Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[Kaleigh]

Awww NYC your twins are soooo adorable. So happy they are home with you!!!

 

[InLuv101]

Congrats NYC!! They are absolutely adorable!

 

[Mandarine]

NYC they are so precious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COngrats!!!

 

[Blackpaw]

Oh they''re gorgeous NYC

congratulations, hope they settle into home well

 

[E B]

Yay, NYC! I'm so glad the twins are home safe and sound. They're absolutely adorable.

Lindsey- The ring sounds like a beautiful tribute to a beautiful girl.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

NYC,

Now, you seriously baked some precious kiddos while you were holed up in the house on bedrest!! Good job, mommy!!

And my goodness, they''re so little!! Eeek!! I just wanna hug them!

Enjoy having them with you all the time now... Yay!

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Lindsey,

Your Natalie ring sounds absolutely beautiful, just like your little girl. I think having a momento to always keep Natalie''s life with you is wonderful, and very fitting.

Do you know how long it will be until you''ll have it?

Still in our thoughts and prayers, girl!!

 

[nycbkgirl]

Thanks everyone!...they r soooo tiny I can''t even believe it! Even the preemie clothes are huge. I am still in so much pain that I need family around taking care of them. There must be smthg wrong with this incision and I need to go to doc.
Jackie is still having trouble with her burps...they are very hard to come by.
I already miss the nicu nurses lol

 

[Sha]

nycbkgirl, your twins are beautiful!

How nice to have a boy and a girl. Congrats on bringing them home!

 

[curlygirl]

nyc, those little twinkies are too cute! I can''t believe how tiny they are. Congratulations again! Hope you feel better soon.

 

[sunkist]

Hey Mela looking at your list for your hospital bag, what do you use olive oil for? Your skin?

Fisher, we haven''t gotten a chance to see our baby yet

I feel like everyone else has gotten to see their''s, so I''m jealous

I have my next appt on May 1st and I asked if we''d get to see the bambino then and he said there isn''t much to see. So I assume that was a no. He''s GOT to check the heartbeat though doesn''t he?? Anyways, I got the impression that we won''t "see" the baby until the big ultrasound.

 

[Blenheim]

NYC, they're just precious! Congrats again, mama!

Lindsey, just wanted to let you know I'm still thinking of you. The ring sounds like a beautiful idea.

Sunkist - we used olive oil for the baby's butt. It helps to keep the meconium from sticking as much.

I think some people also use it for perineal massage.

ETA-
Pandora
I'm using washable pads. I hear that they make ones with a PUL (waterproof) layer and am hoping to track those down soon to help with leakage issues.
I've been using Target nursing tanks - not sure if you have those there?

 

[sunkist]

Date: 4/22/2009 9:17:05 PM
Author: Blenheim

Sunkist - we used olive oil for the baby's butt. It helps to keep the meconium from sticking as much.

I think some people also use it for perineal massage.

Gotcha! That makes sense.

Amber I also just blurted it out to my parents which was followed by a blank stare for about a second while they processed what I said and then a whole minute of hugging followed! I let my hubby tell his parents when we both we over there. He also just told them. I think anyway you do it you still get an ecstatic response

Good luck and have fun!

NYC the babes are precious! Congrats on bringing them home.

 

[natalina]

NYC- my goodness, the twins are so tiny and cute! Congrats on bringing them home!

Lindsey- love the idea for your ring. It will be just beautiful, as is the sentiment behind it. Your DH is so sweet.

Amber- Our 3 dogs are like our babies and always seem to be the center of attention when we go visit family. So we did the same thing at both sets of parent''s houses: waited for the conversation to turn to the dogs (as it always does) and then DH said "yeah, we''re really wondering how they''re gonna act when the baby comes..." The looks on everyone''s faces as it clicked was fantastic. You could seriously follow the thought process from "ha, yeah...wait...what baby?...BABY?!?!...oh my gosh, you guys are having a BABY?!?!?" We loved it. Whatever you do, it will be awesome!

