Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[taovandel]

As for the registry---I''ve now learned my lesson. I used to be the type of person who would get like one thing from the registry and then just buy cute stuff. Now that I''m pregnant--I will never do that again. I will buy from the registry and I will try and avoid clothes (they are just too cute though!).

I''m attending a baby shower next week, and I can''t wait to get them things they actually need!

 

[qtiekiki]

Mara
Just curious why you want an Aquarius? Is it associated with traits you want?
My Dr will only let me go a couple days overdue before talking induction. Seems like your Dr might be the same way.

drk
Can''t wait to see your belly pic.
I don''t know specifically for the Audi A4, but my car doesn''t have a latch system in the middle seat. From everything I''ve read, the latch system doesn''t make the car seat safer, and it''s more for convenience.

Anchor
How funny that your mom changed the password. When is your shower?

 

[neatfreak]

Mara FWIW about autism...no reputable studies have found any links yet to things like vaccines or crib mattresses. And California has a higher # of cases of a LOT of things than other places (like c-sections) but I think a lot of it has to do with paranoid parents and attitudes than it does an actual increased risk KWIM?

You know how paranoid this state is-I mean they put a cancer warning on every public structure in existence!

Just because something is *diagnosed* a lot more in a certain place doesn't mean it actually occurs that much more often. Basically something like autism isn't a blood test-it's an opinion. So if everyone is on the hunt for autism somewhere-they will "find" it. Whereas in a place where they are more relaxed about things they don't diagnose every shy/quirky child as having autism.

A large part of the "rise" in autism is really a rise in diagnoses.

 

[Mara]

lol anchor i am a registry stalker too. i mean when you are sitting around it's fun right?? hehe.

tao....i am totally a 'cute stuff' buyer for babies, but i can't HELP IT. even being preggo and knowing what we NEED, i am like still excited about clothes and stuff. hahaha. but typically when i buy for people i know what they do need (aka tons of basic onesies which a lot of people WONT give them) so i buy a bunch of the basics for them like hooded towels, cloth diapers for burping, and onesies and then will get some cute stuff too. i also love giving new mom's a picture frame for their desk at work (esp if it's a coworker) or something fun like that which they won't typically get. i am ridiculous when buying for people's babies. i would spend like $100 on a cowrorker! now that SO many people i know are having babies around the same time, and ummm us too i am like WOAH, $20 limit! haha.

nf.....yep i agree about CA hahaha... and i hear ya...that a lot of what people see as a rise is a diagnosis rise. it just makes it hard to separate what is truth from fiction and even then truth is so subjective. it just does make you think... i am trying to not be overly paranoid but for example my coworker's son has asthma and she is hoping her new baby won't have it so she is like well if i can get him a more 'safe' mattress why not. and it's hard to argue against that reasoning BUT then also as someone else said, where do you draw the line? my mom was like don't buy any clothes made in china...just go organic. but it's SUPER expensive AND even the organic stuff i have bought (on clearance at like marshalls) is made in china. all of baby gap's clothes are made in china. so really what is the point...i think it's almost more stressful to worry.

it is really funny also mentally for me what i 'worry' about vs what i don't. it's so random.

lol qt... i 'want' an aquarius because i really like the traits associated with it and also the people who i know who are aquarians who are men seem so well-rounded. one of those silly things i guess where a mom wants for her son to be 'like that'. plus my grandfather who died when i was 1 was one, and he was the sweetest man around. i just think it'd be a fun 'mixup' for the signs we already have in our family (and the other kids too). i figured the kid would be an aquarian so i looked into it and now i am like well if he's early he will be capricorn which i haven't done real research on yet, but i don't see negatives there so far. there is only one sign i am not a fan of and that is through personal experience and we were ADAMANT about not having a kid at that time. i know not everyone belives in astrology but i do, to a point, and it's kind of fun... i am a scorpio and i am totally a textbook case.

greg is a leo and he is a textbook case too.

my mom likes numerology and wants me to do that on any names we are considering for the baby too.

