I spent part of Christmas morning cuddling with my too-cute-for words nephew Titan. He really is a doll and I think he even liked my penguin Christmas pajamas. Every time I hold him it is perfect reminder that all the lovely preggo side effets are completely worth it and it makes me so excited for our new little one next August.
I am now 9 weeks along and we have seen our little peanut's heart beat. It really was the best Christmas present I could have asked for.
Overall I am hanging in there and we are doing great. But I would love to solicit the advice of all you mommies and preggos out there.
I am now 9 weeks along and we have seen our little peanut's heart beat. It really was the best Christmas present I could have asked for.
Overall I am hanging in there and we are doing great. But I would love to solicit the advice of all you mommies and preggos out there.
Just ask my sister. She had a great pregnancy and a fabulous delivery. At the end she said, "That's it? I thought that was going to be much harder." She is ready to have 10 children. Contrast that to my labor where I was vowing to everyone within earshot that Lily was going to be an only child. In fact, my younger brother arrived at the hospital a few hours before Lily was born and just as the fun was beginning. As he was going to enter the room, he passed the anesthesiologist. He asked if it was okay to go into the room, the anesthesiologist responded, "Not if you value your life or your ear drums." That pretty much sums it up. It also could have something to do with me having the smallest veins imaginable and being among the 2 percent of women who epidurals don't work for. Add preeclampsia meds, pitocin, and no sleep in 48 hours to the mix and it makes for an interesting labor.
I remember my mom telling me that I would feel differently later and me thinking that she was nuts. Yet, here I am 18 months later ecstatic to be pregnant. Once Lily turned 1 it was like a ticking maternal time bomb yet again. I love kids, I love babies .... it's just the ucky parts of pregnancy and labor that I could do without. That is where you come in. Everyone has preggo advice right?
What saved you during the first trimester morning sickness? (okay let's call it what it really is ... all day/all night/ when you least expect it sickness).
How did you get enough sleep? Especially if you have older midgets running about?
What was your favorite form of exercise while you were pregnant?
How did you prepare for labor and delivery?
And although I am going to cling to my lovely epidural for as long as it lasts, I am going to inevitably be going partially au naturale this time around. What techniques worked best for you if you went epiduraless?
Are prenatal massages worth it? And if so, where are the best places to go in Utah?
So those are my questions. Feel free to add any other tidbits of knowledge to it. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love being pregnant. I would go through all the worst parts of my other pregnancies a thousand more times to have another cutie patootie like Lily. I am so excited. I just need a little help convincing my body that it is fun to be pregnant, too.
11 comments:
I sure love giving advice :) I thought I was going to go the epidural route but had a change of heart as I learned about Hynobabies. I had a HORRIBLE first trimester. I threw up 5x a day every day for 3 months. Sometimes more.
I took Zofran- it's what they give to Chemo patients to stop throwing up. It helped so much. I went from vomiting 5x a day to once or twice a day. If you are throwing up that much, talk to your Dr. about it. It saved my life.
Vomitting started to become psychological for me so I looked into hypnosis. I was amazed at how well it worked for me despite the weird stigmism that revolves around hypnosis. Having had such a good experience, I looked into hypnosis for childbirth and found Hypnobabies: http://www.birthnaturally.org/ The instructor is in Provo. I'm not sure where you are but, they may have some other locations in UT. My view of childbirth completely changed. It was amazing. I highly recommend looking into it! Let me know what you think.
Wow. I'm sorry pregnancy/delivery has been rough for you. I have beefy veins and a deep love of epidurals, so I don't know how much advice I can bestow.
Here are two things I do know (and you may have heard already):
(1) Morning sickness--eat often. Little snacks throughout the day helped me feel better.
(2) Getting enough sleep--utilize the hubby. Let him watch the kid(s) while you take a nap (or go to bed early) whenever you feel like you could use a little shut-eye and he happens to be around. And never, EVER feel guilty about it.
I had baby #1 with no epidural -- BY CHOICE. (I know. Absolutely crazy. I wisened up by #2.)
But something I discovered 7 hours into an induced labor -- Demerol!! I'm still mad at my wretched delivery nurse for holding out on me so long. I hadn't wanted an epidural, but I wasn't against all drugs completely!! And the demerol did wonders for me. I was able to actually nap (and dream!) in between contractions. Maybe you had demerol last time, but if you've never had it, definately remember it for this time.
