more Sept/Oct moms-to-be - Page 4

[mamarsupial]

mamaley - sorry you are still barfing (lovely term, isn't it?). i'll be 15 weeks on friday and i threw up a few times in the last week. at about 8 weeks (same as with dd) i threw up once and then felt awful and tired, but didn't throw up again. at about 12 weeks, i started feeling much better, started skipping the saltines, ginger, and sea-bands...and then wham, every other day for 6 days! i've been trying to take it easy in the morning, and that has helped. at 8 weeks, the placenta takes over hormone production...and at 14 wees, becomes a fully functioning organ. i'm guessing this has something to do with my surges in nausea. with dd, i threw up at least once a week from week 8 to week 14. i feel lucky if i'm getting off with only 4 episodes this time around. hope it passes for you soon!

[Shanghaimum]

It is so great to read everyone's updates... it always helps to know others are going through similar things...

Mamaley I am still getting sick too. Not every day anymore, but still several times a day and I am still taking my medication... Oh well - I try and remind myself it is a good sign - our bodies are doing the right things... releasing lots of hormones...

Amywillo - my dh used to be very wary of the natural route for birth. With ds I did it naturally and while dh did try and encourage me to have epidural or drugs, he did say after that he was glad I didn't. I think that it is like others have said, men hate to feel they are not in control and they hate seeing those they love in pain... good luck

I am 17.5 weeks pregnant and have started feeling the lovely bambino move - it is very faint at the moment, but very real.


Hugs to all

Emma

[Viola]

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

Mamaley, sorry you are still throwing up. I've never actually thrown up while pregnant, except during pushing when I was in labor with my first. I keep having the gag thing where I start to heave even though I don't feel sick because something is touching my neck. It's weird. I keep thinking maybe I'll gag so much I will throw up.

My husband is very resistant. There are some dads he could talk to whose wives had homebirth, but he doesn't want to. There are books he could read, but he doesn't want to. We visited the homebirth midwife that I wanted to use, and he liked her, but because she doesn't carry malpractice or liability insurance, he won't agree to use her. : Now he basically doesn't want to pay for a homebirth because the insurance we have won't cover it. The insurance we had before did cover homebirth, although the midwife doesn't actually bill the insurance company anyway. She was having too hard a time, so now she leaves it up to her clients to do that.

Today he told me to check with my OB because if the OB I have doesn't deliver at the hospital that is covered by our policy (we have an HMO and are only covered with the one hospital--the PPO uses the other hospital that I actually want to use), I'd have to switch. I said, "Do you mean we'd switch plans, from the HMO to the PPO, or I'd have to switch doctors?" He said I'd have to switch doctors. Geez!

[Nik's Mommy]

Hi ladies,
I haven't posted for a couple of weeks.... so here's my update.

Last week I thought the m/s was gone. I had a couple of days where I felt great. I told dh I thought it was done. Stupid, stupid me!!: Not even an hour later I was dry heaving into the kitchen sink begging for a glass of water.

The fatigue is still incredible. I'm just soooooo tired. It's making it so much harder by working FT, and having my dh on weird hours at work. I barely see him, and he hardly sees our ds. Oh well, that should only last till September and hopefully he will find a position with a better shift.

I've been losing weight. I'm not really sure what to think about it. I told my doc I tend to skip supper, cause I'm too tired or nauseous to eat. She told me to try to eat more in the times of the day when I can... like the morning. Unfortunely, that entails packing a fridge full of food to work. That takes way too much energy some days. : I am definately gaining inches. My bras don't fit and either do my pants. Luckily my SIL lent me some of her mat clothes. I am definately wearing the pants these days.

Last week I finally told my manager that I was expecting. I don't think he was too surprised.....but I did surprise him with how far into the pg I was. I don't think he expected to hear I was already leaving in September. I've got him scrambling to try to find an appropriate replacement before August. (I know he's worrying about it, because he keeps talking to my co-workers about it.)

I'm counting down the weeks to September and I get to be a SAHM!!!! YAHOO!!!! I truthfully can't wait. I miss my ds so much during the day. WOHM is just not for me.

And one more thing - to those pg mamas who are still bfing.... I totally admire you!!! I can only imagine that the pain must be incredible at some times. (The pain just to put on my bra is crazy some days.)

Now back to my "window shopping" for newborn dipes.

