The Office children's book will be released in October. You can pre-order on Amazon (and other sites) now. You're welcome. Here's a link so you can pre-order too lol Actually, I just put it on DD's Amazon wish list... but if no one buys it, I'm totally getting it for her for her bday.
@stlbuckeye132 YES we also have purchased some daycare pictures because they are just too funny. The kids always have a look on their face like "who TF is this person and why did they give me this prop to hold?"
For newborn pics, we did the in-hospital ones that @nursejenn5 is probably talking about (a photographer that is hired by the hospital). I didn't do a cutesy outfit - we were team green and also I'm just not super into outfits, my poor kid usually looks a mess lol. So I brought a neutral blanket and then the photographer had a neutral basket and she just had DD in her diaper and draped the blanket around her. It was very simple and pretty perfect for us. The "style" of pics was like what @modoodles posted. They totally hook you though in that they take the pics for free and then you can decide if you want to order them. So they took them on day one and then on the morning of discharge day, they wheel in this laptop and play a slideshow of the pics while the computer plays this super cheesy song... DH and I were such a sad sight because we were both crying and now I'm laughing to myself remembering how ridiculous the scene was of course then I was like "I'll buy ALL OF THEM."
@b_1029 don't be surprised if it takes awhile to truly sink in still! I remember having to register DD at the hospital she got transferred to, and I was in the waiting area with one other person who was a male. The person at the desk had me fill out some paperwork and then I had to wait for her to do her thing. At one point she had a question for me and called out, "Mom?..... Mom? ...... Excuse me, ma'am?" Cue me going, "ohhhh, you were talking to me! Sorry, not used to being called mom quite yet!"
DD just got her staples removed. DH took her because this is not the place where I excel as a parent. He said she did great! She cried a little out of fear, but not pain (yay). He brought her a sweet treat for after, as a reward (way to go dad!) and said that she told him, "I like the other doctor but not this one." (she went back to the urgent care for removal b/c it was part of what we paid for... thankfully she still likes her pedi)
I got to come home to a TOTALLY EMPTY house tonight. I love my family, but it’s so nice to get some peace and quiet after work. DS had to be watched at my parent’s house today so DH is picking him up on the way home. Our dogs love my parents house, so they went too. So I didn’t even have to come home and feed dogs. Just me, myself, and the plate of McDonald’s I treated myself to for the next hour or so 🙈
Also, DD has been freakin HORRIBLY behaved recently. Like, to the point it was wearing on me mentally. Tonight, back to her normal self. Maybe she’ll be back to whatever really challenging phase she was/is in... but part of me thinks maybe those staples were uncomfortable and this is our turning point. FX!
I've been lurking and finally jumping in here more. Last semester grad school and assistantship consumed me/my family. I'm not doing any of that right now because it was just too much.
In laws come today because I have my 20 week ultrasound tomorrow one hour away(at MFM, all is fine but I saw one last time due to auto immune antibodies and since I'm 38 they suggest it because more angles/better machine but all is fine this far. I no longer have the auto immune antibody that can cause heart block/baby needing pacemaker). It is just easier to depend on them to watch DS than sitter since it is during nap time(I have a great date night sitter but flakey day time ones). Plus we will make a day of it!
RE: Clothes. I've been using this website since DS was born to predict clothes size. You put in birthday and current stats and it predicts clothes sizes by brands: https://www.sizecast.com/
RE: Photos Last time I had a sheet they gave me that said they have photographer for newborn photos. I shimmied out there the first day and they're like we don't have one.. everyone uses their phone *eye roll*. I was annoyed!
I hired a doula/birth photographer this time. Ever since I saw birth photos I wish I had done them with DS. I did have a doula last time (46 hr labor) but I was on the fence this time. I happened to find a combo and price is great (and sges certified doula and excellent photographer...might use her fir more). She'll prioritize whatever I want more of which for me is pictures
@modoodles where in WI are you? Hubby went to school there in Milwaukee and he has a lot of family and friends there...all over northern, Madison, GB etc etc. He goes at least 2x a year for deer hunting and ice fishing. He was looking at jobs there a few years ago before he got Indiana job offer.
