Sakai- Sorry to hear about your friend at work. Glad she's taking it as well as possibble. Kudos to you for being supportive. It truly helps in those tough times. Let us know how the appointment goes. I agree with everybody that its good you're not cramping. My doctor told me it's completely normal for some women to bleed throughout the whole pregnancy, or at random times and as long as theirs no abdominal cramping, don't stress too much. Its our bodies way of doing what it needs to do.

Butterfly and Mindi- I am always craving Ice Water and i'm always thirsty. I drink at least a gallon and a half of water a day which is 192 ounces. I ALWAYS have a liter of water with me. But before I got pregnant, I probably drank a gallon a day.

Jessy- I've also heard it could mean lack of iron. Mine, however is in the normal range. I've heard it could be a sign of gestational diabetes so I am a little worried.

These dang headaches are dragging me down. I've had a migraine since Thursday I'm hoping my doctor can prescribe me something at my monthly appt on monday. I just want to curl up in a ball and cry.

5 weeks until I find out the gender. Soo close but so far away. We're both really excited!

Maybe TMI- But My nipples are dry and cracked and the hurt to even touch my bra. Lotion doesn't help. Vaseline only helps a little with the dryness. I didn't experience this with my first pregnancy. Do you ladies have this? Do you know any great ways to get rid of this problem? It's quite annoying. They hurt to even get close to water or to any touch.

I did go black friday shopping and got a killer deal on some nursery furniture. (60-85% off everything I bought.) Also, only gained 1.2 pounds this week- Off of 4 thanksgiving family dinners and no gym for the past two weeks due to my head killing. I felt like I gained 10! This is actually just the beginning of my gaining so I don't know whether to blame it on baby growing, eating or both LOL

I've been totally slacking with my water this weekend...hard to keep up with when you HATE the tap water in your town and rely on bottled. I mean, our water is GROSS.

Haven't been having headaches, but most of the time when I stand up after sitting for 10 minutes or lying down at all, my head will pound. It won't hurt until it does it for a while, but I can feel my heart beating in my chest and hear it in my ears really loudly. Anyone else have this?

Keller, I also did a bit of baby shopping. I happened to look online on Thanksgiving morning and found a Pack N Play/Bassinet combo on sale for $99, with free shipping. For only $107 dollars total (with tax) we got something we will be able to use for a long time!! I was excited...it's our first baby purchase!

Sakai - I am sorry for your friends loss it is great that you are been a supportive friend and that you also were able to confide in her. Wishing you a great appointment tomorrow.

Keller- Migraines suck I hope you get some relief soon. Have you tried a bit of caffeine? This always helped with my migraines. As far as the nipples I did experience it a bit with my other two pregnancies (so far not with this one yet) and then I got it pretty bad once DS was born and I was nursing. I found that the Lanoish cream or lanolin really helped. Not fun having sore nipples.

My nausea is still raging and I am getting pretty fed up with it. I have my second midwife appointment tomorrow it will be blood work, maybe a pap, some more paperwork etc. I am going to turn down trying to hear the baby's HB with the doppler as I don't want to feel anxious if we can't hear it as I will be only 11 wks 6 days plus I saw a beautiful beating heart at my U/S on Wed. Have a great Sunday everyone!

I am having trouble getting a lot of water in because it's so darned cold! I can't drink cold things when it is this cold outside.

Spent all weekend on my feet for various reasons (cooking Thanksgiving dinner, cleaning up after said dinner, packing up and moving my grandpa to a higher level of assisted living care today, grocery shopping, etc). Now I am just COMPLETELY DRAINED. It's 6pm and I could go to sleep if I wasn't so hungry.

I'm driving down to LA this coming weekend to see Sarah's dad and his 2 month old twins. Kind of strange that our kids aunt and uncle will be 7 months older than him/her. Even stranger is the 29 year age gap between Sarah and her only siblings. Ah well, keeps things interesting! She flew down to meet them, but I haven't yet, so I'm excited.

Appointment today went GREAT! Baby is measuring a little bigger than average and had a heartrate of 156 bpm. Find out the gender at my next appointment! So close yet so far! I was only 4 ounces heavier than 5 weeks ago! I thought I would have gained a few pounds.

Butterfly- Caffeiene actually makes them worse They told me to get some "extra strength" tylenol and try that if the regular tylenol isn't working. They said very last would be to prescribe me something with codiene or a pain killer in it, which I don't really want.

Mandalinn- Hope you got some rest last night, Sounds like you were extra busy this week. Enjoy your trip also =]

Nausea has returned and i'm eating like a bird again. This is no fun.

My appointment today went well. I was bummed because the altrasound was broken so I haveta wait another week to see the baby. But they were able to hear the heartbeat and they were surprised because they normally can't hear the heartbeat at 10 weeks. So that, plus the measurments of the uterus told the Dr. that I'm more like 16 weeks than 10...which is crazy!

I told my father and he seemed supportive of the idea of adoption and understands that babies are a big and hard responsibility.

