Homebirthing Mamas Group (1/24) - Page 4

[tabitha]

mamaroni- the recipe link above lists directions for the chinese prepartaion in capsules

[sagesmamacrystal]

Hello everyone, I would like to join this thread. I am due w/2nd baby in late May/early June and sorry to totally change the subject but,Tabitha ,did I read earlier that for your blessingway/babyshower you are asking for contributions to the midwife fund? We are out of money and we have already paid 1/2. How are you wording it on your invitation? I live outside of Los Angeles and homebirths are expensive here!! I have Kaiser but I would rather UC than have another hospital birth. We still owe almost 1500 dollars due by early May. I am stressing out!

[tabitha]

welcome, sagesmamacrystal!! i hear you about the $. we have only paid about 300 so far! luckily our mw has agreed to a sliding scale, some partial trade, and allowing us to pay over some time.

i am not 100% sure how to word it! i have already put the word out to family & friends that all we need is help with the mw fee. last time we were very blunt about gifts so i think people will expect it this time. i included an insert with the invite that said"

looking for the perfect gift?

-we have an account at Tiny Tots diaper service
-we will not be using plastic toys

and so on. no one thought it was rude. just helpful

So this time i might say:

If you would like to give a gift, please consider helping us pay for our midwife's wonderful services over this pregnancy and during the birth. We are thankful to have found her! This birth is so important to us all.

also, dont just send this to people you invite, send it along with a shower 'annoucement' to everyone you know. no kidding! we made ours on the computer and printed them out to save #- we sent them to coworkers, friends, family, everyone.

good luck tabitha

[Defenestrator]

One of my doula friends has a great fundraising idea -- she gives her clients a form to use for a baby betting pool. The players have to guess when the baby will be born and put money down on one or more squares. Each square is $1.00 and the winner gets half of the money in the pool. The way that she does it, if all the squares are filled, 24 hours per day over a few weeks, the client can make $400-$500. Not enough to cover a whole fee, but enough to put a dent into it.

[homebirthing]

Tabitha!- If I am having a red tent birth, I really should be eating my placenta too!! I completely understand your reasonings for eating it. A great freind of mine hemmoraged badly at her homebirth two years ago (same midwife and we are due a week apart!) and the first thing Jeanne had her do was eat some placenta! It makes so much sense and it has to be really good for you. I think most of us just see the floppy jiggley bloody thing and say ewwww....we turn into 5 year old girls!! At least I do!! Hehe~ I think it is great and more women should do it. I will leave it up to you! I wish I liked venison, maybe I would go for it too.

[mattjule]

Tabitha-some things in your post gave me the impression that you were referring to my post. I honestly meant no disrespect to you. Any of my questions were purely for curiosity's sake and any comments made were totally about myself only. I think it is wonderful that you want to eat your placenta. Sorry if I said anything I shouldn't have!

My 1st birth was a hb and I did have a 2 vaginal exams. I was actually quite happy for them. I didn't have any fear going into it, but once I was in the full swing of things, I really had no idea what was going on and that did make me scared. The exams gave me a bit of solid ground to stand on.

That said, I don't think I will have them this time. Having gone through a birth, I am more familiar with how everything FEELS, yk? So I won't need something to help me understand what is happening. My current mw doesn't do gbs testing, gd testing, or pelvic exams/paps. I am so thankful for that. 2 of the 3 I know I don't need and the other is fairly arbitrary as to results (according to Ina May, whom I totally trust as an expert on birth ). It just seems so easy being pregnant and I think that this is how it should be.

[homebirthing]

I just thought that I would share this with you all. It was just sent to me from a friend. Let me know what you think. I am going to find someone to paint it on my red tent....


http://www.evershed.com/new/art/rebirth.htm

[tanjarine]

Grrr the ultrasound tech wouldnt tell me anything today, that is the first time I had an ultrasound where they didnt tell me everything! I think she was cranky because i said i didnt want to know if baby was a boy or girl. Hopefully we will find out tomorrow.
Tanja

[tabitha]

doula sarah- that is lovely! i really enjoy pregnancy & birth art your birth tent will be amazing i bet!!

julie- no, i wasnt offended! just answering your questions/ responding to your concerns. i have made this decision for my self and am sure of it! just wanted to share my reasons

tanjarine- i cant imagine them not telling you about the U/S what gives? its your body & child, they are working for you!! : im sorry about that negative experience. warm birthing vibes to you!

ahhh! i am soo close to finding out the sex, this monday!!

last night was the first night i wasnt able to fall asleep right away due to the little kicks! this baby is stronger at 20 weeks than ds was at 24! it is wonderful!

my sister is coming tonite from NZ. she has never met my son. i really look forward to it

tabitha

[mattjule]

tanjerine-with my ds, the tech wouldn't tell me anything either. She said it was b/c they are not technically qualified to interpret the pictures they take (even though we all know they can to a certain extent) i.e. abnormalities, etc., so telling people stuff can get them in a lot of trouble. The techs perform the u/s, then it gets shunted off to an ob or your caregiver and they interpret it and tell you the results. In my case, they had a resident ob that interpreted it, then sent that person's finding to my mw. My mw got a short, typed synopsis.

this time we went to a Dr. that does the u/s himself, so he was able to tell us stuff as we were doing it. Much better.

