panda

Oh I wanted opinions on this, I decided not to do the triple test, where they check for genetic/birth disorders..

I figure either it's bad enough they won't survive, thus it wouldn't survive to term anyway... or, if it's something like down's, it's not going to change what we 'do', it would just inform us.. BUT they have the false positives, and follow up would be 2 hours away for amniotic testing which is dangerous to baby, then it could end up bring wrong all along, causing a lot of undue stress during this time. It really made me scared thinking of it, so I opted out. They told me I can call and schedule it if I change my mind, but I don't plan to. Any thoughts on this? Did any of you do it?

My mom was told I had spinal ambifida, they wanted to abort. My mom is anti-abortion, so she refused.. ended up it was FALSE. I guess that's what really was my deciding factor.

Throwing in my 2 cents for what it's worth....

We didn't get the test done because we figured why bother? Either way, we wouldn't have killed our baby. Deformed, Down's, whatever.....we were thrilled with the fact that God was trusting us with a baby. We believed (and believe for the next one, when that happens one day down the line) that God only gives you what you can handle. No need to stress yourself...TRUST ME! :-D Your little bundle will be perfectly fine :eek:

AMEN! easier said than done though. I struggle with that with Juan too. He keeps wanting to feed me sweets. They make me happy and mellow... But then I feel miserable afterwards... Ugh. Men.

That's my DH....always wants to see me happy...so when i joke (honestly joking) about picking up sweets....he'll do it! or let me do it! I asked him one day why and he said "because I love seeing you happy and smiling...". I asked him if he liked seeing me mad and upset a few hours after eating the sweets...he said no...but said the smiles were worth it...LOL....and he constantly reminds me that he loves me how i am...not much of a "get back on the bandwagon" push....LOL

Laura - I meant to ask how the baby name search is going? My cousin just had his first and there were three couples that are pregnant within my extended family and they were all fighting for the same name. They were all trying to beat each other to the delivery room. Like I said though, my cousin and his wife ended up being induced and so he got the name. Emma. It's a really popular name right now but it's also my deceased grandmother's name so everyone wanted it. Seriously there were huge fights about it!

Emma is my neice's name too! It is really popular! My neice's name is Emma Grace :thumbs_up:

Haydee- We kind of settle on names, just so we have something to call it. For a month now we've called it "Izzy-Carson". So I guess right now Isabelle & Carson are the front runners. It changes every month though, last month it was "Lily-Blake". I can't wait to find out the sex. I can't wait to feel it move!! Some people feel their baby move 3 weeks ago! I'm 16 weeks and 2 days.. and still don't feel nothin'.

Laura, if it helps you, I didn't feel Max move until I was over 20 weeks. ((at least not something that I KNEW was him...there were times I questioned...but the time I knew without a doubt it was him, I was like 22 weeks along)). Don't stress it. Baby is fine :frown: I know it sux...but trust me, when that little one does get going good.....it won't stop sometimes! LOL :cool2:

About the name thing...We wanted to name our baby Maxwell ("Max" for short) because it's different, without being weird different. That name for a boy was picked out when we first met! (Robert had loved the name and I liked it too) So for 6 years before I got pregnant we had that name picked out. Well, guess what. Now Max is becomming so popular (no thanks to Christina Agulara [sp??] and J-Lo)...it kinda defeats the purpose of us wanting that name...but we'd always referred to future kids as Lydia or Autumn and Max...so we kept it. He has a double middle name because we wanted to honor our fathers....so his name is Maxwell Allen-Lee. Lots of people don't like it, but we don't care!

Good luck, and whatever you end up choosing, it'll be perfect for your little one :w00t:

Hope you're doing well :tt2:

-Amanda-

It's not a proud day for me!! I have never, ever been so depressed over an election in my adult life. You can mark my words and take note....we will ALL be worse off 4 years from now as we are today. I know it as sure as I know the sun will rise tomorrow.

I'm gonna 'check out' for awhile and let you all Celebrate ....... I just can't take it.

