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April 2021 Moms
bblair24
member
All due date check-in week of 12/28
bblair24
member
Estimated Due Date/Weeks + Days:
FTM/STM/STM+:
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out:
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of:
Upcoming appointments:
How are you feeling?:
Rants/Raves:
Questions:
GTKY: How was your Christmas?
Re: All due date check-in week of 12/28
FTM/STM/STM+: Third!
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: blue!
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: a grapefruit
Upcoming appointments: Sometime mid-January for a check up and glucose test
How are you feeling?: Overall, not too bad. Still having nerve pain in my legs and back, and I'm just tired! I want that magical second tri energy all the pregnancy articles claim is a real thing. I'll believe it when I see it.
Also this kid enjoys practicing karate on my bladder. I'm certain that I will pee my pants from it one day. At least I'm almost always home, so it'll be less embarrassing here anyways.
Rants/Raves: We have to find a spot for all the new Christmas toys and gadgets and our house looks like Christmas exploded in it. I was so overwhelmed by it yesterday that it put me in a bad mood. BUT I made a big to-do list on my phone, which helps me feel somewhat better, and I'll be happy to slowly chip away at it.
Questions: Has anyone else dealt with dizzy spells? They went away for a few weeks and then came back over the past week or so. Sometimes it's when I stand up from sitting, which happens sometimes even when I'm not pregnant of course. But then sometimes it happens when I haven't gone from sitting to standing.
GTKY: How was your Christmas? Ours was good! I missed having everyone together like usual. We haven't seen my brother and SIL and nieces since Halloween, and my aunts and uncles and cousins since...July? But besides missing everyone, I actually kind of enjoyed having smaller, calmer gatherings. Our nieces are hilarious but tend to add a lot of excitement to things at my parents' house, and our girls were so chill and happy to play with their toys - it was a pleasant surprise. It was so much easier to visit with my parents without the 11ish other people around that are usually there, haha! Then we did my in-laws on Saturday, which was also nice. MIL claimed she didn't go as overboard on presents as usual, but our living room/the girls' bedroom floor says otherwise.
FTM/STM/STM+: 4TM
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: Green
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: a sub
Upcoming appointments: regular checkup and glucose screen on 1/12
How are you feeling?: Tired!
Rants/Raves: Rave: there’s practically no one in the office this week still, so no one is bothering me while I work! 😊
Questions: None
GTKY: How was your Christmas? It was fine, pretty calm which was nice. We had to do some driving in the snow, which wasn’t great, but we made it!
FTM/STM/STM+: STM
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: pink
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: yule log (the baked kind), which I thought was apropos for Christmas
Upcoming appointments: 1/5
How are you feeling?: Overall pretty good. I'm definitely starting to feel more pregnant, bump-wise. I know it'll just get more uncomfortable from here on out so I'm just trying to enjoy not being as big as a house yet.
Rants/Raves: I've taken the last week off of work entirely, and don't plan to do anything until 1/5. My husband is also off. It's been so nice to just relax. I have to admit I'm getting a bit bored, but that's a good thing since hopefully it means I'll be refreshed/ready to get back to work come 1/4.
Questions: Any tips for preparing a 2yo for a sibling? He's recently 2 so doesn't totally get what is happening, but he is able to say that he's getting a baby sister now and maybe kinda understands what that means. He's been doing so well with sleeping and behavior lately and I'm afraid it'll all go out the window when the new baby arrives.
GTKY: How was your Christmas? It was quite nice. We quarantined and tested, then came to stay with my parents who have basically been on lockdown since covid started (both high risk, both 70+). We've been here a week and we just do nothing all day every day. I mean, we cook and eat, and occassionally go outside, and take care of my kid, but it's been very laid back. We did a few zooms with other family members and will be heading to my ILs tomorrow, so my son will get to see all his grandparents. Then we'll head home this weekend and be back to normal next week.
@aisukurimsarang Sorry about NMIL. She seems like a real piece of work.
So she's stuck spinning her wheels, and resorts to manipulation and guilt tripping.
