IVF Graduates thread!! - Page 92

[auraleigh]

blue, how was the shower!! 

tear, you are so close!  i'm so glad to hear that there are no pre e symptoms and it's looking good for a vaginal birth.  how exciting!  how much snow did you wind up getting?  we only got 6 inches, it was pretty but nothing crazy.  

spent all of yesterday on couch rest, so today i cleaned a bit and am on a cooking binge.  chocolate chocolate chip zucchini cake is good for you, right?  it's made of vegetables! i've also got a pot of mushroom barley soup going, and the house smells so good!

[blueyezz4]

Okay, I'm finally back and ready to get all caught up!!  I read along on my phone, but w/ the shower and everything I have just been slacking on posting lately.  Need to be better about it b/c if I'd stay on top of it it wouldn't take me so long to get caught up.  Okay, here we go...

Aura - Mmmm.... your zuch cake sounds awesome!!!  My grandmother always made zuch bread and I loved it!!  I should see if my aunt has her recipe and try to make it. It was so good just warmed up in the micro for a few sec and then a little butter on top.  Now i'm getting hungry!!  LOL  Glad to hear your little boy flipped.  I think our little guy is still head down (has been for all the ultrasounds so far) b/c i think he has been kicking me in the diaphragm and ribs.  It just seems like it's too high to be his fist punching me that high so i'm guessing it's a foot.  Such a weird feeling being kicked from the inside and seeing your belly move at the same time.  Odd, but everyone says that after you deliver you miss that feeling so i guess i'll enjoy it while it lasts.  When is your next appt?  This week right???  Keep us posted.  Hope all goes well.  About your mobile question.  A dear friend gave us hers actually and it is one that projects onto itself and then later on it will project onto the ceiling.  One thing that I've been told to be sure to look for in a mobile is a remote b/c you can just stand in the doorway to restart it and not actually go into the room which helps b/c sometimes when they see you it's all over.

Tear - glad to hear that the Pre - E is not haunting you this time!!  That is great!!  Wonder what makes the difference?  Did the dr say?  Hope you survived the snow storm and aren't still snowed in!!  Do you have your Step B test soon?  I think they do them around 35-38 wks?  I never have had one but grabbed a info on it the other day when i was in the OB's office... being there every week gets boring so you start looking for things to occupy your time.  Must be bad if I've resorted to the brochures.  LOL  What is up w/ having to take a sample from two places?  That doesn't sound like fun at all. 

Laura - yay for getting the diabetes under control w/ diet but boo to all the other crazy things you have going on!!  What is up w/ that, you poor thing!!!  I'm hoping things get under control so you don't have to deal w/ all that extra stuff.  Yuck!!!  Yes, easy pregnancy would be nice for sure.  

Bucket - glad that your scan went well.  How are you feeling??  How many wks are you now??

Hope, Keria, Belly, Renavoo, Kewpie, Tenzi, Vegan, Lyndi - how are all of you doing and how are the babes?????  Prob forgetting someone, i really should have a little cheat sheet but I don't have one.

Hope - I just realized i never PM'd you, did I!!!!  Ugh, pregnancy brain.  Maybe you don't need it and he is doing better, I hope.  If you do want the info just let me know. Sorry.  Hope you are doing well and adjusting to having 2 at home now.

rcr - How are things on your end??  Any luck w/ the lipids??  I think they only last like at most 2 months in your system if that.  I was having mine w/ this pregnancy every month up until 24 wks and then i stopped.

Shesaid - how are you doing???  How many wks now???  Keep us posted... what is next?

Vireos - how are you doing???

Toothfairy - you too, how are things????

Deborah - thinking of you and glad you are moving on to adoption which can hopefully fill that spot in your heart!!!

Hopefully i didn't miss anyone.... i was just looking back on the 2nd to last page to try and refresh my memory!!!!

