Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[jcrow]

mara - actually we''re late in deciding. we were suppose to notify the ob + hospital a few weeks ago on who we chose.

 

[vespergirl]

DrK, Meresal & Shiny - great belly pics! Shiny, your little guy is so cute. My 3 yo son has taken to calling me "Big Mama" which DH swears he came up with on his own

Here is my 34 week belly pic - all of a sudden my belly has gotten huge, but I''ve still only gained 25 pounds, so I''m OK with it. Hopefully I''ll only end up gaining 28 - 30 by the time I deliver ...

 

[drk]

Vesper - great pic! It's amazing how differently you're carrying to how I carried. I've never had much above the belly button, she's always been low, either transverse-lying early on or totally dropped from 33 weeks or so onwards. She just dropped even more in the last week. The other girl at work who's about 10 weeks behind me is carrying everything up under her ribs, even higher than you. Weird.

MP - you've had some really cool shots too. I'm hoping DH will eventually edit the weekly shots he took of me with the better camera, but I'm not holding my breath. I hope we don't regret not getting pro pg pics.

Shiny - thanks for joining in, and for letting JT show off his belly too - very cute! It is nice to get beyond the "I ate a big meal" stage, isn't it?

OK baby, it's time to get a move on here. DH wanted a nice punctual German baby, but he may not get it unless I go into rip-roaring labour now and deliver within 6 hours of it starting. I need my baby here to distract me from the flaws I keep finding in our fancy expensive gigantic house with expensive basement reno. I went down today to show the designer the end product (he just got back from a couple weeks away), and suddenly noticed that the hallway between the guest bedroom and DH's office doesn't actually have parallel walls. It's probably 15 feet long and narrows by 1-2 inches from one end to the other. Because there's a striped carpet and a dropped ceiling with tiles installed, it's really obvious that things aren't parallel. It's driving me nuts, because I hate it when things aren't square, or parallel, or plumb, or symmetrical. I notice every little bloody thing. And then DH had the nerve to say that he'd noticed the hall got narrower at that end back when we walked through the house before buying, but he didn't mention it to me before we tore out some of the walls to do the reno. Nor did he mention it to the contractor. So they used the half-wall that used to be part of the one open office at that end of the hallway to make up part of the full-height wall that's there now, and just added the upper half of the wall and framed things up from there to the furnace room. If DH had said something, they could have removed that little half wall and made the whole hallway a lot more parallel. DH says "What's the problem?", and I'm just thinking "We're blowing $30000 on the reno, and the walls aren't even straight!". Because of course now I notice that there's not only a non-parallel hall, but it curves a little at that end (notice i with the ceiling tiles), and the wall itself has a bit of a belly where the new top half meets the old bottom half. Too late to fix it now though, so I'll just have to live with the irritation.

And leave DH in the doghouse for screwing up something else. Maybe it's me being irritable and pg, but he's always whining that he feels like he doesn't get anything right, especially when it comes to the reno. He doesn't, and he never asks for my input until it's too late.

 

[somethingshiny]

vesper~ You look like you''re carrying high. Do you think you''re higher than your first one?? With JT, he was very low all the time. Like DRK, I never had much above the belly button until the very end. This time I feel like everything got pushed way up and baby is way up there too! LOL about "Big Mama." You are SOO not big!!


Thanks for the compliments about me and JT. He''s certainly cute, but I don''t think I am! I just get gigantic when preggo! I haven''t gained much weight yet (if any) but what I had redistributed badly! I should post a full-term pic of when I was pregnant with JT. I was seriously the biggest pregnant woman I''ve ever seen!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

So I went to the UB factory today fully intending to just look. $250 later I walked out with A ''08/''09 Vista hybrid. It''s an ''09 frame and bassinet with an ''08 seat. Apparently the only difference seat-wise from the ''09 is the extended sun shade which you can buy for $22. We went with the red.

 

[jcrow]

Hudson_Hawk - wow! nicely done!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Kate You really popped at 32 weeks, eh?

