So what exactly happens at the regular, monthly OB appointments when they're not doing ultrasounds?
Basically pee in a cup, check the doppler, answer any questions you have and later take a measurement of your belly. They feel pretty pointless, I wont lie.
3. Questions for the group? So what exactly happens at the regular, monthly OB appointments when they're not doing ultrasounds?
At my appointments, they check my weight and BP, ask about symptoms, give me a chance to ask questions, talk through any upcoming tests I need to schedule, and check hb with a doppler.
Post by lovesherheels on Oct 15, 2018 16:05:44 GMT -5
1. How far along are you this week? 39+5.
2. Pregnancy-related AW/vents/randoms for this week? I'm irritable. My mother is driving me crazy -- she's being super sensitive and that is just making me more cranky. I don't know what's making her like that, other than maybe just nerves (?). Or she's assuming my general crankiness is directed at her (which it isn't). And my friend who was due about 3.5 weeks after me had her son this weekend. So. Sigh. I'm just cranky and ready to not be pregnant anymore.
3. Questions for the group? Um, I don't think so. Unless someone knows how to make this kid show up.
4. Did you or will you have any sort of public/social media/picture announcement? Share if you're willing! We used a photo of our pup. I was going to upload it (because I am shameless about sharing how adorable my dog is, lol) but I don't have a place to upload it easily.
Susie -- I'm sorry you're having such a difficult time finding a practice that is putting your mind at ease and that you like.
melmaria -- Lolololol. That is the EXACT thought I had when I saw they were pregnant: "Oh great; another royal pregnancy to make all the rest of us pregnant women look like slobs."
centralsquare -- I'm sending "baby turn" wishes your way!
3. Questions for the group? So what exactly happens at the regular, monthly OB appointments when they're not doing ultrasounds?
At my appointments, they check my weight and BP, ask about symptoms, give me a chance to ask questions, talk through any upcoming tests I need to schedule, and check hb with a doppler.
Yeah, exactly. For my first pregnancy, I peed in a cup every time. I'm at a different practice now and they don't do that.
They don't measure your belly until much later. My last appointment, at about 26 weeks, was the first time my midwife did it.
They do feel a bit pointless if you don't have any questions, but I don't mind them. It's nice to hear the heartbeat occasionally and get a chance to discuss any issues I might be wondering about.
3. What's one thing you wished you packed in your hospital back, and things you packed that you didn't use?
I didn't use anything I packed for during L&D, and never used the birthing ball we brought at all. Playlists? Nope. Snacks/drinks? Nope. It went too fast.
I wished I'd brought nursing tanks for the couple days I was in the hospital. I had nursing bras and regular tanks, but nursing tanks would've been easier with a sleeved robe over it.
Aw man, just ordered some nursing bras. Was planning on snacks too, I'm sure H will eat them if I don't!
3. Questions for the group? My weight continues to rise faster that it did with my first. STMs - did anyone else experience this? I was happy with my weight gain with my first pregnancy and was hoping to follow the same approximate pattern, so this is kind of bothering me.
YEP. I gained pretty steadily last time, 1 pound/week. So I ended up gaining 40 pounds altogether. (My OB had it documented as 35 pounds, but I'm going off pre-IVF weight)
Now, I'm about 20 pounds over my pre-IVF weight at only 18 weeks. I'm expecting to gain 45 this time.
I’ll sit over here with you two. Weight gain is much more rapid this time which I attribute to pretty bad morning sickness until 17 weeks where eating was the only thing that made me feel human. It’s tough watching your body go through so many changes at once.
Vent: I forgot to add this to my post, I'm starting to feel concerned that I can't tell if I've felt the baby yet. Everyone keeps asking me, but I don't know what I'm looking for! No clue if its actual gas bubbles or whatever else is going on in there, or baby.
Vent: I forgot to add this to my post, I'm starting to feel concerned that I can't tell if I've felt the baby yet. Everyone keeps asking me, but I don't know what I'm looking for! No clue if its actual gas bubbles or whatever else is going on in there, or baby.
It's okay! With my first, I didn't *definitely* feel him until 20 weeks, because I didn't know what to look for. 17 weeks would be early for a FTM. People need to stop asking.
Post by cherryvalance on Oct 15, 2018 20:10:38 GMT -5
1. How far along are you this week? 20w5d
2. Pregnancy-related AW/vents/randoms for this week? Anatomy scan tomorrow! I'm just as nervous as I was with DS.
3. Questions for the group? No
4. Did you or will you have any sort of public/social media/picture announcement? Share if you're willing! DS's announcement was this: It took:
1410 days
102 injections
9 different medications
3 IUIs, 1 IVF, and 2 FETs
2 surgical procedures
Immeasurable heartache
For us to be able to say that Baby BOY Cherryvalance is due July 30, 2017!
