Week of April 13.....

[2boysandagirl]

Hope everyone is doing ok. Some days my nausea is better some days not. I had dr appt yesterday and got to hear the heartbeat. It was 140 bpm. Big relief for me. Next appt will be May 3.

gotta go for now, the laundry is calling me.
Susie

[jecaly]

all's well here, too--

some new-feeling twinges down low that i'm attributing to growing uterus, but a lot of my other symptoms have cooled off a lot. i just ate salad for lunch! and my boobs hardly hurt at all. so...taking advantage of the opportunity to eat a little better, and hoping that it's a good sign and not a danger one. i'm nine weeks today.

hooray for your heartbeat, susie!

oh, i have a question for everyone: how many of the don't-eat-____-if-you're-pregnant rules are you following? by last count, here's what i'm aware of:

-nitrates and nitrites
-soft and blue cheeses (listeria)
-raw fish (parasites)
-big fish, like tuna and sword (mercury)
-caffeine, alcohol, otc drugs except for acetametaphin

i made an exception for organic ham on easter, and i'm not all that careful about cooking my meat and eggs to cement if i know where they came from, but i'm pretty much avoiding all of the above.

any others i don't know about? (cringes) what rules are you guys following/not following?

*j

[BabyOsMommy]

Feeling a bit better today... I've been posting when I can, but with the exhaustion/nausea, working full time and a 16month old, I'm beat.

Jennifer... I started feeling better this weekend a bit also, so I'm thinking everything is okay. The same thoughts were crossing my mind, though, as far as "hmmm, why do I feel better...?". It's natural to feel this way due having a m/c, but I'm just trying to enjoy the appetite in case it's gone again tomorrow.

As far as "rules", I've not been as good as I was with ds:
-I don't eat nitrates much anyhow because I get migraines
-don't like blue cheese anyhow, or eat soft cheese. Deli meats are supposed to be included in this rule because of the risk of them coming into contact with soft cheeses, so I try to avoid them as much as possible.
- don't eat raw fish,
- I eat tuna, but only canned and not more than once-twice/month... there's debate on this, and what's okay/how much, and I'm confident I'm safe.
- I have one black tea in the morning to get me going (which is a great improvement from the 4coffees/day I'd had before ttc.


Anyhow, I have to go make dinner....

:love and :hugs

[scheelimama]

Well, I will reply to your question. I allow myself one can of soda a day (caffeine), but I don't drink caffeinated coffee. I of course eat chocolate though, and that has caffeine in it. I have read that caffeine in moderation is not too big a deal. I've read that you can have up to 3 cups of coffee, but I don't think I would ever drink that much caffeine! And coffee has about 3 times as much caffeine as soda, so I feel like it is fairly safe to have a 12 oz. soda a day. I don't really eat much fish, but if I do, I play it safe and only eat what's allowed. I don't eat the soft cheeses. As for the nitrites/nitrates, I don't really know what all that includes and never heard that one before. Maybe someone else can fill me in there. I guess I'm pretty good about the others but there are a few other OTC medications that are approved for pregnant women that I occassionally take. Tylenol is not the only thing that is safe. I know some people avoid drugs alltogether, but I just can't do that personally. And of course, I don't drink alcohol. Although, I have heard that it is safe in moderation, some doc's say up to a cup of wine a day is okay. I don't take that chance, but with my last pregnancy, I would occasionally (like maybe 4-5 times total) have a sip of my hubby's drink, but that was it. Anyway, I guess that's it for all the off limit stuff

I just wanted to say that I am also feeling some twinges and crampiness and I think it is my growing uterus as well. It's been a lot more the last two days. And, I don't know if anyone else is getting to this point, but well, you know how you just kind of naturally hold in your tummy. Well, I'm getting to the point where it's kind of getting bothersome/painful to do that, so I decided that I would consciously start letting my muscles go again. It's kind of hard to do at first. Well, I guess that's about it. Can't wait to hear updates on everyone! Oh, BTW, I'm 10 weeks tomorrow! YAY!!!