 

[Dreamer_D]

Vesper You are carying HIGH girl! Did you carry your son high too?

 

[vespergirl]

DrK, Shiny, & Dreamer - I have carried both of my boys very high, to the point that it''s been an issue during the pregnancies and during my first delivery.

During both pregnancies, my lung capacity is so diminished, that I can''t exercise AT ALL, and a walk around the mall wears me out. I went from running 4 miles a day to dreading the walk up the stairs, because I am so dizzy & out of breath that I need to rest. I will frequently wake up with a feeling of smothering, like I can''t catch my breath and it takes several minutes to calm down and feel like I can breathe again. I also have killer reflux & heartburn - not to gross anyone out, but almost every time that I bend over after eating anything stomach acid comes up to my mouth. I think that my lungs and stomach are extra squished with the baby being up that high.

During my first delivery, the baby never descended from the uppermost station (at 39w 3d), and I pushed for 4 and a half hours before they finally had to use the vacuum to get the baby out. It''s like my body keeps sucking the baby all the way up to my throat

I am hoping that at least with this pregnancy the baby will drop by the time I hit 38 weeks or so to make it easier to push him out. Everyone is telling me that the second is easier to push out, so I''m hoping they''re right ...

Hudson Hawk, that stroller/pram is adorable. You got a great deal!

 

[meresal]

Jcrow- I''m so excited for your house and glad the inspection went well. Looks like we might be moving into our homes around the same time! Way to go no the pedi decisions. Another decision that hasn''t even become a blip on our radar yet.

Drk- Thanks lady! I''m going to miss your pics around BPF! The montage looks great! You can really see the weeks that you "popped" and "dropped".
Also, lots of dust for your pregnant friend. I wish her the best and I hope her pregnancy can stay favorable for a little while longer. My sis is 39 and they have been watching her like hawk to make sure that nothing is softening before it needs to.

MP- I''m sorry to hear that you are fed up! I hope you are able to enjoy just a bit of these last weeks! Maybe it''s time to start cooking

SS- Tooooo cute!! Your son is adorable!!

Mara- Thanks for the happy birthday! It was a great day! Hope you and the family are still doing well! Thanks for your advice on the chair in the other thread. We are still trying to decide. I just can''t make a choice.

Vesper- Thank you! You look awesome! Can you believe we are getting so close

I am carrying very high as well. I don''t remember the last time I took a decent deep breath.
(I''m also going to push your "never dropping" problem to the back of my head for now. LOL! I really hope I drop sometime sooner than labor as well!)

HH- Congrats on the UPPA deal!! We have the Red as well, so I''m very partial to the "wonderful" choice you have made!!

I had dinner with a friend last night, she is 37 weeks with a girl, and lost her mucos plug 2 days ago. I guess she is expecting this one early!! I can''t wait to have a little one around before ours arrives!!
I also have a friend that is being induced on the 12th, she is having a boy. Baby C is going to have sooooo many friends right around his age (not to mention an adorable cousin

)! I''m so excited for him already!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

what great BPF''s- you ladies ROCK! I need to get off my a** and start contributing.

JCrow- crossing my fingers that all goes smoothly with the house
Pupp- DH also responds to baby name suggestions with "put it on the list". it''s annoying, but he''s just not there yet
Mere- glad to hear that your appt went well. I''m sure it was a relief!
drk- you''re soooo close! please keep us posted
MP- hugs! you totally have a right to be grumpy
HH- great deal, you scored!

We''re off to look at more houses this morning- ugh, i''m so over house-hunting. But then we''re meeting friends for lunch at this awesome place, so I''m looking forward to that.

Have a great Saturday, all!

 

[jcrow]

meresal - too funny on the house front. here''s hoping we both get to move in and get settled before the babies come!! the sellers said it should be no problem on their end for us to close march 30/31 even though we wrote the contract for april 12. we ordered the appraisal yesterday, so i''m praying we get to close on time and move in at the beginning of april. before we move in, hubby is going to paint the two secondary bedrooms since the previous owners had 2 little boys. we''re also debating putting in wood floors in the living room prior to moving in too. it''s a shame to pull up brand new carpet, but i do miss the wood from our previous house.