Good luck!
You know, each person is soooo different, I don't know that what worked for me will work for you.
I do know that Prenatal pills were what made me sick the most. So even thought it is good to take them, I didn't for the first three months because I was not keeping them OR food down anyways. I could at least keep SOME food down without taking them. (and my kids turned out okay)
Apples REALLY helped me feel better. That and bread.
I love epidurals. I did do one of my kids natural and that was a neat experiance.......but I don't want to do it again. ha ha!
As for sleeping.......I honestly think the TV was made for pregnant mothers with little kids running around. ha ha! Just pop in a show, and make sure you sleep while you can. :)
good luck!!! I feel for you!!!
Zofran made me SOOOO sick and SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO constipated. I don't recommend it if you find the slightest bit of ummm stoppage, but it is great if it doesn't make you constipated because it doesn't make you drowsy. I found that phenergan helped with the nausea a ton, but made me very drowsy. Kyrie watched a lot of Disney movies on my drowsy days... but we went and walked around Disneyworld on my not so drowsy days to help exercise... although perhaps a walk to the park or library for you???
As far as sleep I used Aaron's help (and movies/Kyrie's nap time) to catch naps.
That's what I did. Don't know if it was great, but it got me through 8-12 weeks of nausea with a little one under foot.
I'm telling you...what you think about you bring about!!! I visualized a labor under 6 hours and with minimal pushing over and over again the last few months...and that's what I got!!! The nausea sucks...but protein helped mine? I ate tons of the egg and white sauce over toast that mom used to make us as kids??? You can do it!!! Titan is more than willing to be held all day and night if need be to help you?!? :)
I have a friend who has had amazing experiences with hypnobirthing---her first time was actually only so-so. But by the time she had her 2nd and 3rd, it was working wonders. Her husband delivered her 3rd at home (mid-wife was held up with another birth). I'm going to be looking into it myself. I also am looking into getting a doula. I think they cost a bit, but everyone I know who's had one says it's totally worth it.
I didn't know you were expecting! YEA!!! Congrats! And YES....prenatal massages ARE SOOOO worth it! Jimmy gave me one for Valentines day when I was pregnant with Jay and it was heaven! I saved it for when I was about 7-8 months along and I never wanted it to end. I'll ask Jimmy what it was called...I know it was about a block southeast of South Town Mall. and yeah, I took Zofran since I was soo sick with Jay. They call it the golden nugget. I threw up about 20 x's a day and so I'm still not sure how much it really helped, but I never dared go a day without it. I've talked to a lot of people whom it did wonders for. But I had hyperemesis, and so I was just doomed to throw up. I was constantly in and out of the hospital with IV's.I was also on phenergen at night time. I had some dancing students give me some ginger cookies that helped. They were about the only thing that somewhat stayed down. That and I constantly ate peppermints. They really helped too. Good luck!
congratulations on the pregnancy! Did I miss the announcement and the family Christmas party? hmm, well anyway, how exciting!
Wow, when it rains it pours! I'm getting a lot of good advice, too, by just reading all these comments! When I was pregnant with Aiden AND teaching middle school, I couldn't sleep that well because I was nauseous and I was nauseous because I couldn't sleep. It was awful! If the vomiting isn't too severe, this might work for you: take a half of a Unisom pill with a vitamin B6 just before bedtime. My doctor gave that advice to me and it was WONDERFUL and easy and inexpensive. Good luck and I'm here for ya! (I just went to the OBGYN this morning and it turns out that I'm 12 weeks along... accidentally. :) Super!)
Here's what helped me throughout pregnancy:
1. Ice Breakers Sours: suck on them frequently. They helped calm my stomach without me having to constantly eat.
2. Eat a banana right before bed and right when you wake up. The potassium is good for you and it's a mild food that will fill your tummy before trying to sleep. Non-acidic too.
3. Get a back rub from your hubby every day (especially in the 3rd trimester). It's the least he can do. :)
4. I have my prenatal massage in a week at Remedez at University Mall. I've gone there for all of my massages and they are HEAVEN. I'm looking forward to these 90 minutes of bliss.
Good luck Tara! I'm excited you're going to be a mommy of two.
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