"Just Barely" Pregnant PS''ers

[stephbolt]

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Come to think of it, back home 6 hours after having the baby?!!! I was thinking I could stay in the hospital for a couple of days with round the clock care, people to help me feed, change, put down for a nap, anything really so I don't have to face doing it on my own so soon after the baby is born! What's it like in the US? Back home, you definitely spend a night or two in the hospital with full-time help after a vaginal birth.

I think the standard in the US is 2 days in the hospital for a vaginal birth and 3-4 for a c-section, but I have heard of people getting checked out after only one night with a vag birth. Most of my friends have been more glad to get home, because even though you don't have the nurses any more, you also don't have an uncomfortable hospital bed and constant hospitals staff in and out at all hours and the rest of the hospital noise all around you.

 

[Pandora II]

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Come to think of it, back home 6 hours after having the baby?!!! I was thinking I could stay in the hospital for a couple of days with round the clock care, people to help me feed, change, put down for a nap, anything really so I don't have to face doing it on my own so soon after the baby is born! What's it like in the US? Back home, you definitely spend a night or two in the hospital with full-time help after a vaginal birth.

Pandora, yes, I'd definitely appreciate a list on what to bring with me as well as a list on what to buy for the baby. Basically, any wisdom you're able to impart would be much appreciated!

Bwahahaha... Sorry, but that does not happen I'm afraid. DH put Daisy's first nappy on.

Postnatal there are about 8 women to each midwife or more, so no-one is going to help you do anything other than initiate breastfeeding. Everything else is down to you. Everyone I know just wants to get the hell out asap so they can get some rest and because the midwives that come to the house are so nice and the ones on post-natal are generally bad-tempered, over-worked and complete *******. Occasionally you get a really nice one, but it's not the rule.

Even if you have a c-section it is up to you to do all the changing etc.

I was in ICU and so they helped me a bit - but only because they all wanted to borrow her for a cuddle. I still changed her nappies and that was with one arm hooked up to a drip, the other hooked up to the blood pressure monitor, unable to get out of bed at all and covered in electrodes!

Once I was sent down to postnatal that was it, I was on my own. Because I was in my own room they also kept forgetting to feed me - if DH hadn't brought me in things I'd have had nothing but ham sandwiches all week I reckon!

For a normal delivery you will normally go home within 24 hours, a c-section is 48-72 hours depending on how it goes. If Daisy hadn't been opiate dependent then I would have either gone home when I left ICU or a max of 24 hours later.

ETA: My SIL who's from Chicago, had a baby here in July at the same hospital that I was in. She had the baby at 10.30am and was home by lunchtime the next day.

If the baby was born at midnight, you'd likely go home at 4pm or so the next day (you can push for earlier), if the baby is born at lunchtime then you'd be in till the next morning. I have a friend who had her son at 8am and was home by 5pm the same day and that isn't unusual.

You really don't want to hang around - it's noisy, the beds are not the most comfortable and the longer you are in hospital the higher the chances of picking up some virus or other.

Also, we get such good after-care once you get home that there's no point in staying if you don't have to. Oh, you'll also get assigned a Health Visitor (or Health Witch if you are unlucky) who also comes to see you and who runs the baby clinic.

Mine doesn't care for me because I never bothered going to the clinic. It's only open for a couple of hours a week, it's packed with other mothers and snotty-nosed babies - you fight for space to undress your baby, plonk them on the scales, they fill in The Red Book, ask if you're breast-feeding and that is it. I offered to put Daisy on the kitchen scales and fill the book in myself and got The Look!

Another thing you will probably find odd here is that we don't have paediatricians as a matter of course - you will only see one if your GP refers you for a problem. Everything is done by your GP and the practice nurses (the nurses do all the vaccinations for example). It works very well, but I know a lot of Americans find it a bit odd that you don't see a specialist for things.

 

[Pandora II]

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Geez, I've made it sound awful - and it's really not that bad, it's just very no frills and there aren't enough beds or midwives half the time which doesn't help especially with a baby boom like there is at the moment.

Going private doesn't make much difference either - same labour wards, but you might see the OB while you're pregnant, you do get a private room afterwards... and a massive bill. Personally I'd rather spend the money on a nice holiday instead!

 

[mayerling]

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Okay, I'm seriously scared now I was debating whether to ask my mum to come over to the UK for an extended stay when I have the baby, but I think I'm convinced now.

