How far along are you?
What appointments do you have this month? / Let us know how they go/went!
Symptoms? Cravings/Aversions?
Rants/Raves?
Questions?
GTKY: What gifts are you hoping for (if you*do* gifts in your fam/with friends at all) this holiday season--baby-related &/or not?
Re: FTM December Check-in
Symptoms? Cravings/Aversions? Actually feeling pretty good. Get stiff or uncomfortable a couple times a week, but still walking ~3-5 miles a day, biking, and doing my usual thing. Hot chocolate is definitely a craving.
How far along are you? 24w1d today!
Symptoms? Cravings/Aversions? I have been taking my heartburn meds & eating heartburn friendly, so that hasn't bugged me so much, but I recently have discovered the new wonderful symptom of getting super full after not eating so much. Yay. I crave sweets like nonstop, and sometimes fruit.
Glucose test at my next midwife appointment on the 18th. I’m excited to get it over with.
Symptoms? Cravings/Aversions?
nothing really, just craving healthy, Hugh protein options and a little chips 😂
Raves - DH has been so awesome lately (really this whole pregnancy) and I am just feeling very grateful. I’m finishing up my registry *finally* and so excited for to have it done and out of my life for now. I picked up a freshly picked diaper bag for 30% off for Black Friday and I’m so happy! I’ve been eying it but the $228 CAD price felt hefty. Scored for $160 CAD so not bad. Feeling good about all of the above
Rants - well I finally chose between the uppababy vista and Cruz after much deliberation and what felt like NO help from any retailer that specializes in baby stuff - there was a salesperson at West Coast Kids who was super awesome and talked DH and I through both of them and really was just honest about the pros and cons. I settled on the cruz. My rant is more about how I feel retail spaces are letting me down - I can purchase most things online ultimately and I go to retail spaces to learn and have questions answered by a knowledgeable salesperson. So when I feel I a) have done more research about the items than the salesperson or b) the experience is not really that helpful and I can find out more watching reviews online - I get a little frustrated. Buy Buy Baby was awful. I made an appointment with a registry consultant and they didn’t walk me through the experience. Also the stroller salesperson was just terrible! Anyway, that’s my rant for today (lol).
As for why the thread dies...I think there are more S/TTMs on this board. At least out of active participants. So it looks like it’s more popping, even if it’s only one or two people going back and forth. But hey - we can do our best!
ETA:
@pdx2020 That makes sense! Sorry re: the Lions. I know a couple Lions fans, one of whom I dislike and one of whom I like, so I feel overall neutral about them. I also miss herbal teas! It's wild how many of them I can't have--the barley tea we have is like the only one. All chamomile teas it seems are like "chamomile + 40 ingredients PG ladies cannot have." geeeez.
Fun game: guess the three words in the above paragraph I spelled wrong lol and had to use spellcheck to correct. Autocorrect is telling me "kegels" is still wrong, soooo not that one haha.
But Canada is also loving further away from our collective roots, sadly
Also, @dunder_mifflin, I have soooo many thoughts on paid parental leave and subsidized daycare, particularly re: how it ultimately benefits and reduces societal costs. Ugh. My company has pretty crappy paid leave (only covered by STD), but we can use our very generous PTO to cover most of the rest of it, and bring the baby into work until they're walking. My husband actually gets more paid leave then I do -- 6.5 weeks! Sadly, daycare in PDX is in the $1400-1600 range and have similarly long waitlists. But we're covered until mid-September at least, so I feel very lucky compared to my mom, who was back at work in 42 days!
sucks your mom only got 42 days as well, I can’t even imagine! I can talk about parental leave and subsidized daycare all day!
I am actually quitting my job at the end of January. I told my boss right before Thanksgiving. Daycare would cost more than I make, and has over a year wait list. Obviously not worth it! And I figured since I'm quitting anyways, I might as well give myself a month(ish) to prepare for baby!
I've been doing Kegels when I remember, but I have been doing more planks, squats, and lunges. Really hoping all this exercise pays off, as I am planning on an unmedicated/intervention-free birth!
Also, 100% on the workout struggle. Before this, I was going to hot yoga and doing HIIT classes x3 times a week, biking about an hour a day to and from work and on errands, and walking a couple miles on off days. Now, I get out of breath walking up a single flight of stairs. Ugh. Forcing myself to keep walking and doing prenatal yoga, but feeling like I’ll never have energy or stamina again.
And @vrstrawn, I hope you enjoy the time off before baby and enjoy all the time with your LO! I’ve never wanted to be a SAHP — work sounds like a necessary and lovely escape for me. But I respect the decision!
I know this sounds crazy and like I am so crunchy but I'm really not. I am allergic to almost every antibiotic and haven't had good experiences with anesthesia/surgery so I am really focused on avoiding medicine and a c-section! But I'm open to whatever happens or is medically necessary.
im also wondering about eating dates if anyone has an answer. I used to have about 3-5 dates/day prior to getting pregnant and I find them a great snack to have at 4pm when I’m feeling peckish so I don’t stuff my face before dinner. But I heard they can move along labour. Any insights to this? I’m going to check in with my midwife as well but I certainly don’t want to endure anything this early, lol
@pdx2020 Save a bunch of leftovers from your holiday breakfast party and eat them after your glucose test!!!