and yes my dr said they will do inductions starting at 40 weeks so you can schedule it at 39 weeks for 40. my cousin had an 8.5lb baby that was FOUR WEEKS early. that baby was and is seriously robust.

love the bellies! steph and qt you girls are teeny. i feel like jolly green giant right now. and we are having weird 70 degree weather again after having major rainstormage a few days ago, so now i am wearing a sundress today, so random. gotta love CA.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Amber They werre expecting a large baby for me too (thought he would be 10lbs and he was 8.5) and I did a bunch of research and it turns out that inducing *just* because the baby is anticipated to be large has *no* positive effects -- it does not increase the liklihood of a vaginal birth and it does not decrease the odds of tearing or c-section-- but such inductions *do* increase dramatically he odds of c-section and tearing because the woman''s body may not be ready. Also, when caregivers think the baby will be big, it actually doubles the rate of c-sections compared to women who have big babies and didn''t know it in advance. Anyways, if they think Piper is going to be big then you will likely have these conversations with your docs later so I thought I would pass on what I learned!

 

[qtiekiki]

Mara
Got you. I am an Aquarius and plus the baby will be too unless s/he decides to come a week early, so I was curious. Well part of me do want the baby to be early, so I can have him/her before I turn 30. =D
Oh at least you guys are only in the 70''s up there. They expect 90''s for us down here. Gotta love CA is right.

 

[Jas12]

Re: inducing just because you are full-term: There are really no studies that show this is a good idea. Unless there is a true medical reason, it is best to let the babe decide when he/she wants to come out. There is a reason why we go into labor on our own. Believe me, going 2 weeks overdue was utterly exhausting and uncomfortable but it was worth it. It *does* come to an end.

ETA: sorry, just saw that DD basically posted the same thing. And yep, one OB predicted that i would have a huge baby (around 10 lbs) when i was hitting 10 days over. He was a good 8.5 but no problems coming out at all--20 min of pushing

 

[AmberWaves]

Thank you everyone on inducing! I''m totally more than happy to let her bake in there until whenever she feels ready to come out. I have a feeling she''ll be ready before I am!

 

[Burk]

Mandarine~The boys are absolutely precious! Sorry you had a crappy hospital stay. Hope all is going well at home!

Steph~You look great. Still a little belly!

QT~You look great. I''ll be joining you in blurry bathroom pics!

Are you 25 weeks now? How do your belly pics with this one compare to with M? Is your appt next week that you can find out the sex?

Amber~Love the pic!!

Here is my contribution to BPF. It''s a restroom pic from our work restroom and I was in a hurry so it''s super blurry...but you get the idea!

Hope everyone is having a great Friday!

Oh, and what''s this with all the hot weather?!?!? We had snow last Saturday and I''m just looking forward to 60''s tomorrow!!

 

[Burk]

And it would help if I actually attached said blurry picture!

Oh, and I''m 22.5 weeks

 

[lovelylulu]

mandarine - lucas and alexander are perfect. congratulations over and over.

 

[anchor31]

qtiekiki - My shower is on November 7th or 14th. My mom has been trying to reach MIL for a week to set it up... Figures she''d be as cooperative for the baby shower as she was for the wedding (it took her over 6 months to give us her family''s addresses then).

Who''s complaining about temps in the 70s and 90s? We''re having 20s up here. Yeah. Cold.

 

[puffy]

mandy your boys are so very precious!!! they are too cute for words! glad that they are doing well. and hope you are taking care of yourself despite having a terrible hospital stay.

everyone looks great as usual!!! here i am at 29w4d.

have a great weekend!!

 

[Pandora II]

Congratulations Mandarine, they are gorgeous! Sorry about the sucky hospital stay - does make getting home feel even better than it normally would though!


Mara, I''m a Leo and DH is a Scorpio, and while I don''t actually believe in it all, I still made sure I wouldn''t be having a little Pisces and I was hoping like mad that Daisy would be early and avoid being a Gemini. No offence to anyone who is either of those signs, but whenever I have really clashed with someone they always turn out to be one or the other!

