A new month means a new thread.

Chat away!

Recent topics include

blue moon babies
absentee dhs
popping sounds
swelling
doulas
names (FTR, I like Darwin, and know of at least one adult with this name)

I'm posting just so I will get a notice and don't have to remember to search us out. Thinking about skipping my 37 weeks on Mon. 7/5. My mom wants us to come up to DC and I don't want to have to drive back that am or sun night. But, I think the baby also just flipped breech and would like to talk to MW about it. oh well, I'll decide before the weekend. Great article about vaginal breech delivers by Ina May in Mothering. And, since the baby is so active I think there is no need to worry yet - plenty of room to move still. But DARN uncomfortable!

Need to get some lotion on and crash! Finally got my shower today!

Hi Girls,
I know I'll miss some of you b/c I'm just not too organized and my memory is shot right now.

About the swelling, Foxy-Just watch it closely. I know the facial swelling thing is something to pay attention to and Kimberly really gave you some good things to look for, too. My ankles are big at night-especially the left one???Makes no sense to me... :scratch I try to put my feet up, and sometimes that hasn't helped me. It's especially bad when it's a really hot day or we haven't had the air on.

Ket-Hope that babe flips. Perhaps it was just some wild movement. And you'll be pleasantly surprised at your next appointment. :)

Dodo-So weird that you mentioned the name Darwin. I was at the grocery store a few weeks ago and this woman next to me had a little girl named Darwin. I thought it was so unique. I really liked it.

AP-Okay, my doubts about the doula got the best of me and I've cancelled our meeting. Told her the truth-that I was still unsure how I would use her services. Although she seemed really nice with lots of experience, I just got this vibe that what she mostly did was childcare. I know that's what some of this is about, but I think she mostly does overnight care for families. That's not to say she wouldn't be a great doula. I just still had some doubts. Doesn't mean I won't change my mind again... I know I've driven you all crazy with my indecision about this seemingly simple choice. But DH and I have never even hired a babysitter, let alone someone to come into our home at such a vulnerable time. ahhhhhh, what do I know?? All I know is that this just didn't *feel right*.

Also, about birthing attire. I remember thinking about this a lot the first time around. I bought these cute little padded sox to wear in the hospital and I remember my wonderful nurse gently taking them off and putting on regulation hospital sox, saying, "Honey, you don't want to mess up these sweet sox". And I just forgot about all the fun stuff that comes out of you during birth!! I may just wear one of my very boring Lands End nighties. Soft cotton-I have a short one and a long one. We'll see. I guess we'll have to pack those bags soon!

Oh, and I have to come up with some sort of definitive plan for DS during my labor. We know he'll be with the ILs, but we have to figure out timing. Should they come here? Should DH drop DS off? Etc., Etc......

Anyway, sorry again for the Bearsmama novella. I'm going to get a reputation around here! ;)

Okay I admit I haven't read up on the last thread to see what everyone is up to... :bag: :innocent But I did want to drop in and say hi! :wave

Ketilave, I hope that baby gets head down too. Although it is fine to birth breech vaginally, IMO, it sure does cause more hassle and the docs really don't like it.

I have a question about home birth and carpets. We have light, champagn colored carpets in our bedroom and where the birthing tub will be. How do you keep all the mess off of your carpets? It seems a pretty petty thing to worry about but...Do you put tarps/plastic everywhere?

My baby has been moving a lot lately and I am just starting to feel more uncomfortable, especially after eating a big meal. The hot weather has also reduced my appetite. Any suggestions? I have been eating fruit galore! I just can't stand to be by the stove or oven with the extra heat and cooked food does not appeal to me.

Oh, and I think we were talking about nesting back awhile ago...I have definately been getting that! I can't get anything clean enough and it is driving me crazy. I have been dusting things and arranging things I forgot I even had! :LOL

Hope everyone is doing well and sorry I haven't posted personals. I just haven't had the time to sit and read through the posts lately. :bag: Sorry

Cheryl

Leah: I had to giggle on your gluey girl! I hope she survived it okay!

Peeing in a cup: I am sooooo bad at this! I always pee all over my hand. It's so gross!! :Puke

Blue Moon? Can someone explain. I'm a little on the dense side.

Melissa: I had the popping with Libby. It was SO weird.

Traci: I'm pretty sure I should wear the hospital gown during my c/s. :laugh: Nevermind, it's a joke. When I've had to go in for monitoring at the hospital the last 2 times, I've kept my street clothes on. I BEGGED them not to make me change into the butt-baring gown. THe nurse said "Well, you can wear your shorts today, but for your c/s you really have to wear the gown" Hehe.

Ketilave: I hope baby flips back to vertex!

So, who is leaving their child overnight for the first time?? :Waves That would be me! I'm so nervous about leaving Libby!!! She's going to be away from me for THREE days!!!!! Ugh! Poor girl has never spent a night away from mama! And she's showing signs of an ear infection starting up, and when she gets EI, all she wants is ME. I would feel horrible if she just cried and cried at someone's house, but what can I do?? She can't stay at the hospital!! It's going to be a rough transition, because if I have anywhere near the soreness I did with her I won't be able to do much with her for a few weeks PP.

Cheryl: I would personally put something down if I had light carpet!! :)

Kimberly
34w6d!! u/s & appt tomorrow

Hi everyone. I can't believe it's July already! I'll be leaving my sone for the first time too, and I am so worried about how he'll be. I'm not worried about after the baby comes and DH is at home with him. They always manage :) I'm more worried about when I'm in labor after we go to the hospital. I am esp. worried b/c I thought we had a plan for that, but I don't think it's going to happen. Two guys from DH's work were going to take care of him. They really don't know anything about taking care of kids, but DS knows them and likes them, plus we would only be a phone call or a 15 min drive away. Now I don't know if that arrangement will be possible. Just like my DH keeps going on trips, so do they. The odds of them being here at the right time are pretty small. My doula's oldest daughter would really like to take care of DS. We'd have to have toys and books packed and they could stay in the waiting room. She has 5 younger siblings and lots of experience with them and the neighbors, but she is so young. I guess it would probably be okay b/c DH could help her out a little if needed since I would have my doula there too.

Oh, man, I'm rambling. But anyway, those are my thoughts re: DS. DH's trip dates were changed. Now he will leave on the 4th and get back wed. or thur. Now, I remeber that two of you were also going to have absent DH's. Who was that? We can whine to eachother ;)

Someone asked if Dh's work dog lives with us. Military working dogs are much different than normal police dogs or whatever. Most of these dogs ended up in this program b/c they are too aggressive to be family pets. Honestly many of them would have probably been put to sleep if they had not had the appititude to do this work. DH's dog is actually not so bad. Actually he is very nice and DS has even gotten to pet him. I'm sure he has mellowed over time. So anyway, no, they do not live with their handlers.

I wanted to go back and adrress everyone individually, but instead let me just say a few things. Please watch all those things like swelling and such. I really don't want to see any of you ladies or your babies having health issues. Kimberly, you are doing great at taking care of yourself and your babe. Hopefully you get to keep that baby in for another 2 weeks or more :)

Wow, now this is long. I hope everyone has a great day!

Hi everyone!

Yea! Its July! I remember back in January when I thought this month would never come! Hard to believe, but that was also back when I was puking everyday. Seems so long ago!

Kimberlylibby-so glad to hear someone else had the popping noise! It was wierding me out so much, and I didn't want to ask anyone personally I thought they would think I was crazy. Maybe it is just a ligament or rib popping or something. It doesn't hurt, just was wierd!

And on July 31 there is going to be a blue moon, which is the second full moon in one month. Tomorrow (Friday) is the first full moon. So, it would just be neat to deliver on a blue moon! My due date is August 6 so it is a possibility! Dh says that is our baby is born on that day, we have to switch her name we picked to something that reflects it.

Better go, everyone drink lots of water and stay cool!

Hey Dodo thanks for getting us started for July!:thumb

:wave Naturegirl good to *see* you!

Kimberly here is the link about the blue moon:
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bluemoon1.html

Yes ...leaving our little ones for this birth. My ds and I have talked about what will happen when it is time and he has expressed interesting in coming with us but hospital policy will not allow(lucky all you HB'ers). So he knows if the baby comes at night Nana or Mam-mal will be with him, and during the day he will come but not be with us exactly; but other than that DH will be coming home to sleep with ds while baby and I are in the hospital.

.....so here is who is getting down to the last month/few weeks..everyone here is due between Aug1-7th.

Alegna
rochellep3
JodiM
foxytocin
lena_girl
mamand'ete
madrone
thebipper
Thundersweet
Sweets
apmamma
ketilave
SamuraiEarthMama
Bearsmama
kimberlylibby
Josephsmommy
bewylde
ilovebeingamom
Mamapajama
Jlcampbellkidz

Wow! Isn't it getting exciting!

My baby has really been giving me the alien tummy. Poking hands and feet, elbows and knees all over the place out and about...I love it!

Dodo: Thank you for starting our new July Thread. Wow, did I say July?
Lena: I know the plans for your child during labor will work out. That was so nice of your Doula's daughter to offer to watch!
Kimberly: If we have to leave DD overnight, it will be the first time. My sister has offered but I think she would do better with my mom. Also, our hospital allows children to stay in the room during labor, delivery and postpartum. At first we had considered having DD in the room but after she went to the first few appointments we found out listening to the babies heart beat freaked her out. But now here at the end she's been acting differently. The heart beat doesn't bother her anymore and I have been prepping her by showing her, her birth video (Which is detailed and graphic) My mother missed nothing. That was fine with me, I feel so empowered when i watch it. Anyway, she has responded just as I was hoping she would and I think we will try to have her there and just have a family member available to take her out of the room if needed. Depending on how I feel and how she is behaving we may also keep her in the room with us the one night we stay in the hospital. My DH and Mom will both stay too. So we have given it all a lot of thought too and I am hoping regardless of where she ends up (with us or family) that she will do fine.
Nature: I am back on the nesting kick. I threw the carseat cover in the wash this morning and I have been cleaning like a mad woman. Certain cleaners, like bathroom cleaners make me nautious so my DH is supposed to be responsible for cleaning the two bathrooms but he is not taking care of it to my satisfaction so I will be on my hands and knees scrubbing them today.
Bears:Quit kicking yourself. There is nothing simple about inviting a stranger into your home. It is better for you to feel comfortable with your decision. The whole point of a postpartum doula is to make the new transition with the baby easier. And if you are not comfortable with her presence it kinda defeats the purpose you know! Always trust your instincts first!
Traci:Undecided about labor/birth attire. I better start thinking about it some more. I would like to start packing the bags for the hospital by next week just in case.

As for me, I got a great nights sleep. I think I only got up 3 times instead of the usual 8 -10 times. I was supposed to have the day off today but my daycare mom has a new job possibility and would like to leave the kids a few hours while she go's to interview. Atleast I didn't have to get up at 6:00 they won't be here till 10:30. I have plenty on my TO DO LIST. I will work hard on it but I know how quickly I tire out these days. No real swelling unless I spend and hour our longer standing. Then some water and propping up the feet seems to make it go away pretty quickly. Knowing that it is now July, and that the weeks have been passing by so fast the realization of how soon I will be taking care of two children instead of one is huge. It has also made me try to slow down during the day and just try to enjoy these last few weeks of having a huge belly and feeling those kicks and punches and other movements.

Have a wonderful day ladies!

For both births I have been naked - c-section and vbac - and will probably end up that way again.

For the carperts - go to the dollar store and get cheapy shower curtains. Lay those down with sheets over them and voila. Sheets go straight into laundry and toss the shower liners. Also, while at $store get yourself some hydrogen peroxide - does wonders on blood if nec.

DS was left for the first time when I had DD - my sister came to stay so he was in heaven! Didn't miss me a bit - DH was with me just the one night because we had just had DD but after that he went home. I only stayed 2 nights (one was delivery) because I wanted to

Funny thing about if the baby is breech - I just assumed I would deliver vaginally - never asked my mw because no other options crossed my mind. My only issue with it is that the pressure on my lower back has been a lot worse and having the bobbling head in my ribs is a pest esp. when sitting up. Problem with being short that there is little place for the baby to go!

hello!

Had my 34 week check-up today. Everything is fine and dandy :) went over my birth plan and I feel really good about everything going the way I want it to. (of course, you never know and I am prepared for that too). I saw the nurse practioner, no midwives were available so I still want to talk about my birth plan with someone who delivers babies! She also said she doesn't think the baby is posterior at this point, but that could change. I will keep doing positioning stuff just to be sure, though. Next visit I get the GBS test, fun!

Kimberly: I hope your appt. goes well. You are doing so great keeping that baby cooking!

Traci: I am thinking a tanktop and some comfy sweats for labor. Well, the pants will have to come off at some point! :LOL Its actually what I wear to bed and so comfy. So I say whatever is most comfortable for you.

Re: leaving children. We actually live with my parents (crazy, I know) so my dad will be watching ds if we need to be gone for the night. My plan is to have ds at the birthing center and he can come and go in the room as he pleases, but we will see how it goes.

Bears: I totally understand about being uncomfortable with someone in your home. I would be, too. We have only ever left ds with my parents so, yeah I'd be weirded out with someone I don't know very well watching him. :hug hope you figure out what will work best for you. Thats what really matters!

Wow, I can't believe some of us are so close! Can't wait to read some birth stories! :D My Dh is very excited by the blue moon thing, too. He thinks the baby will be early, I'm not so sure. That would be 2 weeks before my due date. Not that I would mind... :) The resident mystic at DH's work says this baby will be early and is a girl. Well, she was right about ds (late and boy!) and has been right about all the other babies born to co-workers and their spouses... she just *knows* things. Its neat.

Ok, enough rambling from me. Talk to you all soon!

Nesting...hmmm... the idea is there, but the will isn't. I am throwing a girls night out at our house next Wednesday, so I think that will get my butt into gear if nothing else does. I get tired so fast, I can only do one thing on my to-do list a day. Ds's bedroom for instance is a disaster.

Speaking of ds...he embarrassed me so badly at the store yesterday. He was in a really goofy mood, and started saying "mom we are in PRIVATE, aren't we. Yeah we are in PRIVATE." I am trying to get him to be quiet b/c I know what is coming but yet there seems nothing to stop it. Then he blurts out, "Yeah we are in PRIVATE so I can TOUCH your BOOBS!". I was mortified. There were two women near me who both looked at me, and I am sure were wondering how they could report me for child molestation. Oh well, they were just strangers, right? FWIW, I did tell ds that he really embarrassed me and to not talk about my body like that in public again, and he said okay, I won't.

My baby is doing alien thing as well. Especially her feet -they keep poking out around my ribs. And then I can feel her head push down as she is pushing her legs against my ribs. Not really too comfortable!

The other day when I took a walk I had constant BH the whole time. I have been a little afraid to take another one, b/c my m/w is out of town for the next ten days. I don't want to get anything started! It is still too early though, I am 35 weeks today. Plus, baby hasn't dropped or any of the other signs. So, I should be ok.

All right, I better go! Bye!

Ketilave-my babe has been breech and posterior recently, and yesterday was palpated as vertex loa! I was so excited :) I too have been getting lots of movement, and so wan't shocked, but I was very happy. Hopefully your little one will behave itself :) Here in AZ breech babes are a no-no for hb midwives, so I was rather anxious.

Bearsmama-I would totally NOT want to have a stranger watching my kids. As much as they can be a pain that would make me really uncomfortable. A few months ago I hired someone I KNEW from church to come watch the kids, in my home, with me here, a few hours a week, and it still took me awhile to get used to her being here. Hmmm, maybe I should arrange to have her come back for awhile after the baby is born...they just cut her hours at work...

Cheryl-Ditto on the hydrogen peroxide-it's the best stuff for blood. Pretty unbelievable actually. My midwife took care of all that stuff, I guess she's a pro by now.

Kimberly-So glad to see you still here! I hear you on the peeing in a cup thing. I actually just told my midwife yesterday that I must not be as huge as I think, because I can still pee in the cup! I definitely remember getting to the point with the other ones where I couldn't see what I was doing, AT ALL and there was just no tidy way to do it...LOL!

Jillybean-We live with il's and have for 3.5 years :eyesroll but the upside is that my kids love their nana and papa and are totally comfortable with them in situations like this. I am also still working on positioning stuff (mw said 200! pelvic tilts a day!) even though babe is finally in a good position. I have had back labor before and am very anxious to avoid it this time! They wanted to know if I will be doing the gbs test next time, and I still haven't decided...

Well, as you all can tell I had my mw appointment yesterday. They had just come from a birth; it was the mom's 3rd and it was longer and rougher than any of them expected, just what I needed to hear! Baby was posterior, ugh. Everything looked ok, actually, better than expected with me. My baby's position was good, my stats were all good, weight was to be expected :eyesroll and I was finally not measuring so small! I am still rooting for middle of August-though I have given up all hopes of any earlier than that. We got 120's for heartbeat for the first time-it has been 160's every other time. I am having braxton hicks again. They had really slowed down for awhile, and now are picking up again. I swear my body totally went into denial for a couple of weeks after the ultrasound. I am glad to be feeling like my normal pregnant self again :D

So, how long will it take us to fill up a thread this time!?!

Rochelle
Mommy to Meg 5/00, Peter 6/02, #3 due 8/04

No clue what we're doing with DD during the birth. I'm thinking we'll have her with us, but I also have a friend who's offered to watch her when we go to the hospital, so who knows?

And, if you can't be naked when you're having a baby, I don't know any time you can. I will be nude and proud of it. Fat rolls and all! LOL. No room for modesty when you're pushing a babe out.

Not much time to post right now, but had to relate a couple of cute stories. Bonnie has been fascinated by my belly all pregnancy. Lately, she's taken to shoving her own belly waaaay out and saying "look at my BIIIIIG pregnant belly!" She's also started talking for the baby. She'll put her mouth right near my belly button and say "I love you, Baby!" and then she'll put her ear right next to my belly, and in a high falsetto say "I love you too, Bonnie!" Sooooo cute!

But, the all time cutest was the other day, she had her head resting on my belly, and the baby made a huge movement. The kind where if I'd been able to see, I probably would have watched a whole arm move the length of my belly or something. Bonnie jumped up, very startled, drew in a very loud, sharp breath and her eyes were as big as saucers. She looked at me, and kind of giggled, in an "I might be about to laugh or cry" sort of tone. I smiled at her and said "the baby just touched your face." She giggled again, and this time was a little happier. I think this was the first time she really "got" that there's a baby in there. She's started talking for the baby since that moment, so I really could be right about that. She's felt other movement before, but always at my encouragement. "Here honey, put your hand right here." I think she thought I was controlling it. But, this movement was so BIG and so unexpected, it made it so much more real for her. Absolutely the most priceless moment of my mothering career. :D

Time to cook dinner. I'll catch up more later. Hope all is well!

Awwww Caroline: That was so sweet about your little DD. Thank you so much for sharing. My dd still doesn't get it. I wish I could help her understand. But it won't matter soon since the baby will actually be here!

Rochelle: So glad your baby turned. I bet that was a big relief for you. My babe has seemed to always be head down but I still have fears of her turning breech at the last min.

Ilove: What a story. I get embarrased if my daughter throws a tantrum or raises her voice when out and about. Your story is a doozy. No offense but I did giggle when I first read it.

Jilly: Congrats on the good check up. I am all for comfy during labor and birth too.

Just checking in so as to not have to spend an hour catching up on posts. I am making hamburgers for dinner. We finally have some sunshine around here so I am ready to fire up the grill. Grilled Corn on the Cob sounds delicious right now too! Hope you all have a wonderful evening. Happy July 1st!

Hi everyone!
35 weeks today for me. Next appointment is next Wednesday. Not sure if I get the GBS swab that time or the following week. All I know is that my internals start next week. And that can only mean ONE thing...a baby will be coming SOON!! :eek

Feeling exhausted, emotional, and going "inward" a bit lately. Getting really pensive, worried, etc. Physically I feel like I was hit with a big truck when I get up in the morning (why is this?). And throughout the day my energy just wanes. My one ankle is swollen every night. And the heartburn continues. Dairy products and tomato things seem to be the worst culprits for some reason. Oh, and this little guy/gal pokes and thumps when I finally sit down at night. But then is fairly quiet when I actually get into bed. DH and I are hoping that this is a sign of a sleep-loving baby! :)

Kimberly-Still working up what we're going to do with DS when I go into labor. The ILs live 25 minutes away, so they will come here. But if I go in the middle of the night then I think we will ask one of our neighbors to come over and just until it's a civilized hour for the ILs. Of course, I know that labor can be LOOOOOONG. So, hopefully we'll be able to have time before we have to go to the hospital. GOOD luck with your appointment tomorrow. I'll be sending goood baby and mommy vibes.:love

Lena-Yes, DS will be away the end of next week (8th-11th). I'm not obsessing over it or anything, but I am a bit worried about going into labor WAY early. Hey, it happens. Just know I'll be out here whining about it, too! :eyesroll

Ilove-Doesn't January seem so loooooong ago??? Although this pregnancy seems to have whizzed by for me, I can't remember it being cold out. We are the same week today-35!

Dodo-YES, thanks for getting us started for July! :)

Hi AP! :hola: Yeah, our DS will probably not have to spend any overnights exactly with the ILs as I expect DH will come back home to sleep with him at night. SOOO different that our first experience, huh? DH had his jammies with him the first time and we had like a hospital get-away for two days. Of course, it wasn't quite luxurious, but he was a doting husband then. Now, it's all about DS!

Jl-Thanks. We may very very well change our decision AGAIN before the babe is born, but this just didn't feel right. And you are so RIGHT about following your instincts. My DH always says, "Trust your gut".

Jilly-Glad you had such a good appointment. :)

rochelle-I bet we can fill this thread up in a few days! We're so CHATTY. Remember when things were slower here. I don't even think I checked in every day. Now, I HAVE to!

Caroline-Too cute about Bonnie's rxn to the baby's movements. I've not been as lucky. Each time I grab DS's hand to have him feel something, the little bug stops moving. DS is talking to the baby through my belly button. Seems to think that's the "ear". Coming up with funny names for him/her, too. I have to remember to write all this down.

Anyway, that's all for me. I'm going to plunk down on the couch and read for a long while. DS is asleep early b/c he had no nap. BOY, though, was he tough to get to sleep. Just fights it and fights it. Now, if I could only stay awake... :zzz

Hey everyone!

I had a hard night last night. I have a lot of preassure/pain all over *down there* My lower back hurt and I was having a few painful contractions. I felt frustrated by it b/c I knew it wasn't anything, but it still hurt. It's not that fun to think that I will keep being uncomfortable for at least 2 weeks. I am 36 weeks today! It feels so wierd saying that. Even though for the most part this pregnancy seems to have gone by fast for me, I am still like you mommas who said that it seemed like this month would never get here. SOmetimes I am feeling a little worried about having a new babe in the house plus my DS who requires so much from me still. I can't imagine how it will work, but I know it will. WOman have been doing this forever, and I'll figure it out too.

