Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[amc80]

Hello! Well, my body has apparently reached it's stretching limit. I had almost no stretch marks...until the past few days. It sort of makes sense since I'm measuring around 40 weeks right now. I think my body is like "WTF, time for baby to get out, can't stretch any more." Oh, but it's stretching...and not in a graceful way.

Also, FIL reminded me yesterday that his fortune telling aunt says the baby will come on Saturday (the 14th). Also known as the day of my baby shower. Okay, whatever. But then I get a random text from my brother saying "I think the baby is coming on Saturday." Yikes. I don't really believe any of them...and the thought of having a baby in 3 days is frightening. But still weird that two people said the same thing!

I've been working from home all week and it's made such a difference. I haven't had a contraction since Monday night. My back feels great and the crazy pressure is gone. I do have to go into the office in a little bit, so it will be a good test.

Hump day bump day! 35 weeks!

 

[fleur-de-lis]

A new-mommy friend shared this link with me. It's called "The Case Against Breast-Feeding," which is misleading... it's not a case against breast-feeding so much as a critical look at the positive research (and culture) surrounding BFing. It's worth a read.

And FWIW, I hope to establish a BF routine with my babe and plan to pump when I return to work. If it doesn't work out as planned I will be returning to this article to help easy my mommy guilt. My friend who shared the article had a very, very rough start to her nursing routine but is now exclusively BFing her 10 week old.

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/04/the-case-against-breast-feeding/7311/1/

What a fascinating article. I'm glad you posted it, PilsnPinkysMom, quite a thought-provoking read!

 

[lizzyann]

PPM, any news?

 

[monkeyprincess]

amc, glad to hear that working from home is helping. Darn stretchmarks! At least you made it pretty far without getting them, so they don't have too much longer/farther to stretch. Have fun at your shower this weekend!

PPM, thanks for the articles. Your thoughts pretty much sum up mine on the matter. I'm going to give it an honest effort for the first 12 weeks while I'm home with the baby, and if it seems manageable, I will try to pump for awhile after going back to work. If it just doesn't work for some reason, I'm not going to beat myself up about it. But I am starting to think I need to get myself more educated and prepared before my son arrives. I am signed up for a 2-hour course in September, but I doubt that it is going to be enough information to get me sufficiently educated and prepared. Thinking of you and anxiously awaiting an update from you once the little one arrives!

JGator, hope you're doing well. I've been having a little more heartburn on and off the past two weeks, so I feel for you, and I too don't like resorting to the Tums and Zantac too often. Oh well, it's a small price to pay. Can you believe how far we've come since our TTC days?

AFM, thought I'd post an updated pic. Actually, this is from almost a week ago at 26 weeks, but I think I look the same today. I'm due in 3 months from today! Hard to believe there is still 3 months of growth to go!

 

[lliang_chi]

Monkey, what a cute preggo bump!!! I love it!

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Glad the article was a worthwhile read for some!

AMC: What a cute belly! Five weeks to go (maybe), but it's terrific your contractions have slowed down. Let us know what happens when you're back in the workplace. I hope your discomfort stays far, far away and you babe continues to grow.

MP: You look ADORABLE and really fabulous for 25 weeks. Are you starting to receive comments from strangers about your bump?

AFM: 1 cm dilated, 30% effaced, baby at -2 station, cervix is very soft but somewhat high and pointed toward my back. Had a membrane sweep but I experienced not so much as a cramp afterward. I'm continuing with my red raspberry leaf tea, evening primrose oil and sex. Probably need to increase my walking and sitting on a birth ball to encourage baby to drop. No contractions to report since the one on Tuesday morning. ...I'm glad to know what my body is up to, but it really doesn't seem like labor is imminent. She told me to mentally shift my due date from the 19th to the 42 week date, August 2nd.

 

[sunnyd]

Holy crap, 8/2?! That seems like forever! PPM, I hope your tricks will work for you. Get that babeh movin'! I'm with you on BF. If it works, fantastic, if not, I guess there's not a whole lot I can do. I plan on pumping when I go back to work, unless I can't.