@busymom247 I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this size predicting website. This is baby #3 and that would have been so helpful in the past. Thanks for sharing.
@busymom247 we are actually in NE Iowa now, right across the border from Prairie Du Chien. My husband went to Central High in West Allis! And he is also huge into hunting and fishing. He has family in Milwaukee and Madison.
@mehugg I'm watching Love is Blind, it is the best trash ever except I'm really hoping for some man stealing drama that seems like it maybe isn't coming? TBD...
@blaf322 I mean there is some sloppy drinking and threat of walking out but nothing really dishy yet.
Unrelated, I'd like to propose a new way to describe early baby movement: it's as though there is a tiny cell phone on a low vibrate setting that is going off under my skin every so often. I feel like this is loads more descriptive that flutters lol.
@blaf322 speaking of drama, there's a new season of 90 Day Fiance: Before the 90 Days, which I find more entertaining than the OG version because it's new people with whacko stories. Except it seems like a lot of the people this season have kids and that makes me sad because their bad decisions impact their kids and that steals from my enjoyment of watching the drama unfold lol.
Is anyone still watching The Outsider on HBO? My H and I started when it first aired and got sucked into the first couple episodes before it started to take the Stephen King supernatural turn, and now we are just watching to make it to the end lol. Curious what others think. Also we always watch it before bed and it's kind of scary lol.
@mehugg both my babies were big (10 lb), and new own clothes were essentially useless, but I did have a couple nb onesies just in case. And 0-3 m clothes still worked for the first couple months just fine, and then they were pretty much on track. All babies are different obviously, but mine just come out big. They leveled off fairly quickly and sizing usually matched their ages.
Re: newborn photos. One thing I'd rec for anything thinking about newborn session is to try to do it within the first week if possible. I waited until 14 days and DD was not as sleepy/easy to play around with as she was that first week! She kept waking up and eating and puking lol.
Re: Love is Blind. YES I'm watching. It's terrible but I can't look away lol.
Update: So the last week has been a whirlwind for us.*TW, maybe?* I got my quad screening back and it was abnormal/put me in the high risk category. Even though it only assesses your RISK, it was still scary and emotional! I had (chose) to go back in for more blood work so they could assess the specific chromosomes for any abnormalities. MH has been SUPER wonderful through it all so shout out to him lol, way to go H. (He's not always the best with emotional things). Tuesday afternoon we finally got a call from the Dr. As soon as my phone rang and it was her number I packed up my stuff and left work to call her back. She had good news-everything came back normal. We are so relieved. It felt really petty to be emotional and upset about something that was just a risk assessment. But my anxiety kept telling me it was a diagnosis that something was wrong and I was just mad and frustrated and BLAH I'm just so happy to know things are okay. *TW end* In addition, since they were looking at the chromosomes she said she also knew the gender if we wanted to know. (I wasn't going to find out for another 3 weeks at my US, so I was excited about finding out sooner!) Turns out we are having another girl! We told DD and our parents last night. D is super excited to be getting a sister.
@mrs_sheddy Glad to hear everything came back ok! I’m sure that must’ve been a super stressful week and it must feel so much better to be able to relax a bit now. And yay for another baby girl! Sisters are great!
WELL, I'm a total mess today. My allergies are out of control and I somehow pulled a muscle in my leg while I was sleeping (WTF) and it it super uncomfortable. Pregnancy is super glamorous....
I am soooo ready to start getting outside and do some gardening again. I think I'll try to start some zinnias inside next week so I can transplant them.along my fence line in early May. We always have zinnias or petunias along the fence line, but I love the height of the zinnias and all the butterflies we usually get with them. People have actually stopped to take pictures of their kids among the flowers there because they are so pretty. That made my dogs go nuts, but I love having flowers blooming all season.
