Weekly Check-In 12/4: edd 8/1 - 8/15

stashattack

Hi all! To those who are new to a BBM, weekly check-ins are a chance to connect and get to know each other.

This thread is for estimated due dates (EDD) from 8/1 - 8/15.

Post your answers in the thread below 🤗

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days:

FTM/STM/STM+:
(First-time mom, second-time mom, etc.)

Upcoming appointments:

How are you feeling:

Rants / Raves:

Questions:

GTKY: What is your favorite holiday tradition?

stashattack

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: 8/15:3w6d

FTM/STM/STM+: STM
Upcoming appointments: Dec 30th telehealth for intake forms and Jan 20th for 10week

How are you feeling: Mostly good. The bloat has hit hard! A few bouts of nausea here and there. But that's about it!

Rants / Raves: Today is gonna be a long one. I'm in back to back meetings from 9am-12pm, well therapy is in the middle LOL. And then another 2pm meeting. Here's to getting nothing done today. 

Questions: Other STMs, are you needed to rearrange the sleeping spaces in prep of the new one coming? Our townhome was originally a 3 bedroom, but the previous owner turned the 3rd bedroom into another common space, which is awesome in some ways, but that also means the LO needs to move until we can room the two of them again. WE do have a guest bed in the common area but I gotta figure out how to transition her to it without us disturbing her too much when we stay up later.

GTKY: What is your favorite holiday tradition? Probably decorating. LOL. IDK we don't really do a whole lot specifically for the holidays anymore. LO was born early on xmas day so we have been transitioning the holidays to be more about the spirit all month long so that xmas can be special for her. 

justyouraveragemama

I think I’ll sit in this one for now until my dating scan.

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: 8/10 4w4d

FTM/STM/STM+: STM

Upcoming appointments: confirmation and blood draw this afternoon

How are you feeling: pretty good over all!

Rants / Raves: rant: I can’t keep up with my appetite! I’m eating through snacks so quickly even when making sure they’re high protein paired with a carb. Our grocery budget cannot handle the amount of food I feel like I require😅 rave: glad I’m not facing extreme fatigue and morning sickness like my first pregnancy! 

Questions: any tips on how to satisfy my hunger?

GTKY: What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Christmas Eve we always do crackers, cheese, and meat for dinner with that welches kids wine/cherry 7up and we watch a Christmas movie. Simple but it doesn’t feel like Christmas without it!

justyouraveragemama

@stashattack we don’t need to reorder anything right now but I have friends who have kind of the same situation, they’ve been keeping baby in their room with a pack n play until they sleep through the night or like only one wake up and then they’re putting both kids in the same room if that could be an option?

stashattack

@justyouraveragemama. Yeah we plan on room sharing for at least the first month or two, but the baby still won't be sleeping through the night at that point. We also need to transition her out of the toddler bed form the crib into a new big girl bed anyway too. It's a lot to think about!

Fingers crossed on your appointment today Keep us posted!

beks37

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: 08/15 / 3w+6d

FTM/STM/STM+: 
(First-time mom, second-time mom, etc.) FTM

Upcoming appointments: Initial bloodwork was today 12/05 - awaiting results

How are you feeling: Nervous, excited, cautiously optimistic 

Rants / Raves: I just wish the waiting wasn’t so stressful. 

Questions: Anyone else taking progesterone? My dr has me on 3 pills a day inserted vaginally. 

Anyone else an “older” mom? I’m 41!

GTKY: What is your favorite holiday tradition? Looking at Christmas lights

lexaldi

Hi everyone! I found out SUPER early, so I’ve been waiting a while for someone to start 🤣

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: august 1st!

FTM/STM/STM+: STM

Upcoming appointments: This Thursday getting blood test to confirm due date 

How are you feeling: a smidge of morning sickness, but REALLY sore boobs!

stashattack

@beks37 hey due date buddy! Looks like there's a few of us with the 15th as the due date! I hope your results come back positive!

