chat thread, 5/21-5/27

[earthmama369]

What a wonderful weekend!

Yesterday I came home from work (and all-day contractions that exhausted me) to find four friends over who I haven't seen in a long time and have been wanting to hang out with . . . and dh had organized them into a party of pregnancy elves who cleaned our entire house top to bottom!!!

The first pair of friends are the fairy godmother to Qualia and her boyfriend (who's essentially also Qualia's fairy godparent). The second were the pair of friends we wanted to ask to be this baby's fairy godparents, and they said yes.

Today was a surprise baby shower. DH tried SO hard to get me out of the house so I'd be surprised. And I was completely dense and didn't catch the clue. So I got to say "surprise" to everyone who walked in expecting me to be elsewhere while they set up.

It was very cool even without the labor-starting heart attack they were trying to plan. *lol* A good part of our birthing tub rental is paid for now, our frig and freezer are full of meals, I'm full up on happy birthing vibes, and my belly cast came back beautifully painted and decorated and ready to hang on our wall. I've been feeling really social lately but not wanting to go out, so this was the best of both worlds.

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, too!

[doulanichole]

Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend! Mine was not nearly as full or exciting, but the house is clean! LOL I did get my belly henna painted on Friday night and it looks great - I am very excited about it. I would love to see pics of your painted bellycast. I have 2 and neither is painted and I have no idea what I want to do.

I think I may be in labor, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Been contracting every 3-5 minutes for over 2 hours now and thinking this may be it now that I have completed my very long to-do list (other than picking a name for baby). Kinda like my brain won't let my body do what it needs to until everything is checked off and my head is clear. Exciting, but also a little nerve-wracking to think this could be it.

[chiromama]

Man.. you guys are getting all the fun stuff done! I haven't done my belly cast yet.. maybe next weekend... and I'm not getting the Henna painted till my Birth Blessing which is set for June 3rd. I really don't think I'm gonna go early tho... (lets hope I'm right!)
How sweet of your hub to have surprise party and the house cleaning! Awesome!

[ckhagen]

Oooh. A house cleaning party sounds like the best idea ever. Gosh, I really need someone to do that for me.

I'm getting worried about this baby's positioning. He's been doing this little action where he pops up to transverse all the time. I can feel his head bulging out one side and booty on the other. DS1 did this right before he turned to breech at 37ish weeks (he eventually went back to vertex at 39). I'm getting really impatient for my next mw appointment on Thursday because I really want to just go in there and have her reassure me that he's vertex.

[coco4cloth]

I had a busy weekend. I cleaned the house then cleaned the van. I removed all the seats and scrubbed. Man that was gross. So now my mini van has 1 infant car seat, a britax marathon, and 2 britax huskey's! It is so full.

We did a test run with the birthing pool yesterday Very cool. I have an appointment this morning. I just want to make sure this baby is head down. I have been feeling movement in weird places. I am ready to meet this baby. I'm sure I have a few weeks though

Nichole how you doing today??

[The4OfUs]

Wow - that sounds like the best shower ever!!!!!!!!!!


I got about half of my to do list done this weekend, which is actually not too bad considering it was a LONG list.

I have to keep bugging DH to bring up the last couple tubs of newborn stuff from the basement...

Not much else here. Had a WICKED cold last week, I'm just getting the last of the congestion out. Appointment with the endocrinologist on Friday, MW appt on June 1.

Otherwise, we're pretty much in a holding pattern here. Hope everyone else is doing well...especially you, doulanichole!!!

[doulanichole]

I'm still here and not much has changed since late last night. Still contracting pretty consistently, but not any real difference since last night. Need to work on a nap so that when she finally does decide to make her appearance I will be at least somewhat rested. Only so much resting you can do between contractions.

coco4cloth - I can so relate to the van full of carseats. We now have 4 in ours as well....what kind of van do you have?

Thanks for asking about me...I'll post if anything new/exciting happens! A girl can hope, right?

[coco4cloth]

Honda Odyssey I have to have a carseat for my nephew so that's why I have the extra. Ain't nobody but kids in my van

I'm off to my 38 week appointment!

[mommy2girlies]

I had a good weekend too. Some friends of mine threw a shower for me and we got to play lots of games and have some great food and great people to share it with. That was fun, then yesterday we went swimming. It felt divine!!! I was really surprised at how heavy i felt getting out of the pool

I've been very nesty lately. Have all the clothes washed and put in the drawers, all the prefolds are washed, but still need to wash the fitteds, aio's and covers. And I'm still making some doubler/liners and wipes.

