October '05 Moms - Third Trimester! 14 boys, 9 girls, 8 surprises - Almost There!!!

[adoredh]

Cravings Slurpee craving going on over here! I've been getting frozen cokes from BK :)
Also crave anything and everything sweet, that's why I'm eating so much more fruit, to try and keep my self away from the vending machine with the Milky-ways!!!

Soda or as they call it in my neck of the woods - Pop. I drink a regular, fully caffinated and sugar loaded coke a day. It's my treat, that can o pop. If I'm having a really rough start in the morning, then I have a regular cup of coffee - gasp - with added sugar and cream! I only have one or the other, but I'm so not beating my self up over it! The Boy doesn't get hyper from my caffeine treats each day, (remember, I have the lazy baby in our group :) ) and my OB said it was perfectly fine to have one or two cups a day.
Hee hee, I feel so naughty!

Ankels So far, I just have fat feet (wider) once in a while, my toes swell up. I still wear flip flops to work every day, they don't like it, but they put up with it! LOL! We'll see if I can skate through this summer with out cankels - ha!

Body I like my big ol belly - I like looking PG, as long as I'm looking at myself in the mirror at home. If I see myself in the reflection of the glass windows at the mall, I look away real fast, cause I can see my rear too! (no one told me that grew along with the belly!) I have a ton of stretch marks, but those don't really bother me that much - DH doesn't seem to mind them either. I did notice that my hips are also getting wider last night. I thought I already had "child bearing hips" how come those need to get even bigger too?!?!

eating I have tiny meals, 6 times a day. For this week: Breakfast is a small bowl of Lucky Charms - 2nd breakfast is a banana, lunch is PBJ sandwich with 10 or so Pringles and a coke, 2nd lunch is carrots and/or grapes, dinner is half a chicken breast or half a pork with the sides that I cook, and 2nd dinner is an apple or peach. ( I drink water through out the day)
I also eat pop-cycles in between meals - I love anything cold!

Baby hiccups For the past week, The Boy gets them 3 to 5 times a day, and I wish they only lasted 5 mins!!! He gets them a lot when I'm laying down in bed, it's so hard to sleep! He hiccups for a while, then rolls around, big huge rolls that some times hurt! He'll kick out, punch and do all sorts of things. But that's not the part that bothers me, it's when he's not doing anything but hiccups - that rhythmic movement that goes on and on and on, that drives me nuts! It's nails on chalk board to me! I know I wanted my baby to move more, but not from hiccups! (shamefully getting off my soap box)

[EJM]

Cravings: For 28.5 weeks all I was craving was fruit and salad, which was great. Now anything that even has a drop of chocolate on it, screams my name! I'm trying to be good and stick with the fruit but all I can think about is chocolate. :rolleyes:

Coffee: I have one cup a day, I couldn't live without it. The doc says 1-2 is fine. :D DH's aunt asked me how I was doing without caffeine to which I replied "I wouldn't be having children if I weren't allowed to have coffee." Yes, I know I'm an addict. :p

Body: This week I've settled into the I'm really pregnant mode. Apparently I'm getting huge all of a sudden or this shirt isn't very flattering! I've been at work for 45 minutes and already had 3 people comment about how big I've gotten recently. Great, thanks! :rolleyes: Oh well, they then tell me how much cuter I look than the other pg lady on our floor who is due a week before me.

I think DH and I are going to take the L&D hospital tour on Saturday. You just show up and I know it will be crowded, but they only do it once a month so we better hurry up!

[jh124]

Tuesday, we watched three different births in class. I cried. Not because I was overcome with emotion, but because HOLY CRAP this kid needs to come out of me somehow. We saw a drug free birth, one with an epidural, and a c-section. WTF was I thinking when I thought I wanted a baby? Out of the three, the c-section looked the most appealing to me. Is it wrong to hope the kid is huge and breech? Ok, I really don't want a c-section, but only becuase of the recovery time. I'll take the epi - early and often. We talked about actual medication options next week and I have a list of questions. Like so many people report the epi wearing off before they actually give birth. WTF??? Keep the drugs coming you lazy SOB!

I'm enjoying this pregnancy, and I look forward to being a mom. I am in complete denial about labor and delivery. I feel my heart race and breath quicken when I even think about it, so la la la la la la la, I'll tune it out.

All in all, I'm getting a lot out of class. Again, mostly because DH is getting a lot out of the class and it keeps me from having to repeat things 15 times because he doesn't listen to me.

[hmbay]

My appt yesterday went well. I actually like the dr they squeezed me in with. He was all about answering questions. I got my c/s questions answered. He told me most definitely to have the 34 and 38 week u/s to check on the marginal placenta previa and go ahead and schedule the c/s right now for a time during week 39 when Dr Miller (the dr I want to deliver if I have to deliver c/s) will be available---that I can always cancel the scheduled c/s if my placenta moves. If it wasn't such a pain to drive to this other clinic I'd definitely use him for my 3rd pregnancy if there is one as I really dislike my dr which is why she will NOT be doing my c/s if I have to have one and I can help it (if I go into labor before my scheduled c/s date I have to take whatever dr is on call if I'm still not a candidate for a VBAC and have to have an emergency c/s).

I spent my 3 days off getting all the baby stuff together. I got the hangers today so all the clothes are hung up and put away. I have the 0-6 month stuff done but ran out of baby detergent so I bought more so I can do the 6-12 month stuff too. It's making it all seem much more real.

[Astara]

MCL Thanks~ that makes me feel better.. I wasnt sure if it were that or if my body decided to just be evil :) What a wonderful DH you have!! GoodLuck with the Ped. Interview!~

[LexyLou]

WOW! This thread has been super active. I'll be right back to post shout outs because there is some funny stuff going on in her that I've been LOL about and have to comment on but I wanted to post these real quick:

The crib and combo/hutch came yesterday so DH and I put the bedding on the crib. We still have to hang up the letters (which I took a picture of in the crib) and decorate the hutch and get the glider and decorate the walls. I think I'm going to look for some vintage nursery rhyme prints and put them on either side of the hutch, what do you think?

Here's the beginning of the room pictures (sorry it's dark) I took at night.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d622b3127cce930d754ba93d00000025108AcNnLlq3bMw

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d622b3127cce930d75f628b000000036108AcNnLlq3bMw
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d622b3127cce930d7514285200000036108AcNnLlq3bMw
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d622b3127cce930d75f428b200000036108AcNnLlq3bMw

New belly shot-SOOOO LOW!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d622b3127cce930d770ea97900000036108AcNnLlq3bMw
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d622b3127cce930d7700a97700000036108AcNnLlq3bMw

Sorry so many pictures. I'm so excited with the way the nursery is coming out. I can't stop sitting in there and looking around. I can't wait till it's totally finished!

[1_mommy]

lexyeverything looks good. i know what you mean about going in their room just to look around. i only have paint on the walls, but i love to open the door and imagiane what it will look like when it is completley finished. oh, and looking at his clothes hanging up in the closet

[Astara]

lexy awesome pictures! Everything is so beautiful and I love the letters you have :) what a lucky little girl!! Love the belly shot too~ I also love to go in Gigi's nursery and sit on the floor and look around and imagine what it will be like when its done.

[cartersmommy]

lex---- LOVE THE NURSERY!! the bedding IS GORGEOUS!! where did you get it? if i was having a girl, i would want our nursery to look just like it! so cute!!!

the letters turned out great!where did you get those??


LOVE it!

[LexyLou]

Thanks ladies.

cartersmommy-The bedding is Glenna Jean-Isabella. I love it too. It's SOO girly!

The letters are from www.woodlandmanufacturing.com . They have a ton of styles and you can get them pre-painted if you want but I chose to paint them myself to get an exact paint match.

[nancy drew]

you all are so chatty!!! :D

lexylou love the nursery!!! i think we have the same letters in stellas room. i still love them :)

hmbay im hoping that your 34 and 38 week u/s show some good news. i had mine today, more on that below...

jh124 i think we saw the same movies in our c/b class last time. it is freaky thinking about how that baby is going to come out, isnt it? i had the epi and i dont know if it wore off or wasnt strong enough or what but i felt everything. to me, that was ideal, because the epi let me get tons of rest in labor so i had the energy to push stella out. and yeah it hurt, but i kept telling myself that the pain would be over soon and id have my baby and it would be ok. but i totally understand where youre coming from.

--------------
ok id do more s-o but someone is crying and apparently ready for a nap, so ill just copy from my lj...

had my u/s today... The Boy is fine, head down, placenta up, weighing in at 5 POUNDS!!!!!!!!!!!! holy crap, 5 pounds already? and the tech was like "you know the baby is supposed to gain 2 pounds just in the last month, right?" thanks beyotch. stella was 7,5, so i was hoping for a repeat of that. gulp. im hoping the measurement was off. way off. the u/s screen said i was measuring at 34+ weeks, and im only 31 weeks, so again, gulp. i dont want to be induced, id rather go into labor on my own. so lets hope if this baby has to come early that he comes on his own, not because he is being evicted.

[Tiger]

Hey Everyone! I just got back from my appt. Everything went well. I only gained 1 lb since my last appt 2 weeks ago. The baby's heartrate was 148. They told me everything is looking great and just to keep doing whatever I am doing because it is working. :-)

They also scheduled my next 7 appts!!! I now have all of my appts scheduled up until my due date. I go in next on Aug. 18th. I can't believe I am close enough to schedule all of my appts!!!

Here's a couple of belly shots I took this morning at 30w 4d. Sorry so dark.

http://images.snapfish.com/34463%3A6%3B23232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E232%3A%3D685%3D9%3 B7%3DXROQDF%3E23239%3A%3A4%3B%3C438ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/34463%3A6%3B23232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E232%3A%3D685%3D9%3 B7%3DXROQDF%3E23239%3A%3A4%3B%3C%3A%3C7ot1lsi

[Tiger]

Lex I love the nursery! I can totally see why you love just sitting in there. It's beautiful! Great belly shots too!

nancydrew 5 lbs already? Yikes! I have no idea what my baby is measuring. Hopefully they u/s tech was way off.

hmbay Glad you had a good appt and really liked the dr. Is there any way you can switch to this dr?

jh124 I think I am in denial about labor and delivery as well. I just prefer not to think about it at this point in time!

[lml41981]

I didn't pass my 3-hr. I only passed one out of the 4 tests...

[adoredh]

((HUGS))

Did they give you any information on your diet?
My best friend had GD with both her PG's and said that the diet wasn't really that hard to follow, and she got used to testing every couple of hours for her blood sugar level....

I wish I had more information for you!

[nancy drew]

lml that sucks. :(

[Tiger]

lml I am so sorry. That really sucks. What are the next steps you have to take?

[Astara]

lml I am really sorry you didnt pass.. hopefully it will be easy for you to manage & go away quickly after delivery.

lexy wow you have awesome taste.. I bought 'Chloe' by Glenna Jean but that was because I didnt see Isabella first.. love that bedding!

Tiger Beautiful belly pics!! :) Glad your appointment went so smoothly

nancy drew I love the name Stella. Its one of my favorites and you never hear it anymore.. is she named after someone? *crossing fingers* hopefully that measurement was way off.. eek! I hope you get to go in labor on your own and not be induced.. thats one thing im afraid of too since we are also measuring big.

We got our furniture today and its all set up in the nursery! I am so happy. Everything looks great.. except I have to move the glider & ottoman to our bedroom bc the nursery is so small.. its like 8X10 or so without a door.. but its big enough for what we need I suppose :) a little bit more shooting pain today.. fun times.. Hopefully it doesnt get worse more towards the end of the PG.

[lml41981]

I dunno what I'll have to do...I have to see an endocrinologist ASAP is what the nurse told me.

She said that my fasting level was 113, they like to see 99 or less. My 1 hour level was 186, they like to see less than 199. My 2 hour was 161, they like to see less than 139. My 3 hour was 138, they like to see less than 109.

Part of me feels like I might have messed up the test, though I seriously doubt it, because the bottle of orange crap said not to eat 12 hours before the test but the receptionist told me not to eat past midnight. I ate at 11:30 pm. I wonder if that hour and a half made any difference at all...probably not...probably my numbers were still too high.

I knew that it was going to come back this way, but I still feel so disappointed.

[1_mommy]

lml sorry about the 3 hr. that sucks. i knew someone who had gd during pg, and it went away after delievery. she just had to watch her diet the remainder of her pg.

[adoredh]

Huh - wish I knew what my numbers were... according to the nurse that gave me the results, she said the test was just to make sure the numbers did go down over that 3 hour period and that they kept going down. Meaning that my body was able to produce insolin (sp?) to combat the sugar.

To me, your numbers went down... I must have misunderstood though...

Also, I did remember one thing my BF said about the GD diet, it's all about balancing the carbs (which turn to sugar) with proteins which will help slow your bodies intake or something...

[nancy drew]

astara thanks for the compliments on stellas name. it was my husbands suggestion, and it really grew on me. i hope both of us are just getting wacky measurements for no real reason. :)

lml one of my friends had gd and just pretty much had to watch her carbs, and she too was fine after having the baby. i know it can really suck though, im sorry you have to deal with this.

[lml41981]

My OB pulled some strings and got me in to see an endocrinologist tomorrow morning at 9am. I also see the dietician tomorrow morning.

I know that this is probably just G-d's way of making me eat better...and I know I was expecting this to happen anyway...but geeze...it really sucks. All I can say is that after being required to eat healthfully for 10 weeks, the good habits ought to stick and it ought to be easier for me to do it after the baby is born. It is something I needed to do anyway, I just don't like my body forcing me to do it.

[domesticdreamer]

lml- So sorry you are bummed about your test :( I hope your appt. with the endocrinologist answers lots of questions for you- (((hugs))).

Lexy- I LOVE, ADORE, your nursery! How cute and adorable is that? I think the vintage nursery rhyme hangings would be a great addition!
Oh I soooooo want to get mine done! I hate walking by it and seeing it barely started!

jh124- I hear you so much on everything you posted about L & D. It too love being pregnant and know I will love being a mommy even more- BUT....... getting this baby out of my belly safely and as pain free as possible is just on my mind constantly (which is a switch, b/c for awhile I blocked it out and was in denial about that whole bloody process)!

Astara Our nursery is pretty tiny too, I wonder what it will look like when all our stuff is in there too! I had shooting pains a couple of times....they seem to have subsides b/c I haven't felt them for a week or so. Hope yours give you a break as well!

nancy drew - and the tech was like "you know the baby is supposed to gain 2 pounds just in the last month, right?" thanks beyotch. This had me LMAO. It's so what I'd be saying inside my head too!

Tiger- All your appt's scheduled? Wow! Belly shot is way cute and glad the appt. was a breeze!

surftraitor Your cankle photo documentary was just too much!!! Mine have tamed a bit - but when I was back east they looked JUST like that. It freaked me out, but I had to laugh when they *flipped* and *sloshed* when I walked around. Humor is so important when things like that happen to us :p

Cravings- Anything chocolate. Feel like I snack and nibble all stinkin' day. I try to have lots of fruit on hand.

caffeine- Quit cold turkey the first four months then broke down and started drinking Diet Coke again. But only 1 or 2 a day (Dr. said not a huge deal) rather than the 7-8 I was drinking pre-pregnancy :eek: . Used to be a HUGE coffee drinker too, but I am actually turned off by the thought of it now.

Does anyone here experience "stiff ankles"? Mine aren't really all that swollen any more, but when I go to get up and put weight on my ankles, they actually hurt and I feel they are not flexible or mobile! I actually have a limp to me! It's really weird. Anybody else?

[DianeCourt]

OK, I have to make this fast because DH is trying to boot me off the computer to order car parts, or something. I wanted to drop these off.....28 weeks:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid180/p3a240c10888a9d2db07b37694d4fda58/f2f60b98.jpg

...and here's 24 weeks for comparison:

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid178/p9ce3c7102545f8832bc1df7b7c2dbd25/f3217bf1.jpg

I THOUGHT I felt like there had been a big change in the last month, but I couldn't believe it when I put the two photos side by side! Wow.

lml: Ugh, sorry about your 3 hour test! I won't try to pretend to know how you feel, but just think...you only have a few weeks left. Whatever they need you to do, I know you can do it for the relatively short period time until the baby comes, right? We're here when you need support.

Lexy: What a beautiful nursery! I don't blame you for hanging out in there....I would, too! Have a little girl is going to be so much fun!

OK, gotta go!

[mommycal]

I'm sorry LML. Hopefully you'll be back to normal as soon as you have your baby. Please keep us posted and let us know how you make out tomorrow.

[godsgift77]

Lmlso sorry about your news :(

lexy love that bedding and the letters!

Tiger YAY for a good appt! Beautiful belly pics!!

nancy drew 5 lbs?! WOW! My boy is measuring big too but I dunno how big he is. Hopefully when we have our u/s in 2 weeks, they’ll tell me how big he is…

astara Woo Hoo you got your furniture set up! Can’t wait to see pics.

coffee I SO miss coffee :( I haven’t had a drop since we found out we were preggo – talk about withdrawal *sigh*

[1_mommy]

lmlyou have a good attitude about it it seems. a good way to get on track the last 2 weeks, and if you are planning on breastfeeding. sometimes things have to be cut out of your diet to eliminate tummy troubles with baby. so i guess maybe this could just be training for you :)

[hmbay]

nancy drew--yay for your placenta moving! Hopefully mine will finally do the same although I think I've adapted to the idea of a c/s. Wow 5 pounds already? At my last one they felt he was around 3.5 pounds two weeks ago.

lml--sorry about the 3 hour. I was really worried I was going to fail my 1 hour because I found out my mom actually had GD with me (but never told me my first pg) and supposedly you're more prone to it if your mom had it.

Tiger--I could switch but this other clinic is about a 45 minute drive from my work where the clinic I'm going to is only 20 minutes. It's just too inconvenient to drive the extra when I have to take off work to go to appts. There are actually 2-3 drs at the other clinic I've had appts with last pg I really liked but unfortunately I need to stick with the closer clinic since my practice doesn't assure you "your" dr when you deliver anyhow--you get whoever is on call unless you have a scheduled c/s--that is the only way you get to pick your dr with my practice.

[cartersmommy]

hey girls!
man, i am away from the computer for the afternoon and miss so much!!

LML--so sorry about the GTT. I know that you'll be great, and just keep in mind that it's only for the next 2 months.... you can do anything for that long!! :)


nothing at all to report here. gave myself a mani and pedi just a bit ago... felt fabulous except for the getting my foot up to my hand so that i could paint them..... such work! I have never felt so old and out of shape!! geez!! the fingers went much much smoother! HA! :)

hope everyone had a great night! talk to you tomorrow!

[LexyLou]

Trying to tackle 2 pages of shout-outs!

ACHEESE-That's so awesome about your baby shower. Sounds like you guys really got a lot of stuff!

OMG Cartersmommy I haven't had a slurpee in like 7 years and just seeing you mention one makes me want to rush out to 7-11 and get one. :) I'm really impressed that you still can paint your toes. I gave up on that weeks ago. I just learned too after breaking a mirror in the shower that I can no longer shave my bikini area anymore. Oh well!

Astara-Last night I was getting hungry and I took your advice and drank a glass of skim milk. Totally did the trick. We have the lo carb milk though and it used to not bother me but last night I could taste the nasty after taste so I think I'm going to have to go back to regular skim milk. But it really does curb hunger and cravings! Sounds like you are having sciatic pain. I get it too and it it's like a shooting pain down the back of my leg. It sucks.

Chloe is really cute too. I actually didn't see that one before I ordered Isabella. They look really similar. Will you post pics of it in your crib when you get it all together? I would love to see what it all looks like IRL.

Cute belly shot Amtaylor.

Surftraitor-Look at your poor ankles! Does it hurt and is it always like that or just at the end of a long day.

I hear you on the body thing. I've also gained 25 lbs and I always tell people the baby weighs 15! LOL. It's worth a try. That's awesome on finding a good ped. I agree, I would skip the visit if you have 2 good recs.

mcl-How did the visit with the ped go?

jh124-You're too funny. I think I'm in denial about L&D too. :)

hmbay-I'm glad you like this Dr. Is there a chance he can be the one to do your C-Section or are you stuck with your main Dr? I hope your placenta moves for you so you can have a VBAC.

Nancy Drew-Yikes on the 5lbs! Ella measured in at 4 lbs during my US this week. Freaked me out a bit too. Wow, you measured 3 weeks ahead in the US? Did they mention that they think he'll come early or is it too soon to tell?

Tiger-Great belly shots. Glad your appointment went well.

LML-I'm sorry you didn't pass the 3 hour. That really sucks.

Domesticdreamer-No stiff ankles here. It sounds painful though. Do you think Tylenol would help?