Bears- ditto the run over by a truck thing. Sorry you are having problems w/ swelling, heartburn, ect. I seem to have escaped those things this time around. All I can think of is maybe b/c of my low weight gain? I had forgotten about that GBS thing. I was palnning on declining an internal next time, but I guess they will have to poke around in there anyway. My Dh will actually be getting home right around when yours is leaving, but you can still whine to me! :) I'll be able to commiserate.

Caroline- That's so cute. I haven't been able to get DS to feel her move yet, but he talks to her too. He puts his mouth right by my bellybutton and says "Hewwo Sawa!"

Rochelle- Yay for the appt, and great turning baby!

ilove- :rotflmao My DS is always wanting to touch "nummies" too. I'm with you an the nesting thing too. There is a lot I want to do, but my body just isn't in the mood

Jillybean- Yay for another good appt. The blue moon thing is neat. July 31st is my due date according to those online calculators that use 28 day cycles. My cycles are shorter though and I have the 29th or 30th. Of course the nurse at the OB counted wrong and told me Aug 1st. I think I might go with saying July 31st though b/c of the blue moon thing. :)

K8- I think nakeds the way to go too, as long as I'm comfortable with who is in the room. If I'm not comfortable that's not going to help my progress any.

Laurie- will you keep doing the daycare until the end? How long will you "have off"?

AP- my Dh will go home at night too. Much different than with DS when he never left my side for the whole time we were there. I imagine this time will feel so much different with having so much time where it is just the baby and me.

I think that's everyone. BTW, where is Madrone? Anyone else who hasn't been around lately? I know there are a few who haven't posted in a few days, but hasn't it been a while since Madrone posted? Maybe they are having computer troubles again.

Have a great day ladies.

Lena: My plan is to continue babysitting until I go into labor. If that happens while the kiddos are here, My mom is just 5 min. away and can come help with them till thier mom, grandma, or Aunt arrive. If I felt like I did last pg. I would probably already be finished with them, but I am doing so well. My patience is shorter but I just remind myself they are young and don't know any better half the time. Right now I am planning on being off atleast 4 weeks after the baby is born. Money is so tight I can't imagine being able to go w/o a salery for more than a month. Even one month is going to hurt. I know it will all work out though. Oh and are you prepared just incase you don't wait two more weeks. It could happen. Hope those bags are packed.

GBS Testing: My MW said they would do it at the 38 week apt. but I think I will ask her to do it at the 37 week. Just those early vibes I guess and DD was born at 37 weeks exactly. She said she won't do an internal exam either unless I ask! I am sure I will be curious by 37/38 weeks though.
I would have to go down the HERE WE ARE list and back track through the posts to see who has been missing. My memory is so bad right now and just keeping up with what is posted has been enough for me lately. I hope everyone is OK.
Looks like we will finally have some sunny weather and most likely miss the rain on the 4th YEAH! Even though the rain is gone for now the humidity has stayed and the temp is supposed to be mid 90's and feel like the 100's. YUK. I would like to take my DD and my daycare kids to the park that is in my neiborhood but i don't know how long I can stay outside in the heat. It tends to make me nautious.

Kimberly: How did that apointment go yesterday?

Lena, I think you're correct in that we haven't heard from Madrone for a while. Hope everything is ok with her.

Big day here yesterday.......DD and I went in to the OB's to have my swelling and blood pressure checked. The swelling finally stopped, so who knows why it came on so fast? A mystery that will never be solved. Blood pressure was still a bit high, but lower than last week's. And, oddness of oddness, even with all that swelling, I still lost 1.5 lbs weight from last week. I'm giving up trying to compare this pregnancy with my last...........they are completely different. It's like apples to oranges. And the discrepancies only get me to worrying, anyway.
And oh! The baby is finally confirmed head's down! Yahooo! And, a point to think about for those of due in the first week of August, I discussed last week's cx's with the OB and she says that if they had lead to labor, we would have had our baby............i.e., at this point, it's completely safe to let everything progress. Yet another reminder that we're getting oh, so close!

It tickles me that some of our toddlers are talking to the baby thru the navel. DD isn't, but she's definitely spending lots of time perched on top of the belly mountain and aware of all the going's on in there.

Jl, be careful with that heat, ok? Dreadful how it hits you before you even realize you've pushed it too far.

The obsession with lemons continues. I'm seriously considering freezing lemon wedges, dusting them with sugar, and using them like ice cubes. Yummmmmmmmmmmmm.

Ok. Must go be domestic and make lunch for us all before DH gets home. Very 1950's of me, I know, but boy does it save us money and makes for pretty good family time too. Still, I wouldn't make June Cleaver proud. I'll never have it that together.

-Leah

Having some down time on this trip. Normally we would have left 2 hours ago. We really need to get out of here sooner rather than later.

I have been gone since Monday and I am so ready to be home. Plans for this weekend are sorting baby stuff. Still not certain on the car seat- I may plan on buying one next payday.

There were board wise 25,500+ posts since I logged in last!

Kimberly- be careful with your high bp.

Bearsmama- I am super emotional. We had a coworker die from a car accident. Her 14 month old died right away but she lingered a few days. Just really enforced how I need to reasses priorities. Another coworker I was traveling with nearly quit on the spot. Her baby is 10 months old and neither was ready to be apart. The dad brought her up after 2 days and spent 2 days tagging along.

Also on the nursing pain, I told ds2 that I had ouchies and he didn't seem to associate the pain with him. I am sad DS3 weaned, untill I remember the pains nursing while pg.

Lena- I was taking notes while reading- trying to hit on major high lights and had a whoohoo DH is home post, only to see he left again. Hope he makes it home safe today.

I feel I got so huge this past week. I am ready to be home. Hopefully we can leave now.

It is July! Now when asked we can say we are due next month!! Ack!!

Hi Ladies,
How's everyone doing? Hot here today, but managed to spend most of my day in a/c. Had a GREAT day. Got a manicure & pedicure. It was just lovely, and I've said before that I don't really enjoy this kind of stuff that much, but it was just lovely today! Toes look damn cute!

Feeling large and ready to give birth. Had a dream last night that I was going into labor. And in the dream I was having mild contractions and when I woke up I wondered if I had really had those symptoms while I slept? My pelvis felt heavy when I woke up, too. Funny...

Also, getting TONS of kicks on my right side from this little baby. So far over, in fact, that when I'm sitting down it feels like he/she is almost in my back. I hope this doesn't mean that we're breech. We'll see what the status is at my next appointment on Wednesday.

Getting our house organized and crossing things off my list. Little things, but it helps. We've been in our house for a year now and it usually takes us this long to get things together...we're slow... ;)

Yeah, Lena, Where IS Madrone???

JL-About the GBS, do you or anyone else know what if the odds of testing+ for GBS are lower if you tested neg during a prior preg? Or is each preg different, I guess??? Just wondering...

Magemom-Sounds like you are ready to come home and start nesting! Sorry to hear about the tragedy at your work. What an awful thing. Harder to hear stories like this when you're preggers, too. Glad we're all emotional together!

Okay, ladies. That's it for me. I really can't believe that I am now under the 5 week mark! BLOWS ME AWAY!!!

Have a GREAT night, everyone! :)

That happened to me yesterday!!! Somebody asked when I was due and, as always, I said "sometime in August..." and they said "Oh, next month!"
and I just about blew a brain fuse. Next month I'll have 2 children!!!
Aaaaaaagh!

Well I'm doing this backwards: I haven't read any of the posts from the last couple of days, I'll catch up on them after I write this.
I don't know if anyone has been paying attention to it, but the government is going to be calling several thousand ready-reserve troops back to duty. We are waiting to find out if Brian is going to get a letter this month, and if so, we don't know what to do. If we were married they might excuse him on account of the baby and our financial situation, but since we're not it probably wouldn't matter. He is partially disabled from his time in the service (knee replacement) but that won't matter either.
I'm trying not to let it worry me until we know on what scale they're going to be calling troops in. He still has nightmares from his stint in Bosnia and he was seeing a psychiatrist last year but he doesn't think anybody who hasn't been through it can help him. I just know this would be worse, because during his enlistment at least he believed in his cause, but he's not behind the politics of this war. And of course he was just a kid before, with nothing to lose. Now he has a home, a child, and another on the way. He was joking about how much life insurance money I'd get if he died in combat. Ha ha.
Anyway, I guess there's nothing to do about it but wait and see. At least his business trips to China/Germany were put off indefinitely.
Meanwhile I'm having contractions on and off. I'm feeling them in my low back/hips just like I did with Olivia, and I'm trying to encourage Baby into a nice easy position. I guess the contrax lit a fire under my butt, because I did a lot around the house this week: re-arranged the furniture, steamed the livingroom rug, organized storage and just about finished decorating Olivia's room.... now all I need to do is finish painting Olivia's room and paint baby Amelia's initials over her changing table in the livingroom. I'm also getting a new slipcover for the sofa, since I'll be spending so much time on it.
I can't shake the feeling that I'm going to have this baby early, and most of my feelings with Olivia turned out to be accurate. Still I'm just 32 weeks so I'm not expecting anything to happen too soon...

Well the fireworks start in an hour and I'd better read those posts and run if I'm going to get a good seat ;)
Happy Fourth, everybody!

Oh Mealymama, I sure hope your dp doesn't have to go. It sounds like he really doesn't want to and who could blame him. :hug I feel so lucky to have a hubby that is close by all the time. We even work together so hardly are ever apart. I will be thinking of you!

Bears, I have been getting kicks to the right side too. Almost straight laterally. My baby has been in a great position for a few weeks now so I wouldn't worry too much. Plus, there is still plenty of time to move around in there. :thumb The manicure and pedicure sound wonderful. :D I have been worrying about the fumes with that so haven't had anything done, but I am thinking about making an appointment for a pedicure around 38 weeks. I think it would feel wonderful.

As far as the GBS testing, I think it is variable on wether you will test positive the second time around. Heck women who test at 37 weeks and again at 39 weeks can have different results. I think "medically" they say the likelihood is higher but ?? It is a normal bacteria to have anyway.

Magemom, hope you get home soon. Trips really seem to wipe me out lately so I know how you feel.

As for me I had a massage (ahhhhhh) and my home visit with my mw today. My doula came by to meet her too. It is getting serious now ladies. :LOL I don't have another appointment for 3 weeks. Seems like a long time but I feel comfortable going a little longer. No concerns or worries so 3 weeks seems soon enough. We have some busy weekends these next 3 weeks. Going to a pole vault competition for my dh on Sunday (yes the 4th). Get pregnancy pictures taken next Saturday (can hardly wait!!) and my dh is riding in a 200 mile road bike ride the next weekend (the 17th) so I will need to drive and pick him up at the end of it. Plus I need to go to Canada and pick up a passport, and then go to the local Immigration office (an hour or so away) to update my green card in the next couple of weeks. I hope I have the energy for it all. :) Good news is I should have it all done to enjoy the last couple or so weeks of pregnancy and not have anything to stress about after the baby is born. :love

That's about it. I will talk to you all later!

Cheryl
:belly :hippie

:hola:
No doubt girlies! Madrone where are you?????? :scratch

Jenn..sorry about your co-worker...that is just awful.....what kind of work are you in if you don't mind me asking?
Ditto on the feeling huge this week...I have not gained a lot this pg but I have a feeling that since I have been finally feeling well and really *eating* but not being able to do my pilates that I am gaining a few now....UGH! *sigh*.....we will see on Wednesdays appt just how much!

Bears there is lots you can do if your little one is breech to turn them around so don't worry...I get all my kicks on the right side too but that is b/c baby is laying his/her back to my left sideways/headdown if that makes sense....lol...yours could be too....

I am so happy..tomorrow puts me at exactly 4 weeks to go! :banana
I am getting so excited!
Wednesday we go for my VBAC testing and will be tempted by the blasted U/S machine to peek at our baby's sex(have to have U/S for VBAC- policy of the hospital we want to birth at-BS I know)...dh has said recently that he would like to know now what we are having, which makes me so crazy b/c I was fine not knowing and now that I know he wants to know, it is itching me.....but we made it this far not knowing so I need to convince him of that .......and myself...ahhh what to do....

ok gtg to bed busy weekend starts at 10am tomorrow!

Ok I guess I caught up.
Kimberlylibby, am I misunderstanding you or were you saying you have a birthing video for children that is graphic? If so, can you tell me the title? I want to make sure Olivia is really ready before I commit to having her there. We've already talked about blood et cetera and she seems fine with it. Plus, she saw her cat have kittens earlier this year... but it would still be reassuring to know that she really has a grip on what's going on.

Ilove, I'm sorry but that's pretty funny about your ds :LOL
my dd has never said anything that made me look bad, but she's tried to embarass me a few times. She calls her vagina her "fancy part" and once while we were in the dressing room at a department store she shouted at the top of her lungs "Mama, there's a STRING in your fancy!!!" loud enough for half the store to hear. I was having my period. I was so happy at that moment that she didn't use correct anatomical terminology! :wink

magemom, that's horrible. What a thing for you to think about right now.:hug

As far as birthing attire, last time I bought a very cute flannel nightgown that hit above the knee. It was so soft and cozy and comforting... and when I got to the birthing center they told me no way, I had to wear the starchy skimpy hospital gown. The mid-wife said that when women wore their own clothing it made her job too difficult. :eyesroll She said the same thing about using the whirlpools during delivery, even thought that's what they're there for... oh brother. So I froze my butt off in a paper-thin gown hanging open in the back, with 2 little flimsy squares of blanket. This time I'm using my own blanket/clothing and if they think they're going to tell me what to wear, they can tackle me and put it on me themselves. The things they chose to fight over!

Hey there all,

We are so chatty. Ds is having a rough night sleeping tonight, so we invited him in bed with us. I am having restless legs so I escaped the pressure of sleep to come check the posts. It seems like reading these posts is the next best thing to a sleeping pill. I love catching up with you wonderful ladies and learning about your experiences, but as soon as I start trying to catch up, I get sleepy. It's a good bedtime routine except I hardly get finished catching up and I don't get to post much. I think it's the computer screen and my sleepy eyes. I know it's NOT the topic or the company :thumb

Can you believe it is getting so close, yet so far away. I am not really nesting exactly, but I did go to Sam's today and bought household cleaners in bulk in EVERYTHING even if we weren't out because I was afraid we might run out soon or forget to buy more and I'd be out when I needed it. So now we have stock piles of laundry detergent, dish soap, mr. clean, etc. I'll probably start using it obsessively soon. I'm starting to get in my head a list of things I need to buy to get ready for the hospital and post partum and I'll be buying that too. Does anyone have their hospital bag packed yet? (for those who are going to the hospital) I need to get that done. What kind of things are you bringing (besides the obvious) Last time I brought everything but the kitchen sink. I bought the cutes baby blanket for our little Thomas. It is one of the few things we've bought new for him so far. The cradle that is being stored at our IL's so far will be brought over next weekend! I'm so excited!

Q: What are you ladies doing about laundry detergent? Do you use regular or dye free or some organic type stuff that I've probably not heard of? I don't want to fork over the money for dreft, so I bought All free and clear. I used that with Ben (He was really sensitive for the first year or so) and it seemed to be good. What do yall use?

I am super emotional lately and the coworker tragedy and the dh's going oversees stories are making me misty. I hope that you dh's are home for your labors and plenty of recovery time. I just couldn't imagine what it must be like. My MIL was pregnant with her first child when her dh was in vietnam. The only reason that he was home for the birth of their son was that a major disaster hit (Hurricaine Cammille) and destroyed their home. This was before the baby was born. So I am sitting here thinking "what would I do if my husband was sent to war when I was pregnant, and my house was destroyed right before I was supposed to bring a newborn home!!!" They lived in a hurricaine shelter for the first few weeks of his life--can you imagine? ok I need to go to bed because all this is getting me weepy again.

I hope everybody takes care and has pleasant dreams and don't get too chatty so I can keep up. (just kidding--catching up on these posts is a great way to spend time propping up the feet)

Hi Ladies,
I'm up here at 5:00am in the east b/c I cannot get back to sleep. Although I know that I'll probably crash sometime later today, it's so nice to be up now and hear the birds singing and have DH & DS still snoozing away! :)

Mealy-Hoping your DP doesn't have to go ANYWHERE, of course. And I can completely understand your instincts/feelings about the birth of this next baby. Although I thought I would go early with DS and was 4 days past EDD, you've had a different experience. I would prep early, early, early...

Naturegirl-Glad to here your babe is in a good position AND that you're getting kicks in the same spot as I am. This just all seems so different than with DS, and he was in a good, head-down position the whole time, I think.
Oh, and I've worried about the fumes at the nail place, too. But I did it anyway. I have only had it done a few times in my life and I think it is okay. Of course, I wouldn't want to sit there all day and breathe in all that stuff, but I *think* for a short time all is okay.

Hi Mealy! :)

Christeeny-I've asked the same Q about laundry detergent for the new babe's stuff. Last time I washed everything in Dreft. I'm wondering the same thing if there's a natural, organic-type detergent that would be better (and maybe less expensive) than the Dreft. I like to stay away from the perfumes and chemicals for the new little ones, but something about the Dreft just drew me to it last time!

Anyway, have a bunch of things going on this weekend. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stay awake for all of them! :)

I am a Communications SUpport Specialist. Ha! Fancy name for the documentation requared to run a phone system in a large office. I work out of corperate location but help support the 48 field locations in 4 states as well. We are a team of 3 and I am the least technical, but I can follow directions like a good trained monkey. Normally I deal with contracts and invoices- making sure charges are accurate and as low as can be. Also anything related to cell phones is my area. Ordering, replacing, purchasing and plan changes. This road trip I was an "equipment buddy" helping out 2 folks from tech support upgrade all users to Windows XP and new laptops for mobile employees. On the last day something happened with the printer servers or something and instead of leaving at 11am we left at 3:45. Nothing I had a clue about which was why I could log on to the internet- I had nothing else to do!! It was also storming so it was slow driving. So instead of getting to the home office at 2-3, we got back at 6pm. Ugh. Oh well, OT before the baby's born can't hurt, eh?

The coworker who died was in a different office, and I don't think I ever met her. Most of my conversations with people are over the phone. That is what gets me- the potential to meet her at something is now gone.

I have never been tested for GBS. I did get a call while I was gone I failed my 2nd 1 hour glucose test. This does not look good. Part of me says skip breakfast before I call on Tuesday to get the 3 hour out of the way. And part of me says I probably have GD just send me tothe dietician and give me my glucose monitor. I am a tad concerned with the next pregancy. If I will end up with regular diabetes. I don't like to eat anything that isn't a carb!!


Laundry detergent? I LOVE Dreft. Every baby gets one bottle. I will use half the amount recommended and call it good. I don't like All's version of baby soap, but have used the Free and Clear half and half with the Dreft. Ivory Snow is another favorite and I do use it- even if it washes out the flame retardancy stuff.


DH made it to our first child's birth by 10 days. I told him the due date over and over but he came early 'just in case' I even scheduled an induction for 2 days before he was scheduled to go back overseas 'just in case'. I had no plan for what to do if he wasn't back. There was someone in Iowa who lost their home due to fire and they sent the DH back for 2 weeks to help. I can't even imagine.

You know, I sat down here to balance the checkbook for hte first time in a week and jumped on here.... what does that tell you about my priorities? lol
I need to finish that so I can get up and clean this smelly house.

Has anyone use the arm and hammer free detergent? I hear that is great for cd's so I assume it is great for baby clothes too.

Bears, I am sure that a little exposure to the nail stuff doesn't hurt but I couldn't imagine doing that for a living and being pregnant!

Magemom, did you refuse the GBS test or just haven't had it done yet?

I am so thankful, I must say again, that my dh isn't going anywhere and there is no threat that he will. How horrible to have a tornado or fire destroy your home at any time never mind when you just had a baby! :(

Cheryl
:hippie
:belly

I have never been offered it. Last time I had no internal exams so I know it wasn't done with out my permission. If it was ever done I didn't know it.

Like many of you, my memory is shot. There are so many things I would like to respond to, but I'm afraid that I will forget half of them.

Mealy, I'm surprised that your dp hasn't been able to find a therapist who has been through the trauma of war. I bet that kind of experience is a motivating factor for some to pursue psychiatric studies.

Re: laundry detergent, I use a local kind sold at health food stores. I was very happy with it in terms of baby laundry, but now that I have a mud-covered toddler, I am starting to have doubts. Let's just say that the state of her clothes is not a great advertisement for the stuff.

Re: clothing at birth, Last time I carefully chose an outfit (a soft, comfy t-shirt belonging to dh) only to spend the final hours in the buff. Now I can't imagine giving birth in clothing.

Re: peeing in a cup, I don't have any trouble reaching my stream, but I do have a major problem with clumsiness. At my last appt., I spilt an entire cup of pee on my skirt and undies. Dh kindly assured me that my pee must be little more than water, given that I need to go every twenty minutes.

Re: kicking on the right side, I have this and my baby is said to be in the perfect position.

Re: babysitters for birth. I have no idea what I'd like to do. I am compiling a list of various friends' and neighbours' vacation schedules and will probably make the final arrangements on the spot, depending on who is in town, off work and willing. My major sticking point is that I want dd to be at the birth, but I don't want a caregiver there.

At 32 weeks, I am just now at the stage where pregnancy is becoming a full-time proposition, as in I feel the need to lie down and concentrate on growing this baby. After feeling very disconnected to this baby, I am starting to think of "us" as "we", as in "We need to eat now." I have also started panting. Anyone else short of breath?

We are visiting with my in-laws and my mood and condition is obviously a challenge for everyone else. I don't have the energy or desire to do anything other than the tamest tourist activities (e.g., everyone looked scared this morning when I suggested that we take dd to a cat show, they looked just as scared when I insisted that we spend the morning at the local petting zoo, the exertion of which caused me to spend the afternoon conked out in bed, the boredom of which made everyone else take advantage of my napping to go somewhere more fun).

I have never been tested for GBS. I did get a call while I was gone I failed my 2nd 1 hour glucose test. This does not look good. Part of me says skip breakfast before I call on Tuesday to get the 3 hour out of the way. And part of me says I probably have GD just send me tothe dietician and give me my glucose monitor. I am a tad concerned with the next pregancy. If I will end up with regular diabetes. I don't like to eat anything that isn't a carb!!


Not much time right now, but let me tell you, the three hour is nooo picnic. I learned this time that they can give you a simple blood test that is far more indicative of GD than any other, and will alert you if there really is a problem. The three hour is just diagnostic, it can't actually tell you how you're doing healthwise. Ask for the glycohemoglobin, and look for my post in the last thread if you want my full experience. Much better, much easier, one blood draw, no freaky diet, no long waiting period. All around, a clear choice for the best indicator of GD from what I've researched.

[QUOTE=Dodo]
Dh kindly assured me that my pee must be little more than water, given that I need to go every twenty minutes.

:D

Oh, Dodo, that really made me grin! Man, TMI I'm sure, but I swear mine could be reconstituted into something strange and not so different from my prenatals.......and I'm drinking like 80oz of water a day, too. Which brings up the question:
What prenatals do you all take and how often do you take them? Do you continue to take them while breastfeeding? I'm using Nature's Plus Ultraprenatals and I wonder if they are a bit overkill, if there is such a thing. I continued to take them while nursing DD, but not as religiously.

