Queer & Pregnant: Dec '09, Jan & Feb '10 - Page 4

[megan sacha]

Originally Posted by indigoscot

megan, so HAPPY to see you over here!!!!! i bet finn will be the best big brother.

g

I think he will!

[carmen358]

Congrats, Megan! I've been following along with the TTC thread - welcome to this thread!!

Yay for the healthy u/s, pf We also chose not to find out the sex - it's getting REALLY exciting now with the anticipation of finding out so I'm glad we didn't!

Afm, we had a solstice party on Saturday night at our place which kinda wiped me out but I actually slept really deeply after so that was a nice benefit! Our doula came by yesterday and we discussed some labor techniques/positions and talked more about how things "might go down" when labour hits. Both her and the m/w seem to think I'll be early or right on time. I sort of believe them (like your dp, indigo, I have also predicted a due date - Jan. 1) but then I think we are all just being positive that things won't go too late lol I'm still having intense pressure on my cervix at times and cramping/braxton hicks every day. I know that can go on for weeks though....so, we'll see!

I finally finished up my last day in the office on Friday and other than a few small things in the next couple of days that I can do from home, I'm pretty much done work!

Oh, for those of you who've done this before - I had some foot swelling in the summer but since then I haven't really had any swelling. However, the last 2 days I've had foot AND hand swelling - the hand swelling freaks me out a bit. I see my m/w on Wednesday again but thought I'd check with you all to see if anyone else experienced it. I haven't had any bp issues at all.

[indigoscot]

carmen, i had hand and foot swelling at the end too. my bp was always fine and i had no other signs or symptoms of pre-e. my massage therapist worked on them during massage and reminded me to drink a lot of water - seems counter-productive when everything is swelling, but it helped. also, as much as possible keep your feet/legs elevated. now that you are off work, that should be somewhat easier. i hope that helps!

fwiw, jan 1 is my dp's prediction too! how funny is that? let's see if either of us is actually right, eh?

anyone heard from kjm recently?

g

[carmen358]

Originally Posted by indigoscot

carmen, i had hand and foot swelling at the end too. my bp was always fine and i had no other signs or symptoms of pre-e. my massage therapist worked on them during massage and reminded me to drink a lot of water - seems counter-productive when everything is swelling, but it helped. also, as much as possible keep your feet/legs elevated. now that you are off work, that should be somewhat easier. i hope that helps!

fwiw, jan 1 is my dp's prediction too! how funny is that? let's see if either of us is actually right, eh?

anyone heard from kjm recently?

g

Oh good, it's encouraging to hear that others have had swelling without more serious complications. And thanks for the water reminder - I do know that but it's always good to get reminded (again and again )

I was wondering about her as well...kjm, how're ya going?

[elismum1908]

g- I was on-call when I went into labor (2.5 weeks early). It was pretty easy to get coverage!

Carmen- I was all sorts of swollen at the end. And be prepared, the swelling actually gets worse after you have the baby. I think it took 1-2 weeks to go down for me. I was not ready for that.

Megan and Sacha- Welcome and congrats!!! We've had similar journeys. DS took 2.5 years and this one happened on the first try!

[starling&diesel]

Originally Posted by carmen358

Oh, for those of you who've done this before - I had some foot swelling in the summer but since then I haven't really had any swelling. However, the last 2 days I've had foot AND hand swelling - the hand swelling freaks me out a bit. I see my m/w on Wednesday again but thought I'd check with you all to see if anyone else experienced it. I haven't had any bp issues at all.

Hi Carmen ... you're getting sooo close! I thought I'd pop in and mention my swelling. I had severe swelling starting at about 36 weeks, and then my BP started to creep up (pre-e) and I had a natural induction and delivered at 38 weeks. I still had the swelling (decreased slowly) for about 2 weeks after. I kept my feet elevated, and accepted as many foot massages as were offered and begged for a few more. Lots of hot baths with epson salts too. You'll find you have to pee a lot, because your body is dumping the fluids.
I hope the pre-e stays away for you!
Take care, hon!

[kjm]

hey y'all I'm here...still very pregnant! HA!!! Between fighting this cold and trying to wrap stuff up at work I am wiped out!! Not to mention the ocean of phone calls and emails of "so...how's it going??" I know everyone is excited and trying to be supportive, but I feel like EVERY question is loaded. I want to scream from the rooftops "I have NOTHING to report!!! and when I do you will know!!!" My friend shared this link with me
http://www.haveyouhadthatbabyyet.com/

Yesterday was my last day at the office and today will be my last day teaching in schools--it is soo fricken weird to think that after all the years of trying and all my co-workers loving support through this process, that the next time I see them I'll be a mama--its really surreal!!

