STM+ Check-In 6/21

cait5413

How far along are you? 

How old are your other kids? 

Current challenges/concerns about being a STM or questions about things your children are going through now?  

Current joys/successes/or happy thoughts about being a STM : 

Rants/Raves/Randoms/Questions/

GTKY: It's the summer solstice! Fill us in on your summer "bucket list"!

flowerpower5838

How far along are you? 14w today

How old are your other kids? 15 months

Current challenges/concerns about being a STM or questions about things your children are going through now?  DS is just starting to figure out how to tantrum so that's been fun. It's so hard not to laugh when they just lay on the floor. Thankfully it's just been at home so far.

Current joys/successes/or happy thoughts about being a STM : I feel like mine is the same every time, but I am excited that the kids will be so close in age. My brother and I are 20 months apart and it was so great to have a built-in friend as a child.

Rants/Raves/Randoms/Questions/ none today

GTKY: It's the summer solstice! Fill us in on your summer "bucket list"! My summer is looking pretty uneventful lol but I kind of like it that way. 

cait5413

How far along are you? 14 weeks

How old are your other kids? 10.5 months

Current challenges/concerns about being a STM or questions about things your children are going through now?  My DD's daycare told me the administration is talking about transitioning her to the 1 year old room towards the end of July, which is a little before her 1st birthday. Her teacher is concerned b/c she's not walking yet, and they usually wait until they are walking. She does "cruise" around furniture, and she may very well be walking in another month, but I'm a little concerned they may try to rush her to the next room. We're already rushing her into being a big sis, and I just want her to be able to stay in her class til she's really ready!

Current joys/successes/or happy thoughts about being a STM : Felt baby move last week! ready for some more kicks and flutters

Rants/Raves/Randoms/Questions/ I was listening to a podcast yesterday about a new app that a company is trying to use to cut down on prenatal visits; it has a blood pressure cuff and scale attachment and you send your data to your doc every week (basically keeping an eye out for pre-eclampsia) and then women have about 8 visits instead of 14 on average. I was thinking that I would rather do that than sit in the dr's office for 1.5 hours for the small check-ups, but what about the doppler and peeing in a cup? Just randomness I've been thinking about this week!

GTKY: It's the summer solstice! Fill us in on your summer "bucket list"! 
-getting projects done around the house (re-painting our deck, clearing out what will be the baby's room, etc.)
- figuring out what to do for DD's 1st birthday,
-eating some watermelon and fresh produce,
-going to the pool with DD,
-making some visits to New Orleans to see family/friends,
- trying to get some work/research done before classes start again in the fall because I probably won't be getting a lot done as we get closer to baby's arrival and once LO is here!

tmk0325

How far along are you? 14w5d

How old are your other kids? The twins will be one on Friday!!! I can't believe it. That year went so fast and considering they were two months older and spent 35 days in the NICU, it's so surreal thinking about where we started.

Current challenges/concerns about being a STM or questions about things your children are going through now?  The boys are starting to cruise furniture and stuff too. We have our developmental 1 year follow up appointment (its an appointment they do from being preemie) and I can't wait to see how they do. In my opinion you'd never know they were two months early.  

Current joys/successes/or happy thoughts about being a STM : Seeing them hit all the new milestones and then I cry because they aren't babies much longer.

Rants/Raves/Randoms/Questions/ 

GTKY: It's the summer solstice! Fill us in on your summer "bucket list"!  Fit into my bridesmaid dress next month (ordered prior to knowing I was going to be pregnant), take the kids to the zoo two hours away by myself next week, and basically just survive with two toddlers.

wabash15

@cait5413 I don't know that I would be so worried about them rushing her along. if she is cruising on furniture she is so close.  My daycare keeps the twins in the same room and then move together. DD is often ready before DS to move up. (she was crawling all over the place and he would not), but as soon as he was in a room with other kids crawling he picked it up in a week. sometimes they just need to see more kids doing it. 
@tmk0325 they will ALWAYS be your babies. I still call the twins my babies and will after this one comes. I get it though, its exciting and sad to see them reach all these milestones and see how far they come from froggy little squishy babies to crazy impish creatures running in opposite directions knowing you can only get one at a time!

anewadventure

@cait5413  if it's another 5 weeks til the room change, she'll probably be walking by then! i'm sure they are trying to manage having room for incoming younger kids. i know you don't want your DD to feel rushed but i think in this case it should turn out ok. whenever you have reservations about how the school is handling your child, you can always have conferences with them to talk it out. even if the plan sticks, at least you will feel more confident and on the same page with her caregivers.

i also find your post about cutting down on prenatal visits to be interesting. i think this would be more effective from say 25-35 weeks, when you can do your kick counts and the doppler isn't as important. you could be required to stop in at certain times to do a 30-sec. urine sample and leave, if that was a hold up. i am sure one day they'll even have test-at-home kits. this is such a "problem" of western medicine. in many countries the prenatal care is so minimal, you have the opposite issue. if doctors here could truly get you in and out in ten minutes it might not be so bad, but for me personally i have a really long commute and even with short appointments i have to be several hours late to work or leave several hours early since doctors office tend to have hours that are worse than banks. 

@tmk0325  one tomorrow?? congrats!! they'll always be your babies, even when they are saying "ewww mommmmm, leave me alone!"

anewadventure

How far along are you? 16w 3d

How old are your other kids?  2y 9mo tomorrow

Current challenges/concerns about being a STM or questions about things your children are going through now?   potty training. man. just waiting for DS to decide he's ready to be done with diapers. he has the muscle control and the understanding, but not the desire. he doesn't want to be bothered. i'm not in a hurry, honestly, because in many ways diapers are easier!

