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hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
We had an infant bath with a sort of hammock that floated on top of it? It was a shower gift and I never would have sought one out, but we ended up really liking that hammock until our baby was too big and squirmy for it. Then we put the baby bath in the bathtub for a little while, then it was straight in the bath.

With my older daughter, we had a bath seat for that stage when she couldn't sit up by herself. It was really handy but I think they took them off the market because of dumbasses leaving their kids in a seat in the bathtub. If you never, ever leave your child out of arms' reach while they are in water or near water, they can be a handy way to get through that stage.

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hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
I remember being in a Body Works store and turning sideways to get past someone - then watching stupidly as my belly knocked all the bottles off the shelf. It's a weird feeling knowing you're less wide facing forward.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun

Midnight Sun posted:


(Also, not figuring out you're pregnant before you're almost 23 weeks along doesn't exactly do wonders for the stress levels. ;))

What the what. Please. There is a story there, please elaborate.

I mean, I had a surprise pregnancy and found I was 9 weeks along, I thought that was huge. By 23 weeks you must have been feeling kicks, right?

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun

DrPepperholik posted:

I just got done with my 28 week appointment and had to do that wretched sugar test again which I of course failed with a big fat 182. :argh: My options were to do the annoying 3 hour test or go to class to learn how to manage diabetes. I chose the 3 hour test. I didn't eat anything for breakfast I ate dinner about 9:30 last night and didn't eat after. I drank water last night and this morning. My husband thinks maybe I failed because of what I ate for dinner, pud kee meow from a Thai restaurant. The last time I had to do the 3 hour test my first hour draw was high too (170 something, maybe 179 is what she said) so the lab tech was trying to be positive and tell me that "It probably just takes you a little longer to get it out of your system and you'll pass this next one." She said the 2nd and 3rd hour draws were normal with the 2nd hour being 120 something. This news just ruined my day, I burst out into tears while in the lab waiting for her to set up the 3 hour test. :cry:

Those readings are high enough I'd really try to leave the emotions behind and just worry about controlling your blood sugars for the baby's sake. What you ate the night before a test is not going to get you a 182. In someone with no blood sugar issues they would get a reading of around 100-110 whether they had your dinner or a dinner of three ice cream sundaes. The GD diet is really not so bad and it's very healthy - lots of goons have done it and lived to tell the tale.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun

DrPepperholik posted:

They were asking me at the doctor's office about what I ate to see if that's why it was so high. My first reading for the first glucose test was 141, they just want 139 or less. They didn't seem to treat me as having to worry about watching what I eat now in fact the doctor said she had to do the 3 hour test with both her pregnancies and was fine. I just don't want to be labeled as a gestational diabetic because I hear that sticks with you for each consecutive pregnancy.

A lot of nurses, techs, and even OBs don't really understand how blood sugar works. If something you ate 12 hours before a test gives you high blood sugar this would be a horrible problem, like live in the hospital until it's controlled type of problem - seriously. Normally food you eat peaks at 1 to 2 hours after eating.

There's a reason why you get referred to an endocrinologist and nutritionist if you're diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Your regular OB doesn't have that specialty and it sounds like they don't even quite understand what the test measures.

I'm not trying to be a diabetes snob, I've just seen it a lot in the medical community. A reading over 180 is nothing to sneeze at. Don't worry so much about a label, worry about getting that number down because it will affect your growing baby.

Edit: I wanted to add the standards for blood sugar during pregnancy are under 120 after eating, and under 90 fasting. So even a 139 is trouble. At your highest you should never be over 120.

hepscat fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Dec 5, 2012

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun

DrPepperholik posted:

From some things I have read his health can be affected if I have GD that puts him at risk of developing type 2 diabetes in life.

First off, I know the things you are reading and you are missing one crucial fact - these are studies about untreated gestational diabetes.

GD by itself isn't an automatic sentence to obesity, etc. But ignoring the problem is the exact worse thing you can do if you want your child to avoid being this statistic later in life because untreated GD is the problem.

