Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[somethingshiny]

BB~ I''m sorry to hear about your friend. Sending good vibes to her.



I just talked to my dr''s office. I failed the 1hr glucose. Now, on to the 3 hr. I don''t know of anyone who failed the 1 hr and not the 3, so I fully expect to be diagnosed with GD. They also said I''m very anemic. I have to take ridiculous amounts of iron. I''m already constipated so that should be fun. No pooping and no cookies for me. So, I took a look at the calendar and have officially begun my count down--85 days!

The same peri who has been keeping an eye on Baby''s heart will be my GD dr. Looks like I have lots of long drives in my future. Obviously I will do whatever is necessary for a healthy pregnancy and a healthy baby. Her heart is still my main concern so the GD isn''t really going to be a big deal. I already track my food on Spark, so with a few tweaks to the requirements I should be fine.

 

[taovandel]

I failed the one hour and passed the 3 hour.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 4/20/2010 11:13:13 AM
Author: swimmer
Congratulations Meresal and baby C!


Go Vesper!


Oh MP, I hope you feel better soon, what a long hard ride. You are one tough cookie!


Lindsey, pulling for you sweetheart, wow, that is a lot of dr. time. It is going to be soooo worth it when Andrew is here! Just over a month more, do you have a date scheduled, wow, getting close! Awesome that you got away.


Drk! So good to see you!


Snlee, adorable shots, well done.


Lulu, thanks thinking of you! jealous of you shopping for little girl clothes, they are too adorable! I''m all set with a boy, but sometimes the dresses call to me... Nice that the shower was enjoyable.


SomethingS, yay for growth!


Allie, it does get better.


Hey, so Logan Sapphire just had a baby! woo hooo!


I just had an appt, head down and she figures 3-4 more weeks. Internals won''t start till 39 weeks, funny how IF necessitated so much intervention to begin with and now at the end its totally hands off.


The only thing bothering me are people who keep telling me that pregnant women shouldn''t exercise; the kicker is, it is mostly women, coming up to me while I''m doing weights (I went down in lbs and modified) or on the elliptical, (only doing 45 min now) or out on walks (6 miles yesterday to see friends finish the marathon!) Who do they think they are telling me that I am hurting my baby?!? All the research says that pregnant women should get her heartrate up at least 30 min a day to help the baby develop good cardiovascular health!


I find this with maternity clothes that look terribly childish, this infantilization of pregnant women is just so offensive to me. Not every woman can or should exercise, but I was just stopped when going into a yoga class by an older woman who implored me not to raise my arms over my head. The class was PRENATAL YOGA! designed to help w/ labor/delivery/beyond. I bet that when she delivered it was chemically induced twilight sleep, and that I should just smile and nod, but I want to maintain a shred of control over my body and I need my exercise, plus it helps the baby''s heart so why would a stranger go out of her way to harass a pregnant woman? I feel like something out of A Handmaiden''s Tale. Is this widespread or am I just being overly sensitive?

Yes, I think you''re being too sensitive

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

1.5 days until we see the LO''s junk! I''ve never in my life been so excited to see another person''s genitalia!

 

[somethingshiny]

Date: 4/20/2010 12:15:37 PM
Author: taovandel
I failed the one hour and passed the 3 hour.

You''ve given me hope!!! Were you or your doctor surprised that you passed the 3 hr? I was under the impression that it''s very rare to pass it after failing the first.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Date: 4/20/2010 12:32:10 PM
Author: somethingshiny

Date: 4/20/2010 12:15:37 PM

Author: taovandel

I failed the one hour and passed the 3 hour.

You''ve given me hope!!! Were you or your doctor surprised that you passed the 3 hr? I was under the impression that it''s very rare to pass it after failing the first.

Really? I know several people who failed the first and passed the second. Usually it''s because they didn''t eat enough earlier in the day so their sugar levels were outta whack to begin with.

 

[snlee]

Date: 4/20/2010 12:34:27 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk

Date: 4/20/2010 12:32:10 PM

Author: somethingshiny

Date: 4/20/2010 12:15:37 PM

Author: taovandel

I failed the one hour and passed the 3 hour.

