Weekly Check-In 10/5

szwill86

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days):

FTM/STM/STM+:

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of:

Upcoming appointments:

How are you feeling?:

Rants/Raves:

Questions:

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage?

moguippy

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 22+2

FTM/STM/STM+: STM

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: coconut or guinea pig

Upcoming appointments: next Monday for U/S with MFM

How are you feeling?: still so tired. 

Rants/Raves: 

Questions:

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage?  In general I’d rather work for less money with a boss I like than more money for some one I hate, but I don’t think I could do minimum wage since I am the primary earner in our house 😕

birdiejo

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 21 weeks

FTM/STM/STM+: STM+

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: I don’t know but I usually say a pastry and my
app won’t let me log in. I made chocolate croissants this weekend it was a multiple day event and they came out SO GOOD. 

Upcoming appointments: end of the month 

How are you feeling?: good 

Rants/Raves:

Questions:

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage? Make good money but a boss I hate.  Work sucks anyway but money makes life so much easier. 

hannahbananas11

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 20+4

FTM/STM/STM+: STM

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: banana

Upcoming appointments: end of this month

How are you feeling?: pretty good, just tired.

Rants/Raves: I found out that our town is getting a Starbucks!!!! Currently we just have one inside a grocery store, but this one will be a stand-alone one, and I’m hoping/assuming that means it’ll have a drive-thru! Having a Starbucks drive-thru makes it doable with kids!

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage? More money, because I assume the other benefits will also be better, like vacation and insurance.

tamalahoops

@hannahbananas11 We just got a brand new dunkin at the end of my street and its life changing. After growing up in New England the serious lack of dunkies in the south was killing me. Congrats on your new Starbucks! 

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 22+3 (lol I was completely wrong last week, had to check my app this week)

FTM/STM/STM+: FTM

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: A coconut

Upcoming appointments: October 23 

How are you feeling?: Like trash! But she kicks so much harder now and being able to feel her is such a wonderful feeling. Also I look cute pregnant so thats a plus.

Rants/Raves: We got our stroller and highchair this weekend! For our stroller we got the nuna mixx next and for our highchair we just got a cheap ikea one. 

Questions: What are y'all doing for baby showers? We are not open to having one in person since it will be cold and we would have to be inside. I'm just concerned if we do a zoom shower our fun and rowdy friends will overshadow some of my sweet conservative family members. 

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage? I would rather work for a crappy boss I think. I've worked for people I really hated, but at the end of the day I've gotten pretty good at maintaining good work/life boundaries. And I have v expensive taste that I prefer to fund on my own. 

hannahbananas11

@tamalahoops one of the moms in my first bmb (she’s a third time mom so you know she knows what’s up) swears by the Ikea high chair! Good choice!

kkfishy9

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 21+4

FTM/STM/STM+: FTM

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: My baby is as tall as a starbucks trenta size cup 

Upcoming appointments: Just had one last week, so nothing for a bit! 

How are you feeling?: Emotional! Besides that, a little tired, but otherwise good. 

Rants/Raves: My H left yesterday for a work trip, the first either of us have had since March. We used to both be gone all of the time (the fact that we weren't because of COVID really help with concieving this baby  ), but I CRIED yesterday before he left. Like, hard. I think he was a little shocked (rightfully so) and I think I was just very emotional and feeling overwhelmed about all of the things we need to get organized before baby. Eesh! 

Questions: None

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage? I think work for the boss I hate. I love my job, but part of the reason I love it is because it allows me to go on nice vacations and do things that I really enjoy, but aren't free. It certainly would be harder if I didn't like my boss (I love my bosses), but those other things wouldn't go away. 

