May 2004 mamas finding happiness & fulfillment in the new year! (& maybe riches) - Page 10

[elsanne]

Ack! Not caught up on this thread. LOVED meeting miss emmalola.
But, check out my story on my blog or if you'd prefer, I can post it here. Harrowing travel travails.

[TurboClaudia]

oh els, i am soooooooooooo soooooooooo glad you are home safely, too.

you rule, mama. :rock:

elola: i felt like i showed really early this past time, too. i needed new pants by the time i was six weeks. and then my retroverted uterus flipped pooched out at around 14 weeks and i felt huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge. i had better clothes this pregnancy, though, so people actually knew i was pregnant much earlier. well, the clothes and the whole subsequent pregnancy showing earlier thing.

going out for a playdate a little later. hopefully marek will stay awake for the 15 minute drive to my new friend's house and we won't have to abandon the playdate attempt halfway there. of course, he will probably be an unreasonable bee-y*tch while we are there, but at least other mamas can help me wrangle him.

for the MMF!

~claudia

[orangecanoe]

Elsanne--I am in awe mama...amazed at the kindness of strangers too.

EL--didn't have time (or brain) to comment earlier, but so excited that you have the meeting. And wooot! for furniture and unpacking and making it more home. I totally got that squishy thing until like 18wks or so I think and then sort of started to look a little pg and not just chubby.

Sherri---how are the girlies?? I hear you on the stir crazy-ness. Yesterday we drove to the park on the way back from errands and played for 5 whole minutes until we froze, but it was something!

Renae-- at the wanting the vites to work NOW. I kwym! It is hard to weigh benefits vs side effects...hope you can have a good talk and make a decision that works best for you.

I love the girls' OT. I had left her a message about the dx and the upcoming evals/transition process and she called back today with tons of helpful suggestions. When I get the girls down for a nap, I'm going to call a couple of the hippotherapy places. I can't imagine how excited C would be if she could ride a horse! It's $$, but we'll see. Also inching closer to making some decisions re: babysitting dilemma so we'll see!

Is winter over yet? I'm so not digging our drafty old house at the moment. It hasn't even snowed yet : and I'm ready for Spring.

[A&L+1]

Yay, els is back! Sorry it was such a pain in the a$$ to get home, but I teared up when read the part about the stranger giving you money. Ah, serendipity and grace.

Heather, your girls' OT does sound great. And hippotherapy sounds so cool (especially if it was hippos instead of horses, but I digress). You are an amazing mom.

Renae, I hope those vitamins kick in good soon!

Today is Alison's last work day before the baby. It's a huge relief that she is done done done. She is due Tuesday. I posted a thread in birth professionals, but does anyone have any words of wisdom on getting Alison to rest after the baby is born? She looked at me like I was insane when I said she should plan to mostly be in bed for a week. What did those of you with two do? What can I say/do to convince her that she needs to prepare for rest time to let her body heal. Here's the link to my other post: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...57#post7052957

love to the may mamas!

p.s. Do you think the other moms of babies born in May but not in our year feel bothered by the fact that we think of ourselves as THE may mamas?

[TurboClaudia]

Originally Posted by A&L+1

p.s. Do you think the other moms of babies born in May but not in our year feel bothered by the fact that we think of ourselves as THE may mamas?

: :insert gaaaaaaaah smilie here:
this made me laugh, lisa...

[jstar]

i don't know about you guys but i pretty much didn't make it off the couch for a week after birthing. i think that will happen again since i am planning to have the MIL the SIL or my mom here to stay. i think alison's body will naturally make her take it easy. unless her personality is to fight her body messages? it came naturally to me and i am not usually that sendentary. but i was wiped out. i was dizzy and shaky when i stood up for a few days.

i am already trying not to pick isaac up. my back is hurting already. really hurting by the end of the day if i've done a lot of 35lb arm curls. 'you get me up!' he definitely doesn't like that i don't want to carry him down our stairs anymore.

el- i felt so CHUBBY and pudgy until more recently. it pooched so early and my pants didn't fit but it was all guts so it was squishy. the first time the uterus pushes the guts up higher but those ab muscles and tight skin still hold it in. the 2nd time the guts get pushed up and into that previously stretched out baby pouch and you get a nice pouch of guts hangin out there FAB! i even saw pictures of myself at a dinner and i looked really big in the stomach but really NOT pregnant. i am still having paranoia that i don't look pregnant. but i think i do now.

