Weekly Chit-Chat and Whatnot~ Nov6-Nov12

[1stTimeMummytoLore]

Here it is, our first weekly thread! :bouncy

And here is our first topic for the week too! Feel free to comment on the topic and/or just update everyone on how you are doing!

TOPIC ?: Are you going to find out the gender of your baby?

We aren't. We did with our first but we're using a lay midwife this time and wont be having any U/S. I'm much more opposed to them now than I was 2 years ago with my DD. I think they mostly cause loads of unnecessary issues. Also, last time DH was deployed in Iraq and finding out the gender was another little thing that brightened his day. Now we are both out of the military and he will be by my side throughout this whole pregnancy, so we're going for the big suprise on the day of the big show!

[PrettyBird]

We are going to find out :) Part of me thinks it would be neat to be surprised, but DH REALLY, REALLY wants to find out. I think we will be surprised with future children though. I guess they have a blood test now where you can find out the sex at 5 weeks! It costs $250 though, so we'll be waiting a few months to find out for free.

[PancakeGoddess]

We found out with our first two, but with these last two - surprise! I have to say, I had no idea HOW much nicer it was to wait and be surprised. It's hard to describe, but it was just really wonderful. I'd never want to know in advance again. :)

[Mama2ABCD]

not going to find out. it's worth the wait :D

[HaveWool~Will Felt]

TOPIC ?: Are you going to find out the gender of your baby?



Nope...we sure aren't....everyone else around us wouldlike us to.... :lol But we are not!!! For that I am sooooooo excited!!!!!

[bheitsy]

we also are not going to find out- I don't need to know until the birth day. I want to avoid receiving all pink or all blue baby stuff- just to find out the U/S was wrong.
and anyway, it gives us something to "push" for!

[paisley]

Not sure yet over here. I was thinking of doing that blood test PrettyBird was talking about but then I read a report by NPR that it really isn't that accurate and it's done some random no-name company with a cardboard sign on their door. :shrug That's a bummer because I would love to do a blood test for gender rather than an ultrasound. Hmmm...

I will say though that I really, really would like a little girl this time. :love

ETA - We didn't find out with ds until he was born and we asked all the nurses to keep quiet so that dh could check and tell me himself. :)

[luckymama]

thanx for the thread, kate!

we haven't discussed this yet. we did find out with ds, and we did it because a friend of our told us that he had not felt "connected" to his wife's pregnancy until he knew the sex of the baby. but once he found out, he was able to be much more attached and felt like he participated more in his wife's pregnancy. my dh would agree that this indeed was the case for him, too. i don't know if he will feel differently this time. i think i would like to know again. i really liked being able to refer to my in utero son as "he" rather than "it."

as for me, still sick ... the problem seems to be eating. i wake up hungry but not sick; however, once i eat, it all goes downhill for the rest of the day. of course, i wake up starving, so i can't really put off eating for very long, so i'm thinking it's just going to be a nasty cycle for a while. ugh ugh and ugh. i was fatigued when i was pg with my ds, but NEVER sick like this. i am completely and totally in awe of women who manage to get up, get dressed, drive a car and go to work through morning sickness. thank goodness i'm a SAHM ... i can barely manage to get through to my ds' naptime without passing out some days. we're spending a lot of time lying on the floor watching movies or reading books these days. :(

[~pi]

No, we aren't. DH wants to wait for the surprise; I'm fine with that and am kind of excited about it, actually.

[gumby74]

We are definetly going to find out.....I have never been good at delaying satisfaction ;) I think we also both feel that a surprise is a suprise.....no matter when we find out. :bouncy

[mumof2andttc]

I'm not sure whether to find out or not. With my first (ds), I always knew he was a boy, so when they told me I was like...yeah, I know. With second (dd) we couldn't find out as she wouldn't open her legs. We were really hoping for a girl and when she came out and the midwife said "It's a girl, it's a girl" you couldn't have punched the smile off my face. DF says he'd like another surprise but I don't think I could go through with not knowing again. He'd like another girl but I'd like a boy but we're not too fussed as long as it's healthy. If he wants to not know then I'll not be able to know as he'd get a bit suspisious with the clothes I'd buy. Really don't know what to do. There's still 8 weeks until first scan so there's plenty of time to make up my mind.
Help!!!

