~~~~~~~~~~~~OPEN FORUM TUESDAY~~~~~~~~~~~~

[blondie72]

Good Morning ladies I thought I would get this started for today.  I hope all is well with everyone.  I have to tell you all I am involved in a Nurturing Parents program here in my city and we had a guest speaker come to the class last night.  He was talking about brain development in newborn babies.  It was quite interesting.  He also had some things with him because he used to be a science teacher.  Well the things he had were an adult brain and the brain of a 4 month old baby (I could not believe how tiny it was) he also had a uterus.  That was amazing.  It fit in the palm of my hand.  I think if I had seen this before I had kids I NEVER would have had any LOL!!!!!!  I could not believe that was the right size.  I cannot imagine how it could stretch so much to accomodate a human being.  It was the just amazing to me.  Also to anyone who smokes.  We learned that a lot of women say they are going to quit when the FIND OUT they are pg.  That is too late.  You are usually already pg for a while when you find out.  I thought that was interesting as well.  I think the thing that got me the most were the little fetuses he had in jars.  I saw one at 12 weeks and cried because I lost a baby at 12 weeks pg and I could not believe how much it actually looked like a baby.  Well I just wanted to share some of that with you.  Very interesting stuff.   Take Care.

[nanakay]

wow! that would have been really cool to see!!

i quit smoking when i found out i was pg....but i tell you what quitting then was nothing compared to wanting one now....i won't don't worry, i'm nursing and i don't want my children exposed any more than is unavoidable (like people smoking in public)
infact....don't mean to change the subject...i was leaving walmart the other day and these people outside were trying to get me to sign a pitition(sp?)  to ban ALL indoor smoking....ok i would love it if all restaurants and things like that were non-smoking...but i don't think bars and casino's should be.  the pitch they were giving was that it was for the children...but my children will never be in those places until they are old enough to decide for themselves if they want to be exposed to that stuff.  
anyway, sorry i am rambling aren't i
have a great day
thanks for sharing with us
~nanci

[shubunkin]

I agree with the smoking. I think it should be banned in resturants. Because no matter where they seat the smokers I still smell it and my children breathe it. And then I get to sneezing and cannot enjoy my meal. But like you said about the bars and casinos, shoot, if they banned it there they would lose allot of business. And I do not go to those places anyway so it does not matter but I think when you are sitting down trying to enjoy a meal it is a different story.

[nanakay]

i agree, even when i did smoke i never smoked in restaurants...there is nothing worse than trying to eat and smelling someone light up!
i remember when i was a kid trying to eat my breakfast and my mom would sit at the kitchen table and do her hair and smoke..and if not that the ashtray was sitting right there and that stunk worse than the actual smoke.  (my parents have an older home at the time there was no outlet in the bathroom)
~nanci

[Angel4JohnnyB]

ISN'T HAVING A SMOKING SECTION IN A RESTAURANT LIKE HAVING A

PEEING SECTION IN A SWIMMING POOL?????????????

[Mom2BeX3]

Wow! That must have been so interesting! My baby is currently 12 weeks and I love him/her so much already. We call the baby Snubbie right now (big head, little body LOL!) I go for my first u/s next Monday - can't wait. I'm not feeling as sick yesterday & today, I think I'm turning a corner (I hope so!)
I live in Ontario, Canada. Smoking is banned everywhere except Casinos and private clubs. I don't smoke, never have. I think if you were to say to smokers that if you gave them a magic pill to quit forever they would take it - it's such an addiction and very hard to quit, even if you want to.

[jluhart]

I have been using an ovulation kit that includes the strips since last Monday or CD 9 and still haven't seen a line as dark as or darker than the test line.  Will it be dark all of a sudden or gradually?  If gradually, you would think it would have started getting darker already.  It is CD 17 today.

[shubunkin]

How true! You cracked me up! Thanks for the laugh!

[nanakay]

ROFLMAO!!!!! oh my gosh that is so funny....could you even imagine a sign at the swimming pool, peeing this side non-peeing this side!!

