WAIT, it's NOT 9 months????? How is it not??? there is a movie with that name! A MOVIE!!!
I'm never getting pregnant. eesh. doctors are liars!
seriously though, why is it 10 and not 9?
Also... all of you parents buying things used--does it worry you at all about previous kids' germs and spitup and stuff on the used equipment? I have a tendancy toward possibly being anal and weird about stuff like that (not overly so, but, still...) and I'm wondering how y'all dealt with that worry.
I'd like to be more green (and also save money!) but when it comes to things like that, I struggle mentally.
OldFogey, that french power ad is the coolest! I was gonna come on here and say it must have been done by the same crew who did the Royksopp "Remind Me" video, and to tell you to check it out, but then I saw that YouTube offers that as the next video to watch, so you might have seen it. If not, check it out!
Also, I'm psyched that your 2yr old is into planes and helicopters... watching videos of 777s taking off is a good part of what I spend my online leisure time doing... if I ever have a boy who likes it too we will be in heaven together! (You should show him a 727 taking off video... that one is MUCH more fun to watch! Loud and trailing clouds of black smoke!)
First, it a FULL 9 months, so its really ten. 40 weeks is the gestational period. Fun times.
Second, thats why they invented bleach. The crib matress we got used from a consignments shop for 20 bucks, and new ones are 100+. I made sure there were no tears or anything, and then scrubbed it down with bleach. As for used clothing and whatnot, you can wash it in hot water, so that will kill just about everything. The only thing you DONT want used, under any circumstance, is a breast pump, at least the tubing and such. Those cant be really cleaned, so thats best new.
myriam - when you first discover you are pregnant, the doctors will count back to the first day of your last period. conception typically happens two weeks after that, so by the time you find out, you're usually 3-4 weeks pregnant already, even though the first two weeks were basically preparation. and what Sarah H said is true - full gestation is 40 weeks or a FULL 9 months starting from zero months. But you never do the math until it's your own 9 er 10 months of commitment!
On the used stuff, it's recommended that you don't accept a used car seat unless you've done the homework regarding it's history and if the company has any recalls out on it. Carseats have changed a lot in the past 5 years, so it's good to get a new one (this tends to be the case with cribs too). And yes, used breast pumps are no good for the most part.
I went to a big housewares-consignmnet sale and was shocked by how grungy a lot of the stuff looked. Not just stained, but no one had even wiped down something made of hard plastic before trying to sell it. yuck, the kid-crud stuff I stayed away from. Otherwise, most stuff can be washed or bleached if it's gently used.
I think some germs are good for kids...and that's I'm about to experience a whole new level of appreciation (or knowledge) on bodily fluids.
I'm ok with germs to a large extent--my mom grew up in a third world country and cannot for the life of her understand the american fascination with things like throwing out milk after the "sell-by" date is past, buying everything new and wrapped tightly in 3 extra layers of plastic, etc--and this is how I was raised and nobody in my family has allergies or anything (and there is some evidence coming out that points to allergy problems resulting not from genetics but from a lack of exposure to potential allergens due to overzealous parenting, etc)... but as you mentioned, the kid-crud thing is just gross to me. Many used kid things I've come across at garage sales were of this variety. It's good to hear that gently-used things DO exist--sounds like I'll follow you and Sarah's example and stick to those, with bleach!
I won't be ready to have any kids for another 5 years or so but it's great to read this thread, I find it oddly fascinating and also slightly repellant. Kids ARE gross! ;) but also so cute and intriguing. I'm the type that will enjoy them more as teenagers though, I think. My mother is like this and from my experience with my many cousins and little-kid friends I tend to do better from about age 8 up.
So this was a fruitfull weekend. My mom came through, and we did the whole registry thing. She also bought the "coming home" outfit, and some other clothes. I bought the carseat, and a diaper bag. I guess we're getting somewhere.
I discovered that I really like baby socks and shoes, and I'm thinking this is because they look like regular socks and shoes, only in miniature. The onsies and such are ok, but I dont want to buy everyone in the store.
Mostly we registered for practical things, diapers, soaps, detergent, feeding stuff, and some clothes and sheets. So not really any toys or 'fun' stuff. People may be bored when looking at my registry, but its practical.
We love the diaper bag, its a black backpack, and it came with a changing mat. Its small and clean enough that I won't look like a school kid carrying it, and Husband won't look like a woman carrying a purse like many of the bags tend to do.
Call me a mooch, but I was sad that Target didnt give any free samples out when I registered there, like they did at Babies R Us. Oh well. I did get a free diaper in the mail the other day, so we have (2) newborn diapers now; I think we're set.
Husband and I finally crossed the street and talked to the lady about watching our kid. It was amazing, she is truly a gift. Her daughter can't have children, and she always wanted grandkids, so when she retired, she started keeping infants. She actually prefferes infants, and never has more than 4-5. She was so personable, and smiled the whole time we were there. She is also 50 bucks cheaper than the day-care that was our second choice. I was so nervous about the whole thing, and the second she answered the door, she knew what we needed, and went into a whole spiel about child-care. I'm so glad its going to work so well. She is right across the street from us, which is very convenient, she's cheaper, she reports the income so we still get our tax deductions, she believes in time-out, not that an infant needs time-out, but when they get older, and she understands and feels children need more social interaction once they get older and should go to a pre-school/day care then. She treats them all as her own grand-kids. And if there were ever an emergency, she would keep the kid over night as a favour to us. I was exhausted by the time we left, we were there an hour, just from the excitement and releif of it all. I know it seems contradictory, but its how I work.
On a not so happy note, though, I have developed this new pain, and we (I) am actually considering going to the DR about it. That in itself should give an idea of how bad the pain actually is; I'm a very 'oh, I'll be fine, its just part of it' sort of person. Husband worries, and wants me to go the DR at the drop of a hat, but I always refuse. If this continues, I may actually listen.
The new pain is right at the Sternum, left of center. If I'm not careful, I feel like I'm ripping the abdominal muscles in two. Most of the time, the pain is a cross between 3rd dregree burn and bruise, so what I imagine it would feel like if you were wacked by a molten hot steel rod, or something like that. We tried binding my lower ribs, much like if you broke a rib, with a sash over night, and that helps temporarily, but not for long. If I don't move just right, the ripping sensation returns, and is truly breathtaking. I don't even know 'breathing' techiniques, but find myself doing them when this happens. It hurts bad enough that I can't talk, and actually told Husband not to touch me the other night. I didn't mean to snap, but it jsut hurt that bad. Guess that doesn't bode well for actual delivery. From all of this, I have learned that we use our Ab muscles for movign our legs, arms, and much more than just our mid-section. Who knew. Has anyone else experienced this? If I'm lucky enough to get off early today, I think I will call the DR. Maybe he has some sort of salve I can rub on it, or something.
Sarah that's great news about your kindly neighbor!! It must feel great to have found convenient, affordable care for your newborn. Sorry to hear about the ab pain.
