Thanks ladies! I'm hoping by buying the size up I'm preparing for any case scenario. Luckily the dress is pretty roomy so should be okay eek. I guess it gives me something to work towards
@mrsrahl I got the standard snoogle with a jersey fabric. I remember loving it last time but I brought it out a couple of weeks ago and hated it. I haven't actually used it for a night yet this pregnancy but that's because I LOVE sleeping on my stomach and won't give that up until I absolutely have to (which is basically now).
@MrsRahl I just got the standard snoogle because I wanted it soooooo badly my last pregnancy. I'm not in love with it yet right now my regular pillow + body pillow seem to be more comfortable but I'm hoping the snoogle will redeem itself as I get bigger! FX.
Not sure if this fits here, but you ladies would probably know better than anyone else: I thought, maybe mistakenly, that pregnancy hormones sort of "leveled out" into the second trimester once the placenta is fully functional. I feel more emotional (crying, happy and sad) and short tempered than ever. I'm 17.5 weeks or so now. Should I just expect this from here on out?
@LoneStar21416 I don't know the medical/technical answer but I think that your hormones continue to fluctuate the same way the fluctuate when you aren't pregnant so the mood swings can continue but that the placenta does take the brunt of hormone production for the baby. Someone correct me if I'm wrong though!
@MrsRahl I wanted a snoogle so badly with my last pregnancy. I bought one a few weeks ago because I NEEDED one. It currently is used to keep my daughter from falling off our bed, or she likes to watch tv in it while it's rolled up. Maybe I'll actually use it when I'm huge.
@LoneStar21416 I thought that the placenta taking over helped with morning sickness and exhaustion, but not with the emotional aspects of pregnancy. Trust me, those will get worse. The mood swings may even out...but pregnant crying/anger will prevail.
I have a dilemma and could use a STM+ advice: back in March, we bought tickets to see Wicked for our anniversary. The show is on Jan. 11th. I've been dying to see it for the last 5 years and we finally got tickets for when it's in town, but Baby is due Jan. 1st! What would the likelihood be of me being able and up to seeing the show if Baby comes on time? Or if I'm still waiting for Baby to come, would it be worth going to see the show? I have thought of trying to exchange the tickets for the last day of the show, Jan. 29th, but if Baby waits until two weeks after the due date, that would still have us with a 2 week infant. There's been plenty of gracious offers to take the tickets off our hands made by our parents and close friends.
Me: 33 DH: 38 Married: 1/10/15
1st Pregnancy EDD: 1/1/17 Born 1/10/17 Team Green turned Blue!
2nd Pregnancy EDD: 11/6/18 Born 11/09/18 Baby Boy!
3rd Pregnancy EDD: 12/?/21
Children are like casseroles; it takes a lot to mess them up.
The pregnant anger is unreal this time. Luckily it has stayed away from my husband for the most part (unless he does something stupid) but at work, I get so angry with people for the littlest things. And since I'm at work I have to be professional about it, talk myself down, and then proceed rationally. Good thing I have a few sounding boards at work that I can get the anger out with.
@LoneStar21416 I thought that the placenta taking over helped with morning sickness and exhaustion, but not with the emotional aspects of pregnancy. Trust me, those will get worse. The mood swings may even out...but pregnant crying/anger will prevail.
That makes a lot of sense and makes me feel a lot better. I feel so out of sorts emotionally this week!! It has hit me like a ton of bricks.
@PMForbie A lot of OBs (mine) will only let you go a week over so its pretty unlikely you will still be pregnant at the time. Realistically, you will likely have a very young baby, maybe only days old. I would try to exchange for the later date. Then you could at least be guaranteed a 3 week old.
My main concern wouldn't necessarily be baby. You may still be pretty uncomfortable or have to miss part of the show if you are BFing and need to pump depending on how long it is. Maybe you could plan to pump on the way there/home and use intermission also if you need to? It also might be difficult to leave LO if you are still establishing a supply and don't have enough milk to save at that point. I think its completely doable but it would require some planning. I would probably try to go but have a back up plan just in case.