oh you crack me up
~nanci

[Wisegirl]

I have to say that I am a smoker but I DO NOT smoke when I am pregnant.  I only smoked very early in pregnancy, I can't imagine hurting the baby like that.  My brothers girlfriend smokes when shes pregnant and I have to say that there is nothing more unattractive than a pregnant woman smoking. ICK !  When I am smoking I DO NOT smoke in my house, I can not stand that smell on my walls or in my furniture or in my kids clothes. I will smoke in my car but only if I'm in a situation where the windows can be rolled down, which means no kids in the car. We would also sit at the Non smoking section in a restaurant. If I wanted a cigarette I would either go to the bar or wait.  The way I see it is it's my choice to smoke but I don't want my kids or anyone elses for that matter to breathe it in.

[jluhart]

Not to be rude, but why do you return to smoking after you have quit during pregnancy?

[gonza]

If you have ever been a smoker, you would understand.  Maybe you have been, I dont know.  I am a former smoker.  I smoked and then quit for a year, started teaching middle school, started smoking again and quit 2 days before I found out I was pregnant.  I am currently 35 weeks and have no intention of starting back.  It is a day to day process.  It is much easier for me to resist the urge of course, because I am growing this beautiful life inside of me.  However, after i have my little boy, it will return to a day to day process.

[Wisegirl]

Your not being rude.  I smoked for 6 yrs (age 16-22) then quit for 6 yrs.  In that span of time that I quit I had my DS. I went through a divorce and started smoking again.  I smoked for around 3 yrs and quit with this pregnancy. I don't intend on going back but I am a realist knowing this is my one weakness.  When I do smoke I limit myself to 1/2 pack a day, of course I had my moments of stress and smoking more but its not an everyday occurence.  I am also no longer working the stressful job that I was, so I hope that helps me stay away from it.

[Wisegirl]

Gonza is correct.  It is very hard when you do not have a life growing inside you.  One day at a time ....  I know thats not the smoking phrase but it should be !

BTW- I also plan on breastfeeding so I will definately not go back to smoking while doing that as well.  I feel I'm pretty lucky with having the ability to quit so easily when I want or need to.

[jluhart]

I think the One Day at a Time theory works for just about everything whether you are talking about not smoking and drinking to food and exercise.  It also takes some of the stress and disappointment when you fall off whatever wagon you are on and allows you to get back on!!  I'll get off my soap box now.

[nanakay]

you know what is weird about the day to day,,, and it being easier when pg.  it was much easier to not smoke when pg, now that i'm not pg but still nursing it has instantly gotten a little harder.  i would never smoke while nursing but i tell you some days there is nothing i would like better than to go out on the porch and have one....even though i know how gross it would taste after all this time!

if you don't smoke don't ever start...it is so addictive!
~nanci

[Wisegirl]

The bottom line is unless you've been there you really have no idea.  Whether it's eating, drinking, smoking, drugs whatever. I smoked but I have been fortunate in the weight dept. Thats not due to my smoking either, when I don't smoke I'm still a size 3 because I watch what I eat. I had a friend who was obese and she commented to me on a daily basis on how can I smoke (when I did)?  Now mind you she was doing this while stuffing a McDonalds double cheeseburger, fries and chocolate shake in her mouth. Then cried as to why she couldn't loose weight. I cannot fathom that because I have never been there. I won't argue smoking or any other habit because unless you are absolutely perfect (thin, no caffeine, no chocolate, no extra weight, no drinking, no drugs, no nail biting, you excersze, etc) you have no room to talk. Everyone has a vice of some sort, whether they admit to it or not.

[tresmathews]

It's a girl. She is measuring 30w3d and weighing 3lbs 3ozs. I am only supposed to be 28w5d.

[blondie72]

WOW!!!!!!!!!  This was NEVER meant to be turned into a discussion on smoking.  I just thought the speaker was interesting and had some neat things to say and show.  Sorry if anyone on here got offended by anything.  Take Care and again I am sorry.  I know that some things do get a little touchy on here.

[Wisegirl]

tresmathews:  I guess you didn't know it was a girl ?!  Congrats !  Lots of girls being born in April/May.

blondie72: Y ou have nothing to be sorry about.  Don't worry about it !  :)

[andileigh]

Ok so I should probably know the answer to this question but I don't so here goes...How long after giving birth does the HCG level fall below detection level on a HPT?