Knowing that you are having high blood sugars and that could lead to a host of problems both now and later in life, don't you want to treat them as quickly as possible? What do you possibly gain by thinking a very high blood sugar of 181 is a fluke? It's way too high to get there any other way than "whoops, we spilled maple syrup on your blood sample".

The good news is that if you treat your GD you will have a totally normal pregnancy. That means you reduce the chance the problems down from "fairly certain" to "nil". It's way more important to deal with what's going on than to try to squeeze your way out of a bad test result. I would borrow your dad's blood sugar monitor and do some self-testing if you need further convincing because it's faster, but a 181 is too high for a baby in utero, and you already know you've had that.

The best way to avoid having to induce or a c-section - TREAT THOSE SUGARS. It's not just social pressure by pushy OBs, it's that gestational diabetes can lead to big babies and problems with your placenta which can be deadly to both you and the baby. The way they get around that is to make sure the baby comes out safely.


If you're wondering who the heck I am, I'm a type 2 diabetic before pregnancy and had two children of normal birthweights and no scary health problems (my oldest is in middle school, so that's fairly long-term for the record). No c-sections but I was induced because they didn't want me to go past my due date, which is a fair compromise in my mind compared to possible death. While I was pregnant, anything over 120 was considered TREAT IMMEDIATELY and it really bothers me that you had such a high reading and weren't told right away this was something to take care of. Like many, many things in health care you have to be your own advocate and not let yourself be talked into complacency because some nurses or lab techs aren't endocrinologists who understand how devastating high blood sugar can be for a baby.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun

DrPepperholik posted:

I don't have to tell anyone but I'd know and so would my husband. It'd just crush my self esteem.

Considering what you've said about your dad does that mean you hate your dad for being a diabetic?

I'm not trying to troll you, I'm just really surprised by your attitude. It's not really about you. It's about not harming your baby in utero with the medical knowledge we have available to us. GD is nothing compared to finding out your baby has a genetic defect that you can't do anything about. You absolutely CAN do something when you have GD.

Anyway, look at it as a test of parenting. On the one hand, you have to do something uncomfortable to your self-image that will greatly benefit your child. On the other, you can pat yourself on the back for keeping your husband from think you are fat and risk problems with L&D, the health of the baby, and the baby's health for years to come.

(USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THIS POST)

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
Drpepperholick what was your fasting value? You didn't give that one.

You were in fact greater than 180 at one hour out, right? The screening glucose amount is like 45g or 50g if I remember right and that's like a sandwich plus an apple. 3 carb servings, just without any other protein or fat at the same time.

They are giving you a measured amount of glucose and in someone with no glucose intolerance they would get a result of around 100. If your glucose tolerance is impaired, it will be above 140 at an hour out - and with pregnant women they want that to be 120 or less, a little stricter than normal. A 180 is severely intolerant. [Anecdote: I used to test my husband's blood sugar when he would eat a big piece of cake or ice cream or whatever. He almost always got a 95. Guess what his fasting blood sugar was? Also around 95. It just doesn't seem to budge, ever. His endocrine system works like a champ.]

It's great that you are doing a 2nd test but I am confused because you had mentioned you also took a 3-hour test, or was that a different pregnancy?

I originally was trying to tell you only that what you ate the night before has no bearing on your results, don't feel like your dinner is a reason to repeat the test. I just thought you shouldn't be so invested in passing the test for the test's sake when a reading that high is pretty much already a yes.

It is true that what they are looking for is how quickly that spike can drop. But frankly, my endo would have declared it positive at a reading of 180. That's just too high even if it's just a spike. What if you ate every couple of hours, even just simple things like small amounts of crackers and juice, but did them all day? Your sugar would be in that range all the time.

Pregnancy hormones counteract your body's endocrine response. Most of the time the treatment for GD is simple meal planning, timing how and when you eat. It's not hard but it is more than avoiding pie & cake, it's about getting the right sorts of food in at the right times. Totally doable.

I do understand being upset at your results, but it's so incredibly common. Several people posting here have gone through it. The lady on the next block from me is a teeny tiny woman and has it this time around. It's not a moral judgment and you didn't do anything wrong. (For the record, the thinking on type 2 diabetes these days is that you don't eat your way into it either, you have to have that genetic predisposition first but that putting on weight can be a symptom of your growing insulin resistance. That's not relevant here. Also that's only one type of T2Diabetes, there are skinny T2's as well.)

