Late December - Early January Thread 2!

[Bella1985]

Hi! We're on to our 2nd thread for babies due at the end of December/Early January. 3rd trimester is in sight...!

[LucySB123]

Yes, I could do with a holiday on a beach now. Thank goodness DD gave us a lie-in on Sunday sleeping until 8am
I went to a nearly new sale on Saturday and ended up buying more for DD than baby which wasn't the intended purpose. I didn't realise how difficult it would be to buy gender-neutral items in a second hand sale. Everything is either blue or pink, with very few nice stuff in grey or yellow or green.
I have given up on the way I look now. My belly button is somewhere between an innie and an outtie. The top half is visible in fitting clothes. I've also, as of this morning, put on 80% of weight I gained in my entire pregnancy with DD. Oh dear. And I still have a whole trimester to go.

[colonolthirteen]

Oh lucy don't remind me about weight...I have so far put on 10kg on top of my pre-pregnancy weight, which puts me right at the top of the acceptable range according to this:
www.calculator.net/pregnancy-weight-gain-calculator.html
I really don't understand where it is though, I have gained a little bit on my thighs but not loads (but a little bit worried that I'm just kidding myself and actually I'm a heffer?!). It can't all be bump and boobs can it? (I did go from a 34B to a 34DD ).

I'm sure like they say we'll lose it all when the baby comes! Especially if you'll be looking after not one but two young children.

[Bella1985]

Oooh that's nice stealth!! A bit of sun would be lovely right now!

I've put on 11kg so far...the bloomin bmi calculator thingy from the MW says I should gain a maximum of 9kg throughout whole pregnancy so I may be ever so slightly going to be totally waaaay over by the time baby arrives! I've put it all on during 2nd trimester too which is pretty bad. But I'm hoping no major complications will result from it and I'll head on back to slimming world in the Spring and just deal with the aftermath then. Xmas is on its way afterall...

[LunaWeaselton]

Oooooh! Hi everyone ! Just used colonel's weight gain calculator and it has me . I've gained23kg and I'm only 27 weeks. Got checked for GTT and came back clean. Noticeable weight gain in the hips and boobs. Anyone else measuring an extra lot?

[Emz32]

My weight gain has slowed up I think. Iv gained about 6kgs overall but I think that's down to feeling so sick in 1st tri & beginning of 2nd tri. Now Iv got bad heartburn & not much space to eat much. Im only 5ft 2 at a push. My boobs are where Iv noticed it. They are monstrous!!! Getting a cold & feeling bit rubbish.

[colonolthirteen]

Hi luna - shall we just decide that the calculator is wrong? I'd feel happier with that!

emz hope you feel better, it really doesn't help when you're already achey and tired does it. I feel ancient at the moment. I'm also a short-arse, I don't think it helps with the waddle-factor.

[LucySB123]

I have gained 8kg, which is in the middle of the calculator's "acceptable" range. I keep picturing a huge Christmas turkey and thinking - "that's the amount of fat and weight I've packed away"
emz colonol my boobs have grown too 34B to my nursing bra of 34DD. Do they keep growing? I hope not as it'll look really silly on my 5ft2 frame. With DD i was in my normal bra until milk came in 3-4 days post birth.
I have 8 more weeks at work. It's been hard trying to sustain motivation to work hard and with great initiative when I'm having to wake 1-2x a night for a wee and then having trouble sleeping again. When's everyone finishing up at work?

[colonolthirteen]

lucy when I went to find out my bra size a few weeks ago the nice M&S lady said she expects I'll end up at least an F. I think mine haven't grown since the initial growth spurt but it seems that when you get the milk they will be even bigger. I never thought I'd say this but I miss my little ones! These things I've got now take such a lot of management! I never realised how easy I had it before.

I'm finishing in 6 weeks on the 25th of Nov, although I'm thinking of bringing it forward because my mum is currently moving house and she needs help. Not that I'm much use in my current state. I am absolutely falling asleep today at work, the yawning is really getting embarrassing.

[Emz32]

I always get my bras from Bravissimo & can't recommend them enough. I had always worn a 34D (measured by m&s) and walked out of bravissimo as a 30E (and a hell of a lot more comfy). Just my experience. I had crept up to a 30F and am now sporting some 32Gs. I'm still wearing underwiring as I can't bear the lack of support from the soft ones but bravissimo have again been great & Iv got some soft cup ones that are pretty too. Hoping to wait until this one is born before getting my feeding bras as mine got even bigger last time. Oh the joys. I also gave up breastfeeding suddenly last time when DS was 4 months old (severe reflux & weight dropping meant I had to) & I woke up looking like Pamela Anderson. Even DH did a double take. Will try to reduce slowly this time...

[Admarks]

Evening everyone, hope you all had a good weekend?

I've also gained (a little over) 10kg since my pre-pregnancy weight which puts me at the top of the acceptable range. However, Col I think you're right that the calculator is wrong. However, I'm sure we will all spring back into our pre-pregnancy weights!

