Saturday Ticker Change 1/14

KirstinH88

How far along are you?

How big is baby? 

Team Blue, Pink, Green? 

Appointments this week?

Symptoms?

What have you done to prepare for baby this week? 

Rants/Raves/Questions: 

GTKY: What is your biggest fear in regards to birth and/or having baby here?

KirstinH88

How far along are you? 25 weeks

How big is baby? Cauliflower, Rutabaga, Popped bag of popcorn, Thor's hammer (my boys will love that one)

Team Blue, Pink, Green? Team Blue - Samuel Cruz

Appointments this week? I had an appt on Monday. All went well. I'm going in for the glucose on 1/21 and then my next appt is 2/7. All this assuming I don't have a lapse in coverage...

Symptoms? Nothing new to report. Baby kicks. Back pain. Achey hips. Foot/Toe cramps. 

What have you done to prepare for baby this week? I've been slacking again. The nursery looks the exact same since I last showed pics around New Years. I feel ahead of the game, but my next few weekends are busy, so I'm a little nervous that I'll fall behind. 

Rants/Raves/Questions: 

Rave: Every time I eat, DS asks me if the food is for me or for baby brother. Hahaha I love it! 

Rant: Obviously DH's layoff. Ugh... Ok time to clear my mind and have a good day/weekend.

GTKY: What is your biggest fear in regards to birth and/or having baby here?

With DH being out of work, one of my fears is that we won't be as prepared for baby financially as I'd like to be. We are set on "things" for baby. But I'm nervous about bills, diapers, possibly formula (I hope not) once baby is actually here.

Another fear of mine, that I've had this whole pregnancy is my ability to balance a newborn and DS. He is VERY attached to me. VERY. I've been talking to him and reading books to him about what it's like to have a new baby, so hopefully he will be understanding about the amount of time I will have to spend with Samuel, but I'm still very nervous about it. I'm going to have to smother him with kisses and hugs and snuggles every chance I get.

ebloom3

How far along are you? 27 weeks

How big is baby? Camping lantern, head of lettuce, big bottle of sriracha (which I have been craving ALL THE TIME)

Team Blue, Pink, Green? Team Green

Appointments this week? No appointments until 2/8

Symptoms? Same old, same old. Started getting leg cramps at night and hip pain if I don't change position. Was diagnosed with anemia, which explains why I am so wiped out, so I started iron. 

What have you done to prepare for baby this week? Thought about washing things! I ordered a girl onesie and a boy onesie for when the baby is born, so we can get a picture to send to friends. I am due the day before Easter, so I ordered a gender neutral Easter onesie that I figure we can use (even if he baby comes after Easter).

Rants/Raves/Questions: Things have been going pretty well! I can't believe that I am almost to the third trimester. I keep thinking we need to do more to get ready...then I think, eh, I have boobs and a bassinet. We're good.

GTKY: What is your biggest fear in regards to birth and/or having baby here? I don't have too many fears. I was way more nervous going from 1 to 2 than I am with going from 2 to 3. My kids are older than DD was when DS was born (she was 20 months when DS was born; she is now 5 and DS will be 4 next month). I am hoping they decide to sleep a little later and that DS gets better about needing someone to say hi in the middle of the night. We already transitioned them to sharing a bedroom, so there wouldn't be too many big changes for them when the baby comes. I think I feel a bit more laid back, too, because maternity leave rolls into my summer vacation and I get like 4.5 months off. 

cafedisco

25 weeks. Or maybe 26. I've lost track

Team blue. Baby is big enough to cause heartburn frequently...

No appointments but we do have a birth class with my midwives this Tuesday night.

Symptoms: these daily headaches are getting rough. Thursday night, it woke me up and I was starting to get worried but then Tylenol made it go away so I think it's more irritating than an actual problem. Feeling gigantic. Maternity clothes that fit my entire last pregnancy are already too short to cover my bump. 

Rants/raves: 
Rant: I really think I want a more normal job in which I can do grown up things like make phone calls during business hours. I'm so tired of relying on DH. He tries but running a household is not his strength and he messes up a lot of things...Which costs money. 

