Calling all the Pregnant PS''ers

[Pandora II]

Inductions:

I had pitocin started after 42 hours of labour - I asked for the epidural before they started it as my contractions were already all over the place and I was having a bad time. They were so close together at times that they were lasting up to 5 minutes and I still had ZERO dilation...

Once they started the epi and the pitocin it was WONDERFUL. No pain, just sat and chatted with DH and the midwives. Once I got to 10cm they left me to rest for nearly 2 hours to allow the head to descend before trying to push (at least one hour is standard here).

I wouldn''t try to go through induction without an epidural for the biggest diamond in Graff''s windows!

Phoenix - I''m wondering if you have a narrower space because of the increased blood supply to the area combined with the pressure of the baby and other stuff. I know my ''bits'' seemed far from normal in the last weeks.

Is there a reason for doing all these exams? It has no bearing on when you will go into labour: you can walk around for weeks at 3cm or go from zero to birth in a few hours. It just seems like a great way to introduce infection. They don''t touch you here until you are obviously in labour or your waters have broken.

On the bleeding, mine lasted about 5 weeks as well - I didn''t have it as bad as a lot of people in terms of clots etc as they cleaned a lot out in theatre plus I lost so much during the birth. Definitely buy the biggest pads on the market - I found I needed 2 at once the first few days.

 

[Mara]

aww so cal sorry to hear you are still waiting for the baby. i have no experience with this at all, but i agree with the others who say do what is right for you. everyone always has their own experience, and i find people tend to want to share regradless of good or bad. just remember, every experience is going to be different.

steph you still look very small woman. hehee. i have grown a lot in the last 2 weeks belly wise..i feel like i look way more preggo now. but one of my coworkers is a due date a week later, we have a similar build but her bump is much bigger. it's her 3rd so maybe that is the diff. btw i am so happy you stopped having cramping. take it easy.

drk...sweetie i only have you in mind when i say you really should try to distract yourself and think of something else. i know it's hard, but the stress and worry will just continue to eat at you. if it helps (but you prob already know this), i asked my dr at 16 weeks what chances of miscarriage are at that point, and she said much less than 1%. i know it is easy to think negatively, but the chances are excellent you WON'T BE that statistic. i was kind of a bundle of nerves whenever i allowed myself to think about it up until about 19 weeks and then for whatever reason i was like well we have made it this far. and i worry much less now. don't even know why. but it feels MUCH better mentally. i still have my moments but now i feel like i trust my body more if that makes sense.

so i just went to babies r'us and was disappointed to see they didn't have one of the cribs i was looking at even though their website has it online and it doesnt say online only. they have a lot of others and one set i really liked (babi italia i think), but it's all espresso, not two tone. and i have not been in a BRU for years (my registry etc is at target), but holy crap that place is a mega child store. there were like 15 screaming babies hehee. i might have seen a rocker and ottomon there i liked, but it was stained and i want to see if it comes in chocolate.

hoping to get to one other big store we have here this wkd and see what they have...but at this point i am just figuring walmart is the way to go for baby mod. i am SO over the shopping thing. i did get to see city jogger stroller which i kind of liked and it was only $150. so it might make a good 2nd stroller if we do one for the car and one for the walks/hikes locally.

we are moving our guest room furniture to my mom's tomorrow, so i am really excited to have that gone and get the room cleared out ! now i am eating chips and green onion dip and watching children of the corn II. ahhh i love weekends.

oh and the kid has been so much more mobile lately, and all over my bladder which is sooo not fun. move up little boy!!! greg points out that it's probably all downhill from here related to bladder. awesome!

hope everyone is having a great wkd. PG, i hope you don't have a cold...i went to the dr yesterday to give blood for the 2nd tri state testing (dr figured why not do it for the last spine test)..and everyone was coughing and ugh. i am totally paranoid about getting sick.

oh and we have 95 degree weather here... hello it's FALL. i am over that too.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Amber You look GREAT! But yes... you are carrying on the more pronounced end of the spectrum

I can see wh ypeople think you look full term. Sabine is a shorty and she also carried straight outwards! I am tall and hardly looked pregnany even at 32 weeks.