@lexaldi haha glad we could get this started up! Good luck with your blood work later this week.

tumbleweed-1

@stashattack do you mean your LO sleeping in common room while you turn her room into a shared bedroom for both? With all the changes it might be easier to add baby things while she’s still using it so she has some ownership still. Unless you are painting or some other kind of remodeling aside from mixing around furniture.

@justyouraveragemama your Christmas dinner sounds amazing! 

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: 8/5 / 5 +2 

FTM/STM/STM+: STM 

Upcoming appointments: so… none yet. I’m thinking of going birth center or home birth route this time and need to make some calls. 

How are you feeling: I’ve known for 2 weeks now and have only told one person irl, so I’m excited this board is active

Rants / Raves:

Questions:

GTKY: What is your favorite holiday tradition?
I think getting the tree would be my favorite, that’s the one thing that I feel like we have to do every year 

justyouraveragemama

@beks37 I’m also taking progesterone, I have a topical serum that I started using this cycle. I got blood drawn today to test my levels and I’m anxiously awaiting those results!

beks37

Just got my results back and my hcg is 388 and progesterone is 37.6! Last time when I miscarried, my progesterone was 4.6. I’m feeling so good about this that it is actually going to stick around. 

justyouraveragemama

Just got my progesterone numbers back too, it’s 12.7 ng/mL which the doctor says is normal but also on the low end so I’ll be upping my progesterone until we get numbers we’re happier about!

ki1244

Mother of cheese I had forgotten how annoying this layout is on a desktop. Guess I'll be app-ing it this time around.

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: August 9-11, somewhere in there, so like 5+0?

FTM/STM/STM+:

(First-time mom, second-time mom, etc.) STM

Upcoming appointments: Not until January 9, which seems late to me. The gal wasn't actually going to schedule me until 12 weeks, but I pushed a bit and reminded her I'LL BE PUSHING 40 and my last kid was induced a week early for macrosomia sooooo how about an appointment sooner? And she said 8 weeks, but this is 10.

How are you feeling: if I didn't know I'd turned a test I'd probably just assume the late night munchies were a bad habit and that's it. Been farting like a hovercraft but that's not exactly unusual when we binge on air-fried brussel sprouts, so not sure if that's pregnancy or dinner.

Rants / Raves: We're going to Disney World this weekend! And telling my MIL about our little acorn (and doing some announcement type pictures) while we're there. I'm stoked about that. But my husband is already in Florida for a conference (DD and I will fly out to meet him there) and I have to pack, with a toddler, and no spouse, and if you have ever had to pack for a vacation with a kid around you know IT. IS. THE. WORST.

Questions: What's normal for AMA pregnancies with appointment schedules? I'm clearly second guessing this OB office. (The OB herself comes highly recommended -- the OB who delivered my daughter is just a little too far away to drive, so I'm seeing a new one -- but I'm kind of ishy on her receptionist right now.) Also shout-out to @beks37, what's up oldtimer? 38 year old over here, will be just a hair shy of 39 when baby is due.

GTKY: What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas breakfast is BBQ potato chips, elephant ear pastries, cheese and salami with spicy mustard. I have no earthly idea how we got started with that but it stuck. Also my husband and I have a dang STACK of DVDs to watch every year, some of which are great (Elf, Christmas Vacation, etc) and some are his (Year Without a Santa, Rudolph, and the rest of the weird claymation set that scares the holy bejesus out of our toddler and also me), but it's fun to heckle them and pick on him a bit while we watch those.

beks37

@ki1244 Hey back! I’m used to be being treated by a specialist, but that was years ago. So this is new to me on when I should be seen. After my miscarriage in July, my OB wanted to keep a better eye on things. Last time they wanted to see me at 8 weeks. This time I’m going for blood draws to see how things are going, then they’ll probably schedule me for 8 weeks. Seems so far away! I’ll still be 41 when baby is born! 

lovestogarden16

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: 8/10 4w6d

FTM/STM/STM+:
(First-time mom, second-time mom, etc.) FTM

Upcoming appointments: I have an early ultrasound next week. 

How are you feeling: pretty tired!! 