And Cheryl! I say protect that carpet!!!!! With DD's birth, we spilled the olive oil literally 4 times in the last 15 minutes of labor. Shower curtain liners are a very good thing to have around indeed.

-Leah

Thanks for the :hug 's

Dodo- I don't honestly think he's looked all that hard :eyesroll He's the kind of guy whose head could be falling off and he wouldn't go to the doctor, and anyway this is kind of a taboo subject for him. He would rather have it treated as a sleep disorder than PTS syndrom.
Well on a happier note...
I just couldn't wait to fill the house with babiness, so yesterday Olivia and I adopted a kitten! He's 9 weeks, grey with stripes and tiny! Olivia named him Milo. He is sooo placid (most of the time) and has taken to his new home like a fish to water. He is usually curled up in front of the keyboard while I type, purring in his sleep :) . He only gets up to chase the mouse arrow around the screen :love
Listen to me, I sound like I'm writing a birth story!
Anyway I was thinking earlier that if we gave a kitten to all the heads of state there would be no PTS. I'm thinking of shipping a crate of them to the next NATO summit.

:thumb to everybody whose discomfort/issues are resolving themselves, and

:hugs to those who aren't feeling better.. or feel worse

Hey ladies. Heppy 4th of July to the American mommies. I have read all the posts and have some replies to people, but right now I feel like I just need to talk about what I'm struggling with right now.

My Dh left this morning. He's not going anywhere scary or anything, in fact he's not even leaving the US, but he's gone. We are both very worried about me having this baby while he is gone. Part of me keeps saying, no, you still have a while, but there are just things going on, kwim? For the past few days I've been struggling with quite a painful low backache. I just have things going on that I don't remember having at this point w/ DS.

Last night we actually thought that my water had broken. I was standing at the stove making dinner when I suddenlly had 2 big gushes that felt nothing like going to the bathroom. I smelt it and it didn't smell like pee. But nothing else ever came. I think that either the baby did some kind of funky dance move on my bladder (and it didn't smell like pee since I drink so much water) or I had one of those things happen when you have a high up tear and it heals over (which I know is unlikely)

So anyway, right now I just feel worried. Dh made me promise to not do much, basically put myself on a kind of bedrest. It's so hard though. I have so many things that I need to get done before the baby comes and I desperately want to get them out of the way. I'm trying to make myself feel better by doing the things that don't require much, such as writing the list of phone numbers and working on my bag packing list.

Well, anyway. I just feel so down right now, and you ladies and my mom are the only people I feel like I can talk about this with. I feel so angry right now that DH has this job that always takes him away. He will get 10 days of leave after the baby is born, but then I bet he'll be off again leaving me alone with a high needs toddler and a new baby. When DS was born he left when DS was less than two weeks old to go to ROme. I'm sorry for complaining, but I just feel so crudy that I needed to share.

Hope all of you are enjoying your day.

Oh, Lena! I'm sorry you are having such a rough time and have to be by yourself for this spell of time. When is your DH scheduled to come home this time around?

Can you give your doula a call today? I know it's a holiday and all, but in my experience most people in the business of delivering and making babies, particularily doulas and midwives and the like, don't put a whole lot of store in the calendar. It might really help to talk with her. Between the on-going bach ache and the gushes, you have every right to be concerned. And I think your Dh is correct in that you should slow down as much as possible. What can you do to help yourself relax mentally as well?
In the end, all the little things we get all worried about in regards to the coming baby are just that, little things. Even if you have this baby tomorrow, you've got what it needs most already: a mother's love and devotion. The rest will all fall into place.

-Leah

Thanks Leah. I guess I'm just being kinda self-absorbed and pouty. Sorry guys. I really don't think the baby is coming now, but I just can't but worry. I am feeling better about it now though. He is supposed to come back thursday, so not a long trip.

I am planning to call my doula anyway. She used to be in the military, and married a military man, so she understands about all these things. When I hired her I remember that one of things that I loved about her is her promise that she would be there for me no matter what, even if DH was gone, ect.

Well, just chalk me up to an overly-emotional, hormonal, very pregnant woman. I am taking it easy, restricting my nesting to things that can be done sitting or anything invloving diapers (b/c my diapers make me :D ) Oops, not *my* diapers, LOL. My kid's diapers!

My goodness, Lena. Your dh's advice is sound, but how are you supposed to follow it when alone with a toddler? Many cyberhugs!

Mealy, my dh has a dr. phobia and is unlikely to seek treatment from anyone, particularly a therapist. Currently, a lot of our couple friends are having relationship problems. Most are in therapy. I keep praying that we keep our heads above water because I know that dh would never consent to therapy.

So it would seem that we all have very watery pee. Maybe this is meant to protect us from embarassment when we pee our pants laughing or sneezing.

Hello ladies - we're home from our camping trip.

We arrived at the campsite shortly after noon on Friday - most of the families were already there (some came in as early as Wednesday !). Set up our tent and started chatting to the other families that were around.

Just picture 1 large site with 11 families - totalling 21 adults and 25 children (oldest was 10 years old), and 1 dog.

It was a lot of fun - the kids were great, all running after one another all over the place, getting along great (the only arguements seemed to be among sibling sets !). The adults really fell into a sort of familiar chatter with one another (some of us had met some of the others, but nobody there knew ALL the others). It was so relaxing and laid-back.

Until night-time that is. Aside from a few kids fighting bedtime, that actually went quite easily. Our issue - our bed deflated on us. Yes, there was a hole somewhere in our air-mattress and by the time we actually got to bed, we were literally sleeping on the rocks and roots under the tent - I've got the bruised hips and sides to prove it. I think I got about 2 1/2 hours sleep total on Friday night.

Saturday was nice - I was really quite sore, so opted out of hiking with the others (Okay - I pouted and whined to DH about not being able to go, but there was just NO way I could). Stayed around the campsite mainly - lounging in the shade and watching the kids play.

We were going to stay Saturday night - Brad pumped up the bed just before I went to put Owen down, and we borrowed a sleeping bag to put under the mattress as well. But by the time Owen was drifting off to sleep, he and I were on the ground again. THen the fireworks started and scared Owen so bad - I have never seen him react like that to anything before.

So - 10:00 at night we started packing up to leave, hit the road at 10:45 pm and home at about 1AM.

Not the exit we were planning on , but there was just no way I could sleep another night on the actual ground. If the bed had stayed pumped enough for me to even get to sleep I would have stayed the night and left this morning though.

Lena- :hug So sorry to hear that you dh has to leave again! Hang in there and know that you are in our thoughts!

It is amazing to me how much negativity can affect us. I am starting to want to hibernate, and think I need to. I was at MIL's yesterday, and my 17 year old SIL is pregnant. She had already dropped out of school about a year ago, and to me she is very immature. Well, the stupid thing is she keeps buying dogs, which she doesn't take care of, and all my MIL does is complain about it, but doesn't make her get rid of them. Well, when I was there yesterday, I noticed this great dane she had, and it was so strange, it just sat in the dog house, didn't even come out to greet like most dogs. After about an hour, it came out, and I took one look at it, and started bawling. It is completely emaciated. Nothing but bones. I have never had such a reaction before, or seen anything so awful. It has affected me so deeply, I am waiting until Monday to call the humane society, since I don't think anyone will be there today. I considered taking it home, but I wasn't sure about bringing a probably diseased dog into our house. But, it makes me so sad and angry. She claims she feeds it, but it is obvious she isn't. And to think she is going to be having a baby! That people treat totally helpless creatures like this makes me sick. And that MIL just says, "it's not my dog, its not my problem." It is in her yard! Doesn't she have any compassion?

I hate to blame things on hormones, because it always seems to undermine how we are feeling. But I have a feeling that I wouldn't have actually cried like that if I wasn't pg. But, it is still so disturbing to me, I can't shake it. It is kind of representative of how that whole family functions, so that is probably more the issue.

Anyway...I can understand those of you who are dealing with intense emotions. And from what I remember, they don't go away anytime soon. When I was first nursing I kept getting these big surges of emotion with let down.

Sorry about your bed on your camping trip, Lizabear, that is crappy. I can see me making us drive back in teh middle of the night too.

Hope everyone is having a good 4th. It is raining here, so fireworks are canceled. But we did see some in another town last night, which ds really liked. WHo is calling me...better go!

happy 4th american mommies!

lena- i'm sorry your dh is gone again :hug i hope you can rest as much as possible while he's gone, i can't imagine how tough it is w/ a toddler all alone though!

liza, i think i'd have come home early too! sorry you had such a crappy time w/ that mattress!

i too am still experiencing the overly-hormonal days...i know it'll even out after baby arrives and all, but boy do i get some looks now. i know ppl must think i'm crazy lol.

we finally went out for our anniv a week late today...went to eat in memphis and went to the mall and target. yummm, we had paella, coconut prawns and dulce de leche cheesecake at bahama breeze and i had what they call a lemon breeze (homemade lemonade w/ a sugar cane stick in it)...now i feel great <G> nothing like a full, content belly lol...coming home though, i had 6 contrax's in the hour it took us to get home...i have had a few in the hour we've been home, but not consistently...so at what pt do you call dr to ask what's up? i figure it's probably just from walking, but i don't wanna take any chances since we're delivering in memphis and it's an hour away. still very crampy, low backache and lots of pressure though, sigh...
re:baby clothes, we wash in the baby all - but only use about a tablespoon per load, really don't need much for baby clothes imo...
and re: packing hospital bag - i too wondered if anyone had packed their bags yet??? i started thinking about this today, but haven't actually done anything lol

Oh, Melissa!!!
That's disgusting. Do you have an ASPCA, or any no-kill shelter or rescue group? Most breeds have rescue organizations, even if the dog is a half-breed they may rescue it. Your Humane Society is probably overloaded with animals this time of year and they ofter euth sick animals when they are full. Please consider calling a rescue organization rather than the humane league unless they have a no-kill policy at your local branch.
I don't know your family but if I were in your shoes I would confront the little brat about her sickening selfishness. Even if she is feeding the dog obviously it has a problem and needs vet care. Sounds like the type who would let her baby waste away and claim FTT, stick it right on formula and tell everybody "Oh, I tried BFing but I couldn't..."
That kind of neglect, without any concience, without any sense of responsibility... it's horrifying even when a tiny baby isn't involved. Ugh.

bad days around here. warning: serious whining ahead....

yesterday afternoon, nothing sounded good to eat, and for dinner i only had some french fries dh heated up. i tried to take my mind off my insides by doing some knitting, but my gut got unhappier and unhappier as the night went on. heartburny, burpy, roiling... and i knew if i ate anything it would come back up.

a check i thought had already cleared hadn't, and wiped out the rest of our checking account. entirely my fault, though dh was sweet and went to play musical money, letting me stay home and stew about it.

we had free tickets to a pro soccer game and i just totally bailed on them.

i tried to just go to sleep and couldn't. the b/h contrax were constant, and my hips were aching no matter which position i was in. took some pepto bismol, some tums, a hot shower, listened to one of the relaxation cds, sat in the hot tub, drank a little milk... and i still tossed and turned until about 4 a.m. just a miserable, miserable night.

slept until about 10, and dh brought me the sunday paper and a poached egg in bed, bless his heart. but then he went to play his stupid computer game for the next four hours. ds called from california, and while i was talking to him, i had to hang up quick and throw up the egg. then the contractions started again. nobody came upstairs to see if i was even alive until about 2, and by then i'd worked myself up into a royal snit (not to mention having zero energy... i didn't even want to sit up).

dh finally came up, all ready to go to a fourth of july thing, and said, "boy, you look green." yep, thanks for noticing. he fixed me a glass of milk with protein powder and i was able to get that down, and immediately felt a little better. but no way was i going out... i asked him to bring me my laptop, my knitting, some anti-contraction tincture, and some water. my throat was still burning from barfing so i didn't want anything else to eat yet. i told him to go and have a good time, but to have my dd come check on me every half hour or so.

dd did so, and i ate a little corn after a bit (buttered corn sometimes goes down when not much else will). i listened to a webradio station of adult comedy on itunes and finished knitting the little purple booties i've been working on. the comedians actually got a few big belly laughs out of me ("my cousin died from a bee sting last week. the bumblebee... the natural enemy of the tightrope walker.") and i started feeling better this afternoon.

so sorry to dump this on you but i needed to whine a bit!

liza, i hate blow up beds like that.... that's why we invested in some of the thermarest self-inflatable pads. not cheap, but they won't let you down! hope your bruises have healed up...

lena, my heart goes out to you (again!). i hope thursday comes quickly for you... btw, did you know you have two layers to your "bag" of waters? the chorion and the amnion... sometimes the outer one (sorry, i don't remember which one that is!) gets a little leak, but doesn't pop the inner one... my midwife back in CA said this happens more often than you might think. maybe that's what happened with you... probably not anything to worry about, BUT if i were you, i'd start taking my temperature. if one bag has broken, you might be more susceptible to infection, and you want to keep a very sharp eye out for one.

dh and i have decided to let him fly to buffalo, NY, for a juggling festival we've both worked on all year. he was so blue about missing it, and it will only be july 14-18... four nights... i'm not thrilled about him being gone, but he can catch a plane back fast if something gets started (and i'd still only be 38 weeks, when i've never done anything before 40) so i'm trying to be at peace with it. besides, he'll see about a million of our good friends, many we haven't seen since before we moved. i don't have a toddler to deal with, either...

ilove, i know what you mean about the hormones... but i don't think you were overreacting! that poor animal. maybe you need to not spend time over there anymore... you need to beef up those positive vibes before greeting your beautiful baby!

happy anniversary, frog! sounds like you spent it wisely...

re: laundry soap. i just use our regular costco giant bucket brand, but i will set the washer to do a double rinse. none of my kidlets had particularly sensitive or reactive skin, though, so if this baby does i'll be back to ask for advice!

this is my first time living in a place where fireworks are legal. it's quite nervewracking. actually, they aren't legal, but apparently like red-light-running, it's tolerated to the point of practically being legal anyway. i used to live in northern california, and by this time in the summer everything would be on fire if idiots were out shooting off fireworks. our town had a great fourth party, thousands of people crowding the huge community park... free swimming, cheap lemonade and burgers, bands and dancers and skydiving and of course a huge fireworks show. sure, some morons ran around with sparklers (have to keep the fire department and emergency rooms busy) but in general we avoided major conflagurations. tonight, though, the streets are a battle zone and i'm not liking it. just being a nonpatriotic grump, i suppose.

mealy, congrats on your little fuzzy bundle of joy!

foxy, i'm taking Floradix with extra iron... it's the only iron supplemented vitamin i can handle without becoming stopped up like rush hour...

birth clothing? sounds like an oxymoron to me! that's one way i know i'm in real labor, not the putzy prodromo stuff, when the clothes come off. of course, i'm at home and we can close the blinds, so it's not an issue (although i'd like to figure out a way to shield my hot tub from the neighborhood so i could go float in it in labor if i want to during the day...).

i don't remember if i wrote about this or not, but dh's coworkers gave us a little baby book shower last wednesday. it was very sweet, and we got lots of the old classics as well as some newer ones i wasn't familiar with. so even though this will be my fourth baby, s/he gets some nice new unscribbled books to start off with! i even got all the thankyou notes written by noon yesterday (before i started feeling so crappy).

the next day i had a midwife appointment, everything looks good. next wednesday is the home visit, and i'm stressing a little bit on getting the house into good shape... i can vacuum and sweep ok, but scrubbing the kitchen and bathroom floors are beyond me right now. guess dh will get those jobs!

jeeeminy, i didn't mean to write a novel. i've been reading your adventures, just not feeling like writing much. until today, i guess! well, thanks for listening to my kvetching, and i have such sympathy for all of you! a few more weeks and the worst will be past, and we'll have our beautiful babes in arms...

hugs,

katje

Hi everyone!
Hope you're all having a Happy 4th. Very low-key for us at the ILs which was just what we needed. DS is now sleeping comfortably! :)

Lots of movement on the either side of my belly today. Perhaps arms and legs??? Who knows? Ankles are really swollen today. Especially the left one. Weird b/c I was barely outside today and they were bad, and yesterday I was out in the heat for some time and they were BETTER then. Another weird pregnancy phenomena this time around!

Oh, and tonight I had a piece of this wonderful homemade pie my MIL made AND some Trader Joe's oreo-type cookies with peanut butter. Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... :yum

magemom-Sorry about your positive glucose. I know there have been a few on here who have had the same issue. Perhaps you can look back on the old threads??? Hang in there. Oh, and I would definitely say that checking in here with youre prego friends is WAY more important than balancing that checkbook!! :D

Nature-Yes, I can't imagine how people can work around the nail stuff day in and day out while prego. I just have a regular old manicure-no fancy stuff. No cuticle cutting either (I'm paranoid). I just have them file and polish and it looks a million times better than when I do it!

Dodo-I felt extremely connected to DS #1 while he was in utero. With this pregnancy I think I started having these same feelings when we went through some testing scares back in March of this year. This is one thing I will miss about being prego. I love thinking of "us" and having a whole world existing inside me that no one really "knows" about. And Dodo-your words about your mood and energy level cracked me up b/c they hit so much for me. I don't want to do ANYTHING that involves being too social...ugh... :eyesroll

Lena- :hug You are ALLOWED to be upset and concerned and bummed about your situation right now. Pregnancy is such a vulnerable time. And not having your partner around AND taking care of a toddler is NOT a small feat. Please take care of yourself. Is there anyone that can care for your DC for maybe a few hours while DH is away???? It might be worth looking into to give yourself a little break...lots of hugs to you...

Liza-So glad you don't have to sleep on the ground tonight!I'm amazed that you lasted as long as you did!!! Glad to have you back! :D

Ilove-Ahhhh, this rollercoaster of emotions! I'm this way almost every single day lately. And you're right-they don't go away easily. I remember crying a lot in the first few weeks after DS was born. It was mostly stuff like "ohmygod he's so gorgeous and he's our son and blah blah blah".

Frog-No, no bag packed here. In fact, I just started thinking about packing a little bag for DS in case he had to go the ILs house instead of them coming here for some reason. Soooo not prepared for the actual going into labor part of this! RE:clothes-I think I'll buy some dreft or allergy detergent and wash with very little of it. You're right-baby clothers don't need much...

That's all for me...Gotta catch some zzzzzzzssss.... :zzz

bless your heart katje, i sure hope you're feeling better this morning...it stinks being this big and uncomfortable and being sick to your stomach on top of it

bearsmama - i hadn't even thought about a bag for the kiddos for overnight at their gparents when i go into labor :duh...guess i was just concerned about me and baby ian lol :laugh:

feeling better this am...no more big contrax's like last night, guess i just overdid it!

Wow, I did it. I got caught up and it only took an hour! I havn't logged on since Friday. Just been out and about, so busy. Saturday I went to a local parade that my nephew's baseball team was in. My daughter ended up being in it too cause she wears a chearleading outfit with his teams logo. She had a blast. It was perfect weather too, overcast and breezy! I spent the rest of the day with my mom at her house and we had fun watching old home videos.
Yesterday was a very busy day. We had early morning church and then a fellowship time with food after service. Then we headed to a birthday swimming party for a few hours. My DD has no fear in the water and that scares me. She had a blast though and i loved being in the water. Love that weightless feeling. We then made the hour and a half drive to Granbury and met my friend at her moms house off of the lake. We had perfect seats to watch the fireworks. It was so beautiful and really cool too to see the hundreds of boats gathered out on the lake to watch. It was my DD's first time to watch and she was so enthusiastic. At first every time the popping noise was made she would gasp and say"What's That"! Then as the fire works became consistent she would say the colors, or look stars mommy, and oh it's pretty. It was a special moment with her I won't likely forget. Well all of that was the happy parts of the day. I had a little scare. This baby just wasn't moving yesterday. I even had my DH go get me a french vanilla cappicino from the gas station. That didn't even get her hopping. I was having lots of BH's and had a headache I was really becoming concerned. finally that afternoon I felt a big movement and was relieved. She started moving more that evening but i still was concerned at such a decrease in movement. I decided that I would call the MW today if things hadn't picked up. Better safe than sorry! But she has been satisfyingly active this morning so I will hold off on the call. Still having plenty of BH's but nothing in a pattern or that hurts.
No, I havn't packed a bag for me yet but that is on my "to do" list for this week. I figure it's time now, just in case right!
GBS: I know that we all actually carry it but it's just inactive in most. So I don't think I have read anything to support that if you have or have not had it before that it increases or decreases your future chances. I can't seem to find my links that I have on the subject right now. I will post it if I find it later.
Lena: darn it, I wish your DH could just stay with you right now. Lot's of hugs to you. I second the opinion that you should watch your temp just in case of infection. Have you done any more exams on yourself? Keep us informed on how your doing. I sure hope this is your hubby last trip till after the baby comes!
Laundry Detergeant: DD is extremely sensitive and I just recently started using regular detergeant on her clothes and she's two. I used Dreft forever. Luckily my mom is a bargain shopper and ofter found boxes of Dreft for really cheap!
So sorry, if I didn't respond to everyone, I had a lot to respond too since I missed two whole days. I am feeling very sleepy even though I just got up 2 hours ago. I think I will go try a shower or bath and see if that wakes me up some more.
Have wonderful day ladies!

I wonder if it was the heat, the fireworks or the messed u routine, but I also had lots of BH last night. Which was very hard since ds3 wasn't interested in staying put and I wasn't interested in getting up. :irked: I was so glad I didn't have to chase him all by myself. There were 2 other kids I was really annoyed with. One who kept telling ds2 he could have sparklers and the other who kept setting off noise makers and flashers right by me. The girl used the sparklers light pon-poms and was NOT watching what she was doing. I did use the contrax as an excuse to leave. Hated being the party pooper, but it needed to be done.

Today's agenda? Yard work and house work- cuz neither is ever done!

:hola:

Katje...:hug for you ...I cannot believe you are still :Puke...I think I have finally been free'd of the 9 month M/S I have had...I know I have..I have been eating like I haven't ate in months....Oh wait..I haven't been able to eat in months...:LOL..hope you get a week or two of relief before the baby comes.....

Liz sorry about the camp trip...I would of never made it on the ground sleeping either..ouchie.... :(

Melissa sad story about that dog :crying..did you call this morning to report it? That would make me cry pg or not....

Heather..glad the BH have calmed down for now. I had a day like that too where I had a procession of BH for an hour that I thought ok-one more and I am calling MW..but it all tapered off...teasers those BH...:LOL
I have been wondering about packing for the hospital too...I think that will be one of my "labor projects" when I start to go into labor ....I want to wait until my doula gets to my home anyway since she is going to follow us to the hospital(a 40 minute drive) and it will take her about 40 minutes to get to my house......hhhmmm I hope my labor does not progress fast.....

Bears stop with the cookies and PB...:yum.....:LOL..Oh I need a chocolate fix baaaaad....

Detergent..All free and clear here..good for the dipes and easy on the $$$

Laurie glad the little bean got back to movin' and a groovin' for ya....:thumb

GBS..here is a link I have:

http://www.collegeofmidwives.org/prac_issues01/GBSinfo98a.htm

I really never gave this much thought and my CNMW/OB has not mentioned it yet..so if they don't I won't and if they do..I am not sure what I will do .......I know I was not tested with ds #1.

