Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[Laila619]

Congrats Cara on the birth of your baby boy!!

I have a question, how long did it take you for your cramps in the beginning to go away? They are annoying and when I don't feel too great to start with, it kind of kicks things up a notch. I just want them to stop!

Mine went away by 8 weeks I think.

 

[icekid]

Just a quick note (uggggh work!) but...

huge congrats to cara and snlee!! Silas and Noelle are so sweet Welcome to the world precious babies!

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Cara and Snlee--Silas and Noelle are sooooooo cute!!!!

 

[geri]

Cara – Congratulations on baby Silas – he is adorable! Great name!

Taovandel – Congratulations on 12 weeks. It’s so nice to hit that milestone!

Bliss – So nice to hear from you again – your posts always give me a smile! You look great and you are definitely going to be a hottay after bubba arrives.

Catluver- You are showing more but you are still teeny! Looking good! Around 18 weeks when was I started popping out and couldn’t suck it in anymore! We just noticed last night that my bellybutton is really starting to flatten out (it is normally quite a deep “innie”). DH is devastated because he is obsessed with my “innie” because his is really flat. Oh well, mine will probably be an outie soon enough!

Deelight – Yes I am a fellow Aussie PSer – welcome and glad your appointment went well! Thanks for the tip on the stroller – it is so hard seeing all the amazing things on here and then finding out they are not available in Australia (or are available at twice the price ). We are still undecided on a stroller because I think DH will want a very robust all terrain jogging stroller but they can be a little bulky for everyday use so we are still making up our minds.

 

[Puppmom]

Thanks, Bliss! You look GOOD! You are definitely keeping it together girl!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Busy, busy day today! But, I did want to pop in to Congratulate Cara and Snlee and to welcome Silas and Noelle!

Snlee - I big puffy heart Noelle's name!! How beautiful! She is absolutely precious!

Cara - I'd love to hear more about your birth story when you have time! Silas is so gorgeous! His little lips are perfect!

 

[meresal]

Cara and Snlee, you're little ones are absolutely Beautiful!

Re: movements outside of the womb being like on the inside...
C got the hiccups when he was only a few hours old. So I closed my eyes and held him super tight, and it felt just like when he was inside me! So surreal to open my eyes and actually see the little guy!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Re: Weight Gain. I gained 30lbs with my first and started around 115 (I'm 5'0"). This time I started at about 125ish and, as of last months appointment, I had only gained around 6lbs. I feel like I was overweight to begin with so I am really trying to not gain as much this time, although I also realize that my body will do what it wants. Since I'm still nauseous I don't eat as well as I should but I take my vitamins every day, have cut back on caffeine, soda and sweets. It's the carbs that kill me! They sit well and fill me up just enough to satisfy the grumbling tummy but not so much that it sends me running to the toilet (insert pukey smiley).

Re: Sleep. Newborns sleep all the time compared to toddlers I never really realized how easy a newborn was until my son really took off with running, tantrums, and boycotting naps! I'm looking forward to holding a wee little one again, even though they grow so fast and I know that our house will be even more chaotic than it is now.

Re: Cramps. I had them in my first trimester with both pregnancies, and also had them in my third trimester with my first. Tylenol is safe to take and also laying on your side can help as well. I also do gentle stretches in the morning and at bedtime to help keep things loose in there.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Ahh, one more thing. I watched "The Business of Being Born" over the weekend. Very interesting. The move certainly implies (more than implies, I guess) that hospitals have unwritten rules regarding when (after how many hours of labor) to give the mother Pitocin or other medications to speed up labor, even if it's not medically necessary.

So, now I'm wondering if I should have a mid-wife. I plan to ask my doctor about the above next visit. I'm sure they love this stuff.

Admittedly, I do not know much about labor at this point. I haven't gotten to those chapters yet. I know there are circumstances where medications are necessary, but if they are not, is my doctor going to encourage Pitocin just to get me out of the hospital?

 

[Laila619]

Ahh, one more thing. I watched "The Business of Being Born" over the weekend. Very interesting. The move certainly implies (more than implies, I guess) that hospitals have unwritten rules regarding when (after how many hours of labor) to give the mother Pitocin or other medications to speed up labor, even if it's not medically necessary.