ChargerGrrl - good luck with the house hunt. i know exactly how draining and frustrating it is! how far along are you again?

--

as a little celebration for the house offer being accepted and the inspection going well, i treated myself to a nice + long prenatal massage this morning while hubby is out playing golf. i feel SO much better. then i headed to old navy and picked up a couple of thing. clothes are so strange! i fit into regular clothes better than i do maternity. so far j.crew and old navy has been very good to me.

in other news, swelling has begun in my legs

. they get sore in the front too now.

 

[drk]

jcrow - Compression stockings - get some and wear them. I didn''t have any swelling till about the 33 week mark when I was working and coming home in the evening and packing for the move. Had pitting edema up to my knees then, but after putting on my 20-30mmHg compression stockings and leaving them on for 48 hours so that the fluid could get squished out overnight, things improved dramatically. And try to avoid crossing your legs. I think the compression stockings are also supposed to help prevent varicose veins too, which I really didn''t want to add to the spider veins that are already all over my legs.

Still here at 40+1. Darn it! I had a little bleb of wetness when up to the toilet last night, but it turned out to be just a little more mucous plug coming out. I wish that the rest of the action would start to pick up sometime soon though! I''m getting the odd tightening, but nothing to really write home about. Since 7, 3 and 13 are my favourite numbers, I''d love to have the baby tomorrow on the 7th. Could happen - I''d rather not have to go waste a couple hours at the doctor''s office again on Monday afternoon, because I''d like to be holding my daughter by then.

 

[jcrow]

drk - where do you find those compression stockings?

 

[Pandora II]

Good Luck DrK - and I hear you on the symmetry thing, I get bugged like crazy about that kind of thing!

JCrow - I used TED stockings on my legs for weeks because they swelled up so much. I got mine from the hospital, but pharmacies might stock them. Keep your legs elevated as much as you can as well.

 

[AllieLuv83]

Date: 3/5/2010 9:39:02 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
So I went to the UB factory today fully intending to just look. $250 later I walked out with A ''08/''09 Vista hybrid. It''s an ''09 frame and bassinet with an ''08 seat. Apparently the only difference seat-wise from the ''09 is the extended sun shade which you can buy for $22. We went with the red.

HH did you go to the uppababy factory in hingham? Do they have a lot of strollers for sale or just a few?

 

[drk]

Jcrow - I got a script for compression stockings from my doctor a while back so I could get them covered by insurance. The good ones (like my Sigvaris ones) have higher levels of compression than TEDs, which are only 10mmHg, I think. You can buy some kinds over the counter at certain drug stores, but mine are ones that they take a bunch measurements for to determine the perfect size (calf length, ankle circumference, calf circumference, foot length etc) for an ideal compression. I was stupid and didn''t take full advantage of my insurance while I was a resident, since they''d cover me for 6 pairs a year, and I only clued in to that in my final 2 years. At $90 or so a pair for the good ones, that was huge. I ordered mine online in Canada for cheaper than my insurance would have paid retail, and I''m sure you can find good deals online in the US. I''d think that medical supply stores (that sell canes and other health care aids) would also carry them.

 

[jcrow]

thanks pandora and drk. i''m going to the ob tuesday so i''ll ask her about them too.

 

[lover in athens]

jcrow: i bought a bunch of compression stocking from brightlifedirect.com. they are relatively inexpensive and the allegro ones seem to fit me pretty well. they''re not as good as the true fitted ones (which i write prescriptions for a lot), but i think they''re close!!! they say that 15-20mmgHg is good for pregnancy, but i bought the 20-30mm and have been very happy with them...

in other news, all is well on my end. pushing towards 15 weeks and feeling like a whale. find out the sex a week from monday and i can''t wait! we are in LA to visit my family for the week and it''s nice to relax a little (my mom LOOOOVES playing with my son). unfortunately, coby has a fever of 103.6 tonight and is cranky-pants. sucks to be away from our pedi!! oh well.

