April/May/June 2012 Moomies

Stacey - yay on the bloods and ms on it's way out. Sorry about your sciatic nerve - ouch!

My cousin-in-law is due two weeks after me - but since I am in the States it's also difficult to share the pregnancies!

Chantel - I also cannot eat meat. Fish(as long as it's not too fishy tasting) seems to be fine. I would love to try biltong but I'm not sure they'd let it into the US! Sorry about your ms - mine started going away at about 10 weeks so just hang on (though I started at 5 weeks so I suppose it depends when you start?).

I'm starting to feel the ms creep back in the late evenings and early mornings...I'm just hoping 12 weeks comes and I feel awesome!

Hi Ladies

WOW nice to see how everyone is doing, and how the pregnancy's are.

Wow all symptons are all the same almost.

My MS has been terrible the last couple of days, Was hoping that it could end pretty soon, but havent had that much luck yet.

I will be going for my 1st scan on Friday, So nervous and excited @ the same time.

I also get funny twitches in my tummy, not too sure what that is, but don't get it often.

I want to know did anyone eat or crave Biltong during pregnancy and was it ok to eat? I have heard that it's not good, but then from others it's ok
I have been struggling to eat meat I use to love meat. the only meats I can get down is chicken and mince and fish.

Hey ladies!

Wow,thanx firefly for the updates list. (my date has changed to 26 may ) I'm sure everything will work out with baba and visa,etc!

Adele-shame heartburn is terrible, I used to drink gaviscon out the bottle with my first lb-it's horrid!

Chambers-my ms only went at 16weeks with my first I hope ur ms goes SOON!
I also thought I felt flutters the other day,but not sure if it could be too early...I've also heard u can feel it earlier with ur second! The pains u having - where about is it? Is it like a sharp pain or general pain? On Sunday night my tummy was sore, very uncomfortably sore - but I. Guessing it's growing and stretching Pains.

Got my bloods back yest and all good so we have been telling everyone.
This morn I woke up and feel as though ms is def on its way out.
I also had a good day on sat and not too much of a bad day yest. So holding thumbs.

Wow, I have been struggling with my sciatica nerve in my bum-was at physio last week. It's been "fun"
Are any of ur ladies' "twins" sore? Gosh my (.) (.) have been sooo sore the last few days. My tummy has suddenly popped out, It looks the same as when I was 20 weeks with my first, hehe

My sister in law is Peggie's and due a week before me. It's such a pity the live in London and we in jhb. But we have been chatting and comparing notes. It's her first.

How the rest of the ladies doing?

Hope u all have. Fab day!
Xxx

Oh, by the way ladies, I'm sure most of you are signed up to the weekly pregnancy emails from places like babycenter/pampers etc which tell you the development of the baby, but I've come across a pretty cool and funny pregnancy calendar that I thought you guys might enjoy (it's by a mommy blogger) alphamom.com/pregnancy-calendar-overview/

For those of us in week 11 this week (if you guys like it I'll post a weekly update):

Your Baby:

- Is the size of a small lemon or large lime. With a twist! Yeah, we’re done with the bean and nut comparisons and have moved onto fruit. Next stop, small household appliances!
- Is officially a fetus, and is downright human-baby looking with non-webbed fingers and toes, although s/he needs a lot more cooking and fattening up.
- Is moving and kicking and dancing and even hiccuping, although you won’t be able to feel the acrobatics for a few more weeks (sometime between weeks 16 and 20).

You:

Please, it’s just all more of the same. The pregnancy books are all yapping about how much better and less sick/exhausted/crabby we should be feeling by now, and I spent a very productive morning hurling several particularly annoying tomes at the wall.
Okay, this week’s entry will cover several things that I am in no way qualified to cover. But considering this is the Internet, I’d like to see anyone try and stop me.

We already sort-of covered some of the typical first-trimester tests, or at least the ones tied to your family’s genetic history. Now it’s time to start thinking about all the other ones. If you’re over 35, your doctor may be a little more pushy about genetic testing. Conversely, if you’re under 35, your doctor may just assume you’re not interested in them. No matter what your age, the tests are entirely optional, so it’s obviously best for everybody to educate their own little selves about the available tests and decide which ones (if any) they’d like to pursue.

