Weekly chat, September 5-11

[HoneyTree]

Hello, ladies! Hope everyone is having a lovely labor day. Amazingly, there was a slight breeze today that could *almost* be called cool. I spent an hour and a half in the garden this morning -- it felt so nice to be outside!

We spent the weekend at my husband's 10-year high school reunion. The reunion itself was fun, but time spent with MIL and step-FIL was strained to say the least; she had a cigarette in her hand the whole weekend and made snippy comments about people who thought that her smoke was infecting them, and they both tried to talk us into buying a gun to protect ourselves from anti-white thugs, made numerous references to stories they had seen on Fox News, and reminded us that if our Doberman did not take to the baby right away, that he'd have to be destroyed "because it only takes one bite." Sometimes I think it is amazing how much we are willing to put up with in order to keep social situations placid.

My baby is not even close to being settled yet -- I feel big shifts and kicks at all corners of my belly and all throughout the day. I'm feeling a little anxious for her to get into position, even though I know there's still a little time left for that.

Other than that, things are swimming along. How is everyone else?

[trmpetplaya]

Really tired... I wake up tired and have trouble falling asleep if there's the slightest noise. I don't have trouble with getting comfortable amazingly enough, but noises drive me nuts. The cat meows over and over at the crack of dawn (which is getting later and later, thank goodness!).

Work is getting really obnoxious now. I would have quit already if they didn't pay my insurance and since we can't afford insurance right now (especially if I quit...) I better just suck it up for the 40 or so more days I have to work. There's a consultant micro-managing my department and stressing everyone out. I'm not stressed personally because I'm a really good, fast worker, but being around so many stressed people is really stressful :irked:

Our room is almost straightened out! It was a royal mess before and now it actually looks semi-decent. The furniture is all set up where we want it and it looks somewhat liveable again. My midwife is coming over tomorrow so we're getting the house straightened up today. I'm procrastinating about it because it's not that bad... and I'm still really tired so I don't feel like doing much right now.

Anyhow... I guess that's about it. I haven't been around too much online lately and I think I've missed a few of the weekly chats, but I hope everyone's doing well this week!

love and peace. :love

[dziejen]

I don't usually join the weekly chats because I join too late and have to scan through too many posts but I caught it early this week!! :wink We had a small gathering today -- all family -- and had a nice time. The girls had fun with their cousin and the adults all chatted and ate. Now I am so tired and the baby is feeling like she is poking right out of my belly at times! I was planning on going to get my glucose test done tomorrow but I think I am going to put it off til Friday or Monday of next week -- too lazy!! Plus I have to get my Rhogam shot the same day and I am not ready for that yet either. Dd #2 goes back to preschool Friday so I am planning on getting lots of organizing done -- I have lots to freecycle, post on the TP and send to the LLL safe house for those affected by the hurricane -- I just need to get it all together. Plus I want to get a head start on getting my fall decorations out and the kids warmer clothes out of storage before I lose all my energy!! And I agree today was a beautiful Labor Day -- the weather was gorgeous -- hope all you November mamas had a great day too!!

[Belleweather]

School starts tomorrow, so I guess I wasn't successful in lobbying for the calender people to add another three weeks in august so I could feel caught up. I'm still not looking forward to starting classes again at all... I think it would be better if I didn't feel like the whole place was out to get me. :) It's mainly just because there's no parking and I have to walk up a gignormous hill to get to classes when even walking on flat ground gives me an asthma attack and makes me light headed.

We tried to see a movie this afternoon, but chose poorly -- the Constant Gardener is a fantastic movie, but the way the film is cut and shot gave me SUCH awful motion sickness. Plus, the kiddo was punching at my stomach the whole time. I actually had to go stand in the aisle and sway my hips around to try to calm him. I can tell he's getting bigger because those kicks are starting to hurt!

[BensMom]

Well, I posted my big scare today in the other thread, might as well save this space for good stuff.

DS and I went to our towns annual craft fair/carnival. We got there at 10am, thinking we would beat the heat, ride a few rides and be home by lunchtime. Well, the rides did not start til 12noon, so I had to kill time in the heat with a 4yo for 2 hours. Ugh. We made it. We ate lots of junky carnival food, but all in all, he did great. One kids ride scared the bejessus out of him, poor little guy, and he was a tad traumatized from it. We went on the carosel next and he didnt even want to get on a horse, we sat on the bench for the whole ride. :o

We leave for vacation Weds and I feel like I have so much to get ready before then. I will be skipping the gym tomorrow and hopefully will get it all done while DS is in school. And then there is the laundry, the packing, the cleaning so we dont leave the house a disaster for the petsitter.

DS is actually really looking forward to the trip, the first time he could anticipate a trip like this. Its exciting. He is excited about sleeping in a new house, playing at the ocean and...having a TV in the car! :LOL (We got one specially for this trip.)

Its still hot, hot hot, but hopefully it will start to calm down soon.

Our area is getting a lot of Katrina refugees and I hope to come up with some tangible way to help next week when we get back from vacation. I feel so moved by this tragedy, I hope there is someway I can help.

[bec]

I haven't been on for a while, but thought I would check in with everyone and see how everybody's doing! I've been having a harder pregnancy than with my other two. Probably because I'm chasing around the other two! :LOL I've basically been dragging for the past 7 months. I have also had a bunch of back pain, but weekly chiropracter visits have been helping to manage it. I :love my chiro!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!


Bec

[Kavita]

I've been having a good week so far. The weekend has been very relaxing. Both of us get labor day off with pay, so it's been great to have a long weekend. We originally had ideas of doing major work around the house (we have one bedroom that needs painting and baseboards installed) but then we decided that it would be better just to rest and relax a little, which we don't get much time to do in the past couple of months, and certainly not together.

DH had brought home from work the first of the TV series "24" and was watching it Friday night. I got into it, and we ended up doing a "24" marathon weekend! We have 8 episodes to go . . . ! It was pretty gripping for the first 10 hours or so. Now we're getting a little tired, but it's still interesting enough that we are planning on watching another episode or two tonight. We'll slow down, though!

Other than that, no news is good news! Had a good MW appointment Saturday, and just enjoying hanging out for a change. We've still been doing a bit of housework and laundry here and there, but on breaks from TV! Started hypnobabies too, and that seems good so far.

