Pregnancy Check-In (August 17th)

[jgy]

I'm still here, so I'll start this one today:


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 is/was the most important driver in your decision when choosing your care team for this pregnancy/birth?  Who did you choose to work with and why?



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!





birdsofafeather - 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

[karlamo]

1. Team Green. 38w4d.

2. Last week we had our u/s which showed a 7lb 3 oz baby in there. My AF level looked good and they said everything is how they want it to be with GD. So I got the green light to go till 40 weeks before being induced.

3. I have my 39 week apt on Thursday. They'll do a cervical check and if I'm open then I will have a membrane sweep as a first step towards induction. I hope my MW will let us know what scheduling an induction will look like. I've tried asking already but she was not ready for have that conversation, though I was. I'm wondering if they'll make me coming in next week for a regular apt before scheduling the induction.


Over the weekend we made a list for my sister who will be watching R. It's his schedule and also phone numbers/addresses of places she may need while here. I feel better about leaving him with her now that I gave her the R handbook.

QOTW: I don't have just one reason for choosing our team. I wanted a place that had a level 3 NICU, relatively close to my house, baby friendly birth center/hospital. The first time we went to our MW's office we saw on their wall a picture of a lesbian couple pregnant. I knew right then we made the right choice. Overall I'm very pleased with the care I'm receiving there, but I'm not impressed with their apt availability and same day visits.

[kh826]

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

17w2d
Baby #2
Team Green!

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

Nothing much to report on this front since last week.
Next appointments are A/S on 9/4 and OB appointment on 9/10.

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

Heartburn, not sleeping much, still waiting to feel real/consistent movement (getting a bit concerned about this, but trying not to be too much of a worrier)...

QOTW: What is/was the most important driver in your decision when choosing your care team for this pregnancy/birth? Who did you choose to work with and why?

I LOVE my OB, so it was a no-brainer to stick with her (she was my care provider throughout my first pregnancy). She listens, she is relatable, she is a mom herself, she is fairly laid back (which J likes, and it also helps to keep me a little more even keeled). I also really like the hospital where I delivered Will and where I will deliver this baby. Mainly due to their amazing NICU (which we ended up needing last time). I was thrilled with the care that I got, but the care that our son received was top notch, which was far more important to me.

[jgy]

1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby?
39W 3D with baby boy #2!

2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)
Last week was appointment/testing week from hell. Seems like I had something going on every day. This week I had a lactation consult today (being proactive since bf'ing was a nightmare with G), I have testing on Wed. and then my full-term, 40 week prenatal scheduled for Friday.

3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?
After some not-so-great test results Thursday (all was fine Friday at the retest), I had my membranes stripped and went full-force at all non-medical induction methods. The result was not a baby, but rather a weekend full of unproductive, but not painful, contractions and other symptoms. I have to keep reminding myself that I'm still working on best possible scenario here, and that my due date isn't until this Friday. Baby is fine, I'm comfortable (if crabby), so I should just shut up and carry on. In TMI news, I have the never ending mucus plug. I've been losing it over the course of about 3 weeks now. Yuck.

QOTW: What is/was the most important driver in your decision when choosing your care team for this pregnancy/birth? Who did you choose to work with and why?
Because my experience with birthing my first kiddo was so NOT what I wanted, I did a complete change of everything and everyone involved for this pregnancy. It's not that I didn't get good care or trust my providers, it was more that I needed a group of people that were more focused on a holistic approach and I needed people with whom I did not have a pre-existing relationship (that goes for both MW and Doula). My most important criteria were that this MW team accept an AMA VBAC Mom, and that they were proactive in the non-medical approaches to labor and birth. I want opinions and suggestions and demonstrations and hands-on activity. I want them to trust what I tell them, but they don't need to trust that I know what I'm doing. After last time I can say with confidence that I do NOT! So far, I've been pretty ecstatic with my care. I'll let you all know how it goes with the birth portion. (Hopefully soon)

[healz413]

1. manada and I are 36w6d with Rocky 3 and we have our c-section scheduled for tomorrow afternoon!

2. As I posted last week in a separate post, we had to go into the hospital due to some bleeding I had because of the placenta previa. We spent about 36 hours there and everything is fine but that's when we got booked for our csection tomorrow.

3. Rocky is having a very active day today which is awesome except for when it is painful (lightning crotch). And tomorrow by this time we should have an outside baby!!! It still hasn't sunk in.

We got a lot done around the apartment this weekend and I feel a lot more ready for Rocky to come tomorrow than I felt last week.

QOTW: We knew we wanted a hospital birth and we didn't want to be at the hospital where we lost the twins (it wasn't the hospital's fault, but the association is so bad for us). So we chose the other premiere hospital in Toronto. It wasn't until we were almost 10 weeks that we even contacted the midwifery practice that has privileges there. We thought we wanted OB care but we weren't accepted into high risk care and we decided that for standard OB care there wasn't anything they would offer that midwives wouldn't and there were things that midwives would offer that OBs wouldn't. We were lucky that the midwifery clinic had an opening for us.