So, now I'm wondering if I should have a mid-wife. I plan to ask my doctor about the above next visit. I'm sure they love this stuff.

Admittedly, I do not know much about labor at this point. I haven't gotten to those chapters yet. I know there are circumstances where medications are necessary, but if they are not, is my doctor going to encourage Pitocin just to get me out of the hospital?

LV, my DH and I watched that movie when I was 17 weeks. I loved it! It totally changed my views on labor! I used to think an elective C-section would be awesome. I now am with a mid-wife practice and want to try for a natural birth now. I checked out a bunch of books at the library on the Bradley method. Basically, it focuses on avoiding unnecessary interventions and letting nature take its course, laboring at home as much as possible before going to the hospital (so you don't use up the hospital's "time limit"), and doing pelvic exercises and stretches to get prepared for labor.

 

[Mara]

J also got hiccups a lot in the womb and outside. It took about 4 months for them to stop really coming regularly, so funny!!! he used to get them in the womb 2-3x a day!

He also was a mover and shaker in the womb and he is cray cray outside. I started a thread while preggo asking Moms if they felt an active womb shaker would be a really active kid. It was kind of a mixed bag but my vote is YES. He's tiring!

Bliss you look so good lady, you are TINY to begin with and look at you rockin' that belly. Love it. And nope I was not a buff preggo, I love working out in general but while preggo I just felt way 'off'. And I hear ya being a foodie and loving to eat, while preggo not so much AND even afterwards while BF'ing I would get nauseated when I BF'd which was really not conducive to eating, so I'd just eat what I wanted later like as some reward or whatever.

re: hospitals and rules and pitocin etc... I would just say that I do think some hospitals are more strict about following their protocols than others because our hospital gave me the choice on labor, I could get pitocin to speed it along or continue on naturally but basically with no progress after 12 or so hours they were unsure how long it would take on my own and my water was broken which increased risk of infection so we chose pitocin to speed it along. they prob could have said you have to have it but they left it up to me. So I'd ask your OB and doctor/hospital/L&D area what their protocol is and see if you feel comfortable or not.

 

[fieryred33143]

LV-just wanted to chime in on the induction. I mentioned in another thread that I believe wholeheartedly that I was induced out of convenience. I was there, all set up, and somewhere along the lines they decided to just keep me there. Granted, I don't think I would have gone much longer had I been sent home but I could have been sent home to labor on my own. The reasons they gave me was that my contractions were every 1-3 mins apart and I was not progressing. And since I couldn't feel the contractions at all they were "afraid" I would go into silent labor and not make it to the hospital in time. Whatever.

I'm going the midwife route next time. I loved my OB because she was very straight forward and fast which is what I liked/needed due to work. But she wasn't the one who made the decision, it was the on-call OB from her practice. And while I had practiced birthing techniques, I didn't read up at all on what happens if things don't go as planned.

My advice, if any, is to be very informed. Know the labor signs (I didn't know all of them and went to the hospital for that reason because I thought something was wrong rather than my body preparing). Know when to speak up and ask questions. Being informed is the best approach whether you go the OB or midwife route.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I would guess about 85% of the people I know were augmented medically with their first labours, including myself despite my intentions and going with a midwife. Sigh.

I am very anti-intervention, and think everything should be done to avoid them, and I still plan a 100% natural labour for my next pregnancy (even after 6 hours labouring on pitocin with no epidural and no progress )... But to play a little devils advocate here, there are some real demographic and societal changes that I think are at least partly responsible for the higher rates.

I recall having an interesting conversation with my midwife about this. Basically, women in the west are much older and in much worse physical shape than women were in the past, and this affects our labours. Being 30 with your first labour and delivery is just SO different than being 19. And being a mostly sedentary woman and going through labour has got to be different than going through labour as a healthy vigorous farmer's wife who milked cows every dawn! Having gone through labour myself at 30 and not in very good shape, and despite having a smooth vaginal delivery in the end, I still think on a primal, biological level it is an activity for the young and healthy, not crotchety old ladies like me and all my friends

Don't get me wrong, we should have kids when it is right for us. But I guess a small part of me understands why there are higher intervention rates than we might like. Even if we have the most pro-natural labour attendants possible, there are still some things working against us.