Amen to that...:w00t::biggrin::biggrin: I had nightmares all night last night after hearing the results......:-(

Haydee - Nope, no unfill. Dr. said he wouldn't do anything unless i had a problem keeping food down...obviously that wasn't an issue!! LOL

Laura - CONGRATS!! It's awesome being a mommy. One thing i can say is take every bit of advice with a grain of salt (even mine!), and don't "plan" anything about the birth...just have an idea of what you'd like. I wanted a totally drug free natural birth...ended up having a c-section, but i love my bundle of joy...he was worth it! :-D

TracyinKS - Mom's doing good. Guess what!! Now my dad is going to get the surgery too! So even with me and mom having our slip-ups (especially during my pregnancy...mom enjoyed it too! lol), he still sees how good we've done I guess She's loving having baby Max around...she's so proud of him

janiebug - unfortunately, with me staying home, we don't even have money for our bills as it is...certainly don't have a lot of money for insurance :-( Apparently there are some plans that will cover me, but they are like $400 a month...which is absolutely out of the question :-( DH did tell me that he heard his company is looking into a group plan...and as far as I'm aware, under a group plan, they can't deny me basic coverage. They can certainly deny coverage for anything band-related, but not basic coverage. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and my hands together (praying) that it works out that way -- and soon!

Judy - Thank you for the compliment on Max...we think he's quite gorgeous too Looks just like his daddy!! But DH doesn't see it...*shrug*!

Laura - Am I reading your signature picture right....are you expecting a little band baby too??? (((I don't have time to read back and catch up! LOL))) If so, congrats!!! and if so, how far along are you?? If you ever need to vent or need advice, shoot me an email

Well, little Max is hungry (again...LOL)....I'll check in again later. Btw, Jacksonville (where I live) broke a temp record last night...35 degrees! BRRRRR!

take care

Amanda

HI EVERYONE!!

It's been quite a while (i guess almost a year now) since I posted on here. To refresh everyone's memory, i'm darla's daughter...we both had the band the same day (at least i think her login on here is darla! lol) on April 2nd of '07

Anyway, in case any of you forgot, I got pregnant with my miracle band baby last November. He's 9 weeks old today!! And he's BEAUTIFUL! I'll try to post a pic if I can remember how! They had to take him with a planned c-section because he was breech - not my ideal birth experience, but worth it!

Anyway, I gained **hangs head in shame** 46 lbs during the pregnancy....and I'm still fighting to get back on track. A lot of the foods I like that I was eating prepregnancy are pregnancy no-no's (like tuna for instance...). So, I went with the 'ok during pregnancy' foods...and a few extras...LOL. Now I'm battling a carb addiction again. I did get a fill recently, but it wasn't a big one, and only seems to help in the morning. At night i'm not able to tell much of a difference.

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm a stay-at-home mommie now, so I'm going to try to get back into reading/keeping up/posting again. But we'll see how that goes.

By the way, Anyone know the legalities of being denied individual insurance because of having the band?? My husband's insurance is technically an individual plan and they denied me coverage (they are covering the baby though). They said that they don't cover anyone who's had bypass or the band until they've been post surgery at least 5 years!!! How incredibly stupid is that?!?! So I"m about to be without ANY insurance :-( ((that's why i went ahead and got a fill)). Anyone know anything about insurance coverage????

I hope everyone is doing well.

Take care!!

Amanda in FL

Family -resized.bmp

Well guys (or gals i should say), I know i don't post much (especially lately, seems i get no internet time and you ladies are very chatty - hard to keep up :-) ), but i just had to post this.......

One of the main reasons I wanted to have the band (or well, lose the weight i should say), has come to fruition..........

I'M GONNA BE A MOMMY!! :whoo::preggers:

It still hasn't set in totally yet that I'm really pregnant. It's my first and I've wanted it so bad for so long that I think my brain just hasn't completely wrapped around the idea that it's real...but 3 positive HPT's can't be wrong...LOL. Looks like it'll be a late summer/early fall baby My first appointment is friday at 10:30....I'm a nervous wreck....can't wait to get there.....DH wants to go with me so bad, but he can't :-( It really bums me out too, but it's so 'last minute' for him to get off work that we weren't sure if he would be able to when I first set up the appt anyway.

Anywho, i'm REALLY going to try to keep up with the posts, i just have to set aside 1-2 hours each night for LBT! LOL.

Anywho, I hope everyone had a great new years and I'll try to check in again with a brief update on Friday

-Panda-

Ok, quick note.

I've missed over 10 PAGES of posts from being too busy to get on my computer in a week. I hate to say it, i'll never be able to catch up. I pray everyone is doing well. Thank you to those who sent christmas cards :scared: I've been writing mine, but again, the no time thing - i'm not done, so if you get a card from me at the beginning of the year saying "MERRY CHRISTMAS" it means i got them out too late! LOL.