 

[AmberWaves]

Lindsey, I think the ring sounds like a perfect idea.

NYC: look at those babies! They are just the tiniest most adorable little bits!

Everyone: thanks for the great ideas!

 

[mia1181]

Lindsey- I am just a lurker over here but I wanted to say I am so sorry for your loss. But that ring really sounds like the perfect way to honor beautiful Natalie and carry her with you! Take care, you''ll be in my thoughts.

NYC- Those babies are so sweet and tiny! Congratulations!

 

[sasa]

Qtiekiki, we end up getting him a "Go & Grow Lil' Rollin" Giraffe" from little tikes. Little B is only careful when food is going into his mouth, everything other than food not so much. Sorry to hear about your SIL wanting to compare, just ignore her. I don't get how some people like to compete with other people's kids. I understand when a parent gets concern if the baby isn't hitting the milestone at a certain time but don't make other parent feel like your kid is better than theirs. Yay on M crawling

lili, that protective head gear sounds exactly what my DH want for little B. I think if our 2nd kid is a girl, DH will spoil her rotten and wrap bubbles around her. Maybe you can ask your pedi about the soy milk before giving it to J? I was so off on little's new toy. It's actually a "Go & Grow Lil' Rollin' Giraffe" from little tikes, I just rememberd it's a giraffe. I am also getting him a Fisher Price Ride On/Trike/Tricycle - Ready Steady Rider off Craiglist and will go pick it up tomorrow.

Diva, glad to hear the surgery went well. Does she still need to have radiation treatment?

Burk, sorry to hear about T's ear infection and her lungs. Poor girl~ hope she gets better soon.

NYC, the twins are so tiny and adorable!!

Thanks Tacori, so funny that Tessa won't let you shower.

puffy, sorry to hear about B's infected arm. I hope it's nothing serious.

ETA: sorry ladies, don't know how this post end up on this thread. I thought I was posting on Mommy thread.

 

[fisherofmengirly]

Sunkist,

I must have totally misunderstood. I thought your Dr. had said that the baby "wasn't much to see" at your first appt, but you'd be seeing him/her this upcoming visit. Dang!

Maybe they'll change their minds!!

By the time May 1 gets here, you'll be like 10 weeks, right? I'd think they'd check for a heart beat at that point.

***
I'm pretty sure my insurance is set up so after I pay a certain amount, I have no more co-pays at each visit once I'm pregnant. However, a friend of mine has to pay a $30 co-pay every visit, and she's had some complications and is now visiting the Dr. 2-3 times a week for monitoring purposes. That's insane! I was wondering if most of you have to pay at each visit?

I'm going to call my insurance today, just to be sure what we're in for....

***
NYC,

How was your first night home with the babies?

***
Sapphire,

I was totally going to vote girl for your baby. I'm always wrong!! Congrats on having a little boy!!! They're sweet on their mommies for ages!!!

 

[mela lu]

Date: 4/22/2009 9:17:05 PM
Author: Blenheim
Sunkist - we used olive oil for the baby''s butt. It helps to keep the meconium from sticking as much.

I think some people also use it for perineal massage.

Blenner hit it all on the head.

Olive oil for the baby''s butt, and DH is going to start giving me perineal massages this friday (tomorrow) when I''m 36 weeks exactly. His call. I''m hoping that they will be a bit sexy (

) and lead to some sexy-time. He''s not that keen on giving up his prostate goblins right now, but I figure, why not?

I''ll be 36 weeks, under the sign of Taurus, and pretty much ''ready''.

Middies yesterday was great. I''m up a total of 32 lbs which I''m happy with. Baby''s head is down but not engaged. She said to walk and squat as much as possible to encourage the head down further into the pelvis. Heart rate is consistently in the 130''s. Not much else to report! Status Quo here!

