Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[Jas12]

Oh MP--My heart goes out to you! I hope that by now you''ve had Micah and all of that craziness is behind you. I am so surprised that you weren''t admitted, esp with the fall. They could have at least given you a bed in Triage if they were full. It''s one thing to have a long labor (you remind me of my mom who was overdue and then had to endure 48 hours of labor...the universe is darn cruel sometiems!!!) but quite another to be getting tunnel vision and light headedness with contractions, that doesn''t sound right.

Hope all is okay now!!


Jcrow--wow, just 2 hours of hard labor after being induced is awesome for a first birth!

Did you give that little monkey a name yet?? I am being cheeky, but have you asked her?

I have a friend that did this and she swears they heard a name in the baby''s cries. I kid you not.

 

[meresal]

Jcrow- That is crazy how quickly things changed! So glad to hear that you all are doing well! Hope the name situation is coming along well and I can't wait to see pics!

MP- I'm so sorry to hear what is going on. They NEED to get you in there. I'm wondering why your doctor hasn't called on your behalf! That is horrible! I hope things have gotten better overnight.

Vesper- I'll keep my fingers crossed that you have progress on Monday!


My appt update: No change in dialation, still 1 cm, but I have moved to about 80% effaced... and I'm pretty sure that C has moved even lower. Can they move up and down? The doctor is thinking in the next 2 weeks, but probably won't make it to 40 weeks.
Also, something else that was REALLY crazy... when the nurse checked our LO's heartrate it was at 166!!!!!!!!!! Has anyone else experienced a crazy jump at one of their check-ups. His HB has been around 130 for the last few months, and has never been over 145.

Also, my mom and I finished all of the decorating that we can do in the nursery. We did the chair rail, the window treatments, and the added the oars to the walls yesterday! I LOVE the way it came out and it is exactly what I wanted... and obvious theme, but you aren't being beat over the head with it. We still have to add the rug and some other decorations (shelving is on backorder), but all of the main things are complete!

I am going to wait until the nursery is completely finished to post pics in the official "Nursery Thread"... but here are a few teasers

 

[Puppmom]

Date: 4/9/2010 9:48:32 AM
Author: vespergirl
So, I''m 39 weeks today, and according to babycenter, the LO is now the size of a watermelon. It feels like he is, for sure. Unfortunately, at my appt. on Tues., I was STILL only 1 cm dilated & 50% effaced, so there hasn''t been any progress the past week. I go back on Mon. for my 39 week appt., and hopefully there will be some progress to report ...

Now, I need to have a little FIL vent. I had invited my MIL to stay with me from 38 weeks until I have the baby, because my DH works 40 miles away, and I wanted help with my 3 yo in case I go into labor early. Well, she shows up last Saturday with FIL in tow

I know that I should be happy that I have help with DS for the last couple of weeks before the baby comes, but the reason that I only invited MIL, & not FIL too, is because MIL is help, and FIL is company.

He putters around the kitchen, unable how to figure out how to make coffee, then when it''s made, he can''t find the sugar, and he won''t change any of DS''s poopy diapers (he''s potty trained for #1, but not #2 yet). He just has an air of helplessness about him, and it irritates me - I know that I''m being bratty and I''m probably just really hormonal right now, but I feel like I need competent doers around me right now. But, I do have to say, to his credit, he has done some really helpful ''man work'' around the place that MIL & I would not have done - he put together a bookshelf for the nursery, and is doing tons of yardwork. Also, DS adores him and tracks him like his shadow, so I really don''t see DS at all except to feed & change him. They play all day long, which is very helpful, so I know I should be more grateful ...

Anyway, thanks for listening to my hormonal pregnant lady vent - I know that I probably being hard on FIL, because he really is a nice guy, I guess that I was just planning on having some girls'' bonding time with MIL, and it''s weird to have a wrench thrown in my plans ...

Gosh, it''s CRAZY to think you have a watermelon in your belly!

Sorry about your FIL. I would be totally bummed if I was looking forward to help and my FIL showed up too. MIL would then have to spend most of her time tending to him! Definitely put him to work.

 

[meresal]

Ikea Hemnes Dresser... with red vertical striped knobs we bought at Hobby Lobby.

