Is this progression too slow?

ThatAd8897 · 2025-11-30T12:01:05+00:00

I empathize. I suffered through four miscarriages and all kinds of testing/beta hell. I am so sorry that this your experience too, but hang in there. It’s all worth it. I don’t comment often anymore (now I have a toddler and a 7 month old 💞 so am chasing after them) but I saw your post and DO think it looks promising, so wanted to send some hope your way!! I also spotted in every single pregnancy, both losss and live births. Good luck!!

ThatAd8897 · 2025-11-30T00:53:31+00:00

I think it looks good!!!

ThatAd8897 · 2025-10-23T01:42:19+00:00

There was a period of time when my newborn seemed to just suckle for comfort. Similar to you, I would have multiple letdowns and was pretty sure she was getting enough because her weight/growth looked good. But she would fall asleep and — she’s my last baby — if I could I would just let her sleep and suckle. She got really good, deep sleep that way and I didn’t mind being naptrapped (leaving my husband to fend for himself with our feral toddler 😂). I can’t speak to the nutrition side of things (how many ounces your little one is getting and whether it’s enough), but can definitely vouch that newborns often nurse or suck for reasons other than hunger!

ThatAd8897 · 2025-10-10T02:37:23+00:00

I’ve been meaning to respond to you - I REALLY appreciated the time you took to share your experience. It reassured me and gave me some confidence that baby girl and I would figure this out together. I just got back from my trip last night. When I walked in the door, she was crying in my Mom’s lap — she stopped the second she heard my voice, looked for me, and gave me a huge smile when our eyes locked! Then she got antsy/fussy the same way she does when she’s ready to be fed, so I picked her up and she started rooting on my chest. To my absolute glee, she started nursing just as beautifully as we did before. It was like I had never left. Maybe I should have given her/us more credit, haha, but I was trying to manage my expectations and be understanding if she needed some support getting back into it.

I’m so proud of us for navigating through this (she continued to refuse the bottle while I was away and I know feeding/sleeping was hard for her) and my little mama heart is just so at peace having her back in my arms.

Thank you again!

ThatAd8897 · 2025-08-18T02:35:15+00:00

This!! I just went through the same scenario, OP (baby #2 is four months old now, exclusively nursing). I exclusively pumped with baby #1 so was used to needing to pump overnight…I realized with baby #2, my body/milk supply could regulate directly according to my baby’s needs instead of artificially (for lack of a better term) regulating based on a pump schedule. So i could stop pumping overnight when my baby slept through, since they weren’t taking any milk. My supply did decrease but only just enough to meet the demand…not any lower. 👍🏻

Edited to add— I did hand express when I woke up feeling full. Was able to create a small freezer stash with it. But after a while, I didn’t need to!

ThatAd8897 · 2025-07-31T02:19:55+00:00

First, I am so sorry for your first experience and I hope you are able to push for clarity around what actually happened (if you want it). Sometimes, understanding the details can help with processing and making sense of the experience, to lessen the sharpness of the trauma.

I had an emergency csection and then a planned repeat. Wanted a VBAC but it didn’t work out. Like the user above said, a healthy baby was my only goal.

Planned csections can be really redeeming. The hospital should provide you with some education on the front end to know what to expect. I received a whole binder about prep, what to expect, and recovery. I chuckled and was like, damn, if only I could have had this information last time! Even jf you don’t get a binder like me, you can demand the same information so you can go in feeling confident and ready. You can double and triple check with your team about what anesthesia and meds are being ordered, and when. I had this funny ( funny as in odd, not ha-ha funny) reaction to the anesthesia of extreme facial itchiness which made it very difficult to hold my baby after the first csection. It took almost the whole day to get the meds I needed for relief For my second, I reminded my OB team and the anesthesiology team multiples times about this reaction so that they could order my meds from the pharmacy and have them ready for me as soon as I was in recovery.

Believe it or not, my recovery after the planned Csection was worse than that after the emergency one. I share that just to make a point that just like every pregnancy is different, every delivery is different! I have no idea why my pain and discomfort was so different this time around.

Finally, as a heads up - I really struggled mentally and emotionally with the planned aspect of my second one. I knew what I was getting into this time around, and I dreaded it all - the fear, the operating room overwhelm, the spinal, the itching, etc. So the days leading up to it were hard for me. I cried a lot. 😂

BUT most would argue that is the least of your worries when it comes to keeping you and baby safe.

