Community Forum
A safe place for all to support, encourage, and share.
If you have experience with adopting an embryo or a child or are interested in the process, this is your place to connect!
If you're looking to donate items or searching for something specific, ask here! Please read Welcome post.
If you have endured the heartbreak of stillbirth or pregnancy loss, this is a safe place for you.
If you're seeking advice or would like to share your knowledge on the process of using a donor, this is for you!
If you are going through fertility treatments to become a single parent, you are not alone.
If you are pregnant or a new mom after experiencing infertility struggles, this is a place to find support.
If you are trying to start a family with your partner, who already has children of their own, you are not alone.
Becoming a parent after infertility comes with its own set of challenges. You can find support here.
- DiscussionHey preggo Mamas! I'd love to chat about pregnancy swelling (also called edema) and how you can try to avoid it. I"m currently 8 months pregnant (after 3 rounds of IVF) and a nurse, so I have a fair amount of personal experience in this area. I've been following Dr. Brewer's Diet for Pregnancy and truly believe that increasing my protein intake had GREATLY helped! I'm still wearing my wedding ring and my feet look pretty normal. I aim for 80-100 grams of protein a day, which honestly isn't too hard for me since I love cheese, meat, and yogurt. In addition to protein, I do NOT limit my salt intake, which is pretty opposite of what people think. To break it down in as simple as a way that I can, if you limit salt, there won't be as much salt circulating around in your veins, which means the cells that are touching your veins will want to "suck up" the fluid in your veins to balance the salt out. This leads to swelling. However, if you have adequate salt in your diet, your cells will want to give up fluid to balance it out/dilute the "saltiness" in your veins. Then, your veins carry this extra salt/fluid to your kidneys and you pee it out. Voila! No swelling! Protein helps big time, too, since it sort of converts to albumin and that's also good for you to pee out. A cheat way I LOVE to get an easy 18g of protein is Vital Proteins Collagen powder . It's a powder you can put in almost anything, but I like to put it in my decaf lattes (if you look into Dr. Brewer's diet, it encourages a lot of milk intake, which I didn't normally drink before pregnancy- but milk in lattes is yummy!)/ It is tasteless and odorless and NOT girth at all! I've also put this in orange juice, cranberry juice, and tea (red raspberry tea, hello!). Anyway. I hope this helps someone out there! I know the salt thing blew my mind. Just do your own research and don't just blindly limit your salt intake if you're experiencing swelling. Good luck and baby dust (should I be saying labor dust now?) to you all! -Kelsey0
- DiscussionIs anyone else having a hard time entering the world of motherhood after infertility? While I am SO incredibly grateful to be on this side of infertility, I feel as if I don't belong anywhere. I don't belong with my #ttcsisters anymore. I don't belong with the "normal" mothers. Where do we fit in?0
- DiscussionLet’s share our favorite baby products! What are the best products on the market for new parents? Feel free to post product photos, prices, and where we can find them!0
Please read the Terms of Use before joining a forum.