Moms to Be Part 3

[mickeyboat]

Non-first timers (or new mom's still lurking) - I've been feeling sort of crampy for a couple days - just like when my period is going to start. . . is that normal?? Does it mean my body is getting ready?? Just curious, I am starting to go weekly (every Friday). . . so I'll ask when I go to my appointment too. They will check me this week (at 37 weeks) - they don't start til then in order to not trigger anything until baby is full term. But then they will or won't check you anymore (til you go into labor) if you want. They do it at 37 weeks to have a baseline to compare to later - but then it is all up to you (I think I'll probably have them check weekly - I just like to know what is going on, and worry too much).

Sorry to barge in, but I wanted to tell you that crampy is how I felt all through my second labor. I felt like I was going to start my period, or like I needed to use the bathroom all day. I didn't get "contractions" until late evening, and I was fully dialated when I arrived at the hospital, after less than 2 hours of real contractions.

Definitely mention this to your doctor and have them do an internal.

Denae

 

[BabyTigger99]

Well, today is a new day. Feeling better. Still overwhelmed with life, but just taking one day at a time.

 

[Linzybrooke]

What grade do you teach? No matter what it is, I am sure that gives you a leg up on teaching your little man to read when the time comes cause I am sure your patience is much greater than mine. I should add I never showed that frustration, I kept it very positive (hence why it was me reading with her, not my husband, as he would last like 15 minutes then the frustration came out!). But after we'd finish for the night I was ready for a strong drink!


Are you installing the seat yourself, or having it done at the police station or wherever? What seat did you buy? I had the Graco SnugRide with my 1st 2, but I gave it to my neighbor for their baby 1.5 years ago and never got it back. It expires in December anyway so I'd need a new seat regardless. I was satisfied with it, but wondering if the ones with the side-impact head supports would be better. Safety wise I am assuming yes, but do they annoy the baby? One report I read said her son cried and cried in the seat with the head wings, but my daughter did that every time she was in her Graco seat and it didn't have any head protection so I think some babies are just like that.

I teach high school theatre, so my classes are a mix of freshman-seniors. Its pretty cool because I get to expose them to reading plays, which is something they don't really understand until they do it. I can read a play and envision it much like I'm reading a novel, and I'm trying to get my kids enthusiastic about it as well!

I think we are going to install it, but then take it to the police station to have it checked. We tried to enroll in the car seat class at our hospital but it was booked from August-now. I do know that our local PD has people on site who are certified to check the seats, we just have to make an appointment. We got a Graco travel system, and it comes with the snugride carseat.

I got the new snugride 32 to start with and then we have a britax for when she gets bigger. I've read the infant car seat should be in the middle. DH installed the base in his car this week - I'd like to get it checked (although it looks/feels sturdy) but I'd still like to have it checked. How can I find where I can take it??

Call your local fire or police department. Our local one can check them, maybe yours can!

Well, today is a new day. Feeling better. Still overwhelmed with life, but just taking one day at a time.

Good to hear!!!!

Chris was out of town all day today on a day business trip, and all day my back has been killing me...I think I freaked myself out that I would go into labor today while he was gone, but I haven't had any contractions or cramping, and my water hasn't broken, so I think I'm okay. But, tonight was Meet the Teacher night at my school, so I was on my feet from 8:15AM until 8:45PM! Crazy!!!! I think thats why my back hurts so much today, no time to sit down!

 

[Adi12982]

Call your local fire or police department. Our local one can check them, maybe yours can!

I will definitely do that DH got ours installed (well the base) and now I guess I'll just call around to see where I can get it checked Thanks!

Chris was out of town all day today on a day business trip, and all day my back has been killing me...I think I freaked myself out that I would go into labor today while he was gone, but I haven't had any contractions or cramping, and my water hasn't broken, so I think I'm okay. But, tonight was Meet the Teacher night at my school, so I was on my feet from 8:15AM until 8:45PM! Crazy!!!! I think thats why my back hurts so much today, no time to sit down!

An exercise I learned in my birthing class really helps me with any back/back of hip pains -

get on all fours (I've been doing it on the bed because it is getting too hard for me to get off of the floor on my own, lol) - then as you inhale turn/curl your head down to sort of look at your stomach and bring your hips in, back sort of hunches; then as you exhale, turn head and neck high to look at cieling as you curve your back in (like a U) and hips up. I think it is basically doing pelvic tilts on all fours - but it REALLY helps the back, partially because I think it helps turn baby's back towards your front and away from your back (which causes back pain). Hope this helps! If it doesn't make sense, let me know and I can scan the paper that describes the exercise for you.

