Pregnant and Fabulous? Expectant Moms Check In Here!!

I like Ian too.

Julie

Emma is beautiful! glad she is doing well!

Mary, hope all is well for you guys

I started cramping today and got freaked out. The Procardia seems to have helped tame it down to next to nothing. I am happy that I should only have 10 to 12 more weeks of worring about everything little feeling!

Hope you other pregnant ladies are doing well

K

Kristyn,

I'm glad the procardia helped! Hopefully your ten to twelve weeks will go quickly and quietly! Tell Ian to quit freaking you out! Stay put and be a good boy!

Tanner is having a poopy and pukey day! I'm so traumatized by how pukey my son was that it kind of ruined my whole day. I just keep waiting for her to start puking all the time and all over everything!

We did get to go out for a walk today! It was over 40 so we walked the three blocks to my sister-in-law's house so my son could play. I borrowed a thing called a sleepy wrap (I think) to carry Tanner in. It's just a long stretchy piece of fabric that you wrap all around you until it's pouch-like. I had tried some like this before with my son and hated them. She's so calm that she puts up with me shoving her in this thing and then she goes right to sleep. It was perfect. I can't wait to be able to go outside more!!!

I hope all the moms, babies and babies-to-be are doing well!

Megan.

Ladies, this thread needs some pick up! What is going on with all of you? I am hoping no news is good news, but still wanna hear the positive stuff, too!

All you mommies that have your babies at home now - how are you? how the little ones?

K

Kristyn,

Sorry it's so quiet here...I, too, hope it's good news!

Things are going well here. Tanner still sleeps all the time and she'll be a month old on Thursday. I'm coming to grips with it, I guess! Now I've started worrying about my milk supply instead! She nurses 11 times a day on average, but it's usually only from one side at a time. She'll eat for 5 good minutes and then sometimes stay latched on for another 5 minutes while I coax her to eat. With my son, I had more than enough milk! Now I don't even feel like I have any. She's still peeing and pooping a lot, so just like with the sleeping, I'm going to assume she's fine! At least the worry isn't all consuming like it was with my son. I believe that I'll know if something is really wrong. She's definitely getting bigger, but I'm trying to wait until her two month appt. to see how much she weighs again. It's on April 12th...my birthday...so I'll hope for good numbers and a good check up as my bday present.

I hope all the other babies are doing well too!

Take care,
Megan.

Hi ladies, also hoping all is going well the the expectant mommies as well as the mommies with new babies!
No news yet here really - I finally convinced my office to re-schedule me with my doctor instead of a NP. I will see her on Mon the 15th at which point I will be just over 12 wks. I'm nervous but really hoping to just get it all over with. I am thinking she may have some reservations about doing a cerclage as I have not had a loss. But there were so many close calls that I am hoping she will want to take some preventative measures this time. Still having the crampy/heavy feeling daily... but my nausea has let up so that is GREAT!
Hope you all have a great week!!

Glad to hear your office finally scheduled with the doctor - I know lots of people on here get cerclages without having a loss, so if you want it I would push for it. Also, from what I've learned around here and my non-virtual friends seeing a specialist will often help you get more what you need/want. Tho, I suppose that is always up for debate. Glad you are feeling well!

Megan, I am keeping my fingers crossed I post the same things about this baby when he arrives! I would love to have a baby that sleeps all of the time and doesn't nurse constantly! Glad Tanner is doing well and making life somewhat easy for you right now As for the nursing - I'm sure she's fine especially if she's peeing and pooping and getting bigger. Just make sure she gets that hindmilk and she'll be fine. And, just one more thing about the growing and nursing - Adalynn and Will never gained the recommended amount of weight per day or week. Will finally ended up doing it but not until about 2 months and Adalynn never gained like they thought she should - but she was still fine. She's just little Hope that helps ease your mind.

Sorry Kristyn I have not had much to tell. we did go to the dr. yesterday and Annalee is up to 6lbs 15 oz. She is getting so big! we also found out she has reflux...it has been some tiring nights keeping her upright after she eats. I am just glad to finally figure out the belly issues! I hope all is well and keep cooking your baby!

