Pregnancy Thread, Tues, June 29, 2004

[Suzanne]

Abbymommy......Hannah Genevieve...Born 5/23/04
PFgal................Kendall Elizabeth....Born 5/27/04!
genifire6..................Annabelle.......... Born 5/27/04
Cynicalcyn............Alexia Rene.........Born 5/28/04!
Trishagrrl.........Bradley Eugene..........Born 6/3/04!
Tracy2.................Katie Elizabeth........Born 6/11/04

FluffiB......................W37............…7/22/04.........Boy
Redjewel..................W35............…8/??/04.........Boy and Girl
AngelHope...............W35...........…..8/02/04........Boy
Laprettygurl.............W32............….8/21/04.......Girl
wari.....................….W31.................8/29/04.......Boy
Trolly...............….....W30............…..9/8/04.........Girl
Thininmex................W29............….9/16/04.......Probably a Girl
Teach2Live..............W28..........….....9/22/04......Boy
little bear……………....W28…………....…9/22/04
aphexacid................W27..................9/28/04.…..Girl
babyblue26062........W27................10/4/04…….Boy
Bozo.....................….W27.................. 10/06/04

lizzyd.......................W22.............….. 10/31/04….Boy
MelissaBee..............W21...................11/??/04
Shenandoah............W20...............….11/14/04 (TWINS!!)
Mrs. Sarah...............W19...............….11/18/04
karatejen.................W19...............….11/26/04
surfdol...............…...W?..................†¦.12/28/04

DesperateInFL.........W12................….01/9/ 05
Idahospud…………....W12…………………. ..01/9/05
GumDrop.................W10...................01/??/05
Shandril105………....W10……………..…… 01/25/05
Viki..........................W10................. ..01/27/05
Nyanchan…………......W10……………..…⠀¦.01/??/05
metroames...............W9..................02/08/05
MadameX.................W8...................02/??/05
LivnLGNOmore.........W?..................02/??/05
Miss Gigl...................W6..................02/21/??
Sapphires2000..........W5?.................. 3/3/05

Green12........................................... Trying!
JennPayton.......................................T rying!
2BFitHourglass..................................Tr ying!
michigangrad.....................................T rying!
Kidj4............................................. ....Trying!

[Suzanne]

Good Morning Ladies,

Trolly, I love the stick up flowers, they are so cute. Good job on the nursery.

Katie, good job on the walking. That should get you started soon.

Yesterday my husband noticed the 2 lbs weights sitting on the stairs and asked me what I was doing with them. I told him and he said maybe I should wrap them in plastic or something. I have been using 2 lb lead dive weights (we have TONS of dive weights in all sizes). It turns out that it's not a good idea for me to be handling naked lead because some can be absorbed through my skin. It probably won't affect me but it could affect the baby. At least he thinks so....So I'm getting out the zip lock baggies for this morning's exercises. I do have some 5 lbs hand weights with a plastic coating but I don't think I can handle carrying 5 lbs per hand for over an hour yet. Maybe next week...

Hope all of you are well this morning!

Hasta luego,

Suzanne

[karatejen]

Good morning Suzanne!

Have a good walk. Your DH is probably right about the dive weights. I am not sure they put any kind of protective coating on them. Better to be safe than sorry.

Sarah~it is getting closer! Can you feel it? I am exactly a week behind you on the u/s. I have been anticipating it so much....I really hope the sex can be determined. I would hate to leave with an "I don't know".

BBL

[Mrs Sarah]

G'morning!

Suzanne: Good idea to use the baggies w/ the weights. Better safe than sorry! Have a great walk!

Katie: I'm glad you checked in!! BTW- you have me drooling for ribs now!!!

Jen: OMG, I'm so excited for my appointment, I can't wait!! I would hate to leave with an "I don't know" also, I've been praying that it doesn't happen!!

[MadameX]

Happy Tuesday All!