You''ve given me hope!!! Were you or your doctor surprised that you passed the 3 hr? I was under the impression that it''s very rare to pass it after failing the first.

Really? I know several people who failed the first and passed the second. Usually it''s because they didn''t eat enough earlier in the day so their sugar levels were outta whack to begin with.

I failed the 1 hour and passed the 3 hour too.

 

[cara]

Lindsey, glad you and Andrew are doing well and surviving your new medical-care focused routine. Are you still able to work with this ridiculous schedule? And you and your husband are so strong, going forward with this pregnancy with hope while mourning your daughter. I know you woln't breathe easy until Andrew is out (maybe not even then!) but really you are strong to try now and trust the docs and the medical care you are receiving.

Blushing, so sad for your friend! And so hard to go through with pregnant friends around, though you having been through a similar ordeal of your own must at least make some things about discussing it easier. Its a hard road to walk.

Swimmer, a lot of docs give out the old advice of women not exercising over heart rate 140 and such, erring on the side of doing nothing versus doing too much. Which I know is not the modern advice, and there is no evidence such a draconian cutoff is needed, but several athletic well-educated friends in my area were basically benched by their doctors when pregnant and were only supposed to exercise with heart rate monitors on so they wouldn't overexert themselves. Luckily my doc is not one of them, though I have been up for little more than walking during pregnancy. But since my max heart rate is pretty high for my age and my conditioning sucks at this point, I think I hit 140 walking up this small hill near my house.

Those people coming up to you are just meddlesome, and yes it is kind of out of the handmaiden's tale because something about getting pregnant makes people think they are allowed to give you advice or tell you things in a very paternal way, as if you are too stupid to make your own informed decision or to be talked to as an equal, where if you were a non-pregnant adult they would not dream of coming up to you and telling you not to put your hands over your head, of all things! Even my mother, whom doesn't normally lecture me, has taken to giving me lectures about things now when I make offhand comments. Not able to button my pants? Time for a lecture on gaining weight. Have to stay up late tonight and finish some work? Time for a lecture on how I *can't* do that as I am now caring for another body. Its annoying, I am going to have to focus on not saying anything that might bring on another lecture. Life is too short!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 4/20/2010 12:15:37 PM
Author: taovandel
I failed the one hour and passed the 3 hour.

I did too.

25% of women fail the 1 hour test and only 2-4% of women actually have GD, so the odds are that you got a false positive. Don''t worry until you get the next results.

 

[Mandarine]

Date: 4/20/2010 1:25:22 PM
Author: dreamer_d

Date: 4/20/2010 12:15:37 PM

Author: taovandel

I failed the one hour and passed the 3 hour.

I did too.


25% of women fail the 1 hour test and only 2-4% of women actually have GD, so the odds are that you got a false positive. Don''t worry until you get the next results.

Same here!

 

[vespergirl]

Lindsey, it was so nice to read your update - I''m so glad that Andrew is doing well, and I can''t believe you''re only 5 weeks away from holding your precious little guy! It''s really good that you & your husband were able to find a meaningful way to remember baby Natalie. You & your family have really been in my thoughts ...

Shiny, my best friend failed the 1 hour and passed the 3 hour, so I hope it goes the same for you!

Blushing, I''m so sorry to hear about your friend. That is such a tough thing to have to go through.

Swimmer, good for you for all the exercise that you''re getting. As long as you feel good when you''re doing it, it''s good for the baby. Don''t listen to anyone except your doctor''s advice.

BTW, Your doc may have said that you have several weeks left, but I bet that you''ll beat me to the punch - this baby is never coming out!

Thanks everyone for the labor dust - hopefully it will send me off to the hospital soon!

 

[vespergirl]

Oh, and I forgot to mention - congrats to Logan Sapphire! Would love to hear the details about your delivery & new baby!

 

[swimmer]

Vesper, you can do it! My doc already told me she is fine with me going beyond 42 weeks, I''m at 38 and won''t even get an internal till 40. The interesting thing is that I freaking know when I ovulated, the shots and IUI take away the guessing right? Are you also tall? Another OB saw me this am and figured I had 4 more weeks because he has the space to hang out for some time.

