[Hopefulmommy09]

Hello all,
I was discharged today, but Brea got admitted to the peds floor. She graduated from the NICU yesterday, but she is having trouble feeding and is jaundice. So she is recieving photo therapy and is tube fed right now. Tomorrow we have PT coming and a lactation consultant......this has been a stressful week and I am going on little to no sleep! I have been at the hospital since Thursday and still find it hard to believe that Brea is here and that I had a premature infant! I was not mentally prepared to have her yet. She is the perfect baby, she just needed to bake a few more weeks. I would post a pic, but I don't know how to do that?

My other girls are with grandma and grandpa. They met Brea, one was really scared of her and the other was really curious of her. I think they will be the best of friends. It will be interesting to be home with a premie and the other two....it will take a few weeks to adjust too.

Hope everyone else is doing ok and I can't wait to here the birth stories of everyone else!

[MoniqueD]

Wow, I go away camping for the weekend and you guys start having babies!!! Congrats Val and Hopeful!! That is sooooo exciting!!!! Not sure when my little bean will make his/her appearance but he/she is great anticipated! I am waiting for a date for another u/s because of my weightgain and the fact that my OB thinks my baby is a big one. Whatever the case though he told me he would induce at 39 or by 40 weeks at the latest. That gives me approx. 3 weeks .

While packing up from camping today I bent to do something and got a major cramp in my belly and got all lightheated. Lets just say I thought the little one was on its way but nope, still snug as a bug. I have a feeling we will not camp anymore until after Baby comes....way too uncomfortable with me not sleeping and it was quite a hot weekend. (approx. 90F??). We arrived home to air conditioning that was not working and it was 75F inside....WHEW! Not good for a pregnant Momma for sure You gals with swollen feet, what are you doing for relief?? My right foot especially is soooo swollen and is VERY tight. I really do not like how my toes are all touching...lol!

Have a great week.....anxious to see if there are any more appearances of wee little ones

[Roxy]

Congrats to all the new mommies!!!

[Anavaz]

Hello Ladies,

Sorry I've been MIA this weekend but had lots to do. First thing first.... got an update from Val.

The girls are doing great. She hasn't been able to post because the hospital doesn't have wireless. This is her update:
"Paige will be getting her IV out soon and will be solely on formula, Allison is doing just as well maybe 2 days behind. Lindsay is our little one, she is the same as Allison. They are all bottle feeding, my milk hasn't come yet but I keep trying, couldn't ask for better. Tell all I said HI."

So as you all can see Val and her trips are doing great. I hope soon we'll get some pictures of the girls.

Em - I am not going to church anymore either. I have to get up so early and right now my energy level can't take it. I'm hoping I do get to go one last time before Iker is here. I miss going to mass but like DH said, God understands and I don't need to be there to communicate with him. I'm sorry your friend had to have her baby so early. Good weight though for such an early bird.

AFM - I had my class on Saturday at the hospital. It was great. We saw a video, got lots of information and also had a run down of the process at the hospital. I get to pre-register if I want to (which I'm going to do to simplify my life). Also the lady who gave us the class is the RN Supervisor of L&D and is a certified lactation consultant. She gave us a breast feeding class too. It was great. My mom, DH and my cousin all went with me because they will be my partners during delivery. The only bummer is that the hospital doesn't allow digital cameras while you're in L&D. This is because they don't allow anyone to record the deliveries and since digital cameras can take video too. You are only allowed to bring either a disposable camera or a conventional. We are going to take with us DH Nikon, although it's digital, it's a conventional digital camera.

Yesterday we had our first photograph session. We took a lot of photos and they came out great. DH had this crazy idea to have me wearing my winter gear (hat, scarf & gloves) while only wearing a cute hipster undie. They came out great, so funny. After the photo session we went to the movies. DH asked me if I wanted to go for possibly the last time in two months, since from now on Iker could be here any day. We had a nice time.

Oh on Friday afternoon, we went swimming at the pool of our complex. OMG it felt so delicious, the weightlessness sensation was heaven. We were there about 30 min. I wanted to excercise my hips and stretch them since they have been cramping up and bothering me for about 2 weeks now. I plan to go swimming every other day. Alternate with walking to help my chances on a fast natural delivery.

[Anavaz]

oops I forgot to say:

Roxy - Beautiful nursery. Looks so cozy.

Chiluvs - Welcome back!

Kristy - I'm so glad you were discharged. Sorry Brea had to stay though. But she'll be home in no time. I was jaundiced when I was born too and my mom took me home fairly quickly. I'm sure the girls will love and smother her, lol. She will be their little doll.