 

[Dreamer_D]

I am also now firmly of the mind that labour and birth take practice to get it right You can read all you want, but nothing can prepare you for labour and managing the pains, and for knowing how to push and all that jazz. Going through it the first time was trial and error, and I only stumbled on a method for managing the pain that worked as I was waiting for the epidural Now I am very eager to try it next time and see if it works. So my advice is to find a caregiver you trust, do your best to learn what you can, then go into things with an open mind and a sense of calm. And then just see what happens!

 

[Deelight]

Congrats Cara on the birth of your baby boy!!

I have a question, how long did it take you for your cramps in the beginning to go away? They are annoying and when I don't feel too great to start with, it kind of kicks things up a notch. I just want them to stop!

Mine went away by 8 weeks I think.

Laila I never had cramps per say but I did get really bad stretch pains that were around the 6-8wk mark and around the 12 week mark I hope they go away soon and you start feeling better

Geri: I am not sure this is a jogger stroller however it is an off roader it has 3 wheels air-pumped and is very light so I assume you could jog with it - have you looked at the valco stroller? that was another one we quite liked - apart from the one that starts with B amd is ultra expensive that the name eludes me at the moment with my preggie head.

I know what you mean about prices and stuff here - it is crazy I did find however if your happy to buy online Babiesdirect.com had really good prices compared to some stores we have looked at. For instance the AHR safe and sound air bag car seat that $659 everywhere we looked is listed there for $60 cheaper and there was no freight charge when I input my postcode


Bliss you have a really cute belly I wouldn't be worried about carrying small - as for feelng tired if your feeling really nauseous and if your off your food that could be a good reason why you might feel so buggered rather then being an indicator for GD.
With the nausea - I didn't get a lot of morning sickness (well not the throw up kind just feeling like I did) but having suffered IBS for years I find mint - peppermint tea (so YUMMY iced), mentos, gum anything pepperminty can really help get rid of the feeling - that and eating bread as counter intuitive as it feels eating something actually made me feel better - hope it goes away soon.

Cara and Snlee, you're little ones are absolutely Beautiful!

Re: movements outside of the womb being like on the inside...
C got the hiccups when he was only a few hours old. So I closed my eyes and held him super tight, and it felt just like when he was inside me! So surreal to open my eyes and actually see the little guy!

Mere that is the one of the cutest things I have ever heard - how cool you can feel the baby hiccuping never knew that


Speaking of baby movements I have been told I have an anterior placenta that and I am not a thin girl before preggie so by all accounts it should be way to early to feel anything but for about a week after the NT scan I felt small little taps in my belly and now feel that every so often - I am not convinced this is the bubs - but never having a baby not sure what it is meant to feel like. The kiddo was very active on the screen - like kicking and such.

I have heard it feels like butterflies - but this is not what it feels like - hard to describe but a series of small point taps in and around where bubs is located especially when I am sitting.

The ladies that can feel there bubs how would you describe it

Also the ladies that have an anterior placenta how many weeks where you before you could feel something?

 

[Loves Vintage]

Laila, I do remember that you mentioned the movie a while back and finally got around to watching it. So, thank you for mentioning it! At what point did you switch to the midwife group? Has it been different compared to your dr's office? Do you plan to take a birthing class?

Mara, If I stick around with my ob group until my next appointment, 2 weeks, I will ask them what the protocol is.

Fiery, I'm going to go back to read your birth story later today. I've been completely naive to the concept of inducing for convenience until I saw this movie. Sage advice re: knowing the labor signs. I can tell you I don't right now, but I will. I don't want to take up too much of the hospital's time, after all.

