Weekly Thread April 2 - 8 - Page 2

[todavia]

Originally Posted by WhiteWax

I tend to throw up if I start coughing for any reason : no fun... no fun at all.

this is happening to me too and i can't stand it. this cold has been kicking my butt for the last month and i'm sooo desperate to feel good again i'm glad that babygirl is nice and happy in her little bubble but i'm dying for some relief.

willo - i made an appointment with an acupuncturist for tomorrow and i've never done it before so i was wondering if there was anything in particular i should ask about/look for. she's very highly recommended and i got a good feeling from her over the phone but just checking to see if you had any tips.

we're nowhere near "ready" either but for some reason i'm feeling calm about it - we'll have what we need by the time she arrives. i guess because there are so many other things to do in the meantime (heal my body, write papers, etc) that i just can only focus on one deadline at a time.

[Shell_Ell]

Originally Posted by tls

Shell Ell, I will be seeing a Chiropractor probably once a week when I get closer to the due date. I will also have massages done but my sister is a professional masseuse so I guess I am lucky in that sense.

I saw the chiropractor twice a week my last month of pregnancy last time and it had no effect on my son's position, much to my disapointment. He still ended up posterior. So this time I wanted to try something different! And she recommends it so highly that I couldn't not use it as an excuse to be alone for an hour a week. LOL!

[willoLevin]

Originally Posted by violetisadora

willo - i made an appointment with an acupuncturist for tomorrow and i've never done it before so i was wondering if there was anything in particular i should ask about/look for. she's very highly recommended and i got a good feeling from her over the phone but just checking to see if you had any tips.

Having personal recommendations is probably the biggest deal, plus having a good rapport with the practitioner can only help. At my first visit, my acupuncturist spent a fair amount of time taking a thorough history and explaining everything. You should expect that much. Also, the cleanliness/hygiene issue--kind of obvious (and I think only disposable needles are allowed anywhere in the USA.)

Very few points that I've had needled actually hurt. Most feel like a little pinch (at worst.) My acupuncturist ALWAYS warns me if a spot is likely to be painful. You might ask to be sure this person will do that for you.

--willo

[willoLevin]

Originally Posted by Shell_Ell

I saw the chiropractor twice a week my last month of pregnancy last time and it had no effect on my son's position, much to my disapointment. He still ended up posterior.

I'm all in favor of trying everything that doesn't hurt the baby. I did once have a discussion with my chiro about turning babies, and she said that it is something that they don't *ALL* know how to do, and that she would only recommend someone going to a chiropractor who had made a special study of it.

--willo

[vannienicole]

**

[rock_dr]

rant ahead:
I just went into the baby's room which is finally starting to come together. it's actually the nicest room in the house right now - very peaceful and sweet. we just got a bunch of the finishing touches done this weekend and I love going in there and just imagining being with my babe in there.

anyway, I go in to have just such a sweet moment, and what do I see but a giant ugly new TV that 'd'h bought (spent $$ on!) and put in there. After all we've talked about with tv's and kids. he claims it's just to get through babyhood. makes no sense. I'm so mad and starting to cry. he doesn't get it.

[WhiteWax]

Originally Posted by violetisadora

i've never been much of a practical joker but MDC april fool's humor is just plain silly.
:

Well thats not funny at all! I saw it on April 2nd!!!!! It didn't even click!

RockdrI'm sorry hubby is being thick headed.... maybe he just really felt like he had the best intentions. Perhaps you could ask him if he would like to put a rocker in the living room so he could rock the babe and not miss his show? Just a thought.

VanessaYes I think you're absolutly MAD to try to go back to school over the summer... but hey I'm going to do it too so let's let the crazies run together! I'm Due June 5th and classes start June 11th!!!! and 3 to 4 classes this fall to try and get into the Dental Hygienist program in fall '08
(Seeeee... I'm on some sort of track! lol)

OHHHH... and my mom keeps telling me how it's not right how achey I am! I'm trying to get her to come on here and read the weekly thread that there's nothing wrong with me... just plain old pregnant!! She keeps saying things like "I dont remember MY hips hurting all the time!" and "I remember I was 9 months pregnant with you and catching ground balls with your brother so he wouldn't resent you!" All I keep thinking is... Just cuase you were doing it, doesn't mean it didn't ACHE!!! I'm on the floor with DD eveyday, doesn't mean getting up is easy!!!!