I think my weight is focussed on bump and thighs/bum, plus everything is wider! I actually wore my husbands jeans yesterday (I've been holding off buying maternity trousers hoping I could cope the winter in leggings and tights) - his were a 34 waist and were perfect (on the waist and legs), I used to take 27! I was briefly upset before I was thankful to be wearing trousers for a day spent outside in the rain!

I'm still waiting to my boobs to increase, they've got a bit bigger, but I'm still in my pre-pregnancy 34a (at a push) bras on the widest notch/bra extender. However, like Col, I'll probably appreciate my smaller boobs when (if) they do grow.

[Bella1985]

Like admarks I'm still in my usual bras. Except that I've bought a pack of extenders as my back size has grown but I'm still in my B cups! They seemed huge during first trimester finally properly filling the B cup but I can't work out now if they've shrunk back down or I've just got used to them/belly grown so big they look tiny in comparison!

Will have to buy new ones soon as I've started adding 2 extenders, my bump starts so high up it's going to take over my boob area soon! DH is chuffed he can now tell if a woman has had kids or not based on their areola size (we watched Westworld which has a lot of breasts in it...!)

[Emz32]

Iv been in Mat jeans for ages. Feeling like a whale over here! But as they are under the bump ones mainly I'll also wear them afterwards.

We are also enjoying westworld. Not sure I'll flag that up to hubbie! I hadn't even thought about it. Funny how having a baby permanently changes your body in some ways. Getting excited about meeting this one but still not set on names. We had difficulty last time & didn't have a girls name, same trouble this time.

[LucySB123]

So I went for my first pregnancy yoga session last night. I think there are a few ladies on here that do yoga? How do you find it? I thought mine was a bit gentle. Mind I did do ashtanga yoga pre-pregnancy so am used to breaking a sweat and holding a pose for longer. It didn't really stretch out my back so am still suffering from back pain. anyway, plan to continue with it and see whether benefit will be cumulative! At least I get to meet a few other pregnant ladies and indulge in pregnancy and baby related natter

ah someone mentioned names. I found this to do list on babycentre. I'm a sucker for lists, at least as a guide that I don't miss anything important. The two things I haven't done on the second trimester list are childcare and NAMES! have you figured out names? Since we were ttc for so long, i have a somewhat short list of boy and girl first names but no middle names yet. and middle names are rather important in my culture. I floated a few of my first name choices to DH and he doesn't like them! It took us nearly the whole 6 weeks we were allowed to name DD I'm hoping this baby has a name before it arrives.

[Bella1985]

DH is a biologist/zoologist so he's fascinated by the way my body is changing and adapting naturally to do this epic task! I think secretly he was a bit annoyed at how little he knew about the changes until now, but animals is his primary focus so he can't know everything!!

I am at my wits end with maternity jeans. I hate skinny fit. I have chunky legs and on a 5foot frame, squeezing them into skinny jeans is not a good look sausages come to mind I had a lovely pair from MamanJoJoBeBe but they were far too long. Mothercare seems to have short ones and in bootcut but they're all out of stock in store and online. I'm wondering how long I'll last before giving in and going for the sausage leg look...

[colonolthirteen]

I got a pair of maternity jeans from Next, with the mesh over the bump, and they've been brilliant. They are skinny ones unfortunately (early pregnancy optimism!) and with my expanded thighs I certainly do not fit the 'skinny' bill but they are stretchy enough to sort of hold everything in and somehow at the same time extremely comfortable. When I'm not at work they are basically what I live in (but if I'm completely honest if I'm not at work I'm probably in my dressing gown and nightie these days!).

Lucy I was also doing Ashtanga before I got pregnant. I had to stop almost completely in the first trimester because I felt so horrendous all the time, and then after that I was too scared of doing something I shouldn't, like using my stomach muscles too much or twisting too deeply, so I've been doing prenatal classes on yogaglo.com, which I've found brilliant. They're not half as vigorous as an Ashtanga practise but to be honest at the moment I couldn't contemplate that, and I find them just energetic enough - or if I still want to do something but nothing much there are some lovely simple stretchy ones. I haven't been to a real life prenatal class because I know it will probably be aimed at people who might not have done much yoga before. I'm finding the yogaglo classes really good for stretching out my back and sides, touch wood I've not really had any back pain at all so far. I think you can do a trial period with them.

On the topic of names I am embarrassed to say we pretty much had our shortlist sorted by the half way mark! I had always wanted to use my late father's name if I could and luckily it's not wacky or anything and DH likes it. I keep adding to the list and taking away but I think we've got enough options to choose from (if he doesn't look like a ) when the time comes. Got some girl names too just in case - the midwife told me she's delivered babies that were supposed to be one sex and turned out to be another more than once!