@PMForbie I think a lot of it honestly comes down to a lot of unknowns. You could have a really smooth delivery and feel back to yourself pretty quickly and like others have said, if you plan to breastfeed exclusively this could be tricky but definitely do-able. On the other hand you could end up with a c section or still be miserably uncomfortable. We went to a rodeo at 3 weeks post partum with my first and it went fine. I wasn't in any pain, baby took a bottle of half formula and half breast milk from the sitter, and we all had a good time. If it was me I'd move the ticket date back while that's possible and go ahead and plan on going. But definitely come up with a back up plan!
@PMForbie I agree with PP that this could be tricky depending on how delivery goes and how you choose to feed. There are many unknowns that make speculating difficult.
I left DD with MIL at 10 days old to go out to dinner for my bday with DH. We skipped dessert because I started crying at the table and had to go home to the baby. Emotions were extreme for me for many weeks postpartum - I became anxious just being out of the same room as her. Plus, I only had a 2nd degree tear but I was really uncomfortable when sitting and getting up from a sitting position for about 3-4 weeks.
SIL was the total opposite. She was just a couple weeks postpartum when she started dropping my nephew off at my MIL and FIL to go to dinner dates, shopping trips, etc. and she loved it.
Thank you for the feedback! ^.^ I think I will try to switch the date to later. Couldn't hurt. And, I have plenty of people who would use the tickets (sob). I told DH if we couldn't make it, we are planning a NYC trip for my 30th bday and I will finally see this show. I did my final project in ASL on Wicked's Defying Gravity and would love to see it in person.
Me: 33 DH: 38 Married: 1/10/15
1st Pregnancy EDD: 1/1/17 Born 1/10/17 Team Green turned Blue!
2nd Pregnancy EDD: 11/6/18 Born 11/09/18 Baby Boy!
3rd Pregnancy EDD: 12/?/21
Children are like casseroles; it takes a lot to mess them up.
@PMForbie not realistic at all. Unless your baby is born a month early. The biggest reason for me would be breastfeeding. You wouldn't want to introduce a bottle that early. If you are formula feeding, you will still have pounds of stuff coming out of your vagina.
@PMForbie I think you probably have a 50/50 chance of feeling up for going. With my first, I went out at 3 weeks pp for my anniversary. I was formula feeding and I only bled for maybe two weeks? And I had a really easy recovery from a vaginal birth. So it could totally go that way, but it could also not. I think your plan of moving the date back, and coming up with a backup plan just in case is the best you can do without knowing how things will go.
DS: June 2008 Married: July 2015 BFP: 5/20/16 | EDD: 1/28/17 | Twin boys born 1/16/17
@KRB22 I get what you mean but I find it odd because the car seat is crazy light! I'm obsessed with their IVVI stroller with the carry cot attachment but spending $500 on the Mixx is enough... the Ivvi I just can't justify but it is beautiful!
Jfyi Nordstrom has the Mixx with a bassinet as part of their anniversary sale right now for only slightly more than the regular Mixx.
@PMForbie My first was due December 6th. We had a holiday party for work scheduled for December 7th in which I am on the organizing committee. I hadn't planned on going to the party for the most part. However, my water broke 3 weeks early so he was born November 14th. We had some other complications and I ended up exclusively pumping. By the time the party rolled around, we needed a break or night out. Because I was exclusively pumping he was taking a bottle and we weren't gone long enough that I needed to pump while gone. But that was nothing going as expected that allowed us to go. Same situation again, I still wouldn't have planned to go to the party. We don't have to pay for tickets or anything so not really the same situation, just sharing how sometimes things work out. So, my suggestion is move the date back, and then just be prepared to get rid of the tickets after baby is born and you have an idea of how things are. I imagine you'd be able to find people that are willing to go on somewhat short notice
Hi Second (and third, fourth, fifth, etc) time moms! Do any of you have thoughts on putting a baby in its own room from the start vs having it in your room for the first few months? We were leaning towards keeping the crib in our room for a while, it seemed like it would be easier and would allow us to keep the guest room for family coming to help. However, I've been hearing that some people have bad experiences with this, and that keeping the baby in the parents room made it difficult for parents to get an ounce of rest. Could you guys share your experiences with this?? Thank you!!
