Plus-Size Pregnancy

[dodgercpkl]

The tops do look the same as what I wear too! BUT what happens with the tops we currently have is they seem to get short! Maternity tops are usually longer so when the boobs and belly grow they get a little shorter but still cover nicely. I just ordered some maternity pants over the weekend. I have a few pairs (since I was pregnant about two years ago) but I need a few more. The bella band doesn't seem to be working this time. My jeans are just to uncomfortable.

Oooh! That's good to know. I hadn't thought that far ahead yet. lol I'm not sure how I'll feel about the belly band and my normal pants either, but I have a friend that wants to give me hers, so I'm more then willing to try it out!

Haha, I work at a library so I'm ALWAYS looking at a baby name books, pregnancy books, and anything else related!

I actually don't know what my body's problem is... I have always had irregular cycles, but never odd enough to alert my gyno. After 2 months of TTC, I never got a single positive on OPKs. I went to the doctor, they drew a ton of blood and checked EVERYTHING. All was well, so I made an appointment with an infertility specialist. She suspected PCOS for me because of the irregularity, but I don't have any other symptoms. She did an internal ultrasound to determine if it was PCOS and during that ultrasound she saw that my right ovary was about to ovulate! She told us to dtd the next 2 days. She said no PCOS, just kind of wonky hormones. She said I do ovulate, but my levels aren't right to be picked up with OPKs. So, it's pretty amazing that I'm pregnant! I could have made that appointment any other day and it would have been too soon to tell or too late and I would have ovulated!

I live in So. Cal too! In the San Bernardino mountains! Small, small world!

That's so awesome that the timing worked out like that! Sounds meant to be to me. I used to live right by the San Bernardino Mountains in the San Fernando Valley (oh yes.... I'm a valley girl... lol). I'm a bit further south now, but still within a couple of hours drive of you.

I'm in SoCal too, right on the border of the OC and LA County.

You are right in my area then! My bro and SIL live just on the other side of the LA/OC border from us. How cool that so many of us live near each other!

 

[HarrietO]

I'm freaking out now, 4 hours before my appointment. I'm just so terrified that it'll be a missed miscarriage and then what will I do? I just want everything to be okay.

I had my first appt yesterday, and they did a dating scan. I held my breath the whole time I was waiting, because after my mc in August I just couldn't believe everything was going to be ok. Then we saw that perfect little bean with a strong beating heart and I just broke down. I'm still petrified something is going to go wrong, but for now everything is great. Just relax. Stressing only makes it worse. I'll be thinking about you today while I go take my 24 hour urine to the lab and get vampired for half my blood. It is so much fun being pregnant and diabetic at the same time!

Ahh, I'm pregnant with diabetes as well! Was just in to give them my urine and blood yesterday.

I'm kind of overwhelmed by the risk I'm taking, but it's not like I didn't know what I was getting into. Everytime I take my bloodsugar and it's a little off, I'm so mad at myself. But, I know, I know--it's best to just relax.

Don't beat yourself up. I have been off insulin since March. I found out I was pregnant and totally panicked. I just KNEW I was going to go into that scan and see an empty sac or something. I am back on my insulin now, but only after walking around with sugars in the 250's for the last 7 weeks before I found out. It is a big risk being pregnant & diabetic, but just keep an eye on it and try not to stress out. Not sure how far along you are, but feel free to contact me any time. I know how hard this is, and sometimes it is nice to just have someone who understands. I am a little nervous because they put me on completely different insulin, and you know how that can be. So far so good though!

Oh, and I wish you excellent luck with your new insulin. Which one is it? Are you still taking metformin as well? I'm on a long-acting for morning and night, and a short-acting with meals. I feel like a pharmacy!. I'm only 5 weeks along tomorrow, so I'll look up to you and the great job you're doing.

I am on a short & long in the morning, a short @ evening meal and a long at bedtime. I have never had to use regular insulin w/ a syringe before. I've always used a pen and only used once a day insulin. It has been an adjustment for sure. I am not taking any other meds but I am going to see a specialist, so we will see what they change when I do that. I will try not to disappoint you if you are going to look up to me... lol

 

[KendraNoell]

Gah, got some pants today for work from Fashion Bug, they're stretchy with a wide panel, they are not maternity pants but I just wanted ones with an elastic waist... it gives me a B belly and when I wear pants UNDER my belly its starting to hang down now ugh

 

[hnaturally]

Hi everyone, I'm sorry I don't have time to read all 43 pages of this thread, but I do have a question for you ladies, if you don't mind.

