Pregnancy Check-in (August 10)

[wittyandwaiting]

Good morning and happy Monday everybody!

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: What, if anything, have you done lately to prepare for the new baby and what, if anything, do you plan to do this week?




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!


twotxmommies - July 27

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

daisyflower - January 26

wittyandwaiting - March 28

honigbiene - April 21

[kh826]

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

16w2d
Baby #2
Team Green!

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

I have to go in this afternoon for a blood draw for the second half of our genetic sequential screening. Today's blood draw rules out the likelihood of Spina Bifida.
Other than that, our anatomy scan is on September 4th and next OB appointment is SSeptember 10th.

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

I'm a bit bummed because I felt Dosey move last Wednesday and Thursday (I am pretty sure!), but I haven't felt anything definitive since. I know it is still early in the movement department, and that it is common to not feel "regular movement" until closer to the 20 week mark, but I would love to feel something for a tad of reassurance. Hopefully soon!

Heartburn has been getting a bit worse. I took Zantac yesterday, but it didn't really do anything. I woke up last night with some particularly intense heartburn that I though might result in vomiting, but I was able to keep it together. I predict I will be back on the Nexium Rx by my next OB appointment...

My boobs are currently HUGE. I feel like they are the size now that they were at the very end of my last pregnancy. I think the problem is that they never quite got back down to their average size after I had William, and so they started out larger to begin with this pregnancy. They are so heavy it is seriously uncomfy!

I've just felt kind of uncomfy in general lately. I know it is way too soon for that. I need to get it together. I think it is connected to my lack of sleep and waking up feeling sore/stiff/achy from tossing and turning all night. Think that has a lot to do with it... C'est la vie. I am totally NOT complaining. Just acknowledging.

QOTW: What, if anything, have you done lately to prepare for the new baby and what, if anything, do you plan to do this week?

We have done absolutely nothing to prepare for this baby so far, and it is unlikely that we will do anything this week. Oh wait, we did buy a little winter coat that J fell in love with. That has been our only Dosey purchase so far. Since we aren't doing another nursery, and we never really put away much other than outgrown clothes and the infant car seat, there really isn't a ton to "do" ... famous last words, I know!

[ionaerebor]

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 25 weeks pregnant with my first child, a girl.
2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?) I have my GCT tomorrow. Then on September 3 I'm having more screening tests, though I haven't been told what for, and my first anti-D shot.
3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things? I'm getting all the heartburn just now. And my bump is getting too big for me to sleep on my stomach. So, I'm generally a tired grumpy lady just now. I have joined prenatal yoga class and a aquanatal class. And I've finally moved into my new flat! Ailsa's bedroom isn't ready yet, but I'm keeping her in my room for her first year, so I can do all that stuff later.
QOTW: What, if anything, have you done lately to prepare for the new baby and what, if anything, do you plan to do this week? I got my holder thing for my moses basket yesterday, and I've ordered quite a few bits of newborn clothes, and some other monogrammed stuff. I'm also getting a car seat fitted next week.

[karlamo]

1. 37w4d. Team waiting till D day to find out.

2. Last weeks apt was basic. My fundal height for this first time this whole pregnancy is measuring a little ahead. Totally normal but with GD they need to keep an eye on it. The MW wasn't concerned at this point and we have an u/s on Wed to check the size of baby. My wife is coming to this one and we are debating about sending R to daycare so we can really talk to them about what induction will look like. They also told me if I go into labor they won't be stopping it at this point. So there's that.

3. This weekend it hit me that I'm doing really great for being 2 weeks away from D day. I have zero swelling, I'm still carrying/chasing R around all day, I'm still working etc. I have been so hard on myself this whole pregnancy feeling like I can't keep up like my non pregnant self but the truth is I'm rocking it, if I do say so myself:)
Feeling cramps pretty regularly and am hoping they are doing their job of getting the ol'cervix ready.

QOTW: If you asked me this 6 weeks ago I would have let out a nervous giggle but today we are sitting pretty. The room is as done as it will be especially since Moka won't even be using it till after 3 months. I stocked up on R safe foods for when we are in the hospital and my sister will be taking care of him {hello allergy mom}, I picked up a few frozen meals for us, got the car seats checked, and started packing a hospital bag. ALL this in 1 week! We like to live on the edge.

