★ October & November 2020 Hedgehogs ★

[co_fostermom]

Had the fetal echo today which went well. Got a baby picture that makes me laugh because my kid is quite the acrobat. Baby has graduated to the 16th percentile from the 9th at 20 weeks so I'm happy with that. The doctor thinks he might just be petite.

 

[jellybeanxx]

Aww that’s a very cute pic of your bendy baby Co! Glad it all went well!

I’ve just finished the week of at home blood sugar testing and didn’t get a single high reading! I’m so pleased! I even pushed my limits with carbs without issue. I’ll continue to follow the GD now though to be on the safe side but will hopefully get treated as non GD and not need to see the diabetic team etc. I get extra scans as DS1 was small anyway so feel quite safe about that!

 

[Pineberry]

Back from our trip! Had a lovely time, but that first city we visited (where my SO went to university, so he had always been eager to show me that town) was extremely hilly and we walked around for a total of probably 5-6 hours, add to that the intense summer heat... let me say I overestimated my pregnant self a little bit! Went to bed that night with the worst ever pelvic pain and sore lower belly


For some reason though my body handled it very well when we went hiking in a nationalpark 2 days later! It was a lot of uphill walking, climbing through jungle-like areas to get to waterfalls, jumping from rock to rock on a river and I was feeling 100% fit and painfree! People were visibly surprised/impressed to see a heavily pregnant woman there, haha.


I seem to be getting a lot of smiles and looks from strangers in general, even people just walking past us when we're out. Everyone seems so happy when they see my belly and sometimes ask questions about the baby, etc. It's really cute

Baby boy is moving a ton, and he gets the hiccups several times a day. Ultrasound day tomorrow!!

@Fern81 I'm glad you have everything set for when you need to get out. Honestly, that whole family sounds extremely toxic and I really believe you'd be 100% better off and much happier without them in your life, and still hope that you will take steps to make that happen. Even if your husband is "nice" right now, eventually he'll be abusive again... and nobody deserves that.
Yay though for more baby movements and adorable that he starts wiggling around once you sing lullabies

@Catmumof4 I'm so happy to hear that everything is well with Bonnie. I also hope that you're feeling better now and no more sickness/headaches!

@co_fostermom So so sorry for the loss of your stepmother. That is absolutely tragic. Wish you & your hubby lots of strength moving forward. I'm glad though that your fetal echo went well and no issues with your bub's heart. I felt so relieved after mine, even though I didn't really think anything would be wrong - it was just so nice to get confirmation of it. Adorable scan pic - quite the acrobat indeed

@jellybeanxx Yayy for great glucose readings!! That's fantastic! No need to be overly diligent with what you eat then, but I agree that it's probably a good idea to still keep carbs on the lower side just to be safe.
Since we had to eat out all the time during our mini-holiday, I ended up having way more carbs than I should for all of the 4 days I felt pretty crappy having high readings 4 straight days in a row. Back to low-carb and healthy eating now that I'm back home.

 

[Joannaxoxo]

Happy Tuesday everyone.

Catmum - I'm so glad baby is doing well and that you got the reassurance you needed. Hopefully the medicine has made you feel a little better now. My little baby went through 2-3 days where I hardly felt him at all ... I was super worried too. However, being that it was the weekend I didn't feel enough panic to head to emergency to get him checked out. He started moving like crazy Saturday evening and has been kicking consistently every since. I'm saying this because it sounds a lot like your situation with Bonnie. They must be in a position where they are 'hiding', which for me might be head down and so most of his body is behind my anterior placenta. I think I feel him a lot more when he is transverse across my belly. This is my first pregnancy with an anterior placenta so I'm experiencing these new fears that I didn't have with my other pregnancies.

Fern - Putting up boundaries against family is never easy but so much better for your mental health. I've put up a lot of boundaries with my grandma as she can be a very pushy person when she wants her way. It's taken a lot of guts to stand up for myself and my family... simple things like staying 'no' when she demands a visit and we are unable. I know this isn't the same thing as your situation but it certainly helps with the mental health.

