Any summer 2016 babies?

[LLawson]

Miss Bellum, its hard for me to keep a secret too! Its killing me!
I was going to have quite a few family members in one place on Easter thats why I was wanting to do it that way but I live pretty close to my whole family so I can see them anytime. Just a matter of deciding what I want to do now. I was really hoping I could tell everyone the gender too when I announced it.
And yes I was fuming over that test and still am! That was a really big deal to me. The worst part was finding out I had been stressing and waiting 2 weeks on something that was never done.

 

[eva1978]

Hello, happy belated Easter! Did everyone do anything exciting for the holiday, find lots of Easter eggs?

Sorry I've been MIA. Now it's DH's turn to work a lot (he worked a lot over the weekend) so I've been having even less time to myself, except at night, when I'm usually too tired to properly catch up!

LLawson, so sorry about the harmony test screw up! What a major bummer... what did you end up doing re: telling family over Easter?

Megan - glad you are ok after the laundry incident! I'm still scared to see spotting when I go to the toilet... hasn't happened so far though. How exciting that you're moving to a larger house! Do you have a place or a neighbourhood picked out yet? We want to do that at some point as well, but at this point we're saving some money renting where we are and aren't sure where our next jobs will be, so will probably stay put for a bit longer. I think I'll need a bigger house though once baby #3 starts walking/running around! We'll have to put the two older kids in one room at some point, which should be fine but will take some adjustment.

Dimmu I totally understand the Nutella addiction! And with all this extra chocolate lying around from Easter... yikes. I should give some of it away to people at work! Probably won't though ;-)
What made you change from pursuing academia to something else? A lot of people in astro now who are getting PhDs are encouraged to look for non-academic employment - you tend to have job security, higher salary and better work-life balance (though I guess that depends on the specific job) once you leave academia... the sooner the better! I agree though - the super relaxed part of it is something I would miss if I leave. It does have its perks.

The kicking down low sounds painful. I haven't had that really, but starting to feel mildly crampy down there the last week. It's more amplified if I've been fairly active. I don't remember feeling that as much with my other two pregnancies at this stage... trying to take things a bit easy. Managing to do minimal exercise. So far the weather is still cooperating.

Has anyone been measured for/measured their own fundal height? I looked up how to do it and tried to measure myself (though heard it's not possible to do it properly on yourself). It says from ~24 weeks you should be around the same size in cm from the top of your pubic bone to the top of your uterus, and this is *lying down*. Assuming I felt the right location for my uterus, I am WAY below 24 cm, maybe 19 max?! So it's gotten me a bit worried. I think my bump looks like a decent size when standing but apparently the measurement isn't meant to be taken standing. Hopefully I'm either doing it wrong or the baby is lying in a funny way or something :-/

JJay congrats on V-day, and great bumpie!
I'm also noticing my bowls are a bit less active than usual... trying to drink even more water! Are you taking iron? I switched pre-natal brands and I think my new brand has more iron in it than the previous ones... maybe that's what's going on!
I'm sorry you had pain after chasing after DS :-/ I'm starting to think I also need to back off when dealing with picking up our sons (well, the 2 yr old... I've basically stopped picking up the 5 year old)! Getting to the point where I feel I should make DH do that stuff, when possible!
I've started wearing a couple of my old nursing bras. They don't fit perfectly but they're better than my 'normal' ones, which I've mostly stopped wearing.

I still don't know how much weight I've gained... a bit scared to find out! The scale in our bathroom needs a new battery... and we have to go and buy the right type. Should probably do that at some point, bite the bullet and stand on the thing!

Miss B, great your forms are all good now! How nice to feel the baby move so much.

 

[LLawson]

Eva, I kept quiet about it. It was so hard to do!!!
Im still waiting on my tests results. I havent heard anything yet. I go for an ultrasound Thursday though.

 

[dimmu]

Hello everyone,

So nice to read all your updates! Glad to hear everyone's pregnancies are going well.

