Nearly Halfway

[geminigirl]

I think I need a chair. A new, comfortable chair. Ideally something that reclines a little bit. Because the couch has gotten sort of uncomfortable to sit on sometimes, though not all the time. We'll see.

Baby is fine. Heartbeat 162. Ultrasound scheduled for next week. My sister has not changed her mind about wanting to know whether the baby is a boy or a girl, so we'll give in to her. Her birthday was about ten days ago, so I'll get her a birthday card and ask Lynn (who does the u/s at my doctor's office) to write it in the birthday card, and put it in the envelope, put in an ITunes giftcard or something and seal it.

I could seriously go on and on about how awesome my OB is.

I bought maternity clothes. (Ick.) My waist is disappearing rapidly-I put my hand on my hip this morning, only well, it didn't fit in the spot I usually put it. My navel has started to become oval shaped rather than round.

And in a few days, I'll be halfway done with this pregnancy.

Snack time now. :)

Comments

[inkedmama.livejournal.com]

yeah, maternity clothes that are affordable aren't all that stylish. old navy has some cuter stuff, but gap jeans can't be beat if you can stomach the price. they are *the* comfiest fit i've found.

i've been in maternity for a few weeks already. *sigh*

i just ate too - i'm hoping then i won't be hungry at 2am. :)

[jaclyn.livejournal.com]

yay for baby stuff!!! That's a neat idea for your sister. :)

[geminigirl]

She's been funny about the whole thing. When I told her I was pregnancy her reaction was "Better you than me," which made me laugh. She was in Paris recently and went looking for baby things that were neither blue nor pink but didn't find anything. She's terrified in an almost unhealthy sort of way about pregnancy in general, and certainly doesn't want to be pregnant herself, but I think she's looking forward to what happens after I give birth.

[b00jum.livejournal.com]

Jinkies! I wish you all the best and a relatively easy birth and all that. I guess I won't be seeing y'all at Arisia before I leave to boot camp.

[geminigirl]

You might see me at Arisia. I haven't decided whether or not to go yet. I'm not due til April and have been given permission to travel freely until 32 weeks, after which we'll re-think what counts as "travel." Boston in mid-January is probably fine.

[fairion.livejournal.com]

If you don't have to look professional I found that regular non-maternity pants with elastic waists pulled up over the belly were the most comfy and economical choice. It would not work for someone tall but here is one of the few benefits of being short.

As for seating, several people I know used an exercise ball instead of a chair when they needed to sit for extended times during the second half of the pregnancy. I did not but then I did not work in an office where I had to sit either. On the sofa I found sitting with my legs tucked to the side so I sat more on my hip than my bottom helped.

Yay for half-way. Keep us posted.

[geminigirl]

I've done okay on pants-I have a couple of pairs that are several sizes larger in the waist and hips than I usually wear that are comfortable, and I found some maternity jeans for $10 a pair the other day so I snapped up two pair-they're also "convertible" which means they button so they're capri length...extra convenient in Florida.

I've taken to the sitting sideways on the couch. I also grabbed my step stool from the kitchen and threw a towel on top of it to cushion things and use that as a foot stool sometimes. I'd like an exercise ball to sit on, but I need to find one that I either, don't mind replacing frequently when cat claws accidentally puncture it, or one that cat claws won't puncture. Silly kitties.

Now if I could figure out how to sleep, I'd be better off...I can get my body comfortable, but apparently I'm often contorting my arms into strange positions and I wake up with pins and needles and arms bent all sorts of strange ways.

[wait.livejournal.com]

The best thing we bought was a rocking recliner. I slept in it a lot at the end of my pregnancy, because it was so uncomfortable to lay down. I'd recommend a real furniture store, rather than a nursery store. I never found any of the "proper" nursery type chairs wide enough in the hips.

If you do, also get a nice u-shaped pillow for your neck. ;)

[geminigirl]

I found a couple of rocking recliners that I liked that were "fat butt" chairs. I liked a couple at Babies R Us actually, better than some of the ones we looked at elsewhere because the arms were lower and some of the ones I tried elsewhere seemed to cause me to shrug my shoulders rather than relax them in a comfortable position. In other words, holding a baby in one for a long time would cause serious shoulder pain. I was mumbling on IM earlier today to tronochick that I might just decide to go buy the nursery chair sooner rather than later so I could have it to sit in now.

Actually the way I described what I was feeling now is that my hips are too far behind me, which is causing lower back pain. It doesn't help that last night when I was trying to get settled in bed, I moved and felt ligaments in my hip stretch a little too far. That'll feel better in a couple of days but right now it's me, the couch and the heating pad.

I'm thinking birth ball, too, but I'm worried about the cats.

[rdhdsnippet.livejournal.com]

Sick bebe sleeping on me so this is brief... get the rocker sooner rather than later - it's a lifesaver especially if you can nap in it. Also, definitely get the rocking nusing stool / ottoman. Dutalier (I think) is expensive but totally worth every penny.

Cats are unlikely to hurt the ball, just get an "anti burst" one if you're real worried. All you need is a big yoga ball - the only difference I can tell between that and a "birth" ball is a bunch of money. :)

[geminigirl]

Okay. I will discuss the rocker as a "now"-ish purchase rather than a later-ish purchase. I think the brand you mentioned is one that I was looking at. I liked the recliner/rocker thing, and the choice of fabrics. And they had low arms and comfortable back support.

You're about my height-you've found that they were an okay height for nursing without shoulder strain?

[rdhdsnippet.livejournal.com]

Le bebe is now sleeping on the couch instead of my arms. Yay! Poor sick boo. :(

We checked out a billion different options because at the time it seemed like so much money to us, and I ended up with the higher end Dutalier from Babies 'R Us. I think we might have managed to hit in some 10% sale or something, and with that and not having to get it delivered, it really was as cheap there as anywhere else. I liked the idea of a rocking recliner, but I couldn't plant my feet on the ground in any of them, and I wanted to be able to do that. You NEED a nursing stool though. I love the Dutalier one because it can rock along with me, or it has a way to make it stop rocking. If you have to choose one or the other, you want a way for it to be stationary, but the rocking stool option is really nice.

I don't think there's really any way to nurse without shoulder strain, honestly... mostly what you want is for your elbow to be able to sit on the arm of the chair reasonably comfortably. You're going to feel like your arms/shoulders/elbows are going to die for at least six months anyway, really no matter what, at least if your child is like mine and doesn't let you put him down for more than three seconds for any reason for the first six months or so... :)

Oh, oh! I had one of those noodle pregnancy pillows... it rocked. It's like a big curlique body pillow... so you can support your body in any position you'd like while your pregnant, and it also rocks for wrapping around you and supporting the baby for nursing in the beginning. Boppys are ok, but hard to get the hang of for a while. Those first few weeks, trying to nurse in my own bed... the huge pillow was the best.

Lemme see if I can find a link to it...

[rdhdsnippet.livejournal.com]

The Snoogle! :)

http://www.downunderchicago.com/ma-ce-snoogle-total-body-pillow.html