The First Time Moms-To-Be Thread - November 2010 - Page 3

[opus]

I don't know any of these acronyms either! It's like being pregnant is written in another language

[opus]

SaraJane: I don't know any of these acronyms either! It's like being pregnant is written in another language

[boater]

Hi, I'd like to join. My EDD is July 19th. I just got married on October 16th but my husband and I have been together for almost 9 years. I have wanted kids for a long time, and he just had gotten to a place were he felt ready, and I got pregnant on our first try. It feels a bit surreal, hasn't totally sunk in yet. I have only known for a week though. I feel like there is so much I want to do around the house to prepare and it is tough to be too queasy and tired to get much done. I also have a cold. I am feeling a bit whiny at the moment. Anyway, I am planning a homebirth and I am going to call my midwife friend to make my first appointment soon. For those of you who are seeing a midwife, how early did you start prenatal care?

[LivingSky]

Welcome boater! Pregnant on your first try, that's awesome! And congrats on your wedding :) DH and I just got married in May. Loving married life! It seems like it shouldn't really be any different when you've been together for a while... but to me, it definitely is. Did you change your last name? I took DH's last name and I'm still trying to get used to it! LOL

[SaraJaneM]

Haaa I know, right?  Here's what I've figured out:  EDD is estimated due date; DD 1/1/09 is due date ...; LLL is la leche league, and DH means partner but not sure what it stands for (dear husband??) VBAC means vaginal birth after caesarean; CD is cloth diaper; SAHM is stay at home mother...

Maybe when the semester ends I'll make a dictionary!  I have to reference the Urban Dictionary to understand what my 23 year-old classmates are saying sometimes... I guess mothering.com needs one too!

[SaraJaneM]

ack, how do you delete a post if you accidentally post 2x?? thanks!

[LivingSky]

You can't delete a post, just edit it to say woops double post! Pretty much like you did :)

I think there is a list of acronyms in the Trying To Conceive board in one of the stickies :)

[Mama Metis]

Welcome Boater and SaraJaneM! Boater, I'm seeing a midwife and my first appt is this week, just shy of 9 weeks, but I'm not sure what the norm is. I wanted to get in fairly early to make sure they didn't fill up for July. Plus I'd really like some kind of outside confirmation that this is really happening LOL.

[LivingSky]

Mama Metis: I feel exactly the same! I see doctors today and midwives next week.

[HawaiianBlesing]

How do all of your OBs feel about double duty? --seeing both them and a MW.

I think I might just hold out and wait for a MW appointment (haven't even interviewed yet & I have 4 possibilities).

I'm scared to go to my OB and have to deal with all the whys (why would you want a home birth, why would you use a MW etc)

[HawaiianBlesing]

SaraJaneM & LivingSky

Here is a link to all the abbreviations: 

http://www.mothering.com/community/forum/thread/522590/abbreviations-acronyms-emoticons  (hope it works)

If not it's in the questions & suggestions thread under abbreviations, acronyms, emoticons

Good luck

[ebegreen]

My husband and I are committed to planning a homebirth for our first baby.  We are meeting with a midwife tomorrow, mainly to ask questions, express our concerns. This midwife is my first choice but I want to make sure we are both comfortable with her before we decide to hire her.  I asked the midwife about seeing an OB in addition to her and she told me that if I plan to submit to insurance care by a midwife that she cannot submit claims on my behalf if I am seeing an OB. I guess for insurance purposes its OB or Midwife, can't have both. 

I made an appointment with an OB, so my husband would stop bothering me to "see the doctor", that appointment is on Thursday, I don't plan on saying anything to the OB about our plans for homebirth. Depending on how the meeting with the midwife goes on Tuesday, I'd love to cancel the OB appointment.  I'm already nervous they are going to try to do a dating ultrasound, which I do not want. We're fairly certain we know when baby was conceived ;)

[Mama Metis]

LivingSky, how did your appt go today???

Mine is tomorrow, with a practice of 2 midwives. They are CNMs (CPMs aren't certified in my state) so I'm not planning on seeing an ob since the midwives will be able to take care of more medical items, like prescriptions, ultrasounds, etc. They mostly do homebirths but will also deliver in the hospital and have admitting privledges, etc. if the need arises. I am still undecided on where I'd like to plan to birth though.

[LivingSky]

Thanks for asking Mama Metis :)

My doctor's appointment went well. Mostly all she did was have me pee on a stick, and then said - Congratulations! You're pregnant! I was like... ya, I knew that :) But it was nice to hear her say it! We chatted a lot about some questions we had, talked about vitamins and supplements and that sort of thing. She gave me a requisition for some blood work, I'll have it done Thursday morning, and then I go back in to see her next Thursday morning for the results and a full prenatal physical.