and yay on the furniture and getting settled and unpacked. awesome.

we are out of the house and back to the routine.

i'll have to read els' blog. alas it is lunch time and momma needs F-O-O-D

[orangecanoe]

Lisa-- there are other May Mamas besides us?? re: the other thread.... I think it hit me more after E's birth than C's that it really behooves one to do nothing. For practical reasons, I stopped bleeding a heckuva lot sooner the less I did. I think for mental health reasons (uti's/reflux/ensuing medical DRAMA not withstanding) I did much better bouncing back with time to rest. Reflecting back on what I thought I knew before C was born, it really just wouldn't have made sense before I had her so perhaps just giving her the info now will be enough?? I think you can also honor her need/want to "do" more by figuring out what things won't be as physically taxing.

[A&L+1]

Originally Posted by heatherfeather

Reflecting back on what I thought I knew before C was born, it really just wouldn't have made sense before I had her so perhaps just giving her the info now will be enough?? I think you can also honor her need/want to "do" more by figuring out what things won't be as physically taxing.

This is a very good point (honoring her). I suspect that my nesting instincts are kicking in a bit and I am gearing up to be the Protector of her and the baby. I feel all riled up.

Originally Posted by jstar

i think alison's body will naturally make her take it easy. unless her personality is to fight her body messages?

She is the strongest, most self-sacrificing, English person that I know ("naps are for the weak, sick is a state of mind, all is right in the world if I just can have a cup of tea"). We also don't have a lot of help and within a week or two she will be staying home with both kids on her own. I think she is thinking she should get used to doing it all herself since she's going to have to soon. I want her to take the time we do have to heal for precisly that reason. We don't have much of a safety net and I can't do it for her.

Anyway, I wanted to comment on your meeting tomorrow, EL. Let us know how it goes, rock star.

[emmalola]

Oh my goodness, Elsanne. What an incredible story. You are courageous. You are amazing. And dang, if you aren't lucky to meet such wonderful people who would willingly help you out throughout the ordeal. Or maybe I'm just jaded?

Did I mention already that it was so great meeting Elsanne and Sol and Amara? Yesterday the lentil was talking about what he would do the next time Sol come to visit. Like it was going to happen next week, you know? So cute. I know I'm delinquent in uploading photos- will do in the next few days. I promise!

Lisa- It wasn't until after the lentil's birth that I made the connection between overexertion and my general health- after a few days I noticed that I bled a heck of a lot more on the days that I went up and down our three flights of stairs than on the days I stayed in with the lentil and nursed. It became a no-brainer. Nothing like some bright red blood to throw you into a major reality check, you know? (and can I mention that I'm so excited for you guys!! when I first saw your name, I couldn't help but think that maybe this was it.... )

Meeting tomorrow. what do I wear? eeep!

[jstar]

whatever fits just kiddin. something tidy but down to earth.

ok tell alison the couch not the bed. from the couch she can watch the world go on around her. she can ask you for food and drinks and she can watch E play and for the time you have off with her you can scurry around and tell her not to move a muscle. also the nursing babe keeps you pretty much 'sitting' a lot also. being in bed doesn't sound very appealing -- unless you tell her 'go nap with the babe'. but for all day it is too remote ..down the hall or upstairs, etc. just tell her you're going to do as much as you can while you have the time because you WANT to and that will be the biggest help to her. that was what my family did. just brought me drinks or whatever while i nursed and rested. i couldn't get enough ice water those first few weeks. anyway i'm very excited for you two (three)

[mamameg]

wow, i can barely keep up with the thread this week. i am feeling a bit overwhelmed with my kids/life right now. john started a new job with an increased commute. he's back to getting home around 7:00, sometimes later. :

i have had an entire week full of days where I try and try and try to get things done, and nothing seems to move. like i'm in some 4th dimensional holding pattern or something. i feel like i am drowning in laundry and i just can't keep up with it AT ALL. anxiety is high. talk of vitamins is making me wonder if i need them. i am guilty of buying the stigma around them. too bad, because they might have really helped me at certain : times in my life.

on an upbeat note, i'm going out on sat night! it's my best friend's bday and the crew is going to a cuban bar (complete with cuban band) in the city. i'm so excited to be going out. it's been aaaaaaaaages. i need it bad. fun fun.

oh yeah, and mia has pink eye. and jett is teething badly. let's hear it for days on end in the house! woo hoo! not.

