Although probably PANIC is the better term.
Right there is an artful shot of 8 trash bags filled with clothes (all mine thank you very much) and 1 bag with 19 pairs of shoes. The really sad part is that I don’t really buy a lot of clothes. I guess I just never get rid of any of them. Salvation Army – here we come!
The deal is this – in order to have a room for the baby, we have to move G’s stuff out of one room. That means I have to give up space in the walk-in closet. So this is just a first step and the house looks MUCH worse than it did when I started but I’m making great progress.
I’m also now 30 weeks pregnant.
That means I’ve got ten weeks to go. Could be more, could be less, but let’s just stick with ten weeks. TEN WEEKS PEOPLE! That’s nothing! And did you know that January’s PRACTICALLY OVER?! Wasn’t it JUST New Year’s Day?
So yeah. Panic. Not really nesting. Nesting sounds nice and quaint and all quilty and painty and decoratey and this has NOTHING to do with that. This is all about OH MY GOD THE BABY’S COMING AND WE’VE DONE NOTHING!!!!!!!
I’m okay. Really I am.
Thanks for all the advice on indigestion and sleeping and related pregnancy ills. The sleep issue seems to have been a one time thing. The next day I took a 3+ hour nap and then went to bed a few hours later and I’ve been sleeping pretty good. Besides the HOTNESS at night. Isn’t January supposed to be cold? Where’s the cold? I can’t remember the last time we turned on the heat. The indigestion is still pretty bad, but I’m coping and the nausea seems to be under control too. It’s all there – but liveable.
Here’s a weird pregnancy symptom for you – the skin under my arms – my armpit actually – has darkened. Much like my belly button and the linea negra and all that. It’s not stubble – it’s actual skin darkening. Anyone had that? I googled it and didn’t come up with much. A sign of diabetes (great – I thought I passed that test!) and, of course, that I’m having a boy. Have I mentioned that everyone in the entire universe thinks we’re having a boy? Not that we wouldn’t be thrilled with a boy – but still? No one feels girl? 😉
Okay. Back to the nest.
Hi Cara… down to the final countdown, eh? I also had the skin darkening under my arms… and yes, I found nothing on Google. I thought it was because I had switched brands of deodorant (I was at my most pregnant in the height of summer) but sure enough, it went away after baby was born. Sorry I can’t add more than that, other than to make you feel like you’re not the only one which made me feel better… hang in there!
ADA
Don’t panic, I have done this twice yet and somehow everything falls in place when it is time for the baby. And the thing you didn’t manage to get done in time are not that much necesary. You got breasts, you got a bed. In the worst case baby will have a place to sleep and something to eat. And cloth, yes, but with all the nieces, neviews you will get enough. All we did not have when the baby was due was bought while I was in the hospital (okay we had no need of more onesies, they got changed after I returned) or when you are home. Sure you want to have the stuff be done, but lets talk for real nice baby rooms, nice decoratin g is more for the parents than the parents 🙂
Ten weeks is a bit to go but it is not that much when you realize you can not move / act like you want in the last weeks. but you have family you have friends, I am sure you will get a lot of help!
When I was pissed with the belly and tired and all panic I was told, I should enjoy these weeks where I at least know where the baby is and that it is feeded and cozy and so on.
About the brown skin, it never occured to me and I think there are things during pregnancy which just happend and are not bad. Don’t google everything, that was the best method to drive me nuts. I better gave my belvoed gyn a call and as long as he was not concenrned I try to stay calm.
Pregnancy in my eys is, alhough there are bad days/ weeks, really a magic time and especially the first one was. I know, there are days you just wish the baby _out_.
So I hope this wasn’t to long and somehow you got my point ( so long as there was one ;))
All my best wishes and take care
Sibylle
Ah and what came into my mind, the only time I was brown under my arms was when I had a mycosis from a deodorant or hormons or whatever. You know skin reacts different duing pregnancy. Ask your gyn 🙂
Try drinking ginger tea for the nausea.
I’ll vote girl! Only girls can give their momma that much trouble without doing anything at all!