Current joys/successes/or happy thoughts about being a STM : i've forgotten what having a squishy baby is like. it seems like DS has been a toddler / person of his own forever. 

Rants/Raves/Randoms/Questions/  i really dislike being pregnant. that about sums it up. 

GTKY: It's the summer solstice! Fill us in on your summer "bucket list"!
i should probably work on fixing up the little things around the house that we need to do if we decide to put it on the market in the coming year or two. 
not a lot of specifics planned because we have a lot of stuff from DS to use for LO, i'm saving all my leave for maternity leave, and i don't feel like tackling any major projects.

andipandicWed121369

How far along are you? 16w, 1day

How old are your other kids? 6 years (she would say 6 and 3/4.  lol

Current challenges/concerns about being a STM or questions about things your children are going through now?  Summer vacation is hard.  My kid and I are so good at routine and summer just mucks it all up.  I love having more time with her but it also drives me insane, you know?  

Current joys/successes/or happy thoughts about being a STM : My daughter is finally of that age where a friend comes over and they run to her room and I don't have to entertain them.  I just have to occasionally watch their performances.    I'm in for a big shock in December, I know.

Rants/Raves/Randoms/Questions/ 

GTKY: It's the summer solstice! Fill us in on your summer "bucket list"!  Work, mostly.  But I generally have Wednesdays and Fridays off so I've been trying to make Wednesday mine and my daughter's 'adventure' day and Fridays our 'in pjs' all day.  I'm trying for a little balance but inevitably I'll overschedule us and then we'll both be cranky.  

sjis

How far along are you? 

12w 5d, we're having a boy!

How old are your other kids? 

DD is 3.5 yrs

Current challenges/concerns about being a STM or questions about things your children are going through now?  

Every morning DD asks me 'what are we going to do today?' I get that as a kid you want to do fun stuff and explore, but some days I'm at a loss and it's way too hot to be outside. Like can't we just chill and read a a book? Ha. I wish. 

Current joys/successes/or happy thoughts about being a STM : 

now that we know we're having a boy, it's like starting from square one. I'm so used to raising a little girl that getting used to being a mom of a boy is so weird and exciting. I wandered through the boy clothes section yesterday and just squealed with excitement. 

Rants/Raves/Randoms/Questions/

i brought this up in another thread but the whole potty training boys is leaving me at a loss. I had no idea that you had to point the penis down when changing diapers

GTKY: It's the summer solstice! Fill us in on your summer "bucket list"!

Disneyland is on our bucket list this summer

KayLee77

How far along are you? 14 weeks 4 days

How old are your other kids? DS #1 is 8 and DS #2 is 6

Current challenges/concerns about being a STM or questions about things your children are going through now?  
Summer vacation and trying to stick with a schedule.  I'm enjoying finally getting to sleep in some but I feel like that's all we do. 


Current joys/successes/or happy thoughts about being a STM :  I've wanted #3 for a long time, so I'm just excited to have him or her here.  The boys are so excited as well that I can't wait to see them with their sibling. 

Rants/Raves/Randoms/Questions/

GTKY: It's the summer solstice! Fill us in on your summer "bucket list"!

Lots of camping 
Fixing up our small projects around the house

rosej156

How far along are you? 16 weeks

How old are your other kids? 16 months

Current challenges/concerns about being a STM or questions about things your children are going through now?  I'm afraid my daughter will think I love her less because baby+2 will get a lot of my attention. I know it's silly, but it's there. 

Current joys/successes/or happy thoughts about being a STM : Although I'm almost waiting for the other shoe to drop (TW: this is my third pregnancy) this time around has been super smooth and if it wasn't for my belly and hungries, I wouldn't know I was pregnant - wishing you all pregnancies like this one!

Rants/Raves/Randoms/Questions/ I have told people at work and instead of saying congratulations some people said "I knew it!" Like EXCUSE ME let me have my congrats gdmmit!

GTKY: It's the summer solstice! Fill us in on your summer "bucket list"! the beach at least once with the family, maybe a road trip to providence 

jekasi

How far along are you? 
17 weeks!

How old are your other kids? 
DS turns 2 in a week 

Current challenges/concerns about being a STM or questions about things your children are going through now?  
Just normal transitioning to toddler stuff. He is moving up to the next daycare room this week. They may introduce potty training. We haven't moved him to a toddler bed/ his new toddler room yet. We haven't taken away his pacifier...

Current joys/successes/or happy thoughts about being a STM : 
We found out we are having another boy, so we are set on basically everything including diapers since we use cloth. I've bought a new thing here or there, mostly based on learned preferences. Like I sold all my regular muslin blankets and have replaced with *bamboo* muslin because it's so much softer.

Rants/Raves/Randoms/Questions/
I am having super bad heartburn just like last pregnancy and I am soooo over it.

GTKY: It's the summer solstice! Fill us in on your summer "bucket list"!
I'm a teacher so I'm actually off the whole summer. We are still paying for daycare and I have daily guilt trips with myself. If I take him I feel guilty because I want to spend time with him. But if I don't take him I feel guilty that we are paying for it, and also I'm not getting anything done with him because he's a tornado. I have a lot of adulting to do this summer (just normal stuff that I've put off way too long) so ideally I'd like to accomplish everything, and yet feel relaxed and refreshed by the time fall rolls around.

Jellybelly119

@jekasi I know the feeling re: daycare and guilt. DS goes to daycare every Thursday even though I'm off. I work FT and I need some time to accomplish stuff around the house without him under foot, make appointments, etc. The way I see it, I'm a better mom if he's got my full attention while we're together. I try to pick him up right after nap time that day so we still have the whole afternoon to hang out!