[praying4peanut]

Good morning ladies. Feelin better today than yesterday morning for sure! I've got a big day - I get my massage in a couple of hours, then a smoothie run for Payton followed by my doctor appt. Then I gotta take my pup Kylie to the vet - she's been throwing up for the past couple of days and has had a limp that we've determined isn't for attention as we had first thought. My poor punkins!
Otherwise -
Hopeful - glad you're home and that it sounds like Brea is doing pretty good for bein an early tyke - they aren't going to keep her that long, right? And I'm with Anabel - I was jaundiced when I was born too, had to have oxygen for some time and had a very low apgar score - I think it's just kinda common sometimes!
Monique - I have given up on the swollen feet and fingers - I know, probably not the right answer. But it's just so freaking hot and I can't stay off my feet all the time. I'm still drinking water but I definitely have snausage toes and fingers - I used to have such long, slender fingers...I'm doing all I can to keep wearing my wedding rings! I figure it will all disappear once Payton's born, so I'm ok with it!
Anabel - thanks for the update on Val - what a wonderful miracle that her and the trips are all doing so great - yay!!! And when we went to church yesterday, we kinda had the idea in our heads that that was going to be the last time we could go before Payton was here - it's just too much. And don't get me wrong, I understand it's a social camp for older people but when you see an extremely pregnant woman with a red, blotchy face with a DH that's propping her up - get the F*&@ out of the way. Incredible. I was trying to get out of there for like 10 minutes and as soon as I stepped outside, I felt SO much better. UGH. I am sure God understands and I had a chat with him yesterday as well in church and out...I can still pray the same way if I'm not in church, I just feel guilty a little bit. Oh well...And that sucks about filming/photo the delivery. That sounds as retarded as my doctor telling me he can't video the u/s b/c it's copyrighted - who's copyright? MINE? It's my body!?!?! Argh...What movie did you go see? We were going to go Saturday night but I had (sorry TMI) the runs most of the day and was afraid I'd miss most of the movie. We're going to try to go this weekend. And let me just add Anabel that I am SO SO SO SO JEALOUS that you got to go swimming, I WISH I could go swimming somewhere less public than my town's pool - I know it would feel so amazingly great!
Have a great day ladies - will update you after my appt - I'm hoping something good comes out of it!

[Hopefulmommy09]

Brea got off of her feeding tube today! And we are going to attempt this breastfeeding thing again. The muscles around her mouth are not fully formed (they form in the womb at 36-37 weeks) so I have to use a nipple shield........I really want to go home with her and get out of the hospital! The are observing us today and hopefully all will be good so we can be discharged tomorrow!

I still can't believe that I had a premature infant......who would have thought, I guess I shouldn't have skipped over prematurity in the books that I read! It is werid to think that Breas will always be month older than I thought she would for holidays etc.............

[amylynn2]

Wow I didn't know the muscles around the mouth don't form until 36-37 weeks. I know what you mean about getting out of the hospital. It's just not home. I have notice my contractions are getting harder and I'm starting to feel those period cramps the nurses were telling me about. I've dialated a little more. I'm now at 2 1/2 cm. Did you have a section or did you deliver naturally?

Originally Posted by Hopefulmommy09

Brea got off of her feeding tube today! And we are going to attempt this breastfeeding thing again. The muscles around her mouth are not fully formed (they form in the womb at 36-37 weeks) so I have to use a nipple shield........I really want to go home with her and get out of the hospital! The are observing us today and hopefully all will be good so we can be discharged tomorrow!

I still can't believe that I had a premature infant......who would have thought, I guess I shouldn't have skipped over prematurity in the books that I read! It is werid to think that Breas will always be month older than I thought she would for holidays etc.............

[historyteach]

hopeful - glad that you made it home and that you are doing well and that Bre is off her oxygen and that she is trying to breast feed, good luck.

emilie - i understand about church, i am really bad because i stopped going 2 months ago when the temps hit that random 90 in april and i just couldn't handle it anymore, i hope that you enjoyed your massage

anabel - that sucks about the rules about filming but i am sure that your pictures are amazing!!

monique - camping, i know that you have all the comforts of home in your RV, wow, i still am not sure that i would go. i hope that you have cooled down!

AFM - had my 36 week check-up today and so far everything is going well, the doctor felt that the baby is head down and i got the information about when to call, which was a little scarry. the anticipation when lyla is going to show up is a little overwhelming!!

[sarah38]

Yippeeeee for Jenna, Heopfulmommy and Val! I hope all the babies are thriving and doing wonderfully. Its so great to hear that the babies are arriving! Hope everyone is healthy. We have all waited so long for this moment ; )

No boys yet? Wonder who will have the first boy??? My section is scheduled 06/30. Anyone else going before then?

