Pregnancy Check-In July 20

[healz413]

kevinandjesse--any updates?
twotxmommies--how's it going?

1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby?





2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)




3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?





QOTW: Inspired by the weekend's randoms thread, if you could have any breakfast today (or a day when you had a good appetite), what would you have?






Due Date List

Let me know if you'd like to be added to the list and go ahead and jump in with your update!


jillc0323- June 23

kevinandjesse - July 19

twotxmommies - July 27

rosieelk - August 2

jgy - August 21

karlamo - August 28

healz413 & manada - September 8

officerofthelaw - November 11

ionaerebor - November 23

amandflo - January 16

cetcar - January 16

kh826 - January 22

leftitblank - ??

[karlamo]

I missed last week's check in. A lot has happened this past week.

1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby?

34w4d STM, Team green. Wife carried DS who is 17 months..sniff...


2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)

Where do I begin. Well I failed my second 3 hour GT so I am officially dx with GD. I got my meter on Friday and have to test 4 times a day, 2 hours after eating a meal. So far my sugars have been perfect, so much that I am of course doubting the dx.
So with the dx things have changed somewhat. They won't allow me to go past 40 weeks so looks like I'll be having this baby between 39-40 weeks.
My apts schedule going forward looks like this:

this week: regular MW visit, meeting with nutrition
36 weeks: regular MW visit with GBS test
37 weeks: regular MW
38 weeks: visit with u/s to check size of Moka
39 weeks: cervical check
40 weeks: induce if we haven't had baby yet


3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?

I really don't want to be induced but I realize now that I very well may not have a choice so with that I'm working on preparing for an induction. In some ways it's kinda nice knowing we WILL have this baby by a certain date. It has lit a fire under our tushes getting the car seat installed and the house ready.
I've been having more days with menstrual like cramping which my MW says is normal and my cervix is getting into position for labor.



QOTW: Inspired by the weekend's randoms thread, if you could have any breakfast today (or a day when you had a good appetite), what would you have?
This is a terrible question to ask me now I would eat all the things I'm not suppose to eat or drink.

[kh826]

1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby?

13w2d
Second pregnancy, second time carrying
Team Green!

2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)

Next OB appointment is 2 weeks from today (Aug 3).
I did get a call from my OB last week that the blood work from our sequential screening (blood work that accompanies NT scan) came back and shows very low risk for all the trisomies, etc., so no expected chromosomal abnormalities. Yay!
Other than my OB appointment in 2 weeks, the only other appointment currently on the books is our anatomy scan on Sept 4th.

3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?

I had some sickness off and on this weekend. I think the heat was a contributing factor. I am very sensitive to excessive heat even when not pregnant, but especially when pregnant. I did have heartburn last night and woke up with it at 1am. It was gross, and I almost got sick from that, but I was able to keep it together. It resulted in very interrupted sleep, but such is life. That's about it in the "symptoms" category for the moment.

I am definitely showing a bit.
I told a coworker on Friday that I am pregnant and his response was "Yea, I figured, but I didn't want to ask" HAHA... so, yea. No secrets here. Due to this we decided to speed up our FB announcement a little bit (we posted it on Saturday). We made it safely to 13 weeks, all testing looks good, and I am now visibly pregnant, so we figured we would throw caution to the wind and announce. I know it is still "early" for that, but I am comfortable with the decision. I know others would not be, and I respect that. Hopefully no judgment against us for being some-what early announcers! Obviously anything can happen, but at this point the cat is out of the bag for anyone who interacts with me in person, so I am OK with our FB circles knowing.

Yesterday I had to buy a dress to wear to a wedding we are going to next weekend. Oh man, I was worried about that. It wasn't that painful though, and I found something that isn't hideous relatively quickly. Tried on 4 dresses and one store and bought one of them. You can definitely tell I am pregnant in the dress, so I am glad that all of our friends and family who we will see at the wedding know.

QOTW: Inspired by the weekend's randoms thread, if you could have any breakfast today (or a day when you had a good appetite), what would you have?

For a work day breakfast (like today), I would have loved to have an egg and cheese on a plain bagel, hash browns, and a decaf iced coffee from Dunkin. I usually treat myself to that breakfast 1 day out of the work week. Well, actually not the hash browns, usually I have a banana from home instead, but I might add the hash browns next time!

If this were a weekend breakfast... I would LOVE to find some kind of really good breakfast buffet so that I could have a little bit of everything. I love breakfast food, and I hate having to pick between savory and sweet (eggs and potatoes v. pancakes, etc.) ... it would be lovely if I could just sample a little of everything that looks good! I have not been to a breakfast/brunch buffet in a super long time, and not even sure where there is one by us, but I might need to google that. Breakfast food is definitely my major craving so far this pregnancy!

