Weekly Randoms - Week of 03/14

mindyb2019

What's happening or going on? 

MelissaMay82

Nothing too exciting is happening this week. 

We (really DH) is still working on the mini-makeover of the bathroom. We currently don’t have a light/fan in the bathroom because DH had to patch the hole in the ceiling where the old one was. We are using just a little floor lamp for light at the moment lol. Hopefully by Thursday at the latest the new light/fan will go in.

I started a baby registry online for discounts at Buybuybaby, I really need to go to the store to look at stuff though. We don’t need too much thankfully since I saved everything from dd.

MelissaMay82

Has anyone ever been to a shaking crab restaurant? They just opened one kind of near me, is it worth trying?

wanderlustsoul

I spent all day planning out what we need for the new house and researching stuff. It’s pretty fun haha. I can’t decide what I want to do on the nursery wall for the new baby so maybe I’ll wait until July and decide since then I’ll know boy or girl. 

Some things say 14-16 weeks for delivery. 😱 so I’ll have those ordered in the next week or so. 

dogmom5

I just bought a treadmill today! I have been wanting to for the longest time and I finally decided to do it since my bike workouts are getting harder with a bigger belly. 

I have spring break this week from grad school so I am looking forward to a break.  Hope that everyone has a good week! 

mc0303

@MelissaMay82 I haven’t been to that particular restaurant but I loooove crab boil spots 😆 There’s a chain out here called the Boiling Crab and it’s literally my favorite place. 

mc0303

@AKuzReve Delivery times are nuts! I remember my last pregnancy I really wanted a specific rocker but it was like 16 weeks delivery time...when I was like 6 weeks out from giving birth 😑

klj0228

@dogmom5 enjoy the treadmill! 

DH and I are both off today. I’m going to take DD to daycare so we can both rest and maybe get a few things done. We really need to move furniture around and get the dresser and crib built. By this point with our first the nursery was basically done. This baby I have no inspiration for nursery theme and we have done very little to get things ready for her. 

kfc1983

My husband started his new season of soccer yesterday, so it was nice seeing old friends/teammates. He hadn’t told the team that we are expecting, so it is was kind of funny seeing their faces initially because they were unsure of whether or not they should say something (ie is she pregnant or just fat still from the holidays 🤣). But after they knew, it was fun getting to see hubs receive congrats from all of his mates. 

He also is going to start working again part time! He’s been furloughed for so long, at this point, I am really going to miss having him around and acting as my chauffeur 😁 but I look forward to the additional income! 

kristah2

I’ve been trying to order some stuff for the baby too. 

But we found out we’re moving in 5 weeks (my house finally sold! YAY!) so now I’m in a shipping predicament as to when and where to order stuff. 

That said as long as I have a crib mattress we can make due. I already bought the mamaroo infant insert and that’s going to be my saviour. 

ruemcclanahan

Good morning! I just got my son's preschool conference material and I'm so proud of him he's doing so well in preschool.
Except for scissors ✂️ lol he can't do them at all

ellieemc26

@kfc1983 we have tennis season starting here in a few weeks and I'm expecting a similar reaction as we haven't told many people since we're just not seeing many people.  I'm very much looking forward to being able to get out and see some friends though!  

We had a blizzard yesterday and got over 2 feet of snow!  Too bad I can't help dig out the cars in my "delicate condition" 🤣

MelissaMay82

@kristah2 congratulations on selling your house!

Maggie1202

@kristah2 congrats on selling the house!

DH was on call at work this weekend, which normally means nothing but he got called in 3 times in 2 days, which led to a wildly unproductive weekend. It's going to be a busy week, because our friends are coming over this weekend to help us organize the nursery, since this will essentially be our last free weekend. 

Also, I'm going to the chiropractor today for the first time in years! I am beyond excited because I can barely move sometimes from sciatic pain. 

halfanewt

1 hour in on my 3 hour glucose test, and my childcare just called out with 20min notice for the 2nd Monday in a row. Can I have a do over? How about I just do Sunday again? I liked Sunday. There was pie. 

_orchid_

@halfanewt OMG 2nd Monday in a row with 20 minute notice?? Ugh that really sucks. Are you home right now for the test (and going in for just blood draw) or do you have to stay at the drs the whole time?

halfanewt

@_orchid_ I have to stay the whole time - they draw blood once/hour. Luckily they let me walk out to my car so I can work and drink water in between instead of being stuck in the waiting room. And yeah, really not cool about the Mondays - especially on short notice. Argh! 

mc0303

@halfanewt ughhh seriously? That stinks!

