Pregnancy Check-in

KH826 · March 2014

Good Morning Expectant Parents!

So, thanks to @Healz413 we now have a due date list, and I will start posting that in this check-in every Monday. Here is what we have compiled so far:

@YBNormal: April 24 singleton
@Jazibel: April 29 boy
@pinkspark: May 28 twins
@KH826: June 3 girl
@redrockmama: July 11 singleton
@ball.and.chain July 13 boy
@belovedvirgo0209: July 14 girl
@Kleigh1: July 26 girl
@2mamazinseattle: Aug 20 girl
@2momsinCA: Aug 20 boy/boy twins
@flygirl1228: Aug 21 girl/boy twins
@Trisholio and @trisholiosboi: Sept 2 girl
@shelly2314: Oct 2 twins
@manada and @healz413: Oct 29 twins
@only1leia: Oct 31 singleton
@pauljl: Nov 2 singleton
@byrrd: Nov 3 singleton

If your name is not on the list, or you have any changes/additions to what is listed for you, just let me know and I will update the list for next week!

Now, with that business out of the way, please tell us how you are doing/feeling? Any updates? Upcoming or recent milestones?

QOTW: Tell us something about pregnancy that you LOVE and something about pregnancy that is a little less than stellar this week (many of us worked hard to get to where we are, and are thrilled to be pregnant, but we can still admit when certain pregnancy-related issues are less than ideal). Let's try to keep it balanced though, so make sure you tell us something you love too!

trisholio · March 2014

It is crazy to see the list of expected little ones!

I am almost 18 week and I am looking forward to the anatomy scan next week. I think my belly has popped out over the past week. The top of it is hard even though I know the baby is still low. I just might post my first bump picture this week. I still haven't gained any weight (please don't hate me for this) and I am not sure how this is possible. I feel like I eat all the time, but mostly snacking. I have struggled with my weight my whole life so I thought I would gain weight easily during pregnancy. I am not complaining and my obgyn isn't concerned (i am already plus size), but I do find it a big strange. I am in major need of some new bras that is for sure! The girls have gone up a cup or two size and right now I am living in sports bras.

QOTD:One positive things about being pregnant (beside feeling like a super hero for creating life) is the shopping and the fact you always have a reason to wear comfy pants.

One negative for me would be the unexpected pains already. I have a lot of headaches and back pain that I thought would come later on in the pregnancy.

KH826 · March 2014

I will be 31 weeks tomorrow.

Baby girl has been moving and grooving A LOT the last couple of days, including at night. Saturday night she was kicking and squirming all night when I was trying to sleep. I am not complaining, because I love feeling her move, but she has turned into a little night owl. She is moving all around as I type this too. I am surprised she hasn't tired herself out yet.

My heartburn saga continues. I stopped taking my iron pills last Thursday b/c I thought they were making my heartburn way worse and it was making me miserable (and also physically sick in the morning). I have a call into my OB to talk about alternatives to the iron pills. My heartburn was better on Friday and Saturday without the iron pills, but it returned with a vengence last night -- keeping me up most of the night and causing me to vomit this morning. Lovely. Still taking 75 mg of Zantac twice a day, but somedays it just doesn't seem to help at all. I will discuss this with my OB, but I am thinking it is just part of life for me for the next couple of months, which is fine. It is what it is.

We FINALLY made some good progress with house/nursery projects this weekend. The nursery is painted and the crib has been put together! Hooray! Our glider was also delivered on Saturday, and I LOVE it. I am so glad we splurged on it. It is so comfy. We also got a wall unit for storage that is all cubbies for the play room (it is hard to describe, I will try to PIP it later this week) and that is all put together and installed too. So both the nursery and the playroom saw progress this weekend and I am starting to breathe a little easier.

This coming Saturday is our marathon all day birthing class at the hospital. I am equal parts nervous and excited.

I am also pretty sure that baby girl is still breech. In all of her recent wiggling sessions I am feeling what are definitely kicks and I am feeling them very low. It also feels a lot of the time like she is literally bouncing on my bladder like a trampoline! I will be very curious to see how she is positioned at our next appointment on April 9th.

QOTW: This pregnancy has been filled with all kinds of highs and lows for me. For the moment, I would say that the thing I love the most is all of the movement (even when it is 2am HAHA), and the thing that is the biggest challenge at the moment would be this darn heartburn!

ball.and.chain · March 2014

25w1d, EDD 7/13/14.

