Second-Time Mom+ Check-in 9/28

kat81

I have bad insomnia so I'm starting this thread now. I also have a question for 2nd time+ moms that was bothering me last night, even though this is my third and I should know the answer.

In your previous experience, when was the nadir (worst) of the first trimester in terms of symptoms? I'm really asking about nausea, but feel free to answer regarding fatigue or anything else, or feel free to say your nadir was actually in the 2nd trimester. But don't include 3rd trimester woes like being giant, immobile, heartburn, etc.

I ask because I'm trying to count down the days/weeks until I can experience some relief. When I suspected a miscarriage just over a week ago my symptoms were also gone during that time, oddly enough. I definitely welcomed them back when they returned a week ago. But now it's getting old! I'm sure, though, at not-quite-8-weeks, I have not hit the bottom yet. I'm trying to remember what is worse -- 8 or 9 weeks. I remember that when pregnant with DS, things started to get noticeably better at 10 weeks. With DD the symptoms started sooner and took longer to improve, consistent with the old wives' tales about boys vs. girls and nausea. 

What were your prior experiences like? How much more suffering do you expect before the mid-pregnancy relief (before more suffering begins?)

And feel free to post about other 2+ mom stuff, including more positive topics. For example, my daughter had her 3rd birthday this week, and it went great! I can't believe how old she is!

vrj0522

I feel like this time the worst was 8-9 weeks. I'm 9w2d and I just got some relief yesterday after a week of all-day nausea. Of course that doesn't help my PGAL brain but I did feel better and today I woke up feeling better too. I still had some nausea but it was nothing like the last week.

Kipperoo

Yeah, I remember the 8-9th weeks being the worst. I'm smack in the middle of that right now (my due date was May 4th, but after my dating ultrasound was moved to May 9th, which makes me 8 wks 1 day)...I'm feeling pretty rough and hoping things turn a corner in two weeks or so. 

MrsFreeman2010

8-0 and feeling super crummy. I had it all the way until 30 weeks with DD. I'm praying it gets better sooner this time.  Adding unisom and B6 to my reglan and zofran today. 

slam1110

I was just talking about this with MH.  He has such a better memory than me, I was like, when will this awful nauseous go away??  For me it's usually around the 10 week mark, so I have (hopefully) 2+ weeks. 

onebadmotha

I remember feeling much better towards the end of the 2nd trimester. The 2nd tri was definitely the best in many ways- I had more energy, could eat anything, and had a cute little bump. So far, I feel the early symptoms more acutely than with my son (although I'm only about 6 weeks so far). I'm trying to appreciate the symptoms, since I had none with my first pregnancy, which wasn't viable.

@kat81- Happy Birthday to your daughter! I'm in the beginning stages of planning my son's first birthday, which seems crazy to me! Anyone have any tips on where to find cute birthday outfits for boys? I've found some good ones on etsy, but just wondering if anyone had other suggestions? 

RainyDays86

I think the peak of terribleness for me with DS was about 9 weeks.  I remember at around 11 weeks I suddenly got my energy back and it was amazing - at the time I told everyone I felt like I was on speed because I was suddenly productive.

I have a confession.  Even though I am fully aware that my "bump" is just bloat/gas/undigested food I am really enjoying pretending it's a bump.  I have been resting my hands on in when sitting on the couch and I find myself putting a hand on it when just standing around.  Judge away, I know it's super weird.  But it gets me excited for what's to come .

pshaortao

@RainyDays86 I do this too with my blump haha. It was really nice doing that the first time around especially once we start to feel them!

Yiggle09

I'm 7 w 4 d just feeling very emotional I was nauseous for a week during the 5 to 6 .5 weeks have my ultrasound tonight hoping all is well. I've been spotting on and off this week so I'm very nervous last week my grandmother passed so it's been super stressful. My main complaint is my headache 

sqfibemom

I've been really lucky for the most part, I mainly get terrible motion sickness. I do seem to remember 8-9 weeks being not fun with my son but otherwise I don't know. I'm 6 weeks right now with #4 and no sickness yet so time will tell 

psherman42wwsa

well I thought I was over 8 weeks and I had an ultrasound on Sunday and I measured 6w 1d. I've only had one period since I stopped breastfeeding my 14 month old so I guess my cycle was off. We saw the heartbeat and everything looked good so we are happy. I am having nausea all day that seems to have intensified this past week. With my last pregnancy I was much more tired.. I still am tired but not as bad as last time. It seemed like last time I was feeling pretty good by 12 or 13 weeks. Also, I am really bloated this time and I wasn't at all last time.

achays11

Last time I was just super fatigued in the first trimester. This time it's the same, only intensified by running around after a toddler. That feeling went away after the first trimester last time. 