Dianecourt-Look at the growth!! So exciting!

~~~~~~~~~~~

I have an appointment tomorrow and I'll report back. Hope you all have a nice evening.

[hmbay]

LexyLou--I could request this dr but I'm going to request the dr who did my previous c/s if I end up with a scheduled ERC (more on that in a moment) as I found out from the nurse educator at my first prenatal appt that she just happens to be their "best" c/s dr. I just told this new dr I wanted the same dr who did my last c/s (just left out I heard she's their "best") :)

well I woke up this morning with a bit of spotting. I did something stupid and tried to hang off some monkey bars yesterday when we took Colin to the park. Dumb. Anyway I'm off to call the nurse at the hospital who I'm sure will have me come in. Hopefully they find everything checks out okay and send me home. I'm not ready to hear "no he needs to come out now". I'm only 32 weeks 5 days according to them (31 weeks 5 days according to me). Colin was born at 34 weeks 5 days and that was too early. Everyone say a quick prayer the worst thing they happens today is they put me on bedrest and the best is they send me home and tell me to take it easy. I do not want an August baby.

[cartersmommy]

heather--- hugs! GOOD LUCK at the dr! i am sure it will all turn out fine and they will just tell you to get some rest, etc. let us know! i'll be thinking about you!

i wish i liked milk! i have always had an aversion to it.... i know, i know, horrible because i need to drink it, but i just can't do it straight. i can handle it on cereal, but not just drink a glass! that would be awesome if i could so i could drink a glass instead of pig out!

slurpys.... still need one. i may go this afternoon and get one. i still haven't curbed that craving! DH and i were at Target the other night and they had a machine, and i desperately wanted one, but he said no :( dumb!!!

hope you all have a great day!

amanda

[c j]

lml hugs to you! I'm sorry you didn't pass your test. Hopefully you'll get the answers you need and that this will pass once the baby is here.

hmbay saying a little prayer for ya! Hope all is well with you and the baby.

[Astara]

nancy drew your DH has awesome taste~ :) I really wanted to name our daughter that but our neighboor named their daughter they just had Isabella.. which is a beautiful name but.. they call her bella.. and This is the same person who I had the same wedding dress, and bridesmaid dresses as all on accident and we were in eachother's wedding..lol so I didnt wanna have rhyming names as well.

lml that's good that they are getting you in so early.. definintley let us know what happens

domesticdreamer nice to see im not the only one with a small nursery.. but hey it's cozy and gets the job done right? :) The furniture all looks great in there.. I cant believe how much I fit into that tiny room and there is space left over.. I am sure yours will look great! will you be posting pictures once everything is done? Thanks I hope mine goes away at least for a little while too! I dont have stiff ankles.. not yet at least.. but they sound really painful! I hope they go away soon.

Diane Court Big change!! love the belly shot!

godsgift I will post some pics tonight I ment to last night but I couldnt.. DH forgot something he needed to do it at work :)

carters mommy lol I'm glad you got the job done! I dont think I could of done that.. I have given up trying to do anything below my waist.. I'll be making DH paint my toes lol poor guy.

Lexy Awesome.. I'm glad it worked~ I hate how the low carb stuff gives a funky aftertaste too. wow it seems like everyone is having this pain.. im glad its normal at least ;) I will definintley post pics of it all in my crib tonight when DH gets home :) I couldnt wait of course I had to put it all together yesterday lol.. Have a great appointment today!

hmbay I am sorry about that.. I hope the spotting doesnt mean anything and they just send you home to rest. Im thinking of you today.

carters mommy awww I hate it when cravings wont go away.. one time I heard someone say "sundae" and I wanted one until I got one which was like a week and a half later lol cravings are a pain in the butt!


Ok the furniture/bedding situation: The only thing that sucks about my bedding/crib is that the mobile I got for the crib wont cling onto it. The only place it will go is in the corner and I cant screw it on bc of it. The sides to my crib slope and it has a high back and there is a lip in the front.. has anyone else had this problem with their crib and mobile? Is there anything I can do?? The crib we have is the 'Highland Park Lifetime Crib' from BRU. It's awesome.. but the mobile is too cute and it makes me mad that I probably wont be able to use something that I paid for. TIA :)

[adoredh]

Good morning girls! I haven't even had time to try to catch up yet, but I have a question.

QOTD Any one getting BH's, a lot? I actually tried to "time" them last night, I was getting so many. I just noted the time that they started, not how long they lasted since I'm not really sure how to do that yet.

This is what I had:

8:36pm
8:54pm
9:08pm
9:12pm
9:16pm
9:21pm
9:47pm
10:04pm
10:35pm

I know that they say you should call in if you have more then 4 an hour, but since they were just uncomfortable (not painful, and I could talk through them), I just tried to drink a ton of water and rest on my side.

I had another one this morning on the way to work, again, it wasn't painful, just very uncomfortable! DH was worried last night, but I told him if it was the real thing, I would be in a lot more pain since I have a low pain thresh hold! LOL!

Still, not looking forward to two more months of BH's...

Anyone know better hints/tips to help get rid of them?

[hmbay]

Thanks everyone. No news so far. the spotting seems to have stopped so the triage nurse at the hospital I talked with told me to just get an appt with my regular dr and not come into the hospital unless my dr can't fit me in. My dr isn't in until 9 am but they said they'd let her know first thing she comes in and have me come in. Since the spotting has stopped or slowed to next to nothing I'm hoping she just tells me to take it easy. I'm at work until I need to go to the dr.

[adoredh]

Heather

((((GIANT HUGS))))

Sweetie! I'm so sorry now that I didn't take the time to catch up this morning! I'm so sorry for your scare!
Hoping that you just had some spotting and that's it! (maybe it's just your body's way of telling you to slow down a little bit right now)

Rest and take it easy, let us know as soon as you can, because you know that we're all thinking about you today!

[cartersmommy]

alisha--
i've had BH's but NEVER like that in a pattern (am i right that you were having them every 15-20 minutes... i was doing "mental math", ha, not my forte!)... i might give the dr. a call just to make sure that it's nothing to worry about. did they go away or are you still having them? since this is our first, i just wouldn't risk it cuz we really don't know what to expect, ya know? i'm sure it's nothing though!

heather--- glad the spotting has stopped! keep us updated!!

[lorialys]

domesticdreamer Thanks for the comments on my belly shots! What an adorable belly you have! Hmmm, stiff ankles? Not really, but I do have an old ankle injury that aches sometimes like that.

Astara Thanks for the comments on my belly! What you're describing sounds like sciatica to me! Hope it gets better. Glad your furniture came in, how exciting!

lml41981 Glad to hear your Bradley class went so well! Sorry to hear about the GD diagnosis. I'm glad you're going to get in early to get on a nutrition plan and find out what to do. I really admire your positive outlook on this, I'm sure that getting used to a routine of eating well will help a lot once the baby is here!

cj Glad your third class went so well! I agree with you on the hungry, hungry hippo thing! I'm starving all the time! Glad to hear that you passed the 3-hour. Yup, that sounds like hiccups! Be glad they were so short! Luke has them for minutes at a time.

acheese Sounds like this week is going to be a busy one for you! How exciting about your first shower.

cartersmommy LOL about the slushy craving. I've had that! Wow, ambitious girl with your manicure and pedicure. I don't think I could get anywhere near my feet right now, LOL.

amtaylor Lovely belly!

surftraitor Whoa, look at those ankles! I'm glad they've come down some, and that you had a great weekend in Sonoma!

mcl Hmm, fuzzy pictures? Are they fuzzy before you upload them to the internet? If not, then it sounds like they're something going on when you transfer them to the internet. Are you using mpix? I know they can come out a bit fuzzy on there, maybe try using a different picture hosting site.

jh124 I think we watched the same birthing video in our class! It didn't scare me much though, because I've seen about a million episodes of "A Baby Story" and it's pretty much the same thing, just not blurred out. Glad you're getting a lot out of class though!

hmbay Glad your appointment went so well! Sorry to hear about the spotting though, I hope it's nothing to worry about! I'll be thinking of you today, and hoping you check back with us soon with good news.

LexyLou Cute belly shots and nursery pictures! Gabriella's nursery is adorable, so pink!

nancy drew Yay for a good ultrasound! Wow, 5 pounds already!

Tiger Adorable belly. :D

DianeCourt Cute belly, look at how much you've grown!

adoredh I think you're okay, see what I wrote about BH below.

soda For the first few months I went cold turkey off caffiene and soda. Then I started to have sprite every now and then, and then a coke every few days around 4 months. Now I just limit myself to a coke a day and 1-2 sodas overall.

sweeteners I think these are all okay in moderation.

BH Yeah, I get them a lot. I have noticed them in a pattern of 15-20 minutes like that before. I notice them more at night, our childbirth instructor said that's normal. She also said they like to see no more than 6 in an hour, and that they should not feel painful. She also explained that pre-term and "real" labor contractions will feel more like cramps in the lower abdomen and back, while BH's tend to be in the upper part of the stomach more. My doctor said the other day that as long as they aren't really painful, and I have no pressure between my legs and no bloody show or anything unusual like that, I'm fine. She said to get a big glass of water and lay on my side, and they should subside. They can also be triggered by a lot of activity or even a lot of movement from the baby.


Our first birth class was Wednesday night...

There are 8 couples in our class. Ages widely vary I think, but there were a few around my age, and a few much older. Everyone seems very nice. We have two ladies whose husbands are currently in Iraq, their parents came with them to be "support people" instead. I feel so bad for those girls, but they seem to be managing it quite well. It must be hard.

We started off with introductions, and a little warm-up game. Then the teacher (who is very nice, a L&D nurse and a mom of 2) told us a little bit about what we can expect from the class. We talked about some of our discomforts and ways to help ease them. Then we watched a video. Two birth stories, the first was a natural birth and second was an epidural-medicated birth. It was pretty much exactly like what I've seen a million times on "A Baby Story" and "Birth Day" except they don't blurr out the privates. Not too bad all in all, of course I cried when the first baby was born. Not too much weepage with the second baby. There was a third birth (I think c-section?) but we didn't watch it because we didn't have time. After that we talked a little bit about the things we saw in the video that we liked/disliked as far as pain management and soothing techniques go. Found out that the hospital requires a doctor's order prior to labor if you want to use a birthing ball, get in the tub/shower, use a squatting bar, etc. So that's something to keep in mind and bring up with my doc.

Then we got down on the floor with our pillows and started learning some relaxation and breathing techniques. First one, she had us get into a comfy position on our left sides propped up on the pillows. We were to tense up our muscle areas, one at a time starting with the feet and working up to the head, and the support people were to massage these areas to get us to relax the muscles. This was hard for me, it was difficult to "artificially" tense my muscles! I did the best I could, and I was very impressed by how attentive and soothing DH was. Then we learned our first breathing technique. To signal the start of the contraction, we take a deep breath in and scrunch up our shoulders, then release our shoulders and breath at the same time. Then breath in for four seconds, out for four seconds. She reminded us to keep our eyes open through the breathing, and suggested picking a "focal point item" to bring with us to the hospital to use during labor. At the end of the contraction we take a cleansing breath (just another deep breath). Our support people were to massage our hands and feet, rub our backs, etc. to try and calm us through the fake contraction.

We then got up from the floor and tried some of the various sitting positions for labor, using our breathing techniques and our support people for massages. And we also did some hands and knees positions. She showed us the "v press" maneuver where the support person gently puts pressure down and back on the hips during the contraction. That felt so good! By the time we were done for the evening I was very relaxed. :D

Next week we have our L&D tour. She said we'll basically follow the path that we'll take through the labor process, so starting with admission and initial checking, then go to the labor and delivery rooms, see the nursery, and the mother and baby rooms (for after recovery until we go home). I'm excited about that! After the tour we'll go over the signs of pre-term and real labor, how to time contractions, etc.

We also got a bunch of freebies, which is cool. We've now got 3 newborn size diapers! Woo-hoo that will last a few hours. ;)

So that was the class. I'm so glad it is Friday! I am very ready for the weekend. Working 4-day weeks really makes the weeks go by fast though, I think that's why this pregnancy has screamed by. I found out yesterday that the ladies I work with want to give me a baby shower! :D So that's set for the 25th of this month, which is just 2 days before my other shower. Exciting. It'll be a small one since I really don't know that many folks at my work (and there aren't many ladies anyways, I'm in engineering!), but it's really sweet of them to do it.

My in-laws are coming Saturday to stay the night and spend some time with us. That should be fun. Other than that we have no plans!

[adoredh]

Amanda It was weird, at first, I didn't really "time" them until I started to notice that they were pretty frequent. Some of them were even 4 mins apart, but they never hurt, I didn't have any spotting, it was just my belly getting really tight and uncomfortable. At one point when I had 2 of them that were 4 mins apart, that's when I grabed my baby book to see if I could get more information. The book said that false labor would be irratic, real labor would get more intense and steady. I desided to go to bed, and figured if it was "real" then I'd be woken up and would go strait to the hospital. I did talk to my OB about BH's this past Monday, she said to drink a ton of water and lay on my side if they got frequent like that. I've also heard walking and showers stop them too, so I might try that next time.

So far, I just had that one this morning on the way to work, so I'm sure I'm OK - it was just really sureal last night!

So I finally have a pic to post, it's the only one I've been able to find on anyone's hard drive! Since we got married 4 years ago, my Dad got a new computer and didn't down load the pics from his old one, my sister got a new computer, and I got a new one at work, so all my pics on line are gone. I found this lonely pic on my MIL's hard drive last night, it's more of a tease since it's not very clear! LOL!

http://images.snapfish.com/3446478%3B23232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2334%3D%3A27%3D%3C%3 A4%3DXROQDF%3E23239%3A%3A%3C%3A%3B264ot1lsi

I wish that it was clearer so that you could see what a handsome hubby I have ;)


ETA - Lorialys Thanks so much for the info! And when you mentioned that most of the pressure for BH's is at the top of your tummy, I was nodding my head, that's exactly what I had! Just strange to have so many, I thought they were more of a once in a while type of thing :rolleyes:

[amtaylor]

Heather: Please keep us updated... you are in my thoughts :)


BH Contractions: Am I the only one who hasn't had them? Maybe I'm just lucky and don't realize I'm having them... I meant to ask my doctor about them but forgot this week :rolleyes:

[sdmama2be]

Hi all
Wow I go away for a weekend and have to spend a long time catching up!!! All of the belly shots are so great..you all look wonderful :) I only have a few minutes since I am on science training this entire week from 8 until 430 UGH super long days but I am learning a lot about teaching science experiments.

lexy the nursery is so cute. I would spend a lot of time in there as well. I love the letters..where did you order them from??

lml I am sorry about the GTT. Hope all goes well with the doctor and you just have to make a few adjustments.

hmbay Thinking about you and the baby today. Hope that you just have to rest up.

surftraitor Check out those ankles!!

Our furniture came in yesterday :D They told me it would be 3-4 weeks and it turned up in 3-4 days!! I am so sad because the crib has a huge smooshed edge on the headboard, like something really big and heavy fell on it..so I called right away and they are being so helpful with replacing it. Thank goodness. Everything is that super light pine color. This weekend we are cleaning out the "junk shelves" so that during the week we can move the office furniture into the guest room and finally get started on the baby room. I am ordering the glider tomorrow too :D It's so exciting to finally get started on this project.

soda I get really bad headaches in the afternoon, Tylenol just doesn't help. My doctor recommended drinking half a diet coke..of course I drink the whole diet coke ;) and it really helps. I so miss my coffee in the morning..I worked at Starbucks while I was in college/teaching credential and lets just say I am completely addicted. When it's really bad I drink decaf.

Okay I really have to go...I have to be there in 45 minutes and I haven't even taken a shower yet oops. Have a great day!!
~Susan

[sdmama2be]

amtaylor I haven't had any BH yet either..at least I don't think I have. That is one of my many questions for my docotr next week..poor lady I have quite a lot of them to ask

[jh124]

Lexy - I'm convinced that you stole my nursery! ;) Of course, since I'm having a boy instead of a girl, I'll let you borrow it just this once. :p

lml - Sorry about failing the test. What a bummer. :(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I am exhausted today. Just wiped out. It's been a long busy week. DH got to sleep in this morning and I was so bitter! I slept in for about a 1/2 hour, then scrambled to get ready and get to work. I'm not going to knock anyone out with my Friday look, but I'm clean, dressed, and present. I think that's a lot to accomplish.

I'm beginning to think that my days on the metro (subway) are numbered. I'm lucky that I get on and off at major points in the system, so I'm usually able to get a seat. But with the heat, the a/c in the cars can't keep up. By the time I get to where I'm going, I'm wiped out and feel sick/bloated/quesy/not good. I love to drive in, but hate to pay for parking. I think DH and I are going to have to bite the bullet and splurge for awhile. At least until this heat subsides.

I have a baby shower tomorrow. While I do collect Barbies and I adore pink like you would not believe, I loathe the typical shower. I may be a girly girl, but I'm a cynical, sarcastic girly girl. So I'm going to suck it up and be as bright and shiny as I can in the face of shower games, but I refuse to like it. :rolleyes:

I hope to get some work done on the baby's room this weekend. I told DH last weekend that I wanted the room ready in three weeks - so this makes it two weeks. Really, we just need to prep the walls, paint, clean the carpet, install the curtains, and put together the furniture. It's not going to take *that* long if we can just get movitated and do something.

[EJM]

Morning girls! I'm so far behind but don't have the energy to do a ton of SOs right now. I feel like crap for the first time in this pregnancy. Last night I felt like I was going to vomit and had a shooting pain in my stomach. I've overdone it this week I know. DH has been out of town, so I've been walking the dog in this horrible heat. Luckily he'll be home tonight. I was actually worried last night since I felt so awful and was home alone, but felt better once I sat down in the AC again. I did wake up this morning with what I think is that nerve pain thingy in my leg I can hardly walk. I thought about taking a sick day but I had to do an interview this morning so I sucked it up. jh: I hear ya on the public transpo, since I felt so crappy I took a cab to work this morning. There was no way I could walk to the train stop. Oh well, I'm thinking I might start having to drive too.

Heather: I hope the spotting stays away, keep us posted! Thanks for your response in the MN thread.

lml: I'm so sorry about the GTT test, but as you said before this is a chance to begin new healthy eating habits.

amtaylor: I haven't had any BH yet either. I'm almost positive the pain I had last night was not them. My doctor described it as a stomach tightening, and nothing like that yet.

I'll be back later to catch up!

[lorialys]

adoredh Lovely picture!

amtaylor You could just be not feeling them, but it's normal not to have them at all. See my post below on that.

sdmama2be Science experiments, how fun! Glad your furniture came in early, sorry it was damaged though. Hope they replace it quickly!

jh124 Have fun at your shower! I don't like the typical shower games either, though I hate the wedding shower ones more. You'll get through it, and get lots of stuff as a reward!

EJM Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well, I hope you feel better soon!

Not Having BH? My childbirth instructor says this is absolutely normal too. Some women never get them, and first contraction they will feel will be a real, painful labor contraction. Other women get them all the time. It just depends on your body, some people have a more "irritable" uterus as they put it. Having them or not having them will not make real labor any shorter or longer, though I've heard that for every BH you have, you'll have one less real labor contraction. I think that's just something us ladies who have them like to say to make ourselves feel better. ;)

[shushyk]

ahhhhhhhh can't possably catch up - my aunt is in town so I don't have much time. We have been busy working on the NURSERY :D :D :D YAY

We ordered http://www.babysupermall.com/main/products/kli/kli1500beds-big.jpg and we configured the room (I THINK) we are about to order the crib and changing table, and mattress. I am getting SUPER excited. We still need to empty the room out. (every time we do we put more junk in there) and order blinds or some sort of window thing.

I hope the stuff comes soon so I can see how it looks against the brighter green. I hope I don't want to repaint :rolleyes:

lorialys - HI~ yay for the first class!!!

EJM - hope your leg pain feels better.

jh124 - good luck with the room. UGH don't I know the no-motivation issues! We have a tiny room, and could just not get motivated at all. good thing my aunt is kicking my tush.

sdmama2be YAY on the furniture!!! Do you have to put it together or did it come assembled?

adoredh - that pic is beautiful it looks so romantic like a soap opera wedding or something.

Heather - ANY UPDATE? thinking about you.

__________

BH - was getting them all the time, now I just get them on and off. Like if I didn't drink enough water or something.

Heading off to take my Aunt out. be back when I can. Have a great day.

[adoredh]

though I've heard that for every BH you have, you'll have one less real labor contraction

*Jumping up and down for joy*

I don't care if it's true or not, I'm hanging on to that idea like a drowning woman clutching a life ring!!!

Based on last night, I should be able to breeze through labor! LOL! ;)

[c j]

though I've heard that for every BH you have, you'll have one less real labor contraction

Then I'm SCREWED!! :eek: I've had a total of like 5 and that was about 2 weeks ago.

[amtaylor]

I'm right there with you CJ! I've yet to have any so I'm just plain SOL. :rolleyes:

[jenjen0713]

Wow, you all have been busy!! Trying to catch up since I haven't been on-line for a while. DH got back from his 2 1/2 week trip to London this week and it is great to have him home again. He was shocked to see how much bigger I had gotten in those 2 1/2 weeks and even more freaked out by all the arms/legs/body moves going on in my belly.

My FIL has gotten our crib all finished, so now we just got to let it air a little bit and then bring it home. Yay!! Hopefully DH will get to finish painting this weekend. We have the glider and ottoman, so now I just need to order a dresser/changing table. DH wants to build one, but I am worried we'll run out of time! Yikes, less than 10 weeks.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting so excited about meeting this little one! Just to see what he looks like and to feel his soft skin and hear his little noises when he sleeps.....can't wait!!

Has anyone else had this....the baby moves and he must be pressing on my bladder because all of a sudden I feel an urgent need to go, and then he'll move a little bit and the feeling is gone! Weird, how this little person can have such an impact like that!

We have our baptismal class on the 20th, which reminds me we need to sit down and talk about godparents and then finally our childbirth classes start on the 29th.

Love all the belly shots, wedding pics and nursery pics. They are all fabulous!

BH - I had maybe two a few weeks ago but nothing since then.
Hope everyone has a great weekend!

[LexyLou]

BH-From week 24-28 I was getting them all the time. Not as much as you wrote down adoredh, but I was getting them at least 6 times per day. The funny thing is that I have only had 4 total in the past 2 weeks. Not complaining though. Adoredh-It wouldn't hurt to call the Dr. and just let them know.

Heather-I'll be thinking of you. I'm thinking that the spotting might just be because of the placenta previa and the fact that you stretched in a way that made it bleed a bit..I'm hoping. Let us know.

yeah for your furniture sdmama! Our hutch has a little dent in it too so we are having them replace it next week. Did you order from USA Baby? Our darn glider was supposed to be 8 weeks and now it's more like 12-14. I want it!!

jh124-hehe, you're funny. Thanks for letting me use your nursery. I'll take good care of it. :)

Have fun at your shower. I hope it's not too girly and you get nice presents.

shusyk-Adorable bedding!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~``

I had my 32 week appointment today ( a little early since my Dr. is on vacation next week) and I'm measuring exactly on time. Baby is head down and all is good.

I'm up 26 lbs from pre-pregnancy. I'm really over it at this point. There's nothing I can do about it. :)

I made all my appointments until my due date. I can't believe I'm at that point. I'll just update the next two on here and then in a month I'll post my weeklys.

Next OB Appointments:

August 24
September 6


Tonight we are going out with some friends for Indian food and then Sunday we are going to the House Of Blues Gospel Brunch. It's supposed to be awesome.

[nancy drew]

heather i am guessing that lexylou is right about the spotting. when i was first told about the marginal previa the dr asked if i had any spotting. when i said no he said that was surprising because usually previa and spotting go hand in hand. of course you did the right thing by calling your dr, but im hoping it wasnt anything serious, just due to the previa.

jenjen Has anyone else had this....the baby moves and he must be pressing on my bladder because all of a sudden I feel an urgent need to go, and then he'll move a little bit and the feeling is gone! Weird, how this little person can have such an impact like that! totally! all the time. and i cant tell the difference between him being a little stinker like that and actually having to go, so half the time when i run to the bathroom almost nothing comes out and im all "thats it???"

shushyk i looooooooove that bedding!!! so cute!

adoredh last time i had regular bh like that while i was at work. i would time them and write them down and they were as often as 5 min apart. sometimes they were really painful too. they never caused any problems, i delivered stella the day after her edd, but it was scary to have them so often. i also used to get regular contrax in the car. i have decided that it has something to do with my seated position and how well (or poorly) hydrated i am. when i sit on my tailbone, kind of leaning back, i get more bh. if i sit straight or forward, or on the balance ball, i dont get as many. so stay hydrated, drink a TON of water, see if there is any possibility that your position might be causing them, and get lots of rest. oh and this time around i tend to get contrax if i lay on my right side.

lexylou the tech didnt really say if she thought he would come early or anything, i will have to talk to my dr about it at my appt on tuesday and see what she says.

domesticdreamer my whole calf gets stiff. i dont really get cankles, my feet swell a tiny bit, but from the knee down i get really stiff legs. last night we were at a concert and i was dying to put my feet up, as that seems to help things. of course someone decided to put their jacket on the chair i was going to use for my feet. anyway, putting up my feet and/or walking around seems to help. but it isnt fun.

lml well it is good that you can see the good side of this, i may bug you for some snack ideas, if you dont mind. more on that below...

--------
i finally talked to the nurse at the dr office and she said my sugar levels were actually too low after 3 hours, so i am supposed to eat high protein snacks and meals every 2-3 hours. however, i cannot eat dairy, eggs, soy, or nuts due to an attempt to prevent The Boy from having food allergies like stella does. so does anyone have any idea what else i can snack on that is high in protein? im at a loss. ill talk to my dr on tuesday and see if she has any ideas too, but i thought maybe someone else will have some thoughts.

i was thinking more about the 5 pound guesstimate from the u/s and wondering if maybe they are just way off. i think she measured his head and his leg and somehow came up with 5 pounds from that. well stella has always had a big head, i have a big head, dh has a big head, maybe he just has a big head like the rest of his charlie brown big head family? seriously, every dr appt for stella for the first year the dr would measure her head like 3 times to make sure he was getting the right numbers because her head was off the charts. so not that a big head will make delivery any more fun, but it was something i thought of. i guess we will find out in like 8 or so weeks.

so i did some belly shots, i look HUGE in them, so i guess its not a shock to think maybe he is 5 pounds. or maybe its just his big old head taking up all that space ;)

31w 3d
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/nancydrew811/DSC03184.jpg

since everyone else is posting such nice pics of themselves, i guess ill post one or two. and one of stella from today, blurry but at least she looks happy. the rest of todays pics were not so good.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/nancydrew811/DSC03185.jpg

and one of us, from our wedding which was exactly 4 years and 1 day ago
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3d628b3127cce9e1f5d31d86700000015108AbMWzhozcsy

ok ill probably delete those later because im paranoid, but i didnt want to be the only one not sharing :D

[adoredh]

Very beautiful!!! (daughter and mother!) Nancy I love your dress, and I love the smile on Stella's face! Can't wait to be able to take pictures of The Boy! :D

Thanks for sharing your BH's info with me, I do sit way back in my chair, with my feet up, (and that's the position I was in last night while they were going on so much, in the recliner I stole from my DH) So as of right now, I am sitting strait up, and will give my poor DH his recliner back tonight! LOL! :D

ETA - Congrats on your Anniversary!

