I don't if this is the right place to write this this, but whatever y'all do... Don't get a home doppler or pull yours out before like 10 weeks at least. I'm driving myself bananas. I'm 8 weeks 4 days and I CANNOT find the hb on this stupid thing. I can hear the placenta loud and clear, my hb all over the place, but not the baby hb. I feel like I found it around this time with my dd, but nothing. I heart the hb of 169 and saw the baby (it was even moving) on Tuesday. Everything looked great. She checked my numbers and as of Wednesday they were perfect. I've had a missed mc at 15 weeks with our first baby, so I'm terrified. I know this illogical and so silly of me. This is my third pregnancy and I know how this goes. Ladies, don't be like me. 😬
I keep wondering why our board is so slow and then I realize it's mostly slow everywhere else too. We have more comments than January 21 moms, for example?! A lot of people just didn't have babies this year, I'm guessing. Stark when I look at my last BMB and see over 100k replies. Obviously things get more active as we get closer to delivery but it's a pretty huge difference. Also looks like the number of replies just gets lower and lower, wonder if TB is just not that popular anymore? Like my BMB was the most popular one all of 2016 - January! This is kinda what I do for work so I'm spending way too much time thinking about this, lol.
Married DW 08.2013; AI 2x; IUI 6x; IUI #7 05.2015; DD born 2.2016 ; Reciprocal IVF FET #1 on 11.18.2020
I've been wondering the same thing. My Feb 2017 board was also the most popular of our year (not close to your 100K comments though!). Do people just go elsewhere, like Facebook from the get go? This is not what I do for work, but I still spend way too much time thinking about it
Honestly, for me it’s because I find the app to be so NOT user friendly. I’m constantly being logged out, it’s hard to tag people bc for some reason it never auto-populates for me, and if I try to access the actual website on my iPad it works like maybe half the time. I should definitely try harder bc I LOVE my Oct 19 BMB and really want to make friendships this time around too.... ugh bump why aren’t you easier to use???
It does seem quiet here. And I know they are expecting a lot less births in certain demographics because of the pandemic so that could be the reason. But the app also does suck. I'm happy to be here instead of WTE this time around though!
This is really interesting, Thanks for breaking down the numbers and sharing the chart, @claireloSC. This board is MUCH slower than my other board (July 2017). I figured it would pick up, but we are getting close to the end of the first tri for some folks, and still not much going on. I agree with @obsessedwithoranges- the bump tech is awful. It is clunky and hard to use (sorry Bump Gods.) I don't remember having as many issues when I was active in my last pregnancy. For example, I still have to log out and back in to see new comments on mobile. (Which is one of the reasons I'm less active on weekends, when I'm not on my desktop.) Also, it STILL has Alaskan Moms as my preferred group, even though I have deleted it a million times. I just give up. My guess is the tech, and not the birth decrease, is the biggest issue.
Despite that, I'm still enjoying getting to know you all and look forward to continuing this journey with our little Aug '21 board!
Yesterday evening we got an email from my son's school that there was an attempted car jacking in the carpool line during pick up on Friday evening at 4:30pm. The parent was able to "fight off" the perpetrator and abort the attempt. The child was restrained in the back seat when this whole thing went on. I AM SHOOK. My son's school is a small school in a really nice neighborhood. It has a 1 year old program through 8th grade. Pick up is BUSY, especially now, with covid precautions in place. Parents are not allowed into the school. Instead there is a literal line of teachers that radio in to inform the class that X parent is there, then the child is escorted out to your vehicle.
My city is having a huge uptick in crime. It's very clearly linked to the pandemic, which we have such widespread unemployment due to the service industry (backbone of my city) basically in death-throws. I'm very much a "what can I control in this situation to keep my fam safe" type of person, and unfortunately, there is very little other than being observant and keeping your car locked, getting in and out quickly (and how is that possible when you have to put a kid in a carseat?) etc? I already activated this program with my vehicle where I can geolocate it and literally stop the car from an app. I didn't bother with it after the trial period ended but now my thoughts are 'god forbid someone would take the car with my son in it, I'd at least be able to see where it is in real time.' How freaking scary that this is actually part of my thought process. The school is hiring off-duty police officers to patrol the drop off areas.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. It's scary out there, y'all.