Questions: I’ve cut back on my coffee intake and don’t know how to cope lol. Anyone battling exhaustion in some healthy way? I’m drinking a lot of water but still not feeling too energetic. 

GTKY: What is your favorite holiday tradition? Decorating the tree and eating potato latkes. We celebrate chrismukkah around here 😀

ki1244

@lyss3208 I discovered last time around the placebo effect of half-caff did the trick for me. I just found a decaf I didn't mind, and instead of two scoops of my usual coffee (for my daily 4 cups...) I do one regular one decaf. That seemed to psych my brain into thinking I was running on fully leaded coffee without actually needing as much caffeine, and I actually stuck with it ever since, now four years later. I find my lull now during this pregnancy is usually in the 5-6pm time frame, which for us is the eternity between post-nap playtime for my daughter and time to start dinner for me...but snuggling up in the recliner watching Bluey seems to rejuvenate me pretty well. And truthfully even without a kid, a 16-minute break to watch Bluey is probably still worthwhile, that show is legit funny as hell.

stashattack

@ki1244 bluey is a staple in this household too!

@lyss3208 Energy is gonna be rough for the first 3 months. I remember being thankful I had my own office so I could shut my door and take a nap when I literally couldn't keep my eyes open anymore LOL. If you like tea, you can drink pretty much unlimited caf tea from what I remember. So that's what I've done. I have decaf coffee and black tea on days where i need extra energy. 

ccmrc143

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: 8/14 so 4w3d today I think. I’m so bad at the math, and I have short cycles so I go off positive OPK as opposed to LMP (even though the doctors go off LMP) 

FTM/STM/STM+: STM I have a 19mo son

Upcoming appointments: I am getting my labs next week, intake with a nurse on Dec 21, and then 8w appt with doctor and “bedside ultrasound” on Jan 11

How are you feeling: I’m feeling good, mostly anxious. I’m having some GI issues which are similar to what I had with my son at this stage. Tingles of pain in my boobs and otherwise that’s kind of it. 

Rants / Raves: here to rave about my new nanny. We’re in a share situation with another toddler so we can afford it, but our new nanny is SO awesome. All about fun activities and cleaning the house. It’s a relief to be able to work and trust the person caring for my son, finally, after an unreliable person we were dealing with over the last few months. 

Questions: is anyone else obsessively testing at home? 

GTKY: What is your favorite holiday tradition? I love baking Christmas cookies! My dad and I go nuts and bake up a storm. And then we frost them in very strange kind of artsy ways. This year I’m hoping to bake a lot of cookies and mail them out to friends and family. But now that I’m pregnant I want to lower my expectations of myself a bit so we’ll see. 

rhp1189

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: August 9th; I'm 5 weeks and 1 day along!

I'll be a FTM.

Upcoming appointments: I have a phone intake appointment in two weeks, and an in-person exam Jan 25th.

How are you feeling: Pretty good so far! My husband and I have been trying for a while, so I was testing frequently and found out pretty early, but sore boobs were my first clue. My boobs are still very sore a week and a half later, I'm a little bloated, and I'm feeling a little more tired than usual -- I'm also a caffeine fiend and am struggling, but decaf/half caf is holding me together! Also the excitement.

I'm so so excited to tell my parents and friends the week after next, in person. I'm also pretty nervous about having to fly cross country next week and am *really* crossing my fingers and toes that if I have morning sickness (my mom, grandma, and aunts didn't, so I am also hoping for some extreme genetic luck here), it's after I'm back home in week 8. I've read it's at its worst in week 9. I'm taking B6 for prevention. I have emetophobia, so this is one of my biggest fears.

Rants / Raves: no rants just yet! I'm sure I'll have them eventually :)

Questions: I guess if anyone has had to travel early in a pregnancy, how was it? If it was rough, any coping mechanisms?

Also, when did you or do you plan to tell people? I've seen ranges of 8-12 weeks so I know it'll be on the early side to tell our parents, but this is the last time we'll see them in person until the spring and I can't wait that long!

