Beautiful Babies Due in 2011 (Combined Group)

[deidraj]

So I haven't been on in awhile. Things have been crazy at work and I'm wiped by the time I get home from work. I eat dinner, and check the computer real quick then veg out in front of the TV. I had an appointment Friday and did my 1 hour glucose test. The OB had me drink the stuff at home an hour before my appointment and they checked it when I got there (they did the test a little early because I have a family history of diabetes). The cutoff is 130, I got a 134. I now have to do the 3 hour test this Friday. I'm not excited at all. A lot of women have told me that they failed the first test but passed the 3 hour, I'm hoping that's me. The OB said that 85% of women pass it the 2nd time, so I guess we will see. If I don't pass, she said I will go on a diet and check my levels 4 times a day. I would really rather not make myself bleed 4 times a day. I have had enough "poking" throughout this process. Fingers crossed for Friday.

[DandMe]

AFM: Many of you may not know or remember me. I cycled in July and was very lucky to get a BFP on my 1st try. I then developed a SCH at 7 weks that got worse and lasted into the middle of my second trimester. My MFM was not very hopeful about this pregnancy since my bleeding was getting worse not better, so was kinda stuck in limbo and just lurked about. I didn't feel comfortable on the pregnant side and didn't have much to say to those cycling. I have been following ny old buddies from the summer some and even know alot of you from the fall and winter group. So things finally settled down with the bleeding, but my MFM was concerned about PTL & PPPROM becuase of a bunch of factors (autoimmune disease, the late sch. my thyroid levels going wacky). Baby always was measuring perfectly, but I held my breath every step of the way. I counted every day until about 32 weeks when I finally felt I could breath. Then this past wednesday (34w1d), I felt kinda sick. I was crampy with some diarrhea. I had been having Braxton Hick occassionally since about 20 weeks. Those seemed to be continuing on Wednesday but no worse or anything. I thought about going to go in, but took a bath and felt better and I had an appointment Thursday morning anyway. So at my appt they did a NST and I was contracting every 3 minutes (and not really feeling them...if I had my hand on my belly I could feel my uterus tighten just a bit, but no pain at all). They checked and I was 3 cm and 75%. So I was sent immediately to L&D and medicated and monitored. They stalled me at 4 cm. Early Friday morning they took me off L&D and I have been on bedrest (and bored hence my renewed stalking ). I have been having a few stronger contractions every now and then. They haven't checked my since Friday, they said they want to leave me "undisturbed" unless I start bleeding, my water breaks, or I have more than 4 contractions an hour. So here I am. I am really not too stessed. I was so afraid of losing the baby or having a super early preemie that would be in the ICU for months, that a 34w/35w preemie doesn't scare me..like I was prepared for much worse. The neonatalogist said she would likely need to stay in for 2-3 weeks at this point. Obviously, I would prefer her to stay in me a while longer, but if she is she shows up early, I know we will be ok. Tuesday I will be 35w so I am trying to hold out until at least then. My MFM would like to hold me of to 37 week (March 15). We'll see what the little Miss decides. We still need a name. DH and I had a list of about 50 names and we are down to about 12. He said he wants to see her before we name her.

Oh you poor thing! Bedrest SUX even if it is for a wonderful reason. I can't believe you were actually 3cm dilated with no pain... wow. Good thing you had an appointment!!! I'm glad you're not stressed and under excellent care. That makes things a lot easier on everyone. Are they doing any stress tests on baby? My niece had her baby last year at 33 weeks and he was under 4 lbs... a month in the hospital to gain weight but otherwise he was perfectly healthy and gorgeous!! Keep posting and letting us know how you are doing. What's your list of names? We LOVE Gabriel but I found out today that it's super popular this year? WTF? I don't know anyone named Gabriel and now it's a super popular name? My oldest's name is Mason, which has soared in popularity the past few years but was virtually unheard of in 1988. My youngest is Jerry, a very old name, and we don't know anyone his age (or younger) named that. I want something unique or at least 'not common'.

