November 06 Mommies ~ The 3rd Trimester!!!

[mermccau]

Anyone have a surge of hormones?
My irritability has increased lately. Also, and this is a bigger sign, I have times recently where I feel like I am burning up. Anyone else experiencing this?

[lilo]

Good morning everyone! I am so happy to hit the 30 week mark today. I really feel that the end of the pregnancy is in sight, which I'm really excited about. I am ready to be done with pregnancy (I hope that doesn't come off as ungrateful but you know what I mean) and ready to meet my baby. :)

Scrapbook: I've thought about getting some kind of album that I can include things like my u/s pictures, shower invitation, etc. but I figured I'd wait to see if I get one as a present first.

Hospital Bag: Honestly, I haven't even thought about this but will probably get something ready by end of next month. Luckily my mom lives near us so if I happen to go into labor before my bag is packed, I can easily have her get me some things.

Is anyone getting concerned or afraid of childbirth?
YES!! I am really, really nervous about the entire labor and delivery process. I don't have a high tolerance of pain (I will definitely be getting an epi as soon as they let me) and just don't like to be uncomfortable, in general. I'm also really, really afraid of tearing down there and the postpartum stuff I keep hearing about (I never knew how much bleeding there was! sorry if TMI). But obviously millions of women go through it so I'll manage somehow too.

Anyone else have a decrease in movements?? : Not really although he is definitely more active on some days than others. Yesterday, he was really quiet until the late afternoon, which stressed me out by early evening, he was kicking up a storm again. :D Today, he's been really active already so I'm happy. It's definitely going to be nerve wrecking for me when I do have a decrease in movements. When does this usually happen? 35 weeks or so?

Anyone have a surge of hormones?: I would have to say yes because I've definitely been more irritable lately. I don't know if that's because I'm just tired all the time or just ready to feel like my old self again. I am usually super cold all the time so feeling warm most of the time is a good thing for me right now.

Elllidew: You do have a great attitude towards childbirth. I should probably follow suit.

Rancid: Sorry to hear about your itchy skin issues. Thankfully the weather is cooling down now so hopefully that will help a little. My shower is this weekend too! I can't wait. It's amazing how fast time is flying, isn't it?

Sinclair: Sorry to hear that you got sick this morning. Not fun. I had that happen once to me too when I took the prenatal vitamin first and then tried to eat a PB&J sandwich right afterwards. It didn't work. Ick. I guess the vitamins are really strong.

Franni: Wow, your labor sounds really easy in terms of how smooth everything went. Were your contractions really painful before you went to the hospital?

[nic]

Sinclair- Sorry to hear you weren't feeling so good this morning. At least you actual remember to take your prenatal vitamin.

mermccau My emotions are all over the place lately that I can barely stand myself! I told DH a few months back that people should just stop talking to me come October but I think I need to revise that to stop talking to me now! I have three moods- happy, sad and pissed and I think I feel each emotion equally.

I'm burning up too, I sleep with an ice cold face cloth on head some nights.

[roberta]

We had another US today to check the placement of the placenta. Ladies, who aren't getting additional an US, you aren't missing anything. Seriously, they had me in there looked at the baby (we didn't even see his face), measured heartbeat and quickly decided to a vaginal US. No pics. The vag US did show that the placenta has moved- hooray!- and the baby is head down and very close to the cervix.

WARNING For the mommas in the United States. There is a big news warning about bagged spinach infected with E. coli. One person has died and several otehrs are infected. They have not been able to identify a brand, lot number or how many bags or how many states may be affected. They are recommending everyone THROW AWAY YOUR BAGGED SPINACH. I have taken microbiology classes and E.coli is very dangerous to pregnant mommas and their babies.

fears of childbirth? I flucate on this. I think I am more scared of postpartum and being a momma than the childbirth part. I mean, millons of women do this every single day and my body was made to grow babies and give birth. I have been having some pretty interesting contractions over the past few weeks. Yesterday, I had some that were so strong, I just naturally started deep breathing. It was reassuring because it made me feel that my body will know what to naturally when the time comes. But on the other hand, I know too much about the stuff that can go wrong. I just try not to think about because most of it is out of my control.

decrease in movements? I am having a little less moving and more contractions. And sometimes I can't tell the difference between the two. It seems so early for this!

scarpbooking? I have thought about this. I am not sure I have the patience or money for it. I do want to find some type of baby book/album to save and note all of the milestones.

[ellidew]

Bagged spinach- I saw that on cnn this morning. Thanks for posting the warning. I generally try to stay away from bagged lettuce and spinach, etc... just to be safe because a few years back there was a bagged lettuce recall for something similar. I saw the info on dateline right after we got pg so i have been avoiding it ever since.

roberta- hooray for the placenta moving!!

[bijouparvin]

roberta - Thanks for posting the warning about spinach. My stepmom called me this AM to let me know, since I've been trying to fix my anemia with spinach. I found This Article (http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/15/BAGARL68QF20.DTL&type=health) about it. I guess it's back to Reese's for me. :p
Also, yay for your placenta getting out of the way. It does seem unusual for you to have so many contractions at this stage. What does your doc say about it?

[Rancid13]

Anyone else have a decrease in movements?? If anything, I think there’s been an increase in movements for me, or at least an increase in the strength of the movements so they’re more noticeable. Before, I would only notice the movements at night while resting (watching tv, in bed) but now I feel them morning noon and night! This morning at my dr’s appt he was kicking around so much when we were listening to the heartbeat, I thought he was trying to kick the Doppler off my belly!

Anyone have a surge of hormones? I think so! I’ve found that lately it doesn’t take much to upset me, and even the tiniest things set me off. I’m trying hard to be nice, especially with DH, but I feel like I’m having a really tough time controlling my emotions these days. Hopefully it’ll calm down soon!

Roberta~ Yay for the placenta moving! That’s great news!!


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I’m just copying and pasting this from my LJ post...apologies in advance about any profanity or typos.

Wouldn't you know it....


The week I'm able to get myself to eat and enjoy salads again, this pops up.

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/e-coli-cases-traced-to-bagged-spinach/20060914195709990002?ncid=NWS00010000000001

So my lovely baby spinach & grilled chicken salad w/grape tomatoes, 1/2 an avocado and red onion slices sits in the fridge untouched and now I get to figure out what to have for lunch today instead of that. :( Booo!!


I had my 29 week doctor's appointment this morning. Hubby forgot the appt again. I did my 'reminder call' to him that he's requested, and he'd completely forgotten about it for the 2nd time (last time was on my bday) and didn't make it, no big deal though.

The big deal is that apparently my blood pressure is higher than they'd like it (wouldn't you know that my bp was also high the last appt he forgot, and the appt he made us late to?), but just the same the dr wants me to buy a blood pressure monitor and monitor my bp at home every day. If it continues to stay above the #'s she wants it to be at, I'm to come back in immediately and get thoroughly checked out and proceed to go on bedrest until 36w. Nice!!! :rolleyes:

I also need to get more bloodwork done in the meantime. She said something about it not being unusual in women's first pregnancies towards the end, something about pre-eclampsia I think it's called?? So we'll see how that goes. Hopefully it's just hubby that's causing me stress/high bp and all will be well. You'd think that 30-minutes of walking in the park on my lunch break and 45 minutes of prenatal yoga would lower my stress level/bp...apparently not.:confused:


I was just reading the Week 29 chapter of my Pregnancy Week by Week book last night and it was all about pre-eclampsia and bed rest and there was this section about things to do to keep from being bored if you're on bed rest. I read through that and thought how much it would suck if I were put on bedrest....as if I don't feel lazy enough already, sitting on my ass all day long @ work!! Geez.

My boss didn't help me feel any better after I told him the situation and potential for bedrest. He said he could see this being a Halloween baby, he wouldn't be surprised if the little one arrived that early. I sure freaking hope not!!! Here's hoping my bp #'s are normal @ home!!


The good news of the day is that I'm measuring at 30cm, so that's right on track for being just over 29w along. No idea what my weight is/was, she didn’t share that w/me (probably because of the tears on my part last time she told me, LOL!!) but according to my home scale, I’m up just over 20lbs over my pre-pg weight.

[bijouparvin]

rancid - So sorry to hear about your DH not making the appointment and your BP issues. I really hope it turns out to be nothing and you're able to go about your business while your little guy cooks in there for a lot longer! Keep us posted!

[Rancid13]

rancid - So sorry to hear about your DH not making the appointment and your BP issues. I really hope it turns out to be nothing and you're able to go about your business while your little guy cooks in there for a lot longer! Keep us posted!

Thanks! I'm hoping for the best too!! DH thinks it's his fault b/c he thinks I got stressed out that he wasn't going to be at the appt. Honestly I felt fine with it, so I was a bit surprised when the doc said that my bp was higher than she'd like it to be. :confused:

And I forgot to mention, my next appt is on September 29. They've got me on the bi-weekly checkups from now on, to keep me properly monitored and whatnot.

[Toonces]

mermccau ~ How exciting about the Bahamas trip! We took DD to the Bahamas when she was 3-4 months old and it was fine. Well, fine except for the 4 legs of our airplane flights. She was not good on the plane. :( The only thing that sucked was we couldn't use sunblock on her b/c she was under 6 months old, so we stayed in the shade the entire time. It was a business trip for DH, so it was free. Re irritability and hot flashes. I had both BIG time about 2-3 weeks ago and it lasted for 2 weeks. This week I'm not nearly as irritable and the hot flashes are gone. It was weird having those though!

Afraid of childbirth ~ I'm excited. I was excited the first time too and ended up being induced for med reasons and couldn't have an epidural b/c of previous back surgery. I was in AWFUL pain from the Pitocin contrax, but the minute DD came out I seriously wanted to do it all over again. So I figure I've been through the worst and I can do it again. I'll need to be induced again at 40 weeks b/c of GD and erratic BP, so I'm going to start acupuncture for induction around 38 weeks.

rancid ~ I'm sorry about your skin. That's gotta be so uncomfortable. Is it at least getting cooler where you are? I'm also sorry about your recent visit. Do you know what your BP was? I had mild pre-e with DD and was tested for it this time around, with a neg result. I was on bedrest for 3 months during my 1st pregnancy and actually enjoyed it (I'm weird that way). ;) I hope you get good BP results at home.

Scrapbooking ~ I've kind of 1/2way made a book for DD and like Kat, couldn't find time to finish it. One thing I've done to make up for that is I use Shutterfly for all of DD's pictures and I made picture books for 0-3 months, 4-6 months, 7-9 months, 10-12 months, 13-18 months and will do another for 19-24 months soon. That's made me feel a little better about getting my pics in order.

Decrease in movement ~ Not really, but Devin hasn't been a very active baby at all. DD was crazy active, so much so that every time they checked her heartrate it took forever b/c she'd swim all over the place. Devin has pretty much stayed put and kicks maybe 5-7 instances/day, 8-10 kicks/instance. I'm hoping this means he'll be mild mannered. :) DD is very "high needs" so we need a calmer baby this time.

Sinclair ~ Oh no...! I'm so sorry. That's gotta feel awful. Reminds me of the m/s I had in 1st tri. I'm sorry you're going through this again. Hopefully it was just from having an empty stomach with your PNV.

