November 2005 Mommies! - Our first baby is here!!!

[november2005mommies]

November 2005 Mommies - 9 Girls - 10 Boys - 7 Surprises!!

Link to Second Trimester Thread: Second Trimester (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=189)

Your co-moderators are Alanna, asianbear07 and Lindzee82.
Please put updates in RED to make it easier for us to find them!

baby arrival announcements can be made to:
announcemybaby@yahoo.com

threadmembers are encouraged to frequent the email account to watch for new arrivals! (and then to post and report to the thread!) Login using the password: hooray!

To join, please submit a post to this thread with the following information:

CC Name
Me: Name, age
DH: Name, age
Married: Date
TTC: Date (optional)
BFP: Date (optional)
EDD: Date

***Please also note if you have any other children, etc.

abbytfox IT'S A SURPRISE!!
Me: Abby, 29
DH: Adam, 28
Married: 6/22/03
EDD: 12/7/05

Alanna IT'S A GIRL!!
Me: Alanna (Lana), 32
DH: J., 31
Married: 9/13/03
TTC: Nov. 2004
BFP: Feb. 24, 2005
EDD: November 5, 2005
Gender Prediction: A BOY!

albuquerque IT'S A GIRL!!
Me: Ashley, 33
DH: George, 32
Married: 27 June 2003
TTC: November 2004
BFP: 23 February 2005
EDD: 5 November 2005

amyhky IT'S A BOY !!
me: Amy 33 yrs.
DH: Chad 34 yrs.
married 6/28/03
DS: Hayden, born 7/3/04
EDD: 11/9/05 - it's a boy!
Scheduled C-Section: 11/8/05!

AmyPooh IT'S A BOY !! ~ Cameron Grant
(AmyInDallas on WC)
Me: Amy, 28
DH: Rich, 32
Married: 8/3/2002
DD: Kailey Catheryn, 9/3/2004
EDD: 11/26/2005
Gender: Don't know yet

Asianbear 07 IT'S A GIRL!!
Me-Natasha, 22
DH-bert, 25
Married: 7/7/07
BFP: ?? don't know what this is
DS: Ethan Joseph
EDD: 11/13/05
gender prediction-- We are hoping for a GIRL!

Beevo12 IT'S A BOY !! ~ Kaden Bradford
Me: Yota
DH:Brad
Married: September 21, 2002
TTC: December 2003 (4 m/c's)
BFP: March 4th, 2005
EDD: November 16th, 2005

Bliss (WC name is Augustbride03) IT'S A SURPRISE!!
Me: Adrienne, 29
DH: David, 31
Married: August 30
BFP: March 17, 2005 (happy St. Patrick's Day to us!)
EDD: November 26, 2005

Breakfasthill IT'S A SURPRISE!!
Me: Beth, 30
DH: John, 41
Married: 9/21/02
DD: 5/17/04
EDD: 11/15/05

clzj IT'S A SURPRISE!!
Me: Lynn 31
DH: Charles 30
Married: 6/8/2002
DSS: Zachary 10
DS: Isaiah 2
EDD: 11/14/05
Prediction: Girl

Decemberwed IT'S A GIRL!! ~ Lily Kate
Me: Kassie, 32
DH: Kevin, 32
Married: 12/15/01
DS: Benjamin Rowley 1/20/03
EDD: 11/15/05

dziner
dziner, 34 IT'S A BOY !!
DH, 36
married 11.25.00
Ava Brooke, born 12.27.03
Edd: 11.17.05

First-time mom (morrisonk from WC) IT'S A GIRL!! ~ Kaylin Mae
Me: Krystal, 24
DH: Doug, 24
Married: July 31,2004
TTC: December
BFP: March 17, 2005
EDD: November 21, 2005

ginadc
Me: Gina, 38
DH: Evan, 35
Married: 5/17/2003
EDD: Adopting baby due 11/11/05

Hawaii2SJ IT'S A BOY !!
Me: Deanne, 28
DH: Randy, 28
Married: 1/24/04
TTC: 8/01/04
BFP: 2/03/05
EDD: 11/04/05

Kelly's Girl IT'S A SURPRISE!!
Kelly's Girl, 31
DH-31
Married: 10/13/01
BFP: 3/15/05
EDD: 11/22/05

Kristen78 IT'S A GIRL!!
Me: Kristen, 27
DH: Andrew, 30
Married: 8/16/03
TTC: 9/1/04
BFP: 3/4/05
EDD: 11/13/05

Lindzee82IT'S A BOY !! ~ Matthew Timothy
Me: Lindsey, 22
DH: Eric, 24
Married: August 21, 2004
TTC: January 2005
BFP: March 2005
EDD: November 14, 2005

LSUGirl IT'S A BOY !! ~ Andrew (Drew) John
Me: Rikki, 29
DH: Paul, 35
Married: 9/01/02
DS: 8/27/03
EDD: 11/09/05

http://www.addis-welt.de/smilie/smilie/familie/baby1.gif mrs_barkley IT'S A GIRL!! ~ Emalee Rose
Me: Terena, 27
DH: Tim, 28
Married: September 20, 2003
DD: Gina Marie, May 1, 2004
TTC: we weren't
BFP: March 10, 2005
EDD: November 2, 2005
ADD: August 22, 2005

Poodlelover
Me: Terri, 31
DH: Brian, 32
DD: Madeline Elizabeth 01/23/04
Married: June 30, 2001
BFP: March 15, 2005
EDD: November 24 (Turkey Day!)

rehoboth IT'S A SURPRISE!!
Me: rehoboth, 33
DH: 37
Married: June 30, 2001
DS: 11/05/03
BFP: 2/21/05
EDD: 11/03/05

rochacha IT'S A BOY !!
Me: 33
DH: 32
Married: 10/26/02
TTC: 12/04
BFP: 3/13/05
EDD: 11/21/05
Gender Prediction: A BOY!

SEBSKI IT'S A BOY !!
Me: 29
DH: 30
Married: 10/27/02
BFP: 3/11/05
EDD: 11/22/05

sem426 IT'S A GIRL!!
Me: Stacy 33
DH: Adam 33
Married: November 24, 2001
BFP: March 12, 2005
EDD: November 15, 2005

Shirsty IT'S A BOY !!
Me: 30
DH: 32
Married: 8/17/01
TTC: Jan 2004
BFP: Mar 2005
EDD: Nov 6, 2005

StClaire IT'S A GIRL!! ~ Avery Grace
Me: Claire, 26
DH: Bryan 32
Married: December 15, 2001
BFP: March 3, 2005
EDD: November 9, 2005

Tulip IT'S A SURPRISE!!
Me: Kelly, 28
DH: Dan, 31
Married: May 25, 2002
BFP: February 24, 2005
EDD: October 28

[november2005mommies]

October 28
Tulip

November 2
mrs_barkley

November 3
rehoboth

November 4
Hawaii2SJ

November 5
Alanna
albuquerque

November 6
Shirsty

November 9
StClaire
LSUGirl
amyhky

November 13
Asianbear 07
Kristen78

November 14
clzj
Lindzee82

November 15
SEM426
Breakfasthill
Decemberwed

November 16
Beevo12

November 21
first-time mom
rochacha

November 22
Kelly's Girl
Sebski

November 24
Poodlelover

November 26
AmyPooh
Bliss

December 7
Abbytfox

[november2005mommies]

October 6
amypooh

October 11
sem426

October 12
first-time mom

October 13
clzj

October 14
Alanna

October 17
abbytfox
albuquerque

October 18
Lindzee82

*********************************************
ULTRASOUND APPOINTMENTS



*********************************************
SCHEDULED INDUCTIONS

November 15
amypooh

*********************************************
SCHEDULED C-SECTIONS

November 8
amyhky

[november2005mommies]

Sebski
18 weeks 2 days
http://images.snapfish.com/343%3C%3A%3B%3A323232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2329%3D7%3A6%3 D%3B45%3DXROQDF%3E23238%3C%3A%3A73%3A53ot1lsi

Alanna
13 weeks
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da08b3127cce9130e2cadf0700000016108AbuG7No1ZNG

Kristen78
19weeks 4 days
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d805b3127cce9234a57b892700000036128AcNGrZi0atL

mrs barkley
13 weeks
http://tinypic.com/6huge9.jpg

albuquerque
22 weeks
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d929b3127cce92f0a34eb31d00000016108Qcsm7Ru0cc

abbytfox

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d739b3127cce944940c971ea00000036108CZNnLFmycm

[november2005mommies]

AsianBear07
23 weeks
http://images.snapfish.com/3444%3A74%3B23232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2348%3D329%3D%3C%3 B3%3DXROQDF%3E2323975%3B%3B%3A462ot1lsi

first-time mom
20 weeks
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d936b3127cce92b4e3ebb40700000016108AcNGbZq1cuO

LSUGirl
24 Weeks
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y299/rikkifonte/Drewface.jpg

[november2005mommies]

mrs barkley
20 weeks
http://tinypic.com/6hugc2.jpg

SEM426
30 weeks
http://images.snapfish.com/34494%3A6723232%7Ffp3%3B%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3C35%3D467 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A9936675%3Aot1lsi

First-time mom
29 weeks
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d729b3127cce93a1da4d09f800000016108AcNGbZq1cuO

LSUGirl
24 weeks
http://images.snapfish.com/344528%3A%3B23232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3C85%3D%3B 77%3DXROQDF%3E232397%3B656978ot1lsi

Hawaii2SJ
30 weeks
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v514/alohadee/30_wks.jpg

[november2005mommies]

Tulip
26 weeks
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d906b3127cce93434b7ddc3f00000016108IbuHDlm1aE

Abbytfox
27 weeks
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d726b3127cce93b8b68ba7ef00000036108CZNnLFmycm

Kelly's Girl
24 weeks 1 day
http://images.snapfish.com/34462%3B%3A723232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2333%3D%3A69%3D8%3 B6%3DXROQDF%3E23239%3A985%3A6%3A2ot1lsi

Sebski
29 weeks
http://images.snapfish.com/3449283523232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2329%3D7%3A6%3D%3B45%3 DXROQDF%3E2323%3A933857%3B2ot1lsi

Lindzee82
30 Weeks
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d724b3127cce94570a72863d00000036108AbtGzhs3ZtT

Beevo12
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d624b3127cce931774e47b1c00000015108Aasmjlu5aNN

[november2005mommies]

sem426
32 weeks
http://images.snapfish.com/344%3A975523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3C35%3D467%3 DXROQDF%3E2323%3B34%3A3%3B278ot1lsi

[november2005mommies]

keeping

[november2005mommies]

preserving

[november2005mommies]

Blank

[november2005mommies]

Hi Everyone... as we are all just entering or on the verge of entering the third trimester... I thought we deserved a shiny new thread! ... Feel free to post! I'll as to have the other thread locked asap. Please let me know if any info or updates got lost in the transition.. I'll be happy to make any changes you let me know about in RED :)

Happy third trimester to us! And happy posting!

[Tulip]

I'm here! Yeah for a new thread.

[sem426]

Thanks for setting up the new thread! Can't believe we are in the 3rd trimester already!

[Natasha]

WooHoo! 88 days left to go for me! YAY for the third trimester!!!

[clzj]

I am here also

[abbytfox]

Hi Everyone! Well, I am not officially into the 3rd trimester for 3 weeks, but it is coming soon enough...It's funny I feel like I have been pregnant forever and I still have almost half to go.

I am having one of those days where you feel huge. I woke up this morning feeling worried about my next weigh in and I have at least 2 weeks until it happens. Sorry to obsess about this, but I just feel like I am gaining so much too fast. My doc hasn't said anything yet, but I feel like this appointment he is going to mention it and I am not sure what to change. I have been really hungry in the late afternoon and snacking a bit more, but I have also been more active. Who knows? It doesn't help that I am needing to find a dress for a wedding in a couple weeks and it is impossible. Everything is too small or too short. Even the large sizes...it is just really upsetting to me. It's just one of those days...you know?

In other, happier preggo news, I ordered the bedding yesterday from Javis Davis and I am so excited for it to arrive. Mary Lou said that it would be about 5 weeks for it to be delivered. We went with the bubble gum lime as the main fabric for the bumper and crib skirt. It is going to be accented with a black and white gingham and turquoise and lime green cotton/linen fabrics. In addition to the skirt, bumper, and sheet we also got a blanket made out of the black and white fabric on one side and a really soft textured fabric on the other side and a little pillow to put on the glider for decoration and as a back pillow. The walls will be a celery green color. YAY! I can't wait to see how all our ideas turn out. Hope everyone has a good day!

[amyhky]

StClaire & LSUGirl Since you're both due 11/9, as I am, do you know how many weeks we are?

For those of you 1st time moms ordering/buying gliders and rockers, if I may make a suggestion? I would highly recommend saving your money on the ottoman and getting a nursing stool (Medela makes one that BRU sells), whether or not you'll nurse. It's the right level and angle to properly prop your feet to alleviate pressure/strain on your back. It feels much better (IMO) to have your feet down low and at an angle rather than up high and straight out in front.

[rehoboth]

YAY for a new thread! :D

[beevo12]

Woo hoo!! The third tri! Subscribing!

[Kristen78]

Yay for the new thread! Thanks!

I had my 27 week appointment yesterday. I gained 5 pounds. I think I am up 19 pounds total now. And they told me to aim for 25 total. Yikes! That means only 6 to go. I think I will go over it. BUT the nurse told me that 5 pounds was good and they haven't mentioned that I am gaining too much, so I guess I am not. I dont think I am...

I'm still not peeing in a cup at my doctor's appointments. I forgot to ask why yesterday! I will try to remember to ask at my next appointment, it is scheduled for 9/14. I am going back for a Level II ultrasound somewhere between 32-34 weeks just to keep an eye on the baby since my baby has a 2 vessel umbilical cord (3 is normal). But the doc said I shouldn't be worried because she sees the 2 vessels cords all the time.

I ordered my crib almost 8 weeks ago. It should be here any day now...the company I ordered it from keeps saying they will have the tracking number for me tomorrow. SIGH. Today I bought some baby hangers and hung up the clothes I have for the baby so far. I have a hard time staying away from BabyGap, but I have only been buying things on sale. I dont really have that much actually. But the things there are so cute!

[first-time mom]

Yeah for the third trimester:) Only four more days and I am officially there that is so exciting.

I had a little scare yesterday. I went to the bathroom b/c I felt a lot of discharge come out and when I went it looked brown to me. Not a dark brown but a light tan or I guess you could call it off white. So I instantly thought it was blood and went to the Dr's and of course it wasnt. She said she didnt even see anything besides a white discharge so I felt dumb. She did say that even if it was brown they dont worry about it. I thought that was strange!! She said unless I see red its normal. She said her discharge during her pregnancy was a whole spectrum of colors. Mine has always been white or a little yellow. The strange thing was that night when I went home to check the pantiliner that I had on (to see if I was officially losing my mind) it was gone!! No tan or white it looked clean. I really dont get it. So today I had the same thing happen and I think I figured it out hah.. I think my discharge has increased and when a lot of it comes out it looks tan or off white. On toliet paper it looks white. I know I know TMI, but just thought I would share just incase anyone else notices this. Just when I get use to what I am having it changes... I still find it strange that they dont worry if you are having a brown discharge (even though mine wasnt)!! Needless to say I have been to the Dr. so many times they must hate it when I call, but hey they get paid big bucks... My next scheduled appt. is Aug 30 for an ultrasound. Does anyone else get ultrasounds?? My doc does them at 28wks..

[Natasha]

first-time mom--Yes, you are supposed to get all kinds of funky discharge. I do, but it stays mostly white and a little yellow-y. I am having an ultrasound on the 23rd (28+ weeks for me).

[Sebski]

Woo hoo - our 3rd trimester thread!!! Thanks for setting it up mods!

Some responses from the last thread:

Sem thanks for posting the glider website - I'm going to check it out after I'm done here... sounds very reasonable!!!

Shirsty I realized what I was feeling were hiccups after asking my sister who has 2 children. ;) I told her that I was feeling teeny tiny kicks, but they were pretty rythmic and went on for longer than he normally kicks for. She said they were most likely hiccups. :)
I have Blue Cross insurance and didn't know anything about the prenatal nurse email/thing! Did you call them about it?

Bliss we registered for the PP Viaggio car seat to go w/ the Pliko stroller. Like you - I thought it felt more secure w/ the seat clicking into the metal clasps rather than a cupholder. Plus, the stroller seems much sturdier to me than the metrolite (just my opinion). Someone already bought the stroller for us, but I think I might take it back after my shower and upgrade to the Venezia (sp?)... it's only $60 more and has a huge undercarriage basket and the option to switch the handle bar to walk facing your baby or not. I was in BRU last night and the sales rep said it folds up to weigh 17 or 18 pounds - can't remember exactly right now.

abbytfox the bedding you designed sounds gorgeous - can't wait to see pictures of it!

Wow... so are we really entering/in the 3rd trimester? Somebody pinch me... I can't believe how fast this pregnancy is flying!

[rochacha]

I can't beleive that we are in the third trimester. I am beginging to feel very very nervous that the baby will be here in just three months. Anyone else???

[Tulip]

Doctor's Appt., weight gain is 22lbs. total. Doctor said it was excellent. :D Head was down, HB at 160, BP good, GTT results in next week, still measuring 2 weeks ahead. I go back in 4 weeks and then I go to 2 week intervals. So next doc. appt. Sept. 15.

[sem426]

kristen most books I've read say gaining 25-35 lbs is fine, so I'm sure you'll be right in that range! Hopefully your crib will be delivered soon!

hiccups That might be what I've been feeling too...last night Baby S was doing a dance or something! DH and I were being entertained just by my belly shaking and the occasional jolts coming from inside!

first time mom glad everything is ok. i've been getting more discharge these days too...but nothing dark in color thank goodness.

rochacha Yes, I am getting nervous too! Will I know what to do...will I be a good mom...etc. I'm extremely excited, but a bit nervous at the same time too.

bras/boobs So far I'm still wearing my regular bras...have most people needed to get larger ones? I wear a C regularly so i figured I'd be up to a D at least by now...but so far they are all still fitting. They are just a little "fuller", but still fit in my C bras just fine. I'm not complaining since I haven't had to buy new bras!
I also should add that I had a breast reduction about 12 years ago and most likely won't be able to BF, but I'm pretty sure my bb's should still produce milk in them? I'll have to ask my dr at the next visit.

bellybutton Has yours popped yet? So far mine is still hanging in! I have a very good "innie" so I think it might take a few more weeks for it to totally pop. For some reason I think that's going to freak me out :eek:

gap maternity I ordered a bunch of stuff online last week...and I need to return everything! There aren't any Gap stores close to my house that carry maternity so it's annoying that I can't try on anything. But, yesterday at lunch I went to a big Gap in NYC that has maternity and I got 6 things for $72 (well I had a $15 off coupon too!) 2 long sleeve t shirts, 1 pair of cords, 1 pair of black long pants and 2 camisoles to wear under stuff when the cooler weather comes. So I was very excited! All on the sale rack!
I also noticed a bunch of stuff on Old Navy.com that is on sale. I figure I just need to get a few more mix/match pieces for the cooler weather and I should be ok. Right now, my wardrobe consists of capri pants and t-shirts or tank tops. Luckily I work for an advertising agency and I can go totally casual to work!

[Alanna]

Hi Everyone! Glad to see everyone seems to have transitioned to the new thread. Things have been pretty quiet with me lately... Im beginning to get impatient already which is a really bad sign considering I still have many many weeks to go.

Shower Well all my whining and complaining paid off! I found out that I am haivng a shower at the end of September (the 24th) and its going to be exactly what i wanted.. .small brunch with just family. I am really happy that I can finally stop thinking about it! (and i think my dh is even happier that this issue is put to rest :) )

Groin Pain I never rang in on this in the last thread... i had pretty severe groin pain a couple weeks ago.. i brought it up with my midwife and she said it was just my hips spreading and getting ready for the baby... BUT the good news is that it has gotten MUCH better... when it was at its worst I was having a really hard time getting out of bed in the middle of the night... i kind of had to scoot myself to the side and then heave myself out. and now its much better.. its still hurts but its not the really crippling pain it was a last week and the week before.

bellybutton mine hasnt popped and it doesnt really look like its going to... im kinda relieved because i think that would freak me out... ;)

hiccups i havent noticed hiccups at all.. there hasnt been any rhythmic movement going on... however, i have noticed a lot more activity as of late... i dont know if it is just that she is bigger and its more noticable... or if its that she is getting more rambunctious... its pretty crazy to watch my stomach getting all ripply from her.

bras ive already gone up a whole size... one band and one cup size... :rolleyes: im starting to feel pretty constricted in these new bras... im going to try to hold out til i buy nursing bras.. (i hate bras!)

[Natasha]

Don't thank me for the new thread, it's all Alanna. I still haven't figured out how to log out!

Alanna--Don't get too excited about the belly button, it could still pop! Heehee

Rochacha--I am getting nervous too! I like her in my tummy, just fine. I am scared to become a mother to 2!

Bra's--I feel ya on the bra issue! Nothing fits, and I'm scared to buy new, cause I know they're gonna grow more...

Groin pain--Still as bad as ever after I work. I am going down to 2 days a week now...Ugh. It sucks to lose the money, but the pain is ridiculous... I worked as a waitress right up until my son's due date... Not sure why I am so wimpy this time around...

Name--Soooo, we are having name issues. kemberlyn has been pretty much vetoed. So, we are having a "baby naming party" rather than a baby shower. We're going to let everyone who wants to vote on our top 3 names, but then we aren't telling what the name will be till shes born, so I don't have to listen to comments for the next few months.

[abbytfox]

Last night DH and I had a great date...we went to see the musical "Wicked" in San Francisco. Has anyone else seen it? I really loved it...lots of fun with a definite political or humanitarian undertone. We got seats in the beginning of June so we had been waiting a long time to finally see it. We don't really go to the theater that often, but I love it and we know it will be long gone for a while after the babe is born. I would recommend it if it is coming to your area!

Tonight I am making homemade pizza for dinner. I can not wait! I made it with my friend a couple weeks ago and it was so delicious. A homemade crust with sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, red onion and goat cheese! Mmmm...

Bras I have gone from a 36C to a 38D! I know that once the baby is born and my milk comes in they will get bigger, but they seem to have stabilized for now. I have been fascinated by how massive they are! It is crazy to me! Hopefully the next bras I buy will be nursing bras.

asianbear I can't believe that your name was vetoed by everyone! How sad for you guys. A vote is really considerate of you...we decided in the beginning that we wouldn't tell anyone our choice until the baby was born. It is hard not to get my mom or best friend's opinion, but I think it is for the best. People get used to the name you choose and it seems to suit the child. Beforehand, you're right, everyone has too many opinions. Good luck with the name! I hope you get a vote in the direction you want!

alanna So glad you are going to have a shower right when you wanted it. How wonderful! I totally have to do the "scoot and heave" to get out of bed! I feel that the pain gets worse at night...I guess after a long day of moving myself around. I don't feel different and it is hard to accept that I can't do the same things with ease as I could before. Even getting in and out of the car!

sem That is so annoying about needing to return everything to GAP. I have ordered from them once before and returned 2 of 4 things. I really need work pants now. Same as you, all my clothes are really summery and I work in SF about an hour from my house...it can be as much as 25 degrees colder there on the same day it is 85 here! I guess I will be wearing fall clothes earlier than I thought! It is great that you found so much stuff on sale. I love a good bargain.

Tulip Congrats on the excellent weight gain! You must feel really good about that. I have a feeling I will be getting a talking to this next appointment! Still holding out hope for your GTT results. I hope you don't have to worry about it for much longer.

first-time mom I also have noticed an increase in discharge. I sometimes analyze it too much and once I thought that it was brownish, but it was more creamy colored. I figured that as long as I didn't feel any pain or discomfort it was ok. I am glad that you filled us in on what the doctor said. It helps!

Kristen 19 pounds sounds exactly right to me! I am sure that the doctor would say something to you if she was concerned. You are probably right on track for a perfect weight gain. What a healthy baby you'll have!

[Tulip]

abby, we saw Wicked at Easter in Toronto. I loved it! I'm reading the book now.

[sem426]

Here are my 27 week shots taken the other day:
http://images.snapfish.com/34475%3C3923232%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3C35%3D467%3 DXROQDF%3E2323%3A44994883ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/34475%3C3923232%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3238%3E%3B44%3E376%3E WSNRCG%3D3232%3B358%3A3978nu0mrj

[Natasha]

Well, I sorta vetoed the name, too. The more I told it to people, the more I realized she would probably have trouble with it. So, we decided to look for something equally unique, but easier to say and understand...

[Alanna]

Nice belly shot SEM!

Let me know if you want me to delete your baby name from the front page AsianBear!

[Natasha]

Alanna--That would be great! Thank you (sorry I haven't been much help...).

[Alanna]

No prob... im going to do updates tomorrow so i will add it to the list!

[beevo12]

Sem Nice belly shot!

Asianbear Sorry the name was vetoed. Do you know the names your family will be voting on yet?


bellybutton The top of mine is starting to bulge and the rest looks pretty flat so far. I'm scared!! :p

Nothing else going on here, I had a shower last weekend at my moms since she lives in WI and I won't be going up there again before Kaden is born. I'll just say I'm set in the 0-3 month clothing department. Got the pack n' play, aquarium highchair, and the aquarium bouncer. YAY! Still dont have a crib!! But my bedding arrived!

ETA- I passed my 1 hour GTT!!!

[clzj]

Beevo12-Where in WI are you from? I am from there also.

[first-time mom]

Yeah I definatly think I over analyzed the discharge as well. I showed my husband a pantiliner I had worn and asked him what color it was and he said light yellow. He just looked at me and said how the hell did you think that was brown.. :rolleyes: So apparently I freaked out and thought it was brown when IT WASNT. That day I felt really achy so its almost like that took my mind over. I have been achy this whole pregnancy (i know call it my uterus headache) so its obviously normal for me. When she grows I ache which means I ache often. So I guess I shouldnt freak until I get someone elses opinion I mean who knows maybe I am color blind. Oh well.....live and learn.

I did take a two week leave of absence from work without pay so I can get a little R & R. So starting monday I get to relax for a bit I think I will feel better when I return also being further along...

My shower is Sept. 3 which is so not to long from now... this is starting to fly by..

[Natasha]

Beevo--Sounds like you cleaned up at the shower! The names we are considering right now are:

Kathrene
Kamryn
Kieran
Kaydence
Korrine
Keilah
Kalila

In pretty much that order. We need to stick with the letter K...

First-Time Mom--Good for you, taking some time off. Time really is starting to fly! I totally agree!

[shirsty]

Seb I actually got something in the mail from my insurance co. about the program, I think after I went in for my first prenatal appt. A co-worker of mine's wife is also pregnant but they didn't get anything in the mail, he called them directly and asked about it. I think it's called Healthy Start or something like that. That sucks about having to return all that stuff, I've had to do some of that too. I ordered some Nordstrom stuff online ($ I know but I was getting desperate!) and had to return it all. I've had good luck with Target's maternity stuff online, they have a lot of stuff.

belly button so far mine is still an innie! But some days it's a little more 'outie' than others. :)

Lana my shower is the same day as yours!! September 24 is going to be here before we know it. My DH's aunt is throwing the shower.

First time mom: I have wondered if some of my discharge is a little brown as well, judging from the pantiliner, but it really is just yellowish if I'm objective about it. So I can see how you might misinterpret it. Don't be too hard on yourself!

