First Time Mom's - Due March/April 2013

[baby_nurse]

Updating on my phone so apologies for spelling mistakes!

Congrats to all the ladies reaching V day recently! Tbh with my job I didn't really want to celebrate but being 25 weeks now I feel a bit more secure and every week after this is just a percentage in the right direction to a healthy baby

I'm not sure when third tri starts either it seems to differ doesn't it?!? I'll just say I'm 3rd tri when my app tells me!

I am also getting the odd low down heaviness and also sometimes my belly goes rock hard! Sometimes I forget I'm pregnant and jog somewhere quick at work or stand up too fast and it does a weird hard thing lol!! Also I get it after having an orgasm!!

LO has been kicking pretty high up though this week, feeling lots of movements so must be having an energetic spurt especially on my night shifts!

AFM I'm feeling pretty ok and have a 25 week check up tomorrow but last few weeks as I might have mentioned before I am super super itchy especially my chest, legs and feet. I hope I haven't got that liver condition. My breasts look a mess with the rash and scratching its really getting me down. Also my breasts have grown again so off to get remeasured tomorrow it is really upsetting me how much they have grown (now a G cup) as I haven't even got milk in yet. I had a hormonal rant/emotional cry to OH yesterday as seriously being put off BF knowing they'll get larger and more uncomfortable. I know that sounds so selfish but with the itching as well they look and feel terrible and I lie awake at night unable to sleep due to the discomfort from it. No creams work the only thing that helps temporally is a cold flannel. So I am really hoping the dr can help me tomorrow. I know it sounds like a silly thing to get upset about I'm sure it's just the hormones but it's driving me nutty with the constant itching plus I can't wear any tops as my chest is so messed up it looks awful

 

[linzylou]

Sarah, I know what you mean! Most of the time reading birth/newborn stories make me excited but then sometimes they terrify me. My mom and my doctor said they felt the same way, and that a lot of it really did come naturally so I'm hoping they're right.

Happy V-day, Hayley! Glad your appointment went well! That's cool that your midwife measured your bump - I hope they do that at my next appointment because now I'm curious. My next appointment is the 27th, so I feel your pain, and mine is the diabetes test so I'm really gonna have to watch myself around the Christmas cookies. Or save myself a plate for afterwards. I've gained about 16 lbs so far. The doctor hasn't said anything about my weight gain so I'm assuming it's normal?

Brittany, sorry your family is giving you so much trouble. Maybe it won't be as bad once Aiden gets here. And hopefully you can get your registry done before Christmas! We haven't finished ours, either. I agree with you about the weight - everyone is different but that doesn't mean we're not still healthy.

Laura, what a bitch!! She shouldn't have taken her frustrations out on you and treated you like that. I'm sorry you had to go through it... I would have cried even if I wasn't pregnant! I've experienced sharp pains in my lower stomach when I twist or sneeze or pull myself up but I just figured it was round ligament pain or something. I'm interested in what your midwife has to say.

Alex, my bump feels heavy and goes rock-hard too. Sometimes it feels really stretched, too, like baby's about the burst out of the middle of my stomach. I'm sorry you're feeling down about your cleavage - I don't have that problem but I have other body-related issues that get me frustrated and it sucks. I hope your doctor can help with the itchiness!

AFM, not much is new except that I've been craving the junkiest of junk food lately. I don't know if it's because of the holidays or what but I always want chocolate. I made my own trail mix with almonds, dark chocolate chips and dried cranberries and then just ate the chocolate chips out of it.

 

[LiverpoolLass]

Linzy - Thank you!
Aww I think chocolate is a girl-baby craving! I was a chocaholic before pregnancy but now I rarely feel like eating it!!! It sucks lol.

Alex - I hope your 25 week check up goes well and the mw can help with the itching and the breast problem.
I know what you mean - I started off with E cup breasts before pregnancy so I kind of hoped I wouldn't increase much, but they have shot right up to a G already too They feel extremely heavy and when I try to lay on my side at night, they press together and its SO painful.
I am also having the extreme tender/itchy nipple thing and I look like somebody has attacked me - all the skin is broken and sore around my nipples. I have a moisturising nipple cream from Boots that temporarily soothes it if I apply it cold, but it doesn't help in the long term. I'm finding bras impossible too - nothing is comfortable and I don't want to spend a fortune on tons of massive bras!
Its horrible.

Lauren - Thanks! Yeah I think it must be around 27/28 weeks for third tri. Scarily close!!!
I'm so sorry about that woman at your work I used to work in customer services so we would ALWAYS have people screaming at us down the phone, I always used to cry even before pregnancy! Its such a whimpy thing for someone to do, to scream abuse at somebody on the other end of a phone line just to take your frustrations out on somebody!
I hope you're feeling better today.

I also think this must be a very emotional stage - I woke up crying yesterday and I have NO IDEA why?! lol.