Postpartum stuff ~ Other ROs correct me if I'm wrong here... my postpartum stuff wasn't bad at all. I had an episiotomy with 3rd degree tears, and since I couldn't have an epi I couldn't be numbed for one of my internal stitches. I also bled for 3 months after having DD (rarely happens that long and it was just pantiliner blood). Given all that, I was in very minimal pain after delivery. The nurses kept pushing 800 mg of Ibuprofen which I kept refusing b/c I honestly felt fine. The blood afterwards was like a really heavy period and only heavy like that for 5-7 days. After the first week it was like the beginning or end of a period. I used the squirt bottle with warm water, anti-itch cream, and Tucks pads for hemorrhoids (as hard and as long as I pushed, 2.25 hours, I only popped one rhoid), and the area "down there" was fine - no itching, no burning and only mild discomfort.

I hope I didn't miss anyone! I feel like I've rambled enough.

[ppwgal]

Happy Friday! We moved last weekend and I think I'm still recovering. Either that or I've been hit with a bunch of hormones and fatigue which it sounds like a few of you are also experiencing. In any case, I'm glad it's FRIDAY and I hope to get a lot of rest this weekend. I'm also hoping to start to set up the nursery this weekend.

Is anyone using a doula or thinking about hiring one?
I'm using a birth doula. While my doctor gives me confidence that she is 100% competent, she is by no means warm and fuzzy. I want someone by my side to be supportive. And since we have no family in the area, I didn't want all that responsibility to fall on my husband's shoulders since it's his first time too. So I'm hoping the doula will help fill this supportive role for us.

Godparents
If we have godparents, we know who'll they'll be. But we haven't been to church since we got married, so we're not sure where we'd do the baptism. I think we're going to wait and decide after the baby is born.

Have any of you packed your bag(s) for the hospital yet?
Nope. Probably in a couple of weeks.

Is anyone getting concerned or afraid of childbirth?
A bit. We started childbirth classes last week and the first video freaked me out a bit. But I keep thinking of all the people I know who have been through this already and it makes me feel calmer.

[RubberSoul]

I don't know if I am going to catch everything that has been discussed over the last few pages. I am going to do my best to catch up!

pubic bone pain- I haven't had this happen to me. He likes to kick my hip bones, but it hasn't been painful so far.

scrapbook- I haven't even gotten our wedding album pictures ordered much less into an album. I have been telling myself I am going to get that done before baby gets here, but it still hasn't happened yet. I hope that I can get myself organized enough to keep future baby pics and stuff in one place. Maybe I will get the motivation to scrapbook it one day.

Concerned/afraid of childbirth?- I honestly think that I am in denial at this point. I am still focused on getting the nursery together and haven't given myself time to worry about childbirth. If I freak out about it, it will probably be when I get closer to my EDD.

decrease in movement?- No, I think he moves more. Maybe it is just that I can feel him more now. Yesterday he was moving non-stop for like 4 hours!

hormones- YES! I have become so irritable lately. I have two moods -happy and pissed off. Unfortunately for DH he has been encountering pissed off a lot lately.

Sorry for no SO's. I am just way to far behind to even attempt them.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

[neenbean]

Anyone have a surge of hormones?
My irritability has increased lately. Also, and this is a bigger sign, I have times recently where I feel like I am burning up. Anyone else experiencing this?
Unfortunately, yes and YES! I just got a hot flash moments before reading your post! Ugh. My irritability is like a roller coaster- some moments are far better than others. :o

Scrapbooking~I have DD's first year *nearly* done. I started a new album for DC#2 and just did pre-made pages that I *plan* to fill in during the baby's first year... Seeing as DD is 18 months, I doubt that will happen exactly when I should, but at least the pages are started and just need photos and a couple extra stickers or journaling.

Concerned/afraid of childbirth?I have mixed feelings. I am excited, calm, happy and also nervous but only because I am having a c-section again. I know what to expect since this is my 2nd time around, but I also have normal concerns that any surgery, no matter how "routine" can go horribly wrong. I am just hoping for the best and trying to be emotionally prepared for less than that. I sounds so pessimistic.

decrease in movement~ actually, no. Baby is moving as I type and continues to do so throughout the day. :) DH felt the baby move today for the first time!!!! It was very exciting for both of us!!! :)

Have any of you packed your bag(s) for the hospital yet?
No, but I did buy a new light-weight robe to wear at the hospital yesterday. We were at Macy's and their sale was awesome! The total was $7.32, including tax. Yippeeee!!!

Postpartum stuff~ Like I mentioned before, I had a c/s. My incision was sore, numb and itchy all at once for at least a few months. However, the pain was never so bad that I needed drugs for it after the first week. I bled like I had my period FULL ON for at least 3 weeks, possibly longer, then it slowly lessened, so by 5 or 6 weeks, I only had a tiny bit of discharge daily- like pantyliner heavy. My emotions were fairly balanced, but I cried easily- even if I was happy- for about 10 days. I was never really sad or any of that other awful stuff, thank God! I did feel overwhelmed by BFing, but I had other reasons for that. I have concerns that I may have PP emotional issues this time- just dealing with 2 under 2 seems overwhelming- but my DH is well aware of my concerns and has permission to mention it to my doc if I am in denial.


I hope I got all the topics posted recently!


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We had our OB visit yesterday and all was well! I passed the GST so that feels good. I gained a 1/2 pound, I think~ 12.5 total now. BP, baby's HR and uterine measurement were all good. I had a nurse practioner at this visit. She is nice, but super quick and does not tell you any details unless you ask clearly. My next appointment is September 27th and with a midwife- which I think is hilarious as I will be having a c/s and won't need her, but it is cool to meet all the people in the practice. :-)

[scarlett74]

Anyone else have a decrease in movements??, I also noticed that the baby is less moving (but he's every day tougher and sometimes hurts!). I think it's because they are growing and have less space.

Is anyone getting concerned or afraid of childbirth? I don't want to think about it, so even if I'm every day more afraid, I keep saying to myself "We'll think about it THAT day!" ;)

roberta, that's great! I'm glad your placenta moved! Keep trying to stay on the side while you're in bed.
neenbean, congratulations on passing the GST!

[brio96]

Postpartum stuff~ Like I mentioned before, I had a c/s. My incision was sore, numb and itchy all at once for at least a few months. However, the pain was never so bad that I needed drugs for it after the first week. I bled like I had my period FULL ON for at least 3 weeks, possibly longer, then it slowly lessened, so by 5 or 6 weeks, I only had a tiny bit of discharge daily- like pantyliner heavy. My emotions were fairly balanced, but I cried easily- even if I was happy- for about 10 days. I was never really sad or any of that other awful stuff, thank God! I did feel overwhelmed by BFing, but I had other reasons for that. I have concerns that I may have PP emotional issues this time- just dealing with 2 under 2 seems overwhelming- but my DH is well aware of my concerns and has permission to mention it to my doc if I am in denial.

Neenbean You put my thoughts into words about this! My pain was a little bit longer in duration (at my 6 week appointment I still had a limp because I couldn't totally walk upright) but I weaned myself off the heavy duty drugs within a week. My biggest concern afterwards was getting nursing right and once I started having success with that, things got a lot easier.

Nervous about childbirth Yes, but only because I'm going to attempt it differently this time (VBAC) instead of knowing what will happen with a c-section. I suppose though that if I can't do the VBAC like I want then I won't be nervous but more dissapointed. I'm more nervous about the after delivery part where I have to take care of a two year old and a newborn. Nervous about how DD is going to react when little sister doesn't go away and she can't get Mommy's attention quite so quickly.

Decrease in movements Nope! If anything, this one is even more active than DD and rarely stops moving even when I'm moving around. Either she's getting it all out of her system now and will be a totally relaxed newborn or I'm in for a wild ride!

Surge of hormones/hot flashes Why are you asking me this??? :mad: :mad: Just kidding!! There are definitely some moments where my emotions completely spiral out of control and I can't form a rational thought to save my life. I get irritated at DD more easily than I did before (probably a combination of hormones and her newfound desire to do EVERYTHING herself) and DH is lucky if a day goes by without my giving him some "you're a complete idiot look". As far as hot flashes....even if I have the a.c. going at full blast, I still think it's about a million degrees whereever I am. I hate it.

Bags packed Almost done but it's only because DH is "pressuring me" to do it earlier than usual this time around. DD was originally due 12/31 and when she came 12/1 I was pretty unprepared and walked around at 3 in the morning throwing random stuff in a bag. But, beyond toiletries, slippers and a few of the things on the lists already posted I'm packing pretty light this time since I used almost none of what I brought last time. DD's bag is almost packed for her stay at a friend's house when I'm actually in labor.

Scrapbooking I was sort of into this before DD was born so I just kept going with it. I'm almost caught up with recent events but am not sure how detailed of a record I'm going to be able to keep with #2. I might wind up doing premade books from snapfish or Kodak gallery just to make sure that things are recorded. I really like scrapbooking though, so I hope I'll be able to do some if not all of the types of pages I did for DD.


I'm getting oddly concerned about a repeat of preterm labor. Over the past two weeks, I've been in the doctor's with really severe stomach cramps and a general feeling of something not being right. They checked my cervix (boy, I had forgotten how much fun that exam is) and even monitored me for contrax and both times there was no sign of anything amiss. They figured it was just a stomach bug. I'm sure that it is probably just that, but I get nervous when my back starts really hurting, I see an increase in vaginal secretions (am I the only one????) and my BH contrax are semi frequent. I'm probably just a little paranoid and am easily mistaking the common issues of pregnancy with my fear of going too early this time. Ugh. I am so ready for this to be over!!!!

[roberta]

preterm labor Actually, brio, I was just coming into post about this. I am having BH contrax every single day through out the day. They aren't regular, but they get more intense in the late afternoon and evening. Some I have to do a little breathing through just because they hurt! Since I had placenta previa, I haven't had any vaginal exams/cerivx checks and it makes me a little nervous too. The only reason I haven't called the doc is because they aren't regular at all and I haven't had any other signs. Maybe they just are BX contraxs and I just need to deal with it for the next 8 weeks! Since this has continued for a few days and today I am having pressure down low, I think I am going to call tomorrow. Of course, they will ask me to come in and I won't have any contrax! :rolleyes: Better safe than sorry!

We had our childbirth class this weekend. I highly recommend it for those who are nervous about giving birth. It helped give me a better idea of what to expect and made me feel more like I can actually do this. I feel more confident both in my self and in DH's ability to be a supportive coach. It also gve us an opprotunity to talk about our plans for the birth. DH really enjoyed it too. Funny thing- he was the only guy to raise his hand when the instructor asked if anyone had witnessed a birth. :cool: His sister was born at home and his parents had him stay home from school that day.

[acrane]

I'm sorry I get so behind in here but I've been thinking about you guys! :) I can't believe we're in the home stretch! I have my 30 week appointment tomorrow, so I'll be back to post after that but wanted to answer some of the QOTD while I had a second...

Scrapbooking - yes, I do this! I'm not the super creative type but I try! I am caught up through the start of this summer I think, so I'm pretty much on track.

Concerned/afraid of childbirth? - not really. Even though I had a vacuum assisted birth and episiotomy last time around, I think everything went fairly smoothly and anticipate an equally uneventful experience this time. Famous last words! :)

Decrease in movement - Matthew is much quieter during the day and then quite active at night. I don't think I feel him move 10 times an hour or anything like that but he does move around enough where I'm not worried.

Have any of you packed your bag(s) for the hospital yet?
No. Like other RO's have said, don't bring too much with you. Use the maxi pads from the hospital, the mesh undies (which I felt pinched a little but maybe I got too small a size!), the hospital gown until maybe the day after delivery when you have more visitors, etc. I pulled out my insurance info from 2/04 when Andrew was born to give you an idea of how crazy the charges are (I requested an itemized list of charges from the hospital). For example:
1 Ibuprofen 800mg tab = $10.75
1 Mesh panty = $36.75
If you plan on formula feeding, take all the single serve bottles you can, along with any onesies, pacifiers, hats or whatever they use on your baby. You'll probably be charged for it anyway!

