STM+ Check In w/o 8/25

kvh22

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 

How are your other kids doing this week? 

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions?

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)?

cagncoo12

How many kids do you already have? Ages? One- DD will be 2 next month

How are your other kids doing this week? Great, she has a recent obsession with applesauce and throws fits when i don't let her eat more than one applesauce pack at a time. 

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions? DD is going to the next "classroom" in preschool the week after next, which means daycare will now be providing lunch! Pretty excited about that. 

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)? 35.5 weeks. I was induced due to Pre-Ecclampsia 

kvh22

@cagncoo12 oh man, in non-pandemic times, making the kids' meals for daycare was my least favorite thing! It doesn't seem like it should be that big of a deal but it was such a daunting task every day.

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 2 daughters, 3yo &15 months

How are your other kids doing this week? They're good. DD2 got her 15 month shots yesterday and gave a little whimper but no tears. She's super tough (having a bigger sibling might just do that?) but will randomly cry for some shots and not for others.

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions? I'm tired. morning sickness with 2 kids, especially when only one is in PT daycare, is hard. At least DH is home but I used to be able to sneak in a nap when I needed to while the girls were at daycare if things got slow and I was working from home. Just 30 minutes at lunch was life-changing. That's a lot less likely, now, especially b/c DD1 needs to be picked up by 12:30.

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)? DD1 I was 39+6, DD2 I was 40+5. I went from 0cm to labor the next day with DD1 and walked around at 2cm dilated for 3 weeks with DD2 lol.

kelseyyh

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 
DS is 20 months old.

How are your other kids doing this week? 
He’s doing well! Yesterday, I caught him dancing on the kitchen table 🤪. He’s my whole world and I love his joy. (I did take him down LOL). 

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions?
Rave - DS counted to 12 this past week! He’s always been fascinated by numbers and letters - this was pretty cool! He also wants to show 1-5 on his fingers, but he doesn’t have the coordination to hold certain ones up. He was pulling on his fingers with his other hand at one point - so cute. 

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)?

41 weeks, 2 days. I was induced - it was a bit of a process, I was given a foley balloon at 41 weeks & the next evening they broke my water and started me on pitocin. He came in the wee hours the next day.

Based on this & my thinking I may be due a bit later than my current EDD of April 16... I could be having a May baby in the end 😂. 

goldpolkadot

How many kids do you already have? Ages?
3 kiddos: DD1 4.5, DS 3, DD2 1 

How are your other kids doing this week? 
So far so good honestly!

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions?
I finally, FINALLY, got the courage to call and make my first appt! Confirmation sono scheduled for 9/11 🙌🏻

Has anyone done the genetic bloodwork & remember how many weeks you have to be? My poor memory is saying 9-10ish weeks. I know we’ve always found out gender before 12 weeks. I’d like to attempt to have this first appointment line up with that blood draw so I don’t need to go in twice lol - 3 kids at home = complicated to sneak out for appointments!! Plus you know, covid and all. 

GTKY:
#1 40+4
#2 40+5
#3 40+3
Clearly this time I’m expecting about the same 🤣 

cagncoo12

@goldpolkadot I did mine at 10 weeks last time

kelseyyh

@goldpolkadot I love the consistency with when your kiddos arrived aha!! I’m hoping for inconsistency 🤪 - I’d like to be done at 40 weeks lol. 

kadeephd

@kelseyyh toddler dancing is just the best!

pelorunningmama

@goldpolkadot I was wondering the same! Also a mom of three and I can’t remember anything!

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 
3 kids. Girl: 6, boy: 4, girl 20 months 

How are your other kids doing this week? They are doing well, just so much noise and energy! Is it awful I wish my 20 month old would watch tv? She has no interest in screens and sometimes we just need an easy break!

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions?

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)? 39+5, 39, then induced at 40 weeks with my 3rd. My water broke with my first two. 

bblair24

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 
2 girls, 6 & 3.5!

How are your other kids doing this week? 