This time I also have nausea in the afternoon, which is very new for me. I still haven't "spilled the cheese" as my DD says, so I'll chalk that up as a win. 

kat81

pshaortao said:

@RainyDays86 I do this too with my blump haha. It was really nice doing that the first time around especially once we start to feel them!

Is "blump" a word people have used that I have never heard before? bloat + bump = blump? I love it!
Yesterday was my first day having a real blump after a big meal. It was so big!

kat81

Yiggle09 said:

I'm 7 w 4 d just feeling very emotional I was nauseous for a week during the 5 to 6 .5 weeks have my ultrasound tonight hoping all is well. I've been spotting on and off this week so I'm very nervous last week my grandmother passed so it's been super stressful. My main complaint is my headache 

I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother. When I had unexplained bleeding (that was NOT a miscarriage, thankfully), it came on the heels of an extremely stressful event. Luckily everything worked out, but I say this to remind you to take care of yourself! I hope you and your family are doing ok.

bacorrea

This isn't really helpful, but with my last pregnancy I was deathly ill until the end. I even threw up during labor. Zofran is the only thing that made me functional through my pregnancy. I think I took 4 a day. I was an extremely case though. I had to get fluids in the hospital more than once. 

Hopefully in the next few weeks everyone will start to feel a bit better. 

kat81

bacorrea said:

This isn't really helpful, but with my last pregnancy I was deathly ill until the end. I even threw up during labor. Zofran is the only thing that made me functional through my pregnancy. I think I took 4 a day. I was an extremely case though. I had to get fluids in the hospital more than once. 

Hopefully in the next few weeks everyone will start to feel a bit better. 

Yikes! I'm not sure I would have done this again if that had been my experience! I also threw up in labor with both kids but definitely didn't have nausea beyond the first trimester for either kid. Except I sort of did, though. With DS, for whom I had milder nausea overall, I randomly got morning sickness around week 20 on two separate occasions, and actually vomited. My theory was that I wasn't eating immediately upon waking up, which is necessary to stave it off in first trimester. I had gotten lazy because overall I felt better, but then it hit me hard and fast and I ended up throwing up. This same thing very nearly happened around week 20 with DD but I was able to quickly drink some water to stave it off. Also I was highly motivated to not throw up because I was away at a conference in a shared hotel room.

But in neither pregnancy did I ever throw up in first trimester (nor this one so far). It's just a constant feeling like I WILL throw up, but I don't actually do it.

Louise_Belcher

Yiggle09 said:

I'm 7 w 4 d just feeling very emotional I was nauseous for a week during the 5 to 6 .5 weeks have my ultrasound tonight hoping all is well. I've been spotting on and off this week so I'm very nervous last week my grandmother passed so it's been super stressful. My main complaint is my headache 

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my grandma on Friday and understand how stressful it is right now. Adding spotting to that, I am sure you are on a rollercoaster. Hugs. 

I cannot remember when it got better last time, but I do remember having energy during the 2nd tri. At only 6+1 currently I know the worst is yet to come and I am not looking forward to it. DS started walking this weekend which is awesome and exhausting. 

PinkPuffyHeart2

I am 7 weeks currently and with this pregnancy I legitimately have had symptoms since the first week of actual pregnancy(3 weeks gestation). I was crampy and having cravings the first week, and then started with nausea which has continued in waves every day. I am constantly tired. Napping every day. And I now am beginning food aversions as of this last week and nearing that "I'm going to vomit" feeling but not actually producing anything yet. With my first pregnancy, I didn't have ANY symptoms other than severe thirst until I was 8 weeks pregnant. From 8 weeks till 22 weeks, I had a ton of nausea and I vomited constantly. I'm so scared. Lol. Ugh. But, I started ginger supplements 2 days ago and I think it has helped these past 2 days. 

MoshiMoshi7

@Yiggle09 and @Louise_Belcher I'm so sorry for both of your losses.

With DS, I never really had nausea, just extremely fatigued and I think that ended around 13 weeks. This time around I've been constantly nauseous and at 7.5 weeks, I still feel like I have a long way to go.

Kipperoo

Any STM's get cholestasis with a previous pregnancy? It seems it's got a pretty high chance (~70%) at striking with subsequent pregnancies if you've had it before. With my first, I was diagnosed at 36 weeks + 5 days and induced at 37 weeks. Met with the Maternal Fetal Medical doctor yesterday and she said the new protocol is to induce at 36 weeks! That seems so early, but I'm sure it will be fine. 

And, for all the mamas out there, if you start feeling crazy amounts of itching past 35 weeks, say something to your doctor! I thought it was just dry skin and mentioned it off-hand. The doctor ran the bloodwork just to double check and, sure enough, cholestasis! 

psherman42wwsa

Kipperoo said:

Any STM's get cholestasis with a previous pregnancy? It seems it's got a pretty high chance (~70%) at striking with subsequent pregnancies if you've had it before. With my first, I was diagnosed at 36 weeks + 5 days and induced at 37 weeks. Met with the Maternal Fetal Medical doctor yesterday and she said the new protocol is to induce at 36 weeks! That seems so early, but I'm sure it will be fine. 