On the whole early months thing... yes, it is truly horrific at times, but your body is pumped full of hormones to help you cope. I''m someone who normally needs a bomb put under them to get me out of bed and a very deep sleeper. Now I''m up at all hours and it doesn''t bother me the way I dreaded before she was born. Nature has a way of helping you deal. You do forget though, just like the birth will turn into a big blur. Ultimately you just have to deal because this tiny thing is there and relying on you.

Breastfeeding is grim at the beginning, but if you can get through that it has huge benefits time and sleepwise. Daisy goes from happy and smiling to screaming starving child in 3 seconds flat with no warning. I can just whip out a boob and hey presto ''silence''... if you have to make bottles up then you are looking at full on meltdown. Add to that no having to get out of bed or worry if you decided to change plans when you go out. For me these were huge positives and outweighed the whole breast v formula health thing. Some people really can''t breastfeed due to having no milk, but if you can, then it''s really worth getting through those early days and we''ll all sympathise over on the 0-12 thread!

 

[qtiekiki]

anchor
Hope your MIL responds soon, so you can have a date for your shower.

Burk
Yeah I am 25 weeks now. Passed by so fast. Seems like this time my belly isn't sticking out as much and less round. I think that's why I feel like I am carrying wider.

Here's the side by side of 24 weeks. Left one is this pregnancy and the right is last pregnancy.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Mandy, your boys are BEAUTIFUL! Congrats!!!

Cute bellies ladies!

I went 6 days over before my Doc induced me. There are risks for inducing first time moms and most docs will not do it until you hit 40 weeks. Basically you don't know how your body will react so there are higher c-sec rates for induced first time moms. Yeah the last month was rough but she obviously wasn't ready to come out. Luckily I did not have to have a c-sec but she never dropped and I carried her really high so I had almost 3 hours of pushing. Not so fun. My doc said he will induce me at 39 weeks next time b/c even though she was a small baby we both agreed I probably couldn't deliver a larger one. Luckily the size of the baby depends on YOU not your DH. Nature is smart like that. MY DH was over 10 lbs so I would have had a c-sec for sure.

 

[sunkist]

Mandarine, your boys are precious!! Give them a snuggle for me

 

[vizsla]

mandy! your boys are beautiful! can''t wait to see more pics and hear more about your labor and recovery! congratulations again!

cuuuuuutttee bellies everyone! i took a pic, but i''m too lazy to upload them...

so, i''m still here. at my doc apt on thursday i''m nearly 100% effaced and about 1.5cm dilated. m/w said it could be "any day now". i''ve been having very subtle period like cramps for the past couple of days... and on thursday i was convinced it was "the day". i think i had DH so freaked out that he got zero sleep - while i, apparently, snored my way thru most of the night. anyhoo, this waiting game is much more draining mentally then physically. i remember reading about the ladies close to their due date when i was no where near delivery and not really understanding where they were coming from. i know now... every second of every day you think this could be the day, this could be the time - will my water break when i''m at home, on a walk, sleeping? - or will i start having contractions at the grocery store, out to dinner, sitting on the couch? - will DH be here, at work, out in the garage? - will i have a baby this time next week, next monday, next saturday? so, yeah... the waiting is killing me!

anyhoo, i''m here.. hanging out.... just waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting..........

re: taking the baby early... while the waiting is killing me.. unless there is some medical reason they need to get baby out.... i''m a huge proponent of letting my body do what it''s supposed to do. i think following the lead of my body is more important that the few weeks of being uncomfortable at the end, its just one of the first mom sacrifices so, 42 weeks, here i come tee hee.... fwiw.. a ballerina friend of mine just had an 11lb baby.. vaginally, no tears etc. i think we need to give our bodies more credit for delivering the baby that it created

thinking about you PG!

 

[steph72276]

Hey, Tacori! Little miss T is adorable in her newest picture! So cute!

