Weekly Chat August 6-12 - Page 4 « Back to Group Discussions

[beans]

help- that is an awful analogy! I know it goes fast for some women, but then they're generally having a fast labor and delivery and it doesn't matter that they haven't eaten or rested b/c it flies by. For most others I feel like there are signs and symptoms of labor building. Resting and staying nourished is important then for the long haul. Although it can feel like the night before Christmas with the anticipation of getting to meet your little one and not wanting to sleep!

[MadiMamacita]

Yeah but the part about not being able to plan for exactly WHEN is the part of that quote that resonates with me. Sure, you might know a day ahead of birth that something is brewing.. but thats not a lot of advanced notice!

[judybean]

Originally Posted by Ava's Mama

Hyde - Thank you for posting that...I almost wet my pants from laughing so hard...but as we all know wetting our pants is pretty common at this point in pregnancy! Thanks and I am happy you are sleeping so well and I am glad that your DH has a guestroom to escape to!

As if the sound clip alone wasn't funny enough, this just added to it ;) hahahaha ;)

How exciting about babies dropping (um, in the good, in-utero, positioning-to-come-out kind of way!)! I probably wouldn't know if mine did because I've never had issues with mine kicking ribs or anything. I just have a long torso, so it's not that big of a deal. Plus, iirc, first babies often drop early, but subsequent babies don't always -- sometimes not until labor. I'm pretty sure this is how all of mine have been. They've all come out with beautifully shaped head (no coneheads here! they don't settle in until the big event, so heads don't get as coney!).

The quote about training for a marathon actually really settles well with me and maybe from prepping for running events before. There IS so much prep work that goes into pregnancy as you ready your house, your pets, your kids, your family... you get clothes, diapers, maybe some swings, slings, lotions, playpens, etc... you prepare for the actual birth via birth kits or hospital bags and tours, you take birthing classes, read birthing books, read breastfeeding books... and it's all for the Main Event, but it could happen within a window of WEEKS! But, you still have to be ready because it could be early or it could be 'late'! It's exciting! It is just about like Christmas Eve for weeks! It can be equally frustrating and exciting because of the waiting game! I hope I'm not setting myself up for a bunch of frustration, but I don't think I've ever been as not ready (house-wise.. and uh, no birth kit yet, no plans for birthing other than being at home, etc), yet SO READY (mentally excited and physically ready because the heat is quite taxing)! It's a wild ride!

Those of you without family around might not want to read this..... because I'm totally going to gush over how much it means to me to have so much family around. For dinner tonight I went to my grandparents' house. They just moved here last week (they were 90 miles to the south) and it's just so great having them here! I've always been wonderfully close to them, so having them close physically is such a blessing! The girls and I went over (dh is at work) and my mom and dad were there (they live in town), a cousin and his wife (expecting their first in November), and an uncle (from the town 90 miles to the south, but happened to be up here for work)! It's so awesome to have so much family close and share a delicious meal with them! My mom had the girls come over to her house afterwards (hence my time on the computer!) and she'll give them baths/showers, let them watch a movie, and the older three will stay the night there! Every Sunday after mass we head over to MILs where she fixes us breakfast, after that sometimes we hang out there for a while (especially during football season... we don't have cable at our house) or come home for a bit, then head back over for a family dinner. Dh has three brothers and two of them live here in town (the other is a priest) and they'll come over with their families too. This week on Monday and Tuesday evenings we also went over to MILs to watch the Olympics (SO FUN! I love it!). So, just this week we've had so many wonderful encounters with family! And in some practical terms, I have to say that it *really* helps with our food budget. Eating meals at so many other places keeps my meal prep time down (thank goodness! my girls are tired of salads and sandwiches since we have no AC and it's too hot for anything else!), keeps me from tons of clean-up at home, and.. I'd rather be with family anyway!

I have about two hours of alone time now (before picking up dd4 to come back home) and I REALLY should clean up my own bedroom (how does ALL THE CRAP from the house end up in there?! It's like Grand Central Station or something! I guess it's because that's where I fold laundry, and the door is always open so there's always some daughter in visiting or something!)... if that's going to be center stage for the birth (maybe?), it needs a SERIOUS decluttering and cleaning. buuuuuuuut..... it was another 100*+ day and that bedroom is the hottest room in the house. Yuck. Maybe I'll do a bit in there, then head down to the basement and sew some more.

