Weekly Questions 1/15

juliebird6

I don't see a question thread yet for this week.  What are your burning questions?

hoodwink89

Anyone start shopping for baby yet? I don't know why but this time around I am super nervous and want to wait until after the first trimester. We just had our ultrasound and baby looks great, I will just be nervous until I can feel him or her moving around in there. Totally flipped on my sister this weekend for letting my daughter pick out rattles for the baby and bringing bottles home.

stefjm2009

We have bought a onesie and booties but that was to have something for our 5 year old to open to announce she was gonna be a big sis=) 

My question: Genetic Counseling appt. What happens at that appt? Do they take blood and do the u/s that day? Because I'll almost be 14 weeks at that point. I am so tempted to cancel it. I don't really want to get anxious over a potential problem when I don't plan on doing any invasive testing. Ugh, I swear DH just wants to go so we get another u/s and find out the sex thru the blood test. Would they even disclose the sex? Or do we have to request that?

laurad75

@hoodwink89 I haven't bought anything yet but I did start a couple of pinterest boards.  I'm going to try and collect as many hand-me-downs as possible.  

hoodwink89

@stefjm2009 I believe that cell free testing is the one that will let you know gender as early as 10 weeks. We have to request it with our testing (they use harmony) and it is not guaranteed wether they will get the gender or not. We did the genetic testing with the blood work and ultrasound for our first and that was just for peace of mind and to be prepared if something came up on the testing.

jsnakehole

@hoodwink89 My mom has started shopping for baby things for us (mostly just stuffed animals), but we won't bring anything into our house until after the baby is born (not event the furniture). It's all getting kept at her house. I've picked out a few things that I like, but won't make any final decisions until we find out the gender.

@stefjm2009 I had blood drawn for genetic testing at my first appointment. I should be getting a call from the genetic counselor in about a week to go over the results. If anything comes up positive on my end, then my husband will go for a blood test. From what I understood, we only qualified for genetic testing because we fall into a high-risk group (we're both Ashkenazi Jews). We'll be doing the standard NT scan at 11.5 weeks, but won't be doing any follow up blood work to that unless something comes up on the scan, as our insurance won't cover it. Make sure your insurance will cover the blood test that can also find out the gender so you don't get stuck with a bill.

hoodwink89

@laurad75 I am insanely excited about rummage sale season! Our town has a massive city wide one in April. We got rid of almost everything from DD because we tried over 4 years for this one and had convinced ourselves that she was ok being an only child. 

stefjm2009

jsnakehole said:

@hoodwink89 My mom has started shopping for baby things for us (mostly just stuffed animals), but we won't bring anything into our house until after the baby is born (not event the furniture). It's all getting kept at her house. I've picked out a few things that I like, but won't make any final decisions until we find out the gender.

@stefjm2009 I had blood drawn for genetic testing at my first appointment. I should be getting a call from the genetic counselor in about a week to go over the results. If anything comes up positive on my end, then my husband will go for a blood test. From what I understood, we only qualified for genetic testing because we fall into a high-risk group (we're both Ashkenazi Jews). We'll be doing the standard NT scan at 11.5 weeks, but won't be doing any follow up blood work to that unless something comes up on the scan, as our insurance won't cover it. Make sure your insurance will cover the blood test that can also find out the gender so you don't get stuck with a bill.

Oh ok that all makes sense. My midwife referred us to the genetic counselor since I will be 35 at time of delivery. I plan on asking if they even check gender with the tests. We are military and this is the first time I have ever gotten medical care at a base hospital. 

princesslockness

I love kids shopping at yard sales.  I found a nice double jogging stroller for $30 last summer, or a massive garbage bag of 12 month - 2T clothes for like $15. Its so much fun, and my littles love going to look at the toys. 


My question is does anyone have any experience with Metformin during pregnancy? I'm on a 500mg ER each day, due to pre Insulin Resistance. Normally my sugars stay super regular, but now they are aaaalllllllll sorts of messed up. Like +15 or - 20 from my usual range.

hoodwink89

@princesslockness I am supposed to be taking it right now. 1500mg ER, at the moment it just makes my stomach even quiser then it needs to be and I am also taking insulin so they are fine with me skipping it for now. I will probably start again at 500mg in February after I meet with my nutritionist again. Are you getting any side effects from it? I have been told it is one of the safer ones to be on during pregnancy and I had to take it with my first.

cthulu

@princesslockness I was on metformin with my daughter because I always have GD, it helped my numbers be more consistent so I never had to go on insulin (thank the lord....I don’t think I’m capable of giving myself an injection).  

scottishlass1213

I have Kaiser as my insurance and they include the genetic blood draw regardless. Honestly I only did it for the sex because the first time I didn’t do genetic testing, but it also was 5 years ago. I’m 33. They said my results would load into my online portal if they came before my 12 week appt next Tuesday. I had blood drawn Friday, 12 vials!!

