due date check-in (edd 12/24-12/31) - week of 12/11

muskratbaby

For the ladies due December 24 - December 31: 



This week we can finally say, "Two weeks left (ish)!"....take a moment to reflect on that fact. 

How have you captured your pregnancy experience? Have you written letters to your baby or taken a series of photographs? 

What will you share with your child about your pregnancy once they are old enough to talk with you about it?

For FTMs, what has been the best way you and your partner (if you have one currently) have been able to manage this major transition in your life? Advice/stories from STMs is welcomed!

Any special tests or questions/concerns you plan to bring up with your doctor this week? 

Be nice to yourself this week - muskratbaby

abcola

@muskratbaby I love that picture.... and it is totally how I feel doing most everything these days.... 

How have you captured your pregnancy experience? Have you written letters to your baby or taken a series of photographs? 
Yikes... none of these... I almost wish I could capture all of the bump posts iv'e made.... is that possible? 
What will you share with your child about your pregnancy once they are old enough to talk with you about it?
I guess that overall it was a good pregnancy... and hopefully I can tell him that he is as good on the outside as he was on the inside
For FTMs, what has been the best way you and your partner (if you have one currently) have been able to manage this major transition in your life? Advice/stories from STMs is welcomed!
We've just been talking about it... I dont think we've done anything special. We like tackling 'projects' and pregnancy has been something we've 'tackled' together.... Hopefully it continues! 
Any special tests or questions/concerns you plan to bring up with your doctor this week? 
I have another ultrasound per the request of the OB, as my BP has gone up... I have an induction date planned for next week (12/22) but who knows if he could want to do it sooner after the apt. this week. Honestly after today I will be stepping up my game with trying the 'lets go into labor' protocool... DH had to travel out of town for a meeting today so as soon as he lands LO can come. 

muskratbaby

How have you captured your pregnancy experience? Have you written letters to your baby or taken a series of photographs? 
My SIL gave me this adorable set of envelopes with prompts to write to your child. I hope to start writing a letter or two this week - putting it on my to-do list now. I also started a scrapbook last week and finished 2 pages (if you are a scrapbooker, you know how long each page can take to lay out and commit to!). I actually used clippings from the cards I received at my baby showers to add some color/graphics/words to the scrapbook pages. 

What will you share with your child about your pregnancy once they are old enough to talk with you about it?
I don't remember my mom telling me much about her pregnancies, and now she seems to have forgotten most of what she experienced. I hope to share how excited I was to finally reach this stage of my life, and how I waited patiently all through grad school and until me and DH had a house and renovated it. Also, how I sat in the nursery and thought excitedly about how I would read her books, nurse her, and put her to sleep with all of the gifts people gave us to support those daily tasks. How kind everyone was to us during the pregnancy - neighbors, family, friends - and how it made the whole experience so special, in spite of physical hardships faced along the way. How our relationship needed to be strong enough before we were ready to devote ourselves fully to being parents. How devoted her father was from the minute he found out - coming to appointments with me, watching videos online about changing a diaper, finishing up that last room in the house that needed to be renovated, making sure I drank enough water and took my vitamins, etc. Even though I have given him a hard time about not giving me enough attention and emotional support, he still did so much to help prepare the house and himself. 

For FTMs, what has been the best way you and your partner (if you have one currently) have been able to manage this major transition in your life? Advice/stories from STMs is welcomed!
I read an article today about maternal gatekeeping. I am going to try to be more mindful from now on of not blocking or interfering with DHs efforts to figure out parenting on his own, even if it means biting my tongue when I want to intervene and "fix" his strategies. As we reach the end of the pregnancy, I am feeling more and more confident that we will figure this parenting thing out together. But I don't expect it to be easy. We are both stubborn...I don't know if it was my hormones getting in the way of productive dialogue, but I've yelled and stomped around more times than I care to admit. When we take the time to check in with each other, and provide even just a little support in each other's endeavors, life is good. When we just get too bogged down in doing work separately and don't appreciate one another, life is not so good. I've tried to force him to care about things that I now realize were not necessary for him to be excited about. It took me awhile to realize that his process of becoming a dad is just going to be different than my process of becoming a mom. And that's okay.

Any special tests or questions/concerns you plan to bring up with your doctor this week? 
Nope, I hope for a routine exam and that's it! Of course, if baby girl decides she is ready to arrive this week, that would be cool with me. 

oncape100615

@muskratbaby I think I turned into that turtle over the weekend! Definite drop by baby, (I’m on 4 nights straight of no tums without issue), and feeling like my belly is in the way. Also getting SUPER antsy! Ready to meet this babe!

How have you captured your pregnancy experience? Have you written letters to your baby or taken a series of photographs? 
Eesh. None of the above, unless the occasional Snapchat to my best friends of my ill-fitting PJ tops counts? 

What will you share with your child about your pregnancy once they are old enough to talk with you about it?
I don’t know that I will? I mean I guess if it comes up? My mom didn’t really talk about her experience until I was pregnant with my first. But it’s been a fairly uneventful ride save for heartburn and sciatic nerve pain, so at this point it’ll be a pretty lousy story!

For FTMs, what has been the best way you and your partner (if you have one currently) have been able to manage this major transition in your life? Advice/stories from STMs is welcomed!
This is our third. So I’m going to go the advice/stories route. After our first was born things were fine, but slowly resentment built, (for both of us) and it came to a head over something really insignificant and unrelated. My advice is to be patient with one another as you adjust to a new dynamic and routine, and keep communication open. 

