Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[steph72276]

Oh Natalina, she is PERFECT!! So beautiful! Congrats!

 

[Mandarine]

Ellie is so adorable!!!

Congrats Natalina!!!! She''s beautiful!!!

 

[fieryred33143]

Congratulations Natalina! She''s such a beauty!!

 

[taovandel]

Nat: She''s gorgeous! We need more pictures!! Congrats on a easy(ish) delivery! Even with 3 hours of pushing, I hope my delivery is as easy going as yours sounded!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Nat she is lovely! Welcome to motherhood!

 

[KimberlyH]

Congratulations, Natalina. She is absolutely beautiful.

Had a really busy day of hard work. Spent the morning totally cleaning out and rearranging my closet and bathroom. Seperated out what fits and what doesn''t and moved stuff around so the things I can wear is right in front, with the rest towards the back, out of sight, out of mind. Not quite nesting, but it''s nice to have things in order, I had clothes spread out everywhere, it was sort of a disaster. Then went to the rental we''re going to sell and cleaned bathrooms and kitchen and polished furniture being used to stage the house. By the time 3pm hit I was wiped, so I called it quits. Came home and watched a movie. We''re considering going to an Oktoberfest celebration tomorrow, but I don''t know if I''m going to feel up to it, or want to stay home and veg w/ a book.

 

[jcrow]

Natalina - congratulations on your little girl!! she''s beautiful. thanks also for sharing your story. like mara, i like reading a positive birthing story... i''m scared poopless about labor. so your story makes me feel like i can do it.

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

Congratulations, Natalina! Ellie is such a beautiful baby and she looks so peaceful. That is one big girl for a first baby!

I think it''s great that your DH was so involved. I honestly think this makes a big difference in how men feel about birth and the baby. It''s so easy for them to feel left out because they don''t have to do the hard work and everyone is concentrating on the laboring woman.

Have fun with Ellie!

 

[Pandora II]

Congratulations Nat. Ellie is beautiful!

 

[snlee]

Congrats natalia! Ellie is beautiful!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Natalina, she is sooooo precious!

 

[puffy]

CONGRATS Natalina! She is absolutely perfect!!

 

[Blackpaw]

Congratulations Natalina, she''s beautiful

 

[qtiekiki]

Congrats Natalina!!! Ellie is precious.

Your birth story sounds similar to mine, except I didn''t have contrax for 3 days before I gave birth and didn''t push for 3 hrs. But I had to have pitocin b/c my contrax slowed down after the epidural also. I was still dilating, but my contrax didn''t get closer or stronger.

 

[neatfreak]

Congrats Natalina! She''s gorgeous!

 

[AmberWaves]

Congrats Natalina!! She''s a beauty for sure!

Quick stop by here for me, I have a chocolate mousse calling my name. A woman (who saw me last Sunday) said it appears I have dropped. I don''t like to hear that!! I''m so not ready. Then last night I was trying to get comfortable in bed and my lower right pelvis muscle (no idea what they''re called, it''s under my belly, and not actually part of the roundness of my belly) was just pulling every time I tried to roll over. I held my belly to avoid any pulling of the tummy but oh my god the pain was horrible. Anyone have any idea what that is? Round ligament pain?

 

[taovandel]

Amber the exact same things happen to me when rolling over in bed. I was told Round Ligament pain.

 

[drk]

Natalina - Congrats! What an awesome birth story (and I''m amazed you could post it so fast). I loved your stream-of-consciousness bit after they put her on your chest. I can just imagine that''ll be exactly what I''ll be thinking. She''s so beautiful. They''d better not have made a mistake on my U/S last week, because I''m really looking forward to my girl!

We drove 2.5 hours to visit my Mum for Thanksgiving this weekend. Gathered up the energy to go poke around a furniture store and two baby stores while we''re in town here with a car. I don''t even think I want a convertible crib at this point. Just something cheap and safe, no drop sides or anything. Might even end up going IKEA, unless we can get a better deal somewhere else. I just want a good safe mattress. My Mom dug out all the old kiddie stuff (well, what she hadn''t already given to my brother, like our childhood homemade advent calendar

), including this old Fisher Price record player with all the stories on records I used to play and read along to. I''m so excited to share some of the same stuff with my baby!