Ellen

[Jade2561]

I really don't want o; but my dh REALLY does so we will find out. He has already stepped out of his confort zone so much with cloth diapers, homebirth, no vax, no circ, ect. that I feel like I kind of owe it to him. I like the element of suprise of not knowing but I think there will be other suprises - who the baby looks like, how big, does he/she have hair.

[SoCalGirl]

I'd prefer to be surprised about the sex, but my DH could never stand to have anyone else (i.e. the midwife) know and him not know. It seems like a silly thing to fight over, so I figure I won't, and we'll just find out the sex. Assuming, that is, that my midwife even does a u/s that shows it. We wouldn't have one JUST to find out the sex. I sort of secretly hope that for some reason we won't have a u/s or won't be able to tell b/c the baby's turned wrong or something, and then we'll just wait.

[PancakeGoddess]

socalgirl, you could tell your midwife you don't want one - I think many midwives are flexible about that. None of the midwives I've ever seen have demanded one.

[desireeb]

We don't like u/s so we won't find out until the birth. I didn't find out with DD either and I kind of liked it that way. Although my DH did come up with a good line to, "So, what are you having?". His answer was always, "A human." ;)

[jinkel]

I'm with half the mamas here - I think it would be neat to *not* find out, but DH would NEVER last - and knowing the baby's gender during my last pregnancy did make him feel a little more connected.

luckymama - I'm with you....my "morning" sickness only hits *after* I eat (but I'm soooo hungry!). I've started trying to just eat a little less so my stomach isn't slammed all at once. It helps - - - a *little*. Hang in there!

[fenwickmama]

we're going to find out, if we can. considering the potential craziness we are in for, with the adoption happening simutaneously, the fewer new surprises, the better! :wink

[paisley]

Hey fenwickmama, I've been meaning to tell you that my FIL and his sister are something like 14 mos apart. Their folks had tried for so long to get pregnant but couldn't and then 3 days after they signed the adoption papers for their little girl they found out they were pg with FIL! Sound familiar? :lol

[Red Sonja]

We found out last time and will probably find out this time also. Yep, I peek at Christmas presents too. :innocent

[lotus.blossom]

I'm very anxious to know the sex of the baby. I feel that if we are supposed to know then it will be apparent during the ultrasound. However I won't be too dissapointed if the babe decided to close its legs. Whatever s/he wants to disclose to us is fine with me!

[1stTimeMummytoLore]

so i had my first bout of yucky tummy yesterday evening. it was set off by starting DD's dips in the wash. i had to go lay down and ended up only eating broth for dinner. this morning i'm starving!!!!

off to make and devour some whole grain pancakes!

[beautyful]

We'll probably try to find out, since I'll be having the u/s to check for location of the placenta. I want to know for buying wool for the baby.

I've been nauseated the last few days, and I had my first dry heaves this morning. :sick Of course, I am wondering if part of it is a virus, because I was really dizzy when I got up to pee at 530am.

[luckymama]

off to make and devour some whole grain pancakes!
this sounded so good! so i went and made some, and then before i even got one bite into my mouth, they didn't look good anymore. :( i'm having some serious inability to find anything that i want to eat.

anybody else have smell issues? i can no longer stand the scent of my own body lotion.

[midwestmom]

:( i'm having some serious inability to find anything that i want to eat.

anybody else have smell issues? i can no longer stand the scent of my own body lotion.

I am having HUGE food and smell issues. I don't remember being nearly this sick the other 2 times. All food sounds gross, but if I don't eat, I feel even worse. I do feel better for an hour or two after I eat, then I feel yuck again. This sucks. Do twins make you feel worse?????? Makes me wonder :D

We are not finding out this time. I found out with the first two and have one of each and really want the surprise this time. I am really excited about not finding out!

