11/27 Weekly Chat Thread « Back to Group Discussions

[Knitting Mama]

Important dates:

Ninetales, appointment 11/28

Aimee, OB appointment 12/15

Eleuthia, CMN appointment 12/15

Thebyr, CNM appointment 12/27

I figured it would be a nice idea to have a weekly chat thread, for topics that we want to talk about but that don't necessarily need their own thread. Also, it would be nice, I think, if we kept track of our appointments here so we can offer each other moral support! So just post when you have an appointment or important date of some type and whoever starts the weekly thread can edit it into the OP. 

So anyway, is it sad that I am already hoping and praying that we have another girl? I want a sister so badly for Cecilia, and I love being the mother of a girl. I just want more girls! This may be our last baby if my husband has his way, so I am praying so hard that we have another girl. 

Edited by Knitting Mama - 12/4/11 at 12:57pm

[Ninetales]

I want another girl too! I just love 'em. This probably won't be our last but I'd just love a gaggle of little girls. According to my charts, we had sex no closer than 5 days to o, so Dr. Shettles would say girl. That's also the conditions Elsa was conceived under. We shall see. I prefer not to find out the sex prior to birth, so I have a long wait!

I have my first appointment tomorrow. Seems really soon but my guess is that they want to get paperwork and medical history out of the way since I'm a new patient. I don't see the dr until the next month.

[IntuitiveJamie]

I'm another one that's praying for a girl!! In fact, this was the official "try for a girl" pregnancy. And it's the only one I get. We always knew there might be a chance for a third if we ended up with two of the same gender either way. I pretty much always wanted one of each.

I won't have any appointments with the midwife for awhile. Eventually well into 2nd trimester probably. I do a lot of my own prenatal care. I'm a lot of things, and one of them is a doula. I'm not actively working as a doula right now, it's more if a good friend or family member wanted it. But I was for awhile. So I know a lot about pregnancy and birth and really trust my body to do what's necessary. The only ultrasound we'll get, if we get one,  is the gender determination one because I'm sure I'll be too anxious to know if it is a girl or not.

CM- I see you are a knitter. I'm a crocheter and I can't wait to be crocheting for a girl (hopefully)! Do you knit a lot of things for your dd?

[pictureframe]

Hey ladies!  We aren't particular about gender - we have one of each right now, and they are both pretty great :).  I'm not sure when I will have my first appointment.  We will be interviewing midwives and such eventually, but I think I am going to go to an OB first to see if I can get an early u/s for dating since I wasn't charting when I got the positive tests and I also have long cycles, which complicates things. 

I see you are still nursing your toddler, Aimee!  I am nursing my 21 month old as well.  Do you plan on tandeming or attempting to wean during pregnancy?  Assuming she doesn't self wean while you are pregnant, which I have heard isn't unheard of. 

Glad to have this group :)

[Knitting Mama]

I hope to be able to tandem nurse! I'm going to leave it up to my daughter. At this point she generally only nurses 2-4 times a day.

I have a lot of supply issues, having had a breast reduction about 12 years ago. I had to supplement my daughter with donated milk in an SNS from the start, because she was jaundiced and I was pressured into doing it. My hope this time around is that I will be able to work hard on building a supply first and not supplement unless it becomes absolutely necessary. I can only hope that having a newborn and a toddler nursing will boost my supply! 

[jeannineb]

I sent my midwife an e-mail today.  I hope she is able to do another homebirth with me.  With my last pregnancy I was using an OB office that had CNM's on staff.  I had used them with my first and it went well but my favorite MW moved away.  I was having a really bad experience with them when I found my hb mw about halfway through.  I did like the dual coverage though, since my mw is a lay midwife.  So, I will be looking for a new OB, hopefully I can get in with one Dr. in town that she knows will respect a homebirth transfer in case of emergency.  The natural childbirth scene where I live is pretty dismal.  We have never found out gender before, I am thinking I just might this time though.  I have a while to think about it.  :)

[Ninetales]

Pictureframe, our daughters are the same age! I still nurse her too. I plan to follow her lead. If I dry up and she decides she's done I'll go with that, and if she wants to keep going I'll try tandeming.

My appointment was as I thought, paperwork, questions, PAP, arranging bloodwork. The NP I saw wants me to do a non fasting glucose tolerance test, which I'm not sure about. It makes sense and it's not the test itself I'm balking at, just the Glucola. It made my sister sick when she did it and it seems so odd. People don't drink a bottle of pure glucose so it's not like it's actually measuring my body's response to normal exposure.

At least she didn't push the flu shot.

