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Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

Lanie, thank you for the list of essentials! I definitely needed that! How long do you use onesies for? There's a sale on Hautelook right now for $6 onesies that are organic cotton - on sale from $24. But they go all the way up to 12 mos! After reading Mara's helpful tips on how baby clothes shrink, I'm not sure if the newborn size will be big enough! DH is tall, so I have visions of GIGANTOR BABY. Heehehe. Lanie, you are so slim and sleek - how many weeks are you again?

Fiery, thanks for the advice on only needing a crib sheet! I'm the type who would have bought everything and then lamented that we never used it so...THANKS!

Noelwr! You look so great, so chic! I love the bump! :love: You have great taste, too. Everything you wear in your belly shots, I always think... "I wanna wear that! Where'd she get that???"

I'm forgetting a ton of ladies, but just popping in to say hi! I'm finally in my second tri and anxiously awaiting entry into the promised land where nausea and fatigue are just vague memories... :love:
 
Hi beautiful mamas! How is everyone? I haven't posted a belly pic in a while, so thought I'd do one a day late! Here's my baby belly at 18 w 6 d. I think I'm carrying pretty high, no? Girl? Hmmmm. ;))

Lanie and Noelwr, my fellow December girls, you both look SO cute!

SN850546-1.jpg
 
Laila, You look awesome!! How's everything else going for you? Registering yet? Buying any baby gear? Did you make a stroller decision yet?
 
2 days late, but what the hey.

12 weeks. I feel like I looked bigger in my 11 week pic...I think 11 weeks was a case of the preggo bloat!

You ladies all look AWESOME!!! Gotta run....more later!! :)

12 weeks.JPG
 
18w1d

I think I'm feeling my daughter, but not sure. it feels similar to gas but in the front, lower abdomen. I can imagine it being a little leg kicking against my uterus. it doesn't feel like a fish swimming in there or butterflies or popcorn popping. well, only time will tell if it's gas or not. we had a BBQ at my mom's place yesterday and she showed me all the stuff she has been knitting for the baby. it's so adorable. there was a sleeping bag and I especially like a super soft striped blanket that is going to be unique and made with love.

Laila - I think we're carrying similar, though yours is higher and tighter and mine is more fat padding, haha! I've got a girl. you also have a little torpedo belly which they say is a boy... but I guess they look at the shape much later in the pregnancy. DH says I'm carrying high because I'm short so there isn't much place in between the boobs and uterus for everything to go. I guess it's good it hasn't gone sideways.

Lanie - yah, no registries here so you're pretty much on your own to buy everything, plus it's all more expensive than in the States. we don't nearly have the selection here that you do in the U.S. and no baby-specific shops that are as big as Babies r Us. when we go to Cali in Sep, we'll buy stuff you can't get here like a stuffed animal you put in the crib that has a heartbeat which is supposed to be what the baby was used to in the uterus and anything else cool we find. so what did you think of this week's SYTYCD? I think Kent is really growing up. if dancers keep getting injured, they won't have to vote anyone off. I hope Jose leaves next week because he just doesn't have the skill of the other contestants.

Bliss - really? I always considered myself to be fashionably challenged. the difference between you and me is that you could wear a tank top and tights out on the street and look hot. that's what I wear UNDER my dress! anyway, I love these maternity tank tops I can grow into. they're by the brand mamalicious which... oops, I just googled, and is only available in Europe.
 
noel just had to pop in and say knitted gifts are the best. my mom made J a bunch of stuff, including little knitted pants like what i used to wear when i was a baby. and we use the blankets she made for naps. enjoy!

ladies you look fabulous!!! laila you are carrying so nice and compact...great definition.
 
Hey ladies!

So last night was another rough one. I'm not sure if I was overtired and dehydrated or what, but I had some cramping that came and went for about 30 minutes, but wasn't accompanied by tightening. I don't know if they were contractions or what but they felt nothing like what my BHs have felt like. They did go away and didn't come back. Actually, they were very similar to the pain I had the other night in my sleep, the Dr. suspected that the pain that time was Aidan turning from breech to head down, so I suppose the pain last night could have been flipping again? Anyway, I feel fine today. I've had no residual cramping or pain, no muscle fatigue, etc....so I think I'm ok. DH is traveling for work tomorrow and leaving tonight, so I'll be alone and I'm a little apprehensive about it, but I'm about 5 minutes from the ER so I am close to help if I something happens. Still, it's nuts to think about the what ifs and put plans into place in the event that they happen! I'm not ready!!!!

