The Whatever Ladies Graduate! - Page 5

[onetwoten]

The first one stayed for a week, but that was primarily because they thought she had... developmental problems. It turns out, it's just because her father is funny looking, so it translated into the baby looking like she had several markers for Downs. The specialist looked so embarassed when they realized what the reason for the markers was... The second baby was set to come home on day three, and then day two she had a collapsed lung (which we believe was due to something the nurse did actually, but can't prove...) She ended up coming home on day 5. And then baby three actually never went to the NICU at all other than a few hours of observation at first, and then she roomed in. She went home after three days. All three of them were fairly big for 35 weeks (in around 5.5lbs), so i think that was a contributing. My SIL has a bicornate uterus, so they weren't surprised she delivered early, and I'm sure that factors into it all.

The newborn ones DO seem small, but they seem like they'll easily fit up to about the 8-9lb, which is when baby should fit the smalls anyways. All the newborn ones I have were either free, or I got the kushies ones I think all four for $2.99 or something like that at the thrift store. So I'm ok if they don't get a lot of use... But yes... planning on probably buying more OS or meds once the baby is here and growing into the first OS I bought so I'll have an idea of fit.

[akind1]

Carrie, sounds as if she is doing great!

MW: I know the knickernappies are PUL which isn't ideal, but they do have side snapping OS . .http://www.knickernappies.com/knickernappies_onesize_diapers.html May not be the most natural fibers, but at least all of the material and dipes are USA made.

I far prefer snaps, but my mom loves velcro/aplix so I try to bring the couple velcro/aplix ones I have with me when we visit. Most velcro doesn't bother me, it is just that it rubs DS's tummy raw and gets pilly. The Grovia aplix is awful. it hardly sticks to anything, so not an effective fastener. I loved them for the trim fit, but if they won't stay on, what is the point?

[onetwoten]

Carrie I missed oyur update, that sounds fantastic. I miss my doula dates... just being there and the excitement and magic of it all.

[MarineWife]

Carrie ~ I hope your friend has a beautiful and peaceful birth. Sounds like she's doing very well so far.

Aplix, yes! That's what it is. Yeah, I don't really like that.

JJ ~ Ah, ok. The bicornate uterus makes sense. I was wondering if maybe for some reason her babies are just done at 35w and end up not having any preemie issues. Guess that's not quite it.

I wonder if I could just use my stuffers/doublers laid in a soaker for my NB if the smalls and OS don't fit yet.

[Baby_Cakes]

Just a quick update on my best friend.  She gave birth last night at 10 pm to a gorgeous, healthy, amazing baby girl!  Labor stalled for a bit but she rocked it out, and afaik didn't use any pain meds or an epi.  Only a minor 2nd degree tear.  I have never been or felt so inspired by anyone!  She's my new hero.  

I feel renewed, like if she can do it, I can totally do it again.  

MW - I know before we were pg, we both were kinda iffy about hb'ing again.  I know I'm going to do it, and I know it's going to be ok, but I admit for awhile there my fears/hangups were getting to me.  How are you doing?

[MarineWife]

First, congrats to your friend!

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes 

MW - I know before we were pg, we both were kinda iffy about hb'ing again.  I know I'm going to do it, and I know it's going to be ok, but I admit for awhile there my fears/hangups were getting to me.  How are you doing?

I'm doing a lot better with it. I'm definitely going to have a home birth rather than waffling about what to do. I'm still afraid of the pain. I just keep reminding myself that that part is temporary and relatively short in the big scheme of things and I can get through it. It was really difficult for me when I was so sick last week. I kept thinking the entire time that I was sick that I couldn't have another baby without pain meds. I think it reminded me of how nauseous and just all around awful I felt the last couple of hours that I was in labor. There are so many reasons to not go to the hospital, though, that it's just really not an option for me.