DRK: best of luck to you! can''t wait to meet your daughter.

to the other preggos! thanks for posting all the belly pics! you guys look amazing!!

 

[KimberlyH]

Birth Story

We checked in to hospital at 7:30 p.m. on February 25. I was placed in a small non-delivery room as it is common for inductions to take a long period of time. The nurse placed an IV and ran a bag of fluids immediately. I was administered cervadil at 9:45 p.m. At that point I was 2 ct dilated and 80 percent effaced. Contractions were coming every 2-3 minutes but I wasn’t progressing so she didn’t want to administer a second dose at thr 3 hour mark as it would only increase contractions. I was given cervadil was again at 4 a.m. My dad came to the hospital at 4 a.m. to wait with us. I remained in the same room until my doctor checked me at 8 a.m., I was just shy of 3 cm dilated and no further effaced. She ordered I be moved to a laboring room, where I was able to shower and eat breakfast, to start pitocin and she would be back at 11 a.m. to break my water. After breakfast I was given the first dose of pitocin. My contractions increased but I still wasn’t dilating. Contractions were coming approximately one to two minutes apart and increasing in size; I was able to breath through them and was managing the pain well. My doctor came back at 11 and broke my water, I was still only 3 cm dilated. She told me our goal was to for me to have the baby by 6 p.m. Immediately after my water was broken contractions turned into hard labor. I used the restroom and ended up on my knees on the bathroom floor, I walked out of the bathroom after the contraction ended and requested an epidural. The anesthesiologist was efficient and it was a lot less painful than I expected. The nurse checked me at 1:30, 9-9.5 cm dilated; she could see the baby’s head. She called my doctor and requested she come immediately, and then we practiced pushing. My dad, mom, husband, and a close friend of the family spent the day with us, but only two people were allowed in the room so my dad and A left and John and mom stayed with me. They both held my legs while I practiced pushing. During the first set I noticed a strange smell and said “I didn’t know it would smell bad.” My mom rubbed my arm and told me I was pooping, which was embarrassing, of course. John reminded me that it is totally normal and to relax and not worry about it. The nurse told me to stop pushing half way through the second set as if we kept going I was going to deliver before my doctor arrived. My doctor arrived at 1:45, I pushed for 3 sets and baby Jane was born at 2 pm. The perinatology team was to be called immediately due to my gestational diabetes diagnosis, but the doctor asked the nurses to wait so that she wouldn’t be taken from us immediately. I held her first, then when John was holding her she began to turned blue so she was taken to the warmer and given oxygen. I didn’t see any of this happening as I was delivering the placenta. I thought they took her to examine her, and discovered that she was struggling a bit later on. She examined by perinatology team, had her blood sugar checked, which was fine, and then given back to me. My dad and A came back into the room to see her at about 2:30 p.m. and then we were moved to recovery room 1 hour later. We were in the hospital until Sunday afternoon. The recovery unit is set up with two beds in each room so John was able to spend both nights in the hospital with the baby and me. It was so nice to be able to spend those first few days as a family.
Being home has been wonderful. Breastfeeding is challenging. John has been more amazing than I imagined. He and I are so in love with Jane and feel so blessed.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Aw, Kim, thanks for coming to share with us! I''m so glad Jane arrived safe and sound

 

[MonkeyPie]

I had my baby shower yesterday and it was soooo great! I got a lot of stuff I needed, like a boppy and diapers, but DH''s aunt also got us a Medela Swing and all the stuff that comes with it! I couldn''t believe it, she is SO generous, I love her. I can hardly wait for him to arrive now!

My midwife told me on Friday that she thinks I may have an 8 pound baby. Oh, lucky me!

Now I''m really hoping he comes early, haha. I told her that when he moves a lot I can feel him touch my hipbones, so she thinks he will either be really long or just big. I am hoping for long!