I'm having a pretty hard time here at work today as I'm contracting and having lower back pain. According to the dr last week I am progressing but I am NOT ready for this yet! Apparently a woman can be having contractions and such for WEEKS so it's hard to know if this means impending serious labor or will just be my state of being for a while now. I hope to work as long as possible to save the time off for baby but I'd prefer to be at home right now!
Pregnancy is tough for those of us used to planning things out.
Sarah: Unless a doctor tells you to bind your ribs, it's probably not really a good idea, as it can constrict breathing. You may just need to take it easy - as in don't move from the couch - for a few days. At least for all of tomorrow (I assume you have the day off tomorrow).
As for the daycare situation: SCORE!!!!! that is AWESOME. Right across the street, someone you can trust, and not only not expensive but you get the tax break. Fan-f*ing-tastic. I can imagine the total relief you must be feeling right now! Such good news.
Those 2 newborn diapers should last you *at least* ten minutes! My worst case was the time it took 4 diapers just to get through one change, Angus kept peeing all over the fresh diaper (and me and the changing table) while I tried to get him in a new one. Those newborns are totally unpredictable when it comes to bodily functions! After a couple weeks you get good at predicting it, though - or at least better!
I hear you, SP. I'm terrified that I will be at work when I do eventually go into labour, talk about awkward.
I've been doing online research, as I tend to do, and found that it isnt uncommon for the abdominal muscles to split, so now I'm wondering if binding myself, just under the ribs, from now until delivery will hurt the baby. If if wont, then I may try that. Even if I don't get off work early today, I will call and at least ask the dr if binding will harm anything.
Smallpotatoes, what do the contractions feel like?
LB, I would be so aggrevated with Abram if he wasted 4 diapers at once. Guess I will have to get past that, huh. And an added bonus about the lady across the street, shes certified in pediatric CPR. Awesome.
Eeks, smallpotatoes, I hope you are feeling OK! I would hate to have been at work when my labor actually started, because it was...umm ...messy immediately to put it delicately...luckily it was at 2:30 in the morning, though at the time I was aggravated that I didn't get to sleep for the rest of the night, it was better to have it happen that way then at work.
Yeah, that's the thing - we're such planners, then the whole labor thing is completely unpredictable, so it's even scarier, I think, for us than it is for women who don't have this tendency to control everything! Hang in there, and remember to post here if you head off to the hospital...we'll all send "easy labor" vibes your way!
i'm getting a better sense of what we're in for. why does it seem that there are more boys being born then girls these days?
the child care situation is the latest thing that is freaking my wife out. what else is a professional gal to do? if I could work at home (which may be possible thanks to laptops and the internet), I'd be happy to take a shift of looking after jr, but it will all depend on the job situation at that point.
sarah, you don't have to be a superwoman. so take it easy and make the hubby rub your back/feet/what ever till it feels better.
small P- how much sick leave/maternity leave are you planning? it may be time to start (and take advantage of the extra time to get the house ready). Good luck!!!!!
The contractions haven't been very painful yet. They started in frequency about 10 days ago (around Christmas, I was 35 weeks) and it just felt like my belly would get really tight and hard. Then it would go away, come back and so on, but nothing with any measureable regularity. If it was bothersome, I would sit down or have a glass of cold water and the cx would go away.
However, in the past couple days they've gotten stronger and are more uncomfortable although I wouldn't call them really painful. I don't think they really hurt until you are in serious labor. I feel weird posting about my bodily functions so much, but hopefully this helps. On friday the doc could feel the baby's head (crazy stuff I know) and said the baby was really low, I was 1cm diliated and 80% effaced. It sounds exciting but apparently I could walk around in this state for WEEKS. OR I could go into labor this afternoon. That's pretty annoying.
Yes I'm starting to fear having the action start while at the office. How horrifying it would be to experience this part of the process with these professionals. It could take my husband almost an hour to get to me too so I'd rather be at home. I'm taking 3 months off so perhaps I could start that soon but I will be seriously PISSED if it really does take 3 or 4 more weeks for baby to arrive and I spent it wandering around the house and watching daytime tv. So this is the origin of my frustration with timing this stuff!
I'm not sure either about you binding your ribs, SH...but regardless I'm sure it would be good for you to really rest tonight and tomorrow if you can. I imagine every little movement you make could pull on your midsection - even laughing! I noticed that my stomach muscles split when I really started showing, but it's not torn or painful. If I was lying on my back and sat up w/o using my arms my belly got this weird cone-head point to it. Apparently the ab muscles split and the rest of your gut wants to poke out in that position. Let's hope that goes away post partum!!
I think I will organize/clean up my office space now and pack that hospital bag tonight. People tell me that the nesting urges get really strong right before the action starts, but I've been remodeling my home for months now and I'm always a bit of a clean freak so I can't say this is anything out of the ordinary for me.
A New Year's Day baby would be so fun, smallpotatoes! If you feel like straightening your desk and packing your bag is a good move to make right now, then I say follow that instinct...
From what Ive been reading, the split doesnt always heel, and in worst cases, you're stuck with a bulge that makes you look pregnant forever. I'm terrified of that. I hope it doesnt happen to any of us.
The problem with resting is that it makes the spot hurt more. I'm definately calling the dr today, but I dont have any time to take from work, so I'm desperatly hoping for early release. Its just that its hurting even just sitting here not doing anything. This blows. I should start concocting evil schemes to get back at the kid when he's older. First scheme... put my hands in his waste band to check if his pants fit outside of the dressingroom infront of all those people. Any other ideas?
oh my gosh Sarah go to the doctor!!!! this sounds awful and potentially harmful. Not that I know a single thing about any of this.
Right now I am thinking that before I get pregnant, I will try my best to get into excellent physical shape. I remember reading about how if you have really strong abs before pregancy a) the labor goes smoother and b) you return to normal shape faster after. Sadly I probably do not have the willpower to truly do this...
You all amaze me. Good luck with the next few weeks!