Well, off to errand running land, to pick up my co-op order, buy belly casting items and hope to do the cast tomorrow!, and pick up a towel rack for the bathroom and a pail to use for the new babies dipes.

Wednesday I go for all my VBAC testing and tomorrow I am officially 36 weeks! :banana :carrot

Have a Great Day!

I thought I should reply just so no one worries that I'm out having a baby :laugh: No really, I'm feeling pretty good. My lower back/pelvic pain has lightened up (maybe b/c I've stopped trying to get so much done) I did do a self-exam the other day and found basically no change over what I had felt before. I will watch myself though. Dh is funny and keeps calling to see how I am doing. We recently got cell phones so now he can call me whenever and wherever he wants. :) He is so excited for this little one to get here, I think esp. b/c this time around he knows what he is doing (except for cleaning poo out of girl parts LOL!)

I'm glad I'm not the only one feeling emotional. I think it wouldn't be so bad if there weren't so many stressful things going on. Hopefully after thurs. I can just relax and enjoy the rest of my pregnancy.

AP- good luck w/ the VBAC testing. Enjoy making your belly cast. I'm glad you are finally getting to EAT!

Magemom- That must have been no fun last night. I hope you BH's slow down.

Laurie- wow, sounds like you had fun. I'm glad your little one picked up movements again. I've noticed that my babe doesn't move much on days when I am out and about being super busy.

Heather- glad the BH's went away!

Bears- yum yum! Thank you for your kind words. Actually, DS is doing pretty good for me. We just moved things around in the house so that the second bedroom (that no one sleeps in) is now a playroom kind of place, and we have the computer in here too, so we have been hanging out in here. He plays a such and I relax and spend way to much time on the computer being bored.

katje- :hug I'm so sorry you are having it so rough. I sure hope it gets better for you. And thank you for that information. I didn't know that. That was nice that you got a book shower. I love books! DS has way to many books. Thankfully I haven't had to buy most of them.

ilove- I agree that the mistreatment of that dog is very disturbing. If she can't care enough about the dog that she chose to take responsibility for, I find it scary to think how she will react to her child. I hope you are able to be a good influence and also that you can somehow help that poor dog.

Lizabear- wow you are brave. I don't think I could have gone camping. Between the heat, bugs, and general uncomfortableness, yuck. Glad you didn't have to sleep on the deflated bed though :)

I think I got everyone :) Happy feel-good vibes to all.

hi ladies :wave

That poor doggie. I am such a dog lover I would have scooped him up and taken him home with me.

Speaking of dogs. I didn't get much sleep last night because my one year old lab got scared of the fire works and ran away from my in-laws. We didn't find her until 10 this morning. She was gone all night long. I was so worried...It is the first time she has been away all night. Thank goodness she is okay and safe at home.

And speaking of emotions...I was on the phone with dh when he found her and started to :bawl when he said "there she is!"

Other than that the 4th was great. Sunny and hot but really good. I got a little bit of a sunburn on my legs but nothing too bad.

Lena-girl, glad you are feeling better. I haven't had any ctx/leaking scares but I am sure they are a coming soon...

Hope everyone has a great week!

Cheryl
:hippie

hi!
I'm so glad to hear everyone is doing well.
JL--Ben and I spent the afternoon swimming also and he too is fearless. That worries me. His grampa always catches him when he jumps in the water and doesn't let him dunk. We are going to let him dunk the next time we swim so that he will get the connection and maybe develope a healthy amount of fear. My il's have a pool and that is where Ben spends alot of time and will be during my labor and recovery. They have a gate, but I still worry. That weightless feeling is grrrrreat. :thumb

I have a confession.... The nesting bug/hormone/fairy--whatever HIT!
I have been going crazy! I'm not neccessarily cleaning the house in general but I"m obsessing over little things, like reorganizing drawers in the boys' room or washing the pack and play and carseats and yadda yadda yadda. I can hardly concentrate on anything else. :nut :flipped

Hi everyone,

I did call animal control today, and the animal control officer also works at the humane society. He wasn't in b/c today is a holiday I guess, but I left a report and he is supposed to check it out tomorrow. I really hope they take all her animals, and hopefully this will also prevent her from getting any new ones in the future. Boy, I am sure the family is going to be P*ssed, but who cares!

I feel like my body is definitely warming up for labor. I think it is a long warm up, but I have noticed it. Lots of BH, also -(warning TMI ahead!) My bowels have loosened up alot on their own. I was fighting constipation before, and it just changed. Interestingly, this has caused the hemorroids to flare up. So I really want them to go down before labor. Pushing with hemorroids? Yikes! I have been checking internally every few days too, and haven't really noticed any changes other than the cervix maybe getting more soft and squishy feeling? Does anyone know if it gets lower as it ripens? I have to reach up pretty far to feel anything. Since MW is 1.5 hours away, I am trying to keep good tabs on what my body is doing!

I have been cleaning the house, but not because of any burst of energy. More like, ok, its gotta be done, lets just do it and get it over with. I cleaned my kitchen thoroughly, including sweeping and mopping under the appliances, etc. I still have to clean carpets. I wish we could afford someone to do it for me, but no, I will bring out the little steamer aand plug away.

I am starting to get tired of being pg. I think wow, it could be a whole month before I have this baby! That feels like forever (for today anyway !) I am looking forward to being able to lay on my stomach again and being able to move around gracefully.

Have a great day everyone!

He is so excited for this little one to get here, I think esp. b/c this time around he knows what he is doing (except for cleaning poo out of girl parts LOL!)

LOL I know what you're saying!
I think my husband will have a lot more faith in himself this time around. He knows he won't break a baby. However he is a bit concerned about the differences in boy babies and girl babies. It's not a concern in the least for me.

~Daednu

Thanks to everyone who has missed me. I have been gone for computer problems once again. I had an error on my new hard drive that I couldn't get out and so I finally decided to re-format it. But on re-installing software, I have been going in sets of two's and each and everytime after I check the drive, I have an error. So then I have to go through the process of fixing it again before installing the next two things. I haven't decided if it's my BIOS not supporting the HD size or if it's the drive. And I really don't want to spend that much time on it. But I'm going to have to because if it's the drive, I do want the store to take it back and it's not like I can wait for ever and then return it.

We have registered at a hospital about an hour away from here. On our way there for the registration, I got sick. I hadn't gotten sick since about the time that Katje got sick at the cinema. Then, I had tried using toothpaste again for the first time and went to bed afterwards and promptly puked all over my pillow. This time, I puked all over my shoes, some on my pants, and the bus floor. We had to pull into a gas station to clean up the bus and me. Of course, I cannot seem to throw up anymore without wetting my pants, so along with the barf, I had my watery pee on them also. I didn't have a change of pants and undies in the bus (I should know to always have them in there by now), so I had to wear a swimsuit of DH's to the hospital for the registration. At least I had picked them out so it looked they okay. Especially for a pregnant woman.

Oh yeah, and Katje, I puked again last night right after brushing my teeth. You aren't the only one left with it yet. I think I'm over with it, and then it turns out that I'm not.

A bit over a week ago, I was afraid that my water might have sprung a leak. But I guess it was just the baby hitting a full bladder and me having such little bladder control that I couldn't quite figure it out. We had gone to a neighborhood picnic that night, so I quickly made my way home (thank goodness it was after 11 and dark) and changed into a skirt from jeans. The next evening when preparing to wash them, there wasn't very much question as far as what the liquid on the jeans was. Did you wash your clothes immediately Lena? Because even though our pee at this point may not have much of an odor initially, if you let it sit for a while, it gets quite a bit stronger. I was pretty relieved by smelling them later.

There have been quite a few of you who have said something before about being behind on laundry. I've always wanted to recommend using the European system of laundry to you, but have never quite gotten around to it. Here, we have two seperate prices for electricity. We pay about half the price for electricity after 10:30 pm until early morning hours. Oregon had adopted something like this, but they completely didn't implement it correctly by having daytime prices go up for people on the 2 price plan. For us to have to prices, we just pay 4 euros more per month and pay the same day rate. By only running some things at night, we more than pay for the 4 euros. But it means that we basically only run one load of laundry and start that before going to bed. Means that I cannot throw something in the wash once it's too late because I have most probably already put something in there, but that actually worked out better in the case of the jeans that one time. Not everyone can do laundry at night only though because of the location of the washing machine to the bedroom. Since my washing machine is in the bathroom outside, it works out well for me. And I don't get behind on laundry since it's such a set routine.

So, we registered at the hospital in order to be able to say that we were going to go there but there wasn't enough time. But DH is really wanting to go there now. After getting sick on the way there, I'm sort of glad that we just cannot afford to go to Holland because it would be such a longer drive. But I really don't want to have a hospital birth. This hospital is known to be more liberal than the one about half an hour away. The midwife who registered us did give little credibility to what the OB had said on a due date (which he had sited 3 different dates that do not add up in anyway) and said that doctors don't know when and the woman is the one who knows. That was a positive in my eyes. But she also said that some women have to have DNC's when they miscarry because of risk of infection. I didn't quite like that because I really think it's a personal choice and saying something like that to a woman is more like trying to scare them into a DNC. But she also said that if they hear a strong heartbeat, they basically just leave the woman alone to do whatever she wants. I still don't know that I would want to be there though. I just don't see myself as comfortable there and really don't want to drive there. I really hope that I'll go into labor at night and the baby will come in the morning and both DH and DS will basically just sleep through it so that I can be left alone. I'm worried about how my DH will react if he's around. He seemed a lot more confident about a UC when we first started thinking we couldn't go to Holland, but now he isn't at all. I think he has talked to too many people now who think that having a baby is a medical procedure or something. My mom really ticked me off the other day by telling me that I was risking my and my baby's life by not being in a hospital. Maybe I really should be posting all of this on the UC thread though.

Someone else had talked about nursing quite a bit. Maybe Bears? I'm still nursing my DS. My boobs are more sensitive in one sense, but I think I have pretty tough boobs all together. I haven't worn a bra since I stopped needing pads to keep my shirt dry though and I think that going braless makes them a lot tougher. Some of the time though, DS will bite me if he has fallen asleep though and that's just awful. This only happens when I have fallen asleep also and haven't taken his boob out of his mouth. But for the moment that I wake up until it is out of his mouth, my reaction is anger towards him. Once I'm awake enough, I realize he is just a little sleeping guy that I adore. Of course, I yelled when waking up and he automatically started crying (thus releasing my nipple) and is then crying, so we have to start the sleep process again with him hopefully falling asleep first this time. But it kind of disturbs me that I have anger towards him for that moment.

DS has really been crying a lot lately. Like tantrum types of crying. DH finished up with school on the 25th, so he's been around and I think that makes things a bit worse. DS loves DH, but DH doesn't have as much patience and we stay more active (meaning less sleep) with him around all the time.

Just got called down to dinner. Take care all - Tiff

Oh - I forgot to say. I've become anemic and have been very short of breath. I know someone else had complained about being short of breath. I'm on iron tablets, stinging nettle, and dark chocolate now. The iron tablets have made me so constipated it's ridiculous. But I love having doctor's orders to eat dark chocolate every day. They never checked for anemia when I was pregnant with DS, but I'm kind of thinking now that maybe I became anemic with him also. I was having the same types of things then but they thought it was because of me having such low blood pressure. Maybe it's actually a result of both? At least that's what I'm thinking now. Take care all - Tiff

Crap! I was reading the paper and it reported a death. For the life of me I can not remember what town this guy lives in (other than one of the ones I was at this past week), but did ANOTHER coworker die? It said he drowned in a race, I am mostly sure it was the right office, right number of kids, right age.... I have no idea how to find out for sure before tomorrow.

This SUCKS!

I had my 32-week check-in with my favorite midwife today. I won't see her until August now

Baby's heartrate is in the 120's.
No sugar this time - great since last visit there was a fair amount in my urine (I still blame the chocolate cookies and the coke I drank just before going in!)
Blood pressure was 114/80
And for once, I was actually measuring right on taget ! *L*

I go back in 2 weeks.

madrone! great to see you again... but sorry to hear of your trials. barfing on a bus! i don't feel so bad anymore... most of the time i get sick, i do it at home. i love the fact that you have a prescription for chocolate! and don't feel bad about your insticts re: being bitten. you're asleep, it's a completely natural thing to be mad about having your boobie bitten! i'd yell, too...

wonder how ketilave is doing?

thanks, everyone, for the hugs and understanding. i really needed it! you guys are the best. today was much better, and dd and i got a LOT done getting the house ready for the midwives' home visit. always more to do, but at least the house isn't a complete pigpen right now.

think i'll go find some chocolate myself...

and thanks again! :love

katje

Madrone: So So So glad to hear from you. Those darn computers, they can be so frustrating. I would have broken down and just cried had I had a similar experience that you had on your bus ride. :hug So glad your back with us.

I was so lazy today. I rested all day and took a long nap with my DD. I am looking forward to only having my daycare kids ONE Day this week. I can really use the time off to just focus on Bre and the upcomming birth of this sweet baby. It's just so close! My friends are throwing me a baby shower on Saturday. Someone already sent me a gift from my registry. They sent a glider rocker. I have a really nice glider that even swivels from my DD and I don't really need a new one. I plan on taking it back and trading for the Britax convertable carseat that I want. It's more of a nessesity

Well, I need to go enjoy some time with my hubby. Have a great Evening!

Hi Everyone!

How's everyone hangin' in? Things here are fine. Got a lot done today around the house. It was beautiful out, but we just hunkered down and cleaned, organized, etc. DH goes back to work f/t starting tomorrow. And after almost 5 months of really having him around most days, it feels like it's going to be a weird transition for both of us. I think we were trying to squeeze as much as possible in today. Plus, DH leaves for London Thursday. Say a prayer to the universe that this babe doesn't decide to come 4 WEEKS early! :yikes:

Washed the carseat cover today, put away a bunch of new little things in dresser drawers, etc. Realized that I have SO much stuff for this little babe w/out even going out and getting too much more! I just had to find it and sift through it all. Oh, I still need a little, cute coming home outfit, and perhaps a onesie from that great Granola Threads site that AP suggested.

Rearranged the bedroom recently so I *think* that the co-sleeper can snugly fit next to our bed. We'll see how it goes. We have a twin in DS's room, and a sleep sofa, so if baby and I need to escape to another bed, we can.

Katje- :hug I'm sorry you had such a rough day. I can't believe that you are still sick! What a total bummer. Please take good care of yourself.

Jl-Don't they say to feel for about 10 movements/hour when you're worried about activity?? Sounds like your babe has picked up some steam though. You know,also, at this point they actually SHOULD be slowing down a bit
b/c they don't have much room left.

AP! :) Best of luck with your Vbac testing. We are so close-I am 36 weeks on Thursday of this week.

Lena-You CAN'T have that baby now, sweetie! keep it in, keep it in! For your DH's sake and ours! :)

Christeeny-I, too, am obsessing about these weird little things. Like cabinet drawers, pictures in albums, the silverware drawer, etc. WEIRD! I think one of my biggest fears right now is that I will go into labor and the house will be a PIGSTY. Isn't that a dumb thing to be so worried about at this point? I just know that they ILs or the neighbors will be be in and out of my house...just one of those things I guess... :o

Ilove-I, too, am getting a little tired of being preggers. I really want my body back. I said to DH today that if I'm only have ONE, why does it look like TWINS will be coming out of my A$# in 4 weeks???? I am big, uncomfortable, you name it....still loving feeling my baby move, marvelling at the wonders of it all, but tired, tired, tired of being so uncomfy at this point!

daednu-I know what you're saying about DH feeling a bit more confident this time around. I, too, feel like the little things won't throw me like it did the first time around. For ex., when DS was like 2 days old, we layed him down on the bed, and when we picked him up the bed was wet. We couldn't figure out WHY the bed was wet. Honest to GOD. We were like, Well, what IS it? By golly, it was pee! But we couldn't figure it out. It was like a mystery to us at the time! :D

Madrone-Good to see you! :) Yes, I've been talking a lot about nursing lately. And we are only human! When DS used to bite, I was not a happy woman. And my DS has been crying and tantruming over weird stuff lately, too.

Liza-Glad your appointment went well... :)

This morning we broke out the early videotapes of DS-right after birth in the hospital, at home in those early weeks. And DS was completely freaked out over the hospital footage. He liked seeing his newborn self in mommy's arms, but during the hospital stuff, he actually started to cry... we fast forwarded. But I realized that today was just too much about baby, and not enough about him... he's realizing it's getting close. Even though it was him on the video it was still a baby. Hard for him as I'm sure it will be when the new baby is here.

Okay, enough of me this evening! Thinking of all of you. Just want to say again that I feel so fortunate that I've found you all and can share this amazing ride with all of you!!

:love

Madrone-It is good to see you again! I am sorry as well to hear that you have been feeling so awful! The end is near, right?

Bears-You always do such a good job responding to everyone. I always look forward to your replies! I think my ds gets tired of hearing about the baby sometimes too, and I asked him if he wanted to watch his baby movies, and he didn't. He would rather watch his birthday party, or something else. I feel kind of a bittersweetness lately too, only a few more weeks of having just one child, and then our family is going to be changed forever. I want to scoop ds up and hug him and never let go. It is frustrating too, b/c I want to play with him more, but I am soo tired, and have such a long list of things "to do". I need to make him my priority though!

AP- I also want to send you well wishes for your VBAC testing! I hope everything goes just fine!

My friend, mr. hemorroid, has gotten worse through today, which is why I am up at 4 a.m. It is throbbing it hurts so bad!!! I have been trying everything to get it to stop swelling up. I really, really want it to go away soon, b/c I can't imagine having to deal with this pain on top of labor as well. The only thing I haven't tried is homeopathic remedies, b/c I don't know of any. Anyone? It has only been about one day, hopefully if I stay off my feet tomorrow it will be better. It didn't help that I had to pick up 42 pound ds twice today to put him in the shopping cart.

I am jealous of those of you who have your home visits with you mw's coming up soon. Mine isn't until the last week of July! I feel a little abandoned b/c she left for a 10 day vacation while no one is due, and is going to take another camping trip when she gets back, but will still be on call. I don't think she is being unreasonable at all, I just think I am more sensitive to it, b/c my m/w in my first pg, PLANNED her vacation on my due date. And then acted put off when I asked if I could meet the back up m/w in person, etc. In the end, I didn't like her at all, and should have found another care provider early on.


Peace everyone!



:Peace

Melissa- :hug I've never had a hemmoroid, but I'm sure it's terrible. I know that the hospital I gave birth to DS in gave moms with hemmoroids a sitz bath. Here's some info on a sitz bath: http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/ency/sitz_bath.html
I too am wishing that I could do more with my son. I know it's frustrating for him b/c he is very active and isn't used to not having a playmate (me). Oh, and good for you for calling about that poor dog!

Bears- sound like you are getting a lot done. I tried to get a lot of stuff done too while DH was still here. I hope his trip goes well for both of you :) My DS is really sensing how close this is too. He goes from being sweet and saying sara's bed, sara's diapers, laying his Ruh-ruh in Sara's bed ect to not wanting to see my belly and trying to be mean to the baby things. WHat do you think your child's reaction will be when the babe is actually here.

Laurie- enjoy your easy week w/o daycare kids every day :) Well, maybe not easy, but nice. That's a great idea to trade the rocker for the carseat.

Katje- I'm glad you are feeling a little better. Chocalate sounds good to me :)

Liza- yay for your good appt.

Magemom- I hope you didn't have another coworker die, let us know :)

Madrone- glad to see you back. COmputers are so very annoying sometimes. I'm so sorry that you are still getting sick. And on the bus :hug I'm glad that you found out that you are anemic so you can take care of it. I developed anemia in high school during track one year and it made me so sick. I was so tired and threw up a lot. Perhaps your anemia is part of why you are still getting sick. WHo knows. Anyway, chocolate sound good to me.

Christeeny- I know what you mean about fearless kids. My DS gives me a heart attack almost everyday! I'm nesting too, but like you I'd rather do things like organizing and stuff, I feel too big and tired to do all the really big stuff.

Cheryl- Glad you got your dog back.. That must have been horrible.

I have to do some good cleaning today. We are having someone come clean our living room carpet and fix two holes that the dog we had tore in the carpet. I have to clean up down there and move toys and stuff out of there.

I talked to my doula yesterday and I think it's set up for her daughter to watch DS. I'm going to go buy some stuff for him today like little toys and playdoh. We also talked about when to call her and all that kind of stuff. I am so glad I have a doula!

Have a good day everyone :)

I am sitting here laughing to myself because only in my third trimester could a thread with so much information about other women's cleaning schedules be of such interest to me. I actually think, Carpet cleaning, that's amazing. Silverware drawer, done that. I even go so far as to feel jealous of those of you who are progressing in your nesting. Right now I'm on vacation and nesting is necessarily at a standstill. I even packed some of our more severely stained clothes, thinking that I could at the very least do some intensive laundry while away. However, I forgot that my MIL, with whom we are staying, is pathological about laundry. Yesterday while we were out she went into my closet, grabbed my pile of stained clothes and washed them herself. It's an odd situation because I don't like anyone else doing my laundry, and she knows that, but if I bring it up, she will be overly remorseful and I will only feel bad. On dh's advice, I am now hiding my dirty clothes. Isn't that weird? We've only been here a few days and she has done our laundry against our will at least twice. I should add that beyond this particular quirk, she is a lovely, balanced woman.

Katje, I have a home visit w/ my mw scheduled for the day after we get back. Like you, I'd like the house to be presentable. Dh thinks that's beside the point. I dunno. In the eyes of a birth attendant, what makes a house suitable or unsuitable for a homebirth?

if I'm only have ONE, why does it look like TWINS will be coming out of my A$# in 4 weeks????

Bears, I can totally relate. In fact, I'm so happy to be away from home, where all the neighbours, acquaintances, cashiers, etc. are convinced that I'm past due with multiples.

My dd has been tantruming an hour or two a day. Yesterday she kicked me in the belly and I freaked. I honestly don't think that I have forgiven her. I spent the afternoon contracting. Dh and I went out last night alone to review our approach to tantrums. We're at a loss. I'm having trouble spending any time with my dd, when I envisioned this as our last hurrah. Dh looks as though he wishes he had joined a monastery instead of starting a family. I've been fantasizing about going away on vacation alone. I don't think that our dd's behaviour can be blamed on the upcoming baby, because she's so weird about the baby that we never talk about it in her presence.

Madrone, your birth plans certainly aren't off topic. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you that you will get the birth you want. Oh, and I'm sorry that you got sick in public.

I am sitting here laughing to myself because only in my third trimester could a thread with so much information about other women's cleaning schedules be of such interest to me. I actually think, Carpet cleaning, that's amazing. Silverware drawer, done that. I even go so far as to feel jealous of those of you who are progressing in your nesting. .
:rotflmao :laugh: Oh lordy! Okay, and I'll go one step futhur. This has got to be the only time in my life when I am actually interested in things like the bathroom functions of other people b/c I want to know that they are going thru what I am!

