[shinyx3]

heart burn when just thinking of food. like the simple sugestion is sufficient to make the stomach acid boil.

[chani]

The whole nipple remodeling phenomenon - like a snake shedding its skin. VERRRY weird.
I'd love to see your list, pepper!

[pepper]

there are so many secrets that no one ever tells you. like when the baby moves how your whole belly can roll and undulate like the swells of an ocean. man, is that ever bizzare and unexpected! or how right after birth your stomach is this loose, wobbly fleshy mound that wiggles like jello, also beyond strange. don't worry though, it all snaps back in no time. well, it did the last time i was pregnant anyhow! hope i'm still that elastic this time round!

anyone else remember or notice anything weird and not talked about? i have a list somewhere of things that surprised me, wonder where it is?

[pixiedust]

At least people care! Last time I was pregnant, my exhusband kept trying to force me to do more than I reasonably could and we got in huge arguments about him wanting me to get up on ladders. He also refused to stay with me all night at the hospital because he needed his sleep....poor asshole! Mr. Pixie is nothing like that. He makes sure I take naps, and he does lots of things for me. And he's already promised that he will stay at the hospital as long as I do.

[pepper]

if ONE more person tells me "oh, you're pregnant. you can't lift that!" i am going to scream! i'm knocked up, not terminal, geesh. i waitressed until i was nearly there last time, at 3-ish mos i think i can still pick shit up. the house ain't gonna move itself yo.

[pixiedust]

I hear you guys on the 30's!!! I was 25 last time I was pregnant, and I do not remember being this tired or getting winded so easily! No glowing face or great hair here either! And FJ, semi permanent color should be fine. In fact, some peopel get them through teh entire pregnancy, as long as you are in a well ventilated area, it should be ok. I'm not taking any chances until I am out of the first trimester either though! Luckily I colored right before I found out I was pg, so the roots aren't too bad yet.

[shinyx3]

Pepper, I sooo know what you mean with the napping. Went skiing today and was so sleepy at lunch that i almost fell asleep in the lodge. Hubby laughed and took me home. I could sleep 18 hrs a day I think. Beyond that, I feel like I am really cautious and am having a hard time that letting myself ski or work out like usual or hike etc. I would probably fall asleep mid whatever activity anyway. ha-ha

I have an ultrasound in the am and I am pretty excited. I think it is sorta funny that I have done this all before but it feels so totally new.

Still having a little nausea. Still completely random too, and no warning either. Not really too much though. I know some women have trouble gaining because of such horrible nasea, so I have to think so far so good I guess. Geez I must be in a pretty good mood today. lol

[falljackets]

no shit. i'm waiting for the glowing skin and radiant hair myself. instead, i have dry red bumpy splotches all over my face and dry icky hair! garrrr! the lack of hair coloring doesn't help because now i've got silvery streaks throughout the top of my head.

but that'll be remedied this weekend. i'm celebrating the end of the first trimester by allowing myself a semi-permanent hair coloring.

from all accounts, it's ok to do it. i still feel a little guilty over it though!

[pepper]

how the HELL am i supposed to get anything done if i fall asleep in the middle of the afternoon every flipping day?!?
and where is my glowing skin and awesome hair already?
geez, this is SO much harder when you're older. even just a few years makes a diff in the 30's. why did i wait so long? gah?!?

[pixiedust]

FJ, have you tried the preggie pops at Motherhood Maternity? They are really helping me through the nausea. Yay on getting through the first trimester! That is always a big hurdel!

[falljackets]

HI PREGGOS!

oops, sorry about the caps lock; this laptop always does that!

congratulations, jasmine! welcome to the world, little boy!! i hope you get to feeling better soon!

i'm officially at the end of my first trimester today! yay!!! now i'm really believing that this baby is REALLY coming to us in about six and a half months! incredible! actually, i've been much less concerned over the past month or so, at least ever since the spotting incident. on the 22nd, i went in for a regular appointment and he pulled out the doppler and could hear the baby's heartbeat through my belly, so that was pretty cool.

we're taking pics every few weeks or so. i need to download them and keep track of exactly when we took them. i don't have much of a belly yet, but my pants are definitely getting tight. actually, i had to find a different pair of jeans yesterday as my favorite new ones didn't fit. oddly, the new ones are a 6 and the old ones that DID fit are a 4! but i did go out looking at new stuff yesterday just to see what's out there and how much it's gonna cost me.

