Bi-Weekly Chat Thread (thru 9/30) - Page 9 « Back to Group Discussions

[springmum]

Vegan - thank goodness for the LC! I hope things start getting easier now and you're supply really picks up :) Nursing problems are so frustrating. I just met with our LC this week, she'll come on Day 1 and anytime after if I'm having issues and I feel so relieved that I have her - she was really great (used to be a midwife for many years and now a LC for a hundred more)

Micro - I really hope that labour is just around the corner for you and the cold goes away quickly. It frustrates me beyond belief how some people think they can just parade their kids around when they're really sick, particularly around pregnant or other vulnerable people.

under - hope you got some more rest, sounds like you are really close too! Hiccups in my bum always keep me up too - they are so strong now!

Pregnova - hope you're feeling better now :)

Oki - hope everything goes well with your FIL there, and that he keeps the kids busy for you for a little while at least. 

Silly -  a surprise shower sounds really nice, what a great way to end the pregnancy :) Any more contractions since the weekend?

Dannic - the full moon after effect may still give you some action! Let us know how you're doing :)

Hi boston, Zub, Violet and anyone else I've missed!

AFM: Baby still inside, but the full moon definitely changed my braxton hicks. Many are more like early contractions now, starting in my back, more painful, more frequent and keeping me up at night! I could totally deal with during the day, but I get one every time I roll over at night (which is frequent!) and I'm not sleeping at all. I was really irritable yesterday too. I still would like a little more time, but would be fine with whatever happens now - although I don't think I'm close to anything yet, especially after reading how much some of you ladies are experiencing!

[dannic]

I was off yesterday, too.  A very weepy day.  My washer had broken the day before, we had a few other unexpected expenses, I couldn't think of anything for meals, and reading about the arsenic in rice was realllly freaking me out.  We eat a lot of rice (Spanish and Asian foods) plus rice products--probably more than I realized--because we are GF.  Anyway, I was a big weepy mess...luckily, the kids were gone to the park with my sis and then to Spanish class with their great grandma.  So they missed it. 

Also, while the yeast infection is better, it is not gone and I am so frustrated.  I feel like I am living on meat and any sides that aren't grains, fruit or honey.  Food is blah.  All I wanted was a piece of dark chocolate yesterday, lol. 

If it;s the full moon that is makin =g me have so much prelabor, then I am not grateful, lol.  I have never had prelabor before.  I tossed and turned all night last noght too...it must be the full moon if so many of us are experiencing it, eh? I guess we'll live.  I was actually really hoping to not have baby last night as I felt too tired for it.  And emotionally, not prepared.

Cindy, so glad you got some help! 

Oki, how's it going with your FIL?

I hope evyone gets over their coughs/colds asap! 

[dannic]

Holy mistypings!!!  Sorry.  Too tired to go back and fix...

[pregnova]

wow...I'm having trouble keeping up!

Hiccups- LOL! I just had to laugh at that. This one has insane amounts of hiccups and sometimes they do seem very bum oriented. lol 

Yay for a good LC! I'm so glad you got some good advice Cindy! 

I am STILL. repeat...STILL coughing out a lung. It's awful.  Friday makes a week of being sick, and now dh and ds are down with it, so we're on lock down quarantine from all of our usual activities. Basically, I just sit around all day cleaning things, coughing, and dreading the nights when the cough gets so much worse. I'm starting to think I won't get better until this baby comes out...one of those awful cycles you know? Baby stays in because my body is trying to be smart and get me healthy first, but I can't GET healthy because I'm super hugely pregnant. Bah! Maybe I won't even have to labor...maybe I'll just cough this little one out :-(

I've started getting the emails from family and friends wondering if we've had a baby yet...WHO thinks that that is an appropriate email to write to a pregnant woman? Like seriously....

ANYWAY...I have had my contractions start up again...last night they were every five min., but calmed down right before bed again. My doula says we're expecting snow on Saturday, and her last birth was a snowstorm, so maybe some relief then?!

Hope everyone else stays HEALTHY!!!

[springmum]

Just popping in to say Dannic - I totally had that meltdown last week about the arsenic in rice! We're gluten free too. I had read about rice in rice milk a long time ago and cut way back on rice consumption, but this pregnancy I needed more breads/wraps than usual and ate way more rice flour than I feel good about at the moment: (  I've cut DS totally off of rice, and am off it completely now, but mother's guilt is awful!! 

To help me feel better I've decided to go with the bucket analogy. I have cut so many other toxins, pesticides and unhealthy things out of our food/environment that my body can handle things like this and excrete it easily. I don't have a way to actually know, but it helps me feel better  so that I don't loose more sleep over something I can't change.  I hope your yeasties go away too! I've been sugar free this entire pregnancy and it's torture for a pregnant woman!