And, for all the mamas out there, if you start feeling crazy amounts of itching past 35 weeks, say something to your doctor! I thought it was just dry skin and mentioned it off-hand. The doctor ran the bloodwork just to double check and, sure enough, cholestasis! 

I never heard about this until recently its so interesting what pregnancy does to your body! I had all kinds of issues after being pregnant and had pancreatitis, gallstones and had to have my gall bladder removed, all from being pregnant!

bacorrea

Haha @kat81 I know, I wasn't planning on doing this again.

Kipperoo

lrwardrop , seriously...it's crazy what happens to our bodies when we are pregnant. I can't imaging all you dealt with...that's insane! 

Abby7

I can't remember exactly, as it was 5 years ago. I do remember the nausea started letting up around 10-11 weeks and then I felt absolutely fine, besides wanting totally different foods than I had pre-pregnancy. What got me through was Zofran and Season 1 of Downton Abbey, which started that fall and was pretty much the only fun I had through that time.

Yiggle09

@kat81 @Louise_Belcher thank you and I'm sorry for your loss as well.

renee6465

The only symptom this time that is driving me nuts are the headaches. It doesn't help that Tylenol does nothing for me so it doesn't even touch them. Other than that I have had a bit of nausea here and there but nothing that's lasted more than a half hour or so and nothing to point where I feel like I'm going to be sick. I also didn't have nausea last time so fortunately for me (not so fortunate for you) I don't have any advice as to when it subsided. I hope yours gets better soon!

Icarriedawatermelon

Thank you for asking this! I've been wondering the same thing. With my DD, I didn't have any of this nausea and morning sickness. This time around, I've had a pretty consistent feeling of nausea as well as dry heaving and throwing up pretty much every day. I am shocked that my body is handling my two pregnancies so differently. I naively thought I'd feel pretty similarly. It makes my day to day life pretty excruciating and I need to believe that the end is in sight! Cannot wait for be second trimester! 

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot

I too am experiencing nausea this pregnancy when I never had it with DD. Then I saw this study: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/09/the-protective-power-of-morning-sickness/501551/

I can't help but feel like this is karma for my relatively symptom-free first tri with DD.

IvyMagic828

With my first I had the off and on nausea between 6 and 9 weeks.. so by 9 weeks I was feeling quite a bit better.  It did seem the worst right before 9 weeks hit.  But some people have it much longer and obviously it can be quite different even between pregnancies, so it's hard to prepare for how it will be this time.

IvyMagic828

Kipperoo said:

Any STM's get cholestasis with a previous pregnancy? It seems it's got a pretty high chance (~70%) at striking with subsequent pregnancies if you've had it before. With my first, I was diagnosed at 36 weeks + 5 days and induced at 37 weeks. Met with the Maternal Fetal Medical doctor yesterday and she said the new protocol is to induce at 36 weeks! That seems so early, but I'm sure it will be fine. 

And, for all the mamas out there, if you start feeling crazy amounts of itching past 35 weeks, say something to your doctor! I thought it was just dry skin and mentioned it off-hand. The doctor ran the bloodwork just to double check and, sure enough, cholestasis! 

I did not have cholestasis but at one point I was worried about it because I got this itchy rash on my hands and feet.  Although it was more on the tops of my fingers and toes and not the palms/soles.  I made the nurse do bloodwork just to make sure and it was fine.  The itchy rash, though it sucked, went away by itself after two weeks.  Your immune system can go a little haywire in that last stretch of pregnancy, that's for sure!

hp_momma

The nurse gave me Quese Ease thing today at my appointment. It's this little aromatherapy thing that has peppermint and rosemary I think and your supposed to smell it when feeling queasy to help settle your stomach. The nurse said that most patients get really good relief from it. I'm not feeling too sick yet, but I know when it comes it will
probably hit me like a ton of bricks so I took it. I also used Sea Bands during my last pregnancy that you wear on your pressure points to help with the queasy feeling. 

Heres the link link for the aromatherapy thing, I just looked it up and Amazon sells it! https://www.amazon.com/Quease-Ease-Motion-Sickness-Instant/dp/B001P4C8N2

pshaortao

@NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot interesting! I just got hit with nausea today for the first time today so well see how the next few weeks goes. I had a very easygoing pregnancy with DD the first time around too. I know this is absolutely silly but part of me do wonder if its sex related.

