Weekly randoms, week of 5/16

kboydbowman

Randooooooooooo

kboydbowman

@trapperkeeper87
I need you to go respond on the group status 4 thread please

millygolitely

Apparently my uterus is now the size of a soccer ball!! Wow. How does that fit in there. (24.5 weeks) Baby is a big eggplant floating around in a soccer ball. 

pangolindrome

I am a mighty huntress. I caught a live mouse today in our home, using a bowl and a plastic cutting board/sheet.

laj0217

We just ordered a king size bed and I am so freaking excited! I used to get annoyed when my step daughter would come snuggle in bed, mostly because she took my spot - totally fine when she takes her dads spot 😂 but now there should be enough space! And weeks when she’s not here, my pregnancy pillow will fit on the bed. I feel like such a grown up lol. 

kboydbowman

You say that, but the king ends up not being that much bigger than the queen.  Two dogs and two adults and there's still not enough space lol

whitta1015

@kboydbowman Exactly. We have a King and I'm like "How did we ever sleep in a Queen size bed at one point?"

pangolindrome

@laj0217 Lol yeah, that’s what I believed too. However, my husband usually has 1/4-1/3 of the bed on his side which rarely comes into usage because he snuggles over to where I am. As of doggo, she sometimes take that space.

jhysmath

Maybe it's because we go back in forth between the king and our queen, but our king is huge and spacious even with both kids in it. I'm sure that will change when we're in it constantly. 

mk2022x

We want a king size but queen fits much better in the room we have now. It will be an upgrade down the road!

I was at corporate today and not going to lie, definitely paraded my pregnant belly around. It’s usually pretty quiet there but there were a few people there I haven’t seen in forever. Had to - felt a bit attention seeking but also I loved it lol

pangolindrome

I walked in just now after walking doggo for our evening walk, and hubbs asked how I was doing. I just said “Pickle jar. Get.” So he scooped me a bunch of bread and butter pickles into a small bowl. I think we’ve found a way to curb my 6:30pm nausea and they’re so good 💕 

laj0217

Honestly, the queen is fine except when the kiddo is in it. Then someone’s butt is hanging half off. Hoping the king fixes that. 

We also decided no tvs in the bedroom at the new house, so I’m sure wanting to hang out in our room will decrease lol. We’re setting up a huge playroom instead with comfy couches, the biggest tv in the house, and all the gaming systems. 

Fingers crossed the king will work for just the two of us. We both tend to throw a leg to the side, which is the problem. We have to coordinate which way we’re facing now 😂

mk2022x

@laj0217 We have a TV in our room and I secretly love being able to watch trash tv curled up with my preggo pillow lol. However, I am constantly battling my husband on not putting a TV in the NURSERY. His claim is that I’ll spend so much time in there, having a tv would be nice. I follow his train of thought but UGH, the aesthetic! It’s a hard no from me lol. Our glider has a USB port so i
can watch things on my phone and dinosaur iPad to my hearts content haha

trapperkeeper87

@mk2022x Keep the TV out of the nursery! I would prop my phone or tablet up on the edge of the crib and watch a show on YouTube while my daughter was nursing or napping on me, and that worked perfectly. No good can come of having the TV in there.

laj0217

@mk2022x we had a tv on the wall at our old house. However, the doctor suggested not watching tv in bed to help with my husbands sleep. He has terrible insomnia sometimes. And, while we’ve been moving, setting up the tvs have been low on the list and we’ve both slept way better. So, we’ll give it a go, but we may cave lol. 

newbabymama27

@mk2022x I’m one of those people with insomnia ever since I was like 20 and like @laj0217 said, have to keep the TV out of the bedroom. We also need to move my home office setup once this baby comes and our room is large and a decent option, but the thought of laying in my bed and having to look at my work stuff is giving me anxiety already lol. I want 100% separation from everything not sleep related. I guess except books, I’ll keep those nearby sometimes  
Huge no to the TV in the nursery from me. Babies get sooo distracted and stimulated by any bright lights so the last thing you want in the middle of the night is having a baby eat and then start partying because they see the fun lights on the TV. Phone is okay because it’s discrete at least, but I know I was so brain dead in the middle of the night that I didn’t even care to open my eyes to check my phone. 

kboydbowman

Free advice from your friendly neighborhood mental health professional on sleep hygiene - beds should ONLY be for sleeping and sex.  Anything else and your brain gets confused, starts to dissociate it from sleep, and you're more likely to have problems with insomnia.  If you can't sleep, get up and go do something else until you feel ready to lay down again, but do not read/TV/phone in bed.

trapperkeeper87

@newbabymama27 100% agreed to middle of the night and no screens, at all. I would go and nurse and then come back to bed. I didn't need the distraction to stay awake (I'd just tap my foot or have a tiny, super dim globe light to keep focused on), and screens at sleep time are the worst idea. I have very strong opinions on that.

newbabymama27

@kboydbowman haha yes yes that too of course! My doc told me the same thing. 

@trapperkeeper87 I honestly tried to stay half asleep while feeding the baby for my own sake to be able to fall asleep after. I did NOT want anything else waking me up except the baby lol. 