[RainCoastMama]

*

[Gunter]

We tried to see a movie this afternoon, but chose poorly -- the Constant Gardener is a fantastic movie, but the way the film is cut and shot gave me SUCH awful motion sickness.

Sorry to hear about the motion sickness...DH keeps talking about this film. He really wants to see it. From one preggo to another, do ya think that I should pass? :D

I am expecting a better week! Last week was really tough.

My Mother's Blessing is on Friday. I planned it for the same weekend that DH goes on his annual guy rafting trip. We never do gender based stuff other than his rafting trip and my spa slumber party in Sept. This year it's still a spa slumber party with all my gal pals, a massage therapist, pedicures, wine and snacks but we'll also string a beaded necklace as people say the blessing, henna my belly and tie dye onsies and dipes.

My MIL is coming early on Friday to help me set up...my own mom and I aren't close and she's not coming. No surprise though...she has never been to visit DH and I in seven years we've been married and she has lived one southern state over for most of that time. My sister isn't coming either. I did weep and cry about this one morning about a month ago then sent out e-vite later that day! Woo hoo!

My best friend got engaged two weeks ago so she's been in her own world, too. Anyone else throwing themselves a mother's blessing and struggling not to feel like a loser about it? :LOL Honestly, I am such a controlling person that maybe it's for the best. The time spent with friends that night will erase all the lack of etiquette, etc...

[AmyGirl28]

Hello everyone. I hope you all had a nice Labor Day weekend. Mine sucked. We took a family trip to Oregon. DD did not sleep at all... neither did I. She was cranky and pulling at her ears. I think she has another ear infection. So, we came home early and finally got a good night's sleep. I am going to take her to the doctor tomorrow. My feet are starting to swell a little bit. I spent most of the day on the sofa with my feet propped up. Thank goodness I am 3/4 of the way there. Now the complaining starts. Hopefully the rest of the week goes better.

[flapjack]

Day two of maternity leave, day one of the new school term- it's 10am and already I'm bored...and hot, sticky and very very tired.
My adorable, darling ex-husband took the boys away for the weekend. I wrote a long soliloquy about it, but deleted it to say
:irked: :angry :O :duh :crap :rolleyes :jaw :eek :dropjaw :scared :spitdrink :hopmad :splat :cuss :bang :hammer :tomato :firedevil

Which pretty much covers my feelings neatly.
Hmm. Other than that, life is good, baby is growing by the second, my bump is growing by the nanosecond... my baby shower isn't until the end of October, but we had a communal trip to the pub yesterday, which was highly entertaining, and got to spend the whole weekend doing couple-y stuff (it's never happened before, really, because of the boys, but it's quite nice in a way.)

[willemsmamma]

DH had brought home from work the first of the TV series "24" and was watching it Friday night. I got into it, and we ended up doing a "24" marathon weekend!
:LOL We watched seasons 1-3 a few weeks ago too!!! It's really an addiction. I couldn't stop watching! I did get my baby blanket mostly knitted during it though.

We had a pretty good weekend. Dh made up for all the pissiness and inconsiderate things he said by serving me breakfast in bed (fresh farm market cantaloupe, oat bran with sucanat and apples, and pregnancy tea)yesterday and letting me sleep until 9:30. No insomnia here... guess I had enough last time. I wake up at around 4:30 to 5:00 am for my nightly water and pee and usually get online because it's my only true alone time but ds gets up soon after and our day starts so sleeping in was a treat. Ds didn't take a nap on Saturday when we went to the cousins' birthday party so he was so overtired he cried basically all night long and I didn't get a wink of sleep. Then he was pretty fussy the night after but dh took care of him for the first half of the night and then let me sleep in. So I'm still not quite caught up on sleep.

We went to my BIL's house (apartment) yesterday and went swimming in the pool (I just soaked me feet). I had a hot dog and ewww burped it up the rest of the evening. :sick Spent lots of my time with almost due SIL telling her little tidbits about labor and having a newborn. I told her about my spell with PPD and how it was about a year after giving birth to Willem that I finally started feeling like I was alive again. I think that kind of scared her a little. I'm gonna have to call her and make sure I didn't say something senseless to make her expect the same thing.

I'm definitely in the "have so much to do" category but I lack the $$$ and the energy to really do much about it.

Pregnant wise I have burning hot palms and soles, am pretty tired, have an achy back, itchy stretch marks going through some restretching and a thirst and a sweet tooth that can't be quenched. No complaints here :LOL

My goal for this week is to go register and get my MIL to come to a kids cosignment sale on Saturday (maybe she'll bring some $$ to help us out)!

hope everyone has a good week!

[*Amy*]

she had a cigarette in her hand the whole weekend and made snippy comments about people who thought that her smoke was infecting them, and they both tried to talk us into buying a gun to protect ourselves from anti-white thugs, made numerous references to stories they had seen on Fox News, and reminded us that if our Doberman did not take to the baby right away, that he'd have to be destroyed "because it only takes one bite."

Good GAWD, BTE, I would have gone insane. I thought my MIL was bad because she keeps harping on us that gentle discipline = spoiled, unruly child. How annoying!

We had a really nice weekend, doing little projects around the house. And we got the baby's room painted a pale lavender, and I absolutely LOOOOOVE it! Now I'm chomping at the bit to get everything else done, but we're going to wait about one more month to lay out the serious cash for the stuff we still need. We haven't bought diapers yet, and we're trying to decide if we want to get the Amby. I think we are for sure going to get the Humanity Family Bed (http://www.mom4life.com/humanitybed.htm), so I'm excited about that. A friend loaned us her bassinet yesterday, so that will be a big help since we have upstairs/downstairs, and we'll need a couple of "stations" on both floors.

Interesting that y'all mentioned the Constant Gardener. We were thinking about seeing it yesterday but DH decided he would rather read, which was fine with me. I'm on the 3rd book of the Outlander series now; just started so I am excited for Claire to get back to Jamie ASAP!!!

