Oh @batmama31 that's a lot of work to get done! Do you have to do all of that?! Your carpet will get spilled on somehow at the party, would it be better to replace if after? And keep everyone inside - just ignore that backyard haha.
Me: 31 H: 36 L & N twin girls: 3yo. Born at 30 weeks. 2 month NICU stay BFP Aug 2018: EDD April 2019
@batmama31 ugh. Tours in my house need to always be limited to rooms with open doors inviting you to look in. Ain’t no one got time to clean closets while also buying extra toilet paper, timing food in/out of an oven, and decorating.
@mermaidca, we were planning on replacing the rug before baby arrives, anyway. and I have been eyeing the ruggables, since they are 100% machine washable.
@lyse01, I am NOT doing any of that food & decorating shit! but everything else does have to get done, unfortunately. my husband and I did it to ourselves. we are lazy, horrible homeowners. we just need to get the property presentable. but yeah, it is a lot to do. I just tried to help my son build a snowman just now & couldn't even get the first ball started w/o becoming exhausted.
but I realize that my to-do list isn't nearly as bad as @harveyisaboysname & @ysotte, and all the other mamas who are facing moves during 3rd tri! my heart goes out to you guys!
@batmama31 I know what you mean, DH and I are horrible homeowners too. He works 6 days a week and understandably doesn't feel like doing stuff on his day off (nevermind that it's stuff that needs to be done regardless) and I have been so low on energy and motivation (largely depression-related) that I'm not getting stuff done either. Ultimately, it's all excuses and I need to get my stuff together.
We moved into our house a little over a year ago, and the front room (formal dining room) is still chock-full of boxes and DH and BIL just stashed in there while moving things in rather than taking to the attic. We have tons of storage space upstairs and no reason to have everything right there, and I've been trying to go through and either get rid of or take things upstairs little by little but it's getting harder and harder to do that without losing my breath. It's the first room you see when you come to our front door and I really want our house to be guest-ready before the baby comes.
@chrissdee I know people that have the entire house unpacked three days after their move, and I basically say “who ARE you? Robots? The recycling guy hasn’t even been by that week to take away the boxes.”
@lyse01 - that person is me lol! I am insane when I move (or start a project) I won't stop until I pass out. I wish I was better at taking my time at things but once I start I HAVE to get it all done like right now. I drive my husband insane.
Me: 32 DH: 31
TTC #2 since January 2018
Baby #1 DD Born 8/25/2016 BFP: 8/11/18 Due: 4/26/18
Does anyone here work a 40 hour job that is flexible? As in, maybe you do 4 10s, or you only work 36 hours, or you work from home some or all the time? Right now my schedule is 40 hours, 8-5 in the office, plus an hour each day of driving to work/home (30 min each way). I'd really feel like I'd be happier if I had a way to spend some more time at home without sacrificing too much in a paycheck. Any tips on asking your boss for a more flexible schedule?
@gollygeeitsamy My work is pretty flexible. Any thing that requires being here (meetings, supervising students ect…) definitely means I'm in the office, and some work I find way easier to do in my office, but some things (like writing especially) I find way easier to do at home. For me, it wasn't so much a question, but more that my boss is very much of the "do what you need to do to get shit done" philosophy. So I think its very much a little dependent on the culture of where you work. How much autonomy do you have at your job? If you're looking for some flexibility, maybe see if there is stuff you could do from home one day a week, or if you could do 4 10s. I think its a little bit dependent on type of work too. If your work requires you being in meetings or with clients all day, you might not get very far. But if you do a lot of work independently, and you have all the tools you need at home to do it, I'm a big believer in you won't know till you ask! Good luck!
Has anyone here used/could recc an at home BP monitor? My BP is starting to creep up (still in a normal range, but high for me) so I kind of want to start checking it once a day at home to keep an eye on trends. I do have two appointments for BP checks next week at the OB, but even if those come back fine, with my history of pre-e/HELLP I want to make sure I can let them know if anything starts to go sideways.
