IVF Graduates thread!! - Page 88

[deborahbgkelly]

I totally forgot to say, yay for an excellent ultrasound Blue!

[toothfairy2be]

Okay I know I have a ton to catch up on but wanted some advice before I just go ordering all over the internet. Anyone have book recommendations for a first time mama-to-be. I am thrilled to be tossing out Taking Charge of your Fertility and upgrading to some 'What to Expect when you're Expecting' but are there any other books I should order that are fan favorites??

[deborahbgkelly]

Just a warning, Toothfairy. I've heard that What to Expect has quite a bit of what can go wrong, so if that will worry you, I'd say skip it. I like the book I have pretty well: Great Expectations. It has a couple sections on what can go wrong, but it doesn't overwhelm the book.  I also think a pregnancy journal is a good idea. I'm glad I had one with the boys and am planning on getting one for this babe.

[TenzinsMama]

TF, I second what Deborah has said about the What to Expect Book-- it was one of my midwives who mentioned it to me, and then as I read it I was like, Oh yeah this is why she said it... I'm trying to think of the books I like, but it's late and my brain is turned off...

[Tear78]

Wait...did I miss something? Tooth fairy, yayyyyyyyyyy!!!

[blueyezz4]

TFT - I'm still laying in bed, so I don't have the book in front of me, but I've been reading, 1 book mostly as I wait at appts, it's called "A girlfriends guide to Pregnancy" - I think that's the full name but once I get up and go downstairs I can check for sure. I'm not a big book reading type of person, wish I enjoyed it more, and that book is actually really good and is keeping my interest. It's written like one of your GF's is advising you on things that will happen in pregnancy and I've actually leaned some interesting facts - lol. I also have the what to expect book but that seems like way too much info for me. I'd rather stick to searching the Internet if I need it to be more in depth. Just my two cents.

[blueyezz4]

Tear - are you feeling better??? Hope so. When's your ultrasound too???? Keep us posted!!

[Vegan Princess]

Yeah I did hear a lot of people don't like all the what ifs in what to expect. I was already wigged about a lot of that stuff so it didn't freak me out any extra. LOL. I enjoyed "your week by week pregnancy" - though it too talks about problems of pregnancy. I suppose a lot of them do. I so wish I could just GIVE you all my books. I really enjoyed the Ina May Gaskin books too - it was really nice for me to read the birth stories - though they are pretty hippy dippy. Birthing From Within is also a nice labor prep book if you are looking for something along those lines. Now that you are pregnant you have to start thinking about giving birth. LOL!

Well my baby did indeed come down with pink eye yesterday. :-( But thankfully she is MUCH less dramatic about the drops than her big sister. And the drops do a great job of clearing it up in only a few doses (though they have to keep taking it a full week!). Oddly enough, my big girl now says she likes getting the drops. I think she realized it doesn't hurt and she loves that she gets junk after. Also I promised her a car seat for her doll if she did it nicely the entire week and now she is holding me to it. Thankfully she wants the instant gratification of buying it right now from Target than ordering it from the American Girl doll catalog where she first saw the one for her baby and waiting for it to come - saves me a boatload of money!

Blue: The u/s pics are incredible!!

[monkeyscience]

Happily stalking by to say:

Yay again TF!!!! So, so excited for you. Also, I have mixed feelings about What to Expect When You're Expecting. It's going to present you with a lot of stuff that's irrelevant to HB midwifery care and delivery, and it's not going to be very supportive of choosing less overall intervention. It's pretty much worthless for the pros and cons of various pregnancy choices - the ultimate recommendation is always "Do whatever your doctor says." On the other hand, it's a great resource for basic information on virtually everything that can happen (good, harmless, and bad) in a pregnancy. I found it to be more thorough in that regard than the Dr. Sears book (The Pregnancy Book), which was helpful because just about every pregnancy symptom to ever exist happened to me. (Except breast tenderness - not sure how I skipped what has got to be one of the most common symptoms ever!)

For me, personally, if/when I'm pregnant again, I'm going to get Pregnancy Sucks, because mine did, and I got tired of all the excessive cheeriness of other books. But I think you will have a better pregnancy than I did, so I'm not going to recommend that for you.

Also... Blue... you've come so far! It seems like just yesterday you got your BFP. So excited your little one is in a pretty safe zone now - though I hope he keeps cooking until he's fully baked!

[TenzinsMama]

I LOVED the Pregnancy Sucks book!  I read it a couple of months before I got my bfp; I was trying to make myself feel better that if I didn't get pregnant, then I would spare myself all of the 'bad' stuff. LOL.  I really liked all the books I could find (i.e. library) that showed the week by week changes, with lots of pictures and information about the baby's development and changes in the mother. I had a great one, but then I didn't think I would be wanting to tt#3 so I didn't keep it-- I can't remember the title of it.