[willoLevin]

Originally Posted by rock_dr

rant ahead:
I just went into the baby's room which is ...actually the nicest room in the house... and what do I see but a giant ugly new TV that 'd'h bought (spent $$ on!) and put in there. After all we've talked about with tv's and kids.

I'm sorry, rock_dr. He shouldn't have done that. It sounds like the shock of seeing ugly electronics in your sweet, perfect baby's room was at least as bad as the insult of ignoring your feelings about kids and tv.

I am 100% in agreement on tv in kids' rooms. (I would love to forbid all tv in our house, but DH loves to come home and relax with the Simpsons, and, once I have a tv, I watch it when I'm tired. We do limit DS's tv to about an hour of non-commercial tv each day.)

Anyway, I was going to tell you that we are planning on using our "nursery" as a sitting room for the summer, and I'm about to get cable installed in that room. Crazy, right? But it is almost exactly what your husband said--to get me through the babyhood. (He was still wrong to dump it in there, but bear with me as I explain.)

We don't have central air, but we're getting a mini-split (basically an air conditioner) installed upstairs because I know I won't succeed at nursing (let alone CUDDLING) my new baby during a humid summer. The new system will only cover the upstairs. I can remember how I spent SO MUCH time just parked on the couch when DS was little and nursing constantly, so I am putting a loveseat where the crib should be so I can use the nursery as--literally!--a NURSEry, or nursing room. The baby will sleep in our room for the first few months anyway, I expect, like its brother did. I will set up a comfort station for myself, including the un-loved but oh-so-distracting tv set, plus a play area for my preschooler. The baby's clothes will also be put away in there already.

I am also looking forward to having the option of nursing in front of whatever show I feel like without editorial comments from my parents. Now, Dad will only be here for a couple of weeks, but Mom is staying all summer to help out. She will be helpful, but MUCH MORE SO if I have my own separate "sitting room" where I can go when I need a little extra privacy.

So, if you can afford the tv set, it might actually be handy to keep it, unless you will get away with co-opting your (one and only?) main set in the living room. (I know many men fight harder than my DH for that remote. ) Also, will you be comfortable nursing in the "public" part of your house some or all of the time? That depends so much upon you and your family and, to some extent, even the design of your house! (Can someone approaching your front door see into the living room, for example?)

To aid your argument against the tv, any CRT (old-style monitor or tv--the deep, heavy, fat ones) sends out potentially harmful ... oh, crud. Either magnetic fields or radiation--I'm getting dumber by the day. Anyway, walls don't stop those unhealthy rays, and a developing (growing) person will be more susceptible to them than an adult due to the rapid cell growth. Now, the harmful rays come out the BACK, so the best protection is to aim all tvs/monitors toward an exterior wall. You could use this health argument against the tv being in there, though, if it helps...

--willo

[rock_dr]

good points, thanks. I am probably overreacting. part of it is that he bought this to 'surprise' me because he knows I would say no if he asked (he did the exact same thing when he bought the huge new tv for our living room a year ago).

but you are right, that room is basically a sitting room and will mostly be used for nursing. baby will be in our bedroom for quite awhile. maybe I will be happy to have it in there. I'm just sort of embarrassed by it. plus - not that I have any experience with this - it just seems like babies get programmed so early on. I hate that some of its earliest experiences will involve the background noise and sound of a tv.

hormones are going crazy though, I'm so emotional about this!

[willoLevin]

Originally Posted by rock_dr

I'm just sort of embarrassed by it. plus - not that I have any experience with this - it just seems like babies get programmed so early on. I hate that some of its earliest experiences will involve the background noise and sound of a tv.

hormones are going crazy though, I'm so emotional about this!