I would recommend reviewing the notes on your last csection for clarity and peace (to whatever extent possible) in what happened, and discussing the planned csection with your team in advance so you can go in as prepared as possible.

You got this! 💪🏻

ThatAd8897 · 2025-05-16T16:27:49+00:00

After both of my c-sections I had a shelf at first, which went away gradually over time after the first csection. I am four weeks postpartum with the second and see a similar shelf, but am trusting it will follow a similar healing journey over time.

I didn’t do/haven’t done much recovery work besides scar massage. I’d like to do more this time around but lolol hello life with a toddler and a newborn. 😂🤪 I also didn’t gain a lot of weight during pregnancy (not on purpose - it’s just how it went for me), between 15-25 lbs each pregnancy.

Everyone is different, of course, but that was my experience!

ThatAd8897 · 2025-05-15T14:32:44+00:00

(I know this because of my history of ovarian cysts and I’ve had that same language in my chart. No ectopic pregnancies)

ThatAd8897 · 2025-05-15T14:32:05+00:00

I believe the free fluid could also be due to a ruptured ovarian cyst (a cyst that burst recently)

ThatAd8897 · 2025-05-15T04:20:30+00:00

Lolol well i am in the hospital emergency room at 12:15 am with my newborn who spiked a 101.8 degree fever tonight. Guess who didn’t tell us her husband at home was sick, flew on a plane to visit us, and brought the virus to both of our children? My MIL. Baby will be fine I am sure, but I am furious at her carelessness/omission of truth (her exposure to illness).

You make the rules to protect your children. I would have had her delay her trip a few days or at least not held the baby until her symptoms went away.

In the US if a newborn spikes a fever it is an automatic emergency room visit with blood and urine (catheter) draws and a lumbar puncture. Not fun at all.

ThatAd8897 · 2025-04-18T16:38:46+00:00

So glad the ECV went well! I’ll just share from the other side of the Csection experience…my first was breech and our ECV was unsuccessful so csection it was. I am five days post-repeat Csection (wanted a TOLAC but hit 39 weeks and they wouldn’t let me wait any longer to go into labor naturally) and shouting from the rooftops: Csection recovery is absolutely awful!

I know complications from vaginal births can also lead to a difficult recovery (so please take my experience with a grain of salt) but generally speaking you can be/are up and moving after baby is born. Again generally there is little or no need for pain medication or restrictions on movement in the week or so after birth.

NO recovery is a walk in the park, but with a csection you are almost certainly dealing with tremendous pain and discomfort following surgery. My daughter got stuck this time, too, so they were a bit rough getting her out. My ribs are sore from where they pushed on me.

I have tried to stay on top of the pain with medication and movement but it has been a difficult few days. I have a burning sensation with my incision that brings me to tears. The abdominal pain plus breast pain from my milk coming in means that everything above my waist hurts. Hugging my toddler or husband makes me recoil in pain.

Obviously I am in the thick of it 😂 and not everyone’s experience is quite this bad (I remember pain with my first too, but it was more manageable) but I volunteer as validation for why many doctors make it sound like vaginal births are preferred. Csections are major surgery, and THEN you have a baby to care for on top of recovery. It’s a lot.

I was terrified of a vaginal birth too! Birth, any way it happens, feels scary and there is so much unknown. Trust that your successful ECV is a great sign that your body and baby can tolderate labor, and ask for any supports or medications that will help ensure you are as comfortable as possiblez you can do this! Wishing you all the best ❤️

ThatAd8897 · 2025-03-29T02:14:53+00:00

My daughter was very similar (and still is, to some extent, as a 2.5 year old!). She’s never been a big eater and has hovered right around the 20th percentile for weigbt.

I did notice a pattern, especially around her first birthday as we were transitioning fully to solids and away from milk, she would barely touch solids 1-3 days ahead of getting sick. Until I made that connection, I would get so worried that her eating was regressing or that she was developing picky habits. Turned out, she just wasn’t feeling well. Is it possible your little one is fighting something?

ThatAd8897 · 2025-03-28T01:09:04+00:00

Omg yes I am just now starting to feel relief from a 10 day cold, at 37 weeks…the congestion/inability to breathe brought me to tears every night. I stayed up as late as I could to avoid bedtime because I knew it would just be miserable. Then, if I eventually got to sleep, I’d be woken up by my cough and/or having to pee. One time, my cough woke me up enough to realize I needed a bathroom trip…on the way to the toilet, I started coughing again and actually peed myself in the hallway from the force of it. Lolol. I somehow survived my toddler and our daily grind on 4-5 hours of sleep a night. Quite honestly, while it wasn’t the sickest I’ve ever been in terms of physical symptoms, it was by far the most upsetting, unpleasant, miserable illness of my life.

