjack]

I realised I spend so many pre-dawn minutes here I turned into a senior member. I really need to sleep more (or, of course, have small children at home during the day... a newborn might be nice.)
I did a daft thing. The contractions were getting hard enough last night that I got round to ringing the midwife, and also texted my best friend to see if she'd be able to come play with the boys, if last night was the night. Today, I've had messages from four different people asking how my labour's going. (the answer: don't ask.) I've just sent all my lovely lushies an email demanding that they go have as much sex as possible on my behalf, so hopefully that'll get them off my back for a while (it's wonderful working with childless women...sometimes.) The good news is that I finally got the nesting instinct and the house looks cleaner than its done in months: possibly even years.
We made some fantastic cookies yesterday: wholewheat lemon and poppyseed, cut into halloween shapes and covered in horrendously tacky icing Made up for a lot...

[3for3hb]

Cookies...mmmm. Seems like all I have an appetite for lately is sweets. My adrenal glands must be really stressed out by the extra strain of pregnancy.

Well, not much to say for now except that ds has come down with Fifth's Disease. For those who don't know it's a viral infection that manifests as a red rash, first on the cheeks (looks like he was just slapped or has bad windburn) then spreading to the arms and trunk sometimes legs, sparing the hands and feet. It's exacerbated by sunlight and warmth. It's pretty mild in terms of childhood diseases. He's been a little more whiney and clingy these past few days but other than that he just looks like more of a cherub than usual because of his rosy cheeks
It's really dangerous to get exposed in the first half of pregnancy because it can cause the fetus to become severely anemic. But we are past that stage so all is well. My midwife is checking into newborn exposure complications in case I go into labor while he's still contagious... but I don't see that happening

Hang in there mamas, It'll be november tomorrow. We are almost there...

Flapjack, I was having weird contractions last night 3 minutes apart and was about to call my midwives but opted for sex and sleep instead. And of course they went away. My one midwife said that with her 8th baby she was in labor for 6 or 8 days with her midwife coming and going the whole time. I guess it's to be expected.

[samsmamma]

Good morning and happy halloween!

Yesterday was just not so good. Between my hormonally-induced stress (random fear of something being wrong with the baby and feeling like i'm not a good mama to Sam), real stress about money (we've spent a ton getting things ready for baby and also getting stuff for Sam that he needed. Like a bed. And clothes) and the worst heartburn ever, I just had no fun. DH had some errands to run in the AM and it took longer than expected, so that was a drag. Then neither of felt good so it just wasn't much fun at home either. He and I have had no quality time together since we are basically on totally opposite schedules and I need to sleep and he is a night owl...anyway, my heartburn got so bad by the end of the day that I couldn't even eat dinner and fell asleep at about 8:45 on the bed (and Sam fell asleep at exactly the same time on the couch with DH). I['m just in a bit of a funk right now.

I'm working from home today because we have a meeting at Sam's school in the middle of the day and then I'm taking him trick or treating at my parent's building this evening, so that should be fun. Spent $40 on a Mr Incredible costume. TOO MUCH MONEY! But he is really excited and I feel that is pretty important right now with all the changes going on.

He's still having a hard time sleeping in his own room and keeps coming into ours and that is making it very very hard for me to sleep.

I am ready to have this baby. I may ask the MW about moving things along when I see her Wednesday because I'm ready to be done.

Sorry to be on such a down note! Silly silly hormones!

[MrsMoe]

Happy Halloween!

Nearly 39 weeks... 10 days to go... nasty head cold... can't sleep more than 2 or 3 hours at a time... so ready to have this baby.

[BensMom]

Morning all! I love Halloween. Just going to try to enjoy the day and not think about all of the things that make me really, really sad.

We have a Halloween party with our playgroup this morning, then SILs kids will come over to TorT with Ben this evening. WE did go to the pumpkin patch on Sat, but forgot to carve the pumpkin yesterday. Doh! So maybe DS and I will do that this afternoon as well.

I have also been busy this weekend with my PT job of turning this babe. I went swimming Friday, have been seeing the new chiro every other day (she came in special yesterday to do the technique), did Moxi with the MWs on Friday, have been on the stupid ironing board twice a day....

This morning my job is to call around and see if the one Dr who will supposedly deliver Vag breech will really do it. Also to find someone to do a version.

