Pregnancy Check In (June 9th)

firstcomeslove2013 · June 2014

Hey all! I am so excited to be taking over the pregnancy check in. This group is so amazing and I'm happy for @KH826 to get the opportunity to pass the reigns on to me!

Here is our current EDD roster for this check-in:
1. @redrockmama: July 11 singleton
2. @ball.and.chain July 13 boy
3. @belovedvirgo0209 July 14 girl
4. @Kleigh1: July 26 girl
5. @2mamazinseattle: Aug 20 girl
6. @flygirl1228: Aug 21 girl/boy twins
7. @Trisholio and @trisholiosboi: Sept 2 girl
8. @shelly2314: Oct 2 twins
9. @manada and @healz413: Oct 29 twins
10. @only1leia: Oct 31 singleton
11. @pauljl: Nov 2 girl
12. @byrrd: Nov 3 singleton
13. @Mazere: Nov 25 singleton
14. @rkbo: Dec 12 singleton
15. @doodah1013 & @firstcomeslove2013: Dec 12 singleton
16. @RobertJane33: Jan 8 twins
17. @twobrooklynmoms: Jan 10 singleton
18. @jjlvscg: Jan 10 singleton
19. @cageymack: Jan 22 singleton<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

If you have a recent BFP (and/or if you are new to the board), please let me know when you want to be added to this list. I know there are a few new BFPs but I don’t want to add you until you are ready! J Just let me know your EDD and other info if available! J

So how is everyone feeling? How is pregnancy treating you and your partner this week? Any updates to share?

QOTW: Let’s talk birth plans? Do you have one? When did you make your birth plan? How did you make your birth plan (did you find a template, was it a plan you made your own?). If you did not or do not plan on making a birth plan what is your reason?

Manada · June 2014

Hi Everyone,

Well, here I am on Day 18 of bed rest, and my first real day home alone as H. started her new full-time job today.    Today I'm feeling grateful that everything has been quiet since I was discharged from the hospital on Friday, and I'm hopeful that it stays that way for another month or two at the very least.

We are 19w5d today. I am feeling okay physically, and a little bit raw emotionally still.   I feel anxious and on edge most of the time, so I'm trying to embrace the enforced physical relaxation of bed rest to try to relax the rest of my body as well.   I can feel the Rockies move more often now, which is nice, and I can also gently palpate the little lumps of what I assume are their bodies in my belly as they shift positions, so that's sort of cool.   They are now responding reliably to H's voice when we do story/song time in the evening, and that's one of my favourite times of day.

The other day I noticed that I'm feeling the pressure of them moving around in there as well more and more, as opposed to just the little pokes and wiggles.   That's a little bit strange, especially since Rocky 2 (Twin

has a tendency to move up when I'm lying in bed all day, and then when I get up to pee I can definitely feel gravity more around that one, it's a little unnerving! I'm curious to know if others feel this sort of thing too.

I have to put an apology of sorts out there, or at least an acknowledgement. I've been behind on reading/replying to posts lately -- and generally participating.   I am following, and H. and I update each other on what the big news is and celebrations, but I have been mentally exhausted lately with everything and just don't often have it in me to reply.   I am still thinking of you all though, and cheering your BFPs, births, milestones, etc...

QOTW:   We were giving more thought to our birth plan, although that has definitely fallen to the wayside since we were transferred to the primary care of our high-risk OB.   At this point my hope is just to have two babies born past the point of viability, and as healthy and big as possible.   If we make it to 24/25 weeks, my goal will then be to get to 28 weeks, then 30, etc.....   I suspect we will be expecting preemies at this point, and will probably end up with a c-section, so I'm not thinking about birth plans too much really, because so much of that is out of our control. That said, I'm interested in knowing what you guys are doing -- and if anyone knows of any really good pregnancy relaxation (though not necessarily labour-focused) downloads or something I would also appreciate them!

shelly2314 · June 2014

We are 23w5d with twin girls. I am exhausted most of the time. I find that mood swings are hitting me harder now than they ever did in the first half~ Getting larger by the moment. Having a horrible cough that makes me pee on my self constantly is always a good time. Most of the time I start coughing so hard I gag. My OB put me on Zantac and said that the cough might've originated from my early sickness (see previous posts) but that now it is exacerbated by acid reflux/indigestion. Who knew?

