Hellobee Boards

@sorrycharlie: I've measured 3w ahead consistently so he wants to check baby's size and since baby was breech at 20w to check position (he did this with my last pregnancy when I was measuring 2w ahead, so I'm not too concerned and am looking forward to getting a peep at LO). Yes we are team green; since we don't know gender I'm planning to get a going home outfit in both boy and girl this time rather than doing something gender neutral like we did with DD. You're glider is gorgeous, my cat has taken to sleeping in ours each night so he is going to be unhappy when he starts getting evicted.

@skipra-I think I don't want a gender neutral outfit because I want to go shopping for the baby, being my second pregnancy and us being team green I haven't had the "need" to do much shopping so far and am feeling like I'm missing something. However, at times I also like the idea of using the same outfits that DD used (we used one gender neutral for the first pictures and a different one for coming home).

As for feeling unprepared, I don't know that you ever feel prepared when it is your first. With my first child I don't think i felt prepared even though she came one day before her due date; you can always send DH/your mom or friends out for whatever you don't have but need after the baby comes; important thing is that you and the baby are healthy so if that means LO comes a little earlier than originally expected so be it.

@mrsmccarthy so right! i am all okay with baking the baby just a little longer. i definitely feel like i have been prego for an eternity! i have been really glad my doctor is really attentive, but not set on giving me a "date" because I know I would be really hung up on it.

he did tell me today I am dilated to a 1 (still means nothing to me!) and fully effaced. I asked him what the latest I could go was and he said he doesn't like to let patients go too far past their due date so he said I will for sure have this baby by the first week of September if I haven't gone into labor on my own by then. Appointment next Tuesday!

Ultrasound went well, baby is head down but pretty much laying diagonal (head is lower right with butt up under my heart). Like DD the baby was a total wiggle worm during the U/S. I am currently 36w3d and baby's estimated weight is 7lb6oz (DD's estimated weight at 37w0d was 7lb3oz) so I am measuring about a week more than where I should be (actually consistent with my OPK results not my LMP). I go the OB again on Monday so I'll be interested to hear his thoughts.

@sorrycharlie bless your heart! I would be miserable if I were throwing up everyday. Heartburn/reflux is bad enough, but I think vomiting is the WORST! Aren't you so excited the end is very close? My LO was 6.5 at least at my 36 week appointment and I am getting scared I'm going to have a massive baby!

Don't worry just rest up while you can!

I have been having weird chest pain on the right side of my chest, so I am wondering if the baby is pressing on something causing it. I told the nurse the other day, if I were having contractions I probably wouldn't even know it!

Just got back from my OB appoitnment! I am 50% effaced, very soft and 1cm dilated. Baby is in -3 station. she felt his little head. so cute. good heartrate and BP and all that. so glad something is happening but my doctor did point out that people can walk around 4cm dilated for weeks or they can be high and closed and open in a matter of hours. she basically said unless your water breaks or you are having the 5-1-1 contractions all bets are off and it can be anytime! I feel happy with my progress. it seems like baby is in a good place to come right around his due date to me.

@mslipgloss: your mention of @mrsmccarthy's post made me laugh and think about a sign in my OB's restroom that always makes me smile, this isn't exact but the general message "Isn't it funny how pregnancy begins and ends with heavy breathing"

@MrsMccarthy: You're in the home stretch! At least you know there is some progress going on so the process is in motion. You'll be holding your beautiful babe before you even know it.
@MsLipGloss: Sorry you tested GBS positive. I don't know what your birth plan was but it stinks that you have to go into the hospital early to deal with the IV. Unless you feel more comfortable being at the hospital...then I guess it's not a bad thing!
@purrpletulips: Ha that is so funny and so true

Had my 37 week appointment with the midwife yesterday and unexpectedly had the cervix check. (btw, Ouch!) First thing she mentioned was how low the baby's head is. I guess the baby is engaged at 0 station and I'm 50% effaced but no dilation and cervix is still posterior. She seemed very pleased with the position - will be less work I guess when I get induced. And it sounds like if my remaining biophysicals look good my induction will be 9/5. So that means I have 12 days left at the most! So crazy!!!

37w appt went well-LO intent on staying put for a little while longer according to cervical check (still high and posterior) and I just say OUCH, didn't remember it ever hurting that bad with DD but oh well. OB said we will discuss possible induction in w39 at next week's appt because LO is measuring a week ahead.

We're all getting so close! At my appt last week, found out baby girl is very, very low & ready to come at any minute...or in 2 weeks. She couldn't check for dilation b/c my cervix was behind the baby's head!

Have another appt today & am wondering if there has been any progress...

@skipra: first, good luck at your appointment and glad your peanut is growing. You are getting so close.

I was induced at 39w6d (day before EDD) when I had DD because she was sitting on my sciatic nerve and I couldn't walk; overall it was a pretty good experience. If I end up being induced this time I'll likely make it towards the end of 39w. Being induced would make things easier than going into labor naturally because we would have care for DD already arranged. We have a plan for her in place if I go into labor naturally but I'm a planner and it was nice to know when it was going to happen last time.

@mslipglss: it couldn't hurt to ask your doc, you are so close now.

Hi ladies... I just want to wish everyone healthy happy babies since we're getting so close to September!

@RoccoandKirby: Hello lovely! It's almost September . . . let's get the party started!

@LYDG: We are all cheering for you and an early baby! That sounds so uncomfortable!

I have been swollen beyond belief, and now even my hands are so swollen my typing has slowed waaay down, and I can't close them all the way without a ton of pain. I have my 39 week appointment on Friday, so maybe they'll take pity on me give me an induction date.

