**April Bunnies 2015**

[northern_me]

Rebecca that is infuriating. I'm not a smoker and I don't want to offend anyone who might be, but sometimes I don't understand how some people can ignore plain scientific facts about second/third hand smoke.

 

[TaraCathryn]

Rebecca, I'm glad your DH stood up to his parents. Hopefully over time they will come to understand the issue.

Northern I can't believe your DD did that to her shirts. Has she seen that style on her friends at school? I've had a hard time adjusting to just how much influence her peers have now. *sigh*

Maggz, Papp-A is one of the hormones they test for in the first tri quad screen. It being low increases the likelihood of Down's syndrome, but it's also linked to pre eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction which are my concerns. Luckily I got the OB to refer me to perinatology, so I feel better about it now!

Doc also says I'm anemic, so im hoping taking iron will help with how exhausted I've been.

DD and I have apparently come down with the flu. Her temp was 104 this morning (her normal is 97) and she has a horrible cough. Poor thing. We got our flu shots but apparently they're not so good this year! The worst for me is that my lungs are congested and I feel like I can't get enough air, which has my anxiety through the roof. Hopefully we'll feel better before Christmas, especially DD. Poor thing!

 

[Christina86]

I must have really needed sleep. I fell asleep at 10:30 last night. Woke up once to use the bathroom and went back to bed until 11:45am. Talk about feeling refreshed!! =]

 

[xkirstyx]

Sorry iv not been on in ages! Been really busy! Had my re scan last week and everything is looking good. Was also my daughters birthday. That's me 24 weeks today! This pregnancy is going so fast!!!!

 

[maggz]

I'm so torn right now... so Christmas back home is vastly different from Christmas in the states. We celebrate Christmas Eve, get dressed up, have a nice dinner at 6 o'clock sharp, everyone is on their best behavior, we have the radio tuned to a church service during dinner (just a formality but still a big part somehow), do dishes, sit down in the living room to open gifts, then have dessert and read Christmas cards. It's always so festive and everyone's happy and the kids are excited for gifts and the adults for the food lol...
BUT here, they don't really do anything special! It's like there are no customs that they hold dear. At least not my DH's family, and I'm pretty sure it sprouts from money troubles over the years, but it makes me so, so sad. DH knows how important Christmas Eve is to me and how I wanna make it special and he's all for doing it my way since he doesn't really have a way. We invited his parents to come down for dinner with us and then we would go up to their house on Christmas Day, but now he wants to do dinner at his parents house cause he's sure they won't wanna (or won't afford to) drive down. And I'm sure that if we do it there, it's not gonna be festive at all. There's no way they're dressing up, at least not his dad and brother although his mom might put on a dress. They never eat together at the table which is another thing that's important to me, and I would just like to cook and get everything ready at my house, with my stuff!
It's so hard to be away from family this time a year

Sorry I'm not replying to anyone girls, I'm just super sad and I wish DH understood like I thought he did.

 

[Christina86]

We apparently have a very active baby who does not like being interrupted by the doppler as it punched (or kicked) it numerous times at the dr apt. The hb is 158! And they measured my stomach for the first time. Measured at 23 so she said that was good as I'm 22w2d =]

I got a lovely bottle of what they said is like stale orange soda to drink for the next visit for my glucose test. Yay me. Lol.

 

[Beanonorder]

Mag I igz I'm sorry you are feeling this way! I know what you mean. Christmas has always been a big thing in my family and I want to pass the traditions on to my kids. Dh is not into Christmas at all and it's caused many fights over the years because I feel like he just doesn't get it. Now with dd he is trying a little bit but i can see he still doesn't really get it. Its just the three of us this year and it really makes me miss home so much! Big hugs to you!

Rebecca I'm glad your dh stood up to his parents! I hope it works out well. I'm glad the funeral went well and that you got such a special photo of ds.

Kirsty it's good to hear from you!

Tara sorry about the anemia but glad you got the referral you needed.

Today I'm going to be busy finishing up Christmas shopping, baking shortbread and getting a few things ready for our Christmas lunch tomorrow. Can't believe it's the 24th here already! I also found someone selling some newborn and 0 to 3 month clothes and most of them are exactly what I need! So going to pick them up too.