Oh, and btw, I still giggle about "no sids for dodo"

That is what DH is calling me. This guy and I had a chat on Wednesday about kids and computers. We both have 14 year old daughters and 12 year old sons. He also had an 8 year old and I have smaller ones.

I am sad, but this one didn't hit me as hard as the mother and child.

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_pg=1638&u_sid=1140121


Otherwise, I need to be nesting. I am at work today and ready for a nap. I can think of a half dozen things I could be doing. I did clean out a drawer in the kitchen a few weeks ago. Does that count? Last night was hard- i burned the crap out of my fingers on the grill so I was't up for much but whining. The cats have decided the baby blankets are a good place to nap :irked: I need to shampoo my carpets.

I do not let MIL do my laundry either. Goes back to when I was living there and all my 'cute' undies she gave to SIL. She wasn't used to have another female of the same size with undies and I wasn't willing to go hunt them down out of SIL's drawer. My mom feels keeping up with the laundry and dishes means the house is clean. That is about all she does in her house and I appreciate not having to do it in mine. Poor mom spent the better part of a day trying to 'unpink' a bunch of towels. They were cleaning rags and I didn't care!

Bathroom functions? I have progressed to using moist wipes because I can't seem to reach well enough anymore. How is that for TMI, Lena? :nut

Tiff - glad you popped in. I emailed you ages ago but must of gotten lost in the wide world of computer chaos. Glad you guys are hanging in there. Good and bad about the Netherlands.

I'm around. For me I am slowly withdrawing into my own world. As labour approaches I get pretty hermitish and that apparently applies here too. I am reading up though.

I have an appt weds and mon. Don't expect much. I dropped about 4 inches since last night which makes walking a real joy. Never happened before with the other 2 pgs. DH said it makes my breasts look perkier again!

Been throwing up in the am for the last couple of weeks and wake up in the middle of the night with an upset stomach. It's keeping the weight down - not like it's hard it's so hot and humid - who wants to eat.

Ready for normal clothes and to feel attractive again. I am so tired I just feel worn out. DD still doesn't sleep the night and DS is back in our bed. Just in time for the new one.

GTG - DH is off at the moment so we are going to get the car cleaned and I'm going to stroll around BabiesRUs. Not that I have a single thing I need - that's kind of a downer about #3 being so close behind the other 2 plus having 1 of each sex.

:hola:
Hey mammas...man I am waaaay behind...so sorry....:blush

Melissa let me see what I can find for you as far as a homeopathc remedy goes for your little friend. ;)

Madrone/Tiff soo good to see you! Sorry about the anemia...and the puke episode on the bus :hug...your poor girlie...

I can only relate to all of you who are mentioning to much baby-baby-baby and not enough attention on our little ones that are here now. DS is regressing a bit by saying he doesn't want to do things by himself anynore like -pee-feed himself- put his shoes on ...ect..all of which he was fine doing before this last month or so..I feel so bad...he is 4 and really is excited for the baby, but I can see that my 1st baby is still needing me to baby him too....so trying to make the most of our days together this month mean a little more than just the regular day in day out stuff....

utoh...that did not sound good ds and dh upstairs and I hear a boom and now ds crying..gtg......

Only have a sec. Just a correction, it wasn't a public bus that I puked on. It was in our VW Bus. But since it is a bus, it isn't carpeted like cars are luckily. There's the metal and then some removable rubber/plastic stuff to cover the metal, and then small floor mats on top of that. I would have really been screwed and embarrassed if it was in a public bus.

Oh, a VW bus. That's much better. I would be humiliated if a public bus had to pull over for cleaning because I had puked on it!

hey ladies... Feeling very very very tired today. Can't keep focused on anything--except reading these posts. But even that exhausted me. I also don't feel much like eating. What's up with this? I just want to curl up and snooze and let Dh do everything. When I wake up I'll be graduated and all ready to have this baby asap! I'm getting sick of being pregnant--yet loving it at the same time...isn't that weird? :belly

last night after writing to you guys, i dug around in the fridge until i found what i suspected was lurking back there.... a jar with just a little bit of my precious Scharffenberger dark chocolate sauce! about a tablespoon left in the bottom.

so i find the vanilla ice cream and nuke the sauce, and boy it's smelling gooood... and of COURSE that's when dh decides to voluntarily get up from his precious computer game and sashay into the kitchen! argh. i love him but DAMN i really had a hard time gritting my teeth and saying "hi, honey. i'm having a little treat, would you like some too?" and of course he got all wide-eyed and said YEAH!

sigh. i did the right thing and shared, instead of knocking him over with the fry pan and dashing into the backyard with the bottle and a spoon and hiding in the hedges until it was all gone. i should get a medal.

katje

Hi everyone! Great to hear from each and every one of you. Madrone, your puke in the VW trial reminded me that I've been meaning to ask the following:

If you're planning to travel to the hospital (our trip will be something like 45 minutes), are you taking some precautions to protect your car? With my last labor, it seems like fluids just plain came pouring out of orifices randomly (yep, yuck, but true enough), but we were home, and the labor took up an entire weekend, so it didn't seem like such a big deal. But what if you have a real fast-paced labor and have to be in transit? And how do you go about handling cx's while in a vehicle? Do you ride in the back seat on your knees?
I'm feeling so relaxed about our upcomming delivery except for the issue of the trip involved. I feel like if I can get past this one hang-up, I'll be finally ready to concentrate on preparing myself. I know it's common enough, tho, for people to travel a distance similar to our's while in labor, but I don't know anyone personally that I can ask.

Who asked about the 'roids treatment? I know that you can make your own wipes with witch hazel and that it's cheaper to make them yourself than to buy tucks, or whatever they're called.
I also wanted to mention to you all that along the lines of homeopathic skin/membrane help, I am such a big fan of Bach's Rescue Remedy Cream. Comes in a bright yellow box, not too expensive, totally benign. I'm not one to personally go in "whole hog" with a lot of the theories behind homeopathic remedies, but this stuff was great for me and my very battered perineum. If you have any trouble healing your tender womanly tissues after birth, you might want to try it. Took the kick out of my uncomfy hemorroids as well. Very soothing. Good on diaper rash, too. I mention it b/c we all have some very sensitive tissues that are about to take a major battering and it's not like most doctors even know the stuff exists, let alone would ever recommend it.

Who was talking about the intimidation of cleaning out little girl parts? I'm sure in the beginning that DH was intimidated by keeping DD clean, but I'd say those days are way "behind" us. He-hee. I myself am a bit concerned about what to do if this next one's a boy and we don't have him circumsized. Girl parts, I know all about, but intact boy parts are new territory for me.

HOpe you all have a very good evening....

Helloooo Ladies,
Well, DH just got back from his trip out to get us some ice cream (I say "we", but you all know it was for me only!). As my treat gets sufficiently soft, I have some time to write.

DS is having many of the same issues that a lot of your kids are. He's alternately very quick to cry, gets very frustrated very easily, and yet has become SO DAMN snuggly! He just wants love and kisses and hugs and is really into giving it back, now, too. It's too sweet-bittersweet, really. This whole time is really a mixed bag of emotions, isn't it?

I have another doc appointment tomorrow morning. DH is coming with me with DS. This starts my weekly visits. And my nether regions are not their most beautiful right now. Not like I care that much, but a hemmoroid and I *think* a coming on yeast infection are making me feel oh-so-glamorous. Am I painting a pretty picture yet, girls??? :yikes:

Ilove-Try the witch hazel. And I've heard good things about herbal sitz baths. Haven't tried the Rescue Remedy cream but sounds great. Moist wipes are a good idea. I was in a friend's bathroom the other day and she keeps these kids' wipes by the toilet for her daughter. I was thinking they'd be good for me, too! :D

Lena-I am torn between thinking that it's just going to be hellish introducing DS to the new babe and thinking it will be bliss. The truth probably will lie somewhere in between like so much else in life!

Dodo-I know, I know. Part of the reason I'm feeling so anti-social is b/c of the HUGENESS of my body right now. Believe me, I've accepted this bod on so many levels (I talked about my body image issues during this pregnancy), but I know that acquaintances are often aghast at me size! Could be my own projection a bit, too...

Magemom-I don't know what is worth, my bathroom functions and the state of my a$% and va

Ketilave-Sorry again you're still getting sick. Also, I completely understand withdrawing at this point. And you probably know this aspect of yourself even better with it being #3. I'm just want to curl up-read a bit, and stop analyzing/thinking/intellectualizing everything. I want an "empty mind" right now-like BFW talks about...

AP-Sounds completely normal about your DS. Mine is going through the snuggly thing, and wanting me to hold him a lot. It's just going to be SUCH a HUGE change for all of our kiddos-no matter how hard we've tried to prep them. We can only give them as much love as possible now and after the babes are born. Was it someone on here that said that with a new baby and an older one you have to kind of save your adoration of the babe for when the older one isn't around? Like with DS, we could just fawn all over him all the time. That might not be the way we can do it this time around... :crying

christeeny-No, not weird at all! Feeling the same way-I want my bod back and at the same time I'll miss feeling this little being inside me...

Katje-VERY protective around here with my snacks!! I would have high-tailed it outside if I were you... but you are a better woman than me!!

Foxy-Thanks for the recc. about the Rescue Rem cream. I've never seen the cream version...I'm always on the look-out for a multi-tasking product! Good for me, good for DS and babe...

Anyway, ice cream is sufficiently melted now. If you must now, it's B&J's Pnut butter cup. And honestly, girls, I don't always act so self-indulgent. Really. I actually have a food conscience when not preggers!

Sleep well all. I'll let you all know about my appointment. I'm meeting with a doc that's due when I'm due and she's tiny, tiny, tiny... :irked:

sigh. i did the right thing and shared, instead of knocking him over with the fry pan and dashing into the backyard with the bottle and a spoon and hiding in the hedges until it was all gone. i should get a medal.

katje



:balloons


:clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap :clap

Better woman than I!! :nana:

Thanks everyone for your suggestions about the hemorroids. I have tried them all except the Bach's cream. Do they sell that at health food stores? I will pick some up! Warning TMI again! Actually someone on another thread suggested tucking it up back inside and that helped the most. It stopped the throbbing pain. Now it keeps popping back out, but it helps for a while. Everything else seems to aggravate it more than help. Isn't it funny how something like this can jjust take over our minds? All I thought about today was this. I laid down on my left side as much as I could also. I was also very tired today, poor ds watched way too much tv!

I am also a little worried that baby moved to transverse. Is anyone else as neurotic as me? I can not WAIT until my next mw appt to see how she is laying in there. It isn't until MONDAY!!! But at the same time, it is hard for me to tell b/c it feels like my whole belly is baby with little feet poking out here and there.

I will be estatic when I feel this baby's head drop down!

Samurai-you are a better woman than I also! I don't know if I would have shared! :D

I had contrations last night from 6:20pm until 9:30..every ten minutes...mild contrax and period like cramping down low in front...called MW and she said off my feet and water water water....thank goodness they never picked up in frequency or got stronger....so she says we will also do an internal exam this morning when I go in for my VBAC testing at 11 am. I do not think the contrax did anything...I think I was just on my feet to much yesterday and not enough H2O. So we will see...

in an effort to appease the 4 year old, I added smilies to my sig :)

He loves to look at the happy faces. 2 year old just calls them all circles!

(I need a hobby) :Sheepish:

That is a bit scary! Glad they stopped for you. Tomorrow I have my appt and will be 35 weeks. I have decided anytime after tomorrow works for me :D If I could hold off another week that would be fine- I do have some things I need to do after payday. Not that I have had any reason to think I would be early with this one. I can't believe I am starting to concider induction at exactly 40 weeks with this one.... and why would that be? Aug 15 is the kindergarten cut off....

Wow, a lot of excitement for me today and tommorow. I had my carpets cleaned :banana and the guy who did it offered us his German Shepherd. His other dog attacked and killed the neighbors dog so they need to find another home for both dogs as the neighbor is really ticked off. We'll see. He said she's really sweet, and I told him that we would have to be extremely picky about any dog we brought into our home b/c of having little kids. DH would love to have a GSD at home.

I also have an OB appt. today. I plan to refuse any vaginal exams if they want to do one (I don't know if they will be planning to do the GBS swab or not). Last time I went by myself with DS it was horrible sitting there on the table waiting with just a little paper thing over me while DS ran around trying to get into things. He knows very well how to open a door and I was so stressed out trying to keep him out of stuff and away from the door while having no clothes on my lower half!

I am going to do my shopping for things to entertain DS while I am in labor and afterwards when he comes to visit us at the hospital. Tommorow I am meeting a local MDC momma at a mall, and then DH comes home :banana I might get a pedicure at the mall if DS is cooperative. I need to get a haircut too. I want to cut it really short (think Halle Berry's short style) so it is easy for those first couple of weeks.

Magemom- you are cracking me up! I don't have any hobbies that I would actually admit to any random person. Somehow I don't think most people would consider obsessisng about cute diapers, handknit soakers, and the ways to clean them as a very healthy hobby. Sorry to hear about your coworker.

Traci- Can't wait to hear how your appt. went. Hope the contractions were harmless :)

Melissa- I'm so sorry about your 'roid troubles. It sounds very painful :hug I am worrying about this babies position too. Even though she has dropped, she still manages to some how turn the wrong way on me every so often. I start getting a horrible ache in my tailbone when she does it. I'm worried about having a back labor as I've heard they are much longer and much more painful.

Bears- yum, ice cream. I hope it was good. I'm not feeling weird about how I look in my nether regions this time around, but I have had no interest at all in hanky panky w/ DH since baby dropped. Very different for me than last time. Anyone else feeling that way? Poor DH.

Foxy- hadn't even though about protecting the car. Thanks for the tip!

Katje- I would not have shared w/ Dh. I would have eaten it right in front of him smacking my lips. Of course my DH doesn't like most ice creams, candy, chocolate, ect (yeah, I know. He's weird)

Christeeny- I'm feeling the same way. I'm tired and uncomfortable. I am sick of being in my pregnant body, but I am also so happy to be preggo and want to stay preggo as long as baby needs

Madrone- I'm glad it wasn't in public. After feeling so terrible having strangers looking at you too would have been horrible

K8- I feel like withdrawing too. I start too, but then I get bored. It's like I don't have energy to do all the things I am normally occupied with. I'd really like to just lay down for an awesome nap each day. Maybe I will today with DS when he naps.

Have a great day ladies. Grow some babies!

Magemom- you are cracking me up! I don't have any hobbies that I would actually admit to any random person. Somehow I don't think most people would consider obsessisng about cute diapers, handknit soakers, and the ways to clean them as a very healthy hobby. Sorry to hear about your coworker.


Thanks, we got he official notice today. About the dipes- it is something you do. I have become a MDC addict recently. I can't hang out on my yahoo groups at all. I went no mail on them a month ago for computer trouble and didn't turn them back on! As to anything non computer related? Nothin' :o


but I have had no interest at all in hanky panky w/ DH since baby dropped. Very different for me than last time. Anyone else feeling that way? Poor DH.


Ok, you started it. :raz I wanted to say something but didn't want to sound mean. DH started a new med that may have sexual side effects and he was really worried. So this weekend he nearly killed me. (worn out) I felt so bad that I didn't see him not being able to have sex for the next 3 months as a problem! So this morning I had some hugely sexy dream and I jumped HIM! I am sure he loved that. :blush
I am huge, uncomfortable, can't reach well- not feeling particularly sexy. Not to mention my boobs hurt! But then I was thinking about those 'prolactin deposits' speeding up labor and am thinking I need to figure out how to get more. It could be the meds I am on. It could be pregnancy. Heck it could be my fear about getting pregnant again while pregnant. (am I the only freak who worries about that?) I have 5 kids with 5 forms of b/c... it isn't totally out of line.

:hola:
Back from appt.
The contrax did nothing major and my cervix is starting so soften but not a lot. SO I was just dehydrated and too much shopping under my belt yesterday.
I did opt for the GBS test since it is so non-evasive....my CNMW/OB office do not do any routine testing but she said if I wanted it she would do it so we did...

My iron level was low so now I have an iron supplement to take 2x aday...:(

I gained 2 more pounds,and everything looks fine for me to VBAC. :banana :carrot

The baby is weighing in now around 5 pounds 10 ounces by the US.....we made it through the US and are still unknown to the sex of our baby! :banana! I was so proud of dh for not giving in to the tempatation of finding out!

so that is it for me...I am outtie.....

:banana Apmama! :banana

So happy that all the testing went well and the VBAC looks like it is a go! :banana

Speaking of sex.... :shy Is it okay to have orgasms all the way through the pregnancy? I seem to be becoming more ummmm excited, recently and orgasm fairly easily. (Which unfortunatley is not usual for me...:() I feel it is okay but would like some confirmation. I don't want an pre-mature baby or anything. :eel :)

A couple of 'roid treatments...

A paste made from powdered comfrey root can be used in poultice to heal bleeding hemmorrhoids.

An elderberyy poultice can relieve the pain associated with hemorrhoids. A mullein poultice can be used as well.

Other beneficial herbs...buckthorn bark, collinsonia root, parsely, red grape vine leaves and stone root taken in capsule or tea form.

Of course make sure these are all safe during pregnancy! I don't believe their are any contraindications here but you want to double check. :)

I am also feeling slightly uncomfortable these days. Starting the "waddle" and having a hard time sleeping soundly. This next month will be a doosy I can tell already. But it is all good! :thumb Anything for my healthy, beautiful baby. :love

Cheryl
:hippie

I am usually up to reading on our Thread two or three times a day to stay caught up but I have felt like doing nothing but resting this week. I ended up going to the Dr. office w/ my sister yesterday. It was her 17 week apt. and I was again concerned w/ the baby's lack of movement. We heard the heart beat nice and strong 145 bpm. so I am feeling better about it again. Then that afternoon we went swimming and that felt great. TMI to follow.... I am feeling such incredible pressure down low, specially rectle pressure. I am having nothing but pee and the runs. So gross. I am drinking like a mad woman trying to stay hydrated but I don't know how much of it I am actually retaining. Having lots of BH but they don't hurt. Sometimes 10 in an hour. I am just not concerned about it though. I did try to check myself and gosh darnet my fingers are so short. So I got nothing as to report.
Today I finally got to see my chiropractor after about 4 weeks. I cracked and popped all over. But the best thing was when she popped my left ribs back into place. This little baby has taken to propping her feet up under the ribs on the left side. OUCH!
Sorry no responses this time around. I am enjoying reading up on everyone right now though! Maybe I will have more energy later.
Bye For Now!

I had an appt today also. Mostly just gossiping with my mw. I did the GBS too - I know I have said this before but my CNM is the only HB midwife for MILES - I'm not a fussy pt so I let these things slide to help her "cover" her bases. Did an internal too. The baby is not breach and has dropped some - but while we were there she backed out for a bit - looks like by the end of the day she settles in low and is trying to duck into my pelvis. Totally new as neither of the kids dropped before. Last time my uterus was posterior and not so this time. Won't do any more internals from here on out. MW likes to feel around the pelvic cage to get an idea of alignment to help come up with good positions to labour in.

More to say but GTG

I am absolutely lost - I cannot keep up with this thread now :(

Just posting to say I am still here thoguh.

I'm lost too! :D I like yahoo, personally. Soon enough, I know...

So, I'm still hanging in there. MW appt on Friday. Hope she doesn't try to rag me too hard about the baby being "too big". According to U/S last week, it's already 7 pounds and they think I'm not due until August 23. I might rethink fudging my dates next time. LOL. (I'm really due a week earlier, so not too terribly different).

My best friend from high school is on her way here from California. Her flight was delayed, so she doesn't land until 9:37 tonight. Ugh! I could send DH, but that seems rude somehow, since I'd likely be asleep when they got home. I'll just suck it up and pick her up myself. I'm really hoping she realizes how low key her visit has to be. I mentioned to her on the phone the other day that I'm just not up to doing much, and she sounded kind of disappointed. We'll see how that goes.

I probably never should have agreed to her visit, cause I'm totally feeling like a hermit these days. Don't want to be around other people, just stay home, nap in the afternoon, read books, swim in our neighbor's pool, play with DD, that sort of thing. Starting to nest in a small way. Suddenly realizing that in just a few weeks, all that stuff that's sitting in boxes (diapers, baby clothes, etc) is going to HAVE to be used. Yikes!

Good news, though, is that DH has agreed to a cleaning lady! Woo-hoo! I'm so excited. We normally give ourselves an entertainment budget of $50/week, and we eat out with it. I wheedled and moaned until he agreed that we only need to go out every other week, so I can use the remainder of the money on a cleaning lady! YAY! I just know once the baby comes, I'm not going to be in much of a mood to eat out anyway, so it's a nice way of getting what I really want all along. LOL. I really hope I can find someone for that price!

Traci! What great news about your VBAC appt. I'm rooting for you girl! You're a couple weeks ahead of me, so I'll be watching you, if it's not too much pressure. You can do this!

Cheryl - orgasms are just exercise for your uterus. The more you can fit in before baby comes, the better off you'll be. Tell your DH it's Dr.'s orders. LOL.

Wish I could say something to everyone. Just know I'm thinking of you!

I also had my appt. today. 36w 5d. I went ahead and did the GBS this time since DS was actually being good :eek My OB checked me at the same time and said "Oh, WOW, are you dialated now! I think we can be pretty sure that this will def. be a July baby." We'll see though. I'm still holding out hope to make it to 40 weeks. I finally gained as much weight as I was supposed to since my last appt. DO you think it could be because of all the candy I've been eating :scratch My weight gain is almost 18lbs! Doctor said baby is still looking to be a nice size though. She could feel the exact position baby was in and said it was perfect :thumb

Glad to hear about all the good appts. This is when it starts getting exciting!

add me to the list of ppl that can hardly keep up lol...

i'm seriously retreating into my hole it seems...i've hardly read/posted online lately and i'm becoming a recluse/hermit irl. nesting like crazy, but overwhelmingly exhausted all of a sudden. i am napping each day when the kids do again like i did w/ the first trimester.

traci, k8, and lena, glad y'all had good appts...wow lena, a july baby? awesome! i'm not due till the end of aug (still unsure of dates though) so i'll bet i definitely have an aug baby...

speaking of, mommycaroline - i've measured big this whole time which is really odd for my pg's...we're looking at baby being 9+lbs at birth, but i'm totally unsure of dates...i know i had that u/s at 7wks to date this pg, but the dr did it, not the u/s tech - so i'm not sure how good he is at them...plus, my only 3 af's after having shelby were aug/sept/oct...if i had a period anytime in oct (even if my first day of LMP was oct 31), the baby would be due no later than 8/8, how'd they get 8/21??? i'm so beyond knowing anything at this point...i'm hoping to gain some insight on monday when i go back to the doctor.

I'm not feeling weird about how I look in my nether regions this time around, but I have had no interest at all in hanky panky w/ DH since baby dropped. Very different for me than last time. Anyone else feeling that way? Poor DH.