On the down side my mother-in-law is very, very against adoption. Not that it will change anything. If she want's the baby she can adopt it, but I'm not going to put myself and my DF in a unstable place by not having enough $ to pay bills. I just bought this house, I'm not moving in with my dad. And I'm not pawing my baby on friends who have their own life, work the same shift i do...and might up and move/no longer be friends at any moment. I want my baby to have a stable and secure household and I can't offer that.

I've decided to go ahead and tell people that I'm pregnant and yes I am excited about it even if I'm placing my baby for adoption. I feel I'm be responsible in doing this and keeping this baby would only be greedy on my part. This is no longer about me but about my baby. He or she will be in a family where the parents have been waiting and wanting them, where they don't worry about bills, where he or she will have a parent raising them and not a stranger where they don't worry if they will have water or electricity next month. I can't offer any of this, and this is not good enough for my baby. People don't have to understand, it's not their baby, it's mine and I care about the quality of life he or she has.

ugh...drama
/rant

Keller237-Well done with the weight control! I'm going to try and keep my weight stable. I lost one pound from my last appointment 4 weeks ago. Are you eating the same as before?

I'm back to drinking straight water again. the Dr. told me I need to drink a gallon a day. @.@ When i was dieting this was pretty easy to reach. but my stomach's been squashed upward and I can't eat/drink as much. I'll have to sip all day long...meaning I'll be peeing all day long...which I guess is expected to happpen anyway lol

Sakai- I'm a tad embarrased to say this, but my eating habits have gotten horrible. I've probably had fast food almost every day in the past week. Some of its salads, and "skinny" tacos and stuff like that but french fries have been my weakness. But I still did sit-ups and walked for the first almost 15 weeks, almost everyday, so it evened out. Being sick the first three months(and it decided to come back after a 3 week break) doesn't help but carbs is really all I can handle without throwing up. Doc said not to do sit ups anymore. something about it could tear something now that my uterus is bigger, and the headaches are keeping me from working out.

Also, I'm glad you have support with your adoption choice. Have you looked into families yet? Are you doing in state, or does it matter? Open, closed? Just wondering on what you've looked into. You are strong, and knowing you can't provide for your child and doing something about it beforehand is very impressive. I figure we don't have all the money in the world, but we do both have lagre supportive families who will help us. If not, adoption would also be my choice.

Hi ladies, sorry I've been MIA. Everything is ok, just lots going on. My therapist recommended that I start taking antidepressants, and I agree. On two tests I've taken my depression is rated as "severe." I don't love the idea of taking antidepressants while I'm pregnant, but it seems the lesser of the two evils at this point. I'm reading more and more studies about how depression can adversely effect an unborn baby. So, I have an appointment with my OB tomorrow to get things squared away. Hopefully I won't have such a hard time getting out of bed and changing the batteries in my thermostat won't reduce me to tears (true story.) I'm looking forward to looking forward to life again, if that makes any sense.

Keller - My body pillow is a permanent loan from a friend (she's done having babies, but reserves the right to ask for it back just in case.) Unfortunately, though, your sister is right about the price. They run about $80. Might be worth it though if you can get a good night's sleep. ETA: I just looked them up on Amazon and this is the one I have: http://tinyurl.com/7kxwa83 and it's only $60 there.

About the sore nipples, I had that with my first one. The Lansinoh nipple cream is the best stuff I've found, better than any other brand I've tried. I got it a little with my second, but since my babies are all so close together I still had the callouses from breastfeeding my first so it didn't hurt as bad. I'm hoping that's the case with this one, too!

Had a midwife appointment this morning, and I asked about my weight gain. She said I was "a bit ahead" of where they'd like to see me, and asked me to go through my daily diet, so I did. She said she understands my frustrations, because I am "doing everything right" (her words, not mine), but that probably I need to reduce my carbs in order to keep my gain on track.

I am eating 2000 cals a day and walking 4-7 miles, plus weight training 2x a week. I should not have gained 11 lbs in 16 weeks!

So the new move toward reducing carbs starts today. Grrr.

Saki - I am glad you had a good appointment and got to hear the baby's HB. It is so amazing hearing it for the first time I Had a midwife appointment on Mon. but decided not to try to hear the baby's HB because I didn't want to get anxious if we couldn't hear it (we couldn't hear my sons at 13 weeks) Plus I saw it at the ultrasound the Wed before. We will have a listen at my next apt in 4 weeks

I have a very good friend who put her baby up for adoption a few years ago. I went through the whole pregnancy with her and was at the baby's birth and got to be at the hospital when the parents came to meet their baby for the first time. My friend got to choose who the parents for her baby would be and got to meet and interview them before hand. It was an open adoption and for the first few years after they would send photos and updates about the baby. It was emotional for my friend but she knew she could not provide for her baby at the time nor did she want to be a parent. She has never regretted giving her baby a home she couldn't give herself even though it was hard at the time. It was an amazing experience watching the adoptive parents meet their baby and hold her for the first time. It was pure joy on their faces and they were so thankful to my friend. We all cried and took pictures and smiled.