I have an ultrasound scheduled for Dec. 23 (16 weeks for me!) and I was wondering if my weight will make it harder to get a good picture. I'm a size 24 (US) and when I lost my last baby at 18 weeks I couldn't tell what the tech was looking at when they did an ultrasound in the hospital. Everyone is so excited for the pictures, but I'm afraid it's just going to be gray and blurry and we won't be able to really see anything. Has anyone had any experience with this? Thank you so much ladies! I am going to try to catch up on what is happening in this thread!

 

[LovingLimes]

I'm sorry to hear about your last pregnancy I have no experience with ultrasounds yet. This is your first ultrasound not first appt right? I heard something about a vaginal one when it is hard to find but that doesn't sound very pleasant. I hate things up my *** unless it's you know (tmi sorry). Good luck with it!!!!

Also Old Navy has a really good yoga foldover pant in their regular section, I think it goes up to 2x or 3x? They are not like leggings, I have been wearing them since before bfp, they are super comfortable and strechy and inexpensive.

 

[hnaturally]

I'm sorry to hear about your last pregnancy I have no experience with ultrasounds yet. This is your first ultrasound not first appt right? I heard something about a vaginal one when it is hard to find but that doesn't sound very pleasant. I hate things up my *** unless it's you know (tmi sorry). Good luck with it!!!!

Also Old Navy has a really good yoga foldover pant in their regular section, I think it goes up to 2x or 3x? They are not like leggings, I have been wearing them since before bfp, they are super comfortable and strechy and inexpensive.

Because I'm high risk, this will be my 4th ultrasound this pregnancy (and first appt. with the specialist. I've seen my OB almost every 2 weeks). The first three were transvaginal ultrasounds. You are right, they aren't pleasant!! Haha. The pictures are clear, though, so it was totally worth it. Maybe if they can't get a good picture, they will do the transvaginal ultrasound then too. I don't know how it works. Thank you!

 

[Marisa08]

Hi everyone, I'm sorry I don't have time to read all 43 pages of this thread, but I do have a question for you ladies, if you don't mind.

I have an ultrasound scheduled for Dec. 23 (16 weeks for me!) and I was wondering if my weight will make it harder to get a good picture. I'm a size 24 (US) and when I lost my last baby at 18 weeks I couldn't tell what the tech was looking at when they did an ultrasound in the hospital. Everyone is so excited for the pictures, but I'm afraid it's just going to be gray and blurry and we won't be able to really see anything. Has anyone had any experience with this? Thank you so much ladies! I am going to try to catch up on what is happening in this thread!

I think it depends on your body and the tech. I know for me that my u/s pictures aren't nearly as clear as my SIL who is a small girl. The u/s has to go through the tissue. The more tissue it has to go through the less clear the image will be. I carry more of my weight in my tummy area so there is more tissue to go through resulting in lower image quality.

 

[KEslinger]

Hi everyone, I'm sorry I don't have time to read all 43 pages of this thread, but I do have a question for you ladies, if you don't mind.

I have an ultrasound scheduled for Dec. 23 (16 weeks for me!) and I was wondering if my weight will make it harder to get a good picture. I'm a size 24 (US) and when I lost my last baby at 18 weeks I couldn't tell what the tech was looking at when they did an ultrasound in the hospital. Everyone is so excited for the pictures, but I'm afraid it's just going to be gray and blurry and we won't be able to really see anything. Has anyone had any experience with this? Thank you so much ladies! I am going to try to catch up on what is happening in this thread!

I think it depends on your body and the tech. I know for me that my u/s pictures aren't nearly as clear as my SIL who is a small girl. The u/s has to go through the tissue. The more tissue it has to go through the less clear the image will be. I carry more of my weight in my tummy area so there is more tissue to go through resulting in lower image quality.

HNaturally: Marisa is right! First of all, take a breath and relax. Don't worry about the pictures of your baby!!! I, too, am a size 24(US). I have quite a bit of a B belly. Anyway, Throughout these posts I've posted pics of our baby at 7w6d (baby measured at 7w5d) - transvaginal. At 10w6d transvaginal. And, at 13w0d - the profile shot is ABDOMINAL!!!