We leave for my Dad's house in Oregon tomorrow - Yay!! It's going to feel like a real vacation, especially for DH because my dad has all kinds of fun guy stuff planned, like river rafting and fishing. My older brother will also be there, so I think that he and DH are going to go hiking together, since I am totally not up for hiking Table Rock (http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/oregon/preserves/art6805.html). We are all going to Crater Lake (http://www.nps.gov/crla/) together on Thursday, and then to another lake to spend two nights in a cabin over the weekend. I am SO excited!! The only time DH has been home with me was Christmas of 2003, so we really couldn't do a lot of outdoorsy stuff. I hope he falls in love with it and wants to move back there eventually. :wink It just feels so good to go home.

I've been having trouble sleeping too, especially the past week or so. It's been so hard to get comfortable, and my breasts are back to their first trimester state of constant paint to temporary agony. I can only imagine what it's going to be like when my milk comes in.

Bensmom, I hope you have a great time on your trip!!

[bec]

Good GAWD, BTE, I would have gone insane. I thought my MIL was bad because she keeps harping on us that gentle discipline = spoiled, unruly child. How annoying!



I always hate comments like this, because they're just not true. I was at a neighbor's birthday party for her son with my two girls. I was chatting with another mother who has two kids as well. One of them (a 2 year old) started crying while the mother was involved with something and couldn't pick him up right away. So, I did. He settled down and I brought him over by his mom, who was able to take him by that point. Anyway, she smiled at me, and said, "So, you're a softy on the crying, huh?" I decided to not get snippy and just smiled, and said, "Yep. I hate seeing them cry without being held." Anyway, she says, "But your kids are so well behaved." Like my holding them when they are upset would cause them to be brats or something.

Anyway, a long story to tell you that GD does work and certainly doesn't mean that you will have spoiled, unruly children.


Bec

[BensMom]

So true, Bec. I really wonder why people persist in thinking that responding to your childrens cries will make them spoiled? It is so frustrating. Now my son is definitely not one of those mythical, well bahaved, polite, kind AP raised children :LOL so I do feel a little more defensive in my parenting. But I can see from my SILs kids that the "threaten to spank for every infraction" method doesnt work either. Those kids are the wost behaved kids I have seen! So to me, the issue is less spanking vs. non-spanking as more of an "overall parenting" kind of thing.

Anyway...on 24, we have been avid 24 watchers since it debuted. Season 1 was awesome! Seasons 2-3 were still good, but IMHO Season 4 was a joke. DH and I kept watching because we were committed, but it was as if the show became a charicature of itself. It was like a drinking game...when Jack or CTU did something completely rediculous...drink! :D

Today is my day to pack, clean the car, do laundry, get the house ready...ugh. At least I have some nesting energy to help get it done. And then after vacation, we will finally finish the floor in the nursery/play room so I can start moving stuff in there. Which means I can start setting up for baby and clear some things out of DS' room to make it less cluttered for him. I can't wait!

Have a wonderful week everyone!

[Gunter]

Anyway, she says, "But your kids are so well behaved." Like my holding them when they are upset would cause them to be brats or something.
Anyway, a long story to tell you that GD does work and certainly doesn't mean that you will have spoiled, unruly children.Bec

This reminds me of Merdith Small's book, "Our Babies, Ourselves" which I am reading now. Babes all over the world all held for the majority of the day as a necessity for parents to go about their daily activities. It's not like the Kung people drop the babes off at Kindercare on their drive to work. They sling them in some fashion and get to cooking, visiting, living, etc...

Anybody else read Small?

[*Amy*]

I would really like to read that book; it's on my list, but I haven't gotten down to it yet! I'm still reading the book about children's vaccines.

OK, just had to tell y'all about our major SCORE of the day. I've been going back and forth about what kind of chair to get for the baby's room. I hate gliders (they make me feel kind of sea-sick) and I thought I would just want a regular old wooden rocker, but they are kind of uncomfortable and I don't have a sewing machine to make a cushion. Aaaanyway, last week I went into this furniture store and found a chair like this (http://www.la-z-boy.com/ourfurniture/product.aspx?pid=2089,) (except in a netural fabric) but they wanted $600 - $700 for it in the two stores in our area that carry it. So I was pretty bummed because it was like my dream chair (and so comfortable!), and finally DH said that if I really wanted it, we would make it happen. :love So this past weekend we went to several stores to see if we could find it cheaper than $600, and we found out that Ashley furniture did carry it up until last week, but it wasn't a popular style, so it's been discontinued. Well come to find out, they sent it back to their warehouse to be sold at this furniture clearance center about 5 minutes from our house!! They are only open once a month (and it so happens that DH and I will be out of town for the next sale), but I managed to talk to one of the managers who has agreed to let us buy it today, and pick it up tonight. And best of all, it's only $250!!!!!!! It's even the right color (from what they say; it's supposed to be pale yellow, which will look great with the pale lavender walls in the baby room). So I feel like the Furniture Gods are smiling upon me today. Yay for bargains!!

:jumpers:

[spughy]

Gunter: Yes, I love that book! I bought it fairly early on in my pregnancy and read it a couple of times. I lent it to my midwives because I thought they should have it in their repetoire of "books to recommend".

BTE: You are so way more patient with people like that than me! I don't think I could have done the "smile and nod" thing if someone was smoking AND making comments like that. Even (maybe especially?) if she was my MIL.

I had a great long weekend. Puttered, mostly. I read a book that was a really great book but totally triggered the crying hormones and I had a good cleansing cry in the bathtub while DH was out Sunday afternoon. It's odd, but that felt like such an indulgence. (BTW the book was "Case Histories" by Kate Atkinson and I highly recommend it.) Then yesterday I went to the museum in the morning to see the new exhibit on Tibet (very interesting, but none of the photos had any children in them which I thought was a bit odd... and the Tibetans "do like their bling" as my friend Cory put it!). In the afternoon DH and I went out fishing with DH's PhD supervisor, Frank, and Frank's son. We spent a delightful 5 hours or so out on Juan de Fuca Strait - it was perfectly calm, clear and warm, and the sea lion colony on Race Rocks was audible for literally miles and miles. Ark ark ark!!! Stirling had a salmon on but it got away just as it neared the boat, but Frank landed one and his son caught a couple of greenling, which are little bottom fish that are tasty when steamed with ginger and green onion. So we are having one of those for dinner tonight, and I am smoking the salmon for Frank and his wife. Frank's wife thought I was insane for wanting to go out fishing when I'm 7 months pregnant, but I am still not sure why. Even if it had been rough out, it's still not exactly strenuous or even really uncomfortable (unless you get seasick, which I don't.) Blobby found it entertaining (I think) and wiggled and squirmed and kicked all afternoon. I thought things like rolling motion and boat motors were supposed to lull babies to sleep!

