January 2020 Garnets

[OnErth&InHvn]

Ah that’s good hope everyone you’ve told is pleased xx

We havent told anyone. Dd1 will find out next week and that's it until birth when dd2 tells them

 

[Literati_Love]

I never get the over-full feeling that everyone talks about. I’m always hungry! However, I am a bit taller than average with a long torso so I might just have more room than most.

Red head - so glad the scan went well! Yay!

I’ve no idea when my scan will be and I’m getting anxious for it. Won’t even get to schedule it until my appointment on the 28th.

 

[beccabear86]

@ashley2pink one thing I did learn last pregnancy about BH is that, while they're sometimes just a normal part of pregnancy, they can also be easily triggered by insufficient hydration. And THAT can actually trigger pre-term labor. My daughter almost made her appearance a full 4 weeks early because of that... I just started having pretty strong contractions one night, so went to the emergency room. They put me on saline and the contractions stopped. Mama learned her lesson, and Baby held on for another 3 weeks! So I guess I'd recommend that, in addition to whatever measures your doctor recommends, if you're worried about pre-term labor, just make sure to drink PLENTY of water! I think "they" recommend .5 oz per lb of body weight... for me that ends up being almost 100oz/day, but it's so worth it!

 

[Literati_Love]

Becca - great point! Hydration is so important for many things. In my first pregnancy, about a week before my due date (which was at the peak of summer), I went to the hospital with reduced fetal movement. I had barely felt movement for the entire day! They monitored me for a while and everything turned out to be fine. However, it was only after I downed a couple big glasses of water that I felt lots of movement again!

I have started getting BH just today actually. They are a little annoying because although they don’t hurt, the clenching/pinching feeling is a little uncomfortable for me.

 

[ashley2pink]

Becca, this pregnancy I have been drinking a lot more! I was never one to drink much water. But I started really upping my water intake a couple years ago when I kept getting UTI’s. It was hard at first since I wasn’t used to it. Drinking water when I wasn’t thirsty used to make me feel gaggy. But now it’s super easy for me to. I always have my 32oz contigo water bottle filled so i can drink it throughout the day. I drink about 64 oz each day but I want to up it a bit more as I get further along. At my last appointment earlier this week I weighed in at 110 so I guess 64 oz is pretty good if I want to drink a half oz per lb. Hopefully drinking more this pregnancy will help with the Braxton Hicks. I still am not completely sure if I have actually felt them yet. There have been a few times where I think I may have but at this point it’s hard to tell. My OB didn’t say anything about it when I told him I think I may have started to feel them.

 

[ashley2pink]

I have my anatomy scan on Sept 13. I will be 20+4. At the moment I am feeling patient in regards to finding out this baby’s gender. I think with my other kids I was so anxious at this point to find out. Not feeling rushed, though I am excited. But I guess maybe partly I just think it will be another girl so I don’t feel the rush to find out. I will be surprised if this baby is a boy

 

[Literati_Love]

Ashley - that’s exciting to have a scan date!! That’s good you’re feeling patient about finding out the gender. I actually am sort of too, but I’m sure I’ll get excited once I get mine booked.

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

If someone gave you $50 Amazon giftcard, what would you buy? I have all the basics and big things. We will cloth diaper and nurse.

I was thinking medicine and first aide, diaper rash cream, etc. The things you restock. Would that be smart you think?

 

[ashley2pink]

Yes, the little things you need. Like if you don’t yet have the baby wash, lotions, nail clippers, etc. Nipple cream? I know I uses that a ton at first until my nipples toughened up.

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

I put these in my cart so far:
Boogie wipes
Bumpkins bibs (the waterproof ones, I call them spaghetti bibs because it's the kind the baby can eat spaghetti wearing)
Motrin
Chest rub
Lanolin
Desitin
Cough syrup

Would you add or take anything away?

 

[red_head]

I don’t know what half of that is!
I’d buy some baby books too! Baby’s can hear us now so I’ve been reading and singing to him

 

[ashley2pink]

Cough syrup... what kind? I know babies and kids under 4 or is it 6?? Can’t have it. But then here are the natural kind out there I think they can have. We did honey kind but babies can’t have honey either. But I’m sure there are others. I do fear having a newborn smack dab in the middle of winter with all the sicknesses that go around. My kids will probably bring bugs home from school.

My youngest does competitive gymnastics and we just got the meet schedule for her today and there are 2 meets in January and the rest in feb-April. I’m so wondering how I’m going to manage all of it. And I’m sure I will have to miss at least 1 sadly. I love going to them But I’m also stressed about bringing a newborn to them in case there are sick people. I will just have to keep my distance from people. Also 2 of the meets are travel meets so that’s not going to be fun with a newborn. Thankfully the furthest is only 4-5 hrs drive each way. We may just miss that one since it’s a super snowy drive to that one.

 

[Sophie1234]

Hi everyone, been a bit quite lately as been a bit poorly again but on the mend now. How is everyone doing?

Just wanted to share some scan pictures I had done today. Can't believe how much detail we can see and I'm only 17+2. Deffo a little boy. In the last pic, he is snuggled into the placenta. So in love. And we have decided on a name. Cohen Jack x

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

My dd2 has ballet in the winter and we already told her teachers she might have to miss all of January.

