July 2016 Moms
coffeeandcupcakes
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Post Pregnancy Survey for July BMB
coffeeandcupcakes
member
A thread for a post pregnancy GTKY survey. This is meant to be different than the birth story on the announcement thread, with answers relativity short. If there are certain questions you would like to elaborate on or skip please feel free. I thought it would be interesting to see all of the different responses in one place. Please keep this survey chatter free. It is to be filled out after the delivery of baby.
The Basics:
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?:
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+):
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP):
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?:
- Babies sex?:
- When did you start to show?:
- How far along were you when you delivered?:
- How big was baby?:
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?:
- Favorite part about being pregnant?:
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?:
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?:
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?:
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?:
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?:
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?:
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?:
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere):
- What type of pain management did you use?:
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?:
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?:
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self?
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self?
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self?
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor?
- Best advice another parent gave you?
- Worse advice another parent gave you?
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes:
- Favorite foods while pregnant:
- Favorite activity while pregnant:
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped?
- Did you have heartburn? What helped?
- Were you constipated? What helped?
- Did you have any swelling? What helped?
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind?
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth?
- When did you first feel baby kick?
- When did you partner first feel baby kick?
- Did you have any nesting urges?
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where?
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay?
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy?
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy?
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones?
- Any food aversions while pregnant?
The Basics:
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?:
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+):
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP):
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?:
- Babies sex?:
- When did you start to show?:
- How far along were you when you delivered?:
- How big was baby?:
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?:
- Favorite part about being pregnant?:
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?:
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?:
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?:
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?:
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?:
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?:
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?:
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere):
- What type of pain management did you use?:
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?:
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?:
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self?
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self?
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self?
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor?
- Best advice another parent gave you?
- Worse advice another parent gave you?
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes:
- Favorite foods while pregnant:
- Favorite activity while pregnant:
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped?
- Did you have heartburn? What helped?
- Were you constipated? What helped?
- Did you have any swelling? What helped?
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind?
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth?
- When did you first feel baby kick?
- When did you partner first feel baby kick?
- Did you have any nesting urges?
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where?
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay?
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy?
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy?
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones?
- Any food aversions while pregnant?
Anything else you’d like to share?
Re: Post Pregnancy Survey for July BMB
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): I'm 27
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: About 12 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 37+1
- How big was baby?: 6lbs 13oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: Unplanned c-section
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: How my body looked with a belly
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: First trimester nausea
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Yes, two leading up to his induction.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: Excited, ready.
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: Don't worry about pooping on the table and eat something delicious.
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: Epidural was placed about 24 hours before unplanned c-section. It was awesome.
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): I posted my birth story on the board. I was schedule for a long induction and hated it. I wish I was more active in sharing my feelings during labor.
- What type of pain management did you use?: Epidural.
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: Husband and our birth photographer were both allowed in the operating room.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self?: Eat breakfast so you don't puke on the way to work.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self?: Write in the damn pregnancy journal while you have energy.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self?: Go on more dates. Take naps. Take a babymoon.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor?: Speak up. The worst they can say is no.
- Best advice another parent gave you?: Nothing lasts forever, things change in a few days.
- Worse advice another parent gave you?: Sleep when the baby is sleeping. Great if you can...
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Motherhood Maternity
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Coke Icees, fruit, quesadillas, egg mcmuffins.
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Being lazy?
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped?: Icees or slushy drinks, spearmints, saltines.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? No
- Were you constipated? What helped? No
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? No
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped No
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind?: Yes only from family. I don't love being touched but I smiled and dealt with it.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth?: Blue. We had a sex ultrasound done at 15 weeks.
- When did you first feel baby kick?: No clue, I suck at keeping track of these kind of things.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick?: 3rd trimester? I don't know that either.
- Did you have any nesting urges?: Totally. Nursery was essentially done by 20 weeks.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where?: No and I really regret this.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay?: Nay- my sex drive dried up. It's come back with a vengeance now though.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy?: 8
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy?: Working
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones?: Yep a general one put on by my hospital. I found it a waste of time. If you like to research things yourself you don't need it.
- Any food aversions while pregnant?: MEAT. I found red meat to be the most disgusting thing ever.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 30-34
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Female
- When did you start to show?: about month 4-5
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39+4
- How big was baby?: 6lbs 10oz, 18.5"
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: feeling baby kick
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: the constant remarks from people, no matter how well-intentioned
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?:
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: yes
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: yes, and I don't think so (labor didn't start within 72 hours)
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: birth suite within hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: I woke up with excruciating pain
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: I tried eating fresh pineapple and walking, but I don't think they helped.
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 5 hours
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Honestly, it was the most amazing, primal experience I've ever had! Getting through it mindfully was key for me. I found it so helpful to listen to my body and respond to the hormones being produced throughout the process.
- What type of pain management did you use?: Breathing techniques
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: Husband
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?:
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Get better about sharing your excitement with people, no matter how much of an AW you feel like!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Be more careful about what you eat.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Keep up the activity, no matter how slow you feel.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Stay as calm as possible.
- Best advice another parent gave you? Live day to day; it's OK to change your mind about things.
- Worse advice another parent gave you?
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Thrift shops
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Pepperoni, Mexican food, cake, cookies, ice cream
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Walking
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? I had all-day queasiness, and it helped to not get too hungry.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Heartburn was awful in the last trimester, and a steady diet of Rolaids helped a bit.
- Were you constipated? What helped? Yes, and just trying to keep veggies and fruit in my diet did wonders.
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Yes, nothing helped.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Yes, nothing helped.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Not really
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Pink
- When did you first feel baby kick? Around week 19 or so
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? Around week 23-24
- Did you have any nesting urges? Not really
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? No
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Nay - mutually
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 11 or 12
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Yes, just the ones offered by our hospital. Honestly, I got more out of this BMB and was able to answer tons of questions in the class that other moms-to-be couldn't answer!
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Coffee
Anything else you’d like to share?
ETA: fleshed out the answer to child birth prep classes more.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 23
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Female
- When did you start to show?: Around 13/14 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 38.6 when she was finally born, 38.4 when we started the induction.
- How big was baby?: 7 lb 4 oz, 19.5 in long
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: feeling her move (unless she was punching my cervix or had the hiccups)
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: having to take meds for high BP, nausea, backaches
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: no
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: no membrane sweeps
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: hospital
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: excited, kind of scared/nervous
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: ultrafeast with DH-he offered to cook whatever I wanted! It was nice to have dinner together one more time.
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: after cervidil was placed at 10p on Friday, contractions started at 2a Saturday, but didn't get consistent until about 5a. I delivered at 2:26p on Sunday.
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): see story om birth announcement thread. I went in with every intention of staying med-free as long as possible, but definitely stay open to pain meds! They really helped move things along for me, and made ne much more comfortable.
- What type of pain management did you use?: everything
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: DH
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? sleep as much as you can-it gets worse as pregnancy goes on!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? be more active before you get too huge to care.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? have more sex!
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? have patience. The pain is accomplishing something!
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Goodwill or Old Navy
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Chipotle, sweets, caesar salad, apples
- Favorite activity while pregnant: sitting on the couch....
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? just the nausea. Honey nut cheerios and greek yogurt
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? I had the worst acid reflux, Nothing helped.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Yes- first was at around 13 weeks. Old coworker asked if I was still pregnant after rubbing my belly. I was pissed.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? pink
- When did you first feel baby kick? around 16 weeks
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 23 weeks
- Did you have any nesting urges? YES. I organized our entire apartment several times.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? Yes! Coupled with our anniversary. We went to a B&B about an hour away. It was amazing.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yuck. I had no sex drive. Now it's all I want! 3 more weeks...
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 8
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working part-time
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? General class put on by the hospital. It helped me feel more prepared, and helped DH find different ways to help me while I was in labor.
The Basics:
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 26
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): midwife
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: 12 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39 + 5
- How big was baby?: 7 pounds, 0.5 oz.
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: kicks
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: sleeping pain, barfing, sciatic nerve pain
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: I elected for one at 39 + 4
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: I had one at 39 + 4 and went into active labor a few hours later
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: I started having contractions that quickly became unbelievably painful and close together.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: I drank rrl tea and ate dates but neither of those us supposed to induce, more just prepare the uterus and potentially shorten labor. Considering my labor was only 5 hours, maybe it did work!
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: less than 6 hours.
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): I posted a short story in the announcement thread. The whole thing was really beautiful and I laughed and smiled through the whole pushing stage, I was so elated with excitement to finally meet my son. They placed him on my belly and Harvest Moon was playing and I'll never forget how perfect that moment was.
- What type of pain management did you use?: I opted for the epidural when I kept throwing up with each contraction. It allowed me to relax enough that I went from 6 cm to 10 in like an hour.
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: just my husband. It all happened so fast my mom didn't have time to get there which was okay because my husband and I had a great time just the two of us.
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: nothing. The whole thing was perfect.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Be as active as you can while you still can! It is only going to get harder!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Go to the movies while your bladder still makes it easy.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Take naps, go on dates.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? It's all worth it.
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: old navy
- Favorite foods while pregnant: ice cream, coffee, green beans
- Favorite activity while pregnant: napping, sex, eating, sitting in the pool.
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes, light snacks, carbonated drinks, ginger.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Yes, apple cider vinegar, papaya enzymes.
- Were you constipated? What helped? No
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? No
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Yes, bubble baths, heating pad.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? A few. Not a fan.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Blue, we found out at 20 weeks
- When did you first feel baby kick? Flutters around 16 weeks, kicks around 21.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 25 weeks or so?
- Did you have any nesting urges? Yes!