Looking good Sem! Your nice blemish-free belly makes me want to ask the others:

anyone else have stretch marks yet? I have a number of them on my belly already, around the button. I am really fair though and I knew I would get em, my mom had them too. My DH says it looks like my belly is angry :) Please tell me I'm not the only one!

asianbear: those are lovely names. I think Kieran is my favorite.

[Natasha]

shirsty--Thanks. We really like Kieran, too! I didn't get stretch marks with DS until abput 7 months, but I got them with a freakin vengence! I called it my flame tattoo, because it looked like flames coming up my tummy! So far, no new ones with this baby, tho.

[mrs_barkley]

Subscribing to the new thread!

[beevo12]

clzj I am from Eau Claire, WI, but my mom now moved and lives in Strum, WI. And now I'm in Atlanta. :) How 'bout you?

Asianbear I did! Although I wish I would have gotten things from my registry, but I can't be too picky. From your name list, I like Kieran and Keilah.

shirtsy I have some stretchmarks under my bb's, but that's it.....so far. ;)

[abbytfox]

beevo and clzj I am originally from WI also! I grew up in Mequon about 30 minutes from Milwaukee. My family moved to the California Bay Area when I was in 7th grade, but I still have some family in Mequon. It sure has changed since I lived there! I have very fond memories of my childhood there, but I am so glad I don't have to deal with WI weather with my babies...talk about cold!

[Sebski]

Well I had a little panic attack today... around 12:30 I realized that I hadn't felt the baby move at all. Usually he gets some good kicks in after bkfst and lunch... so, I ate something - nothing. Drank a Gatorade - nothing. I debated for 5 min on whether or not to call the doc and then I called. They had me come in for an u/s and everything is fine. Fluids great and the best part? He's got respiratory function already!!! :) We saw his chest moving in and out breathing away... the doctor was very surprised to see it so well at this point and that made me extremely happy. My DH told me that it's going to be a loooong 3 months. I was apologizing to the nurses and doctor and they all laughed at me... saying this is what they're there for and it's always better to be safe than sorry. My munchkin is ok. :) I go back on Monday for the glucose test and this time I see my neighbor so I'm hoping I can finagle another u/s out of him. ;)

Sem beautiful belly!

beevo great shower gifts! sounds like you're on your way to a stocked nursery!!!

alanna so glad you found that you're having a shower! You must be so relieved!

Belly buttons mine hasn't popped yet - it's hanging in there... but, I think it's a losing battle. :p

Stretch marks I really don't want to jinx anything yet - but they haven't shown up yet.... hoping it stays that way!!!

Boobs/bras haven't had to buy any larger bras yet because the boob fairy skipped over my house. The boobs are definitely feeling fuller/larger, but I'm only just starting to fill my cups up completely. :o

Speaking of boobs - anyone's leak yet? Mine do every once in awhile... clear fluid though - not really milky.

I have to hit the hay - I'm pooped and have to get an early start into work since I cut out at 2pm today. Ciao bellas!

[clzj]

beevo and abbtyfox-I grew up in Waukesha. I graduated college from LaCrosse. I miss cheeseland. Even though I am only in IL. At least I am close to my mom. My DH's family is in Tucson. We only see them once every other year.

[amyhky]

Sem426 I would not entirely trust what your doctor says about breastfeeding after breast reduction, a lot of doctors don't know a lot about BF in general, they've been given very little training. There is a book out there called, "Defining Your Own Success : Breastfeeding after Breast Reduction Surgery" by Diana West that you might look into, your local LLL might have a copy you could borrow, or the library might as well. Also, find an IBCLC (certified lactation consultant, you may go to this website: http://www.iblce.org/US%20registry.htm) or contact a local LLL leader after your baby comes for more individualized help if you'd like to try and breastfeed. Hope I'm rambling too much! I just wish more people got the right help for breastfeeding b/c too often I've had friends be misguided by nurses or doctors who didn't know enough! :( If you'd like to find the nearest LLL to you, go to this website: http://www.lalecheleague.org/WebUS.html

They may have different beliefs than you (or others reading this) but they KNOW what they're talking about regarding BF and they can help or steer you in the right direction. I even went to some meetings before I had my 1st baby to start hearing about people's struggles/questions w/BF so that if I later encountered those issues, at least I'd heard of some solutions to try. It really helped going to meetings - for example, my son was tongue-tied which some doctors will say doesn't affect BF but it does and it was hurting me and if I hadn't had the knowledge from a LLL meeting (and the recommendation of an oral surgeon) to know about this, it would have been difficult. Instead of later having to have surgery where my son was knocked out w/a general anesthesia b/c it was affecting his speech (which it does later on), we had it done 2 days after we checked out of the hospital and it was no big deal b/c the frenulum was so thin and I just nursed him immediately after.

Ok, enough out of me already, sorry!

[amyhky]

For those who didn't know, you can go into a Gap store and have them order maternity stuff for you (if you have all of your catalog #'s from the website already) and you don't have to pay shipping! :) They don't advertise it, but I've done it before for jeans for my husband and they said I can order maternity as well. Try and pick a time when the store isn't so busy, though, b/c they'll be more willing to accomodate you.

[LSUGirl]

Sorry Amy - we are 28 weeks as of this past Wed (August 17th) :)

Yeah for the new thread and third trimester.

Belly button - yep - mine popped out a couple of days ago - ugh I can't stand it. It's not bad yet - but it'll get there. I kept a bandaid on it the last pg so it wouldn't poke out through my shirts - lol.

[Tulip]

Bellybutton, mine is still firmly inside my belly. I'm hoping it stays that way.

[Kristen78]

Belly Button - Mine is still an innie. I dont know if it will pop out becuase its a pretty good innie. :)

Boobs - I have gone from a 36B to a 36D and I think I could use a 38D. Its getting insane!

[rehoboth]

shirsty No stretch marks yet, but I'm sure the ones from last pg will rear their ugly heads soon enough.

asianbear07 OMG, we must have the same stretch mark pattern. :)

beevo YAY for a great shower. It's so comforting to start to get the stuff in order, isn't it?

bellybutton I remained a firm innie with my DS and expect I'll do the same this time. I really wanted it to pop out, but my innie is very innie when not pg.

leakage I haven't seen any liquid leakage out of my breasts, but sometimes I'll pick out dry colostrum from my nipples. Sorry if TMI.

==========

My BF just had her baby last week, and another good friend is scheduled to have hers Monday. It's making me anxious for November--I want my babe in my arms now, too!! Then again, this might be my last pg, so I'm trying hard not to wish it away too quickly. :)

[Hawaii2SJ]

Boobs the boob fairy skipped me too. I'm still wearing the same ol' bra size.

Bellybutton It's just flat....I've got 11 more weeks to go, we'll see what happens.

Stretch Marks So far so good...xxx keeping my fingers crossed xxxx I've been using the BodyShop's Cocoa body butter religiously since 16wks. Not sure if it's the "genes" or the butter :)

[Natasha]

rehoboth--Part of me wants her to be here NOW, too. But, I am cherishing the time I have with my son.

QOTD: For those of you who have had kids before, are any of you nervous about adding a sibling? For those who haven't, are you nervous about being a mom for the first time?

I am so afraid that I will not feel the same way about this baby that I do about my son. He is my baby, and I was a single mom for most of his life so far, so I am even more attatched, if that is possible. I'm just scared that, maybe I won't love this baby as much?

When I was preggo with my son, I was SO scared about being a mom for the first time! He was also a particularily trying infant, and there were times where I was seriously afraid I would have to give him up for adoption, because I was afraid I was a "bad mom" and he was too much for me. I was also 19-20 at the time...

Anyway, those have been my thought lately. I was wondering if anyone else had the same silly worries... Because in my heart, I knwo thats what they are, but i swear, I will stress about ANYTHING at this point...

[Kelly's Girl]

Yeah for the new thread- although somehow I missed it over the past few days? :confused: Pg brain, maybe???

Belly-button: Mine is inching outward by the day. I love LSU Girl's solution of bandaiding it! I have a feeling I'm going to have to borrow that trick!

Bras: Yep, I def. got pg boobies, and early! I'd gone up a cup size by 6 weeks, so I'm only expecting them to get bigger as I progress.

AsianBear, please let us know how the "naming party" goes. I like Kieran and Kamryn both!
Yota, sounds like your shower rocked. Your belly pics look so cute in the belly shots thread!

Speaking of belly shots, I just looked at the first page of this new thread and realized I am in my undies in my pic! Should I take that down? I don't want to be inappropriate or offend anyone, it just didn't occur to me until just now that I was in me skivvies! :rolleyes:

Amyhky thanks for the tip w/the Gap. My Old Navy carries maternity but not the local gap.
Shirsty no stretch marks yet, but I think I have some *old* ones on my bb's!!! :)

As for the 3rd tri- when does it start? Sebski, are we in it yet?
I went to the OB this morning and he said that he wouldn't change a thing, that all looked well. I'm just glad he didn't tell me I was gaining too much weight! I am almost at the 25# minimum, and still have almost 14 weeks to go! EEK!!! Just like my pg twin, Seb, I'll be having my GTT next week. (Seb, so glad everything is ok w/ the baby! Def. better safe than sorry!)

At my appt. this a.m., he said I measured 26. What does this mean?

[mrs_barkley]

QOTD: For those of you who have had kids before, are any of you nervous about adding a sibling? Not really, just hoping for the best.

Belly-button - I have a really deep innie. It didn't pop with DD but I only made it to 28 weeks with her. We will see if it pops or not.

Kelly's girl- The 26 means that the top of your uterus is 26 cms. Usually this measurement is the same as the number of weeks you are.

Nothing new here really. I had the GTT yesterday and passed :)

[Sebski]

Belly button I kept a bandaid on it the last pg so it wouldn't poke out through my shirts[/QUOTE]

Thanks for this tip - I could see myself doing this!!! :)

Kellys Girl I'm considering myself in the 3rd trimester... Friday's I round up to whatever my next week is. So, starting today I consider myself 27w and that, according to my doctor, is the 3rd tri. Woo hoo - we're on the home stretch! You'll be happy to hear that I was weighed yesterday and there was no gain - I stayed the same as last weigh in!!! :D Hopefully the same is for you next week! Good luck w/ the glucose test!

Family question/issue... how to put this...

I'm not really having my FIL lately... or, actually, for awhile now. You see, my MIL passed away last fall very suddenly and he didn't take the news of being a solo grandfather very well. This is the first baby and MIL always wanted grandkids so badly. Anyhoo, I'm in my 7th month and haven't seen/spoken to him in over 2 months since the last family function. He talks to my DH daily though - by calling him at work on on the cell and they go to dinner weekly. In fact, that's where they are now... while I hit Shop Rite by myself and had cereal. That's right - I'm not really "invited" to their weekly dinners. In fact, tonight on the way home (DH and I commuted together) DH called his dad to say switch restaurants to one near us and FIL hemmed and hawed over it. DH responded "she's w/ me, we commuted together" so I know that he was hemming over the possibility of me joining them for dinner. I don't get it. So, when we got home, DH waited for his dad while I went off on my own. It's the strangest situation. While we aren't the closest of friends, I've never been cold to FIL in the past. However, he never comes to our house for a visit, DH always has to go there. And, like I said earlier, he hasn't once called about the baby. He might tell DH "tell Sebski I said hi" or "how's she feeling" every once in awhile, but it's like he asks because he knows he has too every once in awhile. I really don't know what I'm looking to happen or change... but all I do know is that I'm tired of feeling like the 3rd wheel or odd man out. And, the lack of interest over the baby really bothers me. Take yesterday for instance... we had that emergency appt and FIL called DH (on his cell of course) afterward - he didn't know we went - and asked DH to go to dinner. DH said that we had just gotten back from the doctor - he said this TWICE - yet not once did I hear him tell his dad that everything went well, or it was a good visit etc. Why? Because he didn't ask. I'm so frustrated with it! Meanwhile my mother called me like crazy, wanted to meet me at the doctors etc. :confused: Why is FIL like this? Would you be annoyed if you were in my position? I keep telling DH that he has to talk to him about it, that I feel awkward when I'm around him now since I don't think he likes me. DH thinks I'm being crazy since we dated for years and have been married for 3 now - so why would his dad all of a sudden have a prob w/ me. UGH! What would you do/feel if you were me?

[Decemberwed]

Hi everyone. I can't possibly keep up as I am back at school. But things are going great.
Since I am having a repeat csection I got to schedule it. As of right now Lily will be born at 7:30 am on Nov. 10. My little appt. baby! :D I am very pleased about that. My official due date is the 15th and my Dr. wanted to do it on the 8th but I have some work conflicts that, if I can avoid I would like to. The risk I run is going into labor myself earlier. Oh well.I can live with that.
So my countdown has begun...since I know when she is coming I can officially say I have 11 weeks left. Whooo hoooo! I am ready to start seeing my weight go down instead of up! I think I have gained 17 lbs so far (which is far less than with DS). The good news is that really for the last month or maybe 6 weeks I gained little with DS. So I am hoping maybe another 10lbs until the end.
Hope everyone is feeling well!!

[Natasha]

Sebski--I obviously don't know your FIL, but I do know that sometimes men really distance themselves from pregnancy. Especially those in older generations. It's a "woman" thing. I am sorry to hear you're going through this, it really sucks.

Decemberwed--How cool to know exactly when you're going to have your baby! I had a c-sec with DS, but my doc wants me to go for a VBAC, and I am cool with that.

[Bliss]

Hi all, boy this thread moves fast!! I am not "officially" 3rd trimester for another 8 days but it looks good on the thread topic lol.

Stretch marks- Somehow overnight I have sprung some on my sides :( after all my careful applications of cocoa butter. Guess I had better get some stronger stuff lol.

bbs- I am already up from a 36 B/c to a 38D :eek: and they are still growing. I simply refuse to buy new bras again. Bad enough I had to buy more maternity pants in a larger size (probably why I am getting stretch marks lol).

---------

Bassinets is anyone using/had used one? I am having the hardest time finding out safety info or recommendations on one. We def. want to have baby k in our room w. us, and I like the thought of a bassinet better than a PNP. The only ones I have found are one by Graco Graco Bassinet (http://www.gracobaby.com/catalog/product.aspx?modelNumber=5840CNP&CategoryID=12) or Kolkraft Kolkraft Bassinet (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00005BQ84/qid=1124505429/sr=2-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/102-2745806-4315336?v=glance&s=baby) . Any feedback/suggestions would be great.

[Natasha]

I had a bassinet with DS (Graco), and I really like it. I redid it in pink's for the new baby and plan on using it for her. It has proven to be very safe and sturdy. It has casters that lock so it will either rock or stay put. And, it has a nifty little catch all basket underneath.

[Kristen78]

Bliss - I am thinking about getting that same Graco bassinet. I found it Here (http://kidspalace1.com/Graco%20heirloom%20bedside%20bassinet.asp) for $129 + $9 shipping in case you are interested. I am still deciding. My mom wants to buy it for me but I might want a moses basket instead but she does thiunk the moses basket is a good idea...

[sem426]

amyhky Thank yo so much for all of the BF info and the book suggestions. I will definitely check those out and get all of the info before I make a decision. I am fine w/not BFing, since I pretty much had resigned myself to that fact, so I'll have to see what happens now. If I can BF maybe I will. Thanks for the tip about the Gap! i didn't know that. I usually try to use a free shipping promo whenever I buy something from there, but it's great to know that I can actually go the store and have them order it for me.

beevo, abbytfox,clzj Looks like we have a big Wisconsin contingency here! I didnt grow up in Wisc, but I went to college at the UW in Madison so I feel like a wisconsinite!

mrs barkeley yay for passing your GTT! i have mine next week.

Decemberwed My EDD twin! How exciting that you have your c-section date! Maybe we'll end up delivering on the same day ...who knows!

Sebski I'm so sorry that your FIL is acting like this. Was he the same way before you got pg? Were you "excluded" from dinner w/him and DH? Does DH have any siblings? Maybe FIL is afraid of "losing" him to you and the baby...and being "left out" of your lives?? I know it sounds crazy, but maybe that's what he is thinking??

bassinets I am planning on using one in our bedroom for the first few weeks. Our bedroom is on the first floor of our house and the baby's room is upstairs so it will be much easier to have her in the room w/us instead of trekking up and down in the middle of the night. I'm going to borrow a bassinet from a friend of mine. I'm not sure what brand it is, but I know she bought it at Denny's Kids Store.

So I left work early yesterday bc I have this awful cold and thought I was starting to get a sore throat. I feel a little better this morning, I slept like 10 hours last night so that helped! Im going to take it easy this weekend and I'm also off on Monday so I'm sure a long weekend will help clear up my stuffed up head!


Have a great weekend everyone!

[shirsty]

Sebski that is lame about your FIL, I would be annoyed/hurt too. Have he and your DH always done this weekly dinner thing without you? Sounds like he is more distant now, with your MIL passing and your baby on the way, but have they always had this 'just them' time, your DH and FIL? I think it's great they would want time together, just the two of them, but once a week seems like a lot, IMHO. Especially since you're pregnant and changing all the time, you would think he'd want to be a part of the process. But the death of someone close can do strange things to people too. I would try not to take it personally, if he has a problem, it's his to deal with. Easier said than done I know. Maybe you could write him a letter about it??

I had a baby shower for a friend of mine today, it was so fun! A bunch of ladies I went to school with, it was so good to get together and catch up on what everyone's doing now.

I know I just posted about movement a couple days ago, but I find myself continuing to obsess about it!! I just really feel like my baby's movement has become less vigorous over the last couple weeks. I am definitely feeling 10 movements/day, per my doctor's advice, but not nearly as much as 2-3 weeks ago. I wonder if he's already running out of room in there so he can't kick as vigorously as he was? I am short (5'1") so maybe that could be it. I'm starting my 30th week in a couple days, so it still feels kind of early. Yesterday I felt him about 3:00 in the afternoon, and then not again until 9:00 at night, and that was after having a glass of milk and laying down. But then I did get a good 7-8 kicks out of him. I would love any advice from the 2nd timers (or 1st!) if you have any.

[amypooh]

Just subscribining.. sorry just now catching up.. we've been moving.

[Natasha]

shirsty--I don't get very much movement out of my baby during the day. It's usually when I lay down at night, so maybe most of his activeness is while you're sleeping? I am sure it's fine, but I hope you get to feel more movements soon...I think it's the best part of pregnancy!!

[shirsty]

Thanks asianbear - If I'm objective about it, I think he's moving just as much, just less forecefully than 1-2 weeks ago. My DH thinks I've gone through another growth spurt, so maybe he's just got more room now and I'm noticing less, who knows! I just wish I didn't worry so much about it, but this is just the beginning, right? ;)

[LSUGirl]

We used a bassinett for the first 8 weeks in our room. It is a family heirloom. We kept the packnplay in the living room - so I could still see him while he slept - and I could get some stuff done. Have you thought about a packnplay that has the bassinett feature in it. Honestly, IMO, you would get more use out of that than just a regular bassinett. But that is just my opinion.

[clzj]

Decemberwed-cool on the offical date. Mine isn't scheduled yet but I know the day.

Asianbear-I had the choice of going vbac or not. I discussed it with my doctor and she highly recommended that I not do it. I have a heart shaped uterus and she siad that my chances of rupture were very high and that it was not worth the risk. If I had a dying need to have a vaginal delivery I could of.

Bassinet-With having a spring baby last time I did not really use my packnplay. I used it more for changing. We always had the baby sleep in his own bed. That is just how we are. In the mornings it is fine for there to be a "family bed" and watch some tv.

As a second time mom I need to get going on what I need to get this round. I need some things I did not have with the first.

[Natasha]

clzj--Yeah, I would definetly go with a c-sec in your situation. I had an emergency C-sec with DS. I was 3 weeks late, got induced, by body didn't respond to the pitocin, and then things got crazy and I ended up with a c-sec. VBAC is what my doctor wants me to try, but if she's late, i am going to ask for a c-sec instead. I am not doingt hat emergency crap again!

[albuquerque]

Subscribing!

Just back from Crete this morning....wow, I have a lot of reading to do to catch up!

[albuquerque]

Wow, I was only gone 10 days but I missed so much! We took the overnight boat from Crete and got in at 6 this morning, and even though we had a cabin I didn't sleep so well (cabin didn't come with the minimum 3 pillows for preggos!), so I was exhausted this morning. I read a few pages of what I'd missed but then I had to go take a nap and come back to finish later!

Sebski, I think I have the opposite problem from you in terms of interest level from the in-laws. This will be the first grandchild on both sides, and everybody is beyond interested to the point of obsessed (my mother too). I am finding my irritation level rising at the way they are treating me (more on that later). My friends say, well, in a little while you'll have the baby and the intense focus will be off you and it will be a relief. I'm worried though that I'll be even more irritated when they're fixated on the baby. I seriously believe that they won't give me one single day alone with my husband and my baby, certainly not for the first month, and probably not for the first year. No exaggeration.

Shirsty my cousin had a baby in early March, and she said that she definitely noticed an early peak and then a long decline in the level of movement she noticed. Her son was big (8 lbs 14 oz) and she thinks that it's just what you said, he was running out of room to kick. I'm sure everything's fine, but I definitely know how hard it is not to worry.

Decemberwed, how fun that you know your kiddo's Birth Day already!

CLZJ, what items did you not have with the first baby that you think are important to have with the second? Maybe you can give some of us first timers tips on the things that seem optional but are actually pretty important.

Belly buttons--I've been examining my belly button for a long time, waiting for the pop. I guess I'm kind of looking forward to it, my whole body has seemed like a big science experiment for months now, and this is another curious development that I've heard I can expect. It's still an innie for now, but it's bulging more and more on the top/right, so I expect to have a pop to report before long. I guess I'll be buying some bandaids, because I don't think we have any in the house!

Bassinets--I don't think we're going to use one. We live in an apartment and all the bedrooms are off the same hallway, on the same floor, so I wouldn't really have to walk that much farther to go to her bedroom than I would just getting out of bed in the first place. Plus, the way our bedroom is set up, we have built-in closets and nightstands on both sides of our bed, with a recess for the head of the bed, so it would be awkward to rearrange our room. I couldn't put a bassinet right next to me because it would block access to my closet. There's a good sized margin all around the bed to the walls, but I would be worried to put a bassinet/moses basket almost anywhere in the room because I'm very stumbly when I'm sleepy and I would seriously worry about how safe she'd be, sort of in the walkspace like that. I really don't want to do the family bed thing. So I'm thinking we'll have her in her room, but we'll see how it goes. I had a friend who had twins who swore up and down that the babies would never, ever sleep in her and her husband's bed. Out of the question. About a month after they were born, though, she recanted and told me "never say never". Her husband had been sleeping consistently on the couch and the only way anybody got any sleep was with the babies in the big bed with her. So I'll wait and see how it goes before I make any strong pronouncements!

More on in-laws--When we were planning this trip, DH wanted to coordinate with his parents so that we didn't pay to send a car to Crete on the boat twice. But we were planning to stay in the house (his family has a house there) with some friends, and we actually wanted ONLY our friends, not them, too. They go to Crete every summer, but they are both retired and there are no constraints that would make them have to go at any particular time. Maybe some of you remember previous vents from me about how if we let a single weekend go by without seeing them, they have a major meltdown. Well, the idea of us being in Crete for 10 days without them was too horrible for contemplation, and so they invented stupid reasons why the only time out of the whole summer that they could go to Crete happened to be when we were there--we'd already bought our boat tickets so we couldn't change our dates. They promised not to bother us, we'd hardly know they were there, they wouldn't bother our friends at all, why was it a problem? UGH. They never freaking leave you alone for one second, and they did bother us excessively, all promises aside. DH did convince them not to stay the whole time, thank God. They went before us and left while we were there. They are very nice, sweet people, and they help us tremendously to deal with all the intricacies of Greek bureaucracy, but I'm just not used to the Greek level of parental involvement, and it grates on me more and more. When they aren't physically with us, they have to call DH *every single day*, and not one but both of them have to talk to him, and it ends up eating up 45 min or more of every single freaking evening. When they come to our house for dinner, they have to call DH's sister--who *lives with them*. I don't know why this makes me so crazy--you are going to see her later tonight, you can't be away from her for three hours without the burning need to hear her voice on the telephone?! When they *are* physically with us, they are like flies on honey, you can't get away long enough to breathe.

The night before we left Athens, FIL called DH and made him give his word of honor that we wouldn't take the train to Piraeus (the port), that we would take a cab and that I wouldn't carry anything. I keep saying that I am pregnant and not disabled, but nobody seems to hear it. Anyway, we took one big rolling suitcase, and I carried my beach bag filled with things like book/magazine, bottle of water, hat, etc. And we took the train--it's a few blocks from us, and it drops us right at the port, and it eliminates wondering if the cab will show up on time, paying the cab, and suffering the cab driver's cigarette smoke all the way there. Once we were on the boat, FIL sent DH a text message telling him to get a cabin for me. We had deliberately planned to take a day boat to avoid the expense of a cabin on the way there, since there would be only two of us (we had two friends with us on the way back and cabins for four are reasonable whereas cabins for 2 are ridiculously expensive), and the trip is 8.5 hours, so we had decided to give up the day for the boat ride....to later decide not only to pay for a cabin but to ALSO give up the day on the boat would be just beyond stupid. But, DH had to catch hell for it once we got there.

Also, once we got there, MIL would NOT FREAKING LEAVE ME ALONE. Did I want this? Would I eat that? She was forever doing things like cutting up fruit for me and putting ice cream in a cone for me. This sounds very sweet, but I found it more and more irritating--I'm capable of doing these things myself if I want fruit or ice cream, and moreover I don't like the way she cuts fruit (they insist on removing the skins from everything, and with peaches and apples and pears for example, the skin is my favorite part) and I would want to choose the flavors and the amount of ice cream for myself--assuming that I wanted ice cream in the first place, which is an assumption that I was irritated to find her constantly making. And actually I don't want to eat 24/7! I'm supposed to wait 30 min after I take my iron supplements twice a day before I eat anything, and she would act all rejected when I refused to eat the 89 things she tried to force into my mouth during those times. And the worst, the absolute worst, was that she was forever following me to the bathroom. I would open the door, and she would be on the other side smiling, everything OK? We would go out to a restaurant, I would get up to go pee, I would hear someone outside the door and would try to hurry so that whoever it was didn't have to wait. Outside the door, it would be her, she didn't need to go, she just needed to stand outside smiling, everything OK? In a crowded restaurant that they've been to lots of times, I asked DH where the restrooms were. MIL was sort of blocked in because the tables were pretty close--she almost had a fit, wait, I can't get out, do you want me to come?! UGH!!!! I can't tell you how much this irritated me. I am pregnant, I am NOT 5 YEARS OLD, I STILL KNOW HOW TO WIPE AND WASH MY HANDS BY MYSELF! Yes, even though I pee a lot, everything really is OK, I'm not very likely to have the baby fall out into the toilet and not notice, OK?! BACK OFF and LEAVE ME THE FK ALONE!!!! They left after only 3 days or so, thank God, because I might have had to kill her. I'm still irritated when I remember opening the bathroom door everytime to find her smiling at me, imagining her outside listening to me pee or whatever. UGH. And after they left, there were of course the mandatory daily calls. If they didn't find us at the house, they'd call us on DH's cell phone. Nevermind that the fact that we weren't at the house clearly means that we're out somewhere, actually freaking busy *doing something* and we might not want to be interrupted. They have no problem at all calling in the middle of dinner when we're at a restaurant and wanting their 45 min of phone time. Ugh ugh ugh. I'm already driving myself bananas imagining the ways in which they're going to make me crazy after I have the baby.

