Moms to Be Part 3

[KiKi Mouse]

Loclala,

That's SO cute

As for the airport scanners...I have been through many at different stages of pregnancy with different babies and honestly haven't given it much thought. I guess it's because I didn't see any warnings. Now I feel dumb.


I'm 33 wks now and I am having a really hard time sleeping. Last night was a typical night for me:

bed at 2300, up at 0100 to pee, lay on my right side because my left hip is killing me, up at 0400 to pee again, lay on my left side again because my right hip is really sore. Wake up cranky, tired, and sore.

Anybody else dealing with hip pain like this and what helped?

 

[Piecey]

Hmm.

I flew when I was about 16 weeks with Lucas and didn't think about it either.

 

[hulagirl87]

I'm 33 wks now and I am having a really hard time sleeping. Last night was a typical night for me:

bed at 2300, up at 0100 to pee, lay on my right side because my left hip is killing me, up at 0400 to pee again, lay on my left side again because my right hip is really sore. Wake up cranky, tired, and sore.

Anybody else dealing with hip pain like this and what helped?

I definitely have hip pain!!! I have not slept through the night at all since I have been pregnant. My hip pain started in the second trimester. I toss and turn from side to side, get up to go to the bathroom and when I come back have to decide which side hurts less to lay down again. I sleep on the couch now because I can't get comfortable in bed and think that I annoy DH but he says I don't.

Last night I woke up 6 times and finally woke up at 3:43 am and was up from then on. I did take a 45 minute nap around 2 today but man, nighttime is hard!!! I actually get annoyed when it is "bedtime". I lay down and just hope that morning comes. Some nights I wake up every hour. It's hard because I know when the baby comes that I won't be sleeping then either. I want a good nights sleep!!!

 

[KiKi Mouse]

hulagirl,

I too have gotten to the point of dreading bedtime because I feel like "what's the point". I would like some sleep now as I know the 2 hour newborn schedule is going to kill me.

DH doesn't wake up at all. I guess that is a good thing.

I work shift work and right now I don't work past 0230 so when I come home the dog barks and DH doesn't hear it. I always tell him I could be dead in the backyard for hours before he notices.

 

[Pollito916]

locolala - Nice u/s pic, she looks so long and skinny!

Kiki Mouse - don't feel dumb about the airport scanners, we've all done it. I did it with my first DS and didn't think twice about it. I just remembered somebody else lecturing me about it AFTER I did it. It doesn't sound like it's a big deal anyway. As for the hip pain, have you asked your OB about it? I have heard it can be pretty common.

 

[DMickey28]

I have a lot of hip pain as well. Do you guys use pillows? I have found that having a pillow between my knees, but pulled up high and another pillow in the front that I can "lean" forward on helps. Gives me the feeling of laying on my stomach but not laying on my stomach. I switch sides and I admit to sleeping on my back if I have to for a little while. I will usually put one of those pillows under one hip so that I am not flat. It seems to help ...

Also, towards the end with DS and now with this one, I take Unisom before bed. I have to. My doctor ok'd it and I try to only do it a few nights a week but otherwise I'd be a zoombie. Since my 2.5 year old seems to have gone through a phase of giving up naps I need sleep at night or else I'd lose it. I am not good on patience. My prior OB did not Ok the Unisom (but I researched it and did it anyway) but he did ok a normal glass of red wine before bed every night. DH wouldn't let me do that so we looked into Unisom and decided to do that instead.

Now that DS isn't napping he is sleeping through the night which is allowing me to get a decent night sleep .... last night I was out by 10:15, up at 12 to pee and then up at 6am to pee and up at 8am for good. HEAVEN for me.

 

[KiKi Mouse]

I put a pillow under my tummy for when I lay on my left side but when I flip over it's the edge of the bed. I tried the pillows between my legs but they fall out. I called a medical supply place and they have pillows that have straps so you can strap them to a leg to keep them in place. That's fine if you aren't up every 2 hours to pee...LOL


Good times.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

I am definitely in the up every 2 hours club too! I think the little guy is dropping, or has dropped, because there are times now I have to walk bent over because he's sooo severely on my bladder!

I read somewhere it is your body getting used to the baby's schedule.. LOL

I am off of work now, so I seem to take a lot of short naps during the day. I am awake every morning by 5 am. I'm kind of in a holding pattern now. Ready for the little guy to come!