Well, no one answered at the doctor's office. So, even though I'm getting off early, I'm just going home. I'm going to do some minor binding, meaning that if its uncomfortable, I will loosen or remove it, no sense in adding to the pain. So I will give a full report sometime soon as to whether it helps, or not.
hi all. now that you've made it this far, i figured i'd chime in and say a few things. i've been lurking here for a while with not much to add until now.
first, congrats to SH, SP and tK (and mrs. tK.) you've all come such a long way! (and belatedly to all the other new and old parents around here...)
also, Sarah - from what i understand, binding is not safe for the baby at all. the kid needs room to kick and stretch and turn around. binding, though it seems superficial, can actually make it harder for the kid to perform their uterine exercise regime.
i'm no doctor, but my wife had searing belly-button pain owing to the stretching a scar from a prior DNC many years ago. she considered binding too and was cautioned against it. the maternity bands were helpful for a few days, but that's all. what eventually worked was the application of peri-strips from an inch or two over the top of the belly-button to an inch or two below. that little bit of pressure relief was a godsend.
don't know whether or not something like that would help if the pain is over a wider area.
myriam - we've got two great friends, both of whom are really athletic. play soccer, run triathalons, go sea-kayaking and what-not. labor was neither quick nor smooth for them. one had excruciating back-labor for 16 hours and an episiotomy and the other a 3rd deg. tear. if you don't know what that means, lucky for you!
at this point in my life i feel like an expert at the whole ob/gyn, triage, labor and delivery thing.
why?
my first born arrived on the first of december.
a boy, born at 6lbs 4oz named AUGUST.
here he is:
if you'll indulge me, i'll give you my $.02 about the whole labor and delivery thing.
my wife went into labor with the hope of an all-natural, drug-free birth, and a birth plan to boot. however, she knew that things don't always go as planned, so she was prepared to be flexible for her own health, and of course that of the baby. we didn't know the gender, btw, until he was born.
after 26 hours of labor and an emergency c-section, our little boy was finally here! in the process i've come to the following realization:
*****the point of labor is to birth a child, not to satisfy the mom's vision of a perfect labor.*****
keep in mind that an ideal labor is just that, an ideal. very few women have the labor they set out to have, but their babies were born nonetheless, and they'd do it again in a heart beat! the health and well-being of the mom and baby are paramount in all concerns.
although you quite well might have the perfect, natural delivery, you might not, and that's awesome too. either way, don't be afraid. it is as scary as everyone says it is, but in the theme-park of pregnancy, it's the big-top roller-coaster you don't want to miss! people are hard-wired to know how to handle it anyways...your instincts kick in big time.
through all the fears and tears of the laboring process, i still had such a shit-eating grin on my face because i knew finally it was time to meet my kid.
that's all for now...more fun and gory details of the process upon request.
August is beautiful mighty!!! Thanks for sharing your story. I think I have a simlar perspective to your wife...would love to have a natural birth but I will be flexible about interventions as needed. this is not an area where I expect to be able to control everything - it's up to the baby and me together.
mL- happy one monthday old to august. so how's ms. mL doing?
I'm just confused, december isn't august and counting backwards, march isn't august either. so where did that name come from? (I haven't been keeping up with the soaps)...
the name august is one that we've both liked since long before the pregnancy, and given that it stood the test of many many rounds of vetting we figured to keep it.
he's also got two middle names...Samuel Reid, both of which are family names.
other boy names that were on my list include vladimir, leonid, nathaniel, ellory, and the 2nd place winner...charlie.
mrs. mL is doing great...and the new-dad grin has grown larger.
Just anecdotally: I went into labor a week before my due date, all three of my sister's kids were 1-2 weeks early, and my sister and I were both early for my mom, too. So ask your moms and sisters when their babies came, it might be indicative (and...it might not).
here's another tidbit which LB reminded me of...my boy descended and engaged the pelvis at about 35wks.
the ob/gyn said she was 1.5cm dilated at that point, and partially effaced. she said be prepared, it looks like the kid's coming early. she said that mrs. mL was looking more like a 38wk gestational age.
well, not surprisingly, the kid did NOT show up early. late actually. 40wks 6days.
go figure.
(oddly enough, another ob who we saw the week before the due date (ours was on vacay in hawaii) said in her experience, kids who descend early but don't birth are usually stuck somehow and will possibly require a section delivery! just a thought she said...a thought which turned out to be true.)
is there anything that can be done to prevent a kid from getting stuck? can your doc figure it out before the 26th hour of labor and do the c-section earlier?
it seems that the ob-gyn world is rather slow to react to many situations and this causes greater discomfort/trauma to the mom from what we've been discussing.
in the case of breech, you can do a few things. chinese medicine has shown a fair amount of success in turning the kid around...some ob's have some rather unusual techniques that can help the kid spin around too, but they're becoming more and more rare.
in our case, even after the section, the docs weren't sure why the kid was stuck. just wouldn't budge.
earlier ultrasounds might have shown something, but it we would have probably wound up in the same position anyways. unless the kid is breech, or has a prolapsed cord, or something else like that, the docs will still advise to attempt a typical vaginal birth.
hindsight here isn't even 20/20 given that it's still unclear why after such a long labor (and multiple interventions of the medical kind) the kid had not descended past +2 station.
given the fact that they popped the bag at hour 12 or 13 and the boy showed meconium, my wife had a rising infection. her temp was up to just under 101º and the boy's heart-rate was up around 200. he was getting stressed at this point, to the doc said let's go to the OR.
it's hard to say what the ob/gyn world is slow to. our docs were all amazing. they didn't have my wife on the clock at all until she started showing infection.
c-sections are an easy route for some ob's who want to schedule everything, but in our case the section was a medical necessity for both mom and baby. we had tried every other intervention available to no great success.
i shudder to think how this might have turned out if this were 50+ years ago.
glad everything turned out well... my comment about the slowness was fueled by the reluctance for ms. tk's ob to issue anti-nausea pills.
So the discussion around the dinner table tonite was cloth or disposables? We're leaning towards cloth/diaper service, but really don't know what we'd be in for. Its a sign of the times that we're both acculturated to pamper/huggies ads as the norm. So what have all you archinecteur parents used/are using?
Cloth diapers are making a come-back and the products out there are better than our mothers and fathers had available to them.
I've decided on cloth diapers for at least the duration of maternity leave. I think people have a perception that cloth diapers are more work/more mess/not worth it, but a few friends are doing it (w/o diaper service even) and it works for them. a diaper service that would provide you with fresh pre-folds would be ideal. You can close them up w/o pins (use a plastic do-hickey) and a cover goes over to keep everything intact. also, there's quite a booming industry in all-in-one's that are adjustable. they are expensive but the idea is that the baby will wear the same set of these for the duration of diapering.
Look up "bumgenius"
I know I cringe at the idea of a mountain of disposable diapers, not to mention the diaper pails that wrap the plastic diaper in yet another layer of heavy plastic that keeps odors in but makes for a condensed package of poo that will outlast us all.
We've been primarily using cloth. We had a diaper service for the first 2-3 months that a co-worker got for us and it was FAN-tastic. Unfortunately when it came time for us to foot the bill we had to switch to laundering them ourselves and it hasn't been too bad. Of course dealing with diapers is never all that great but its not as bad as I had imagined it would be at all.
We try not to be too militant about it and when we are traveling or some such we'll switch to disposables. And we always have a pack of disposables on hand if the cloth are all in the wash or we are just feeling lazy and worn out. Which of course happens frequently.
Another option for the EC (Environmentally Correct) amongst us are gDiapers. We've tried these out too and they were great, just a little too pricey for us to use regularly.
Fogey-
I'd be interested to hear how your kid gets on with the OLPC, his Grandmother ordered one but it will be a "big brother" gift in May. He'll turn 3 before he gets it but he already joins in IM chats and loves youtube.
it's really no more work than disposables, and i should think most folks around here would enjoy the simple satisfaction of a well folded diaper. i know i do.
i never thought i'd ever say something like this, but here's a great diapering video.
ugh. now that i've said that, my youth is officially over.