ETA: here are some links that may describe it better:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_four-exercises-to-ease-aches-and-help-with-labor_1332762.bc

http://babyfit.sparkpeople.com/pregnancy-exercise.asp?ID=213

 

[justhat]

Adi - If your local police/fire station doesn't install seats, try this website: http://www.seatcheck.org/ You can put in your zip code and local places will show up.

Infant seats should be in the middle as it's the safest spot, but when you have more than 1 kid then the opinions start to vary. The thing I have read is that the least 'safe' restraint should go in the 'most' safe position in the car. So say I put my oldest in a booster seat that uses just the car seatbelt, that would be the least safe seat (as rearfacing is safest, 5pt harnessed forward facing 2nd, then BPB 3rd), so she should go in the middle. But then there's the thought that the newborn is the most vulnerable passenger regardless of the rearfacing seat being safest, so maybe they should be in the middle. There's no definitive answer, as of now, to that question, but I sort of feel like I would feel better if the car seat tech made that decision for me based on previous experience. My plan was to have the new one in the middle and the older ones by the door. Of course, that also makes it mildly challenging to lift the infant seat over the other seats to get it into the middle so I should probably try that out to see if it's even feasible. Or I could just buy a Yukon and have my problems solved!

The cramping, I did have days towards the end where I felt like that. Not contracting, just the cramps like you mentioned. I don't remember exactly how it tied in with labor (as in days before), but I know it was pretty close to birth day. This was with my 1st, I don't remember cramping with the 2nd. And also, when I went into labor with her, like Mickeyboat said, it was all cramping initially. In fact, I didn't even think I was in labor, I thought I ate something bad the night before that was disagreeing with me.

Linzybrooke - Glad to hear you survived the day with your husband gone. I can imagine going into labor while he's away and then hoping he makes it back.

I think I would enjoy your subject as well. I loved reading plays in high school. We would read one in the fall and one in the spring, the spring always being a Shakespeare play. I really got into a lot of them and over winter break they'd send out reading lists and give extra credit if you read 2 of the books on the list and wrote about them and I always chose the plays.

BabyTigger - Glad to hear you're feeling a bit better now. I can imagine how overwhelming things can get simply based on how overwhelmed I feel this time around and you've got less help than me.

I still feel pretty crappy but I'm starting to sort of get concerned about it cause it's weird muscle pain throughout my body and it is intense when I wake up in the morning. I feel almost like it is arthritis that targeted the muscles, not the joints. I don't really get it cause I have never heard of anything similar. If it keeps up I am calling my dr, rather than waiting till my appt Tuesday like I planned to initially.

 

[Adi12982]

Adi - If your local police/fire station doesn't install seats, try this website: http://www.seatcheck.org/ You can put in your zip code and local places will show up.

The cramping, I did have days towards the end where I felt like that. Not contracting, just the cramps like you mentioned. I don't remember exactly how it tied in with labor (as in days before), but I know it was pretty close to birth day. This was with my 1st, I don't remember cramping with the 2nd. And also, when I went into labor with her, like Mickeyboat said, it was all cramping initially. In fact, I didn't even think I was in labor, I thought I ate something bad the night before that was disagreeing with me.


I still feel pretty crappy but I'm starting to sort of get concerned about it cause it's weird muscle pain throughout my body and it is intense when I wake up in the morning. I feel almost like it is arthritis that targeted the muscles, not the joints. I don't really get it cause I have never heard of anything similar. If it keeps up I am calling my dr, rather than waiting till my appt Tuesday like I planned to initially.

Thanks for the carseat check website - I will definitely call around and see who will check it

We'll see if the cramping is doing anything on Friday - I get my first internal then. I am so not looking forward to it (afraid it will be painful) but still want to know if anything is going on.

Sorry you are feeling so crappy. I think it is a good idea to call your doctor if you still feel this way. It sounds pretty terrible, so I hope you find some relief soon!

 

[Linzybrooke]

An exercise I learned in my birthing class really helps me with any back/back of hip pains -

get on all fours (I've been doing it on the bed because it is getting too hard for me to get off of the floor on my own, lol) - then as you inhale turn/curl your head down to sort of look at your stomach and bring your hips in, back sort of hunches; then as you exhale, turn head and neck high to look at cieling as you curve your back in (like a U) and hips up. I think it is basically doing pelvic tilts on all fours - but it REALLY helps the back, partially because I think it helps turn baby's back towards your front and away from your back (which causes back pain). Hope this helps! If it doesn't make sense, let me know and I can scan the paper that describes the exercise for you.

