BFP Chasers...........Feel free to join....

[TTC74]

Now that the test is several hours old, there is a noticeable line. I’d say it’s an Evap, but it looks pink. Opinions?

 

[mikihope]

Wish- Thanks, Kai’s “speaking” is a constant source of entertainment in our home! Aw, I know what you mean about the adorable squeals. Too cute! I’ll miss your posts so much, I hope that you at least pop in now and then to update! I feel that the energy of this thread was very much due to your posts and cheerful vibes. I’m so glad that things are working out so well for you and your new family. Life must be so full right now with your awesome twosome. I can’t get over how different your boys are in weight! Wow, I didn’t know that you were looking for a new job. This one sounds so right for you, I hope you get it! DH and I also met at work, and now he’s trying to apply for a job at my lab. It’s a big research lab with many departments, so we won’t be in the same building, but still! So both of us may be working at the same workplace as our spouses soon!

Ask- Thanks for reading about Kai’s antics. You can look forward to all this when your baby is born! I don’t know if Kai will be an early talker, just that he loves to mimic speech and play around with it in hilarious ways. I’m guessing it’s because I talk to him so much? I don’t know if he could take after me when he’s a donor egg baby, but I was an early talker and made many different voices/sounds like he does. He definitely doesn’t understand what he says. For example, when he’s feeling distressed from gassiness, he says “oh yeah!” in a pained voice. It’s sad and hilarious at the same time. It’s so cute that he says hello first thing when he sees me, and to get my attention, though. I’m so glad that you’re enjoying your pregnancy, and your bump! It really is a wonderful time, and feeling baby kick is so special and so fun. I’m sure you’ll enjoy your time in Florida, even if you haven’t gotten a tan yet!

TTC- Such a cute photo of B! Soon you’ll be running around after her. I’m no expert on evaps, all I can tell is I can see the lines in your pics. Looks very promising to me. Fx for you!

MsR- So happy to hear from you! I can’t imagine moving house and starting work at around the same time, plus taking care of a baby. Wow, she’s already 6.5 months, you must be having so much fun with her! Poor baby, those vaccinations are so hard on them. Kai’s 2 month vaccination messed up his sleep at night for over a week.

Terri- Thanks, Kai is indeed alert and observant. He likes imitating me, and is such a joyful personality. I’m so glad that I chose to end the breastfeeding attempts and enjoy my time with him. You’re right, babies do make us happy. Maybe so that we forget how sleep deprived we are! Enjoy your time at home, and stay warm! Sorry you had that flashback, but I’m glad that you’re happy and lead an exciting life (when not snowed in)!

We'll be transitioning with our chosen daycare next week, and then I'll start work the week after. I'm going back to work part time for the first two weeks. Ugh, it's all happening too fast! I often feel depressed just thinking about it, so I can't imagine what a mess I will be when I have to leave gummy at daycare and go back to work

 

[CaribbeanBaby]

Well haven't I been incredibly slack in keeping up my appearance here!
I did write a giant catch up and then accidentally pressed the back button and it's all gone.
Very quick update: Got pregnant in December. Lost it at 10 weeks in February and currently in 2WW with my first cycle after mc.
I haven't caught up on the last 40 pages but I will in the next couple of days! Very sick at the moment with a headcold.... stupid plane germs. It always happens!
Back in the USVI with hubby. It's still a big mess but the US has totally forgotten about it other than current cruise prices. It's very sad to see.... thousands of homes still have blue tarps over their roofs.. 6 months later! Just heartbreaking.
Sorry this is a quick one - I spent all my spare time writing the previous post! Stupid back button!
I hope everyone is well xx

 

[TTC74]

I’m so sorry to hear that Carib!

My line was an Evap or indent or some other such oddity. At 10 DPO now and feeling out due to tons of watery cm.

 

[terripeachy]

So sorry, Caribbean. Welcome back!

 

[Wish2BMom]

carib - I'm so sorry for the shape USVI is in. I really just don't get it. I hope the recovery is quick so tourism can start up again. I'm also very sorry for your loss. it's never easy, is it? I hope you get preggo quickly and get your sticky bean!!!

