Randoms Week of April 25

riveridgional

Have any thoughts, questions, feelings, fears, etc.? Spill them here!

kuposa17

I feel like I'm having some anti-symptoms, like being cold all the time and not hungry. I've heard it could be anemia, thyroid, or just plain normal.  That's my random fear/concern. Oh, and husband is freaking out about money, is super grumpy/scared all of a sudden, even though we've been trying for years.

tvh1982

I'm very cold to, which I think has to do with my weight loss.
Could you get some bloodwork done to ease your mind @kuposa17?

I feel with your husband, I guess it all just started to get real for him.

KidShrink

Sorry you're feeling that way @kuposa17 ! I'd also have bloodwork done just to be sure, but it could bery well be completely normal too. I'm 39 weeks now and I'd say that overall (and especially during the first tri), I've had more food aversions than cravings, so I haven't been stuffing my face all that much. I also think your husband's reaction is normal...I'd say I've had a similar reaction myself a few weeks ago where I started questioning myself as to whether this (having a baby any day now) is what we really wanted. I think when you're trying for so long, the possibility of there never being a baby becomes real and it's hard to think it's actually happening sometimes. Just let him voice his concerns...you'll see he'll turn around in no time  

AdorkablePixie

Okay, so I was at Big Lots this morning buying protein bars (my current obsession and I had to buy more because DH happens to love the flavor of the Zone Perfect ones I bought) and this old lady in front of me says, "are you on your way to the hospital?" I gave her a look and said "no". She said I looked like I was about to pop, which I don't.. I'm not really THAT big. Then the lady behind the counter who had two gold teeth acted like she was pushing and just looked like a real moron. I was so pissed. How freaking rude! It took all I had in me not to say something ignorant to the both of them. I'm still going over in my head what I should have said to them and it's been almost an hour now.

Binnie505

--- Sharing from another group. This is hilarious! ---

Re: Awake Training for Parents

Dear Fellow Babies,

OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 5 months. The first few months were great -- I cried, she picked me up and fed me, anytime, around the clock. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it is only getting worse.

I've talked to other babies, and it seems like its pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 5-6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep -- they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the Crybaby Shuffle.

It goes like this:

Night 1 -- cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.

Night 2 -- cry every 2 hours until you get fed.

Night 3 -- every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert, and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, shhhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN (sleep through the night), just once, she will expect it every night. I know it's hard! But she really does not need the sleep; she is just resisting the change.. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it.

The other night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with:

-My sleep sack tickled my foot.

-I felt a wrinkle under the sheet.

-My mobile made a shadow on the wall.

-I burped, and it tasted like rice cereal. I hadn't eaten rice cereal since breakfast, what's up with that?

-The dog said "ruff". I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day.

-Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room.

-Too hot, too cold, just right -- doesn't matter! Keep crying!!

-I had drooled so much my sheets were damp and I didn't like it touching me.

-I decided I was sick of all the pink in my room so I cried.

It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommies' internal clocks.

Sometimes my Mommy will call for reinforcements by sending in Daddy. Don't worry Daddies are not set up for not needing sleep the way Mommies are. They can only handle a few pats and shhing before they declare defeat and send in the Mommy.

Also, be wary of the sleep sheep with rain noises. I like to give Mommy false hope that listening to the rain puts me to sleep sometimes I pretend to close my eyes and be asleep and then wait until I know Mommy is settling back to sleep to spring a surprise cry attack. If she doesn't get to me fast enough I follow up with my fake cough and gag noise that always has her running to the crib. At some point I am positive she will start to realize that she really doesn't really need sleep.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you, no matter how long you suck on them, no milk will come out.

Trust me.

Sincerely,

Baby

tvh1982

Hihih, I needed a good laugh @binnie505! Thanx for sharing  

tvh1982

I accidentally came across the following: https://www.momjunction.com/articles/why-pcos-makes-breastfeeding-difficult_00398143/

Did anyone else knew breastfeeding might be difficult when having PCOS?

I know it says 'might' so not all will have trouble, but it kinda took away my last bit of energy I have left. Like, will I get a break of it all? Or will it just be struggle after struggle after struggle. 

ZoeFer

@tvh1982 hahaha this was the missing piece, now I am worried because I have higher chances of getting gestational diabetes, have autism in my kid and might not be able to breastfeed ! I know there are much more serious conditions in this world but I have been dealing with PCOS since I was 16 and I am so tired of it.

mskeenan

Ah @tvh1982 we can't catch a break . On the bright side I'm glad you shared that article so know early and can hopefully do something about if we plan to breastfeed . Damn PCOS. I hate it . 