[healz413]

kh826, no judgement on announcing! 13 weeks is a completely standard time to announce.

And even if it weren't, it's totally your and your wife's decision to make. I don't like the idea of judging when people announce. My only concern is folks who have no idea how high first trimester miscarriage rates are and so they announce at 4 or 5 weeks without knowing what the chances are that they'll have to let people know about their loss. But I still don't judge them for that. (And don't worry; I can be plenty judge-y.)

karlamo, I'm so sorry that you've got a GD diagnosis and that you will likely have to be induced at 40 weeks. Here's to hoping that you go at 39w5d all on your own!

Will your midwife be able to support you in doing things to ripen your cervix before then? Ours gave us a list of things to start taking/doing at 36 weeks to help prepare the cervix. (The midwife's take on them was-- I don't know that they'll work, but I know they won't do any harm, so it's worth trying.) We're also planning to start stretch and sweeps at 38 weeks if my cervix makes that possible.

[kh826]

karlamo - I am so sorry to hear about the GD diagnosis and the possibility of having to be induced.

So, I know that everyone is super different and every pregnancy is very different, so I only offer this info to you as what is hopefully a possible positive outcome... one of my friends is currently 37 weeks, and a month ago she received a GD diagnosis. She was totally shocked. She is an insanely healthy eater (pregnant and not), this is her second pregnancy, she is super fit and health-conscious. It just goes to show that the stereotype that GD is only for overweight pregnant folks who binge on sweets is TOTALLY untrue. Anyway, I digress. She met with a nutritionist and started testing her blood sugar several times a day. All of her numbers came back totally stellar and the nutritionist recommended only very minor changes to her diet. She had a growth scan of her baby, and baby came in right at 50% in terms of size for gestational age. She has another growth scan this week, but her OB and MFM have both said that since her numbers are great and her baby is not measuring big, they likely will not push for an induction at or before 40 weeks unless she wants it. They will keep monitoring her closely, but as long as nothing changes they will let her go up to/beyond her due date and hopefully wait for labor to come on naturally.

I have no idea if your Drs would agree to do something similar if your numbers continue to come back in the normal range and Moka doesn't seem to be a super big bambino... again, I only offer this as the recent experience of someone I know.

Keep us posted.
Big hugs to you for having to deal with this, friend!

[karlamo]

healz413, I haven't met with them since I got the dx. I'll see them on Thursday. I can still deliver at the birth center if I go into labor on my own, otherwise I will be on a regular floor. I did feel better after the MW told me last week she had a mom deliver pain med free after being induced so it is possible.

I'll probably start acupuncture at 38 weeks and maybe a membrane sweep if things are ripe for that. From our own previous experience, none of the cervix/labor inducing tricks work if your body isn't ready to go into labor on it's own. I'm sure we'll still try them any way cause what do we have to lose.
The only tricks we know are Red rasperberry leaf tea, nipple stim, membrane sweep, sex with men (hehe). Know any other methods?

[healz413]

1.) manada are 32w6d with Rocky 3.

2.) We had a midwife appointment last week, which went well. A week from today we have an ultrasound to check on the placenta and to see if it's moved far enough away from the cervix. We'll also check the baby's position at that point. I'm pretty sure that as of now, Rocky is still changing positions. Last night they were lying across the top of my belly and today I'm pretty sure they're back to head down.

3.) Last night I had trouble finding a comfortable position to sleep in. Sleeping on my side was hurting my belly (and a pillow underneath didn't help) and sleeping on my back propped up was hurting my back. I finally found a comfortable position that was really propped up on my back but each time I returned from getting up to pee, I had to re-find the position. I also had to have a snack at 3:30am. THankfully I had a fibre one next to my bed so I could have that in bed. After that I was awake for a while worried that I was having really long contractions that I couldn't feel. I'm pretty sure that it was just Rocky lying across the top of my belly and the fact that I was almost sitting up and my upper belly is always firmer when I'm upright.

I have decided that if Rocky stays in that long and nothing goes wrong in the mean time, I will end work 2 weeks before my due date. I was going back and forth between two weeks and one week. I'm hesitant to cut into my parental leave, but it's the summer and I'm just getting bigger and bigger and more and more uncomfortable every day. And there's so little work for me to do at the office right now. I think it would be better for me to have some no-guilt time at home before Rocky comes.

