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Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

Date: 6/26/2007 12:27:26 PM
Author: Chrono
Having a baby in a small place is a plus in the first year. The baby will most likely be close to you wherever you may be for feeding and awake times. It's also nice to be near when baby is sleeping - you don't want to constantly trek upstairs and downstairs for naps times and believe me, newborns sleep alot, like every alternate hour. I spent the first few weeks stuck upstairs in my bedroom. When baby is mobile, a slightly bigger space is nice to have for them to roam about is a specially created safe place.
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Thank you SO much Chrono... I hadn't even thought about that as an advantage to being in a smaller space (with no stairs to trek!), but it completely makes sense. We are thinking we would dedicate a corner of our large living area to baby "stuff" (about 50 s.f.)... crib, dresser/changing table, etc. (And probably have a pack n' play in the bedroom.) It is currently the dining area, but we can integrate that into the living room pretty easily. And we could probably have a temporary wall put in to section off that area, but not sure if we would need to.... any thoughts? Is noise a potential problem? Would it be better to set up all baby stuff in the bedroom?

Some of the advantages we've considered:
- I love our building/park, and have always dreamed about having a baby here... I don't want to regret moving before we have the chance to do that
- DH's work is just 2 blocks away, and there are plenty of qualified babysitters (UPenn grad students, etc.) available, assuming I'd be working part-time
- It is a pain to drive anywhere, but there is a WaWa just below our building, and a grocery store and CVS a block away, so we're very close to most "essentials"
 
Thank you all for your sweet comments!! Lily is a great baby, very expressive as you can see!! I just have to make sure to keep the camera close by at all times to capture those moments!

Tacori, hubby did great on the gift. It's funny how the practical stuff can make us so happy!!!

ephemery, I think I've mentioned that I live in NYC in a 910 sq. ft., one bedroom apartment. So far, we LOVE being in a compact space with the baby. She is always close by, just like Chrono said. She sleeps in a bassinet in our room which makes the nighttime feedings easier and also for peace of mind right now--trust me, you'll keep checking to see if the baby is breathing so instead of getting up and going to another room or another floor, I can just look over at her!!! During the day, we hang out in the living room where we have a pack n play with the bassinet feature so she can either nap there or in her bouncy seat and I can get on the computer and still keep an eye on her. We know that eventually, she'll have to move out of our room and once she starts getting around on her own, we're in trouble! We figure we'll start letting her sleep in the living room and then slowly put up a wall or a screen in our dining area to make a small room for her. But we think we have 2 years in this place before we have to think about either expanding or moving to the suburbs. For now, it's wonderful to have a city baby. Noises don't bother her (she can sleep through anything), we take lots of walks and have discovered that we live in a very kid friendly place!! I'm here to testify that you can do it (peer pressure!).
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I put the crib in the bedroom and the pack-n-play in the living room. Baby sleeps a lot better in the bedroom when it gets too noisy in the normal living space. It''s also more convenient for night nursings/feedings. The pack-n-play can be used for awake and sleeping times too (I used it for daytime naps when I''m alone at home doing quiet chores around the house).
 
Oh Curly, I thought it was you who lived in the NYC apartment, but I couldn't remember for sure!! It was definitely your original post that started me thinking "hey, maybe we really CAN do this...."
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Thanks so much for sharing your experience thus far... it is SO helpful to hear from people actually going through it, rather than just speculating about it with DH!! And I don't mind the peer pressure one bit... keep it coming!
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Any problems with not being able to hop in the car and drive places easily? I can't think of any offhand, since we really only leave the city on weekends, but there must be some...

I babysit for a 2.5 year old girl in the building beside ours, and while they have a much bigger apartment, it really is a lot of fun just heading down the elevator for walks to the park or the bookstore or the cafe, at any time of day or evening. And she is totally oblivious to noise too... they had a guy jackhammering on their balcony the other day, and she slept right through it! I've also noticed the "kid friendly" thing... it seems like every resident in the building knows her by name and stops us to say hello.