Pregnova- I had a girlfriend with a wicked wet cough for a couple of weeks before she gave birth. It didn't affect her while in labour too much, and surprisingly went away almost immediately after birth. I remember her complaining about the coughing/peeing/pain/up all night mess. Maybe a garlic ginger tea would help cut the mucous? I hope you feel better soon or cough the baby out (that made me laugh!)

[dannic]

Springmum...mama guilt is tough!  I've felt bad that lately I have been buying white rice from out of country (thailand) but after reading a bunch, I am glad that it is white nad not usa...kinda sad.  MY husband is very intuitive and says much the same as you--that with everything else we do, and what we have been eating, that he feels we are just fine.  And a part of me thinks, well, if they tested say, millet, would they find something wrong with it?  sorghum?  almonds?  Really, any plant will uptake from the soil...so I guess we really don't know...

Pregnova, I hope things ease up on your family!  We had pink eye for 3 weeks when dc3 was born and that was uber stressful.

[bostonmummy]

Cindy - it's so great to hear that you got so much help from your LC. We're having a pp doula come in to help us, and she's a lactation counselor, but it's great to know that if we need to up the help, an LC is a great resource. 

I'm so intrigued by the pre-labor experiences many of you are having. I haven't been feeling anything! Well, except for the baby, of course. It's definitely dropped, so when I'm in the kitchen cooking I end up having to run to the bathroom every 15 minutes — and not just to pee. Wow, it's amazing how much my body is "eliminating," if you know what I mean!

Stay strong, mamas! We're almost there!

[Angelorum]

You guys have been busy! 

We unfortunately have the yuck going around our house too.  Ds came down with it first, but it was really short-lived and mild, so hopefully it's that way for all of us.  He just had 1 day of really snotty  nose, and then a fever for a couple hours the next morning.  Seems to be back to normal now, with just a bit of coughing up the leftover gunk.  Dh and I haven't fully gotten sick, but both of us have tickles in the back of our throats. 

I'm sorry some of you are struggling with sleep so much.  I have been super sleepy lately, probably because I'm trying to fight this cold off.  Dh was awesome though and let me sleep until 11:00 am this morning!  I had woken up a couple of times to help ds with things earlier in the morning, but I had no trouble crashing right afterwards.  It was awesome.

So, my mom is hopefully coming to help with ds during the birth, but she's 3.5 hours away, and also wants to be there for my sister's birth.  Sis is due 4 days ahead of me.  I've been trying to find a back up babysitter for ds, but haven't had any luck.  It's starting to stress me out.  I probably just need to get a little more assertive in asking for help, as I've mostly just been hoping someone would offer.  It would be a lot simpler if my sister could just have her baby soon, and I could just go into labor in the evening so ds is asleep and my mom has plenty of time to get here before he wakes up. 

I can't wait to see some more babies here!  Just not mine!  I'm still not ready! 

[UnderTheOldOakTree]

Angel-Hope you feel better really soon and that this is mild for you too!  So not fun!  

I hope you work everything out childcare wise. I understand the concern!

My childcare person is out of town on Monday and Tuesday (along with most of the other people I think DS would be comfortable staying with due to the holiday) and I'm a little concerned. Somehow, I think Monday is our day if the baby does't come before then.  I may be totally off, but it's just a feeling I have.   Our apartment is smallish and even if I go into labor at night I'm afraid DS will wake up and be a little too involved in all the commotion.  We'll have 4 extra adults in the house between my doula, midwife,her student and her assistant (all of whom he is completely in love with) so hopefully someone would be able to give him some attention and keep him occupied. I also know my midwife is amazing at involving older siblings at births she attends.  She used to be a pre-school teacher and she's very in tune with kids DS's age.  She's wonderful at including him in all of our prenatal appointments and letting him be her "assistant".  

I have noticed with all the pre-labor that I've had that I'm pretty able to detach enough from him mentally that I can get through rough moments even when he's there and hanging all over me.  I hope that would be the case in actual labor too.Aside from him not understanding what's happening, my biggest concern is that he'll  want to touch me too much and I'll feel stressed by that and my labor will stall out.  I'm debating if I should prepare him by letting him watch a few birth videos so he has an idea of what's going to happen or not.  We've talked about it a good bit and he has lots of good questions about how the baby's going to come which I've been trying to answer honestly and simply.  I don't want to overwhelm or scare him with too much, but I also don't want it to be a complete shock either if he happens to be there.  What have others done in terms of preparing older siblings for the possibility of being there for labor and birth?  DS will be 4 next month.