Yeah the app really is a pile of rubbish. I’m surprised the community component is so dang hard to find, too! I feel like it should be a top level menu option or even one of the main icons at the bottom—I definitely use it way more than their registry or baby name features. It has stopped giving me that expired account/please log-in again pop up after I pressed no thank you on it a bunch of times?
Woah @surrenderdorothy that is scary. How traumatic for both parent and kid. Glad they’re okay. Wild that it was a daytime attempt! I’m sorry that avoiding/stopping car jacking attempts is now something you have to seriously think about.
The Bump is seriously lacking when it comes to visibility of their community. Too many clicks to get to it. I just stumbled upon it back in my O13 group. They were so active I couldn’t keep up! Boards are much more organized now, which is helpful but somewhat stifling. Sometimes I’m not sure if I can start threads? It’s new than what it used to be. I’m mobile (in the app) and if I back out and go back into Aug21, my replies refresh. I don’t have to completely log out. Not sure if that is what anyone means.
Oh wow, @surrenderdorothy. I know that since the pandemic, mental illness and substance abuse is in the rise. Crime would make sense too, as many of it goes hand-in-hand. It’s so scary when those things hit close to home. Especially in broad daylight!!
Holy cow @surrenderdorothy that is terrifying!!! Glad everyone is ok but I feel like I’d lock my kids up forever after that, I would be so traumatized.
Def agree the tech sucks, especially on mobile. I find if I got into a thread and back out, it usually refreshes replies. iPad app sucks so I use the browser. Also agree it would be better as a top line item in the app. But I also notice that the audience of TB has been steadily declining for 5 years now! I looked on FB and there’s like seven Aug21 groups, some with hundreds of people. So many some migrated there. I use FB less now than I did then, I don’t even have the app installed anymore. I def feel like with some better tech it would help but maybe fewer ladies migrating from The Knot? Maybe better wedding planning apps out there? Idk.
To add to my non-sequitars, DD is starting at a new school tomorrow. I went to it and we’ve tried to get her in off the waiting list a couple times but timing never worked out. Long story short we did a nanny share this year due to COVID, but the nanny is a nightmare person so we broke up with them bc school had a spot. Excited for her to be back in school where she will be so much happier. And so will we. Definitely a risk but all the teachers got first dose of vax last week so hopefully it’s ok. And masks of course.
Married DW 08.2013; AI 2x; IUI 6x; IUI #7 05.2015; DD born 2.2016 ; Reciprocal IVF FET #1 on 11.18.2020
I jinxed myself. My app isn’t updating this morning when I back out and re-enter the August forum. I’m on the browser version now and I see new replies.
@emmylou78 that is very frustrating. Also, I say post that thread that you're thinking of posting! I feel like we are all pretty keen to chat and there are not nearly as many random one-off posts in the BMBs as there were when I first used TB—so many drive-bys that never came back to actually chat or join the board or did a dramatic GBCB after not getting their desired response.
And anyone can post any of the Monday B*tchfest, TW, WTF Wednesday, FFFC and any of the check-ins! I live in the Atlantic time zone plus my kiddo wakes at the crack of dawn, so I'm usually up super early and will post check-ins. So, I'm sorry if I contributed to feeling like you couldn't post!
@claireloSC I hope your DD has a great first day back!
I don’t think the Bump got the memo about the pandemic and travel restrictions. 🙃
I’d love to do a Babymoon. We did one with my first and it was lovely. But even if we felt comfortable traveling I don’t see our parents being able to fly down to babysit until they are fully vaccinated. No clue when that will be. We have a wedding in Canada in June so fingers crossed that is still able to be held and we can attend!
I noticed that too @surrenderdorothy! I was like yeah, not gonna happen. DD had a good day! She's feeling less anxious now that she saw how it was and that the kids were nice.