We looked at strollers and car seats too. Too many choices! We liked the look and feel of the Maxi Cosi Mico car seat, but I was a little annoyed they didn''t have a level built into their base. How are you supposed to know that it''s at the safe angle? Unfortunately, BRU didn''t have the stroller that we were interested in that went along with it. Our second favourite car seat was the PegPerego Viaggio (I think?). But it was a fair bit heavier than the Mico, and wasn''t as comfy-feeling. Strollers are going to be tough. I like the light umbrella strollers (like the Peg Perego Si), but they do feel a little flimsy, and the wheels are so small, I can''t imagine using them in snow at all. And I need a stroller that can handle a little slush/snow along with the bumpy sidewalks. Phil and Ted''s seemed good, and I like the idea of just adding on the second seat when #2 arrives, but with the second seat on there, I can''t walk without my knees bumping into it.

The Bugaboos didn''t seem that much more exciting to me that I''d shell out $1000-1300 for them (Cdn). I liked the Peg Perego Skate, but wasn''t sure if it might be too heavy or wide. We''ll be living in a busy area in a big city, and I''d like the flexibility to use public transit with our stroller. We should be able to push it up the laneway and leave it in our garage, then just carry the kid or car seat through into the house. Even if we drag it in the front door, there are only about 6 steps to go up. This is going to be tough!

I think I might have felt the popping feeling of first kicks last weekend at 18w2d. I think I maybe felt them from the outside too at 19w. Is that crazy soon? I can feel the pulse going in my placenta (it''s low anterior), and while I had my hand on feeling for that, I swear I occasionally felt a little tap in a slightly different spot. I have a feeling the kid may have flipped to breech again though, because I haven''t felt much yesterday or today.

And have I mentioned I have the best DH ever? He did 2 loads of my laundry for me yesterday so I wouldn''t have to exert myself. I felt like a college kid, draggin dirty clothes home to Mum''s, but he had been meaning to do it for me the last couple weeks in the machines downstairs in our apt building, but never ended up having time. We figured we''ll have nothing better to do at Mum''s, so why not bring it along. Normally we each do our own laundry, so I thought this was super sweet of him. And he bought a wireless router for Mum so that we (and my brother and his family) can connect to the internet when we come visit. Before she retired last spring, she never had internet at home at all, which drove him crazy. It''s way way better now!

Great belly pics everyone. I agree Mandy, you don''t look like you could possibly have two good-sized boys in there. Such a cute belly! Everyone else is looking good too. One of these days I''ll get around to posting one. I do have a bit of a tummy now - look pregnant if I don''t tense my abs, not so much if I do. I hope the next 4.5 weeks to 24 weeks fly by, and then I''ll relax slightly. I think...

 

[drk]

Amber - I sometimes have an ouchy muscle right beside and below my hipbone when lying on my side in bed. It feels like the transversus abdominus muscle to me that''s being stretched more than I''m used too. Could be round ligament pain though. If it gets better with a change in position, I''m sure it''s nothing to worry about.

Oh, I forgot to add that I keep finding it weird that people are saying that epidurals slowed down their labour progress. I don''t think there''s any evidence out there (at least not what I was taught in my training) that they significantly increase the duration of labour. And anecdotally, I''ve seen patients stuck at 2-3cm with crazy contractions for a couple hours who get their epidurals, and like 1-2 hours later they''re fully dilated. I guess everyone''s different. My SIL claims that her slow labour with her first was due to the epidural, but as far as I know she waited a long time to get it, and finally was just to exhausted to keep on going without it. Her second and third kids were all of 2-3 hour labours from start to finish, including the third which she was induced for (no contractions at 3-4cm dilated, which she''d been walking around for 2 weeks at, they broke her water at 11:30am or so, kid born within 3 hours).

 

[rockpaperscissors67]

Date: 10/11/2009 10:24:56 AM
Author: drk
Amber - I sometimes have an ouchy muscle right beside and below my hipbone when lying on my side in bed. It feels like the transversus abdominus muscle to me that''s being stretched more than I''m used too. Could be round ligament pain though. If it gets better with a change in position, I''m sure it''s nothing to worry about.