And word of advice overall: make nightly feeds the most boring time for your baby. Minimal talking and only soft whispers if needed, super dim night light if you need to see what you’re doing (I.e. changing a poopy diaper). This is a huge tip for establishing day vs night for babies because they have no idea what’s the difference when they’re first born. This helps them distinguish ok it’s still night, I need to go back to sleep. 

jhysmath

@mk2022x as someone who grew up sharing a room with her sister and having a TV in our room because she couldn't sleep without it running all night long. I am strongly against having a TV in a room that's not the living room or rec room. 

whitta1015

To piggy back on @newbabymama27's advice....you also don't necessarily need to change them every single time they wake in the middle of the night. You will know if they truly need it or not. Often times, it wakes them up even more. 

laj0217

@kboydbowman as a fellow mh professional, I shared that advice early in our relationship. However, he heard it when the doctor said it 🤪 I do like to read in bed, though, so I’m guilty of not following my own advice!

pangolindrome

We have a TV in the bedroom because most new RVs come with TVs in there, but we only use it if we want to snuggle while laying down - usually because I'm too tired to sit up, maybe once a month - and it is a 100% guarantee that we will both be asleep within an hour. For me, it's usually more like 10-20 minutes.
It also confuses the bits out of our doggo when we watch TV in bed because she likes her routines, and her routines include curling up on my husband/us while we watch TV in the living room OR having us throw a toy for her until she has worked off any anxious energy not yet spent.

I'll third the "beds are for sex and sleep" although I've been struggling not to go to Cheezburger and look at cute cat memes before bed. I /know/ I'll sleep better if all I do is go to sleep, and I get an extra 10-40 minutes of sleep if I don't... so I really need to get back to it.

trapperkeeper87

@jhysmath Ugh. Same! And there was one summer I woke up to get either watching Shrek or BioDome every single morning. No exaggeration.

@whitta1015 That one took me too long to figure out. Poop diapers and excessively soggy diapers are the only ones needing to be changed. Also, if you use Aquaphor on their bum overnight, you decrease the incidence of diaper rash if they poop. And sizing up a size in diapers for overnight helps immensely!

kboydbowman

@laj0217
I don't always practice what I preach either, but I try to limit myself to 15 minutes of FB scrolling or 1-2 chapters of a book while laying in bed (and no overhead lights, nightstand lamp only).

jhysmath

So I did a zoom call with a doula that would be close to the hospital I will likely deliver at in NY. She seemed pretty awesome she did a bunch of research for me about vba2c and I'm feeling good about her. She works with a company so they'll easily take our fsa once it comes to hiring. I'm feeling a little bit better about delivering in a different state as well as a city I've never been too. I'm really anxious for it to be next Thursday so I can talk to my midwife that used to work in that city and find out more info, hopefully she supports giving birth there so I don't have to research buffalo more. 

kboydbowman

@jhysmath
as a former Buffalonian, I'm nosy - which hospital is it going to likely be?  Sisters?

jhysmath

@kboydbowman I'm hoping to actually go to Rochester instead of Buffalo. We'll see what the midwife says about her old stomping grounds. 

kboydbowman

So one of my roommates from my freshman year in college is a professional artist who now lives in France with her husband running a small winery. Cool, huh? Well, she got inspired by a dress I wore a few weeks ago, so today I got this in the mail.

newbabymama27

@kboydbowman that’s so sweet! And what a beautiful painting ❤️

maple1422

@kboydbowman what an amazing surprise! It’s lovely!

jhysmath

@kboydbowman what a beautiful keepsake

pangolindrome

@kboydbowman That is so sweet and beautiful! Also, that might be one of the most French mental images I can conjure up.

lucyg00cy

@kboydbowman that’s beautiful, she’s so talented  

kboydbowman

@pangolindrome
isn't it just?  She worked on a cruise ship as a glassblower for awhile and met her husband, who was doing something else artsy, they fell in love, and she moved with him to France where his family runs a small vineyard/winery.  Super cute story.

pangolindrome

@kboydbowman So cute and SO FRENCH makes me want to watch some French slice-of-life movies again

foreveronyourside

@kboydbowman love that painting. Wow. What a treasure to hang onto. 

Also want to echo the sentiments about overnight feeds and diapers. My son leaked through enough outfits and diapers that he usually had a fresh diaper and outfit and swaddle a night. Wasn’t going to change him if he wasn’t excessively soggy (Huggies overnights are my favorite thing ever) if I could get away with it, I wouldn’t even unswaddle him to nurse and stuck him immediately back in bassinet after a feed. Man, I’m kinda dreading the exhaustion again. 

newbabymama27

I’m not sure where to post this but…

I had my ultrasound result follow-up with my OB yesterday and all looks normal!! However, my due date has been moved to October 6th based on the ultrasound. I have to admit I’m not surprised. The September 28th date was based on my last period and knowing my body, not super reliable. My period always goes super wonky as soon as I’m off birth control (I.e. it went from a 28 day cycle to 35-45 days for months until I became pregnant) which of course means my ovulation days were all wonky too. 

With that being said, I feel like I’ve really gotten involved in this September group and have learned a lot about you guys that I don’t really want to switch to October and start all over again. I hope it’s okay with you if I hang around even though baby is now due in October  

Oh and… it’s a girl! We are so so excited! We only want 2 kids and having one of each is just perfect and seals our decision of 2 and done! 

kboydbowman

Of course you can stay! There's a strong possibility I will end up having my baby in August, but I wouldn't leave you guys for the world.

laj0217

@newbabymama27 of course you should stay!!

pangolindrome

@newbabymama27 I went the other way, I thought I'd give birth in October and then was dated for September (because I'm confused about how it's all counted) and you should definitely stay with us. Feel free to double dip if you feel so inclined. I do. I would miss you