I’ve been assuming it is a girl. My standard prediction tool is “lots of morning sickness = girl” and “little to no sickness = boy”. I’m 2 for 2 so far : )
I had the darkening under the arms, as well as dark spots on my cheeks. The latter are pretty common, but I don’t know if they’re related to the underarm stuff. The joys of nature. Just show it to your dr, and remember it for later, if it doesn’t go away. You’re almost there!!!
you ever see birds build a nest? they’re frantic and anal at the same time. you are right on target. My sister is 30 weeks as well. I’m 13 weeks in now.
When you start scrubbing things i have to suggest sprinkling baking soda and addng a little white vinegar. its safe, deodarizing and natural and just eats up grease. you can wipe off a nasty stove in minutes rather than an hour of scrubbing.
You’re doing well…everything will be done and ready. xoxoxox
I had the dark armpits too! It was itchy too, and made me crazy. It went away after my daughter was born.
OMG! Ten weeks? Time flies! Let’s just call your armpit thing your very own newly invented symptom. You’re all about the color ya know and Vogue can back you up on it 😉 Thank you for relieving my clothes keeping guilt. Sweet dreams mom.
You are so lucky you get to do this with a blog. Back in the day, no blogs, no one but a few friends who after a while wanted to stop taking my panicky nesting calls. When it gets really close, you may get this calm and the urge to wipe everything, dust stuff three times (and I don’t dust till I’m sure that someone will notice!), paint and re-roof the house, you know. It’s nuts, but it will all be worth it. Blue skies!
Ah fun pregnancy symptoms. I’m down to days in the countdown and I’m officially freaking out and bored out of my mind. I went through panic/nesting around 30 weeks too. I just had to get things cleaned up and done. It was good because now I can’t bend over without trouble. 🙂 As for boy vs girl, it seems like we are going through a boy period right now. 7 out of 7 people we know are having boys right now. In 2006/2007 12 out of 13 were girls. Who knows!
Wow… I remember that whole destashing before the baby thing. I got rid of so much stuff, yarn, fiber, clothes, books — anything that didn’t seem to need to make a home with us any more.
As someone else commented above, you need surprisingly little to make a newborn happy. Just a place to sleep, a mom who wants to nurse the baby, a few onesies and some diapers give you almost everything. And for the first couple of weeks, you may just want the baby in a bassinette (even a dresser drawer works — ask me how I know!) in your room — it was just easier for us when Z was really tiny.
You might even want to save a little to do afterwards. I found that after Z arrived, there were days when all she wanted to do was walk around (when she wasn’t eating). Having little things to do that didn’t require a lot of bending far over (slings and baby bjorns don’t work so well for that activity) was a sanity saver for both me and Z.
I’m still impressed you could go through a 20 week ultrasound and not find out the sex. I just had to know! Of course, I was the kind of kid who would try to unwrap my presents on the sly before Christmas, too…
🙂 your panic sounds similar to mine! i went through the entire apartment and closed up every gap i could find so mice wouldn’t get in. man, can you imagine doing that on your hands and knees at 30 weeks? what a backache! don’t worry. it’ll definitely all fall into place! and if it doesn’t? oh well 🙂
The best thing I was told was. “Everything abnormal is normal during pregnancy” So true.
Do not worry newborns really do not need that much (I learned that after the first one – you would have thought we had triplets with all the stuff we had before our first was born)
Don’t worry about the nesting. You don’t need a separate room for a newborn baby. You need diapers and milk and some clothes. That all!Both my girls slept next to my bed until they were 6 months old. Then they moved to their own room. Don’t panic, take it easy. It will be OK!
I’m starting on the same sort of panic – we have to empty a room, meaning my DH is moving his office into our closet and that means we have to get rid of lots of clothes too! We’re due in May. BTW, the best thing you can do for the acid reflux is staying up 2 hours after eating, and sleeping on your left side. We are hardcore in my house and also have raised the head end of our bed – we got those bed raisers meant for dorm rooms, and put them all on the head end. Thanks for sharing your pregnancy stories – I’ve been reading to know what’s coming up next!
I think it’s a girl. Of course, since I had two boys, I always assume everyone is having a girl!
Holy.
something.
wow.
I don’t even think I’ve ever owned 8 bags of clothes.
But I do remember nesting. My house was so clean you could eat off . . . certain bathroom fixtures.
NO, I think girl, because of the heartburn. Three boys here, never any heartburn. SIL had the girls, horrid heartburn – she lived on tums.
ON the other hand, they say babies with lots of hair cause heartburn. How either the gender or the hair could cause the HB, it is fun to predict.
