Pregnant Ladies Check-in

[PrincessFiona]

pics

Crystal...let me just say that you look absolutely incredible in your pic....I don't look that good in a non-pregnant state

What kinds of exercise are you doing? I'm going to get a stationary bike or a treadmill this week...can't decide which...

Also...what is everyone doing about their diets??? I had been doing pretty well w/ Atkins and can't do that anymore...so I'm kind of...in limbo on this issue right now.

Kris

[Amiens]

I have been doing step aerobics with weights at the end. I haven't been in the last couple of weeks because Matt has needed the car for work- the bus hasn't gone that early in the morning, and the thought of getting up (and getting Emma up too) at 5 am is out of the question. So needless to say I haven't worked out in the last couple of weeks.

I think as I get further along (7 months) I will start cutting back on aerobics and start walking around the lake near our home.

As far as my diet- I am trying to eat more fruits and veggies than I did with Emma. During the preg with Emma- I ate tons of ice cream, carbs, just food in general- I pretty much ate for two. This time around I am trying to eat more sensibly, with an occasional junk or dessert item- instead of it all junk and dessert and an occasional good thing.

Crystal

[peggyfromwastate]

I know a lady who swam to the end- she loved it, but she was a swimmer. I would like to float in the water, probably. Since you're pregnant, that's easier! Thanks guys for the heart rate information- that's very helpful. I enjoy the elliptical trainer now, so if I stay with that I'll feel heroic. But first I have to get pregnant!

Kris:
I haven't been exercising at all other than housework and walking when I can (the long way to class, etc). Oh well. I read that it's not a good idea to start some intensive exercise program if you haven't been exercising all along so I guess I will be terribly out of shape this summer.

For nutrition, I've been eating "normal." I have cut down on all fast food and "junk" items like ice cream, chips, and anything else that is "bad" for me and the baby. I eat a ton of fruit and veggies and then just eat normal meals for lunch and dinner. I figure that if I do all of that and still gain a ton of weight, there isn't much I can do about it.

Congratulations to all you pregnant ladies... What an exciting time in your lives!!!! Congrats again!!

[Auspicious]

So, congratulations

Matt (April),
Tiffany (April),
Claudia (May),
Candice (June),
Crystal (August),
Jessica/Jmom (September),
Jennifer/jlynnb (September),
Marla (September),
Kris (autumn), and
Maria (autumn).

Did I forget anyone? Plus the several others who are currently in the considering-and-planning stages and are soon to make the leap. If I were at all superstitous, this little baby boom would make me very nervous. Instead, though, I'm very excited for everyone and looking forward to hearing how everything progresses. Yay!

(Yes, I am a list-making geek, but I was having trouble keeping everyone straight. Correct me if I got it wrong, please.)

Since this is the pregnant lady check-in area, thought I would update everyone.
We just had the 32 week check, actually was 32 5/7(Friday). Had a ultrasound scheduled and then Dr visit. The pictures are amazing, you can see hair and the 4 chambers of the heart, it really excites to see this little person in there moving and punching! The tech did measurements on the baby and noted DW chart. The front office had a new nurse taking us to the exam room, she took the blood pressure and then asked if the tech changed our due date?! So, now Gretchen is dying to see what the chart said.
During the US I saw something that had the date, 3-7-03 (visit date) and then a couple lines down it had 3-25-03.
We told the nurse that there was no changes that we knew of, and she said the Dr would be in to 'discuss it with us'. He comes in and just asked how things were going and made small doc talk. Then he said that baby is getting big, he is measuring 37 WEEKS!!!! So, the Dr wasn't really concerned at all. At 28 weeks, they did the glucose test for gestational diabetes and she was at the high end of normal but not high enough for a 3 hour test. (read= test cut off was 140, she came in at 139)
So now she is worried. The DR was like, 'we can just do a primary c-section'....no big deal... DW looked like a deer in the headlights! That was not what she had been anticipating.
Being a pediatrician she knows way to much about gestational babies.
Now she is running all these situations in her head, shoulder distosia(?), broken clavicle that causes nerve damage to the arm, starting normal labor and then having to have a c-section because the baby can't come out. They have estimated that the baby is about 6.5 lbs. They did say that the estimates could be off since he is very long, but he is still a big baby.
We have talked and our first boy was 7# 13oz, 21 inches. Gretchen thinks that she can push out a kid about another pound bigger. (sorry that sounds terrible, but it is verbatim what she said!!) I think that she is building it up and worrying about it too much. She was really spoiled with the first delivery, she was able to deliver her own baby after the head was delivered. So she would really like that to happen this time around too. May not.
But she has been so worried about it that she is having terrible cramps, and has had several "real" contractions not Braxton-Hicks. This all on top of her work, this month she is working Hem/Onc and has had 5 patients die all under the age of 12.
Anyway, this is terribly long and I apologize. If anyone has any words of advice or has been through something along these lines, what can I do to help calm her down so that she doesn't go into stress related labor?!
Thanks for listening.