[1stTimeMummytoLore]

well i was going to make pancakes, but turns out we're out of eggs. so after consulting the baby, decided i had to have a baked potato for breakfast-- weird, but hey.

speaking of other food i can't seem to get enough of lately- dagoba organic dark chocolate and lavender bars. just sinful! there is a quote on the back of the wrapper that says- "you can deny the body, but the soul needs chocolate" amen to that!

so that's my fabulous first trimester diet- baked potatos and chocolate :lol

actually i'm working on trying to up my whole grain intake. i get tons of protein and veggies, but i am waaaay short on whole grains- anyone else noticing their diet is deficient in a particular category?

what nutritional guidance are people using (when you're not barfing of course)? i personally like www.blueribbonbaby.org and believe it or not What to Eat When You're Expecting (i totally, completely hate the rest of those useless books, but that one is actually pretty good and even recommended by Aviva Jill Romm)

[ma_Donna]

Nope.
When Noah was born we'd told the nurses we wanted DH to announce. I was exhausted & had my eyes closed. DH said "Open your eyes and look at your son." It was wonderful.

I had always thought that my first child would be a girl, but at about 7 months pg I got one clear thought that it was a boy.

I do love Noah dearly and know that another boy would be completely different person, but I do have a little place in my heart for a girl. I think that if this is a boy, I will 'know' that our first pregnancy was indeed my little girl.

We will not admit this to anyone IRL!

[Red Sonja]

No sensitive tummy here yet, thankfully. But with DS it started around 5 weeks (right around the time the horrible gas went away) and that's still about a week away.

Smell issues - yes! The catbox, the dirty dishes and, heck, I think I'm brushing my teeth 5 times a day! It's pretty bad when you can smell your own breath. :bag:

[mimi_n_tre]

I found out what my first son was at my first doctors appointment( I was 18 weeks) With my second son, we didn't find out until he was born, and hadn't even thought of a name for a boy at the time. I think this one will be a boy also since we did the deed the day before I ovulated, and the say that the boy sperm are faster than the girl sperm. So I am convinced that it is a boy, and will be surprised at the end if it ends up being a girl. We already have names picked out. For a boy it will be Alistair and for a girl either Arianna or Trinity.

[paisley]

well i was going to make pancakes, but turns out we're out of eggs. so after consulting the baby, decided i had to have a baked potato for breakfast-- weird, but hey.

speaking of other food i can't seem to get enough of lately- dagoba organic dark chocolate and lavender bars. just sinful! there is a quote on the back of the wrapper that says- "you can deny the body, but the soul needs chocolate" amen to that!

so that's my fabulous first trimester diet- baked potatos and chocolate :lol



I kid you not, that is EXACTLY what I had for breakfast yesterday!! Well, technically it was a leftover twice baked potato, but I had it because we were out of eggs and then I just couldn't resist the Dagoba lavender chaser! :lol I think we must have some sort of cosmic connection, Kate. :wink

I do have the What to Eat book and while I don't think I could follow the whole eating plan 100%, I do love the recipes. We just made a batch of peanut butter balls the other day. They're a great quick and sweet snack. :thumb

ETA - I got it for $1 or $2 at a used book store. Awesome deal!

[luckymama]

Smell issues - yes! The catbox, the dirty dishes and, heck, I think I'm brushing my teeth 5 times a day! It's pretty bad when you can smell your own breath. :bag:
:lol - i don't remember smelling my own breath, but i do remember waking dh up and making him get out of bed to brush HIS teeth, because the smell was killing me from the other side of the bed. :blush

quick update from me (are you sick of hearing about this yet? :down) - massive amounts of protein plus nibbling on crystallized ginger chips plus sipping room temp water with lemon ... and i'm doing slightly better now. i feel like i'm eating protein foods only ...

