The Sept chit-chat thread!! - Page 4

[luckylady]

kat, what kind of amino regimine are you on? I am having some really terrible pregnancy depression, serious irritability and I need help!!!

Thanks - and congrats on #2!

[KatSG]

Originally Posted by luckylady

kat, what kind of amino regimine are you on? I am having some really terrible pregnancy depression, serious irritability and I need help!!!

It's a program outlined in The Mood Cure. You figure out what your issues are (mine are anxiety which leads to feeling overwhelmed and then depressed) and you take amino acid supplements, along with a protein-rich diet (not Atkins, though, it's balanced). Both my husband and I have done it all summer and it has, literally, changed our marriage and our individual lives. I was on Paxil last spring and it made me feel dead and made my hair fall out! Yikes! So I sought an alternative. I mainly take Tyrosine, 5-HTP and GABA. I eat eggs and lean meats, quit coffee and make sugar a once-in-a-while treat. I feel so much better. The idea is to give your body the nutrients it needs to make the feel-good chemicals your brain needs. The results are pretty immediate and I haven't had any side effects.

I read the label on the 5-HTP this AM and it says not to take it while you're pregnant, but I can't tell if they mean it or if that's just standard. I'm going to look into that more. I could live without it. The tyrosine is what really seems to help me.

As for pregnant crankiness...I have to say that I have some of that! I've been irritable. But at least now I know that's not my normal state, my husband is NOT, in fact, an annoying idiot, so it's me and it's up to me to deal. Mostly, I'm just trying to laugh at myself. My clothes are increasingly, alarmingly TOO TIGHT and I'm really pissed off about it! Which, when you think about it, is a good thing. So that's how I'm trying to deal.

I'd be happy to answer anything else for you. There is suprisingly little on the web about The Mood Cure. I've tried to find support forums but haven't been able to find any.

[vicky72]

Hey everyone!!! How are you? I am 5 weeks today. I am feeling OK, yesterday I hade a bit of nausea, but nothing else. My b**bs are feeling heavy, but don't hurt anymore, and I am sleepy all day!!!!!!! I just am excited to be one more week further!!! I hope everyone is doing well!

[luckylady]

Cool - I ordered the book! Sounds interesting! Thanks Kat!

[eorr]

Congrats, Kat! Sounds like this'll be great for you. Very interesting info on the mood cure. Hmmm. . . Hope all you ladies are hanging in there.

[NYCVeg]

Ack! We have a mouse in our house! Several apartments ago I had a VERY unsettling mouse experience (we had a cat who couldn't catch a mouse, but managed to "tree" one in a chair...unfortunately, my coat was hanging on the back of the chair...when I put on the coat, the mouse ran down my arm, jumped onto the floor, and ran off), so I'm not looking forward to reliving any mousey trauma. I'm going to get some humane traps today. Our miniature schnauzer didn't even noticed the mouse (minis were originally bred to be ratters). All of our pets are too fat and contented to do their jobs!

On another note: what do people think about aspartame in pregnancy? Totally evil? I don't consume a lot of it, but I do like 1/2-1 can of diet coke a day (I don't drink coffee or tea, so it's my only source of caffeine). I'm trying to give it up...but it's in the fridge, calling to me.

[luckylady]

a mouse ran down your arm?!?!?!?!? I would FREAK OUT. LOL.

As for artificial sweetners, I try not to consume any when I am preggers, but I have this thing about chemicals anyway. BUt i have read that in moderation it's safe, as long as you don't have PKU.

[Naughty Dingo]

NYC, if you have a tall boot, that is an excellent way to catch a mouse. They love dark, safe tunnels. Once the little rat is in there you can pinch the top shut and deposit him where you would like. I used to work with mice and one day one ran up my pantleg. Oy! That was a little more than I would have liked LOL You should have seen me dance.

Kat, that mood cure sounds interesting. DP and I did South Beach last summer and we ate a really balanced diet of complex carbs and quality protein. It was amazing how much better our moods and attitudes became when we ate the good quality food. During this pregnancy, I am focusing on eating protein and high quality carbs and am really excited about it.