Seems crazy I could potentially just log into an app to find out what the baby is!

scottishlass1213

I’ve also not bought anything yet because we really don’t need to besides room decorating stuff as we kept everything from the first time around. There’s a few things we’d like to get updated versions of, but nothing needed right now. 

derbysquirrel

@hoodwink89 I just bought my first piece of baby gear yesterday, a swing and a Moby wrap from a second-hand shop. I'm a FTM, and have budgeted $200/mo to stock up on all of the things I need before the kid arrives. I'm hoping to have most everything acquired by July without ever taking a major budget hit. I think I'm going to grab a lot of cloth diapers off Craigslist today, and that will be my budget until Feb. It's early, but since everything is second hand I feel like I need to start scouting for the best items/deals now in order to have everything ready by week 34 when I will likely be too fat/tired to do anything, and in case of possible early labor.

princesslockness

@hoodwink89 I have never experienced it dropping my lows, and raising my highs so much. It is really weird, and I almost passed out this morning from a low of 55 AFTER I had 8oz of OJ and oatmeal 30-45 minutes before. 

@cthulu  That makes sense. I'm glad it kept you off of insulin. I hope I can get it figure out/adjusted before I actually have serious issues. 

vinerie

Anyone else struggling to eat right? I brought a spinach, goat cheese, walnut and berry salad for lunch and was feeling SO Good about myself as I stowed it in the fridge. But it's cold out, the heat isn't working well in my office and a cold salad just sounded so unsatisfying for lunch. Needless to say, I made a different choice I just have ZERO willpower right now. Ugh! 

princesslockness

@vinerie Could you stock up on canned soups? I have a bunch of Campbell's and Progressive's  heartier soups in my closet at work. Then if what ever I brought isn't going to cut it, I can just microwave a can(in a glass bowl) and not feel awful. 

jsnakehole

@vinerie I've had so much trouble finding food I want to eat/doesn't make me nauseous, my motto has been 'calories are calories'. 

LC12261012

@vinerie Yupp. When something healthy sounds good I’m sure to eat it, but when it doesn’t, oh well. I’m trying not to be so hard on myself. 

ladygali

@vinerie yeah, I’m struggling to eat, too. My craving has been turkey sandwiches with cheese, mayo, lettuce, and tomato and it’s effing delicious. Rules be damned. 

Here’s my question: am I the only one who pees all over the urine sample cup at the doctor? There’s no aim in my game. 

nll0803

If seeing a high risk doc/mfm, when is/was your first appointment? 

cthulu

@nll0803 with my daughter I had my anatomy scan done with mfm instead of my regular ob because they considered me high risk since I had helpp with my son. That was it though. The scan was good so I never went back. 

aj1327

@ladygali I was totally wondering the same thing as I was wiping the pee off the side of my cup last appointment 

scottishlass1213

ladygali said:

@vinerie yeah, I’m struggling to eat, too. My craving has been turkey sandwiches with cheese, mayo, lettuce, and tomato and it’s effing delicious. Rules be damned. 

Here’s my question: am I the only one who pees all over the urine sample cup at the doctor? There’s no aim in my game. 

Omg it gets even worse. Wait until you can’t see past your belly and it’s all over your hand!! 

Danelle+Miguel

The soup yes. I never eat soup but it's so cold and never know what I will want. I stalked up on a variety of soups and it's been a nice easy dish. 

hezzer78

@nll0803 I'm seeing my high risk doc during week 12. He's running my NT scan - not sure why it's there and not at my OB, but that's what he's doing. 

69mil

Has anyone rented or purchased an at home fetal Doppler? If you have, how often do you use it??

derbysquirrel

@69mil
I just ordered one on Amazon yesterday. I'll let you know when it arrives

69mil

@derbysquirrel awesome! Mine arrived but I’m scared to use it too much (so much contradictory info on internet!) and I don’t have anyone else to compare to so let’s keep each other updated! I’m 10 weeks today. HB was 170 this am. 

proudparent2b

@hoodwink89 As soon as I know gender, I’ll review all of DS’ clothes and buy what I need. In particular, I discovered a love of terry play n sleep outfits, right as DS outgrew them (only through 9 months’ size, which DS outgrew by 6-7 months old.

@stefjm2009 Does your insurance cover genetic testing? My understanding is that most don’t cover it as in network, unless you’re 35+. We debated doing it, but were told it could be 100’s-1,000’s out of pocket and decided it wasn’t worth it to us because we’re not high risk.