I hope everyone is well!!

miki - how was the first week of daycare? I popped into ours yesterday and feel good about it. Life is getting very hectic working and trying to also have the boys all day - I wish we were independently wealthy so I could just stay home with the buggers.

The boys are awesome and challenging - we're working through our one week with both of us 'working from home' but I keep getting called into meetings in the office, so it's really just DH. At least he's getting a glimpse of his next 4 weeks! He is taking the rest of his paternity in April and has them both all of the time. Though I did put in for WFH every Thurs and Fri (though I get every other Fri off, so it's not a huge deal). Not that I'll be able to 'care' for the boys but I can help on slow days.
T is all smiles when he wakes up and it's awesome. He really wants to walk - he may skip crawling altogether! Will be interesting to see. M is going through a stage where he's particular about how he wants to hang out - you standing, him facing out, you walking around. That doesn't make for easy emailing!!

miss you all!

 

[mikihope]

Carribean- I'm so sorry for your loss. And the state of the USVI is so sad. I hope that you are coping ok. I can imagine the immense annoyance at losing everything to that evil back button!

TTC- I'm sorry it was an evap. Are you testing again, just in case?

Wish- So glad to hear from you and that you're doing so well! It's selfish of me, but I was really hoping that you would pop in and update. I know you're super busy with your life now. Wow, T sounds like so much fun! Gummy is really crazy silly with his talking, but he's still bad at tummy time. Maybe it's his giant head I think he'd rather work on his social skills right now. He's winning the hearts of the daycare staff. Talking about daycare, I'm glad you feel good about your chosen daycare. I love the daycare we chose, only 4 babies and 2 carers, and they make sure they are the same age and grow together until they "graduate". I stayed with gummy for 2 hours on his first transition day, and it was so much fun. He was so happy, and he liked the babies he met! I think I will be able to cope next week when I start work. Yesterday was the first time I left him (for 3.5 hours) since I gave birth, and it was ok. Plus the carer sent such adorable update texts and photos!

AFM- DH is at his interview at my workplace. I so hope he gets the job. His commute is currently almost 2 hours one way, plus he works the entire weekend. He's been working weekends for 2.5 years, and the way we coped was by him coming to my workplace on his off days for lunch together. But this can't continue, he can't see gummy much, and we need our weekends together -- family life is so much more important than his current job!

 

[Ask4joy]

Hi ladies - I’m catching up on everyone’s updates but am feeling anxious and wanted to post quickly...we had our 20 week scan yesterday and baby girls looks perfect but my doctor is a bit concerned about my cervix. It showed funneling when pressure was applied, meaning opening a bit at the top near my uterus. I still have 3.5cm tightly closed despite the funneling at the top so she isn’t too worried but I will have to get it checked again in 2 weeks. From my googling it seems to be indicative of incompetent cervix. Anyone else experience anything like this?

 

[Wish2BMom]

I had a friend who had something like that and they sewed her shut. That may have to happen for you. (it sounds awful but I don't think it's any big deal). She carried 2 babies with having that done! Good luck! I'm so happy baby girl looks good!!

How's everyone doing?

Things are good here - getting a few more hours out of the boys at night. The best stretches are 4-5 hrs, feed, then another 3, then feed, then an hour or so and we're up for the day. Sounds like a lot of sleep but that was starting around 7 and we're not in bed until 8, so we get jipped (sp?) an hour. But still - WAY better than up at 10/11, then 1/2, then 4/5, then up.
Both are pretty close to holding their heads up on their own, though don't do it a lot in tummy time. Timothy loves practicing walking on our laps while we hold him up. His chunky little legs just go!

My job is going better, I guess. I'm busier and getting more responsibility which also gives me visibility with a lot more people, which I like. I think I posted that I applied for a job at my old work/DH's work but I guess I'm ok if I don't get that. My boss loves me, I get to WFH Thursdays and Fridays (every other Fri off) and I have more visibility/responsibility. I also see a career path for me too, if I start to get the hang of this IT thing.

I hope everyone is well!