 

[red_head]

Aww they are lovely Sophie he looks very cosy in there! Love the name Cohen!
Ashley I hadn’t thought about all the January germs! I’m a bit of a worrier about that sort of thing anyway! Let alone with a newborn! It must be more stressful when you’ve got little ones already who will be mixing with lots of people. Hopefully it’ll be ok! I do worry about my Nan. Her hygiene is not ideal anymore as she’s old and poorly, but she smokes 40 a day and about a litre of whisky! I swear I don’t know how she survives I think she’s pickled! But she will be wanting to hold and kiss baby but she’s incontinent too and doesn’t wash her hands ever and it is already freaking me out. Not sure how I’m going to get round it! I think I will have to figure something out with my mum and make a big deal out of making everyone wash first so she doesn’t feel singled out. I don’t want to embarrass her and she’s oblivious to it!

I ordered some baby stuff which arrived today. I can’t get over how big hats are. I ordered some knitted hats for 0-3 months and 0-1 month as it’s winter when he arrives. They are gigantic. Like out of proportion with the baby grows for newborns. I don’t understand how their head can be that big. Terrifying!!

 

[Literati_Love]

Sophie - beautiful scan pics! Love the detail. I am very very tired and just so done with everything (since you asked). It’s going to be a loooong 5 months.

OnErth - those sound like good items, except maybe the cough syrup.

Ashley - yeah, It’s actually awful having a baby in peak sick season. I should have learned my lesson the first time. With dd2, our entire household kept cycling through like 3 or 4 sicknesses - and they were NASTY ones! Thankfully, I was off for a couple of weeks before baby was born so was able to keep dd1 away from germs and so we were all finally better before baby arrived, but it was touch and go for a while. This time dd1 will be in school, so there will be no avoiding the germs. Dd2 also caught a cold at 2 weeks old already. But thankfully it wasn’t a bad one.

Red head - I would definitely just make a big deal of everyone washing their hands so she won’t feel singled out. I do anyway. When people come over, I have a big bottle of hand sanitizer out and I usually ask that everyone wash their hands first.

AFM - I stupidly started potty training my dd2 and I am going absolutely nuts. My husband is away the entire weekend so I’m having to deal with it all by myself. She’s actually doing great and hasn’t had any accidents since I got home from work yesterday, but it’s a novelty still and she is literally asking to go potty every 2 minutes and I want to scream! I am so tired and lazy and just want to lie on the couch all day - not get up every 5 seconds to wipe bums! UGHHHHHHH!

 

[Sophie1234]

Red - your comment about your nan being pickled really tickled me . On the cleanliness side of things, I would just take some hand sanitiser in the changing bag and just say here nan can you put some of this on before holding him as he's more at risk of being poorly. I'm sure she not mind.

Literati- I know what u mean about being exhausted, I seem to be getting worse with tiredness rather than better. I am borderline of being anaemic plus the kids are on school holidays, so I'm hoping once they go back in 2 weeks it will be easier lol. Have u had your iron levels tested if you are so tired?

I'm also worried about the winter germs. My last winter baby was my son. He was born 27th December so nearly a Jan baby and he ended up getting bacterial meningitis at 10 weeks old, so it makes me a lot more cautious this time round too. Xx

 

[OnErth&InHvn]

DS is a February baby and dd2 is a December baby. I dont remember freaking out about colds and germs but this baby, I'm like " back up!". It could also be from the cancer too...last year I was terrified of getting sick myself as they said I'd be back in the hospital.

Potty training is hard!

 

[Serenyx]

Sophie - those are wonderful pictures!

Mixed news here - I had my 16 week midwife appt yesterday and got to hear the heartbeat but today I got a phone call from the company who took my bloods for the Panorama test saying that the fetal fraction was too low so they were unable to do the test. They re-ran the bloods against the normal screening methods and gave me an even higher risk for problems. I can have a redraw done and they will try the Panorama again but it took over 10 days for these results to come back and i'm not convinced they will get a result next time either (apparently some of the medication I am on can also cause low fetal fraction - so I am expecting them to get even less next time!).

So that really only leaves me with the option of an amnio, which I am not keen on having due to the risk of miscarriage

I might call the screening midwives at the hospital on Monday to discuss it with them.

 

[red_head]

Literati well done for the potty training! I honestly don’t know how those of you with little ones cope! I can’t even look after myself properly at the moment ever!

Serenyx congratulations on the good appointment. I’m sorry you couldn’t get the results. I don’t know if this is helpful, but with my last pregnancy, when we were told he was ill, all it did was terrify me. I was on google reading worst case scenarios for hours a day. I don’t know if it helped me prepare for reality. Although we were told there was a small chance of the baby not surviving, it in no way prepared us for it happening. It was a massive shock. My point is sometimes having the information isn’t really helpful. You know what could happen, and you’ll deal with it as it comes and it doesn’t make it any easier. But it’s incredibly personal and every situation is different. And to be honest, I don’t know what I would want if something similar happened again. Hopefully you’ll get some answers at your 20 week scan. Wishing you so much luck xx