Married DW 08.2013; AI 2x; IUI 6x; IUI #7 05.2015; DD born 2.2016 ; Reciprocal IVF FET #1 on 11.18.2020
@sparks31211 I feel you on the Doppler lol I actually made a post last night. This is my third baby and I was able to hear heart tones at 9 weeks with both. I’m 9w5d now and I’m like WHERE ARE YOU! Trying not to psych myself out but it’s hard. It’s also a different Doppler but that could be in. I am even a labor and delivery nurse. So I educate people in not using home Dopplers and anything before 12 weeks is rare...but here I am.
I want a vacation so bad! It’s been 2 years this week since we went to Mexico and it keeps popping up as a Facebook memory. We had to postpone our May 2020 wedding, which made the June honeymoon (wasn’t booked yet) kinda null, plus the pandemic got in the way. I was hoping to skirt away this spring and call it a baby moon, but now the CDC is advising that any incoming travelers need a negative covid test. Seems like such a pain. Plus, may or may not need to quarantine after and I don’t want to eat up my vacation time.
@emmylou78 I can’t imagine having to post pone a wedding. That sounds so awful. I hope you still got your perfect day despite the change of date. Also I feel you on a vacation. We are dying to go somewhere... anywhere... right now. But until I can get the vaccine I think we are staying put. We wanted got take DS to Disney as a last hoorah before the baby arrived but I don’t think that will happen this spring/summer. Hoping we can go in November after the baby arrives. We shall see. If this year taught me one thing it is to not get so fixated on plans. 😑🙃
I just need to vent/rant. I just found out my local hospital isn't allowing doulas at births even though pretty much every other hospital in my province is. I'm seriously pissed and frustrated as we have one of the highest C-section rates in Canada and studies have shown having a doula with you greatly reduces the chances of surgical intervention. I know things will likely change by August but I'm so upset for the women having to make the decision to birth at home with their doula or at the hospital without. Ughhhh
@grogu that is such a hard choice. Can you plan to go to a different hospital?
Here in the maritimes we have women who have to come from the other provinces to Halifax (generally 3-6h drive) to get certain care. Every time I go to the MFM there's a sign for a group that helps pay the bridge fee from PEI to NS ($40) and it breaks my heart. I'm so thankful to have quick and easy access to some great doctors.
@doodlemom131 unfortunately no. The closest is in Vancouver and it would cost $75 plus who knows how labour goes etc. I just really hope it changes by August. I'm starting a letter writing campaign because it bugs me so much
@grogu definitely write administration! Most hospitals have governing committees that look at things like that. For a while, they weren’t letting advocates come for sexual assault victims in our ER due to covid. That was overturned. It’s definitely possible and worth looking into.
I finally admitted to myself that its time to wear maternity clothes and broke down and bought some tees. Much more comfortable. I just hate buying all this stuff I can never wear again!
Married DW 08.2013; AI 2x; IUI 6x; IUI #7 05.2015; DD born 2.2016 ; Reciprocal IVF FET #1 on 11.18.2020
@claireloSC I've had a few pairs of pants sitting in my cart for the last week. I need to pull the trigger.
So we found out Tuesday 30 mins after I dropped DS off that he was exposed at school. School is closed until the 29th. He had a low grade fever and I started feeling icky as well so we are all home quarantining pending my test results. DS tested negative yesterday. The exposure happened Wednesday of last week but so we are in the window to test. I am 99% sure my symptoms are allergy related. Today was the first day of virtual learning. It is all optional with the understanding that we are all working from home, too. The teachers made such an effort to keep the kids on their schedules and keep them engaged but my son wanted none of it. We are skipping the afternoon meeting because it is during his home nap time and I'd die if he decided to give up naps right now.
@surrenderdorothy oh no! I am so sorry. Fingers crossed that your test comes back negative and everyone stays COVID-free. Definitely worth protecting that nap.
