Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[Lynnie]

Wow. Just took my belly pic. Definitely getting big!!

ETA - grr night shift... make that 31w6d

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Re: What to wear the in the hospital. I wore the gown the entire time. Even after delivery and a shower, I slipped back into a clean one and didn't dress in my own clothes until I was discharged. During delivery I wore a gown, but it was hiked way up because it was annoying to me so I was practically naked, and I totally did not care.

Update on me: I had my monthly OB appointment on Friday and found out that I'm measuring 2 weeks behind. I was 25+1 at my appointment and my fundal height was at 23cm. The doc and I talked about it and as of right now he thinks that it's because I'm petite (5'0") and was small at birth - only around 5lbs. Nevertheless, I already had an ultrasound appointment scheduled for next week so they will check her growth then and will continue to monitor it. I had my anatomy scan at 22 weeks, and other than her being on the small side (which was not mentioned by the tech or my doc by the way) everything appeared to be developing normally, including the placenta and umbilical cord. I am trying to not worry since the doc didn't send me in right away for a look but it is hard. I had GD with my son and he was big for his gestational age when he was born at 36+4 so I'm hoping that this means that I do not have GD this time. I have my 1 hour test next week so we'll find out then.

 

[geri]

Lanie - Anderson is a great choice!!

Noel and Lynnie - you are both looking great! Only 8 weeks to go for both of you. The time goes so fast!

Noel - Although I am very happy to have an epidural, my plan B is to make sure I have some techniques to manage a drug free birth in case an epidural is not possible (either becasue it fails or in the unlikely scenario that things happen too quickly). I don't know what those techniques are yet but still have a little while to work on it!

DivaDiamond - I am really interested in whether anyone has any feedback on fundal height. At my last appointment I was 21 cm at 23 weeks but my doctor didn't even mention it as a potential issue. I obviously need to start asking more questions. Anyway, I hope the ultrasound goes well and good luck with the GD testing.

As for me, I'm now into the 26th week. I can't believe I will be in the third trimester soon! I am feeling really well other than a monster coldsore on my lip that I can't get rid of, but in the scheme of things that is nothing to complain about. Oh, and the guy in the office next to me was diagnosed with whopping cough. Praying I don't catch that.

 

[Loves Vintage]

29 Weeks!

DivaDiamond - Good luck at your u/s appointment. When your dr measures fundal height, do they use a tape measure? I'm curious because I had read somewhere that they do. My dr's office does not, so to some extent, it is a very inexact measure. I'm sure everything is fine with you, especially since they are not rushing you in for an u/s, but I know what you mean about the worry!!! Good luck with your 1 hour glucose, hope that's all you have to do, and you get a clear ok.

****

AFM. I'm 29 weeks, slowly making my way there. I'm up 15 lbs total, which I am quite happy about. Hopefully, I wind up under 25 total. Finished my hypnobirthing class last week. The instructor is officially my doula, so I'm feeling quite comfy about that. She'll make sure I stay on track with the breathing. The nursery is coming along. Paint is up, crib is here, rug is on the way. We got the Bumbleride Indie in Ruby on Friday. I thought for sure that I would be buying one brand new, but found a very lightly used one on CL. It was a great deal that I couldn't resist. It is in great condition (tires look almost unused!!) so I was very happy about that!

Hope everyone else is well! Happy Monday!

 

[CatLuver]

noel - looking good! From your question, I'm wondering if it's not standard in Holland to wear a hospital gown when you deliver? Re: bubble tea, it's a tea drink that's originally from Asia, and usually is black tea with milk, slightly sweet, with little chewy tapioca "bubbles." I love it but some people think it's weird to have chewy things in your drink.

Lynnie - you look great!

Diva - I was measured today at 23wks and measured 22, the doc wasn't concerned at all.

geri - if you got the pertussis/TDAP vaccine, then you don't have to worry. Not sure if it's the same in Australia.

LV - that's a great deal on your Indie. And 15 lbs is great!

Lanie - that's a really cute dress.

