Pregnant w/ #1 in our 30s June Thread - Page 2

[Dee-Groovy]

Thanks for the compliments ladies! : I try to take a pic every week so I can email it to my parents & we can all watch me grow. I feel much rounder than last week already!

CJ sorry you're feeling uncomfortable. Sounds like your eviction proceedings are moving along smoothly. I'm so excited for you!

PiePie I love that baby t-shirt too! Showed it to DH & he lol'd. Ugh what little motivation I had has evaporated. I haven't touched my dissertation in weeks... er, months. : I watch my overachiever colleague methodically write a page of his diss every day and it makes me feel guilty for not working on mine. I guess I need more than guilt? I think I need an a$$kicking too! :

[~minnow~]

Originally Posted by PiePie

CJ, My main prep this week has been to start making lists on amazon of all the books I intend to read aloud to my child at what ages -- I fear once the baby comes I will have no time to research (or no memory to recall) the ideas I have been collecting for a million years. And you know if my baby missed out on a single book it would be a disaster. Really, I missed my calling as a children's librarian.

Wow: you'll post a link to these lists, right?

I HATE working. I am having major guilt right now because I'm freaking out about money (I thought I'd supplement with student loans in the fall but that may not be possible! And I didn't get that one job! And my savings is going to be gone by then!) and yet I just ordered new shoes and new clothes (for teaching, but still feel guilty) and yet I feel like I don't do enough work to justify this "education" and I'll never get a job because I'm only trained to putter! Also, indulging in guilt and money-angst is a good way to procrastinate on the syllabus I have to write for Monday. I wonder how much of my "lack of motivation" and my frivolity I can blame on hormones...

[~minnow~]

Originally Posted by MajorGroover

I haven't touched my dissertation in weeks... er, months. : I watch my overachiever colleague methodically write a page of his diss every day and it makes me feel guilty for not working on mine. I guess I need more than guilt? I think I need an a$$kicking too! :

Ah, but see. I have guilt in spades, and yet my dissertation is also languishing.

I did actually write down some ideas today and they seemed brilliant at the time. It would be awesome if that's how it worked: you ignore your dissertation for months and then when you finally sit down to write an outline (only because you have a review of a textbook due that afternoon, and you haven't started that either), you find that you have an idea you didn't know you had and it could potentially give you that "cocktail party" version of your dissertation you've been lacking, the ability to make it sound coherent in two sentences or less. I hope the idea still sounds good tomorrow.

I'm scared. What if I can't finish my dissertation because I'm so focused on my baby, and then my student loans come due and I just can't pay them but they come to me and say, ah ha, we know you bought new shoes with your student loan money MORE THAN ONCE, and then they send me to jail with Paris Hilton? And then everyone laughs at me and throws rotton fruit? I didn't sleep very well last night and am really tired which makes me very exagerratey.

[Living Slowly]

Originally Posted by ~minnow~

I'm scared. What if I can't finish my dissertation because I'm so focused on my baby, and then my student loans come due and I just can't pay them but they come to me and say, ah ha, we know you bought new shoes with your student loan money MORE THAN ONCE, and then they send me to jail with Paris Hilton? And then everyone laughs at me and throws rotton fruit? I didn't sleep very well last night and am really tired which makes me very exagerratey.

You'll get it finished I am sure. The inspiration will come to you and you will be able to get alot done. My motivation come and goes in spurts. I would rather not be working right now. Blah.

Speaking of Paris in jail, I was her cell mate last week! In my dream that is. I have had such bizarre dreams. I guess I was reading too much TMZ.com that day because I dreamt I was her cell mate. I was helping her lift weights and we were talking about Nicole Richie. So strange!

[Grace24]

Hey Emily, thanks for the new thread, it looks beautiful! That's so neat to see all the due dates.

K, now I'm a little freaked. You say they'll get bigger? How much? I'm 15 weeks and the 36E bra I bought a month ago is tight. The good news is that at least my belly is starting to look as pregnant as my boobs...or close anyhow depending on what I wear. Naked, whoo-boy, it's belly-town. With clothes, sometimes you can tell, sometimes not so much. I'm not as freaked as I was before about the weight gain now that my belly looks pregnant.

I was telling a friend last night that my butt got bigger before my belly did and he remarked that I need something back there to balance out the belly when it grows, otherwise I'll be walking around leaning way back all the time like his wife did when she was preggo. Ok, rub it in, she's got no butt, she was a famous ballet dancer and weighs 10 pounds soaking wet. Argh! (This by the way is someone I used to date. Argh, again.) Still, it was kind of funny...maybe he has a point...if my ass is big enough to support the baby weight in front maybe it will save my back.