[clzj]

I don't have the cover for the infant carseat, I don't have heavy blanket sleepers/bag, I actually need to put curtins in the baby's room, and small winter coat. DS was born in April so I needed summer stuff. I figure the new one will live in sleepers and some clothes until April. I don't want to buy to much now because we don't know what we are having.

[first-time mom]

I have a question for the moms who are experiencing this lovely increase in discharge. I am probably over analyzing it again but I have to ask. TMI ha Up until this point my discharge has been really watery barely any mucus. It reminded me of skim milk (thats what it looked like). But yesterday I noticed a small piece of stringy mucous came out. It was very very tiny but caught my attention. Ever since then I have been watching more closely and I have noticed that I do have specks of mucous in my discharge. Is this supposed to happen this soon. I am terrified that it is my mucous plug?? I dont know maybe its normal. I believe that when I was on the phone with the nurse one day i mentioned that I thought i was having some pieces of discharge come out and i believe she said this was normal but I cant remember. I really dont want to call cause they are so sick of me...... Let me know what you guys think or what your experience is. Thanks

[Kristen78]

albuquerque - I can't even imagine what you are going thru with your in-laws. That would drive me insane! I think you should say something to them. I definitely think you can be nice about it at the same time but get your point accross that they are overstepping the boundries. Its probably better to bring it up now than after the baby because it sounds like they are going to be breathing down your neck even more once the baby gets here. Good luck!

I can cross a few more items off my list now. I finally bought some baby hangers last week at Linen N' Things. I got 30 but think I need more. Especially after I have a shower. I also bought a hamper at HomeGoods for the nursery. I am putting it in the closet so I dont have to take up valueable floorspace in the room. My brother sent me $300 to purchase the Peg Perego P3 stroller with, so I ordered that online on Friday. And my DH gave me his ATM card to buy the crib mattress with. And the crib we ordered back in June is supposed to be gettng shipped today from Oregon, so I imagine it will be here next week sometime. I can't wait to get the crib! Oh, and the dresser my DH is making to match the crib is almost finished as well. It looks great!

[Sebski]

Shirsty I'm feeling less movement now than I did a few weeks ago. I'm 27w and was quite thrown by it since it seems too early for the "no space" logic. Anyhoo - I panicked and went in for an u/s last Thursday because of it. Doctor told me that it's very common for the baby's sleep patterns to change at this point (growth spurt, losing room) and I just hadn't gotten used to his new pattern. Anyhoo - I've been cautiously studying his moves and she seems to be right... he switched into a pattern of being much more active around dinner and bed time. Don't worry too much, I'm sure you're little one switched patterns too. :)

Alb good lord! Bless you!!!!!! It sounds like you definitely take the award in overbearing in-laws! While I wish my FIL was more involved, I can definitely see the other end of the spectrum being horrid to deal with! I think if my MIL were here, I would be feeling similar to you - she was a very intrusive woman. I guess I never really noticed how uninvolved FIL was until she passed away. How far away do you live from your in-laws? Are you going to establish some ground rules for when the baby comes? At least your mom will be visiting at that point... hopefully she can act as a buffer between you and the out-laws. ;) How was the rest of your trip? Any pictures? I'd love to see some!!! Hey - do you still want to be due-date-buddies since we have that email addy in place as well? Let me know so I can post my email for you.

Decemberwed cool that you know your official due date!!!

Bassinet my mother is buying me a bassinet. It's sorta her tradition. Anyhoo - we plan to have that in our bedroom and leave the pack-n-play downstairs in the living room for 1st floor changes/naps/toy storage ;). I want to get one of those plastic diaper caddy things to hang off the side. I don't think my PNP has anything to store the diapers in (clarion version).

[Alanna]

albuquerque Oh my god... you could write a screenplay... the image of you MIL stalking your bathroom trips is too much! It makees me feel bad for complaining about my inlaws... wow... you must have such patience to have held it together this long... i cant even imagine! Hopefully maybe when the baby comes it will get better ? although annoying it might be easier to have their whole focus on the baby instead of you... still really suffucating... but a different kind of smothering?

on other fronts.. did you get to go swimming a lot? im so jealous of the gorgeous water they have there...

baby movement i cant get over how irregular mine is... some days she is kickboxing.. other days.. very quiet... i am not going to get upset about it unless i go through a very long period of no movement at all. I think she just has on and off days.

I made a big purchase this weekend....

i bought my baby bag!
my good friend has the same one in a different pattern and she loves it.... i love the colors and patterns on it.. and that its really lightweight.

http://www.verabradley.com/images/products/18350_lg.jpg

[Natasha]

First time mom--My discharge can be pretty dern thick. I think you're ok. Deep breaths! And hey, thats what we're here for...to keep each toher from losing our moms during this crazy time!

Alb--Holy crap! I am so sorry you're going through that! Ugh...Maybe I'm glad my IL's aren't more involved...

Kristen--How exciting to be getting so many things done!

Alanna--That bag is too cute!

Soooooo, my mom and 2 friends are throwing me a shower! October 1st, it looks like. I am kind of relieved, because I was worrying I wouldn't get one. I don't care about gifts, I would just like my family and his family to meet before this baby is born!

[first-time mom]

Asianbear- Thanks for the info, yeah if I didnt have this chat room I would lose my mind. :) The more input I get from others the better I feel. This discharge thing is annoying...

Baby movements- My baby is very very mellow I was worried about this at first but I have started to notice a pattern now. She is very active around supper and at 3:30 in the morning. My mom told me that when she carried me I was very very inactive and as a baby she said I was always happy and never cried... So I hope that is true about this peanut. I guess my sister was really active in utero and she was very colicy so we will see if this is true.

In-laws- I am very lucky in this department. My MIL is very nice. My SIL doesnt really care for her too much and its too bad. My SIL is due to have a baby any day and I think it is going to be interesting when he arrives becaused my SIL has already said her baby will not go to her MIL unless she is there. My MIL is so nice and innocent I think this is going to really hurt her. But when my baby comes she can babysit anytime. My MIL is very excited to be a grandma twice in three months:) She is very excited that I am having a girl because this is the first girl in the family on both sides since she was born...... Dh and I broke the boy streak by having a girl, so its exciting.

ALb- sorry you have to go through that crap I would be so annoyed...

[abbytfox]

Well, today is my first day back at work. On one hand it is nice to have someplace to be and good to see all my friends, on the other this work thing is a real drag! ;) I do like the beginning of the school year when everyone is so eager, all the pencils are sharp, the crayons haven't broken and most things are in order. It is really funny though, how it feels like I never left. Everything just picks right up where I ended last school year. One really annoying thing...At my school, instead of stairs, we have ramps from one level to another (it is a city school so it is vertical instead of horizontal like most California schools) My library is on the third of 4 floors and I am already so done with walking the ramps. I am literally huffing and puffing when I get back to my room! I guess I will be getting my exercise for the next 3 1/2 months! Plus they are moving the office to the bottom level so instead of walking down 1 floor to get my mail I will be headed down two levels...that means up two levels also! Oh boy...

alb I realize that you live in Greece, but it is the coolest thing to say "I just got back from Crete..." Was the water crystal clear and blue, blue, blue? I bet (aside from the in-law thing which I will adress in a moment) that it was gorgeous and so nice to take a little vacation. Hope you are feeling at least a bit re-energized for your last trimester! Now...the in-laws...OH.MY.GOSH. Following you to the bathroom? That has got to be the most invasive, irritating thing ever. What if you were going to be a little while (you know, sometimes these things take time when you are preggo!) Did she stand there the whole time? I think I would have lost it after the first couple times. All I can do is offer my sympathies because it sounds like it may be a cultural thing. Have you heard of this kind of thing from Greek friends of yours? Sometimes when I have issues with my in-laws (who I want to say are really wonderful, but still can do irritating things) I ask my DH to be the go-between and share my concerns as if they were his own. Like maybe your DH could address the bathroom thing by saying to his mom "You know, mom, I love that you are so concerned about Alb and the baby, but sometimes I think she may need a little space." Or something like that? Is your DH at least a person that you can vent to about them. Often, just knowing that he hears your frustrations can be a huge relief, however it can be hard to hear such criticisms of your own parents. Hang in there and see if you can enlist him to get some alone time...especially when you need to go to the bathroom!

first-time mom I have different kinds of discharge during the day. Sometimes it is very thin and others much thicker (mucous-y even) I really don't think there is anything to be concerned with. For me it is more annoying than anything. I hope you feel comforted by everyone who can commiserate with you on this yucky issue!

Kristen I sounds like you are getting some great stuff. How exciting that you will have your stroller! I don't know why but I feel like that is really one of the big things that says the baby is coming...like once I have the stroller, I am really in the club! :) We are also going to get a Peg Perego. I hope we end up loving them.

Seb What a cute tradition! We are also going to do a pack-n-play downstairs for naps and as a place to put the baby if I need my hands. A diaper holder on the side is a great idea...I don't think the one we want has a place for storage either.

Alanna Cute bag! It looks like it would be able to store a lot. Very exciting!

asianbear So great about the shower! It is so wonderful to get everyone together to celebrate the new baby...especially if they have never met before! I am really looking forward to everyone coming together, as well. A lot of family is coming from the East Coast, so I am very excited about that.

Baby Movements I have been noticing a huge variation in day to day movements. Somedays it is like there is a party going on in there and others I just get little reminders that someone is really inside! I haven't been too worried because last time I went to the doctor they said that as long as I am feeling the baby move everyday not to worry as much about how often it is. Just be concerned if you don't feel the little one at all. I definitely feel movements every day...I love it!

[Bliss]

:) Alb - you should be sainted, I dont think I could smile through all that MIL overbearing. Thank goodness my ILs live 5 hours away lol :) I honestly know myself and I would not be able to hold back from telling her not to stand there when I went to the bathroom, or would have said something about them intruding on your vacation. I agree that you should have your DH talk to them about boundries before the baby comes. When DH and I had a recent disagreement about his mother, and he didnt want to talk to her about the issue, he said "this is my mother, I cannot do that" blah blah. I nicely informed him that I am his WIFE and he is going to be a father, w. his own responsibilities and his own family- and his mom has to respect that too.

Abby, happy first day back at work :) You must go back early, my NYC teacher friends do not go back until after Labor Day.

FTM, I have noticed that my lovely discharge issue has been thicker lately, and read in the book that this is normal. I still worry about despite my doc telling me its fine, so you are not the only one. I never dreamed I would wear panitliners through my pregnancy! Good thing for the other ladies on here or I would be making myself nuts.

We settled everything w. my MIL and she is throwing me a shower where she lives (5 hrs from where I live) the first Sunday of October. So baby K gets to have 2 showers :) My mom is having a surprise one for me, which I have this feeling is the week after- she is not too good at keeping secrets ;) I cannot wait to see all the tiny baby stuff!

[albuquerque]

Seriously thanks, everyone, for the support on the MIL issue. I feel bad complaining because it is clear that she loves me and means well--it's just that she's driving me CRAZY. And I could probably even handle being driven crazy now if I weren't seriously concerned about how this will escalate once the baby's here.

Today when we got home we found a plate of figs (DH's favorite) in our refrigerator with a note, "Kalos Hlthate" (Welcome). I knew she was coming over to check on our cat, so it isn't like I was surprised to find she'd been in our house. If it hadn't been for the following me to the bathroom thing, I might have found it a nice gesture. But after all that, and maybe being exhausted from not sleeping on the boat also contributed, even the plate of figs (well, especially the note) irritated me. It's like, she's EVERYWHERE! Who are YOU to "welcome" ME to my own house?! Get out of my refrigerator!

Anyway, although they are a bit on the overbearing side even for Greeks, it is *very much* a cultural thing, something that has been driven home to me every time I say a word about it to anybody here. They smile at me patiently and I can see that they think that *I'* am the extremist in the situation, how could I possibly complain when my husband's family showers me with so much affection? And when I make a sarcastic comment in front of DH, I can see it in his eyes, too, I put him in a difficult position--he *does* know where I'm coming from overall, but he probably doesn't notice the specifics (being trailed to the bathroom) and he puts up with them better than I do. They drive him crazy too, and I know he feels bad when he sees all this getting under my skin, but in many ways he's helpless to protect me--this is the culture I chose to move into (and into which I chose to give birth to our children). And overall the situation is probably as good as it can possibly be--often overprotective Greek parents (esp mothers) are outright hostile to the DILs that come to steal away their sons, so I know that actually I'm lucky and it could be much, much worse.

Anyway, all of this is to say that without being able to vent about it here and over the phone to my mom and my relatives, I really would go crazy, so just know how much I appreciate all of you! We have really good friends here, but no matter how close I feel to them, on some topics they will never understand me. And on the other hand, I've never even met any of you and you all understand instantly. Some things I guess I will only ever be able to say openly to other Americans--it makes it very clear how deep a part of you your home culture really is, no matter how much you welcome the adventure of living in another country.

I realize I have to find a way to stay sane with all this...I guess my plan, if there is one, is to pick my battles. She can't follow me to the bathroom any more (thank God) and we're taking a week or two in early September to go to the north of Greece and they WON'T be trailing us there. If I can not freak out on her before the baby, maybe I can be more calm when the real storm hits after the baby. I think that is when I'm going to really need DH's intervention--I am going to need him to explain to them that they can't come here *every* day. That I need some time without them in my home and my personal space, that they can't invade every moment with the new baby. And that *even though* MY mom will be living with us here probably for 3 full months, *they can't also move in*. They live about a half hour drive away from us (they wanted us to take an apartment upstairs from theirs, thank God DH totally vetoed that at the first mention!), and I seriously think that unless DH and I find a way to prevent it, they will be here every day by about 9 am and not leave before about midnight, no exaggeration. I'm going to somehow have to make it clear that, although it will seem unfair to them, having the new mom's mom around to help out (and my mom is easy to be with, and is genuinely helpful without being suffocating--I'm biased of course but this really is absolutely true about my mom), is DIFFERENT from the new dad's mom always around. I'm sorry but no matter how involved the new dad is, it is the new mom whose world turns upside down with the new baby. And if I want MY MOM and NOT his mom around all the time, I have that right. So, I think I'm going to try to stay calm for now as much as possible (I guess valium isn't very compatible with pregnancy?), and make having some time without them in my house *every* day after I give birth my priority. This, by the way, will be going against the cultural norm (all the Greeks would consider it unreasonable of me to banish my ILs for even one day during the first month of a new grandchild's life)--but I think this is where I'm going to draw my line in the sand. Hopefully DH will help me out with it, I think he will. Especially since I think he can see that I'm dealing with all these other irritations now.

[Kristen78]

Restless Legs/Feet anyone???

I have noticed in the past week or less my legs/feet have been so restless! This isn't good either because I have a desk job 40 hours a week. Is anyone else suffering thru this?

Bassinet - I have a pack n' play with a full sized bassinet. I am going to keep that downstairs for daytime naps/play. I need to get a bassinet or moses basket for my bedroom for the first few weeks. Still deciding on that one...

Baby movements - My babe moves mostly at night and in the morning when I first wake. If I am at work she also moves a decent amount off and on during the day while I am sitting at my desk.

[sem426]

We just got back from checking out 3 day care centers. They were all nice, clean etc, but I got really sad being there. I just kept thinking to myself...how do i know that this woman will really take care of my baby? She obviously won't care as much as I do. DH kept trying to tell me that these people work there bc they love kids and they wouldn't have a job like that if they didn't want to take care of babies and love doing it. I'm trying to convince myself and not get too crazy about since our baby won't be in day care until April, but it was still hard.

baby movements My movements are also not regular. SOmetimes, it's crazy movement and other times very still. usually at night after dinner she's very active and also after I eat breakfast or lunch at work and then sit at my desk for a while.

resltless legs i haven't noticed this yet. Kristen- maybe try to get up more and walk around and stretch a bit when you are at work?

Discharge I have some, but not tons. I haven't noticed a big increase lately either.

Alanna CUte bag!!

Abby You do start school early there. Here in NY/NJ we don't start until after Labor Day, but my cousins in FL have been at school for 2 weeks already! We're still trying to enjoy the last 2 weeks of summer here for it's "offically" school time!

Alb Good luck w/the MIL situation. I think picking your battles is a good idea. That's what I do w/my MIL.

[abbytfox]

School When I was growing up (in WI) we always went back to school after Labor Day. In CA, we always start right before and then have the small break. The kids don't actually come back to school until Monday 8/29 (next Monday) but teachers need to be here on Wednesday. Why am I here today, you may ask? My principal has a control thing and I need to be here for EXACTLY 10 months to get paid the measly salary I do. It is insane and I am going to leave early today. Thank goodness I like my job or she could really put you over the edge! Just 3 more months...

sem I can totally understand what you mean about the daycare thing. My friend actually took her daughter to her first day of daycare today. I still haven't heard how it has gone, but I am sure she (the mom) was a mess and the baby was fine. I never thought that I would have to worry about it, but now I will probably have to go back to work and I am already sad about it...and I don't even have a child yet!

Kristen Before I was pg, I would get really restless legs if I was super tired. I even had a silly name for it "achy leg." It has happened while I have been pg, but I haven't noticed it any more than before. I did wake up to a nasty leg cramp the other night! That was awful. Since then I have upped my banana intake and haven't noticed it anymore. Maybe more potassium would help? Not fun.

[mrs_barkley]

I went into labor around 9 last nite and had her at 8:45 this morning(8/22). Her name is Emalee Rose and weighs 2 lbs 11.6 oz and is 15 in. long. Her hair is light brown. She is doing well but will be in the NICU for a while. She was born at 29 wks 4 days.

I can't get the img tag to work so I will try to give yall the link to the pic. Pic of Emalee (http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0TQDrAgcX4nKdeK7bD*zWWyGqOabudwg57GMwFK8aXkIrHq9I4 e6RoiLtlHTsqBeJ98JDQlnM7OY53t*32QFq0316TOiZ9iJrAQV XVTH!iMhNKWN3q9nx3g/DSC2376.JPG?dc=4675536119493346864)

[Natasha]

Emalee is beautiful, and SOOOOO tiny! I wish you all the best, and for her to be home soon! CONGRATS!

Restless legs: YES! I have had them for weeks, especially when I go to bed. Ugh. They keep me up well past my bed time...

[first-time mom]

Mrs. Barkley- Congrats on your little girl. She looks beautiful. Take care of yourself and your little one.

[Sebski]

Oh my gosh our first baby has arrived!!!

mrs_barkley congratulations! What a beautiful daughter you have!!! I pray that she remains well... how are YOU doing?

I had my glucose/doctors visit today... drink wasn't bad at all - fruit punch. I get the results in a week. I'm not that concerned since there's not much I can do about it now ya know? ;) Anyhoo - the best part is that I met w/ my neighbor who was so nice and let us "take a peak" at the baby. :D He did a full scan for me since I was concerned about the baby being 10 days earlier at the 19w big u/s. Well, even he was a bit surprised... our baby is now measuring over 2w early! :eek: He measured the baby's head 3 times to make sure, but that (along with stomach, spine and legs) are measuring at 30w - I'm just starting my 27th week today. He also said that the baby weighs almost 3 pounds now (2pd 14oz to be exact) and that babies typically don't hit the 3 pound mark until 30w so, he thinks we'll end up with a 9 pounder "or more". HA! The date he was measuring w/ today is 11/8 so my neighbor/doctor noted to "watch the babies size" in my chart and also put in to have me sent for another level 2 u/s at 36w to check the size again then. I told him I'm really set on a vaginal delivery and am worried about figuring out when to stop working... so, that's why he's sending me for the level 2 at the "full term" point - to see just how big the kiddo is. Hopefully I can better gauge when to leave work since, at this point, I have no clue with all the date changing going on. I'm not that nervous about the baby being larger... I actually prefer a larger baby and have said that I wanted a 9 or 10 pounder. Yes - I know where he has to come from. ;) But, I just feel more comfortable around larger babies. I'm also not into the whole induction thing if the only reason is a large baby... I mentioned this to the doctor today and he said that they only usually induce if they have to for other reasons - fluid, placenta etc. My SIL on the other hand, is measuring 2 days early and asked that her doctor "help her out" since she's due close to the holidays and wants "to be home in time for them". :rolleyes: In other news - my weight remained the same since my last visit - WOO HOO! And I'm celebrating by ordering pizza tonight... I seriously LOVE dinner on the night of a post-weigh in!!! :cool:

BTW - I hit BRU after the visit and picked my chunky monkey up an outfit... I buy him a "good boy" gift after every visit - DH cannot believe I'm already spoiling our child in utero. Anyhoo - I had them print out my registry and realized that the things I had deleted online over the past 3 weeks or so were still on there - even though they weren't showing online. Apparently they are having some trouble with their registries... I printed out my girlfriends to see if hers was affected and sure enough it was... so, I sat there and went through it all and had them physically remove the 7 items while I was there. Just a heads up for anyone else who's registered there - you might want to get a printout of yours to make sure its in good shape!

[Lindzee82]

Goodness, I am very far behind. I come back to find we have a new thread! How exciting!

shirsty - Thanks for the info on the yoga position to help my sciatica! I will try that out. Although I will have to try it alone as DH lives about 1800 miles away from me. Congrats on passing your GTT. I am very nervous to get my results back.

amyhky - Congrats on passing your GTT!! That must be such a relief!

sebski - Yay that you have felt hiccups. I don't think I have felt those yet. The sciatica pain has eased up a little. I think driving is causing it. It always hurts worse in the car and I realized that the pain started after I drove my mom's car over an hour away to a baby shower. Oh well. Live and learn. Sorry about your scare! Great that you got an ultrasound, though, and saw that your baby can breathe!! No leaking boobs yet!

first-time mom - Sorry about your scare, Krystal. I am glad all is well. Thanks for the info, though. I too have been noticing a lot more discharge this week. I was worried at first, but keep reading that an increase is normal at this stage. I am getting an ultrasound September 20th but only because they need to check my placenta. They don't routinely do them at my practice. You get one and only one. Yay for having some time off of work. I think it will be good for you. Wow, your shower is really soon! How exciting!

rochacha - I am getting nervous too about the baby being here in three months. It is very scary. But I am just so excited! I tear up thinking about holding him and kissing him. I am just so excited. I keep thinking how close we are now. I have 12 weeks left. I have already done 12 weeks twice! This will be nothing!

boobs - I went from a C to a D cup.

belly button - Top of mine has popped, bottom is flat against my skin. I always had a major innie before, so it is a really big change! It really freaks me out and I find that I flick it a lot. Other people enjoy touching my belly button, too. Very odd.

Alanna - Yay for getting a shower! I knew you would have one!!

sem426 - You look great!

beevo12 - Yay for having a shower! How great that must have been for you. You got some good stuff it sounds like! Congrats on passing your GTT!!!

stretchmarks none yet!

Decemberwed - Yay for having your date set!! How exciting to know exactly when your little girl will arrive!!

mrs barkley - Congratulations on the birth of your daughter!!! She is very pretty! She looks very strong. You are our very first birth! We will need to change our title again!! Congratulations again, and I pray that she continues to do well and gets real big and strong quickly!

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

Appointment Recap:
My appointment today went great! My mom met me there. I went to check in and they told me that I was supposed to see Pat (who I really like) and that she was stuck in delivery. I was scared that they would make me see Jessica (the one I don't like) but they said they were going to have me see one of the doctors. I was very happy because I had never seen her before and was going to have to request that they put me with her at my next appointment. So it worked out well. Then they asked me what flavor drink I would like for my glucose test. I chose orange.

They called me back and they took my blood pressure. Fine as always. Then she asked if I could do a urine. I said, "Yes Please!" so I went and did that. When I got back to the room she came in with my orange drink. I closed my eyes and drank it all down. I hated the taste and consistency like I thought I would. I did okay drinking it though because I could see a clear shot of the toilet if I needed it!! But I didn't! The nurse came back in and I asked her if she would be taking my weight because she hadn't yet and usually they take it before I pee. I was very excited to see my weight so I was glad when she said yes. So we went out the scale. I was very nervous. I wanted to make sure that I had gained 4 pounds since my last visit so that I met the 1 pound per week requirement. At my last visit I weighed 129. Today I weighed in at 133.2!!! I gained exactly 4 pounds!! I was soooo excited!!

Then the doctor came in. She introduced herself. She seemed nice. She asked if I had any questions or concerns. I told her that the only one I had was that I maybe wasn't growing enough and that the baby wasn't growing. She didn't agree with me. She said that if she saw me on the street she would guess that I am between 28-30 weeks pregnant. She says I look exactly like where I should be. She said my weight gain is perfect. I have gained 20 pounds and she said that she wouldn't want me to have gained any more than that at this point. She had me get up on the table and we listened to Matthew's heartbeat. It dropped a little to 150-155 beats per minute, but she said it sounded great! Then she pulled out the tape. Last time I was there I measured 1cm behind. Today I measured exactly at 28-29 weeks she said. That made me feel good. I haven't noticed a difference, but I am excited to take my picture tonight and compare it to my 24 week belly shot on page one of my journal! Maybe I will even see a difference between last week and this!

I then asked her if I would get to have another ultrasound later on to see how big the baby was and that all was good for delivery. She said that they don't do that, but that I would get an ultrasound. I was like, "I do?" And she said yes. Apparently when I went for my ultrasound at Maine Medical Center at 18 weeks, they thought my placenta was very low. I had never heard this before. So they want to just do another ultrasound to make sure that my placenta is now in a good place so that I can do a vaginal delivery. Sometimes it covers the cervix, I guess. I am kind of glad that I had never heard this before because it would have been something else for me to worry about. The doctor didn't seem concerned at all, so I am not. I am just excited to see my little man again!

So she said all was great and wrote me another prescription for Zofran. Told me that I needed to have my blood drawn at exactly 10:35 or else I would need to do the test again. She said after I had my blood drawn to come back down to the office so that I could get my RH shot. She told me to schedule an appointment for two weeks from today! And the
ultrasound and 32 week appointment 2 weeks after that!

So I go for a quick check up on September 7th and then my ultrasound is on September 20th!! I am just so excited!

I got up to the PathLab at 10:00. I wanted to be there early in case there was any sort of wait. I didn't want to take the chance that I couldn't get in at the correct time. The wait was very hard. I was nervous, I hate having my blood drawn. I never noticed what strange people go into PathLab. It was kind of scary at some points. I think a lot were there for drug tests and stuff like that. A lot of elderly people and people with obvious disabilities. It was neat because there was another girl there for her glucose test at the same time as me, so we got to go in together. She is having a boy, too! We were all chatting in there so I hardly noticed her drawing my blood. So that was cool!

When I was done getting my blood drawn I went back downstairs and waited for them to call me for my RH shot. I didn't know you got it in the butt!! It stung for a minute, but didn't hurt afterwards. She says it may be sore tonight and tomorrow, but so far I can't tell anything happened. We will see later.

So that is that. I am very happy with todays visit and can't wait for my next visit!

[shirsty]

Congratulations Mrs. Barkley!!! I can't believe our first baby is here. She is beautiful, be sure and give us updates when you can on how things are going for you.

Lots of posts today! Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts on baby movement. I have been feeling a lot more activity today, but still kind of muted compared to a couple weeks ago, so I think you guys are right about the running out of space thing. It just helps to know others are thinking/feeling the same way, you know?

Seb and Lindzee good to hear you both had good appointments. Lindzee I am the same way, I get so excited for my drs. appointments, I wish I was going every 2 weeks already but I've got to wait until 9/12 for those to start.

Legs I don't know if I have restless legs or not but I think I'm beginning to get some leg cramps at night. The groin pain is also back with a vengance, I have been waking myself up turning over because it hurts so bad.

