*~ Weekly Thread Feb 3-9 ~*

[Jilian]

I'm pretty sure it's time for a new weekly thread. How is everyone doing this week?

I'm a little down. I'm doula-ing for my sister and she was due on the 30th yet she's still pregnant. I know it's very normal for first time moms to stay pregnant until around 42 weeks but she's getting really frustrated. She's agreed to an induction on Monday and babe is still very high I really hope the induction is successful but I'm nervous that it won't be. It's not my birth, but at the same time I don't want to see her end up with an unnecessary cesarean and I feel like the choices she is making are leading her in that direction. I just want to protect her birth experience for her.

In other news, babe is doing great. DP painted the nursery last weekend and just has some finish edging to do. I'm buying DS's bedroom set this weekend and babe will get his old set. So the nursery (that will probably not get used) is coming along. I think this nursery is more for me than the baby. Something about a cute little nursery makes it easier for me to endure all of the pains of pregnancy because it reminds me that we'll have a new tiny babe soon

So tell me about your week :

[sally Z]

well after out unplanned US last week i have been getting used to the idea of a boy.
Lots of packing going on this side, all the changes and packing have got dd really on edge and clingy. Hard to explain to a 2 year old why some is coming to take all our things including her toys, books and clothes. Shame we talked about the boat that the things have to go on and that we will get them back. Poor thing.

Otherwise we are fine.

Hope all goes well for your sister Jillain

[Marvelleaux]

Hi ladies

Jillian~ I've got my fingies crossed for your sis
Sally~ Good luck with your packing and explaining all this to your little girl. That's gotta be really tough...


As for me, I'm doing pretty good. I'm trying to keep stress-free but it's been difficult due to a family crisis happening on the other side of the country. The situation is pretty nasty and I feel helpless not being able to do much. It's been a very emotional time for me.

On another note, I had an appointment with my midwife on Thursday and that was a great visit. My husband and I were there for almost 2.5 hours yucking it up. She made me feel much better about my tiring BH contractions by saying that sometimes women who have them like I do have shorter labors. I've got my fingers crossed . But on the subject...

BH contractions UUUUGH! Seriously, I drink a lot of water, I lie down on my left side (yes this helps but I don't want to be there all day), but boy do I get them a LOT and they are INTENSE--especially the ones that occur at the top of the uterus. Yesterday I went to the gym and I think I worked a little too hard because I had some very prolonged BH's that left me so exhausted I didn't get up off the couch but to eat and go pee. My uterus was SO tired. It felt like your legs or arms feel following an intense workout. Today I feel fine though and little babelett is in there having a great time.

This weekend hubby and I are going to set up closet organizers in what will be the baby room. I'm looking forward to that. I've started a diaper stash and I'm ready to start organizing!

[herbmama3-7]

Doing well here. We have been hit with really cold weather and lots of snow since the begining of Dec. and it still keeps coming, I am just about going crazy with it lately! REALLLLLLLLLLY looking forward to spring! I am planning a trip to Mexico in April, so that will be nice in a few months time! BB (belly babe) has been moving around a lot, it is fun feeling it and imagining an elbow or foot, I look forward to the times it is most active. I have had some really bad gas pains, they kept me up all night last night, and still nothing helped, except lavender and chamomile tea, this recipee I got from "The Natural Pregnancy book" by Aviva Jill Romm, it is a really great book for anyone going the natural/midwife/herb/etc... way. It is very informative a good resource! Anyway that sounds like a fun topic, what is your favorite pregnancy book, I have to be honest and say I am NOT a fan of the what to expect series, I feel it promotes fear. anyway that is my two cents.

[loriu]

hi ladies,
things here have been good. i am finally able to distinguish some fluttering baby movement from gas, which has been fun. i was desperate for a pick me up and drank a half reg/half decaf very small coffee yesterday after school and it was like a disco in my belly. for a while i was like, whoa, this little bean is rockin' out to the music i was listening to, and then i realized i'd caffeinated him/her. oops...now i really believe in the mouth to baby connection. not that i didn't believe before, i just hadn't experienced it!

we have our 20 week ultrasound on thurs am and i can't wait. i am so excited to see the baby again and hopefully to find out the gender. my therapist keeps asking me if i'm nervous, and i'm surprisingly not (after a good 12 weeks of total anxiety at the beginning of this preg re: miscarrying). i'm sure that might change as the date comes closer. i just can't wait to see it. how can you be so crazy in love with something you havne't seen? i have been struck lately by just the amounts of people on the train, in nyc, etc. i keep thinking--all these people grew in someone! yes, i have first time mom awe.

my brain is still mush and unable to do anything academic. all i want to do is try to reconfigure our very small one bedroom bklyn apt...i forgot the word for affirmative action the other day! i have total baby brain drain.

i don't post much, but i do check in daily and everyone has set so many of my stresses (small and large) at ease. this forum is amazing...

anyone in bklyn who knows a good doula?

as for books, reading the ina may book. whoa...beautiful. i want to go the farm so badly!