 

[TTC74]

Work stinks. I was just passed over for a promotion that I thought I was uniquely qualified for.

Bella is doing great but still just a hair away from walking at 13.5 months.

DD is pregnant again and it’s looking really good this time now that she’s on Progesterone. Here are 3 days of fmu tests. The darkest is today at 10 DPO. She got a beta drawn today. We’ll get those results tomorrow.

 

[Wish2BMom]

Congrats on DD’s pregnancy!!

 

[mikihope]

Ask- I hope that you feel better and less anxious. It sounds that your cervix is measuring well, and they are just being cautious because of the funneling. It’s great that you are getting monitored, and as Wish says, they can sew up your cervix if it gets too thin. I’m keeping you in my thoughts.

Wish- Glad you’re getting more of that precious sleep! It helps you enjoy their precious moments more, and there are tons of those T sounds strong! And your job situation sounds great -- good outcomes no matter which job you end up in. It’s wonderful to hear how well your life is going.

TTC- That sucks, not getting that promotion. I hope that a better opportunity is right around the corner. I like to think that things happen for a reason, and you were meant to get something better! Exciting... wonder when baby Bella will start walking. The line progression looks great, I’m excited for your daughter!

AFM- Just done with the first week back to work. It was a teensy trial run, only half days from Mon-Thurs and Friday off. Next week will be the same, and then I return to work full time. It was hard, but kind of cheating because I knew I’d see gummy soon after I dropped him off. The daycare is awesome, like a cozy home away from home, and they have 2 cats there (just like at home!). There are 4 babies and two wonderful carers, and the babies are almost exactly the same age. Yesterday, gummy was playing side by side with a baby girl on the play gym. At one point, they held hands! So cute!

Gummy is still happy and goofy and he has perfected many silly ways of saying “hello”. One of these is this ridiculously French sounding version… hell-ooo-uhh. I think he is parroting me, I’m probably saying it back to him in silly ways without noticing. He’s still bothered by his farts, but improving! And daycare is really helping. Not only do they help with his development through loads of play, they are great at troubleshooting baby issues like sleep and gassiness, etc. He’s a champ at tummy time now, and we both enjoy our time together while he’s on his tummy. I’m so glad he’s in good hands, it really helps me when I’m thinking of him at work. I’m so glad that I survived the first week back, but I’m sure that being back full time will be a whole lot tougher.

One other thing that made me sad was that I’m the only mom out of the 4 who doesn’t breastfeed. Sigh, it still stings when I’m reminded that I can’t bf. I do pump at work for gummy, though. I’m glad I’m able to do that!

I hope everyone is doing well!

 

[Wicky78]

Hi, everyone! I know it's been awhile since I last posted. I've been keeping up weekly with everyone else's posts, but haven't been able to write anything of my own.

I am so happy to hear that the newest babies in the group are doing well and Wish and Miki both sound like you are enjoying being moms. I can't believe how fast the time has gone since the two of you gave birth!

Ask, I'm sorry to hear about your cervix worries, but glad to see your doctors are pro-active. It's always tough when there's a bump in the road, but it helps to know that the "experts" are on top of it. I hope that it all works out and they give you good options for treatment/management. It's a really good sign that your baby is doing great! How are you feeling these days?

TTC - your daughter's progression looks good to me! I hope the betas are reassuring. Sorry to hear about that promotion. It's always hard to not get a job you want, but somehow, more painful when it's at your current workplace, IMO. Bella sounds adorable! I wouldn't worry too much about her walking... some kids walk early and others walk later... that range the doctors mention is just an average. She might just surprise you one day and be off to the races I can't wait to hear all about it when it happens!

Caribbean - glad to see you back. I'm so sorry to hear how difficult things are, STILL, in the USVI. I hate that our government acts like these islands aren't the US's responsibility!!! I was also sorry to hear about your loss. It's always hard. Fingers crossed you get a sticky bean soon!