We are using disposable, but forgoing the 'diaper genie' contraption. With that, we are just using a hamper, lined with a plastic bag, and if the smell is too strong, figure we can use the grocery sacks we get from the grocery store. Not great for the environment, I know, but at least its a bit of re-use. We are using disposable mainly because care-takers won't use cloth.
That's what I did, Sarah, and it was fine. You take the trash out every day, anyway, so the smell never gets to be a big deal. The less plastic they are wrapped in the better.
I researched cloth pretty intensely but had both the daycare issue and this one: in downtown Philly five years ago there were zero diaper services. Which shocked me and every other pregnant woman I knew.
No matter what diapers you use, do get your head around this: it's really healthy for their little butts to be exposed to the air as much as possible, so every chance you get, let'em run naked. Angus' bouts of diaper rash always cleared up in a day if I let him be naked. And besides, their little bums are so adorable!! (yeah, gushy mom stuff, I know)
On breastfeeding:
I may have written this before, but I'll say it again: the best thing for thrush is gentian violet. Here is an article about it. I don't want to sound alarmist, but it's not always easy to find, so you might consider getting it now to have on hand, because when your nipples are searing in pain and you're both crying every time you try to breastfeed you won't want to wait three days to have it delivered! It's more popular now than it was five years ago, so it may be carried at Whole Foods etc.
smallpotatoes: are you out there? Did you go into labor yet?
Hey lb, I am here back at my desk this morning. The doc told me to go home monday and lie down, which I did and everything slowed down. I was pretty relieved - on the drive home the cx's were about 10 minutes apart. So I hubby and I rang in the new year on the couch with the Simpsons rather than at the party we planned to attend.
I need this baby to bake a bit longer, but I'm 3 weeks out from due date so I suppose anything could happen. I got the bag packed, my desk cleared, and am excited to think it's the month I've been waiting for. I oscillate between giddy excitement and downright terror! I will do my best to keep my fellow architnect parents updated!
Wow, you're three weeks out and wanting to cook longer, I'm 7-8 weeks out and am sooo ready for this to end. Crazy how we can all be so different. I think I'm just bored with the process, at least this part, and am ready to move onto something new. Oh well.
Good luck smallpotatoes, we'll be thinking of you. Please do keep us posted!
I really want to add my .02 worth regarding a lot of the previous comments but I'm afraid I cannot at the moment. I will say one thing regarding the baby's position. The midwives suggested the Mrs. get a exercise ball (or yoga/pilates ball, not sure the official name). Make sure you get the right size. She sat on it exclusively for the last 6 weeks of her pregnancy. In hindsight we believe her diligence helped keep the baby in the right position and thus aided in Rowan's smooth birth.
So another doctors appointment out of the way; gained 3-4 lbs in two weeks, could just be clothing difference, right?
Well, I asked him about the intense pain I've been having, and showed him the binding I was doing to help it. He thought maybe it was imflamation of the ribs, thought it was strange, but said if the binding helps, that it wouldn't hurt anything since it was so high up, and wasn't really intefering with the kid/uterus area. I wish I had an answer to what the cause was, but at least my solution works and was approved.
I also asked him questions regarding the actual birthing procedures, episiotomies, circumcision, when to call, ect. Counting down the hours, and I'm not even close. Hey, Potatoes, want to trade?
So someone tell me how the heck the human race has survived all this time? This has got to be the most miserable I have ever been. I am ALWAYS uncomfortable, and I haven't slept in 4 days; this is worse than studio.
I'm always hot, too. Here I was complaining about how it was cold, and wondering when that Global Warming was going to kick in, and low and behold a crappy heat wave strikes, and I'm having to crank on the A/C just to cool off the house. Even with it set at 65 its still too hot to sleep. I was doing well when it was 59 in the house. How did all the mothers before modern air conditioning handle this? If it were up to me, the species would've stopped at three, unless I had a girl, in which case she'd have to mate with her father because theres no way I'd be willing to do this again. Guess that went a bit too far, but you get my point. I guess we're lucky that for so long the only effective form of birth-control was abstinence, and no one wants to play that game.
I have less than 50 days left, and yes, I'm counting them.
Sarah: First, I feel for how uncomfortable you are; I and many of my friends also couldn't sleep, sit, walk, reach, bend, or breathe comfortably for the last bit of our pregnancies. It is all-body encompassing, and the poor husband at the end is also feeling just how useless he really is when it comes to your comfort.
That said: Most women I know were not that uncomfortable until the last 3-4 weeks of their pregnancies. Are you - or rather, is your doctor - sure you still have 50 days left? As I recall, you found out about it after you were a farther along than, say, a woman who was tracking every temperature rise and drop while trying hard to conceive, right? Maybe you are due sooner, maybe this will be over sooner than you expect?!
smallpotatoes, check in if you're still unpopped, please....
The doctor says things are on schedule, so maybe its just because I'm short and short-waisted. But hey, since we're past the 'premature' mark, I'm cool with pre-term. It certainly would be more exciting for it too happen truly unexpectedly. But it will have to wait until at least the end of the month, or risk Husband being in FL instead of Dallas.
And yes, Potatoes, let us know how its going. Hey, maybe I will take my computer the the hospital with me when I go. Will I have time? What all should I pack that might not be mentioned in the books?
Remember with health insurance the way it is you may only be in the hospital for 48 hours or so, and your day will be packed with learning to breastfeed, change diapers, debate circumcision one last time, hold the little bugger w/o his head slamming backwards, etc. It doesn't seem that time-consuming, but somehow it really is. (If you have a c-section, you'll be there for 4-5 days.) Computer, maybe not...but if you're there for a few days you could have husband bring it in for you to switch: hand him the baby, you take the laptop for an hour to give you a break.
I had a cdplayer and little speakers, and I have to say having music - this was after the birth, not during delivery, when I didn't give a damn about music - was great. Also the Girlfriend's Guide suggests bringing your own pillow(s) and that was a benefit for me. Also bring hand/face lotion and lip balm.
A Great Adventure
WAIT, it's NOT 9 months????? How is it not??? there is a movie with that name! A MOVIE!!!
I'm never getting pregnant. eesh. doctors are liars!
seriously though, why is it 10 and not 9?
Also... all of you parents buying things used--does it worry you at all about previous kids' germs and spitup and stuff on the used equipment? I have a tendancy toward possibly being anal and weird about stuff like that (not overly so, but, still...) and I'm wondering how y'all dealt with that worry.
I'd like to be more green (and also save money!) but when it comes to things like that, I struggle mentally.
OldFogey, that french power ad is the coolest! I was gonna come on here and say it must have been done by the same crew who did the Royksopp "Remind Me" video, and to tell you to check it out, but then I saw that YouTube offers that as the next video to watch, so you might have seen it. If not, check it out!
