@gretchypoo I'll also add that regular discharge will have a different consistency than your water. Your water breaking would more likely be confused with urine in my opinion. When mine broke I woke up to a wet bed so I didn't experience a gush but I knew I had not had an accident.
My dishwasher has a sanitize setting, I'm hoping that will be good enough.
So, this may be a stupid question... I'm having a lot of discharge and I know that is normal. But how do you tell if your water has broken and its not just discharge?
At least for me, there was a gush that kept happening, like I would sit down and gush, stand up and gush, etc. I've always heard that to test if you think your water broke put a pad on, lay down for like 30 minutes and if the pad is soaked it could be your water...I also called the on-call doctor so you could always call the doctor since they would know best!
STM random question here.. I wasn't working last time when I had DD so I didn't really worry as much. But this time, I'm planning on working up to the very last minute and still teaching. Should I be wearing large pads or adult diapers in the last weeks leading up? Is that ridiculous?
@fourPsinapod Isn't the amount of women who's water breaks as a first sign of labor pretty small? If it was me I'd just take the risk that you'll be fine and if not you'll have a movie worthy moment as your parting gift to your students!
@fourPsinapod Isn't the amount of women who's water breaks as a first sign of labor pretty small? If it was me I'd just take the risk that you'll be fine and if not you'll have a movie worthy moment as your parting gift to your students!
Hahahahaha I can just hear the chorus of "EWWWWWWWW!!" right now! Hahahaha!
My mom had 5 kids and my two sisters had 5 combined and no one ever had their water break. They all went in with active labor and the doctor broke it. Seems weird that of 10 chances it never happened! Not sure if that's hereditary or not, but it calmed me down with worrying about mine (slightly)!
@fourPsinapod I'm slightly ridiculous, but if I wasn't being forced to have DD early then I probably would. Of course, I REALLY didn't want my water breaking in public so there's that too.
BFP #1: DD born on 08.25.12
BFP #2: 09/08/15 miscarried at 6w
BFP #3: DD2 born on 02.07.17
@fourPsinapod I have been calling teaching while pregnant a performative birth control lesson for my students; if your water breaks in the classroom, I think yours will take the cake.
@fourPsinapod I have been calling teaching while pregnant a performative birth control lesson for my students; if your water breaks in the classroom, I think yours will take the cake.
STM random question here.. I wasn't working last time when I had DD so I didn't really worry as much. But this time, I'm planning on working up to the very last minute and still teaching. Should I be wearing large pads or adult diapers in the last weeks leading up? Is that ridiculous?
STM random question here.. I wasn't working last time when I had DD so I didn't really worry as much. But this time, I'm planning on working up to the very last minute and still teaching. Should I be wearing large pads or adult diapers in the last weeks leading up? Is that ridiculous?
Personally, I'd rather have my water break in front of a class than wear big pads or diapers in public for any length of time. Just calmly hit the call button and ask for building services....
STM random question here.. I wasn't working last time when I had DD so I didn't really worry as much. But this time, I'm planning on working up to the very last minute and still teaching. Should I be wearing large pads or adult diapers in the last weeks leading up? Is that ridiculous?
Sitb
I am legitimately worried about this, and don't need a movie moment in a male dominated work place. Students go away the following year...but these men...these awkward, ammunition-lovin' men...I have to come back and face them. And they need to take me seriously.
@Patience7150 I'm sorry to hear your coworkers would be jerks, but it's unfortunately not too surprising. It's rare for that to be a first labour sign, though, right? So chances are you'd have some warning...
@poetryandoceans I'm not certain if they'd be jerks, but they'd be awkward for sure. We sit next to engineering...and engineers are awkward. I do agree with you that it's unlikely to be my first labor sign, so outside of coming up with a better plan (because diapers for days would be horrendous), I'll stick with hope!
Forgive me if this has been asked already, but did any STMs here get varicose veins? If so, do they go away after you give birth at all, or at least reduce to the point of not needing compression socks? Mine aren't too bad persay, but I'm just wondering if it's something I am going to have from here on out.
My water broke while I was pushing. It actually hit the opposite wall LOL!!! And I've also heard it's very rare for that dramatic breaking so you're probably fine if you're a teacher or in front of large groups of people.
