August-how you doing? Pre-labor?

[brittneeskidmore]

Well, thanks. I'm not going to pretend like it's easy, but I grew up in the military. My dad retired from the Air Force, my husband is in the Air Force. So pretty much I've lived in almost every southern state (and Alaksa) except Florida (the one that doesn't count). It is tough to be away from my family, because we're really close. One day we will live in the same state again! I just know it! =)
I think the hardest thing is when you CAN'T go home for a special time. It stinks. There are a lot of good things about the military, but usually they're hard to point out. ha. My husband is thinking about getting out when his enlistment is up, but he will have been in for 10 years. Who knows what he'll decide! He was in the Air Force when I married him, so I can't really complain about anything.

so anyday now, myboysmom? Does your husband have a lot of boys on his side? My step-aunt has 6 kids. All boys except one. At least she got her one. Weird time to ask, I know, but will you keep trying until you have a girl? Or are you sticking with the three?

I found a pre-owned changing table that matches the crib my parents bought us, so I think I'm going to go ahead and get it. If I don't use it, at least I didn't spend a million dollars on it! The room is getting kinda full, now. Hopefully we don't have to paint it pink. (When we bought the house, the room was already painted blue.)

[brittneeskidmore]

Haha!
So i re-read that and realized that my point to the second sentence was left out. I'm not going to pretend it's easy, but it's not as hard as it seems.

[alwaysAJ]

Looks like I'm getting a changing table too (haha, thanks MyBoysMom!).

If your baby does turn out to be a girl, don't worry about painting the room--just add pink and purple accents, like wall decals (Lowes and Home Depot have a lot of removable wall-stickers that are really cute for baby girls! They're in the wall-paper section). And you can do pink or purple curtains, anything other than paint the walls (you may regret it later, if you do have another and he turns out to be a boy ...) We painted the walls cream and pale green. 3 walls are creamy yellow/white, and one wall (the one with the window) is a pale green. Then I put up purple curtains, and found butterfly/flower wall stickers that I plastered all over the walls. I also used girlie bedding for the crib, and the changing pad cover is purple. Now that we're adding a boy, I'm simply adding some more blue and green to the mix (which should work if it all goes according to plan in my head!).

What do you think? Pink and blue and purlpe are adorable together, and you can do soft creamy colors as well to make it feminine. Or, if he's a boy, go crazy with the blue (blue and brown is hot right now)!

[brittneeskidmore]

I thought ab the sticker idea, but my husband wants to change it to pink for a girl. Maybe he just thinks that is what I want. We'll go and look at them and maybe that'll convince him. hopefully it'll be a boy and we won't have to worry. (Of course I'll be happy with a girl!) I LOVE all the choices for boys. I've looked at some girl stuff, too. It's all so much fun. I'm going to love decorating!
Pink and blue and purple ARE cute together!
For some reason I just feel like it's going to be a girl. Even though we're wanting a boy, I feel like I'm going to have a girl. We'll see I guess. The GUT feeling isn't always right!

[alwaysAJ]

No matter what you have, or what color you paint the wall, the baby won't mind (at least not until he/she gets older...). I almost painted the nursery pink, and I'm so glad we didn't because now we're having a boy--so we'll have both a girl and a boy in there until my daughter is old enough to go up and down the stairs without any problems, and follow an emergency escape plan (in case of a fire). We have the nursery and master suite on the main floor, so it works out well for me. There are 3 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, but I hate to put my 21 month old upstairs all on her own (since my older 2 are only here part time). So I'll probably wait until both little ones are old enough, and move them upstairs together. Then I'll turn the nursery into an office with a guest bed. The nuetral paint colors will work well for that, too. But who knows, my husband may want to "update" it later on, at least to get a fresh coat on the walls.

Make sure to let your husband know that putting pink over blue may be tricky (in case he didn't think about it). Even when the paint says "one coat coverage" it always takes *at least* two coats, and because the blue is darker, it may take more. You might be able to use a primer coat to cover the blue and give the pink a good base, so you don't get any show-through. When we painted the walls the creamy yellow, it was over a green paint (from the previous owners, reminded me of pea soup). I believe the painters ended up using 3 coats of a premium "one coat" paint because it kept showing through. There are still some spots around the edging that I can see when the light hits it just right, but I'm willing to let those slide . They aren't too noticeable.

Have you thought about painting just one wall pink, maybe? Of course, this is assuming you DO have a girl! lol, sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself! Just a thought. You guys will find something you both absolutely love, I don't expect you to actually listen to my unsolicited advice.

