"Just Barely" Pregnant PS''ers

[Miscka]

Re:

Hey HOU, just read your pertussis reply, and I have a quick q. If I got my tetanus booster awhile back (like 1.5 years) bc of a nasty cut, did I likely get the one with pertussis as well? If not, can I request it at the hospital ASAP? I assume its a nono while pg?

 

[Loves Vintage]

Re:

Bliss, Yay for eggs! Today, I had some scrambled eggs, veggie sausages and cheese on a slice of whole wheat. Yum! I'm the one who actually brought up the BPA issue. Haha. Like everything else, it's a personal choice what to do about it. I asked the patient educator about it at my office, and she said "everything in moderation." I had completely cut canned goods (I used to eat a LOT of canned beans and some canned veggie chili, coconut milk, tomatoes, pizza) and water cooler water. I stopped completely, until about 2 weeks ago, I indulged in a thai curry at my favorite restaurant. Oh, it was heavenly, and I didn't feel guilty about it. Everyone has their own sense of what is reasonable. I realize I may sound a bit nutty, but kind of better safe than sorry on this issue for myself, you know? I'm not judging others or trying to influence others' decisions. I am really on the crazy side when it comes to food anyway. I have many preferences. It drives my DH a little crazy since he cooks more often and has to remember all of my idiosyncrasies, and it makes me the topic of many jokes at work lunches. Such is life!

Miscka, Here's a quick summary of the BPA issue: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-05-19-cans19_ST_N.htm. There's a plastic coating that contains BPA on the interior of cans. The BPA can leach out into the food. If you google it, you'll find more detailed information. Like I said above, I have a lot of food preferences so it was easy for me to just cut out another food source.

Thanks so much for posting your protein ideas. I am doing a lot of the things you mentioned. Love morningstar farms, especially veggie crumbles for tacos and the sausage links. I know the greek yogurt is such a good protein source. I am going to try it again, but have had texture issues in the past (see above references to food nuttiness). Hmmm, I bet I could use it in a shake and that would work for me. Yay for natural peanut butter. Mmm. Mmm. I've never seen or tried the special k water. I'll def look into it!

Re: Morning Sickness. Hopefully, you won't have to experience it! I was so lucky in that regard, and I really do thank my lucky stars because I see how some of my friends here have suffered. What you will likely feel soon is TIRED, if it hasn't happened yet. I used to fall asleep at 8 pm and could sleep straight through til 6 or 7 the next morning, and then be exhausted at work. It was crazy. I'm 14 weeks now and am feeling much more energy, though not pre-pregnancy energy.

ETA: Oh, and thank you, thank you, thank you again for bringing up the protein issue. I am definitely going to talk to one of the doctors at my next appointment about what they say is an appropriate amount and then I am going to question why the patient "educator" gives out this sheet of paper saying that 2 proteins and 2 dairies are adequate. I mean that could be as low as 20 grams per day depending on your selections. Seriously, I have nothing else to talk about during my appointments, so this will give me a topic to bring up.

 

[Bliss]

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Loves Vintage!!! That lunch you made sounds DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YUM, indeed! Oh, you were the helpful one who brought up the BPA in cans. Thanks for doing so. I know some moms think we are nutty/paranoid for thinking about these things, but like you, I do not drink from BPA watercoolers either and try to cut down on my exposure to toxins/pesticides when I can. Here and there, I'll cut myself a break though. Some mamas I know IRL are eating only organic during pregnancy and I thought that was a pretty cool thing to do for the bebe. Too tough for me to eat 100% organic, though I always try to buy organic when it's available. I love Whole Foods!!! Wish I lived next door to one.

Since we're talking food, I'm ordering veggie dumplings from an organic place called Good Health Cafe and a smoothie! I had pizza for lunch and it was diviiiiiiiiine. I need to reference Miscka's awesome list of protein sources to add more to my diet. I can't wait for my appetite to surge again - I hear that some women turn into eating machines in the second tri and I'm waiting for that to happen! Everything I eat these days goes down with a hint of nausea. I can't wait for that to be 100% over!!!

 

[HOUMedGal]

Re:

Blissie, you're welcome, love! Pertussis is nothing to be taken lightly. I don't want anyone to think that tons of babies catch it, because that's not true, but when they do catch it, it can be really bad.

