Weekly Check-in 8/25/2025

emeraldcity603

FTM/STM/TTM+: 

EDD / Weeks + Days: 

Team blue/pink/green:

Upcoming Appointments: 

How are you feeling?: 

Rants/Raves: 

Questions:   

thescarletmom

FTM/STM/TTM+: 4TM

EDD / Weeks + Days: March 15 / 11w1

Team blue/pink/green: Finding out

Upcoming Appointments: Nothing until mid-September

How are you feeling?: Rapidly oscillating between decent and miserable. Trying to make the most of it when I feel good, and I think I've been overdoing it in the spirit of taking advantage of the moment. And then I feel pretty crummy for a while after. 

Rants/Raves: I think.... this baby is a girl? When I was pregnant with my daughter I had the strongest aversion to sugar! Like even my favorite desserts I simply couldn't take more than a few bites of without being utterly repulsed. My favorite cake of all time has been in our house for a week and is barely touched because I just cannot eat it 😂 i have this weird thing where I've dreamed the sex of my babies each time and been right, so I withhold my final judgment until this baby shows up in my dreams (I know it sounds so silly but also it's one of my favorite fun facts about me).

fifilala516

FTM/STM/TTM+: STM

EDD / Weeks + Days: March 16 / 11w1

Team blue/pink/green: Finding out

Upcoming Appointments: Sept 2 for NT scan and NIPT

How are you feeling?: I would say 75% good and 25% meh. The worst of it hits in the evening where I get so tired I need to lie down immediately. And then I’m up half the night peeing and having insomnia. I’m also either ravenous to the point of feeling sick or sick because I ate. Oh- and I keep getting cracked skin in the corner of my mouth? It hurts like a B.

And don’t get me started on these vivid dreams.

Rants/Raves: I loaded up on desk snacks from Trader Joe’s and I discovered Buffalo Ranch Popcorn. OMG where has it been all my life??!!

midnightatsunset

FTM/STM/TTM+: STM

EDD / Weeks + Days: 9w2d

Team blue/pink/green: Finding out

Upcoming Appointments: nothing until later in September

How are you feeling?: In a welcome turn events, feeling ok in the mornings, but then nausea slowly creeps on me throughout the day until I have to force myself to eat a small meal at dinnertime and collapse. I try to take advantage of when I have energy to go for walks with my toddler or do things around the house but by mid-day I am a couch potato and can barely move.

Rants/Raves: I can't wait for this phase of pregnancy to be over. Yes, it's exciting I am pregnant and even though I don't have as bad as some women do - I just hate this tired and sick feeling. I'm over it. 

Questions: since there are so many veteran moms here - any tips for the transition of 1-2 kiddos? I know it's different for everyone, but I still love to hear advice (or warnings)

midnightatsunset

@thescarletmom that's incredible you accurately dream of the sex of your babies! 

emeraldcity603

@midnightatsunset My best advice is to expect to get zero sleep. You will be up all night with the baby and then up at the crack of dawn with your toddler who is ready for the day. If you set the bar low for your expectation of sleep, anything you get above that will feel like a successful night/day. Having this mindset really helped when I went from 2 small kiddos to 3. I didn’t have this mindset when I went from 1 toddler to a toddler and newborn. It was so hard and I suffered a lot. I will say, my newborn had pyloric stenosis so was sick the first 2 months and eventually needed surgery to correct it. So there were more things at play that was increasing my exhaustion. 

Also, anyone who wants to breastfeed but failed with their first baby, I highly recommend getting a book that is all about breastfeeding so you know the ins and puts of breastfeeding before the baby gets here. I stopped breastfeeding my first because I thought I didn’t have enough milk but turns out he was just cluster feeding and that’s normal. 

emeraldcity603

FTM/STM/TTM+: TTM+

EDD / Weeks + Days: 3/25; 10 weeks tomorrow 

Team blue/pink/green: finding out 

Upcoming Appointments: NIPT blood draw this Thursday. 

How are you feeling?: I have good days and bad days. Yesterday was a good day. I never really felt sick. I did crash in the evening from exhaustion. 

Rants/Raves: we are going to the fair tomorrow. I’m excited. I want to go look around at all the shops and eat some fair food. Plus I always enjoy looking at the farm animals. 

Questions: none 

thescarletmom

@emeraldcity603 have a great time at the fair! We love going as a family, and I hope one day they will be special memories for our kids. When we finally got home Saturday night 2 hours after bedtime (we are a family of night owls so it works for us, I know many others couldn't hang for late nights!) I laid with our boys briefly after lights out and they both told me separately what a great day they had. 