Postpartum stuff - I knew there would be bleeding but holy cow! I bled for 5 weeks, had my 6 week check-up and then got my period again at 7 weeks. Yuck! I hear if you breastfeed though that you can go up to a year without getting your period again, so another plus to bf! You'll be wearing pads for a while, and you'll be sore for a few days 'down there'. What I didn't expect was for my tailbone to be so sore. It still bothers me to this day, and I guess that is one thing I'm dreading about delivery. But, all in all, recovery wasn't too bad, honestly!

Hormones - not really bothering me yet. I did have the baby blues for about a week after Andrew was born where I cried a ton. It sucked but once that week was over thankfully I was fine.

Godparents - we are Catholic and have not baptized Andrew yet. :o We lived in FL when he was born and planned on having the ceremony at a church we were fairly new to. They told us that we had to provide documentation on church letterhead saying that my brother (the godfather) and dh's sister (godmother) were regular church-goers. Neither of them attend church, so this would be impossible. I understand the role of a godparent in the Catholic faith is to be a role model and supporter of the religion to the child but this seemed a bit extreme. The kicker was when the coordinator wrapped up our conversation by saying to be sure to mail our weekly offerings in the envelopes they provided if we weren't going to make it to service so they would know "how much we'd given." She followed that up with, "I shouldn't have said that." Um, yeah. So, we moved to Alabama a little over a year ago and have not joined a church here. All that to say that we would like to have our kids baptized as we were but have been a little turned off by what we've experienced so far.

Doula - not going to use one but I hear they are fantastic.

Pubic bone pain - yes, and soreness in the inner thigh region. Once the babies drop (and they'll start soon!), the achiness might get worse. But, the heartburn and breathing usually get better!

Dh finally put together the dresser for the nursery last night. Yahoo! We still have to clean out the office/guest room to move it in, but at least it is something. The crib is not yet assembled, and I haven't bought the bedding yet, but we'll get there. No baby shower this time around, but luckily we don't need much, especially clothes since we'll have two boys.

[lisainpink]

Acrane- I didn't know you live in Alabama!! I live in a suburb of Huntsville- and am Catholic. I have lived in Birmingham, Florence, Decatur- so if you would like a Parish suggestion- please let me know!

Ramdom responses to QOTDs:

Baptism/Godparents We are fairly devout Catholics- so we have been weighing this decision heavily. We are the Godparents for my neice- but SIL and BIL don't attend Mass regularly- and we intend for the Godparents to have an active role in our son's religous education. UGH- I don't want to hurt feelings, but I just don't see us choosing SIL and BIL. We plan to hold the ceremony over the holidays when all the family is in town. Normally, our Parish doesn't do Baptisms during Advent, but our Priest said he thinks they'll find the time (he gave me my 1st Communion, Confirmed me, and Married us.)

Nervous about L&D Yep. Starting to freak me out a bit. I went through childbirth classes- but for some reason, I'm still freaked a tad.

Hospital Bag Haven't even considered it! I'll be 32 weeks this week- so I'll figure it out sometime in the next moth;) .

Movement? He moves bunches- but all on one side! I haven't felt a thing on the left side for weeks- but he is tearing the right side to bits!

Hormones I will say I am a bit short tempered.;)

Question for RO- or those who have asked: I have a meeting to attend in a couple of weeks- that I will need to travel to. The meeting is about 4 hours drive from where I live and I will be 34 weeks. Any input on if it is okay to travel- did any of your OBs restrict how far?

Hope you are all doing well.

[bijouparvin]

Dropping off the latest belly shots:

31 weeks

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b371/bijoudiva/31w2.jpg

http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b371/bijoudiva/31w3.jpg

I officially feel big. I'm slower and it takes me twice as long to sit down and stand up. :rolleyes:

[Toonces]

ppwgal ~ Congrats on the move. I bet you're relieved to have that over with! Did you get to work on the nursery this weekend?

neenbean ~ Congrats on passing the GST!!

brio ~ I'm concerned about PTL and pre-term contrax, too. I had pre-term contrax with DD and that started happening in the mid-30s week. They didn't dilate me, but I was still in the hosp 3 times. Oh, and I've definitely had an increase in discharge. Much more so than with DD. :o

roberta ~ Are you going to call your OB today? Let us know what happens. I've had a lot of pressure down low, too (didn't have that with DD). Hopefully like you said it's just BH contrax. That's awesome that your DH saw his sister's birth!

acrane ~ I had the baby blues last time, too. In a way I'm glad I know about it, but I'm also afraid that it'll be worse this time, esp since this is our last. Congrats on the nursery dresser! Did you get any more done this weekend?

lisainpink/travel @ 34 weeks ~ I think that'll be fine as long as you're not having pre-term contrax/labor or any other complications. I think they even let you fly until you're 36 or 37 weeks (maybe even later).

bijouparvin ~ You look awesome! You're all baby! :)

QOTD weird dreams? ~ Last night I had the weirdest dream... first I was in the Supernova band (from Rockstar: Supernova) :rolleyes: and I was making out with Gilby Clark. The weird part was I was living in a dorm, got up to go to the bathroom and there was blood in my underwear. When I stood up to look in the toilet, there was a ton of blood, like a period, and my stomach was a lot flatter. I don't know what either part of my dream had to do with anything, but it freaked me out (the blood part).

[Esq.]

I am far too behind for SO's, so I guess I will just answer QOTDs:


Scrapbooking- I am not a craftsy girl. Never have been, and I am pretty sure that will never change. I did buy a baby book, and I have started to fill that out.

Concerned/afraid of childbirth?- We had our first childbirth class this past Saturday, and the video did freak me out a bit. I was very surprised by all the completely nude women giving birth. I cannot really figure out why it is necessary to be completely naked when giving birth. All I can say is that I will have problem enough being naked from the waist down. I feel like a fat hog and am covered in cellulite. As such, I will not be displaying my hug, swollen breasts in addition to my cottage cheese ass.

Decrease in movement - yes, and it actually concerns me. I have mentioned it a few times to my doctors, but they always reassure me that it is fine. She was a very active baby, and now she just wiggles sometimes...no more kicking. In fact, she has barely moved this morning. Of course, I am usually asleep at this time, so that might be why. I am going to do a kick test after I eat some breakfast.

hospital bag- I have started it, but I am no where near done. It has travel toiletries, a night gown, and some socks in it at this point.

Hormones - emootionally, I am a little more irritable than usual, but nothing too drastic. But I am alway burning up! This is hard for me to get used to, since I was always the one wearing a sweater when everyone else was in shorts and tanks.

Godparents - I am non practicing Catholic, and DH is not. He does not have godparents, but I do. He doesn't really seem to want to baptise Ella, but I think my mother would have a heart attack. We haven't really decided what we are going to do about this.

Doula - not going to use one

Pubic bone pain - I have ligament pain in my pubic region, right under my belly. It is not pain in the bone. I assume that there is nothing to be done about this, since there is nothing to be done about the pain in my knees and ankles. I just keep telling myself it will all be over soon. :)

RANT AHEAD-

Our shower was yesterday. The majority of people bought things not on our registry. Most bought clothes.

I am furious. We got 6 bottles...none of which were the kind that we registered for. We got no crib sheets or bedding. Instead we got an obscene (and I am not kidding you...OBSCENE) amount of clothes and a ton of handmade blankets. I also got three bouncers (only one of them was on my registry) and 2 swings (again, only one was actually on my registry).

I feel like such a bitch, bc no one has to get you anything, and I should appreciate everything I got. BUT...what is the freaking point of registering??!?!?!

Do people think that any bottle will do? We all spend hours deciding what kind of bottle, pacifier, bouncer, car seat, etc to use, and then people...who KNOW you have a registry, just go buy whatever the hell they please.

My shower was beautiful. The decorating was gorgeous, the food was delicious, the company was terrific, and the whole day was great.

But still....

Someone tell me I am a bitch and to shut up and quit whining.


ETA: here is my latest belly shot

http://static.flickr.com/90/246419398_87142cfe05.jpg?v=0

[brio96]

brio ~ I'm concerned about PTL and pre-term contrax, too. I had pre-term contrax with DD and that started happening in the mid-30s week. They didn't dilate me, but I was still in the hosp 3 times. Oh, and I've definitely had an increase in discharge. Much more so than with DD.

Thank goodness it's not just me! Thanks for letting me know that I'm not the only one worried and dealing with the increase in discharge. I just get really nervous that PTL is going to happen again because all the books (which I really should stop reading :rolleyes: ) say that you're more likely to deliver early if you've done it before. Add to that all my GI issues that resemble PTL and I'm a wreck!

Last night was odd. I got up at 2:30 with the most intense back pain (both lower and upper back) and didn't go back to sleep until 6am :eek: . Somewhere during that time period, I started getting horrible GI like cramping that further freaked me out. FWIW, the constipation issue is back for me so I'm thinking that it was related to that but it still made for a rather unpleasant night/early morning. Add to this DD who was crying off and on (I'm pretty sure she's getting her canine incisor teeth) so everytime I would even start to fall asleep, she'd wake me up. So, now it's 9:10 and I've just gotten up and I'm debating when I should wake her up even though she got a lot of interrupted sleep.

[Sinclair319]

RANT AHEAD-

Our shower was yesterday. The majority of people bought things not on our registry. Most bought clothes.

I am furious. We got 6 bottles...none of which were the kind that we registered for. We got no crib sheets or bedding. Instead we got an obscene (and I am not kidding you...OBSCENE) amount of clothes and a ton of handmade blankets. I also got three bouncers (only one of them was on my registry) and 2 swings (again, only one was actually on my registry).

I feel like such a bitch, bc no one has to get you anything, and I should appreciate everything I got. BUT...what is the freaking point of registering??!?!?!

Do people think that any bottle will do? We all spend hours deciding what kind of bottle, pacifier, bouncer, car seat, etc to use, and then people...who KNOW you have a registry, just go buy whatever the hell they please.

My shower was beautiful. The decorating was gorgeous, the food was delicious, the company was terrific, and the whole day was great.

But still....

Someone tell me I am a bitch and to shut up and quit whining.



I'm in the same boat. Had a shower at MIL's over the weekend--we didn't register for any clothes because we've already had so many people give us great hand-me-downs, or I've gotten stuff at garage sales. We registered for practical stuff. We got TONS of clothes--DH's aunt even cut the tags off everything, so I can't return stuff. Some of the clothes we got are the wrong season (uh, I'm due in Nov. the 3-6 month summer outfit--yeah, thanks.) I know some people love Whinnie the Pooh, please don't be offended--he/it creeps me out. SIL got us a Pooh outfit. Then some people got us stuff from Target (where we registered) but didn't get what we registered for and they didn't include a gift receipt which makes returning it a HUGE hassle! And Target pisses me off--I create a registery there so people come to the store to spend money, but if they buy something not on my registry then it's a huge hassle to return. Grrr Plus, we registered for 1 dishwasher basket thing (to wash bottle parts in) and got 5! :eek:

I know I should be shut up and be grateful.

Did someone mention hormones? ;)

[Sinclair319]

:eek: THREE October mommas already have their babies!!! :eek:

[BethIrish]

I also had my 1st shower this weekend. We very much lucked out in that we got mostly stuff from our registery. We actually only got 2 packages of onsies, a package of socks and a pair of pants - that's IT for clothes!!! We still have 2 more showers to go, so I'm sure there will be more coming ;)

After the shower I was completely overwhelmed with how much stuff we got. And we still have 2 showers to go! Is anyone else simply just overwhelmed? I sat in the nursery last night and cried a little....I'm overwhelmed with the generosity of our friends/family, overwhelmed with the amount of stuff a baby brings in to the house...and mostly just overwhelmed with the fact that I'm bringing this new life in to the world that I am solely resposible for. It sounds ridiculous at this stage in my pregnancy, but it's just starting to sink in that I'm going to have a BABY in 2 months!!!

