My reflux has been so bad my OB started me on Prilosec. Day two and I'm in HEAVEN!! Went from burn and choking on acid 24/7 to nothing! I'm happy as a clam. Bring on the hot sauce lol probably not.. but I can dream..
@jlklec19 I’m now paying for being so productive. For dinner we went to a local grocery store that has live music and a cafe, now headed home and I basically feel like I’m dying. Sooooo tired. But once we get home I still have to be in charge of the whole bath / stories / bed because my husband is still trying to deal with the toilet replavemt situation. Ahhh! I just want to get in bed myself!
@elmich3 yessss the reflux meds I’ve been on this pregnancy have been coming in clutch. They’re awesome.
We took yesterday completely off from baby prep (except right before we went to bed, DH put the liner and sheet on LO’s mattress and put it into the crib). Which means today we’re both feeling a little behind on our to-do list. I need to write thank you notes like nobody’s business, but they’re taking so much longer than I planned that I hate sitting down and doing them (even though I know I need to).
Had our shower today. It went really well, except for my mom deciding to give me a present "from my grandmother" who passed away a couple months ago right in the middle of gifts with no warning at all. Immediately ugly crying for that gift and several just after.
The people in the apartment above us are super awful. They have this Frenchie puppy and are so mean to it. I can hear that they have it crated, which isn’t the issue, but I can also hear that he went over and shook the crate to try to get the dog to shut up.
They leave it out on their patio all the time, they never seem to walk it or even take it potty. I just feel so bad. And our complex is aware and has already asked them to move.
They also sound like a herd of elephants running around at all hours of the day and night. I can’t imagine how they treat their kids if that’s how they treat their pet. 🙁
this is my backup acct. prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014 BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
@jlklec19 I've been nesting a ton and, like @professormama, I think I overdid it. I'm so exhausted and last night my hands were so swollen it freaked me out a little. Cue a good night's sleep and swelling has gone down, thank goodness.
@elmich3 my midwife just put me on Zantac and, while it may be too early to tell for sure, it's been great so far!
@rennie1108@professormama +1 for overdoing it this weekend. I’m completely exhausted and don’t really want the quantity of coffee I’d need to balance this out!
@thatbaintforbetty ugh I can hear my neighbors mistreating their kids and it makes me cry. They have a months old baby and a toddler who they are constantly screaming at and ive heard them hit the toddler. My babies kicks have been hurting too. They've never hurt before but recently sharp pains when she kicks. I've been so busy this week. I had 2 baby showers and I got engaged! I also failed an NST and had to drive half an hour away for a biophysical whatever. She was fine BUT the reason I failed the NST is that I started to feel so bad during it I couldn't lay on my back like they needed. I got so hot I felt like I was on fire the room was spinning I almost passed out. It was scary and the nurse just said oh its normal. That's so irritating feeling that bad can't be normal! My blood pressure drops when this happens. Any of you ladies experience this?
My husband and I have a bedtime of 9pm. I finally fell asleep around 2am. We were up for work at 6am. Feeling excited to meet my baby and anxious about during-delivery complications kept me awake. Today I have a couple appointments, errands to run, and we're having a group dinner. 🤞 that I'll be so exhausted today I'll sleep well tonight. 😅 Other news: my DH has been under the impression that I don't want to go to sleep and that's why I haven't been sleeping well. The irritation I feel at his lack of understanding is overwhelming. At least this morning he suggested I take benadryl tonight. I felt like that was a much more caring approach to my fatigue but I'm contemplating trying the Unisom sleep tabs a few ladies here had mentioned, the one with the orange label. Hopefully my OB says it's ok to take or can recommend something better than Benadryl.
Man, you can really tell the facebook migration has fully happened. It's dead over here
We had Day 1 of Spring break here (my kid and I both have off), and also, I decided my son needed a TV detox. Because I'm crazy. But it went surprisingly well! Just saying "no TV" has actually way cut down on the whining. I'm also forcing him to entertain himself in brief increments. Today I did 5 minutes - I had to walk him back to the play room 3x in that time, but we're going to try it again tomorrow. 7 minutes of alone play time. And I'm just going to keep it up the entire spring break. I'm absolutely determined that he will learn to play and entertain himself, and even be alone for a few minutes. And he's getting TONS of undivided attention from me since it's a break from daycare with no TV to distract us, so I figure now is the time to lay the foundation.
