Randoms and Questions 01.02 - 01.08

SKZW

You're looking for peace of mind. Call & speak with someone. Start there. Even if they see you in a regular room, and use the doppler, they may be more adept at distinguishing the two heartbeats, which is your main concern, right? Then let them decide if the u/s is warranted. You have to trust them to make that call. (Then, and only if that's what they want now rather than in 3 weeks, then you figure out the insurance coverages for the procedure.)

(Also, I know it's tough to see when you're in the middle of a worrying time, but just do your best to hang in there and be strong! You expressed concern about the babies and wanting an appointment, then you second-guessed about whether it was the right choice and were maybe talking yourself out of it, perhaps? That's normal to be worried & indecisive. Just go with your gut, make a decision, act upon it, and you'll start to feel better.)

Squirtgun

Important PSA today! 

BeachMommy2B

Has anyone needed to do low-sodium diet this pregnancy? I went to DR today and i've been swelling quite a bit for 23 weeks. The nurse took a high blood pressure reading, but then the Dr took it 2 times 5 min later and it was fine. However, he suggested to lower my sodium regardless.... i'm a little lost as i've never had to do this before and the thought of preeclampsia scares me! 

Squirtgun

starphish18 said:

My husband just sent me this article about introducing peanuts to infants early, and I thought I'd share it. Not -new- news, but still interesting.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jan/05/babies-peanut-allergies-health-guidelines

Yeah, my kids are high risk for allergies (I'm allergic to a million things.) It is funny how fast these things change! With older daughter they said to wait until after a year old.  With younger daughter, she went to the allergist at about ten and a half months (had outgrown her dairy soy allergies, yay!!) and the allergist was adamant that I give her peanuts immediately!  So, older and younger daughter both ended up trying peanuts at the same time, and neither of them have that particular allergy!  Allergist also said that I'm supposed to give them peanuts at least three times a week for their entire childhood to reduce the risk of them developing the allergy! Which, I'm allergic to peanuts (not deathly, and can be around them just not ingest them) and the smell makes me nauseated, so it's super fun to have to give them peanuts all the time. 

Jkp7749

Thanks yall! I called, and even though I'm sure they think I'm nuts, I feel so much better. My regular OB is out and I do trust the other drs but I haven't had a bring home baby with anybody but her and I wish I could just see her haha. Anyway, my favorite nurse was there and we talked for a few minutes and she made me feel MUCH better. I am going to wait until my normal appointment, but she reassured me about all the things I was worrying about. I think these hormones have made me worry because I don't normally worry like this at all- in fact my husband usually jokes that I do everything in life like a pot head because I'm always so laid back. 

As for the allergy thing, my daughter has some serious allergies as well, so I'll be interested whether we are told to try to things with these next babies or if we are told to avoid them for a certain amount of time. 

CClark2014

Jkp7749 said:

I guess I just feel silly because if they have me come in I'm sure they'd just use the doppler, but I have one at home. I don't feel like I can ask for an u/s and we just changed insurances so I'm not sure how that'd work anyway since it wouldn't be one they ordered? 

Maybe they can help you learn how to differentiate hb on the Doppler.  I took my Doppler in last pregnancy and had the nurse show me what I should be listening for.  

Eta sorry I just saw that you had already called.  I was just still getting caught up on all the comments.  Glad you have some reassurance!   

mcvgal

@BeachMommy2B I developed pre-e amd HELLP with DS1 and PIH with DS2. I am not restricted on sodium yet, but I do try to minimize it. It also helps to check your blood pressure several times a week, that way you can have an average to go off of. Are you getting plenty of water? Not enough water can cause swelling as well. Hopefully your swelling is temporary.

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot

I actually argued with DD's pediatrician on the allergy thing.  We do not have a history of nut allergies in my family and I had heard that you should not wait until 1 year.  Pediatrician was adamant that we should wait until after a year.  We had to agree to disagree and DD loves peanut butter.

nda_roxybabe

Random: I just got back from the Chiropractor (thanks midnight sciatica pain) and she was able to tell me where baby's head is and what not and I just thought that was so cool! Also potentially explained why I don't look as big today.

