*Baby Corner*

[~ Karima ~ 0]

How did the cereal go last night Kelly? Ayman loves it. Our Dr told us as well to cut back on the milk once we up the cereal and start regular foods or he will get realllly fat. We opted out of putting it in his bottle and gave it to him by spoon. Of course he still wanted a small bottle afterwards and then he was knocked out for the night.

[Mommy2ZaidnSalma 11]

zaid loved the cereal...I only gave him a lil bit cuz i was worried bout his tummy, but he did fine..He was growling like a monster every bite he took

[Carolyn 1]

Just back from a midwife appointment. I am getting weekly NST's--the baby is squirming around like crazy & small contractions are now showing up on the strip--yeah! I'm feeling very ready to meet this little one!

I asked the midwife if she could tell how big the baby is...from feeling my belly she said that I've probably got a long but not very chubby baby--she estimated somewhere in the 6-10 to 7 pound range right now. I didn't ask, but I don't think they will do a ultrasound unless I go way over my due date.

I have been feeling a bit crampy--not serious contractions, but my whole body aches. It is so easy to overdo it right now--all I want to do is take naps, but that just makes the nightly insomnia worse. I'm sure it's my body's way of preparing for breastfeeding.

Interesting reading about the transition to cereal...lots of stuff to look forward to!

[~ Karima ~ 0]

Carolyn I had an ultrasound done at the end. I went in for my normal weekly visit on a Monday. I ended up seeing a different Dr since the midwife was out delivering a baby. I had already had my membranes stripped twice and was getting no where fast. While talking with him about my concerns of the baby being huge (since I felt like a walking house), he felt my tummy and said "I doubt this is going to be a small baby and lets do an ultrasound on Friday". Friday was my due date, we went in, they did the ultrasound to get measurements and said he was estimated at 10.8lb. Dr came in and she said I think we should do a c-section as there is no way that baby is coming out on his own. Thank God he was only 9.5lbs. So, they will do an ultrasound if need be.

[Carolyn 1]

Carrie,

Wow--what a big boy Ayman was! So did you end up having the c-section or were you able to deliver him vaginally? It bothers me how doctors sometimes tell people that their baby is too big to be delivered--I believe that in almost all cases our babies are the size they are supposed to be for our bodies. One of my friends is tiny and delivered a 10 1/2 pound baby girl with no problems.

I also know that the ultrasounds are notorious for being inaccurate. Somehow I trust the midwife's estimate by feeling my belly just as much as I would trust measurements on a machine. My belly is big, no doubt, but not huge. I'm carrying straight out front. I suppose there is still time for this little one to put on some major weight, but I somehow don't think I'm going to have a big baby. Simo and I were both in the 7 1/2 pound range. That sounds good to me!

[♥JP♥ 5]

So I decided against doing the external version and I'm just going to see if she turns on her own. However they scheduled a c-section for me on 8/23 so thats how long she has to turn on her own....not sure how I feel about a c-section now. I was ok with having one when it wasnt in the plan. Now that it is in the plan, I must admit I'm a bit freaked out.....

[Carolyn 1]

JP,

I don't blame you on passing on the external version--it doesn't sound too promising. Did you try any of the home remedies for flipping the baby? I guess the idea is to put YOUR body in the position you want your baby to be in--so you can set up some inversion plank off your couch (or stairs). You can also do something with ice packs on your belly and having someone talk to your baby down really low. I've also heard that acupuncture, chiropractic adjustments to your pelvis and/or massaging certain pressure points can sometimes do the trick.

Think positive, girl! Sending you lots of flipping baby vibes!

ETA: I'm surprised that they would schedule your c-section before your due date...

Edited August 7, 2008 by Carolyn

[Eveline 9]

ETA: I'm surprised that they would schedule your c-section before your due date...

They do that so mom won't go into labor before that. For a first time mom it is very unlikely to go into labor before 40 weeks so c/s are usually scheduled for a week before the due date.

I'm still here, still very preggo. I have four days until the C/S. Membrane stripping didn't help. I'm 3cm (almost 4) dilated but not effaced. I will have my membranes stripped again tomorrow and drink some castor oil after that to bring on contractions. If that won't work, all I have left is lots of relations with DH on the weekend and maybe (but only maybe) the doctor will break my waters before the c/s on monday to see what happens.

[Carolyn 1]

Eveline--I was wondering about you--I'm glad you posted!

Sounds like you have your work cut out for you this weekend! Maybe some long walks, spicy food (how about a nice Indian curry or some Thai food?) and pineapple for dessert? Followed, of course by a romantic, albeit somewhat awkward, night of making love to your sweetie . I don't know about the Castor Oil...if nothing else it is supposed to be really good for you (great anti-aging properties)!