Foster - I'm sorry about your DH's stepmother, she sounds like a very lovely person. Too bad your DH's maternal mother sounds awful. You said your DH's stepmother wanted to be there for the first few weeks after baby was born.... do you have other support on your side of the family for this?

I am also feeling the need to nest. Most of the house has been cleaned up, except our bedroom.... where baby will be sleeping. I get a week off at the end of the month so we will be getting the baby crib assembled and moving our bedroom around to fit the furniture. Exciting times.

 

[Joannaxoxo]

A few posts must have happened while I was typing out my last one:

Foster - glad the little guy is doing well, what an acrobat! Love the picture.

Jellybean - so happy your glucose readings are doing so well.

Pineberry - Sounds like you had a nice trip... too bad it's getting harder to do all those nice trips/walks.... I've gotten some nasty sciatic nerve pain after overdoing things recently. It's our body's way of telling us to slow down. I bet your happy to get home and relax now though?

 

[co_fostermom]

@Fern81 - finally read your post. I am SO sorry that you are dealing with that but I'm really glad you have plans in place to leave if necessary. I have a very toxic MIL too, though thankfully in 2013 when she tried to convince DH to "send me away to my dad's until I found a job" and legally separate from me for no good reason, DH reached out to some of his friends (his best man) and mentors and they pretty much figuratively slapped him across the head. Today we thank them for saving our marriage. But anyway, man, MILs can be the worst. DH had to distance himself from his mom when she a) continued to treat me horribly and b) started treating our foster kids horribly (we will NEVER tolerate anyone treating foster kids horribly. They don't deserve it. I don't care how bad their behavior is - they are traumatized kids and these kids have had a rougher life by the time they were 11 than most people can say they've experienced by the time they are 50). Anyway, stay strong, and don't be afraid to say "enough is enough" when things get to be too much.

@jellybeanxx - Yay for no GD! I'm getting super nervous about mine coming up next week. Don't think I'll have a problem, but yeah, for sure babies want ALL the carbs but they NEED all the protein and healthy fats. I've had to fight that a bit recently.

@Pineberry - your trip sounds like it was AMAZING! Did you happen to go to Porto at all? My first European trip with DH (and his first European trip ever) was to Porto and we instantly fell in love with that city. We only were there for a week and three of the days were eaten by a grad school conference (the reason we were there), but it was such a wonderful trip. We would absolutely LOVE to go back to Portugal sometime in the near future.

@Joanna - Nesting! I totally understand. I find it so exciting to put all the baby furniture together, etc. I'm debating on having DH put together our bedside crib so I can get used to it being there (it will sort of be in the way of me getting up in the middle of the night), but I think I want to hold off for a few more weeks. We have a lot of baby updates to do around other parts of our house anyway - like I want to get all our bookshelves completely off the floor. Currently they are a serious hazard. Plus, there are some really special books on those shelves and I can just see Baby pulling them off (as babies do), and ripping covers, etc. I think that's gonna be our next project.

Also, we don't have any family in this state, but DH has a great relationship with his aunt and has asked her to be a "surrogate MIL" for us in the weeks after baby is born. She seems super excited about that and I'm certainly going to be grateful for the help. My mom would totally be here if she could, but we live in a three-story townhome with small bathrooms and she is in a wheelchair so it would be virtually impossible for her to help us at all. I'm also working on making some mom friends (going on a couple mom dates this week) at our church in hopes of building a support system. I feel like I finally got a fire under my butt to prepare for this baby! He's viable now, so there's no mistaking that this is gonna happen for real this time.

AFM - I think I felt baby hiccoughs for the first time last night. Either that or he was throwing a wild uterus party lol.

 

[AzureOrchid]

As far as movements go, I've been in much the same boat as many of you with this guy beating me up one day and being completely chill the next. He always seems to come back with more kicks after a quiet day so figuring it's plenty normal. One weird thing I've been noticing is he likes to sit super low at times - like... uncomfortably low! It happens about once a day then he usually moves back into a more comfortable spot but it's so strange and awkward.

