MAY 2011 BABY or BABIES!

[kizmet]

Hope everyone had a fab weekend. We certainly did.

DH and I went to a wedding on Saturday which was lovely but the late night didn't do me much good! I ended up staying in bed on Sunday until 12pm which would have to be a first in my entire life! Then when I did wake up, I was struck by the thought that I had friends coming for lunch at 12.30pm and I hadn't prepared anything and the house was a mess so DH was promptly put to work cleaning the kitchen and family room whilst I raced to the supermarket to get a chicken, salad and rolls! It was great to see our friends though as they have a little 9 month old daughter and they were kind enough to bring over an enormous pile of newborn clothes, manchester and other bits and pieces for a newborn. Our nursery is really starting to look like there should be a baby living in there, if only I could get my stepson to find somewhere else for his weights and gym equipment so it doesn't look like we're planning making the baby run on a treadmill or lift enormous weights and if my stepdaughter would decide exactly how much of the clothes in the wardrobe will ever be worn again!

Still living in hope that I will wake up one morning feeling well. The MS isn't nearly as bad as it was but just lingering enough to make me feel ordinary.

[hopeforbabies]

Kizmet- Ugh I am so sorry that your m/s is being stubborn and is sticking around. Hopefully it will go soon so you can enjoy the Thanksgiving and Holiday feasts that are coming. Glad you had fun at the wedding and with your friends this weekend. I think its awesome that they brought you all the infant stuff. I have been getting lots of stuff from my friends and family now that everyone one knows we are expecting. My DH and I didnt have a lot of money saved (who does after fertility treatments) for items so it has been a real blessing. Sorry for my ignorance but what is a Manchester?

AFM- We had to split Thanksgiving between my two sides of the family this year because a cousin on my dad's side of the family is visiting from the military and is bringing his girlfriend (most be getting serious). So this weekend we had Thanksgiving dinner with my Mom's side of the family. It was fun to see my nephew try his first taste of real turkey (last year it was jarred food). He kept insisting that it was chicken not turkey. LOL Other then that not much new besides my DH fighting an upper respitory infection and hopefully I dont catch it. I'm pretty much treating him like he has the plague!

[kizmet]

Hey Hopeforbabies - Manchester is things like sheets, blankets, etc. We are in Australia, so I guess that's one of those things that we do/name differently - we also don't celebrate thanksgiving in Australia, so no turkey for us just yet, we'll have to wait until Christmas day!

As I've mentioned here before, I've thought from the moment they put the embryo back in, that our baby is a boy. No real reason to think this other than a "feeling". However I've dreaming the last week about our baby girl. Last night I dreamt we were out on one of our farms, camping overnight while I was heavily pregnant but not quite due, and I went into labour and had a beautiful healthy baby girl with only my husband there to help. It was all very vivid (and suprisingly pain free!).

[hopeforbabies]

Hi everyone just wanted to see how everyone's weekend went. Our Thanksgiving was really nice and it was great to see all my cousins and their kids. Everyone was really excited for us as they know we have been trying to get prego for awhile. I also enjoyed stuffing my face and not feeling guilty for all the extra calories! Not much new to report otherwise. Just waiting for my next dr. apt which is a check up on the 13th and then we have our 18 week ultrasound the week of the 27th to find out the sex of our baby.

Kizmet- Anymore pics of your nursery stuff? I dont know if we actually have a term for our crib bedding and blankets or not??? Thanks for clarifying on what the Manchester stuff is I thought maybe it was a chest or dresser or something.

[kizmet]

Morning Hopeforbabies!

No new nursery photos. Maybe I'll get some on the weekend when we put the cot together and put the wall paper border up!