[blondie72]

WOW!!!!!!!  That is a good ?????   I always thought once you gave birth they were gone.   Hopefully someone will have an answer for you.  You may want to also try a search site like Google to see if they have info.  That is something I would have never thought of.  If you don't mind.....Why are you asking????  Did you get a positive test????  Good Luck to you.

[andileigh]

I've tried Googling and I still can't find anything.  My husband and I are making up for lost time in the sex department (as I posted in another forum) and he got a little carried away and wasn't careful the last two nights.  I"m only 5 weeks postpartum and it probably wouldn't be the best time to have another but since AF hasn't returned I wouldn't have any way to know if I was in fact pregnant besides taking a test.  I didn't want to take a test (waste money) if being postpartum was going to cause a false positive.  People talk about the fluctuating hormones after pregnancy but don't say what those are exactly.

[Wisegirl]

http://www.birth.com.au/class.asp?class=6620&page=8

According to the chart 4-6 weeks after birth it goes to less than 5 which my dr always said was normal.

[blondie72]

Not too scare you but there was someone on here who just posted within the last month that her mom had a baby in Jan and another in Sept.  I cannot remember who it was that posted that but I would say it is possible to be pg.  I know what you mean about not wanting to waste money on tests though.  Are you nursing???  That does not really matter though either.  I wish you luck.  I hope all goes the way you are wanting it to.  Good Luck to you.

[nanakay]

blondie-
you shouldn't be sorry about anything, good strong discusion is good for everyone....besides i think i'm the one that fanned that fire. :) lol

andi-
i know that when i was at meps, when i entered the military, there was a girl there that had a 1 month old baby and they tried to tell her she was pg because of her blood test....she had to get a note from her ob saying no she isn't pg she just had a baby...so i think it is safe to assume at least over a month after.
~nanci

[Stacie30]

Hi Hon,

I just emailed you the list of those facilities. Let me know if you need anything else.

Stacie

[Stacie30]

I had one baby in January and another in December of the same year and both of them were 42 weekers. I figured I ovulated about a month after birth so anything is possible (and yes that was a really hard year) :o)

[andileigh]

My little girl is 5 weeks old exactly.  I'm not nursing (not by choice) and am praying that AF will start back soon so that I can get on BC.  I have it sitting here waiting.  I called my doctor today about Plan B just in case I was ovulating.  He didn't seem concerned about the possibiilty at all.  He just said, If you are pregnant it won't hurt the baby.  Obviously if I am in fact pregnant AGAIN I would have this baby and it would work out ok ... we do want another one...just kind of thought we'd wait a bit longer.  I had a c-section...are there any risks with getting pregnant again so soon?

Thanks to everyone who has given their advice.

[qw]

I read on the E.P.T hpt info that if you are up to 9 weeks pp you can have a false positive. I think the equate brand ones said up to 6 weeks pp. Here is a link       http://www.prodhelp.com/eptpmdirections.shtml

[Stacie30]

risks to having 2 close together and c-sections- there's not much out there as far as percentages and data (I've looked) but I can tell you about me. I had a c-section in january with my first- he was an extremely big (10 1/2 lbs) and very active in-utero baby (don't know if that has anything to do with what happened but thought I'd throw it in there)then I got pregnant and had my daughter in December (they are 11 1/2 months apart)and had to have a c-section with her too (she was breech). during the operation she kicked a little and my uterus was thin enough that it ripped where the doctor was making the incision... i lost 2 pints of blood (i don't think that's alot) and the doctors were able to repair my uterus. I was told not to get pregnany for at least a year and then if I got pregnant within 5 years I would have to be on bed rest from the 5th month because of risk of uterine rupture. Well- she's 10 years old now and I'm currently pregnant- my doctor now says since there has been so much healing time in between that I should be fine... i still worry. :o)

that said- i hear all the time women who have had 3 and 4 c-sections and are fine... so it may just be the luck of the draw.

[Still_AndiJ]

The concern is not only uterine rupture, but an increased risk of blood clots, mineral deficency (sp), and overall taxing on your organs.

It is usually recommended that you give your body 2 years to heal after giving birth before getting pg again.

Andrea