OK, now I need some kind and encouraging words. Contractions have tapered off, nothing to indicate that we are moving in the right direction. I’m torn between not wanting to be impatient and to “make the most of this time before my new arrival” and realizing that that is just pointless. I’m tired, I’m crabby, I’m not sleeping well, I’m rarely comfortable—there is no more to be made of this time.
To make matters worse, my mom just called while I was trying to take a nap and left one of those annoying, “OMG!!! Are you off having the baby??!!” messages. Why do people DO that? If I’m having the baby, those near and dear(ish) to me will know about it.
Don’t piss off the preggo lady, folks, really. Just don’t. She just might sit on you.
lorene, I know exactly what you mean about folks annoying you. When I was pregnant the second time around, from about the beginning of my 8th month, I’d walk into work, and the receptionist would say “Anything yet?” Well, hello! If there was “anything yet” would I be at work?? She was a really nice girl, and a great receptionist, but it took everything I had not to jump all over her!
As for words of encouragement, try this: no one has ever been pregnant forever! The baby will come, just not necessarily when you want it to. If you can’t sleep, and are generally crabby, try renting a couple of movies you know you love, and watch them. I have comfort movies that I watch when I get sick. You know, I’m on too many meds to follow the plot of new ones, but I want to be entertained? The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemtion, The Princess Bride and Pretty Woman. Every one of them guaranteed to satisfy, any time. Oh, and Forrest Gump.
Try it. It might help.
Oh man, lorene those last few days are awful, aren’t they? I know what you mean about how impossible it is to “enjoy and make the most of the time” when all you want is that baby outta there. You’ll get more sleep in the hospital afterwards, I bet!
lorene I just the other day saw where studies have linked the amount of chocolate a pregnant woman consumes and how happy her baby is at six months!! Seriously!!
BTW, that horniness thing explains why I spent most of my pregnancy checking out Internet porn. No other kids, house to myself - what’s a girl to do? At least I kept my feet up!
Two words, lorene - porn and chocolate!
Good luck!
Okay, guys, the moment you’ve all been waiting for (or not 
): norinew’s dinner tip of the day! Pita pizzas! I split whole wheat mini pizzas to use as our pizza crusts. Top with Ragu Rich N Meaty spaghetti suace, mozzarella cheese, and whatever else you want. Way cheaper than ordering pizza, and much healthier, since you’re using whole wheat crusts. Almost as easy as ordering pizza. One of the reasons I like pizza is it’s a complete meal: veggies (in the sauce and whatever you choose to put on top), protein (in the sauce and cheese) complex carbs (in the sauce and crust) and dairy (in the cheese, of course). If you serve it with a nice salad and get your kids to eat some, all the better. But just this pizza is pretty darned balanced.
Obviously, I meant mini pitas. Duh!
Chocolate and porn…OK! I can think of worse ways to spend my time. 
I was far more interested in sex during my first pregnancy—I think having a 2-year-old to take care of this time around has just exhausted us.
Plus I think my husband is plain ol’ scared of how big I am.
At the very end of my last pregnancy, he came to my 40-week appointment with me. The midwife asked if we had tried having sex to induce labor and we said no. Then she was poking around and said, “I can feel the baby’s head!” After she left, I said to my husband, “I suppose that comment just about killed the idea of sex, huh?”
I was right.
norinew, I tried your chicken nuggets the other day, except I couldn’t find dry ranch dressing mix, so I used regular ranch dressing. They worked out well! Then, since I had a half bottle of the dressing left, last night I coated some chicken breasts with it, then dipped it in a mixture of bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt & pepper. I baked them and they turned out really great. My husband, the pickiest eater on the planet, said, “Yeah, I wouldn’t mind if we had them again sometime.”
Keep the recipes coming! I always have the worst time coming up with something. Our standards are tacos, spaghetti, chicken soup, and baked chicken.
Yeah! Three cheers for norinew and the rest of you domestic goddesses! This aspect of motherhood is more frightening to me than labor, so I appreciate learning from your expertise.
Hey lorene, good luck! I never had contractions in the entire pregnancy until after my water broke and I was on the way to the hospital. ValleyGirl was born less than 10 hours after I felt my very first contraction. She would have been out even sooner if she hadn’t decided to turn her head sideways. There is just no predicting, I guess.
Update on the yard sale front: I mentioned earlier in the thread that I got a safety gate at a yard sale this weekend. Well, I happened to be poking around on the Web, and I discovered that the $5 great condition (original instruction booklet and all) 3-panel gate goes for $135 retail! 