QOTW: Let’s talk birth plans? Do you have one? When did you make your birth plan? How did you make your birth plan (did you find a template, was it a plan you made your own?). If you did not or do not plan on making a birth plan what is your reason? My wife and I are not sure about a particular "birth plan" per se. I think I like the checklist idea the best and we can always deviate. Mostly we don't have one b/c we are not sure how this is going to go (scheduled c-section b/c of the twins, natural, etc) so we just figured we could do a "maybe something like this" plan so I don't fall apart when things go awry

trisholio · June 2014

Good morning all. I feel like I haven't been posting as much, but I am still keeping up on everyone. Last week our entire house was sick with a cold, which I didn't use to think was that bad, but oh goodness. Having two babies sick with snotty noses and being pregnant and sick sucked!! On top of that I was seriously sunburned, so needless to say I was in survival mode all week. I am feeling much better and the kiddos are on the mend (and I have a nice tan) so all is getting better around here.

As far as my pregnancy, I will be 28 weeks tomorrow, 7 months! Wow!! I still haven't gained any weight, but my belly is getting to be pretty large. Another fun new development in my pregnancy while being sick was I started peeing myself when I coughed really hard or sneezed out of the blue. I am trying to be thankful that I made it 7 months before this started happening. So I am using panty liners and working on my kegels even more! Good times, I tell ya!

QOTD: We have a tentative birth plan as of right now. We used a few different sources and came up with our own plan. We will also have a meeting with our doula soon to go over our birth plan and put more stuff in writing. We are hoping to have a natural birth, at the hospital without any drugs.

I just had to share a picture from our baby shower this weekend. I am in the pink and my sister is the other preggo one and my mom of course.

redrockmama · June 2014

Hi all, I can't believe I'm up next. This pregnancy has flown by. We're 35w3d over here. I'm exhausted between not being able to sleep and all the baby prep we did this weekend I could use a nap or five.

We have an appointment with the OB this afternoon for one last look at the placenta and to schedule the cesarean. Based on our midwife's schedule it will probably be the 23rd, which makes me happy because it gives us one more weekend and a few more days for Bubbles to mature. I'll update y'all after the appointment.

QOTW: I need to write one up before our appointment today actually. The OB asked us to bring one to the appointment so that we can all go over it together. We are going to do a family-centered or "natural" caesarean. We already know she won't do delayed cord-clamping (which is unfortunate because it's been shown to help early babies the most) but we are hoping to compromise on some other things, like immediate skin to skin with baby being assessed on me instead of in the warmer (as long as he is okay). I hope I can find one online because we were so busy we didn't do it this weekend and now I have to do it during work somehow.

rkbo · June 2014

13w5d today!

We should get our Harmony results by the end of this week. Crossing fingers that everything is as it should be. We went public this weekend, we received tons of love from our family and friends.

TMI..sorry....Holy Hemorrhoids Batman! I think they are starting

waaaaa

I used to be sooo regular...bm like 2-3 times a day on average. Now I am lucky to go every other day. I have been taking Fiber gummies but it doesn't seem to be doing anything. Any suggestions?

QOTW: We don't really have a birth plan either. I know that I definitely want to give birth in a hospital. I think we will explore our options once we are closer to our time. Ideal plan....baby slides out and healthy! haha, wishful thinking huh

doodah1013 · June 2014

Hello!

We are 13w3d... second trimester... What the heck? My nausea for the most part went away overnight. It was between Tuesday and Wednesday, and I was really worried at first, because it was so sudden. It has been really nice to not puke for almost a week! It couldn't have come at a better time, because I am currently in the middle of a 12 day stretch of work with no breaks, and many of those days have ben 10-14 hours. I am still exhausted (but I think that has more to do with the amount of work than being pregnant.)! I am so behind on Facebooking, and keeping up with normal life things, and certainly haven't been bumping as often as usual...

As I was teaching lifeguard training last week, I was very careful to stay sunscreened... as I had heard from you all about the pregnancy skin sensitivity... One day I missed my feet and I am still hurting from it. They burned AND itched, and it was pretty horrible. Letting shower water hit them was nearly unbearable!

Other than that I am getting bigger... but in that "beer gut" phase. It is pretty weird, and interesting... I am just taking it as an indication of what I will look like when I turn into an older man.

We are preparing our Facebook announcement which is terrifying, and exciting! This week we are trying to go through and figure out who we need to tell personally before we go completely public.

TMI Alert- my biggest problem right now is extreme nipple pain when cold. I mean like constant purple nurple pain. I thought this was supposed to go away! Our lactation consultant suggested nursing pads... I am just ready for this little symptom to go the way of the west.

QOTD: @firstcomeslove2013 is currently working on our Birth Plan.... I know that I want to try a natural childbirth, mostly to encourage Breast Feeding success for us.. and because I am imagine I will be more emotionally uncomfortable than physically uncomfortable (you know that comes with the whole trans-boi giving birth thing) and not being able to move would make me feel extremely trapped. On top of that, we have the option of a water birth, as long as we don't have an epi-Dural... and that seems to be very appealing.