So exciting to hear some of the names! We've got one that we both agree on so far but we'll see if it sticks. Some other life events have taken priority so we'll probably revisit names later on.

Just bought a new house and in the midst of getting this one on the market. Sooooo stressful, especially with the two cats that are still not getting along. Buggers. Nevermind all the cleaning up of his stuff to make it presentable. We just had staging folks in here today, though, and now I'm afraid to sit anywhere it looks so pretty!

Struggling to complete the rest of the registry but slowly getting there. At least we finally made a decision on a "big" purchase for the baby last weekend and grabbed our stroller (went with Uppababy Cruz after agonizing research and discussions).

Do any of you second/multiple time moms have recommendations for breast pumps? I am fine with spending the money if those pricier versions are worth it. I'm not sure I want to take a chance with those suction ones, despite the price being right, so trying to figure out what the best way to go is. I have zero clue about breast feeding/pumping/etc. at this point! If anyone has any links to comparisons or useful sites about this, that would also be very welcome.

Heading off on a vacation on the 24th, which is sooooo badly needed after all this house fuss (I'll be so glad when we are finally moved in October). Going up north to a cottage for a week but, sadly, have to cut our stay short as the MIL is going for surgery and just couldn't (properly ask to/wouldn't) move the date out. Supposedly her options were this or in October, which seems like a ridiculous misunderstanding/BS given they want her in ASAP... Anyways, I digress. We were supposed to stay Friday to Friday at this place but have to come back on the Wednesday night now to take her for her surgery first thing in the morning on Thursday (and somehow still don't have a time of day for it?!) While I would prefer it's us that provides her the support she needs (this is old hat for me with family/personal history, I'm used to playing "the rock" during these times), it's frustrating that her daughter can't help out. Her daughter has five kids, the most useless irresponsible husband that doesn't like letting her leave the house, and one freaking car that doesn't even fit all of them. Ugh!! But that's a whole other can of worms lol!

Anyways, hope everyone is keeping cool in this heat. I never thought the day would come that my partner is colder than I am and complains we need to turn up the temp in the house lol! I've always been the frozen one 24/7 and now it's his turn

 

[jellybeanxx]

Pine that trip sounds amazing! So glad you were able to have some pain free days as well. I’m sure all that exercise will have helped stabilise your blood sugars! All the best with your scan!

Joanna the nesting and preparing sounds exciting! It’s a lovely feeling to have everything ready! My nesting instinct has just started kicking in and I want to clean everything in sight. Unfortunately my pelvic pain has kicked in too so having to balance that!

Co I hope you have a lovely time on those Mom dates! That support network can make such a difference. The Mam friends I made when I had my youngest son have been such a great support. Having a baby can be hard work but so much more fun when you’re surrounded by people in that stage as well! Best of luck with your GD test too!

I made the mistake of walking on the beach today and while it was lovely my pelvis really hurts! Might need to stay off the sand or at least limit my walking on it. Not easy in the summer!

 

[jellybeanxx]

Azure I missed your post! I had a medela swing last time around but mainly bought that because our local children’s centre sells them at a discount! I liked it though. I think the type of pump you get will depend on what your usage will be like, so whether you’ll be exclusively pumping, or using it at work or just for occasional use etc. You can get the fancy hands free types that slip in your bra which are great if you’re back at work right through to the suction type ones like the Hakka which you just attach to one side while you’re feeding from the other and it catches the letdown, they’re great if you just want to build a little freezer stash. There are so many options!
Sorry that you’re going to have to cut your trip short, I hope you still manage to have a relaxing and fun time!

 

[Catmumof4]

Pineberry your holiday sounds so amazing and I'm so jealous lol. Is there any chance u could update me to the 14th Oct expecting a girl please xx

Co what a lovely scan photo glad all is well with baby!

I can't remember who bought it up first but the nesting! Yes! If repainted the living room and reorganised the whole house!!