@gollygeeitsamy I work in a lab so can't work from home. My commute is about 45 min in the morning and 1 hour in the evening....IF there aren't any crashes. So I feel ya. My DH and I actually just decided (well, I brought it up and he was supportive) of me working only 32 hours after the baby is born, so I'll be working just Mon - Thurs. My work is really nice in that I still get full time benefits and all my PTO as long as I work 30+ hrs a week. My benefits are better than DH's so we want to stick with them. Obviously, I'll be paid less, but I feel like it's worth it to actually have time to spend with the family. I'm so excited about that change - obviously, we will need to be more conscious money-wise, but I feel like my sanity and happiness is worth it. Are you able to work from home? I think there's nothing wrong with asking your boss. I was afraid mine wouldn't be ok with me dropping a day - especially in a lab - but she was SO supportive of it. You never know until you ask!
I don't really have a flexible job either. 40 hrs a week with a 45-60 min commute each way. I hate it. My last job I Got to work from home a few times a month and it helped tremendously. I love my company but may need to look for a job at a different company that has more flexibility. My job can be accomplished from home so its fustrating that I can only do it in emergency situations.
I WISH I could work 4 days a week. I would happily take a pay cut but the type of position I am in is pretty much always salaried. so I don't get much choice.
Me: 32 DH: 31
TTC #2 since January 2018
Baby #1 DD Born 8/25/2016 BFP: 8/11/18 Due: 4/26/18
@gollygeeitsamy, my company has a what they call UTFlex. they actually encourage us to work from home whenever possible. (mostly due to not having enough seats for their workforce 🙄) but before the policy was in place, my boss had to request to work from home when he was recovering from a hip injury. he managed to convince his boss after he put together a plan. like, what his goals/accomplishments would be during the time, and he offered to meet w/ her via phone to review his progress periodically. so if you think your management might push back, perhaps they’ll be more receptive if you offered something like a game plan?
has anyone given any thought to what their post L&D meal will be? i have been craving sushi so bad this entire pregnancy. i can’t wait for a fucking boatload of sushi. and i mean a literal boatload- those giant boat platters at sushi restaurants that are like $100 and intended for a party of 8. that’s what i’m fucking devouring after this boy is outta me. and i’m gonna savor every nigiri piece. w/ a gallon of soy sauce. 🤤🤤🤤
@kosmo86 I am definitely going to miss being salaried! I work in a lab and everyone else is hourly - it's just the certification I have gives me the option to be salaried instead. And if I ever have to work "overtime" I just get extra PTO which is nice. But since I'll be moving to 4 days a week, I get to go back to punching the clock. That'll be the hardest transition for me! But I am glad I have the option. If I thought I was going to stay at this job and "move up" I'd stay full time. But we'll be moving within the next year, and I'm hoping for more of a flexible, non-lab job.
has anyone given any thought to what their post L&D meal will be? i have been craving sushi so bad this entire pregnancy. i can’t wait for a fucking boatload of sushi. and i mean a literal boatload- those giant boat platters at sushi restaurants that are like $100 and intended for a party of 8. that’s what i’m fucking devouring after this boy is outta me. and i’m gonna savor every nigiri piece. w/ a gallon of soy sauce. 🤤🤤🤤
I will probably ask for In-N-Out. it’s down the road and I love it. Plus they serve food I can eat. I’m going to have to pack in all the meals I eat while at the hospital because I’m on a special diet (prescribed) but very strict and the nutrientionist at the hospital basically laughed when I asked if the cafeteria could handle it.