Got in a huge fight with DH last night. I joked about showing up at the hospital complete, so they *had* to deliver my baby vaginally and he got all upset, accused me of trying to proove something, not caring about putting our baby at risk. I went ballistic! I said that what is not right is that everyone on earth (my MWs, him, random doctors, ACOG, hospital administrators, malpractice insurance execs, the farmers who pose as state legislatures 3 months out of the year) ALL have more of a say in how my baby is born than I do! And that is what is wrong with all of this!

OK, I said I wont think about depressing things today. Wish me luck today.

[nataliekat]

Happy Halloween, all. I'll be 39 weeks on Thursday, 10 days until my due date. But I just know I'm not going to go early. And that's okay with me.

Hang in there, mamas. It's tough right now. I'm so emotionally fragile, my crying jags are getting a lot more frequent. I manage to keep it together most of the time.

Thanks for your input on my names. I think I'm going to put Lottie, Ivy, and Clara on my list and choose from those. Turns out Tim doesn't really like any of the names I've picked out. But he was pretty lukewarm about Maisie, as well, so whatever.

Have a MW appointment tomorrow and I think I'll have her check my dilation purely out of curiosity. Last time I was 2 cm 3 weeks before and 3 cm two weeks before, so I'm curious.

[flyingspaghettimama]

Can't sleep. This sucks bad. I've been awake since 4 am...but your mind plays those little time-adjustment tricks on you, so I think "oh, but really, that's 5 am, pretty good! Time to eat some Trader Joe's Os! I wonder what is on NPR? Hmm, nothing interesting yet. I should take notes for the meeting at daughter's school today...ooh, how are those baby announcments coming along, or not? Maybe 5 am is a good time to organize that closet...see if I can wake up husband, nope. time to wake up!" At least I am lucky, I'm not working so I'll definitely be taking a nap today. I haven't had insomnia problems for a while now, so I'm bummed they've started up again this weekend.

My daughter is super-excited about halloween today. She's going to be a pegacorn. You know, a pegasus-unicorn, a creature existing only in her fantasies, I believe. I am excited about her bringing home candy from trick or treating and me filching it. I've been so good about not eating total crap candy the whole time, isn't tonight a good night to fall off the wagon?

I hate to say, we haven't decided on name for sure yet. We thought Emmett, but now I don't know. We like turn of the century names (why I like Lottie too) and names with some sort of double-plus meaningful meaning. We have a short list of other names, we figured we'd just try to work it out once the baby was born (ha, and drive our families crazy in the process).

Good luck, Bensmom. This situation happened to someone else I know too. It was very difficult for her.

I hope all you sick people get better soon...mamas, kids, partners - I don't even want to imagine how unfun that would be!

Ok, now that it's time to wake up, I think I'll go to bed. Husband and kid are making me "surprise ghost pancakes" this morning. ?! So I gotta clear the kitchen...

[DreamsInDigital]

Good to know I'm not the only one awake right now. I got up at 5:30 to pee and just couldn't go back to sleep so of course I'm sitting here hoping someone has had their baby since the last time I checked the boards.
I'm 37 weeks 1 day today. I'm trying so hard not to get impatient for this baby to come but it's really difficult to do when everyone else is! I had a dream last night I broke my own water to start my labour!
In reality, I know this baby could come anytime between now and 43 weeks so I'm trying to get through one day at a time. Today is going to be a looooong day.

[Awaken]

Good morning

It's going so-so thus far today, read my other post about waking up an hour early once again b/c I keep forgetting to set my clock after the time change!

Ds was awful for the therapist, he did a few activities with her but mainly screamed and threw things. Lovely, and it's only 9am and I have to spend the entire day entertaining him while I'm extra tired- boo hoo.

I think we're going to do errands on foot since it's going to be a gorgeous day- so YAY for that! And I got my new double jogging stroller, which I took for a spin the other day and oh, is it heavenly after my crappy stroller I've been struggling with for 3 years!!

I'm taking ds T or T ing for the first time tongiht...he has a Thomas costume his babysitter got for him- SOO cute! We carved a Jack O Lantern for the first time yesterday- ds adores candles and lights so he really likes it.

