Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[fieryred33143]

Date: 10/2/2009 12:10:55 PM
Author: MonkeyPie
Yay for all the belly pics ladies! Mara, your little bump is so cute.

And thank you for all the good thoughts ladies - we heard the heartbeat today! She no sooner touched the doppler to my belly and there it was, whoosh-whoosh-whoosh. I cried I was so happy, and my husband was really excited. ''Is it supposed to sound like a hummingbird?'' LOL. Rating around 150-160 beats a minute and kicking like mad, because we could hear her flailing around in there, too. My midwife thinks I should be able to feel her soon! We are SO excited and happy, it''s like the baby is more real now!

Mother''s intuition, hmm?

 

[steph72276]

Here''s my 23 week contribution. I tried to wear the same clothes in as many pics as possible, so I could do a cute little montage later of my belly growth, but sadly I think I have to move on to bigger clothes...these jeans just aren''t cutting it these days. I''m going to be doing lots of maternity clothes shopping this weekend and will report back with any good deals! Everyone looks so great this week!

 

[Burk]

Hello ladies! Loving all the adorable belly pics!

Thanks to all who wished us well for our u/s. Everything went great. Baby looks good. And for the big news, add me to the list of ladies having BOYS this winter! He was a little stinker for getting good pics (hands AND feet by his face the entire time) but he was very certainly a boy.

I need to go take a belly pic. I''ll be back later with that. Happy Friday all!!

 

[steph72276]

Burk, congrats on baby boy!!! Exciting!

 

[vizsla]

cuuuuttte bellies everyone!

mandy - i can't believe you have 2 in there.. i think we look about the same size and i've got a singleton! i think i may have figured out where my 35lbs have gone

re: movement.... i've never thought feeling the baby move was ever 'painful'. sure, a foot in the rib is uncomfortable, but i don't know if pain is the right word.. and trust me, when they start running out of room their movements get less and less karate chop and jab-like.. and turn into this kinda rolly poly side to side movement - so, not painful.. nothing to worry about.... and then they go head down and in the 'fetal position' so they can't really move their arms and legs - it's a lot of butt movement across your abdomen.

nothing much to report... it is a crappy crappy day here.. rain, cold, bleh! friends want to see a movie tonight, but i've got a netflix calling my name... however, i feel like i *should* go out now while i still can... but yoga pants, popcorn, and curling up on the couch with the pooch sounds like heaven

it's been strange these past few days... everyone keeps asking what they can "do"... but, i can't think of a darn thing that needs done before baby. cleaning lady is nesting for me as i type and aside from grocery shopping and throwing my toiletries in a bag when it's "time" i don't know what else there is to do. last night i was feeling so restless because of this lack of things to do that i hooked up the monitor and went all around the house and the yard, garage and halfway down the street testing it out

all the while DH was in the room saying into the monitor "i'm crying, i'm crying.. this is weird". hee hee. BTW the safety 1st digital monitor is AWESOME - crystal clear with ZERO interference (and the houses in my neighborhood are pretty close together), and the product styling is pretty sweet if i do say so myself.

my birthing order prediction: so cal (cuz she's probably holding her baby as i type then nat then PG, then mandy then me.

guess that's all the news that's fit to print!
have a wonderful weekend.

oh, mer - you *should* eat ice cream... it's the one thing i can say i really craved while PG. and remember, baby is stealing all of your calcium and iron etc. you need to replace!

full term! whoo HOOOO!!!
viz 37 weeks! over and out!

ETA!!! burk!!! hooray for BOYS!!!!! congrats!!!!!!!

 

[MonkeyPie]

Lol Mara, sha and fiery - I keep trying to think girl thoughts, because I want a girl so bad. But I honestly feel like it''s a girl, too. I''ve never once pictured us with a boy.

steph, your little bump is so cute! At 23 weeks I think you look so little.

Yay Burk, for your boy confirmation! Were you hoping for a boy after your girly girl?

 

[Mara]

yay for boy, burk... there are soo many boys, it''s just crazy! i only know one girl out of like 6 pregnancies.

viz...girl your belly looks like mine at 37 weeks. love the toilet. and btw that ''i''m crying i''m crying'' made me laugh so hard, i could totally envision it.

steph, embrace the maternity clothes...

 

[MissChi]

Love BPF! You girls all look adorable!!