SOCal As long as there are not other issues, induction becomes safer than waiting at 41 weeks. Afte that there is a gradually increased risk of c-section and distress to baby the longer you go. But as Vesper said, there are many other factors too. The biggest predictor of a successful induction is the state of your cervix. If you have started to efface then you are okay -- effacement matters more than dilation and the ideal is at least 50% effaced when you are induced. More is better.

 

[so cal girl]

Thanks everyone for your stories and opinions. I was really hoping to avoid induction, just because I have heard a few stories of people being induced, going through labor for 24-48 hours, and then still ending up needing a c-section. It is nice to hear other stories.

I have been walking as much as possible to try and get this baby out on his own. Last week I went to Disneyland (I have a season pass) and walked for four hours. Yesterday I went to the mall, but could only make it two hours before I needed a rest. I feel like he is getting lower, but I don''t know if it is my imagination or not.

My doctor said they prefer to induce 7-10 days after the due date. I elected for 7 days after. Still hoping something will happen on its own. I am already about 1cm and 50% effaced, but have been at that same state for the past 4 weeks. They did some quick measurements the other day, and they estimated he is about 7lbs 11oz right now, so he is by no means small, but I shouldn''t have any problems with a vaginal birth. Oh, and I have always been planning on an epi anyway, so I''m definitely sticking with that plan!

I have to go in for NST on Monday to make sure he is good for labor. They''ll check my fluid as well, so we''ll see what they say. I''ll keep you guys posted.

 

[mrssalvo]

coming out of lurkdom to say so cal, I was induced with Jake. Like Burk, I LOVED it too. they hooked me up and went ahead and got my epidural ready so as soon as my dr. said I could get the drugs I did. I had a very smooth and easy delivery. Of course he was my 3rd so that probably had something to do with it. But, I had pitocin with my first as well. My water broke and we went to the hospital. 4 hours later my contractions were not getting stronger and labor wasn't progressing so they gave pitocin. very easy and normal delivery with her as well. Out of my 3 pregnancies I actually liked being induced the best b/c I knew the hospital couldn't send me home b/c of false labor, plus I had 2 other kids I had to worry about and make sure I had childcare arrangements for and didn't really want the surprise of going into labor in the middle of the night. By the time Jake was due, I was sooooooo over being preggo and I begged for an induction. My dr. made me wait until 39 weeks and then ok'd but my hospital was booked up for inductions and i had to wait another week and was induced only 2 days before my due date and my son came out just under 9lbs. I hope you go naturally b/c I'm sure you don't wait to wait another week but just wanted you to know not all inductions are hard and end up in c-secs.

 

[steph72276]

Wow, what a night last night. Yesterday afternoon I spent hours at the salon getting my hair done....well when I got up to leave, I felt something and thought I was leaking amniotic fluid. I did leak with my son at 18 weeks and had to be hospitalized with him. That combined with the short cervix deal, I immediately went home and told my husband who insisted we go to l/d right away. So we spent the next 6 hours in triage getting an ultrasound and getting checked out by a high risk doctor (but mostly waiting around, trying to entertain our 4 year old). So the high risk doc came in and said the ultrasound not only showed that I didn't have a short cervix, but that it looks "long and perfect". Huh? How did that happen. Obviously someone's machine made a mistake somewhere. Then he did all kinds of tests and exams on me and said everything came back negative and it was probably just normal fluid and that I could go home. So while I feel good that everything looked great, I am confused more than ever now. And I don't go back for my next visit for 3 more weeks. So I am still going to take things kind of easy until then, but I guess I don't have to worry as much. Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

 

[steph72276]

Mara, just FYI...I ordered a crib from walmart.com and it came in about a week and a half. I wanted a baby mod crib that said it was out of stock and waited for 2 weeks to see if it would come in, but never did, so I ordered my 2nd choice and then the next morning I get an email from them saying the baby mod one was in stock....boo! But, it was too much trouble to try to return and then order the other one and I really do like the other choice so I think we're sticking with that one. We are actually going to pick it up today at the store. Anyway, just letting you know they are pretty quick with the site to store thing. They said it would be in by Oct. 7th and it actually came in Sept. 24th.