As far as family visiting. I’m hoping my sister in law can time it to come right when we get home with baby. She is super helpful and dd (age 3) loves her and it would make everything easier. Then we have my in-laws and I hope they can come out sometime in that first few weeks too. Then my mom will probably plan on coming out in May so that we are sure baby is here and such. She has the longest travel (3000miles) so we want to make sure she comes a little later to be safe. Our house is tiny so I’m hoping for some space available for them to stay at the camp. My sil can sleep in my daughters room and my mom May be able to sleep at my sisters house (a 2 min. Walk through camp) to give her a space while she is here. The in-laws I’m not sure 🤔
has anyone given any thought to what their post L&D meal will be? i have been craving sushi so bad this entire pregnancy. i can’t wait for a fucking boatload of sushi. and i mean a literal boatload- those giant boat platters at sushi restaurants that are like $100 and intended for a party of 8. that’s what i’m fucking devouring after this boy is outta me. and i’m gonna savor every nigiri piece. w/ a gallon of soy sauce. 🤤🤤🤤
Hahaha. Yes. Cause basically as soon as the placenta comes out the GD is “gone”.
It does take up to 6 weeks for your hormones to fully stabilize which is why they retest after 6 weeks just to make sure it wasn’t a possible pre-existing condition or in the rare case it sticks around.
But I have already informed my DH that he is to let no one but DD in unless they have donuts or in-n-out or pizza or tacos.
this is my backup acct. prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014 BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
@kate_e_nb@rennie1108@batmama31 I think I'll come up with a game plan with my husband this weekend. I definitely can work from home and have done so on snow days or when my daughter was sick but it's few and far between. We have remote employees in other departments so I'm hoping we can work something out. I think my trepidation is that we have a new SVP of HR and I don't know if it'll be something he will approve. He just started like 6 weeks ago. I guess I won't know until I ask, now to just get the courage to ask.
@kosmo86 my previous job was like yours, something that could have been remote but they didn't allow it at that company. I switched jobs to my current position about 5-6 months after my daughter was born. Maybe you could search for something more flexible after baby?
So I work in ultrasound development. I knew it was a matter of time before someone asked to scan me. A sonographer asked at lunch today, I politely declined, and she was nice about it. Someone else just came to my cube to my cube to ask and was trying to pressure me into it. Sorry, but I’m real uncomfortable with the idea of my coworkers knowing the sex of my baby before me and my husband!
So, I’ve been buying meat in bulk whenever I see it deeply discounted, and then repackage it in ziplocks to efficiently label and freeze. Today, I went through nearly a dozen ziplocks...and I don’t use them at any other time. I love that I can defrost only as much as I need and that it’s better protected in the freezer than the thin supermarket film, but I hate the additional plastic I’m using once.
Are there better products for this, that reduce my plastic consumption and protect from freezer burn for 1 month+ freezes?
I have finally got our baby prep to-do list mostly done! The organization nerd in me is very excited as I used a to-do list app that we use through my work and it is color-coordinated. DH is not nearly as excited about how organized it is, but he is being super amazing about checking stuff off now that he has a list to work from. We knocked out a bunch of stuff today and I finally feel some relief over it.
And we’re in the process of booking our summer vacation with DH’s family and it’s making me even more excited for baby boy to get here so we can share one of our favorite times of the year with him.
That's something I'm still trying to figure out a good green solution for also, @lyse01. I use beeswax wrap as much as I can for covering leftovers in the fridge, but I'm not sure how well it would do in the freezer (and if you would want to use it for raw meat). What about some of those silicone reusable sandwich baggies? At least it would be reusable even though it's still plastic consumption? Maybe if possible you could buy at the meat counter or in bulk from a butcher and have them wrap it in butcher paper and then package in the reusable bags? I hate how much Styrofoam and plastic is thrown away in our house strictly from meat packaging and frozen veggies.
@lyse01I would also love some ideas for non-ziploc freezer storage. Maybe someone here has good ideas...
@kangstadt I hadn't heard of reusable silicone sandwich bags, but I'm immediately a little skeptical of whether they'd hold up for long enough to net worthwhile -- just based on my experience of silicone for baking applications, it seemed like it started to tear pretty easily and didn't have a lot of durability to withstand lots of uses. That said, I might buy some and see how they fair. Definitely a dilemma re:meat packaging-- there's no styrofoam with the meat if you get it from the counter, but then you usually can't get the really good sale price stuff that they're trying to get rid of... Another answer is, of course, to eat less meat. But, maybe after this baby comes out and I don't crave red meat...
