October 21 weekly thread - Page 3 « Back to Group Discussions

[segolilymama]

I'm so glad we aren't having a preemies here (knock on wood)! Keep those babies cooking, please!

I had a similar UTI like experience a couple night ago - and then last night I had at least 2 hours of insomnia wakefullness. I'm DEAD TIRED after those two nights in a row. You know it's bad when you haven't even really started the day, and you are already scheming how to get into bed early....

We are supposed to be going to get our pumpkins today, we have several pick-your-own places nearby. trouble is, it snowed a couple inches last night! The kids are super excited, of course, but I don't think they have realized that the snow may put a damper on pumpkin picking! I was looking forward to the pumpkins, but now I'm not so sure.

[stegenrae]

Sego, we picked our pumpkins at Trader Joe's! I knew I wouldn't be able to deal with walking on uneven ground at a pumpkin patch for hours and hauling them around, so we totally cheated this year. We still haven't carved them, but I think we may do that this afternoon while the weather is still nice (it's supposed to get yucky and cold again tomorrow).

I've had a 5 hour labor (with back labor) and a 2 hour labor that began with my water breaking. A couple of my friends and I were talking last night, and agreed that the intensity increased like crazy with the membranes ruptured, and it was hard to feel in control of anything with our precipitous labors. The back labor wasn't fun by any means (especially in a car for 2 hours), but my water didn't break until I was pushing, and it was easier to stay on top of the contractions. I am trying to visualize a 4-5 hour one this time with membranes intact until pushing. ...but I'm also mentally preparing for a really fast labor with baby's head directly against my cervix the while time, too.

[phatchristy]

Originally Posted by kateadelle 
. At this point, I am planning on chances being that one way or another I will be able to birth vaginally. My next midwife appointment isn't until next Tuesday, but I will hopefully get more answers to what the plan would be were I to plan on being in the hospital. One question I have is how long I should plan on being able to labor at home. My last couple of ultrasounds have been transvaginal since the baby's head is in the way of viewing the placenta any other way.

In theory, if the OS isn't covered you should be able to birth vaginally because as you dilate your cervix moves you and you'll actually 'gain' additional distance that way (hope that makes sense the way I wrote it LOL).  Some doctors seem to set some arbitrary cut off...and I've heard some women have had no issues with 10 mm away from the OS with their doctors, but other doctors want them to be 25 mm.  

Originally Posted by lulubikes 

Did anyone notice that this thread is currently the 2nd most active on the MDC?! Funny :)

Heh...get a bunch of ladies with personality together....

Originally Posted by mamaharrison 

I agree. The more work your body does before actual birthing time has begun the more prepared your body is likely to be, that being said, a malposition or short cord could definitely lengthen labor despite all the BH in the previous months. I didn't have ANY BH with my DDs pregnancy and was in birthland for 70 hours! So, getting warmed up before the big deal is certainly preferable! However, be careful what you wish for--I hear those short labors are just as INTENSE! I couldn't imagine having a babe in 4 hours or under! That would be insanity to me! We all do it the way we need to in order to get it done though ; )

It seems like I had more of the braxton hicks with the first two kiddos...the last two, not so much.  I've only had a couple now when getting up at a funny angle.  OUCH to that.  Sure, those contractions can soften/dilate the cervix a little.  

I've had one really short intense labor and one really short not so intense labor.  I think I was spoiled the last birth, only a few painful contractions.  I want another one like that LOL.  Don't know if it will happen, but I can hope baby stays in a great position and makes it easy on me!  It was my last birth which was very short and not that intense...and that one I did start labor with my water breaking!  Completely different from the rest which either broke at the end or were born in the caul!  Hoping for a quick, easy labor.  A friend of mine who has 12 told me that starting around #6 her pattern was labor for an hour-hour and a half, a few pushes and done!  I hope that is about my pattern now.  The last birth was likely a little too quick LOL, though they missed the birth last time I will say I don't want to be a 'watched pot' though this time.  A lot of it is psychological for me. 

[cieloazul]

OK I'm feeling too foggy-brained to go back and multi-quote stuff.

Whoever said they were surprised we don't have any preemies in this DDC, I was thinking that too. At this point we've made it pretty far, with still a ways to go, but I know myself I've just recently passed the point (33 weeks today) where I can imagine dealing with an early arrival. I have friends who've welcomed babies much sooner. Give us a few more weeks and some mamas will be talking about being overdue!