 

[lovelylulu]

mere - that was sure a teaser

can't wait to see what you've done. I'm going to post some in-progress pictures a little later. for some reason, I am really enjoying getting this room together!!

spoke too soon - apparently, I am too impatient for pictures!!

vesper - sorry about your puttering FIL, but perhaps he will prove himself to be useful. somehow. so close. so close!!

 

[meresal]

Basic layout of our Nautical Room

 

[lovelylulu]

I love the room! especially the chair rail. it looks fantastic! we were sooo close to doing some beadboard, but decided against it due to time and about 35 other home projects.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

TGIF preggos! I for one am looking forward to the weekend, although it's supposed to be a bit gray and dreary here (what happened to Spring?)

pp- i too heard that i have cysts on my ovarires, we found out during a TTC u/s, the month before we got pregnant. My GYN kept an eye on them during the 1st tri and only mentioned that they would be "taken care of" if I were to have a c-section. didn't really think much about it at the time (except to think "i don't want a c-section") i've had numerous detailed u/s with my peri and i don't recall her mentioning them.

vesper- sorry to hear about your in-law troubles! your FIL sounds just like mine. he's incredibly self-absorbed, but not really "helpless". i also get the sense that he's really old school about "helping around the house". if he does anything, it's in the "man work" category. anyway, hang in there, mama!

MP- thinking about you... hope all is well!

Meresal- love the nautical ltheme. Looks like you're all set with the nursery!

And finally, here's my belly in it's 29 week glory:

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Oh that''s right! It''s BPF and I''m 4 months! Here''s my contribution. I just look fat.

 

[lovelylulu]

charger - you look marvelous!! love the stripes.

HH - you most definitely do not look fat. My body was the same way around this point - no real pregnancy belly, but definitely changed. and seeing that was right around the holidays, I easily fell into the category of "she ate too much over Christmas"

which may or may not have been true

I think that I was more obviously *pregnant* at five months.

Here is my contribution: "Darkness: someone gets up for work too early"

 

[Jas12]

Mer--your nursery is super cute--love the unique theme!

Charger--you look great. You aren't very big at all. I responded to your post a while back and PS ate it, along with a bunch of others

, but yes, we are still holding out on the gender. We had a bunch of scans around 22-24 weeks and i have my guesses, but don't know for sure. We are the only 2 that still don't know??

Lulu--lovely as always

Vesper--vent away, you are 39 weeks, everything is annoying at that point

. At least DS has a playmate and distraction. That's the max i could ask of my FIL too!! But wow, can't believe you like your ILs enough to ask to stay with you! That's pretty rare/nice. Just sucky it isn't working out the way you hoped!

 

[blushingbride]

Happy Friday All!!!!

Jcrow - so happy to hear that you are doing well and your baby girl is healthy and arrived into this world safely!!! Sounds like a wild ride!!! Looking forward to hearing more, seeing the pics and learning her name!!

Congrats again to you and Mr. Jcrow! Also, very impressive he was taking notes through everything! My DH would be a nervous wreck - there's no way he'd be able to write anything!

MonkeyPie - I'm so sorry to hear about what you went through! I would be infuriated to say the least! I truly hope that your labor comes to end w/ the result being baby Micah!!! Hang in there girl! We're all rooting for ya!

Meresal - love, love, love the nursery pics - are those items from Pottery Barn? The crib is beautiful!!

Lovely - I can't believe you are 29 weeks already!!! You look fantastic!!! BTW - love the nursey pics too!!

Snlee - so glad to hear your NT scan went well! Have you gotten the actual results yet? I had mine yesterday and Cara was right, it was incredible!!!

. Luckily, I had my 12 week OB appt. the day before so, we got to see our babies two days in a row. Doc said everything look perfect!

They are 12w4d today and measuring right on track. They also had beautiful heartbeats - one was 159 and the other was 161.

As for my scan, I'm so glad we did it! Granted we are still waiting for the results, but just for the chance to see them in such detail was worth it for us!! Too bad I had the worst migraine yesterday. I was in such pain during the entire scan - my head was throbbing and was so nauseas!! At the end, I went to the bathroom to empty my bladder and thew-up at the hospital! Things just went south from there as I continued to throw-up for the rest of the day.

