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BotB
TTC: If your EWCM was deficient, did you use anything to mimic that environment, like egg whites or Pre-Seed, or do anything to encourage your body to make it, like drinking green tea, eating carrots, or taking Musinex? Did it help?
1st trimester: Did you get morning sickness? When did it start and how long did it last? What was your strategy for overcoming it? Did anyone try anything homeopathic remedies or aroma therapy?
2nd trimester: What kinds of genetic counseling and data gathering have you had or will you have during your pregnancy? Are you taking every ultrasound you?ve been offered or refusing any? How did you decide which to do? Will you or did you have an amnio?
3rd trimester: If you?re planning a med-free birth, are you preparing for it or just planning to wing it? If you?re planning to use meds, have you decided which route you want to take? If you?re wanting something like a block, how are you planning on approaching the period when you?re in labor but not yet medicated?
L&D: Do you have any fears about your labor and delivery? How are you going about overcoming them so that they don?t interfere with your ability to relax during the birthing process?
First days: What stands out as a favorite moment from the first few days after your baby arrived?
Updates:
Up next:
April 18, 2011: OoSparkly - Girl
Re: BotB
1st trimester: Did you get morning sickness? When did it start and how long did it last? What was your strategy for overcoming it? Did anyone try anything homeopathic remedies or aroma therapy? I was lucky and didn't get MS.
2nd trimester: What kinds of genetic counseling and data gathering have you had or will you have during your pregnancy? Are you taking every ultrasound you?ve been offered or refusing any? How did you decide which to do? Will you or did you have an amnio? We had the NT scan and the blood panel. We decided we didn't want to voluntarily go for the CVS or Amnio, but wanted to wait until the doctor said it was necessary, which it wasn't.
3rd trimester: If you?re planning a med-free birth, are you preparing for it or just planning to wing it? If you?re planning to use meds, have you decided which route you want to take? If you?re wanting something like a block, how are you planning on approaching the period when you?re in labor but not yet medicated? We had planned for an epi, and I received one.
L&D: Do you have any fears about your labor and delivery? How are you going about overcoming them so that they don?t interfere with your ability to relax during the birthing process? I was afraid of something goinf wrong and me being able to do nothing about it. I saw how many nurses and doctors were looking out for me along with J and my family, so my fears were relaxed in the actual L&D.
First days: What stands out as a favorite moment from the first few days after your baby arrived? When we got home, I was taking pictures of Scarlett with my phone and I got one of her looking up at me. I love that picture. Every time I look at it, I smile and I fall in love with my little girl all over again.
1st trimester: Did you get morning sickness? No M/S in either pregnancy
2nd trimester: What kinds of genetic counseling and data gathering have you had or will you have during your pregnancy? Are you taking every ultrasound you?ve been offered or refusing any? How did you decide which to do? Will you or did you have an amnio? We decided against the NT scan with both pregnancies. Other than that, we've had every ultrasound offered.
3rd trimester: If you?re planning a med-free birth, are you preparing for it or just planning to wing it? If you?re planning to use meds, have you decided which route you want to take? If you?re wanting something like a block, how are you planning on approaching the period when you?re in labor but not yet medicated? I don't know what I'm going to do this time. I had an epidural with DS1, but it didn't really work. I'm not opposed to trying an epidural again, but we'll see.
L&D: Do you have any fears about your labor and delivery? Not really.
First days: What stands out as a favorite moment from the first few days after your baby arrived? We have ultrasound pictures of DS where it looks like he's reclining with his arms folded behind his head. When we got home from the hospital, we realized that he actually liked to sleep with his arms above his head, and that's continued to this day. He'll still sleep with his arms up or folded behind his head!
TTC: If your EWCM was deficient, did you use anything to mimic that environment, like egg whites or Pre-Seed, or do anything to encourage your body to make it, like drinking green tea, eating carrots, or taking Musinex? Did it help? n/a
1st trimester: Did you get morning sickness? When did it start and how long did it last? What was your strategy for overcoming it? Did anyone try anything homeopathic remedies or aroma therapy? MS started around 8 weeks for me and ended right around 14 weeks. I got through the day by eating small snacks through the day but usually couldn't do much for it at night. I tried candied ginger (didn't like it) and ginger ale but I didn't notice much of a difference. Mine was definitely more "evening" sickness.
2nd trimester: What kinds of genetic counseling and data gathering have you had or will you have during your pregnancy? Are you taking every ultrasound you?ve been offered or refusing any? How did you decide which to do? Will you or did you have an amnio? We did the triple screen (I think that's what it's called...) Looking back, I would have chosen not to do it and I won't do it for future pregnancies. Just a personal preference. I took all of the ultrasounds, I didn't see much as to why we shouldn't take them. I wouldn't have done the amnio if it had been offered (it wasn't.)
