Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 10/20/2008 4:01:36 AM
Author: Kay
... I feel like a bit of a bitch at this point, but I really do not want houseguests immediately after giving birth. Is that unreasonable? .

Nope, not unreasonable, you can do whatever you want! As my DH said the other night, "They had their babies, now it is our turn!" LOL. Make the plans you want and then leave yourself open to changing your mind later if you feel like having them visit sooner.

My in laws live aout 20 minutes from us, but they are nice respectful people and I can kick them out if I need to. Since they are so close, we will invite them over for a short visit when we get home, depeding on how I feel. My mom lives very far away (other side of the country) and I am her only child and we are very close because of that. Although she is not a worrier at all she surprised me by saying that she really wanted to be in the same city as me when I give birth, just in case something emergent happens. I respect her desire for that, so she booked a flight out for my due date (I imagine I will go "late" given its my first, but if I go earlier we will call her as soon as labour starts and she will hop a plane). We/she are not flush, so to speak, so she will be staying with us for 2 weeks. I''m not to worried about it, she also is fairly respectful and she "earns he keep" when she visits

I think cleaning and cooking will be done for us the whole time she is here. Her bad habit is lecturing about how things should be done, but we had a big conversation about this last week and she is going to cut back on it, and I will lay down the law when she arrives. If we need space, I will foist her off on the in laws for a few days

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 10/20/2008 10:56:01 AM
Author: Courtneylub
I knew it was too good to be true...I felt pretty good most of the 1st trimester. No morning sickness, just tired all the time.

Now I''m getting mine: I''m having the worst headaches and they will not go away. Anyone experience this? Tylenol isn''t cuttin it and even an ice pack doesn''t help much. Ugh...please tell me this won''t last for 3 months.

I have no soluton to it, but I do think you should call your doctor and see what they say. Sudden unusual things like that can indicate a mineral deficiency or hormone thing... not saying it is for you, but better to look into it? How long has it been going on?

 

[sk8rjen]

Courtney -- ugh, nothing like a spltting headache to ruin a day! I got them, but not for 3 months -- seems like i had about 1 really bad week, and then off and on for a while. I honestly can''t tell you the last time I had one, though -- it''s been a while. Hope you feel better soon!

Tacori -- it''s great you had people to help you and you didn''t have to "entertain" them. I think it''s such a different vibe when people come to help vs when people come to stare at the new little baby... my mom lived close when I had my first 2 boys and came over daily to help clean a bit and make food when my ex husband went back to work, and I really appreciated that -- but I still had plenty of alone time, which is something I need. For me, though, I''m totally comfortable with my mom, not so much with my MIL. Oh and I had forgotten about no stomach sleeping while BFing -- bummer

jen

 

[lover in athens]

hi everyone!

goodness...i was REALLY hoping to hear that kay and jen had had their babies by now!! and i''m so sorry about all the stress jen! i think my dh is probably very similar to yours. i could totally see him refusing to apologize...i''m glad that he is coming around and did give at least a small apology. SO frustrating about your MIL. we live in the same city as my in-laws, and i have NO idea what the birth will actually be like. my parents live in california (about an 8 hour drive) and have had their car packed for a week! we will call them as soon as i''m admitted to the hospital and they''ll drive out. i *think* that i won''t mind having people hang out with my dh and i while i labor (AFTER i''ve had my epidural!!!), but i''m definitely reserving the right to change my mind. and NO ONE except dh will be present for the actual birth and for checks and stuff... we''ll see. hopefully we can just go with the flow.

nf: i wish i had the magical solution for stretch marks...unfortunately NOTHING works to prevent them. moisturizing will help with some of the itchiness (i personally prefer vaseline as the best moisturizer in the world!!). but as others mentioned, they do fade over time and lots of research is being done on possibly using lasers to minimize them down the road (although nothing has been shown to work that well yet).

not too much going on with me. i''ve been maximizing my time off of bedrest. we even went for a VERY short hike yesterday! i had bad contractions all night (semi-painful) and was wondering if this was it...but everything has calmed down again today.

