*~ Weekly Thread January 10 - 16 ~* - Page 2

[GenomicsGirl]

At 19 weeks, I still look like I have a post-pregnancy-flabby-belly I definitely look pregnant when unclothed, but to the average person, I probably just like beer!

I had a really good day yesterday - I got 3 weeks of clean laundry sorted and put away, and even mowed the front and side lawn for an hour. But today I was miserable; on the verge of vomiting all day and heartburn-y. I need a good rest.

My Dr gave me Ambien because I'm not sleeping and it wiped me out for 16 hours - not a good idea when you have 2 toddlers to take care of full-time. I'm so tempted to take it again ... but I'm so scared of the after-effects. I just really want one good night of sleep! I caught a few Zs this afternoon while ds#2 napped on my tummy - but it wasn't very relaxing.

Oh, and I'm eating like a pig. Fatty, salty, fried - you name it! Blech!

[Keeping up]

I had a midwife appointment today and have put on 5lbs. at just under 18 weeks. I can't of any reason why a medical practionier would be worried about weight - unless you were underweight before you got pregnant (i.e. bmi was very low) - otherwise, who cares - the baby only weighs like 8 oz. (1/2 lb!). My last two pregnancies I put on 20-22lbs and had 8lb babies so weight isn't everything. I am convinced I will put on more weight this time around because I lost a fair bit of weight (10 lbs.) from my pre-preggo weight with #3 - so I have some ground to make up. I am still 5 lbs of that weight so I am happy! My husband did make a comment about not eating two brownies tonight with my tea - wouldn't want me to be a whale!!! (I am 5'9" and 145 lbs at 18 weeks pregnant - so not too big!) He is a bit weight obsessed.

Otherwise - all is well. Feeling good, have felt a bit of movement but heard the hb clearly today so relieved.

Oh, and celebrated my baby's first birthday last week - can't believe it has been a year!

[WhiteWax]

Willo dont worry, it can't rain all the time.

I was having that same kind of day, well a few days recently. With the move and packing and DH being a selfish jerk it's been rough. I kind had it out with him the other morning and then felt a bit bad about it. I pretty much just told him all things that were driving me batty, about how I feel like I give him an inch and he takes a mile and how I know he's tired from work and just wants to play video games but that after spending all day alone with a 2 year old I need some adult interactions and I want him to be my FRIEND!!!!!

I guess he got the hint... we were up untill 2 am last night having chit chat, some serious, some silly adult talking time... with a bit of a pillow fight some where in there

It was nice... the fun loving guy I fell in love with!

oh and the weighty issue... ha ha I gained over 50lbs with DD1 and didn't lose it all so started this one off much heavier! in the two to three month span when I came in for a visit I had gained 5lbs... they told me to watch it! HA, so in the three to four month span... you know ladies, thanksgiving through CHIRSTMAS (COOOOOOOOOOKIESSS) I only gained ONE POUND!! I was impressed for even a non preggo person

So I'm up 6lbs from the start which isn't aweful but I'm trying like all heck not to pack it on like last time... I know I'll hit at least the same top number : simply because I started out so much higher but I'm trying desperatley not to go over it... which will be a struggle for me, lose about 10lbs of fat to make room for 10lbs of amniotic fluid, baby, breast and what not.

[Marvelleaux]

Willo~ Sounds like we're paddling around in the same canoe...

I was really energetic and upbeat during the holiday season but now I'm just sort of *bleah* and dragging my butt around trying to get things done. I think part of my mood is just exhaustion (from the holiday) and needing more recovery time, and another part is due to me having gained a full 15 pounds since the start of my pregnancy (five of which I'm CERTAIN must have gone to my bust..). My body has never carried this much weight before and the three months of hypermesis wasted a lot of my muscle mass and so carrying it is more of a burden. It's ok though--I'm taking measures to overcome the discomfort. Walking the dog a mile or so, twice a day is helping get the blood pumping and my husband and I are continuing our weekly workout schedule. I know I'm going to gain more weight so my goal is to be able to comfortably carry it.

Did anyone else "pop out" early and sort of stay that size for awhile? I think that's what I did. Also, in the morning I always look the same size and at night before I go to bed I'm bloated and enormous! Guess I know what to expect in coming months.

[Jilian]

Originally Posted by Marvelleaux

Did anyone else "pop out" early and sort of stay that size for awhile? I think that's what I did. Also, in the morning I always look the same size and at night before I go to bed I'm bloated and enormous! Guess I know what to expect in coming months.

My belly got really round and stuck out a bit at 8 weeks or so and then stayed the same size til about 15 weeks, then it took off. My belly also seems so much bigger and tighter at night. I think it's from being stuffed from dinner. Last night it felt like it was going to burst.

[WhiteWax]

I've noticed that later in the night my body must be swollen because my rings feel sooooooo tight and uncomfortable.