@jsnakehole I’m struggling with bad m/s as well. I’m over weight, so I’m trying not to stress over eating enough, but rather am trying to focus on how to eat to try to keep the nausea at bay. It’s so tough- I get sick if my tummy is too full or empty, if I see a video/pic/ and/or actual food in front of me, or if I’m too tired, or experience a severe temp change (negative temps outside to heated indoors).

My question- until recently, I only got phyically sick at home, but with much lower than normal temps this weekend, I threw up twice while at a store. One of them was at Home Depot and an employee heard me and came to check on me. She was nice and brought me a water when I explained. I felt super embarrassed and honestly scared of going out again for a bit- what if I hadn’t made it to the bathroom and DH wasn’t there to watch DS?! Has this happened to anyone else? If so, how do you manage it?

derbysquirrel

@69mil
I had an appt this morning, and my gyno found the heartbeat at 160 bpm. I'm 11 weeks today.

69mil

I’m 10 weeks today and feel that my ms is easing up a bit. Anyone else? 

roadspeckle

@proudparent2b, you will handle it in a situation with DS if you need to. Carry some mints or hard candy in your purse while you’re out so if you do start feeling nauseated, hopefully they will help you keep it at bay until you get home. Morning sickness/all day sickness/nausea is terrible! Solidarity hugs your way 

princesslockness

@69mil I have one. I have used it 2-3 times a week with both pregnancies. This time I’m a bit too busy chasing a 2.5 and 1.25 year old.

fishee333

stefjm2009 said:

We have bought a onesie and booties but that was to have something for our 5 year old to open to announce she was gonna be a big sis=) 

My question: Genetic Counseling appt. What happens at that appt? Do they take blood and do the u/s that day? Because I'll almost be 14 weeks at that point. I am so tempted to cancel it. I don't really want to get anxious over a potential problem when I don't plan on doing any invasive testing. Ugh, I swear DH just wants to go so we get another u/s and find out the sex thru the blood test. Would they even disclose the sex? Or do we have to request that?

I've had 2 different genetic counseling appointments at 2 different hospitals for my past 2 pregnancies, each for very different reasons. But they were pretty much the same. It involves the genetic counselor just talking to you about all the different potential risks and options for testing and what would be involved in each test. The first time basically reassured me to not get anymore testing, the second one is another story for a diff day.  They didn't pressure me at all to get testing, and if I did decide to do something, the that would have been a whole other appointment. So I'm basically saying to go expecting to mainly talk a lot and get more information. Hopefully you'll be able to leave feeling better about everything Good luck. 

baby&thesea

If anyone switched Ob/midwife practices, did they repeat an initial ultrasound?

lakesideknitter

baby&thesea said:

If anyone switched Ob/midwife practices, did they repeat an initial ultrasound?

You can prob have them request it from your old practice.

westphilly

 @baby&thesea  I switched practices last pregnancy and they forwarded all of the test results and ultrasound images to my new OB/midwife. Ultrasounds should be limited because of the potential risk to the baby, so they prefer not to repeat it. Also, your insurance will only cover a certain number, so best to have the results forwarded over. It took a few weeks, and lots of phone calls and paperwork, so be prepared that it might not happen very quickly. 
Also, I think the & symbol doesn't let me actually tag you in posts(or I'm doing it wrong). Might want to put something different in place. 

melprop

I turned down the optional genetic testing at my first appt. As for shopping, I picked up a rock n play at Walmart last week that was 50% off. We still have stuff from DS, and this will be our last LO, so I don’t want to get a lot. I did make up registries, either private or using my middle & maiden name, so I can keep track of what I like, watch prices, and take advantage of completion discounts & registry benefits. 

baby&thesea

westphilly said:

 @baby&thesea  I switched practices last pregnancy and they forwarded all of the test results and ultrasound images to my new OB/midwife. Ultrasounds should be limited because of the potential risk to the baby, so they prefer not to repeat it. Also, your insurance will only cover a certain number, so best to have the results forwarded over. It took a few weeks, and lots of phone calls and paperwork, so be prepared that it might not happen very quickly. 
Also, I think the & symbol doesn't let me actually tag you in posts(or I'm doing it wrong). Might want to put something different in place. 

Thanks for the info! Just trying to figure out what to expect if I do switch. I’m interviewing someone else next Monday. 

livinthesunnylife

I haven't bought anything.  We really need nothing since DS is only 14M.  Shoot I even already have newborn diapers leftover. 

I had really mixed feelings about the genetic testing last time.  We wanted to know the gender but I really didn't want to know everything else.  It would just stress me out and I'm not going to do anything drastic anyway.  Luckily everything came back fine.  I'm less stressed about it this time because I'm assuming the same will happen.