Stupid Questions December

maamawaabangi

I found out this week I have 2 kinds of anemia... low iron and low B12... its why I've felt like trash.
I have a whole day with netflix... I cant figure out what to watch. I can't watch anything too emotional or a serious drama... it wrecks me right now. Should have seen me after watching "This is Us"... loved it, but I was a mess! 
Ideas??? 

yellingbanana

dmontgo said:

How often do you give baby a bath?

2 or 3 times a week.... depending on how many poopsplosions they have, and how severe. 

Also, California Baby products are the bomb. 

BabyRobbinsAdventure

How do you know how much mucus plug you have? I've seen lots of "I've been losing it the last couple of days" and "I lost the last of my mucus plug" 
Is there any way to know when you're done? I lost a glob of MP yesterday, so just curious.

slartybartfast

maamawaabangi said:

I found out this week I have 2 kinds of anemia... low iron and low B12... its why I've felt like trash.
I have a whole day with netflix... I cant figure out what to watch. I can't watch anything too emotional or a serious drama... it wrecks me right now. Should have seen me after watching "This is Us"... loved it, but I was a mess! 
Ideas??? 

Elf!
Also - sorry to hear about your blood work results but I'm glad you know now and can hopefully start feeling better? Feeling better... is that a thing in the last weeks of pregnancy?

princesslockness

@gowenc if you are BF then baby should have some pretty runny yellow poops.

gowenc

Thanks guys. I called the pediatrician just to be sure and she said watery poop is normal as long as he doesn't have a fever, is eating well, and still wetting diapers regularly. Glad to have the peace of mind! 

Christinaruth74

@BabyRobbinsAdventure your MP regenerates, so I'm not sure there's a specific amount you'd be looking for. However, if it's blood-tinged that's a good sign you're nearing the end

Christinaruth74

You have days of decreased movement, right? She's usually super active but today she's mellow... I've still felt her so that has been reassuring, she just hasn't packed the same punch today as usual. And I'm having lots of period-like cramping. Not reading too much into it, but days of mellowed movement are pretty par for the course at this stage, right?

PensiveCrayon

@maamawaabangi Season 2 of Fuller House was just released on Netflix! If you were ever a fan of Full House back in the day, it's a fun watch. Suuuuper cheesy, but you can't look away

Also, just so I don't tag you in the Symptoms thread also, what supplements are you taking for your anemia? Just curious. A few weeks ago I mentioned to my MW that I was feeling tired and she had me start taking Floradix, chlorophyll, and a supplement from the local health foods store called Amazing Greens. She also wanted me to start probiotics, so basically I feel like I'm being held together by herbal tinctures right now! I'm not much of a supplement person normally, but I'm happy to do whatever she recommends. And the Floradix really isn't unpleasant at all.

maamawaabangi

@PensiveCrayon Yes, im with you on begrudgingly taking so much... 

I'm on floradix, chlorophyll, a liquid B12 (double dose) in addition to a B complex and everything else I was taking prior to this... (cal/mag, Vit d and prenatal).

It's a bit extreme, but I'd like to hope it helps me feel better. 

SmashJam

@Christinaruth74 I am having some similar experiences today...movement that's reduced in intensity but still there. I do think it's normal this late in the game (I'm 41+1) but night and day from yesterday or the last few days really.

mysteryship

@maamawaabangi Sorry to hear about your results, though at least now you know. I was put on ferrous sulfate a couple months back and it seemed to help some.

There are some great stand up comedy specials on Netflix which is what DH and I usually turn to when we don't want to think or feel too much. Ali Wong has one where she was 7 months pregnant and it's freaking hilarious. We also watch food shows for the same reason - Mind of a Chef and Chef's Table are both pretty great.

sourlemon

I'll be 7 days pp tomorrow. My milk has come in and I'm pumping. My right side gets about 2oz out each time but my left only gets like half an ounce.  My left is also harder and more painful. Can this still just be my milk coming in on that side or can something already be wrong?!? 

Christinaruth74

@sourlemon have you tried warm compresses and/or using a manual pump? I found that sometimes the manual pump helped get things going a little better if it felt like there was more left. 

maamawaabangi

Thanks for the show ideas! I ended up watching The Crown... it's very good and we watched Elf as a family tonight! 

yellingbanana

@sourlemon it sounds like your left is getting engorged- so full that it's hard to get anything out. Both of mine were on the verge today, so when I was in the hot shower, I leaned over and hand expressed some milk to help with the fullness. 

sourlemon

@Christinaruth74 @yellingbanana I have tried those things but will keep trying. Having never nursed/pumped with my first this is all so need to me. Thanks! 

ea301

@sourlemon I am in the same boat (4 wk pp, approx 3 oz from righty and 1-1.5 oz from lefty at each pump). the LC said this was normal but I'm planning on checking with our pediatrician too.

atcwag

ea301 said:

@sourlemon I am in the same boat (4 wk pp, approx 3 oz from righty and 1-1.5 oz from lefty at each pump). the LC said this was normal but I'm planning on checking with our pediatrician too.

Definitely normal. Most women have a "dud" boob. 

slartybartfast

atcwag said:

ea301 said:

@sourlemon I am in the same boat (4 wk pp, approx 3 oz from righty and 1-1.5 oz from lefty at each pump). the LC said this was normal but I'm planning on checking with our pediatrician too.

Definitely normal. Most women have a "dud" boob. 