Hope everyone's week goes well!

[Awaken]

Gosh, so much to say already!

*Amy*- me too, on the outlander book! I am 3/4 of the way through that one :) You are going to surpass me soon!

Gunter- Yes, the Small book is one of my favorites- I recommend it to all pregnant women/new parents/anyone who keeps yapping about sleep training and complaining about not wanting to hold thier babies too much of they'll be spoiled. And let us know how the mother's blessing goes- sounds nice :)

Also on books- just finally finished Ina May's Guide to Childbirth- truly THE BEST pregnancy/birth book out there. I am equally inspired, empowered, educated, and ENRAGED at the same time! Definitely a must read if any of you haven't yet. I'm now sending it on to my sis who is pg with her first.

BTE- OMG about your IL's!! Isn't it funny how people like that can spout off about anything they want, and you're expected to keep quiet and smile, but if you said anything about what YOU believe, you'd be seen as rude and pushy and wacko!! That always gets to me.

RainCoastMama- ugh, so sorry :( Totally BTDT, and it totally sucks.

Flapjack- WOO HOO about your weekend! Sounds incredible! I still would've liked to have read your soliloquoy! :)

:hug to all of us feeling heavy/sick/hot/exhausted/sick of work- I'm right there with you!

Yay to all who did some good home organizing and fixing up of the baby's room!

As for us: Didn't do much for Labor Day. Ds is getting molars, and he usually gets an icky snotty cold and doesn't sleep, so we were all totally off schedule and tired. HOWEVER, inexplicably, he has behaved better the past few days than he has in weeks! He is usually totally anti-social and has a million tantrums anywhere we go, but he has been GREAT lately! We went out to eat and got a babysitter and he was totally fine, then he went to his new Sunday School class and they said he was wonderfully behaved, we went to a friend's bbq and he played nicely with the other kids and had his first popcicle (loved it!), and today I stayed home from work w/ him and we have been doing errands and he has been so good, such a nice little companion :) I am so proud :bouncy

[bec]

Now my son is definitely not one of those mythical, well bahaved, polite, kind AP raised children :LOL so I do feel a little more defensive in my parenting.


Oh, my girls are certainly far from perfect, but they have obviously thrived in an AP environment (particularly my more challenging toddler. :p ). I think people equate being sensitive to a child's cry and not yelling/screaming/spanking, to not setting limits and not having discipline. I honestly think that people don't realize there are other methods of discipline out there.

An example. At this same party, Emily (the toddler) got rough with a little boy around her age. She was shoving him so he wouldn't come into the bouncy thing they had set up. Rather than spank her, yell at her or whatever, we removed her from the toy. We told her we don't hit, use gentle touches, etc. She (on her own) said she was sorry to the boy, and that was that. This is how most conflicts are handled with us. Sometimes we have more tantrums and struggle a bit more than others. But I'm coming from the place that I truly believe my kids are good people. I don't think a lot of people do that. :shrug


Bec

[Belleweather]

Gunter: I really, really liked the story of The Constant Gardener, and thought Rachel Weiss and Ralph Fiennes were excellent in it. If you're not usually subject to motion sickness, it probably wouldn't bother you -- no one else in the theater seemed overly affected. It's just a lot of sweeping, swirling camera angles and super-saturated light effects which didn't combine well with the baby sticking his butt in my already sore stomach, and greasy popcorn.

I'm so excited that everyone is reading the Outlander books! It gives me all this nostalgia back to when I first discovered them. Plus, it's time for me to dig my copy of the Fiery Cross out since the newest one will be released in a few weeks and I absolutely CANNOT wait. :)

Other than that, the first day of school has completely worn me out. Classes went well, but I think that the bebe really isn't enjoying school very much at all. He kicks a whole lot and tries to distract me when I'm paying attention to anyone else but him.

I did finally order diapers last night after more angst than I'm willing to admit to. I have been seduced to the dark side of the force -- fitted diapers. But at least I'm feeling a heck of a lot more prepared for the baby now than I was before I spent the family fortune on expensive fabric for my baby to poop on. I guess sometimes money can buy peace of mind?

[*Amy*]

I did finally order diapers last night after more angst than I'm willing to admit to. I have been seduced to the dark side of the force -- fitted diapers.

Belle, I am also having cloth diaper anxiety, since this is my first babe and I have *no* idea what I'm doing. We are buying our stash in a few weeks, and I am also going with fitteds, including a few AIO's. Is that terrible? :bag: I guess I'm not really down with diaper culture so I'm just trying to figure out what I will be able to use most easily along with EC'ing.

I didn't know a new Outlander book was coming out! It's kind of fun to get into a series after a lot of them are already out so that you don't have the endless WAIT for the next book, like Harry Potter!

OK so last night I had the freakiest dream that I woke up one morning with a fully formed third areola and nipple, right between and a little below my breasts!! :yikes: I was horrified. I didn't know what to do, and I didn't want to tell DH about it because I was so icked out. I couldn't even figure out how I was going to wear a bra because this extra nipple was right where the front of the bra lies between and below the real breasts. It was crazy. Needless to say, I was really happy to wake up and find that I only had my two regular breasts! :LOL Pregnancy dreams are crazy!

I'd better get packing. We leave today at 2:00!

[MelW]

Just a quick hello before work this morning...two months until my due date!
We're in the midst of packing and cleaning, and doing the big move on Sunday. A lot of friends have offered to help after hearing about our sudden leak and crisis over the past week, so I'm actually going to be out of the house for the official move (because I keep getting caught trying to be she-hulk :bag: I absolutely cannot just stand there and carry/move light stuff- and freak my husband out when I'm hefting around heavy boxes and furniture). There will still be tons of packing and unpacking/organizing over the next week for me to help with, though.