For this baby, I made a cute video about our lives so far--we got married, we found our first "baby" (our dog who died last year), we made a miracle happen (DS), and that it's been the best year of our lives and it's only getting better because Baby Girl Cherryvalance is coming in February. We posted a couple weeks after DS turned 1, so it was a nice surprise for people who thought it was just celebrating him.
Vent: I forgot to add this to my post, I'm starting to feel concerned that I can't tell if I've felt the baby yet. Everyone keeps asking me, but I don't know what I'm looking for! No clue if its actual gas bubbles or whatever else is going on in there, or baby.
I had a loooong time too where I was like, idk, is my stomach grumbling? Is that gas?? I don’t remember how far along I was but the entire time I felt unsure if it was actual baby movement going on in there.
Post by cherryvalance on Oct 15, 2018 20:23:18 GMT -5
pandorica, it took so long with DS for me to be sure I was feeling him. Totally normal.
katespade, oliviapope, the stuff we've used the most this past year: -Swing (but got used since everyone kept telling me some babies hate it) -Rock-n-play -Sound machine/white noise -Baby wearing (we got a Bjorn from our neighbors and it was great. I couldn't deal with any of the three wraps we got) -I personally love our stroller (City Mini), but my mom's Graco Aire is just as nice. A nice-handling stroller is awesome. -Different bottles. We EPd the first few months and having different bottles on hand to try was great -Playmat/activity gym
TBH, they need very little. I liked having a ton of different baby containment devices for the newborn days, lol, but he was pretty low maintenance.
cherryvalance - Any particular bottles you would recommend? That is one of the areas that feels completely overwhelming for me, but I like the idea of registering for a few different types to try out.
Vent: I forgot to add this to my post, I'm starting to feel concerned that I can't tell if I've felt the baby yet. Everyone keeps asking me, but I don't know what I'm looking for! No clue if its actual gas bubbles or whatever else is going on in there, or baby.
It's still super early, so don't let people stress you out! (I know, I know, easier said than done!)
If it helps - When I started feeling baby, I was able to differentiate between other stomach gurgles because it felt like very subtle tapping. It was just a couple of little tap-tap-taps, and I only felt them when I was leaned back and sitting very still (i.e. vegging out on the couch on a lazy weekend day).
Post by cherryvalance on Oct 15, 2018 20:44:44 GMT -5
katespade , I was adamant that I wanted glass bottles, so we started with Evenflo. And then they sucked for him, lol. We found that wide mouth worked best for DS, so we used Tommee Tippee, Avent, and Nuk. We stuck with Tommee Tippee for his larger bottles.
Your idea is good. I'd say get one or two of each that you're interested in (which does sound crazy, but is worth it) and then see what baby takes.
2. Pregnancy-related AW/vents/randoms for this week? A mom friend of mine just passed on her bouncy seat, play mat and baby k’tan to me! My dad also just brought back our crib and stroller from our storage unit. Feeling good about the baby gear we have on hand! We didn’t keep any gear other than the crib, stroller and car seats, so I had been nervous about buying everything new. Grateful for generous friends!
Have my anatomy scan tomorrow! Hoping for more reassuring news after the recent craziness.
3. Questions for the group?
4. Did you or will you have any sort of public/social media/picture announcement? Share if you're willing!
Just announced on Facebook on Sunday (before Duchess Meghan’s announcement, ha)
cherryvalance - Any particular bottles you would recommend? That is one of the areas that feels completely overwhelming for me, but I like the idea of registering for a few different types to try out.
The problem with that is that it's so kid-dependent. Some babies are super picky. It's best to get a like 2-3 of a few different kinds. E took any bottle just fine, but I liked the Tommee Tippee best (easy to clean, few parts, still has a gas release valve). I hated Munchkin Latch because the nipple always collapsed.
2. Pregnancy-related AW/vents/randoms for this week? I am in a weird place at the moment. I am no longer having any pregnancy symptoms and I am still bleeding but my hcg doubled over the weekend. Our next ultrasound is today, so hopefully we will know more this afternoon.
3. Questions for the group? Nothing for now!
4. Did you or will you have any sort of public/social media/picture announcement? Share if you're willing! I wasn’t going to say anything until after we had our baby. We will see if that holds, but that is my plan for now!
cherryvalance - Any particular bottles you would recommend? That is one of the areas that feels completely overwhelming for me, but I like the idea of registering for a few different types to try out.
The problem with that is that it's so kid-dependent. Some babies are super picky. It's best to get a like 2-3 of a few different kinds. E took any bottle just fine, but I liked the Tommee Tippee best (easy to clean, few parts, still has a gas release valve). I hated Munchkin Latch because the nipple always collapsed.