Things are going well here. I still feel pretty good overall. I did a lot of cooking and prep for my high(er) protein, low(er) carb eating this week and feel good about it, but I'm concerned about whether I am just going to end up eating more overall than I need to be. I gained 6 lbs between my last appointment and the one before (4 weeks), which my OB said was fine -- she said growth spurts are normal -- but I'm worried that I'll continue to gain at that rate. I'm not supposed to gain more than 12 more lbs between now and delivery, so I have to be pretty careful if I'm going to meet that goal. My OB and the nurse keep telling me to eat more protein and fewer carbs, so we'll see if that works. I wasn't eating THAT many carbs to begin with, but it can't hurt to cut back a little.

Mr. Baby had a dance party yesterday. I've been able to feel him move for 3-4 weeks pretty consistently, but this was the most active I had ever felt him, so I pulled up my shirt to see if I could see my belly move when he moved. Sure enough, every so often it looked like there was a mini earthquake in my belly. It made me giggle. Unfortunately my wife was not home at the time and he refused to repeat the performance later that night.

QOTW: Worst part -- the anxiety of early pregnancy after losses, and now I would say the worst part is probably dietary restrictions. Which are really not that bad (especially since I'm a big ol' cheater), but since I've had a pretty easy pregnancy, I'd say that's what I've got at this point. Best parts: as @trisholio said, feeling like a super hero for growing a human being in your body, but also feeling movement and being able to nap at any time. I love naps!

shelly2314 · March 2014

We are 13 wks4days

I am doing much better this week. We were in the ER last week on Tuesday due to excruciating pain emanating from my shoulders to my elbows with painful tingling in my hands. It got so bad I couldn't sleep. OB sent me to the ER and we spent a lovely 8 hrs there. All is well and they are not sure what is wrong but said to hydrate, stretch, massage, soak, ice, and heat.

Had the glucose tolerance test this morning and that was NASTY!

QOTW: I love seeing my babies move on the ultrasound! It is an amazing sight---and then to hear their heartbeats....there are not words. I could definitely do without these fun little "symptoms" that keep popping up.

2momsinCA · March 2014

Hello all,
I am going to be 20 weeks in two days which makes me exceedingly happy. I seems like the last 3 weeks have felt the very best since we saw that BFP back in December. I was especially sick for a while there. The boys have also started to more discernibly move around and I am starting to tell the difference between the babies. Mostly because one is low to the left and the other higher to the right.

QOTD: the best part is knowing these boys will soon be here, our sons. And @trisholio‌ I have to agree- shopping. My step mom saw all we had bought/acquired from friends already and was aghast that it looks like we've left nothing for the shower. We like to be prepared, and perhaps we are a little obsessive when confronted with a project.

The worst part is heartburn and gas. Both have eased in the last couple weeks but are still present to varying degrees depending on what I eat. I also have a persistent sound of my heartbeat in my ears- more my right. It's from the increased blood flow from carrying multiples according to my OB. I'm so done with that but it's. Always. There. Throbbing away.

Manada · March 2014

9w5d over here.   Going on 2 weeks with the same bad cold now, which is pretty annoying because H. is now getting sick, and I suspect the dog is also coming down with it. I am getting back to my hardcore eating regimen though, now that I can taste food again it's easier to eat and my appetite is coming back.

Otherwise I'm doing well. I think the cold has really be overwhelming any pregnancy symptoms I have, so it's not too bad in the grand scheme of things. I did nap for 2-3 hours each day over the weekend though, and I'll miss those naps big time during the week!

QOTW: My body has been both a positive and a negative struggle for me lately.   I lost a few lbs while I was sick, but it all came off my ribs, so it's really accentuating my hour glass shape in a way I haven't seen before. I like that, especially as my belly fills in below it.

A bit negatively -- I guess I can't tell which parts of my belly are a result of pregnancy, and what is just my fat hanging out a bit more.   My pregnancy clothes don't hold my gut in as much as my non-pregnant clothes, so it just sticks out even more than it would....   I'm a bit self-conscious of it because I know that my uterus is still pretty tucked away and that's really my fat being redistributed.   I hate that it's something I think about, but I do.....

2MamazInSeattle · March 2014

Hi all! Enjoying all the updates today

I'm 19w5d, EDD 8/20.

