How are you feeling?: Decent, although DD had a cold last week that she passed on to me. I'm not feeling too terrible, but just a little under the weather
Rants/Raves: Vacation next week! But I have to be in the office this week, boo.
Questions: not today
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? Too many to name! Harry Potter will always be one of my favorites. I like the Sigma Force series by James Rollins for action, even though it's a little unbelievable. I discovered the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny, and fell in love with the characters. And Nora Roberts has some really sweet trilogies for easy romances (the Bride Quartet, Chesapeake Blue series).
How are you feeling?: Okay, but feeling very pregnant physically in all ways, haha.
Rants/Raves: Pregnancy announcement went well, and we got a lot of support and excitement from our friends and family. I am kind of disappointed that no one has offered to throw us a sprinkle or celebration. I don’t need/want gifts, but I think this baby deserves to be celebrated too. I feel weird throwing my own celebration/party because I don’t want it to look like we’re asking for gifts. We definitely are NOT and honestly already have most of the stuff we need except for a crib, dresser, and diapers (which we can totally just buy ourselves). I guess with covid revving back up maybe it’s for the best, but we’ll see. And maybe this is just my hormones talking! 🤣
Questions: none
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? I haven’t read a book for fun in years… 🙈 I read a lot for my work, but it’s more research/evidence-based literature. Harry Potter series is always a good one though!
How are you feeling?: Good for the most part. Tired but that could be my body just catching up from camping!
Rants/Raves:
Questions: Anyone having weird food aversions? Like meat doesn't sound appealing to me, like ever recently.
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? I'm currently obsessed and flying through the Virgin River series! So so good!
great! Some weird pains (rlp?), I am absolutely zapped by dinner 😴, and heartburn but otherwise still in the magical feeling amazing zone.
Rants/Raves:
rant 😑 my partner’s mother asked if we had a name picked bc she wanted to embroider it on the blanket she made and when she told her what we had picked she said, “I’ll wait to embroider it since you might think of a better name” 😭😹 then mentioned that she really likes my mother’s name and thinks it would be “so cute” wtf
- side note my mother died last year and we *did* mention naming 👶 after her, but I ultimately decided that I have a lot of *feelings* about my family and this kid deserves a blank slate lol.
Questions:
leg cramps! I drink all of the water and stretch and exercise a ton but wake up almost every night with cramps in my calves 😭 has anyone else experienced this? If so, did you find anything that helped?
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read?
I can’t say best ever, but the best I can think of right now- I tend to prefer nonfiction and this past year read How to Cook a Wolf and thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, I’ve probably read A Gift From the Sea over a dozen times and it never gets old.
@bkjade how rude of your partner's mother! This is exactly why hubby and I are not telling anyone the names we have picked out. We don't want anyone else's opinions to sway us because if we agree on a name, that's all that should matter!
How far along are you?: 20+5
Upcoming appointments: anatomy scan was today, but they couldn't get good pictures of baby's heart and hands (we had the exact same issue with DD) so I'm going back next Friday and hopefully they get the pics they need.
How are you feeling?: Eh. This pregnancy has just been rough for me. Sore, exhausted, nauseous, heartburn. But last week I was more active than I've been in months so I'll take it.
Rant: TMI, I have zero sex drive. Hubby and I unsuccessfully attempted sex for the first time in more than a month yesterday, and it ended with me crying and just feeling awful. I feel so terrible for him and for myself because I am usually all about it so this is such a bizarre experience for me (and I'm sure for him). It's frustrating and I don't know how to fix it.
Rave: We found out baby is a boy! Also, anterior placenta explains why I haven't been feeling nearly as much movement. Gives me a bit of peace of mind.
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? HP for sure. I used to be big into reading, especially fantasy, but since grad school haven't really picked it back up.
@melbel0824 yay, vacation next week! That’s exciting!
@rpreston17 I watched that on Netflix! Interestingly enough, when trying to organize and purge donation items I found out that I have the first book from that series!! I think I bought it from an airport like ten years ago and never read it! I may have to get into that!
@bkjade same, weird pains totally describes me too! Ugh, so sorry about your partner’s mother. That’s so frustrating.
@scaredunprepared congrats on the boy! I feel you, I have zero interest. I think from all my spotting from 8-14 weeks it has me nervous about that coming back. Or maybe it’s being pregnant with a toddler. Or both! 🤣
@rpreston17 I had a pretty strong aversion to eggs and sadly pizza for a while. I've just started to be able to eat them again, but it's not often. I really just find myself not wanting anything. Nothing ever sounds good and I don't have cravings so I eat a lot of PB&J.
