Hellobee Boards

@lulu22: I'm having a lot of swelling and tingling/numbness in my fingers! I stopped wearing my rings at 29w.

@marionberry: Glad to hear your appointment went well! I had some painless BH contractions for the past month, but last night I had some cramping and discomfort, too. Glad to hear your ob doesn't think it's anything to worry about.

I'm still considering maternity photos, but I want to find someone who could do a mini-shoot of like 30 minutes and 20 digital images for a cheaper fee. I do want a couple photos of myself pregnant but I don't see the need to spend on it like it's my wedding, since realistically I expect that these photos are going to get displaced on our walls pretty quickly by baby photos. I'm 31 weeks so I guess it's pretty much time to get that figured out, if we're going to.

No BH or cramping here yet. But, at our last appointment, the midwife said that baby is head down! I'm very much hoping she stays that way. I feel a lot of really really strong kicks all the time. In fact she was kicking so hard during the appointment that my entire stomach was shaking. The midwife was like, well I guess that answers the question of whether you've been feeling the baby moving.

We wrote our "final" draft of our birth plan this weekend, since it was assigned by both our birth class and our prenatal midwifery group to get that done. Our center has really great reviews from people who all say the midwives and nurses are super helpful, so I'm not that worried about them forcing interventions or anything, so the birth plan is mostly just expressing our preferences. And letting them know not to let any visitors in!! We will be like cave hermits, no interaction until we get home. I find this relaxing just thinking about it.

@PawPrints: My prenatal yoga studio has a photographer who does mini sessions, maybe you could find something like that?

@loki: ya it's here, i'm not sure how frequently they run, but they do maternity and baby sessions.
http://www.torontoyogamamas.com/photo-sessions.html

@loki: $400 for newborn/maternity combined sounds phenomenal! The last photographer I emailed wanted $175 session fee plus $1000 (yes, one thousand) for the digital images. Yeah, not happening.

Here's a list of what's on our birth plan. Our Bradley class gave us a ton of categories we were supposed to include, I actually left out a few that I don't feel passionately about one way or the other (sweeping membranes, and how the placenta gets delivered). Most of what's on here is actually standard procedure for our midwives anyway, but it's helpful to us and them to have it written out.

Mother's name
Mother’s DOB
Support person: (husband)
Most important issues: Breastfeeding and skin-to-skin immediately after the birth for at least one hour, and I don't want to be separated from DH at any time during labor and delivery.
Visitors: None welcome, please do not allow anybody in.
Pain management: Hoping for unmedicated birth; please do not offer medication. I plan to manage pain using relaxation techniques, massage, and water (shower/tub).
First stage:
I prefer to keep vaginal exams to a minimum and conduct fetal monitoring via doppler instead of continuous monitoring.
If induction or augmentation are needed, we will use natural methods and would prefer to avoid interventions.
I plan to eat and drink normally throughout labor and avoid routine IV insertion.
Preferred environment: low/no artificial light, plenty of natural light, my music playing, door closed, minimal chatter.
I am open to laboring position suggestions from midwives and nurses, including the shower and the tub.
Second stage and birth:
I would like the option to try various pushing positions, including squatting, and am open to position suggestions from midwives and nurses.
No episiotomy, and prefer to avoid the use of vacuum or forceps.
Please do not offer me a mirror. I do not want to touch the baby’s head while crowning.
We want to delay cord clamping until pulsing stops. We do not wish to cut the umbilical cord.
We are not planning to take photos or videos during the birth. We do plan to take a few photos after the birth. We are interested in Bella Baby photography (the hospital photographer who comes around)
Cesarean birth: I prefer that we not consider cesarean birth except in the event of a medical emergency, such as placental abruption. If a cesarean birth is needed for my baby’s safety or my safety, I would like DH to be my support person, and I would like skin-to-skin time as soon as possible.
Baby’s healthcare provider: TBD (I need to pick a pediatrician...)
Infant feeding: I wish to breastfeed and greatly appreciate any possible help getting started. Please do not offer formula or bottles. I would appreciate a visit from a lactation consultant to help with any latch issues or other challenges.
Newborn procedures: eye care, vitamin K, hepatitis B vaccine, and screening tests are all fine, but I would like the baby to stay with me at all times. We would like to delay eye treatment 1-2 hours after birth.

