Hi all! In Cathy's absence, I thought I'd start a new chat thread for the week.
Cathy - if you're reading this - I hope you have a great trip and enjoy yourself!
I hope everyone else is doing well. I did my GD test this morning. It wasn't too bad... the drink tasted like flat, very sweet Sprite. Waiting for the lab to draw my blood was the worst part. Won't get the results for a few days.
How's everyone else feeling?
so tired. so so tired. i feel like such a wuss!! i can't do anything in which i have to exert myself (esp in the heat) and i dehydrate so fast that i have to be really really careful.
I am right there with you! It was 103 here today, heat index 112. I got exhausted and was SUPER GROUCHY with my kids. 
so tired. so so tired. i feel like such a wuss!! i can't do anything in which i have to exert myself (esp in the heat) and i dehydrate so fast that i have to be really really careful.
Here I am, enjoying the river...Seriously. I want to remain submerged in the icy waters of our river about 80% of the day.
I'm with all of you on the heat and zapping of energy. We have another heat advisory today, with temps close to 100 and heat index higher than that. Fantastic! A friend has a pool, maybe I'll be visiting her later today.
Send a bit (just a bit!) of that heat my way! It's been raining and miserable here pretty much all summer so far...would love to see the sun again!
Send a bit (just a bit!) of that heat my way! It's been raining and miserable here pretty much all summer so far...would love to see the sun again!
Agreed!! lol
I am SO hungry today!! Usually when it's this hot, I have a hard time eating. Not today - I've eaten pretty much non-stop since 7:30 this morning. And I'm still hungry. I'm guessing little munchkin has hit a growth spurt or something. If I keep eating like this, I'll break the scales next week!
I got a kiddie pool for the kids because of the crazy heat... and now I have no energy at all to infalte it and fill it. Which means I have a stinky deflated pool sitting in the kitchen and kiddos who are set to a non-stop-whine because they don't have the pool I promised them.
I feel like I need at least two days of "not pregnant, no kids" to just get totally caught up on everything (including sleep!). I have a list, I know what NEEDS to be done, I even know how to do it. I just CAN'T do it in my current state of exhausted giant bellied mama to munchkins who wont even let me pee by myself, let alone get serious work done. LOL Seriously, if the universe would just give me 48 hours alone with my pre-pregnancy self I'd be totally able to hold the line. But trying to chase that line with the current heat and whatnot? Very much the Red Queen's Race.
I'm 32 weeks with a midwife visit this Friday. I have to tell them I'll be out of town during week 36 and see if they can have a copy of my medical records ready for me at the 34 week visit. I've never had a kiddo come before 40 weeks, but I've researched the hospitals near the camp we'll be at (looks like the 45 minute ride into the Women's Hospital in Pittsburg will be my best bet as a "surprise" 36 week vbac mama) and I figure it can't hurt to have medical records on hand. I remember traveling from NY to central Alaska during my 7th month with my first pregnancy... I did the same thing, researching hospitals and length of life flights, and carrying a copy of my medical records. Actually, I recall getting a call from my doctor while I was in Alaska and because of the time difference she probably thought I was drugged! She was calling about some routine test result and she had woken me up so I was all loopy and didn't really know who she was/what the call was about till I hung up. I think I even told Dh that the room service people at the hotel were really confused or something like that. LOL
Ok, off to see how much hyperventilation will be required for this kiddie pool... stay cool all!
I feel like I need at least two days of "not pregnant, no kids" to just get totally caught up on everything (including sleep!). I have a list, I know what NEEDS to be done, I even know how to do it. I just CAN'T do it in my current state of exhausted giant bellied mama to munchkins who wont even let me pee by myself, let alone get serious work done. LOL Seriously, if the universe would just give me 48 hours alone with my pre-pregnancy self I'd be totally able to hold the line. But trying to chase that line with the current heat and whatnot? Very much the Red Queen's Race.
I am so totally with you, I could have written that! I am starting to envy some of my non-pregnant mama friends and the things they are able to do...taking their kids swimming. Taking their kids camping. I feel like my kids are having a BORING summer because I have been so low-energy and have so little tolerance for being out in the hot sun.
I feel like I really need to get going on some projects around the house and also things like cooking extra meals to freeze for the first month or two when hot dinners are hard to come by. :)
Hope you are feeling more energetic soon! Raremier's (sp?) post about nesting did give me some hope. I remember cleaning the baseboards in my final weeks of pregnancy last time so am hopeful I will get there too. Screw the baseboards this time around though, the stuff that needs to get done this time is much more fundamental!
