Jen - lol - for years I every time someone has had a boy I've said "woohoo - betters my chance for a girl!" Kind of joking & kinda hopeful. Apparently it doesn't matter!

My belly has been really sore the last 2 days whenever I walk. I am not enjoying the pain at all! Hopefully it's a temporary thing as something stretches out.

That's funny lifeguard - I've always wanted boys, and I especially have always wanted our first to be a boy. Not for the typical reasons (you know, carrying on family name and such) but because I absolutely adored growing up with older brothers. In fact, I think a whole houseful of boys would probably be ok with me. I'll bet we'll have a girl at some point though, and I'm glad she'll have at least one older brother to stick up for her.

Jen - an epidural would definitely take care of the pain, and I've always planned to get one, but it's not really about the labor itself but the after effects. It's tough to explain because lots of people have never even heard of this problem (even some gynecologists, believe it or not -- this always shocks me).

I have pretty much decided that I will try the vaginal birth. I just hope I don't have the uterine prolapse that happened to both my sister and mother -- I've read there's a hereditary predisposition toward it, and they've had problems with their bowels and bladder collapsing downward as well, so that's pretty scary. That can happen just from being pregnant, though, so the vaginal birth may not have an effect. As for the other problems, I just have to pray for the best. I feel like it's safer for my baby and for me not to have to go through major surgery. The decision isn't final yet -- I will have another discussion with my OB -- but it's pretty cemented in my head.

As for having boys -- I always thought I wanted at least two children and that I wanted a boy first so my little girl would have a big brother. So if I have another, I hope she's a girl! I just KNEW this one was a boy, and he is! I can't wait to meet him, and he'll be here soon!

Even with the issues I'm having, I'm getting REALLY excited about my baby finally being here. I can't wait to see his little face!!

I hope everyone else is feeling well!

Lisa - I think it is a good idea that you are going with a vaginal birth. My SIL just said in a recent e-mail that the euphoria of the baby coming out blocks out the pain so I'm sure this will be the same for you.

Had a terrible day yesterday. Monday night I could barely sleep and so felt so tired yesterday. I went back to sleep after my dh left for work and ds was good and stayed quiet so I could sleep. I felt okay for a bit but then around lunch I felt so dizzy and sick, didn't start feeling much better until around supper time. Still feeling a bit woozy this morning but better than yesterday.

Hope everyone is going great!

Again, it's not the pain of labor that I'm worried about -- it's the after effects related to the problem I've had for years. I mean, I AM worried about the pain of labor, obviously, but that has nothing to do with this decision. I've made the decision, though, so I'm just hoping for the best in terms of what will happen in the future related to it.

Jen, I'm sorry you had a rough day yesterday. I've been having some rough nights! I haven't slept more than two hours at a time in weeks, and yesterday I think I had my first Braxton-Hicks contractions. Since I hadn't had any contractions of any kind before this, I was worried that maybe labor was starting and I just didn't know it. I still have this fear that I won't know when I'm in labor and I won't make it to the hospital in time for my epidural!! I'll be 39 weeks on Friday, so I'm very close!

Lisa- I'm excited for you that you are so close. I can't wait!

I am sleeping terribly - even for me - lol. I've never been a particularly great sleeper (at night - I nap wonderfully!). Between the need to pee (I swear the baby is on my bladder is such way that I never actually empty my bladder 'cause I literally still feel like I have to pee when I'm getting off the toilet), the neighbour's dog's incessant night time barking & dh interrupting my sleep with his early rising I never get more than 2 hour stretches at a time. But I guess it won't be a shock to my system when baby comes!

Lisa - I don't know precisely what the issues are and I hope all goes well with the birth. From what I remember from my first baby is that you'll be too busy for the first couple of weeks to even think about it. It goes by in a big haze of sleep deprivation and worry over your first baby. I didn't go into labour spontaneously, I was induced and then ended up having a c-section but I did go through a few hours of labour and believe me you will know!!!