JJAy- good to hear from you, love your bump pic!! You look great! My bump looks smaller in comparison only because I have a long back so it has space to spread out vertically. You look lovely and slim otherwise in your photo, I haven't weighed myself since before I got pregnant, I'm too scared. But as I can barely fit into my knickers I think I must have put on quite a bit of weight already.
I'm also suffering from constipation, horrid! With DD I got it really bad but it started much later. I'm also already starting to get the other horrible problem associated with constipation - piles. Had to see my GP about them.
Congrats on V-day as well, not long now and we'll be on our third trimester!!

Megan - I hope everything is well and that spotting was only temporary. I also kick the laundry basket around if it is very heavy, gotta be more careful I guess!! If only I could get DH to do the laundry instead - sigh. How exciting about the new house! Have you found one already? I don't think we'll ever be able to upgrade our flat to a bigger one or to a house. The prices have gone mental here since we bought and could never afford anything in this area again. And really love it where we are now so wouldn't want to move elsewhere, especially as it would mean changing schools for DD and her school is lovely.

LLawson - hope you get your test results soon. Good luck with your ultrasound, let us know how it goes!!

Miss B - glad you had the form sorted. I handed mine in yesterday so it's all official now. As of today I only have 9 weeks left at work, amazing!!! I don't like it that the appointments are so far apart, at least you're getting an extra scan aren't you? I think I will pay for a private scan at around 32-34 weeks to see how the baby is getting on. My bubba is also very active, much more so than DD was. She's constantly kicking and squirming, it's funny to see how my belly goes all hard on one side when she pushes her back or bottom or something against it. Definitely nice to have the reassurance but I can't help but worry she's gonna get all tangled up in the cord at this rate!!

Eva - I still have one huge egg left from Easter and it keeps calling me. The only thing stopping me is that it's a Frozen egg with Anna and Elsa on it so think I'm obliged to share it with DD. But at least I can have my nutella without her noticing!!!
With regards to the academia I just wanted a better job security, the next step would have been a post-doc and those are usually 1-3 year contracts. And I would have had to write all those papers I never got around to writing!! Also by then I had met my OH and wanted to move to London to be with him and at the time there wasn't really anything suitable in the unis here so ended up looking for a job in the private sector instead. Oh and on top of that I just had had enough of lab work, just never wanted to work in one ever again!!
Funny your baby is also more active than the previous ones! I wonder if you just are more aware of the movements now or if we are all carrying some hyperactive babies!
I actually tried measuring the fundal height the other night and like you I can only get some 19 cm if that. I assume I'm just doing it wrong as the baby was the right size in the 20 week scan. Still another 3 weeks until my next midwife appointment when it probably gets measured for the first time, I hate this waiting!!
The weather is finally turning for the better here so I should really get started with some exercising, I have no excuses now. Easier said than done though!

 

[LLawson]

Well, ITS A BOY! Another boy in the house! Im surrounded by them but I dont mind. They are easier to raise than the girls.
So my Ramzi Theory I had done was wrong.
Ive had nothing but boy dreams the whole time but the Ramzi Theory said girl and my heartbeat had been in the 160s so the doctor said possibly a girl too.
I had the ultrasound first and she said she suspected boy but didnt want me buying any boy stuff until I got my MaterniT21 results back. I had to wait but they finally got them faxed while I was there (almost 2 hours). FINALLY! My Doc was pretty upset they had not come in yet and was determined to get them while I was there. It confirmed it was a BOY! The MaterniT21 was negative and the genetic stuff they looked for on the ultrasound was perfect so we are good!

 

[eva1978]

Wow congrats on the little boy LLawson!! And great news about the genetic results!
That must have been tough to keep things under wraps at Easter. Do you have an idea of when you'll spill the beans now?

Dimmu - I had to look up what piles are but ahh yes - I know those. I think I have a minor case of them, nothing that luckily needs intervention at this point. I hope they don't get any worse for you and if anything, fade away and don't come back!
Thanks for the info on your fundal height. Phew... I feel a bit better now
I understand not eating the Frozen egg lol... I think my son would cry bloody murder if I were to eat such a thing without him. He's mighty Frozen-obsessed! Hope you both enjoy it once you crack it open!