They’re good. The fighting has been minimal so far this week which is always exciting! They are absolutely obsessed with each other which I love. It leads to them fighting like crazy but since they’re so close they just can’t stay apart. It’s beautiful and weird haha!

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions?
I’m annoyed because their new bunk beds were supposed to arrive today. It was arriving in 4 boxes (yikes right?) and only one box came today. The tracking website shows that all 4 boxes went on the truck at the same time and only one was dropped off. Tracking now has them arriving tomorrow. We’ve had some issues with FedEx this year! So annoying. 

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)?
DD1 was born exactly on her due date, which totally matches her personality haha! DD2 was due Christmas Eve and thankfully came 2 weeks early. I kept acting all brave and “I don’t care if I’m in the hospital on Christmas Day!” but honestly I was dreading it. So thanks second child! ☺️

kelseyyh

@bblair24 My son (41+2) came on December 23 (induced like I said before). I think if he had his way he would have come on Christmas Day lol! We went home on Christmas Eve! 

We went back for a few days after Boxing Day due to weight loss. Honestly it was so chaotic lol. We took our one day old to all the Christmas Eve & Day / Boxing Day stuff. We were crazy lol. Glad you skipped that. 

thedomesticgeek

How many kids do you already have? Ages? A
8 year old daughter.

How are your other kids doing this week? 
Good! She's been super helpful, today she asked how I was feeling and offered me a Reese's, which was then followed by her request for a Reese's too. 😂

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions? 
I wish I had more energy to focus on homeschooling her, I've been phoning it in. 

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)?
I was 39 weeks and 1 day. 

bblair24

@kelseyyh he just REALLY loves Christmas! 😂 That is crazy! I’m impressed that you still did all the celebrations! That Christmas was kind of a bummer for us. We ended up just staying put at home instead of traveling to the family meal. DH was super sick with a bad cold. It was not fun. We gave DD1 her gifts and he went back to bed and that was it. Christmases since then have been much more enjoyable, haha! 

kelseyyh

@bblair24 I totally wish we didn’t lol! It was great for everyone to meet DS, but I was a mess. My niece cried because I wouldn’t let her sit on my lap (she was about 20 months old poor girl...but I was SORE lol). Also my in-laws kept taking DS and walking him if he fussed which has tortured my heart since that day. It’s fine for a 3 month old, but a 2 day old - just give back to Mama (in my mind anyway lol). 

juliebird6

How many kids do you already have? Ages?
2. DD is 3.5, DS is 2. 

How are your other kids doing this week? 
Not bad. Had a good vacation but I’m definitely ready to get them back into a routine.

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions?
I am having a hard time accepting/connecting with this pregnancy so far. It was not at all planned. Not unwanted, just happened way sooner than I was “planning.” Dear diary.

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)?
DD - 41+5 
DS - 41+1

With an EDD of April 20, I am very much planning for this baby to show the first week of May. If it comes in April I would be absolutely shocked.

kelseyyh

@juliebird6 We can likely celebrate May babies together!

I hope you don’t mind my asking, but were you induced with either of yours? I’m just curious as a fellow 41+ weeker ❤️. 

I had the option to wait another day or two for my induction with DS, but that would have fallen on Christmas & I would have had a different OB. Depending on how this pregnancy goes, I’d be tempted to hold out for baby.  

(I think they cap it at 42 weeks here & daily monitoring starts around 41+3... but not positive. Back in ‘91, my Mom had my sister at 43 weeks lol. How times have changed.) 

rexnie

How many kids do you already have? Ages?
 My son turns 2 Monday!  

How are your other kids doing this week? Not too bad. He’s battling pink eye and testing every boundary... but he’s two now.  

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions? None today. 

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)?