Older DD is at preschool and little DD is sick with a stomach bug. She is hurling pretty majorly. She asked to nurse and then take a nap so she is sleeping now. I feel so dang bad for them when they are sick. I hope if one of us is going to get it it is me and not DP. I feel sick and nauseated as is and it wouldn't be anything extra, he could definately use not having it.

That's all that is going on here. Looks like it's gonna rain so don't know if I am going to run or bike today. We will see.

Take it easy Mamas.

ND

[alexisyael]

Eeek, a mouse in the house! We had that in one of our apts in Toronto. Not fun at all. We were able to trap a few (using tupperware, I think) and took them outside... luckily it wasn't too cold yet, so I don't think they froze. That would have made me feel bad.

After a while I got used to them... I baricaded my drawers with aluminum foil at the back so the mice wouldn't get in (they were using my dishtowels to nest in, which was GROSS) and we had a tacit understanding. Mice really dislike aluminum foil, for some reason, so they won't try to climb up it, or go past it.

Doing OK here. Same old same old. My FIL and step-MIL sent me this stuff today called "Morning Sickness Magic" which I'm trying out. It has ginger, B6, RRL, and folic acid. So far so good, tho I don't notice the queasiness is gone completely, after I drank a tablespoon of this stuff I did feel better for awhile. (http://www.morning-sickness-magic.com/ is the website. The owner and creator of this stuff is an old family friend of my in-laws.)

Aspartame? Well, I hate the taste of it, myself. But I think in moderation, most things are OK.

ND, I hope you don't catch your DD's cold (and that no one else catches it either, and that she gets better quickly!)

Belly Blessings!

[starlein26]

i mostly feel ok and then everyday it hits me hard around 3pm...nausea...and usually vomitting. ds thinks i'm coughing in the bathroom and he'll yell "stop coughing mommy...it's ok!" very sweet! thankfully with dh being a prof he's home no later than 4:20 and has friday off so he's been a tremendous help!! ds and him have really bonded these days.

[Naughty Dingo]

Esther, aren't our little ones sweet? My 17 month old comes over to the toilet and spits in it, pretending to be like me. It breaks my heart. When my older DD was that age and I was pg with dd2, she would pat my back while I was sick. They are such sweethearts.

ND

[starlein26]

i know ND...it usually helps me feel better!

[mamacatsbaby]

Awww... you guys... :

[alexisyael]

Esther, your dh's a prof, too? Cool! Mine is an assistant professor of Cognitive Psychology at the University of South Alabama He's not home as early as your dh, tho! But he does have very flexible tues/thurs this semester

[starlein26]

yeah...david is an assistant prof of social psyc at winthrop u. that's cool that both of our dhs are psyc profs! so are you yael or alexis? my old boss's name is yael. she was israeli. i love that name!

[Marylizah]

Hello Mamas! Mind if I join you?

I'm 7 weeks pregnant with number 1, and so far it's been a little bit of a roller-coaster. We'd been TTC and I found out I was pg the day we left for a two-week trip to visit DH's family in a 3rd world country. Trying to maintain safe eating habits was a bit of a challenge, but everything was ok.

I started spotting three days before we left, which of course freaked me out in a very major way. Luckily, DH's family is close friends with a lovely gynecologist who was able to reassure me via phone and give me some good tips. Once I made it back to Paris I saw my gyno, who arranged an ultrasound for me. So at 6w5 days I saw the little bean and saw and heard little bean's heartbeat! That was exciting and relieving, but the spotting has not stopped and has even increased slightly. I have another appt today, so I'm hoping for some reassurance.

Obviously, I'm not allowed to work out at all, or have any, um, relations with DH, which are the 2 things that would probably help my mood. I've been feeling pretty depressed and anxious (plus the preg hormones make me cry for literally NO REASON).

Besides the spotting, I've been pretty lucky feeling-wise. Very tired and hungry, but nausea has not been constant and haven't barfed yet. BBs are sore, I have a weird taste in my mouth sometimes, and like others have mentioned my BMs have changed. Very few food aversions so far, but going to the market has become difficult because of the overwhelming fish and cheese smells.