My glider--hopefully this time with the right upholstery--is here . . . and just in time!

@mslipgloss i feel your pain!! i have fatty hands and feet! the joint pain is definitely the worst when i sleep. i am really glad my dr doesn't want to induce, even though people at work think i am INSANE for being so huge and miserable. i am confident it will be worth the wait and he will come soon enough when he is ready! post a pic of your glider when it comes in! mine came in a couple days ago but someone has to bring it here for me *6 hours away*

@mrsmccarthy i posted on your thread early about labor...labor dust to you too!

@MrsMcCarthy: That's great news - and I so, so hope that you get the natural birth you have worked so hard--and waited so long-- for! *natural labor dust* for you!

@LYDG: You are so awesome for sticking it out! And I will try to remember to post a pic of the glider. Hopefully it will get delivered before I deliver! And 6 hours is insane!

@MrsB: Awwww - thanks doll!

@Skipra: My parents are here, and I am know that they will help out (like with making dinner and stuff) as much as possible . . . although sometimes *help* is counter productive.

I am a daddy's girl, and I do love my mom, but I did ask her to not show up until I had finished my last day in the office, and that she plan to stay approximately 2 weeks, 3 max(!) . . . Somehow that translated into showing up in the middle of my last week at work and staying for a month! I am sure she didn't share that little piece of information with my dad.

I think the hardest part for me is that I haven't ever been particularly close with my mom. Without launching into a full on psychoanalysis of our relationship, sometimes she is really insensitive, and seems to lack sympathy/empathy for me [, i.e., when I ended a long-term relationship (because he was emotionally manipulative, and when he put his hands on me one afternoon I walked), she actually got mad at me for leaving because she didn't see it coming (she also said, in so many words, that she was worried what other people would think); on a particularly miserable pg day, when I mentioned wanting an induction date if I didn't go into labor on or before my due date--due to massive swelling--she literally came unglued and basically told me that I wasn't special or unique when it came to pregnancy issues and to suck it up and deal with it, and equated my want for a definitive post-40-weeks-end date to scheduling a c-section at 37 weeks] . . . I know this about my mom, and yet when it happens, I am still taken aback by her lack of support. My legs were so swollen last night that there was no definitive difference between my calves and my ankles . . . my legs were basically solid from knee to toe. Her reaction? No biggie! My dad, however, must have told me to sit down at least 15 times. *sigh*

She is opinionated about caring for the baby, although I have firmly but gently told her that I will do what I (and my docs) think it best for the baby, and she has made it known how she feels about certain decisions (like whether to swaddle, breast feed, etc.) and crystal clear that she does not like the name DH and I chose for butterbean . . . although everyone else either loves it, or is just too polite to say otherwise.

So, in addition to feeling physically and mentally drained, now I am draining (what's left of my) emotional stores to keep the peace while not compromising any boundaries (because she is here now, and I can't just end our conversation and get off the phone, lol). But I know I won't be able to hold out forever . . . hopefully I will last a month. Having my dad here too will definitely help, as will having my ILs here, too (she will not be as vocal if others are listening).

I hate for this to sound so *woe is to me* or make it seem like my mom is a terrible person (because she isn't), but seriously, this is just about all I can handle right now. Call me crazy, but I just want her to realize how hard this pg has been for me (pre-term labor at 22 weeks, working 60-70 hours a week, and ridonculous swelling (and thus weight gain)), and to just support me no matter what.

@MsLipGloss: Oh, I'm so sorry about this added stress! Obviously it totally depends on your relationship dynamics, but do you think your dad or husband or a sibling could talk to her to get her to back off a little bit or could you try to talk to her about it?
I also have had a strained relationship with my mom but we are working on it and my sister has really helped to get us to communicate better. I don't want to bore you with the details, but my sisters don't live nearby at all so I'm the one that has the responsibility of helping out my mom since my step dad passed away in November. She can get VERY demanding and be totally unappreciative for everything my husband and I do for her, meanwhile ignoring any simple things that we ask her to help us with. A couple times when it got really bad, I asked my sister to talk to her, which helped temporarily. We had a major blowout fight in July while my sister was visiting with her family and she helped us to sit down and communicate with each other to get to a better place. Things are not perfect but they are much much better and she has been amazing about being around to help out before and after the baby comes. For example, normally any time I would talk to her she would ask when I was going to her house and give me a list of things she needed us to do for her. She never ever came to our house unless there was a specific reason, like she needed a ride to the airport and wanted to park the car in our driveway. A couple weeks ago she actually came up for the weekend to help us with baby stuff and just to visit and she is planning to do whatever we ask for help with during labor/delivery/afterwards. Without actually sitting down and airing our grievances last month, we never would have been in a place where she would have offered to do those things or I would have wanted her to.
Sorry, so longwinded there! Just wanted to offer you support and let you know that it's really difficult and awkward but if possible, open communication can help. It's not good for you to keep it all inside so even if you don't think talking it out would work, you have a place to vent here!

@Skipra: thanks so much for that. It is so nice to know that there is a *soft place to land* here.

I'm so sorry about Team Green! I hope all goes well with your LO, and that the induction process goes smoothly.

Speaking of inductions, I am currently at the hospital being induced. I came in for my checkup and mentioned that butterbean wasn't kicking around like normal. About an hour later, I was being admitted. She is fine, but my amino fluid is low, so they wanted to induce me right away. I am. It am not dialated at all, so they are estimating a late afternoon arrival tomorrow.