Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[Pandora II]

Date: 11/27/2008 4:46:06 PM
Author: mela lu

Pandora - I am 100% Italian! Both parents were born there, and I have the dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin thing going on. The funny thing about my bright pink jacket is that it brings a smile to EVERYONE''s face that sees it. It was the clincher for me. What could possibly be ''cuter'' than a pregnant lady in a hot pink winter jacket???

Hilarious.

So, let me poll my brilliant girls here. DH and I are looking to go away for 2 weeks over Christmas/ New Years to somewhere HOT (Carribean styles) that is clean, safe and not tooooooooooooooooooooooooooo expensive.

Any ideas?

Ps. the background was that we had booked, reserved a two week treck in Italy to visity family and friends, but I just don''t feel up-to-it, and would much prefer to just loaf on a beach in the sun.

Probably not much use on hot places in your neck of the woods I''m afraid - Italy is freezing at this time of year, so no use if you want sun.

Where abouts are your parents from? I lived there for 8 years - came back to Blighty in 2003. Great country, but too provincial for me in the long run...

 

[mela lu]

Pandora - my parents are both from the North; near Udine, in the Venezia-Giulia Region. ETA: It gets pretty cold up there near the Alpes.

Where were you living? I would LOVE to live in Italy one day. But closer to Central Italy (Tuscany, where we were married, or Maybe Umbria or Lazio). Canada is just tooooooooooooo cold for me

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/27/2008 7:27:05 PM
Author: mela lu
Pandora - my parents are both from the North; near Udine, in the Venezia-Giulia Region. ETA: It gets pretty cold up there near the Alpes.

Where were you living? I would LOVE to live in Italy one day. But closer to Central Italy (Tuscany, where we were married, or Maybe Umbria or Lazio). Canada is just tooooooooooooo cold for me

It does get damn cold in Italy in the Winter! I lived in Torino for a year a number of years ago. Love it there!

And Mela I LOVE your jacket! Great color.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 11/27/2008 7:27:05 PM
Author: mela lu
Pandora - my parents are both from the North; near Udine, in the Venezia-Giulia Region. ETA: It gets pretty cold up there near the Alpes.

Where were you living? I would LOVE to live in Italy one day. But closer to Central Italy (Tuscany, where we were married, or Maybe Umbria or Lazio). Canada is just tooooooooooooo cold for me

I lived in Como for two years - I loved living there, it was 30 minutes to Milan by the fast train so a bit more cosmopolitan and 20 minutes to Switzerland for cheap petrol and chocolate! I joined the Alpine Club and did courses in rock climbing and caving and spent most weekends up in the mountains. I also had a job I loved (designing fabrics in the silk industry) in a company that was great to work for - my first job so I never really truly appreciated how great it was - and fantastic work colleagues. I didn't speak a word of Italian when I moved there, so they taught me and really included me in all their social activities.

Food wasn't the best in Italy, but the scenery was amazing. I took DH there for a holiday (we did the whole of N. Italy) and Como was by far his favourite place. I hadn't been back for nearly 10 years when we went and I was really touched at how many people came up to me in the street to say hello after all that time.

Then I lived in Arezzo in Tuscany for six years. I nearly went crazy - so provincial. Beautiful countryside, great food and wine, but a very closed mind mentality.

I didn't know any English people out there and the jobs I had weren't linked to my being English, so I lived pretty much as the Italians did - I came back to the UK with Italian very much my first language which was very strange.

I go back every now and then, but I have no inclination to live there again. If I did, I would definitely choose the North - either Como or somewhere in the Veneto.

I can truly say that the coldest I have ever been in my life is Tuscany in January (it's normally around -10 C) - so cold at times it hurt to breathe!

 

[Blenheim]

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

DD, that''s wonderful! Good luck with your interview.

Mela, DH and I had a great time in St Lucia for our honeymoon, but I''m not really sure how much it cost - it was a wedding present from my in-laws. And love the coat. I''m starting to get tired of my drab wardrobe.

