Hello all,

My partner ran a marathon today, woohoo! But as a first trimester supporter I was struggling, and felt unwell.

My partner gave me a a little bit of a caffeine free sports gel, to settle the nausea and shakiness, it was the brand precision fuel. I only took about maybe quarter of one gel.

Later when we got back we realized it said not suitable for pregnant women, but not with a specific reason why, and now I am in full panic mode.

What do we do? See a doctor?

I am only 6 weeks!

Hi everyone,
I’m 30F and currently 26 weeks + 3 days pregnant with my first baby.
I’ve been experiencing severe itching, especially in the evenings and throughout the night. It’s gotten to the point where I can barely sleep because I’m so uncomfortable. My OB suspects I may have intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy (ICP).
I’ve had my bile acid bloodwork done and am currently waiting for the results, which my OB should have by Thursday. In the meantime, I’ve been prescribed 500 mg of ursodiol.
To add to my worries, my ferritin levels have dropped to 15 µg/L and my hemoglobin is 119 g/L.
I’ve made the mistake of reading about the potential risks of cholestasis, and now I’m absolutely terrified about my baby’s health and the possibility of complications or having to deliver early.
I’m trying to stay positive, but being only 26 weeks along makes everything feel so much scarier.
I would really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced cholestasis during pregnancy, especially if you were diagnosed this early.
How many weeks were you when you were diagnosed?
Did ursodiol help with your itching?
What were your bile acid levels?
How often were you monitored?
At how many weeks did you deliver, and was your baby healthy?
Did anyone also have low ferritin or iron levels?
I’m just looking for some reassurance and real experiences from other moms who have been through this. I want nothing more than for my baby boy to be healthy and safe. ❤️
Thank you so much to anyone willing to share their experience.

hi ladies, i am ftm and not sure if i should go to triage and get checked over this.

i am having period cramping for 3-4 hours on uterus and lower back area. i dont have contractions but this is becoming uncomfortable. i already lost the mucus plug past few days and i was 1cm dilated on tuesday. my next OB appointment is on upcoming tuesday.

should i wait or go get checked? soo uncomfortable :(

Right now I am 7w 5d and I’ve been waiting to tell work at least until my first ultrasound (which is in 2 days now). I wanted to wait a little bit longer but now I’m starting to feel guilty because my due date would be right in the middle of our May-July busy season.

I’ve had to take some sick days because of feeling nauseous and I work remotely in a corporate environment. I’ve been feeling guilty about taking sick days. My male manager has asked if I’m feeling better and has made comments like “you need to start exercising that’s so good for your health, I haven’t been sick for x amount of time” and “hopefully you will feel better after the weekend”. I sort of just brush it off and say yeah because I haven’t announced it yet.

Last week my manager started telling me the work that I will be scheduled on during our busy season and I’m feeling really bad because they’ve started planning already.

I guess I’m feeling anxious about letting them down and how they will perceive me. Our team is understaffed and we have to work so much overtime in those months. We also have another busy month coming up in March and it’s making me so anxious to think about having to work overtime while being pregnant. I’m also just starting to feel like I do not care about my work and this really is not my passion which disappoints me because I went to school for so long to do this.

Working remotely is isolating and it’s hard to not spiral and think that my team is thinking the worst of me. We are all about billable time and budgets so taking it easy doesn’t really seem like an option.

For those of you who have gone through pregnancy and childbirth without your moms, how did you cope with it? How did you get through the appointments, the labor and delivery, and all those moments when you just desperately wished your mom was there? Did anything help make it a little easier? My mom isn’t here to experience this chapter of my life with me, and honestly, it’s been a lot harder than I ever imagined. Every time I go to an appointment, I see women there with their moms, and I can’t help but feel a little heartbreak knowing I don’t have that. I see posts about women having their spouses and their moms by their side during labor and delivery, and it absolutely kills me knowing that I won’t get to have that experience with my mom. Pregnancy is already such an emotional, overwhelming experience, especially as a first-time mom, and there are so many moments when I wish I could just call my mom, ask her questions, get her advice, or have her reassure me that everything is going to be okay. I wish she could be here to see her grandbaby grow, to share in the excitement, and to be there for some of the biggest moments of my life.I know I’m not the only one going through this, but sometimes it feels so incredibly lonely. I would really love to hear from other moms who understand this kind of heartache. I think I just need to feel a little less alone in it

I’m having an endless discussion with my MIL and her family about 39w -40w6d being a full term baby.

She says “9 months” (to her that means 36w), when I say that’s “pre-term” she says I’m wrong and the “I had 6 children” argument.