 

[ZPT1022]

Sorry to hear that things are icky...but hey, you've got less than 10 weeks to go, right? Its hard not to stress out over getting things done, but trust me, you will get them done! And if the baby comes home to a less than perfect nursery, life won't end. Taking care of you and the baby is most important!!!

Good luck with the BP. I had pre-eclampsia with the first and with this one, its hypertention. Pre eclampsia is tricky because if is creeps too high or you are in less than great shape, they will take the baby early. So rest rest rest!!! Lay on your left side as much as you can. Every day you give that babe inside of you is a day he or she is going to be healthier.

It will be over soon!!! Keep thinking happy healthy baby thoughts!

Thanks! Didn't mean to unload like that, it's just been a long 7 or so months so far. I'm pretty sure that any mom knows that feeling.

I've had the high blood pressure with my other two term pregnancies so I'm trying to relax and take it easy, as much as I wouldn't mind a 37 or 38 weeker I know I definitely don't want Baby to come at only 30 weeks. Yikes.

I think part of my feeling unfinished is that we chose not to find out the baby's gender, so we haven't settled on a name, haven't bought too many clothes, etc.... This is Baby #4 so I'm not worried about perfect nursery or anything, actually, I'm pretty laid back about it- I know we'll just put baby in our room for the first 6 or more months anyhow. I don't even plan to buy a crib before we need it (we have a bassinet that we used with the others). The other part of the freak out is needing to buy a new car, which we should be taking care of in the next few weeks but yuck, that is just a chore.

I definitely have hip pain!!! I have not slept through the night at all since I have been pregnant. My hip pain started in the second trimester. I toss and turn from side to side, get up to go to the bathroom and when I come back have to decide which side hurts less to lay down again. I sleep on the couch now because I can't get comfortable in bed and think that I annoy DH but he says I don't.

Last night I woke up 6 times and finally woke up at 3:43 am and was up from then on. I did take a 45 minute nap around 2 today but man, nighttime is hard!!! I actually get annoyed when it is "bedtime". I lay down and just hope that morning comes. Some nights I wake up every hour. It's hard because I know when the baby comes that I won't be sleeping then either. I want a good nights sleep!!!

This sounds so familiar! The hip pain, the tossing and turning to get comfy, the peeing. Also familiar with the feeling that I should be enjoying sleep while I can, before I have the demands of a newborn, but it's easier said than done. My big kids are in school all day, I get up and get them ready and DH puts them on the bus. Most days I lay back down (they leave at 6:15 am) but then I feel bad if I sleep too late, like I wasted the day. Can't win

 

[ZPT1022]

Thought you ladies would like to see the most recent u/s!! She's changed so much in a month, it's CRAZY!!

What a great picture! We seem to only get these crazy can't tell exactly what it is kind of pics

 

[Lindsay22]

i have to tell you all that i hate going to the dr. i hate having ultrasounds even though i'm supposed to love it. i hate it. they aren't a source of joy "oh look how beautiful my baby is" they are a source of terror because we have never once had one where they said that everything is fine.
today, they told us that her weight was in the 30th percentile but the rest of her measurements (head, organs, bones, basically everything else) was in the the 5-10th percentile (not good) so they told us that we will most likely deliver early (3-4 weeks they said) and that they are concerned because they don't think that my placenta is working well enough and i have to go back in 3 weeks.
not pleased.

 

[Gabes_mommy]

i have to tell you all that i hate going to the dr. i hate having ultrasounds even though i'm supposed to love it. i hate it. they aren't a source of joy "oh look how beautiful my baby is" they are a source of terror because we have never once had one where they said that everything is fine.
today, they told us that her weight was in the 30th percentile but the rest of her measurements (head, organs, bones, basically everything else) was in the the 5-10th percentile (not good) so they told us that we will most likely deliver early (3-4 weeks they said) and that they are concerned because they don't think that my placenta is working well enough and i have to go back in 3 weeks.
not pleased.

I am so sorry. I just wanted to offer you hugs.

I always get bad news at U/Ss too.

 

[BabyTigger99]

I finally have a few moments to update on Elliott's birth.