@professormama how old is he? I think its great your trying for less t.v.. That is so hard! I'm starting to get overwhelmed at the thought that labor could happen anytime now. Shell be here in 3 weeks 4 days anyway (getting induced). Ive spent so much time worrying about keeping her safe and healthy in there and feeling like pregnancy takes forever that I havent actually thought about having a real live baby here with me!
@stefanielyn1991 he's 4. Less TV is hard, but it's harder (for me) to listen to constant whining for TV shows. Having a real live baby is hard, but it's great! You'll be fine
Kinda stinks that it happens just before we have the babies... I get it though.
Taking deep breaths over here because we have 5 weeks left if baby comes on his due date. Doc says I won't go too far after because of my GD.
I've been really inconsistent about listening to my hypnobirthing tracks. Time to amp that up and start to work on this fear that keeps creeping into my head!! Also reading lots of positive birth affirmations.
@stefanielyn1991 I've thought about having a real live baby, but I have this gut feeling that it's like nothing I can imagine.
@professormama for independent play you might want to look into visual schedules and visual timers. There are some okay visual timer apps for the iPad that SHOW time so your kiddo knows the expectation. I've also been in preschool classes that indicate time with 5 seasonal images. So for easter you could show him he has 5 bunnies to play, then when he stays in there for a while go in and take away one bunny, praise him, and say he has 4 more bunnies to play by himself.. etc. If he is still learning to fill his time you can help him pick what he's going to play in what order (start with two: first...x then y...)- adding photos helps. These are special education strategies, but I fully plan to implement them when I'm a mamma.
@professormama some would say that the randoms thread is easier to manage now?
I’m impressed with your spring break detox. DD had some diarrhea issues yesterday (delayed reaction to the virus that had her temp over 102° over the weekend?) and felt yucky, so we watched more videos together than I would usually let her watch. The equivalent of being home sick and watching the Price is Right, right?
DH took the tv out of our living room a month or so ago on a kick about screen time but has since lost his zeal for banning it in the face of a DD who steals his phone or says please - in both cases he gives up - or whenever she whines for it or enters a floor where there’s still a tv. I want my background noise back.
I'm still checking on here! I plan to post my birth announcement on here, and I hope everyone still does that. I just feel like I have nothing to report. I am just sooooooo done. 4 1/2 more weeks. I can do this......
@professormama Still trying to follow along here! Like @rennie1108 I will definitely be posting my birth announcement here too and hope everyone else does!
My direct supervisor talked to our boss about cutting back my work load (which I really needed because last week I was overwhelmed to the point of tears a few times) and now I’m kind of bored. Like I can’t seem to find a middle ground between bored senseless and crying because there’s too much to do. So I’m focusing on knocking out a lot of projects that I had created for myself to do once I start WFH at 37 weeks. The break is a nice breather, but it also means my days kind of drag on.
So I work at a school for kids with significant disabilities. This means that there are nurses and support staff around for much of my speech therapy sessions. Today every single older nurse has been commenting on how I look. Some quotes: "it looks like you actually have a basketball under your shirt your belly is so round," "you think you'll make it to your due date? It looks like you dropped and your ankles are wicked swollen, "you look sick."
Oh and I had a student projectile vomited 4 times during our session... Once or twice isn't super rare in this field, but 4 times with a fever is bad!!
I'm currently relaxing upstairs in my home. Yesterday was a long day of being out of the house and today is a For Me day. :-)
My SIL who was due Mid April had her baby by c-section today (GD and Pre-E). She's beautiful and due to the swelling looks like a baby Moana!! 😊
I napped when I came home from dropping DH off at work, got up and had breakfast and lunch in one sitting (cottage cheese plus a salad), went on my usual long walk to get in 10,000 steps and felt well enough to lightly jog some! My baby honestly does not feel like she weighs anything today which has me concerned for what's going on in there, but it made my excercise very enjoyable. And now I'm in essentially PJs and relaxing.