Had our mw home visit on Sat. and the GBS test. Gosh, this homebirth thing with a visiting midwife really feels like royal treatment after all the time I spent in the waiting room at my other mw practice! All our supplies are ready, I'm over 36 weeks now, and ready to go anytime!! I still have 2 weeks of work left, and I'd like to finish up, but really, I wouldn't mind having the baby any time after I turn 37 weeks! As of now the baby is head down and turned to anterior, which is the first time it's been in that position. I've been really paranoid about positioning this time, and last time I never even thought of it!

Helen and Monique- Hang in there Any day now, really!! And so sorry Willem is sick- I hope it won't have any effects as far as the newborn or your pregnancy!

Amy and Monique- Re: last week's thread- both your babies' names are totally normal...Brynn is a simple, beautiful name and I don't know why people would give you wierd looks. Same with Willem- I really don't get people most of the time :

[snugglebutter]

Not much going on here. I do get lots of BH contractions and cervix pain, so hopefully something is happening! I lost a small amount of my mucous plug over the weekend too.

We are slowly but surely getting everything ready. I got my order of extra prefolds - they quilted up nicely but still aren't as soft as the others. I started lanolizing her soakers and kind of wishing I had ordered a few more newborn fitteds. Now I could be sewing some, but I just haven't been in a sewing mood these days.

Meeting my aunt for lunch today - Mexican food!!! (I just live for food lately ) Then we have a midwife appt in the afternoon. We're not too big on Halloween so we may go hide out at the bookstore or something.

[laisett]

morning, all!

are anyone else's older DC messed up by the time change? DS was up at 5am, ugh! he's normally an early riser, but we HAD gotten him "sleeping in" til 6ish...i hope we can get back to that! DH gets up with him, but i still feel badly for him.

so, i had a dream a few weeks ago that i interpreted as a sign my baby would be born nov 8. my mom, who is *really* into that kind of thing (dream interpretation, predictions, baby telling me things etc) apparently talked to a psychic last night who informed her the baby would be born nov 8. this info came via my brother, so i'm not sure the circumstances surrounding it...anyway, that would be a week from tomorrow...we shall see! it'd be a pretty good day for us. DH is a professor so he can't take a lot of time off, but he does have some discretion in that area and i'm mostly hoping baby comes on a day where DH will def take thursday off, otherwise he won't be home til 1030pm and i just don't feel like i can face that with a toddler and a newborn so soon!

we don't have any halloween plans. i think DS is a bit young to T or T still...we'll probably wait another year or two (or 3-4, says DH...i disagree, but why worry about it now?).

flapjack- sorry about all this prodermal labor! sounds really frustrating

willemsmama- hope your DS feels better soon! and i hear ya on wanting sweets...i've had SUCH a sweet tooth this pg! i mean, i like sugar as much as the next person, but the past 9 months i've liked it as much as my DH and, well...he's crazy for sugar (tho he controls it pretty well) oh, btw...i think i almost bought that MT you just bought! LOL!

fsm- we haven't chosen a name, either. it's all good, tho, you'll name him/her soon!

bensmom- i really hope all your efforts to get baby to turn work out! and i agree that it's bizarre that everyone else seems to have more of a say in your birth than you do...sigh.

samsmama- i haven't forgotten you just slow!

[AmyGirl28]

Good morning ladies! Happy Halloween (my favorite holiday by the way). I can't belive tomorrow will be November. I am soooo excited! I turned the page of my calendar yesterday in the anticipation!

This weekend was okay. Saturday night we went to a Halloween party. DH painted my belly... a shark. I just let him paint whatever he wanted, even though I would have picked a flower or something. The shark looked more like a blue meanie, but it was definately cool. DD went as a cow, sooo cute. I can't wait to see all of the little kids tonight, and to take DD trick or treating.

Yesterday I woke up with a little headache, which turned into a bigger one by noon. I was also dizzy from the pain. So I rushed out and checked my BP and had DH check my feet for swelling. Everything else was fine. So, I finally caved in and took some Tylenol (it was that bad) and took a nap. Much better. Then we went shopping and I had pelvic pressure so bad we had to go home. Definately the bowling ball syndrome. Ouch!

Well, that is all. I hope everyone has a nice week, and let's see somemore babies!

