This Is the Pregnancy Commiseration and Support Thread

Whoops this is the wrong thread

Baby missiles = fastest labour ever.

Q: if my friends and I have been calling my friend's fetus by a nickname, and the real name is either a secret or not yet publicized, is it ok if I address the book I'm about to give to the kid using the nickname? Additional Q: should I write in the book at all? It's a collectible, apparently.

I would tuck a personalized card in at the title page, with nickname.

My family believes you shouldn't give a book as a gift that you HAVEN'T written a dedication in but in this modern world that's a bit odd--not every single book is going to be saved until that kid is 27.

Oh yeah would not write in a collectible AT ALL.

This is why I asked! My intuition is nonexistent when it comes to this stuff. I want him to know it's from me, will stick a note in there. Thx guys.

:) I'm more comfortable not personalizing books that are already old/special. New ones? Go to town.

I stuck notes on all of his presents. Really went to town!

Hee hee! Have so much fun today!

My family believes you shouldn't give a book as a gift that you HAVEN'T written a dedication in but in this modern world that's a bit odd--not every single book is going to be saved until that kid is 27.

― Orson Wellies (in orbit), Saturday, January 18, 2014 9:33 AM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ha, this is one of dad's biggest hang-ups. i gave him a couple books for xmas once and didn't write anything and he made a point of fetching a pen and making me write something, anything

Hmm, when I was a kid I'd often get given books I already had and those dedications make exchanges impossible.

My family was always very insistent about dedicating books, too, but now we all have Kindles and just get each other Amazon gift cards.

Part of me wants to bemoan the lost custom of dedicating books but io OTM about not having books forever anymore.

Baby showers have so many land mines! Glad I asked but also obvs can't please em all, right? Like I'm gonna screw up at least one thing at each baby shower. Today it's that I was explicitly told to only bring a gift for one baby but everyone else got one for each baby. Why couldn't this have been more clear on the invite?

I went to a baby shower this summer where the theme was books and stories. They requested you write a note in the book and I had no idea what to write.

"dear babby one day u will be able to read this love tokyo rosemary"

Perfect.

wait since when were baby showers for baby's? i thought they were for the moms? all the female friend getting the new mom all the shit theyll need to deal with neu baby?

I've been to one baby shower, it was ok. As a non-parent and person who hasn't done much babysitting having all the presents passed around to check out seemed kind of unnecessary, but there were snacks and no games.

i think book dedications are actually sweet, my dad still does that with books he gets for August. He is the only person I know who does that though. I tend to be sentimental and stuff like that guarantees I try to hold on to something forever.

My mother and her friends, who I don't really know, put together a baby shower of sorts when I was 8 months pregnant. It was done with the idea that I would not be attending because I was just living too far away at the time. i felt weird about it. I was sent several gift cards to a grocery store that was not in our area, WalMart gift cards and a few baby outfits and blankets that looked and smelled a bit musty. I had no friends or family where I was living at the time so this was it. Wish the event had not happened. I mailed out thank you notes to addresses my mother provided and more than half were returned because the addresses were wrong.

I have attended several baby showers in the past and really love the make a baby out of bubble gum game.
http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1158/627189242_4ab47d46eb_s.jpg

Baby showers have just recently started to happen here in the UK and are still pretty rare. I went to my first back in November (shortly before GB's first ever Black Friday, ha). It was organised by the American friend of my preg friend and was nice, but there was a definite feeling that people didn't know quite what to do. I dunno, I've always thought I'd rather be given a load of stuff after I know the babby has been delivered safe and well.

*Downer alert* I've been doing a lot of thinking since I heard that one of the couples in our antenatal class lost their baby very shortly before it was due. Lots of wondering how the fuck I would cope with all kinds of practical details on top of the unimaginable emotional trauma. Can't even begin to try and understand.

Oh that's so hard. I had a miscarriage before I got pregnant with Ivy and then there was all that crazy stuff with that pregnancy so yeah, I spent a lot of time in that head space. It's exhausting.

Everything with you is going well so far, right? How often do you see the midwife/OB at this point? I found the frequent medical visits to be reassuring plus I gave myself permission to call for any concern, which helped. I don't even think I had to call but knowing that I would without hesitation also helped.

Our baby shower was just a party with pals. I drank beer and we didn't open any presents or play any games.

(xp) Yeah, things with me are going OK thanks, all things considered. I'm going on two or three outings per week (which means a less-than-10-minute walk to a nearby shop or the post office) but I still have to wear the semi-rigid boot and my ankle swells and aches afterwards. I'm also completely knackered the next day from the herculean effort, wot a wimp. Around the house I'm getting about with no ankle support, *almost* taking the stairs like a normal person and catching up with chores. And there's no doubt it's doing me good to sit around resting for much of the time. 9 days until due date, feel like the clock is really ticking now. Oh, and my absolute least favourite minor niggle is heartburn - really need that to disappear within minutes of birth please.