37 week appointment is in an hour and I have to pick up DH. Very excited he gets to come to another ob appointment, he's rarely gotten the opportunity. I'm seriously contemplating staying in comfy PJ clothes. Would that be socially acceptable?
I mentioned somewhere on this board that I have the dark line going halfway up to my belly button. Pic in Spoiler so anyone curious can see and so those of you who are grossed out by stretch marks/tmi body pics, you're not forced to see it. I personally find these pregnancy symptoms fascinating.
@lyse01 I did have those symptoms! I was wildly anemic. Once baby dropped/I started iron infusions and supplements, I felt MUCH better. I can breathe now, I’m barely dizzy and my heart rate doesn’t spike as badly as it used to. Anemia can really sneak up quickly.
@mighty_montgomery I have been taking half a tablet of unisom every night since 6 weeks, I'm 36 weeks now. I took it for morning sickness but now it helps with sleep! I highly recommend it! I'm very picky about taking anything while pregnant and I'm very comfortable taking it. Doctor says it very safe, I took it all last pregnancy too
@mighty_montgomery that dark line (linea negra) is super common in pregnancy! Usually after baby is born it will fade (eventually). And congrats on the new niece!!! How exciting, and I'm glad everyone seems to be safe and healthy!
My cousin just got admitted to the hospital for pre-e but she's only 24 weeks pregnant, and it sounds like she'll be there for the rest of her pregnancy - they're going to try to keep her until May. She has 2 other young kids and her husband is not known for his involvement with their kids... I feel really sorry for her.
@lyse01 It's funny, I actually can't handle much background noise, it starts to grate on me very quickly. I'm used to a lot of quiet - at work I typically need total silence to write or research, so I'm very used to hours of silence in my day. Home with my son this week we've been putting on music in the background sometimes and I can't handle it for very long before I have to pause it and just hear myself think.
@kayceebaby1 interesting idea with the visual timer kind of thing. I haven't done anything like that, I actually don't even have an egg timer in my house!
Today he did 10 minutes of independent play without me in the room and he only came out once, just to ask me a question. So, progress! Plus he actually entertained himself most of the day because I got nooooo sleep last night and was just too tired to do much. I have been setting up specific activities the night before for him as well. Tomorrow we've got water beads out, as well as some name writing and letter practice. Plus he got a new balance / wobble board that he's totally obsessed with. So yay! Hopefully tomorrow will go just as smoothly, only with better rest.
@professormama I usually need non-distracting noise in the background if I’m doing research: a busy coffee shop, quiet classical music, traffic, even a little study group with just enough conversation to keep me refocusing on a dry article. Pure quiet = sleep.
With these activities, I have two questions: do you have a playroom of sorts to store all the supplies and set out the activities? And how much effort do you put into prepping all this? I struggle with toys not taking over our eating/living area and with keeping all the pieces of a given toy with each other. I also have an almost 2 year old, so I’m not sure she has the attention span to do particular “activities” so much as she just wanders from puzzle to food to easel to magnets to wanting to watch videos on a phone.
@lyse01 okay so, at our current house we do have a playroom (first time ever). It’s pretty great. But previously, at our old house, all the toys were in my son’s room. I keep some of his toys stored in bins and rotate the every few weeks, same with books. On the activities, I keep them SUPER simple and easy prep - plus age appropriate (he’s 4). For instance, I did one yesterday where I put a ton of different stickers on a big sheet of paper, then asked him to circle what he liked, and cross out the things he doesn’t like. It was good pencil grip practice, and we had conversation about why he likes and doesn’t like different things. Last night (for this morning) I had put out paper, glue, and a bunch of tiny colored /patterned pieces of paper I had cut up and then this morning he made a collage. I also froze his toys and some beads and pompoms in ice them gave him warm water and syringes to melt the ice. For tomorrow I have his name written in big letters, then I have dot stickers set out, sticky notes with the letters written on them (out of order), and stamps that are the letters in his name, all set out. He will get to practice his name. I also re-froze the same toys, and threw some water beads in a bucket of water (more sensory play).