Oh, I forgot to add that I keep finding it weird that people are saying that epidurals slowed down their labour progress. I don''t think there''s any evidence out there (at least not what I was taught in my training) that they significantly increase the duration of labour. And anecdotally, I''ve seen patients stuck at 2-3cm with crazy contractions for a couple hours who get their epidurals, and like 1-2 hours later they''re fully dilated. I guess everyone''s different. My SIL claims that her slow labour with her first was due to the epidural, but as far as I know she waited a long time to get it, and finally was just to exhausted to keep on going without it. Her second and third kids were all of 2-3 hour labours from start to finish, including the third which she was induced for (no contractions at 3-4cm dilated, which she''d been walking around for 2 weeks at, they broke her water at 11:30am or so, kid born within 3 hours).

I think in general if an epidural slows down labor, it was given too soon. Obviously, that doesn''t apply to everyone. I also think that doctors are too quick to add pitocin. The medical world seems to have no patience when it comes to childbirth! It''s not unusual for a first labor to take 15 hours, but I don''t know anyone that was given that much time when they were in the hospital.

I''ve only had 1 epidural out of 5 labors. I asked for it because it was late at night, everyone was tired, and I wasn''t making any progress. I thought everyone could get some sleep and then we''d have the baby in the morning. My daughter was born an hour after the epidural was placed.

My last child was born at home and although I was technically in labor for 14 hours, my contractions slowed way down for much of the day until they picked back up in the late afternoon. They didn''t get serious until about 6:15 p.m., the midwife arrived at 6:50 and our son was born at 7:40. I hope this time around goes just as quickly!

 

[Mara]

morning preggos!

kim i meant to tell you yest that i also did the moving of the clothes, well actually i have way too many clothes in general so i had to move like 3 containers of the 'these will not fit for at least 6-8 more months' ones out to the garage... i figured what was the sense in depressing myself by keeping them in the closet hehe. and i moved all the mat and 'clothes that still have some preggo life in them' to the front. why is it i still cannot find half of anything to wear???

i might bite the bullet and finally get a pair of mat juicy sweats...i typically wear them all winter long with sweaters and stuff on wkds and i kept a few pairs from when i was 15 lbs heavier that used to not fit well (figured for preggo), and now they are TIGHT under the belly. so depressing. so i might have to get a pair with the actual mat waist so i feel more comfy on wkds.

i also got a dress and a pair of low belly pants from pea in the pod online. the pants were like $30 on sale, and they are ok. gah but mat clothes are seriously NOT flattering, the butt is huge and i have to pull them up really high to get them to fit properly. i might order one from gap too just to see the diff. but i def needed another pair or two of pants. my paige denim mat cords i got online are FABULOUS btw for anyone considering paige, i love the brand when not preggo and they are super flattering to my body even now. i got one size larger than i would have fit into at month 3 (at month 3 one size fit me and i ordered one up for around this time...perfect). has anyone found mat jeans at any of the big retailers that are flattering to your shape?

enjoying a lazy wkd at home... yesterday i made a huge batch of lasagna and we had a friend over whose wife is traveling this wkd. i also made marshmallow walnut choco chip brownies...yum. this morning i consumed a crazy amt of cereal (an old wives tale on how you know if you are having boy or girl...supposedly boy is all carbs and stuff like cereal and i have been OBSESSED with cereal since day 1 of the pregnancy) and having some coffee and then will take P out for a walk. it's finally real 'fall' here in CA... so days are like 65 and nights fall lower, the heater goes on at 67 now and the house is chilly when we get up. i love it..i am running HOT which is not like me at all, i used to always be freezing no matter how many layers i had on, so i am always warm now... the cooler temps are a blessing.

drk...i feel ya on the shopping for stuff, it is so overwhelming. there are WAY too many options out there for stuff. i wanted the maxi cosi infant seat with the quinny buzz stroller, but then i just said whatever and got the snug ride infant and will use a snap n'go. i can't deal with deciding on a stroller now...esp since we are still car shopping! i don't want to get a stroller and have it not fit in the car. well i say we are car shopping but we havent actually gone out and done a THING yet, just talked about it. mini Lease is up in Dec (yikes!) so we should start moving on it...i just hate car shopping.

our little creature has been super active still, now i feel him every few hours at least. and he just cracks me up as he will not move from the left side! i feel some kicks in the middle at times but NEVER on the right. this is week 4, i will see my dr tues and just ask to make sure it's normal for him not to have moved to the other side at all in like a month. i would imagine he's not stuck, would think there is a fair amt of space still, but why not ask.