I just got home from my 1-hr glucose test so hopefully I pass. Now I’m gonna go shove my face full of donuts 🍩 

disgruntled_pelican

Would anyone be interested in unsolicited labor prep advice? LOL. I have had 3 pretty smooth L&D's and am a former birth doula. I am doing all these things to prep my body and mind and I was wondering if anyone would want to hear my nonsense

Maggie1202

@disgruntled_pelican Yes please!!!

akoros

@disgruntled_pelican Sure! 

wendy838

@disgruntled_pelican as a FTM, yes! 

@kristah2 congrats on selling the house, so exciting 

@mc0303 fingers crossed for good glucose test results! 

ashaislurking

@dogmom5 Enjoy your break! We had break week last week. It's nice to have some down time from grad school work.

@kristah2 Congrats on the house sale and move!!

A week ago on Friday my faculty mentor and I submitted a presentation proposal for a national conference and we're hoping to hear back on that in about a month. We're also working on two other presentation proposals for a state conference that are due in two weeks. Cool exciting stuff there. I also passed my winter term classes and spring term started up today! I'm officially back to my 100% online schedule which is nice but it also means more typing which means my arthritis is ANGRY. Anyone have tips for dealing with arthritis in pregnancy? My MFM and I have a few things we're going to try, but the less meds I can take the better.

MelissaMay82

Anyone watching the bachelor finale?

sgrn18

@MelissaMay82 we watched the first 2 hrs but I can never handle watching the end where they sit and chat about everything.  It always makes me cringe lol.  I get extreme second hand embarrassment. 

klj0228

@ashaislurking good luck on the proposal and congrats on passing all of your winter classes! For the arthritis will braces help at all? What about a talk to type program for your computer? 

ashaislurking

@klj0228 I might need to look into dictation software for my computer, that's actually a really good idea.

disgruntled_pelican

Hello all. Here are my tips and tricks. I am not a medical professional and you should consult with your doctor before in most of these cases. These were all recommendations from my MW team that I've done with all my pregnancies/births and they've apparently worked well for *me*. This may not be the case for everyone. I've had 3 natural births- 8.5 hrs, 4.5 hrs, and 2.5 hrs. They've all went pretty smoothly with no long term issues, but I have had meconium in my water each time (probably a coincidence, but full disclosure). Also, with my last I experienced fetal ejection reflex and had a subsequent shoulder dystocia, but it was remedied very quickly. Note: for a lot of the body tips, in my experience they've actually lengthened that 1st stage of labor but it was unnoticeable. I usually don't feel contractions until after 5/6cm... maybe even 8? Hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions.

Body

1.       Red Raspberry Leaf Tea

a.       The belief is that it strengthens/tones the uterus to help ease and shorten labor. It is also believed it reduces the use of mechanical assistance. There is also some evidence of it helping reduce hypoglycemia. NOTE: Some people assume/believe it is for labor induction… that is not my experience nor what I have personally heard from midwives. Please talk to your own doc about the safety of drinking this tea.

b.       I drink this as soon as I can stomach it, but limit myself to one cup a day until about 35 weeks. I typically drink it iced with another tea that is pregnancy safe, typically something from the Celestial Seasonings Fruit Tea Sampler or the Tazo Passion Fruit Tea. It isn’t bad hot, but I prefer this tea iced.

c.       For full disclosure, here is the Evidence Based Birth podcast episode of RLL: https://evidencebasedbirth.com/ebb-139-red-raspberry-leaf-tea/ (TLDR; not a ton of great analytical data, but lots of anecdotal to get us here)

2.       Dates

a.       The mechanism for date benefits isn’t as clear to me, but it is said to make labor better similarly to RLL (shorten labor, reduce discomfort, reduced use of tools). Apparently they are highly nutritious, so it can’t hurt. I believe the tale is “6 dates a day”

b.       I do not like dates, they gross me out to look at and I have tried several recipes, but to me they just weren’t worth it. I found that Lara Bars, not the yummiest, have dates in them ( I estimate 1-3 per bar) so I start eating them late second trimester to get used to the flavor. In 3rd trimester I will try to eat 2 per day. Pro-tip: Lara Bars say how many ingredients the bar has on the label, the fewer ingredients the more dates. I do not like the Carrot Cake or Apple Pie flavors. Anything with chocolate chips help and the lemon bars are okay.