 

[Mara]

Thanks Steph for the update on the Walmart crib. Which one did you get after all??

I am torn between the ones I saw yest at BRU (Babi Italia Single Espresso Crib and their long set of drawers) or the Baby Mod Roxanne in all espresso OR the Babyletto Mod in all Espresso. Whew. One more stop today at a superstore to see what they have and then I am going to make some type of decision. I decided yesterday after my sister said (and I had been kind of secretly thinking it) ... that it looks odd to her when the two tones convert into toddler or day beds. They look cute as cribs. And I had thought that too. So then I started thinking all one color was best, and espresso was more a long-term big boy color than white. Soooo that''s where we are now. So fun..not!

And man I am sorry about all the confusion for you. Honestly, if it were me I''d email my DR and tell them what happened and be like, what do you think? Do I need to come back in? I have been with my hospital/HMO since birth and with them you really have to push or else they will be like ''oh don''t worry you are fine''... you have to tell them you are hacking up blood before they want you to come in. I have been pretty impressed with their pre-natal care though, they are super on it and very ''responsive'' thus far.

Someone said yesterday on here and I forgot to ask, that it''s the hospital and DR''s obligation to not do too much for ethical and cost reasons (aka too many ultrasounds). I mean to ask why that is...so if someone sees it and knows, pls advise.

My belly has grown a fair amt in the last 2 weeks, I am starting to border on more uncomfortable than before, and my lower half feels heavy. The nugget is still hanging out way low, and I can feel him moving more which is fun, but also uncomfortable as he''s always on my bladder! At night I am finding it harder to fall asleep... does anyone else''s uterus feel so hard and tight before bed?? It takes mine hours to kind of relax out, but once I am asleep a few hours later I can move positions and be ok. But I have to fall asleep curled up as the most comfortable right now. I am trying not to think that it''s all downhill re: sleeping positions from here..hehee.

 

[ChinaCat]

Re: being induced-

I was very anti being induced as well. For pretty much all of the reasons already mentioned. But I ended up being induced at 10 days past my due date. For me, I had a hard time deciding when it was too soon, and when it was getting unhealthy for the baby. My fluid was very low, so that decided it for me.

I will say that it was a pretty easy and smooth delivery and not at all the horror I anticipated. For me, the pitocin kick started my labor and once that happened, I went pretty quickly. In fact, they turned off the pitocin as my body was doing the labor thing on its own after a few hours. I didn''t end up with a c-section or anything.

On the dilating thing- I was completely closed before they started the pitocin. I had a cryo procedure done a few years back (basically I had an abnormal pap smear, with some pre-cancerous cells, so they froze them off). The nurse mentioned that sometimes this can cause scar tissue on your cervix, which can prevent dilation, and often being induced helps break through that scar tissue. This could have easily been the case for me, as I said I was totally closed and jumped from 2 cm to 9 cm within an hour. Just something I had never heard.

I personally wouldn''t chose an induction just for convenience or whatever. BUT if you are past your due date and it is necessary, I wouldn''t worry about it at all, it doesn''t automatically mean you are headed for a c-section. From being on this thread, we can all see that every labor is different and there are no rules or guarantees. You can go into labor naturally and have tons of complications.

I am reading a book in which the main character goes into labor and it is not at all what she imagined, anticipated, or wanted. Her "birth plan" goes right out the window, and every thing that she didn''t want, she ended up having to deal with. Her mom in the book tells her "It''s not how you wanted it, but it''s how it is. In truth, much of mothering is that way." I think this is true and you have to go with the flow and remember it''s not about YOUR perfect birth, but about your baby''s safety and health. You need to do what you have to do to get the baby out safely. So if you need to be induced, RELAX and focus on the outcome. No matter how he/she gets here, the real adventure and mommyhood begins after the birth.

Good luck, So Cal!!!

Welcome to Peony''s beautiful boys!

