35+ TTC 1st Graduates!!! Come on Over!

[pablo797]

hello ladies and happy wednesday morning!!

MA, i'm confuse by this device. Is it for monitoring if the baby is breathing? If not and baby is sleeping then no movement is good right? I think it would depend on how sensitive it is. Check out the reviews on it from other moms, most web sites have this, if not babies Are us and amazon both do. I find these reviews from real moms that use the product are most helpful. So sorry the nausea is back hope you feel better soon. Score on the second hand stuff!! We are getting lots of hand me downs and it rocks!! I think getting as much stuff as possible second hand is great! Just beware there is some stuff they say not to buy second hand, but maybe their just trying to get you to buy more stuff. Who knows. Good luck on friday!!

Austin, from a D to an F??!! Holy cow i've gone from a B to a C and feel huge. Just wait til ur milk comes in! So glad the amnio went well. Did they have to stick you three times? As for new car yep, it sound like a necessary evil, but a good one too. Think of all those soccer games you'll be toting kids to.

Svet (chris). Yeh team pink!!! How are you doing and feeling??

vivienne, so good to hear from you! Glad everything is coming together so well for you. Nursery sounds like it's almost done. Thank goodness for parents and in-laws that want to foot the bill for some stuff. Also glad you are feeling better.

AFM, started my day with a great hike with a girl friend I haven't seen all winter. Our dogs are the same age so hikes with her are fun and get the pups tired. It felt so good to be outside in the fresh air that I really feel for those of you girls on bed rest. Also i'm officially starting to "pop". A bump is there no doubt about it.

sunshine, hi!

happy hump day! Anna

 

[skye2010]

Hey girls how is everyone on the graduates? )) U seem to have abondened us lately no droppers from ur side. What's up?

 

[Mommy's Angel]

hello ladies and happy wednesday morning!!

MA, i'm confuse by this device. Is it for monitoring if the baby is breathing? If not and baby is sleeping then no movement is good right? I think it would depend on how sensitive it is. Check out the reviews on it from other moms, most web sites have this, if not babies Are us and amazon both do. I find these reviews from real moms that use the product are most helpful. So sorry the nausea is back hope you feel better soon. Score on the second hand stuff!! We are getting lots of hand me downs and it rocks!! I think getting as much stuff as possible second hand is great! Just beware there is some stuff they say not to buy second hand, but maybe their just trying to get you to buy more stuff. Who knows. Good luck on friday!!

Austin, from a D to an F??!! Holy cow i've gone from a B to a C and feel huge. Just wait til ur milk comes in! So glad the amnio went well. Did they have to stick you three times? As for new car yep, it sound like a necessary evil, but a good one too. Think of all those soccer games you'll be toting kids to.

Svet (chris). Yeh team pink!!! How are you doing and feeling??

vivienne, so good to hear from you! Glad everything is coming together so well for you. Nursery sounds like it's almost done. Thank goodness for parents and in-laws that want to foot the bill for some stuff. Also glad you are feeling better.

AFM, started my day with a great hike with a girl friend I haven't seen all winter. Our dogs are the same age so hikes with her are fun and get the pups tired. It felt so good to be outside in the fresh air that I really feel for those of you girls on bed rest. Also i'm officially starting to "pop". A bump is there no doubt about it.

sunshine, hi!

happy hump day! Anna

Anna, the hike sounded SO awesome. The weather was nice the last two days and is now a weeks worth of rain starting today. I was able to get out and walk with the dogs and hubby the past two days and it felt SO good!

I checked out the ratings on the walmart site and they all seem to LOVE it. Basically it's both a regular monitor AND it also monitors breathing in case of SIDS. I too was wondering how often baby moves while sleeping and whether the monitor would constantly go off. I wasn't sure if it was worth buying because it would worry a mommy more, or if it was really worth buying. Another thing that it said in the ratings was that when the babies get older, The alarm will go off if they try to get out of bed. Our friend had a zipper top for the crib during that stage though which kept her girls in so they wouldn't get out of the bed.