AMC, you look great. Sorry about the stretch marks though, but that's a big baby in there! I can barely see them in the picture! Good to hear that staying home has been helpful.

Monkey, you look cute, I love your outfit!

I need to post a new pic...this is from 2 days ago. 26 weeks today! My little head of lettuce (according to babycenter) is very active after I've eaten. She kicked DH in the face last weekend, it was funny!

 

[lizzyann]

PPM, good news is that you have some action going on down there. I was only 1.5cm when my water broke. I am positive baby will come soon!

MP, what a cute bump you have there! So excited for you!

SunnyD, you are looking great!!!!

AMC, when are you done taking your meds to stop contractions now? Does your Dr. think baby will come soon after?

To all ladies who are willing to give BF'ing a try....My best advice would be to get in touch with a lactation consultant from your hospital now. I developed a great relationship with mine and because she knew I really wanted BF'ing to work, she made sure to meet with me multiple times before my son was born, while I was at the hospital, and she was always a phone call away when I was home. They usually have a 24 hour number that you can page them on if you are having any urgent issues. I also decided to rent a pump from the hospital in the beginning because I didn't want to pay hundreds of dollars for one and then not have nursing work out. Luckily, it did work out for us and I nursed and pumped exclusively till my DS was 8 months. BF'ing is hard and frustrating in the beginning but once you and baby get the hang of it, it's really easy and very rewarding. One thing that my lactation consultant kept reminding me of is that babies lose weight in their first couple of days so not to panic. Trust me I still did panic. But I stuck with it and as soon as my milk came in my little man was a chubby wubby! Hopefully, BF'ing will go smoothly again but all I can do is my best and if it doesn't work out then it is what it is.

Here's my 37w2d pic. Although tomorrow I will be 38 weeks! Whoa baby!

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Sunny: You and your little head of lettuce look fabulous. How are you feeling?? You're right on the brink of the third tri- how exciting!

Lizzy: Thanks for the advice re: breast-feeding. You look great, too! Two weeks to go until you meet your little son or daughter.

It's so, so quiet around here lately I feel like I'm making up too much airspace, but I'm just twiddling my thumbs waiting for something exciting to happen.

DH and I installed our car seats today. I also baked and cooked a TON of food- 3 dozen cupcakes, stuffed peppers, portobello stroganoff, chicken pot pie, enchiladas, tuna casserole, homemade mac and cheese with veggies and chicken, and meatloaf. Ugh. I don't want to step foot in my kitchen for a WEEK.

I'm also starting to lose bits of my mucus plug (I think?), but I know that means next to nothing.

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

Okay, I Definitely lost my mucus plug. At first I wasn't sure whether I was seeing a combo of lubricant, evening primrose oil and semen (sorry, I know that is TMI) but there was no denying what I saw whilst getting ready for bed a minute ago. I showed DH, poor guy

 

[FrekeChild]

Okay, I Definitely lost my mucus plug. At first I wasn't sure whether I was seeing a combo of lubricant, evening primrose oil and semen (sorry, I know that is TMI) but there was no denying what I saw whilst getting ready for bed a minute ago. I showed DH, poor guy

Those mucus plugs aren't for the faint of heart! My water broke and then later at the hospital I went to the restroom and it was like "WHAT IS THAT?!"

Fingers crossed for you PPM! Get some rest now, while you can!

 

[pancake]

PPM, at 39+4 weeks I had a routine checkup at which my obstetrician told me that my baby's head was still super-high ("not quite floating around, but almost" was what he said) and that he thought that I'd probably be induced...

At 40 weeks exactly I went into spontaneous labour and had my baby!

So you never know... and you've lost your plug...!!!