Heres another one I did a while back. I just put out paper, a purple crayon, and this book. Then we read the book together and he drew with his purple crayon.
All these “activities” last maybe 10-20 mins each, MAX. They buy me some time to drink coffee or just breathe for a sec. He also tends to come and go between them. He will play with ice, then go do something else, then come back to it later, etc.
your daughter is only 2, so you might try much simpler activities. For instance. Draw 3 different color circles, then give her stickers in different colors and ask her to match the stickers to the right color. Peeling stickers is really challenging fine motor skills, and color matching is also hard at that age. So it might be a hard activity. She might also only have interest in it for a few minutes, that’s ok. Attention spans are like muscles - they take time to build and it’s not developmentally appropriate for a small child to have a long one.
@lyse01 I’ll add, we have this kids sized Melissa and Doug table in our kitchen / living area and it’s amazing. That’s where he does pretty much all “activities”. The paper I use is melissa and Doug large rolls. It’s like $11 for 2 rolls and I just cut it the size of the table and tape it to the sides. We do a lot with sticky notes, dot stickers, and other things on hand. I do the set ups the night before if I’m going to do it as a morning activity, or right before I go get him from daycare if I’m doing it in the evening. Usually I spend less than 5 minutes on a set up. Another good one for your daughter might be to put her name in large letters on her easel, then put the same letters on sticky notes near by. She can hunt for the letters, and then try to match them to the letters on the easel. That one is good for a younger child because it’s limited letters, but still matching /recognition, plus it keeps them engaged by physically moving around the room to get the sticky notes. The version I do for my 4 year old is the full alphabet scavenger hunt, and I write the upper case letters on the paper, and lower case letters on the sticky notes - much harder. Sometimes he loves it, sometimes loses interest and comes back to it later, and sometimes he just loses interest all together!
I've been MIA the last few days - sorry ladies! It's been crazy here trying to finish up the nursery and I've been trying to cut back on how much I'm on my phone while I have these last few weeks with DS1 as an only child. I have been reading the posts though!
I'll definitely post a birth announcement on here also, you guys have all been so awesome and helpful through this pregnancy, especially with my anxiety being so high this time around. Looking forward to reading everyone else's too!
Our nursery is this close to being done! Just need trim and the final touches and we can move the rest of the furniture in!
@kangstadt love the color. Looks similar to color in my old room at my parents house @professormama I have a paper roller from ikea that I always forget to use . I hope your cousin can stay healthy and keep that baby cooking.
@kangstadt it looks great so far!! I'm doing the same as you, not being on my phone around DS1 and soaking up everything! I hope you enjoy your last weeks together & have fun!
Playing up the super obviously pregnant look to get help at the dump and Home Depot. Because please, I can’t lift 30 cases of flooring in real life, much less now.
I always feel like my OBs are ahead of the scientific studies. Active labor has always been 6/7cm for them(and my first was born almost 6 years ago!) I also know of one nearby hospital that does way more csections then mine does. My sister had a medically necessary csection but I do believe some doctors force them too quickly.
Hi ladies! Sorry I’m MIA right now - the hospital WiFi doesn’t seem to appreciate TB. Fx we get to come home next week and I can check in to the randoms again!
Im on my phone lots. Yes, I love spending time with my son. And playing uno and candyland 10x a day just the two of us is special. I do love having this spring break week together, off work, before baby joins us. But omg, also staying at home with a toddler feels very tedious to me. Don’t you guys get bored out of your mind????
btw - my son still has a really hard time with lower case letters. So for those interested in morning activities, here’s what I set up for tomorrow. Took less than 5 minutes and the point is just more letter recognition. We will read the book, then just match the lower case letters to each other.
@lyse01 I pushed for almost 5 hours and while that sucked hardcore, DD was perfectly healthy.