I may be online only sporadically...we may be without internet access for a short time. Have a great week, everyone!

[DreamsInDigital]

My DP uses mostly AIOs and I use almost exclusively fitteds and wool. They're not a bad way to go. I just hope some day I can learn how to use prefolds and pins so I can be uber crunchy.

[MrsMoe]

Are any of you battling insomnia? I never have insomina issues... but the last month or so I am not getting much sleep at all.

[Gunter]

[QUOTE=Belleweather did finally order diapers last night after more angst than I'm willing to admit to. I have been seduced to the dark side of the force -- fitted diapers. But at least I'm feeling a heck of a lot more prepared for the baby now than I was before I spent the family fortune on expensive fabric for my baby to poop on. I guess sometimes money can buy peace of mind?[/QUOTE]


What's so wrong about that? Call me crazy...but I figure almost any sort of cloth diapers are a million times better than disposies! You pat yourself on the back and keep up the good work caring for your babe's health, saving money and keeping the planet/universe a little cleaner!

[willemsmamma]

On the topic of diapers... I had a stash of 35 newborn dipes for Willem and we used them until he was about 8 weeks old before they were being soaked through too fast. I had a dozen nb prefolds, and 24 fitted cotton fleeceys. They held us up for about a day and a half before the stash was getting low, meaning we had to do laundry (I never let there be less than 6 dipes in the drawer). I didn't like the prefolds because even the newborn size was way too big (DID, diaperpin.com has a section on folding prefolds and if you just type folding cloth diapers into google you'll get a slew of sites with picture directions). The best advice I got was to get a couple of a bunch of different diapers once they get out of the newborn stage (IOW don't buy huge lots of the same brand because you may not like them... every baby is different and has different diapering needs). I found the TP here to be great because the mamas there seem to be very honest and forthcoming before you buy their dipes. Used is definitely more economical when you are trying to figure out what diapers best fit your needs.
This time I'm looking at Kissaluvs contours and fitteds with wool covers and a few nice AIOs (I have the cutest sugarplumbaby AIO that I absolutely love)for when I go out (which won't be often). They (kissaluvs) are really nice for newborns but get soaked through once they are out of that stage. I'm thinking about getting more SOS (one size) diapers after that because then (maybe) we can use the same dipes for both babies. We'll see.
Oh and I STILL don't have my newborn stash yet. I just posted a bunch of lots of maternity clothes on ebay to make some $$ for them so I guess that will sort of determine what I'll be getting and when.

So anyway, my big news is that I finally talked to my mother (after 6 months of cutting my parents out of my life). And it took me two seconds into the conversation to *remember* why I didn't want to talk to her for so long in the first place. It's really hard to hold any sort of normal conversation with someone who just won't censor the religious crap. Every other sentence that comes out of my mom's mouth is peppered with religion. I told dh that she needs a serious religious detox :LOL . Anyway, in that respect I feel that I'm really growing because for the first time I didn't have the uncontrollable urge to tell her off and try to get her to see how miserable she is (despite her insistance that G*d is giving her "joy" and "peace"... I just don't see it even in the way she talks and what she talks about). It seems like for the first time in a long time I'm not only saying to myself that I don't need her approval, I'm actually feeling it :thumb Yay for me!!!

[*Amy*]

It seems like for the first time in a long time I'm not only saying to myself that I don't need her approval, I'm actually feeling it :thumb Yay for me!!!

That is wonderful for you! I can relate to mom issues, so I am always supportive of other women working their way through that. It can be really hard. You should be proud of yourself for not letting it get to you! :D

Well I'm about to head out to the great Pacific Northwest to see my wonderful Dad!! I hope you all have a great week and I'll see you next Thursday!


:wave

[Awaken]

Gunter: Plus, it's time for me to dig my copy of the Fiery Cross out since the newest one will be released in a few weeks and I absolutely CANNOT wait. :)

Oh, I had no idea!! How exciting! I'm happy to have found books I like that have several in the series, plus they take a long time to read! I'll have lots of good reading for a long time to come!

[/QUOTE]I have been seduced to the dark side of the force -- fitted diapers. But at least I'm feeling a heck of a lot more prepared for the baby now than I was before I spent the family fortune on expensive fabric for my baby to poop on. I guess sometimes money can buy peace of mind?[/QUOTE]

Ok, what's so bad about fitteds or AIO's? I have just started looking into cloth dipes and from the very minimal I have found out, it sounds like they work great! We used a diaper service (I guess that means they were prefolds??) when ds was first born but they didn't work at all- constantly soaking wet, leaking, and I had to double diaper and change him every hour and they still were always soaked (and he wasn't a big eater at all so I know it wasn't b/c he peed a lot). So we had a bad experience but I knew nothing about fleece, hemp, fuzzibunz, snappi's at the time- still don't, but at least I've heard of them now!

So if anyone can point me to a really simple primer for first-timers, I'd really appreciate it. I want to try it out, but am hesitant after last time to put a lot of $ into it and then have it not work out. Although everyone I know who uses them raves about it!

Ok, have to get to work but I'll write more later.

[gossamer]

It sounds like everyone is doing well. So are we. We went to the perinatologist yesterday and the ultrasound showed that this baby jumped from the 59th% in size to the 79th% in size. I was so ecstatic. Mary Rose had dropped from the 40th% to the 25th% in 2 weeks so for this little guy to jump up 20% is just my dream come true. I declined the GTT becasue I am hypoglycemic so I have been taking my blood sugars on a regular basis and I amnot diabetic so the Dr. said no worries, he thinks we will have a 9 pound baby. I sure hope so since all of DH's family has been telling us what a puny, scrawny, tiny baby we are going to have because of my Blood Pressure issues. So any way, we have had a great week so far.
Gossamer

[meagen]

Yay for big babies! Molly was 9 lbs, and I hope Liam is just as big.

My list of complaints for the week is aches and pains all over! We had a big get-together this weekend, and it wore me out. I feel like a turtle trying to get cleaned-up, sheets washed, etc. Mostly I'm just sitting around, with little spurts of energy. I can't even imagine moving right now, I would be no help.