re those weird muscle and achy pains, i just attribute pretty much everything i feel that is unusual to pregnancy and figure 'oh well'. does anyone else have the worst gas in the middle of the night... its from my food slowly processing i guess, i am trying to eat early but gosh sometimes i wake up and i have this horrible sharp pain in my left, and i think it's because he is just on the left so my poor gas is getting TRAPPED or something. half the time i can't even expel it (TMI!). but at least my sleep is still pretty good, i am averaging like 8 hours a night. i hope it goes as long as possible.

re; the epidural and slowing things down, i wondered about that too. i didn't quite understand how they'd be connected...?

lastly, i love sitting cross legged and am still able to do it but i wonder how much longer i will be able to. the other day i unfolded my legs and sat with them out in front of me on the couch and i told greg i felt like a little 5 year old swinging my legs from the couch. HAHA. i can see this big belly thing getting seriously hilarious as the weeks continue to pass.

 

[taovandel]

Okay, let me start this by saying I''m a total organization freak and I love to plan and buy things like months in advance because I''m a freakshow.

So I might be over-reacting to this.

When we first found out we were pregnant and about a month before our wedding (So let''s say Mayish) we got our two families together and went out to eat. As we were there, my dad mentioned that he had already bought stuff for the baby. My MIL told us at the dinner that she wanted to get us the stroller/car seat. We all agreed that it was fine. When my husband and I went and registered we put the stroller travel set on there so they could see which one we wanted. My DH even told them about it and showed it to them. They said they would get it again (and that it was cheap enough for them). I''m nearing 4 weeks until I give birth--which means I could really go at any time the baby decides. We still have not received the stroller/car seat.

Because I am a planner/organizer--I''m starting to go into panic mode. We still would have to install the carseat and get it inspected (and get an extra base installed in the other car). At my babyshower last week--when they were leaving she mentioned that she would be getting the travel set soon. I jokingly said "I can''t bring the baby home without it!".

Anyways, I''m getting tempted to tell the husband that we should just go out and buy the stroller set ourselves as it would ease my mind to actually have everything done.

We pretty much have everything we need for the baby except for the most important thing. Am I crazy for wanting everything done this early?

 

[gingerB]

congrats natalina, she''s beautiful!!!

drk - we''re a current fan of peg perego also and are slightly obsessed with the pliko switch right now. we haven''t decided if it''s worth it to get the full pricy system (but are soooo in love with the features -- LURBE the rear facing option, how easy it is to switch, the easy pop on and off of the seat and the compatibilty of the car seat and the easy and shockingly small fold) or just make do with the snugrider/umbrella route. we just feel guilty over the cost of the peg perego and think it may be better spent elsewhere whne the snugrider/umbrella may work just as well...granted without the bells and whistles. we decided to register for it and let fate decide.

if someone buys it for us then woohoo! if not then we go the more economical route.

tao - i''m the same way and would probably be feeling the exact same thing. maybe have your hubby throw a less subtle hint? she may become insulted if you end up buying it when she said you would.

as for me, just chugging along. starting to feel the nesting bug a bit as the shower is rapidly approaching. trying to get the house in shape for all of the above. forced me to do the registry. thank goodness i don''t have a nursery to obsess over or else my GingerGuy would really have his hands full!!!

baby kicks are getting pretty strong. i can see him deforming my belly from the outside now with some of the stronger ones! he can defintiely do the "kick the remote control off the belly" trick now

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 10/11/2009 10:24:56 AM
Author: drk
Amber - I sometimes have an ouchy muscle right beside and below my hipbone when lying on my side in bed. It feels like the transversus abdominus muscle to me that''s being stretched more than I''m used too. Could be round ligament pain though. If it gets better with a change in position, I''m sure it''s nothing to worry about.

Oh, I forgot to add that I keep finding it weird that people are saying that epidurals slowed down their labour progress. I don''t think there''s any evidence out there (at least not what I was taught in my training) that they significantly increase the duration of labour. And anecdotally, I''ve seen patients stuck at 2-3cm with crazy contractions for a couple hours who get their epidurals, and like 1-2 hours later they''re fully dilated. I guess everyone''s different. My SIL claims that her slow labour with her first was due to the epidural, but as far as I know she waited a long time to get it, and finally was just to exhausted to keep on going without it. Her second and third kids were all of 2-3 hour labours from start to finish, including the third which she was induced for (no contractions at 3-4cm dilated, which she''d been walking around for 2 weeks at, they broke her water at 11:30am or so, kid born within 3 hours).