And to answer your question, DD1 was about 2.5 when DD2 was born, so we were very much in the same boat. There wasn’t a ton we could do to prepare her for it - like you said, they just totally can’t grasp what’s about to happen. We read some books about babies and talked about what we’d do for the baby (feed her, help her sleep, hold her a lot, help her when she cries, etc) but other than that it was a learning experience for her once baby sister was born. She adjusted quickly. I think we also got her a baby doll with the idea that she could take care of her baby like we took care of ours!
clue on the due date anymore though...
FTM/STM/STM+: third!
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: pink
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: well the bump says a cantaloupe but I’m waiting now for yet another growth scan.
Upcoming appointments: any minute now...lol!
How are you feeling?: pregnant. I feel pregnant in a way I haven’t this time around. In the going from sitting to standing, bending over to pick up the animal cracker on the floor seems daunting kind of way.
Rants/Raves: eh, it’s been a lot the last few weeks. I might just later tonight make a vent post...
Questions: anyone else out there having delightful pregnancy gas, or just me? Ladies, it’s rank.
GTKY: How was your Christmas? Despite it being the year 2020, it was overall okay.
FTM/STM/STM+: 3rd time mom
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: blue
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: cantaloupe
Upcoming appointments: 24 week appointment
How are you feeling?: Big but not too bad. Having trouble falling asleep lately though.
Rants/Raves: I don't know if anyone else does this but sometimes I open the "pregnancy week by week" page on the bump and I am overjoyed to discover that week 24 is the beginning of the last column of 2nd trimester. LOL is this a weird thing to do?
Questions: nothing
GTKY: How was your Christmas? It was good but glad it's over. I took down all of our decorations yesterday and I'm glad to have the house back to normal. Like everyone else, I'm struggling with where to put all the new toys, but thankfully DD is just starting to play independently in her room so the barbies and LOL surprise crap is all going in there!
@kadeephd When DS was born, DD was 19 months. It was really hard to prepare her because she was just too young. We did buy her some babies for her to "take care of," read some new baby books and all that, but that was really all we could do. This time, DS will be just over 2.5 and DD will be 4, so we have been doing lots of talking about baby brother. It helps that DD is old enough to understand so she talks about it a lot and is constantly putting stuffed animals in her shirt. DS copies everything she does, so that's been helpful. I'm not planning to do much else, other than talk to him about how he can help with baby brother and all that.
FTM/STM/STM+: FTM
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: Found out
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: A grapefruit, but also a waffle iron? This seems incongruous...
Upcoming appointments: 1/27 - glucose test ewwwww
How are you feeling?: Generally fine other than some back pain and trouble sleeping even with my trusty Unisom. Feeling stressed after the Holidays with work so that might be why.
Rants/Raves: Rave: got some great (and very adult) christmas presents, including an electric toothbrush and a new vacuum! You know you're 30 when...
Rant: I just don't really want to work right now. I'm a defense attorney and everything around the holidays gets pretty sad with people wanting to avoid jail for the holiday and to spend time with people they may not be allowed contact with. It's a frustrating time and emotions are high, so it can be really taxing. I'm just tired and wish I had taken off some time, but have to save everything for maternity leave
Questions: Does anyone have any baby journals they suggest? I started writing to Baby in a blank journal which has been nice, but it might be nice to have a structured one once baby is born. Would love some recommendations!
GTKY: How was your Christmas? Quiet but nice. Both my husband and I come from big italian families, but we just spent the holiday with my parents. It was nice being the 4 of us, but I did miss the hustle and bustle of the giant gathering. We got some great gifts though and my dog was very spoiled, so those are positives!
FTM/STM/STM+: 4tm
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: blue
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: guinea pig
Upcoming appointments: next week regular check up
How are you feeling?: so much better... my sciatica seems to have gone away so I can walk again!!
Rants/Raves: my kids have been horrible the last two days... but my hubby is the mvp letting me have almost an hour of alone time this evening
Questions:
GTKY: How was your Christmas? So nice!! The kids had so much fun and it was relatively relaxing for me and hubby! I'm sad it's over.