2 funny stories to share quickly:
1) i was at bed bath and beyond at the check out counter. the woman working felt the need to talk to me about kids and pregnancy, etc. then, as i''m leaving, she throws out, "of course, honey, it''s so much harder when you''re a single mom."

i haven''t been wearing my rings for a few weeks now. you''d think that women who''ve been preggo before would know better! i just said, "thankfully, i don''t have to deal with that situation" and left!

and THEN, not 10 minutes later, i was at la salsa at the salsa bar. some woman (prob about 50) stands next to me, and i say, "oh sorry, i''ll be done in a second." and SHE says, "wow, you need a lot of room. this can''t be your first." as in, you''re so enormous.

i was like, "thank you so much; actually this is my first and i''m not due for another 3 1/2 weeks." what i WISH i had said is, "actually, i''ve gained less than 20 lbs and i''m measuring 3 weeks small."

why do people not THINK!?!??!!

anyway, that''s all for now. i''m thinking about you girls!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 10/20/2008 11:31:04 AM
Author: lover in athens
nf: i wish i had the magical solution for stretch marks...unfortunately NOTHING works to prevent them. moisturizing will help with some of the itchiness (i personally prefer vaseline as the best moisturizer in the world!!). but as others mentioned, they do fade over time and lots of research is being done on possibly using lasers to minimize them down the road (although nothing has been shown to work that well yet).


not too much going on with me. i''ve been maximizing my time off of bedrest. we even went for a VERY short hike yesterday! i had bad contractions all night (semi-painful) and was wondering if this was it...but everything has calmed down again today.


2 funny stories to share quickly:

1) i was at bed bath and beyond at the check out counter. the woman working felt the need to talk to me about kids and pregnancy, etc. then, as i''m leaving, she throws out, ''of course, honey, it''s so much harder when you''re a single mom.''

i haven''t been wearing my rings for a few weeks now. you''d think that women who''ve been preggo before would know better! i just said, ''thankfully, i don''t have to deal with that situation'' and left!


and THEN, not 10 minutes later, i was at la salsa at the salsa bar. some woman (prob about 50) stands next to me, and i say, ''oh sorry, i''ll be done in a second.'' and SHE says, ''wow, you need a lot of room. this can''t be your first.'' as in, you''re so enormous.

i was like, ''thank you so much; actually this is my first and i''m not due for another 3 1/2 weeks.'' what i WISH i had said is, ''actually, i''ve gained less than 20 lbs and i''m measuring 3 weeks small.''


why do people not THINK!?!??!!


anyway, that''s all for now. i''m thinking about you girls!

Thanks LIA! I am going to go grab my vaseline tub right now and slather it on!!!!

I also can''t believe those people said that to you!!!!! I think everyone needs to come to my Costco and get something at the "restaurant" there because there is this one girl who LOVES pregnant women, is always working, and always compliments me about 100 times when I go (well when I was allowed to go to Costco!) about how gorgeous I look pregnant, how I''m all belly, etc. A bit creepy, but it made my day when all the other comments were always about how huge I was!!! People just don''t think before they open their mouths!

 

[sbde]

no babies over the weekend eh? i was so sure we''d have at least one here

hang in there kay, jen & lia.

i''m definitely begging my mom to come for the delivery - it will be such a help to have her there and we are so close that i know i will just lean on her for guidance in those first few weeks.

i''m so bummed btw about not being able to sleep on my belly if i''m bf''ing! no way! that was the one thing i was looking forward to being able to do soon after the baby was born...oh well...it can wait i suppose.

dd: congrats on 21 wks. isn''t it INSANE to realize how far along we are?!

 

[E B]

Don''t mind me- just a lurker coming out of lurkdom to check on Indy. Has anyone heard from her?

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 10/20/2008 12:53:36 PM
Author: EBree
Don''t mind me- just a lurker coming out of lurkdom to check on Indy. Has anyone heard from her?

She posted on the other thread about her on the 17th I think? But other than that no. I was also wondering...

And you are welcome here ANYTIME EBree!