Alb I definitely think you win the prize (?) for inlaw problems! I totally agree that you should think long and hard about how you want those first couple days home from the hospital to go, and set some rules. My friend who also has inlaw issues said to make these decisions now and not when you're right at the end, which she did. She said she kind of lost her mind in the last couple weeks and agreed to all sorts of things she wouldn't normally agree to, in terms of inlaw presence during/after the birth. So get a plan in place now!! :)

Also I enjoy reading your Greek stories, I spent a month in Greece when I was 20 (10 years ago this summer!), it really takes me back. Especially the train ride to Piraeus! And all those nice Greek boys (it was pre-DH of course) :)

[rehoboth]

mrs_barkley CONGRATULATIONS!! Welcome to the world, Emalee!

[albuquerque]

CONGRATULATIONS Mrs. Barkley and Barkley Family and especially Emalee!! Wow, I can't believe we have our first baby! She looks beautiful and perfect, it's so amazing that we are all producing such a little miracle inside ourselves. I can hardly believe it. I think I am (and Lana is!) about 29 weeks 3 days today, so I look at Emalee's picture and it helps me so much to understand what's bumping around in there. Really amazing. Well, I hope you're all doing well, that you're feeling OK, that you get lots of chances to hold her, and that you'll be able to take her home soon. Please do give us updates as often as you can (though we know you'll be *busy* now!) and more pictures as she gets bigger!

Shirsty, you're right, I do need to get a plan in place. I'm glad that someone at least doesn't mind me rambling on with my Greek stories! How cool that you spent a month here when you were 20. It must have been great, at that age. I spent some time backpacking around Europe in the summers when I was 20 and then again when I was 22, but I never made it to Greece. I guess it worked out well because I saw a lot of Europe and I'm certainly getting to see Greece now. Those trips were some of the best experiences of my life--I definitely want to send this little baby out on some travels like that in about 20 years (I'm sure her grandparents and possibly also her father will have a heart attack at the thought of cutting her loose like that!), and one of the major reasons I don't want more than 2 kids is that I want to be able (financially and logistically) to travel with them.

sem and abby re daycare...when I was a baby, my mom was single and financially struggling, and so she found me babysitters when I was really small and then a daycare starting when I was about 3. Obviously I don't remember one or two babysitters from when I was a tiny baby, but I do remember the one I stayed with the longest, from maybe 9 months until right before the daycare. I called her Momma Rice because I couldn't say Mrs. Rice, and I have nothing but wonderful memories from that time. The only reason she couldn't keep taking care of me was that she had a son who had more and more severe disabilities with diabetes, and she couldn't take care of us both in the end, but it was heartbreaking for her to let me go. Later I went to a wonderful daycare, again nothing but wonderful memories, and if we name our daughter Katerina after DH's grandmother, I will call her Katie after the woman who founded that daycare--she was like a grandmother to me and I still keep in touch with her. Obviously these people didn't and couldn't care for me the way my mother did, but they were wonderful experiences for me, and I think that my childhood was richer for having them. It wasn't that I didn't have a relationship with my mom, I just also had all these other experiences--other wonderful adults who did love me and lots of time with other kids, which kids love and need. There's a decent chance I'll be a SAHM for a while just because it's hard for me to find work here, but honestly I have mixed feelings about it. I think my daycare experience was enriching and helped make me more independent and confident than I might otherwise have been, and I'm worried about my kiddo getting enough interaction with other kids. I know it must be very hard to take your baby to daycare and leave him/her with someone else. But please know that in cases like mine, it can be a wonderful experience and part of a really ideal early childhood.

restless legs I haven't had this so far, knock on wood. I read somewhere that maybe iron supplements prevent it, and I've been taking iron supplements for weeks and weeks now (dr prescribed them after bloodwork came back anemic a while back), so maybe that's why. I've had a few close calls with the nasty painful leg cramps, but I had these before when I was training for marathons, so back then I learned to wake up really quick at the first sign of an oncoming cramp and stretch the muscle the other way before my leg really started to spasm, so I haven't gone into full blown cramps yet this time around. It might catch me by surprise sooner or later though. I certainly hope not because those freaking things are painful!

[Lindzee82]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d603b3127cce93e8e410c15100000036108AbtGzhs3ZtT

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d603b3127cce93e8e1eb000000000036108AbtGzhs3ZtT

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d603b3127cce93e8e1e8813300000036108AbtGzhs3ZtT

And compared to last week:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d634b3127cce93c19333739e00000036108AbtGzhs3ZtT

[Kristen78]

Mrs Barkley - Congrats on the birth of your daughter. I hope she continues to do well and that she will be home with you in no time.

Restless Legs - I did get this once in a while before I was pregnant. I think you guys are right and it is from being overtired. I was exhausted at work yesterday. I don't know if I need more potassium. I will have to check it there is any in my multivitamin. I despise bananas so there is no way I am eating one of those! :p

Leg cramps - So far I have gotten 2 leg cramps while laying in bed in the morning. It happens when I point my toes and stretch my calves. This pain literally paralizes my calf. Is this a "Charlie Horse"? I have never had one before so I dont know. I just have to remember not to stretch my legs when I first wake up.

Appointments - I had an appointment last week at 27 weeks. I am going for my next one on 9/14. I will be 31 weeks then. I guess after that I will go back every 2 weeks. I am also having another Level II ultrasound between 32-34 weeks to make sure my baby is growing ok.

[Tulip]

Mrs_Barkley, congrats and welcome to world Emalee! What a shock that must have been. Can't wait to hear your birth story.

[sem426]

mrs barkely COngrats on the birth of Emalee! Sending good wishes your way!

Seb Yay for not gaining any weight at this visit..I have my appt on Sat, and I'm sure i"m up a few lbs. I know what you mean about wanting to have a bigger baby so they are; not that "fragile and delicate", but the thought of pushing out a 9lber :eek:
You've made me nervous about my BRU registry now...maybe i'll have to go there this weekend and take a look for myself in person.

Lindzee Great Belly Shots!!

Alb Thanks for the reassuring words re: day care. I know it will be fine, and it's not for several more months, so I'm goingto try and not obsess about it now!

painting the room we finally picked out a color! YAY! now we just need to get all the materials and get going with this!

[abbytfox]

Thanks for all your well wishes on my first day back. I was so tired when I got home! It was crazy. My mom called and I was really rude to her. I felt bad, but for whatever reason everything she said was SO annoying to me. I did call back and apologize after I had eaten dinner and talked with DH. Also, usually the beginning of school is exhausting but all the extra walking in the city is also really tough now. Has anyone felt like just walking is getting tougher? I know I am in San Francisco and we have lots of hills, but it never used to be so hard to walk from the train to my school (it is a 10-15 minute walk, mostly uphill) Today my legs were hurting almost the minute I left the train station, mostly in my calves. More than anything it is frustrating and makes me feel like a big oaf...lugging my big ole' body up the hill. I haven't felt like pregnancy has really physically affected any other aspect of my life (except maybe tying my shoes has gotten tricky!) so this is a hard adjustment.

Mrs. Barkley Congratulations on your beautiful daughter! She is so tiny...it is amazing. It is hard to believe our first baby is already here. Emalee Rose is a sweet name!

Alb You are totally right about daycare and the wonderful life experiences it brings with it. I guess I am more concerned about me, as the mom, than my child (selfish, I know:o ) I know that people who work with children (like myself, for example :D) do it because they love it and enjoy watching "their" children grow and flourish in different ways. So, I guess I am not as concerned about my little one being in a loving, nurturing environment as much as it will be so hard to leave my child and possibly "miss out" on certain aspects of their life. Does that make sense, in a crazy way? While I completely see my job as a parent as giving my kids a great foundation so they can flourish on their own as responsible people, I guess I just always imagined and hoped I would be able to stay with my baby until at least preschool age, instead of letting them go so early. I think I need to get my brain around the idea of daycare, more than anything, because for so long I thought I would stay at home. I feel like I am rambling, but I have been thinking about this a lot recently since our financial situation has evolved somewhat. I know that whatever ends up happening, daycare or me staying at home it will be the right thing for our family! (Whew...at least that is comforting!)

Lindzee You look great...you really are all belly! I have that shirt in black and white and wear it all the time...gotta love Old Navy! Also, glad your appointment went well and that everything is right on schedule. It must be so reassuring to know that you are on target now.

sem Hooray for picking a color! What a great feeling to know that you can get that room painted. Can I ask what you chose? I think I remember you wanting something green.

Kristen Your comment about bananas made me crack up! How funny! Is it the texture? I love them and eat at least one a day...had some for breakfast in my cereal. Too Funny! Also, I think the cramping in your leg is called a "Charlie Horse." I had never gotten one either...terrible!

[Kristen78]

abbyfox - Yeah, I just never have liked bananas, at least not that I can remember. I think its the texture and also the smell. I have never liked mushy things really. And I dont like how they smell either. Wierd, I know!

[Lindzee82]

sem426 - Thanks!

abbytfox - Thanks! Yeah I love that shirt, too! I have 4 of them in all different colors. Didn't get the black and white one though. Just about all my clothes are from Old Navy. I love that place! It is very nice knowing that I am growing as I should be. I was worried about that.


Bad news....I failed my GTT. I go back on Tuesday for the 3 hour. I have been crying over this all day. I just don't know how I am going to get through this. I am still sick each and every day. I have to eat a cup of applesauce before I can even take a shower or else I am sick and almost pass out. How am I supposed to fast and make it past 10:00am without eating and having my blood drawn 4 times??? I know I am going to get sick or pass out or die or something. I just don't think I can do it. This just really sucks because everything in this pregnancy has seemed to go wrong. Between being sick until now and screening positive for Downs, it has just been really hard. I just don't know what I am going to do.

[shirsty]

Hiccups! I am pretty sure I'm feeling them. I have been getting a rhythmic tapping a couple times over the last day or so, and I think that's what it is. Super cool! I also wonder if my baby is head down because I get the most forceful kicks under my ribcage, thinking maybe that's where his legs and feet are??

Alb yes we were doing the backpacking thing too, we started in Portugal and spent 4 months working our way towards Greece. It was an incredible, life-changing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. I used to be quite the traveler but haven't done nearly as much since I started grad school 4 years ago, and I think I'll be doing even less once the baby's here! It's all worth it though :)

Lindzee that sucks about the GTT, I didn't realize you were still struggling with the nausea so much. I would definitely tell them about it, see if there's anything they can do to make the test easier for you. Can you drink water at least? Ask if they have an 'alternate' test they could do for women in your situation? Maybe this means you'll have the easiest labor and delivery of all of us, for all the crap you've put up with during pregnancy!

[Lindzee82]

shirsty - Yep, it sucks. Yeah, I am still nauseas all day, every day. I take Zofran each day but that doesn't seem to help much. Just allows me to make it through the day in a somewhat productive manner. I have told my doctors about it and told the nurse today. There really isn't anything else they can do. I guess I just have to suck it up. Yes, I can drink water, however I don't think I want to. The less there is in my stomach, the less chance I will have of throwing up. If I have water in my stomach and get really nauseas and dizzy, I am sure I will throw up. And I am not good at throwing up. I have made it through the entire pregnancy without actually throwing up. I would hate to break that pattern now and especially in public!!

Maybe this means you'll have the easiest labor and delivery of all of us, for all the crap you've put up with during pregnancy!

Haha!! I'm thinking not a chance!!! I can only imagine what my labor and delivery will be like at the rate I'm going. I just can't catch a break! :rolleyes:

[Bliss]

Mrs. Barkley , congratulations on the birth of Emalee! Hope that your little precious one and mommy are doing well, and that you are getting to spend lots of time together :D

Lindzee, sorry to hear about your GTT. I am totally afraid of failing the 1 hour too (I take it next week) since I am hypoglycemic and if I dont eat and they take my blood I pass out. Tons of fun. My friend who is like me told me that she had her 3 hour test done at the hospital, and they basically put her in a bed so she could lay down the whole time. That way if she felt sick, she could just kind of close her eyes and relax. Maybe they can do that for you.

Question regarding the 1 hour test- are you supposed to fast before that one? I think my doc told me to eat before the test, but I cannot remember :)

[amyhky]

Lindzee82 I'm sorry to hear you failed your 1st test, I can't imagine having to go through the 3 hr, especially since you're still sick a lot but if it's ANY consolation, I've heard 60% can fail the 1st test and then pass the 2nd w/flying colors. I didn't read about your baby testing positive for Downs, was that just the triple screen test? Have you had followups b/c THAT test has a high false positive rate as well (I skipped it w/this pregnancy and the last for that reason)?

Mrs. Barkley Congratulations on your beautiful baby!

[amyhky]

I had to fast before my 1 hr GTT

Does anyone have time to tell me how to put a picture under my name?

[first-time mom]

Lindzee- Sorry to hear you failed your GTT. Did they tell you how much you failed by? Was it a couple of points or more. Hang in there anyway I am sure you will pass the three hour one.

I had to fast for my one hour GTT.

Daycare concerns- I noticed some of you had concerns on daycare so I thought I would through in my two cents. I am a infant toddler teacher so I deal with a lot of parents who have the same concerns that you might. You are right there is noone who can love you child the way you do BUT you were right when your DH said that these people love their job or they wouldnt do it. Trust me it isnt an easy job and if there is one once of you that hates it you wouldnt do it.
There are some things I think everyone should look into before they do enroll their child. For example my child care center is more then just a daycare. Every child in our room no matter what their age is has a curriculum that is based around their developmental goals and needs. We send home something called Ages and States Questionnaires based on their ages and the parents complete these depending on what they have seen their child do. The teachers then take this questionnaire and develop a curriculum around what the child may need to work on. If the child is advanced we will pull an older questionnaire and work on more challenging goals. We also do parent teacher conferences so we can talk about the child and their developmental goals. So even if your child is six weeks old we have a curriculum for them, sounds crazy but there is a lot to teach even a little baby:) So I would ask the centers if they have anything like this. If they do then you can be sure that your child is in a good setting and learning appropriatley. Each child in my classroom has a file and parents are free to look at this at anytime. Just thought I would give my two cents. I am actually very lucky that when I go back to work I can bring my child with me into this classroom. My classroom is 6wks-30 months so she will be with me for a while:)

[Tulip]

Looks like I failed my 2 hour GTT too. :( I had a complete breakdown last night about it. I have an appointment with a dietician on Friday. Hopefully it won't be as bad as I think it's going to be.

[Kristen78]

Sorry to all of you girls who failed your GTT test. I was super nervous about it too. Why do some of you have to wait a week or so to find out the results of the 1-hour test? At my docs they pricked my finger for blood. Dropped the sample into this little machine and like 60 seconds later out came a reading and they could tell me whether I passed or failed. I would hate to have to wait to find out the results!

[sem426]

GTT I have my 1 hour on Saturday and now i'm getting nervous hearing all of these stories. I was told NOT to fast before the test. I'm not sure how long I will have to wait for the results ,hopefully not too long.

Lindzee I'm sorry you have to go through this. I can't imagine being nauseous every day still. I hope your 3hr test is not as bad as you are imagining it to be.

Tulip Sorry you failed your test as well. Hopefully, the dietician can help with your food choices and that will help.

First time mom thanks for the encouragement re: daycare. You made me feel a little better :)

abby We picked a paint from Lowe's. I don't have the name of the color, I think it was Sea Grass? It's a sage green, not too light, but I think it'll make the room look really warm and go nicely with the bedding.

pediatrician tonight we are going to an open house at the pediatrician's office to meet a few of the dr's. I think it's like a question/answer kind of thing and then we can talk one on one w/a few of the dr's to see who we'd like to pick as our main pediatrician.

[Natasha]

Lindzee and Tulip--Wishing you luck on your next tests! Hopefully things will go better.

Lindzee--I had SUCH an easy pregnancy with my son, and a very difficult birth. I really hope your L&D is super easy, and I am sending tons of feel good vibes your way!

[Alanna]

Hi Everyone! what a busy place this has been!

First off:

Congratulations to Mrs_Barkley and family on the birth of Emalee Rose... she is just beautiful.. I cant wait to have more updates on her...

Tulip im so sorry to hear about the results of your 2 hour gtt... it sounds like you will have a lot of support here on the board though.. and i hope the diet they suggest is workable for you... as an aside i think its interesting that your follow up test was a two hour test... i wonder if its a different between canadian and us systems... it seems like down here we are uniformly given a four hour test if we dont pass the initial one hour screen...

lindzee i am sorry to hear about you not passing the one hour screen... i cant imagine what it would be like to have to take the four hour test under circumstances like yours (still battling nausea) this is an extreme solution.. but i have read in another thread where a woman with a severe needle phobia (not your problem.... but she was in a position like you where she just couldnt face the four hour test...) just asked to forgo the four hour test and be put on the GD diet. its extreme but... they accomodated her... i think you should definitely talk to someone about your situation and see what accomodations can be made... they must have had this sort of thing come up before...

GTT in general I took the 1 hour and 4 hour already and i will take the one hour again next week (most likely followed up by another 4 hour) because i have an increased risk of GD... the first time i took the one hour i did not fast... i think this was a big mistake because my 4 hour GTT results post fasting were much better than my one hour... this time im going to skip breakfast when i go in for the one hour and see if it makes a difference...

restless legs i have had really severe RLS (restless leg syndrome) since about week 15... it hits me post dinner every night and pretty puts me out of commission by 7:30pm. the only ways that help me get some relief (temporary) are taking showers, sitting on my birthing ball, taking tylenol, and laying down on my left side with my snoogle. its been by far the worst part of my pregnancy... its been really difficult that i havent had a night free from it...

QOTD have people started to firm up paternity leave plans with DH/SO? we have decided that DH will take 3 weeks... we dont have any family that will really pitch in and help... so its really up to the two of us to get into a routine and get me settled so i can do it alone... the thought of being alone is SO scary!

[Kristen78]

QOTD - Paternity leave. My DH is taking 1 or 2 weeks off. Definitely the week after the baby is born. Then he might go back to work for a week and let my mother come up for a week. then he might take the week after that off. We shall see! He doesnt really need to give notice since its special circumstances. I'm sure we will have a better idea of whats going on when the time gets closer.

My parents live a 4 hour drive away so they arent exactly close. My DH's family is but I just can't see myself needing other people's help that much. I dont even feel like I need my mom to come up but she wants to so I will let her.

[rehoboth]

QOTD Paternity Leave - DH and I were just talking about that. He checked how much leave he has banked up and it was waaay more than he thought he had. So, it looks like he'll be taking a full six weeks off with us! I'm very excited that he'll be able to be home with us, although my mom and ILs will be around for most of November anyway. :)

[Natasha]

QOTD--FH is pretty new at his job, so any leave he takes will probably be unpaid. So, maybe a week? My mom lives less than 10 minutes away (one of the reasons we moved here), and my sister will be living about 30 minutes away. Also, Bert's family lives less than an hour away. So, we should have plenty of help!

I had my diagnostic u/s yesterday. I measured at 29 w, 1d. which puts me one day behind my expected due date. She told me to stick with what the doctor said, which is convienient. My countdown weeks start on Mondays according to that....very easy to keep track!

[amypooh]

We had a 4D sonogram today. It was amazing. We got to see him yawning. :)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/amypooh/Cameron26weeks/PICS_29.jpg

[clzj]

I need help with a boys name.

We can't decide on one. The ones I like my husband rejects. I would like to have the middle name be Wilson. Please give me any suggestions that you have.

[first-time mom]

Belly button question- I just happen to notice that I have this dark ring around by belly button. It almost looks like a very light bruise that is under my skin. Is this normal or something I should be concerned about. I always thought bruises were a result of bleeding under the skin? Any insight?

4D ultrasound- that ultrasound picture is awesome amy. How expensive is that if you dont mind me asking. I would love to have this done.

[Sebski]

Lindzee & Tulip so sorry to hear that you failed your GTT... <<<hugs>>>

first-time mom thank you for posting that info about daycare. I'm definitely not the hugest fan of returning to work, and have started to feel guilty about it already.... so it really helped to read that! :)

clzj hmmmm... Wilson as a middle name. The first name that popped into my head was Patrick. Then, Bryan. I also like Matthew or Colin. Hope that helps some! :D

I almost feel guilty posting this... but I passed my 1 hour GTT. They left me a msg @ home today telling me. I took it on Monday and did not have to fast prior to taking it either. Good luck to you Sem with taking it this weekend!

Not much else to report on my end... other than I feel like I was hit by a Mack Truck!!! Sleeping hasn't been the easiest the past few nights and the days are sooooo long because of that! I'm loving that the summer weather has cooled a lot over the past few days. Hoping that the cooler weather sticks around and brings us right into fall!

Have a great night!

[Natasha]

FTM--We did a 3/4D u/s too. Ours was $180 for a 30 minute session and pictures.

CLZJ--We liked Noah for a boy. Don't know if that helps or not...

[Bliss]

Amy, love the 4D u/s pic. We are thinking of having one of those done as well, but DH is nervous since we arent finding out boy/girl and since those are so detailed, hes afraid we will see some "parts" lol.

GTT - OK now I am totally confused. My doc told me NOT to fast, but my mommy friends are recommending that I do fast since a few of them ate before the test and then failed it. Is it bad to fast :confused: I would like to give myself the best possible chance of passing, but I want an accurate reading too.

[Hawaii2SJ]

Mrs_Barkley-Congratulations to you and your family on the arrival of Emalee Rose!

amypooh-that is an awesome pix of your baby. I'm still deciding if we'll do 4D ultrasound or professional maternity pictures instead. I told myself to pick one or the other cause it's pretty costly in my area.

clzj-Wilson is a cute middle name, have you tried looking online at baby name sites, they've got a bunch

first-time-mom- I have the exact same thing going on around my bellybutton and I thought it was a bruise too. I can't figure it out:rolleyes: I'm not too concerned but I'm gonna ask at my next visit.

QOTD-Can you believe DH only gets one week? :mad: Then he has to use his vacation for additional days, ugh! Both of our families are in Hawaii but I do have really good girlfriends here who offered to help,very sweet, but they work& don't have kids/experience in that dept :rolleyes: We'll see how it goes.

Well, we're getting closer to November. I'm getting very excited and nervous all at the same time. I just registered for my birthing, breastfeeding and newborn care classses today, hopefully I'll be able to make use of the info that I'm taught. Other than that we are almost done with our nursery, yeah!
Have a great nite ladies! :)

[shirsty]

GTT I was told not to fast, just go about my business as usual. I went in the afternoon and had a salad for lunch like I usually do. I asked the lab tech about it again when I was drinking the lovely beverage, and she told me that they had a woman come in earlier that day who had 3 McDonald's apple pies before she took the test, which she failed. They weren't super clear about the whole thing in my opinion, whether or not fasting would make a difference. I decided to eat like I usually do, that made sense to me.

QOTD - my DH doesn't get any formal leave, he'll just use vacation time. Luckily he gets more than I do so he usually has more saved up. He'll probably take 3 weeks in November, then another week at Christmas.

Seb I am sleeping like crap too. I was just posting about how worried I was about movement and now he's moving so much I am having a hard time sleeping! I'll take it though over the worry :) I am also sooooo ready for fall.

Amy love the 4D!! How incredibly cool!

We're signed up for our classes, we're doing a weekend birth class on Sept. 10-11. Also signed up for breastfeeding and infant CPR.

Probably my biggest news today: we're going to repaint the nursery. It's this pretty sky blue, but it is just so bright and INTENSE, it makes me kind of on edge being in there. Not the feeling I want in the nursery. Needless to say my DH is not thrilled, but he's game for repainting fortunately! I think part of the problem is that we're decorating-challenged, we just picked it off a paint chip and not really to go with anything. So we'll try again with a better blue, I hope it's for the better!

[Lindzee82]

Bliss - Thanks. Good luck on your test next week. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for you. Since I have to take the test at the PathLab that is not at the hospital, they don't have any beds. I am going to keep a pillow and blanket in the car and lots of magazines and books and I am going to hang out there between draws. This is definitely going to be interesting.

1 hour test - I was told not to fast. To do everything normally. I think I may have failed because I cut out absolutely all sugar the weekend before. I didn't even eat cake at my cousins birthday. I think this caused my body to totally freak out once I drank the sugar drink. For the 3 hour test, I have instructions of what to eat and it is mostly carbs and says to eat some kind of sugar each day three days before. So cake, a candy bar, ice cream stuff like that. So I am just going to follow my normal routine this time and eat cake at the baby shower I am going to on Saturday and see what happens.

first-time mom - I failed by 2 points. I have the same thing with my belly button. I also have a flat ring around my belly button too.

Tulip - I'm so sorry. Hugs!!

sem426 - Thanks! Good luck on your test!

asianbear07 - Thanks! I hope my labor and delivery is easy too, but I am not counting on it!! Thanks for the feel good vibes!!

Alanna - I did tell them about me not thinking I could handle the test. They did offer me an additional solution, but after thinking about it I decided to do things the right way. I don't want to jeopordize the baby's health at all. I will figure out how to get through it. Yes, I am sick, but I don't want them to test me a different way and have that not be accurate. I want to do what is best for my Matthew. Know what I mean?

QOTD - I told DH that he is to take at least 2 weeks off between his training course and when he goes back to work. The jerk thinks one week is fine!

amypooh - Great ultrasound pic! That is just so amazing!!

Sebski - Thanks! Isn't Bryan Wilson the name of the guy in the Beach Boys!! haha! :o) Yay for passing your test! Don't feel bad about posting that. I wouldn't want anyone to have to take the yucky longer test. Good for you!! Sleeping ability has been gone for a very long time!

[albuquerque]

Lindzee Good luck with the 3 hr test. When is it again? I think it's smart of you to try to find a way to stick it out and just get through it the way it's meant to be done. Obviously nobody wants to fail, but on the other hand, you're right, the thing you want most is accurate results. Wishing you lots of passing (and anti-nausea) vibes!

Tulip big HUGS about not passing the 2 hour GTT. I was really nervous about the whole GD thing, and DH didn't even begin to understand or sympathize. I guess it's because nobody really realizes what a big deal the GD diet can become until they're faced with the possibility themselves and they actually read about what it means. I don't blame you for being really upset about it, I would be too. Hopefully, though, the nutritionist can help you come up with a manageable plan that won't make your life too crazy. Ugh, one more thing to just get through over the next weeks. Happily you are farther along than any of us--one week at a time and before you know it GD will be a thing of the past (along with all the rest) and you'll be a Mommy with a lovely little Baby!

shirsty I'm afraid that whenever we actually get around to putting the green paint we bought on our nursery walls, I'm going to have the same problem you have with your sky blue. I wanted a muted light green and the paint chip looked very muted...but when I look at the paint in the bucket, it looks *very* bright green to me. Light, but still bright, you know? Like maybe it would be perfect if it had just a bit more grey in it. Ugh. DH is going to kill me if we paint it and then I want to re-paint it. Well, we'll see. Actually I'll be happy if we just finally get started! We've only just begun to clear out the boxes and assorted other stored stuff in the room and I'm worried this poor baby is going to come home from the the hospital to wet paint and unassembled furniture. We've pretty much decided what to buy, but we haven't actually *bought* *anything* yet! Eeeek!

Hawaii kudos to you for being almost done with your nursery! I'm so jealous.....