3rd trimester: If you?re planning a med-free birth, are you preparing for it or just planning to wing it? I read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth and we're taking childbirth classes beginning this Saturday. My plan is to go med free, I've got a yoga ball that will be going to the hospital with us and I know that they have showers and a tub available also. From what I've heard the hospital and my Dr are pretty supportive of med free so that's encouraging.
L&D: Do you have any fears about your labor and delivery? How are you going about overcoming them so that they don?t interfere with your ability to relax during the birthing process? My fears are that I won't do something right or people that I don't want there will show up and I won't be able to relax or I'll have some unnecessary procedure forced on me. Childbirth itself isn't really scaring me at this point. I'm just trying to be really informed and open with everyone to prevent the above, I feel like my concerns are pretty common at this point.
TTC: If your EWCM was deficient, did you use anything to mimic that environment, like egg whites or Pre-Seed, or do anything to encourage your body to make it, like drinking green tea, eating carrots, or taking Musinex? Did it help?
I don't think I'm necessarily deficient in that area, but since we're having trouble I do it all anyway. Pre-Seed, carrots, green tea, EPO every cycle, and Musinex some cycles. It does seem to increase production, not that that's helped us out any. It's officially been a year of very active trying. Boo.
TTC: If your EWCM was deficient, did you use anything to mimic that environment, like egg whites or Pre-Seed, or do anything to encourage your body to make it, like drinking green tea, eating carrots, or taking Musinex? Did it help? I drank green tea and took Mucinex (but didn't see a change), and we started using Pre-Seed in the cycle that I got my BFP.
1st trimester: Did you get morning sickness? When did it start and how long did it last? What was your strategy for overcoming it? Did anyone try anything homeopathic remedies or aroma therapy? I had "morning" sickness in weeks 5-9. I felt fine in the morning, then would feel progressively worse throughout the day, with the worst being at bedtime. I used ginger ale, sea band bracelets, and lots of small snacks to help.
2nd trimester: What kinds of genetic counseling and data gathering have you had or will you have during your pregnancy? Are you taking every ultrasound you?ve been offered or refusing any? How did you decide which to do? Will you or did you have an amnio? No genetic counseling, but we had all the ultrasounds that were offered. I took my ob's advice and didn't have any tests that I wasn't already considered at risk for.
3rd trimester: If you?re planning a med-free birth, are you preparing for it or just planning to wing it? If you?re planning to use meds, have you decided which route you want to take? If you?re wanting something like a block, how are you planning on approaching the period when you?re in labor but not yet medicated? This is a long story, but the short version is that I decided to wait until I was in labor to decide. I ended up with an epidural and a pundendal block.
L&D: Do you have any fears about your labor and delivery? How are you going about overcoming them so that they don?t interfere with your ability to relax during the birthing process? My main fear was that I would have to have a c-section. I know that a c-section is still a healthy delivery, but I had personal reasons not to want one. I tried to be proactive by having a birth plan with my wishes clearly stated and luckily, it was able to be followed.
First days: What stands out as a favorite moment from the first few days after your baby arrived? I just remember how quiet and peaceful it was to be at home. I didn't necessarily mind being at the hospital, but I realized how busy and loud the hospital was once we were at home and all the commotion had stopped.
Updates: Baby H is 6 weeks tomorrow, and 10 lbs!
PM me for our family/baby blog
Haley Beth ~ March 3rd, 2011
TTC: If your EWCM was deficient, did you use anything to mimic that environment, like egg whites or Pre-Seed, or do anything to encourage your body to make it, like drinking green tea, eating carrots, or taking Musinex? Did it help? N/A
1st trimester: Did you get morning sickness? When did it start and how long did it last? What was your strategy for overcoming it? Did anyone try anything homeopathic remedies or aroma therapy? I felt pretty awful and nauseas from about weeks 6 through 13, and then awful and exhausted that whole time until about week 15/16. Sour candies helped me, so I sucked on them a lot. Sour Mambas, yellow Starbursts, etc. It wasn't horrible and I didn't puke once (just a few dry heaves while teeth brushing and such), so I just dealt with it. I got very lucky.
2nd trimester: What kinds of genetic counseling and data gathering have you had or will you have during your pregnancy? Are you taking every ultrasound you?ve been offered or refusing any? How did you decide which to do? Will you or did you have an amnio? We had the 1st and 2nd tri bloodwork, and the NT scan. I didn't necessarily feel I needed them, but my doctor said it couldn't hurt and they looked it up for me and noted it was all covered by insurance. Plus, T wanted to do it, so we did them all. I believe I would've gotten an amnio if we'd been at a higher risk for something, but so far all testing has indicated baby is most likely healthy.