 

[Catmumof4]

So I'm 27 weeks tomorrow and according to some websites and books that's the start of 3rd trimester some say 28 weeks but I will take the 27 lol!! Xx

 

[Flueky88]

Fern I actually didn't know that it was a name of a flower how cool.

I'm so sorry you aren't having the support you deserve. Your MIL sounds like a real piece of work. oh and yay for a little under 14 weeks until your leave.

Cc cute bump.

Co, yes it can be a bit worrisome with finances and a baby. I was especially like that with my 1st. I had been promoted when pregnant with 2nd and already had pretty much everything so it was much less stressful. I've had a little stress this time since we are wanting to sell our home and buy one. Plus DH is going to become a SAHD since daycare prices would be ridiculous for 3. We should be able to manage but will have to watch money carefully.

Yikes MIL had such a poor response. You'd think she'd be over the moon. Oh but what an awesome gift getting all that baby clothes

Yay for baby growing to 16th percentile and everything being good. Also holy moly he should be a yoga instructor already lol

Cat, Bonnie is a lovely name. Hope weight just comes off you but lil Bonnie keeps growing

I think waters breaking before contractions only occur in like 8 to 10% of pregnancies. I'm hopingI continue with my streak of waters breaking b4 contractions so I have more time to get childcare sorted.

Glad Bonnie is okay.

Joanna I really like Connor. It's not sonething I hear often but it's not a unique spelling or made up sounding name. I'm personally not fond of either of those or very popular names.

My waters broke before I had contractions with both of my girls 1st at 34+5 and my 2nd at 39+4. I did take progesterone injections with my 2nd pregnancy to prevent preterm labor. I'd just mention your concern to OB and be hyper vigilent for signs of preterm labor. In hindsight I had some but was in denial and blew them off mostly. I did get seen the day before at an urgent care(it was a holiday and OB office was closed) because of increased vaginal discharge but I really should have called OB the next day. Alls well that ends well though.

Jelly so glad for good testing results

Oh and sorry for pelvic pain after walking on the beach/sand.

Azure we are meeting with a realtor to discuss selling our home by end of the month. Well putting up for sale. I'm a bit nervous with thought of moving heavily pregnant with a 3 y.o. and currently 16 month old. DH and I discussed that we may wait though. Homes are selling quickly in our area though so good time to sale.

Breast pumps. I've used medela PISA, spectra s2, and hospital grade medela. Spectra was the best. It was quieter, gentler, and most efficient. If you can, get the s1 though for the portability factor. I'm also trying out a hakaa this time. I'm not sure it'll be useful for me since I don't tend to leak. I never leaked with 2nd baby and only a few times with my 1st.

Pine sounds like a lovely trip. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

AFM been busy at work. Had a mishap with mail courier that had the potential to cost my company thousands of dollars. Was thankfully able to get an extension from the insurance company. We have also been busy getting house ready to potentially put up for sale. Meeting with realtor Friday to discuss. I'm excited and nervous at the same time.

I'll try to post a bump pic but I look huuuge to have only gained 6-7lbs. I'm all uterus lol.

 

[Joannaxoxo]

Azure - Breast pumps are really a very individual thing. I exclusively breast fed both of my other children. I had an Avent manual hand pump but only used it at the beginning once in awhile when I was uncomfortably full. Your breast milk will adjust for baby's needs so you don't want to pump and feed baby unless your trying to build a milk stash for the freezer. The only other time I used my manual hand pump was a couple times when I felt like I had a clogged duct. I no longer have my Avent manual pump anymore (gave it away years ago) but have purchased the Haaka suction pump to try. I do know my needs this time so I think that's all I'll use. But everyone is different. I think often you won't know until baby arrives what you will use/need.

Catmum - Can't believe we are all around the corner from 3rd Trimester! I can certainly feel it when I sleep now... waking several times a night feeling sore or just to roll over (my body won't roll over in my sleep anymore).