 

[rottpaw]

He MA just a thought on the monitor... My neighbor used one like thatnwith her twins and said it made her nuts because they would scoot themelves off the pad and scare her unnecessarily. Just a thought. We are using the video monitor by summer which we have liked so far in case that is helpful.

Hugs girls and Hi to all! will try to post some more product reviews as I am able. It is so fun to see what everyone is looking at for products! I remember the stage of picking everything out and the time flies by!

 

[Vivienne]

Hubby's made a baby monitor and camera (nanny cam) set up out of my old laptop. He's such a whizz with computers and software (well it is his job!) I think he made it to spy on me!!!! Nah haha.

 

[AustinGurrl]

Hi girls!!!
It's a happy, joyful morning in our household... The preliminary results from all the amnios came in yesterday afternoon, all with good results... we are so very thankful. AND......

IT'S A GIRL!
IT'S A GIRL!
IT'S A GIRL!

We are still quite overwhelmed by that news, honestly... I was quite convinced that we would have a "variety pack", but DH said from the beginning that his first thought was, "three girls!".....

It sure seems like pink is the prevailing Team Color on this board...

Thank you all for your wishes and good thoughts on our amnio procedures! And yes, Anna, they are all in separate sacs, so did three separate draws from each... putting in dye after to make sure they didn't get the same one twice. The final results are in next week and we will continue to say our prayers, but are told this is a very good indicator of no chromosomal abnormalities...


hugs to all,
Charmaine

 

[pablo797]

Morning All!

Austin, wow three girls!! Congrads on the news and the good amnio results. My preliminary results (the FSH), we're totally backed up by the follow up results. It's such good new for you and I am so excited for you!!

MA, I have never heard of a zipper top for a crib to keep baby in, how interesting. Good luck on scan on friday.

Rottpaw, glad you stopped by and gave your two cents. We haven't even started looking at monitors yet. So much other stuff to think about. How are you doing? Is everything coming naturally? I am terrified of getting the baby home and not knowing what to do.

Vivienne, I love that your DH is that technical. Mine screams like a two year old when the internet goes down. Needless to say I am the IT part of our partnership.

Sunshine, haven't heard from you in a couple of days, how are you?

Missmuffett we are still here and hope no news is good news and you and baby and doing well.

AFM, It's thursday, cold and snowing. It's this time of year when it's spring everywhere else and still winter here that living in a ski town sucks. Good news,we're going camping again this weekend and the weather should be beautiful.

have a good day!! Anna

 

[codegirl]

Good morning!

Austin - so exciting!!! I feel like I might have to try one more time for the elusive girl... watch, I'll end up with 3 boys

Sorry I didn't catch up with everything and everyone. I hope you are all doing well.

Here little e is growing up fast. this morning he's actually laying on the floor "playing" and with Big E at daycare it's a nice quiet moment in my life. Of course, it's SNOWING like crazy so I'm glad I have no car and can't go anywhere today (and don't have a toddler to enterain).

yesterday was my first outing with both boys without anyone with me. We went to the library where they have a drop in program called "Sing, Sign, Laugh and Learn". I went to it with Big E when I was on mat leave last time but the program really has improved. Big E was SO good! I love taking him out and about, of course, he can be a terror to get ready but once we are in public he's an angel.

Now if I could just get little e sleep under control life would be perfect

I hope you all have great days!!!!

 

[sunshine71]

Hi ladies!

Things have been a little busy at work, so I haven't had the time to post... they're actually making me WORK at work! The nerve!

I have been stopping in quickly, though, to read up on everyone - it sounds like everyone's doing pretty good. Thinking of Steph and hoping all's well...

Chris #1:
Congrats!

Austin...
Congrats!
Congrats!
Congrats!

Now Viv's LO is going to have a whole bunch of little girls to date! We'll all have to make a group trip to NZ and have our own little version of The Dating Game.

