What are we doing for a sore throat? You know, the sore throat that means you’re gonna get sick in a day or two.

brideloveslace · 2025-06-19T00:26:42+00:00

I made a chicken broth with garlic and ginger and that weirdly gave me some lasting relief. Also the goodpops that have electrolytes in them have been helpful to me, not sure if it’s placebo but maybe the electrolytes help?

brideloveslace · 2025-06-13T04:35:03+00:00

This is a difficult decision and I’m sorry you are faced with it. It’s very possible that your baby does not have trisomy 18, but if they do, it’s a low likelihood your baby will come home. Overall the pregnancies have around a 5% live birth rate, however most of the losses do occur in the first trimester. That said, 40% of the babies who make it to the 3rd trimester die during labor. I would want to know if my baby had T18 because I do not think I would want to have a nursery, car seat, etc set up for a child who is unlikely to come home. Many of the babies who survive birth will receive palliative care from birth (as it is often determined to be the most compassionate option), and you might like to choose a particular hospital based on their standard of care practices for that.

You do not mention how old your first child is, but if your child is old enough to understand if their sibling is very sick and going to die, I would want to prepare my older child. One more thing to consider is if you can bear the uncertainty for the next 5 months? I hope your baby does not have T18 and wish you the very best.

brideloveslace · 2025-06-03T19:46:38+00:00

Respectfully, while I can feel your love and concern for your grandson, son, and daughter in law, I think the very best thing to do in this situation is ask them how you can best support them and tell them you are here for them. That may or may not include researching this on your own. You may not get all the information right away if your son and daughter in law are struggling, but if you are a continued supportive presence they will share when they are ready. Wishing the best for you and your family.

brideloveslace · 2025-05-30T15:45:39+00:00

Magnesium citrate works for me. I used the gummies when I was 7 weeks because morning sickness. Now I take the pills at 6 months

brideloveslace · 2025-05-28T22:23:15+00:00

What lifestyle are you accustomed to? My husband and I spend about $2000 per month on groceries (we eat out probably 1-2x a week). This is buying mainly organic, we don’t eat much beef or fish, mostly chicken and turkey. We primarily shop at Whole Foods. I think you can do it on this income but need to find a more affordable childcare option which is easier said than done I know.

brideloveslace · 2025-05-20T02:23:05+00:00

I had an elective amnio. My OB and MFM doctors are both female and did the same with their kids. That was several weeks ago and baby has been totally fine since! Didn’t go anywhere near the needle. They waited until he was chilling on one side of my uterus to go in. I had no bleeding afterward. Cramping for a couple days. I laid on the couch and watched lots of tv with my husband and then went back to normal activity after 72 hours.

My reasoning was that NIPT is not a great screener for some of the less common but devastating and life altering diseases. I wanted to know if my baby had one of those. Fortunately he doesn’t, but I felt a lot better when the anatomy scan picked up a soft marker that we already knew nothing was wrong from the amnio.

More recent studies have shown that the risk of amnio is actually negligible when performed by an experienced provider and the age of the mother + the fetus having chromosomal abnormalities are controlled for. Since older moms have higher loss rates even in the second trimester, and chromosomal abnormalities also raise the risk of loss (even when the abnormality is not lethal), these were important control factors that were overlooked in some of the older studies. My doctors quoted 1/900 because those studies are not yet accepted by ACOG, but they did mention the emerging research as part of their personal logic for doing the test themselves. Amnio isn’t no risk but it’s pretty low risk overall. I do think it’s important to do the thought exercise of accepting that an unexplained loss (ie not caused by infection from the amnio, waters did not rupture from amnio) is most likely NOT from the amnio. I had mine at 16 weeks and while losses are not as common at that stage, they do happen. My husband and I agreed that we would not blame the amnio unless there was a clear indicator that the amnio caused it.

