July 2009 Mommies!!!

[tigersuz22]

Hi everyone!
It's really exciting hearing about how you all are doing since you're a few weeks ahead of me. It gives me alot to look forward to!

The m/s finally stopped 3 days ago. I feel like a new woman! It's almost an odd feeling to feel GOOD. I'm so used to gagging all day or getting headaches. I'm still exhausted only mostly in the mornings - maybe I'm just not sleeping well. Are any of you restless sleepers or having trouble? I think i fall asleep okay but I just wake up several times a night.

I went to the new OB today and LOVED her. It was such a good experience. I had an u/s first and the tech was fantastic - anytime I was excited by a different view, she printed it for me. Almost like a baby photo shoot! My husband couldn't be there (out of town on business) so it was kind of disappointing- but I saw the baby move it's arms and heard the heartbeat... it was so emotional!

Did any of you have trouble getting over having u/s so often and then having none for weeks? My next u/s will be at 20 weeks (7 1/2 to go) which seems like forever -but at least we'll hear the heartbeat each month on doppler.

Hope you all have a great day - Ohio warmed up to 37 degrees today so it's like a heat wave!

Suzanne

[wonderce]

Rinnie, it sounds like you had fun at your u/s. I love to see them move. So mine has been measuring ahead too. I can't wait to see what the measurement is at my next u/s. I'm not familiar with the cloth all-in-one's but will have to read up more on them. That's great you felt some "pops". It must be such a neat feeling.

Kb, so good to hear from you and glad Bridget is doing so well. Are you adding onto your house or remodeling? That's exciting you go on the 2nd to find out the sex of your twins! I go on the 3rd! I'm not sure when the kicking feeling starts. I haven't felt a thing yet but am anxious for it.

Lyly, sorry you're still losing weight. I was down over 5 pounds too at about 114 but have slowly started picking back up a few pounds. That's too bad the u/s tech couldn't get a clear shot of the baby's sex at your appt. Hopefully your insurance will pay for the extra u/s. No movement from my little one yet. How is your breathing?

Tigersuz, glad you like your new OB and u/s tech. I'd love a baby photo shoot. Maybe your hubby can go with you to the next one. Yes, the waits in between the u/s are so hard. I don't think I'll get anymore after mine on 2/2 when we find out the sex. Does anyone else know how many more you get throughout the pregnancy? Stay warm in Ohio!

[lyly14]

Wonderce- my breathing is ok, gets worse at night. I am still waiting to see the pulmonologist. As if that wasn't bad enough I got an upsetting phone call from my ob friday afternoon. My modified sequential screening came back that the baby has a 1 in 37 chance of being downs. I am going to see the genetic counselor tomorrow to talk about what if more testing I want. I am not thrilled about having an amnio with all my m/c's I have had. I am going to see about having a genetic u/s to look for physical characteristics that may indicate downs. I have done a bit of searching and found they can look at features of the nasal bone, forehead, eye placement, ears, bowels and heart. So I may start there and if there are no abnormalities I will not do the amnio. Never a dull moment huh?

So anyone have any braxton hicks contractions yet? I think I just had my first set of them. Its funny I don't remember having them this early when I was pg with my daughter but that was 10 yrs ago. I know they can start as early as the 2nd trimester but I wasn't expecting any. I am also thinking I am starting to feel some movement here and there but very slight. Hope everyone else is doing well. Its been a bit quiet over here.

[kb2131]

lyly-i hope you breathing continues to get better and better. I am sorry to hear one of you blood tests came back 1/37 for down's. that is still less than 3%. I think if they can do anatomy scan and avoid the amnio i would try. you have way more of a chance of everything being ok! we will keep you in our thoughts.
how is everyone?
i found it exciting that there is now an august and SEPTEMBER board! gosh i remember when we were the newest board and no longer!
bridget is doing well-I feel like she's growing by the day with twins and her being a small frame I'm sure i'm not far from wrong.
we go in a week from today for an US and may find out the sex at the 16week if the babies are cooperating! if not, we will find out at the 20 week. we are excited to find out -I think it will help with bonding and us realizing more and more this is really happening. When you try for so long as we all have-it becomes almost surreal when it finally happens and a dream-does anyone else feel that way?

ok getting off work soon-i work at the ER tonight-need some rest

[lyly14]

Thanks KB 3% sounds so much better than 1 in 37. I was never good at figuring out statistics and stuff. The genetic counselor also said its a 36 out of 37 chance the baby is normal. Of course the session did nothing for me. They seemed very against using an u/s to detect features before I make my decision and told me it is not an accurate screening. They said many times the baby does not have features and is still downs. It did not help me make my decision in any way and I ended up calling my ob with more questions when I got home.

