Heidi and Stacey--I KNOW! I can't believe I'm still here, either. Yesterday we walked for four hours, and all that happened is that my feet got swollen!

Ok, so I have an ettiquette question, and those of you who are due in November should definitely consider this. I have been shopping online for baby announcements (I want a photo announcement), and have discovered something wonderful; they make Holiday birth announcements, so you can do your birth announcements/holiday cards all in one swoop! Talk about saving time and money! Now, if he were to come in November or December I would definitely do that, but do you think I can get away with doing a birth announcement/holiday card if he is born in October (which he BETTER be!) Or is that too late to send a birth announcement, and I will just look cheap? Here are a few of the sites in case you all are considering this; they have some really cute ones. I have one that I am leaning towards, but of course I would have to run them all by DH first (he is so wierd; he loves being involved in stuff like this and is still annoyed that I chose our wedding invitations without asking his opinion!)
InvitingSmiles - Birth Announcements, Photo Baby Shower Invitations, Baptism Invitations, Thank You Note Cards and Wedding Invitations
Christmas Holiday Birth Announcement
And here is the one that I am leaning towards:
Metro Baby Cards :: Photo Christmas Cards :: Let it Snow

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Krissy

Stacey--I know I just posted, but wanted to also ask about the breast pump. I have a hand held one, but it is not very good and I am afraid of making my breasts sore or anything. I want to nurse, and don't want to cause any problems with that. I also read that you should not express before the birth, or your can get rid of a lot of the good colostrum (I read that in "What to Expect; the First Year". I have never nursed, so I may just be paranoid. Also, if you bring on contractions, does that necessarily do anything to help with dilating? I keep trying to have orgasms so that I get the oxytocin naturally without the pump, but so far that is not working (sorry, TMI). The evening primrose scares me because you put it inside, and the cohosh scares me because it can cause bleeding problems and a few years ago I was anemic for awhile and we don't really know why. What do you think I should do?

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Krissy

Krissy-I think you can totally do the birth announcement/holiday card. I would just send them out the very beginning of Dec. At the most he'll be 5-6 weeks and I don't think that is out of the norm. I was already planning on trying to do it that way but it just depends on how quickly I can get my act together after she is born.

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Krissy- I ditto about the birth announcements. I think as long as it's less than 6w from the time the baby was born you should be fine.
You shouldn't be pumping much of anything out before the baby comes. Your body does produce it while pg but not quite as much as after the baby is born. Your body knows exactly what to produce when so even if you do get some colostrum, after you have the baby you will continue to make that through when your milk comes in..... there won't be a shortage. LOL To me it's silly and I don't understand why they would say anything like that in that book. I know you honestly don't know either way b/c this is your first child.... and trust me I am NOT laughing at you.... I'm laughing at that book. It's continually produced. HTH!

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Stacey--I understand the supply and demand theory, but what made me nervous in that book is that is said the "best" colostrum (with all the antibodies) is that first bit, and if you express it before the baby is born, then the baby will still get some, it just won't have as many antibodies. I don't know, something about pumping before the baby comes just freaks me out.

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Krissy

Krissy- You don't have to do it.... was just a suggestion. I did it and it worked. I BFed DS until he was 14mos too.

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I am thinking I will probably try it; I have been trying everything else, so why not! Absolutely ANYTHING is better than having to be induced. My doctor has not even discussed that with me, yet, because he knows I am against it. However, I also know that most doctors will only let you go over so far before they start pushing it, and I am terrified! I still have a few days before my due date, so hopefully he gets a move on!

Where is everyone today?

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Krissy

hey girls!!! so i got my hcg results back. it went from 467 on friday to 2785 today!!! dh is a little worried that it is twins!!!!

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Krissy, I tried pumping to start contrax with all my kids and never really got any colostrum out. I was leaking it from 20 weeks on but didnt get any out with pumping so I think the very small amount you get out probably wont make to much of a differance.

Lisa, WOW that is a really high number! Did you guys do the gender selection this time?

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no gender selection so dh just hopes its a one big boy in there!!!!!!!

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Hey girls,

Lisa - that is a huge number! I can't wait to find out if there is more than one little one in there! When is your 1st u/s?

Krissy - I was thinking about the holiday announcements too. If Jackson is on time, he'll arrive 6 weeks before Xmas. I wasn't sure when we should try to take a photo of him. I was thinking of trying to do holiday cards & then announcement separately, but I would want to sign the holiday cards from all of us......and include a family pic. I can't decide what to do.

Heidi - DH has been kinda freaking out too. He has been up & down about the whole thing. He got so excited about the 3d pic, he took it with him to Cali & showed it to everyone. Then he lost it & wasn't bothered. But he doesn't have any interest in helping finish the nursery.....its like he goes in phases. Hang in there. I keep telling myself that it is so different for them b/c they don;t feel the baby like we do.
Are you growing like crazy? I think I am getting exponentially bigger each day! I need to start taking daily pics!