MsR - I can't believe your baby is already almost 7 months old! Where did the time go? I hope you are doing well and enjoying mommyhood

AFM, things have been a real roller coaster these past few weeks, which is why I didn't post. The depression has finally started to ease up with treatment and longer daylight hours, but I still find everything (like getting up, choosing clothes, going to work... normal life) to be an uphill battle. The diabetes is mostly in check. I have about 1/2 of my numbers in target and the rest are out of target, but only by 20-30 points, instead of the wildly high numbers I had in the past. I've even had two lows, so I think things are going OK there. Still nauseated a lot of the time, but no vomiting (thank heavens!).

And last week, we added gestational hypertension to my laundry list of complications. I spent two separate days in the hospital L & D triage having my BP monitored, getting every lab test known to mankind, and then being discharged with warnings to keep an eye on my BP. It turns out that my home BP monitor is inaccurate so it was telling us I had severe pre-eclampsia range BP when it was really in the gestational hypertension "pre pre-eclampsia" range. Unfortunately, it means that I have a lot of monitoring now - 2x per week visits to the OB for non-stress tests and BP checks.

They also moved up my induction to 37 weeks, so I'm scheduled to go in to the hospital on May 5. I'm trying not to freak out that it's less than a month away, as I feel so unprepared, still! If my BP gets worse and/or my organs show signs of distress, they will induce me either right away or at 34 weeks instead. Since I'll be 33 weeks tomorrow, that is also freaking me out. But at least I know I'm in good hands and everyone is just trying to make sure baby and I are both safe and healthy.

On the fun side of things, we had our shower hosted by my family and another one hosted by my coworkers. It was really sweet and we got lots of amazing gifts that we can enjoy with the baby, when she comes. Now that I know she's going to be small (27th percentile at the last growth scan) and not the gigantic baby I expected, I'm feeling less annoyed about all the newborn clothes we got (which we didn't ask for). I'm also on the board for my community chorus and they gave us a little mini-shower and lots of gift cards, so I think we're set for being able to get everything we need and a couple of things we want, despite my abysmal income over the last few months (thanks HG!). So while I feel really unprepared, I think, realistically, we're in good shape. I think I'm still adjusting to the idea that we could have a baby any time now and definitely soon after May 5.

I'm so glad you all are still here and still chatting it up. I will keep posting and I think that I will be more consistent for a few weeks, now that I've gotten over the depression hump. The serious countdown to baby is on!

 

[Wish2BMom]

hey all! well I may start posting more again now - back to work and I love having the first hour of work to myself which is when I check in. I just can't stay away! I love hearing about Kai and the other cherubs and cannot wait for you to have yours, Wicky and Ask!!

terri - I'm so glad you're enjoying your DINKness!! Live it up, sister, that's what I say.

ttc - I'm sorry about the promotion too - when you feel you're logically the right person for it, it never makes sense when they go in a different direction. That's like the one I applied for at DH's work. I can literally do it, and do it WELL, with my eyes closed and I'm not entirely sure my stupid video interview was enough or on point enough to get me to the next step. There are also rumors going around that I'm going to be taking the place of my boss here who got promoted but I think that's just people hearing that I'm her replacement on certain projects and confusing that with being her replacement overall. We'll see. They'd be idiots to promote me here, already. I just started in August and I was out for 8 weeks!
Meant to ask - how's your DD and will this be your first grandchild?

Wicky - I cannot believe you're less than a month away!! So exciting! Very happy and relieved to hear that your depression has subsided mostly. You've had such a challenging time but man, you've been such a trouper. My hat is off to you. How is DW's mom doing?
So let me tell you this and hopefully this helps your anxiety about not feeling prepared - you really only need diapers & wipes, PJs, a crib/bassinet/sleeping surface of some kind, and food for the baby (breast if you're planning on doing that, bottles/formula if you do that or supplement). That's it! To start, anyway, but really - a 37 week old baby is not going to need anything else - they literally only eat, sleep and pee/poop. So as long as you have all of that, everything else you'll eventually need will be an Amazon click away. You don't NEED a boppy, blankets, bottle warmer, activity mats, receiving blankets, (did I mention blankets?!!), etc. Oh, and you may want a swaddling thing of some kind - either the Aden + Anais ones or the SwaddleMe velcro ones. And THAT'S it. I promise. You've got this, girl!!!