 

[Pandora II]

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To be honest it's not as difficult as it seems and a lot of women find they don't want anyone else coming near their baby anyway - over my dead body would I have let anyone take Daisy off anywhere.

Postnatal is crap at all hospitals here - and in a lot of other countries too (Italy was dire).

I'd be more inclined to ask your mother to come over after your husband goes back to work so you can spend some time just the 3 of you and so you can have the baby to yourselves. Also, if you're in the hospital I think you are in and you do get stuck there for some reason then she'd only be allowed in for an hour or so twice a day.

Also depends what your mother is like!

My SIL's mother came over for the birth and basically took over to the point that SIL felt totally adrift when mommy buggered off back to the USA after 4 weeks. She said later she'd have been better having her mother come over once she had established her own routines.

 

[PetitiePoire]

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China- I a definitely going to be pushing for trilingual since it will already know French and English. That shouldnt be too difficult and they say after 3 it gets easier?

Steph- yay for hearing the heartbeat. That's soooo exciting! I can't wait for that. It's so nerve wracking not knowing for sure there is something in there.

Afm- is it ok to take kids vitamins instead of prenatal? I've yet to buy any because I've had these. Part of me is nervous to switch because normal one a days make me nauseous. The nausea has already been kicked up a notch today. Bathrooms are the worst. If they do not smell like cleaner I gag at the thought.

Also, I did stock up on tests. I plan to take one a week until I get home to the doctor. It's a bit crazy, but I have almost a month left and I know I'd drive myself crazy.

 

[mayerling]

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To be honest it's not as difficult as it seems and a lot of women find they don't want anyone else coming near their baby anyway - over my dead body would I have let anyone take Daisy off anywhere.

Postnatal is crap at all hospitals here - and in a lot of other countries too (Italy was dire).

I'd be more inclined to ask your mother to come over after your husband goes back to work so you can spend some time just the 3 of you and so you can have the baby to yourselves. Also, if you're in the hospital I think you are in and you do get stuck there for some reason then she'd only be allowed in for an hour or so twice a day.

Also depends what your mother is like!

My SIL's mother came over for the birth and basically took over to the point that SIL felt totally adrift when mommy buggered off back to the USA after 4 weeks. She said later she'd have been better having her mother come over once she had established her own routines.

Yes, this is what I've been concerned with lately. My mum's ok but she is known to meddle and try to take over and the last thing I'll want is to feel that I'm not "doing it right" but at the same time I would feel overwhelmed if on top of trying to take care of a newborn I'd also need to cook, clean, do laundry, etc.

 

[Pandora II]

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Forget cooking, cleaning and laundry - it's just not doable in the early weeks IMO unless you absolutely have to. You need to lower standards or get outside help.

Get take-aways/microwave meals, get a cleaning lady and/or make your husband do all three while he's off-work.

Especially if you are breastfeeding it can be a full-time job - you need to feed every 2-3 hours and some babies can take 40 minutes to feed (and the clock starts at the beginning of the feed). Since this is day and night you'll want to sleep when the baby sleeps.

 

[ChinaCat]

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Pandora- are you scaring the newly preggos? Pandora is right about a lot of that, but you have plenty of time before you have to worry about it. Honestly, at least in my experience, you can't REALLY prepare for the first few days, you just have to kind of be shoved into it and figure it out.

In the US I think you have to say for "two nights" after a normal delivery, longer for C-section. That might vary by state or hospital, but that seems common among my friends. It isn't really like they take care of you. The nurses barge in at all hours of the day and night to take your blood pressure, check your "wounds" so to speak, etc. You get very little sleep. My hospital you can send the baby to the nursery but I didn't. The hospital had a lactation consultant who was WONDERFUL and so helpful. The nurses did swaddle him and change his diapers when they were checking him out and did teach us to swaddle, give him a bath, etc.

I don't think I changed a diaper until my husband went back to work and then I panicked a bit. The thing is, it seems so scary but little babies only eat, sleep, spit up/burp and pee/poop. You try to feed them, burp them, change them, hold them, watch them sleep. It's a lot simpler than it feels. Just remember that EVERYONE is scared at first and EVERYONE manages just fine.