It’s surprising to me that they never did more studies on the length of labor. I would think that would be an essential data point to track.
My labor ended up just over 24 hours and c-section was never mentioned. (Also to this day all the family who was there talks about how long it was, although I don’t consider it to be an especially long labor)
this is my backup acct. prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014 BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
I dunno if this needs a trigger warning but I'll go ahead and give it. So I'm a heavier girl (I wear a size 18-20 depending on the brand) and because of that I've been considered high risk my whole pregnancy. I may have suffered but baggy girlhas been perfect (besides a little small but not too worrisome) ive been having to do NSTs due to my size and theyve been perfect until recently every time I go in my blood pressure drops and i feel so ill I cant continue. Well they want me to go to 3 different places (most a half hour out) a week and I dont drive so I refused. So the doctor comes in and not too kindly says that i have a 3/4 chance of having a stillborn and that these test are necessary and that my chance is so high and just keeps throwing the word stillborn around. I've had a miscarriage before and I have high anxiety and I just think the way he talked to me was highly unnecessary and insensitive and I broke down as soon as he left the room. Now I'm left hopeless. It took so for me to finally accept that this baby is going to make it and he stole all that optimism. I'm a worried mess.
@professormama I may have to try way harder to match your level of execution! But those are all excellent activities and I’m not opposed in theory to working a little on schooling/skill development during the day. In fact, I found a to-do list from a year ago that included doing something in each subject area every day: storytime, watering our started seeds and talking about observations, “field trip” to the aquarium/wherever I need to go for our hospitality business and my future guidebook, playing with percussion instruments, going outside to kick a ball around, etc. That whole thing kinda crashed when FIL had a stroke and we moved in with ILs to help care, and we’re only now back in our own house (still caretaking on a near-daily basis) solidifying our own routines. It’s time to get back to that. Especially with the current battle over screen time in our house.
also, yes, SAHMing with a toddler can be boring af. I still need adult interactions (thanks guys!) and meaningful work (eg this guidebook I’m collecting info for), but I also am constantly battling against the destruction a toddler causes. So it is boring but also sometimes feels defeating, joyful, frustrating, funny, monotonous, ripe with opportunity, soul-crushing, soul-lifting, unappreciated, and more.
@kangstadt of course the toilet stops working when the nursery is almost done. You can’t have a house in fully functioning order, doncha know? All my sympathies. But the nursery looks great!
@blueberrymomma@thatbaintforbetty I suspect that if ACOG is amending their guidelines, a majority of OBs are already practicing this way. My sense is that it tends to be behind the curve on studies by several years (semi-reasonable given the scientific desire to replicate results before establishing standards of care). There doesn’t seem to be nearly enough research on “normal” pregnancies though, and I suspect there would be a huge and willing population of subjects. Perhaps there’s just not a lot of demand for those answers?
@thatbaintforbetty another reason to not tell people I’m in the hospital laboring. Why anyone would want to spend hours sitting in a hospital waiting room getting no info from me (bc frankly, the people in my room should be focused on me, and I don’t think anyone else needs to know dilation/effacement, AS IF it’s a magic 8 ball that will tell you how much longer), then another few hours after the baby is born while I get settled, is beyond me. Then the nerve to complain about it!
@stefanielyn1991 I’d have a serious chat with your doctor about your transportation issues and see if 1) they can combine appts so you’re not forced to go to three separate appts, 2) they have suggestions on transportation options, and 3) they can clarify just how critical these appts are. I think people often presume the only barrier is finding the time to go, and don’t consider the whole circumstance, and you’re certainly in a tough spot. But I also worry that you’re not communicating well when you decline these additional tests, and that you’re running the risk of being dropped from the practice (after birth) for non compliance with medical advice. The doctor sounds like he was trying to put some fear into you rather than work with you to find a solution, so I don’t think he understands.
Re: Randoms 3/4
@elmich3 yessss the reflux meds I’ve been on this pregnancy have been coming in clutch. They’re awesome.
So embarrassing....