ETA: here are some links that may describe it better:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_four-exercises-to-ease-aches-and-help-with-labor_1332762.bc

http://babyfit.sparkpeople.com/pregnancy-exercise.asp?ID=213

Oh, thanks! I will definitely try these!

 

[WDWAurora]

Up for a new poster? After struggling through infertility for 2.5 yrs, DH and I are finally expecting thanks to the wonders of modern medicine-IVF. As of today, I am 8 weeks, and we are due on May 4th. We've had 2 ultrasounds with the RE, and will go for our first OBGYN appt on the 9th, as we were finally released from the RE as of today! We are excited, but still at the very very nervous stage!

 

[Linzybrooke]

Up for a new poster? After struggling through infertility for 2.5 yrs, DH and I are finally expecting thanks to the wonders of modern medicine-IVF. As of today, I am 8 weeks, and we are due on May 4th. We've had 2 ultrasounds with the RE, and will go for our first OBGYN appt on the 9th, as we were finally released from the RE as of today! We are excited, but still at the very very nervous stage!

Yippee! I am soooooo happy for you! I have read a few of your posts on other threads about your struggles, and could not be happier for you! Prayers for a safe and peacefull pregnancy!

 

[justhat]

Up for a new poster? After struggling through infertility for 2.5 yrs, DH and I are finally expecting thanks to the wonders of modern medicine-IVF. As of today, I am 8 weeks, and we are due on May 4th. We've had 2 ultrasounds with the RE, and will go for our first OBGYN appt on the 9th, as we were finally released from the RE as of today! We are excited, but still at the very very nervous stage!

Congrats and welcome!! I'm really happy everything worked out for you and your husband! Here's to an easy, healthy pregnancy!

Candid ... due September 21 ... It's a girl!
helloirishkitty ... due September 23 ... It's a boy!
IHeartTink04 ... October 1 ... It's a surprise!
Linzybrooke ... October 9 ... It's a boy!
Adi12982 ... October 16 ... It's a girl!
KristEn87 ... due November 19... It's a boy!
CandleontheWater ... due November 19... It's a surprise!
sbell111 ... due November 26... It's a girl!
PrincessNevaeh’sMom ... due December 1.. It's a girl!
Worm761 ... due December 2... It's a girl!
ecteacher23 ... due December 3... It's a surprise!
POOHDRMR ... due December 28... It's a boy!
Jenny-momof3 ... due January 17... It's a surprise!
Cappygirl ... due January 20... It's a surprise!
apress ... due January 23... It's a surprise!
amandaluvsgoofy ... due January 25... It's a girl!
BabyTigger99 ... due January 30... It's a boy!
HerdEar ... due January 30... It's a surprise!
justhat ... due February 2... It's a girl!
casumners ... due February 2... It's a surprise!
trmcguire ... due February 14... It's a surprise!
hulagirl87 ... due March 5... It's a surprise!
karenj2 ... due March 14... It's a surprise!
arubio0801 ... due March 15... It's a surprise!
DMickey28 ... due March 30... It's a surprise!
christym ... due April... It's a surprise!
irisbud ... due April 9... It's a surprise!
MommaMouse411 ... due April 17... It's a surprise!
WDWAurora ... due May 4... It's a surprise!
​

 

[Adi12982]

Up for a new poster? After struggling through infertility for 2.5 yrs, DH and I are finally expecting thanks to the wonders of modern medicine-IVF. As of today, I am 8 weeks, and we are due on May 4th. We've had 2 ultrasounds with the RE, and will go for our first OBGYN appt on the 9th, as we were finally released from the RE as of today! We are excited, but still at the very very nervous stage!

CONGRATS on your pregnancy - how exciting! I think you will soon learn that you may have a nervous stage that just lasts (I've been at the nervous stage since the beginning, lol - I am just a worrier). Congrats! You will be in my thoughts and prayers for a happy health pregnancy that results in a happy healthy baby!!

 

[BabyTigger99]

Yea! More babies!! Our list is growing again!

 

[IHeartTink04]

I had my 39 week appointment yesterday and still no progress!!!

My doctor said that she expects me to go past my due date....

I'm okay with that though because I am a school teacher and my sub can't start until the 1st of October!