Also, I'm psyched that your 2yr old is into planes and helicopters... watching videos of 777s taking off is a good part of what I spend my online leisure time doing... if I ever have a boy who likes it too we will be in heaven together! (You should show him a 727 taking off video... that one is MUCH more fun to watch! Loud and trailing clouds of black smoke!)
First, it a FULL 9 months, so its really ten. 40 weeks is the gestational period. Fun times.
Second, thats why they invented bleach. The crib matress we got used from a consignments shop for 20 bucks, and new ones are 100+. I made sure there were no tears or anything, and then scrubbed it down with bleach. As for used clothing and whatnot, you can wash it in hot water, so that will kill just about everything. The only thing you DONT want used, under any circumstance, is a breast pump, at least the tubing and such. Those cant be really cleaned, so thats best new.
myriam - when you first discover you are pregnant, the doctors will count back to the first day of your last period. conception typically happens two weeks after that, so by the time you find out, you're usually 3-4 weeks pregnant already, even though the first two weeks were basically preparation. and what Sarah H said is true - full gestation is 40 weeks or a FULL 9 months starting from zero months. But you never do the math until it's your own 9 er 10 months of commitment!
On the used stuff, it's recommended that you don't accept a used car seat unless you've done the homework regarding it's history and if the company has any recalls out on it. Carseats have changed a lot in the past 5 years, so it's good to get a new one (this tends to be the case with cribs too). And yes, used breast pumps are no good for the most part.
I went to a big housewares-consignmnet sale and was shocked by how grungy a lot of the stuff looked. Not just stained, but no one had even wiped down something made of hard plastic before trying to sell it. yuck, the kid-crud stuff I stayed away from. Otherwise, most stuff can be washed or bleached if it's gently used.
I think some germs are good for kids...and that's I'm about to experience a whole new level of appreciation (or knowledge) on bodily fluids.
Wow, our consignment place is nice, and everything is clean. I wouldn't buy dirty stuff either. Gross.
I'm ok with germs to a large extent--my mom grew up in a third world country and cannot for the life of her understand the american fascination with things like throwing out milk after the "sell-by" date is past, buying everything new and wrapped tightly in 3 extra layers of plastic, etc--and this is how I was raised and nobody in my family has allergies or anything (and there is some evidence coming out that points to allergy problems resulting not from genetics but from a lack of exposure to potential allergens due to overzealous parenting, etc)... but as you mentioned, the kid-crud thing is just gross to me. Many used kid things I've come across at garage sales were of this variety. It's good to hear that gently-used things DO exist--sounds like I'll follow you and Sarah's example and stick to those, with bleach!
I won't be ready to have any kids for another 5 years or so but it's great to read this thread, I find it oddly fascinating and also slightly repellant. Kids ARE gross! ;) but also so cute and intriguing. I'm the type that will enjoy them more as teenagers though, I think. My mother is like this and from my experience with my many cousins and little-kid friends I tend to do better from about age 8 up.
myriam you've nailed the paradox- kids are gross, whiny, noisy, and demanding, yet so cute, full of love, and vivid imagination.
guess I'm ready to be a dad.
So this was a fruitfull weekend. My mom came through, and we did the whole registry thing. She also bought the "coming home" outfit, and some other clothes. I bought the carseat, and a diaper bag. I guess we're getting somewhere.
I discovered that I really like baby socks and shoes, and I'm thinking this is because they look like regular socks and shoes, only in miniature. The onsies and such are ok, but I dont want to buy everyone in the store.
Mostly we registered for practical things, diapers, soaps, detergent, feeding stuff, and some clothes and sheets. So not really any toys or 'fun' stuff. People may be bored when looking at my registry, but its practical.
We love the diaper bag, its a black backpack, and it came with a changing mat. Its small and clean enough that I won't look like a school kid carrying it, and Husband won't look like a woman carrying a purse like many of the bags tend to do.
Call me a mooch, but I was sad that Target didnt give any free samples out when I registered there, like they did at Babies R Us. Oh well. I did get a free diaper in the mail the other day, so we have (2) newborn diapers now; I think we're set.
Husband and I finally crossed the street and talked to the lady about watching our kid. It was amazing, she is truly a gift. Her daughter can't have children, and she always wanted grandkids, so when she retired, she started keeping infants. She actually prefferes infants, and never has more than 4-5. She was so personable, and smiled the whole time we were there. She is also 50 bucks cheaper than the day-care that was our second choice. I was so nervous about the whole thing, and the second she answered the door, she knew what we needed, and went into a whole spiel about child-care. I'm so glad its going to work so well. She is right across the street from us, which is very convenient, she's cheaper, she reports the income so we still get our tax deductions, she believes in time-out, not that an infant needs time-out, but when they get older, and she understands and feels children need more social interaction once they get older and should go to a pre-school/day care then. She treats them all as her own grand-kids. And if there were ever an emergency, she would keep the kid over night as a favour to us. I was exhausted by the time we left, we were there an hour, just from the excitement and releif of it all. I know it seems contradictory, but its how I work.
On a not so happy note, though, I have developed this new pain, and we (I) am actually considering going to the DR about it. That in itself should give an idea of how bad the pain actually is; I'm a very 'oh, I'll be fine, its just part of it' sort of person. Husband worries, and wants me to go the DR at the drop of a hat, but I always refuse. If this continues, I may actually listen.
The new pain is right at the Sternum, left of center. If I'm not careful, I feel like I'm ripping the abdominal muscles in two. Most of the time, the pain is a cross between 3rd dregree burn and bruise, so what I imagine it would feel like if you were wacked by a molten hot steel rod, or something like that. We tried binding my lower ribs, much like if you broke a rib, with a sash over night, and that helps temporarily, but not for long. If I don't move just right, the ripping sensation returns, and is truly breathtaking. I don't even know 'breathing' techiniques, but find myself doing them when this happens. It hurts bad enough that I can't talk, and actually told Husband not to touch me the other night. I didn't mean to snap, but it jsut hurt that bad. Guess that doesn't bode well for actual delivery. From all of this, I have learned that we use our Ab muscles for movign our legs, arms, and much more than just our mid-section. Who knew. Has anyone else experienced this? If I'm lucky enough to get off early today, I think I will call the DR. Maybe he has some sort of salve I can rub on it, or something.
ouch! hang in there sarah!
Sarah that's great news about your kindly neighbor!! It must feel great to have found convenient, affordable care for your newborn. Sorry to hear about the ab pain.
I'm having a pretty hard time here at work today as I'm contracting and having lower back pain. According to the dr last week I am progressing but I am NOT ready for this yet! Apparently a woman can be having contractions and such for WEEKS so it's hard to know if this means impending serious labor or will just be my state of being for a while now. I hope to work as long as possible to save the time off for baby but I'd prefer to be at home right now!
Pregnancy is tough for those of us used to planning things out.