GTKY: My favorite holiday tradition is decorating the tree with my mom. She's Jewish and absolutely loves decorating for Christmas (my dad is nominally Lutheran and pays no attention to decorating). My husband and I are hoping to finally have our own tree next year, after many years of living in too-tiny apartments.

And @ccmrc143 I've tested three times! I don't know why!!!

stashattack

@knottieab00555b383f583a We are still up in the air about when exactly to share the news. We are traveling to our parents this christmas and staying with each a few days. Not sure if I'll be able to hide my symptoms from them that long. We shall see. Last time we didn't tell them until after our first ultrasound which was close to the end of my 1st trimester. But that isn't happening this time until Jan 20th. IDK. WE are planning to play it by ear right now. Still got a couple of weeks to decide.

justyouraveragemama

@lyss3208 I really like matcha for energy! I had to cut out coffee like a year ago because the caffeine amount would make me feel awful. I tried matcha out and it gives some good energy without the buzz or jitters!

ki1244

@rhp1189 I'm actually flying this weekend and doing five days at Disney! And in my last pregnancy we traveled quite a bit as well. Honestly my biggest fear with that one wasn't the early trips, it was when we flew two weeks into my third trimester but I was ALL BABY and it looked like I was going to deliver any second. I had my doc write a note for me that I was only 30 weeks and was cleared to travel, in case a flight attendant stopped me. God, I had forgotten about that... Anyway, I just usually kept a supply of ginger gummies handy, and I have a couple sea bands I need to dig out, but never really needed them last time around.

Also, and maybe this belongs in the UO thread, but I've been a big believer in us telling people as soon as we know ourselves. My sister and a few close friends have always known on the day I test, and we do something cute for our parents as soon as reasonably possible (so it'll be this weekend, 8 days after we found out ourselves). I totally understand people do their own thing and I know my timing isn't for everyone -- but three reasons I personally want to share and share early:
1. I'm awful at secrets. I have no poker face.
2. I think, from the moment it's created, the baby is a living person, and a person worthy of being celebrated, and God forbid, if necessary, grieved. God willing, I'm no less a mom of two now than I will be 10 months from now. ***TW*** If the unthinkable happens and I lose the baby, it isn't like he or she is some little secret -- I'll want and need the support and love of family and friends, just the same as if the baby passed after being born. So I don't want to wait and see, just in case, which I think has led to a lot of hush-hush around miscarriage, despite how tragically common it is -- I want to celebrate the new life that already exists, and we'll deal with whatever happens just as openly.
3. To that end, I'm a person who does believe in prayer. If I hold that this little person is in fact a person, in quite a vulnerable position, I want my friends and family to be praying for him or her, which they can't do it they don't know he or she exists. One more ***TW***: if I were to tell a friend that my preschooler had a diagnosis of some sort that gave her a 25% chance of death, no one would think twice about me saying "so would you please pray for a good outcome for her?" At my age, that's my odds of miscarriage -- so just as I'd want prayer for my daughter this side of the uterus, I for sure want prayer for my little acorn on the inside too.

Again, that's not for everyone and I don't expect it to be, but that's how I roll. Sorry for the sermon! It's just hard to be succinct with something like this.

ki1244

@stashattack funny you say black tea...my first pregnancy I went through about three weeks when coffee tasted like battery acid, but my husband had brought back this delicious hazelnut chai tea from a tea shop he stopped at in Chicago on one of his road trips. It was SO GOOD and was basically how I functioned those weeks. It's a loose tea in a canister, though, so I had to shake it up before spooning it into my infuser. One day I went to shake it and apparently I hadn't sealed the lid on, because I shook it alllllll over the kitchen. I'm kind of a slob anyway, but in early pregnancy exhaustion + husband gone a lot during basketball season, my kitchen was...a little less than Mary Poppins clean. But this tea...I couldn't get it in our town, and it was the only thing that sounded good. I literally started crying, then looked around (like anyone was watching, I was home alone), and scooped it back into the can. Didn't tell my husband until six-ish months after our daughter was born and she picked up a cheerio or something from the floor and he was like NOOOOO DON'T EAT THAT and I fessed up that I (and he, bahahahahaha) had been drinking dust bunny tea for the last year.

justyouraveragemama

@ki1244 that tea story is hilarious😂😂😂 the things we do to satisfy cravings!

rhp1189

I really appreciate that @justyouraveragemama ! It gels with how I'm feeling and it sounds like we have the same ability to keep secrets (I've almost told people, like, sixteen times...). I do still want it to be in person for the families -- it'll be everyone's first grandchild, and we want it to be special! -- but I'm not going to feel bad about it being a smidge early.