Anywho, busy-ness will probably continue, but mom and I are doing good....I haven't lost much lately (darned holiday foods!!!!!!!!!!)

If someone could email or PM me if there's any updated info on the trip in May I'd appreciate it! thanks guys and merry christmas in case i don't make it back before then! LOL

Hello everyone, I'm back in action! :-D

I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE black friday :-D

I was one of the crazies this year and I'm officially hooked :-D I did my research starting 2 weeks ago. Thanks to black friday sales at best buy, I am sitting here using a brand new computer, with a 17" flat panel monitor...it's so new (and it's been so long since i had a new one) i'm paranoid about it! lol

But, I must be honest, my husband and I were waiting in line starting at 4:30 yesterday afternoon waiting for best buy to open at 5am today :-D See, at 3am they start handing out tickets for the BIG ticket items.

I got my entire new desktop (with free 3-in-1 printer) for $379.99 +tax, and we got my hubby a brand new laptop computer (with free 3-in-1 printer) for $229.99 +tax....ALSO I got a 2G MP3 player for $34.99 +tax and a 2G Flash drive for $14.99 + tax. MIL paid us back for hubby's laptop though - that's his christmas present from her this year :-D But he has to wait till Christmas for it. :whoo::whoo:

Anywho, so I love black friday now and next year we will start camping out at 11am on Thursday just so that we can be closer to the front of the line...next year we'll be buying an HDTV :-)

Anywho, eating has been WAY off track, won't even go there, hopefully now that i have a new computer and can get onhere more often (for the mental kick in the rear I need) I can stop this insanity.

I do not have time to go back and play catch up on all the posts, so I pray everyone is doing well and that everyone had a safe and happy Turkey Day :-D

-Panda-

Hi Violets,

Roar! I am ashamed I don't check in as often as I should. I've been trying to catch up but y'all are a chatty bunch! I am so glad Kat is ok. Speedy recovery to you Kat.

I have a question...It may sound silly but I need to ask. Has anyone had trouble with their pre-band shoes? Last night, I was walking in a parking lot in my clogs from last winter and I took a header that felt like it lasted 20 mins. I stumbled, ran a few steps wobbled and then fell flat on my face! My shoes were in two different places, my pocketbook was thrown to the grass! My palms have road rash and my ego was dented pretty hard! After thinking about it I thought maybe my shoes are too wide for my feet now. There were no pebbles or pot holes or anything to blame it on. The shoes feel ok maybe a little loose but I didn't think they were hazardous?! Anyone else experience shoe trouble?

Thanks,

Theresa

YES!! I know exactly what you're talking about. I've gone down at least 1 full size in shoes...used to wear up to a 9.5, now wearing 8.5 (depending on the style/material)....it's crazy!!!

Well, in other news, i'm SO glad i'm not the only one 'stumbling' with food. It's been a rough few weeks. I need to start being strong though cuz i have a co-worker going through my doctor to get the surgery...and she's upset this morning cuz it's not looking like a christmas band (which is what she needs cuz of vacation time and whatnot). So if you all could please pray for my friend!!!

I'm going to try to do CTC through the week and then IF i'm going to have anything 'off plan', it'll have to wait till Sundays!! That's when God rested, so that's when i'll 'rest' LOL...

anywho, gotta go...bye guys!!!

So that brings another question... who can do carbonation?

Just curious... and trying to make a distraction to my/our very stressful week.

My dr said that as long as it doesn't cause pain, we can have carbonation -- as long as it's diet! Which is fine by me. I was never MUCH of a soda drinker, but there are times when CL isn't available and I want something flavored..... Sprite Zero tastes JUST like regular sprite to me, and ya know, i just like all diet drinks...usually prefer them to regular versions anyway (since I was a kid I've liked the diet ones better). But I do try to get Water usually.

one more thing, just let me know at least a few weeks in advance when the money is due.....:-D

#1 choice:: Splash Mountain (for space/pool/exercise room)

#2 choice:: Beats Workin' (cuz it's cheap....)

Ritz is just too expensive for me (considering adding travel and food expenses on top of it) :-(

Ok, at mom and dad's for a few, but still don't have long.

I will go vote on a house for May in just aminute. Gald to hear we've narrowed it down...

I love the thought of Cut the Crap day! It perfectly coincides with "Doughnut Thursday" at my job...so that'll be my big challenge, but I'm up for it!! :-D It'll help keep me away from them.

