Weekly Thread *~May 7th - May 13th~*

[WhiteWax]

: another week closer ladies!!!!!

Wombat and Willo... enough already! It's time to get better!!!! ... I thought maybe some tough love would kick out the bug... did it work?

I had a bunch of loverly contractions yesterday that made me have to go lay down. It scared me to think my body is gearing up and getting ready for "go time" I have labor prep class on Wed, which will be nice.

Saturday I had a "nice time" telling off DexP for not being responsible for picking up DD on time and sleeping in. He showed up to pick her up, very apologetic and with flowers for both myself and her. So I have some pretty flowers by my lonely bed.

OH... and woke up Sunday with a head down and low baby! oh boy.... I think it might be time to get that bassinet I want...

[willoLevin]

My cough was better last night, but I think my throat felt even more sore. Grr! Maybe just because I wasn't distracted by the painful coughing? Oh sigh. At least DH slept deeply, so we weren't torturing each other like we had been. Maybe the nice warm days we have coming up will help me heal. :

Today is MIL's birthday, so DS and I are going to Whole Foods to see if we can find her a piece of PINK cake (he's sure she needs this!)

Once DS is visiting his Baba (Russian grandmother=babushka), I will come home and REST some more. Exciting life, huh?

--willo

[vannienicole]

**

[Jilian]

Whitewax: Yay for getting baby head down!!
Vanessa: Congrats on getting accepted to Univ of OK! And congrats on the new car! I bought a new Accord when I was preg with DS and I still have it 5 years later, I love it - they are great cars.

I had another burst of nesting energy yesterday. I made up my pp bath herbs and my pp peri bottle herbs and froze them. I also made a gallon of RRL tea that I'll start drinking on Thursday night. I talked DH into us getting a mini freezer for the garage (we scored a great one on sale at Sears for $169!) and I baked all day yesterday trying to fill it. I think we now have enough frozen food to survive a nuclear fallout, but I still feel the need to bake more.

Now I'm just trying to get the last minute stuff done that I'd rather not do with a newborn and a 4 yr old. I'm getting worried about how I'll manage alone in public with a NB and a 4 yr old.

[vannienicole]

**

[WhiteWax]

Originally Posted by Jilian

I'm getting worried about how I'll manage alone in public with a NB and a 4 yr old.

I had this thought the other day while I was at the super market with DD (2.5). hmmmm.... New born, 3 year old and a full grocery cart... I'll just have to do a lot of little visits so there's room in the cart for every one! lol... or just really hope DD2 (baby) is good with babywearing while grocery shopping!

and Vanessa congrats on the college and car and dropping!!! Sounds like things are going well right now!!! Thats so great to hear!

and willo resting w/o worrying about DS DOES sound like something to look forward too!!!! Hope you get some good rest in!

[sally Z]

our container arrived Wednesday and i need to see what baby stuff i have. I know it is not a lot as most of dd stuff was pink. So then a big shopping spree is in order. This poor child has nothing but a few 2nd hand clothes and some cloth diapers.

Also getting over a cold which dd shared ever so kindly with me. Adjusting to the UK but it is quite nice to be going into summer here rather than winter back in SA

[Mab]

Jillian: congratulations!!!!!! i loved your pic

happy week everyone

since finding out that little being is head down and that the placenta has moved from being previa, i'm the nesting queen. love the impulse, but the to do list is so overwhelming:

i need this baby to drop. i need to breathe. in which week do they usually drop? i don't remember. i'm 34 weeks.

[borobaby]

[FONT="Comic Sans MS"][/FONT
I made an A in my grad class that i just finished up! Now I actually have a class to finish before this baby comes, that i am doing an independent study with.
I am 35 weeks and am getting so excited and nesting like crazy. Not the good kind of nesting, like cleaning but more just staring at all his new baby stuff! (this is our first)!
My husband is nesting too, in his own way! Sometimes I catch him in the nursery just staring at everything. AND, the other day he had a stuffed animal in his John Deer Camo Sling for practice!!!!!! This is so fun.
We went on a tour of the hospital. it was good for my husband to see how serious his job will be of vocalizing everything we want to the nurses: no circ, room in, breast only, no bath/or we give bath....ect.