Yep - a stud and a dud

sourlemon

Good to know...stud and dud lol. Thanks everyone for confirming it's normal and not freakout-able. 

jennbaylor12

slartybartfast said:

Yep - a stud and a dud

Yeppers - lefty is always my stud, ol' righty is dud'ing out again

Lisa3379

Here's a weird one: my kid overwhelmingly prefers my left one to the right, so I pump the right to compensate. When I do pump the left, i get less from it than the right. Maybe it's due to the fact that the kid keeps eating on the left so there's less? But I thought that the more it drains, the more it will produce. I dunno. 

princesslockness

@Lisa3379 You are right, that the more you use it, the more it makes. Baby could prefer the 'dud' because of force of let down, head position, or just be a quirk.

DiFazette

jennbaylor12 said:

slartybartfast said:

Yep - a stud and a dud

Yeppers - lefty is always my stud, ol' righty is dud'ing out again

I have a completely non scientific theory that my left produces more due to the proximity of the heart... both times I've pumped and many I know say their left is the stud. 

maamawaabangi

Are you left handed @DiFazette
Ive heard that handedness contributes and your non-dominate side produces more because it has less muscle to interfere with glands... who knows? I'm right handed but left breasted. 

PensiveCrayon

@maamawaabangi That's a super interesting theory. I'm not a mom yet, but I've been making a point to express a few drops of colostrum each night just to make sure things are flowing. (I'm weird...haha.) I'm a leftie, and I was literally just noticing last night that the left side seems to be a bit more reluctant. It will be interesting to see how it plays out when it's actual milk. 

sourlemon

I'm a righty and my right is my stud. The left is no longer killing me at least and I get more than a few drops at least but I get 20-30% of what I do outta the right. 

I hold the baby head to the left. In the hospital they put the baby on the left first. My left has always been a tiny bit larger than my right. Just throwing other ideas put there but nothing makes sense.

maamawaabangi

I think that it's also common to perfer to hold a baby in your non dominant arm because then you can use your hand for other things... thus making the non dominant side bigger... 
But who knows??? It can also be just which you start with or habits or nipple differences or even baby preference. 

Mamax2

What do you guys use for stain treatment on your baby's clothes? Is Shout or the like safe? I was just able to do Michael's first load of laundry (thanks to a week long hotel stay straight from being discharged), and noticed about 5 of his outfits are stained from either his poopsplosions or formula. Our laundry detergent that we normally use is a "free and clear", and it usually removes any and all stains, but not these. 

DiFazette

I'm right handed @maamawaabangi but totally agree that I hold babies in my left to be productive with my dominant arm.  Your theory on muscle/glands holds water with me though.  

sourlemon

@mamax2 I used shout for dd1s spit up stains. Still use it lol. I assume it's ok cuz it does get washed. It worked pretty well.

Mamax2

Thanks @sourlemon!

AbriannaO

So I know that the MP can come sometimes be bloody and sometimes not. For those of you that progressively lost yours, or lost and then had it regenerate to lose it again, did you notice any difference between the coloring in relationship to labor? Two weeks ago I had two chunks of it come out, then a little more over this past weekend all of which was a clear/yellow tinged color, but then yesterday more came out and it had some blood in it. Could this be the end of it (though it could still grow back), or does it have more indication of progression towards labor?

Christinaruth74

@AbriannaO blood tinged is a good sign that things are progressing. It could be part of your "bloody show" (who comes up with these names??) 
I had lost pieces of my MP for weeks but the day I had a little bit of blood was the day my water broke. 
FX it's a good sign for you!

AbriannaO

@Christinaruth74 thanks! I agree - who comes up with these names because they do not make pregnancy sound glamours. I am still waiting for my "glow" to show up though. Since I am in my last week of gestation, maybe it will show up now! Though I am really hoping my "bloody show" indicates that this will be a short week. I am really mentally done with work for a while. 
Did you have any warning signs before your water broke? Like any contractions in addition to your water breaking? I have no idea what to expect. Like it is just spontaneously your water breaks, a combination of it breaking in addition to contractions, or contracting a lot and then it breaking? I know that water breaking doesn't happen to that many people as an indicator of labor, but I just don't know what to expect, if you can expect anything.

ajstevenson

@AbriannaO I'm glad you asked because I was wondering the same thing. I too had been losing bits and pieces but Sunday night had about a gumball size that definitely had pinkish/red blood in it.

Christinaruth74

@AbriannaO I don't remember having any super remarkable extra signs apart from that. But my water breaking experience wasn't very dramatic or anything. It literally just felt like I was peeing myself. we had gone for a walk and came home which is when I noticed the blood, but apart from the annoying BHs I had been having for weeks to a month I really didn't suspect much else would develop of it. We went to TJ Maxx and as we were walking through the parking lot I felt a small trickle so I stopped because I thought I was peeing a little. It stopped so I kept walking but then the trickle was uncontrollable. It wasn't a big burst or gush like some it just literally felt like I had lost control of my bladder. 

wynterwaddell

A kind of sharp lightening bolt type feeling in the sides of your stomach and the bottom can be a contraction right? 

PensiveCrayon

Am I a horrible mom for not talking to my stomach? I just really don't feel that connected to it/to the baby inside. Someone reassure me that I'll form a bond with my child as soon as he's out! (I mean, don't get me wrong...I'm super excited to meet him! But I just can't wrap my head around the fact that there's really a tiny human in there right now.)