HH, phhhhhhhbt! Yes, you just saw my belly! It does defy gravity so I understand that it frightens people when I''m in spandex shorts

(no emotie can really convey the horror) but the woman ringing me up at old freaking navy just told me that I was going to have to get Pitocin. I''m sure Old Navy only hires the most highly trained... Yeah, I am just used to being tall and scary so when people want to talk to me about my body it freaks me out. I''m even fine with old ladies who want to pat the belly, whatever, I''m on the subway, I should trust that something random will happen and that germs are everywhere. I will strive to reign in my look of death, (you know I can unleash that sucker) because you are prob right, I should be tolerant of people who can''t google. Hope you are having fun on your trip, getting tan at the pool if all is going well! They make those fruity drinks without alcohol...

Cara, always the voice of reason! yeah, more signs that the right OB makes all the difference in the world. I picked mine knowing that she is against induction unless it HAS to be done and that she is an athlete who worked out through her own pregnancies. I can''t get my hr up to 140 swimming, its the being horizontal, the heart gets to be lazy and make the lungs do all the work. Can you get to a pool? even water walking feels so good, the relief from no belly weight is amazing. Hope you are doing well as the temp rises.

 

[taovandel]

It probably also depends on how badly you failed the 1 hour. I failed my 1 hour by 10 points.

Congrats to Logan Sapphire!

HH: can''t wait to hear the sex of your lo!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

SS- had to pop in and send you good vibes for your 3hr test. I passed the 1st 1hr test (took it at 16 weeks because of my AMA), failed my 2nd 1hr test at 27 weeks, and failed the 3hr test 2 days afterward. So, I was diagnosed with GD in my 28th week and have been on the diet ever since- my numbers are under control

WISHING YOU GOOD LUCK! Know that most women who failed the 1hr went on to pass the 3hr.

Swimmer- i''m frustrated for you! I too have kept up with my workouts and have gotten a couple of weird looks here and there- mostly from older folks. Whatever- my OB and Peri have given me kudos for staying active, and it''s almost mandatory to do when you have GD.

Lyndsay- I too got teary-eyed reading your update. Glad to hear that all is well! HUGS

BB- so sorry to hear about your friend.

Vesper- Get to baking, girl!

Hello to all the preggos- glad to see everyone is doing well.

Quick update from me- went on our "urban babymoon" last weekend, and it was such a joy to getaway and just chill. We ate our way through the city (kept my GD in check!), and also walked A LOT. Visited a great saturday market and bought some handmade odds and ends for the bebe- a bib, reversible coveralls, and a sling that i''m super-excited about. The gal that makes them gave us a complete run-through on how to use it, and it''s very adaptable (can be used from newborn to toddler).

My "gal-pals" shower is this weekend- BF is flying in from SFO and other friends are coming up from SD. I''m looking forward to some girl-time!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Swimmer, I just laughed. Did someone really tell you that you''d need pitocin? That''s a riot and clearly she''s a moron. I think it''s great that you''ve stayed so active and I should probably follow your example. However, I''m going to go devour a slice of tres leches cake instead....

 

[lili]

Lindsey
I''m so happy to hear that the treatment is going well and that you and Andrew are doing superbly.
Not too much longer for you.

SomethingShiny
Ditto on others about failing the 1hr and passing the 3 hrs.
My sister failed her 1 hr for both of her pregnancy but passed the 3 hr w/ flying colors.
As did I.
The lab tech told me that so many women did so too.

for the baby''s growth.
Hoping the heart issue resolved itself soon.

Vesper
Lots of labor dust to you.
Have you been baking chocolate cakes and brownies?

Allie
Aww....that first trimester body is the worst.
You just feel so thick waisted and sausagey.
It will pass and you''ll be sporting a cute little bump soon.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Date: 4/20/2010 12:27:28 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
1.5 days until we see the LO''s junk! I''ve never in my life been so excited to see another person''s genitalia!

HA! i just spit out my water.

HH- do you have a "gut" feeling? I sense boy for you...

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

My gut (literally my bloated gut) is telling me girl.

 

[littlelysser]

Date: 4/20/2010 1:42:28 PM
Author: Mandarine

Date: 4/20/2010 1:25:22 PM

Author: dreamer_d

Date: 4/20/2010 12:15:37 PM


Author: taovandel


I failed the one hour and passed the 3 hour.