Sorry little Annalee has reflux! It can be trying on parents that is for sure. Let me know if you need anything - all three of my kids have had it, but it was the worst with Adalynn. I didn't think I would survive! Glad to hear she is growing and getting so big!

K

Ugh---reflux!! My nephew had that really bad and it was regulated by Zantac and a bit of cereal in his formula. As he got older, it got much better because he was better able to hold himself up more.

Hang in there girls!! I love *hearing* those clicking keyboards letting me know that everyone is still resting!

I was thinking everything was pretty quiet around her too. I'm glad everyone is doing well.

Mary--I'm sorry Annalee has reflux. That's definitely no fun for anyone. My daughter had horrible reflux and I slept in a chair with her for about 3 months. I hope she can have some relief soon.

Megan--I'm glad Tanner is doing well. I hope she continues to do well and grow strong.

mom2bubu--I hope your appt. with the dr. goes well. I really hope you're able to talk him/her into letting you have a preventive cerclage. I never lost a baby, but I came really close a couple times which is why I have a cerclage this time.

I'm doing pretty well. For some reason I'm really emotional this evening. I have been crying at everything. It seems that it doesn't matter what anyone says it strikes a wrong chord and I get teary. I was told I've been gripey...tears. I was told I don't know what goes on around hear because I'm not around...tears. Ugh.

At any rate...I have an appt. with the Peri tomorrow and Evan will be having a complete ECHO. I'm still really hoping he is in a good position for the doc to see everything without excessive pushing and poking. I may even sleep with pillows under my hips tonight to see if that will help him move up a little...he's still hugging my bladder I'm also anxious to find out how the cervix is holding out. I've been having more contractions lately. Not within their "contact-the-doctor-recommendations" of 4 and hour, but averaging 1-2 every hour.

What did you do to relieve your little ones pains with the reflux. Annie does not like any pressure on her belly and it is hard to keep her sitting up for 30 min. after she eats. I feel so bad for her, she is so uncomfortable. Then my DH gets so frustrated when he can't get her to sleep. She does not spit up much, just gags and grunts a lot. I am not sure the medicine is working but the dr wants me to try her on it till Friday... Only 2 more days then we will see what the Dr. says. hope all is well with everyone else.

~Mary

Meghan - so glad to hear that Tanner is doing great!

Mary- Annie is a cutie It seems as though Emma and Annie are so similiar, she was diagnosed with reflux a week ago also, she also does not have much spit up but is very uncomfortable, grunting and moaning and getting wokin up in her sleep from the pain. At the same time she has trouble getting gas out the other end also It absolutely breaks my heart. I cant tell if the Zantac is working or not either. Preemies should come with instruction booklets! We have doctor next Friday.

Mary, I didn't have a lot of luck with meds. With Skylar we did Zantac at 2 months old when the developmental ped suggested it. She slept fine, but grunted and gagged alot. Will just spit up constantly, but never acted in any way that he was in pain. Now, Adalynn - this is a long story, so I'll try to summarize. The day after she was born she stopped breathing (blue from head to toe) and I was told it was normal. PLEASE! That night I was trying to nurse and she just screamed and cried. The nurse was unhelpful to say the least and in my hormonal tired state I kicked her out of my room. Then, Ada did the gagging and turning blue again. Turned out after NICU and swallow studies and possible blockages it was reflux - just like I thought! anyway, meds never worked for her. We tried darn near everything. I slept holding her up for 6 months in my bed and then sleeping with her for another 6 months. She nursed constantly because it made her feel better and kept her from crying. She had blood in her spit up and in her stool - turns out she is allergic to dairy and soy. I'm gonna shorten this up - slept at angle of about 30 degrees, held her up for about 30 min after all feedings. Some people think cereal in a bottle mixed with breast milk or formula helps, but I didn't notice a big difference with that for Adalynn but it did seem to help Skylar. I've also noticed it varies between doctors - some say yes some say no. I hope she feels better - no fun for her or you! Also, my DH was very very frustrated and didn't really get it at all...which added to my stress. It was a very frustrating situation! I hope Annie's situations is much less stressful.