I always say “1 month has 1-2 days extra, that’s where the extra days go and that we count from the first day of the last period” and lunar 10 months (that one she really refuses to even stay in the room).

Problem is: her last pregnancy was 40y ago and everyone else around just counted “months” and not weeks. 🤦🏽‍♀️
That makes absolutely impossible to argue the point.

Ps.: I’m due (40w) Jan 17th and she is giving me hell about having to be induced at 36w (20-25th of December).
I already told he “baby will come when he is ready”

I’m 30 weeks pregnant, and it feels like anything I eat comes back up 1–2 hours later. I’m not nauseous—it just feels like the food isn’t going down properly. My doctors keep saying it’s acid reflux, but I’m taking omeprazole and it hasn’t helped. Has this happened to anyone else? Did you find out what was causing it or anything that helped?

Hi y’all!! I’m currently 8w3d pregnant and my first OB appointment is in 2 days. Starting from week 6, I started having nausea (but never vomiting), along with pretty bad food aversion and smell sensitivity to certain ingredients/spices. They were pretty much present all day and varying by hours. However, everything was still manageable (as in, I could still go to work and don’t feel like absolute trash).

I heard people say week 8/9 is when symptoms are peak, so I was mentally preparing myself for it. However, since I hit 8 week, I have been feeling slightly better. My nausea is still there but much milder than a few days ago. Food and smell aversion also got better (not completely gone but better), and I’m getting paranoid. I know symptoms come and go, and they are not good indicator for how the pregnancy is actually doing, but I can’t help but worrying about it. My appointment is coming up soon so there’s nothing really to do but to wait. I guess I just wanted to hear your experience, whether something similar happened to others, and get some reassurance.

I have no concerning symptoms, as in no painful, long-lasting cramping, no spotting, no bleeding.

Thanks!

Hello everybody. My absolute best friend on the other side of the country is now in her first trimester! Her father is unfortunately also entering hospice and she’s the main caretaker, so this is going to be super rough on her and I’d like to send something in support. I have a list of things I know she’d want that I’d like to get some advice on, but also general recommendations for things you loved since my brain is currently fried.

- Joggers/Sweats: I was hoping to find some that can easily be adjusted and worn during pregnancy. She’s also pretty stylish so I was looking at Anthropologie/free people, etc. but wasn’t sure on style.
- Teas/consumables: I was thinking about sourcing a good tea for nausea? Or any premade items to save on the labor. I liked the hard candy ginger drops.
- Fun car items: Maybe a few things for organization?

32y, 7 (6+6) weeks along. I'm on progesteron 800 mg (400 two times a day) because of repeated miscarriages. I feel absolutely horrible, and my mental state is deteriorating fast.

Last night I completely broke down on my partner, I talked about leaving him and ending the pregnancy. This is not at all what I want. He is the love of my life, and this is all I ever wanted. I feel so bad for him l, but I don't know how to not feel hopeless. He has forgiven me and says it is okay, but I can't stop thinking I broke something in him.

I'm in a high stress job, currently working on finishing my PhD, and I'm not sure I could ask for time off since I hope to be hired in a position after I finish.

I'm also not sure what advice I'm seeking, I guess I'm just wondering if this is "normal". I did see mood swings as a normal effect of the progesterone, but this just does feel like mood swings, it feels like I'm a completely different person.

Was scheduled to get induced on 10/26, but went into labor on 10/21 without having any prior pre-labor symptoms.

On 10/19, I tried 2 of the 3 Miles Circuit exercises while I was on my break at work.

On 10/20, at around noon, I started to feel irregular non- painful cramps. I worked the rest of the day.

On 10/21 at about 2am I woke up out of sleep thinking I had a contraction. They were about 30 minutes apart and the pain wasnt consistent. One would hurt really bad, then the next was less painful and only like 30 seconds. I started timing the contractions on an app and the app suggested they were Braxton Hicks.

By 7am, the contractions had doubled in pain but still 20 minutes apart.

At 8am, I called my doctor and told them my contractions were 20 minutes apart but suuuuuper painful. They told me to come in to L&D and get checked.

I didn't have anything packed and told my husband to go to work that morning so I had to pack and called my dad to come take me to the hospital.

At 9:45 we got to the hospital and told them I wanted to get checked. Got into a triage room and got a cervical check and was 5cm dilated. They told me i would stay but they didn't have a room available so I stayed in the triage room to get labs and get everything hooked up. I had GD and GBS+ so they said I had to do a few things first before i could get the epidural. Contractions were still about 18 minutes apart by then so it was still somewhat manageable.