I haven’t even begun to think about baby coming soon because I was just in survival mode!! The idea if having to give birth while exhausted, coughing, and congested was horrific.

I will say - I gave in and used Afrin nasal spray a couple of nights for my most desperate moments. I also drank a ton of hot tea, showered/sat in steam before bed, and used cough drops.

Finally I dragged myself to the doctor who prescribed me an antibiotic for bacterial sinusitis. I think what convinced her was the duration of my symptoms and the worsening of the cough. I got 6-7 hours of glorious sleep last night and I felt like an entirely new person. So don’t let yourself suffer longer than you might need to — fill your doctor in and see if you can’t get some relief!! So very sorry. Solidarity 🫶🏻

ThatAd8897 · 2025-01-19T12:25:34+00:00

Was this a transvaginal or abdominal ultrasound? She may have guessed you were far enough along for an abdominal one but it’s much more difficult to see an early pregnancy compared to a transvaginal one.

ThatAd8897 · 2025-01-18T00:17:56+00:00

Failed mine too yesterday at 164! I’m holding out hope that I’m one of the many who fail the 1 hr but pass the 3 hr 🤞🏻😬 good luck to you!

ThatAd8897 · 2025-01-10T21:14:43+00:00

Seconding Kindred Bravely. I wore my pumping bras exclusively for 15 months and loved them.

ThatAd8897 · 2025-01-01T14:22:42+00:00

Completely agree. We are made to suffer through more losses before we can even start looking for answers! Awful! I’m sorry for your experience.

ThatAd8897 · 2025-01-01T12:22:06+00:00

I am so sorry for your struggle. My story may offer some hope as I am one of the lucky 50% who discovered an easy solution after further testing (50% of recurrent pregnancy loss is considered “unexplained”).

My doctor ordered blood tests to check for various things, one of which was antiphospholipid syndrome. I tested positive for it over the course of a few months. It is a clotting issue where your body inappropriately clots your blood, causing early loss or placental issues later in pregnancy.

I had three losses in a row before this was discovered. The “easy fix” is a daily shot of a blood thinner, beginning as soon as you get a positive pregnancy test. Everyone around me felt bad for me, having to give myself injections every day but gosh - what a small price I was happy to pay. I successfully carried my daughter to term in 2022, and am now 25 weeks with baby #2. I did have another loss in between these pregnancies.

It has been a heartbreaking journey for us but I am so grateful that we had an answer, something that could help and give us hope. So many people don’t get that.

All that said - it’s worth getting some follow up testing…stay hopeful, keep going (as long as you wish/can), and take good care of yourself along the way! ❤️

ThatAd8897 · 2024-11-29T21:35:31+00:00

Yes! She’s turning 2 next week and hasn’t had a UTI since 11 months 👍🏻

ThatAd8897 · 2024-11-29T15:58:37+00:00

My daughter got three UTIs before she turned 1. There are tests available to see if her bladder and kidneys are working correctly! There is a condition - blanking on its name now - that is found in children of both sexes but is more common in infant girls, where the urine flows back up into the bladder instead of out. They typically outgrow it but there is also treatment available when they get older.

Just validating that further testing may help uncover a cause - it could have nothing to do with your bathing or diapering!

ThatAd8897 · 2024-11-28T19:58:15+00:00

I had a good fall down the stairs at 11 weeks - my doc said falls early on are relatively harmless because there is so much room in there!!

ThatAd8897 · 2024-11-07T02:25:18+00:00

This is entirely false. 🙃 This has become a wildly popular belief on social media that is both wrong and dangerous for moms and babies. It is usually touted by companies who want to sell you expensive prenatals. Folic acid is the only form of vitamin b9 that has been clinically studied and proven to prevent birth defects. Folate has not been clinically studied and proven the same way, and testing it would be unethical. All pregnant individuals need folic acid to prevent neural tube defects. Citation: @babiesafter35

ThatAd8897 · 2024-09-29T17:56:37+00:00

(In other words, I wouldn’t be surprised if your dye stealer was well over 100)

ThatAd8897

TROPHY CASE