 

[somethingshiny]

Kimi~ Wow, that was a quick progression!! I loved that DH stayed with me in the hospital, it really started the "family" feeling. Hope you''re all doing well and getting some sleep!

Monkey~ Glad you got some good stuff for your shower!! I didn''t know 8 lbs was considered "big." I thought 7.5 was avg. As far as baby touching your hipbones, my SIL had the same thing. She''s also short so I assume that has something to do with it, the baby doesn''t have as much vertical space or something. Her babies were big, but she could feel the hipbone thing by around 7 months.



DH and I watched Baby jumping around last night. I was very surprised to feel movement at the exact same time approx 9-10" apart. I could feel it under my navel and well to the left and above my navel to the right at the same time!


Hope you''re all enjoying your weekend!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Kim What a great story! I would like to have a smaller baby next time. Three sets of pushes sounds wonderful compared to the 1.5 hours it took for my 8.5lb baby! LOL! Make your way over to the newborn thread, there is a great support system there.

DrK You are overdue! Did you imagine that when you were worried about preterm labour earlier? I hope your baby comes soon and that you havea smooth and easy delivery.

 

[Dreamer_D]

jcrow Compression stockings saved my life at the end of my pregnancy. Get some and wear them all the time!

 

[drk]

Well, I just baked some chocolate chip cookies (think I miscounted and added an extra 1/2c of flour though, so they''re fairly dry and cakey. Boo) hoping the PS tradition of baking would bring on labour. Not so far! Tomorrow I''ll be 40.5 weeks.

DD - you''re so right, I never in a million years imagined this would happen after all those contractions for the last 24 weeks. Seems like they started to get better around 28 weeks, and now that I so desperately want some, they''re few and far between.

I think we''re going to head out later for a longer walk and dinner out. Maybe that will stir things up?

 

[Kaleigh]

Date: 3/7/2010 5:33:14 PM
Author: drk
Well, I just baked some chocolate chip cookies (think I miscounted and added an extra 1/2c of flour though, so they''re fairly dry and cakey. Boo) hoping the PS tradition of baking would bring on labour. Not so far! Tomorrow I''ll be 40.5 weeks.

DD - you''re so right, I never in a million years imagined this would happen after all those contractions for the last 24 weeks. Seems like they started to get better around 28 weeks, and now that I so desperately want some, they''re few and far between.

I think we''re going to head out later for a longer walk and dinner out. Maybe that will stir things up?

Go have a nice dinner out!!! Maybe eat something spicy?? I know my last dinner out, brought on labor, my water broke in the restaurant!!!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Kimi- THANKS for sharing your story. Your last line just made me melt. Baby Jane is so loved!
JCrow- I'm 24 weeks (due in late June), so we still have some time on the house front but it's getting frustrating.
LIA- I hope you're enjoying our nice L.A weather today! Hopefully we're done with the rain
MP- YAY for your shower! Glad to hear it went well.
SS- Sounds like your LO is doing acrobatics in your belly!
drk- I hope the baking works- hang in there!

It's been a great weekend- went to a party last night hosted by a couple and attended by folks we don't see too often. So it was nice to get congrats and hear baby/preggo stories (people LOVE to share!).

We got massages this morning, and it felt AWESOME. I'm used to deep tissue pressure, but it was nice to get the kinks worked out. The masseur went to rub my legs/ankles and asked if i had had salty food last night, as he felt a teeny bit of fluid. I admitted that I had indulged in way too much chips and salsa at the party. Too freaky that he was able to ID that!

This afternoon is about catching ALL the Academy Awards coverage. I'm a movie buff so I live for this stuff!

 

[drk]

Baking didn''t work, nor did the Thai food. We''ll see what tomorrow brings. Have a doc appt in the afternoon when they''re going to start talking about induction. I''m not planning on letting them do anything before 41 weeks, so that my body has a chance to do what it''s supposed to on its own.

Kim - that''s quite the story!

 

[gailrmv]

Congratulations Kimberly!!!!!! and good luck DrK!!!