**April Bunnies 2015**

[TaraCathryn]

I feel so bad for those who are feeling terrible! I'm not very nauseous at all (yet?), but I have to force myself to eat because nothing sounds even remotely appetizing. But the queasiness is much better when I eat.

Citymouse, you're cracking me up. Sounds so much like my DH!

Question for those with little ones at home: Would you have still gotten the pets you have if you had had your baby first? I have a dog & two cats and I love them dearly, but I got the cats when I was 18 and the dog at 20. If I had known what life was going to be like with a kid (and how destructive indoor cats can be), I would certainly have held off! Saw a friend with a 6-month old and she felt the same. I would never get rid of them, but life would be a lot simpler if I'd known better.

 

[Lithodora]

What destructive things do your cats do? We have two indoor cats and all that has suffered slightly is our leather couch and hairy windowsills.

 

[TaraCathryn]

They have clawed the legs of our dining table and chairs completely to death, destroyed one side of our old sofa, climbed the blinds at our old house, and have made little marks from kneading in the arms of our leather chair. They have plenty of scratching surfaces, I tried foil, sticky tape, etc. on the table, nothing has helped. I have tried keeping "soft paws" claw covers on them but they cost a fortune, only stay on for a matter of days, and I've never been able to get them on myself (the vet has done it). Between that and everything I own being irretrievably saturated with fur, it's just tiring. Plus I badly want a new table and DH won't buy one until the cats die! They're only 12!

 

[Perplexed]

Tara- I have a cat at my mom's. She was mine but when I moved out mom couldn't part with her so I had to give up my rights.

I'm thinking of adopting another cat once DH, dd & I move into our new house. my cat hasn't really been destructive. she used to scratch the back of an old couch but ever since the upholstery's been changed we've been leaving a small blanket on the back of the couch and she hasn't been scratching it. it does come down to the cat's personality. I guess I do have to think of it more carefully once we've moved!

As for the queasiness, I started losing my appetite last week and gotten queasy whenever I couldn't eat. now I have semi constant queasiness that can be controlled to some extent with sparkling water. but I do have some triggers like my tea lattes...but I have to have at least one or I get a headache! I think it was the same last pregnancy, aversion to milk and tea lattes!

 

[Beankeeper]

Thank you Tara. I'm so glad I have you all.

Ok, so this is mildly annoying and mildly amusing. FACEBOOK HAS JUST OUTED ME! I forgot to cancel my stupid Babygaga pregnancy weeks thing, and it's posted on my wall that I'm 9 weeks pregnant. Everyone's thrilled but confused! I'm gobsmacked haha!

Oh no!!! Considering you weren't telling anyone, that's so awkward! You'll look back at this in years to come & smile but eeeekkkk in the meantime xx

 

[Missnurse]

I think I'm just worried about my scan as I still don't have sore boobs or much noticeable change in them. Even though I have plenty of other reassuring symptoms

Does anyone have any idea if breastfeeding makes a difference to how your boobs are in subsequent pregnancies? I didn't bf my dd and my boobs were sore with both her and DS. I bf DS and went from a D cup to a B cup once my supply dried up so I'm wondering if that is why there isn't much change yet

 

[citymouse]

I didn't have sore boobs with my first. I breastfed for 20 months, and I wouldn't call them sore now... if I really squeeze them it's uncomfortable, but overall they don't feel any different.

Nothing feels different! This pregnancy is so much like my last one. I had a close friend who also had a symptomless first pregnancy but her second is kicking her a$$ so I figured I'd probably have that happen, too. Nope. Farm stock over here!

I will always have a dog, if I have anything to say about it! Adopting the second one may have been a mistake (he is young and has questionable judgment when it comes to pooping locales), but he's so sweet and the two dogs love each other so much (after a little bit of a power struggle in the beginning). I'd never get rid of him.

Dogs are part of who I am. My first dog was my first baby, basically. He was like my best friend! He came to work with me and then when I started working from home, he hung out with me all day. When my daughter was born, he would stay right by us all the time... he loved her so much. After he died (it wasn't expected, he was only 7), I knew I needed another dog right away. I just love the energy they bring to a house.

 

[citymouse]

All right, I changed my ticker to reflect the later due date -- April 15, 2015. But I'm not happy about it!

 

[GreyGirl]

We're in the massively heartbreaking place of having to consider rehoming our dog. We've had him for 4 years and he's amazing. Before we moved house (when I was pregnant last time) he was fine being left...somehow it just blew his mind and for the last 2 years leaving him has been stressful for all. We're currently having to resort to sedatives to try and help and if they don't, he'll need to go somewhere with another Greyhound.
It's breaking my heart as he's perfect in every other way, he is perfect with our toddler, great on and off lead, with other dogs and no trouble when we're home...I wish I could just explain we'll be back and he can relax

 

[Oswin]

So sorry Grey. Hope it doesn't come to it. Have you tried a crate or dog trainer? X

 

[citymouse]

Ah, sad, Grey. I hope the meds work. He sounds like a sweetie.