Is anyone else craving milk? I'm not normally a huge fan, in fact I used to be vegan (quite happily, didn't ever miss dairy at all) but I'm drinking it by the half-gallon! Guess baby is in the bone-building phase! Unfortunately this makes me a little, uh, mucus-y. Ew.

CJ, how are you doing? Any sign? We're all on pins and needles here...

[Grace24]

Ok so I posted and then realized that about 6 hours lapsed between when I started writing my post and when I actually posted it...during which time about 10 people posted again. So, CJ, my question is now pointless...thanks for the update, I'm glad I wasn't the only one wondering about you! Hang in there!

[veganone]

Grace - the butt thing is funny (to me, 'cause I started with a huge butt). It's actually not grown that much - I've been mostly all belly from the very beginning (22 weeks now, out off non-maternity pants by 10 weeks). But, I regularly joke that my butt is ballast for my belly! Now that I'm getting bigger, though, I am definitely feeling off-balance! I need to get some belly shots. Too bad I didn't do any 'pre' baby shots, because I normally have a fairly flat tummy so the contrast would have been funny.

[beckyphry]

Emily, thanks so much for the new thread! You're amazing with making our roster!! Go you! And welcome to the 3rd trimester! I'll be joining you tomorrow.

Dee, your belly shots are SO CUTE!

CJ, hang in there! Sorry you're so uncomfortable. Soon enough it'll all be over and you'll have your little one in your arms instead of on your bladder/cervix!

Pie, cute t-shirt! I was looking for a funny onesie and found this site: www.obeythebaby.com. Some funny stuff on there. My favorite is the onesie that says "I won't remember any of this"

minnow, sorry you're worried about money! Seems to be a common thing during pregnancy. Sorry you didn't get that job you wanted.. hopefully things will just fall into place for you! And I'm at the idea of you in jail with Paris Hilton! That would be way worse than regular jail!!

So I took the 3-hour glucose screen today. Ick. It wasn't horrible, but the 100g of glucose was a bit much. And the puking kid in the waiting room when I was feeling nauseous didn't help either. Had my 4 blood draws, went and got lunch, and then came home and crashed out. I never nap, but it was good to sleep for a bit.

[rock_dr]

thanks everyone for the kind thoughts! how funny to stalk the june ddc for news don't worry I will probably post here first! If I'm still pregnant sunday night I'll be sending out a request for some labor vibes for monday.

dee - yes your belly pics are awesome. Let's see 'em from you other ladies too!

Pie - omg ethiopian food would be soooooo good. It's like the one thing I can't find here in utah though. So I'm doing indian and mexican for spicy. but oh for some good east african food... Also, I would LOVE to see your book list. If anyone is in need of a good cry check out Mallika Chopra's '100 promises to my baby.' That will get you going.

minnow - hang in there on the money stuff. Of course you need shoes and clothes for teaching! I forgot to say YAY that your kitty came back. little rascal.

nesting... we spent a fair amount of time and $$ on the baby's room last March. Then I lost all motivation. In the last few days though I've been vacuuming, cooking, and even doing windows (!). Am hoping those are prelabor signs too.

I did do some professional nesting this spring, and I can understand the struggles some of your are having (replace 'finish dissertation' with 'getting positioned for tenure'). But that motivation is now totally gone too. Hard as it is, I do recommend trying your best to get a little bit done each day, but don't feel guilty about putting it down or not making progress. It will happen.

So acupuncture was weird but we'll see what happens. He took a look at my tongue and said wow, you must be constipated! Well yes I am thank you. So apparently some of those needles were aimed toward my digestive system. and he recommended an enema (ick). well, who wanted gory details??

[ChristyM26]

Emily, thanks for the new thread. I am really starting feel like a wierdo though, because I have yet to meet anybody else who's having twins. I'm happy that I get two... but I wish I had somebody to compare and contrast with (if that makes sense).

Dee, I love your belly!

CJ, I hope you get your baby soon. You must be anxious by now.

Goodness... it's Friday night and I'm so tired...