 

[northern_me]

I'm so torn right now... so Christmas back home is vastly different from Christmas in the states. We celebrate Christmas Eve, get dressed up, have a nice dinner at 6 o'clock sharp, everyone is on their best behavior, we have the radio tuned to a church service during dinner (just a formality but still a big part somehow), do dishes, sit down in the living room to open gifts, then have dessert and read Christmas cards. It's always so festive and everyone's happy and the kids are excited for gifts and the adults for the food lol...
BUT here, they don't really do anything special! It's like there are no customs that they hold dear. At least not my DH's family, and I'm pretty sure it sprouts from money troubles over the years, but it makes me so, so sad. DH knows how important Christmas Eve is to me and how I wanna make it special and he's all for doing it my way since he doesn't really have a way. We invited his parents to come down for dinner with us and then we would go up to their house on Christmas Day, but now he wants to do dinner at his parents house cause he's sure they won't wanna (or won't afford to) drive down. And I'm sure that if we do it there, it's not gonna be festive at all. There's no way they're dressing up, at least not his dad and brother although his mom might put on a dress. They never eat together at the table which is another thing that's important to me, and I would just like to cook and get everything ready at my house, with my stuff!
It's so hard to be away from family this time a year

Sorry I'm not replying to anyone girls, I'm just super sad and I wish DH understood like I thought he did.

That is tough! I understand. We do two nights of celebrations here. I'm currently at a Tibb's Eve party(Newfoundland tradition!) which happens tonight and everyone has their friends together for a huge party. Then on Christmas Eve everyone does the same thing with family after church if they're going. Tibb's Eve and Christmas Eve are the biggest part of the holiday for me. If I had to miss that, I would feel like Christmas was ruined.

Can you organize your own thing with friends or family close by?

 

[Beanonorder]

Northern I keep meaning to ask, what was that book you recommended? I don't have the energy to go through all the past posts to find it!

 

[maggz]

Thanks guys I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels strongly about keeping traditions. I do feel better though, I planned the menu and went shopping for food and the rest of the presents, so at least the dinner is gonna be almost all the same - I'm gonna prep as much as I can before we leave so I just have to put stuff in the oven etc when we get to his parents' house. Hopefully they will wanna do presents (at least the ones we bring) after dinner. We really put a lot of thought into their presents and I think they will love them so it will be fun watching them unwrap, especially his little brother.
I was just upset cause I needed to adjust to doing something slightly different. I hope it will be fun.
Northern, I get what you mean. Being away from home year after year makes me feel even stronger about making it more like home for the holidays. Makes me feel closer without actually being there... But no can do with the planning something else, I don't have any family in the states and very few friends around here. Most of them more like acquaintances. It's really hard to make friends as you get older, I've found! :doh:

I did go to the outlets and get great presents, Carter's was having a huge sale I'm definitely going back there after Christmas to get baby essentials. I got two things from "the bump" to DH, a onsie that says "I'm Cute. Mom's Cute. Dad's Lucky!" and then an outfit (pants, sweater, and T-shirt) and the shirt says "I get my good looks from Daddy" I just thought it was so cute

Christina glad everything's on track over there!

Bean lucky you found some newborn stuff! I need to go on the hunt for second hand stuff as well, I've heard you can really find some great deals on almost never worn clothes!

Rebecca atta boy for your husband and standing up to his parents. Hopefully they'll realize it's not worth it to smoke vs having you guys stay with them!

 

[Dini]

Kirsty glad to hear from you and glad all is well!

Tara also glad to hear from you but sorry about the anemia. Hopefully the iron helps and I'm sure you are glad to have gotten the referral. Also I hope you and dd feel better soon. You are right about the vaccines. There is a strain from Switzerland that didn't make it into the vaccine so people are still getting sick. The hospitals are getting hit so hard with it right now, we had 4 people in ICU with it the other day and probably more now. I do hope this doesn't ruin christmas for your sweet dd.

Christina, I did that the other night too. I couldn't figure out how I selot all night! Guess we will forever cherish a real nights sleep.

Rebecca, sorry you are deimg with the smoking thing but that was so great what your DH did! You should be so proud of him.

Maggz, I really feel for you. When I was little my family did that same thing on Christmas eve at my grandmothers, even listened to a church service or she read from the bible. They were German and I gues it was big for them as well and I just loved Christmas Eve for that reason. When my gma died the tradition did too and until I met DH I never cared about Christmas Eve again because it made me sad but turns out his grandparents do something similar. They order pizza and we all sit around enjoying each other's company and then open gifts and just spend the evening together. Then on Christmas day we all go back and have the formal Christmas dinner and dress up and just spend time together, no gifts just family and I have to say I love it. Turns out they are German as well, actually his gma is Hungarian. I hope you find a way to celebrate and don't lose hope, next year with a new baby you should have the traditional Christmas Eve even if it's just your little family.

Afm, I made about 8 dozen cookies today and I'm wiped out lol. I work tomorrow which I hate, since we do the Christmas Eve thing but good news is DH got Christmas off. Also my cousin had her baby and everyone is healthy and she may even get to come home tomorrow night.