I repeat: He was being rude to buy it and put it there without your agreement! Be sure you "make it your own" and you control that remote, if the idea is that it is your nursing paradise!

Totally, 100% with you on being embarrassed by my sometimes reliance on tv. We had a lot of nursing problems, and distracting myself with the "idiot box" really helped. When I was exhausted, in pain, and pumping at 3 am, I needed to be distracted. WHATEVER WILL GET YOU THROUGH A TOUGH NIGHT IS OKAY!!! Trust me! Last time, I didn't have a tv upstairs, and I was so irritated that my local public radio station played jazz at night instead of classical or talk radio. It was just something that bugged me. This time, I'm springing for a cable box with a DVR, so at least I will have what I WANT instead of an extra irritation.

Not to promote tv here, but I also found a great use for the music channels we have in the 500s on our cable box. I tried playing dozens of different types of music on those channels and learned that DS loves opera and hates jazz. I never would've thought to buy him an Opera for Children CD if I hadn't done that experiment.

The hard part was when DS got old enough to start noticing the tv, because I'd gotten used to watching whatever I wanted while he nursed. I got quite strict with myself and watched almost no tv once I saw him reacting to the screen. I think that was around 9 months old?

Tiny babies just block out noises they've gotten used to. Most of them sleep through the doorbell, the dishwasher, the vacuum... (God willing none of us gets a hyper-sensitive child! Let them all be easy babes! )

--willo

[saratchka]

I agree completely that he was being very rude to buy the television without your input. That sort of thing is just not okay in my book.

That said, you need to decide whether you want the thing as part of your nursing space or not. I watched a lot of TV while nursing DD in the early months. This time, I won't, because DD would be watching, too! If I'm sufficiently more coordinated than last time I'll try to read. If not, I suspect that audio books will become my new nursing entertainment. (When I don't need to do something with DD, of course.)

If you decide you want to keep it, that's fine. If not, I think you should make him take it out of there and return it. If you're the one who will be doing the bulk of the baby care, it's your call to make, not his. JMO, of course, so take it for whatever it's worth to you.

[Marvelleaux]

Originally Posted by rock_dr

...I am probably overreacting. part of it is that he bought this to 'surprise' me because he knows I would say no if he asked (he did the exact same thing when he bought the huge new tv for our living room a year ago)...hormones are going crazy though, I'm so emotional about this!

Hehe, DH and I had a "vigorous" conversation about a year ago regarding the purchase of electronic do-dads and other little toys that he seemed compelled to purchase and "surprise" me with. I wasn't pregnant at the time so I know I wasn't being overly emotional when I suggested that this wasn't a fair practice. I took the diplomatic approach and told him I was grateful that he was thinking of me ( ) but that it was sort of unfair of him to be the only one getting to spend our money on fun stuff.

This conversation led to us agreeing to smaller, personal fun money monthly allowances and one larger mutual allowance that we would have to agree on how to spend. Anything that affects BOTH our personal space (a T.V. would fit into this category) has to be funded by our mutual allowance (and therefore we would both have to agree on it's purchase). It works really, really well. This has solved a lot of problems in our relationship—especially the one where one partner constantly nit-picks about what the other spends money on.

[wombatclay]

No morning sickness here...just reflux! I have had heartburn before, but last night it came up into the back of my throat. It burned soo bad.

I hear ya! It seems like belly bean's favorite nighttime activity is to push as hard as she can against my stomach as soon as I lay down. Mmmmm...tastes like burning! I've been chomping on one or two antacids a little before bed and trying to have a really light dinner, but it doesn't always help.

I remember the heartburn from last time (I'd never had it before) but the reflux is new. Ick.

[Jilian]

I would be really annoyed if DP "surprised me" with an expensive gift for himself too, it sounds like he was just trying to justify making the big purchase without your input. Since you will be nursing it sounds like YOU will be the one spending a majority of the time in the nursery so if you really do not want a TV in there then have your DH take it out.