QOTW: Oooh, I love kh826's idea of a really good breakfast buffet. I want mine to be somewhere with biscuits and gravy. I also want them to have good crisp bacon and good sausage. And I want them to have strawberries rather than (or in addition to) cherries for on top of waffles.

[healz413]

Jul 20, 2015 12:02:54 GMT -5 karlamo said:

healz413, I haven't met with them since I got the dx. I'll see them on Thursday. I can still deliver at the birth center if I go into labor on my own, otherwise I will be on a regular floor. I did feel better after the MW told me last week she had a mom deliver pain med free after being induced so it is possible.

I'll probably start acupuncture at 38 weeks and maybe a membrane sweep if things are ripe for that. From our own previous experience, none of the cervix/labor inducing tricks work if your body isn't ready to go into labor on it's own. I'm sure we'll still try them any way cause what do we have to lose.
The only tricks we know are Red rasperberry leaf tea, nipple stim, membrane sweep, sex with men (hehe). Know any other methods?

manada's got the list that our midwife gave us, so I'll get back to you when I get a chance to look at it.

Yeah, I know that you're right about the tricks not working if your body isn't ready. Our MW seems to think they're worth trying anyway to encourage the body in that direction. But maybe she's just trying to make us feel better.

M has long walks planned for us and bouncing on a stability ball. She used to have a little trampoline that she wanted me to bounce on starting at like 39 weeks, but we don't have that any more, which is fine with me since I'm pretty sure I would fall on it!

[kh826]

In terms of other tricks... spicy food, pedicure with foot massage (like a deep massage of your feet and ankles if you can tolerate it), walking, bouncing on an exercise ball... I did all of that plus what you mentioned (well minus the sex with men part), and I don't think it really helped, but it made me feel like I was doing something, which helped mentally for me. I ended up with a boatload of Pitocin in the end.

[karlamo]

Thanks kh826. So far my numbers look great. While I always envisioned myself going past 40 weeks and letting my body and baby do this on their own(to an extent), I now feel like I can't be pushing the envelope and will probably want to induce at 39-40 weeks. I don't want my selfish reasons for holding off an induction to interfere with Moka's health. I'm comfortable with 39-40 weeks. Their lung should be finished with development and the sucking reflex should be good to go. It's hard knowing that R at 41 weeks still only weighed in at 7 lbs 10 oz. If he was born 2 weeks earlier he would most likely only have been around 6ish.

[karlamo]

You will all think I've lost my mind, but I had a thought about using our last vial of sperm when the time came. Can you imagine shooting that up there in the hopes it worked! haha. It'd be a very expensive "induction".

[healz413]

karlamo, oh man!!! What an idea! Way to get creative.

[ionaerebor]

karlamo Sorry about the dx. Can you have it re-done to make sure it's correct? I'd be suspicious if my sugers were fine as well.
1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby? I'm 22 weeks with my first, who is a girl called Ailsa.
2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?) Nope, nothing
3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things? I'm at home! It's the first time I've been back without A in four years, so it's certainly different. I'm staying with my grandma in the room my mum and I shared when my parents divorced, and it's certainly ironic to be in here now. But I'm having my baby shower on Wednesday and I'm really excited! There's going to be people here I haven't seen in years, and I'm more looking forward to that than anything else. I'm still having an achy tummy just under my diaphragm, and now I need to pee all the time. My mum keeps laughing at me because for years I used to make fun of her for peeing all the time. Also, Ailsa still isn't happy with the idea of me sleeping.
QOTW: Inspired by the weekend's randoms thread, if you could have any breakfast today (or a day when you had a good appetite), what would you have? There is an ice cream shop and cafe here that does bacon, pancakes, ice cream and maple syrup as a breakfast served with tea and apple juice, and I've been craving that since I got here. I'm going to go and get some with my high school best friend and her two youngest sons tomorrow morning.

[kevinandjesse]

1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby?


-Oy!!!!- 40W+1d - first baby first Son!



2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)


- Last Thursday we had another useless appointment. (Still pregnant? -Yerp!- Ok see you later!) We scheduled an appointment this Friday (if he doesn't come sooner) for ultrasound/NST/and possible induction. We would decide then whether to go next door to the birthing center or wait a few more days.


3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?

-OH MY GOSH! Neither us, nor our surrogate, or our midwife can believe we are sitting here after the due date still waiting on our little man's arrival! Our poor surrogate! On one hand we all feel very very fortunate to have such a straightforward and uncomplicated pregnancy up until this point. But she is very very ready to be not pregnant. We are very very ready to meet the new love of our lives. And watching the due date come and go after 4 weeks of playing the "it could be any minute now" game... Please let "soon" come sooner!