My Memaire always said that you’ll have whatever you can handle best. I had girls – boys would’ve killed me. I’m sure of it. Who ever it is in there is just the perfect person for you and G to raise right now.
The best advice I got when I was pregnant was to not get anything for the baby, but to throw away everything I could. I did. Clothes, books, paper, paper, paper. All gone. The girl came and the house filled with cradles and baby gyms and seats and exersaucers and strollers (none of which I bought and most of which people fobbed off after they were finished with them and most of which were very needed when the right time came). And now it is all gone again. Don’t worry about the baby stuff, just get rid of *everything* to make room for it when it arrives.
With this one, I’ve had tiny skin tags show up in my armpits. The right one is worse than the left. It’s so gross!!
So, I had dark skin under my arms when I was 16 or so, and it comes back from time to time, but I’ve never been pregnant. Maybe something to do with hormones or deodorant? I could never figure it out. Until now I just assumed I had some kind of horrible, unique skins condition that would undoubtedly prove to be fatal. The fact that it’s happened to other people though, is so, so reassuring.
Phew.
omfg so did the arm on the back of underarm too! I never knew that was a pregnancy thing, I only noticed it like after 2 motns after i had her, its rough/dry skin to… its so weird.
Hang in there, Cara. You’ll forget all of this in a few years. Unless you read your archives…glad I didn’t have a blog back then. 🙂
Heh, never had that one. And the extreme nausea=girl thing might be right, I’m an example.
I love that somebody thinks that having the internets is a good thing. I’d not thought of it before, but there were no computers when I had my kids (at least not in every home and not in mine), and I think I am glad. But back in those days it never occurred to me that anything was ever wrong. Even when it was. Hmmm…..
Clearly, it’s going to be a girl, basically because I say so. And because the world needs more… more…. well, I was going to say more nuts like you, but I thought you might take that wrongly, given the hormonal upheaval and all. So, let’s leave it at the world needs more adorable twinkletoes like you. [me, I’d rather be called a nut, but then I’m not pregnant]
Yeah, that’s what happens, it looks worse before it looks better. I’m going through the same thing (the clean up, not the pregnancy) and there have been times I’ve glanced at the WIP and thought, dear God what did I do to myself? But eventually it straightens itself out. I’m betting it’s a boy, too.
All the way through my pregnancy and even through the entire delivery, the health care providers predicted a boy…my daughter surprised everyone when she finally made her appearance.
I had the skin darkening thing really bad with my first. The underside of my breasts turned brown. It was WEIRD! It happened again with the second, but not as bad. So… that’s your TMI for the day. Oh, and I have two girls, no boys. 😉
I know the feeling, and I’m lagging about 12 weeks behind you. My nesting has thus far included ripping up carpet (and somehow, some way, getting new flooring installed!), shifting things from room to room and back again, and a huge yarn purge. I have discovered the wonders of freecycling and bookmooch to help get rid of the endless piles of stuff. You can do it!
Everyone has guessed a boy with us, too. Everyone. My MIL even went so far as to say she HOPED we would have one… and then retracted her statement when she realized what she had let slip. ;P
I got all these tiny brown patches of skin down both sides and across my tummy when I was pregnant. It’s so interesting all the stuff our bodies do when we’re pregnant! My skin and hair where also the clearest and best they have ever been in my life.
It seems so far away! My boy turned five today…
I know how you feel – I’m due a few days before you and there’s some serious ebaying going on here. What will be the nursery has bags of yarn that I will probably never get the chance to use, so I’m selling it to make room for the crib, nursery furniture etc that I still haven’t bought (gulp!)
I don’t recall if it occurred while I was pregnant, but after HAVING both my kids and especially in those first few weeks of nursing, I had a large purple lump under one arm. We named it “Bob”. My doctor said it was just an enthusiastic lymph node. 😛
I was so sick with my daughter. My firstborn, a son was a breeze and a bit of a trick. I agree that the baby needs you and your husband and probably G’ma and aunties. Stuff is just stuff. Babies are blessings.
Ha – I spent my weekend in much the same way you did – purging the office to make room for baby. I discovered treasures (family pictures) and crap (unopened mail from 2004 – huh?) in equal measure. And our place looks worse than when we started, too. I’m going on blind faith that it will eventually look great.