Yes lack of sleep is not fun.  Guess who is up in the middle of the night again?  Of course I took a 2 hour nap yesterday afternoon and then fell asleep by like 9:30 so my body seems to think I actually have had a full night's sleep now at 1:30 AM.....sigh.  Hopefully I'll fall asleep pretty easily in an hour or so and will actually end up catching up on some sleep tonight despite the insomnia.  I'm glad I woke up though.  I hadn't actually planned to go to sleep yet and my alarm clock wasn't set.  I must have fallen asleep watching a movie and reading my birth invite.  I woke up with my head at the foot of the bed, still holding the framed copy of the invite in my hand and very surprised to find DH in the bed beside me already, tv off.

[Angelorum]

Yeah, ds still really isn't what I would call comfortable with anyone local since our move here in July.  He separated much easier with his old friends, the move was pretty traumatic for him I think.  The plan is for him to stay here with my mom so he can be present for the birth, or at least meet the baby right afterwards, if he's not comfortable in the room.  I know he'll survive if we need to send him to a friend's house, but I'd rather not have him associate the new baby with a scary separation. 

I'm also a little worried about stalling out my labor because of having ds around.  He's really comfortable with my mom, but it annoys me when I can hear him asking for something and dh can't tell what he wants, and I can.  And dh is better versed in ds's 3yo english than my mom is.  Hopefully the weather will be pleasant enough that I can send them to the park or for a walk if it's stressing me out. 

As for prepping him for witnessing the birth, I've been telling him the story of his birth at bedtime for a while, he loves to hear about it.  He's also seen all the videos and pictures I have of him being born.  My photographer missed the actual birth, but there are lots of videos of me pushing and him crowning (it was a looooong crowning).  Honestly, I think it freaked me out more than ds!  It's been a couple years since I've seen them, and I couldn't help thinking that I look like I'm in a lot more pain sometimes than I remember feeling.  He just turned 3 in July, and he seemed pretty matter of fact about the videos.  I'd like to find a few more birth videos for him to see.  Anyone have any favorites?
 

[UnderTheOldOakTree]

I've told DS little bits of his birth story here and there, but, we both had so much trauma (for him physical and me emotional) from that birth that I feel like it's counter productive to tell too much. I do have lots of post-birth pictures and he's seen and loves those but we didn't take any in labor or of his actual birth.   There's also the fact that his was a planned hospital birth and this time we are planning a homebirth.   He's also having a hard time understanding why he had to be born in the hospital and has been pretty vocal about wanting mama and his baby to stay at home this time.  He's not buying the  "mama and daddy didn't know any better back then and now they do" explanation for some reason though it's true.

I feel like I've done a really good job explaining what's going on with the baby and how it's growing throughout this pregnancy...but not such a great job with the birth part.

[bostonmummy]

Hey mamas, not sure what's happening with me, but I'm wondering if my water has broken. Last night after I took an epsom salt bath and got into bed, I was taking 10 minutes to hang out on all fours to encourage the baby to get into a better position. All of a sudden, a gush of water soaked my underwear. This happened several times within a few minutes, so I called one of my midwives to tell her what was going on. She said it was very normal at this late stage for water to get trapped in the vaginal canal during a bath and then to leak out, but to just watch and see whether contractions started. So, I just went to bed and tried to sleep, but I had to keep getting up throughout the night to change my underwear and put on new pads. This morning, I'm getting intermittent gushes, as well. I get the bath theory - it totally makes sense, but how much water can the vagina actually hold? Seems like more is leaking out than what I would have from a bath. I'm also getting little period-like twinges of cramps, but who knows if it's really labor or just intimations of getting ready. I think I'm going to go take a shower and get all ready just in case labor is imminent! Will keep you posted . . .

[springmum]

Boston - my vote is your water has broken! Not that I have that experience, but I've never heard of bath water getting trapped in there - it's not a vacuum! Keep us posted for sure! (and thank you for the kind words on the other thread, I needed it!)

[dannic]

I had an experience like that, boston...we seriously couldn't be sure if my waters had sprung a leak or if I, uh, had sprung a leak elsewhere from carrying a very heavy baby...I did eventually meet up with my mw to do a swab and there was no amniotic fluid present...so either it had sealed back up, or I had some severe incontinance, lol.  keep us posted!

[pregnova]

Boston- My vote is on a tear in your waters! With ds, I had a big gush all over the floor that made it really obvious, but afterwards, I just slowly leaked...enough to need a pad, but not nearly what I had been led to believe would be waters leaking. Hoping this is your time!!

So, this baby is def. gearing up again for the outside world. I had contractions last night that had me CONVINCED I'd be calling the doula in an hour or so. I was SO tired though that I fell asleep after a while and when I woke up, I just had these crampy feelings and some minor contractions that are really not lasting long enough to be doing anything. I had my first night without coughing too! And ds seems much better, so I'm ready if this is it! 