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? We went to the coast.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? YAY!
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 6 weeks
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Staying home, I had just graduated and quit my job a few months before BFP. I went on a 6 week road trip and came back pregnant!
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? I took a childbirth/breastfeeding/newborn care 7 week series.
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Poultry in the first trimester!
Anything else you’d like to share?
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 27
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OB/MFM for actual delivery
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: 12 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 28+1
- How big was baby?: 3 lbs 5 oz 16 inches long
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: feeling baby movements
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: morning sickness and constant worry and anxiety
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?:
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: only made it to 28 weeks
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?:
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: hospital. I was flown on an airplane after my water started leaking to a city 3 hours from home.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: my water started leaking
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 15 hours. The Dr. Was hoping to keep me on bed rest for 6 more weeks but Henry was in a rush to meet us! It was a whirlwind!
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): my story is rather long being as I went into labor 12 weeks early it is on the birth announcements thread. Shortened version: my water started leaking so I was flown to a hospital 3 hours away where they tried to stop labor but I kept progressing and delivered Henry 15 hours after my water started leaking vaginally med free.
- What type of pain management did you use?: Breathing and squeezing DH's hand ha
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: DH
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: nothing went as planned but it all happened the way it did for a reason
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? share my pregnancy with people sooner
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? get everything prepared for baby as you never know what could happen
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? I only made it 1 day into 3rd trimester
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? telling myself I am strong
- Best advice another parent gave you?
- Worse advice another parent gave you?
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: old navy
- Favorite foods while pregnant: salt and vinager chips
- Favorite activity while pregnant: sitting on the couch with DH feeling baby movements
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped?yes, Popsicles
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? yes,tums
- Were you constipated? What helped?
- Did you have any swelling? What helped?
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped yes, getting up and moving around and stretching
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind?
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? green
- When did you first feel baby kick? flutters around 18 weeks and kicks around 20
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 24 weeks, he didn't even get to feel the for very long before Henry was born
- Did you have any nesting urges?
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where?
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? nay- minimal interest on my part
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 7
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? working as a kindergarten teacher
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? ha We only got to go to 1 of our classes before Henry was born. There was supposed to be 4
- Any food aversions while pregnant? peppers and sausage
Anything else you’d like to share?
This was kind of tough for me to fill out as I wasn't even able to experience some of these things because in delivered at 28weeks. I am still working through the feelings of what I missed out on with my pregnancy being cut short. I am grateful every day for my healthy baby boy!
The Basics:
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 27
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: around 16 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 38+5
- How big was baby?: 7 lbs 10 oz and 20 inches
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: c-section
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: my body and the kicks
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: people thinking I'm incapable of doing things
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?:
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: no
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: did not have membrane sweeps
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: labored at home for a while, delivered at hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: water broke but contractions only started 5 hours later
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: no
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?:
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: epidural
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): I posted in the birth announcement thread but my biggest takeaway from my labor and birth is that you have to be open to going off the plan. We took a Bradley course and had every intention of having an unmedicated vaginal delivery. After over 30 hours of labor, 17 of which were unmedicated, that just wasn't going to happen as he was posterior and my cervix was swelling instead of dilating. The best thing for me at the time was 1. The epidural to relax, and then 2. The c-section. And ultimately that's what was needed for me to meet my baby, and that's ok.
- What type of pain management did you use?: epidural
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: just my husband
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: nothing
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Relax. I stressed a lot about not feeling pregnant, and I should've let those feelings go and gone with the flow.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Peanut M&Ms aren't going anywhere, calm down!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Nap. Napnapnapnap!!!
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Not sure... I did everything I had learned and then some and it was just working against me.
- Best advice another parent gave you? Enjoy the early days even though it's hard and a huge adjustment. Sleep whenever you can! Accept people's offers to help.
- Worse advice another parent gave you? "You'll wanna top him off with formula." Nothing against anyone who uses formula to feed their baby, but don't tell me what I'll want and not want to do feeding MY baby.,
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Gap
- Favorite foods while pregnant: mango, Greek yogurt, cocoa puffs, steak.
- Favorite activity while pregnant: does getting monthly prenatal massages count? Staying active in general felt good, so long walks with my dogs and my workouts at the gym.
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? No
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? No
- Were you constipated? What helped? No
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? No
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? No
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? No
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Green until a doc we don't usually see slipped and we became team blue.
- When did you first feel baby kick? 17 weeks.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? We don't remember.. Around 22-23
- Did you have any nesting urges? Kind of.. I wanted to get all his stuff situated and I'd randomly get bursts of cleaning energy.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? Yes, long weekend in Palm Springs. It rained the whole time...
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Nay! Ugh, no drive at all..
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 9 weeks
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working (from home)
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Bradley! Loved it. Learned a ton
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Eggs.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 25-29
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): Midwife
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: One perfect one!
- Babies sex?: Boy
- When did you start to show?: I looked chubby at 12 weeks and looked pregnant at 18-19 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 40 weeks exactly! He was born on his due date
- How big was baby?: 7lbs 1oz 21.5 inches
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: Vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling him kick, the way my body looked with a bump
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: the last 2 weeks... the waiting game is terrible
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?:
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Yes, I got them starting at 37 weeks
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: Yes, I had one at my 39 week apt. and my water broke 3 days later. Not sure if it helped or not.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: A birth center in a hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: My water broke but I never went into labor. I had to be induced
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: The ones I think that worked were bouncing on a ball and walking. I walked 2 miles with my puppy every morning and I bounced on a ball every day. My little guy was really low (-1 station) starting at 37 weeks and I do think it was because of what I was doing.
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: My water broke and I never had contractions so the night before my induction I was anxiously awaiting contractions at home. My midwife made me come into the birth center 12 hours after my water broke so I was admitted at 5 am the next day.
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: SLEEP! My induction took 28 hours and I barely got any sleep during it and I wished I would have slept the night before.
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: From when my water broke to when he was born at 42 hours, but I was technically in labor for 28 with my induction.
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Water broke but labor never started so I was admitted to the hospital 12 hours later at 5am on Sunday. They had me do 3 rounds of cytotek (sp?) but still no contractions. I started pitocin at 9pm that night and labored throughout the night. Contractions got really bad at 5am Monday and I asked to be checked for dilation, but I was only at a 6!! I went 1 cm in 10 hours so I got an epidural so I could sleep. I think I could have made it without the epi but it helped me relax and sleep, and they turned up the pitocin much higher and I went from a 6 to an 8 in an hour then an 8 to pushing in an hour. I pushed for 45 min and he came out sunny side up with a bruised face and cone head. My midwife said I was 100% reliant on the pitocin because my body just wouldn't contract. It was a wild experience.
- What type of pain management did you use?: I got an epi and it was awesome
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: Only my husband
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: I wouldn't change anything. Nothing went as planned, not one thing, but it was still perfect.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Don't stop working out even though you are exhausted! It will help in the long run
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Even though you can eat ice cream now (I was lactose intolerant until I got pregnant) don't eat ALL the ice cream
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Enjoy this time even though it's hard. Having him so close will be something you look back on and wish you would have paid more attention to. Once he's out, everyone will want to hold him and be close to him, he won't just be yours anymore.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Don't go in with such high expectations. No matter what happens you will leave with a happy healthy baby and that is what matters, not the fact that nothing went the way you had thought
- Best advice another parent gave you?
- Worse advice another parent gave you?
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Stitch Fix, I had a subscription and they have maternity clothes. The clothes were amazing and I didn't have to shop for them, they just showed up at my door. I will use them again next time!
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Ice cream and any carb. My pre-pregnancy self cringes at the thought of how many calories I ate in a day.
- Favorite activity while pregnant: walking
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Never did have ms
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Tums
- Were you constipated? What helped?
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? giving birth
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped Nothing really helped other than waiting it out
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Only from 1 cousin and I guess I didn't mind once I was obviously pregnant. I didn't like when she rubbed my belly when it was just chub
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? We found out early we were team blue
- When did you first feel baby kick? I had an anterior placenta so I didn't feel him until around 20 weeks
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? Again it took awhile because of the anterior placenta, but I would say roughly 25 weeks
- Did you have any nesting urges? OMG yes! We were renovating our house so once that was done I nested in weird ways. I HAD to have a pot lid organizer for under the cabinet because the pot lids needed to be organized. I HAD to have my husband move some shelves from one wall to another rightthisminute! And at about 39+2 I deep cleaned my whole house in one day. I was exhausted from it but it needed to happen.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? We went to the mountains to the hot springs. It was amazing at 35 weeks to soak in the hot springs all day.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? NAY! Until I decided it would help induce me then we did it every night.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? We were TTC so I knew really early. My first apt was at 6 weeks
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? I work from home
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Nope, I did self research
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Salad. It made me gag every time. And my steak/burgers had to be well done when normally I like mid rare.
Anything else you’d like to share? The thing that I think has helped me the most is the fact that I did research and read books on how to take care of a baby. Most of my friends and people I know only focus on giving birth, but that is just one day. After that, you have to go home with a tiny human that you are solely responsible for. I feel like I was very prepared for breastfeeding, sleep training, and other things you need to know for baby because I spent a lot of time looking into what I wanted to do. I read many different ideas and perspectives on how to care for a newborn and a baby and found what would work best for me and my husband and we have been consistent with it from day one. I believe it has helped us immensely! We are both on the same page for everything and know how we want to raise our child and so far it has been amazing.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: STM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 25-29
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: One
- Babies sex?: Boy
- When did you start to show?: 12 week
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 37 2
- How big was baby?: 7lbs 5oz 20 inches long
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: Vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling him move
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: reflux and other eating problems. Every meal made me feel crappy
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: N/A
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Yep. They started at 36 weeks and continued weekly. But I only got 2 done before labor
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: nope
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: Contractions started. I let them play out for a few hours befor I decided it was real labor.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: No
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: I had felt off all day. I couldn't explain Why though. Contractions started at 10 about half hour after I slept. When they started I was wide awake and couldn't sleep at all. I paced, and went back and forth to the bathroom with light diarrhea.
