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So my sinuses have been going mental, though up until today it only gets really bad after about 8pm at night for some reason. This state is the absolute worst for hayfever so 9 months of the year prior to pregnancy I literally take antihistamines and pseudo every day to keep my sinuses under control. According to our national govt drugs registry nasal sprays are exempt from pregnancy classification so I've been using that just before bedtime so I can actually fall asleep breathing normally and don't snore or wake up apneioc multiple times through the night. That's all I've let myself take. Apparently prolonged use is discouraged though, and noone can tell me why. I don't suppose someone here knows any concrete data for why? Also I'm 85% convinced we're having an intersex baby (16 weeks plus 4 days along) and I'm paranoid I'm not bonding with this pregnancy (first pregnancy) because most days all I feel is fat and that even the ultrasound proof is somehow not real. I have a history of depression in my early-mid twenties (31 now) so post partum mental everything is going to be a concern...a psychotic break would definitely not be fun with a newborn, though that'd be a seriously worst case scenario. Despite this I'm doing as much prep work as I can: picking up as many extra overtime and on call shifts as I can while I'm still reasonably mobile and fit(I'll be either on shift or on call for 19 days straight by next Friday hurrggh), doing baby stuff research(mcn review youtube videos kill me), car seat and stroller and baby carriers are organised already, reading, knitting a ridiculous baby blanket for the stroller. Still don't know how we're going to solve the baby sleep space for the most amount of efficiency wrt breastfeeding and overall cost of materials. Our car won't carry a mattress and furniture freight is so expensive here (we live in the sticks, though 10 minutes to the nearest regional hospital so that's not too bad). First proper midwife appointment next week, and they're going to spend an hour on me instead of the 15 minutes they did at ~10 weeks so hopefully that'll help. I fully expect to be told I'm too loving fat at the very least.  someone at work was all slightly cold and bitchy that I wasn't showing enough 'love being pregnant!' feels and I wanted to slap her but am trying to be patient.
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Oct 25, 2015 00:53
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Get amazon prime and buy a crib and mattress with free prime shipping?
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Oct 25, 2015 01:20
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gently caress that person at your work. Your pregnancy feels are none of their goddamn business. When I was pregnant, I was miserable almost the entire time and couldn't wait for it to be over. From about five weeks onwards I felt a consistent combination of fat, sick and/or weak. I was in pain, I couldn't walk properly, my nose would not stop running and I constantly felt like I was on the verge of throwing up. I felt like my own body was rebelling against me and despite many friends telling me that I looked "glowing" and although I know they meant well, it was infuriating and I wanted to punch them. I felt awkward and I didn't feel much love for the baby inside me. I was glad she was there, but I felt so awful it was hard to feel excited about anything else than pregnancy being finally over. That ended up being absolutely no predictor whatsoever of my post-partum experience, where most of the physical problems I had ended quite quickly after the birth. My mental state immediately improved even though I was sore and sleep deprived. I guess the point I am trying to make here is that if you're feeling crappy, it's ok. Being pregnant is hard work. It doesn't mean that you're going to feel awful after the birth too. Maybe you might benefit from some more support - here's some resources you might find useful: Health Direct Australia 1800 022 222, 24 hours 7 days Parentline Tasmania 1300 808 178, 24 hours 7 days As for your sinus issues, I can't answer your question but the good folk at Mothersafe might be able to. They gave me a lot of information about what medications I could and couldn't use when I was pregnant and I remember them being very thorough in explaining the scientific reasons behind the answers they gave to my questions. They're in NSW but you may still be able to contact them. Their website is: http://www.seslhd.health.nsw.gov.au/Mothersafe/
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Oct 25, 2015 01:32
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I had "rhinitis of pregnancy", which is a fancy way of saying " stuffy nose during pregnancy " for the whole 9 months. I get stuffy at night often as it is, but as that was my only bad pregnancy thing I couldn't really complain. Nasal spray is not recommended for long term use even when not pregnancy because you get dependent on it really really fast. I also felt almost zero "connection" while pregnant and it concerned me but has had no bearing on how my son and I bonded at all. I took care of myself and followed guidelines and all that but despite all the massive changes in my body and feeling him kick etc. it all felt so surreal. Granted it was unplanned in my case but that didn't make it unwanted... So try not to worry too much, it's more common than you'd think!