[deborahbgkelly]

I also love the Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy! I'll have to check out the Pregnancy Sucks book.

[rcr]

Hi all:

Just stopping by to stalk you all.

Blue - I loved the pics, and the fact that your ticker has moved so much since the last time I was here. Last time I checked in here you were in the same week as when you lost your boys - and now look at you! You are going to be packing going-home clothes for your baby before you know it!

AFM - I haven't been to the "old thread" in a while. I am working on moving toward donor embryos, but haven't really felt like chronicling it there. It is something that I am really excited about though.

[rcr]

Oh, and I have the girlfriend's guide to toddlers. It is good too.

[blueyezz4]

Rcr - Thanks for your kind words!! It's going pretty fast thankfully!! I'm excited for you and the donor embryos. Are you going back to Las Vegas for this or staying put??? When might you do a transfer, any idea???

AFM - I have my first NST on thurs before I see my OB. Never had that test before so we will see. DH just has to paint the two windows and then the room is done, other than carpet coming on Fri and then we wait for the furniture and need to decorate a bit. That's the fun part!!

[TenzinsMama]

rcr, that is exciting about the donor embyros! Glad to see you are still popping in, and keeping us updated on your plans. I'm going to have to check out that book you mention...

Blue, rcr is right-- that ticker is moving on to the right more quickly than I realize! Nice to hear that the renos have done so well and the fun part is just around the corner. What colors are you going with?

AFM, I had my blood drawn yesterday for a re-check on my prolactin levels. Tomorrow I go to the RE to talk about all my fertility test results, which were done at the end of October (I've been waiting this long to talk to the doc because I needed to wait for time to pass and a decrease in the nursing, so my prolactin levels would get back down). We shall see what she says. DH isn't coming with me, since he's staying home to look after the kiddies. As for other news, DD's naps during the day have been stellar and plus she is now sleeping through the night and she is night-weaned... and I can't tell you enough just how good it feels to have that happen!  The only thing needing to be worked upon now is me getting to bed earlier.  I get sucked into doing things in the evening-- things I can't get done during the day, plus watching a bit of TV (I'll admit, I've been watching The Bachelor). And the other bit of news is that we are close to adopting a dog, so that our sweet Asha has a companion again. Well, the dog isn't just for her, she is for us too. We have a second visit scheduled for Saturday, and then we make our decision.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

[rcr]

Blue - I am not going back to Vegas. I could never afford donor eggs there. We were looking into California Conceptions, but then some donor embryos came available from my old RE. So I am kinda pursuing both. they have the same prerequesites (saline u/s and bloodwork, dye test, etc.), so I am doing those at my old RE and sending the results to California Conceptions in case the transfer from the old RE doesn't work, I can move quickly to California. The old RE has a much lower success rate (because CC is new embryos from donors, and old RE is from frozen embryos from people with fertility problems). the thing that kinda annoys me about CC is that they don't believe in NK cells, so he won't do interlipids. I am talking to my old RE on Friday to see what she thinks and if she will do it.

[Vegan Princess]

RCR: I'm so glad you came an updated us! Please keep us posted. You know we are all rooting for you!!! What does your timeline look like? Will you need to wait until school break to transfer? Maybe not since you don't have to go through retreival and stimming. Oh I hope this is so much easier and less stressful on you than your own IVFs were!

I am sick. I've been coughing for weeks. Now I think I have a fever and the cough just sucks. I finally got an antibiotic today. It's tough taking care of 2 kids when you feel like crap. Coming here though just reminds me to be so thankful for this opportunity to take care of them - sick or not! But the tv is still my friend.

Cindy

[rcr]

Vegan - I am trying to get all the required tests out of the way so that I can transfer during spring break, which is the second or third week or March. So If I do it all during my next cycle then I think that will happen. I will keep you updated. Sorry you are sick. I have been washing my hands like every half hour trying to avoid getting sick!
 

[Vegan Princess]

Oh yay RCR - that's not too far off! I'm excited for you!! And if you do end up out my way, be sure to PM me for ideas of fun things to do with your son. :-)

Cindy

[rcr]

Thanks Vegan. I am hoping that I won't have to go out that way. I am trying with my old RE first.

Blue - Did you do the interlipids after you found out your were pregnant? I am a little concerned because neither of the REs I am considering want to do them. One (my old RE) says that she can't because it is considered experimental and she would have to go through a review board at the hospital that would cost $1,500. Although I think that if I pressed her I could have Dr. Fisch order it (she mentioned that). The other one (in California) seems to not want to do it at all.