I just think we'd love looking back someday and remembering starting our family in the same wonderful place where we started our relationship.
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Ephemery,
I know that in the first 2 years you really don''t need a lot of space. Where you are is such a great spot to have a baby, with the park etc... I wanted a baby right after we got married, but wise hubby made me wait a year before we started trying. As soon as the year was up, whammo I was pregnant!!!
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They do have some cute stuff, I agree! I was in two Loft stores over the weekend, and it seems that very few stores actually carry mat. clothes yet -- booo. But a lot of their regular stuff right now is empire waist, so I still got a cute tank top and dress there that should hopefully get me through the summer. The shirt actually even seems a bit longer in front, so hopefully it won''t pull up much once my belly pops!

I got this shirt in white (with tan beads on the straps) and a brown embroidered dress -- super cute!

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JUst had to stop in and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY a little late to Tacori!!!

And your baby is beuaitful, Curly!
 
Date: 6/26/2007 4:58:51 PM
Author: diamondseeker2006
JUst had to stop in and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY a little late to Tacori!!!


And your baby is beuaitful, Curly!
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Thanks J! We will have to do a GTG before the baby comes. I have yet to see your new solitare.

Ann Taylor does have cute stuff but I am trying to STOP buying maternity clothes. I seriously think I might have a problem.
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As it is my DH''s cousin wedding was called off (3 weeks to spare
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) so maybe I will wear that dress to my second shower.
 
Happy belated birthday Tacori! Your hubby''s gift sounds so exciting...and practical!

Curly, your little girl is so precious! You did good!
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Hello everyone!

Wow I''ve been away for a few months and there''s been quite a few newly pregnant p''scopers!

Congratulations, and enjoy this time - I actually missed being pregnant AFTER I had Button.

For those of you having first babies, take the time to do something for YOURSELF, because the arrival of your little one will the end of the world as you know it
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. Pamper yourself now, and get LOTS of sleep because the first few months will be full-on.

Curly - your babe is so cute!

xoxo

Jade.

P/S: Here''s Button at 8 1/2months with his favorite hand puppet Monkee.

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JadeLeaves
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I''ve been wondering about you and your adorable little Button -- happy to hear all is well, and he is as adorable as ever!!
 
JadeLeaves,
I can''t believe how big buttons has gotten from your SMTR post of your new MM. Wow, he is gorgeous!!!
 
Jadeleaves,
I can''t believe how big button has gotten. Wow 8 1/2 months now, where does the time go. He''s just as cute as can be. So glad you checked in with us.
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Lisa
 
Diver – I guess Yasmin is worth a shot, but nothing seems to work (4 or 5 diff pills, Depro) and I am over taking pills hence the NuvaRing… once a month was SOOOOO easy! Have fun with your MIL… I know all about MIL clean! Have to get my house that way for this weekend. My MIL is great, but such a neat freak… her house is immaculate esp since she doesn’t have DH any more! At least she is sympathetic about that bit.

Ella – I take the Target brand prenatal and Enfamil has a DHA supplement called Expecta that I take as well. I just couldn’t see paying $40 a month for a prescription! I compared all my samples to the Target ones and they are essentially the same. I eat a bowl of fortified cereal just about everyday and that boosts the vitamins and what not up even more, not to mention the fiber. So you can go back to your Rainbow Lights and get the Expecta if you like!

Curly – Lily is a little angel… what a cutie patootie!!! Ah… seeing her pic makes me get excited for October!!!

Tacori – Glad you had a nice birthday. Your birthday present sounds great!!! That sounds like something my DH would end up getting… very practical, yet a splurge. We always seem to have champagne taste on a beer budget.

Ephemery – Beside the other things people have mentioned, like the baby being close, I would think having a small space would reduce the toy clutter! That is something I am worried about, but at the same time we don’t have an endless amount of room to put everything, and I am happy about that!

I have a friend that works at Ann Taylor PT and she offered to get me some of the maternity stuff with her 20% discount. I really didn’t want to buy any more, but couldn’t pass up her offer… I ended up with two shirts! They aren’t bad… not sure how long they will last in term of belly size, but I am sure I will wear them well between now and then. I was upset to see that don’t really offer nice work pants… everything is cropped! I hope they expand the line by the time we are ready for #2!