Flukey - I've now had 2 dreams where I'm calling the baby 'Connor'. So I think that will probably be his first name but DH and I aren't ready to formally announce it yet lol. We might keep the three names we like (Jeremy, Patrick & Connor) and see which one suits him best once he is born.
I had pre-term labour with my son, but he was 38+1 - so when waters broke it was good. However, I don't think I had any warning of pre-term labour with my daughter and waters broke at 36+2. Thankfully she was fully cooked and just a little on the thin side. I will be reminding my OB of this when I see her... and thanks for your story, I didn't realize that progesterone can help prevent pre-term labour.... wonder if it helps with random water breaking too?

 

[Pineberry]

your trip sounds like it was AMAZING! Did you happen to go to Porto at all? My first European trip with DH (and his first European trip ever) was to Porto and we instantly fell in love with that city. We only were there for a week and three of the days were eaten by a grad school conference (the reason we were there), but it was such a wonderful trip. We would absolutely LOVE to go back to Portugal sometime in the near future.

We actually did go to Porto! Thought only stopped there for a few hours on the way up to Gerês Nationalpark, so didn't see much, but what I saw was beautiful! Had a stunning view over the city while the sun was setting, and we were in a gorgeous park with free-running peacocks and chickens which was so awesome haha. You should totally visit Portugal again

AFM - I think I felt baby hiccoughs for the first time last night. Either that or he was throwing a wild uterus party lol.

I know my boy's got the hiccups when I feel like a rhythmic, very mild twitch in my lower belly. You can even hear it on the doppler - the 1st time I heard his hiccup via the doppler I was so confused as to what that rhytmic pulsating sound was, and after some Google research I then found out it's the hiccups! He gets them sooo often now. Up to 4 times per day!

@Joannaxoxo I really like the name Connor! For a first name, I'd definitely choose that one over Patrick. Connor Patrick is awesome!

@Catmumof4 oh noes- Updated ofc

Just had my 28 week scan (partner was able to join, yay!)... Good and kind of bad news. Good is that he's a healthy babe, bad news is that the doctor seemed very concerned as he's measuring very large apparently. We're talking 99th percentile.

I dont know if it's because of the GD or what. My numbers are mostly good (except for when I have a cheat meal now and then). Have a consultation tomorrow to go over the ultrasound report & talk about next steps regarding babe's size. I'm now worried about birth complications, needing a c-section, etc.

Also, we got some 3D pics and I may be biased but I think he's gorgeous.

 

[Flueky88]

Joanna yeah I never knew about progesterone injections for preterm labor until I asked the OB like 6 hours after birthing my preemie what would we do for next pregnancy (type A, OCD, planner/organizer right here ). Whether it was the injection that made me go full term or I would have without it, we'll never know. The injections are pretty controversial right now though. I still chose to get them though as potential benefit outweighs the risk.

That's so cool you are dreaming about Connor. I just have bizarre dreams. Like I was helping a dog birth baby mooses (not sure what plural form of moose is). Then I gave birth to E 15 minutes after around 630 a.m. I decided to just show up at OB office once they opened but I forgot to bring E so they threatened to call DCS on me yeah that's the only dream I recall about my baby.

Pine he's very handsome! Glad DH was able to go with you. I'm sorry he's measuring on the large side. I've heard GD can do that but don't know if it's when GD is controlled or uncontrolled. Will they scan you later to reassess size?

AFM I'm so happy that almost everyone has reached V day, I know that we all want our babies to cook much longer than that but it's a nice milestone to reach and pass.

Got my hair cut as it was getting pretty long. I have really fine hair so long hair weighs my hair down and makes it look thin/flat on top.

As promised, a bump pic from Sunday/22 weeks. I still can't get over how big it is with just a 7 lb weight gain at time of pic. It's also a evening pic which I'm more bloated too.

 

[jellybeanxx]

Pine I’m glad you could take your partner to the scan and those pictures are gorgeous! Is baby measuring big all over and are you and/or your partner tall? GD can cause excessive abdominal growth if it’s uncontrolled but there’s lots of reasons babies measure big all over and it’s not always an issue! I hope the consultation goes well and you get some reassurance.
I hadn’t thought of listening to hiccups with the Doppler. Will have to try that! I’ve not been using mine as much since I started getting regular movements.