I had an OB appointment yesterday which turned into a disaster! I have always had blood pressure on the higher end of normal (but still in the normal range, so no meds) but since I've been pregnant, it has been perfect. Anyway, I'd had an irritating morning, forgetting things and having to deal with stepdaughter issues, so was running late for the appointment (which is something I hate!). When the OB saw me, he straight away launched into a discussion on "congenital deformities" because I am diabetic and the baby has a two vessel umbilical cord instead of three vessels. THEN he takes my blood pressure...so no suprises that my blood pressure is up but he immediately admits me to the maternity day assessment unit where I have to stay for two hours while they monitor my blood pressure and take bloods and urine for tests. By the time I got up to the MDAU, my blood pressure was FINE, perfect again, but because I'd been admitted I had to stay. So what should have been a 20 minute appointment turned into 4 and a half hours of irritation by the time I was allowed to leave when they got the blood tests back (all perfectly normal). To top it off, this fiasco means I now have to attend the MDAU once a week for the next month. The plus side of it was that I got to hear Bean's hb on 3 occassions during the day and the OB wanted me to change my 19 week ultrasound from the provider he originally sent me to, to another which does the 3D ultrasound, so although it means waiting an extra day, I'm happy!

[2bunsinoven]

Kizmet- I'm sorry to hear about the mess you went through, but you are right, atleast you got to hear your baby's heartbeat. I hope everything only gets better for you. I'll keep you in my prayers. I like the picture of your nursery, when did you start decorating? I've been contemplating on when I should start myself. Awesome picture of your baby!

Hopeforbabies-That is a great picture of your baby as well! Glad to hear everything has been going good for you and your baby.

AFM- I've been so depressed for the last 2 weeks. I ended up at the hospital because the bleeding got worse 2 Monday's ago and scared the you know what out of me. It was after 5pm so my Dr. told me to meet him on the maternity floor. They monitored me throughout the night until the bleeding subsided. They still can't tell me exactly where the blood is coming from. My DR. just put me on bedrest for a week and told me to take it easy. Both babies were perfectly fine, I guess it's just one of those things that I will not get an answer to. Since then, I've been going every week to get an unltrasound, which is a plus. This past Monday our tech girl, who is sometimes moody, suprisingly turned to us and asked us if we wanted to know what we were having because she said she could tell. My husband and I didn't even hesitate to say yes. She said that she was 90% sure that both of them are BOYS!! We were both thrilled and ecstatic! We would've been happy with whatever she said, but it just makes it more real. Now I can think of names and start planning on what I want to do in my nursery. When is the right time to start buying things? I'm 14 weeks and know it's too soon, but I just can't help it.

[hopeforbabies]

Kizmet- I'm sorry your last trip to the OB turned into such an ordeal, but I'm also glad everything is ok with you. My BP runs on the high side too and for our last IVF my RE insisted I be put on medication for it or he wouldn't do the procedure. My OB didnt seem to want to take me off of it now that I'm prego so I guess I'll just keep taking it. On the positive side at least you will get to check in a lot on your little bean and will know that it is doing well. Please do post more nursery pics when you get a chance. I'll try to bring my camera to work so I can post pics of mine (although they might end up huge like the u/s pic).

2buns- I'm sorry to hear that you had more bleeding because I know how scary that can be. Hopefully the your OB will either figure out where its coming from or it will stop soon. How long have you been bleeding on and off for? With my hemorriage I bleed on and off from 5 weeks till about 10 weeks. Like your's my baby was always fine and I'm sure will never know that it shared the womb with a big blood clott (or now a fibroid ). Congrats on hopefully having two boys! At our Nuchal Trans. u/s the nurse said she thought ours might be a boy too but wouldn't give us a definate. We get to find out soon if it is or not! As for when to start buying things...I'm 14weeks too and have already bought a ton of stuff. Its never too early so shop away and have fun. It will help you relax and spend "personal time" with your son's!

[2bunsinoven]

Hopeforbabies- Thanks...Well I started bleeding Halloween night, so this is my 5th week. For 3 weeks it was non-stop and my fourth and fifth week have been off and on. I'll stop for 2-3 days, hope and pray that it's over and then it starts again. For the past 2 days I haven't been bleeding/spotting and then this morning I started again. My Dr. said he thinks it's going to stop during the first couple of weeks in my 2nd trimester, so hopefully it's sooner rather than later. It's just scarry because my stomach hurts when I bleed, kind of like when my ovaries where enlarged after doing IVF, hurts to move, walk, etc.