I'm pretty exciting. It took having my husband go in for emergency surgery (he'll be on crutches for a month) to get some help. So until baby is born I have someone coming in to clean for 2 hours a week (she will even do dishes if that's most urgent) and a local teen coming in 15 hours a week to play with my 18 month old (my first real respite since her birth). It feels pretty amazing!
I am tired though, and have a list of about 3 critical things I MUST get done before baby is born (back taxes for a friend etc). The back taxes I meant to get done for him BEFORE my 1.5 year old was born, so I really have to get them done this time.
I'm feeling pretty good. My three midwives are all laid back and non medical (yahhh) and seem really nice. I am thinking about starting to put together my birth bag, and baby clothes. Is anyone else doing that already?
I will start talking more often... am finally getting time to breath!
Happy Monkey
I took the two boxes of baby clothes and moved them into the kiddo's bedroom (we have a bedroom for our kiddos! huzzah! We poured the foundation when I was pregnant with ds and yippidie doo dah the room is functional!). I'm not going to pull out anything else, but having her clothes on shelves instead of in boxes under the bed is huge. :)
I've been thinking about packing a birth bag... we'll be camping during my 36th week and I think it would be a good idea to have a birth bag ready just in case. And since I'll be packing for the camping trip anyway, what's one more bag?
camping at 36 weeks! brave mama! though...we're considering it but i'll be 5 minutes from our house (our friends' property) and 35 weeks. eep! not so sure i'm going to be doing that now LOL all that sitting on crappy camping chairs and eating my food outside and sitting in the heat (i've NOT been doing well with heat this time around and normally i love it.)
started decorating the baby's room :) it's already mostly decorated but we're adding a few things to it (i got a rug yesterday and some accessories) so i'm excited about that!!
other things: measuring 36 weeks now 
at 33 weeks along. i jumped up 5 weeks bc i was measuring about right on at my 31 week appt!! i've only gained 3 pounds though (didn't gain any for at least a month before that) and have great blood pressure (110) and all that fun stuff. leuks were showing up in my urine but she was thinking that's due to maybe losing some of my mucous plug rather than a UTI or something. baby's heartbeat is consistently in the 160s. going to an OB in august instead of my family doc, where i've been til now. should be interesting bc everything has changed at my hospital of choice (we have one closer but it doesn't have a birthing center or maternity ward. no thanks!!)
getting excited/nervous/stressed about the things that are bothering me (can't seem to catch up to the house work, kids going crazy today and one was sick last week and now the other this week.) ah, the emotions!!
how far way is the campsite? Im SO jealous and re-considering going on my 36 week trip as well :)
The campsite is 5-6 HOURS from our home. If I go into early labor I'll be evac'd to the Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh, about 45 minutes from the campsite.
DH and I have been members of the Society for Creative Anachronism (a medieval recreationist group founded in the 70s and now an international group with thousands of members around the world) since we were both children, and Pennsic is the largest annual gathering of the SCA. We used to go to Pennsic every year but we took a few years off as the kiddos grew... but we went last year (pictures here) and the kiddos enjoyed it /so much/ we promised we go every year with them. (seriously, they've mentioned Pennsic at least once a week for the whole year!). Pennsic is two weeks long, with around 25,000 people camping on 500 acres... and in medieval clothing the whole time, celebrating all things medieval (music, art, culture, food, martial arts, science, dance, religion, and on and on and on). There is a free university program that offers thousands of classes during the two weeks on all aspects of medieval life (and "modern medieval" life in the SCA), a nice children's program with a variety of daily activities, hundreds of merchants (potters and weavers and glass blowers and jewelry makers and seamstresses and forges making swords and really jsut about anything you could think of to buy is for sale), a huge field battle in which hundreds of armed/armored fighters take the field (in a nod to modern life, women are just as encouraged to take up heavy weapon martial arts as the men are, and my 6yo dd1 has taken several children's classes in thrown weapons like axes while my 4yo just started learning the short bow. I know one lady knight who had her armor modified so she could breastfeed between fights without having to remove her armor!), and then the drum circles and bardic circles and haflas and fire dancers take over as the night falls. It's pretty spectacular.