What's your list of 12?

[DandMe]

So I haven't been on in awhile. Things have been crazy at work and I'm wiped by the time I get home from work. I eat dinner, and check the computer real quick then veg out in front of the TV. I had an appointment Friday and did my 1 hour glucose test. The OB had me drink the stuff at home an hour before my appointment and they checked it when I got there (they did the test a little early because I have a family history of diabetes). The cutoff is 130, I got a 134. I now have to do the 3 hour test this Friday. I'm not excited at all. A lot of women have told me that they failed the first test but passed the 3 hour, I'm hoping that's me. The OB said that 85% of women pass it the 2nd time, so I guess we will see. If I don't pass, she said I will go on a diet and check my levels 4 times a day. I would really rather not make myself bleed 4 times a day. I have had enough "poking" throughout this process. Fingers crossed for Friday.

Your days sound like mine! It is making the pregnancy fly by, however. Seems like yesterday I was excited to be 12 weeks. Now I'm almost finished 21!

I think my doctor will have me do the test next month at exactly 24 weeks. My dad had some diabetes but nothing sever. I have heard that a diabetic diet is one of the best, however! You were so close to the cutoff that you're sure to be in the 85%. I hope you are just fine and have nothing to worry about. Being poked four times a day would seriously put a damper on my day as well.

[TammyS]

Yay Sonya on your little boy! I agree...knowing that Zach was a boy...instantly made me feel more connected to him. We also had his name picked out at 11 weeks pregnant. When she said, boy...I said, "Hi Zachary"...if he had been a girl...he would have been Kaylee...though I'm not so in love with that name anymore...and I still love Zach's name. So good thing he was a boy. lol

Didi...I remember you well. I'm so sorry that you have been through so much...just so unfair...after everything we go through to get pregnant. I just wanted to send you some hugs and tell you my story...to give you hope. Zach was born at 35 weeks 3 days due to low amniotic fluid. I was admitted from my doc appt on a Monday afternoon and because he was doing just fine...they let me try to labor. I spent Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday on cervadil, cytotec, max doses of pitocin and nothing was working...he wasnt interested in coming out at all. I was stalling them from a c-section...not cause I was scared of it for me...but cause I knew that every day in utero was 2 less days in NICU. Thursday they broke my water, started an epidural, and still I never even got to a 2. The epi caused Zach to have a decel that evening...and then the doc called it...and we were off to a c-section. Zach was in NICU 9 days, but could have come home the evening of the 8th day, but they suggested that we get a good nights sleep and wait till morning. He was 5 lbs 11 ozs and 18" long. He had jaundice issues and normal preemie issues...but was and is absolutely perfect. I even had GD so bad that I was on major amounts of insulin by my 12th week. By his 4 month well visit...he was more than caught up in height and weight and motor skills and all that. He is 2 yrs and 5 months old now and fully potty trained...and many people ask if he is 3 yrs old. So try not to worry at all...you are in a great place now...and everything will be okay. Take a deep breath and get ready for the best ride of your life! Congratulations mama! Yes, I would also love to hear your list of 12.

Deidraj...You will likely be fine...most girls are...and you really are borderline. However, if you are one of the unlucky ones...try not to worry. You will find as many of my mommy friends found out...after it was all said and done that it was no big deal...to deal with GD. It really wasnt. And, I cried my eyes out at first, too. I got it in my 12th week soooo bad that I was on major amounts of insulin...poked 8+ times a day for 23.5 weeks.

[mellow4]

Have any of you ladies having twins been told how much weight we are supposed to gain by 20 weeks? I just read something that said we should try to gain 20-24lbs by week 20! If that is true, I am way behind schedule, like by a lot. It doesn't matter what I eat, I feel like my metabolism is going 200 mph, and I can't slow it down enough to gain anything. One would wonder what I am talking about when looking at my belly growth, because I do the same when I look at myself. It's all belly though, I'm no bigger anywhere else. I've never had this problem before, so it's making me a little nervous, since they say it's has a major effect on pre-term delivery and the over all health of the babies when they are born. Not sure what to do, so when in doubt, I eat a piece of cake Haha.