[KKmama]

Renae, I had one last thought for you (popped into my head as I was heading to school to pick up T).... if Rowan is still not sleeping well and your sleep is disrupted, it can definitely push you over the edge. In Nov/Dec, L stopped sleeping so well (perma-nursed at night through a big teething/growing jag) and Z went through a phase of waking a lot, too, and it totally trashed me and pushed me over the edge. I don't have any solutions on the sleep front (if I did, I could bottle it and make a bazillion dollars! ), but just wanted to point that out.

I start to show ~20 wks or so (I have a pretty long torso). But before that, I am definitely "not my normal size" (how did you describe it? chubby/soft/not at all fit? uh, check, check, check). EL, did you know that in the 1st tri, bloating and water retention is totally normal, and that some women actually find themselves feeling *smaller* around 12-14 wks when those things can ease for a while? And what you wrote about the weather I could have written. We've had 5 feet+ of snow in a period which is normally dry, and we have thick sheets of ice everywhere. Z hasn't worn his shoes for more than a month (and T takes his to school in his backpack). Total on the meeting, btw. I suggest wearing clothes.

Hippotherapy and the good OT--rock on, dude. That's awesome.

Lisa, I'm so excited that your baby is going to be here soon. Re that thread--I think that JITMts totally hit the nail on the head, esp. re lochia. She just needs to know that her job post partum (beyond nursing) is to take such good care of herself that the lochia goes away. If it lingers on, if red comes back, she needs more rest. I think you're just going to have to trust that she can be an adult about it and pace herself. The C with T totally kicked my arse. And my 1st V (with Z) was hard, too. I think that one can be wiped out enough that it doesn't take much convincing to rest... (And I didn't really rest after L, because hey--I didn't need to.)

Hey--we *are* the May Mamas (a rock band? a cult?).

Random to Meg (my fellow *April* Mama ).

Off to read Elsanne's blog.

[KKmama]

Holy sh!t Elsanne! I am sending that stranger mega karmic warm fuzzies, and I'm send you 3 chicas mega warm fuzzies for being back in one piece.

[Mama Faery]

Just poking my frazzled head in to say hello. Sounds like I gotta read Elsanne's blog when I get home!
I am here at my friend's house watching her DS and Rowan (they're watching a signing time video. so I have to go.



Hope you have a great weekend, everyone!

[elsanne]

Hi everybuggy.

Chaos happening around here, so will be popping in n out. My mom just flew in last night. She's here for six weeks.

Wondering what happened with emmalola's meeting.

Sherri, I missed you too!:

Meg: mia pink eye, jett teething, mama needs valium. You poor dear! JK on the valium...of course...

[elsanne]

I just want to point out how Ducettemama has already joined the MMF team in her siggy! YAY!

[A&L+1]

Originally Posted by elsanne

I just want to point out how Ducettemama has already joined the MMF team in her siggy! YAY!

I was just wondering what was going on with Ducettemama this morning! How are you?

[jstar]

my husband is insane. i just embarassed myself

[orangecanoe]

frazzled is a good word renae.

but some good news...we are going to visit the hippos....err horses....next Thursday and they may have a spot for C for the next session (only have one spot left) or we might have to go on the waiting list. *fingers crossed*

[mcsarahb]

Goodness, Elsanne, you are amazing. I think I would have gone off the deep end if that happened to me. You deserve some serious pampering from Viet in the childcare department.

Jstar - everything ok? A little cryptic message to make us worry!

Heather - good news about the hippos. I hope a. you like it and b. if so, they have a space for her!

Lisa - Just a lot of good vibes from me. Your situation is endlessly fascinating to me, (in terms of parenting psychology, etc.) and I think you do an extraordinarily amazing job at being a mother, wife and provider within your beautiful family. And I'm anxiously awaiting any news!

Megan - Have fun on Saturday and drink a mojito for me, 'k?

So today was my first day of clinic (orientation) and it was pretty darn good. The MWs seem really...balanced...and I think it will be a good learning experience. Maybe more on the YG later.

DH leaves Sunday am and I am starting to get that anxious feeling of oh-my-god-how-i-am-ever-going-to-get-through-five-days-without-him. Mamas, I don't do well on my own. :

OK, speaking of which, he is herding the toddler during his work hours while I do this, so better go do my job.

S.