I’m not usually big into astrology but I was like “hmm I’m a taurus, if my kid is a taurus or a gemini, oh no, but if they are two weeks EARLY they’ll be an aries and we’ll have a great relationship.”
Wut? My husband’s a scorpio. We are not supposed to get along. Why do I care about my kids astrological sign?
Do they not provide those things in private hospitals or is it more that you’ll go too quickly to utilise them?
The second. I sort of feel like I “shouldn’t” complain because hey, everything went super smooth medically and I possibly slept through the first part of labour which most people don’t get to do! But I noticed I was getting really unreasonably upset during a conversation with a few friends, and knew troubleshooting the Feelings here would help. I’m lucky to be getting a second go at everything, too.
Ah, that makes sense. I hope you get to experience some of these options this time around, whether at home or the hospital.
Have you checked out your chinese birth years? Bf and I were horrified that it didn’t occur to us until 3rd tri
I haven’t! I want to say I’m a goat or something like that?
Checks
Yep, I’m a goat, Greyman is a Horse, and Blob will be an ox. I feel like there’s a joke about being raised in a barn somewhere in here with us all being animals that might live in a barn.
I planned my oldest son to be born around my husband’s birthday. They have the same Chinese zodiac year and the same Greek sign as well. While he has definitely inherited his father’s love of tools and engines, personality wise he takes after me. Second son was born one week after my birthday, and he’s too young to tell but seems to take more after his father. Or maybe my father, or Husband’s mother.
I am nauseous. Water is hard to drink but a soy milk hot cocoa is not? Guts, you make no sense.
Haha omg this! I can barely drink water but just scarfed Ethiopian food. I guess we know it’s not an ordinary stomach flu.
I mean you knew that for sure but I haven’t seen a heartbeat or anything so I have to guess…
I could only drink freezing cold ice water when pregnant this time. With Pikelet I drank water with apple cider vinegar. Why be so weird pregnancy stomach/mind?
Week 32. Yet another lottery of symptoms. Some are getting better, some are worse.
It’s really confusing! I have been loving spahetti sauce. What. Also this week’s craving was garlic bread! Thank goodness I learnt that we lean into cravings, no matter how odd, because they appear to be the only thing I can eat at any given time.
I’m glad you can eat again!
People who have given birth before, could you share your thoughts on nursing clothes? I’m outgrowing things & seasons are changing. But if I’m going to buy anything in month 8 (eek!) it would be handy to have it work for a few more months beyond that.
Especially interested in:
For what it’s worth, I’m most interested in easy soft clothes. Work is WFH & super casual, and I have plenty of soft blazer-type things to dress up if needed.
Wait until you need them. Your body will change radically, and you really can’t predict how much or how quickly. Some people have their ribs shrink back right away, some longer. Same with your waist and so on. At first, you’ll likely just live either topless (never an option for me, my boobs were hypersensitive) or in PJs and nursing tanks (my preferred option, especially since I was sweating so much I had to change multiple times per day. Intense sweating is common the first couple months, especially overnight).
My “uniform” was, first about 3 months: sweats or pajama pants, nursing tank top, open front cardigan. Now I have more structured tanks that I wear shirts over and pull up, but honestly it’s hard enough to set a newborn up to latch properly. Fumbling with layers at the same time as a massive headache. So being able to just pull a cardigan aside, undo the latch and have my boob flop out was all I was really capable of. Let me link to the specific tank tops I’ve used.
SUIEK Women’s Nursing Tank Top Cami Maternity Bra Breastfeeding Shirts (Medium, Black+Navy+Gray - Third Style) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KZQ592S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_dCWBpv3fwxK4q
I lived in these for months. Rotated 6 of them. Still use them as pajama shirts.