[lilo]

bijouparvin: cute belly shots! You look great. :)

Kyrsten: 6 bottles! :eek: :rolleyes: What the???? I'm surprised people even bought you something like a bottle instead of something more useful like a bathtub or crib sheets. People are odd. Did a lot of the duplicates come with gift receipts? Hopefully BRU or whever you registered will let you return the duplicates but I know what you mean about it being a PIA. My shower was yesterday too and while it was beautiful and we got a lot of items from our registry, we also got an insane amount of onesies that (and I know this will sound ungrateful and snobby) are really not my style and just too babyish in style but luckily they grow out of them quickly so I guess it's not a huge deal.

Sinclair: I can relate about the Pooh stuff (no offense to anyone of course). I'm not into having characters or animals on baby clothing in general and we got a bunch of Pooh stuff too. I'll probably just use those outfits for around the house.

Pre- term labor concerns: I do worry about this sometimes but hopefully it won't actually happen. I've been getting some B-H contrax here and there, which is an odd feeling. But they're far and few in between so I try not to stress about it.

---------------------------------------------------

As I mentioned above, I had my first baby shower this weekend and for the most part, it was perfect. The hostess and my mom really outdid themselves with the food and decor. There were about 30 people there, which was great. Some of my DH's relatives even flew in from other parts of the U.S., which was really nice. We got the majority of the big items off of our registry, which was great. There are only a few big items that are left to buy but we also got $$$ (always a great present ;) ) so we'll use that for those items. We also got a TON of clothing, which was nice but I"m so picky when it comes to clothing and a lot of it is just too 'girly' for a boy IMO or just not something I would've bought. Luckily a few came with gift receipts so I may exchange some of them.

The only rant I have about my shower is the fact that some of my closest friends didn't make it to the shower even after they said they were coming. It really upset me (and still bothers me) since it's obviously a really special day for me and I will only have one baby shower ever, even if we have more children in the future. One of my 'supposed' best friends said that she would maybe make it to the shower but would call me either way. Did I get a phone call? Nope. Nothing. I'm waiting to hear her excuse via email but I am just so annoyed that she didn't even have the decency to call me and tell me that she wasn't coming. We've known each other for more than 10 years so I expected more from her. But she's single and isn't happy with her life so I guess it's nothing new. I'm not going to make it a big deal with her (it's not worth it considering our history) but I am definitely going to keep my distance from her for a while.

End of rant. Thanks for letting me get that out. :)

All in all though, the shower was fantastic and it was a really special day for me.

Is anyone else simply just overwhelmed?: I wouldn't say that I'm overwhelmed by all the gifts that we've received BUT I am shocked about how much baby stuff is in our house. Luckily everything is in boxes right now but once the baby comes, I think our living room will look like baby central. I guess it's okay since a lot of the stuff will be use for a few months and we can put it away after that but I am definitely looking forward to having a basement that we can turn into a playroom to stash all of this stuff.

Question: We received two packages of baby washcloths. Are these really necessary? Do any of the RO's really use the baby washclothes more so than just regular wash cloths? I'm wondering if I should return them and get something more useful like swaddle blankets. Any insights would be great.

[acrane]

Krysten - you're not a bitch! I think that's why ROs always recommend holding off on buying clothes because no matter what, you'll more than likely get a ton at your shower. I'm glad the day overall was good for you and hopefully everyone included gift receipts so you can get to exchanging those unwanted items! :)

lisainpink - thanks for the offer! I think we've found a church we click with and are hoping to have both boys baptized at the same time in the spring.

catgirl - I hear ya on being wary of the baby blues again. At least this time I know they will end (hopefully!). That was one of the frustrating things the first time around. Dh would come into the kitchen where I'd be crying, he'd ask why and I'd say I didn't know! I sort of felt like I was losing it, but when you think about the adjustment your body has to make to get the hormones back in check, not to mention new mom stress and lack of sleep, I guess it makes sense that you could be out of whack for a few days. Nope, the dresser is it so far but at least it's a start! :rolleyes:

My appointment today went well - routine, no surprises which is fine by me. Gained one pound over the past two weeks but that's ok. As long as I can keep the gain to a minimum for the remainder of the pg, I'll be happy with my total gain this time around. My next appointment is 10/2. We are also taking a family tour of the hospital that evening, so I'm looking forward to that.

[Peaches]

Put me in the soooo far behind on SO's category....

I'll just answer some QOTD (some I might have already answered...pregnancy brain :rolleyes: )

Scrapbooking Nope, don't do this but have a friend who does. Would like to spend some time sewing some things for the baby as I like to sew but will concentrate on that when I'm down to working three days a week (only 2 weeks to go!).

Concerned/afraid of childbirth? Yes...I'd be lying if I said no, but I'm hoping our childbirth classes will help with that.

Decrease in movement I wouldn't call it a decrease per say it's just that the movement feels different. I can't really describe it, more like big rolling motions or big kicks rather than the quick fluttery movements like in the beginning.

Have any of you packed your bag(s) for the hospital yet? No, not yet. I figured we will go over that in the childbirthing class.

Hormones Not so much on the irritability front (although DH might disagree with me on that one!) but definitely on the hot flashes front. Yikes! :eek:

Pubic bone pain I think I'm having ligament pain rather than bone pain although I do have a lot of pain in my hips at night when I'm trying to be good and sleep on my side :)
_______________________________________________

We had our first childbirth class on Weds. It was fun. There are about 8 other couples. We get 8 two-hour classes and then a reunion when all the babies are born. The first session was just over pregnancy, so not too much to freak out about and she said she doesn't actually show a birth video but we can borrow one if we want. We were both tired by the end of it but I think it will be very informative and I'm glad we signed up.

I also had my 30 week midwife appointment on Weds. Everything was fine. The first time she took my blood pressure it was a little high but she took it again at the end and it was fine. I think it was because the cuff wasn't fitted right the first time she tried so she had to try it again. She also took blood to check my iron levels and for antibodies. Both came back fine. I measured right at 30cms as well.

I am really looking forward to only working three days a week (roll on October!). I washed the Gymini play mat-thingy, my mother bought for us, this weekend. She got it second hand and, although it looks great, I still wanted to be sure it was totally clean. DH also is about 2/3 done with refinishing the dresser for the nursery. The weather here is turning decidedly Fall-ish so I know November is just around the corner!

[Franni]

Lilo The worst of it was around the time I was driving to the doctors. It intensified from a mild cramp to a pain akin to pulling a muscle. the pain was brief though until I was about .8 cm dilated. I do have a fairly high tolerance for pain though.

scrapbooking When I grow up, I want to finish the scrapbook I started for DD#1. I don't know if I can hope to start & finish the scrapbook for DD#2.

childbirth classes ITA with Roberta on this. I think this is primarily the reason why my L/D experience was so calm, because I knew exactly what was happening and how things would progress. I also opted to stay out of the hospital for as long as I can to help the baby move things along naturally, so I wouldn't need pitocin or anything like that.

baby stuff avalanche LOL, Lilo it was shocking at first that a being so small could possibly need so much stuff.

washcloths I still use mine extensively but I don't think it differs greatly from any other non-baby washcloths out there. It is a little softer and finer in texture. IMHO, I would return one and get a swaddle. DD needed the swaddle those first few months. I haven't bought much for this new baby, but I got her a swaddle blanket. The first time around, I just took home some hospital blankets and swaddled DD with them.

Sinclair Thanks for freaking me out....just kidding. I can't believe it is truly coming up. I feel so totally unprepared for this.

Krysten I would be p*ssed off too. My suggestion is to pick the ones you truly love and the other ones just try to sell. There's an LJ community (with lots of members from this board) that trades used and new baby clothes. Great site especially for the clothes you can't return to the store or are the wrong season for your baby. Let me know if you want me to send you the LJ information.

[Rancid13]

Bijouparvin~ Good news about my blood pressure! I’ve been monitoring it a few times a day since the doc told me to start, and every time it’s been below the 140/90 numbers she gave me. The highest was 139/56 and the lowest was 118/54 so I have a feeling this high blood pressure thing may be a doctor’s office related issue. Cute belly shots!! You look great!! I took some last week but have yet to upload the pics from my camera. :D

Catgirl~ Thanks! Yes the weather has been cooling down finally! We had another hot day yesterday (80+ degrees @ 75-80% humidity) but the rest of the weeks looks to be in the 60’s and 70’s, so that’ll hopefully make things more comfortable. I don’t know what my bp was at my appt on Friday, but doc wants it to be below 140/90 which it has for the last 4 days straight. Which is good!! :cool:

Have any of you packed your bag(s) for the hospital yet? Not yet! Someone asked me about it at my shower over the weekend and I realized I hadn’t even thought about it yet. Now that I’m approaching 30w, I think it would be wise to get a little bag of necessities together, as a “just in case” because you never know what might happen.

Neenbean~ Congrats on passing the GST!

Brio96~ Sorry to hear about stomach cramps! Hopefully everything truly is ok, and you won’t go into preterm labor. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for you.

weird dreams? Totally! I usually remember them shortly after I wake up, but forget them as the day goes on. I’ve been having some very random but realistic dreams these past couple of weeks. Surprisingly, very few of them have been baby-related (and none of them have been sex-related either LOL!).

Kyrsten~ I’ll say it: Stop whining!! Seriously though, I could have written your post. There were maybe 10 items that I received at my shower over the weekend that were purchased off our registry. Everyone decided instead to buy us a buttload of clothes and blankets, as well as toys and other random stuff that I’m sure we’ll need but didn’t register for. Ah well. I know there was a lot of thought put into the gifts (handmade/crocheted blankets and awesome baby stuff MIL brought over from Hawaii) and it was fantastic seeing everyone and the decorations and food was awesome. My mom was joking that we’d have to keep the baby on some sort of rotation where we change his outfits every 1-2 hours for several months straight so we can ensure that he’s able to wear everything that was received at the shower, LOL! Great belly shot, btw! You’re looking great!!

:eek: THREE October mommas already have their babies!!! :eek:

Holy crap! It’s freakout time!!

Is anyone else simply just overwhelmed? I am! Or I should say, we are!! There’s just so much to do!! Since we had our shower this past weekend, I sat down and itemized the things that are on our registry that weren’t purchased but we still need (breastfeeding stuff, carseat, stroller, feeding supplies, etc etc etc) and pricing everything out so DH and I know how much $$ we’re gonna need for the remaining necessities (which includes nursery furniture minus the crib and crib bedding which my mom~bless her heart!~bought for us).

Baby washcloths~ I can’t even begin to tell you how many packages we got of baby washcloths!! Something like 3 or 4 8-packs. I think they’ll come in useful as we only have 1 or 2 regular washcloths in our household and we didn’t have to buy any of the baby ones ourselves. My mom seemed to think we’d need a bunch (along with cloth diapers that can be used as burp clothes, dust rags, etc). Worst case, they’ll end up as dust rags themselves.

Acrane~ Have fun at the hospital tour tonight!!