 

[mayerling]

Ladies, I'm baaaaack! I promised you my story and here it is:

N was born last Saturday at 11pm, weighing about 6.5 pounds, at 39w3d.
Saturday morning I woke up around 7 feeling period cramps. I didn't think much of it and went back to sleep. I would wake up every half an hour or so from cramps but would fall back to sleep until about 9:30. During that time I had a dream that I had the baby! Anyway, when I properly woke up I wasn't sure whether I'd really been having cramps or whether I'd dreamt them. The cramps continued and I could tell that they were coming up fairly regularly but were not very painful. I'd arranged to go to a wedding dress fitting with a friend and I kept that appointment. Meanwhile, I kept timing the cramps. In the car, she said that when she went into labour it felt like period cramps. So I started calling them contractions and kept up the timing. At the fitting, they got a bit more painful and were definitely manageable and were coming at 8 minutes apart.
When I got home, I had some lunch and DH and my mom convinced me to call the labour suite to ask about going in. At that point, they were a bit less regular but were still coming at 6-9 mins apart. The midwife said to go in, so we got our stuff and went in by 2:30pm. They hooked me up to the fetal heart monitor and saw that I was having regular contractions. I also finally got an internal which showed that I was at 2cm. So they decided to admit me. They gave me a bed and had me timing my contractions until 4. By that point they were coming at 3 mins apart and were getting fairly painful. So they gave me another internal and saw that I was at 5cm. So I was moved to the delivery room at 5pm. I asked for an epidural but couldn't get one because the anaesthesiologists were dealing with emergencies. Instead, they gave me pethidine around 6pm. In hindsight, I hated it. It made me drowsy between contractions and beside myself during contractions. Anyway, I was moving up a centimetre every hour or so thus they didn't need to give me anything to speed up contractions or dilation. By 10pm I was fully dilated but the baby was coming out facing up. The on-call doctor talked about using the vacuum but I was too drugged up from the pethidine to say anything. Thankfully, the other on-call doctor came in and was able to turn the baby manually (it turns out the cord was wrapped around his neck as well!) and to get him out with two pushes. He had me push when I wasn't having a contraction which means I was able to put more force into it. I was also given an episiotomy and ended up with 6 stitches.
Anyway, after 7 hours in the delivery room I was able to see my sweet little boy and that's all that matters!

How's everyone else doing? PPM, you're next!

 

[lizzyann]

I had my weekly appt today and I am 1cm and 60% effaced! Finally getting some action!

 

[amc80]

Congrats again, Mayerling! Almost everyone I've heard birth stories from who got a pain med other than the epi (usually because they weren't far enough along) have said it's not worth it. Either they don't work well or they don't last long or whatever. I'm going to try to hold out until I can get an epi...but you know how plans can go....

PPM- I think you're getting pretty close! I would say congrats on losing your plug, but that seems weird.

AMC, when are you done taking your meds to stop contractions now? Does your Dr. think baby will come soon after?

I believe I stop this upcoming week, at 36 weeks. I have an appt on Monday so I'll find out then. I'm really not looking forward to stopping them, since they are what's keeping me from having (non-productive) contractions all the time. Theoretically, I could have them for the next month until baby decide to come.

AMC, you look great. Sorry about the stretch marks though, but that's a big baby in there! I can barely see them in the picture! Good to hear that staying home has been helpful.

Thank you. They are multiplying like rabbits, unfortunately. Sigh. Totally worth it though, right?

 

[vintagelover229]

Hello all my pregnant PSers!

This is a fly by post-so I apologize in advance if I miss anyone/anything.

Congratulations to all the new mommas and the babies born! Everyone's bumbs look great!

Our honeymoon was amazing-and I'm still baking just fine-I will be 28 weeks on Sunday and I can't believe how fast time has flown. I had an US right before we left at the request of the midwife and seeing the baby actually look like a baby instead of a blob was SO awesome


I'm posting this (and if this is against rules I'm sorry admin) since I went to school with the father of this child and I'm requesting that everyone post this on the FB wall/twitter/email/etc to help out this family and this beautiful baby girl. Winry was born early with a rare (but known) heart condition that left her with only 1/2 of her heart (which wasn't functioning) and is on a list for a heart transplant. The left side has slowly begun to function but already at 6 days old she's had 3 open heart surgeries and more are expected. Today they are taking her off life support in hopes she can function on her own and there is a site with her story and I'm asking for dust/prayers and any support would be greatly appreciated by the family. I've known her father since 10th grade and she's #2 in their family and they love her with all her heart. I usually never ask people to post things (I barely ever post status updates on my FB let alone share things/links) and I posted it on mine. So please-for this little girl read her story and post it everywhere and anywhere to get the word spread. I am hoping since all of us are expecting/just had a baby that we would do this since I can't imagine what they are going though right now. Here is the link

