~a week of wiggles and waddles~ Aug 17-23

[wombatclay]

So how is everyone holding up?

New mamas, getting enough rest? Breastfeeding going all right? Enjoying being able to touch (or at least see) your toes?

Soon to be new mamas, how goes the nesting? Indulging any last minute desires, planning any rewards or treats to make these days fun and liveable?

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I'm currently in the 41+ week zone... had a very nice NST and U/S today. Babe looks good, he's happy and healthy and head down. Now, I just need to convince him that it's going to be more fun out here than it is in there!

[Jilian]

I'm glad your NST went well, I hope he decides to make an appearance soon!

I'm having a rough time. I had bloody show/mucus yesterday afternoon that continues into today along with contractions. They are about 5-10 mins apart and get very strong at times. But labor won't kick into gear for me. I had my u/s this morning to confirm that she's head down and she is. They estimated her to be at 7lbs 13 ozs but I highly doubt she's that big. I'm thinking low to mid 7lb range. The MW that delivered DS2 is out of town until tonight so I suspect I am subconsciously holding back labor until she returns. Oh how I just want to get this going! I am so tired and sore and H left for work an hour ago

[wombatclay]

Hang in there! My current mantra is "We are here. This is now. The future is anyone's guess." It's not exactly catchy, but it's helping me stay present. My Dh left for work an hour or two ago as well and if the girls weren't focused on Dora the Explorer right now I'd be going nuts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday night I was positive it was the real thing... bloody show, strong cervical contractions lasting 2+ minutes every 6-7 minutes, a lot of downward pressure. And then it just stayed that way till Saturday when it turned off like a switch. It's happened a few more times (really strong contractions, a lot of discomfort, but fizzles out after 10-12 hours) and it's driving me batty! DD1 and DD2 were nothing like this. Coming on top of all those weeks of BH style contractions every 10-15 minutes round the clock, and his "let's see what it's like to be transverse" adventures, this kiddo is giving me a run for my money.

Today's appointment showed Tor head down with plenty of fluid, no scary cord wraps from his tumbling, good heartbeat, regular small contractions. Basically a really reassuring 41 week NST and U/S. The guess weight based on the u/s was 9lbs6oz and despite u/s being pretty rotten at weight guesses I'm thinking it's more or less right. DD1 was actually 9lbs6oz when she was born at 42 weeks and dd2 was 9lbs even at 40 weeks so the number they got is essentially what I was expecting. I'd hoped for a smaller babe, but once I got past about 38 weeks I knew I'd be looking at another 9lb+ babe.

What's nice is that they've given me another week of wiggle room (and they're totally not worried about the guess weight). The hospital has a vbac ban on mamas after 41 weeks gestation so this practice "gave" me an extra week last week by calling me 40 weeks for a second visit in a row. And now they're letting me make a decision about scheduling on Friday when I'll be yet another week further along. So some of the performance anxiety is off...

We did spend all day Saturday at the hotel (got there at about 9pm on Friday, left after breakfast on Sunday) and it was a nice day. The girls loved the pool, DH loved watching Food Network, I loved the air conditioning. I want to go back!

[Spring Sun]

Just saw on FB that Lisa (CoconutCronicles) had her beautiful baby!!!!)

[Abraisme]

New mamas, getting enough rest?

So far I am. Olivine has slept at night since she was born. She wakes up to nurse several times, but I'm good at sleeping and nursing at the same time. I've managed to stay in bed for at least 9 hours a night.

Breastfeeding going all right?

Breastfeeding is going great! With DS I was in extreme pain by this point. This time around I knew what to do to prevent my nipples getting torn off (almost literally). Olivine had her tongue clipped at 3 days old, which has made a world of difference. I waited until DS was 2 weeks old and the damage had already been done.. She's a nursing fiend and growing like a weed already!

Enjoying being able to touch (or at least see) your toes?

I LOVE BABY FEET!!

I feel really lucky at just how easy Olivine has been. She's very quiet and relaxed and delicious! Sigh.. I love babies!

[brooklynbabymama]

Originally Posted by Spring Sun

Just saw on FB that Lisa (CoconutCronicles) had her beautiful baby!!!!)

I was thinking of her yesterday, think I noticed she hadn't posted and had a feeling her babe was en route. How wonderful!