Maternity leggings are the best. Technically I don't really *need* them yet, but they're so darn comfy. Also, they're something that I continued to wear post pregnancy with my daughter. Although, my daughter told me this morning, "Mommy. It's morning time. Why are you in your pjs?" So clearly not everyone is as enamored with them as I am.
I am planning on pulling out all my maternity clothes to see what I want to keep/use and then I’m planning on online shopping this weekend. I’m really struggling to make my regular jeans work. I can barely handle to 40 minutes round trip to drop my daughter off at school and back home.
Also I don’t remember if this was part of last weeks randoms or this weeks but I miss how busy the bump used to be when I was ttc with my daughter in 2013-2015. I remember the mass exodus and have followed that group from forum to forum but it’s not the same as it was back then.
Does anyone have recommendations for maternity jeans? I think I'm going to need to buy some sooner rather than later, because I've already started using a belly band with my normal jeans. I tried looking up reviews online, and a lot of them recommended designer jeans that are $200 a pair. I don't buy those kind of jeans for my forever pants, so that's hard for me to justify. I did try to look on ThreadUp to see if anyone was selling used designer maternity jeans in my size, but I still don't know if they're worth it.
Re: Weekly Randoms 1/18
Despite that, I'm still enjoying getting to know you all and look forward to continuing this journey with our little Aug '21 board!
My city is having a huge uptick in crime. It's very clearly linked to the pandemic, which we have such widespread unemployment due to the service industry (backbone of my city) basically in death-throws. I'm very much a "what can I control in this situation to keep my fam safe" type of person, and unfortunately, there is very little other than being observant and keeping your car locked, getting in and out quickly (and how is that possible when you have to put a kid in a carseat?) etc? I already activated this program with my vehicle where I can geolocate it and literally stop the car from an app. I didn't bother with it after the trial period ended but now my thoughts are 'god forbid someone would take the car with my son in it, I'd at least be able to see where it is in real time.' How freaking scary that this is actually part of my thought process. The school is hiring off-duty police officers to patrol the drop off areas.
Anyway, sorry for the long post. It's scary out there, y'all.
And anyone can post any of the Monday B*tchfest, TW, WTF Wednesday, FFFC and any of the check-ins! I live in the Atlantic time zone plus my kiddo wakes at the crack of dawn, so I'm usually up super early and will post check-ins. So, I'm sorry if I contributed to feeling like you couldn't post!
I don’t think the Bump got the memo about the pandemic and travel restrictions. 🙃
I’d love to do a Babymoon. We did one with my first and it was lovely. But even if we felt comfortable traveling I don’t see our parents being able to fly down to babysit until they are fully vaccinated. No clue when that will be. We have a wedding in Canada in June so fingers crossed that is still able to be held and we can attend!
I just found out my local hospital isn't allowing doulas at births even though pretty much every other hospital in my province is.
I'm seriously pissed and frustrated as we have one of the highest C-section rates in Canada and studies have shown having a doula with you greatly reduces the chances of surgical intervention.
I know things will likely change by August but I'm so upset for the women having to make the decision to birth at home with their doula or at the hospital without.
Ughhhh
Here in the maritimes we have women who have to come from the other provinces to Halifax (generally 3-6h drive) to get certain care. Every time I go to the MFM there's a sign for a group that helps pay the bridge fee from PEI to NS ($40) and it breaks my heart. I'm so thankful to have quick and easy access to some great doctors.
I just really hope it changes by August. I'm starting a letter writing campaign because it bugs me so much
So we found out Tuesday 30 mins after I dropped DS off that he was exposed at school. School is closed until the 29th. He had a low grade fever and I started feeling icky as well so we are all home quarantining pending my test results. DS tested negative yesterday. The exposure happened Wednesday of last week but so we are in the window to test. I am 99% sure my symptoms are allergy related. Today was the first day of virtual learning. It is all optional with the understanding that we are all working from home, too. The teachers made such an effort to keep the kids on their schedules and keep them engaged but my son wanted none of it. We are skipping the afternoon meeting because it is during his home nap time and I'd die if he decided to give up naps right now.