Yeah the postdoc thing... it's great if you're single and/or don't have any dependents. But for couples who want to stay in the same city (and esp if you have kids), it's not the ideal career path. I was able to extend my first 3 yr postdoc by taking mat leave (I met my SO while doing my first postdoc), but not all institutions are set up for that. I'm lucky that DH was also willing to take a job in Australia and that our visas all worked out etc... otherwise we probably would have both already quit academia.
What kind of stuff did you work on in the lab? I haven't worked in a lab since undergrad, in a way I miss it! But my work now is mostly theoretical... I don't even really use telescopes.

I had my glucose tolerance test yesterday. I won't know results until next week but don't suspect anything strange. I did end up feeling quite ill about 45 mins after "the drink", and I had to lie down... felt like I was going to either faint or throw up felt much better after lying down though. Was able to catch a bit of a cat nap!

Have a great weekend everyone!

 

[LLawson]

Thanks Eva, Im going to try and catch everyone today and start telling them.

 

[Miss Bellum]

Hi all hope everyone is doing well.

Not a lot going on here. Pleased to be at 24 weeks so have had Vday! Getting very bumpy now and feeling lots of moment.

We were on holiday last week which was lovely not looking forward to going back tomorrow. Spent a few days in Southampton so we could take lg to Peppa Pig land. She loved it and it was a nice break. Apart it took hours to settle her for the first night in the hotel. Also, she had a total meltdown when it was time to leave which was a bit of a shame. Not over the fact we were leaving, but she had a really full nappy and wouldn’t let us change her. We told her unless she co-operated, there would be no toy from the shop, and had to follow through on it.

Eva - I haven't attempted to measure the fundal height. Just keeping fingers crossed all is ok. I always find scales scary and try to avoid them wherever possible. GT test sounds awful hope you are feeling better now.


Llawson - sorry you had to keep quiet. Congratulations on your boy glad the test was ok.

Dimmu - Only 9 weeks left wow that will fly by. It does seem odd that you get so few checks second time around I don’t see the midwife till the end of April now. I should be getting the extra scan at 34 weeks so something to look forward to. I cant actually see any movement yet must be really funny to see yours.

 

[eva1978]

How is everyone? Feeling well I hope!

Congrats on Vday Miss B! Peppa Pig land sounds great - I never knew that one existed! I've been to Southampton once (just briefly) - looks like a nice place! Too bad about the melt down but yes you really have to stick to your guns in those situations! Or behaviours just keep getting worse!

LLawson - if you started telling people I hope that's been going over well!

I had my second midwife appt today. Was only 15 mins long but it was very good. She measured my fundal height and I'm right on sched! She measured 26 cm and I'm 26 weeks tomorrow so I guess I was way off on my own sketchy measurements. Probably it's the same for you, dimmu! She also told me how the baby was lying, which the tech during my earlier ultrasounds never did despite me asking. He/she is mostly head-down, which is nice to know! The bumpy part that sticks out more (that I thought may be the head) is actually the back. My next u/s is in 3 weeks. GTT results are also all good!

 

[dimmu]

Hello everyone, hope you are all doing well!

All is good here, the bump is getting bigger by the day. The advantage is that people have started giving me their seats on the train, there's usually someone polite enough to do that even though probably 90% just look away. I seem to have some trouble sleeping these days, I keep waking up for the toilet and then can't get back to sleep after. It's worse on work nights as I get all anxious if I'm wide awake at 3 am and I have to get up for work at 5.30am. Oh well, I had my holidays approved so just eight more weeks of work left!!

Luckily my embarrassing pile problem has gone away before it got worse. Think it helped that I got some treatment early on. With DD1 I didn't know what was going on so it got quite bad before I went to doc's about it.
The baby is pretty active these days, do you know when you are supposed to start monitoring the kicks, at 28 weeks? I seem to have some kicking action or movement pretty much hourly these days which is lovely, but it does hurt at times as well when she really squirms.

Is anyone planning to take any antenatal classes at all? The ones my hospital provides don't sound overly useful unless you're a first time mum so think I'll just do the labour ward tour. I did also sign up for an NCT refresher course but this will only go ahead if there's enough interest. This would be mainly just to meet some other local mums to be. With DD1 I did hypnobirthing but not gonna bother with that this time, didn't work for me.

