May Chat Thread - Week 3 - Page 8

[tracymom1]

Wow! What a weekend for everyone! I am totally lost in this chat thread!

For everyone who is sick or had accidents or have injured kids - wishing you lots of healing vibes and healthy times!!

As for the emergency section post mortum, I would probably trust DH to do that only because he was a med school drop out and had witnessed many surgeries - though I would never in a million years expect him to be able to perform such a feat. As for training, it starts with observation, then discussion and then scalpel in hand. Med students usually practice on cadavers first so they have a little bit of experience with the knife once they get into the operating room. Surgeons have a much longer and involved residency than most medical specialties because of the intensity of the job.

heathenmom, I am in a similar situation with the carseats - we really can't afford a minivan right now and I am trying to figure out how to get 3 across in our Rav4. We have FF DS who is in a convertible, RF DD who is also in a convertible (but will probably put her FF in the fall) and then the newborn. We have Britax seats right now and have looked into the Radians, but they are sooooo expensive... we may end up asking MIL for a loan to get a minivan. If we sell the Rav4 and have an extra couple of thousand bucks, we could get something decent.

As for me, if I don't get some sleep soon I am going to completely flip out. Seriously.

[BarefootScientist]

Smokering, I want to be your friend IRL. It sounds like you have really interesting discussions.

I think I would trust my DH to give me an emergency c-section if I suddenly dropped dead - IF he was feeling up to it. He is a pretty level-headed man and although he has never done surgeries before obviously, I can picture him taking care of that. You really wouldn't have to worry about the kind of incision, just slice the whole belly open and get that baby out of there, ya know?

I would never do it myself on a pregnant woman that died in my presence though. Well...I don't know, I guess it might depend on the situation. I can't really see myself doing it, but in a desperate situation, if I knew she would want me to...I guess I would.

Fascinating but so morbid.

[MaryElizabeth]

Jenni-- I LOVE that crib and your bedding. It looks so cheery and relaxing in there :)

Smokering--- That IS an interesting situation. For some reason, these convo's come up with DH and I a lot. I always want to know what he would do and why. That being said.... I would trust DH to do it. And, I'd like to think that his survival instincts would kick in and override all the emotions from me just croaking out on the floor haha. It makes me more nervous to think about him taking care of a newborn immediately post c-section than the actual cutting and pulling the baby out. I feel like I need to go over things with him step by step... just in case. I think my biggest fear would be him cutting the baby with whatever he chose to slice me open with. It would have to be a kitchen knife.... and the knives we have aren't very sharp... so there would be a lot of pressure. It would take at LEAST two minutes to get through all of the skin and tissues before being able to break into the placenta...... If he could do all of that and the babe was still breathing, it would be miracle indeed!!!!

Anywho, thanks for making me think.... we've only discussed whether or not he would save the baby or me in an emergency situation.

Heathenmom and Tracy---- You both have the bulkiest seats ever! hahaha I don't think it is even POSSIBLE for you to fit 3 Britax seats beside one another. The only set up I've seen work in a standard size back seat is with at least one Radian (I'm sure there is SOMETHING out there like it). We have a Radian and LOVE it--plan on getting another for DS.... but they are pricey :(

Maybe Jenni can help you with all of her carseat knowledge!

[Bald_Bull's_Mama]

I am totally going to ask DH about this when he gets home tonight. With DS, I was mildly freaked out that someone might try to kill me and steal my baby. It was pretty irrational, but if someone tried to become my new friend towards the end of my pregnancy, I was weirded out. Like, a girl I worked with suddenly started buying me maternity clothes and wanting to go out to lunch. I thought it was possible that she wanted to kill me and steal the baby. I haven't felt like that this time, though. Weird, huh?

[jshannyn519]

Originally Posted by Smokering 

Which leads me to another interesting thought - how are surgeries learned?

Anyway, ladies. Would you trust your husband to perform an emergency post-mortem C-section in the event of your untimely and unmistakable demise? Discuss.

They're learned by learning the anatomy & physiology backwards & forwards, reading about how to do them from medical textbooks (not on ehow, LMAO!), watching the surgeries being performed and then doing them as an intern/resident with an attending surgeon walking the learner through the process. Over and over and over and over again. And since most doctors/surgeons are in one particular area like cardiac, neurosurgery, kidneys, GI, OB/GYN, etc, they don't have to learn how to do every kind of surgery just the ones that they'll do as a practicing surgeon/physician.