[mataji4]

seems like a lot of stress out there...here, too. i had a migraine last weekend and all week felt sort of weak/dizzy in the morning, like i just had a hard time getting started in the day! and this morning i saw the fuzzy lights again, and quick! took action with food, water, tylenol, quiet, rest...and it was just a headache for half the day, nothing worse- phew! it sucks to feel so fragile! but at least my sweet hubby is home today to help out!

i went out last night for a friend's birthday, just sat around and ate food and stuff til almost midnite. it was so WIERD to be out with people drinking and yacking about all things not-baby!

feeling big in the belly but nowhere else- it's like a large lump. i waddle down the stairs. i grunt and get contrx when i roll over in bed. really tired of tossing from one side to the other- ugh! how am i going to feel in a few months??

my midwife came over the other day, just the second time, and she heard the baby's hb for a minute. she assured me that there was only one baby and i measured right on target for my weeks.

i have pregnancy mush brain too! i went to make photocopies the other day, took my wallet out, made the copies, and went home. later i realized that i had brought the copies home, but i left my wallet there and never paid for the copies! i was so embarassed.

and the best part of the week? the baby kicking!!!!!! it really never stops being awesome and uplifting. (until it's little foot gets stuck up in your rib!)

[wombatclay]

Yeah...I almost walked off without signing my credit card receipt. Ooops.

DH and I saw a house this morning that is fantastic. The previous owners had...errrrr...unusual taste (purple kitchen cabinets, faux panels, the scariest 1970's brown and silver and green wallpaper). But DH and I are pretty good at home rehab and there didn' seem to be anything structurally wrong with the house. And it sits on almost 2 acres of woodlot! It's really nice, sunny, and, with the right amount of "make it not sux" it would be a really nice place. It even has a wood stove.

The down side is it's right up at the top of our price range (literally...we'd have to offer about 9k less than the asking price in order to stay under our max offer amount...but it's been on the market a while and they've already dropped the price once, so there could be a chance).

We're talking to the bank tomorrow and may be able to get it inspected and make an offer in a week or two. I'd loooooove to get this house, it's so perfect for the girls and what DH and I have been looking for. A lot of demolition, a little paint, some laminate flooring, a looooong day at IKEA...and it would be adorable!

And it would be wonderful to have a place to "nest" in peace...I really really want to be someplace cozy when dd arrives.

[GenomicsGirl]

Wow, it sounds like people are really busy lately. I've really got nothing to report ... I'm really getting eager to start decluttering my kitchen - the mess behind closed doors is really stressing me. While I listen to the SuperBowl tonight, I'm going to work on a couple of junk drawers

[WhiteWax]

Nothing much is really going on here either, aside from the usual hussel and bussel of life.

My cat is expecting Kittens, so there are to pregnant women in the house. We're not sure just when we are expecting those little kittens but we're excited about it none the less (and hoping she doesn't have them on our bed). Our cat is a Manyx and she only has a little nub of a tail so I'm anxious to see what the tail end of these kittens look like! lol

Thats really all thats going on right now I think...

Wombat: good luck with that house! It sounds cute... and 2 acres!!! super exciting, hope you get it!
SallyZGood luck with the whole move...dont forget to take those rests when you can between packing! I know it's hard enough moving but then add in pregnancy AND a 2 year old and it's really "pooey!" Good luck, hang in there.

[Shell_Ell]

I think we're finally getting a king size bed. We got a pretty nice return and weren't expecting anything. I cannot wait to have SPACE in my bed. Maybe my child won't have to sleep with his butt directly on my head anymore.

I feel really really big this week. My boobs feel big, my belly is big and round, and I feel quite pregnant. We took pics yesterday and I was shocked at how big I had gotten. I kept asking DH if I was really that big. LOL

The weather is really cold, like dangerously cold. This morning when I got up the temp was -19... not even the wind chill, the actual temp. Can it be spring now? I'm having a hard time with wanting it to be warmer and wanting my pregnancy to slow down at the same time.