[herbmama3-7]

Willo, I can deffinately understand the blues, I was considdering talking to my mw about it at the next visit, Hang in there, better times are coming!

Anyway, my belly feels so tight and big at night and kind of soft and less tight in the morning, It is such a strange thing, but I feel the baby better in the A.M. when there is less belly and food to get in the way, so I look forward to the morning belly.

[wombatclay]

So it's probably hormones...but DH and I really really want to move to a new house. We're crazy, right?

We have no money, a toddler, a baby on the way...and the only places we can afford would be way out of town so we'd need to get another car (and probably upgrade our current vehicle as well since it would need to handle distance travel in snowy weather...so 4wd is a must).

But...our current house (we bought it 4 years ago using a special "low income first time buyer" program) is in a transitional neighborhood. And while it has "transitioned" a lot in the last few years it's still not the sort of place you'd want to raise your kids. Lots of drug traffic right outside our door, a fair amount of gang related violence (some stabbings and shootings in the past few months), and several neighborhood residents who have "given up" and just let their properties go to ruin. So borded windows, overgrown yards filled with weeds and garbage (and this is downtown so a "yard" is about 10 feet by 20 feet so we're not talking a lot of land to maintain), garbage on the sidewalks, and a tendancy not to curb or clean up after pets so there's a lot of animal waste on the sidewalk.

We used to call the cops every night...sometimes a few times a night...and now we only call two or three times a week. And we've taken over our entire block in terms of sweeping and cleaning the sidewalk (we shovel the whole thing and clean the trash off it each day since no one else was willing to do it, and the city wont enforce the codes). But it's so discouraging. We have drunks urinaing on our porch a couple times each week (despite motion activated lights), drug sales in our side yard, dogs wandering where they will, and non-stop-traffic.

We've made a lot of improvements to the house, and the property value has about doubled, so we could probably sell pretty easily. But the house is really convenient to our jobs, the library, all the downtown things, a bus route, shopping, a great coffee shop...all sorts of great things.

On the down side, a move out of town would mean tripling our commute time and mean we'd need to drive everywhere (for shopping, etc). But we'd be able to relax at night and the girls would be able to play outside.

And there is actually a place we're going to go look at tomorrow...it's in our price range, it needs A LOT of work, and it's a five minute walk to one of my close friend's homes (and she watches little ones during the day so if I need to keep working then there will be a wonderful AP mama who can watch the girls). I know it's insane, but I really really want this house to work out...our current house is driving me crazy!

I guess I realized when someone asked why I didn't want a homebirth and I thought about it...I haven't been able to feel "relaxed" in my own home in four years. The thought of birthing a baby here is actually unpleasant! So...fingers crossed that when we see the place tomorrow it isn't missing a roof or has a rotten sill or is about to fall down!

Yes...crazy....

[Marvelleaux]

Wombat~

Sure, you sound crazy!

Just kidding

I have moved 50 times. I've lived in a lot of houses, apartments, duplexes, trailers--you name it. Some neighborhoods have been really nice and some have been pretty crappy, but the places I like living at the most were the ones where I wasn't constantly fretting about my personal space. One of my favorite homes was a crappy ole' trailer out on ten acres in the boonies. There were neighbors--if you really needed them--otherwise you were on your own.

Your'e right to be concerned about transportation, etc. Four wheel drive vehicles cost more to buy (the reliable kind anyway), cost more to operate, and drink a lot of gasoline. But on the flip side, when you're secure in your home you sometimes find yourself fleeing it less, and with a little practice you can also become a good day-trip planner. I used to pick two days a week to do in-town errands. It forced me to consider my meal plans and entertainment which saved me oodles of money. But boy, when you feel isolated it sucks so it pays to really think about if that lifestyle is right for you.

Have fun looking around!

[wombatclay]

I grew up in a region of rural upstate NY that makes the location we're considering seem like Grand Central Station! My parent's home growing up had no electric and limited plumbing (we got some electric and an indoor bathroom when I was around 8, they still don't have electric thorugh the whole house). Heat came from a wood stove in the kitchen and a coal stove in the living room...which meant during the winter we all lived (ate, slept, cooked, read, etc) in those two rooms. DH grew up on a 50 acre apple farm also in rural NY.

The funny thing is that I became very focused on never ever living in such an isolated/low tech environment ever again while DH went the other direction and loves disappearing for a week to hike into the mountains and be "the only person in a hundred miles". But we do both have mad rural survival skills.

The house we're looking at (http://www.ithacarealtors.com/ibr_li...pe=residential) is in a small town...about 700 people. So there are paved roads, a post office, a five/dime. Our only vehicle right now is a KIA...it has 4wd (DH and I have never owned a vehicle that didn't have 4wd actually) but it's older than old. So not totally reliable for a daily round trip commute of ~2 hrs. And DH and I work opposite schedules to try and keep dd's care "in the family" as much as possible...so we'd need at least one more reliable vehicle (right now I walk the mile home from work each afternoon and take the bus there in the mornings) and we'd probably need to replace the KIA too.