Brittany - Yeah I'm guessing around 27/28 weeks must be right! Yeah that sounds like a healthy attitude to the weight gain. I actually don't keep scales in my house so I had NO idea how much I'd gained until this week!


AFM - I asked about the weight gain because I'm having real issues with my mother about my weight!!
I wasn't small before pregnancy as my thyroid condition makes it nigh-on impossible to control my own weight - it goes up and down depending on my levels and my medication, and when I fell pregnant I had an underactive thyroid so my weight was up.

So because I'm used to weight fluctuation, I don't bother with scales - they just depress me!
So I hadn't even thought about weight gain in pregnancy - it was NOT something I was planning on concerning myself with at all! In my eyes - its natural to gain weight in pregnancy, and I'll just worry about shifting the excess after the baby is born!

BUT my mother has been CONSTANTLY making comments about my bump looking far too big, me looking like I've gained too much weight, saying that I'm eating too much and ALWAYS commenting on how i'm going to have a HUGE baby. (She actually told me this week that big babies aren't cute, and she'd like my baby to be between 6.5-7.5 lbs!! SHe's giving me a whole POUND to work with?!)

I HOPED the mw measuring me this week and saying that I my bump is measuring the PERFECT size for 24 weeks would shut her up, but noooo....she then started saying maybe the bump is fine but the weight must have gone to other places.

So I looked up my booking in weight in my pregnancy notes, and the weight I was at the mw appointment on Tuesday when she weighed me and I worked out my weight gain.

I have gained 12 lbs exactly.

My mother insists that this is too much, but according to my research online - 15 lbs is the average at 24 weeks!

And from seeing what Brittany and Linzy have said, it seems that this is about right!! UGH SHE DRIVES ME CRAZY!!!!

 

[doggylover]

Brittany your mom shouldn't be making you feel like you have to drive up and see her. I would say tell her "if you want to see him more you come to us" but then she might come too often and you'd be stuck with her! But you're totally right, you shouldn't be driving all around to see people just because you have a baby. You need time with your baby, and if you are exclusively pumping, as you mentioned, you'll need time to get used to it. Just start ignoring your mom, if that's possible!

Hayley, I measured my bump. I hope I did it wrongly because I got over 30cm!!! I don't know for sure how much weight I've gained as I'm only weighing at home (nobody has weighed me since 8 weeks!) but I think it's about 11/12lbs. Not 100% on that though, but I know it's definitely not more than a stone (14lbs) And your mum is being so NASTY to you about weight. Seriously, why does it matter how much you've gained or how big your baby is? If the mw and drs aren't concerned, then you don't need to be, and she seriously needs to start being a bit more supportive of you and stop slagging you off.

I always thought second tri started at 27 weeks, so 1st tri is 13/14 weeks, second tri is 13 weeks, and 3rd tri is 13 weeks.

Lauren, sorry to hear about your bad day at work and I get that same pain if I do too much as well. I think we are at the point that we need to start slowing down a little and taking it easy. Dh insists he comes with me to do the shopping, so he pushes the trolley now and I bark the orders

Alex sorry to hear you are suffering with a rash/itchiness, it must just be horrible. At least if you do end up having that liver condition, you'll be catching it early as you know what to watch out for. Let us know how your appointment goes.

Lindsey, don't worry - I am always craving junk food! Last night I was supervising our school disco, and the teacher who organises it always brings a pile of food, chocolate, sweets etc. I felt sick by the end of the night!

Nothing new with me at all! Our crib arrived this week, but we aren't putting it up anytime soon as the nursery is still a junk room!!

 

[doggylover]

Oh congrats to all who have reached V-day this week!!!

 

[baby_nurse]

Thanks for the concern ladies over my obsessive itching! My dr listened to my worries and is testing me for obstetric choletis (?sp) just hoping its not that and just so weird rash! (I am quite an allergic person!) it's mainly my breasts, and my nipples are really sensitive so maybe it's just my milk comig in. For now he has prescribed some anti histamines to try and control the itching and help me sleep.

Liverpoollass - try not to let your mum stress you out too much, harder said than done I know. My mum is the same, always commenting on my weight etc and sticking her oar in. People at work are also the same. Everytime I have a chocolate bar I'm met with disapproving stares and comments and ppl are always telling me I'm too big and will have a big baby! Well had my bump measured today and it's 25 cm so bang on target and I think I've gained about 15 lb so far. Every lady is different and your goal is a healthy baby so try to ignore the unhelpful comments! Ppl seem to think its ok to comment on your size/shape when your pregnant and say such rude things that you'd never say to anyone else normally! The other day someone at work said I looked like I was starting to waddle!?!

