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BOTB
TTC: Have you changed anything about your day to day lifestyle in anticipation of getting pregnant? Diet, exercise, spending habits, etc.?
1st trimester: Are you hungry all the time or never hungry? If you have cravings, what are they?
2nd trimester: Are you doing your Kegels? How many a day do you do? (If you aren?t doing them, your friendly neighborhood doula suggests that you get on it 
Are you doing prenatal yoga? Does your instructor have a low key approach or is the class birth training driven?
3rd trimester: Have you started/finished your nursery? If so, PIP, please. If you?re planning to co-sleep, are you doing a nursery or waiting until baby transitions?
L&D: If you had a list of birth preferences, did your L&D staff try to accommodate your wishes as best they could?
First days: Did you tear or need an episiotomy? If so, how long did it take you to recover and were you given massage instructions to help the tissue heal without adhesions? In either scenario, how long did it take to feel back to normal in that region?
Updates:
Up next:
May 9, 2011: melgrady
May 27, 2011: MadameD517
Re: BOTB
We knew we'd start TTC around the end of the year 2010, so in early 2010 I started counting ww points and running (with a goal of losing 40 lb and running a half marathon before getting pg). I am so glad I did too b/c I learned a lot about diet, nutrition, exercise, and myself that I think has only benefitted me in pregnancy (even though it has made putting on the baby weight and losing my stamina/feeling out of shape a little harder for me mentally after having had success with my goals such a short time beforehand).
1st trimester: Are you hungry all the time or never hungry? If you have cravings, what are they?
I was hungry all the time. Like, had to eat in the middle of the night b/c I would wake up with physical starvation pain. It was brutal. The only thing I had to have (and still do) is cereal...that ice cold milk is sooooo good.
2nd trimester: Are you doing your Kegels? How many a day do you do? (If you aren?t doing them, your friendly neighborhood doula suggests that you get on it
Are you doing prenatal yoga? Does your instructor have a low key approach or is the class birth training driven?
Yep. Bradley has us doing about 200+ per day now. I forget still some days, but do 300 or more on other days. I am taking prenatal yoga twice a week and I think it is a little of both low key and birth training (lots of relaxation stuff, but also positions that benefit labor, squatting, etc. And I definitely work up a sweat from time to time in there).
3rd trimester: Have you started/finished your nursery? If so, PIP, please. If you?re planning to co-sleep, are you doing a nursery or waiting until baby transitions?
We've only painted the nursery walls and selected a spoonflower fabric for curtains/crib skirt. We have a lot of work to do in there!
Updates: Had our 24 week appt yesterday and everything is going great. We also had our "Meet the Midwives" class with Kaiser on Monday and that was seriously AWESOME. I am so completely impressed with Kaiser and so happy with our care there. I love my OB, love my MW, love how encouraging and accomodating they are for med-free birthing. Just found out Kaiser Roseville has laboring tubs on order, to be received in the next couple of months, they were great about all the things I was afraid to ask about initially (taking placenta home, saline lock, perineal support). Very satisfied so far with our care. T can feel the baby moving from the outside these days, and I feel him/her constantly. I love it. I feel like I'm bonding and falling in love with this little person inside me.
2nd trimester: Are you doing your Kegels? How many a day do you do? (If you aren?t doing them, your friendly neighborhood doula suggests that you get on it
Are you doing prenatal yoga? Does your instructor have a low key approach or is the class birth training driven? whoops. thanks for the reminder!
3rd trimester: Have you started/finished your nursery? If so, PIP, please. If you?re planning to co-sleep, are you doing a nursery or waiting until baby transitions? DS2 will be sharing a room with DS1, so the nursery is done. I couldn't find any pics on my work computer. We still need to get a crib for DS2, but that's about all we need.
L&D: If you had a list of birth preferences, did your L&D staff try to accommodate your wishes as best they could? I didn't have a birth plan.
First days: Did you tear or need an episiotomy? If so, how long did it take you to recover and were you given massage instructions to help the tissue heal without adhesions? In either scenario, how long did it take to feel back to normal in that region? I had a 4th degree tear, no massage instructions were given, but I think I was feeling back to "normal" after a month or so. It was pretty much 100% healed by my 6 week check.
First days: Did you tear or need an episiotomy? If so, how long did it take you to recover and were you given massage instructions to help the tissue heal without adhesions? In either scenario, how long did it take to feel back to normal in that region?
For those C-Section mamas....With surgery and the incision, I felt totally "normal" after about two weeks, and was actually pretty close by one week. Just still had to take it easy with major lifting and jumping up too quickly for a while.