[TammyS]

Mellow...I've heard that drinking Ensure can help.

[karenthescorpio]

Mellow- when I was pregnant with my twins I started drinking Ensure Plus at about 16 wks bc I wasn't gaining much. But my babies were measuring on track and as long as I had one of those a day it seemed to do the trick. I also had to make extra efforts to eat well and drink water.

[karenthescorpio]

DH doesn't want to know the sex before delivery b/c he feels it is bad karma and one of life's last real surprises. After we lost our twins last July we are both so worried...and feeling like we are walking a tight rope at 30,000 feet on a windy day. Even though I know in my heart that all will be ok and baby will be coming home with us! I was surprised how upset and aggitated he got when I brought up the subject last night. I understand he is terrified of something happening. I am too. However, I really need the bonding experience to make this seem more real...and quite frankly, the distraction of being able to plan and focus on picking stuff out to get me through the next 4 months. In the end DH said my karma and good feelings were more important since the baby is in me and he's worried that I'll bring negative feelings to the baby if I can't do things how I feel I need to. So he agreed to find out at our next u/s in two weeks, which is our anatomy/level 2 scan. However, now I just have the heavy nagging feeling about him being disappointed...like I'm taking away something super important to him. So now I feel kind of deflated about wanting to find out. I guess I'm just disappointed we aren't on the same page, even though I respect how he feels and understand it. Oh, the challenges of marriage. I must say, I'm so fortunate...we rarely ever bump heads. So I guess I'm just gonna wait to see how I feel before our next u/s. I just feel so blessed to have a healthy baby growing...that we even have anything to bicker about!

xoxo
Karen

Karen; I was the one who was determined to keep the sex a secret until the baby was born - DH really wanted to know but he was honouring my wishes. When we did our 17 week ultrasound (3D) the tech was so excited and kept asking us that I
finally gave in and wanted to know. I'll tell you... it does NOT take away from the delivery room surprise. It actually gives you yet another exciting, surprising and emotional moment on this journey. I was just THRILLED to learn we were having a boy and it made me feel much more connected to the baby and the pregnancy. I'd say get the gender if you want to know... DH will almost surely feel excited and thrilled when he finds out. I had two boys before and found out in the delivery room they were boys.. it was exciting and thrilling... but the entire BIRTH is exciting and thrilling, the sex was just a little part of that. I vote for getting it done... after all the heartache we go through, we deserve every single bit of excitement and joy we can suck out of it!!!

Thanks Sonya for your insight. I am leaning towards finding out. If DH still doesn't want to know I will keep it to myself and hide the things I buy for the baby and tell him not to go in the nursery. I have a feeling he will be excited to know he will forget why he ever fought it!

[karenthescorpio]

I got delayed last night, dinner, then DH came, then the computer got a virus frm the unsecured wifi at the hospital. ugh! thatss why DH got a netbook for travel....it's light weight and we don't keep anything important on it. It took forever to get it working again.


Leora: Congrats!

Amanda: over halfway there! And you already have a name. so prettty. DH and I are still working on it.