With Noah, the only test I was offered (and likewise accepted) was the triple-screen or multiple marker test, which is a simple blood test performed between weeks 16 and 18 that screens for neural tube defects, Down syndrome and Trisomy 18. I’m not sure what we would have done if we’d gotten a positive result — usually further testing like an ultrasound and an amniocentesis is next. Our results were negative, however, and I was able to stick with my plan of only accepting the tests that offered absolutely no risk to the fetus (even though I knew these tests also had higher rates of false positives, bah!).

There are now two tests offered during the first trimester — the nuchal fold scan (or nuchal translucency screening) and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) — that check for Down syndrome and other chromosomal abnormalities. CVS is usually suggested for women over 35, while the nuchal fold scan is a newer test that can be performed on women of any age, but isn’t quite considered “routine” yet, although it’s definitely growing in popularity.

Why? Well, it’s simple, non-invasive and painless. And squeeeee it’s an ultrasound! Pregnant women love them some ultrasounds. And unlike CVS, which carries a slight miscarriage risk (1-2%), the nuchal scan carries none. It’s simply the measurement of the clear space at the fold in the back of your baby’s neck. Babies with chromosomal abnormalities tend to have extra fluid in this area during the first trimester, so the ultrasound (sometimes combined with a finger-prick blood test for mama) can actually give you a decent heads up on potential problems.

Of course, they’ve yet to invent a test that is both “non-invasive” and “totally accurate,” so the nuchal scan is NOT a diagnostic tool. But it IS a nice option for anyone on the fence about testing. If the results are suspect, you can move on to CVS, but if everything looks great, you can breathe a nice sigh of relief and skip the rest. The nuchal scan is done between 11 and 14 weeks. (Although the brochure I received from my doctor says 13 weeks, 6 days is the latest it can be performed.)

Chorionic villus sampling examines fetal cells collected from the placenta — specifically, from these tiny fingerlike spidery things called chorionic villi. Your doctor will use a thin catheter through your cervix or a needle through your abdomen to collect the cells, depending on the position of your placenta. I’m pretty sure it hurts a bit. It’s generally done between 10 and 12 weeks, and is considered more than 99% accurate.

Again, these tests are completely optional. I admit I’m mostly going for the nuchal scan because 1) I like ultrasounds, 2) my insurance pays for it, and 3) I suppose, if I am going to have a child with disabilities, I’d like to know as soon as possible so we can prepare ourselves for it. I tentatively believe I’m one of those “I’ll have this baby no matter what” people, but I also admit to being rather spoiled and blase about the whole thing, because I don’t have any reason to believe my child would even be disabled. I’m only 30, have no family history, my first kid turned out all right, etc. Ah, hubris.

(Trust me on this, though: about 10 minutes before my appointment I will fuh-REAK the eff out over the test and panicpanicpanic because THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH MAH BABY I KNOW IT.)

You might have some mitigating factors that make the whole genetic testing topic more of a minefield for you, and if that’s the case, it’s best to read as much information about the various tests as you can, and have several talks with your partner about your options and the potential outcomes. We (thankfully) have many, many choices available to us — and it’s funny how I actually value those choices even more after having a baby, because it honestly never occurred to me that those choices are extremely relevant to WANTED pregnancies as well.

Oh Yeah, THIS: I have zits all up in my hairline. I suppose that’s significantly better than getting them right on my nose, or something, but MAN, this is annoying.

New This Time Around: (whispers) The puking has stopped. Last time I puked straight through week 14, and still couldn’t really eat anything until week 16. I’m still not loving food and food smells, but oh, dear God, I think the puking has stopped.

Champers, I've read comments on babycenter.com where some women say they can feel flutters as early as 7 weeks, so I'm sure that you were right when you say you felt it weeks ago. They also say that you're more conscious of it when it's not your first pregnancy coz you already know how it feels.

So now I sit in the evenings trying to concentrate on my womb and guessing whether I'm feeling gas or flutters, lol

Ouch! My sister-in-law had round ligament pain when she was pregnant - it was so bad she actually got admitted for observation and the gyanae was considering doing a c-section if she couldn't take the pain (she was after 30 weeks I think). Hope it goes away soon!

Forgot to say that I've been having hectic pains today. Down the sides and around the bottom of my uterus. Burning like someone giving me a chinese bangle. I think (hope) its just the round ligament pain.

FireFly: I actually felt small flutters weeks ago. Many say its not possible because the baby isn't developed enough but I know what it feels like. I didn't feel it again. Today I've been feeling her move. With my son, I felt him kick at 17 weeks. I think the best way to describe the feeling is like a muscle twitch. That's why I think they say they are little flutters. Hope you feel your little bundle as soon as possible