@PawPrints: wow great, that is really helpful and gives me a lot of guidance... annnnd makes me feel like i need to research a lot more before i can make any decisions! haha. thank you!

@loki: I didn't do maternity photos with my first and won't do them for this one. No regrets - I really dislike being pregnant in general and prefer to just do my time and get it over with, lol. All that go say, if you aren't really feeling it don't do it just because. I think with modern motherhood we all feel like there are things we HAVE to do (gender reveal, maternity photos, Pinterest-worthy nursery, blow- out first birthdays, etc.) and it can be exhausting - not to mention expensive! So I say if such things are really important to you, by all means do it! But if not, don't worry about it

@meredithNYC: i'm with you, i'm hating pregnancy too. but i love photos and feel like maybe having a few will help me forget how much i've hated it! haha. i think i would really regret it if i didn't get them done, even if i don't LOVE them or how i look. we just aren't even sure if we are going to have a second babe so this might be my only chance. but i totally get why people don't get em and can understand why people think they're unnecessary! my husband is NOT on board haha. but i'm hoping she gets at least one where i don't feel like i look huge & hideous for posterity

@Banana330: i have been struggling with this too! i feel like i have a ton of clothes but none of them are all that practical when she'll probably been in sleepers most of the time. so i've been trying lately to load up on sleepers. a friend suggested i get maybe 10 so i'm not doing the wash daily. i probably have 10-12 in 0-3 but that might be overkill. i just bought 3 newborn sleepers to take to the hospital but i am imagining a big baby. my biggest issue is feeling like i'm not going to have the right clothes when the time comes. and i'm so sad target is closing because they have such great, inexpensive stuff that i could've run out to grab if i needed to in the early days!

@NeekieRose: ok good because i have so many cute outfits that i wanna use up before she outgrows them! haha. i said to my husband the other day i need lots of visitors and play dates so i have an excuse to derss her up!

hmm sounds like i'll need a few more!

@NeekieRose: ooh good to know. they do look so cute in tiny outfits!

@loki: Walmart.ca actually has some cute carters outfits that are half the price of regular carters. But I agree it sucks target is closing now of all times!

@Banana330: are you planning on going on thursday to check out the liquidation sales? i want to go after work but i'm worried i'll be too late for the good deals. i really just wanna see if they have deals on diapers/wipes/etc.

@NeekieRose: i totally want to follow everyone on instagram once the babes arrive!

second time moms - are there diaper/wipe brands you recommend more than others? i presume it differs from baby to baby but i wanna get a few small packs of different types to try them all out and decide what works for us but i don't even know where to begin!

@loki: I think the plan of getting small packs and trying them out is a good one - just make sure that you get different sizes. I think every baby is different shape-wise and every diaper is different fit-wise, so it's just a matter of matching baby to diaper. My LO is a little peanut, so after experimentation, we settled on Pampers Swaddlers. Also (and like @meredithNYC) I am a fellow pregnancy hater. I haaaaaaate being pregnant. I am always so sick and exhausted, this pregnancy I have terrible skin, and I am crabby even though I am usually upbeat and positive. I haaaate not being able to do what I want. I always know exactly how pregnant I am because for me it's a countdown to get to the end of this miserable process!

I am feeling really prepared, and am trying to resist overpreparing. Every day I fight the urge to install the carseat, since I know it takes 5 seconds to install, and so I can do it while in labour and in the meantime I could use the back seat space. But everyday, it's still a battle with myself. Ditto with carriers - I want to wait to have the baby and take her in to see what she likes, which I could even do on the way home from the hospital, but it's SO HARD to resist buying all the things now.

@Banana330: oh good thinking about the breast pump i should look for that when i'm there. so jealous of your hospital tour, we wanted to go on tuesday but they were booked and the first one i could get into is mar 17! feels so late!