I did too.



25% of women fail the 1 hour test and only 2-4% of women actually have GD, so the odds are that you got a false positive. Don''t worry until you get the next results.

Same here!

quadritto

 

[vespergirl]

Date: 4/20/2010 3:51:15 PM
Author: swimmer
Vesper, you can do it! My doc already told me she is fine with me going beyond 42 weeks, I''m at 38 and won''t even get an internal till 40. The interesting thing is that I freaking know when I ovulated, the shots and IUI take away the guessing right? Are you also tall? Another OB saw me this am and figured I had 4 more weeks because he has the space to hang out for some time.

HH, phhhhhhhbt! Yes, you just saw my belly! It does defy gravity so I understand that it frightens people when I''m in spandex shorts

(no emotie can really convey the horror) but the woman ringing me up at old freaking navy just told me that I was going to have to get Pitocin. I''m sure Old Navy only hires the most highly trained... Yeah, I am just used to being tall and scary so when people want to talk to me about my body it freaks me out. I''m even fine with old ladies who want to pat the belly, whatever, I''m on the subway, I should trust that something random will happen and that germs are everywhere. I will strive to reign in my look of death, (you know I can unleash that sucker) because you are prob right, I should be tolerant of people who can''t google. Hope you are having fun on your trip, getting tan at the pool if all is going well! They make those fruity drinks without alcohol...

Cara, always the voice of reason! yeah, more signs that the right OB makes all the difference in the world. I picked mine knowing that she is against induction unless it HAS to be done and that she is an athlete who worked out through her own pregnancies. I can''t get my hr up to 140 swimming, its the being horizontal, the heart gets to be lazy and make the lungs do all the work. Can you get to a pool? even water walking feels so good, the relief from no belly weight is amazing. Hope you are doing well as the temp rises.

Swimmer, it''s funny that you ask - I''m 5''9" and have a very long torso. So, it may just be that the baby has tons of room to spread out - since he''s comfy and not crowded, he is in no rush to get out I guess. How tall are you?

 

[split_shank]

I''m crossing over from the Barely PG''ers, although my first post here is going to be a pity party. Just warning you.

I feel absolutely horrid. I have no doubt that his baby (aka evil embyro

) is making a permanant home and making me very aware of it. I have not felt this sick in my entire life. I can''t ''snack'' anymore. Laying down is bad, sitting up is bad. I know I''m not the first, or the last woman on earth to have all day sickness, so I expect no sympathy. I am hoping that somehow typing this will distract my gag reflex into submission.

Crap. Didn''t work.

 

[vespergirl]

Charger & Lili, I tried baking chocolate cupcakes this weekend, and nothing doing yet. Maybe I need to make something from scratch instead of a mix

 

[somethingshiny]

split shank~ Welcome! Sorry about your all-day sickness. I had it too. With my first, it finally quit around 30ish weeks. This time it pretty much passed around the 20ish point. Hope yours goes away VERY soon!!

Vesper~ I''m pretty sure "baking" isn''t supposed to mean get a box! Get yourself movin and throw some brownies in the oven!!! Perhaps stir them while bouncing....



Thanks to all who posted about their GD tests!! My 3 hr is tomorrow so hopefully I''ll have good news!! I don''t know the exact number from my 1 hr test, but the nurse made it sound kinda high. I''ll know soon enough! For breakfast on the 1 hr, I was told to just eat protein for breakfast so I had a couple hard boiled eggs. I''m sure my number was crazy because of that too. My body isn''t used to not having a real breakfast! I''m fairly certain I may starve to death before I can eat tomorrow. I''m going to make sure to have a midnight snack!!

 

[cara]

Split shank, I am so sorry. You do get my sympathy! I was there.

1)Consider meds (zofran or generic version). It didn''t make mine go away entirely, but took it one or two notches better most of the time. I''m still on it at lower dose at 17 weeks, though overall am doing much better than horrid weeks 6-10.

2)Eat *regularly* whatever works for you. Getting hungry is the worst, avoid triggers, try fruits and bland carbs and for me, Mara''s suggestion of a judicious amount of regular Coke was magic elixer.