I've been trying to get my Hypnobirthing book back. I loaned it to that 18yo girl I know who was pg. She had her baby a couple of weeks ago. She's got some strange issues going on with her boyfriend. He intercepts phone calls and texts, sends strange responses and doesn't tell her about it. It definitely has me concerned for her and her baby's safety. His behavior borders on abusive, imo, if it isn't already. At 5 days old the baby ended up in the hospital for at least a week with 2nd/3rd degree burns on his feet while in the care of Dad that no one can seem to explain. There was a criminal investigation going on with the dad but I don't know what, if anything, happened with that. I don't know where they live but I do know where her grandmother lives so I may go by Grandma's house saying I'm trying to get my book back and have a gift to give to the girl and see if I can get in touch with her that way.

Anyway, all of that to say that I'd like to start reading about and practicing the hypnobirthing to see if I can do it so that it might help. Oh, and I also found out that there is a local acupuncturist who might come to my labor and do acupuncture for pain. I don't know if it will help but I know it helps for nausea. That's definitely something I'm going to look into. I just can't afford the intake fee right now.

[Baby_Cakes]

Oh my gosh that poor baby!

I feel the same.  I'm still afraid of the pain.  In my head I know I can do it though, b/c I've done it before.  I almost feel more prepared this time knowing what to expect, b/c I was just caught so off guard the first time.  I'm hoping labor is shorter and I'm doing all I can to make sure baby isn't posterior this time, too!

[akind1]

The pain part doesn't bother me - I know I didn't make it all the way through with DS, but my contractions were nearly off the charts with the pitocin. For me, I just have to keep reminding myself that I can birth, it is possible and I am capable. I really, really don't want another c-section. I can go into labor on my own (this is my biggest hang up since I was induced with DS, I think that once I do go into labor, alot of my fear will go away) I also need to look at hypnobirthing. I think it will help.

I wish I were having a homebirth, and if I wasn't a VBAC, I would completely consider going unassisted. I did with DS - I was ready to buy birthing kit and tub and everything, but then I had a couple issues with blood pressure (which went away) and chickened out. as a VBAC I really would want someone else there who knew what they were doing. I think DH would be more comfortable too, and his opinion does matter. The only midwife I have found that will attend an HBAC is 3 hours away, and that is just too far for comfort.

I am glad it is Friday, anyone else?

[Baby_Cakes]

Me!  I'm glad it's Friday!!  I hope I'm not terribly busy at work today though.  I'm beat.  Nora's sick (with a head cold) and had me up and down all night.  Yawn.  It's going to be a coffee day for sure, though I sure hate bombarding baby dino with tons of caffeine.

My next prenatal is on Tuesday!  I'll be 21 weeks.  I feel like so far this pg has been going by kind of fast, but this past week or so dragged a bit.  I remember time slowing down around this week mark with DD.  I hope it doesn't slow down much more.  I'm getting antsy for my baby.  Doesn't help that my best friend's baby is here and I want my own right.now.this.minute too!!  LOL!

[MarineWife]

katrina ~ Why were you induced with DS? I thought there were a lot of home birth MWs in SC since they can practice legally. A lot of women from NC see MWs from SC. I had the same problem in Hawaii. I couldn't find a home birth MW who was 100% comfortable doing a VBAC. One mother/daughter partnership refused to even consider it. I think that's sad since there is no evidence that VBAC is more dangerous than normal birth unless there are specific issues.

Friday is just like any other day to me. They are all pretty much the same. . My mom is leaving today, finally! She came to visit for the weekend and got sick so ended up staying all week. She's driving me crazy. We're supposed to go to Florida next week with my dad to see my grandmother. I hope we don't get anyone else sick.

Oh, I got a nice, clean used infant car seat/carrier yesterday for $30 yesterday. I'm so happy I found it. I'm not going to use it in my car but I decided I'll need something to put baby in while sitting at Tae Kwon Do for 2 hours. It's a small place and there isn't room to put a blanket on the floor. Hopefully, baby will cooperate this time. We had one for Ethan but he fussed and cried so much while in it that we gave up using it.

[MarineWife]

I can't edit for some reason. I keep getting a fatal error message. Anyway, I also bought 3 used Muttaqin 3 step diapers off Diaperswappers. They are supposed to go from 8-35+ lbs. I hope that's true. If so, I can use them from birth to done. They would still fit ds3 at almost 4yo.

[AnnieA]

MW: have you bought stuff from diaperswappers before? I keep looking on there but for some reason, I'm hesitant to take the plunge and buy something. I buy stuff on ebay and craigslist all the time so I don't know why I'm having issues with that site!