@Rockies11: omg my skin is the worst its' EVER been, i am hoping it clears up a bit by my maternity photos on saturday. i'm with you on the hating it. i feel bad because people are like how are u feeling and i'm so honest and i probably shouldn't be. i hate to be a whiner but. this sucks haha.

@Rockies11: @Banana330: i totally want to overprepare too. i want to start washing everything but people tell me that's crazy to do so early. my friend is like 36 weeks and hasn't packed her hospital bag and i just wanna shake her cuz it stresses me out! haha.

also i loooooooooooove honest diapers, they're so cute!

@Banana330: yeah, it's so dumb because I KNOW for a fact that if I do these things now, I will live to regret it. I did buy all the things with my firat - I had different carriers when she was born, and she hated them all, and I still ended up going in and buying a full priced Ergo out of desperation when she was 6 weeks old. So getting them even on sale when I did was still a waste of money since they were never used! but yet, this time, I am fighting the urge to buy Boba and Tula, lol.

@loki: lol with my first, I washed everything the second I bought it and hung it in the closet. My closet was full of washed clothes by like, 20 weeks.

@NeekieRose: @Mrs. Sunshine: I'm glad to hear that you made a point to put yourself and LO in an "outfit" everyday. Since we are team green we don't have a ton of clothing yet and I feel like I own every gender neutral item sleeper/onesie at this point!

@loki: @Banana330: I have friends/family that work for Target and my understanding is that the liquidation will start out with things being 10%-30% off and then the discounts will improve the farther out they get. For breast pumps and high value items I would expect that lots of people will purchase them at minimal discounts just to get one.

@mrswin: I thought they might do that, nice to have some confirmation. Sucks for your family and friends though.

In response to the clothes, we never used sleepers at all. I know a lot of people who did but his daily outfit was a side snap t shirt (incredible and so easy to use because it doesn't go over the head like onsies), diaper (we did cloth) and baby legs. I am planning on the same thing for this baby personally. But I am getting hand me downs like crazy from multiple places.

For my birth plan with the first I will post later when I can get it off my computer. It was short and to the point and nothing went by it. Since I mainly slept we didn't do much on it. Then afterwards I passed out and the doctor didn't catch him so none of that went like it should have. Not that it mattered ultimately but it did keep the nurses out and I really felt like it all worked out.

Logan is a special message from my first born who is obsessed with his name.

Hi all!

I miss you! I've been laying low recently, trying to take it easy. I worked from home the remainder of last week, and the contractions did subside a good amount, which is great. They picked up again Sunday night and were pretty frequent (8-10/hour) and somewhat painful, but passed after a couple of hours.

We had our all-day childbirth basics class on Saturday and the hospital tour, which was good. For the most part, pretty helpful info - a lot more about what to expect, as well as time to "practice" in different laboring positions (they simulated contractions by putting a clothespin on our ear and ice in our hand - and DH got to do it too!).

I saw my doctor yesterday - 31 weeks - and didn't have a single contraction while hooked up to the non-stress test which was great! But that confirms that the rest is helping, so they are limiting me to working in-office and commuting downtown only 1 day/week. My boss is open to seeing how it goes for the next couple of weeks, but also plans to run it by the President this week to make sure he's on board. I'm the only HR person in the company, so I can do most of my work off-site, but not all. So, I'm hoping that they continue to be understanding. Aside from the rest, I'm a solid hour from my hospital when I'm at work, and my doctor prefers that I'm closer, in case I go into labor! So, I'm trying to take things week by week right now in terms of work. It has been really nice to work at home though, and have extra rest time. I measured 31.5 cm yesterday, so right on schedule - I noticed him having hiccups for the first time yesterday too - it was so neat, and DH could see/feel too.

No plans for maternity pics here - love the idea of it, but just have too much going on. Definitely will be doing newborn pics though.

The birth plan info shared is helpful as well - I want to be sure to document our preferences so if I'm not in a position to share, then at least DH can.

My first shower is next weekend, and I'm so excited. My mom and sis are coming up, and my sister is bringing me LOADS of baby clothes - her two boys are 4 & 11 and she's saved everything - can't wait.

Hope everyone is doing well - we'll be mamas (or second-time mamas) before we know it!