We tend to wash and reuse freezer bags several times. So they are at least slightly reusable. I don’t buy little ziplocks anymore, snacks and sandwiches go in reusable cloth PUL lined bags. They are great and wash in the laundry.
@kangstadt I want the beeswax wraps! Though I’d prob only use for covering cut onions and the like - most leftovers go in reused quart soup containers, or just stay uncovered.
@mesweettea exactly - those discounts don’t apply at the meat counter. They might repackage for me into butcher paper, i suppose, but google has mixed opinions on whether 1) freezer paper has plastic or paraffin coating, and 2) whether it’s a greener choice overall considering it’s usually not recyclable and paper production is energy intensive too. As for eating less meat, I’m on board, but DH would eat red meat and lettuce for every meal if allowed, so I’m on a mission to make low-carb veggies the bulk of most meals for him. Whole grains are mostly optional sides/things to put the meat & veg on top of, for my plate.
@kbirchtree my grandma washed ziplocks til they were pockmarked and torn at our summer cottage, and every younger woman in the family agreed that they did not need that level of reuse and tossed them at the end of every season (or more often if we could get away with it) before they attracted more pests. It would be hard to get mentally past that and back to a moderate approach we also rarely pack meals to go, so there’s not much need for alternative sandwich bags!
Starting to have a hard time at work and I work A LOT. I make the schedule, but for that reason I feel obligated to work just as much as or more than everyone else. Really starting to feel it though. May have to speak to the area manager and tell her I need to cut my hours down a little bit or at the very least give myself 2 days off a week instead of just 1. 😵 So tired, but I want to stay at work as long as possible.
@kbirchtree, were they difficult to make on your own? Someone accidentally threw out one sheet of mine during New Year's, and I'm missing it. DH of course just grabs the clingwrap out of the drawer, but I try to use glass containers with lids (someone we've lost half the lids though!) or the beeswrap.
@ysotte, take the time if you need to! Growing a human is hard. I'm kind of dreading going back to work and I only work part-time (it is with kids though, so some days it feels more taxing than a normal 40 hour work week!).
@kangstadt I just feel bad because I know any hours I cut from my own schedule will have to go to someone else and everyone is already working 50 hours. I just know that I’m not going to be able to power through a 50 hour work week for much longer.
I’m sitting at Autozone cause my car is having issues ...again. DD fell asleep on the way here so I’m just bumping from my phone while waiting for DH to do whatever it is you do with code machines.
I love my car but it’s definitely time to replace it. Ugh.
this is my backup acct. prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014 BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
@lyse01 if only it were that easy 😆 There’s a stylist shortage in my area right now. All the salons are short staffed and stealing each other’s employees by offering higher pay. I get maybe 1 applicant a month and they either don’t show up for their interview or I interview them and they just aren’t what i’m Looking for. I don’t even feel like i’m massively Picky. I just want to hire people who are actually interested in doing hair, but I have people applying that just have zero passion for it. Why even bother getting the license then? Drives me crazy.
@thatbaintforbetty I have no patience for car problems. When I had my old car, it had various issues and it drove me crazy having to fork over the money for repairs. I went around asking everyone I knew what cars they felt were the most reliable and ended up with my Honda Fit. Which I love.
Re: Randoms 12/31
H: 36
L & N twin girls: 3yo. Born at 30 weeks. 2 month NICU stay
BFP Aug 2018: EDD April 2019
@lyse01, I am NOT doing any of that food & decorating shit! but everything else does have to get done, unfortunately. my husband and I did it to ourselves. we are lazy, horrible homeowners. we just need to get the property presentable. but yeah, it is a lot to do. I just tried to help my son build a snowman just now & couldn't even get the first ball started w/o becoming exhausted.
but I realize that my to-do list isn't nearly as bad as @harveyisaboysname & @ysotte, and all the other mamas who are facing moves during 3rd tri! my heart goes out to you guys!