@marynog I think it depends on a few things for us. We put baby 1 in her own room at about 4 weeks because yeah she was noisy so I was awake checking on her, afraid she'd wake my husband, and he was awake because I kept getting out of bed. But she was like 3 steps down the hall so I could still hear her and it wasn't a huge deal to walk to her room to nurse her at night. This baby will probably stay in our room longer though because we're in a new house where our room is downstairs and all the kids rooms are upstairs and I don't wanna haul myself up the stairs multiple times a night to feed. I'd go ahead with your plan to keep the crib in your room for the convenience of having space for visiting helpers (we didn't have anyone come to stay with us, so I never dealt with that) but if you find that nobody is sleeping then you can always move the crib.
Does this thread make any other STMs feel terribly inadequate? Haha. Every week I read this thread hoping to offer advice, and every week I read the questions and I'm like, hmmm I know nothing about that, I should probably follow this for answers.
DS: June 2008 Married: July 2015 BFP: 5/20/16 | EDD: 1/28/17 | Twin boys born 1/16/17
@MaryNog We keep our boys in our room until around 4 months or so. When I'm getting up so frequently at night it is just easier to have them close to me so I'm not constantly back and forth to the nursery. IMO Its rare that you would be getting any rest either way with a newborn unless you are blessed with a unicorn baby.
I also think that a lot of parents have "ideas" and unrealistic expectations about infant sleep. I know that before I had kids I always thought that if you put baby in a crib from day one you would never have to worry about transitioning into one. Turns out there is a reason that a lot of parents don't start out using one and that reason is because a ton of babies hate them. Having LO in our room gives us options like using a swing or rock n play which I wouldn't feel comfortable with if he wasn't right next to me.
@marynog sleeping in the same room as your child for the first 6 months is recommended to reduce the risk of SIDS. I was a nervous wreck when my daughter was born. There is no way I would have been able to sleep with her in another room, that little person had been carried by me and was always on my body for 9 months. The separation freaks me out.
@marynog I really think it's truly a preference and even depends on the baby. My son was a noisy sleeper, maybe it was selfish on our part but after about 2 weeks he was in his crib in his room. We have a few monitors, and we would just go in to feed him. I exclusively pumped so depending on the night I would get up when he did, give him his bottle in the rocking chair in his room and then go to the living room to pump. Occasionally, particularly on weekends while I was on leave, my husband would feed baby while I pumped so we both could get back to sleep. My son was a good sleeper early on. It worked for us but not for everyone. I've been thinking about keeping this baby in our room longer for ease and to try to prevent disruption of sleep for my son as much as possible but it will depend on what works when baby arrives.
@sldp123 I think you're being too hard on yourself you've accumulated so much knowledge up to know, you're probably just not aware of how much you've learned. I have never held a baby for more than 10 minutes at a time!
My son is 2.5 now. He slept in this bassinet next to my side of the bed for the first few months: It is a Moses basket, changing table and has room for storage but I never used it for more than a bassinet.
My son was a heavy sleeper, we were able to watch movies in surround sound with him next to me, I had his hood up and used swaddle blankets over it to shield the light from his eyes. When we slept, we had the nighttime sound machine on. We used ocean or rain usually.
I noticed he had outgrown the age/weight recommendations for the bassinet so transitioned him to his crib when he was 6 months, 3 days old. To do this, I kept him in his bassinet but placed the moses basket in his crib in his room. After a couple days of him getting used to the new room's smells and sounds, I took him out of the bassinet and let him sleep in the crib itself. He transitioned seemlessly... I, however, slept on an air mattress on his bedroom floor for a month...
For a while, I had the bassinet at my in laws house so we could use it as a changing table there.