Jade – Button is so cute! I love that you and we still call him button on here… I think that might be my all time fav in-utero name.
I had my glucose test yesterday and I have yet to hear anything, so I guess I passed! I’m starting to really believe that I might have a nursery by the end of July!
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I got all our extra furniture sold (made enough to buy a crib, woohoo!), the room has been cleaned up of the other junk so all we need to do is paint and buy stuff! I also think we have picked out bedding! I actually went ahead and ordered it this morning because half of it is on back order till beginning of August, but the blanket should come next week so we can see it in person and pick paint. I figured I could be checking Ebay in the mean time for a deal and return whatever to the store. I ordered a bumper, but I doubt I’ll keep it… doesn’t seem worth the money since I will either freak out over it or have to remove it once kiddo starts standing. Doesn’t seem to be any real deals on Ebay though, because they all know its on backorder in the store! Would love the crib in pic too, but I am NOT paying $600 for that!

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Can you resist a sleeping beauty? This was taken at around 5 months old.

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Oh my gosh, could all of these babies be any cuter?!?! Irish, you need to add your little bambina''s photo to the bunch!!

So in the midst of all our excitement -- we closed on our house today ... we''re home owners, yahoo!!! -- I had a pretty bad scare about the babies
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I feel a bit better now that I''ve talked to the doctor, but I''m still nervous until I get more definitive results in a few weeks, but ... Anyhow, here''s the story:

So as you guys know, I had that nuchal screening last week and all looked good with the nuchal folds themselves, which was a relief. I got a call yesterday from the doctor though that bloodwork showed a slightly increased risk for Trisomy 18 -- which is much much worse than Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21). From what I''ve read, Tri-18 babies typically have all sorts of health problems and tend to live for just a few days at most. So as you can imagine, I went hysterical and did the absolute WRONG thing, which was to read everything I could about Tri-18. Needless to say, I had a pretty sad night with lots of worrying.

I was finally able to speak to the doctor just a few minutes ago and he totally reassured me about things, so I feel much better about things now. Basically, there are many false positives with these tests -- to eliminate false negatives, the tests actually wind up having a lot of false positives (I guess they look for so much so as to not tell you everything is OK and then have it NOT be, that they wind up scaring people to death with the slighest thing that could possibly go wrong). Also, the bloodwork is pretty unreliable -- and even more so when it comes to twins. The dr. told me to def. go ahead and get the amnio (in three weeks), but he says the likelihood that everything is fine is 99% -- thank God!! He said he would absolutely be honest with me if he was concerned with these results, but he sees false positives all the time and does not think I have anything to worry about, other than what anyone else worries about when getting an amnio. Whew!!

I''m still worried of course -- as the doctor says, everyone wants everything to come back perfect and when it doesn''t, of course we freak out -- and know that I''m going to be an absolute basket case during the amnio, but all I can do is take the dr''s word and not make myself too nuts over this in the meantime. I definitely understand now why some people don''t do any testing at all -- with the motto of "I made this baby, I''ll love this baby no matter what comes!" The stress of knowing too much sometimes is worse than not knowing at all ...

Anyhow, I guess that''s a long enough post for today! Thanks for letting me vent ... I''m not telling family or friends about this b/c I don''t want anyone else to worry, and I just needed to talk about it!
 
Thank you all for the birthday wishes. I was very happy with my practical gift. I wanted those darn knobs for so long! I should take a picture to post them in all their beautiful and modern glory. I love them. We want to redo our kitchen in a few years and we will reuse them on the new cabs. That is why DH said I should get the ones I *really* want instead of settling for something cheaper.

njc, make sure you post in the nursey thread. I really like the paint treatment in the photo you posted. Very baby chic! The bedding is adorable too. Is that from pottery barn kids? I was actually not that impressed with their cribs when I saw them in person. If you have a USA baby it is worth a look. They have so many cool styles now.

ellaila, I am so, so sorry! I agree with the doctor that it is probably nothing but KNOW it is pointless to tell you not to worry. I think we become mothers as soon as we find out we are preggo and NEVER stop worrying
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Try to remain positive until the amnio (at least you will know your babies sexes early!!!) No matter what we are here to support you (and listen to you vent). So vent away!

Congrats on your new home. That is so wonderful! Being a homeowner is one of the best feelings in the world. Are the babies going to share a room? Are you thinking about decorating ideas? We are moving at a turtle''s pace with our new home. I KNOW it will be beautiful once it is done but I wish DH had more time to fix it up (the roofer''s house always has a hole in the roof right?
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) It is still our dream home even if it IS slightly outdated. Even the flushers are brass
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Thanks, Tacori!! I''m really trying not to think about it too much until the amnio b/c why torture myself like that? There''s nothing I can do to make things better or worse regarding that, so I just have to listen to the dr. who has seen this type of thing a million times, you know? He knows much more than I do about the accuracy of these tests, so I''m better off just trusting him! But it''s definitely scary to think about ... I''m beyond anxious about the amnio for so many reasons!!

