Bajingo Babies in Bloom - TTC #1 in our 30's Graduates - Summer 2011 - Page 3

[ValH]

Hykue - YAY for good news!  Enjoy your time with your husband. 

LivingSky - Wow, I'm sorry to hear about all of your MW issues.  I hope everything works out for you.  Keep us posted!  I've got everything crossed that things will straighten out. 

Hokie - I hope you like the OB/CNM's you are looking into.  I think a doula is a great idea.  A friend of mine had a hospital delivery with a doula, and I think it really helped her a lot.  She had a great experience - hopefully yours will be great, too! 

I know there are some ladies that are nearing the end - how are you ladies doing?  Tear, Meander, and anyone else I missed?? 

So I had a weird symptom yesterday - a cramping pain relatively low down.  It would last a few seconds, go away for a few minutes, and then come back.  It wasn't movement related - I was completely still on the couch when it happened, and it also continued when I was standing and in bed.  It's gone this morning.  It wasn't severe pain, just enough to be noticable.  Could it have been Braxton Hix contractions, or something different?? 

[hokievol]

Good news here, too!  I went to the OB and met with the nurses for pre-natal education, history, blood draw, etc.  I thought it was just going to be a blood draw and I ended up being there for 2 hours.  They were AWESOME.  I meet with the midwife on August 10 for the initial visit and ultrasound with the hubs.  The MD is opening a birth center in September and we're hopeful my insurance will allow that since she's a doctor.  She was really great, very low c section rate, very nutrition and exercise (ie prevention) oriented.  When I told the nurses I didn't want an IV nevermind an epidural or pitocin I got a high five.  I think I can live with these people. The nurse I met with had her baby with this doc, went totally natural, and the baby stayed on her chest for hours, nursing within 10 minutes.  One of my biggest fears is having anyone take the baby from me.  It terrifies me in a way I couldn't really grasp until the birth center became unavailable.  Hopefully I'm all set now.  *phew*

LivingSky I really hope you find someone worthwhile soon.  The birth center recommended the folks I went to yesterday, but someone on my MDC regional board recommended a homebirth midwife I didn't know existed, too.  May be another route to try. 

Val that does sound like BH!  At least it sounds like what I've heard about BH.  I've had some cramping all along, I hear it's round ligament pain or something.  Feels like stretching. 

[ValH]

Hokie - YAY for your good news too!  So glad the OB office is in line with your mindset.  That'll make the birth so much easier.

[Tear78]

Val, thanks for checking in on me. I have been reading along, but I think I'm in serious nesting mode because even though I'm on vacation I've been busy busy busy. lol... Hubby finished building the wardrobe for the girl's room, and it's beautiful! Yesterday I sorted all the baby clothes and put them away. It was so much fun, and exciting, and a little nervewracking. She's just GOT to be healthy! Our pediatrician that we really clicked with and who was joining our OB's office is now unemployed: I guess it didn't work out. So now we're on the market for a new pediatrician. ack! I'm feeling very slow, and rather achy, and starting to feel ready to have this girl come out safe and sound when she's ready, but I've been taking 1-2 hour naps daily and really enjoying being at home without students misbehaving and asking me for things every 2 seconds.

As for your cramping pain, it's hard to say. I think I have had a few BH this week, and they feel different and distinctive: my uterus got all hard and balled up for a short time, then released. It sounds like you may instead be having normal stretching pains. I have had those on and off the whole pregnancy, but increasingly so during the 2nd and 3rd trimester, and they can be pretty uncomfortable. At times it felt reminiscent of the moments before my period start. I never thought about how it would hurt for our uteruses to keep getting bigger and bigger, but it makes sense when I think about it. I told my midwife about it, but other than that there was nothing to be done, unfortunately. Hang in there!

Hykue, I'm so glad you get to see your hubby soon! It sounds like you've had quite the week. I would be SO frustrated about the garden. I'm glad some things survived. And I'm glad you didn't fall down the well! Holy cow!

Ok, I have a student coming in 2 hours for tutoring, so I'm off to paint the baseboards in the baby's room. Hi to everybody I missed!

[LivingSky]

They risked us out of our homebirth I'm too devastated to do anything but cry.

[ValH]

LivingSky - I'm so sorry.  Sending you lots of hugs and good thoughts.    Regardless of where this little one arrives, I hope it's a good experience for you and DH.  Just keep thinking about holding your little one in your arms when it's all said and done.  Best wishes to you! 

Tear - Glad to hear you're doing well and nesting!  I hope to do some nesting this weekend - DH's to-do list consists of putting together the nursery furniture.  It's very cool that your DH can make the waredrobe for the little one - having homemade furniture is so special. 

[Tear78]

Originally Posted by LivingSky 

They risked us out of our homebirth I'm too devastated to do anything but cry.