;) ;) ;) ;) ;)
I think that this is real reason that doctors advocate perineal massage........a little something for DH when you yourself just aren't at all interested. My poor DH......he's already lamenting the nursing.........with DD, nursing really took the umph out of my sex drive. I tell DH that maybe it'll be different this time around? Who knows? These 2 pregnancies have been so different, I don't see why the nursing experience might not vary as well?????

And Cheryl, near as I understand, the word these days is that sex and especially orgasms are really good for pregnant ladies. I agree with MommyCaroline.

Sounds like a good round of check-ups for all. I go tomorrow and am very curious about the babe's position. Lena, you cracked me up re: keeping track of your DS while you're perched on the table half bare. I'm so looking forward to my appt. tomorrow in part b/c DD will be with my MIL and not rummaging thru cabinets and papers at the OB's while I'm stranded on the table. She really, really wants those buttons on the exam table.

Felt sorry for DH and the dog today being stuck with me........I'm on a very short wick and the two of them really had nowhere else to run. It's part of the hermit thing, isn't it? I just want everyone and everything to leave me alone. Not at all like my usual gregarious self.

And what! Magemom? Did you say that people can get pregnant while pregnant? What??????? It never ever occurred to me. What's the biology behind it? Does it have something to do with the longevity of spermies?

Over and out,
Leah

Hi Everyone!
Please excuse me if I sound snarky and grumpy tonight. We had the hardest day with DS. I can't even put it into words. I must have raised my voice 10 times. And tonight trying to get him to sleep I yelled and made him cry! :crying Our nighttime routine goes on forever (really about an hour plus AFTER we've read stories and nursed). I am a firm believer in parenting him to sleep-this is what our guy needs. But GEEEEESHHHH, I just don't know how this can keep up... :confused:

Had my first weekly visit this morning. Started out a nightmare. DH went in to work late so we could all go together. He hasn't been to any appointments with me this time around. Well, when we told DS that he'd be coming, too, he freaked. Cried, and cried and cried. Of course, after about 20 minutes of this I decided to go alone. My DS is such a challenge, nothing is ever easy... NOTHING!!! Of course, I get to the office and there's a momma-to-be with her little boy whose about DS's age just reading books together in the waiting room. Rubbing it in!! I digress...

So, took about 1/2 hour figuring out insurance stuff (there was more energy put into whether or not I was actually covered than there would have been if I had gone into labor right there and then). But after all that, I had a great nurse and got to know a doc a little better that I hadn't seen that much before. She asked if I wanted an internal this week b/c she doesn't usually do them this early. Perhaps next week. I said NO. I didn't want to do anything that could promote labor when DH is going awat tomorrow. So, just general stuff and the GBS swab (which is completely non-invasive. The swab tip is not even inserted). Baby's HB is good. My BP is great measuring fine, etc.

Traci-So glad to know you weren't in labor!!!!!!! :) Not happy to hear that you overdid it. Of course, it's hard to NOT overdo it with another child to take care of.

Lena-I, too, am thinking about gifts/toys for DS while in labor. I had a friend suggest getting DS something "from the baby". Thought that was a cute idea. Something special. He's really into trains, so perhaps a new one. Maybe you'll be the first of us to go!!!

Nature-I've heard that orgasm is just fine and dandy during pregnancy unless you have some kind of pre-existing condition that might make you prone to early labor. And orgasm might be a good way to speed things up when you're waiting on baby!

Jl-Glad to hear that all is well with your sis's baby :)

Caroline-Feeling very hermitsih myself lately...

Leah-I, too, was surprised about the getting pregnant while pregnant talk! Who knew??? Maybe I'm just in the dark. Although I can be pretty sure it won't happen with us b/c we aren't having sex. Just aren't. Although I've had more of a libido lately but I really don't want to do anything to promote labor right now...

Okay, I'm outtie, too. Gotta go get some zzzzzzzzzzzzs. And snuggle up to DS and apologize for my terrible mommy behavior and lack of patience earlier, and well, frankly, all day...:eyesroll

naturegirl, here's some info on orgasms in late pregnancy:

"A study in the February 2001 issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology challenges the assumption that sexual activity during late pregnancy (29 to 36 weeks gestation) can increase a woman's risk of pre-term delivery. In fact, researchers found that intercourse as well as orgasm during late pregnancy were associated with a reduced risk of pre-term delivery."

so tell dh to keep at it! he's doing his part to prevent a preemie!

midwife came for the home inspection visit tonight... we seem to have passed with flying colors. baby has dropped even lower (no wonder i'm in the bathroom every ten minutes), and still in great position. we talked about where to set up the tub, and it sounds like things are coming together nicely.

i ordered a baby backpack from REI... we had the gift cert from our wedding from last year and hadn't used it. i know baby won't be able to ride in it for months but still it felt good to be picking it out!

sorry i don't have time to plow through all the posts, but it looks like most of us are doing well (tho' poor bears! hope ds calms down a bit for ya soon).

hugs to all us huge and lovely mamas!

katje

awww....thanks you guys for being such a great group.....all the well wishes and warm messages you guys send my way sure are appreciated:love :grouphug
I am glad too that everyone who had visits today it is all looking great with the babe...from memory:
Lena...dilated already:D wow...Maybe you will have the blue moon baby!
I also have no interest in sex either-at all ..I have tons of discomfort down there and almost am reaching for the bottle of tylenol at this point b/c it just plain hurts! :crap

Bears :hug :hug
Your son and my son must be twins tonight as we had the worst time getting him to bed today too. I am right there with you in parenting to sleep ..but I failed miserably tonight. I started type our experience but realized I was getting into a novel. SO short story of the night... I yelled too...but ds laughed in my face. He hit and bit us (dh and I both) tonight and laughed the whole time we tried to talk to him about no physically hurting in our house. He would lick me while I lay beside him trying to get him to sleep-again laughing the whole time. He had me so mad/upset I was just beside myself what to do. The gentle, choice giving, natural consequence of actions that usually works for us did not . He was in rare form tonight. Exhausted me to no end. Bears lets hope it does not continue after the babies comes or you will find me in a new white jacket in the corner......

I understand to all about not being able to catch up on posts and wanting to be a recluse-the nesting, you name it....oh and how about the insomnia..anyone joining me(notice my time of post)?
gtg and try to get back to some more sleep to deal with my laughing little man in the a.m. who thinks it is a hoot to make his poor mama cry.

:hug bears. It must be esp. frustrating that your DH is leaving... today, right? My DS always has a hard time the first two days or so daddy is gone. He kicks and headbutts me a lot at night even! I so understand about seeing that other boy at the doctor's being so quietly well-behaved. My DS was wonderful today at the docotos, but he was still doing things like running really fast in circles all around the waiting room and crawling under all the chairs. But he wasn't getting in trouble (although I'm sure someone probably thought I was a bad parent for letting him act that way :eyesroll ) Every kid is different, we just happen to have wonderful little boys who require a lot of momma love and patience. :)

Traci- We're up together! My DS licks me all the time when I am trying to put him to sleep! What's UP with that?!

Well, I could use some suggustions from you wonderful ladies. I guess my body is really truely getting ready. Last night I felt horrible. My tailbone just hurt so bad, my tummy was so crampy, and my whole pelvic region ached. On top of which I was having a horrible time with my asthma. I took a bath (with DS :eyesroll b/c I'm not aloud to do anything w/o him) and just laid in there on my side wishing there was a bed in the tub. I ended up just crawling in to bed afterwards. Luckily DS crawled in too and actually shortly went to sleep on his own! ANyway, I would love any advice on how to help all the pains I'm having, esp. the tailbone pain. I didn't have all this pain at all with DS. Can I use a heating pad, or would it make me to hot for baby?

I also don't want to eat anymore. Well, cereal and candy are the only things left on my list of things that sound any good. Is that normal? At this point will it effect the baby any if I'm not eating all the veggies/fruits ect that I should be?

Well, I guess I'll go clean since I can't sleep anymore and DH comes home later today. :)

funny - my ds is a licker too. My brother taught him that...

I have become a much stricter parent with 2 kids than I was with one. I don't have the time to play games with DS when I also need to deal with DD. We don't use physical discipline (with the exception of a slap on hand because we WILL NOT STOP PLAYING WITH ELECTRICITY) but there are consequences. When Amelia was first born Brannon pushed all the limits and everytime I sat down to nurse her he did something he KNEW he wasn't allowed to do. Good luck to you all. It is a very emotional time when the new one arrives but your lives were modified when the first one came along. Now there is another one - DON'T feel guilty. Kids are resilient and it won't be long before they have forgotten what the world was like before the new kid arrived. Kids play on our emotions - they are so much smarter than often given credit for. Trying to help not lecture!

We are not going to SD at all this summer. She came for her first visit and cried and pouted; lied etc. So DH had a long talk with her and she said she just didn't want to be away from her mom (for the first time in months her mom took her out for a special day before she was dropped off. Same S different summer.) So DH sent her home and told her she couldn't come back. If she couldn't be away from her mom for a week then how is she supposed to handle 3? Well, they wanted to know if she could come back for camp ($500) and we said no. We've already called to cancel to get as much money back as we can. Then SD said she wanted to come see the baby - I told DH if she makes no calls asking to see her Dad then forget the baby. The baby is not a doll. For three years we have been in court about this, for three years I have had that hag screaming at me on the phone, for three years I have had this tearful, lying child interupt my summers and holidays. It has done so much damage to our marriage. DH finally said enough. There is no way we can play these games with a 9yo and her mother. We do things as a family - they do things differently in their home and we can't compete with that - SD is upset because Mommy loves me more than anyone why don't you Daddy. Well, the ex is married and has another kid - how sick is that...But, that's the thing the relationship is sick. When SD is here the ex just sits at home waiting for her to come back and if SD is with us for a holiday she won't celebrate the holiday (even if she has to make her entire family wait) until SD comes back. Sorry for the rant. I can't even begin to catch you up on the struggles we have had - it has been so bad at times it made me rethink my marriage.

Hi everyone-

I think Kangaroos are the only animal that get pregnant while pregnant. Lol!

Ketileve-Sorry you are having to deal with this stress right now! Hopefully with dh's decision you have some calm about your house now!

Lena-I can understand about the tailbone pain, do you have a birthing ball? I find that helps the pain just by sitting on it. Also, is it possible for you to see a chiro? Especially with the birth, it would help to make sure your pelvis is aligned, etc.

ap-so glad to hear your VBAC testing went well!

bears-sorry to hear about your struggles with you ds! If it helps, I think it might be just more age related than baby coming related. Your ds sounds just like my ds at that age. Could be testing...will my mom love me even if I act like a monster? I don't know if you use time outs, we used them and it worked for us. But I know somedays it seems like they are just determined to be miserable, no matter how much positive love and attention you give them, it isn't enough. Hang in there!

samurai-thanks for the info on orgasms,etc. We just finally took the plunge again last night. I was worried before about pre-term labor. Now I am 36 weeks and figure that is safe. I still am not too interested in sex overall. Just hard to feel sexy in this alien body!

Which reminds me... I had a friend who told me she shaved her pubic region for the birth. I thought it was wierd when she told me, and now I think, how the heck did she even accomplish that! I can't see anything past my belly, and no way would I go near anything down there right now with a razor! Maybe her partner helped her, but she didn't mention that part!

I had a "girls night out" at our house last night. It was really fun. People always bring such good food. I have learned alot too, they aren't all ap'ers, but we are learning alot from each other, and aren't judging each other at all. Well, at least not publicly! I was surprised to get several "wow! I want to hear all about your homebirth when your done!" So overall it was a good night, we had chicken enchiladas, mexican dip, veggie pizza, cheesecake, mmm... and i got all the leftovers! Yea!

Better go! Have a great day everyone!

hi all,
sorry I haven't been posting much either, been keeping up though. I can totally relate to feeling like a hermit and not wanting to talk to anyone! I am making myself go to LLL and API meetings to get out and be social. Plus, poor ds gets so sick of being in the house all the time. I am trying to keep him busy and do fun things, but what I really want to do is lay on the couch and watch TV and read!

Lena: Wow that is so exciting that things seem to be happening. Is your DH home yet? I think you can use a heating pad. My mw recommended one when I was having some back pain. I would just not use it for long periods of time. You may want to double check that, though.

ap: So happy for you that your vbac testing went well!

bears: sorry you are having such a tough time with your ds. Do you think its related to all the changes going on (DH leaving for a while, babe coming soon?) My ds has his difficult moments, too and I'm not sure if I should chalk it up to his being 2 1/2 or b/c of the baby coming...

sex during pg: hmmm not me! Not lately anyway. DH is very understanding, b/c I have zero interest.

I've been having some bad lower back pain lately. Not sciatic anymore, thats much better. Its like my bones hurt! My hips and tailbone are so achey and nothing seems to help :( Just have to deal with it for another month or so I guess. Maybe it means baby is getting into position? I hope so!

well, I've missed a lot but not much time to post. I hope everyone is doing well!

Lena: I seem to have lots of tailbone pain too. The thing that takes the pressure off is sitting on my birth ball or "Excercise Ball" If you don't already have one you can find them for cheap at Walmart or Target, just look in the athletice department. It really is a great Thing and really good during labor!

Nothing much going on here. I can sympathize with those of you having trouble with your toddler/s Mine is extra clingy these days and throwing lots of tantrums. When does that end?!!! She even head butted my belly the other day. It made me cry wich made her sad and she said she was sorry.
Last night she was being nice and lovey though. I had my shirt up over my belly watching the baby move and she came in the room and wrapped her arms around my belly and exclaimed "BALL"!!! Where do they come up with this stuff. It made me laugh.
I took her to get her hair cut this morning. I love her curls but if I don't keep it trimmed it get's so tangled. Hopefully her dad won't notice. He is so iffy about cutting her hair. She cried the entire time even though they put in a blues clues video but was ok after and i took her to play on the playground at Chic Fil A We are supposed to go swimming with my sister in just a bit when the kids wake from thier naps. Yeah, I just get so relaxed in the water. Then this afternoon supposed to go the gravesite of my clients little boy that was stillborn this same day a year ago. I am so glad i can be there for her, I know it will be an emotional time together.
Here's hoping the rest of you are taking the time to rest before the new little one's arrive.
I have posted new pictures to the link in my signature!

I confess, I just came here to vent and cry and b*tch... but I thought it would only be kosher to read through all the other posts and reply and pretend that my head isn't 2 feet up my own a$$...
...however...
there were just too many of them and by the time I was done I couldn't remember who had said what.
So:
whoever has roids :hug
whoever is having trouble with her dd's temper :hugs
whoever is having good sex :thumb
AP, (I remembered one!) congrats on your test!
whoever was talking about getting preg while preg, I was going to say YES, you probably ARE the only one worried about that... but then I saw the frenzy everybody went into so I guess I should say you probably WERE the only one... :LOL

Now to vent: Brian got his letter from the army telling him to report within 30 days for a physical and evaluation. They're looking at over 100,000 men and they'll only take 6,000+, but because of his position and training he's really worried. So the last few days have been a nightmare around here and finally last night he broke down in tears. And then he was trying to psych himself up, saying that if he goes it could be for only 6 months to relieve other troops, and that he might end up in Afghanistan not Iraq. Which might be better, but still doesn't sound all that great to me, because either way there's a lot of danger involved and he'll come back to a baby who doesn't know who he is, besides the fact that I'll be frazzled and exhausted from taking care of 2 kids on my own with whatever scraps of money he'll be able to send hoome to us... This is awful. I had no idea that anything like this could happen. He's been out of the service for so long and I did not sign on to be a military wife... I can't even say military wife because we're not married and the army is really old-fashioned about our situation. Our child and I wouldn't be given so much as a nod from the army.
This morning he had to get up at the crack of dawn to pack for yet another business trip to Rochester, so on top of not sleeping he's driving 6 hours to NY only to be put to work as soon as he arrives, and they'll have him working straight through the weekend. He won't be back until next Teusday. He just got back from NY last week! All this garbage is just piling up on him all at once... if he knew I was writing about this, he'd kill me. But the poor guy is at the breaking point, and I can't lean on him at all for fear he'll just crumble. So I have to worry about what's happening to him, and in the meanwhile, I'm having a baby in 7 weeks, and all of the worries that go along with that are being put on a shelf.

Ok. Sorry that was just awful but I had to get it out. Sorry sorry sorry.
I have to go do this, now: :bang

Mealymama :hug :hug :hug I am so sorry you are going through so much turmoil with your dh's situation. It just isn't fair if they send him. :( I hope he gets to stay home and welcome your new little baby's arrival. :hug

Bears and all the other mommas with "high needs" kids right now. :hug I can't imagine how hard that must be. I am expecting #1 so am in bliss with a lot of pamper and "me" time. I can see that #2, #3, etc. may be a different story. They have their moments don't they...

I am getting pictures taken this weekend! Can't wait. We will also be checking out the Highland Games Festival in our home town this weekend. It is always a lot of fun watching the athlete competitions and the food. :yum :D

Hopefully I will be able to share some of the pictures with you ladies. I am not sure how it will all work. :confused But if I can I definately will. :thumb

Hope everyone has a great rest of the day/night and gets some good rest. (I have had a couple of restless nights and it just drains me...)

TTYL
Cheryl
:hippie :belly

mealy, how bad would it be if you did do a little civil ceremony and got married? wouldn't you and your children get a lot more weight in the decision to ship off dh? you would also be eligible for benefits and support from the armed forces... which would be better than nothing. i don't know your reasons for eschewing marriage, but if you have to continue as a single woman, you might want to talk to a lawyer about your husband's rights as the father of your kids. what a mess! i'm sooo sorry you have to be dealing with this now, when your biggest problem should be heartburn or picking out diapers!

ap, you go girl! vbac, here she comes!

lena, i'm gonna third the others on the birth ball... it's helped my back a lot too. i have been noticing the loosened hips, though, and i think that's just gonna get looser until our babies are birthed. sometimes walking helps, and sometimes it exacerbates it.

and who else had insomnia? ap? i'm there with you! i've been using earplugs but if dh wakes me up when he comes to bed, dang i have the hardest time getting back to sleep. we had a huge thunderstorm the other night and i was so groggy the next day... fortunately it doesn't seem to hit every night (yet) so i don't get two bad days in a row...

today i treated myself to some queen anne cherries, and after i ate about $2 worth i coughed and threw them all up! why can't i be sick with the cheap junk food instead of the organic produce?!

i'm being a total slug today. i dragged out a project i need to work on, and i have an editing job that's due pretty soon, but where am i? on my trusty laptop, peeking to see how all you gals are doing and writing another novel! oh, and nibbling on some chocolate (hi, madrone!) and sipping a glass of lemonade and RRL tea. well, the house is in great condition, dh's paycheck went through so no more money worries for the moment, all my kids are off traveling, and the a/c is cranked to "frigid."

baby is not so active at the moment (but did some lovely acrobatics for dh the other night! some real "ALIEN" stunts...), the heartburn is down to a simmer, and dh called to ask if he could go out to dinner with some coworkers (they're entertaining some out of town bigwig scientist)... i said sure, have fun, honey... which implies i can take my own bad self out to dinner too, right? or go visit a friend and knit... i think i'll work on that editing thing and reward myself with an evening out if i feel like it in a couple hours...

one more day closer to meeting our babies...

katje

Ok, so Tuesday when I called about my test results I said no 3 hour, give me the glycohemoglobin test instead. Nurse sputtered and I said how about I talk with doc on Thursday and she was cool about it.

DH goes with me today and doc was laughing about my birth plan in a 'i have no problem with it but you might want to reword somethings so the nurses don't freak at the hospital' guess the part about 'I am only here to make my husband happy and do not feel birth is a medical procedure that requires a hospital in most cases' could put some folks off?? :shrug

Doc said she doesn't have a clear reason to send me off for a true diabetes test but I could take my blood 4 times a day for the next 2 weeks and we can review. I said fine. She then comes back and said 130 was good enough for her, watch what I eat and 6 months ago the cut off was 140. BP is good, baby sounds good, measuring 36 cm at 35 weeks.

DS2 licks all the time! I HATE it! He is an anteater, a dog, a snake, a licking bug- you name it! DS3 was super clingy yesterday and all night. He was glued to my side ALL night! DH slept in his bed as both boys came into mine and would not budge.

Went to toys r us and got the changing table pad. They had coupons there for baby stuff so I will most likely go back to test the car seats. I will want DS2 and the car there when I do it. DS2 so he can feel involved and the car to make sure it fits!

Mealymama- I am sorry about your SO getting called up (maybe) I did the military wife thing for 9 years and it was no picnic.

Heading out to Target- need some scripts and film. I might need to get more pillows. I have to have at least 3 to sleep. Not sure if it was leach boy or what, but I just realized I did not get up to pee last night at all. DH says I probably did and didn't wake up. :rolleyes

New Pregnancy Pictures (http://www3.sympatico.ca/lea.adams/Baby04.html)

Wow - thinking about you guys. Well, at least I will try to - I can't remember diddly anymore. I am supposed to call this lady to be a belly for her ALACE class but I can't remember if I did or not. I have the whole conversation in my head I just don't remember having it with anyone.

Since SD is not coming for a long stay anymore we have been reorganzing. DH hates this point b/c my form of nesting is making him move furniture around the house!

I was thinking about the clingy kid thing - for me Brannon (2yo) is being great. He has been through this baby thing once and is really excited. He's upset b/c there is no milk in his nipples but a baby in his belly (who kicked him on the left side today); but for the most part the baby is not a major focus around. Amelia (will be 1 yo 7/18) is fussy and not sleeping, trying to walk, throwing tantrums and doing the usual stuff. I thought how would I cope with a newborn. But I worked it out before and will this time - my philosophy is the same - needs first and wants second.

DH is on his way up with my ice cream! GTG

Hi Ladies,
How's everyone hangin' in??? Things here are okay. DH left tonight, but will back by dinnertime Sunday. Not long, but I have to say I was/am dreading him being away. DS (as you all know) has been on overdrive this week. Had another awful day with him. I know it's only human to get angry, and in fact I've read a lot about not denying it or blowing it off or WILL-POWERING yourself NOT to get angry-b/c it just doesn't work. But in times like these, I just have to come up with some sort of strategy for not losing my cool. It just makes DS and me so emotional. We're cryers, I guess...

Feeling okay. Spent the morning with my playgroup friends who are awesome. They all noticed that my belly seemed lower than last week. But the odd thing is, I'm NOT peeing that much right now. Just average pee time, really. Oh, and at leasst one time up in the middle of the night. But with DS at this point it literally was multiple times/hour.

Traci- :hug What's up with our boys???? I think it might be the normal, age-appropriate stuff for my guy coupled with the emotions of daddy leaving for a few days and this babe coming. I will be ordering that straight jacker with you (maybe there's a bargain on bulk orders??) if things don't change. My guy is really smart, and super sensitive, so he knows everything and feels everything. It's really a lot to handle with one! I said to DH today as I drove him to the train, "You're really going to leave me alone with him in this state for 3-4 days?" :eyesroll

Katje-Thansk for the hugs. I really don't want to become the drama queen in these parts about my DS, but I knew I could share all these challenges with you guys. He's a wonderful little boy, but so, so challenging...

