[zelda]

Yum Yum, congrats! I'm so happy to hear from you and hear that all is well with Baby Yum! And how exciting to know it's a boy! I am so impressed with your patience in terms of waiting to find out. Check in again soon if you can find the time. :-)

Nick and Kitty, congrats on those heartbeats. I will never forget the relief that washed over me as we saw that beating heart on our 9 week scan. Amazing to think that teeny heart is now thumping along inside Baby Elliott who is (trust me) no longer tiny but moving and grooving and making my belly shift back and forth as I type this! ;-)

Aphelendra, I am so sorry you had to go to the hospital, but so pleased you are okay now. Just remember...each week is closer and closer to a safe time when if the baby came, all would be well. I'm at 33 weeks now, and while I want Baby Elliott to hang out inside as long as he needs to, I know if he came tomorrow, odds are very high all would be well.

As for me...today I had a wonderful burst of energy that allowed me to get a lot done around the house. Yesterday, I was so tired I could barely lift my head. It's so random how my energy comes and goes. The nursery is 85% done...I need to go get some things to hang on the walls! They're pretty bare.

Mr. Z and I have decided to hire a doula for the birth. She is actually a student doula, but she has been training under a wonderful doula here in Houston who is very well known for about 4 months. Her rate is very reasonable, and when we met her, we liked her instantly. Since I have no family in town, I think it will help to have that other support in the room, and I won't feel like all the pressure is on Mr. Z to make me feel okay during labor!

Hope all is well with everyone...talk soon!

[aphelendra]

Congrats on the heartbeats ladies!

Nick, I think I've mentioned this before, but I was told by my clinic that if you hear/see a heartbeat after about the 10 week mark, you are almost surely in the clear for a first trimester loss. Most of the 12-14 week losses you hear about are only just discovered at routine end of first trimester u/s, the emby actually stopped developing prior to the u/s.

Kitty, I can't remember how far along you are . . . .but as I'm sure you know, that beating heart, no matter how early, is a great sign.

Yay for first tri busties!

[kittygirl1979]

I had my first ultrasound! Everything looked good and so cool to see that little heart beat Hope everything is well with everyone on here!

[nickclick]

yumyum, your new son sounds like a strong guy - must take after his mom. curb your enthusiasm - great choice to keep yourself from obsessing about your own situation by watching someone else who obsesses about himself!

aphelendra, sorry to hear about your stint in the hospital during your vaca but glad of course you got reassurance that all is OK. did they say why your uterus was being cranky? from all your activity?

i had a good checkup on tuesday. blood tests came back all good, my bp was normal, which i was worried about after it was high at another doctor visit a few weeks ago, and it's never anything more than something over 70. anyway, on tuesday it was something over 70. my weight is the same since my first visit too, which is surprising because mr.nick makes fun of my "second breakfasts" etc., aka pam on the office. i guess i must be choosing some of the right foods even though i feel like i'm constantly chugging snacks.

she used an audio u/s to check for viability and didn't hear the peanut's heartbeat, so she left to find the video u/s. of course in the meantime i freaked out. but as soon as she touched my belly with the sensor, there s/he was, beating and staring at us. phew.

so i'm coming up on 12 weeks and i can't wait to go public! i will feel so much more real. but we're going to wait until the end of next week when we go for the nuchal fold. i'm counting down the days (8) to hear that good news.

[aphelendra]

Hello all!

Have finally arrived home from vacation. Yes, it is possible for a vacation to be too long. Yarg. Am very very happy to be home.

Congrats to yum! I'm very inspired to hear you were able to stick to your plan of an unmedicated birth, despite it being such a long process. Also very happy to hear that baby yum is faring well on mama's milk.

As for us, we had kind of a rocky trip. The swelling in my legs (and face and arms and hands and . . . ) subsided finally around the middle of last week. Despite being on vacay and pigging out nonstop, I've actually lost seven pounds since my trip to the doc's, all by downing gallons of water and walking walking walking everywhere. Well, apparently all the walking ended up not being such a grand idea . . . .

