Moms to be Part 4

[Piecey]

Wow, I must be the totally crazy one because I hated the nightgowns

I'm not sure why, they just bugged me. DS was long, though.. 22" when he was born and it really bothered me that his feet stuck out of most of them.
My mom loved them.. and she took DS a few nights after my gallbladder surgery when he was 8 weeks old.. so that was the most he ever wore them!

 

[DMickey28]

Here's another NO vote on the changing table. And I might be in the minority, but our diaper genie was a waste of money too... We just took out the kitchen trash a LOT.

All you previous C-section moms.... Did you have a day about a week after your section where a giant clot broke free and you were bleeding everywhere? I landed in the ER about 1 week after because I looked like I was hemorrhaging -- seriously, we were at a dr. appt (for DD) across the street from the hospital, and in the elevator on the way down the clot broke. By the time we got to the ER my shorts and the bath towel we had in the car were soaked through. -- The ER docs told me that is normal for a c-section... um, then why didn't my doctor tell me about it. Scared the crap outta me. So is it normal?

Um, NO???? At least I don't think so. I know I bled on and off for close to two months because I would push myself too hard and it would start up again.

I had to re-read that because I thought you meant OUT the FRONT of the incision not v-bleeding.

 

[ZPT1022]

. And I might be in the minority, but our diaper genie was a waste of money too... We just took out the kitchen trash a LOT.

We did disposables and the diaper genie with our first. The diaper genie is evil, DH and I would fight over who had to change it because it smelled so bad. We finally decided to ditch it, listed it on freecycle and felt amazed that people were practically fighting over the nasty thing, and we were like "Good riddance!"

 

[ZPT1022]

I was just as crazy last time too. I have total respect for people who wait to be surprised when the baby is born because there is no way I have that much self-control.

I found out with my first because I was impatient and wanted to know. I found out with the twins because I thought twins would be challenging enough and I wanted to have as much ready as possible. This time, we decided to be surprised. It's our last, we didn't think we'd be able to have another one, etc.... so "surprise" is kind of a theme I thought it would be a lot harder, I thought we'd cave and find out but amazingly enough we didn't. I guess the good thing is that it's kept the shopping under control (so far......)

 

[ZPT1022]

Oh those carrier car seats are a beast!! I have all these friends who used those constantly and would carry them around like purses. I lifted one once and I was like, oh heck no. I couldn't believe how heavy it was.

We used the Marathons from day one too with DS. I am only considering getting a "beast" this time to save money.

I have the carrier seat. I think where it is nice is when you are running errands and if baby is sleeping in the car you don't have to disturb them just to run into the bank for 5 minutes. I really liked that aspect of it. It also served it's purpose more than once at family functions when baby was asleep and somehow its just easier to get people to leave the baby alone if they're in the seat. I fully admit that it was really heavy though and I was more than happy to let DH take over carrying it when he was with me!

Has anyone else noticed that they have the seats now that go up to 30 pounds? I know that it is good to keep the kids rearfacing as long as possible, and I do that, but I cannot imagine a 30 pounder in the baby carrier seat. I know I just said I like the seats but the thought of a 30 pounder in one-

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I found out with my first because I was impatient and wanted to know. I found out with the twins because I thought twins would be challenging enough and I wanted to have as much ready as possible. This time, we decided to be surprised. It's our last, we didn't think we'd be able to have another one, etc.... so "surprise" is kind of a theme I thought it would be a lot harder, I thought we'd cave and find out but amazingly enough we didn't. I guess the good thing is that it's kept the shopping under control (so far......)

That's great!!! My sister has twins too.

My grandmother was a nanny for several years and she warned me about the Diaper Genies so I never wanted one. We switched to cloth diapers at 4 months anyway so I'm extra glad we didn't spend the money.

 

[ZPT1022]

I had such an awful experience in the hospital - maybe I would have liked it better if I hadn't.

My primary day nurse kept hitting on my DH in front of me, the lactation consultant was a nasty piece of work, and the nurses forgot to give me my pain meds the night right after my section. Eek! I was happy to go home. I am trying a different hospital this time around.

OMG, that sounds awful! The nurse hitting on my husband would not have sat well with me, I might have even asked for a new one! Luckily though, my DH is oblivious to people hitting on him, unless it is really blatant, like to the point of being super creepy. He had a supervisor at work once, and his coworker had brought him in an XL coffee from Dunkin Donuts and the supervisor was like "Well that's a big coffee for a big man" and some other such comments about how "big" he was :eek That's the only time he's actually clued in to someone hitting on him

 

[Piecey]

I have the carrier seat. I think where it is nice is when you are running errands and if baby is sleeping in the car you don't have to disturb them just to run into the bank for 5 minutes. I really liked that aspect of it. It also served it's purpose more than once at family functions when baby was asleep and somehow its just easier to get people to leave the baby alone if they're in the seat. I fully admit that it was really heavy though and I was more than happy to let DH take over carrying it when he was with me!