My ma is still putting pressure on me to drive 2 hours (each way) to my Aunt's house on Xmas--but DP and I are digging in our heels. Though I'm not having any pre-labor signs, it still feels like I should be closer to home. I hope I don't feel sad the day of...but I guess if I do I could decide to make the drive?

As for swelling--I have the bp of a teenager, but I have had crazy swelling throughout! I have mastered the art of "tree trunk legs". Elevating has never really done anything for me (and has even made it worse at times). The things that have worked with me is to double my water intake, take lots of epsolm salt baths, and walking. If you aren't able to get out for a substantial walk, even pacing around your house or yard for 5 mins every hour or two keeps the fluid pumping back up.

Acupuncture has also helped with swelling. There is a point on the ankle. I can ask DP how to locate it if anyone is interested?
Oh yeah, did I tell you that acupuncture got my posterior babe to roll over?? Well actually moxabustion. We used it to turn the breeched babe AND get 'em to roll over. We will begin the "preparing for birth" protocol AFTER Friday as sooo many people with X-Mas bdays have told me they wouldn't wish it on anyone!!

As for due date predictions I'm still thinking the 6th or 7th for me, as dreadful as that seems right now--But secretly I'm still hoping for NYE, because I REALLY want to have a baby "once in a blue moon"


welcome and congrats megan!!!

[carmen358]

Thanks for the info on swelling everyone. I'm keeping an eye on it and will see my m/w today. I am getting weekly acupuncture and trying to keep my water intake up. It's odd because walking around seems to make it worse in the evenings. Oh well - dealing with it and hopefully it doesn't get worse.

And thanks for the update, kjm. Glad to hear you are doing well still and that baby is getting into position

DP and I started watching Birth As We Know It last night - our doula lent it to us. We only watched about 20 minutes of it but it's really beautiful so far. I now have images of wandering down to the pacific ocean with 20 other pregnant women to give "communal birth." lol

[indigoscot]

we had an ob appt this morning. dp had already seen her endo and her tsh #s are still on track. she has to see him 6-8 weeks post-partum to make sure they are ok. anyways, dp's iron levels are good, her bp is excellent and her uterus is measuring on track. she was swabbed for gbs - we'll get the results next appt. her weight went up SIX(!!)lbs over the last 2 weeks. it had been holding steady at 3lbs every 2 weeks. ob asked if she'd had any bh and well, only a few here and there. we do have confirmation that he is head down, woohoo! ob doesn't think he is making an appearance any time soon though - so most likely a 2010 baby for us.

my co-worker and his wife who were 1.5 weeks ahead of us had their son last night! he was a very respectible 6lbs 13oz and mom and baby are doing great. dp's good friend in ny due 4 days ahead of us is already 80% effaced and her doc thinks 7-10 days and baby will arrive. lol, you know that means we'll be the ones overdue, right?

g

[kjm]

I hear ya indigo!! 3 babies around me were born in the past week--when is it my turn? Maybe soon? MW confirmed yesterday head is fully engaged, chin is tucked, baby is anterior--we are ready to go. I had lots of BHs yesterday it felt like my uterus was tight 75% of the day and night with lots of downward pressure coming from the top of the uterus!! This morning I am completely nauseous and have the ominous diarrhea. My body is definitely cleansing itself---eeek!! Off to get a few last minute things I need for my homebirth that I've been putting off. I'm not feeling like "this is it" but it does feel right around the corner--here's to hoping!!!

[indigoscot]

oooh kjm!! that does sound promising!!!! fx that things will continue to progress.

my dp's belly has really increased in size over the last few days! her belly button is almost completely gone and she is so tired all the time now. we really need to get the hospital bag ready, lol!! it's funny this time around we are so much less organized! i guess running around after a 2yo changes things a little.

g

[mkpgoddess]

Hi all,

I'm cautiously coming over with #2 due 9/2/9010. We got lucky on our first try too and it all feels sort of surreal.

I had GD with our first in the 3rd tri and my numbers are already a little iffy. I have my first appt with a midwife on the 5th and am terrified that she won't take me on due to possibly/probably having GD so early on. I do NOT want to go the doctor/hospital route again, but if she doesn't take me, I will probably have to. There are other midwives, but we're hoping for a birth center birth.