 

[Mara]

qt you are so cute with your belly comparison photos... girl its so funny that you have the same outfit from the last pregnancy, i am not sure how old your first one, is but you look fabulous regardless in both, i can see the differences you do as well.

love the bellies! puffy, you are tiny too.

pandora... i definitely think about it like ''well thousands of people do it and they do it over again so it must be doable!''...but the prospect of the unknown on how things will turn out is somewhat daunting. and i do think of it as ''finite time period''.. meaning that most things heal or fix themselves with time. the waiting is what is hard.

so since yesterday i think i''m developing a bladder infection. my bladder is prone to them anyway, so i have been really surprised that i have not had one yet since preggos are more susceptible. i took cranberry extract and have been drinking lots of water. i thought if i felt better today i would just keep taking cranberry and eating live cultures to flush it out (worked for me in past but before i was preggo). i have had some horrible UTIs in the past and this is nothing like that, but i can tell something is off. so the nurses said to come into L&D. well i guess if nothing else i will be able to check out L&D. i hope it''s not one, but better safe than sorry.

interresting but the nurses said if i was pre 20 weeks i could just go into lab and do a sample. but since i am over 20, they bring you into L&D to check you out.

other than this i feel fine and nugget has been moving around as usual. hope everyone is enjoying a fabulous saturday morning!

 

[lili]

Ok, I know there are way more preggos than you 5 ladies here.

Amber--
You look great.
Way way neater than me showing up for work everyday.
Sorry about your encounters w/ those rude people.
I think people should stop trying to be around preggos.

Steph--
Wow, you are tiny!
Can''t believe you are 25 wks.....that''s hardly a bump.

QT--
What an adorable belly.
Love your comparison shots.
I see the difference...and your belly do look smaller than the first....though you were pretty first w/ your first too.

Burk--
There''s the bump!
Love your sweater.

Puffy--
Wow, can''t believe you are going into your third trimester already.
You look great as usual.

 

[lili]

Mara--
Hope everything is ok.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 10/16/2009 11:11:25 PM
Author: Tacori E-ring
Mandy, your boys are BEAUTIFUL! Congrats!!!

Cute bellies ladies!

I went 6 days over before my Doc induced me. There are risks for inducing first time moms and most docs will not do it until you hit 40 weeks. Basically you don''t know how your body will react so there are higher c-sec rates for induced first time moms. Yeah the last month was rough but she obviously wasn''t ready to come out. Luckily I did not have to have a c-sec but she never dropped and I carried her really high so I had almost 3 hours of pushing. Not so fun. My doc said he will induce me at 39 weeks next time b/c even though she was a small baby we both agreed I probably couldn''t deliver a larger one. Luckily the size of the baby depends on YOU not your DH. Nature is smart like that. MY DH was over 10 lbs so I would have had a c-sec for sure.

One of my midwives was saying they sometimes have issues when the woman is using a donor egg as you can get a real misfit between size of baby and size of mother''s pelvis.

 

[steph72276]

Mara, hope you feel better. Hopefully if it is a UTI, you caught it early and the medicine will kick in right away. My cramping went away after about 2 doses. Thinking about you!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Thanks Viz! I love your description of the mental waiting game. Half the time I am freaked out that now that I have stopped working, the baby will be late and "waste" my leave. The other half of the time I am freaked out that I could become a parent at any moment!!! I think with swine flu ramping up recently, though, I should just be glad that I''m at home these days even if she''s later than we expected.


DH and I had a little adventure this morning where we set out to walk a mile or so to the bike shop and DH realized he hadn''t brought the house key. I felt fine when I thought we were going for a quick walk, but when I knew my purse and phone were in the house and I couldn''t grab my suitcase or get in the car if I went into labor, I was suddenly cold, tired, and a little grumpy! So we borrowed a car, drove to DH''s dad''s house, tried to find his spare key which "might" have been hidden somewhere outside so we could get into the house and get our spare key (FIL is out of town), couldn''t find it, came home, broke into our neighbors'' house, got our spare key . . . Phew! It was really unusual for our neighbors not to be home or answer their phones, so finally we just tried all their doors and found one unlocked. If only our own house had been so easy to get into!