Our's is 8/25 and is also our 4 year! August was a great month to get married in :D

[lml41981]

Back from the doctor...will update on that situation later. I'm kind of shaken right now because I got a very mean call from a tree-trimmer and I'm pretty upset.

Wanted to say to Nancy drew... Here's my list of lower fat proteins and higher fat proteins. Some of it may not apply to you with your limitations...but here is the whole proteins list she gave me.

Lower fat -
Beef: USDA Select or Choice grades of lean beef trimmed of fat, such as round, sirloin and flank steak; tenderloin, ground beef 10% fat or less.

Cheese: non-fat, low-fat and 4.5% fat cottage cheese, grated parm, fat-free cheese or cheese with 3 grams of fat or less per ounce

Fish: catfish, fresh or frozen cod, flounder, haddock, halibut, herring (uncreamed or smoked), oysters, salmon (fresh and canned), sardines (canned), trout, tuna (fresh or canned)

Game: buffalo, skinless duck, skinless goose, ostrich, skinless pheasant, rabbit, venison

Lamb: roast, chop, leg

Pork: lean pork like fresh ham; canned, cured or broiled ham; canadian bacon, tenderloin, center loin chop

poultry: chicken or turkey (white or dark meat, but no skin), ground turkey (10% fat or less), cornish hen (skinless), domestic duck or goose (well drained of fat, skinless)

shellfish - clams, crab, lobster, scallops, shrimp, imitation shellfish

veal: lean chop, roast

other: egg whites, egg substitutes, plain; processed meats with 3 grams of fat or less per ounce such as: deli thin, shaved meats, chipped beef, turkey ham, hot dogs, kielbasa, turkey pastrami or sausage

Higher fat proteins -

beef: most beef products fall into this category (ground beef, meatloaf, corned beef, short ribs, prime grades of meat trimmed of fat such as prime rib)

cheese: american, cheddar, feta, monterey jack, mozzarella, ricotta, swiss

fish - any fried fish product

lamb - rib roast, ground

pork - spareribs, ground pork, pork sausage, top loin, chop, boston butt, cutlet

poultry - chicken with skin, fried chicken with skin

veal - cutlet ground or cubed, unbreaded

other: egg (high in cholesterol, limit to 3 per week); processed sandwich meats with more than 3 grams of fat per ounce like bologna, pimento loaf, salami, sausage (like bratwurst, italian, knockwurst, polish and smoked), hotdog (any kind), soy milk, tempeh and tofu

[hmbay]

okay I'm back and back at work (so yes that's a good sign). :) Thanks everyone for their thoughts and prayers. My dr squeezed me in, talked with me and sent me to the hospital for an u/s. She felt that since it was brown spotting and had diminished we were okay but wanted to be sure. The u/s didn't show exactly where the placenta was located because G2's head is down so low it's obscuring everything (even the dildo cam darn kid) but they could tell enough to feel it hadn't turned into partial or full previa yet. Then they sent me up to L&D for a nonstress test. Passed that with flying colors so they sent me home with instructions to rest as much as possible and don't lift anything I don't have to (and no hanging off monkey bars. :rolleyes: ) It's a good thing they didn't need to keep me--I could hear the triage nurses talking about trying to find beds for all the women who were coming in and that they were going to have to put them in a wing other than L&D pretty soon and I think I actually got the last triage room for my NST. Crazy.

[Surftraitor]

hmbay--GOOD NEWS!! That you're back at work. Well, maybe not good that you're working, but good that all is a-okay. Keep off those monkey bars. ;)

lml41981--sorry about the mean ol' tree guy. Someday bad karma will strike him. Sorry about GD. Let's hope the remainder of your pregnancy is smooth.

nancydrew--Sorry to hear about the GD diagnosis. I'm convinced the u/s practioner was way off with the 5 lb comment. Keep that comment out of your mind. There's nothing you can do, right? :) Cute belly shot. Look at you showing a little panty?:D Who say's pregnant ladies can't be sexy?! Stella looks precious.

Lexy--Indian food? Drooling over here. I think I'll need some Chana Masala and naan tonight. I forgot to comment on your nursery. Its sooo adorable!! You did a great job. Want to drive up to SF and do mine? :p I'm glad to hear dr went well and I'm with you on the weight gain. At this point, its useless to even attempt to lose/maintain weight over the next 8 weeks, right?

jenjen0713--I'm with you on being excited to meet this little person in my belly. I was working on a project yesterday that was citing some November deadlines. I'll have a one month old by then! Thanks for the reminder about baptism. I haven't even begun to research. Ugh.

I hope everyone has a nice, cool relaxing weekend. DH and I are going to a birthday party for 1 YO twins!! Should be chaos.

[Astara]

I am really sorry I dont have time to do S/O's going to pick my mom up at the airport.. But here are some nursery pics with the furniture in it.. we dont have anything hung up on the walls yet but we will soon! Remember.. its a very small room!

Looking into the room
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d624b3127cce936a55d91bfa00000016108AcuWLRq3aNx

Crib
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d624b3127cce936a55b91b9a00000016108AcuWLRq3aNx

Closeup of bedding
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d624b3127cce936a55a51b8600000016108AcuWLRq3aNx

[Astara]

The most comftorble chair ever!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d624b3127cce936a55a71b8400000015108AcuWLRq3aNx

Closet area with shelves & Ottoman
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d624b3127cce936a6ce8da7f00000015108AcuWLRq3aNx

Window Valance(not the best picture at all)
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d624b3127cce93686ce09aef00000016108AcuWLRq3aNx

Ok, Im sorry I posted so many pics and im sorry if they are big.. I'll have to post a couple more once we get stuff up on the walls. The room is just so small that I cant go in there and take pics head on bc its too close so lots of pictures result.. I am just happy that we managed to get ALL of the furniture in there without it looking crappy! :) hope everyone has a great night!

[mcl]

hi everyone,

happy friday! i'm so happy to hear that you're okay hmbay. everyone's belly shots are looking good and the nurseries are beautiful.

i had my doctor's appointment yesterday and everything is well with me and the baby. my husband and i also interviewed our pediatrician and determined right then and there that we love her. she is so friendly, mother of two boys and you can tell just loves children. she's also going to be coming to see our baby boy right after he's born. she says she prefers to meet and introduce herself to her little patients right away ;) .

i am now week 33 and have gained 26 pounds so far.

my next appointment is on august 20th, the day of my shower also. i am now to see my doctor every 2 weeks

BH- i get them a lot, especially at night but they're very irregular, no pattern. they are very uncomfortable also but not painful. my tummy literally feels like a rock. it is so hard.

QOTD - how many hours of sleep are you guys averaging a night now? the last week or so, i have had such a hard time getting quality sleep. my baby boy is just moving all over the place and they are HARD movements. it's no longer just a limb. it's his whole body moving like he's just playing in there. i love that he is moving but i tell you it's hard to go to sleep, couple that with BH, heartburn, sciatic pain, and occassional leg cramps. I LOVE BEING PREGNANT :rolleyes: :eek:

another attempt at posting pics:

picture of DH and i on our wedding day, first dance

http://www.shutterfly.com/jsp/proceserv.jsp?uid=8QZuWLVy5aI&rostate=67b0de21b71ffb7e4532&co=-1&js=1123288018640&ps=1&rs=6

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3d628b3127cce9c590cab79b800000146108QZuWLVy5aI

me at almost 6 months

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d623b3127cce93641e1cd12500000015108QZuWLVy5aI

me at 32 weeks
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d623b3127cce93641e86d1bf00000015108QZuWLVy5aI

sorry everyone that i got picture happy and taking up a lot of space. they are still coming out blurry however. :confused:

[amtaylor]

Astara: I love the room... sometimes the smallest of rooms make the best nurseries.

mcl: I love the pictures... you look great :)

Sleep: This is were I've very thankful. I'm an incredibly hard sleeper. I've even slept through fire alarms when I was living in the college dorms. Her movements don't wake me... it's just my bladder. The past two nights I've slept from about 10-4 without getting up... it's such a blessing :)


In other news.... Indigestion sucks..... :mad:

[godsgift77]

cute pics everyone!!

Nancy Drew another suggestion is beans. I love beans (wierd i know) but they are high in fiber and a good source of protein. Also, whey based smoothies are another option. High in protein and low in fat. I usually make them with berries, OJ and ice - GREAT for this weather!

hmbay YAY for the good news! :D

i dont remember who said it but YES my son likes to play musical chairs with my bladder! When i go, little to nothing comes out *Sigh* except for right now - i gotta go because he's playing KICKBALL with my bladder :eek:

[LexyLou]

Hmbay-So glad everything is ok. Phew!

nancy-Stella is ADORABLE! Thanks for posting her picture (and your's too. :))

Astara-The nursery looks beautiful. I really like the Chloe bedding too. It looks so sweet and girly. :)

Great pics MCL. I love the second one of you guys laughing. So in love.

Baby Bladder Bouncing-Yes! Ella is sitting really low and is always pushing against my bladder. It's so frustrating. I seriously walk out of the bathroom and have to turn around and go back in. I read in a book and it does help, lift up your belly a little bit when you are peeing and it will ensure that you totally empty your bladder.



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

I called a pediatrician yesterday who 2 different people told me was awesome. I'm going in two weeks for my pre-baby appointment.

Where did you guys get your list of questions to ask?

[mcl]

LEX- thanks for the compliments, here's an article i found that has important questions to ask your prospective pediatrician.

http://babyzone.com/features/content/display.asp?TopicID=&ContentID=924

[sdmama2be]

Astara Your nursery is beautiful!!!

hmbay I'm happy to hear that everything is okay

mcl Thanks for posting that link...I will defnitiely be using it. Your pictures are beautiful, you look so happy

Bladder as a trampoline Oh yeah Lexy I am experiencing the same walk in, out and back into the bathroom again.

Our new and non dented crib should be here on Tuesday or Wednesday. They were so nice. Now all I have to do is clean out the bookshelves that we just piled with crap when we moved in last Ocotober. Our baby is due one year after we closed escrow on our house..which we didn't plan on buying but just fell in love and saw ourselves raising our family in..wierd huh. Okay back to what I was saying earlier..that is my goal by Tuesday, I am in such an organizing mode..I am driving Tony crazy becasue everything has to be put in the place that I think it should go :)
Have a great weekend

[Kanga]

Just stopping in quick. I've been super busy this past week and are currently out of town for the weekend.

Nursery Letters I can't remember who posted the question about where to find them, but I plan on buying mine off e-bay (if dh lets me). The seller's name is tonifrg, and he can do just about anything you want (font, color, pattern, etc) and can match some bedding themes. The letters are $7 ea, plus $7 s/h. Here is the link to his auction. http://cgi.ebay.com/8-Wood-Wooden-Nursery-Wall-Letters-Painted-W-Ribbon_W0QQitemZ7704358350QQcategoryZ37635QQssPage NameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Hopefully I can convince dh to let me get these! (He thinks they are too expensive, and that either he can do these himself, or find somebody else to do them cheaper.....famous last words from him :rolleyes: Great if he really can, but I know he can't. Men :cool: )

Cravings I too used to crave fruit in the beginning, but now all i can think about is Wendy's frosty malts. :p Ice cream has been giving me horrible heartburn lately though, so i haven't been eating as much of lately. Probably a good thing.

Nursery We still have quite a bit to do. Dh is on vacation the last week of august, so we plan on finishing everything else up then, except for maybe the crib because my dad is putting that together. We also have to pick out crib bedding, get a mattress, extra sheets for the crib, move all of dh's clothes out of the room, paint the dresser that dh currently uses, build a shelf unit, then paint the shelves, wash Daytona's clothes, find new hardware for the dresser, shampoo the carpet, get window treatments, and possibly paint the crib. I'm sure there is more, but I can't think of anything else. Most of it is actually not that hard or time consuming, it's just actually getting around to doing it. Once I pick out the bedding, I think things will go much faster. Here is one set that I really like. http://www.babysupermall.com/main/products/dun/dun20133.jpg It's the annabelle collection from baby supermall. Now if only I can decide for sure that this is really what I want. :D

[1_mommy]

hi everyone.
busy busy weekend. i have been working almos non stop on the nursery since last night, i got all of the pinstripes done on the stripes, and most of the touch up work, dh and i have been hanging the colorado avalanche border today. then it is waiting til after aug 27 to see what we get at our shower, and it will be full speed ahead once the shower is over.
once the room is done, i will try to get some pictures on here. it has been quite a project since i have done everything bu the border myself

[amtaylor]

Just wanted to share this article: Things New Babies Need (http://slate.msn.com/id/12645)

1_mommy: I can't wait to see pictures of your sports themed nursery.. I bet it's going to look great :)

[Astara]

amtaylor, Lexy, and sdmama2b Thank you for the compliments on the nursery! :) we got her letters on the wall.. I will also have to show a pic of that once I take one.

amtaylor little ms. Stella is such a beautiful little girl!! cute belly shot and beautiful wedding photo!

mcl beautiful photos :)

1_mommy cant wait to see nursery pics! :)

Bladder & Baby Yes I have been experiancing the same exact thing!

Yesterday we had our 3D/4D u/s.. it was so amazing. We got some pretty clear pictures of her face, confirmed that she was a girl, saw her moving around despite that she was being lazy most of the time and sleeping.. we even got to see her blinking!! I couldnt believe I could see her little eyes opening and closing as she was falling asleep.. omg so precious. She has some pretty chubby cheeks too~ I am so glad we did this. We got a DVD & VHS of the whole thing so we can watch it whenever we want~ Right now she is in the transverse position.. so hopefully by delivery time she is head down! :)

[Astara]

Genevieve 3-D
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d626b3127cce93123329ab7f00000016108AcuWLRq3aNx Please use this picture in the gallery ~ Thank You! :)

Gigi profile
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d626b3127cce931233102a7600000016108AcuWLRq3aNx

[1_mommy]

astarashe is bueatiful! :) great pictures

[cartersmommy]

what a quiet thread this weekend!!

astara- she's gorgeous!! i bet you can't wait to see her in person now!! :) great pics!


not much going on here.... this weekend was pretty boring and quiet. friday night we just went out to dinner with some good friends and hung out and chatted... nothing really too exciting. saturday we bummed around the house and then went to some friend's house for dinner and we were there till almost 2am playing games! :eek: way past the bedtime! then yesterday i did some reading, laundry and THAT WAS IT! i felt like such a bum! but it's ok, because i feel rested today... must have needed it! some weekends its just nice to have nothing going on.... and in 7 weeks, it won't be like that for a LONG time! gosh, 7 weeks.................. WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN???? :)

hope you all had great weekends!
check in later!
amanda

[Astara]

1 mommy & cartersmommy Thank you!! I definintley cant wait to see her.. it's making all this discomfort a lot more tolerable.. im really glad we went. :D

[adoredh]

Great 3D u/s pics Astara!!! It's so amazing to be able to "see" your baby before they are born! :D

This weekend was pretty quiet too.

Friday night was yet again spent at the IL's - Todd's uncle was in from SC so we spent every night from Tuesday to Sat morning at MIL's. I enjoyed visiting with his uncle, but it was getting to be waaay too much of the IL's. I think MIL got so used to having us there, that she kept calling us up all weekend trying to get us to come over and swim or to eat some more (those Italian's I tell ya, not good for a diet!!! LOL!)

Sat we said good bye to Todd's uncle, he drove up on a harley so we got to watch him roar away. Everyone cried but me, I think MIL was a little upset that I didn't cry, but come on, I had only just met the guy on Tuesday! He's nice, I wish he could have hung out a little longer, but I can't say I'm gonna miss him, I don't know him! DH and I went home and I took my sweet @$$ time cleaning the house. I took three naps between laundry, dusting, scrubbing, and all kinds of stuff. It took me ALLLLL day to get what would normally take me 2 hours to get done! It's crazy how fast I can get so tired! But I got everything done! LOL! DH mowed the yard,trimed the hedge, changed the brakes on my SUV and hung out with the neighbors helping them on their car. He's such a manly man to have around! :D

Sunday we hung out until 1pm doing nothing. I made chicken stir fry for lunch, and we watched corny movies on TBS. DH went to a friends house on the lake to tube and hang out, and my sister came to pick me up to have some sister time together. I bought some thank you notes for my showers, since I already got a gift I need to thank someone for!!!

From Todd's co-workers, we got the diaper bag that he wanted from Target. It freaking huge, but that's the one DH wanted! They filled it with diaper bags, Butt Paste, Infant Tylonal, baby powder, baby wipes, disposible changing pads (love those), and the teeniest, tiniest little diapers you've ever seen! The Pampers Swadlers for newborns, they are sooooo small! I had a ton of fun getting everything set up just so in the diaper bag. I even put in one of the newborn outfits that I have from Carters to take with me to the hospital.

Here's the diaper bag - we registered for the one in Navy, but got Hunter Green instead. Todd actually liked the green better so we're keeping it :D

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00064MJAO.16._AA384_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I'm starting to feel a little more prepaired for this baby! Scary!

[cartersmommy]

alisha-- LOL about your MIL being annoyed that you didn't cry..... you can't MAKE people do something that they don't feel! LOL i can totally relate, which is why i'm laughing! glad that you can breathe now that you're away from them!! :) love the diaper bag! my SIL has that one and loves it. since you posted, why don't we all share?!?! :)

here's ours:
http://www.ella-bags.com/ultimatebag/Ella-BlackToile04.jpg
only ours is red and white swirls with a big "L" on the front in black. i love it!!
DH thinks it's kinda girly, but hey, like he's gonna carry it..... he'll be carrying the heavy carseat! i'll handle the diaper bag!

ha!

[c j]

Good Morning!!

I have another item to add to my list of third trimester symptoms... carpel tunnel and it's my right hand :rolleyes: I noticed it this weekend when I was cutting up peppers from our garden. We picked about 20 and I was only through 10 of them when my fingers were tingly and I could barely hold on the knife.

Hubby felt "little knobbies" moving around in my belly :p It weirded him out. I don't think he'll be wanting to feel that again. My mom was able to feel the hiccups and confirmed that they were just that.

Question... Does anyone have a fear about their IL's or their parents with the baby??? I have this HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE fear that my MIL is going to take my baby and never give it back. Now I know she would never do that, but I just picture her wanting to hold this child for hours on end and not give it to me when it's fussy, needs its diaper changed, etc. It's making me more and more resentful to her and really not wanting her to be around when the baby comes. This woman drives me nuts already with her oooing and ahhhing over EVERYTHING! I have actually avoided phone calls from her (gotta love caller ID) and just actually being around her. She has this really high pitched voice and just needs to know everything (baby related or not)! I had a good relationship with her before pregnancy. I can't seem to make myself tell her everything about what's going on inside my body, how my doctor appointments go, how lamaze class is, etc. like I can with my mom. But I have to realize that this is her grandchild too. I want to say something to DH, but I really don't want him to be disappointed or mad at me for feeling this way towards his mom. Do you think I should say something to him??

[hmbay]

This is the "big" diaper bag I got last pg (from BRU). It worked great at first when we had a lot of stuff but as colin got older we honestly started using the freebie Similac one (a basic black one) or the even smaller one that came with our travel system (cutesy plaid fabric but it's about the size of a large purse which is prefect when you just need to carry a sippie or two and a few diapers and wipes for a quick trip to the store etc). I usually only use this one now as a "suitcase" for Colin when we go somewhere for the weekend but I think once G2 is born it will be back in rotation again as we'll be packing for two. I definitely tried to pick more "manly" looking diaper bags though because DH is a WAHD and he would NOT be happy if I made him carry around a cutesy diaper bag. :) I know Lisa got the Wendy Bellisimo black and hot pink one from BRU recently and loved it. I was going to check it out but I think DH will balk at carrying anything lined in hot pink (especially since we'll have two boys).

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000083JV8.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[cartersmommy]

CJ-- i totally understand what you mean. my MIL just decided on her own that she was taking 2 weeks off right after my due date. first of all.... why didn't you ask, woman?! how does she know that i want HER help? she lives an hour away, and my mom is literally 10 minutes.... I would so call my mom first. maybe that's why she's done it! :) secondly, what if the baby comes a few weeks early or late? then she's SOL because she had to schedule her time off. then she won't be able to take any time off to see and spend with us and the baby. i want her to be a part of this, but let's be reasonable! maybe she should have waited to take her time off when we got closer to the due date to see how things are progressing. am i just over reacting? i feel like it could be hormones! :rolleyes: but i feel like you do, CJ, that if she IS here for the first 2 weeks, then she'll never let me have my baby! UGH! another reason i've decided to exclusively BF!


we have birthing class again tonight.... we get to learn the lamaze part of it and use the birthing balls! should be entertaining!! :) ha!

[Tiger]

Astara Great 3D pics! She is going to be beautiful!!

adoredh Glad you had a good weekend! Good for you for taking your time cleaning the house. I did the same thing this weekend. I think we registered for the same diaper bag...and from looking at my registry, someone bought it for us! ;)

cartersmommy Glad you had a relaxing weekend. Sounds like relaxing was on the agenda for a lot of us this weekend.

I also had a nice relaxing weekend. DH was playing in another softball tournament so I was on my own all weekend. I did a little bit of cleaning, but mostly lounged around all weekend. I can actually see my ankles for the first time in a couple of weeks!! It was great! I really needed a weekend like that.

This coming weekend is our shower and I am so excited. I can't wait. There should be about 30 or so people there. I am kind of nervous about the gift that MIL is going to give us though. She sent DH an email yesterday saying they were having some financial troubles. She went on to say she found a baby monitor at a garage sale for $2 and a music player for a crib for $1. I am hoping this isn't my shower gift. Not to be greedy, but I don't know how I am going to handle opening a used gift in front of everyone without making her feel bad, especially when I know my aunt bought us the monitors we registered for. I am really hoping this isn't our shower gift and instead she is just giving it to us as something extra. I am not saying it is bad or anything, I just know she would end up feeling bad if she gave us a used gift and then we open up a lot of nicer gifts. If she doesn't have the money, I would rather she just not get us a gift. Like I said, I don't know if this is what she is planning on giving us as the shower gift or not. I really hope not.

[jh124]

I had a nice weekend. Friday, DH was techically "off", but he went into work anyway. He didn't get home until 9pm! I was so annoyed. We went out for dinner and I went to bed.

On Saturday, I read the paper and got ready for the shower. I should clarify, when I said I earlier was going to "a shower", I didn't mean it was a shower for me. It was for the wife of a man that DH works with. Why I got invited??? But I went and played shower games and was nice for four hours in a ROW! (which is hard because I'm sarcastic and cynical.) Except I was starving because I didn't get to eat before I got there - I had to pick up a coworkers of DH's - and as expected, all they had was cake, and the shower lasted over 4 hours.

I went home, ate leftovers, and scrubbed wallpaper paste off the wall of the nursery. I was thrilled to discover that something I picked up from a tv show (Trading Spaces, Sell this House, whatever) worked! I used a mixture of fabric softener and water and the glue came right off. DH made burgers for dinner and I watched a movie before tumbling into bed.

Sunday was my rest day. I got up with the dogs, watched tv for a few hours, then went back to bed for four hours. Eventually, I convinced myself to get out of bed and take a shower. DH and I went out for dinner, then picked up some spackle since we couldn't find the tub we already had. I plan to spackle the nursery sometime this week so that he can paint the ceiling and the base coat this coming weekend.

I tried to go to bed at a reasonable time last night, but tossed and turned! Darn 4 hour nap! I know I needed the sleep, but then my body wouldn't cooperate when I wanted to go to bed last night. I finally dozed off around 1 a.m.

[hmbay]

I'm debating if I should call my dr or not. I'm still spotting. Very minimal and all dark brown but still spotting lightly all the same. Just wondering if I should leave a message for her to let her know--not that I think she'd have me come in again but just so it gets in my file etc. But then again I doubt she'll tell me to do anything differently so should I even bother?

[EJM]

Morning all!

cj: You're freaking me out, I think you can read my mind ;) I'm already anticipating problems with my MIL. DH was out of town last week, and she called both of us 5 times over 6 days. I always let the machine get it, I was just too tired to deal with her. DH's grandma has been sick so he freaked out thinking it was something with that, but no of course not. She actually called me once just to tell me she just talked to DH :rolleyes:, that's actually what she said in the message!!!! She also tells me stories about how she will hold other people's babies and they think she'll steal the child. In my mind not something you should be sharing with your 7.5 month pregnant DIL. I've stopped trying to accomodate my ILs, and they are really annoying DH now too, so I let him with my urging tell them how things will be. We have set limits now so it isn't a huge shock when the baby arrives.

We had a busy but not terribly productive weekend. We did get a tour of the hospital L&D. Didn't freak me out as much as I thought it might. I got answers to a few questions and was able to pre-register. I had been feeling good about how I looked until I heard the other woman on the tour, who had a belly roughly my size, is due in three weeks :o . I had to check a few boxes on Living Wills and Power of Attorney during the registration, must get to talking/thinking/acting on that so we have the paperwork completed prior to delivery. Not the most pleasant topic, but something we need to complete. In good news the hospital has a LC on call 24 hours a day, so even if I'm home and its 2am I can call for advice. For some reason I'm really worried about getting BFing to work.

I cannot believe how close we are getting to meet these babies! Bean has been kicking up a storm, and I think turning around. DH loves to feel the kicks, but the turning kind of freaks him out to see movement across my entire stomach. DH assembled the carseat and PNP last night :D Now if only I could get myself motivated to finish organizing the nursery, the stuff keeps showing up and we just keep piling it in there! Got to get on it, my parents are coming this week and the guestbed is in the nursery. At this point its covered with baby stuff.

Oh I started researching 529s/life insurance/IRAs last week, boy is all that confusing! I feel so grown up having to think about all of this. Luckily we have a great financial planner who will helps us with all that stuff. Even one little change like me working less than full time will really impact our retirement planning.

[EJM]

I'm debating if I should call my dr or not. I'm still spotting. Very minimal and all dark brown but still spotting lightly all the same. Just wondering if I should leave a message for her to let her know--not that I think she'd have me come in again but just so it gets in my file etc. But then again I doubt she'll tell me to do anything differently so should I even bother?

I would call, and I'm normally one to let things go to the next appointment. At this point in the pregnancy I wouldn't want to chance anything.

[cartersmommy]

i'm with EJM. I'm the same way, but if you were spotting before and she wanted to see you, i would just call and let her know what's up. it can't hurt anything. it's been a few days now, i would think she would want to know.

[Tiger]

hmbay I would call too. It doesn't hurt anything just to let them know.

[adoredh]

Heather I say "bother" your Dr!!!! It's not really bothering your OB anyways, they need to know you still have some spotting. I'm sure it's nothing, but you'll feel better having told them. You've already had a premie so you are very entitled to be overly protective of G2! (who by the way, is already breaking you in for all the shenanigans he's planning on getting into when he gets older! LOL!)

[c j]

hmbay.... I too think you should call the doctor!

[Tulip]

hmbay, I think you should call the doctor.

I'm trying to catch up with everyone here after being gone a week. Not much luck though.

This is my diaper bag. I've registered for a plain blue one for when Dan's willing to carry it.
http://www.kecci.com/product/CM6000-19/CM6000-19-lg.jpg

[DianeCourt]

hmbay: I agree with the other October moms - call your Dr. & don't feel bad about it for even a second!

We had a very productive weekend - DH finally finished putting up the wainscoting, molding, & chair rail in the nursery, so the walls are finished! They look fantastic, & I'm so proud of all of DH's hard work. It's EXACTLY the picture I've been carrying in my head for all these months! :) I'll snap some pictures this week & get them developed next week so I can share my excitement with you all. Now we just need to assemble the crib, install the new ceiling fan/light with dimmer, put up the hardware for my window treatments, and arrange the rest of the nursery furniture. I think we can manage that in the next couple weeks!

Diaper Bags: This one's mine (Kate Spade medium canvas baby bag in sunshine):

http://a1480.g.akamaitech.net/f/1480/124/4h/images.ebags.com/images/Products/19224_sq250.jpg

And I got DH the Diaper Dude in black since he'll be doing his fair share of transporting the baby to & from daycare next year. ;) I also registered for an inexpensive Nicole Miller black messenger bag at Babies R Us for when I want to leave the bag with daycare, etc.

MIL: I feel fortunate in that I adore my MIL, and I'm looking forward to her spending as much time with the baby as possible! In fact, she'll be watching the baby one day a week when I go back to work part-time.