Miscka, the Tdap vaccine licensed for use in adults came out in 2005, so you may have gotten the right one, but there's no way to be certain unless you can get the records somehow. The recs from the ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) state the following: "Whenever possible, women should receive Tdap before becoming pregnant, but women who have not previously received Tdap should receive a dose of Tdap in the immediate postpartum period." So you shouldn't get it now, but asap as soon as the bebe is here!! But your DH can go ahead and get it now, if you guys want.

Bleh. I'm ready to be done with the queasy tummy too, Bliss. You're right, everything still goes down with a hint of nausea.

My NT scan is tomorrowwwww!!! Sooooooo excited!!

 

[Bliss]

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HOU!!! GOOD LUCK AND HAVE FUN AT YOUR NT SCAN!!!! Oh, you are going to have so much fun. I want to see! Ahhhh, it is heaven and I could have watched the screen with the bebe forever. So fascinating. Bring a water bottle! Of course you know that, but don't forget! It is fun being in the waiting room with all the different preggies at different stages in their pregnancies. I was surprised that every single one brought their DH. I would have felt sad if I had been the only one there alone, I think. Do they all just skip out of work? Hahahaha. That is a long block of time for the DHs to be there, too. I brought mine but he took the day off. He's been there for every appointment but I think he might have to miss his first one next week at our 15 week check up. Do you really have to wait for 20 weeks to know the sex? We're dying to know!!!

I know, everything still goes down with a hint of nausea.
Here is a cartoon re-enactment of how pregnant women force down food.

Stage 1: Pregnant women in midst of terrible fatigue...snoring.

Stage 2: Pregnant woman wakes up, feels first inklings of nausea. Begins to panic. Must. Find. Food.

Stage 3: Pregnant woman realizes, that no food on Planet Earth sounds appealing. Will have to make a choice.

Stage 4: Pregnant woman opens online menus, gagging at the thought of food... reluctantly chooses Items A, B, C and D in the hopes that one of them will be innocuous enough to force down.

Stage 5: Food arrives. The smell makes her want to run far far away.

Stage 6: Pregnant woman opens the food. All the food. One dish looks the least evil. She takes a bite.

Stage 7: Chewing...trying to think about anything but the taste/smell/sensation of eating. Flintstones...meeeeet the Flintstones...theyyyy're a modern stone age faaaamiiiiiiilllllyyyyyyyy.... lalalalalalaaLALALALALAA....chew chew chew

Stage 8: Success! Pregnant woman has finished the dish! Green, but TRIUMPHANT...she savors her victory.

: Stage 9: Keepitdownkeepitdownkeepitdownkeepitdown....praying....burp burp burp...dangit... burrrp....keepitdownpleaseGod...ohmygod...LALALALALAALALA

: Stage 10: Cockiness. That wasn't so bad! Now begin at Stage 1 again in about 2 hours.

LOLOLOL!!!! Oh and is anyone else experiencing the CF tsunami????? I hear this is common in the 13th week but I didn't know it would be quite so...copious. Ahhhh, the miracle of life. It is really quite humorous if you think about it!!!! So very humbling!

Oh and the pregnancy pillow is THE BEST THING EVER! I have never slept so well in my life. I kind of wish I had it before the pregnancy. I have the Dreamgenii. DH says it has the best reviews... He got mine from Amazon but you can also get it here:

www.dreamgeniiusa.com

It is nice and firm, compact and fits the body like a dream. The pillow is almost like an ergonomically designed "noodle" that fits between the legs to support the belly...and the back rest keeps you supported and helps the pillow stay put. Mine didn't budge all night and I was moving around a lot! It also breathes, is NOT hot... I love how the surface area is kept to a minimum so you're not surrounded by fabric/pillow all night. It just cradles you in the right places. This is also good for petite mamas because the other ones had complaints of being too unweildy or cumbersome. This is very compact for its purpose...I'm not even sure how it does the job, but it's really really nice to your body and made me smile all night. I kind of want to keep it forever and use it even after the baby's born! Two thumbs up!!! OK, with the baby's...Four thumbs up!

Hope everyone is doing well!