MA - good luck with your scan tomorrow. Can't wait to hear the results.

Titi, sorry about the tough time you're going through, but at least the little one's doing well!

I was glad to read that they're okay with us posting on the original TTC #1 thread - I was feeling a little funny about that, too. I do think of them often, and pray we'll see each and every one over here soon.

Sorry if I've missed any news - I'll have to go back and re-read a little more thoroughly...

Well, it's back to work for me...

Have a good day, girls!

 

[Mommy's Angel]

Hi ladies

Terri, it's great to see you and hear about how the boys are doing. Sounds like real bonding time and it blesses my heart to hear.

Angela. I had wondered the same thing. I'd go with every alarm going off. I may look into your monitor system and see what we think. That was what we were thinking of going with but when I found that Sids one, I wondered how many mommies were actually going that direction.

Steph, I'm still thinking and praying for both you and baby. Praying we hear from you at some point and that you both continue to do well and bond together. Miss you very much!!

Anna, Oh the snow. I feel for ya. We FINALLY have nice days now. It's sunny today but we're getting a weeks worth of rain so we still have some cloudy weather.

Charmaine...Oh my goodness 3 girls!! Congrats. Wow! Doug and I are surrounded by several sets of twins that are girls and it's fun to watch their personalities. You have the one that's passive and the one that's the instigator who gets the passive one in trouble. I can't imagine what 3 will be like but I will imagine you'll both have your hands full. I have some STORIES. I find my sister in law, cousin and friend all have found that when they get to the stage that they're getting into everything and there are mishaps, they take pictures FIRST to document and allow themselves to calm down and THEN laugh it all off. One of the sets took to the kitchen while dad was "supposed" to watch them and ended up taking all the flour, sugar and butter and scattering it all over the kitchen and they're playroom. Took HOURS to clean and I can't imagine how they were able to document with video without being frustrated but they said you have to just laugh or you'll go crazy.

There's so many girls here I hope to have a boy! Lots of girls to date later on. We'll raise him well, like a gentleman and give him the tools to make a living and save his money so he can support his future wife and love her unconditionally. Of course centered in Christ.

AFM: As you know, anatomy scan tomorrow I pray we can see the baby nicely and have a nice picture to finally share with everyone. Oh it would be so nice to know what the baby is, I know it may be too early but I've seen where people have found it between wks 14-16 so I'd LOVE to know already.

On another fun note, my husband has decided to soley take over the garden duties this year. Today I caught him prepping one of our raised beds and newpapering the other two larger raised beds. It looked like one big invitation for the ferral cats to think it was a big litter box so I had him cover it with a tarp until this weekend when he plans to fill it and put the fence around it.

I'm SO excited. So far we're planting corn, pole beans, winter squash, rainbow swiss chard, spinach, carrots, onions, roma tomatoes, brandywine tomatoes, sweet 100's which are cherry tomatoes and Romaine lettuce. We'll see if we have room for more but I think that may be it this time around. Once he gets the fencing up we'll have three feet inside each side and I'll plant some wildflowers around the inside of the fencing not just to look pretty but to keep pests away.

Our landlord is finishing the trim outside our house and is adding a new roof on this week. I'm PRAYING he will soon build our deck so we can put a grill out there and I can actually sit outside for some time. We have the beautiful front porch that I sit with the dogs in right now, but I'd LOVE to have the deck. Especially for the fireworks display come summer!

 

[Mommy's Angel]

Morning All!