Missy- I think I'm only a few weeks ahead of you. I'm 15 weeks today? It might be little baby flutters you are feeling, I've known some that feel it that early. My nurse asked me yesterday if I was feeling anything yet, so it's possible. Yay for a heartbeat!!! I hold my breath every single time and every single time it's amazing.

Steph- Yay for heartbeat!!!

Petite- Not sure about the vitamins but I'm sure it's fine. Generally they want you to get your nutrients from food and the prenatals are a "back up". If they are making you sick, I wouldn't stress about taking them. Check babycenter or safefetus.org for safety stuff.

AFM- Having massive headaches. Apparently it's normal and they peak during second trimester. Fun! I love my doctor- she told me to have caffeine if it helps. Woo hoo! A little tea in the afternoon works wonders for the headaches.

I tried to go over to the big thread, but I like it here.

 

[Missy0483]

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Good news! My urine and blood test came back normal! So relieved. Blood pressure was 136/80 today so not too high. DH heard the heartbeat, they found it right away and it was 155 bpm!! He says "wow that's so cool" haha. I go back in 4 weeks on Dec 29th. Then next appointment will be @ 20 weeks for an ultrasound.

 

[sugarpie honeybun]

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PPM – I give you so much credit for teaching classes while being so sick. I have no idea how I would function at work if I had to stand and present all day long. My m/s hit at 6 weeks with a vengeance, and, unfortunately, is still going strong at 9 weeks… Hope yours is shorter.

Pandora/Mayerling – It’s so interesting to hear about childbirth/hospital practices in the UK. Wow. It really does sound..er…awful! But it sounds like the after-care at home is much better than here in the US, so I guess it all balances out in the end?

Steph- Congrats on hearing the heartbeat! Can’t believe you’re already 10 and a half weeks along! Time seems to be flying by for some of you.

China – congrats on the great CVS results! That’s great that you are feeling better (minus the headaches – ugh). I can’t help but wonder how little Oliver knew about the baby in the belly, etc. Kids really do the funniest things. Good luck breaking the pregnancy news to your main boss. I’m sure he won’t be too turned off by the fact that you and your husband DTD more than once when you conceived Oliver.

Petite – try not to drive yourself too crazy with all the testing (easier said than done, I know). I was totally convinced I was not pregnant until about 6 weeks when the nausea, exhaustion hit. Before then I took 20-30 tests (yes, I’m a tad crazy too!). In retrospect, I wish I had relaxed a bit and stopped obsessing. Again, much easier said than done!

Missy- congrats on the urine test and DH hearing the heartbeat!

AFM – same old @#%, different day. Threw up again tonight, but did manage to eat a meatball sub at lunch AND a hot dog for dinner . I have also found that snacking on sour jelly belly’s help me while I sit at my desk at work during the day. Still falling asleep every night at around 8:30 PM and waking up at 8:00 AM still feeling exhausted. Luckily, my office is near my house so I can get to work by 9:00 AM, and come home on my lunch break for an hour nap.


Reading these posts about US hospitals compared to UK hospitals had me thinking back to my delivery with DS. I absolutely LOVED our hospital and the care we received, so much so, I did not want to leave! It was like having room service around the clock and the peace of mind knowing we were surrounded by medical professionals who could help teach me the basics before taking DS home. When it was time for us to leave, the nurses basically said “it’s time to go, honey”. I was like...

Now that I’ve been through the newborn phase, I hopefully won’t be so scared to leave the hospital after this delivery!


Hope everyone has a great night!
9w3d

 

[Pandora II]

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Seriously, it's not that bad and Mayerling, I really, really don't want to scare you at all - not my intention. You will be fine I promise!

The antenatal care and the care I had during labour was truly amazing and I couldn't have asked for anything more, and ICU was as nice as ICU could be (probably if I'd asked they would have changed D, but I wanted to do things myself as much as possible) - heck they even gave me nappies and wipes and everything there, and looked after Daisy while I had a shower when I was allowed out of bed. The OBs all came for their coffee there when they weren't busy and since they deliver the babies but never get to actually see one they couldn't keep their mitts off Daisy... it was like 'Whoppee we have a baby to play with'. They are also wonderful in any of the NICU/SCBU units.

But postnatal is always pretty grim, and why aiming for a fast escape is a good idea! I too thought that a nice relaxing week in hospital being fed and not having to worry about anything domestic would be nice.