Has anyone else noticed that they have the seats now that go up to 30 pounds? I know that it is good to keep the kids rearfacing as long as possible, and I do that, but I cannot imagine a 30 pounder in the baby carrier seat. I know I just said I like the seats but the thought of a 30 pounder in one-

The one we have goes to 30lbs. Graco SafeSeat....
I stopped carrying it, made DH do it. It was 22lbs itself and then the heavier Lucas got I just couldn't do it. I'd put it in the stroller if I was going to the mall or something but eventually just switched to a convertible seat, I couldn't carry the thing anymore.

 

[Gabes_mommy]

Has anyone else noticed that they have the seats now that go up to 30 pounds? I know that it is good to keep the kids rearfacing as long as possible, and I do that, but I cannot imagine a 30 pounder in the baby carrier seat. I know I just said I like the seats but the thought of a 30 pounder in one-

I know! My DS was a 9 lb 13 ounce newborn who weighed over 20 pounds within a few months. I think that's why I couldn't have handled the carrier.

 

[ZPT1022]

Hmmm... I was up and moving around after my c-section though I probably shouldn't have been.

I am so not the type of person who can sit still. So, when we needed formula for DS and my prescriptions filled we went to Walmart after my discharge. I still can't believe I went walking through Walmart 3 days post-op. I'll let DH handle that this time!!

DH only took the week after off (I was discharged on a Saturday, he took the next M-F) and I remember one of those days we went vaccum cleaner shopping. I just couldn't sit at home.
I pushed myself too far at times...

I stopped at Target on the way home from having my first. I desperately wanted new underwear- I was annoyed with the maternity ones and my old ones didn't really fit quite right 36 hours after giving birth (what a shock) so I made DH stop so I could buy new undies. It seems so crazy now but at the time it made perfect sense to me

 

[Gabes_mommy]

OMG, that sounds awful! The nurse hitting on my husband would not have sat well with me, I might have even asked for a new one! Luckily though, my DH is oblivious to people hitting on him, unless it is really blatant, like to the point of being super creepy. He had a supervisor at work once, and his coworker had brought him in an XL coffee from Dunkin Donuts and the supervisor was like "Well that's a big coffee for a big man" and some other such comments about how "big" he was :eek That's the only time he's actually clued in to someone hitting on him

It was so annoying!!! My mom would stay with me overnight and the nurse would come in with no makeup and a pony tail and then DH would show up and she would come back with full makeup and hairdo. She also totally ignored me and would just fawn over DH. I'm sure she probably does that with a lot of the dads too - doesn't she get that a maternity ward is probably not the best place to pick up men.

My DH was totally oblivious to it too so he thought she was "nice". Ugh!

 

[ZPT1022]

We are trying to figure out what DH should take off in the next few weeks. Obviously he will be off on Monday and then I think maybe Friday but I doubt it since it's a slow day. He'll take off Tuesday - Thursday the next week though. Then he starts traveling again the next Monday.

This is the great debate in our house too. DH says to stop worrying about it, he will be there at the hospital and he will be there to help when I come home, but I am concerned about his vacation days. He switched jobs two years ago so he doesn't have a ton of time off each year yet. He already used two days (out of eight, he works a four day week) when he had his procedure done. We're going to WDW in August and he's going to miss five work days then. He can take as much time as he wants but it will be unpaid and while he doesn't care I hate to have him do that. I'm trying to find the balance between wanting him there to help me and not wanting to squander his days. I'd hate to be the reason why the family misses out on vacation this year! He works Wed-Sat and has off Sun-Tues. I'm hoping I can be induced on a Friday so that he only misses two days of work, but that will allow him to be there for the birth and hospital, I'd come home on Sunday, and he'd be home to help me Sun-Tues. Presuming I have another V-delivery, that would work out okay. Not ideal, but feasible, especially if the older kids are gone at school all day.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

I had a regular u/s at 15w1d and the tech made a guess but we are not holding her to it since it was early. I have another u/s scheduled for Monday and I will be 18w1d so I am hoping to know for sure at that point.

Does you Dr order an anatomy scan at 18 weeks? If so, I would think they would be able to tell at that point, though my poor sister had 2 regular u/s and 2 level 2s before they were able to confirm for her.....

Sweet! I just booked ours for 17 weeks, I'll be 17w2d (Apr 1). Cool. The person I talked to on the phone says he'll do both the 2d and the 3d for the price of the 2d. He was talking about not seeing as much detail in the face... I said "All I want to see is below the waist!" He (or was it a she? Couldn't tell! Oh the irony) He said he's got pretty good accuracy and if they can't get a good picture or a shy baby they'll bring me back for free. Awesome.

