Pregnant with #1 in our 30s ~November~ - Page 3

[rock_dr]

Dee - that is awful news. Seriously, I have nightmares about that happening to me and my students and I certainly don't run an operation nearly as big. I hope there's a good contingency plan in place and that the funding comes through eventually.

And I hope you have a baby soon!!

[beckyphry]

Emily, we're t-minus 6 days until Maya's 2 month shots and I'm not looking forward to it either. Glad Benjamin did relatively well. Great pictures! We have the same carseat. How cute that he's smiling more. Maya started smiling a TON today! It's so freaking adorable. Oh, and I know what you mean about going back to work. As much as it's going to kill me to hand her off to someone else, I'm looking forward to being back at work (for 3 days a week). I'm looking at it as a break. Props to SAHMs!! It's HARD work! THANKS for the new thread! I'm so excited!

Pie, what the hell about the LLL leader & the ped. Ugh!!

Dee, are you doing Evening Primrose Oil at all? I did that for a week before Maya came (I was 39.5 weeks) and I think it helped. I did 2400mg orally and 1200mg vaginally every day. It can't hurt. How are you feeling? And big bummer about your lab!

Cher, yay for your shower. I would've preferred a smaller shower myself, too. How cute about the baby blanket! Good news on the ped interview!

Laura, what an awesome photo!

Julia, crotch ouch! Yuck!

Ah, can't keep up in here!

[Dee-Groovy]

Still pregnant, 40w1d. How weird that I'm counting up after 40w now? Becky I'm not doing EPO or anything to encourage labor except bouncing on my birth ball and walking the dogs. I'm debating taking some RRL caps today but I really don't think anything will work until the baby is ready. Still not miserable, so I'm just trying to be patient.

I don't know when I'm going to talk to the boss about funding for next semester. Another awkward part of the situation is that she doesn't know that I know that the funding wasn't renewed. Should I be pissed that she didn't tell me, or just take it as a sign that it doesn't change much? Registration is next week so that's the perfect excuse to go talk to her but I could also go into labor any second now. : CJ, I appreciate your perspective too - it must be stressful to be the source of income for students. Our operation is actually really small right now (due to several recent graduates) and I'm the only one she's supporting. My backup plan is to TA next semester, which would take time away from the baby and the dissertation but it could be a godsend if the RA falls through. Sorry I'm such a

Kripa thanks for the funding resolution vibes! I think it's funny that you gave your therapist to your hubby too - what better recommendation could you get? How was your baby shower?

Julia your DH sounds wonderful. It's so cute that you guys are still newlyweds! I'm glad he took your freak-out seriously and is cleaning. Hopefully you'll find all the right spots for your straw and hair. (I had to read that a couple times before I got it too.) I feel the urge to nest, to drag out the vacuum and suck the dust off every surface in the whole house including miniblinds, fans, shelves and floorboards. Unfortunately that urge is not accompanied by agility or motivation to get off the couch. How are you feeling? Hopefully the crotch ouch is better. Do you have a birth ball to sit on? It feels so good and lets your hips gently stretch.

How's everyone else doing on this beautiful weekend?

[xenon]

Dee, it's so cute that you added a "41" to your pregnancy ticker in your signature (or was that always there?) I can't believe how patient you sound, and how calm in the face of funding turmoil. Very zen, mama!

Kripa, how was your shower?

Julia, I got the straw and hair thing right away (just so that you don't feel too ostracized by your metaphor!) I hope your nesting weekend is going well...

[Grace24]

Dee... yes, it's amazing how clean all of our houses would be if the nesting urge of late pregnancy weren't accompanied by total lack of agility! I think I'll try the birth ball, I never thought to sit on it, but I had been leaning forward on it to help baby get into position (it worked!)

I'm soooooooo happy!!!! DH rented a U-Haul and is hauling all kinds of stuff to Goodwill. I feel like I'm starting to be able to think straight agian.

BTW when we moved the loveseat which we're getting rid of, I found plenty of dog hair under there to make my nest with. (Does everyone understand now? )

Happy day, all... Julia

PS Dee, hats off to ya for being so zen past your EDD... I hope I can be that way if this one goes late!

[dctexan]

Dee - OMG, how scary about your lab and funding. Ugh. That happened to me one year while I was a grad student. We were without funding for a year between grants. Like your advisor, mine had saved up to cover us for a year without any money (which was super important because we had animals and we HAD to pay the per diem or the university would have shut us down!). All of the grad students ended up taking TAs (rather than RAs). Luckily, my department has plenty of TAs, so our grad student stipends were never in danger (although it was a lean summer, since the TA salary for summer TAs sucks). However, in the end, the grant was fundedon the resubmit. My fingers are crossed that your lab has similar luck.