[PicnicBear]

Blahhh -- It seems that everyone else is feeling as tired and zoned out as I am. The way I feel is like having a bad hangover (without the headache and nausea, so that's good), but I feel so tired, spacey, and thirsty. I don't know why I feel so thirsty (oh, probably dehydration). Well, we had a Halloween party yesterday and it went well. Everyone pitched in so I wasn't on my feet more than I had to be but it was still totally exhausting. Then I didn't sleep at all last night. For some reason, I felt totally awake. I am supposed to meet with someone to work on a paper today but I hope that we can do it over the phone instead, I did most of the work this weekend so I hope there's not too much more to do on it.

I feel like I've pointed it out before (?) but I think MrsMoe and nataliekat and I all have the same due date (Nov. 10). Cool.

[SoulJourney]

Wow...I feel lazy compared to all you mamas! I, too, was up around 4:30 this morning and didn't get back to sleep until ohhhhh, probably 7ish. I just tossed around in bed the entire time...did NOT want to get up. Then again, I wasn't able to go to sleep until around midnight, sooooo needless to say I'm a little sluggish today. I've been feeling really crappy lately, not to mention a little whiny! We're all allowed to be whiny in the homestretch, right? So I FINALLY posted some belly pics on the appropriate thread, but I think I'll go ahead and torture you girls with them here!
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/Pumpkin2.jpg
http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c3...y/Pumpkin1.jpg
Yep...the belly got painted this weekend! I wanted it to be a fish bowl, but I just wasn't that motivated!
Willemsmamma...I LOVE that MT!!! I have made myself a wrap and a really cute ring sling...I'm kind of digging on that MT, though, so I may have to pull the sewing machine back out!
FSM...Do you have a middle name picked out, or nothing yet at all? My little one's middle name is going to be Sage, but I'm taking my *list* with me so that he and I can have a little heart to heart about what he wants to be called!
Ok...it's time to pretend to be productive since I'm at work. Keep smiling, mamas, we're almost there!

[*Amy*]

I am so glad I'm not the only one who is miserable right now. I'm such a grouch today!!!! I barked at DH for something completely retarded, and bless his heart he just keeps telling me he knows how uncomfortable I am and how proud he is of me for doing such a great job, and "it won't be long now!" I'm just like, seriously, I cannot take another 5 weeks of this so **she'd better not be late**!!!!

Hey by the way, thanks to all of the mamas who have given me some affirmation on the baby name thing. That makes me feel better. And for everyone who is waiting til you meet your baby to name him/her, I think that is really cool! Maybe you will just see your baby and the "right" name will become obvious!

Jenn, so sorry you are having a rough time, girl. I keep hoping your little one will flip so you won't have to deal with this anxiety. Come on baby, help a mama out!!

OK I'm procrastinating. Better get back to life and get some stuff done.

[laisett]

has anyone ever done a cervical self exam at the end of pg? if so, any way you could describe effacement and/or dilation? you know, what to feel for? or post a link?

my curiosity is getting the better of me...

thanks!

[MamaFern]

wow.. you are a busy bunch of mommas.. its only 8:46 am here and you have already all posted!

HappPy HallOweeN!

we also love halloween in this house.. but i got woken up too early and elwynn is being a 2 year old and i want to be curled up in bed he's been waiting so long to go pee in the morning that he pee'd on the floor a few times this week and its Driving me NUTS! he's been using the toilet for a long time and i get so frustrated when i have to clean up messes that i know are unnecessary. *sigh*

when i was sitting at the kitchen table with him he said " mommy i dont like it when you dont like me" and had tears in his eyes.. i felt so bad.. i said " sometimes im grumpy but it doesnt mean that i dont like you. i always love you.sometimes i just want to sleep in and stay in bed and when i dont get to i get grumpy" its definitly going to be a challenge balancing having a newborn and an already very smart/attached almost 3 year old.. i never want him to feel unloved but some morning i just want to be alone!!

anyways, i think im going to make halloween sugar cookies today with him and carve a pumpkin ( weve already done one) and figure out costumes and just have a nice day together.. i realise as the days tick by we only have a few left.. just he and i and it makes me pretty weepy.. but also excited that soon we will have another little one to love and snuggle.

happy due dates to a bunch of you!! i hope to hear birth stories soon.

[spughy]

Happy Hallowe'en Everyone!!!!

Today is my LAST DAY OF WORK!!!! YAYYYYY!!!!

And I am the cutest pumpkin EVER. I will post pics as soon as the IT dept. finds its digital camera (ours had dead batteries this morning.)