I watched my friend's toddler last night and she sent me home with a baby bathtub, two swaddler-wraps and a bunch of onesies and pants that are gender-neutral. I'm starting to run out of room to store this stuff! The kids are with their mom for spring break for the next week so I've already warned DH that he will be helping me with lots of projects! I have a self-imposed deadline to get as much completed as possible before the kids get out of school for the summer so that's just two months away. TWO MONTHS!

We met with the pediatrician that we are going to use earlier this week. I have some issues with him but I love the practice overall as well as the nurses in his office and that's who I would be dealing with most. He's the same ped for my DSC so everyone already knows our family.

I'm getting more and more unnerved that this baby doesn't have a name. It's really weighing on me this week. I'm back to liking Ava but it's such a popular name right now AND my DH is hesitant to use it because his boss's daughter's name is Ava. The girls suggested Hannah and that's nice too...it could grow on me. I just want her to have a name!

[MarineWife]

Annie ~ This is my first time buying from Diaperswappers. I was hesitant for a long time because I had heard some bad things. Supposedly, they have clamped down on scammers and cleaned things up. I checked the sellers feedback first and s/he has lots of positive feedback so I feel a little safer. I bought a few things from ebay many years ago but got burned once and have never bought from a single person on there since. I've never bought anything off Craigslist. I've seen too many news reports about psychos and stalkers and prostitution ads on there to even want to look at it. I used buy and sell diapers on here all the time but they changed the rules a while ago and now you have to pay a fee or something. Things may have changed a bit since then. I don't know.

Ya know, some parents don't settle on a name until after baby is born. Sometimes once you see that baby in the flesh a name just hits you. Sometimes it can take a few days. I was wondering the other day how long I'd have after birth to name this baby. I have to get him enrolled in DEERS within a certain amount of time so he's an official dependent of my dh and can continue to get medical insurance. I think it's 90 days but I'm not sure.

[akind1]

MW: I was induced because I was at 41+6, I should have refused and gone another few days to see if he would come on his own . . . but I didn't. Technically they don't "let" you go beyond that. And I was tired of going to work and answering stupid questions.

Yes there are lots of midwives but there is a mandate (not technically a law) against midwives attending out of hospital VBAC's. Even our local birthcenter, which is 3 minutes from the hospital, will not do VBAC's. There has been talk about possibly getting an OB on staff so they could accomodate VBAC's, but I haven't heard anything definite yet. I think since midwives (CPMs and DEMs) have to operate under the radar anyway in NC, they don't have as many qualms about HBAC's.

Carrie, I love diaperswappers, They have tried to make buying and swapping there as secure as they can to avoid scammers. Most of DS's diaper stash is from various mamas on diaperswappers.

[MarineWife]

Katrina ~ That's unfortunate about the HBAC stuff in SC. That may be true about the unlicensed MWs in NC. IDK. The MW I'm seeing now is a CNM and she doesn't have any issues with me doing a VBAC. However, this will be 3rd VBAC so that may make a difference. I keep hearing things about how I've labored on my scar twice already without problems. Seems a little strange to me only because my common sense tells me the more you stress scar tissue, the more likely it would be to burst. I could be wrong, though. I don't really know much about it. I vaguely remember something about scar tissue being tougher than regular skin.

Could your dates have been off with DS? Whenever docs say they are going to schedule your induction because they won't let go any further you can always just not show up. Hehe They can't turn you away once you do show up at the hospital in labor. KWIM? When I was pg with ds2, the OB wanted to induce me at his 39w for possible GD, which was only my 38w2d, so I just didn't show up for the scheduled induction. I did agree to do weekly NSTs to appease him. I did eventually agree to be induced at my 40w1d mark, which was his almost 41w. He was having a fit. The only reason I agreed to the induction was because my dh was going to have to leave and we thought that might be his only chance to be at a birth with me. If I knew then what I know now, I would have just waited to go into labor spontaneously.

[MovingMomma]

I've bought used covers, but used diapers make me nervous b/c of the risk of getting someone else's bacteria.  If I did buy used cloth, I'd bleach it before using, and I rarely use bleach.  