3)As soon as you can tolerate, get walking or some mild exercise back in rotation. I know for a few weeks there I was a zombie doing nothing, but in the second month I managed to add walking in, especially right after breakfast which for me was a horrible time, and that helped suppress the nausea a good bit. There''s actually some science too it - vagus (sp?) nerve is responsible for nausea, and exercise helps suppress it.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Hello, ladies! Sorry for my long absence - it was necessary. I''ve been trying to keep up from my phone though. Congrats to the new mamas!

My birth story. This might be long!

On 4/7 I started having contractions, at around 6am. I tracked them all day long at work, and my supervisor sent me home at 2pm when I started having to breath through them. I came home and miraculously continued having labor pains. I called L&D around 9pm because the pain was bad enough that I figured I had to be making some progress, and I started to lose my mucous plug, so they had me come in. I was only 2cm dilated and 90% effaced, so they had me walk for two hours. Came back, no change. So they sent me home with a sedative to try and get some sleep, but I only sort of dozed all night. I would wake up with every contraction and breath through it, with Antonio rubbing my back to ease some of the pressure. I stayed there as long as possible, but at 11 tried to get up. I couldn''t. The pain was so bad all I could do was cry, so Antonio had to physically lift me to my feet. Once up I was better, so I decided to take a shower after sweating through contractions all night. I was fine until the end, when I was about to get out, and got rapid tunnel vision and passed out. I fell right out of the shower onto the floor, and bruised myself up pretty good. Antonio ran to get me up and called L&D in a panic, but I was mostly alright. I went back in to L&D, and I was still not progressing. At this point when they told me to go home I was angry - I had fallen, I was past my due date, and they were unwilling to help me because the baby was not showing any signs of distress. I certainly was distressed! At this point I had been in labor for 36 hours.

After another sleepless day at home, we went back in at 10pm on the 8th. This time the midwife on duty took pity on me - I was 4cm and somehow, only 50% effaced, but she admitted me. I made it through about 5 hours or so like this, just breathing through contractions, but I wasn''t making any progress at all so they put me on pitocin and gave me the epidural. This is when all hell started to break loose.

The woman doing my epi was fairly good, only took a couple minutes, but it was AGONY. She couldn''t get into the right position and was crunching against my cartilage and bone repeatedly. And only my left side was going numb at first. Then rather suddenly, my left leg twitched hard enough to shake my entire body, and I was numb from the diaphragm down. They helped me lie down, and had to put me on oxygen because I was so numb I couldn''t feel anything in almost my entire body. About 7 different people ended up in my room, and according to my husband, it was chaos. I don''t recall much, but my blood pressure dropped and the baby''s heart rate slowed significantly. They put in a catheter and a monitor on the baby''s head to track his BP better, and decided I had to let the original epi wear off because they were pretty sure it ended up in my spine. I shook and twitched and fell in and out of sleep during the next hour, and when I woke up, they decided to keep my epi dosage VERY low because I was apparently very sensitive to the drug. For the next few hours (I forget how long this was - I was very out of it), I used my little "magic button" to decide how much of the drug I needed, but I could only use it three times an hour. And pretty soon I was using my three punches up REALLY quickly. I was checked twice during this, and I progressed all the way to 7cm, which they took as a good sign. They tried to change my dosage of the epi, but by that afternoon I had all feeling back in my right hip stretching to my groin. The epi was strong on my left side, but the right side stopped working and I was in extreme pain thanks to the pitocin, so they tried to relocate my epi catheter.

The man doing it this time tried for nearly ten minutes while I shook and screamed - the pain was worse than any contraction I had during that time, and eventually made me throw up. Another anesthesiologist wanted to intentionally put it into my spine this time, using the drugs they normally give you for c-sections. She got it on the first try, but the pain didn''t stop. They waited almost an hour while I writhed and cried on the bed, and the epi never took hold. She kept pumping my catheter full of drugs and resorted to cocktails of drugs mixed after awhile, but it never worked. The OB GYN on call was killing me, too, because he didn''t want me to go into surgery to eleviate my pain - he kept upping my pitocin and watching my contractions, but needless to say, all that did was make me feel worse. During this time they checked my cervix, and I had REGRESSED - I was back at 3cm. The OB finally agreed that I had to go in for a c-section, under general anesthesia since none of the epi drugs were working on me, and the baby was starting to show signs of distress.

