2015 MARCH-MALLOWS... Due in March 2015!! Come join us!

[missfrick]

How are we doing in terms of GTT here? Anyone fail yet? We had one set of twins I think, but it seems a lot of ladies dropped off?

 

[mommasquirrel]

I'm going in the morning for the GTT. Just got home from eating out. Had a yummy steak. Really hoping that my hunger pangs stay away until after the test.

 

[MrsKChicago]

Good luck!

 

[Bookity]

My GTT is in 3 weeks. I'm hoping there's no problem there.

People always tend to fall away from these groups. I actually love that around third tri you really get a nice core group of ladies.

 

[mommasquirrel]

Has anyone tried Bueno bars by kinder? OMG I have no idea how I have never crossed paths with such an amazingly delicious candy bar. Can't wait til after the GTT tomorrow so I can have another.

 

[missfrick]

MommaSquirrel: OMG Bueno bars are delicious, they are so good with the wafer in the middle! Good luck tomorrow, I hope you pass so you can continue eating them!

Bookitty: I LOVE the group of ladies we have now, I am always telling my mom and DH about this group and the ladies and all of your stories, and how much better you girls make me feel, and what a great support system we have going on here. I hope we all remain friends!

AFM: tomorrow is my 27 week check-up. Gotta talk about the pains I've been having, they're happening almost daily, but still just for about 5 minutes in the evenings. Also (TMI) my BMs have increased substantially in the past few days, so maybe it's just the baby hitting/rolling over a weird nerve? Can't believe 3rd tri is starting, 7 months - surely doesn't feel like it

 

[MrsKChicago]

Ahh! You guys! One of my best friends might be pregnant! She's going to test in the morning, but she's had a bunch of suspicious symptoms for awhile. She'd already be a couple months along, but she's been in Georgia helping her mom after surgery, and she didn't want to test til she was back home and with her husband. She didn't mention it til we picked her up at the airport because she knew the suspense would kill me. Is it morning yet??? It would be so cool to have a close local friend with a baby just a few months younger than mine.

 

[frenchie35]

That would be great, MrsK. That's something that is definitely missing from my mommy experience - local moms.

Unfortunately, I don't think we have a choice here as for what to wear during labor/delivery. It's a hospital gown upon arrival, and you have two monitors on your belly the whole time and a bp cuff on your arm. I didn't really want to be wearing anything else, as my breasts leaked colostrum the entire time. However, after delivery you're allowed to wear whatever you want during your stay (in France, it's 4 nights), but no one told me, so I spent the first 12 hrs in my gown. Everything is so centralized and standardized here, it's not really about the mother choosing a birth plan or the environment in which to deliver. It's true that everything is handled by midwives unless there's a complication, so there is a certain nurturing vibe they all seem to have which is lovely. I never met one I didn't like!

 

[MrsKChicago]

I just can't wait for morning! I want to knoooooow! I'm a terrible, selfish friend It wasn't planned, but they weren't preventing too carefully either (there are a lot of factors that would make it hard for them to conceive). They would welcome a baby if one happened, but it isn't in the plans, you know? I do hope she gets the results that would make her happiest, obviously, but it would be so nice to have a close mom friend, and she does love babies. I know a couple other new or soon to be moms, but they're DH's colleagues/ex-colleagues, and a bit... odd... I find it really hard to make friends (I'm very shy in real life, despite evidence to the contrary in this thread), so I'm not looking forward to the mom friend search.

Four nights! Wow! Here, for a normal vaginal birth, insurance has to cover 48 hours after the birth, but our hospital will let us go home as early as 6 hours after if everything looks good and a pediatrician has checked the baby out. It sounds like most families spend one night. We're going to play it by ear and see how we feel. Staying in a hospital for days doesn't sound too fun, but taking the baby home and losing all the nurse help is kind of intimidating!

It's too bad you don't have more freedom in birth plans and what you wear, but if I had to choose, a supportive midwife is a lot more important than bringing my own nightgown. I think a lot of hospitals here just do what they do and you go along with it, too, but since I live in a big city, I was lucky enough to have my choice and I was able to find one where I'd have a lot of freedom. What is the norm there? Does everyone go in and get all the drugs, or does it tend more towards natural birth? (I really dislike the term natural birth - is there a better phrase for drug-free birth?)

 

[frenchie35]

I would imagine that many women try to go drug-free here, since eating organic and being wary of drugs is the closest thing to religion that French people have. I knew my baby would be close to 10 lbs with a big head, so I really didn't have any disillusions of grandeur of popping out an average-sized baby with no tearing. I definitely mentioned an epidural when the midwife asked me how I envisaged my labor experience. My labor also went really slowly, so I didn't really think that huffing through 9 hours of strong contractions would have left me with much strength when it came time to push. The pushing only took about 20 mins, and I felt totally in control the whole time. Contractions must hit all women differently, but unfortunately you don't get any medals for how long you suffer through, or how "clean" your birth was - free of pain meds, inducing drugs, etc. You have to remember that you have a baby to take care of IMMEDIATELY after you deliver, and will possibly have to wait weeks before you string more than a couple of hours of sleep together: the most relaxing birth experience possible can only help you not feel overwhelmed.

It was a bit rough staying in the hospital for four nights. DH was able to track down a cot and spend the night. A great advantage is that they can accurately weigh the baby every day until around when your milk comes in, which is comforting when you can't stop thinking "what the hell am I doing?" or "is she actually eating?". Fortunately at the clinic where I delivered the food was fantastic. I felt bad for DH who had to go scrounge around for something at home. However, it was a great relief to get home and be in my own bed, without someone coming into the room every hour or two.