Lifeguard - I am having the exact same problem with going to the bathroom. I'll go and then 2 minutes later feel like I have to go again and then most of the time it is just a tiny dribble. Makes me so mad because usually I've just gotten myself into a comfortable position. Now I'm starting to just ignore it if I am certain that it is just because the baby is lying on my bladder.

Has been super rainy here the past little while. Meanwhile they predicted that it was going to be a hot and dry summer. Oops, got that one wrong! We've had some hot days don't get me wrong but not as many as last year. This is the kind of summer I like. I'm not keen on summer and especially not when I am pregnant. I was pregnant at the exact same time with my first and we lived in a house with no air conditioning and it was a dry, hot summer that year. I spent most of my time dousing myself in the shower and then laying in front of the fan without drying off. Or I'd leave the bathtub half full of cold, clean water before I went to bed because I'd end up getting up in the middle of the night drenched in sweat and I'd just go and lay in the tub until I cooled down.

So I bought some fabric for the curtains for the baby's room. Next week I am going to get the paint. Hopefully dh will have the rest of his stuff cleaned out. I'm trying to think about what we are going to do for diapers. We did disposibles for the first and now I am thinking about cloth. I understand that besides being better for the environment it is a lot cheaper in the long run and also I think it would be better for potty training. Our first wasn't trained until he was almost 4 and I'd like to get it done a little sooner this time. Problem is that there are no stores around here that I can look at their cloth diapers. I'm pretty much going to have to order them on-line I think. Anybody else doing cloth diapers? Also looking at a sling to carry the baby. With my first I had one of those carriers where the baby is in front of you but it was too hard on my back. Was talking to another woman who had one and she said it was much easier with the sling so I'd like to get one. It is such a pain to carry the baby around in the car seat or to slug the stroller around everywhere.

Hope everyone has a good day, take care!

I am using cloth diapers. There are sooo many varieties on the market right now that I'm sure you can find a type you like. I am using chinese prefolds (which are similar to the flat diapers our parents used) which I made myself (except for a few which I got at a great price at a consignment shop - brand new!). For covers I am going to purchase a couple of the plasticky, waterproof ones but primarily plan to use wool ones which I will make myself or have my MIL make. It being so warm here I think the wool ones would breath sooo much better than the plastic ones!

Where are you in Ontario? Home for us is close to Ottawa & although I don't think there is a mainstream store in Ottawa that sells cloth diapers I do not that there are a couple of small (very small) shops that specialize in them. You might be surprised at what you can find. My friend has bought some of hers online however & had good luck.

Jen - I'm not using cloth diapers but I did buy a pack of them to use as burp cloths. I also like the idea of having a few around as backup -- I have this fear of completely running out of diapers and not having anything around to put on the baby!! I live in the boonies, so it's hard to just run out and get some diapers. I bought them at Babies-r-us -- they only had a few packs and they were located in the feeding section instead of with the diapers (kind of odd...)

My stomach is sooooo hard today, especially on the left side. It's really weird. And he's not moving around as much in there today -- I wonder if he's concentrating on trying to get out! I have an appointment tomorrow morning. I dread the internal exam (of course), but I hope to find out there's some progress. Then my husband and I are going out to lunch and then hitting Wal-mart for a few last-minute things that we need before the baby comes!

Today is my husband's last day of work, which makes me feel MUCH better. He's also a teacher, but in the summer he works with the computers at the school for extra money. He wants to be home with me from now on, though, because we're so close to the due date. It's already a 40-minute drive to the hospital, but if he had to come from work, that would add on at least another 20 or 30 minutes AFTER he gets my message!! Scary! So I'll feel much better when he's here with me. We plan to just finish up some things around the house, watch movies, and hang out until the baby comes!

I'm getting very excited to see my baby and to hold him. It's a weird feeling -- I can't imagine not having him inside my belly anymore!

Lisa - hope your exam went okay today. I'm sure it'll be nice having your husband home with you for the rest of the summer. I know what you mean about having to imagine your baby outside of you. 40 weeks is a long time and in someways it has only been the past few that I can imagine actually holding my baby and looking after it.

