Preparing for UC: blood typing (I'm Rh-) & hemorrhage solutions

[Jaimee]

I'm making a late game time decision about pursuing a UC. I've done some reading, but I would greatly appreciate the advice of you veteran UCer's. Please write a list of the top things you were happy you had (or wished you had) and were happy you knew (or wished you knew) for your UC.

ETA: I'm Rh- and did receive the Rhogam shot at 28 weeks and was planning on getting it after the birth as well, if needed. So, I need to blood type the baby. My ex-MW says I can purchase an Eldoncard and use cord blood to blood type. Has anyone done this before? My plan had been to wait until the cord was white to cut it, but there won't be any blood left then will there? I only need 4 drops for the test- do you think it would work or would I need to cut the cord earlier?

Also, I've been reading up on emergency situations and for hemorrhaging I was thinking of having some Shepherd's Purse around or making the cayenne pepper tincture that so many refer to. Would you take these as a preventative measure or only if bleeding seemed to be continuing? Otherwise why not just eat a piece of placenta for good measure? Has anyone done that? Was it difficult to make yourself eat placenta? As a vegetarian, the idea is certainly not appealing, but it also does not violate my reasons for being vegetarian since the placenta is not coming from a deceased animal. Anyway, just curious to hear experiences!

Thank you!!

[onelilguysmommy]

Maybe you should read about what to do in case of an emergency and hemorrhage, etc. Was there annything out of the ordinary about your first birth that you might want to know about how to handle?


Something I know now? You don't need as much crap as you'd think for a birth
and it is the most wonderful feeling in the world to birth your baby into your hands. :


Good luck!

[Sheryl1678]

These are great images to print and have on hand for reference.
http://s292.photobucket.com/albums/m...C%20documents/

[mamaSun loveMore]

subbing!

[zoebird]

i would say that my process had three elements:

1. working on the paradigm shift--because we are acculturated to fear birth, i knew i need to work out those fears and concerns at the deepest, subconscious levels, so that was the predominance of my work;

2. learning about normal births and variations on normal--i did this by reading as many UC and HB birth stories as i could, most of them here on MDC;

3. answering my questions--instead of going out and going "i need to learn about everything!" or "all of this!" i really followed whatever my questions were, be they about SD, PPH, or whcatever, i kept it simple.

in regards to what i needed for the birth itself--very little. i had some bath mats (rubber backed, cotton bath mats) to put on my bed, floor, whereever i would end up birthing and to use like "chux pads." i prefer to have things that are re-usable, rather than disposable.

we used a bowl from the kitchen (obviously clean) for the placenta, and we used our kitchen shears (run through the dish washer, so definitely boiled) to cut the cord about 8-9 hours after birth. we had old towels on hand (clean), but we didn't use any.

we had a lot of nourishing foods available--mostly in liquid forms. i actually didn't eat anything over the 24 hrs, because my body didn't ask for it. but, we had vegetable broths, juices of various kinds, and light soups (pureed) available for me.

we made roobois chai tea before and put it on ice for iced tea. i drank quite a bit of this. i chose roobois chai for a reason. it rebalances your electrolytes and hydrates very well. it is a great "after sport" drink, and also a great hydrater for birth and after. so, i do recommend that for anyone. Bija tea company makes a very nice roobois chai.

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by onelilguysmommy

Maybe you should read about what to do in case of an emergency and hemorrhage, etc. Was there anything out of the ordinary about your first birth that you might want to know about how to handle?

I read Emergency Childbirth last night. It was so short and straight forward! It did a great job of outlining some basic procedures and has those "Cliff's Notes" at the end. I'll print those out for us to have on hand. I think that's what those images are that another poster suggested.

There were a few things that happened in my first birth that might be considered out of the ordinary by some, but I feel were caused by intervention from my midwife. So, I don't have any worries that they will occur again. Otherwise, the birth was normal, unmedicated, vaginal, no postpartum complications, etc.

I guess, I feel sort of odd that I don't have more concerns and that I feel so confident that nothing will go wrong. Is this reality or denial?

[zoebird]

well, whether it's reality or denial is on you, i can't say.

but i can say that i felt similarly. i really just felt like everything would go fine, no problems, and it did.

sure, i experienced the many amazing, weird birth things that occur, but biologically, it was no problem what so ever. literally. it was a great, easy birth.

[MyBoysBlue]

I'll second that I felt the same confident that nothing would go wrong. And nothing happened that we were unable to handle. I too came into the decision to UC late in the game, though I had played with the idea and was researching it most of my pregnancy. I didn't make a final decision until just 2 weeks before DS's birth. I ended up having a very quick UC birth with just my DH and my Mom. It was wonderful.

[gon2be]

We used the Eldoncard to type my youngest's blood and will do the same with this baby-in a couple of weeks. We waited until the cord was white, but not because we wanted to, we were just unorganized. Despite that we were able to get enough blood from it to correctly do the typing. This time I plan to do it a little sooner, just for ease sake.
I had/have Shepherd's Purse tincture on hand for PPH, just in case. I would eat some placenta too if it seemed I was really losing too much blood. GLoria Lemay's view is that seperating the mother and baby right after birth is what causes a lot of PPH. Keep the baby on you, sniff her head, gaze at her and you will be flooded with oxytocin naturally.

[Jaimee]

Originally Posted by gon2be

We waited until the cord was white, but not because we wanted to, we were just unorganized. Despite that we were able to get enough blood from it to correctly do the typing. This time I plan to do it a little sooner, just for ease sake.

Thanks for your experience! It's good to know. I also just asked my ex-MW and she said that you can wait as long as you want to clamp and cut because you can always get blood from the vessels that start at the base of the cord and run out across the placenta. She said to pop one open with something sharp and use the blood that comes from there. It looks like a fun kit!

[Xiaohua]

Originally Posted by Jaimee

My ex-MW says I can purchase an Eldoncard and use cord blood to blood type. Has anyone done this before? My plan had been to wait until the cord was white to cut it, but there won't be any blood left then will there? I only need 4 drops for the test- do you think it would work or would I need to cut the cord earlier?

Thank you!!

We did this. The eldon cards were very easy to use, but we bought extras and practiced (with my own blood) during the pregnancy just in case. We did not test until well after the placenta had been delivered and cord cut. Dh was actually the one who did this, and I vaguely remembering him say we should do it earlier next time as it was hard to get the blood out. But I think the OP is right and you can try the area near where the cord attaches to the placenta and "milk" it a bit; there should be plenty.

The funny thing was that the hospital was so surprised when we told them the baby's blood type; they didn't know whether to believe us or not. And then when we showed them our very clear, easy to read eldon card, they didn't even know how to read it! (Guess it's easier to have a lab send a typewritten report, right?) Anyway, then they still wouldn't give me the rhogham until I had my blood tested to make sure I didn't already have antibodies. So many hoops to jump through! I didn't want to wait two hours there while they got the test results back (wanted to go home and snuggle with my 12 hour old baby!) so I ended up making another trip back the next day to get the rhogham. It was a hassle for sure.

I had two herbal remedies for PP bleeding, just in case. One I had actually used with my first UC; it's called Wombstringe, and the other was new to me; I think it's called HemHalt and I never ended up using it. Both have shepherd's purse.

Good luck!