I have been realizing that, although I know a
lot about
TTC, I know very, very
little about being PG. For protection and sanity's sake I have spent the last couple of years avoiding anything that had to do with pregnancy. I never asked about how anyone was doing or for any details. I never allowed myself to think about what it would be like. I tried my hardest to zone out when my co-workers were talking about it and I couldn't leave. This week, it was like opening the floodgates. A zillion questions popping into my brain.
I have no idea what I'm doing.But I know that I have lots of time to learn.
So I'm going to take advantage of
ICLW and ask a few questions:
- What are the best books you've had for early PG? (I have the old What to Expect When You're Expecting- is it worth buying the new What to Expect?)
- What must have items do you recommend for pregnancy(besides a Bellaband)?
- For those of you that used acupuncture during IVF, how long did you continue after the first beta?
16 comments:
Yeay for needing pregnancy advice!
Okay I serioulsy have no right to offer advice on this topic, but I will say that my RE said to becareful when choosing books. He said books like "what to expect" tend to be very dogmatic, and often downers. He recommended The Mayo Clinic's book.
Good luck!
So exciting!! I obviously don't have any prego advice for you, but I hope you get lots of great info. :-)
Congratulations! I know you don't know me; I found a link to your blog through a friend who is also experiencing infertility. I have three little ones, and personally I liked the What to Expect book. The advice for the new is essentially the same as the old, so don't buy a new one. Just make sure you take everything with a grain of salt, and realize you can relax about some of the advice, especially dietary. And exercise. Neither of which I did (watch my diet or exercise)Eventually you'll want a body pillow to sleep with, and stock up on crackers if you get morning sick. Other than that, try to enjoy every moment! It's a miracle like none other!
I'm also a luker coming out! Congrats on your pregnancy!! I'm kind of in the same boat you're in. I exprerienced infertility and my husband went on to adopt (she'll be 3 next week!). Out of nowhere, quite by surprise, I became pregnant. I'm 16 weeks now and find myself wishing I'd paid attention to my friends talk about their pregnancies because I know nothing!! The only comment I have is on the bella band. I really didn't like mine and only used it a few times. It was very uncomfortable and took a while to get used to it. I had to start buy maternity pants around 8 weeks because even the bella band became too tight. Good luck in your journey!!
Melinda
I just bought the Mayo Clinic book on pregnancy. I LOVE it so far. It's easy to read and has lots of information about what's going on each week of your pregnancy. There's lots of information about other pregnancy related topics as well.
I heard the What to Expect is very overwhelming and wordy. But who knows? I've never checked it out.
I'm curious to see what others share!
Another lurker here, sending my congrats! I also wanted to recommend the Mayo Clinic book and an extra piece of advice my DH gave me during my 1st pg...
When in doubt, call your OB. That's what they get paid for!
It's a wonderful and amazing journey, enjoy it!
Again, I am so so excited for you. Like you I was completely clueless about actually being pregnant. I also spent all my time trying to figure out how to get pregnant in the first place so once I was I was lost! One thing that I heard and wish I had done was to start taking B6 vitamins early before the morning sickness hits. This of course should be cleared with your doctor but it's supposed to help m/s AND if you start before you are even sick you may not have to battle it as intensely as otherwise. I was really sick in my first trimester and really wish I could've been more preventative about it. Not sure if it really works or not but it's worth a try. I'm still sick now (one of the extremely unfortunate to be sick into their 2nd trimester) and you may never get sick at all, but I thought I'd share that. Nothing else I have tried has helped at all and trust me, I have tried EVERYTHING. That is the one thing I didn't get a chance to try and wish I could've.
I love my bellaband but to each his own. It's great for the transitional stage between bloat and maternity pants... at least it worked for me. And yes, you'll eventually want a body pillow. Makes sleeping at night much better.
I bought a variety of books.
The Mayo Clinic's book, to me, was too short and didnt say enough. I actually like the What to expect when you're expecting.
I also got the "Pregnancy Journal" from A. Christine Harris. I LOVE IT. It's a day to day look at what's happening to you and baby for the whole pregnancy. My fav by far. THough it doesnt say much about other things, hence the What to expect book.