Rave: I got a book about nursing to read to DD. She doesn't remember herself nursing and we aren't ever around babies. She really, really wants to be able to feed the baby. I keep telling her only Mamas chest will have milk but she keeps saying "I'll drink more milk so I have milk in my body to feed my brother." It's just such a sweet intention.

GTKY: my first birth really traumatized me. I'm just scared to do it again and really doubting myself. I'm thinking I should maybe just go to the hospital, get an epidural and not worry about being natural....

I'm also hugely afraid of getting PPD again. That was the hardest thing of my life. I mean, we spent 2.5 years thinking I wouldn't have any more kids because it was so bad. To be honest, I've spent the better half of dd's life on the brink of being suicidal. (Holy shit that's hard to type/admit,). I just don't want to be back in that place. I've tried to be very proactive in talking to people about it so I can get more help this time. But it's still a scary prospect that I'll even have to fight the battle again. 

KirstinH88

@cafedisco Hopefully the PPD doesn't take a big hold on you this time. Let me know if you need to talk/vent.

belocin

How far along are you? 26 weeks

How big is baby? Size of a bowling pin! I love this because DH and I met at a charity bowling event. 

Team Blue, Pink, Green? Green although my spidey sense is saying boy

Appointments this week? Back to my chiro! I've noticed that when they adjust my back, my hips feel great but when they specifically adjust my hips, they hurt so bad within 24 hours. Hips don't lie so Im going to ask him to keep it to the back. 

Symptoms? Feeling the burn again before bed. I've been making a point to drink 100 oz of water a day to keep the BH at bay. I don't make it to my goal everyday but I end up drinking enough that they have lessened considerably. 

What have you done to prepare for baby this week? We were on it this week! Hospital pre-registration, hospital tour, set up BRU registry and picked up a sleepsack on major clearance, and we taped off DDs new room today to paint tomorrow meaning the nursery will be ready for its new owner in the next few weeks! All this productivity this week means I will accomplish exactly nothing next week. 

Rants/Raves/Questions: A good friend who is due in August started bleeding yesterday. Ultrasound confirmed there is still a heartbeat but baby is measuring small and they were able to see a blood sac. She said that is the term they used so I'm not sure if it is the same thing as an SCH but if you guys could send some good thoughts her way. It's going to be a long week and a half until her next US. 

GTKY: What is your biggest fear in regards to birth and/or having baby here? I am scared of not getting an epidural and having to go natural again. DD came so quick and I felt so out of control. I survived med free but it took me a long time to process it. I'm hoping to do some reading that will help me feel more empowered should this one also progress quickly. 

Limie

How far along are you? 27 weeks

How big is baby? Lettuce...these things are just weird.  Lol! 

Team Blue, Pink, Green? Pink! 

Appointments this week? None.  I think my next one is in 2 weeks 

Symptoms? Oh you know the usual pelvic pain, heart burn, just general uncomfortableness. 

What have you done to prepare for baby this week? Nada.  Lol 

Rants/Raves/Questions: 

GTKY: What is your biggest fear in regards to birth and/or having baby here?  In regards to birth, I fear not being able to birth my placenta again.  That was a horrible experience.  I also fear having 2 under 2. 

HGRich

@cafedisco hugs to you and hoping for less severe or no PPD for you. 

twistsandturnsto2

How far along are you? 

29 weeks

How big is baby? 

The same size as Gizmo

Team Blue, Pink, Green? 

Pink

Appointments this week?

Nope

Symptoms?

I'm oh so tired and hungry all the time. My skin around my eyes looks like crap, and I definitely have started to waddle. 

What have you done to prepare for baby this week? 

Not anything really. 

Rants/Raves/Questions: 

People need to stop asking about touching my belly! Ugh. I'm so not into that!

