Expecting

[OSUguy98]

Well, the wait is ongoing... I jump every time the phone rings... She's still a few weeks away... We had another ultrasound this past Friday... They estimate her to be about 6lbs 11oz, which they said was about 50th percentile... So is seems like the gestational diabetes hasn't really effected the baby (Mrs. OSU's numbers have almost always been below the limit (100 fasting, 120 2hr after a meal)... with a few here and there that are no higher than 7 or 8 pts above the limit... So it's been well controlled...

The only comment the Dr. made that worried us was that the AFI was high, but like everything else, he said that most consider less than 25 as good, but he's more strict and uses less than 20... and she's at 23.95.... We asked what that meant, and he said that it just meant she had some growing to do and that she'd be a big baby... but according to Mrs. OSU, Google says a high volume of amniotic fluid can mean anything from nothing to defects to disease to anything and everything in between....

 

[snickerd3]

Well, the wait is ongoing... I jump every time the phone rings... She's still a few weeks away... We had another ultrasound this past Friday... They estimate her to be about 6lbs 11oz, which they said was about 50th percentile... So is seems like the gestational diabetes hasn't really effected the baby (Mrs. OSU's numbers have almost always been below the limit (100 fasting, 120 2hr after a meal)... with a few here and there that are no higher than 7 or 8 pts above the limit... So it's been well controlled...
The only comment the Dr. made that worried us was that the AFI was high, but like everything else, he said that most consider less than 25 as good, but he's more strict and uses less than 20... and she's at 23.95.... We asked what that meant, and he said that it just meant she had some growing to do and that she'd be a big baby... but according to Mrs. OSU, Google says a high volume of amniotic fluid can mean anything from nothing to defects to disease to anything and everything in between....

so in order words its another one of those numbers that the medical community really has no consensus on and to protect themselves they go the conservative route and scare a lot of pregant women throwing numbers around.

 

[OSUguy98]

exactly.... and it works... she's loosing sleep over lots and lots of little comments here and there from the Dr/etc....

 

[snickerd3]

How many babies were born with much less stress on mom before the excessive use of ultrasounds?

I'm glad my Dr was a little more hands off in that regards. Just the 20 wk ultrasound and never measured for dilation because the numbers don't really mean anything...until labor starts

 

[OSUguy98]

They checked last week to see if she was dilated and said "you may see mucus/etc/etc... it's nothing to worry about"... talk about creating a problem/worry/concern where it didn't exist before....

 

[Chucktown PE]

While disgusting, the mucous is normal.

With mini-Chuck we only had the 20 week ultrasound until 39 weeks when Mrs. Chuck, who is pretty small, was looking pretty large. The OB said he felt another ultrasound was in order. When they checked him on the ultrasound they were estimating that he would weigh 9lbs, which was a big baby for Mrs. Chuck. We did one more ultrasound the next week and the OB said that the ultrasound weight was on the borderline and Mrs. Chuck could choose the delivery method. She opted for the vaginal delivery and mini-Chuck was born 8lb 11oz, 21.5 inches long.

With litle miss-Chuck we had to move for work during the 1st and 2nd trimester. Her f-wad OB didn't listen to her on the due date and Mrs. Chuck took the AFP test and it came back in the danger zone meaning little miss Chuck was at risk for genetic abnormalities, Down's being one of them. So then we had to go to a genetic counselor and perinatologist who then confirmed that little miss Chuck was just fine and that the due date was wrong. When Mrs. Chuck took that AFP test again with the correct due dates everything came back normal. That only cost us about $1000 out of pocket, but little miss Chuck was just fine and happy/healthy.

All that being said, I am quicly losing all respect for the medical professions. There are very few doctors that will ever use their judgement to actually say something is or isn't. Instead they use these test results to say it could be x or y, but you should go do these test to rule out the 0.0015% chance that it might be something bad because I don't want to be sued. Of course a lot of this is due to blood sucking malpractice attorneys. Did you know that an OBGYN delivering a baby can be sued for malpractice until the child is 18 years old? That seems f-ing ridiculous.

 

[FLBuff PE]

Did you know that an OBGYN delivering a baby can be sued for malpractice until the child is 18 years old?

Really? Mini-Buff keeps falling down and scraping her knees. I think our OBGYN should have caught that miniBuff may have balance issues. Lawsuit...ca-CHING!