[Grace24]

I forgot to mention the part of my trip that involved spending the whole weekend with my friends and their three and a half year old. It was interesting...I know all of us here are expecting our first but I don't know how many of you have been around kids...perhaps you have nieces, nephews, etc. Well I have little experience with it so it was interesting...the most important thing I learned was OH MY GOSH are they exhausting! And I'd heard that, but really, to experience it...he's such a good kid too, and very well-behaved. But there was at least once a day where something didn't go his way and he had a tantrum...and I gotta say, I really don't want to spank my kids. The dad spanked him once, just a quick smack on the bottom, so it wasn't like the kid was abused or anything, and I know a lot of people spank their kids...and getting smacked on the bottom a couple times by my mom is NOT the reason I'm in therapy but it just seemed to me like he was a little to quick to threaten a spanking. Aren't there other things to say? Take away a toy, time out, something, before you have to say "Do you need a spanking?" This is probably a hot topic...(I tend to do that ) I just know I don't have the heart to do it and it seems like negative reinforcement...but, not being a parent, is this naive of me? Hmm...something to think about. Perhaps I'll check out the gentle discipline forums.

I did like one thing they did tho, which was when they tried to get him to stop fussing and he'd say, tears streaming down his cheeks for whatever reason, "No, I'm sad," they'd say "It's ok to be sad, but it's not ok to keep fussing about it." Man, I thought that was brilliant! In my house it was always, stop crying you're being spoiled and selfish, so I learned to stuff my feelings (enter the big butt I was talking about earlier)...but this way, it's ok to feel but you have to learn to control your behavior. I LOVED that.

Just some thoughts.

[hazieluna]

Wow Emily nice new thread. I love the roster! I'm 35 but at the end of June I turn 36. I guess I'm one of the older mamas here... haha...

So we are back from visiting the in-laws. It was nice, the weather was wonderful, blue skies the whole time we were there. Coming from Amsterdam that's a nice change... NL is a very rainy country. They went crazy buying us baby stuff, I don't think I need any baby clothes for the first year. We haven't really done anything to prepare for the baby, we don't have a changing table / commode for the baby so we are storing all the new stuff we got in a big suitcase and some boxes all just around our bedroom. I'm also wondering when I will be hit by the nesting urge, so far I just waver between feeling overwhelmed, lazy, unmotivated and then again overwhelmed.

So funny my MIL told me I would have to buy an ironing board.... I think she thinks I'm a barbarian because I just don't iron... all the clothes that need ironing in my closet just never get worn. So yeah... her poor son has chosen a heathen that doesn't believe in starch!!!

So how sad is it that while I was away I was wondering about what was happening with all of you.... I really was thinking that CJ was probably giving birth but luckily (for me that is - sorry!) I'm back but baby is not here yet! Okay, now the baby can come, so come on out!!!

Just a few more comments on what's been happening.... I'm so happy your cat came back Lane, what a relief!

While in Prague I went bra shopping. Before pregnancy I was a 36DD (E sometimes), so already busty enough in my opinion. Well I found a bra last week that fits okay (not a nursing bra yet since I may still grow - horror of horrors) and it's a size 38G.... when I asked (through DH since I don't speak Czech) if they had any bigger cup size the clerk looked shocked! What am I going to do? Geez... And now it seems that my bra rests on my belly like a it's a shelf, so I've gotten some chafing. OH and guess what else, last night I'm changing into my pjs and I look down and my nipple has a drop coming out of it.

And speaking of my body dramas, my belly button is widening and flattening out, I can now see the bottom. I've always had a very deep innie so this is also weird. My DH just keeps saying "It's normal" I guess to comfort me.

And one last funny thing that happened the other night after we were back home. I was watching some kak tv and in the show the family discovers that their disappeared son is actually dead. Well I lost my brother a few years ago and on the show the family had a daughter too who was close to her brother, so I start bawling since I know how much it hurts to lose your brother. I start sobbing really inconsolable, I can't even breathe I'm crying so hard. DH who was playing a computer game comes over to give me a hug but I catch the look on his face. It was something between concern and amusement and I just crack up. Laughing hysterically for at least 5 minutes, great big belly laughs so hard I can't breathe again. Anyway when I finally calmed down I said to DH, just because it's extreme doesn't mean it's not real to me! Really wacky roller coaster ride! But fun too.

Oh and a question, don't you ladies want to show off your bellies? I don't want a tankini I just want a bikini so that my belly gets some sun... unfortunately I don't think anyone makes a bikini for such huge boobs.

[hazieluna]

btw I've updated my signature so if you click on the belly icon it takes you to my belly slideshow... so you can see how big I am!

[jpiper0430]

Natalia - I love the belly pics. I only have one so far, but when DH takes the second later this well, I'll have to post. I'm a bit, um, fluffy, so I still don't look very pregnant, even though I'm 22 weeks.

CJ - keeping my fingers crossed that you will have your little sweetie in your arms very soon!!

Becky - glad you got the 3 hour test over with. Keep us posted when you get the results. Sounds like you survived in a pretty tricky atmosphere.