GTT There was all kinds of conflicting advice about fasting when I took mine. My MIL was insisting I should fast for 12 hours, and she came over (waaaaay late) the night before for dinner, and so that would have put dinner within the 12 hours. She thought it would be a good idea for me to skip dinner so as not to have eaten anything in that 12 hour period. Ugh I was soooo irritated. The next day, the lab doctor said no, as long as I hadn't eaten anything that morning it was fine. They refuse to take blood in Greece after 11am because they won't take blood after you've eaten anything that day. Crazy. It was also 2 blood draws for me, one before, and then I had to go buy the glucose from a pharmacy, drink it, and have the second blood draw an hour later. I drank a ton of water in between--I was walking all over the neighborhood and it was HOT--so I hope that didn't throw anything off. Anyway, it's over.

Sebski Congrats on passing your GTT! Way back to the issue of notifying when babies are born...I'm not really sure how to do this, because I don't think I'll have internet access at the hospital and it's weird to ask DH to get involved, he sort of disapproves of my CC addiction. Well, more than sort of. Anyway. I guess I'll try to figure something out and I'll send you a PM. Hopefully by the time you deliver I'll be home and back to getting my internet fix, so if you want to notify me I'll be happy to share the good news on the thread, or if you want to go with the group email, that's also fine. Oh, and I hear you on the Mack Truck issue! Where did my energy go?

FTM Weird, I don't have a bruised-looking ring around my belly button, instead I have a sort of whitish looking ring. But I have skin so light it practically glows in the dark, so maybe it's a variation of what you have?

clzj I've always liked the name Duncan for a boy. Also Alden, and I knew a Norwegian guy named Audun, which was pronounced Oden--I think that was the name of the king of the gods from the ancient pantheistic Scandinavian myths?

amypooh, beautiful baby picture. Does it make you more or less impatient to meet Baby himself?

Paternity leave I think DH is only given 2 days off for the birth of a baby. I think he'll end up taking a week total, and then another week around Christmas, but most of that will have to come from vacation. I think, though, that he's going to be grateful to run back to work as a refuge from the deluge of new grandparents (my mom is coming for 3 whole months and as noted previously I think I can expect both his parents, who are retired, to show up bright and early every single day) we're going to have over here. Actually thinking about it kind of makes me wish *I* could go back to work after a week!

Random Third Trimester Issues
sleeping sucks. I can't really get comfortable any more, not even with my three pillows.
fatigue magically set in right after the 28 week mark. Maybe I wish I didn't know that was roughly the 3rd trimester mark, I don't know how much of this is in my head. I sleep (not very well, see above) a LOT. Since I work at home, if I don't have something to work on at any given moment, I set a timer for 20 minutes and I catnap. I do this often. How in the world do you guys do it who have to go to work outside of the house?
back pain began, just a bit, also around 28 weeks. Right on schedule. Not too bad yet, but I hear it gets worse and there are 2 months, 2 weeks still to go.
I'm hungry freaking all the time. Hungrier than before.
My ankles look like knees. I call my feet my "sausages". Especially by the end of the day. I look at them and mourn. It's just so hard to believe that they'll ever be the way they used to be again. Somebody please tell me they'll deflate?
Shoes are a major problem. For a few weeks I didn't have any that I could wear with any degree of comfort. Even flip flops don't fit very well around my sausage feet. Finally I bought some Tevas (ahhhh! adjustable!) which I am totally loving, but I can wear them pretty much all the time again because I'm working at home. What in the world do you do when you work in an office that would disapprove of Teva-esque footwear? We have to go to a dressy function in a few weeks and I'm worried, ugh. Plus, the dress I have to wear was really pretty back when I had actual ankles. It's going to look not so nice with my lovely new tree-trunk legs.
My hands don't *look* swollen, I don't think, but they generally ache in the mornings.
Leg cramps haven't actually hit me, although they've threatened. A tip I learned from leg cramps in years past (running long distances)--try to train yourself when you stretch to NOT point your toes, but to stretch your calves the other way, stretching your whole foot as much up towards your knee as you can, like a shin-splint stretch. Also if you accidentally point your toes in your sleep and you feel a cramp coming on, if you do this fast enough and hard enough, you can sometimes head off the cramp.
Baby movement has really picked up and contributes to sleep problems. I don't mind this, obviously, but it's interesting. Also I'm seriously running to the bathroom every 30 minutes, and I can tell when she kickes me in the bladder because it nearly makes me pee my pants! Which also makes me worry that she's in a breech position, which would mean automatic C section for me as external version is out in my case due to anterior placenta....
General discomfort has sort of descended--I can't walk fast, when DH is dragging me across a street by the hand because a car is coming, I simply can't go faster--that car has to either slow down or hit me!
Braxton-Hicks ... what do these actually feel like? I'm wondering if this is what I'm beginning to feel sometimes. It's a sort of tightening, expecially down low in my abdomen and right across the front. It doesn't hurt, and it isn't even uncomfortable, exactly--it just sort of feels like she's lodged herself in there lengthwise and is stretching me by pushing on either end with her hands and feet (picture Luke, Leia, Han Solo and the Wookie in the trash compactor).

Wow, do I sound like a major complainer or what? I make it sound like I'm completely falling apart. Actually, none of it is really that bad, the ankle-foot thing is the worst by far. But I do think that it's interesting that throughout the second tri I was really pretty comfortable (some ankle swelling but not bad), no complaints. But seriously as SOON as I hit that 28th week, all these things cropped up immediately. Crazy. Am I the only one?

[Lindzee82]

alb - Thanks! It is on Tuesday. I will be at PathLab at 7:15 right after they open! I took the entire day off of work, so that is something to look forward to. Thanks for the passing and anti-nausea vibes!!

[amyhky]

paternity leave Just a suggestion, for 1st time moms, if your DH has a lot of leave and you'll have other help around in the beginning, you might want to have them take their time later b/c around 6 weeks is when some babies start to get fussy and more difficult and it's nice to spread out the help! :)
amypooh I don't know if you care, but your ultrasound (great pic, by the way!) has your last name on it, you may want to delete that so it's not on the internet.

[amyhky]

shirsty I think some brands let you buy a quart or a small sample of your paint color, that way you have more than a little swatch but still aren't stuck buying a gallon, have you tried that?

[amyhky]

Sorry I post in spurts, I respond to people's before I forget b/c it takes me a while to catch up reading everyone's emails. It's interesting about the conflicting advice w/the GTT - to fast or not, you'd think there would be a consensus on this in the medical community! Frustrating for those of you who haven't taken it, good luck to all on your 1st and 2nd ones.
pains and discomforts I have been blessed this time around, last time I had horrible back pain during the 2nd trimester and the numbness in my fingers/hands was all during the 3rd trimester and even post baby (it's like CP in both hands only all the time); but this time, I haven't had either of those yet (knock on wood!). :) I sleep a lot better since I've resorted myself to the couch- last pregnancy I tried in the bed all the time and was miserable and this time I just decided I'd miss my DH and get more sleep and it's helped considerably. I am more exhausted now during the day, I empathize w/whomever said this (I think it was alb ?), fortunately I am a SAHM so if I can, I nap whenever my DS naps!

[rehoboth]

amyhky Thanks for the suggestion. I'm not a first time mother but still want to have DH around for as much time as possible even though we'll have family there in spurts. Due to his work schedule, he's able to take a full six weeks off from early November to January 2...and since his leave will be aroundthe T'giving and winter holidays, he'll end up getting 7.5 weeks off total. We're not about to give that up!

Random Third Trimester Issues
sleeping I think at last count, I am using six pillows, two of which are full size body pillows! DH can barely fit in bed.
GTT Passed my 1 hour. I am pleased with that.
fatigue All.The.Time. Not fun while chasing a 21M old around!
swelling Thankfully I haven't gotten any major swelling. Just a little mild swelling on days where I don't drink enough water, or if it is very very hot.
Leg cramps My doc says to drink tonic water--apparently the quinine in it is helpful.
Lots of baby movement, general discomfort and trips to the bathroom! I don't see that lessening as we approach November. :)
Braxton-Hicks I've had a few (a tightening across my belly, low down below the belly button) but nothing really major.

We were given a beautiful cherry sleigh crib on Monday...that kind of kicked me into gear about getting the baby's room cleaned out! It's fun doing this--I feel like I am cleaning with a purpose and so it's getting me excited. :D

[rehoboth]

Oh, regarding fasting for the one hour GTT: It had said on the side of my orange drink bottle to eat/drink normally up until one hour before the appointment time. At that point, the drink was to be consumed in five minutes. After that, only water was allowed until blood was drawn. Those were the instructions I followed. It is interesting to see the different instructions we were given!

[rehoboth]

Oops, one more from me!

Amy: That 4D u/s is awesome!!! It's amazing how you can totally see your son's face in details!!

[Kristen78]

rehoboth - I was given the same instructions as you for my GTT test. I ate a bowl of cereal about 2.5 hours before the test, and I passed with flying colors. I think my score was 84 and I read here that anything under 135(I think) is considered OK.

I had the crib mattress and my new Peg Perego P3 stroller delivered yesterday. Now if the crib would just get here I would have someplace for the mattress! Its supposed to get delivered next Tuesday.

[sem426]

amypooh those 4D pix are awesome!!

Random Third Trimester Issues

sleeping I am sleeping really well still. No problems to report. The only annoying this is getting up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night!

fatigue Not too bad, I'm usually fine at night if we're out doing something, but if we're home just watching TV then I start to get sleepy around 9!
swelling None thank goodness! Still wearing my wedding rings and my feet are not swollen at all.

Leg cramps No cramps either!

Lots of baby movement I have a bunch of movement through the day, but nothing that keeps me up at night thank goodness!

Braxton Hicks I've had a few I think..I"m not 100% sure if they are indeed BH.

Pediatrician Last night we went to the open house at our Ped's office. It was really informative. The dr we met was very nice and thorough. They handed out lots of information for new moms and what we can expect in the first few months of the baby's life.

[Natasha]

Alb--Aside from the swelling, I can TOTALLY identify with all the stuff you are goingt hrough.

I know I didn't whine this much when I was preggo with DS. I CANNOT sleep at night, but I want to sleep all day. Not so easy to do with a 2 year old. My legs ache all the time, my lower back is always sore, I've been getting headaches pretty frequently. I am pretty sure I am going to have to take off work soon (I do retail/fabric store) and the pain after a shift is getting unbearable. I, too, feel like a big whiner, but what are ya gonna do?

[Bliss]

Alb, I am with you on the swelling. I never understood why my friends complain about "cankles" but I sure do now :rolleyes: I am working only p/t with DH, but am on my feet pretty much all day and tonight, my feet are poor puffy sausages. I have them up as I type and it feels SO good. Other than that, I actually feel pretty good *knock wood* but I am behind most of you at 26 weeks 5 days. Good to know whats in store lmao.

I think I am going to eat breakfast as usual on Wednesday and then just go take the test like they told me. I dont want to get too wrapped up in "beating" the test, since I have to do whats best for the pumpkin like Lindzee said. So whatever I have to do, I will do it. Of course, my new addiction to Oreos may have a factor in that. mmmmmm Oreos, is there anything better?!? Thanks for all the answers on the test!

[Natasha]

So, my doctor put me on disability today. No more work for me. It's nice, especially with my son at home. Because my work was fairly labor intensive and my pain was pretty bad, he has deemed me unable to perform my work duties. I go tomorrow to take my glucose test. Joy!

[shirsty]

amyhky I have heard about those samples you can get, I will definitely check in that, a lot less painful than redoing the entire room and deciding I still hate it!!

Alb I think my main problem with the painting is that I am even more indecisive than usual. I am always bad making decisions about decorating type stuff like this, but it seems to be even worse with pregnancy. I am so envious of people who can just put a room together, pulling color and furniture and all that together into one cohesive scheme. Not my forte for sure!! I would stick with this paint if it wasn't so....ELECTRIC looking. Good luck with your green.

Random 3rd Tri Issues I am right there with the rest of you guys with the fatigue and soreness and lack of sleeping. I am amazingly not having a lot of swelling, which I really expected because my mom had it really bad. I do have some for sure but it's not terrible.

Despite this, I did unfortunately get my wedding ring cut off this week. When we got married 4 years ago I bought it on the small side, as in I often couldn't get it off during the summer months when it was really hot. Which was fine with me because I always wear it. But with the slight amount of swelling I've had, I made the decision to get it off now instead of waiting for it to get really bad. My dr. advised this at my last appointment. A couple days after that I saw a friend of mine who's 5 weeks ahead of me and her poor hands were sooooo swollen, her ring was cutting into her finger, I was soooo glad I bit the bullet and got it done! I am sad about not wearing it, but glad I don't have to worry about it anymore either. Plus it's been so long since I've been able to get it off that it SERIOUSLY needs a cleaning! :o

[amyhky]

rehoboth Thanks for the suggestion on tonic water, I've experienced some major leg cramps in the middle of the night!

[albuquerque]

Rings Just before we went to Crete, I took mine (wedding + engagement) off and put them away. I could still get them on and off pretty easily, but I always take them off when I swim and we were swimming every day, so it was just easier to leave them safe in Athens than do the on/off thing all the time. The only way I can NOT lose jewelry is to wear it all the time, so when I'm always taking them off and then putting them back on, I worry alot about losing them. Now we're back, but I think I just won't put them back on til post-baby. My hands aren't really swollen, but I don't want to one day find that I can't get them off--easier to take them off when I can instead of cut them off when I can't!

I like mornings--I have ankles in the mornings! I sit up in bed and admire them, my pretty little ankles. Then I watch them get bigger all day long. By evening the skin is so stretched to hold in all that fluid, it almost burns. My feet are puffy even in the mornings, but much more so at night. It isn't really *that* hot these days--I was hoping the swelling would go away with the heat, but that hasn't happened. Well, it *is* still August, it should get a lot cooler. I still have some hope. Not much, but some.

asianbear Glad to hear about the disability. I feel like such a loser for complaining when I probably have it easier than anybody--my commute is from one bedroom to another, my job is to sit in front of my laptop, and now that earnings season is over, there isn't much work to do at all! Actually my symptoms really aren't that bad, I just sort of note that they're there, the same way I am sort of treating everything to do with my body lately as a big science experiment. But seriously I don't know how some of the rest of you deal with all this when you have to work out of the house everyday, and people like you, asian, also have to chase around a toddler!

shirsty Good luck with the paint. My problem isn't indecision so much, it's more that it's impossible to really know what a room is going to look like based on a tiny paint chip less than 1 inch square. (Well, that's my problem with the paint. My problem with the rest of pulling the nursery together is sheer procrastination, DH's and mine.) A sample that you could use to paint a section would be really nice, but I'm not sure they do that here. Also it would mean two trips to Praktiker, the local equivalent of Home Depot or Lowes, and shopping there is just a nightmare. Ugh. Well, we'll see how it turns out. In NY, we wanted to paint one room what we thought would be a warm beige. It ended up looking pink! DH couldn't deal with the pink, so we repainted it a really beautiful light green. I was trying for as close to that same green as possible--we'll see. Anyway, if I *really* hate this green, I may have to remind DH that we repainted a room for *him* once!

[Lindzee82]

bliss - Oh my god! You have the oreo obsession, too???? I can't get enough!!! haha!! That is too funny!! I have been good though and have only given in to that craving a few times...

asianbear - Sorry you have been put out on disability. I gotta say, I am a little jealous. I wish someone would tell me I didn't have to work! Gotta do what is best for you baby. Take it easy and take care of yourself! Good luck on your test today!

[sem426]

asianbear so sorry about being on disability. but if it's best for you and the baby then you should just take advantage of being home and having some free time!!

rings now you are making me nervous that i should stop wearing mine! i have absolutely no swelling yet and right now my rings are actually a little loose since it's cold in my office.

oreos preg or not, i've ALWAYS loved Oreos!! :D

[abbytfox]

Hi! I have been in meetings non-stop since Wednesday and just caught up with everything. I am so thankful to be at work already because they stopped all the trains in the system due to an "incident" involving a passenger and a train. That can only mean bad things, but I have to say that I am so glad not to be stuck in a tunnel somewhere. I get really clausterphobic if we have to stay underground for a long time!

This morning I felt something I have never felt before. The baby kicked once on my left side and almost immediately then on my right. I have never felt two movements so close. Maybe he/she bumped their head and then kicked or punched me! It was amazing.

rings I actually take my rings off every night to sleep otherwise I find that I wake up with them stuck on. I think I get really hot at night and swell up. So far I can still wear them, but not on the same hand. I have started wearing my engagement ring on my right hand and still wear my wedding band on my left.

Gotta run! Another meeting...

[albuquerque]

sem I wouldn't worry about your rings if you don't have any swelling. I do, mostly in ankles/feet, but I had noticed my hands aching especially in the mornings, and my rings were getting tighter and tighter. I could still get them on and off without too much trouble, but after I took them off it did take almost two weeks for the indentations they left on my fingers to disappear. It doesn't sound like you are anywhere close to that. It isn't like something is going to sneak up on you one day and they will be loose in the morning but you'll be totally unable to remove them that night. You'll notice if they start getting tight. I would definitely have worn mine right through to the hospital and back if I weren't worried that one day I might not be able to get them off and might have to have them cut off.

[Natasha]

Please, don't feel bad about me being on disability! I am relieved, to be honest. It was getting to where after I worked, I couldn't get out of bed the next day by myself! I am actually very glad to have some extra one on one time with DS before the baby is here!

Alb-- Don't feel like a loser for complaining! Being pregoo, especially the third trimester, is not easy at all! Sometimes I feel bad for being a whiner, but I feel better after I complain... heehee

Lindzee-- I almost feel bad for being on disabilty, because I knwo so many other pregnant women who work up until the due date (I did with DS). But, I could use the rest, and if my doctor thinks the pain is bad enough, I shouldn't feel too bad, right?

Abby-- I have felt that before, too! I think thats what it is, a kick and then a head butt, or vice versa. My tummy is getting so big and tight, I think I actually felt an arm the other night! She is getting sooo big...

[november2005mommies]

UPDATED TO HERE :)

Please let me know if i missed anything...


Just a reminder to please post all updates in RED!

Thanks!!!! :)

[Alanna]

I cant believe I am hitting 30 weeks tomorrow (you too Alb!) it seems like all of a sudden there isnt much time left :D

we have our birthing classes this weekend... 5 hours on saturday and 5 on sunday... i didnt have the choice of spreading them out more... im really nervous about sitting for that long... im even more nervous about having to sit on the floor for any long period of time... i get so uncomforatable so fast...
i hope it issnt a disaster.

rings i am doing the engagement ring on the right hand thing too.. my hands are just swollen enoughto make it uncomfortable to have two on one finger... I am going to go shopping at some point for a fake ring to wear when i cant wear my real one anymore... i think it'll be fun to pick one out :)

cravings okay my deep dark secret... i have been ADDICTED to cocoa puffs. i have a bowl of them about every two days for the past two weeks... they taste so good! and i also get to have a lot of milk... which has been my big constant craving throughout the pregnancy...

asianbear07 sounds like it was a really good move to have you put on disability... make sure you take it easy and dont let your DS run you ragged!

[Bliss]

bliss - Oh my god! You have the oreo obsession, too???? I can't get enough!!! haha!! That is too funny!! I have been good though and have only given in to that craving a few times...

Yes, and I am openly confessing to my fellow Nov mommies to be that I... hide the Oreos from my husband :o :p I go shopping and hide them in the back of the cabinet, since if he finds them he eats the whole package in like one sitting. Its shameful, to sneak around...my love affair with Oreos is the big secret in my marriage :p

Alanna, I have a huge milk craving too! It goes right along with my Oreo thing. And I have been eyeing Cocoa Crispies everytime I go to the supermarket. I have restrained myself since my boring flake cereal is where I get my fiber from. I havent been able to convince myself that Cocoa Crispies have fiber in them lol.

[Natasha]

I've been going back and forth between frosted mini wheats and the new chocolate Lucky Charms. Unfortunelty, I can't seem to explain to FH and DS that I need my own special treat, so I have to share everything with them. i am ashamed to admit I get a little resentful... But, FH doesn't like pudding, and I love it, so thats been my special little treat. I just have to wait till DS goes to sleep....

[Lindzee82]

I cannot start my day with Cocoa Pebbles!! I have told my docs that this is a non-negotiable. They have stopped fighting with me finally. I wont budge. I eat the Pebbles and Peanut (my cat) gets the milk! :D

[Decemberwed]

Addictions: I am totally addicted to York Peppermint Patties~!!!!! I NEVER used to eat those and now I have to have 2 or 3 after lunch and dinner.

Well it is official - I am ready to be done!!! I have started thinking about my plan of attack for losing weight when Lily is born. With Ben, I didn't think about it and while I was nursing all the weight came off. But, as soon as I stopped nursing I put back on 10lbs. So this time I am going to watch it while I nurse, and I think I might join Weight Watchers and use the nursing program to get it all off quickly (and take off the additional 10lbs from Ben). Since this is the last time we are having a baby I don't want to become complacent.
On tuesday I have exactly 10 weeks left. I am hoping it goes by quickly!

[shirsty]

Paint report We repainted the baby's room from the horrible neon blue to a soft periwinkle blue, and LOVE IT!! It looks sooooo much better, it's a calm and soothing color and I am so glad we did it. Well DH did most of it but you know what I mean :) Plus we also found farbric for curtains this weekend, and MIL told us she's paying for the crib! It's been a very productive baby weekend, feeling good about all the stuff we got done.

Addictions I am all about the frosted mini wheats too asianbear, I've been eating them every morning since about 4 months. I keep telling myself that they've got whole wheat, and that's good for me and the baby, right?? :rolleyes:

I am ready to be done too. This baby has 4-5 more lbs to grow in the next 9-10 weeks, that sounds like a lot! I keep thinking, where is it all going to go? I feel like I can't get any bigger already! Also really hoping I don't have to buy more maternity clothes, but some of my shirts are getting kind of short in the front. Like I can't reach over my head or everybody knows way too much about me. Hoping to at least hold out for cooler weather to get any more, but we'll see I guess.

[Bliss]

We had a productive baby day today :) We went and picked out the baby furniture. We are going with this set (not the high dresser though)
http://www.babiitalia.com/images/carlislerm.jpg

but with the lifestyle crib in natural wood to match the changing table:
http://www.babiitalia.com/images/lifecrib.jpg
That lifestyle crib will convert into a toddler then adult bed if we decide to- but more importantly to is its like a tank, the thing hardly shakes at all. DH and I are both tall, I am 5'9 and he is 6'2 so I am not worried about reaching over to a lower mattress. Since we plan to have another baby, I am hoping quality-wise it will hold up well.

Glider Question The great glider debate in my house continues. I have convinced DH that we *need* a glider :) and we are going w. Dutalier. Heres my question- do I really need the glider to recline, the locking mechanisim to lock the chair, or an ottoman??!! I need to figure it out quick as they take 10-12 weeks thru babycatalog.com (thanks Sem for posting that btw) and I only have 13 weeks to go before baby. SOOOO typical me, last minute dash lol :rolleyes:

[Natasha]

shirsty--They're totally healthy! Mucho fiber, has to be good for ya, right?

I am right there with everyone else who is ready to be done! Sometimes I feel like I am just going to split down the middle! I am so glad they put me on disability, because I could not work anymore. My back hurts sooooo much at the end of the day, just chasing DS around and doing my normal household duties. I cannot imagine adding 6-8 hours on my feet to that. Honestly, this has to be my last pregnancy. it is taking a toll on my body like I never expected. I don't know how I managed to be so chipper and happy and relaxed with DS. Cause it sure isn't the case now. I believe tomorrow is the beginning of my THIRTIETH week!

[amyhky]

Bliss I would recommend getting a nursing stool instead of the ottoman b/c it puts your feet at just the right angle (it's supposed to be better for your back), regardless of bottle or breastfeeding. They have them at BRU, they're by Medela I think. They have white and natural wood.

[sem426]

Bliss We didn't get the ottoman. Like Amy said, we might buy the nursing stool from BRU. We got the reclining and locking mechanism too. Love your furniture choices!

I had my dr's appt on Saturday. Everything went well. Measuring exactly on target, baby's h/b was in the 150's and I am up a total of 17lbs. My appt's are now every 2 weeks and my next one is 9/10..
I also had my 1 hour GTT on Sat. The drink was not bad at all. It was SO cold that it was almost like a frozen cocktail! I'll have my results hopefully tomorrow or Wed.

DH started painting yesterday! We should be all finished in couple of days. I'm so excited. Now I need to look for blinds for the window.

Registry Our first items were bought from our registry :D Of course I check everyday and I noticed 5 things were bought as of this am! I'm not having a shower, so I'm wondering who bought the gifts and if they are on their way being delivered now!

I can't believe the summer is almost over and it'll be Sept in a few days! Our babies will be here so soon! We start our classes at the hospital next week.

[albuquerque]

Beautiful furniture choices, Bliss, and lovely nursery DecemberWed (from the nursery thread). I love your color scheme. Hurray for the first purchases from the registry, sem!

glider/ottoman I got a Dutailier for my cousin as a gift, and she bought the nursing stool to go with it. She got it a few weeks before the baby came, and liked it....but the day after she came back from the hospital, she ended up sending her DH out to buy the ottoman, also. I don't know if she decided it was "necessary" or if she just decided she wanted to have it, too.

Ready to be done? I guess actually I'm not. In spite of the impression I must have given with my list of physical ailments, I'm actually not really suffering under the pregnancy, really. I have a pretty easy situation, I work from home and now that earnings season is over, I'm not working hard at all (on the contrary!). I am looking forward to meeting our little girl, but I also find the experience of having her in my tummy endlessly interesting. A very personal little science experiment, always changing, evolving. I'm not really happy about the weight gain factor, and I also am having a weird reaction to feeling like I'm not attractive, but those aren't big things for me right now. The other major reason that I feel not ready to be done is that I feel that we're soooooo NOT READY for taking care of this little girl on the outside! I feel like I've got miles and miles to go before I'll be satisfied that I could leave for the hospital without anxiety about being ready to bring her home.

I've finally accepted defeat on the glider question, and we bought the poang chair from Ikea. It's comfortable but it's definitely a huge "settle" on my part, it's a far cry from glider. Whatever. I bought the ottoman to go with it--don't know if I can find those nursing stools here, and I don't know if it would be the right angle together with the poang, anyway. Now, my problem is the cushions for the dmn chair. The only cushions they had in stock for *both* the chair and the ottoman were the cheapest variety, in natural or black. I want the middle-quality, in blue, but noooooo. There were so many things that I wanted to get while we were at Ikea--and the place was a madhouse, probably because the students are coming back to university now. Sooooo many things were out of stock, I wanted to pull all my hair out. Little plastic bins, great for diapers, washcloths, whatever--lids out of stock. Poang chair, cushions out of stock. The dresser (changing table) I wanted, out of stock. There's no choice but to go back, and hope things are back in stock then. Overall it was such a frustrating trip--I expected to get so many things done, and I ended up getting minor things (kid clotheshangers) and missing the big ones (dresser), or getting things half-done (poang) which might even be worse. Ugh.

There's still the crib question. There are some friends of my MIL who want to give us a crib. This sounds very nice in theory, but I don't know what it looks like and I've become very leery of gifts--too often I hate them, then I can't get rid of them without being rude. (MIL unloaded a whole bunch of crap furniture on us to use before our furniture came on the boat from the US--very nice to have things to use in the meantime, but now that we have our stuff, and I want to buy a few nice pieces that we didn't have room for in the US, this stuff is like a fungus that I can't get rid of. Every time we take something back to MIL/FIL, even something as simple as a shower curtain that horribly clashed with our bathroom (which is hideous enough without any help), we get the "What's wrong with it?" UGH! So, I've been careful about this crib, and MIL insists that if we see it and decide it doesn't match, whatever, we can just say it doesn't match the dresser and not take it. Still, I'm leery. DH keeps asking, maybe this crib will change our opinion about the dresser? NO! I don't want to go back and re-make decisions that are already made! If this crib isn't simple, plain natural pine, which actually *would* go with the other stuff I have in mind, we're going to have a huge fight, I can tell already. DH hates to let go of money, and in general so do I, but I HATE ALL THIS HANDMEDOWN CRAP we have in our house from his family, and I WILL NOT ACCEPT a crib that is going to piss me off every time I have to look at it for 2-3 years. We spend E100 every week at the freaking grocery store, I don't see why it's such a big deal to spend E200 on a bed that our daughter will use for up to 5 years! (The one I want to buy becomes a toddler bed after the crib.)