@kagesstarshroom I feel the same way -- the last few months have been FLYING by, but I also feel like I'm going to be pregnant for the rest of my life, lol! And I'm not sure why our FTM posts fizzle out except I think we all just answer the prompts and then go away because none of us are experienced in answering many questions (like the second and third time mommas are helpful with). But I hope this one stays going!
@dunder_mifflin I am so jealous that you're finishing up your registry! I keep getting overwhelmed with all the options for things and then I neglect it... that's probably not good, though. I gotta finish! Oh and I completely miss caffeine. I still will drink a chai tea latte and maybe a Diet Coke in the evenings, but I used to drink black coffee and energy shots ALL THE TIME, so I feel like my energy level has never been worse, lol.
@vrstrawn I'm jealous you can afford to quit your job and be a stay at home momma! I am the bread winner for my family, so we would have to sell the house if I lost or quit my job... but I so wish I could stay with my LO and take care of her all day, or at least most of the time. I always said I wanted to do something part-time when I was a mom, but that's not looking to be an option here at my job, unfortunately.
RE: maternity leave: I don't get ANY maternity leave and that sucks. I am working overtime as much as possible right now, to stock up on comp time. I've got almost 5 weeks of comp time earned, which should cover me through the 30 day waiting period before FMLA kicks in. I only get half of my regular paycheck during FMLA, though, and it's only 12 weeks. My boss is wanting me back to work after 6 weeks and I could cry at the idea of it. Daycare prices are out of control here.
RE: pelvic floor exercises: I have not remembered to do kegels very often. Not enough to be effective, I'm sure. Crap! I guess I need to start looking up prenatal yoga moves and do those as much as I can now and through the 3rd trimester. @vrstrawn I have heard mixed things about perineal massages during my prenatal classes. One instructor said that they were so great in aiding against tearing, but another instructor said that the more massaging could actually strengthen the perineum and thus make it more susceptible to tearing and now I'm like WHAT?! So many mixed messages during pregnancy!
RE: exercise: I'm in the same boat as @dunder_mifflin -- I used to work out religiously before I became pregnant. I'd get up early, run for 5-7 miles, do Pilates, shower and go to work, but then come home and do strength training at lunch. It was so great! But then right at the beginning of this year, I split with my ex-husband and had to fix up my house, started my new job, and just fell out of the routine and haven't been able to get back into it. I started doing okay in September and getting back on the treadmill every morning but then I got into a car accident that totaled my car and I became so scared of hurting the baby with ANY sort of exercise (which I know is silly thinking). The lack of exercise has really, really taken an emotional toll on me, though. I feel so extra sluggish and blah because of it, but it's so hard to get up early now. I'm in a funk!
https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/dates-during-pregnancy#easier-labor
Definitely nervous about postpartum and about breastfeeding! My breasts are already massive, what’s going to happen to them now? Lol! And the pain, c-section, having a tiny human, etc. I’m not as nervous to be a mom, just for the newborn stage while I recover.
also the idea of breastfeeding freaks me out a lot TBH!
Not as nervous about sleep deprivation because I’m very much looking forward to maternity leave and being able to sleep whenever I can. Hope to get into a routine that works for both me and DH before I go back to work.
@dunder_mifflin breastfeeding also freaks me out. I want to do it, but it just sounds really uncomfortable and weird. I’d almost rather pump and feed from a bottle. I hope hormones and my milk coming in once I give birth will change how I feel. We’ll see. 😕
@vrstrawn So glad you like your new doc! And I'm glad you got that early tour! I am going "home" for the holidays, and when I get back, I'll be going every other week and then so quickly every week--it's so wild that those appointments are so close. March feels so far and so close, you know?
Symptoms? Cravings/Aversions?: My eating is finally going back to normal! I was on a pretty strict diet of candy and pop tarts for about 2 months- I literally couldn't stomach anything else besides sweets and junk food. I'm very proud to say I had salmon for dinner this week.
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@kagesstarshroom I’d love to keep this going!!! It’s good to connect with FTMs through all this. Honestly, I’m a little over all of the advice I’m getting from STM+ (no offense to anyone in this group- love you all, you've all been helpful
) I have a few friends who have had babies in the last few months, and they seem to be only telling me horror stories. I get that they need to vent and talk but maybe I’m not the best audience right now, lol.
@dunder_mifflin congrats on making the big uppababy decision! I feel like we’ve been in it together every step of the way
. I also thought BBB was very unhelpful.
@pdx2020 @malidocious SAME! I have worked out maybe 5 times this entire pregnancy. I’ve done prenatal yoga slightly more than my 5x dance workouts, but I want to try to do more prenatal yoga now that 3rd tri has rolled around. My whole body is hurting!
@malidocious @mrsc918 @kagesstarshroom I noticed I was starting to feel more anxious the last week or so, so I started going back to therapy again. I think it will be really helpful to be talking to my therapist and DH PP, so they can help me notice if I’m slipping. Having two people to talk to also increases my chance of saying something.
Also re: additional U/S -- I don't think my practice would normally offer another one after A/S and any A/S F/U, but I've got one scheduled for week 32 because of some kidney dilation they picked up on one of the U/S. Like, very, very little (at 4-5 mm vs. concerns starting at 10mm), but I guess I'm glad they're checking.
just do doppler’s. I’m happy I get to see baby girl, but it’s usually a 10 second thing lol