Last monday night I started having some sharp abdominal pains, so I curled up with a heating pad and took some tylenol (doc's advice). Seemed to help for a bit, but by tuesday morning, I had strong crampy type feelings all across my lower back. So called my doc back at home again, and by noon that day found myself at the fabulous McGee Women's Hospital birth center triage unit. No vacation is complete without at least one hospital visit, right?

Luckily, after an hour or two (time passes strangely in hospitals) of continuous monitoring, I was cleared to go home (or back to the in-laws as was the case). Officially speaking, my uterus was displaying some "irritability" but not contracting regularly.

Everything appears to be back to normal, and I have no restrictions except for some mandatory rest periods throughout the day, although I still feel really guilty about the whole thing. Up until the big incident, I'd been complaining bitterly about how uncomfortable and big I was feeling, and how I couldn't believe I still had so much of the pregnancy to go. Nothing like a preterm labor scare to remind me how very much I want to be pregnant for every second of these 40 weeks . . . .

Anyways, sorry for the long ramble. I hope everyone else is well, and am looking forward to jumping back into the swing of things around these here parts.

[Michelina]

Congratulation, Yumyum! Well done! I'd been thinking of you lately. Oh and I love that you watched Curb Your Enthusiasm while contracting. It's one of my and Mr. M's favs. If it happens for me someday, I'm totally doing that!

[yumyum]

Nickclick,

Labor was pretty tough. I prepared for a non-medicated birth, but I didn't expect it to go on for days! It woke me at 11:30 and I wasn't able to sleep again until after baby yum arrived (I actually haven't been able to get more than a couple of hours of sleep per night since then). I labored at home with Mr. Yum and Mom Yum until about 1:30 the next afternoon, at which time the contractions were lasting about a minute and coming every 2-3 minutes. I sat on my yoga ball, took walks around the block and watched episodes of curb your enthusiasm. When we showed up at the hospital, it turns out I was only +1 cm dilated. Ugh. So they gave me an hour to see if I would progress (otherwise I would need to go back home). We walked the halls and did some more bouncing on the yoga ball. When they checked me again, I was at 4. Labor progressed, but very slowly. It felt like I was in transition forever. I got stuck at 9 and the doctor started throwing around the possibility of a c-section. They started me on pit (horrible non-stop contractions) and broke my water (felt kind of good). Finally I got to 10 and baby started to come out- I couldn't not push- very strange feeling. I pushed for about 2 hours and was able to get him out unassisted, but with some tearing.

Baby Yum is wonderful. He weighed 7lbs 13 oz and was 23" long. He is nursing like a little tiger; he is almost back to his birth weight and he is very strong (very good head control). I just adore this little fella.

[nickclick]

many congrats yumyum, mr. yum and new yum! tell us more about him, and about the birth (holy shit 36 hours!?!?!???), when you may have a few moments to post.

zelda, how's your esophagus?

[yumyum]

Hi everyone- I just wanted to do a quick post to let you all know that I had my baby, a boy, last Tuesday! He is wonderful. I was in labor for 36 hours and I can say that every (un-medicated) second of it was worth it.

Mr. Yum and I are beat, yet we don't feel crabby- it's the neatest thing. It might be awhile before I have time to check in again (little Yum loves to be held which is great but doesn't allow for much internet time), but I wish all of you pregnant and ttc busties the best.

[zelda]

Ooohhhh.....third trimester heartburn. IT BURNS!!!!!!!!!

Sorry. Needed to vent. ;-)

[luleey]

Michelina, my thoughts and prayers are with you as well as your sister. It gives us all the more reason to be grateful for ourselves and our loved ones regardless of when or how we're successful in having children. It hurts, and it's devastating to have your hopes and those whom you care for's hopes dashed, but in a weird way it helps to remember that this is why families exist--to help each other through the awful times, no matter what. Helping my mother through a long-term illness this past year really made it hit home for me the power that mothers, sisters, fathers, friends etc. have in helping people heal and bring themselves to where they need to be in life. Lots of hugs to you and your fam.