Sarah: Unless a doctor tells you to bind your ribs, it's probably not really a good idea, as it can constrict breathing. You may just need to take it easy - as in don't move from the couch - for a few days. At least for all of tomorrow (I assume you have the day off tomorrow).
As for the daycare situation: SCORE!!!!! that is AWESOME. Right across the street, someone you can trust, and not only not expensive but you get the tax break. Fan-f*ing-tastic. I can imagine the total relief you must be feeling right now! Such good news.
Those 2 newborn diapers should last you *at least* ten minutes! My worst case was the time it took 4 diapers just to get through one change, Angus kept peeing all over the fresh diaper (and me and the changing table) while I tried to get him in a new one. Those newborns are totally unpredictable when it comes to bodily functions! After a couple weeks you get good at predicting it, though - or at least better!
I hear you, SP. I'm terrified that I will be at work when I do eventually go into labour, talk about awkward.
I've been doing online research, as I tend to do, and found that it isnt uncommon for the abdominal muscles to split, so now I'm wondering if binding myself, just under the ribs, from now until delivery will hurt the baby. If if wont, then I may try that. Even if I don't get off work early today, I will call and at least ask the dr if binding will harm anything.
Smallpotatoes, what do the contractions feel like?
LB, I would be so aggrevated with Abram if he wasted 4 diapers at once. Guess I will have to get past that, huh. And an added bonus about the lady across the street, shes certified in pediatric CPR. Awesome.
Eeks, smallpotatoes, I hope you are feeling OK! I would hate to have been at work when my labor actually started, because it was...umm ...messy immediately to put it delicately...luckily it was at 2:30 in the morning, though at the time I was aggravated that I didn't get to sleep for the rest of the night, it was better to have it happen that way then at work.
Yeah, that's the thing - we're such planners, then the whole labor thing is completely unpredictable, so it's even scarier, I think, for us than it is for women who don't have this tendency to control everything! Hang in there, and remember to post here if you head off to the hospital...we'll all send "easy labor" vibes your way!
i'm getting a better sense of what we're in for. why does it seem that there are more boys being born then girls these days?
the child care situation is the latest thing that is freaking my wife out. what else is a professional gal to do? if I could work at home (which may be possible thanks to laptops and the internet), I'd be happy to take a shift of looking after jr, but it will all depend on the job situation at that point.
sarah, you don't have to be a superwoman. so take it easy and make the hubby rub your back/feet/what ever till it feels better.
small P- how much sick leave/maternity leave are you planning? it may be time to start (and take advantage of the extra time to get the house ready). Good luck!!!!!
The contractions haven't been very painful yet. They started in frequency about 10 days ago (around Christmas, I was 35 weeks) and it just felt like my belly would get really tight and hard. Then it would go away, come back and so on, but nothing with any measureable regularity. If it was bothersome, I would sit down or have a glass of cold water and the cx would go away.
However, in the past couple days they've gotten stronger and are more uncomfortable although I wouldn't call them really painful. I don't think they really hurt until you are in serious labor. I feel weird posting about my bodily functions so much, but hopefully this helps. On friday the doc could feel the baby's head (crazy stuff I know) and said the baby was really low, I was 1cm diliated and 80% effaced. It sounds exciting but apparently I could walk around in this state for WEEKS. OR I could go into labor this afternoon. That's pretty annoying.
Yes I'm starting to fear having the action start while at the office. How horrifying it would be to experience this part of the process with these professionals. It could take my husband almost an hour to get to me too so I'd rather be at home. I'm taking 3 months off so perhaps I could start that soon but I will be seriously PISSED if it really does take 3 or 4 more weeks for baby to arrive and I spent it wandering around the house and watching daytime tv. So this is the origin of my frustration with timing this stuff!
I'm not sure either about you binding your ribs, SH...but regardless I'm sure it would be good for you to really rest tonight and tomorrow if you can. I imagine every little movement you make could pull on your midsection - even laughing! I noticed that my stomach muscles split when I really started showing, but it's not torn or painful. If I was lying on my back and sat up w/o using my arms my belly got this weird cone-head point to it. Apparently the ab muscles split and the rest of your gut wants to poke out in that position. Let's hope that goes away post partum!!
I think I will organize/clean up my office space now and pack that hospital bag tonight. People tell me that the nesting urges get really strong right before the action starts, but I've been remodeling my home for months now and I'm always a bit of a clean freak so I can't say this is anything out of the ordinary for me.
A New Year's Day baby would be so fun, smallpotatoes! If you feel like straightening your desk and packing your bag is a good move to make right now, then I say follow that instinct...
too bad I will probably miss out on the tax-break baby, right? :)
I think having your birthday on New Years would be awesome. No end to the available celebrations...
From what Ive been reading, the split doesnt always heel, and in worst cases, you're stuck with a bulge that makes you look pregnant forever. I'm terrified of that. I hope it doesnt happen to any of us.
The problem with resting is that it makes the spot hurt more. I'm definately calling the dr today, but I dont have any time to take from work, so I'm desperatly hoping for early release. Its just that its hurting even just sitting here not doing anything. This blows. I should start concocting evil schemes to get back at the kid when he's older. First scheme... put my hands in his waste band to check if his pants fit outside of the dressingroom infront of all those people. Any other ideas?
Insist on a good-bye kiss when you drop him off at junior high
HAHAHA thats a good one. Evil laugh ensuing now.
oh my gosh Sarah go to the doctor!!!! this sounds awful and potentially harmful. Not that I know a single thing about any of this.
Right now I am thinking that before I get pregnant, I will try my best to get into excellent physical shape. I remember reading about how if you have really strong abs before pregancy a) the labor goes smoother and b) you return to normal shape faster after. Sadly I probably do not have the willpower to truly do this...
You all amaze me. Good luck with the next few weeks!
Well, no one answered at the doctor's office. So, even though I'm getting off early, I'm just going home. I'm going to do some minor binding, meaning that if its uncomfortable, I will loosen or remove it, no sense in adding to the pain. So I will give a full report sometime soon as to whether it helps, or not.
hi all. now that you've made it this far, i figured i'd chime in and say a few things. i've been lurking here for a while with not much to add until now.
first, congrats to SH, SP and tK (and mrs. tK.) you've all come such a long way! (and belatedly to all the other new and old parents around here...)
also, Sarah - from what i understand, binding is not safe for the baby at all. the kid needs room to kick and stretch and turn around. binding, though it seems superficial, can actually make it harder for the kid to perform their uterine exercise regime.
i'm no doctor, but my wife had searing belly-button pain owing to the stretching a scar from a prior DNC many years ago. she considered binding too and was cautioned against it. the maternity bands were helpful for a few days, but that's all. what eventually worked was the application of peri-strips from an inch or two over the top of the belly-button to an inch or two below. that little bit of pressure relief was a godsend.
don't know whether or not something like that would help if the pain is over a wider area.
myriam - we've got two great friends, both of whom are really athletic. play soccer, run triathalons, go sea-kayaking and what-not. labor was neither quick nor smooth for them. one had excruciating back-labor for 16 hours and an episiotomy and the other a 3rd deg. tear. if you don't know what that means, lucky for you!