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 11 hours. That includes the time that I was at home thinking the contractions would stop
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): labored at home for 5-6 hours completely in denial that this was the real deal. By the time I got to the hospital I was 7cm dilated and was warned up front that I may not get to get pain meds. I was terrified! But I'm stubborn so I refused to admit it and let the doctors do their things. I nearly cried with relief when the epidural was in. Got my water broken and things progressed. It took 2-3 pushes for him to come out and everyone was amazed. Before the doctor came in the nurse had me do a "practice push" and stopped me midway bc he almost came out. I looked at my husband and asked if baby's head was that close and he looked at nodded with this amazed look. So the doctor came in and like I said 2 pushes and he was out. It was amazing. I couldn't feel anything except the pressure of him leaving my belly which was amazing. They put him on my chest and finished me up with a stitch or two. DH was tearing up and that made me cry. It was so amazing. Hearing his first cry was the most beautiful thing ever
- What type of pain management did you use?: I got an epidural. When it took my pain away my anxiety level dropped and I knew I could handle what was coming
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: my sister in law. She took some pics and was awesome.
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music my playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: probably wouldn't have waited so long to go, but at the same time that made this more memorable. Also, 2 of my sister in laws were on a mission trip in Haiti and missed the birth. Wish they'd been here
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self - don't stress so much. Most of the time things turn out right and if they don't stess won't help
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? just bc your pregnant don't become recluse. Pregnancy doesn't keep you from having fun. Don't isolate yourself
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? don't feel guilty for resting and letting others take on chores and such. Also I never called In sick due to pregnancy related reasons. Looking back I wish I would have on days I was particularly feeling crappy
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Don't be scared we got this! And listen to your body.
- Best advice another parent gave you?
- Worse advice another parent gave you?
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Whereever it was cheaper
- Favorite foods while pregnant: it varied. Salads, tomato sandwiches, hot dogs
- Favorite activity while pregnant: sleeping lol
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? horribly in first tri and then again in third, but it was just nausea then. Nothing helped. I wallowed in self pity haha
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Yep. Nothing helped again. I had to stop eating at 4 and sometimes I still got it
- Were you constipated? What helped? Occasionally but it worked itself out
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? A bit. Putting my feet up or talking my shoes off
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped nothing. I just dealt with it
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? once or twice. It annoyed me but I let it go
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Blue!
- When did you first feel baby kick? Oh about 15 weeks. It was right after a sever stomach flu and I had just eaten for the first time in days. I think he was shocked. After that it was several weeks before I felt it again
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? I had an anterior placenta so it was a whole. About 24 weeks
- Did you have any nesting urges? No but DH seemed too! The closest thing to nesting was about 3 days before labor and I cleaned the house. But it was typical daily cleaning... My DH had been doing it for a month or so since I always felt bad so I chalked that one day of Feeling energetic enough to do it as nestinf
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? no. I was saving all my vaca time for maternity leave and DH works weekends. It just mener worked.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Nay! There were like 2 weeks I felt like sex but it was so uncomfortable during we kinda gave up
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? Usually they wait until 8 weeks but due to bleeding I got in at 6
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Nope. Decided just to wing it
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Bacon and Pickels followed by pizza. Now I can eat Pickels and pizza again but me and bacon will never be friends again
Anything else you’d like to share? just how amazing my DH was. He put up with a lot of BS from me when I was pregnant but didn't complain to much. The closer I got to being done the more he took on with the kids and around the house so I could rest. When it was
Time to have this fellow he was awesome. I couldn't imaging doing anyof this without him.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 25-29 (28)
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): Midwife
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: 14 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 40+6
- How big was baby?: 8 lbs 4 oz and 20 inches
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: baby kicks and daily hiccups
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Being SO big! It was so uncomfortable the last 4-6 weeks.
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: I went 6 days over and I melted down a lot. The phrase "honor your body" became my mantra.
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: My midwife started at 40 weeks.
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: I had one at 40 weeks and lost my mucus plug and had some bloody show.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Labored at home for a couple goes then labored and delivered at a birth center.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: I had BH all night and morning then had see where they became painful contractions and they got to 3-1-1 within a couple hours.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: Drank RRL tea, took EPO orally and vaginally, sex daily, exercise including jogging, ate pineapple, tried my pump. Nothing worked/helped at all.
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: BH, contractions, active, and pushing about 12 hours total.
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): I had exactly the birth I wanted and planned for. I feel amazed and empowered like it was one of the most otherworldly, intense, awesome experiences of my life. I loved my birth and when I look at my birth photos I feel like a well-supported, well-loved goddess.
- What type of pain management did you use?: None. My husband applied counter pressure and cool peppermint EO rags to my low back because I mainly had back labor.
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: Midwife, nurse (staff), DH, 2 doulas, and birth photographer.
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: I'd have played background music for everyone else. It was dead silent other than my moaning and probably we could have all used a little tranquil music for the moments between contractions.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Relax and assume you're healthy and capable until and unless you have reason to believe otherwise. Odds are you're the rule, not the exception.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Enjoy this time- this is the easy part. Exercise a little more too it'll make it easier during third tri.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Honor your body. Trust your body and your baby. They will know just what to do when the time comes and it WILL come!
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Make sure your support people are taking care of your DH. He is going through a lot physically and emotionally and while you want no one's help but his put the people you hired to work taking care of him!
- Best advice another parent gave you? Make sure your DH takes candid photos of you with baby. Don't disappear no matter how you look you're going to want those photos.
- Worse advice another parent gave you? LOL everything! Nursing is hard. You'll be SO sleep deprived. You won't feel like yourself for a long time. You won't want to use cloth pads or diapers right away because it's too much laundry. Your husband will feel neglected/ you'll love your baby more thank your husband. Etc etc etc.
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Target
- Favorite foods while pregnant: artichoke, nachos, root beer
- Favorite activity while pregnant?: Soaking in candle-lit baths with my DH, playing music for baby and watching him roll around in the belly.
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes, nothing. Barfed until I didn't around 14 weeks.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Yes, sleeping. I didn't take anything just lived with it and usually woke up all better in the morning.
- Were you constipated? What helped? No
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? A little swelling those last 3-4 weeks in my hands and feet. Having the baby fixed it!
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? A little. Exercise and stretching helped.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Yes, didn't mind.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Green until our shower then revealed blue!
- When did you first feel baby kick? 20 weeks
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? Around 22 weeks
- Did you have any nesting urges? Yes and I sewed like crazy until halfway through third trimester.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? Yes, Indian hot springs and spa.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yay! All the sex the whole time. Still need to finish that last session that sent me into labor... Can't wait!
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 10 weeks
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Yes. 4 week birthing from the center, 1 BF, 1 newborn and PP care
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Seafood! Only crawfish were exempt.
The Basics:
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?:
FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 25-29
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Female
- When did you start to show?: early second trimester probably
- How far along were you when you delivered?: I was 41 weeks
- How big was baby?: 7lb 9oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: emergency c sectio
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: feeling her
move
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: the SPD and sciatic/ piriformis pain
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: not much but getting my induction date helped because and end was in sight as well as just trying to stay busy
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: yes we started at 36 weeks
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: I had two membrane sweeps but they did nothing for me.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: I was induced
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: N/A
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: excited and nervous
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: we spent time getting everything ready which helped me feel prepared and took time getting myself ready such as shaving my legs and spending time togetherZ
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: N/A
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?: N/A
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: I had an epidural because I was working on a vsginal delivery but because I needed the emergency section there was no time for anything other than general anesthesia
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): I was induced just using pitocin as I was dilating well on my own. I got to 9cm and my water broke on its on but Lily's heart decelerated very quickly and they were unable to stabilize her in the room and after a few minutes 1-3 tops they rushed me to the OR to save her as she was only at 50 hpm. They did get the heart stabilized once they got me to the OR but still proceeded as they were worried it would happen again. From time they came In to her birth was 15 minutes top. Actual OR time was 5 minutes.
- What type of pain management did you use?: I used nitrous Oxide for part of my labor and an epidural for the last hour.
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: my husband was there during my labor but because of the emergency nature they did not allow him to be in the OR.
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: not really it was a really good labor for the most part.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Hang in there don't be afraid to use medicine to help control MS
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Have grace for yourself and your body!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? there is always an end in sight and due dates are estimates.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? It will end!
- Best advice another parent gave you? Sleep when baby sleeps
- Worse advice another parent gave you? I didn't really get any bad advice except all the nurses scaring me half to death about SIDS
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: motherhood
- Favorite foods while pregnant: salty
- Favorite activity while pregnant: going to the pool!
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes! Unisom and B6
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? I took acid reflux pills
- Were you constipated? What helped? I wasn't really constipated.
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Not really.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? I had a few people touch me if I knew them I didn't mind
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Team pink
- When did you first feel baby kick? Second trimester it took me longer due to my anterior placenta.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? Several weeks after that for the same reason.
- Did you have any nesting urges? I had some where I felt the need to work on the nursery but not too much nesting other than feeling like I needed to prepare.
- Did you go on a baby-moon? Where? We had a few days off for our anniversary where we did a staycation and did activities here.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yay!!