I wish you could buy a variety back with one bottle each from a bunch of different brands. My daughter was a major bottle refuser and we went through so many before we finally found one she'd take (which was like a week before I was scheduled to go back to work...DH and I literally jumped for joy when she drank from it). It was Comotomo that she finally liked.
The problem with that is that it's so kid-dependent. Some babies are super picky. It's best to get a like 2-3 of a few different kinds. E took any bottle just fine, but I liked the Tommee Tippee best (easy to clean, few parts, still has a gas release valve). I hated Munchkin Latch because the nipple always collapsed.
I wish you could buy a variety back with one bottle each from a bunch of different brands. My daughter was a major bottle refuser and we went through so many before we finally found one she'd take (which was like a week before I was scheduled to go back to work...DH and I literally jumped for joy when she drank from it). It was Comotomo that she finally liked.
katespade, On the subject of bottles, one thing that I did not realize with my first is that our daycare does not allow glass bottles unless it's somehow completely encased in plastic (to contain breakage), a sleeve alone isn't enough. I am not even sure if there are any that meet that. I really wanted to do glass (we used Avent Natural), but what I didn't realize was that when she started daycare, we ended up having to buy plastic for there. At least with Avent Naturals, the rings and nipples were interchangeable between glass and plastic, but it was still annoying.
So if you are doing daycare, and if you are interested in glass, might be worth checking with them before buying.
I wish you could buy a variety back with one bottle each from a bunch of different brands. My daughter was a major bottle refuser and we went through so many before we finally found one she'd take (which was like a week before I was scheduled to go back to work...DH and I literally jumped for joy when she drank from it). It was Comotomo that she finally liked.
cherryvalance - Any particular bottles you would recommend? That is one of the areas that feels completely overwhelming for me, but I like the idea of registering for a few different types to try out.
The problem with that is that it's so kid-dependent. Some babies are super picky. It's best to get a like 2-3 of a few different kinds. E took any bottle just fine, but I liked the Tommee Tippee best (easy to clean, few parts, still has a gas release valve). I hated Munchkin Latch because the nipple always collapsed.
i had such a love-hate relationship with munchkin because it seemed she had the least gas with them but like you said the nipples collapsing and they would leak from time to time if not put on properly. i plan on reusing them with this kid but i always have several different brand back up bottles too.
Vent: I forgot to add this to my post, I'm starting to feel concerned that I can't tell if I've felt the baby yet. Everyone keeps asking me, but I don't know what I'm looking for! No clue if its actual gas bubbles or whatever else is going on in there, or baby.
I didn't feel mine for sure until like week 24 or 25. Looking back, I was feeling him at 21-ish weeks, but I wasn't sure for a while. Don't stress.
Post by cherryvalance on Oct 16, 2018 19:51:55 GMT -5
Anatomy scan went really well! Baby girl is perfect and was bouncing all over the place--literally she was in nearly every position between my ribs and pelvis during the scan. I do have an anterior placenta which is why I only randomly feel her (which I suspected since she feels so different from DS).
Question for fellow IVFers: I have to do the fetal echocardiogram this time solely because we did IVF. If you did it, how long did it take? Will I be better off taking part of a personal day or trying to squeeze it in an hour before I pick up DS?
Anatomy scan went really well! Baby girl is perfect and was bouncing all over the place--literally she was in nearly every position between my ribs and pelvis during the scan. I do have an anterior placenta which is why I only randomly feel her (which I suspected since she feels so different from DS).
Question for fellow IVFers: I have to do the fetal echocardiogram this time solely because we did IVF. If you did it, how long did it take? Will I be better off taking part of a personal day or trying to squeeze it in an hour before I pick up DS?
I'll have more info in a couple weeks. We scheduled my anatomy scan and fetal echo for the same appointment. I go in at 8 am and was told, "clear your morning." The MFM I spoke with (at work, I love this perk of my job) said both together usually runs about 3 hours.
Anatomy scan went really well! Baby girl is perfect and was bouncing all over the place--literally she was in nearly every position between my ribs and pelvis during the scan. I do have an anterior placenta which is why I only randomly feel her (which I suspected since she feels so different from DS).
Question for fellow IVFers: I have to do the fetal echocardiogram this time solely because we did IVF. If you did it, how long did it take? Will I be better off taking part of a personal day or trying to squeeze it in an hour before I pick up DS?
When I had it done it took about as long as the anatomy scan. However, she basically redid the anatomy scan and did in depth looks at the heart. I’m not sure if that’s normal or not (baby boy also had a kidney issue). So, it definitely took over an hour.
Post by cherryvalance on Oct 17, 2018 4:02:42 GMT -5
Thanks, guys! I need to have it done like next week (22-23 weeks), lol, so I think I'll just book an afternoon off and go from there. At least I can preregister at the hospital at the same time, so it's easy.