AFM: Many of you may not know or remember me. I cycled in July and was very lucky to get a BFP on my 1st try. I then developed a SCH at 7 weks that got worse and lasted into the middle of my second trimester. My MFM was not very hopeful about this pregnancy since my bleeding was getting worse not better, so was kinda stuck in limbo and just lurked about. I didn't feel comfortable on the pregnant side and didn't have much to say to those cycling. I have been following ny old buddies from the summer some and even know alot of you from the fall and winter group. So things finally settled down with the bleeding, but my MFM was concerned about PTL & PPPROM becuase of a bunch of factors (autoimmune disease, the
late sch. my thyroid levels going wacky). Baby always was measuring perfectly, but I held my breath every step of the way. I counted every day until about 32 weeks when I finally felt I could breath. Then this past wednesday (34w1d), I felt kinda sick. I was crampy with some diarrhea. I had been having Braxton Hick occassionally since about 20 weeks. Those seemed to be continuing on Wednesday but no worse or anything. I thought about going to go in, but took a bath and felt better and I had an appointment Thursday morning anyway. So at my appt they did a NST and I was contracting every 3 minutes (and not really feeling them...if I had my hand on my belly I could feel my uterus tighten just a bit, but no pain at all). They checked and I was 3 cm and 75%. So I was sent immediately to L&D and medicated and monitored. They stalled me at 4 cm. Early Friday morning they took me off L&D and I have been on bedrest (and bored hence my renewed stalking ). I have been having a few stronger contractions every now and then. They haven't checked my since Friday, they said they want to leave me "undisturbed" unless I start bleeding, my water breaks, or I have more than 4 contractions an hour. So here I am. I am really not too stessed. I was so afraid of losing the baby or having a super early preemie that would be in the ICU for months, that a 34w/35w preemie doesn't scare me..like I was prepared for much worse. The neonatalogist said she would likely need to stay in for 2-3 weeks at this point. Obviously, I would prefer her to stay in me a while longer, but if she is she shows up early, I know we will be ok. Tuesday I will be 35w so I am trying to holduntil leastleast then. My MFM would like to hold me of to 37 week (March 15). We'll see what the little Miss decides. We still need a name. DH and I had a list of about 50 names and we are down to about 12. He said he wants to see her before we name her.

Enough of my ramblings.
I hope each one of you have a healthy and boring pregnancy.

Hi Didi. I don't think we ever cycled at the same time. I hope you are surviving bed rest and enjoying the last few weeks. A good friend of my just had a baby at exactly 35 wks. Her baby girl spent 6 days in the nicu. She was very stable after 5hours and the rest of the time was waiting for her to regulate her body temp and learn to suck. She was 5 lbs12oz at birth. She's doing well at home and only struggles to eat enough to keep gaining weight. But other than that she is healthy as can be is is already 19 inches and in newborn clothes.

I had PTL with my last pregnancy (twins) due to incompetent cervix (which is now fixed with an abdominal cerclage) but I always wondered if my thyroid played a part too. I went into labor at 23 weeks and things didn't work out for our girls. But I did have my thyroid checked a lot and it did fluctuate a bit and almost always my tsh was on the low end of the acceptable range. Which is funny bc I am slightly hypo when not pregnant. Also I have slight hashimoto but my antibodies are not that high. I take only synthroid. How often do you monitor your tsh? What do you take for your thyroid? And other advice you can offer?

We all look forward to following your journey over the next couple of weeks. Are they giving you any meds to try to keep your labor at bay?

Karen

[karenthescorpio]