As to the gender predictors, I never had any morning sickness and the ultrasound says it’s a girl.
I meant to post this comment earlier…
It got away from me. Somehow.
I’ve had awful indegestion with both my pregnancies. I’m only 24 weeks and it’s been bad for a while this time. I drink milk. Lots and lots of milk. A whole glass of milk will take it away long enough that I can go to sleep.
I’ve also found that certain food s are sure to set me off. Tomato sauce, but not fress tomato, and chocolate are two of the biggest culprits. Since I can’t live without chocolate, I’ve considered buying a cow. 😉
Good luck with the “nesting”!
Darkening skin can be a sign of a zinc deficiency in pregnancy. It is more common for it to show up on your neck or face, but I’m betting it could show up in your armpits too. So maybe try a zinc lozenge and see what happens.
The baby is coming whether or not things get all straightened out. It will all be ok!
The indigestion can be so terrible. My solution was Swiss Creme malox liquid. I kept the big bottle in the fridge and carried a small size around in my purse. If you just take sips, it works pretty well and you never really get a whole dose. Doesn’t it seem like child-bearing should be easier, since that is one of our primary functions on earth. I had carpal tunnel along with a big vein as souvenirs of my first child. Sounds bad, but it does make me remember those pregnant months many years later. Pregnancy is so scary, you really don’t enjoy it as much as you should. More with a second, and I’m sure, even more with a third. Make sure you dance alot– big swinging belly bump dancing. Those memories will sustain you through a lot! Bev
I had the armpit thing, but I thought I was just going crazy. 🙂 I also got the line on my stomach, but then it didn’t go away! I had to loofa it off in the bath a few weeks later, so.weird.
My girlfriend and I both had the dark under arm thing too. We switched to a deoderant that did not have all the chemicals in it (my favorite is from LUSH) and it was much lighter. It has something to do with the change in your PH and the chemical reaction with the deoderant. At least thats what my OB said. Theres no harm in it..but by friend was preggers during the summer and hated it peeking out her shirt arm :o(
Good luck!
I’ll go for girl.
You know I had those dark patches under my arms in highschool. Had them on my stomach too. NONE of my drs had any idea what was wrong and just told me to switch deoderants… well that didn’t work. Later I found out while reading a magazine that’s it’s a symptom of PCOS but is pretty much caused by hormones/insulin stuff. Once my hormones were controlled my spots went away for the most part. In your case I doubt it’s anything huge to worry about.
Asked my doctor DH about the skin darkening….after a long involved explanation which I could never get straight, I surmise it is hormones….same as what causes dark spots elsewhere. For the record, every time I say back to him what I just understood, the reply is invariably…’Sort of, but not really.’
Hi there! The hyperpigmentation under your arms is actually a very common thing. A lot of women get it simply because of shaving. You’re constantly exfoliating/abrading the surface, so in some people, it darkens. If it doesn’t go away after the pregnancy, look into a company called Derma Doctor. They have a great skin brightening deodorant! (I work at sephora… I knew this knowledge would come in handy someday!)
The nesting stories are my favourite pregnancy stories. I ironed all the washcloths and the bedroom was soundproofed.
11 weeks is a really long time!
I thought the nesting thing was crap until I found myself sewing millions of little terry baby butt wipes the day before I gave birth.
My armpits darkened too, but it went away after awhile. Unfortunately the weird chin hairs haven’t though. Babies do weird things to your body.
Yeah, nobody really tells you that the sweet, innocent sounding “nesting” really is more of a panic induced frenzy. Almost there!
Chiming in with the dark arm pits.
I nested for about ten minutes, but that was long enough to make up a couple dozen flannel wash clothes. Pretty good since I don’t sew. But the whole cleaning out and arranging the baby’s room was all left up to my husband. I left town for a baby shower and it was all done when I got back the next day. THANK GOODNESS!
Congratulations!! You are having a boy!! I had the same thing happen to me when I was pregnant.
I also had darkening at the back of my neck. It looked like dirt…GROSS! Doctor said it was due to hormones. It goes away after giving birth. That’s the good news.
I’ve never been pregnant, but I have brown skin under my armpits and in spots all over my body almost my entire life, due to polycystic ovarian syndrome, which is a hormonal imbalance caused by insulin resistance. So, I’d guess from yours and from others’ comments, that it’s hormonal in nature.