I talked to my OB friend about it and she said the real problem was that no-one really wanted to work in postnatal as the staffing situation is so bad. With one midwife to 8 women it's just not possible to give a good standard of care. Often the midwives are agency staff and so not that invested in the hospital. The best midwives are working in antenatal and labour wards, those that get landed with postnatal are either trainees (they're generally the lovely ones) or ones who can't get a placement elsewhere. She's had two babies - in the hospital she works at, and still did a runner as soon as she could.

Most women are tired, in pain and generally fed-up after giving birth and if it's a first baby they're also nervous about everything. When you are like that and also feeling pretty vulnerable and emotional even small things can seem huge. I wish I had known before I was there as it had been so great before that it was a huge juxtaposition.

You also get some people that literally ring the bell for every little thing and so the midwives are rushed off their feet the whole time and don't have the chance to deal with important things.

So much depends on who you get looking after you. I saw about 6 different midwives in the week I was on postnatal and of them, one was truly amazing and if I'd only seen her I would have raved about the place. Four of them were so so and one was the b*tch from hell and how I didn't throw something at her I don't know. Unfortunately I got her more often than the others. She made me feel about 10 years old - once I'd escaped I remember thinking, heck I have a much more stressful job than she does, I'm also a politician and deal with what that throws at me and yet this sad excuse for a nurse made me feel like a naughty child. WTF.

I put in a big complaint about her and the hospital actually rang me the week I got home to apologise for some of the things that happened and to tell me that they were reviewing their protocols.

The NHS are trying really hard to make the birth a good, happy and safe experience and have ploughed money into it - postnatal is just the poor relation and needs bringing up to the same standards. I know my hospital had a huge ruckus last year and sent the postnatal lot off on a customer care course and have read the riot act to a lot of the staff so they are taking it seriously. Women are also encouraged to write in with serious complaints (ie not that breakfast wasn't up to the standard of the Hilton) so that they are aware of the issues.

We're never going to get a hotel-like experience here, or private rooms for all, but at the same time we get excellent medical care and don't get landed with a bill at the end of it all, nor do we need medical insurance - and I dread to think what my bill would have been like in the USA. Oh and the Entonox really makes up for a lot... perhaps if they piped that down to postnatal we'd all be happy as larks!

Plus, the care when you get home is fantastic - having someone come to the house to check you are doing okay and to help with any problems you have makes a huge difference from just being let loose with a new baby and left to fend for yourself. Oh and they don't care if the place is a tip and you are still in your pyjamas!

I know one girl here who had a baby at UCLA (?) in Los Angeles and one in London and said that the postnatal wards were equally bad at both, I think one of the PS girls who had twins in 2009 and no longer posts had a crap time in her hospital in NY, so I don't think it's just a UK thing, just more widespread here and we haven't been that great at speaking up and demanding better until quite recently.

 

[MonkeyPie]

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Good news! My urine and blood test came back normal! So relieved. Blood pressure was 136/80 today so not too high. DH heard the heartbeat, they found it right away and it was 155 bpm!! He says "wow that's so cool" haha. I go back in 4 weeks on Dec 29th. Then next appointment will be @ 20 weeks for an ultrasound.

Yay!

Also, very glad I had my kid in the US. No frills = basically being ignored. Also, had they tried to send me home 6 hours after my c-section, I would have punched somebody with my highly-drugged fist.

 

[mayerling]

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Missy, yay for the good test results!

Sugarpie, I'm sorry you're still feeling so bad. I haven't thrown up in a week but I still have the queasiness and gagging. We had friends over for dinner last night and it was difficult not to gag in front of them and give myself away.

Pandora, I definitely can't afford to get a cleaning lady - really can't afford it. I suppose I could just let the house get dirty but I think we will need proper meals and clean laundry - especially if we do end up doing cloth diapers. I don't think DH will be able to help much or stay home as I'll only be getting maternity allowance and we really need him to keep getting his full salary so paternity leave is out of the question. So dear mum is my only option Anyway, I'm going to start another thread as I have some more things to ask you about UK pregnancy and birth and I should probably stop taking over this thread with my worries

I thought I should also give the perspective of what happens at birth in my home country. I think growing up there spoiled me and that's why I'm a bit scared about having the baby here. So back home it's about 2 days in hospital after a vaginal birth. It's pretty good - in my opinion - because for those two nights they don't wake you up for middle-of-the-night feeding (it's probably the only time in a long time when you can get about 5-6 hours straight of sleep). So you do the feeding before midnight and they wake you up about 5-6am for the next one but they'll do a bottle in between - I suppose this'll sound terrible to women who want to breast-feed exclusively, and of course if you want to wake up for a feeding they'll be all for it - but most women back home would enjoy the uninterrupted sleep even if it means the baby gets two doses of formula while in the hospital. They also teach you to breastfeed, change, bathe, but they certainly don't expect you to do every change and every bath. And there's definitely even more attention if you've had a caesarean. I suppose we are spoiled.

