UC support thread #3 (March 30- April) - Page 3

[majazama]

my old midwife used the doppler.It's is a form of ultra sound, and when I was in labour with my DD I found the doppler intrusive, and I felt like the baby DID NOT like it one bit. I asked her to stop at one point, but then she brought it out again, even though every thing was fine. (can you tell I still hold a grudge?:LOL) A fetoscope might be nice, but I've personally never used one. My midwife used one at my request in my last pregnancy, but then she brought out the doppler during labour, as I stated before
So, my opinion is that a doppler is unneccessary, but a fetoscope might be useful, *if* you know how to use it.

I also think that cord clamps are unneccessary. If you have some sterilized thread of some sort (people always talk about using shoelaces), that should be fine. The baby shouldn't need to have it's life support cut (umbilical cord) until it's totally stopped pulsing. We tried to burn the babies cord last time, but the midwife got impatient as it takes a long time. That's what the buddists do, anyways, and we thought it was a great way to severe the cord.

good luck for your friend, and I'll send some peaceful UC birthing vibes her way

[wildthing]

Oh Tracy! He is gorgeous! What a perfect sweetheart! Thank you for sharing the pictures. Awesome name too. It flows perfectly.

Kristie,
I am not planning on using a fetoscope or doppler. My midwife used it during my homebirths, but I never paid any attention to it, so it didn't mean anything to me. I have a fetoscope of my own, so I may change my mind.

I will have a cord clamp or tie of some sort on hand, but I am unsure of whether or not I will use it. Unless the cord is really short, I am not planning on doing anything at all to it for at least a few hours. I have not decided completely on a lotus birth yet, although the idea of being secluded with my baby from anyone outside my immediate family sounds heavenly. I know I can do it without a lotus birth too....but for some reason the idea really appeals to me. Dh, however, may have different ideas. We haven't discussed it much, but we'll see.

[cottonwood]

I used a fetascope to listen to the baby during pregnancy, but not during labor.

No cord clamp either. We used a sterilized white shoelace last time, but this time I think we'll keep the baby attached at least until the cord starts to shrivel.

[Milkymommi]

I've heard that sterile cross stitch floss can be used also for tyinf off the cord.Which do you think is better?

[ChildoftheMoon]

I have a fetascope but it has such a short tubing on it I cannot use it on myself, still have not ordered the long one. I do not plan on using it during labor, but would like to have a listen or two during pregnancy if I get the longer tubing. Not sure what we will use to clamp. I have clamps and shoestrings. Even with a short cord in my previous homebirth we did not sever the connection until the cord had stopped pulsing. Waiting for it to start to shrivel sounds like a good idea too. I think I will just have things on hand and do what feels natural at the time.

[laurata]

I'm not due anytime soon, but thought I'd pop in and say hello. I'm expecting my third, though I'm not sharing the news with people I know IRL yet. I'm planning of just waiting until I start to show. Baby 2 was born planned UC, though we transported after the fact. Baby 3, aka "Noodle" will most likely also be a UC. I do have some health issues that I am worried about, so I may not have a UP. That's still up in the air.

[amyamanda]

Congratulations, Laura! How wonderful!! (I won't tell!)

I've been kind of private about our UC plans in certain circles but this is our first UC and also has been a completely UP as well. I wasn't sure if you knew that.

[Carrieanders]

Hoping that I'M next:)

i'm nearly 39weeks and have been in early labor for most of the past 2 days

I recieved a certified letter from my mw yesterday, basically "firing" me, and covering her own buns. it was interesting to read through all my charts, I got the work ups from our two u/s which was good to see in print. She's still happy to do prenatals "off the record" nb exams and anything else we want. I don't want anything and I'm hoping Ben is as comfortable with that because I don't feel like having anymore appts.

Officially this baby is 41 weeks already (by u/s). what the heck do they base that on anyhow?? it looks to be frmur length. our shortest baby was 22in

anyhow all the good stuff is happening!! There is no cervix that can be found, so I'm assuming it's already all thinned out. Dh had the GREATEST look of wonder when feeling the heartbeat through baby's scalp with his hand yesterday. It was priceless I've stored that memory away for all time, I think.

Anyhow I've had good labor all of Tuesday and then all of weds night. it starts when the kids go to bed, wakes me all night and stops in the morning as soon as I hear the kids get up I'm glad for the day-long break as the contractions are tougher than I remember. I've noticed the "plug" breaking up as well, and I don't remeber that ever happening in my other labors until I was w/i a few days. I know all labors are different, but I'm still hopeful.

Today would be nice, as it's my husband's birthday too!

Resting and tieing up the loose ends,

Carrie

[Carrieanders]

Mamajaza or others concerned about position: I don't think i'd worry until 40 weeks. my first turned from footling breech to vertex right before birth (born a few days later) I'm 5'3 (in my shoes and he was 9lbs on the nose.