[Thebyr]

I'm glad you ladies are talking about doctor's appointment's today. I called my OB and scheduled an appointment because I thought I needed to see her before getting a referral for the CNM program - but apparently I can just call them and make an appointment without going through my regular OB. So - I did just that. I have a phone call with them on the 14th and my first prenatal exam with the CNM on the 27th. I talked to a doula today who said my CNM was awesome! I'm excited to meet them both. I actually won't meet with the doula until after 12 weeks. Everything is falling into place - I just need this baby to grow, grow, grow.

And I feel you on the flu shot ninetales - I've never had one and I KNOW my OB was going to ask me if I had had mine yet - she pushed it in September when I told her I was going to TTC this month. This way I can avoid having one altogether - I hope. They did say the CNM would listen for fetal tones - I hope we hear something or I'm going to insist on an u/s because of my previous blighted ovum.

We won't be finding out the gender either - but I know we're both secretly hoping for a boy.

[Sol_y_Paz]

I am open to whatever gender but would love to have a girl, Dh hasn't said either way. 

Edited by Sol_y_Paz - 12/2/11 at 1:16pm

[pictureframe]

Aimee - I hope BFAR goes well for you the second time around!  I have read many places that your supply grows with each child, and a friend said her supply was out of control when tandeming.  Ha!

Ninetales - Fun about our DDs!  I think I am going to miss being pregnant in the winter when it's so dang hot and humid at the end.  Ha!  Why one earth did she want to do the glucose test already?  That seems kind of bizarre. 

Thebyr - I'm glad you are excited about your providers !  That makes everything much nicer.  With DD, I started with an OB I didn't care for and then switched to a CNM that I loved - it was a great feeling.

I called to get an appt with an OB today - I go on Friday in the morning.  I am hoping that she will do a dating u/s - fingers crossed!

[Ninetales]

I never did any follow up after Elsa was born to see if I had GD.  Apparently she's concerned I may be having problems now.  I don't mind ruling out sugar issues right now but seeing as how I passed a post prandial glucose test at 28 weeks last time I don't think I get it until much closer to the end.  I just hate the idea of jacking up my system with that stuff. 

I looked over the lab order and the whole thing bugs me.  She's got me being tested for sickle cell anemia even though my husband and I are caucasian, toxoplasmosis even though I told her I grew up with outdoor cats and our current cats have been indoor since they were born, HIV even though my husband and I are each other's only partners.  And this GTT crap.  If they weren't doing a regular OB panel for iron and vitamin D and whatnot I'd be tempted to just skip the whole thing and talk to the doctor at my next appointment in a month.

[IntuitiveJamie]

We decided it was finally time to get me a new car. And it's been interesting, b/c we have had to look at larger cars for a family of 5.  Totally different experience than a car for a family of four.

Found one we like. I'll be making a deal today. Excited!

[Thebyr]

Dang ninetales - is this a regular OB? Why is she ordering so many tests? Sheesh.

[Thebyr]

OMG - so I was a "good morning COFFEE" drinker until Nov. 18th when I thought I might really be preggers. And now - I feel like I'm crashing and burning. Work is a lot more painful without that one drink a day. I REALLY need something that I can drink, that's warm, mildy sweet and comforting each morning. Yes - clearly I'm an addict. But I recognize my addiction and I embrace finding ways to manage it. HELP!

[Ninetales]

This was a NP. I don't see the OB until the 19th. I'm debating not going at all. Or maybe going later, like in a few weeks. I'm not sure why I'm shying away. It's not like running any of those tests is actually harmful.

Is it the caffiene you're missing? Or just having a warm drink? Does decaf work for you, or maybe hot tea?

[Thebyr]

I feel you.. I just get nervous when doctors (and nurses) wanna "do a lot." I guess it's all harmless and it's better to know than anything.

It's not the caffeine - it's the taste and the habit of drinking something. Decaf is hard in my office because we only have one brewer - but maybe I could get some instant.

[Knitting Mama]

Unless there's a medical reason you shouldn't, pretty much every midwife or OB will tell you it's safe to have a caffeinated drink every day, just limit it. 

[Thebyr]

True. I did read it was safe to have one. I'm just trying to wait until my second trimester - since I had a blighted ovum last time. Just being extra cautious.

[Knitting Mama]

Totally understandable! I didn't have caffeine at all with my first, until I wanted to get good movement from her for an ultrasound!  Have you tried different herbal teas? 

[Thebyr]

I had some ginger tea on deck (yogi) - then I realized it had licorice root in it. It was on the no-no list I found. I had some yummy white tea and lemongrass - lemongrass is also on the list. I need to go buy some more peppermint tomorrow. I had a little english breakfast the other day - but I felt bad because it wasn't decaf. So I stopped drinking after 2 sips. I looked up some coffee alternatives - I'll see what they have at the store tomorrow.