Edit: about the apple + peanut butter - yes, there is a reason you would get hungry if you have the apple by itself. Adding PB gives you fat and protein which are slower to break down than carbohydrates. It's actually something they tell you to do in the GD diet, don't ever have carbs by themselves, add some cheese or PB to that apple every time. Slower to break down, less of a spike in your bloodsugar.

hepscat fucked around with this message at 06:35 on Dec 6, 2012

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
It's not just arm strength they need, it's the ability to sit up by themselves. Babies don't crawl generally until later - I think my kids were like 7 months and 8 months. Tummy time is more about strengthening their neck so they can hold their head up by themselves. I wouldn't push anything with such a young baby. He'll get there in plenty of time.

Edit: I wasn't going to say anything about the jumper but their own website says 3 months if they have good head control. I would just be super cautious with a baby that young. Baby necks are so vulnerable to injury (see shaken baby syndrome).

hepscat fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Dec 15, 2012

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
I've gone through it both ways and I couldn't even say how I would do it if I had to go through labor again. There's pros and cons on both sides. I was induced both times with pitocin because some health concerns.

Unmedicated, it would really more manageable than I expected and the only period of it I regretted was during transition. Transition really was horrible. But on the up side, no side effects for me or my baby, and I was on my feet in no time at all.

Medicated, labor was a lot easier to get through including transition. However, when I was crowning it was way more painful. I don't know if that's because I had a bigger 2nd baby or not because one thing I've read (after the fact) is that you don't produce as many endorphins when you have an epidural and the description sounds a lot like what I went through. Lots and LOTS of pain at crowning. But since it was my second kid I was only pushing a short time. Recovery was a little slower but maybe like 12 hours slower, not really enough to matter.

Mostly I'm glad I'm through having babies.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
The two other supply boosters that worked for me are oatmeal, a big bowl every day, and making sure you are getting lots of water. Like 120 oz. a day. If you're not counting how much water you're drinking it's easy to find yourself not drinking enough, especially in winter. Those sound like old wives tales but the combination of those two helped me establish a good supply after my son was born. I had to supplement with formula for a couple of weeks until I could make enough.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
Before I had an inkling I was pregnant, I took a swig of coffee and spit it out. It tasted exactly as if someone had ashed in my cup, even though I was standing in my own kitchen and neither of us smoke. It was the weirdest aversion I've ever felt, like I could almost taste the grittiness of the ashes. My husband drank it down and didn't detect a thing.

Edit: ^^ Congrats!

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
Lullabee, who is planning that party? It almost seems like bad etiquette to hold it so close to your due date. They had a long time to get it together. I think 7 or 8 months along is about right. For one thing, you won't be enjoying the food even if you're not in labor because at 40 weeks your baby is taking up all the room. You can barely eat anything by that point, just little bits at a time. Ugh, the thought of getting being at a party at 40 weeks pregnant just makes me shudder. I would have been miserable.

If the baby has already been born - people really vary on these things but I did not want my newborns at a party in the first couple of weeks. I did get out for really small outings like walking with a stroller around the block, but a party would have stressed me out to no end. It's not just the baby, you're recovering as well, dealing with post-partum bleeding, and it's not like you're up on your sleep.

To answer your question though, for both my kids I was induced at 40+1 day - however, both times I was already in labor and dilating, they just had reasons to want to get the ball rolling.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
Inductions are harder to endure and less successful if you start them before you've dilated or gone into labor at all. I would just keep that in mind when it comes to asking to be induced. If your body can get anything started in any way, it will go a lot easier for you. That's why people do things like nipple stimulation, walking around, etc.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
I don't think we've had someone on bedrest in this thread for a while, but it is fairly common. I was on bedrest with my first kid at 20 weeks, and I got a break in there for a few weeks but got put back on bedrest. The boredom is tough but for me the roughest thing was learning to accept help and not fret about it. Hang in there, don't worry about things you can't control like what your weight is doing or what your kitchen looks like. If someone says "can I come over and clean or make you dinner" just say yes.