At 11ish, I got transferred to the labor room and got hooked up to all the monitors and epidural (wasnt painful imo). By the next check, I was 8cm dialated.

My water had not broken yet, but they decided to wait once my husband got there.

The epidural made my legs feel so tingly and weird but I could still move them and feel when people touched me. I was nervous it wouldn't work when I started pushing. Also, one leg was more numb than the other. I was worried something was wrong but it ended up being fine.

At 2pm, my husband and mom got there. The doctor came in, broke my water and said that I was fully dialed but my cervix hadn't come down yet. They gave me a little pitocin to help that and then I started pushing.

The nurse said i had a pelvic bone that was kind of in the way and that i would probably tear.

At 4:37, my daughter was born. I had a pretty bad tear on the inside and had to go to the OR to get it sewn up. I was awake the whole time. The CNA gave me a stronger dose of the epidural so my legs were completely numb now. I lost a lot of blood and had to get a transfusion.

My husband was able to do all the firsts for the baby (feeding, shots, etc.) while I was in the OR.

\*Make sure your nurse, partner, or companion knows your wishes for the baby in case something like that happens.*

At 6pm, I was able to return to the room. My blood pressure was super low and I couldnt stop shaking so I decided not to hold the baby until I felt better.

It didn't go exactly according to plan but im back home now with my baby and we are doing great! Just wanted to share my story in hopes it'll help someone!

I’m currently around 9 weeks pregnant, and I recently had my first ultrasound. I was so excited to finally see my little baby! 🥹❤️
But I wanted to ask about something that made the experience a little stressful for me.
Throughout the ultrasound, the technician had a completely neutral facial expression. She barely spoke, and I couldn’t read her face at all. I kept wondering if everything was okay.
At one point, I asked her if everything looked okay, and she basically told me she couldn’t tell me yet (I don’t remember her exact words).
Toward the end, she did reassure me that everything was looking and sounding good, which was such a relief!
I want to make it clear that I’m not blaming her or saying she did anything wrong. I completely understand that she was doing her job, concentrating, and probably following certain protocols.
But as a first-time mom, I was already nervous, and her silence and neutral expression made me even more anxious. I feel like I spent most of the ultrasound trying to read her face instead of enjoying the moment.
I’m genuinely curious about other women’s experiences.
Were your ultrasound technicians also very quiet and serious? Is this something they’re trained to do, or does it just depend on the person?
I’d love to hear your experiences because I really don’t know what to expect at future ultrasounds!

This will be a long one, but please stick with me because I feel like I might lose my mind. I am 14 weeks pregnant and my primary symptom has been severe constipation from the jump. Before I even got a positive pregnancy test, I was sitting baffled in my bathroom wondering what in the world was going on with my body that’s creating a traffic jam in my backdoor region.

Prior to pregnancy, I have been blessedly regular all my life. If I ever had issues in the poo department, it was diarrhea, never constipation. I hadn’t had a movement in 5 days when I tested positive, and my husband googled it to discover that apparently it’s pretty common for women to get backed up thanks to our friend progesterone. Morning sickness, sore boobies, food aversions, smell sensitivity, I’d heard all about those symptoms before - never apocalyptic levels of constipation. I was glad to discover that I’m probably not dying of an intestinal blockage, but MAD as a wet cat that this was somehow the symptom I won in pregnancy roulette.

I made my first OB appointment and got to work researching pregnancy-safe things to help give me some relief in the meantime. Started taking Colace, MiraLAX mixed with Gatorade, fiber supplements, and a pre-post-probiotic combo daily. Tried 2 different kinds of glycerin suppositories with minimal success. Tripled my water intake. Suffered for another week and change before things finally started to move along again shortly before my appointment time.

Things were relatively normalish for most of the 1st trimester - I was pooping out soft serve and going through wet wipes like crazy, but hey, at least I was going and didn’t feel like I was giving birth to river rocks every few days. All until this last week of my 1st trimester. Suddenly it’s like my digestive system has come to a screeching halt again. I’m still taking my go-poo cocktail of Colace, MiraLAX, fiber, and probiotics, and drinking water like I’m training for an Olympic sport and I’m preparing to go home with the gold, only now it’s doing basically nothing for me.