BTW, it will be interesting to find out if you are having a girl since you have that gut feeling. I had that gut feeling, and every time I was right (but again, there's only a 50-50 chance of picking the wrong sex to have a gut feeling on!). Moms are very intuitive when it comes to their children (and pregnancy), as you'll come to find out very soon. I am so excited for you, I remember that "first time joy," it wasn't that long ago that I was preggers with my first. It seemed the last trimester lasted FOREVER, I was so excited to hold her! I swear, I must've actually sat there and watched the clock tick by for the last few weeks . But you'll get the same excitement with all of your babies. It just hit me a little later this time (I was so freaked out about having another baby in diapers, and the whole not-sleeping-through-the-night again thing... I've done this routine before, so I know what it is like to have 2 so close together... haha, my husband has NO idea what he's in for!). But now I'm excited. Phew, I'm out of breath, this post is so long-winded!

Anyone heard from Lou lately?

[myboysmom]

My brother has been in the Army Reserves since just out of high school (6 years ago) and I'm pretty sure he loves it. He's done a tour in Afghanistan, and he's been wanting to go back. Is he nuts?? LOL

Now I might have to talk hubby into the changing table since you guys are. Peer pressure and all. The reason I wish I had one is for a back saver. I've also watched kids in my home for the last 2 1/2 years until last month, so it would have helped then. The pack'n'play is just too low, it kills my back. I know, I need some cheese with my "whine".

AJ, my hubby was just reading over my shoulder and noticed that your profile said "skilled parent" and asked what that meant. I said once you get 100 posts you're a parenting pro. His consensus is that we're all just mouthy, not skilled.

brittnee, my dh has a brother and two male cousins on his mom's side, and one boy and one girl cousin on his dad's side. I've got 2 brothers, so I'm thinking we might be doomed for boys every time! My hubby was happy with our first kid, it's me who wants the litter. LOL I honestly don't know if we'll try for #4 or not. But if we do, it's going to be 4-5 years down the road, not just 2! We've got a lot on our plate right now it feels like.

As far as lou, lately her posts have been more sparse everywhere. They're in the process of moving, I think, so . . . .

[alwaysAJ]

Ah, good to hear, I was worried she might be out there pushing out a baby somewhere! Well, not worried, I'd be happy for her--you know what I mean.

Your hubby and my hubby think alike. My husband just doesn't understand the whole forum thing. Haha, little does he know, we're actually planning to take over the world (one credit card at a time).

So, as I sit here, I've been having contractions for the past hour (at least) every 3 minutes. Not painful ones, just powerful BH... Arg, I hate this cruel trick my body plays on me! I know they've been going on longer than an hour, I just ignored them until I realized how close together they were. But seriously, they don't seem like the right type of contraction (although I've always had these prior to Labor, and it does dilate me up to 4 cm... Kinda nice, since they aren't painful--but then again, this can go on for weeks! ugh). I absolutely refuse to go to the hospital, so as long as my water doesn't break and the baby seems to move okay, I'm just going to continue to ignore them. Otherwise, I'll go through the whole stupid fuss of getting to the hospital, getting into the gown, etc... and then my contractions will stop, and I will look like a lying fool. And then there's the "walk of shame" I keep talking about, where I walk back out of the labor ward with my pillow, head hung low... And of course, everyone stares at you, wondering why you're going that way (to the parking lot) and not up to the labor ward. My body is so f'd up about labor, I end up in the hospital several times before they finally admit me and let me "go." But not THIS time! No, anything but the "walk of shame"...

I am trying to figure out what is causing them, other than my stupid, stubborn body. I was eating when I noticed them, my bladder may have been full, and I was sitting for awhile. But then I walked, and emptied my bladder, and so forth--they still come. >sigh< I'm going to go chew some ice now, to console myself (oh, I'm not dehydrated either). I hate my body sometimes... cruel Gods!

[myboysmom]

That really sucks that you labor for so long!! I was going to ask you earlier, have you been induced before? Thankfully (not to rub your nose in it) when I start, that's it and I go. As far as being full and the bladder thing, I've noticed my BH's are stronger then, too, but then they don't amount to much. But, when it's not true labor, mine don't last more than 30-40 minutes usually, but they are that close together. I feel for you, though. I can't imagine going on for days or weeks with symptoms but not having a baby!

[myboysmom]

I just got done reading the boys "Marvin K. Mooney" by Dr. Seuss, one of my personal favorites. Hopefully tonight I held their bedtime off long enough I won't have to chase them back to bed!