@midnightatsunset totally agree that you should set expectations *low* on sleep. If you accept it now it will hurt your feelings less lol. Some great advice I got with our third for a perspective shift is telling my baby "I missed you too" when she woke up in the night. It might sound silly, but it can be very grounding in the moment! Find something that works for you like this if you can! I know this is such generic advice, but it is really true: The best thing you can do is have extremely low expectations of everyone involved and give lots of grace. Yourself, your baby, your toddler, your partner. Easier said than done I know! Life will be chaotic at first, let go of ANYTHING that causes you stress unless it's an absolute necessity. Build things into your day to look forward to, whether it's a mental health walk with the babies, a special show to watch during nap time, keeping your favorite snack just for you on hand when you need calories but don't have time or hands for food prep. To the extent you can establish little changes to your routine before baby so that it's not such a shock to your and your toddlers daily routine, do that! And at the end of the day, know that you're going to do great. PP is a period of survival much in the same way first trimester is! And just know that if your toddler has a hard time adjusting to the new baby, one day they will be older and you'll get to listen to them play together from across the house and you'll want to cry thinking about how special it is to raise siblings (if you're a sap like me).

knottie133b780668aafd5e

FTM/STM/TTM+: FTM

EDD / Weeks + Days: March 12 / 11w, 5d

Team blue/pink/green: Team blue! Already found out.

Upcoming Appointments: Friday for 12-week ultrasound 

How are you feeling?: Improving every day! Nausea is almost completely gone, and my exhaustion is slowly getting better. 

Rants/Raves: No one told me how much I’d have to pee at this stage already! Between that and the vivid dreams / insomnia, sleep is wild. 

RoseShadow873

FTM/STM/TTM+: 4TM

EDD / Weeks + Days: 9 weeks + 3

Team blue/pink/green: pink!

Upcoming Appointments: nothing til one day shy of week 13! I feel like the wait to get an appointment is ridiculous.

How are you feeling?: Good, no symptoms really. 

Rants/Raves: I feel like they don't sell as much cute maternity clothing as they used to. I got rid of my old stuff and I regret it. But one thing hasn't changed, companies keep trying to sell us on the horizontal stripes.

Questions:   

lizdiane456

FTM/STM/TTM+: STM

EDD / Weeks + Days: 12 +0, March 11

Team blue/pink/green: finding out

Upcoming Appointments: next week, 2nd prenatal

How are you feeling?: migraines have gotten worse, I finally called my Dr on monday. He pulled me off work for the next week and wants me on modified bedrest, he also started me on a migraine med three times a day. It's working ok, headaches aren't gone but instead of being fully debilitating they are just annoying. I really can't do anything without them coming back though, even just going to the grocery store yesterday caused a migraine even with the meds. He said if by tomorrow they haven't mostly gone away I'll have to start seeing my OB, which is fine I like her, but my PCP is so much more convenient as his office is a block from our daycare and right by home where as my OB is in the city and an hour away. 

Rants/Raves: our dishwasher broke last weekend, it's still under warranty thankfully, just waiting for a part and fingers crossed it should be fixed by Friday. Just not an ideal week for it 

thescarletmom

@lizdiane456 oof, a terrible week! I'll cross my fingers for you that it gets better and your dishwasher is fixed soon. Handwashing dishes gets old fast, even when you use paper plates and plastic utensils and only have to wash the things you cook with.

emeraldcity603

knottie133b780668aafd5e said:

FTM/STM/TTM+: FTM

EDD / Weeks + Days: March 12 / 11w, 5d

Team blue/pink/green: Team blue! Already found out.

Upcoming Appointments: Friday for 12-week ultrasound 

How are you feeling?: Improving every day! Nausea is almost completely gone, and my exhaustion is slowly getting better. 

Rants/Raves: No one told me how much I’d have to pee at this stage already! Between that and the vivid dreams / insomnia, sleep is wild. 

Hi, please change your username so we can more easily interact with you. We can’t tag you or easily recognize your username because your username looks like every other knottienumbers on the board. There is a thread explaining how to do it. 

beachmama14

FTM/STM/TTM+: 4TM

EDD / Weeks + Days: March 29// 9w3d

Team blue/pink/green: Team blue!

Upcoming Appointments: I have my first regular OB appt Sept 10 after graduating from the IVF clinic at 8w.

How are you feeling?: Overall manageable. I feel like Im doing a better job about what Im eating and not letting myself get too hungry. Im doing better with small meals throughout the day and not just 3 standard. Im sleeping like 10-11 hours a night on the weekends to try and make it through the work week. My clothes feel so uncomfortable but not looking "bumpy" yet.