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 8 weeks (turned out to be 7 weeks for us)
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working full time
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Nope
- Any food aversions while pregnant?
Not really
Anything else you’d like to share?
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?:
FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 25-29
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): Midwife
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Female
- When did you start to show?: 15 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39 weeks 1 day
- How big was baby?: 7lb 1oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: Vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Her kicks. And how I looked.
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Back pain and acid reflux.
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?:
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: No.
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: No.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Birth center.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: My water broke!
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: Walking and having sex. I'm not really sure.
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: I was in active labor for 8 hours. Total time was 16 hours.
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?: N/A
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): I have my birth story posted in the announcement thread. My water broke right after I went to bed. Went to the hospital and labored without medication. I was in transition for a long time due to an anterior lip in my cervix. They manually couldn't remove it, so I had to labor in multiple positions. After that went away I was able to push and she came out healthy and beautiful!
- What type of pain management did you use?: I got a little bit of fetanol while in transition because of the anterior lip.
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: My husband, my two sister in laws, and my best friend.
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: Nope!
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Stock up some meals for your poor husband. You will be eating boxed mashed potatoes for 8 weeks.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Keep walking even if it is raining! You will feel so much better.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Stop suffering. Go to a chiropractor.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Enjoy the breaks in your contractions. You can do this!
- Best advice another parent gave you? There are a lot of different opinions out there, but just do what is best for you and your family. These small decisions aren't what matters in the long run.
- Worse advice another parent gave you? Her nose needs to touch your breast when you feed her. (I ended up preventing her from swallowing because her neck was so scrunched)
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Ross
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Lemons. Salami. Anything sour.
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Relaxing.
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes. Unisom and ginger tea.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Yes. Tums.
- Were you constipated? What helped? No.
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? No.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Yes. Nothing.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? So many! I didn't mind.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Team pink
- When did you first feel baby kick? 19 weeks.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 23 weeks.
- Did you have any nesting urges? Yes! I was crazy!! I cleaned everything and anything.
- Did you go on a baby-moon? Where? Yes. Day trip to Mt. Hood.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Nay. My sex drive plummeted. Now it is insane!
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 5 weeks due to heavy bleeding.
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working full time.
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? No.
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Coffee. Red meat for the first trimester.
Anything else you’d like to share?
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 25-29
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OB/GYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Female
- When did you start to show?: Around 14-15 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39w0d
- How big was baby?: 7 lb 4 oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: C-section
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling baby girl kick
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: The hip/groin pain those last 2 months
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?:
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Yes, at 36 and 37 week appointments
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: Nope
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?:
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?:
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: Epidural
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Baby girl was not head down and therefore was not having any sort of labor progress (at last cervical check, 0 cm). Planned a C-section for 39 weeks so went into the hospital then. They did an ultrasound to confirm that she was still breech before they sent me in for surgery. Epidural was pretty uncomfortable but once it kicked in, it worked like a charm. The time from the start of surgery to her being born was 7 minutes, so pretty fast. However, she inhaled amniotic fluid on her way out (due to being pulled out by her bottom). She ended up being admitted to the NICU where she developed a pneumothorax due to the oxygen equipment they had her on for her breathing. She was there for 8 days but is finally home!
- What type of pain management did you use?:
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: My DH
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?:
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Enjoy being able to sleep on your back while you can!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Enjoy being able to walk around normally without hip pain!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Savor the last few weeks where you can feel the baby rolling and kicking
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor?
- Best advice another parent gave you?
- Worse advice another parent gave you?
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Motherhood Maternity
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Enjoyed a Coca Cola every now and then for a caffeine kick
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Walking the dog and sleeping
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Nope
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Yes, lots of heartburn at the end; TUMS
- Were you constipated? What helped? Moreso in the 2nd trimester; eating fiber foods and drinking prune juice
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Lots of swelling in my ankles; elevation
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Yes, definitely some near the end; moved slowly haha
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Nope
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Team Pink
- When did you first feel baby kick? 17 weeks
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? Around 23-24 weeks
- Did you have any nesting urges? Yes
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? Nope
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yes, only a few times
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 10 weeks with the OB/GYN
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Yes, childbirth, child care, and breastfeeding classes
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Could NOT eat red meat in the 1st trimester. Glad that went away.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Our baby girl was the result of undergoing an IUI at a fertility clinic. My DH and I had been trying for over a year so we started seeing a reproductive endocrinologist. I had an HSG done which showed open tubes and all my bloodwork came back fine so I was diagnosed with unexplained fertility (my DH also seemed to have fairly good numbers...maybe a little low on motility). After 3 months of trying Clomid to jump start my ovulation, I finally got 2 good follicles and we had the IUI done and fortunately it worked the first time! Here we are 9 months later with our precious baby girl :-)
Started TTC in June 2014
Started seeing RE in June 2015
HSG in July 2015 = normal, started Clomid/Ovidrel/IUI cycle in August 2015
Cycle #3 in October afforded 1st month of mature follicles - underwent IUI
BFP on 10/27/15 - EDD 7/8/16
DD#1 born on 7/1/16
TTC #2 in September 2018
BFP on 12/2/18 - EDD 8/16/19
Team Green!
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 30
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: One
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: 14 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 37 weeks 6 days
- How big was baby?: 6 pounds 6.3 ounces
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: Vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Baby movement, giant belly
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: First trimester sickness, being tired, limited movement, couldn't sleep on back or belly
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?:
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Not until induction
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: No
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?:
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: I didn't know the night before so I'm sure I felt fine.
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: Distractions- we watched Netflix, tried to rest
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 36 hours
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Birth story posted with announcement. I was induced because of pre-eclampsia and it took a long time. I had trouble sleeping because I was scared/excited. I was SO glad to have hired a doula. I was not happy to be confined to bed for my labor. I did end up getting an epidural which I think helped me sleep some and relax. Transition sucked. I was SO glad to get to the pushing phase. Apparently I pushed for 45 minutes but it felt like 5. I felt such a sense of relief when baby arrived. And I felt like the biggest bad ass ever for birthing my child.
- What type of pain management did you use?: Epidural
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: my husband, my doula
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: I wish I had been more assertive with birth plan preferences. I wish I had been more positive after learning I had to be induced and confined to the bed. During pushing, I finally said there were too many people in the room and I wish I would have done that earlier.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? You will make it to the end. Also, don't wait until second trimester to exercise regularly.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Rest up!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Relax and rest some more.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? SLEEP
- Best advice another parent gave you? Don't freak out
- Worse advice another parent gave you? You probably won't be able to keep up with breastfeeding.
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Target
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Bagels and cream cheese
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Prenatal yoga
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes, diclegis helped some.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Yes, TUMS
- Were you constipated? What helped? No
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Yes, compression socks helped
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Some, not too bad though.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Mostly just my mom. It didn't bother me.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Team blue.
- When did you first feel baby kick? Just before 20 weeks.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 27 weeks
- Did you have any nesting urges? Yes, organizing and getting the baby's room ready
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? We went to Lake of the Ozarks
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Nay
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 6 weeks
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working, self-employed 20-30 hours per week
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Breastfeeding class, Newborn care class and Childbirth class
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Fruit and veggies...not fun to throw up.
Anything else you’d like to share? As much as I disliked pregnancy, I am so glad I did it and we have baby Elijah here! He's so worth it!!!!
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): I am 26
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: I didn't really start to notice until 6 or 7 months.
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39 +1
- How big was baby?: 19 inches long and 9lbs 4oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: Vagina Birth
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling LO move around in my belly.
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Heartburn and morning sickness!
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Yes
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: No
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: I was excited, but no expecting the induction until the next day. Was a pleasant surprise to have LO on the 13th!
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: Have a nice meal and enjoy your time with SO... and get some rest if you can!
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: Contractions had been happening for a while, 4-8 minutes apart. I pushed for 28 minutes during active labor before LO arrived.
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Wrote my birth experience in the announcement thread. The fact that it went so well and so quickly at the end was very empowering for me because I had been so afraid of how it would go for so long.
- What type of pain management did you use?: I opted for an epidural and it was glorious.
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: Just my husband.
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: I wouldn't change anything.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Start saving money for maternity leave and eat the damn saltines!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Drink more water... no really, even more than what you think is enough!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Get everything set up and rearranged sooner. Waiting until the last minute is painful.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Remember to breath and push with the contractions.
- Best advice another parent gave you?
- Worse advice another parent gave you?
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: I didn't
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Homemade tacos.
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Sleeping
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes. The only thing that helped was making sure I ate something very plain before heading to work.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? All. The. Time. Only real relief was Zantac.
- Were you constipated? What helped? No
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Not until the very end and nothing has helped.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped Yes and nothing but rest helped.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Twice and I just kind of dealt with it because it wasn't happening too often.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Blue
- When did you first feel baby kick? Not sure, but it was a pleasant surprise!
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? Again, not sure how far along, but it was later in my pregnancy. LO was shy.
- Did you have any nesting urges? Not until after LO got here. I have spent the last two nights while he is asleep cleaning the apartment!
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? No
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yes, when DH was in the mood and I wasn't too sore.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? I believe it was week 12. Dr mentioned it was a great time for my first ultra sound because the measurements were quite accurate.
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? No
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Bananas are the main thing that come to mind. I had gotten some as well as strawberries to make smoothies. Tried to eat half of one of them after putting the other half in the smoothie. Was so horrible I tossed it in the trash and dumped the smoothie out.
Anything else you’d like to share? Everything I went through was 100% worth it. My LO has all of my heart and DHs.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 27
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Female
- When did you start to show?: Around 16 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39w2d
- How big was baby?: 6 lbs 15 oz, 19" long
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: C-section
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: My bump, feeling baby's movements
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Being limited on what I can do physically, getting winded just walking around.
