Due Sept 2017

[Dani_b]

Glad all is well tess

 

[gingmg]

Tess- Great news! So happy to hear!

 

[Babybump2017]

Great news!!! I think that's definitely more proof that bump size doesn't mean a great deal! He's gonna be a chunker

 

[lilmisscaviar]

Scan went well here apparently although my bump is measuring 2 weeks behind my baby is actually measuring a week ahead haha! My daughter was 8lb 6 and she said if this baby goes to full term we should expect him to be very much the same. So a big baby despite having next to no bump! She also said he has so much hair that she could see it on the scan my daughter had lots of hair too and I had to start putting clips in it when she was about 2 weeks old to keep it out of her eyes! I don't think I'll get away with that with a boy so it looks like this one might need a very early first haircut lol... x

Glad to hear that all is well, Tess!

 

[Savasanna]

Tess - so happy to hear all is well! I was measuring 29cm at my 30+5 appointment last week as well. My OB wasn't worried either. But I understand how it's easy to get wrapped up in numbers and the idea of ahead/behind. I started down the path of google after I left that appointment but quickly decided to turn off my brain and trust that all was ok. It's hard though.

I'm planning on working right up until delivery. Unfortunately, I don't have enough time to take any time off before the birth. As it is, it's looking like I'm going to have to cut my leave back from 12 weeks to 10 to save on money. That makes me sad but.. going over our budget, I really think it's the right decision.

Oh - and my kicks are definitely feeling more like pushes and rolls as well! It's pretty fun to watch the belly move around like that. Oh - and I'm finding myself short of breath a lot. My next growth scan is on Friday and I can't wait to see how big she is now!

I have had a charlie horse in my foot. Only once, and it was actually earlier in the 2nd tri, but yup.. definitely happened. I don't love the charlie horse side effects! I'm not getting them frequently, but when I do they're so strong that my calf is sore for the entire next day! Pregnancy does so many crazy things to our bodies!

 

[ladybrown33]

I had the charlie horse in my foot at the beginning, and now I am getting them frequently in my leg.

I am exhausted and ready for maternity leave but I will continue working as long as I possibly can for financial reasons I can't be out of work too long.

 

[gingmg]

I've been getting leg and foot cramps too, at night. If I flex my foot hard as soon as they start it usually prevents them from getting worse and it goes away pretty fast otherwise they can be soooo painful!! Ive been taking a supplement called Bioplasma- it's a homeopathic remedy of 12 different electrolyte salts and I've noticed the days I take it and stay better hydrated, the less likely I am to wake up with a Charlie horse at night. It has magnesium in it which is what I think helps the leg cramps. My midwife said it was good for the amniotic fluid and to stay hydrated.

 

[MrsKChicago]

Baby's been mostly transverse, which at nearly 32 weeks is uncomfortable and slightly concerning. My midwife isn't worried yet but said I could look into some of the Spinning Babies exercises at this point. She did some major wiggling last night and she's finally feeling vertical! I just wish I could tell which end is up, but there's a little too much padding in the way for my inexperienced self to tell.

 

[Savasanna]

Wow - that must feel crazy! This baby has been head down since my 28 week growth scan. She feels so huge now, I can't imagine if she were traverse! Must've been pretty wild to feel her wiggle around to a new position, though!

I can definitely feel the difference between kicks and punches - so hopefully you'll get a sense of if she's head up or down sometime today.

 

[ladybrown33]

Mrs. K hopefully she is head down by now, when is your next ultrasound? You need that peace of mind at this point in the pregnancy.

My baby shower is two weeks away and I kind of don't even want it but my family does so I will participate. At this rate this baby will have more stuff than any newborn will ever need.

 

[Savasanna]

I'm sort of in the same boat. Our shower is the 22nd. My family is working so hard to put it together so I'm trying to be a good sport for them. But I really don't like being the center of attention. I prefer to throw the parties, rather than be the subject of them.