FTM/STM/STM+: FTM
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: pink
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: a grapefruit
Upcoming appointments: repeat anatomy scan on Monday, glucose tolerance test in 2 weeks, OB Jan 20
How are you feeling?: overall pretty good. My energy is pretty good so I've been spinning and doing the prenatal core classes on peloton digital. Still have some random bouts of nausea/dry heaving, which is annoying. Reflux is terrible, but I've learned how to manage it as best as possible.
Rants/Raves: Only raves for me this week; I'm going to be working from home for the next 2 service rotations, which should be really nice! AND baby girl started moving around a lot and I can consistently feel her now, which is such a relief!
Questions: NATM
GTKY: How was your Christmas? It was really nice; it was just the two of us, and I made home made cinnamon rolls and a nice lunch. It was unseasonably warm so we went for a walk and watched some Christmas movies.
@aisukurimsarang I'm sorry your NMIL sounds awful! She sounds like she might have narcissistic personality disorder (my biological mother had it, and it was really tough growing up with someone like that). It sounds like you are navigating the situation as best as you can, but I'm sorry that you have to go through that and feel like YH will never take your side. *hugs*
I will say I don't think she's NPD. I think she's just spent her life getting her way and being the center of attention, before moving into the Latina Family Matriarch role, which meant she got her way and was the center of attn. The spotlight is fading for her, as it does for all mothers. Me? I am happy to watch my daughter move along and live her own life, because I have MY own interests and hobbies... NMIL? No life beyond her kids and husband. When he had a massive stroke, she began replacing him with my SO. When he passed away last year, she really suddenly needed SO for everything.
FTM/STM/STM+: STM+
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: green
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: ? Think uterus is the size of a soccer ball
Upcoming appointments: Jan 13
How are you feeling?: Overall good! Water and exercise seem to be helping (cramps and constipation). But I guess I'll admit I'm moody.
Rants/Raves: Good appointment yesterday! 2nd "anatomy scan" that went well so released by high risk Dr.
Questions:
GTKY: How was your Christmas? Well the kids had a blast. I've told soon to be ex MIL a million times that the kids have too many clothes. Guess what was in the giant box she spent $80 to ship? 90% clothes. Kids weren't thrilled about that either. Soon to be ex SIL was equally annoying. But the silver lining was boxing all their stuff and sending it home with soon to be ex husband. He can have the clutter.
FTM/STM/STM+: 4tm
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: blue
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: I never remember. Almost a foot long though!
Upcoming appointments: tomorrow for 24 week appt. That weigh in is going to be scary post Christmas.
How are you feeling?: Pretty good still. Energy is lower but I can’t complain!
Rants/Raves: we are well in two week 2 of Christmas break for my littles and it has been really nice. For the most part, they aren’t fighting much. We have had to a of pajama days and no real plans.
Questions:
GTKY: How was your Christmas? It was good! We shuffled both sets of grandparents and I hope everyone enjoyed it. DH’s parents are extremely emotional and sensitive and love to constantly express themselves and their contentment, joy, etc. They are also big time huggers. Meanwhile, I’m not that way at all. It can be a lot for me. I had a bit of an emotional breakdown the first night they were here because it just overwhelms me and truthfully makes me so uncomfortable. I mean not everything we do is wonderful and magical, right?! I don’t need to hear that constantly. DH made me feel a lot better and made sure I knew I wasn’t awful for not constantly praising people or hugging. I felt much better after I got my feelings out to him.