I clearly have missed a ton, so welcome and congrats to any new mommies to be, and congrats to any new babies I missed! I miss you girls, and want to be following along as closely as before, but it''s just impossible these days. Well, it''s not impossible, but right now showering and napping is taking precedence over my PS time.

Thinking of everyone, and can''t wait to meet your little ones!

 

[gingerB]

steph - glad to hear that things look good -- at least per one of the ultrasounds! hoping that one is the correct one

mara - docs are ethically bound to not order more than medically neccesary because 1)they are monetarily compensated for everything they order. therefore it would be insurance/medicare/medicaid fraud to charge the system 2)all tests/procedures/meds no matter how benign seeming have some side effect. with every decision we make, we have to way out the risks versus the benefits. our credo is to "first, do no harm" which you would be harming if you did something not needed and the patient suffered the consequences.

Doing ok on my side. Can''t wait for my appt/ultrasound (that was delayed

). My belly is REALLY starting to pop and GingerBaby is kicking up a storm, which is fun (esp during project runway -- do i have a future fashion guru baking?!). Super busy weekend workwise, but pulling through. Hubbs has been super extra protective since i got knocked up

which i think is adorable. I''ve been going to bed early because of my work schedule and fatigue, and he actually got pissed when one of our friends joked about waking me up so that they could check out my new belly. Which is soooo out of character because he is the most laid back person I know. I''m the crazy obsessive one! Love my GingerGuy

 

[KimberlyH]

Mara, I was the one who mentioned medical necessity re: ultrasounds, Ginger explained it better than I could. It''s fun to see the baby, but if things are progressing normally there''s no reason for it (in my mind I compare it to all the stuff we think babies "need" now that our parents lived without. Ultrasounds were nonexistant and we''re all still here). My OB tends towards the conservative side when ordering ultrasounds (I get three: early dating, 12 wk nuchal screen, anatomy screen betweek 18-20 wks) and if I want more it will be up to me to pay for it out of pocket. It''s seems to be her philosophy on the practice of medicine in general.

My guts are squishing upwards, they have been for a while but it feels much more pronounced in the past few days. Strange (and it hurts a bit too).

I''ve done absolutely no shopping and don''t plan to for a while. I''m not ready to start accumulating baby stuff.

I have my 16 wk appt. on Tuesday. It seems like 12 wks was not so long ago. The first trimester dragged (in part due to all of the fear of a second miscarriage) but now time is moving. I want it to slow down. I''m really enjoying the process, it''s so amazing what our bodies are capable of.

 

[taovandel]

Ginger: Funny about Project Runway! My sister finally felt Evan move when we were watching the show a few weeks back!

 

[steph72276]

Mara~
We ended up with this one: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4433099. I originally didn''t give it a second look because the stock photo is not good at all, but I went to the reviews and several people posted pics up and it looked pretty cute. I had all white furniture from before when my son was born thinking it would work for either sex (this was before the espresso color was popular in girl''s rooms). So I had all the furniture except the crib, so it had to be white. If I had it to do again, I would buy espresso because it will be more appropriate for a boy''s room long term. We will just make this one a guest bed and buy our son a new set when he is ready for a big boy bed like we did with our other son.

 

[Mandarine]

Hi Ladies!!!

Happy Monday

Steph, you look great!!

Kimberly, I was joking about DH thinking anything about my snoring or drooling!. We don''t even sleep in the same room anymore (my decision because I sleep terrible) so I doubt he even knows...lol. On size, I think it''s more of "I can''t believe my body was capable of doing this" more than anything else. Before I got a bump, I could hardly imagine what it felt like to have one!. Now I can''t remember what it feels like to NOT have one.

Ginger, sorry the scan got delayed!!

Phoenix, sorry about the insomnia!!. Sounds like you had a great date with DH!. I decided to not have any alcohol during pregnancy, but I admit the way you mentioned that glass of wine almost made me want one tiny little glass!. I''ve made it this far though, so I can hold on a few more weeks

SoCal, hoping the LO decides to come soon!!!