I had my shower yesterday, it was great. We had about 20 people, mostly family. People were very generous and we got a lot of stuff that was on the registry but not purchased from BRU. We also got some incredibly awesome and sweet gifts like a quilted blanket from my aunt (her first quilt ever) and a GC towards newborn pics from my cousin.That was such an awesome gift idea... DH's sister and family bought us our swing, but we had decided to borrow it from a friend who has the same one, so it went back to BRU and we also got two bouncers so the duplicate went back as well. Those items in addition to some other stuff (extra boppy cover, 5 butt pastes, J&J stuff, etc) went back too so in the end we had almost $300 to use to get some of the stuff we needed and didn't get. It's so much fun to shop with other people's money!!!

I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their Sunday!
 
HH - glad your shower went well and that people showed up with stuff you wanted (or are now able to exchange). happy mommies are the best mommies.
 
Thanks so much China, Fiery, and Mara for all of the registry advice! One last question if you see this...I'll have to pump when I go back to work but when do you start doing it? Immediately? Several wks after the birth? And how many bottles will I need? 2 of my friends have prob 20 bottles each, whereas the girl from younghouselove has only 3!

Hou--yay for nt tomorrow! Have fun! I have my endocrinology appt tomorrow as well. Seems like I'm in a doc office all the time now!

Bliss--I'm currently 17w5d! Time is flying! I think Im still pretty skinny bc I hardly ate anything first tri. It'll catch up to me though.

Laila--your bump is so cute! I personally don't believe the whole sex prediction by how you are carrying, but some people get it right somehow. My friend and I are carrying similar and have the same cravings, but she's carrying a girl!

Noel--I'm liking Kent more and more, but it's slim pickings now. Adechike is another one I like. It's such a crazy season! And I bet you are feeling your little girl! I've felt my baby for about 2 weeks now. For me it's definitely like popcorn or someone lightly flicking me from the inside. It's such a cool feeling! But in your case even if it doesn't feel like those stereotypical signs, if you are noticing it and it's different, it's prob it.

HH--glad you had a productive shower! Sorry about your weird pains. It's prob a scary feeling!
 
Lanie if you plan to EBF you don't even need a pump to start but we rented a hospital pump just in case and it can help you up your supply if you need it...but I wanted to wait to get the pump til after birth to make sure the bb's worked before spending $200+. We did a combo of bottle/bf so I was glad we had bottles on hand but a lot of people who EBF don't have a pump OR bottles around to start. The YHL girl is doing bottle/BF of BM so I would imagine she has a pump too.

Now that J is SOLELY bottle we only have 5 bottles. He only gets 4 bottles now in a 24 hour period, so we wash & sterilize them 1x a day, with one extra there is never 'not' a bottle available (aka for diaper bag if we go out). We started with a gift pack of 2 4oz and 2 9oz and really I think that that you could get by with that. I don't plan to buy more because I want to wean him off bottle by 1 year old. He already is starting to use a sippy cup for water at 5.5mo just to get him used to something other than drinking from a bottle.
 
just a quick drive by in regards to what you'll need soon after LO's arrival.

i planned to EBF, but unfortunately, my milk came in late so we had to supplement :blackeye: I was SO GLAD that we had received a gift pack of bottles from our registry (playtex drop-ins, recommended by my super-fabulous LC), and didn't need to run out to the store for that. definitely register for bottle (just in case!), and buy it yourself if you don't get it!
 
HH,
Sounds like you had a wonderful shower. Hoping the pains you are having subside... Rest easy lady!! :wavey:
 
Lanie- I don't think I pumped till about a month in, if that, though sometimes if you have a hard time establishing a supply, a lactation consultant may suggest you pump. Now that I think about it, I didn't start pumping until I wanted to be able to have someone else give him a bottle- so maybe not till 2 months? I rented one from a local breastfeeding store because I didn't want to shell out the $ if BF didn't go well. I just ended up keeping the rented one the whole time- the longer I kept it, the cheaper it was, and it was a hospital grade so it was super fast and powerful, which was great when I had to go back to work.

On bottles- I agree with Mara, we basically have the amount we need for one day, plus 2 extra. I think we have around 6-8? You can just register for a 2 or 4 pack in the beginning, see what you like, and then send DH out for more when you need them. We use Born Free and love them. In the beginning we started with the little 6 oz bottles and then went up to the 10 oz bottles.

Btw, when I read that you liked "Kent" I thought you were talking names, and then you added "Adecheke" and I went :? :?: And then I realized you were talking SYTYCD!!!!! I am indifferent this season so far, liked Alex and Ashley. I think Kent is getting better but Lauren has been exceptional lately. And that dance Robert and Alyson did this week was incredible. I think it will be Kent and Lauren at the end.
 