I just got off the phone with my ob who told me I have a few options
1) do nothing
2) Have the amnio right away
3) Have the level II sono and think about doing an amnio
4) schedule the level II sono and amnio for the same day and cancel right then and there if there are no abnormalities or go through with it.

I know how dh feels about a child with downs and quite honestly in my line of work I know they are very difficult children to deal with. I just don't know how I feel. I want this baby so much it was just devestate me.

[wonderce]

Lyly, I'm so sorry you're having this big decision to make. I still wonder what we'll do if we have results next week that indicate downs or other abnormalities. Honestly, we haven't really discussed how we both feel but I guess it's a conversation that needs to happen. It must be so difficult and I hope you can find an answer within you that's right for you and your DH. I'm hoping your breathing isn't bothering you too much. You don't need all of this added stress.

Kb, I agree with you about how surreal this is still and feeling like a dream. I think we've all been through so much to get where we are that it's hard to believe it's actually happening.

[tigersuz22]

Hi Lyly,
I'm so sorry to hear about the 1/37 - I can't imagine how stressful that must be. We all fight so hard for pregnancies that having any kind of setback or disappointment can feel that much worse.

But - you have so much that's positive on your side. It's more likely than not that your baby doesn't have Downs and a great deal of early screenings and blood tests give false positives. We missed the early screening but are having the blood test in 3 weeks.

My husband has a great Aunt who at 53 is still living with Downs- she's wonderful and has had a great life. It's not free from struggle but she makes the best.

Best of luck - I know you have alot of decisions right now and if I can be of any help (as much as someone can be through a message board!!!) let me know.

PS - I agree with the dreaming part! Until I started showing a week or so ago, I would look at an u/s picture and it wouldn't seem real that that baby is inside my belly. It's still hard to imagine. I NEVER thought we'd be able to have a baby and I'd been so convinced that IVF wouldn't work that to actually be pregnant is insane.

Suzanne

[doddo72]

How soon can the babies gender be determined by ultrasound? Next Thursday, at 16 full weeks I am having my next ultrasound. I am hoping to find out the gender.
How many of you are going to find out the gender?

Thanks,
Donna

[JerseyGal]

Hi everyone,
I haven't posted in a couple of weeks but have been following along with your posts.
Not going to the R/E on a weekly basis and having an u/s done all the time takes alot to get used to!!!!! But so far things are going good and I have my next OB appt. on monday the 2nd with a full u/s on the 5th.
I got the nose bleeds of all nose bleeds the other night. Started around 10:00 p.m. and went on for about 40 min. Two times while holding my nose and putting ice on it, I spit out to huge mouthfuls of blood.
Boy did my husband and I freak out. We called my OB and he was on the phone immediately and told me that this is very common and it may happen from time to time. But if it didn't stop shortly I would have to go to the E/R and get it taken care of. Thank God it stopped a few min. after that. So far no more nose bleeds.

LyLy - Hope that you are feeling better and my thoughts and prayers are with you as you have a lot of decision making to do.

KB - how is the remodeling doing!!! Making room for the new addition to the family is always exciting even though alot of work. How is Bridget feeling?

Doddo - we had CVS testing done and we are going to wait until the twins are born to find out the sexes. We are doing the nursery in a very pretty yellow up about 6 feet of the walls and then rest to the ceiling in a pale mint green color.

Tiger, Rinnie, Wonderce - hope you are all doing good!!!!

S.

[Rinnie]

lyly So sorry about the decisions you're having to make. I was 1 in 37 automatically because of my age, but it's still a slim chance.
My ob also told me the level 2 screening misses 20% of issues.
I can't remember when you had your previous miscarriages....did they tell you why you miscarried? Because most times it's because of some genetic issue that the baby would have had trouble living with anyway. The good thing is they've been doing amnio's for years and years and you should be able to find somebody really experienced if you decide to do it. The chance of M/C is really low.
Sending good thoughts your way!

Kb & Doddo I was in at 16 weeks, but couldn't tell the sex and he's a boy so it should have been obvious He was moving around so much though that they even had trouble getting the heartbeat for long enough before he moved away.

Jersey Wow...the list of symptoms just keep growing! I haven't had that yet. I'm still dealing with some queasiness so hopefully nosebleeds will avoid me!

Is anyone else having trouble sleeping? I must say I'm very restless after about 3.30. Sometimes I just hear my heart pumping harder with all that extra blood & it's hard to get back to sleep.

Rin

[lyly14]

Thanks girls for all your support thoughts and prayers. I scheduled my amnio for after my level II u/s. So still not 100% sure I will go through with it.

Rinnie- They did not do any testing on the babies I lost. I do know I have a condition that puts me at high risk for m/c. I am finally being treated for that with this pregnancy. I take a shot of lovenox every night and a baby asprin so i don't throw a clot in my placenta and kill the baby. Because my m/c was late first trimester and the baby's heart just stopped beating after several normal scans they think that I may have had a clot in the placenta that basically starved the baby, but nobody can say for sure.