at this point in my life i feel like an expert at the whole ob/gyn, triage, labor and delivery thing.
why?
my first born arrived on the first of december.
a boy, born at 6lbs 4oz named AUGUST.
here he is:
if you'll indulge me, i'll give you my $.02 about the whole labor and delivery thing.
my wife went into labor with the hope of an all-natural, drug-free birth, and a birth plan to boot. however, she knew that things don't always go as planned, so she was prepared to be flexible for her own health, and of course that of the baby. we didn't know the gender, btw, until he was born.
after 26 hours of labor and an emergency c-section, our little boy was finally here! in the process i've come to the following realization:
*****the point of labor is to birth a child, not to satisfy the mom's vision of a perfect labor.*****
keep in mind that an ideal labor is just that, an ideal. very few women have the labor they set out to have, but their babies were born nonetheless, and they'd do it again in a heart beat! the health and well-being of the mom and baby are paramount in all concerns.
although you quite well might have the perfect, natural delivery, you might not, and that's awesome too. either way, don't be afraid. it is as scary as everyone says it is, but in the theme-park of pregnancy, it's the big-top roller-coaster you don't want to miss! people are hard-wired to know how to handle it anyways...your instincts kick in big time.
through all the fears and tears of the laboring process, i still had such a shit-eating grin on my face because i knew finally it was time to meet my kid.
that's all for now...more fun and gory details of the process upon request.
good luck!
August is beautiful mighty!!! Thanks for sharing your story. I think I have a simlar perspective to your wife...would love to have a natural birth but I will be flexible about interventions as needed. this is not an area where I expect to be able to control everything - it's up to the baby and me together.
Seriously your boy is cute - congrats
So true.
Congratulations, mightylittle!!!!
mL- happy one monthday old to august. so how's ms. mL doing?
I'm just confused, december isn't august and counting backwards, march isn't august either. so where did that name come from? (I haven't been keeping up with the soaps)...
so do you still have the new dad grin?
the name august is one that we've both liked since long before the pregnancy, and given that it stood the test of many many rounds of vetting we figured to keep it.
he's also got two middle names...Samuel Reid, both of which are family names.
other boy names that were on my list include vladimir, leonid, nathaniel, ellory, and the 2nd place winner...charlie.
mrs. mL is doing great...and the new-dad grin has grown larger.
btw - the lil' dude is awwwwwesome.
tom waits would croon:
i can't wait, to get off work, and see my baby...
Just anecdotally: I went into labor a week before my due date, all three of my sister's kids were 1-2 weeks early, and my sister and I were both early for my mom, too. So ask your moms and sisters when their babies came, it might be indicative (and...it might not).
here's another tidbit which LB reminded me of...my boy descended and engaged the pelvis at about 35wks.
the ob/gyn said she was 1.5cm dilated at that point, and partially effaced. she said be prepared, it looks like the kid's coming early. she said that mrs. mL was looking more like a 38wk gestational age.
well, not surprisingly, the kid did NOT show up early. late actually. 40wks 6days.
go figure.
(oddly enough, another ob who we saw the week before the due date (ours was on vacay in hawaii) said in her experience, kids who descend early but don't birth are usually stuck somehow and will possibly require a section delivery! just a thought she said...a thought which turned out to be true.)
is there anything that can be done to prevent a kid from getting stuck? can your doc figure it out before the 26th hour of labor and do the c-section earlier?
it seems that the ob-gyn world is rather slow to react to many situations and this causes greater discomfort/trauma to the mom from what we've been discussing.
in the case of breech, you can do a few things. chinese medicine has shown a fair amount of success in turning the kid around...some ob's have some rather unusual techniques that can help the kid spin around too, but they're becoming more and more rare.
in our case, even after the section, the docs weren't sure why the kid was stuck. just wouldn't budge.
earlier ultrasounds might have shown something, but it we would have probably wound up in the same position anyways. unless the kid is breech, or has a prolapsed cord, or something else like that, the docs will still advise to attempt a typical vaginal birth.
hindsight here isn't even 20/20 given that it's still unclear why after such a long labor (and multiple interventions of the medical kind) the kid had not descended past +2 station.
given the fact that they popped the bag at hour 12 or 13 and the boy showed meconium, my wife had a rising infection. her temp was up to just under 101º and the boy's heart-rate was up around 200. he was getting stressed at this point, to the doc said let's go to the OR.
it's hard to say what the ob/gyn world is slow to. our docs were all amazing. they didn't have my wife on the clock at all until she started showing infection.
c-sections are an easy route for some ob's who want to schedule everything, but in our case the section was a medical necessity for both mom and baby. we had tried every other intervention available to no great success.
i shudder to think how this might have turned out if this were 50+ years ago.
mL-
glad everything turned out well... my comment about the slowness was fueled by the reluctance for ms. tk's ob to issue anti-nausea pills.
So the discussion around the dinner table tonite was cloth or disposables? We're leaning towards cloth/diaper service, but really don't know what we'd be in for. Its a sign of the times that we're both acculturated to pamper/huggies ads as the norm. So what have all you archinecteur parents used/are using?
Cloth diapers are making a come-back and the products out there are better than our mothers and fathers had available to them.
I've decided on cloth diapers for at least the duration of maternity leave. I think people have a perception that cloth diapers are more work/more mess/not worth it, but a few friends are doing it (w/o diaper service even) and it works for them. a diaper service that would provide you with fresh pre-folds would be ideal. You can close them up w/o pins (use a plastic do-hickey) and a cover goes over to keep everything intact. also, there's quite a booming industry in all-in-one's that are adjustable. they are expensive but the idea is that the baby will wear the same set of these for the duration of diapering.
Look up "bumgenius"
I know I cringe at the idea of a mountain of disposable diapers, not to mention the diaper pails that wrap the plastic diaper in yet another layer of heavy plastic that keeps odors in but makes for a condensed package of poo that will outlast us all.
We've been primarily using cloth. We had a diaper service for the first 2-3 months that a co-worker got for us and it was FAN-tastic. Unfortunately when it came time for us to foot the bill we had to switch to laundering them ourselves and it hasn't been too bad. Of course dealing with diapers is never all that great but its not as bad as I had imagined it would be at all.
We try not to be too militant about it and when we are traveling or some such we'll switch to disposables. And we always have a pack of disposables on hand if the cloth are all in the wash or we are just feeling lazy and worn out. Which of course happens frequently.
Another option for the EC (Environmentally Correct) amongst us are gDiapers. We've tried these out too and they were great, just a little too pricey for us to use regularly.
Fogey-
I'd be interested to hear how your kid gets on with the OLPC, his Grandmother ordered one but it will be a "big brother" gift in May. He'll turn 3 before he gets it but he already joins in IM chats and loves youtube.
for us.
it's really no more work than disposables, and i should think most folks around here would enjoy the simple satisfaction of a well folded diaper. i know i do.
i never thought i'd ever say something like this, but here's a great diapering video.
ugh. now that i've said that, my youth is officially over.
hi, my name is mightylittle, and i'm a dad.