[jinkel]

:lol - i don't remember smelling my own breath, but i do remember waking dh up and making him get out of bed to brush HIS teeth, because the smell was killing me from the other side of the bed. :blush


:laugh: Way funny!


I'm having difficulty with smells, too. And here in Singapore, they have "hawker centers" - big outdoor food venues with booths that sell everything from Chicken & Rice (yummy), to Fish Head Curry (not my thing), to Pig Intestine Soup (*definitely* not my thing), and everything in between. Quite a mix of smells, to say the least. :nut

And it just sits there, hanging in the air (we don't get a lot of wind, and it's usually 70-80 degrees and 85%+ humidity all year round)....Ha ha ha! It's SO gross! (I'm laughing now that I'm not standing next to one, of course)

[1stTimeMummytoLore]

Jen- that is just TOOOO funny! i guess we'll just have to see what we have for breakfast tomorrow!!??!!

we interviewed our second midwife tonight and i'm trying to decided if we're actually going to interview the third or not. i think i feel really comfortable with the first one we interviewed and the first and third work together and birth assist for each other which is good since the first one is the least experienced. i don't know. DH told be to make a pro/con list for each one to help me sort it all out. he says he'd be comfortable with either of the two we've interviewed so far and just wants me to be totally at ease with whoever we hire. i'd like to get it settled within the next two weeks or so.

[sewaneecook]

It's my DH that is adament about NOT finding out the sex of the babe. I haven't made up my mind yet, but since DH's mind is set, I'll follow his lead. Besides, I don't want to have to get an u/s. Both DH and I have a gut feeling that this one is a girl (that would figure because we can't settle on a name).

As for smells being an issue, count me in! I walked in to the grocery store the other day and thought I was gonna hurl! I had to leave and let DH pick up what we needed.

[luckymama]

today i saw my little bean's heart being away wildly and strongly. bean measures spot on for 6w6d ... so :fingersx: still, but right now ... all morning sickness is worth it. :love

[paisley]

today i saw my little bean's heart being away wildly and strongly. bean measures spot on for 6w6d ... so :fingersx: still, but right now ... all morning sickness is worth it. :love
That's so exciting!! :jumpers: Yea for luckybaby! :D

[jinkel]

today i saw my little bean's heart being away wildly and strongly. bean measures spot on for 6w6d ... so :fingersx: still, but right now ... all morning sickness is worth it. :love

:broc: Yay! :broc:

[luckymama]

happy sunday, everyone! i sent kim a PM, 'cause she's next on the list for starting the thread. i'm going to put a notation next to the "weekly thread starter" on the due date list, 1st post, so we can keep track. 'kay?

[homemademomma]

mmmm 1st trimester yuckies. i love it. actuallyi am not feeling that bad, a little naseated after i eat, or if i go too long without eating. also i am friggin exhausted, omg its horrible. no trouble nursing, though, and the breast tenderness is gone.

we arent going to find out the sex, mainly because we dont really have a reason to know, kwim? my ds wears any dipe/clothing that he or we like, regardless of color or if it is a "girly" cut or something, and this babe will be the same way. it is really important to us not to set up gender stereotypes for our kids (as much as humanly possible without keeping them in a box in the basement), and for us that starts before birth. i know if i found out i was having a nother boy, no matter WHAT i said i would end up with sports clothes or whatever. same with a girl. i dont want that.

with ds, i totally knew he was a boy from day one. with this one, im really not sure.

[carouselrider]

Oh, I guess we don't really need to know either - I gave away all of my baby clothes and even cloth dipes (GULP, that one hurts) last year, so we'll have to get a bunch of stuff regardless....and we don't dress to the sex either. But I am horrible with being patient with surprises, so we will find out. It's just good old fashioned need for instant gratification. :nut I would just like to have more of a sense of who this is inside of me. Although, the whole first pregnancy, despite knowing it was a girl, I kept dreaming of birthing a cat, so that clearly didn't help much that time. :)