[wittyandwaiting]

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 7 weeks today with baby #2, although I don't really feel like DS is a baby anymore...he is my baby. We are still undecided about finding out the sex of the baby, I really want to know but I am going to leave it up to C and so far I feel like she wants to be team green.

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

Last week I had an ultrasound (YAY HEARTBEAT!) and I have another tomorrow morning. After this one I think (I'm not 100%) that I'll be cleared by the RE. I have a midwife appointment next week that I am very excited about too.

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

I throw up all the time (3+ times per day), my family doc gave me a prescription for Diclectin which is supposed to help but unfortunately, it's not helping at all so I am not sure that I am even going to bother continuing with it. Besides throwing up I am feeling pretty good, just a bit tired.

QOTW: What, if anything, have you done lately to prepare for the new baby and what, if anything, do you plan to do this week?

I bought a book and I have made quite a few Pinterest Boards.

[karlamo]

wittyandwaiting, I know it's wrong to say this, but I'm so happy to hear you're throwing up. It's for reals! You're knocked up. I hope the vomiting does go away though.

[jgy]

1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby?
38w 3d with baby boy #2!

2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)
I have a MW appointment today, thank god (see below). Our NST and BPP were both great last week on Thursday, baby looks just fine and happy. My NST and BPP this week are scheduled again for Thursday, which is exciting because my Sister will be here by then and, assuming baby is still in there, she'll be able to come with me. This will be the first of any kind of ultrasound she's ever seen.

3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?
Well, I spent a good 2 hours on the bathroom floor last night. I had massive tummy troubles, to the point where I was sweating and breathing through it, stripping down and wondering if this was going to be the start of it all. I have to admit I've pretty much completely forgotten what labor feels like so at one point I tried to time ... something... but soon realized this was NOT labor as the pain was going on and on for like 10 minutes at a time. Could it be the indicative "Soft stool??" Who knows. Today I'm just tired and a bit sore from it. In addition, I had a number of moments last night where the baby's movement caused me to actually push myself up off of the couch, just to get the pressure off of my cervix and tailbone. He's definitely getting antsy in there!

karlamo, I really appreciate what you wrote and I think it also holds true for me as well. I tend to be very critical of myself, especially since my wife sets a pretty high bar when it comes to activity level and getting things done around the house. But lately I've had to remind myself that I'm still very much the primary caretaker of our toddler, and I'm managing to get that done. I may be a bit crabbier or shorter on patience than I'd like, but I'm doing it. I don't necessarily feel physically "Done" with this pregnancy, but I'm certainly more uncomfortable at times than I was the first go-around. I have actually started to waddle a bit as of this past weekend, and that's partly because this time around I'm allowing myself to do that. I always wonder if my being so tight (and tight-assed) last time played any part into my disappointing birth experience. This time I'm just trying to let go more. I think waddling serves a purpose and if nothing else, NOT allowing my hips to expand certainly won't be helpful! Oh, and I just completed my typical Monday/Tuesday walk of our poorly trained 90-lb Doberman. So I'm chalking that up as a win.

I'm really focused on dialing in on my work in the next few days so that I can get to a better place for my leave, and then as soon as my Sister arrives on Wednesday night, I'm going to work on "Encouraging" this guy to make his appearance. We'll see how that goes.

QOTW: What, if anything, have you done lately to prepare for the new baby and what, if anything, do you plan to do this week?
Honestly? We haven't had much to do, and anything that isn't done at this point (except finalizing the packing of my labor bag) likely isn't going to get done until we come home from the hospital. All clothes are washed and sorted. All bedding is washed and ready to go on the bassinet. He'll be in our room for about the first 6 months and then moving in with big brother, so no nursery tasks to do. The car seat bases are in and the car seat parts have been washed and sanitized. I suppose we should finalize our birth plan. Hah. That's about it. Oh, S finally put together our dog's "Go-Bag" for when we need to bring him to daycare/boarding. That actually made me feel less stressed (she did it this morning at 5am before she went to work - after I came crawling upstairs to tell her about my bathroom ordeal from last night).

I think we're pretty good to go!

[wittyandwaiting]

Aug 10, 2015 12:50:08 GMT -5 karlamo said:

wittyandwaiting, I know it's wrong to say this, but I'm so happy to hear you're throwing up. It's for reals! You're knocked up. I hope the vomiting does go away though.