39w0d. My water broke at 38w6d but contractions fizzled out so I ended up with pit, super long pushing phase, then a cesarean. 

bblair24

@kelseyyh oh man, we had a traumatic first day out of the hospital with DD1 too. It still makes me cringe to think about it! MIL and her mom came to visit us not long after we got home from the hospital. DH had a funeral to go to (he’s an associate pastor) and he was only gone for 30-40 minutes tops but he came home to me in tears on the couch haha! MIL had decided that our dog was going to hurt the baby. She talked to us about this several times before DD1 came along but she’s such a worry-wart. We told her he’d been crawled on and yanked by other kids in the family/church and just laid there and loved it. She didn’t believe us though, so when they got to the house she and her mom locked themselves in the nursery with the baby. I‘m still not sure why they locked the door - our dog can push down door handles but definitely can’t turn a door knob! It was so bad. So many things happened in that short time. My boobs were engorged and my stitches hurt and I was just a mess. DH came home, saw me on the couch sans baby and without a word went and got her and brought her to me. That night MIL dug up a years old news article about a golden retriever (which is what we have) attacking a baby and sent it to DH. That’s the maddest I’ve ever seen him. He couldn’t even answer. I messaged her and said that was disgusting and not very thoughtful to send to brand new parents. She came back a few days later and he didn’t speak to her. She asked me if he was mad at her. No no no, you’re our favorite person right now! 🙄

Sorry for the novel. That was 6 years ago but I apparently still have feelings about it. 😂

kelseyyh

@bblair24 😭. That’s so traumatic. I’m so glad your husband immediately brought baby back to you. Even if someone went slightly out of my sight with DS, I was a wreck. So sad that hubby had to leave you on the first day home. No worries about the length aha - I’m longwinded. 

juliebird6

@kelseyyh yes, I was induced with both kids. Honestly, if I hadn’t had interventions, I’d probably still be pregnant! With my daughter, I opted to wait to see if it would happen naturally (I had a doula and wanted to go med free and do that whole thing). I finally started having contractions at like 41+3, but still needed pitocin and narrowly avoided a CS. 

With my son, I went in to it knowing that I didn’t want to go to 41+5 again so I scheduled an induction as soon as I could at like 39 and some change. It took forever because I kept getting bumped because my situation wasn’t emergent. No doula for my son because I was dumb and thought I could handle it on my own - of course, ended up failing to progress despite pitocin and had a CS. 

I can’t decide if I want to go for a scheduled C this time to have the baby in a reasonable time frame and avoid the trauma of an emergency CS or if I want to do the whole thing again for a 3rd time. When you were induced, did you end up with a CS? 

pelorunningmama

@juliebird6 just want to let you know that I can sympathize. This is our 4th and was completely unplanned. I spent the first few days terrified and crying because our home is such a circus. I can't say I feel all that connected yet because other than being exhausted, I don't feel pregnant. I'm hoping first ultrasound changes all that. 

juliebird6

@pelorunningmama yes, same!! When is your first US? Mine isn’t until 10/2.

riff323

@bblair24 omg... your MIL sounds like a peach.

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 
DD, age 4

How are your other kids doing this week? 
Good! I'm so jealous of kids who get to go to preschool. She went last year, but this year they're starting remote and will switch to hybrid "when it is safe." They waived tuition for the year which is the only reason I haven't withdrawn her!

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions?
For you + moms, what has been your experience with subsequent labors and deliveries? Is it true what they say, that it takes half the time?
Also, when do you plan to tell your kids? I want to tell DD so bad but she's 4 and I'm afraid she will go around telling everyone before I'm ready!

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)?
I was 39+4, fully expecting to go well past my due date!

mamabee1113

How many kids do you already have? Ages? 
One- DS will be 2 in November 

How are your other kids doing this week? 
Boy is he testing his limits and my patience.. lots of whining and fits.

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions?
not right now.

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)?
39wk. I was induced because he was measuring huge. He was a big boy, but his head was the real problem.

kelseyyh

@juliebird6 Oh boy your birth stories are definitely a bit harrowing. I agree that I would also still be pregnant 😂. 

I had relatively best-case-scenario labour & delivery. Minus the whole actually going into labour part 😉. I am very grateful. I did deliver vaginally. At 41 weeks they gave me the foley balloon. It dilated me to a 4 & I went in the next evening. They broke my water, and then started me on pitocin. After a few hours I had an epidural. It was about 9 1/2 hours of labour with about 2 hours of that being pushing. I did have a 2nd degree tear.