/sarcasm

 

[Katiebug]

They checked last week to see if she was dilated and said "you may see mucus/etc/etc... it's nothing to worry about"... talk about creating a problem/worry/concern where it didn't exist before....

My doctor doesn't routinely check a first time mom until 38 weeks. At first it felt weird because on all of the online message boards it seems that many OBs and midwives start checking at 36 weeks or even earlier...but this practice doesn't. I can't say that I mind not knowing! From what my doctor said, it depends on the woman as to how dilated she'll be and how fast it'll progress, and it can be really discouraging to have nothing happening for weeks at a time. If he waits until 38+ weeks to start checking then it's more likely that something will be happening. I really do like my OB. Some anxiety about labor and delivery has started and he took a lot of time to answer my questions and to just talk about everything, and it really put me at ease. I hope the kiddo decides to sit tight until the beginning of August when he's back from vacation!

On a completely unrelated note, I think that it's insane how much assembly is required when it comes to baby gear. Mr. Bug (who is not a technically-oriented guy) is doing it all because that's what daddies do, and each time we feel encouraged when things look sturdy and there are no large extra parts left over! Also, I'm an engineer with a master's degree - if I have to re-read the car seat manual twice and look at an online video clip to figure out how to install the base using a seatbelt, there's probably little hope for the rest of society.

 

[OSUguy98]

On a completely unrelated note, I think that it's insane how much assembly is required when it comes to baby gear. Mr. Bug (who is not a technically-oriented guy) is doing it all because that's what daddies do, and each time we feel encouraged when things look sturdy and there are no large extra parts left over! Also, I'm an engineer with a master's degree - if I have to re-read the car seat manual twice and look at an online video clip to figure out how to install the base using a seatbelt, there's probably little hope for the rest of society.

Yup, I enjoy putting stuff together.... but trying to get the rear-facing car seat base installed in my car the other day had me ready to kill the folks at Graco....... Of course, it was 90+ outside, and hotter in the car, so that didn't help.... But I'm still not convinced that I have it secured enough.... the tighter I make it, the higher the front goes and the further out of level it is.... if I use the adjuster in the back to raise the seat-side, it just raises the front higher off the seat..... I finally just quit... covered in sweat... and debated driving to the Graco headquarters and beating someone over the head with a large chunk of rigid plastic.....

 

[TouchDown]

On a completely unrelated note, I think that it's insane how much assembly is required when it comes to baby gear. Mr. Bug (who is not a technically-oriented guy) is doing it all because that's what daddies do, and each time we feel encouraged when things look sturdy and there are no large extra parts left over! Also, I'm an engineer with a master's degree - if I have to re-read the car seat manual twice and look at an online video clip to figure out how to install the base using a seatbelt, there's probably little hope for the rest of society.

Yup, I enjoy putting stuff together.... but trying to get the rear-facing car seat base installed in my car the other day had me ready to kill the folks at Graco....... Of course, it was 90+ outside, and hotter in the car, so that didn't help.... But I'm still not convinced that I have it secured enough.... the tighter I make it, the higher the front goes and the further out of level it is.... if I use the adjuster in the back to raise the seat-side, it just raises the front higher off the seat..... I finally just quit... covered in sweat... and debated driving to the Graco headquarters and beating someone over the head with a large chunk of rigid plastic.....

If they have some of those carseat checkpoints locally, you can go there to have someone assist you with making sure it's installed correctly.

Here's some advice on pulling tight and keeping it at level... folded up towels or a cut up pool noodle into 2-3 pieces under the seat. On the back side under the level adjustment portion of the seat (and it's worse for some seats than others) but you need to "fill in" the space to bring the seat to level, so as long as what you put underneath is a little wider than the seat itself. I've had issues with cutting the pool noodle too short and the seat then wanting to slip off the side.

This is a common thing to do to help bring the seat back to level and making sure it's secure.

 

[Chucktown PE]

Also, remember that it can have a little bit of wiggle in it. The objective is to keep them the child from moving too abruptly, but if you're in a collision that's going to happen regardless.

 

[TouchDown]

I had to share... Here's Coop, well, being Coop.

He's a gigantic ornery turd. His main purpose in life is to make his 2 older sisters scream.

Here he is in full desitin makeup.