AFM -   Wow, lets see where do i start... Just hit the 32 wk mark last Sunday, can't even believe it is going so fast which is good b/c it is only getting more uncomfortable as we go.  We got our nursery furniture last week so we are just letting that air out and I'm waiting on our rocker to get fixed.  I had this really old rocker that probably both my dad and aunt were rocked in when they were babies and i had to take it to get the springs fixed on it and am having it recovered to match the nursery.  I was going to do it myself and bought all the stuff but then found that the springs were shot in the chair so i just took all the stuff i bought and the place is doing it all.  Once I get that back then we can start hanging decorations on the walls b/c we will know where the furniture needs to be exactly.  So fun.  i also need to get a crib mattress which i'm hoping to do this week and start letting it air out too.  So much airing out to be done... LOL.  Had my first shower last weekend (my church friends) which was really nice.  Couple of the fun gifts that i didn't ask for but got were a Baby Bullet mixer thing to make baby food and also two friends went together and got me a big basket and just filled it w/ tons of books for our little guy which i just loved.  Our next shower (family and work/some other friends) is on the 23 of this month and that one should be fun b/c it is at a friends house and she loves to host/plan parties so it will be nice i'm sure.  Then my Mom and a couple friends from my home town (2 hrs away) are having a little one there in the beginning of March.  I finished my thank you notes last night for this last shower and wanted to get that done before I did much else so i was waiting to post on here until I got my work done.  Normally have my OB appt every Thurs w/ a non-stress test first and then see my dr afterwards and our next ultrasound is Friday March 1st in the late afternoon. Still getting weekly shots and my stitch will come out when i hit 36 weeks.  I think that is about it for now.  ???Oh, do any of you ladies or you grads have any solution for your hips hurting when you are sleeping?  I have a chiro appt soon, but ugh... by morning they both are killing me and i've tried the pillow between the knees and all and it still hurts.

[deborahbgkelly]

Blue- Thanks for the encouragement. In terms of hips, I highly recommend getting a maternity pillow. They lift your hips and you have a more even body position. Unfortunately, my fantastic one isn't sold anymore. I sometimes use it even when I'm not PG because it helps my back so much.

[Vegan Princess]

Blue: Keeping top leg elevated to at least hip level - so maybe add an extra pillow between legs. Hip stretches before bed. Epsom salt baths. But some things are just unavoidable and I think that is one of them. I just walked with my midwife today and she is 37 weeks and knows all the tricks and that is her biggest complaint bc nothing is helping her anymore either. I can't believe how far you are! So fun!!

I felt so sick last night I actually took a prego test. Never hoped a preg test would be negative before! LOL. It was though. That would be some luck to end up with kiddos 13 mos apart! 

Gotta run - my 4 yr old just undressed the baby...

Cindy

[hope4light]

blue - I'd love the name when you have a chance!!!  I can't believe how far along you are already.  Where has the time gone?

aura - yeah for both being head down!  I can't believe you're so close to the 3rd tri already.  Wow.

Bucket - it really is exhausting isn't it?  LOL

Vegan - Uh oh, the itch is starting :-)

laura - sounds like you have things under control for the GD, so that's good!  I'm sorry for everything else you've been dealing with, big hugs to you.

Tear - yeah for no signs of pre-e!  I can't believe how close you are, here's to hoping for a healthy vaginal birth!

AFM - Lot's going on.  DS is just over a month old already, and I'm not sure when or how that happened.  He really is a great little boy, but we are still struggling with reflux.  We switched up his meds and had an ultrasound last week to make sure that his tummy is as it should be (it is).  So, we just keep trying new things.  Colic Calm is a God send, it's what allows us to get some sleep at night.  We are still nursing, and he is a PIG.  He wants to eat all the time.  We had his 1 month check up yesterday, and he's up to 10 pounds 14 ounces (born at 8 pounds 9 ounces).  He's a hoss.  Crazy little guy LOL.

A week and a half ago DD got real sick.  We weren't sure what was going on, but she ended up with herpes.  Apparently she put her hand in her mouth after touching something that was touched by someone with a weeping cold sore.  She was covered in mouth sores, had them on her tummy, her arms, her back, her neck, her face.  After a number of days she stopped drinking (she already hadn't been eating solids) and ended up in the hospital for 3 days due to dehydration and the need to get an IV anti viral to get over the sores.  It was horrible, and I still sit here thinking how in the he** did she get herpes of all things.  Apparently by the age of 20 soem 90% or more of people have the virus i their body (because cold sore, shingles and chicken pox are all Herpes).  So I know it's not the 'bad' thought of herpes, but it was horrible.  She was so not herself and you could tell how miserable she was.  She is still on the antiviral, but she's herself now.  I'm so glad she's doing better, but it was horrible running back and forth.  DH stayed with her at the hospital, but then each day I would go for about 4 hours or so to see her and hang out, and DH would take DS and come back home to shower and try to get more human.  It was exhausting.

OK, I'm going to post my birth story next!!

[hope4light]

Well, it all started Monday 1/7/13, when I went in for my 40 week check up.  I hadn't made any progress from my prior check up, so was hanging out at about 4 cm dilated.  I was exhausted.  She stripped my membranes again, but I went to work afterwords and had no inkling that labor might be coming on it's own.  At the appointment she wanted to schedule my induction, and I oddly gave in and let her.  I'm not even sure why, maybe just from being exhausted, maybe a little gut instinct, I'm not sure.  I didn't let them push me so much with DD, so it surprised me that I did with DS.