The technician needs to be experienced and know what they're doing. I had an ultrasound down between the first 2 with a nurse practitioner who couldn't get a good picture transvaginally or abdominally! But, I saw the babys heartbeat flickering away and it was VERY active.

At my NT scan (the technicians are a bit more experienced for this) they did abdominal w/ full bladder. abdominal w/ empty bladder. transvaginal. abdominal again. I will say that the pictures came out good (the one they printed us wasn't that good... but the baby was waving so that's what they gave us), but do keep in mind that the ultrasound had to pass through layers of tissue. When you're a bigger person sometimes they have to press REALLY hard. It was pretty uncomfortable but totally worth it!

Today I had a quick ultrasound just to find the heartbeat and there wasn't much of a problem. I'm 13+4 (baby at 13+3).

Also, I have a couple of thin friends who have had their ultrasounds at comparative times in pregnancy and there's kinda looks like a blob or is grainy. Depends on the technology in the machine as well.

For your viewing pleasure I will post 2 out of 3 of the ultrasounds. (10+6 and 13+0) The earlier one is posted somewhere in here (if it helps to find it I had it done on 10/27)...

 

[dodgercpkl]

I love seeing the u/s pics!!! I can't wait to see ours for the first time too!

 

[KEslinger]

An update on me!
I had a prenatal check-up today.

The baby:
I just had the NT scan done last week, and everything was fine. So, today, my OB/GYN just checked the heartbeat. She got it with an abdominal ultrasound. Baby is doing well!

Me:
I wanted to discuss my blood sugar. My morning is always elevated (prediabetic) but during the rest of the day it does what it should. I printed out a paper and we talked about my numbers. A little bit of a concern but not by much. They scheduled me to talk to the Diabetes Educator just to go over the Diabetes Diet. (Bleh. Stuff I already know.) I had asked about starting Metformin again (I had it for the PCOS/Pre-Diabetes)... my Dr. said to stay off it. She said that they don't like to over do it when you're pregnant. Because of the PCOS they'll be checking things more often for me, anyway. PCOS brings on other risk factors such as hypertension and hyperglycemia (High blood pressure and high blood sugar).

Because of this I will have the Glucola test at 16 weeks (1 hour test) if I fail it then I do the 3 hour test. If that comes back normal they will recheck at 26 weeks, if I fail that then I start on meds and a more strict diet. She also told me that there is a SAFER medication out there for gestational diabetes that is ORAL. I won't necessarily be put on insulin off the bat if it's high! YAY! She also mentioned that many people can control their blood sugar with diet solely (if it's gestational, not if you were already dependent on meds for diabetes before becoming pregnant). Since OH had his hours cut we've been eating a bit crappier. Not fast food or anything, but just not all the low-carb expensive goodness as before.

Another concern for them is my blood pressure. I have white coat syndrome... They call my name and I feel my heart beating faster by the second. It's always high when I go in. The right nurse will have me sit quietly for a couple of minutes taking deep breaths and then recheck it... The recheck always lands me somewhere between 130-136/74-80. They'll just be keeping a more watchful eye on it.

The other thing is that blood clot! It SHOULD resorb into my body. If it doesn't I'll be seeing a perinatologist in conjunction with my ob/gyn. If it doesn't resorb it can cause your membranes to rupture prematurely. No good. The perinatologist and my ob/gyn were suspecting it'll resorb. I was also told that I should expect more bleeding at some point. As I said before, the clot is down low and is nowhere near the placenta. Great news!!! However, the clot still comes with risks.

ANY of those three things can leave me seeing the perinatologist and my ob/gyn. Honestly, anything to keep my little bean healthy is fine by me. Having more frequent appointments/checkups may be a pain in the butt, but it can also help prevent something bad from worsening.

Bad news, they want me to abstain from sex until week 16. I lied and said we had still be refraining. Meeeeeeeh. OH is not happy about that. I say maybe once a week, MAYBE. Haha.

She told me that because of the PCOS I'm not low-risk. However, I'm not high risk until one of those other factors comes into play. With my blood pressure, they're not worried about it until later in the 2nd trimester when it can cause preeclampsia. If it's still elevated a bit more into this 2nd trimester they may have me start taking my blood pressure at home and/or start medication.

