Valentines Babies, 2013!

[SierraJourney]

Aww ladies! Sorry to hear about the hormones. I may have some flare ups soon, as my sister and her family moved into our house completely yesterday. DH is handling it surprisingly well! Me, on the other hand, I'm being super nice and helpful, but on the inside I just want to cry. It's hard to have your home invaded. I liked my quiet (which won't last long with the baby coming. . haha), and I like to do whatever I want whenever I want. I guess I've been a little spoiled, but it's really weird having to "share" your home with other people. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but it's hard at first! And my poor kitty---they have 3 cats that moved in with us, too, and my kitty has not been around another can for almost a year (when we adopted her as a kitten). She's cowering and hissing and meowing. .. poor thing. I'm worried about her all day long today in the house by herself with 3 strange cats. I hope it gets better for her!

 

[SierraJourney]

Love the pics, Kellen! So cute! I *must* get DH to do this with me soon!

 

[Kellen]

Poor Kitty! Hopefully she will not be too stressed and this will help transition her for when baby arrives.

Our kitty was awesome getting her shots on Sunday. We put on her harness (yes, I walk my cat... and she likes it!) and took her to the store. She played with the dogs and was really good during the shot process. But when I took her over to the adopt-a-kitty enclosure she started hissing and growling. Apparently she thinks she is a dog and doesn't like cats. She slept all day yesterday from the vaccines. Poor baby...

3 out of 8 people at work are walking around with the flu. Thanks... I shall stay in my office and glare at you when you walk past.

 

[SierraJourney]

Thanks Kellen! That's so cute about your cat! What a character!

And stay away from that flu! My goodness--I hate when people bring that kind of stuff into the workplace!

 

[Kellen]

My office-mate has barricaded us in our office. He has two small kids at home and doesn't want to take any germs with him. One has the flu (but is the boss and has required meetings so I don't blame him) the other has strep (and is an intern so she really needs to go home). We have a bottle of lysol that has been liberally sprayed in our office and on all door handles. lol...

 

[SierraJourney]

Haha---that's what I'd be doing too!!

 

[helena]

Can't someone send the intern home? That's terrible behavior!

Oh Sierra, I don't envy you having long term house guests. It's hard enough when we have people for a weekend..do you think your sister and her family will be out and about a the weekends so you have some space? I think it would be a good idea, or you may all fall out. I know I would if m brother moved in. People would just annoy me for being in my space whatever the we're doing after a while. Good luck! Xx

 

[SierraJourney]

Can't someone send the intern home? That's terrible behavior!

Oh Sierra, I don't envy you having long term house guests. It's hard enough when we have people for a weekend..do you think your sister and her family will be out and about a the weekends so you have some space? I think it would be a good idea, or you may all fall out. I know I would if m brother moved in. People would just annoy me for being in my space whatever the we're doing after a while. Good luck! Xx

Thanks helena. The good thing is is that my sister has her 3 year old in a whole bunch of "after-school" activities---like gymnastics and dance, etc. So, there will be a couple evenings in the week where they are gone for a good portion. And her husband is on swing-shift, so most of the time he will be gone working or he will be sleeping. . . so I'm hoping that helps. And they usually are active on the weekends---whether it be shopping or parties or such. So, HOPEFULLY I won't feel this way for too long.

 

[wamommy]

DragonflyWing, your husband gets the gold star! He handled your crying incredibly. I had a meltdown like that a week or two ago, and my DH just looked at me and said, "seriously?" and walked away

Sierra, it is SO kind of you to help your sister this way. I know it's tough having your space invaded, especially when all of instincts are telling you to prepare/protect your space for baby. I hope the scheduling leaves you some privacy, and that they turn out to be fabulous house guests!

Kellen, LOVE the pictures! You look so adorable I haven't taken a belly shot (or any photo actually) since 20 weeks, so you've motivated me! Perhaps I'll do that today. It IS the last day of second tri, after all!

Helena, I had my meltdown about the same thing as you. I was afraid that I'm a terrible Mom, and that having one more might send me over the edge. I was afraid I won't have the time or energy to spend enough time with my girls, and they'll hate me for having another baby...lol. It must be normal! I heard a great quote a long time ago, it was something like "the only bad parent is one who never wonders what kind of parent they are." So I guess we're ok

Jo, congrats on picking a name! What a weight off Are you telling family, or waiting until the baby is born?

 

[Kellen]

It IS the last day of second tri, after all!

That is a terrifyingly awesome thing to think about. I can't believe that we only have 3 months to go. For me it seems like the days drag whereas the weeks zoom by. Given my three day weekend zoomed to, but ya know...

I feel like there should be a "Second-Third Trimester" board. I don't find many of the 2nd Tri post relevant, but the majority of the 3rd tri seem focused on the very end. I feel like I'm stuck somewhere in the middle.

Congrats to everyone for making it this far!

 

[SierraJourney]

It IS the last day of second tri, after all!

That is a terrifyingly awesome thing to think about. I can't believe that we only have 3 months to go. For me it seems like the days drag whereas the weeks zoom by. Given my three day weekend zoomed to, but ya know...