MamaMiller

DD #1- morning sickness weeks 4-20. I puked every other day without fail 
DD #2- morning sickness weeks 5-18. More intense but only vomitted 3 times a week 
#3- 6 weeks tomorrow and nothing yet... Still waiting for it to start 

kat81

MamaMiller said:

DD #1- morning sickness weeks 4-20. I puked every other day without fail 
DD #2- morning sickness weeks 5-18. More intense but only vomitted 3 times a week 
#3- 6 weeks tomorrow and nothing yet... Still waiting for it to start 

Yikes! Maybe it's a boy this time. I hope it's less nausea than with the other two!

Kipperoo

IvyMagic828 said:

Kipperoo said:

Any STM's get cholestasis with a previous pregnancy? It seems it's got a pretty high chance (~70%) at striking with subsequent pregnancies if you've had it before. With my first, I was diagnosed at 36 weeks + 5 days and induced at 37 weeks. Met with the Maternal Fetal Medical doctor yesterday and she said the new protocol is to induce at 36 weeks! That seems so early, but I'm sure it will be fine. 

And, for all the mamas out there, if you start feeling crazy amounts of itching past 35 weeks, say something to your doctor! I thought it was just dry skin and mentioned it off-hand. The doctor ran the bloodwork just to double check and, sure enough, cholestasis! 

I did not have cholestasis but at one point I was worried about it because I got this itchy rash on my hands and feet.  Although it was more on the tops of my fingers and toes and not the palms/soles.  I made the nurse do bloodwork just to make sure and it was fine.  The itchy rash, though it sucked, went away by itself after two weeks.  Your immune system can go a little haywire in that last stretch of pregnancy, that's for sure!

IvyMagic828, what was so crazy about mine was that the itching wasn't even on my palms and soles--it was my limbs--my arms and legs were out of control itching but like they would be if I just had very dry skin. 

MamaMiller

@kat81- girls are so much fun. BUT DH is a manly man- he hunts, fishes, and loves sports. I would LOVE for us to have a boy just so he can have that father-son experience. He is convinced this one is a girl. I think this is so he won't be disappointed if it is another girl. My In-Laws have 4 granddaughters and my parents have 4 too (my sister is having the first boy in Feb). . Morning sickness with the first two was so rough (physically and mentally). Praying that I make it through without it!  

kat81

MamaMiller said:

@kat81- girls are so much fun. BUT DH is a manly man- he hunts, fishes, and loves sports. I would LOVE for us to have a boy just so he can have that father-son experience. He is convinced this one is a girl. I think this is so he won't be disappointed if it is another girl. My In-Laws have 4 granddaughters and my parents have 4 too (my sister is having the first boy in Feb). . Morning sickness with the first two was so rough (physically and mentally). Praying that I make it through without it!  

My dad is a pretty manly man and had 3 daughters. I think it worked just fine for him because he did boyish stuff with us anyway. We were all interested in different masculine things at different times, and he would be the go-to parent for that.

If you want to to boyish stuff with your kid then I think it's more disappointing to have a son who's just not into it than to have a daughter (who may or may not be). So hopefully your DH can do the manly stuff with his daughter(s). My daughter is SUCH a girl about some things -- she loves princesses, dresses, tights, etc. But she also really likes football, WAY more so than my son, who couldn't really care less.

WombThereItIs

So far mostly so good. The bloat is intense this time compared to last. With my first I only started getting post meal bloat around maybe 12 weeks but this time starting at 5 (I'm 6 now) I have to unbutton my pants and use a Bella band after meals. its crazy, I look 6 months pregnant after lunch and dinner!

Nausea is minimal so far but last time I think it struck from 7-8w so I'm just waiting for it! 

MamaMiller

@kat81 I agree! We joke around & say
often that DD#2 may be as close as a boy as he is getting. She loves her princesses but as soon as Daddy gets home she wants to watch Deer Hunting shows! She also LOVES babies so I know she will be so excited in May! 

rschroe8

MrsFreeman2010 said:

8-0 and feeling super crummy. I had it all the way until 30 weeks with DD. I'm praying it gets better sooner this time.  Adding unisom and B6 to my reglan and zofran today. 

MrsFreeman2010  How is the b6 working for you? Are you noticing an improvement? I'm considering buying a bottle because I remember all too well how bad my nausea was with DS1 during weeks 6 through 12. I want to be prepared this time and hopefully not need zofran around the clock for 6 weeks straight!

Knottie1435855832

With my first the all day nausea stopped around 9 weeks to just here an there until about week 11. Sometimes I wish I could just 'loose' my lunch to get relief for a minute. Only time it is remotely in check is when I am eating but if I eat to much it makes it worse. Ginger tea, lemon water, B6 and small meals are my tricks. Hard candies in the car or in pockets if I am out and about. Thanks for starting this thread- having a 'end point' makes it almost easier to get through