We are working with a Doula who specializes in GLBTQ births, and has prior experience with people who identify as Transgender. We are excited to have her as part of our team!

pauljl · June 2014

YES! Made it to the check in on time

I'm feeling pretty good! Everyone kept describing the 2nd tri as magical and I don't think I really believed them until now. Some of this is due to an iron supplement ordered by my doc that has really put my energy back up! YAY! I'm not feeling a ton of movement yet- to be expected as I'm a little heavier. But I feel so reassured by every little motion that I just can't wait to feel it more often.

19 weeks and 1 day here. Hard to believe we are half way there with little Callie. It's fun collecting items. Our donor (baby's Uncle) went shopping for a bunch of clothes and handed them to us. This is so unlike him I was truly shocked! He has a superman tattoo on his arm, and he bought her a superman onesie. It's not what I pictured bringing her home in, but I think it will mean a lot to him to be involved in that way.

The Grandmas have been going crazy buying things too (I made them promise to stick to clearance at least!)

Birth Plan= go with the flow. In a perfect world I want to go through labor with as little intervention as possible. I really wanted to do a home birth/birthing center originally but I got cold feet so we will have a hospital birth. The hospital and OBGYN came highy recommended from several friends and they are very open to needs, wants, and preferences. Still, I don't want to put anything in stone as I know when the time comes I will do whatever is needed for Callie regardless of my preferences. Plus- I have to admit- I don't have total confidence that I can handle the pain yet!

Happy thoughts to all these growing babies

2MamazInSeattle · June 2014

redrockmama said:

I hope I can find one online because we were so busy we didn't do it this weekend and now I have to do it during work somehow.

Two links for you: Penny Simkin's Birth Plan Checklist (has a whole newborn section and post-birth preferences which I think people tend to overlook in a birth plan). And her "All About Cesarean" pdf. That sucks about the delayed cord clamping!! Even 2 minutes makes a massive difference. I hope you can get some of the other things you want.

2MamazInSeattle · June 2014

29w5d, EDD 8/20/14

I don't feel like I have much to report this week! Our shower invites went out and that was exciting, plus seeing some things get picked off our registry is great - lowering my stress level that we won't have this or that. Still working out some logistics in the nursery, but it's actually functional as-is, just needing to finish the details. I have some other items on our list - re-doing our wills, getting the second parent adoption going (safety net), and making the appointment to get our car seat installation approved later in July.

Physically I feel like I'm slowing down a bit. My walks around the lake feel slower, and I feel more tired after than before. Expected behavior

. My gestational diabetes continues to be a pain, as my numbers just keep changing. However, I learned from my educator that between 29-32w there is a lot more action from the placenta, which means they *expect* your numbers to go up. She literally said "we get our panties in a twist around here if your numbers are getting higher because it can indicate placental malfunctions..." so I guess that is 'good news' but also means I had to add another insulin shot at dinner of fast-acting insulin. That's 8 pokes a day now. Sigh. I don't mind the pokes, I just feel terrible knowing that it hurts Simone more than me when things are out of whack. I'm anxious for our u/s on the 19th to see her size - my fluids were better last check, and I'm just hoping she's back into a more appropriate size range.

The consequences are similar to @KH826's (though I know she did not have a GD diagnosis) - big baby with low blood sugar at birth. The reason is (if uncontrolled) baby gets loads of sugar from the mom, and makes less of her own - so when she's born and mom's sugars go away, she crashes. Not ideal - so I'm working really hard to get my sugars perfect, but it is an endless task against a moving target. And because I like to win, it's very defeating to get bad numbers (emotionally).

Other than that, really, I'm doing just fine! I cannot believe we will have only 10 weeks to go as of Wednesday (my birthday, incidentally)! Just trying to keep on the to-do list and make sure we're ready. We started our childbirth ed classes this week which was awesome! J enjoyed it and I was relieved she wasn't bored or came away feeling annoyed by it. On the contrary, she seemed to really dig it! And, one of the women in the class took a labor breathing workshop with me yesterday at my yoga studio, and she lives nearby so my hopes of maybe making some connections with other local (and in this case, AMA) mom seems to be coming true!

QOTW: Ok, so I may get a little preachy here, but I think going into labor just 'hoping for the best' can be risky in terms of your feelings about birth after.

Sure - agree with everyone in the universe that "healthy baby/healthy mom (or birthparent)" is the goal - however, for me,I have added on "minimal to no emotional trauma for me/J" to the list.