TTC: Have you changed anything about your day to day lifestyle in anticipation of getting pregnant? Diet, exercise, spending habits, etc.?
Less alcohol
1st trimester: Are you hungry all the time or never hungry? If you have cravings, what are they?
Yes - hungry, but still had m/s
2nd trimester: Are you doing your Kegels? How many a day do you do? (If you aren?t doing them, your friendly neighborhood doula suggests that you get on it
Are you doing prenatal yoga? Does your instructor have a low key approach or is the class birth training driven?
I do kegels, not sure of the amount, but everyday in hopes after # 2 comes out, I will bounce back as much as possible. No prenatal yoga, although I wish I had the time/money/day care to do it.
3rd trimester: Have you started/finished your nursery? If so, PIP, please. If you?re planning to co-sleep, are you doing a nursery or waiting until baby transitions?
We've only started to move the furniture around, no nursery is set up as of now, I'm 30 weeks and need to get on it. I plan to co-sleep and use a bassinet, although if like the last time around, I co-slept with DS until he was 6 months old, he never used the bassinet (PNP.)
1st trimester: Are you hungry all the time or never hungry? If you have cravings, what are they? I only felt nauseous in the first trimester if I didn't eat and I was always hungry. My cravings were Spaghetti-Os and tater tots, which luckily went away by week 14ish. I have been craving a margarita since November and was kind of hoping baby would make its appearance today so I could finally indulge my craving
2nd trimester: Are you doing your Kegels? How many a day do you do? (If you aren?t doing them, your friendly neighborhood doula suggests that you get on it
Are you doing prenatal yoga? Does your instructor have a low key approach or is the class birth training driven? I am horrible at remembering to do my kegels. I didn't do prenatal yoga.
3rd trimester: Have you started/finished your nursery? If so, PIP, please. If you?re planning to co-sleep, are you doing a nursery or waiting until baby transitions? DH still has yet to set the crib up and he has piles of paper everywhere that he still needs to organize since half the nursery is DH's office. Oh well, I don't think Baby H will really care that the nursery looks the way it does, but I do want the crib assembled by the time we are home from the hospital because we are planning on having LO sleep in the crib from the start.
Updates: Still pregnant. On Monday my doctor and I will be discussing my options if LO is still snug in my womb.
TTC: Have you changed anything about your day to day lifestyle in anticipation of getting pregnant? Diet, exercise, spending habits, etc.? I was pretty healthy to begin with, so I didn't change much other than taking a daily vitamin.
1st trimester: Are you hungry all the time or never hungry? If you have cravings, what are they? My appetite didn't change much, but I had aversions to certain foods and couldn't eat too much in one sitting, or I'd have horrible indigestion.
2nd trimester: Are you doing your Kegels? How many a day do you do? (If you aren?t doing them, your friendly neighborhood doula suggests that you get on it
Are you doing prenatal yoga? Does your instructor have a low key approach or is the class birth training driven? I was awful about doing Kegels, but did them when I would remember to. Yes, I did prenatal yoga 3x/week religiously and absolutely loved it. It was birth training driven, for the most part... a lot of squats!
3rd trimester: Have you started/finished your nursery? If so, PIP, please. If you?re planning to co-sleep, are you doing a nursery or waiting until baby transitions? My nursery was done in the 3rd trimester, but I don't think I ever posted the pictures! Here's a link to the blog post.
L&D: If you had a list of birth preferences, did your L&D staff try to accommodate your wishes as best they could? They were awesome! There were things that I had forgotten I requested, like turning the lights down while pushing and keeping the cord attached for a few extra minutes before cutting it. They accommodated everything I asked for, and I was really pleased with the staff.
First days: Did you tear or need an episiotomy? If so, how long did it take you to recover and were you given massage instructions to help the tissue heal without adhesions? In either scenario, how long did it take to feel back to normal in that region? I had a 2nd degree tear, but I never looked at it or felt it.
Not sure I could have done massage, but no one talked to me about that anyway. The recovery was not all that bad, just had some soreness for a few weeks, and ibuprofen was all it took to be comfortable. I think I was feeling back to normal by about 3-4 weeks.
Updates: We're flying to WI in one week! Baby's first airplane trip- eek! That's a scary, scary thought when you have a baby who's fussy.
PM me for our family/baby blog
Haley Beth ~ March 3rd, 2011
TTC: Have you changed anything about your day to day lifestyle in anticipation of getting pregnant? Diet, exercise, spending habits, etc.?
