STM+ January Checkin

mamanbebe

EDD:

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 

How are your other kids doing? 

Rants/Raves? 

Concerns/Questions? 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? 

nopegoat

EDD: July 10th

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 4 boys ages 8, 6, 4, and 2

How are your other kids doing? I think they are finally coming off their sugar high thankfully. It's been a crazy 2wks.

Rants/Raves? Between Christmas, our unexpected company, and then New Years they are completely off their schedule and have been insane. School starts back on the 7th so thankfully we have a bit of time to get our shit together. 

Concerns/Questions? 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? I have no freaking clue and it scares the crap out of me lol. My last kiddo my mom was here to help but her health has declined so much she won't be able to this time. We had my MIL here to help when #2 was born and she was absolutely worthless. She missed the birth on purpose, #1 was in the room when #2 was born, and when she finally showed up 6hrs later H had to go home and wait on her. We don't really have any super close friends or family nearby. I thought about asking my sister to come out but since she is the main caretaker of my mom now it would be a lot on her to take care of 4 boys and my mom. Our neighbor could probably watch the boys in a pinch but I don't think they'd last long at all since they have zero experience with kids. 

runsoncoffee

EDD: July 23

How many kids do you already have? Ages? Two boys ages 2 and 11 months

How are your other kids doing? Good! Attempting potty training today. I can't have 3 in diapers lol. So far is going better than expected I guess! My youngest is finally getting over a cold and I hope he will sleep better... planning his first bday party now and I can't believe it!!!

Rants/Raves? Need to get the Christmas stuff put away but no energy... 

Concerns/Questions? 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? I haven't verified, but I assume my mom and step dad. My youngest has never spent a night away from me though so I'm going to have to do a trial run sometime in the next 6 months.

runsoncoffee

@nopegoat oh that's stressful!!! So hard when you don't have people close by. I hope you can figure something out!

jenniferjoy37

EDD: 7/7

How many kids do you already have? Ages? One DD, 11 months. My baby’s almost a year old!!!  

How are your other kids doing? Besides teething, she’s great! I think she’s getting over her cough/stuffy nose thing finally. 

Rants/Raves? DH got a new job, and his insurance doesn’t kick in for a month. So we’re insurance less until the beginning of Feb. I’m freaking out a little. 

Also: planning for DD’s birthday is stressing me out a little! I’m so afraid I won’t make it perfect for her. And I know, she won’t remember it at all, but it will stress me out nonetheless. It’s our celebration as parents that we kept her alive for a years. Haha. 

Concerns/Questions? Nothing at the moment. 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? I secretly hope my parents will watch her. DH’s parents (I think) are worthless. Last time they watched her overnight I had to take her to urgent care and she ended up with a cold and laryngitis. So I’m not too keep letting her be with them. Plus, my parents will stay at our house and keep DD in her normal environment. 

ketomommy

EDD: 7/14

How many kids do you already have? Ages? DD age 2

How are your other kids doing? She is ready to go back to day care after being home with me for 10 days.

Rants/Raves? I'm so friggin tired.

Concerns/Questions? 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? My parents.  Unless this baby comes two weeks early, when they are on vacation.  In that case my friend will watch her until my parents can get a flight home.

indulgentgypsy

EDD: 7/8 c-section scheduled for 7/2

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 2, 9&11

How are your other kids doing? Good, we go back to school Monday and are cleaning the house while DH is at work today. They will not be happy about that...

Rants/Raves? ❤ I had a random FB friend offer to send me her Minnie Mouse diaper bag. So sweet!

Concerns/Questions? Meh

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? I'm with @nopegoat. No freaking idea. We have a friend who is moving in to our neighborhood (couldn't take village life anymore) and we might be able to ask her. If not, they will be in the waiting room with their phones and tablets. 

asupernovablizzardstorm

EDD: 7/10

How many kids do you already have? Ages? Dd age 6

How are your other kids doing? She's doing great. I'm ready for school to start back. 

Rants/Raves? I said this would be the year of organizing and decluttering. I'm laying on the couch right now. 

Concerns/Questions? None

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? Dd's old preschool does summer camp, so she'll be there during day. She wants to stay at the hospital with me at night but I'm not sure. If it happens to be a weekend then my mom or the IL's will watch her. 

mamanbebe

@nopegoat I feel you on all of this. I wish there was some kind of childcare during birth doula.. I realize that could be a "babysitter" haha.. but having someone who is specifically there to help with childcare and housekeeping during the birth of a new child would be awesome. 

@ccmama3 Good luck on potty training! 