We got the ultrasound results back on Wednesday. As for the baby, everything is structurally okay but it does have a spot on its heart. What this means is that the downs syndrome odds just went from 1/1000 to 1/500 and we need to decide by next week whether we want a quad screen. We haven''t decided but I''m leaning towards no - I''m a worrier, and if the quad came back with worse odds I''d really worry, and I don''t think I would go ahead and get an amnio.

We already knew that I have a low lying placenta, but the OB also thinks that will clear itself up. The part that worries me is that my cervix was 3.1 cm, which is thin but not to the 2.5 cutoff for really being concerned. And on top of it, I''ve been having contractions all week. Some are as close as 10 minutes apart, but I still haven''t gotten to the 4-6 in an hour where it could be considered preterm labor. And while I know that Braxton Hicks are common and nothing to worry about, I keep being concerned that it may turn into something bad. For the time being, I''m supposed to be really alert to any signs of preterm labor and we''re going to follow up with another ultrasound in about two weeks to remeasure my cervix (last u/s was abdominal but vaginal gives more accurate cervix measurements is what I gather) and also make sure it''s not effacing.

We''re near a really good hospital while here in case I need it, and again once we''re home, but I''m a little nervous for the 10ish hour drive tomorrow.

21w1d

 

[neatfreak]

Blenheim Was it a calcification they found on bebe's heart? We have one on Dexter's liver, which I know is different, but at the same time I've done a ton of research on it and it's just a soft marker. So absent of other problems or abnormalities, it probably means nothing. I know it is really hard not to worry about it though. Stinky position to be in.

As for the PTL and short cervix I would be more than happy to share all the research and knowledge I've gained over the past number of months here...Just know that 3.1 is on the shorter side but is still COMPLETELY normal. And that an ab u/s is really not very accurate with measuring cervix length so I am glad they are doing a vaginal u/s too. For comparison, at 26 weeks I was at 1.8 and mine has been there since then.

You have one of the best multiples clinics in the world there and although you aren't having multiples it ALSO means that they are well versed in short cervixes, PTL, etc. So you are in good hands. BIG HUGS and let me know if I can help with anything.

Oh, and my OB said that if the contractions aren't strong enough to hurt then they probably aren't going to shorten your cervix and are just harmless BH. So I hope that's what you are having!

 

[nycbkgirl]

O blen- sorry u have to worry

im glad neat has all the good info ..so doesn''t seem u need to worry much..keep us posted.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Blenheim that sucks but I am sure everything is fine. Now is that time to practice positive thinking... why worry until you know there is really something to worry about? When is the transvag u/s?

 

[ljmorgan]

I hope that that all of you ladies are well

I had a 3D ultrasound today at 17w 4d and confirmed that it''s a... girl!

We saw her girly parts, and she was very active as the US tech told me to drink something sweet on the way over to the office, the orange juice definitely got her moving. She did tell me that my placenta is in the front instead of the back, does anyone else have this? I don''t know much about it. She did say that it was away from the cervix so that it''s fine.

After a good US I decided to treat myself, and picked up the first of my future diaper bag collection

I bought the Storksak Elizabeth in charcoal, I love it. I got such a great deal and couldn''t resist -- normally $285 at Neiman''s, I found it on eBay for $200 new with tags, and then got another 30% through Microsoft''s cash back deal today -- so I had to bite. All in all a good day, pregnancy is going much smoother now that the morning sickness has let up... today for lunch I had TWO bowls of veggies and rice at the Mongolian grill restaurant followed by a piece of cake -- delicious

 

[ljmorgan]

Blenheim ugh sorry to hear about the worrying US. I hate all of the stress and worry that seems to go with these things. I''ve got my fingers crossed that baby is perfectly fine, which honestly I''m sure that he/she is!

 

[mela lu]

oh Blen-o-rama. I''m so sorry that you had a stressful appt. urgh. Try not to worry...but it''s so good that you know what you''re potentially dealing with and that you can educate yourself accordingly. As NYC said, nice that you have Neat here to cheer you on if this does in fact become an issue. Glad you''re home, rest up!!