And thanks too for the home congrats -- yes, it''s pretty exciting! We have SO much to do and not a lot of time to do it. We''ve got to get stuff done ASAP b/c once we''ve got two babies in the house, I don''t think we''re going to be thinking about redoing the bathroom. So we''re def. in the mindset of "if we don''t do it now, we never will" -- yikes! A bit overwhelming, esp. as hubby''s got to do it all himself basically! Do you have a lot of renovations to make or basically just redecorating in your home? Ours is three bedrooms, but yes the babies will share a room for a while at least -- once they move into beds, we''ll prob. move them into separate rooms. We know we won''t be in the house for too too long -- five years? -- so we''re not thinking too long-term with stuff yet, but there are def. things that need udpating done now! Did you post photos of your place when you guys bought? I don''t remember -- if so, can you post the link to the thread?
 
On another note, can I just tell you how much my belly has grown in the last week?
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(I don''t know why my butt look so big in that first photo -- I think I was just arching my back or something!)

(please let this image not be too huge ... )

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ella, you are still SO TINY! At 22 weeks I think I am up 18 lbs
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I was actually freaking out about it today! This last month and a half I gained 13 of those. I feel like that is NOT normal! How can you gain that much in 6 weeks? Is this a sign I am going to be HUGE?!?


EDD 10.28
 
Oh, no. I did not start a thread on our new home. I am just so lazy about taking pictures! *blush* Our house is a lipstick reno which are the BEST kind. The bones/lay-out is good but its so darn ugly/plain. All the rooms are painted antique white which just doesn''t do it for me. Very 90s tile (brass palace as I mentioned before) basically we will redo every surface. It was a foreclosure so it needs some TLC. Luckly this is what DH does for a living so that saves us money. He does awesome tile work so he will do everything himself. We have grand plans which means time and money but we both rather wait to do it right than not be happy with it. Plus everything we do we try to do as an investment. We will stay in this house for a long time. It is a great size and great location (though I wish it had a 5th bedroom). We feel very lucky (and too young) to live here! I thought our parents eyes were going to pop out the first time they saw it
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Tacori, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!! I was just catching up on this thread and noticed the birthday mention!
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Date: 6/28/2007 12:44:08 AM
Author: monarch64
Tacori, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!! I was just catching up on this thread and noticed the birthday mention!
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Thanks Monnie!
 
Date: 6/27/2007 5:57:23 PM
Author: ellaila
Oh my gosh, could all of these babies be any cuter?!?! Irish, you need to add your little bambina''s photo to the bunch!!

So in the midst of all our excitement -- we closed on our house today ... we''re home owners, yahoo!!! -- I had a pretty bad scare about the babies
7.gif
I feel a bit better now that I''ve talked to the doctor, but I''m still nervous until I get more definitive results in a few weeks, but ... Anyhow, here''s the story:

So as you guys know, I had that nuchal screening last week and all looked good with the nuchal folds themselves, which was a relief. I got a call yesterday from the doctor though that bloodwork showed a slightly increased risk for Trisomy 18 -- which is much much worse than Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21). From what I''ve read, Tri-18 babies typically have all sorts of health problems and tend to live for just a few days at most. So as you can imagine, I went hysterical and did the absolute WRONG thing, which was to read everything I could about Tri-18. Needless to say, I had a pretty sad night with lots of worrying.

I was finally able to speak to the doctor just a few minutes ago and he totally reassured me about things, so I feel much better about things now. Basically, there are many false positives with these tests -- to eliminate false negatives, the tests actually wind up having a lot of false positives (I guess they look for so much so as to not tell you everything is OK and then have it NOT be, that they wind up scaring people to death with the slighest thing that could possibly go wrong). Also, the bloodwork is pretty unreliable -- and even more so when it comes to twins. The dr. told me to def. go ahead and get the amnio (in three weeks), but he says the likelihood that everything is fine is 99% -- thank God!! He said he would absolutely be honest with me if he was concerned with these results, but he sees false positives all the time and does not think I have anything to worry about, other than what anyone else worries about when getting an amnio. Whew!!

