July 1st anyone else in July2013

[JulieBoggs]

That is absolutely insane. How can a person afford a trip to the hospital? For that price you should get a valet, and a wash and wax on your car.

 

[Shanoa]

Hiya Barbi. Congrats on your pregnancy. I'm originally from Sydney. I went to Adelaide once (probably 20 years ago-ugh talking in decades makes me feel uber old). I loved it.

Wow Beachgal, that's pricey! Haha I agree with you, Julie. I'd want an interior vac, polish and smelly thing dangling from my rear vision mirror too!

Parking is £1 per hour up to 5 hours then anything above 5 hours is £10 per day at the hospital we are planning to have LO. Still pretty steep.

Have you packed your hospital bags yet, ladies?

 

[Libbysmum]

Hi Beachgal I am in Brisbane Australia. As far as cold goes Brisbane is one of the warmer places you can live here but yesterday morning it was 9 degrees Celcius outside until about lunch time it had warmed up to the low 20's.
Welcome Barb and congrats! I hope your pregnancy is a smooth ride! How sweet to be having a girl...we have a girl and this next one is a boy...I will be 37 in September Welcome to the forum!
The parking fees are about $8-10 for the first hour, my last appointment I had baby brain and thought it was at 2pm and it wasn't until 2.30pm so I think I had to pay about $14 for the parking costs...the most you pay per day is $38. Which is a heck of a lot when you think about how many cars it holds...they must be raking in the $ left right and centre!

 

[beachgal]

Yeah the hospitals make millions of dollars a year in parking alone!!! Jeez.
I am going to start my hospital bag this week. Need to shop for a couple of nightgowns and underwear for the hospital. Its crazy to think its that close to be prepping a hospital bag!

 

[Libbysmum]

I think I first started packing mine as soon as I saw the two lines on the pee stick! I have to properly do it soon though...I got all the essentials, fluffy socks, pyjamas, comfy clothes to wear home, breast pads, nipple protectors, breast pump, sanitary pads, undies, etc.
With Libby I didn't really get to shower the first few days as I had the c-section and blood transfusions so was kind of just laying in bed feeling sad on morphine. Hopefully I can do the VBac this time and get all cleaned up and refreshed before visitors arrive!

 

[Libbysmum]

for those that dont know...these are life savers!
https://www.pramwarehouse.com.au/product/Avent_Nipple_Protectors_2_Pack__Standard.html

 

[JulieBoggs]

Is packing your bag in your head count? I need to get started on it.

 

[Barbi]

Hi ladies,

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

Beachgal, pregnancy going well, I do have some issues though, I have low PAPP A so baby is going to be monitored for growth, also from same blood test that gave me the results for low Papp A, I have a likelihood of 1 in 26 for Down Syndrome, plus at an earlier ultrasound (which was performed too early, I wasn't even 18 weeks at that stage) they found an echo focus in her heart, which I am told is a soft marker for Down Syndrome also. I am going for a further ultrasound scan tomorrow which will monitor growth, and hopefully give me a better result for the echo focus. Registrar at hospital told me the first morphology scan was done too early, so I am hopeful my results tomorrow will be better. My man and I do not want to do an amnio or cvs as we are going to keep our little girl no matter what the result would be, she is already precious.

On the upside, I have finally felt her kick from the outside a few days ago, and she is being very active lately, usually about an hour after I eat she rolls into action. It's such a good feeling.

Libbysmum, your link for the nipple protectors is a life saver. I have never breast fed, seeing as this is my first pregnancy, but I intend to and I think if I had to contend with sore cracked nipples I would probably give up. I already have sore nipples just from being pregnant.

 

[Shanoa]

Good luck for your scan today, Barbi. I hope all goes well and you get some more clear answers.

Thanks for the hints in what to pack, Libbysmum. I had thought about packing but hadn't got much further. And thanks for the link to the protectors. I think I will get some just in case. A lady at work suggested trying to toughen up my nipples by regularly pinching them before the birth. Sounds like it could be an idea but not sure. Has anyone else heard of or tried this?

 

[Libbysmum]

I think it is just an old wife tale and no actual evidence that it can help with breastfeeding by toughening them up...I actually think the opposite is better...moisturize and one of the midwifes told me to express a little of your own milk to rub gently onto the nipple. One great tip is skin to skin time with your newborn and sitting comfortably cause some babies munch down on your breasts for almost an hour and if you are sitting awkwardly for an hour it isn't much fun. I had a lot of problems with breastfeeding my Libby as she had a bit of a traumatic birth and breathing issues in the beginning and I had the transfusions so couldn't put her on and off with just one arm...in hindsight I feel the hospital staff should have helped me out a bit more than they did. Many hospitals have lactation specialist who can assist you with advice on breastfeeding. Look into this and don't feel afraid to ask for help if you are having issues...I ended up getting medication to assist my supply which was wonderful but I ended up having to put her on formula in the end as she wasn't gaining enough weight. It was a very tough decision and I felt a bit like a failure but it was for the best.