Thankfully, I took off from work and am fortunately feeling better today.

Tomorrow, I'm headed to Jersey for a girl's day with all my NYC girlfriends! I'm so excited because they will be the first group of friends we'll be sharing the news with!!!! I can't believe we've kept things quiet for 3 months! I did, however, end up telling one of the ladies on Wed. that I was pregnant, because she actually came out to tell me she was 8 weeks pregnant! She was also planning to announce it to everyone tomorrow, but was trying to be sensitive towards me (since I had the miscarriage) and wanted to give me the heads-up. I'm so psyched that I have a close friend in the city to go through all this with!!!!!

 

[Puppmom]

Love all the belly pics! HH, you definitely don''t look fat. My body did the same thing. Around 16-17 weeks, I just looked *different* but pregnant was questionable. A big meal would sometimes make me look preggo.

Around 19 or 20 weeks though my belly started to pull out and I didn''t feel like I was carrying the baby in my hips anymore. Now, my belly is apparent in profile but not head on which is nice cause now I don''t feel so dang wide!

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Date: 4/8/2010 9:25:26 PM
Author: jcrow

Date: 4/8/2010 3:20:27 PM
Author: snlee
MP, you''re a trooper! Micha, please come out sooooon!


jcrow, wow, so glad everything turned out okay! Can''t wait to hear what you name her and all of the details! 6 lbs 8 oz is a very good size for a baby delivered at 36 weeks. I remember when we were talking about big babies. Maybe you would have had a big baby if you had gone full term. D was born at 36 weeks and weighed 6 lbs 7 oz. Not sure if I would have been able to push him out if he were over 8 pounds! At the hospital the pedi said baby didn''t look like a premie, am I sure I got my dates right? Funny how we are both 5 feet, delivered around the same time, and our babies are very similar sizes. I''m glad things are going well!

i know what you mean. at the ob appt tues, they estimated her to be a little low in weight at 5 lb. 13 oz, but when she was born she was actually larger. i know if she would have been full term, i really don''t think i could have delivered her naturally. yes, i had her at 36w4d. she would have been full term april 10.

Congrats on your baby girl!! I can''t wait to hear the rest of your birth story.

I also delivered my son at 36w4d, he was 6lbs, 7ozs and I am 5''0" - strange!

So many babies coming to PS!

 

[swimmer]

Pretty Blues! I love Miles! How are you guys? Hope you are home nestling up together! You left me in the dust lady! Miles is gorgeous, looking forward to more photos.

HH, you know what I have to say about your photo.

Charger, you look great!

Lulu, you are awesome.

Meresal, awesome nursery, great idea with the knobs too.

SS, thinking of you guys. Oh do take care, they sound unconnected, but rest will help everything if you can.

MP! following on fb!

I''m 36 weeks and boy remains in the 98th percentile for height/length based on femur length. I''m now fine that I couldn''t feel him for the first 5+ months (anterior placenta) since he is now able to simultaneously stick an elbow out of one side and a foot out another. So weird to SEE him.

 

[Mara]

love the BPF''s!

mere you might go sooner than you think, 80% effaced! hehe.

MP i hope you are either resting comfortably in the hospital or already holding M.

what is technically active labor? is that the pushing part or the part leading up to it? i could never get it straight. i pushed for just under 2 hours and i felt like it was simultaneously super fast AND forever but apparently that is a long time to push? a bunch of people were like WOW 2 hours!! and i thought well it felt like it was fast. hahaa.

the one thing i was totally unprepared for was how ''time'' in the hospital has no meaning. you hear people say they got put on pitocin and it took 12 or 15 hours or whatever til they were ready to push and i always thought that it would feel like forever to be waiting that long, but in reality the 6 hours we were waiting for me to get to 10cm went by really fast, because so many other things are happening.

 

[Jas12]

mara--i find the time warp thing in labor fascinating too. I had absolutely no sense of time. I was in active labor for 8 hours and couldn''t speak, eat or barely move during that time, yet it went by quickly to me. Maybe a bodily defense mechanism??