3rd trimester: If you?re planning a med-free birth, are you preparing for it or just planning to wing it? If you?re planning to use meds, have you decided which route you want to take? If you?re wanting something like a block, how are you planning on approaching the period when you?re in labor but not yet medicated? We started taking Bradley classes at about 15 weeks, and have been working the exercises, relaxation, and diet since then. I've been doing a lot of reading, visualizing, etc. So, fully preparing for med-free as much as we possibly can. We'll be interviewing doulas in the next couple weeks as well.
L&D: Do you have any fears about your labor and delivery? How are you going about overcoming them so that they don?t interfere with your ability to relax during the birthing process? I am very scared of tearing. Like, I need to just get over it. I have to actually pep-talk myself, "it'll all be worth it, I won't feel it, it's not a big deal...put it out of your mind..."...I am hoping that a conversation with my MW about it will ease some concerns. I also plan to talk about it a lot with T and my doula and hope that when the time comes, they'll ask/encourage perineal support of the MW delivering the baby. I'm trying to really pay attention to the birth videos I watch, and keep in mind pushing with contractions, and to comfort, working with my body, etc. (realizing of course I can't know until I get there how it'll actually be). And I'm doing what I can now to lower my risk of tearing (planning for a med-free birth, lots of squats, kegels, etc). Really though, I know that I have to just get over it. So, I'm trying to really do more of the pep-talking and realizing it's not as big a deal as I am making it out to be in my head.
Updates: 21 weeks today! Feeling lots of little thumps inside there, and loving them all. I'm so very very excited for T to feel them from the outside, hopefully soonish
TTC: If your EWCM was deficient, did you use anything to mimic that environment, like egg whites or Pre-Seed, or do anything to encourage your body to make it, like drinking green tea, eating carrots, or taking Musinex? Did it help?
No. I don't ovulate so no EWCM. It wasn't until I was on meds that I ever had EWCM but since I was on fert drugs and doing IUI there was no need for anything to increase it since the goods were already getting up to my uterus.
1st trimester: Did you get morning sickness? When did it start and how long did it last? What was your strategy for overcoming it? Did anyone try anything homeopathic remedies or aroma therapy? I started with nausea around 5 or 6 weeks until 10 or 11 weeks. Mostly just really bad nausea, I only threw up about 5 or 6 times and some dry heaving...but I didn't eat much those weeks besides a lot of ginger ale, ginger altoids, and saltines/bread.
2nd trimester: What kinds of genetic counseling and data gathering have you had or will you have during your pregnancy? Are you taking every ultrasound you?ve been offered or refusing any? How did you decide which to do? Will you or did you have an amnio? We did the NT scan and blood tests and would have done an amnio depending on the results - if our results for DS were high we would not have done the amnio because we wouldn't terminate for DS, but if the risks for another trisomy that would not be compatible with life, we probably would have done the amnio or CVS. We also did the Anatomy scan.
3rd trimester: If you?re planning a med-free birth, are you preparing for it or just planning to wing it? If you?re planning to use meds, have you decided which route you want to take? If you?re wanting something like a block, how are you planning on approaching the period when you?re in labor but not yet medicated?Planning and hoping for med free. We start our bradley class in 2 weeks - we're really excited to get started. We're getting a bigger exercise ball, and I've been practicing a lot of my yoga moves from my yoga classes at home - especially the different hip movements and have Alex help with some stretching in child's pose that my yoga instructor taught us - I have him do it every night and it feels so so good. There are also showers at my hospital that I hope to use if I need. I also would love to try and deliver while squatting or another position if possible and my OB said Kaiser is pretty open to that if it's what works.
L&D: Do you have any fears about your labor and delivery? How are you going about overcoming them so that they don?t interfere with your ability to relax during the birthing process?Afraid I'll chicken out and ask for an epidural right away. I actually think I have a pretty high threshold for pain - I've broken a lot of bones and have had many of them set with out pain medication because I didn't want to wait for the meds to kick in. But who knows how this is going to happen. I'm also a little stressed about having my inlaws in the waiting room and knowing they'll want to come in during labor (not pushing, but while I'm laboring) and I'm not okay with that. And I know my MIL will get butt hurt when I ask for my mom and it be okay that my mom comes in and my MIL not be allowed. It's just going to add drama I don't need. I'm hoping i can convince DH not to call them to come to the hospital until I'm almost ready to push. And I also want some alone time right after the birth until anyone comes in and I know that is going to bug everyone in the waiting room.