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Oct 25, 2015 02:35
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My doctor told me that antihistamines were fine to take during pregnancy, and I've read that they are fine as long as they aren't combined with a decongestant (ie. Claritin is fine but avoid Claritin-D).
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Oct 25, 2015 04:19
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nyerf posted:
Why are you convinced you're having an intersex baby? There's been a trend of celebrities talking about how they hated being pregnant, and I'm glad this narrative is out there because I think we are led to believe that it's beautiful and wonderful and miraculous - and that we are being ungrateful and terrible mothers if we're not loving it. The truth is that it's oftentimes unpleasant, both physically and emotionally, and I think what you are feeling is totally normal. I also think it was kind of surreal until I began to look pregnant and feel the baby move - but even though I feel quite bonded to him, there are still many days where I just feel fat/tired/achy and want this whole thing over with already (17 more weeks to go!)
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Oct 25, 2015 04:29
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With my first pregnancy (in retrospect of course) I remember feeling excited...towards the end. The rest of it I kind of just blocked out. With this one I now remember why: pregnancy is either dull or irritating an awful lot of the time. Not feeling 'connected' to the baby isn't all that strange, and I suspect that a lot of women who insist that you feel rosy and glowy all the time either have never been pregnant themselves, or remember the whole thing through rose-coloured glasses. Blech. I just want to eat like a normal human again and I still have 32 bloody weeks to go, it's a little early to be excited! With that said, does anyone have any advice on how to ride out the miscarriage paranoia? I know, for the most part, that if it happens it happens, and I'm adjusting my lifestyle to try and negate anything avoidable. But man, it's hard to shake this paranoia. I still have 4 weeks before I'm through the first trimester and it seems like it'll never end.
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Oct 25, 2015 05:05
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nyerf posted:So my sinuses have been going mental, though up until today it only gets really bad after about 8pm at night for some reason. This state is the absolute worst for hayfever so 9 months of the year prior to pregnancy I literally take antihistamines and pseudo every day to keep my sinuses under control. According to our national govt drugs registry nasal sprays are exempt from pregnancy classification so I've been using that just before bedtime so I can actually fall asleep breathing normally and don't snore or wake up apneioc multiple times through the night. That's all I've let myself take. Using nasal sprays like oxymetazoline, etc, for more than three days can mean that coming off of it will lead to horrible rebound congestion and prolonged use can lead to increased reactivity of the nasal mucosa tissue. Have you tried using a Neti pot?
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Oct 25, 2015 05:44
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Neti pot/sinus rinsing was the only thing that helped my sinuses. I have terrible allergies and sinus problems without being pregnant.