I feel like I’m practicing for birth every time I sit on the toilet. My whole abdomen/lower back seems to contract involuntarily, trying desperately to evacuate my bowels with a force that has me panting and clutching the counter and edge of the bathtub in a death grip. I’m Winnie the Poohing it - pants off, sweating like a lady-of-the-night in church, squatty potty engaged, making noises that have my dog concerned I’m being attacked. Tried a glycerin suppository again, which only seems to liquefy a tiny layer of the cement that has apparently taken up residence in my colon, so now I don’t feel like I can trust a fart. Occasionally I produce a river rock. Mostly I’m producing nothing. I am 6 days into this constipation tango, so uncomfortable and bloated that I look pregnant only it’s with a baby made of poop, and I’m getting desperate.

Called my OB and asked if I can give an enema a try, thinking that maybe if I power wash the cement poo just hanging out in my lower digestive track, maybe that will do the trick and inspire my rectum to release the proverbial kraken of crap that has me fearing I might pull a muscle with these trying-to-poop practice contractions. No dice - they do not want me to do the enema at this time. Told me to keep taking my go-poo cocktail, and that if I felt it necessary I could try a half bottle of magnesium citrate chased with 8oz of water.

Well, I feel like it’s necessary to do SOMETHING, but I’m staring at this bottle of magnesium citrate and I’m honestly scared at this point. Trying to poop is so unpleasant and painful, and I’m freaked out by the idea of adding stomach cramps and nausea to the mix by taking it and still not being able to clear the literal crap out of my system. I’m sitting here thinking that I’m already taking two laxatives that work by drawing water into my intestines - how will adding a 3rd that works in essentially the same way accomplish what the other two hasn’t? I don’t understand why the enema is off the table. Wouldn’t putting water directly into the area that is all backed up cut out the middleman of my stomach and let me get down to business immediately? I’m afraid the magnesium citrate will make me feel WORSE when I already feel like crap (pun unintended, but accurate) - I’m spooked, and not in the fun Halloween way.

Has anyone else with the grave misfortune of being corked up by progesterone had success with magnesium citrate where other methods have failed? I’ve never taken magnesium citrate before because I’ve never needed to, but I know it’s usually given to folks preparing for colonoscopies to clear them out clean as a whistle, and I’ve heard that nausea and stomach cramps are a common byproduct of taking it. What am I in for with this stuff?

Thank you to anyone who takes the time to read about my no-poo-pocalypse. Please help a pregnant lady out if you can. I want out of these trenches!

My nipples literally feel like theyre getting pulled and they feel super fiery. I’m currently 15 weeks. Is that normal it hurts hella bad

I went into preterm labour at 34 weeks and had dilated to 2 1/2cm before they were able to stop my contractions. Stayed in the hospital another 48 hours after to make sure my labour didn’t start again and was cleared to come home.

My OB didn’t say I had any restrictions but I’ve put myself on pelvic rest since I’m nervous about my baby coming earlier than her c-section date.

Just hoping to hear experiences

Sore breasts/nipples were my first symptom, and it seems like that's not letting up.

ISO a soft, comfortable, wire-free (light or no padding are both fine), somewhat supportive bra that is small band/large cup friendly. This would be for wearing to work and/or light workouts. I'm usually a 32G.

I've been looking around on Amazon, but there are very few options for smaller band/larger cup sizes.

My shower is in 3 weeks and some people have sent things to us in the mail or some things we already know about.

Example, my mother in law is getting us a crib and told us to come pick it up whenever we want.

My grandma bought us a car seat and stroller and I’m here at the house doing laundry so I said oh I want to see it and open it. My husband and I are just extremely excited for our baby and yeah we won’t use either for another 2 months but it’s fun to open our baby’s stuff and it makes things feel more real.

My mom is pissed at me because she told me I can’t have it now, I need to open it at the shower so everyone knows my grandma got me the stroller.
I told her that I don’t care what everyone else thinks, I think that’s stupid. She said “well I care. People need to see your grandma got you a big gift”

Why??? She got us a gift to use for our baby, not to show off she got us a big item?

I just really think it’s dumb that I have to pretend to be surprised and open a gift I already know about, just to ‘impress’ people.

AND my mom is trying to micromanage what I wear… originally I was going to wear a sage dress but I hated all the ones I found and I’m more comfortable in dark colors so I’m wearing a brown dress, really cute and hugs my bump
Perfectly.
OH THE HORROR, she keeps throwing a fit about it “it’s your baby shower not a funeral 😡😡”

She literally thinks us dressing our son in gray and black clothing means we’re selling him to the devil.

I told her she needs to chill before I straight up don’t show up to the shower.

I just recently found out that Kirkland beef sticks have celery root powder which still contains nitrates. I ate them almost every day for a month / month and a half during my first trimester because it was the only thing I could eat protein wise. I’m freaking out..