Eva- Glad to hear your measurements are up to date and the baby is head down. I wonder if my baby is in the same position and the hard part that sticks out whenever she really squirms is her bottom or back. I have my GT test next week and the midwife appointment the week after, they should be measuring me then. Glad to hear your GT test was all good!

With regards to the academia.. Apart from the coffee breaks and relaxed atmosphere not really missing it. I worked with lasers which sounds all glamorous but in reality it meant that I was stuck in a lab with no windows on my own all day with a big red light outside the door stopping people from coming in! I absolutely hated it, I'm not a chatterbox but still fairly sociable so spending every day alone was awful. The coffee breaks were my only escape, I also still smoked at the time so I of course ended up smoking more as well just to get out and see people lol!

Miss B - Congrats on the V day!
We always meant to take DD to the Peppa Pig land but never got around to it. These days she's more into Power rangers and My little pony high school stuff and some other horribly annoying American stuff, but I'm sure she'd still enjoy peppa pig land. Maybe we'll do it once DD2 is old enough to enjoy it.
It's nice you get that extra scan, I will just have to pay for one but think it's worth it.

Llawson - congrats on the baby boy, glad to hear everything was well in the genetic tests too! Have you told everyone now?

Oooh just realised I'm on double digits now - woohoo!!

 

[LLawson]

Well, we finally got to tell EVERYONE! I am a little overwhelmed after I posted my announcement on facebook Sunday night cause Ive had non-stop calls, texts and messages since about 10 last night and they are still coming!
We told my in laws first on Saturday and Early Sunday. They are Ecstatic! This is my husbands first biological child and his Fathers first biological grandchild so you can imagine the excitement! I knew they would be excited but I never imagined to this extent! His Mom took us straight to the Mall and bought over 300.00 in maternity clothes. Crazy! Shes already talking about all the stuff shes found to buy. LOL so again I was kinda overwhelmed. Everyones in total shock cause Im already 15 weeks and know the gender. I guess Im a little selfsh for not telling everyone earlier but I wanted to make sure things were ok.
I will post my facebook announcements from my phone. The pics are still upside down when I try and post them from my Ipad. Alot of people thought my dog was pregnant! LOL after you see the pics youll understand. They must have not read the sign very well. Tyson is the dogs name and all my family and friends know this! LOL

 

[LLawson]

Announcements we put on Facebook.

 

[LLawson]

Announcement with put with the other one

 

[eva1978]

Haha great announcement pics, LLawson!
I'll write more a bit later on in the week

 

[dimmu]

Lovely pics llawson!

 

[Miss Bellum]

Hi everyone, hope you are all doing well.

Not a lot to report here, all going well and fairly quietly.

Our LG has been advising on names and she thinks we should be calling her new sister Duck! That hadn't made it onto our list funnily enough!

Eva - PP world is part of Paultons Park so there is a fair amount to do for children of all ages. They are just building a new dinosaur themed bit which I'm sure LG will love when shes's a bit older.

Good to hear your mw appointment went well and all seems fine.

Dimmu - Glad your pile problem has cleared up! Never pleasant.

I cant quite remember when you are supposed to regularly count kicks but I think so long as long as you feel the usual level of movement from your lo it's usually fine.

I was going to do a NCT refresher course but decided we could use the money for other things instead. Will just use local FB groups to meet up with other ladies this time.

Llawson - Aww lovely that you have finally been able to tell everyone. What a lovely reaction from your family.

Lovely announcement pictures. I still find it quite funny there is a sauce called preggo!

 

[MeganS0326]

Hi ladies!! Glad everyone is doing well. I've been super busy the past few weeks and haven't had time to post but I've been following along.

So I'm 18 weeks tomorrow and still haven't felt any proper movements. It had me freaking out because I'm sure I felt DS way earlier than this. After scouring the internet I feel better as apparently some women don't feel movement until like 21weeks. I'm having a hard time bonding with this pregnancy, I think because I'm so busy with DS and being team yellow. I wish the kicks would start as I think that will help it feel more real. I'm getting over a stupid UTI that had me in a lot of pain for a few days and am dealing with an unbearable amount of sciatica pain.

Sorry for the rant! Hope you are all having a great weekend!!!

