***Lion Cub Mommies-Back In Action!***

[spidey]

good luck at your first day back tomorrow jelr That's so sad that Natasha cried when you said you were going back to work . I'm sure she'll have a great time at your mom's so you shouldn't worry about her. Are you going to try and squeeze all your work into 3 days again? I hope you still find some time to post here I'm glad you're going to start feeling better soon with your antibiotics

Cleckner, what is up with your monitor??? How can you be at "high" for 7 days? There is no way its picking up LH because LH doesn't slowly increase like that. Is it reading some other hormone? Or maybe it's factoring in your "average" cycle length and figuring that this cycle will be just as long. Are you having any other signs of ovulation? Ugh, so annoying- but don't give up hope since those spermies can survive a good amount of time up there. I'm with you on feeling down about this TTC thing. An old friend from HS just had a baby last year and she posted on FB that she's 8 weeks with another. She still bf's her baby too. I actually almost blocked her post from my news feed

Today was action packed. We drove to a river and Kira had a blast wading in the river and then getting DH to take her out to the deeper parts. This evening we walked to the closest playground and let Kira take us wherever she wanted to go. So we wandered all over and had a great time. Tomorrow we're renting a canoe!

I never fully updated on operation no deedee during the day. It was a complete success!! She only got sad about not having a deedee a few times, especially in the car. And now without a plug in her mouth, she's trying to talk more although it's still not understandable

 

[cleckner04]

This TTC business is bullshit. I flipped out when that status thing on facebook was going on. "X weeks and craving X" I had like three people do it within a few hours and I was chatting with DH at the time while he was on duty and I was in tears because I thought all of these girls were suddenly pregnant. I admit that I block people that talk about their pregnancies constantly on FB. I just don't want to read it. I'm fine once they have the little ones. But it's the pregnancy talk that upsets me right now.

I'm really not sure what is up with the monitor. I pee on it every morning and I can see that the lines are getting lighter instead of darker now. So I'm assuming I either missed my surge or I didn't ovulate at all. But I shouldn't have 'missed' it because we have had sex every day but the day he had duty. So I just have my fingers crossed that this month is it. If not, I think we may have a small chance of trying in November but it really depends when I ovulate because he's gone around the 20th.

spidey- Your day sounds like it was so fun today!! I hope you guys enjoy canoeing too. I would be scared taking Emma on a canoe I think. I am scared of deep water in general though so the thought of Emma on it really scares me. I'm not really a strong swimmer. I mean I can swim but I don't think I could save someone if it ever came to that.

jelr- I'm sorry you have been feeling sick but I'm glad you are on the mend. I hope Natasha has a wonderful day tomorrow and I really hope it's not TOO hard on you. I can't even imagine how hard it'd be.

 

[spidey]

LOL Cleckner, I had the same thing happen on my newsfeed "I am __ weeks and craving __" The sad thing is that I don't have that many friends on there, but I have 1 blocked for having nothing but daily pointless pregnancy updates, another blocked for constantly talking bad about the president and a 3rd blocked for giving me nothing but bible quotes Other irritating updates are blocked on a case by case basis And don't feel paranoid girls, I have NEVER blocked any of your updates. I don't want to sound like a prude as I do love hearing updates on people's pregnancies, but some people won't leave it alone and it takes a long time before my buttons are pushed.

I think it's very possible that your monitor missed your surge. I am keeping my fingers super crossed for you for the next 2 weeks.

Kira is saying "A boooo' which means "get up" so I best listen!

 

[cleckner04]

Well day 8 of High reading without a peak. I don't get it either because the line is barely even there anymore so it's amazing that it's even a 'high'. I do remember a few days back the lines were really dark and the same color so I think that was my peak and it missed it. Although this machine is supposed to be really accurate so maybe I didn't ovulate at all.

And DH leaves today for the week so thats our only chance till November because he's gone for my entire next cycle.


spidey- Yeah I blocked people if that's all they ever talk about. It's so irritating to see twenty pregnancy updates a day from one person. But people like Shiv and MJ are not blocked because you girls aren't always talking about it.

 

[Mary Jo]

I keep pregnancy off Facebook completely, other than when I posted the 20 week scan pics. don't think I've mentioned it, other than in the group, since.

however *Adam* is the subject of most of my updates.