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Oct 25, 2015 06:21
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Alterian posted:Get amazon prime and buy a crib and mattress with free prime shipping? Australian, so as much as I'd like to Amazon's essentially a wasteland of no joy for us. bee posted:lots of useful info Thanks bee  I'll probably write those up on the household whiteboards so Chris can call someone if I'm on the roof losing my mind or something later on  Hi_Bears posted:My doctor told me that antihistamines were fine to take during pregnancy, and I've read that they are fine as long as they aren't combined with a decongestant (ie. Claritin is fine but avoid Claritin-D). The midwife who did my over-the-phone check initially essentially said I'd never be able to breastfeed if I so much as thought about taking an antihistamine, so I'm nervous about the prospect. Ordinarily it's the congestion that bothers me, I feel like I'm suffocating if I lie down with a blocked nose and often bolt awake feeling like someone's trying to smother me if I fall asleep with a cold. Before the pregnancy I was a regular pseudo/antihistamine combo daily pill popper because of my paranoia of having my nose drip on a patient--no hands free to catch it when I'm working! Hi_Bears posted:Why are you convinced you're having an intersex baby? Because at 16 weeks I still can't tell from scanning what the hell it's got between its legs! Like, literally can't decide if it's one way or the other. I have never had this happen to me, not that I've been scanning for a million years or anything, but still. It's either got clitoralmegaly or a micropenis, no obvious labial split OR a scrotum. Yes I know the testes might just be undescended, and scanning my own belly isn't exactly easy, and hormones can lead to swollen genitalia in girls and etc, but the unease is still there. Especially since I had such a strong feeling initially that we were having one gender and not the other, the cognitive dissonance now is freaking me out. Everything else seems to be in order so far though. From what I can tell anyway. I'm resisting looking up sonographic examples of intersex genitalia, I don't need any more fuel for my imagination. I'm still on the fence as to whether I'd subject anyone at work to scanning me at 19-20 weeks and put them under pressure. I suppose I could just ask the boss, he's pretty resilient. But awkward having the boss in that close proximity to me, ew. Even if the kid's intersex it won't be confirmed until after birth anyway, and I doubt we'd do anything until the kid's old enough to be able to voice an opinion one way or the other about what it'd like to be known to be. I've been reading a couple things about minimising gender stereotyping in the house when bringing up kids anyway ('Delusions of Gender' by Cordelia Fine is pretty interesting) so maybe this will be a good learning challenge for us if kid does turn out to be intersex. Still doesn't solve the problem of what the hell we're going to name it. We've got a whiteboard covered in the current ongoing ideas and I'm two steps away from erasing the lot because I've fallen out of favour with all of them again. But I might change my mind tomorrow so I'm resisting the urge. Also some ideas are better than a blank board. Palisader posted:With that said, does anyone have any advice on how to ride out the miscarriage paranoia? I know, for the most part, that if it happens it happens, and I'm adjusting my lifestyle to try and negate anything avoidable. But man, it's hard to shake this paranoia. I still have 4 weeks before I'm through the first trimester and it seems like it'll never end. Have you had an early/dating ultrasound yet? I feel like a broken record, but they're not actually a bad idea if they're priced not too usurious in your area. From page 73 of Oster's 'Expecting Better': "If you're seen at 8 weeks and things [i.e. your ultrasound] look normal at that point, then the chance of miscarriage is lower, about 6 percent. By the eleventh week, it has dropped to less than 2 percent." My method of dealing with miscarriage anxiety was probably not the best--daily lunchtime check via ultrasound to make sure it was still alive. I've lost some of that fervent need to look every single day, but it's still in the realm of a few times a week. I'm trying to cut it back, to avoid panicking myself over something or other now. superbelch posted:Using nasal sprays like oxymetazoline, etc, for more than three days can mean that coming off of it will lead to horrible rebound congestion and prolonged use can lead to increased reactivity of the nasal mucosa tissue. Have you tried using a Neti pot? I was wondering if maybe it'd lead to nasal mucosal polyps or cancer or something else horrific like that. At the moment it's only the one spritz per nostril, just once before bed. Next time my husband goes to the chemist I'll get him to get me one of those sinus irrigation bottles that come with the sachets of powder you mix with warm water, though I hate getting water up my nose I'll give it a shot. I think neti pots do essentially the same thing. Frankly those side effects would be worth being able to breathe while I sleep, at least until I can take pseudo again. gently caress my sinuses, seriously. Scrape out my turbinates and be done with it. Weird, I think having the first coffee of the day seems to have mostly unplugged at least one half of my nose. Thanks for the responses guys, it really helps  .
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Oct 25, 2015 06:49
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You're freaking out, everything is probably normal. Try to think about some non-baby stuff like weekend trips and rearranging the house. Also, this might be hard to believe, but the big prep can be done after the kid is born. They can sleep in a travel basket until you've got your rhythm down.