I had a timer and could only take 5 minute showers. I do remember that when the baby was born, for a couple of days I had to be careful because I would get dizzy just from standing. But overall you bounce back really quickly when there's no kid in your uterus.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun

Just wondering if you're okay. :glomp:

quote:

I feel like when I bitch to people who aren't my mom or husband they might get the wrong idea and think that I am angry at this baby or something, lol.
I think the most irritating thing I heard was from my mother, who said this was "my first pregnancy and you feel everything little thing and you think it's going to last forever but it's only nine months" - a hearty gently caress you (many years past now) to that.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
I found motion to be a trigger so for me the key was keeping something on the nightstand so that I could reach over and grab something to nibble while laying completely flat. If I sat up, forget it.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
The extra weight that a baby might put on with GD isn't a direct correlation to the amount of food you're eating. The idea is that if you have high blood sugar in your bloodstream, it's also higher in the baby's system (then the baby's endocrine system kicks in to take care of the problem and ultimately converts it to poundage). So if your sugars are well-controlled, your baby isn't going to put on weight due to GD. Limiting how much you eat is not nearly as important as knowing what your sugars are doing. To use an extreme example, one spoonful of frosting would be a lot more harmful than an entire pint of cottage cheese.

Not that eating small amounts is bad when you're late in pregnancy, I think most of us do that anyway because you just plain run out of room.

I also had ultrasounds that were crazy predictions. With my daughter the u/s tech said "well over 9 pounds" and my OB on my delivery day was shaking her head and saying she could tell that was way off just by looking at my belly. She was 7 1/2 pounds. Then with my son, they said 35th percentile and he ended up being over 9 pounds! It's crazytown when it comes to predicting the weight. It's not a direct visual picture like an x-ray, ultrasounds are this projection that's based on a ratio. The earlier in the pregnancy, the more accurate the measurements are.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun

Molly Bloom posted:

I think I'd probably have an easier time low-carbing in the US- they don't even really do low-fat here (Can I tell you how much I miss skim milk? Rag on it all you must, but drat. Also, the French dietetic stuff is called 'Gaylord'. Really.). I doubt I'll see good numbers, as my fasting bloodsugar is right at the limit (1 g/l). She's telling me to avoid a lot of fruit and eat more dairy/crackers, but that doesn't seem to jibe with the glycemic index stuff I've been reading in English.

Things to avoid: "white" carbs ((white bread, white potatoes, white bread, regular pasta); fast sugars (juice, sodas, honey); and anything obviously sweet (pastries, ice cream).

Good in moderation: whole grains, brown rice, whole-grain pasta.

Eat plenty: proteins (meats, cheese except unpasteurized, eggs); high-fiber foods (beans); fats - seriously, they won't affect your blood sugars! avocado, nuts, oils & butter.

Go hog wild: vegetables.

Fruits are tricky. They're not completely off the table, you just need to keep it to small amounts at a time and the higher the fiber, the better, like apples.

Also, everyone tends to have high blood sugar in the morning so breakfast should be as few carbs as possible.

It sounds pretty mild which is good. You should be able to take care of it pretty easily.

hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
^^ Just wanted to say I breastfed lots of places and never asked anyone for permission first. I had a tank top under my shirt and pulled one shirt up, the tank top down, didn't cover up any further than that.

Not trying to be a militant breastfeeder but it really can vary by location. I'm in the SF Bay Area and no one batted an eye. I even had normal conversations with friends while feeding, and I had strangers come up and say encouraging things about breastfeeding more than once. I would have skipped those conversations if it were up to me because I'm shy.

Anyway - I only say this because if someone had said I had to ask permission to feed in a restaurant I would have been paralyzed by the idea of having to ask that and would have stayed home.

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hepscat
Jan 16, 2005

Avenging Nun
With a blocked duct you can sometimes feel a hardness in your breast or it could get warm right at the site of the block.

Another possibility is thrush which can feel like shooting pains through your breast during nursing.

For me nipple pain came down to cracked and sore nipples, or milk blebs. Man, that was painful. http://www.pamf.org/children/newborns/feeding/blebs.html

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