Any special tests or questions/concerns you plan to bring up with your doctor this week? 
I’m assuming it will be a pretty boring appointment. My OB doesn’t do cervical checks until 39 or even 40 weeks (which is fine with me), so barring any surprises with BP or going into labor before Wednesday morning, it should be uneventful. 

wabash15

How have you captured your pregnancy experience? Have you written letters to your baby or taken a series of photographs? I have tried to take weekly pictures but there have definitely been some gaps. I started a journal after the twins were born where I periodically write down what they are doing or if something was going on. I have started including notes to this baby in that journal. 

What will you share with your child about your pregnancy once they are old enough to talk with you about it? Probably being open about our journey to make this baby and the twins. IF is not talked about enough. 

For FTMs, what has been the best way you and your partner (if you have one currently) have been able to manage this major transition in your life? Advice/stories from STMs is welcomed! I have to second @oncape100615 try to give each other room and not take grumping short tempers to heart. sleep deprivation is rough and it takes a while to figure out what works best for your family. No matter how much research you do ahead of time about what products or the way to do things inevitably your kid will do the opposite or want something else. Dad often have a very different way to approach a problem and though its not your way its not wrong. Its hard to bite your tongue but try... give them space to learn too. Try to make time for you and your SO. that relationship needs to be nurtured too. (this is all easier said then done)

Any special tests or questions/concerns you plan to bring up with your doctor this week? nope...

dilbert890

How have you captured your pregnancy experience? Have you written letters to your baby or taken a series of photographs? 
I bought a Pregnancy journal book. I have been pretty good about writing in it. My pregnancy has been, thankfully pretty boring.. no heartburn, no swelling, nothing crazy. I've tried to add notes to the journal when I think about it.. But I'm measuring on track each week, heartbeat has been pretty much the same each week, there's not much to record. 

What will you share with your child about your pregnancy once they are old enough to talk with you about it?
Like others have said, I'm overwhelmed at the support my community of family and friends have shown us over the last few months. People have been so overly generous and I really appreciate all of their thoughtfulness. I will have to pay it forward for sure.

Not sure I'll have much to talk about, having a boy, I'm sure their interests are different than if I were to be having a girl. But overall, he's been good to me. 

For FTMs, what has been the best way you and your partner (if you have one currently) have been able to manage this major transition in your life? Advice/stories from STMs is welcomed!
I'm not sure if we've done much to "manage" the transition. We have been taking one day at a time. I've filled the "woman" role and found used items, sales and deals on the necessities. He's carried heavy stuff into the house, helped me pick up things at the store, assembled things, stuff like that.. He's always been really supportive at home and I'm thankful that hasn't changed during pregnancy. 

Any special tests or questions/concerns you plan to bring up with your doctor this week? 
I'll be 38w2d at my appointment tomorrow. Doctor is going to do a cervix check and "stir the pot" so we can hopefully meet this LO soon! Fingers crossed it all goes as planned. 

sjis

@muskratbaby perfect picture! 
also your thoughts about maternal gatekeeping hits the nail on the head. 

How have you captured your pregnancy experience? Have you written letters to your baby or taken a series of photographs? 

DH took a few photos while we were doing our Christmas card shoot. That’s about the extent of any pregnancy photos. I thought i’d do more to capture this second experience, but I’ve just been so busy. 

What will you share with your child about your pregnancy once they are old enough to talk with you about it?

that DD was so excited about a new baby, she helped paint the nursery and talked all the time about it! 

Also after DD, we swore that we were one and done. The first time was soooo hard and we didn’t know if we had it in us to go for round 2. After the crazy decision to have another baby, we really felt that our family was complete. All the blood, sweat, and tears is so worth it!

For FTMs, what has been the best way you and your partner (if you have one currently) have been able to manage this major transition in your life? Advice/stories from STMs is welcomed!

I echo the others in that Dad will have a different way and you have to let him find his way.  As a stm, both DH and I are feeling more confident and aware of the sleep deprivation ahead. Really, when there is lack of sleep combined with days that are long, being patient and easy on one another is key. We remind each other to find joy and fun in the ‘grind’. 

Any special tests or questions/concerns you plan to bring up with your doctor this week? 

I have an appointment tomorrow and will talk about induction because I don’t want to go past my due date 12/31

darkfyre

How have you captured your pregnancy experience? Have you written letters to your baby or taken a series of photographs? 
Wow, umm no. Maybe I will get around to doing some writing this weekend but nothing like this yet.

What will you share with your child about your pregnancy once they are old enough to talk with you about it?
Like everyone else it will probably just be what comes up. Though after others mentioning that they wish their moms had remembered more  I may take the time to write out my birth stories and some reflections on pregnancy, especially if this one is a girl.

For FTMs, what has been the best way you and your partner (if you have one currently) have been able to manage this major transition in your life? Advice/stories from STMs is welcomed!
I really liked what @muskratbaby had to say about maternal gatekeeping. Especially as DS has gotten older and we moved out of diapers and breastfeeding it has become more and more important for me to not unfairly dominate the decision making. Sometimes that is HARD.

Any special tests or questions/concerns you plan to bring up with your doctor this week? 
Nothing special I have my 38 week appt tomorrow. Not even sure what we'll talk about. My midwife does not do cervical checks or inductions. So it will be pretty short, BP check, check the baby, touch base on swelling or headaches (none here)