Flukey that’s a great bump photo, you’re looking fab! It’s exciting to be approaching V day isn’t it? I’d always thought of it as 24 weeks (as in the completed week) but an app I was reading was saying my baby was viable now as I’ve started week 24 so I’m not sure which it is exactly but I’m glad to be in the general area of it!

Cat yay for the third trimester! That’s another thing where I’m not sure exactly when to count it from either! I think I wonder about it in each pregnancy and remember reading a thread about it on here in my last pregnancy. Definitely just go with it from now though

 

[Catmumof4]

Hi all, thanks for all the comments,

Flukey good luck with putting the house up for sale!

I still dream about my waters going on there own odd I know LMAO

Pineberry the growth scans can be really far off. I was told on the day I had my last daughter she would be over 8lb and she was low 7lb so don't panic too much but it is really good they are keeping a close eye

Flukey I am getting my hair done fri can't wait it's so desperate for it Lol!
Lovely pic I'm too big to post one but I have a little ball too

Jellybean yh I'm taking it from today. Worked out I'm 27 weeks pregnant and lost 27lbs since finding out were pregnant!!

Afm iv had 2-3 Braxton hicks past few days made it feel very real and exciting! My good friend recently lost her baby at 36 weeks with no warning so I'm living in a state of fear, nightmares and realised how much I love Bonnie already I'm so so scared all over again but desperate to focus on the good. Her movements are right back to being the karate kid so I'm living that and if you ask my nearly 2 year old Evelyn where Bonnie is she wobbles my belly lol xx

 

[AzureOrchid]

Thanks jellybean, Flueky and Joanna for the breast pump tips! That helps quite a bit Maybe that'll be a purchase I hold off on until after the little one gets here and go from there but will definitely make note of those brands just in case.

Flueky - the market is scarily hot right now. Everything is selling like hot cakes everywhere, it seems. We're anticipating this place not being up for long. Also highly recommend hiring some movers if you can afford to - they make all the difference in the world and you can put your feet up the day of! Also, super cute bump!!

Pine those are cute pics!! We're hoping to do the 3D ones next month or so

There's also something to be said for getting hair done. I went the first Saturday after they opened here to cut my nearly-down-to-my-butt hair to shoulder length and it has been such a relief!! I was melting in the heat lol

 

[Joannaxoxo]

Pineberry - what a gorgeous picture of your little man! Glad they are keeping a good eye on his weight and your GD, hopefully everything will be just fine. Also, the name Connor Patrick will probably be it, it's what seems to work best. The only thing holding us back is that the name Connor is pretty popular in our area... I've never really liked the idea of giving a child a name where there is 2-3 kids in his grade with the same name lol.

Flukey - Love the bump shot, you look great! I've had so many bazaar dreams... many of which I am searching for my baby boy and can't find him. Some dreams have been lovely though, where I am snuggling him and breast feeding. I actually can't wait to experience breast feeding all over again, it was such an amazing time (though exhausting and a bit frustrating at the beginning).

Catmum - I've been getting several braxton hicks throughout the day now (maybe 2-3 a day). I really can't remember having them with my other pregnancies but I'm sure I did. They say you get them more in subsequent pregnancies.

Jellybean - not sure I've felt any hiccups yet... I'm sure he has them but I haven't noticed yet. Sometimes I think he sits behind my anterior placenta and so I hardly feel much of anything. Other times, he might turn and I feel lots of movement at the sides. Just goes to show how thick that placenta must be!

Azure - I second the movers to help you! Also, I got my hair cut about 2 weeks ago, it felt so nice to get rid of all the split ends! That must have been quite the drastic hair cut you had but I can imagine how nice it feels now

 

[Catmumof4]

Hey all hope your all well!

Joanna I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow just thinned and my fringe put back where it should be LMAO

We went for our first meal today since lockdown and I swear I ate enough for 3 days and feel so sick now! Self inflicted I no LMAO!