Keller- I am glad you had a great appointment! My DS always measured a bit big and still does to this day! He is always in the 90-95 percentile in heaight and weight.

Gale- I am sorry about your depression and that you may have to go on antidepressants but you are right sometimes you need to weigh out the risks and if you need the meds then that is what is best for you and baby. I too have dealt with depression/anxiety my whole life and I feel like it is creeping up on me again I also am sensitive to SAD.

Mandalinn- That is frustrating about your weight gain even though you are eating well and exercising. Not fair!

My eating has been horrible and I am so down about it. The nausea is really getting to me and I can only seem to eat crap and fruit (which is good) I can't exercise besides little walks and I feel so useless and blah. I want to get back on my eating plan and I want to have the energy to exercise. I had a midwife appointment on Mon. mostly blood work and such but she said my uterus was perfect Also that the ultrasound on Wed was great and everything looked good. Oh and I discussed my desire to have a VBA2C and my midwife said I could totally do it but that the best way to get a vaginal delivery is to grow a smaller baby then my DS (he was 9lbs 12 oz) and to get labour to spontaneously happen before 40 weeks. my midwife said that once the nausea is gone that I need to be really strict with my diet and to exercise every day and then at 36/37 weeks we will do everything we can to encourage natural labour like acupuncture, meditation, EPO, etc.

Just went to the dentist to have a filling. At my last checkup, when they found the cavity, they said it was small. But of course couldn't do any x-rays. Got to filling it today, and it was about 4 times bigger and deeper than expected. I thought they were gonna drill into my BRAIN. Got it filled, but said it may be in the pulp.

After appointments I'm numb for hours. So I'm STARVING because I missed a snack this afternoon and can't eat 'til I can feel my face. Oh, and then there's the fact that if they had to get into the pulp I'll have intense pain at some point soon, and a root canal without sedation (which I require for major procedures), painkillers or even gas. Lovely.

I'm terrified of the dentist.

Mindi- My dentist will do an x-ray as long as you are passed the first trimester. I also just had one filled earlier this week, it was small like they said, but it was in my wisdom tooth so it hurt horribly =[ My dentist also does anestecia(sp?) and sedation when pregnant, again though, as long as you are out of the first trimester. Is it that your dentist won't do it at all? Have you asked?

Gale- I found a cheaper one at the walmart website. Instead of being a horseshoe, its the shape of a C. I'm gonna try that out. It had good reviews so i'm hoping it works as awesome as it sounds.

Butterfly- How old is your DS now? I'm just scared they keep telling me baby is bigger because I wanna do birth without epidural, and a big baby coming out just doesn't seem fun(Not that a small baby does either, but smaller seems better.)

Mandalinn- Glad your appointment went well =] Sucks about the weight, just keep doing everything you can.

My nurse just called me with the results of the 4 quad defect test. No defects were found =]

Keller - I've heard (but have no experience , mine were both 6.5 lbs) that bigger babies aren't necessarily more painful to birth. Their head size is still relatively the same. And really, all in all, it hurts like nothing else... unless you have pelvic issues that make it harder for the baby to pass through the birth canal, I wonder if you can tell small-ish variations in degrees of pain when it's that off the charts. Personally, I'm an epidural girl. My last labor with a good epi was a pretty pleasant experience. The one before that, no epi, not so much. But, I also believe to each their own.

ETA: I just remembered that although my boys were small (like I said, 6.5lbs each) their heads were both in the 95th percentile. So maybe I do know what it feels like to birth a giant head, hahaha!

Keller, I haven't asked yet, just because I'm hoping the root canal doesn't have to happen!! I will if it does, though. Right now still numb from my eye to my jaw. It's getting worse instead of better. Starving and can't eat!

Keller237- Don't worry. I ate hoprrible for the first two weeks after I found out I was pregnant Because then I knew I had to eat something. (at the time I was only eating fruit because I was a veggitarian and the veggies made my morning sickness worse and I wasn't feeling up to carbs)
I'm eatting a bit better now. Still eatting meat and real milk. I know a healthy baby is possible on a veggitarian diet but I just don't have the ability with the stress right now to keep track of everything I need to.
I am thinking of a open adoption. I do want to pick the family and it makes me smile thinking about how happy they will be.

I am worried if I am 16 weeks and not 10...If I am 16 weeks then I did drink when I was pregnant..twice and once was really heavy drinking and I did get a x-ray at the dentist.

At the moment I'm dead set on not getting a epidural. The pain would have to be so bad that the threat of permanet spinal cord damage would no longer scare me...or the threat of the needle in the back. I can't handle needles. I refused a Flu shot at my first appointment and I nearly jumped off the table when they came to draw blood for all the tests. I never used to be so scared of needles. I was much better with them when I was younger but right now I would do anything to keep from getting them. I guess when the time comes we'll find out if i demand pain meds.

Right now I HAVE to exercise to some degree. I eat terrible on my weekends. On my work week I eat fine and i'm up and active for 9 hours. but on the weekend I nap on the sofa all day long and eat all the time. I must stop this. Even if it's just getting out and walking for a bit, something is better than it is right now.