This week: Childbirth class #3 is tonight, my 30 week Dr. appt is Thursday morning, and we're flying out on Friday for our first baby shower with my extended family on the in-law's side! After this week, I, too am on the "every two week" Dr. appt schedule! (Getting close to go time!) :)

[cartersmommy]

ok.....

carter is lying just perfectly so that i feel EVERY organ he hits and it's starting to really hurt and get uncomfortable! he's kicking my ribs, my bladder, my lungs, you name it! ugh! and every time he moves, my bladder almost gets this burning type of sensation..... not pretty!

[c j]

Amanda I know exactly what you mean. And to think I have 11 more weeks of this.

[LexyLou]

Astara-She's beautiful!!! What great pictures!

jh124- This: But I went and played shower games and was nice for four hours in a ROW! (which is hard because I'm sarcastic and cynical.)

cracked me up! I would hate to have to place nicey nice for 4 hours and seriously how rude to only have cake for a 4 hour party???? Wasn't the other girl starving? I've never known a pregnant woman to go more than 4 hours without eating something of substance and cake is not it.

hmbay-Call you Dr. It won't hurt and it will make you feel better.

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

Diaper Bags- As of now I have the Wendy Bellismo "LOVE" bag
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00030EP3A.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

DH has the Diaper Dude. I'm still going to get either the Fluerville Mothership or Tote-not sure which one I like better yet.

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

We had a great weekend. Wen't out to dinner on Friday with one friend, spent all day Saturday shopping and running errands. Wen't to dinner with our friends' who are getting married this Saturday (DH and I are both in the wedding) and then we finished putting the ribbon on her letters. Sunday we went to the "Gospel Brunch" at the House of Blues. It was awesome. Then we went to a Mariachi Festival in the evening. Awesome day.

My first shower is in 2 weeks. The grandma's are putting it on. DH had to call his religious mother to remind her not to get favors (yes, the woman does favors for everything!) that were crosses or angels. She makes EVERYTHING religious. I'm Jewish for one and two even if I weren't Jewish I wouldn't want a cross as a favor for a baby shower. She means well but she just doesn't get that not everyone is Catholic. Oh well...I'm not complaining ( too much). Ever since I got pregnant she's been wonderful.

Off to find a way to get rid of this horrible headache!

[Tulip]

ok.....

carter is lying just perfectly so that i feel EVERY organ he hits and it's starting to really hurt and get uncomfortable! he's kicking my ribs, my bladder, my lungs, you name it! ugh! and every time he moves, my bladder almost gets this burning type of sensation..... not pretty!
I've started to get an elbow or knee jabbing me in my lower left side. It HURTS! Plus the fact I cannot get comfortable to sleep anymore.

[hmbay]

I called the dr. She's not in until 1 (and I have a meeting from 1-2 of course) but they were going to leave a message for both her and the triage nurse (who comes in at noon). Hopefully one or the other calls and tells me not to worry unless it gets worse.

[scubasam]

First of all.....I can't believe I'm 32 wks! 32 wks!!! :eek: Is it totally surprising to anyone else how far we are now?! Every week I'm so amazed at how far I've come.

Diaper bags - Unfortunately, I'm a bit purse happy so of course I'm diaper bag happy too! Diaper bags and hats.......poor Carter, he's got more hats than he'll ever be able to wear. They're just so cute though! I *love* little boys in hats! ;) Anyway, so far I have the following:

Kate Spade medium in black
http://a1216.g.akamai.net/f/1216/955/6h/images2.nordstrom.com/images/store/product/medium/90556

Kecci (not this one....a discontinued one in beige w/ orange trim & lining)
http://store1.yimg.com/I/yhst-11823213985946_1853_227585

And this one for DH
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000DEWAZ.01.TZZZZZZZ.jpg

We've used the backpack a couple of times already for outings w/ our nieces/nephews and it's been great. Hoping that the other 2 bags work out as well.

[scubasam]

Speaking of nieces.......went to our niece's 5th bday party on Saturday. We rented a bouncy house and DH was so cute w/ the kids. Makes me so excited to see him play w/ Carter.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d629b3127cce933a8cd9e4df00000016108ActGjVk5aM8

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d629b3127cce933a8cc265f400000026108ActGjVk5aM8

Belly shot at 31 wks
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d629b3127cce933a8cea65dc00000015108ActGjVk5aM8

And one more: the paint job & picture rail in Carter's room. Haven't done much else yet.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d629b3127cce933a8cdfe4d900000025108ActGjVk5aM8

BBL!

[DianeCourt]

DH had to call his religious mother to remind her not to get favors (yes, the woman does favors for everything!) that were crosses or angels.

LexyLou, this absolutely cracks me up! Good thing your DH is willing to talk to the woman about these things so that you can stay out of it! :)

Speaking of in-laws, MIL told us a little while ago what DH's grandma is giving us for our shower this weekend: an assortment of little blue outfits that are CLEARLY meant for wearing by a little boy! Remember, we don't know the baby's sex, but she is CONVINCED that we're having a boy. I'm really glad that she's so secure in her prediction, but, um, what are we going to do with a boatload of baby boy clothing if we have a girl?!?!? And grandma NEVER includes a gift receipt! :rolleyes:

[cartersmommy]

lex-- too funny about the favors! i'm LOL about them! hopefully she listens!! :)

ok, so i have this pressure/dull pain in my lower left part of my abdomen.... i don't know what this is! is it round ligament, but only on one side, or is it a persistent BH? I can't tell, and it really hurts! ugh! i feel like if i let myself i could just wrap up in the fetal positon and hold it there.... IF i let myself. its not bad enough to do that though. just uncomfy!

[adoredh]

Amanda Just wondering, did you ever have your apendix taken out? Is the pain near there? That's what I had, and it was the scar tissue streatching (ouch, it was a pain that lasted for a few days) Oops, re-read your post, apendix is on the right side not the left...

Also - you could have done what I did, strained a muscle (mine was from getting into my car)

Drink a ton of water, as much as you can, if it goes away, it could be the muscle. If it stays, call the Dr.

[cartersmommy]

thanks alisha!
no appedix taken out.... it's actually gotten better since i started drinking water.... could have strained a muscle like you said... i didn't think of that! i'm short so getting in and out of my SUV is always a feet, esp. when 8 months preggo! HA!

[adoredh]

Amanda So glad the pain is going away!!! Mine went away after about a 1/2 hour of drinking 3 glasses of water! Water is amazing!
I'm drinking a ton of water now, to try and help with all my BH's - they don't hurt, but I do tend to get them stronger if I haven't been keeping up on my water.

Heather I'm thinking about you! Hope you get a phone call soon!

[lml41981]

Very cute diaper bags!

I got the Kate Spade Newbury from DH for my birthday...

http://a1216.g.akamai.net/f/1216/955/6h/images2.nordstrom.com/images/store/product/large/93665.jpg

I want to get something smaller, as well...we'll see what I end up going with.

This weekend was so busy. I had a hair and massage appointment on Saturday morning. The massage therapist's touch was a bit firmer than I liked, but I've got no knots anymore. After that, we went to my aunt's house for Christmas in August. I had saved up most of my carbs for the day because I knew I'd need them for that. Never doing that again. My levels were high most of Sunday.

Sunday, DH's parents came over to finish the wainscot in the nursery. They also hung our back screen door. They didn't leave until 11pm, which meant we didn't have time to do our relaxation practice for class tonight. We also didn't get all our reading done. I'm a bit frustrated that DH isn't taking the relaxation practice very seriously... In his defense, though, he doesn't relax from a massage and that's what we were supposed to do...he was supposed to get a massage everynight this past week. He relaxes by messing with his computer, playing a video game or vegging out. But he also didn't do much massage on me this week...and I need him to learn what I like. Oh well...guess we've still got time.

I'm really looking forward to having an entire weekend with no visits from parents. DH's parents have come over the last 3 weekends...I had the thing with my family and then took my dad to the airport and next week have to pick him up from the airport. I guess weekend after next will be mine, all mine.

We've got our second Bradley class tonight. That will make for a nice, long day. I'm gonna crash as soon as I get home, I'm sure. I think I've got restless leg syndrome...either that or just a really bad cramp. My leg keeps aching and I have to keep moving it. I'm gonna take a calcium supplement when I get home cause I can't have milk or fortified orange juice anymore.

***

cj - Yeah...I am worried about how invasive MIL will be. Especially because she is staying with us for a week or two and John will be at work. She already gets on my nerves as it is... With my mom, though, all I'm really worried about is that she'll smother the baby with cigarette smoke when she comes in from smoking. :(

hmbay - hope you get good news from the nurse!

cartersmommy - glad you're feeling better

scubasam - cute pics!

Lex - sounds like a great weekend! Hope your headache lets up.

jh124 - Wow...4 hours for a nap? I can't even get 4 hours of actual non-nap sleep!

[Astara]

adoredh Thank you! yes, it really is amazing! Thats weird that your MIL was a little miffed that you didnt cry.. I wouldnt have either! I am the same way as you about cleaning and just generally everything. It seems like even something small exhausts me. I was making meatloaf and just the mixing of my hands made me tired! lol I like your diaper bag it looks nice and roomy~

Tiger Thank you!! I am glad you had a relaxing weekend and your ankles are back! :)Yay on your shower coming up! I completely understand about the used stuff for a baby shower.. I would feel the same way.

hmbay I'm glad you called~ I hope they call you soon to put your mind at ease.

cartersmommy I feel that way too~

Lexy Thank you!!

scubasam cute pictures!

MIL & baby Yes.. I feel EXACTLY the same way. I love my MIL and I know she only has the best of intentions but I am really afraid that she is going to try and take over. I have that feeling because when I bring over my dog she tries to teach him "new" tricks.. like come. I was at her house and she was like "Oh I taught him how to come" and I was like "he already knew that and he also knows "this way" and "go the other way" and I tell her that he knows a lot of tricks but just wont do them especially later.. but she still tries everytime. She did the same with my cats.. all my animals have already been taught everything they need to know. If she is like that with my animals how is she going to be with our daughter? KWIM? she started talking about taking Genevieve snow-mobiling in a covered snow mobile in her car seat.. DH and I put our foot down right away, but they also want to take our daughter hiking while she is still an infant~ hiking a mile or more long up rugged mountain terrain. Um.. I dont think so, maybe when she is old enough to walk esp that long. I told DH my fears and he said if I or he ever feels like she is over stepping her boundaries he will say something to her so it doesnt keep happening. Same goes for my mom (although she would never try to parent our daughter) except I'll talk to her if there is anything that needs to be said. I am so glad other's have this fear.. It really bothers me all the time.

Everyone's got cute diaper bags.. we just got something plain from BRU so both DH and I can use it.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0003069IY.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Hope everyone's having a great day!! :)

[nancy drew]

c j Does anyone have a fear about their IL's or their parents with the baby??? um, should i share what happened after stella was born? it could have been worse, i guess. mil and sil came to visit one week after she was born. they made these plans before she was born, and i was freaking out that they would arrive right after when she was born, when mike was off work, and we wouldnt have any time to be a family of 3 at all. so when mil walks in she hears me telling mike that stella was sniffling, shivering, and i was worried about her being too cold in the house (it was february) so i had her all swaddled and bundled up. mil ignores me completely, takes stella from me, and unwraps her, takes her socks off, takes her hat off, and bounces her til she is awake (She had been sleeping). then proceeded to hold her every second she was in our house, except when she was taking flash pictures about 1 foot away from stellas face. it got to the point where mike was waking up at 3am and taking stella into the other room to sit with her because it was the only time he could. i was sick with a really really bad uti, fever, just all around feeling crappy and not once did she lift a finger to cook or clean for us, i had to do everything while she held stella. that was her idea of "helping out". oh and the last time we saw her, when stella was 6 months old, i said i was taking stella to put her down for a nap. it was lunchtime, but im not making naptime wait. i went to grab a handful of chips so i had *something* to eat and she took stella from me and told me to eat lunch. i said i would eat when she was sleeping, i just wanted some chips because stella had to take a nap and i was just a little hungry. she took stella and walked out the front door with her. well that was our last visit to mil, and she hasnt been here to visit us either. that was a year ago. so yeah, i share your fears. my mom had all these grand plans for what she was going to do with stella, how stella would spend nights at her house, how mike and i would go on vacation a few months after stella was born so she could have her for a week or two, etc. but then stella refused the bottle so she *had* to be with me almost all the time and that ruined all my moms plans. i wish i had some advice. i guess just stand up for yourself if you feel like someone is being too overbearing. i wish i had spoken up to mil back in that first week after stella was born, but i was in shock at this womans behavior, plus i seriously felt like crap and had no energy to fight. oh, and make a real go at breastfeeding, its a lovely excuse to make a run for it and have some private time with baby :) no one else can nurse your child, and if you "forget" to bring a bottle along then you have no choice ;) sorry to write a novel about it, i just hate that i let mil walk all over us that week she was here.

this is my diaper bag:
http://www.combi-intl.com/combi/images/1950-0.jpg

its the combi urban sling. im not a bag person, in fact i just bouht a purse for the first time in about 10 years. this one serves its purpose, i can carry it while wearing the sling, and i dont have to have a separate bag for mike to use.

[Astara]

MIL & Baby- Question nancy drew's entry reminded me of something else that bothered me. My MIL had said something to the effect that she was going to take some time off to help with the baby without asking me or DH. It bothered me because I dont want anyone to come "help" with the baby. Dh will have 4 weeks of paternity leave so it will be he and I and I know between the two of us, there wont be a need for his or my mother to stay here for that reason. I told DH that I wanted to let everyone know that we wanted 2 weeks of family bonding time before anyone came over to visit with us. Dh agreed that he thought it was a good idea.. I just want us to be able to know her before anybody else does and to have that family time that is so important. I just wanted to know if this sounded unreasonable to anyone? I have a feeling that MIL isnt going to be too happy about that but hopefully she understands.

[EJM]

Astara: You didn't want anyone to come over at all? Will they be allowed (per your request) to visit at the hospital instead? Personally I wanted to wait and not even tell my MIL about the birth for 3 weeks :p but DH wouldn't hear of it. Could you maybe ask them to limit the visits? Two weeks does seem a little long to not see her at all, but I think you are completely reasonable to ask that the visits be limited to an hour. I'm thinking this is the direction we'll have to go. There is no way I'll be able to keep my MIL away, especially since my mom is coming to help. I'm more concerned about her busting into the hospital during the birth.

Diaper Bags: Totally forgot earlier. I got a Skip Hop Duo for DH and I to use daily. My SIL/Brother usually give the bigger Lands End bag as a baby gift so I've held off on buying another bag in case they do give us that one. I really want a cutsey one for just me and have hinted around to DH, so maybe for my birthday which is a few weeks after Bean is due.

[lorialys]

Ack! Way too many shout-outs to do. I will attempt them though. :D

shushyk Adorable crib bedding! Glad to hear you're moving on the nursery, I bet that makes you feel good.

adoredh

though I've heard that for every BH you have, you'll have one less real labor contraction

*Jumping up and down for joy*

I don't care if it's true or not, I'm hanging on to that idea like a drowning woman clutching a life ring!!!
You're too cute. I'm sure it's not true, but I did read this weekend that BH can help your cervix start to efface and dilate after 36 weeks. So that's helpful!
Sounds like you had a great weekend.

jenjen0713 Glad to hear that your hubby is home safe and sound. Wow, you have some handy people in your family! I get the urgent, gotta pee feeling sometimes too.

Nancy Drew They can definitely be way off on weight estimates from the ultrasound. I know they say that within 1 pound either way closer to the due date, but I knew someone who was told she was having a 6-7 pounder and then got surprised with a 10 pound baby! Hopefully it goes the other way for you. ;) Cute belly picture! Your daughter is adorable, and I love your wedding picture. Your dress was gorgeous.
Thanks for sharing the story about what happened after Stella was born. Sorry it didn't work out too well for you, I know it's hard to deal with someone so overbearing, and it sounds like your MIL is definitely that! And it sounds like your mother was rather frustrating too. It definitely helps to be forceful with the situation, I will try to remember that myself.

hmbay Glad to hear that everything looks normal with G2. Hope the spotting goes away soon.

Astara Beautiful nursery pictures! I love the shade on the window. I'm glad your 3D ultrasound went so well! Beautiful pictures of little Genevieve.
About the bonding situation, I know that you're worried about interference and you want the time to bond with your child. But do you mean that you don't want anyone to meet Genevieve at all until after 2 weeks? That seems like a bit much to ask of your families, who are probably very excited to meet her as well. Or just that you don't want anyone to stay over during that time (which is totally reasonable, that's what we've asked as well)? That being said, you have to make decisions that are what you feel is best for your family and if that's what you and DH agree on, she'll have to get used to it.

mcl Glad you found a pediatrician, we really need to do that soon.

Chad and Liz Cute bedding!

1_mommy Sounds like you're really going on the nursery, can't wait to see pictures!

cartersmommy I was a bum this weekend too, don't feel bad.

cj Sorry to hear about the carpal tunnel. I have that from time to time, but it gets aggravated by writing, and I don't do that too often anymore. I've heard that if it is bad when you're sleeping, wearing a brace can help. Other than that I don't know any remedies. I would talk to your DH about this. You are going to have to rely on him to enforce the rules with your MIL/FIL and your parents after the baby is here because you may be too tired and overwhelmed to graciously do it.

Tiger I sympathize with you over the used shower gift. I'd be a little afraid of that too. But my advice is not to worry about it until it happens, cause you never know what she's going to give you. If it is a used item, just thank her for it the same way you've thanked everyone else and move on. You don't have to use it if you don't want to.

DianeCourt Sounds like you had a busy weekend!

scubasam Cute belly and adorable nursery!

QOTD: Sleep I'm actually sleeping fairly well. There was awhile that my back was hurting and I couldn't get the right kind of support under my belly, but that has past and I've slept great for a few weeks now. I still wake up during the night a bunch, but I don't usually have to turn over all the time. It is hard to get back to sleep when the baby is awake and kicking though, especially if I am laying on the side he is kicking on. Cute pictures!

QOTD: Worries about mother/MIL YES!!!! On both sides, unfortunately.
I love my mother, but we don't get along very well sometimes. She is the queen of unsolicited advice, and I'm afraid I'm going to bite her head off everytime she offers her opinion/experience because of the raging hormones and impatience/lack of sleep. Not to mention all the other issues we have getting in the way. I hate to say that I wish she wasn't coming to visit for the birth, but it's true. However, there's nothing I can do but try to be civil, get through each day one at a time, and have DH help me fend her off.
MIL is another situation. I love her to death, she really is the sweetest lady and means well most of the time. But she is so excited about being a grandma, and she is always excited about being around little babies (even when they aren't related to her). So yes, I do worry about her wanting to spend all kinds of time with the baby, and trying to interfere with parenting and bonding and stuff. She won't mean to do harm, but it will take a lot for DH and I to be forceful and lay down the law. Normally we get along great, but during this pregnancy her quirks have annoyed me more and I'm a little tired of the constant smothering and stuff because she's so happy about being a grandma. Ugh...

Diaper Bags
We've got this one already:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000DEWAZ.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
In blue and tan though.

I've registered for these:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002ZA2A6.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00030EP3A.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

I like the sling bags because they are hands free, which is great for babywearing and carrying. I'm planning on using the tote for longer trips and as a carry-on/suitcase for baby.


Our weekend was good. Friday we listed our house with a realtor, so hopefully it sells fast and we won't have to worry about being in the middle of a move when I go into labor! We also went to Lowes, out to dinner at Olive Garden (date night!), came home and watched "Super Size Me" (OMG, I never want to eat at McD's again) and went to bed.

Saturday MIL and FIL arrived and we spent the day with them, which was fun. Did some fishing but didn't catch anything. Had dinner at this adorable seafood place and came home early and relaxed.

Yesterday the in-laws and DH went to the casino boat, and I stayed home and was lazy all day. I didn't even do laundry, oops! We ordered pizza for dinner and watched a movie before bed.

Tonight we have our first Baby Basics class! I can't wait to see what free stuff we get (LOL) and what we learn! The instructor is the same one for our Wednesday childbirth classes, so that's cool.

[1_mommy]

http://prodtn.cafepress.com/3/19388883_F_tn.jpg
just ordered this onsie. i couldn't resist.

[cartersmommy]

1_mommy: I have that onesie too! I think it's HILARIOUS! too cute! i wish it came in an infant size!! :) too funny!

[Astara]

EJM & lorialys :) I should of explained what I ment better. I want everyone to be at the hospital when genevieve is born and have time to see and hold her. I dont mind if the whole entire family is there. And if I am there for a longer time, then I do not mind who visits. I just dont want people to come over to our house and stay for a long time until after 2 weeks. I wanted to go see family at their house after about a week or 5 days or so of being home. I just dont want the whole family coming over to our house and staying for really long periods of time when we are trying to bond with her.. KWIM? I dont want to keep my MIL or anyone else away from her at all. Maybe I should change it to a week or should I just forgo that altogether and if family is over way too much then ask that people are over only for a certain amount of time? I really dont want to seem like I dont want anyone to see her or get a chance to be around her~ I know everyone is excited and I definitley dont want to hurt anyone's feelings.. I just want to make sure I do the right thing for everyone involved.



**Edited to say** lorialys your post just made me realize something.. I just remembered that my mom will be here for a couple of days because she lives out of state. I would rather my mom not be here overnight but there is no way I would be able to tell her to go to a hotel.. I would feel really bad. So there really is no way that I can ask MIL not to come over.. I just want to be able to have a lot of time with Genevieve on our own.. i guess ill probably just see how everything goes and if we feel like we arent getting any alone time, then we will say something.


lorialys Thank you! :)

[mcl]

cute diaper bags everyone. it seems like a lot of us loving that wendy belissimo "love" chocolate bag because i registered for that as well. it is so cute in person.

cartersmommy- where did you get your diaper bag? i was looking for a toile printed bag but couldn't find any?

[sdmama2be]

Hi Girls
Cute diaper bags...I haven't got one for me yet, but I bought Tony an Eddie Bauer green diaper back pack for Father's Day and he was really excited that it didn't "scream baby"..I am in love woth the Petunia Picklebottom Ginger Roll diaper bag/back pack..I was shopping with my sister in law in SF and I sw it in a store right next to a matching chenille blanket..I almost bought them both but I had just spent $300 in Japanese Weekend :eek: in less than 30 minutes :eek: :eek: so I had to refrain...

Family/people staying with us My mom won't be flying out until Christmas (she is a teacher in Scotalnd and her principal is not the nicest lady) but she will be staying with us for 2 1/2 weeks!!!! That should be veryy interesting..I love my mom but we are so opposite on everything..she is already telling me that I should not be going back to work and that I should be doing this and that...she means well and I know she is super excited since this is her first grandchild (not to mention grand daughter). Tony's other sister is coming out one week after she is born to help out..I asked her to. She is such an amazing woman, she was diagnosed with stage 3 stomach cancer a year and a half ago and has since run 4 marathons and not let it beat her. So it means so much to have her come out and help and just be here. Tony's parents both passed away a couple of years ago. Then we will be by ourselves until Christmas when the entire world will be here.

Exciting news..I think we have decided on a name.... Kaelyn Christine (Christine is Tony's sister's name). It's not finalized yet but it just seems to work. We have been "trying on different names" each week and this one has lasted for 3 weeks and we both agree on it

Have a great evening
~Susan

[hmbay]

my dr finally called back. Pretty much told me if the spotting didn't get heavier or turn red to just take it easy and try to ignore it. Told me she had no idea if it would last a few more days or weeks. So makes me feel a tiny bit better she's not worried but then again until it quits I'm going to be worried it's going to get heavier or turn red. I'm still telling myself if she was really worried she'd have me on bedrest either at home or in the hospital and she'd have me in for steriod shots to mature the baby's lungs (or she's just an incompetent lazy dr and we're just trying not to think about that scenario). So I guess my original plans of a VBAC are now replaced with a goal of making it to 36 weeks. My last u/s dated me at 9/28 and my dr has my due date at 9/25. If I go with 9/25 that puts me at 33 weeks 2 days right now. So a little under 3 weeks and I've hit my goal. I'd prefer 37 weeks as they do consider 37 full term whereas 36 would be a preemie again although he would most likely have a very short hospital stay at 36 weeks (Colin only stayed for 2 1/2 weeks). Hopefully me and G2 make it that long--I had the first baby in the December 2003 thread when they decided to delivery Colin at 34 weeks 5 days. I'd like to let someone else have the honors of first Oct baby in this thread okay? :)

[cartersmommy]

MCL-- i got the diaper bag at www.ella-bags.com. They were FABULOUS. it took about 6 weeks to get, but you custom choose your fabrics, and all that fun stuff. i highly recommend them!

[amtaylor]

Susan: I love the name... sounds like a keeper ;)

[Astara]

sdmama2b Pretty name! :)

[c j]

Work has been a mess for me lately. Our office is trying to get ISO 9000 certified and I have been graciously given the honor (hear the sarcasim) of being our divisions "Archivist". Needless to say, I work for an engineering firm and our motto must have been never to throw out ANYTHING!!! It's amazing how much unnecessary papers I have thrown out in the past two weeks. I can't wait for the auditors to be here tomorrow and leave. Then maybe I can get something else done for once. :rolleyes:

Baby is really movin' and a groovin' lately. These "knobbies" can really hurt at times.

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

astara snowmobiling?? Are you serious. Sometimes you have to wonder what people are thinking. I fully understand you wanting to limit time that people visit during the first few weeks when the baby arrives. I have already thought about telling my MIL that visiting hours for grandparents was one thing when actually the hospital doesn't have a time limit for grandparents. ;)

nancy drew thank you for sharing your story about your MIL. It's exactly what I fear. Her coming over not to help around the house... but to just hold the baby and do nothing else for hours on end.

lorialysNormally we get along great, but during this pregnancy her quirks have annoyed me more and I'm a little tired of the constant smothering and stuff because she's so happy about being a grandma.This is me exactly with my MIL. I am going to have to talk to DH about this, just need to find the right time, because I am not sure how DH will react about me having issues with his mom. Not that he'll be mad, but he's so laid back and nothing really bothers him so he'll just tell me that I am making it more then it really is.

hmbay Glad to see your doctor called back and that she's not too worried about complications. Just take is easy!

sdmama2be congrats on finding a name. Very cute!

[Astara]

cj Hope today goes by fast for you and tomorrow goes by even faster so you can be done with this stuff... Definintley doesnt sound like its the most wonderful thing to do in the world~ my little knobbies hurt too! lol after delivery... hopefully it doesnt turn out as stressful as it seems for any of us.. Have you had your due date changed or have I just never noticed you were due on the 21st?? :) They will probably move me up a week.. *i hope* lol but for now they only moved my week up one and said they would check on everything later before actually changing the EDD.

hmbay im glad to see that they arent worried at this time.. I hope everything smooths out for you and the bleeding stops.

cj made me think of this when she said that sometimes her knobbies hurt..

Exploding Belly It seems to be at night for me but Genevieve must curl up in on area in my belly because it sticks out even further and gets really really tight and feels like it is going to explode! It feels like if you blow a really big balloon up and your cheeks hurt afterwards but in your belly instead.. Is anyone else experiancing this as well?

[hmbay]

thanks everyone. I'm still feeling very uneasy about this all. I don't know if it's just pg hormones or mother's intuition but I honestly think this baby is coming into the world in the next week or two if I like it or not. Let's hope I'm wrong. I just sat down with my boss at work and told her the same thing--that I think my maternity leave will be starting sooner rather than later just to let her know.