Ditto Cristine...good luck with your new thread, and we hope to see you back here SOON. A year from now, you could be an expectant mother or even a mother, and I hope so much that is the case!

Zelda, how ya feeling? Better I hope!

Well, off to fight pointlessly against my yard full of dandelions. On the up side, I heard the greens are very good for us because of the potassium! Bitter as hell though...

[zelda]

Cristine, I hope you get lots of buzz in the Childless Not By Choice thread but I hope you know you are WELCOME here anytime and all the time. It does seem like this thread has become very full of preggos lately, and I can completely and totally see why you'd rather post someplace else, but I really hope you at least pop in from time to time to give us an update. I, for one, would like to know how you are!

Just a quick update...I had a bit of a scare Friday morning when I bent over to feed the cats and almost passed out. Should not have led with the head below the heart at 8 months pregnant. I promptly dropped the food bowl and stumbled out of the room only to find myself unable to walk. I sat down and called for Mr. Z. As soon as I sat, I felt better. Called the doc to be safe, but she said it was probably just from bending down and getting up too fast and also being slightly dehydrated from this stomach bug I've had. Woo!

Today we had our first birth class and a baby shower thrown by friends...a day full of baby. I am exhausted but feeling so fortunate for our good friends and the time we got to spend with them today (even better than all the presents!). The class was great, but I have to say I am so glad I am not as concerned with modesty as some of the women in the class. They were all concerned with pooping in front of everyone. I said if I was pushing a baby out of my vagina, I couldn't care less if I poop a little! Who cares! ;-) We learned breathing and relaxation techniques and watched several birthing videos...Mr. Z teared up! (I did, too!)

Kitty...didn't even know they did progesterone counts. STAY AWAY FROM THE GOOGLE MACHINE! If your doc says your numbers are good, they are! Remember every pregnancy is different and the range of normal is pretty broad! Thanks for the info on autism...it did make me feel better. Ultimately, i have no control over what God/the fates send to us...I just know we will love little Elliott and what happens, happens, and we will deal.

Koffee...so sorry to hear about your SIL....glad she at least has been able to have some successful pregnancies in the past although I am sure it doesn't make any loss easier.

Hope all is well with all of you...

[Michelina]

Funnybird, when I was last on, I forgot to mention how happy I am for you. Yay to the excellent ultrasound! I wish you, AB, and Babybird all the best.

Cristine, sorry to hear that this month wasn't a successful one. I'm happy you got the other thread going.

Just a quick update. We had another IUI on Wednesday and it was horrible. Mr. M's count was down to 2 million / mL. The borderline of normal is 20 and the average is about 60. I only got 1/3 washed sperm and they like to see 5 million. I started crying on the table wondering if something is wrong with him. The nurse assured me that this is not a sign of poor health. Still, why is it fluctuating so much??? My doctor is away, but I'll hopefully get to see another one of the docs.

Secondly, my sister had a miscarriage. I feel horrible for her. It took them quite a while to conceive, and then she lost the baby. As jealous as I was of her, I was still happy for her and excited about the baby. It has been a very hard time in my family lately with my infertility and my sister's miscarriage.

Thinking positive thoughts for all of you...

[Cristine]

Ok well I guess I did it wrong, oops! Well anyways there is already a thread that exists for this, it's called Childless, Not By Choice and hasn't been active since 2008... we'll see which one gets rolling quicker.

[Cristine]

Thanks kitty, I took your advice and started a new thread... TTC. Michelina, I hope we can get something started up over there!

[kittygirl1979]

Christine-

Speaking for myself (and I bet everyone else), you are in no way bringing me down. But, trust me, I understand if you need a break from the pregnant lady board. I had to do that myself, which is why I disappeared for a while there. It's too bad there is not a thread for women who are TTC. Could you start one? I know I would have loved one. Anyway, I wish you the best. I really DO think you will conceive!