P.S. I don't post much but I am still here!!!

[PatchChild]

2 more days and I get my DH back. He's a student and his final projects have been killing him for the last week and a half. Even when he's home, his brain is still somewhere else. It's been tough because I've been feeling both needy and nesty. Fortunately, the end is near.

I ordered diapers this weekend and I can't wait for them to get here. I got mostly prefolds and covers, but also some Blue Dog fitteds and a few Kissaluvs. I got two size 0 for my shower and they are just the cutest thing ever. I'm so glad I can say that here. No one at work gets why I'd be excited about diapers.

[wombatclay]

Oh my goodness! Anther week...yoicks!

Jilian- when we were at IKEA DH had to run off for a few minutes and I had dd in the cafeteria by myself. She totally melted down (wanted dada, wanted a nap, wanted water, wanted anything but me and what I had in my bag) and all I could think of was "what would this be like with a newborn added to the mix?". I felt fear...

Health update: last night was so bad in terms of coughing I actually called in sick today. I took some gua. for the cough, and was able to nap a little while my mom watched dd, but after she left dd and I headed to the doctor's office...my face was swollen, my head hurt, I felt lightheaded, and I was getting "sparkles" in my vision. Ummmm...

Turned out when I got to the doc's both my care providers were at the hospital...there were 5 births today (2 ended in c/s) and all of them were from my doc's office and none were expected! So the receptionist took my blood pressure and we checked my pee for protien...the BP was really high, the urine was borderline okay. ONe of my doc's called later on and asked me to come in tomorrow morning if I don't feel better. So now I'm sort of worried that this cold is pushing me towards pre-e. I was borderline last time so it's a real concern.

Bleh!

And I have soooooo much work I need to get done. Just gobs of writing assignments and projects (forgetting all the "nesting stuff", just looking at the work related stuff). So I'm a bit worried about being put on bed rest again.

Still...if I'm on bed rest a good half of those work related assignments will vanish, so there is a silver lining! :l0l And belly babe is getting old enough that in an emergency she'd probably do really well on the "outside". Still...I want her to cook at least another week or two!

[saratchka]

Ugh! Hope those who aren't feeling well heal quickly! Rest as much as you can. I had a stomach bug over the weekend and spent nearly all of Saturday and half of Sunday in bed with a fever and vomiting. Thank goodness DH could be home to watch DD. Luckily it was short-lived, but I'm really feeling for you guys who've been sick longer!

Had my Impending-Baby-Celebration on Friday and posted pics of the henna-belly in the belly pics thread. It was a lot of fun to celebrate with friends. Some of them insisted on bringing gifts despite my efforts to explain that this was not a shower and neither I nor this baby really need anything. It was sweet of them, but I still feel a little guilty. Otherwise the party was great fun. We had yummy Indian food, everyone got henna designs, and nearly all of us had Tarot readings. It was a pleasant evening and I think all the guests had a good time.

This week is really busy with work, and I have to get ready for DD's birthday party on Saturday. Yikes! : Not sure how I'm going to get everything done at this point. Especially since I started painting both the entry and hall last week, thinking I could wrap that up along with most of the housecleaning over this past weekend. (Tough to do when you're in bed or vomiting : ) It should be an interesting week!

I have my first weekly MW appointment tomorrow. Can't believe I'm already 36 weeks! I had also planned to get all my homebirth supplies organized and accounted for over the weekend. Glad my MW is understanding and not one to sweat the small stuff! I'll have to spend a little of my "office" time tomorrow morning gathering the most important items before her visit.

I gotta say I'm pretty amazed that nobody has actually given birth yet. I'd been away from the board for a while and basically expected to return to a birth story. Yay for all these babies staying put!

[mataji4]

Saratcha, your henna was beautiful! I love henna, but I wish it would stay darker. It fades too quickly!

Jillian, congratulations on your wedding ceremony!!! I hope this magical beginning of your marriage carries you all through less joyous times! You looked beautiful, too- so jealous of that ocean behind you!