BeachMommy2B

@McVall uping my water intake is one of the other things i'll be doing. I have been bad about drinking things like sprite and gingerale which both have sodium so i'm going to cut those completely and just drink water. I'm hoping that maybe just the food over the holidays hte past couple weeks is the culprit and after a week or so I'll be feeling better. Luckily my mother is a cardiac nurse so i'm going to have her take my BP weekly, I already have a pretty good idea of what it is Pre pregnancy

rebecca517-2

@starphish18  Interesting article. Thanks for sharing!

kns1988

@Jkp7749, I'm glad you got some reassurance! I was definitely the crazy lady that went in to hear the heartbeat every week for a while, but the office was super accommodating and never made me feel bad about it. Once I got into the second trimester, I was much less nervous. I hope you have a great US in 3 weeks. 

kns1988

DH sent me this today, originally from Reddit. 10 little monkeys from a mom's group perspective. Glad our group isn't like this, but I know some are!  

https://foreverymom.com/mom-gold/this-10-little-monkeys-parody-is-the-best-thing-youll-ever-read-in-your-entire-mom-life/

KMD1106

Is anyone doing water aerobics or considering it? I feel like it could be fun and help with some of the aches and pains in pregnancy. I just wonder if I'd be the youngest by far. 

vrj0522

@kns1988 - that was hilarious!

@KMD1106 - I have in the past and was the youngest but they are a great alternative,  especially during pregnancy. 

NotAPlaya-JustCrushAlot

@kmd1106  I had DD in Oct.  I spent that entire summer floating in my pool like a bobber.  I never did water aerobics, but think it could be fun.  I'm not sad to not be pregnant during a Phoenix summer, but I am sad that I can't bob around my pool.  You know, because it's too "cold" here for us to use our pools outside of the summer months.

sweaterboots

@KMD1106 funny you should ask!  I am already having a good amount of back pain and the doc said to walk & tread in a pool for 30-40 mins a day.  I have been on the phone like 4 times today calling the Y, and different gyms trying to find a gym that is open-swim at a decent time after work. Finally decided to get a 5-day pass at a *somewhat* out of the way gym that has a big pool before I commit. They offer an aquatic aerobic class some days so I figure might as well try that as well! Tip: if you have a AAA member some gyms have a discount!  If I like mine after the 5-day pass, they will waive the $99 enrollment fee through AAA. Just get on AAA website and search for your gym and it should pop up if they offer it

thistlenweeds

My anatomy scan went really well today! The baby is measuring in the 56th percentile, which is exactly where i wanted to be, all body parts seem in place AND i managed to not gain any weight since last appointment! And actually lose like 6 ounces (i blame the starbucks drink i had right before coming in the previous time hahah). I'm a little overweight so i feel like so far that's not a bad thing.

BabyMC517

Too much to stuff going on to really single anyone out but I'm glad things are working out or you all are at least getting answers! Reassurance for anything is always good. 

I just need a place to vent a second...so I mentioned in last weeks random thread that we put an offer in on a house and they accepted. So today was the inspection and our loan officer emails me telling me something completely different than what he answered me with maybe 2 weeks ago! It wa a just something we wouldn't be able to do and could possibly cost us the house. Let's just say I was a wreck at work today! Thanks hormones (on top of me already being an emotional person)! Anyway; longer story short our realtor worked her magic and we are still able to get the house, but we will just owe more than we originally thought. Inspections went okay. There's some stuff that needs to be taken care of which we are asking the sellers to help with. So fingers crossed they will! Ugh it wa s just a rough day and the first day of classes for the semester so our office was crazy and here I am crying. Or being able to talk to any students lol I felt horrible...so glad the day is over and hope everything is good until closing. 

Thanks for listening/reading! You all are great! 

psherman42wwsa

KMD1106 said:

Is anyone doing water aerobics or considering it? I feel like it could be fun and help with some of the aches and pains in pregnancy. I just wonder if I'd be the youngest by far. 

I considered it but at my gym it's definitely an older crowd. I just started back up with yoga and Pilates. I think it really does help with all of the aches and pains. Plus all of the stretches are good to prepare your body for labor. 

starphish18

lrwardrop said:

KMD1106 said:

Is anyone doing water aerobics or considering it? I feel like it could be fun and help with some of the aches and pains in pregnancy. I just wonder if I'd be the youngest by far. 

I considered it but at my gym it's definitely an older crowd. I just started back up with yoga and Pilates. I think it really does help with all of the aches and pains. Plus all of the stretches are good to prepare your body for labor. 

I keep having grand ideas of starting up weekly prenatal yoga, but it just never happens. I can't seem to get the habit started.