I made an appt with a new OBGYN, I asked about the anatomy scan, they said 20 weeks minimum. Boo. I was hoping they'd say "oh we'll do it then" or something soon thereafter, that would have been cool. But since they said 20 weeks min., I'm glad I'm doing the "vanity" u/s.
Eeep! So excited!!

 

[Gabes_mommy]

Sweet! I just booked ours for 17 weeks, I'll be 17w2d (Apr 1). Cool. The person I talked to on the phone says he'll do both the 2d and the 3d for the price of the 2d. He was talking about not seeing as much detail in the face... I said "All I want to see is below the waist!" He (or was it a she? Couldn't tell! Oh the irony) He said he's got pretty good accuracy and if they can't get a good picture or a shy baby they'll bring me back for free. Awesome.

I made an appt with a new OBGYN, I asked about the anatomy scan, they said 20 weeks minimum. Boo. I was hoping they'd say "oh we'll do it then" or something soon thereafter, that would have been cool. But since they said 20 weeks min., I'm glad I'm doing the "vanity" u/s.
Eeep! So excited!!

Yay!!!! I'm going to be so jealous because you will get to find out a week earlier than me.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

Wow, I must be the totally crazy one because I hated the nightgowns

I'm not sure why, they just bugged me. DS was long, though.. 22" when he was born and it really bothered me that his feet stuck out of most of them.
My mom loved them.. and she took DS a few nights after my gallbladder surgery when he was 8 weeks old.. so that was the most he ever wore them!

I hated them too... DD wasn't a fan either. I just preferred the sleepers with the snaps.

We did disposables and the diaper genie with our first. The diaper genie is evil, DH and I would fight over who had to change it because it smelled so bad. We finally decided to ditch it, listed it on freecycle and felt amazed that people were practically fighting over the nasty thing, and we were like "Good riddance!"

Haha people *are* crazy about those things.. I couldnt wait to get rid of it. We'd also fight over who had to empty it! lol

I found out with my first because I was impatient and wanted to know. I found out with the twins because I thought twins would be challenging enough and I wanted to have as much ready as possible. This time, we decided to be surprised. It's our last, we didn't think we'd be able to have another one, etc.... so "surprise" is kind of a theme I thought it would be a lot harder, I thought we'd cave and find out but amazingly enough we didn't. I guess the good thing is that it's kept the shopping under control (so far......)

OMG you need a medal. Suprise baby and suprise gender?!? Seriously, no sarcasm, you deserve a medal! You must have the patience of a saint!

I have the carrier seat. I think where it is nice is when you are running errands and if baby is sleeping in the car you don't have to disturb them just to run into the bank for 5 minutes. I really liked that aspect of it. It also served it's purpose more than once at family functions when baby was asleep and somehow its just easier to get people to leave the baby alone if they're in the seat. I fully admit that it was really heavy though and I was more than happy to let DH take over carrying it when he was with me!

Has anyone else noticed that they have the seats now that go up to 30 pounds? I know that it is good to keep the kids rearfacing as long as possible, and I do that, but I cannot imagine a 30 pounder in the baby carrier seat. I know I just said I like the seats but the thought of a 30 pounder in one-

They actually go to *35* now!! WTH!! That's like a 50lb weight to drag around!!

At this point, making a quick run into the store is a thing of the past, so if I have to get one kid unbuckled, might as well unbuckle the other lol.

I know! My DS was a 9 lb 13 ounce newborn who weighed over 20 pounds within a few months. I think that's why I couldn't have handled the carrier.

OMG! LOL I don't think DD weighed 20lbs until she was like 18mos! Haha I couldn't have carried it either!

I stopped at Target on the way home from having my first. I desperately wanted new underwear- I was annoyed with the maternity ones and my old ones didn't really fit quite right 36 hours after giving birth (what a shock) so I made DH stop so I could buy new undies. It seems so crazy now but at the time it made perfect sense to me

Haha bad undies are definitely stop-worthy. I never had maternity undies, are there any benefits to them? They're more expensive than my regular undies, lol. (I get mine at Aerie when they're on sale, lol. cheap!)

Yay!!!! I'm going to be so jealous because you will get to find out a week earlier than me.

Haha yeah but it's more money! LOL At least yours is free, or a copay! ;P

 

[kpm76]

Sweet! I just booked ours for 17 weeks, I'll be 17w2d (Apr 1). Cool. The person I talked to on the phone says he'll do both the 2d and the 3d for the price of the 2d. He was talking about not seeing as much detail in the face... I said "All I want to see is below the waist!" He (or was it a she? Couldn't tell! Oh the irony) He said he's got pretty good accuracy and if they can't get a good picture or a shy baby they'll bring me back for free. Awesome.