 

[Laura91]

Grrr just wrote a post and my laptop decided to delete it

Measuring..
My MW said she wont start measuring me until 28 weeks as your belly doesn't average out until then and she doesn't want to worry people by saying "you're measuring small/big". I might have to dig the tape measure out though to have a sneak peak

Weight..
Just checked my green notes and:
at 6w I was 95kg (14st13lbs)
at 12w I was 90kg (14st2lbs)
at 16w I was 88kg (13st12lbs)
at 20w I was 90kg (14st2lbs)
at 24w I was still 90kg
So in total i'm down 11lbs but my MW said it's fine as baby's heartbeat, my BP etc is all fine and i'm still eating normally

Tri cut offs..
Found this in the Pregnancy Club section:
"Guide: Pregnancy trimesters vary depending on country"
Depending on where you live, trimesters may vary. If your country is not listed below, make a post in this thread and we'll update

First Trimester
US & Canada: Conception > 12 weeks
UK: Conception > 13 weeks

Second Trimester
US & Canada: 13 > 28 weeks
UK: 14 > 26 weeks

Third Trimester
US & Canada: 28 weeks > Birth
UK: 27 weeks > Birth

In the interests of website standards, BabyandBump.com starts pregnancy from the first missed period and splits 40 weeks of pregnancy into 3 equal sections:
First Trimester Forum: Conception > 13 weeks
Second Trimester Forum: 14 > 26 weeks
Third Trimester Forum: 27 weeks > Birth

Hope that helps!

 

[doggylover]

Laura, what a minefield of info Thanks for that trimester stuff. And oh my goodness, you have lost so much weight! I'm jealous!!! i wish mine was going down

Alex glad to hear you got some antihistimines, hopefully they will help you out, and I suppose if not then it possibily is *insert name of what you typed here!* which I think is the name of the liver disease you previously mentioned. Honestly, don't DIY your measurements, I'm terrified I did mine right and I'm measuring over 30cm at 25 weeks Big beast of a baby!

I honestly cannot believe people are being so rude to you ladies in relation to weight/food consumption/size of baby. I DARE anyone to say anything to me about mine in a serious way (at work they joke all the time that I've been eating too much and that's all my bump is!) I would murder them. How dare they pass comment on a pregnant woman at all, let alone on her weight at a time when she is extra sensitive to EVERYTHING, weight especially. That makes me so mad on your behalf!

Ignore them all. We are all having healthy pregnancies (as far as we know, touch wood) and should be so proud of ourselves that we have done such a great job in making and growing these little people! If you are hungry you eat, if not you don't. If you gain 5lbs you do, if you gain 25lbs, you do. Everyone is different, and as long as our LO and ourselves are healthy that is all that matters.

 

[I Love Lucy]

Lindsey, it's funny you mentioned craving chocolate because I've been craving it too. DH and I bought Hershey's kisses at the store one night and I could not stay out of the bag. It was gone the next day.

Alex, I'm sorry about the itchiness. I hope the MW is able to help you. I imagine that's very uncomfortable.

Hayley, I'm so sorry your mom is behaving the way she is. My mom early on asked how much weight I had gained and at the time I had gained 8 lbs so I told her so and she said "uh oh" like it was too much or something even though it was right on target for how far along I was. I got so upset and my mom has not asked about my weight since nor has she commented on my body. If she continued to do that after knowing how upset it makes me we probably wouldn't be speaking. Does your mom know how upsetting it is for you when she makes all the comments about your weight and body?

 

[Clarkeyness]

Hey all!! Its been a while since I have been on here! Hope all is well! Just wanted to let you know I am having a little.....boy!!! Yeah!
How is everyone doing?

 

[I Love Lucy]

Welcome to team !

 

[doggylover]

Congrats on team !!!

Brittany, I'm glad your mom got the picture with not talking about your weight, but its not right that you had to be upset for that to happen.

Honestly I have no idea what is going through these people's minds!!! It is not ok to ever judge someone else on their weight TO THEIR FACE...especially a pregnant person!!!

 

[I Love Lucy]

I don't know what my mom was trying to say when she said the "uh oh" comment regarding my weight. Apparently she didn't mean it at all like I had gained too much or something but I still don't know how else I was supposed to take it. I'm just glad she hasn't mentioned weight again.

Has anyone else been watching their bellies for when our babies are moving? I was sitting down and watching my belly move every time Aiden kicked last night. It's so weird seeing my stomach move but it's cool at the same time.

Tonight, DH and I are going to do our Babies R Us registry and pick up paint for Aiden's room. I'm so excited to do the registry tonight with my DH since doing the Walmart one was such a disappointment. I'm also excited since it seems very likely that Aiden's room will be painted before Christmas so I can really begin getting things set up in there.

 

[linzylou]

I'm on my phone so I'll keep this short.

Congrats, Clarkeyness, on team blue!

I love watching my stomach move when she kicks! It's crazy to think she's that big and strong already.