I have been up for two hours and not barfed yet! This must be some kind of record!

Suzanne: I never would have thought about lead in weights. I have some uncoated barbells (5# weights) and now I wonder what they're made of. You can buy this rubber coating stuff at hardware stores that comes in a paint can and you just dip an item into it to rubber coat it. I'm not sure what it's called or where to find it in Mexico, though.

Jen and Mrs. Sarah: When are your ultrasounds? I'm excited for you!

Angela: from your post yesterday, this was on the Today Show and it looks like you are ready to try anything:

quote:

Nearly 300 baby pictures decorate Scalini's old-fashioned Italian restaurant in Cobb County, Ga.


All of the babies pictured on the Italian restaurant wall were born after their mothers ate the Scalini's eggplant parmigiana. The $9.95 plate of breaded eggplant smothered in cheese and thick marinara sauce is "guaranteed" to induce labor, the restaurant claims.

The eggplant legend began not long after the restaurant opened 23 years ago.

"Two or three years after we began, a few people had just mentioned to us they came in when they were pregnant, and ate this eggplant and had a baby a short time after that," said John Bogino, who runs the restaurant with his son, Bobby Bogino. "One person told another, and it just grew by itself by leaps and bounds."

To date, more than 300 of the pregnant women customers who ordered the eggplant have given birth within 48 hours, and the restaurant dubs them the "eggplant babies." If it doesn't work in two days, the moms-to-be get a gift certificate for another meal.

Good Morning America certainly isn't making any promises, but the restaurant has graciously shared the recipe.


Eggplant Parmigiana Alla Scalini's

Ingredients:

• 3 medium sized eggplants
• 1 cup flour
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 4 cups fine Italian bread crumbs, seasoned
• Olive oil for sautéing
• 8 cups of marinara sauce (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 pounds of mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 cups of ricotta cheese

Directions:

1. After you wash the eggplant, slice them into ¼-inch thick slices. You may choose to peel the eggplant before you slice it. However, you may want to leave the skin on since it contains a lot of vitamins.
2. Place the eggplant slices on a layer of paper towels and sprinkle with a little salt, then cover with another layer of paper towels and hold it down with something heavy to drain the excess moisture. Let them sit for about an hour.
3. Working with one slice of eggplant at a time, dust with flour, dip in beaten eggs, then coat well with breadcrumbs.
4. Sauté in preheated olive oil on both sides until golden brown.
5. In baking dish, alternate layers of marinara sauce, eggplant slices, ricotta, parmesan and Romano cheeses, until you fill the baking dish, about 1/8 inch from the top. Cover with shredded mozzarella cheese, and bake for 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Scalini's Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons of chopped garlic
• 3 Tablespoons of olive oil
• 8 cups chopped tomatoes (fresh or canned)
• 1 cup onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup of fresh chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper
• 1/8 cup of fresh chopped sweet basil
• Pinch of thyme
• Pinch of rosemary
• One teaspoon salt
• One teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

1. Lightly sauté the onions in olive oil in large pot for a few minutes.
2. Add garlic and sauté another minute.
3. Add tomatoes and bring sauce to a boil, then turn heat low.
4. Add remaining ingredients, stir, cover and let simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Recipe courtesy of John Bogino, Scalini's Italian Restaurant, Smyrna, Ga. (scalinis.com)

...now I'm hungry!
Kelley

[Mrs Sarah]

Kelly: My u/s is this Thursday! Also, I'm drooling over that recipe... YUM!!

[Teach2Live]

LOL at the eggplant "cure"!!

Good morning. Is anyone else out there forced to sleep in a recliner in order to be comfortable?? I can usually sleep for a few hours in bed, but then my hips and shoulders get so sore! By 3 AM I am usually in the recliner, and then I can sleep. Dh thinks it's funny, but that's the only way I sleep for more than half the night.