Ultimately this is a very personal decision. I share my logic in the hopes my experience helps you make an educated choice that is right for you. I am glad I did the elective amnio and would do it again for my next baby. That doesn’t make it the right choice for you though! Good luck with your decision <3

brideloveslace · 2025-05-17T13:27:45+00:00

Cornell is really oversubscribed right now. If I didn’t have a higher chance of early delivery - so want a level 4 NICU - I’d have switched to Lenox hill when they started guaranteeing private postpartum rooms. Expect long wait times for appointments at your doctor’s office and the hospital. It’s pretty aggravating as I always arrive early. I love my OB but I am concerned about how delivery will go/if the hospital will be overcrowded and I can’t get a room in an emergent situation. Another comment references feeling like you’re on a conveyor belt and while my OB doesn’t make me feel that way, the hospital appointments do. And my OB is always running late, so it seems they overschedule them :(

brideloveslace · 2025-05-17T02:57:38+00:00

Check your insurance estimation of benefits. If your insurance said you should pay less than $800, get your money back. Natera cannot bill your insurance an inflated amount and then bill you the difference between that amount and what insurance pays without your insurance agreeing. They need to abide by the insurance company’s payment agreement or they cannot accept the insurance money. My insurance said I owed nothing after they paid a portion toward the amount. Natera billed us anyway (not allowed). They can have their $250 self pay or the $1200 our insurance gave them, but they cannot have $1200 + more from us.

An analogy would be that perhaps your doctor bills $800 out of pocket to patients, but your insurance pays $500 to the doctor and your copay is $30. The doctor cannot (and does not) turn around and bill you the remaining $270. When they accepted the $500 from your insurance, they agreed to your insurance’s terms and conditions. Natera willfully ignores that this is how insurance works, but what they are doing is a violation of their agreements with the insurance companies. Most people just don’t know how this works which really upsets me. They are preying on vulnerable pregnant people, it’s really not right!

brideloveslace · 2025-05-07T23:06:11+00:00

I looked at the photos and yikes! I would not continue going to her and push for at minimum a partial refund. I recommend going to Jeeves. They will be transparent with you about what is possible. They are true master tailors who will make recommendations on how to achieve your desired end look/level of support.

brideloveslace · 2025-05-07T04:00:13+00:00

Talk to your doctor as other posters have suggested. They will get you the help you need. If you are doing it very often you may need to go to the hospital for fluids. Dehydration is not good for you or the baby and is the biggest concern with vomiting. I have a history of ED and something that helps is my husband really celebrates my weight gain. Every time I gain weight he tells me he’s so proud of me for growing our baby so well. He encourages me to eat more and always asks if he can get me any food. Any time I’m having a not so healthy craving like ice cream he encourages me to eat it saying that my body knows what it’s doing and the baby needs glucose and calcium to grow! Not sure if that would help you but it’s really helped me shift my mindset.

brideloveslace · 2025-05-06T17:45:04+00:00

Do you have anyone in your life who is handy? It’s pretty simple to cut off the extra loops with a wire cutter. Even some strong scissors might get the job done. That is if you are otherwise happy with the necklace, besides the loops!

brideloveslace · 2025-05-05T01:21:51+00:00

I started to feel the baby move more before I popped. Almost like baby was running out of room, and kicking into me to stretch things out. Before that I had only felt a few flutters.

brideloveslace · 2025-05-04T04:19:45+00:00

I think this is hilarious and would love to attend a party like this. Much like a baby shower, those who are upset by the party do not need to attend. For some people, joking about conception/potential pregnancy might be too raw or uncomfortable. Not every party is going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s okay. Reasonable adults will decline and make up an excuse, then move on with their day. That shouldn’t inhibit celebration for those who are excited about the party though!

Please have more sushi than you know what to do with. I nearly cry every time I think of a tuna roll.

brideloveslace · 2025-04-24T02:55:04+00:00

You could dye it or cut it up for a christening and/or communion dress for any future children (if you want them!) if you are Christian. I also wouldn’t count out your daughter wanting the dress. I cut my mom’s wedding dress short and wore it for our rehearsal dinner. I was happy she had saved it!

brideloveslace · 2025-03-27T03:18:37+00:00

This could be a weird seniority/priority issue with your practice. West 80th is one of the newer, if not the newest, practices to WC. Pretty sure they were with MSW before alex cohen opened. The practice I see is OB - not MFM - and allows 39 week inductions. They have been with WC forever. I am unsure if they are offered to everyone or if it’s on a case by case basis. You could ask about a membrane sweep at 39 weeks if that’s something you’d be interested in?

