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Mommy: I talked to my Dr about the birthing cla__ses and she say's they aren't really necessary. Your instincts will pretty much kick in. I'm going for the no drugs, but knowing my pain tolerance I will be screaming for some LOL. yes, I have gained so much weight, thanks to my constant hunger, but I know once this baby comes, it's back to the gym and watching what I eat.

Hey we can upload an avatar now, cool!!! I concur with Missie, MIM. DH and I had way fun at the cla__ses, but did we really really need them? Probably not. They are very pro-natural labor, so that was a nice encouragement and they went over some stuff I didn't know. Plus we got to watch a very bad 70s video of a birth. Again, we had fun cutting up with the other couples more than anything. The husbands were so funny changing the diapers on the dolls. Also they may give you a tour of the hospital, which they did for us. I got more out of the b___stfeeding cla__s. :) I wouldn't cut all carbs out, I'm surprised the doc advised that. Just maybe cutdown on the nastier carbs? I don't know, I'm a bad one to give advice, because I'm in the exact boat. I'm hungry all the time. But I'm trying to be a little better, because I noticed my knees are starting to hurt, so maybe it's time to pull the reigns in just a bit. :(

Sorry, no input on the epidural: I went natural. Odwalla smoothies! MMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmm! I used to get one of those (Or the Bolthouse version) practically every time I went shopping. I've been better this pregnancy, though, mostly because I'm trying to cut back on unnecessary spending. (Not to mention unnecessary calories!) I do like juice, but I try not to drink too much of it. When I'm doing really good, I subst_tute homemade fruit smoothies for fast food milk shakes, and fruit and yogurt for ice cream sundaes. But I'm not doing too well with portion sizes, I think. You know: that extra serving of spaghetti, or just one more buffalo chicken strip. My take on childbirth cla__ses was that they were a good thing for me and my husband. With my first pregnancy, I was nuts to know everything. I got all kinds of books and stuff, and read whatever I could find online. So I didn't actually learn a lot of new stuff at the cla__ses. But I found them enjoyable, and they helped to organize and summarize what I knew. Plus, my husband isn't into lots of reading and research, and I wanted him to be well informed. There's a lot more to the cla__ses than just breathing exercises. I agree that some of the weird breathing seems like such a waste. There was no way I'd remember those Lamaze type breathing patterns when I was actually in labor. Maybe it depends on your instructor, but mine focused more on just learning to relax and breathe deeply. (More Bradley than Lamaze, if you're familiar with those.) Part of each cla__s was dedicated to that, and though it seems a bit cheesy, it did turn out to be helpful. We had a subst_tute teacher one night, and my husband really hated that night. The lady seemed more eewy gooey flaky weird. Other than that, I liked the cla__ses. Oh, except the one part where the teacher was reading this script that she "just loved," which was all about envisioning the waves at the seashore and being one with nature. Maybe being read to like that works for some people, but I found it rather sappy and "Oh, BROTHER!"-ish. Anyway, if you don't do cla__ses, I still think it's important to be well-informed on the whole labor and birth process. I found that understanding what was going on helped me to be more relaxed about the whole thing. Missie, you're gonna do the no-drugs thing? Good for you, and good luck! I was pretty serious about not having drugs, but I didn't talk about it much beforehand, because everyone just sort of pooh-poohs the idea. "Oh, you say that now, but just wait until you feel those contractions!" I figured that I didn't want to go around bragging beforehand, not knowing what it would be like, and then have to eat my words later when I actually ended up with an epidural. I felt like I was always kind of a wimp about pain, but then I'd never really experienced any serious pain. No broken bones, or anything like that. So my plan was to just do the best I could, but not to feel like a total failure if I needed the drugs after all. It worked out fine both times for me. Both my labors were pretty hum-drum, as labors go. I don't know how I'll do if I ever have a really hard one, but so far so good. Jessica, you have a Sea World season pa__s? You're so lucky! My husband and I came so close to getting pa__ses last year, but finances got sticky, so we decided against it. We did the Zoo for a couple of years, and are taking a break for now. But next time, we'll probably do Sea World.

Thanks for all your advice ladies! Of course I will continue to read. I love to read and especially about my little one and what is to expect with her. I just don't think the clases will be worth the money in the end. I would rather buy cute little outfits! My doctor did not cut out carbs all together. Just told me to watch them closely... Oh well, I am going to gain weight either way. My baby shower is this weekend and I am so excited!!! Anyone else?

Yikes, I realized afterward that your doctor didn't tell you to cut out all carbs. Sorry! I think I subconsciously imagined my doctor telling me that. ha! Regardless, you sound determined to get your body back after the babe. I say enjoy it. Besides, you have baby shower cake to enjoy this weekend!!! Don't know how many of you are Catholic or do the Lent thing, but I always give up something. I cut out chocolate this time, as it's my true true indulgence. It's been tough, but if I had a baby shower with a choco cake to look forward to, I'd probably have to be a little bad. No shower for me this time, but it's all good. I had my fair share with my DD, so if this is a girl, we're set, if it's a boy, we'll wrap it up in sack cloth. j/k we'll probably get some stuff from family as they will be so excited and shocked if it's a boy. LL, I totally hear you on the finances! Since I'm staying at home now, we're having to tighten up. My brother bought us the season pa__s for Christmas, so we lucked out there. ;) I hate to say it but it will probably go underused since it will be hard to go regularly with a newborn, but still we will enjoy it while we can. Are any of you noticing your baby's movements are becoming more squirmy rather than kicky? Mine was all about tapping and kicking a few weeks ago, but now, it feels more like it's fighting hard to find room in there. It makes it harder to feel regular movement. :(