 

[Keepingthefaith21]

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HOU and Lanie - it is indeed subchorionic and I am happy to hear some positive stories from you. A friend at work told me she had a friend who bled through almost all of her pregnancy and had a healthy baby. So, it can be done! It's amazing to me how many people come out of the woodwork to share these stories of worry and woe with happy endings but only when someone else shares their worry; otherwise it seems we keep these scares to ourselves.

Bliss - I told DH I want the DreamGenii! I'm a stomach sleeper so I know I am going to have a hard time sleeping in the future - right now I am building little pillow walls around myself in an attempt to keep myself off my stomach. No doctor has told me I can not sleep on my tummy but I guess I'm a little paranoid at this point.

Miscka - WELCOME! So happy to see you over here!!!

______________________
Thanks for the well wishes ladies! I had my intake appointment last week and was told I'd get a call if my levels didn't look good - I haven't heard a peep from my OB's office so I take that to mean no news is good news. I have another follow-up scheduled tomorrow - thank goodness I have good health insurance!

We are meeting up with DH's parents this weekend to tell them. I haven't yet thought of a creative way to break the news. This is going to be their 4th grandchild so I don't expect the fanfare I recieved when I told my parents but I'd still like to find a cute way to break the news. Once his parents know, I am going to let the world know. I know I will be 2 weeks shy of the second trimester but at this point a loss isn't going to be any easier to sustain by keeping the news secret. Plus, as the end of the summer parties continue, it is becoming harder and harder to keep friends believing I really am the designated driver every single time DH and I go out together.

I hope everyone else has a great week ahead of them!!!

 

[noelwr]

Re:

Bliss - the CF will continue off and on for the rest of your pregnancy, I believe. one day you'll see hardly anything and the next day it will be like SURPRISE! just not a pleasant one.

KTFu - I think your parents-in-law will be thrilled. ours is DH's parents' 7th grandchild but they are still overjoyed and want to be kept up to date all the time. since you've seen the u/s with a hb, it should be ok to tell everyone now.

 

[CatLuver]

Re:

Hello lovely ladies! Glad to see everyone in here. For some reason, I stopped getting notices of replies to this thread so I thought there weren't any new messages for awhile, but lo and behold! I want to catch up w everyone in more detail later, but first have a Q for the "barely" "grads":

How long does it take to get your NT results back? My scan isn't for 3 more weeks (at 12wks exactly) but I'm thinking about timing with telling work v. starting to show (not yet, but who knows in 3 weeks!) My next appt after that isn't for 3 more weeks after that, so I hope I don't have to wait that long. I think amnio results take 2 weeks which would be torture...so hopefully the NT results are faster!
Thanks ladies!

My next appt is in one week and I can't wait to make sure everything is ok because it's been 3 wks since the first appt.

Bliss - that's a toughie with the smoking thing. I think you're perfectly justified in being concerned about it. I hope you find a way to be comfortable with whatever you decide to do. I avoid canned foods too. Wish I could eat 100% organic, but that won't happen. Also I will be making sure all the grandparents have their pertussis shots!

Miscka, congrats! I had bloating pretty much as soon as I got the bfp at 4 wks, it happens fast. Good luck in waiting for your next appointment, it is hard!

Ktf, hope all is well! What a surprise to find out you're further along than you thought, though.

Huskylover, congrats on the hb! You're so lucky you get another scan so soon!

 

[HOUMedGal]

Re:

CatLuver - I'm not sure how long it takes to get your NT results back....I just had mine today, and I think they said 7-10 days?? It was definitely 7-10 days for the gender test we had today, but I'm not entirely sure if that applied to the rest of the results as well.

KTF - yup, I know of many ladies with early SCH's that have perfect pregnancies. I will pray that yours goes exactly like that!!

Bliss - OMG, I *heart* your preggo lady eating reenactment. SOOOOO TRUE!!!! That's literally exactly how it goes!!! hahahaha! Soooooo funny!!!

----------------

NT scan was today.....Ahhhhhhhhhh so much fun!!!! Full post (with PICS!) on the preggo thread!!

 

[Deelight]

Re:

Hello ladies this is my first post here as a newly preggo I am so looking forward to chatting with you ladies in the coming months

I have been lurking on here a bit because DH didn't want me to post on PS until we came back from our first scan yesterday but now that it has been done I am free to tell the world, I announced it at work today - seems like we have an abundance of preggos there atm.