Active Labor: i think there are a few ways of defining it, but from what i know it''s from about 3-4 cms dilated till when you start to push. It''s when labor requires your complete attention and your body is putting every effort into dilating.
Even tho i was dilating and had been having contractions for 14 hours when i went to the hospital, the OB said flat out "you are not in labor, you are only 2 cms" (i felt like punching him in the face). But active is the really hard stuff and for many women, 1-3 cm of dilation can happen without their knowledge hours, days or weeks before hand. So while my water broke and mild contractions started 23 hours before my son was actually delivered, only 8 hours of that time (when i was given the pitocin onward) was considered *active* .
The second stage is the pushing stage. This tends to be much much shorter. For me it was about 20 mins, but this varies greatly. The range is just a couple of mins, to 3+ hours (although, as far as i know few hospitals "allow" women to push much more than 2 hours before considering a c-section)

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 4/9/2010 1:19:37 PM
Author: Jas12
mara--i find the time warp thing in labor fascinating too. I had absolutely no sense of time. I was in active labor for 8 hours and couldn't speak, eat or barely move during that time, yet it went by quickly to me. Maybe a bodily defense mechanism??

Active Labor: i think there are a few ways of defining it, but from what i know it's from about 3-4 cms dilated till when you start to push. It's when labor requires your complete attention and your body is putting every effort into dilating.
Even tho i was dilating and had been having contractions for 14 hours when i went to the hospital, the OB said flat out 'you are not in labor, you are only 2 cms' (i felt like punching him in the face). But active is the really hard stuff and for many women, 1-3 cm of dilation can happen without their knowledge hours, days or weeks before hand. So while my water broke and mild contractions started 23 hours before my son was actually delivered, only 8 hours of that time (when i was given the pitocin onward) was considered *active* .
The second stage is the pushing stage. This tends to be much much shorter. For me it was about 20 mins, but this varies greatly. The range is just a couple of mins, to 3+ hours (although, as far as i know few hospitals 'allow' women to push much more than 2 hours before considering a c-section)

Active Labour - here they count it from 4cm dilation to full dilation.

Since I was in labour for 42 hours before I got the pitocin and was only finger-tip at that point - despite having had contractions that were less than 3 minutes apart and more than a minute long and that you couldn't talk through for over 30 hours at that point and the last few hours Entonox wasn't helping and the contractions were as long as 5 minutes - I take the whole 'Active Labour' thing with a big pinch of salt!

 

[meresal]

Thanks Lulu! The chair rail really gave the room a boost! We debated doing beadboard and then just painting that navy, instead of the wall, but decided to just paitn the wall. I''m really happy with the way everything came out. I think the colors will really grow with our little guy as well... it doesn''t scream nursery.
FYI- I love your weekly pictures! I can''t wait to see the ones you take of your little one!

Thank you Charger. You are looking great!

HH- You are not fat. I *think*you are going to grow like I did. I didn''t even have a "bump" until about 25 weeks... and even then no one would dare say a a word b/c it just looked like extra helpings from dinner. Until about 31/32 weeks, I felt like I was just getting thicker and thicker and thicker... then the belly started to pop out. However, not until THIS WEEK have people on the street said "Congratulations" to me. I''m 37 weeks and just look like I have been getting fuller and fuller. It was hard to get past, but once you start seeing the belly it will get better! Promise!

Thanks Jas!

Blushing, I can''t believe you have held it in that long as well! Hope you have a great day tomorrow with your friends!
Re: Decorations. The oars are PBK, we also ordered the rug and some bouyes from there as well. I''ll have better pics of all the trimmings once the room is complete! The crib is Restoration Hardware. It is a much brighter white than I was expecting but I love that it is a VERY solid piece and has a great look.

Swimmer- Thank you! HL has tons of options and they were all 50% off this past week, so they were marked down to like $1.50/ea... instead of the CRAZY prices you see for decorative knobs everywhere else.
I can''t believe your LO in the 98th, but I love big babies! I can''t wait to see his newborn pics! Hang in there!

LOL, Mara- I keep "feeling" like things are happening and then nothing. C has been moving around like crazy all day though, so I''m thinking he may be getting restless. Let''s hope so... I wanted to try and hold out until my sister could have hers, but DH and I are ready to meet our little guy! (DH especially)

Here I am 37w2d: Maybe it''s the white shirt, but I feel HUGE!