I'm so sorry. I hope Val's advice helps: focus on having your healthy little one in your arms after it all.

[meander]

LivingSky--that bites. I am so sorry. I do think you will still have a beautiful birth, just not the one you had been imagining. And that is a super-hard thing to let go of, I know. *hug*

Sorry I've been so absent lately. I still read along most days, but the carpal tunnel is so, so bad...I type with my pinkies now so it takes a long time to say things, and I never got the hang of concise-ness. (The carpal tunnel is still my only serious complaint, so I can manage. Other things would bother me more.) I am ginormous and generally uncomfortable all the time (I don't even know how to be comfortable at 35 weeks...with a huge head burrowing under my ribs), but it doesn't seem to matter; I am just feeling calm and happy--but also kinda lazy and undermotivated.. Nesting has NOT kicked in yet. There's a lot done, but a lot left to do. I'll be term in 9 days, so it's about time to shift gears, really!

Kiddo is still breech. We'll be talking a lot about that at my appt this week. Also his giantness. And my porous perineum. What with all the factors, I'm thinking it's 85%+ that I'm looking at a scheduled C-section. I loathe the idea but my brain is still refusing to accept it. There will likely be a big tantrum coming when I finally wrap my head around reality.

It was kinda funky to realize this morning that it's July! 99.9% sure we'll have the baby this month. It's a little bizarre feeling, honestly. Am I really ready?

[birdie.lee]

OMG, I just logged on and saw your signature and new picture, Meander!  Congratulations on your new baby!  He is precious.  I saw what you posted about the baby on the other thread and I'm so glad that he is okay!  I hope that your new family is on it's way to being hale and healthy after his early arrival.

Livingsky, I'm sorry you aren't going to get your homebirth.  But you will get a beautiful baby at the end and that is what counts.

Tear, it sure sounds like you are getting things ready for your baby's arrival.  You don't have much longer now!  That's good that you are able to take some time and rest.

AFM, today I'm officially half way there, 20 weeks.  Hubby hasn't been able to feel the baby move yet but he was witness to the weird misshapen belly that I had the other day.  One side was soft and the other side stuck out more and was very firm.  I wonder what part of the baby was sticking out?

[tank]

congrats meander!  I am so glad he is doing well.  I read your update thread too.

livingsky I am so sorry you were risked out of your homebirth.  That really sucks.

congrats birdie for reaching the half way mark!  My DP hasn't felt the little one move yet either despite him being able to move my laptop and me actually being able to see him move through my belly sometimes.  I think it is all about timing and knowing what he is trying to feel for.

AFM I noticed my nipples leaking a tiny bit yesterday. That made me really excited.  We bought a carseat and feel a little less overwhelmed by the stuff we need to get.  That is one of the only expensive things we NEED to buy so it feels good to get it out of the way.  We let the dogs sniff it for a minute then put it up until we instal it.  Things have been feeling pretty good lately.  my back is feeling a bit better but still gets sore easily.  I am having to go to the chiropractor 2 times a week.  I am going to start a prenatal workout / yoga video so maybe that will help things.  I am having a hard time getting motivated to start it though.  I am still having really bad acid reflux too.  The other day I threw up in my mouth in the grocery store and had no choice but to swollow it.  It was awful. 

hello to everyone I didn't get to personally.

[Tear78]

meander, I posted about this in your other thread, but a HUGE congratulations to you mama, and hooray on your first act protecting your baby and trusting your instincts! I hope your little one gets to go home with you soon, and that you heal quickly.

birdie.lee, congrats on hitting the half-way mark! My hubby started to feel our little one a few weeks after that, when her movements got markedly stronger. I think it does have a lot to do with the baby's position, too. I think you might be feeling the baby's butt, lol. That's how our little one feels when she has her butt sticking up and out.

tank, congrats on getting the carseat: a big step. And on leaking nipples. Mine are still very dry, but there's time, right? I always feel WAY better after going to yoga, so hopefully that will help with your back.

[Ramzubo]

Congrats Meander! What a scary experience, but so glad your little one is improving. You're definitely a testament to listening to maternal instincts!

[meander]

Thank you all!

Alaric is doing fairly well. DH got to hold him a lot today, and had the fun of changing a meconium diaper. I was kept in bed by my doc much of the day to try catching up on sleep, but I did hold him for an hour tonight--while DH fed him the little bit of colostrum I'm producing with a syringe. Pumping is *hard* work, and so far not very productive work. If things continue to improve they'll let us try BF tomorrow, though!

We're dealing with a lot of different issues with Alaric: sepsis, breathing issues, jaundice, low platelets , etc. But he's a trooper; not too fussy about all the tubes coming out of his little body, and overall he has steadily (if slowly) continued to improve, and has even gained a little weight since birth, so we are feeling positive. The NICU staff has been doing a great job keeping us as involved as they can.