Less than 8 weeks to go! I'm so excited to see him, I can't stand it! I've seen some darling little Halloween sleepers, but know if I buy anything like that, he won't come until mid-November! :LOL So, I'm trying to focus on dd's birthday party and getting her costume ready for Halloween (today she wants to be a football player :) ) It's getting close!

[Queen of Cups]

Its two months till I'm 37 weeks, and I would LOVE for the baby to arrive at any point once we hit 37 weeks. Sadly, DH's grandmother has been given only a few months to live and she has announced to the whole family that she is determined to see her new great-grandbabies before she dies (his cousin has a scheduled c-sec at the end of Jan). So, we feel we have no option but to go home to the east coast at Christmas. I soooo do not want to make the trip unless the baby is at least a month old, so I'm hoping for an early delivery again - DS was born at 38 weeks (7lbs 11oz, though, so a perfect size!). I've gotten most of my Christmas shopping done, my next goal is to wrap everything and send it back with my parents and the in-laws at Thanksgiving so (1) I won't have to worry about packing it for our cross-country trip with two babies! and (2) just in case we really are not able to make it out for Christmas our parents can distribute the gifts to all our families. We live in Kansas, both our parents live in Virginia, and great-grandmother lives in Chattanooga - so its a TON of travelling.

I'm feeling okay - just very tired all the time. DS has started nursing like a maniac again and I actually have a fairly decent milk supply once more - but its a lot more physically exhausting to be pregnant and nursing than I thought it was. I try to eat tons of protein, though, and that does help. All I want right now for lunch every day is starchy foods, though, so I've compromised with myself by only buying Barilla Plus pasta - its fortified with 40% more protein than regular pasta, and I try to put some cheese on it, too. At night I manage to make a healthy dinner, but I have heartburn terribly as soon as I get in bed so I have to sleep with about 4 pillows under my head and shoulders!

I'm totally stressed about my weight. I did so well the first 5 months of pregnancy, and had only gained 6 lbs at my 21 week appt. But now at 28.5 weeks I've gained about 20 total! I'm hoping that my weight gain tapers off pretty darn quickly... I'm also stressing about my apperance. I just feel that at 25 I'm too young to look this old and heavy! I bought some new makeup today, though, and that perked me up quite a bit. Worth every penny of the $15 I spent at Walmart! I also got about 4-5 inches whacked off my waist-length hair last week, so I am feeling a little better about the way I look... But I'm also stressed about having to go to massive family reunions one month post-partum. Ugh!

[Belleweather]

Ok, what's so bad about fitteds or AIO's? I have just started looking into cloth dipes and from the very minimal I have found out, it sounds like they work great! We used a diaper service (I guess that means they were prefolds??) when ds was first born but they didn't work at all- constantly soaking wet, leaking, and I had to double diaper and change him every hour and they still were always soaked (and he wasn't a big eater at all so I know it wasn't b/c he peed a lot). So we had a bad experience but I knew nothing about fleece, hemp, fuzzibunz, snappi's at the time- still don't, but at least I've heard of them now!


Your story about the diaper service is exactly what I was scared would happen with pre-folds.This makes me feel so much better... everyone was saying that "Oh, prefolds and covers will be the workhorse of your system!" and "Oh, they're so versitile" and all sorts of things, and it seemed like they were so crunchy and cheap, that I almost got seduced. When push came to shove, though, I realised that what I really wanted was something easy enough that DH could manage without a lot of angst, and something that would contain leaks. Plus, we had a little more money than we thought we would and got a good deal on ebay :bag: So we bought kissaluvs and covers with some pre-folds 'just in case'. We've got enough to manage for quite a while, so it feels great to put the whole "OMG! Diapers!" Anxiety behind us.

Now I just have to think about cloth wipes! :LOL

[Queen of Cups]

I am soooo about the prefolds and cheap covers. Part of the reason I cd, though, is to save a ton of money and they are absolutely the cheapest way to go. I just bought a bunch of cheap prefolds and covers to use for the baby until he/she is into medium sized diaper stuff - I've got nice quality prefolds and tons of covers to fit a baby once they're at about 12 lbs. I'm just hoping this baby will grow quickly like DS did! He was 7lbs 11oz at birth, but was 11.5 lbs by his one month appt. So, I just don't want to invest a lot in newborn diapers. Plus, all those prefolds mean that I NEVER run out of burp cloths! There are, of course, times I lust after all the cute and adorable fitted and nice covers...

[Gunter]

So if anyone can point me to a really simple primer for first-timers, I'd really appreciate it. I want to try it out, but am hesitant after last time to put a lot of $ into it and then have it not work out. Although everyone I know who uses them raves about it!

Tonight, I went to a CD info party at someone's house. She started a yahoo group for CD in North Carolina and we met at AP meetings. It was awesome! If you know anyone that is a GD guru, they could host a little get-together (9 of us total were there) for moms-to-be or moms who have babes but want to switch to cloth. A woman who runs an online cloth diapering business was there and gave us samples and a coupon.

They had all kinds of different diapers, washes to use, and a handout on how to wash/types of CDs, etc...

Insomnia: Yeah, check out the times of my posts...many of them are around 1am East Coast time! I hear the pp on that one!

[Kavita]

Unlike many of you I don't have insomnia per se--however I do have "ohmygod the dinner I ate four hours ago is coming up my throat" if I lie at less than a 45 degree upright angle! It's not only the gastric-acid-splashing kind of heartburn, it's actual lack of promptly working digestion! I have a wedge pillow that I can sleep on with another pillow and sometimes that works but it also tends to squish me and hurt my back. So I end up getting up, making peppermint tea, and waiting till it cools off, I drink it, eventually my food digests, and then I can go to bed at some ridiculous hour. Then get up to pee because of the tea! And be up to get to work by 7:30. Ick! I'm not really trying to complain though--I am actually vaguely amused by the whole thing. It's not agonizing or anything, more of a bother. We're getting more and more excited to see the baby, but I'm not in the stage where I am hating being pregnant yet. I am, however, at a place where once in a while the thought occurs to me, "Hmm, it will be nice to get my (digestive system/bladder/breathing/back) back to a normal non-pregnant state again!"