So as I said I had my first scan yesterday - the technician told me that the baby is around 6wks 3 days fetal age which makes me about 8wks pregnant not sure how this makes sense but apparently it does (due date 11th of March 2011) however when DH and I have counted back 6wks and 3 days and it does not make sense from when we did the deed to when apparently the baby was conceived (it is almost a week out from both possibilities) I will talk to my doctor on Saturday. The babies heart beat is apparently normal as well and measures about 132 or 135 beats per minute, To tell you the truth I was fairly disappointed by the pics as they are so small but it was amazing seeing our little babies heart beat for the first time . If I can find a way to scan them I will .

The scan pics don't look like too much (as I mentioned) and I am convinced that the baby looks like a gecko -it currently measures around the size of 1carat diamond so it is my little one carater LOL.


Bliss your post about the food was so me this morning I read it last night and was thinking about it today as I was eating my breakfast - first bus trip into work after a long hols and the smells then food afterward is not a good combo - will not try that again. I so want the dreamgenii as well I showed it to my friend and I think she is getting one they look so comfy thanks for posting it

KTF I hope you don't get the call

I feel like there is so much to know and so much that freaks me out at the moment - I looked at hospitals and obstetricians a few days ago freaked out told DH I would much prefer to grow bubs in a test tube and have not looked again since I guess I have 7mths to get used to it - GAHH

At least I will be in good company in the meantime .

 

[Loves Vintage]

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CatLuver, For your NT Scan, do you know whether you will have your blood drawn at the NT scan appointment or a week or so in advance? For my scan, I had my blood drawn in advance. Your doctor's office would tell you exactly when you can go. The results of the blood work were already there when I had my scan, so I was able to get results same day (except, actually, I had to go back a week later than initially scheduled for the scan because the US Tech could not get a good angle on baby, due to my tipped uterus, so a week later, baby was better positioned and I had results same day.) Some places will do the ultrasound and blood draw same day. I think it takes about a week for blood work to come back, so you should expect to talk to your doctor over the phone about your results about a week after the scan and blood work. With that said, the US tech should be able to tell you that everything looks good, in terms of the NT measurements, during the US itself (though it is possible and I think I've read before that some US techs will not say anything at all and leave it all up to your regular doctor.) So, that is a very long way of saying -- it depends. Definitely ask your dr at your next visit so you know what to expect.

Deelight, Welcome and Congratulations!!!

 

[noelwr]

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regarding NT scan results...

same what LV said. my blood sample reached the lab already a couple of week before, so I got the results the following day. if there wasn't a higher risk, I'd get the news by e-mail, and if there was, the midwife would call me. so there I was checking my hotmail every 5 minutes hoping something would come in before I'd get a call. by lunch time I got the good news e-mail.

 

[Laila619]

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Deelight, congrats! Just wanted to clarify for you: if your due date is 11 March, you are 6 weeks 4 days pregnant, not 8 weeks. Conception would have occurred around June 18th/19th or so.

 

[Loves Vintage]

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Miscka, Following our veggie conversation, I was wondering what kind of prenatal vitamin your dr prescribed. I just noticed today that the Omega-3 in my prenatals is derived from flaxseed, not fish oil. This is apparently because I questioned the sample pack of prenatals I was given - which had a bovine source for iron. I am perfectly willing to take fish oil during this limited time, and I'm quite surprised that I haven't been!!! I just noticed the flaxseed in the insert on my 1st refill today. Maybe the Omega 3s from flaxseed oil are the same as the Omega 3s from fish oil?? I have no idea, but put a call into the office about it this morning.

 

[huskylover]

8wks1d

First, Congrats!!! to Miscka and Deelight!

I am now on day 10 straight of working - but at least I get to work from home today. Our dogs are nuts - so it isn't making things any better. I have a question for you ladies, what do you do about the exhaustion!?!? I can literally come home from work around 6:30 - force some food down around 7, and go to bed at 8pm then sleep straight through until my alarm goes off at 7:30 the next morning. I feel like sleeping all of that time is making me more tired, but I just can't stay awake. Unfortunately I can't take any naps in the middle of the day since I am at the office most of the time. Any suggestions? Are you just sleeping your life away?