@mrs_sheddy congrats on the results coming back ok and that you're having a girl.
Sorry, I've been a bit MIA. I forgot about the boards, and then when I remembered I wasn't near my computer. I've been suffering from baby brain a lot. But I'm here and I'm trying to catch up on all the threads and all the news. Updates: I had to switch my OB because I finally made the decision to deliver at the hospital closer to where I live. I was so sad breaking up with my current OB because she was so great but I think this is the better decision for having the baby. We also booked our doula! I'm a FTM and my family lives in Australia so I'm very happy to have the extra support to help me & DH to get through having our first baby. I have an anterior placenta but have started to feel fairly consistent but soft kicks which is really excited. Everything is going well and I'm feeling good, except for the constipation. I feel like I'm eating prunes by the bag full. All you ladies who aren't dealing with constipation, I've very jealous! It's the worst. Hope everyone is doing well!
@mrs_sheddy sooo... I was snooping on August b/c my close friend is due then and I wanted to see if she had joined and noticed you over there. Are you planning to join both BMBs once the babies comes?
@blaf322 I'm actually due August 3rd! I followed both boards from the start because it was easier to hear from those due before me, but also felt I could contribute to my actual due month. Wanted to participate on both boards instead of just be a creepy lurker. (All disclosed in my intro!) Also just liked the commentary here and the weekly posts. Every board has their own vibe, I like Julys!
As for joining a board after baby comes I guess I never really thought about it!
Jumpsuit update. It arrived today, and it is... not great (read: pretty awful) right now. I can tell it has potential though for when I have a bigger bump, so I think I’ll keep it. It’s super comfortable, and there comes a point in pregnancy where I stop caring if I look the best and just want to be comfortable, so it’ll be great then! 😂
I’m sorry I’ve been MIA most of this week! We’ve been talking about trying to sell and buy and our house has needed some cleaning to get it to where it needs to be so I’ve been busily working on all of that. However, today I got something in the mail from my insurance company investigating charges. All of them are different codes for genetic screening. I had the harmony test done and asked before if insurance would cover and she said at most people pay $100 so I went ahead (I know I should have called). Also, had I not asked the way she said let’s get genetic screening made it sound routine. When I looked up how much the test cost Today, at most it was $500 which I definitely don’t want to pay but $500 is no where near the thousands of dollars they are wanting for it. I’m talking over $10,000. Has anyone had this happen before? I’m so confused why each individual genetic thing was being charged as a separate amount. She opened the kit in front of me. I’m freaking out and of course it’s the weekend so I can’t call anyone. The only thing it says is they need the letter sent and reasoning for each charge. Well I’m not 35 or older, no history and nothing was seen on an ultrasound so I don’t think there will be a reason for them to accept the claims.
Re: Weekly Randoms w/o 2/24
Actually, I just put it on DD's Amazon wish list... but if no one buys it, I'm totally getting it for her for her bday.
*breathes into paper bag*
For newborn pics, we did the in-hospital ones that @nursejenn5 is probably talking about (a photographer that is hired by the hospital). I didn't do a cutesy outfit - we were team green and also I'm just not super into outfits, my poor kid usually looks a mess lol. So I brought a neutral blanket and then the photographer had a neutral basket and she just had DD in her diaper and draped the blanket around her. It was very simple and pretty perfect for us. The "style" of pics was like what @modoodles posted. They totally hook you though in that they take the pics for free and then you can decide if you want to order them. So they took them on day one and then on the morning of discharge day, they wheel in this laptop and play a slideshow of the pics while the computer plays this super cheesy song... DH and I were such a sad sight because we were both crying and now I'm laughing to myself remembering how ridiculous the scene was
@meanjellybean it's great that your hospital photographer was so good! And that you can laugh now but still prepare yourself for it to happen again 😂😂
Here's my random: who here is watching Love Is Blind?? This is FASCINATING
In laws come today because I have my 20 week ultrasound tomorrow one hour away(at MFM, all is fine but I saw one last time due to auto immune antibodies and since I'm 38 they suggest it because more angles/better machine but all is fine this far. I no longer have the auto immune antibody that can cause heart block/baby needing pacemaker). It is just easier to depend on them to watch DS than sitter since it is during nap time(I have a great date night sitter but flakey day time ones). Plus we will make a day of it!