QOTW: Inspired by the weekend's randoms thread, if you could have any breakfast today (or a day when you had a good appetite), what would you have?

- Right now I could really go for "I didn't have time to eat breakfast, our son has been crying all morning, I've changed 64637272737 diapers, and he's eaten enough to suck a cows utters dry" because all of that would be better than waiting for your life to change "any day now"

[karlamo]

ionaerebor, I've already had 3 elevated tests. Even I can't deny that the tests must be right at this point. But good numbers do make me a little more inclined to sneak in a cookie if I need to.

kevinandjesse, I was so hoping that you were going to say he was here! I have this vision of you and DH pacing the floor as you wait this out. LOL. Dr's shouldn't even say the "any day now". Hang tight. You really are getting close to meeing LO.

[kevinandjesse]

Jul 20, 2015 13:52:15 GMT -5 karlamo said:

kevinandjesse, I was so hoping that you were going to say he was here! I have this vision of you and DH pacing the floor as you wait this out. LOL. Dr's shouldn't even say the "any day now". Hang tight. You really are getting close to meeing LO.

That's pretty spot on haha... that and alphabatizing the soup cans and color coordinating the the vegetables into a proper ROY G. BIV rainbow

[jgy]

kevinandjesse, I agree that Dr's and MW's should know better than to say "Any day now." I mean sure, if you have someone in your office who is in clear denial that their life is about to change and has done zero preparation for it you might mention that to kick them into gear a little. But when people are SO READY it's just mean and a big tease.

karlamo, I'm so sorry about the GD diagnosis. That really sucks. It does sound like you're making peace with a potential induction, but I will echo kh826's story that most responsible providers will advise you on risks and have a "Conversation" about their recommendations, but in the end their may be room for a plan that is really personalized to you. Because I'm old, my MW informed me that ACOG's recommendation is automatic induction at 39 weeks. But then she reminded me that the recommendation is just a blanket suggestion handed out across the board, and that my particular situation might be different. We agreed that with increased monitoring, and my promise to be hyper-vigilant about any changes in activity level or even just how I feel, all of us are comfortable rolling through that 39 week mark if that's what body wants to do. Anyway, a lot of words to just suggest that you talk more with your MW if you are feeling uncomfortable with the idea of induction.


1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby?
35w3d with baby boy #2.

2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)
Seems like I have appointments every day now. In reality, I have a growth/anatomy scan on Wednesday (due to the CMV infection) so I get to skip my weekly NST and BBP. I have my 36w prenatal on Friday. They get more fun now, what with GBS swabs and other stuff. Woohooo. We had our first prenatal with our Doula yesterday and that went really well.

3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?
I keep shifting between feeling like I'd be fine with the baby coming any time now, and knowing that he still has a lot of growing to do and that it would actually be pretty disastrous for him to come before my Sister gets into town to help us and to take care of G. She flies in at 38W 5D.

I'm feeling some stuff I didn't feel that much with my first kiddo, quite a bit of pressure on my pelvis, some pain here and there, constant peeing .... I'm trying to take it all as a good sign since my first birth experience was less than ideal. The insomnia is going to damn near kill me though. Last night I was having some leg pain and while I typically hold off on pain relievers of any kind, I finally broke down and took some Tylenol. Since I was popping the pills anyway, I decided to live it up and go for Tylenol PM (okay'd EONS ago by my MW). Well let me tell you I would have had the best night's sleep in MONTHS had it not been for my dog having intestinal trouble, and my wife sleeping like the dead. Best laid plans ...

QOTW: Inspired by the weekend's randoms thread, if you could have any breakfast today (or a day when you had a good appetite), what would you have?
I'm ALWAYS up for a breakfast buffet. With my last pregnancy, I actually made my wife and my friend go to one with me just because I could and I wanted to eat all the things. I think that after this baby is born, I am going to make a small group of my friends go to this awesome Irish Pub in downtown for Sunday brunch. We typically go there before the Pride parade every year. They have a really nice buffet that G likes and it comes with a free Bloody Mary. Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!

[kh826]

Let's file this under inquiring minds want to know... all of you 3rd tri peeps who are nearing D-Day, do you have names locked and loaded? Options? You plan to wing it a bit when you meet baby? Do you and your spouse/partner (if you have one) agree on names?

I can't wait to meet the latest round of littles that this group has coming, and when I think about all these little bundles, I wonder what their names will be!