Oh my goodness, I keep looking here thinking SURELY she can't still be pregnant! You're a champ, Madchen. Looking forward to the end of this time for you and the beginning of the next big thing!

You'd probably be tired even without the ankle boot! A friend of mine was so beat at the end of her pregnancy that she would fall asleep sitting up at her desk at work. Her snoring would wake her up.

I've heard the heartburn goes away like magic. I have chronic, intractable heartburn anyway (yay) so it didn't go away after I delivered but it went back to being controllable with meds and I can drink coffee (decaf, tho) and occasionally eat something spicy or fried again, whereas when i was pregnant there was no controlling it (and Tums made me want to barf).

My tipple of choice, Gaviscon, also makes me want to barf these days but I'm still swigging it straight from the bottle because the acid has actually given me a sore throat. Yuck. Oh, and I think I have PEP because if I get too warm I itch like a fleabitten hound.

Forgot to answer your question about frequency of midwife visits - I've had them in weeks 10, 16, 20, 24, 27, 30, 33 and 36. Got another tomorrow (38) and two more in 40 and 41 if he's not moving. All that plus scans at 12, 20 and 32 weeks, a consultancy because of a very unusual thing my Mum had which I might have inherited (not serious) and a physio session to help relieve osteoarthritis. Thanks NHS!

Looking forward to the end of this time for you and the beginning of the next big thing!

Thanks, me too! Stet's going to be all over the photo thread, be warned :)

I can't wait!

Madchen, not long now (Yay!!!) but pregnancy heartburn is awful.

My heartburn was insane, it did disappear after birth. I had it during labor. I slept the best I had in months after August was delivered. Never had heartburn again.

Time for me to leave this thread OMG there is a baby in the room! Vital stats: boy, 7lb 8oz, 10.30pm, 9 Feb. We're still in hospital because of my high BP and he has a touch of jaundice but we shouldn't be in too much longer, touch wood. Name tbc very soon, but for the moment let's call him GORGEOUS LOVELY TINY PERSON.

huge congratulations to you and stet, that is wonderful news.

congratulations on the new tiny person!! hooray!

WTG mum, dad, and gltp !!

His name is Fox!

Many congrats Madchen & Stet

Awesome news, all around! Welcome, Fox! Well done, madchen and Stet!

yoyoyoyo congrats!

oh wow. Congratulations!

Congrats to Madchen and Stet, and welcome Fox!

Congratulations!!!! Fox! Delightful and wonderful!!!

sup fox! :D

Big congrats to all three of you ilx stalwarts (well, two stalwarts and one future stalwart)!

Awwwww...congrats!!! <3

Fox is a great name! Congratulations! I'm joining this thread because I made a people and have been sooooo sick for the past couple of months I've hardly had the energy to be excited. I'm even on pregnant lady anti-nausea meds and still throw up every other day and feel moderately sick and fatigued all the time. Pregnancy is crazy and I hope it doesn't make me crazy. I think I'm sort of starting to feel better? 14 weeks complete on Saturday! They say energy comes back after that marker. I have resigned myself to the merest of hope for that... Super active fetus during ultrasound made me happy though :)

I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope this is your turning point and you get to eat food with some enjoyment from now on! Omg motherhood Robyn-style, it's amazing.

Whoa hey congratulations!!! Exciting!

I was nauseated as hell, too, and couldn't even think about eating most food. I feel you - it really sucks. I'm very pleased to report that the nausea did go away (not until I was about five months though :( ) and the food aversions went away after delivery. I even ate two vegetables for breakfast today that I wouldn't have even been able to think about without hurling this time last year. I won't mention them in case they are on your hurl list.

Hahaa the hurl list! So real. It's so harsh to be so hungry yet not want to eat anything and then eating something and wondering if I'll feel barfy or not because there really is no rhyme or reason to it! That's slowly been changing in the past week, thankfully, but nausea remains present all the time - I think I've just gotten used to it and let myself slow down from the usual pace of my life (I srsly was basically bedridden for weeks 8-10 - I had to say no to some work because of it, managed to watch all of Merlin (lol) on netflix when screen didn't cause nausea, and stared at the ceiling or slept the rest of the time. That's when I got the meds and could semi-function again. The whole time I was like "why doesn't anyone talk about this??! Wtf!!" Oh I was angry-sad pregnant. Now at least I'm really into eating lots of fruit, which makes me happy :)