Dreamer, The theory you introduced is interesting, but I'm not buying it. Keep in mind this is coming from a will-be 37-year-old during labor, non-field worker , so I may be a tad biased. Lots of 30+ not in ideal shape office workers give birth without intervention. And, what about intervention introduced to perfectly fit 25 year olds who have been laboring for too long. I don't know. I really don't have a specific point that I want to argue, especially with you, Dreamer, BECAUSE I know you are much more informed on the topic than I am, but I refuse to accept the notion that it is less likely for me to have a natural child birth due to my age. I do, however, completely accept the fact that things may not go as planned, and I do need to prepare myself for that POSSIBILITY.

Also, you mentioned that you think you figured out how to deal with the pain during labor. I'm curious whether you took any child birth classes and whether you found them helpful. I will be taking a hypno-birthing class, which I expect will be as much to help me keep it together as it will be to help facilitate the process.

**********
Today, I will call a mid-wife group that was recommended to me. I do not know if it's late to switch, but I will find out. I'll also call the doula that I've been meaning to call, but have been hesitating on.

Thank you again ladies for your thoughtful advice!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Deelight, I do not have an anterior placenta, but will answer your question anyway. I did not start feeling any movements that I was sure was the baby until 20 weeks. She felt like a little, little fish swishing by, for like a second, then it stopped. Another second, then it stopped. Just a few times like that and that was it for the day. I did a lot of googling about the topic at the time, and every woman is different and starts to feel the baby at different times too.

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Deelight the first movement i ever felt was the tapping, like someone flicking me from the inside. I did have the bubbles feeling but that was later on. The tapping was first, it was only small/soft? but it was definately there, it was like no other body movement i had felt before. I think i was about 16 weeks and 4 days? (from memory, it was along time ago) but i didn't have an anterior placenta though.

What an exciting time for you!

 

[turtledazzle]

Dreamer, The theory you introduced is interesting, but I'm not buying it. Keep in mind this is coming from a will-be 37-year-old during labor, non-field worker , so I may be a tad biased. Lots of 30+ not in ideal shape office workers give birth without intervention. And, what about intervention introduced to perfectly fit 25 year olds who have been laboring for too long. I don't know. I really don't have a specific point that I want to argue, especially with you, Dreamer, BECAUSE I know you are much more informed on the topic than I am, but I refuse to accept the notion that it is less likely for me to have a natural child birth due to my age. I do, however, completely accept the fact that things may not go as planned, and I do need to prepare myself for that POSSIBILITY.

Also, you mentioned that you think you figured out how to deal with the pain during labor. I'm curious whether you took any child birth classes and whether you found them helpful. I will be taking a hypno-birthing class, which I expect will be as much to help me keep it together as it will be to help facilitate the process.

**********
Today, I will call a mid-wife group that was recommended to me. I do not know if it's late to switch, but I will find out. I'll also call the doula that I've been meaning to call, but have been hesitating on.

Thank you again ladies for your thoughtful advice!

LV,

I just wanted to share my story. I was a first-time mom at 35 who sat in front of a computer all day for work. However, I am an active person who is in shape and works out 4-6x/week (and continued to do so throughout pregnancy -- I delivered in the wee hours on a Monday and had been at the gym 5 times the week before). I am 5'4" and started out at 115 pounds and gained a total of 19 pounds -- my son was born 10 days early at 8 lbs 5 oz. My labor was non-medicated and, while short, was very intense with back labor (water broke with no prior contractions ... baby was born 4.5 hours later). We took Bradley classes and really enjoyed them. We also had a doula who was invaluable (and she teaches hyponobirthing ... so she had me use some of those techniques as well). I also used midwives throughout the pregnancy, but I know the practice I used takes new patients at various stages of pregnancy, including third trimester. So, given my personal experience, I would highly recommend some form of birth class (it especially helped my DH become educated to know what to expect) and midwives/doula if possible if you want a nonmedicated labor. Three of my friends also went the same route that i took and all had nonmedicated labor (even the one who was in labor for 30+ hours, poor woman ).

ETA: I had an anterior placenta. I first felt definite movement at 18/19 weeks. I went from wondering if that was him to being able to see the movement from the outside within a matter of a week. It was really surreal.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Thanks so much, Turtledazzle. Wow, you were incredibly fit while pregnant! While I cannot say the same for myself, I still do not think I am destined to have a medicated birth soley for that reason. If medically necessary, yes, I will do whatever is needed. I am glad to hear that you had such a positive birth experience at that magical age of 35. Thank you again for sharing.