I'm pretty sure I'm going to be telling my boss tomorrow! Eeek - I know it is early, but my boss works remotely and will be in town at the end of this week and I'd rather share the news in person than over the phone. Especially since I don't know the next time he will be back and I could very well be showing by then.

 

[Keepingthefaith21]

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HL - I just try and keep myself stimulated. I found that at work I wouldn't notice I was tired until I sat down at my computer and go into sluggish mode. When I drive home I will usually call a friend up and chat to keep myself from feeling too worn out. At home I avoid watching television and play with my animals, play a game with DH or read. Oh, I also snack a bit. I find that snacking helps to give me a little energy boost. Typically I will nap on the weekends when I can.

Deelight - Welcome!

____________________________
Quick update: saw my OB yesterday. She did an internal and said it looks as though the bleeding has stopped. At my NT scan 8/3 they will take extra special care to look at the site of the bleed and assess where it is. She changed my EDD to 02/16/2011. My levels all came back great and things do seem on track. Only two more weeks until I get a little peek inside again - woohoo!

 

[HOUMedGal]

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KTF - woohooooo for a good exam!! So glad the bleeding has stopped!! And glad to hear everything's looking right on track!!

HuskyLover - yup, I've been sleeping my days away. It was pretty bad early on (6-8 weeks) then I felt a bit better during weeks 9 and 10, then it hit me like a ton of bricks during weeks 11 and 12. I would sleep 9 or 10 hrs at night, and still get soooooo sleepy in the afternoons, and end up taking naps whenever I could. Don't worry, it's normal. But I can't promise that it will get better any time soon.

LV, lots of prenatal DHA supplements use non-fish sources for their omegas. I take the CVS brand knockoff of Expecta, and it's a non-fish DHA. They essentially result in the same effects for you and bebe! And no fishy burps!

Deelight - congrats again, and welcome to the thread!! Best wishes for a smooth, healthy pregnancy!!

 

[Loves Vintage]

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HMG, Thanks so much! I really value your opinion. I feel much better now. I actually did speak with the office. The patient representative was upset to learn about the flaxseed oil, which I guess is not the DHA source at all. Seaweed is apparently. Oh, and I am not getting this prenatal because I'm a veggie -- they actually prescribe it to almost everyone because it's generic. Oh, so back to the flaxseed. Apparently, it is unknown how much is safe and may cause problems (I think she mentioned possibly contributing toward preterm labor.) I'm sticking with the March of Dimes site lately, and this is somewhat relevant, but not specific at all. http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/159_55030.asp "Flaxseed is a source of omega-3 fatty acids. But some medical experts recommend that women avoid flaxseed and flaxseed oils during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. Some animal studies have shown that flaxseed can be harmful during pregnancy. Little research has been done in humans. But because we know so little, it's wise to avoid flaxseed if you are pregnant or breastfeeding." So, she was concerned not that the flaxseed is the omega source, but that it is present at all. The amount in the pills is probably fine, but she was concerned that women may otherwise be consuming additional flaxseed in their diets. After all of this, I think I will probably just stick with the same prenatal and then not consume other flaxseed.

HuskyLover, I'm not sure what the right answer is, but for me personally, if I fell asleep at 8 pm and slept through the night, I was pretty happy about that. I figured that my body needed the rest, and so I didn't resist it. I was also eating ravenously during that time. Now, I am still quite tired, but am generally falling asleep around 10:30 and getting up at least once per night. It sounds like you are working long days! I would take the extra rest when you can. Things should even out in the second trimester.

 

[HOUMedGal]

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LV - awww, thanks love! That's interesting, I didn't know that about flaxseed and pregnancy! Thanks for sharing that info! I looked it up and apparently the DHA supplement I take is algae-sourced DHA as well, "as used in infant formulas" per the info page. I think the reason a lot of prenatal supplements use the algae-based DHA is concern for mercury in fish. I'm not sure how big a deal that really is, but I think that's at least why algae is used instead.

PSA: for anyone else who likes the CVS DHA supplement (or is looking for one), I just bought some yesterday on mega sale....it comes in a 30 dose pack (30 days worth) for $10.99, and in my store, they were having a buy one get one free special on all of their CVS brand vitamin/supplement products!! So I snatched up 4 boxes of those suckers!! hehe!