I know this may sound like a horror story to some but my doctor made me feel very comfortable. She was non-accusational and was very nice. Very informative. And wasn't trying to freak me out.

If you're a plus size person, and were actively TTC, chances are you've done SOME of your homework and know that with increased weight can come increased risks during pregnancy. Extremely healthy or not.

It just so happens I have that PCOS factor too, as do many others on here, so those risks are just a little bit higher for me. I do what I can to keep things in check and my doctor is happy with that so far. =)

Oh, and on the weight front. I'm still down weight. Down another 1.1 pounds this week (13 weeks)... and coming in at 274.9. My doctor said that weight gain is not how you judge a pregnancy to be healthy or not. The baby is the one that they worry about with gaining weight, and mine is doing so appropriately. I, however, have lost 10.1 pounds since the first day of my LMP.

 

[KEslinger]

I love seeing the u/s pics!!! I can't wait to see ours for the first time too!

I love seeing them, too! We have a 3d/4d early gender scan around 15 weeks on 12/18!

 

[CaliGinger]

They called me from my doctor's office and they want me for my scan TOMORROW. They said its the last day for an NT scan, I thought you could go to 14w1d? Anyway I have to take a day off unexpectedly and my office is starting to think I'm dying. I've exhausted my sick time too so it'll be unpaid.

 

[dodgercpkl]

I love seeing the u/s pics!!! I can't wait to see ours for the first time too!

I love seeing them, too! We have a 3d/4d early gender scan around 15 weeks on 12/18!

Oh how exciting!! Are you hoping for a girl or boy?

 

[KEslinger]

They called me from my doctor's office and they want me for my scan TOMORROW. They said its the last day for an NT scan, I thought you could go to 14w1d? Anyway I have to take a day off unexpectedly and my office is starting to think I'm dying. I've exhausted my sick time too so it'll be unpaid.

I'm in California and all screening is done through California Prenatal Screening, they want it by 13+6. This is because after the end of the 13th week/start of the 14th week, the lymphatic system in your baby starts to absorb the fluid in the neck that they're trying to measure which in turn gives inaccurate results.

Our baby, at 13+0, measured 1.8mm in the nuchal translucency which is perfect. Of course, the NT measurement on it's own doesn't mean anything, we have to wait for our second trimester screening (after Christmas for me).

I found this link helpful (I'm a research nut!) https://www.babycenter.ca/pregnancy/antenatalhealth/scans/nuchalscan/

There's a lot of information about timing, "normal" results, low/high risk, etc.

Hope that helps.

Sorry it's been such a pain in the rear getting off work.

My boss is a jerk about it but has grown to be a little more accepting. I'm only supposed to take Tuesdays and Fridays off for them (my "normal" days off when people aren't on vacation) but I can't always promise that. I end up writing on/off on the calendar as to not skew my paychecks too much. Sometimes it works and I'm just scheduled for a different day, sometimes it doesn't and I end up being short a day.

 

[KEslinger]

I love seeing the u/s pics!!! I can't wait to see ours for the first time too!

I love seeing them, too! We have a 3d/4d early gender scan around 15 weeks on 12/18!

Oh how exciting!! Are you hoping for a girl or boy?

I know everyone says this, but HONESTLY I'm hoping for a healthy baby. I was told in September, on 9/2 (also the 1st day of my LMP, lol) that I would most likely have to go through IUI or IVF to conceive. We conceived that cycle.

Most people think I'm having a boy. I think it's a boy, too, most days, but often dream about a baby girl. (Baby laying on daddys chest sorta thing) I also had a dream about the gender reveal cake balls we'll be getting for Christmas if we find out the week before... they were pink! LOL WTH!?!? OH and I will find out the gender at the scan, we will be doing Christmas Eve with my dad's side of the family, and Christmas Day with his. We didn't feel it was fair to find out with only my family, so we'll know first. At some point I'll have to drop a few goodies by my grandmas house for them to eat on Christmas and find out while we're not there. Maybe I'll have the place that's making my cake balls make some cupcakes too, with colored buttercream in the middle and a big ol' question mark on the top!

 

[CaliGinger]

Thank you so much for those gorgeous u/s pics!