I decided to start the morning by calling my ob office to see what their statistics are for c-sections, inductions and what the hospital's protocol is for inducing after a certain number of hours of labor. They usually call back fairly quickly, so maybe I will be pleasantly surprised.

Off to call the Midwife Group next . . .

 

[lucy.lucy.80]

deelight- I had an anterior placenta too and started feeling movements around 20-21 weeks i believe. It started off like little taps on the inside of my stomach (never really felt butterflies) ....and then by 30 weeks it felt like an earthquake in there...haha!


Hi ladies hope all you ladies are feeling well and enjoying your pregnancy!!

 

[Natylad]

May i join this thread too? I got married in late May and right now I'm approximately five weeks pregnant. I'm 36 years old and i already have a beautiful, ten year old angel daughter from my first marriage
So, right now i'm dealing with all kinds of sentiments and i have a hard time keeping my mood positive. My main problem is the fact that i am in Greece and my husband is in Canada He will be moving to Greece in December. Until then i've got my family to support me, but they are also preoccupied with my brother's upcoming wedding (he's getting married on October 9th) and don't have much time for me, which i find completely understandable.
I believe that my husband's absence is the main reason for my negativity, but there are other thoughts involved too. First of all, when i gave birth to my daughter, ten years ago, my marriage with her father was falling apart...It was a terrible time for me...Consequently, all my memories from back then, when i was pregnant for the first time, are very sad and frustrating and they influence (even though they shouldn't) my feelings now that i'm pregnant again...As if i fear that history will repeat itself, even though now nothing is the same and i have a wonderful husband, who's extremely supportive and loves me more than anything...
I also noticed the pictures which have been posted by the other pregnant PS ladies and i got the impression that i will end up like an enormous balloon...for a second time...On my first pregnancy i gained 50 pounds (i'm not joking, i really did) and it was partly due to the things that i was eating and partly due to reasons that i'll never understand I really believe that that weight gain couldn't be justified just by the amount and the quality of food that i was consuming.I am absolutely certain that if i followed the exact same diet during the time that i wasn't pregnant, i wouldn't have ended up 50 pounds heavier (needless to say that when i left the hospital i had only lost 8 pounds...the baby was six pounds...).
It took me three years to go back to my regular weight...During those three years i was always feeling body conscious and sometimes very embarrassed of my figure, especially at the beach. Right now i'm already swallen and my tummy is very big for this early stage of the pregnancy. There are other PSers who look like me on week 15 (see attached picture).
I could really use some encouragement right now...

 

[HOUMedGal]

Deelight - I have an anterior placenta too, and was also a bit "fluffy" (BMI 26.5 or so, 5'8" and 168-170lb) pre-preggo. I started to feel the bubs moving on the inside at around 17-18 weeks (and it was *exactly* as you describe...little taps from the inside). I wasn't sure that it was her until she started making more definite movements, then in retrospect I was able to see that those little tiny taps were her! She started making definitive movements around 19 weeks, and the first time we were able to see my belly move from the outside (and the first time DH was able to feel her with his hand on my tummy) was just a few days ago, around 21 weeks. Now that I know what I'm feeling for, I definitely feel her in clusters of movement 3-4 or even 5 times a day (I'm 21 and 4 today).

The cutest thing ever was the other night when one of our cats was sitting on my lap - I discovered that she was interested in his purring!! His chest was against my belly, so his purrs were transmitting into my belly, and she started kicking a ton!! And THEN, she kicked so hard that it woke him up! LOL! He was sound asleep in my lap, and she gave a big kick and he looked up at me and said "Mrrr??" Soooo cute.

 

[Loves Vintage]

natyLad,

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! And, WELCOME!!

I am sorry to hear that you are having a hard time right now. I wish I had some very good advice for you, but I am a newbie to all this myself, learning as I go. The best advice I have is to focus on the miracle that is happening inside of you. Life is beautiful, and you are growing a new little one right now!! The past is the past, and despite everything you went through, you now have your wonderful daughter. Regarding your prior weight gain, talk to you doctors about it at your first appointment. One day at a time for now.