Lindsey - UM! I LOVE THAT BAG!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. yummers. Great score! I know diaper bag will become my full-on obsession once I (finally) make a decision on a stroller. I know we''re going for the Bugagoo Cameleon. The issue is colour. Even though Black is the ''safe'' choice with the longest lasting appeal, I''ve reached an "oversaturation" with Black lately. (see winter coat above as proof! lol ) DH wants red. He has a maje hard-on for red. red. red. red. So....I foung these online which soften the red for me:

ps. will this clash too much with my hot pink winter jacket?! HAHAHAHAHAHA. Oh the vanity.

Mela 15 weeks today!

 

[mela lu]

and the other canopy option which would go nicely with the hot pink winter jacket. CLEARLY a smart thing to base a very expensive purchase on (LOL. eye roll)

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 11/28/2008 5:44:01 PM
Author: *Lindsey*
She did tell me that my placenta is in the front instead of the back, does anyone else have this? I don''t know much about it.

I have that too! It''s normal, the placenta can be anywhere in the uterus. The only difference between a anteriour (front) and posteriour (back) placenta is that with one in the front like we have it takes longer to feel the baby move

. When it kicks towards the front, it is basically kicking a pillow--the placenta--so you don''t feel it. I felt flutters a few times at 16 weeks but only when I was laying down and concentrating, then slightly stronger for the next couple weeks. By 22 weeks I could feel the baby every day when I was sitting still. Now I feel it almost all the time, especially after I eat, and the punches are very strong. The funny thing is that I only feel it at the bottom, top, and around the sides... in other words, I don''t feel the baby right where the placenta is! Other than that, there is no difference at all.

Have you felt your girl move much yet?

26w 5d < ------ 3rd trimester is 2 more days!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/28/2008 6:12:46 PM
Author: dreamer_dachsie

Date: 11/28/2008 5:44:01 PM

Author: *Lindsey*

She did tell me that my placenta is in the front instead of the back, does anyone else have this? I don''t know much about it.

I have that too! It''s normal, the placenta can be anywhere in the uterus. The only difference between a anteriour (front) and posteriour (back) placenta is that with one in the front like we have it takes longer to feel the baby move

. When it kicks towards the front, it is basically kicking a pillow--the placenta--so you don''t feel it. I felt flutters a few times at 16 weeks but only when I was laying down and concentrating, then slightly stronger for the next couple weeks. By 22 weeks I could feel the baby every day when I was sitting still. Now I feel it almost all the time, especially after I eat, and the punches are very strong. The funny thing is that I only feel it at the bottom, top, and around the sides... in other words, I don''t feel the baby right where the placenta is! Other than that, there is no difference at all.


Have you felt your girl move much yet?


26w 5d < ------ 3rd trimester is 2 more days!

One of my babies has that too! No need to worry Lindsey! Totally normal and as DD says the kicks are the only thing that are sometimes harder with it. That and also the heartbeat sometimes because it''s harder to hear through the placenta if the baby is right behind it.

 

[nycbkgirl]

just wanted to vent a dislike...maybe neat can relate, i just hate when you tell people that you are having twins and the first thing they ask is..."congrats...do u have twins iin the family"...or.."i didnt know you had any twins in the family"...maybe its because i did ivf that i am sensitive to this but i think its so uncalled for and ridiculous to ask that. i dont mind telling people that i did ivf but only if they ask , otherwise i feel like they are beating around the bush and trying to find that out and it bugs me!!!

eveyone i have told so far (besides my immediate family) has asked that and i just say either "none that i know of"..or yeh i think my dh has some (he actually does have cousins)...i just hate that question!! and im sure i have many more of it to come..because i didnt begin to tell any of my extended family yet (and dh''s fam either bc we arent on good terms)...ugh what to do when faced with that i duno anymore bc its going to drive me nuts!!!!

vent over sorry

 

[mela lu]

awww NYC I''m sorry that it''s bugging you so much. I just wanted to point out the flip-side, which is families like mine who are riddles with twins. I find the genetic occurance extremely fascinating and I always like to hear other twin occurances because I love to try to ''calculate'' the probablilty in my head of me having twins one day. So....from a twin-heavy family, try to understand that most people coming from my point of view, it has nothing to do with suspected IVF. It is only a pure curiousity of the phenom.