Do I sound a little worked up about this stuff? I guess I'm jealous that so many of you had productive baby-stuff weekends, and I had so much frustration. I had so many decisions made, but thwarted--and the only day we can deal with things is Saturday, and even then only until about 5pm, everything is closed Sunday. And then on Saturday night, we had dinner with some friends. Our friends gave us a baby gift: a framed print of Dumbo, against a sort of reddish-brown background. Not small. It isn't that the thing itself is offensive, it's that I can't visualize hanging it in the nursery that *I* have imagined. The problem, of course, is that Dumbo is DH's favorite cartoon character. He asked where we'd put it and I implied we wouldn't. He asked if he got to make any decisions about the nursery, and I said, well after all this time, if you have any opinions it would be nice to finally hear them! He has contributed exactly nothing in terms of opinions for the nursery up to this point, and now he decides that the only thing he cares about is Dumbo.

I want the nursery to be green and white, with all the wood stuff (dresser, crib, nightstand next to chair, etc) in natural pine. I want to decorate it with hot air balloons. And it is *very* small (I think 8ft by 9 ft or so), with one entire wall taken by built-in closets painted white, and the opposite wall half taken by the sliding door to the balcony. That leaves only two blank walls, really--I have to devote one of them to Dumbo, with his red-brown background, against my otherwise light green and white ideas? It certainly isn't that DH wants to decorate the nursery--he just wants to insist on this one thing that will look hideous in the nursery that I have mentally decorated at this point.

Also, my DH can't roll his eyes enough whenever the word "match" comes out of my mouth. I'm getting really sick of his sarcasm on this point. It isn't that I'm some high-maintenance interior decorating diva, far from it. I would just like to avoid taking as many unrelated, stylistically clashing items as possible and cramming all of our rooms full of them. We have enough rooms full of crap as it is, I was hoping that with the nursery, since we're totally starting from scratch, I could actually make it somewhat coherent. I begged him for input all this time and he would act irritated that I wanted to talk about it so much earlier than he felt it was necessary. So I more or less made decisions myself, and mentally decorated, and now his only all-important idea would look like sht, in my opinion--and we still haven't actually *done* anything except buy some things that are in boxes in our basement storage room, and bought the paint which is sitting in a plastic bucket for something like 3 weeks now. Well, at this point, as I see it we are pretty much down to the freaking wire. We're going away next weekend for another 10 days or so, and by the time we're back it will be halfway through September! It isn't like the baby can be counted on to reliably arrive exactly on Saturday, November 5th, and we can somehow manage to get everything ready the weekend before! Plus, I'm less and less able to do things myself--the nursery is crammed full of boxes of books right now, DH can't be bothered to make a decision about bookshelves for the living room, so we don't really have anywhere to put them. At this point I don't care where they go, they just need to come OUT of that room, but it is no longer a good idea for me to move multiple boxes of books by myself. And as far as the shopping--I don't really know where stores are, don't really know how to navigate Athens by myself (I thought I had an excellent sense of direction until I moved *here*), I'm not really comfortable driving here yet, I NEED him to come with me, help me make decisions or else just shut up and let me make them myself, and actually BUY the stuff we NEED already! I need his freaking help with some of this stuff!!! NOW!

OK. Phew. Sorry for the loooooooong vent there. DH is really a wonderful husband, will be a wonderful father. I'm just extremely frustrated with the whole nursery thing which hasn't begun to take shape yet. I really need to start a journal to contain all these vents. Thanks for bearing with me in the meantime!

[Natasha]

Alb--Ugh! I am sorry there is so much stress going on right now! DO NOT move those boxes of books! I know you know this, but still, don't move them! I think helping with our move at the beginning of this month is really what put me out of work. Be careful! We are nowhere near ready for our baby to be here either, I am just chomping at the bit to have my body back! I wish you the best of luck getting everything put together!

So, this baby has not stopped moving for 24+ hours! It's cool, but sometimes it really hurts. And all last night I dreamed about her moving, and appendages sticking out through my tummy. I love that she is so active, but I would also love and hour of her being still. Course, then I would probably worry till she moved again....Ahh, the joys of pregnancy!

[Bliss]

Yet another bassinet question (sorry this is my new thing to obsess about lol). I think I have decided on this bassinet by Graco:
http://www.babycatalog.com/furnacc03new/5840cnp5.jpg

For those who used or will use a similar style bassinet- did you get additional sheets for it? I looked on the Graco site and do not see any sheets available. When I went to see the bassinet today, the mattress had a sheet on it, so I was wondering how hard/easy it will be to get some additional ones so I am not doing laundry all the time.

At least it looks very sturdy, and a friend used this one for her son as well. I would feel SOO much more comfortable if there was more safety info on bassinets though *sigh*.

[Kristen78]

Bliss, I just ordered this bassinet last weekend. Its supposed to get delivered today. I thought I saw Graco bassinet sheets on Amazon.com.

[Natasha]

I have a very similar bassinet, and I have found that any bassinet sheet seems to fit it. I have found ones at Wal Mart and Target fit.

[Lindzee82]

Alright I am back from my 4-hour glucose test! I must say....I feel silly for getting myself so worked up. It really wasn't bad at all. I am very proud of myself for getting through it and getting through quite well. I got up at 6:45 and my mom picked me up at 7. We went right to the PathLab. There was a huuuuuge waiting line!! We couldn't even sit in the waiting room. We sat on a window sill outside in the hallway. Sitting there I started to feel sick. I think it is most anticipation. Finally at 7:50 it was my turn. I went in and she took the first vial. She asked me what I was going to do for that hour because I wasn't supposed to drive. She says since you have to drink the whole bottle (apparently you only drink half at the 1 hour test - funny they never mentioned this to me) they don't know how everyone is going to react to it and some people do get sick. Great. I told her that my mom and I were just going to hang out in her car. I had pillows and books to keep me occupied. I went back out in the hallway and drank the bottle. It took me the whole alloted 10 minute time frame. It tasted better than I remembered and it was very cold. I did great with it but had a little trouble with the last 5 or so sips. But I got it down at 8:07. Mom and I went out to the car and started to read but then we ended up talking for the whole hour. I got dizzy a few times in the car and thought oh my goodness how am I going to do this, but then it would pass. We went back in to the lab and I got my second blood drawn. I was suprised how good I felt. Mom and I went back out to the car. Did some reading and talking. Went back in to the lab an hour later and had the third draw. I was still so shocked at how good I felt. I wasn't dizzy or lightheaded at all at this point. I really felt good. Went back to the car and started talking about what I would eat for lunch! At 11 we headed back in the lab for the final draw. And that was it. The time went by pretty quickly and I didn't get sick!! I am so happy with how well it went, although I am glad that it is over. Afterwards we went back to my mom's house and I had two egg salad sandwiches - my new craving. Now I am home and am planning on taking a nap and then getting up and eating some cookies and milk!! So that is that. Now I wait for the results. If they don't call me tomorrow I will assume I passed, but will call on Thursday to get final results just so I know.

[albuquerque]

Congrats Lindzee on getting through the 4hr test! Nice that your mom went with you, much better than suffering through it alone.

Anyone else having trouble eating anything without spilling little bits on their tummy?! I feel like such a slob, I'm like a little kid, every time I eat I get my shirt dirty! The problem is that I can't lean forward over my plate the way I used to be able to, so anything that misses my mouth or falls off my fork (I never realized how clumsy I am!) hits me right on my burgeoning belly! It is kind of funny, when I can manage not to think about how few maternity shirts I have and how often this forces me to do laundry!

[abbytfox]

Quick post...I have a doctor's appointment today. I have made a decision. I am not going to look at the scale for the rest of this pregnancy. It only makes me crazy and I am doing everything I can to stay healthy with my eating and exercising, so the number shouldn't really be what I am focused on...but I am. That is my solution. I will ask the doctor to let me know if I have a problem or need to focus on cutting back on calories. I feel really relieved. I am always so nervous about the scale starting almost a week before my appointment!

One thing I have noticed during my pregnancy that is so crazy to me...Today I put on a shirt I bought about 2 weeks ago. When I bought it there was plenty of tummy room. Today it is snug across my belly! It is amazing how quickly I grow some weeks!

lindzee Congrats on finishing your 4 hour test! So glad it wasn't the challenge you thought it would be...I also have had huge egg salad cravings. I wonder if that is my body craving more protein? Yummm...

[Lindzee82]

albuquerque - Thanks! Yes, I am very lucky to have my mom. She took the day off and everything. I don't know how I would have gotten through this all without her. Haha on the eating and spilling. Alllll my pregnancy clothes are stained!!! I drop everything.

abbytfox - I hope your appointment goes well. I am sorry you are so concerned with your weight. I am sure all is well, though. Sounds like you have a very healthy, growing baby in your belly and that is all that matters! Thanks for the congrats!! I am glad it is over with!

[first-time mom]

I had my Dr.'s appt today and had my ultrasound. They said they were looking for fluid and growth. Everything checked out ok. Fluid is great and the baby is growing:) She weighs 2lbs 14oz! Only 2 oz away from 3lbs! My due date according to today's ultrasound is 11/18 but he said we will stick with 11/21 but I was happy to hear she might be three days ahead of the game! She is already head down which suprised me because I was guessing she was still head up but this would explain why I am getting so good kicks in the ribs:) He also said my cervix was long and closed (looked through ultrasound). I have gained 23 lbs which is said was good. I thought it was a lot but.. My b/p was good as well. I did have some sugar in my urine and he said that was b/c he needs my first morning urine so i have to bring it with me from now on. My frosted mini wheats must have gone right through me!
I had a lot of questions that he was awesome at answering.
belly button Bruise- thing and he said that it was estrogen related (just like the line on the stomach).
discharge issue-and he said it was normal for it to vary in consistancy from watery to mucusy and from white to tan to yellow. He said as long as it isnt red it was ok.
placenta-is in a good spot so there was no problem there.
Braxton Hicks-I asked when I should be concerned with these and he said if they are a duration of 80sec and coming every five mins.
Discomfort walking-I asked him why sometimes I feel like I cant walk far like she is going to fall out and he said chances are her position is what causes this. There is enough fluid in there so that she can flip so chances are her foot or something was jamming against my cervix making me uncomfortable.
Little pains up through- he said that as the uterus gets large it has to thin (ligaments) in order to stretch and I am probably feeling this.

Over all it was a very good appt. I am a little bummed because we didnt get any photos but I was happy we got a video of the ultrasound, But when I got home and popped in the tape there was nothing there. Apparently there machine didnt work so I was bummed about that. It would have been nice to have we got some good shots of her opening her mouth and looking at us but the video didnt work:(

I start my two week apt's which is exciting!! My Next appt. is 9/15

Oreo craving-I too have a wicked oreo cookie craving!!!

Shower- My shower is this weekend! I am very excited for this. I have a lot of friends that i havent seen in a long time and they are all coming. My sister invited about 50 people so we will see who comes:)

Sorry for the long post!! My birthday is tomorrow so it looks like a busy week for me. I have to back to work next week which I am not looking forward to but ohhh well...

[Lindzee82]

first-time mom - Glad your appointment went so well and that everything checked out fine with you. Seeing your little girl again and that she is healthy must put your mind at ease! I can't wait to see Matthew in a few weeks. 23 pounds isn't bad at all. I had gained 20 at my last appointment. You defininitely need to put an updated belly shot on here! I am demanding you to!! haha!! I want to see you!! Thanks for asking your doc all those questions and posting the answers here. It is nice to see that I am having the same concerns as you and that they are nothing to worry about. Sorry you didn't get any photos and that the video didn't come out. That stinks. Weird that they wouldn't give you any pics. I am going to ask my ultrasound tech for some pics so that I can send to Eric. Hopefully they can do that. Yay for your shower being this weekend! That is soooo exciting! I hope you get lots and lots of stuff. Where are you registered? I want to compare mine to yours to make sure I got everything! Happy Birthday to you!! Hope it is a great one!! Are you younger or older than me? Mine was two weeks ago. Sorry you have to go back to work soon, but it will only be for a little while and then your little girl will be here!

[Alanna]

its been busy here :)

We had our childbirth classes this weekend.. and man, were they loooong. I have read a lot of books and watched a ton of shows about child birth so a lot was really redundant. But as DH and I agreed... it was worth the money to not have regrets about not taking the class. there were a few interesting things... but over all i found it was really rough sitting 5 hours at a time (we did use mats at the end of every class) i wish we had the option of spreading the classes over a bunch of weeks.

My fingers have start ed to swell this weekend. DH was so worried about me wearing my rings we went out and got a replacement ring... its a plain shiny silver band... it was only $20... its really thick.. im quite pleased with it over all :)

our painter came yesterday adn started work on the nursery !! HOORAY!!! she took all the wall paper down and plastered and primed. She'll be back tomorrow to start with the paint. We decided to use "ballerina pink" i think we are going to have it lightened up though... even though its at the lightest end of the spectrum... it still looked a little too pink to me.

we are trying to decide whether to paint the inside of the closet a different color (from our quilt) we are thinking maybe green just for fun... im not totally sold on the idea...

Lindzee82 Im SO happy to hear how well you weathered the 4 hour GTT. Thats awesome!!

first-time mom glad to hear that you had such a good appointment! Sounds like you got lots of good answers to your questions. Im so jealous you are already having your shower... i wish mine was this weekend!!! :)

albuquerque i bought about 10 v-neck t-shirts at the beginning of the summer. About 4 of them are so stained i cant wear them outside the house any more and as far as the others go.. lets just say that about a month ago i invested in a stain stick to keep upstairs since i had something to pretreat just about every day. :rolleyes:
Salad oil is my worst enemy... i cant seem to eat a salad without getting oil all over myself.

[Lindzee82]

alanna - Thanks!

[Natasha]

I too have gotten alot of my shirts dirty. After I eat, there are crumbs and stains....lovely. Between my son and I, I don't know how we lived without spray and wash!

[first-time mom]

lindzee- Yeah the appt was a big relief. I feel more comfortable now knowing how big she is and everything. It was awesome to see her again I just wish I had the video:( oh well.. I will be 24! Am I older or younger than you? I registered at Burlington Coat. I am very excited for my shower. I cant believe it is here already.

Alana-I am very excited for my shower. When is yours? I cant believe how fast things seem to be going now. I felt like this pregnancy is dragging but suddenly it seems to be going fast. I wish it was November already. Is anyone else feeling like they are ready for there baby to be here? I am starting to get antsy. I just want to meet her and hold her. I still have 11 wks to go and that seems like an eternity. But I hope it will continue to go fast but I dont know....

[Lindzee82]

first-time mom - Yep, you are older than me! I just turned 23. I am going to check out your registry now!! I am totally ready for Matthew to be here. I have had enough. I am ready to see what he looks like and feels like. I am just crazy with anticipation. Time is going so slow!!

[Natasha]

We registered at Target for everything but bedding, and PBK for the bedding. My shower is Sept. 24th, now. I can't believe we are all in the final stretch! I just want all you ladies to know it has been SUCH a relief to have you all here!

[first-time mom]

Asianbear- I agree with you 100% about having this resource. If I didnt have you guys on here I probably would have lost my mind a long time ago. I have been so nervous this whole pregnancy(1st one)! I am just now starting to feel comfortable because I am far enough along that she would make it if born now. When I found out yesterday she was 3lbs I was very happy!! I am petrified of preterm labor and I cant figure out why.....So thank you to everyone who has put up with my questions and concerns.

Has anyone heard an update from Mrs. Barkley? I wonder how they are doing.

[Lindzee82]

Looks like I am taking a sick day from work. On my drive to work I blacked out. Luckily I was able to pull into a parking lot in time. I was so dizzy. It was very scary. I ended up making it back home. I called in to work. I hate doing that because my sick time is my maternity time, so I am losing 8 hours now. I will also have to miss my childbirth class tonight which makes me very angry. This will probably be the only night they teach something productive and I will miss it. What a bad day. DH wants me to call the doc but I hate doing that. I am just in such a bad mood. I really disklike being pregnant.

[rochacha]

I have been reading along, just not posting much...till now.

Mrs. Barkley -- congrats on your little baby, hope all is going well.

Alb -- Oh my, I don't think I ever commented about your Crete trip. Someone suggested that your write a screen play about your adventure as a preggers woman in Greece, and I second that! It could be the sequel to "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"..."My Big Fat Greek Pregnancy"! Sorry things have been so fustrating for you with the inlaws, the culture/language, and now DH. In the end, you'll have yourself one healthy baby to obsess about and hopefully that will make it worht it. Oh, and I like reading about your ramblings, keep posting away.

Lindzee82 -- Good job ont he 3 hour GTT, sounds like it was a pain inthe ass, but thankfully it didn't make you sick. Hope you passed!

abbytfox -- congrats on dissing the scale. I wish I had your will power! I step on it every day, I know bad bad bad! It doesn't make me change my eating habits though! Just makes me depressed...so why do I do it????

first-time mom -- Looks like you had a good appointment and got lits of answers to your questions.What a bummer you didn't get a video. Maybe you can ask them to do another one so you can get the video? That only seems fair.

****

So, this past weekend was my first shower at my mom house. Am I the first?? I am only 28 weeks, but this was the only date my mom could "squeeze" squeeze it in, between her traveling, my SIL's EDD in Spetember, and our schedule. Not that I minded, earlier seems better than later which was the other option, early November. We got lots of good stuff. I think people were more generous with the baby shower than at the bridal shower. We gots of clothes, and some bigger items like the travel system, pack-n-play, bouncey seat, carrier, gym, and ... I am sure I am forgetting a lot.

Everything is going very well, especially consdieering this is my first pregnancy I am enjoying it. Lately, however, I am experiencing problems sleeping. My back tightens up between my sholder blades. This usually happens when I really stressed about things, but I don't feel stressed. Anyway Dh has been very nice to give my a rub down before bed time.

I think there was a QOTD a while back about feeling ready to be done...No way in hell!!! This is our first (and possibly only) and I am scared to death about delivery. As DH said the other day " I don't feel very parental". I can't believe how much our lives are about to change in 12 short weeks!!!

[albuquerque]

Wow, Lindzee, that's really scary. Especially because it happened while you were driving! Thank God you're OK. Sorry about losing the sick time, that must make you mad. I agree with your DH, though, DO call the doctor. Maybe it's nothing, but....maybe it's something. Isn't that kind of thing, headaches, visual problems, blacking out--the sort of thing they worry about as a potential symptom of preclampsia?

[Lindzee82]

rochacha - Thanks! I hope I passed, too.

albuquerque - Yeah it was scary. It has happened before. But not quite so bad. I get dizzy a lot - which makes me think that I will fail the GTT because there has to be something wrong with me. I just hate to call the doc because I have had *TMI DISCLOSURE* a few really soft bowel movements today. So maybe I just have the flu. I would hate to call the doc to find out I have the flu or something. I don't have a headache or swelling or anything like that so I can't imagine it is preclampsia. I just hate calling the doc because I have to pay each and every time that I go for a "non scheduled" visit. Yeah I know the baby is worth the money, but it just seems like they freak out and make me go all the time if I just have a question so that they can get their money. I will call now though. I will let you know what they say. Maybe it is a delayed reaction to the test yesterday.

[Lindzee82]

So I called my docs and talked to the nurse. I asker her if some people have a bad reaction to the GTT the next day. I told her about my blacking out. She said that my test came back normal - so that is good. Then she said that it is normal to have dizzy spells and blackouts in pregnancy because there is so much more blood volume going through your veins. She said even laying down you can get dizzy. But of course they still want to see me. Grr. I feel just like such a bad mom because I know I shouldn't mind going in because I will get to hear Matthew's heartbeat and see that all is well. But it just embarrases me to go in for something that is "normal." Matthew is moving around like crazy right now kicking me all over so I know he is fine. I just feel like such a little worry wort and that they will all laugh at me for going in. This is just so frustrating. At least DH will be happy with me :rolleyes:

[rochacha]

Lindzee82 -- we must have crossed posted. Wow, that is scary! Good to hear you passed the GTT. And I can sympathize with you about not wanting to go into the Dr. so much, it must be frustrating. Hopefully they will be able to give you some answers of advice that makes going to see them worth it.

My maternity leave comes out of my sick and vaction time, I hate knowing that I just lost 8 hours too! We'll need that money come the new year.

[Lindzee82]

rochacha - Very scary. Yes, glad I passed the GTT! That is a relief. I am supposed to see the midwife that I really like today, so hopefully I can feel better about things when I leave there. I think it should be illegal for maternity leave to come out of sick and vacation time. Like we don't have enough stress already! I had to use four hours vacation time yesterday because I took the day off for my test. Now I am losing hours. I probably could have gone to work after I got over the dizzy spell, but it is a 45 minute drive and I just didn't know if I could have done it. I probably could go in now, but since I have a doc appointment at 2:30 it isn't worth it to me to drive in. So I guess I can't complain about using hours.


Pediatricians - I just called my primary care physicians office (you get stuff accomplished on sick days!) and told them that I was due to have a baby in November and wanted to know how far in advance I had to give them notice that I want a certian pediatrician. Apparently at this particular practice you don't give them notice. When I have the baby the hospital will ask who my pediatrician is and they will send all baby's paperwork to them. Then I call when I get out of the hospital and make a 2 week follow up appointment. So the pediatrician does not come to the hospital to look over the baby like all my baby books say they do. Very odd. I am glad I called though. Now I can at least cross that off my before baby comes to do list. I need to add it to my after baby arrives to do list, though!

[Kristen78]

Wow. So much going on here.

Lindzee - Congrats on passing your 4 hours GTT test. That must feel great. Do you not qualify for FMLA? Becaus if you do then you get 12 weeks off no matter what. Some companies will require you to use up any sick/vacation time as part of that 12 weeks, but they can't deny you a maternity leave of less than 12 weeks. I think its smart to go to the doctor for your blackouts. I wouldn't say blacking out is normal. Dizziness maybe but if you really blacked out that could be serious! Good luck!

I finally got the baby's crib yesterday. I have pictures too. So far all we have in the nursery is the crib, a small rug, and a stroller that I am keeping in there for now. Here is the crib though, and a view of the closet.

http://images.snapfish.com/34486%3C8%3B23232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2355%3D39%3A%3D628 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A74%3C8%3B674ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/34486%3C8%3B23232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E2355%3D39%3A%3D628 %3DXROQDF%3E2323%3A74%3C8%3B676ot1lsi

http://images.snapfish.com/34486%3C8%3B23232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2323%3D%3B65%3D%3C 85%3D3232%3B65%3B94924nu0mrj

My DH should have the dresser finished in about a week or 2. And my Dutailer glider probably wont come until mid-late October.

[first-time mom]

Lindzee- Congrats on passing the GTT that is a big relief. I do think you are smart for calling your doctor. Hey I am the queen of unscheduled visits. If there is a concern about anything I think it is worth calling for, better safe than sorry. I wouldnt worry about the BM being loose at least in my case mine have been all over the place. For the most part mine have been loose the whole way through with the occasional constipation.

Rochacha-Sounds like you got lots of good stuff at your shower. Mine is Saturday and I will be just about 29wks so mine is early too. This was the only date we could do as well. Besides I would rather have it earlier while I still feel comfortable but that is slowly going away and discomfort is setting in. I did have an awesome appt. but it does suck about the tape. I called them to tell them thinking they might say come back in but all they said was sorry :( oh well.

Kristen78- I love the crib and the bedding looks really nice. I need to take some pics of my babies room and post them soon. We did a snoopy theme so that I can use the stuff for a future pregnancy b/c it is both boy and girl. I have the bedding in my purple bedroom instead of the blue on so it looks girlie:)

A little story for ya all....

So my SIL was due Aug. 27. She had told my MIL that she did not want to have the baby on Aug. 20, 22, or the 31st. Which I think was rude since the 20th is my MIL birthday, the 22 is my MIL and FIL's anniversary, and the 31st (today) is MY BIRTHDAY.

[Lindzee82]

Kristen78 - Thanks! It does feel good! Glad to know I don't have to do it again, although it really wasn't that bad. Yes, we do have FMLA. I can take 12 weeks. But they only pay 60% dissability for 2 weeks. So you have to use your sick and vacation time if you want to get paid. I want to take my full 12 weeks, but we are financially strapped so I don't know if we can do it. That is why I hate to use up any of my time. I will let you all know how I make out at the docs later on. It will be interesting to see what they say! That crib is beautiful!! I am loving the curtains, too. I am so extremely jealous that our baby wont get his own nursery at this point. We definitely didn't plan well for this...

[first-time mom]

Lindzee- Congrats on passing the GTT that is a big relief. I do think you are smart for calling your doctor. Hey I am the queen of unscheduled visits. If there is a concern about anything I think it is worth calling for, better safe than sorry. I wouldnt worry about the BM being loose at least in my case mine have been all over the place. For the most part mine have been loose the whole way through with the occasional constipation.

Rochacha-Sounds like you got lots of good stuff at your shower. Mine is Saturday and I will be just about 29wks so mine is early too. This was the only date we could do as well. Besides I would rather have it earlier while I still feel comfortable but that is slowly going away and discomfort is setting in. I did have an awesome appt. but it does suck about the tape. I called them to tell them thinking they might say come back in but all they said was sorry :( oh well.

Kristen78- I love the crib and the bedding looks really nice. I need to take some pics of my babies room and post them soon. We did a snoopy theme so that I can use the stuff for a future pregnancy b/c it is both boy and girl. I have the bedding in my purple bedroom instead of the blue on so it looks girlie:)

A little story for ya all....

So my SIL was due Aug. 27. She had told my MIL that she did not want to have the baby on Aug. 20, 22, or the 31st. Which I think was rude since the 20th is my MIL's birthday, the 22 is my MIL and FIL's anniversary, and the 31st (today) is MY BIRTHDAY. I think it would be cool to have my baby on someones birthday or what not I mean we are all family but anyway we wont get in to that.......Well I got a phone call last night at 9:30 saying SIL was in labour at the hospital and contractions were 1 min apart. Well I called this morning at 9 and she was 9cm dilated and sleeping b/c she was so tired from like 12 hrs of labour. So it looks like today is the day her baby will be born. ON MY BIRTHDAY. It makes me laugh b/c I guess she is really not to happy about it which is a slap in my face but oh well.... she will just have to get over it. So today I have become an aunt for the first time on my birthday. I think its kinda cool....but I think I am the only one :rolleyes:

[Lindzee82]

first-time mom - Thanks! Yep it sure is. Have you done yours yet? I don't remember. Ha, you are the queen of the unscheduled visits, but yours have all been for serious issues. I don't feel this is very serious. Oh well. I am going and that is that. It was just very weird to have loose BM since I have been so constipated forever. Maybe the glucose drink loosened everything up for me. I haven't gone for a few hours so that is good. I am ruling out the flu. Yes, Yes you need to post nursery pics - and belly pics!!!!!!!! Happy Birthday to you!!!!

[albuquerque]

Happy Birthday First-Time Mom!

[sem426]

Happy Birthday First Time mom!