@jenniferjoy37 What kind of birthday party are you going to throw for your DD? 

@ketomommy I hope you get some rest after your DD goes back to daycare! 

EDD: 7/19

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 1, age 4.5

How are your other kids doing? He's doing pretty great, he is back in school today and super excited to be with his friends. I am super excited to not have the Lorax on right now. We also put on a big show of 'the baby is coming' on Christmas, even though he already knew we'd have a baby at some point. So now he is really excited and I am so eager to see him as a sweet big brother. 

Rants/Raves? All the gluten (which really isn't that much) I've been eating the past few weeks is finally taking revenge. I need to shape up and get healthy with my nutrition, asap. My tum and my bum can't take it anymore! 

Concerns/Questions? 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? Like @nopegoat, I have no friggin clue. I'd love to have DS at the birth but I think it would stress him out. I'm not on good terms with my mom and I know she and my dad don't want to help anyway. My sister lives 2000 miles away and has her own family to take care of my My in-laws live 2000 miles away and are somewhat useless and would drive me crazy. I *think* one of August's old babysitters is going to be back in town from college this summer and I wonder if she could be enticed to be on-call for care. Otherwise I think we may need to arrange a nanny.  

mamanbebe

@asupernovablizzardstorm By "laying on the couch" you mean, contemplating your future genius attempt at home organization, right? 

runsoncoffee

@jenniferjoy37 I'm stressing about DS2's first birthday party too! I'm ordering invitations today. Do you have a theme? I changed mine last minute and am just doing a Valentines theme because decorations will be so easy!

@mamanbebe thanks... I underestimated how exhausting it would be!

nerdtoyourmother

EDD: July 21 (hoping for a C on the 15th - my birthday)
How many kids do you already have? Ages? 2 kiddos - recently 3 and 1 1/2 years old
How are your other kids doing? Everyone is good around here - I haven't gotten into 'baby talk' with the older one yet since it isn't quite public knowledge.  
GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? My parents will come and stay with the children, and I HOPE my best friend can come as well. Last time, my in-laws parked their RV at a place near our house and kept showing up here while we were gone (without asking my parents about their plans or schedule). I know they were taking advantage of the fact that I was laid up in the hospital, and it infuriated me. (That's why I need my BFF here to run interference this time around.) They even pouted and complained to my parents when I said that I didn't want them at the house when we arrived home with the new baby. WHO WANTS A CROWD?! LET ME COME HOME IN PEACE! *eye roll* (Maybe I should have filed that under 'rant!')

@nopegoat - Could you find a sitter/friend for the actual birth and then send hubs home with them? Mine has stayed in the hospital with me the past 2 times, but I am planning to send him back to work after the first day. I'd actually like that extra time with my new little one, and I would rather him be able to take a few days off when I am HOME with 2 littles and a newborn (rather than when I am surrounded by help at the hospital). 

@ccmama3 - I had never left my only (at the time) before we went to the hospital to have the second one. AND my water broke 2 days before my scheduled c-section... I put him to bed and didn't even get to say goodbye. After they had the baby out, I laid on the operating table and cried and cried because I missed him so much. (And also hormones) BUT... the good news is... he had a great time with my parents, and I don't think he was nearly as stressed as I was. 

runsoncoffee

@nerdtoyourmother omg that makes me want to cry thinking about it! I cried during my whole induction for my second because I missed my oldest so much lol! And I got to say goodbye. So I totally don't blame you!!!! It's always hardest on us mamas!

frenchbaby18

EDD: July 29th

How many kids do you already have? Ages? One 3 year old DD 

How are your other kids doing?
Great, just makes me feel sad when I’m having horrible nausea and she asks me if the baby is making me sick (her baby is also making her sick btw...lol)

Rants/Raves?
Loved it when DD randomly kissed my belly yesterday (not showing yet). 

Concerns/Questions? 
Does anyone here plan to have their kids share a room? Or any STM+ had two kids with a 4ish year age gap share? Any tips? 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? 
Man, this is going to be tough! My family all lives in the US (except one sister in London but she isn’t the type who would/could drop everything to come help). DH’s parents are the only family in France but they are not the type to offer/I’m not sure they could physically do it. DH’s sister lives in Germany so also out.

I guess it’s time to get really close to somebody of the other parents at school and/or the park!! 

Another good thing is late July/early August is vacation time here in France so I can hopefully piece together friends to cover the different scenarios...

nolemomma14

EDD: July 13th

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 4.5 and 2 on Saturday!!

How are your other kids doing? Adjusting to getting back home and routine after the holidays and being out of town! 