Job is driving me nuts. I almost cried I was so stressed today. And i have to go in at 6am tomorrow...on VERY little sleep (i have to clean my whole house when i get home cuz i'mhaving a Premier Designs party at my house tomorrow at 7).

I'm going to be alone from now until sometime Monday :-( Mom and dad took my hubby hunting in KY. Gonna be all by my lonesome :-( dunno what to do with myself when he's not with me. Pretty sad huh?

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well, and I'll try to poke back in sometime this weekend

TTYL!

hey guys (or gals i should say!)....

just a quick note....I'm about 6 pages behind on posts....i'm having computer problems at home (and no money to buy a new one even though that's what i really need) and can't log on very long at work. Just wanted to say that I'm going to try to catch up through the week, but that i will be mostly MIA for a while...Hope everyone is doing well and if we get new info on the trip in may, if someone could email me i'd appreciate it :confused: gonna go check our trip thread before heading home....

ttyl!!

Amanda/Panda: Just don't do it! "How Bad Do You Want It?" Or, at the very least, if you do indulge, then ENJOY! Either way... you pick... no judgment here... either don't eat <whatever> & enjoy that... or eat a few select items, and enjoy that... This is all an ongoing process & a for-life way of living that will have it's ebbs & flows... but I think one of the most important parts is not classifying food as "good" or "bad" and definitely, for me at least, enjoying whatever it is that I CHOOSE to eat.

End of mini-lecture!

You know what, you're right. I did enjoy what I ate. I guess it's just that people see me and judge me/everything i put in my mouth. So i feel like i'm making excuses when i say "but I'm still human and I want to live like everyone else. everyone else can have some, why can't i?" and they go into the whole "but you've worked so hard to get where you're at..." and it just goes around and around and around....ya know? Blah. Those are the *ONLY* times I regret telling people about my band....when they judge me for what I'm eating. I only feel guilty when people have seen what it is. When I have something 'not part of the diet' and i'm alone, i enjoy and i get right back 'on track', but when people say things like "you can't eat that can you??" that's when i start feeling bad......blah....blah, blah blah.

Ok. Gotta get back to work. Thanks for the wise words!

Hey there!

Well, today I'm dressed up as a lady T-bird (remember Grease? -- i'm not a pink lady, i'm a lady t-bird). Wearing hubby's shirt from the play he did in high school (has the tbird thing on the back), jeans, white socks and my dress shoes, hair is back and put on heavy eyeliner :-D

Not one penny spent and I'm having fun (i love dressing up for halloween).

Ok, so, I'm having a MAJOR problem. Last week we started Judgement House. I knew things would be hetic so i told myself "Until JH is over, don't stress teh diet too much"....BAD IDEA. Here it is halloween, last day of JH and i can't stay away from the goodies *cry*. :faint:I'm so disappointed in myself, but....even when i'm telling myself to stop, i still put it in my mouth....i haven't been as bad as my brain wants me to be, but....i'm still very disappointed in myself. The nutritionist told me i was not allowed to beat myself up over things like this, but i can't help it....I feel horrible. I know i need to just pick up rigth now and start fresh...but i still have 3 hours at work *pout*...and too many goodies. If i didn't have to leave my desk, I'd be ok...but I have to leave my desk a lot...THAT'S when i run into a problem....

I did SO well the up to my last appointment on the 19th...i'd lost 9 lbs in 3 weeks!!! And here I am sabbatoging (sp?) myself....and I have to see the dr again next friday!!!

Any suggestions??:help:

Thanks for all the well wishes I do feel much better now and I did make it the whole day at work (unfortunately, lol). I think mentally i just REALLY wanted to be home. I played half the day away...lol.

I have to come up with a halloween outfit for tomorrow at work, and i have nothing.....lol. So might do a split personality thing...half my face done up with makeup and half not, half my hair done nice, half all straggly and rough....maybe my jeans and a dress shirt, one sandal and one sneaker? what do you guys think? LOL. Probably won't do that in case i have to stop at the store lol, but i gotta figure SOMETHING out....ugh.

anyway, i'm off to finish checking email and whatnot, hope everyone has a good night.