Rants/Raves: Rave that I only have 5 more PIO shots left before I get to stop those! My butt is so sore lol

Questions: Any football fans in here? College? NFL? My house is very excited that college football is back this weekend. Go Bucks!   

midnightatsunset

@RoseShadow873 I'm only on my second pregnancy and I also kind of feel like maternity clothes aren't that great. I found a few pieces I liked two years ago, but trying to look again (because I am going to be at my biggest when it's cold vs warm like my last pregnancy) I was so discouraged! I feel like I might end up going to thrift stores and grabbing clothes that are extra big to accommodate the bump, but I also don;t want to feel frumpy all winter

midnightatsunset

@thescarletmom what a bummer on the dishwasher! Ours broke a couple months ago and we got a new one within a week. Even with just three of us in a household I was so tired of doing dishes by hand all the time!

RoseShadow873

@midnightatsunset Maybe more people are just making do with non-maternity clothes these days and that's why it seems like there is less out there. But I just got some maternity things yesterday that I ordered from H&M, a cozy sweater skirt and shirt and jeans, and they seem pretty nice! 

lizdiane456

@RoseShadow873 I agree, maternity clothes are awful. I am dreading buying a maternity parka but it gets to be -30C all winter here so not really optional. I suspect I will need new boots too, my feet grew almost a whole size last pregnancy. I have two pairs of maternity jeans from my first which are not flattering or cute, but decently comfortable, and I'm kinda hoping I can get away with the sweaters I have for the most part. 

blossomingmama

•STM

•Clarifying EDD next week at my 2nd prenatal appt I believe it was either 10w6days or 12w5days.

•Team healthy baby, gender reveal to come.

•Feeling nauseous, vomiting almost daily (mostly at night it's the worst), back pain (some days are worse than others), heightened sense of smell still, clothing doesn't fit right, sore breasts, hormonal. What am I not feeling? 😮‍💨🥴

•Not looking forward to hunting for maternity clothing. Want to an Old Navy store just to see if I could grab some lounge shorts, and they told me their maternity is only online. Going to start looking at other local stores. Other than that the n/v is utterly exhausting and heartburn is occasional at night. I don't think I have any raves this week! Just trying to survive this first trimester. Maybe I can rave about the first trimester coming to an end? Haha

Any good maternity sales going on?

Any good soup/noodle recipes? 

thescarletmom

@blossomingmama it's still hot here but I am craving warm soups so bad! We have grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner last night and wow, I forgot how good it is together. Staples around here are chicken noodle soup, loaded potato soup, copy-cat chicken and gnocchi. I can link some recipes for you if something sounds good!

emeraldcity603

I have my first official appointment today. It’s at the birthing center. I’m not sure if I want to stay at the birthing center or move to the hospital. They want me to sign a contract this morning. So I need to make a decision. I’m just worried about all the unnecessary stuff at the hospital but also I have had super painful deliveries at the birthing center. I don’t want a repeat of my last delivery. I wasn’t even able to hold my baby after he was born last time because I was in shock after what had happened to my body. 

My options are, just switch to the hospital. Honestly the 24 hours at the hospital in a little bubble by myself with my newborn sounds kinda amazing. But the red tape of the hospital is not something I enjoy. 

Stay at this midwife office and just do better at preparing and maybe use the shower or tub this time. 

Or switch to another midwife group and see if I have a better experience. I feel a bit awkward switching midwives though. So that makes me hesitant. 

thescarletmom

@emeraldcity603 what feels awkward? Like you feel bad switching because they all know each other, or making the call to tell them you're switching providers? While I think prep is super important for the birthing experience, I also think I remember you saying these midwives made you feel bad about the way you wanted to labor? If it were me, I'd probably switch midwives, and if you get there and they're not any better, go for the hospital. Because I would honestly be surprised if feeling bad because of the way your midwives talked to you didn't end up having a physical effect on your labor. We know mom's mental/emotional space has an impact on how labor progresses, and it's important that you feel respected and honored by your provider. 

blossomingmama

@thescarletmom same! chicken noodle and loaded potato recipes please! 😊I would love to try a new recipe! 