Rants/Raves? I can’t believe my youngest will be 2 on Saturday!! 

Concerns/Questions? Nope 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? They will stay with my in-laws. They’re 15 minutes away so easy to drop off on the way to the hospital. My oldest is actually really excited to have a sleepover at grandma and grandpas like he did when my second was born lol

key33

EDD: 7/5

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 2 (4 & 6)

How are your other kids doing? Ok, our youngest has been a little challenging lately. 🤨

Rants/Raves? School started today after break, and there is a lot less yelling going on all day. 

Concerns/Questions? Nope.

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? My MIL has always been the one to watch pets and kids in the past. 

asupernovablizzardstorm

@mamanbebe yup. I have it all planned in my head lol

mamanbebe

@frenchbaby18 Mine with be 5 years apart and they will have to share a room at some point. The immediate plan is to use our guest bedroom (which is primarily DH's home office) for baby to sleep in until they are sleeping through the night and then LO will transition into the bedroom with DS. But that still means 7-8 months of baby in the guest room (and me too, for night wakings). I'm either going to get a travel crib like Guava Lotus or Nuna Sena Mini OR a mini crib, so that they don't take up too much space when they move in with DS. Luckily we've been talking to him about sharing the room with future babies for a year now, so he's fully accepted it as a good thing. 

Panaceia

@frenchbaby18 We'll have a 5.5 year age gap. Me, DD and baby will all share a room. I bed share with DD and don't plan on stopping that until she chooses to stop so baby will have to be in a crib beside us:)

Panaceia

EDD: July 1 but I'll have an RCS June 24th or 25th.

How many kids do you already have? Ages?  1 DD turning 5 in a few weeks.

How are your other kids doing? She's doing great. I haven't talked to her about baby yet but I'm starting to ease her into the idea. School starts again next week so we still have a few days to enjoy our time off.

Rants/Raves? Nope.

Concerns/Questions? Not today. 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? My mom. DD was alone with her for a week during my hospital stay last year and it was totally fine. Luckily my mom is super close with DD so I know she's in good hands.

frenchbaby18

@mamanbebe and @Panaceia glad to hear there are others will be sharing rooms with bigger age gaps I also plan to have LO in my room for the first 6 ish months before transitioning.

I know lots can change in the next 6 months...but right now DD definitely spends 30+ minutes after I put her to sleep playing/singing/dancing in her room which I guess can’t really happen if LO is in there unless we are blessed with an amazing sleeper!

jenniferjoy37

@mamanbebe @ccmama3 Since DD’s got a winter birthday I’m going with “Winter One-Derland” I still need to order a penguin cake and smash cake, but I have all the invites. I still have to send them out and the party is on the 26th! Eeks! I am pintresting this, and that is super dangerous! Soooo many ideas! DH wants to cater it, which I would probably be totally fine with. It’s just decorations that I’m stressing over. 

Panaceia

@frenchbaby18 I'm going to try to get the new baby used to napping while it's noisey/bright/while we're our and about etc and hope this helps on the nights where DD decides she needs to stay up talking after baby is asleep. I figure they'll get used to eachother's routines and presence at some point. DD was a terrible sleeper from 6 months to 3.5 years so Um expecting the same from this LO. I'm more worried about the baby keeping DD up when she needs to be waking up early for school etc:/ 

Bear14+

EDD: July 25 - 11 weeks

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 2 kids, DS 4 & DD 2.5

How are your other kids doing? They are awesome, my 4 year old is a crazy ball of energy and non-stop. They have been home for 2 weeks on winter break and we've been having a lot of fun. But I'm ready for a break! H works all the time..this week has been 9am-10pm, so he's not a whole lot of help. 

Rants/Raves? Going to Buy Buy Baby with my bestie today and the kids! We are 3 weeks apart and it's her first. She's been trying for a long time, so we're both over the moon excited. We always talked about having kids at the same time in high school 

Concerns/Questions? None 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? My mom is a lifesaver. She takes off from work as soon as she gets the call and heads this way. She's about 45 minutes away, so if it was really urgent, my brother is 10 minutes away. With both of my labors, I had plenty of time to get to the hospital, so I don't really worry about an emergency...but I guess we have a plan in place. Luckily, I had DD in the morning and my brother and SIL offered to take DS so she could be at the hospital with me.

ladysamora

EDD: it keeps changing. Sometime end of first week of the month, let’s go with that. 

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 
Boys: 11.5, 7.5 step 4.5

How are your other kids doing? 
My boys are great about it. Little one I don’t thinks really gets it right now. I suspect once a belly grows it will start seeming more real. 