 

[ladybrown33]

Savasanna, I feel the same way just trying to be a good sport, but in all honesty I am very tired and just want to get this pregnancy over with. I know everyone is so excited and I don't want to be a party pooper. Our shower date is the 23rd and it can't come soon enough.

 

[MrsKChicago]

Hopefully you ladies get some useful presents, at least. My best friend got 90% clothes at her shower, and she already had a bunch of hand me downs from my son. She had to take so much stuff back and he still didn't wear it all. I love picking out baby clothes for showers but I try to stick to one piece of clothing or one outfit and then get something boring and practical. We're not having a shower this time, but I'm thinking about maybe having a little meet the baby bbq in late September.

I need to schedule my ultrasound, I'm glad you reminded me. I'm forgetting everything lately. I'm aiming for a week from Thursday since DH doesn't work Thursdays. This one is to make sure that she's small because that's just how she is, and that there aren't any actual growth problems, but I'll be good to have confirmation of her position too. We had the same size concerns with Teddy and it turned out he was just petite, so we're all expecting the same this time, but it'll be good to confirm.

How's the naming going? I'm starting to go a little crazy, Teddy's name was set in stone at 15 weeks, and now I'm 32 weeks tomorrow and still don't have a middle name. There are several I like but nothing that really calls out to us both. I think we're leaning towards either a nature name (because I just like them) or a strong female historical figure (a little more meaningful but there aren't as many that I love).

 

[Savasanna]

My bub is a tad on the small side as well. At my growth scan on Friday they had her at the 37th percentile. This made me a tad nervous but both my doctor and the ultrasound tech said she looks perfectly normal. So I'm trying not to over-analyze. I think it's just that Friday's appointment came on the heels of my OB telling me that I haven't gained enough weight and that, while it's absolutely fine and I'm 100% not unhealthy (at all! haha) this could impact my ability to breastfeed later on. So now I have it in my head that bub isn't getting what she needs.

I hear you on the names! I actually think we may have FINALLY settled on a name just this past weekend. I think we're going to go with Callie. However, we're a little stuck on the formal name (we like formal and nns). We don't want Caroline or Calista, which seem to be the most common names to shorten to Callie. We're actually kicking around the idea of Callahan, nn Callie. It's a big name, but we got really like it. It's the first name we've both completely agreed on, as opposed to one person loving it and the other being ok with it.

Anyway, it's a bold choice so we may change it to something else, if something comes along - but I think Callie is just about set in stone.

 

[MrsKChicago]

I like Callahan, but it does read a bit masculine. That's popular right now anyway, so it wouldn't be a deal breaker for me, I just might pick a more feminine middle. There's Calliope, too, but if you think Callahan is too much, I'm sure Calliope is as well.

I'd try not to stress about baby being in the 30th percentile, that's about where Teddy has always been. Someone has to be smaller, right? Hopefully it means easier births for us both. I know it's much scarier the first time around, it really put a shadow over my third trimester with Ted. Are they doing any extra monitoring?

I've only gained a few pounds but I don't think there's any correlation to the baby's weight in my case. I gained 40lbs with Teddy and he was just under 7lbs at 41 weeks. I've never heard of low weight gain causing breastfeeding issues, as long as you're not restrictions calories on purpose.

 

[MrsKChicago]

Your body prioritizes the baby, by the way. She'll get what she needs, even if it's at your expense. So if you're doing ok, she's definitely getting enough.

 

[gingmg]

Sav- 37% is just about average, only a smidge under. That's what my son was too. I've never heard about a correlation with difficulty breastfeeding/low supply with lower weight gain in pregnancy. I actually doubt that would be true, unless you are eating less than you should or restricting calories. Mrs Chicago is right, your body will divert all nutrients to the baby and your milk, even at your expense. In actuality, a super small percentage of women don't make enough milk to feed their babies. Most cases of low supply have more to do with inaccurate/poor breastfeeding advice/recommendations which then leads to low supply than actual low supply. Try not to let any of that worry you now, it probably will all work out okay.