I don’t know how I’d feel in your shoes. A planned CS to me seems way more reassuring than feeling like it could be a sudden one. My aunt also was induced & ended up needing a C section and I know that was very scary for her. 

kvh22

@riff323 so with my first, I had 23.5 hours of labor and 1.5 hours of pushing. With my second, I had weird prodromal labor (didn't really progress quickly and wasn't consistent with contractions but I was 40+4 and progressed somewhat). I ended up with "augmented" labor so idk if that's helpful. I was at 5cm and got pitocin at a 2 out of 10 for 20 minutes, then they turned it off b/c my contractions became so strong. Long story long, I went from 5 to baby in 3 hours and she essentially fell out. I barely had to push for 3 contractions and we actually had to wait for the doctor to wash her hands and stop pushing during the second contraction b/c it was so fast. I'm kind of bummed I don't know how many hours of labor it really would have been as I've heard prodromal labor usually progresses into real labor within about 24 hours but I was GBS+ so at a certain point, felt like I needed to go to the hospital to get the antibiotics in case I all of a sudden started really progressing.
I probably won't tell the 3yo we're pregnant until I'm 20weeks (maybe a little earlier). I was able to hide my pregnancy when I wanted until about that far along with baggy sweaters last time. My kids frequently make an appearance on my work calls so if I don't want work people to know, I can't tell her, otherwise, I expect she'll just randomly be like "mommy, there's a baby in your belly?" I could potentially see telling her after the 16 week appointment.

juliebird6

@riff323 that was not the case for me at all, but I’m not here to scare anyone with my birth stories! Also, I’m planning to wait to tell my kids for as long as possible. Definitely after first tri and I plan to push into second if I can hide it...probably won’t be able to hide it that long from my daughter. She’s pretty smart and asks a lot of questions lol.

@kelseyyh was the foley painful? I’ve heard such mixed messages from my other BMBs!

pelorunningmama

@juliebird6 my first ultrasound is Sept 16.

kelseyyh

@juliebird6 Nope!! I actually had a labour & delivery nurse friend panic when she heard I was getting it. Definitely mixed reviews, everyone’s bodies are soo different. It was totally chill! I hated the cervical checks, but that was a breeze for me. 

runsoncoffee

How many kids do you already have? Ages? Three boys... 4, 2.5, and 1

How are your other kids doing this week? Today was a bit of a cluster (runny noses, teething, tired, tantrums) but otherwise ok! We spend most of our days outside. I'm dreading winter...

Rants/Raves? Concerns/Questions? Looking forward to my dating ultrasound in two weeks!

GTKY: About how far along (how many weeks) were you when you had your previous baby(ies)? All 3 were induced at 37 weeks due to cholestasis of pregnancy. DS2 though we believe his due date was wrong and he was 36 weeks. He spent two weeks in the NICU... this is why I ask for a dating ultrasound now to make sure the due date is right!

@riff323 even though mine were all induced, they were definitely quicker each time. My first took almost 48 hours where my second was almost exactly 24 hours and my third was 21 hours. I think they often do go quicker, but of course not for everyone.

riff323

@kvh22 @juliebird6 @runsoncoffee thank you for sharing your experiences! With DD, I woke up at midnight in pain and she was born at 5am, so I'm a little worried about it being quicker this time... obviously I must have been in labor before midnight, but I didn't have contractions that were noticeable. It just went from 0 to 100 like nothing. No complaints from me: it was intense, but it was short! I also pushed for 1.5 hours, and the nurses made that sound like it was really long but it didn't feel bad to me. Even though I was fully dilated when I got to the hospital, she was still sitting at 0 station and took her sweet time coming down. 

kvh22

@riff323 oh the nurse told me FTMs usually push for 2-4 hours. I will say they thought the doctor wasn't going to make it in time and that she was going to come in 45 mins and then I got tired and only every other contraction was strong so I was only pushing every other so it took longer.