1st time mamas roll call!!!

[Happypants]

ok, i can't stand it anymore. i've waited sooooo long to be pregnant, and even though i just found out yesterday and i should be cautious and careful and all that good stuff, i just really feel the need to celebrate! it's absolutely all i can do not to blurt out my news in the random-est of circumstances. and we are going to tell my mil/fil and dh's grandma tomorrow night 'cause we'll be seeing them anyway and they know we were ttc, and b/c the babe is due on mil's b-day...

BUT

i really wanna chat with y'all who are going through this for the first time too! it's all so much to think about! how are you holding up so far? are you worried? excited? elated? scared? i am all of these things, but mostly i think i'm in shock. this was our 14th cycle ttc and i had begun to lose hope, but somehow this cycle was different from the start. somehow i started to believe that it might happen, but at the same time i didn't hang all my hope on that belief. i also did the yoga4fertility dvd, which i think helped immensely with my state of mind.

soooo...who is out there that's also a first-timer?? when are you "due"? how are you feeling physically? mentally? emotionally? who have you told?

i think those of us who join the due date clubs towards the end of the month are at a bit of a disadvantage b/c everyone's already introduced themselves and started chatting, so this is my attempt to meet some of y'all and introduce myself.



can you tell i'm just a bit excited!

[starlein26]

i just wanted to say congratulations!! you sounded so excited i had to reply! i wish you the very best with this pregnancy and remember to enjoy every second of it...there's never another one like the first pregnancy.

[eorr]

Hey Happypants!
I know you from the One Thread, so we're not total strangers! I'm definitely feeling all of the things you described. First time for us, and though it didn't take as much patience as you had to muster, I'm still in shock. I feel a little different, but not totally, so it all seems very surreal. I'm hoping to do as starlein26 suggests and just really enjoy the ride!
I'm feeling kinda lost - I've done so much reading here on raising kids, but not on the being pg part, so I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing! I figure I'll go with the flow and just try to stay healthy and happy, listening to my body.
We're changing insurance in the next few weeks, so I'm waiting to get a blood test done until early Oct. and think that I may wait to officially start telling people until then. I feel like then maybe I'll believe it more, ykwim? :LOL But I also hate lying to people when they ask, since we did tell people we would ttc this fall. Hmmm. . . maybe that was a mistake?
Anyway, I'm looking forward to pursuing this journey with you and the others here. Just still feel a little reluctant to commit to a late May due date, I guess.
Congrats to you and your dp! I'm just thrilled for you and so happy to see you here.

[dshields]

Hi girls,
First time here too. I am so excited, but as I discussed with dh today, a little reluctant to really claim it as we miscarried last month. It happened before I af was even expected so at almost 6 weeks now I'm feeling really confident, but dh is still scared of another broken heart. We haven't told any family yet though we've seen them more in the past two weeks than in the entire past year!

My first appointment isn't until the 20th of Oct. so I'm not planning on telling them until after that. Funny...I'm the WORST at secret keeping but my lips are sealed tight this time. I'm so thankful that I have this board and you guys (girls) to share it with (god now I'm crying!).

i have been far more nervous about the huge impact this will have on our lives than m/c. Though we're not very *young* (I'll be 28, he 27) we're the first of our friends to be pregnant. Dh has a brother who's 32 and a sister who's 30 and neither are even in serious relationships, let alone having babies. To be honest, I'm even afraid of feeling judged, like we don't make enough money, or seem too young etc. I know how much we're excited for our babe, but I feel scared and nervous at times too, especially when feeling sick. Will I be able to work the way that I'd like? How the heck do I find/trust/afford a babysitter? I'm self-employed and would only need someone sporadically for never more than three hours at a time, but who? My mom is an hour and a half away! Sorry this is going negative, which is NOT my primary emotion, but it is so easy to share my elation with dh and a friend that I confided in, but I just don't want them to see this side.

I also can't wait to have my big belly, feel like I can buy some tiny clothes for my tiny babe and tell everyone and know that they are truly happy for us. Oh first-trimester, please fly by!

danielle

[alexisyael]

First timer here

We were TTCing for almost two years. It took me a couple of days after I saw that first (faint) line to get over the shock. The fact that we found out two days after my dh's uncle died unexpectedly didn't help with that.

Then I started getting excited! Now it's starting sinking in, and I'm more on an even keel (which is good) just riding the waves of early pregnancy. I'm trying hard not to want this to go faster than it is, cause I want to savor it, but it's hard! I can't wait (OK, I can) to have a big ol pregnant belly and let myself shop for cloth diapers and tiny baby clothes...

But I'm making myself savor each stage as it comes. That's how I survived TTC (letting it come one day at a time) and I think it's my best bet for staying sane in preggo land.

that said, I am REALLY hoping that the nausea I have tonight is NOT an indicator that my m/s has started... cause that would suck!