@MaryNog It totally depends on what you are comfortable with. With my son, we had him in his own room from day one, but the room was right across the hall from ours (I could see his crib from our bed) and we had one of those Angel Care baby monitors with the motion sensor pad that goes under the mattress and alarms if there is no movement for over 30 seconds. That thing gave me a lot of peace of mind. Unfortunately I lent it so someone and never got it back, so I will be buying a new one, preferably with a video monitor option as well, this time.
Third time moms (specifically breastfeeding ones): how did you survive the first 6 weeks of your second baby's life while taking care of a toddler with no guarantee of a nap during the day? I'm so nervous about the sleep deprivation.
@marynog sleeping in the same room as your child for the first 6 months is recommended to reduce the risk of SIDS. I was a nervous wreck when my daughter was born. There is no way I would have been able to sleep with her in another room, that little person had been carried by me and was always on my body for 9 months. The separation freaks me out.
@ThePax89 honestly I barely remember those really early weeks. It was rough. Fortunately we had a lot of family stay with us and help for a few weeks but it was hard I won't lie. Also my toddler watched way more than average screen time those first couple weeks and sometimes we would watch a movie when the baby slept. (by that I mean that I dozed while my toddler watched a movie).
@thepax89 Books, flash cards, Little Einsteins and lots of help. It can be brutal, DS1 ate a lot of chicken nuggets for lunch those first few weeks but you will make it through! Is your DD going to be two soon or is she already? I would always hold off on the 2 year old's nap to ensure that I could sleep with LO while he was napping. Maybe baby could be in a basinette, swing or rock n play near the bed while you take a snooze with your DD? I'm a big fan of matching naps
One thing that really helped me was that I found a great sitter a few months before I had my second so my toddler could get used to her and she could figure out our routine. She would come once or twice a week to play with him for two hours(ish) so I could take LO upstairs and sleep or have just some downtime with the baby. She still comes once every week to stay with the kids so I can get out of the house by myself for a bit and the boys just love her. DS gets excited when I tell him she is coming over to play that day.
So while I've been following these posts, sometimes I don't get the time to look things up on Amazon until later. I just looked up the Rock n Play, and I have a question. A lot of you say that the baby can sleep in it at night, which can be helpful near the bed, but is it a problem that it isn't flat? Or maybe that's no big deal? For some reason I thought they need to be sleeping in something that is flat, like the crib or bassinet. Is that not an issue?
@sweetyjenj most babies actually prefer the incline to sleep. It helps with reflux and spit up. You may have noticed but most baby products are at an incline vs a flat surface (swing, car seat, bouncers). We ended up raising the crib mattress on one end to provide an incline when we moved number 3 to his crib.
@ThePax89 the early days are survival mode. I tried my best to match up naptimes so I could also nap and I also did allow more screen time than usual so I could lightly doze while still being near both toddler and baby.
@MaryNog we started each of the kids in our room because I was able to get more sleep that way and wasn't in and out of the room all night for feedings.
I have a dumb question. I'm 17w4d and for the past few days, every now and then, my entire abdomen will suddenly just get rock hard for a few minutes, like the same type of rock hard that my uterus/bump (which is about 1.5" below my belly button currently) is... except it extends up to my rib cage. Everything just feels really, really tight suddenly... and then a few minutes later, it's back to normal. It happens a few times a day.
What the hell is happening? Is that what Braxton Hicks contractions are like? Isn't it too soon for that?
I have a dumb question. I'm 17w4d and for the past few days, every now and then, my entire abdomen will suddenly just get rock hard for a few minutes, like the same type of rock hard that my uterus/bump (which is about 1.5" below my belly button currently) is... except it extends up to my rib cage. Everything just feels really, really tight suddenly... and then a few minutes later, it's back to normal. It happens a few times a day.
What the hell is happening? Is that what Braxton Hicks contractions are like? Isn't it too soon for that?
I had this a lot with DD1. It was like a cement ball expanded in my belly! It could just be really intense but non painful gas. Or your uterus expanding and moving on up could definitely be the culprit too.
Our RainbowBaby H arrived at 37 weeks on 12/20/16!
Baby E arrived at 37 weeks on 01/31/15!