 

[HOUMedGal]

natyLad - Welcome, and congratulations!!

First off, I'm sorry you're feeling down/negative about things right now. It definitely sucks to be apart from your DH (My DH and I did long distance for 4.5 years) and I feel for you. Good news is, he'll be around for the latter half of your pregnancy, and should be with you just in time to start feeling his baby kicking! Do you have family or close friends around that you can lean on right now to get you through the 1st tri? Take advantage of the local support you DO have right now.

re: weight/body issues - I think this issue is something almost all of us struggle with as women. I know when I found out I was preggo, I was pretty scared of gaining too much weight during my pregnancy (I have struggled with my weight all my life). So far it has gone OK, but I'm still nervous about what's going to happen during my remaining 18 weeks! First of all, you look *amazing* right now - you're starting from a great place, and that counts for a lot!! I know you're probably worried that the same thing will happen this time as happened last time (the 50lbs)...the best thing you can do is just do your best to eat healthy foods and stay active. I'm convinced that each woman's body does what it needs to do to grow a healthy baby during each pregnancy - some women do all the right things and still gain a lot of weight, and others don't try too hard and manage to have a reasonable gain. I haven't figured out the secret yet. So I've just been trying to do what I know I'm supposed to do (haven't been perfect, by any means) and trying not to worry about the rest.

Don't worry about there being any judgement here - we are all different sizes and shapes, and we're all about *support* for one another.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Cara and Snlee, you're little ones are absolutely Beautiful!

Re: movements outside of the womb being like on the inside...
C got the hiccups when he was only a few hours old. So I closed my eyes and held him super tight, and it felt just like when he was inside me! So surreal to open my eyes and actually see the little guy!

OMG that's so sweet!

 

[HOUMedGal]

So I know it's not Friday, but since I missed last Friday, here's the belly pic I took last night before we went out to dinner! I am loving all the bellies you ladies are getting - sooooo cute!!!

21 weeks 3 days

 

[Mara]

DD, I actually agree with you on labor in general being more of a younger and fitter activity than a 30+ sedentary lifestyle kind of thing, NOT that older people can't do it, but i think our bodies are way more receptive to that kind of intense activity while younger and more spry. obviously it differs from person to person but often in our home we just generally compare our lives today to the lives of our ancestors and how much more soft we all are today. even a workout at the gym 5 days a week isn't like plowing the fields.

I also tend to think hospitals nowadays would prefer to lower their risk by medically stepping in with drugs or a c/s or whatever because they have those options and they know the %%% that it helps. So it's up to the individuals to know what they will and won't accept and also make sure their wishes and feelings are aligned with the hospital or their delivery mechanism. You can find out things like...what happens if water is broken for 10 hours. What is protocol then? What happens if there's labor for 24 hours with no progress, what's protocol there. And make sure you ladies feel comfortable with the answers.

In any case, I totally agree that people should be as informed as they can (or care to be) and keep as open mind as possible about things. In the end, for me, it was just about making sure everyone came out healthy and hale and I refused to have any sort of lingering 'gee that would have been nice if it was different' thoughts because those just bug you later and what's the point.

naty... congrats, don't worry about being swollen at 5weeks. i got swollen early on and looked really fatty bloated, but not pregnant until almost 10 weeks when the swelling went away and there was a small belly.

 

[sbde]

Deelight - I have an anterior placenta and felt the baby move around 17.5 weeks. Keep in mind however, that this is my 2nd baby and so I had a better idea of what movement feels like. with my first baby (no anterior placenta) i felt movements at the beginning of week 16, and felt significantly more movements (hiccups etc) throughout.

Bliss: so true! i understand the need for certain guidelines around weight gain but it really is tough to compare yourself against them because everyone is different and each pregnancy is different. all we can do is try to eat healthy and hope for the best

welcome natylad!

 

[Natylad]

LovesVintage, HOUMedGal,Mara, Sbde, thank you soooo much for the warm welcome and the great advice! I really feel much better already And by the way, HOUMedGal, you look so cute