RE: Clothes. I've been using this website since DS was born to predict clothes size. You put in birthday and current stats and it predicts clothes sizes by brands: https://www.sizecast.com/
RE: Photos
Last time I had a sheet they gave me that said they have photographer for newborn photos. I shimmied out there the first day and they're like we don't have one.. everyone uses their phone *eye roll*. I was annoyed!
I hired a doula/birth photographer this time. Ever since I saw birth photos I wish I had done them with DS. I did have a doula last time (46 hr labor) but I was on the fence this time. I happened to find a combo and price is great (and sges certified doula and excellent photographer...might use her fir more). She'll prioritize whatever I want more of which for me is pictures
@modoodles where in WI are you? Hubby went to school there in Milwaukee and he has a lot of family and friends there...all over northern, Madison, GB etc etc. He goes at least 2x a year for deer hunting and ice fishing. He was looking at jobs there a few years ago before he got Indiana job offer.
Unrelated, I'd like to propose a new way to describe early baby movement: it's as though there is a tiny cell phone on a low vibrate setting that is going off under my skin every so often. I feel like this is loads more descriptive that flutters lol.
Is anyone still watching The Outsider on HBO? My H and I started when it first aired and got sucked into the first couple episodes before it started to take the Stephen King supernatural turn, and now we are just watching to make it to the end lol. Curious what others think. Also we always watch it before bed and it's kind of scary lol.
@busymom247 such a cool resource, thank you!!
Re: Love is Blind. YES I'm watching. It's terrible but I can't look away lol.
Update: So the last week has been a whirlwind for us.*TW, maybe?* I got my quad screening back and it was abnormal/put me in the high risk category. Even though it only assesses your RISK, it was still scary and emotional! I had (chose) to go back in for more blood work so they could assess the specific chromosomes for any abnormalities. MH has been SUPER wonderful through it all so shout out to him lol, way to go H. (He's not always the best with emotional things).
Tuesday afternoon we finally got a call from the Dr. As soon as my phone rang and it was her number I packed up my stuff and left work to call her back. She had good news-everything came back normal. We are so relieved. It felt really petty to be emotional and upset about something that was just a risk assessment. But my anxiety kept telling me it was a diagnosis that something was wrong and I was just mad and frustrated and BLAH I'm just so happy to know things are okay. *TW end*
In addition, since they were looking at the chromosomes she said she also knew the gender if we wanted to know. (I wasn't going to find out for another 3 weeks at my US, so I was excited about finding out sooner!)
Turns out we are having another girl! We told DD and our parents last night. D is super excited to be getting a sister.
Sorry, I've been a bit MIA. I forgot about the boards, and then when I remembered I wasn't near my computer. I've been suffering from baby brain a lot. But I'm here and I'm trying to catch up on all the threads and all the news. Updates: I had to switch my OB because I finally made the decision to deliver at the hospital closer to where I live. I was so sad breaking up with my current OB because she was so great but I think this is the better decision for having the baby. We also booked our doula! I'm a FTM and my family lives in Australia so I'm very happy to have the extra support to help me & DH to get through having our first baby. I have an anterior placenta but have started to feel fairly consistent but soft kicks which is really excited. Everything is going well and I'm feeling good, except for the constipation. I feel like I'm eating prunes by the bag full. All you ladies who aren't dealing with constipation, I've very jealous! It's the worst. Hope everyone is doing well!
Also just liked the commentary here and the weekly posts. Every board has their own vibe, I like Julys!
As for joining a board after baby comes I guess I never really thought about it!