I'm just getting really anxious to meet this little guy

[KnittingKara]

wow, Sarah, what a sweet DH you have and what a cool baby shower! Sounds like it was just perfect and exactly what you needed. Don't you just love it when things work out like that? What a great thing to carry with you into the coming weeks and baby's birthing ...

We had a nice weekend here. Yesterday morning DH made me cream cheese stuffed french toast with strawberries and I got to stay in my jammies until almost 3 in the afternoon ... it was like Mother's Day all over again

I keep having dreams that we are having twins I know that we aren't, but the dreams seem so real sometimes and I keep waking up from them thinking, "oh, no! We are only HALF ready for the babies"

As of my appt. last wed I'm 2 cm dilated. The dog and my dh keep following me around like I'm going to go into labor any minute From dh it is kinda cute, from the dog it is annoying :

Hope you all are having good mondays! Thinking good thoughts for you Nichole ... sending gentle birthing vibes!

[eco_mama]

I had a pretty nice weekend. We went to the local Farmer's Market downtown on Saturday. I got some really yummy things, especially my strawberries and corn on the cob! Then we went out to lunch for some chinese and yesterday my DH's basketball game was on. (it's play offs, they lost ) So we watched that then had some friends over to visit. They're moving into this house when we move out after the baby so they wanted to look at everything again. Yesterday was really uncomfortable though. No matter HOW I tried to lay, I felt like my circulation was being cut off through my back, neck, and part of my head. The baby was definitely is a wacky position but I think s/he is heaed down now! (I think s/he turned yesterday) So I guess we'll see at my app. tomorrow. It's so hard to tell for me.

[chiromama]

Is anyone else still working? I'll be 38 weeks on thursday, and am still seeing patients 3 days a week. I hardly slept last night because i was so anxious that i was going to have the baby before I had any real time off. ugh. Of course this week is busy on the days i'm working, and the days i'm not working I have packed iwth other appts and things to do. I'm seriously thinking I should stop next week. Any advice?

Nichole sending you ELVs Hope you're getting a nap and some good food in you!

Hearing about all these nice showers makes me wonder if I should have had one after all.... after years of infertility, baby showers make me wanna hurl, so we opted out of that and are having a post babys arrival bbq mid summer. I'm also having a birth blessing on June 3rd.

[doulanichole]

Well it all stopped this am and I was able to get some rest. Seems to have picked back up overnight so we'll see what today brings. This is fun!

[KnittingKara]

Korin, I know exactly what you mean: baby showers still make me feel a little weirded out ... even with this big belly there is still a bit of that lingering "always a bridesmaid never a bride" type of feeling, you know? But, reading about some of these very nice showers sure does make me smile

I keep looking at that freezer thread and thinking I should start filling our freezer, cooking, baking something other than cookies for me & Boo or at least draw up a grocery list, but I am just so darn lazy this week, mamas

Thinking of you, Nichole, hoping this is IT

[eco_mama]

Well I have an app. in a couple hours. Hopefully the baby has turned. It feels like it has. I know it was totally doing something (turning/flip-flopping) on Sunday but then Monday morning I wake up and it feels like th head is BACK up?! I don't know if I understand how I can be *this* far along and the baby still manages to flip flop around like that. You would think it'd be too big by now, ya know? Oh well.

Do we have a thread for predicting the baby's sex/weight/height/dob/time of labor/etc?? That we can predict now and then edit after baby is born. If not, we should have one.

My lunch was so yummy today. I had a tomato and cheese sandwich on toasted wheat bread and some *all natural* bbq chips. With a glass of water of course. It was soo GOOD!

Last night I was definitely feeling something going on down there. Lots of period type cramps, low and heavy and my uterus kept tightening up ALOT. (I guess they call those BH's ) It only lasted for about 15 min. though. But..it's getting ready! I just realized that there's not much time left for the MAY Mamas. About a wk. left for the month of May. It's crazy..I remember when May 1st came...I was so excited for the last month yet felt like it would take an eternity and now June 1st will be here in just over 1 wk! :

[BundleFishMama]

Hi everyone! Just checking in to say hello and see how everyone is doing....the baby showers sound great, glad you guys had fun!!

Well, I had a disappointing visit to the mw yesterday for my 36 wk check - NOTHING is going on down there, apparently. She said yes, he's still head-down, but his head is not even close to being in my pelvis, which is why she thinks that despite having contractions since week 23, there is no dilation or effacement or nada. I know it's early yet, but I've been feeling pressure down there and some good contracations sometimes and I was just thinking *maybe* with this being my 3rd baby in 4 years I might have one who doesn't hang on in there forever!