I'll be half-baked on Wednesday! I can hardly believe it! We have our 20w a/s on Friday, and fetal echo (recommended for IVF babies...) next Tuesday on 4/8. Looking forward to seeing lil'mamaz and getting some glamor shots

. I'm overjoyed to be back in Seattle where I belong with J and our cats - not to mention mild temps, everything is green and pretty, and I have access to proper coffee. I wisely took today off too, and tomorrow is J's bday (no foolin') so I have some prep to do for that. Also - I'm dying to get back to my yoga! I'm upping my game to 3x a week now, and I'm excited about that!

Otherwise, life has been consumed with my trip to PA for my dad's non-surgery - my sister said on the way home, "we were on an emotional roller coaster from hell" and I think that sums it up. I apologized to Simone several times for ignoring her, having stress, and just in general not keeping my general good vibe up for a few days there. Overall I really did a good job of not letting myself get too stressed - it definitely wasn't worth it and wouldn't have changed a thing. But, still, there were times I literally forgot I was pregnant for a while, which was weird since it's always top of mind for me!

QOTW: Well, I'm stealing answers, though this is what I would've said anyhow

.

For the positive - I agree with @trisholio in regard to feeling like I'm executing a super power by growing a human! I am in awe of the fact that I get to do this - especially at my age - and feel lucky/blessed/fortunate at every turn that I have the privilege of being pregnant and having a baby.

As for the negative, @ball.and.chain nailed it for me. The emotional aspect of dealing with pregnancy after loss has been ever-present. I still don't feel the same bond with this baby as I did with baby #1, I still caution people who say "when she's born" because I still think "if she's born" a lot. I hate that I've not been able to be 100% trusting of this pregnancy, and even though I can acknowledge those feelings and move on (thanks, a billion years of therapy), I wonder if they'll ever dissipate, or if this is just my journey. It's not consuming me, it's just there, and I wish it wasn't. While there are physical things I could do without, they pale in comparison to the emotional part for me.

Jazibel · March 2014

35 weeks & 6 days. Only 29 days to go. 29!!!!

I've still been feeling pretty good, I have a decent amount of energy, and I'm not too physically uncomfortable yet. Picking up a toddler has kept my back and arms strong I guess ;-)

The best news is that baby Owen turned head down. We did a whole bunch of things: Acupuncture; Acupressure massage by the Acupuncturist in my lower back/hips; Chiropractic Webster Technique, Moxa (at home by EV); Downward dog type of positioning; Hot & Cold (ice on the head location, heat where you want them to turn); Flashlights; and more.

Something worked because I started feeling his kicks in a completely different location. The u/s last Wednesday revealed he'd turned. We are so excited. It means we can proceed with our plans for a homebirth :-)

Other than that I haven't gone to work (I pick my own hours) over the past two weekends since EV's been on Spring break. Instead we've been focusing on getting ready for Owen. We've made huge progress on the garage and just dropped off a bunch of moving boxes we still had left over from October. The bassinet is all set up, and I have two dresser/shelving units in our bedroom outfitted with diapers, swaddling clothes, sleep sacks and clothes. The rest of Owen's stuff is sharing a closet in the nursery with Kaden's clothes.

We have most everything set up in the house (I'm going to be installing the diaper sprayer today). I also have my Amazon, Etsy and Birth tub vendor carts full and ready to purchase today once I review the spreadsheet of necessities we got from our midwife.

We have an appointment with our midwives this afternoon. Now we move into meeting weekly - which just seems crazy to me. Time is flying by, and juggling Midwife, Acupuncture, Chiropractic appointments and seeing friends/family is filling our calendar. Which don't get me wrong - I love. But I feel overwhelmed sometimes by our to-do list up against the count down.

EV made Owen some adorable felted wool booties. I will PIP sometime soon. They are super cute.

QOTD: I love being pregnant. I love feeling Owen so close to me, its a wonder that never gets old. I've actually felt pretty good this pregnancy which is a relief (minus m/s earlier on). I've gained between 25-30lbs. Which isn't bad compared to the 100+ I gained (and never quite lost between pregnancies) with Kaden. My goal was not to gain too much because I feel like my body would break if I gained too much from where I was starting. I love my pregnant body though - its not perfect, and part of me wishes I could be one of those women who only gains a belly. But hey, I'm grateful to be here, expecting my second. I'm sure I can lose this weight with a little (or a lot) of effort ;-) A negative would be the leg cramps which I thankfully haven't had in a few days, the calcium, magnesium and heating pad on my legs at night seems to be helping.

pauljl · March 2014

9w1d today

Mood swings kicked in this week. A local restaurant closed down this weekend after 32 years of service and I burst into tears when I drove by and saw the line out the door waiting to get one last hamburger. Folks were waiting upwards of an hour in the rain to get inside. I'm hoping now that I'm aware of it I can work to manage the emotions a little better.