[slimkins]

I am 39 weeks today and all is well. Just got back from my prenatal appt. Nothing spectacular happened there, but my midwife was very thrilled that I still have full on ankles. Of course, I didn't get checked, but if she would have wanted to, I would have been all over it. She said she does usually check at term, so, I was willing to wait even though it was tempting to have it done today. I know it means nothing, but after all the new feelings I had going on down there yesterday, I was beyond curious.

The nesting is going well. Not really much left to do, so, I am finding additional things to do.

Wombatclay, that's nice that they are giving you so much wiggle room with your "EDD", and your mantra seems good at keeping you in the moment.

Jillian, I hope you are right about holding back and tonight everything will kick into gear.

Abra, that is great to hear that everything is going so well!!

and Stacy, thanks for posting the update about Lisa.

[wombatclay]

Yay for Coconut's babe!

[puddleduck]

41 + 2 today, and i feel good!
saw the midwife and gave her my letter declining to be induced at 41 +6 and requested to be left alone to enjoy my last few days (weeks!) of being pregnant rather than bothered by all this talk of induction and agreed to talk to someone about monitoring when i get to 42 + 2. I hope to have had this baby by the end of the week being that i already fudged the dates to give me and extra 4 days (so really i'm 41 +6 based on LMP). But now the stress is off i think she will arrive in the next few days. I'm hoping she will be under 10lb! ds2 was 13 days late and 9lb 13 but he did measure ahead by 2 weeks and this baby is a girl and only measuring dates.... we can hope.

My BH contractions are starting to twinge a little, not hurt or cramp really, might be just wishing. Been focusing on a pain free birth and now i'm begging for something to hurt so i know i'm in labour!

I've been getting through the weeks by making sure i have friends round (even though its exhausting cleaning before and after) and going on family days out when dh is about. And lots of naps and lie downs, they boys have been really good at 'reading' in their bedroom while i lie down and rest.
And dh massages my back for HOURS each evening while we watch dvds (re-watching Firefly).

Jilian I hope your labour kicks in properly soon, you've had such a strong attitute to this PTL, i would have been sobbing on the floor by now.

wombat glad all looks good, the stay in the hotel sounds fab, being a tv free house whenever we go on holiday the kids love the TV in a room thing (as do i)

Abraisme 9 hours in bed snuggling a newborn - perfect

Spring Sun saw on FB, came on here to see if she posted her birth story.

off to ask dh to cook me some dinner

[wombatclay]

Been focusing on a pain free birth and now i'm begging for something to hurt so i know i'm in labour!

I so hear you on this! About the best I can do after all the hypnobabies is to compare "belly ball" style contractions (where my belly gets round and hard but nothing else twinges) with "shrink wrap" style contractions (where my belly shrinks down on the babe and you can see his basic outline, along with some cervical pulling). But it would be nice to have some sort of "this is it" button!

We're tv free due to circumstance rather than desire (I grew up tv free and wasn't thrilled) but we do watch dvds at home. It was nice to have the TV option, though I think dd1 was a bit confused... she doesn't like shows where there is "just talking". So when Food Network was doing actual cooking shows or contest style shows she was thrilled. But when they were just talking about food she kept wanting to fast forward. And she couldn't figure out why we "had" to watch the commercials and why we couldn't pause it while she was in the bathroom.

[spiritedmama]

Hmmmm.....I am glad they are working with you Wombat! Jillian I hope this is it tonight!! Somebody please tell me that they walked around effaced at 100% for a week or more and dilated to a 2. Everything I have been reading makes it look like I should have had they baby or be in labor and it is maddening. It is really making me crazy. If I knew it was normal to just go on like this, it might help me to mellow out and know it may still be awhile!!!!!!

I spose, this is why I didn't get checked AT ALL with #2. B/C it makes you crazy! So, other than that, I had 2 days of false labor last week and now everyone at work tomorrow is going to quizzically look at me bc they all think I HAD the baby. I think Wombat said that she had that too. That's exactly how it happens with me, 10 - 12 hours of contractions 5 min - 10 min. apart and then nothing and then they would start again for hours.....

[wombatclay]

The receptionist at my care provider's office was a 4cm for almost three weeks. And a friend of mine was at 4/almost 5cm for about a week. So it happens. (and yeah... I started getting hours and hour and hours of prodromal labor around 38 weeks. It's now 41 weeks and it's easier to count the hours I haven't had contractions since then!)