[Tulip]

thanks everyone. I'm still feeling very uneasy about this all. I don't know if it's just pg hormones or mother's intuition but I honestly think this baby is coming into the world in the next week or two if I like it or not. Let's hope I'm wrong. I just sat down with my boss at work and told her the same thing--that I think my maternity leave will be starting sooner rather than later just to let her know.
I really hope you're wrong on this one. :( Didn't your son come early too? Could it be the same sort of situation?

[adoredh]

Heather

(((HUGS)))

You have every right to worry, but at the same time, you gotta think positive!

I'm sure everyone's heard this before - visualization - the example I've always heard was to picture the basket ball swishing through the hoop and then shoot your basket. You've got to think positive and visualize G2 not coming until he's full term!!!

Have conversations with him, tell him that while you can't wait to see him, but he's got to cook longer. Don't let yourself think about him coming early!!! Just push those thoughts right out of your brain!

Keep telling yourself that G2 is going to be very happy, healthy, and full term. Tell yourself that a hundred times a day if you have to, just stop letting those fears over rule this time of your life!

I know that I can never begin to understand what you went through with Colin, but there's got to be something to what I'm saying, about thinking positive?

[lorialys]

Hi girls! I'm 31 weeks today! I'll be back later tonight with new belly shots of course.

1_mommy Cute onesie!

Astara Oh, okay. That makes more sense. I don't think you're being unreasonable, but I think you're probably right in that you'll have to let MIL come over because your mom will be staying with you. If I were you, I'd just try to take things one day at a time, and if either one starts to overstep their bounds, be strong about insisting on some bonding time of your own.

sdmama2be Beautiful name!

hmbay Glad to hear that your doc is okay with you just taking it easy. I hope you get some peace of mind soon. I hope that your feelings that G2 is going to come early are just your fears as you get closer to the point in this pregnancy where Colin was born last time. I'm definitely thinking good thoughts for you that you'll carry this one to term!

cj Engineers... ah yes, I can relate. We're pack-rats when it comes to paper and documents. LOL Hope it all gets done soon. The knobbies in my belly hurt sometimes too!

Exploding Belly LOL, yeah I get that too. It's usually for a short period of time, but it sure is uncomfortable!

Our class last night was great! I found out that we're going to get some infant cpr and first aid, which is awesome because I wasn't expecting that. Definitely something I need, but DH already knows.

We started by introducing ourselves, and the instructor gave an overview of the class. Then we talked about baby care in the hospital, and what we can expect after the birth. That was good because I wasn't sure of the "normal" procedures after the delivery. Baby is delivered and the cord is cut, and then baby is put on mom's chest or taken over to the warmer immediately if he is in any distress. They give the vitamen K shot and put the medicine in his eyes, then assign the apgar scores and do all the weighing and measuring. They don't do footprints for their own purposes, but they have ink pads if we want them for the baby book and such. All this goes on while the doc is delivering the placenta and repairing any tears, etc. After mom is comfy again, the baby is swaddled and given back to mom and dad for some bonding time during recovery (1-2 hours). Breastfeeding can be tried here. They also run glucose tests on infants smaller than 6 pounds or larger than 9 pounds, or on babies whose mom's had diabetes. She said that this would be the only case where they will either insist that you try breastfeeding, or give a bottle to the baby if his blood sugar is low enough.

After this they take the baby to the nursery to warm up and get a bath and get a full physical. Mom gets taken to the mother/baby area for the rest of the stay (48 hours for a vaginal birth, 72 hours for a c-section). They do the heel stick and check for 10 different disorders, etc. and then the baby is brought back to the parents to room in for the rest of the time if mom and dad want. She also said they round up all the babies twice a day briefly for rounds and weight checks. Dad can go with baby during all these times if mom and dad want, and she went over the abduction policies for the hospital so we know who to let take the baby and who not to let take the baby and all. Circumcision is performed on the little boys (if the parents want) on the day of going home, and they have a photographer that comes in and takes first pictures. They sell packages of photos, and put them up on the hospital's website for family to see (password protected).

Next we talked about what to expect when we first get home, some discussion of feeding and sleeping schedules, reasons why babies cry and how to sooth them, and some of the different appearances that newborns can have (cradle cap, cone heads, etc.). We learned how to swaddle, and practiced on doll babies. :D I really like the instructor (same as our birth class) and she seems to be very knowledgeable. I was also glad to hear some reinforcement of the methods I've been reading about, most of what she described came out of "The Happiest Baby" book and "Babywise". Since this is more my chosen style of parenting, it was helpful to hear it from another medical professional.

All in all it was a great class! I can't wait to go back next week.

[hmbay]

I really hope you're wrong on this one. :( Didn't your son come early too? Could it be the same sort of situation?
They took my son early at 34 w 5 days because he was experiencing distress from low amniotic fluid. In this case if I'm right they'll end up taking G2 early because of the placenta previa which is what I'm pretty sure is causing the bleeding. I just want to get to 36 weeks but I'm not feeling very confident about that at all right now.

Alisha--I wish it was a simple as positive thinking right now but it's not. It's up to my body whether or not it's going to stop bleeding and I don't think any sort of positive thinking will solve that. i'm trying to stay as relaxed as possible so I don't have contractions on top of it all but I'm doing a lousy job (relaxing that is but no contractions so far thankfully). I guess I'd just feel better if my dr actually KNEW something but she doesn't. I realize she can't possibly know how this is going to all turn out but she seems so freaking flippant about it all it's driving me nuts.

[c j]

astara my due date has always been the 21st. I was using the 20th over in WC land because that was what FF had given me when I first found out that I was pregnant. When I move to CC, I've been using the 21st since that's the doctor's due date. The last sonogram (which was at 20 weeks) measured me to be due 14th, but the doctor won't change the date unless I measure 2 weeks ahead. Right now I am measuring exactly for the 21st.

hmbay sending many **positive ** thoughts your way. :D

lorialys let me tell you... i have had a rough two weeks trying to convince a lot of these engineers to just THROW IT OUT!!! They are getting better... slowly. LOL :D

[lorialys]

Oh yeah, I forgot to post about this earlier... I was looking at buying nursing bras today, and Babycenter has Bravado and Medela bras (the two I'm looking at, I've heard they are very good) on sale right now.

Bravado Original Nursing Bra - Regularly $35.00 - 10% off - $31.50
Medela Comfort Maternity/Nursing Bra - Regularly $29.95 - 15% off - $25.46

You can also get an extra 15% off until midnight tonight by using code: 23109924. That takes off an additional $8.54!

Just thought you guys might be interested. :D

[sdmama2be]

hmbay I can only imagine how scary it is right now, but please know that there are many of us thinking positive thoughts for you and your baby right now to make it to full term.

lorialys Thanks for the nurisng bra sale info...how do you know what size to get?

Thanks for the compliments on the name, I'm not supposed to tell anyone until she is born but I am terrible at keeping things secret/not knowing things so I had to tell someone or someones ;)

Off to the doctor...I do not want to get on the scale :eek:
Be back later
~Susan

[EJM]

Morning ladies!

Astara: I don't think any of your requests are unreasonable! :) Just be prepared (same thing I'm trying to do) with meeting resistance. DH keeps telling me everyone is excited to meet the baby, but so am I!

Susan: Very cute name! I'm hoping we narrow down our possibilities soon.

hmbay: I'm glad you called your doctor. Hopefully G2 stays put! I agree with adoredh on the positive thinking. I was in a terrible mood yesterday but found that taking a walk helped, are you able to do that? If you are truly that concerned definitely call your doctor back today and discuss your feelings with her. Maybe she was being nonchalant because she thought that was what you needed, but if you want to hear her realistic thoughts on it you might have to directly ask her.

lorialys: That sounds like a great class! We don't really have time to take one, but now I might have to rethink it. Thanks for posting about the bras.

Exploding Belly: I'm much better lately. A few weeks I felt like this child was going to come shooting out my stomach at any second.

Nursing Bras: How are you guys determining what size of nursing bras to order? I know I've grown (not as much as some of you ;) ) but I'm still stuffing myself into my old bras for now even though they don't fit totally right. Should I go a cup size up just in case I really grow when my milk comes in? Any advice would be great, as I'm clueless!

Oh, I have my next appointment this afternoon. Nothing major, just a measurement and weigh in. But I'm excited to hear the heartbeat! :D

[amtaylor]

Nursing Bras: At my childbirth class, they told us just to buy two now and have at least one that's a size bigger than you are currently wearing. Once your milk comes in they will grow and ton, but then settle out. After they settle, then you will know what size you're going to be.

[lorialys]

Sizing for Bras Here's what I did.
For Bravado, I went to Bravado's website (www.bravadodesigns.com) and they have sizing information and tips. They said to consider what bra band size you wear now (in late pregnancy) and the fact that you will probably go back to the size you wore before, after the pregnancy. I'm a 36 now, I was a 34 pre-pregnancy. For cup size, they said to go with a cup size that will accomodate one size up from where you are now. I was a B cup before pregnancy, I'm a C cup now, and I should expect to be a D or DD after my milk comes in. This will settle down a bit after I get used to breastfeeding. So I ordered an S+ because it is for 32-36 band size and C-D cups. If it doesn't fit, I can send it back.
For Medela, I checked out their website for sizing info as well (www.medela.com) but it wasn't too helpful. Fortunately, babycenter has some sizing info in the description for this bra. They come in small (30-32 A-C Cups), medium (34-36 B-DD cups) and large (38 C-DD cups), so I ordered a medium.

Hope this helps! I know some of you ladies probably don't fit well into the category breakdowns, or are too large to order one of these bras (but I'm pretty sure they have larger sizes in some bras). Just approximate, and hope that you either picked close to the right one, or you can always send it back. If in doubt, order a little bit bigger than you think you'll need! Or you can always go to a store to try them on, or get a LC to fit you for one (I think some do this).

[adoredh]

Heather

I agree with EJM - I think you should call your Dr again. You need your fears addressed in a professional manor, not flippant. Right now, it really sounds like your Dr is the only one that can help calm those fears and give you the assurance you need. It's her job to do that, so call them back up and tell them you need to come in. Remember, your Dr works for you, not the other way around.

[cartersmommy]

Right now, it really sounds like your Dr is the only one that can help calm those fears and give you the assurance you need. It's her job to do that, so call them back up and tell them you need to come in. Remember, your Dr works for you, not the other way around.

TOTALLY agree with alisha on this one. if you're feeling that concerned about everything, your dr. is the only one that can tell you one way or the other if your fears are rational or not. {{HUGS}}! Try to relax about it.... easier said than done, I know!


So this morning, something happened with our alarm clock and DH and I both overslept by an HOUR! what a way to start the morning! I feel really rested though! HA! luckily we don't have bosses to answer to, we're our own bosses, but it still made things hectic and crazy! makes everything that happens after that seem crazy too!!

had our 2nd birthing class last night... it was really good! we did "stations" on relaxation. she had us take clothes pins and use them as "pain stimuli" and we put them on our fingers to cause pain, then we had to go to each station and see what method of relaxation worked best to make the pain "better". there was smell, taste, massage, birthing ball, visualization, yoga, and music. i found that the music and the smell worked best. and actually (funny enough) it was Baby Magic lotion that made me relax the most! it was nice!!!
then we watched a video on birth.... crazy. DH was "mad" because they didn't warn us what we were watching! i told him that was because they didn't want all the dad's to run! HA!

tomorrow is our BFing class... .so that should be good! same teacher as birthing, so hopefully will be really informative!

hope you all have a great day!
amanda

[1_mommy]

hmbay thinking good thoughts for you. i really hope baby doesn't decide to come early.
i would call the dr back too and just let her know you are really worried and it is not making you feel very optomistic

[Astara]

lorialys & EJM Thank you both for your advice :) I'm glad it doesnt sound unreasonable.. I think I will do away with the whole 2 week thing and just see what happens. I will take everything one day at a time and prepare for resistance if anyone oversteps their boundaries. :)

Tomorrow is my first 2 week check up at the OB office. Hope everything goes good and I havent gained a bunch~

[EJM]

Back from my appointment, DH skipped this one because it was just a quick one with my normal OB. Another few pounds gained, putting me up to 21 total. Not too shabby for 30 weeks. She poked around a bit and found the head and butt. That was pretty strange to sit there while she did that. We both still think based on that and the heartbeat location that Bean is head down :D . Only annoying thing is that my pap came back abnormal again :( , she said not to worry because it didn't get any worse and it could just be the pregnancy. Unless I have cervical cancer (which I don't) they wouldn't treat the pregnancy any differently, and the testing timeline is just stretched out a bit. I wasn't worried after the first weird one, but this of course is one more thing to stress about :rolleyes:

We also talked about peds. I told her who we picked. She said he was wonderful and very very nice! Music to my ears since no peds do preinterviews around here. She's on hospital duty for two weeks and then on vacation for a week so I won't see her until week 37 when I'll be FULL TERM! I cannot believe that, girls do you realize how close our dates are getting! :)

[Astara]

EJM I am sorry about the abnormal pap again but at least she wasnt worried about it and that it could just be the PG. yay on baby being head down.. that's good at least! :) I know! I can't believe how close we are all getting.. it is just so crazy! :) I remember when this thread was JUST started!! ahhhhh~

[hmbay]

I decided not to call my dr. The spotting has slowed again. However DH came down and went to lunch with me and we had a good talk and he is finally more supportive. He's been obsessing so much over other things he hasn't really been listening to my concerns and now that he has he is a bit more freaked out (sorry honey) but is more aware of why I am freaked out (he didn't realize how serious of a problem this could become in a worse case scenario and thought I was just over-reacting). He did agree though that my dr seems less than supportive and said I should cancel my appt for two weeks from now with her and make it with the dr we met with last week as he seemed to actually listen to me and care if I had concerns. so that is my plan--try to relax and change my appt to see him in two weeks instead of her. If I end up calling anyone for the spotting it'll either be him or the triage nurse at the hospital. I've completely given up on my other dr--maybe she doesn't suck but I just don't like her.

[adoredh]

Heather

Can you tell I've been lurking all day? Just for you my dear! LOL!

I'm so sorry that you don't feel confident in your Dr, but at the same time, I'm very glad that you have back up with the Dr (the guy?) who was more helpful at your last apointment.

Glad that DH is back on the "Support My Wife" wagon - those hubby's, they do tend to slide off that wagon once in a while, don't they?

My DH is freaked out about the birthing classes we start tomorrow, I may need to come in CC and vent about him slidding off the wagon after tomorrow night! LOL! Poor guy freaked out when I reminded him our first one is tomorrow, and that we need to bring two pillows. Not sure what horrible image he had in his mind, on what we needed those pillows for, but you should have heard the tone of his voice "What do we need pillows for? What are they going to do to you tomorrow?!?!" Umm, hon, they're going to teach us to relax, and I think the timing to learn that couldn't be more perfect (for you)

Good grief! I have this belief that when the moment happens, DH will be supportive during birth, but comments and moments like that, make me wonder! LOL!

[hmbay]

Alisha --you're too sweet. :) Hmm my dh was very unhelpful with the relaxation exercises the first time around. he grumped and grumbled the entire time about "why do YOU get the massage". :rolleyes: He was better at our refresher class (not that it's going to do us any good).

so I just called and cancelled my appt with my current dr and made one with the other dr I saw last week. It's more of an inconvenience to drive to his clinic from my work but I just decided I'd feel more comfortable seeing him (if my pregnancy gets that far). I've decided all my appts from here out are with either him or the dr that did my c/s last time (practices at the same clinic) and I'll just have to work weekends or whatever to make up the time I end up taking off to make the extra drive. I get whoever is on call to deliver if I have an emergency c/s anyhow but I feel much more at peace knowing if I get to 35 weeks I'll be seeing a dr I actually feel cares if I'm freaking out or not. so my next u/s is Aug 19th and my next ob appt is aug 23rd. Let's hope I'm still pregnant for both of them. :D

[1_mommy]

hmbay you WILL make it to your next appt o.k. ;)



i can't stop eating today. dd has been down for her nap for an 1 1/2 hours now, and i have eaten non stop. and i want more. i just shoved some bubble gum in my mouth to keep me busy, but i want food!

[lml41981]

Keeping you in my thoughts Heather!

I'm not up to shout-outs right now...I've tried to keep a really positive attitude about this flippin' GD, but it is really beating me. Nothing I do is getting my sugars where they want them consistently. I've cut so many carbs...tons of carbs...I'm not even eating the number they said I could have, and I'm still not hitting their goal. I stay hungry all the time, too...I feel like I'm starving myself...in fact, last night I stepped on the scale and I had lost 3 pounds since Friday.

I called the doctor's office and they're seeing me tomorrow to review my food and sugars diary and to start me on insulin. :(

[sdmama2be]

hmbay Still thinking positive thoughts for you. I'm glad to hear that you are going to see the doctor that you are more comfortable with..and that your husband is being supportive. Sometimes I think that they should have to experience one day of pregnancy ;)

lml I'm sorry to hear that your sugar won't stay at the right number...you are doing everything that you can, so keep staying positive

Went to the doctor this morning but I ended up seeing the NP as my doctor was delivering babies :D The NP is so funny, she has all of these great stories to share and so I never feel like any question is totally stupid. I am super clueless sometimes about the whole pregnancy/mommy thing..I now know that the tightening in my stomach after I walk/swim/work out is BH :rolleyes: She said it is completely expected especially with moms who are active during thier pregnancy. However the scale at the doctors office is completely messed up..somehow I have only gained a pound since my last appointment (the big 8 pound in 4 weeks scary one). There is no way that is right since I have grown significantly and have been eating non stop. Next time I will be up 8 pounds again guaranteed :rolleyes: They don't want to see me for another 4 weeks..I asked and they said that since everything is going "smoothly" they don't need to see me but to call etc if anything. Then I have to go every 2 weeks and then weekly YIKES :eek: so close I remember my first appointment and thinking how far away the third trimester was and now here we are!!! She is still booty down but they aren't concerned because it isn't time for her to "lock into position" yeah easy for them to not be concerned :p and I am still measuring 2 weeks ahead.
So my next appointment is Wednesday September 7 (WOW I am back at school then with a whole new class).
~Susan

[nancy drew]

ejm you should have mail tomorrow or the next day :) im sorry your pap came back negative. hopefully its nothing serious.

lml im so sorry that the gd isnt getting under control with your dietary changes. i know how hard it is to change your diet dramatically and abruptly (im supposed to be avoiding almost every type of food except meat, veggies, and fruit due to allergy issues) and it is nearly impossible for me to muster up the will power to avoid the yummy food i see in my own house every day.

---------
well today must be dr day. i had my 32 week appt today. they hadnt received the u/s paperwork, so i told her about what i was told (head down, placenta up, 5 pound baby) and she said after she sees the report she may make some plans for me to get another u/s at 36 weeks but if things seem ok then i wont have one. thats fine with me, ill be seeing him in person soon enough anyway, though it would be nice to see if he really is that huge or if they were off on their measurements. i gained weight, but im blaming that on my realtor who has left all this awesome food and candy at the house for her open houses ;). i also seem to have thrush (bfing yeast infection) so i got a rx for that. i hope it goes away FAST because it isnt fun at all. nursing while pg is difficult enough, i dont need to have severe pain and itching adding to the situation.

[jenjen0713]

Wow, everyone has been busy chatting away.....no time for individual SOs but a big HELLO to everyone (waving!) :D

hmbay - I'm sending positive vibes your way that baby stays put for a while longer....keep thinking good things.

lml - So sorry to hear about the GD! I can't even imagine how hard it would be to modify eating habits.

Loving all the diaper bags...I've registered for a big one and a little one. Plain jane, nothing special....wanted something DH would be ok with carrying.

I'm so excited to hear about everyone's birthing classes. I'm finding out what to expect when I start mine in a few weeks.

MILS - Geez, so sorry to hear about some scary MILs out there. Mine is actually a pretty good one who isn't too invasive....she does call a lot, but at least she doesn't do unannounce drop-ins at my house. I figure she'll be a great resource since she has had 9 kids and lives here in town with me. The only thing she has said to me is that she hopes we name our child after a saint. :rolleyes: (Big Catholic, if you couldn't tell)

Don't know about anyone else, but I'm having a helluva lower back pain. I think I'm arching my back too much during the day. DH has been awesome and has been rubbing it. The neighbor lady also told him he should be massaging my feet since they swell up and he has been doing that too. I'll have to thank her the next time I see her.

[lorialys]

cartersmommy Sorry you overslept this morning!! That always makes things difficult. Glad your class was good though!

Astara No problem, that sounds like a good plan.

EJM Glad your appointment went well, but I'm sorry to hear about the abnormal pap again. Hopefully it's just a pregnancy fluke.

hmbay Glad you had a good talk with DH! Hang in there and think positively!! I think it's a great idea to switch to the other doc.

adoredh LOL about your hubby and the pillow thing. :D

1_mommy Sounds like baby is about to have a growth spurt!

lml41981 So sorry you're having trouble with the diet and the blood sugars. (((Hugs))) I've been reading along in your LJ and I know it is really hard for you. Hang in there, the levels will settle out soon I hope.

sdmama2be Glad you had a good appointment!

nancy drew Yay for the good appointment!

jenjen0713 I get some lower back pain too, but I haven't found any remedies other than complaining, LOL. ;)


Belly pictures!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d628b3127cce930ebcc2fc6500000056108AcsmjZw2cNc

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d628b3127cce930ebcecfc4b00000036108AcsmjZw2cNc

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d628b3127cce930ebcd0fc7700000036108AcsmjZw2cNc

Can you believe I've actually grown since last week?!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d623b3127cce936260ee917100000036108AcsmjZw2cNc

[Surftraitor]

Hi everyone,

Wow, look at all the diaper bags! I'm with lexylou loving the Flourville Mothership bags. My only hang up is that I wish it came in non-babyish colors.
http://www.missfitzinc.com/Folders/lib173/Store_Product_Images/blueicefleurville.jpg

I also like this one from Oi Oi...
http://www.missfitzinc.com/Folders/lib173/Store_Product_Images/oi-oi-lime-tote.jpg

But I think I'll also get a smaller one, as I've seen a lot of my friends using the smaller bags as the child gets older.

Visitors--my mom is coming out right after Flipper is born. My dad will likely stay for a few days, but mum will stay longer. I'm totally not worried about us butting heads. We get along well and she knows when I need my distance. They'll stay at our house. Alternatively, my MIL is a real pistol. I'm sure she'll come with white baby outfits in tow. :rolleyes: She LOVES babies in white outfits, despite the fact that they're white for about 2 minutes. So, I'm sure she'll want to deck him out like Little Lord Fauntleroy. MIL loves to buy things that SHE would like to see people wear. Every year DH gets a pink Polo shirt despite the fact that every year he tells her he doesn't wear them. Last year, I got lavendar lacy grandma pajamas. Those went straight to Goodwill. She's got some weird connection to Lord & Taylor stores. She shops there for EVERYTHING, despite the fact that there are none in CA she insists on buying us gifts and including the gift receipt. Why? I have no idea. Additionally, she gets under my skin in about 2 hours. She's opinionated, yet subtle with her approach. I'm sure at some point I'll snap at her. In a sick way, I'm looking forward to snapping at her.

We had a nice, relaxing weekend. We bought our glider, but need to order the ottoman. Apparently someone bought the glider and then returned it to the store. We got a sweet deal on it and were able to take it home that day. Now I just need to order the otto.

My week's been soooo busy. Today I was in meetings from 9-3. Ugh! Its like they think that since I'm prego that I can now do the work of two people. I can't wait to be gone on maternity leave. Then they'll truely appreciate me :). I'm thinking that my job is affecting my ability to get the nursery done (well, we actually need to start it). I'm up to my eyeballs in bedding all day--looking at it, talking about it, projecting sales around it. I get home and just avoid the nursery.

p.s. You know you need to clean out your purse when you're 7 months prego and there's tampons in your purse!

[DianeCourt]

hmbay & lml: Hang in there, OK? I hate to see any of the October mommies going through tough times. :(

We had childbirth class #3 last night, and there was a substitute instructor because the regular instructor was on vacation. We didn't get as much out of this particular class, and I think it was because of the sub. I don't want to be too mean, because I know subbing is tough, but she just wasn't very engaging and kept repeating herself. (DH & I both had heavy lids!) And she was REALLY annoying us because she kept calling contractions "surges." She said that she "didn't believe that women had contractions, only surges." Whatever that means! Ugh, that bugged me.

We assembled our crib tonight, and it went very well. I think we were a little afraid because we had such a bad experience with the first crib (Jardine) we picked out and ended up returning a few months ago. Yesterday I also ordered our glider & ottoman. It's the most comfortable glider I've ever sat in - WAY more comfy & bit less expensive than Dutailier! We chose the natural finish on the left, and I picked out a light beige microfiber for the fabric:
http://www.bestchairs.com/bcassets/prodimages/C4137.jpg
We decided that it won't be going in the nursery, but we're going to put it right outside the nursery on our 2nd floor loft that overlooks our first level instead. We're limited on space in the nursery, and this way we won't have to try to find a glider with white wood just to match the crib & other furniture. Please keep your fingers crossed that our special order arrives before the baby does!

[LexyLou]

surftraitor-What about these prints?
http://www.fleurville.com/products_fab/pop_ms_pinkstripe.jpg

http://www.fleurville.com/products_fab/pop_st_aquastripe2.jpg
I also love the Oi Oi bag. :)

You are in my thoughts Heather-I really hope baby stays put for at least a couple more weeks.

No time for shout outs but I'm thinking of you all.

[Lvella43]

[B]Astara OMG Genevieve is so beautiful!!! Congratulations! Can you hardly contain yourself with excitement to meet her now? Seriously, there was discussion of snowmobiling?! Are they freaking nuts?

adoredh

(those Italian's I tell ya, not good for a diet!!! LOL!)

That cracked me up because I come from an Italian family and feel exactly the same way!!! My parents are always always always FEEDING ME!! Or trying to feed me, I've learned to say no and although they are offended, I just can't possibly eat that much!

cartersmommy GREAT point about the diaper bag being girly!! I guess I've been thinking "we'd" be using it, but DH is going to be carrying the heavy stuff for sure!! Bring on the girly diaper bag for me!!

c j - Question... Does anyone have a fear about their IL's or their parents with the baby???
You seem to have every right NOT to tell you MIL about your body; its her grandchild, but its your body and you should only disclose what you want to and not feel guilty about it. Praise Caller-ID!!

jg124 I am in shock that someone would have a shower and only serve cake. Did they not get that there would be AT LEAST one preggo there and they need food? Geez, that wasn't very well thought out!

scubasam The pics of the kids with your DH is awesome! He already looks like a Pro. Cute belly!! You're looking great!

Lex Good luck avoiding the cross favors. It would be classic to have a party for your MIL and hand out Star of David favors!

LML Hopefully you can get your legs to relax a bit.

Nancy Drew Geez, your MIL is a freaking nightmare!

sdmama2be That is such a cute name!!! Great choice.


hmbay I'm so happy to read that you called the doc....not that they seemed to quell your fears very much, but at least they've been alerted to what is going on with you. Hang in there! Glad to hear you called and changed docs, it should help both you and DH feel better about your medical care.


lorialys Your class sounds great!! I think I recall seeing that your name is Lorene, is that right? Its my mom's name and I've never heard of anyone with that name :) You're belly is so cute!

surftraitor I still am in shock over your cankles, not that they look scary or anything, it just looks painful. What do they tell you to do when you get them...just elevate?LOL that you found tampons in your purse; that is hysterical!