Too funny. Substitute white garbage bags (with the red handles) for your black ones, and you know what my bedroom looks like. I’m 27 weeks along and we’re moving to a new house. Yesterday I started the great closet purge of ’08 and I’ll be doing more today. Good luck to you!
Glad I’m not the only one who “organizes” with trash bags. On the baby gender — everyone we knew was so sure we were having a boy that my husband had to argue with two people who’s response was “are you sure?” when he told them about our new arrival.
The armpit darkening is a variation of chloasma (also called melasma, or the mask of pregnancy). Your hormone levels during pregnancy can stimulate the production of melanin, which darkens the skin. BabyCenter says it can happen where you have sun exposure as well as areas of friction, such as armpits. Ah, the joy!
I’m just about 31 weeks along myself, and just have a bit of linea negra, but my skin is very fair, and I understand that the more pigment you have in your skin ordinarily, the more you’re likely to have chloasma during pregnancy.
Hang in there, Cara… you’re in the home stretch…
Baby bump blessings!
I’ve also gotten the under arm darkening reaction – to deodorant, no pregnancy. I switched brands and all was well again. Turns out I’m allergic to some compounds in deodorants, so I’m seconding the LUSH brand comment.
As for other odd pregnancy-only occurrences, a friend of mine developed an allergy to strawberries while she was carrying her son. The hubby’s family has a history of strawberry allergies, so she figured her little bundle o’ joy probably was allergic too. She sure hated breaking out in hives and itching though. Probably a strawberry-free house now!
My husband starting fixing up the baby’s room in our new house when I was about 32 weeks with our first (after a few weeks of gentle reminders). He pulled off the old wallpaper — and the very old plaster lath wall, umm, fell apart. The wallpaper was holding it together, covering up an unsuspected leak in the roof around the chimney which was tracking down the exterior wall. Needless to say, reflashing the chimney and rebuilding the wall took a little longer than the original plan. She slept in our room for the first four months. (My husband took one side off the crib and hooked it to the bed — having a nurse-every-hour-and-a-half kind of baby for a while, that was great; it was before those kinds of things became commercially available, and she never liked the bassinet.) And you know? She would have spent most of the time in our room anyway! (See nurse-every-hour-and-a-half above.) The dresser made a fine changing table, with a pad on it.
Seriously? If having a baby is the impetus to clean out closets so efficiently, I need to find myself in the family way very soon. Like you, I don’t really buy a lot of clothes and shoes; but, I have stuff everywhere…and I never wear any of it. Sad; but, true. Ten weeks, that is time to catch your breath, get a pedicure (even if you aren’t usually into that sort of thing, it will totally make you feel good), and go on a few dates with G. And then, of course, there is the nesting.
nesting. it’s a good thing. Just wait- soon enough all those bags of YOUR clothes will be replaced with LOADS of baby clothes ands accoutrement taking up every single square inch of space…. it’s amazing how much space tiny people with all their “stuff” require;)
Everyone in the world thought we were having a boy, too. My little girl would beg to differ, though!
I am 18 weeks now. I am in the same boat with everyone thinking I am having a boy. We will find out on Feb 4th. Anyway, I, too, am purging the clothes out of closets. And I feel your pain in panicking over what you have and have not done to get ready. In the beginning it seems you have forever, then all of a sudden you don’t have any time left and start panicking. 🙂 Hang in there.
The thing is that babies don’t care, only moms and dads. Our son had the perfect nursery…then slept with us for 3 months. Our daughter arrived early and had the haphazard cosleeper setup…then wanted to sleep on her own after 3 months. No unsolicited advice except this: be easy on yourself. And enjoy the great skin and hair!
Skin darkening is normal. Don’t worry! 🙂
Three things: 1. If Mylanta came in a gallon jug, that’s how I would’ve bought it when I was pregnant. I had painful acid reflux 24/7 the last trimester. The good news is it went away immediately after giving birth. 2. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was sure I was having a girl. Even I was surprised when they said “It’s a boy!”. 3. A word of caution with the waiting until you can’t handle the pain anymore – there is such a thing as “too late for an epidural.” My sister found that out the hard way. I say just do it. The immediate relief is SO welcome, no matter how long you’ve been in labor. Best wishes!!!