How are you feeling?: Same as usual. Tired with sciatic pain but otherwise good
Rants/Raves: It's kind of annoying that I have to wait until 28 weeks to measure a couple things they couldn't get on my anatomy scan last week. It would be nice to have the peace of mind that everything is ok before that. My OBs office is so busy. My appointment was Thursday and someone was supposed to call me to schedule my 28 week ultrasound. I sent a message to my nurse Monday about scheduling out my appointments since my OB is so busy and she said a scheduler would call me. Two days later and still no call for ultrasound or appointments, so I guess I'm going to call myself and schedule everything. Pretty much the only reason I'm sticking with this OB is because I have nurse friends who have worked with her in the hospital and say she's the best when it comes to emergencies with mom and baby.
Questions:
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? I LOVE Harry Potter and I also really like the Hunger Games. A couple of my favorite stand alone books are What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon and The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I also love all three books by Kate Quinn.
*TW*
Me:35 DH:35 Dx: PCOS DS1 born 11/2014 DS2 born 11/2018 3 previous losses Rainbow babydue 12/2021 - Team Green
@bkjade argh my FIL did that with our son. His name is Maximus Dean. We call him Max and when we told him his first reaction was well "Dean is a nice name your going to call him that right?" Umm no. I would ignore her. You guys picked that name for a reason. I've started telling some people our name. I don't think my mom loved it either...but I don't care, I love it.
@scaredunprepared feeling in the mood is hard when your pregnant. With my first, I was wanting all the time but DH was not. He got weird about being near the baby. Typical man drama but it was hard for me because I felt like he wasn't attracted to me. This time he is completely different and it's me turning him down. Not to mention caring for a toddler all day makes me want to crash in bed at 9pm lol. Don't beat yourself up too much. I know it can be frustrating, especially because you feel upset but this won't last forever. Maybe just take it slow and full on sex doesn't have to be the goal but just leading up to it does? Reading sometime sexy (aka cheesy romance novels) always gets me in the mood more too.
How far along are you?: 22w2d
Upcoming appointments: not until 32 weeks
How are you feeling?: Good but very tired and hungry lately. I've been feeling like a bad mom who is so tired I just want to sleep or lay on the couch instead of playing with my kid. Today we went out and got him playdoe and paint but there was definitely still too much screen time.
Rants/Raves: rant - I feel like I have no control over my cravings and just want to eat all the time lol
Rave - I'm working on landscaping the garden so that makes me feel like I'm doing some exercise. Aka carrying garden rocks everywhere for the past 2 days to make a garden edge trim.
Questions:
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? I really liked the Discovery of Witches series. I like books that are fiction but have factual references to it. I like the authors Alice Hoffman and Francine Rivers. I just joined a book club and our book this month is called Malibu Rising. Sounds interesting but definitely out of my genre comfort zone.
Random thing for the week… my daughter has a random HUGE bald patch on the top of her head. I noticed it on Monday out of nowhere. I thought maybe it was just bed head looking rough so I didn’t think much of it, but when I started brushing her hair it definitely wasn’t that. I contacted the ped yesterday morning and we have an appt tomorrow. I am so stressed! I am most worried that something is wrong, like a deficiency or some sort of major illness. I suppose she could be pulling it out herself but I have never seen her do that. I also hate taking her to the doctor because we’re both unvaccinated and I know they test for covid there. I just want some answers though… so any positive thoughts and vibes are greatly appreciated. 😭
@rgn12 How old is she? Is it possible she's rubbing her head to self soothe in bed? I've heard of kids doing it even as they get older and I could imagine it would eventually lead to a bald spot.
@melbel0824 she just turned two a couple of weeks ago. It’s been pretty rapid hair loss, so it’s certainly possible. I watched her on the monitor at naptime and bedtime yesterday and didn’t see her do anything, but it’s possible. It’s pretty significant. Like half of the top of her head is just gone within a week.
Update: We went yesterday, and it was TERRIBLE! They had to draw blood from her arm, and the first arm they had problems and blew her vein and we had to start all over on the other arm. It was terrible, so terrible. She was screaming bloody murder and her arms are so rough looking today! And what made me so sad was that this was the absolute best visit she’s ever had at the ped, she was bringing her toy to the doctor and interacting and it was awesome. Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll have that experience again… I hope she’s not traumatized 😭
Aside from that part, doctor agreed that her scalp looks healthy, no noticeable derm issues. She also said her hair felt really strong and wasn’t coming out easily, which kind of points to her pulling it herself. But because I have never seen her pull they went ahead with the blood work. Everything came back okay except iron, and she is definitely deficient. She said to start with a high dose of iron supplement to see if that helps with the hair situation, because it could be contributing. If her hair situation doesn’t stabilize or improve in a month she is going to send us to derm.