And... since MirandaM asked if I'd been sewing, the answer is YES!!! I've made fare more than I've taken pictures of lately, but here are a few goodies...

Just a couple of diapers and onesies.  I actually gifted the gator onesie to my nephew because I wanted to know how it fit ;)  But, football season should be here soon, so I'm really excited about the football onesie (not usually a big fan of onesies, but sometimes they're cute).  I'll have to get pics of the other clothes and more postpartum pads I've made.

[calpurnia7]

judybean - I love your beautiful baby duds, especially the cloth diapers!  I wish I could sew more things than napkins.

[MissE]

Mwahaha hyde...THANK YOU for that. That's hilarious.

I'll be back on my laptop later. Time to get the kids to bed.

[calpurnia7]

I have new weirdness happening, and I have no idea what it could be.  Maybe I'm getting sick?  I'm feeling very off, crampy, tired, back achy, and not at all myself.

All of a sudden (as of yesterday afternoon), my pelvis is super achy and tender and I'm overwhelmingly exhausted.  I had several painful contractions yesterday, and had to keep reminding DH that false labor is very productive and will probably lead to an easier real labor because I've had practice.  After all, muscles that train function much better!  He was somewhat relieved, but at my advice we went ahead and installed the carseat bases in our cars, just in case.  I was so hungry last night I could not get enough to eat, and downed three Nalgene bottles of water before bed (those seven trips to the potty during the night did not help me feel better). 

Sleep was ok but not great, so I'm working from home today.  I'm also not at all happy with the progress of the hospital bags, so I can spend some time today getting the hospital bags packed and print out several copies of our birth plan.  Again, just in case.  If I have all of my ducks in a row I'll rest easier.

The last line item is to finish getting things off of my plate at work.  I've been reluctant because I'm not actually due until September 8th, but I'm ahead of the schedule I set for myself, so it shouldn't be too difficult. 

Any thoughts from veteran moms?  Do I have some kind of flu?  Am I maybe getting close?  Or am I just over-exhausted and need rest?  I thought I was Pregnant Superstar, but I'm starting to wimp out.

[ascher21]

Originally Posted by calpurnia7 

I have new weirdness happening, and I have no idea what it could be.  Maybe I'm getting sick?  I'm feeling very off, crampy, tired, back achy, and not at all myself.

All of a sudden (as of yesterday afternoon), my pelvis is super achy and tender and I'm overwhelmingly exhausted.  I had several painful contractions yesterday, and had to keep reminding DH that false labor is very productive and will probably lead to an easier real labor because I've had practice.  After all, muscles that train function much better!  He was somewhat relieved, but at my advice we went ahead and installed the carseat bases in our cars, just in case.  I was so hungry last night I could not get enough to eat, and downed three Nalgene bottles of water before bed (those seven trips to the potty during the night did not help me feel better). 

Sleep was ok but not great, so I'm working from home today.  I'm also not at all happy with the progress of the hospital bags, so I can spend some time today getting the hospital bags packed and print out several copies of our birth plan.  Again, just in case.  If I have all of my ducks in a row I'll rest easier.

The last line item is to finish getting things off of my plate at work.  I've been reluctant because I'm not actually due until September 8th, but I'm ahead of the schedule I set for myself, so it shouldn't be too difficult. 

Any thoughts from veteran moms?  Do I have some kind of flu?  Am I maybe getting close?  Or am I just over-exhausted and need rest?  I thought I was Pregnant Superstar, but I'm starting to wimp out.

Me too! Bump to this question! I thought I was rockin' this pregnancy, but sleep lately has been awful (got up like 4 times before 2:00am??) and to add to it, I had a scratchy throat all day yesterday. I feel like such a weakling lately!

[Ava's Mama]

Hi, I have had a scratchy throat in the AMs to.  I don't feel sick, jus kind of like I am fighting something in the AM.  Which is interesting because I have noticed a trend among my mama friends that we always get sick 2 weeks before baby arrives.  I am 36 weeks today, I would rather baby stay in another 4-5 weeks!

[WindyCityMom]

I'm sitting here waiting to be called in for my vbac consult with the OBs my midwives work under. I'm terribly stressed about it... Eugh. Wish me luck.last

I'm likely going to get yelled at for declining my GTT, probably going to get backed into a corner and scolded and intimidated. I hate this. Stupid requirements. Stupid me for letting them section me last time around for my frank breech. Stupid, stupid, stupid...