Well, an update for the "24" fans--I have finished the first season!! 24 episodes in 6 days--strangely enough, it almost feels like an accomplishment!! :LOL That's probably more TV than I've watched all year! I have to say, I was a little upset at how it ended. DH is behind me (he worked last night and I watched a bunch) and he still has about 6 hours to go. Also, this is going to sound terrible, but in a show where the body count was at least in the dozens, I was hoping that Senator Palmer's wife would get popped too--she is so annoying!! And I actually want him for President in real life! :LOL

[flapjack]

Itsybitsy- I have never, ever found a cloth nappy that leaks as badly as Pampers. If you can, buy a few, play around with them and find a way that works for you. I've wrapped two babies in prefolds and terry flats, and this time we're using birth-potty fitteds, plus a LOT of prefolds and squares, mostly because I know I'm going to be leaving this baby to go to work at some point before we're out of nappies. I really think terry towelling squares are more absorbent than prefolds, but I know they're not so popular over there (they also give more around the middle,so they're better for active babies.)
I've found a cure for constipation (is this TMI?)- my baby dropped, big-time, and I have this head buried deep, deep down in my pelvis putting lots of pressure on everything. I honestly don't know if I can spend another 10 (12? 13?) weeks climbing our stairs four times an hour. I think I'm going to go for a nice swim this afternoon and try and get him out again :mischief:

[BensMom]

Hi! Quick check in from FL. The drive down here was ok, a little over 6 hours. I found I was short with DS, probablybecause I was tired of being in the car myself.

The house we rented is a neat little place, but they totally lied in the listing about the distance to the beach. They said 125 yds, but its more like 300+. That sucks. I would never have booked a house this far from the beach with a 4 yr old who tells me that "poo poo is coming" 2 seconds before it actually comes. :LOL They also misrepresented the distance to Seaside, which is a cute little town nearby. The listing said .75 miles (decent walking distance), the reality is closer to 3 miles - not walking distance. grrr. So I need to get my gumption up to call and complain this morning and just hope I dont get all emotional and cry or something. :wink

But Ds likes staying in a different house and we are looking forward to all you can eat snow crab legs tonight. mmmmm.....

Hope you all have a great week!

PS: Trying to fit my giant pregnant body and assorted sleep aids (pillows) in a QUEEN bed with DH is not very fun! I miss my king bed where we dont have to touch each other while sleeping - he generates way too much heat! :mischief

[bec]

Gossamer - I'm so glad to hear that things are going so well for you and your babe! I was thinking of you just the other day.

I'm feeling so run down at the moment. I'm really trying to pace myself, while still taking good care of my other two! I'm glad preschool is starting next week for Katie. She needs some more activity. The summer has really worn out its welcome! Plus, I'm so hot. I can't wait for some nice, fall weather!


Bec

[spughy]

ow ow ow ow ow

I went to the gym after work today, all proud of myself for actually going even though I left work half an hour later than I meant to (gabbing with a coworker, not actually working...) I got on the elliptical trainer and a muscle on the right side of my abdomen started to tighten up. And it got tighter, and tighter, then painful, and after 10 minutes I couldn't bear it any more so I got off. I sat on a weight bench for a bit and it felt better, so I thought I could at least do some weights - nope, as soon as I stood up, it started hurting again. So I went home, managed to get some stuff in the pressure cooker, assigned the remainder of the dinner duties to DH, and beached myself on the couch for half an hour. Then, all better. I still felt a little delicate in the area but the pain was gone.

What the hell? Was that a muscle strain? It sure felt like it - but maybe it was round ligament pain? The only thing I can think that caused it was that I was wearing quite snug pants today and then changed into my sweats (which have no belly support at all) before exercising.

Has anyone had this before? What is it? I'm sure it's not dangerous, just annoying and painful. It actually felt better when Blobby ran her feet under the sore area.

[Kavita]

spughy, I vote for it probably being round ligament pain. But then again, who knows? Glad it feels better anyway.

gossamer, I also was really happy to hear the latest report--I meant to say that before but I forgot!

BensMom, I hear you on the queen bed! When we went for the 4th of July weekend we had a queen bed, and not a comfortable one. I'm spoiled now! We don't have a king, but after our exchange student left we put her bed, a twin, into our bedroom next to the queen! It's not the most esthetically pleasing, but it is great to have that much room for both of us! I get the queen, and DH gets the twin. I figure that he still has as much or more room as he'd have with half of a king size bed. It's nice too because his bed is a couple of inches lower than mine, so even though he's right "next door" it keeps him from kicking me in his sleep! I let him come to visit, though! :)

No news here. I feel a little sick today. I woke up with a sore throat and congestion and feeling really tired, despite going to bed early enough last night. I felt kind of grouchy at work today, and went straight for a nap almost immediately when I came home. Slept about an hour and a half and had a worse headache when I woke up, so I ended up taking a Tylenol. Feel better now. It's weird because DH is working his night job, and these days I almost always feel lonely and sort of scared and nervous when he's gone in the evenings. Since he only got this second job after I got pregnant, I can't tell if it's just a pregnant thing or not because he was never gone this much. I feel definitely more needy and dependent in some ways. It's funny, because it's not like I got married right from my parents' home and never lived alone--I lived independently for 13 years, and for quite a bit of that I lived by myself. I've always enjoyed my independence and solitude. Even when we were seriously dating and first got married, I found it difficult to have him around so much and would have been very happy to have him go away for a night or two a week so that I could just hang out by myself in the house. No more! I feel a little pathetic, actually--I feel very forlorn when he's gone. Don't know how this will be after the baby is actually here. I have a few moments of panic imagining me stuck home alone with a baby for 16 hours a day with no help or no company. Hopefully he will get this other evening job he's working towards, and will be able to quit this one which has much lower pay and longer hours.

[meagen]

I also get that ligament pain when I do strenuous exercise such as, um turn over :) It only seems to happen to me in bed, so who knows. On a similar note, I started pilates again after taking several months off. It felt good, and not hard, so I did all the exercises, and doubled the reps. Needless to say OWW!!! IT's been two days and I still can't stand up or walk up stairs without major pain. Ah, I'm such a jock :LOL

This week seems to be full of feeling like I have so much to do, and not doing anything. I have no energy, and still so much to do. My very sweet husband got me 4 hours of cleaning help, but I feel like that may be better used right before Liam comes. However, I might give in before the in-laws come in two weeks and use it then. Either way, nice to have in the arsenal.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

[spughy]

The weird thing is, last night I had *less* discomfort rolling over than I normally do. Maybe it was just something sorting itself out? Kavita's right - who knows? I am going to attempt another elliptical trainer workout at lunch today and I brought my pre-pregnancy snug track pants with a supportive "waist" band (ha ha, it goes under the belly now) and I hope it'll be ok.