THEN after telling me I gained yet another 2.5 pounds (in ONE freakin' week!!) she tells me the the baby feels small to her!!! Well, by small she meant average, she said he could be in the 7's or 8's when he's born, but not as big as the u/s tech thought (he was saying, 'wow, big baby, he could be close to 10 pounds!' which at least made me think, OK, that's why I'm so huge!)

This was all after making me wait an hour and half in the waiting room. Yes - no joke - my appt. was at noon and the nurse did not take me back into the exam room until 1:25 pm!!! I know they are a very big and very busy practice, but give me a break - no one ever even came out to apologize during that time and ask if I (or my two kids who were being SO patient sitting there for an hour and half with like 4 beat up waiting-room toys to play with!) needed anything!! They tend to run late and I understand things happen so I never say anything when it's 20 minutes or even 30 minutes, but come on! I was . And THIS was after I'd already been at the hospital complex for an NST - so in total the girls and I were there from 9:45 am until 2:45 pm. At least they got their favorite lunch in between as a bribe to keep being patient - icky, processed, nitrate-laden hot dogs from the Philly street vendor

Anyway I should just be happy that the baby looks healthy and all - but as most of you know, with my DH scheduled to fly to Europe on business just a few days after my EDD, I am nervous aboutr being late and was SO hoping for the mw to say, "Wow, you're making progress already, bet you'll be nice and early" but I know she wouldn't have said that anyway, she kept reminding me that early dilation doesn't necessarily mean early labor. But....it feels like it does, you know?

[Keeta]

Well, I'm almost 37 weeks. I saw the MW today, and she casually asked, "Do you feel like you're retaining water? Because you gained 6 lbs since your last appointment" which was only 2 WEEKS AGO!!! Aaaagghhh!!! I guess my legs are a little bloated, but all my shoes still fit, etc, and my hands aren't swollen. I'm so annoyed about the mega-weight gain (I had gained 6 lbs since my previous appt as well, but at least there were 3 weeks between those!), because I haven't even been eating that much crap! Ok, some all natural cheetos here and there, some chocolate cupcakes, but we're talking one a day or every other day, it's not like I'm chowing down on 5 a day here! : Luckily my bp is nice and low, so there is no threat of pre-e or anything like that, thank goodness. And I tested negative for GBS, which is great! I've only been checked once at my last appt and I was already 50% effaced then, so that's good. Today she said it feels like he's getting lower, so I guess that's a good sign, too, and might explain why it's getting sooooo uncomfortable to get out of bed to pee in the middle of the night - those BH's are seriously crippling. I have to hold onto the wall and groan through them. The only semi-bad thing now is that when the MW was feeling around for his position he was waaaaaay over on the right side - still head down, but very, very close to being posterior. Another thing I'm semi-annoyed about, because I'm pretty conscious of how I sit, I never lay on my back and I do 80 pelvic tilts every freaking night, religiously! So now I'm on a overblown regimen of more pelvic tilts, lunges, and sitting in a squatty-position, which is mostly fine but is seriously starting to hurt my cooter. Oh well. I feel him move around soooo much (he flips from the right to left side fairly often) that I'm not too worried about him getting stuck posterior, but it's something I'll keep an eye on.

In other more fun news, I've been doing baby and diaper laundry, which is too much fun. And I finally got my DH to put up my clothesline, so everything is so nice and fresh and line-dried. We're also getting our bedrooms together (we'll be moving our bedroom into the bigger room and setting up a guest room in the other) which is kind of fun, too. I just feel like there is soooo much to do before this baby comes!

Glad to hear you other mamas are hanging in there! Those baby showers sound like a blast!

[chiromama]

I had my 38 week appt today.. MW didn't check, so I have no clue what's going on... but I'm thinking I have a few more weeks.

I love the diaper/baby laundry mine is all done and put away! go me!

Oh ande sorry your cooter is sore, Keeta... but better get used to it. :

[earthmama369]

Rough couple of days. Baby bean's doing great, Qualia's doing great, I'm just having a hard time hanging on to my patience and don't feel like a good mama. Sleeping is rough, I'm sore, but mostly I'm just depressed and it's bleeding over into everything else. My cousin committed suicide a couple days ago; my grandma waited until after our baby shower to tell me. I only met him once, just after his mother married my uncle, so it's not like we were close or anything. But I just keep imagining how his mother feels right now and it's tearing me up. Man, this sucks.

[chiromama]

Sarah. I'm sorry to hear of your cousin.