When dh told his lab this morning that there was no baby some of them actually refused to believe him! They thought he was joking. Sigh. If only!

[spiritedmama]

Ugh! I can't complain about having it for 2 days then since you have been having it for 3 weeks now?, wombat.....Well, I am thinking about you and wishing you good go into labor vibes soon!!! Glad you had a good weekend at the hotel, sorry the babe didn't come!!!

[Jilian]

Yay for baby coconut!! I can't wait to hear how it went.

I like the mantra Clay. I'm gonna keep that in mind.

[wombatclay]

It's from the book Small Gods by Terry Pratchett if anyone is looking for fun reading (if you just want fun quotes from his books, try here). He's one of my favorites and I always bring one of his books to the hospital... DH reads it to the babe after the birth. It started as a silly thing DH did with dd1 and it's become a tradition!

He's a British fiction author and his Discworld books are hysterical, silly, and jam packed with references to all sorts of things so you can read them on a bunch of different levels. No matter how deeply you dig you just keep finding more and more layers of humor, but you can also just pick one up at random (there are dozens, but they're not chronological) and laugh your butt off.

My current sig is from one of his books, though in terms of birthing and the rights of birthing women, this quote might apply (the speaker is a young woman who was gifted with a wizard's staff by a dying wizard who was positive the babe about to be born was a boy... only to find that "girls can't be wizards" and what was she going to do about it?):

she was already learning that if you ignore the rules people will, half the time, quietly rewrite them so they don't apply to you.

Sounds like something to keep in mind when facing a hospital birth...

[babykaoss]

Hanging in there. Now 39+1 and feeling like I'm walking around with a sharp skinny knife inside my cervix. Weird.

Things are insanely stressful and strange....my husband's best friend of over 15 years died Saturday night. We thought he was clean and sober, he was in AA, and it turns out it was a fatal reaction from a cocktail of prescription drugs. My husband is angry and confused and upset, and so am I. I cannot even begin to explain the history we have with him and his fiance, who lived with us and finally moved out this spring due to us needed to make healthy boundaries in our own family's lives and stop trying to save them. It's deep, and I don't even know how to explain it all, except to say this is VERY. Very, very bad timing. I've been having bouts of contractions every night that stop, crazy pelvic pain, back pain, cervical pain, stress, and all I wanted to do was spend the last few days (or weeks) of our pregnancy with our LAST baby enjoying it, getting close and spiritually grounded and finding peace and instead I have to deal with this, Dh being a pallbearer, I don't even know......

[spiritedmama]

UGH! Sorry babykaoss!

[MiamiMami]

EDD is on Friday and nothing going on. Had a prenatal today and asked MW to check. Cervix is soft, but doesn't look like any real action happening just yet. Being patient

And I know something you Mamas don't know yet

[Spring Sun]

I saw my midwife today and really don't want her at the birth now.

Basically, the first things she said when I came in today, even though I was being very positive when I came in, was "you know, you can just have an elective c-section or just go to the hospital and get an epidural." This is in response to me expressing practical concern last week about something going on with my body and also being vocal about my fear of the pain of childbirth. She also said that other women do not "perceive" the pain as bad as I did with my son. Basically, my 39 week visit today was to tell me that I should either shut up or go to the f#$%ing hospital.

I don't know what to do. What should I do? I feel like I am stuck and just being judged. Like there is a chance in hell now that I am going to let go and allow this birth to happen naturally with her here. I will constantly be worried about her thinking I am being wimpy or complaining to much. She had the nerve to tell me that I asked the whole time to go to the hospital last time (she was the apprentice last time, not the main mw) and that if I asked this time she would just take me there the first time I asked. Again, I feel like she is saying "You better not be trouble during this birth, bc I sure as hell won't support you and will just pass you off to someone else."

Hmmm, maybe she's right, maybe I SHOULD just get that elective c-section. WTF!!!!!?

Is this just late pregnancy hormones? Or would you be pissed off if your midwife wanted to have a sit down talk about how an elective c-section or epidural might be the best choice for you (for no freaking good reason?).

[babykaoss]

Oh, Stacey, what a crappy response you got! I'd be reacting the exact same way you are.