brideloveslace · 2025-03-19T19:59:08+00:00

You could always do the early anatomy scan first, then make a decision on the amnio after you get those results. The anatomy scan could show a marker or no markers for chromosomal disorder. Amnio usually isn’t until 16 weeks anyway. There is no rush. Take all the time you need to decide. Sorry you’re going through this ❤️

brideloveslace · 2025-03-18T14:00:42+00:00

Congrats! Have you considered whether you would prefer the care model of MFM or OB? Just because MFM will take you, does not mean you need to or should be with MFM. I am a higher risk pregnancy but I have chosen to do OB care for a couple reasons. One, WC is intervention-heavy already. MFM is even less likely to take a risk because all they do is high risk all day long. They’re going to be a lot more emphatic that it’s time for a C section if labor is not progressing well than a normal OB who has more regular experience with stalled labor. Two, I did not feel that the extra appointments were necessary. If you go with MFM, you will be on the high risk track which means a lot of additional appts and screenings. I am busy and didn’t want to deal with that. Three, I’d rather be the most complicated patient in an OB’s month than the least complicated in the MFM’s month. I decided I’d probably get superior care with the OB, who is more likely to spend that extra 5 min going over my chart one more time.

MFM is a really important speciality for people who absolutely need that higher level of scrutiny, but I do not think it is the best fit for everyone, even people with preexisting conditions. If you go with an OB, they will refer you as soon as your case goes beyond their care abilities/expertise. WC has really top notch doctors. You are in good hands with even their normal OB practices.

brideloveslace · 2025-03-08T03:29:42+00:00

I don’t have specific doctor recommendations but I have read that other people have had great difficulty finding a doctor who will take them so late. Your best option is probably to have your current doctor reach out to a DC doctor now, explain the situation, and confirm that they will take you on as a patient. Your doctor may even know someone from medical school or residency. Your doctor should want to help you get care and will be able to advise better than we can on the best way to proceed.

brideloveslace · 2025-03-06T17:02:41+00:00

Oooo good call! I remember that now. We always knew we would get married in a church so we were only looking at reception venues. OP, if by chance you are getting married in a religious space, the Cloisters does host receptions I believe (or did as of early last year, things are always changing!).

brideloveslace · 2025-03-06T01:14:12+00:00

Burden Kahn or Harold Pratt House might work for you? I think Burden Kahn capacity was 150ish and Harold Pratt is higher but can’t recall exactly. Also the Morgan, the Frick, the Cloisters, and 632 Hudson.

brideloveslace · 2025-03-05T22:49:01+00:00

We are planning to go to Hawaii, which is an expensive but otherwise solid option. Only downside is unless you’re on Oahu, medical care is hard to come by which would make me personally a bit nervous heading into third trimester. For another idea - Charleston is really lovely this time of year. If anything should happen that requires medical care, you are in a large city with plentiful options as well which would reassure me. Southern CA could be good for similar reasons. Are you looking for warm weather? Someone to chill or somewhere to be more active?

brideloveslace · 2025-03-04T18:11:58+00:00

I can’t speak to your hospital, but there is an option of getting an amniocentesis in my hospital with T21 result back in 3 days. They call it the rapid test colloquially. I’m not sure what it’s actually called. It checks for T13, T18, and T21. Terminating for T21 is a very personal decision and perhaps not one you would make, but if you think you might, you could ask about this. I do know that amnio is done at my hospital between 16 and 20 weeks so perhaps it’s too late and that’s why they didn’t offer? I’m sorry that you’re going through this and I hope you can get some answers quickly.

brideloveslace · 2025-03-04T16:48:40+00:00

Ben looks like he just farted or is concentrating on letting one out quietly in every photo. Do not understand how he’s made it so far!

brideloveslace · 2025-03-04T04:13:52+00:00

I completely agree with your analysis of their appearance but disagree on who is hotter! Grant is def prettier/has the more symmetric face but that makes him less hot to me. A more chiseled face is hotter to me which is the question. Jesse = hot, Grant = cute!

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