[mamaley]

Thanks everyone. I shouldn't have said I'm throwing up, it's more dry-heaving, but it still hurts. At least it's usually only first thing in the morning.
Nik, I am right there with you with fatigue, etc. I thought I was over it but I was wrong! I find myself really just wanting to stay at home unless I'm in class or doing something with my family. I'm supposed to go to this dinner tonight for my school and I am just not feeling up to it to the point where I dread going. I really think I might cancel, but I feel kind of bad. But it's been so weird, everything stresses me out so much lately, and that's not typical for me. I wonder if this is a pregnancy thing? Maybe getting use to more changes, etc? Or maybe it's reacting to having to do day to day things when your body really just doesn't want to. Has anyone else been like this lately--a stressed out homebody? : :

[Viola]

Originally posted by mamaley
Thanks everyone. I shouldn't have said I'm throwing up, it's more dry-heaving, but it still hurts.

Well, sometimes that can be worse!

What keeps happening to me is that I gag rather strongly and start to heave a little bit. Usually when I'm brushing my teeth and leave the toothbrush and paste in my mouth too long before spitting, but the spitting seems to trigger it. Probably because I pull my hair around my chin to keep it from getting toothpaste on it, and anything touching my neck makes me want to gag. I have to be careful with shirt necklines, seat belts and my hair touching my neck. I guess this must be some sort of safety thing, who knows.

[mamarsupial]

amywillo - sorry to hear about the resistant dh. sound like you have done everything you can to convince him that a homebirth is what you want. i don't think you should give up...but what about a compromise? are there any liberal birth centers in your area that are covered by your insurance...that would also let you birth mostly alone, in water, with a midwife and/or doula?

NURSING MAMAS: when we got pg, dd was nursing 10 times per 24 hours. a few times during the day, a couple times at night, before bed, nap, first thing in the morning, etc. we tried to cut out all thirst/hunger/boredom nursings and she quickly went from 10 to 4. i was happy with that...but NOW she's only nursing about once in 24 hours. she has even gone 30 hours or more without asking. i'm wondering what the other nursers are doing at this stage in the pregnancy. anyone?

[velryba]

DD nurses about once a day, but then she hasn't asked for 2 days now. She seems perfectly happy though

[mamaley]

I've been "officially" feeling the baby move for a few days now. Have I mentioned this yet? It's awesome! I mean, this is my second pregnancy, but it's still so wonderful. I LOVE being pregnant! Dry heaving, exhaustion and all!
Amy, I know what you mean about the gagging--that's what gets me started on the dry heaving! But it's more like gagging from a cough--it sounds like your gag reflex is working over time. What a pain.

[Viola]

Originally posted by mamarsupial
are there any liberal birth centers in your area that are covered by your insurance...that would also let you birth mostly alone, in water, with a midwife and/or doula?

No, I wish! That would be great, and that was my plan when I lived in So CA, but there just isn't much here.

My daughter actually stopped nursing mostly before I got pregnant. She said there was no more milk. She nursed a few times in January and in February, the last time being on President's Day. The other day she kept bobbing her mouth near my breast, and she was pretending to be a lion cub and was licking me there. I asked her if she wanted to nurse, and she wouldn't answer. Oh well, she was starting to give it up in December before I got pregnant, so that is no help to you.

[Viola]

Something that irriated me

I have this friend who was actually my doula first, but we maintained the friendship afterwards. She IMs me from time to time, and we were chatting yesterday. She can get on my nerves. She asked me if I was feeling the baby moving. I said no, although I did have a flutter that I really felt was the baby even though it feels like all the flutters I have that aren't the baby. So when I said no, she said, "Why not, you should be!" I told her that I didn't feel the baby the first time until just after 20 weeks. She insisted that I should feel it by now becuase I know what it feels like. Well, not really. My first daughter wasn't a big mover. I know what it feels like when it is later in pregnancy, but honestly, after I gave birth I felt the baby kicking for months, and I think it was just my uterus contracting. Plus gas gives me similar early fluttering sensations. Anyway, I just hate the implication that somehow there is something wrong with me.

[mamarsupial]

amywillo - i didn't feel dd until 19 weeks...and haven't felt anything definitive yet either (i'm 15 weeks). everyone's body, uterus, baby, etc. are different...and as a doula, your friend should know this

edited to add...

amywillo - sorry to hear too that there are no birthing centers. you still have time to work SOMETHING out that will work for you and dh both. don't loose hope!

oh, and as far as people offering opinion on your pregnancy go....my MOM! awful. she still thinks women should only gain 15 lbs when pregnant. i mentioned the other day that i hadn't gained anything in the second trimester yet (i actually lost 2 lbs), and her response was "oh good!" no, not good. i'm PREGNANT! i'm supposed to gain weight and get nice and round! grrr.

mamapenelope - i have mixed feelings too about dd cutting back SO much so fast. sometimes i wish she would just wean completely so that i wouldn't have to think 'is this the last time? oh, wait, is THIS the last time?' over and over. BUT, that is me being selfish. i really want HER to decide when she is done.