c.       Important to note: dates have quite a bit of sugar (about 5 grams per date) so if you are monitoring carb consumption please keep that in mind.

d.       EBB link: https://evidencebasedbirth.com/ebb-128-inducing-labor-with-castor-oil-and-dates/

3.       Evening Primrose Oil

a.       This is used as a cervical “ripener”. It has prostaglandin action, which assists your body’s natural progression into labor. NOTE: EPO is more controversial than the above 2 and should not be used with certain anti-psychotic or blood-thinning medications.

b.       Around 36/37 weeks I insert EPO capsules vaginally at night. I believe they are 1000 mg capsules and you want them high by the cervix. (Pro-tip: wait until you think you are mostly done peeing for the night so it has more opportunity to do its thing and also wear a panty liner to catch any oil that may drip out). Starting on my due date I increase to 2/night with midwife advisement.

c.       EBB: https://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-on-evening-primrose-oil-epo/

4.       Chiropractor

a.       Used to ease aches and pains of pregnancy (general, sciatica, SPD, etc), but also helpful for aligning pelvis and keeping baby in good position

b.       My chiro appointments usually line up with my MW appointments. So, when I saw the midwife every 2 weeks, I see the chiro every 2 weeks. Towards the end, and especially around my due date I increase the frequency to 2 times a week. I also have dreams of getting adjusted in labor, but its never worked out. My chiros do a sort of preventative Webster Technique, which is primarily used to turn breech babies. We focus on pelvic and abdominal alignment. I struggle with SPD and sciatica so it also awesome for that.

5.       Labor Ball

a.       If I get time to “hang out” I try to do it on the labor ball during the last month of pregnancy. It helps my posture and not to undo my chiropractic adjustments and helps to put pressure on cervix/ keep pelvis open. I will have a desk job for the first time in any of my pregnancies and plan to use a labor ball as a desk chair in the end.

6.       Miles Circuit

a.       This is a doulas best friend! It helps with back pain, helps baby get in optimal position, and helps labor progress. Here is a link with instructions: http://www.milescircuit.com/uploads/4/8/1/4/4814341/miles_circuit.pdf

b.       I do a sort of modified Miles Circuit until about 38 weeks. I do steps 1 and 2 pretty much as described (probably 15 minutes each, though) followed by normal walking (sometimes I just go about my day). I couple this with meditation or intentional relaxation. Later, I do the whole kit and caboodle, including the lunges/curb-walking etc.

7.       Rest

a.       Do not forget this one J Especially when you feel those early signs of labor it is SO tempting to walk and squat, etc. But always remember you won’t wake up with a baby between your legs and that labor will always be more comfortable when well rested. Melatonin and Oxytocin are buddies. So allow yourself to wind down and rest on a fairly regular schedule.

Mind This section is definitely not as dense, but just as important. I am working on focusing on these points more, myself.

1.       Meditation

a.       There are so many great resources for guided meditation during pregnancy and child birth. Hypnobirthing and Hypno Babies are very well liked. I am planning on starting the Hypno Babies course next week. Research those and see what you “are into”.

b.       Apps I use:

                                                               i.      Expectful (I think $10/month, but they have a full hypnobirthing course on there with guided meditations.

                                                             ii.      Spotify-  search hypnobirthing and there are tons of results to help.

c.       I practice meditation (but am awful at it) throughout pregnancy. Like the other things they amp up towards the end. I try to trick my body and doing it at times that I have other physical triggers for relaxation (e.g. in my bed, in the shower). I also have practiced relaxing to certain music when I am just not feeling the guided meditation. My intention is to have options in labor.

2.       Birth Affirmations

a.       I like to couple this with meditation/relaxation music. I will paint or practice calligraphy (alright, it’s fauxligraphy) and writing out affirmations while listening to my choice of relaxation soundtrack. I get ideas from Pinterest and create my own. I will tape them randomly in my house and take some with me to my birthing room. One that I focus on a lot is “breathe baby down” and “I am strong”… things like that.