 

[CaliGinger]

They called me from my doctor's office and they want me for my scan TOMORROW. They said its the last day for an NT scan, I thought you could go to 14w1d? Anyway I have to take a day off unexpectedly and my office is starting to think I'm dying. I've exhausted my sick time too so it'll be unpaid.

I'm in California and all screening is done through California Prenatal Screening, they want it by 13+6. This is because after the end of the 13th week/start of the 14th week, the lymphatic system in your baby starts to absorb the fluid in the neck that they're trying to measure which in turn gives inaccurate results.

Our baby, at 13+0, measured 1.8mm in the nuchal translucency which is perfect. Of course, the NT measurement on it's own doesn't mean anything, we have to wait for our second trimester screening (after Christmas for me).

I found this link helpful (I'm a research nut!) https://www.babycenter.ca/pregnancy/antenatalhealth/scans/nuchalscan/

There's a lot of information about timing, "normal" results, low/high risk, etc.

Hope that helps.

Sorry it's been such a pain in the rear getting off work.

My boss is a jerk about it but has grown to be a little more accepting. I'm only supposed to take Tuesdays and Fridays off for them (my "normal" days off when people aren't on vacation) but I can't always promise that. I end up writing on/off on the calendar as to not skew my paychecks too much. Sometimes it works and I'm just scheduled for a different day, sometimes it doesn't and I end up being short a day.

Thanks for the info, it makes more sense now.

My job is actually pretty great about time off for this pregnancy, my doctor is just being ridiculous. I work a 9/80 schedule so I have every other Friday off and I schedule my appointments on those days. My doctors office seems to think I don't work and can just come in whenever.

 

[KEslinger]

They called me from my doctor's office and they want me for my scan TOMORROW. They said its the last day for an NT scan, I thought you could go to 14w1d? Anyway I have to take a day off unexpectedly and my office is starting to think I'm dying. I've exhausted my sick time too so it'll be unpaid.

I'm in California and all screening is done through California Prenatal Screening, they want it by 13+6. This is because after the end of the 13th week/start of the 14th week, the lymphatic system in your baby starts to absorb the fluid in the neck that they're trying to measure which in turn gives inaccurate results.

Our baby, at 13+0, measured 1.8mm in the nuchal translucency which is perfect. Of course, the NT measurement on it's own doesn't mean anything, we have to wait for our second trimester screening (after Christmas for me).

I found this link helpful (I'm a research nut!) https://www.babycenter.ca/pregnancy/antenatalhealth/scans/nuchalscan/

There's a lot of information about timing, "normal" results, low/high risk, etc.

Hope that helps.

Sorry it's been such a pain in the rear getting off work.

My boss is a jerk about it but has grown to be a little more accepting. I'm only supposed to take Tuesdays and Fridays off for them (my "normal" days off when people aren't on vacation) but I can't always promise that. I end up writing on/off on the calendar as to not skew my paychecks too much. Sometimes it works and I'm just scheduled for a different day, sometimes it doesn't and I end up being short a day.

Thanks for the info, it makes more sense now.

My job is actually pretty great about time off for this pregnancy, my doctor is just being ridiculous. I work a 9/80 schedule so I have every other Friday off and I schedule my appointments on those days. My doctors office seems to think I don't work and can just come in whenever.

I have Kaiser and for my first few appointments they were just handing me a paper with my next appointment on it. Thankfully someone traded days with me for the first one (that couldn't be rescheduled)... now I let them know when they go to the computer "Tuesdays or Fridays or preferrable... but I can do a Wednesday"... OH has Wednesdays off, and I typically have the other 2 off, unless people are on vacation, and then I'm screwed. My boss has been a bit better about it lately but when he first found out he didn't want me taking off at all. I felt the same way when they were like "okay, 2 weeks, this day. this time." ANd I"m like WHAAAAAAAT. I work, I can't just be here when you want me to be!!!

 

[KendraNoell]

I have my anatomy u/s on the 13th, thinking they're going to do abdominal but wondering... I would love to see it transvaginal just because I know they would get better looking pics.

 

[sunshine20]

Ahhh so happy. When I went for my nt I thought she would have problems seeing bean but she said the way my body shape is I'm perfect for normal us and won't have an issue with them!!!!