[Robbins0614]

Originally Posted by Shell_Ell

The weather is really cold, like dangerously cold. This morning when I got up the temp was -19... not even the wind chill, the actual temp. Can it be spring now?

BRRRR! It's been cold here too-not quite that cold, but I'm pretty sure it has now been at least 2 weeks since we've seen temperatures above freezing. It was about 12 degrees out this morning and I actually thought, "Wow! It's warm today." I would love for it to warm up! But at least the cold means DH is extra snuggly in the morning!

[willoLevin]

It's pretty cold here, too, but not quite so bad as Wisconsin!

My cold is finally clearing out of my head, but DS caught it, too, and he's about a day behind me in the phlegm-fest. Every time he coughs at night I wake up because we had some croup issues last winter and that is so freakin' scary. He doesn't nurse anymore, so I'm terrified of an attack of croup, because calming him down is the key to stopping that horrific kind of cough.

My car failed inspection today, which isn't surprising due to its age. It only needs about $120 fix, though, so that's great. (Anything less than a car payment would be means I don't even consider the fix it vs. junk it debate.)

We got our approval and closed on our home equity loan. Now we are calling contractors, etc., and trying to figure out exactly what we are going to do and who we will have do it. We want to have a structural engineer take a look at our basement first, because of some lingering issues from our inspection 5 years ago(!), plus we think we need to move our basement stairs in order to add the main floor powder room I've been dreaming of for so long. We're definitely adding a gas fireplace/stove as well so we have backup heat in case of power outages. We're just trying to figure out the best places for these things and honest/reliable foilks to do them.

Had to postpone last week's prenatal visit due to my cold plus my car's issues, so I'm supposed to go this afternoon. I'll borrow my mother-in-law's car to get there, and I'm a little stressed about driving it. (It's a full size car, and I am just not happy driving boats. )

I'm supposed to go to acupuncture tonight, which I've been wanting desperately to help clear out the rest of the crud in my head from my cold, but I think I have to reschedule that, too, because of my car. Feh.

--willo

[54mama]

What a week here! It began with the car not starting last weekend... into the shop and a new clutch plus other stuff ($2000 later)... it is fixed. Then we returned home Sunday night to find the heat off in our house and the house freezing... my husband managed to get it going (we don't know how) but we figured it was a fluke. (Note to self: never figure something to do with heat in the winter is a fluke.) Tuesday afternoon my mom is visiting, we return from some errands, no heat again. Call the plumbers. They arrive, determine nothing wrong with the boiler, must be the gas line. Call the gas company. Gas company comes to snake the line to the street. They arrive with huge gas truck, front end loader/digger and police car (the police car because they got lost and ended up getting an escort). They snake the pipe (filling the basement with nasty gas smell that then leaks into the rest of the house), thankfully do not have to jackhammer our street at 9 at night, and the heat is on. My mom goes home. I go to bed on Wednesday night feeling a bit off, just really tired. Wake up Thursday morning with an AWFUL stomach bug... vomit, sob, email whole family to see if anyone can come help us out, talk to husband who can't get out of work, sob, vomit, lay on floor while my daughter "plays" around me... you get the idea. My husband manages to take off for a bit, arrives home takes over daughter, I get in bed. My mom cancels doctor appointments and comes up to help us.

Meanwhile... I have planned a surprise 30th birthday get-a-way celebration weekend for my husband's birthday which is supposed to begin at 3 on Friday. We are supposed to fly to Nashville for the weekend, see the Grand Ole Opry, etc. He has no idea. Only that I told him he couldn't work that weekend and so be ready to leave work at 3 on Friday. My daughter was going to my folks house for the weekend, so now given my stomach bug my mom suggests she just take her (Thursday afternoon) as opposed to Friday so I can sleep and hopefully recover and so my daughter doesn't get any more exposure to the hideous stomach thing. We agree. I spend the rest of Thursday sleeping and feeling awful. Wake up Friday and spend all of Friday trying to decide if I am well enough to pull off this surprise weekend (the low point of this is the phone call in which I am talking to a Delta agent seeing if we can switch our tickets to leave Saturday morning rather than Friday night and I start bawling on the phone with her, spilling the whole deal about being sick, the surprise, etc). End up deciding to go.