@hannahbananas11 yes to sbux! We have one, but I think I need a petition for another one, our drivethrough line gets so long!!

hannahbananas11

@tamalahoops here’s one thought on a possible shower setup: my best friend recently hosted a Zoom birthday party for her son. They created a private Facebook event page, and that’s where they shared the Zoom link, along with instructions for downloading the app for older family members. That’s where they also shared their address for anyone who wanted to send gifts for her son to open at the party (that’s where your host could share registry info). There were about 30 people in attendance, mostly friends but also some family. Many of us didn’t know each other since she and her husband have lived multiple places and have lots of different groups of friends. She started the party by explaining how and why to mute your side of Zoom if you’re not talking. Then she and her husband went down the list of everyone, and had them introduce themselves (they could see a list of all participants since they were the hosts). That was fun because we could meet everyone at the party and hear how they know my friends and where they live and such. Then their son opened the gifts. They didn’t do any games, besides everyone singing happy birthday. It lasted about 45 minutes to an hour. You could easily have some games, though! Just share the game boards to the Facebook event page or mail them with the invites if you go the mailed invite route. I think it could totally work, especially with people remembering to use mute.
Otherwise you could do a friends shower and a separate family shower! I’ve had friends who had two different showers like that (albeit in person).

ETA: just remember that Zoom limits your time to 45 minutes, I think. If you or a close friend/family work at a place that has a paid Zoom membership, you could use that account to host the party and have unlimited time.

birdiejo

I had the IKEA chair and really liked it. I gave it to a friend and she’s having another baby so I think I’m going to get a fancier one this time. But it’s definitely nice with the minimal look and so cheapppp! 

WildMagelet

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 22+2

FTM/STM/STM+: FTM

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: Spaghetti Squash

Upcoming appointments: 10/22 - MFM follow-up

How are you feeling?: Good! Breasts are still store.

Rants/Raves:

Rant - Furniture stores. Deliveries. So inconvenient.

Rant - Husband doesn't see the "urgency" in planning the nursery. Dude...I'm not shopping in person in like December and January - and if the baby furniture takes as long to order and get here as the "adult" furniture we ordered, it might not even be here until after the baby is, lol.

Rant - Pretty sure I'm going to have to install 3 printers when I get to work tomorrow because my "replacement" in the IT position didn't know...how? Oh boy. It's only Monday.

Rave- Kudos if you made it this far through my wall of rants. You guys are the bomb, lol.

Questions: What's your bedroom furniture progression looking like? Bassinet? Mini Crib? Full Size Crib?

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage? I'd have to go for the $ at this point in my life. More money allows our family to live more comfortably and pay for fun hobbies that distract me from crappy work life  

earlgrey_honey

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 19 + 2

FTM/STM/STM+: FTM

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: Magic Eight Ball Sized!

Upcoming appointments: August 14th ish. I may be wrong. Its on the calendar. 

How are you feeling?: Mmmm ok mostly.

Rants/Raves:

-My belly button is turning black. It is no super black and it kind of freaks me out tbh.

-My sex drive is playing hide and go seek which is really annoying considering how rearing to go I was in the first trimester.

- My calves are now too big for my boots. My heart cried.

- Interviewed a doula today. She seemed nice. I might interview a few more.

- Pretty sure my husband and I are flunking out birthing class. We haven't been in a class together since high school.

Questions:
- Does anyone else have a black belly button? 
- What is everyone doing to kill time? 
- Anyone consider  a doula 

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage?

Money can buy a lot of self care. A lot.

hannahbananas11

@WildMagelet with DS we started with the regular crib in our room and then moved it to his room. Worked well. This time we’re doing a mini crib in our room, then moving to a regular crib in her room. I see no point in bassinets (perhaps an UO).

@earlgrey_honey could the black belly button be the start of the linea nigra? I never had one with DS and don’t have one currently, but that would be my guess.

babyturtle22

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 21+3

FTM/STM/STM+: FTM

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: weasel

Upcoming appointments: Oct 22nd check in with midwife

How are you feeling?: pretty good except for developing really bad round ligament pain on my right side. Hurts to get in and out of the car, turn in bed and with too much activity, hoping it doesn't last long.