Ahh- caretakers for ds....we have a friend lined up, but she's super busy early in the week, so we need labor to happen late in the week or the weekend for her to be available. Also, with ds still a tad sick, I'm a bit concerned she won't want to watch him...she goes to school...has a little daughter, etc... her getting sick would be awful, so I completely understand, but it does have me wondering what we'll DO with ds. Since I have the doula, the plan before our friend volunteered was that dh would keep him busy and the doula would attend me....but there's SNOW outside! So...not too sure what options dh and ds would have for keeping busy! I'm not too worried though...I can separate from him pretty easily, and I've always sort of envisioned this birth being more about me being solitary...even with a doula, so I'm sure we won't have much problem. 

[bostonmummy]

Mamas, I need your good energy. It looks like it's definitely my water that's leaking, just slowly and intermittently, which would be wonderful, except that I tested positive for GBS and now the midwives want me to transfer to the hospital, or at the very least to go in for IV antibiotics. I told them flat out that I refuse, that because my energy is so good, my color is good, the baby is still moving fine, and I don't have a fever I will continue to proceed as if everything is fine. They're talking to each other now and are going to let me know whether they will be willing to continue with my care. I told them I completely respected whatever decision they make but that if they feel they can't take the risk I would try to find another midwife who would be willing to work with me. I have extremely good intuition, and I know how to trust my body. Any decision to send me to the hospital would be based not on what IS happening but on what MIGHT happen. And I refuse to make decisions based on fear or to do violence to my body and my baby by going to the hospital, where inevitably I would be induced and therefore be at a much higher risk for c-section. And isn't it true that women can leak amniotic fluid for quite some time before they go into labor, without any problems? I was just talking to a friend who said she leaked for 2 weeks before she gave birth — and she refused the GBS test. Obviously I'm not interested in making a fool-hardy decision that will put my baby in grave danger, but I feel very strongly that nothing is wrong  and that I can trust my body and my baby to birth when we're ready. Please send your powerful, positive mama energy that I know what to do. I'm headed out for a very long walk to see if this might jumpstart labor. Will let you know. Thanks!

Springmum - happy to share what's helped me. I'll be holding onto these same words as I try to figure out what to do today.

[pregnova]

oh Boston! Yes, absolutely there's no need to go in for antibiotics or the hospital if you're in a good place with that knowledge! Even testing positive for GBS does not mean that you CURRENTLY have it...nor does it mean that the baby will contract it. It's not normally a problem in the least for a baby born after term. Here's some info on it that helped me understand it when I was trying to figure out how I felt about it from a UC/UP perspective, http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=615. How long has your water been broken then? It seems a bit early for midwives to be reacting so proactively?

There are stories here on Mothering of women going weeks if not months with leaking waters. I'm sure you could search for some for ease of mind!

Also, here are some tips on how to keep yourself proactively safe from infection with leaking waters, http://www.glorialemay.com/blog/?p=24. 

If it's a small leak, then it could also just be a tear...meaning that labor might still be some ways off, but this late in the pregnancy, it's pretty unlikely that a tear will heal itself, so you'll need to concentrate on hydrating. I'd def. boost your Vitamin C intake as well. 

I hope you get something going soon enough that you don't have to make any big decisions, but if you do, remember that you are the Mama and only YOU can make decisions for yourself and your baby!

[springmum]

Boston - I completely understand your point - without labour starting you may open the door to further interventions that can't be stopped. I also know the fear of "what if" with a GBS infection- it is not a decision to take lightly (not that you are!)

...In the meantime could you start taking extra vit C, garlic and other immune boosting herbs/vitamins? Do your midwives do the hibiclens wash at all? (I don't know anything about it personally) Is there a certain number of hours they will give before abx become really "necessary"? I certainly have no idea what is the safest thing to do and if a slow leak puts you at the same risk as a big gush - I'm just throwing out some things that maybe you discuss with your midwives.

It's good you're looking out for fever etc. 

It's a tough decision for sure, but I will send all the positive energy you need and maybe some "hurry up labour!" vibes so you don't have to worry too long and it won't be an issue.

[Angelorum]

Oh no Boston!  My SIL had leaking water for 5 days before her baby was born (safely, at home).  I don't know whether she was GBS+ or not, but her midwives just watched carefully for signs of infection, and didn't do any vaginal exams until labor had been established for a good long time.  I hope you can find a good situation for your care if your midwives decide to drop you.

[UnderTheOldOakTree]

Boston,

Keeping you in my thoughts.  Hope that you can come to a resolution with your midwives and have your baby at home as you wish very soon!