 

[Mara]

yeah i agree the definitions are crap hehee. since my water had been broken for we assume up to 12 hours by the time i was admitted (but i was only 1.5cm and 80% effaced even though at that point the back labor was excruciating) i imagine they wouldn't define active for me until about 2 hours after i was admitted when i got my epidural. but the back labor had gotten 'teeth clenched, body lifting off the bed' bad at around 5 hours before my epi while i was still at home...so *I* would consider that active labor i guess since it def required every effort. haha.

mere you don't look huge at all but def lower. and i hear ya on 'feeling' like things are happening. that feels like it can go on FOREVER.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

So what I gather from all of these lovely labor stories is that when you see pregnant women in the movies frolic and go through their day comfortably only to have their water break in a neat little puddle on the ground and then deliver as they''re being rolled through the doors of the hospital it''s CRA*!

 

[meresal]

Date: 4/9/2010 2:18:34 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
So what I gather from all of these lovely labor stories is that when you see pregnant women in the movies frolic and go through their day comfortably only to have their water break in a neat little puddle on the ground and then deliver as they''re being rolled through the doors of the hospital it''s CRA*!

HH- I have had 2 labor dreams... one labor lasted 5 minutes and the other lasted 10. I am FULLY aware that I have a severe reality check coming my way very very soon.

 

[FrekeChild]

FYI, MP had to get pitocin earlier this morning. I haven''t heard from her or her husband since then. I will let you know when I do.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 4/9/2010 2:22:25 PM
Author: meresal

Date: 4/9/2010 2:18:34 PM

Author: Hudson_Hawk

So what I gather from all of these lovely labor stories is that when you see pregnant women in the movies frolic and go through their day comfortably only to have their water break in a neat little puddle on the ground and then deliver as they''re being rolled through the doors of the hospital it''s CRA*!

HH- I have had 2 labor dreams... one labor lasted 5 minutes and the other lasted 10. I am FULLY aware that I have a severe reality check coming my way very very soon.

Me too Mere. My two dreams involved easy labor but the first one I gave birth to a sumo baby (very very fat baby in a white diaper) and the second one I gave birth to a klingon.

 

[Puppmom]

Thanks for the update, Freke. Go, MP!

 

[meresal]

Date: 4/9/2010 3:05:14 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk

Date: 4/9/2010 2:22:25 PM
Author: meresal

Date: 4/9/2010 2:18:34 PM

Author: Hudson_Hawk

So what I gather from all of these lovely labor stories is that when you see pregnant women in the movies frolic and go through their day comfortably only to have their water break in a neat little puddle on the ground and then deliver as they''re being rolled through the doors of the hospital it''s CRA*!

HH- I have had 2 labor dreams... one labor lasted 5 minutes and the other lasted 10. I am FULLY aware that I have a severe reality check coming my way very very soon.

Me too Mere. My two dreams involved easy labor but the first one I gave birth to a sumo baby (very very fat baby in a white diaper) and the second one I gave birth to a klingon.

LOL!

Freke- Thanks for the update!

 

[fieryred33143]

Congratulations again Jcrow

.

Poor MP! Hopefully things get moving quickly (and safely) now.

Mere-I''m thinking next two weeks for you too. But then again I though MP would have M by week 38 and I was so wrong

 

[snlee]

Date: 4/9/2010 3:07:08 PM
Author: puppmom
Thanks for the update, Freke. Go, MP!

Ditto! Hope Micah makes his appearance soon!

 

[blushingbride]

Mersesa - tell me about it - I'm about to burst after keeping the news in this long! I almost felt like if we told people too early, we'd jinx it. Weird I know.

OK - I thought your crib looked familiar! We'll be getting ours from Pottery Barn or Restoration Hardware (we've been eyeing up both websites). I love the fact that all RH cribs convert into toddler beds. Nice to hear their cribs are solid and well made (as if I had any doubts - I love RH and am always happy with whatever I buy there).

 

[Dreamer_D]

Active labour Is when you lie down for an exam and barf from the pain

I agree about the time having no meaning thing, mara. It is strange what the labour hormones do to you. I pushed for 1.5 hours and it was very fast. I loved pushing.