Personally speaking, I'd rather a baby be vertex, but plently of babies are born healthy and well breech. (however mine have such big heads and lean bodies I personally would try to turn by 40.)

Carrie

[Carrieanders]

YAY TRACY!

(citizenfrog) love those gorgeous pictures. WHAT alot of cheek it's wonderful and I love the name Emerson. Big sister looks totally in love. I can't wait for you to experience them as friends.

Kristie (milkymommi) I don't think either doppler, fetoscope or clamps are necessary at all. but, i also don't think if you have them it hurts anything. Depends what your gf wants durring her labor. Maybe she WANTS heartones checked? but in that case, doesn't that set YOU up as some sort of caretaker, and do you want that role? same with clamps. nice to have, maybe if you don't mind deal with a scratchy clamp until the cord falls off. I'd prefer floss.

*I* would use a doppler if I had one, just out of interest and as some way to spend the long hours durring labor. I do think it might be useful, say if you as the birthing mom start to feel a little doubtful and don't want any other people involved. A HB check at home may save you from worry in that case. We don't have a doppler, or fetoscope (I can't use them, I've tried! I also can't pick up the sounds on most stethascopes: ) so won't be using anything.

I do have a few cord clamps, that we'll probably use..just to make it look professional, as we plan to take baby to the peid within a day or so (insurance does not cover the mw, even for newborn exams and our peids office is closer than she is anyhow) this is still something we'll decide after the birth. I may just feel like staying in bed for a few weeks and blow the whole thing off.

BTW: does anyone remember the day you're supposed to do the PKU on? I know it's after the baby has had a certain amount of time to digest milk, but can't recall beyond that.

Carrie

[amyamanda]

Carrie - thinking good birthing thoughts for you!

Regarding the PKU, I don't remember exactly where I found the info, but last time I looked into it and decided the optimal time frame based on what I had read was 4-5 days. Someone else might have more concrete information than that, but I wanted to post in case no one else did.

About cord clamps, they are one of the only medical-birthy things we'll have on hand. When I told my midwife-friend we were UCing this time, her only "advice" was to have a pair of cord clamps and scissors on hand just in case the cord was impeding descent or happened to snap or something. She is quite hands-off and has been midwifing for over 20 years; she said that there is nothing else that she'd find absolutely essential to have on hand (except something to wrap the baby in if warming was needed). I realize some people might disagree even with that small amount of "just in case" but I will have clamps and scissors on hand for that purpose even though we'll probably use string on the umbilicus.

As an aside, with my second baby, we zipped out of the hospital so fast we missed the fact that the cord clamp was still attached to him (usually the hospital removes it before discharge), and it was VERY irritating to my son's skin (poor kid's belly was rubbed red by it) and it was a PITA to remove - the ped moaned and groaned about how she didn't have the right tool; DH finally used wire clippers or something like that to remove it. I think string would be soooooo much gentler.

[majazama]

I have two questions for all you UC moms....

What is your diet like? Do you take prenatals or any other supplements?

Is UC illegal??????? I just heard that it is, and I'm like !!!
It will not stop me from having a freebirth if it is true, but isn't that sad if it is?

[majazama]

And about the breech thing... my SIL does acupressure, so she will help me by doing that if the baby is still breech at 38 weeks, or something.

[Milkymommi]

Carrie

"Kristie (milkymommi) I don't think either doppler, fetoscope or clamps are necessary at all. but, i also don't think if you have them it hurts anything. Depends what your gf wants durring her labor. Maybe she WANTS heartones checked? but in that case, doesn't that set YOU up as some sort of caretaker, and do you want that role? same with clamps. nice to have, maybe if you don't mind deal with a scratchy clamp until the cord falls off. I'd prefer floss."

Yeah... that's kinda what I'm doing .I'm playing the "Mom" role for her in a way.Her DH wasn't confident at all to handle a UC and they wanted the support,help and wisdom of someone who was without using a professional of any kind. Of course this is my passion and I am thrilled to be at their service and might I mention honored!!

It all worked out beautifully because she gave birth THIS MORNING!!! After a looooong labor... poor mama.She did a wonderful job, thinking about it brings tears to my eyes.It was so beautiful.They had a baby girl which they named Judeah at 9:58 am.She weighed in at 5lbs and 7oz and was 19 in long.

What an experience! No matter how many births I attend they just never get old...

[violet]

Mamajaza - when I did my research a couple years ago for our first, UC was not illegal in any state in the US. There can be problems in the UK where any untrained person present can be held responsible -- like a husband.
That said, there are still cases where people get in trouble. I can't remember any details because it was a long time ago and I tried to filter out those stories because I was pregnant and I avoid negativity while pregnant because thinking of that stuff makes me worry. I do remember a story of a family who experienced a stillbirth and did not report it to the authorities and they got in big big trouble. Personally, this is why we keep our plans pretty much to ourselves and if we did ever transfer we'd lie and say that's just when we got there, not that we were trying for a UC.