KidShrink

That's interesting (but in a very uncool kinda way). You ladies really can't catch a break, can you?! If it also affects the production of oxytoxin, is it possible that women with PCOS need to be induced more frequently? 

I have stage 4 endometriosis that affected my health (bladder, liver, gallbladder, etc.) in many ways on top of infertility. I therefore have high hopes of being able to breastfeed, but that adds pressure that probably won't help. I just received the book 'The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding' that I ordered...I think I should have gotten to it sooner than a few hours/days before going into labour though... 

tvh1982

Oh wow, you are that close @kidshrink!
That made me smile! Yay for seeing your little one soon!! xoxo

KidShrink

Oh yes, very close @tvh1982 ! Technically due next week, but I've been having false labour since Tuesday, and went to L&D overnight as it seems like the show was officially on the road...it sort of is, but I'm still in early labor. If not today, seems like we're going to have our little guy before the end of the weekend. At least that's what I hope because you really can't sleep through a contraction unless you have an epidural or other pain meds, and I'm not dilated enough for the epi yet. They gave me a bit of gravol and morphine last night, so I managed two hours of sleep, but right now I can fall asleep standing if I close my eyes long enough (like 10 seconds). 

tvh1982

So excited news @kidshrink. Wishing you a smooth labour. Sending lots of positive vibes your way xoxo!

mskeenan

@kidshrink how exciting !!  I hope everything goes as smoothly as possible keep us posted please !! 

Drove2u

Omg @kidshrink that went by so fast. Well at least for me. Lol. Keep us updated. Can't wait to hear. And see pics maybe?

HBamama2B

@kidshrink so excited for you! Hopefully that LO is well on its way by the time you see this!

HBamama2B

My random: I finally threw out my remaining IVF meds this week. I'm 33 wks pregnant and it was hard. Anyone else struggle with this?

Drove2u

I am not nearly as far along as you so holding on to mine for quite a while still but thinking of donating them to my REs office. Not sure when though. So I understand holding on to them until 33 weeks. 

riveridgional

How exciting @KidShrink! Hoping you have or have had a smooth delivery!

@HBAMAMA2B Im 26 weeks and am still to nervous to donate or do anything with my unused Gonal-F pen!

HBamama2B

It was really hard. Hubs wanted to bin them at around 22wks but I wasn't ready. Even now, it's a scary thing. We didn't have anything we could donate, except a ton of unused needles. Those we did. I wish we'd had anything not used to donate. We ended up going through just a tiny bit of one gonal-f pen and 1 vial of Menopur in a whole box.  

Binnie505

@KidShrink yay it's almost time! Hope everything goes smoothly for u. Enjoy the new phase.

AdorkablePixie

@Drove2u Ahhhh!! You've finally joined us over here?! How far along are you?? Congratulations!

@KidShrink Yay! You'll end have your LO in your arms soon. How exciting! I can't wait to see some pictures. 

@HBamama2B I donated my leftover mess to my cousin who was about to go through IVF. It worked out perfect, I wanted to keep my mess u till I was out of the first trimester and that's around the time she needed them. I am so glad I was able to help her out because otherwise wit would have cost her thousands because her insurance sucks!

Drove2u

@adorkablepixie thanks. I'm still very early and not exactly sure how far along I am. I go for my first ultrasound Friday. 

HBamama2B

AdorkablePixie said:

@Drove2u Ahhhh!! You've finally joined us over here?! How far along are you?? Congratulations!

@KidShrink Yay! You'll end have your LO in your arms soon. How exciting! I can't wait to see some pictures. 

@HBamama2B I donated my leftover mess to my cousin who was about to go through IVF. It worked out perfect, I wanted to keep my mess u till I was out of the first trimester and that's around the time she needed them. I am so glad I was able to help her out because otherwise wit would have cost her thousands because her insurance sucks!

That's wonderful you were able to help her out! I'm hoping with our next round it will work out a little better to be able to donate something, we stimmed a couple extra days so that just ruined it. I feel lucky with what we got, but I think it should all be covered under insurance.

Also- saw your post. 90% of the responses in June are total inside jokes. Other BMBs tend to think we're crazy Bc it's so hard to decode...;)