Kind of an off topic post. Has anyone ever dealt with a family member that had a phobia that was affecting how the rest of the family interacts and no one is doing anything about it? I'm dealing with this issue with my MIL. She hasn't been outside in four years. She does have bad knees but nothing that keeps her from walking. And she can go up and down stairs if she has to but prefers not to. Hence one reason she says she doesn't do anything. She doesnt drive, wont eat out bc of fear of food poisoning, has never met my parents when they are in town bc she feels embarassed about their condo...and last Tgiving and Xmas she decided she wasnt in the mood to make an effort to do anything. We went over there and were served chix salad sandwiches for tgiving and handed a white envelope with a check for xmas. We never ever say anything to her about this insane crap. Mostly bc my Dh feels overwhelmed. They live in a condo that is on the second level and requires her to do stairs if she wants to go out. We have to go to their house if we want to see her and FIL. Although sometimes FIL will come over to our house to visit. BTW we live 20 minutes away. Which would be fine if she was truly physically disabled. But she isn't. We have been encouraging them for two years to move to a place on ground level. Also FIL chain smokes and their place smells like a bar. He doesn't smoke when I am there but it really doesn't help much. I have minor lung irritation issues and when i am there i cough alot after 10 minutes We smell like a bar when we leave. Hair, coats, clothes, etc. This worries me greatly with baby coming. I refuse to take a baby to an unhealthy environment like that. Can you imagine them and their carseat, blankets, clothes, etc smelling like this? DH is struggling with this too. He did tell his mom she would need to start making efforts to come over when baby arrives bc we can't always be expected to cart the kid over to them. Especially in a smoky house. She kinda went silent. I am not equipped to deal with someone with a phobia and avoidance issues. BTW...Sorry if this offends any smokers. I use to smoke and think people have the right to do what they want. It is a legal product. Any advice?

[annashope]

Keren

While I can't fully relate to the "not leaving the house" part but my MIL is a major smoker and whenever we are visiting she and DH smoke non-stop and it bothers me so much. I have to be honest I myself am an ex smoker but I keep telling DH that once the baby is born he won't be able to be close to it all the time if he continues to smoke that much but I feel like my MIL just constantly encourages the smoking and it makes me crazy. Also my in-laws (btw they are very sweet people and I do love them) but they have 5 cats which do not always use the litter box and with cat fur and the smoking I too worry about the baby being able to visit them much. I just pray that it slowly resolves for both of us.

So quick question for everyone did any of you have a lot of round ligament pain about 14/15 weeks? I feel like either one or the other of my hips constantly ache?

Also up until now I have not gained a single pound but all of the sudden this week my stomach feels like a bottomless pit is this common? I thought most people say they are hungry in the very beginning but I had terrible morning sickness and even though I am showing already I am still the same weight but now -the past couple of day I am eating ALL THE TIME...lol

[Happy Bunny]

Karen: You sound like you have a good handle on the situation. I would hold the same position. I would be firm and consistent - either she will adapt or she won't... Chances are, she'll come around. It's great the your husband is in agreement with you and is willing to say something to his mother about the situation.

Anna: Yup, I had ligament pain around that time... It's still here Also, I hate like a hog when the morning sickness started to pass. I've calmed down and eat just a bit more than usual now. At nearly 23 weeks, I've only gained 7lbs so it all evened out.

[rypell1985]

Mellow-glad you brought that up....I had already made the decision to call my OB tomorrow. I have lost 20lbs due to HG. I can eat breakfast, but then it all goes down hill. I feel like I need to put weight on for these guys. I am drinking pediasure-but maybe it's time for ensure. Who knows! I'll let you know what my doc says tomorrow.

Karen...so I have hashimoto/hypothyroidism. My endo told me my levels would go up once I get pregnant so I have been getting checked every 4 weeks. I got checked Thursday and am now borderline hyperthyroidism. Do you think I have a reason to be alarmed? I guess they will continue to monitor every 4 weeks-think I should demand more often??

[riogirl71]

Hi Girls - so much to catch up.

Big huge welcome to Leora!

We have our level II US tomorrow and I am so nervous, I feel like I need to get pass this to relax and enjoy this pregnancy, please pray for a healthy and genetically perfect baby for us! We sepnt the weekend at the snow and it was so much fun!!! I am pooped!

Will do personals tomorrow!!!!

[Happy Bunny]

Hi Girls - so much to catch up.

Big huge welcome to Leora!

We have our level II US tomorrow and I am so nervous, I feel like I need to get pass this to relax and enjoy this pregnancy, please pray for a healthy and genetically perfect baby for us! We sepnt the weekend at the snow and it was so much fun!!! I am pooped!

Will do personals tomorrow!!!!

Rio: I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. The Level II US is a blast - you get to see your baby for a loooooooong time.