Julie, glad you are doing well. I hope those contractions stay like they are or get even better for you!

Have a good day

Sorry to hear about all the reflux with the babies! My daughter had it as well... we did the Zantac route - I really don't think it helped too much. We started putting her in her swing to sleep and that made all the difference in the world, she was slightly upright and she would sleep much better there. I think she slept in it for the first 3-4 months of life!

Okay Kristyn...are you starting to realize that I'm a freak?! I tried to play it cool while I was pregnant so you guys would want to give me advice, but now my true colors are coming out!

I know that my "problems" are probably not problems at all, but I feel like I'm hyper-aware of everything that may or may not be a problem just because I don't want to be blindsided by something!

I wish for good babies and great pregnancies for everyone!

As for the reflux/spitting up thing...my son spit up ALL THE TIME!!! He would eat 12 times a day in the beginning and spit up for the whole two hours in between feedings...and sometimes during the feedings. I took him to the dr. when he was a month old and they told me that was normal. I had like ten friends who had babies all at the same time and none of them did that!!! He never ended up getting any medicine, holding him upright didn't work...none of the tips that anyone gave me did anything to even slow it down! When he was 11 months old to the day he just stopped spitting up. I have no idea if it was reflux or if medicine would have helped, but it made me feel horrible as a nursing mom to restrict my diet and try to do the best for my baby and he was still spitting up. The good message in all of this is that he was always growing fine, he did a great job eating when he started food and he was pretty happy after the first couple months, so it was really only hard on me and our laundry!

I hope all the spitty babies find something that works...good luck!

Megan.

Mary, just to add to the medicine...I read and I wish I knew where and when, but I read that research showed that preemies didn't really benefit from the medication. I did it as a last resort with Adalynn...with Will he was never in pain and he never needed it. Skylar was in pain (sounds a lot like Annie) and we tried it. I am not sure if that research is current because I think I read it when Will was a baby - almost 4 years ago!

Megan, we're all freaks in our own way! I'm a germaphobe - drives my DH crazy! And, Tanner is your baby and you are allowed to be worried! Honestly, I would join a breastfeeding support group - you can usually weigh in regulary and that will put your mind at ease a lot! You're doing great and I don't really think your a freak...just worried for your little precious Tanner!

I seriously need to live where there is sun and warmth most of the time. I eat like 10 times less food and so much more healthy when it's nice outside - too bad it's suppose to rain the next 5 days! But, at least it's not snow!

K

Today didn't go so well. Evan is doing well and all his measurements showed him to be measuring right on with my due date. His heart is normal showing no anomalies. That's great! He's measuring 22w0d with an estimated weight of 1 pound.

However...my cervix shortened dramatically from 3.3 to 1.3 in just two weeks. That's not what I wanted to hear. There's not much more I can do to reduce my activity other than laying flat in bed all day long which I will now be doing. Potty breaks only. Now I'm scared. This is almost exactly when everything started going south with Ryan (22w3d is when I went to the hospital). This isn't as critical, but it's just too close to the familiar. What if I'm having more contractions than what I'm feeling? Why won't the doc put me on something to get rid of them altogether? The dr. said we will start ffn testing and swab testing starting with my next appt. in 2 weeks. 2 weeks seems like so long. He said I'll be hospitalized if my cervix continues to shorten, if I have a positive ffn, if I start contracting more than 4 an hour or if my water breaks. As he was leaving he told me "not to worry...we'll take this one step at a time." Yeah...thanks doc. too late for that.

Julie

Julie,

I'm so sorry! It sounds like you have every right to be scared. I hope that things calm down for you! Did you ask your doctor the questions from your post? It seems like he wants to be proactive, but he's waiting too long to make you feel comfortable! We all know how quickly things can change. Keep us posted and I wish you the best of luck. You'll be in my thoughts!

Megan.