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Oct 25, 2015 12:27
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I took Zyrtec D every day before I was pregnant & it was rough weaning off the sudafed during pregnancy. My doctor said it was perfectly safe to continue taking Zyrtec, so maybe adding in just the antihistamine will help you. Sudafed isn't recommended while breastfeeding because it could dry up your milk just like it dries up your nose. Some women are more sensitive to this, so you might be okay but I wouldn't try going back on it until your supply is established.
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Oct 25, 2015 12:48
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Palisader posted:With that said, does anyone have any advice on how to ride out the miscarriage paranoia? I know, for the most part, that if it happens it happens, and I'm adjusting my lifestyle to try and negate anything avoidable. But man, it's hard to shake this paranoia. I still have 4 weeks before I'm through the first trimester and it seems like it'll never end. I think miscarriage worries are fairly common. I was extremely anxious and worried about losing the baby (I struggle with anxiety in general) with my first pregnancy, which ended in a healthy baby. I tried to be less worried the second time around which unfortunately ended in a miscarriage at 9.5 weeks (I hadn't had an ultrasound yet or seen a heartbeat yet so most likely guess is it just wasn't viable). One thing that was helpful was taking it one day at a time, which helped keep the unhealthy, obsessive type worrying at bay for the most part. I also tried to remind myself that a viable pregnancy will likely progress no matter what I do or don't do (barring the few things you can do to stay healthy like take prenatal vitamins and avoid drugs/alcohol), and a nonviable pregnancy will not progress no matter what I do or don't do. If I was pregnant that day, I tried to enjoy being pregnant just that day. I'm going to try this one day at a time approach if I get pregnant again, as it made the time I actually was pregnant a lot more enjoyable and not as anxious. As it's been said in this thread, at the point you're at, if you've seen a heartbeat and there are no underlying concerns, the odds are very much on your side. Not sure if that's the case for you but if it is that might help ease your mind. New Weave Wendy fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Oct 25, 2015 |
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Oct 25, 2015 12:54
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Thank you. I don't know if it's obvious, but I do suffer from some anxiety issues. I get stuck on the numbers. So this:nyerf posted:Have you had an early/dating ultrasound yet? I feel like a broken record, but they're not actually a bad idea if they're priced not too usurious in your area. From page 73 of Oster's 'Expecting Better': "If you're seen at 8 weeks and things [i.e. your ultrasound] look normal at that point, then the chance of miscarriage is lower, about 6 percent. By the eleventh week, it has dropped to less than 2 percent." was a huge relief. I was really stuck on that "20% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage" thing (I know the number's a lot higher when you start counting super early miscarriage, but anyway). But yes, I had my 8 week ultrasound--er, at 7 weeks though because we were off a week--and we got to see and hear the heartbeat at 150bpm. Good. I will try to relax for now.
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Oct 25, 2015 17:57
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peanut posted:Also, this might be hard to believe, but the big prep can be done after the kid is born. They can sleep in a travel basket until you've got your rhythm down. This is very handy to be aware of. Also, all babies are different, so planning for how you're going to sleep when the kid is a year old is pretty pointless unless you see what kind of baby you've been handed. I would've loved to do co-sleeping (just roll over and pop out a boob! No getting out of bed! It sounded glorious!), but I got a baby who after she stopped being a newborn, would only sleep on/around/near me if she was sick or massively exhausted WHILE on a bus. So I'd recommend not making any big purchases or arrangements with a longterm view in mind before you get to know your particular type of baby a little. They're extremely demanding in the attention-department when they're infants, but very easy going about pretty much everything else - you can literally rig up a bed in a sturdy cardboard box and be fine for the first week or two. A good car seat and a good pram are the only two big items you really need to have ready.