[wittyandwaiting]

WOW! So many babies coming very soon!

healz413 I am already sending you and manada and Rocky 3 warm thoughts for tomorrow. I am making an assumption at which hospital you're at (I've got two in mind) and I am sure that you will have a wonderful experience at either.

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

8 weeks today! I feel like two months is a HUGE milestone to get to after our super crazy start. Actually I feel like every day is a milestone. We are team green for now although I would love to find out and C is totally itching to know so I think we might opt to find out.

2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)
First appointment with our midwife tomorrow. YAY! I am really excited about this....C is a little freaked out because the thinks that midwives are a bit "hokey" but she's rolling with it because it is super important to me.

3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?
I know that you keep hearing about this but basically I am a total puker. I puke in the morning within a few minutes of waking up and definitely sometime between dinner time and bed time, what happens in between those pukes really depends on the day. Nothing is really helping so I am just riding this one out and complaining to you all whenever I get the chance (thanks for listening!). C is driving me nuts (although it's because she loves me and wants me to feel better) with food suggestions and making me things that she thinks will stay down; one day I survived on hummus, carrots, pitas , blueberries and water all day....I only puked once and it was amazing but she kept trying to make me a burger because I needed to have more protein.....sigh. She is wonderful but I would have puked that burger up immediately.

QOTW: What is/was the most important driver in your decision when choosing your care team for this pregnancy/birth? Who did you choose to work with and why?

We chose a midwife team and I couldn't be happier! My birth experience with DS was difficult and not because things went off track (I can handle that) but because I felt like it was treated like a medical problem that needed to be cured, I was young and wasn't given choices when there were other options. This time around I want to have more control over my birth experience and feel like my body is doing what it's supposed to do. We still plan to have the baby in hospital but I think that having a midwife will make a world of difference. We are actually not delivering at our local hospital and are choosing to go out of town (20 minutes away....7 in a real hurry) to deliver where we feel comfortable.

[karlamo]

wittyandwaiting, GL with the midwife and I hope your pukes calm down soon.

[honigbiene]

1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby?
4.5 weeks.  Fourth baby (first 3 are from my previous marriage; this is the first with my partner). My partner leans towards finding out the sex, however I've done both and HIGHLY enjoyed not finding out, so I'm going to try to talk him into waiting.



2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)
I have a repeat beta/progesterone on Friday. My last draw showed that by prog was over 50 and my betas were more than quadrupling, so it'll be interesting to see if that keeps up



3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?
Severe nausea, fatigue, and it feels like somebody beat my breasts with a baseball bat.




QOTW: What is/was the most important driver in your decision when choosing your care team for this pregnancy/birth? Who did you choose to work with and why?

Right now I'm still under the care of my RE. I've had both homebirth and hospital births, and I highly prefer home birth. For 6 years I worked in the Labor/Delivery and NICU at the highest level hospital in my state. However, I now live in a fairly small town. There is only one hospital here (and the next nearest hospital is 1.5 hours away) and I work in the ER here.  There are no OB/GYNs or midwives of any kind in this area.  Family Practice doctors deliver all the babies, and there is not a NICU at this hospital (babies needing that care are flown out). The Family Practice doctors also cover the ER, and so I know all of them from working with them. I already know which doctor I want delivering me. I chose her because she most closely aligns with my beliefs in how to manage (and not manage) patient care and autonomy. I am still grieving not being able to have a home birth, but that's just not an option here and I don't think my partner could handle that, anyway.

[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 26 weeks and 2 days pregnant with my first, a little girl.
2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?) I passed my one-hour GCT last week with no issues, though I forgot how disgusting that drink is. Yuck. My next appointment in September 3.
3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things? I've not been well the past couple of days, but it was just a 24-hour thing I think, since I've been fine since yesterday afternoon. I still have lots of heartburn, and I still can't sleep well. My ankles are a bit swollen, but my blood pressure is fine so my doctors aren't particularly concerned.
QOTW: What is/was the most important driver in your decision when choosing your care team for this pregnancy/birth? Who did you choose to work with and why? I didn't really get a choice, to be honest. In Sweden, you get your midwife, and occasionally see a GP and that's it. Very few people choose to go private and get a doula, and nobody works exclusively with an OB, as far as I'm aware.

[cetcar]

1. General overview (examples--answer what you like: How many weeks? First baby/, second, etc.? Do you know the sex of the baby?
18W 3D with baby #1 and we do know the sex.

2. Appointment Updates (recent appts? ones coming up?)
We had our anatomy scan yesterday and all looks good! The second round of screening for downs came back with a very low risk which is even lower because of the PGS. Next week we are touring a potential hospital. Our next appointment with the OB is 9/1 and then we have a fetal echocardiogram on 9/15. Guess they do it for all IVF babies.

3. General symptoms/rants/concerns/exciting things?
I'm feeling more movement. It's pretty fun! CET felt a bump last night. The doctor yesterday said they behave in 45 minute increments- active for 45 minutes, sleep for 45 minutes. Overall feeling pretty good. No complaints. Need to buy a pair of maternity pants. Any recommendations?