@aisukurimsarang I am with you on the manipulative MIL. DH and I have been together for 15 years and it took a longggg time for him to see what she was doing. I had to subtly point it out and focus on the things she specifically did to undermine me instead of point things out about broader issues at first (I did both for a while but learned). He can still get a bit defensive but understands more that the dynamic she's trying to create is not a healthy or normal one. And now I can say things like "it's not our responsibility to cater to her every whim for her mental health if she wont get the help that she needs" and get agreement. Good luck but also these things take time and keep trying to make your feelings known to your SO. I remember it being particularly bad 3 years ago at Christmas but that was also when I was able to give DH the clearest examples of how she was treating us poorly, a lot specifically targeted at me. I literally left her house with my daughter, I was so fed up, and my husband stayed b/c she was sad and he had a long talking to about how it's not my fault she's sad, it's hers for treating me so horribly and here's everything she did when you were out of the room and it was like a switch clicked and he was way more open to seeing it. Almost like she needed to get completely off her rocker to make him see it but since then he told me to tell him everything she says to me that makes me uncomfortable b/c he wants to know and work in ways to defend me when he can. He can still be a sucker sometimes but no longer at the expense of me or our family. I swear that Christmas MIL won the battle but lost the war. And sorry this got so long. Lots of MIL drama this week so I'm feeling this right now.
@bbrahmbhatt yay for working from home! 🙌
Estimated Due Date/Weeks + Days: 4/21 (or 4/19) so 24 weeks??? I should know this 🤣
FTM/STM/STM+: TTM
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: green
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: big enough to get in some good punches 🤷
Upcoming appointments: 1/5
How are you feeling?: Feeling good!
Rants/Raves: I could go on and on over various MIL drama but overall, we aren't seeing them for their safety and following their rules, she's just having a hard time with it in practice. But my mom is younger and watching our girls every once in a while so her and my sister (also helps watch the girls and lives with my mom) are in our bubble since theyre not in daycare so we got to spend Christmas with them without worrying about hurting feelings. It was the 6 of us and lovely.
Questions: when is the glucose tolerance test again? 28 weeks?
GTKY: How was your Christmas? So nice, quiet, and relaxed. DD1 insisted on playing with every toy as she opened it, sometimes for 30 mins so it took about 4 hours to unwrap their gifts. We literally had to pause for DD2's nap time 🤣 at least she appreciated everything but it was hilarious and exhausting at the same time.
I know I keep apologizing for not being consistently active but hopefully now that we're settled and through the holidays I can keep up better. I'm excited to move to FB when we get to that point if you all think I've been active enough as that's so much easier to keep up with in the current working from home with kids and no alone time situation.
FTM/STM/STM+: STM
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: pink!
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: um.. I think lettuce?
Upcoming appointments: jan 6! Yay - I love my Ob
How are you feeling?: good! Biiiiiig. I keep forgetting to do kegels and pelvic floor stuff- I should really make time for it..
Rants/Raves: rant over how much I pee at night! I guess I did this with DS too but don’t remember. This up every 2 hours is so annoying. Rave over installing new closet systems and DH painting our whole upstairs - def in nesting mode
Questions: they come at night and then I forget them in the morning
GTKY: How was your Christmas? So nice! Just the three of us - we FaceTimed with family and I soaked up the extra family time before the new baby comes. I was worried about it, to be honest, because it was raining so wasn’t sure how I was going to entertain my son but it made for a nice and cozy day
@eahayes what closet system did you get? We're doing our kitchen first but I want to redo all of the closets eventually. That plus painting is definitely some good nesting. DH hated painting for us but it was so nice to have it done.
@kvh22 we got the elfa systems from the container store, seriously game changers!
Also, I'm seriously considering the elfa system when we get to the closet. It's functional for now (lots of space just the crappy wire stuff running the length of birth sides) but the sweater storage shelves are particle board which is better than wire at least so that's great. Our hangers didn't fit in our shipping container so we I bought 200 new ones and have 200 more on the way b/c we used them all 🤦 but at least we have plenty of space in there. We're doing kitchen, fireplace, entry, and master bath first. And will need to replace the roof and some HVAC soon-ish.
24 week appointment in an hour! Tuesday is my mom's day off (she works retail) so I'm dropping the girls there so DH can get some uninterrupted work done and I'll probably hang there and work after my appointment to take advantage of the free childcare. I almost literally drive by her house to get to my appointment anyways (and the hospital). This is the appointment where we heard DD1's heart arrhythmia - all was fine but it makes me a bit nervous. And it's the reason I've been on decaf for 4 years 🤣 (chance it could happen again and BFing overlapped my pregnancies).