You all have probably discussed this before, but I'm newly back online--Anybody planning on having older siblings at the birth? DD will be 27 mo. and DH thinks he'll be too distracted if she's there and he won't be able to support me. I think I'll be bothered if anybody comes to get her or if I'm worried she's at my SIL's crying ( daytime would be fine, but I expect a night time labor, pretty quick, and she will probably wake up and she's generally inconsolable without me around after the sun goes down). So I'm inclined to keep here here. Just wondering what others are planning/have experienced.

violet

[cottonwood]

Violet, I'm not interested in having my kids here. For me privacy is really essential -- and I mean *absolute* privacy. I don't do well with any kind of audience, or anything that could be a potential distraction.

Mamajaze wrote: "What is your diet like? Do you take prenatals or any other supplements?"

My diet is pretty much whatever I feel like eating, although I do limit the refined foods. This morning I had Pad Thai with lots of peanuts and chilis and then some ice cream. Right now I'm making spaghetti, and I'll have a little dark leafy green salad with that. And probably some orange juice, and that'll be it for the day. I normally do fruit too, but haven't had a chance to get to the store the last couple days. Can't wait for fruit season -- our pears are flowering right now!

Other common things for me to eat are cashews, eggs, whole wheat toast, refried beans, cauliflower and broccoli.

I also take one Rainbow Light prenatal vitamin every couple days, which is about 1/12 of the recommended dosage.

"Is UC illegal???????"

It's not illegal, but it's not specifically legal either. It's a grey area. So anyone attending a UC can be charged with "practicing medicine without a license." This is pretty rare, though. I think I've heard of it happening, like, once. And I've read about plenty of UC transfers. The more likely problem (but still relatively rare, it seems) in transfering is the doctor calling CPS in to investigate. No, they can't take your baby away because you had a UC. It's considers a "warning signal" of neglect, though, so they can investigate, and sometimes babies and children do get taken away during investigations, even before abuse or neglect has been proved.

Not to scare you -- I think the risk is very minimal, probably not much higher than with homebirth in general, or with doctors calling CPS on a hospital birther because they refuse certain procedures.

[karenpl]

Just wanted to introduce myself. I am planning an UC for late May, early June. It took me a while to reach this point, but it feels like the right decision for me. I had two UCs already, but they were unplanned (baby was faster than midwife :-)

All my kids were born at home, but this will be the first planned UC.

Karen

[majazama]

I live in Canada though, do any of you know about the laws surrounding UC up here? Or where I could find that info on the web?

Answering my own question about diet... I eat whatever. I don't pay too much attention, and I definately don't eat as much as some of those wacky RDA amounts... protein 70 grams (I guess if I ate one cow per day, that might suffice)..... but I too try to stay away from crapola foods.... I do take coral calcium, and magnesium, and some herbal stuff though. I'm way healthier than a lot of pregnant women that I've seen anyways. I feel great... and I eat my veggies .

[cottonwood]

Oh, and I forgot to mention lots of water! I drink water like a fish during pregnancy. I have to pee a lot, but I figure it's worth it. The water is flushing all those evil toxins out of your body! My advice to pregnant women having headaches, swelling, etc., is drink water! Drink, drink, drink!

[ChildoftheMoon]

Welcome Karen It is good to see you here, so happy to hear you are in a calmer place.

My daughters will be at the birth, unless they are sleeping. They will be 4.5 and 2.5. I don't really have anyone I would want there to watch them, and it would be worse (especially on my youngest) is they were taken elsewhere. They are very excited about the birth. My oldest watched her sister born when she was just 2, and they have both been with me when I attended a good friend's birth so I think they will be fine. If I want to be alone, dh can just take them to another part of the house.

My diet is pretty much the same as always. I take vitamins when I think about it, which is about once a week. I eat a lot of nuts, fruits, veggies, beans, brown rice. And the occasional piece of chocolate I do drink a lot of water and orange juice is my fav when pregnant. I drink raspberry leaf tea with nettles in it too.

I am getting so excited, my friend just had a baby girl and I am getting in the birthing mood. Started some nesting the other night. I was supposed to be cooking dinner but I dug out all my infant cloth diapers instead and sorted them. I enter the third trimester next week!

I am a little bummed because my younger brother decided to get married July 9th (a week before my due date) so I don't think I will be attending. He lives 3 hours away. I don't think I would go that early, but I would be stressed the whole time about going into labor that it just would not be worth it. They can't/won't change the date, which I told them not to do anyway, just bummed about missing it.

Hoping everyone is doing well and enjoying the holiday however you choose to enjoy it!

Blessings, Brandi