We went into the hospital about 5:30 on Monday night. I got all registered and situated in my room, and DH left to go home about 8 or so (we figured it would be better for him to get a good night's sleep at home, instead of try and sleep in the hospital room). The nurse checked me, and I was 2 and a half centimeters and 95% effaced, and she did my Cervadil at 9:00 pm. She had to come in and take it out at 10:10 pm, because I was having contractions every 45 seconds to a minute. She said she had seen people progress on Cervadil, but never that quickly!! The contractions slowed to every 2 minutes, and I was only dialated to 3. I got 3 shots of Nubain throughout the night, so I was able to get some sleep. They did offer Ambien, but I was okay without it. I got my last shot of Nubain about 3:30 am. At about 4:00 am, I woke up with a VERY hard and painful contraction. The nurse checked me again, and I was at 5 cm, but contractions were coming hard and fast. She paged anesthesia to get my epidural, and I called DH (he must have been in a very deep sleep, because when he answered, I said he needed to get here, and he said "Why?" )

So, I got my epidural, my water broke on its own about 5:45, and I started pushing at 6:15 am. With my first DS, when I had my epidural, I didn't feel anything when I pushed. This time I felt EVERYTHING. I didn't feel the contractions, but I had the urge to push, and all the pain of pushing.

So I pushed for about 45 minutes, and out he came at 7:03 am. Brown hair and blue eyes and BEAUTIFUL!

It has been hard getting back into baby mode after 10 years, I won't lie! But slowly and surely we are making things work!

 

[Lindsay22]

I am so sorry. I just wanted to offer you hugs.

I always get bad news at U/Ss too.

Thanks, I send hugs to you too

 

[KiKi Mouse]

i have to tell you all that i hate going to the dr. i hate having ultrasounds even though i'm supposed to love it. i hate it. they aren't a source of joy "oh look how beautiful my baby is" they are a source of terror because we have never once had one where they said that everything is fine.
today, they told us that her weight was in the 30th percentile but the rest of her measurements (head, organs, bones, basically everything else) was in the the 5-10th percentile (not good) so they told us that we will most likely deliver early (3-4 weeks they said) and that they are concerned because they don't think that my placenta is working well enough and i have to go back in 3 weeks.
not pleased.

Just wanted to send my hugs too.
How many weeks are you now?

 

[pixiegoose]

Sorry I haven't posted since last week, when I had my bright red bleeding and trip to the ER. When I'm not planning a Disney trip, I tend to not hang around the Dis as much.

I've been spotting brown since Monday but I had an appointment today with my doctor and everything is going well and she's not too concerned with the spotting since it's been brown. Heard the heartbeat with the doppler- was in the 160s and the doctor said she heard lots of movement, as well. I have lost weight, so I have another appointment in 2 weeks to make sure I haven't lost anymore- I'm hoping since the nausea/gagging is finally subsiding I'll be able to start eating like a normal human being again.

We've started telling the rest of the family (we had only told parents before) and found out that one of my good friends is also pregnant and due in August, which is fun. Now I'll have a prego pal in real-life!

Hope everything is going well with everyone else!

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Special hugs and prayers for all my fellow mommies to be... Just remember, even less than perfect ultrasounds are good because the doctors know something needs attention, and it doesn't always result in the worst thing... Its just something to be aware of.

My ultrasound today showed that my son's left kidney is still the same size as before, and we will still need to see the pediatric urologist when he is born. But I'd rather know this than think all was well and have something terrible happen to him after birth.

I'm thinking good thoughts for all of us!!!

 

[ZPT1022]

i have to tell you all that i hate going to the dr. i hate having ultrasounds even though i'm supposed to love it. i hate it. they aren't a source of joy "oh look how beautiful my baby is" they are a source of terror because we have never once had one where they said that everything is fine.
today, they told us that her weight was in the 30th percentile but the rest of her measurements (head, organs, bones, basically everything else) was in the the 5-10th percentile (not good) so they told us that we will most likely deliver early (3-4 weeks they said) and that they are concerned because they don't think that my placenta is working well enough and i have to go back in 3 weeks.
not pleased.

I'm so sorry, that must be awful to always be hearing that kind of news. FWIW, I am terrified every time I go in for an appointment, I can walk in and be feeling baby moving around but I still worry something is wrong. I guess that's just leftovers from infertility and miscarriage and whatnot but it stinks to not just be peppy and excited about it all. I'm really sorry that you're having to go through all the bad pregnant feelings. How far along are you?