 

[Pandora II]

Re: Re:

Good news! My urine and blood test came back normal! So relieved. Blood pressure was 136/80 today so not too high. DH heard the heartbeat, they found it right away and it was 155 bpm!! He says "wow that's so cool" haha. I go back in 4 weeks on Dec 29th. Then next appointment will be @ 20 weeks for an ultrasound.

Yay!

Also, very glad I had my kid in the US. No frills = basically being ignored. Also, had they tried to send me home 6 hours after my c-section, I would have punched somebody with my highly-drugged fist.

C-section they keep you in for a minimum of 48 hours, and only let you go home if they are totally happy. I think they would call the psychiatric ward if you tried to go home after 6 hours. You have to fight hard to get home in 6 hours after a normal delivery - but a lot of people do it!

 

[PilsnPinkysMom]

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Missy- So glad your test results came back as you'd hoped!

Sugar- Your story of not wanting to leave the hospital gave me a good laugh. Did you experience such awful MS with babe #1, or is this a new experience? Just curious!

AFM: 1/2 Unison + B6 = Miracle Combo. I've been taking 100mg B6 daily in addition to my regular vitamin (which, as of late, I cannot stomach). It has done NADA for my m/s. Last night, out of desparation, DH said, "I'm going to get some Unisom from the pharmacy. It's worth a shot!" I fell asleep and, for the first time in ages, didn't wake up four time in the middle of the night. I didn't feel queasy or weak AT ALL this morning (maybe a bit groggy, though), and was able to have breakfast and a mug of tea. I took another half this AM, which I'm sort of regretting... but I think I can pull through.

Gosh, I've never been so happy to eat a bowl of cereal.

 

[sugarpie honeybun]

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Sugar- Your story of not wanting to leave the hospital gave me a good laugh. Did you experience such awful MS with babe #1, or is this a new experience? Just curious!

No- not even remotely close. I got sick once with DS and nausea was extremely minimal and for a very brief period of time. DS was an easy pregnancy, easy labor/delivery, and overall, an easy toddler. I'm scared baby #2 is going to be my payback!

That's great the Unisom is working out for you! I was too afraid I wouldn't be able to function during the day, but many women seem to function just fine on it.


My doc's office called me today to say my genetic testing came back clear, except for me testing positive as a carrier of the cystic fibrosis gene, which I already knew about from the genetic testing during my first pregnancy. DH tested and is not a carrier of the gene, so the risk is extremely low. So that was a relief. Monday I finally meet with my OB for a full internal exam and another ultrasound. Assuming everything checks out okay, I am planning to tell my boss next week at 10 weeks... This is my first year with this company, and it is a very corporate environment and not very family-friendly, so we shall see how this goes!

 

[ChinaCat]

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PPM- So glad the Unisom + B6 worked for you! I'm kicking myself that I never tried it.

Sugarpie- Ditto ditto ditto. First baby, no sickness at all, no mood swings, barely gained weight, easy labor/delivery, easy baby/easy sleeper. This baby- total nausea, bad moods, in mat clothes so much earlier, etc. OMG I am freaked about #2! Did you have a boy first go round? Hang in there, you WILL feel better, I promise. Yay for genetic testing coming back clear. I just told my boss and it was fine. This is my first year at my company as well, but it's rather family-friendly at least. Good luck!

 

[sugarpie honeybun]

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China - I had a boy the first go around, so this pregnancy is starting to make me wonder...girl perhaps?

Since it seems both of our pregnancies have been similar in terms of m/s, etc., I say you should open that envelope and let *us* all know what's inside!