MA, I have never heard of a zipper top for a crib to keep baby in, how interesting. Good luck on scan on friday.

have a good day!! Anna

Yes, it's a safety crib tent and it's supposed to keep toddlers from jumping out of bed while mom and dad are asleep. It works well with my friends twins who like to get up and run around early in the morning. My friends feared the kids would find a way to unlock the door and find they're way outside so they had to take some safety measures.Cozy Crib Tent

 

[MissMuffet08]

Hi everyone,

First off I want to truly thank each and everyone of you for your kind words and prayers. It has meant so much to me! I wanted to give you all an update. I was supposed to have been discharged from the hospital on Monday, however on Sunday I had way too many people visiting and stopping by and asking questions about how iw as doing an how the baby was doing that unfortunately, my blood pressure spiked and they refused to release me (with good reason). I had so many nurses telling me "RELAX" when they came to take my bp. Well I don't know about you, but people telling me to relax especially when I am laying around in a bed and doing nothing, did not have the desired effect. In fact it probably made me more agigated! LOL. My Dr. increased my BP medicine and added another BP pill, but I had to have my BP stable for 24 hours before they would release me. After that I cut off all visitors and wasn't even taking any phone calls. I think I was depressed for like a day as well.

I was released yesterday, but it was bitter sweet. i was extremely glad that i was able to go home and sleep in my own bed (by the way, when you all do deliver you will NOT get any sleep at the hospital due to the nurses coming in all the darn time to check on ya!). But having to leave my daughter was extremely hard. I got home and broke down. Luckily both my mom and my hubby were with me. My mom has been with me since I had the c-section and I am extremely sad that she will be leaving on Sunday, but at least she will be back when the baby comes home. I think having her here has also taking some of the weight off my husband because he doesn't have to do it "all".

Good news - baby is doing really well. Her lungs are getting stronger everyday. She is a week old today - though for me it feels like I had her a month ago (I wish it were a month already - I am so ready for end of MAY!). Though she is doing well, continued prayers are welcome. Her being in NICU is the best place for her at the moment, but it still makes me sad everytime I have to come home and leave her there. Mommy guilt has already started . Oh by the way, we named her Katelyn Hope.

Now for the funny - PUMPING HURTS LIKE HELL!!!!!!!! Kaiser is very very PRO Breastfeeding. Everyday in the hospital I had lactation reps coming to my room to make sure i was pumping and understood what to do and to answer any breastfeeding questions. They providing me with a pump and bottles, etc for me to use in the hospital. The setting I was using was specifically for premies. Sorry of this is TMI - I would get a few drops here and there, but not really anything to brag about.

They asked if I had a pump at home. Well since I only had 1 of my 3 showers, a pump had not been purchased yet. Fortunately, my insurance covered the costs of a "loaner" breast pump that I am using at home. Ok - this pump is a LOT more powerful than the one in the hospital. there is a standard setting and then 3 above and 3 below. I have it on the lowest possible setting cuz OOOOOOWWWW! However, i am getting a lot more colostrum than I did when I was in the hospital. I have to say I was always going to breastfeed, but I was kinda on the fence about doing it only or supplementing with forumla. Because breastfeeding is like the ONLY thing I can actively do for my baby, i am doing it with gusto! Yeah it hurts and is uncomfortable, but it is the best thing for her at the moment and I am happy to be in pain if it is good for her.

Well that is the update for now. It is still very surreal for me that I have 1. given birth 2. have a child 3. she is still in the hospital and not home with me. I try to stay positive, but it is hard sometimes not to be sad that she isn't with me. I get blue every now and then and am glad my mommy is here with me . Again, thank you so much for your prayers and your words. I will continue to pray that your pregnancies are uneventful. But please, if you do start to have swelling go in and have them do a urine test to make sure everything is OK.

I will probably pop back on in the next day or so.

LOVE YOU ALL,

Steph

 

[Mommy's Angel]

Steph,

I've had two prayers answered today. Boy is God good!!! I've been waiting and hoping. I just knew in my heart that your baby was born after the viability date and although the road is a bit rough, she would not only make it, but with flying colors like her mommy!

We'll be waiting for her to come home and see pics of mom and baby together as we dote on your beautiful little girl. I LOVE her name. HOPE especially. It's Gods defining moment of HOPE!!