Still struggling with names. Well my wife has a name she is absolutely in love with, but it's not my favorite name. It's ok, but I like many other names better. That's basically how she feels about the two names I really like. I already know most likely I will cave and let her have the name she loves because I got the name I loved with our son (although she loved it too, it just wasn't her first choice). I usually get my way in just about everything else, so I think it's my turn to give in. I guess I just feel a little sad about it because I want to love the name, and I just don't. I know I'll love him, so im sure loving his name will come in time and then I bet I won't be able to picture him as anything else. I don't even want to write it or say it out loud yet because any negativity or indifference I sense is absolutely going to influence how I feel and I don't think I can handle that. So I guess long story short, I think we have a name, but it wasn't the name I really wanted and I think I'm still wrapping my head around that.

 

[Savasanna]

Thanks, Chicago and Ging. I'm not at all attempting to restrict my calories. The only thing even remotely related to "restricting" I've done this entire pregnancy is paying attention to my sugar intake. I had a phase (particularly toward the end of the first tri/beginning of second) where I had one hell of a sweet tooth. So I would try to limit my "desserts" to one a day or I seriously would've lived off of cookies and pie and ice cream. Or, my wife has taken to making me mocktails and uses ginger beer as the base. Ginger beer = soda = tons of sugar, so I try to only have them occasionally (they're really good mocktails!) Anyway - I don't really see that as irresponsible. Other than that - I definitely eat when I'm hungry, but I can't seem to eat a ton in any one sitting. I feel like there isn't enough room in my stomach! So I don't actually think my caloric intake has increased a ton from pre-pregnancy days, which is why I think I'm not gaining much weight.

I also was in a position where it would've probably been healthy for me to lose a little weight when I became pregnant. So that probably accounts for some of it. In any event, I don't think I'm unhealthy (and I'm certainly not trying to be!), but the thought of something bad happening that was in my control is scary sometimes. Thanks for the reassurance.

Ironically, I spent the entire first half of the pregnancy joking that I wanted a solid, healthy, full-term, 6-lb baby. Now that my baby is small I'm worrying about it. haha. #parenthood

Ging - I totally understand what you're saying. I think that's why it's so hard to settle on something! You want so badly to have this AHA! moment that it's hard to be ok with something that is just... ok. But, I'm sure once your LO is here their name will just be their name and you won't be able to imagine anything else. It's hard, though.

Chicago - It's funny, when I first heard Callahan, it was on a thread of formal names for Callie. So my first impression of it was as a feminine name. I'm not necessarily against using a traditionally masculine name for a girl, but I do worry that she'll be made fun of. But, at the same time, kids are made fun of for everything so.. you can't completely protect against that.

My mom will hate it, though.

 

[MrsKChicago]

I have the same rule about one dessert a day. Occasionally an extra cookie sneaks in.

Mom hating a name might be extra motivation for me . This baby's first name is technically masculine but reads as very feminine in today's world, so I get where you're coming from. Sometimes I wonder if we should use the female version, but we just don't like it as much. I'm avoiding unisex middle names because of it, though.

When we were naming Teddy, I liked Theodore, but I wasn't madly in love. I'm not sure what his name would be if it had been totally up to me. DH liked Theodore but kept pushing for a name I really didn't want to use so I just kept throwing out random suggestions. One day I suggested the particular first and middle combination (Theodore Constantine, we don't do simple names ) and it stuck in his head and after mulling it over for a day he was set on it, but only that exact combination. I was so happy he was abandoning the idea of the name I didn't like in favor of one I liked, I jumped on the opportunity. I'm still very happy with our decision, so I'm trying to be a little flexible with this one's middle name too. It would be nice to get my first choice all the time, but usually someone has to settle to some degree.

 

[Savasanna]

I LOVE the name Theodore. If we were having a boy that would absolutely be in the running. There are feminine versions of that, too - Theodora and Theodosia, but I don't like those as much. So I hear you on what you're saying re: the new baby's name.

Everyone is speaking in code about what name they're considering - it's really testing my nosey brain! I can't wait to find out what you all have chosen!