My work hired a temp to fill in for me while I am out & she started today. It is so tiring to spend an entire day with someone, talking and teaching. I am exhausted.

But, my team had a surprise baby shower for me during our staff meeting today - I had no idea! They gave me a super cute basket with baby stuff, a target gift card, and the biggest boxes of diapers & wipes I've even seen! I couldn't even lift the box of wipes! It was so sweet of them! And...there were lots of cupcakes with buttercream icing - yum!!!!

And, my glider was delivered! Finally! I really like it, but it is a little more movable than I expected....it spins & tilts & glides. But the color is great & I think it looks good in the room. All I need now are the shades for the windows, which should hopefully be here at the end of the month. I'll try to post some "work in progress" pics.

Sorry for the long post, but I had a lot to catch up on!

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jen i go next thurs!!!! i will keep everyone posted!!!

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Lisad-Can't wait to see what's going on in there. I had really high hcg levels too but turned out to be only 1. We thought for sure we had 2 but apparently just 1 big baby.....she's always measured about a week ahead.

Jen-I feel huge. Yesterday I was really uncomfortable by the end of the day. She must have been laying really low and when that happens I get a lot of pressure in my back and down low. I don't think my skin can stretch any more! Glad my DH is not the only one acting like this. I'm feeling better as our contractor/friend got a lot done yesterday and hoping for the same this week. I just hate that I can't finish up the nursery right now with stuff being in there due to the attic access. But hopefully in another week or 2 that will be done. I have a few long weekends coming up so I plan on using those to finish the room. Can't wait to see pics of yours. Can you believe what little time we have left? That is great about your work!

Krissy-How are you feeling?

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Jen- YAY for getting the glider!! I won't be buying any big items until after we move in December. It actually makes me feel good though to just wait. Hehe!

Lisa- Your doubling time is about every 37-38hrs. I am going to bet you have just one in there! That's awesome that you have great numbers. I can't wait to see your u/s pics! Just FYI if they were to look now they could at least see the sac and possibly the yolk sac! How exciting.

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Hi, guys. I'm still here (sigh). Still no baby, and absolutely no signs of baby coming anytime soon. I am in so much pain, I feel like my hips are being torn apart and my groin muscles are just ripping everytime I try to walk or stand up from a sitting position. and since I have not had any blood, loose bowels, mucus, or ANYTHING that might indicate his arrival, I have pretty much just given up. My only hope is that I am going to be one of those people who just suddenly goes; and my water breaks, lose the plug, and all that fun stuff at once. In the meantime, I guess we will try to bd again tonight, and I do think I am going to try the nipple stimulation today. I read on a midwives site about doing it without a pump; it said to get into a hot bath and put a towel over your breasts and sort of "roll" your nipple through the towel. I guess I should know if it is working because it should cause me to have some sort of contractions, right? Anyways, if that doesnt do anything I will try the pump.

Heidi and Jen--You girls need to post pic's of those huge bellies! Mine is pretty much the same as before; I think that as he has gotten bigger, my fluid has decreased, leaving me looking about the same (but it feels a lot heavier). I think I am getting stretch marks, but they are so light that I am hoping they are just veins from my skin stretching so far! You need to post nursery pic's, too! Sorry your dh's are being so wierd; I think men process the whole thing differently. I am sure that once the baby comes, they will be much more receptive. Jen--Awesome that your glider does all that extra stuff! I bet you will like all the features a lot.

Lisa--Great numbers; congrats!

Mom3girls--You said you tried pumping to start contrax; did it work?

Well, I am going to make some raspberry leaf tea, eat some pineapple, and get into a hot bath to stimulate my nipples, now. This is all so wierd. I read somewhere that only 5% of people deliver on their EDD; maybe that will be me!? Did I mention that DH and I were BOTH late to our wedding! This kid is definitely ours!

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Krissy

Ok, I apologize for the double post, but I just asked the women on the baby side this question and thought I would ask here, as well.
Have any of you had your membranes stripped, and what was your experience with it? I think my doctor may suggest it at this weeks appt, but I am scared that it could accidentally break my water. I DO NOT want to be induced, but from what I can find, stripping your membranes is not really an induction strategy, it just sometimes speeds things up? Any info would be appreciated!
(I should clarify one thing; it is sort of important to me that the baby come soon NOT because I am uncomfortable, I can deal with that, but my doctor is leaving town in a week, and I am TERRIFIED to be with a different doctor who may not respect my birth plan--hence my obsession with getting things moving)

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Krissy

Krissy - A friend of mine had her membranes stripped. She was just past her due date. Fortunately, for her it worked and she went into labor early the next morning, however, there were a few girls here who had it done and nothing happened from it.

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