So anyway, I spoke with the midwives and got a cautious thumbs up, I have a copy of my medical records to leave with the Chiurgeons (volunteer medical staff... often EMTs, Doctors, Nurses, Specialists, etc in "real life" who volunteer their time at SCA events, and at Pennsic there is also a permanent ambulance crew on site as well as a landing spot for the local life flight helecopter) and I know which hospital I'd request in an emergency situation, DH has promised to wrangle the kiddos so I don't need to do much except put my feet up and people watch, and really all I need to do is make some more clothing for the kids (they outgrew the stuff I made last year), pack the food/tent/kiddie pool, and order a daily ice delivery. I hope everything will be ok, but one way or the other, it'll be a story to tell! And if this kiddo decides to put in an appearance at Pennsic I do know a few midwives who will be on site and who knows, maybe the kiddo will get a free life pass to Pennsic or something!
(Oh, the sca can be a wonderful hobby for "larger" families... since it covers so many cultures and centuries, and since it coveres so many subjects within that framework, there really is something fun for nearly everyone. And events are set up in such a way that the entrance fee for a family will be "capped" at a certain amount... we usually pay 10-15 dollars for a family of 5 at a weekend or day long event and even a huge event like Pennsic will only cost us ~250 dollars for an entire week. And I love that children can get involved in the martial arts... heavy weapons, light weapons, thrown weapons, and bow... but it's presented with a very "robin hood"/"knight of the round table" style code of conduct. It strikes a good balance for me between really wishing my kiddos wouldn't "play fight" and giving them a safe space/respectful framework to get that sort of energy out. And it's nice for them to see a really wide variety of people engaged in a wide variety of activities... women metalsmiths with portable forges, men who do the most amazing calligraphy or embroidery, people getting up and singing in front of a bardic circle who don't have "perfect" voices and people who are no where near the current American ideal of "beauty" belly dancing at a hafla with lots of positive support, people of different colors and religions and backgrounds and languages and abilities all getting along for the most part. It's not something they're going to be exposed to every day, so Dh and I like to make it happen when we can.)
COOL- and fun. I guess camping at that point means being ok giving birth somewhere other than where planned. I have it in my head Id drive the three hours home since I labored 21 hours befrore going to the birth center last time!
first birth 32+ hours
second birth 12 hours
third birth 4.5 hours
fourth birth ?
I think that any travel in the third trimester has to include an acceptance of the fact that you might give birth wherever you happen to be, or at least be stabilized and transported from wherever you happen to be. Especially before full term, you really don't want a "pre term car birth" if you can avoid it!
Are those stats the total time you were in labor- or that you labored at home? I can only DREAM of a birth like that this time- unfortunately so far he's been in a posterior position- and this week im convinced I feel a head where it shouldnt be- and feet kicking me down below- praying it's his little hands !!!
let's see...
With dd1 I labored at home for a while, arrived at the hospital at 5cm, progressed pretty quickly to 7cm and then, despite tidal wave transition style double peaked hellish back labor contractions stayed at 7cm. Despite everything we tried (into and out of the birth tub, belly dancing, walking, stair climbing, etc) I stayed at 7cm for a little over 19 hours. I then had a spinal, was still at 7cm when it wore off a few hours later, and eventually had a cesarean without ever getting past 7cm. The "whole shebang" from water breaking/regular contractions to surgical birth was roughly 32 hours.
With dd2 my water broke, contractions started, I labored at home for a while, arrived at the hospital, everything went smoothly till the very end (dd2 developed shoulder dystocia... I delivered her head while squatting, she got stuck, the Gaskin maneuver didn't work, eventually my OB reached in/twisted/pulled. I had a 4th degree tear and dd2 needed some immediate help, but it all worked ok in the end). According to the clock it was almost 12 hours to the minute between the water breaking and my dd2 in my arms. Of course, that included nearly 4 hours of pushing, which was less than fun and made feel like I'd been hit by a truck the next day, but still!
Third babe, I had a midwife visit at 3pm on a Friday. No dilation, no thinning, no nothing. Total bumpkiss. Contractions started that night and we called the midwife with the update, she met us at the hospital and I agreed to AROM since it was now or nothing in terms of having them for the birth (no midwives here can attend a vbac after 41 weeks). Time from calling the midwife to babe in arms, roughly 4.5 hours. It was not fun. It reminded me of how, growing up, I was always envious of women who had more going on in the bra department. Then I started breastfeeding and went from a trim 36B to a whoppin 38DD. And all of a sudden I realized the grass really wasn't greener. Same thing with the fast labor... I have a friend who has never labored longer than an hour and I was all "oooooooh, I want that!" and then I had something close to it and dear gods, ack!
I'd really like something around 8 hours this time. LOL You know, something in a nice, gentle, textbook progression, totally manageable birth? If only I knew where to put in that order! ;)
Add my order as well :) - Im obsessing about the baby's position and forgetting there are SO many other factors involved. What is AROM?
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