Since I don't have a husband I'd have to hope that my sister was near me if I suddenly dropped dead. I'd absolutely trust her to do a c/s to get the baby out since she does them all the time. Of course, the better option would be to not suddenly drop dead but I'm pretty sure that's not something any of us can control, for the most part. lol

Originally Posted by heathenmom 

I got quite a surprise this weekend.  A close friend of the family came up from Jacksonville, and his dad (whom we'd never met before) came down from Myrtle Beach, to deliver us a cradle that the dad made for our friend when he was a baby.  It's really beautiful and I was so touched!  But it set off a spate of nesting the likes of which I don't think I've ever experienced.  LOL

I completely rearranged/reorganized the girls' bedroom, which lead to reorganizing and moving furniture all over the 2nd floor of our house.  But it looks SO much better and -- fingers crossed -- I'm HOPING that it'll be easier for the girls to keep neat & clean.

Oh, and I LIVED the whole weekend in a nursing bra that I bought on Friday.  Soooo comfortable!  The store only had 1, in black, in stock, so I'll be ordering more of them.  I'm really hard to fit and tried on something like 15 bras before finding this one.  I'd still like to find something more structured, but this is perfect for around the house and under t-shirts.

Still trying to figure out the carseat situation in my car.  I drive a Ford Focus wagon and need to be able to fit all 3 kids in some combination of RF infant, bigger kid carseat or booster, and big kid booster.  What I have now is a Graco Turbo booster for my 6 y/o, an Evenflo booster for my 4 y/o, and a Graco Snugride for the baby.  I cannot get them all to fit and I'm moderately freaking out about it.  A new vehicle is not an option.  :(

The cradle sounds lovely! How sweet of him to bring it to you. I can totally understand the new piece of furniture kicking off a spate of nesting. My BIL came over on Thursday (I think) and set the crib up in my room while I was out at car seat class. Yesterday I finally gave into my urge to start rearranging what little I can in my room and organizing and getting everything ready for baby. I'm still not done though and I have a big ol' list of things that need to be accomplished in my room & my closet before I'll be able to leave it alone.

Fitting car seats in a car can be SO hard! Does your Focus have lap/shoulder belts in all 3 seating positions in the back seat? If you absolutely cannot make all 3 seats fit in the back seat, you may have to put the 4 yr old into a seat with harness straps that go to a higher weight and move him/her to the front passenger seat with the seat moved as far back from the airbag as possible.

Originally Posted by BarefootScientist 

Smokering, I want to be your friend IRL. It sounds like you have really interesting discussions.

I feel the same way! Too bad NZ is so far away from Texas!

My "belly buddy", a friend of mine who is due with her 4th baby on June 1st, had her water break this morning! I'm so excited that I'll get to see pictures of baby soon! She lives in California so a visit anytime soon isn't going to happen. We joke around that our kids are going to grow up and get married. lol  I really thought it would be great if we could have our babies on the same day, but it looks like that won't happen unless I suddenly kick into active labor.
 

[heathenmom]

Originally Posted by MaryElizabeth 

Heathenmom and Tracy---- You both have the bulkiest seats ever! hahaha I don't think it is even POSSIBLE for you to fit 3 Britax seats beside one another. The only set up I've seen work in a standard size back seat is with at least one Radian (I'm sure there is SOMETHING out there like it). We have a Radian and LOVE it--plan on getting another for DS.... but they are pricey :(

Maybe Jenni can help you with all of her carseat knowledge!

Really?   'Cause I've been searching for months and 17" wide was about the narrowest I could find -- the Radian being the exception -- and all 3 are 17".  They actually all FIT in the back seat; it's just impossible to get them all buckled.  Which is clearly a problem. 

[jshannyn519]

Originally Posted by heathenmom 

Really?   'Cause I've been searching for months and 17" wide was about the narrowest I could find -- the Radian being the exception -- and all 3 are 17".  They actually all FIT in the back seat; it's just impossible to get them all buckled.  Which is clearly a problem. 

Does your car have LATCH? That might help with the buckling situation for at least one of the seats.

[heathenmom]

Originally Posted by jshannyn519 

Fitting car seats in a car can be SO hard! Does your Focus have lap/shoulder belts in all 3 seating positions in the back seat? If you absolutely cannot make all 3 seats fit in the back seat, you may have to put the 4 yr old into a seat with harness straps that go to a higher weight and move him/her to the front passenger seat with the seat moved as far back from the airbag as possible.

Just to clarify:  If I HAD to move one of the kids to the front seat, it should be the 4 y/o because she could still fit into a 5-point harnessed seat, and NOT the 6 y/o because she'd most likely have to go into a booster?  If that's the case, I'm SO glad you said that because I'd have put the oldest in the front. 