We moved into our house a little over a year ago, and the front room (formal dining room) is still chock-full of boxes and DH and BIL just stashed in there while moving things in rather than taking to the attic. We have tons of storage space upstairs and no reason to have everything right there, and I've been trying to go through and either get rid of or take things upstairs little by little but it's getting harder and harder to do that without losing my breath. It's the first room you see when you come to our front door and I really want our house to be guest-ready before the baby comes.
BFP: 8/11/18 Due: 4/26/18
@kosmo86 same girl *raises hand
Clutter makes me nuts, and feeling like I'm living out of boxes is even worse.
DD born: 3/31/19
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00KPQB2KG/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1546633447&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=omron+3+series&psc=1
I WISH I could work 4 days a week. I would happily take a pay cut but the type of position I am in is pretty much always salaried. so I don't get much choice.
BFP: 8/11/18 Due: 4/26/18
It does take up to 6 weeks for your hormones to fully stabilize which is why they retest after 6 weeks just to make sure it wasn’t a possible pre-existing condition or in the rare case it sticks around.
But I have already informed my DH that he is to let no one but DD in unless they have donuts or in-n-out or pizza or tacos.
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
@kosmo86 my previous job was like yours, something that could have been remote but they didn't allow it at that company. I switched jobs to my current position about 5-6 months after my daughter was born. Maybe you could search for something more flexible after baby?
So, I’ve been buying meat in bulk whenever I see it deeply discounted, and then repackage it in ziplocks to efficiently label and freeze. Today, I went through nearly a dozen ziplocks...and I don’t use them at any other time. I love that I can defrost only as much as I need and that it’s better protected in the freezer than the thin supermarket film, but I hate the additional plastic I’m using once.
Are there better products for this, that reduce my plastic consumption and protect from freezer burn for 1 month+ freezes?
And we’re in the process of booking our summer vacation with DH’s family and it’s making me even more excited for baby boy to get here so we can share one of our favorite times of the year with him.
@kangstadt I hadn't heard of reusable silicone sandwich bags, but I'm immediately a little skeptical of whether they'd hold up for long enough to net worthwhile -- just based on my experience of silicone for baking applications, it seemed like it started to tear pretty easily and didn't have a lot of durability to withstand lots of uses. That said, I might buy some and see how they fair.
Definitely a dilemma re:meat packaging-- there's no styrofoam with the meat if you get it from the counter, but then you usually can't get the really good sale price stuff that they're trying to get rid of... Another answer is, of course, to eat less meat. But, maybe after this baby comes out and I don't crave red meat...
@mesweettea exactly - those discounts don’t apply at the meat counter. They might repackage for me into butcher paper, i suppose, but google has mixed opinions on whether 1) freezer paper has plastic or paraffin coating, and 2) whether it’s a greener choice overall considering it’s usually not recyclable and paper production is energy intensive too. As for eating less meat, I’m on board, but DH would eat red meat and lettuce for every meal if allowed, so I’m on a mission to make low-carb veggies the bulk of most meals for him. Whole grains are mostly optional sides/things to put the meat & veg on top of, for my plate.
@kbirchtree my grandma washed ziplocks til they were pockmarked and torn at our summer cottage, and every younger woman in the family agreed that they did not need that level of reuse and tossed them at the end of every season (or more often if we could get away with it) before they attracted more pests. It would be hard to get mentally past that and back to a moderate approach
@ysotte, take the time if you need to! Growing a human is hard. I'm kind of dreading going back to work and I only work part-time (it is with kids though, so some days it feels more taxing than a normal 40 hour work week!).
@kbirchtree you’re so crafty!
I love my car but it’s definitely time to replace it. Ugh.
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
Does anyone else panic that their extra discharge is amniotic fluid? Being a STM, I’m trying not to freak out but it’s hard!