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: N/A
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Just one to check on presentation
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: No membrane sweeps
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: No laboring, C-section at hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: N/A
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: N/A
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: Scheduled C-section, definitely nervous for both surgery and baby arriving, but excited as well
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: Pamper yourself, take a nice warm bath or shower, have a last night out just you and your SO, make sure all of your bags are packed for the 8th time...
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: N/A
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?: N/A
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: Spinal block
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Birth story posted in announcement thread - had a C-section scheduled because baby was in the same footling breech position basically the entire pregnancy, never felt her flip once. Went to hospital around 9:30am for an 11:15am surgery which of course didn't start until noon. Had my IV put in and SCD's put on my legs, walked down the hallway with the nurse and my husband into the OR. CRNA placed my spinal block while I sat on the OR bed, initial lidocaine injection stung quite a bit but took effect quickly so I didn't feel the bigger needle at all. Legs got warm and tingly and I was numb right away. Laid back, nurse inserted my catheter, prepped me and then we got started. Lots of pressure and tugging, but no pain. DD was born at 12:12pm. They took her to clean her up with DH then he got to hold her while he sat next to me and they closed me up. Took about 20 minutes start to finish and they cleaned me up and wheeled us out to recovery!
- What type of pain management did you use?: Spinal block had morphine so that took care of the pain for a few hours. Maintenance with hydrocodone throughout the rest of my stay which was much needed.
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: DH was in the OR the whole time, they let my sister come back once the incision was made.
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: Our OR nurse was kind of a hag, but she meant well. The whole process went so quickly that I didn't really have time to want any changes. I really wanted to be able to watch the surgery, but I'm also crazy lol.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Enjoy being able to move around uninhibited for the time being.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Slow down and enjoy the whole process, it goes quickly!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Relax and take naps! You'll be uncomfortable, but things will happen when they happen. Don't pay attention to every little possible labor symptom.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? I didn't go into labor so I don't have any great advice other than this too shall pass!
- Best advice another parent gave you? When we were worried about trying to have children and timing/finances, SIL told us that you will never actually be completely ready which is so true.
- Worse advice another parent gave you? I've actually been pretty lucky so far and haven't received much crazy unsolicited advice. Everything DH's grandma says drives me nuts, but she doesn't actually give any 'advice.'
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Only bought one pair of maternity jeans which I lived in, along with yoga pants - you just don't fold the band down, you pull it all the way up and they are so comfortable!
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Sour and fruity candy, PB&J, pasta
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Taking long, hot showers
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? No
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? None until the third trimester, Zantac 150
- Were you constipated? What helped? Occasionally towards the end, tried to eat more fiber
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Feet would swell towards the end after standing at work all day, tried to elevate but didn't always help.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Yes! As well as SI joint. Tried to do lots of hip and leg stretches to keep everything loose.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? I didn't mind the couple of people who asked. If people just assumed they could enter my bubble, it bothered me.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? We knew we were team pink around 19 weeks.
- When did you first feel baby kick? Felt tiny little flutters around 12 weeks I think?
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? It creeped him out a little bit, he would watch the movements before he felt them, but felt a couple closer towards the end.
- Did you have any nesting urges? Occasionally. I get wild hairs all the time to organize things, though.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? Nope.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Not against it, but really had little desire to during the pregnancy.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 8 weeks was the soonest they started seeing people where I went.
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Worked up until 2 days before my surgery which was pushing it for sure. Standing and lifting for 10+ hours a day while pregnant is for the birds.
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Nope! I'm too cheap and really didn't have time. No free classes were offered and we were pretty convinced we would end up with a C-section anyways.
- Any food aversions while pregnant? DH would make these beef noodle cups and the smell would gross me out.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Definitely have some sort of loose outline of how you'd like your labor and delivery to go, but being open to anything makes the whole process go so much smoother and makes for less stress. Same with feeding. I obsessed with being able to BF exclusively, then switched to pumping, and due to a ton of circumstances I have switched over to mostly formula. Me being less stressed has made everyone much happier and that's really what you are trying to achieve - a happy, healthy family!
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 25-29 (I'm 26)
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: Around 20 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 38+6
- How big was baby?: 8lb 12oz 21"
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: Vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling baby's movement, it was our private moment I didn't have to share.
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Sciatic nerve pain
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: n/a
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: They offered, but I declined.
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: No
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: Contractions went from 10 minutes to 4-5 minutes apart and became so painful I could barely breathe through them.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: Nope
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: n/a
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: n/a
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 20 hours, pushed for 2.5 hours
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?: n/a
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: n/a
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): My epidural wore off when the contractions got really intense and about 2-3 minutes apart... I gained a lot of respect for those who go without! Pushing was so hard, it felt like a whole body workout. Babies head was too big I ended up needing an episiotomy.
- What type of pain management did you use?: Epidural 2x
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: Just my husband
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: No I actually enjoyed my stay in L&D. The bulk of my labor was in the middle of the night and I had the lights off in the room and watched Food Network while my husband slept. It felt just like being at home lol.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? TAKE THE ZOFRAN.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Savor this, you may think you're tired and large now, but it's going to get so much harder soon.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Relax.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Breathe!
- Best advice another parent gave you? "Don't blink"
- Worse advice another parent gave you? To let a newborn "cry it out". Ugh.
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Pinkblush
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Pizza and pad thai
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Sleeping lol
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? I had hyperemesis gravidarum, no home remedies helped. I took zofran from week 16 til delivery!
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Nope
- Were you constipated? What helped? Yes. Colace, prune juice, and fiber one bars
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Nope
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Yes, warm baths and yoga
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Nope, I have resting bitch face so people knew better than to try me.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Blue
- When did you first feel baby kick? 22 weeks
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 25-26 weeks
- Did you have any nesting urges? Nope
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? Nope
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Nay
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 8 weeks
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Work, I worked up until 5 days prior to delivery
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Nope
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Meat! I hated even the sight of it!
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: STM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 28
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: 15 weeks?
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39 weeks, 0 days
- How big was baby?: 6 lb. 14 oz., 21.5 in.
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling kicks
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Nausea
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Yes
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: No
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Labored at home 25-26 hours, 2 hours at hospital and delivered there
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: Contractions finally became consistent in timing. Suddenly 2.5 minutes apart without stopping after a whole day of irregular contractions.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: No
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 24 hours early, 4 hours active, total 28 hours
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Posted in birth announcements
- What type of pain management did you use?: Walking and slow breathing
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: DH
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: N/A
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Eat healthier snacks so you don't gain so much weight
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Keep working out
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Be ready for baby to come early this time
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Listen to the nurse who's trying to help
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Motherhood Maternity
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Chocolate, bread
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Napping
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes, small snacks
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? No
- Were you constipated? What helped? No
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? No
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped No
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Yes, yes! Nobody tried a second time. I was not shy about letting them know it bothered me like last pregnancy.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Green
- When did you first feel baby kick? 18 weeks
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 22 weeks?
- Did you have any nesting urges? I wish. Only when I was in early labor.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? No
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yay
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 8
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Staying home with DD (almost 2)
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Bradley method last pregnancy
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Most vegetables
Anything else you’d like to share? I was surprised how different this pregnancy and labor was. I was nauseous for about twice as long, began labor 20 days earlier than when I was induced with DD, and was very tired where last time I could hardly sleep.
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): I'm 29.
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: male
- When did you start to show?: I started to notice around 13 weeks, but the general public didn't start questioning me until around 23 weeks.
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39+1
- How big was baby?: 6lbs 11oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: feeling baby movement
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: the constant "but you're so tiny!" comments from everyone when they'd ask my due date. Also just the general discomfort/feeling like a whale during 3rd tri
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: N/A
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: yes
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: I had really bad cramping with my bloody show following soon after...I think I was still in denial about it though until contractions started about 2 hours later and were almost instantly 3 minutes apart and 1 minute long
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: didn't try anything
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: N/A
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: N/A
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 10 1/2 hours
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?: N/A
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: N/A
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): I posted my birth story in the birth announcements thread, but to summarize, everything happened on its own and it happened much more quickly than I expected as a FTM. I loved my epidural and don't know how I would've gotten through labor & pushing without it.
- What type of pain management did you use?: epidural
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: my husband
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: I wouldn't have changed a thing.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? sleep as much as you want.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? get things done this trimester when the motivation strikes. by 3rd tri you will be too uncomfortable and it will take way too much energy to get even the littlest things done.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? don't work yourself to death. It's ok to slow down.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? just breathe & know that your body is fully capable of handling what you're doing
- Best advice another parent gave you? I actually can't think of any really good or really bad advice that I've been given...
- Worst advice another parent gave you? N/A
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: motherhood & target
- Favorite foods while pregnant: primanti brothers cheese combo sandwich, taco salad, nachos, king's broccoli cheddar soup
- Favorite activity while pregnant: being a couch potato
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? a little. constantly snacking
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? yes. tums helped but usually I just had to sleep it off.
- Were you constipated? What helped? yes. Nothing ):
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? just towards the end. nothing really helped aside from staying off my feet which wasn't a realistic expectation most days
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? N/A
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? a few. sometimes it irked me depending on the person, but I let it go.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? blue
- When did you first feel baby kick? I first felt flutters at 18 weeks.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 19 weeks- the night before the anatomy scan
- Did you have any nesting urges? just at the very end
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? no babymoon
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? meh
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 7
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? I worked part time & then accepted a full time promotion when I was 28 weeks. I went into labor at work.