Well, we scheduled the induction for the next day, Tuesday the 8th, at 4am.  Yep, 4am.  So after work I went home and we finished getting everything ready to go.  My mom came over and stayed the night to take care of DD.  We got up about 2:45 and ran by dunkin donuts for some breakfast on our way to the hospital.  We got there exactly at 4:00.

They took us back, did all the paperwork, asked the myriad of questions, got my IV going, started fluids.  At 5:00am they started the dreaded pitocin.  I felt it strengthen my contractions pretty quick, but handled them well at that time.

So around 6:00 they had upped the pitocin twice, and the contractions were getting worse.  The nurse asked if I planned on a epidural, and I said yes.  She let me know that since I was already a 4, I could get it at any time, so she'd have anesthesia come in to just go over everything so that I could get it when ready.  They came in maybe just before 6:30, went over everything and told me to let them know when I was ready.  By now, the contractions were just plain evil, so I let them know I was ready.  It took them a WHILE to get the epidural in, and DH finally got to come back in the room around 7:15.  The epidural had worked on my left side, but I was still feeling everything on my right side, so we were trying to get it to spread to the right leg.

The OB from my office that does rounds came in around 7:30 to break my water.  She checked me and quickly advised she wasn't going to break my water as I was fully dilated, and if she did, my doc wouldn't make it to deliver the baby.

Huh?  Fully dilated?  Already?  With my DD I labored for around 29 hours (scar tissue problems).  I'd only been at the hospital in labor at this point for 2 1/2, so it was a huge surprise that I was fully dilated??

I was still at 0 station, so I was good with laboring down while waiting for the doc.  I didn't have the urge to bear down yet, so I was good.  So we wait for the doc, the nurse gets the room all ready, and suddenly I realize that it doesn't feel like the epidural is working much anymore (not like it really ever did).  Yikes.  OK, deep breathing through the contractions, DH was being super helpful in helping me get through.  My doc gets there, they finish everything up, and she breaks my water (it was clear).

I immediately need to bear down.  They didn't even get to clean up the mess from breaking my water and I was trying to crawl myself up the bed because I needed to push.  People were trying to come in my room and my OB was kicking them out saying she was about to deliver a baby.  She was great, she let me follow my body's natural instinct to push.  There was no counting, no 'here's a contraction, time to push' none of that.  I pushed with the natural rythym of my body telling me when.  And I felt every bit of it.  4 pushes, less than 10 minutes, and my sweet baby boy was born.  From the start of the pitocin through delivery, my labor was a mere 3 hours and 40 minutes.  He pooped on his way out.

They put him up on my chest and DH cut the cord.  I honestly don't remember delivering the placenta, nor the stitches from the second degree tear.  He had the cord wrapped twice, but came out SCREAMING (and boy does he have a set of lungs on him!!!)  They immediately placed him on my chest and we did skin to skin.  He latched on and nursed within 20 minutes of birth, and did an amazing job!!  They didn't take him away to weigh him or wrap him up until over an hour after he was born.  It was all skin to skin and nursing.  It was amazing.

He came out with some bruising on his face that came from his speedy trip down the birth canal.  It was gone by that night.

Afterwards, DH asked if I had known it was only going to take an hour after the epi if I would have tried to make it, I said yes, and I really would have.

We are so in love.  DD just wants to hold him all the time.  She walks around the house saying 'baby, baby' it is SO adorable.  He continues to nurse like a champ, which is such a different experience than what I had with DD in the beginning.  
 

[deborahbgkelly]

Hope- What a beautiful birth story. May you continue to have a beautiful experience as your LOs grow.

[vireoes]