[ThatLinGirl]

First time mama here! I'm another one who has waited a long time for this - we stopped avoiding in April of 03 and then started charting in June of 04 - so it has been about 2.5 years now, at least 1.5 with perfect timing. I was SHOCKED when I saw my positive test. At first I thought "Gee, that is funny, the dye is really clumping in that part of the test." :LOL

I'm terrified though, I have known too many wondeful women who have miscarried and had ectopics and I am having a hard time relaxing. I've been feeling a lot of mild cramping and some pulling and it has been totally freaking me out.

I'm due May 24! We have been in Atlanta for this summer but we will be moving back to Scotland in 3 days - and staying until.... the end of May. I guess it will have to be the end of June now, and I think it will be the hardest move EVER.

We haven't told anyone besides messageboard friends, my mom, and my stepdad. I think I'll tell my dad when baby is about 5, he'll be a nightmare, calling every 10 seconds to make sure I am okay.

I don't feel as if I have enough symptoms yet - but I don't want the nausea. I will admit I am the biggest baby when it comes to nausea, yuck. I'd take sorer boobs or something. :LOL

[Happypants]

hi gals!

i know what you mean about worrying about miscarriage, but at this point, i feel like i've waited so long that i'm just going to go with the and hope that everything's alright.

we told dh's mom, dad, and grandmother sunday night in person. it was so fun. poor mil was so excited...she was shaking so bad after we told her. i might see my mom tomorrow to tell her, but her b-day is sunday so i might have to hold off to tell her then...we'll see.

looking foward to meeting some more 1st time may mamas--i know there are more out there, b/c i looked at the poll results in the other thread! :LOL

[NYCVeg]

Hi fellow former one-threaders and other new mamas!

I think today is actually the first day I've really allowed myself to get excited! I've been a little nervous b/c of some unexplained pain in one side, but I'm feeling a *little* reassured after doctor's visit tomorrow (switching to a midwife/birth center practice for my first "official" prenatal appointment). It is REALLY hard to believe...a few months ago, getting pregnant felt hopeless (HappyPants...I can only imagine how hard it was for you, going through so many cycles!).

We're planning on telling the 'rents this weekend, b/c we're going home to NYC and will visit both sets anyway. We'll also tell our assorted sisters.

Congrats to everyone!

[Happypants]

NYCVeg, i am so happy to see you here!! i was beginning to wonder where you were, but i just saw that you'd added yourself to the due date thread. we have the same edd at this point!!

how perfect that you'll be going home this weekend! my mil invited us to come down as a spur of the moment thing and we jumped on the opportunity. it made it all the more surprising for her that the visit was her idea. have a great time visiting!

[NurseLaurie]

Hello fellow first timers! I'm due May 20th and I still haven't picked a practitioner. I have one now, but I don't like her so I'm desperately seeking someone new. Sadly the biggest labor and delivery hospital near me is a total baby factory and they do interventions and C-sections out the wazoo. I'm trying to find someone who delivers at one of the smaller hospitals that may be willing to work with me a little more. We will see. Planning a first appointment in late October or November. Studying hard to be a nurse. I'll graduate about 3 weeks before my due date. Went from a B-cup to a D-cup in 72 hours time and boy are my boobs sore. That's about it with me.

[mamacatsbaby]

first time mamas! Good idea Happy! Hugs dshields, hugs. Sometimes you gotta get it out, I know I do. :LOL I think it's great that you feel comfortable posting however you might be feeling, as well as you other mamas. I love feeling like I have this whole community out there that more or less knows where I'm coming from. Yay! I'm doing pretty good about keeping the positive thoughts moving about in there, but man, I am so good at freaking myself out in general that I'm surprised that I haven't just fallen into a total vortex of insanity. DH will totally crack up when I say some off the wall weirdness, and that's cool cause I can get myself even more so out of the : zone. Going by my LMP I'm due May 1 so we'll see when Little Pea here decides to make our acqaintance here on the outside. I think my nausea is pretty much letting up and that kind of freaks me out, though I don't really have any reason thus far to suspect that anything's afoot. I am 8 weeks, 2 days today and nearing the 2nd tri mester so I'm thinking this is just how my PG is going. Still... You'd think I'd be glad to not be so nauseas constantly now but I just go back and forth between "OMG, is everything OK?" and cautionary movement b/c I think the nausea is coming back with a vengence and will catch me off gaurd. There's still plenty of stuff that I won't go near and food is still a grueling task to be choked down. After I eat, especially heavier things, I end up feeling not so hot. I guess it's not really gone, just not constant like it was. And I've got some of my energy back. Holy mackeral, I have never known exhaustian like PG exhaustian! I love our little baby so much you guys. I feel so many of the emotions that you all have listed. Excitement, fear, elation, so many, all in a matter of seconds. Anyhullabulloo, you all will get to know my sometimes longwindedness. Sometimes I just can't help it! : NurseLaurie, you wouldn't happen to be talking about Grady would you? I watched my sister give birth to 2 babies there and would not feel comfortable doing so myself, the least of the reasons that I don't want to be anywhere near a hospital in labor and birth. We may not be able to do an H2O homebirth though and I would like to check out their birthing center to see what it's like. I know it may run on the same kind of doctrine as the hospital so a scoping I will go. OK, I'm going now...