 

[jcrow]

so, last night hubby really wanted to take me out for my birthday... we went to this all organic highly rated cafe. the menu was pretty simple, but i couldn''t figure out what i wanted/could eat. the waiter came by three times to see if we were ready. and when i finally was he was like i sure hope you picked something good since it took so long for you guys to decided. he was joking around... and when i told him i wanted a blt he seemed a bit sad at my decision. haha. but the worst part was when the food came i couldn''t eat it. i ate the biscuit that was an appetizer and that was all i could get down. i felt so bad that i felt bad. we had to cut dinner short and get a to-go box for all of my food. ugh. i''m so ready for this part to be over.

and my latest is back pain. like really, really bad back pain on my left very lower side of my back. i''ve heard some people say it''s normal... but i don''t know. i mean this early on? i''ve been doing the heating pad thing...

 

[vizsla]

Date: 10/2/2009 2:09:40 PM
Author: Mara
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tee hee.... it made me laugh last night too.... DH would just randomly say "i''m crying... i''m a baby and i''m crying... i hope you can hear me because i''m crying really loud now". then i started thinking what IF that is what really happened.... the baby would just calmly say into the monitor "ahhhem, mom.. yeah, i''ve got a wet diaper up here.. if you wouldn''t mind stopping by .... when you are finished eating dinner, of course..... i would really appreciate a dry set of drawers"

and p.s. you are SO NOT as big as me you are teeenny tiny! enjoy it! DH has to tie my shoes now... lol... and don''t get me started on what my nether regions look like .... i mean, i try and keep it neat and tidy but the other day DH said "whoa, what''s going on (points finger) *there*?" i just started laughing because I DON''T KNOW!

i loved anchor''s pic.. here''s my view can you see the tips of my shoes???

 

[anchor31]

Date: 10/2/2009 2:34:16 PM
Author: vizsla


i loved anchor''s pic.. here''s my view can you see the tips of my shoes???

Pouahaha... I just noticed you can''t see my feet in my pic... Hilarious.

 

[anchor31]

Date: 10/2/2009 2:26:50 PM
Author: jcrow
so, last night hubby really wanted to take me out for my birthday... we went to this all organic highly rated cafe. the menu was pretty simple, but i couldn''t figure out what i wanted/could eat. the waiter came by three times to see if we were ready. and when i finally was he was like i sure hope you picked something good since it took so long for you guys to decided. he was joking around... and when i told him i wanted a blt he seemed a bit sad at my decision. haha. but the worst part was when the food came i couldn''t eat it. i ate the biscuit that was an appetizer and that was all i could get down. i felt so bad that i felt bad. we had to cut dinner short and get a to-go box for all of my food. ugh. i''m so ready for this part to be over.

and my latest is back pain. like really, really bad back pain on my left very lower side of my back. i''ve heard some people say it''s normal... but i don''t know. i mean this early on? i''ve been doing the heating pad thing...

jcrow - I started having back pain at 6 or 7 weeks. We secrete hormones that makes our muscles and ligaments relax and the two halves of the pelvis move apart a bit, and for some women that can cause a lot of discomfort. I saw a physiotherapist about a dozen times, and it helped a lot. Daily yoga stretches keeps it under control.

 

[qtiekiki]

Peanut slings are on sale for $18.00 on greenbabybargains.com (it''s one of those one deal per day site).

Love BPF. Everyone looks great.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Date: 10/2/2009 2:26:50 PM
Author: jcrow
so, last night hubby really wanted to take me out for my birthday... we went to this all organic highly rated cafe. the menu was pretty simple, but i couldn''t figure out what i wanted/could eat. the waiter came by three times to see if we were ready. and when i finally was he was like i sure hope you picked something good since it took so long for you guys to decided. he was joking around... and when i told him i wanted a blt he seemed a bit sad at my decision. haha. but the worst part was when the food came i couldn''t eat it. i ate the biscuit that was an appetizer and that was all i could get down. i felt so bad that i felt bad. we had to cut dinner short and get a to-go box for all of my food. ugh. i''m so ready for this part to be over.

and my latest is back pain. like really, really bad back pain on my left very lower side of my back. i''ve heard some people say it''s normal... but i don''t know. i mean this early on? i''ve been doing the heating pad thing...

While I didn''t have the back pain, I can totally sympathize about the stomach issues. I can''t tell you how long we waited to go out to a real dinner anywhere because of mine! At least your DH can have it for a midnight snack later

that''s what mine did lol.

 

[lili]

Great bellies ladies!
Love those aerial shots Anchor and Viz.

 

[Mara]

thanks for that tip qt! i got a fleece peanut sling for $26 including shipping when at target it was $44!