It's really neat to read everyone's stories about fast labors and slow labors and everything in between. I'm so curious to know what this second birth is going to be like in that respect. Guess I'll find out soon enough. 

Kateadele, in my pregnancy brain stupor (which I just spelled as "bran"...and then posted only to see I corrected it to "brian"), I completely botched my summary of that German study. But it's still pretty optimistic. Here's the actual citation - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11422970

[Mamabeakley]

Aaaaaggghhhhh!  DD (3 yo) knocked her head last night and then started throwing up.  So I took her to the ER.  DH is still out of town and DS1 was out playing D & D with friends.  So I asked a friend to drive him home and got my mom to come to my house to stay with DS2 & DS1 when he got there.  By 2 am they decided that she was okay because she hadn't thrown up again and sent us home.  And this morning she does seem totally fine, although we are having a 'screen okay' day because I am SO TIRED (almost more emotionally than physically - I'm sure the physically will come.) 

The chiro visit yesterday morning was good, though.  He has a monthly plan, kind of like joining a gym - you pay a flat fee and can be seen as often as you/he decide is appropriate in the month.  This, I think we can handle financially, at least for the 2 months or so I think I am likely to really need it.

Okay, no energy for personals but just wanted to update . . ..

[Harmony96]

So I didn't notice there was a new thread, so I'm a little behind, lol. But all I have to say right now is...

Oh oh oh, my aching bones and ligaments. It hurts to climb into bed, to lay in bed, to roll over in bed, right there in my inner thigh, just above the hip joint. I went to the chiro yesterday and only got mild relief. When I went in, I rated my pain as a 10 (and for perspective, childbirth for me is a 9, lol), and now it's about... 8. :/ Nine more weeks, nine more weeks. I can do this. At least I can walk and stand and sit without issues so far.

[Harmony96]

And one more so I can really subscribe.

[Harmony96]

Originally Posted by travelmumma 

The more pregnant and ungainly I become the more i start thinking that a 38 weeker sounds good lol. But I really just can't imagine going early! I imagine seeing in the new year with perhaps a giant bump, not a tiny baby. And I'm not expecting any action before Christmas. I'm "due" the 21st so who knows?
Anyone wanna make some predictions for me?!?

I predict that you never know, lol. I was due 12/9 with my first baby, and my last day of work was 11/30 (conveniently, the end of a pay period, lol). I wasn't expecting any action until much later in the month, since everyone in my family has a tendency to go late with their babies. But, surprise, I had a 12-hour labor on 12/5, four days early! I was NOT ready. I had a to-do list that I wanted to finish up before she was born, and some things on that list are probably still not done six years later, LOL.

[mamaharrison]

Originally Posted by Harmony96 

So I didn't notice there was a new thread, so I'm a little behind, lol. But all I have to say right now is...
Oh oh oh, my aching bones and ligaments. It hurts to climb into bed, to lay in bed, to roll over in bed, right there in my inner thigh, just above the hip joint. I went to the chiro yesterday and only got mild relief. When I went in, I rated my pain as a 10 (and for perspective, childbirth for me is a 9, lol), and now it's about... 8. :/ Nine more weeks, nine more weeks. I can do this. At least I can walk and stand and sit without issues so far.

me too! boohoooooooo and wahhhhhhhhhhhhh for us! 

 

[Mamabeakley]

DD being born at 36 weeks was a good lesson for me about 'not being ready'. I had finished up crucial work projects but we had not pulled out diapers or blankets or even clothes yet. So the midwives popped some towels in the dryer, we opened the pack of tiny sposies someone had passed on to us, and DDs first outfit was her 3 yo brother's white undershirt. In other words, I didn't NEED to be ready. What had to happen happened whether I was ready or not.

That said I plan to be ready by 36 weeks this time!

[GreenTeaGinger61]

I had my first two at 36.5 weeks and my son was a total shocker.Luckily we had recently moved so most everything was ready for him but he SWAM in all his clothes because he was so tiny. Everyone kept telling me I'd go late and he'd be huge. Ha. That taught the importance of "You just never know..." We were a bit more prepared for my daughter:P Then my third came at 36 weeks:/ So I kept thinking my fourth would be super duper early and she was born at 39 weeks LOL. I have NO CLUE with Jude. Lots of Down syndrome babies come early because their placentas also have an extra chronosome (cool huh?) and they start to deteriorate faster BUT that's not always the case. Who knows! 