(will come back and post again later, been a busy day, our toilet started playing up last week and something went very wrong yesterday so have had a plumber in today and we've had to get a new one. fortunately the plumber is extended family - Chris's brother in law's step dad- so it didn't cost as much as it might.)

 

[jelr]

Spidey: Well done to Kira on getting rid of her deedee and I'm delighted her speech is improving - I'm so glad you have had a fun few days.

Cleck: It does sound like something is up with the monitor, surely if the lines were really dark that was your peak and now it is on the way down again, when does it usually start going back to Low, it will be interesting to see if it stays at high then too. I definitely think you are in with a really good chance when you have dtd every day and even though you missed that one day, those spermies should still be around from the day before :thumup:

MJ: Sorry to hear you are having problems with the loo - glad you got it sorted so quickly and cheaply though as it is not something that you can do without, especially not when pregnant

Shiv: I just want to wish you the very best of luck for tomorrow, I really hope it goes well.

[[[[Edited, so the whole world doensn't know my pay ha ha]]]]

This whole recession here just sickens me, it is normal hardworking people like us who are suffering. I have worked my way up for years and went back to get a better education for myself and was in a high paying job, but now it is like it is all for nothing and will now be on an extremely low paying job and the cost of everything is just getting worse. I have worked out that we actually have €650 a week going out in bills and we dont live in luxury or anything, that would just cover the mortgage, the insurances you have to have with the mortgage, the shopping, phones, petrol and car insurance, the bins,electricity and sky tv - like in fairness there is not even much there we could cut back on. I'm just sick of suffering for the mistakes that the fat cats made and I'm sick of this year in general, it is like two steps forward and three back grrrrr.

Sorry girls I know that was a rant and a half - So so annoyed right now.

 

[spidey]

jelr, that is so unfair I can't believe they cut your pay, let alone that much! It's not fair to the students especially if everyone is in a sour mood over their pay cuts and slack off as a result. They needed to reduce salary amounts of the local government employees and DH ended up with 2 weeks of unpaid leave, which is so much better than working the same hours but making less. Why did they wait till your first day to tell you? Oooo, I would be just as irate as you. We're in the same boat in regards to my salary. We could survive with DH's salary alone, but we wouldn't have a penny extra. I hope you can figure out what to do. Will this be a permanent cut?

MJ, I hope the toilet gets sorted out. It's great to have a plumber in the family

Cleckner, your fertility monitor totally needs new batteries I would count your peak as the day with the darkest line and ignore the monitor for this month.

I know you girls all like to use crock pots so I have a recipe to share! I made this today: https://www.bhg.com/recipe/chicken/dried-plum-and-olive-chicken/ I'm not sure how the non-US girls would like this as it's a bit sweet with the honey and prunes (I remember the thought of having cranberry sauce with thanksgiving was a bit repulsive ) It was super easy and very tasty! I thickened the final sauce with some corn starch and it made a nice gravy

 

[cleckner04]

Day 9 of a high reading.


jelr- That is absolutely appalling that they can cut your pay so much and still expect you to work just as many hours. I'm sorry you're dealing with this mess.

spidey- I don't like sweet stuff on things that are meant to be savory. Cranberry sauce at thanksgiving IS repulsive. Do you always use corn starch to make gravy? I've always used flour but is corn starch better?

shiv- Read your good news on FB!!! I'm so happy baby is head down now! I think your LO has to be a boy. Giving you trouble already like that.

 

[spidey]

ooooooh Cleckner, how dare you say you don't like cranberry sauce with turkey!

I use corn starch since I can't eat wheat... but even if I could eat wheat I would still use corn starch since I have no idea how to thicken things otherwise

woooohooo Shiv!!! I'm sooo happy the baby is head down!!

Today is day 11 post ovulation, so my luteal phase might be good this month Kira really cut back on booby for most of the month, although for the last 4 days she's been asking for booby quite frequently. I'm hoping its a temporary thing since her latch doesn't seem so great these days and my poor nips aren't feeling so great. I'm going through the lanolin like crazy!

 

[cleckner04]

Woo hoo for a good luteal phase hun!!! are you having any symptoms yet for either AF or preg? Maybe your nips aren't feeling great because you are pregnant!!