Lena-They really are special kids aren't they? These spirited little ones. About the heating pad, I'm not sure of any side effects. Maybe Laurie would know??? Also, I would just keep taking baths. And do you have a body pillow??? Make sure you sleep with something between your knees. That should help take the pressure off your lower back. And one last thing- - I think you're going to be the FIRST to deliver. I have to go back and look at your EDD (end of July right???). Thinking of you...

Ketilave-Sounds like you've had many, many challenges in your relationship with the Exs and all. We all have some sort of crosses to bear or hard spots in our lives, and I only hope that these soften for you. And about kids' resiliency-you are so right. That helps to know when I'm feeling like bad mommy #1! I just have to remind myself that I'm being accountable for my feelings and actions and I'm always giving love, love, love. I think these are the most important things-for us.

Ilove-Your girls night sounds so yummy....and thanks for the commiseration.:)

Laurie-I wish you lived closer to PA and I would hire you to be my doula! You truly sound so compassionate and understanding with your clients (and with us, of course). I have to check out your new pics.

Nature & Jilly-thanks :)

Mealy-All I can give is :hug I'm sorry you're going through all this right now.

Liza-Great pics!

Okay, I may have missed some of you...I'm right there with you all with the insomnia. Seems to change on a nightly basis, however, depending what position the babe is in.

Anyone having weird circulation issues? Everynight my hands get tingly and they are this way during the night in bed and when I wake in the morning. Then, they're fine all day..Weird.

Where's Kimberlylibby? Could she be having that baby???!!:bouncy

That's all for me. Try to sleep well, ladies. Today I'm 36 weeks. Whoa Nelly!!!! :jumpers:

Hi ladies, thanks for all the advice. I am just in so much pain, it stinks and I don't understnad why! Dh felt sorry for me and has been a big help tonight (he came home this afternoon). I hadn't thought of getting a birth ball since the hospital provides them, but it sounds like a good idea. I am sleeping with pillows between my legs. In fact I sleep with 4 pillows. I would use more if we had more, but DS and DH both need a pillow too.

I wanted to reply to mealymama. First :hug Second< i really hope he doesn't have to leave you. I think I remeber you saying that he has a knee injury however. If so I think that would be a huge help in keeping him out of the 6,000 taken. I have some advice for you though if he does go. As a military wife I am familur with these things and can help you in many ways if he does get recalled.

Your child will be completely covered by the military b/c it is his dependant. It doesn't matter if you aren't married. They may, however, require a DNA test just to verify that he if the father. If he has to leave before your baby is born then you would need to make arrangements to have his DNA taken and saved to compare with the baby's You are right that the military will not cover you. As long as you are not married then you are not his dependant. There are a few things that you would need to do to make sure your child's rights are taken care of. After birth you will need to enroll your child in DEERS and Tricare (health insurance). DEERS enrollment will ensure that your SO recieves certain types of pay that he would otherwise not recieve - BAH (housing allowance based on a member w/ dependents rate) and seperation pay (since duty has him seperated from his dependants). This will add up to a lot of extra money every month for you. You would also need to ensure that he gives you power of attorney so that you can represent him in dealings with the military such as getting them to pay for your child's healthcare, ect.

There are probably many other things that you would need to do to be prepared if he is recalled, and I would be happy to help. Hopefully, however, everything I have posted to you will be completely redundant as he isn't recalled :)

ETA: My BIL went to Iraq, and FWIW he said it wasn't so bad :)

Up with insomnia, and so I finally can catch up on this thread. Yikes! So much going on.

Mealymama, oh no! I truly hope he doesn't have to go. Sounds like Lena has some good advice for you, though. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

And, Magemom, you go girl! That's the way to kick the pants off that nasty GD test. Funny how a little knowledge changes everything.

So, Ketilave, does your post mean you are still nursing your oldest? Will you end up tandem nursing three? Wow, what a lot of strength you must have!

There's more I want to reply to, but right now, I'm so upset I can't think straight. I sent an email earlier about the stupid letter I got from my OB but in case you didn't see it, they basically are telling me that my chances of VBAC are getting slimmer all the time. I had pre-eclampsia last time, and this time around, it seems to be staying away, thank God! But, I succombed to the lure of an U/S last week to find out where my placenta is and because they had fears that I had too much amniotic fluid and I wanted to put them to rest. I had reservations, but really thought I'd make it through fine. Nope, the baby is measuring large (7 lb at 33 weeks) so they think I'm going to have an 11 pound baby and very little chance of success at VBAC'ing according to the letter I got today. Very ominously worded too. I have an appt in the morning, and I'm just so bothered by this I can't sleep. Where do they get off? Why can't they support me? Who the heck cares if it's a big baby? Why not focus on the positive, instead of trying to break me down. I just know that the scheduled c-section talk is on the way and I will NOT go down that path. I don't have any choices here really, as far as changing health care providers. The only other doc in town who will do VBAC's is known for being very skittish about large babies. I chose this doctor because she PROMISED that she put no stock in U/S sizing. I feel so stupid for believing her.

I've had this sense of distrust all along with this pregnancy. I can't trust anyone. And, it's really wearing me out. I am sooooo envious of those who have wonderful relationships with their midwives or doctors. I'm totally afraid to talk about anything when I go in for fear that it will turn into a "problem". For example, I'm still sick and it's driving me bonkers. I can hardly eat anything anymore, must have extremely small meals and not too many of them, to keep anything down. But can I tell them that? No, because I'm certain it will be twisted into something else. And, I had a swelling incident while we were on vacation that I think I posted about. Scared me to death. My ankles and hands swelled up, because I was eating poorly and doing far too much. But, it's gone now, and I'm so excited about that. It's like my body reminded me "you need to go slow" and I listened and everything is fine now. But, if I tell them, I can just imagine the looks of concern and sudden bouts of testing I'll have to take. Instead of rejoicing with me that it went away and stayed away, they'll be sure to turn it into something frightening.

I'm at the point now where I just want to have the baby and be done with it. It's not enjoyable carrying this sort of stress around. And, I feel so large and cumbersome. Have a hard time getting comfy in bed, can't bend over because this little one has its feet shoved way up under my rib cage, I'm just getting depressed.

Thankfully my DD is just amazing. She's so excited about the baby coming and she's really become a much bigger helper lately. I ask her all the time to pick up the things that I drop and can't reach and she so happily wants to help. If she sees me getting sick, she comes and rubs my back to make me feel better. She's just so sweet and loving. I'm going to be so sad to not have her all to myself anymore.

And, I have company this week. My best friend from high school is thinking about relocating to my town so I'm showing her around. I'm trying to take it easy as much as I can, but easier said than done. We have lots of swim dates scheduled. :) That should help.

Okay, my whine fest is over. I'll try and post tomorrow with the outcome of my dreaded appt. Sorry to be such a downer...

:hug Oh Caroline! :hug

I firmly believe the sonograms with my first and docs assumptions with out looking at ME are what caused my tears, but in reverse. She never thought my baby was more than 6 pounds and she was 7 pounds 13 ounces. I hate those scans!!
At my appt yesterday I told my doc I felt this baby was 6.5-7 pounds and she agreed, but it was by feel. My last was 11 pounds 4 ounces and it was no picnic, but doable. I expect the same this time around. I think if this was a first or even 3rd baby they would be upset with my baby's size.
I wish I had some sage advice for you. I have switched my diet more to the lower carb higher protien for the blood sugar, but I wonder if that is what making my babies bigger. My mom is convinced my babies are over due and that is why they are big. Nothing I tell her gets her to understand they are not late- the docs are stupid when figuring out my dates.

I am sorry you are up worrying aobut this. I was comfortable in bed til I got up to pee and lost my spot- that is why I am up. I hope you get some rest!

Caroline - I am so sorry. I can't believe they pulled this on you. And in letter form to Cover there butts rather than sit down and discuss this with you. What kind of labour support do you have? If you can stay home as long as possible. Also, when my Dr. told me they were going to schedule an induction or c-section on dates I didn't agree with I told her flat out I would not be showing up.

It kills me that they think everyone is having 11 pound babies. I ate better with #2 than #1 but because I was so active I burned as many calories as I consumed. DD weighed less but was longer then DS. And they kept saying I was going to have a bigger baby - this is not an exact science.

I love how they won't guarantee the sex of the baby with an u/s but they will guarantee the kids weight. What a farce!

Oh - and no Brannon doesn't nurse anymore. He says that is baby milk for Amelia and the new one. He was never much of a comfort nurser so he weaned himself. Amelia is still nursing though - some days more than others.

I don't know if this helps for the wild ones out there but with Brannon we have given him a lot of independence on the things we don't care about. What should we have for dinner? Help set the table. Getting his own drink out. We really are letting him try and control his own environment as much as possible (and the choices are things we approve of) and it seems to help. We give him a lot of warning when we are going to do the "boring" stuff. If he has a meltdown or freaks out EVERYTHING stops and we take away a privilege. Not being able to get his own drink is very disturbing!! The advantage I have is that since I have Amelia privileges really help him differentiate himself from his sister and being a "baby."

I have noticed that the boys around this age seem more sensitive. Everything is tragic when it doesn't go there way. One of the things I had separate myself from with Brannon when Amelia was born was that yes he might be high needs but were his immediate needs greater than hers. Sometimes yes and sometimes no. We made/make every effort not to respond to her immediately or make her wait if we are doing something with Brannon. She is not allowed to touch certain toys of his but that applies to him as well. I have to admit sometimes I feel like I have really gone against my initial thoughts of parenting BUT to be a good parent I have to be a good, happy and healthy person.

Oh Caroline:hug :hug
I am soo sorry you are dealing with this stress! I do not see what the issue is about the amniotic fluid....I am a little on the high side myself and they do not have an issue with it....I know you know this, but remember those blasted U/S can be off 2-3lbs......
I would really express your concerns to your healthcare provider and tell her exactly what you said here..That you chose her b/c you thought she would be supportive no matter what and you really want to continue with that kind of support.

Try the other VBAC doctor..maybe the rumors are not true...you could go there and find out that maybe that doc would be a better choice....

Keep positive Caroline..that is half your battle....just get the positivity out there and surround yourself with it and gain your strength from all the knowledge you have under your belt. If anyone knows her stuff about pg issues it is you, and you can stand up to your doc and be confident you know what is best for your body and baby.

Hi folks! No real dramas here and I wish none of you had any either. Just wanted to jump in to say that at yesterday's appt., my blood pressure was finally right on target again, I've lost another pound, the babe measures just fine and my OB really isn't sure on the babe's orientation. She thinks it's head down but just can't get a good feel for this one. Heck. At least she's not making up information to appease me. Doesn't help that the kiddo continues to be a real mover and shaker.....it's hard to get a good "grip" on any possible body part before you watch the movement ripple across my belly.

Went to the county fair last night and must have overdid it, b/c today I'm down for the count. This is one of the lowest-energy days to date for me with this pregnancy. Have a friend who really wants to visit with us and I'm begging him to take DD out for a while so that she can have some fun and I can do absolutely nothing. Hope to catch up a bit over the weekend.

Magemom, did you say 11 lbs 4 oz? A couple of us have had large babies already. DD was 10 lbs 8. The concensus is that she was huge, but since then I've continuosly heard references to other large babes, so it makes me wonder really how unusual it is to vaginally birth a baby that size. Bears, wasn't your DS a good sized kid too? Makes you wonder just what percentage of births in the US are to babies over 9 lbs?

-Leah

Mealymama, vent away. That is an awful situation, no doubt about it. I would be devastated to suddenly find myself in the role of American military wife w/o the minimal benefits of marriage! I'll keep my fingers crossed for your dp.

I think I'm suffering from the pre-baby blues. This happened to me last time too. It's hard to garner the energy to post to this thread. It's even hard to read this thread. I'm not usually like this, I swear.

Hugs to everyone dealing with tantrums. My dd has gone off the deep end. I think it's more about age and disposition than the impending baby, but I could be wrong.

Magemom, did you say 11 lbs 4 oz? A couple of us have had large babies already. DD was 10 lbs 8. The concensus is that she was huge, but since then I've continuosly heard references to other large babes, so it makes me wonder really how unusual it is to vaginally birth a baby that size. Bears, wasn't your DS a good sized kid too? Makes you wonder just what percentage of births in the US are to babies over 9 lbs?

-Leah

Yeah, I did. I believe I said some words when I saw the scale!

What I wonder is when docs will rethink what is the 'norm' and quit with the inductions and sections for 'big babies' as we are healthier and larger as a society, it stands to reason our babies will be bigger. I can see it in my family how we have all gotten taller than the previous generation so it stands to reason our ofspring would be larger as well.

I expect this one to be about 10.5 pounds and a girl. August 10 works for me :)

:belly :belly :belly
:baby :baby :baby
My mil and fil just brought over a whole load of baby stuff that they have been acquiring from friends, garage sales, etc. and stuff we stored at their house since Ben outgrew it. I am so excited. It is so amazing the emotions that go through a pregnant woman to see those little size 0-3 mo. outfits! Since we know the sex, we have been given little boy hand-me-downs from family friends. Now EVERYthing is blue, trucks, stripes, fish, bears, tools....sooooo cute. I know it doesn't matter what the clothes look like, but since it is going to be a while before I meet my little baby, looking at the clothes he will be wearing satisfies my "baby craving" for a little while. I just can't wait!! :) :love :love :love :love

:hug Oh Caroline! :hug

I firmly believe the sonograms with my first and docs assumptions with out looking at ME are what caused my tears, but in reverse. She never thought my baby was more than 6 pounds and she was 7 pounds 13 ounces. I hate those scans!!
At my appt yesterday I told my doc I felt this baby was 6.5-7 pounds and she agreed, but it was by feel. My last was 11 pounds 4 ounces and it was no picnic, but doable. I expect the same this time around. I think if this was a first or even 3rd baby they would be upset with my baby's size.
I wish I had some sage advice for you. I have switched my diet more to the lower carb higher protien for the blood sugar, but I wonder if that is what making my babies bigger. My mom is convinced my babies are over due and that is why they are big. Nothing I tell her gets her to understand they are not late- the docs are stupid when figuring out my dates.

I am sorry you are up worrying aobut this. I was comfortable in bed til I got up to pee and lost my spot- that is why I am up. I hope you get some rest!

That is funny, because everyone tells me to follow a low carb, high protein diet so that my next baby is not so large. My last was not as big as yours, but she was 9 lbs 11 ozs.

Mel

Hi Ladies,
Just checking in quickly. I've been feeling a little "off" today. My DH and I call it the "woogies". Like, a little lightheaded, slightly sweaty, and a bit nauseous. I think I needed to eat some more protein or something today and I've been going non-stop since about 6:30 am. Must slow down...

Anyway, thinking of you all. Also wanted to give big HUGS :hug :hug :hug
to Caroline. I'm sorry you're dealing with all this crap right now.

Sleep well, ladies. More when I can... :zzz

Me just silly. No worries.

Kimberly, if we aren't supposed to be here, where would we be? :scratch

Phew, just caught up again with everyone's posts.

:hug Caroline. I hate that they are so sure about their weight measurements by U/S. I was at a birth a couple of months ago that they thought the baby weighed around 7lbs 12-15 oz. and 4 hours later he came out at 10lbs. 2 oz! And I know it can go either way. Plus who knows how much the baby will grow before he/she is born? 1 lb a week is an AVERAGE!!! Hang in there. I sure hope you are "allowed" to have a successful VBAC! :hug

Bears, hope you are feeling better soon. :hug

No big news in my life/pregnancy. Everything is running smoothly (thank goodness :)) Getting pictures taken tomorrow! :banana I am a little nervous about the scantily clothed pictures but I hear the photographer is very comforting and she makes you feel right at home. My appetite has lessened lately too. Just isn't as much room in there anymore I guess. :shrug

Gotta go get my diapers out of the dryer! :thumb. Getting everything ready for the little one. :love

Cheryl
:hippie

Hi everyone,

mommycaroline- so sorry to hear about your troubles with your dr.'s! I know how bad the climate is out there for VBAC's right now. I don't have any words of advice, but can understand your frustration!

bears-I forgot to post last time that I also had tingling in both of my arms lately, and was also really lightheaded once at the same time. I think it is just baby sitting on some major blood vessels? I was a little alarmed myself, didn't have it the first time.

With ds, I never got to a stage where I was sick of being pregnant. But I have to admit, this time I am! I can't get comfortable anymore, my 'roids have worsed today so that they are bleeding, aaghhh! I don't feel like doign anything but sit around, read, and eat. I am also tired of feeling the baby push her feet against my right rib.

Sorry for the pity party! But I am in one of those moods. I told dh today that he should wake up everyday happy that he doesn't have to put up with being a woman.

I hope baby comes soon!

Well, the appt yesterday was tolerable. The midwife pretty much tried to rush me in and out. Didn't want to discuss the U/S findings, just said I'd need to meet with the OB at my next appt to discuss. So, I have an appt for 2 weeks. The current plan (after talking with my doula and a midwife that I have been consulting across the country) is to stall, stall, stall. They scheduled me for the 27th, and then called back while I was out yesterday saying they didn't realize I needed to come in sooner, so could I please come on the 23rd? My plan is to say "No, I've already scheduled other things" and then maybe even miss the appt on the 27th. That gets me to 37 weeks. Then, if they try to push me for an induction, I'll insist on another U/S and have a hard time scheduling that. That should get me to 38/39 weeks, and then I'm almost there. At the appt with the OB, I'm going to remind her that she was concerned about my dating early in this pregnancy, and hopefully introduce some doubt as to why my dates would be so off. Just going to juggle and stall and hope that my body goes into labor soon.

Anyone doing EPO or any other natural induction remedies? I'm thinking it might be time for me to start, but I don't want to rush things too much. I'll probably wait another week, get to 36 weeks and then start with EPO oral and vaginally. Someone also recommended PN6? But, I think it might be dangerous for VBAC'ers. Anyone know?

EPO won't do anything other than prepare your cervix so there's no harm in starting it!

Okay, that sounded wrong. It *DOES* something, but nothing that is risky or dangerous.

Kimberly

I can not believe I am actually concidering induction- and even for stupid reasons. The school cut off is aug 15.... I feel like an idiot parent. I will not discuss pitocin inductions prior to the ned of Aug. But if this one wants to come Aug 10 that works for me.

EPO gave me nasty burps when I took it orally. I figured I would just insert it before bed nightly. Starting Aug 1 I am pulling out the breast pump. Doc said she would not stop labor if it started now so I figure I am good. Told DH his services would be required frequently by the end of the month! :D

I've seriously considered taking something, NOT because I'm so "done" being pg, but because I feel like it's my only chance at a vbac..... but I think any thing I would take would screw with my bp and I can't risk that.

I am resigned to my c/s, and I accept it, but there's still that little part that says "if you go into labor, and show up at 10cm, they can't gut you!"

But since I have the pre-e to think about, I think I'm just going to wait.

I am *not* an advocate of prematurely evicting babies, so please don't flame me! I don't *want* a 36 weeker... but if I have to have one, I'd rather have it vaginally than c/s, that's all.

Kimberly

I am not done being pregnant either. but I have one kid who missed the school cut off by months and has had nothing but problems. I am still shocked I would even concider it.

My mother is convinced I am really due in July and have always had my dates off and have always been a month overdue???? My sister just called and said mom said my doc refused to induce me???? Grrr. Of 4 kids, they have all been born between the 12th and 17th of the month they were born in. That seems to tell me they were all born when 'we' were ready and my dates are not messed up.

DH and the older kids are going to Kansas City tonight for a soccer game. I will be home with out a vehicle so that is when I will go into labor if it is early. Today works for me- sorta. But Aug 10 is much better. The 13th is MY date and the 12th is the docs, but she is off that weekend so a few days early would be good. The 12th is ds2's first day of real preschool, I have 2 appointments scheduled so baby will probably be right on time.

magemom, your family is close enough to KC to drive down for a wizards' game?! you're practically my neighbor then! i actually turned down tickets to that game, because waddling into Arrowhead Stadium from a distant parking space just didn't sound like much fun... but i've been to several of their games and really enjoyed 'em (to be honest, part of the reason i'm not going tonight because my 16 y.o. ds, who is also a referee, isn't here, and he's the one who explains to me what's going on... so i'd be in the dark without him!).

i was almost in tears this morning.... another homeschooling mom posted on our local email list that i needed some cotton clothes, diapers and receiving blankets, and she's already gotten some responses. i'm so fortunate to have landed among these very generous and supportive folks. they've taken me in like a little lost bird. it's so strange to be away from my homebase of 20 years...

i've been sick two days in a row now. this is almost worse, because at least when i was nauseous i had some warning. but this gag reflex thing just hits instantly and i have about two seconds to make it to a potty or sink... poor dh, it hit last night during a particularly rare intimate moment. i think he's scarred for life now!

super hot here today. i should go out and water all my plants before they wither to nothing (although once the baby gets here, i'm sure they're all toast anyway). got some errands to run, nothing too exciting. i feel like i'm pretty much sitting around waiting for this kid to decide to arrive, and i could be waiting another four weeks! sigh.

hugs to all you mamas who are wrestling with these tough issues... wish i had more advice and support to offer, but i know you are strong and smart and you'll get to the other side of this mess with a beautiful babe in your arms! keep venting here if it helps...

off to home depot to score some hoses for the labor tub...

katje

awww katje, i'm sorry this pg has been so rough! you've sure been sick the ENTIRE time, that's just terrible!

bearsmama and others w/ temperamental toddlers, i have had a few days that i thought i'd go insane w/ shelby...she's a hip-rider to the bitter end lol and she loves to be the clown/center of attention...it makes for a rough day if you try to do anything other than what she "says" lol! i've learned often enough though, that the times i'm not paying her attention and she starts acting out, it's because she NEEDS that extra attention...after all, she is just a baby still herself (almost 20mos)...
we went yesterday for dh's vas - it was cancelled due to THREE ob emergencies, 2 uterine ruptures and 1 stuck baby - my poor dr (he's a ob/fp), i can't imagine rushing back and forth to all that! we have to go back next week for the vas. it struck me as we were talking/laughing w/ the nurses at the office that i'll miss them terribly when i don't have to come in as often like i do w/ the pg yk? luckily this dr's our fp, so we'll still see him/the staff occasionally. we (nurses, dh and i) were discussing that due to the discrepancies in my edd, i could be having this baby anytime btwn the third (complete) week of this month to the third week of august...it's shocking that it's so soon regardless! even if we don't have him till the later edd it's still only 40ish days away!!!
i packed ian's bag today and installed the base to his seat in the truck...started on my bag, but shelby was "helping" too much by unloading things, so i gave up till another time lol...
i've got to finish up the last batch of diapers i'd cut out and started working on, then i'm going to finish washing them all. i can't wait to put them on his tiny bum!
i started this pg w/ much trepidation and worry since it wasn't planned, but i've gotten so attached now to this babe and he's not even here yet! i'm so anxious to meet our new son and to learn his every feature/quirk etc yk? :crying sigh, hormones! lol
speaking of natural induction methods - here's a great link on it at gentle birth - we used some of them w/ shelby...
http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/natinduc.html
btw, anyone know how i could use the liquid form of epo to soften my cervix? and also, what about taking a RRL tincture (are tinctures ok in pg? or just teas?)? thanks!

magemom, your family is close enough to KC to drive down for a wizards' game?! you're practically my neighbor then!