 

[ChinaCat]

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Ha ha Sugarpie! Can you imagine if I went home and told DH that we needed to open the envelope cause some strangers on the internet needed to know? I promise I will let you know as soon as I open it! I do wonder if this one is a girl sometimes, but I know that's usually just an old wives tale. BUT I have had a cold and been stuffed up for weeks now, and all of my friends that had girls totally had that stuffy nose forever. Then again, it IS cold season. I can't decide what I prefer, if anything. The thing is, once I open it, that's it. I think this is our last kid, so once I know it will be so final, you know?

 

[lizzyann]

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Hi ladies, I have been reluctant to post over here till my first ultrasound on Monday, but I NEED your help! I am currently 5 weeks 6 days and the nausea has already begun. I am writing as we speak with two sea bands on my wrists, sipping ginger ale, and eating Ritz crackers. I am going on a bus trip to NYC on Sunday and am worried about motion sickness/morning sickness being combined into a miserable experience. Any advice? Has anyone tried those Preggo Pops? They sell them at Motherhood Maternity so I may pick them up.

I have had three betas run and they were 230, 705, and 1587. I am hoping this is the end of our long year of ups and downs, and praying for a heartbeat on Monday!

 

[sugarpie honeybun]

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Ha ha Sugarpie! Can you imagine if I went home and told DH that we needed to open the envelope cause some strangers on the internet needed to know?

Well, I guess you sorta do have a good point .

I feel the same way about this being pregnancy being final. Even if we wanted 3 children, it would be hard financially. I laugh every time I see the Geico commercial with the toddler slam-dunking the basketball and the mother happily shouts "scholarship!".

Too funny...and so true .


Lizzy - WELCOME!!! So happy to see you here! Those symptoms, although crappy, are all a GREAT sign. The preggo pops didn't help me much, actually, nothing really did, so I had to start taking Zofran. The med helps, but isn't a 100% cure. I wish you the best. Morning sickness is really the pits.

 

[stephbolt]

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Hi ladies, I have been reluctant to post over here till my first ultrasound on Monday, but I NEED your help! I am currently 5 weeks 6 days and the nausea has already begun. I am writing as we speak with two sea bands on my wrists, sipping ginger ale, and eating Ritz crackers. I am going on a bus trip to NYC on Sunday and am worried about motion sickness/morning sickness being combined into a miserable experience. Any advice? Has anyone tried those Preggo Pops? They sell them at Motherhood Maternity so I may pick them up.

I have had three betas run and they were 230, 705, and 1587. I am hoping this is the end of our long year of ups and downs, and praying for a heartbeat on Monday!

So glad to see you here Lizzy! The preggie pops definitely did help me with the nausea - they make some that are just drops instead of lollypops. Hope you can find something that helps!

 

[choro72]

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Oh my, what a load of information for barely preggos! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

I'm surprised that all the second mommies are having a worse time with ms! I thought pregnancy was supposed to be easier after the first round

Lizzy, I'm so, so happy to see you here! I hope you find a solution to your nausea!

steph, have you opened your SLR yet? Did you pepper spray anyone to get it? So jealous you got to hear the heartbeat!

ppm, eeeek, I would be mortified if I vomited during teaching! Did you at least aim towards their term paper? I shouldn't stay stuff like that...I'm so glad you can enjoy breakfast now!

China, yaaaaay for good CVS results! Getting creative ideas for the mystery-envelope?

AFM, reading all these stories about ms makes me realize how lucky I am. Sure I have off days, but I don't vomit and I go about my daily routine. I even ate ice cream today!
I had my 2nd appointment today. I didn't know they do ultrasounds every visit or I would have brought DH along Baby still looks like a blob and I thought it was dead. Then as if on cue, it started to wriggle its arms and legs and bounced around the screen. WHEW! DH was kicking himself for not coming.
She couldn't get the heartbeat with the Doppler, but she pointed out the grayish area where the heart was pumping. I suck at seeing these things so I kept nodding and trusted that the organ is in good shape Next time we should definitely be able to catch it with the Doppler.

I made the appointment for the survey ultrasound for Jan 20. The receptionist said that I need to drink 24 ounce of fluid an hour prior to the ultrasound and retain it. That's just not possible! My bladder is full 24/7 already, how can they possibly need more!?