 

[phoenixgirl]

So . . . the menstrual-like cramps were pretty bad this whole afternoon. Is this normal? I haven''t noticed that they are coming and going at regular intervals, so I don''t think they''re real contractions.. But they''re unpleasant. I wouldn''t say super painful. I could carry on as normal, but they are pretty much exactly like menstrual cramps that you''d pop a few Advil to get rid of. I''m not going to be a happy camper if this is how the next few weeks are going to be. I mean, contractions must be obvious enough that you''re like, oh, here''s one, I should start timing it now, right?

Anchor, that''s what my belly often looks like too, with her butt popping out on the side like that. Hee hee.

Burk, congrats on a BOY!!!!

Viz, are you dilated or effaced at all? I know you''re due ahead of me, but with all these cramps and being 80% effaced and all, I can see why you put me ahead of you on your prediction list. We''ll see! My department chair thinks I''ll have her next week, and that was without me telling her how uncomfortable my cramps were all day.


DH is being a total doll, basically doing everything around these parts now. Last night he stayed up late getting the laundry done. And he''s signed me up for another in-home massage on Tuesday. The one thing I''ve noticed, which is more funny to me than annoying, is that DH has this habit of always sitting down when he can, even if there''s only one seat and there''s an obviously infirm elderly person or gigantically pregnant wife not getting to sit. Last night we were chatting after work in the sun room off our bedroom, and down he sat. Then we moved into the nursery, and down he sat. I''ve seen him do this with elderly relatives and big groups of people where there are other frail people around. Oh well, nobody''s perfect! Maybe I should just get in the habit of making a beeline for the seat. It can be like our own version of musical chairs.


Question: Car seats. Do you usually put it on the back right so you can see the baby best and for ease of getting her in and out, or in the middle so it''s safest from side-impacts?

 

[qtiekiki]

Mara
That''s a good deal for the fleece one. I am still deciding if I want one. I have two mei tai carriers already and Lascal carriers for DH, but I am wondering if the sling will be better for newborn.

phoenix
Sounds like those could be contractions. Did moving or drinking water help get rid of them? Real contractions are the ones that don''t go away no matter what you do. Good luck.
Middle is the safest spot for car seat. We have the car seat in the middle, and it''s really haven''t been hard getting M in and out.

 

[Sha]

phoenix, maybe false labour?...being that your cramps are not coming at regular intervals. It's strange that they're so painful., though It would be good to keep to a close-eye on them.

Burk, congrats on having a boy!

Anchor and viz, I love those aerial belly shots as well - it's funny to see how the bump looks from a different angle. I know I haven't been able to see my 'privates' for a while...lol.

I haven't posted a belly pic for a long time. Here's me at almost 30 weeks. Yikes! Officially into the third tri!

 

[qtiekiki]

Sha
You look great. Can''t believe you are 30 weeks already.

And my contribution to BPF. Ewww my bathroom mirror is gross, please ignore. hehe. I was trying to show that I am wider from the front, but it doesn''t show well in the pic. OH well.

 

[lili]

Awww...QT.
Could you be any cuter?
You don't even look preggo from the front!
I envy you ladies w/ hour-glass shape.
Mine is like a 2x4 -- flat from the side and just straight from the front
Correction....no longer flat since I have the extra skin and belly pooch.

 

[sunkist]

Wow! Congrats JCrow!! So happy for you!

Everyone is looking wonderful as usual. Anchor and Viz, love the top down view! Anchor I love how your tummy looks like lop-sided right when you took that pic! I look like that a lot too, especially when I get a Braxton Hicks and my belly gets tight all around him. heehee!

I think my little one is doing cartwheels in there tonight. Seriously it feels like he''s trying to break out.

Amber, what a cute invite for the baby shower! Little Pumpkin!

I''m getting so excited with our next round of babies coming due here any day. I hope SoCal has her bebe in her arms?? Pheonix, hoping those cramps turn into full fledged contrax soon!

Hey do your babies have spasms?? Like, in utero of course. Mine freaks out and moves real fast, like a spasm or something and sometimes it really freaks me out. He scared me the other night

haha!

33weeks here

 

[phoenixgirl]

Sunkist, spasms, hmmm, no . . . . They aren''t repetitive like hiccups, right? My girl gets the hiccups all the time.


Well, the cramps must just be BH because they go away, especially in the morning. They just get worse as the day progresses. Whatcha doing, baby?