Jkp7749

Do water aerobics! I did it last time and realllly enjoyed it. I was by far the youngest but it didn't matter.

pshaortao

@babymc517 Whew, I'm glad it worked out. It sucks you have to pay more though. The whole offer and inspection process is so nerve racking! My sleep quality went down when we were going through that. The inspection results was overwhelming, but thankfully the seller agreed to fix most things. Hopefully that will be the case for yours. Only two more weeks until we close officially.

While on this topic... I was thinking about it earlier, but do you have any idea (or anybody else who worked with a realtor) whether to standard to gift them with something? Ours has been fantastic and has been really on top of everything and easy to reach. I know they get paid for doing their job, but it would be nice to recognize him further somehow.

BabyMC517

@pshaortao thanks, me too! I've just been a mess all day. It's been such a quick process that I think I'm just overwhelmed with it all. Trying to get H to handle more of it now because of how stressed I'm feeling. My mom is our realtors hair dresser so she's been helpful but difficult sometimes because I think she just assumes we know everything she's talking about lol but she is definitely fighting for us and I'm hoping we can get at least the 2 main things that need to be fixed now paid by the sellers. She's kind of a pit bull so I'm thinking they will! 

As as for a gift, not sure if it's a standard thing to do or not, but I'm sure it would be a nice gesture. 

You're so close!! I bet you can't wait for it to be done!  

starphish18

I have been an emotional wreck these past two days over nothing. I'm hoping just venting will help me feel a little better. We just switched over to Project Fi for our phone service. It's Google's plan that uses Sprint and T-mobile cell towers, combined with wifi, and is cheaper for us. We barely ever use data that's not over wifi, and with Project Fi, you get reimbursed for unused data. Anyways, yesterday, I almost had a meltdown because I couldn't get my Google Photos to sync correctly from my web browser to phone after trying for nearly 3 hours. And today, I nearly had another meltdown because it took me 1.5 hours of trying to get through to Sprint to make sure our old plan was completely cancelled. It was a whole mess of calling, getting dropped when they went to transfer me, repeating the process, trying live chat only to be given the same phone number, etc. Now, this evening, we were having trouble placing calls from our house. We have very poor cell signal in our house (always have), and it didn't seem like the phones were choosing to use wifi instead, so we just couldn't get any calls to go out. I've just been on the brink of tears the whole time, and it's so stupid! It's just phone stuff...we'll get it figured out. I have zero control over my emotions right now. End rant, sorry.

kns1988

I feel you on being emotional, @starphish18. I was crying on the way to work today just because a cheesy country song came on the radio. And it's the most frustrating thing when technology doesn't work. 

So I feel like I'm posting a lot today, but I have another question. Reading through July's UO thread, which would be really great for the drama llamas if it's not there yet, I'm thinking about epidurals. I'm also dealing with debilitating back pain this week (disc issue + pedestrian accident history), which is related to where this is going... I always just assumed I was going to go the epidural route because pain sucks, but now I'm getting all worried about lasting side effects, including back pain. I already have enough of that shit.

Is the side effect talk just the typical internet worst case scenario stuff? Is it equally terrifying to give birth without the epidural, or is it maybe tolerable? I'm just crowd sourcing opinions because I have no idea what I'm gonna do. 

BeachMommy2B

@kns1988 I can only speak for myself but after my epidural with DD the site was itchy for a couple days while it healed, but I never had any other pain I can remember. Maybe minor soreness, but in the scheme of things the aching from the epidural site was nothing compared to the pain in my hips and pubic region.

achays11

@kns1988 I never had any pain or other side effects after getting my epidural. You could try the IV meds first before getting an epidural and see if they work for you. 

RainyDays86

@pshaortao and @babyMC517 buying a home is so stressful!  I hope everything works out with both of your homes.  As for buying a gift for a realtor, we didn't which I guess maybe I should feel kind of bad about.  However, our realtor was a friend and very new to the business and we wrote him killer reviews on yelp and other sites which was a huge help for him.

@kns1988 I didn't have any issues with side effects after the epidural.  I know plenty of people have babies without epidurals so it's definitely possible, but for me the tiny possibility of side effects was worth the risk for some pain relief and some rest after being up all night with almost back-to-back contractions.

pshaortao

Thanks @RainyDays86! A great review is a good idea! Our realtor used to be part of a bigger company then recently formed a 3 agents team last year so they could probably use it since they're still new. 

@kns1988 I haven't really heard about back pain as a result of an episural. I do have a mild pinching pain if I lay my back on a hard floor and curve my back and it hurts a little the area where the epidural was done as its pressed against the floor. If I'm laying flat or on carpet it's fine. So I just can't do abs crunches without some padding.