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Oct 25, 2015 19:08
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Sockmuppet posted:This is very handy to be aware of. Also, all babies are different, so planning for how you're going to sleep when the kid is a year old is pretty pointless unless you see what kind of baby you've been handed. I would've loved to do co-sleeping (just roll over and pop out a boob! No getting out of bed! It sounded glorious!), but I got a baby who after she stopped being a newborn, would only sleep on/around/near me if she was sick or massively exhausted WHILE on a bus. So I'd recommend not making any big purchases or arrangements with a longterm view in mind before you get to know your particular type of baby a little. They're extremely demanding in the attention-department when they're infants, but very easy going about pretty much everything else - you can literally rig up a bed in a sturdy cardboard box and be fine for the first week or two. A good car seat and a good pram are the only two big items you really need to have ready. I'd argue that you don't even need a pram. We're 8 weeks in and haven't touched it once. We've replaced it with an inexpensive mei tai.
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Oct 25, 2015 19:34
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lady flash posted:I'd argue that you don't even need a pram. We're 8 weeks in and haven't touched it once. We've replaced it with an inexpensive mei tai. Fair point, we hardly left the house the first week, so it wasn't a big deal, but I was very glad I didn't have to go pram-shopping with a newborn, and babies aren't as fidgety about prams as they are about sleeping arrangments (in my experience, at least), so it's a nice thing to get out of the way while you've still got the kid safely contained inside you 
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Oct 25, 2015 19:53
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Seashell Salesman posted:Is it okay to ask in this thread for educational resources for expecting fathers? My wife is pregnant and, while I thought it was just reasonable to wait for and follow doctors orders, she seems very stressed that I'm not reading books about pregnancy or anything and I definitely don't want to add to her stress. Reading through the top Google hits and pop science magazines turns up lots of ' facts' about fetal development that seem suspicious to me, as do the random things my coworkers claim when they talk about their reading. Lazy_Liberal posted:In addition to the expectant father, I'm also reading "the birth partner" by penny simkin because hell yeah, why not? It's good. And yeah, as I had recommended before, and others have in this thread, both 'The Expectant Father' and 'The New Father' by Armin A. Brott are great reads.
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Oct 25, 2015 22:57
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So this week I've told a few people about the sonogram and everyone has told me that with a fetal heart rate of 149BPM I'm obviously going to have a girl. Just in case anyone else encounters this, this paper is a nice counterpoint! There are others, but this one is super recent. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25754210 quote:We found no significant differences between 332 (50.7%) female and 323 (49.3%) male FHRs during the first trimester. The mean FHR for female fetuses was 167.0 ± 9.1 bpm and for male fetuses 167.3 ± 10.1 bpm (p = 0.62)
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Oct 26, 2015 19:41
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lady flash posted:I'd argue that you don't even need a pram. We're 8 weeks in and haven't touched it once. We've replaced it with an inexpensive mei tai. This comes down to "what sort of baby you get" as well. We used our pram a ton - I had a stretchy wrap and a mei tai and a woven wrap and a boba 4g and my daughter wouldn't put up with any of them.
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Oct 26, 2015 20:56
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Well I feel silly now. Checked again lunchtime yesterday and am not so worried that it might be intersex anymore. Had our first midwife appointment today and was very surprised that they weren't the slightest bit interested in weighing me. Got a good talking to about keeping it real and not looking in the mirror. Meanwhile my mother is pressuring me to weigh myself anyway and to rub vitamin E oil into my belly to avoid stretch marks, which is pretty bloody telling as to partly where my poor body image comes from  For the record I don't believe anything applied to the skin will make any difference to stretch marks, I've had stretch marks since I was an obese tween so a few more won't change anything. Midwife lady told me to take 2x the vit D supplements to see if it'll help with the fatigue. I've tried to get back into exercise this week and it's been rough going. 4-5km walking, a couple sets of push ups, unweighted squats and half dips off a park bench were enough to exhaust me utterly. So much for 40% more blood making me superhuman. This must be what aging is like- no matter what you do you can only hope to slow the constant decline into decrepitude. It's depressing. I feel like sleeping for days on end I'm that tired.