[Lvella43]

IL or Parent Concerns I have tons of concerns and they are very different. For my parents I worry we are going to drive each other nutso. My parents are very loud people (small people - LOUD voices) and I really like to have a calm home environment where my parents seem to thrive off chaos. As for DH family I have hygiene concerns. For example, when my neice was born about 4 months ago NO ONE washed their hands before holding the baby in the hospital. Are you freaking kidding me? My nephew had been at the park all morning with his grandparents and non of them washed their hands before touching the newborn. It just freaks me out to no end. As for the trying to parent my child issue, my ILs would never be that way, but my parents might ting on being a little agressive, but I have no problem talking to my parents about that stuff.

Things with me have been great baby-wise, but to say I've been hormonal would be a huge understatement. I cried all day yesterday for no reason.

I've also started washing clothes and putting things away in the nursery, but ....we don't have any furniture in there. DH won't let me buy anything for the nursery (we have a crib, but he won't take it out of the box) until the baby is born and everything is ok. It FREAKS ME OUT but I know that he has concerns because his friend and lost their baby in late pregnancy and she had to deliver a still-born baby. Then they had to go home to a house full of baby stuff that they couldn't use. Anyway, I'm doing what I can to be prepared and Chris is willing to run out and purchase the stuff and put everthing together with a quickness once the little dude is here and Chris is VERY dependable so I know he'll come thru with flying colors. I feel like its super early for me to be doing laundry and such, but with each day I lose a little bit of agility and such and its just getting to hard to lug things around the house (we have a lot of stairs).

On Friday I leave for San Diego for a week so I'll be MIA again.

[hmbay]

onto more self-assurance. Spotting is back to minimal this morning. still having it which I'm not thrilled about but it's back to where it was previously so I'll take that I guess. I also dug out a book I had from when Colin was born prematurely that explains all the different problems/complications etc preemies can have and what they are, how much of a risk they are etc etc etc. Made me feel much better (although while I was flipping through it I thought "I wasn't supposed to have to ever open this book again"). Seems 30-33 weeks has only a slightly higher risk of most of the possible complications than 34-37 week preemies (which Colin was at 34 w 5 days). Of course there are always exceptions to the rule but it made me feel a lot better to know that if G2 makes an appearance anytime in the next day to few weeks we shouldn't be looking at any worse of an experience and outcome than we had last time. Granted I don't want to relive NICU visits and apnea monitors and all that other stuff again if I don't have to but at least this time I'll know what's involved and it might not be so scary having been there once before. So in general I'm feeling much more positive today. :)

[Tulip]

Starting yesterday afternoon I've had this sharp pain in my left lower side. It's been coming and going since. I had a horrible time trying to sleep last night b/c every time I moved it set of the pain again. Someone told me it was the muscles stretching to accomodate the belly. Does anyone else have this pain or have had it? I need it to be gone!

[jh124]

We had our fourth class last night. It covered pain management during labor and the various drug options available. Talk about taking notes! I have a ton to discuss with my dr. I knew ahead of time that I wanted an epidural, but this gave me more to think about with timing and how I expected my labor to go.

Diaper Bags Y'all have such cute bags. I have borrowed one from Octoberkate and we have registered for one that DH liked. I'm holding out on buying *my* bag until the baby comes. I think what I envision needing now and what I find I need when Hank arrives may be two different things. We have registered for a stroller, but I think a stroller is another one of those things that you don't really know what your preferences are until you use one for awhile. Probably after Hank arrives I'll go on a diaper bag shopping spree.

Clothes Ok, I know I shouldn't buy anymore maternity clothes, because after all, I'm in my third trimester. However, the clothes that I've bought thus far have been spring/summer in weight and style - and I'm growing out of them!!! I still have two and a half months of pregnancy ahead of me. I went to H&M and went a little crazy. I bought three pairs of pants, which I adore (two black, one beige). They are almost the exact cut/style of what I wore pre-preg. No way they would have fit me prior to my third trimester, but at $35 each, if they get me through the next 11 weeks, I consider it worth it. I bought a 3/4 sleeve beige top that was on clearance for $9, two nursing shirts (white and black) for $15 (I've been told these are expensive, so I bought two when I had the chance), and one long sweater for $35 (you know, the kind that was soooo trendy 2-3 years ago.) I think I'll use the sweater as my jacket when the weather starts getting cooler.

This shopping spree was a huge relief to me. My fall is shaping up to be incredibly demanding and busy. I own two maternity suits, but don't think the skirt on one will fit me much longer. I have five jackets in varying degrees of professional-ness that I have been interchanging with black or beige shirts and pants. I was freaking that I will soon outgrow a few pairs of pants and what would I do this fall for work? Sweats won't cut it on Capitol Hill. Now I know I can mix and match for the eight weeks after Labor Day. And if I go into labor in the next four weeks, I can return this stuff to H&M - unlike most maternity stores.

[shushyk]

Hi ladies,

I had company for a week. I am finally now alone again and I think from all the lack of sleep I feel like sh*t. The painters finally called me back and did our bedroom the transformation is tramendous. I can't get over it, it looks like a magazine. I thought I had the crib and changing table I wanted, but it cost 200 bucks + just in shipping... forget it. starting over in that department.

jh124 - shopping!!! fun, I need more pants too. Mine are getting so tight I feel like this :eek: when I wear them. Sine the baby is so high its squishing everything up and I feel like my eyeballs will pop out!!


Tulip - SHARP PAIN? I get a lot of pain when I forget to pee or if I am sleeping or laying on the couch and I don't try to pee for a little the pain usually goes away if I go to the b-room. Oh and I also do these pelvic tilts that help take the pain away too. Get on all 4s and then rock your pelvis under your tummy and then flat again. we learned it in class to help prepare for labor, but it helps with tummy pains.


hmbay - That is good to hear. Hope it continues to go away.

Lvella43 - I understand the fear, I have had 4 losses myself and my DH and I are just starting to feel comfortable ordering stuff (like the crib and what not) for the baby. I guess there is always that fear for me too. BUT on the other hand I don't want to take away anything from this baby. So I am TRYING to get over it. Your the one carrying the baby, if it makes you feel better you should try talking to your DH and telling him that you feel better having the room together and done and thinking POSITIVE. Good luck, I know with fear and worry sometime there is no changing your mind.


ahhh I am so tired no sleep AT ALL last night. since we got the bedroom painted we had to sleep in the guest room. queen bed - very sad that I cant get comfy in a queen iwth DH. I was hotter than usual since we were CLOSER together. and the smell of the paint was still a bit strong.

HI EVERYONE ELSE - Love the diaper bags and tummy pic.

MIL - Sorry I have heard of some serious horror stories, but I LOVE mine. If anything mine is SO polite she might be afraid to come over and help me for fear of stepping on my toes.

OOOH I just remembered we do our hospital tour thurs. night. I totally forgot till just now.

I hope everyone is enjoying their last few months with their DHs alone. We are trying to go out and enjoy our time together as much as posible. Off to get some rest.

[c j]

If anything mine is SO polite she might be afraid to come over and help me for fear of stepping on my toes.


shushyk Can I borrow your MIL ;) :p

[jh124]

My MIL is pretty great, too. I got really luck marrying into this family. Of course, I may have a different perspective when there is a grandchild involved, but for now I'm counting my blessings.

[hmbay]

MIL--although on many levels mine leaves a lot to be desired she really wasn't bad at all when Colin was born. She is typically a "me me me" person but she was very good that time around. Perhaps because that was grandchild number 8 for her (with two more on the way at the time) she's learned what her boundaries are or perhaps because we've never really let her control any aspect of our life she has tried to (we are the only wedding she didn't get to help plan and I know it aggravated her to no end but anytime she asked to help etc I just said "we have it under control" so she learned her boundaries with us very early on). Hopefully everyone else will find their MIL's turn out better than they expect.

[Tulip]

My MIL is pretty great, too. I got really luck marrying into this family. Of course, I may have a different perspective when there is a grandchild involved, but for now I'm counting my blessings.
Ditto here. I think we both lucked out with our MIL. Of course Dan might not say the same. ;)

[lorialys]

Surftraitor LOL about the white baby outfits! What are people thinking when they buy those?? Glad you got a great deal on the glider! Sorry they are keeping you so busy at work, I bet that makes it really hard to get the nursery done!

DianeCourt Sorry to hear that you didn't much care for the childbirth class sub. Sounds like a good plan with the glider in the loft.

lvella43 What a coincidence! Yup, that's my name. :D I've never met anyone that shared it with me either. I used to hate it when I was little (I wanted to be a Sara like everyone else, LOL) but it slowly grew on me and now it isn't so bad. The experience has made me want to give our children "normal" names though.

hmbay I'm so glad you're feeling more positive today!

Tulip I don't know what that pain might be, but I'm sorry you're having to deal with it! No fun!

jh124 Sounds like a shopping spree is just what you needed!

shushyk Sorry to hear that you aren't sleeping well lately.


We have our second childbirth class tonight! (DH is less than excited, he's having a bad day. Poor guy is so stressed out!) We get the hospital tour tonight and I am so excited. If all goes well and they aren't too full, that is.

[LexyLou]

Lex Good luck avoiding the cross favors. It would be classic to have a party for your MIL and hand out Star of David favors!

OMG, Lisa, she would die. It's not that she does it to be rude, she's just so religious that she doesn't get that not everything is about religion. She even buys my cross necklaces...uggg.

Chris isn't Jewish, is he?

I've also started washing clothes and putting things away in the nursery, but ....we don't have any furniture in there. DH won't let me buy anything for the nursery (we have a crib, but he won't take it out of the box) until the baby is born and everything is ok.

Religious Jews won't put any baby stuff in the house and won't do showers until the baby is born. They feel it's bad luck. It's interesting that your DH feels the same way.

Can't wait to see you on Monday!

hmbay-I'm still thinking positive thoughts for you...stay in there baby!

Tulip-Yes, I get that sharp pain and it's always in my lower right side. It happens a lot when I'm walking. My Dr. said it's stretching and also the fact that our pelvic bone is shiffting and spreading and normal movements are now not so normal and you get that sharp pulling sensation. No fun.

jh124-I went on a little shopping spree too. I mean 2 months is still a long time and I too have grown out of some of my earlier stuff. I though still have like 10 things that I haven't even taken the tags off of but won't wear...I'm hoping to sell them on ebay and at least get back some of my money. :)

shushyk-Very jealous of your MIL. Mine is getting better and she means well but it's tiring being around her for long periods.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have our final class tonight, it's infant CPR.

I'm proud of myself and actually woke up and went to the gym this morning. I'll get in 5 times this week. Yipee. I'm in a wedding this weekend and can I say I look like a big cherry. Not flatering at all. Oh well.

Hope you all have a nice day.

[adoredh]

Sharp Pains Drink water, that helps out BIG time! :)

Heather I'm glad you're feeling more positive today! I can't wait until the end of Sept, when you are complaining that G2 won't come out! (because then I'll get to say a big fat "I TOLD YOU SO!" LOL! ) I just know he's going to stay all snug as a bug and make you wait to see him :D

MIL I've been playing Scarlett Ohara - "I'll think about it tomorrow" when it comes to my MIL. I just don't want to obsess about her, I'd rather obsess about The Boy! She knows ever detail of our lives, she lives 2 mins from us, and she comes to my house every morning to pick up my two dogs.... can anyone tell why I don't want to even think about it right now?
Example, I was just getting ready to leave the house for work, and in pulls the IL's to pick up the dogs. They normally wait until I'm gone to get the dogs, but lately, can't seem to wait. I think they just want an excuss to see me more often (ick) Last week I had a morning apt with the OB and was downstairs ironing my shirt, MIL's boyfriend came alone to pick up the dogs, I shouted up that I was half dressed and to go a head and take the boys. I got a call from MIL - she was worried I was in labor - yes, labor. I think instead of shouting to MIL's boyfriend I'm half dressed, I would have shouted call 911 if I was labor! :rolleyes:
I'm going to get real pissy if they keep coming to the house early!

[amtaylor]

I've only been gone for half a day and I've missed so much!

I'll have to go back and catch up, but I wanted to share. We had our 3D ultrasound today. I've been a good girl and drank my 80oz of water for the 3 days previous and it was so worth it! It apparently increases your fluid and helps the baby have more room to move. We got some fabulous pictures and video. I'll only post one or two here and put the rest in my journal. She's lying transverse right now, so I'm hoping that she'll eventually turn the rest of the way!

My little sleepy girl:
http://images.snapfish.com/34468%3C5523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2328%3D868%3D766%3DX ROQDF%3E23239%3C444%3B573ot1lsi
http://images.snapfish.com/34468%3C5523232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2328%3D868%3D766%3DX ROQDF%3E23239%3C444%3B564ot1lsi

[1_mommy]

wow amtaylor, those are some great shots of the baby. love the one with her yawning!

[hmbay]

Lorene--just saw this on babygap's clearance section. Since I know you had wanted airplane bedding I thought you might like this--the two "only at gap.com" giftsets (and on clearance too!)
http://www.gap.com/asp/dept_index_all_paging.asp?wdid=5311

http://www.gap.com/assets/product/main/baby/bg279635-01p1.jpg

[Tiger]

amtaylor Great u/s pics! The yawn is too precious!


lex Good job on going to the gym! If only i could get my butt off the couch.

lorialys Have fun on your hospital tour. Why is your dh so stressed out?

MIL Since DH's parents are divorced, I am lucky enough to have 2 MIL's. They really aren't too bad. DH's real mom can put on quite the guilt trip though. She likes to play the "poor me" role and all 3 of her boys fall for it and do everything for her. It drives me nuts. All in all, she really isn't too bad. I really don't anticipate too many problems from either MIL. I think the biggest problem they will have is me going back to work after having the baby, but they are just going to have to realize that we can't make it just on one salary. They are pretty good at knowing their boundaries so I am not too worried.

I am getting so excited for my shower this weekend. I can't wait to see all of my family and see all the fun baby stuff we will get! Several of my friends that I haven't seen for months are going to be there. I can't wait! I think I am going to end up with another shower too. DH's mom was going to go to this shower (which will be mostly my family), but now I think she is going to have her own shower for me so that all of her family will be able to go to it. It would have been a 4-5 hour drive for all of them so no one was going to be able to make it to the shower this weekend. If she has another shower for me then they will all be able to attend.

[Lvella43]

amtaylor OMG that shot of the yawn is priceless!!! Thanks for posting the u/s pics!

____________________________

Question: Who is working out on a regular basis and what sort of exercise are you doing?

[jenjen0713]

Working out - what is that? I thought that was a four letter word! :D Seriously, I never was very good at working out before and the only work out I get now is walking from the parking lot at work to my building and the occasional cleaning I do at home.

amtaylor - ooohhhh...that one of her yawning is so sweet!!

[LexyLou]

amtaylor-what precious pics! I love the yawning one!

Lisa-I'm working out...I don't know about a regular basis. Good weeks I get in 5 times, bad weeks I get in 3 times. Depends my mood. I usually do 35-45 minutes of cardio (eliptical, bike, treadmill) keeping my heart rate around 140-150. Then if I'm in the mood I'll lift. I have lowered the weights a lot and will either just do a circuit or focus on 2 body parts. I don't super set anymore since I don't want to keep my heart rate as high as I did pre-pregnancy.

Sometimes, if I'm feeling lazy I'll just take my dog on a 45 minute walk and consider that working out. :)

This morning I did 35 minutes on the eliptical and the full body circuit...it felt great.

[Astara]

nancy drew I am sorry about the thrush! Ouch~

lorialys Beautiful belly pics!!! it really is crazy how much bigger we keep getting!

Lvella43 Thank you so much!!! :) I cannot contain myself for sure.. I cant wait!! The fears of delivery I had are starting to slowly fade because now all I can think about is seeing that little chubby cheeked face! lol I am glad dh and I are not the only ones who saw a problem with the whole snowmobiling thing! I cant believe no one washed their hands!!! Have a great time in San Diego!

amtaylor BEAUTIFUL pictures!!!!! I love the one of her yawning.. how sweet!! :) Isnt it just amazing the kind of detail you get to see on the 3D/4D U/S??? :)

Today I have my first 2 week OB appt. I wonder if they will do anything different. I am just so tired today, I took a nap, and now I need to get ready to go.. I just have no strength today.

[Tulip]

Amtaylor, that yawning one was worth the whole thing I'm sure. It's so adorable.

[Tiger]

working out What's that? The only workout I get lately is my walk to work. It's only about 4 blocks but I walk it about 4 times a day...to work, home for lunch, back to work, and home at the end of the day. Not much at all....who am I kidding....it isn't even enough to count as working out, but I figure it is better than nothing.

Question....for those of you returning to work. What type of daycare are you going to be using - in home or a daycare center? I am currently looking into our options. I originally thought I really wanted an in-home sitter but I am having a hard time finding one. Everyone who I talk to here at work take their kids to a daycare center here. I may end up looking into a center. What type of questions do you ask when you call there?

[EJM]

amtaylor: Those pictures are precious!!!

Nancy: Thanks! I'm so excited. I saw a woman at the doctor yesterday with a carrying position that I'd never seen before. It basically crossed like an x in front of her body. The baby clearly does not have head control yet, but seemed to love that position.

hmbay: I'm so glad that you changed doctors! I'm sure that is part of the reason why you are feeling better today :)

Daycare: We will need something but don't know what type we will have yet. I'm really far down the waitlist at the only two centers that take babies PT, and most homeday cares told me to call back in late November for January. We may end up with a nanny, who knows! But here are a few questions I'll ask:

1. What is the baby/teacher ratio in each room?
2. What is the daily schedule, even for infants daycare centers should have one.
3. What is the education/experience of the employees?
4. What is the employee turnover?
5. How do they discipline children/correct behavior?
6. What is their sick child policy?
7. Method/timing of payments?
8. Feeding/storage of breastmilk/formula/diapers. Are diapers/wipes included in the monthly fee?
9. Policies on late pick-up
10. I'd also want to know the size of the entire facility.
11. Do they have an open door policy for parents?
12. Would I receive progress reports or updates? If so, how often?

I have more, but over the phone these would be the basics.

[jh124]

Working Out - Lexy has shamed me. I live in a three story house and consider that my workout.

Daycare We are going with a center, because I have real fears about what goes on in someone's home when no one else is around. A friend has offered to have our son stay with her, but I have some concerns about a business arrangement between friends.

-Are they NAEYC approved (pronounced nay-see and it stands for National Association for the Education of Young Children)?
-What's the student to teacher ratio? Federal guidelines for centers suggest no more than 1:3 for infants; 1:4 for toddlers; 1:8 for children aged 3 to 6.
-How they handle mornings and afternoons when teachers come in late or leave early (do they put toddlers in with infants or what)?
-What is their vacation policy?
-What is the sick leave policy?
-Do the accommodate children who are ill and, if so, is there an extra charge for that?
-What is the procedure for medical emergencies?
-Do they allow drop-in visits from parents or must they be scheduled?
-How do they handle milestones - do they tell you when baby took his first step or do they pretend it didn't happen so you get to think you saw the first step?
-How do they handle discipline?
-How long do infant cry before they are held?
-Do they require that you use disposable diapers or are they cloth-diaper friendly?
-Do they require that you start feeding solids at a certain age, or are they fine if you want to use EBM for a long time?
-Do they even allow EBM or does it have to formula?
-What's the cost?
-What is the waiting list like?

Does the center have:

carpeting, pads, and drapery to absorb extraneous noise?
child-sized furniture?
a cheerful, colorful atmosphere?
ample toys and art materials?
plenty of indoor and outdoor space?
special areas for quiet and active play?
smoke detectors and fire extinguishers? Regular fire drills? Alternate exits?


Staff

Does the staff:

genuinely seem to enjoy cuddling, holding, and talking to my baby?
welcome my questions and suggestions?
share my childrearing philosophy?
take time to share my child's experiences with me?
have low turnover?
sensitively handle feelings of fear, shyness, upset, and anger?
respect each child's unique background and interests?
guide rather than direct behavior?
really listen and talk to the children?
kneel or sit at child's eye level?
spend individual time with each child?
actively play with children, indoors and out?
emphasize children's strengths and accomplishments?
handle discipline positively?
establish and consistently maintain limits?


Program

Does the program:

balance active, physical activities with quiet, restful ones?
provide ample rest and nap times?
prohibit play that could quickly get out of hand?
encourage children to express themselves?
patiently encourage toddlers to solve some problems on their own?
provide ample opportunities for children to feel good about themselves?
help children deal with feelings constructively?
provide security through a well-defined, predictable schedule of daily activities?
balance structured and unstructured activities?
design graduated goals for each child?
encourage language development?


Health and Safety

Are important phone numbers posted near the phone? (Examples include police, fire, poison control center, hospital, children's physician, ambulance.)
Does the staff always know how to get in touch with both parents?
Does my child receive constant supervision, indoors and out?
Is my baby checked often when in a crib or playpen?
Is all baby equipment strong, stable, and in good repair?
Are the crib slats no more than 2 and 3/8 inches apart? Does the crib have protective bumper pads? Does the mattress firmly abut the side of the crib?
Does the center have separate cribs and crib sheets for each infant?
Do strollers or infant seats have safety harnesses?
Are the crib and playpen free of toys that could be used to climb out?
Can all doors inside the center be opened from the outside at all times?
Are the outside doors and windows locked?
Do strong screens or metal bars cover the windows? (especially important above ground level)
Do all glass doors have decals?
Are the rooms well ventilated and comfortable year-round?
Are the bathroom facilities clean and easily accessible to children?
Are latched safety gates placed at the top and/or bottom of stairways?
Are stairways and walkways free from clutter? Are floors free from spills, slippery surfaces, or small throw rugs?
Are small, sharp, or otherwise dangerous items out of reach or locked in a cupboard, drawer, or cabinet? (Examples include pins, thumbtacks, paper clips, matches, lighters, knives, plastic bags, scissors, guns, razor blades, glassware, working appliances.)
Are poisonous items stored out of reach or locked in cupboards, drawers, or cabinets? (Examples include cleaning products, polish, bleach, medicines, cosmetics, perfumes, aerosol cans, first aid supplies.)
Are the center and yard free from poisonous plants?
Is my child kept away from dangerous places like the stove or hot water faucets?
Do all electrical sockets have protective covers?
Has attention been paid to objects that could be pulled or knocked over? (Examples include tablecloths, electrical cords, lamps, furniture.)
Are toys safe, clean, and in good repair?
Are play surfaces, indoors and out, softened with carpeting or wood chips?
Do children get a daily dose of fresh air and sunshine, weather permitting?
Do children seem safe with one another?
Is the outdoor area fenced and free of hazards?
Is the play equipment safe and appropriate for my child's level of development?


Meals

Is the staff knowledgeable about my baby's food requirements and feeding schedule?
Are menus varied and posted for my review?
Are healthy snacks served mid-morning and mid-afternoon?
Are children allowed to leave food on their plates? (They should never be forced to eat.)
Are portions small and second helpings available?
Who plans the menus (dietitian or other staff)?
Is the kitchen clean?

[Lvella43]

I forgot to answer my own question...silly me.

A couple of months ago I joined an Exercise for Two class that is AMAZING. Its two days a week for 1.5 hours (45 cardio/resistance training in the gym then 45 of cardio/resistance training in the pool). Its so wonderful to be in the pool twice a week and be weightless!!

I also try to walk at least 3-4 days a week and/or do a workout video (regular not prenatal). I hope that continuing to workout on a regular basis will help me get my pre-preggo body back within a reasonable time. Time will tell I guess.

[amtaylor]

Thanks guys! I'm so happy that we decided to have the 3D done :)

Daycare: We are going with a center. Over the phone, we kept it short and sweet because we already knew their rating and had them recommended to us. We just asked when she could start and if they had openings. We asked about visiting and were told to "stop in anytime." I wouldn't trust a center that you had to have an appointment to visit, but that might just be me. We saved all the other questions for the acutal visit.

Our state has a website with all certified center and at-home daycare providers. It gives their ratings and sanitation grades as well. You might want to see if your state has something similar. Our's can be found here (http://ncchildcare.dhhs.state.nc.us/general/home.asp). It's a part of the state division of child development and the department of health & human services.

[EJM]

jill: That's a great list!!!

Homeday care: I would find out what the norm is in your area. At first I was really against home daycare for the reasons Jill mentioned, but then I found out most of them (in Chicago anyway) are small businesses. They have the main person who owns/runs it and then they are required to have at least one FT assistant and most have PT backups because they have more than 3 children. I'll have to kiss a lot of frogs before I find the prince based on a few calls I made from a list provided by a local Action for Children group, but I'm hopeful I'll find that one hidden gem.

Exercise: Does from my desk to the bathroom count ;) ? Actually I end up taking the dog for a 25-30 minute walk at least once a day, so I count that.

[1_mommy]

daycare at first we were having my stepmom watch dd. but we had some problems with that. i was going to quit my job and sah, but we found out a good friend of dh's had a spot open in her in home day care. so a week later dd was at her house. and i absolutly LOVE her daycare. once my dr took me out of work in may, we kept dd in daycare untill july, then pulled her to save some money. we are really, really hoping that she has a spot open for a toddler and an infant come january. if not, i don't really know what we are going to do, since we trust absolutly no one else with our kids. i keep telling dh that he may have to take the 6 weeks of leave that ca allows dads to take.
anyways, i am probably no help in finding a daycare for others since it came so easily for us. i really like her being in an at home daycare. the size is very small. and not all the kids are there at the same time everyday. lots of individual attention. and dd really loves it there. she still asks to go almost everyday.

[Tulip]

Working Out - Lexy has shamed me. I live in a three story house and consider that my workout.
Ditto. :p

[Lvella43]

Love the lists regarding day care; thank you all for posting!!

__________

A little early on the new belly shots, but I'll be out on Friday and all weekend:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d631b3127cce9302d869a8c900000035108IbMmbVuxZq

Check out how lopsided I was this morning! It cracks me up.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d631b3127cce9302d85429c400000035108IbMmbVuxZq


Belly shots with my SIL who is two weeks ahead of me (nice how my belly button is SO GROSS!)
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d910b3127cce93700e5126ea00000016108IbMmbVuxZq

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d910b3127cce93700ffae7e900000015108IbMmbVuxZq

[sdmama2be]

I NEED to go back to work..or rather our bank account needs me to go back to work!!! I met my friend for lunch to plan our baby shower :D she wants to do co-ed low key style, which I fully agree with and then we wandered the mall..that's where the problem began (for today)...first stop PBK where I bought the green diamond matelasse bumper for the crib, the chamois crib fitted sheet in green and just because it was so soft and hey it matched the other stuff a chamois changing pad cover in green. Then it was on to Baby GAP. I promised myself that I woudl not buy any baby clothes until after my showers but not today...I left with not one but two outfits. Tony is going to kill me :eek: I think I will make hima really good dinner tonight ;)

amtaylor those pics are too adorable. I hope you don't mind but I am going to show them to Tony.

hmbay I'm glad to hear that you are feelign better today

day care We were torn between home day care and a center but after checking out a few different places we were both far more comfortable with the center that we chose. I think we asked every question known to man and visited the place two or three times just to check it out. The teacher in me loves all of the developmental stuff that they offer and the flexible hours for when Tony travels. It is more expensive than we anticipated but to me it is worth the extra money for the peace of mind. I have a friend who has an amazing home day care that her daughter goes to and if we lived anywhere near her, we would try to go there..I guess what I am saying is that it is where you are more comfortable and what feels right you know what I mean.