They leave it out on their patio all the time, they never seem to walk it or even take it potty. I just feel so bad. And our complex is aware and has already asked them to move.
They also sound like a herd of elephants running around at all hours of the day and night. I can’t imagine how they treat their kids if that’s how they treat their pet. 🙁
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
@elmich3 my midwife just put me on Zantac and, while it may be too early to tell for sure, it's been great so far!
My babies kicks have been hurting too. They've never hurt before but recently sharp pains when she kicks.
I've been so busy this week. I had 2 baby showers and I got engaged! I also failed an NST and had to drive half an hour away for a biophysical whatever. She was fine BUT the reason I failed the NST is that I started to feel so bad during it I couldn't lay on my back like they needed. I got so hot I felt like I was on fire the room was spinning I almost passed out. It was scary and the nurse just said oh its normal. That's so irritating feeling that bad can't be normal! My blood pressure drops when this happens. Any of you ladies experience this?
i think @lilpotatomama had some similar symptoms a month or so ago.
Other news: my DH has been under the impression that I don't want to go to sleep and that's why I haven't been sleeping well. The irritation I feel at his lack of understanding is overwhelming. At least this morning he suggested I take benadryl tonight. I felt like that was a much more caring approach to my fatigue but I'm contemplating trying the Unisom sleep tabs a few ladies here had mentioned, the one with the orange label. Hopefully my OB says it's ok to take or can recommend something better than Benadryl.
We had Day 1 of Spring break here (my kid and I both have off), and also, I decided my son needed a TV detox. Because I'm crazy. But it went surprisingly well! Just saying "no TV" has actually way cut down on the whining. I'm also forcing him to entertain himself in brief increments. Today I did 5 minutes - I had to walk him back to the play room 3x in that time, but we're going to try it again tomorrow. 7 minutes of alone play time. And I'm just going to keep it up the entire spring break. I'm absolutely determined that he will learn to play and entertain himself, and even be alone for a few minutes. And he's getting TONS of undivided attention from me since it's a break from daycare with no TV to distract us, so I figure now is the time to lay the foundation.
I'm starting to get overwhelmed at the thought that labor could happen anytime now. Shell be here in 3 weeks 4 days anyway (getting induced). Ive spent so much time worrying about keeping her safe and healthy in there and feeling like pregnancy takes forever that I havent actually thought about having a real live baby here with me!
Kinda stinks that it happens just before we have the babies... I get it though.
Taking deep breaths over here because we have 5 weeks left if baby comes on his due date. Doc says I won't go too far after because of my GD.
I've been really inconsistent about listening to my hypnobirthing tracks. Time to amp that up and start to work on this fear that keeps creeping into my head!! Also reading lots of positive birth affirmations.
@stefanielyn1991 I've thought about having a real live baby, but I have this gut feeling that it's like nothing I can imagine.
@professormama for independent play you might want to look into visual schedules and visual timers. There are some okay visual timer apps for the iPad that SHOW time so your kiddo knows the expectation. I've also been in preschool classes that indicate time with 5 seasonal images. So for easter you could show him he has 5 bunnies to play, then when he stays in there for a while go in and take away one bunny, praise him, and say he has 4 more bunnies to play by himself.. etc. If he is still learning to fill his time you can help him pick what he's going to play in what order (start with two: first...x then y...)- adding photos helps. These are special education strategies, but I fully plan to implement them when I'm a mamma.
I’m impressed with your spring break detox. DD had some diarrhea issues yesterday (delayed reaction to the virus that had her temp over 102° over the weekend?) and felt yucky, so we watched more videos together than I would usually let her watch. The equivalent of being home sick and watching the Price is Right, right?
DH took the tv out of our living room a month or so ago on a kick about screen time but has since lost his zeal for banning it in the face of a DD who steals his phone or says please - in both cases he gives up - or whenever she whines for it or enters a floor where there’s still a tv. I want my background noise back.
I had a visual migraine a few minutes ago which is not the best sign. Hopefully today improves from here.