[Megamama]

Ok...7 weeks, 4 days here..I posted yesterday but what the heck I have a minute. The last few days all food is grossing me out, never mind the no no kinds. It's really annoying.

I haven't had problems with caffeine, but usually I'll have an aversion..this time coffee is about the only thing that does taste good, but I am only letting myself have one cup in the morning. I used to love caffeine free diet coke, and now I can't stand it. SIGH. I'm feeling mighty annoyed at this food hating thing, and I'm sour tummied and nauseated a lot. Elijah is teething and cranky and was feverish today and I felt horrible for him..so I guess I just feel stressed.

Anywho...I had one glass of wine so far in the last 7 weeks..I think the baby will not suffer for this. I'm looking forward to the next trimester as I have no energy and I'm feeling just "off".

K..enough complaining :)

[Seeking Refuge]

Hi everyone,

I am 10 weeks and two days today. I still feel awful but I am starting to overcome my really horrible inability to bond with this baby. I think that as I approach the end of the first trimester this issue is improving at least.

I know some of you said that you like to look at pictures of what the baby looks like at certain stages so I thought I would post a link to this site where they have all sorts of ultrasound pictures.

http://www.pregnancyweekly.com/topics/ultrasound1/11wk.htm

I think looking at them is helping to visualize the babe as healthy and viable.

I have been pretty good this pregnancy. I normally love coffee too but it doesn't do it for me right now. I have been making ice tea to drink but I brew a whole gallon with two scant tablespoons of loose tea so there isn't a lot of caffeine in mine.
I don't avoid the soft cheeses I :love brie. I rarely take otc drugs, so that isn't an issue.

I would drink a glass of wine if I didn't think it would make me sick but right now I am feeling too icky. Same for fish, the thought of it makes my tummy roll.

Oh well I am off to bed.

Night' all.:zzz

[2boysandagirl]

My turn to answer the QOTW......

as far as the nitrates... I did eat ham for easter. however lunchmeat sounds disgusting to me right now.

alcohol.... very rare that I have any even when not pregnant. Can't stand the taste.

caffeine..... In my previous pregnancies never had even a tidbit of anything with caffeine. However, this pregancy has been different, I have been eating chocolate and sometimes have a coke. But my tea is caffeine free.

seafood.... If tuna sounded the least bit appetizing to me right now I would probably eat it occasionally.

cheeses.... Is cheddar considered a soft cheese?

otc drugs.... extremely rare I would take anything even tylenol when not pregnant. I did try chugging some emetrol out of desparation one day but it only made matters worse. But I guess I make up for it with prescription meds. I am on blood thinners.

I normally cook the crap out of all my meats and eggs anyway.

Susie

[jecaly]

sorry if that was a less-than-fun question; i was really just curious how others were dealing with all these sudden diet restrictions. my life is pretty much all about food, and it's a little strange for me to have to say no to things i love so much, these days. i have a decaf latte sometimes (when it sounds good, which is..well..never, lately), though, and if i know that a cheese is an organic, locally-produced one and i trust the person selling it, i'm considering the occasional soft cheese, too. it's really the thing i miss the most, i think. plus, i know that handling matters. rationalizing? mebbe.

susie: cheddar is NOT a soft cheese, thank goodness. my current quesadilla diet would be really tough, if it were! only the gooey soft-ripened ones like brie, and the fresh ones like goat chevre and feta (along with the blues) are considered risks for listeria.

in other news around here, i figured out the nausea formula: i feel great as long as i don't do anything! heh. worked all day yesterday, and by the end of the day i was whimpering with headache and unhappy guts. bracing myself for the rest of the week, but i feel like things are going okay in there.

thank you so much for posting that ultrasound site, mom2radata! it's really neat to see. there are arms and legs already! it's amazing, isn't it?

hope you guys are feeling well,

*j
(9 weeks 2 days)

[yogagirl]

I went grocery shopping yesterday and found my favourite coffee in the world. So I buy a pound of it and brewed me up a soy latte this morning on the way to my first midwife visit (:love her by the way!). I was embarrased about walking in there with my coffee cup but she had one bigger than mine. I asked her if coffee was cool and she seemed to love coffee almost more than I do!:eek

She said go for it, just limit it to one cup a day. Turned out I couldn't even finish my one cup anyway. I'm soooo picky these days.