Deelight - mmm, bubble tea! Love it. Never heard of the leg lengthening effect, I wouldn't mind having that side effect. Maybe you are sitting differently because of your belly?

---
AFM I'm at 23 wks now and up 17 lbs. Measuring normal though so I'm curious to see how many lbs I'll end up gaining in the end - at this rate, over 40! I love feeling him kick and move, it's so much fun.

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Geri - my doctor was surprised at the measurment and even did it twice to confirm. My doctor is not an alarmist about things and said that he'd keep a close eye on it. I am the one that is so worried! It's really hard not to.

LV - it was measured using a tape measure. Up until that appointment the doctor just palpitated (spelling?) my abdomen and made sure my uterus was getting bigger. Even measuring behind I still feel huge!

 

[Mara]

ditto wearing a hospital gown. thank god i didn't care or have any plan what to wear. that was the last thing on my mind..! and i wore it the whole time i was at the hospital. just a clean one every day. i hated putting regular clothes on to go home!

re: birth plans, we didn't bother with it...and it was a good thing because i probably couldn't have kept to it anyway. my water had been broken for 12 hours and i was on pitocin and had back labor. EPI for sure!

 

[Pandora II]

Ditto hospital gown.

Noel - I don't know if you get Entonox (gas & air) in the Netherlands, but if you do it is fabulous stuff. I'm a total wuss but reckon if Daisy hadn't been stuck solid I could probably have done the whole thing on it.

I got a mobile epidural when they started me on pitocin (40 hours in and only fingertip dilated). It was painless having it put in and took straight away. I could still move and feel my legs and had I not been on monitors and drips I could have got up and walked around. I also had control of it and could top it up when I needed. It was fabulous, I went from being in severe pain to just sitting chatting with the staff and DH and watching the contractions on a monitor.

Even though I was in a huge unit that had 2 anaesthetists on call 24/7 I still had to wait the best part of 2 hours from when I asked for the epidural as they were both in the operating theatres.

 

[Loves Vintage]

Re: hospital gowns -- ladies in my birthing class expressed concern about the cleanliness of the hospital, specifically regarding using the hospital birthing balls. They were also talking about bringing all of their own sheets and pillows for the bed!! I always thought hospitals were super-clean, but I guess there are issues with infection rates. I already think we are bringing the big suitcase to the hospital, which makes my DH . He thinks we only need an overnight bag. But, I really don't intend to bring full bedding in. Right?

 

[DivaDiamond007]

Re: hospital gowns -- ladies in my birthing class expressed concern about the cleanliness of the hospital, specifically regarding using the hospital birthing balls. They were also talking about bringing all of their own sheets and pillows for the bed!! I always thought hospitals were super-clean, but I guess there are issues with infection rates. I already think we are bringing the big suitcase to the hospital, which makes my DH . He thinks we only need an overnight bag. But, I really don't intend to bring full bedding in. Right?

Bringing your own linens to the hospital!? I think that's crazy! I'm sure that the beds are not completely sterile, but what is? Sounds like some of your friends are hypochondriacs. I'd worry about a bare birthing ball, but you can wash those and cover it with a sheet so I really doubt you'd get an infection/disease/whatever from that.

Re: Birth Plans. I didn't really have one. My son was pre-term at 36+4 so when I was admitted I didn't really have time to worry about this and that. I just went with it. I labored on my own until I was 8cm and then took the epi because I was scared to not get it and then not be able to push the baby out. I required 2 blood transfusions immediately after delivery due to hemorraging, which my husband gave consent for. Also, the placenta would not deliver so DH consented to a D&C as well to get that out. It was scary, but I don't dwell on it. I had a healthy baby and that's all that mattered to me.

 

[Loves Vintage]

DivaD - Yeah, I think the ladies in my class were a little nutty too! My jaw almost dropped when someone asked about the linens!! I've always thought of hospitals as super-clean.

Scary about the hemorrhaging you experienced last time, but thank goodness for the excellent medical care you received!