I think that’s my best yard sale purchase ever. Oh, if there are any gamers out there, I should mention that I also got her to throw in Black and White for free.
I’m going in Friday to get my wisdom teeth removed (general anesthesia!). I’m still breastfeeding, but apparently as soon as you’re alert enough to hold the baby, it’s safe. I’m not allowed any good narcotics for the pain, though. I’m really nervous. Thank goodness my mother is coming up for the day to watch ValleyGirl. I think we may end up eating the same mush over this weekend. Pureed butternut squash, anyone?
Hey Lily - need an exersaucer? (or anyone else who can pick up - I’m on the MA/NH border)
I love yard sales and consignment shops and ebay.
I’ll have to try those recipes! I’m always on the lookout for easy to make and tasty to eat food.
lorene it is so bad waiting. By the time it was almost Christmas I was ready to get going though my due date wasn’t until New Year’s day. It’ll happen when it happens
hmm something good to eat. I like sweet and sour meat balls.
Basically you just… make meat balls. I just do a bit of egg and beef and cook them up. When they are about done you make a mix of ketchup (a cup or so), vinegar (about a tablespoon), brown sugar (maybe a tablespoon or two) and a pinch of dried mustard. Mix it up and taste. If you want more sweet, add sugar or more sour add vinegar. I really can’t be accurate with that as it’s a family recipe and I just mix it up. Pour the sauce over meatballs and let warm up. Serve on rice with a salad (or whatever veggies you want) on the side.
That’s the hard thing about recipes you love… sometimes you just can’t measure it out to share with a friend.
lily, good with the babygate. I picked up one myself for $5 that regularly retails for about 50. I need to go pick up one that I can drill into the wall for upstairs…
Oh and with the mini pizza’s recipe, we do something like that only on hamburger buns. The sauce is just ketchup and oregano, spread everything on the buns and pop in the oven until the cheese is all gooey.
I’ve realized something. I really don’t like ketchup much (okay, not at all. If I need ketchup to eat something it’s bad ie fries), but I use it as a base for a couple of sauces and to my stew gravy/liquid. Hmm I guess I’m weird.
I cannot believe anyone used my name in the same sentence with the phrase “domestic goddess” and didn’t choke!
I have a question for you parents about age-appropriate toys. What’s with this “not for 3 and under” restriction on all the good stuff? I mean, I’m not going to give my babies anything tiny or sharp (or raisiny), but why is EVERYTHING off limits?
And what’s with the magic age of 3? I found this wonderful toychest at my favorite thrift store today, it looks brand new & was $8, toys included. I’d love to let them play with the little wooden blocks in the next few months, but in the stores they’re labelled “3 and up”. They would fit in a paper towel tube, which I was told is the criterion for a choking hazard - but for how long? Really until 3?
And this is odd - I bought one of those old red and blue Tupperware sorting toys with the yellow geometric shapes, which I always thought was a baby toy (8-9 months is when they like sorting stuff, right?). Only the pieces are about the same size as the forbidden wooden blocks, and they would definitely fit in a paper towel tube. Have toys become drastically more restricted in recent years? Is this just about avoiding lawsuits, or is there a good reason for being so cautious?
Oh, and Flutterby, I put ketchup on 'purt near EVERYTHING (mac 'n cheese & ketchup, yum!), but I won’t eat tomatoes! Nope Nope Nope. So you’re not the only weird one .
I’m reasonably certain some toys have that 3&up label only to protect the manufacturer.
I just used my own judgement. YMMV obviously but I think Parallax and I fall into the really easy going to the point of making the grand parents insane type parents.
What’s Parallax?
Parallax is a husband who posts once in a blue moon…
I think they put it at 3 because by that age they would hopefully know not to put something in their mouths, even when Mommy and Daddy aren’t there. That and as tanookie says, to cover their asses.
I get to go search out toys at a Little Tykes sale tomorrow. We are leaving early (9) to get there and see about getting some deals before it’s all picked over.
I’m a bad mom: we had some of those toys before DangerGirl turned 3! Yes, it’s to protect the manufacturers. IMO you can use your judgement and watch the kids. It’s usually pretty obvious to a halfway intelligent person what you can give your kid (right up until she does something completely unexpected!).
The Tupperware toy was DangerBaby’s favorite from about 12 months on. She loved to play with the shapes, but needed help putting them in–we would turn the right shape up and she’d get it in. Now, at 18 months, she’s been putting them into the correct holes by herself for a couple of months.
Oh, and about wooden blocks–make sure they don’t get chewed up. You don’t want to be fishing splinters out of baby’s mouth…that’s probably why.