Bleh!

But on the other hand, we've got lots of experience in fixing up un-loved homes older homes and as long as the foundation is in one piece and the sill isn't dead we could make a go of it. I do wonder though since the pictures more or less show the stream going through the back of the house! And the topo maps I found online also look like the house is sitting in the middle of the stream! If we rent out our downtown house we should be able to cover both mortgages. Which would be nice.

And I would LOVE to live someplace where I can't hear the guy in the next house beat his wife all night and where dd isn't picking up "crack baggies" in the park. I really don't want dd growing up around all this...

I'll have an update tomorrow night I think...I'm staying fairly reasonable (considering the hormones!) and figure there must be some SERIOUS damage to this place to create such a low price tag (29K...average home price in that area is 65K). But oh, it would be loverly to homebirth this new babe in a happy house!

[herbmama3-7]

Wombat, that house looks cute, hope it works out for you!

DH and I are moving too, and we moved twice during my last pregnancy, I too need a place to feel comfortable in birthing a baby. There is something funny that happens to me when I get pregnant, I instantly become dissatisfied with my current living space and have to move. Luckily we have only rented, but this time we are looking into buying, so I don't think your crazy, just looking out for the safety and wellbeing of your family.

[willoLevin]

DH and I pretty much intend to live in this house until we retire... and yet I've been bugging him to look at a house for sale elsewhere in our town recently.

Nesting hormones, obviously.

We're considering taking a home loan and finishing our basement to add an extra bathroom (we have only one) and a family room that Mom could also inhabit when she's here for her 3 weeks+ visits. It's horrifying to me, as we tend to be VERY careful about debt, but also I feel like I might die or go insane if I can't do it!

--willo

[wombatclay]

So...the house is....ummmm....let's see. I'm calling it "A River Runs Through It".

I spoke with the agent and he told me the house has been on the market for well over a year. The pictures were clearly taken when it first went on the market. And there has been a lot of flooding this year.

Enough so that the two trees in the pictures (the trees between the house and the stream) are no longer there...just big deep pools where tree roots used to be. The stream itself now runs UNDER the back of the house (the house is missing the back right corner of the foundation...about five feet one way and ten feet the other...and the floor of the house is just floating about four feet above the stream). The back door now opens into nothing and the steps that lead from that door end entirely IN the stream. And what looks like a fairly gentle little stream in the pictures is now a serious water way, with banks several feet high and a depth of several feet...I'm not sure how deep those pools were but it wasn't the sort of thing you'd want toddlers near!

So there is missing foundation, a seriously rotted sill and vertical beam that is just about the texture of a wet sponge, and due to the movement of the stream bed just about the only "fix" would be to jack the house up, redirect the stream (if legal/possible), build a retaining wall and back fill the area eaten away by the water, rebuild the foundation, and replace the sills/vertical supports. Or just lift the house and move it 20 feet to the left onto a brand new foundation. Which might be easier (though you'd still need to replace stuff...and considering the water damage I'm not certain you could even jack the place up without it folding in the middle).

Oh, and the house has been colonized by cats...we couldn't go upstairs due to the cats...so that's an issue in and of itself!



I'm sure there's a place out there for us...I'd love to live someplace near a stream. But ON a stream is a little out of my comfort zone!

[sally Z]

wombatclay on stream does sound a little too much, pity the pics looked so nice.

We are also moving, wel relocating from South Afria or England. So the packing has started. It is quite stressful but trying to be calm for baby. It has been a huge decision and i am still really sad but crime in South Africa has just gone past our comfort level.

We will move in beginning April but dh goes back off shore on 20 Jan and will not be back until we go so i have to know what to send in the shipping before he goes. It is going to be a long hard few months.

Poor dd will arrive in a new country, new house, no friends and a sibling will arrive ina few months, poor thing- tryint to prepare her but talking about having the baby and birth is so much easier than about moving.

Going to see the midwife for the fist time on Tuesday

[Jilian]

's to all the mamas who have to move during pregnancy. That must be hard work!

Wombat: You could have a waterbirth in the river that runs through your house! I've also heard that cats can be very attentive during labor so you could have 20+ little furry doulas assisting your home waterbirth

[PatchChild]

Jilian, you do manage to always find a bright side, don't you?

And here I was cringing at what the sound of running water would do to me with those middle of the night bathroom runs....

[WhiteWax]

I LOVE the doula cat idea!