I just finished entering in all my workouts from June and July into the exercise tracker at work (we get extra bennies if we're fit; we had an old "exercise challenge" system before we got bought out and they let us transition our records over) and my goodness, I was a lot more active in my 2nd trimester! It's kind of interesting to see how while the number of days per week that I do activity hasn't changed much, the intensity sure has dropped. Way less cardio now. I should try to fix that - I know I need to keep my cardio fitness up for labour.

This week has seemed really long even though it was only a 4-day week. This weekend I need to set up my sewing machine in a semi-permanent state so I'm more inclined to use it, sew some goodies for my swap partner (hope you're ok with fleece, MamaFern?) and get started on some baby clothes.

Last night I had a strong craving for some of my white-chocolate cranberry "brownies". Fortunately I had no white chocolate in the house, and very little desire to get off the couch. I think it would be prudent to maintain a lack of certain key ingredients in the house for the next little while...

[DreamsInDigital]

Today is Kolaiah's 2nd birthday and I am SO weepy about it. You'd think I'd be ready to celebrate but I just want to rush home from work and hug him and cry.
I don't really have anything else to add. I'm a big pile of mess today. 30 weeks on Sunday. Yay.

[spughy]

DiD - It's ok - you're allowed to be a big pile of mess! :hugs: Hope your hormones swing you around soon.

A coworker of mine who gave birth in July just dropped by the office with her new little one - cute cute cute!!! She is doing fabulously well and is obviously very happy and has the whole motherhood thing down nicely. I'm so happy for her. She had some cloth diapers she was going to give me but unfortunately they have built-in covers which won't work with our diaper-free plan. It's a pity, because they were the cutest diapers EVER. She'd read the article my friend Kristy wrote but was kind of into the diaper thing by then and didn't want to give up the dipes. It was good that she'd heard of it though and didn't think I was a freak for wanting to do it!

[Awaken]

Hi everyone :wave

DiD- Happy Birthday to your little man :) Wow, 2, that is a big deal!! Did you do anything special?

Jenn, and Kavita- re: smaller beds. I've been sleeping in the guest room in a double bed by myself, and just realized that when we go on vaca at the end of this month I don't know what the sleeping arrangements will be! There's no way I can sleep in a small bed with dh and we usually have ds in with us on a pallet on the floor when we travel- I am so used to sleeping alone now that I know I won't be able to sleep like that! I'll probably end up in the guest room in the house we're staying in, too! How romantic- poor dh :(

In unrelated good news: I was able to nap today while ds slept! Woo hoo. Usually even though I am exhaused I lay there and can't sleep. So I am thrilled, b/c I have felt like collapsing all day.

Oh, and my friend is going to loan me some Motherease diapers to try out on ds to see how I like them. I always hear they are good, easy dipes to use so I hope I do like them.

We're going to meet the homebirth midwife on Sun.- I can't wait. I can tell already that I really like her- so hopefully the logistical stuff can be worked out to dh's satisfaction, and I can convince him (or after meeting her he will be convinced) that the $ is worth it- that's basically all it comes down to at this point. But I was talking to my friend today who is due any day and paying out of pocket for the birth center she wants- and she said, well that's what money is for, isn't it? Good point :) We'll see if that persuades him at all.

[spughy]

Itsybitsy - I hope things work out for you on the homebirth. It's a shame more health care plans don't cover homebirth - especially since it's way cheaper than a hospital birth anyway!! But your friend is right - that's what money IS for.

Kavita - I made your buckwheat pancakes this morning (had a surprisingly hard time finding buckwheat flour, but tracked it down in the end) and two thumbs up!! :thumb :thumb Veeeery tasty! DH had them with just maple syrup and I had them topped with maple syrup, yogurt and sliced banana. Then DH ate the half that I couldn't finish off my plate. These days my eyes are always bigger than my stomach, it seems! Anyway, thank you - I think this will become a staple breakfast recipe.

And - some of you may remember that I was interviewed for an article in our local paper but didn't turn out to be in it - well, DH was interviewed a few days ago (non pregnancy/birth-related) and he actually DID make it in, picture and all. The article is about off-leash areas for dogs so not exactly on-topic for this forum but if you're interested: my dh in the paper (http://www.canada.com/victoria/timescolonist/news/story.html?id=4cfe37e4-bde4-442f-ad93-85643cf7b00c). He's the one with the very athletic chocolate lab. It's a weird coincidence that we were both interviewed - it's not like it's really a dinky little local paper, it has a pretty big circulation and we don't live in a really small town (~300K).

Yay weekend! Hope everyone has a good one!

[DreamsInDigital]

We took him to Red Robin for dinner and got him a birthday cake and some sorbet and then we came home and he opened presents (kid made out like a bandit)
Today we went and spent all of his gift cards at Toys R Us, Old Navy and Build-A-Bear. He had a blast but I still don't think he gets the whole birthday thing. When I told him happy birthday he said "You too, Mommy!"
I'm a little less weepy today. Mostly just kind of nostalgic wishing he would stay a baby for a while longer.

[flapjack]

Ah, bless him. :) Two's a nice age, though- and it is still a baby, really. (I always forgot this when I had a 2yo.)
My best friend from uni is moving away today, and I feel so bereft it's ridiculous. 10 years, a dozen hapless idiots, 2 babies (and she was the first to cuddle them outside the family) a year of working together and around 8,000 pints of beer and now she wants to go and be a teacher? I'm happy for her, but incredibly down at the same time. What am I going to do now when I need someone to get into trouble with? WAaah!
Oh, and I nearly killed my ex yesterday, because he had the nerve to call my beautiful, talented, creative, active son a "hyperactive little 6 year old." Loudly, shaming him in front of a park-ful of children. He HAS been warned...:mischief