AFM-I think I'll start shopping here pretty soon. This is going to sound crazy, but I already have all of my baby furniture, car seats, stoller, etc. in a shopping cart online. I'm just kind of waiting around trying to decide when I should go ahead and click on BUY. My husband and I also talked about baby names last night and he kind of just agreed with the 1st 2 names I threw out there, which are Joaquin and Isaiah. He said he liked them and thinks they're pretty, but it was too easy, I don't know if he's just agreeing with me??

[hopeforbabies]

2buninoven- I think both those names are beautiful. I'm glad your DH was so easy in agreeing because I know mine doesn't like the girl names I have picked out. We both agreed on the boys names and now it looks like that's what we might be having so its a relief. Don't feel silly for having all your stuff picked out already to be honest I have most of my furniture in the house already! In my defense a lot of my friends who have been down the Mommy road already have given me stuff. I already have my crib (was my nephews but he never used it), a changing table (was mine when I was a baby and I just refinished it), a glider, night table, high chair (donated), bouncer (donated), and swing (donated). Plus a bunch of boy infant clothes(donated) so if we really are having a boy that will be nice. Plus last weekend my mother and I went to Target and started my registry. We were there to shop for my cousins baby shower and she kept trying to buy stuff for my registry but I wouldn't let her. I'm sure she has since picked stuff up. I just cant wait to find out what we really are having at the end of the month so I can pick out our crib bedding and buy more stuff! So no, you aren't crazy or silly and yes I'm excited and eager if you can't tell.

[hopeforbabies]

double post

[kizmet]

Morning All!

2Buns - Sorry to hear your bleeding has kept up but great news that your babies are all OK though. I'll keep my fingers, toes and legs crossed for you that the bleeding stops soon. I can only imagine how stressful that must be. I love your name choices too. DH and I are right for a boy - before we even got our BFP, we'd been talking about names and one day on the way into work I thought "Hmm, I really like the name Lachlan" and then about two hours later, DH sent me a text saying "What do you think about Lachlan for a boy's name?" So it kind of seemed like fate that we'd go with that! Girls names come and go - we both like one, but DH's nephew's youngest has that name and I feel like it's not quite right to use it even though we only see them once a year, if that.

Hopeforbabies - Here's some nursery pics from last night.

DH in his best tradie outfit putting up the zoo border (what a nightmare that has turned into as it wont stick!!) Note the RM Williams mud flap on the wall that DH says we should leave there (from stepson's previous use of the room as a "boys room") because it's "SOOOOOO Cool!" I'll take it down when he isn't looking and hide it somewhere!

nursery2.JPG

The cot - I can't actually make the bed properly because my sister still has the matress, but I guess there's no hurry there!

nursery3.JPG

I can't get any really good pics because there's still some junk in the room. The laser for getting the border straight is set up in the middle of the room and I can't move that until we've finished putting the border up. There's also an old TV that DH's daughter needs to pick up and his son's swag, so I'll get better pics when all that is cleaned up!

I started getting gifts as soon as we told people I was pregnant and I've become ridiculously addicted to baby shopping and have had to control myself so that the credit card doesn't melt! Next week I'm buying the bassinet which I'm very excited about. I dragged DH to a baby shop yesterday while we were in Melbourne in retaliation for the fact that he'd dragged me up there in the first place to look at backhoes (insert yawn here) and got him to agree on which one we'd buy. It's nice to see him excited about baby stuff now especially since I sometimes feel that he isn't as excited as me because he's already got two adult children.