 

[Laila619]

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LV, I take Expecta. It's a non-fish source of DHA. It's plant based. I didn't know that about Flax. Yikes! I've been eating these Quaker chocolate chip granola bars that have Flax in them.

 

[Loves Vintage]

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HMG, That makes sense about the veggie source of DHA, even though there may be nothing wrong with the fish sources. I can see why people would conclude that the non-fish source is preferable. And, nice deal on the prenatals! I wonder if I should just take those. I really put this woman at my doctor's office into a big worry today. She kept suggesting different types of vitamins for me and wanted me to check different brand names with my insurance. She was really worried about the flaxseed oil because it sounds like this particular company did not include it in their vitamins previously. I could see how this would be a huge concern for the ob/gyn's office . . . if there is truly a risk with the flaxseed oil.

Laila, Expecta is not one of the brands she mentioned, but I have heard of it before. Maybe I should mention it to her? Please don't worry about the flaxseeds! It sounds like a minimal amount, and I think it's only a concern with the oil (which is much more concentrated than the seeds.) http://esciencenews.com/articles/20...g.flaxseed.oil.have.high.risk.premature.birth I found this link, which references the actual study that I assume is the one mentioned by my doctor's office. It says that there were no concerns with the seeds themselves. I don't think there have been many (any other?) studies on the topic, which is why I think my dr's office had a concern.

 

[Miscka]

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Wow, I never really investigated this before! I take the One-a-day prenatal that is a vitamin pill and a DHA pill. Hmmm. Very interesting, LV!!


Not much going on here except for major swings of panic I know its normal to be worried but I want this baby so badly I am really nervous for my u/s (2 weeks from today). Time is crawling.

 

[Loves Vintage]

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Miscka, Yeah, I didn't intend on the vitamins being such a big issue, which is probably why I didn't even look at the label on the first prescription. Previously, I had been taking the CVS brand prenatals (no DHA) and may just go back to those, but with DHA.

How many weeks are you now? I don't really have any good advice for you about the worry. As time passes, the worry does subside a great deal. Trust that your body knows what to do and will do it.

 

[Keepingthefaith21]

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Miscka - I know how the worry goes! However, what has helped to calm me a bit is the knowledge that if something is happening or going wrong your body will let you know. My philosophy with my pregnancy has slowly become "no news is good news". If I don't feel like something bad is happening and I don't see any indication that something is going wrong, I take that to mean all is well. For now just try to relax a bit and know that if anything negative were happening there is a very high probability that your body will let you know loud and clear.

 

[Miscka]

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5 weeks tomorrow. I went to dinner tonight with some GFs...2 with babies < 5 mo, the other two 24 and 28 weeks pg. It was so hard to keep the secret! I just want to get to the u/s and get a glowing report. Trying to think positive! I hate the cramping, it makes me nervous. Thanks for the advice, and KTF I will totally try to take that mindset!

 

[Laila619]

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Miscka, cramping is generally harmless as long as there's no bleeding accompanying it. I cramped a lot in the first tri.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

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Just checking in to see how you new mommies to be are doing. Welcome to the newbies!!!

RE: flaxseed. It's ok in dietary amounts, like what you'd get in a granola bar or piece of bread so don't let that sway you from getting lots of good whole grains. One problem is that flax contains a compound that mimics estrogen (similar to soy and even natural licorice). Too much flax can wreak havoc on your system not pregnant (as in it can make men lactate in high enough doses!), so I can only imagine what it could do to us with our already elevated levels of hormones.

I'm happy to hear you're all doing well, can't wait to have you all over in the Preggo thread full-time!

 

[Mara]

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welcome newly preggo ladies!! it's a wild ride.

one note re: phobias. once you become pregnant, it's easy to focus on things related to the baby, especially negative things. trust me it does not go away when you have the baby! but you will learn that there are some things you can do and some you can't.

i hate smoke but we went to spain during my pregnancy and guess what, a ton of people smoke. i could have been paranoid about it but i thought, well seriously i can't stop living my life...i just have to go on faith that the kid will be fine. i didn't KNOW about the BPA issue at all (my OB never mentioned it and it was never on a list of anything i needed to worry about) so i had canned foods, drank water cooler water at home AND at the office the entire preg AND that is what we drink here at home now and what the baby has gotten since we started using formula.