My nursery is my little sanctuary and I've made that very clear to DP, he knows that it needs to be relaxing so he's pretty much just let me do what I want with it. He's just happy that I'llbe nursing so he doesn't have to do any late-night feedings.

[brookibabe]

Yeah, I finally got my wrap ordered! That is the last thing I need (I think) for the baby. Now I have to gather everything and get it organized and put together. I finally made a list the other day of what I need to pack for the birth. I feel like I have been a little absent-minded throughout this pregnancy, but finally feel like it is all coming together. This baby is really starting to consume all of my thoughts - that's a good thing I hope. I guess I am getting myself mentally prepared for this journey. Oooh, it's exciting. Now that my due date has been bumped up into May, it seems so much sooner (eventhough it is only a week sooner - according to the "due date").
:

[rock_dr]

brookibabe - what wrap did you get? I still cannot decide...

well the tv is staying for now, but we did talk about it. He says it was intended to be a replacement for the older tv that's in our room (which apparently I had agreed to some time ago? I think there's a mars/venus translation problem here), but that he figured 'we' may want it in the nurse-ry for the first few months. I agreed to let it stay for now and try it, but it will get moved as soon as I say the word.

we kind of ignored the larger issue of money and budgeting though, I didn't have the energy for it... adding that to the list along with thinking of something to name this kid!

[willoLevin]

I'm pretty sure it is a "second time around" thing, but I am SO much less obsessed this time. I think I keep figuring, well, since I already have almost everything I need, I don't have anything to do.

Yeah, except those baby clothes and newborn diapers are up in the attic. I'm not going to get them! I think I'm waiting for my mom to get here in early June. I'll let her excavate in the attic! If baby comes early, we'll be making do with the two or three new things I couldn't resist buying this fall, I guess.

And I do still have to do a couple of things.
1) Order the custom-made natural cotton mattress we're splurging on this time. (Allowing 6 weeks for it to be made? Um, time to do that!)
2) Set up my nursing paradise/sitting room in the nursery. Not too hard, except DH really REALLY doesn't want to carry that heavy loveseat up the stairs... I also need to call the cable company, because, as I mentioned, I'm giving myself the gift of distractability this time.
3) Double stroller? Well, I *think* my mom is arranging with family members on the west coast to chip in on that, so I'm not doing a darn thing. If I'm wrong, we can make do with our two current strollers being pushed by Mom and me until September when Mom goes home.
4) CARSEAT! I've got to get on this. An acquaintance agreed to give me her daughter's outgrown infant seat, then we haven't managed to connect. MUST CALL HER! (I'm hoping the new Recaro convertible is out before I decide on our secondary seat for this one. )

Mainly, I'm obsessing about our house generally this time instead of obsessing about the baby specifically...

--willo

[Shell_Ell]

I still have a list, but I'm so laid back. Almost too laid back. I keep thinking I have all this time, and the women in my DDC on another site are like "We're so close!" Are we? I think 10 weeks is quite a bit of time, actually.

[Marvelleaux]

Originally Posted by Shell_Ell

..."We're so close!" Are we? I think 10 weeks is quite a bit of time, actually.

When I think of it being 10 weeks (well, actually about 8 weeks left for me *maybe*) it seems like a long time when I'm focusing on how uncomfortable I am... Another 8 weeks?? UGH : ! But when I think of it in terms of what I still want to get done (having roof replaced, siding repaired, house rewired, diapers washed, office re-organized, etc.) it seems like I don't have enough time. What really bakes my noodle is when I think about how on the 28th I'm being thrown a baby shower and I'll be 35 weeks! Wow! Ack! Wow!

[Jilian]

I have to make up a final list. I feel like I'm missing some important birth supplies but I'm not sure. I *think* I have everything I need for the baby. My sister is still using all of my 0-3 month clothes for her little guy, they were left over from DS so I let her take them. I need to get them back soon.

I'm definately not as obsessed this time around. Last time I had to have every little baby thing ever invented before the baby was born. This time around I'll be ok if I have a few clean diapers and maybe a pair of clothes or two.