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Oct 28, 2015 11:50
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Dude, don't be hard on yourself. Pregnancy is a big strain on the body. There's no shame in slowing down.
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Oct 28, 2015 12:58
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I was so tired when I was pregnant and had congestion so sometimes breathing became a challenge. Don't push yourself too hard.
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Oct 28, 2015 15:09
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I haven't gone to the gym since like week 7 (now almost 24 wks) - the nausea and fatigue hit and then I kind of just forgot about it. I try to go out for a 2-3 mile walk a few times a week, but that's about the extent of my exercise regiment. I tried running a few months ago and my hip killed me for a week afterwards - it's always been problematic but I've run two half marathons in the past two years and it wasn't this bad. All that joint loosening is no joke. And all that extra blood volume just means I get out of breath super easily - one flight of stairs and I'm huffing and puffing.
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Oct 28, 2015 15:14
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Went today for my 12 week check up. Heart rate is down from 156 at 7 weeks to 150's now. Had blood drawn for genetic testing. Is anyone else having this done? Have you had it done? If yes, how accurate was the gender? Supposedly, we will have a gender in 10-14 days instead of a month. Yes, I know I am just impatient!!
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Oct 28, 2015 17:45
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SuzieMcAwesome posted:Went today for my 12 week check up. Heart rate is down from 156 at 7 weeks to 150's now. Had blood drawn for genetic testing. Is anyone else having this done? Have you had it done? If yes, how accurate was the gender? Supposedly, we will have a gender in 10-14 days instead of a month. Yes, I know I am just impatient!! It should be 99% accurate since they are looking at bits of chromosomes (anecdotally I haven't heard of anyone's results being wrong). But know that there's a chance that you get no result at all if they can't find enough fetal cells in your blood. I did the test twice and got no results both times, and had to wait until my ultrasound at 17 weeks to find out the sex.
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Oct 28, 2015 20:21
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I didn't get weighed at any of my prenatal checks. The nurses said that as long as I am feeling that the baby's getting bigger there's no need for it, and that women have enough to worry about during pregnancy outside of their weight. If exercise is exhausting you but you still want to be doing something to maintain some level of fitness, could you switch to something lighter? There's some great prenatal yoga videos out there. Like someone else has already suggested, there's no shame in slowing down. If your body is sending you a message that it's struggling with the level of exercise you're at, try to listen to it.. Growing a baby takes a lot of energy! You are not lazy or weak if you can't exercise at the level you did before.
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Oct 28, 2015 20:28
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nyerf posted:
Actually your blood volume expands but your hemoglobin doesn't increase as much. Pregnancy is a state of dilutional anemia. Also, ease up on yourself. It seems like you have set some unreasonably high expectations. I think counseling is worth considering.
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Oct 28, 2015 21:47
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Following on to feedback for nyrf: it can be really tricky to deal with all that stuff especially when you don't enjoy being pregnant (and worse if you don't enjoy it but feel you ought to!). I also constantly worried about the body changes, weight gain and my physical ability and that is without family members or friends being critical. Also all the "just ease off", "try to chill out" advice never worked for me and made me feel worse instead because it seemed like I had to accept my body's utter decrepitude as a natural fact and there was nothing in my power to do anything about this. So awesome improvement: I now felt poo poo and helpless! I personally found two things helpful to deal with these issues: 1) was focusing on the fact that this is only for a limited time and I that I have good strategies which I know work for getting myself back into shape post-pregnancy (I am not actually super skinny or super fit but I have an expectation of what my default is and like myself that way!). Lots of people unhelpfully told me that this won't be a priority for me at all once I have a newborn. And this may well be true. But that wasn't the point of thinking this way. The point of thinking this way is recognising that I DO have control over my life and that I have the tools and the ability to make changes to my life and need not feel dominated by my body's pregnancy related malfunctions. 2) was experimenting with exercise constantly as what felt good/bad changed weekly. I am a bad couch potato. When I am not active it affects my mood very strongly and my whole quality of life spirals downwards. Combine this with how much I hate being pregnant and it's a recipe for a lot of misery for me and those around me. Instead I made a commitment to just keep trying different things whenever something became uncomfortable. I prioritised getting to the gym and doing a little bit (even if it felt like flaying around only) over not going at all and I surrounded myself with fellow gym friends who encouraged me to give things a go instead of constantly telling me what I can't do. I also stopped logging my exercise in my usual way so I didn't compare whether I did as many push ups one week as I did the next - I just patted myself on the back for doing it instead. I found walking and running very uncomfortable very early so it was good to have other things to do too. Barbell lifting especially remained comfy with adjustments to weight and rest times. This way I could feel confident in my body's ability to still be physically functional and not feeling like either a couch potato or a failure. This might not work for everyone but there are alternatives to "just accept your life is going to suck massively for the next 9 months and it'll bring you peace" and it's nice to have the choice. Pregnant friends of mine have also had a great success with the ""just accept your life is going to suck massively for the next 9 months and bitch about it a lot to make you feel better" strategy which I suspect has broad appeal.