I''m still worried of course -- as the doctor says, everyone wants everything to come back perfect and when it doesn''t, of course we freak out -- and know that I''m going to be an absolute basket case during the amnio, but all I can do is take the dr''s word and not make myself too nuts over this in the meantime. I definitely understand now why some people don''t do any testing at all -- with the motto of ''I made this baby, I''ll love this baby no matter what comes!'' The stress of knowing too much sometimes is worse than not knowing at all ...

Anyhow, I guess that''s a long enough post for today! Thanks for letting me vent ... I''m not telling family or friends about this b/c I don''t want anyone else to worry, and I just needed to talk about it!
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My SIL had a similar situation. She had an amnio and everything was just fine. If your doc said everything was probably fine, I''d believe him. There are other signs of Trisomy 18 and he''d let you know if you had any of those. I know you must feel tense, but, try to relax and enjoy your babies.


Congrats on the house, too!
 
Thanks Miranda -- that makes me feel a lot better! (Where''s that hug icon when you need it?) You just read such horror stories on the Web, you know?

And njc, I forgot to say that I LOVE that nursery!!! I''m actually thinking of a similar color scheme for our bathroom (I want a deep light blue with white fixtures and dark brown accents), so that''s a perfect example to show hubby
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Great colors, and I love that it''s not so baby that you can keep it for a few years without him outgrowing it. Really lovely!

Tacori, I feel like in photos, I look smaller than I am -- really I feel much bigger in real life! My friend is 32 weeks pregnant and her husband took these beautiful photos of her, so we decided we needed to be more artsy w/our photos too (all of ours are just the standard standing-in-the-same-spot pics), so I tried lying down on the floor, and my belly disappeared! Hahah, I haven''t popped just yet! But at least I feel like I''m starting to look more pregnant instead of just fat, which is good. We went to dinner last night with friends (the pregnant one) and the waitress asked when she was due, so my friend said that I am also preggo, and the waitress was like, "I thought so but I didn''t want to ask!" -- the first time a stranger commented on it!! I''m sure it helps that I was wearing a huuuge flowy smocked top, which would probably make even my skinny little husband look pregnant though!
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Jade, I was wondering how you were doing--good to "see" you! Button has grown sooo much! He is absolutely adorable!!

Chrono, your little one is so precious! Love the hair!!!!

ellaila, don't stress out over these stupid tests and stay away from the internet!!! There is too much information out there that will just freak you out more. Just like your doctor said, there are so many "false positives". These are just screenings that give you possible odds and I know with twins, they tend to not be accurate. I'm sure you're scared of the amnio but I had one and it was fine--the anticipation was so much worse than the actual procedure. I'm sure your litte ones are just fine but for peace of mind, it's really the only way to go. And let me tell you, having that peace of mind will make your pregnancy so much more enjoyable! BTW, you look tiny-- I can't believe you have 2 little beans in there!!!!
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epehemery, I'm totally going to peer pressure you!! We don't have a car since we totally don't need one but we splurged on a Bugaboo stroller. It's amazing for city dwellers--it has real tires, can be used on lots of different terrain, has excellent maneuverability for bumpy streets and sidewalks and it has a bassinet but then turns into a regular stroller with a seat when she's old enough to sit up. They say this one piece of equipment can get you through till the baby is 4 years old!! You can also buy an adapter to snap the carseat into the frame. Yes, we do have a carseat!! We had to have one just to bring her home from the hospital! It is installed in my parents' car and when we need to get out of the city, my folks will come and get us and take us to lovely suburban NJ or they have promised that we can use their car whenever we want to. Also, we rent cars a lot and many of them are now equipped with carseat bases. The other thing that has been a savior is the Baby Bjorn. What an awesome invention!! Sometimes either DH or I will just strap her into that and then we can wander around hands free. I've also used it in the apartment when she wants to be held but I have to do stuff with my hands! I love it! I'll keep presenting all the good arguments for you to use!!!!
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I love the hands-free baby carriers, except mine is getting too heavy at 20 lbs, so I am looking into a hippanda carrier. I use it for walks, doing housework, shopping, etc. Very useful.

Curly, thanks for the compliments. Baby has already had his 2nd haircut before reaching 7 months; boy does it sure grow fast! I like him with longer hair, he looks so much sweeter - he'll have a lifetime of short hair when he's older.
 
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