[waiting..patiently]

WOW!!! Congrats on the new additions to our group. I have been MIA as well for a while. All is good...really close monitoring (like 2-3 times a week) so needless to say a lot of travel (1 hr each way to the dr. ) but on a good note I have managed to stay at home vs the hospital.

Glad to hear that everyone else is hangin in there. Can't wait to hear about more babies as they come along.

Kim (waiting...patiently)

[praying4peanut]

So I may kill all doctors and nursing staff at my office. So ridiculous. So I go there and get this midwife that I'm supposed to have every week now until we're done and she says if I have the strep, they'll just give me an IV at delivery. I said that's fine I have to have another RH shot in there too. She's like well it looks like we haven't had you get one since February. I'm like no, I had one at the end of April. She's like oh, we didn't write it down. THEY NEVER WRITE ANYTHING DOWN. I'm like wonderful. So then she's doing the internal and I'm like am I effaced or dilated? She's like well I think it will make you too uncomfortable to reach that far, so I can't tell you today. Are you out of your mind? Your arm is in my crotch up to it's elbow and you're worried about my COMFORT? > I'm like well reach further, she refused. So then she's like well you're not even full term yet, so you shouldn't be dilated. I'm like what are you talking about? Accdg to the doctor, I am at 37 weeks. She's like well I have you here at 35 1/2. WTF? I'm like that's impossible, even by my calcuations. So I was like why is he doing the sonogram next week? She had no clue and said I measured right on...I give up. Like I'm not already irritated enough at this stage of the game but to have to play these ignorant mind games with a moron is not in my capabilities right now. I think I at least get to see my doctor next week for the sonogram, but to deal with this broad after that is not fair...For our next babay, we were already going to switch doctors - I've had this problem with this doctor all along, he just doesn't like to be 'organized'. Well listed Dr Chump, when you tell me something, I remember. And this is my life - quit messing with it...sorry for all the anger, I'm sure you can tell I"m a little salty. But she did tell me he's head down - she felt it. So YOU CAN FEEL HIS HEAD BUT NOT MY CERVIX??? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't his head PAST my cervix or we have a problem? I can only pray she's not the one there delivering me or I will have DH knock her the f out and find some other random moron walking the hall to take care of it.
I just can't believe I wasted my time even going there today to learn absolutely nothing. I am SO frustrated I am in tears...

[Hopefulmommy09]

Amy, I delivered naturally, and it was an awsome birth, besides the fact that I was scared our of my mind for being early! I got an epidural and it was heaven, I pushed four times and I watched it all happen. I have little pain, I did have one stich so that bothers me, and my stomach has gone down alot.

I can't believe it is over, I am sad to "not be pregnant", but ready to start my new life being a mother of three! I see my sister, who is only three months and my friend who is 28 weeks and I get jealous. Werid huh, maybe its the pregnancy hormones that I am still getting rid of.

I must say diet coke and coffee taste so GOOD! Not to mention sandwich meat and Mcdonalds.....I really restricted myself with watching my surgars and not wanting to poison Brea with anything.............Now that I am attempting to breast feed I will have to stick with caffeine free drinks, but I will take it....breast feeding is really frusterating me, she can't suck so I have to use a nipple shield and with that she only will suck for about five minutes and than she falls asleep. We than have to wake her up and she will drink from a bottle because the nipple is longer and she doesn't have to "work" for it. SO I have to pump every three hours plus feed her for an hour and it takes up alot of time. I really hope she gets the hang of breast feeding

[AdaRuts]

Em - I'm sorry things are not going along as well as you would like. Doctors suck, that's why I quit before I got to med school. : ) Trust me, you do not want them to be reaching any further. Today I swear I almost screamed at the doctor. My "issue" is that the baby's head is so low (already past zero station) that she had to "reach around the baby's head" to feel my cervix completely. It was horrible. And now I am bleeding (I know TMI) but I wondering if it is just cervical irritation or my bloody show. It is just like my period, clots and yucky stringy mucus-y blood...... any one got any ideas??? All that to hear..... a whole lotta nothing. 1 1/2 cm dialated, still about 50% effaced. I really considering passing on any more internal checks. I figure that we will all know when I go into labor, so right now I am just finding out for sh*ts and giggles. Anyone else forgoing the internals???

Hope all is well in baby land!..... I'll have my baby shower story tomorrow.

[praying4peanut]

Amanda - thanks for listening...argh! I am with you at this stage - about to skip the internals...crap I was happier last week skipping it, why not? I am concerned that this broad is going to be the one there from when I check in until delivery and I will kill her. Sounds uncomfortable for sure. When she smooshed Payton's head, it definitely didn't feel too hot. Dunno what to tell you about the discharge - this idjit told me I'd have spotting and stuff for two days, yet I've had nothing. Makes me wonder if she was even in there or not!