Don't know the answer to any of your questions b/c I'm new to this whole preggers thing too :) But I wanted to wish you luck as you go in for your beta tomorrow!!!!! Can't wait to hear your results. Looks like everything is perfect so far!
And P.S. Thanks for asking these questions - I'm enjoying reading the answers!
I agree on the Mayo book. It's very good and highly recommended. We've been buying and reading a number of books (and plan to read a lot more while we're on vacation in a week or so). If I get a chance, I'll post some reviews.
btw, congrats the betas are all looking so good! L and I are so excited for you guys!
I'm in the same boat as you but just a few weeks ahead so I'll share what I know so far. I'll be 12 weeks tomorrow and I'm having a rough time with morning sickness. Crackers, pretzels or other kinds of carbs sort of help. My Dr. suggested lemon drop candies - didn't work for me, but they're cheap so it's worth a try. They also said folic acid is the most important thing early on and all of the iron in prenatals can upset your stomach so I could try just taking folic acid for now or taking the prenatals right before bed. The only thing that's helped much has been acupressure bands that you wear around your wrists. They look kind of stupid, but oh well.
I haven't found any really great books yet so I'm curious what others say. For what it's worth, here are two I borrowed from the library that I'm glad I didn't pay for:
1. Our Bodies, Ourselves: Pregnancy and Birth - Lots of the content just wasn't relevant to our situation and I didn't like the overall tone that natural is good, medical intervention is bad. I wouldn't be pregnant without medical intervention.
2. Full of Life: Mom-to-Mom Tips I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Was Pregnant - There's nothing like getting advice from a stupid, fertile, privileged Hollywood type. I'm pretty sure that after paying for IVF, we won't have a night nurse or a designer setting up the nursery.
Anyway, I'm so excited for you guys and I can't wait to hear how everything goes. I know it's going to be great!
Yipee! Congrats on crossing over. :)
Books:
1. WTEWYE - I did not like this book. It scared the crap out of me. It seemed like it talked a lot about what can go wrong in the beginning. Other people love it though. My mom actually had an older version and she said it was very outdated but I never compared the two so I don't know.
2. Your Pregnancy Week By Week - I really liked this book.
3. Girlfriends Guide to Pregnancy - This was my favorite book. It isn't specific by the week but it talks honestly about what goes on.
4. Belly Laughs - This is just a fun book to read while pregnant. No real info but definitely worth a sit down and read. It can easily be read in a day.
Personnally, above and beyond all of the books I love the weekly emails from babycenter.com. They have much more info than are included in the website.
Pregnancy Must Haves
Morning Sickness - Ugh, I was miserable. I lived on crackers, bagels, applesauce, watered down apple juice, and lemonade. Other people swear by altoid ginger candies but ginger made me gag.
Clothes - I loved by secret belly pants from motherhood maternity. I had read early on that they are the only pants that you can still wear comfortably until the bitter end. They were very comfy and did last.
Acupuncture
The people I know who used acupuncture when TTC continued doing it through the first tri.
I like the new WTEWE book WAYYYY better. The "scary" stuff is in the back and it's just better organized and it talks about issue that we face nowadays that the old book doesn't have. Worth it. A baby book journal/diary is cool too! I had one with my 1st pregnancy but didn't have the guts to get one this time. It was neat though! It had day by day stuff!
I'm slowly getting caught up and OMG!!! Congratulations Girl! I'm over the moon happy for you. It's so great to be away for a while and come back and see so many of my bloggie girls knocked up.
As for your questions...
I skipped What to expect and picked up Great Expectations. I was told it was less scary. It was a good resource.
Must haves? A big water bottle. My Naglene bottle never left my side. And a camera to capture your belly week to week. (I know these are common sense, but we begin to lose our minds and memory very early on.)
I didn't do IVF, but I quick my acu treatments as soon as I found out I was pregnant. Your acupuncturist should tell you how long you need to visit.
Congrats again. Take care of yourself and savor this time.
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