[tanjarine]

Thanks everyone for your support!! Its so nice to be a part of this group of mamas!
I actually got a good call from my midwife and at 37 weeks plus 4 days baby only weighs approx 7lbs and a few ounces so that sounds great. My last baby was 8 pounds at 36 weeks! So hopefully I will avoid a repeat of the whole shoulder dystocia scenario which I am so glad and I wont have to push out a 10lb+ giant again.. woohoo
So at this point I can carry on and wait for labour to start on its own.

I know that legally the tech cant tell you anything because they are not qualified and would be liable for any info they give out. In Ontario I beleive they are not even legally allowed to tell you the sex of the baby. I was just grumpy because that is the first time they havent blabbed everything to me, maybe she was grumpy.. who knows?? She did however tell me that baby had lots of hair..which is funny because generally all my kids are baldies till they're at least 2 years old, she even gave me a picture of the back of babies head and you can see a tuft of hair!! pretty funny!

Well I should get back to my housework!!! Im trying to keep it up before i have a house full of people!

Tanja mama to Raven 11, Jakob 4, Ben 2 and new baby due soon

ps. for those of you who have older children i made a website with links to games that my kids enjoy if you are interested...

Kids online games

[Snowy Owl]

Hey, tangerine, I loved looking at your pics and links. Thanks!

[tanjarine]

Thanks Snowy Owl!
If anyone has any kid link suggestions I would love to add them to the site!
Tanja

[homebirthing]

You know that part of pregnancy when you are definately wearing maternity pants but the maternity shirts are way too big and your regular shirts are too short to cover the fact that you have maternity pants on? I hate that part!!! Grrrr....


That is why I am so happy to finally be having a summer baby. Loose tanks and low cut pants (maternity of course!) but right now Minnesota is competing for the coldest place on Earth, so I will just complain a little longer.

Oh yeah...my three year old felt the babe move. Pretty cool!

[mamaroni]

Originally posted by DoulaSarah
You know that part of pregnancy when you are definately wearing maternity pants but the maternity shirts are way too big and your regular shirts are too short to cover the fact that you have maternity pants on? I hate that part!!! Grrrr....

Oh yes, I remember. And then, remember that part where you have outgrown everything and nothing is comfy anymore??

(by the way, loved that art work, Sarah!)

[Spark]

Maternity clothes -- you'd think that people would just forgive you at the end of the pregnancy and let you go nude or just wearing a bathrobe everywhere! My over the belly pants have not fit me for about a month now. I'm strictly in under the belly pants, because it just lets my belly be what it is. The problem is that so many of my shirts don't cover my belly. So half the time I get dressed, my belly is sticking out like a big bellied toddler! I actually weeded through my clothes about 4 weeks ago and found that I can still wear 3 pairs of pants (1 black, 1 fadedd wore out jean, and one other faded slightly holey black pair) and then about 4 tops that cover my belly. Now, I've outgrown one of my tops and am down to 3. My bathrobe is looking pretty tempting at this point!

Tangarine -- great pics! Your kids look so healhty and beautiful!

Stacia -- great fundraising idea! That's really cool!

Things are going well here. I'm actually feeling really good despite my belly girth. Mamaroni and I will both be 34 weeks this Monday. Gosh, it seems like we were just saying 24 weeks yesterday! I feel like birth is getting so close and yet I still have a lot I need to do! Good thing I've got my breasts in order and my confidence in birth. Those seem to be the most important!

Happy baby growing!

[mattjule]

Spark-I loved your comment about looking like a big bellied toddler. I LMAO!

Doulasarah-I totally hear you about maternity clothes right now. I am in the same boat.

I am not looking forward to having a summer baby. Tain was born in March and it was nice that it wasn't too warm when I felt so hot from being pg. Our apt doesn't have air conditioning so I anticipate being pretty miserable!

[amyrobynne]

Oh goodness, maternity clothes. I was determined to get through the summer in my normal clothes (I hit 15 weeks around Labor Day). I got really tired of my 2 pair of capri pants--the only ones with elastic waists. I've really liked my under-belly pants, but have finally admitted that they're just irritating my abdomen now. Most of the few pants I had left by this week were squeezing my belly. I ended up going to Target and buying 2 pair of Liz Lange pants. They look almost like sweat pants, but slightly nicer. Finally, something is comfortable! I'm soo cheap, but I don't care that I'll give birth within 5 weeks. I needed new pants.

I feel for those of you in the no-more-normal-clothes-but-maternity's-too-big stage. That sucked.

[Greaseball]

I am 23 weeks and outgrowing one pair of maternity jeans. I had to buy the kind with the full belly panel.

I started wearing maternity pants at 8 weeks and the shirts at 12 weeks. I know I will be too big for some of the shirts in my last month, but it will be warmer so I will have to buy new things anyway.

[ChildoftheMoon]

lol! dh is always encouraging me to just go naked, bless him, whether I am big or small. I am definately in the in between stage. I am almost 17 weeks and am wearing all my big pants down below my belly. I have been wearing maternity shirts even though they are ridiculously big, just because I want the length. Thankfully I don't have many places to go and have a big jacket on when I do go out. I have had some pretty interesting outfits with all the layering I do too. I think I will be in full blown maternity soon though, I have been so hungry, my belly is really doing some growing.