 

[maggz]

Aw Dini I'm glad your DH's family rekindled your Christmas Eve spirit Sounds really lovely. The thing with DH's family is they always end up going in separate rooms doing their own thing, they don't seem to spend a lot of time together! MIL will be in the kitchen, FIL in the garage, and his brothers in their rooms. It's like okay, I guess I'll just watch TV then...!
Congrats on the new little cousin (? English familial terms get me so confused hahaha)! 8 dozen cookies! That's a lot! What kind do you make?

 

[Perplexed]

Maggz: I'm so sorry. It makes me really sad too when the holidays aren't festive.

Christina: that's funny! My dd kicked one of the ctg monitors off before the nurse strapped it on. It gave me the impression that we have an opinionated little one on our hands and it's true!

Kristy: congrats on vday!

Today I've reached vday yay. I told dh this morning and he didn't know what it was.

I've decided to switch back to my old hospital. It's much further and could take ages to reach in traffic, but from my experience the old hospital is more likely to respect my birth plan preferences (I don't have many) and the dr is not intervention-happy unless necessary. My current hospital puts an iv on as soon as you've come in while my old one I remember didn't put one in until I requested epidural.

The last time I saw the dr at the old hospital was at 13 or weeks and I was supposed to go back at 18 weeks and do my anomaly u/s at 21 weeks. I had switched to the closer hospital by then. The only appointment I could get was at mid January. I'll already be in 3rd tri by then Hopefully it's not too late to switch back.

 

[Christina86]

I tried to fall back to sleep only to be woken up by some massive kicks. I can feel them all on the outside if I lay on my back! I also lay here wanting to wake my husband so he can feel but everytime I do there are no more kicks lol. Stubborn child! Hopefully he will be able to feel a kick from the outside today or tomorrow! That would be awesome for him to feel baby for the first time on Christmas Eve or Day!! Eeek!!

Okay now I'm going to attempt to get a bit more sleep. =]

 

[northern_me]

I can't believe it's Christmas Eve. When I got my BFP in July, Christmas just seemed eternities away. And now we are here! Third tri in 3 days! Unbelievable!

I'm here trying to clean the house for everyone tonight. I have a ton of wrapping left to do. I'm really missing the alcohol this year. I could definitely use a glass of wine or two to make it through all the presents. So much for us trying to tone it all down this year.

 

[TaraCathryn]

Northern I have been missing the freedom to enjoy a drink or two as well. Some evenings it would be really nice to have one. Especially sitting through Christmas parties this year! That's one of the things I'm looking forward to--after hopefully a good long time nursing (or getting to a point where my supply is so great I would consider the occasional "pump & dump" for a night out with DH! Never could have done that with DD, I made so little).

We got all but one of DD's presents wrapped last night despite me feeling awful, so I'm quite happy about that. Normally we are up until midnight on Christmas eve wrapping! Of course DD still has way too much despite our best intentions to keep it to just a few.

Maggz, I second what Dini said. Next year do your holiday how it feels best to you--now that you will have a little one, you will start building your own traditions. I have become extremely selfish about Christmas; I want my daughter to experience strong traditions like my DH and I did, even if they're not the same traditions, so all of my decisions revolve around giving her those things each year. Plus Christmas with your kid, even when they're just a baby and won't remember, is so much more magical.

Dini I thought I heard that about the flu shot. I'm just glad we don't have it worse and DD is old enough to handle it! She's a bit better today, so hopefully by tomorrow she'll be well enough to just enjoy Christmas.

I slept from ~11:30 to 4 last night, woke up coughing and my anxiety decided to flare up so I was up for two hours before getting one more hour of sleep. It's bad this pregnancy, I need to do something about it! Happily, we just have to run one errand today and decorate some cookies for Santa Claus, and I have to finish & wrap DD's last gift while she naps (oh, yeah, I still put my six-year-old down for naps! What? ). Pick up the house a bit. Then I can relax and hopefully get past this sick crap!

Merry Christmas & Happy Everything Else to all of you!

 

[AmeliePoulain]

Happy Christmas everyone! We have just tucked Ivy and Elodie (my daughters) into bed. I can't believe next year Penny will be here and I'll have my 3 little girls

Just think...we'll have 8+ month olds - crawling around, eating the tree and decorations, playing with the wrapping paper and eating their first Christmas dinner.

 

[Button#]

Merry Christmas ladies. We've just read DS twas the night before Christmas and tucked him up in bed. Can't wait to see his face tomorrow!

 

[Scottish]

Hope you all have a wonderful day tomorrow! Whether you are in company of family or away from home have a wonderful time xxx

 

[Beanonorder]

It's Christmas here! MERRY Christmas everyone. I hope you all have a special day with whoever you are spending the day with.
I won't lie I'm with some of you on wanting to have a drink or two!
I can't believe that just two short years ago I was overdue and waiting very impatiently to find out whether I was getting a son or daughter! And then after the arguments we had about having a second child this time last year I never imagined I'd be pregnant this year! Life does change so quickly.