In my province (and I believe in all of Canada except Alberta) I can have both an OB and a midwife for my entire pregnancy. I can have a midwife and OB assisted hospital delivery if I so choose, though for me that is a last resort now that I have the birthing suite option. I did not mention to my doctor that I'm planning to see the midwives. I think I'll wait to break that news until after I've met with the midwives at least once or twice :) I was really happy with a couple of things my doctor said though, and I'm hopeful that she will be open minded about my birth choices. As long as she is happy to work in tandem with the midwives, I'll most likely continue to see her throughout my pregnancy.

On another note - today I bought two books. I bought a Pregnancy Journal for myself which I have begun to fill out. I also bought "Husband Led Birthing" (a book on Bradley Method stuff) for DH. We've been looking at taking a course on the Bradley Method that is offered in the city near us, so I thought he might enjoy the book. I'll read it as well, but I got it for him so that he can read it first and then teach me about it. I know he must be getting sick of listening to me lecture about all of the stuff I've investigated and found out about birthing and childraising, so I think it would give him more involvement if he can explain something to me instead!

[opus]

I had my first appointment with my midwife team already too. It's a practice of about 10 midwives, and my team is made up of three midwives. They do homebirths and have priviliges at a couple hospitals in teh city. They also host lots of events at the clinic. The midwife I met with was great and I feel much more confident with this pregnancy now. She really made me feel better about my previous miscarriage and how it's not likely to increase my risk. So I'm mainly focusing on trying to stay calm and positive and keep my life moving along. She wants to do an ultrasound in January to confirm my due date. Is anyone else having an ultrasound that early? It'll be around 10 weeks..

I've just started to realize that next summer is going to be a bit crazy. I've applied to go back to school for a 4 year program and will have interviews in April and won't find out about acceptance until June. We could end up having to move to Ontario for September. I wonder what it's like moving across the country with a newborn baby? Anyone going to be a new mother in school?

LivingSky: what journal did you get? I've been wanting to have somewhere to keep a record of everything that's going on. Any recommendations?

[LivingSky]

opus: where abouts are you located? If you're moving across country to Ontario then you might be going right by me!

I bought a book called "the Pregnancy Journal". Not that helpful, I know! It's got a yellow cover. It has a day by day thing that tells you all the science of exactly what the baby is doing, what has started to develop, that sort of thing. As well as space to journal, take notes on weight and waist size, and that sot of thing. There were other journals that had more space for writing but I really wanted all the scientific stuff. It makes me happy thinking that "Today, your baby's heart starts to beat".

Oh, the journal is by A. Christine Harris, PHD. That might help :)

I'm now scheduled for my first ultrasound - January 10th. For me that will be 1 day short of 12 weeks.

[Mama Metis]

I heard the heartbeat today!!! I thought it was would be too early - I'm not quite 9 weeks, but the midwife said she would give it a try and found it with the doppler. It was awsome!

[LivingSky]

Mama Metis that's AWESOME!!! Congratulations!!! I can't even imagine how that must feel for you. You must be on cloud 9!

[ebegreen]

Living sky-  my mother bought us the same Pregnancy Journal.  I thought it was a nice keepsake, especially the few questions in the first part to write our feelings, who we told first, that kind of stuff will be nice to look back on and remember a year from now.  It seemed like pretty basic information,  I have a few other books that go into details so the journal is nice for like you said "today your baby is..."

Metis - that is so exciting you heard the heartbeat!   I think we are due around the same time. I'm 8 weeks.  We meet with a midwife tonight and see the doctor tomorrow morning, not sure what will happen at either appointment.  I'm nervous about them trying to find a heartbeat and not being able to this early.   

[LivingSky]

So I had another pregnancy first for me today - I bought maternity clothes.

I know I'm early, and I'm certainly not starting to really show yet. But, I'm overweight to start with, and while I haven't gained any real weight yet, it's like I can't suck in my stomach any more, there's always more of a bulge than normal. So the waistbands of most of my fitted pants have just gotten too uncomfortable to wear. So I went to Motherhood Maternity and bought 2 pairs of dress pants and a pair of jeans, all with the secret fit belly band. They are SO comfy and don't at all look like maternity clothes. And best of all, NO pressure around the waistband! I'm also hoping the belly band will help hold in my extra pudginess a bit! LOL. I can hope, right? :)