And lol @ your Disney travels!! I'm really trying to avoid any travel after month 5, but we'll see! I'll check out those ginger gummies :)

tumbleweed-1

about telling people/when (possible TW?): I’ve always heard (and like) this advice that you tell anyone whose support you would want early on in the event of MC, and others who it might be more awkward or uncomfortable to explain a potential loss to can wait to find out (more distant relatives, social media acquaintance, etc). 

ki1244

@rhp1189 unless your doc has a reason to advise against travel later on, it's honestly not bad. Month 5-6-7 was great! Last time around we were potentially going to have to move 13 hours away at 8 months, and THAT would have sucked. (My OB was awesome and basically told my husband "you can take the job there if you want but you won't be taking your wife with you." Among other reasons, we stayed put, thankfully.) But just travel in general? If you have a smooth pregnancy, use that as your last hurrah before baby! Yeah maybe you have to fit your whole self in an airplane bathroom because you have to pee every 22 minutes, and use half your suitcase to shove your pregnancy body pillow in (these were both actual things I did...) but that's basically the low point and it's like travel any other time otherwise. If you want to stay put, cool, but if there's somewhere you want to go and it works out best to go in May or June, do it!

stashattack

@ki1244 That's too funny about your tea story LOL!!

wendy838

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: Aug 11/5+0

FTM/STM/STM+: STM

Upcoming appointments: Dec 19 with my family doctor and a midwife 

How are you feeling: the bloat. I forgot alllll about the bloat. Trying to hide this from MIL/FIL until we're further along but my belly lookin 4 months is not helping. 

Rants / Raves: we get a week off at the end of Dec and I'm so excited to just sit and do nothing. 

Questions: none right now

GTKY: What is your favorite holiday tradition? Our little tradition right now is going to see Santa every year. Growing up, my parents didn't really make Christmas a big deal (no tree, no decorations) and I want my kid to have a totally different experience. I love Christmas decorating!

stashattack

@wendy838 the bloat is so bad. I remembered about the bloat, but I definitely minimized the effects! UGH so rough.

lydia_newmommy_86

Estimated Due Date / Weeks + Days: Estimated due date is 8/6.

FTM/STM/STM+: I am a first time mom!

Upcoming appointments: I had my confirmation appt a few days ago and my first prenatal appointment is scheduled for Dec. 22.

How are you feeling: I have been feeling incredibly nauseous. The past week was pretty bad but today is the first day of week six and the morning sickness really ramped up a level. My mom never mentioned much morning sickness, just food aversions and cravings so for some reason I wasn’t expecting it to be so bad.

Rants / Raves: I could rave all day about my supportive husband. He has been the best so far. I’m not sure I could do this without him.

Questions: Does anybody with morning sickness have tips for how to survive a workday? Thankfully I had the past week off but am currently planning to go back tomorrow.

GTKY: One of my favorite holiday traditions is having a Christmas breakfast with my extended family. I’m a little nervous for it this year though because I’m having a hard time finding foods that don’t upset my nausea.

britturich

I’ve stashed my desk with bland snacks and try to snack on them throughout the work day. The minute I feel hungry is when I feel sick so forcing myself to eat crackers and things throughout the day has been important along with drinking lots of water

stashattack

@lydia_newmommy_86 sprite and ginger ale helped a bit for me. IT was rough for a while. But it usually gets better It's one of those times where you just kinda have to survive it

rhp1189

Edit: moved to correct weekly thread, whoops!