I didn't see your location before- yup! Just south of Omaha. DH's uncle lives in KC. I am NOT going to the game for the same reasons. DH is a ref and both big kids play so they will enjoy it. He tells me he spent $240 on tickets and I am counting 3 people and was ticked! :angry Then he tells me he bought the tix so they would be a block together and started naming off who else he bought tix for. So he is back out of the dog house :love



i've been sick two days in a row now. this is almost worse, because at least when i was nauseous i had some warning. but this gag reflex thing just hits instantly and i have about two seconds to make it to a potty or sink... poor dh, it hit last night during a particularly rare intimate moment. i think he's scarred for life now!


I am so sorry! I wasn't feeling up to dinner last night but to be sick, uh then would have been aweful! (for everyone!)


got some errands to run, nothing too exciting.


EVERYone was running errands today! I got so much done in a short time. Got the paperwork to the car shop for the warranty (saved me $400!!) bread store, Aldi, book exchange, AND got my last baby charm for the kids I have so far. It has taken forever it seems. Anytime they have a sale they are sold out of the ones I needed.

Now it is time for a nap!

Magemom, does your school system not allow kids to skip grades? My dd was born three days before her cut-off, and I'm still not sure which I would have preferred.

I forced myself to stop acting so depresso and went to the store for calcium-magnesium tablets for leg cramps, papaya enzyme for heartburn and hot wax for my...ahem...beard. Anyone else get really hairy when pregnant? I feel very unattractive.

My MIL is out tonight so I'm taking this opportunity to do a covert load of laundry. Family is so strange!

:hola:
Just wanted to drop in and see how everyone is doing....
I have heard of evening primrose oil tablets softening the cervix other than that I know na-da when it comes to all the labor "helpers" you guys are talking about:blush

Dodo :hug...

Heather I want to pack to but I keep thinkng it is too early...:LOL..I keep saying it is something I can do while doula is on her way then I think ....well, maybe i better go ahead and get it done....

Still trying to figure out what to wear during labor at the hospital( I know Katje I know)...thinking a sports bra type thing and a comfy cotton pull on skirt so they can keep the EFM on easy since I have to be hooked..... :( I just don't want to wear the hospital gown...

still need something for me to wear home...
nursing bras....
nursing pads on their way via mail.....

Finishing belly cast today and adding some things to the walls where the changing table is..


and Katje...man girlie...I feel sooooo much for you......:hug

Caroline I think your plan of action sounds great:thumb...good luck and keep us updated..I am praying for a VBAC for you.....

hot and humid like you would not believe here today....

gtg


gtg

Katje: My family is all in Blue Springs. I go up there at least 2x/year :)

Magemom: I never even considered the school aspect. I plan to hs, so it won't be an issue for us, but the cut off here is july 15 anyway.

DH is out buying a new car seat for LIbby since they had the wreck on Thursday. He finally got insurance-approval to get the seat we wanted.

Now we're fighting them about the claims adjuster. They want him to drive across Dallas to the claims adjuster..... but there's a big "thing" hanging down from the engine and I don't think it is safe to drive that far. Neither of us is mechanically inclined so we can't identify the "thing". They said if it starts up we should be fine to drive it... ??? I don't know.

Kimberly

School cut off is OCTOBER 15, not August 15. :duh I was trying to remember why they would not make an exception for my Nov baby when I realized he was NOVEMBER. I just hit the site and feel so stupid. As long as this baby is born by October I am good.

I am concidering homeschooling in the next 2 years. ds1 has had so many problems we are going to be looking at it in this next year. DD would freak out, but ds1 seems to need it. We are not done with the testing, but if he does indeed have Ausperger's syndrome then we may yank him.

dodo-i am super hairy and enjoying the nails! I have never had such nice nails ever- even pregnant. I noticed the other day that my last trim didn't last. (I use DH's beard trimmer) I did wax one side 'back there' a few months ago but couldn't get the nerve up to do the other side. It sure helped though. I was SO swollen that any stray hairs were getting caught.

We're definitely planning to home school. I was so surprised to discover my husband was so in favor of it. But, honestly, he's been as much or more in favor of most of our parenting decisions, so I really should stop being so surprised. I was a terrible student, tested very well, but never did homework, always skated by, and my mother was always on my case about how "a smart girl like you should be getting straight A's" blah, blah, blah. I don't want to do that to Bonnie, so we're just going to do our own thing. Hope it works!

I'm not terribly hairy lately, in fact, I think I'm less so. I don't have much body hair, but it seems during pregnancy, it grows even slower than normal. Funny how each of our bodies respond differently.

And, I forgot to mention earlier, Babe is still breech. Grrr! I spent the day at the beach and did everything I could to turn Babe around, but I don't think it worked. We have a chiro appt next Friday for the Webster technique. Keep your fingers crossed! That's the only obstacle to my VBAC that I really see as an obstacle. Non supportive staff I'll just work around, but a breech? That will be tough.

Wanna see the cute pic we got today? It's the only preggo shot I have and already, it's very dear to me. DD has been walking around showing everyone her "biiiiig pregnant belly". Take a look. http://www.cameronclan.net/StGeorge/bigpregnantbellycrop.htm

I was considering having a professional photo done, but this one just makes me so happy, I think I might reconsider. Has anyone had any professional photos done? I'd love to see them. :)

Well, we are quite baked. I'm off to bed. Later, ladies. Keep on growing those babies!

mommycaroline, that picture is soooo cute! I love it! :D I did get professional pictures done today actually. They are kind of sexy, pregnancy pictures. I had them taken with my dh. I will try to post a few, not so revealling ones, next weekend when she is done editing them (takes them with a digital camera) I actually am nude in a few of them and I wouldn't want the, floating around the www...(And I still can't believe I got the nerve up to do them :bigeyes)
Good luck with the chiro. The Webster Techinique has a very high success rate! :thumb It may take a few visits but I am sure it will help get that baby in the right position.

I haven't gotten much hairer either. Maybe a little more fuzz on the belly but that is about it. :shrug I know a lot of people who did/do though.

I can't believe how many people irl that have had preemies that I know. Okay it is only two but I only know 3 total that were due in August around the same time as me and 2 of them have already had their babies!! :eek
This one needs to stay put for another 10 days and then I can have my homebirth. I don't think it will be a problem though. I think he/she is pretty comfy in there. :)

How do you know what size of nursing bra to get? I bought one a while ago but would like to get a couple more before baby comes. I have heard about one cup size bigger than I am wearing now. Is that what you ladies have found?

Gotta run for now. Take care everyone!
:grouphug

Cheryl
:hippie

Hi everyone -

Still having my own computer problems, but I did fix a friend's computer problems and installed a new CD-RW drive on hers. Just cannot seem to get mine fixed though. It has to be hardware and I'm afraid it's the motherboard. That wouldn't be a big deal if we had the money to spend on a new motherboard and processor, but we don't have it. Since I'm really not on-line daily anymore, I'm also having a hard time keeping up also.

Congrats to AP for getting through the VBAC testing.

I'm so sorry with what you and your SO are going through Mealy. Really hope he doesn't get picked. Not that long ago, France had a draft. DH got out of it because he ate a bunch of things that give him hives before his medical review. Could your SO really up the affects of the knee injury for when he goes for the selection?

Hope you can forestall the scheduling of the C Caroline and get your VBAC.

Came on-line actually to print out a pattern for an asian carrier. I've managed to sew quite a few things during my computer problems, but haven't made the carriers I want yet. Keep putting it off because of thread. I cannot put it off any longer though because I only have 3 weeks now and it will be pretty hard to sew them after the baby arrives. I have the carriers that I used with DS, but I really want more this time. It was so hard when one of them was in the wash with DS. I would end up using the Snugli some of those days and he just did not like even near as much as being slung.

Take care - Tiff

mommycaroline
How do you know what size of nursing bra to get? I bought one a while ago but would like to get a couple more before baby comes. I have heard about one cup size bigger than I am wearing now. Is that what you ladies have found?
:hippie

At my last visit, I asked my OB if there's some sort of magic formula for predicting target boob size........I'm already larger than I was when nursing DD and my milk's still coming in, so this 'll be the third time I've purchased a new set of bras in 3 years..........and they're still growing! It's like they're getting ready to feed quintuplets. This should be interesting. Oh well, I'd rather too much than not enough, for sure. Anyway, the OB says there really isn't a magical formula, so I'm not sure about the one cup size bigger.

I wanted to ask you all this: anyone not wear nursing bras? They're soooo expensive! I was never sure I'd get the hang of "unhitching" them, either. I wore sports bras while nursing DD and also love a microfiber bra that Sears carries.......they've got enough support to hold a breast pad in place and enough stretch to handle the size fluctuation you go thru daily while lactating.

Mommycaroline, the beach picture is extraordinary. It's a gem.

About clothing at the hospital: So, what do you wear? I found a cotton nighty yesterday that goes mid-calf and buttons half-way down from the collar, but maybe that won't do? AP, I hadn't thought about the fetal monitoring and clothes..........I wonder if I found a gown that buttons all the way down?
I've never been in a hospital for me before. Is the draw-back to hospital gowns the fact that your butt hangs out?
Being naked at home for DD's birth is starting to look like a real luxury.

I too have a stack of little-bitty unfinished diapers to sew. The clock is ticking.

No extra hair for me with this preg, but I have aquired a truly amazing amount of new gray hair quite suddenly. I don't know if it has to do with a hormonal change (lots of those lately), or if it's just plain genetics. I've got my Dad's hair. Looks like I'll be all salt and pepper before I'm 31. Tried to ask Dad if he remembers going suddenly gray at about my age (28), and he said "How the He** would I remember, I don't look in mirrors." And this is from the man that has and always has had a full head of quite deluxe hippy hair. He's such an old goat and I love him tremendously.

I'm the only one up this a.m. Had a sudden rain storm at 6 am and all the car windows were down, so I had to rush out and roll 'em up. The car is 20 yrs old. We keep it reasonably clean, but I've learned that you absolutely cannot let the interior of a car that old get damp. Wonder what sort of mold will grow in there this time? With the new babe coming, I feel like I have to be extra careful about that sort of thing until the poor pristine kiddo is old enough to have developed some tolerance for our household's own particular crud. KWIM?

-Leah

Hi everyone, I'm sorry but I probably won't do a very good job responding to everyone.

Re: nursing bras. That's an easy one for me, I just get whatever the smallest size is :eyesroll My female family memebers and I seem to be the only ones in the world who do not get a bigger chest during pregnancy/nursing (except for those few days when the milk comes in)

Re: hair. Not hairier, but I have lots and lots of extremely thick hair on my head and it gets thicker in pregnacy. Very annoying. I can't wait for that 2-3 month mark when all the extra will fall out.

Caroline: hope you get that baby turned :thumb

As for me, I am becoming very self-absorbed. My body is going crazy and I'm frustrated. I'm having all those things happen that are supposed to happen right before you go into labor, but I'm thinking it's going to last a while. I know my OB said I could have this baby anytime, but I'm not 38 wks until friday and can't imagine going before that. Actually, I am imagining me hanging out at this just before labor stage for a while (just so I can be really frustrated). I did dialate another cm (according to my exam) over the last day or two though. So at least I am going somewhere. I was hoping to stay preggo until my due date, but I'm thinking my OB might be right when she said I'm not going to make it to my due date. So right now I'm just spending my time trying to take care of myself and work on getting everything done that I'd like done before baby comes. Trying to keep up with the housework.

Have a good day ladies.

I came on-line again to look at another pattern. Am cutting my Indian Sari (sp?) fabric and I really don't want to mess it up and not have something salvagable. Kimberly, one of the sites I've been using is one that you gave me -- Atheist Jan's craft page. I've learned lots from it. Thank you again for passing that site along.

On bras, I went up two sizes with DS. From an A to a C. I don't think I would purchase more than one bra until a few days after your milk comes in Naturegirl. They are so expensive, it really sucks to buy one that you cannot wear except for a few days. On the third day after DS was born (milk came in), I couldn't get my B bra on and showed up at Motherwear 5 minutes to closing with a diaper straped to my chest in order to catch the milk that was pouring out. Found one that fit well at the time and got it. It was a C, but a week later, I couldn't get it on either. Ended up buying 3 other C's that I wore until about a year ago when I no longer had problems leaking and stopped wearing a bra. This time, I'm actually getting regular bras instead of nursing bras because I just don't really feel good about myself in white nursing bras. Had thought of either making my own bras, tie-dying white nursing bras to wear, or Bravado bras. Eliminated Bravado because I really don't care for their prints to much. Decided completely making my own bras would be too hard. So Atheist Jan has a craft project on her site to turn regular bras into nursing bras and that won me over. It will be much easier on our budget at a time that we really don't have money to spend and I can get something pretty. Just am unsure about the size for now and hoping I have enough bras (extremely worn out ones) to get me to the point that I can be pretty confident on the size. Right now, I seem so small compared to when I was pregnant with DS and when I was nursing him. Surely I'll have one that will fit for a week or so. I mean, I have A, B, and two different sized C's. Since I'm more between the A and B right now, I hope to have something to get me through that first week or so.

I'm not at all hairier. With DS, I actually went the opposite way and really lost body and head hair. This time, I haven't lost head hair, thank goodness. My body really has lost hair though. Except for this one annoying chin hair that for some reason doesn't think it's a woman's facial hair. :scratch :rolleyes:

One weird thing that has happened to me in the past few months is that I've developed freakles. I had freakles when I was a child, but they went away. It's not like I am suddenly in the sun more this year. Have been wondering if it's because of pregnancy hormones or age or what. What is the difference between age spots and freakles? Could I be getting age spots? It just seems bizarre to be getting freakles again.

Take care all - Tiff

hi, madrone! nice to see you... and that's great about getting all that sewing done! regarding the freckles... i do think the same hormones that cause the linea negra and "pregnancy mask" (darker pigmentation on the face and chest) can certainly cause darker freckling. i bet it will fade once your babe gets here.

i seem to be getting more of those annoying little skin tags, which don't have anything to do with pigment. not sure if it's due to pregnancy, age, or my weight... maybe a combo of all of 'em.

mommy caroline, you should submit that photo to Mothering! i bet they'd consider it for a cover photo! you two are SOOOO cute!

bras: in all my years of pregnancy and nursing, i've never had a nursing bra. i wear sports bras (if i wear a bra at all) and just pull it up. i haven't worn a bra for most of this pregnancy (it made me more nauseous, and i was having plenty of that without help from my bra, thank you!) but i'm going to have to deal with it soon because once the milk bar goes into operation, i know i'm going to need some help stemming the flow.

hair: my legs lose hair in pregnancy, my head gains it. and then it all falls out about 2 months postpartum. it does seem to be growing in pretty fast right now... which means my roots are showing! i really should touch 'em up before the baby gets here, or all my birth and new baby photos will have that delightful skunk-stripe look.

leah, i had a motor home once that i HAD to get the mold out of. there's a product you can get at the hardware or drug store, a little plastic bucket of super-absorbant crystals, that soaks up all ambient moisture. i can't remember what it was called, but it sure did the trick. you can't let kids or pets near it though...

lena, enjoy these last few weeks! going within is definitely a sign of impending birth... thanks for coming out and talking to us! we'd miss you if you went completely undercover... but we'd understand!

kimberly, hooray! another neighbor! ain't the weather stinky right now? stay cool and let me know if you're in the 'hood (and need an excuse to escape the fambly for a while)... we'd love to have you over. same goes for any other MDC mama that finds herself in KCMO... the door is open.

last night dh and i went out for dinner, since it was the last evening before my kiddos start coming home from their summer jaunts. we came home and he wasn't feeling so hot (i think he probably didn't need a gin gimlet when it was 90 degrees out, but what do i know?!) so we just curled up on the couch to watch "Rushmore." he bailed halfway to go play on his computer, but i loved it! what an offbeat little film. turns out the same guys who did that film did "The Royal Tenenbaums," another odd film that i really liked.

we got the hoses so we'll try filling the tub today i think. my mom also sent some onesies so my baby won't be nekkid right after arriving.

baby is kicking and hiccuping and squirming lots. no barfing yesterday, woo hoo! i'm really starting to get curious about whether it's a boy or a girl... i keep thinking boy but ???

every time i come into our little forum, i look at the "birth stories" thread... who who who will be first? not that i want anyone to have a preemie... but it's getting so hard to wait!

have a great sunday, mamas!

katje

Madrone: I have developed new freckles on me in weird spots too, like my feet. I wear sandles most of the time in the summer and I've never freckled on my feet before, but now this summer there are patches of freckles on the tops of my feet. Hmmm...

Dodo and Magemom: I too am much hairier...or at least I was last time I was pregnant, but I was too afraid to put anything sharp or hot down there where I couldn't see! So after baby was born I went and bought a cheap electric beard trimmer just for that area. I've used it pretty regularly since. I use one of the attachments so that I feel comfortable doing it "blind" now that there is this huge basketball in my belly.

I have reached a new point in this pregnancy. I feel like doing nothing besides sitting down with feet propped and drinking ice water. Oh yeah, and getting up to pee every 30 minutes. But I really don't feel like doing that...it just has to be done. This weekend dh and his parents came over and worked in our yard. There are a few things that have been needing to get done ever since we bought the house. They were out working in the yard ALL DAY. I went out brought pitchers of ice water, gatorade and moral support but most of the time i stayed inside with Ben. Even he went outside more than me and I was exhausted and had to double my water intake because just being outthere visiting made me hot and sweaty. South Mississippi is just no picnic for a pregnant lady in July. With the heat index factor it was close to 100! That is just tootoo hot for me.

Everyone take care and good luck with stubborn and tricky ob's.

Christine

Hi everyone!

glad to see everybody is doing well :)

Lena, it must be so frustrating for you with this is it/ is it not slow early labor. Hang in there, you will have your new baby soon! Keeping my fingers crossed that you have a nice, quick, easy labor once it does get going.

Re: nursing bras. I agree, you should wait before stocking up. I have two bravado bras, i like them b/c the sizes overlap so they accomodate fluctuating sizes. They are pretty comfy except for the band rolling up issue. I am on the hunt for a really comfy bra to sleep in. Maybe just a sports bra would be my best bet?

mommycaroline: such a cute pic! The other day my ds asked if there was a baby in his belly, too!

madrone: I made an asian-style carrier from that pattern, too. We changed a few minor things but it turned out really well. Did a camo print fabric so dh will wear it. He's pretty comfy carrying my 30lb. two-year-old!

katje: glad you are feeling better! I'm so ready to find out who this baby is, too! My gut says girl for me. Were you right about your other kids?

I hadn't really thought about the school cut-off date, yet. I think its late Sept. here. We are most likely going to homeschool as well. I know for my ds it is the best way to go.

Well, we are filling up the family-size inflatable pool on the deck, finally! Can't wait to hop in there, its been sooooo hot lately. Ds is going to be super excited when he gets up from his nap! Have a great day everyone!

Katje - I agree on the hair thing - actually mine is starting to fall out some now. But after the baby comes it comes out by the handful and looks really stringy. Thank goodness I have less on my legs because shaving is becoming troublesome - more because I can't figure out my balance with this body. Still feeling off myself. Mine is waking me up during the night. MW said that is norm to have a big surge when the estrogen drops but this is just hanging on.

Bras - Leading Lady has a fantastic cross-over sleep bra in a variety of colors! I love it. Have 4 myself. I always wear a bra - I am struggling with being 28 and starting to sag so much. I am currently an F cup. Often they say you can buy a bra at 38 weeks and that is pretty indicative of pp. But, if you by nursing bras - get them in the am when your supply is its greatest. Also, I kind of agree on waiting. You can get inexpensive ones at motherhood for the time being and then invest more later. I regulate pretty quickly. The snap in the middle ones are almost impossible to find anymore - manufacturers don't like them because when people buy the wrong size they pop open all the time and complain. Kind of a bummer because I hate the hooks. But, I forget to do the bra up or get distracted by a MOMMY anyway.

Well, we are filling up the family-size inflatable pool on the deck, finally! Can't wait to hop in there, its been sooooo hot lately. Ds is going to be super excited when he gets up from his nap! Have a great day everyone!

Sounds like fun !! What time should I be there ;) ?

Is anyone else slightly scared that they are having MORE babies than they expect ? (i.e. twins when you expect only one - U/S shows only one, midwives only hear 1 heartbeat, etc)

Liza, you just stop that RIGHT NOW! Yikes!

As for bras, I'm a major supporter (or, perhaps I'm majorly supported by...) Decent Exposures. http://www.decentexposures.com They're really comfy, sports bra styled that are custom made per your request. I have three, and I will probably never wear another bra again. They put a loop in the middle (which I highly recommend asking them to tack down so it doesn't move from side to side) which prevents the uni-boob look, and they are very stretchy and resilient, so I don't even have nursing flaps put in, just slide it under my breast. And, I have ample breasts, so that says a lot about the quality. I think a lesser bra would stretch out quickly and become useless after being tugged and stretched to go under your breast as many times a day as I nurse.

They come in 100% cotton, lined or unlined (lined has more support, so that's what I order) and are so much a part of me, that I forget I'm wearing it half the time. Never had a plugged duct or problem since I've had them. Also, if you order the wrong size, or if your breast size changes as you nurse, they will adjust them FOR FREE for the first year. I'm not even sure you have to pay for the shipping. Well worth it!

Thanks everyone for the sweet comments about our photo. I've been envisioning this in my mind for a couple of weeks now, since Bonnie is always popping out her belly. It just turned out so nicely at the beach, and was actually quite spontaneous. I'm so glad to have such a nice way to remember the way we are anticipating this little one. :)

Have a good night, everybody!

Lizabear!!! NO NONONO :nono :nono

Holy cow, I would flip my lid.

Granted, I've had like a dozen u/s and none have shown anything other than one very girlie girl.

Holy cow, NOOOOOOOO :nono

Dear Liza-BITE your tongue!! Let's hope there are no hidden babies!!

How's everyone doing? I feel bad b/c I've had no time to check in. DS got back tonight safe and sound. DS was so excited. 4 days away is HUGE to him. And me, too.

I'm feeling so achey and can hardly move anymore. Hard when it's 90 degrees out. Took the trash out tonight and told DH I felt like a weeble (do you guys remember weebles?). My legs don't really want to carry me anywhere-I can easily feel like I'm going to fall backwards when I want to move FORWARD! Ahhh, the joys of late pregnancy in the height of the summer.

I won't be able to respond to you all, I know... Just know that I'm thinking of all of us tonight as we head down the home stretch. I can't really believe it. I look at my belly and think: I have to get this babe OUTTA there somehow!! Obviously, after having one already it's not such a mystery. But my bod and belly are so big at this point I just keep feeling sorry for my vagina! :yikes:

Still soooo emotional and very, very low patience. Hoping this gets better with some positive self-talk and some rest....

Sleep well, ladies. And hopefully I'll be able to check in with all of the posts and read more thoroughly one of these nights I'm not so tired... :zzz

all done here/new thread:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?p=1731336#post1731336