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? no. And while my labor went pretty well overall, I wish I would've taken a class just to help myself feel more prepared.
- Any food aversions while pregnant? no
Anything else you’d like to share? I knew my life would change forever the moment I met my son; while being a mom means a lot of crying and poopy diapers and feeling like a zombie, I never could have dreamt that my heart would feel so full.
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 23 (in a few days)
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: male
- When did you start to show?: 6 months
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39+6
- How big was baby?: 8 lbs 3 oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: feeling baby movement
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: not being able to bend over by 8 months or sleep
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: N/A
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: yes
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?:
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: Super nervous
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: Just keep yourself busy
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 13 1/2 hours
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?: N/A
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: N/A
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): I posted my birth story in the birth announcements thread!
- What type of pain management did you use?: epidural
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: my boyfriend and mother
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: I wouldn't have changed a thing.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? exercise more
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? See above
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? don't stress the small things everything will be okay!
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Try to keep calm it will end!
- Best advice another parent gave you?
- Worst advice another parent gave you? N/A
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: motherhood
- Favorite foods while pregnant: pizza but that's nothing new
- Favorite activity while pregnant: watching Grey's Anatomy
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? No but I took diclegis to make sure I didn't
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Yes but I have GERD so this isn't new
- Were you constipated? What helped? No
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? The last few months my feet got huge and nothing has helped so far.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Yes, heating pad
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? A few but I don't care
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? blue
- When did you first feel baby kick? 20 or so
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? He was kinda weirded out by it but he felt around 5 months I don't know why this is in italics!!
- Did you have any nesting urges? at the very end
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? no
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Nooo
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 10
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? I worked full time and had school full time then I graduated and still worked up until 3 weeks before I had Jaxon
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which oness? no
- Any food aversions while pregnant? no
Anything else you’d like to share? Just take it one day at a time you'll be ok!
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 27
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): A group of midwives that worked within a OBGYN practice.
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: I noticed around 14 weeks, other people around 22 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 41 exactly
- How big was baby?: 9 pounds 2 ounces, 21.5 inches long
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling him kick, having him respond to my hand on my stomach
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: The very end when you don't want to change positions because everything is awkward and feels bad.
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: Mentally- telling myself that my body knows what it's doing and to relax and let everything happen. Physically- making myself take short walks and doing stretches to keep blood flowing.
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: No
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: N/A
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: Started having cramps about 10 minutes apart and kept having bright red bleeding whenever I wen to the bathroom.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: Nope
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: N/A
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: N/A
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 20 hours
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?: N/A
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: N/A
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Posted in birth announcement thread
- What type of pain management did you use?: Stadol, Epidural
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: DH and my Mom
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: Attempt to relax a little more and let my body calm down. Try the essential oils you brought.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Give yourself a break. It's okay to feel tired and you don't have anything to prove by not resting.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Swim as much as possible. Hang out with friends more because by the third trimester all you want to do is spend time with DH.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Drink more water than you think is possible. You need it.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Eat more when early labor starts. You'll be starving by the time to push.
- Best advice another parent gave you? Nothing really standing out above the rest.
- Worse advice another parent gave you? The baby gets his immunity from breast milk so don't get him vaccinated...
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Old Navy! The maternity activewear capris are amazing.
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Hot dogs and watermelon
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Swimming
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes, puking helped.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? No
- Were you constipated? What helped? No
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Very minimal but I ate a bunch of watermelon and asparagus and it helped.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped Yes, nothing. It was bad.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? A few. I only minded the ones I couldn't see coming. The ladies in my office seemed to come around from behind and it was startling.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Blue
- When did you first feel baby kick? 16 weeks
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 25 weeks. He wasn't patient enough.
- Did you have any nesting urges? No
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? No
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Nay, no sex drive at all during pregnancy.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 9
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Yes, childbirth prep and baby bootcamp.
- Any food aversions while pregnant? All vegetables, just not interested in them at all.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Find a pool, swim your entire pregnancy.
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 30 on Saturday
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: male
- When did you start to show?: 16 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39+5
- How big was baby?: 8 lbs 7 oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Getting extra attention from DH and others
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: not feeling in control of my own body and all those awful prego symptoms
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: N/A
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: yes
Did they help?: Not Sure
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: my water broke
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: Tried most of them: lots and lots of sex, evening primrose oil, nipple stimulation, walking, spicey foods..I'm not sure if they helped. I'm glad we had all the sex though because we're in for a long dry spell now...
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: N/A
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: N/A
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 12ish hours
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?: N/A
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: N/A
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): I posted my birth story in the birth announcements thread!
- What type of pain management did you use?: epidural
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: my husband only!
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: I wouldn't have changed a thing. DH was my rock the whole time
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? exercise more, get out of the house more, spend more time with my DH
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Enjoy all the sex before your giant belly gets in the way and keep exercising!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? seriously just lay off of the cake and ice cream already!! It's going to be tough to get your body back!
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? as awful as it can be, keep the end goal in mind
- Best advice another parent gave you? I don't know but most advice wasn't that great.
- Worst advice another parent gave you? Sleep when baby sleeps. I'm currently pumping while baby sleeps so that is bs.
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: motherhood or pinkblush
- Favorite foods while pregnant: cake
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Eating cake while watching criminal minds
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes! Unisom helped greatl
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Yep and I ate all the Tums!
- Were you constipated? What helped? Yep sometimes nothing helped.
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? The last few months my feet got huge and nothing helped besides having the baby. My swelling is finally gone tho!
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Yes, but it didn't last very long.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? A few but I don't care
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? blue
- When did you first feel baby kick? 18 weeks ish
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 24 weeks
- Did you have any nesting urges? at the very end
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? no
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? yay!
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 7
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? I worked full time until he was born
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which oness? no
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Greek yogurt and bananas
Anything else you’d like to share? Just take it one day at a time you'll be ok! the newborn phase is rough, very rough. I can't wait til this part is over but we love our LO very much!
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): I'm 32
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OB
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: girl
- When did you start to show?: around 16 weeks to everyone but myself
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 41w 6d
- How big was baby?: 7 lb 8 oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: C section
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: extra attention & help, my belly and baby kicks
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: being overdue, low BP in second trimester, sciatica in third trimester
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: supportive friends here and in real life.
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Yes, from 37w on
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: No, I didn't dilate until I was in labor.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: I was having contractions all day and had a scheduled non-stress test that night with planned induction.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: Yes, I tried RRL tea, pineapple, eggplant, sex, walking, basically anything that was reasonable and I thought would be safe for us both.
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: I was very nervous that an induced birth would end in a C-section
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: Not really. I was still really nervous, but I think just spend time with your husband or significant other and try to enjoy that time.
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?:
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: I had an epidural
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): See announcement for long story, but basically I went into my NST in early labor. I was dilated about 1cm at that time and labored for about 12 hr w/minimal dilation. I then got pitocin, then an epidural and was able to get some sleep. I continued to labor with the meds but after my cervix swelled, I got a fever and baby started going into distress, we decided a C section was inevitable. I could continue in labor but it was likely to end in a CS anyways. It was the right decision because my fever only continued to rise while they prepped the OR. Baby was assessed by special care nursery and didn't have any issues so she didn't have to stay in there.
- What type of pain management did you use?: Early: breathing techniques, bouncing on yoga ball, lavender candle (Yankee Candle fragrance spheres - great for hospital). Eventually: epidural
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: my husband. My mom came in right before they wheeled me into the OR
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: Nothing.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Keep running and try not to gain so much weight.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Keep up the great work. Nesting will be much harder later so you're smart to do it now.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Go to the chiropractor sooner...it will help and be worth the money.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Be more flexible and prepare for a C-section that way when it happens it won't cause so much anxiety.
- Best advice another parent gave you? This isn't regarding labor and parenting in general but the best advice I've ever gotten was "Don't compare your life to someone else's highlight real." This is especially applicable to the Facebook generation. Not every labor is picture perfect and most people don't talk about the real stuff that happens once your'e in there.
- Worse advice another parent gave you? Sleep while you still can. Stupid. You can't bank sleep. I wish that was true because I'd be a very well rested new mom right now.
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Old Navy
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Mac & cheese, string cheese, fruit, Chocolate PB ice-cream, sour candy
- Favorite activity while pregnant: sitting around, organizing my apartment
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? I felt queasy in first tri. Saltines helped. Never super nauseous.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? In the third tri a little, Tums helped.
- Were you constipated? What helped? At times. Activia yogurt once a day or so.
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? yes, from about 28 weeks on. Nothing helped.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped. No
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Yes, I had a few patients rub my belly (I'm a nurse). Didn't really bother me.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Team green
- When did you first feel baby kick? around 22 weeks. I felt flutters a few weeks before then.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? Maybe 28-30 weeks? He wasn't a huge fan of feeling the baby kick though.
- Did you have any nesting urges? Yes, I went on a huge cleaning spree and loved putting the nursery together.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? Yes, we went to London in March for a week
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yay up until the very end when things were just awkward. It was unfortunate because it was enjoyable just not appealing.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? Week 8
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Yes, I worked full time as a nurse.
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Yes, we took a 5-week hospital childbirth class, a breastfeeding class at Babies R Us, a Newborn care class at BRU and a cloth diapering class.
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Didn't really like meat or proteins in the first or second trimester.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Don't spend all your time preparing for childbirth. Research what it's like to be a new parent too. Its a huge life change that I wasn't really prepared for and wish I had read more about.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: STM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 30-34
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: One
- Babies sex?: Female
- When did you start to show?: 13 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 39w4d
- How big was baby?: 9 pounds 8 ounces
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: C-section
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling the baby moving
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Everything else
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: Not overdue
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Had one at 35 weeks
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: No. But I had two with my first and they did nothing
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: Scheduled RCS, but my water broke 12 hours before my scheduled c-section
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: Nope
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: Same as I did the rest of my pregnancy. No different.