annoush, thanks for posting what you did. you're so right to stress how important it is to make your OWN choice in what kind of labor you have. i'd been so sure that i would have to have a c-section because of my lumbar fusion, but after talking to my doc and midwife, i'm feeling so confident that i have OPTIONS. sure, it might turn out that i won't be able to deliver vaginally, but i feel good knowing that it's a real possibility!

ugh, i've been dry heaving a lot lately. no puking (thank cod) but this is ridiculous! i go from STARVING to hating food in the blink of an eye. and my fridge makes me want to hurl! i need to just throw everything away and start all over. it's all so stinky!!

[pepper]

don't forget all the peeing. i really love that part.

[pixiedust]

That is just part of teh fun of being pregnant! Along with being moody, you will lose your mind, and eventually feel like yourbody is no longer under your control! But then you get a beautiful baby and it makes it all worth it!

[shinyx3]

It's christmas eve and I have so much to do. I should be all happy and excited and all so why am I such a moody bitch? I feel like I am so up and down with my moods. The silliest stuff makes me want to cry.

[anoushh]

Jas, congratulations!

And lots of people have vaginal births after c-sections. When the time comes, you can look into the details and decide if you want to give it a try. It's not nearly so risky as you might think in the vast majority of cases (depending on why you had the section.)

For now enjoy your new baby! Mine's whimpering so best go do my turn with him.

[jasmine77]

Hi all!

Just wanted to let you all know that our son, Jacob, was born yesterday at 4:47pm. He is beautiful and perfect!

I also wanted to say thank you for everyone's support and info sharing. You were all right, I had a relatively good labor though I did end up with a c-section which sucks big time. I'm a total wimp so I got an epidural fairly early on (I was about 3cm and in a fairly good amount of pain) and it really helped me enjoy my labor. I didn't feel much pain and actually enjoyed the pushing phase. I was able to push really well and was focused but he was positioned awkwardly coming down the canal and was never able to get past crowning despite 2 hours of pushing. The epidural wore off at the end of the pushing and just as my dr said we needed to do a c-section so I had tons of pain (and fear) at that point. The c-section was not fun and my recovery is worse than I was really expecting but, in the end, we have our beautiful son to show for it. My worry now (besides how am I going to get around until my incision heals) is what happens with future children? I really don't want to have another c-section ever again but there's always serious risk of uterine rupture with VBAC. I guess I'll worry about that whenever we have more kids (like in 10-20 years ).

Anyways, thanks again to everyone! Your strength and encouragement helped me a lot. And congrats to all the preggies!!

-Jas

[anoushh]

I have a friend who is a complete Nazi about natural childbirth and is constantly terrifying me with horrible facts about epidurals and C-sections....

This post has been weighing on me.

Let me first explain the position I'm coming from and then give my point of view on it. Please bear with me.

I had a baby 8 weeks ago. I was scared of labor, but \that was nothing compared to how scared I was at the idea of someone putting a needle in my back--that just totally freaked me out. (Actually, what scared me most was how I was going to cope, esp. with sleep deprivation, after the baby was born. The hip mamas in the Hip Momma thread told me to try a miracle blanket and they were so right. Not to mention their moral support was invaluable. But I digress..)

It's possible that to some people I could sound like your friend sounds to you--I believe very strongly that in most cases natural childbirth is best. I wish women were more supported in it and I wish that they were given the message that yes, they can do it, they are strong/brave enough and their bodies were made for it. It's amazingly powerful. It's not an illness. The vast majority of times it doesn't need medical intervention.

I had a precipitous labor. It started off so mild I wasn't sure what it was, then after a couple of hours of that--BOOM! It hit me like a ton--or 10--of bricks. It was scary and I never got on top of it and within 2 1/2hours the baby was born. And it hurt. A lot. More than I can explain, it hurt. My labor was so fast and so powerful I don't see how it could have been otherwise. Honestly, I was scared the whole time I was in serious labor--in part b/c I didn't know it was only going to be 2 1/2 hours and because I wasnt sure how long I could stand it (though of course I could stand it--what would happen?) and kept wondering if it was going to get worse (it didn't--stayed about the same from that point on).

Labor puts you in a totally different place with altered consciousness, at least it did for me. You become completely inward focused and consumed by the experience.