I didn't change very much, was pretty healthy to begin with. The cycle I got pg, I did lessen the intensity of my workouts.
1st trimester: Are you hungry all the time or never hungry? If you have cravings, what are they? I was hungry, but couldn't eat. It was terrible. I ate soup and smoothies.
2nd trimester: Are you doing your Kegels? How many a day do you do? (If you aren?t doing them, your friendly neighborhood doula suggests that you get on it
Are you doing prenatal yoga? Does your instructor have a low key approach or is the class birth training driven? I was really good at doing my Kegels. I did prenatal yoga and it was a combo of low key and birth training
L&D: If you had a list of birth preferences, did your L&D staff try to accommodate your wishes as best they could? Yes! I really lucked out with what OB was on call when I was induced b/c it was the most natural birth friendly OB in the practice. She knew what I wanted and did everything she could to get it for me. She asked to break my water knowing I would say no. The nurses were amazing too. They didn't freak out when monitors came off Ellie b/c I was bouncing on ball, they let me take a shower while in labor, walk around, etc.
First days: Did you tear or need an episiotomy? If so, how long did it take you to recover and were you given massage instructions to help the tissue heal without adhesions? In either scenario, how long did it take to feel back to normal in that region?
ERD 01.16.11
Surviving postpartum depression & OCD one day at a time.
Also experienced antenatal OCD.
Feel free to ask me questions about my experience.
TTC: Have you changed anything about your day to day lifestyle in anticipation of getting pregnant? Diet, exercise, spending habits, etc.?
I took prenatals but the main thing was I tried to really enjoy when I would do things I wouldn't be able to when pregnant. I rode big roller coasters at an amusement park and I enjoyed my adult beverages, etc.
1st trimester: Are you hungry all the time or never hungry? If you have cravings, what are they?
In the very beginning I had a sour stomach and nothing really sounded good. At about 12 weeks or so my appetite returned with a vengeance.
2nd trimester: Are you doing your Kegels? How many a day do you do? (If you aren?t doing them, your friendly neighborhood doula suggests that you get on it
Are you doing prenatal yoga? Does your instructor have a low key approach or is the class birth training driven?
I need to set a Kegel reminder in my phone or something, I am really bad about remembering.
TTC: Have you changed anything about your day to day lifestyle in anticipation of getting pregnant? Diet, exercise, spending habits, etc.?
Not really. I started going to yoga once a week and really have been working hard on not spending too much. I haven't been able to go to yoga recently, what with my crazy sore tailbone
but I'm planning on getting back into yoga and biking regularly. I'm also going to visit with my midwife to talk about ways to naturally improve fertility (which I imagine will have a bit to do with diet and exercise).
I exercised more and tried to eat healthier. We are pretty good about spending so that didn't need to be adjusted.
1st trimester: Are you hungry all the time or never hungry? If you have cravings, what are they?
I was hungry all the time. It was the only way I didn't feel nauseous. I wanted mexican food, ice cream and chocolate milk. I also wanted spinach salads, but thats a pretty common craving for me normally.
2nd trimester: Are you doing your Kegels? How many a day do you do? (If you aren?t doing them, your friendly neighborhood doula suggests that you get on it
Are you doing prenatal yoga? Does your instructor have a low key approach or is the class birth training driven?
Yes! I always did them before but I've learned some new exercises since being pg that don't have me doing as many. I usually do 40-80. I don't take a class for pre-natal yoga but I do use a video that is low key. I can see how it will help with labor and post-partum.
3rd trimester: Have you started/finished your nursery? If so, PIP, please. If you?re planning to co-sleep, are you doing a nursery or waiting until baby transitions?
We've got all the furniture in and the bedding arrived last week. We still need to hang some decorative things in there. I'll PIP when it's finished. The baby will be in our room for the first few months though so the nursery will mainly be for naps and changes.
Updates: Holy cow, I'm on the up next list! We've got 2 birth classes left and I'm feeling ready. I'm really hoping I can go med-free, our hospital seems to be really supportive of that so I'm happy about that. The pre-natal yoga has been amazing for me since I'm sitting for an average of 10hrs a day. Just 2 more weeks of work!
First days: Did you tear or need an episiotomy? If so, how long did it take you to recover and were you given massage instructions to help the tissue heal without adhesions? In either scenario, how long did it take to feel back to normal in that region?
I had a horrible tear that didn't heal right because I have a connective tissue disorder. Atticus is 9 months old, and I still don't feel "right" yet. My Ob/Gyn is thinking some sort of reconstructive surgery will have to be done.