Peaches~ That's a lot of childbirth classes!! We have 6 2-hr sessions starting next month. I can't wait, but I hope they don't show any explicit childbirth videos otherwise I'll get grossed out (I can't even watch A Baby Story without having to cover my eyes, so I avoid it).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shower: We had my shower over the weekend. It was held at my mom's house and hosted by her and my BFF. The theme was an "Under the Sea" thing, and it was decorated SOOOO freaking adorable! I thought I'd walked into an aquarium!! Our nursery theme is going to be sea turtles (CoCaLo's Turtle Bay bedding/decor) and ocean-type stuff so it fit perfectly! Once someone emails me pictures, I'll post a few, it was that adorable! Even my brother and dad were impressed with how it looked when they saw it.

About 20 people attended, and MIL even flew in from Hawaii last week in order to make it (and she might stay in town until after the baby's born). We got a handful of things that were on our registry like I mentioned in my reply to Kyrsten above, but we did get a lot of neat stuff that I'm sure we'll need (along with necessities like wipes, powder, diapers, etc). TONS of clothes, toys and blankets. We must have like 10 blankets now. We also received cash and gift certs for BRU which we'll put towards purchases of necessities that weren't bought off our registry. All in all, it was a very fun day and I had an absolute blast! I went home and took a 3-hour nap when it was all over. :D

My grandma even stopped by for about an hour. Long story short, there was this big to-do about my shower date conflicting with a prior commitment of hers (which involved being at home all day cooking enchiladas for a church function) and she went so far as to call my mom and BFF to see if they could "change the date" for her because it didn't work with her schedule. Yeah...

Baby's room: Some of you may (or may not) recall me months ago saying that we weren't going to do a nursery at our condo b/c we were looking to upgrade to a larger (3 bedroom) home in early 2007. That's not likely to happen. We're probably looking to move mid to late 2007 instead at the very earliest, so we're working on getting DH's stuff out of the 2nd bedroom so we can use it as a nursery. So far he's moved the computer desk & computer into the front room and moved out 80% of his collectibles and put some of them into boxes for storage.

On Weds he's going to rent a climate-controlled storage space (wouldn't you know, all the places we called yesterday aren't open on Sundays for new rentals) so he has a spot to put his stuff till we move into a larger home. He's also listed his Xbox and 40" plasma tv (it's an extra~he won it in a contest last year~we already have a 61" as our regular tv in the main room) for sale. Once we get that storage space, we can clear out a bunch of stuff and start cleaning and prepping for painting and moving in the (still-needs-to-be-picked-up) crib and other to-be-bought furniture. Can't wait!!

[Esq.]

Thanks ladies :) Out of all the gifts I got yesterday, about 10 included receipts. I have sorted out what I would like/need to return, and I am guessing at what stores they come from. My cousin, who is more like my sister, is coming up on Wednesday to help me cart this stuff around and try to find the stores it was purchased at. She is so sweet for helping me.

And she listened to me complain without judging me for whining. :)

Franni- I would like that LJ community info if you wouldn't mind. Someone got me a pair of 6wk-3mo sandals. Hello, having a baby in late October, early November. Live in Michigan. Not going to be useful. I also got a bunch of 3 mo summer outfits. If I can't return them, I would like someone to get some use out of them. I will just try to swap them with someone who will have a spring/summer baby.

cross posted with Rancid: Thanks for kicking me in the rear:) I need to just move on, and return this stuff, so that I can get the stuff that we need. I am pretty sure I don't need 24 blankets, nor over 60 outfits (not kidding) Unfortunately, we didn't get gcs or anything like that. I am just feeling overwhelmed. Not only do I have to get this nursery put together, but before I do, I have to return a bunch of stuff (and guess at where it came from, haggle with sales people bc I don't have a receipt, etc) get the stuff I need, do all of this LAUNDRY, and then put the room together. In the mean time, my house looks like a bomb went off!

[Franni]

Postpartum prep I know this sounds horribly pessimistic, but I am dreading postpartum. I had horrible postpartum depression with my first DD. It was a terrible time that I would prefer never to relive. I am afraid of that more than the childbirth. For myself, I am trying to meet with a psychiatrist before my due, so that if it hits this time around, I will NOT try to tough it out.

Only a suggestion, please take or leave it as you wish If you have a history of depression or have experienced the effects of wild hormonal shifts in the past (not to say that you will have the blues or deprerssion), take the time now to prep your DH and loved ones that there is a possibility that things will be really rough at the beginning. I have told some of BFF about this and most of them (without having the blues or depression) told me about things being rough at the beginning. So my agreement with DH now is that "nothing that is said or done in the first 3 months should be taken against each other or remembered past that point."

[Franni]

Krysten Here's the community name - http://community.livejournal.com/thetradingpost/

I don't do LJ very much or very often except for this community page. But you would have to email the coordinators for membership.

[Toonces]

Kyrsten ~ Your post had me cracking up b/c I could have written the exact same thing 2 years ago. We got 99% clothes for DD at her baby shower. I was beside myself. While I very much appreciated everyone's generosity, I didn't understand why someone couldn't buy me a freakin' Diaper Champ. We ended up spending $300-$400 to get the absolute necessities that no one wanted to buy. I think in most cases ppl just like buying cute baby clothes. Oh, and I don't like my ass very much either, but lemme tell you... it was out on display during L&D. The final phase of labor before pushing did me in and I didn't care who saw what or for how long.

brio ~ I'm sorry to hear about your GI cramping. That had to have been an awful night for you, esp with your DD also being uncomfortable. When is your next OB appt? Are they doing internals yet? I go weekly for NSTs now (b/c of erratic BP), but they haven't done any internals.

Washcloths ~ We use a ton of these, not so much in the beginning, but once DD started having regular baths. You could use regular washcloths, but we don't have any so the baby ones came in handy. We only bathed DD 1-2 times/week tops when she was really little (unless she had a huge blow out). They don't get dirty until they start crawling around all over the place.

Rancid ~ Have fun setting up the nursery!

Baby blues/PPD ~ ITA with Franni. I think approx 80% of women experience baby blues, lasting 2-3 weeks. I'm not sure how many get full blown PPD. I'm worried about PPD b/c this is definitely our last baby, I'll be 37 when he's born, and I have a feeling I'll go through this "end of womanhood" thing after he arrives. I cried A LOT after DD was born. It was just so overwhelming and she was so tiny (full term 7lbs. 15oz., but still so little)... it's hard to explain. Fortunately after a few weeks I was feeling better.

I had my 32 week appt today. I'm now going every week because of my erratic BP. I also have NSTs every week. Good news is my GD diet is working and I'm measuring right on target. Yay!! It appears my amniotic fluid is in range so I'm very happy about that. Bad news is last week and this week my urine test showed that I'm spilling protein. I guess the test can show up to a +4 and mine is only +1 but since it happened 2 weeks in a row my OB wants me to do a 24 hour urine collection. I also had a blood test today and will have another one on Wed. Pre-eclampsia scares the sh!t out of me b/c it can escalate out of nowhere. Just praying that everything goes smoothly....

[brio96]

My next appointment is on Wednesday, so I'm definitely going to bringing all of these stomach cramps since they seem to be recurring. I was diagnosed with a wheat senstivity a few years ago and I wonder if that's coming up again since bread and things made with flour are all I seem to want to eat these days. catgirl At my last "emergency" appointment they did an internal and I was crampy for days from it! I never got to a point with DD where I was going every week but in the every two week appointments with her, they didn't do an internal unless I mentioned that I had been feeling a lot of pressure.

PPD/Baby Blues I got baby blues to the point that I had several complete breakdowns that involved crying, screaming and shaking for hours. I even "ran away" one night because I just couldn't take it anymore (it was series of things leading up to the "run away"). I think DH was seriously contemplating taking me to see someone those first few days because he was scared that I was really going crazy. BUT, it did pass and I started to feel better within a few weeks after the initial "shock" of having a baby to take care of became more of a reality. I completely agree with preparing those around you that the first few weeks are going to be rough and that should they get frustrated or hurt by something that you say that they must remember it's the hormones, the life adjustment (for everyone) and the overwhelming feeling that comes with having a new life to care for.

I've basically told DH that I expect the rest of the year (after the baby comes) to be somewhat of a nightmare in trying to recover, get my hormones in check, manage taking care of two kids and dealing wtih a temperamental toddler that is so used to being the center of my world. If we have good days then I'll be happy but I'm not expecting too many of them until it all gets sorted out. Going into this post partum period, I feel more prepared to know that it's going to be a tough ride but that I've done it before and I know that it can be done.

Washcloths We've used them from the beginning and still use them for her daily bath. Oddly enough, the ones we have aren't even the better ones and they've held up through almost two years of washing and use. You probably don't need 20 of them, but two packages seem to be a good number in our situaiton (since we bathe her everyday).

[katnbug]

Pre-eclampsia scares the sh!t out of me b/c it can escalate out of nowhere. Just praying that everything goes smoothly....

I have also been starting to freak out about this more lately. I have been obsessing when my ankles get swollen, even though I think it's just because I've been standing alot that day. :( I also took out my Mayo Pregnancy book and was surprised to see that if you had severe pre-e with your first pregnancy there is a 25-45% chance of getting it again with #2. Those percentages don't sound as low as my dr. made me think!

I'm glad your amniotic fluid is good as well as your diet though!! Hopefully your 24 hour collection shows no more protein.

ppd/baby blues- I wasn't too bad with DS. My main crying spells came in the middle of the night when I wasn't getting any sleep at all. DS had a few weeks where I just couldn't get him to stop crying no matter what & I thought I would go crazy. DH definitely thought I was heading over the edge, but thankfully I recovered quickly.

washcloths- We also used these for DS's baths as a baby. We then upgraded to a larger softer washcloth which he still uses.

pubic bone pain- I am totally experiencing this. It's really bad at night when I have to get up and go to the bathroom. It hurts to waddle to the bathroom!!! I read in one of my pg books that it's due to the ligaments connecting the halves of your pubic bone stretching.

*********************

I can't believe I only have 5 1/2 weeks to go. :eek:

We got the furniture into the nursery this weekend. I finally got to put the bedding on the crib and I love it! The nursery still needs shelves and other decoration, but I will take pics as soon as I get organized.

I also went out and bought a new Diaper Champ this morning! DH thought we should just keep using the one we had, but it's 2 years old and SMELLS LIKE IT! I think it was worth the $25 to buy a new one! :rolleyes:

[roberta]

When I grow up, I want to finish the scrapbook I started for DD#1. ha ha! I think this would be me if I started a real scrapbook. I did look at baby books today at the mall. We will see if actually gets completed. My mom did baby books for us and I really treasure it.

krysten I had the same rant after my shower. Clothes in big sizes and the wrong season. (guess they were on sale) Some people did cut the tags off so I can't return them. thanks. One of DH's grown cousins gave us a huge bag of cheapy, character bottles. She must have missed the breast milk storage kit and breast pump conversion kit on the registry. I did register for an advent newborn bottle set so DH could feed the baby a daily bottle. But I don't need 30 dollar store bottles. I am going to try to return some of the clothes that I can tell came for Target but I don't know if they will take them back.

rancid Good idea! I need to itemize the items we still need to buy so we can budget and be ready before the baby comes. Congrats on getting your nursery ready and DH cleaning up his "toys". I know you posted about this being a concern a few weeks ago. Congrats on the lower BP too!

lilo I felt ovewhelmed with all the baby stuff too. I told DH- "hey another person is really moving into our house!"

peaches A reunion with the other parents from birthing class sounds nice.

Feeling better- no major BH contrax today. But I am having major GI issues. ugg. My wedding and engagement rings have not fit since July. Today I found a $10 eternity band at Kohl's in a bigger size. I miss wearing a ring, DH thinks I am silly.