miki - gummy's talking sounds so cute! T isn't parroting, per se, but he is trying out all sorts of sounds. His grin is so big, I can see his tongue just rolling around in there making different sounds. He smiles so huge after sneezing too - I always announce 'Sneezes are funny!' after - he just tickles me so much. And we finally got enjoyable bath times this week! M, our little sensitive guy, actually gave one of those 'ahhhhhhh' faces when we poured the warm water over him. I died laughing. He's also starting to talk and respond back to us now when we talk to him, I love it. He's a little bit of the runt of the litter, only weighing in the 3rd percentile right now. We're trying to feed him as much as possible so he starts to gain some ground. We'll see how he measures up at next month's appointment. He's such a peanut. They'll already be 3 months this weekend!

Ok - off to my first full day at the office, no going home until end of day. DH better send me some updates!! I'm gonna miss them!

 

[TTC74]

Yes. First grandchild. And she’s freaking out. She’s waiting for a dr call with her first two betas and doubling rate. She’s convinced that the pregnancy tests are inconclusive (they look good to me!). So, I’m eager for her to get the call.

 

[Rainshiny]

Reading up and will post more later, but first, TTC what did your daughter find out? And that sucks about the promotion- I tend to see a lot of gender discrimination wherever I look, but just in case did there was something else did you ask why you didn’t get it? Could be helpful moving forward, although those conversations can be annoying. And Bella is a belle!

 

[Wish2BMom]

yayyy the return of Rainy! I hope you, DW and the twinnies are doing well!!

 

[TTC74]

DDs beta hcgs are great! Doubling rate of 30 hours. It looks like this one is a keeper! She is super excited and so am I!

As for the promotion - no, we were told it was an "appearance of nepotism" issue. This makes zero sense for two reasons. First, our office blatantly engages in nepotism constantly. If you don't have a relative working here, it's because they haven't applied. Second, because we spoke with the head man in charge about whether it would be an issue for me to be moved into the same unit as my husband about a week before the announcement was made. We were laughed at and told "absolutely not. Since neither of you would be supervising the other, it would be no problem." The problem was that the unit's supervisor (who actually decides who he wants to fill the spot) prefers men and pretty, thin women.

 

[Rainshiny]

It has been a while, Wish!!

Miki- that’s so sweet that gummy is having fun being social. I’m sure he loves the new experiences but will be so happy to see you too. He just sounds like such a sweetie. I hope full time work transition goes smoothly and your worries are eased.

Wicky- gracious you’ve had such a rough time of it!! Only a month to go- giving birth will hopefully be a quick magical cure for all or nearly all of your health problems. The showers sound so wonderful- we used newborn size too and I didn’t even know that was a size beforehand!! I agree with wish - you’ll be fine whenever she comes. Are you worried about having things set up or just being psychologically prepared? I guess she may stay in the hospital A little while if she comes early which is hard but gives time at home to set things up.do you have visitors planned yet? Are you taking a lot of time off?

Ask- how did your cervix issue get resolved? Are you feeling better about it? Not long now for you either! Just some more growing ...

Wish- I’m glad your job is going well- that’s fantastic! And the sleep too. Ours didn’t stretch to 5 hours until after 4 mo!! Timmy sounds like a charmer. Maybe little M will show more personality as he gets older. I think they hit a growth spurt at 4 mo. Eat, little monkey! 😃

Carib- I’ve been thinking about you and the usvi and PR - it’s such an awful mess. I hope there’s progress soon... and I’m soooo sorry for your loss. So hard...

Ms R- glad you popped in!

Phew we’ve had so many daycare bugs!!! Nothing real serious but ugh!! Our immune systems must be so strong by now that I could lick the poles on the metro and not catch a thing. Ew. Lol...

 

[TTC74]

Yes! The daycare bugs! Seems like LO is always sick - including now. Drives me crazy! LO is still not walking at almost 14 months but it’s clear she can. She’s just afraid of falling - which is the funniest thing! She can follow simple directions such as bring me the sock, though. Plus, she’s always SO happy. We feel so blessed.