That said. Sorry you''re having such a hard time with it. Perhaps you can come up with a ''standard'' answer when people ask so that you feel comfortable and in control of the conversation (i.e. closing the conversation). The "DH hsa some in the family" one is good, but remember, it''s not the Males who determine twins - it''s the females!!!

Maybe just "not that I know of" is sufficient.

Neat - do you have any input as to how NYC can manage this question?

 

[nycbkgirl]

Thanks mela..glad to have a different outlook on it and I totally get that people are fascinated by twins and curious but I think its such a personal question to ask and like I said maybe I am sensitive bc its ivf..I duno how I would like it if it was just reg pregnancy with twins..but I think I still wouldn''t like it...I def need to come up with a standard answer! Haha@ it coming from female side...oh well most ppl don''t know that anyway so that''ll be our little secret lol

Btw linds- so exciting about the 3d pics...I can''t wait to do that..just gotta find a place here in nyc..any chance u wanna post some pics ??

 

[Pandora II]

Just as I was beginning to feel like I was coming out of the black hole of the last few weeks... I''ve just had a letter from my employer letting me know that they are putting me on half pay as of next week if I don''t go back to work.

I''m not sure I can take much more from them...

 

[bee*]

Just saw that Pandora. That''s awful!! Can they legally do that? Sending hugs.

 

[ljmorgan]

Thanks, it''s nice to know other people have had the same thing. Sucky it will be longer to feel the baby move!!

mela I LOVE that first cover for the bugaboo. Love love love that lacey floral pattern. I was just on etsy buying up black and white damask burp cloths... I think that we have similar taste!

 

[nycbkgirl]

Pandora..ugh so sorry u have to go through this mess ..espcially while preggers

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/28/2008 6:50:02 PM
Author: nycbkgirl
just wanted to vent a dislike...maybe neat can relate, i just hate when you tell people that you are having twins and the first thing they ask is...'congrats...do u have twins iin the family'...or..'i didnt know you had any twins in the family'...maybe its because i did ivf that i am sensitive to this but i think its so uncalled for and ridiculous to ask that. i dont mind telling people that i did ivf but only if they ask , otherwise i feel like they are beating around the bush and trying to find that out and it bugs me!!!

eveyone i have told so far (besides my immediate family) has asked that and i just say either 'none that i know of'..or yeh i think my dh has some (he actually does have cousins)...i just hate that question!! and im sure i have many more of it to come..because i didnt begin to tell any of my extended family yet (and dh's fam either bc we arent on good terms)...ugh what to do when faced with that i duno anymore bc its going to drive me nuts!!!!


vent over sorry

Awww NYC I totally get it. But something to remember is that most people are genuinely curious about twins and are not trying to beat around the bush about it. I would say that at least half of people who ask me if they run in my family will then ask if we used fertility treatments afterwards! It does get annoying, but just think about your stock response and stick with it when you don't want to talk about it. I often head people off these days and will just say "No, they don't and we didn't use fertility treatments, it was just a surprise" because so many people don't get that it isn't quite kind to ask people if they used ivf, etc. But they mean well...most people just don't understand that it's an insensitive question to someone who did use ivf.

Really though, if I am crabby I won't even tell people I am having twins because they just want to talk and talk about it even at the grocery store.

 

[Blenheim]

NF, he said something about a shadow and I think I might remember something about a soft marker. It seemed it didn''t mean anything bad in terms of heart function or development, just that it correlates with an increased risk of downs. Hearing about your cervix is very reassuring, as is the fact that I''ve only had 4 contractions today. At one point yesterday I had 3 in half an hour. I''m feeling a lot better about the drive tomorrow.

DD, I''m supposed to schedule a follow up u/s in 1.5-2 weeks, so I''m going to shoot for Dec 10. I have the day off from work.

Ok... happy news:

I had my baby shower on Sunday, and it was very fun. No silly games, but good food and company and (of course) presents. We now have a ton of blankets and sheets. My mw wants us to have about 8 receiving blankets on hand for the birth, and it looks like we''re all set there. We have a car seat and a bouncer and lots of baby books, which is also exciting. People got the message that we consider blue and animals to be gender neutral, so we didn''t get all yellow and green which was nice.

