New and improved weekly checkin with Group 4! Welcome ladies!!Est Due Date / Weeks + Days:
Baby is the size of a(n):
Team (Green, Blue, Pink, Finding out):
Upcoming Appointments:
How are you feeling?:
Rants/Raves:
Questions:
GTKY: What have you bought or been gifted so far that has made you the most excited about your baby's arrival?
Re: Group 3 / Group 4 Check-In (July 17-31) w/o 4/22
July 19 / 27w+3d
A giant head of cauliflower
Green
I have my first prenatal appt with my new midwives next week.
Almost back to sanity. Last week was a bit overwhelming with going to meet new potential midwives and having an appt with one of my current midwives (the owner of the midwifery). The appt and thereafter confirmed my feelings though. I do not think they have the want or resources to really support me. And so I paid off what I owed them on Friday and am formally ending my agreement with them today.
Rants/ I've spent a lot of time questioning whether my care from my midwives was correct or not, but now two weeks after my conversation with one of them that confirmed my GD, they still have yet to follow up in any fashion outside of an appt, suggestions, referrals or otherwise on how to improve my health. At my appt I confronted my midwife with this frustration, and she agreed that they had dropped the ball. I told her that we were considering whether we would leave the practice due to a poor fit, and although she claimed they would do better.. I've still received nothing further from them. I feel right in my decision.
Rave/ My fertility naturopath is an angel. Not only had she continued to check in with me on her own dime for the past few months to see how my pregnancy was going, but when I needed nutrition counseling, she went out of her way to go into the office that day to see me and has continued to followup. She genuinely cares and wants me to be successful. I wish more healthcare providers had that level of compassion for their patients.
Anyone else enduring a sudden onset of debilitating unilateral hip/tailbone pain? I can't hardly walk a block before the pain starts radiating. Acupuncture hasn't helped as of yet, now I'm trying to seek out a prenatal savvy chiropractor.
Oddly enough.. the bouncer! I found a great deal on the Baby Bjorn Balance bouncer in a children's consignment store and visualizing LO using it has made me really giddy.
Est Due Date / Weeks + Days: 27+ 4
Rave: Even though it's chilly this morning it's so nice to be able to take walks outside all the time now.
Rave: I visited my parents' house over for the very last time before they move back home, close to me. (They moved out of state right after I started college--twelve years ago--and have been talking about "moving back someday" before they even made the decision to move. I still can barely process it's actually happening.) For the last twelve years I've spent holiday breaks there, made weekend trips, and have been guilted into visiting them more often despite them rarely coming out to see me. The premise of it being "nice to see my family" has always been overshadowed by the vacuous, "this is just temporary" feeling of the place they moved to, plus all of the other changes in my family that took place right before the move. Which leads me to my rant...
Rant: I came to the realization this morning that even though the physical location of my parents may be in the past, their behaviors won't be. Them coming back home won't change the toxic behaviors they expressed over the weekend, and even though DH says "We're only going to be dealing with them for a few hours now, not a few days," it will still be there, and I will now be exposed to it more often. For example, over the weekend my dad shared with me a "joke" he made to a gay coworker that was absolutely sexual harassment. I don't want my daughter to grow up with this kind of influence at all, and I'm not convinced that he'll clean up his act for his grandchild's sake--he'll more than likely blame his medication making him unable to control what he says. I know that if I even want the possibility of change, I have to be the one to tell my parents that their behavior is hurtful and unacceptable. For as much progress as I've made over the years, I don't know if I'm ready to have this conversation with them.
On the crib mattress, no! You definitely do not need a backup mattress. You just need a few waterproof mattress protectors and fitted sheets. Carter's makes some nice mattress protectors - I prefer quilted because they aren't crinkly. When there's an accident in the middle of the night, you just pull everything off really quick and throw it in the washer, then put the clean set on
@hestia14 love the CD with lullabies, what a sweet gift!
Rave: DH got sinus surgery last week to reduce his snoring when LO comes (and help me sleep better to)
Rant: DH got sinus surgery (lol). Aka he’s out of commission (they also took out his tonsils) and DD got strep throat the day of the surgery...so despite having a 3 day weekend, I’m more exhausted than I’ve been since the end of 1st tri!
Rave: Making progress around the house getting things done before she shows up! Got the closet organizer installed in the nursery, can lights put in that room as well. Carpets are being re-stretched today, so all I need to do is pick a paint color and buy furniture.
@blackhottamales I'm only doing one mattress and put extra covers on my registry. Who has room to store an extra mattress LOL!
@hestia14 I'm sorry you have to deal with all that crap with your parents. So frustrating. I feel like sometimes my dad says shit that is so inappropriate I just look at him like where did this come from. I think as he has gotten older he is changing. I blame FB for most of it, he reposts so much shit that I'm like WHO ARE YOU!?
@ccmama3 I haven't packed a bag, or really thought about what should go in the bag! I guess as we get closer I really should..
@frenchbaby18 no, I had to google what CMV was! I hate when they freak you out for no reason!
Rave: things are coming together slowly ... we got some extra shelving for the baby's closet and put those up today. have someone coming tomorrow to quote painting the room. also bought the stroller this past weekend.