[MaryElizabeth]

See? I knew Jenni would know! :)    All I know is, is that Britax seats are so hard to fit beside each other. When we were trying to figure out seat placements for my 4 nephews, the only seats that we could get to work were either a Radian, or a cheap seat like the CostCo Senera --- super slim, but kind of scary b/c they are so stinkin' light! <--- but super cheap and rated pretty well. 

Good idea about the latch--- would make it much , much easier to install.  And I totally would have put the oldest in the front seat too---- Obviously, I am NOT an expert by any means!!!

[heathenmom]

OH, I meant to specify that yes, there are 3 lap belts in the back.

The more I think about it, though, the less comfortable I am putting anybody in the front seat.  I can't disable the air bag at all, and the only way to get the Graco rear-facing is to put it in either the middle or behind the front passenger seat with that seat moved up nearly as far as it will go.

[jshannyn519]

Originally Posted by heathenmom 

Just to clarify:  If I HAD to move one of the kids to the front seat, it should be the 4 y/o because she could still fit into a 5-point harnessed seat, and NOT the 6 y/o because she'd most likely have to go into a booster?  If that's the case, I'm SO glad you said that because I'd have put the oldest in the front. 

Yep, the 4 yr old is safer in the front seat in a 5-pt harness and moved back from the airbag than the oldest would be in a booster seat. The harness will keep her well back from the airbag and it won't pose a danger to her.

Originally Posted by MaryElizabeth 

See? I knew Jenni would know! :)    All I know is, is that Britax seats are so hard to fit beside each other. When we were trying to figure out seat placements for my 4 nephews, the only seats that we could get to work were either a Radian, or a cheap seat like the CostCo Senera --- super slim, but kind of scary b/c they are so stinkin' light! <--- but super cheap and rated pretty well. 

Good idea about the latch--- would make it much , much easier to install.  And I totally would have put the oldest in the front seat too---- Obviously, I am NOT an expert by any means!!!

I'm a fan of both Radian and Britax seats, but the truth of the matter is that all car seats pass the same crash test. They are tested installed on a bench seat and rammed into a wall at 30 mph in a lab. All seats sold in the US have to pass that basic test. Some manufacturers do extra testing and they do extra stuff to their seats, but ultimately the Cosco Scenera is equally as safe as a Britax or Radian is. LATCH can make it much easier to install multiple seats in a row, the problem with most cars is that there's no lower anchors for the middle seat, only the sides. So the middle seat still needs to be installed with the seat belt. And if you have a kiddo in a booster seat you obviously have to use the seat belt and not the LATCH.

Originally Posted by heathenmom 

OH, I meant to specify that yes, there are 3 lap belts in the back.

The more I think about it, though, the less comfortable I am putting anybody in the front seat.  I can't disable the air bag at all, and the only way to get the Graco rear-facing is to put it in either the middle or behind the front passenger seat with that seat moved up nearly as far as it will go.

If the seat has to be moved up that far with the Graco behind it, I wouldn't put it there. The middle is probably going to be your best bet for that seat.

[JosieAK]

I tried on nursing bras at this weekend with no success.  My first month with my DD I lived in a sleeping nursing bra and a black nursing cami (both from Target).  I couldn't find a sleeping bra.  I have my old one but it is VERY tired and worn.  I am trying to find a way to convince people to get me gift cards to Bravado and such for my baby shower (why not?  I don't need a baby bottle ensemble).  We have a very limited selection of places to buy them here in Alaska, so I am suspecting that I will have to find some way to get fitted and order them after breastfeeding is established again.

Smokering, you crack me up!  I would hope that trained medics could do something---artificially respirate me or something until they got to the hospital and the baby can be removed safely.  I read a compelling book (fiction) about a midwife who did a c-section on a dead woman to save her baby.  I can't remember the name of the book, but I don't recommend reading it right now with labor imminent!  My pleas to DH have been to try to find someone who will breastfeed my baby if I died or to be skin-to-skin with the baby if I am in another room being sewn up from a c-section, etc.  I might have to broach this idea with my DH as well--if I die do all you can to save the baby.  Although, he WOULD NOT come at me with a butcher knife, maybe he would be able to speed things up with the medical professionals.

I am happy for everyone with the cribs and cradles!  I co-slept with DD, but I now have a crib, an arms reach co sleeper, and a bassinet that all are waiting to have something done to them.  Silly me!