I made an appt with a new OBGYN, I asked about the anatomy scan, they said 20 weeks minimum. Boo. I was hoping they'd say "oh we'll do it then" or something soon thereafter, that would have been cool. But since they said 20 weeks min., I'm glad I'm doing the "vanity" u/s.
Eeep! So excited!!

That's awesome!!! Actually, in your case, it might work out well that your practice does the anatomy at 20 weeks because then you can get "confirmation" of the gender, though I am sure with 2d/3d it will be pretty accurate. I thought my 15 week u/s would have been way too early to even guess gender but the tech said it wasn't a case of it being too early but the position of the baby at the time?? Then he/she moved and she made a guess....we'll see if she was correct

 

[Mrs. Charming]

That's awesome!!! Actually, in your case, it might work out well that your practice does the anatomy at 20 weeks because then you can get "confirmation" of the gender, though I am sure with 2d/3d it will be pretty accurate. I thought my 15 week u/s would have been way too early to even guess gender but the tech said it wasn't a case of it being too early but the position of the baby at the time?? Then he/she moved and she made a guess....we'll see if she was correct

True! I didn't even think of "confirmation." LOL the person I talked to said girls are a little trickier but boys are unmistakeable as early as 14-15 weeks.

Haha this is more exciting than Christmas!

Ohhh I hope we know as soon as you find out for sure!!

 

[Mrs. Charming]

It was so annoying!!! My mom would stay with me overnight and the nurse would come in with no makeup and a pony tail and then DH would show up and she would come back with full makeup and hairdo. She also totally ignored me and would just fawn over DH. I'm sure she probably does that with a lot of the dads too - doesn't she get that a maternity ward is probably not the best place to pick up men.

My DH was totally oblivious to it too so he thought she was "nice". Ugh!

OMG! I would have had a sh*tfit!!

 

[Lindsay22]

I CDed DS. I loved it! We used FuzziBunz and also fitted diapers at home. I really enjoyed it a lot.

I don't plan on CDing this baby though because I am going back to work and my dad isn't thrilled about the concept. Oh well.

Congrats on your c-section next week - so exciting!!!!

This is a tip for all the C-section mamas - my sister is really into natural healing and she had a c-section with her last child and recommended taking Arnica tablets after my c-section. It is all natural and helps swelling go down. I really think it helped. A week after my c-section I was at the mall with my mom and within a few days I was already feeling close to normal. I took it in addition to the Darvocet/Motrin combo my OB prescribed.

This is great advice. I'm going to have my husband pick them up for me!!
We're using Fuzzi Bunz too. We got a few preemie size and the rest are the one size from 7-35lbs

 

[ZPT1022]

Becky, I didn't know you cloth diapered. We are cloth diapering and get a ton of grief for it. People are constantly saying that we wont be able to, we won't stick to it and it's "gross". They get pretty insulted when i remind them that my parents cloth diapered three kids and used the kind with pins and we're only having one and our diapers have snaps...

I am scheduled for a c-section next Thursday (a week from tomorrow) I'll be 36 weeks so they had me go in for steriod shots on mon and yesterday. They hurt. I wasn't overjoyed by that but if they help her lungs grow, I guess it's okay. They said that she should be about 4.5 lbs when she's born. I can't wait. I'm very ready for her to come

I didn't with my first and I came into it with the twins because of their horrid diaper rashes and nothing would help. Switching to cloth was an amazing transformation for their skin, especially my daughter. I've received a ton of comments on it, I've been called a "freaky hippie" more than once, etc..... I don't even care anymore, I just wish people would be more informed before passing judgement.

The biggest comments are about how gross it is- whether because you have to flush the poops (once they start on table food, exclusively breastfed poop is water soluble) and that I'm washing poopy diapers in my washing machine. If people would stop and look at the disposable packages, they would see that you are supposed to flush poop from them too- poop is not meant to go in a landfill, ever. As for the laundry, that's just funny. Babies and kids are messy. I was going to say that even disposable diapers can have poop blowouts but I have to say, I had MORE in disposables than in cloth, probably because cloth fits better. So either way though, you are washing poopy stuff in your washer, not to mention the first time your kid gets a stomach bug- that's just as nasty! Nasty laundry is just a fact of life with having kids!

Which kind are you guys using? I used mostly Kissaluvs and Fuzzi Bunz with the twins but there are a lot more easily available this time around so I'm trying a bunch with the baby to see what we like and then we'll go from there. They are just so cute, I have to stop myself from shopping! I've also gotten into wool this time around, OMG, adorable!


Wow to the baby arriving next week! After all you've been through this pregnancy I bet you are super excited and happy to see her! I hope you'll post when you get home and let us know how it went, I know I'll be rooting for you (and Spike!).