I''ve had people say that to me: Oh, you had a 54 hour labour because you got the epidural...

I didn''t get mine until FORTY hours in - at which point I was only finger-tip dilated

. Once I got the epidural and started the pitocin I got from 0 to 10 in 9 hours and that was with the weird, crazy contractions I was having.

It didn''t slow things down - it just made me feel comfortable, and geez was I glad I''d had one when things started going pear shaped!

 

[qtiekiki]

Sorry if I make it sounds like I think the epidural slowed down my contractions. I just meant that my contraction didn''t get closer together after I got the epidural not b/c I got the epidural. I was dilating very fast, but my contraction were not getting closer. I double checked my birth story, and I was given pitocin at 9cm dilated and my contractions were still 5 mins apart. They gave the pitocin, so the contraction can be closer/stronger for me to push effectively.

 

[Mandarine]

Hi guys!

DH and I welcomed our boys today!!!

My water broke this morning at around 8am...at 36 weeks 3 days!

Alexander Douglas was born at 11:53am weighing 4 lbs 12 oz

His brother

Lucas Felix was born at 11:54 am weighing 5 lbs 5 oz

Both are doing well and didn''t need any special help or NICU!! They are having just a little hard time keeping their temp up so they''ve been in the nursery under the heating lamps. Having a bit of a hard time latching on, but other than that they are well and just perfect!!!

It''s been an amazing and surreal day! I''m feeling preety good...with the normal aches and pains, but doing well!

Will update more when I can!

Xoxo

 

[KimberlyH]

Mara, it was nice to get stuff moved around. I have a lot of clothes, too, and it's nice to have it all where it makes sense. J uses a different closet and mine is very large so I have lots of space just to rearrange, but it took a lot of time (2 hours) because I'd let it get out of control and had clothes spread everywhere. The jeans I was given that fit the best are good ol' levis. I also got pants from Old Navy, Motherhood, and Gap. The elastic band on the ON pants is very tight, while the pants legs are loose, so I don't dry them and stretch the band out w/ a hanger before I wear them. I'm hoping to get more mat. clothes from the same co-worker in the coming weeks, she has to dig them out of storage, because I'm a bit short on pants and could use a few more sweaters. I really don't want to invest any real $ into clothes if I don't have to, with a few exceptions (I need a nice dress or two for our vac in Nov, but I have a while to worry about that)..

Tao, I'd be a bit concerned about the stroller/car seat and I'd have my husband talk to his mom, just so you're not stuck in the middle. Once you've done so I'd let it go and remember if you have the kid tomorrow their are stores nearby and someone will be able to purchase a carseat to take the baby home in and the stroller won't be on the top of your list of things to need in the beginning anyways.

We went to Julian (a quaint town known for their apples/apple pie) today. Had lunch, wandered a bit. It was a nice trip. I came home and fell sound asleep.

ETA: Congratulations, Mandarine and Mr. Mandarine! Enjoy your boys (love the names).

 

[snlee]

Congrats Mandarine! Welcome Alexander and Lucas! Can't wait to hear more and see pictures! Wow, I can't believe you're posting less than 12 hours after your boys were born! Enjoy this special time!

 

[curlygirl]

Natalina, congratulations!! She is beautiful. Great story too!!

Regarding epidurals slowing down labor--it had absolutely NO effect on either of my labors. With my 1st, I got the epidural around 5 cm and was complete within 2 hours. With my 2nd, I got it at around 7-8 cm (had to wait for a room!) and was complete in less than an hour after. I'm pretty sure that Dani, who is an L&D nurse, commented on this many, many pages back and my own doctor also told me there is no evidence to back up the theory that epidural slows down labor.

OMG, just saw the latest news! Congratulations, MANDARINE!!!! So excited to meet your little guys! Hope you're doing ok!

 

[neatfreak]

CONGRATS MANDARINE!!! I was JUST going to FB you to write you back and logged in to see this! A huge congrats and call me or email me ANYTIME if you have questions or need to vent!

And enjoy those little babies! Mine had to be under the heat lamps a bit too-not a big deal at all and they will be good to go in no time I am sure. Make sure to get up and walk around ASAP (I assume you had a c-section still)-it will really help you heal faster and feel better faster.