November 2009 babies?

[nancy1]

aspotoftea: Yes, i have been feling the same thing and my OB sai it was the ligaments stretching.
As for the peeing, I get up twice a night to go. So don't worry about that.

Today I went to see my OB. I had a doppler done and he could not hear the heartbeat although we saw it beating last week with the vaginal ultrasound. Fortunately he told me ahead of time not to panick if we weren't able to detect it. He said also that given that I am overweight,it might make it harder to detect it. He said he didn't feel like an ultrasound was needed at this time. He asked me to come back next week to try again. By then I will be 13 week. If he can't hear it then, he will do an ultrasound. In the meantime of course, this whole week is not going to be fun to wait! Ugh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Anyone else had a similar experience?
Nancy

[ianmichael3]

Nancy- Oh, man am I sorry to hear about your excruciating wait!!! I struggle with buying a doppler off ebay, just to check it anytime i want, but then if I cannot find it- I'm sure I'd panic! Just trust that baby's little ticker is going a hundred miles an hour!

[excited-in-la]

Hi all. I am at 12 weeks today, which is exciting. Tuesday has been my regular doctor day for 3 months, and we have this week off! We hardly know what to do with ourselves. We go in next Tuesday for our next ultrasound!

A spot of tea - my hips have not been sore specifically, but my whole pelvic area feels big and stretched. I need to go this weekend to buy some new bras and some maternity pants - it is unavoidable! I pee all night. 3-4 times every night. I am exhausted!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have never been in the bathroom so much in my life!

Nursegator - congrats on the great ultrasound. I am so glad to hear all three babies are good and punching away!

Nancy - Hang in there. We have had long waits between ultrasounds and inconclusive info from week to week. It is so difficult! Just keep yourself occupied and distracted if you can. We are all thinking of you and sending good thoughts!

[Wondercat]

nursegator - My sister (who rocks) bought me a ton of maternity clothes from Old Navy and had them shipped to me, so I'm all set on that count for a while. I also just got a maternity tankini from Target that makes my boobs look fantastic, so I can't wait to be a sexy beach mama this summer. I'm kind of openly hiding at work now. I'm wearing pretty much all maternity clothes, but am still not saying anything. Just when I think I'm getting better... Yesterday was the worst. Day. Ever. When you lose track of how many times you've thrown up just since you got home from work, well, it's not a good thing let's just say that. Sheesh, I thought it was supposed to end by now??

aspotofTea - Yes, I also feel like I have to pee a lot, although it has gotten better the past two weeks. I already got a UTI over Easter, which I guess are common with pregnancy. I haven't noticed sore hips (except that my injection sites are still tender - anybody else have that??), but I have been getting some occasional stabs of pain on one side or the other when I sneeze that I have been told are ligament pains from the uterus expanding.

nancy1 - They do tell you that it's sometimes hard to hear the heartbeat with those dopplers, and the first time she tried with me she couldn't find it. She thought my tipped uterus may have been a factor. I had a surprise heartbeat listen last Friday when they were doing follow-up testing on my UTI. I lucked out - she had just given me the warning not to freak out, then it only took about 2 seconds to find it.

Only two more days until my next ultrasound that I have waited 5 weeks for, and I get to see the little devil that's been wreaking such havoc with my digestive system!!

[aims327]

My ultrasound went perfect! I was amazed at the difference between a 7 week scan and a 9 week scan. The babies grew so fast! I could see Baby A moving his or her arms and legs. Baby B was curled up and not moving as much. I could see the head moving a little and I think I saw a foot tapping. lol The heartbeats are now at 174 and 188. I was released to my regular OB doc and have my first appointment with him on May 15th. I'm still waiting to hear if I can stop my PIO shots.

[aspotofTea]

uh oh. I'm 11 weeks at the moment. yesterday morning when I went pee, there was blood on the tissue. I have not had a spot the entire 11 weeks, so it was a shock to me.

Throughout the day yesterday, there was not much bleeding, but light spotting. My Dr said to call if I ever had any at all, so I did. I go in at 2:15 pm. I'm scared, but my instincts say things are okay. I haven't had any pain, only light cramping Sunday evening.

aims, glad to hear you had a good u/s! yay!

hang in there wondercat! do you live by a Trader Joe's? pick up a 4-pack of their Ginger Brew. It's got a strong taste, but a few sips of that will set you straight.

excited, enjoy your first Tuesday in a long time without being in that waiting room of the Dr!

nancy, I hope the week goes by fast for you!

I'll let you gals know what they say at the Dr. this afternoon. I hope everything is okay.

[charr]

Sorry I've not posted for a few days. I've still been stressing over the CVS versus amnio decision. I just got the results from the nuchal screen and they seem very good. I'm thinking because of that, we should wait for the amnio since it's less risky and it also checks for neural tube problems as well as chromosonal.

Nursegator - I think the biggest reason my peri suggested CVS was because it can be done sooner and at the time we didn't know the results for the nuchal yet.

aims - Congrats on your u/s!

Ecited - A week off for you, that's great!

aspotoftea - Hope everything is well.

Wondercat - Enjoy your ultrasound!