I did hear about horrible spinal headaches so thats something to look into but I believe its short term. I labored as long as I could tolerate it and got the epidural by the time I was 6cm dilated. You can always try and see how it goes. Some women tolerate the pain better. Personally, I'm a wuss.  

vrj0522

@kns1988 - I've had an epidural both times. With DS, I was dilated to 8 cm and starting to go into transition before I asked for it. I was so close and yet I pushed for 1.5 hrs so I was happy I got it. With DD, I barely made it to a 5 and was already crying from the pain so I asked for it earlier on. No side effects from it.

arels483

My husband just said that he thinks the baby will only need one outfit when it is born. I laughed and laughed. I honestly thought he was joking. It got awkward when I realized he wasn't joking, but I couldn't help laughing some more. I've looked into the amount of clothing that the baby needs at first, but I don't know if those were liberal or conservative numbers. Gosh, I love this man. He doesn't think we need freezer meals or baby clothes. 

I start my new job tomorrow! I wasn't really showing at my interview, but then there was a hiring freeze and they couldn't start me until this month. I hope they aren't too upset that their new hire is 21 weeks pregnant! I didn't hide it from them, but did not address it either. I feel guilty taking the job, but we could really use the money. 

sweaterboots

@arels483 don't feel guilty...having babies is hard, important work for our society and not enough businesses recognize it. On top of that you're not required to disclose it to them, as it shouldn't impact your hire-ability. I just negotiated a raise last month and didn't tell them I was pregnant until after. It shouldn't factor into getting what you deserve!

mrsrep123

@starphish18 MH saw an article on NPR about introducing peanuts in minute amounts to infants to curtail allergies. We've been putting small amounts in DS's pancake batter, in our vegetable stir fry, and on toast and luckily he's been good!

My plan going into DS's delivery was to "just go with it." If I could handle the pain without meds, great. If not, tell me where to sign for the epidural. I labored at home for 13 hours, got to the hospital and was dilated to 5.5 cm. After finding out I was being admitted, I asked for the anesthesiologist STAT. No shame - contractions are no joke. I felt so chaotic in my mind and body trying to get through each one. After getting it, everything just calmed down and was peaceful.  Luckily, I didn't experience any side effects. I was able to reposition myself in bed the entire time and after delivery, the RN removed the urinary catheter, had me ambulated to the bathroom and I was able to void no problem. This round, I plan to go in with the same attitude! Hope that helps @kns1988

BabyMC517

Thanks, @RainyDays86 ! It has been one stressful week, but we are excited! 

I think leaving sing a review is a great idea! It will probably help more in the losing run than any other gift you might give. 

kns1988

Thanks for the epidural responses! It has me leaning in the direction of "figure it out when I get there" because it sounds like you don't really know what you're in for until it's happening. 

WombThereItIs

@kns1988 also when you're late in the third tri it may be a good conversation to have with your provider. They can better explain the risks and odds of complications, the Internet can inflate how risky just about anything sounds. Also when I got admitted early in my induction the nurse anesthetist came and they took a history of their own and we chatted about plans and backup plans so when they came in for the epidural we had already had the conversations before I was in pain and less good at you know conversing calmly and rationally! 

mcvgal

@arels483 like previously mentioned, your pregnancy should not affect your rehire ability. Also I have a few friends in HR and have they have mentioned they prefer not to be told so that it can absolutely in no way affect their hiring decision.

As far as clothing goes, tell you husband that the baby will definitely need at least 2 DS2 was born 1 month early but he was still a big boy, 7lbs 2oz. I purchased a newborn and a 0-3 month take home outfit and there was no way the newborn outfit would have fit him. Obviously baby will need more than 2 outfits, but I am so glad I thought to purchase 2 different sizes.

Kipperoo

@kns1988 , I second all the great advice above. Keep your options open and take the time to get the real information about the risks associated with epidurals from the medical professionals. For me, I was always planning on an epidural, but did try to wait it out as long as possible. I might have a lower tolerance for pain than most, but it was so unbelievably bad I couldn't even speak and my thoughts were all jumbled--I definitely needed the epidural to calm down and make it through the rest of labor, but I know plenty of people who have done it without the meds. I had no side effects and plan to do it again this go around...I will likely ask for it earlier as last time I had to wait almost a half hour after requesting because a lady down the hall was about to deliver twins and needed hers first. That half hour was ROUGH. 

KMD1106

Vent alert: How come when women get sick, they still do everything they normally do? But when men get sick, they are suddenly able to do NOTHING?