[SueC]

If it's any consolation, I had an ultrasound the day before my oldest child was born because I was measuring way too small. Basically, my measurements hadn't changed from the time I as 35 weeks. They estimated her to be only 5 lbs. I went into labor that night and delivered a healthy 6lb. 10oz. baby. On the contrary, my neighbor DID have GD--they induced her 2 weeks early and thought she was going to have a gigantic baby. He weighed in at 6lb. and 3oz. also a healthy baby. I think the moral to the story is that the measurements taken by ultrasound on babies near the end of the gestation aren't all that accurate. I think I read that they can vary by 1-2 lbs, which is quite a bit when you're talking about only a 6 or 7 lb. baby. It seems odd, but they say that the measurements taken early in the pregnancy are much more accurate then those taken near the end. I hope everything goes well with your wife and the new baby. I remember all that anxiety that builds up the closer you get to your due date. Doesn't help having parents who have medical knowledge and know what possibly could go wrong!

[Rapunzel]

It can be so easy to stress out and let your imagination run wild when you are in such a vulnerable and emotional situation such as pregnancy. Here's another GD experience that went OK: I had gestational diabetes with my last child and she ended up being only my second largest baby - weighing in at 7 lbs/6oz. Lots of things can go wrong and it is scary when you KNOW what can happen from first-hand experience. I sincerely hope your wife can shove that stuff out of her mind! I can just imagine this is driving her crazy with worry.

[Phoebe]

We had our 12 weeks check up today. We waited 1.5 hours for a 5 minute appt! Anyway, we heard the heart beat today approx 140 bpm (same as Avery's). So we know now we are only having one. Whew!

Thankfully, my nausea has pretty much subsided and have been able to start exercising again.

Jennifer

Ok, I'm FINALLY back and out of bed! (Hope this post doesn't jinx me) I am 14 weeks now and have had an awful pregnancy to this point. Hope you all don't mind if I vent. I got sick at about 7 weeks and was in bed. I started throwing up everyday and couldn't even keep water down some days. I was constantly laying on the bathroom floor. ALL smells made me sick. I lost 18 lbs in 4 weeks. I had to go get IV treatments twice. 1 didn't help at all and 1 was great! I got the flu on top of that and was achy and feverish and congested and THEN to top that off I got an itchy rash all over my body that looked like chicken pox. My doc wasn't concerned. They said rashes are too hard to diagnose so to just stay in bed. I wasn't happy. My house was TRASHED. My kids were so bored and I was sick and crying b/c I felt so awful. My poor hubby came home from school every night and did dinner, bathed the kids, cleaned up a bit etc...He was so awesome thru it all. He was also in the middle of his mid terms. Our ward (members from our church) found out how sick I was and helped bring in dinners for a few days and then I had family arrange to come and help too. Anyway, after all of that I am MUCH better. I am so happy to be up and going! I am still a bit weak from all the weight loss but I can handle that. Has anyone else had hard pregnancies? It's good to be back! Hope all of our expectant moms (and dads) are doing great. It's Matt's wife's turn soon, huh? Can't wait to hear the news. Thanks for letting me vent.

Jessica

[Rapunzel]

Jessica, I'm so glad your husband and Relief Society are so supportive! I truly sympathize (I won't go into details but my twin pregnancy during my husband's second year of med school sounds eerily similar in horribleness to your recent experience). I am sooooooo sorry it's been so hard.

[Phoebe]

Jessica- Glad to hear you are feeling better and are up and around again. Those weeks of morning sickness are long! Don't overdo yourself as you continue to recover. I just got over a week long stomach virus which landed me back in bed again. I just kept wondering if it would ever end. Thankfully, it did and I am happy for you to feel better again.

Jennifer

[PrincessFiona]

hard time

Jessica,

How awful for you...I'm so glad to hear that you are slowly getting back up and running again....I've had a hard time this pregancy, but not anything compared to what you're going through. I'm feeling nauseated all of the time (though I am able to keep things down)....For the last 3 days though, I've been miserable. We thought it was pregnancy related..vomiting, exhaustiong....but it turns out to be a virus or something...I don't know. I spent all day Wed. on the sofa...didn't move for most of the day....Yesterday morning I went in and taught and felt dizzy and exhausted....spent the afternoon on the sofa and was feeling a bit better last night...and today...I've been out for the count all DAY! I have only gotten off the sofa to take my youngest to his early childhood screening (our school district and the State of Minn require it)...I looked like death warmed over....went home and got right back onto the sofa....I just got up and tried to clean the kitchen....and am about to go right to the sofa again........{sigh}.....

But...I'm not nearly as sick as you were....that must have been incredibly hard...I feel wimpy just complaining about my little viral hooha.....It's so great that your hubby helped so much and that your church really rallied to take care of you....

Here's to a 'healthy' pregnancy for all of us!!!!!!!!!!!

Kris

[Amiens]

Jessica-

That's great that the RS could help out and provide meals. I loved it when I had my daughter- I had meals set up for 2 weeks after I had her.

I hope you are feeling better.



Crystal