I finally have a few moments to update on Elliott's birth.

We went into the hospital about 5:30 on Monday night. I got all registered and situated in my room, and DH left to go home about 8 or so (we figured it would be better for him to get a good night's sleep at home, instead of try and sleep in the hospital room). The nurse checked me, and I was 2 and a half centimeters and 95% effaced, and she did my Cervadil at 9:00 pm. She had to come in and take it out at 10:10 pm, because I was having contractions every 45 seconds to a minute. She said she had seen people progress on Cervadil, but never that quickly!! The contractions slowed to every 2 minutes, and I was only dialated to 3. I got 3 shots of Nubain throughout the night, so I was able to get some sleep. They did offer Ambien, but I was okay without it. I got my last shot of Nubain about 3:30 am. At about 4:00 am, I woke up with a VERY hard and painful contraction. The nurse checked me again, and I was at 5 cm, but contractions were coming hard and fast. She paged anesthesia to get my epidural, and I called DH (he must have been in a very deep sleep, because when he answered, I said he needed to get here, and he said "Why?" )

So, I got my epidural, my water broke on its own about 5:45, and I started pushing at 6:15 am. With my first DS, when I had my epidural, I didn't feel anything when I pushed. This time I felt EVERYTHING. I didn't feel the contractions, but I had the urge to push, and all the pain of pushing.

So I pushed for about 45 minutes, and out he came at 7:03 am. Brown hair and blue eyes and BEAUTIFUL!

It has been hard getting back into baby mode after 10 years, I won't lie! But slowly and surely we are making things work!

Your husband's reaction is hilarious! I could imagine mine doing something similar. Actually, I'd be afraid to let him go home because I'd worry that he'd fall back asleep and not make it to the hospital if I called

It sounds like your birth was pretty smooth, congratulations!!

Special hugs and prayers for all my fellow mommies to be... Just remember, even less than perfect ultrasounds are good because the doctors know something needs attention, and it doesn't always result in the worst thing... Its just something to be aware of.

My ultrasound today showed that my son's left kidney is still the same size as before, and we will still need to see the pediatric urologist when he is born. But I'd rather know this than think all was well and have something terrible happen to him after birth.

I'm thinking good thoughts for all of us!!!

Good luck with the urologist, you are right that it's good to know ahead of time and be prepared. Have you started looking for a peds. urologist yet? I don't know how your area is but they are so backed up in our area. Is there any reason why for a kidney problem they aren't having you see nephrology as well?? I only ask because we've dealt with a lot of kidney and urinary tract problems with my son and sometimes one will see something the other doesn't.

 

[Ciciwoowoo]

Good luck with the urologist, you are right that it's good to know ahead of time and be prepared. Have you started looking for a peds. urologist yet? I don't know how your area is but they are so backed up in our area. Is there any reason why for a kidney problem they aren't having you see nephrology as well?? I only ask because we've dealt with a lot of kidney and urinary tract problems with my son and sometimes one will see something the other doesn't.

I'm actually very fortunate that one of my best friends is a nurse at the University of Michigan in the children's ward. Her son was born with the same thing as mine will be about 2 years ago. She gave me the name of her urologist and has sung his praises to me, so I'm sold!

My perinatologist has been watching his kidney for months now on the ultrasound. His left kidney has always had more fluid in it then the right one, and is larger. Sometimes this goes away and sometimes not, and I guess they recommend the child go in for an ultrasound once he is born to monitor it. From the research here on the web, it sounds as if most children grow out of it (my friend's son did) and nothing further is required. I'm hoping that will be the case with our son too! Sometimes a procedure needs to be done though. I think it sounds like a lot of times it can be something to do with the tube being too narrow. One of the nice things I've read though says that this is common but now that we are monitored so much more closely, it can be diagnosed before birth and taken care of, therefore letting us know about it before it damages the kidney permanently. 20 years ago, these children often just had only one working kidney and a lot of UTIs growing up.

I honestly don't know what the nephrology is! But my first step will be seeing a regular ped once my son is born. The ped is supposed to recommend the urologist to me. I have heard there are only 2 in our area so I feel pretty safe telling the ped I would like to go to U of M for treatment. I'm sure they probably are backed up there, but at the same time, I'm not sure if it is something that needs to be treated the moment my son is born, or if it is more along the lines that he needs to be seen in the first few months. I suppose my ped will let me know about this one.