I just wanted to chime in to give another perspective on bottles. I believe China has a nanny and Mara has her mom watching J, who I would guess probably help out washing bottles as they use them. My DD is in daycare, so we get 3 dirty bottles back at the end of the day. The last thing DH or I want to do after we work all day, come home play with DD, put her to bed and make our dinner is wash bottles every night. So we bought enough (9) so that we can put them in the dishwasher, which we only run every few days. Once you go back to work, you are going to have enough to do during the week that anything that makes it a little easier helps. For me, buying a few extra bottles was a cheap and an easy way to save me 10 min a night to relax with DH (and 10 min is a lot of time to relax these days). I bf DD when I am at home, if I didn't I'd probably buy a few more bottles.
 
NovemberBride said:
I just wanted to chime in to give another perspective on bottles. I believe China has a nanny and Mara has her mom watching J, who I would guess probably help out washing bottles as they use them. My DD is in daycare, so we get 3 dirty bottles back at the end of the day. The last thing DH or I want to do after we work all day, come home play with DD, put her to bed and make our dinner is wash bottles every night. So we bought enough (9) so that we can put them in the dishwasher, which we only run every few days. Once you go back to work, you are going to have enough to do during the week that anything that makes it a little easier helps. For me, buying a few extra bottles was a cheap and an easy way to save me 10 min a night to relax with DH (and 10 min is a lot of time to relax these days). I bf DD when I am at home, if I didn't I'd probably buy a few more bottles.

haha we're the exact opposite! We had a bunch of bottles but we kept losing them. I would end up with one in my trunk :confused:, FI would have one in his glove compartment :confused:, and then we'd randomly find bottles under beds/sofas/in laundry room. So now we have 3 (although I can't find one :sick:)
 
Hey, ladies – lots of activity on this thread over the weekend!

Experienced mommies – thanks for much for checking in with your advice. It really is very helpful. I’m really intimidated by this whole BF thing so it’s really great to hear your input.

Lanie, good luck with the registry. I can’t say I enjoyed registering but, like HH said, it’s a great place to keep track of the things you want/need even if you don’t expect anyone to buy from it.

HH, I’m glad to hear your shower went well. We had about 20 at ours too and it was the perfect amount of people. Thanks for my mom, it looked like we got gifts from about 50 people! Sorry about the strange pains. I always worried that things were signs of labor and I fear the ER so I know how you feel! I hope your week is off to a good start.

Noel, my early movements totally felt like gas but were pretty much always in the same spot. I guess I don’t really KNOW if it was Nolan I was feeling but I’m pretty sure. Now that baby can hear, you could try playing her some music. Maybe, that’ll get her going then you’ll know for sure. DH loves playing our LO music. I’m loving that belly – it looks so perfectly shaped! What a lucky gal you are to have maternity clothes sewn for you. I can’t wait to see some of them.

Hou, you look great! Maybe the shirt you had on last week is what made you look a smidge bigger? My belly went back and forth until about week 16 when it was permanently *out*. Enjoy your scan today!

Laila, I see my belly in your future! …except, I carried a little lower. That thing defies gravity!

Bliss, congrats on the second trimester!!! :appl:

37 weeks today so I’m technically full term! I’m ready but realize it could be weeks so I’m trying to just be patient. We had our maternity shoot yesterday. Hopefully, we got some good shots. The big surprise of the day was how cooperative our dog was! DH and I had some awkward, giggly moments – especially during the “now look at each other” and “now kiss” moments. There was totally a bonus to the shoot as well – our house is spotless! We didn’t know where the pictures would be taken so we cleaned up everywhere. Hopefully, it lasts until the baby arrives.
 
Pupp-OMG 37 weeks already?!?!?! I need/want a pause button, time is just flying by....

Noel, I mean to comment earlier re: movements. When I fist started feeling Aidan I could tell the difference between gas and movements pretty easily. Now that his movements are really strong, some of the more subtle ones definitely remind me of gas bubbles, but I don't think I would have classified them that way earlier on. I didn't start feeling him regularly until 20+ weeks due to my anterior placenta. I still don't feel him all the time and I've only just started feeling hiccups (mainly because they hit me in the bladder!).
 
I'm not sure whether to classify this as fascinating or scary, but I just read an article about how the phase of the moon can affect the timing of labor (http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Moons-Effect-on-Natural-Childbirth&id=70253). I'm due on 9/21 and there's a full moon on 9/23. I've been saying all along that I want to go late, as close to 10/5 as possible for various reasons, but if that article is true then I might be on time!
 
November is right, my nanny does wash all of our bottles otherwise I would probably have double the amount! I don't mind washing them all at the end of the day, but trying to keep bottles washed in b/w feedings would be exhausting.

Hudson- Oh how I wished the full moon thing worked! Full moon on my due date, or maybe a day later, but nope! I thought that would have been cool. O was 10 days late, and that was with a forceable eviction. ;)) Who knows how long he'd have stayed up in there if we'd let him! Still, you never know.
 