-Panda-

Panda: YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes your periods are resetting themselves and that is the first sign that your PCOS is getting under control and even better a GREAT sign that you will begin to ovulate on a regular basis! (I was diagnosed with PCOS at the tender age of 22) I was infertile the entire length of my first marriage (18-32) Never even took birthcontrol during that time..... eating Low Carb is what straightened me up and gave me my son (well that and the pscyco rebound guy with super sperm) Seriously though... it is why I call my son my Miracle Atkins Baby..... every time I jumped off the Low Carb bandwagon my periods would slowly get out of whack....... So anyway........ CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!! day ONE is here, are you part of a good TTC message board yet????

You cracked me up with the "psycho rebound guy with super sperm" comment! LOL. But, I have been on and off (part of TTC boards). When I visit them now it's kinda like "well, i know all this"...lol. And since time is limited, I'd rather spend my time here with you guys We know God will send us that blessing when he's ready, so we're not stressing it I guess "not preventing" is more the term to use...kinda "it'll happen when it happens" kind of thing.

What I don't understand is the fact that this and the last one hit me like a mack truck! I'm used to slow progression (light to heavy and 'not so bad' pain to "ugh, i'd rather be home")....but today...and last time.....i was fine, knew it was coming and then WHAM!! BAM!! POW!! and i'm doubled over in pain and fighting off tears...:cry

I REALLY just want to go home....if i don't get any better in about half an hour (i took some pain meds - which i try to avoid these days), then i'm going to ask to go home....first day is always worst...so if i could be home today i think i'd be ok....

anywho, i'm off to *try* to do some work....

-panda-

Jennifur - That's awesome!! I know it's nice when people who owe you start to pay....oh wait, no I don't....I just dream of it a lot! LOL. (between 2 'friends', DH and I are owed $3k...it's been owed to us for over a year.....) With my medical bills right now, I could REALLY use that money...but I'm not counting on it...

Anyway, CONGRATS!

about jeans - Lane Bryant was the only place that i could find jeans that REALLY fit....but since i'm losing so fast, i'm having to deal with jeans that just 'sorta' fit. Wal-mart is MUCH cheaper than LB LOL.

Well, I finally know why I've been SOOOOOOO irritible and my sweet tooth has been almost insatiable -- Aunt Flo is starting to rear her ugly head..........whcih is weird...this is the first time in.....well......e-v-e-r....that it's happened on a regular cycle. Seriously, 28 days. it's WEIRD. I have PCOS and so i've always had VERY VERY irregular periods...and all of a sudden, 7 month mark, and BAM! First regular one in my life. Don't know if that's good or bad...LOL. I guess good cuz now i can really track things (DH and I are TTC :-D).

Anywho, so that explains a lot.....

Tonight DH and I have a sales rep form a security system company coming to our house. I really want to get a sec. system (we don't live in a BAD neighborhood, but it's certainly not the safest i've lived in either)...and i was told it will give us a 10% discount on our homeowners insurance....but I just don't know...I guess we'll just have to see when they come tonight. I hope they don't mind the messy house. We cleaned a little bit, but not much...LOL.

Hope you're all having a good Tuesday

-Panda-

Well, since we're all confessing our diet sins.......

Oreo Blizzard ice cream cake *sigh* My husband and I work with the youth at church, and the director (who teaches the high school youth, my husband teaches the middle school youth), well, his birthday is today, so last night at Judgement House we brought the cake in for him :boink:

((by the way, for those of you who don't know what Judgement House is, here's a link -- Judgement House : Real People. Real Choices. Real Consequences. -- this is our second year helping out -as actors-, it's AWESOME))

SOOOOOO I've been eating REALLY bad...not just the blizzard cake....all week i've been eating bad :-( 3 weeks of being strict, lost 9lbs, and now i'm backsliding *sigh* oh well. I've fought off the urge ALL MORNING to go grab one of those snickerdoodles in the kitchen at work....it's been hard...but I try to tell myself "baby! baby! baby!" cuz that's my next big goal...DH and i are trying for our first :-D soooo, it sounds creepy, but i'm trying to train my brain to think of sweets as the enemy...they'll poison (sp?) me....lol...it's worked today so far...we'll see how long it lasts....lol...

I'm so sorry to hear about all the sad news going around :-( I'll keep you all in my prayers.

Well, gotta jet for now, gotta get to work sometime today...lol.

Take care everyone :xena_banana:

great work michelle!!!

That's too funny, i just created one and it looks AMAZINGLY similar to TracyK's!!! LOL

i forgot to add......

The only thing, is me and mom are both early risers! not like, before daylight or anything, but definitely shortly thereafter...lol...are you an early bird too? or a night owl?