[Bella1985]

I'm doing yoga and it is gentle (which I like as I never did yoga before) but there is a lady who has done a lot of yoga in the class and is very fit and toned who asks for modifications on some of the stretches so that she can feel the stretch as she's obviously starting from a more flexible point than us! The teacher (not sure what I'm supposed to call her) is fantastic and is happy to make adjustments for her in the same way that she makes easier adjustments for others based on pelvic pain/dizzyness/lack of flexibility etc...
You guys are hardcore though, fairplay to you, we had a stand in teacher one week and he was not used to pregnancy yoga, I really struggled with his class, it was so hard to hold some of the poses and get back up from others!! I don't think I'll be doing yoga post pregnancy unless i miraculously become super strong, fit and felxible...

lucy names are something I seem to have not managed getting round to in 2nd trimester either! We've started going through a book of names and creating a boy and girl list but we've only reached the letter E (basically we started one night and haven't looked at it since...). I wish we were more like you col as we really don't know what we want! It's quite daunting thinking he/she will be stuck with this name..!

[Emz32]

We have 2 boys names we like but no girls names. The ones I love my DH won't contemplate (one is a family name). The only name we could agree on is super popular which puts me off. I was one of several girls with the same name & it wasn't nice as I got called by both first name & surname all the time. I'd like to choose something not quite so popular but not out there. DH choices are really bad. He loves astrology so that's where his suggestions come from.... Our DSs name we heard at 34 weeks & was a complete curveball that we fell in love with. Hoping I get that with this one.

I enjoy the pregnancy yoga as I find it stretches me more than enough. Plus she does moves that you hold for far too long & you have to breath through the aching pain as if you were in labour. I also like the relaxation but we do at the end. I think she calls it Yoga Nidra?

[colonolthirteen]

emz I love the idea of astrology inspired names, although yes it's hard to get the balance between unique but not too out-there. I've erred on the really traditional side for some reason. Perhaps I'll have a complete change of heart in a month or so!

Yoga nidra is nice! And I really like the idea of going through the pain of labour through the poses, I've not come across that. It sounds like a brilliant idea. I've read that there are also certain yoga positions which are supposed to help to get the baby into position later on.

[LucySB123]

I know what you mean regarding popular names, there are two Olivia's in my DD's class and one of the mums goes to great lengths to get everyone to call hers Livvy rather than Olivia M. For DD I was "inspired" by the roaring twenties and got some names from books / plays written in that era. I'm planning to do the same for this baby.

I will be consulting Dr Google on yoga nidra. hopefully it will help with the back pain as well.

[colonolthirteen]

Lucy I think yoga nidra (if I'm thinking of the right thing) is just a relaxation technique so I'm not sure if it will help with your back. But it is lovely and you should definitely give it a go.

[Bella1985]

colonol is right, yoga nidra is conscious sleep so it's a deep relaxation technique where we lie down for 20minutes (at least that's what we do in my class) but pregnancy yoga in general should help your back, it fixed my hip pain - it hasn't come back since.

[Emz32]

Yes Yoga Nidra is the deep relaxation techniques. Sometimes it works better than others. The pain thing is for example, we have to sit back on our heels with our toes curled & as they start to hurt we have to use a specific breathing technique or just take ourselves somewhere else. Another favourite is to lift the arms until the ache so bad. Iv found the pregnancy yoga great, I was suffering from sciatica & it's completely gone.

DHs favourite name is Luna but I worry that she might end up with the nickname loony or something of that ilk. It's hard not to overthink these things. I went off Lucas because it reminded me of mucus! Oh dear. Great idea Lucy. I need some inspiration rather than just staring at baby name books.

[stealthbanana]

I haven't weighed myself for awhile but I think I must be porking up lately. Oh well. Bump is still compact but it's obviously very densely packed given the size of the monster within. And my boobs have got HUGE. Have gone from a 32c to a 34dd - and I'm busting out of the cup in the DD. Was hoping to make it through to nursing bra stage but I think I'll need to go and buy some bigger ones for the next 7 weeks or so.

Have also found prego yoga fairly relaxed, but I am not meant to be over stretching (hypermobility) plus I think it's really good just as an hour to focus on breathing, so will persist. I'm still doing mat & equipment Pilates plus swimming, so that's where I'm getting my main workouts from.

As for names - DH and I have started discussing. Thankfully we only have to do one sex. But we're finding boys names really hard - we don't like any of them! Plus there is a name that has been in his family for ages so we need to decide whether to continue that tradition or not. I love the name Luna, I say go for it!

In other news - I think I might be getting some braxton hicks, has anyone else had these? My bump goes rock hard and hurts a little bit, then it goes away. Am a bit terrified that I'm about to go into labour particularly as I'm currently on a plane going 8 hours away from the UK

[Emz32]

Oh Stealth, I get that. Wondered what it was. It tends to happen if Iv been over exerting myself but after a few deep breaths & sitting down bump relaxes. It doesn't hurt but feels uncomfortable & tight. Hopefully it's just our muscles preparing. Hope you have a safe journey.

[stealthbanana]

Ah yes I was running around like a mad woman lugging a heavy suitcase yesterday which might be why I noticed it more. It's a very strange sensation!

Had a bizarre dream last night, was asleep on the plane and I dreamt that I rolled half onto my tummy and crushed the baby inside me Woke up in a panic all tangled up in my seatbelt. Forthnately they are a bit more robust than that in real life!