Well I'm a total nesting freak. My older two kids are in California with their Nana this week, so it's a good time for me to get stuff done (yeah, no carpool! no making lunches!). I moved my youngest into his brother's room because my daughter wants to share her room with the baby. So even though the baby won't use the crib for 6+ months, we're setting it up just so everything can get settled in there! My poor husband, he's like my handyman/laundry basket carrier, etc these days!

I also decided to wash all the baby's things and get my birth box together (baby blankets, baby scale, cord ties, etc) even though I said I wouldn't do any of that until after Mother's Day! But I really could birth anytime now, I'm going on 37 weeks, so it just seemed like time to get ready!!

I don't know if I'll make it to June. I have really intense crampy contractions sometimes that make it hard to move, and I yelp when they come on, usually in the a.m. But I'm trying HARD not to have any expectations of when????!!! Though I woke up yesterday feeling ANXIOUS to meet the baby for the first time. I am SO EXCITED to have the baby here with us, and it has taken over any nervous feelings I was having about having to actually give birth again! I am looking forward to it now!!!

[willoLevin]

Terrible, miserable coughing night for me, too, Wombat, and, though my work is far less demanding, I am SO GLAD that I got someone to cover for me today! My coughing got so bad I thought I would vomit, and I had to get up at about 3:30 am as I just couldn't be flat and suffocated by phlegm any more.

I've found that food soothes my throat more than liquids! Bizarre. There's a homeopathic remedy for this... but it is contraindicated in pregnancy.

DH wants me to go back to the doctor. I don't know what they can do, though... At least today some kitchen stuff should get done. That's a happy thought. The downer is how nasty/messy downstairs is due to my lame-ness at bending down lately plus my cough-induced laziness. There is smashed chalk on the floor, toys strewn everywhere, and... just... EVERYTHING IS MESSY. I want to scream when I'm down there. : And I'm too sick to fix it. WAAAAH!

On the plus side, I said to DH last night, "Hey, I don't even notice any pregnancy discomforts in bed now, because the choking-sore-throat is so distracting, and the coughing requires me to clutch at my aching sides."

--willo

[wombatclay]

Oh hugs Willo...I know it's not great, but honestly having a "flu buddy" is sort of making me feel better about this! I was thinking about you last night (and hoping you were happily alseep) as I coughed my brains out last night.

Let's see...I went to the doctor again this morning (we combined my "oh gods I am so sick I will DIE" with the appointment I was supposed to have tomorrow anyway) so I got the GBS swab done and we listened to the babe. But even better...I AM NOW ON DISABILITY!!!!!!!!! Well, it's sort of mixed news. I'm happy that I'm going to have a little time off from work before the babe arrives so that I can hopefully recover and get some rest. But on the down side this means our budget is going to take a hit, and I'm on disability because I have gestational hypertension.

It's borderline at this point (the blood pressure reading that "marks" pih is 140/90 and I'm a few points below that, but only one or two, on multipple readings over the last few days). My doctor actually isn't that worried (she's more worried about this cold) but she wants me to take daily home readings and let them know if ANYTHING changes (weight, puffiness, BP, vision, headaches, etc).

She also gave me a script for the codeine typenol stuff for the cough (and after the hours I spent hacking till I retched last night I think the benefits for both belly bean and I will be worth the minor risks...my doc felt that it was a good thing to have on hand, not to use it if I didn't need it but if I did, then I should take it) and another for an inhaler. Apparently chest colds in late pregnancy can lead to a sort of pregnancy induced asthma which can cause problems with the birth. I haven't picked it up but maybe willo that is something your care provider would know about/be able to arrange?

Other than that I've been told humidifier, guafenisen (so any non-DM robitussin type deal), benadryl/sudafed, and elderberry syrup (gotta love an OB who recommends elderberry, but spends 5 minutes trying to find the info on codeine syrup since it's not something she writes up frequently and she couldn't remember the "codes" for it).

I've found orange sherbert to be a big help...it's cold and soothing and fresh and seems to help for about 20 minutes at a time.

Ugh...what a bag of mixed news today has been!