***

NYC - GORGEOUS LITTLE MIRACLES!!!!!!! They are just too precious. I love them. Oh enjoy this teeny tiny time. They grow so fast!

 

[robbie3982]

NYC, the twins are adorable! Yay for having them home! I hope you find out what''s going on with the incision.

Sunkist, if I remember correctly, we first heard the hb right around 10 weeks. The Dr. was surprised, but said it was probably because of my build. From pictures I think you might be smaller than me, so I''d say there''s a chance! Don''t be disappointed if you can''t hear it yet though because many can''t hear it til later.

Fisher, we pay only at the end. It''s called global billing and basically the Dr''s office bills for everything after the delivery. I think it''s a pretty common way for doctors to bill. This means we don''t have a copay at each office visit (it would get ridiculous at the end when you have to go every other week and then every 2 weeks!) and we''ll only end up paying our inpatient copay at the end. My doc doesn''t have an u/s machine in the office and she doesn''t draw blood either though so we had to pay 20% for each of those things. Quest (where I get my blood drawn) is really slow with their billing though and we actually haven''t gotten any bills for this pregnancy yet (got one for my m/c bloodwork a couple months ago).

 

[Courtneylub]

NYC, look at those adorable little peanuts!! They are too precious for words. How was the first night at home?

Mela, I hope I''m not "behind" because I haven''t been doing those perineal massages.

39 weeks today and no sign of baby! 30 hours until next doc appointment. Praying for more progress.

 

[fieryred33143]

NYC-LOVE THEM!!! They''re just so adorable

I feel like everyone is soooo close. I wouldn''t be surprised if we have a few weeks of meeting babies back to back.

Nothing to report over here. I haven''t been sleeping well. She isn''t a happy camper when I sleep on my left, can''t sleep on my back, so I''m sleeping only on my right side. I do end up on my back every night though. I notice when I get up to use the restroom. I also haven''t been too hungry lately. I''ve been monitoring her movement. She hasn''t been kicking much but she is moving a lot. Yesterday it felt like she went in a circle. At one point, the top half of my belly was poking out so much I couldn''t see my belly button. It was weird but it made me LOL. She''s also apparently in love with Mr. Fiery. As soon as he puts his hands anywhere near my belly, she goes nuts.

My shower is on the 16th. I''m anxious to get it over with because we haven''t purchased anything and I want to get started. I don''t like the feeling of waiting around to see what I get from other people. That just feels wrong to me but its been heavily suggested by my MIL and mom to not purchase anything myself yet. So...I''ll just wait.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Lindsey, the ring sounds beautiful. How sweet of your DH. Know we are all still thinking of you.

NYC, OMG they are so little! How adorable. Now the real fun begins.

Hospital Bags:
my hospital supplied pampers, cloths for wipes, receiving blankets and cloth diapers to burp. Even little white cotton shirts for them to wear. The non BFing moms also had little things of premixed formula. The ONLY thing I brought for baby was her car seat and an outfit for her to come home. They also supplied all the care for you (pads, tucks pads, etc...)

Boppy:
LOVE the booby but it was more useful when she got bigger. Before I had to stack a pillow under. It was also a great lounge chair for her. I think it may of helped her learn to sit b/c I would prop her up in it.

 

[Blenheim]

Date: 4/23/2009 8:42:28 AM
Author: robbie3982
Fisher, we pay only at the end. It''s called global billing and basically the Dr''s office bills for everything after the delivery. I think it''s a pretty common way for doctors to bill. This means we don''t have a copay at each office visit (it would get ridiculous at the end when you have to go every other week and then every 2 weeks!) and we''ll only end up paying our inpatient copay at the end. My doc doesn''t have an u/s machine in the office and she doesn''t draw blood either though so we had to pay 20% for each of those things. Quest (where I get my blood drawn) is really slow with their billing though and we actually haven''t gotten any bills for this pregnancy yet (got one for my m/c bloodwork a couple months ago).

