[Hopefulmommy09]

Ok I have two little one at home. I am a stay at home mom two days a week. I love this. I am newly pregnant , I am so excited, but so very scared. I have had 3 very painful miscarriages and I worry so much.

Here is my question I have to lift my little ones, especially when I am the only one home. It is lifting into the highchairs, lifting into cribs/out of cribs, over gates etc.....the list goes on and on. I am now worried that I killed our baby from the lifting. I called my nurse and she said that it is just a guideline and to take it easy. She said that is shouldn't cause miscarriage just more back pain. I think she was tring to make me feel better. I am looking for some honest answers here.............what do I do to not continully lift children? What damage could I really do this early in the game? Do you think it is too late. PLease I am near tears here.

[wannabigbabybelly]

It depends on how big your kids are.

I was lifting several children in the very begining. We had a little foster boy/newborn for a couple months so I was lugging him around in a car seat.

We also had his brother that was 2 that I had to lift at times.

Plus I had my 3 year old that I also had to lift (but he's small...only about 25lbs).

I wouldn't lift my daughter, she had just turned 4 and was quite a bit heavier than her brother.

I was nervous as well about the lifting and wether i was doing any harm.

I didn't notice any real problems, I just tried to be as careful as possible and only lift them when necessary.

The only thing that really made me nervous was when I'd get frustrated and upset with them. If they weren't listening and I was getting upset and having to yell at them I'd start getting cramps and that made me real nervous.

So as long as your little ones aren't that heavy I'd say it's fine.

Depending on how old they are you may consider transtioning them to toddler beds where they can get in and out themselves, and out of the high chairs and into the normal table seats. Another option is to just get some little pre-school mats for the ground for nap time, and a small kids table for meals durignt he day when you can't lift them by yourself.

I also used to lift mine in the van but started making them climb in themselves and climb in their car seats themselves and then I'd buckle them.

Just do whatever you can to increase their independance (since pretty soon you will also have a baby to carry around). Make it fun for them by saying how big they are now.

Mine were resistant at first, and wanted to stay the baby, wanting me to do everything for them, but now that I'm farther along (I no longer have the foster kids) but my 3 year old...just turned 4 and it's so nice to see he's turning into a big boy.

I still lift him occasionally (like into a shopping cart). But with my big baby belly it's getting harder, so I'm glad i started the transition early on the pregnancy.

With my 4 year old daughter (who really is too heavy to lift) if I need her in the shopping cart I'll usually just push the cart over to a bench and let her climb in and out by herself.

So you find ways to make it work.

[gangof4]

I lifted my toddlers when I was pregnant. My ob suggested that I try not to lift them but I found that to be easier said then done. They were spoiled little bugers. We also were trying to finish a room in our house before the baby came. So I ended up helping my husband hang drywall up on the ceiling. I also picked up spackle buckets which are far heavier then any toddler.
Towards the end of my pregnancy I did all sorts of things to bring on labor. Like going for a 3 mile run. And I still ended up getting induced!
I think once you are past the 3 month mark the fetus isn't going anywhere. I can understand your worry with your mc history. But if you have a healthy pregnancy it's most likely going to stick around no matter how many times you pick up your bigger babies. Good luck!!

[Kimmyblueiis]

I struggled with this too. I have twin boys that just turned 2, they weigh about 27lbs each. For the first trimester I lifted them as little as possible, but I had my teenaged dds at home to lift them for me most of the time. I quite often forgot and lifted them out of habit or when the girls weren't around to help. Since about 12wks I have been lifting them all the time, there is just no way around it. Maybe when you are home alone with them, for the first trimester, you could try to do more things sitting on the floor. Maybe feed them breakfast or lunch at a toddler table instead of lifting them into their seats - I do that pretty often, I sit on a pillow on the floor and they sit on their little chairs. Just be careful to lift with your legs and only lift when you have to and you should be fine.
Hugs
Kimmy