[Smokering]

We have a fairly decent set of kitchen knives, but once DH got to the uterus I actually think my sewing scissors might be a better bet. Don't you think? I mean, it'd have a tough, muscly texture - he might have more control and power with scissors. Mine are pretty sharp, even though I do have a bad habit of cutting paper with them as well as fabric.

I hadn't really thought about the placenta - good point! I have an anterior placenta; I guess that would make things trickier. *I* know where it is, and I'm sure I've told DH dozens of times, but I bet he'd forget in a crisis.

I recently read that a small-but-higher-than-I'd-have-expected percentage of babies get cut or nicked during regular C-sections, which really skeeved me out. Still, just leaving the baby there obviously wouldn't do it any favours, so I guess that's just a chance DH would have to take!

I can't say I'd envy him the situation... I'm not sure I could perform such an operation myself, if it were my sister or something. (And if it were a random stranger, I'd be pretty terrified that her husband would come across us and be all "Why are you butchering my dead wife?", which would be hard to explain - can you imagine the media coverage? Not that one should be thinking about the media coverage at a time like that, but you'd run a fairly severe risk of being known as the Subway Mangler or something, innit.) My flatmate mostly seemed concerned with his ability to make sure I was really dead first, so I suspect he'd dither around until it was too late. Understandable, really.

Smokering, you crack me up!  I would hope that trained medics could do something---artificially respirate me or something until they got to the hospital and the baby can be removed safely.  I read a compelling book (fiction) about a midwife who did a c-section on a dead woman to save her baby.

Can anyone give me a definite answer on whether that would work (artificial respiration)? I'm curious about it. Might have to email my doctor friend, but he already thinks I'm weird. I could ask my midwife, but well, ditto...

I believe C-sections were only ever initially performed post-mortem. That whole thing about Julius Caesar being the first C-section is almost certainly a myth, because his mother survived until he was grown up (plus, "Caesarean" comes from a Latin word meaning "to cut", so the Caesar etymology isn't necessary). I've read a few historical fiction novels from various periods in which MWs did post-mortem C-sections, but I don't know how common they actually were back then.

Now, if you want to talk really hardcore, have you guys read about that woman in India who did a C-section on herself? Amazing.

[jshannyn519]

Originally Posted by Smokering 

Can anyone give me a definite answer on whether that would work (artificial respiration)? I'm curious about it. Might have to email my doctor friend, but he already thinks I'm weird. I could ask my midwife, but well, ditto...

I believe C-sections were only ever initially performed post-mortem. That whole thing about Julius Caesar being the first C-section is almost certainly a myth, because his mother survived until he was grown up (plus, "Caesarean" comes from a Latin word meaning "to cut", so the Caesar etymology isn't necessary). I've read a few historical fiction novels from various periods in which MWs did post-mortem C-sections, but I don't know how common they actually were back then.

Now, if you want to talk really hardcore, have you guys read about that woman in India who did a C-section on herself? Amazing.

I'm assuming that you mean CPR by "artificial respiration"? It would buy about 5 minutes, but probably less. Brain death begins after 6 minutes with no oxygen at all, but with chest compressions to move the heart muscle & pump blood it would keep some of the oxygen in the blood moving around like it should. Just and FYI since we're on the topic, do 30 chest compressions and then 2 breaths. Chest compressions should push the chest wall down 1/2 to 1 inch and the heel of your hand should be on the sternum (that hard bony part in the middle of your chest).

You're right about the initial c/s. They did them after the mother was dead, freshly so, because there was no other way to get the baby out. It also must be said that they weren't always that successful, but it was certainly better than not trying at all. And it is a myth that Julius Caesar was the first baby born via c/s.

I didn't hear about the lady doing her own c/s. It's amazing what people can accomplish when they have no other choice. I'm not sure that I could cut myself open, but if it was to save my baby and myself... maybe. It's hard to say until you're actually IN that position. I don't ever want to be!
 

[erigeron]

In my most recent CPR class I think they told us rescue breaths were optional, because enough people were avoiding doing CPR just because of not wanting to put their mouth on a stranger's. Eesh... such a world we live in.

[JosieAK]

I am not at all a medical professional, but I was wondering about actually forcing oxygen into the system, you know an iron lung type thing.  Although, I guess that would be silly if your heart stopped and your blood was no longer pumping oxygen around. 

I guess I will just have to hope this never happens to any of us!   Thankfully, as horrible as stomach bugs are, they are rarely life threatening (at least without a LOT of warning!).

[BHappy]

hi ladies, come on over to week 4...

its pretty nice over here!