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: Nope
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: My first labor was 28 hours, and then a c-section
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?: RCS
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: Epidural with first, spinal block with second
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Had a standard c-section with the first. Had a "gentle c-section" with the second. Second one was SOOOOO much better, both with recovery, bonding, and any post partum feelings.
- What type of pain management did you use?: Ibuprofen
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: Husband
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: Not this time around. The first time, I wish that we wouldn't have told anyone we were going into the hospital. So this time, nobody knew for the most part, and it was nice to get to sleep and everything before telling people.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Just survive.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? When your husband says "Don't worry about it, it will get done..." just get it done. Otherwise, you will be doing it in your third trimester when you are larger and even more uncomfortable.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Spend the whole time doing fun things with the firstborn.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? You are going to feel like death, and look like death, so just let it happen.
- Best advice another parent gave you? Never wake a sleeping baby.
- Worse advice another parent gave you? When people think that just because something worked for their kid, it WILL work for your kid.
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Zulily (online)
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Strawberry lemonade, mint Oreo milkshakes, slushee's (but then I had gestational diabetes, so I had to give them all up)
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Lounging and just spending time with people before baby chaos hit
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? For 11 weeks with DD1, and for 18 weeks with DD2. Nothing helped really.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Yes, with both. Nothing.
- Were you constipated? What helped? No
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Yes. With the first, it started the second month and I swelled a ton. Second baby, it only started around 2 weeks before she was born. The difference is that with the second pregnancy, I really watched my sodium intake and also drank TONS of water.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped Yes. Just stretching.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? I did get some. It depended on who was doing the rubbing. There were some people that it was really awkward, and other people that didn't bother me at all. No strangers rubbed my belly.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Team Green with the first. We were suppose to be Team Green with the second, but the tech sucked, and we noticed we were Team Pink. So we have officially done one of each. For the record, being Team Green the anticipation was SO much higher....and knowing the sex didn't make picking out a name any easier. Team Green baby, we went into the hospital with almost 20 names, and she was named ten minutes after birth. Team Pink baby, we went into the hospital with 4 names, and it took 2.5 days to name her. And I felt just as bonded to the Team Green baby, as I did the Team Pink baby, so knowing the sex didn't mean that I bonded quicker.
- When did you first feel baby kick? Anterior placenta, so it was around 20 weeks.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? A week or two after I felt it.
- Did you have any nesting urges? Not really.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? No. I didn't want to take any time off from work, since I was going to be quitting my job a month before my due date.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yay with my first, nay with my second. But we were both working long hours, had a packed schedule with DD1, and were just wiped out at the end of the day. We both just wanted to sleep!
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 11 weeks
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? No. Didn't take any with DD1 either.
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Pretty much anything in the first trimester. I hated all foods!
Anything else you’d like to share?
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 24
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: 16 weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 40+1
- How big was baby?: 8lbs3oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: Vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Baby movements
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Morning sickness and 3rd tri hugeness
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: n/a
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: They were optional, I declined
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: No, I wasn't dilated enough
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: n/a
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: No spontaneous labor, but I did try the wives tales. Pineapple, walking, eating spicy food and dates, etc. Anything that seemed safe and harmless
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: My induction was not planned, my OB sent me to be induced after finding low fluid levels at 40 week appointment. So I didn't know the night before!
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: I'd say don't worry, but that's easier said than done!
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 34 hours
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?: n/a
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: n/a
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Birth announcement thread
- What type of pain management did you use?: Epidural aka magic
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: Just DH during delivery, but we had family popping in and out during labor since it was such a long process
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: I would have used the yoga ball sooner!!!!
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Get the Zofran sooner, stock up on fruit, and don't eat that chicken noodle soup....
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Just keep doing what you're doing, try to be patient I guess?
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Don't worry, this will be worth it. And give up on the pineapple, it's not working.
-What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Ask for the yoga ball ASAP!!! And sneak some snacks or something, geez.
- Best advice another parent gave you?
- Worse advice another parent gave you?
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Motherhood maternity and Target
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Fruit and chocolate ice cream
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Sleeping
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes, terrible terrible morning sickness. Zofran and not thinking about, looking at, or eating food. Except Popsicles and ice water.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? A little, drinking milk seemed to help.
- Were you constipated? What helped? Only from the Zofran first trimester. Not taking Zofran helped, lol.
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Not until after delivery, nothing really helped except time.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Yes, remembering to move slowly and pray for mercy, haha.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Yes and yes, I don't like being touched in general, so I was not a fan of the belly rubs.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Blue
- When did you first feel baby kick? I think around 22 weeks? Not totally sure.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? About a week after I did.
- Did you have any nesting urges? Not really
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? No
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Nay
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 5 weeks for viability U/S (high risk PGAL)
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working until last month, had last month of pregnancy off, thank heavens
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Not unless Pinterest surfing counts.
- Any food aversions while pregnant? All foods except fruit first tri, and meat until about halfway through.
Anything else you’d like to share?
It's ok not to enjoy pregnancy, it doesn't mean you're ungrateful or a bad mom. Just keep your eye on the prize! If you're miserable, it's ok to ask for help and take it easy when you need to. Even being PGAL and wanting to have a healthy baby more than anything in the universe, pregnancy itself was not my favorite thing. This baby though, worth it a thousand times over. He's my favorite thing.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): I'm 28
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: just the ONE
- Babies sex?: Girl!
- When did you start to show?: to me, 13 weeks. To everyone else, about 16
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 40+2
- How big was baby?: 8lbs 9.2oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: vaginal with forceps
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: the accommodations!
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: aches, pains, and especially heartburn.
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: my husband and my mom
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: yep
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: when i got to the hospital. And no. They had to just break my water later and that still didn't do it.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?:
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: WELL, I didn't know I would be induced until day of but she was born the next day and I was nervous from the time they said I had to be induced.
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: 15 hours
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): It's posted on the thread. M feelings and observations, pretty positive except pushing SUCKS!!!
- What type of pain management did you use?: just stadol and then a spinal for the forceps delivery
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: DH, my mom, and my birth companions
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: well, I'm glad my mom was there though at first I didn't I'd want her to be.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? REST
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Keep exercising
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? KEEP EXERCISING
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? BREATHE
- Best advice another parent gave you? N/A slash I forgot
- Worse advice another parent gave you? Same
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: I only bought from Motherhood Maternity unless someone gave me clothes.
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Big macs, cake, OJ, cheese, Campbell's condensed chicken noodle soup, creamy chicken flavored ramen (I'm sure there are more...)
- Favorite activity while pregnant: SLEEP whenever possible
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Nope
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? YES, NOTHING. I even had it when I ate after she was just born lol
- Were you constipated? What helped? Nope
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Yep. Putting my feet up and swimming helped. Nothing helped my hands except delivery.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? yep. Nothing
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Yes and YES!! One lady even kissed my belly 0_0
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Pink!
- When did you first feel baby kick? Flutyers around 12 or 13. For sure at 16 I think
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? Like 20something
- Did you have any nesting urges? NOPE
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? San Antonio
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yay at first but DH wasn't down, then nay. Just nay.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 8
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? A labor and massage class, and a birthing class given by the hospital.
- Any food aversions while pregnant? McDonald's eventually (except big mac meals)
Anything else you’d like to share? I don't think so.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): I'm 26
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: one
- Babies sex?: Girl
- When did you start to show?: I'm oveeweight so my husband amd I noticed at week 20, but everyone else noticed at week 30ish.
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 40 weeks 2 days
- How big was baby?: 19 inches 5 lbs 13oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: emergency c section
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: not being judged on my food cravings. Having people help me more.
- Least favorite thing about being pregnant?: heartburn, overall uncomfortable feeling
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: I had my bloody show the day before so I kind of convinced myself she was coming.
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: yes at every appointment
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: Yes and yes. I went into labor the next moring. I was already dilated 3cm and 70% effaced.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: I really didn't. I woke up to what I thoughts were just aches and pains every few hours the night before. It wasn't until I was fully awake that I realized they came at regular intervals.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: nope
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?:
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.:
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: at least 20 hours
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: epidural
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): I was aiming for a vaginal delivery but baby was too stressed out by the contractions so csection it was.
- What type of pain management did you use?: i managed without any for most of it but I caves and had an epidural in the last few hours.
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: during labor it was my best friend and my DH. At delivery just DH
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: turning the music on earlier
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Don't worry, you have plenty of time.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Don't push yourself past your limits. Your body is changing so adjust.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Sleep whenever you are tired. Don't be afraid to tell people you don't want to go out.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Listen to everything. Don't let nurses discourage you.
- Best advice another parent gave you? Listwn to the advice you like and ignore the advice you don't.
- Worse advice another parent gave you? Don't bother with newborn size clothing, your baby's head will be too big to fit.
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: walmart! Cheap and decent. Better selection online.
- Favorite foods while pregnant: mcdoubles with extra onions snd mac sauce, mangos, avocado on everything
- Favorite activity while pregnant: napping. Cooking.
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Some, change in prenatal vitamins
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Yes. Nothing really. Tums helped downplay the symptoms but they'd always come back
- Were you constipated? What helped? Yes, prunes snd cantaloupes.
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Only if I was on my feet a long time. Just resting helped
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? Yes and just stretching.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Not from strangers just friends and family. Not really.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Green
- When did you first feel baby kick? 16 weeks
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 20 weeks
- Did you have any nesting urges? Yes
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? No
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yay until the end.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 4, which was too early
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Working until week 30.