**edited by moderator. No fundraising no matter how good the cause. Thank you for your cooperation**



I'm still super swamped since the party is next week and we have family coming up and a ton of stuff going on. I have my hospital registration on the 16th (just in case we have to go and the home birth doesn't work out) and also my glucose test that same day and see the midwife on the 24th. Hopefully things will slow down towards the end of Aug. and I can catch up with everyone.

My thoughts and prayers to you all-I've attached the 24w4d US picture of our little one. No bump pictures until I get my HM pictures all loaded/sorted which won't be for a while either.

I miss all of you ladies though! HUGS!

 

[miraclesrule]

Okay, I Definitely lost my mucus plug. At first I wasn't sure whether I was seeing a combo of lubricant, evening primrose oil and semen (sorry, I know that is TMI) but there was no denying what I saw whilst getting ready for bed a minute ago. I showed DH, poor guy

Those mucus plugs aren't for the faint of heart! My water broke and then later at the hospital I went to the restroom and it was like "WHAT IS THAT?!"

Fingers crossed for you PPM! Get some rest now, while you can!

Yeah, it's kind of gross...but that's just the beginning of how you will no longer get totally grossed out at bodily functions anymore.

 

[vintagelover229]

UPDATE on Winry:
Well, Winry has a leak in the good side of her heart, and needs a transplant. So please send all the dust and prayers her way that you can. I'll post updates as I get them and as I can

 

[vintagelover229]

Here is a link to her FB page (if we're allowed to do that?) as well as a photo of her. She's now in line for an urgent heart transplant since there was a leak in the left side of her heart (she only has one side due to her heart condition).

Prayers please for this little girl

**edited by moderator. please keep other families privacy and do not post personal links**

 

[Haven]

Oh, VL, what a heartbreaking situation. Lots of dust to your friend and baby Winry.

 

[monkeyprincess]

VL, many prayers for that beautiful baby and her family. So very sad.

Haven I don't see your pic anymore but you're looking great! With your height and morning sickness, it will probably take a little longer to truly "pop."

Lizzy yay for progress. Looking great mama!

PPM eew I don't think I even want to know what a mucus plug looks like! Sending labor dust your way!

Mayerling, thanks for reporting back. Hope you are enjoying your first days as a mommy.

Sunny, looking good! Thanks for the compliment. Good old Target and Old Navy!

Have a great weekend everyone!

ETA Haven no wonder I didn't see your pic. Duh it's on the other thread!

 

[PetitiePoire]

Sorry it's late, but here's my birth story! I know I was always so curious about birth so feel free to ask anything.

She was born July 4th!

Sunday I started having contractions 5 minutes apart. The y weren't painful, just noticeable. After 40 weeks of nothing I was certain it would be soon!

Sunday night I had a sharp continuous pain in my left side. I got zero sleep and decided Monday morning I wanted to see the dr to discuss induction. dH called the dr and got his answering machine saying he was out of town. The midwives said we couldn't see anyone until her due date, Wednesday. I was tired and frustrated so we called my original dr, who I'd seen the first 8 months, and had an appointment for that night! 

During the appointment he examined me and did a sweeping of the membranes. I was 1 cm dilated and completely effaced. He thought I'd have the baby the next day.

That night, no baby and no sleep.  Same terrible pain and continued contractions. I woke DH about 3 am after an hour of pain and pressure. We got ready and went to the hospital.  

I had monitoring done about 5 am and was only 1 cm dilated still. They gave me a medicine to slow the fake contractions. Not sure why- they weren't very nice and said they were busy. I was able to get some sleep that day, but was unhappy with the hospital. We decided to switch back to the original with my original Dr. I felt relieved. 