 

[lover in athens]

Ebree: you are so NOT a lurker. I was wondering where indy was also. hope those cubs are still hanging on!

also...has anyone heard from ERICA?? she hasn''t posted in over 6 weeks! hope she''s ok too. hopefully i just missed that she was going to be gone??

xo,
LIA 36 wks, 6 days (HOLY COW I AM OFFICIALLY FULL TERM TOMORROW!!!!)

 

[mela lu]

Just checking in on our lovely ladies who are all due!!!!

Jen, Kay and LIA - I don''t bake, but I made a huge batch of leek and potato soup. Hours of prepping, cleaning and packaging on my feet. I did it for youuuuuuuus!!! I hope it helped.

Each day I think about Indy and hope it''s one more small miracle that will add up to one (tee hee, TWO) big miracles.

DD - cannot believe you are 21 weeks! Where has the time gone? It seems like yesterday we were horsing around in the TTC thread!

Speaking of time flying, I spoke to my Midwifes (aka middies). They told me not to expect an u/s till week 13 or 14.

Then they said if I am having twins, then they wouldn''t be my primary care workers; but could offer support instead.

I took it apon myself to go to my GP and get an u/s requisition ASAP to rule out twins and confirm a heartbeat for my own piece of mind. Good news is that I got an u/s appt for TOMORROW!

. Fingers crossed for one baby and a strong heartbeat!

mela - 9 weeks 2 days

 

[Courtneylub]

headaches have been going on since end of last week and are getting worse and worse. Waiting to hear back from doctor.

 

[lover in athens]

Date: 10/20/2008 4:00:16 PM
Author: mela lu


I took it apon myself to go to my GP and get an u/s requisition ASAP to rule out twins and confirm a heartbeat for my own piece of mind. Good news is that I got an u/s appt for TOMORROW!

. Fingers crossed for one baby and a strong heartbeat!


mela - 9 weeks 2 days

mela: that is AWESOME news. can''t wait to hear the update tomorrow. please keep us posted!!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Mela Great about getting the u/s sooner! I bet the system where you are is like where I am since we are almost in the same place: Middies don''t take over care until a certain point... for me it was 10 weeks... and before that if I wanted/needed anything I had to see my primary care physician, so getting your doctor to get you an earlier u/s is great. FYI in case it matters, 13/14 weeks is too late to do the nuchal translucency screen test, if that''s something you want. They can still do dating at that ime though, not that you need it b/c of your charting!

Courtney Keep us posted! I hope it is nothing and they can recommend something to treat it! I get killer headaches right before my period, hormone induced ones, and they SUCK!!

 

[sk8rjen]

LIA -- people really DO say the stupidest things to pregnant women. I am glad to say though that for all of the stupid stuff, there''s always been someone to say something great to offset it

And you all *KNOW* I''ve had some crazy comments -- at least you don''t have to put up wth it much longer

Mela -- great news about the ultrasound! Can''t wait to hear an update!

I''ve been wondering about Indy too -- I think she has her appts at the beginnings of the weeks, so I''m hoping we''ll hear something soon...

I just finished taking a bunch of pics in the nursery before it gets trashed

I still need to put a tiny strip of border above the door and hot-glue a picture-hanger on our second girl''s frame so I can hang it up, finish covering an outlet cover with the border-wallpaper, and touch-up paint a couple of unneccessary holes I made. Lots of little things basically -- got a few harder things done earlier and it feels good to accomplish something. I''m tired still, but not feeling like I did for the last few days. I guess I am hopeful that my doctor will tell me I''ve dialated a bit at tomorrow morning''s appt...

If I don''t check back in tonight (Broncos are playing, doubt I will), I hope you all have a good one...
jen
37w 5d

 

[mela lu]

Courtney. Blech. Hope you get some relief soon.

re: family's and labour. I have no advice or anything to add, but I just wanted to let you girls know that it's great that you come here to share this. I really hadn't given my "family related labour plans" any thought - but I will now with DH just so that we have the same vision about the birth day. So, yah. Thanks for putting this on our radars A silver lining for everything!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DD - re the NT scan. What is the this again? OMG I feel so ill prepared! All I have focused on was a heartbeat and not losing the embryo. I haven't even THOUGHT of the 'next step'. Egads.