[RubberSoul]

bijouparvin- Cute belly shots! You have such a pretty round belly :).

weird dreams- I had a lot in the beginning, but unfortunately I don't sleep in long enough stretches now to actually dream :(. I wake up so much with heartburn/reflux issues or because I have to pee.

kyrsten- I will probably be saying the same thing when my shower rolls around. So as long as I get to rant and complain then, I think you have every right to do it now :). You have a pretty round belly too! Is your reflux getting any better?

brio- sorry to hear about the cramping issues and lack of sleep. I hope you and your DD feel better soon and can get some rest!

Sinclair- thanks for freaking me out by pointing out the fact that 3 Oct. mommies have babies ;). Just kidding. September is rapidly coming to the end and that means I have very little time left to prepare! Can someone stop the clock, please.

BethIrish- YES! I am really starting to freak out. I am not worried about L&D at all because I am too worried about the fact that we will have a baby to take care of. Add that to the fact that my DH is quitting his job and I am going to be the breadwinner and I really want to have a nervous breakdown. Somewhere in the back of my mind I know it is all going to be okay, but it is hard to see that through the hormonal haze.

lilo- sorry to hear that some of your friends didn't make it to your shower. That would hurt my feelings too.

Rancid- Yay! on the baby's room. I am happy to hear that your BP is looking good too!

Franni- Your freaking me out a little about the PPD/baby blues, but in a good way. My mom is a diagnosed manic depressive and both of my brothers have had been on medication for depression at one time or another. So, I know that the possibility is probably higher for me to be affected. I will have to tell my family to keep a close eye on me to make sure I get help if it looks like I need it.

catgirl- I hope you don't have any pre-e issues and that everything goes back to normal for you.

katnbug- Holy crap! 5 and 1/2 weeks! I am speechless...weren't we all in the first trimester, a week ago!

roberta- I hope you feel better soon!


Sorry if I missed anyone!

[CityGirl]

Hi all! I'm just back from our wonderful babymoon in Kauai. It was so nice to have some time to relax with DH, and though we went with my in-laws, we did manage to steal some time for ourselves. Here's a belly shot at 31 weeks of me sneaking into the saltwater lagoon at the Hyatt next door to our condo. :p

http://www.jenniferdaily.com/etc/belly.jpg

I can't believe how close we are all getting to our due dates. I had an appointment with my midwife this morning and she warned me of a tendancy for first timers to think that their babies are coming early, simply because of how big/uncomfortable they are. So I'm really trying to think of the baby as due a week after his projected due date.

Anyway, I'm off to catch up on the happenings around here. I just skimmed the last few pages, and am glad to hear everyone is doing so well. Though now I feel like I have so much to do. I'm just counting the days until I'm done with work - 3 more weeks! Then I will have my shower and can get cracking on all the little things that we need to buy.

[mayham]

Holy cow, only 10 more weeks for me!! I've been reading along, with little time for updates, but I will attempt to do a few shout outs.

CityGirl - You look fab!! You are totally all belly. Your babymoon in Kauai sounds wonderful :)

roberta - I haven't worn my rings since July either! I got an inexpensive white gold band to have something to wear, and have had to have it stretched THREE times already... I thought the swelling would stop once the summer heat was over, but I guess not :(

katnbug - That's great your furniture is in and your bedding is set up. I can't wait for our furniture to come next week, it'll feel more real to me once I have the bedding set up in our baby's crib!!!

brio96 - Thank you for sharing your post delivery experiences with us... as a first timer I definitely need to hear these things so I'm prepared for how I may feel after. I think what I've been preparing myself for is that I have NO idea how I'm going to feel, emotion-wise post delivery, so we'll have to take it day by day and hope for the best.

catgirl1007 - Good luck with all of the monitoring, I hope everything goes smoothly for you as well!

I wish I had more time to go back for shout outs, but i'll have to stop for now.

-------------------

I went to the dr. last week, and she said to come back in 3 weeks, and then after that every two. Turns out my work schedule won't work at all for me to go in 3 weeks, so there was a nurse at the front when I was making the appointment, and she said it would be fine to come back in 4 weeks, as long as the dr. wasn't monitoring me for anything specific (which she wasn't).

Is it weird that my next appointment I'll be almost 34 weeks? In some ways it seems too long to go, then I'll only have 6 weeks after that. Should I call and try to get in sooner? Or does it not matter as long as I'm feeling fine?

I've been feeling really BIG and a little uncomfortable lately, but overall not too bad, so I shouldn't complain. Hope everyone is doing well!! :)

[kadee_29]

I am skipping SO's again because its late and I'm tired. Just wanted to give a quick update from my appt today.

I mentioned the lack of movement and was sent straight to L&D. After 2 hours on a monitor they said that the baby is fine. But...my heart rate was running a lot higher than they would like. Like in the 110's. I had to stay on the monitors for another 2 hours and drink 3 of their huge cups of water. I am also having contractions so they checked and I am starting to dialate. They did finally send me home with no restrictions so I am happy. Tired but happy.

[Franni]

citygirl Beautiful shot.

kadee That's great that everything turned out ok.

How is everyone feeling today? I am feeling like I want to issue an eviction notice, but it is too soon. I am having such a hard time with this discomfort. I am not used to feeling so "useless". I can't walk long distances (3 blocks is now considered a long distance) I get butt pain on and off depending on how I've sat. I know....I shouldn't complain. Everything is ok with the baby and that should be all that matters. Sorry for the early morning whine.

[BethIrish]

Ugh, Franni, I'm with you. I hate feeling like this - especially with 9 weeks to go - but my belly is so SORE. It's getting to the point that by the end of the day it's uncomfortable to sit at my desk. And, to top it off, I'm tired...both physically and mentally exhausted. It doesn't help that this is a busy time of year for me at work, either.

I haven't really updated in a while, and I'm too tired for SO's. I'm glad that everyone is (mostly) doing well. I can't believe how close we are all getting. I had my 30 week appt. last Friday - I'm going every 2 weeks now until 36 weeks and then every week. I made all my remaining appointments up until my due date! Scary!!

I do have a QOTD: When is everyone stopping work? (Sorry if it's been asked already.) Between the reaction from the receptionist at the doctor on Friday and the reactions of friends/family at my shower - is it really unusual to plan on working right up until the baby comes? I'm actually closer to my hospital while I'm at work then when I'm home (about 15 minutes vs. 45-60 minutes.) I would love to take some time off before - but I don't want to take it unpaid. I suppose if I'm uncomfortable enough I would, but I don't want to plan on it!!

[ellidew]

Hey ladies. Too much to re-read through to post SO's! Which is highly unusual for me but the motivation and energy level are at zero! lol. Nothing much new to report here. That's a good thing since over the last 2 months i feel like i've had a new ailment every week. I actually have a regular ob appt on Friday and currently have no need to even call with a question!

Shower- My shower is this weekend and i'm SO excited!! It's being held at an old fashion diner! I helped put the center pieces together last weekend since dh was out of town and i was bored. Also, i have to admit to registry peeking. Well, really, i went to BRU with my sister because they are going to play a price is right game where you guess the amount each baby item costs so we printed my registry to buy a few things and i noticed almost nothing had been purchased! It was sunday night and my shower is this sunday! I was a little worried but since then a ton of stuff has been purchased. I was beginning to think no one was going to come to the shower. Stupid, i know.

Less movement- Over the last week there has definitely been less movement. He never really moved much to begin with so to go several hours without feeling anything wasn't unusual. He does move though so i haven't had cause for worry. My ob didn't want me stressing over kick counts and just said i should feel about 10 movements before noon and 5 within an hour of sitting down at night. I seldom even count. Also, i'm getting far less kicks and more pushing out. Last night he'd push out and i could feel a little hard spot then it would slowly collapse. It was pretty cool actually!

QOTD: When is everyone stopping work? I plan to work right up until the baby arrives. However, dh and i decided that we would reevaluate come Nov 1. The plan is to work as long as possible so i can take more time off afterwards.

[RubberSoul]

kadee- happy to hear that you weren't put on any restrictions. Are they predicting that you are going to deliver early?

feeling today?- I am starting to feel like my skin on my belly is being stretched to the max. I can't believe I still have 8 more weeks of growth! My reflux issues are returning at night even with the Zantac. I have started taking one pill right before bed and then taking another one a few hours later since one isn't working anymore. I am afraid to mention this to my Dr. since they might tell me not to do it anymore. The package says you can take 2 in 24 hours and says nothing about spacing them out. I hope I can keep taking it like I have been since it is the only way I get any sleep.

stopping work?- I am going to stop working on Nov. 10th which is the Friday before my due date. No one has asked me when I am stopping work other than my bosses. I figured it was pretty common for people with desk jobs to work until the end...is it not?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My 32 week appt. is today. I am hoping all goes well.

[Rancid13]

rancid Good idea! I need to itemize the items we still need to buy so we can budget and be ready before the baby comes. Congrats on getting your nursery ready and DH cleaning up his "toys". I know you posted about this being a concern a few weeks ago. Congrats on the lower BP too!

<snip>

Feeling better- no major BH contrax today. But I am having major GI issues. ugg. My wedding and engagement rings have not fit since July. Today I found a $10 eternity band at Kohl's in a bigger size. I miss wearing a ring, DH thinks I am silly.

Thanks! I went thru the registry yesterday to see what was remaining that we really need (deleted some clothing, as we received a TON at the shower). Am able to save $ b/c SIL has a barely-used Medela breast pump that I would just need to buy accessories for ($30?) as well as a barely-used pack n play. I’m going to buy the Peg Perego stroller that I want on either Ebay or from someone on Craigslist and save $100-150 on that, and my other SIL has a practically new Graco infant car seat that they’ll give us. We also got $350 in gift certificates and cash at the shower, plus another $500 cash that MIL gave us last year that we’ve been keeping in a drawer, our “change vase” which I believe contains at least a couple hundred in spare change that we can exchange for an Amazon.com gift card at a Coinstar location, and MIL also got us a changing table when what we wanted was a dresser/changing table combo, so we’ll exchange it and save some $ on furniture. Whew!! :eek:

Glad to hear you’re feeling better!!

Citygirl~ You look stunningly fantastic!! Hope you had fun in Kauai, it’s my favorite Hawaiian island thus far…definitely the most romantic. I can’t wait to go back! :cool:

Kadee~ Sorry to hear about your scare, but glad that baby is doing ok. Not good about the heart rate and dilation though, what are they having you do to keep both of those in check??

How is everyone feeling today? As usual, “decent”. Not fantastic or great, but my itching has subsided SOMEwhat (I don’t want to jinx it!) over the last couple of days so when I’m not itchy and uncomfortable all over I feel pretty darn ok for the most part. I’ve been having the toughest time sleeping though, when I sleep on my left side it seems like my entire left leg falls asleep & feels all sore and achy with all the weight on it even though we have a pillow top mattress and I have a ton of strategically placed pillows on the bed. Lying on my back is a lot more comfortable for me as a result and I’ve been super tired the last couple weeks to boot. Probably due to the lack of sleep and/or poor sleep. :(

QOTD: When is everyone stopping work? I work an office job sitting down most of the day, so I figured I’d work until it was no longer comfortable for me. Since my due date is ~2 weeks after Thanksgiving, I was thinking at the very least I might take off for the Thanksgiving holiday and not return until after my maternity leave is up (late January I believe?). That would give me a full week to do anything around the house that needs to get done before baby arrives, and some time to relax beforehand too. Unless there are complications or I start to feel really uncomfortable with the drive to/from work and/or uncomfortable at work, I don’t see any reason why I can’t work right up almost until my due date. I’m closer to the hospital at work than at home too, by about 15-20 minutes.