I will write my update first and then get to personal if I have time.  I keep putting off updating, because I know DD will wake up from her nap before I can finish.  DH went away for work for two weeks, so I got the joys of single parent life.  Every time he goes I have to bow to the single parents who do it every day.  I need whatever little break I get at the end of the day when DH arrives home.  When DH came back he immediately came down with a bad case of flu, so I ended up with taking care of two instead of catching up on rest and personal time.  So finally this last week I have gotten a bit of time to catch up with things.  Thankfully everything is going well with the pregnancy and I am entering the happy second trimester stage.  We had a check-up last week and everything seems to be going well.  Next appointment is the anatomy scan.  I can't wait to find out the gender, so we can start sorting through leftovers from DD and know what needs to be kept and what can be passed on.  If we have another girl, we should be mostly set for the first year.  My sister had a boy last year, so she will pass down quite a bit to us if it goes that way.  We have been holding off on really looking at names until we find out the gender.  Of course, last time with DD, she refused to show herself even after lots of prodding by the ultrasound tech.  So we were not really sure until late in the third trimester when they ran another ultrasound to check position for delivery, so we are not counting on knowing at the next scan.  We are hopeful that this little one will be more cooperative.  DD is still kind of like that at two, she doesn't like people messing with her.  She has no problem telling people to not touch or talk to her if she doesn't feel like it.  She can be super cuddly and affectionate, but those are only on her terms when she is in the mood for it.  Seems like good traits to have in a little girl, hopefully she will remember when she is a teenager.

Hope-Thanks for sharing you wonderful birth story.  I am glad everything went so quickly and smoothly for you.  I am sure starting with induction always makes you nervous, but sounds like things really turned out well.  How wonderful that they let you have so much good skin/bonding time after the delivery.  Hopefully you will get the relux situation figured out.  Glad to hear that DD is feeling better that must have been really difficult having her sick and juggling the little guy.

Blue-Wow 32 weeks already.  Wish I had something useful to add about the hip pain.  Stretching, warm baths, keeping fiddling with pillows (more, less, different).  Sounds like you are getting close on the nursery.  It will be fun to get the final decoration ups and be all ready for the little guy.

More personals will have to wait DD is up and about.  I hope everyone else is doing great!

[shesaidboom]

Hi ladies, I'm still around and reading. I'm 14 weeks now. My mom just got diagnosed with breast cancer, so I've been busy being her support. She goes in for surgery next week. I'm trying not to get too stressed out because I know it's not good for the baby, but it's hard to avoid. I will do personals later on, I just wanted to post a little note. I have been thinking of all of you.

[blueyezz4]

Shesaid -  So sorry to hear about your Mom!!  I will keep her, you and your family in my thoughts and prayers!!  Now a days they have such good treatments for cancer hopefully she will make a fully recovery!!! Be sure to take care of yourself and the little bean too!!!

Vireoes - Ugh That doesn't sound like fun at all!  Glad that your house is healthy now.  Did anyone else get what your DH had?  I hope not.  Can't wait to hear how your U/S goes and what you are having!!!!

Hope - OMGosh!!!!  Can't believe about your DD!! That had to of been so rough!  Glad that your DH was around to help you out b/c if he would have been working and out of town that would really have been hard w/ a new little one.  Glad she is doing better.  Loved reading your birth story!!!  Glad all went well and so much shorter this time.  Did they make you get the Tetnus and the other vaccine for whopping cough I think it is?  My OB office just told me about it today and are recommending it before or right after our little one is born and also said that DH and anyone that is going to be around the babe should get it.  I don't like all these decisions b/c these new vaccines out there kinda scare me.

[Keria]

Sorry I've been MIA life has been really busy. Ive tried to write a few times but these little people always demand my attention before I have a chance to write anything.

Deborah I'm so sorry. life is so unfair. I hope everything goes as smooth as possible with the adoption.

Can't wait to see all new babies :), i;m cheering for you all.

[deborahbgkelly]

Thanks Keria.

[suzie mccool]

Hi everyone :)  I've been graduated from IVF TTC to 6 weeks pregnant so here I am, on the right page!

I'm still in shock that the cycle worked and pretty excited! I promise I won't be a complainer, and last time i was pregnant (14 years ago) I went through the whole thing with no side effects except extensive eating... and a 30kg weight gain!  It took me 6 years to lose 20kgs of it, the other 10kgs stayed to keep me company for the rest of my life it seems lol.  Fingers crossed that this will be the same aside from that weight gain, but I am a million years older and achier and less tolerant of just about everything, so we shall see ...

Good luck to everyone!  I have a wealth of knowledge for pregnancy questions - my best friend just had 2 babies in the same year and I am her babysitter and pregnancy companion, so feel free to hit me up with anything - I also have no shame and NOTHING embarrasses me anymore.. the joys of being old and awesome hahahaha

Blueyezz: I have shocking hip pain when I sleep ever since my first pregnancy - the only thing that ever gives me any relief is acupuncture (aside from proper anti-inflammatories).  It took a couple of sessions initially and then follow ups when it flares back up, but it really makes a difference!  I just wish I found it sooner, that pain is such a sleep wrecker!
 

[rcr]

Hope - Congrats! I loved the birth story.