[nancy1]

Hi everyone,

1st of all,, thank you for your words of support.
Ever since my OB was unable to detect the heartbeat, I was panicking and had been scheduled to go see my OB again next week. Yesterday I called him and told him that the suspense was killing me. He got me in this morning. Again, nothing on the Doppler, so he did a vaginal u/s and Peanut was moving with a strong heartbeat. IT WAS A GREAT RELIEF!!!
Hope all is well with everyone.
CHARR: given that your initial tests came out good, I think amnio is definitely the way to go.

Have a great day guys.
Nancy

[cristi262]

Hi all, I know I've been silent, but I've still been reading all of your updates.

We had our nuchal translucency ultra sound yesterday and all looked great - 2 arms, 2 legs and a little extra appendage between the legs! I know it's very early, but the technician said she would bet on it being a boy. It feels so weird to know this early. I wouldn't believe it, but I did see it with my own eyes.

After the ultrasound, we met with our perinatologist - wow, they really scare you to death! He must have gone through every possible chromosomal defect a baby could have before finally telling us everything looked good. Talk about TMI! Why do they do that!

Charr, I know how hard it is to decide on the right diagnostic test, whatever you decide will be the best choice for you. I made the unpopular choice of not having any diagnostic tests - just screenings. My mother got pregnant with my sister when she was 42 and refused an amnio way back then - I guess she is my role model. I'll take whatever we've finally been given. I've been on the bad side of statistics too many times in the last 4 years that I just can't risk it. To make you feel better, my fertility doctor highly recommended an amnio and said the statistics are actually better than what is reported. You'll be fine!

Nancy, glad you are relieved! I can hear your huge sigh from here.

Have a great week everyone!

[excited-in-la]

A spot of tea - Please let us know how you are doing. Hope everything is OK. I have been thinking of you.

Cristi - congrats on the good tests. How exciting to know it is boy. I think we are going to wait, as there are so few surprises in life - but who knows?

Charr - Good luck with the amnio and congrats on the good scan. Seems like you made the right choice for you!

Nancy - Congrats on the heartbeat. We are excited for you!

Aims - Congrats on the great scan! Counting down to the 15th!

[charr]

Cristi - How amazing that you were able to tell it may be a boy! Congrats! I'm happy to hear everything went so well.

Nancy - Glad to hear that everything is fine!

Thank you all for your support! You've all helped me feel so much better.

[nancy1]

Crsti: Congratulations!!! I am very happy for you! :-)

AMNIO OR NOT AMNIO: that is the question.
Going into this, it was clear in my mind that it was a must. My IVF OB highly recommended it as well. I had my mind all set for this, even though I was exptremely nervous about it (one of my cousins was unfortunately one of those bad statistic and lost her baby boy at 26 weeks as a result of it).
My regular OB always has an interview with the couples when he starts seeing the new parents.
When I brought up the amnio issue, I was sure he was going to be 100% for it. Please note he is not pro-life or anything. Interestingly, he said there are 2 types of perinatologists:
Group A: they do the blood test, then amnio, then ultrasound.
Group B; Blood test, ultrasound then amnio.

He said of course the way to go would be with type B since you are armed with more information to make an informes decision.
He told me that if the first 2 tests come up OK, alhtough they do not give as much info as an amnio, then I should think very carefully about the amnio, because of the risks involved.

My take on it: I have to do very deep soul searching. It boils down to this:
What is it I cannot love with? Raising a child with a handicap alll my life or living with the fact that a perfectly healthy baby was lost as a result of the test?
At 39, having lost one of the twins already and getting incredibly attached to this one, to be honest with you, I am completely confused at this time.
My DH's philosophy: let's take one step at a time; take the 1st 2 tests and move on from there...

Life is a series of decisions. The key is to make one that we will not regret later on...

Anyhow, did not mean to scare or depress anyone, but I am sure that as the time approaches for you to make this difficult decision, many of you are having these same mixed feelings.
Thank you for letting me vent. After all, who better can understand these feelings than expectant moms?

By the way, this message board has been very therapeutic for me and I only pray that come NOVEMBER, we will all rejoice to the fact that we all gave birth to a miracle(S).

Love you all,
Nancy

[charr]

Nancy - I completely understand what you're feeling. It's all so confusing and an incredibly difficult decision. I, too, (because of my age - I'll be 38 when I deliver) thought an amnio was a necessity. But as it becomes more real, it's so scary to think of the risk involved. We all went through a lot to get to this point of being pregnant. So is your OB talking about doing the second trimester screening blood test and ultrasound first? Is that around week 16?

[aspotofTea]

hi ladies-

Thank you for the concern. Well, my Dr saw us, and did an u/s and everything, and everyone is just fine. One of them even looked like he/she was doing flips. It was bizarre and breathtaking at the same time.

to all of you struggling with the decision on what test to have and why or why not, I really think Nancy put it very eloquently- listen to you heart, your gut, your instinct- about what you can and can't deal or live with. I pray and hope and wish that everyone on here will have a healthy baby (or babies for a few of us)!!

[nancy1]

CHARR:
Yes, at around week 16, i will have the blood test first adn then a detailed U/S.

ASPOTOFTEA:
you had me really worried there! :-) In your last message you had indicated you would give us an update that same afternoon. After not hearing from you, I started to get worried. I am VERY happy that all is well; mine was moving too during the u/s. Isn't it fun to watch that?!

Nancy