[ThatLinGirl]

Have you Atlanta ladies discussing hospitals heard of Margaret Strickhouser? She's a hospital midwife but delivers at N. Fulton - the only hospital in the area with water birth available - and supposedly she is wonderful and very non-interventionalist. If I were staying in Atlanta I would choose her hands down.

[Happypants]

i'm just gonna pop in here (since i need to finish the dinner dishes and go to sleep!) that it is SO weird how many of us here on the may due date board live(d) in atlanta. b/c lindsay, didn't you just move a couple of days ago? and laurie and mcb live there now...and i grew up there and live in athens (ga) now. what's up with that?

[alexisyael]

It must be a Southern party, cause there's also me in Mobile

Something's in the water down here, I just know it Really, this was my first cycle living in the Gulf Coast. We tried for nearly two years while we were living in Canada temporarily. There's got to be something in the water! :LOL

[NurseLaurie]

Originally Posted by ThatLinGirl

Have you Atlanta ladies discussing hospitals heard of Margaret Strickhouser? She's a hospital midwife but delivers at N. Fulton - the only hospital in the area with water birth available - and supposedly she is wonderful and very non-interventionalist. If I were staying in Atlanta I would choose her hands down.

That is SO funny! My sister-in-law has been talking about her all week. I had reservations about how far away the hospital would be, but I think this little coincidence has just convinced me. I know the hospital where she delivers has jacuzzi tubs, so that may be the way to go. My mom will be so irritated. That will be a 3 hour drive for her:-) Guess I'll have to call her early.

mamacats: I was actually talking about Northside. They do good work. Very low incidence of birth acquired defects, but they are very quick to make the c-sec decision to keep that record. And, just about everyone delivers flat on their back. Maybe I just haven't heard all of the wonderful experiences, so I can't judge the whole unit by the 20 or so stories that I have heard. It was just enough to shy me away.

[ThatLinGirl]

It IS funny how many are in Atlanta. Happypants - I'm moving away, not to, unfortunately. I'll be back in about 9 months though! We're just going back to the UK for my husband to finish his degree

That is SO funny! My sister-in-law has been talking about her all week. I had reservations about how far away the hospital would be, but I think this little coincidence has just convinced me. I know the hospital where she delivers has jacuzzi tubs, so that may be the way to go.

Apparently she is really great. She won't time you out of a vaginal birth or anything like that. I guess they have a CNM helping with some appointments (but NOT delivering babies) because their other midwife had to move away. I've heard she is a bit gruffer, but Margaret is awesome and the other woman isn't delivering babies anyway. I'd specifically request Margaret for appointments.

[Bkwyrm]

I'm a first-timer! Even though we were trying, I didn't expect it right now - we'd both been sick as dogs and I didn't keep track of anything in August, so of course that's when it happens. We haven't told anyone other than three of my very close friends, waiting until October to tell our families.

[quirkylayne]

me too! me too!

I'm due with my first edd May 8th.

We only had one month of "trying" and it wasn't really trying, more like throwing caution to the wind. Well...when we got the positive test we were excited but scared. Dh had to leave the day after the positive but he is coming home today. I'm getting used to the idea but I'm having trouble with the reality of it- me? a mom? I guess the belly growing will help me come around.

My first appt is the first week of October and after we get the all clear we will tell my family the following weekend. I will be about 10 weeks but I can't resist the temptation since we are seeing them in person. We will probably wait until the first or second week of November to tell our extended family and friends.

[dj tex]

just wanted to jump in the pool-------------hello ladies!!

i am oddly calm about this whole thing (could be that i am also very tired!!)
and my main symptom is sore sore sore boobs! all along the sides, like a severe muscle pain.

the freaky thing is that it's been this way, non stop, since about 5 DPO!? how could that be?

i think everyone i know knows now (wow that was a tonguetwister) and i am trying to stay positive even tho its quite early---! i have NEVER been preggo before in my life. its all a great science project on myself, i must say.

ok i gotta run, time to babysit the niece!

oh and i am due (i think) may 30-ish!!!

deb in texas

[NurseLaurie]

Welcome Deb! My cramps and boobs started their good times around 5-6 dpo. Initially the cramps are implantation, then the next few days that little bean is digging in deep, then the uterus starts its stretching and growing. Makes for not so much fun for mamas-to-be, but I think it is a blessed pain. My boobs have DOUBLED in size and ache pretty constantly. Can't complain about that, I just LOVE having boobs. My little B's are little D's now. Again, welcome! And CONGRATS!!!