As for still being pregnant...I guess your baby is really happy. You must be giving her such a wonderful home. I will tell you what my midwife told me at my 39 week apointment, all of this will be over no later than 2 weeks from now (and probably sooner). Just think about that! In less than 2 weeks you will be holding and meeting your daughter! I am so excited for you.

Maybe we should all try to guess when you will go into labor. My vote is for Nov 07 because that is my mom's birthday

[rock_dr]

Originally Posted by dctexan

Dee - Maybe we should all try to guess when you will go into labor. My vote is for Nov 07 because that is my mom's birthday

I was thinking wednesday too but I'll send in a vote for tuesday! ella was a tuesday's child ('full of grace').

dee - I would go ahead and bring up the issue of registering for spring term now, with the thought that you won't want to deal with it during your awesome upcoming babymoon. It may be that she is kind of embarrassed or just is so mad about the funding that she doesn't feel like bringing it up. I feel like that when I get rejections (even though with only a 10% acceptance rate at nsf there's nothing really to feel bad about!).

gl! remember, TUESDAY!

[Dee-Groovy]

Originally Posted by dctexan

Maybe we should all try to guess when you will go into labor. My vote is for Nov 07 because that is my mom's birthday

Originally Posted by rock_dr

I was thinking wednesday too but I'll send in a vote for tuesday! ella was a tuesday's child ('full of grace').

Yay this is fun! Just for kicks I put a "when will my baby be born?" poll at the bottom of the link in my sig. There's also a pic of my belly today - TG it doesn't look much bigger than last week!

Emily it's good to know that you made it though a similar funding situation with a TA. It's obviously not my first choice but I've considered it as backup in case we didn't get funded or the boss didn't want to pay me to "sit around and take care of my baby." I'm really not scared at all about the funding situation, maybe because I'm too focused on (excited about) the baby and all those life changes, or maybe because I already have one foot out the door since I'm graduating in May. It's not that I don't care, I just can't get worked up about it.

CJ you're right, I should talk to my boss ASAP before I go on my babymoon. I'm planning on doing it Tuesday after my OB appointment. (Then I can have the baby, right?) I imagine she's mad and embarrassed about not getting renewed, which is why she didn't mention it. Wow NSF only funds 10% of its applicants? We've been on NIH but I know she's looking into NSF funding now also. Sometimes I'm really scared to go into academia b/c of this whole grant thing. It seems like a scam or shell game. That level of uncertainty about the future is not good for my anxious tendencies.

Xenon you caught me - I added the 41 to my ticker yesterday! I haven't talked to my doc about going to 42 weeks so I stopped at 41.

Julia you will love sitting on the birth ball once you get the hang of it. I alternate b/w the ball & the couch so I don't tire out my back & abs too much.

[phillybama]

Dee, I am sorry to hear about the funding. What bad timing to find out about it! I hope the excitement of the upcoming birth helps to keep your mind off of it for now.

Kripa, I am wishing you some good sleep. I haven't been able to get much myself and it is really catching up with me.

The nursery is basically finished at this point. We just have to get the furniture. I am not really in too much of a rush on that, because the baby will be in our bedroom for the first few months. The only item I am stressing about is the rocker/glider. DH and I rented a pickup truck on Saturday and drove around the suburbs (including the horrible King of Prussia Mall) and had absolutely NO luck. I was nearly in tears at the end. I HATE malls and suburban strip stores. Driving through the parking lots and garages is such a nightmare.

The issue is that I hate the look of gliders and any that are half-way good-looking IMO are ridiculously-priced. We have very modern taste, so places like Ethan Allen and Pottery Barn never have anything we like. Sooo, we have decided to go with the Nurseryworks Storytime Rocker, which is also really expensive--but at least we like it! We found it at sparkability.net on sale (limited colors). I just want to be done with it. I never want to set foot in that horrible mall again!

I have gotten so many hand-me-downs and loaners, that I am trying to defend this purchase. It's okay to spend some extra money to get the rocker I want, right? Please say yes, so I don't feel guilty!

BTW, new pics in my signature.

[Grace24]

Yes, Aimee, a glider is important! That's exactly how I justified our TWO gliders (I didn't like how they looked either but once I sat in one and tried out the matching ottoman... I was sold... DH, too!) We'd gotten so many hand-me-downs and gifts, that spending the money... although absurdly expensive... seemed ok somehow. It's been the requisite 6 to 8 weeks it takes to order them, though, and we haven't heard from the glider people. Where are they?