I've been doing some reading on why I'm only getting high readings. Apparently the monitor does that if you don't ovulate. So I don't think I ovulated this month. Go figure it's just my luck.

 

[Shiv]

jelr - so sorry about your pay cut - that is awful about your pay cut, this recession sucks ass. I hope you can come up with a way to stay home with Natasha more and still earn some money. I really feel for you, they made a bad day even worse.

Cleck - your monitor sounds a bit whacked to me. Don't give up hope this month, there is no reason why you wouldn't have ovulated this month, so assume that you have and wait and see what happens. Fingers crossed for you. I really want for you to get pregnant.

Spidey - 11 day luteal phase is good, hold on a few more days and then a BFP. So sorry about all your losses this year, glad you had a great weekend, it sounds fun, especially the go-karting and river wading.

I am in agreement with Cleck, sweet stuff with savoury doesn't work, so cranberry sauce is a no go here. I use corn flour to thicken stuff, which I am guessing is the same as corn starch. Much better at thickening than just normal flour, you only need a small amount.

MJ - how are you doing? Have you had your iron levels back yet? When is your next midwife appt?

Well as for me, as you've seen on fb (sorry for the pregnancy status ) baby is head down . Was SO relieved! However i lost a big chunk of my mucus plug now, and feel a bit different 8down there*, so I am majorly panicking about baby coming soon and David not being here. So David is going to be back about midnight on Friday and my parents go away tomorrow, my friend is here until Thursday, but that gives me someone to watch Sophia but not help me! eek, I SO should have organised things better, but I didn't want to plan for a birth that I couldn't have. SHIT!

On the up side I just ordered a birth pool which should be here on THursday. But I really feel like my waters are gonna break any minute - I hope I'm wrong and it'll probably be anoher 3weeks!

 

[Mary Jo]

yay, Shiv! am so glad baby is definitely head-down, and like I said on FB, I do wonder if s/he was all along and it was the mw who got it wrong. is s/he engaged at all? are you bouncing on a ball to try to make sure baby doesn't shift again?

fx that your plug starting to come away doesn't mean you're about to pop! I had a very small amount the other morning, quite definite about what it was, but such a little bit I'm not at all concerned or reading anything into it. however, C, who is massively busy at work (at this point - he is preparing all the literature for his organisation's annual congress in a couple of weeks' time - he is relying on other people getting their arses in gear and doing their bit so as to hit deadlines) is not above telling people I had a "show" and putting the wind up them that he's soon to be off on paternity and to get a move on! none of these people knew what a show or a plug was, so I guess they all went and consulted Dr Google. I was slightly mortified by this. Chris knows it is meaningless at this early stage but he let them all think otherwise!

Spidey, so sorry about the loss of your aunt, and your other losses this year. that's really rough. glad to hear you had a fun weekend though. as for vaginas, eeeek, brave lady having a look. I don't think I've looked at all since Adam was born, I know it feels a little different (also had a 2nd degree tear). C has never commented, and I actually think he would if it had been majorly rearranged, he wouldn't bother about being kind or sensitive, so I have to presume it's basically the same as before! oh, and brilliant news about operation deedee! I would love Adam to ditch his but am thinking he does get so much comfort from it, and he's had a lot to deal with, and much more to come, so along with potty training it's not something I'm going to push. I love it when he gives it to me when I ask, though, he knows we don't want him to have it all the time. but I can't cope with not having something to help when he's driving me mad with the screaming.

fx that your longer LP isn't really, and you get a BFP instead. am thinking positive for you.

also for you Cleck. I do empathise about feeling that other people get knocked up exactly when they want to/without trying. it's hard under any circumstances but especially when you've only got a limited TTC window because of Corey's job. and super frustrating about the monitor. have you ever thought about temping? like I said to Spidey, the advantage of that is that it won't leave you under any doubt that you ovulated or not. also about Facebook, I have a lot of hidden statuses, for loads of reasons but pregnancy/children is definitely one of them. it actually annoys me that I don't have the guts to unfriend them as it's nobody I am at all close to.

as for sweet condiments with a savoury dish - it's one of my pet hates as well. so no apple sauce with pork (though I only very rarely eat pork anyway), no mint with lamb, no cranberry with turkey... yuck. I don't know why I hate it so much but I always have! my one exception I guess would be tomato ketchup. I suppose it is sweet but to me it is more acidic. am very much a fan of mustard, all kinds, mild and strong.