As for the bf'ing. I'm laughing. I can imagine what I'll feel like. I've heard putting a cold cabbage leaf on each nipple helps the pain. Try it. I've also heard that one bottle of beer a day produces more milk. I'm not sure with a preemie though if that would be safe so you'll have to ask before actually doing it since your babies immune system is already compromised. But the cabbage or Utter cream should help a great deal!!

I'd imagine your going through ALOT of emotions. I too am glad mom is there with you. Also, you may think about seeing a counselor to talk through the emotions if only for one day. It sure helps when there's SO MUCH going on that you find your emotions are spinning. They can sometimes give you some coping mechanisms to help through the blue moments. Of course you have all of us here as well to listen.

You have NO IDEA what a blessed post this is to me knowing both you and Katelyn Hope are thriving. May God continue to bless you and your little one as you thrive and grow.

Love to you.

 

[AustinGurrl]

Just wanted to pop in and say, "YAY!!!! STEPH!!!!" I second MA's cheer for answered prayers!! SOOO glad you're doing well, as is sweet Katelyn Hope (beautiful name!!!)....

I can only imagine what having her in the NICU is like.... It is something I am trying to prepare for, but not sure if that is possible... Advice, I received from a triplet mom whose babies were in NICU for 2 mos - Take advantage of that time you get at home to rest... your sweet little one is in the BEST possible hands right now and you need this time to prepare your mind, body and home for her....

Good luck on bf'ing.... I personally, am TERRIFIED of it... I also will likely be in your shoes and pumping while in NICU... I welcome all advice you have! For instance, I would have thought that the hosp pump would have been by far the most powerful... hmmm... I would love to know the brand, etc. of the one that is working for you!!! Best of luck, sweetheart.... Know we are all here rooting for you & Katelyn!!!
BIG HUGS!!!
Charmaine

 

[pablo797]

Steph, I will echo MA and Austin . . . YEHHHH!!! SO good to hear from you and SO glad you and Katelyn Hope ( love the name too) are doing so well. I can't imagine how hard it is to leave her at the hospital, but as others have said it's the best thing for her right now until she gets strong enough to come home and be with mom. I am glad your mom is there and brings you comfort. I can't stop smiling I am so happy for you. How much time do you get to spend with her in a given day??

Codegrl, sorry you are sleep deprived. Sounds like big E is being a great big brother.

MA, ahh gardens. Wish we lived someplace that you could grow stuff. Good luck with scan today!

Sunshine, glad you stopped in!!

have a good weekend everyone, anna

 

[sunshine71]

Happy Almost Weekend, everyone!

Steph - so happy you and baby are doing okay! It must be so hard not to be able to bring her home just yet, but like everyone's already said - she's in the best of care right now. She'll be home before you know it. And in the meantime... yikes on the BFing!! Like Austin, I too am terrified of it. I give you all the credit in the world for pushing through.

And her name is absolutely beautiful! As a matter of fact, her first name is on my own list of possible names. And I love Hope as her middle name - it fits perfectly.

MA - how'd the scan go? How far along are you again? (I know you're due in early Oct, but I'm too lazy to count...) I'm guessing you must be about 15 weeks or so? They first told me it looked like a girl at 14 weeks, then checked again about a week and a half after that and confirmed. But I'm stilll not buying anything pink until after my anomaly screen on 4/25. At that point, I'll be either 18w 4d, or exactly 19 weeks along - depending on which scan I go by. Much easier to determine gender with a fair degree of accuracy by then.

Hope everyone has a good weekend!

 

[Mommy's Angel]

Hi ladies.

Small rant and then I'll move on...

I hate the perinatal office I go to!! Sadly there is no other that is nearby and the one two hours away just agrees with the protocal this office has given. Second time I've had a visit that last 3 hours long with much of it waiting. THEN for the second time I've been disappointed by the fact that the origional Dr. I said I'd allow work with me wasn't there. Instead I got the midwife. She's better than some in that office, but sorry, with the major issues I have, I don't trust her feedback as last pregnancy the nursing staff totally ignored the issue of bacterial vaginosis until it was too late as did they ignore the lost mucus plug.