My direct supervisor talked to our boss about cutting back my work load (which I really needed because last week I was overwhelmed to the point of tears a few times) and now I’m kind of bored. Like I can’t seem to find a middle ground between bored senseless and crying because there’s too much to do. So I’m focusing on knocking out a lot of projects that I had created for myself to do once I start WFH at 37 weeks. The break is a nice breather, but it also means my days kind of drag on.
Oh and I had a student projectile vomited 4 times during our session... Once or twice isn't super rare in this field, but 4 times with a fever is bad!!
Yesterday was a long day of being out of the house and today is a For Me day. :-)
My SIL who was due Mid April had her baby by c-section today (GD and Pre-E). She's beautiful and due to the swelling looks like a baby Moana!! 😊
I napped when I came home from dropping DH off at work, got up and had breakfast and lunch in one sitting (cottage cheese plus a salad), went on my usual long walk to get in 10,000 steps and felt well enough to lightly jog some! My baby honestly does not feel like she weighs anything today which has me concerned for what's going on in there, but it made my excercise very enjoyable. And now I'm in essentially PJs and relaxing.
37 week appointment is in an hour and I have to pick up DH. Very excited he gets to come to another ob appointment, he's rarely gotten the opportunity. I'm seriously contemplating staying in comfy PJ clothes. Would that be socially acceptable?
I mentioned somewhere on this board that I have the dark line going halfway up to my belly button. Pic in Spoiler so anyone curious can see and so those of you who are grossed out by stretch marks/tmi body pics, you're not forced to see it. I personally find these pregnancy symptoms fascinating.
My cousin just got admitted to the hospital for pre-e but she's only 24 weeks pregnant, and it sounds like she'll be there for the rest of her pregnancy - they're going to try to keep her until May. She has 2 other young kids and her husband is not known for his involvement with their kids... I feel really sorry for her.
@lyse01 It's funny, I actually can't handle much background noise, it starts to grate on me very quickly. I'm used to a lot of quiet - at work I typically need total silence to write or research, so I'm very used to hours of silence in my day. Home with my son this week we've been putting on music in the background sometimes and I can't handle it for very long before I have to pause it and just hear myself think.
@kayceebaby1 interesting idea with the visual timer kind of thing. I haven't done anything like that, I actually don't even have an egg timer in my house!
Today he did 10 minutes of independent play without me in the room and he only came out once, just to ask me a question. So, progress! Plus he actually entertained himself most of the day because I got nooooo sleep last night and was just too tired to do much. I have been setting up specific activities the night before for him as well. Tomorrow we've got water beads out, as well as some name writing and letter practice. Plus he got a new balance / wobble board that he's totally obsessed with. So yay! Hopefully tomorrow will go just as smoothly, only with better rest.
With these activities, I have two questions: do you have a playroom of sorts to store all the supplies and set out the activities? And how much effort do you put into prepping all this? I struggle with toys not taking over our eating/living area and with keeping all the pieces of a given toy with each other. I also have an almost 2 year old, so I’m not sure she has the attention span to do particular “activities” so much as she just wanders from puzzle to food to easel to magnets to wanting to watch videos on a phone.
Heres another one I did a while back. I just put out paper, a purple crayon, and this book. Then we read the book together and he drew with his purple crayon.
All these “activities” last maybe 10-20 mins each, MAX. They buy me some time to drink coffee or just breathe for a sec. He also tends to come and go between them. He will play with ice, then go do something else, then come back to it later, etc.
your daughter is only 2, so you might try much simpler activities. For instance. Draw 3 different color circles, then give her stickers in different colors and ask her to match the stickers to the right color. Peeling stickers is really challenging fine motor skills, and color matching is also hard at that age. So it might be a hard activity. She might also only have interest in it for a few minutes, that’s ok. Attention spans are like muscles - they take time to build and it’s not developmentally appropriate for a small child to have a long one.