ETA: i just googled it. got it. Is there any reason I wouldn't want it done?
ETA2: I'm having my u/s tomorrow at 9w3d and the internet says that the NT scan cannot be done before 11 wks. Makes me wonder if I'll even have an u/s between 11-13 wks. i may miss this unless I push for it. Food for thought.

 

[Blenheim]

Jen and Kay, I got on hoping that both of you would be in the hospital by now. I really hope it's soon.

Jen, the sciatic pain came AFTER the running, and I'm pretty sure the running caused it. After a warm bath yesterday, it's basically gone though. Whew.

Ebree, I was wondering about Indy too. I hope she's not in the hospital.

Courtney, I'm glad you contacted your doc. My m/w has those on the list of things to contact her about within 24 hrs if they haven't gone away with increased fluids and decreasing stressors. Hopefully your doc can help you out.

LIA, people are just awful!

Mela, fingers crossed for one healthy baby.

My mom's generally a great houseguest (doing laundry and mopping the floor and cooking without being asked!), but her last visit has me a little bit worried about what it would be like having her here shortly after birth. She kept telling me that she didn't want me to do anything or lift anything (um, I'm not handicapped) but didn't clean up after herself much. I was getting really stressed out by all of the extra clutter and all of the dirty dishes in the kitchen. And I have about a two day limit with my dad before I start getting really annoyed with him. My ILs tend to want their personal space, and will often rent a suite at a hotel for themselves when they're in town, so I'm not really worried about them.

ETA: Mela, there was a discussion about it maybe 10-20 pages back (ballpark guess), started by Lisa. Basically, you need to ask yourself if you want to know that information and what you would do with it. It wouldn't change the outcome of this pregnancy and could potentially cause me to unnecessarily stress out, so I opted not to have one.
ETA2: Page 403 begins a discussion of amnios and other screenings. There's not as much on the NT scan as I remembered - oops.
ETA3, as I'm too scatterbrained just to put it all in one post the first time - Isn't 13.6 the latest you can have the NT scan?

 

[mela lu]

Blen - I''m laughing at your preggo brain. haha. You are correct. Apparently you can''t have the NT scan after 13w6d.

 

[Kay]

I leave for the hospital in about an hour and am trying to deal with last minute details (re-check bag, fold laundry, etc.) so I am signing off for the new few days. I can''t believe I will be a mom by this time tomorrow. Jen & LIA, can''t wait to see good news from you when I return.

 

[mela lu]

Aaaaaaayy EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! Good luck with the "Big Push" Kay!!!!

Hope you have a smooth and relatively quick labor!

 

[snlee]

How exciting!

Good luck Kay! I hope you have a fast and smooth L&D.

 

[neatfreak]

Kay Best of luck! Can''t wait to meet your little girl!!!!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 10/20/2008 6:32:32 PM
Author: mela lu

ETA: i just googled it. got it. Is there any reason I wouldn''t want it done?
ETA2: I''m having my u/s tomorrow at 9w3d and the internet says that the NT scan cannot be done before 11 wks. Makes me wonder if I''ll even have an u/s between 11-13 wks. i may miss this unless I push for it. Food for thought.

Mela, what Blen said is true.. basically it is a screen, not a definitive test, so like all screens there is a chance of a false positive (about 15%-20% of positives will be false using JUST the NT Scan, and the NT alone will correctly identify about 80% of babies with Down syndrom and Spina bifida). You can combine the NT scan with blood work at 12 weeks and again at 17 weeks to lower the false positives to about 5% and raise the correct identification of affected babies to about 90% or more. Buuuuuut as my m/w pointed out, basically the tests were designed to allow couples to terminate if a diagnosis is made. If your screen results were positive, suggesting a risk ratio greater than simple age-related risk, then you would need to wait until 16-18 weeks

to have an amnio to know for certain if you baby had an abnormality. So anyways, our midwife said don''t bother with the screens unless the results would affect your "parenting or pregnancy" decisions. Yup, it is something to think about. We agonized for a few weeks and in the end got the screens, but each couple has to make their own decision. If you would not terminate under and circumstances, then don''t bother, it will just potentially make you worry uneccesarily, esp. if you decided only to get the NT scan and not follow-up with the blood work, since the NT scan alone has such HIGH false positive rates.