[herbmama3-7]

Oh my I am soo sorry there are a few of you suffering with the flu ickies: I remember how miserable I was when I had the flu a couple months ago, it was just aweful, and Willow, I completely understand the feeling you are having about everything being so icky and messy, I felt that way when I was sick too, it almost made me feel worse. Just remember it is not hurting anyone right now and will get picked up eventually, right now you all just need to rest, rest, rest!! You need your reserves for the birth!!

Anyway, good news is I AM MOVED AND SETTLED. Poor DH had so much to do, (we all did), but DH worked really hard for me: Dh is a 20 min. bike ride away from work as opposed to an hour commute, and he loves the fact he is getting exercise to and from work, ds and I are thrilled we get to see more of him. I had a strong community of other moms and kids in the mountains that I am sad to lose, but will work hard on finding another community of moms and kids down here, especially for ds he is very social.
Well I have a lot of baby nesting to do now, wash little clothes, gather all of my birth supplies and most importantly, get a pedicure! I am planning this for my mothers day escape.
I hope everyone heals up and is feeling really well for mothers day!

[Corri]

Glad to hear you're settling in, herbmama, and virtual chicken soup (or chicken-like soup for the veggies!) going out to our sickies. :

Spent the day running around town trying to find lansinoh cream (ONE pharmacy in this entire city carries it, if you can believe that...), and picking up my records of employment to submit to the feds for my maternity leave application. I have one more form to get that'll be ready on Thursday, and then I can go in and get my paperwork filed. [whew]

The weather is absolutely stunning - I met DH and a work buddy for lunch on the pier, and we sat in the ocean breeze eating fish & chips - but my hips & cervix are now really unhappy with me because of all the walking. Ah well; I'm sacked out on my birthing ball in Table right now, and it's helping tons.

Our doula's coming over tonight for our first lamaze/prep class, and I'm getting excited! Now to channel that energy into picking up the living room...

[Shell_Ell]

I had another visit with my doula yesterday and I just love her. She's a perfect fit for me and I think will work well with my midwife. She's going on vacation about 3 days after my due date though, so I have a backup I'm meeting with on Monday. Both are women I trust, both are colleagues of mine through our local doula organization. I'm trying so hard to just go with the flow and think "whatever is meant to be, will be" but I have a feeling that no matter what, if I do end up going far enough past that she can't be there, it might disapoint me. I hope after a meeting with the other doula, I will feel better about either of them being there. I don't want anything getting in the way of "this baby can come whenever it's ready" KWIM? I don't want to feel like I have to have him a certain time. I'm not feeling that way so far, but I'm just trying to think of ways to cope with the shuffling of the doulas if it does end up happening.

I'm very organized lately and have a to-do list every week. Basically, I have things to do pretty much every day. I think it's mostly an anxiety reducer, but I also really want my house in decent shape when the baby comes. Before my wedding I had a daily to-do list that made me feel much more calm about it all... this is the same idea. I'm not freaking out yet, and I want it to stay that way. I want to sail the rest of the way to my due date with little or no stress.

I taped over some holes on the plastic table cloth that's going on my bed, so all of the birth supplies are ready. Except that we still haven't bought that pesky hose for the birth pool. I'm thinking we'll wait 2-3 weeks to do that, so that if we don't use it for the birth we can take it back. I'm cheap.

[Ks Mama]

I've never followed the weekly threads, but I guess its never too late to join, right?

I have my week 35/36 appt this week with a new doc (the last one in the practice we haven't met yet). Then switching to weekly appointments!

Hoping this doc can tell me with certainty whether DS is heads down yet or not!

BTW, anyone else here refusing internal exams? I think they may typically do one this week(??)... just wanted to get some feedback from others who choose not to have internals done. I didn't have ANY in my first pregnancy until 24 hours into labor - my midwives just didn't do them. But I understand this practice does them standard at the end of the pregnancy... and though I refused my early one & pap test, I haven't talked to any of the docs yet about these later ones.

[PatchChild]

It's never too late to join in the fun, K's Mama. We're happy to chat.

I'll join in the virtual chicken soup making for the sickies of the bunch. Yuck and more yuck. I'm continuing to keep my fingers crossed. This has been the year of Strep at my school, some of the kids have had it 3 or 4 times this year. It just won't go away. No fun.