Blue - I am not doing the interlipids, the doc won't (can't actually). she would need approval from an institutional review board (because it is considered expimental), and the hospital does not have one, so to pay for one to get together would be like $5000. The donor embryo/FET is only costing us like $100 or less even. I am just hoping for the best anyway, since there is nothing that I can do about the interlipids. If it doesn't work, the next plan is california conceptions, which is a lot more expensive, so I will put up a bigger fight for the interlipids.

[rcr]

And welcome, and congrats Suzie!

[hope4light]

I'm trying to post some pictures from my phone... This one,is shortly after birth. The next one is both the,kiddos from maybe a month ago.

[hope4light]

welcome and congrats suzIe!

[TenzinsMama]

Welcome Suzie! Congrats on your pregnancy!

Hope, your children are so adorable!  How is your daughter adjusting?

rcr, sounds like some really good plans are shaping up... I hope this is it for you!

Hi to everyone else!

AFM, things are going well. We have reached a very nice state of relative calm in our household, as of the last month or so. DD is doing well at night, having learned to self-soothe. Phew!  I'm starting to feel like a fully functioning human being again, ha ha.  With my new-found energy, I've been enjoying my MSW class immensely (it helps that I love the topic and the professor). I've also starting becoming active with things related to birth-- I attended a documentary showing of Ina May Gaskin's life and The Farm (can't remember the title of it, right now) as well as one that was made by three medical residents who are promoting collaborative care with midwives in our province. I also went to a meeting where I met our city's current midwifery students-- one of our universities started a midwifery program going on 2 years ago. Close to 300 people applied for 15 spots the first year it opened up! Alao, I'm paying attention to a lot of the stuff coming up in the news, related to studies and such. I'm posting this link, as this was something that came up on our Canadian newsfeed, about vaginal births of twins-- interesting. http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/c-sections-not-better-for-twin-births-canadian-study-says-1.1160754 . DH is afraid that if we get pregnant again, it would be twins... not about the birthing aspect, but how we would get into a chaotic state in our home all over again, lol. We'd have to get a new vehicle, try to find another room of the house to convert to another bedroom, etc. I was thinking the other day when the last time was that I had a full nights sleep, and it was before I got pregnant with DS-- over 3 years ago!

[auraleigh]

hello ladies!

hope, thank you so much for sharing your birth story and photos!  i love all of it.  i especially love the photo of your ds and dd snuggled up together.  you must be such a proud mama!

blue, my hips and shoulders hurt at night, but i've been sleeping with the snoogle and it's *better*.  not great, but better.  i also try to do butterfly stretches to stretch my hips out when i lay down to go to sleep, and i think that helps too. also, 32 weeks!!>!?!?!! 

vireoes, so excited for your anatomy scan! i loved it.  fill us in!

shesaid, hope your mom is doing okay.  it's amazing that you can be there for her through this, but just remember to take care of yourself as well. 

suzie, congrats and welcome!  i love to see people graduate to this side.  

rcr, when is your transfer going to be?  i have EVERYTHING crossed.

tenzin, thanks for the article!  i just talked to my ob about it this morning and they are VERY pro vaginal delivery.

afm, 24 weeks!  i feel huge, and can feel the babies all the time now, which is the greatest thing ever.  our little girl is still head down against my cervix, and this week the boy is transverse.  he's all over the place.  my ob said my cervix is a mile long, my fluid is great, and my blood pressure is low and there is no protein in my urine.  from the looks of things, these babies are staying put, so she said they'd probably induce around 37 weeks barring any unforseen circumstances.  i'm still terrified of going into labor, but my ob said she's delivered 10 sets of twins vaginally last year and all were totally fine.  she did laugh and say that i may want an epidural, but i am not trying to win any awards for bravery and am more than looking forward to pain relief if that is the direction things take.  i'm a big baby about pain.  i have my fetal echo on friday and am nervous about it, but not overly so.  just excited to see the babies again!  

the weirdest thing is that my left foot and left leg keep swelling up.  it's like i have one giant food and one normal one.  even my left shoe is tight! did anyone have this? my dr said that one of the babies may be leaning on a vein weird or something.  

now that we've reached the stage of viability i think i will order the cribs soon, and go to ikea for some of the other furniture.  we already ordered the rug (going with flor tiles because they're washable and replaceable), and i've been getting odds and ends to decorate with.  i am so excited!

[suzie mccool]

auralleigh: nice to see you again :)  take all the drugs they offer you LOL  i only had one baby, and the hours with epidural, compared to those without are beyond comparison! 

You must be so excited - i'm excited for you!!  Enjoy baby shopping x