Anyway, we just got back from a walk where we ran into my brother who happened to be back in town. He doesn't even say "hi", he just looks at me, looks down to my stomach and then grins. :P Then after a few minutes of conversation asks the dreaded question: "So, how much weight have you gained?" I'm not offended by him asking though. If you knew my brother, he means it in totally curious-about-the-human-body sort of way. When I was pregnant with my first, he was in Afghanistan, so we wrote all the time. He would always ask what my diet consisted of, was I getting enough protein, etc. But anyway, now I'm going to ask YOU. How much weight have you all gained? With each pregnancy? I put on 23-25 with my first two, and this one is only like 14 lb. I'm hoping that means he'll be around 6 lb. and just sort of slip out! LOL My other boys were 6#15oz and 7#3oz. And believe it or not, I did notice a difference of 4 oz! I know, AJ, you're telling me to shut up and count my blessings.

[alwaysAJ]

LMAO, no problem, I know I'm a freak of nature .

I started out at 105# before I got pregnant with my first, and I shot up to 200#. Yeah, I know. I don't know how it got that way, I didn't eat anymore--if anything, I ate less (I ate like a pig before I got pregnant, all the wrong foods). But I blew up like a balloon. Then I lost most of it within a few weeks of giving birth, which is also another freak of nature thing. I believe most of it has to do with A: my metabolism goes from very high to almost stopped, and B: I retain an unnatural amount of water, which gets flushed out shortly after giving birth.

So, with my second, I started at a much healthier weight of about 120#, and...shot back up to 200#. I mean, I was exactly 200# with both of them the day I went in to give birth. Hm... I lost the weight again, but it took a few months this time (3 or 4).

Then I got on the shot for almost 3 years, and I gradually went from about 120# to 155#. It was so slowly, that I didn't really notice it--it would just seem that every season, my clothes from the year before were too tight. But it didn't seem like much (it was, though), and I would just go buy more clothes that fit. I believe it was the birth control, and it affected my metabolism. I got off the BC and dropped down to about 140# in less than 2 months, and then got pregnant (gasp....)

I shot right back up to 199 and 3/4#, and I gave birth that day. So, guess what? I am back up to 185-190 (depending on how much fluids I drank before being weighed). I don't seem to really show it, because it is evenly distributed. Oddly enough, I am still a size M. Hm... I *do* have a lot of lean muscle, though. My massage therapist said she's jealous because I don't have stretch marks or cellulite. On the flip side, the skin around my stomach never went back to being fully taught. THAT drives me nuts.

It is freakish how I can drop the weight so quickly, but that last 10# is always a bit harder to loose. Now, I've noticed I loose about 20 pounds within the first few days/week, and then about 6 weeks after giving birth, I loose a ton of weight over a few weeks. I believe that is when my metabolism kicks back in. But to get off the last few pounds, I have to work out. Not to mention the whole toning up part.

I'm planning to do a 5K run at the end of September for Progeria Awareness. My Mom's Club is helping to sponsor the event, and my husband's business is one of the corporate donors. I figured it would give me a reason to get my butt in gear and start warming up (provided my delivery goes well and my healing is fine).

And I'm extremely vain about my looks, so I can't stand looking in the mirror and seeing flab. I told my husband, since this is my last child, that I expect to get my "Mommy Makeover" in a year, two max (I plan to breastfeed for at least a year again). I want to make sure I'm down to a good weight before I ask to remove any extra skin/fat. I feel I deserve to feel good about myself when I look in the mirror. I'm only 26, my boobs should be above the equator! I don't want bigger boobs, heavens no. I just want them to be perky again. Anything over a size C on my frame would look bizarre. Besides, they get up past a D cup when I breastfeed, and I can't get comfortable or find clothes that fit nicely.

I'm sorry, I probably sound like such a vain maniac! I guess it comes from years of being an ugly duckling, and then suddenly waking up and everyone said I was beautiful (my mother said I would never be anything more than pretty)... I want to keep that feeling. Not that beauty should make me happy, I know there are some serious underlying psychological issues. But I enjoy looking nice, and I like the look of pride on my husband's face when he introduces me to important business clients/customers/employees. Sounds stupid probably, but I like being a trophy wife (albeit, a well educated trophy wife that can hold a conversation, crack witty jokes, and look good while doing it).

Does anyone else know what I mean, or did I just make a butt out of myself? If I did, I won't take offense if you think I'm nuts.