Everyone else-

Does anyone think my progesterone count of 8 sounds low? From what I have read online it should be a 9 at least. MY HCG levels were really good tho. Strange that the Dr. described everything as looking "really good" with a progesterone count of 8 tho... I will mention it at my appointment this Thursday. She sometimes gets mildly annoyed with all my internet data that I rush in with. And I must admit, she has been more correct than my google findings about everything so far!

[Cristine]

Hey ladies, well my crazy cycle ended at CD 37... no luck this month. When I first started TTC, this thread was full of people like me. Now everyone is pregnant and I don't want to keep bringing people down with bad news. I wish you all the best in your blessed pregnancies!

Zelda, it's been exciting to see your journey and I wish you all the best!

Funnybird, I am so so happy you finally received your blessing and wish you all the great things you, AB & Baby Bird deserve!

Aphelendra, it was very interesting to hear your story. As I've stated before, you know way more than you should have to for your age but you are so helpful to others because of it!

God bless all of you!

[nickclick]

koffee, that's all you can do is send hugs to your SIL. send her some (((hugs))) from me too.

luleey, totally gross and weird. thanks for the poo sympathy!

[luleey]

Aw Nick, sorry you had a bad day...I feel you on the pooing issue. Gross and weird. Also I'm totally already not fitting into a bunch of clothes and bras even though I'm trying not to overeat and am exercising. What can you do!

Yeah, I didn't mean we shouldn't use cell phones or get immunizations AT ALL!!! The cell phone thing has come up because my husband got paranoid it was negatively affecting his body by carrying it in his front pocket all the time. I have no idea if that's a real thing or not, maybe it's just a total wackadoo theory that increased magnetic fields affect people in ways we're not sure of yet. Who the hell knows! And yes, I agree with some earlier statements that a lot of kids are diagnosed with things that would have been dismissed in the past or written off as a kid being naughty or eccentric. My dad is the most hyperactive, ADD person EVER and I'm sure the docs nowadays would have him on quite the cocktail if he were a child, but somehow he survived and was successful! I'm also a teacher and work with all types of kids, so I'm learning more about it as I go. While I hope my child does not have autism, there are a lot of breakthroughs in treatment now and even if it were a mild case I'd love his or her "quirks" regardless! Needless to say I'll be watching closely when bean is born (it seems so far away...fingers crossed!) to try and discern any abnormalities in behavior.

koffee, so sorry to hear about your SIL. That is truly devastating for her and your family and I know you're doing everything you can for her. It's hard to know what to say and do...just try your best to be there for her and let her (and yourself) experience all the emotions of this difficult time. (((hugs)))

[koffeewitch]

I distinctly remember with each baby I've had, I always watched them from the second they were born for signs of autism. When I see that they look into my eyes and turn their heads at the sound of my voice, are attracted to bright objects, etc. I always feel this huge sense of relief that so far everything looks normal. To be a mommy is to worry. *sigh*

Last night, my pregnant sister-in-law sent me a sad message. She miscarried; the ultrasound said she was at 12 and a half weeks. (She and the women in her family have a genetic, congenital problem, they miscarry about 1/3 of their pregnancies. Prego Busties, this WILL NOT happen to you; this is a specific genetic problem that is very rare). I feel so awful for her; she had just finally started telling everyone about her pregnancy. What do you say to someone when this happens? I just sent her a big (((hug))). She has four children; at least she's not struggling to have a family like my other poor SIL who finally gave up and decided to adopt. Sorry to set a sad tone in this thread; I know you all probably worry enough without hearing stuff like this. I just needed a space to sort of get it off my chest. My SIL is going in to the hospital Monday to be induced. I wish there was something kind/comforting that I could do for her, she lives in a different state, though. I guess if it had to happen I'm glad for her sake that it happened now and not when she was past 25 weeks (I think this is the line between having a miscarriage and having a stillborn). Still, poor Christi.