So, I am going to kind of treat this as if she is pulling herself and keep a close eye on her and watch for any weird behavior. And of course supplement with iron. I bought her some scratch sleeves, so I am going to see if she’ll tolerate it and at least that won’t even give her the chance to pull and we can see what happens with that. I don’t know what else to do besides that! So thankfully nothing serious as of right now, but not a 100% answer on the cause of the hair loss until we try some things out a little longer!
@rgn12 well thats good that nothing too crazy turned up. Hopefully the iron supplements help. Maybe if it's still happening in the meantime, you could bring her to a naturopath. Since there is no obvious problem with her head or hair, maybe they have a suggestion?
@kaitcrystalline thank you! I hadn’t even thought of that, that’s a good idea! I’ll have to look into that. Also, YES, as a STM I feel HUGE too! I started at the exact same weight pre-pregnancy for both, and I am a good 10-15lbs heavier than I was around this time last pregnancy! I haven’t done anything different with diet, but just feel like everything is growing so much faster! I hope it slows down and balances out, but I don’t know! Haha.
@rgn12 glad everything seems to be okay overall. I think I read somewhere that iron supplements can cause constipation (it might have been with adults) but just wanted to mention it in case you run into any issues.
@kaitcrystalline it’s funny, I thought I would be so much bigger already, but DH just mentioned how he thought I was smaller this time. I was way sicker at the beginning this time around and I’m still not eating as much as I did last time. But I’m sure it will all catch up in the end.
@rgn12 glad outcome has so far been hopefully "easy fixes" and nothing really serious. I definitely feel for your daughter with doctor messing up arm! I had same problem with my employer's doctor thst had to test my blood for immunity on different things before I could work again and it was terrible! His room was darkish... I was like maybe he should turn on a brighter light to find my vein.. he started poking around after it didnt work..to point needle was centimeters INTO my arm (toward my elbow) like I am no doctor but you will not find veins there...I had to finally be like "should we try the other arm?"... and he said good idea..went and got new bottles to fill blood in..and while he did that i just kept clenchin my fist and "pumping" in hopes my vein shows up better for him on that side. Luckily it did..and he got it... I would share a picture of the black and blue that was on my arm for almost 2 weeks after but I just took photos off phone onto computer as I had no more space. I really hope this doctor did not scar her for life as I already am worried now it will happen again... though... I know it won't when I am at an actual Nurse who does it regularly and knows what she is doing. Anyways..really glad there isnt negative news and hope iron supplements help!
Oh my goodness, that sounds so terrible!! Yikes!! Same thing with my daughter, they just kept trying on the same arm way longer than they should have! I really hope she forgets before the next visit, although I think she will likely hold a grudge this time. I’m hoping that maybe covid will calm down (seems unlikely) and she’ll get the chance to go with us for baby girl’s early visits in December/January and maybe that will help because nothing “bad” will happen to her??Ahh I don’t know though 🤦🏻♀️
@rgn12 I'm sorry the blood draw was so traumatizing. I'm glad nothing major is wrong.
@kaitcrystalline I'm a third time mom, and I am so much bigger. My second was 2.5lbs smaller than my first with extra amniotic fluid, so I don't think I was any bigger the second time around. This time around I am so much bigger. I am 20 weeks and look at least 30. Yikes.
*TW*
Me:35 DH:35 Dx: PCOS DS1 born 11/2014 DS2 born 11/2018 3 previous losses Rainbow babydue 12/2021 - Team Green
Re: Weekly check-in 7/26
How far along are you?: 17 weeks 4 days
Upcoming appointments: In a couple weeks
How are you feeling?: Decent, although DD had a cold last week that she passed on to me. I'm not feeling too terrible, but just a little under the weather
Rants/Raves: Vacation next week! But I have to be in the office this week, boo.
Questions: not today
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? Too many to name! Harry Potter will always be one of my favorites. I like the Sigma Force series by James Rollins for action, even though it's a little unbelievable. I discovered the Inspector Gamache series by Louise Penny, and fell in love with the characters. And Nora Roberts has some really sweet trilogies for easy romances (the Bride Quartet, Chesapeake Blue series).
How far along are you?: 21 weeks
Upcoming appointments: @ 24 weeks
How are you feeling?: Okay, but feeling very pregnant physically in all ways, haha.