CC, 10-14 days late is alright by my book! I'm hoping to go late so I can have 12 weeks of FMLA instead of 8 (state MLA). Our timing was off and I'm due two weeks before my 1 year work anniversary. I'm out of work on 9/21 regardless of whether I've delivered or not. I have vacation time that needs to either be applied to my maternity leave or used before 10/5 when my anniversary hits.
 
HH- Gotcha! Seems to be pretty common for first timers to go late, so just tell Aidan to settle in there. The weird thing is I was so fine with him not coming early, I had an easy pregnancy and was frankly a bit scared of what to do with a newborn. I even remember people on this thread commenting on how calm and zen I was (normally people get really anxious and want the baby to come when you get closer to your due date). I totally was UNTIL my due date. No idea why, I of course knew that it was a pretty arbitrary date. But all of a sudden I just didn't know what to do with myself. It was so weird, just sitting around and waiting on something or I guess someone! I also had zero signs of labor. I pretty much went swimming and went to as many movies as I could. Which was a good thing, because I can't remember the last time I went to a movie! It's funny because even though logically you KNOW a baby will come out eventually, once I passed my due date, I was sort of like, ok well, that was that. No baby, let's move on! It really didn't feel like he was ever going to come. Bizarre. The whole thing of pregnancy and labor is just bizarre.
 
There is going to be a full moon on October 23rd. I am due on the 24th according to LMP and the 27th according to doctors. I am will definitely report back if the full moon thing works :)
 
18w2d

well, our little girl is definitely making herself known. yesterday we were listening to the heartbeat and had to push the probe quite deep into my belly, and I could feel her kicking back. even DH could see my bellybutton bouncing up and down, almost as quick as her heartbeat. it was like it was spasming. that was weird because we didn't think it would be visible from the outside. maybe all the fat just jiggles along with her kicking, haha.

puppmom - DH says he wants me to play her classical music. I said fine, give me a cd. he hasn't yet, so guess he's not too serious about it. I'm more about developing the kid once she's born, not when she's still inside, but just to see if it gets her moving, we might try your suggestion.
 
...I actually have 3 bottles at my Mom's house that she keeps since she watches J over there. She is always on me to get MORE bottles and BIGGER bottles (we still use some 5oz ones and I just put 2more oz in there after he's done if he wants more, sometimes he won't take it anyway) but I am like WHY?

Also, I wash my pump stuff every night anyway so I just take 5 more min and do the bottles. Bottles are not cheap...like $7-10 a bottle depending on brand so I was like...screw that! I could buy more clothes for him since that's my obsession hehee. But yeah I could see having a few more bottles, but 20?!?!

I *will* be glad when I don't have to wash bottles and pump supplies every night BUT I guess when that's done it'll be sippy cups and baby food containers anyway!!! It never ends.
 
Mara, do you pump at work? I notice a lot of gals here washing their stuff in the bathroom sink. Do you have to wash right away? Or can you put everything away and wash when you get home?

Noel, we bought these things called belly buds. I love them! DH plays the baby a CD that he has loaded to his IPOD called Mozart for Meditation. Before that, he made mixes for Nolan with everything from James Brown to Arcade Fire. It was fun to see what got Nolan going. The one strange thing that we always wonder about was - if he's kicking does that mean he likes it or we're getting on his nerves? He ALWAYS kicks to track 4 on the Mozart CD so we'll have to try it out when he's born to see his reaction.

HH, I'm storing up all of my no labor dust for you! I'm certainly not asking for any. :bigsmile:
 
Pupp I have 2 sets of stuff exactly for that reason, but I only pumped once at work during the day by the time I went back (4mo). For Moms who pump more than once at work I think they just washed it in the sink... but honestly I was sooo anal about the pump stuff and sterilizing I would not have wanted to do more than once at work with just a washed item. That is just me though. I actually HATED pumping at work.
 
Hi Mommies-to-be!

Just a quick drive by to wish Puppmom all the best - you're up next my friend! 37 weeks - you're in the home stretch!!!

Also, I'm going to post this Preggo stuff/Baby stuff thread, but does anyone know where we can find nice, cheap artwork for nurseries? Is the place to look Etsy? We just don't want to pay $100 for canvas art, but want the nursery to have a few nice pieces hanging up. Any suggestions would be great!

Also, I've attached my 26 week belly shot! :o :cheeky:

26 weeks - BB1 copy.gif
 
BB, I had great luck on Etsy.
 
BB ditto Etsy for prints that (a) not everyone you know has and (b) that are affordable. The artwork we got for J was $18 each for 8x10's and I got ~$7 frames from Ikea.
 
BB, you look fantastic!! Love your perfect belly--I can't believe you have two in there! :love:
 
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