So I think you all know that I'm taking Penny Simkin's childbirth ed classes (she wrote The Birth Partner, and Pregnancy, Childbirth & the NewBorn). She basically *invented* the birth plan about 40 years ago. Her take is - based on proper research - women feel good about their birth experience when they felt well-cared for. Period. Doesn't matter if they ended up with an ER c-section instead of a home birth. It's more about were they heard, presented clear options (or where there truly were no 'options' it was compassionately and clearly explained), and overall felt decisions were being made with her - not without her awareness. She requires her students to have a birth plan so we for sure will

. But the nutshell for me is just to have a healthy outcome, emotionally and physically.

For a resource - even if you weren't going to do one - check out her birth plan checklist (online, for free) located here. She has sections for normal birth, unexpected birth, immediate newborn time, post-partum mom preferences, and unexpected outcomes for the baby (premature, NICU, and even god-forbid stillbirth) - but it just makes you think about everything.

You may find you really don't care about any of it; but for me, reading the list I found I did have a preference on probably 75%+ of what was in there. May or may not work out, but honestly, seems like if you have the choice why not make it? I think it'd be horrible afterwards to feel bad about the experience and then find out you had a choice but you were unaware and no one told you or no one knew you had a preference.

As a general reference, her book Pregnancy, Childbirth & The NewBorn is my one-stop-shop - but if you don't want to buy it, online she has a companion guide (free) with a ton of free pdf downloads included a checklist for your hospital bag, pain med info, etc. all in one place here. for mobile people it's: https://www.pcnguide.com/.

Jumping off my pedestal.

singingmua · June 2014

I can't believe that I finally get to jump in here (albeit, still feeling quite tentative... I'm sure you all understand)!

We are 6 weeks today, and I'm feeling pretty ok. I've been queasy everyday since before we even got our first faint BFP. It mostly happens very early in the morning (like 5am) and then just before and right after I eat. My appetite has been pretty hit or miss, some days I feel like I can eat pretty much everything despite any queasiness, other days, I have a hard time finding anything appealing.

I'm starting to feel pretty tired all the time, though since I have Lupus, I'm pretty used to the feeling of eternal tiredness. Sleeping has been interesting, as I haven't had much luck in getting comfortable at night. My friend gave me her Snoogle, and I think I may try it even though it's way early in the game.

I scheduled our first sono/prenatal visit for 6/20 with my regular OB/Gyn and my first visit with my MFM Specialist on 6/30. I think I will feel comfortable adding my name to the list once we have our first sono and see that everything is ok.

QOTW - it's still way early in the game for us, so we haven't given lots and lots of thought to a birth plan, though we have talked about things we would definitely want versus things that we don't.

I hope everyone has a great week!!

AandStilltrying · June 2014

@singingmua‌ I'm right there with you! We are doing betas atm. Got BFP sat. Beta. #1 was today and 907 with progesterone at 303. Dr. Sent email and even drew :-) on it. Made me lol. 2nd beta is wed. But yes folks we are some kinda pregnant!

redrockmama · June 2014

@doodah1013 your doula sounds amazing!

Well, this pregnancy has been anything but predictable. It's a good thing I'm a flexible go with the flow kind of person I guess.

We went to our appt with the OB with our cesarean birth plan ready to negotiate and pick a surgery date, but my placenta decided to throw another plot twist in the mix. It's now 1.5 ish cm away from the cervical opening, which means I can try a vaginal birth in the hospital if I want. There is still a significant risk of hemorrhaging during labor (30-50%), but there is a 50-70% chance of having happy healthy birth. I'm not sure what to do, lots of thinking and processing to do. I'm pretty excited about it though and no more 37 week cesarean for us! If we stick with a planned cesarean they will wait until 39 weeks to do it now.

ball.and.chain · June 2014

I'm feeling pretty good today. I ate well and went for a walk, which I haven't done in several days. My carpal tunnel wasn't too bad, although I was exhausted because I didn't sleep very well last night. Hoping to make up for it tonight.

Our shower was nice and we have most of the stuff we need at this point. Wallpaper going up in the nursery, finally, on Saturday. I have an OB appointment and u/s Wednesday and from then on, we're going once a week until I deliver.

QOTW: At this point I do not have a formal birth plan written out, but I have read several childbirth books and been to class and have preferences about certain things (for instance, if I'm getting pitocin, I want an epi; if I'm getting an epi, I'd like patient-controlled if possible). Fortunately, many of them (e.g. skin to skin) are routine at my hospital so I don't really need to write them down. For issues that I think might not be routine, I will write them down ahead of time and my wife will be in charge of articulation in case I am too out of it. @2MamazinSeattle, the birth plan checklist is very helpful!

Want a personalized experience?

Pregnancy Check In (June 9th)

Re: Pregnancy Check In (June 9th)

Choose Another Board

Search Boards