Lifeguard - I am more in the Niagara region and you'd think that with all the big cities in this area I could find some place other than Toys R Us that sells cloth diapers but there isn't! The closest I could find was in Burlington and it only has a couple of different kinds. I wish I could find someplace that has several and I could look at all of them but it isn't going to happen. I'm just going to have to buckle down and read through the descriptions on-line and order them that way. I don't live that close to big cities that I want to be driving all over with my 6 year old in the car looking for cloth diapers. It isn't worth it in my time, aggravation and price of gas!

Jen - Good luck finding your cloth diapers. I think it's insane that it's so difficult to find them!! I had the impression that more people were doing cloth these days, so you'd think stores would be more willing to accommodate that.

My exam today was fine -- I had gained 4 pounds in the last week, for a total of so many pounds I'm embarrassed to say. I've gained more, honestly, than any pregnant person I've ever heard of. Oh well, there's not much I can do about it now except make plans to get the weight off after the birth. I've always been the fastest gainer in the world, though, and some months during this pregnancy I gained as much as 14 or 16 pounds. I ate too much, yes, but I wasn't as out of control as I could've been. I'm looking at it this way: my baby's healthy, I'm healthy (though very overweight right now), and apparently this is what my body needed to do during pregnancy. So I'm not stressing over it.

I'm one week away from my due date, and I'm not dilated or effaced at all. Nooooo progress. My baby is perfectly comfy in there!! I guess he'll come out when he's good and ready!

I'm having all sorts of odd aches and pains -- in my vagina, my bottom, my stomach -- everywhere. But no contractions. Oh, and I think I broke my toe last Wednesday, so I've been limping for a week and a half. It doesn't seem to be getting better, but I haven't gone to the doctor because they don't really do anything for a broken pinky toe anyway. You should see me waddle-limping around!

Lisa - glad to hear your exam went well!! Yes you'd think it would be easier to find cloth diapers. There seem to be a lot of web sites that offer them but wouldn't you know the kind I decide on I can't find any in stock anywhere!!! I'm still looking around. I want to get what they call an all in one, it is closest to a disposible. My dh isn't keen on the idea of cloth diapers but in the long run they are loads cheaper. He'll go along with it as long as he doesn't have to fuss too much with them.

The cloth diapers really are not much fuss. A couple of my friends have done them, including my absolutely closest friend. I've changed her kids sooo many times & the only more work (sorry for my grammar) they are is to quickly rinse out the poopy ones.

The all in ones are especially easy to use. Fuzzi buns are apparently the cream of the crop but there are many well made ones. One caution: be careful you don't dry the all in ones on too high a heat as I've heard more than one person has had problems with the outside "melting" from the heat of the dryer.

Waddle-limping - hahaha! That doesn't sound like funny at all - but the picture in my head is funny. I definitely feel like I've started to waddle - hopefully it doesn't look as pronounced as it feels.

Question to you all on your weight gain: is anyone trying to actively ensure they stay within some sort of "guidelines" or is everyone just letting things fall where they be? I know my Mom was told by her doctor when she was pregnant for me not to gain more than 20. When she hit 20 she curtailed her diet & ensured she didn't gain anymore. Seems kind of crazy but at the same time I feel like I've gained too much & I still have 3 months to go!!! Have I mentioned I feel a little panicked about the weight gain? It was SO hard to lose before I got pregnant.

hi ladies,

I just had a quick question, if you don't mind. I'm not pregnant myself, but I have been twice previously. During the second one, I read an article that stated that some women could lose weight while pregnant, (strictly under their doctor's care) although I have no personal knowledge of any that actually did. I know that the baby must grow, and therefore, their will be weight gain of some kind. But it also stated that these women lost in other areas (thighs, butt, face) while the belly got bigger.

Is any of this true, as far as anyone knows?

Thanks. and congrats to you all.

I wish it was for me! hahaha

I don't know anyone whose had this experience but it makes sense that if you were significantly overweight you could displace your weight & therefore end up slimmer at the end of the pregnancy than you started. Of course pretty much every doctor is going to say you shouldn't lose weight in pregnancy.