Would you believe the lady that takes my bloodpressure was a total jerk?? I told her that I needed the small cuff per chart and she told me to "calm down". When she put the origional cuff on it was loose and gave me a bad reading. When asking her to try again she told me to calm down again. I wanted to hit this old bat!! Are you kidding?? I've been waiting for 3 hours out in the waiting room, I also KNOW my body. You only know whats on my chart dear!!!

I'm known by the nurses as a B*#ch. Sadly because I'm trying to be proactive and won't allow any mess ups this go around. I heard them out in the hallway say to each other, "she refuses to have the speculum exam". Pickle pusses!! Of COURSE I refuse it. I'm not giving any reason for my cervix to dialate. If you need a swab test, get your gloves on, part the lips and go on in, but absolutely NO SPECULUM test!!

Anyways, my husband ended up calling in late for the second time and when we got home while my husband was racing to dress for work I had forgotten that I put soda in the freezer for a dinner guest yesterday. Since I don't drink soda I forgot about it. We got home and the whole thing exploaded in our freezing busting the door wide open. What a DAY!!! I'm laughing at the last part because it was honestly funny, though it was really at a time we were in a hurry.

Got a pic of the baby today, heartbeat is great and I'm just praying for the next 26 wks to go buy without a hitch. No gender though yet as baby is head down at the moment so it made pics a bit harder. We did get a cute pic of the baby's hand and I keep thinking it's his or her way of saying "mom, I'm okay, everything is going to be alright with me". It just warms my heart!!

My cervical length went from 39 to 37. It has me slightly on edge as I'm not sure if this is a normal change or if this is a step toward incompetant cervix. I start the 17P injections in two weeks and they put them on order this week.

These may be HUGE because I can't get photobucket to work today to resize.

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Hisirishgem/IMG_0038.jpg

https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/Hisirishgem/IMG_0039.jpg

 

[codegirl]

If you guys are interested, here are some shots from a photoshoot on the 6th

Eric Shots

 

[Junebug_CJ]

Hi everyone, so out of the loop I won't try to catch up but Steph I've read this page. HUGS to you my dear, I don't know what happened but in the end your baby and you are doing great so that's what counts! Pumping does get easier, your nipples just need to toughen up a bit. Make sure that the flanges are the right size for you though, my friend damaged her nipples permanently because the hospital gave her flanges that were too small...

Started my parenting journal on BnB: https://www.babyandbump.com/parenti...renting-journey-beautiful-zoelle-ttc-2-a.html

MA, gorgeous photos of your little one!!!

Sorry, been sick for over a week and need to get to bed now. Hugs everyone!

 

[AustinGurrl]

good morning, everyone! Hope you all had a restful weekend!

Great pics, MA - how far are you now? that's awesome! Quick question for ya - you reference a cervix length of 39-37... when I went in they told me mine was 5.5 cm.... just wondering what reference to which you refer... Interested as I am at-risk for cerv shortening, etc...

Code - Precious pics!
June - NICE to see you again!!!

AFM - Had a trip to the in-laws this weekend... quick trip, but the 3 hour car ride there & back was not too bad, but not great... Had a lovely visit with family and there is so much talk of showers, showers, showers... all of which is GREAT, but a bit overwhelming... They are talking June, so I can travel down. Fine by me, but I guess I still worry about "jinxing" things by doing it so soon... Realistically, I know that "normal" shower time of month before is simply not feasible, but still... Will prob just go with it.

Little vent/Question for you all - Now that I am not likely to continue working for at least 2 years or so, DH and I are having hard discussions re:finances. Is anyone else going through this? For me, financial stress is just about the only thing other than work stress that gets me down.... I have tried to curtail spending, but it is hard and we haven't even begun to buy for babies yet... (insert a, "YAy for showers!" here). It is just tough as I want the house, etc., to be "done" before we start on baby stuff...

Otherwise, thankful to be feeling good this morning....