Rants/Raves: I talked to a midwife today to get the anatomy scan results and there were two small things that showed up that the radiologist recommended follow up with an MFM for a more "detailed" ultrasound since theirs was just a level 1 (I didn't even know there were different levels) and she said they often have to refer people to MFM due to their ultrasound not picking things up as clearly. She said there's a very small chance its anything other than a normal variant but I can't help but worry obviously. I don't think I'm going to go for any more testing or follow up though because I wouldn't do anything about it anyways. All of his growth looks fine and is measuring mid to upper percentiles and after seeing him move around a ton, suck his fingers, yawn, and feel him moving every day, I just want to keep going along trusting that everything will turn out fine. 

Questions: none 

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage? 
I think work for a boss I hate but make good money. Because if you can make good money and save up then you can quit sooner than if you were making minimum wage! 

@Wildmagelet I do not have a nursery set up either and I don't think my fiance feels the urgency like I do either.. I am planning to get a bassinett I think and then get a regular crib to put in the nursery. Also thinking if I end up getting a travel crib for trips- like the Baby Bjorn/Pack N play type thing) then I can use that in our bedroom if he's outgrown the bassinett but not quite ready for his own room. 

szwill86

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 22+2

FTM/STM/STM+: STM

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: Baby is as as tall as a pencil. That’s a pretty tall pencil considering the other comparison is a 10.9 inch long coconut. 

Upcoming appointments: Oct 21 for my 24 wk appt

How are you feeling?: Okay. More random RLP on the right side if I get up from sitting or laugh hard at something. Getting woken up more in the MTN with baby movement which I am totally fine with!

Rants/Raves: rant: My DH brought home a cold to share with everyone. How kind of him. 

Questions:

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage? 

Like the majority of everyone, I’d rather make good money and use said money to help my mental health/family life if my boss really was an a-hole.

mdfarmchick

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days):
23+1

FTM/STM/STM+:
STM+

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of:

Cher’s cell phone in Clueless

Upcoming appointments:
21 October

How are you feeling?:
More headaches. More achy. But overall the second trimester is kind to me. 😂

Rants/Raves:
It is hard to nest ((which I so want to do)) when you aren’t in your house and you are on the other side of the country 🤣 I’ve been baking and cooking quite a bit to make up for it. By the time I get home, I won’t feel like nesting and then I won’t be ready for baby 🤦🏻‍♀️😂

Questions:

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage?
I guess make good money? But really I think the boss would matter less depending on if I loved my job or not. I’ve had good bosses and bad bosses and the money mattered less to me than loving what I was doing and feeling like I was helping people. 

earlgrey_honey

 @hannahbananas11 My doctor says that is what is happening but waking up to a black belly button almost out of nowhere is terrifying.

WildMagelet

As a follow-up to one of my rants, I don't think I have the mental capacity to deal with the BS at work anymore. I'm going to need to have a boundaries discussion with my boss and try to get taken off of the back-up IT assignment. It's not worth the stress to me, and in turn the baby. November 1st is his 1 year anniversary in that spot. I'm thinking it's time I cut everyone off and let them sink or swim. They knew how bad it was when they certified him in his position. They made their bed and they can lay in it. I feel bad for letting my co-workers high and dry, but their comfort isn't worth the stress on me, especially not now. Maybe someone will actually make him learn & do his job.

szwill86

@mdfarmchick

Such a random comparison, but I love it!

babymamadimo

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 23 weeks

FTM/STM/STM+: STM

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: a Barbie doll

Upcoming appointments: oct 28 for scan to get heart image and 26 week check up 

How are you feeling?: overall good, but rlp is bad on my right side and my ob recommends a support belt, trouble sleeping still, and awful congestion. However grateful for all of this because it means I get to feel that ninja baby in my tummy.

Rants/Raves: I finally bought Pepcid and it was the best thing ever for my heartburn!!

Questions:

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage?

make good money with a bad boss—if I made minimum wage then I would just stay home and not pay for daycare. I have to make good money to make it worth it not being with my kiddo everyday!

manditchka24

@earlgrey_honey I have hired a doula! For several reasons I would really like to avoid any unnecessary interventions and there is a lot of evidence showing that they can help do just that. Honestly I am surprised that it is not more common/the standard. I never considered NOT hiring a doula. 

How far along are you? (Weeks + Days): 20+6

FTM/STM/STM+: FTM

Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: Axolotl (a Mexican amphibian in case you were not familiar, like me!)