Married my Marine 05.23.14
*TW* TWIN LOSS 7.2.15 BFP 9.7.15 CP BFP 12.31.15 MC 2.28.16 BFP 10.14.17 CP BFP 3.10.18 D&C 4.13.18
I had this a lot with DD1. It was like a cement ball expanded in my belly! It could just be really intense but non painful gas. Or your uterus expanding and moving on up could definitely be the culprit too.
I haven't really had a lot of gastrointestinal symptoms this pregnancy (no gas, no constipation, no crazy farting... totally lucked out there!) but I hadn't thought about maybe it just being uterus growth. It's non-painful when it gets super hard but I've also had quite a bit of RLP other times the past few days... definitely feels like baby and/or uterus are going through a growth spurt!
So while I've been following these posts, sometimes I don't get the time to look things up on Amazon until later. I just looked up the Rock n Play, and I have a question. A lot of you say that the baby can sleep in it at night, which can be helpful near the bed, but is it a problem that it isn't flat? Or maybe that's no big deal? For some reason I thought they need to be sleeping in something that is flat, like the crib or bassinet. Is that not an issue?
Even as a STM I was wondering this too. we used a pack-n-play in our bedroom with no bells and whistles for the first four months with DS until he started breaking free of the swaddle then felt safer with him in the crib. Interested to see how other Mommies experienced the transition from rock n play to crib.
@thepax89, start lining up their naps asap. I had baby nap in the morning and then again when my toddler napped. Our house shuts down from 12-2:30 and everyone naps! lol. I don't remember it being too bad with a newborn and toddler. Baby took naps in the living room throughout the day with us and then in my room with me during my toddlers naptime.
@Brennansmom2012, I did the rock n play with both my kids and did not have issues transitioning. The incline helped with my second because he spit up a lot. I always kept them in there for the 1st month or 2 and then switched to the pack n play in our room after that. Although, this time I am getting a travel lite pack n play and might use that from day one.
Re: Ask a STM+ Week of 7/25
Edited because autocorrect
I have a dilemma and could use a STM+ advice: back in March, we bought tickets to see Wicked for our anniversary. The show is on Jan. 11th. I've been dying to see it for the last 5 years and we finally got tickets for when it's in town, but Baby is due Jan. 1st! What would the likelihood be of me being able and up to seeing the show if Baby comes on time? Or if I'm still waiting for Baby to come, would it be worth going to see the show? I have thought of trying to exchange the tickets for the last day of the show, Jan. 29th, but if Baby waits until two weeks after the due date, that would still have us with a 2 week infant. There's been plenty of gracious offers to take the tickets off our hands made by our parents and close friends.
Me: 33 DH: 38 Married: 1/10/15
1st Pregnancy EDD: 1/1/17 Born 1/10/17 Team Green turned Blue!
2nd Pregnancy EDD: 11/6/18 Born 11/09/18 Baby Boy!
3rd Pregnancy EDD: 12/?/21
Children are like casseroles; it takes a lot to mess them up.
My main concern wouldn't necessarily be baby. You may still be pretty uncomfortable or have to miss part of the show if you are BFing and need to pump depending on how long it is. Maybe you could plan to pump on the way there/home and use intermission also if you need to? It also might be difficult to leave LO if you are still establishing a supply and don't have enough milk to save at that point. I think its completely doable but it would require some planning. I would probably try to go but have a back up plan just in case.
We went to a rodeo at 3 weeks post partum with my first and it went fine. I wasn't in any pain, baby took a bottle of half formula and half breast milk from the sitter, and we all had a good time. If it was me I'd move the ticket date back while that's possible and go ahead and plan on going. But definitely come up with a back up plan!
I left DD with MIL at 10 days old to go out to dinner for my bday with DH. We skipped dessert because I started crying at the table and had to go home to the baby. Emotions were extreme for me for many weeks postpartum - I became anxious just being out of the same room as her. Plus, I only had a 2nd degree tear but I was really uncomfortable when sitting and getting up from a sitting position for about 3-4 weeks.