3.       Guard your birth mindset

a.       This one is harder to explain and do, since it’s a reactionary thing. For whatever reason our society is gung ho about making women feel scared of labor and delivery, and sometimes from the most loving of sources. Be ready to bat those down both externally and internally. For example, my MIL has told my soon to deliver SIL that she expects she will need an induction and cesarean birth for *no reason* other than a hunch. I’ve advised SIL to quash that with words like, “that negativity is not needed or justified.” Or “do not put negative expectations on my shoulders”. And follow it up with repeated affirmations. Do not let negativity make camp!

4.       Read and enjoy birth stories

a.       Birth is joyous and beautiful and there are so many wonderful ways to see it.

                                                               i.      Birth Hour Podcast

                                                             ii.      Ina May Gaskin Guide to Childbirth (has birth stories and other advice)

                                                           iii.      Birth Becomes You (Birth photography) https://birthbecomesyou.com/

                                                           iv.      Just google J When I get closer to delivery I definitely cherry pick for positive birth stories, so be ready to exercise the “guarding your mindset” tip.

halfanewt

@ashaislurking depending on where you do most of your typing, speech to text may already be included. Google docs has an embedded option (free) already  

ashaislurking

@halfanewt I do almost all of my work exclusively via MS Word, but I'll keep that in mind! I could easily transition stuff from google docs to Word then reformat it before submitting my assignments and still have it be FAR less typing than I'm doing now!

legallykate

I am playing serious catch up, it has been quite a week.

*TW (minor) child injury*

DD bumped into the futon in the playroom and fell down on Friday night and cried for like a second but then seemed totally fine all weekend until Sunday night when she started sobbing and saying "boo boo on my arm" when we put her down. So Monday morning I took her to the doctor just to get confirmation she was fine, and it turns out she actually had fractured her elbow   I feel so terrible that she was walking around all weekend with a broken freaking arm but the nurse said sometimes the initial internal inflammation can mask the injury for up to 48 hours and then the pain kicks in. But oof definitely a tough parenting milestone, and now my sweet 2.5 year old is in a long arm cast for 3 weeks. She is handling it way better than I am though luckily, other than being sad at night when she can't suck her thumb to soothe herself to sleep. 

mindyb2019

@legallykate oh dear!!! Fractured? Poor DD. Im so sorry that she hurt herself and was in pain all weekend. 😥 Sorry it's been tough on you too mama. Hope the 3 weeks goes by fast. 

MelissaMay82

@legallykate oh no, poor DD. I hope that she heals quickly, 3 weeks will go by fast.

laurad75

@legallykate Oh no!  Poor girl!  DS is completely insane and I'm waiting for the day he breaks a bone.  We're on borrowed time at this point. 

Omie_Wise

Oof, I’ve been MIA this week because the kids and I drove up to KC to stay with my parents for, what should have been, a week. We delayed the trip last minute because I needed to see a pelvic floor specialist. Then half way through the 12 hour drive I called uncle and we had to get a hotel overnight. We finally made it and now I count down the hours until we leave because it’s always exhausting for me to be up here. Bah. 

@LegallyBlonde217  that sounds so hard.
@disgruntled_pelican Thank you for all of this. I appreciate the reminders. I have not been doing dates this time but I feel like I want to start. I like them in a smoothie with protein to balance the sugar but I bet the larabars would be good too. 

DoubleUp8

@legallykate I'm so sorry about DD! I hope she feels better soon!

@Omie_Wise I'm sorry you are so exhausted. I hope the trip home goes smoothly.

halfanewt

@legallykate oh goodness! Glad she’s handling it well, and hope you get your recovery time in, too! 

ashaislurking

@legallykate I hope it heals quickly for her! Broken bones are no fun for anyone, especially a young kiddo!

_orchid_

@legallykate oh no! I hope DD adjusts to her cast soon and heals quickly. Poor you- I think it's harder on mom than kid at that age- they adjust but we get the mom guilt. I hope the rest of your week is going better!

sgrn18

@legallykate oh no poor baby!  I hope she gets used to the cast easily and the weeks fly by!   I’m waiting for my wild child to break a bone too.  😬

klj0228

@legallykate I am so sorry! That made me a little sick at my stomach just thinking of the times I kind of brush something off. Don’t beat yourself up too much, we can’t take our kids to the ER every time they bump into something. I hope she heals quickly and adjusts to the cast in no time.