Have fun and best of luck on your labor-stimulating weekend!

[darkhorse 0]

Hi girls!

I have a question for y'all. We are expecting our baby at the beginning of march '09 if everything goes well.

And since my parents are not the youngest ones anymore it will be very unlikely they will be able to come over to meet their youngest grandchild. So I want to go there somewhere between oct and dec '09 and let them meet their youngest grandchild.

My question is...

How does it work to travel with a baby that is about 8/9 months old? Does the baby have to be in my passport? If so, I have a Dutch passport, how and where do I arrange that? I would like him/her to have the Dutch nationality too. What else do I need to know about traveling to Europe with a baby? Any advise is welcome!!!

Thanks girls!

Lynn

[chri'stina 190]

Lynn,

I don't have much advice yet but we plan on taking Kavi to India this winter, he'll be between 10-12 months old and the whole idea is stressing me out but we need to do it. If your baby is born in the US they will need their own US passport. We are right now in the process for applying for Kavi's. They don't add baby to the mom's passport anymore. We also are applying for a special card from India for Kavi, kind of like a dual citizenship but not exactly, so that he can use it for life and not need visas to visit India.

Congrats on your pregnancy!!

[~ Karima ~ 0]

Carolyn I did end up having the c-section. He was just not coming on his own. I had been having contractions for a while, but I was not dialating. I swear I felt I was in labor for 2 weeks. His head was just waaaayy to big to come out vaginally and I am glad he didn't. My Dr thinks that is the reason I was not dialating. I do hope to never have to do a c-section again because it's just sucks.

JP - 8/23 is my older sister's b-day. I do hope she turns and you can have her vaginally though before then.

Eveline - good luck with the labor stimulating. Hopefully you can go into labor this weekend.

[sara535 15]

My sons head was also too big (he was 9 and a half) but for reasons I still dont understand they didnt do an U/S and so I was in labor for almost 3 days before they hauled him out with forceps. I guess I dont recommend having a baby in small town arkansas I WISH I had a C-section with him.

JP, just spend this time learning what you can about the process and recovery. Knowledge is power. but lets hope she turns between now and then!

Carolyn, wow any day now! I bet you guys are super excited, I cant wait to read your post and see pics!

Eveline, I hope things will go the way you want, I know you really had your heart set on VBAC but above and beyond all that I just hope in a few days you have your beautiful happy healthy baby girl in arms regardless of how she makes her appearance

[Chrissy25 0]

ok..well hubby and i are still trying for number 2....not as easy for us as getting preggo the first time....my AF is due in about 3 days and i just dont know if the symptoms i have are pre AF or something else.....twinges along where my c- section scar is....very light nausea alot....general twinges n my lower belly....breasts not too tender...but who knows....

[churipu 4]

Hi girls!

I have a question for y'all. We are expecting our baby at the beginning of march '09 if everything goes well.

And since my parents are not the youngest ones anymore it will be very unlikely they will be able to come over to meet their youngest grandchild. So I want to go there somewhere between oct and dec '09 and let them meet their youngest grandchild.

My question is...

How does it work to travel with a baby that is about 8/9 months old? Does the baby have to be in my passport? If so, I have a Dutch passport, how and where do I arrange that? I would like him/her to have the Dutch nationality too. What else do I need to know about traveling to Europe with a baby? Any advise is welcome!!!

Thanks girls!

Lynn

First of all congrats on the pregnancy!

I travelled to Italy with my son when he was 7 months old the first time. He has dual citizenship (Italian through me, US by birth) so he has to have 2 passports every time he travels from here to there and viceversa. Both countries allow dual citizenship but do not recognize it, this means that to the US he is only American and to Italy he is only Italian therefore he will always need to produce a US passport here and an Italian one over there. Bear in mind every country is different, so you might want to check what the specific regulations about the dual citizenship are in the Netherlands. Usually you can find all the info on the consulate/embassy pages if you google it. For Italy I had to register his birth at the Italian consulate, you must do this by law for my country, and then I proceeded with having him put on my Italian passport (that's how they do it in Italy, as I said you need to check and see how it is for the Netherlands specifically because it might work different).

As for the US passport, it is pretty simple to obtain and the waiting time seem to have considerably shortened lately (I recently applied for my US passport after being naturalized and I got it back very quickly, see my timeline in my siggy). Here is the link to the US Dept of State where you can find all the instruction+form to get a passport for a child in the US.

Hope it helps

Also I wanted to add that all the babies look gorgeous, congrats to all the mommies! Good luck to those about to deliver too!

Edited August 7, 2008 by churipu