We also have a probable girls named picked out: Virginia. We''re still trying to figure out a good middle name.

Mela, I love the first one. It would probably clash with the coat though, unfortunately.

Lindsey, such a cute bag!

Nycbkgirl, my guess is that many people aren''t making the connection that it could be because of ivf and are just fascinated by twins. I''m also sorry that it''s bugging you.

Pandora, that sucks. Is this something that your lawyer could take care of for you?

 

[nycbkgirl]

I knew you''d understand neat! Yeh I know ppl don''t get that it may be offensive...and extremely annoying lol! but they usually assume fertility when they hear twins..that''s what I mean about beating around the bush...but I was thinking the same thing...I won''t tell most ppl that its twins until they pop out and surprise!
That sounds like a plan. And to whoever else I will say...yeh im sure twins are in the gene pool somewhere lol.
Thanks
...how you feelin there..boys makin a move yet ??

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/28/2008 9:19:07 PM
Author: nycbkgirl
I knew you''d understand neat! Yeh I know ppl don''t get that it may be offensive...and extremely annoying lol! but they usually assume fertility when they hear twins..that''s what I mean about beating around the bush...but I was thinking the same thing...I won''t tell most ppl that its twins until they pop out and surprise!

That sounds like a plan. And to whoever else I will say...yeh im sure twins are in the gene pool somewhere lol.

Thanks

...how you feelin there..boys makin a move yet ??

They seem to be staying put for now...but who knows! I had a bit of a pre-eclampsia scare this week, my BP was high for me on wednesday (it''s usually super low and on wednesday it was higher than usual), I''ve been swelling a bit, and then a 24 hour urine catch I did was alllllmost to the pre-e threshold. But today my BP was down again and no protein in my urine, so who knows. I have to go back on Monday AM and if there are signs of pre-e my doctor will probably deliver me on Tuesday because he''s on call. But hopefully that won''t happen and they''ll stay put for awhile longer!

 

[nycbkgirl]

Thank goodness the bp regulated and everything back to normal...im prayin those boys will bake as much as possible..hopefully 38 wks what do u think ? Even tho u r in the clear already its always nice to be full term.

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/28/2008 9:55:46 PM
Author: nycbkgirl
Thank goodness the bp regulated and everything back to normal...im prayin those boys will bake as much as possible..hopefully 38 wks what do u think ? Even tho u r in the clear already its always nice to be full term.

Lol, luckily full term for twins is 36 weeks! I''ve got to be honest, I''m not sure I could make it to 38 weeks at this point! One more week and they''ll be 36, that sounds like a great time to be born to me!

 

[nycbkgirl]

Wow already close to 36wks! Everything is just flying by...ok ok 36wks sounds fine to bring them out :0) I can imagine how hard it is at that stage and I don''t blame ya for wanting them out lol

 

[mela lu]

Neat - only one more week until 36 weeks???!!! Holy Cow! You should feel very very very pleased about that!

NYC - one thing to think about though....is that after your twins are born, you're going to get the exact same question. "Do twins run in your family?"
You'd better perfect that stock answer! lol.

Blen - Virginia is a beautiful name. GREAT call. We have an aunt Virginia, but we all call her Verge.

I like Ginny as a nickname over Verge (personally). what shortforms are you thinking?

We've booked our New Years holiday! Playa Del Carmen, Mayan Riviera, Mexico. TWO WEEKS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 11/28/2008 10:25:37 PM
Author: mela lu
Neat - only one more week until 36 weeks???!!! Holy Cow! You should feel very very very pleased about that!


NYC - one thing to think about though....is that after your twins are born, you''re going to get the exact same question. ''Do twins run in your family?''

You''d better perfect that stock answer! lol.


Blen - Virginia is a beautiful name. GREAT call. We have an aunt Virginia, but we all call her Verge.

I like Ginny as a nickname over Verge (personally). what shortforms are you thinking?


We''ve booked our New Years holiday! Playa Del Carmen, Mayan Riviera, Mexico. TWO WEEKS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ginny is my MIL''s name.