Queer & Pregnant & Parenting - July, August, September, and now October! - Page 31

[nosreves]

starling -- hugs right back to you.  i'm am so very sorry about your friend.  i know you'd been helping with her care during her illness, and i can't imagine the sense of loss you must be feeling right now.  i hope you are able to slow down soon and have the time to mourn and just be with your own family.  

seraf -- i was teasing you ;)  .  i know Sara is carrying the other half of the load there.  i am still pretty amazed by all that you both accomplish given how much you have on your plates.  

kate -- mmmm chocolate. dark works, right?  

afm...i had what was supposed to be my final u/s today, and the baby is head down with his back to the right.  the midwife said everything looked fine *except* that he looked to have one foot slightly turned inward.  i looked up the word she used, and the English translation is "clubfoot".  DP said that she emphasized the word "slightly" and pointed it out (i couldn't see the monitor well). the midwife also said several times that she didn't think it was a big deal and that it may just be lack of space or how he's positioned, but of course i'm now worrying.  she had us schedule another u/s for Friday with the experienced ultrasound doctor to double check.    

[lisedea]

starling--I am so incredibly sorry about your loss.

[CascadiaMama]

Nos, I wish I had a picture, but Alex was born with his foot bent inward in a funny way, and his toes curled in that direction to match. It was totally from way he was crammed in there - his foot returned to normal within a few days. I wish we'd gotten a good photo - the curled toes were so sweet, in a "ah, so that's what was poking me in the ribs for the last month" way.

And hugs to starling - I'm so sorry, and I too hope you get the space you need to heal, soon.

[nosreves]

amy -- thank you so much for responding with that. :)

[kateadelle]

nosreves dark chocolate is my favorite! Reading your story about the ultrasound actually made me kind of mad. I wish these people would be more careful with their words! I am sure that everything is fine and that your boy was just in a funky position (it is getting kind of tight in there!). I am so sorry that you are having to worry about this! Please do let us know what you find out on Friday, though.

starling so sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. 

[outdoorsy]

Nosreves - Threadcrashing to say that my sister's boy was born four years ago with one of his feet turned in, and it went away on its own before long -- not sure exactly how long, but certainly in plenty of time for him to start walking. He walked normally and at the normal age.

[DesertSunsets]

Not that this post is in any way sufficient, but I had to stop in real quick. 

Starling - big, big hugs.  I'm really sorry your friend had such a terrible cancer.  That family is lucky to have you around.  

and 

nosreves!  I am certain that your son is perfect, no matter how he comes out.  I do wish that ultrasound tech had been more sensitive, ugh.  Hug that DP of yours for us, since we can't be there to help out!  That baby will be here before we know it.  <3 

[prettyisa]

Nos--I had feet turned in when I was born--they made me wear some crazy boot straightening bar thing to help fix it. But now they don't do that to kids because eventually they realized that TONS of kids are born with feet turned a little, and as Outdoorsy said it fixes itself on its own.

[wishin'&hopin']

Starling--so sorry for your friend, for your friend's family and for you as you stand in the midst of it.  

Nosreves--there are so many points when I wonder if there is such a thing as too much information...I'm glad that the osteopath has brought you some relief and sorry that the ultrasound brought a new worry (tho' it sounds like lots of folks have had a bit of experience with slightly crooked, and absolutely adorable, baby feet!)  

[darthtunaqueen]

Nos, I see lots of kids with their feet turned in.  No one ever gets excited about it unless it's actual club foot, which I'm not even sure you can really SEE on an ultrasound anyways, since babies move around so much.  And even if his foot IS turned in, there is absolutely NOTHING you can do about it now anyways.  :)  Worry about it when it's actually an issue, otherwise put it out of your head and enjoy the last few (if rather uncomfortable) weeks of pregnancy you have left!!  :D

[pokeyAC]

Starling - I'm so sorry about your friend.  I hope you and her family are grieving and healing.

AFM - We had our last appointment today with the fertility department.  I will kind of miss seeing them all on a regular basis even though I'm not because I've graduated.  They did an ultrasound and we got to see our 1 perfect baby!  We were both hoping there would be 2, but we will get over it quickly enough.  We are so grateful to be having one baby.  It measured on track and we got to see and hear the heartbeat.  It was pretty freakin' cool.  Here is a picture of our little doodlebug.  It's a pdf.  I hope you can see it.  I am now turned over to my regular OB.  They gave me a big folder of stuff to read through and forms to fill out.  I will have my first prenatal appointment in the middle of November.  It feels much more real now and I feel like I have so much to think about and so many decisions to make.