[WindyCityMom]

Well... It didn't go terrible.

OB lady marches in. Shakes my hand so hard my shoulder hurts. Reads me lines and stats from the form i signed. shoved her views of elective repeat c/s down my throat. tells me in a nutshell that a trial of labor is a waste. Tells me that as soon as i have my first contraction i need to come in. NO laboring at home because that would be irresponsible and ill surely kill my baby with no EFM. then tells me that if my labor doesn't progress quickly shell section me. i ask about augmenting it should that happen . she said i could rub my nipples or she could break my bag, but only if there is adequate staff and not at night, because they don't like to scramble around for emergency c/s and with it being night the night staff would appreciate a quick birth.

She also in a nutshell told me that although its nice to have midwoves around they work under her and they have little to no say in anything.

Uc here i come..

[MamanFrancaise]

It's amazing to me how (in the US) you are basically hiring these people and paying for your birth yet they dictate how things will go? And "not at night"?!?! I would have punched her in the face. Could you just go in whenever you want and absolutely refuse the CS? I mean, they can't force you to do anything, right? Grrr. I wish I could come to your birth and be your guard dog. 

AFM, um, I just realized this being that is currently occupying my GIANT BELLY has to come out of my tiny vagina. Um, what? I know I've done this twice before but I panic about it every time. I think this baby may come soon. The panic is usually the last thing "to do" before I'm ready. I cleaned the shit (LOL I hope there was no shit but if there was - no pun intended) out of the bathrooms yesterday. Not much other cleaning to do so nesting: complete. 37 weeks tomorrow!

[calpurnia7]

WCM - I'm so sorry about your appointment this morning.  Are there any other OB's at that practice that you could talk to who are more VBAC friendly?  I bet a lot of OB's scare their patients out of considering VBAC early in pregnancies to avoid this very issue.  I have a friend who just gave birth to her second baby, and from the get-go, her doctor terrified her against VBAC.  She had placenta previa during her first pregnancy and had to deliver via C-Section.  She wouldn't even consider a VBAC this time.  When I mentioned talking to a midwife or Bradley teacher she looked at me like I was writing her death sentence.  It sounds like you're so strong and healthy, you're a perfect candidate for VBAC, I'm so sorry to hear that you have no support from your birthing team.

[MadiMamacita]

Originally Posted by katt 

Yeah, THOSE Aurora Bolt (the red lightening) shoes are the ones he WANTS so bad!!!  (from Morgan and Milo) the biggest i've found them is size 12 for 50$.  OUCH!

did you check ebay? the blue pair is $24. they have some flame pairs as well. I searched morgan and milo boys.

[MadiMamacita]

Originally Posted by WindyCityMom 

the night staff would appreciate a quick birth.

unbelievable.

[ArtificialRed]

Originally Posted by MadiMamacita 



unbelievable.

My reaction exactly! I can't believe the she said that!! I'm so sorry they're making this so difficult WCM.

[Carlin]

Ugg WCM, so sorry you had to put up with that! It amazes me that some OBs can have such a horrible attitude towards birth.

[Worldshakerz]

Judybean - That's great that you have so much family support  Sounds very nice indeed. We don't have tons of family in our immediate area, but my parents live about 15 miles away and my husband's parents live about 40 miles from us. My mom is still working as a home health nurse so she's pretty busy with that plus helping my brother with his household things since he is blind - despite that she always helps out family when she can and she loves having us over for dinner and things like that. 

Calpurnia - How are you feeling today? Some of your systems just sound like regular pregnancy stuff - the last month it can really hit you, the baby is doing a lot of growing right now! But I do have to mention that with DD and DS1, the best way to describe how I felt when i woke up that day was "feeling off". I wasnt' exactly sick but didn't feel like myself. With DD, I was supposed to go to my MILs house for the day and ended up cancelling - thankfully, as my daughter was born that afternoon, lol. 

Hyde - Thanks for sharing the audio, that was awesome. LOL and it totally reminds me of a snore I woke myself up with a few weeks ago (my nose was whistling since i also had a cold haha). 

WCM - Good for you for remaining positive despite that pile of negativity from the O.B. I'm glad you are still keeping focused on how you want your birth to go and not how she sees it!!