Here’s the cardigan I used most:
TownCat Women’s Loose Casual Long Sleeved Open Front Breathable Cardigans with Pocket (Coral1, M) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M9NGWTS/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apip_f3QLKPEcr1FPa
Here’s what I wear during the day now:
I bought nursing bras at 4 months pregnant because my BFF’s sister recommended some that wouldn’t make me puke. I couldn’t stand anything on my ribs and needed bras to wear. I just now stopped wearing them because they’re gross and Bobbin weaned about a week ago. My only regret is that I didn’t get nicer ones since I ended up wearing them for 2.5 years.
I also lived in motherhood maternity nursing tanks but I bought those after she was born. I ended up back in my regular size with slightly larger breasts but not enough to change my overall clothing size. In the first week after she was born I did have crazy giant boobs as my milk came in. I basically lived in several light jersey bathrobes as tops and yoga pants on bottom (Bobbin was born in winter). It was easy access and then when I could handle more I got the tanks.
For clothing, I did buy 2 sweaters with shoulder buttons for when I had to go out and needed access and didn’t want to do the pulling up/down thing. Bonus is that a designer released a sweatshirt that looks exactly like mine (and 4x the price) and mine is super comfy so I’m gonna wear it forever.
For me, boobs got way bigger when my milk came in. I started out as barely an A cup and then they were a full B/C when I gave birth. 3 days later when my milk came in I changed clothes and Mr E said “I didn’t know they were going to get even bigger!”
In terms of nursing clothes, I really preferred a tank with a shelf bra that snaps down. Before the baby came I bought a few different kinds of nursing tops and all of the ones that had like, hidden slits and openings ended up not working for me because I needed to wear nursing pads all day, which meant I needed a bra since there was no shelf/band to keep them in place, and that meant a nursing bra under the shirt, so I would be reaching around to unsnap the bra, pull it down then maneuver the nipple out of the hidden opening…it was all WAY too much work. Instead I tended to wear my nursing “uniform” each day which was a tank that snapped down, nursing pads underneath, and then a cardigan over top. It was so much easier.
I would also be careful about buying things now that fit you before giving birth. Your body will change so much. I gained the recommended 35-ish pounds while pregnant and 7 days after giving birth I was right back at my pre-pregnancy weight. The day before I went into labor I went to Motherhood Maternity and bought a bunch of those snap down tank tops in a size small, which fit me wonderfully at the time since they stretched around the belly - Then I had to return all of the ones I hadn’t worn yet to get the next size down since they were all way too big for me. Luckily I had only worn one, but it stinks that I still have that one in my dresser, it is just in the back and only gets worn if I am out of all of the others.
Hah! I read BJ’s response after I typed up my post. She and I had the same uniform. For what it’s worth, I still tend to wear the nursing tank sunder a normal shirt in place of a bra if I’m going to need to nurse Baby E out in public - it keeps my stomach covered and is way easier to nurse with - I wish I hadn’t spent money on buying nursing bras at all.
This is exactly what I do! And agreed that all the variations of nursing shirt styles are pretty frustrating. Maybe if I had a busy social life, lol, and they’ve been nice some days for making me feel a little more human for specialist appointments with the baby. But overall… eh. And I’ve tried 10? Different nursing bras now ranging in price from like $8 to $100 and still only have one that is “eh” at best. The snap down shelf bra tanks are way more forgiving/workable.
Although one dress I did really like this summer was this: Bearsland Women’s Sleeveless… Amazon.com the color matches that cardigan really well haha. But how I sit when I nurse it flashes people Anyway 
nursing only public is just a mess in general for me. I’ve had to do it a lot (hello, ER visit on day 5 of life and 18 appointments in the first three weeks of her life…) but it still sucks and is annoying 
especially because she won’t allow herself to be covered and gets way too distracted. Always has. 
ANYWAY yes yay team same uniform! Haha. And I think it was @Ckni27 who tipped me onto it in the first place maybe?
Even shelf tanks are uncomfortable for me, but I have to work out something for round 2. Generally agree on the tank + open cardigan option though, I just bought a comfy cardigan for just this reason!
I did a loose shirt I could pull up easily, over a slightly oversized tank I could pull down easily.