I'm really loving salads that's for sure, but I'm also eating lots of weird things like lots of wheat products like toast, pancakes, pasta that I normally stay away from. Oh, yeah, I ate a lot of pig products on my Easter get away. Oink, oink.

While away, I felt good but now that I'm back home I'm feeling a little naseasu (I hope I learn to spell that before baby comes!). I think because I make soap in my basement and the smell is driving me muy loca!:gross

[Seeking Refuge]

I know what you mean J* We are very much into food around here too. I mean it is one of the things that dh and I love to do together is cook and try new recipes. It is hard to do right now, not so much because of the restrictions as it is the indifference to food in general.
We grilled out for the first time this spring last night and I just wasn't as into it as I would have liked to have been.

I normally love coffee too yoga girl, my mama got me a french press coffee maker this winter and I was in ectasy but I just can't stomach the smell of it right now. DH is missing our coffee time in the AM too, he says it just isn't the same without me.

I went walking today and sometimes I think that the fresh air makes me feel better.

[Annabel]

QOTW-
I'm feeling pretty sick so it's hard to decide what to eat. I've been craving ham and salad sandwiches (with half an avocado in each one- yum!) but I know ham is not allowed. I thought the risk was listeria so I have been heating the ham in the microwave then letting it cool, I had no idea about nitrates. What do nitrates do?
I have been avoiding sushi (very difficult!) except I make my own without the raw fish, soft cheeses (not really a problem) caffiene, well I don't drink tea or coffe and I've gone off chocolate completely although I got given so much for Easter that I have been eating the occasional chocolate. It's good for you anyway! Raw and undercooked eggs- that's a tough one because so many things I love contain them. Alcohol I hardly ever have anyway, and haven't had any for at least 3 years because I've been pregnant and breastfeeding the whole time. My husband's family likes their meat rare, so it has been difficult to avoid that and they think I'm being paranoid when I tell them I can't have it. I eat tinned tuna often, I didn't know I couldn't. I've been told by doctors, books etc that it is a good thing to eat. Is the tuna specifically an American thing or is it the same anywhere? I swear there are so many things pregnant women are not allowed to eat, as well as coping with nausea it's a wonder we don't starve.

[Seeking Refuge]

A lot of seafood is not safe and it is not just an American thing as most of our seafood comes from the same place as other countries. Scientists are reccommending that even people who are not pregnant limit their consumption based on the high levels of environmental contaminants (mercury is the primary culprit but there are others as well) found in some seafood.

Here is a good article about the recommendations for various types of seafood.

http://www.environmentaldefense.org/seafood/worry.cfm

HTH

[TalkToMeNow]

QOTW: I'm not sure what nitrites are, but I'm vegetarian so ham and fish are not really an issue. :) I'm not eating any soft cheeses, but my brie craving might kick in in a few months! The only caffiene I get is from chocolate, and no alcohol. I may have a glass of wine or two before the babe is born though.

I'm 11 weeks and sicker than ever. The ms has really kicked in and I've been so tired and plagued with headaches. I do one thing a day... yesterday it was take dd to the park. Poor kid... I feel like I'm neglecting her. This needs to end soon!

Hope everyone who's sick feels better soon!

[BabyOsMommy]

I didn't feel right making this it's own post with the news gonnabeamom just shared :crying, but I wanted to talk about what happened with me in the last 24hours.

I woke up with some pink discharge yesterday morning, and tried to shrug it off, but when it was still there later in the day, I panicked (more like FREAKED), and because I'd been feeling better over the last few days, assumed the worst and called my midwives. They gave me the option of an ultrasound or hcg monitoring(their first choice). I really just wanted to see that heartbeat, so I opted for ultrasound, which was scheduled for today.