The real trick with doing cloth for us has been finding a good cover. The gDiaper covers have actually been the best we've found.
And that's a major bummer about the youtube on the OLPC. Though I suppose its good since otherwise the kid would be watching all day long.
Which is nothing, nothing like how I spend my day.
We are using disposable, but forgoing the 'diaper genie' contraption. With that, we are just using a hamper, lined with a plastic bag, and if the smell is too strong, figure we can use the grocery sacks we get from the grocery store. Not great for the environment, I know, but at least its a bit of re-use. We are using disposable mainly because care-takers won't use cloth.
That's what I did, Sarah, and it was fine. You take the trash out every day, anyway, so the smell never gets to be a big deal. The less plastic they are wrapped in the better.
I researched cloth pretty intensely but had both the daycare issue and this one: in downtown Philly five years ago there were zero diaper services. Which shocked me and every other pregnant woman I knew.
No matter what diapers you use, do get your head around this: it's really healthy for their little butts to be exposed to the air as much as possible, so every chance you get, let'em run naked. Angus' bouts of diaper rash always cleared up in a day if I let him be naked. And besides, their little bums are so adorable!! (yeah, gushy mom stuff, I know)
On breastfeeding:
I may have written this before, but I'll say it again: the best thing for thrush is gentian violet. Here is an article about it. I don't want to sound alarmist, but it's not always easy to find, so you might consider getting it now to have on hand, because when your nipples are searing in pain and you're both crying every time you try to breastfeed you won't want to wait three days to have it delivered! It's more popular now than it was five years ago, so it may be carried at Whole Foods etc.
smallpotatoes: are you out there? Did you go into labor yet?
Hey lb, I am here back at my desk this morning. The doc told me to go home monday and lie down, which I did and everything slowed down. I was pretty relieved - on the drive home the cx's were about 10 minutes apart. So I hubby and I rang in the new year on the couch with the Simpsons rather than at the party we planned to attend.
I need this baby to bake a bit longer, but I'm 3 weeks out from due date so I suppose anything could happen. I got the bag packed, my desk cleared, and am excited to think it's the month I've been waiting for. I oscillate between giddy excitement and downright terror! I will do my best to keep my fellow architnect parents updated!
Wow, you're three weeks out and wanting to cook longer, I'm 7-8 weeks out and am sooo ready for this to end. Crazy how we can all be so different. I think I'm just bored with the process, at least this part, and am ready to move onto something new. Oh well.
Congrats, mL! August is adorable.
Good luck smallpotatoes, we'll be thinking of you. Please do keep us posted!
I really want to add my .02 worth regarding a lot of the previous comments but I'm afraid I cannot at the moment. I will say one thing regarding the baby's position. The midwives suggested the Mrs. get a exercise ball (or yoga/pilates ball, not sure the official name). Make sure you get the right size. She sat on it exclusively for the last 6 weeks of her pregnancy. In hindsight we believe her diligence helped keep the baby in the right position and thus aided in Rowan's smooth birth.
wow, lots of great info\tidbits - thanks for the feedback...
we already decided that convenience will force us to be flexible, even if we go with cloth (which seems to be the healthier solution).
the exercise ball tip is interesting.
ms potato, good luck with the final baking - I'll keep my fingers crossed that everything goes well.
sarah, I doubt you'll be bored again after the birth, so enjoy the zen of the moment.
Greg at Daddytypes just announced the arrival of his Baby#2. Yay!
So another doctors appointment out of the way; gained 3-4 lbs in two weeks, could just be clothing difference, right?
Well, I asked him about the intense pain I've been having, and showed him the binding I was doing to help it. He thought maybe it was imflamation of the ribs, thought it was strange, but said if the binding helps, that it wouldn't hurt anything since it was so high up, and wasn't really intefering with the kid/uterus area. I wish I had an answer to what the cause was, but at least my solution works and was approved.
I also asked him questions regarding the actual birthing procedures, episiotomies, circumcision, when to call, ect. Counting down the hours, and I'm not even close. Hey, Potatoes, want to trade?
So someone tell me how the heck the human race has survived all this time? This has got to be the most miserable I have ever been. I am ALWAYS uncomfortable, and I haven't slept in 4 days; this is worse than studio.
I'm always hot, too. Here I was complaining about how it was cold, and wondering when that Global Warming was going to kick in, and low and behold a crappy heat wave strikes, and I'm having to crank on the A/C just to cool off the house. Even with it set at 65 its still too hot to sleep. I was doing well when it was 59 in the house. How did all the mothers before modern air conditioning handle this? If it were up to me, the species would've stopped at three, unless I had a girl, in which case she'd have to mate with her father because theres no way I'd be willing to do this again. Guess that went a bit too far, but you get my point. I guess we're lucky that for so long the only effective form of birth-control was abstinence, and no one wants to play that game.
I have less than 50 days left, and yes, I'm counting them.
Sarah: First, I feel for how uncomfortable you are; I and many of my friends also couldn't sleep, sit, walk, reach, bend, or breathe comfortably for the last bit of our pregnancies. It is all-body encompassing, and the poor husband at the end is also feeling just how useless he really is when it comes to your comfort.
That said: Most women I know were not that uncomfortable until the last 3-4 weeks of their pregnancies. Are you - or rather, is your doctor - sure you still have 50 days left? As I recall, you found out about it after you were a farther along than, say, a woman who was tracking every temperature rise and drop while trying hard to conceive, right? Maybe you are due sooner, maybe this will be over sooner than you expect?!
smallpotatoes, check in if you're still unpopped, please....
The doctor says things are on schedule, so maybe its just because I'm short and short-waisted. But hey, since we're past the 'premature' mark, I'm cool with pre-term. It certainly would be more exciting for it too happen truly unexpectedly. But it will have to wait until at least the end of the month, or risk Husband being in FL instead of Dallas.
And yes, Potatoes, let us know how its going. Hey, maybe I will take my computer the the hospital with me when I go. Will I have time? What all should I pack that might not be mentioned in the books?
Remember with health insurance the way it is you may only be in the hospital for 48 hours or so, and your day will be packed with learning to breastfeed, change diapers, debate circumcision one last time, hold the little bugger w/o his head slamming backwards, etc. It doesn't seem that time-consuming, but somehow it really is. (If you have a c-section, you'll be there for 4-5 days.) Computer, maybe not...but if you're there for a few days you could have husband bring it in for you to switch: hand him the baby, you take the laptop for an hour to give you a break.
I had a cdplayer and little speakers, and I have to say having music - this was after the birth, not during delivery, when I didn't give a damn about music - was great. Also the Girlfriend's Guide suggests bringing your own pillow(s) and that was a benefit for me. Also bring hand/face lotion and lip balm.
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