I told the midwife about my cramping and blood mixed with cm. They checked inside and confirmed everything is alright, but I simply bleed easily. I also have benign cyst-stuff inside (I knew this already from my previous pap), and that's probably what's making me bleed too. Bottom line is, baby is okay so mommy is happy

Of course afterwards I panicked to see that I leaked a bunch of bloody stuff like waterfall. It's probably because they stuck the duckbill inside me. figures

11Wish today! Sticky dust everyone!

 

[mayerling]

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Lizzy, it's so good to see you here! Good luck on Monday!

Choro, I'm so jealous you got to see your bean! I can't wait for an opportunity to see mine!

Sugarpie and ChinaCat, how's your m/s? The promethazine seems to be keeping mine in check in that I haven't vomited in over a week, but it doesn't nothing for the queasiness and gagging. Last night I thought I was definitely going to throw up. It took a lot to keep my food down. Oh, and ChinaCat, stop keeping us in suspense and open that envelope!

AFM, tomorrow night I embark on my travels for the next month. I'll probably lurk around PS but given that I won't have much internet access I doubt I'll be able to post. I'll try to keep up with everybody's updates, though, and hopefully by the time I come back (at 12.5w) everything will be fine and I'll be able to jump over to the big girls thread. I'll poke my head in a couple more times before I go, but let me just say good luck to everyone, and here's to more BFPs and sticky beans!

 

[mayerling]

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I forgot to mention that we've decided to tell our parents tonight

 

[MuffDog]

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Have fun telling your parents, Mayerling!!

Question for the JBP'ers - my symptoms aside from my insane hunger when my stomach is empty have sort of died down. My boobs are still bigger, and my belly is getting bigger (probably from the mad amounts of kraft dinner and lasagna that I'm eating), but other than that, I don't feel preggo.

Is it silly to worry? Is this normal? I'm worried that when I go to the doctor next week they won't see anything. I don't have any cramping or spotting or anything. Never had. No real reason to worry right? right?! haha I guess the worries that come with motherhood start early, eh?

 

[Missy0483]

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Muffdog - I'm in the same boat as you, pretty much no symptoms other than being hungry at odd times (like hunger pains at 2 in the morning waking me up??) I have had a few appointments and have seen the heartbeat once and heard the heartbeat twice so far. That makes me feel better! How far along are you now? It used to bother me to not have symptoms, but honestly we should feel lucky to not feel like crap all day!

Mayerling - How did the reveal to your parents go??? So exciting!

Lizzy - Welcome to the club!

Choro - I know my doc said sometimes before 12 weeks it's hard to find the heartbeat on the doppler, because of where your uterus is positioned. I think they say around 12 weeks it rises above your pubic bone, making it easier to find. I heard baby's heartbeat for the first time at 10 weeks. And the duckbill comment hilarious!!!!

 

[PetitiePoire]

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Ppm- I'm glad you found a combo that helps you to feel better. What a relief it must be! I'm pretty impressed with your ability to stand all day. I've noticed my symptoms increasing if I stand too long, but i am able to sit immediately, so it goes away.

Sugar pie- yay for your test being clear! Im happy everything seems to be going well.

China- so excited for your reveal. Have you done any old wives tales to predict? I'm so curious to see how accurate they are. its my attest addiction.

Lizzy- sooo glad you are over here! What an exciting time for you. I look forward to hearing about your appointment.

Mayerling- I'm so excited to hear about how you told your parents! It's such an exciting announcement. Have fun on your trip! Will this be the last big trip before baby?

Muffdog- I'm the last person to know if it's good or not. I have yet to go to the doctor, unfortunately, so I have the same concerns! My symptoms have been weak at best. I've noticed increased nausea at night, in bed, of all times. I've had zero vomiting even when the ms was more intense in early days. Oh, do you sit most of the day? I've noticed recently back pain and increased nausea if I am standing or walking more. Since I am still on vacation though it has been very relaxed and I have been ultra lazy

Choro- I feel the same about everyones ms. I am thrilled not to be vomiting. I've hated the feeling since I was young so always try to avoid it if possible. That's awesome you had an ultrasound. I cannot wait for that feeling. I have no idea how it works where we live, but DH already says he wants to go to every appointment. Luckily his work is flexible, so I am happy he *hopefully* won't miss out!

 

[mayerling]

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Just a quick update to say we haven't told them yet. We're telling them tonight but it's barely evening here and DH only got home from work about an hour ago and just had a shower. We'll probably have our dinner first and call them later. Will let you know how it goes