 

[snickerd3]

I had to share... Here's Coop, well, being Coop.
He's a gigantic ornery turd. His main purpose in life is to make his 2 older sisters scream.

Here he is in full desitin makeup.

Maybe he wants to be a clown when he grows up.

 

[TouchDown]

he doesn't have to wait, he's a clown NOW.

 

[klk]

That must have been fun to clean up! That stuff is tenacious.

 

[Melanie11]

So just a quick update.

I spent 3 days in the hospital the beginning of last week with preterm contractions. The admitted me because I was 2-3 cm dialated and 50% effaced but they were able to stop me there luckily.

I am now on strict bedrest until baby comes which is pretty close to torture for me because I was still going the gym on a regular basis and am a pretty active person in general. But of course the longer I can keep him cookin the better.

I will be 34 weeks tomorrow so if I do go into labor after that they said they won't stop it.

So I am done with work for good because I was getting laid off anyway next month. My husband has been great now that he has to do everything!

Other than that I am just hoping to go as close to full term as possible (and not go crazy in the meantime!)

 

[MA_PE]

hang in there Mel. Glad things are under control and dd not get out of hand. Enjoy the rest, once baby is born you won't get any for a long time!

 

[Capt Worley PE]

On a completely unrelated note, I think that it's insane how much assembly is required when it comes to baby gear. Mr. Bug (who is not a technically-oriented guy) is doing it all because that's what daddies do, and each time we feel encouraged when things look sturdy and there are no large extra parts left over! Also, I'm an engineer with a master's degree - if I have to re-read the car seat manual twice and look at an online video clip to figure out how to install the base using a seatbelt, there's probably little hope for the rest of society.

Yup, I enjoy putting stuff together.... but trying to get the rear-facing car seat base installed in my car the other day had me ready to kill the folks at Graco....... Of course, it was 90+ outside, and hotter in the car, so that didn't help.... But I'm still not convinced that I have it secured enough.... the tighter I make it, the higher the front goes and the further out of level it is.... if I use the adjuster in the back to raise the seat-side, it just raises the front higher off the seat..... I finally just quit... covered in sweat... and debated driving to the Graco headquarters and beating someone over the head with a large chunk of rigid plastic.....

If they have some of those carseat checkpoints locally, you can go there to have someone assist you with making sure it's installed correctly.

Here's some advice on pulling tight and keeping it at level... folded up towels or a cut up pool noodle into 2-3 pieces under the seat. On the back side under the level adjustment portion of the seat (and it's worse for some seats than others) but you need to "fill in" the space to bring the seat to level, so as long as what you put underneath is a little wider than the seat itself. I've had issues with cutting the pool noodle too short and the seat then wanting to slip off the side.

This is a common thing to do to help bring the seat back to level and making sure it's secure.

When I was a baby, the car seat resembeled a lawn chair with some tuck n roll upholstery and no padding. The seatbelt looped loosely around a leg of the ersatz lawn chair to, I'm being charitable here, secure it in place. Once I could walk, I was allowed to sit or lie in the back window or on top of the front bench seats. Now kids are strapped into seats that remind me of NASA G-load dissapating seats.

I hope my parents feel ashamed of themselves.

 

[MA_PE]

Once I could walk, I was allowed to sit or lie in the back window or on top of the front bench seats.

you must have been a PITA in the car as a kid.

I can recall being ~9-10 and my brotehr and I were crouched on the floor in the back seat of dad's '69 Olds 98 convertible because the top was down and we didn't like the wind blowing in our faces on the highway. Mom and dad had the windshield so they didn't care. God I wish I had that car now!

 

[snickerd3]

So just a quick update.I spent 3 days in the hospital the beginning of last week with preterm contractions. The admitted me because I was 2-3 cm dialated and 50% effaced but they were able to stop me there luckily.

I am now on strict bedrest until baby comes which is pretty close to torture for me because I was still going the gym on a regular basis and am a pretty active person in general. But of course the longer I can keep him cookin the better.

I will be 34 weeks tomorrow so if I do go into labor after that they said they won't stop it.

So I am done with work for good because I was getting laid off anyway next month. My husband has been great now that he has to do everything!

Other than that I am just hoping to go as close to full term as possible (and not go crazy in the meantime!)

Hang in there. Hopefully baby will stay put for a while longer. Enjoy the down time now.