Lindzee Congrats on passing your GTT! I am still waiting on my results from my 1 hour. If I don't hear from the dr today I'm going to call and ask. That is very Scary about blacking out, I hope you feel better and that doesn't happen again.

Kristen The baby's room looks great! :)

[Kristen78]

First-time Mom - Wow, your SIL sounds like a piece of work. I bet that she is having the baby today (on your bday) is the last thing on her mind now. Its so trivial! Happy Birthday by the way!

Lindzee - I see what you are saying about your maternity leave. I dont get any disability. I work for a small company and we dont have disability coverage. Also I will only get paid for 2 weeks of my 12 week leave. And thats only because I saved my vacation time so I could get some pay during my maternity leave. We ended up saving our tax return which was $2300 so we will use that money to cover expenses while I am out of work. Plus my Dh will have to pick up some of the bills that I usually pay too. Its not ideal but we should be able to manage. I think I might get a decent Christmas bonus too. At least I am hoping! I wouldn't worry about not having a nursery for your little boy. I really think the room is more for me than for the baby. She wont know where she is sleeping, you know?

Sem - Thank you!

[Natasha]

Happy birthday First Time Mom, and YAY for becoming an auntie!

[Lindzee82]

sem426 - Thanks! Definitely call your doc and ask about the results. My doc got mine back next day both times, so hopefully yours is nice and quick too. I think it is a good sign if you haven't heard from your doc because I think they would call ASAP if there was a problem. They did with me, anyway. Blacking out was very scary. I am feeling better now. Just tired. But that is normal.

[mrs_barkley]

I came home Wednesday nite (8/24) and we have been busy cleaning up our house since then. DH took off work all last week to take care of me and the house. Gina saw her sister after Emalee was born and she has been to visit once since then. Gina is so active it is hard to keep her under control and quiet in the NICU.

Emalee is doing very well. We are hoping she will be home in late October. She is progressing alot faster than Gina with her breathing. She was off the ventilator after a day and a half and now she is breathing without any help at all. She is getting fed thru a tube in her nose but she is tolerating the feedings well. Mostly she needs to grow and learn to eat. I have been pumping and it is going well.

Here is the link to my online photos if anybody wants to see pics of Emalee. Online Album (http://groups.msn.com/Terenasfamilyalbum/)

Hope everyone is doing well! :)

[albuquerque]

Mrs Barkley Thanks so much for coming in and updating us, I've been wondering how you are all doing and I'm sure everyone else has been, too. It's wonderful to hear such good news about how Emalee is coming along. Can't wait to hear that she's home with you and her Daddy and her big sister.

[Lindzee82]

mrs barkley - Glad to hear that you are all doing well. Thanks for updating! Thank you for posting the link to your pictures. She is so beautifu!

[rochacha]

mrs barkley
Your baby girl is so precious. Glad to hear she is doing so well. I am sure you guys can't wait until she comes home.

[abbytfox]

Doctor's Appointment My doctor's appointment went fine. I didn't look at the scale and feel much better not having to obsess about the number. When the nurse took my blood pressure she didn't tell me what the number was, but said it was a little high and she was going to let the doctor know. However, he must not have been concerned because he didn't mention it at all. The whole appointment was about 5 minutes long! One thing I really appreciate about my doctor is that if it isn't a big deal, he just lets it go. However, he will make a big deal about things that are really important. That makes me feel good and not worry about too much.

GTT I got my drink, a lovely flourescent green color, and will be taking the test on September 16th. Can't wait!

Mrs. Barkley Glad to hear your family is doing well. Emmalee is so tiny and precious. I am happy that she is catching up fast!

lindzee How scary that you blacked out! I am glad you are going to the doctor. Hope everything is ok. It sounds like you are certainly getting a run for your money with this pregnancy. You look fabulous (if that is any consolation!)

Kristen The nursery looks beautiful so far! I love your colors and bedding...it makes me want mine to arrive right now!

I have my first class right now...I know I missed some of you and will get back to you later!

[Alanna]

Mrs_Barkley What a great update! thanks for letting us know how things are going... Emalee is so beautiful!

[Bliss]

Mrs Barkley, glad to hear that everything is going well. Emalee is beautiful :)

Lindzee, congrats on passing the 3 hr GTT! Hope all goes well at the doc.

Kristen, love the nursery so far, its so feminine and pretty.

I did the 1 hr GTT today, it actually was not that bad. I did not feel that great after downing that orange drink, but the blood draw was OK. I dont think I will ever drink orange soda again though lol. I guess our doc will call us w. the results, if not I have an appt next Friday so I will hear how it went then.

We bit the bullet and got the Dutailier glider today. After looking all around they were the only brand that made a glider that DH, who is 6'2", could fit comfortably in. Although he kept asking "why would I need to sit in this anyway?" as if he wont be feeding the baby too. Especially in the middle of the night. Boy, is he mistaken :D but why tell him that now? I figure let him have 12 1/2 more weeks of denial :p He was totally against the ottoman also, but the lady in the store convinced him so we ordered it too (yay)
Here is the one we got, different fabric:
http://babycatalog.com/dutailier/05/114805.jpg
The chair we got has a locking mechanisim also. I was pretty happy since we went through babycatalog.com, which happens to have an outlet store in CT where we live. We saved a ton versus what BRU prices were, plus we got free shipping. And the better bonus was that the chair & ottoman were mispriced (too low) but the salesperson gave us the prices as marked. So we got both pieces for what we would have paid for the chair at BRU. I was very happy w. that. And its in the express line, so we should have it in 4-6 wks.

I am a registry peeker (bad, bad I know) and there are 3 things off our registry already :) Good thing after all the $$$ we spent this week on nursery furniture :eek:

[Lindzee82]

abbytfox - Glad your appointment went well. I am sure if the doc was at all concerned with your blood pressure he would have mentioned it. Must not have been too bad afterall. It was very scary! Everything is okay. I will post my recap of the doc visit after. I don't understand why I am being cursed with this pregnancy. Thanks for thinking I look fabulous! That does help!

bliss - Thanks! Beautiful glider! I love mine! Yay for things starting to disappear off your registry!



I am back from my appointment.

I got to see, Pat, who is the midwife I really like. She walked in, sat in the chair across from me, and said that my dizziness was caused by stress. She could tell just by looking at me. I was with her for about 45 minutes. She has ordered me to cut down my hours at work to no more than 32 and I need to make an appointment to meet with a counselor. I have to try and eat more protein and try some support panty hose. So that is about it.

I called my supervisor at work because she was worried about me and I told her about the cutting down on hours thing. She is not very happy with me at all, which is understandable because we are very short staffed. I am very stressed out about cutting down my hours because I knew she would be mad at me. We have to meet tomorrow and decide what my new schedule will be. Since next week is a 4 day week anyway, I wont change my hours until the following week. She has also emailed our HR department because she thinks that I may need to use my vacation time to supplement the rest of the 40 hours I am supposed to work. This would not be good as that is my maternity pay!! So if I wasn't under enough stress before...I certainly am now. What makes it hard is that my work is going into this blind. They teased me so much in the beginning about being sick and how they weren't sure if any of us would make it through that I stopped complaining. I learned how to hide my sickness from them. They have no idea that I am still sick and that I get dizzy spells at work. As far as they all know, this pregnancy was going fine. This is really a shock for them and I am afraid they will think I am lying just to get out of work.

Eric and I are fighting a lot because I do not want to go back to work full time after Matthew gets here. I want to work nights. I would only need to make $150 a week to match what I would take home if I was paying daycare and working my current full time job. I could easily make this working a few nights and a weekend day at a retail store or something. Then I would get my days home with Matthew and Eric would get some good time bonding with him at night and we wouldn't have to pay for daycare and I wouldn't have to worry. Eric just doesn't understand so we fight all the time.

My doc is right, I am under an extreme amount of stress right now and not only is it affecting me, but it is affecting the baby and something needs to be done. Cutting down hours at work is one thing. Making an appointment with a counselor is another. And I think I need to take a break from Eric for a while. He stresses me out because he doesn't try to understand things from my point of view. I know it is hard for him because he is not here and is not seeing things straight forward. But I am not sleeping at night and the doc thinks it is because the last thing I do before I go to bed is talk to Eric and those conversations are usually not good.

So that is that. Baby's heartbeat was fine and nothing is life threatening at this point. I am not looking forward to going in to work tomorrow because I know it is going to be very stressful. I just need to get through this week and hopefully it will get easier.

[Bliss]

Awww, Lindsey I am sending you virtual {{{hugs}}}}. I cannot imagine the stress you must be under, w. your DH being away and all the sickness that you have had during your pregnancy. Right now, you need to try and make taking care of yourself and Matthew a priority. Your job will adapt, they always do, and do not let them make you feel guilty. I have heard from many mommy friends that the money stuff tends to "work itself out" and anyway, there is nothing you can do if your body needs a break. It wont help anyone for you to work and have more stress than you need on your body. We are going through such an incredible thing, but its HARD and you need to get your rest. I think you are doing an amazing job going through part of the pregnancy w/out your husband- mine cannot go to one doc appt and I am already wishing he could be there. Hang in there!! Before you know it, your little Matthew will be here and this will all be a distant memory :) Good luck meeting w. your boss tomorrow.

[Natasha]

Lindzee-- Ugh. I totally feel for you. Definetly look into disability. Like someone mentioned before, that gives you 12 weeks with pay. Also, as the date gets closer, you may want to talk to your doctor about an earlier maternity leave on disability. That's what I did because work was just waaay too much for me at this point. Truly, you and your son need to be your top priorities (yes, you know this). Don't worry about what your work thinks, YOU have to be #1 right now. i am sorry you and Eric are having trouble. I think alot of people experience conflict with the SO during pregnancy (Lord knows we have!). Ugh. We're on your side, girl. Take care of you and thta baby! :)

[shirsty]

Lots of posts since I last posted, things have been busy! Just wanted to pop in and say Lindzee hang in there, I know it's tough right now but you are strong and will make it through AOK. And you have a nice 3 day weekend coming up so you can rest and reevaluate things on your own time, away from work. Hang in there!! And come vent to us when you need to, that's what we're all here for.

ALSO glad to hear that some of you guys are preggo slobs too, it was seriously bothering me that I can't seem to eat without spilling all over myself. This sounds bad but my MIL often spills when eating and I am starting to feel like her, and it's freaking me out!!!! Now I get that's it's just this big old belly and that I can't lean over anymore! That's what I love about this thread, that I can get some reassurance that I'm not crazy since everybody else is going through the same thing. :)

[Natasha]

Sooooo, trying to pick a name, I posted a thread over in pregnancy for name opinions. If you ladies would be so kind as to pop over and tell me what you think, I'd appreciate it!

[Lindzee82]

Bliss - Thank you for the hugs. I didn't realize how much stress I was under until recently. I tend to keep things bottled up and lately it just hasn't been working. I think I just met the breaking point. I know that I need to make taking care of Matthew a priority and I hate myself that I worry about my job and how other people will react. It is just the way I am. I never do things for myself. I always try to do whatever is best for others. I need to remember to do that with Matthew. But I get so nervous at work because my boss is awful. I am so scared for our meeting today. I have heard, too, that the money does work itself out. DH told me last night that I don't have to go back to work at my current job after I have the baby. But, I do need to find a night or weekend job to make a little money. I am totally okay with this. We will talk about it a little more and then I think I will let my employer know soon. I don't want to play games and tell them I am going back and then not, you know? Thank you for saying you think I am doing a good job at being alone and dealing with the pregnancy. That is what the doc said. I really appreciate someone else noticing. I can't wait for Matthew to be here. He is the only thing keeping me going. How can I not get going with his little feet jabbing my ribs!! Thanks for the good luck!

asianbear07 - My work doesn't really have pregnancy related disability other than the 2 weeks at 60% pay I get on my actual maternity leave after the baby. I can't take any before, so I need to try to work as much as I can until I go into labor or until the doc says I can't. Thanks for all the support and words of encouragement. It is much appreciated.

shirsty - Thanks! I try to be strong, but don't know how successful I can be. Actually I don't get a 3-day weekend. I have to work on Saturday. But I am looking forward to having 2 days off! Thanks, I will vent as needed!

[albuquerque]

rochacha I'm glad you don't mind my insane ramblings too much! I think you were also the one who said no way Jose, not ready yet for pregnancy to be over, and that your DH said he wasn't feeling very parental. I feel this way too sometimes. I'm reading all these books about getting babies to sleep because some of the threads in the parenting section *scare* me, and honestly the books don't make babies sound like much fun. Honestly it sounds like they do nothing but cry for 6 straight weeks, and the authors keep talking about exhausted parents at their wits end, especially mothers, about how it takes a toll on marriage, etc etc etc. And then they'll make some comment about how *their* wonderful method (which of course always totally contradicts the method of the last book) lets you do what you're *supposed* to do with your children: enjoy them! This after like 80 pages which describe nothing that sounds remotely enjoyable. I keep thinking, man oh man, I **LOVE** to sleep! What in the world have I got myself into here?

I seriously love babies though, and I've always known I wanted children, it was the most important thing in life to me, and I'm 33 so now is definitely the time. And I know that something magic happens to make these poor red-eyed mothers of newborns turn into people who love their roles as parents above all else in their lives. I've seen it happen to so many friends, and I saw the first really hard days when my cousin had her baby, and I know that now, although she's still up at nights with him and probably hasn't had 6 hours of straight sleep since he was born, she *loves* being his mom. So, all the horror stories in the books are only a small part of the experience, I know. Still, I have to say that these last weeks (only 9 weeks and 2 days, Lana!), I am enjoying sleeping in and being generally irresponsible and lazing away the hours without getting much of anything done! I'm trying to cram as much laziness as possible in since it might be the last I ever see of it.

abby sounds like you have a great doctor. You know you can relax and feel like you're in good hands when you have someone who takes the serious things seriously, but isn't alarmist about the rest.

bliss I love your glider. Seriously that's exactly, exactly what I wanted. They start at E700 here, though, and I just can't see spending double what I'd spend in the US on one. DH hates to let go of money but I know he'd have bought me the glider if I really insisted on it. I can't agree with the cost of it either, though, so I reluctantly decided to skip it. Instead we bought this poang chair from Ikea. It's comfortable, it will do. But I am disappointed, I *always* wanted one of those gliders. I wish I'd bought one before I left the US and just shipped it with the rest of our stuff. That would have seemed crazy at the time, though. Oh well.

Lindzee I wish I had something helpful to say about how sick you've been and how really unfair it is that every minute you take out now to take care of yourself during this time has to come out of your maternity leave. It is *so* unfair. I guess you have to make a priority out of taking care of yourself (and that little baby), right now. Could you try to work out the going-back-to-work details with Eric later on, try not to discuss it now, since you know you disagree? Maybe it will be better once the baby is here, and he will be better able to understand your situation. I think men really have a hard time of grasping the reality of what it is to have a newborn in the house until they're in the situation themselves. Probably he'll see things a lot more clearly once he sees how life changes with his child in the house. And it does nobody any good right now for him to be picking fights with you every day over it. In the meantime, I hope you can manage to get some relief from all these symptoms. One day at a time, right?

Shirsty and Lana, thanks for making me feel like I'm not the only one who can't eat without feeling like a total slob these days! We can be the DirtyShirtsGirls.

Well, when I started this work contract at the beginning of May, it was supposed to be only 3 months. Better than nothing, I thought. Then at the end of July, they extended it to include August. I was happy, another month of work when you don't know when you'll ever work again is a good thing, especially since they're paying me a London salary which is definitely more than I'll *ever* make in Greece. Now they've extended it to include September. Again, I'm happy, for all the same reasons that I was happy when they extended it before. Still, if they hadn't extended it, today would be my first day off, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that in a way I was looking forward to it (after accepting that the London salary gravy train was over). Oh well. It is certainly not hard work (now that earnings season is over), so I can't complain about anything. I was still dealing with emails until 11:30 last night, but even that I can't really complain about because I sleep in every morning and here it is 1:30pm and they *still* haven't given me any work for today. Probably also it makes the days go by more quickly while I wait for Baby's appearance. The one thing is, now I *really* can't put off getting this nursery together any longer! Before I would tell myself, well, when I'm not working anymore I'll have plenty of time to deal with things. Now, though, I don't think that I can leave that room full of boxes of books until the beginning of October!!!

[first-time mom]

Lindzee- hang in there girl I know its hard. I am kinda in the same situation as you are. Here is my problem:

I ended up taking two weeks leave of absence from work because I was having a really hard time physically doing my job. I am an infant toddler teacher so there is a lot of lifting and running around all day. We have two colicy infants that want to be held all the time which for some reason really bothers my back, belly etc. When I was working it seemed like the more I moved around lifting, walking, etc the more bh contractions I was getting. It was to the point where when I walked they were happening. I went to the Dr. and asked them about this and they said when they happen a lot sit down and drink lots of water. Ok that sounds all nice but I cant do that with my job. I cant even have a bottle of water in the room because of licensing. So I asked my dr. if there was a way they could write me a restricted note that stated no lifting or on my feet that much and he said no not unless I am dilated!!! Which to me is a bunch of crap.....Lets wait until something serious happens before we give a note?? So I was talking to DH last night broke down crying b/c I really dont feel like I can go back to work and continue with that job. It is too demanding on me and my little girl is more important to me than some crumby job. The problem is I dont have any options. My job said I could start my maternity leave now which I dont want to obviously but I technically cant do that b/c the dr. has to sign off on it and he wont. So really my only option is to quite my job and lose my insurance. DH has insurance through his job but I dont think they will allow me to join b/c I have an existing condition-PREGNANCY!!! UGh. So I spent my whole birthday crying about my job situation. We figured out I need to come up with 2000 dollars to cover our house mortgage and I could get done right now, but the insurance is an issue..........So I dont know what to do...I feel like I have hit a wall and the last thing i want to do is force my self to work when I am having all of these problems. I dont want anything to happen to her b/c of some stupid job.

Yesterday I was home all day and I had so many BH contractions I thought I was going to lose it. My dr. said they were fine as long as they were not timeable and irregular which they were but the more I do the more I get so... i dunno what to do.

Sorry so long I had to vent as well. :confused:

[clzj]

First-time mom:I was pg with my DS and lost my job and there was no problem changing issurances. At least in IL Pregnancy is not considered a preexisting condition. The best thing would be to check into switching. You DH can add you to his insurance at any point in there is an extenuating circumstace (ie marriage, loss of job, baby). Hope that helps you. I don't know the law for Maine otherwise I could tell you.

[Kristen78]

Insurance - I dont think insurance can consider pregnancy a pre-existing condition especially if you have had coverage up until now. Instead of worrying about it why not find out for sure and then quit your job if you think thats the best thing for you?

[sem426]

Just spoke to my dr...good news I passed my GTT. My glucose was fine. Bad news, my hemoglobin was a bit low. It was 11 and he said that if it's under 12 then that is borderline.
So I have to start taking an iron supplement in addition to my regular prenatal.
Of course I freaked out and have been doing all these searches on the internet now. It seems like it's pretty common and not a huge deal, but I was still a little upset. I'm going to p/u the iron pills after work today and start taking them tonight.

[Natasha]

First time mom--Ugh, how frustrating that your doctor won't sign off for you. Man, I feel kinda guilty for having a doctor who did, now... I hope you can get stuff set through your husband, that really stinks!

[albuquerque]

sem, I've been taking iron supplements for two full months now, when a blood test turned up anemic. It is extremely common--baby is building a blood supply now and it has to come from somewhere. It comes out of your blood if there isn't enough to go around. It isn't anything to panic about. Sometimes the iron supplement isn't the easiest to take--it can cause digestive issues--but I have been fairly lucky, I guess. I haven't had any major problems with it. Mine is supposed to be taken 1/2 hour before food, and they told me to take it with OJ since the vitamin C helps your body absorb the iron.

[abbytfox]

Lindzee I am so sorry that you are having such a hard time right now. Obviously, you need to do what is right for you and your family, but I can completely understand that it is hard to let your job down or make people upset. As far as your DH and your relationship, I think it will take a while for him to fully understand how important it is and how challenging it is to be with the baby. We have had some heated discussions also about working and daycare and all that stuff. I talked to a friend who has a new baby and she said that her husband didn't fully realize how hard it would be until the baby was about 3 weeks old. I can imagine that having Eric so far away isn't making it any easier to connect with him in a way that is helpful and meaningful instead of stressful. The phone is so terrible! Do you have some close girlfriends that can come over and hang out and watch movies and eat pizza with you? I wonder if how you are feeling is compacted by the fact that you are lonely. I would be. I know that it is all going to work out for the best...but can sympathize with your situation. I hope you can find a solution that works for you! Thinking of you!

first-time mom I am so sorry that you are having such a hard time at work. I work with big kids (3rd thru 8th grade) and still find it amazingly challenging to make it through the day. I am having a lot of back pain and my feet are killing me...I can not imagine lifting and bending to pick up babies all day. It is so hard to balance what we need to do for our jobs (and therefore needed money to live) and what we know is the best for our health and the baby. I hope that you and your DH can work it out. Do you think that you can move to part time in your job? Maybe that would help out. Good luck finding a solution that makes you feel good and healthy. Hopefully those crazy BH contractions will let up. Feel better!

sem Congrats on passing your test! I can only hope for the same news when it's my turn. Sorry about the low hemoglobins...I think I remember that that is really common. Something to do with all the extra blood and less of one type (red blood cells, maybe?) Hopefully the iron supplement will fix it all!

Alb I keep thinking, man oh man, I **LOVE** to sleep! I am SO with you on this one...Everytime I feel so tired I could just pass out, I try to remember that once the baby comes I will probably be this tired ALL the time...probably more so. That is really hard for me...but you just do what you have to do, right? We'll make it through!

[sem426]

alb and abby thanks! the more people i ask it seems that this is very common and not something to worry about. I just want to pass all of my tests! :)

[clzj]

sem-I have a friend that is on Baby #6. Yes I said #6 and this is the first pg that is has low iron.

[amyhky]

Lindzee Sorry to hear about all of your stress. When my DH and I first got married I told him I wanted to stay at home w/our kids and we argued a lot about it but now that I'm at home w/our son, he sees how worth it is and appreciates it. Give him time. Do take care of your body and while it's great that you're committed to your job, it's just a job and your baby and your body are more important.
First time mom Sorry to hear about all of your stress as well! Definitely find out about your options as far as insurance goes, maybe you could switch doctors to someone who is more understanding and might sign off on the disability for you?

[Bliss]

I keep thinking, man oh man, I **LOVE** to sleep! What in the world have I got myself into here?

Alb - Ha ha, thats so funny, I was thinking the same thing the other day :) Especially since I am working part time, I have gotten spoiled w. some days where I can "sleep in" if I want to. I keep reminding myself that I should enjoy the quiet times lol. With my 2 dogs, I am usually up anyway since they are my baby practice and wont really let me sleep too long. My little one usually gets restless and licks me until I get up :p I have been treating myself to little things like mani/pedi or going to the local pool by myself, since I am sure it will be a lot harder just to get out of the house once the babe is born. I cannot wait though, I find myself getting so excited just to see my little one's face :)

First Time Mom, you should have your DH ask his HR if he could add you on to his insurance if necessary. For us, I was turned down for insurance due to my pregnancy - we live in CT. Thank goodness we got COBRA, that is what we have been on since I got laid off. Sorry to hear about the difficulties you have been having with your job, I hope things get better soon!

Lindsey, I am glad that you and DH talked things out. I am sure Matthew will love hearing about how his brave mommy went through part of her pregnancy with daddy far away. I think you are very strong to be doing it, and wish you the best :)

I think I am officially calling it- I can no longer get my wedding/erings on. I am afraid to keep wedging them on that one night I wont be able to get them off. Into the safe deposit box they will go. My hands feel naked!
We have an appt to meet w. the pediatrician's office that our OB recommended on Wednesday. Any idea what I should ask?? I have no idea but feel like I should be prepared with some kind of questions to avoid looking like the clueless mommy to be that I am lol.

[amyhky]

bliss You might ask about breastfeeding, if you plan to breastfeed, if your ped is pro BF (some will suggest you wean at the drop of the hat whenever a problem arises); you might also ask about vaccines, if you plan to delay or skip any; you might ask about their antibiotic policy (you don't want one who will readily prescribe them, or at least I didn't); how readily available they are for calls or how easily to get your child in for sick visits, etc. I'm sure babycenter.com and other websites have lists of suggested questions that you could tailor to meet your needs. Good luck!

[clzj]

Bliss-Here are some things to consider for the doctor.
1) Do they have sick call
2) How do they prescribe meds
3) Hours/Days of operation
4) Hospital affliations
5) Depending on the size of practice does your child have a primary ped
6) Where are the docs from/ do they speak understandable english

When we looked at peds for DS the hospital affilation was a big one and my DH wants a doc who you can understand. Here is some back ground on where I got my questions from. My ped office has 14 doctors, we needed to pick a primary but the child may be seen by any of the 14 doc or nurses. They do have sick call for an hour before the office opens. My ped office is open 365 days a year. We pay an extra 20 if we go on Sunday or Holiday but this was important to us because that meant that if the child was sick we wouldn't have to take them to the er. The doc have rights to 2 hospitals and one is Childrens Hospital and that was also important just incase the child needed to ever go to childrens the doc could see them. One downside for us is that the ped does not go to the hospital that we delivery at so we just go in after we get home from the hospital.

I hope I did not offend anyone with the statement of speaking understandable english.

Today I have my 28 week visit at almost 29 and I get to have the fun drink.

[abbytfox]

I am ravenous today! At least I get to eat lunch soon...since today is Friday I thought that I would treat myself to a take-out lunch. Now I just need to decide what to eat!

I am wearing the most comfy pants today. They are like a yoga pant but have a little more room so they are appropriate for work. I got them at target and they are Liz Lange. I bought them for days when I just can't deal with something feeling tight on my belly and hips. Heaven!

Tulip How are you doing? I don't think you have checked in recently and I was wondering how you are doing with the gestational diabetes and cutting certain things out of your diet. Please let us know how its going and how you are feeling!

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Tomorrow is the wedding of the woman who is two weeks behind me with her pregnancy. I think I told the story a while ago about how she found out she was preggo while she was engaged and it was quite a surprise. They left the wedding date where it was and are having a big church wedding. I am very curious to see how they "fix" her dress to fit her pregnant belly!

[Tulip]

abby, thanks for asking about me. I'm here but really super busy. I've been hanging out in the Oct mommies thread b/c another girl there has GD and has been really helpful. So far I've been monitoring my sugar levels and it's been okay. I think I'll be fine controlling it with diet and exercice.

[Sebski]

Hi ladies! DH and I are just back from a week's vacation to the seashore. :) It was relaxing and we had some fab weather. Now we're back to the nitty gritty and going tomorrow to pickup our paint so we can start on the nursery. Sadly, our furniture has been in for over 3 weeks now but we haven't done a thing with the nursery so we can't get it delivered. :( Looking forward to plunging into that!

I have to head back now and read through the last few pages - hope everyone's feeling well!

[Natasha]

Ya for getting the nursery ready, Seb!