 

[mummy_smurf2b]

Here they tend to try get u out quick as possible especially wen it's ur 2nd it's all waiting til baby has wee'd n pood then ur out the door as long as baby been checked. This time for me is going be different as I'm having home birth it's just a case of me going in hospital next day n getting baby checked then straight home again. I'm seeing a lot of news of them trying to get mums to have hospital birth if it's low risk, guess they are trying to save money lol I'd considered buyin a home birth pool for home but I don't think il have the finances with Xmas as they make around £50 on eBay by time of buyin a liner aswell.

One thing driving me nuts at the moment is it seems every bed time baby squishes my lungs so I cnt breath as easy most inconsiderate hehe and without fail he starts kicking wen I get in bed. He's a naughty little one already

 

[mummy3]

How did the GTT go?

Not sure what I wore for labour, I think the gown and some pj bottoms, was continuous monitoring

MrsK, come on don't keep us waiting!!! Is she pregnant???

Mommasquirral did the steak approach to the GTT work?!

Tomorrow is post office day!!! I have soooooo many thing to post lol MissFrick get ready

I have a Bueno in my fridge

Mummy-smurf, they do like to keep us on our toes these babies

Here's some side bump pics and a 3d of little lady from tuesday

 

[mummy_smurf2b]

Cute pics mummy3

 

[Loozle]

Hi ladies!

Don't keep us in suspense MrsK! One of my best friends has just found out that she's having twins! She's 8 weeks at the moment and is terrified as she's had 2 MMC so fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly with these two! I'm very excited for her

I had a midwife appointment today, bump measuring 29cm! She said that 2cm either side of how many weeks I am is perfectly normal but it's shocked me as I always measured small in previous pregnancies. I have my consultant appointment and growth scan on Monday anyway so we'll see how little miss is measuring!
Uk ladies - I forgot to ask my midwife for my matb1 form today, do you know if I can get this from the consultant at all?

I wore my own nightdress in labour with ds1 and just a tankini top with ds2 as I had a water birth. I'm planning to take both a nightdress and a tankini top this time. Desperately hoping for another water birth though!

 

[IluvRedskins]

Hey ladies. I haven't been on much lately but thought I would update real fast to say that I failed my gtt so I do have GD with this one too :'( oh well! Hope you all are doing well!

 

[swampmaiden]

My insurance considers 24 weeks to be start of 3rd trimester, which is crazy. Im personally going for 28 weeks.. which is practically Xmas day!!!

I've been kinda stressed lately too over insurance.. they're going to deny me in 10 days if I dont get some extra paperwork in, mainly concerning how my husband is financing his schooling. Its extra worrisome, because I am switching Birth Centers next week, and I HAVE to have my initial appt at the new center before 28 weeks or I cant use it. And if i dont have insurance by my first appt, which is the 10th, then Im screwed. And I really really want to go to this birth center.. the tubs and the rooms and the amentities are awesome and its really close to the hospital just in case. So fingers crossed husband can get his paperwork together in a timely fashion.

Also, my mother in law GAVE me her old BMW.. for free.. but it didnt pass smog So now I also have to deal with fixing whatever is causing the smog failure, and I just spent $300 on that at the smog repair shop and it still doesnt pass smog. Im kinda upset at the mechanics. But I spoke with my MiL last night about it, and shes going to help pay for the repairs, she feels bad for giving me a less-than-perfect car.

And on top of all of this, we have to move out of our little house next weekend. So. Much. To. Do!!!

Christmas can't come soon enough, because t least by then most of this stuff will have been taken care of or at least figured out.

And speaking of In N Out burgers.. thats been a major craving of mine are cheeseburgers. I might go spoil myself on a double double today, because yesterday i didnt eat as much as i shouldve because i was running around so much.

 

[twinkie2]

I've been craving burgers AND french fries almost this whole pregnancy!!

Sorry you've got so much on your plate right now swampmaiden, I hope everything works out!

My GTT isn't for another 2 weeks, but I'm super worried about failing, no idea why, just am. Not much else going on here. After that appt, I start going every 2 weeks, crazy!

 

[mummy_smurf2b]

Mhmm cheese burgers

 

[HopefulInNL]

My big craving is Taco Bell! I eat it at least once a week, sometimes more. And before I was pregnant, I never ate there! It's so crazy, but it is all I ever want!

I have my GTT test next Wednesday....I am so nervous I'm not going to pass it! Ugh, I can't wait for it to be over with!

 

[DrMum]

Mrs k... So is she preggers?! Now we are all in suspense!!

4 days Frenchie that would kill me!! With this one I am aiming for 24 hours in and out after a c section. With my last c section I was delivered at 3pm and went home 11am the next day. If only they would put me first on the list in the morning, maybe I could be home late that night....! Even with DS who was my first and a vaginal I went home about 14 hours later.

Cute pics mummy3! I love those 3d images although I'm not sure where you are hiding that cutie in your enviably petite frame...! Already I'm getting "you SURE there's just the one in there?" type of comments.

I love our little group too girls and am thankful that I found you all. [insert virtual group hug]!!!! You are all keeping me going during a hard pregnancy and I love hearing everyone's news.

And now before I start welling up and being hormonal I better go back to work....!