***

As for me...well, I''m HAPPY!!!. Had my last appointment with the peri (specialist) today!. She said I was "meant to have two babies"

. She was super happy with my weight!! She wanted me to gain 40-50 lbs and I''m up 43 lbs...so she''s thrilled. The babies passed their NST today! (WOOOHOO!!) and she said they looked great!. No contractions or anything else (other than being pretty tired and feeling as heavy as a bear!). My belly is measuring 38 weeks now, which is less than 4 weeks ahead, so not too bad!.

So no more appointments with her. I asked her opinion on scheduling the c-section for week 38 and she said that was optimal and perfect for twins. After that the risk of still birth, hemorrhage, placenta abruption, etc really increases. I wanted to check with her, since she''s the specialist...so now I''m even more convinced that 38 weeks is really the best thing for the babies and for me!. Baby A is not turning and probably won''t turn and I''ve come to terms with the idea of having a c-section. At the end of the day I just want healthy boys, no matter how they get here!

Let the countdown begin...3.5 weeks left!!!!. I am so excited!. Can''t wait to meet my little ones

 

[Mara]

steph..thanks for the info on the crib. it's funny but i went in to see cribs this wkd and i realized i don't love the modern ones as much as i thought i might. a lot of them are really big and while they are nice looking, i don't know... i found myself drawn more to the traditional ones. but they are all so darn big. anyway i also decided i really don't want to pay a lot for basically same quality of some of the lower priced cribs. so, now i am looking at the baby mod cadence (which is the same as the da vinci kalani). i saw the million dollar baby emily in person yest and it's nice as well, but basically almost the same, just a bit diff on styling and more exp. i saw the modo in person too and it was one i was considering but i didnt love the color on it all that much. i also saw the baby mod roxanne and same on the color.

ginger and kimmy, thanks for the additional info re: doctors.
ginger my belly popped too a lot in the last 2 weeks...eeek!!! it's pretty round too. i am DEF preggo now. but i like it... now there's no mistaking it now.

i am starting to swell a little... but i think part of it is the heat, we had a 95 degree weekend, i am so ready for fall, BLAH. i hope it comes soon. this indian summer thing while preggo is not quite as fun. i am feeling him kick more down in my bladder area, he loves the left side and seems to JUST hang out there. but it still is pretty intermittment, though he is starting to have a pattern... i feel him in the morning more than at night.

kimmy, funny you say you want time to slow down... i actually can't wait for it to be time for him to come out. such a new adventure.

my girlfriend who was induced had her baby this wkd and he is adorable. 8 lbs and she sounded like she didn't have a tough time at all. yay

mandarine, you sound so happy, i am jazzed for you!!! the countdown begins! i bet the boys are happy in there. i am starting to wonder if ours will want to come out also... he seems to be wayyy happy in there hahaa. but we'll see as he gets bigger and there is less room.

we moved our guest bed out of the room this wkd and cleaned it up a bit. it looks naked...but i am excited. my mom is also knitting and quilting up a storm, she is in heaven. i've chosen yarns and the like and she is on her third or fourth blanket. i asked her if she could make a blanket for my girlfriend due 2 months before me and she was like 'well ok but it takes time away from your stuff' and i was like mom seriously he doesn't need like 10 blankets and a new wardrobe of sweaters and pants at birth! love it. she is excited.

oh and a bit of info.. i was talking to one of my mom friends, she was saying her Dr thinks environmental factors are a big reason we have seen an increase in asthmatic and autistic children lately. something about the flame retardent materials in their clothes and the mattresses. i was just talking about that with a friend because in the bay area we see a slightly increased risk of autism and i personally think it's something environmental. anyway she was saying he only recommends organic non-toxic mattresses. and my mom is all over my to not get any clothing from China but it seems like all the main manuf's make them there..even Baby Gap. so...how do you really totally avoid that??

random bit of info because i just love the veggie this week but we have a SUMMER SQUASH as of yesterday. hahaa.

 

[Mandarine]

Mara,

The peri said that she thinks if we let them, they may stay in there until week 50! hehehe.