[Lindzee82]

albuquerque - Thank you. I am finally making the baby a priority. I just hate that it took me so long to do it. We have pretty much worked out all the details of after the baby is born. See below!

first-time mom - Goodness, sweetie. I am sorry you are going through this, too. I thought before you were going to try to change your job, answer phones or something. Is that still an option? I find that I get a ton more BH contractions when I am stressed. They were really scaring me Thursday night, because I was getting so many. But I laid down on the couch for a while and they seemed to stop. I can't believe your doc wont give you a note to get out of work. My doc wanted me to quit my job and I don't think I am having half the trouble you are!! At least I get to sit down at my job and can eat and drink all day at my desk. I find that really strange. Regarding the insurance...my insurance told me that pregnancy is never considered a pre existing conditioning. I would definitely check that out. I am sure it is the same with all insurance companies. Definitely call. Promise me you will call!! I am sorry your birthday was spent with you crying. I hope that you can find a solution to the situation.

sem426 - Yay for passing your GTT! Sorry about the iron pills, but I hear that is pretty normal in pregnancy to have low iron. They tested me for anemia, but I came out okay.

abbytfox - You are right. I need to do what is right for me and my family and that is what I am doing - see below!! I really don't have a lot of girlfriends that live around here. I didn't stay in touch with a lot of my high school friends and I work with all older women. I have always been kind of a loner, so I don't mind being alone some of the time. It just gets old after a while. Thanks for all your kind words.

amyhky - Yeah, I am sure DH and I are not the last to have the stay at home discussion! It is just so hard. I am sure he will see that we are making the right decision soon enough!

bliss - I am far from brave, sweetie!! But thank you very much!! So sorry you can't wear your rings anymore. My feet have finally started swelling, but my hands are doing okay. I have no idea what you should ask the ped. We don't have to meet with ours in advance. I am choosing the ped I had when I was younger! She is awesome! You probably just want to see how caring and understanding they are and see what their medical beliefs are. I am not sure, though.

sebski - Welcome back. Glad you had a good time!

UPDATE:

Well girls, you are not going to believe this but....I gave my two weeks notice at work on Friday. Basically, I just couldn't take it anymore. Yeah they were going to reduce my hours down to 32...but not in a good way. Since I am a full time employee they would have had to have me on the books for 40 hours. Which meant that I would have to use my sick time to compensate the 8 hours I would miss each day. 8 hours times 10 weeks equals 80 hours of sick time I would need to use. I don't have that much saved up. And if you remember from me stating before, The only way I get paid for maternity leave is to use sick time and vacation time. So..... no paid maternity for me. Also, since they would be putting me on disability, it would need to come from my FMLA leave. So...I would only be allowed to take 6 weeks maternity leave. I am so not okay with that. So after going to work on Thursday and barely making it through the day because it was so stressful...I emailed Eric my plan. I told him that I wanted to give my notice. I couldn't take it anymore. The stress was too much. I will give my two weeks notice. Then there would only be 8 weeks until my due date. I have about two weeks vacation saved up and would get some of my sick time - so I would get paid for almost 4 weeks. That would only leave 4 weeks unpaid before my due date. Right now Eric is on active duty pay so he makes more than enough to cover all of our bills. He will get this pay until December. So we are fine until Matthew is born. After that we are unsure of where our life will be heading. Eric was going to apply for active duty in January. Now it looks like he may get it in about two weeks. So we may be moving right away. That means that I wont ever have to go back to work because he will be on active duty pay again!! If he doesn't get the active duty slot, we will take from our savings for my maternity leave and then I am going to find a night job in retail. Maybe like JC Penney or Fashion Bug or something like that. Then I can stay home with Matthew all day and Eric can have time with him at night. This is exactly what I wanted from the beginning and I am just so happy. I feel like such a weight has been lifted off me. Yes, I am sure it will be hard and we will have to make sacrifices financially. But it is sooo worth it. I am just so happy and relieved. I have so many things I want to do before the baby comes. I just can't wait to relax for a few weeks and really enjoy myself. I am hoping to come off the nausea medication finally and enjoy and cherish the last few weeks of pregnancy. I am so lucky to have this opportunity and I love Eric soooo much more for allowing me to do this. We had to think about the baby. This is what is best for him. He needs a mother who isn't so stressed out and sick all the time. I know this will help.

[amyhky]

lindzee Good for you! It's so nice when you've made a decision and feel at peace with it, you know? On the part time evening job, definitely get one where you shop b/c the discount makes up for the low pay. For example, I got a part time job at PBK b/c I get a 40% discount at their store, W&S, PB and Hold Everything so it makes up for the measly hourly wage they pay me! :)

[Lindzee82]

amyhky - Thanks! I am just so happy and content with my decision! I know I did the right thing. I was definitely thinking of discounts!! However, I should probably work at a place I don't like so that I don't spend all my money!! We will need money for bills if it comes down to me having to get a job!! Wow, I bet working at PBK is awesome!!!

[first-time mom]

UPDATE- I made lots of phone calls to figure out my situation and at first I was seeming to get absolutely no where. I called DH's company to see if I can get on his insurance but I still have heard no answer. I also called my company to see if I could get a different position for the remaining of my pregnancy to lessen the stress on my body. After several long hours of waiting for an answer I got a phone call back and the answer was NO! There was no other positions I could fill until after the baby is born. So my only option besides quitting was to take my FML which would allow me to use my 12 weeks maternity leave now and they would pay my insurance. The only problem was my OB would not sign off on it b/c nothing was seriously wrong. Well while I was talking to my human resource woman at work she told me that a regular dr.(internal medicine instead of OB), or a nurse practitioner could also sign off on it. Well my mother works at a dr.'s office that I still go to in my home town and I went to see her at 4 on Friday and she signed it!! So this means I get the next 12 wks off before Kaylin is born. After she is born I have a few options: I could ask for an extension using a leave of absence which they would have to grant b/c Kaylin would only be 1 wk old when my maternity leave would end. I have a feeling they will only extent it another 5 wks b/c technically infants can enter child care settings at 6wks. But the only way I will go back that early is if there is a slot open in my classroom where Kaylin can come back with me. If not I am going to quite and then DH can pick both me and Kaylin up on her insurance and I will stay home until she is a little older and I can find another job since I really dont care too much about the job I had anyway. So after all that I found an answer. So thanks girls for the suggestions and concerns......UGH I am so relieved now.

Shower-my shower was awesome. I had lots of people show up and it was exciting to see everyone. I got lots of beautiful things. I have more blankets then I know what to do with. A lot of them where hand made and are so pretty. I didnt get many diapers which was a bummer since those are so expensive but where i registered for would allow me to register for them?? She has so many clothes but has no duplicates which is good. I have a few things left to pick up off my registry. But I did notice there are items that were purchased that I did not recieve yet so we will have to see. When I get the pics back I will try to put them up:)

Lindzee- I am so glad you got you situation figured out as well. It is a big relief. I was really mad when I found out they wouldnt let me answer phones. My company is not very accomodating and it is frustrating. Oh well things worked out so I am glad. Maybe we can get together again since we are off until our little sunshines are born.

Have a good holiday everyone!

[Lindzee82]

first-time mom - Yay! I am so glad you finally got some answers. It is such a relief. Great that you get to stay home, too. I feel guilty that I get to stay home and Eric still has to work so hard...but it really has been a rough 30 weeks and I am ready for a little break. I think he truly agrees and understands - if not, he is doing a great job of pretending which is even sweeter!! Glad your shower went well. Can't wait to see pictures of all your goodies!! I can't wait for mine now!! My mom still wont tell me when it is and I am getting annoyed. I hate suprises. Nothing is really disappearing from my registry so I don't think it is anytime soon. I have a feeling it is September 24th but I could be wrong. We will see.

[Sebski]

Lindzee kudos to you for giving your notice!!! It must be such a relief and load off your back to know that you have a plan in place now that works for you rather than against you. :D

First-Time-Mom congrats on squaring away the work situation as well! And I'm happy to hear that your shower went well! Any pictures? I believe you were the first in the thread to have one right?

QOTD: Can someone describe in laymen's terms what BH contrax feel like? I know the belly tightens - I've felt that before... but, is that accompanied with cramps? Or are BH just a tightening? :confused:

All this talk of maternity leave made me realize that I'll be starting mine NEXT MONTH! :eek: Can that really be true? Didn't we just nervously join this thread posting about our BFPs??? :eek: Being on vacay for the past 12 days has really made me recognize that I'm soooooo done with work now. I thought it was bad before, I know it's going to be horrid going back this week. The interest level is just not there and I'd much rather sleep than haul myself into the city. :rolleyes: I decided that October 28th will be my last day at the office (is that a Friday, don't have a calendar handy). Anyhoo - the baby's latest due date is 11/8 - 2w earlier than my original date. I know that he can come on the 11/22 as originally declared, or even later. And I was going to try to work right up until he came... but, I'm done. I want to fix the nursery up, play with my shower gifts (mid-Oct) and just plain enjoy the last few weeks of having him in there. So, I'll start my leave on 10/28 and use 2w vacay... hopefully he'll come during that time - before I have to start the maternity leave portion. If not, what's another week or 2. I'm reeeeeeeeeally looking forward to the break from Manhattan/commuting/office politics etc. I know life with a newborn will be an adjustment... but, at least I won't have to put on a suit, makeup and trek into the city every day. :D

Ok - I have to hit the hay... have a good night ladies!

Edited to add that we picked our paint up yesterday and DH painted the nursery in about 4 hours last night. Now all we have to do is paint the clouds on the ceiling!!! I'll post some pictures tomorrow... I feel sooo much more relieved now that we physically started the nursery!!!

[Lindzee82]

sebski - Thanks! It is a huge relief!! I can't wait until the day I don't have to go back to that awful place! September 16th is my last day!! Yay for your maternity leave starting next month! It is very exciting and I do think that time has gone by kind of fast. I still can't believe that I have 70 days left, though. That seems like forever to me. I am so ready to have him here. I just want to hold him and kiss him!! Can't wait to see the pics of your nursery!!

QOTD - Truthfully, I really don't know what BH are supposed to feel like either. I just go by what everyone else says and think that I have experienced quite a few. I mostly notice that when I stand up sometimes my stomach is just soooo tight and it hurts to walk. I haven't noticed any cramps at all associated with it though. Just a really hard belly. But sometimes it is hard for me to tell if it is a BH or if it is just Matthew. He likes to have at least one body part poking out all the time. Usually it is a foot or hand. But somtimes I get a butt, head, or even his whole back. Then it is hard for me to tell if it is him or BH. So I don't really know.

[Alanna]

Hi Everyone.. Happy Labor Day!

Its been really busy here... our painter is just about finished with the nursery (YAY!) and we went out and bought a cheapie changing table for our downstairs yesterday... (all our siblings said it was really worth it to set up a changing table down stairs so that we wont have to run up stairs everytime the baby needs to be changed... so DH put that together today and i am really pleased with it. we also bought our baby mattress (we decided to go for foam)... and right now DH is at the mall buying our rug (pink chenille braided) from PBK... we tried to do it yesterday but their computers were down and they couldnt process our gift certificates... so annoying!!

I had my regular m/w appt on friday and it was full of stuff too...

so i think i said that even though i took and passed the GTT (failed 1hr and passed 3 hour) my m/w who is hyper about GD is making me take it again :(

so not surprisingly i failed the 1 hour again... (i did a tiny bit better) and so i have to take the 3hr AGAIN on Friday... pity me! so annoying.

she also said that i am measuring bigger than dates so i have an u/s scheduled for September 19th to see what that shows.... im not very worried about it... but i am hoping that during the u/s we can finally have it confirmed that the baby is DEFINITELY a girl... (we had 3 techs and a ob/gyn tell us so far that they *thought* it was a girl... but she wasnt being too cooperative... we will either have a lot of returns to do or we can rest easy of we could just get a confirmation on the sex....

today im going to try to take it easy... yesterday i really over did it and paid for it with crazy swelling and terrible achy legs....

BTW... my m/w said that for Restless leg syndrome i should take a magnesium supplement about 1 hr before i go to bed.. and while it didnt work last night... it totally worked firday and saturday night.

The first item was bought off of our registry! im so excited... someone bought the Bouncy Seat... its soooo cute... im very excited to see that someone has discovered it :)

Lindzee82 It sounds like you made a great decision in giving your notice... im so glad that you will be able to have that stress relieved soon!

first-time mom glad that you have made your decision too! I hope you are able to rest up!

[Lindzee82]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d724b3127cce94570a16865900000036108AbtGzhs3ZtT

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d724b3127cce94570a5f072000000036108AbtGzhs3ZtT

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d724b3127cce94570a72863d00000036108AbtGzhs3ZtT

And compared with last week:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d608b3127cce93b5832dccd100000036108AbtGzhs3ZtT

[Lindzee82]

Alanna - Yay for having the nursery just about all painted! Good idea about having a changing table downstairs. Although running up and down the stairs may be good exercise for getting rid of any pregnancy weight you may want to lose!! I am sorry you have to take the 3-hour GTT again!!! That seems so ridiculous to me. But I guess it is better to be safe than sorry. How exciting that you get another ultrasound, though. Hopefully the baby will cooperate and show off the goods! It will be good to get a definite girl answer!! I am very glad I gave my notice, too. It is such a relief. However I do not want to go to work tomorrow or for the remaining 9 days. This is going to be pure torture!

[Natasha]

Lindzee and first time mom--- YAY for feeling relieved! You guys should have seen my big ol grin when I was reading your posts. I know how relieveing it can be to have your situation improve my 10 fold (and now I don't feel so guilty :p )!

[beevo12]

Second time moms- I plan on putting Kaden on my husband's health insurance when he's born. You don't have to wait until open enrollment to do that right? You just call right after he's born and they let you put him on? Since I plan not to return to my job, (they don't know this) I don't want to put him on my insurance. And another thing....my insurance covers prenatal, and postnatal care, what does that mean, the delivery and whatever they need to do to him in the hospital? I'm going to call my insurance up, I just want to know what your experiences were with dealing with the insurance companies. TIA

Lindzee You look great! Only 10 weeks to go! I can't believe it! Glad you got the work situation settled, I bet it's a huge weight off your shoulders.

Alanna We need pictures when you are finished, I'm anxious to see what all your nurseries look like! Where did you get the cheapy changing table and what does it look like? We have a pack 'n' play with changer on it downstairs, so I think we'll use that for downstairs.

Sebski I can't wait until Maternity Leave! Still trying to decide on the exact date though, I was thinking Oct. 27th, but I'll be 37 weeks then.

I have my 30wk appt on Wednesday. I'm actually scared to get on the scale, I KNOW I've gained too much weight in a short amount of time and I'm afraid of what she'll say or ask what I've been eating.....(uh..breakfast?.....Cookie Crisp......lunch?.....Cookie Crisp.....dinner......what do you think?) what can I say, I'm turning into the cookie monster? :p Nothing else sounds good right now! I eat a bunch of crap all day long! I'm really depending on my vitamin to do it's job. At least I'm drinking a bunch of water and milk. I'm going to college part-time right now, and that's 4 days a week, and going to work full-time working 11-7am. I'm so tired right now, I can't imagine when the baby comes and I'll be going through finals in school. What did I get myself into? :(

[clzj]

Insurance-Adding Kaden to your DH insurance is just a phone call to the insurance company. When I had DS I called after I got home and added him. A birth is called life alterning event (or something of that nature) that allows you to add/take off from the policy without it being open enrollment. Prenatal and Postnatal should be all of your care. this is your prenatal visits, ultrasounds, tests, your 6 week check after the baby. My DS hosiptal stuff was billed seperately when I had him. One thing to check is how your insurance pays for his hospital stay. The hospital billed for both of us for our room but the insurance only paid for my hosiptal stay because they felt that they were being double billed. I did not have to pay for DS hosiptal stay. The hospital had to write the charge off.

Dr appointment on Friday: I gained another 5 lbs. I am up a whole 12 pounds at 29 weeks. My doctor didn't say anything. I am measuring right on target. The baby kicked when the dr was listening for heart tones. If was funny. I don't know when I get the results of my GDD test. I should find out this week what time the baby will be born at or the rough time frame. My next appt is Sept 22. After that I will start to go every 2 weeks.

As for BH's my doctor said that 4 or more in an hour is a concern.

[sem426]

HOLY COW I'M 30 WEEKS TODAY! I can't believe how fast this is going!!

Hope everyone had a nice long weekend! Ours was good, relaxing and productive at the same time. Finished up painting the babys' room, went to look for window blinds (I think we found ones that we like!)

We have our first class this thurs at the hospital. I'm excited! hopefully they will be informative.

Lindzee Great belly shot! Yay for giving notice! Sounds like you will be MUCH happier when you are done there!

Sebski Hope you had a great vacation. Doesn't it stink having to go back to work after being gone for so long! I'm so jealous that you are going to stop working at the end of Oct a;nd won't have to do the NYC commute! I'm going to try and work up until the end so I can use all of my time off after the baby is here. I'm thinking my last day will be 11/11 if I can make it that far and my dr says it's ok.

I'm loving this great weather we're having here, hopefully it will keep going!

[abbytfox]

Back to work today...how come a lovely three day weekend ends up flying by in a second? This morning I have the 3rd graders who have never been to the library before, should be interesting.

Baby Showers I have been compiling the lists and addresses for my best friend who is throwing a shower for me on October 8th and my mom's friends who are making a shower on November 5th. I feel so lucky to have 2 wonderful days to celebrate our baby and be with family and friends! Although, I can't believe how soon October is...just a month away. When we started planning it was SO FAR in the future, now it is almost here. Congrats to those of you that have had showers already...how great that you are starting to feel like things are coming together.

Nursery It must feel so good to have the painting done, Alanna! We keep saying we'll work on it this weekend and this weekend turns into next weekend. DH's parents are coming to visit at the end of September and I want it to be painted by then. So we have a few more weekends to get it done. Sebski, Can't wait to see your completed nursery too! We bought an elfa closet system from the Container Store this weekend for the baby's closet. It seems really easy to install and hopefully we can start off organized and keep it that way. We put in hanging rods, book shelves and other shelves for storage. We also got a shelf for way up high and we can put things that we won't need everyday (like my wedding dress!) up high. I can't wait to get organized.

Working This is the start of my third week back at work. It is getting easier for the most part (last week was brutal!) but I have to say there are days when I am not sure if I will be able to go all the way to week 37. The commute itself is pretty tough and then there is the being on my feet most of the day. I am just going to take it one day at a time. Lindzee I am so glad that you made the right choice for you and Matthew. It sounds like you are so happy...what a difference from being so stressed about work. I am thrilled for you! And it is so great that your DH is totally on board with your choice. Isn't it amazing how things seem to work themselves out perfectly? Enjoy your newfound freedom with some well-deserved relaxation! first-time mom Congrats to you too, for figuring out your work thing. It sounds like they were so inflexible with you which is so frustrating, but at least you can focus on your family now. Have the BH contrax stopped happening as much?

Weight and Clothes Beevo, I am so with you on the eating and feeling like you have gained too much. I thought for sure my doc was going to read me the riot act after my last appointment, but he didn't say anything. One month of eating cookie crisp (YUM!) isn't going to do you in! You look awesome, by the way! Too cute! clzj It sounds like you are all baby! 12 pounds is amazing and how great that you are measuring right on target! You probably will be back to your pre-preg weight in no time after the baby comes. I am feeling like all my clothes are starting to get way too small...they are probably ok, but especially for work I don't like to wear things that are too revealing and I feel like lots of my shirts especially are super tight around my tummy. Today I am wearing a button down shirt that just glides over me, it is super comfy!

[Natasha]

Beevo-- I feel like all I am eating lately is crap, too. I swear, the only time I eat vegetables is at dinner... During the day, I just want to eat whatever is easiest (and yummiest!) :D .

[Kelly's Girl]

Just wanted to check in- I've been away from work due to the hurricane, and was w/o power for some time, so I've missed so much! I have a lot of reading to do!

Glad everyone is progressing so well. Don't have much of an update except to say that thankfully we came through the storm okay and I'm looking forward to my next OB appt. on Friday.

[sem426]

Kelly's Girl Glad you are doing ok after the hurricane. It must have been horrible going through that.
Take care of yourself and that baby!

[abbytfox]

Kelly's Girl SO glad you are doing ok. Were you close to the areas that were hit the hardest? A teacher here at school has a son and daughter-in-law that lived in New Orleans and their house and belongings have been destroyed. It is unbelievably sad and overwhelming how many lives have been devastated by the storm. Are you able to return to work now? Again...glad to hear all is well.

[Kristen78]

Holy Crap! I can't believe I have less than 10 weeks till my due date. How crazy is that???

My DH is making a dresser/changing table for the baby to match our crib. He is 99% done with it. He built it out of solid maple. The drawers all have dovetail construction. Its really beautiful! I think we would have spent $1000 to buy something of this quality in a store. Seriously! Anyways, he oiled the wood yesterday and has to wait 3 days before applying the wax finish, but we should be able to bring it upstairs to the nursery on Thursday, if he can get his friend to come over and help him carry it up. Right now its chilling in the basement, but here is a picture. I love it!
http://images.snapfish.com/344925%3B923232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2355%3D39%3A%3D628%3 DXROQDF%3E2323%3A938567%3A6ot1lsi

Once we get that dresser up to the nursery we will only be waiting on the glider. I ordered that when I was 24 weeks so it should be in when I am 36 weeks which will be in mid-October if all goes well. Then the nursery will be basically done except for artwork and stuff like that.

I checked my Babies R Us registry yesterday to see that someone bought 4 items off the registry. I was so psyched that people were actually using it. Then my mom called last night and tells me she went to Babies R Us yesterday. So now I am 99% sure it was my mom buying everything. She is a goof. She goes overboard I swear. She already spent $700 on a crib, $600 on a glider, $140 on a bassinet. I thought that was it but apparantly she wants to give me more stuff to open at the shower in 2 weeks. I told her to stop spending her money on me and save some stuff for other people to buy. Is anyone having this "problem" with their moms? I appreciate her help but I feel bad that she has been buying us so much. She was also planning on buying me a Medala breast pump!

Showers - I am having one in Boston (I live in VT) on 9/17 and I think my MIL and SILs might be having a surprise shower for me up here in VT at some point also.

I am jealous of all of you that are quitting work so soon! I am going to work up till the end I think (as long as I feel ok), and I can't quit my job because I make too much money and we need our income. Its times like this that I wish I had a disposable job making minimum wage so then it wouldn't really make sense for me to work....Oh well! I will probably make 11/11 my last day of work and I will be out for 12 weeks then I will go back 4 days a week instead of my normal 5 I hope.

[abbytfox]

KristenYour dresser is beautiful! It is amazing to me that your DH made it. We aren't quite so handy over here ;)!

[Kristen78]

abbtfox - Thank you! I love it. I am not very handy either. But luckily I married a guy who has enough handiness for about 10 people. ha ha! So I have really lucked out when it comes to home projects. he loves tools and woodworking so this was a fun project for him.

[first-time mom]

abby-The bh's are different everyday. Someday they are really bad and other days they are not. I do know that I have had four or more in an hour but the dr. is not concerned about it. She keeps telling me they are benign and that if it was the real thing it wouldnt let up so... I am also starting to wonder if I have been mistaken the babies movements as bh. Sometimes my uterus feels really hard but I wonder if it the baby I am feeling which feels hard?? So its hard to know. They havent been as bad but I do have my days. My cervix was checked last week and it was long and closed so whatever is going on isnt doing anything yet??

Lindzee-Nice belly shots!!

I am so happy I am done work but I think I am going to get bored!!! I am so used to going non stop I dont know what to do with myself. I also think it will make the next 10 wks go very slow....but I hope not. I so want to meet her soon! But I dont want her to come out early hah.

[abbytfox]

So, I have been lurking on my registry (I know, bad) and today I noticed that someone bought our baby bjorn and our stroller!!! I am so excited to think that we will have these things for our baby. I am pretty sure it is my mother-in-law who bought the items because yesterday she asked us what website we were registered at. I am SO excited! YAY!

Can you tell I am really not into work today? When is it time to go home?

[Tulip]

Abby, I peaked at my registery too. My shower is on Sunday and so far only my pack 'n' play, bathtub and diaper pail have been bought. I really hope we get more then that off the registery. We really need everything we registered for.

[Bliss]

Lindsey so glad to hear that you & DH worked everything out. Now you can relax and look forward to Matthew's arrival :)

Kellys Girl Glad to hear all is OK, hope your area was not damaged too badly by the hurricane. Its unbelivable looking at those pictures to see all that damage!

BH Contractions I dont know what those feel like either. My belly has been pretty firm throughout my pregnancy, and lately there seems to always be little bumps (feet? tush?) that hit back when I tap them lol.

Well, my welcome into the 3rd trimester has been back pain :( Today is better, but this weekend I must have either slept funny or the pumpkin has had a growth spurt since my back is killing me. I went out and bought that snoogle huge pillow, but I cannot sleep with it, I feel like its suffocating me lol. I have basically been getting massages from DH :) I think part of it may be my shoes, it felt better when I put on sneakers w. support instead of sandlals yesterday. Good thing I only work p/t right now, I cannot imagine having to stand on my feet 5 days a week.

stretch marks - can these be reversed/stopped once the appear?? I have sprouted a bunch on my sides despite my dedicated application of lotion w. shea & cocoa butter in it every day. Anyone have recommendations on products I can use?

Showers, we are very blessed to have 2 showers coming up, my MIL is throwing us one in upstate NY where she lives on Oct 2nd, and then my mom is throwing us one (a surprise) that I think will be Oct 9th. My friends dumb DH told me that they got the invite from my mom this weekend, so I am pretty sure its Oct 9th, but am not trying too hard to find out :)

painting nursery anyone paint a light green color? Or used any in another room?? I cannot find a color that I like. I wanted a light sage, but everything I see either looks like seafoam green or olive green. I am going to end up spending a fortune on paint samples.

[Sebski]

Hi ladies!

Registry Peeking I am a SERIAL PEEKER!!! :o I've lurked on it since my invites went out. All of our big ticket items have been purchased already and there's a month to go until the shower. My mom is insisting that I add more too it, but I don't want to seem greedy. How many items does everyone else have on their registry?

Maternity Leave I say that my last day will be 10/28, but whether it actually happens is a different story. Knowing me I will start to feel guilty and end up staying through the next week like I originally planned. It just felt sooo good being off last week! I really felt today's commute... I think it has to do w/ the fact that I think I popped more last week. Definitely feel like I'm sporting a bigger belly... I'll attach some belly shots that I just took tonight...

29w belly:
http://images.snapfish.com/3449283523232%7Ffp63%3Dot%3E2329%3D7%3A6%3D%3B45%3 DXROQDF%3E2323%3A933857%3B2ot1lsi

and for comparison, here's my last shot at 24w:
http://images.snapfish.com/3449283523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E2329%3D7%3A6%3D%3B45%3 DXROQDF%3E23239%3A438%3A54%3Bot1lsi

Can you say belllllly? ;)

So, I started back to work today... and promptly tripped/fell in the ladies room. :o I had trouble taking the bigger belly into account today for some reason... it's definitely made me clumsier. Thankfully I broke my own fall by putting my hands out and landing on my one knee. I didn't call the doctor because I felt Jr. moving about in there afterward. But, I realized that I definitely need to slow down. Even going through the revolving doors today was bizarre - I *fit* differently and bumped the belly a couple of times. I feel like I need one of those beeping doohickies that the big trucks use when they reverse! :D

Kellys Girl So glad to hear that you are faring well despite the hurricane - stay safe!!!

Sem Cool that you start classes! We start next week... am a bit nervous - not sure what to expect!

Kristen Beautiful dresser!

[Natasha]

I am sure I will be peeking at the registry constantly after the invitations go out! Our shower is 9/24. Someone made the comment that that was too early, but it seems normal to me. About 6 weeks before the baby, that's right, isn't it? Anyway, it works for my mom, and she's throwing the shower, so thats what matters. We haven't set up childbirth classes yet. Hmmm, should look into those today...