@anarmillay92918 I purchased a pregnancy journal from "Write to Me" that I write in every week of pregnancy since week 6 and I love it! I'll be using a journal from The Everyday Mother once baby arrives.
FTM/STM/STM+: FTM
Team Green/Pink/Blue/Finding Out: Team Green
Interesting Baby Fact/Baby is the size of: Baby is the size of a pitcher of lemonade, apparently - sounds big!
Upcoming appointments: 1 hour glucose test later this week (apparently all of my ob's patients have to do the 1 hour test, is that the norm for all of you as well?). Regular ob appointment 1/12. Then my appointments move to every other week after that appointment! So another on 1/26.
How are you feeling?: I'm still feeling good overall, but definitely feeling more pregnant these days. For example, yesterday we got rid of our Christmas tree and between the removing of ornaments, packing up the lights/ornaments, and cleaning up all of the pine needles afterwards, I felt like I ran a marathon!! And DH did all the heavy lifting! Some symptoms I'm experiencing lately are - needing to pee incessantly, still with the acid reflux all the time, back pain, restless leg syndrome at night, waking up in the morning with killer leg cramps, swollen feet, and just generally getting exhausted pretty easily (i.e., from walking from one end of the grocery store to the other haha). Honestly though, even though that sounds like a lot of negative things, overall I really do feel fine, I just feel huge and pregnant. I've only gained about 13 pounds so far which I think is pretty good for week 27, but if you ask my feet or back, I feel HUGE haha. I've been taking lots of epsom salt baths in our jetted tub, which has helped a lot. I also splurged on the "down girl" lotion from Hatch for my swollen feet and I like it.
Rants/Raves: Rave - My birthday was on 12/28 and for the past 4 years, DH and I have traveled somewhere internationally for my birthday and NYE. We lived in NYC and always thought it was fun to get out of the city and go somewhere else for NYE. This year, since we couldn't go anywhere because of Covid, DH planned the most thoughtful birthday for me. He sent me off for a prenatal massage, got me the most beautiful flowers, and then in the evening, I was told to stay in our bedroom while he got everything ready. There was a knock on the door and my "waiter" brought me a virgin lychee martini (I LOVE lychee martinis) and invited me down to dinner. He gave a speech about how normally we'd be on a fabulous trip somewhere but this year, he was bringing the travel to me. He prepared a 4 course meal, each being a special dish from a country we traveled to on our past international trips (a charcuterie board for Italy, spring rolls for Vietnam, tomato soup for Iceland, and coquilles st jacques (scallops) for Paris - it was seriously so sweet!!
Rant - We FINALLY were able to get new health insurance that's effective 1/1/21 but omg, it was the most frustrating process ever! I hate everything about health insurance companies!!!
Questions: I just made a new thread about this, but curious if anyone has any personal experience with doulas?
GTKY: How was your Christmas? Christmas was really exhausting - it was great, but Covid made things really hard. I felt a lot of stress and anxiety about seeing family - it was difficult to say no to seeing any family (especially each of our parents), but then also seeing anyone gives me so much anxiety. The holidays were nice, but I'm glad it's over and plan on basically just locking down just me and DH from now until April. I know our families think we're being overdramatic, but I really don't want to risk getting Covid.
@theblondebump I have heard that you can sometimes ask to just act like you have GD and monitor your blood sugar for 1-2 weeks and that can replace the Glucose Tolerance Test/Challenge (I hate calling it a challenge but that seems to be semi-standard). My old OB did the 2 hour b/c the 1hr had a lot of false positives so the 2 hour was conclusive. This time I'm doing the 1hr and hopeful that I won't have to do the 3hr (my 1hr numbers had always been fine). They gave me the drink to take home and I don't have to fast at all except once I take the drink, nothing else. I'm excited it'll be faster/easier this time to just drink it and go in for the blood draw.