Naps are HUGE for me right now. I can hardly sit down on the couch without nodding off. I'm lucky that I can nap after work and on the weekends. My dogs are very amenable to snuggle time on the couch.

QOTD:

Positive: I'm just so darn excited! I think the emotional boost of knowing WHY my body is doing all these crazy things really has me on cloud nine. I feel very in touch with my body- which is lovely.

Negative: I miss my workouts. I lost 90 lbs and pretty much ruled my life with workouts and whole food, healthy eating. These days some foods just aren't appealing and the stuff that is usually isn't great for me. It's hard seeing my body tire faster and watching my pants get tighter. Although I know realistically that this is happening for a PURPOSE I just feel like it's SO EARLY and it's hard not to blame myself for the recent...erm....expansions. I know I need to let go and focus on health vs size, but this is a mental thing I've battled with since adolescence and I'm going to have to really program it in there. I'm hoping once I have a real bump vs. this crazy bloat I'll be totally into it.

Also, AW- here's our little one -taken last week at 8w1d. Love that the Dr. drew us a cartoon to help us decipher the image!

redrockmama · March 2014

Hi, 25w3d here.

Well we met with the high risk OB on Friday. It went pretty well I guess. I still have a complete previa, although it had moved a little bit. My placenta has a thin little tail that is covering my cervix by 1 cm. The OB says there is about a 50% chance it will resolve. We go back for a follow up ultrasound in 8 weeks and then another at 36 weeks if it hasn't resolved. If it still hasn't resolved we'll have a c-section at 37 weeks. This is all of course if I don't have any uncontrolled bleeding between now and then, in which case the baby would be delivered right away.

The good news is that I passed the glucose test. My midwife got me a little worried about because my mom has diabetes, but all is well. Tonight we are going to my BFF's for their sex reveal. I'm excited to see if they are having a boy or a girl and super excited for our babies to be BFF's.

QOTW: Love: feeling Bubbles move! The last few days movements have really changed from a jab or kick here or there to really big body movements. I had a huge bulge on one side for a while on Saturday. It looked crazy. I'm not sure what all the movements are but they definitely feel more like a food or a butt or an hand. It's really fun. He moves around a ton, like all day and all night

Not love so much: Nothing has been too bad this week. I don't love the leg cramps and I really wanted a Guinness the other day. Dealing with the previa is my least favorite. I am impatient and the waiting is so stressful.

healz413 · March 2014

@Jazibel-- you're so close! Eeek!
@2mamazinseattle-- yay for being almost half-baked!

We are 9w5d with twins. Officially due Oct 29, but who knows when we will actually get them. (Let's all hope for at least October. We want our twins well-baked.)

Time seems to be flying. I think this is probably because in first trimester things are changing so quickly with the embryos/fetuses that each week brings you into new territory. I think it's partly because we're going to the clinic once every 1 or 2 weeks instead of once every couple of days as we did with IVF and some IUI cycles.

As M mentioned, I'm getting her cold. I've already napped for 2.5 hours today (virtually unheard of for me) and I just want to keep sleeping. I have to grade a lot of student papers this week, so I'm debating whether it makes more sense for me to sleep more today in hopes that I get better sooner or do some grading today so I don't have quite a much work to do later in the week.

On the pregnancy front, things are going well. I'm glad M feels like eating again, as I know it's good for her and for the Rockies. I'm still waiting for my referral to the breast feeding clinic to talk about induced lactation. I'm eager to get started with that.

I can't remember if we already mentioned this, but we went ahead and bought our stroller last week. I know it's still early, but I'm working on believing that the Rockies really are coming and we got a really good deal on the stroller. We bought last year's model of the city mini double gt online. Because it's last year's model (even though there have been almost no changes made), we got it for significantly cheaper than it is in stores. Add in the fact that we bought it from a U.S. website to be shipped to my parents' place and we ended up saving over $300.