Hey! Glad to be back. =) I haven't got out of bed the past 4 days, I've been SO exhausted. I guess I never realized how stressful and tiring planning a baby shower would be. I had no choice but to get my lazy bum out of bed this morning because I had a Dr. appt. lol Well, baby shower was a huge success! We had a great turn out, just enough food, and my little girl will have enough dresses, headbands, and bows until she's 2! Lol I had a great time! Thankfully, the Oreo cravings don't affect me, because I'm lactose intolerant. =( But I still haven't got my hands on a dang rice krispie treat! I'm going CRAZY! Well, I lost 2 pounds since last week. They said its probably water weight, which is good, I guess. Any of you ladies been SOOO tired? I can't motivate myself to do ANYTHING! All I want to do is sleep all day, what are the other symptoms of anemia other than fatigue? I even get tired taking a shower, its not normal. My LO has been hanging out on my left side, with her feet in my rib cage most of the time! I've definately noticed a change in her movements, but she still kicks the c___p out of me! =) I'm 32 weeks tomorrow! 8 to go! (My cat is eating Fruit Loops... hilarious! Lol)

Glad to hear your baby shower was such a funh time. Mine is this weekend and I am busy planning now. I have noticed an increase in fatigue as well. More so than the first trimester. Also I have been getting a lot of headaches. But that could be work!!! I can not beleive we are almost done!!!

Mine isn't till April 5th. For the past day I've had a horrible, horrible cold. Any suggestions on what to do? Any medications I can take?

I get bursts of energy and then I get fatigued a few hours later, and then after 10 minutes of resting, I'm raring to go again. It comes and goes. Weird. I am feeling the nesting creeping in. Anyone else? Today I was actually helping our housekeeper clean up!! WTH??? I should have been taking advantage of having her help. Missie, I know it's safe, as per my OB, to take Sudafed (the one with no letters after it that you have to ask for at the counter) and regular ol' Tylenol. When I got my cold a few months back, I used lots of saline nasal spray and a cold air humidifier. I'm just chicken about taking meds, but that's me. Don't suffer if you don't have to. Anyone planning on doing cloth diapers? Just curious. Giving it some thought with this one.

Jessica: Thanks for the info. Took some Tylenol and seeing if that helps. As far as cloth, I'm not doing it. Seems a lot of icky work. Doing the disposable. I know it's not good for the environment, but I can't see myself cleaning out a cloth diaper

My mom used cloth diapers with my brothers when I was little. My memories of those are not good, which is why I probably won't ever try them myself. I remember having to swish them in the toilet to clean off the chunks, and I remember the pervasive wet diaper smell. I suppose there must be better ways of containing the mess. And they were awful for changing when out and about. We'd have to save the dirty diaper in a plastic bag, which more often than not we'd forget about and discover later in all it's disgusting odorous glory. I also seem to remember the diapers being more leaky, and definitely more bulky than disposables. Nowadays cloth diapers are fancier than what we used, so maybe they work better. Even if I didn't have such negative memories of cloth diapers, I think I'd still hesitate to use them, because they wouldn't save us much money, and they'd be a lot more work. My husband and I live in an apartment, and we use the community washers and dryers, which would get very expensive if we were washing diapers all the time. Plus the drudgery of hauling all that extra laundry up and down the stairs. No thanks! I have another doctor's appointment tomorrow. I should hear the results of my glucose test thingy. Other than that, I'm sure it'll be the usual boring stuff.

Jessica: I am definitly not doing the cloth diapers. No way. Disposable with my diaper garbarge all the way. Seems like a lot of extra work that you don't want to do... Missie: good luck with the cold. I had one last month. Just get lots of rest. Take time off work if you can and drink lots of water... It may be your body's way of telling you to slow down a bit. Tylenol PM's are also a blessing for those nights you just toss and turn. My doctor said they were fine in moderation. Obviously not every night. Just once in awhile when you can not find relief. llmommy: good luck at your appointment tomorrow. I am sure the test results will be fine. Was happy to hear mine were :) Here's to a beautiful day ladies (depending on where you live) :) For us, it is 26 degrees and windy. Yuck.

Have any of you used cloth diapers part-time in the past and was it cost effective? I'm due in April but will have to go back to work after my 6 wk maternity leave and can't use cloth at my daughter's daycare. Would it still be worth it to use cloth on weekends and when she isn't in daycare? Just wondering if anyone else used both disposables and cloth on a regular basis.

Thanks all for the info! I feel a little better today, more human. It's gonna be a nice, sunny 80 degrees here in AZ and I think I might go lay out and let the sun soak up all the phlegm LOL. How does one person produce so much? hahaha, I told my DH this and he chuckled and said, "Wait till our little one is 4."

I am jealous of your beautiful weather. It is now snowing here in upstate NY. The sun is out but it is still a very cold 30 degrees. I am so glad I am having this baby in the spring and not the freezing cold!!

MIM, 30 degrees! Better you than me. I guess I'm spoiled here in Southern California. I had my appointment: at least an hour of waiting, for 5 minutes with a doctor. I hate that. Anyway, my test results were good: no diabetes or anemia. My weight gain seems fine, too. The doctor did say that I'm measuring a bit big, so if I'm still big at my next appointment, they may give me another ultrasound to check on the baby's size. That's funny: my first baby was nice and pet_te: just under seven pounds. My second measured small during the pregnancy, but then ended up weighing over eight pounds at birth. So if I'm measuring big now, what does that mean for later? Oh, well.