[hopeforbabies]

Kizmet- Oh I love your animal bedding especially the giraffe with its long skinny neck! Its too cute. I hope you get that border to stick because I think the soft green goes really nicely with the dark purple. Lachlan is very unique and I love unique names. Is the ch a hard ch or pronounced more as a k or q sound? Do you know what it means? Thank you for sharing your pictures and someday I'll get mine on here to show you.

So since Kizmet has mentioned it I have to wonder if I should get a bassinet. Our friend just kept their baby in a large suitcase in the bedroom until he was able to sleep in his crib. I have heard of people using dresser drawers and I didnt know if I should buy one or do you think co-sleeping would work too. I wasn't sure what most people do or if they just put the baby in the crib in its room and use a monitor to know when to get up and feed them.

[kizmet]

Hope - DH was suggesting to me that we just put the big cot in our room instead of getting a bassinet, but I'd like to get one that I can keep and pass on - my grandfather was a carpenter and made them for each first born of each of his grandchildren (so his great grandchildren) but sadly since I'm am the youngest grandchild by a long way in our family, my grandfather is long gone and my nieces and nephews who have them are now having their own children, so I can't even borrow one. Since we saved a lot of money not having to buy a cot or change table, I figure I want one, so I'll buy one! I can't see why you couldn't use something else though.

Lachlan is scottish and means land of the lakes or something like that - not really a romantic meaning! The it is pronounced Lock-lan. The girls name we like is Matilda - Matti or Tilly for short, but still can't really settle on it because of the closeness of the other Matilda in the family. Because DH is from a family of 8 children and of them they all have between 2 and 5 children and now nearly all of them have between 1 and 4 kids, there's almost no chance of not repeating a name!

[2bunsinoven]

Kizmet- Thanks for the support I absolutely love the name Lachlan, it's very unique. I'm impressed with how much you've already done in your nursery, I'm a little jealous because we haven't even painted and I love that color you decided on. It's a color that your child will never want to change. I also love your crib, I'm going with white furniture as well, you're giving me a little inspiration to get started ASAP. Thanks!!

Hopeforbabies- I didn't want to buy a bassinet either, but I found a Pack 'n Play Playard with a bassinet and changer. It's basically a playpen but at the top it has a bassinet and changing tablel. It can later be used as a playpen when they get older. I like it because it's functional and it also has wheels on two legs so you can haul it around from room to room. I was thinking it would be easy to move it from my room to the living room, if I don't want to leave the babies alone. I can even take it to my parents when we visit. I just hate to spend money on 2 bassinets if they're only going to use it for a couple of months and also because I'm having to buy everything new. It's hard to get donations if you need two of the same thing. Here's the website to the one I'm getting, and I also saw some on Overstock for about $90, they're not that pricey.
http://www.target.com/Graco-Moderne-Pla ... c_ic_7_IMG

[kizmet]

Hope everyone had a fab weekend!

I attempted to start Christmas shopping and got annoyed with all the crowds in the shopping mall pretty quickly, so only managed to get about 4 presents (and spent a fortune on myself!). I wasn't feeling well with MS, so that didn't help! Very excited about our 19 week ultrasound tomorrow. DH and his sister are coming. We decided to see if his sister wanted to come along because she's been so excited and supportive and will be the closest thing our baby will have to a grandparent. When I rang her to ask this morning she nearly burst with excitement. She is just such a wonderful, beautiful person who has suffered way too much sadness in her life (including the loss of her eldest son in a workplace/road accident just short of his 21st birthday and only about 4 days after he moved out of home for the first time). It really is a privilege to be able to share our excitement with her. It would have been her son's 23rd birthday yesterday, so hopefully this will cheer her up at a time of year when she really struggles.

2buns - Fortunately we didn't have to repaint the room! So that put me a little bit ahead of the game. It was only painted a couple of years ago as it was DH's daughter's room and since I quite like the color, saw no need to change it and figured the white furniture will go a long way to brightening it up. We are also in the process of building a new house so I'd rather not spend money painting a room the baby won't be in for very long. Great idea too with the bassinet, especially since all your expenses are doubled.