Less movement~ It’s been the complete opposite for me. He's been dancing up a storm in there for about the past week, last night he was getting crazy and I spent a good 15 minutes just watching my belly twitch around in every direction imaginable. I've also been getting some of those lovely kicks-to-the-cervix that I've heard about. :rolleyes: It didn't hurt so much as feel extremely uncomfortable (reminded me of the super- uncomfortable twinge-y feeling you get when you're getting a pap smear done). :eek:Not a good feeling, but at least the kicks to that area were brief and not commonly occurring.

[ellidew]

I JUST told my boss my plans for maternity leave which are:

1. Work until the baby arrives unless i absolutely CANNOT
2. Return the 2nd week in Jan
3. Come back 4 days a week and work 36 hours (i currently work 4 9 hour days and 1 4 hour day (Friday)) This will give me a 3 day weekend EVERY weekend! lol.

I still consider 36 hours full time so i'm really hoping it doesn't effect my commission scale or vacation time! He said he'd have to get back to me. ARGH!

[ellidew]

I'm seriously considering buying the new tickle me elmo and waiting to see if it's as hard to find as they say it will be come christmas time... then selling it on ebay if it is? If not then Miles has a new toy. Is this wrong of me?

[Sinclair319]

How is everyone feeling today? I'm starting to get more and more uncomfortable now. Plus I wake up every 2-3 hours at night--I don't have to pee, I'm just awake. I wonder if it's my body trying to get used to the middle of the night feedings.

QOTD: When is everyone stopping work? I'm due Nov 5th and plan to take the week before it off. I figure if I haven't had him, I'll be uncomfortable enough by then that I'll just want to lay around in sweats all day. ;P Speaking of sweats, I'm 5'11" and just ordered 3 sweat suits (J Lo style) from JC Penney--I've heard they're awesome to wear post partum and make breast feeding easier (accessibility-wise). Can't wait to get them!

Less movement--Just the opposite here. He's moving quite a bit and now that he's bigger, it's more uncomfortable. I've only had a few kicks that hurt, but he loves to jam his little butt up under my ribs which hurts.

[brio96]

How is everyone feeling today? In a word...lousy. Another night of not a lot of sleep except instead of being up from 2:30-6, I was "only" up from 2:30-5. I'm just crabby and overly emotional today probably because I'm so tired. I'm crampy and too tired of feeling this way to try and distinguish if it's normal pg or PTL. I'm glad I have my dr appointment tomorrow to get checked one more time to make sure I'm not dialated or anything this early.

On a positive note though, DD has been an angel for most of the day even though she was chatting away again last night for a while and also got a night of broken sleep.

Is anyone else eating really badly? Up until now, I was a huge fan of eating fruits, veggies and all the good for you foods that we're supposed to eat. Now, I can barely muster the strength and energy to eat a piece of bread (although I'm trying to sneak veggies in when I can). It's probably one of the factors of my current GI situation, but it just seems like too much effort to make something to eat and then actually eat it. I'm even too "put out" to make sure that DD is gettting her 5 a day and I'm usually pretty militant about what she eats.

Whiny, whiny post. :rolleyes:

[RubberSoul]

Is anyone else eating really badly?- Oh yeah. I eat whatever is fast and easy. I was good about eating fruits and veggies in the beginning, but now I eat meat, cheese, bread, and potatoes. The only time I eat fruits or vegetables is if I happen to get a salad (maybe once a week) or if my DH is home and he makes dinner. I am not all that interested in food anyway so I eat whatever is easiest.

[Rancid13]

Is anyone else eating really badly? I’m doing my best to eat somewhat healthfully. It figures that right when I’m able to eat my favorite lunch of baby spinach & grilled chicken salad again (couldn’t tolerate it without gagging for the 1st and 2nd tri’s), this whole e-coli/spinach thing comes up and I can’t eat salads everyday. I can’t even get my usual Subway sandwich loaded with spinach instead of iceberg lettuce because of this scare. I don't care too much for regular mixed greens, but may try to substitute arugula for the spinach for the time being.

My daily breakfast is 2 whole-wheat frozen waffles topped with fresh berries and a smidge of syrup plus 2 scrambled egg whites and an 8-oz glass of fat free milk. I try to snack on fig newtons, fruit, yogurt, those 100-calorie snack packs, and/or hummus & whole wheat pita during the day. Dinner is either pizza, whole wheat pasta w/sausage & tomatoes, cereal (oatmeal is a favorite!), canned pasta (think ravioli or spaghettios) or a sandwich of some kind (pb&j or grilled cheese). I still have a thing for candy and soda though, and get a good fill of both every day regardless. :D

[Franni]

eating badly I think you will find my picture if you look that phrase up. I just don't have the energy to think of healthy although I still worry about DD's diet. The other day I had 5 cups of SODA. Blech....thinking about that now makes me want to.....

sleep YES! It has been quite elusive. I usually have no real problems going to sleep but I will awake sometime during the night for no reason and can't get back to sleep. Doesn't my body realize that when this baby comes out, I will not be able to sleep. So frustrating.

Work stoppage I have spoken to my boss about this. I wanted to stop when the baby arrives. That's what I did the last time, but the last time was so different from this. I didn't get mystery aches and pains then.

[CityGirl]

Feeling today - Tired. I have a constant pain in my groin area like a pulled muscle. And its getting hard for me to breathe. I can't really lean back in my chair or on the sofa because I get out of breath. But I did make it to the gym this morning, so I can't complain too much.

Ending work - My last event is October 7th. My work is very physical, and I've had to bring on a lot more help than I would normally need. It's pretty hard right now, so I'm glad I didn't take on any more events after the 7th. Not to mention DH usually helps me with the more physical stuff and he's got a broken arm. I am helping a friend out on a couple more events in my 36th and 38th week, but there is no lifting involved so I should be fine.

Eating badly - I need to get back on the healthy wagon ASAP. Its not that the things that I do eat are so bad, just that I'm not eating a decent amount of veggies. My iron levels came back low, so I'm supposed to be eating lots of dark leafy greens (I don't do red meat) and prunes & nuts. Actually, I'm off to Trader Joe's right now to find some snacks that are high in iron...

[Toonces]

Kat ~ I kwym about obsessing about swelling. My hands are swollen today, but I don't think my face is, no seeing spots, no headaches... so I'm not going to call. I know if I call they'll make me go to the hospital. We're thinking of getting a new Diaper Champ, too. Ours reeks when we turn the handle to dump it!! We'll either get a new one or just keep bags up there and bring down the poopies everytime we change DD or DS.

roberta ~ I understand about missing wearing your rings. I stopped wearing them pretty early during my pregnancy with DD and just stopped yesterday during this pregnancy. Plus, when I'm out without my rings I feel like someone who got "knocked up". :) :o

CityGirl ~ You look amazing!! And what a gorgeous vacation spot!

mayham ~ 34 weeks sounds right, as long as you aren't having any issues.

kadee ~ Did they say how much you were dilated? Yowsers! Did they know why your heartrate was higher? I'm glad everything is okay and that you don't have any restrictions.

Franni ~ 3 blocks is a freakin' marathon. I'm lucky to walk in and out of Target w/out feeling winded.

ellidew ~ How exciting about your shower! Have fun!! I peeked at my registry regularly (wedding and baby showers). :) Oh, and I would totally do the Tickle Me Elmo thing on eBay. I don't think that's bad at all.

RubberSoul ~ Sorry about the reflux. That must be uncomfortable.

Rancid ~ That's great that you're getting everything in order and have the $$ figured out for furniture.

Sinclair ~ Sorry about the night waking. I had that for a few weeks and it drove me crazy. Now I'm back to sleeping through the night, or until whenever DD wakes me up.

brio ~ I'm glad you're having a good toddler day. That makes things so much easier. I hope everything goes well at your appt tomorrow.

Eating badly ~ Nope... I'm on the GD diet so I can't. I would love to though!!

[bijouparvin]

Feeling Today: I've been a little queasy today, and I can't figure out why. I got up in time to eat some cereal (Zen crunchy somethingorother) with soy milk before yoga. I went grocery shopping after and must have been hungry again, because I came home with an Entenmann's raspberry danish log and two pints of Ben&Jerry's, which brings us to...

Eating Badly: Um, in a word, yes. I don't eat fast food, but I have been having sweets every day (usually ice cream, but last night we were out so I made do with some chocolate chips). My dinners have been okay, but short on veggies. Last night I had three-cheese ravioli with four-cheese sauce, to which DH added some more cheese. :rolleyes: Tonight, I'm going to TRY to be good and make some burritos with whole wheat tortillas, soy "beef" crumbles, three colors of bell pepper, Mexican spiced tofu, black beans, corn, and onions, topped with cheddar cheese, chopped black olives and salsa. Hearty AND good for me!

Stopping Work: I am self-employed, so I've had to negotiate very carefully with my boss about this. ;) Because I teach music lessons, I wanted to be sure to fit in a recital before baby comes. At this point, the recital is scheduled for November 5th, after which I won't be teaching lessons again until January 2nd. DH is working on a B'way show that opens on November 16th (the day before baby is due), so if she's on-time or late, he'll be able to take off a full two weeks. If she comes before opening, he'll have to take time off sporadically (a few days a week, or some half days) until opening.

[mayham]

Stopping Work - I plan to work right up until I deliver, if I can. I don't think it'll be a problem to work from home if things get too uncomfortable towards the end.

Eating Badly - I was definitely better earlier on when I didn't even crave sweets, just veggies and fruits, and would skip dessert. Now I'm all about the sweets, and am trying to eat as healthy as I can otherwise to make up for having dessert!

[brio96]

That's what I did the last time, but the last time was so different from this. I didn't get mystery aches and pains then.

My thoughts exactly! :)

[lilo]

Feeling Today: Relatively good but by the end of the day, my right shoulder starts to ache. I think that has more to do with my poor posture and horrible office chair more than being pregnant. However, in the mornings, I feel pretty tired by the time I get to work and can't wait to sit down! I take the metro every morning and walk another 3 blocks to work, which is not fun. I'm usually a really fast walker and now I feel like I walk at a snail's pace and it's actually takes effort to walk that much! Weird. Luckily I'm getting a parking pass in about a week so I'll be able to drive into work until my due date. Thank.God.

Eating Badly: For the most part, no, but it's not out of choice. I don't have GD but a lot of foods bother my stomach (anything with acid, anything with sugar, anything too spicy, etc.) so I have to eat rather bland and very healthy. I usually have some sort of icky bran type cereal with pears and soy milk in the morning. For lunch, I always have a big salad with tons of veggies and either chicken or turkey just only olive oil (I can't tolerate any other salad dressing). For dinner, I'll have chicken, salmon, pasta or something similar with maybe some more veggies. My big treat is sugar free jello with a little whipped cream. Woohoo! Very exciting, isn't it? haha. Ah well, hopefully I'll be able to eat normally after pregnancy.

Stopping Work: I've told my boss that I'll be working until a week until my due date. The next week is Thanksgiving, which is usually dead around the office anyway so I figure it would be nice to have a few days to stay at home and get things done. I guarantee that I won't have everything ready and organized before then so I will need a few days to myself (unless I go early of course!). I'd like to use that time to make a bunch of dinners (lasagna, etc.) too that I can freeze for after the baby comes.