Hope you all have a good day! I talked to my drs. office yesterday and they want me to do kick counts every day. It's mostly for my own anxiety over whether baby is moving enough or not, but still. One more thing to worry about.

[karatejen]

Originally posted by MadameX
Jen and Mrs. Sarah: When are your ultrasounds? I'm excited for you!

Sarah's is 7/1 and mine is 7/8. Like Sarah, I can't wait!!!

Congrats on the no barfing!!

[Suzanne]

Jen and Sarah, what type of ultrasounds are you each having? Regular, 3D, 4D?

[Viki]

Mmmm eggplant parmesean sounds so good right now. I may just have that for dinner tonight. Yum!

I felt so naseous after I went to the grocery store last night. The smell of meat I didn't barf but felt naseous the rest of the night..that is until I made myself feel better by eating a half a jar of dill pickes. Those hit the spot. I then wanted vanilla pudding afterwards but stopped myself. Maybe I'll have that after my eggplant parmesean tonight. I have an eggplant in the fridge yeah....!!!!

Hi to everyone! Hope you're all doing well. My next appointment is on July 17th. I can't believe I am already 10 weeks.

[Mrs Sarah]

Originally posted by ThininMex
Jen and Sarah, what type of ultrasounds are you each having? Regular, 3D, 4D?

I'm having a regular u/s on Thurs for my 20 weeks. I am scheduling a 4D for 26 weeks... I REALLY can't wait for that!!!

[Viki]

What are the different types of ultrasound? With DS we always just had the regular one. No one gave us the option of the other types.

[Suzanne]

Viki, there is regular ultrasound, three dimensional ultrasound which gives a clearer picture, and four dimensional where they actually do a video. With Max, my doctor did a regular ultrasound at every visit. And for 20 weeks that doctor told me that he was 98% sure I was having a girl. He even showed us "her vagina". When he pulled Max out and said "It's a boy!" (as if he hadn't been telling us for 4 1/2 months that it was a girl), DH and I both said "Whaaaaaat?" The other attending physicians and nurses were shocked by our reaction...LOL Poor Max had to wear pink clothes for the first 24 hours of his life. That is why we didn't believe the doctor who did a 3 and 4 D ultrasound on this baby. The doc said 100% it's a girl but when she showed us (briefly) the ****oris, DH and I were both sure we were looking at a penis. I just won't believe it until the baby is born.

Sarah, I had the 4 D ultrasound and wish I hadn't. We never look at the video and I felt bad subjecting the baby to 45 minutes of sound waves. I could tell by the way that the baby was moving that she/he didn't like it much either.

[Mrs Sarah]

Originally posted by ThininMex
Sarah, I had the 4 D ultrasound and wish I hadn't. We never look at the video and I felt bad subjecting the baby to 45 minutes of sound waves. I could tell by the way that the baby was moving that she/he didn't like it much either.

Really? Gosh, I'm so excited for it!! Does the sound waves hurt the baby? I've never heard anything bad about them...

[Suzanne]

From everything I have read, they believe ultrasound is safe. But they aren't totally 100% sure. I went in for my last ultrasound for Down Syndrome markers because I didn't want to have amnio. I had no idea I was going to get a 4D and that it was going to take 45 minutes. I was actually getting tired of laying there. It was totally awesome to be able to see the baby so clearly and I was just as excited as you are. But I don't think I would have another one. Also, I read an article about how the FDA has been trying to close places that are offering 3D and 4D ultrasound for non-medical purposes because of the safety issue. Apparently in some states, they have like souvenir shops in malls where you can just walk in off the street for a 4D ultrasound and the FDA is saying that it is like practicing medicine without a license. The thing that worries me is that this is new technology that was developed for geophysical purposes, not medical use. Even the 2 D ultrasound hasn't been in use on pregnant women for as long as they used x-ray before deciding it was dangerous.

Here are some links that I wish I had read before I had any ultrasounds:

Ultrasound dangers

More about ultrasounds

[abbymommy]

Hi everybody!