 

[natalina]

So far behind, but bellies look great everyone! I tried to take one this week, thinking maybe it would be my first and last all at once, but I can't get it to uplaod because the file is too big and I'm too frustrated to figure it out. But 39 weeks 2 days here. Went to doc yesterday for appt. Still 2cm and 50%, but baby flipped to the right position (guess all those hands & knees exercises worked!) and doc says she is in a much better position. Had a bit of pink on tissue all day yeterday, even before my appt, and it continues today. Doc thinks it may still be a while though. Next appt Tuesday evening. She said to think about how I would feel about induction and we can talk then. I think that's kinda strange, since 40 weeks will be next Thursday and she said she's estimating baby to be in the high 6lbs to low 7lbs, so not very big (no ultrasound, just from palpating the belly). I think I want to wait for her to come on her own, as the Pitocin stories scare me, but last night was pretty miserable. Lots of period-like cramps and my back was killing me all night. Busted out the heating pad, and that helped, but finally broke down and took Tylenol for the first time the entire pregnancy. I know it's ok, but I just haven't wanted to take any medication at all. So anyhoo...like Vizsla said, "tick tock tick tock..." Oh, and yesterday was my last day of work! Need to finish up some mid-year reviews for my associates and email them in to my assistant, but other than that I am DONE for 4 months!!!!! Wahoo!!!!!

MP- YAY on the heartbeat! I was anxious for you and I'm so glad you finally heard it! As for boy/girl, I always thought we'd have a boy first, and when we found out it's a girl I was stunned. Could not imagine it...But now I can't imagine it any other way. It all works out- either way you will be ecstatic!

Amber- those invites are adorable! How sweet!

Mara- can you use your CB points at Land of Nod? That's their kids' shop, and it has the Stokke Sleepi, along with TONS of other great stuff! I know you can use PB cards at PBKids and Williams-Sonoma since they are all owned by WSI, so I would think Crate would be the same way due to having the same corporate office (same as LofN, I mean, not same as PBK). Just a thought, not to enable the million-dollar crib commitment or anything

...

Mer- I say eat the ice cream! You will be fine as long as you don't go overboard. DH and I shared a caramel apple with pecans last night because "the baby had to have it"-mmmmm.......

PG- sounds like progress! Maybe you'll give my a run for my money here!

Viz- I also feel like "la dee da- everything is done...what to do but WAIT..." The vision of your DH with the monitor is TOO funny! But yeah, Dh and I both have a bag packed, carseat is installed, nursery is done, yada yada... We are doing our big grocery trip today, and I'm washing all the sheets and cleaning up the house. Then I guess we just wait...

Burk- I am so excited for you to have one of each! Lucky duck! Congrats!!!

 

[KimberlyH]

Natalina, awesome that work is done and you finished up all you needed to.

Lili, don''t be envious, we all wish we had what we don''t. My hour glass is a bit exagerated now and I think I look like a cartoon! Except the definitiion in my waist isn''t so fabulous now.

All the picture ladies, you look wonderful!

Went to visit a friend and her 5 wk old yesterday. She is doing fantastic and the transition from a family of two to a family of three/having an infant in the house has been relatively easy for her and her husband, which is good to see as we have similar attitudes about life and families. It''s obviously no guarantee that things will be the same for us, as our babies won''t be the same, but it also was good to know that not everyone has a horror story about how hard it is to bring a baby home. Her boy is darling.

Seeing your feet: Mine have been missing since week 12.

 

[Mara]

Nat...I wish that I could use them at Land of Nod since I love a few of their bedding collections, but on the AMEX thing it just says CB and it doesn't have any of the other CB subs listed (whereas for PB they have WS, PB, PBK, West Elm all listed). I guess I could call but I just figured that since it doesn't have any of the other CB subs listed (CB2, LON etc) that it was JUST CB. Boo.

Esp since *warning very long ramble! feel free to ignore!* I went to PBK yesterday thinking I had a plan all worked out. They have a new cheaper Catalina style dresser for $400 in Espresso that I could match with the Kendall crib for $400 and be out with shipping etc for $950. All using points. But when I went into the store, I fell in absolute love with the rustic honey color in Kendall, which of course is not available in the cheapo dresser. The next option for a dresser I liked in honey is $800. I chatted with the gal for a while about my points and the color dilemma. Since I am registered we could get the 10% off now, so that saves like $100-150. I came home and laid out the whole 'I've been researching' thing to Greg who said I have 'analysis paralysis' and that we should just use our points, and get the more expensive dresser. And he liked the 'honey' too from photos. BUT man I just have such a hard time paying that much for kids furniture!!! Esp when there's a perfectly fine option for 1/2 price, just diff color. Even though it's free with points. So thix wkd, I am trying to make sure I couldn't love 'espresso' over honey just one last time.