Same pains that Tuesday night. We had monitoring scheduled for Wednesday, so i tried fighting through them. We decided to go in an hour early at 7 am to see if they could provide any relief for my side pain. Contractions were monitored and coming strong. We watched the monitor to prepare for them, which mildly helped. Watching it hit the highest mark helped me to see it was almost over. I was still only 2 cm so they wouldn't give me anything for the pain because it might interfere with getting an epidural sooner. 

After monitoring I was taken to get my blood drawn. At that point the pain was making me nauseous. I ended up vomiting on my way to the labor room. In the labor room we waited about 30 minutes for the anesthesiologist. Since I switched hospitals the day before we needed to talk with her. About 10:30, I was 3cm so they moved me again, this time to the delivery room. Once there they hooked me up to the IV and we waited for the anesthesiologist to come and start the epidural. 

I always thought I'd wait as long as possible to get the epidural, thinking 7 cm or so was definitely possible. I surprised myself at how happy I was to be getting it at 3. My hesitation before labor was the pain of the giant needle, but getting the epidural was nothing. I could feel the pinch from the first needle to numb and feel the tube being placed, but it wasn't painful. I just kept my eyes closed and kept asking when it would be done since I like to know.

My DH came back in after it was placed about 11:30. Once it kicked in about 15 minutes later they started pitocin. I've read it's commonly used here to prevent hemorrhaging after delivery. I didn't have a specific birth plan so I wasn't against, but I also wasn't asked. The epidural didn't relieve my side pain like I thought so they added some more to it and had me lay on my left side to get the medication going towards that side.

The epidural just made my legs feel heavy. I felt terrific having it! Not having any pain was the best thing ever after 3 days of near constant pain. I was checked again around 1 pm and was 4-5cm, then 6-7 at 2pm and 10 at 4 pm. Once I reached 10 we just waited for the baby to descend on her own. They placed me in different positions to help and I was ready to push about 5:30. 

You start to feel like you have to poop when the baby comes down. I was quite insistent that I needed to go to the bathroom, but they said it was normal. I just reminded the midwife not to tell me if I did during labor. She reassured me that they don't say anything. 

At 5:30 I gave some practice pushes then about 15 minutes later we started the real pushing and my little girl was born at 6:18 PM. Pushing was definitely a workout. I was surprised by how sweaty I was. It's difficult to know exactly how effective your pushing is, so I kept questioning their honesty (in my head) when they said "good job", "you're doing great", etc. It felt like lines from a movie.

I didn't feel the ring of fire or any pain involving her delivery. About an hour before she was born I started feeling contractions and requested some more epidural, so that's probably why. They ended up doing a "small" episiotomy. I don't really know what that means, but I didn't care when she told me. I was honestly wondering why they weren't doing one about 20 minutes into pushing. Each contraction required 3 big pushes. 1st was great, second was slightly weaker, and by the third I was out of breath.

Once delivered she was placed on my belly and it was such a surreal moment. It was bizarre thinking this was the baby that had been inside me for 9 months. I couldn't believe she was here. She stayed on me as long as she kept crying. They delivered the placenta and then took her to be examined. She came back at 4.2 kg (9.3 lbs) and 53 cm(20.8 in) long. We were quite surprised at how large she is, even the midwives. She was definitely the biggest baby in the maternity. I'm only about 5'1, so people are pretty amazed.

She has skipped over most newborn clothes and is in 1 month clothes. She's doing great at breastfeeding and feeding about every 3 hours. I love her more than I ever thought possible and get emotional just thinking about her growing up. I was given the book Love You Forever and haven't made it past the 3rd page without crying. She's amazing and I'm so grateful with how smooth everything went during pregnancy and delivery. 

Recovery was another aspect I was scared of, but it's been really easy. I think I psych myself out thinking of the worst so when I never hit that it ends up ok. I bought everything suggested on the PP thread, but haven't used any of it like I thought (witch hazel, hair dryer, etc).