Brittany, you have to post pictures of your nursery when it's all painted!

 

[doggylover]

Oh Brittany that's great about doing your second registry tonight. Enjoy picking out all those gorgeous baby things for Aiden - it'll be so much fun for you and dh! And great news about hopefully getting the nursery painted. Like Lindsey said, you'll have to post us some pics.

I watch my belly quite often too, it's so cool but weird to see! The other night mine sorted of...rolled. It was like a wave passing through and was the biggest movement I've felt - so strange though!

 

[baby_nurse]

I love lucy Oh yes can't wait to see nursery pictures! Although not at the moment for us as ours looks like an explosion of stuff that has nowhere else to live! Hopefully painting in the next few weeks weeks though, I can't wait to order the furniture and start building and putting it all together!

I love watching jiggling in my belly, especially in the bath! When I'm lay down in bed now I get some right jabs and kicks and proper movement from one side of my belly to the other! It's fascinating though. I always wondered why pregnant ladies constantly had their hands on their bump and now I know why! I also love how it's like your little secret a lot of the time, like today I was queuing in subway waiting to buy a sandwich and jiggles was kicking away and I couldn't help but smile!

 

[MrsHippo]

Morning girls

I love watching my belly move around, it's so fascinating.

6 days ago our friends had their baby, came out at just under 10 pounds!! Ouch! She had a bit of a traumatic birth though bless her. Then early hours of this morning our other friend and his partner had theirs! She came out at 7'14, I was expecting her to come out smaller though as mum is tiny! They text me earlier to say they have a few little baby grows and stuff that we can have as theirs is too big for them. Shows that we really have no way of knowing how big they will come out. And I won't be buying much NB sizes either, think I'll get mostly 0-3 months and 3-6. I'll have 1 or 2 NB things and if we need more smaller stuff my mum can get them for me on the day. Oooo it's all very real to me now!!

As for comments, I have only had one person say stuff to me - the same person who kept referring to my belly as a he before we found out. She literally comments on my belly everyday at work... Twice now she has said 'she is going to be a big baby' FFS leave me alone!!!! I think she is lovely but when it comes to my baby she pisses me off. Why does she think she can say stuff like that? I do say stuff back (without trying to sound nasty) like everyone's bump and baby grows at different rates. Yes mine might be getting bigger everyday at the moment but then in a few weeks or so my bump might not change at all. Arrgh it makes me angry. My mum makes me feel better though she tells me I have a nice small bump as she has always been much bigger in her pregnancies than me at this stage (she has had 6 haha but it still makes me feel better).

I've noticed that I have rounded out this week lol, the top of my stomach now sticks out much more. I'll get a photo taken later and post it tonight once I'm on the computer.

I remember comments you guys have left but for the life of me can't remember who left them >.< - ill catch up later

 

[I Love Lucy]

My baby shower registries are done! What a relief! I don't remember where I read it, but whoever said not to let your husband have the scanner was 100% right. I let mine have it because he was so excited and then he went nuts with it and irritated me so much. It felt like I couldn't even look at stuff before DH would scan it. Or if I said I liked something, he would scan it even though it wasn't something I wanted on the registry. I thought I was going to have a ton of stuff to delete off of the registry this morning but thankfully it wasn't too bad. DH must have been deleting stuff when I told him I didn't want it scanned. He was very helpful in picking out some stuff that I didn't even think about needing but would be really useful so that was nice. I'm just glad to be done with it though. Now I can focus on getting stuff done here for Aiden's arrival.

We didn't end up getting paint last night because it was so late by the time we finished (we went out for my birthday dinner before we did the registry) but I believe the plan is to go get it today. Fingers crossed DH only works until noon or something today so we can actually start painting today. I'm really excited to start getting things set up.

Anyone else planning to take any pregnancy classes? DH and I have signed up for a childbirth education class for the 26th of January.

 

[MrsHippo]

When is it your birthday Brittany? Today or was it yesterday? I hope you had a nice meal?
Did you end up with lots of things on your registry then? It must be fun to choose it all we dont tend to do things like that here. Not for baby showers anyway, some do it for weddings.

Im not planning on going to any classes. Our friends did and they really enjoyed them but it's not for me

 

[I Love Lucy]

My birthday is on the 21st, DH and I celebrated a week early since we'll be really busy next week getting stuff ready for Christmas and all our traveling. It's just easier that way. We'll probably be celebrating DH's birthday early too since his is the day right after my baby shower.

The meal was nice though I got full after eating the soup and salad so I basically took my entire entree home.

My registries aren't too big. I probably have about 30 items on both of them. Most of the stuff is just basic stuff that I will need like bottles, breastmilk storage stuff, baby wash and lotion, etc. I have a few bigger things like my pack 'n play, travel system, and some activity gyms/bouncers but for the most part it's pretty basic stuff.