If I remember the statistics correctly less then 5% of labors start by your water breaking. So chances are in your favor. My second labor started by me waking up in the middle of the night and feeling off. Sat up, felt a pop and then gushing. I just remember being thankful for the waterproof mattress pad cover on our bed! And I had to wear double pads and sit on towels on our way to the hospital. I still got there with very wet pants. I walked by the nurses station and one of the nurses commented that I am ruptured- oh really? That's what I said!
I'm not sure on statistics, but my labor for my son started with a big dramatic splash on the sidewalk of the mall where I was shopping. I thought my husband was being over prepared by having a stack of towels to sit on in my car. But I was very glad to have those towels!
Edited to add: wearing a pad or adult diapers would have done nothing! It was a ridiculous amount of fluid in that first gush. I went home and cleaned up, got new pants, undies and put on a pad but still was soaked getting to the hospital.
I'm not sure on statistics, but my labor for my son started with a big dramatic splash on the sidewalk of the mall where I was shopping. I thought my husband was being over prepared by having a stack of towels to sit on in my car.
Edited to add: wearing a pad or adult diapers would have done nothing! It was a ridiculous amount of fluid in that first gush. I went home and cleaned up, got new pants, undies and put on a pad but still was soaked getting to the hospital.
This ^^ mine was broken in the hospital, but it was ALOT of water, like get the mop and bucket amount of water. So there's no real preventative measure to take. And like PPs said, the odds are in your favor. It's rare to have water break as the start of labor.
If you're planning to BF, are you sanitizing a few bottles JIC or seeing if you need to first? How long does a sanitized bottle stay "sanitized" before it needs another round anyway?
What is your system on dealing with too small clothes?
Are you talking about clothes that baby grows out of, or clothes that they never even got to wear because they were too big? Or something else? Lol either way, we packed all baby clothes away once the kids outgrew them. I put them in boxes or totes and labeled the box with the size. That way if we had another boy/girl we could just pull it out, wash it up, and use. Or if not the sizes were labeled for passing down to family/friends. Or a lot of my family sends the stuff to goodwill.
What is your system on dealing with too small clothes?
Are you talking about clothes that baby grows out of, or clothes that they never even got to wear because they were too big? Or something else? Lol either way, we packed all baby clothes away once the kids outgrew them. I put them in boxes or totes and labeled the box with the size. That way if we had another boy/girl we could just pull it out, wash it up, and use. Or if not the sizes were labeled for passing down to family/friends. Or a lot of my family sends the stuff to goodwill.
Yeah, I am just wondering what to do as he outgrows things. I am assuming some brands will be sized smaller than others, so he might not grow out of all 0-3 simultaneously....
I saw on pinterest that someone just had a "too small" bin, but I wasn't sure if anyone had a system of packing things away.
@WinchesterGirl yeah it will be more of a one thing at a time that you'll notice he's too big for. I bought a big storage container and would just add each thing at a time. Now I'll go through her clothes every few months and fold up the things that don't fit anymore.
What is your system on dealing with too small clothes?
Are you talking about clothes that baby grows out of, or clothes that they never even got to wear because they were too big? Or something else? Lol either way, we packed all baby clothes away once the kids outgrew them. I put them in boxes or totes and labeled the box with the size. That way if we had another boy/girl we could just pull it out, wash it up, and use. Or if not the sizes were labeled for passing down to family/friends. Or a lot of my family sends the stuff to goodwill.
Yeah, I am just wondering what to do as he outgrows things. I am assuming some brands will be sized smaller than others, so he might not grow out of all 0-3 simultaneously....
I saw on pinterest that someone just had a "too small" bin, but I wasn't sure if anyone had a system of packing things away.
We just bought those huge plastic totes and packed they away in increments - newborn, 0-3, 3-6, etc. We still do that now and it helped for us to only take out what we need for DD2. We kept almost everything.
@WinchesterGirl With DD, I kept her favorite outfits to keep in case we had a second child, same sex. For old clothes, I wait until I have a decent amount (say like NB & 0-3mo, 3-6mo, etc.) then I take it to Once Upon A Child or, if I have an abnormally large amount to sell, Craigslist to sell what I can. Whatever I can't sell, I take to good will. We had an apartment with DD and not a lot of room for extra stuff. Even now that we have a house, I don't see myself keeping the old clothes especially since we're leaning towards this being our last one.