I'm really praying that this pregnancy sticks, the spotting is really freaking me out. I know that seeing the HB is very positive, so I try to reassure myself, but... Yeah, it's not working so well.

Sorry to be a bummer! It's been fun reading everyone else's experiences.

Here's to hoping everyone feels less nauseated soon.

[alexisyael]

Marylizah! s (No worries about being a downer, we've all got to be where we are, you know?)

Esther -- I'm an Alexis Yael My given name is Alexis, but Yael is the name I choose when I converted to Judaism. I decided they sounded great as a combo-name (Eventually, I would like to change my name legally to Alexis Yael, which would be like having two first names, I guess.) I really love both my names -- they both have beautiful meanings (Alexis = defender of mankind and Yael = to ascend, also moutain goat, and in the Torah, there's a Yael who defended Israel by murdering an invading general in his sleep I'm not down with the murdering, really, but I love kick-ass female heros!)

[Marylizah]

Alexisyael, thanks for the welcome. I'm feeling a bit better today-- saw gyno yesterday who was NOT reassuring-- but not in a bad way. She just told me that it was best to be fatalistic about the whole thing and tell myself that if I miscarry it's probably for a good reason (chromosonal problems etc). She reminded me that Nature usually knows what it's doing. I will get to do another ultrasound next week to see if the pregnancy is evolving, which is nice. I also had a good, long talk with DH about some of my fears & anxieties. I've been focusing on the strangest things, like-- how will we get baby home from the hospital since we have no car and (probably) won't be buying a carseat. I was picturing myself on the metro or in the bus with a newborn!! Plus, today is Friday, always a good thing.

Sending non-nauseated weekend thoughts to all mamas out there.

[alexisyael]

Marylizah, has she checked your progesterone levels???? LOTS of early miscarriages have nothing to do with chromosomal anomalies, and more to do with the mom's hormonal levels. (I have tons of friends on this board with TTC difficulties, and many of them are taking/ have taken progesterone supplements and it helps tremedously!)

Please call her back if she didn't tell you about this. Or, call someone else and get a second opinion. The most effective form of progesterone needs to be prescribed. However, you can also find "natural progesterone" at health food stores (if your Dr refuses to prescribe it for you). I believe there are also herbs you can use to help strengthen your own progesterone levels (Sarsparilla is the one that comes to mind, I think, but double check. Susun Weed may have an article on this on her website: susunweed.com).

There are also acupuncture/ acupressure spots that can be helpful for spotting/ helping the body's chi produce more progesterone. If you would like, I can look these up. (The book, "The Infertility Cure" is where I would look.)

Yes, sometimes miscarriages happen and they can't be prevented. But sometimes they can be. I would hate to think your Dr. hadn't given you the full picture, just because she has a fatalistic outlook on life. You do have some things you can do to help this baby thrive

I hope this helps!

[Marylizah]

Hello, sorry not to have responded earlier, I often don't go online during the weekend.

Actually, while I was abroad on vacation the gyno I talked to prescribed progesterone suppositories, which I took for about 2 weeks. They had no impact on the spotting. (I spotted while using them.)

When I saw my gyno here, she told me that they no longer prescribe progesterone, since they realized that it tends to delay, not prevent, miscarriages. She said that in their experience, low progesterone is a symptom of a pregnancy that will not succeed, and not a cause of miscarriage. So I stopped the progesterone, and it hasn't had any impact on the spotting (still spotting now!).

All my other numbers look good, the ultrasound at 6.5 wks looked good, my gyno thinks that maybe there was a twin that failed to implant and is currently being expelled from my body-- my HCG levels were quite high for dates.

I guess every doctor has a different opinion-- adding to the difficulty, there are cultural differences since I'm in Europe. I'm going to go with my doctor's advice this time and see how things shape up. I have read about the positive results people have had with progesterone treatments, so it's difficult to know who to believe and what's best to do, but I've made my decision about this and am at peace with it.

Thank you again for the information that you shared with me. Hope all is going well for you.