Lying on that table in surgery was possibly the scariest moment of my life, and by then I was screaming non-stop because the pitocin, despite no longer being hooked up to my IV, was stacking my contractions one on top of the other with no relief. The smell of the anesthesia coming through my oxygen mask to put me out was like ambrosia. I later found out that Micah had somehow turned in my belly and was breech. Naughty monkey.

Micah Asher was a healthy 7 pounds, 5 ounces, 21 inches long!

I don''t remember much from when I woke up, but Antonio was there right away and he said I wouldn''t stop smiling and asking for the baby. I kept falling asleep between questions, too, because they had me full of morphine and other happy drugs. I saw Micah in pictures on our camera, then for a few minutes in my room with my family before I finally passed out. I woke up a few hours later with extreme chills and they hooked me up to antibiotics because the baby had apparently passed meconium in utero which gave me an infection.

I had two good days in the hospital, but on the third day I all but stopped eating and starting throwing up what little I did eat. The holes they had poked in my spine were still leaking fluid and causing me extreme headaches and nausea, but all I could do for it was lay flat as much as possible, drink soda, or get a blood patch. The patch involved them drawing my blood and injecting it into my spine above the holes to close them up. Needless to say, I was NOT impressed by that and turned it down...so I spent the first week home with the baby either in bed or in the recliner. Only 10 days after Micah arrived have I been able to even do so much as change his diaper, and not being able to sit up to pump or nurse means I haven''t been able to breastfeed.

My husband has been an absolute godsend, doing pretty much everything for both the baby and I and taking very good care of us. I can''t even describe how lucky I am to have him in my life for this. And Micah is the precious little bundle of joy that makes all my suffering worth it. I can''t imagine life without him now, and he is such a good baby. But he will be an only child for awhile!

 

[vespergirl]

Oh, MonkeyPie, what an awful birth experience. I am so sorry that you had to go through all of that. Thank goodness that you and the baby are both OK, but that sounds like it was absolutely traumatic.

Antonio sounds like a fantastic husband, and I''m so glad that little Micah Ascher is a robust and happy little baby boy. I am sending you loads of dust to feel better soon - please take care of yourself!

 

[vespergirl]

Date: 4/20/2010 8:43:45 PM
Author: split_shank
I''m crossing over from the Barely PG''ers, although my first post here is going to be a pity party. Just warning you.

I feel absolutely horrid. I have no doubt that his baby (aka evil embyro

) is making a permanant home and making me very aware of it. I have not felt this sick in my entire life. I can''t ''snack'' anymore. Laying down is bad, sitting up is bad. I know I''m not the first, or the last woman on earth to have all day sickness, so I expect no sympathy. I am hoping that somehow typing this will distract my gag reflex into submission.

Crap. Didn''t work.

Splitshank, congrats on your pregnancy and welcome! I''m so sorry that you''re having awful morning sickness. Saltines worked for me, but mine wasn''t very severe. You should definitely talk to your OB about some meds. I''m hoping that it passes soon!

 

[AllieLuv83]

congratulations MP...that sounds lie quite the birth story. I am sorry that you had to go through that but very happy that you have your sweet babe to show for it!

SplitShank...I had bad morning sickness for about 4 weeks from week 6 to week 10. Never throwing up though, it was just a constant nausea. What I found was that fresh fruit, vegetables and ice pops really kept it at bay. There was a week where all I could eat was actually fruit smoothies, everything else made me feel ill to the stomach. I still get bouts of nausea and I am almost 14 weeks, however it is not nearly as severe as it used to be. I would find myself sick before a meal, and after a meal. The only time I didn''t really feel it was when I was eating. I also experienced the "Oh that sounds good to eat" sending DH to go out and get it and 5 minutes lated "Ugh no way can I eat that"...that symptom was the worst.

 

[lovelylulu]

wow MP

.

I''m so glad that you are finally feeling better. what an ordeal. but what a beautiful little guy at the end. and many kuddos to your man!!

congratulations over and over.