Donna- I had a scan at 16 1/2 weeks and no luck telling the sex. I even had a scan at 17 weeks and 6 days and the tech thinks its a boy but said she is not sure because the baby was not cooperating (moving too much and crossing legs). So we think boy but not sure yet. Hopefully at my 20 week scan we will have a better idea.

[Marina_A]

Hi girls,
I haven't been here for a while .
I see many of us close to find out the sexes.I go for my 16 week u/s on Monday,but to be honest I care more if babies are alive then a possibility to see who they are.Suddenly I got into panic-last year I lost my baby at this time(and this month) and had no symptoms.I just can't help myself,but secretly from my DH go crazy.

Lyly,I'm so worry about you,we've been through a lot together and finally got pregnant together,I just can't think that something can be wrong.I know this is not a proof to you that everything ok,and there is no words that will make you feel relived except the conformation from your doctor.
I feel such a chicken,that I didn't even want to take all these tests and don't want to know my chances.Gosh,it's stressful!

Jersey Gal-I have nose bleeds,not as severe as yours,but for the past week or so I wake up with a little blood and stuffy nose.I thought it was from the dry air when I forget to turn on my humidifier.


Hey girls,did any of you start feeling any movement yet?Twin mommies?
Are we suppose to feel it earlier with twins?
I thought I did feel something the other day, kinda stroking from inside,but not sure.

And another question-how much weight did you you put on so far? I put on only 8-9 pounds .

[Rinnie]

Marina It is a really stressful time! We've all been through so much to get here it's hard to shake that anxiety....whew. A friend of mine gave me a tip that really helped & put my mind in a different place. She said to just be grateful, as if I already had my healthy baby. Thank God for giving him to us & thanks for all the fun we've having....as if he's already here. It helped me & now I only get the occasional nightmare or anxiety.

I'm 17 weeks & have gained about 12.5lbs . I guess it all depends on whether you were overweight or normal etc before pregnancy. Underweight you gain more, overweight less. I'm 5'7" & was a little under so my OB says I should gain somewhere around 34 lbs. He doesn't even weigh every time though so I guess he's not too concerned.
I have a friend who's my size who gained 95lbs, 65lbs & 50lbs on her 3 pregnancies.....can you imagine?? Wow!

Rin xo

[wonderce]

Doddo, I also heard anything before 19-20 weeks can be a bit early, but I'm scheduled to go next Tuesday at 17 weeks for u/s to try and determine the gender. I guess if they can't tell for sure, then we'll go back in another couple of weeks. Have fun at your's next week!

Jerseygal, it sounds like you're going next week for your full scan u/s too. I like the sound of your nursery colors. Very neutral too, since you aren't finding out the sex of them ahead of time. Those nosebleeds sound rough! I've noticed a tiny amount when I blow my nose, but nothing like what you had. Hopefully you won't have anymore! Do you sleep with a humidifier? I'm not sure if that would be helpful, but it really helps me with my nose in the mornings, especially with the heat running all night.

Rinnie, I've not had too much trouble going to sleep, but am waking at least 2 or 3 times in the night to go to the bathroom. I also drink a lot of water up until bedtime because I stay so thirsty, so that probably has something to do with it. I've felt the heart racing some too, so I know what you meant about the blood pumping.

Lyly, glad you have a tentative plan and can always wait and see how you feel again after your level II u/s. So you'll have your next scan in 2 weeks? I've read more and more about busy babies who move so much that it's hard to tell for sure whether it's a boy or girl. In fact, my old college roommate was told she was having a boy, and ended up delivering a baby girl instead! She had already decorated in boy colors, bought boy clothes and everything. Quite a shock for her!

Marina, so you're going Monday? I'm like you, it's much more important to me to see that he/she is still alive and healthy than what the gender may be. I guess we all feel that way when we've gone through so much to get here. Sorry for your loss before. It must be such a difficult thing to go through. You will get the reassurance when you see your precious little ones again in another day or so.

Have a good rest of the weekend everyone!

[Marina_A]

Thank you girls for the kind words! Only women like us can understand every thing that going on through our minds.I don't even tell my BFs about my worries,they had kids naturally and for them pregnancy it's like done deal-if you are PG,it's not going anywhere.And for me each passing week is a big deal.
Anyway,I got another unpleasant surprise-I don't know what cause it ,but I have a sharp pain in my left buttoks when I walk or move .My hubby says it's a ciatica (spelling?) nerve.I think one of the babies comfortably(for them) laying on something that pushing on my nerve .Not fun.I hope they'll decide to move soon,so I can walk again.