I'm not asking for any spoiler alerts, btw, just wondering where everyone is in the name game process.

[jgy]

kh826, funny you should mention ... My work team wanted to do a little shower for us even though this is #2 (their rationale was that I wasn't working here when I had G, so this is THEIR first of our babies - too cute). Anyway, they are doing a "Name the Baby" contest since they know we haven't picked a name yet. We're obviously not obligated to use any of their names, and none of the names on our list of contenders was even among the names suggested, but it's still fun.

We have a looooong list of names that one of the two of us really likes and the other doesn't totally hate. There are very few that we both feel strongly positive about, and even with those there are some reservations. We will most likely narrow it down to about 5 before he's born, and will then decide once we see him and get a feel for who he is. I feel that, for us, we really nailed it with G's name. We both absolutely love it and our families do too. One of those things where I know my Mom, for example, is really proud to tell people what his name is. I'm afraid we won't be able to recreate that with this little one. Talk about putting pressure on ourselves!!

[karlamo]

Are you still lifting G, jgy? I noticed this weekend that I can only hold R for a short while before I start getting tired and need to put his fat bottom down.

kh826, We are set on our girl's name since it was leftover from when we were team green with R. And as of yesterday we are waffling on our boy name that we had picked out since 14 weeks! All the names I like are too trendy and popular for my taste but I like them. Rudy's name is so great and has so much meaning to us that it's hard to find another name that stands up to it.

[jgy]

Yup. I still lift him, karlamo, a LOT! I do notice that I get tired more easily and want to put him down. But that usually precedes him running in the opposite direction. So I do a lot of huffing and puffing.

S expressed to me the other day while doing our Doula prenatal prep work, that she'd be just fine with "Them just going in and getting" this next little guy. I was kind of floored. I mean, I know she and I don't see eye to eye on a lot of stuff but we do a pretty good job of respecting when the other has a strong opinion about something or wants something badly. But in this case I thought she really felt the way that I do about how important a VBAC is. Apparently not. Anyway, just in case her opinion was due to lack of understanding of what a RCS means for her life, I took that moment to educate her about the fact that I would not be able to even lift G for MANY weeks post-surgery and that perhaps we should observe the rest of what the day was like in that context. I think it took about an hour for her to rethink her stance. Do.Not.Want to have to deal with not being able to lift my kid.

[karlamo]

jgy, ugh! I'm sorry she even said that to you. Besides you wanting to have a birth experience that you're content with, who the heck wants major abdominal surgery followed up with them handing you a newborn and saying, "now try to rest". Seriously.
This is my top fear with having a CS, how the hell will I care for 2 kids, one who I'm not allowed to pick up, and still rest enough to heal and recover. Vaginal recovery is so much faster and easier on the body than dealing with stitches and possible post op surgery complications.

Let's hope we both get what we want.

[healz413]

kh826, we have a name picked out and it will be the same name whether Rocky is a boy or a girl. Middle name will change but first will be the same.

[kevinandjesse]

kh826 - yep, we've had the name locked down since first trimester, but that doesn't mean we haven't second guessed it from time to time.

[kh826]

We have a first and middle name for a girl -- name that we intended to use when we thought William was going to be a girl ; however, I just floated the idea of a different middle name for a girl this weekend, and J isn't thrilled. We will see what happens with that if this baby is a girl. The first name is non-negotiable for both of us though.

If we have another boy, we also have a first and middle name chosen. It isn't my favorite, but I like it the best from the list that J likes. I think it would grow on me though if we end up with another boy.

[officerofthelaw]

1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby?
24 weeks today, first baby, boy




2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)
I have a 4d sonogram August 10!



3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?

Sleeping has been hard and I have absolutely no energy





QOTW: Inspired by the weekend's randoms thread, if you could have any breakfast today (or a day when you had a good appetite), what would you have?

Fruit Loops

[healz413]

officerofthelaw, congrats on V day (viability day)!

[Deleted]

Hey all you pg Moms and Dads to be. I cant believe kevinandjesse, are still waiting! I thought they disappeared in the haze of newborn life. karlamo, I too was diagnosed with GD, and I was psyched about the the meter and keeping things monitored with a meter. I didnt take any meds. I was to be induced at 40 wks but my water broke 2 days early. So take heart- LO may have other plans. jgy,I had a hysterectomy and hernia repair when J was 2, so I know some of what you speak. Dear partner does not want CS, even if she doesnt know it yet! I had J climb on the bed and carried him from there, it was not an option as a single parent to NOT carry little man around. Best of luck to everyone in the throes of it...