"Just Barely" Pregnant PS''ers

[noelwr]

that''s so funny Mamma Hawk! and congratulations! I know what you''re talking about, but I doubt mine would ever match as they are really too different.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Noel, the smaller one is at least 1/2 cup size smaller, so it can happen...

 

[noelwr]

mine is a whole cup... but at least there''s hope they can almost look like identical instead of fraternal twins (or complete strangers) one day!

glad to hear all is going well on this thread.

 

[Jena17]

Hi Ladies, I just wanted to say Hi and see if I can join you!

I just got a BFP this morning!!!!

I haven''t even told my husband yet, I am trying to think of fun ways to tell him when I get home from work tonight!!! I am still in shock! Due date from what I can see is October 3rd!

Is there anything I should know about the first few weeks in a pregnancy?? I have been taking prenatals for about 3 months now, so I am good there! I have an appt next Wednesday for some inital blood work and then one if February for U/S and exam!! I just don''t know where to begin with nutrition and excercising, etc!! What I can or can''t eat!!!

I am hoping for a easy healthy pregnancy! So far no M/S. Last night and today I have a heavy feeling in my stomach and lower back, exactly like PMS feeling.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Just relax for now (I know, easier said than done, right?). Cramps are normal, spotting is normal, not having symptoms is normal.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Yahoo, Jena- CONGRATS!

I second what HH noted.

Here''s just a couple things that I did when I first got my BFP:
went thru all my scripts and over-the-counter meds and checked them out on http://www.safefetus.com/

There I found out that my albuterol asthma inhaler was not the best thing to use, but all my other scripts (Singulair, etc..) checked out OK. Also replaced advil/aleve with tylenol.

Same went for skincare. I have acne-prone skin and stopped using my salicylic acid facial treatment and body lotion and other stuff like that. Maybe I was too anal about it, but better safe than sorry as I couldn''t find any conclusive info online. http://www.babycenter.com/ is also a great resource!

Last tidbit- start writing down any questions you may have for your doc. Trust me, you''ll think of the most random stuff you want to ask!

 

[Jena17]

Thanks HH and Chargergirl! I will try to relax! Right now I am just soooo tired and have a really bad headache! I can''t wait to tell dh tonight! in less than 3 hours now!!! I have to stop by and get my onsie to give him with the test! He is going to be so shocked!!!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Jena, for a headache you can take Tylenol, but stay away from anything containing aspirin or aspirin derivatives (like ibuprofen and aleve (naproxen). You can take extra strength.

 

[SparklyLibra]

Hi Gals! I had a bit of a scare today, but I''m feeling much better and sure things are just fine. I had some spotting today and went in to my ER since my family doc is 30 minutes away and well, he''s my general practitioner and in the hospital that''s 5 minutes away they have an early pregnancy clinic. I went in, had my betas taken, and had an ultrasound. They told me the baby was measuring 5w3d. To my knowledge (short cycle and knowing my O date, I should be 5w6d) She said the heartbeat was 109 and should be at about 120 for where baby is measuring, and booked me to come back on Monday for more Betas and to set up another U/S for that week. Of course that sent me panicking. She also said that the fetal pole was present, but too small to measure, but that is because it''s just still really early. In the meantime, I was waiting for my family doc to call me back because I had gone in for betas on Wednesday but hadn''t been able to call him back for the results.

While waiting, I told some gals on a preggy forum about it and asked for their thoughts. The support was fantastic. Links came pouring in with info showing that baby''s heartbeat is in the normal range (should be between 90-110 for between 5 & 6 weeks) and the fact that the heartbeat could be picked up at 5w3d is fantastic! My betas today are 19, 907. Well after dinner my doc called me and told me my Wednesday betas: 16,557. So they''re climbing! Great news. Many of the ladies encouraging me shared their stories that they had major spotting, even bleeds, and once the heartbeat was confirmed and baby was measuring well, they went on to have healthy pregnancies.

Oh, I forgot to add: the ultrasound tech could not find any source of the bleed. No Subchorionic hemmorage (sp?) no visible bleed pockets on my uterus, and the sac was firmly in place. One last thing I wanted to share is that I found out today that if the ultrasound tech is off by as much as a tenth of a millimeter it will throw the measurements off by - or + 3 days

I''m so glad I know that now. So yeah, There''s my adventure for the day. I''m just staying off my feet and enjoying watching DH take over while I stay off my feet until the next u/s. Just thought I''d share my story to encourage you all that spotting/ bleeding doesn''t have to equal doom. Docs can be wrong, and u/s techs can be wrong. Stay positive and be your own advocate. Don''t be afraid to ask questions. Someone out there always has the answers you need to feel better.