Kay can''t wait to meet you liitle girl!!

 

[pavelover]

Hi I just wanted to say Horayyyyyy for Kay!!!!!! Thinking of you and pulling for a smooth, easy, quick labor! Cant wait to hear your birth stories and see your little girl.
Take care!!!

 

[sk8rjen]

Kay -- Good luck!! I hope you have an easy labor and delivery and I can''t wait to see pics of the little one!!!

jen

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Whooo hoo, Kay will be holding her baby soon!

Hoping it''s a good delivery for you, Kay!!!

 

[robbie3982]

Ok, it''s really early, but I''m cautiously throwing my hat back into the pregnant ps''ers ring. I got a bfp this morning at 10dpo!!! It came up almost immediately and was much darker than any bfp I got with my miscarriage. I just called to schedule my first appointment and they''re getting me in ASAP since my last real AF was in August. I told them I chart and it puts me at 10dpo, but I wonder if it might be off due to how fast that positive came up. So, I''m all set for my first appointment on 11/6 and I''m really excited that I''ll be having a dating ultrasound at that point! Please send sticky vibes this way! Last time I miscarried a week to the day of getting my bfp.

 

[sk8rjen]

Robbie -- congratulations!! It''s great that they are letting you get such an early appt too -- woo hoo!

San Diego -- thanks for keeping us posted

I can''t wait to hear how today goes!

Thinking about you, Kay!
jen
37w 6d

 

[Dreamer_D]

Robbie I said it in the TTC thread, but there''s never enough congrats to go around! Yippee!! This is "the one", I just know it.

21w2d

 

[sbde]

good luck Kay! hope you have a smooth delivery

robbie, i''m so thrilled for you. congratulations, i''m sending a truck load of sticky vibes your way!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Robbie re the convo started in TTC: Yeah, you are right, it is unusual for a doctor to actually listen to a patient

I''m sure your dating scan will line up with your o-day within a couple days, but do not be surprised if they say, "Ooooh you are measuring behind, come back in a week so we can be sure you progress!" because the size dating can be off by a lot even so early on. I think the docs are hesitant to admit this error rate and certainly dont'' tell patients from all the hysterically worried posts I have seen on other boards. My dating u/s at 12 weeks put me a week ahead! LOL! My midwife and I decided to stick with my original o-based due date because my chart was very clear... yours is a little less clear because you could have O''d 4 days earlier and have a tri-phasic chart. In the end, it doesn''t matter too much. For me, I want as late a due date as possible since I don''t want to be induced unless absolutely required. So keeping my original ovulation-based due date allows me an extra week without the OBs jumping in to induce.

re soy: Well, I think you should take the dang omega pills! They are great for you and baby and I think the soy hysteria is just that: hysteria. I''m vegetarian, we eat soy a couple times a week and DH drinks soy milk exclusively because he is allergic to milk. But then, I tend to take all of these prohibitions with a heavy grain of salt. I eat peanut butter every day (supposedly bad because it increases the risk of allergies), I eat soft cheeses (always pasturized), I drink a can of diet coke a few times a week (evil aspertame)... none of the studies looking at this stuff are controlled experiemnts and there are simply too many third variables. Also, I think the media likes to pick up on the boogey man of the day and bandy it around. But maybe others have an opinion here? I think this topic came up once before. If you are really worried, find a brand that doesn''t have soy oil. FYI store your pills in the fridge to keep the Omegas fresh. Also research the brand, many aren''t worth the glycerine they are packaged in. www.truestarhealth.com has some of the best vitimins on the market IMHO (and my mom is a vitinazi and researched the heck out of it and this is the best she found).