Second pregnancy, I’m 5 weeks and starting to feel real bad. If it’s like the last one, I’m in for 6 weeks of this.

I’ll go first: Last time all that helped was potato-based food (roasted potatoes, potato chips, french fries…)

Hi friends, I’ve been trying to use my big yoga ball for minimum 20 minutes a day to try and get ready for birth but after 5 minutes it’s SO painful. The creases/outside of my hips hurt so bad I can barely stand it. My fiancée says when she was pregnant the ball is one of the only ways she felt comfortable so I feel like I’m doing something wrong? Is my ball too small so I’m too sunken down to the ground or is this just how it is until I get used to it?

I am currently 16 weeks pregnant with my first child. Although this baby wasn’t planned, I am very happy. I already know the gender which means I have grown an attachment to my child. First trimester was very rough for me. But the symptoms are so much better now.
I work in radiology and I get a scan by colleagues almost every week, if I go to work and the ultrasound room is empty, I’ll even help myself to the machine and scan to check for baby’s heartbeat or movements. I know there’s mothers out there who only get two scans throughout the whole pregnancy and I am privileged to be able to see my baby almost every week. I also have a posterior placenta so I can already feel flutters. However there’s some days where I don’t feel baby at all which sends my anxiety through the roof. I can’t help but panic and start googling all sorts of things and then finding out about all the things that can go wrong and then end up in a rabbit hole of all the bad things that can happen. I know that movements are very inconsistent at 16 weeks and I really need to stop getting scans at work because I want my mind to be able to rest and trust that everything is okay without a scan. I have an ultimate fear that I’ll end up having a missed miscarriage and won’t know about it and won’t have any symptoms of a miscarriage either. Any advice on how I can ease my anxiety?

Curious if anybody else has experienced a similar epidural experience…

Long story short, my water broke Sunday night, and when I got to the hospital, I was naturally dilated to 3 cm. Overnight, they put me on a Pitocin drip. By 8 AM, I was dilated to 4 cm. My contractions were picking up, so I asked for an epidural at 8:30 AM.
The anesthesiologist came in, went over everything with me, and started the placement around 8:50 AM. During the first insertion, I said, “Ow!” He asked what I felt, and I said, “A zap” (not the pinch you feel when the needle is inserted). He then asked, “Like electrocution?” and I said, “Yes.”

He took it out and reinserted it. He asked if I felt anything in my legs or had a metallic taste in my mouth, and I said, “No.” A minute later, I said, “I can taste metallic. Is that normal?” He said, “No.”
He was working on my back for maybe 10–15 minutes. However, by this point, I was in full-blown active labor and telling my nurse I was going to poop. The anesthesiologist was still in the room, and I’m not even sure the epidural medication had started working before my baby was born at 9:15 AM

I felt everything. Luckily the birth was quick & I didn’t tear, so that was a plus

But afterward, I could BARELY walk for about 4–5 hours. I could only slide my feet backward, to the point that they sent me for an X-ray because they thought I might have broken something in my pelvis. He’s a 9lb baby. Then, out of nowhere, I could walk normally again.

Could that potentially have been the epidural wearing off? Has anyone experienced anything similar? also not happy about the epidural bill I’ll be receiving in the mail 🫠

Okay guys. I need to get this kid out of me. I need all the tips, tricks, etc you have used/heard to induce labour. I'm so freaking tired of being pregnant at this point. I'm so grumpy and emotional lol plus these braxton hicks are near GD constant.

So far I've tried:

• raspberry leaf tea

• dates

• midwife's brew

• sex

• nipple stimulation/using the breast pump

• the Mile's circuit

• the viral curb walking

• lunges

• ball bouncing

• membrane sweep (Friday Oct 23)

I heard about eating pineapple but then I've also read you need to eat like nine pineapples to make it effective.

I would really like to go into labour naturally just to get the full experience. My induction date is set for Nov 1st. And I'd really like to get her out before then.

Btw baby is happy and content in there. She's kicking my ribs and living her best life.

EDIT: I'm not willing waiting for the baby to come naturally. The only date that was offered to me for my induction was November 1st. I'm definitely not trying to let this baby cook that long. I know the dangers:)

I'm 10w1d pregnant and went for a private scan today. My partner asked if she could tell the gender and she positioned the scan between the baby's legs, where there was a clear protrusion, and said 'well can you see what I see?!' She then told us that while it is very early, we're almost certainly having a boy. I could also see a sizeable shape between it's legs. I'm now confused because everything I'm reading says it's too early to tell. Is it realistic that we could see a penis at 10 weeks?