This morning I woke up and felt better (actually worse, but nausea and dizziness was so welcomed), and no more spotting, and knew that everything was okay just by a feeling I had. I still went for the u/s, though because I thought that being stressed was probably just as bad as the u/s, so I went for my own piece of mind.

Baby's fine, measuring exactly with a good heartrate (171). Now I feel stupid for panicking so quickly, and wish I'd have trusted my instincts. I feel guilty for having that ultrasound and subjecting Baby to it... I think I'll opt out of the doppler when I go for my next appt in 2weeks, as they say that's worse anyways. So much for a pgcy with less interventions, and more trust in my gut feelings...

[jecaly]

i don't think you should feel guilty, annette. i went into this pregnancy not wanting any ultrasounds, and ended up getting one after our scare, too--i don't feel like a worse parent for doing it (hee hee--i said parent) and i don't think you should, either. we were worried, the technology exists to alleviate our fears, and it's not like we're renting the machine and aiming sound waves at the creatures every week or something.

personally, i'm sure that the wave of joy and relief that washed over me at the (to me, shocking) sight of that little heart beating translated to some good juice for the growing little thing. and even now i think of it beating away in there, healthy and strong--granted, i could probably conjure up that image on my own, but i feel like i'm getting as much positive effect from the ultrasound as possible :) . i haven't decided yet about the doppler my midwife wants to use at 13 weeks (that's when we had our miscarriage last time), though.

okay! enough ranting. so sad for (edited to say) gonnabe. gah. i guess i do have that preggo brain thing, with names around here! i need a chart.

hugs to the mamas,

*j

[stanya]

Hi... a few things:

this week I had major craving for feta cheese (greek salad seemed to be the only thing i could sotmach three days in a row. So I went for it. The package said it was pasteurized. Dones anyone know if that makes it ok? I thought that "raw" cheeses are unpasteurized and so a risk for listeria. Thought pasteurized was ok, even if its soft like feta. Am I just wishful thinking?
I didn't eat ham on easter, I ate brie! haha. I guess the cheeses are gonna be my problem.
I found organic bacon with no nitrates OR nitrites a few weeks ago. Now I'm of course having an aversion to almost all meats.

To annette and others: I'm 8.5 weeks, have been having light pink, brownish discharge for almost a whole week now. I was worried, called midwife and she said as long as you're not having cramping or fresh bleeding, i'm ok. My ultrasound at 7 weeks showed hearbeat and all looked well, so i'm trying not to worry but its hard. Not sure why i'm spotting all week!
I'm not having cramping, but definately all day today pinching twinges in lower lower abdomen. good to hear others are having this and think its uterus growing. sounds good to me, i hope that's what it is.
best to all of you
stanya

[Megamama]

Oh...I would not worry about the cheeses too much, Unless you are buying them direct from the farmer, they are pretty safe. Some organic stores might be selling unpasteurized cheeses. Even then, the risk is fairly low and you would not believe what babies can do to make sure nothing hurts them!!

I'm loving cheese, too, but pretty much the cheddar/colby/montery jack varieties just now. what I wouldn't do for a good glass of port to go with!!

I've become the starch queen..I am really craving potatoes, corn, big italian breads, etc...it's so weird for me since I'm a type O blood type and I usually hate that stuff. But I'm listening to my body anyway :)

[jecaly]

this woman:

http://www.ayunhalliday.com/

got listeria poisoning from some feta in a salad late in her pregnancy and her daughter ended up needing lots of medical attention when she was born. she's okay, though. that information was the thing that made me say yeah, okay, i'll quit the &*% cheese. she used to hang out on the hipmama boards.

here's the usda's statement about it:

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/lm_tearsheet.htm

i'm not sure why cream cheese is okay but feta isn't.

mega, i'm craving carbs a lot, too! have been having hot cereal for breakfast all the time, and toast is my friend. oh, and the weirdest one! meat suddenly tastes really dead and awful to me. maybe i'm gestating a vegetarian?

hope you're all well!