Did you have to do anything special for the treatment of your son?

 

[ZPT1022]

I'm actually very fortunate that one of my best friends is a nurse at the University of Michigan in the children's ward. Her son was born with the same thing as mine will be about 2 years ago. She gave me the name of her urologist and has sung his praises to me, so I'm sold!

My perinatologist has been watching his kidney for months now on the ultrasound. His left kidney has always had more fluid in it then the right one, and is larger. Sometimes this goes away and sometimes not, and I guess they recommend the child go in for an ultrasound once he is born to monitor it. From the research here on the web, it sounds as if most children grow out of it (my friend's son did) and nothing further is required. I'm hoping that will be the case with our son too! Sometimes a procedure needs to be done though. I think it sounds like a lot of times it can be something to do with the tube being too narrow. One of the nice things I've read though says that this is common but now that we are monitored so much more closely, it can be diagnosed before birth and taken care of, therefore letting us know about it before it damages the kidney permanently. 20 years ago, these children often just had only one working kidney and a lot of UTIs growing up.

I honestly don't know what the nephrology is! But my first step will be seeing a regular ped once my son is born. The ped is supposed to recommend the urologist to me. I have heard there are only 2 in our area so I feel pretty safe telling the ped I would like to go to U of M for treatment. I'm sure they probably are backed up there, but at the same time, I'm not sure if it is something that needs to be treated the moment my son is born, or if it is more along the lines that he needs to be seen in the first few months. I suppose my ped will let me know about this one.


Did you have to do anything special for the treatment of your son?

A nephrologist is a kidney specialist, that's why I asked if you were seeing one as well as urology- we've done both.


If you know he's going to need to go and be seen, I'd call the pediatrician now and get the referral going, that way you can go ASAP. I know my cousin's son had a kidney problem that was diagnosed in utero and they actually met with the specialists before he was even born. He wound up being very lucky and it cleared up on it's own, so that part was nice. I hope that you have similar good luck

With my son, we never knew anything was wrong until he was about 8 or so months old and just started peeing blood. Bright red blood. Took him to the ER on a Sunday night, the first time it happened. They cathed him, didn't see anything in the sample and sent us home with basically "stuff happens" as the diagnosis. I planned to follow up with his ped. anyhow, but it happened again the next day. I called the office and asked what I should do and they said go back to the ER and refuse to leave until we saw someone from urology. So, that's what we did. We saw the urologist in hospital that day (we have a children's hospital nearby and they have all the peds. specialists right there). Anyhow, we saw them, he saw no immediate dangerous things and scheduled DS for an office visit two days later but said to come back if it increased in frequency or volume.

We went to the follow up appointment and he had a lot of testing done and finally wound up with exploratory surgery via cystoscopy (scope up his parts). They found, broke up and removed kidney stones. But of course the question is why is an infant having kidney stones? That was when we got the nephrology referral. They never really did find out why he was having the stones but since they resolved and didn't appear to come back we left well enough alone.

Fast forward a few years and now the poor kid cannot pee- seriously, he could barely get anything out and it would take him FOREVER to pee. I happened to notice because he came in while I was in the bath to go to the bathroom. We tried to deal with the more local children's hospital but they weren't going to be able to get him in for months and in the meantime he is getting worse and worse. That was when we went looking for bigger and better and headed up to Boston. Total PITA with the two hour commute each way but you do what you have to do. He had a lot of testing done and he had surgery up there this past July. He had some strictures (narrowing) and structural problems fixed. Luckily, the kidney stones had not returned. We went back and did follow up and everything is good for now, but we will be monitoring this for basically the rest of his life, it's unknown if this will happen again (the structural problems and/or the stones). We will be sticking with the urologist at Boston Children's for future needs, and will see a nephrologist up there too should the need arise. They are just much more on top of things than our CT hospital is, unfortunately

My son also took a lot longer to potty train than his twin or my oldest did and until just recently still had nighttime problems. We think that a lot of this was related to his problems and his urologist in Boston agrees.


Anyhow, sorry that was so long. I'll be thinking of you and wishing you the best. I hope everything clears up for your son