Thanks for reading my novella of a post! Now that I have some time, I can actually get caught up on this thread

 

[Kit]

SL, so sorry to hear of your scare! Sounds like it was just that, and I am glad you are taking it easy and resting. Spotting/bleeding can just happen sometimes and I know lots of moms that had bleeding that now have perfectly healthy babes. Good for you for keeping it in perspective, doing your research and not immediatley jumping to conclusions. I think your beta for 5w is super high! That''s great! Actually, any chance of twins??? Check out this site for reference: http://www.betabase.info/index.php

Hope everyone else is feeling good. I had a rough night last night, food/tummy wise. I think I''m going to have to cut off normal eating by around 5 pm, like last tme, and small quantities of really bland food in the evenings. Boo

I did not barf last night but would have liked to. I have a serious gut of steel, the last time I puked was honestly years ago, possibly around 2002 or so. Anyways, I guess this is better than being parked in the bathroom all day long like some other women, so I am counting my lucky stars here. I am also completely and utterly exhausted but also can''t fall asleep right away when I get into bed at 9:00. Anyone else feeling desperate for sleep but unable to actually fall asleep? I might just have too much on my mind.

I turned 6w yesterday, yay! My week is going to be very busy and Friday will be here before I know it (my 1st u/s). I am anxious and excited all at once! I just don''t have that feeling of doom like I did last time, which is nice.

 

[cara]

Yay SL for the heartbeat! Now you have me worried my scan will also be drama filled... I was angling to get an early scan at 7 weeks, but my HCG is so high (or the doctor/nurse1/nurse2/patient phone- and note-based communication so poor) that I have one schedule for next Wed when I will only be 5w5d by LMP. But I could be a few days ahead of that due to earlier ovulation. Still, I was hoping to get a good solid high heartbeat to ease my worries, not an ambiguous 5 and a half week scan to intensify them!

My Tuesday HCG was 4060, and Thursday's was 8290 so that is good on the doubling-in-48 hrs front. According to the betabase sight, that is high on the high side for both singleton and twins (!) but not crazy-high for either. There is a lot of overlap in the singleton/twin HCG numbers so nothing definitive there!

Kit, thanks for the cite ref. and yay for 6 weeks!

On the nausea front, I had one horrible day this week at work, and then this morning was brutal. I was lying on the bathroom floor moaning. Didn't actually throw up, I think the pain was mainly below the stomach, I have been having really horrible cramps, but was bad enough to induce nausea. When I finally got up again, I took some tylenol and put a heating pad on, and then started worrying about toasting my little bean

so took it off. When is the first tri over again?

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Ladies, sorry you've both had bad days. Some of mine are good, some are bad. I've only had a few bouts with m/s, and nothing in the past few days. The cramps are the worst. No one told me about the cramps

Oh, and if you're like me and you're having bathroom issues, colace is your friend. I'm now taking one each day with my PNVs and it's made a huge difference. I've also noticed a connection between all things bathroom and the cramping, so when I feel a cramp coming on I run to the bathroom and that seems to help it. Re: the heating pad. I know you're not supposed to use heating blankets, but I don't know about the heating pad. I'd go with a hot water bottle just to be safe until you can ask your doc.

I had my first major major craving today, for a chocolate donut from Dunkin Donuts. It's a craving that went unsatisfied because I can't eat donuts due to the gluten in them

Being a glutard is really messing with the fun part of being preggo. Oh, and I bought a bunch of bigger pants today! I'm excited about them, I should be able to wear then for quite while.

 

[cara]

HH, yeah no one mentions the cramps! Its insanity. And the lower abdominal issues. Ugh. I think bigger pants is a great idea! My ute wants nothing near it, no normal fitting pants at all. It even rejected my weekend lounge pants, I was wearing them around my mid-hips earlier today. I have one pair of jeans half a size too big that I can tolerate when things are going better, so new pants sounds like a good idea, if I can get out of the house. Oh, random question, where does your screen name come from?

Kit, no doom for you! Hopefully you'll have an easy, busy week.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Screen name was inspired by the Bruce Willis movie Hudson Hawk. It''s one of my faves.

Cara, how far along are you now? I''m just going into my sixth week.

 

[cara]

Today is 5w1d by LMP, but maybe 5w3d by ovulation date? Hmm, that doesn't sound very far along at all!

 

[Mara]

cara re: toasting the bean... i did bikram yoga until i was about 6.5 weeks! i read a lot of diff things about the heat but nothing definitive so i felt too guilty and stopped.

first tri was prob the hardest for me ladies, third has not nearly been as bad overall. hang in there, just keep thinking ''finite period of time''.

one of my good friends is about 9 weeks and she has horrible horrible MS, is already extremely tiny and thin and lost 6 lbs. i hope it subsides for her soon.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

I think I''m around 5 w 5 d, 5 weeks on the 26th!

 

[noelwr]

6 weeks on the 26th.

by the way, when you are 6 weeks preggers on the 26th you are going into your 7th week.

 

[noelwr]

Mama Hawk, wanted to explain it a little better but DH tore me away from the computer. so sorry that last post sounded like a Mrs. Know-It-All

so on Tuesday you will be 6 weeks pregnant (yay!