[mamaley]

Amy--a doula told you that? Has she ever had children herself? I really hate it when people say stuff like that--they obviously don't know what they're talking about, and it's information that you wouldn't want to mess around with--in other words, it could really scare a woman who didn't know differently. People do this so often with pregnant women, it's so annoying.
Kind of similar--I told my mom I had a sore throat, but had a throat culture a couple of weeks ago that was normal, and I really just had cold symptoms anyway. She said "you'd better make sure it's not strep throat because you could pass that on to the baby in utero and it could severly harm the baby". Whatever...she still doesn't believe me that it can't.
I hope everyone's feeling good today. I am exhausted, but other than that feeling good.

[plum]

Hey there. I'm expecting my first around September 14th. I'm at eighteen weeks three days now, and this past week I've started showing a lot more. So far my pregnancy has been easy. I've never thrown up and I get tired, but I don't feel the need to nap as much as the beginning.
I don't like all the hair. My belly is covered with fuzz and I just gave up shaving my legs. I never really had hair on my legs before (or anywhere else) but unless I want to shave them everyday due to rapid growth of stubble, I just gave up all together.
Dh and I went to our first midwife appt and she was very nice. Dh originally wanted me to go to an OB, but after a bad experience at the base ER, I was reluctant to see another 'doctor.' But I think we've come up with a decent compromise (midwife-assisted in a hospital) so we're both happy. Mostly he's worried because we're the first of our friends to have a baby (we're both twenty-one) and he thinks I'll die. We heard the heartbeat last week, too, which was cool. She also said my uterus is kind of big (I went at seventeen weeks and it was measuring around nineteen or twenty) and that there might be two in there. As much as I would like twins, I don't think I'm having any so I'm not dwelling on it.

And about the cold: I got over a horrible cold about two weeks ago. I was miserable and so congested. I'd get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night and then lay in bed with my sinuses on fire.

[Viola]

Originally posted by mamaley
Amy--a doula told you that? Has she ever had children herself?

Yes, she has two! I guess it is just a case where people have different experiences, but she thinks they should all be the same. She reminds me of my sister in that regard. The funny thing was that I did have a feeling one time that one of the bumpings I felt was baby related, but I wasn't going to tell her that. I've had a lot of stomach rumbling and gas lately, so it is hard for me to know definitively if it is baby or gas. And then I think maybe because I'm fatter, maybe I can't feel it as well or something.

[Viola]

Oh, speaking of moms, my mom made a comment that "you know you can't nurse while you're pregnant" and dumb me, not thinking just doing my normal agreeing with her thing which I do a lot on the phone to speed up our conversations, said, "Yeah, I know, mom." The thing is that I did nurse during my last pregnancy, and she knew that and told me not to, but I told her it was fine and many women nursed through pregnancy and went onto tandem nurse their children. Well, I had a miscarriage, so she probably thinks it was because I was nursing. To her credit, she never said that. Now my daughter doesn't nurse anymore, so I just didn't even try to argue.

A few days before, I had a long conversation with my sister where our parenting differences really came out. She said, "What's with you, you're like some kind of hippie or something." She thinks that homebirth is bad and that she should have "beaten her daughter's ass more" and her daughter would not have turned out the way she did. I've been feeling bad that I live so far from my family and that my daughter can't spend time with her relatives, but that conversation made me feel glad that we aren't closer, geographically speaking!

[Viola]

Oh, and welcome Apple, and congratulations on your pregnancy!

[mamaley]

Welcome Apple!

Originally posted by Amywillo I've been feeling bad that I live so far from my family and that my daughter can't spend time with her relatives, but that conversation made me feel glad that we aren't closer, geographically speaking!

Amen to that. For different reasons--ds has wonderful grandparents, but being near one certain family member on a constant basis would really do something to my sanity.

Edited to ask: Is anyone else appetite just skyrocketing??
Woohoo, I'm 16 weeks today!

[Rikki]

Amy, I know what you mean. Last Christmas we were in CA visiting both my and dh's family. We stayed with his parents and the night before Christmas I started miscarrying. Two days after Christmas I was hemmoraging (sp?) and my MIL tells me, "You know, you need to stop nursing, that's why you're miscarrying all the time!" WTF??? This is the woman who is usually right there with me on extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering, etc. I was in shock...well, okay maybe the shock was the blood loss, but...

She ended up watching my other children while I was rushed to emergency and had a d&c. My mom came to stay with me at the hospital.... My mom tends to be more understanding, but still not quite. I'm *so* glad that we live 873 miles away from all of them!

[Viola]

After my miscarriage, my sister-in-law told me that I had one because they run in my family--my mom had 4. Ummm, yeah, and she had 7 children and was 42-44 years old when she had 3 of them so to me that is not something that runs in the family. That comment really ticked me off.