 

[Dandi]

Oh my, PP, congratulations on the arrival of your precious girl!!!!!! How did a tiny thing like you produce such a big baby?! You're a legend, woman!! Can't wait to 'meet' her, I bet she's just gorgeous! Best wishes for a speedy recovery!!

Oh VL, that is just beyond sad. That tiny little girl in that huge big ICU bed. Please keep us updated if you can.

 

[Haven]

Big congratulations on your big girl, PP! I agree with Andi--you are a legend!

Thank you so much for sharing your birth story. I hope you're having a wonderful time at home with your baby girl.

I was 9 lbs 8 oz at birth, and I turned out to be 5'10", so maybe you have a tall one on your hands! (My mom is 5'5" and so is my tallest sister. My sissies were all small babies. I'm like a giant amongst my family.)

 

[dani13]

What a story, PP!!!! It brought tears to my eyes!! CONGRATULATIONS on your little girl!!!

How's everyone else doing? Just chugging along here. I passed my diabetes screen, so VERY happy about that. Feeling movement every day, so that is reassuring. We are getting ready to start the nursery soon, hubs will probably paint next weekend. I ordered a glider yesterday from BBB- can't believe it takes 8-12 weeks to get here!! Hopefully it comes before baby does!!!

Hope you're all feeling well, and I'm excited for the ladies that are up next!!! MP, how's everything with you???

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

PP- Thanks for sharing your birth story! That is a big babe for such a petite mama! You're a serious trooper! I can't wait to read more about your sweet girl in the newborn thread. Congrats, again.

VL- Such a sad, sad story. Any updates on Winry's progress? I'm thinking of her family.

Dani- WOOHOO on passing the screening! Which glider did you order?

Hope everyone else is well. I'm still here, still no progress...trying to be patient

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

More mucus plug + bloody show. But no cramping, BH or regular contractions. Ugh.

Are you all tired of my whining & too frequent updates? Hope you're all having a lovely Saturday!!!

Lizzy- any progress on your end?

 

[mayerling]

Petite, thanks for sharing your birth story. I'm so glad you were able to get the epidural. I hope I manage to next time. Also, our little ones are 3 days apart so we should start comparing stories over on the newborn thread!

PPM, yay for losing the mucus plug and getting the bloody show. Is your hospital's policy that you shouldn't go in unless water breaks or regular contractions start? My hospital also included bloody shows and towards the end I was so obsessed with having the baby, that I would check for a bloody show every time I went to the bathroom!

 

[bobbin]

Petite - I had my bloody show Friday morning and labor started that night for me! You are so close!

Mayerling - I was told to go to the hospital if my waters broke or if the contractions were 5 mins apart and lasting for 1min+ for an hour or more. However, they also said if they were 5 mins apart and I was coping fine, to stay home if I wanted to. They weren't concerned about the bloody show at all. It is so funny how different hospitals and countries give such different advice.

 

[PetitiePoire]

VL- I can't get myself to click on the Facebook page quite yet, my emotions are all over the place, but please know I am praying. My heart goes out to that family.

Dandi- thank you for the comments! I do feel a teensy bit proud being able to say I birthed my little giant!

Haven- thank you! It's cool to hear about your family's height. Perhaps she will be the tall one!

Dani- thank you! Congrats to you on passing the glucose! What a relief. I also can't believe how long gliders take to get. You'd think that would be something in stock with people always having babies.

Ppm- you're getting so close. Looking back, I started losing my mucous plug randomly the 3 days before her birth. I was a constant checker, but didn't really accept that that's what it was until I had to give a pee sample and the rest was in the cup. Yuck. That was the day I had her, so hopefully soon for you!!

Mayerling- I can't wait to compare stories! I read your post in the ther thread and meant to comment regarding breastfeediing. The first few days I had cracks from malpositioning her, but used lansinoh lanoline cream and it's been amazing at healing any cracks and provides relief between feedings. you don't have to remove it before feedings either. I also have the madela (?) brand, but it does work as well. I enjoyed reading your story too! I just realized you went without an epi! My goodness you're amazing. Once I got that little piece of heaven I had a new respect for women who can go without! Congrats on your sweet little boy.