Pregnancy Thread

I can hear my kids crying 2 floors up, behind closed doors, from the basement where my computer is and with the furnace on right next to me. My wife doesn't always hear them 1 floor up from there. But then I have to turn up TV to hear people talking 10 notches louder than is normal. I am like the hearing equivalent of Costanza incorrectly spotting squirrels on road trip but then accurately identifying a dime from 30 feet away.

mures_sl said:

Ummm....if this happened in my line of work and I was caught I'd go to jail

No wonder why health insurance costs an arm and a leg.

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The reality is it works in everyone's favor. The patient gets a lot of good information for a relatively low price. Should one of the tests come back with something bad it might keep them from having kids. If you know you are 75% likely to have to bury your kid while they are in their teens you might not have as many or even have any at all.

There are a fair number of pretty serious disorders they can screen for and let you know your odds. We did a full Counsyl screen for kicks and it was amazing the stuff they can tell you. Well worth the $350 or whatever it was. Sometimes you can be a carrier for stuff and not have any clue but if you get with another carrier things could get ugly quick. Alpha 1-Antitrypsin is a good example of one that runs the whole gambit of a death sentence to not a big deal depending on what allele you have.

In addition many people have fairly minor genetic issues like MTHFR which can be treated with folic acid supplements or baby aspirin to significantly reduce the risk of defects / issues. Knowing that early can save a TON of money simply by using a $4 bottle of folic acid.

The insurance companies don't mind paying because if something hits the screen (Downs or some other genetic disorder) the patient will be more likely to abort ending costs right there of what would amount to being astronomical should they be born.

From a bean counter perspective its a good investment. In the end the insurance company decides what they'll pay for each test. If they want to give them 2.3k for the test that the company charges patients significantly less then that is their business. One of the few things consumers can use to their advantage.

I have a baby monitor but used it maybe 3 times over the years with my 3 kids. Unless you have like a 4000 sqft house, I don't think they are really necessary. Parents are pretty good at hearing their kids and you learn quickly what their different cries mean.

We use a cheap Philips Avent 505 for baby naps, as well as cafe visits. It's not top of the line, child unit is not rechargeable (cord or alkaline AAs), but It gives us some degree of freedom and flexibility until the daycare starts. I would not want to live without it so far

Kedwyn_sl said:

From a bean counter perspective its a good investment. In the end the insurance company decides what they'll pay for each test. If they want to give them 2.3k for the test that the company charges patients significantly less then that is their business. One of the few things consumers can use to their advantage.

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All test talk aside, what they essentially are doing is filing a fake claim. How does that help the consumer? The hospital benefits because they are getting paid $2600 for a $300 test and in turn insurance companies are forced to raise premiums. We, the consumer, foot the bill. Everyone knows it happens, but to blatantly tell the customer on the phone that just blows my mind.

I'd love a video baby monitor myself, the wife keeps telling me to stop being silly. Marie is up to that age where she'll stand in her baby bed, hands on the bars, rattling around. Or she'll cry out a little in the middle of the night and then fall silent. You walk in --> you might wake her up again because she just had a bad second. Would love to just take a glance at the phone and be reassured that everything is alright.

In fact I have my old android phone collecting dust.. might as well give it a try. Hope the camera can work with low light... if the flash turns on, it will be useless.

lindz_sl said:

I have a baby monitor but used it maybe 3 times over the years with my 3 kids. Unless you have like a 4000 sqft house, I don't think they are really necessary. Parents are pretty good at hearing their kids and you learn quickly what their different cries mean.

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The main use that we used baby monitors was for at night to wake us up. As the baby's room was far enough down the hall where if you were a deep sleep you necessarily couldn't hear anything unless she really wailed.

Etoille_sl said:

Completely aced 1 hr gestational diabetes test. Nowhere near even the bottom line for borderline. Third trimester and still 9 lbs down from pre-pregnancy. Barring any extreme late weight gain (which would likely be related to swelling and pre-eclampsia - which could always happen but my BP is staying completely the same each appointment thus far)...looks like I'll be finishing this pregnancy lighter than when I started. And from what I understand breastfeeding=more weight loss. Pregnancy=best.diet.ever.

Heartburn is FUN. 150mg Zantac a night at this point.

Had some weird cervical pain a couple weeks ago that they cant explain but ultrasound says that cervix is still at a 4 and no indicator protein signaling pre-term labor so I'm just one of those lucky people that will have something that is just 'is what it is'.

Eya - how are things in your corner of the universe?

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All is well. Fluid levels have been great on our two ultrasounds since the first, so they just think it was an anomaly. All measurements are exactly where they should be.

She had her gestational diabetes test, the one where you drink the drink so I'm not sure if its the same as the one you are talking about, and we haven't heard anything yet. That was 10 days ago.

My wife has regained the 14 or so pounds she lost during her first trimester according to our last appointment two weeks ago.

Heartburn has been a major issue for her as well and she's been eating Tums like she's going to the chair so maybe I should suggest Zantac to her.

Third trimester begins this Friday and the uncomfortable-ness is beginning to reach critical mass so I'm already ready for the baby to be here.

Did you know: An old wives tale states that if a pregnant woman has heartburn then her baby will be born with a ton of hair on its head. Modern scientific testing actually proved that yes, this is true. They still don't know exactly why, though.

chaos_sl said:

Did you know: An old wives tale states that if a pregnant woman has heartburn then her baby will be born with a ton of hair on its head. Modern scientific testing actually proved that yes, this is true. They still don't know exactly why, though.

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That's all it is, an old wives tale. My wife was sucking down Tums like she owned stock in the company, and our son had some hair, but not a lot.

OneofOne_sl said:

That's all it is, an old wives tale. My wife was sucking down Tums like she owned stock in the company, and our son had some hair, but not a lot.

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There was actually a study done showing a correlation.

http://voices.yahoo.com/pregnant-mot...es-451594.html

Eyashusa_sl said:

She had her gestational diabetes test, the one where you drink the drink so I'm not sure if its the same as the one you are talking about, and we haven't heard anything yet. That was 10 days ago.

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If you haven't heard anything, she probably passed. Our doctor has the annoying habit of only calling if something is wrong, or another test is needed. We have to call ourselves to get any "all clear" test results. We had the results for the gestational diabetes test back in like 4-5 days, and everything was fine for my wife. I know she was relieved, she really didn't want to have to do the big 3 hour test where you have to drink the crap 3 times, 1 was enough.

We're exactly 3 months out from our due date (July 17th), and everything is going fine so far. The only weird thing so far is that my wife has now started snoring occasionally while sleeping, I read that this was prety common during pregnancy. I just hope to god it isn't permanent, I'm a light sleeper and can't sleep in the same room with someone who is snoring. I've spent a couple nights now in the guest room. Oh well, guess I should get used to being tired from a lack of sleep, a whole lot of it is coming in 3 months...

Heartburn and hair thing...babies in the womb until 30 weeks or so are covered in hair, called lanugo.

They're covered with hair after they're born, too. It is just much more fine. My youngest had black hair on her back, it was awesome.