@mamanbebe, im so glad that you trusted your gut and found a midwife that will hopefully better serve your needs.
@blackhottamales definitely don't need a whole extra mattress. like most have said, just register or grab a couple of extra waterproof mattress covers and sheets. i saw a tip somewhere - basically you layer the mattress pad and sheet a couple times, so if your LO makes a mess in the middle of the night you can strip the sheet and pad, and reveal a clean one underneath so you're not changing sheets in the middle of the night. i intend on trying this, seems to make sense
Baby is the size of a(n): Butternut Squash
Team (Green, Blue, Pink, Finding out): Blue
Upcoming Appointments: 5/2 GD test, Rhogam shot, breast pump prescription
How are you feeling?: I feel pretty good. I’m tired but very good.
Rants/Raves:
Raves: every time my baby moves, I feel more connected to him even though it’s starting to get more real and scary, I just am elated to hold him finally.
Rants: I wish my sister wanted to hear more about the baby. It’s pretty much the only interesting thing about me.
Questions: None ATM.
GTKY: What have you bought or been gifted so far that has made you the most excited about your baby's arrival? A lamb attached to a pacifier from my old boss and long time friend a few months ago. It was just at a time when I was still scared to be excited so other people being excited with and for me helped.
@mamanbebe I ended up deciding to stay my whole pregnancy in a city far from most family because I need to keep the provider I’m attached to. There is something to be said about quality of care. My OB lets me hear his heartbeat every appointment, has cried for me when a I couldn’t cry at disappointment and helped me achieve this pregnancy. I’m so glad that you have your naturopath as well. Caring providers should be the standard not the where’s Waldo.
@hestia14 I get where you’re coming from too. My dad’s a pastor and my parents are not hateful of gays but just so unnacepting if that makes sense? I’ve been telling them for months that no matter who my son grows up to be they can either support him or be dead to me. I try to soften their stance and I refuse to set foot in my dad’s church because of some of the people’s views on ‘discipline.’ I was fostering a little boy who had abuse in his past and one old lady stood up there and said- and a I quote directly- “If your kid is popping off at the mouth and there’s an ash tray by you, it don’t mean that ash tray has to stay there.” End quote. My dad didn’t see a problem with it. That wasn’t all they said but enough was said that even after I politely asked them to stop and they didn’t, I told him I refuse to go back. I’ve set hard boundaries and they know it. That’s all we can do. Expecting them to change isn’t helpful but giving them a code of conduct on how they will treat us and our babies is perfectly acceptable.
@blackhottamales I’m a ftm too but your comment reminded me to add mattress covers and extra crib sheets to my registry so thanks! (Definitely not buying an extra mattress. If the one I have doesn’t work out we’ll cross that bridge later).
All the boy clothes! All of our baby gear has been gender neutral so we’re just passing that down. It’s fun seeing new things even though my heart still loves all the girly clothes.
@ccmama3 - I have started my hospital bag! I have already packed all of the clothes that I plan to take for baby, and I will probably start adding things of mine that I won't need between now and then - nursing tanks, grippy socks... I may also buy a few duplicate cosmetics to go ahead and pack. Last time, DH ended up having to finish packing my bag and meet me at the hospital and I totally forgot to mention ANY of my makeup. SIGH. I won't be making that mistake again!
I had a ring sling for my first but never got around to using it. It turned out to be my FAVORITE carrier for my second, especially in the early days. It's SO EASY!!!
@blackhottamales - Echo what others have said about no extra mattress. Many crib mattresses are sort of plasticky anyway, so baby's bodily fluids are not likely to 'soak in.' Good advice from @mixitupmel about layering mattress pad/sheet/mattress pad/sheet. That's a life saver!
Raves: So many raves! 1. Thanks for bringing group 4 into the group 3 check ins! 2. We are closing on a house May 15th... feeling relieved that we will be moved before baby comes... feeling excited that I know what our house situation will be and can plan for baby accordingly 3. I won pre-sale access to a huge kid/baby consignment sale! I only ended up with a few couple things, but super stoked that I didn't have to go when it's going to be SUPER crowded this weekend.
My rant is that people need to not touch me. K, thanks. I’m not a physical touch person unless we are close. And if you try to hard, I push you the F away. I actually love physical touch and it is one of my love languages but I have some serious boundaries. And I really want people to respect that. And especially do not touch my belly.
We've gotten next to nothing. But I will tell you all a sweet story. My grandmother was just moved from her house to a retirement center. She sent me the most random thing. My dad’s bathtub that she used to bathe him in when he was a baby. It’s basically a boat shaped plastic tub that I probably wouldn’t use as a tub because she’s stored god knows what in it over the last 61 years. Hahah. But it was really funny and sweet to open up. She also included some new baby towels and rubber duckies.
Rave is that DH bought tickets to see Endgame next week (Tuesday is earliest we can get away) and I'm praying it doesn't get spoiled for me! I'm so excited! I've loved most of the Marvel movies up to this point.
@hestia14 I'm sorry that your parents move is disappointing you, I was hoping for better news as I know this is something you were/are struggling with.
I've got a vacation coming up, its to move, but I might have to steal a day for myself now that you've got me thinking about this! Hope your day is as amazing as the one in my head is, haha!