Rants/Raves: Pregnancy announcement went well, and we got a lot of support and excitement from our friends and family. I am kind of disappointed that no one has offered to throw us a sprinkle or celebration. I don’t need/want gifts, but I think this baby deserves to be celebrated too. I feel weird throwing my own celebration/party because I don’t want it to look like we’re asking for gifts. We definitely are NOT and honestly already have most of the stuff we need except for a crib, dresser, and diapers (which we can totally just buy ourselves). I guess with covid revving back up maybe it’s for the best, but we’ll see. And maybe this is just my hormones talking! 🤣
Questions: none
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? I haven’t read a book for fun in years… 🙈 I read a lot for my work, but it’s more research/evidence-based literature. Harry Potter series is always a good one though!
How far along are you?: 20 weeks 6 days
Upcoming appointments: Not for a couple weeks!
How are you feeling?: Good for the most part. Tired but that could be my body just catching up from camping!
Rants/Raves:
Questions: Anyone having weird food aversions? Like meat doesn't sound appealing to me, like ever recently.
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? I'm currently obsessed and flying through the Virgin River series! So so good!
How far along are you?:
18 weeks 💕
Upcoming appointments:
8/12
How are you feeling?:
great! Some weird pains (rlp?), I am absolutely zapped by dinner 😴, and heartburn but otherwise still in the magical feeling amazing zone.
Rants/Raves:
rant 😑 my partner’s mother asked if we had a name picked bc she wanted to embroider it on the blanket she made and when she told her what we had picked she said, “I’ll wait to embroider it since you might think of a better name” 😭😹 then mentioned that she really likes my mother’s name and thinks it would be “so cute” wtf
- side note my mother died last year and we *did* mention naming 👶 after her, but I ultimately decided that I have a lot of *feelings* about my family and this kid deserves a blank slate lol.
Questions:
leg cramps! I drink all of the water and stretch and exercise a ton but wake up almost every night with cramps in my calves 😭 has anyone else experienced this? If so, did you find anything that helped?
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read?
I can’t say best ever, but the best I can think of right now- I tend to prefer nonfiction and this past year read How to Cook a Wolf and thoroughly enjoyed it. Also, I’ve probably read A Gift From the Sea over a dozen times and it never gets old.
@bkjade how rude of your partner's mother! This is exactly why hubby and I are not telling anyone the names we have picked out. We don't want anyone else's opinions to sway us because if we agree on a name, that's all that should matter!
How far along are you?: 20+5
Upcoming appointments: anatomy scan was today, but they couldn't get good pictures of baby's heart and hands (we had the exact same issue with DD) so I'm going back next Friday and hopefully they get the pics they need.
How are you feeling?: Eh. This pregnancy has just been rough for me. Sore, exhausted, nauseous, heartburn. But last week I was more active than I've been in months so I'll take it.
Rant: TMI, I have zero sex drive. Hubby and I unsuccessfully attempted sex for the first time in more than a month yesterday, and it ended with me crying and just feeling awful. I feel so terrible for him and for myself because I am usually all about it so this is such a bizarre experience for me (and I'm sure for him). It's frustrating and I don't know how to fix it.
Rave: We found out baby is a boy! Also, anterior placenta explains why I haven't been feeling nearly as much movement. Gives me a bit of peace of mind.
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? HP for sure. I used to be big into reading, especially fantasy, but since grad school haven't really picked it back up.
https://8sheep.com/products/sleepylotion?gclid=Cj0KCQjw3f6HBhDHARIsAD_i3D9PByu2O8JLu-axSNN14EftSsnGh_1jv9S_FdBN-TP7bOju-IG6UP4aAlH_EALw_wcB
Diagnosed with PCOS & Hashimoto's
@melbel0824 same! 🤣 PB&J on English muffins and loads of cereal. 😬
Diagnosed with PCOS & Hashimoto's
@melbel0824 - yay for vacay! We leave next Friday for a 10 day vacay and I can't wait! Hope you feel better soon!
@bkjade - how rude! I only share our leading names with a couple besties who I know won't say anything negative about it.