@emeraldcity603 I can't stress this enough, do what would make you most comfortable in the end. This is about your experience, and your choices. I agree with thescarletmom in the importance of feeling respected and honored by your provider. We don't have birthing centers where I am, so I never got to experience this..but I delivered at a hospital that had a tub, with a midwife who respected my decisions, and a nurse who advocated for me during active labor. I wasn't able to hold my baby immediately after birth which did suck so bad, but it was because they were suctioning..etc. (I developed a fever from my water being broken for so long and I believe baby aspirated also). Within a couple minutes baby was in my arms, but I did hate the red tape. I was up and walking within 30 minutes after birth ready to be discharged and they were like "uhhh you're going to the PP unit due to the fever so we can monitor you and baby". Even after 24 hours I was sick of it, and the PP bed, and they had me stay 36 hours. I'm sure it'll be different because I have a small child at home now, but I can agree the red tape can be annoying even though it's for safety..etc. Bottom line, do what your gut is telling you to do, and what you're most comfortable doing according to your situation. 

emeraldcity603

@thescarletmom and @blossomingmama I talked with the midwife at length today about my last two deliveries with them and we went over my pushing time of each birth. By far my pushing time at the birthing center has been the longest. It was an hour and 45 minutes last time. I know it was because I wasn’t able to bear down the way I needed to. I have pushed larger babies out faster. I think I’m going to end up at the hospital. My last 3 births haven’t been more than 4.5 hours so I don’t think I’ll have time to deal with too much red tape. My MIL is also a former midwife and I may have her there to be a barrier between me and the nurses. My husband is a doctor so they may be more likely to leave me alone if he is in the room. He works at the hospital I would be delivering at. 

I got the NIPt blood draw today and will know the results in a week. 

thescarletmom

@emeraldcity603 I do think having a good, knowledgeable support team is a great way to protect yourself! Especially if you talked at length with the midwife today and you still didn't feel right about it. I would be so extremely frustrated if someone tried to tell me *how* to give birth when I know what I need, so I feel for you that none of your options feel like winners. I hope your hospital experience is great and you get exactly what you need out of it!

thescarletmom

@blossomingmama I'm going to post the recipes for you in the food thread!

robinj716

FTM/STM/TTM+: TTM 

EDD / Weeks + Days: 10+5; due March 22 

Team blue/pink/green: Blue according to sneak peek

Upcoming Appointments: 9/17 for NIPT and US. My genetic horizon carrier screening all came back today negative which is nice. Looking forward to the next US. 

How are you feeling?: feeling mostly okay, with waves of nausea here and there. Like today I woke up and nothing sounds or tastes good. I was really craving salad yesterday, but today food is just blah. 

Rants/Raves: told the kids last weekend about their new brother. DS (9) cried and said he didn’t want another. DS (5) is thrilled. We just told my FIL & SIL last weekend after telling the kids. They were excited. My MIL passed away June 2018 from cancer. I told my aunt last week too (she’s like a mom.) I was really nervous to tell her, but she is excited and said she will always support me. Actually DS (5) told her “I’m gonna be a big brother! Mommy has a baby in her belly!” I played it off and said no he’s just kidding around and then finally said okay he’s right. I wanted to tell her anyway, I just worried of her reaction. She already says my hands are full, so I am glad she’s being positive and supportive. I still need to tell my dad and step mom. And I think I’ll tell work after my next appt. On 9/17. 

Plus one to the comment above about maternity clothes. I usually buy very minimal items. Just washed the clothes I had saved, but they’re barely fitting. I just need a pair of leggings, work pant and jeans. I loved the basic maternity wicking type tees at wal-mart so going to try to find those online since nothing is sold in stores anymore. Kind of miss the days where you could go into a whole store for the experience! 

Questions: what do we do for underwear? I already wear high rise bikini which are decent for now. As belly gets bigger do we actually buy maternity ones or just ride it out under the bump? Can’t remember what I did before honestly. 

blossomingmama

@emeraldcity603 From what I've been told, and have researched usually when it comes to red tape in terms of staying at the hospital longer than 24h it has to do with if there are other children at home, and the status/health of mother and baby. I don't foresee you having any issues with leaving within 24h. Is your husband an OB doc? Or general medicine? Either way having a solid support system and good staff there will always help the mental aspect. I hope you get a good staff that makes you feel heard and at feel at ease once delivery day comes. 

@thescarletmom sounds good! I'll check there for the recipes! 

robinj716 either or! I bought these boy short type underwear that are so comfortable and have worked for me in the past for before and after. They are very stretchy. I also bought a maternity style but they were the type to sit right underneath the bump. I suppose it boils down to what is most comfortable for you. I know for a fact there's some I just wouldn't want to wear at all right now because I am all about comfort right now. 

emeraldcity603

@robinj716 I finally bought some maternity underwear for my last pregnancy and they were amazing. So comfortable. I get the under the belly kind and not over the belly. I wouldn’t hesitate to get them for the overall comfort. 

@blossomingmama He is an ER doctor. He does consults with the OBs when necessary but not regularly enough for any of them to recognize him.