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Oct 28, 2015 22:57
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El_Elegante posted:Also, ease up on yourself. It seems like you have set some unreasonably high expectations. I think counseling is worth considering. I have to say, counseling was a HUGE help for me. Perinatal depression and anxiety aren't in the DSM IV, but it's definitely a real thing. And it is an indicator of being at greater risk for PPD. Talking to someone NOW (while the baby is still portable, haha) can help you start learning coping mechanisms in advance and empower you by giving you some tools for the future. I was having panic attacks and suicidal thoughts during my first trimester. And I was giving myself a major guilt trip about it because (a) this pregnancy was on purpose so I should be happy, goddamnit, and (b) I thought ladies are only supposed to get depressed AFTER the baby is born. I finally reached out at around 18 weeks and am so very glad I did. I'm 35 weeks now and am feeling much much better, even without medication. Don't mean to get all E/N, but a counselor who specializes in PPD would also be familiar with perinatal anxiety issues. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is awesome.
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Oct 28, 2015 23:02
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Okay, instead of ease up I'll say "unattainable high expectations are a vicious cycle you need to make an active effort to get out of." Counseling is a reasonable choice to help develop coping skills.
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Oct 28, 2015 23:02
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I don't have any belly stretchmarks yet, but I looked down one day and it looked like cats had scratched all over the sides of my thighs. It's already starting to fade a bit, though. I read about exercise helping with the Huge Exhaustion, I'm almost to week 14 and all books are stuff are like "yay, 2nd tri is awesome!" but I'm still just as tired and now I can add heartburn and a yeast infection to the list of symptoms. I am probably going to try a pre-natal yoga class tomorrow for 'exercise' and also relaxation. Looking forward to it if I can get the energy to go. I had to tell my students I was pregnant today. I was going to tell the Friday, anyway, but circumstances involving a kid holding my classroom hostage while swinging a metal curtain rod at people had my 'secret' come out early. On a totally unrelated note I am thinking of starting my maternity leave early so that I can take off the full 12 weeks during this school year.
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Oct 29, 2015 01:57
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I got stretch marks right at my waistline in just the last 3 weeks or so of my pregnancy. I'm almost 6 months postpartum and they're already very light. I didn't show my stomach this summer at the beach but I'm sure it'll be ok next season.