working out Now that I am on vacation I work out 5 days a week. I am trying to stay away fromt he mall ;) I spin 2 days a week, swim the other 3 with a masters swim program which I love because I am completely weightless in the pool :D When I am teaching I try to go 3 to 4 times a week. I need the stress relief. However, like every September I am sure that I will be super busy with back to school to go more than the weekends...

[amtaylor]

Susan: I don't mind at all! There are more in my journal if you want to show him those too :D

[Tiger]

Thanks for the daycare lists everyone! Those are great.

I called a couple of centers today. It seems like the price around here is about $400 a month. Not too bad. One of the places will even provide the formula if you are formula feeding. Both places I called have openings for January. I am going to stop by and visit them both soon. I live in a really small town so I have been going off of word of mouth from a lot of people too. Both of these centers came highly recommended. Both places have a ratio of 1:4 for adults/baby. Is that pretty good?

My neighbor also gave me the name of a lady who is wanting to start watching kids in her home. I tried calling her today but no answer so I will have to try back later tonight.

[LexyLou]

I called a couple of centers today. It seems like the price around here is about $400 a month. Not too bad.

Yikes, I just called a center and it's $245 a week!!! $980 a month! I think the going rate around here is around $200 a week!

I'm not sure what my plan is right now. I might go back but I don't think I want to do go back 5 days a week...it's all up in the air.

[Surftraitor]

Hi everyone,
Quick post to avoid work...

exercise: I get out to walk 2 miles 3 times a week. We live up in the hills, so I get quite a workout. I also try to do a prenatal yoga video at least once a week. I've been doing the video throughout my pregnancy. I used to laugh at the 3rd trimester girl b/c she was so limited in what she could do. Now I'm there :eek:. No more downward dog for me!

daycare: right now I'm leaning towards in-home daycare, but am hoping to work part time once I return to work.

lvella: adorable belly shots!!

amtaylor: your little one looks too cute! Look at that yawn.

One of my coworkers returned to work today from 4 month maternity leave. She said it was sooooo hard to leave her little guy. She recommended sending your baby to day care for 1/2 days before you return to work. She did this on Mon and Tues. That way you both have a couple of days to adjust before you're gone a full day to work. Also, be prepared to bawl your eyes out. :(

[amtaylor]

Tiger: That's a great price and the ratio sounds pretty normal for here. The center we are sending Mackenzie to has an adult:infant ratio of 3:7 but could be as high as 3:10 depending on enrollment.

[hmbay]

Lex--daycare here is around $250 a week for a center as well. I'm so glad we've been able to work out a schedule to avoid that cost so far. I can't imagine how people pay that--I guess that's why so many people only have 1 or 2 kids--they can't afford to have more.

going back to work--if it makes anyone feel any better I bawled the whole way to work my first day back after Colin was born and I didn't have to drop him off at daycare--I left him home sleeping in his crib with daddy asleep in the next room and I still cried. I can't even imagine how hard it would have been to have left him in daycare although all my friends whose kids are in daycare seem to love it there so it's not a bad thing.

[godsgift77]

WOW! you ladies have been busy :)

exerWHAT?!?! I try to practice with my pre-natal yoga video but nothing near some of you ladies!

Daycare baby will be going to one of my best friends in-home daycare. She lives about a block from me and is only charging us $125 a week!! which is awesome considering most places around here charge 200 a week for a baby under 1. I still have not figured out how i am going to leave my son -- even if its only for 1/2 a day... it almost makes me tear up now :(

Clothes i am outgrowing so many of my shirts now and i am REALLY hating having to go buy some more clothes for the next 8 weeks!

[dragonfly_71]

Daycare: The daycare our little one will be going to charges $197 a week for infants and the ratio is 1:4. The price is a little higher than the average for daycare centers but this one is the daycare center at my work. It is really nice, the center itself and the grounds are just beautiful and I have looked at other centers that were just plain depressing. And of course I also pay for convenience. I can leave him in the center for up to 60 hours per week (not that I want to do that but I will never have to worry about getting out late or having to go in early) and they are open from 6 am til 8.30 pm M-F and 7 am til 5 pm on Saturday. Many other daycare centers close at 6 or 6.30 pm so then I would always have to rush and stress about it. And of course it is also great to know that he will be so close that I can go see him at lunch.

[lorialys]

amtaylor Beautiful pictures of your little girl! I love the yawning one. :D

hmbay Thanks for posting that! Great deal on it too, I may have to indulge. Don't know what my husband will say though, this kid already has too many clothes as it is!

Tiger Oh, he's stressed out from work. He's working on a huge project by himself right now, and it is making for very long work weeks and a lot of stress on him. Our classes don't come at a very good time either, since he has to leave work on time twice a week for them. That just means that he doesn't get home until late on the other days! Have fun at your shower this weekend! Daycare prices around here are pretty similar, our work has a discount for the YMCA one and it is $89 a week. Which is a lot less expensive than I was expecting, but as long as everything is okay with the baby, I'm hoping not to need to go back to work.

astara I know! It is just crazy. Hope your OB appointment went well.

lvella43 Cute belly pictures! Love the ones of you and SIL.

godsgift77 I'm noticing that I'm outgrowing some of my shirts now too. Sounds like a trip to motherhood/target/walmart is in order!

Working Out Oh I'm so glad I'm not the only lazy one!! In the beginning of the pregnancy, I was too sick to think about working out. And then, I was losing weight so I didn't want to work out for fear of losing more. Once I started gaining weight, I just wasn't in the habit anymore and it's also a lot harder to move now!! I do walk from my office to the parking lot at least twice a day, and that's a pretty long walk. Also, the walks to the bathroom from my desk aren't short and I do that so many times a day! DH and I have been trying to remember to walk for 15-30 minutes at night as well, though we aren't very consistent about it.
I will have to get back into the habit of working out regularly once the baby is here though, I know it is going to be really hard. I cringe every time I think about how I will have not worked out like, at all for almost a year!! It is going to be pretty painful to get back into that routine again.


Today is two months exactly from my due date. Eeek!! :eek: I am so excited, it doesn't seem quite real yet.

Our class last night was good. We did get to go on the tour, they had a room open. Unfortunately, the only one they had to show us was one of the smaller rooms. They try to fill all the larger rooms with laboring moms first, and reserve the smaller ones for moms whose doctors put them in overnight for observation, etc. But the smaller rooms are also 100% equipped for the birth, so if we go into labor on a busy night, we may end up in one. The only drawback is the smaller size, of course, and the fact that there isn't a shower/jacuzzi in those rooms unlike the larger ones. But there is one available across the hall. The small room was about the size of a small hotel room, and our instructor said that the other ones are about twice as big. They're very nicely decorated, low lighting and nice pictures on the wall. Each room has it's own thermostat, which is nice for those hot/cold moments in labor!!

She mentioned that when we get to the hospital we have to go through emergency first. They won't make us wait forever down there though, just take our info and have someone come down from L&D to escort us. That gives them some time to get our charts set up and prepare a room and all.

She used one of the dads in our class as a guinea pig to show us how the bed and equipment work. It was pretty funny, she strapped the fetal heartrate and contraction monitors to his stomach and made him get in all sorts of funky positions. She showed us what the monitor printout looks like, and there's a computer monitor by the bed that shows all the ladies in L&D at once. The bed moves all over the place, up to nearly a sitting straight up position, the foot of the bed moves down, there are hand rails to lean on for support, and she showed us some of the ways we can use the positions we've been learning in class. She even got the guinea pig dad up in stirrups (wish I had my camera for that one!) and turned on the bright lights for delivery.

She explained what will happen when we first arrive. We will get undressed and put on a gown, have the monitors strapped on, the nurse will do some charting by the bedside and ask a lot of questions. She'll also do an exam, and see whether we want pain medicine right away or want to labor awhile, and what techniques we want to try. Then she'll go call the doctor (who is presumably still at home at this point) and give them this info, get any orders for walking/birthing ball/shower/etc that we need. She'll be back in from time to time to check on us. I found out that if the doctor agrees, they let you come off the monitors for a period of time to go walk, use the shower/tub, etc. And if you want you can labor in your own clothes, though they'll probably get messy.

When it comes time to push, the doctor may already be here or may be on his/her way in. We'll have the same nurse for the whole pushing/delivery phase, which is nice. Even if shifts change, she sticks around. Then she went over a lot of the stuff we learned at the Baby Basics class on Monday.

We also went and saw a Mother/Baby room where we stay after recovery. They aren't quite as homey or nice looking, but I think those rooms are in an older part of the hospital. She showed us where the operating rooms are, where the NICU is, and where the normal nursery is. She also showed us the waiting room (which is tiny!!) and explained that we might want to have folks stay in the hospital waiting room downstairs, which is much nicer and not that much further away. We're allowed 2 people in the room at a time in the L&D rooms (including support person), and 4-5 in the mother/baby rooms.

After the tour, my feet were killing me from standing that long!! LOL I had a bunch of BH walking back over to the classroom, but they went away once I sat down and got some juice. We talked about the phases of labor and how to time contractions. Discussed the positions of the baby, and how the stations are measured. She explained about posterior vs. anterior position, and why it is important to do some of the different exercises that turn a posterior baby around.

Next week we're talking about all the various medical interventions that we might encounter (except c-section, we'll talk about that in the last class) and learning some more of our breathing and relaxation techniques.


My tummy has been making the weirdest noises lately!! I can hear it right below my diaphram, which is weird because I used to hear my tummy noises much lower. I guess it's been moved around and pushed out of the way a bit by my uterus, and that's why I hear the gas bubbles and popping sounds so high. It freaked me out a couple of times last night when I was trying to get to sleep.

I also have this wonderful stabbing pain just below my ribs on my right side. I can't figure out whether it is discomfort from my uterus rubbing up against the ribs, Lucas is kicking me and I can't feel it up there, or if it is just my skin stretching. I'm thinking the latter is most likely the case. But man, it hurts! It feels like a whole bunch of little needles are poking me all at once right there. It even woke me up last night! Anyone else feeling anything even remotely like this? I'm definitely going to ask my doc about it next week.

Other than that I'm doing good. Glad today is Thursday. I could use the weekend! Sleep in, relax, eat, read... :D

[adoredh]

Daycare Actually - hoping to start an in home daycare in our house. DH would rather see how we do with me working part time nights and weekends (so that we would avoid daycare) first. He says that being a Dad is going to be overwhelming as it is, adding two more children into the mix might be a little more then he can handle. I agree with him on that, but I would have my weekends off if we had daycare. I've already got a friend with a 2 year old who is begging me to start watching her in Jan. (I would charge $100 to $125 a week) and then I would just need one more child to watch and I would be making enough to cover the extras in life. I've always been very good with children, and I've worked in day care before. My only draw back with our home, instead of having the daycare in the basement (which is a nice huge open space that is finished with nice carpet) I'd have to have the day care on my first floor. We don't have an egress window in the basement, and you need to have two exits if you plan on having the children downstairs. SOOOO that means the day care would over run our living space... but I'd be home with The Boy... so much to figure out!!! Sorry for my rambeling!!!

Birthing Class we had our first class last night. Ummm, it was intresting... We started the class with introductions - neither Todd or I connected with anyone in our class - One of the husbands couldn't sit still and yapped about his motercross collection of bikes, to everyone! DH whispers to me "he's a sales man" and I busted out laughing. That's our code word for a "fake" person - sorry to anyone who's a sales person (including myself! LOL!) Then another couple, could not stop giggling during the presentations and the movie - that was annoying!
Hopefully the next 3 classes will be more intresting (for child birth, the weird couples are pretty intresting to watch! LOL!)

[EJM]

Daycare: I'm jealous!!! The centers around here are $275/week for 3 days and I think it was $325 or something for 5 days. If we go home daycare, it will still run us about $900/month was the average. And the nanny, well let's just say it was a lot more :eek: but I'm hoping to work out a nanny share with another family.

Shopping: I think I am going to get a few more things. I've had a rough week, and a few new shirts will definitely make me feel better ;) Ahhhh, I love the internet!

QOTD: Are you putting anything next to your glider? I was thinking I would need a small white table. Has anyone had any luck finding a white accent table? Most of the ones I find are distressed which doesn't match the crib/dresser/glider.

[lorialys]

adoredh Good for you thinking about doing an in-home daycare. We considered that as well, and it may come up again later. I'd like to have some time to get used to taking care of one child before I add more though, LOL. You cracked me up over the people in your class! How weird!

EJM We bought a small bedside table to go next to the glider. It's cheap, from walmart, but it will do. It has a small drawer and a cabinet underneath to store stuff in. Here's a picture:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d923b3127cce92de24a0477200000016108AcsmjZw2cNc
Sorry it is kind of dark, but you get the idea.
Have you looked at places like Target? I bet they'd have some side tables in white.

[shushyk]

Wow you ladies were busy yesterday, I so can't keep up with this thread. I think it was easier to keep up with threads when I was working :o

adoredh - good morning. sorry about the classes, sometimes people just annoy me no matter who or what they do :rolleyes:

lorialys - WOW we have our hospital tour tonight. I hope we have the same amount of info, sounds like you got a lot out of it. I have that SAME stabbing pain on my LEFT side under/by my ribs.

dragonfly_71 - wow that is great that you have a sat. option too for the day care.

godsgift77 - I am out of some of my clothes too. I am TRYING to make do, but I mihgt break down and buy just one or two more things. Luckily I don't have to work now so its all just for me. Have you checked out Ross? I bought 2 or 3 tops for 5-11 bucks each. I know lots of people dont like shopping there, but since I am not working its cheaper.

hmbay/Surftraitor - HI! UGh that would be gutt wrenching either way, after its been inside of you for almsot 10 months. I don't think its easy for anyone.

LexyLou - I am in the bay area and I think that is the price (if not more) up here too. I dont know how people afford it, its almost better to just stay home :o

Can't you write off a certain amount of daycare a year? I don't know how much but I am pretty sure you get a tax break on it.


Working Out - NOPE :( I was working out, but after a few m/c I stopped. The dr. gave me the thumbs up to start again. Of course can't bring myself to do it. I get cramps just walking around the mall too long so I don't think a workout is the best thing. I figure after the baby is here I will be ready to go back (but I think our gym membership will be up by then :confused: )

[sdmama2be]

hi girls
Just thought I would drop off a 28 week belly shot...I think I grew ;)

http://www.shutterfly.com/jsp/proceserv.jsp?uid=9AYuGLRyzaS&otype=print&state=67b0de21b849f3127524&co=-1&js=1123771289246&b=295&ti=28%20weeks%20&rx=304&ry=304

Be back later to do shout outs...
~Susan

[amtaylor]

Daycare: I don't know about writing off daycare, but you might want to see if your company offers a dependent care account. We can put away $5-6000 a year for childcare pre-taxed. They reimburse your expenses just like a medical spending account. We figured out it would save quite a bit since it's pre-tax and every little bit helps! :)

[Astara]

I went to my DR's appt yesterday.. I've gained 3 pounds in 2 weeks. making a total of 12 pounds so far. I really need to be careful now though, I want to stay under my goal of 20-25 pounds. Baby measeured 32 weeks, which is a week more than she has been measuring.. (she has been measuring 2 weeks ahead, now its 3) so hopefully it was just the difference of DR measurements and Gigi really isnt that big! lol I am a little anemic so I have to eat red meat at least 2 times a week and she said it would be better if i had it 3 times a week if i could do that. I never eat red meat! I'm an all white meat girl. that's gonna be hard for me. and I shouldnt drink milk with eggs in the morning Milk would be better as a snack. but I crave it!!! So after the appointment which took 2 hours!!!! (I was supposed to get in at 4 but then I had to wait until 5 and didnt leave the office until 6!) We were so hungry and starving cuz DH nor I had eaten since around 11 that morning. We went to smokey bones and I had an angus burger so I could get some red meat in. Man I didnt realize how salty red meat is. And we were bad and got a bag of donuts. OH yum, those are so good... has anyone had those?? but no more sweets for me, or else Genevieve will be the size of a 5 year old child when she comes out! lol

[Oct05Moms]

Updated to Here!

[Tiger]

sdmamatobe Great belly shots. You look great.

lorialys sounds like you had a great hospital tour. I hope we get one that is that informative.

daycare After hearing what some of you are going to be paying for daycare, I guess I should consider myself lucky that it is only going to cost us around $400 a month. We live in a pretty low cost of living area though.

shopping I also need to start scouring the internet for some new shirts. It seems all of my shirts are starting to get too short. I was really hoping to make it the rest of the time without buying any more maternity clothes but it doesn't look like it is going to happen.

I think I am slowly starting to move into the uncomfortable part of pregnancy. I have been so lucky to have an easy pregnancy so far and I still am lucky because I feel good for the most part. But by the end of the day, I am starting to feel worn out. It is getting hard to take deep breaths at times because I think the baby is really starting to run out of room in there and everything is just being "squished." Sleeping is getting hard because it seems harder to breathe when I am laying down and it is almost impossible to find a comfy position. I think 1-2 hours is about the longest I sleep before waking up lately. Only 2 more months to go though. I can make it.

For those of you working right now...how long do you plan on working? Are you going to work up until the day you start labor or will you take some time off before? As of now, I plan on working right up until I deliver. Any time that I would take off before the birth would count towards my 12 weeks that I am allowed so I want to save as much of that as possible for after the birth so I can spend the time with the baby.

[DianeCourt]

I don't have time to say any hellos - I have just a minute to drop in for a really quick update. I had my 30 week check-up this morning, & here are the highlights:

Blood pressure & urine are normal
Passed my 1 hour glucose tolerance test!
Baby's heartrate was 150
Gained no weight since my last appt. 3 weeks ago
Fundal height measured exactly 30 weeks

I got to see my favorite doc who is going on maternity leave after tomorrow! :( She said that she expects to be back at work a week or so before my due date, so I guess there's still a chance she could deliver Baby R! That made me happy. The highlight of the appt. was when she said that I'm doing a "beautiful" job on my weight gain, which really made my day. I gained a lot in my 6th month, so I was pretty stressed out about it. I buckled down this month, though, and cut out a lot of the sugary foods I had been treating myself to, and the scale showed the difference. Right now they have me at +20 lbs, but according to my home scale I'm only up 15 lbs. Either way, if I continue these eating habits, I have a good chance of staying close to the 25 lb max weight gain I was shooting for. :D She said that everything is going perfectly, and my next appt. is in 2 weeks on 8/25!

Gotta run.....our first shower is this weekend & it's out of town, so we fly out tomorrow. Be back Sunday! Have a great weekend, everybody.

[EJM]

Working: Until last week I thought I could breeze through until the end, boy have I slowed down a ton in just 7 days. :eek: I can barely do stairs without being winded. At this point my plan is to work up until my due date and then see how much progress I've made. One can never predict, but I think I'll most likely be late based on family history (praying I do, so I miss year end at work). If that is the case, I'll probably stop working during my 40th week. I should have enough vacation/sick time left over to get paid until the end of the year once my 8 week maternity leave is up if I make it to 40 weeks. I cannot carry it over, so I have to make sure to use it up. If I feel like crap and tired, I may be out the week before my due date and take a few unpaid days at the end of the year. My boss is planning for me to be gone as of October 1 just in case, so anything after that he is flexible and considers a bonus for him.

If the doctor is kind enough to pull me out of work, I'm eligible for short term disability prior to the birth which is generally 100% paid (or so I'm told). I'm hoping she feels the need for me to stay home, but I'm not counting on it. My maternity leave cannot begin until the day I deliver, so anything prior to the birth is vacation, sick time, or short term leave.

[c j]

daycare... wish I could input, but i am fortunate to have a mother and MIL that don't work to watch our child. Although that'll be nice (money wise and all) at times I wish it was going to a daycare to be around other kids. When the baby goes to my mom's house, it's cousin will be there, but my MIL's house it's just the baby. Oh well... can't have it all :rolleyes:

Working... I plan on working until I deliver. But today I have felt really uncomfortable and sluggish (and I still have 10+ weeks to go). The only shoes that fit are sneakers. They really go great with work pants :(

shopping... I have been buying these really comfty t-shirts from JCPennys (half off $16.00 - so I've been getting them $7.99 or less depending on their coupons). They are long enough that they look a little big on me now. So I am hoping by 38-40 weeks they are still covering the belly. I wouldn't mind getting a couple 3/4 or long sleeve for October. A girlfriend of mine just had her baby Monday and she has a bunch of fall stuff from her previous baby and said when I stop over she would give me some shirts. :p

[cartersmommy]

hey girls!!
geez, i'm gone a day and there is SO much to catch up on! i've been kinda following along! but it's been hard.... so busy at work and then we've had baby classes every night the past few nights!

Daycare: my mom is actually retiring and taking care of carter full time! we're so lucky, i know. I was researching daycare before we made this decision, and it was going to be around $850 a month and i live in the midwest! :eek: so she's watching him for free as long as she can eat our food :)

we had our 2nd birthing class monday night which was good, and then last night we had our breastfeeding class... just ok. i wasn't too thrilled with it. i had already read a few books on it (So that's what they're for was AWESOME) and it basically was the same thing. but i'm still glad we took it. always good to have more info.!! :)

ok, lunch is almost over so i should get back to work. i hope everyone is doing great! I will try and do SO's soon!! :)
amanda

[adoredh]

QOTD I have a small little table stand that I'm putting next to the glider. It doesn’t really match, but then again, none of my furniture match! LOL! The dresser, crib, and glider are all hand me downs - the almost match, but I'm not complaining! The dresser was free, and it's solid oak, the crib was $100 (they paid $600 for it and only used it with one child for a year, they got a divorce and she bought a new crib), the glider was my mom's and that was free too.

QOTD I plan to work until I pop! LOL! I have to, I have the insurance. I could take 3 weeks off prior to the birth, and use my vacation time, but no one knows exactly when the baby's will be born, so that's kind of risky. Besides, since I work for a small company and don't get FMLA, nor do I get any kind of paid maternity leave, I'm going to save those paid weeks for just after the baby is born.

Lorialys I would love to have in home day care. I've always been great with children, and had even looked into working at a day care out of high school (until I found out they make next to nothing at the centers!) I would only want to have two other children besides my own, so 3 total (only one infant though, I can have two, but would rather have my son be the only infant for a while)

I love looking at your nursery! Lucas is going to love growing up in such a bright, yet peaceful room! I just want to sit down in your glider and rock for a while! :D

Shush Hey there! Good morning to you too! I think DH and I were in a total funk last night. I was having really bad dizzy spells that afternoon at work, which gave me a headache, and DH was tired from me keeping him up all night (he didn’t complain though, what a sweet guy!) So I think, like you, no matter what they did, we were bound to find people who annoyed us last night! LOL!

Sdmama2be Great pic! You are growing!!! Keep up the good work, you look fabulous!

Amtaylor We have a cafeteria plan at work, or a flex plan, that allows you to take out money pre-tax dollars for medical and day care - up to $5000 for day care a year. BUT, I really am hoping not to work full time after the new year. (and I'm not sure if I want to return to my profession)

Astara You're doing great on the weight gain! Just remember, for the next couple of weeks, you're supposed to gain a pound a week, but HALF of that goes to the babies weight. You want to gain the pounds! :D
If you like spinach salad (fresh) I eat a lot of that instead of the red meat. I have a bunch of fresh spinach leaves, cucumber, tomatoes, Balsamic vinegar and virgin olive oil with Canadian Steak Seasoning. It's very yummy and you get a ton of iron from spinach - you can even add chicken!

Tiger Sorry you're starting to get uncomfortable. I have my aches and pains, but over all, I think I'm pretty lucky right now. DH gets to hear me complain every morning about my back, but it's livable (and I'm sleeping longer then you, I think that helps out big time!) Hope things get better for you!!! If you're still having a hard time sleeping, you can ask your OB for Ambien (sp?) it's safe to take once in a while to get a good nights sleep.

Dianecourt Great appointment! Have a wonderful time at your shower, and I want details! :D

EJM I have heard that most Dr's will write you out of work a week or two before your due date if you ask. They know how tired we get in those last couple of weeks. Mine said she would for me, but I don't want to right now. Not that I need her letter or anything, since I don't get paid for any part of maternity, but still, it's nice to know :D

[domesticdreamer]

Oh, holy cow :eek: I'm never gonna get caught up in here!!!

LexyLou- My new avatar is a blatant rip-off of yours- hope that's okay. I've always adored yours.

Well, here are some updates, until I try to sift through all the pages I missed:

*Today I'm 31 weeks, 1 day.
*I had my final appt. with the neo-natologist about the fibroid and Baby G's kidney- everything went very, very well.
*The fibroid is moved far enough away that it won't cause any obstruction to baby or L & D. May cause extra bleeding, but we were prepared for that.
*The baby's left kidney was enlarged and pooling urine at 18 weeks, but now that seems to be in normal range.
* All measurements are pointing to being just one week ahead now rather than two.
* They estimate the peanut weighs 4 lbs. 4 oz.
* All should be great from here
* Appt. w/ regular Dr. tomorrow, August 12th

Here's a u/s shot from today:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d630b3127cce9334ebba318a00000016108AaNGzJq3ctN

Here's the latest belly shots:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d630b3127cce9334eacc716400000016108AaNGzJq3ctN

I must be angled funny in this one, b/c I actually look smaller :confused:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d630b3127cce9334e203f09f00000016108AaNGzJq3ctN

[Astara]

adoredh Thank You! :) That salad sounds really good, I'll have to go get some at the store tomorrow!

domestic dreamer Yay! on the wonderful appt! Those u/s & belly shots are gorgeous! :)

[godsgift77]

OMG!! Is anyone else WIPED OUT?? i have been so tired lately! Its almost like it was in the first tri.... :( I came home early from work and took a 2 hour nap -- then it took me about 20 minutes to actually wake up! I wanted to work until 2 weeks before baby chris gets here but i dunno how i'm gonna do it. I think someone else said it but a week ago i was thinking "yup i can make it working til October" now I'm like - 8 weeks seems SO far away! *yawn*

Lorialys i JUST realized that we are due date twins! took me 32 weeks to figure that one out :)

[scubasam]

Is anyone else WIPED OUT??

OMG, yes! I'm spent after about 4pm and it's getting so much harder to get up in the morning! Actually, I think I'm more tired now than I was in the 1st tri!

Daycare - My SIL has an in-home daycare and they only live about 2 miles from us. It'll cost us $125/wk, which seems to be pretty good from what I've heard of daycares in our area. I'm just exicted that Carter will be w/ family and I know exactly what kind of care he'll receive. And, I know the other kids - he'll be in good company. ;)

Work - Originally I thought I'd work until I go into labor but I'm honestly not sure now. Given how I'm getting more and more uncomfortable and tired as the days go on, I can totally see me wanting a few days of "relaxation" before baby comes but on the other hand, I don't want to use my vacation time either. My boss is being very sweet and ordering me a laptop so I can "work from home" starting whenever but I also have so much to do here still. I think it'll probably come down to how my dr appts going from here on out, how much progress I've made, etc. At this point I'm not limiting myself any sort of specific timeline.

Table next to glider - Yes, I plan on getting one but I'm not sure what kind yet. I haven't even found a glider I like yet, which is starting to stress me out a little.