 

[GreyGirl]

So sorry Grey. Hope it doesn't come to it. Have you tried a crate or dog trainer? X

Yes, he went MENTAL in the crate and screamed literally the whole time we were out. He's not normally constant. We've also been in contact with dog trainers and tried their suggestions to no avail. We've done food/no food, radio/no radio, more walks/less walks, more freedom/less freedom...I've wracked my brains for 2 years for a way to help him, I never wanted to have to medicate him

Ah, sad, Grey. I hope the meds work. He sounds like a sweetie.

Thank you, me too. He's fantastic.

This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago and it breaks my heart to think this bond might be broken. I'm at the point where we've been trying for 2 years to help him and now I'm pregnant again he's already getting worse. He's 8 and I have to think of what's best for him...I wish I knew what it was

 

[citymouse]

Is he food motivated at all? Have you ever worked with a clicker? It basically provides really clear positive feedback. You have to teach them to love it at first, which is easy, as you just click and give them an awesome treat, and repeat until the sound of the clicker makes them happy.

You could try desensitizing him by building up the time you leave -- stay in the room with him, click and treat. Go sit by the door, click and toss treats to him. Step out into the hall and come back immediately, click and treat and repeat 20 times. Step out and wait five seconds, click and treat, repeat 20 times. Wait ten seconds. Thirty. A minute. Two minutes -- repeating each one many times. Do longer times when he's in the room, randomly popping your head in the door in to click and toss him a treat before you duck out.

My dogs (especially the new one) have a lot of separation anxiety. We have a baby gate separating two parts of the house and the new dog would sit there and shriek if I left him on the side I wasn't on. We had a trainer come and help with desensitizing and it helped a lot.

Just an idea.

 

[RebeccaR19]

I had a really rough day Wednesday when, according to my u/s, I just turned 8 weeks. Now, suddenly my symptoms are changing some. My greasy hair and broken out skin have cleared up. My hair is great now and my skin is perfect. My nausea has gone way down. Instead of just feeling nauseous at certain times, my stomach just starts feeling bad occasionally. Like I was chewing gum today and I just couldn't take it anymore.
I am still fatigued like before. I am still very sensitive to smells. I am still having crazy dreams. I am still moody. lol So, I guess all of this is just a normal change. Anyone else have any changes around this time? I don't recall this from my last pregnancy.

 

[maggz]

I'm sorry Grey that sounds really difficult. I would try what citymouse suggested, my dog loves the clicker! He knows it's training time (=he gets treats) when we pull it out and it made teaching him to sit, stay, lay, and roll SO easy. Seriously I never would have thought it was so easy, so I swear by the clicker. I'd watch a few videos on it first and then see if it's something you'd be up for trying.

Tara your cats sound high maintenance! We only have one dog (who is being very clingy these days) and I think that's enough for now, especially with the baby coming.

AFM I was really worrying for the past couple of days that something was wrong cause my little bit of symptoms I had were kinda gone, but then the little one reminded me it's still there by having me throw up this morning (for the first time). I guess that's what I get for doubting!

 

[Eidson23]

That's so sad! My lab mix had severe separation anxiety, too. Not to the point where she destroyed everything, but she was definitely suffering when we were away. We got another dog, and now she's fine. It's like they entertain eachother when we're away. Not to mention, she sees that the other dog is fine when we're gone, so it like calms her down.

 

[TaraCathryn]

Grey, that's so sad. My dog was abandoned to the shelter twice before we got him; we were his third home within his first year of life. So his separation anxiety was horrendous. We are lucky because he responded well to obedience training and crating. It's awful to have to make those decisions, but in the end only you can decide what's best for your pup and your family.

Rebecca, I'm so sorry you're feeling down. I'm sorry I don't remember; how far behind your expected dates was your u/s? Everything is probably fine; the hair & skin getting better actually makes sense as it's common for your body to adjust to the new levels of hormones & oils & all that good stuff. When's your next appt?

 

[Oswin]

Rebecca, my nausea etc eased off at 8 wks 4 days, and last time at 8 wks.

 

[xanzaba]

Rebecca- I had patches of eczema on my elbows even before I knew I was pregnant. I was wondering how I scraped my elbows, so I guess that was my first symptom. Well, I bought some cream for it and it cleared up. Then I was convinced I wasn't pregnant anymore! I started temping in the mornings, watching my temps stay high was reassuring. Oy, pregnancy craziness

 

[citymouse]

Just today I noticed that only about a quarter of my leg hairs had grown in since last time I shaved. My hair growth slowed way down during my last pregnancy, too. (Then post-partum, it grew super fast and fell out in giant clumps. Very glamorous.)