 

[LLawson]

Thanks everyone! Megan Im just now feeling some flutters and Ive had 3 children. I swear I think I was feeling them last alot earlier too. It worries me so I got a doppler to listen to the heartbeat so that reassures me hes still there. I feel like Ive been able to bond alot more now that I know the gender and my children and husband are bonding with him now too. Now that they know hes a boy they keep talking about all the things they are going to do with him. Its really cute actually! The guys want to name him Raylen so thats what they are calling him now. I want Kye (Malakye) but I think they are going to keep battling me on this one!

 

[dimmu]

Hi everyone

Still not much to report here either, baby is still very active which is nice unless it's 3 am in the morning!

Miss B - Our DD has also come up with a number of suggestions for the name, mostly based on tv shows she's seen or kids in her school. Nothing quite like Duck though! For a while she was determined the baby should be JJ, and she keeps suggesting her own name as well. Last night she suggested Tilly and I actually quite like Matilda, Tilly not so much. Would go nicely with DD's name that is also traditional.

I'm still gonna do the NCT refresher course early June, hoping to meet some local mums there. Our area is a bit funny, where we live is not the best but it's surrounded by some of the most affluent parts of London. So I'm often struggling to meet mums I actually have much in common with, they're either very well off and like to discuss private schools and shopping trips to New York etc., and then you have the other end of the spectrum ie. people who don't work and have kids very young, compared to me anyway. We are somewhere in between. Hope that doesn't make me sound terribly snobbish or stuck up by the way!

Megan good to see you here as well, although sorry to hear you're having such a hard time! My colleague didn't feel her baby until 22 weeks so think it's normal. I felt DD1 at 17 weeks and this one since 13/14 weeks, but this baby it's much more active than DD ever was so think it depends on the baby as well. I hope your UTI clears soon at least.

LLawson so sweet that your boys are connecting with the baby! I like the name Raylen, don't think I've ever known anyone with that name.

 

[eva1978]

Hi all, hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Megan sorry about your UTI and other hardships - ouch Regarding the movement, I hope you start to feel something very soon! With this pregnancy I felt distinct movement at 14 weeks and then nothing very distinct again until much later... maybe 18 weeks? So hang in there! Perhaps the baby is moving about tonnes but mostly kicking your placenta, in which case you won't feel it so much.

Pretty cute name suggestion by your LG Miss B I also don't plan on doing any extra courses... is the NCT one about birthing/labour? I attended one class on 'next birth after c-section' which was very useful, but that's it. I did one tour of the labour ward before I had my first back in Germany, though I ended up in the operating theatre anyway. It was still eye opening and I'm glad I did the tour. I think they have similar facilities here.

LLawson how nice you are narrowing down on a name sounds like you have a lot of excited family around who are supportive. I hope you aren't feeling too overwhelmed!

Our older son has suggested some names: Max, Lily, and I think another girl's name (Duck is pretty great though)!

Great that the piles problem has subsided dimmu. With the kick counting: I remember something ~28 weeks but I asked my MW about that and she said that it's better to 'get to know your baby' and his/her movements, and go with that as the norm. I think the standard advice is to make sure you feel X kicks in Y hours, but this just doesn't work for all pregnancies since some babies are less/more active etc. Was it 10 movements in 2 hours? I can't remember.

You said you tried hypnobirthing? Was it a lot of work to prepare? I wasn't planning on trying that but I am a bit curious. Good luck on your GTT! I do like the name Matilda ... very Aussie ;-) We know one couple with a young daughter named Matilda.

I realised that I will have to have this baby no later than July 15, since I want him/her to be vaccinated before we fly to Europe. We've booked our flights (mostly for work + to see in-laws... a bit crazy) for late August and the nurse absolutely won't give the 2 month vacs before 6 weeks of age. I guess this means if nothing happens naturally I will have to schedule a c-section for the 15th. This is only 1-2 days after the due date so I'm a bit bummed. Hopefully things happen by or before my due date! I'm not completely against another c-section but I would rather it's not for this particular reason. We're constrained by this workshop though :-/

Does anyone have experience with modern cloth diapers? We've always been a disposable nappy family but I want to make the switch to non-disposable ones for this baby, save on all that garbage etc. I've heard really good things about pre-folds. Just wondering if anyone has used any?