Ditto, only our midwife is out-of-network so we''ve been making payments to her at every visit so that we don''t have a humongo lump sum at the end.

Courtney - if you''re "behind" on the perineal massages, then so am I. I still haven''t done any.

Tacori - Good to know about the Boppy getting to be more useful. I was feeling like I wasted money if I was only going to use it for a week! My understanding is that most people tend to overpack for the hospital in this country and that all you really need is the stuff you mentioned, but Pandora''s in England where the hospitals provide basically nothing - not even diapers. Crazy, huh?
Pandora - I''ve been wondering - what if someone goes into labor unexpectedly and doesn''t have their bags with them? Does their baby just not have any diapers until a friend/relative brings it?

 

[mela lu]

Date: 4/23/2009 10:12:33 AM
Author: Blenheim

Date: 4/23/2009 8:42:28 AM

Author: robbie3982
Courtney - if you''re ''behind'' on the perineal massages, then so am I. I still haven''t done any.

I don''t think it''s that common to do perineal massage. I''m just being demanding

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/23/2009 10:12:33 AM
Author: Blenheim

Ditto, only our midwife is out-of-network so we've been making payments to her at every visit so that we don't have a humongo lump sum at the end.

Courtney - if you're 'behind' on the perineal massages, then so am I. I still haven't done any.

Tacori - Good to know about the Boppy getting to be more useful. I was feeling like I wasted money if I was only going to use it for a week! My understanding is that most people tend to overpack for the hospital in this country and that all you really need is the stuff you mentioned, but Pandora's in England where the hospitals provide basically nothing - not even diapers. Crazy, huh?
Pandora - I've been wondering - what if someone goes into labor unexpectedly and doesn't have their bags with them? Does their baby just not have any diapers until a friend/relative brings it?

You are expected to have your bags ready from 37 weeks, so that if you go into labour unexpectedly your partner can bring them in pronto after you have delivered.

In the meantime they will give you emergency supplies of pads/diapers/cotton wool etc and the Bounty Pack lady comes round with their pack of freebies samples so you'd have a couple of nappies and a sachet of lbaby otion etc so you're not left with nothing - plus the hospital shops normally have the basics in terms of newborn nappies/wipes. You definitely wouldn't get anything like baby clothes, receiving blankets or anything of that kind.

If you turned up with nothing in a normal labour situation the hospital would be pretty angry with you over it.

On the plus side, all our health-care is 100% free at point of use and I'd rather my tax ££ went towards funding a nurse or an incubator in NICU rather than free nappies and onesies for all...

My hospital is a strictly breast-feeding only hospital and will not even discuss bottle feeding or supply formula unless there are clinical reasons for not - ie maternal use of medications that are contraindicated or women who have had mastectomies or breast reductions.

If you fall into the 'can't breastfeed for clinical reasons' group then they will discuss formula and bottle-feeding with you on an individual basis - and are actually very nice about it, they had a lot of discussions with me because of one of my meds that is officially contraindicated but I have chosen to breast-feed if possible anyway having weighed up the risk/benefit situation.

 

[E B]

Pandora- Thank you! I wouldn't wish the rib pain on anyone either. I've been able to get more sleep these past few couple of nights, though- it hasn't seemed to bother me as much now that I know it may be baby feet? The doctors at the hospital couldn't give me a definite reason as to why it hurt in the front AND the back.

Courtney- You're almost there! Wow. Any day now!

mela- You too! Home stretch, gal!

RE: Breast pads, one of my due date communities was recently polled about this very thing and disposables won by a landslide. The Lansinoh brand seemed to be the most popular.

p.s. Nice hospital bag lists! I'm going to go over them today to begin piecing my own together.

 

[Pandora II]

Just back from my midwife and OB visits - took ages as there was also a med student and a trainee midwife, and so they were being taught how to do all the measurements and other bits and pieces.