Symptom-wise, not a whole lot going on. I was in full-blown nausea and vomiting, begging for Zofran by now with DD, but other than sore boobs and exhaustion, not much is happening. I'm sure it's coming...LOL!

I've been following your stories...

KJM - you sound close! Have you/Are you choosing to use evening primrose oil to get your cervix going?

Indigoscot - lol! I have a feeling that I'm going to spend most of this pregnancy feeling a little scattered. DD is 3 and will be almost four by the time this one shows up. Make lists!!!

Carmen - what did the midwife say about the swelling?

Megan - how are you???

Hope all is well,

Samantha

[Forthwith]

As of December 23rd I am no longer pregnant! 40-something hours of labour, some scary moments with the heart monitor, pretty much every intervention except a c-section, and we finally have Simon! He's a big boy - 9lb 6oz - and he eats *constantly*! I can't wait until my milk comes in - I might have a chance of filliing him up then!

[pleasantlyfurious]

Kelmendi - CONGRATULATIONS!!! And welcome little Simon!!

[carmen358]

Congratulations, Kelmendi!! Welcome to (not-so-)little Simon!!

[carmen358]

Congratulations, mkpgoddess! First time lucky! Exciting

Midwife said the swelling was nothing to worry about...completely normal, my BP is still fine and no other indicators of pre-e. She told me to take it easy, keep my feet up, get massages, drink water. Everything I already knew but forget to do these days. I have another appointment tomorrow.

indigo, hopefully you won't have to go too overdue!! Maybe it will be more of a quick jump into labour rather than several weeks of easing into it. Which actually sounds kinda nice.

kjm, wow, it sounds like you are suddenly all ready to go!!

Nothing too new with me. BH and several mild contractions a day. LOTS of cervical pressure and just downward pressure in general. Sometimes really intense. I have no idea if the contractions are doing anything. I may ask (I've never been offered one) for a cervical check in the next couple of weeks just to satisfy my curiosity lol

Btw, is anyone else as FULL of christmas food as I am?? I felt like I was going to burst yesterday after 3 days of indulging....

[indigoscot]

congrats samantha!!! i hope your nausea stays away - my dp has been on zofran since about 9 weeks!

congrats kelmendi on the birth of simon!! wow, he's a BIG boy! enjoy your babymoon.

g

[jjnoho]

congratulations to kelmendi on your son and samantha on your first time luck!

[megan sacha]

Kelmendi, congrats on the birth of big boy Simon after a long hard labor. I'm glad you were able to avoid a c-section.

Samantha, it's so nice to see you over here! I somehow missed that you got pg on the first try too...wow! We have a lot in common between that and the 3 yr olds we'll have when #2 arrives. Finn will be nearly 3.5.

AFM, I'm doing a lot of laying on the couch as I've had a nasty flu (we suspect H1N1) since Christmas eve. DW got it first, despite being the only person in the family having gotten both flu shots. Then I got it and then DS. DS has barely gotten sick, just one night of fever and a small amount of coughing. I think that must be chalked up to the fact that he's still breastfeeding. But, I've gotten the sickest. It was a little scary Christmas night when my fever was hovering around 102. I had to up my tylenol to keep it down to protect the babe. Luckily the worst seems over but I still pretty much have to lay on the couch all day with total exhaustion and have a lot of gunk in my lungs still with a horrid dry cough.

So, other than sore boobs and increased hunger in spite of the flu, I'm not feeling hugely pregnant....just sick. I'm hoping I'll be able to recover and feel ok for a while before any serious m/s kicks in, but I may not get that lucky. Not sure when I will have shaken this off entirely, I think it's going to be a slow process.

[kjm]

Welcome Simon!! Happy Babymoon Kelmendi

samantha--glad to have you join us

megan, ugghh sounds like you've gotten through the scariest parts, but it sounds awful. Take care and feel better!!

carmen--I really wanted a cervical check LAST WEEK--my midwife practically laughed me out of the office! It was embarrassing! "At 38 weeks?!" she exclaimed as I blushed. I knew it wasn't going to give me ANY useful info, but I was curious. She really encouraged me to wait. She explained that if she started checking so early I would keep wanting her to check and it would most likely lead to spotting, increased discharge AND false labor pains---None of which would be real signs, but they would make me feel like something was happening when it wasn't. She said she would check me "if that was really what I wanted" but after that explanation I declined!!