I've been feeling fairly decent.  I didn't eat enough yesterday afternoon and I ended up vomiting at work.  That was not very fun, but I felt better afterwards.  I hope it doesn't happen too often.  Our bathroom is not very private.  Maybe next time I will have the foresight to run down to the private bathroom at the other end of the hall.  I will be stocking up on healthy protein snacks and such this weekend.  The nausea may not be fun but it is a real sign to me that I am actually pregnant, and that is a nice feeling.

The Bean (2).pdf 57k .pdf file

[wishin'&hopin']

Pokey--what an adorable bean!  

Knitting--you mentioned boob cozies for bottles awhile back...forgot to tell you that thinking about that makes me giggle!  

AFM--we ALL went to the midwife intake yesterday (it was just with a nurse).  I can't say I enjoyed trying to keep an overtired, squirming 2.5 year old still and quiet during the appt!  But, we both wanted to be there because we were hoping to get a quick doppler listen (I hadn't heard the babe's heartbeat yet).  So, after a prolonged period of anxious silence the midwife finally found the heartbeat--a lovely 160 bpm!  It took her a bit b/c most folk have their intake around week 7/8 and since we transferred from the RE it was at week 11.5 and the baby was higher than she realized.  So, in a week and a half we'll go "public"--which I'm looking forward to because I'm an extrovert and since I'm not actually pregnant I need the external affirmation of what we're doing ;)  I think we've decided to forego any first trimester screenings (no nt and no quad screen) b/c it wouldn't affect what our course during this pregnancy would be and we decided the risk of results that worried us, for no reason, are not worth it--we want to try to enjoy this pregnancy w/o worrying about 1/1000 chances etc.  We also did a mall trip for a few maternity items for DW--I love those moments of it all feeling so REAL :)  Otherwise, my best friend and her partner are taking a break from TTC after a little over a year of IUIs--I'm heart sick for her and having some survivor's guilt.  She'll be an amazing mom--and I so wish this was happening faster and easier for her.   

[nosreves]

salut, everyone!  i just wanted to thank you all for your words of reassurance and support during my freak out earlier this week. ya'll seriously rock 

pokey -- what a sweet little bean!  congrats on your graduation!  hearing that heartbeat and seeing the first ultrasound really start to make it all feel real.  i'm soo excited for you!

wishin -- yay for heartbeats and going public!  i'm sorry to hear about your best friend, but hopefully, she'll get a little mental and emotional respite during her ttc break and get her bfp right after getting back into the game.  i know a lot of us on here struggled for a long time before we finally got pregnant.  DP and i got pretty disillusioned and disheartened after nearly two years of setback after setback and impossibly high hurdle after hurdle, but here we are about to welcome our little boy into the world, and it now all seems worth it.  i really hope your friend knows the same joy sometime very soon.

so afm.... we had another u/s today..this one done by a doctor.  she said everything looks fine and that she doubts that there are problems with his foot.  if there is any curvature, she thinks it's something that could easily be corrected with a little bit of physical therapy.  at one point she started laughing and said, "well, some babies suck their thumbs in utero.  yours is smelling his foot," and she took a picture of his face with his little foot directly above his nose.  for some reason, DP and i were terribly pleased by this silliness (as some of you on FB have seen.)    oh, and we were told once again that he's a "beau bébé" (which surprisingly enough does *not* mean a "beautiful baby" but rather refers to the fact that he has a big belly and is therefore a "good-sized baby".) 

[easttowest]

My wife just told me she had some spotting. She is 5 weeks, 6 days. I am trying not to worry because I know it can be normal, but obviously it is difficult.

[pokeyAC]

  Hang in there!  I know it's really scary, but it might be no big deal at all.  I hope everything is fine and you are both feeling at peace soon.

[lisedea]

easttowest--Hoping everything is okay! I know how horrible the unknown is. It is so hard to wait...but there isn't much else you can do. What color is the spotting? Is she cramping as well?

[nosreves]

easttowest -- .  i hope it's nothing at all and that the little bean is just settling in more deeply.  

[KnittingTigers]

Easttowest- sending bigs to both of you, and hoping it's no big deal. I had spotting at exactly that time with my daughter, and everything was fine. Fingers crossed.

[easttowest]

It was brown, but now it's pink.  She says she's had cramping on and off today, but she has also had it for the past week.  The ob/gyn (who she hasn't even met yet) said to take it easy, and she made an appointment on Monday.  Take it easy?  Yeah, ok... we'll try.  Thanks for the well wishes everyone.  Trying to stay hopeful...

[lisedea]

east--I cramped a bit (normal in early pregnancy) and had pink and then bright red...and as far as I know, everything is okay--at least it stopped. Have her put a pillow under her knees while laying down--that is supposed to help. I am thinking of you two!