*j

[BabyOsMommy]

Jennifer- Thanks for the kind words. The u/s really did put me on a high about this pgcy, so it was worth it. With ds, meat was disgusting to me for a while too... now, at 16months, he LOVES hamburger and ham and chicken... not to quash your theory, I just laughed at "gestating a vegetarian" and thought of my first pgcy, because I thought the same thing.

[stanya]

Thanks for the cheese info! Very helpful. Guess I'll play it safe and stick with hard cheeses, but won't worry too much about the feta i already ate.
Oh and yes, bread, me too! Carb cravings galore, pasta, toast, you name it... Wish i was in the mood for more protien. I'm only getting it cheese right now.

[TalkToMeNow]

Oh, carbs!! Thats all I want! Or, I guess, wanted... I'm getting a bit more normal in my eating now. For a while there, though, I was coming up with as many ways as possible to cook a potato! And I bought a loaf of Asiago cheese bread and ate it in one day. :blush

[jecaly]

asiago cheese bread: YUM.

my appetite and nausea are definitely getting more normal. i ate *two* salads yesterday. i'm ten weeks today--according to my preg books, all the organs have already formed and the sprout is 4 cm long: an official fetus! i'm starting to relax a little about whether this one is hanging on. my boobs are getting really impressive--i'm going to need to do some serious shopping soon.

i've ventured into the diaper buying arena: i've got a couple cotton nikky covers, a used wahm fitted, and a cute stripey wool jersey cover, so far, with more on the way. still trying to decide between prefolds and fitteds for the bulk of the stash, though.

how are you guys? are the sickies feeling a little better?

*j

[tuffykenwell]

Originally posted by BabyOsMommy
I woke up with some pink discharge yesterday morning, and tried to shrug it off, but when it was still there later in the day, I panicked (more like FREAKED), and because I'd been feeling better over the last few days, assumed the worst and called my midwives. They gave me the option of an ultrasound or hcg monitoring(their first choice). I really just wanted to see that heartbeat, so I opted for ultrasound, which was scheduled for today.

This morning I woke up and felt better (actually worse, but nausea and dizziness was so welcomed), and no more spotting, and knew that everything was okay just by a feeling I had. I still went for the u/s, though because I thought that being stressed was probably just as bad as the u/s, so I went for my own piece of mind.

I am one of those people who is pretty anti "standard" US...but I do think if there is a reason for getting one you should. IMO that is the way they should be used. I agree that sometimes the stress of wondering what is going on can be as difficult for the baby and you to handle as testing. Not sure what I would have done in you situation but you shouldn't feel guilty at all!

I have had (and will likely have again if I get there) an US at 42 weeks to measure fluid levels and make sure everything is okay. If I had taken the information from the US I would have declined the induction of my son....oh hindsight can be a b***h at times! This time I will use the information gleaned from the 42 week US to negotiate for an extra week. At 43 weeks I will likely request another US and if the fluid levels etc are still fine I will push for another week....then I might consider induction with pitocin only (I am going for a VBAC so this seems the lesser of all evils...though it does increase my risk of rupture :(

Diagnostic tools *can* provide useful information IMO...

Steph

[scheelimama]

tuffykenwell,
I don't know how it works at the hospital, but I was induced with cytotec and it was much more gentle than pitocen. I know they like to hurry things along at hospitals, but you might request cytotec or something similar. It's just a pill that they insert into your cervix every 4 hours. You lay down for the first two hours so it can be absorbed and then you walk around for the next two hours so that contractions can get going. It usually takes 1-3 days to produce a baby. Some people will have their babies very fast with it. I was dilated to a 3-4 and maybe 50% effaced when we started around 9 in the morning and my midwife said that I would have a baby by that evening, but she decided not to come until the following evening. It was not painful at all until the next afternoon/evening when my body kicked into real labor. And that didn't last long. Anyway, I know you are hoping not to be induced, but I thought I would offer this alternative if you have to be. :)