Another good one for your daughter might be to put her name in large letters on her easel, then put the same letters on sticky notes near by. She can hunt for the letters, and then try to match them to the letters on the easel. That one is good for a younger child because it’s limited letters, but still matching /recognition, plus it keeps them engaged by physically moving around the room to get the sticky notes. The version I do for my 4 year old is the full alphabet scavenger hunt, and I write the upper case letters on the paper, and lower case letters on the sticky notes - much harder. Sometimes he loves it, sometimes loses interest and comes back to it later, and sometimes he just loses interest all together!
I'll definitely post a birth announcement on here also, you guys have all been so awesome and helpful through this pregnancy, especially with my anxiety being so high this time around. Looking forward to reading everyone else's too!
Our nursery is this close to being done! Just need trim and the final touches and we can move the rest of the furniture in!
@professormama I have a paper roller from ikea that I always forget to use . I hope your cousin can stay healthy and keep that baby cooking.
Hi ladies! Sorry I’m MIA right now - the hospital WiFi doesn’t seem to appreciate TB. Fx we get to come home next week and I can check in to the randoms again!
@kangstadt yay nursery! Love that color.
Im on my phone lots. Yes, I love spending time with my son. And playing uno and candyland 10x a day just the two of us is special. I do love having this spring break week together, off work, before baby joins us. But omg, also staying at home with a toddler feels very tedious to me. Don’t you guys get bored out of your mind????
btw - my son still has a really hard time with lower case letters. So for those interested in morning activities, here’s what I set up for tomorrow. Took less than 5 minutes and the point is just more letter recognition. We will read the book, then just match the lower case letters to each other.
It’s surprising to me that they never did more studies on the length of labor. I would think that would be an essential data point to track.
My labor ended up just over 24 hours and c-section was never mentioned. (Also to this day all the family who was there talks about how long it was, although I don’t consider it to be an especially long labor)
prevously helloblueeyes
Me:32 DH:33 Married:04/2012 DD:07/2014
BFP 8/14/2018 #2 due 4/18/2019
Meanwhile, my only thought is how am I going to pee five times tonight when I don't have a usable toilet?!
@kangstadt love the color i have that chair!
also, yes, SAHMing with a toddler can be boring af. I still need adult interactions (thanks guys!) and meaningful work (eg this guidebook I’m collecting info for), but I also am constantly battling against the destruction a toddler causes. So it is boring but also sometimes feels defeating, joyful, frustrating, funny, monotonous, ripe with opportunity, soul-crushing, soul-lifting, unappreciated, and more.
@kangstadt of course the toilet stops working when the nursery is almost done. You can’t have a house in fully functioning order, doncha know? All my sympathies. But the nursery looks great!
@mrdcle 👋🏻 ! Hospital WiFi is so spotty, ugh.
@blueberrymomma @thatbaintforbetty I suspect that if ACOG is amending their guidelines, a majority of OBs are already practicing this way. My sense is that it tends to be behind the curve on studies by several years (semi-reasonable given the scientific desire to replicate results before establishing standards of care). There doesn’t seem to be nearly enough research on “normal” pregnancies though, and I suspect there would be a huge and willing population of subjects. Perhaps there’s just not a lot of demand for those answers?
@thatbaintforbetty another reason to not tell people I’m in the hospital laboring. Why anyone would want to spend hours sitting in a hospital waiting room getting no info from me (bc frankly, the people in my room should be focused on me, and I don’t think anyone else needs to know dilation/effacement, AS IF it’s a magic 8 ball that will tell you how much longer), then another few hours after the baby is born while I get settled, is beyond me. Then the nerve to complain about it!
@stefanielyn1991 I’d have a serious chat with your doctor about your transportation issues and see if 1) they can combine appts so you’re not forced to go to three separate appts, 2) they have suggestions on transportation options, and 3) they can clarify just how critical these appts are. I think people often presume the only barrier is finding the time to go, and don’t consider the whole circumstance, and you’re certainly in a tough spot. But I also worry that you’re not communicating well when you decline these additional tests, and that you’re running the risk of being dropped from the practice (after birth) for non compliance with medical advice. The doctor sounds like he was trying to put some fear into you rather than work with you to find a solution, so I don’t think he understands.