That realy stinks Wombat!!! That house really did look so cute in the pictures. You're lucky though. if we wnated to buy a house in a drug filled neighborhood around here where I live it would be about 80-90k. so ho hum a pigs bum we're just moving to another rental in a "pretty nice" area. Have you checked bank forclosurer sights? Our friends just got a house in the "nicer side" of the 90k's for 61k by going to a house auction. they had to have a check for 10% down though.

I tooooo and with you all about moving in Pregnancy... DP is away on business this morning till Wed and we are moving this coming week end... I am less than thrilled about packing the house myself and Sally I know we're not moving countries but I understand what you mean about explaining moving to a toddler. I just keep telling DD how we are all going to move to a new house and live there together... with "Mommy and Daddy and the dog and the cats and her blankie and her bed and mommys bed and her soccer ball..." and you get the point. She kind of likes the little game of naming things that will come to the new house with us... just thought I would mention how we are addressing it.

A last question for you ladies... I'm going to mention it to the midwife too but in early may... around the 4th I think, (I'm due june 5th) I was looking to go with the family on a camping trip/retreat type Beltaine festival for three days and two nights in CT (we live in NY). We would be driving not flying but we would be camping.... in a tent.... with a porta-potty near by! (lol)... What are every ones thoughts on this? It looks like soooooooo much fun and DP was so genuinly excited that I REALLY want to go but we weren't sure about camping while being that pregnant and fairly far from home. Any thoughts?

[wombatclay]

I'm going to mention it to the midwife too but in early may... around the 4th I think, (I'm due june 5th) I was looking to go with the family on a camping trip/retreat type Beltaine festival for three days and two nights in CT (we live in NY). We would be driving not flying but we would be camping.... in a tent.... with a porta-potty near by! (lol)...

I almost went to Pennsic (large outdoor, two week long, porta potty, tent living, medieval event) when I was pregnant with DD. We decided aganist it (I was on modified bedrest) but I think that, looking back, it would have been fine. I know I missed having gone later on when I realized that it's a lot easier to be pregnant at a festival than it is to be "mama of crawling babe" at a festival that involves a lot of fire pits and "shiny pointy things".

I did fly to central Alaska (from upstate NY) when I was 7.5 mo pregnant. Again I did a lot of research into hospitals near my destination and in each "flight layover" city and brought my medical records along for the ride. It was a looooong trip, my ankles didn't recover till well after DD was born, I don't recommend day long plane adventures into -40 degree/no sunlight climates when extremely pregnant...but it was a great experience overall and one I don't regret at all!

This time round dd2 is due early June and we are planning on going to Pennsic in mid August as long as everyone is in good health...we're going to get a hotel instead of doing the camping thing (newborn and newborn's mama demand running water and air conditioning!) but I think Laia will love it (and not fall into any fire pits this time), the new babe will sleep through it (yay slings!), and DH and I have been missing Pennsic for 4 years now so we really want to get there this year.

Obviously check in with your midwife/care provider and research the birthing options near the festival site. And be willing to back out if you just don't "feel right" at the time...but I think it sounds like fun! You'll be the star of any mama/fertility rituals, that's for sure!

(but I have to confess...my SIL's wedding is the second week of May and I am planning on pulling the "too pregnant to travel" card. We're in upstate NY, the wedding is on the Jersey Shore...and we've been told the entire hotel is "no children allowed" for the whole weekend. So I'm supposed to leave my nursing toddler at home for four days right before the new sib arrives? Ummmm....no.)

[Robbins0614]

Brrrr. It's so cold here! It was 1 degree when I was out this morning.

I'd like to know about everyone's thoughts on traveling too. The last few years we have gone to see DH's parents for Mother's Day weekend, and it is always so nice to get out of town. This year that is about 5 weeks before my due date, but they live about the same distance from our birth center that we do. It's still a long drive though-we'd be in the car about 6 hours, but DH will stop as often as I want him to. (He's a sweetheart!) What do you think?

[WhiteWax]

oooooo I say if it's something you enjoy and especially with your first babe, DO IT!!!!

Especially since it's the same distance to the borthing center!
Mothers day is such a great time when your pregnant too and "last trips" before kids are always fun(not that they are not fun with kids but you know what I mean).

We drove 5 1/2 hours to Baltimore when I was 6 months preg with DD and stopped (ALOT) when I needed to use the bathroom or just walk around. It was a nice trip that was suppose to be short and inexpensive but we ended up staying an extra day because it was HOT and I wanted to go swimming! lol so we sprung for a king size bed in a NICE hotel with an indoor pool and it turned out to be a GREAT trip! I'm sooo glad we did it! We've gone back to baltimore each year with DD but it's just not quite the same. I think it will be mroe fun when she's older, they have lots of fun science museums!

And wombat, Pennsic sounds like lots of fun!!! We're really excited about this event in May too! LOL... come to think of the fertility thing, I hope tons of people aren't rubbing my belly for luck! OH welll, if helps I suppose! lol