********

I think I've been experiencing BH contractions since yesterday evening. It's a general, non-painful tightening in the abdomen. It feels like the space right in front of me just tightens. It's just every now and again. I drink water constantly!!!

 

[natalina]

I took all kinds of PJ's to the hospital to have Ellie, but wore the gown the whole time. The nurses are checking you all the time, there are tubes and wires all over, and finally- everyone else has already said it: it is MESSY to have a baby!!! Let's just say that after the birth, my PILLOWCASE had to be changed because it had a splatter of blood on it . Anyhoo, the gown just makes things easier, and I am very modest. You can tie it so that you are good and covered.
As for the sheets, etc I think it's a bit crazy to take your own. And I wonder if most hospitals even allow it? I didn't use a birthing ball or anything, but our hospital seemed very clean and I would not have had any qualms about it.

 

[Kunzite]

29W

Hi ladies just wanted to post a quick (but not short!) update on Oliver and me.

Well, on Sunday night at 29 weeks I was sitting on the couch when I looked at dh with a horrified look and said, “I’m pretty sure I just peed my pants!!” I rushed to the bathroom to find that my pants were suddenly soaked. After the dripping wouldn’t stop I asked dh to call the on-call doctor to see what we should do. Of course he asked us to check into triage right away. The entire car ride I just kept telling dh, “I’m totally going to be the pregnant lady in the hospital that peed her pants!” Oh well, better safe than sorry. We get to triage and the nurse starts monitoring me. After taking all of my vitals (while I’m soaking the bed) she has a little test strip and tells me that it will turn blue if the fluid is amniotic fluid. She puts it on my bed and there’s no mistake it turns blue. Of course I lost it at this point since I had already convinced myself it wasn’t…

My own OB happened to be the doctor on call that night which I found reassuring. He comes in and asks if I’ve been having contractions. I tell him no when he looks at the monitor and tells me that I’m having one right at that moment. He runs through all of the scenarios about how this baby could be born in a day or in a matter of weeks, that there’s just no way to tell at this point but that I’m checking into the hospital for good. I’m checked into L&D a little after midnight, now Monday morning. They immediately start me on antibiotics and steroids and hook me up to all of the monitors. They monitor me for a few hours before telling me that I’m going to have to stay hooked up to the monitors all night because I’m having too many contractions.

Around 8 in the morning we’re taken down to have an ultrasound to check on the baby and fluid levels. They also do an amnio to check for an infection and glucose levels. The amnio was surprisingly painless (for anyone who’s wondering) and I’m a pretty big baby about needles. The ultrasound took nearly two hours because they wanted to do full measurements on everything. I was happy to see little Oliver again (reassured he was in fact still a boy) and even found out that he has hair on his head!

We finally eat some lunch around noon and are told that most of the amnio results are back and check out perfectly normal. No infection, high glucose, and my fluid levels are actually reading normal. At this point the most obvious theory about why I started leaking was because I had too much fluid since everything else looks perfect. My contractions practically stop so they decided it’s okay to move me from L&D to Antepartum.

So!! That’s where I am and where I hopefully will be for at least a few more weeks! Antepartum has been good because things have finally calmed down and little Oliver is doing perfectly well. Needless to say, it’s a little boring being stuck in here for an indefinite period. I’m feeling much better about the situation today but I’m pretty bummed that I’m now using up all of my leave just sitting in bed. Obviously not how I pictured my leave. Best laid plans!!

So please send any baking dust that you can spare to our family. I would really appreciate it!

 

[lili]

Oh wow Kunzite, that was quite a scare.
Glad to hear that everything is ok so far.
Lots of baking dust to you.
Hoping Oliver stay put for at least 8 more weeks.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

My birth plan was to just go with the flow, which was a good plan because I ended up being induced at 38 weeks and then had an unplanned c-section when the induction failed. Going with the flow helped me manage the stressful moments.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Oh Kunzite!!!! I am glad that things seem to be working out and I hope that Oliver keeps baking for a few more weeks (like 8!). I am so sorry that you are using up all your leave for this.

Hope he staying healthy and growing and hope that you don't go nuts from boredom!!!!