In the end we had a great weekend, my husband was thrilled. I just took it easy (made lots of use of an amazing hotel deep soaking bathtub), slept a lot and basically felt recovered. The only really rough parts were that I couldn't really eat much all weekend and flying which I hate and normally makes me queasy and anxious was WAY WAY worse with my still weak stomach. And of course being away from our daughter for so long (won't be doing that again) was hard, but the weekend was fun.

So then last night we arrive home from the airport, my folks are on their way with my daughter who we are dying to see, open the house... no heat. That is right folks NO heat and it is like 11 degrees out or something ridiculous. Water is frozen in bottles around our house, I can see my breath. My folks and sister arrive (she to pick up her car we'd borrowed last week when ours died) with our girl. We wait for the plumber. My husband goes out to move our car so my sister can pull hers out... car won't start. I know! Are you kidding me?!?!?! At this point I am sitting on our sofa (in my jacket, hat mittens, etc), holding my daughter (the only good thing at this point), with a still upset stomach from the bug that won't go away and the plane ride, just slowly shaking my head muttering over and over, "what have I done?, what have I done? I must have done something for this to be happening!"

In the end the car started after a few tries (probably just the extreme cold) and the plumber got the boiler going. I slept for almost twelve hours and today is a new day and a new week and hopefully a new stretch of luck.
Thanks for getting this far. It has just been : .

[Marvelleaux]

Holy cow! What a week! No heat! 11 degrees! ACK!:

And what is it with cars this week? Mine was being a butt too--have to take it in this week to see what is the matter.

Hang in there ladies! It's only Monday!!!

[torio]

Good luck with the houses, moves, cars, cold. Geez, it has been a week for cars. My truck needs new battery cables, but it rained hard all weekend so DH wasn't able to replace them. He insisted on driving it since he hates the idea of me having to open the hood, clean the contacts and try to restart along the side of the road. However, he didn't notice that the van has a totally flat rear tire and NO spare. Had to reschedule a full day of meetings. On the bright side it means I get to catch up at home instead of spending all day at the university.

We're beginning the quest of finding a new HCP. Our midwife can't legally attend a twin homebirth and we agreed that we should develop a relationship with an OB in case of complications. We're still hoping to find someone (at this point we're being flexible about where it will happen as our home is looking less likely) who has experience with natural, vaginal birth of twins. We've got a list of OBs, a couple of out-of-state options with midwives, and a potential birth center with a woman OB who would be back up in case we need the hospital. I really want someone who won't just let me 'try', but who is both willing and able to help me succeed!

Meanwhile I'm consuming enough protein to feed a pride of lions and drinking so much water that I'm tempted to relocate my office to the bathroom.

The other disappointment we're trying to cope with is that the 2 week summer course I'm scheduled to teach (would be my only income for summer) coincides with weeks 36 and 37 of my pregnancy. Please babies, stay in there long enough!!!!!!

Hope you're all having a good week.

[willoLevin]

Lo and behold, my instinct was right, and my placenta is anterior. That's why I didn't feel Glooby's movements clearly until the last couple of weeks.

I think I'm going to pay extra attention to Wombat's optimal fetal positioning ideas, just in case my baby is thinking of facing her placenta.

--willo

[mommamin]

Jillian, I hope all goes well with your sister. Maybe she went into labor!!!:

Sally, good luck with move, it must be stressful!!

Marvelleaux,

Loriu, yea for baby movement!!!

[mommamin]

Originally Posted by Shell_Ell

I think we're finally getting a king size bed. We got a pretty nice return and weren't expecting anything. I cannot wait to have SPACE in my bed. Maybe my child won't have to sleep with his butt directly on my head anymore.

I wish we could get a king. Let me rephrase that! I wish we purchased a king size bed to begin with. We just purchased our queen about 3 or 4 years ago...so it isn't practical to buy another.

[willoLevin]

We live in an old house with a narrow staircase, so we bought two extra-long twins and pushed them together to make a king. We still barely had room for us plus our son, but DS is an "active" sleeper, to put it politely.

We couldn't have gotten a "real" king up the stairs, and, as long as you get the XL twins, they are exactly the same size as a regular king. (We use a memory foam topper and the seam down the middle is no longer detectable.)

I figured if I want a new bed sooner, we could pass along the twins to the kids in a few years. Kids are lightweight so their bodies don't require as much support as a big ol' grownup, I think. Plus we use mattress encasings (I'm allergic to dust & mold) so they will stay very clean...

--willo

[WhiteWax]

WIllo that is a great idea!!!! lol and when I was reading the beging of your post I thought.... who sleeps on the crack between the two and isn't that annoying? But the memory foam is such a good idea!