), and starting your 7th week of pregnancy. if you are reading up on your progress, you will look up Week 7. the reason for that is that Week 1 is days 1-7 (start with the 1st day of your LMP), and thus the 2nd week of pregnancy would start on day 8, when you are 1 week pregnant (even though IRL you aren't even ovulating by then, crazy system).

sorry if you already knew all that, but think I remember from your earlier posts that you were calling it Week 5 when you were already 5 weeks pregnant. and this way you actually get to add a week and it all sounds better!

 

[Kit]

Ah ha, I see Noel! So, it''s like 6 weeks of my pregnancy have already passed, or I have been pregnant for 6 weeks. Interesting.

 

[Mara]

if you guys sign up for the babycenter or fitpregnancy email updates, it will send you the email on the day you start X week. since the whole week thing confused me for ummm...yeah the whole entire time, i found it really handy !!

 

[cara]

The counting is superconfusing, for both the fifth week/5 weeks distinction and the 2 not-pregnant weeks at the beginning of the 40 weeks of pregnancy.

On the first issue, its like birthdays. The first year of life from just born to 364 days old is actually before the baby is ''1 year''. Then on what we call their "first birthday", the baby is just starting their second year of life, but you would say s/he is 1 year old. The babycenter tries to always use the ''5 weeks'' contruction rather than fifth week to at least be consistent across their site and minimize people''s confusion.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

noel, for a normally pretty intelligent person I''m at a loss in this situation. I just don''t get it. First day of LMP was 12/15. So if I''m going into my first week, that''s my 6th pregnancy week, not gestational week. Gestational age would be 1-2 weeks behind, so 4-5 weeks vs. 6. That''s what I thought all this time, please clarify if I''m off the mark with my dates, etc...

 

[cara]

HH- ahh, well one issue is that gestational age is usually counted from last menstrual period (or 14 days before ovulation date if known). So in the usual 40 weeks gestation, the first two weeks is preconception. Pregnancy is only 38 weeks from conception. I have actually seen some places get this wrong and label gestational age when they actually mean embryo/fetus development age.

Now to count weeks! Think birthdays. You need to get through your first week, then you are ''1 week''. In your second week, you are ''1 week X days''.

So right now, you are 5w5d. On Tuesday you will be 6 weeks. I think.

 

[lover in athens]

well said, cara! so technically, even though i''m 31 years old, i''m in my 32 year. but no ever says that, right? so even though you are technically in your 6th week now, you still say 5 weeks 5 days (like i would say 31 1/2). it is very confusing!


hmmm...just reread that...didn''t make too much sense! sorry!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Um I apologize for writing a very confusing post. I''m totally on board with the theory that we feed our babies with brain cells. My brain is just not with it these days. Here''s what I meant to say

noel, for a normally pretty intelligent person, I''m at a loss in this situation. I just don''t get it. First day of LMP was 12/15. So if I''m going into my sixth week, that''s my 6th pregnancy week, not gestational week. Gestational age would be 1-2 weeks behind, so 4-5 weeks vs. 6. That''s what I thought all this time, please clarify if I''m off the mark with my dates, etc...

 

[lover in athens]

Date: 1/24/2010 10:19:49 PM
Author: Hudson_Hawk
I''m totally on board with the theory that we feed our babies with brain cells.

I asked for "lemon with extra water" for dinner tonight. twice. this is not ok.

 

[noelwr]

sorry for all the confusion! sometimes I should learn just to keep my big mouth shut.

I was talking about pregnancy weeks. not gestational weeks.

so tomorrow, you will say "Today I am 6 weeks pregnant. I have completed my 6th week of pregnancy" and "Today I am starting week 7" and "Today is my first day in my 7th week of pregnancy". so tomorrow if you want to google the development of your baby during the next 7 days, you would search for "pregnancy week 7". so just to reiterate: tomorrow you will be 6 weeks pregnant and in your 7th pregnancy week (26 Jan - 1 Feb).

in the end it doesn''t really matter as you know you are 6 weeks pregnant tomorrow (and you will always say I am so many weeks and so many days), but in case you like to read up on development and how your body is changing, just know that as of tomorrow and during the week that follows, all literature written about 7 weeks is relevant to you.

does that now make sense?

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

The pregnancy week part makes sense, I''m still not understanding the gestational week though. If you don''t conceive until 2 weeks after your LMP, then shouldn''t your gestational week be 1-2 weeks behind your pregnancy to account for the extra? So while I may be 6 weeks and so many days, my embryo is only 4 weeks and so many days developmentally.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Oh and I usually have an iced tea with lemon from dunkin donuts every morning for my caffeine fix and this morning. This morning I ordered us an iced coffee with lemon! Luckily DH was with it and corrected me before the order went through. It''s going to be a looooong day. It''s dark and rainy and I wish I were home tucked into bed!