Julie, I'm sorry your in this situation! I'm thinking of you. Ok, now lets talk business. They can't start the fFN until 24 weeks because the protein is typically present before 24 weeks. So, I know it isn't a relief that they aren't doing it right now, but it would probably give you a false positive. And, even at 24 weeks false postivies are common from whar I've read on chat sites with mom's that have been in your shoes. Secondly, I understand your worry and concerns about the fact that you are shortening. Are you funneled? My OB always has told me that the cerclage is there to hold even when our bodies are not doing their jobs. In my case, my two babies that I had cerclages with were absolutely held in there 100% by the cerclage. Their heads were literally resting on it from about 26 weeks on. Don't get me wrong, I was still scared - just trying to give you some postivies here! As for the contractions - at 20 weeks they don't always show up on the monitor either. Shoot, at 32 weeks when I was in labor they didn't show on a monitor, so try not to worry about that. What I would do is ask why he's not using meds, when he would start and then tell him you'd really like a script for "just in case" you hit the 4 in one hour mark and see what he says. Get pushy if you need to...it's your baby! Also, remember the cervix is a crazy little thing that changes. So, you might be long again next week or in two weeks...try to stay postive. I hope my blabbering has helped in some way...just know that when moms give me something to think about on here it helps me, so I hope I am doing the same for you.

Hugs!

I just have to say, Kristyn, that I don't know what this board (and me!) would do without you! You have had advice for almost every situation presented on here and it's always reassuring. You're like the resident mother hen!
Thank you!

Megan.

I agree Megan! She is our wise old owl! (without the old part of course!) Thank you Kristyn! You have given me much comfort!

Mary

Well said ladies! Kristyn is a wonderful Share member - don't know what we would do without her!

Hug to you, Kristyn
Jackie

You guys are too sweet - I love this board...it has gotten me through three (amost) pregnancies and one NICU (very short) stay and so many questions. I only wish I would have had it when my oldest was born! The ladies on this board are so knowledgeable and helpful. I truly appreciate it so much what happens here. I just hope I give back in a way that is helpful to others!

Hugs!

Well 13/14 hour days at home is almost as tough as working that many, but I still think going to work was easier eventhough I had a physically buys job and it could be emotionally draining at times...easier not to be so hard on other people's kids as it is my own at the end of the day.

I had lots of breakthroughs and cramping today. Freaked me out, but I think it's under control now. Lots of water and Procardia are my BFF's right now! I can't wait to my appointment next week. Hopefully, I'll even get to see the OB I haven't seen her since Dec!

K

Since Dec!, my goodness. I hope she is there today. It sounds like she needs an update. I am glad to hear the cramping settled down. It sounds like this baby wants out and you are doing a great job keeping him in. I hope the appt goes well today.
I think at home would be harder b/c you never give yourself any breaks at home while you do at work.

Can't wait to hear about the baby.
Ellen

Hello ladies! Hop on over to the cafe for a picture blog quiz.

Thanks ladies! I'm *feeling* much better...not so stressed and overwhelmed. It's taking me a little while to adjust to strict bedrest, but everything is going well. The family, and most importantly DS, is adjusting to Mommy lying flat all the time.

Kristyn--thanks very much for your words of wisdom and advice. I was not told I'm funneling, so I guess I'm not. I hope I can have the same success as you even if this little one decides to snuggle up to that stitch for the remainder of the pregnancy.

So I'm just spending my days laying down...hips elevated as much as possible. I'm crocheting a blanket, making pacifier clips, reading and watching TV/movies. I still desperately want to make it to at least 36 weeks, but before all this I didn't even want to consider any weeks earlier. Now I've got my sites set on 30 weeks to start out with...then 32...then....

I have an OB appt. on Tues. Unfortunately I just found out the doctor won't be there , but I already warned the nurse I have tons of questions and I just hope she can give me answers of find out the answers for me. I need to start on a list....

Have a great weekend everyone!

Julie, I know the feeling...my goals are always 32 weeks because that is when my oldest was born. Until this time...when I was in the hospital at 23 weeks my goal became 24 weeks...
I trust you will make it to all of those goals! I certainly know I'm pulling for you and baby. I'm glad you are adjusting...you know we're here for you when you need us. Venting and well just straight complaining can be down right good for a momma in your shoes (or bed/couch ) don't hesitate for a moment. Sending you lots of good pregnancy vibes and peace to get your though these weeks of bedrest!
By the way, when will they take your cerclage out?

Kristyn