GTKY: What is your biggest fear in regards to birth and/or having baby here?
having the same midwife. I know if we end up with her, Dh will be pissed and upset the whole time. And I will need his focus to be on me and getting me through it. Esp since the delivery for DS was super difficult. 

bww_0331

How far along are you? 29 weeks

How big is baby? Acorn squash or gallon of milk

Team Blue, Pink, Green?  Team Blue

 

Appointments this week? I had an appointment on Friday and we have a baby prep class on Wednesday nights

Symptoms? Tired, sore back at night, hungry, stomach muscles feel tight on the sides.

What have you done to prepare for baby this week? Nothing new really.  Started our baby prep class.  My sister is here this weekend and we went shopping for the shower next weekend.

Rants/Raves/Questions: I had little to no movement for a majority of last week, which was really concerning.  At my appointment Friday they hooked me up to the NST machine to watch baby for 30 minutes to track whether I was having contractions and if baby was moving.  He must have had his nose itch because from the NST machine to bedtime he was a wiggle worm.  I've never been so grateful to feel those little nudges.  DH had a blast talking to him that night since he was so active/visible from the outside.  "Move if I'm your favorite"..."Move if you love me more than mom"..."Move if you are going to love fishing".  It was super cute and a huge stress relief.

Also, how the heck am I at the point where I'm at 2 week appointments already! That flew by!

GTKY: What is your biggest fear in regards to birth and/or having baby here? Biggest fear in regards to birth is actually finding out what it feels like/going through it.  I switch from feeling confident (women were made for this, I can get through it, I know what I want, etc.) to holy buckets I have to push out a baby and what if it's way worse than what I think.  Sometimes the posts on here make me optimistic and sometimes they make me freak out again.  Just ready to experience it, not have to think about it, and hold baby

Having baby here: I'm newborn stupid.  Never really been around babies.  Super thankful for our baby prep class and to feel more confident.

KirstinH88

@wagnerw Your H's words to baby are sooo funny! Haha!! Very cute!

HappyAnjel

@wagnerw no matter how many stories you read, yours will be different and unique to you. I had a very difficult birth with DD.. But when it was happening all I cared about was having a happy healthy baby and it really made me soo much stronger than I could imagine being. And honestly writing about it and talking about it I was like holy crap that sounds scary.. but at the time I was just in "do what you gotta do" mode.

mrsstuessy

How far along are you? 27 weeks

How big is baby? about 2 pounds I guess

Team Blue, Pink, Green? PINK! 

Appointments this week? none until next week, although I am hoping to get a maternity belt fitted this week. But, the number for the place with the belts seems to not be working so I get to figure that out. hooray. 

Symptoms? basically just ALL the symptoms. pain. agony. torture. 

What have you done to prepare for baby this week? I think we are pretty much decided on her name. So, that was exciting. Still working on my crocheted baby blanket and then going to start on some more baby projects. 

Rants/Raves/Questions: This morning we woke up at 5am to the fire alarms going off in our building. The hallway smelled like smoke. So, we gathered ourselves and DD1 and went out to our car where we sat for about 30 minutes watching the firetrucks and firefighters running around. There was a small fire in the apartment below us, which sounds like it was put out by the sprinkler system and a fire extinguisher before the firefighters even got there. So, we were able to go back in then. In a weird way it was really good for me. I realized as I sat in the car with my family that I had a moment of happiness for the first time in at least weeks, but probably more like months if I am honest with myself. DH asked if we had grabbed everything important. I didn't really know or truly care at all. I just knew the 3 (or 4) of us where all there safe together and that is all I cared about. I had thrown a couple of DD's blankets and stuffed animals in a bag with diapers, spare underwear and my purse. DH had grabbed our laptop and I had put on my wedding rings which I had literally just taken off the night before because they got too tight. Anyway, it was a weird moment to be truly happy and probably even selfish of me because I wasn't totally sure everyone else was safe and someone had a pretty destroyed apartment. But, I had such peace. It makes me rethink a lot. 

GTKY: What is your biggest fear in regards to birth and/or having baby here? I love birth! I am super excited for that part of things. Very few, if any, fears about that. I am afraid of just what exactly my life will look like in April. But, that is all just the jobless, homeless side of things. Trying not to be the usual Debbie Downer so I will just leave it there for today.