My DH has been in Norway since Tuesday. He finally comes home Wednesday night. I had my first real breakdown last night. I wanted to weed the vegetable garden in my backyard, and it looks like a neighbor dog/cat decided my garden would make a good toilet, there were 3 poops in it! So of course, I can't garden because of the toxoplasmosis risk (DH has a good friend who got toxoplasmosis in utero and has horrible vision, and every time he gets a flare up, he risks brain damage). I burst into tears because I didn't want the garden to get overtaken by weeks. A neighbor (with no pets) was nice enough to get out the big weeds and remove the poop. He said he's had a few problems as well, and they are on the lookout to see who the animal belongs too. Anyway, I spent a lot of last night stressing myself out of how we are going to get everything done before October. I wish I could have called DH, but it was around 2am in Norway at the time and I didn't want to wake him up. The really tough thing- he's got one more week long trip in June, then he's gone for 3 weeks in August. Luckily, he told his boss he couldn't travel in September or October and that November he would prefer not to travel.

Thanks for letting me whine. I'm going to go visit my sister for the afternoon so she can <hopefully> take my mind off from everything!

[beckyphry]

Just wanted to say hi to everyone! Hope you're all having a great weekend!

I can't believe I'm beginning the 3rd trimester today!! I've only bought ONE thing for the baby so far -- a babyhawk carrier!! I'm so excited to use it, but I don't think the cat would appreciate being carried around the house. We're waiting until my shower in mid-July to see what we get off the registries before we buy anything, and then it will only be the basics (i.e. co-sleeper, car seat, stroller, etc) until we move (no clue when that will be!).

What about you ladies? Did you or are you getting things ready for baby early? If we were staying put, I'd have done so much already, but with moving we just can't and it's making me crazy.

[~minnow~]

Wow Becky -- I can't believe you're beginning your 3rd trimester either. Number two is going so fast. I'm in the same position as you are, with a move between me and Labor Day. I did go crazy buying a bunch of cloth diapers, and I have a few clothes. But it sort of doesn't make sense to get anything bigger right now.

Jenn, I'm so sorry about your poop-related stress. I'm also sorry your DH has so many long trips coming up! I'm glad he'll be home for September and October, though.

Hi Natalia, welcome back! It sounds like a nice trip. One of my favorite emotions is laughing-after-crying. I love your belly slideshow. (I do kinda want to show my belly off, though not with a bikini. But I am way more into belly-bearing tops now [just my regular tops, which are now too short].)

Julia, hello! Yeah, I like to read the Gentle Discipline board here for exposure to different styles of parents influencing children's behavior. My dad never spanked; my mom spanked when she felt frustrated, which wasn't always my "fault", you know? So I def. enjoy getting to read about other models for how to handle that.

Christy, there are some twins in the September DDC! I hope you find some folks to compare/contrast with.

Michelle, that's hilarious about your Paris Hilton dream. I had a dream the other night that featured people from this thread. I wish I could remember more of it.

CJ -- how's today? Ina May does say that an enema can start labor. Very excited for you and sending positive vibes!

I love this thread.

[PiePie]

CJ, I'm sending you labor vibes. And posting the first 2 book lists partly to give you something for distraction.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syl...r_title_full_3

http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syl...r_title_full_2

[PiePie]

and here is the third list: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syl...r_title_full_1

[~minnow~]

Pie Pie, awesome! thanks! I'm adding a lot of those to my Amazon baby list.

I have to go to work all day (what's THAT about) but I just had to check this thread in case there was any news about our first "graduate." Happy Monday everybody.

[rock_dr]

happy third tri Becky! Everyone's progressing right along. I had the 'honor' of being Most Pregnant at my prenatal yoga class last weekend - I remember when I first started going and was always in awe of those ahead of me.

I love the book lists Pie - will be adding those to our wish list soon. thanks!

Natalia I have always wanted to go to Prague. We're looking at trying to get to Europe next spring if not before. Travel will be a big part of this babe's life!

So it hurts to get your membranes stripped, and cohosh is pretty gross (not as bad as the milk of magnesia I downed on saturday though ). But, I'm 'favorable' - about 70% effaced, 3 cm with a stretchy (but high) cervix. She got a good bloody show and she could feel the baby's head. Have been having contractions every 5-10 minutes since I've been home but nothing terribly painful and I think this may just be the initial response to the 'intrusion.' MW said this typically puts you into labor within about 24 hours, or else it means we need a few more days and I should try again on thursday. : for action before then! I have a high tolerance for pain I think - but everyone says I'll 'know' when it's real. hope so!