Upcoming appointments: US at 4pm today to check my cervix. Last Thursday at my anatomy scan we discovered my cervix was shortening and funneling (opening from the inside), so I spent the day in L&D being evaluated and got a pessary, vaginal progesterone and activity restrictions to hopefully keep it shut long enough to get baby here safely. Also waiting on a call to schedule the NICU consult that was ordered for me, since there is a likelihood I will not make it to term.

How are you feeling?: Emotionally up and down this week after last Thursday's unexpected changes. Every day that I don't go into labor I feel a little less anxious. I also saw a new OB in my practice on Monday and she was very re-assuring as was my midwife yesterday. Physically I feel fine-ish. Pretty exhausted, because every night I wake up for at least 2 hours in the middle of the night.

Rants/Raves: Rave- I was not initially impressed with prenatal care at my hospital, so I hired a home birth midwife but continued co-care at the hospital so that I would remain an established patient if complications arose that risked me out of a home birth or I need to transfer during labor. My rave is how fantastic the hospital has been in handling my complications this week. I've been so impressed with the MFM team and the new OB I saw this week......and on top of it everyone (MFM, OB, midwife) agrees that, if I make it to term, it is still safe for me to attempt a home birth! My hospital is just so so for healthy low risk pregnancies, but is exactly where I wanted to be if things got complicated!

GTKY: Would you rather work for a boss you hate but make good money, or work for a boss that you love but make minimum wage? Definitely the good money, for all the reasons everyone mentioned.

mdfarmchick

@WildMagelet we do a mini crib in our room and then transition to the full crib in the nursery when baby is either sleeping through the night or only up once or twice ((lets be honest, waking up once or twice a night because I have not had a magical sleeper yet)). I like the mini crib because it’s useful even to toddler age and both of my kids slept better in the small crib space until they were bigger than the full size crib ((I know because we tried to the full size crib with both before going with the mini crib)). I have used the mini crib when we had family in town and needed the nursery as a guest room. 

@earlgrey_honey I have had a doula the past two births and loved it. My husband actually says it’s the best investment because she tells him how he can better be helping, and offers him a small break as needed. It’s like having his own personal labor coach. My last doula is now a midwife and I would hire her but right now the hospitals are not letting anyone in except for one person and I would always want that person to be MH if possible. 

hannahbananas11

@earlgrey_honey Seconding the doula praise! My doula from DS's birth is 100% how I was able to go unmedicated in spite of complications due to DS's massive size. I'm hoping to hire her as a virtual doula this time, since there are no doulas that I like in my area (we moved across the country since having DS to a rural area and the doulas around here are very anti-science, which is very much NOT my vibe). Plus our hospital is only allowing one birth partner, which will be my husband. So a virtual doula will be ideal for that (though of course I'd love to have her in-person again)!

jumpy57

33+3 TTM 
Feeling good 

Rant: extended family that tested positive for covid is still going family camping so now we aren't going and I'm very grumpy about it

Rave: I fit 3 car seats in the back of my Crosstrek!!! I didn't think it was possible 💛

GTKY: I'm taking the money 🤷🏻‍♀️ 

Let's see if I can remember all the comments I wanted to add 🤣

IT backup: yes, you should drop that. Not your problem if he's terrible and it sounds like he won't learn anything if he knows you will do it for him

Bedroom: we have a hand me down bassinet and then switch to a pack and play before sending baby to nursery with full size crib... I think I want to look into a mini crib though 🤔

Virtual shower could be nice if it's not huge, do intros of people and you could play a couple games then have people quiz you about how you feel. I played a fun game that was children's books by emojis and we had to guess the book title

Yay coffee drive thrus!!!!

@manditchka24 so glad things are stable!!!

US abnormalities: I get not wanting to worry about things, but I guess it would depend on what they are looking for. If it's something that might require special care following delivery it might be helpful to know. Just something to consider

hannahbananas11

@jumpy57 whaaaat?? They’re still going to a social thing even though they tested positive? That’s an asshole move.