Jean, ack, I don't blame you for being livid about your job, I'm so sorry. Ireland is still in so much shit, it's terrible. as you know I work on the Irish edition of the Sunday Times and so I am hearing more than I would under normal circumstances in the UK. it really really sucks, I know it is so much worse for you all than it is over here. it's not fair that it's people who have always been responsible and lived within their means who are being affected so badly. it's the stupid banks' fault, lending so much money to people who never had a hope of being able to pay it back. definitely know what it's like to be in the situation where you can pay the bills but have nothing much left on only DH's salary. when I was working 3 days a week I was able to save a fair bit but on 1 day a week, I can't (and it's not even been 1 day a week - 3 days a months is more like it recently), and though C assures me we're ok, I do worry. thankfully I found out I am getting statutory maternity pay, so I will have a small income myself from when it starts, hopefully in early Oct, for nine months. I am already worrying about how we'll manage if I don't get shifts once that is finished. I'd like to do the odd shift, but no idea if I will be asked. the thing is, I can only really do Saturdays, unless my mum is available to come here to babysit.

speaking of my mum, she did actually come down this past weekend. I went to work on Thur, and was asked to do Fri. C couldn't take the day off and he didn't want to ask his mother again, so I asked mine. I paid her train ticket (it's not as expensive as it otherwise would be because she has an over 60s' railcard) and met her at the station at 12.30pm, handed Adam over, and then went and did a 2-10pm shift. it was fine. and as I didn't get a Saturday shift, it meant I was able to have a really relaxed Saturday as my mum took care of Adam. C also had pretty much a free day, he went out by himself for a few hours, while I slept late and then dyed my hair. then in the evening we decided to leave my mum and Adam and went to Ikea and bought some furniture for Adam's bedroom. so now the carpet is all in (and looks great) and Adam has a chest of drawers and a bookcase with a cupboard above, and his bed has been assembled, we're almost ready for him to go in. sheets etc are washed, I bought a duvet, so just need to iron the duvet cover. haven't got the wall stickers yet but I will. our plan was to have it all ready for Adam tomorrow (though he's already been in and seems to like it) only now Chris wants to leave putting him in the bed till after my mum has been down again (she's coming from next Wed, the 14th, till Tue the 20th). I don't know about that, I actually think Chris is going to find it hard kicking him out of our room, and I'd like to get him used to the idea of being in his own room and bed more than a month before my EDD. otherwise I can see me and the new baby moving in to the new bedroom and leaving C and Adam in ours!

the day at C's mum's went well, she enjoyed it and said he was lovely, anyway, and wants to have him again. I hope he enjoyed it, but I didn't really see him till the next day because he was sound asleep when I got in from work.

haven't rung about my iron levels, must remember to do that tomorrow as I have my appt a week on Thur, the 15th. my "booking in" appt, which I am hoping won't be as long as my first one, since I do have my notes and all my blood test results from when it was done in March. I guess it'll also be a general antenatal appt. not sure if they'd offer a scan quite yet (I'll be 35+1) if they think baby is still breech. I have no idea where he is, though I don't feel a big hard lump beneath my ribs on my left side, which is where his head was at my 4D scan and where the mw said his bum was last time I saw one. so I hope he's in a better position but I just can't tell.

we'll see. I read a thread in 3rd tri about moxibustion and the lady was praising it, so it's something to keep in mind if it's not good news!

other than that, I am feeling bigger and slower and much more SPD-ish. it's not terrible, but it wears me down. I am ok once I am walking about, it's when I have to get up from sitting or lying, and turning in bed or changing position when sitting. bump feels so massive, but I laid down and measured my fundal height a few days ago and I was 34cm, so exactly on target. also measured my waist and I was 42.5inches round. jesus.