The poor med student had only started his OB rotation this week and was so nervous poor guy. He had to do the fundal measurement and feel and describe the baby''s position to the OB and was obviously petrified of hurting either me or the baby. In the end had to tell him that he could press quite hard and it really wouldn''t be a problem.

Anyhow, fundal measurement was 36cm exactly, heartbeat was 140bpm, she''s lying head-down in LOA (hooray) and is 4/5 engaged (- 4 station), so at least she''s on her way down... I will be very relieved when I get to 1/5 engaged and can breathe more easily!

The midwives did all the BP and urine tests before I saw the OB and BP was 100/70 and urine tests were clear, so rules out anything worrying with my legs having swollen up so badly this week.

Discussed my elephant-sized child with the OB who has done random glucose bloods just in case, but didn''t seem worried. She''s predicting around the 8lb mark at term - especially with the fundal height measurement being spot on for dates so I''m happy again!

I talked to the midwife and the OB about the single room situation and they both agreed that I definitely came under the clinical need category and so I will be first on the list after people with very sick babies in the NICU or people with nasty infectious diseases who need to be isolated.. hooray!

 

[E B]

Sounds like good progress, Pandora, and congrats on making the list for the private room!

DH and I had our first childbirth class last night and it was kind of fun! We didn''t know what to expect, but we''re in a class with five other couples around our age (mid-twenties). We''re taking ours over a six-week course, once a week. We''ve actually got a May couple in class who won''t be able to finish- they''re hoping they get to attend even half of the courses before she delivers.

29 weeks today.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/23/2009 11:40:25 AM
Author: EBree
Pandora- Thank you! I wouldn''t wish the rib pain on anyone either. I''ve been able to get more sleep these past few couple of nights, though- it hasn''t seemed to bother me as much now that I know it may be baby feet? The doctors at the hospital couldn''t give me a definite reason as to why it hurt in the front AND the back.

Courtney- You''re almost there! Wow. Any day now!

mela- You too! Home stretch, gal!

RE: Breast pads, one of my due date communities was recently polled about this very thing and disposables won by a landslide. The Lansinoh brand seemed to be the most popular.

p.s. Nice hospital bag lists! I''m going to go over them today to begin piecing my own together.

Ah, my rib pain started in the back and the front at the same time - like a burning pain just under your boob, and only on one side. After about 8 weeks it moved to just being in the back and turned from rib flare into the costovertebral inflammation. If you google ''rib flare'' you''ll get quite a lot of info on it. One movement that does help is to raise the arm on the side that hurts and bring it over your head and bend towards the side that doesn''t hurt - it opens the space up and should help a bit (only sadly one can''t walk around with your arm above your head all the time)...

My physio got the skeleton out and showed me all the bits that were moving and making it hurt - caused by your diaphragm having to move laterally as the uterus makes it hard for it to move vertically like normal. When you are pregnant you breathe much more deeply to increase your oxygen levels (your blood plasma levels increase hugely and so you need to take in more oxygen to keep your blood well-oxgenated) and so your lungs expand more than usual.

There''s really nothing that they can do while you are pregnant - although I have found this new bandage thing has really made a massive difference to me, and helps support the bump at the same time which is nice! If it gets really bad I''d give it a go.

Fiery - I''ve got the same thing with DH. As soon as he comes home in the evening and she hears his voice she goes all wriggly and the same if he touches her - she doesn''t do it for anyone else. Already winding their daddies round their little fingers!

Ditto on the sleeping - although things have been better the last couple of nights. I almost always wake up flat on my back with my knees pulled up despite having an enormous number of pillows propping bits of me up! The hospital have said not to worry about it and concentrate on sleeping as well as possible instead.

I am still so jealous of all of you having showers! Although I''m such a control freak that I would be going crazy not knowing what was ticked off my list and what wasn''t!

Mela & Courtney - I had totally forgotten about the perineal massage thing... everything is just so swollen up and uncomfortable to start with that it doesn''t sound that appealling right now - but then neither does an episiotomy...