Updates:
Had 24 week appointment yesterday. Got to hear the heartbeat, everything is good. My weight was up like 10 pounds since my last appt. and we don't know why. It was really upsetting, but my OB isn't worried because I'm still in mostly pre-preg clothes, other than my stomach and boobs everything (thighs, legs, arms, etc.) are the same size as pre-pg. I'm not measuring big. It was upsetting, but she said it could be a weird flucuation and that the next month is stable. But it was frustrating since I"ve worked hard on my diet and exercise to keep my weight down, but it doesn't seem to matter.
1st trimester: Did you get morning sickness? Yes
When did it start and how long did it last? Started at 6 weeks ended at 12-13 weeks
What was your strategy for overcoming it? small meals, saltines, sprite
Did anyone try anything homeopathic remedies or aroma therapy? No.
2nd trimester: What kinds of genetic counseling and data gathering have you had or will you have during your pregnancy? Are you taking every ultrasound you?ve been offered or refusing any? How did you decide which to do? Will you or did you have an amnio?
We had a quad blood screening and normal u/s - we did not have a NT scan or an amnio.
1st trimester: Did you get morning sickness? When did it start and how long did it last? What was your strategy for overcoming it? Did anyone try anything homeopathic remedies or aroma therapy? I had a little nausea but only when I was hungry. It seemed to go away by week 11.
2nd trimester: What kinds of genetic counseling and data gathering have you had or will you have during your pregnancy? Are you taking every ultrasound you?ve been offered or refusing any? How did you decide which to do? Will you or did you have an amnio? We did the NT scan and blood work and had a few ultrasounds in the beginning to make sure everything was okay since I kept spotting. There was no need to do the amnio and my doctor didn't offer it to me anyway.
3rd trimester: If you?re planning a med-free birth, are you preparing for it or just planning to wing it? If you?re planning to use meds, have you decided which route you want to take? If you?re wanting something like a block, how are you planning on approaching the period when you?re in labor but not yet medicated? I am probably going for the epidural.
L&D: Do you have any fears about your labor and delivery? How are you going about overcoming them so that they don?t interfere with your ability to relax during the birthing process? I fear that LO will be large like DH was (10 lbs, 6 ozs.). I also worry a bit that I might have to go to c-section since my mom had an emergency c-section with me. Overall, I am more ready to go into labor than fearful right now.
TTC: If your EWCM was deficient, did you use anything to mimic that environment, like egg whites or Pre-Seed, or do anything to encourage your body to make it, like drinking green tea, eating carrots, or taking Musinex? Did it help? N/A
1st trimester: Did you get morning sickness? When did it start and how long did it last? What was your strategy for overcoming it? Did anyone try anything homeopathic remedies or aroma therapy?
I was nauseated, but I never really threw up. I ate something as soon as I felt sick (which was a lot, possibly contributing to my 10 lb first tri weight gain). I was back to normal around Week 12 or so.
2nd trimester: What kinds of genetic counseling and data gathering have you had or will you have during your pregnancy? Are you taking every ultrasound you?ve been offered or refusing any? How did you decide which to do? Will you or did you have an amnio?
We agreed to the bloodwork and the NT scan thinking that it was going to be fully covered by insurance (the only reason why we decided to do it since we had no risks of genetic diseases on either side). Now that I know that the tests aren't fully covered by insurance, I will probably decline genetic counseling in my future pregnancies, unless there's a reason for them. We almost requested an amnio because of an echocardiac focus (bright spot) on the baby's heart at the anatomy scan, but ultimately decided it wasn't worth the risk for a 1/20,000 chance of Down Syndrome. We did all four ultrasounds that were offered.
3rd trimester: If you?re planning a med-free birth, are you preparing for it or just planning to wing it? If you?re planning to use meds, have you decided which route you want to take? If you?re wanting something like a block, how are you planning on approaching the period when you?re in labor but not yet medicated?
I am planning on winging this whole thing. I'll cross the epidural bridge if/when I get there.
L&D: Do you have any fears about your labor and delivery? How are you going about overcoming them so that they don?t interfere with your ability to relax during the birthing process? I fear that my birth plan won't be followed and we'll get 'tude from the nurses because of it, and I'm also afraid of being bullied into all kinds of unnecessary medical interventions during a moment of weakness. And I'm afraid of having a difficult birth and having to get a c-section.
TTC: If your EWCM was deficient, did you use anything to mimic that environment, like egg whites or Pre-Seed, or do anything to encourage your body to make it, like drinking green tea, eating carrots, or taking Musinex? Did it help?
I never have EWCM so I have been drinking green tea and we started using pre-seed this cycle. All the green tea did was give me super creamy CM after ovulation, nothing before. We will see if the pre-seed helped when I test on Saturday