Time for bed--not sure how long I will stay in the hospital, but it's really hard to sleep here.

[ValH]

Meander - HUGE congrats!!!!  Your little one is so adorable.    Sending some healing, healthy thoughts and prayers your way. 

[LivingSky]

meander: Glad to hear things are improving with Alaric! Can't wait to see more pictures and I really hope he and you can go home very soon!

[Hykue]

Wow, meander, what a surprise!  I hope you both recover quickly, and you should be proud that you did the right thing when it needed doing.  I'm glad it worked out so well, and I'm impressed by your bravery in getting a c-section when needed.  I hope if I ever need one I'll be just as brave.  I imagine you felt scared, not brave, but you did it and now you're both on the way to good health, so it sounds like you did great.

[meander]

Hahahhahaha. Brave. Hahaha.

I believe the anaesthesiologist was in front of me, physically restraining me while I repeated 'I want to run away'--while his partner gave me the spinal block. She wasn't strong enough to hold me in place, see... And after that I had no control over my legs, so I just kept crying for somebody to please hold my hand since I couldn't get away anymore. (It took longer for dh to scrub in than for the cutting to begin...)

Yep, I am not at all proud of my behavior.

(I kept saying I'd rather be under, and if I ever have to do that again, I think I might choose that--but there really wasn't time.)

-----

He's holding his own. I got to hold him skin-to-skin today for an hour and changed his diaper, but he has to spend 21 hours a day under the bili-lights so we have pretty limited contact. He had another platelet transfusion, but his sugars stayed stable. I'm starting to have a little more colostrum supply--I got a whole milliliter at last pumping, and let me tell you, that is an exciting improvement! but he's not quite ready to try BFing yet, so he's just getting it via syringe.

(PM me if you want a link to his webpage with more pics and video--I don't want it indexed on google, real names and some medical info etc--but would be happy sharing with you guys!)

[Hykue]

Meander: I still maintain that you were brave.  The best I think I could possibly manage would be breaking down into a sobbing mess - they would have been able to restrain me, but only because I would have been paralyzed by fear.  And you did it, you went through a very scary experience and came out the other side.  And you're focused on the wonderful outcome of that wonderful baby.  Of course you were scared and of course you wanted to run away.  We aren't equipped to deal well with being cut open, but you dealt with it (I know it doesn't feel like you dealt with it well, that's obvious from what you write, but you dealt with it AT ALL, which in my opinion means you dealt with it well) and now you're on the recovery side, and it sounds like you've stayed on the positive side of doing what needs to be done all along.  And honestly, I have given it some consideration, and I might actually prefer to be put under if I needed a c-section.  My sister disagrees, thinking that I wouldn't want to miss that first view of baby, and I can understand that perspective, but I am not too keen on my first view of baby being when I'm terrified, either.  Seriously, I can understand that it was shocking and that you don't feel proud, but I really truly think that you should.  You're not a total wreck, you can still type coherently, you're still focused on Alaric.  Thus, I am proud of you, even if you aren't right now.  I hope you will be some day.  Congratulations on the more colostrum, I'm sorry it's so difficult for you.  Hopefully soon he can actually suckle and that will make it come easier!  Also, please do pm me the details.  I would love to see.

Livingsky:  I'm sorry about being risked out.  It must be hard, having built up a whole plan of what you were hoping to have happen, not to even get to try for it.  I'm not sure why they risked you out, but if there really is a higher risk, it makes sense to go ahead and go to a hospital, right?  From a purely logical standpoint, I mean, I can understand that the emotional impact of such a thing this late would be pretty upsetting.  In my DDC someone just recommended this book for people wanting a natural book in a hospital, it might be worth checking it out?  And my sister had an unmedicated, intervention-free birth at a US hospital, and I think she found it to be a pretty good experience (although very painful), even though it was not a particularly natural-birth friendly hospital.  I know it isn't what you wanted, but it can still be good!

[ValH]

Meander - I agree with Hykue!  You should be very proud of yourself, and everything you did and went through to make sure Alaric was safe and healthy - not to mention all you continue to do to make sure he's doing okay.  I know none of it is easy, but I can already tell that you are an amazing mother! 

Okay, my third trimester SUCKS so far.  It started with some killer hip/back pain.  I haven't been able to stand up straight and can barely walk for the past two days.  Hopefully this will pass quickly so I can go back to the easy pregnancy I'd been having up to this point. 

[bootsvalentine]

*bighugs* Livingsky. I'm so sorry about being risked out. I hope that you still have time to make a plan that you are comfortable with and have some of the same elements of the birth that you wanted at home in another setting.

meander, I LOVE the name Alaric (I am obsessed with names right now, there's a huge youtube babyname community and I have nothing better to do). I'm gonna PM you.

Gonna take my empty womb outta here! Love you all!