AFM, I am definitely feeling - incapacitated. There is so much to do but I am not feeling up to doing it all! I am having the prodromal labor stuff sporadically - very irregular like braxton hicks except they are painful, sometimes enough to make me stop what I am doing. I am so very tired. Even when i sleep enough, I am laying down a lot - because if I don't lay down I have way more of the contractions. They don't completely go away when I lay down though. Today I had some plans that never happened because I am feeling so wishy washy and indecisive. I told my husband online how I was feeling and this was his totally awesome response to me complaining about not getting things done today (I was going to bring the car to the shop and wait with the kids at McDonalds while they looked at it):  i agree with you, and strongly support your indecisiveness - i therefore aknowledge that you are pregnant and are wishy washy and humbly request that you get chocolate for yourself and not worry about mcdonalds or the car. I thought it was completely awesome and very good advice. 

[ascher21]

wcm: I can't believe she told you all that! "I'm sorry, I didn't realize my birth was merely a convenience for your night staff!!" Who exactly is helping who in this equation?? If you're there to help the night staff, then you should get paid. 

And I don't understand the lack of power these doctors enforce over midwives in this country. It makes my blood boil. They are trained in the art of the birth process, not the chemical version, but the real darn thing. They are a huge part of birth! They should be listened to, not kept under the thumb of the OB. They are so valuable!

[judybean]

Calpurina -- I've been having a scratchy throat a lot lately too... I just attributed it to smoky air (there are a lot of fires burning in this part of the country and our air quality is atroucious -- the skies look all brown and icky, when normally they're so wonderfully clean because such a sparsely-populated area that there's really no pollution or anything)... but.. now that I think about it, it's probably happened before too?  Weird. 

WCM -- that's such crap.  I can't believe how flippant medical 'professionals' can be.  Seriously.  I know there really are plenty of good ones out there, but the bad ones make everybody else look SO BAD and that's why people turn away. Or turn into sheeple and follow everything.  I'm glad you're well-educated on your situation and are really evaluating what is truly best for you and your baby -- not just blindly following whatever somebody 'higer up' tells you.  Still.  How annoying.

Worldshakerz -- I completely feel incapacitated too.  And exhausted.  And.. ugh... So much to do, so little desire to do it... except, it's not the desire, it's the energy.  I really can't make myself do much at all without resting.  A lot. ... oh well. ... And, I seriously LOVE your husband's response!  It's so wonderfully sweet!!! :)

AFM -- I think I had the worst. night. of. sleep. ever. last night.  I guess I shouldn't even call it 'sleep'.  It should be the worst night of NON-SLEEP ever.  The older three girls stayed at my mom's house, but dd4, dh, and I all DIDN'T sleep and it was miserable.  First, it was a million degrees in the house (as in, at midnight it was still over 80* outside, meaning the inside of our house was not even *that* cool yet because it had gotten over 100* yesterday again), and there was something bothering dd4 and she was pretty much falling asleep for 10 minutes then waking up screaming and crying for at least 20 minutes before settling down for another 10 minutes.  Repeat it all until about 3:30 a.m. when she finally slept.  She slept until about 10 a.m., but I woke up a little after 8 a.m. and could not get back to sleep.  Ugh.  oh well.  Life happens.  But in the middle of it I nearly posted on here all these crazy panicky things about not being able to handle life at the moment and so how on earth can I bring a new baby into the mix who is sure not to sleep as well and that life was going to spin out of control, etc, etc... I wasn't in a good place last night.  At all.  Today is a new day, but with a lack of sleep it makes it a bit more challenging.  I'm going to maybe nap or clean my room.  Haven't decided which yet ;)

[judybean]

Two sweet sleep sacks I made recently.  I LOVE sleep sacks for tiny babies because NOBODY wants to deal with a bazillion annoying snaps in the middle of the night in a sleep-deprived state!  Having an elasticized bottom to these makes things SO much easier!  I need to make some more of these!

The one on the left is a wonderful lighter-weight cotton jersey and the one on the right is a DIVINE European cotton velour!  I had been hoarding the cloud velour for quite some time (it's expensive and so lovely), but I'm so glad I just cut into it to use it in a way that doesn't let it sit and just rot on my shelves ;)  LOVE these!  If I can ever get my house cleaned up I'll sew up some more!