 

[JulieBoggs]

Barbi I hope all goes well today. Please let us know when you can. I do not blame you for not opting for an amino. My DH and I said we would not have one either. I would not terminate the pregnancy so there was no sense in having the procedure. Keep your head up.

Beachgal isn't your scan today?

DD keeps asking if we are leaving for mama's today. She gets up every morning asking. She loves going there. She is the baby and gets all the attention while we are there. I am also looking forward to getting out of town. It will be my last trip before the baby. I just hope the Dr says I am okay to go. I told my DH that I will start my hospital bag when I get back.
Tonight we are going to start putting DD to bed without a pullup on. She has been potty trained for over a year, but never at night. I am not looking forward to it. She can take a nap with no accidents but I just don't know about all night. This is my DH big idea. I told him he can get up and deal with it. Which we know won't happen.

 

[JulieBoggs]

We are delivering at a Catholic hospital. They will not allow a tubal ligation surgery without a medical reason. In order to have the procedure I had to write a letter to the hospital board. My Dr liked my letter and thought this would be a go with no problem. The only way to get this was if I had to have a cesarean. The Dr office just called and said they received a fax stating they denied my request. Of course no real reason. They were in shock at the office because they haven't seen a denial. My medical history and age was enough to warrant the procedure. I just called my DH to tell him thinking he would be mad but he said no problem he would get fixed after our son arrives. Still it is like an emotional rollar coaster. You get set on something and get use to the idea then it all changes.

 

[beachgal]

Oh no, sorry to hear that Julie! That's great that your hubby will get the procedure done.
Good luck with DD tonight and I hope there's no mess to clean up! Too funny about your DH making the suggestion!
I have my scan tomorrow and a Drs appt afterwards... Hope all goes well!

 

[JulieBoggs]

For some reason I thought it was Wednesday all day. Losing it!!
Have you met this Dr yet?

 

[beachgal]

I met her 2 weeks ago at our first appt... I meet my specialist on Monday for the first time. Not sure if she will be the one to deliver or not?
I miss my doctor from where I was living before. I had built a good connection with her and find it hard to sum up 32 weeks with a new one.

 

[Shanoa]

Thanks for your advice, Libbysmum. I think I will give the pinching a miss. I saw a poster for a breastfeeding clinic while I was at the docs today so I've made a note of the times. Every one seems so focussed on 'breast is best' that I think I will feel like a failure if I can't get it to work too BUT at the end of the day I think you have to do what's best for the LO. Like you did for Libby. So I'm going to give it my best shot but if it doesn't work out, it's not the end of the world. Baby will be just fine.

I had my 31/32 week check up with the doc today and she said LO is 2/5ths engaged! No wonder I've been peeing for England AND Australia this past week!

Sorry to hear about the denial letter, Julie. I think that's a bit harsh I would have thought they'd be a bit more sympathetic. Great that your hubby was quick on a solution though.

Good luck with the sleep trial, Julie and hope your appointment goes well, Beachgal.

 

[JulieBoggs]

A NST is a non-stress test on the baby.

 

[JulieBoggs]

It was a dry night. DD got up at 5am when she heard me in the bathroom. She was all proud of herself, so was I. Staying positive that night #2 will be the same.

Hope all is going well at your appt beachgal.

My DH and the naming of this LO is making me crazy. He named our DD Piper, so he likes names you don't hear a lot. He now wants to name our son Stone. I really do not like it and think he will be made fun of. DH says every name can be made fun of. I tried seeing about using it as a middle name and he won't hear if it. I have this awful feeling he will win out. Honestly what do you think? Maybe I am just being harsh.

 

[beachgal]

Glad to hear it was a dry night! Yay! I'm sure there will be accidents along the way but what a positive way to start for your little one!
I think stone is definitely a unique but strong name. It may not hit the top 100 of names but I think if you do lose that battle that your little man will be ok. I feel that way about choosing the name Blake bc so many girls have it and worry its too much of a "wussy" name. But all and all, I think Stone is not a bad name .
Well U/S went well... My little mans face looks like it is filling in well! It was so great to see him again . But when I saw my dr after she didn't have the results (even though its literally upstairs from the lab) and my results from where I used to live weren't sent either. So two U/S in 3 weeks and no results for either lol.
I do see the specialist on Monday so I will have the results then but I wish I didn't have to wait another 5 days! I just need to hear the words "everything looks good" and I'll feel better.
I'm also curious to know roughly how much he weighs!
This morning I took my uncle to the cancer clinic for an MRI at 630am. So I've been in 3 different waiting rooms today lol. I've had my fill of hospitals and doctors offices I think

 

[JulieBoggs]

And parking fees... Glad to hear you got to see little man. I can't believe the results did not go upstairs with you. That makes no sense. With todays electronics nobody should be waiting for anything. The U/S tech doesn't tell you his weight? The tech is who gives us all our info every visit. They do the measurement calcs after they scan everything and let us know his weight. Sorry you have to wait, that sucks. But at least he is growing and you seen it with your own eyes.