So with that background here's my perspective on this situation, along with advice, which of course you should feel free to pay attention to or dismiss, whatever feels right to you.

1. You are the one giving birth to this child, not your friend. It's up to you to decide how to do it. Emotional considerations are as valid as any other considerations in your choices.

There's no easy way to have a baby--it's a matter of doing what's best for you and baby. Both of you.

2. If, after getting the facts about the risks and benefits of all scenarios--including natural--you decide to have an epidural, that's not a failure. I would hope you would only make that choice--or any other--because they are the right ones for you, not because someone else approves or disapproves.

3. Consider a doula. If you are anything like me you think "shouldn't my partner be enough?" But they have different roles. Hiring a doula was a huge relief to my partner and it really freed him up to just be there for me. It was so reassuring knowing I had her when my labor hit so hard and when I was scared. And as scared as I was, she was a big part of why I ended up somewhere inside me knowing I was safe. (A couple of days after the birth I walked by the robe I'd been wearing and caught a whiff of the lavender massage oil she'd used to rub my back for nearly 2 hours--which helped so much. My immediate and unthinking response was a kind of "aahhhh"--letting out of breath and relaxing instantly. It really struck me that on some primitive level I had an association of safety with that smell, which was associated with the hardest, most painful, scary thing I've ever done.

In contrast the first time I got into the bath, about the same time, after the baby was born, my first response was anxiety. I'd been trying to get in the bath when my contractions went very quickly from several minutes apart to about a minute and a half apart--and I didn't even have time to figure out what the hell was going on.

So the doula made a difference.


Here and hereare just a couple of web pages about doulas and the benefits they offer to laboring women.


Feel free to ask me any questions about any further information about that experience if you are interested. But it was the best decision I've ever made in my life to hire her.

4. Consider hiring a midwife. My care was consistently supportive, understanding, patient, and kind. They consistently had faith in my and other women's ability to have babies. This does not mean you couldn't also have an epidural.

5. If you take a natural childbirth class, DO NOT TAKE THIS WOMAN'S CLASS. I mean it. You need to get information in an environment where you feel comfortable to feel what you feel, to ask any question you need to ask, and to not feel judged or pressured by anyone. She may in fact truly have your best interests at heart, but that's not the message you are getting right now, and you need to take care of yourself first.

6. Remember that when each contraction you have is over, it's gone forever. You will never have that contraction again. When the birth is over, the pain is instantly gone. (And I say this as someone who had a serious tear with childbirth, most likely due to the speed of my labor. It was painful, but in a more routine kind of way. And I didn't even feel it at first--I swear one of my first thoughts after he was born was "hey, I didn't even tear!" Oh well.)

7. Don't be hard on yourself. When I was in the immediate post recovery phase I kept thinking "I didn't do that very well...." Well, what would doing it "well" look like? I could only think of how scared I was and I wished I wasn't. But it's ok to be scared, and it's ok to feel what you feel. The midwife, the doula, and my partner all looked at me like I was insane when I said that to them at different times, and told me they didn't know why on earth I thought that.

8. Whatever you choose, educate yourself about childbirth. THere were several times when the amount of reading I'd done paid off. When the midwife said something about "transition" I thought "oh, this part is supposed to be really hard--everyone says so." That made me feel better about whether it was going to get any worse just when I thought I couldn't cope--it wasn't, most likely (and didn't.) That's just one example. Don't use it to freak yourself out, and use child birth postive sources, whatever methods are discussed.

9. Have faith in yourself. You can do this. I did it. Millions of other women did it. I don't know how we all did, but we did, and you can too. And you can make the right choice for yourself and your baby.

Good luck.

[pepper]

ack! what is with the instant cellulite on my ass and the backs of my thighs?!? omg, gruesome! it's everywhere!
this is taking the "laying down a layer of fat for future breastfeeding" thing a bit too far. ugh. anyone know of a good preggo exercise site?

[pixiedust]

On another board I belong to, they do toilet paper Tuesdays..where they check each week to see how many toilet paper squares it takes to get around the growing belly. I've been having a bit of nausea off an on this week. Mr. Pixie went out and bought me some preggie pops yesterday.

[shinyx3]

my husband wants to take pictures every two weeks or so of my tummy. i am still thin and actually probably thinner as i have had a little nausa and don't feel like eating that much. but i think it would be kinda cool to bew able to look back at the pictures.