We''re not sure if it''s smarter to hide a spare key outside or give copies to a couple more people. Do you guys have spare keys hidden outside? Have you ever heard of an intruder finding/using a hidden spare key?

Re: Zodiac signs. I have never cared about this, but DH really wants baby Claire to be a Libra like him. However, that means she has to be born on or before he due date (Thursday); otherwise, she''ll be a Scorpio. My dad was a Scorpio, so I think if she''s one too, that''d be cute too.

 

[Burk]

QT~Cute comparison! You are really close to the same!

Mara~Hope everything is okay!

Good luck vizsla and phoenix!!

 

[Mandarine]

Thank you everyone!!!

...


I have a second so I wanted to dop by!

Thank you all for the good wishes on facebook and here!. Here is the story...

We had a scheduled c-section for week 38, but I had a feeling I wasn''t going to make it....the two days prior to Sunday the boys were moving like crazy! I thought they were just going to break the skin on my belly and come out. My doggie had also been acting a little weird all week (very needy and following me everywhere)...so we had a feeling that it may be close..

Sunday at 36 weeks and 3 days my water broke at around 7:30 am or so (the boys are so nice they decided to let me sleep a full night before telling me they were ready to come out!).

I had been sleeping in the guest room since I was so uncomfortable that I needed a whole bed for myself (I use the word sleeping lightly!) and my husband was in our room. I ran into the room and announced to him..."baby, my water just broke!!! we''re having the boys today!!!". I can''t explain how exciting it was to say those words....I can''t explain the look on my husband''s face. Itw as so surreal and special!. We started to get ready, both of us with a huge smile on our faces!. We kept saying to each other "we''re having the babies TODAY!!!"

I wasn''t in any pain and called the Dr...she said to head on over to the hospital. We took our time to get ready -- well, the hubs took his time, he even shaved!!...I was anxious and ready to get in the car!. All the way to the hospital we were giddy and excited.

We got there and all the prep started to get ready for the c-section. I hadn''t had any contractions, but they surely started after they put the catheter in (this I think was the worst part of the whole procedure!). The c-section itself was not bad....I couldn''t contain myself and broke down a bit when they started..(happy tears). I was minutes away from meeting my handsome little ones!.

At 11:53 am, Alexander was born. He was just beautiful, so perfect. A few seconds after he started crying and that was the best sound I have ever heard.

At 11:54 am, Lucas was born. This one came out crying, eager to see the world!...he had the most perfect little face!!

Alexander weighed in at 4lbs 12 oz and Lucas weighed in at 5lbs 5 oz. They got great Apgar scores...8,9 and 9,9!. My boys were doing well and were healthy...I was (and still am) in baby love heaven They didn''t need any NICU or anything like that.

The hospital stay was not great (to not say horrible!)...but we made it home on Wednesday and things here and going really well. We had a bit of problems breast feeding but are getting the hang of things now...we had to resort to nipple shields, but whatever works! (I even mastered tandem nursing!)

The are just precious...they are great boys and most importantly they are healthy!. I don''t think they are identical, but they sure do look a lot alike!. Alex has a longer face, while Lucas has a runded face. Their noses are a little different too!

So that''s the story!!

I feel so blessed to be their mom and thank God every day to have them in our lives.

Ok...dinner time! (for me, the boys are napping!). Thank you all again!!!

M~...proud mommy of Alexander and Lucas

 

[Mandarine]

Alex

ETA: They swim in ALL their clothes, but oh well...they will eventually fill them up

 

[Mandarine]

Lucas

 

[Tacori E-ring]

Mandy they are adorable. The do make 5 lb clothes but you are right, they will fill them up sooner than you think. I used the shield the entire time I nursed. Not ideal but I was grateful there was something to aid me. Those boys are strong. That is AWESOME you had twins with no NICU time. Hospital experiences seem to vary depending on where you went. Glad you are home and adjusting.