SIL was the total opposite. She was just a couple weeks postpartum when she started dropping my nephew off at my MIL and FIL to go to dinner dates, shopping trips, etc. and she loved it.
Me: 33 DH: 38 Married: 1/10/15
1st Pregnancy EDD: 1/1/17 Born 1/10/17 Team Green turned Blue!
2nd Pregnancy EDD: 11/6/18 Born 11/09/18 Baby Boy!
3rd Pregnancy EDD: 12/?/21
Children are like casseroles; it takes a lot to mess them up.
Married: July 2015
BFP: 5/20/16 | EDD: 1/28/17 | Twin boys born 1/16/17
ETA @BriannaE129129
I'd go ahead with your plan to keep the crib in your room for the convenience of having space for visiting helpers (we didn't have anyone come to stay with us, so I never dealt with that) but if you find that nobody is sleeping then you can always move the crib.
Married: July 2015
BFP: 5/20/16 | EDD: 1/28/17 | Twin boys born 1/16/17
I also think that a lot of parents have "ideas" and unrealistic expectations about infant sleep. I know that before I had kids I always thought that if you put baby in a crib from day one you would never have to worry about transitioning into one. Turns out there is a reason that a lot of parents don't start out using one and that reason is because a ton of babies hate them. Having LO in our room gives us options like using a swing or rock n play which I wouldn't feel comfortable with if he wasn't right next to me.
@sldp123 I think you're being too hard on yourself
It is a Moses basket, changing table and has room for storage but I never used it for more than a bassinet.
My son was a heavy sleeper, we were able to watch movies in surround sound with him next to me, I had his hood up and used swaddle blankets over it to shield the light from his eyes. When we slept, we had the nighttime sound machine on. We used ocean or rain usually.
I noticed he had outgrown the age/weight recommendations for the bassinet so transitioned him to his crib when he was 6 months, 3 days old. To do this, I kept him in his bassinet but placed the moses basket in his crib in his room. After a couple days of him getting used to the new room's smells and sounds, I took him out of the bassinet and let him sleep in the crib itself. He transitioned seemlessly... I, however, slept on an air mattress on his bedroom floor for a month...
For a while, I had the bassinet at my in laws house so we could use it as a changing table there.
Jan17 Sept Sig: Pumpkin Spice gone too far
Due 1/21/17
One thing that really helped me was that I found a great sitter a few months before I had my second so my toddler could get used to her and she could figure out our routine. She would come once or twice a week to play with him for two hours(ish) so I could take LO upstairs and sleep or have just some downtime with the baby. She still comes once every week to stay with the kids so I can get out of the house by myself for a bit and the boys just love her. DS gets excited when I tell him she is coming over to play that day.
Married: 8/11/2007
DD: Born 2/3/17
BFP#2: 5/3, EDD 1/10/19
@ThePax89 the early days are survival mode. I tried my best to match up naptimes so I could also nap and I also did allow more screen time than usual so I could lightly doze while still being near both toddler and baby.
@MaryNog we started each of the kids in our room because I was able to get more sleep that way and wasn't in and out of the room all night for feedings.
BFP#5 5/22/17 EDD:1/27/17 It's a GIRL!!!!
What the hell is happening? Is that what Braxton Hicks contractions are like? Isn't it too soon for that?
*TW*
TWIN LOSS 7.2.15
BFP 9.7.15 CP
BFP 12.31.15 MC 2.28.16
BFP 10.14.17 CP
BFP 3.10.18 D&C 4.13.18
@thepax89, start lining up their naps asap. I had baby nap in the morning and then again when my toddler napped. Our house shuts down from 12-2:30 and everyone naps! lol. I don't remember it being too bad with a newborn and toddler. Baby took naps in the living room throughout the day with us and then in my room with me during my toddlers naptime.
@Brennansmom2012, I did the rock n play with both my kids and did not have issues transitioning. The incline helped with my second because he spit up a lot. I always kept them in there for the 1st month or 2 and then switched to the pack n play in our room after that. Although, this time I am getting a travel lite pack n play and might use that from day one.
DS2: 11/5/14