 

[hulagirl87]

Up for a new poster? After struggling through infertility for 2.5 yrs, DH and I are finally expecting thanks to the wonders of modern medicine-IVF. As of today, I am 8 weeks, and we are due on May 4th. We've had 2 ultrasounds with the RE, and will go for our first OBGYN appt on the 9th, as we were finally released from the RE as of today! We are excited, but still at the very very nervous stage!

Yay! Congratulations!! And what a great due date - that's DH and my wedding anniversary!!

I am attempting to be ambitious today. I started cleaning out all the closets. Now more than halfway through, but I don't want to finish Taking a little break but then going back to it. We are painting the nursery on Sunday! yay! Can't wait to see the room start to transform!

 

[IHeartTink04]

Up for a new poster? After struggling through infertility for 2.5 yrs, DH and I are finally expecting thanks to the wonders of modern medicine-IVF. As of today, I am 8 weeks, and we are due on May 4th. We've had 2 ultrasounds with the RE, and will go for our first OBGYN appt on the 9th, as we were finally released from the RE as of today! We are excited, but still at the very very nervous stage!

Congrats, that is so exciting!

 

[WDWAurora]

hulagirl-I've been working on our closets, also. Primarily the one in the baby's room and ours. Well, I had some "skinny clothes" in a spare closet that I thinned down to just a few pieces. I had DH hang a lower rack on Saturday in the baby's room so that we can do double decker on a portion of the closet. Hopefully that will help with storage. We used that closet primarily for our suitcases and DH's massive collection of stuffed monkeys. I still need to find a home for the suitcases and figure out a way to convince DH to part with some of those monkeys! Some are so old and nasty! Stuffed animals from the 80s weren't made well and tended to dry rot-these are definitely some of those.

 

[yellowfish78]

Hello again guys!
After being home with Alex for 10 days - make sure you guys have pants on your baby registry! I have all these onsies and no pants for this child.
Things are going great - our first doctors appointment is today - so we'll see how he likes his car seat today...he hated it coming home from the hospital.

See everyone soon!

 

[hulagirl87]

hulagirl-I've been working on our closets, also. Primarily the one in the baby's room and ours. Well, I had some "skinny clothes" in a spare closet that I thinned down to just a few pieces. I had DH hang a lower rack on Saturday in the baby's room so that we can do double decker on a portion of the closet. Hopefully that will help with storage. We used that closet primarily for our suitcases and DH's massive collection of stuffed monkeys. I still need to find a home for the suitcases and figure out a way to convince DH to part with some of those monkeys! Some are so old and nasty! Stuffed animals from the 80s weren't made well and tended to dry rot-these are definitely some of those.

Definitely a project! We want to do the double bar in the nursery room closet too. baby clothes are so small this will work out well! And I see that you have 2 cats! We do too and I'm anxious to see how they are with the baby.

On another note - good news! I was diagnosed with gestational thrombocytopenia (low platelet count). I had to go to a hemotologist last month and was told that I had to get blood taken every 4 weeks. Well I had my blood taken earlier this week and the dr. called and my platelet count was way up! I don't have to go get my blood checked again until 4 weeks before my due date! yay!!!

 

[justhat]

Glad to hear your platelet count is up, Hulagirl! What a relief that must be to be able to avoid so many blood draws.

Add me to the list of those cleaning/organizing right now. I just have such a surplus of old, junky toys that are taking up ridiculous amounts of space that I need to get rid of or there won't be room for the baby stuff. Same with clothes. I have to go through my kids closets to see what they've grown out and so I can actually have a place to put the baby stuff. For the first time this is pretty hard for me to do because I used to box up and store all their clothes at my mom's house. But knowing this is a girl and that she is pretty definitely the last kid, I don't need to save my son's stuff anymore. And for whatever stupid reason, it is so hard for me to give it away. I look at each little outfit and remember how tiny he was when he wore it and the thought of not having it anymore, despite knowing many little boys who will get good use out of it, it so difficult.

 

[ZPT1022]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this thread although I've been reading the old pages and checking out all the cute babies! I'm Becky, I'm pregnant with my fourth baby. I have an eight year old daughter, five year old boy/girl twins and this will be my fourth and final baby. I had a miscarriage last September so I'm a bit nervous about this time. Trying to be excited but more nervous and shocked still- the shock because I had to go through infertility treatments to have the twins and my reproductive endocrinologist told me he doubted I'd ever conceive on my own again given my issues. So, five and a half years later, shocked is definitely the feeling in our house! Our kids thought we were playing a joke on them when we told them! My due date was supposed to be April 10 although it may be moving because the baby measured a week behind on my first ultrasound.