 

[jelr]

thanks girls I have calmed down a lot today and myself and DH have had a long talk and some of the girls were on to me because of my fb rant so after talking it all out I feel a lot better, have decided I'm only going to cut down to 2 days and if the work doesn't get done then, there is nothing I can do. I have explained this to my boss and she is in agreement, she is so good, it is just higher above that are making the cuts and she totally understands me not doing the 3 days and trying to manage to pay my mam out of what is left, so even though we will be down a huge chunk of money and I don't really know how much it is until it comes in. I'm going to take the postive from it that I will get an extra day with N. I have no idea if it will work as things may completely fall apart and I could be pulled up on it, but all I can do is try. I do feel sorry for the students as they will suffer and I know it I am making it worse on mine by cutting back the days, but I have to look after my own little family first and this way I at least save on a days childcare and I'm sorry but I have always done over and above for my learners and for work, but I'm not prepared to be away from my daughter for 3 days when she doesn't get the benefit by us having an extra few bob. I know that is selfish in one sense, but she is what is most important and I won't make any apology for that :thumup: - I'm hoping maybe now that my earnings are lower that my taxes and levies will now be too, so maybe I will be able to claw some of the loss back, but I won't be sure until my pay comes in and we will just have to see how it goes.

Spidey: Yay for the longer luteal phase and fx for a bfp instead :thumup: - Yeah I have to agree I'm not a sweet and savory kind of gal either, in fact I'm not really a sweet gal at all and much prefer savory stuff, although in saying that I do love sweet and sour or sweet chilli chicken, so maybe I would like it, although I do hate prunes. Yep I'm afraid I think it will be a permenant cut as our country is still in receivership with the IMF basically and I know our goverment has to cut another 10 billion in the next few years, so when we have the budget in Dec, I reckon we will all be hit again :growl:

Cleck: I reckon you did ovulate the fact that the lines got so dark and there is something up with the monitor. Bet this will be your month when you are worrying that you didn't OV at all and then you will know we were all right about your monitor :thumup:

Shiv: I'm am so so delighted for you, I had a quick read on my phone when out for a cigerette at work today and it really did cheer me up, I'm so so happy for you and think baba will stay put until David comes home, this one just likes to worry you, but is a good BOY (i'm even more convinced it is a boy now) in the end

MJ: That is great news that Adam got on so well with your MIL and with your mum and it is nice that you got a little break. You will have to put up some photos of Adam's new room. How do you think he will get on in the bed? Yep our economy is in big mess and will be for years to come. I really hope your spd doesn't get anyworse, you actually brought mine back to me as that is exactly how mine was and hurt like hell turning over at night or getting up, so I do sympathise.

Just a question, do your LO's use a spoon, kife properly yet, Natasha still doesn't, she can use them, but drops most of it off before reaching her mouth most of the time but she usually eats with her fingers most of the time. I'm just thinking should I be trying to get her to use the cutlery more as it probably would look more mannerly but then at the same time, I'd much prefer her to get the food into her mouth and am happy once she is fed and I do presume she will use the cutlery much more once she can completely manage it properly.

 

[Mary Jo]

Jean, Adam is keen to use his cutlery but isn't always successful, and he does use his fingers a lot still. If I give him, say, a yogurt, I let him do it himself with a spoon, and he is sometimes fine and sometimes spreads it all over the table and himself, but Chris likes to feed him, which we never did when he was weaning, so it irritates me a bit, but I know C is just trying to cut down on the mess. plus he likes the game and Adam says "train" and "aeroplane" and C likes that. I must confess to frequently giving Adam food still that can be easily managed with fingers. but if I give him a fork and prepare the food so he can spear it easily (sometimes I forget) he will have a go. I gave him a potato waffle and baked beans for his lunch today and he did very well with the fork, all the waffle and most of the beans. he'll get there and so will Natasha. they have their whole lives to demonstrate their good manners!

 

[spidey]

you girls are no fun with your dislike of sweet and savory mixed! If any of you visit me, half my meals would be out of the question Cleckner, do you dip breakfast sausage into syrup?

Kira is pretty good at using a spoon (with her left hand). Like Adam, sometimes she'll eat something very neatly and other times it's spread all over the table and down her shirt. Even so, she eats most things with her fingers, but so do I

I hope you girls are right about me getting a bfp this month. I don't feel it though.. maybe I will test in the morning. I should be 12 days post Ov. by then.

jelr, I think cutting it down to 2 days is the right thing. You can keep some extra income for fun times, but still have 3 days during the week with Natasha. I didn't know that you paid your mom. My poor mom works for free But you're right- you need to look after your family first. I went through the same thing when Kira was a baby and my boss told me I needed to work 40 hours/week. She could not understand my logic behind wanting to spend time with my daughter versus work my butt off to the point of regret and exhaustion.