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Yes The Bradley Method, but my labor didn't allow me to move.
- Any food aversions while pregnant?
Broccoli, eggs, chicken (1st trimester)
Anything else you’d like to share? Be prepared for anything.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 23
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): GP and hospital
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Male
- When did you start to show?: 20ish weeks
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 40+5
- How big was baby?: 9lbs 1oz
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: Vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling baby kick and move
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Tiredness and heartburn
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: Nothing, I was going crazy!
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Nope
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: Yes, it triggered labour.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: The day after my membrane sweep I kept getting intense contractions.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: Tried them all, none worked.
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: Fine, tired but nothing unusual.
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: Relax, don't put to much stress on yourself.
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: From water breakage to delivery- 3 hours.
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Contractions at 4pm, hospital at 8pm, water broke at 1.30am, delivered at 4.33am.
- What type of pain management did you use?: Gas
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: My boyfriend.
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?:
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Enjoy sleeping on your stomach more.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Sleep as much as possible.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Enjoy feeling baby move.
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Try be more relaxed but be more vocal about what I want.
- Best advice another parent gave you? That having a baby would be the best thing I ever done.
- Worse advice another parent gave you? That un-medicated was easy
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: I didn't buy any
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Everything
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Sleeping
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Nope
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? Rennie helped and milk.
- Were you constipated? What helped? Plenty of fibre
- Did you have any swelling? What helped?
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped: Stretching and physio
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? Yes, I found it uncomfortable
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? Blue
- When did you first feel baby kick? 20 weeks
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 26 weeks
- Did you have any nesting urges? Yes
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? No
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Meh, still done it.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 3.5 weeks
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? working then signed off sick
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Regular ante natal classes
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Nope
Anything else you’d like to share?
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DS#1 July 2016
Baby #2 July 2018
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: FTM.
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+): 30-34.
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): OBGYN.
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: One.
- Babies sex?: Male.
- When did you start to show?: To me, around 17 weeks. To everyone else, around 20.
- How far along were you when you delivered?: 40+1.
- How big was baby?: 7 lbs, 7 oz.
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: C-section.
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling him move around, the extra help/attention I got from DH, wondering what he'd look like, etc.
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Limited mobility, especially in late 3rd tri. Sleeping problems.
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: I was overdue by a day, but was already in the hospital and going through the induction process.
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Yes.
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: Didn't get any.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital.
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?:
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: I didn't go into spontaneous labor, but I tried a lot of the old wives tales: sex, walking, spicy food, dates, red raspberry leaf tea. Nothing worked for me.
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: Excited, but also scared. I had no idea what to expect.
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: Relish the time with your significant other, and try to sleep and relax as much as possible.
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?:
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?: Epidural.
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere): Birth story in announcement thread, but here's the basics. I had GD during my pregnancy so I was scheduled to be induced at 39+5. After 59 hours and lots of interventions, I was stalled, so I had a C-section. There are still a lot of emotions I'm working through regarding my "failed induction"/"failure to progress", as it's not at all how I saw things going. But baby's here, and I'm healthy, so that's really all that matters.
- What type of pain management did you use?: I got an epidural around hour 50, when the Pitocin was at its max and contractions were intense.
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: Just my husband.
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: Nothing I'd change that isn't medically related.
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? Try to set good eating habits now, even though you're nauseous and sick to your stomach a lot.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Enjoy every minute of this time! It goes too quickly.
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? Sleep as often as you can. Go on lots of dates with baby daddy; it won't be just the two of you for much longer!
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? Don't be so hard on yourself; your body is in control right now.
- Best advice another parent gave you? Prepare as much as possible ahead of time (freezer meals, hospital bags, etc). That helped me feel more in control during a very tumultuous time.
- Worse advice another parent gave you? It wasn't advice, but I had a lot of people say, 'You think you're tired now? Just wait until the baby gets here!' So unhelpful, and completely discounted my feelings in the moment.
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Target.
- Favorite foods while pregnant: Cheeseburgers, ice cream, key lime pie
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Taking baths, floating in the pool, lounging on the couch
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? A little. Carbs helped, and trying to eat regularly.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? No.
- Were you constipated? What helped? No.
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Yes. Nothing really helped other than delivery.
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped? No.
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? No, most people were very good at asking before rubbing.
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? We were team blue, but we didn't tell anyone. So everyone thought we were team green.
- When did you first feel baby kick? Flutters around 17 weeks, kicks around 19.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? Around week 22.
- Did you have any nesting urges? Yeah, late second tri. I wanted to get everything "ready" as far in advance as possible.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? Yes, Massachusetts Berkshires around week 23.
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? Yay. It was awkward at times, but I still loved it.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 7.
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? Worked up until week 33 (I'm a teacher) was also in school until week 29, then took two semesters off (for late pregnancy and during the newborn stage)
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Yeah, the one at the hospital. Basic childbirth info.
- Any food aversions while pregnant? Most vegetables. Just the thought made me sick.
- Are you a FTM, STM, TTM+?: First timer
- What is your age bracket (18-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40+):25-29
- What type of practitioner did you see for the majority of this pregnancy? (Midwife, OBGYN, MFM, GP): Midwife
- How many babies did you deliver at this birth?: 1
- Babies sex?: Female
- When did you start to show?: I felt I noticed around 18-19 weeks. No one else really noticed much until 20-21.
- How far along were you when you delivered?:40 weeks. 6 days
- How big was baby?: 5 lbs, 12 oz. 19"
- Did you have a C-section or vaginal birth?: Vaginal
- Favorite part about being pregnant?: The excitement of FINALLY being pregnant and become a mommy!
- Least favorite part about being pregnant?: Feeling hot and sweaty all the time, especially third trimester
- If you were overdue, what helped you get through those last few days mentally and physically?: Knowing that it WOULD eventually end. Humor-joking that I'd be featured in a new TLC show, "My Never Ending Pregnancy" :-)
Labor and Delivery:
-Did your doctor perform cervical checks in the 9th month?: Only beginning about week 38
- Did you have any membrane sweeps? Did they help?: Yes. It didn't induce labor, but I lost my mucus plug the next day. Not sure if that was related to the sweep or just coincidence.
- Where did you labor and deliver? Home, Hospital, Birth Center?: Hospital birthing unit
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: How did you know labor was actually starting?: NA
- Unplanned/spontaneous labor: Did you try any old wives tales to induce? If yes, which ones and do you think they helped?: NA
- Induced/scheduled labor: How did you feel the night before the birth?: Induced! I went from a clinic appointment directly to L & D, due to low amniotic fluid noted on ultrasound.
- Induced/scheduled labor: Do you have any advice or suggestions of what to do the night before? Activities, ways to stay calm, etc.: NA--I didn't know I'd need to be induced until about 20 minutes before they admitted me!
- Vaginal labors: How long were you in labor from start-finish?: Once the Pitocin started to when my daughter was born was about 9 hours.
- STM +: If you had a C-section the first time, did you have RCS or a VBAC?:
- C-section labors: Did you have an epidural, spinal block, or general anesthesia?:
- A brief description about your birth experience including feelings and observations (feel free to let us know if you have a longer birth story posted elsewhere):
- What type of pain management did you use?: Epidural
- Who was present during labor and delivery other than the medical staff?: My hubby
- If there was anything you could change NOT medically related (having music playing or having/not having someone in the room) what would it be?: Nothing!
Advice:
- What is one piece of advice you would give your first trimester self? You won't feel this crappy the whole time!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your second trimester self? Enjoy this energy and "normal" feeling time!
- What is one piece of advice you would give your third trimester self? You're almost done! Take the sweaty, exhausted days and try to relax!
- What is one piece of advice you would give yourself in labor? You're a rockstar! You're almost a mommy!
- Best advice another parent gave you?
- Worse advice another parent gave you?
Favorites:
- Favorite place to purchase maternity clothes: Target and Old Navy
- Favorite foods while pregnant: anything carbs-muffins, bagels, doughnuts (all my usual guilty pleasures that I allowed myself to have more often while pregnant)
- Favorite activity while pregnant: Reading blogs :-)
Common Symptoms:
- Did you have morning sickness? What helped? Yes, from weeks 7-14. Carbs! Eating something small every 2-3 hours, so I never had an "empty" stomach.
- Did you have heartburn? What helped? No
- Were you constipated? What helped? No more than usual! I have IBS, so...
- Did you have any swelling? What helped? Towards the end. Taking my rings off relieved my hands swelling
- Did you have any round ligament pain? What helped-A bit--stretching, massages from the hubby, light yoga
Random Questions:
- Did you get any unsolicited belly rubs? Did you mind? I didn't actually have that happen!
- Were you team blue, pink, or green before birth? We knew it was a girl after week 18! We just wanted healthy!
- When did you first feel baby kick? About 19 weeks.
- When did you partner first feel baby kick? 21-22 weeks, I think>
- Did you have any nesting urges? I had more energy for exercise, but not so much cleaning/organizing, which began around week 37.
- Did you go on a babymoon? Where? I had a work trip to Hawaii, around weeks 19-20, so we killed 2 birds with one-stone!
- Pregnancy sex, yay or nay? First trimester-HECK NO! Second trimester-HECK YES! Third trimester was hit and miss.
- What week gestation did you have your first doctor’s appointment for this pregnancy? 10
- Were you in school, working, or staying at home during pregnancy? working full time
- Did you take any child birth prep classes? Which ones? Car-seat safety, breastfeeding basics, 6-week child birth prep
- Any food aversions while pregnant? pizza