[katnbug]

feeling today... Pretty good. I was on my feet a ton yesterday and I felt it last night in my feet. Today I don't have any pain or swelling though, so I'm happy. I even had the energy to put away all of DD's clothes in her closet and dresser. My sister just gave me a huge box of things & I can actually say that DD now has too many sleepers and onesies. Is it possible for a girl to have too many clothes - even if she's not even born yet? ;)

eating poorly... Yes. It's all about what's fast and convenient for me and DS. He eats better than I do, but I must say he's been having chicken nuggets about every 2-3 days! At least I get the all white meat for him!! For me it's usually french fries that are my downfall. :(
At least this time I'm not craving the desserts like with DS. I do eat sweets, but not nearly as much as I did with my pg #1.

[bijouparvin]

Is it possible for a girl to have too many clothes - even if she's not even born yet? ;)

OMG, I hope not! In addition to the slew of stuff we got new from my folks, we have now inherited, I kid you not, about 7 garbage bags full of hand-me-downs from a friend's DD. Even after sorting through some of the things that aren't our style, there are still 5 bags full of clothes for our little girl that have nowhere to go! I added a bunch of hangers to our registry and we're going to head out and get a closet doubler so we can hang a lot of it. Still, there's no way she's ever going to wear all of those outfits. Crazy! I sincerely hope that we don't receive any clothes at my shower. :eek:

[Lydia]

We just got this (http://www.oldnavy.com/browse/product.do?pid=4095270020003&cid=11894)for a going-home outfit

[Lydia]

Postpartum prep I know this sounds horribly pessimistic, but I am dreading postpartum. I had horrible postpartum depression with my first DD. It was a terrible time that I would prefer never to relive. I am afraid of that more than the childbirth. For myself, I am trying to meet with a psychiatrist before my due, so that if it hits this time around, I will NOT try to tough it out.

Only a suggestion, please take or leave it as you wish If you have a history of depression or have experienced the effects of wild hormonal shifts in the past (not to say that you will have the blues or deprerssion), take the time now to prep your DH and loved ones that there is a possibility that things will be really rough at the beginning. I have told some of BFF about this and most of them (without having the blues or depression) told me about things being rough at the beginning. So my agreement with DH now is that "nothing that is said or done in the first 3 months should be taken against each other or remembered past that point."

I, too, suffered from PPD. At 6 weeks PP I got help (Zoloft). It helped me so much and my only regret is that I waited 6 weeks because it was horrible. Really bad. But we got through it!

[RubberSoul]

Went to the Dr. yesterday for my 32w check. She is the last Dr. in the practice that I needed to meet. She didn't tell me baby's heartrate or what I measured, just said that all looked fine.

I decided to ask her if they have any literature about PPD and what to look for. I was very disappointed in the lack of information the office had for patients on such an important issue. All she had was some little questionaire that I assume they give to mothers to take after the baby is born. They didn't have anything that you could read or give to family members to read. No information on things to look for or what to do if you think you have or your spouse might have PPD. I guess I will have to find the information on my own. I really wish the medical field would recognize that the mother's well being after the baby is born is just as important as when the baby is in utero!

I imagine that a lot of women suffer from prolonged periods of PPD needlessly because there is such a lack of education on the subject.

Forgive me for being so annoyed about this. I have just seen too many family members deal with depression and I know how destructive it can be in your life and the lives of those around you.

Lydia- that is very cute. I want one!

[Peaches]

Feeling today - Tired. I have a constant pain in my groin area like a pulled muscle. And its getting hard for me to breathe. I can't really lean back in my chair or on the sofa because I get out of breath.

This is exactly how I feel...the funky pulled muscle feeling and the out of breath. When I asked my midwife about it she just said it was normal due to the uterus growing. It makes me feel better that someone else is experiencing it too!

Feeling today See above...I am also tired because I stayed up an hour later than normal last night.

Eating poorly I still am eating all the good things (fruit, veggies etc) but I am eating something sweet after dinner every night now! I also sometimes slip in something not so good for me at work, as well, using the excuse that I need the energy boost ;)

Stopping work Right now I am just looking forward to October when I go down to three days a week. My last day will be November 9th. I have lots of holiday saved up, luckily.

[Lilla]

Ack! I'm so behind in this thread! Trying to catch up on some Q's:

Feeling Today OK for the most part. My lower back is really starting to bother me. I had a problem a number of years ago with a herniated disk and I'm afraid that is what is causing my discomfort now. Ugh. Walking, sitting, bending...everything is causing little twinges of pain. Otherwise, baby girl has been using my cervix as a punching bag. Seriously, every day I get some pretty strong punches. And every so often she'll wedge her little butt/legs/feet under my ribs. It's very apparent that she's running out of room in there! :)

Eating Badly Fast and easy is the name of the game at mealtime these days. I *try* and have fast and easy things that are healthy, but I am sorely lacking in the veggie department. Guess I should get some V8 at least. And I haven't been hungry enough lately at dinner to have a full meal - usually all I want is some toast or cereal or something. I've probably been eating more sugar lately than I should, too. At least now that it's cooled off here, my ice cream cravings are farther and fewer between.

Stopping Work (I don't think I've answered this one yet...if I have, sorry for the repeat) My company requires that you stop work 2 weeks before your due date. That is when my disability pay begins. So my last day is October 20. YIKES! That's one month from today! Hello, reality check! :eek:


My last weekend was totally baby-centric. I worked both Sat and Sun to get all the shower gifts sorted through and put away. I also got the nursery set up. DH just has to stain a couple small pieces of furniture and we have to hang the pictures on the wall and the room will be complete.

We returned some gifts to Target last weekend. Their return policy sucks. Luckily, I had gift receipts for all but 3 items. They were items I had not registered for. So the lady told me that you are limited to returning 2 items per year without a receipt. Great. I was ready to get totally annoyed. BUT, she was nice and told me we could get around the system by taking a scanner and adding those 3 items to our registry. Then I could return them for store credit. Phew - crisis averted. I still have more things to return to both Target and BRU. I also have to make my list of things that we still need. We got like no onesies, so we'll have to use all this store credit for onesies. But I can't complain because aside from onesies and bottles, we don't have much left to buy ourselves.

I'm doing professional belly shots this weekend. I'm hopeful that they turn out ok. I'm a bit apprehensive, but we'll see!!

[bijouparvin]

Lilla - Oooh! I can't wait to see your pro belly shots. My SIL is trying to get a career started in maternity photography, so she'll be taking mine when I visit her next month. Have fun!

Peaches - Darn that uterus and its incessant growing! I've decided that mine has grown all the way into my face. That's the only way I can explain the person I see looking back at me these days. ;) I hope you're not too uncomfortable!

rubbersoul - How strange that there were NO resources for PPD. From what I can tell, it seems more common than I had originally thought. Fingers crossed that you don't have to go through it, but if you do, they better come up with something for you to read!!

Lydia - Very cute outfit. I love those hats with the knots!

[Sare79]

Feeling today: Tired. Really tired. I have not been sleeping well and part of that is because the baby is moving a lot now. More than the 10 times per hour my OB reccommends. I told him it's a lot more and he doesn't seem concerned, and to enjoy it. I'm trying, but sometimes I just want to be still and quiet and not see my belly jiggling.

Stopping work: My work requests that you go off 6 weeks before your due date. If you have a doctor's note, you can work later than that. My OB did not want me working later than that, so my last day of work is October 6th- 12 working days left!

Eating badly: Yes. I try so hard to eat healthfully but I am easily swayed by Dairy Queen and Starbucks. They call out to me to eat their yummy treats everytime I walk by and I can resist about half the time. That and I am just not digging vegetables right now.

[bijouparvin]

I try so hard to eat healthfully but I am easily swayed by Dairy Queen and Starbucks. They call out to me to eat their yummy treats everytime I walk by and I can resist about half the time.


Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...Dairy Queen. Thank goodness there isn't one near me (or if there is, I haven't found it yet) or else I'd be on my way for a Blizzard right now. :)

[Sare79]

Last night I intended to just get a chocolate dipped cone, but they had a special on banana splits and so I got one of those. Can I just say- it was DELICIOUS!

[RubberSoul]

Now I want a hot fudge sundae or a blizzard. Ya'll are a bad influence!

[bijouparvin]

*going downstairs to eat some Ben&Jerry's*

:p

[ellidew]

I already had haagen daaz sticky toffee pudding ice cream today! :D Actually had it as my morning snack! lol.

[Franni]

I am making a small pot of coffee to have with my chocolate chip cookies. MMMMM....

Did I mention I just went for my GTT today? Well, at least I am doing this after the test and not before.

Too much clothes for a DD Regrettably, I am living proof that you can go overboard. I have not bought myself a new pair of anything, but I have just completed my DD's fall wardrobe. I have significantly cut down on the amount of stuff that I bought because with the previous seasons, she was not able to wear everything that I bought her. It's sad really. Somehow that hasn't quiet stopped me yet...hehehehe

feeling today heartburn, backaches and hard of breathing....yeah, I am having a great day.

[Toonces]

You guys are killing me with your talk of yummy treats!! I'm munching on some diabetically approved cashews right now. :rolleyes: I told DH that after Devin is born I want: a Coke (immediately!!), Max & Erma's fresh baked choc chip cookies, a sierra turkey sandwich from Panera, and a choc shake from Steak 'n Shake, oh and a death by chocolate brownie from anywhere that sells it! :)

[ellidew]

Holy cow catgirl... that's quite a list you have there!! I haven't really held back on eating things i want while pg but i definitely want a plan for getting food after Miles arrives.

What are your plans for eating while in labor? From what i've read of the birth stories on cc most people aren't 'allowed' to eat while in labor and some go a VERY long time without anything. I think i'll be able to adhere to this policy for a short amount of time but i can't imagine going a day or 2 without eating anything. I'm thinking of packing some peanuts, granola, saltines, etc... just in case. Is this crazy? I've read some women say that the next time they will just eat. It seems crazy to me that your body will use so much energy and you never get to refuel. I might feel like crap during but i want to be prepared just in case.

[Toonces]

Eating while in labor ~ My hospital must have been really lax when I was in L&D with DD. I had to go in for an induction and left my OB's office with instructions to eat some chicken soup before going to the hospital. I did that around 4pm, but by 7pm I was hungry. L&D let me have Saltines, a granola bar and water. I had water the entire time until I started dry heaving and puking (I think that was the 3rd phase of labor). Then they said I could only have ice chips. I don't remember being overly hungry and when it came time to push, I got a 2nd wind and pushed like there was no tomorrow. I think the reason they want you to take it easy on food is in case they have to do a c-section.

Holy cow catgirl... that's quite a list you have there!!

:) I had GD when PG with DD, too. The minute I delivered her I told DH to go get me an ice cold Coke in a stryrofoam cup with little ice chips. I drank it while I was getting stitched up and it was the best tasting Coke I've had in my life. :)

[Rancid13]

Last night I intended to just get a chocolate dipped cone, but they had a special on banana splits and so I got one of those. Can I just say- it was DELICIOUS!

Mmmmm, DQ banana splits are my favorite!!

At least they're small enough to contain "only" 500 calories. The Baskin-Robbins banana splits have more than twice that. :eek:

http://health.msn.com/dietfitness/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100144466

What are your plans for eating while in labor? I don't know what my hospital will "allow" in terms of eating during labor, but I plan on eating something before or on my way to the hospital just in case!!

[CityGirl]

What are your plans for eating while in labor? - One of the perks of homebirth is that you are actually encouraged to eat. The midwives suggest easy to digest carbs like fruit, buttered toast, cereal, and smoothies. They also suggest a sports drink like Gatorade or Recharge. We're also required to have food on hand for the midwives and our suppost people, so there will be a big pot of soup or stew on the stove for anyone who wants it.

As for after the birth, I'm having a margarita. :D

[ellidew]

As for after the birth, I'm having a margarita.

LOL. Good plan!! :)