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Oct 29, 2015 02:52
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Thanks for the feedback guys, what Dori particularly resonated with me. I've fought so hard over the years to not be physically poo poo, the debilitating nature of pregnancy has been an annoying pill to swallow. Having said that though, I think generally speaking I'm taking it in stride- I just tend to vent my anxieties here because I respect the repository of pregnancy knowledge contained here  I'll definitely keep counselling in mind, I'm putting up those help line numbers and I've got a midwife's phone number to ring with general pregnancy concerns if I feel the need too. Most of the time I'm not really dwelling on being weak and fat and slow and out of breath all the time, I just get on with it. I work full time, with on call shifts and occasional overtime too, as the sole breadwinner, so I'm feeling the pressure to keep up. More than once I've lamented being the one with the uterus. I'll see how I go with the gym tomorrow, I've only been walking and doing bodyweight stuff this week so it might be a wash (especially after working 19 straight days in a row). So be it, I'm ok with just doing whatever my body lets me. Tried the nasal irrigation neti pot thing, and it was hell on earth. My middle ears filled up with fluid and then hurt so bad I had to take two paracetamol and go to bed. And had to use the oxymetazoline spray again anyway! I still feel like there's fluid in my ears. I'll give it one more try tonight but if the same thing happens again I'll keep using just the spray, side effects will be worth the quality of life gain. I'm pretty convinced with another scan that my initial feeling that it was a boy was dead wrong now too. So much for maternal instinct! Our official anatomy scan isn't until November 10 though.
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Oct 30, 2015 07:46
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Anyone have any experience in dealing with hypoglycemia? I went to the doctor (university, not OBGYN) yesterday because I've been feeling like I'm having a panic attack - minus the anxiety - pretty frequently this week. Racing heart, shaking hands, having to take a deep breath, etc. Plus when I went running on Monday I just couldn't, I had no gas in the tank. I assumed my iron-deficiency anemia returned, but the doc did bloodwork and my iron was fine, I just had low blood sugar. Thing is, they took my blood about 90 minutes after I ate breakfast. I had a pretty substantive breakfast (700 calories: quiche, juice and cereal) and my blood sugar was 62. That's weird, right? I'm going to call my OBGYN and tell them about it, but my appointment isn't for another week and a half. I've already been eating a lot to avoid nausea and I feel like I'm gaining a bit too much weight for an overweight person (at ~192 right now, started at 187, 9 weeks in) so I'm nervous about upping my food intake. My parents had type 2 diabetes, so I only know what they did to stabilize blood sugar, how is this for a plan: I think I should eat less juice/cereal/sugary business and up my intake of protein and fiber? Does hypoglycemia at 9 weeks mean I'm going to get gestational diabetes? I really want to avoid it.
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Oct 30, 2015 18:29
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No, it does not. Hypoglycemia is a normal physiologic state in pregnancy. If recurrent symptomatic hypoglycemic episodes occur your doctor may want to provide you with a blood sugar monitor. But the placenta usually doesn't start making enough of the relevant hormones to cause gestational diabetes in the first trimester.
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Oct 30, 2015 19:07
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I vaguely recall my blood sugar being in the toilet the couple times it was measured in the first trimester. I was also sick like a dog more or less constantly, though, so ymmv. Basically what I'm saying is the first trimester sucks in many and varied ways.
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Oct 31, 2015 20:12
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SuzieMcAwesome posted:Went today for my 12 week check up. Heart rate is down from 156 at 7 weeks to 150's now. Had blood drawn for genetic testing. Is anyone else having this done? Have you had it done? If yes, how accurate was the gender? Supposedly, we will have a gender in 10-14 days instead of a month. Yes, I know I am just impatient!! My sister-in-law did the genetic testing when she was pregnant and the gender was indeed accurate. So there's at least one anecdote for you that it works.
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Nov 1, 2015 19:12
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I had it done at 10 weeks, and the bits on the scan at 20 weeks matched the bits in the chromosomes. I would think that the chances of having both chromosomes and visual confirmation of genitals being wrong are vanishingly small, and the wardrobe full of ridiculous pink frilly things says I am confident in the result, but I'll tell you for sure in 11-13 weeks!
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Nov 1, 2015 21:51
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I would strongly recommend against the maternal serum chromosomal test unless you are a high risk patient. It is a screening test, not a diagnostic one. In a low risk population false positives are more likely than the population the test was developed for. It is a statistical certainty that at least 1 person has terminated a pregnancy on the basis of a false positive diagnosis.
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Nov 1, 2015 22:02
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