Oh the swelling....I have about two pairs of shoes (flip flops really) that fit me now. Pregnancy+summer is just a brutal combination!. I keep telling DH that if he's serious about moving to Montana (he loves it there!) then THIS is the time to convince me!. I just can't take the FL heat...I feel like this summer has been brutal, but that's probably because my core body temp is already higher...and well, I carry much more weight around these days that everything seems just a tad bit harder!.

ETA: Baby A also loves the bladder kicks and he's also hanging out way low on the left side. I'm not sure if with one it gets better...but in my case it's gotten worse as they get bigger. He likes the bladder/cervix kick combination best. I swear sometimes I think a foot is going to come right out of me!. Hopefully though, your nugget will move up as he has more space!. If not, then it's never fun and sometimes it hurts...but you do get used to it. I think I will actually miss even those kicks!

 

[anchor31]

so cal - Sending you tons of labour dust!

steph - Sorry about all the confusion about your cervix! I hope they figure it all out soon so you can stop thinking about it.

Mandy - You sound so happy with everything! I really hope everything continues to go well for the next few weeks.

Re: Frequency of u/s scans... In my area, the standard is one u/s at 20 weeks, two if you have the first trimester screening. They will do more scans if they suspect trouble, but otherwise that's it. You can pay for more scans at a private clinic.

26w5d here. I hope everyone had a better weekend than mine. Between DH working overtime all weekend, an unpleasant (as per usual) dinner at the in-laws, the rain (and it's still raining) and my auntie passing away

, mine's been especially crappy. I took the slow time to do my registry. After my unpleasant wedding registry experience, I was glad to find a place for the baby registry that has complete online access and I just took a few hours and did everything online.

 

[indypitty]

Mara ~

I just wanted to let you know that we have the Baby Mod Cadence in ebony and we LOVE it! It was only $219, was easy to put together, and is very sturdy! It looks and feels like a much more expensive crib. Plus, it includes the toddler guard rail. I posted a pic of it in the nursery thread a few days ago if you want to take a look!

 

[jcrow]

just popping in to say that we''re also expecting! i made 9 weeks this past saturday. i''ve been secretly reading this thread since i found out and have been working up the courage to post the news.

 

[steph72276]

Mara, the baby mod cadence was the one I was telling you about that was my first choice but it was out of stock when I wanted to order it. I love the look of it! I would just say order it while it is in stock or you might have to wait several weeks for it.

 

[fieryred33143]

Date: 9/28/2009 2:58:13 PM
Author: jcrow
just popping in to say that we''re also expecting! i made 9 weeks this past saturday. i''ve been secretly reading this thread since i found out and have been working up the courage to post the news.

Congratulations

 

[snlee]

Congratulations jcrow! So happy for you!

 

[steph72276]

JCrow, Congrats! How exciting!!

 

[Mandarine]

COngrats JCrow!!!!!!!

Welcome!! happy & healthy 9 months to you

 

[Kaleigh]

YAY JCrow!!!! How exciting!! Congrats!!!

Hoping you have a smooth pregnancy!!!

 

[qtiekiki]

Congratulations jcrow! Wishing you a happy healthy pregnancy.

 

[anchor31]

Congrats JCrow! I hope you''re feeling well. Best wishes to you!

 

[Burk]

Congrats JCrow!

 

[Mara]

congrats Jcrow!!! how exciting.

indy...thanks for the tip, i checked out the nursery thread, very nice. what dresser did you guys end up getting?

i just talked to one of my coworkers who has the stokke for a small room, she loves it and totally recommends it. they have a small house like ours. i don''t love the price tag!! jeez!

mand...this guy just seems to LOVE the left side. he is always there. it makes the ligament pain worse on the left sometimes, my poor uterus is prob all unbalanced now. i am hoping he will move up too...there''s room up there NOW...but guess we''ll see. some mom''s tell me well at least he''s not kicking under your ribs...YET.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 9/28/2009 2:58:13 PM
Author: jcrow
just popping in to say that we''re also expecting! i made 9 weeks this past saturday. i''ve been secretly reading this thread since i found out and have been working up the courage to post the news.

wooohooo Many congrats to you and Mr. Jcrow