It's so true - the best puking ever. I threw up in the shower today (sorry if that's an overshare) and C said "Hooray for the pukes!" and did a little fist pumping! 

[healz413]

1. 35w6d with Rocky 3. Due sept but will likely have a c-section before the end of August. Still waiting for an OB appointment to get our csection date set and get all of our questions answered.

2. Have a midwife appointment tomorrow. Still waiting on our OB consult.

3. We had our baby showers this weekend. On Saturday we went to the family shower with manada's family. And yesterday was our friend shower. They were both lovely and low key and co-ed. Then we both took today off to recover from a busy weekend. We also sorted through some of our gifts and returned some stuff and used some gift cards to pick up some more stuff. I can't believe how close we are getting.

QOTW: A lot! See number 3. Also I got and installed a walk through baby gate today so that we can keep the dog on her side of the apartment without worrying about tripping over the old baby gate we had.

[cetcar]

1. 17 weeks 2 days and it's our first.

2. We had a check up today at our OB's office. So wonderful to see they are still growing in there. Their legs and arms are so long now. Their little hand was up by their face. Very cute.
It was really reassuring. She also answered all of our questions. I've been feeling kind of anxious lately about all the changes in my boobs and she assured me everything I was feeling/noticing was normal. Going in for the blood draw for the 2nd half of the screening this week and then next Tuesday, 8/18, is our anatomy scan and they'll also check my ovaries.

3. Nothing new. Feeling pretty good, actually. Was able to go out for a 3 mile run/walk on Sunday which is a big step (it's been months since I've been able to run consistently). Probably ran 2+ miles of it. Now that we are back from traveling, I'm looking forward to getting back into an exercise routine. No movement yet but I hope soon! Can't wait for when CET can feel it too.

QOTW:
When I was home at the end of July, my mom bought us our first few outfits. One item is a Patagonia fleece jacket- adorable. Everything is so tiny and cute. Besides that, we haven't done too much. We did go to Babies R Us to start looking at strollers. There are so many choices. Any recommendations? Leaning towards getting one that can also be used as a jogging stroller.

[honigbiene]

Have to go to a work meeting soon so I'll try to make this short:

jgy and wittyandwaiting, thank you so much for the supportive comments on last week's thread. You're right, I was feeling sheepish, especially after I was being all negative and bitching and moaning about how there's no way this IUI worked because of the bad insem timing, low sperm count, and thawed sample sitting on the counter for an hour. But I really appreciated the comments.

I'm still nervous about the status of this pregnancy because I don't have the best track record for sticky embryos. I think I'll wait until I get good betas to make an official announcement.

I still haven't figured out my ovulation date yet because my temp spike doesn't correlate with when I should have ovulated from my trigger shot. But today I'm either 10 or 11 DPO. The line I got on sunday (8 or 9 DPO) was a faint line but not a squinter by any means. But today's was as dark as the control line, which I think is crazy when it's still 4 days before my missed period! I also puked 3 times before noon yesterday!!

wittyandwaiting, I'm trying to figure out why our EDDs are nearly a month apart. Didn't you just get your BFP?

[wittyandwaiting]

Aug 11, 2015 11:24:34 GMT -5 honigbiene said:

wittyandwaiting, I'm trying to figure out why our EDDs are nearly a month apart. Didn't you just get your BFP?

Thanks and nope, I got my positive on July 18; I just had some major beta drama (starting beta of 7) so I wasn't celebrating until I had a decent beta which was 8 days later.

When is your beta? (Sorry if you've already answered this)

Update from me.........

Heartbeat again at the ultrasound (121) so I've got another one in two weeks and then it's peace out RE!

Baby's measuring 4 days behind and was also measuring 4 days behind at my last u/s so my RE says that given my low betas I likely had a late implanter and at my next u/s she will likely adjust my EDD by a few days.

[karlamo]

Great news wittyandwaiting!

honigbiene, Early congrats! Sorry I didn't respond to your earlier announcement. Some of us get lucky the first time; others like my wife and I got lucky on our 15th try. My journey was my journey to take and I'm a different and better person because of that. I honestly wouldn't want to change all 14 BFN's that we got because they led me to my son. We had to use my eggs to get him but wife got to carry him and I truly believe that was how it was meant to be. He's a part of both of us. Now this pregnancy we got LUCKY on the first try. This baby feels just as much as a miracle as my son did.