@scaredunprepared - yay for a boy! I love my mamas boys
How far along are you?: 19w4d
Upcoming appointments: none until 23 weeks
How are you feeling?: Same as usual. Tired with sciatic pain but otherwise good
Rants/Raves: It's kind of annoying that I have to wait until 28 weeks to measure a couple things they couldn't get on my anatomy scan last week. It would be nice to have the peace of mind that everything is ok before that. My OBs office is so busy. My appointment was Thursday and someone was supposed to call me to schedule my 28 week ultrasound. I sent a message to my nurse Monday about scheduling out my appointments since my OB is so busy and she said a scheduler would call me. Two days later and still no call for ultrasound or appointments, so I guess I'm going to call myself and schedule everything. Pretty much the only reason I'm sticking with this OB is because I have nurse friends who have worked with her in the hospital and say she's the best when it comes to emergencies with mom and baby.
Questions:
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? I LOVE Harry Potter and I also really like the Hunger Games. A couple of my favorite stand alone books are What the Wind Knows by Amy Harmon and The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. I also love all three books by Kate Quinn.
Dx: PCOS
DS1 born 11/2014
DS2 born 11/2018
3 previous losses
Rainbow baby due 12/2021 - Team Green
@bkjade argh my FIL did that with our son. His name is Maximus Dean. We call him Max and when we told him his first reaction was well "Dean is a nice name your going to call him that right?" Umm no. I would ignore her. You guys picked that name for a reason. I've started telling some people our name. I don't think my mom loved it either...but I don't care, I love it.
@scaredunprepared feeling in the mood is hard when your pregnant. With my first, I was wanting all the time but DH was not. He got weird about being near the baby. Typical man drama but it was hard for me because I felt like he wasn't attracted to me. This time he is completely different and it's me turning him down. Not to mention caring for a toddler all day makes me want to crash in bed at 9pm lol. Don't beat yourself up too much. I know it can be frustrating, especially because you feel upset but this won't last forever. Maybe just take it slow and full on sex doesn't have to be the goal but just leading up to it does? Reading sometime sexy (aka cheesy romance novels) always gets me in the mood more too.
How far along are you?: 22w2d
Upcoming appointments: not until 32 weeks
How are you feeling?: Good but very tired and hungry lately. I've been feeling like a bad mom who is so tired I just want to sleep or lay on the couch instead of playing with my kid. Today we went out and got him playdoe and paint but there was definitely still too much screen time.
Rants/Raves: rant - I feel like I have no control over my cravings and just want to eat all the time lol
Rave - I'm working on landscaping the garden so that makes me feel like I'm doing some exercise. Aka carrying garden rocks everywhere for the past 2 days to make a garden edge trim.
Questions:
GTKY: It looks like a lot of us enjoy reading! What’s the best book or series you’ve read? I really liked the Discovery of Witches series. I like books that are fiction but have factual references to it. I like the authors Alice Hoffman and Francine Rivers. I just joined a book club and our book this month is called Malibu Rising. Sounds interesting but definitely out of my genre comfort zone.
Dx: PCOS
DS1 born 11/2014
DS2 born 11/2018
3 previous losses
Rainbow baby due 12/2021 - Team Green
@kaitcrystalline and everyone else who asked
Update: We went yesterday, and it was TERRIBLE! They had to draw blood from her arm, and the first arm they had problems and blew her vein and we had to start all over on the other arm. It was terrible, so terrible. She was screaming bloody murder and her arms are so rough looking today! And what made me so sad was that this was the absolute best visit she’s ever had at the ped, she was bringing her toy to the doctor and interacting and it was awesome. Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll have that experience again… I hope she’s not traumatized 😭
Aside from that part, doctor agreed that her scalp looks healthy, no noticeable derm issues. She also said her hair felt really strong and wasn’t coming out easily, which kind of points to her pulling it herself. But because I have never seen her pull they went ahead with the blood work. Everything came back okay except iron, and she is definitely deficient. She said to start with a high dose of iron supplement to see if that helps with the hair situation, because it could be contributing. If her hair situation doesn’t stabilize or improve in a month she is going to send us to derm.
@kaitcrystalline thank you! I hadn’t even thought of that, that’s a good idea! I’ll have to look into that. Also, YES, as a STM I feel HUGE too! I started at the exact same weight pre-pregnancy for both, and I am a good 10-15lbs heavier than I was around this time last pregnancy! I haven’t done anything different with diet, but just feel like everything is growing so much faster! I hope it slows down and balances out, but I don’t know! Haha.
@kaitcrystalline I'm a third time mom, and I am so much bigger. My second was 2.5lbs smaller than my first with extra amniotic fluid, so I don't think I was any bigger the second time around. This time around I am so much bigger. I am 20 weeks and look at least 30. Yikes.
Dx: PCOS
DS1 born 11/2014
DS2 born 11/2018
3 previous losses
Rainbow baby due 12/2021 - Team Green