MJ, how horrifying that your DH was talking about your plug at work. I bet a few of them were traumatized by their google searches Thats sweet that Adam will hand over his pacifier when asked. I feel the same way about Kira needing something for comfort. She gets frustrated so easily because she has so much to say but she can't say it. She still has my boobs as comfort for those really bad meltdowns. I would love to see pictures of Adam's room too!

I decided to try temping for this next cycle (you sold me MJ!) I already found the thermometer and put it next to the bed. I usually have 22-26 days after AF before I ovulate, so that'll be plenty of time to get used to taking my temperature in the morning It should be a fun experiment!

Shiv, I'm really curious on where you're planning to put your birthing pool?

 

[cleckner04]

I don't really like syrup period. I don't even put it on my pancakes. I just eat my pancakes plain. Or with chocolate chips in them like I did tonight.


Emma is really good with utensils. She's never used a knife to cut up her own food or anything like that though. She will actually get really upset if I don't give her a fork or spoon with her meals. She does eat some stuff with her hands but stuff like cereal and milk she does really well with. I'm actually even confident enough to let her eat it in the living room watching spongebob in the mornings. We did BLWing though so that may have contributed to that since she's been practicing with utensils from the start. But she still doesn't speak in full sentences or count or anything so she's kinda behind the others in that regard.


All this talk of plugs makes me wonder if I was ever meant to give birth vaginally. I never had anything like that happen for myself. No plug loss, no nothing as far as signs of labor. Makes me question my body a bit. And now I won't ever know because I don't really have the urge to even attempt a VBAC.

 

[spidey]

OMG no syrup!??

I didn't lose my plug or have any bleeding whatsoever My water popped at 41+3 and then Kira came out 10 hours later. Seeing a plug would have freaked me out

 

[spidey]

oh, I forgot to mention that I got a bfn this morning

 

[cleckner04]

Nope no syrup. I sometimes put a little bit of it on the plate so if I feel like dipping than it's there but I hate when the pancakes get soggy with it. I'm not much of a maple person in general though. I hate maple donuts too.

Sorry for the BFN. I'm glad I don't have any pregnancy tests in my house. I think I'd be taking them every day if I had some in stock.

 

[Mary Jo]

with Adam I lost a chunk of plug (not a huge amount, I've heard some women say theirs was the size of a dinner plate) on the Monday, 39+6, and he was born on the Saturday, 40+4. it did give me some hope that *something* was happening. then my waters started leaking at 40+3, but again not much. wish I'd never gone to hospital to get it checked, there was no meconium in them or anything. next time I am sitting tight unless there is a substantial amount!

sorry about the BFN, Spidey. I know it's disheartening but while AF stays away there is always hope. I was never an early tester, I couldn't bear the disappointment. again another advantage of temping - I knew a day before my period started that it would because my temp would drop two days running, and definitely the day it would start it would be way down. with Adam my suspicions were raised when my temp went really high the day after I'd normally get my period, it *had* dropped a bit the day before and I thought it was all over, but then it went up again, so I tested. I think it was 16 or even 17 DPO, and my normal luteal phase was 15 days.

in the UK syrup never goes with savoury food. I like maple syrup on pancakes, or ice cream, and I *love* maple glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts, but not really anything else. I like golden syrup on toast or scotch pancakes or crumpets. the thought of syrup with sausage turns my stomach, actually.

actually the one food Adam refuses to eat with a spoon is cereal. I make it so he can pick it up, I pour the milk on, let it sit for a minute then pour the rest into my bowl. he has cereal he can eat easily, like mini shredded wheats, cheerios and branflakes.

Jean, I think you're doing the best thing for your family, you're right, you have to think of your family first, it's a shame about the students but they are not your first responsibility.

Adam has been a right monkey today. his latest naughtiness is to dig in the tomato plants and tip soil everywhere. he's already picked most of the tomatoes and either eaten them or thrown them down (green ones). yesterday he tipped up the cucumber plant, and ate the one little cucumber that was left, and covered himself in the dirt. same thing today, came in filthy. he's also started tipping Betty's (my cat's) dry food into her water dish. he won't respond to "no" or being told off. and the grabbing at me is getting worse. I hate it. gah.