Sarah, I also have heard that 3D/4D ultrasounds are not recommended by many people due to concerns about the amount and duration of exposure to the sound waves.

I have heard many people say that their babies seemed bothered by ultrasounds, even Dopplers. With all three of mine I have noticed immediate increase in fetal movements with Doppler and ultrasounds.

I think the "keepsake ultrasounds" are a concern in particular because the sessions tend to last so long and the exposure is greater for some reason, maybe to capture those types of images.

I think the FDA specifically warned about them a few months ago, but I could be wrong!

That being said, many women decide to have them anyway!

Suzanne, do you have to have your lead level checked? I was expsed to lead based paint during my first pg and they did a lead teat on me because you can figure out the baby's risk that way. Fortunately mine wasn't too high.

Talk to you all later!

[Shenandoah]

Sarah- Our 20 week U/S is on Thursday too! 10am here...the twin's Mommy will be flying in for it. As if she'd miss a chance to see her babies! We went to the U/S school and were given a 75% chance that baby A is a girl and baby B is obviously a boy, he lets it ALL hang out on the screen! Good Luck and eat something 30-45 minutes before the U/S to get the baby moving, your chances of "open legs" will be better!

Suzanne- good idea about the weights!! DH told me this weekend not to touch the fishing weights (I put them in my mouth to clamp them to the line) I hadn't even thought of the lead exposure.

Jen- can't wait to hear about your U/S...not long!!!!!

Angela- why do the last few weeks of pregnancy feel like years?? We try so hard to keep them in there for as long as we can then they won't get out when we want them to! I hope that it all starts soon!

Kelley- I hope the MS stays gone! That is one of the worst parts of pregnancy

[karatejen]

Originally posted by ThininMex
Jen and Sarah, what type of ultrasounds are you each having? Regular, 3D, 4D?

I really don't have clue what type they are doing, but I was told to bring in a videotape....hmmmm? Does that mean a 4D?

[Mrs Sarah]

Not necessarily Jen. My regular 20 week one will be on tape as well.

[Shenandoah]

Jen- I think that they video tape most U/S as keepsakes. It's becoming more and more common for the new machines to have the 4D. It's not usually diagnostic, 4D is normally used "just for fun" by normal OBs. Perinatologists will do a 3D U/S to monitor problems but the 4D would only show problems obvious by "looking" at the outside of the baby, cleft lip...etc.

One reason they like to wait until 22+ weeks is because it can look like there is a hole in the baby's head, scary if you don't know that it's an U/S glitch.

They don't offer the 4D to twin moms at our OB practice...not enough room in there to get a good view!

[Suzanne]

Originally posted by abbymommy
Suzanne, do you have to have your lead level checked? I was expsed to lead based paint during my first pg and they did a lead teat on me because you can figure out the baby's risk that way. Fortunately mine wasn't too high.

No, I won't have it checked. I carried the weights in my hands for a total of an hour over two days (I leave them by the side of the road for half of my walk.) I can't recall licking my hands during that time so I should be OK....After thinking about it, I spent more time handling diving weights during my last pregnancy because I used to frequently make up the weight belts for clients. This year I had the bright idea to put the weights in a box in the office and let the clients assemble their own belts. Sometimes laziness pays off!

[MadameX]

...the other thing I heard about the higher level ultrasounds that they offer for keepsake photos (like in shopping malls) is that some women might think that would substitiute for a doctor's visit (well, duh) and the mall technicians really just take the photos, not diagnose potential problems. I would probably like a level 3 or 4 if my doctor offers it, though.

Kelley

[cynicalcyn]

Hello Ladies

No time for personals but I did want to comment on the 3d and 4d ultrasounds...I had a great article about them but they are now considered a harm to your baby. The high frequency levels they use to see your baby are much like those of an xray. I had an appt to do one and after I read the article I decided against it. It just wasn't worth it to me...

cynthia