I'm a bit concerned about what unforseen consequences might pop up if we (NC) get our CPM law passed.  Like fewer MWs attending VBACs.  I'm sure there will still be some that do (esp b/c there are MWs who don't plan on getting licensed), but they might be few and far between.

[MovingMomma]

MW: My friend is planning her first VBAC w/our MW, and she seems much more concerned about her borderline GD than about the VBAC, though she did want her to get an ultrasound to check placental position & make sure it's not on the scar.

[akind1]

I haven't had any issues with bacteria. I do use bac-out on my diaps though, I love the lime smell. (strange, I know).

It will be interesting to see what may happen should the law be passed in NC.

I know, I really should have just held out. I can not show up to be induced, but I really couldn't do that with work, just stop showing up because I was tired of people asking me when he was going to be born, and how big, and would I have a c-section . . .sometimes more than once by the same people in the same day.  The dates were pretty on target, maybe off by 3-4 days. I originally had 11/10 or 11/11 as my EDC. at the US at 12 weeks, the EDC given was 11/7, which lined up with my LMP, but because we were using the fertility monitor at the time, we were 99% sure of O day. can't change the past, just need to move forward.

There is a hynobirthing class in our area, and the instructor is also a doula. MW or anyone else who has done it, do you find the book and CD sufficient, or would attending the class be that much more effective? and is $500 for a doula fee typical/appropriate? just curious.

I know I have time to figure it all out, but I am a planner.

[MarineWife]

Originally Posted by MovingMomma 

MW: though she did want her to get an ultrasound to check placental position & make sure it's not on the scar.

That's my main reason for getting the u/ses. Interesting about the GD. I had a talk with Meredith about that because when I did a 1 hour test at 14w my # was 137. It's in the non-GD range but just barely as the cut-off is 140. It concerned me but didn't seem to concern her at all. She said they'd just check my blood sugar level after a normal meal. No need for me to drink that nasty drink. I was happy about that.

katrina ~ I was just curious because your ds was pushing the limit. The first thing that comes to my mind is that dates are off with something like that.

I have not actually read the Hypnobirthing book yet or tried any of the exercises. I lent to this girl before I started it and haven't gotten it back yet. I've read that Hypnobabies is better than Hypnobirthing if you have a choice. Something about Hypnobabies being more flexible, I guess. Some people said that Hypnobirthing was so rigid about having a pain free birth if you do it their way that when they experienced pain they felt like failures. That seems a bit strange to me but I don't think that way so it's hard for me to understand.

I might pay for a hypno class just because I anticipate that being a difficult thing for me. I'm not good at completely relaxing and letting my thoughts go. I've never been able to meditate.

$500 sounds like a pretty good price for a doula to me, maybe even a little low.

Oh, and I've used used CDs a lot and never had any problems. I always wash my dipes on hot water and dry on hot. I also wash with vinegar and sometimes baking soda and sun, which would help kill bacteria. I have never used bleach on my dipes. I probably wouldn't buy used AIOs only because those are hard to get clean anyway.

[lyterae]

Originally Posted by akind1 

The pain part doesn't bother me - I know I didn't make it all the way through with DS, but my contractions were nearly off the charts with the pitocin. For me, I just have to keep reminding myself that I can birth, it is possible and I am capable. I really, really don't want another c-section. I can go into labor on my own (this is my biggest hang up since I was induced with DS, I think that once I do go into labor, alot of my fear will go away) I also need to look at hypnobirthing. I think it will help.

I wish I were having a homebirth, and if I wasn't a VBAC, I would completely consider going unassisted. I did with DS - I was ready to buy birthing kit and tub and everything, but then I had a couple issues with blood pressure (which went away) and chickened out. as a VBAC I really would want someone else there who knew what they were doing. I think DH would be more comfortable too, and his opinion does matter. The only midwife I have found that will attend an HBAC is 3 hours away, and that is just too far for comfort.

I am glad it is Friday, anyone else?

:hug: We chose to have a homebirth for our VBAC because I didn't want to drive to the closest hospital that would "allow" it (over an hour away). Instead we had a midwife (also more than an hour away). I hope you are able to have the birth you want.