QOTW: Best thing-- the Rockies! I love the ultraounds and seeing them in there with their little heartbeat flashes and then their little paddle arms and legs moving last week.
Worst thing-- M is sick and I'm an emotional wreck. I started bawling last week when I walked past a building with a fire truck outside and saw that one of the families that had evacuated the building had a stroller. I started thinking about trying to get the Rockies out of a fire (after they were born obviously) and I just started crying on the street.

trisholio · March 2014

healz413 I totally understand the emotional aspect of becoming a parent. We were sitting in church and they were talking about a little boy that had to have a bone marrow transplant, spleen out, and other medical problems, I look over and my wife is crying. We have never met this boy because we just started going to this church. It was just a moment of realization that not all children are born healthy and all the things that could go wrong. It is a scary world out there and we do our best to love our kids as much as we can for as long as we can :-)

Jazibel · March 2014

@healz413 & @manada - I had the single city mini for Kaden and loved it. We bought the double city select (also on sale - woohoo) its front to back. I'm curious to here how you like the city mini in a few months because we were really torn on which way to go.

@trisholio & M&H - I'm an emotional wreck too. I read an online article about kids (getting sick - I won't go into specifics, no need for anyone else to get upset) yesterday and started bawling. I've already cried today too. Sigh. Hormones and all the life changes a LO brings I guess... I can't even watch the news anymore - I want to stay informed but so much of the news is sad.

Manada · March 2014

@jazibel - we looked at the city select but were both concerned about legroom for the babies and them having room for awhile. It was appealing because its smaller than the City mini double GT, but for us, having something both babies could be in for awhile felt important. I am hoping they both can fit in it at least up to 3 years old..... And because we are expecting them to be big kids, we didn't want to skimp on size....

healz413 · March 2014

Manada said:

@jazibel - we looked at the city select but were both concerned about legroom for the babies and them having room for awhile. It was appealing because its smaller than the City mini double GT, but for us, having something both babies could be in for awhile felt important. I am hoping they both can fit in it at least up to 3 years old..... And because we are expecting them to be big kids, we didn't want to skimp on size....

Also, I'm a huge fan of how easy it is to fold the mini double gt (no removing of the seats) and how small it folds. We use our car a lot, and I think that will be a great feature.

Jazibel · March 2014

healz413 said:

Manada said:

@jazibel - we looked at the city select but were both concerned about legroom for the babies and them having room for awhile. It was appealing because its smaller than the City mini double GT, but for us, having something both babies could be in for awhile felt important. I am hoping they both can fit in it at least up to 3 years old..... And because we are expecting them to be big kids, we didn't want to skimp on size....

Also, I'm a huge fan of how easy it is to fold the mini double gt (no removing of the seats) and how small it folds. We use our car a lot, and I think that will be a great feature.

I have to agree with both of you.

So I took the city select out last Wednesday because I was babysitting a little girl (2.5 y/o) and her mom dropped her off at my OB's office so I could make my appointment. Anyway.... I thought I could have her and Kaden in the stroller together facing each other for company. Kaden fits pretty well in either seat if they are both faced forward. But when I tried to turn the front seat so it faced the rear his feet were literally on top of the other seat. Thus it seems to me it would be impossible to have two older babies/toddlers facing each other, they could only sit in the same or opposite directions.

We bought the stroller hoping Kaden and Owen could face each other but I don't think that scenario will last for long (if work at all). Otherwise its a great stroller, easy to use (for a double). I could even push it single handed. You do have to take the second seat off to fold it - which if I were using it as a double all the time might get a little frustrating.

Anyway food for thought - I'm on the fence about bringing it back and I might check out the city mini GT double again. Does it fit in the trunk easily? Also what color did you get? We had orange and gray for our single. Oh - and I just learned the seats are removable and washable. (Wish I'd known that a long time ago - LOL).

Buying a stroller is harder than buying a car - seriously EV and I spent hours online and shopping around.

healz413 · March 2014

@jazibel, we got it in all black.
We haven't tried putting the stroller in the trunk (we had it shipped to my parents in Chicago) but we have Rondo, which is station wagon-y so we wont have any trouble fitting it. It folds in half and flat. If you're thinking about it you should definitely try it in a store. I was shocked by how easy to fold it was.
I can see the advantages in your situation (different age kids) to a stroller that can easily be a single stroller. The mini double gt is the most recommended stroller in the multiples board but I don't know if that would hold up if it weren't a bunch of folks with twins.

And I know what you mean about how hard it is to pick a stroller! We are currently considering what to do about a snap and go stroller for infant car seats. The baby trend and the joovy too are the two simple, inexpensive, easy folding, light ones. (They are just double frames that you snap or strap the car seats into.) They have different pros and cons and work with different infant car seats. And the joovy roo isn't sold in Canada yet. It's exhausting.

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