Rants/Raves? 
Not right now

Concerns/Questions? 
How am I going to handle three school age kids and a newborn when school starts. 😬

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery?

My ex husband, and hopefully he can bring them to the hospital as well. We’re on good terms. Plus it will be scheduled before hand and he’s a teacher so he’s off during the summers. 4 yr old will be with his mom. 

annewheeler2

EDD: July 18th

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 
2 girls. Oldest is 4.5. Youngest will be two next month 

How are your other kids doing? 
Oldest is ready for break to be over and be back in school

Rants/Raves? 
They have been fighting so much the past couple of days and I’m going crazy. It’s supposed to be nice out today so we might walk to the park. 

Concerns/Questions? 
None

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? My mom. I’m having a rcs so it won’t be to long.

Sparty18

EDD: July 6

How many kids do you already have? Ages? One boy who just turned 2.

How are your other kids doing?  He's great!  Currently dealing with some nap regression fun but hopefully that will be short-lived.  Literally as I was typing this, daycare called to tell me he just fell and bit his lip open.    Sounds like it isn't anything terrible but they wanted to warn us as he'll have a fat lip later.  Poor kiddo.  

Rants/Raves?  Rant: Entering my crazy time at work and don't have the energy to deal with it.  Rave:  Started a 30 day yoga challenge last night and hoping to keep up with it, even though it is annoying to have to modify some things.

Concerns/Questions?  Nope.

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery?  Gah, I don't knoooow.  My parents live out of state and my H's parents are far enough away that they aren't reliable.  We likely will have to count on some friends of ours and then hope one of our parents can get into town pretty quickly.  My parents came up a week before our due date last time and I ended up going into labor as soon as they got into town... so we'll see if it works out that way again this time?  Ha.

cookie510

EDD: 7/7 hoping for a c/s on 7/1

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 1 girl that is 6.5

How are your other kids doing? She's doing fine, not really excited about a baby brother though.  Hopefully she adjusts ok.

Rants/Raves?  I have a headache that I just can't get rid of and I am not liking my job lately so I'm just feeling very ugh

Concerns/Questions? 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? My mom will probably keep her for a few days

canuckmomma

EDD:

July 20

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 

We have one DS, turned 2 in Sept

How are your other kids doing? 

He has no idea what's coming but we talk about babies. When asked if he ever wants a brother or a sister he keeps saying "a mister" ...  *shrug*

Rants/Raves? 

Rave is it's warming up today and hopefully for the weekend! We can finally go outside to play in the snow.

Concerns/Questions? 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? 

Probably my mother in law. She is great with him, as is my own mom. So either or would be fine. They both live 15-20 mins from us and on the way to hosp.

frenchbaby18

@Panaceia great idea for getting everyone used to napping through light/noise etc! I can probably think of things to start introducing even now (like opening her door during nap...)

 Like you said the problem will definitely be making sure DD is awake enough for school in the morning!! I guess we will figure it all out when we get to know LO!

bartonolivia

EDD: July 16 

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 
2 boys. 3 & 2 years old. 

How are your other kids doing? 
Theyre great.

Rants/Raves? 
My 3 year old argues with EVERYTHING I say and it drives me crazy!!! Does this ever stop!? He used to listen so well but now he’s the worst! 

Concerns/Questions? 

GTKY: Who is going to watch your kids during labor and delivery? My sister or mom hopefully. 

runsoncoffee

@jenniferjoy37 you should definitely cater it! That's what we did for our first and it was so worth it to not have to worry about making food! That's an adorable theme!

Panaceia

@bartonolivia My DD was like that from about 3.5 until around 4. Then she grew out of it. Thankfully!

bartonolivia

@Panaceia he is 3.5 and it just recently started. I really hope he grows out of it soon lol 

Panaceia

@bartonolivia That is how I felt during that phase too. I had to keep reminding myself that it was developmental and that it would pass. But it was HARD. 

annewheeler2

@bartonolivia up until 4 was pretty rough with arguing. I thought I would lose my mind when she was 3

bartonolivia

Everyone says 2 is the worst. But really it’s been a tie between 14months- 22 months and 3 years. 
Lucklily my oldest will be 4 by then. Haha 

acw452

EDD July 29th

How many kids do you have? 1 DS age 18 mos

how are your other kids doing? He’s doing well. He just learned how to say mine this week though and everything had been mine or no lately.
Concerns/questions:
when I think about it, I worry about him adjusting to having a sibling. I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’m an only child so not really used to the sibling dynamics.

GTKY: probably my mom will watch him.