Obsessively silly I know. This is why I hardly ever change out any furniture in our house.

And for everyone who said 'omg $800 for a crib'...I totally agree. I am super practical when it comes to furniture and I always try to weigh the diff options and +/-. The stokke is amazingly cool but it would always bother me it was so much. At least with a dresser it has the option of lasting very long...but cribs get notoriously beat up by boys from what everyone has told me.

On the plus side I feel like we are this close to the final decision so I am getting excited. And PB said it's only like 4 weeks to delivery. So by end of Oct we could have it mostly done, yay...close to my original timeline.

so away from the horrible furniture topic...

QT..you look so cute lady...you crack me up with 'i look wider from the front'...all I see is cute. And yeah I had that sling on my registry anyway so now someone doesn't have to buy it for me. I also put a Bjorn on there since Greg can wear it too and we plan to carry as much as possible.

Kim, awesome that your friend has a relatively relaxed life with the new baby...I have heard good and bad from all fronts, I think it just depends on the parents AND the child and also how they interact together. It makes me think of households with new pets and puppies. I hope I am more calm with the baby than I was with Portia as a pup.

Love the additional photos, esp the gals getting sooo close to the big day. How fun!!

On a body related note...last nite we drove up to SF for a friend's bday dinner and back home and it is getting harder for me to sit in the car for long periods of time in a relaxed state. My legs start to twitch, things feel like they are falling asleep...my back started to hurt. Ugh. We were hoping to get over to Palm Springs in a few weeks for one last mini babymoon, just 2 nights at our fave resort relaxing by the pool and gorging on food... but I don't know that I can make the 7 hour drive this time. I told Greg we might have to rent me a big horse trailer! So we'll see, but wow I might really be home-bound for the next 4 months.

Have a great Saturday all.

 

[steph72276]

Mara, Andrew has his big boy furniture from PBK in the honey color and I love it. I think you should just think about what you would be really happy with long term b/c the crib is only for 2-3 years, whereas their dressers will probably last until he goes to college!

 

[KimberlyH]

Mara, the horror stories just seem much more prevelant, likely because it''s not typical to need/want to talk about things going great, whereas when there is a struggle people seek advice, etc. I''m pretty laid back about the pregnancy/baby in general, and I''d like to think that will tranlate into bringing the baby home. If you have the points I would use them and get what you love.

Furniture: We have all of John''s childhood furniture, we''re going to stain and change out the handles and use it. My parents are buying the crib, our plan is to get a convertible that goes from crib to toddler bed to regular bed. My nephew has one and it has held up really well; they love it and highly recommended we do the same, so we are.

I''m a day late, but it''s a picture. My dad wanted to know if I look pregnant so I took a picture wearing Saturday lounging clothes (as opposed to yoga pants and a tank). I''m 16 weeks 6 days.

 

[meresal]

RE: Furniture... does anyone have opinions of the Restoration Harware (or any other brand) of cribs that change into a toddler conversion bed, and then into a Full as your child grows?

They look very cost efficient. Am I missing something? They run like $980 in the beginning, but it seems like they will last for a very long time. Anyone looked at these?

 

[littlelysser]

FAB belly pics ladies. So cute!

Just wanted to weigh in on the transition from no baby to baby...and I''m a super anxious person - Mara - We were so crazy when we first brought Izzie, our dog, home! I worried about him constantly! And I heard so many stories about awful babies who never sleep and need to be held all the time. I know I was pretty freaked out about bringing a baby home!

FWIW, Calvin is 4 weeks old and things are going really well. I''m not going to lie, the first two weeks were a bit rough. Getting our respective schedules in sync while recovering from having him was a bit tough, but things are much easier now. I know we are lucky because he''s a good baby - he sleeps for 4-5 hours at a stretch at night and he''s pretty darn chilled out. We''ve had some difficulties with breast feeding and he totally has his little cranky fits, but overall, things are good and the transition hasn''t been hard at all. And really, even when things are tough, his adorable little face makes things totally okay. And he just started smiling yesterday...TALK ABOUT MELTING YOUR HEART. Anyway, I know the difficult stories normally get most air time...but I just wanted to put out there that although bringing home a new baby is definitely challenging, it is pretty great most of the time.