Tons of dust!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[geri]

Kunzite - Wow, I'm so sorry you are going through this. I'm glad to hear all is well with Oliver so far and sending you tonnes of baking dust.

 

[Lanie]

Oh my goodness kunzite! How scary! Glad everything turned out ok with the baby. So you are in the hospital until you deliver? Doesn't this count as being on bedrest? I know people that go on bedrest still get the 6 or 8 or whatever weeks. Will you still get that?

 

[tiffanytwisted]

Kunzite what a scare! I hope he will be able to bake a little longer in there!!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Kunzite - I'm so sorry you are going through this. Thank goodness you went to the hospital to get checked out!!! So so scary!! Sending you and little Oliver boatloads of dust!!

 

[tiffanytwisted]

LV- I'm a nurse, and there's no way I would take my linens to the hospital- especially for delivery (yuck!). Then what do they plan to do with them, send the bloody linens home with their husband?

Diva- good luck at the next ultrasound- I'm guessing it's because you are petite.

I don't really feel like I have enough of a "bump" for a pic yet, but I love everyone's belly pics!! You guys are all adorable.

As for me- I had my anatomy scan on Monday (18 weeks now) and we are having two boys!! Everything on the scan measured great and we are thrilled!

 

[Loves Vintage]

Tiffany,

Congratulations on Team Blue times two!!

Thanks for commenting on the hospital linens! I don't think they've really thought things through, in terms of there actually being blood. Haha. They were just like -- but, it's cold and flu season!!

 

[E B]

Kunzite- I hope Oliver has many more weeks to bake! Dust to you and baby.

Tiffany- Congratulations on your two BOYS! Boys are so much fun. Have any names in mind?

 

[CatLuver]

Wow Kunzite, how scary - glad things are fine for now. Sending you lots of dust for Oliver to stay put for a few more weeks!!!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Tiffany,

Congratulations on Team Blue times two!!

Thanks for commenting on the hospital linens! I don't think they've really thought things through, in terms of there actually being blood. Haha. They were just like -- but, it's cold and flu season!!

There will be more blood and gross luquids than you ever thought possible! At my hospital they pull up a big bucket and place it under the table between my legs to catch it all when the baby popped out! haha!

 

[Steel]

What a scare Kunzite, **lots of baking dust** to you and Oliver.

TiffanyTwisted: Contrats on 2 boys!!!! Awh! +

 

[betty6333]

Hi, So tomorrow I hit 12 weeks and hopefully I am past the most likely time of miscarriage. I was in the TTC thread for a while and once we got the BFP, I thought it best to lay low until things were closer to the second trimester. Any way... I am hoping this baby will keep growing and wont give me too much trouble!

 

[Steel]

Hi, So tomorrow I hit 12 weeks and hopefully I am past the most likely time of miscarriage. I was in the TTC thread for a while and once we got the BFP, I thought it best to lay low until things were closer to the second trimester. Any way... I am hoping this baby will keep growing and wont give me too much trouble!

Congrats! Of course I remember you. Many happy wishes for a healthy pregnancy.

 

[taovandel]

Congrats Marquise on the milestone!

Kunzite: Glad to hear things are okay....keep baking!

Tiffany: Congrats on boys...having a boy is so much fun!



I'm nearing 18 weeks...we have our anatomy scan on November 16th....Can't wait!

We still only have a girl name picked out....Violet Joy (Don't mention this on FB if anyone knows me on there!). We are struggling with a boy name though....

 

[random_thought]

Congrats Marquise on the milestone!

Kunzite: Glad to hear things are okay....keep baking!

Tiffany: Congrats on boys...having a boy is so much fun!



I'm nearing 18 weeks...we have our anatomy scan on November 16th....Can't wait!

We still only have a girl name picked out....Violet Joy (Don't mention this on FB if anyone knows me on there!). We are struggling with a boy name though....

Violet is the name we have picked out for a girl as well Just thought I would share so you didn't think I was swiping it from you or anything! I it!! We picked out Cayden for a boy