Shopping - Honestly, I *hate* clothes right now. Never, ever thought I'd say that cuz I LOVE clothes but nothing feels like it fits right and it's hard to know what's going to fit tomorrow or next week. All of my shirts are fine.....it's just pants. My jeans and a couple pair of capris still fit but other than that, nada. I can say, however, that I just bought 2 pair of cotton gaucho pants and they are the most comfortable things ever. I would wear them every single day if I could get away w/ it! :D

Had the L&D tour last Saturday - it was really good - even though I had been in the L&D of this particular hospital b/c 2 of my best friends delivered there recently, it was cool to see it from the viewpoint of someone who's going to be there in a few weeks and not just as a visitor. The only thing we didn't get to see were the water birth rooms b/c they were occupied and that was the one thing I was looking forward to. We were supposed to do our birthing class this weekend too but we got bumped so we're now doing it on Sept 3rd.

Ok, gotta run to a meeting now. You guys, I feel so bad b/c I haven't done SO's in the longest time but please know that I'm thinking about you all!!! Have a great night!! :D

[domesticdreamer]

Okay.......... I've now at least read to catch up with you all, but feel overwhelmed to try to do all the shout-outs :(

I guess I'll just try to give in-put for the QOTD's that have been posted:

diaper bags- I am still looking for one that I really like. Some of you posted ones that I just love, so I may look into some of those. I'm a bag/purse person- so it's taken me awhile to find just the right one that fits all my criteria (ie , if it's cute and stylish but uncomfy and too little, that won't do me any good and vice versa).

MIL- Well this issue completely solved itself and I couldn't be happier. My MIL is simply one of the most invasive people I know, and I was worried right from the sight of the two pink lines about how I would handle giving birth and dealing with the IL's at the same time! Luckily, my FIL has a business trip planned for Spain the week before my due date and MIL had planned to go with him, so they are not flying out here until Christmas!!!!!
If this hadn't been the case, my DH and I had decided we would ask that they give us two weeks before they flew out b/c they would be staying here 24/7- I was worried how they'd react, but now I don't have to fret about it :D . My parents live 1/2 hour away and are nothing but sweet, helpful and very aware of boundaries so there aren't any issues there.

Shopping I plan to make one more round of maternity shopping this weekend in Seattle. My shirts creep up and expose my belly constantly (which is fine around the house, but probably quite offensive to some at the grocery store). My pants/shorts leave indentations in my belly and just are not comfy any more. As much as I hate to do it- even my DH (who hates the idea of spending $$ on clothes) has mentioned I may need some bigger duds!

Work I am going to be helping new teachers plan and do some curriculum work for my former school district and substitute also. My dad mentioned he also needed help with paperwork for his business. That way I still can be somehwhat productive and have time to *nest* and get home affairs in order.

Table next to Glider Yes, or a nightstand. The glider we ordered still hasn't come in, so I'm not sure what will fit best, look right, & function better.

OMG!! Is anyone else WIPED OUT?? i have been so tired lately! Its almost like it was in the first tri.... Yes.........I am back to my daily naps also. Second trimester I rarely felt the need to rest.

Astara Thanks for the kind words!!

[jenjen0713]

table next to glider - Yep, I figured I would need a little lamp (for dim lighting for night feedings), a clock and somewhere to put a bottle or a glass for me, so DH is going to make me a little table.

work - Like someelse said I thought I would work clearly up until I went into labor, but as I get bigger and more uncomfortable, I don't know. Right now my plan is to work only 2 days past my due date and then stop and start my maternity leave. If baby boy doesn't come for another week...well so be it...at least I can be uncomfortable for that last week at home rather than being worthless at work.

Daycare - We are going with a home daycare. It is a lady that comes highly recommended by some co-workers of my husbands. We will pay $17 a day or about $340 a month.

[nancy drew]

just a quick drive-by...

i never even thought about putting a table next to the glider til stella was born. rather than rearrange the room i just bought a set of tv trays and put one next to the glider. another one is stationed next to the changing table for wipes and stuff. our changing table is one wtih shelves underneath and the whole top is the changing area, so there was nowhere to put the wipes and whatever else i need.

another good idea is to install a dimmer switch on the nursery lights. dh did that when stella was born and it is awesome. lamps are good too, but if anyone wants an alternative this works really well for us. its nice to have a darkened room at bedtime and for middle of the night feedings.

[Astara]

OMG!! Is anyone else WIPED OUT??


Yes! Extremely~

[cartersmommy]

I'm with the tired girls! i have been just exhausted after work lately! i could come home and just sleep all night i feel like! ugh! i'm getting really ready to have this baby for lots of reasons, but mostly to feel like myself again!

[cartersmommy]

ok, while i'm thinking about this, i have to post it!

QOTD: where is the baby going to sleep the first few weeks you're home? DH and i were talking about this, and he thinks that because our bedroom is SO close to the nursery, we can just put him in the crib.... i'm not ok with that. i was thinking the pack n' play in our room, but we don't have tons of room..... and we sleep with a ceiling fan on high! i don't think a baby would like that much! what are you guys doing??

[Tulip]

GTT, I found out I failed my 1 hour GTT. Now I have to go for a 2 hour one. :( I'm so upset by it and Dan thinks it's b/c of the bloodwork. He has no idea what it means if I have GD.

[c j]

Tuplip Sorry to hear about failing your one hour. I failed mine, but passed my three hour test. Do you know how far over you were for the cut-off line.

QOTD I hate to even reply to this because I always get negative responses from people. It's not that I don't believe in co-sleeping... I believe it's a personal choice. DH and I have already made it clear that the baby has it's own room and bed (plus our bedroom just doesn't have room for a PNP) therefore it will sleep there. I have been mentally preparing myself that when it fusses through the night, I need to get up. Nurse/feed the baby in the baby's room, change it's diaper, calm it, whatever it needs... then once the baby is asleep, then I go back to bed. Our bedroom is right beside the baby's so it's convenient. My sister did this and my niece never co-slept with them. People that I have talked to about this have told me that it's IMPOSSIBLE. It's not... it's possible if it's the choice DH and I have and stick to it. Okay... hopefully I didn't ruffel anyone's feathers.

[hmbay]

QOTD --own room. The nursury is steps down the hall. When we first brought Colin home he slept in our room in a pack n play for all of 30 minutes. Both DH and I are light sleepers and preemies make lots of heavy breathing and grunting noises in their sleep. AFter 30 minutes we said "sorry kid" and rolled the pack n play into the nursury, turned on the baby monitor and went to sleep. This one will sleep either in the crib or the pack n play (if I ever remember to get it back from MIL since she used it as a portable crib when she used to babysit when Colin was smaller). Another thing I learned since I'm a light sleeper--the baby monitor is not in our room. We actually put it down the hall or in our new house it's actually DOWNSTAIRS! :eek: I know this sounds bad but those darn things are quite sensative and I'd hear every little flip and flop the baby made which again since I'm a light sleeper kept me awake. If I put it down the hall or wherever I can't hear the softer noises but I hear the cries which works perfect for me.

[adoredh]

CJ No ruffled feather's over here! Each of us needs to make the choices that work best for our family's. You've made the choice that it's best for you family and for your child to start their lives sleeping in their own room. :)

Me - I'm lazy, our nursery is literally just steps from our bedroom, and I'm getting a bassinet. To be exact, this one:

The Simplicity 3 in 1 from Burlington Coat Factory
http://webimgsrv.burlingtoncoatfactory.com/erez3/erez?src=webimages/images-k/47/k_s1_73597647_m_1.tif&width=300&height=300&quality=90&sharpen=25

The reason I want this one, is because of this feature
http://webimgsrv.burlingtoncoatfactory.com/erez3/erez?src=webimages/images-k/47/k_s1_73597647_m_2.tif&width=300&height=300&quality=90&sharpen=25

It becomes a mini co-sleeper. and it's only $79.99 in stock, so for me, totally worth it! :D

I just want to roll over, (since I'm nursing) grab him, feed him, change him, and put him back to bed, all with out getting out of my own bed.

See, I'm just lazy! LOL!

[Tulip]

cj, office is closed until Monday so I can't find out until then. :(

QOTD, baby has it's own room down the hall from ours. We sleep with our 2 (90lb.) dogs, that's enough.

[lml41981]

Tulip, I'm really sorry that you have to go through the 3 hour glucose test. Hopefully you'll pass!!! I ended up getting really, really down about it because I thought that since I had GD I wouldn't be able to eat good things, but that's really not the case. I bought a few cookbooks and am chuggin' right along. It's actually going to be easier for me to eat good things now because I bought a slow-cooker recipe book for diabetics...now that I'm also on insulin (blood sugar levels weren't responding well to just diet and exercise), I need to eat on more of a schedule...so if I cook during the day and eat when I get home, I am not overloading my body on insulin at night. It really isn't as bad as I was thinking it'd be. I'm also seeing it as kind of a wake-up call...I had been eating and living really unhealthfully since I went away to college and had to deal with very bad food (as in eat the meat and risk get sick). Since the salads were always wilted and the veggies were always coated in butter, I ate pasta and cereal. Bad bad bad. Then, when I got married, I ate what DH ate...his metabolism is faster than mine and I paid the price. So, I see this as kind of a kick in the rear. Hopefully you will pass your 3-hour, but if not, just know that it really isn't the end of the world.

Where the baby will sleep... I'm with CJ. We bought a crib for a reason and decorated the nursery for a reason. I think it is really important to our husband/wife relationship to share a room without a baby. The baby will sleep in her room and I will just get up and go upstairs when she needs to be fed. Not the most convenient, but it is the way it will have to be for now. :)

[cartersmommy]

no ruffeled feathers here either! in fact, i'm relieved! it was one of those things that i WANTED to put the baby in his crib, but didn't know if that was "what people did", KWIM? I think both DH and I and the baby will sleep better in our own places and get in a routine better that way also. Thanks for your opinions! I mean, we did buy a crib for a reason, right?! :) ha!

[hmbay]

I mean, we did buy a crib for a reason, right?!
:) BIL and SIL bought a crib when expecting my neice who is almost 2 now. They ended up co-sleeping. They just had another baby 2 weeks ago. They now have them, said neice AND the new baby all in a queen bed. I think they are freaking insane (and neice NEVER used that crib they bought once). I guess if it works for them (they also have 3 older children so five total) I shouldn't say anything but I could never ever get any sleep that way (and we have a king sized bed and actually would have room for all those bodies in the bed).

[Tulip]

BIL and SIL have co-slept with all 4 of their kids. At one point they were sleeping with 3 of them at the same time. When they got pregnant with #4 they decided to put the 2 boys in a room by themselves. Now they sleep with the 2 girls only.

[lorialys]

shushyk Hope your tour went well! Glad to hear that someone else is experiencing the weird rib pain. What do you think it is? Baby pushing, ribcage expanding, skin stretching?

sdmama2be Cute belly shot!

Astara Glad you had a good doctor's appointment. I know it will be hard to make sure you get lots of red meat, but it'll be good for Gigi!!

Tiger I hear ya on uncomfortable!

DianeCourt Sounds like you had a great appointment! Hope your favorite doc returns in time to deliver you. Enjoy your shower!

cartersmommy What a great situation you have with your mom taking care of Carter! Sorry the breastfeeding class was just okay.

adoredh Me too, I've always loved kids. I know it will be different with our own, but I'm really looking forward to taking care of him. Thanks for the comments on our nursery. We're proud of it. :D Our house is currently up for sale, and may sell before Lucas arrives though. It makes me kind of sad to think that he may never see it, but I know we'll try our best to re-create it in the apartment, and then in our new house.

domesticdreamer Glad your ultrasound went well and everything is measuring normal!! Love the pictures, so cute. Adorable belly. I totally understand about your MIL issues, glad it worked out for you!

godsgift77 Wow, I didn't know that either. Was your due date changed at any point? I remember Lisa was my due date twin on the other site, and mommycal was for awhile until they moved her date.

scubasam I hate clothes now too. Nothing fits right!

nancy drew Good nursery tips!

Tulip Sorry you failed the 1-hour. Hope the next test goes better!

Working Well, originally I was planning on working till the end, but now I don't know if I can! I work 10 hour days, so it gets hard to sit still for that long, even with potty breaks. My husband and I have discussed it, and I can quit anytime I want (I won't be going back), but I just don't know. Part of me knows we can use the money even if we don't need it, so the longer I can work the better. Right now I'm just taking it one week at a time, and if it ever gets to the point where I don't feel like I can work any longer, I'm going to put in my two weeks notice. I feel bad about it though, because aerospace is in really high demand right now so a lot of people are leaving the company and moving on to other jobs. And we might be launching new programs soon, so the work load will get higher. I feel like I'm letting my department down, but I know it's the best decision for our family for me to stay home.

Where is the baby going to sleep at first? In the house we're living in right now, the bedrooms are on one side, and our bedroom on the other. So we are going to have a pack 'n play with a full basinett for Luke to sleep in when he's really little. Then eventually, he'll move to the crib in his room with the monitor on so we can hear him. But we're also selling the house right now, and we may move into an apartment before Luke arrives, so I don't know how that might change our plans.


The first items have been bought off our registry!!! I'm so excited. :D

[cartersmommy]

GEEZ! i can't imagine having an extra 2-3 people in our bed, and we have a king size bed too! :eek: i wouldn't sleep at all either! a small baby for a little bit might be OK but not for very long. i'm a very picky sleeper! :)

IT'S FRIDAY!!!!

PS: does anyone have fake nails here? are they safe during pregnancy? I need something to make me feel "pretty" again! Nails always do the trick! But i didn't want to just go and get them without doing some "research". I have seen pics around here that are of moms in the hospital and have just had their babies and they have them on.... so i figure that it's ok, but ya know..... better safe than sorry!! :)

[adoredh]

Heather Quick question, does your Dachshund sleep with you at night? My two tiny little boys could take up the whole bed if they wanted to, so they don't sleep with us (except for in the morning, DH lets them in to sleep with me for a half hour before I get up for work) I don't think I could co-sleep like your BIl and SIL - I need my room! LOL!

Crib we will transition from the bassinet to the crib between 2 or 3 months. I want to wait until he gets a little bit of a sleeping pattern down. (at least to the point where he doesn't need to nurse every 2 1/2 to 3 hours) I also believe that the bedroom is for the couple, not the family! LOL! :D

[c j]

Feeling a lot better that there are people out there that want their bed to be just for hubby and wife. :p Seriously... around here my sister is the only one I know who didn't co-sleep.

[Astara]

Tulip I am sorry about failing your 1 hour GTT, lots of people fail that one but pass the 3 hour so dont let it get you down to much yet.I Hope you pass with flying colors!

adoredh I LOVE that bassinet. I really wish DH's step-father wasnt making our bassinet now, bc id rather have something like the one you posted. thats really nice!

QOTD I think we will also have her sleep in a bassinet in our room just until she gets a sleep pattern down, but now I'm scared! I dont want her to get used to sleeping in the room with us, and not want to go in her crib!!!! I def. dont want to share our bed with the whole family. since our nursery is like 2 steps away, maybe I should re-consider.. then my SFIL will have made a bassinet for no reason.. aw man I shoulda kept my mouth shut!

catersmommy I have no idea about the nails.. I really want to get mine done too. If you find anything out please let us know! :)

[lml41981]

BIL and SIL have co-slept with all 4 of their kids. At one point they were sleeping with 3 of them at the same time. When they got pregnant with #4 they decided to put the 2 boys in a room by themselves. Now they sleep with the 2 girls only.
How on earth do you get pg with a second, third or fourth while co-sleeping anyway?

cartersmommy - My mom wore acrylics with all her pregnancies. She was a hair stylist and also did nails from time to time, so she was always around the chemicals...the only thing was the fumes sometimes made her queasy.

astara - the bassinet can be great for naptime!

[jh124]

Sleeping We will have the baby in a PNP next to the bed for the first month or two, then move him into his own room. I want him to nap in his room, so that the crib won't be foreign to him when the time comes. However, like someone else mentioned, I'm lazy and don't want to walk down the hall. I would bunk up with Hank, but there isn't room in the nursery for a twin bed or cot - plus the dogs would insist on sleeping near their momma.*

So five of us (me, DH, Sally, Leo and Hank) will be in one room for awhile.



*Note - the dogs do not sleep on the bed! WAAAYYY too big!

[hmbay]

adoredh--nope. I let him every once in a while if I feel badly for him (like after Colin was born and he was so completely ignored) but he's always slept in his travel kennel in our living room for as long as i've owned him other than the initial week where the only way I could get sleep was to let him sleep with us (I adopted him at six weeks so he was a bit young yet to have been weaned plus taken from his mother so he literally cried all night long if left alone). Jon and I have a king bed for a reason--we're both "give me my own space" sleepers. No cuddlers among us once we want to sleep so although there would be room in the bed we'd still be unhappy with a dog or a child in the bed as it would get into the "his" and "hers" areas of the bed and believe me we're both absolute bears if we don't get a good night sleep. :)

c j--I share your pain. Actually I'm the only one of my SIL's who didn't have the baby sleep in the carseat next to the bed for the first few weeks (in place of cosleeping for the other ones) and they thought I was just insane when I told them the baby would be sleeping in the pack n play or crib--and in his own room. parenting is funny. I've learned to do what you want and don't get offended if someone doesn't like it and don't get offended if they do something you don't like and just keep your mouth shut (unless they're putting their child in danger of course).

[Tulip]

How on earth do you get pg with a second, third or fourth while co-sleeping anyway?
You gotta wonder how the kids are going to react when they're older and do the math. Ew!

[c j]

You gotta wonder how the kids are going to react when they're older and do the math. Ew!


LMAO!!!

[domesticdreamer]

Tulip- Sorry about your 1 hr test. :( Hopefully you were off by just a little and will pass the 3 hr test.


QOTD: Baby will sleep in a bassinet until sleep pattern is more developed (around 2-3 months I suppose) since I'll be BF- then it's off to it's own room. I believe mom and dad need their own bed and room.

[1_mommy]

qotd for the first few months baby will sleep in a bassinet just like adoreh posted. i love that thing. we used it with dd. i was able to pull her into bed and feed her, and then put her back in her own bed. she was about 6 months old when we transfered her into her own room. let me tell ya that move was a hard one on me. it was so weird to not have her sleeping by me.
i agree with letting baby nap in his/her own crib during the day. just so it is not a huge so foreign to baby when the time comes.

[/B]tulip sorry about the 1 hr. when do you do the next one?

cartersmommy[B]fake nails are ok during pregnancy. lots of women have then done thought their pregnancies. just make sure the salon you go to stays pretty well ventelated. that is the main reason there would be a problem, other wise, it should be fine to have on your nails.

[Tulip]

1_mommy, I can't do the next one until Tuesday b/c I have to do it before work and the doctor's office is closed today. I have to call them on Monday and get them to send the requisition form to the blood clinic so I can get there when they open at 7:30am.

[hmbay]

just wanted to say for the last day and a half the spotting has slowed and become very minimal. I've been trying to really take it easy the last few days--as little walking and standing as possible and not lifting anything I don't have to (including Colin). Hopefully things continue to improve--I really didn't think I'd see any improvement at all so I'm very happy right now.

[cartersmommy]

LMAO about the kids doing the math! TOO FUNNY!!

i'm feeling so much better now that we're half and half about crib vs. bassinet! DH was all about the crib, and i was kinda torn b/c i'll be Bfing..... we'll see!! i'm thinking it'll be nice to have him in his crib so i can get some sleep and time apart from him.... just to have some ME time even if it isn't real me time, ya know?

[sdmama2be]

QOTD I am so happy to hear that there are others that think along the same lines as we are. For a while I felt like we were terrible parents for wanting to have Kaelyn sleep in her room, which is 4 steps away from our room. I am a very light sleeper and I will wake up to every snuffle etc. However if I have a c section then she will be sleeping in her pack n play (or car seat as my friend ended up doing because her baby snored all night otherwise) in our room until I can get up easier, unless Tony gets up brings her to me and then takes her back ;) My dog and cat used to sleep with us in our old place but when we moved inot our new house we declared our room as our room and they were both kicked out...now they sleep at the door, we can hear Oliver (the dog) snoring sometimes :rolleyes:

tulip I am sorry to hear about the one hour test but hopefully the you will pass the three hour with no problem

hmbay I'm happy to hear that the spotting has slowed down..

I was super lazy yesterday. I didn't leave the house at all..I felt guilty for a while but then I realized that next week I have to be somewhere everyday and then it's back to school YIKES!! Time is flying. Well I am off to order my glider and ottoman from BRU..We are going with the Dutalier quick ship program and they promised it would be here in 4-6 weeks..We test sat what felt like hundred of gliders and both agreed that the Dutalier was the most comfortable for us..then we looked at the price tag :eek:
I still haven't decided on a stroller..I keep wavering between the PK3 and the Graco MetroLite...we are definitely getting a Graco snugride car seat. What strollers are you getting? I'm sure this has been discussed before but I am starting to stress for absolutely no reason.
~Susan

[adoredh]

Our stroller is the Graco Quattro in Blackwell:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0001Z5KH2.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

We went with that one for a couple of reasons - good price, full recline, basket lowers, cup holders for parent and child, one handed gravity fold and a ton of other reasons. It's also not to heavy for me to lift at all. We also have the snug ride carseat, my mom bought for us, so it'll work perfect to use together.

[Tiger]

We plan on having our baby girl sleep in her crib. The nursery is right next door so it won't be too inconvienant for me to have to get up and walk over there. Like someone else said...the only reason I don't see this happening is if I end up with a c-section and it is hard for me to get in and out of bed.

I am leaving in a couple of hours to head back to my parents house. I am dreading the 7 hour drive but really looking forward to seeing my family and having the baby shower tomorrow. I can't wait. It should be a lot of fun. I will be sure to take some pics to post next week when we get back. We took Monday off so I won't be back until Tuesday.

Have a great weekend everyone!

[hmbay]

we have the graco metrolite. It's held up well and we're happy with it but we're not heavy stroller users. We probably use it 2-8 times a month going to the mall or out walking on paved trails/sidewalks. I"m not sure if it would hold up as well if it was used more frequently (the stroller itself is fine--the wheels just seem like they might not take frequent and heavy abuse but I might be wrong).

ETA the picture I found--the system we got is no longer available but when we bought it it came with a 2nd base and a small diaper bag. We got a killer deal on it which is part of what made our decision for us between it and other systems we were considering (I seem to remember we got it for like $180 shipped from amazon.com) as you can kind of see the wheels don't have shocks and look a bit "cheap" but it's worked well for what we use it for.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00008UA2A.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

[c j]

stroller We've registered for the Graco Metrolite.

hmbay Very happy to hear the spotting is minimal!! :D :D

[LexyLou]

Hi ladies! Super busy this morning. I'm just going to fly by because I'm in a wedding this weekend and I have to hop in the shower to go meet the bride and other bridesmaids to get out nails done.

Work-My last full day is Sept 9th. It's 3 weeks before my due date. My boss and I have agreed that I'll work from home and come in 2 days a week the next week and even the next week if all is well. I think I will officially start leave the week before my due date but I might not even start it then if my boss is willing to let me "work from home". In CA I won't lose any STD since before birth and after birth are different but I would much rather get 100% of my salary as long as possible vs 55% of my salary from a year ago.

Sleeping-We have a family craddle. Ella will be the 14th baby to sleep in it. It's family tradition and it's beautiful. It will be in our bedroom and she will probably sleep in there for 1-3 months and then we will move her to her crib. We don't plan on co-sleeping except for naps and just times we want to cuddle.


Strollers-Kind of embarrased to admit that we already have 3. The Peg Perego P3, the Maclaran Quest Mod in Pink, and a Dreamer Design jogging stroller with infant insert.

Have a great weekend ladies.

[scubasam]

Where will baby sleep? - I agree w/ most of you.....that our room is for us and the baby has his own room. I think though that I'll probably end up w/ him in a bassinet (we were just given one) in our room for at least the very beginning until I can get a handle on bf and a new sleep routine. I'm a light sleeper as well and don't function well on little sleep so I think for my own sanity it'll be better to get him moved sooner than later. I'll have him take naps in his own room beforehand though so that it's not a shock to him (or me!) when we start leaving him in there full time.

Strollers - We have the Bertini M5

http://www.strollers.com/images/products/bertm5.jpg

http://www.strollers.com/images/products/421-m5-back-lrg.jpg

We picked this stroller for a number of reasons.....we wanted something w/ jogging stroller type wheels (rubber vs. plastic) because of the area we live in but didn't want an actual jogging stroller, good shocks, could be used from birth to about 40 lbs, 5 pt harness, reclining seat, etc. This was the only one we found that had all of those features....mainly the wheels and that was our #1 thing. It was spendy ($300) and a bit heavier than others (26 lbs) but we're really happy w/ it.....although haven't used it yet obviously.

We also registered for the Maclaren Triumph as a lightweight. We liked that it steered well, felt very sturdy, the basket was still accessible, reclining seat, 5 pt harness and only 11 lbs.

[amtaylor]

Sleeping: Mack will be sleeping in the bassinet part of her pack-n-play in our room for about the first 4-8 weeks. After that, it's to her own room...

Stroller: We have the Graco Metrolite LE in Tyler print :)

[lorialys]

cartersmommy I think it is safe. You might not want to stay in there with the fumes for any longer than you have to, but I think it is safe.

hmbay Glad to hear that the spotting has slowed!

sdmama2be Have fun getting the glider!!

Tiger Have fun!

LexyLou That is very sweet that your daughter will carry on the family tradition of sleeping in the cradle.

stroller We're registered for the Graco MetroLite in Colby:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000D9RQ9.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
I heard lots of great reviews of the MetroLite, plus we wanted something lighter weight and cheaper. I can't imagine we'll use it for much more than mall walking and the occasional stroll. With the MetroLite, each pattern of the stroller is a little different though, so I suggest scoping the different ones out for unique features. We were originally going to get the MetroLite in the Delancy print but I hated the way you had to recline it. The Colby reclines much easier, so I'm happy.

Speaking of Pack 'N Plays and basinetts, my parents just purchased our Pack 'N Play today! It should be here by the 17th.

[amtaylor]

Registeries: Anyone else cheating and peeking at their registeries? My shower is next weekend and I'm guilty of looking... there are 13 things that have been bought so far :D

[lorialys]

amtaylor Oh I am so guilty and I don't care. LOL ;) I check them a few times a day, and yesterday I noticed that the first four items have been bought!!

[hmbay]

oh thought of one more suggestion. depending on how quickly the babies outgrow their infant seats it will be getting cold before some of them do. Technically for those of you in colder climates you are not supposed to bundle the baby in snowsuits etc and then strap them in as it's not safe. They sell this thing called "bundle me" on BRU for like $40 but for something cheaper check out Walmart--I paid around $12 I think it was for this contraption that resembles a shower cap with having elastic all around to pop over the carseat. It has a zipper and little flap to get to/see the baby and it worked well to hold heat in for the quick trips between car/house/mall etc and MUCH cheaper than the Buddle Me thing. You can always put a blanket over the baby as well if it's really cold (that's our dachshund checking out Colin when we brought him home).

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3cc26b3127cce9e07eb81706600000016108IZt3Lhm3Zy

[cartersmommy]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000302A9Q.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
this is our stroller, the Passage Stroller in the Ivy League print. We also registered for the matching carseat. This is at BRU.

At Target, I registered for this one:
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002XYBQE.16._AA384_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
It's the Elipsa from Evenflo.

Hopefully we get one of them! I am starting to feel like we need to get a car seat! We started a pool here at work and among friends and family of when they think Carter will make his entrance into the world.... and people are guessing September 27th! That's only 5 weeks away! UGH!! We need to get this stuff taken care of!! :)