DH tried to unload some of the many hand-me-down baby bathtubs at Goodwill, along with an old exersaucer and playpen we decided we don't need, and they said they wouldn't take baby stuff? "Nothing that a baby goes on or in" is what they said. What a shame! I hate to throw it out but at this point we're just so desperate to get rid of everything extra before baby comes, that calling around the city to find someone to take our, essentially garbage, is really not too convenient! I always see baby stuff at thrift stores. This makes no sense. Maybe I just need to try a different one. Weird.

[rock_dr]

julia - maybe try craigslist? I'm sure someone would come pick it up and use it.

[cking]

Or ebay. You might not make much money off them, but at least someone will get to use them.

eta: or better yet, try freecycle. We got a huge response here when we were trying to unload some old furniture. People love free stuff. It'll be gone in a day.

[meli-mello]

Julia: I was going to suggest Freecycle too - I love that site because I have such a hard time putting anything in the garbage. Other places that need baby things would be organizations that support single/teenage mothers. They always need support.

Aimee: Don't beat yourself up over the glider. That's a nice looking piece of furniture which you will probably get lots of use out of. I can totally understand your feeling about the malls - I get totally overwhelmed and anxious when I go to them too (which is probably why, at 17 weeks, I haven't made one baby purchase). I don't know how many children you are planning on having but I keep thinking that we will probably have two so anything I buy now might last for the next one. That looks like a chair that could sit in a child's room for a long time.

So I'm 17 weeks today (I can't figure out how to add the baby counter to my signature). Time seems to be flying by right now. I've been reading Three in a Bed about co-sleeping and am totally fascinated. I think that will be the space solution DH and I are looking for and he was the one who was all for it in the beginning (I didn't think I could do it but, to me, it just makes so much sense now that I have read the literature). Guys can be so surprising sometimes. DH doesn't really talk about the pregnancy much with other people but we ran into his grandma the other day (adopted grandma actually and we haven't seen her in a long time - he was really, REALLY close to his adopted grandpa growing up though and we might name the baby after him if it is a boy...anyway...) when grandma asked how we were he smiled and said we were having a baby and started touching my stomach. It was rather strange - but really nice.

[Anouk]

Melanie - you have to create the ticker manually and then change it every week. I'm 17 weeks along, too. I still haven't hit the magical second trimester energy spurt I'd heard of, instead I got a head cold and was in all weekend trying to rest so it would go away. No luck.

I've had a numb left thigh for a week now which my doctor says is a uterine ligament pressing on a nerve, but boy is it weird. I went to prenatal yoga on Saturday hoping it would help, but no change.

DH and I went to Babies R Us and spent 3 hours creating a registry there, since his brother and my sister had already begun asking for Christmas gift ideas. All the choices and decisions are exhausting, and DH thought the best part was getting to the glider section and just rocking away for awhile! LOL

[phillybama]

Dee, where are you?

I noticed that there were no posts today from Dee. Maybe she is in labor?
Sending smooth-sailing vibes your way!

[dctexan]

Originally Posted by phillybama

Dee, where are you?

I noticed that there were no posts today from Dee. Maybe she is in labor?
Sending smooth-sailing vibes your way!

Oooo! I hope Dee is in labor! ELVs to you Dee!

BTW Aimee, I was looking at your pictures and I saw that you had the Papsan cradle swing. OMG, it is the BEST baby invention ever. We love swing time in our house (putting Benjamin in the swing is often the only way I am able to go potty or prepare food).

[cking]

Sending Dee some more peaceful labor vibes!!!

[Dee-Groovy]

Aww thanks for the labor vibes girls - I'm gonna bottle them up & save them for when I'm actually in labor. :

Wondering what the OB will say this morning at my appointment... patience is wearing thin! I'll update later today.

[rock_dr]

dee - beware the membrane sweep (unless you want it done).

[Grace24]

Dee... I know how you feel, patience is wearing thin with me and I'm not to 40 yet! Good luck at the OB.

My pelvis hurts more every day, ow. More pressure down there, but baby still hasn't dropped yet. ?? Midwife's birth assistant is coming this a.m. for our appointment and to set up the aqua doula! I'll try to take a picture.

I'm officially nesting... the baseboards I've been staring at and becoming increasingly dissatisfied with finally got scrubbed. Down on my hands and knees with soapy water and a sponge last night scrubbing baseboards, the dirt on the walls, etc. It was very satisfying! Does this mean I'll be in labor soon? What's my time frame once I officially start cleaning floors and such? Anyone?