[honigbiene]

wittyandwaiting- I hadn't mentioned it yet, but my RE doesn't draw betas unless you get a +HPT. I hadn't called them yet because they give instructions not to test until 15 days post trigger, and I was nervous to admit I'd been testing. But I did end up emailing them today and sharing all the details, and they agreed the pee sticks are legit. So I went and had my blood drawn earlier today, however I live in a rural area (my RE is 1.5 hours away) so the blood has to be transported by courier and my RE won't get it until tomorrow morning.

I have a question for everyone:
When did your RE do your first ultrasound, and how many ultrasounds did you have done? The nurse said in her email that they will draw betas and progesterone every few days until the beta reaches 1,000 and then will do an ultrasound. When I look at charts online, a beta of 1,000 correlates with a 4.5 week pregnancy. I'm pretty sure they can't see much more than a sac, if even that, at 4.5 weeks. I'm really nervous about the possibility of twins, and I'm afraid that might not get caught that early. I'm thinking about asking to just wait a couple weeks, because I honestly just don't see the point of such an early u/s. Thoughts??

[pandd]

Aug 10, 2015 20:42:30 GMT -5 healz413 said:

1. 35w6d with Rocky 3. Due sept but will likely have a c-section before the end of August. Still waiting for an OB appointment to get our csection date set and get all of our questions answered.

2. Have a midwife appointment tomorrow. Still waiting on our OB consult.

3. We had our baby showers this weekend. On Saturday we went to the family shower with manada's family. And yesterday was our friend shower. They were both lovely and low key and co-ed. Then we both took today off to recover from a busy weekend. We also sorted through some of our gifts and returned some stuff and used some gift cards to pick up some more stuff. I can't believe how close we are getting.

QOTW: A lot! See number 3. Also I got and installed a walk through baby gate today so that we can keep the dog on her side of the apartment without worrying about tripping over the old baby gate we had.

I am extremely bad at keeping up to date on forums when I get busy at work, but I came back today to check and was so pleased that your pregnancy has gone well - we have had a similar, devastating loss of twins, and also did FET with one of the remaining embryos, and right now my wife is 8 w 4 D, with good measurements. She is having a much harder time with morning sickness than I did in either of my two pregnancies, and I very much wish that I could take that away for her.
We have been interested in fostering for several years, and were about to get licensed when we found out we were pregnant with twins last year, so put it on hold. We finally got licensed a few months ago and now have a just turned four year old for the past month. We never thought this FET would work, so now we are shocked at the prospect of having a 4 year old and a new born, all in the space of 10 months. Luckily he keeps us very distracted from our anxiety about the current pregnancy.
Fostering really teaches you to enjoy the present moment, and not focus on the future, which I'm trying to do with this pregnancy. I really believe that regardless what happens, we will be so thankful to have EXACTLY the family that we have.

[healz413]

pandd, congrats to you and your wife. I hope that it's a relatively easy and uneventful pregnancy for you two and that you don't have too hard of a time with pregnancy after loss brain.

Oh my, the prospect of a pregnancy and a new 4 year old seems a bit overwhelming but it sounds like you're managing.

[honigbiene]

My progesterone levels were released in my online chart, but they have to call with the hcg level, so I'll be waiting for that call sometime today.
My progesterone level at 11DPO was 50. Well over the upper limit for the first trimester. No wonder my boobs have been killing me!!! Nice to know I won't be needing those wonderful vag suppositories, though.


pandd Congrats on the pregnancy as well as the foster kid. Do you guys have any plans to adopt? I know you can't take away your wife's nausea...but you can can take over tasks around the house for her that are nausea-inducing, such as washing dishes, taking out garbage, cleaning up gross stuff, etc. I'm just saying this out of my current bias, as I have had horrific nausea and vomiting for the past several days, and kind of wish my partner would pick up on the fact that every time I try to deal with the yucky dishes sitting in the sink, I promptly vomit.

[honigbiene]

Hcg of 90. Holy crap.

[wittyandwaiting]

pandd Congratulations on both your pregnancy and fostering!!!