i also didn't even bother looking at nutritional guidelines for preggos and just ate what i wanted as long as it tasted good which was mostly CARBS not protein. somehow baby and me turned out ok.

nowadays everything has some type of inherent risk carried with it and the amt of over-information out there is crazy. some changes you can effect but others i wouldn't stress too much over, just enjoy yourselves. god only knows what was in our food or water or whatever when we were little but we're all still here. it doesn't mean disregard every bit of information out there, but there is SO SO much information you kind of have to pick and choose re: what makes sense for you.

that said i know again as you are preggo it's easy to focus on what is going on in your body and what you want to do for the baby etc...so i think it's normal. all that said, bliss for your FIL it would bother me if my kid smelled like smoke or was exposed to it long term as that is one thing i am kind of particular about.

 

[cara]

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Plant based DHA pills gave me fishy burps, I finally gave up on them. Too much nausea issues to add fish burps into the mix too. Pretty sure it is the dha itself that causes the fishy burps.

I got my NT results the day of the scan, but i had my bloodwork done in advance. You should be able to get the actual nuchal translucency thickness measurement the day of, but getting your combined odds requires the bloodwork. There is also another round of screening bloodwork in the second tri. But I told work shortly after the NT, seemed like the odds of miscarriage or anything being wrong were sufficiently low then.

Good luck ladies! The nausea will get better (at least for the vast majority of you), the preggo coma will ease off a but as well (though I have also added in some more sleep to the regular schedule). If it's worth anything I am 7 months now and still doing better than the first tri. A little uncomfortable/ponderously big at times, but minor compared to first tri misery! So hang in and come join us on the big preggo thread soon...

 

[Bliss]

Re:

Hello Ladies!

As for the DHA question, I take Expecta and highly recommend it. All the crazy moms here take it because they think it makes their babies smarter. I don't know anything about that, but I really like it because it's high quality and relatively inexpensive. Like Laila said, it's plant based. I remember reading concerns about mercury being in the fish based ones, but I didn't really pay attention to it because I figured they're probably just traces, if any. I just like it because it doesn't give me weird indigestion! I tried all the prescription prenatals and loved some for a while but my favorite now is the regular Prenatal One vitamins I got from a health food store.

Ahhhh, I'm about to jinx myself but I had no nausea today whatsoever. And I felt a burst of energy so I did a bunch of errands and feel pretty terrific. I'm not telling ANYONE irl, though! The last time I did that, I got hit by a second wave of nausea that lasted a couple of weeks. The pregnancy gods do not like for me to declare the end of nausea, apparently; they like to be the ones to call the shots!

FIL is here and he was so wonderful, he changed his own shirt when he came in the door! And there isn't even a baby! Yesterday, we had our 14 week scan and the baby was so cute! The OB tried to guess the sex... he was so funny. He first saw evidence of junk but then changed his mind after he saw 3 parallel lines that indicated labia! I had no idea the labia was big enough at 14 weeks to be seen on a scan! Anyway, we would be thrilled either way. The baby was making DH laugh bc every time the OB tried to focus on the genital area, the baby would spazz and kick away like, "HEY!!!!!! Have some common decency, please!" It was amazing to see each vertebrae and the fine bones in each little hand. So cute and so perfect. He/she was sucking her/his fingers. Oh, I can't wait to know what the sex is so I can stop saying IT!

The NT results were 1:5,500 for Downs and 1:10,000 for Trisomy III. He says the lab calls everything over a certain level 1:10,000 so it's usually higher. It was a big relief. Honestly, I stopped worrying after hitting 12 weeks for some reason and feel very laid back about this baby.

Miscka, BIG HUGS. It will be OK! How many weeks are you now? Cramping is very normal - in fact, it is very good! Your little bebe is busy making room in your uterus for a long stay. The risks drop with each week and quite rapidly, too! Try not to read sad stories online or Google anything that might make you worry. Pretty soon, you will hit your second tri and you will breathe a sigh of relief. Even after hearing the heartbeat around 7-8 weeks, the risks drop significantly. So early on, you can start trusting your body and your baby to be well. Try to focus on the excitement, too!

Hope all you preggies are doing well! I guess I'm going to head over to the Preggo thread but I'll hang around for support and to cheer you all on!!!!!!!