BFP #1: DD born on 08.25.12
BFP #2: 09/08/15 miscarried at 6w
BFP #3: DD2 born on 02.07.17
@WinchesterGirl we found the Glad vacuum bags to be really helpful. We are having another girl (same season), so I'm glad I stored everything away in this way. I did by size (actual fit not tag since every brand fits differently) and then also one bag for specialty items like shoes, swimsuits, outerwear.
We gave away items we didn't like or wouldn't use again, and threw out anything stained.
We have everything from DS stored in those big red rectangular bins in the attic and basement. And he's 7 now, so I have no idea what we have! But it's all stored and labeled by size and we're going to start pulling out the smallest ones now. DS was born in June, though, so we'll see how useful all my hard work was!
Anyone have a baby that didn't take to the particular type of bottle you wanted to use/ purchased? With DD I bought tommie tippie and once we switched from nursing she took to them no prob, but then got used to them and refused any other bottle. This time I plan to use dr. browns and I'm hoping if he isn't introduced to any other type of bottle there won't be an issue, but I have heard of other people's babies just not liking a type of bottle and won't take it. I have already bought the 4oz we'll need and sterilizer and will be pissed if I have to re-purchase something else lol.
Anyone have a baby that didn't take to the particular type of bottle you wanted to use/ purchased? With DD I bought tommie tippie and once we switched from nursing she took to them no prob, but then got used to them and refused any other bottle. This time I plan to use dr. browns and I'm hoping if he isn't introduced to any other type of bottle there won't be an issue, but I have heard of other people's babies just not liking a type of bottle and won't take it. I have already bought the 4oz we'll need and sterilizer and will be pissed if I have to re-purchase something else lol.
I had to try a few different ones for my daughter but I think it was more because of the lip tie. We failed at breastfeeding for a few reasons but I always believed the bottle nipples that resemble the boob would work better/be taken easier. This was not our case. She couldn't keep a suction on the wider bottles like similac, tommee tippee and the like. We ended up using nuk and playtex wide the most.
I recommend getting a couple of each brand and different nipple styles you may be interested in to try if the Dr Browns don't work out. I wouldn't open so that then they can be returned if you end up not needing them. If you do end up having to open the packages, it only takes a few mins to sanitize with boiling water on the stove before using.
If we are planning to have the baby sleep in the pack n play in our room for at least 3 months (and maybe longer), should we even bother to set the crib up on its highest setting or just skip to the second one? Or do you sometimes still use the crib for naps during the day?
I know some folks on here swear by Red Raspberry Leaf Tea-- what brands do you buy? I bought an organic "pregnancy tea" by Traditional Medicinals from the store that has RRL in it as a primary ingredient, should I do RRL alone instead?
@gretchypoo I'm curious what the benefits of the tea are? My acupuncturist gave me some in a bag of goodies for Christmas and I was going to ask her this week at my appt about that tea. But curious if anyone had had good experiences with it? It is the traditional medicinals brand.
If we are planning to have the baby sleep in the pack n play in our room for at least 3 months (and maybe longer), should we even bother to set the crib up on its highest setting or just skip to the second one? Or do you sometimes still use the crib for naps during the day?
Mu husband and I are tall/long arms. We should've just put our crib on the second setting right away (ours has 3 levels). But to be super honest, he hated his crib and wouldn't sleep there. After the pack n play, we became cosleepers. (Was not at all my plan, but he wouldn't sleep more than an hour at a time by himself & I was desperate for sleep). We could've skipped having a crib all together!
@Gretchypoo I'm curious about which brand to get also. There are so many out there and I'm doing another Amazon order of stuff this week and wanted to include it in that.
Re: Ask a STM December edition
I thought my husband was being over prepared by having a stack of towels to sit on in my car. But I was very glad to have those towels!
Edited to add: wearing a pad or adult diapers would have done nothing! It was a ridiculous amount of fluid in that first gush. I went home and cleaned up, got new pants, undies and put on a pad but still was soaked getting to the hospital.
I saw on pinterest that someone just had a "too small" bin, but I wasn't sure if anyone had a system of packing things away.
We gave away items we didn't like or wouldn't use again, and threw out anything stained.
I recommend getting a couple of each brand and different nipple styles you may be interested in to try if the Dr Browns don't work out. I wouldn't open so that then they can be returned if you end up not needing them. If you do end up having to open the packages, it only takes a few mins to sanitize with boiling water on the stove before using.