I feel like there should be a "Second-Third Trimester" board. I don't find many of the 2nd Tri post relevant, but the majority of the 3rd tri seem focused on the very end. I feel like I'm stuck somewhere in the middle.

Congrats to everyone for making it this far!

I completely agree! I keep bouncing back and forth on each board trying to find relavant information!

 

[wamommy]

Me too! I feel like I'm in between, and less and less posts apply to me. Ah well, at least all of you guys are at the same stage, and understand what's going on with our crazy bodies!

 

[DragonflyWing]

I totally agree...I go back and forth between second and third tri, too. I can't believe we're so close to the 3rd trimester, time has flown!

Kellen, those pictures are great!

wamommy, I would have punched my husband if he just walked away while I was crying. Just the thought of it makes me angry!

I went for my weekly NST and a growth scan this morning. Babies are doing great, Gunnar is 2lb4oz and Lily is 2lb2oz. The NST took forever because they couldn't keep the heartbeat monitors on Gunnar...he was like a little Houdini escaping from the probe. Then they told me that I was having some contractions, but I couldn't feel anything. The doctor did a cervical check and a test for preterm labor...I think it's called a fetal fibronectin test? I'll get the results later today, but she said my cervix is still long and closed, so she's not worried. I'm starting to get SPD pretty bad, it was really difficult to get back into my pants after the test, and walking to my car was agony. Dr suggested a maternity support belt to hopefully help with that. Fundal height is measuring very nearly full term already!

 

[SierraJourney]

Aww Dragon---they sound so cute!

Let us know what the test results come back as---"contractions" is such a scary word at this point!!

This might be a dumb question, but what is SPD?

 

[DragonflyWing]

SPD is symphysis pubis dysfunction...pregnancy hormones cause the ligaments in your pelvis to loosen, and sometimes this can cause pain and instability in the joints, especially right at the front at your pubic bone (symphysis pubis joint). It hurts a lot to do anything where I have to separate my legs, like walking, climbing stairs, getting in and out of the car, rolling over in bed, etc.

 

[SierraJourney]

SPD is symphysis pubis dysfunction...pregnancy hormones cause the ligaments in your pelvis to loosen, and sometimes this can cause pain and instability in the joints, especially right at the front at your pubic bone (symphysis pubis joint). It hurts a lot to do anything where I have to separate my legs, like walking, climbing stairs, getting in and out of the car, rolling over in bed, etc.

Oh my goodness Dragon---that's horrible! I'm sorry! I had no idea. . . Sounds really painful!

 

[DragonflyWing]

Thanks! It's been mostly just uncomfortable for the last month or so, but it rapidly worsened over this past weekend...and today it's the worst it's ever been. I'm actually having some trouble just walking to the bathroom. Last night I tried using a heating pad, but that didn't seem to help. Tylenol doesn't help. So far the only thing that helps is sitting/laying in one place lol, but then when I have to move or get up it comes right back.

 

[SierraJourney]

Wow. I hope you can find some sort of relief soon!

Is anyone taking any classes? If so, when?

DH & I signed up for a "Preparation in Childbirth" class in January---it's one day a week for four weeks. The other classes I'm thinking of signing up for are: Breastfeeding 101 and "Baby Bootcamp" (which is the basics on taking care of a baby. . .).

 

[wamommy]

Oh, Dragonfly, that sounds awful! I feel bad for complaining about my back and hips! I read on another thread that SPD can be helped by gluing your knees together (figuratively, lol) when you bend or sit or lie down. Does that help at all? I wish there was a solution to bring some relief! It's great to know the babies are growing well, though. I can't believe they're already over 2 lbs!

Sierra, I took childbirth classes with my first and really enjoyed them. To be honest, the info was nothing I couldn't find in books, but getting to talk to other first-time parents was really fun. We had a great group (maybe 6 couples?) where everyone chimed in and told jokes, etc. I really looked forward to those classes each week. I also took breastfeeding 101, which I suppose was ok. I learned the basics, but was still not able to breast feed. I also took an infant CPR class, which I highly recommend. After baby was born I took an infant massage class, lol. It was entertaining, and DD loved it. More importantly, I met one of my really good friends in that class. Since we obviously both had new babies it gave us an instant connection I recommend taking as many as you have time for, because it's a great way to connect with DH and completely focus on LO.

My Mom just stopped by unexpectedly to have DH take a look at her laptop which seized up. He spent 2 hours with her fixing it while I panicked about how messy my house is! I really haven't been keeping up with housework like I should, and was totally embarrassed. Oh well... She had 3 kids close together, so I doubt my Mom thought anything of it. I also don't see it getting any better in a couple of months

 

[SierraJourney]

Those classes sound great wamommy---I'll definitely check into more! Thanks for the tip!

I'd be embarrassed if my mom just stopped by---I ALWAYS clean up the house for her. It's not usually dirty, but DH doesn't put things away right away sometimes. . .so it would just look cluttered! I'm sure she didn't even think twice about it, though----I usually find that I am more worried about it than people really notice. ..

Also, my Mom and younger sister offered to come clean my house completely for me right before baby comes---hooray!