BH...lots of them here which was the same with my fourth. They tend to come after I've exterted myself a bit and esp. after sex. With my last pregnancy, I had regular BH contractions for about two weeks before the actual birth, and it was a long but lovely birth...nothing hurt until my water broke, and then it was just an intense hour. I wouldn't mind that again:)

[segolilymama]

It's so funny how different we all are! I had 19.5 hr, 27 hr, and 11 hour labors. All with 3 days prodromal beforehand. Those 3 days a are totally manageable (with moments of being too intense to keep working/walking/talking whatever); the 19.5 wasn't too bad until transition; the 27 was hard THE WHOLE TIME, and the 11 was fine until I got in a car to transfer to the hospital, and was weird in that I never really fully got back to 'labor land' with that one, even though I was 8cm when we got there. I keep saying that I've learned my lesson, I know to kind of ignore those 3 days; and I'll probably be in denial, not have the early stuff, and give birth alone on my bathroom floor ;) Which would be fine, but I really want DP & my photographer friend here, lol. Knowing it's my last, those pictures are more important to me that my midwife or any other support other than DP's.

I was chatting with my friend who had the 28 week preemie the other day - she said she was jealous of how much I'm getting done before baby comes - I said 'what did you expect, you thought you had another three months!' and it was like this huge epiphany for her, like 'oh yeah, that's right...' LOL. I don't think we are ever really ready... there is always more to do more things we think we need, or that one project that didn't get done, that one room we wanted to clean... babies come when they are ready, they really don't care if we are or not ;)

Oh, so the snow cleared up, it was cold & muddy but we managed to get our pumpkins :) DS3 & one of the other kids got theirs carved last night, so I am starting on the seed roasting today. YUMMERS!

[kel]

Well, my babies - four so far anyway! - have all been overdue, from a week to two full weeks; so that is what I'm expecting...  My mom was the same, so I think it runs in the family.  My labors vary a bit more, but I generally have an easy day of labor where I can go out to lunch, run errands, clean up the house, etc, before active labor kicks in hours later.  My last labor was only really intense for about 3 or 4 hours, but it was really intense, with back to back contractions and the midwives arriving while I was pretty much already in transition.  But I loved that it didn't drag on, as two of my past labors had.  I don't know if that means that my next labor will be the same, or even faster...  Maybe it depends if this is a girl or not - my slowest labors were with my two boys.  

Anyway, the older kids are with their dad today and I've got 3 hours until I have to get the littlest from 1st grade - so I'm going to get started on my to do list! 

http://abrightermess.typepad.com/a-brighter-mess/2012/10/octubrenoviembre-to-do-list.html

[darkblue0729]

Hi mamas, sorry for the absence...my mother who was wretchedly abusive passed away and left me as executor of her estate so I have been back in NY going through her house, reliving a bunch of painful memories, and yeah...it has just been a lot. The worst part is I am a bit relieved she has died...at least I won't have that clawing irrational fear and sense of obligation anymore (please don't think I'm terrible ) I hope all is well with you all and I should be back home this weekend.

[mamaharrison]

Originally Posted by darkblue0729 

Hi mamas, sorry for the absence...my mother who was wretchedly abusive passed away and left me as executor of her estate so I have been back in NY going through her house, reliving a bunch of painful memories, and yeah...it has just been a lot. The worst part is I am a bit relieved she has died...at least I won't have that clawing irrational fear and sense of obligation anymore (please don't think I'm terrible ) I hope all is well with you all and I should be back home this weekend.

darkmama--sending so much light and love your way! I instantly understood your statement about being relieved. I have a terribly troubled realtionship with my own mother and have been struggling to navigate it during this pregnancy. YOu are not a terrible person! holding you in the energetic and KNOWING beyond doubt that you are strong enough to handle everything that is on your plate right now exactly as you need to in order to find peace and comfort through this transition.

[kateadelle]

darkblue I think you are an awesome person and feeling relieved sounds like a pretty reasonable reaction to me. I hope that you are able to process through what is, no doubt, an emotional time for you and your family. You are in my thoughts.
 

[chicajones]

It's so interesting to hear about everyone's labor lengths, birth date timing, etc. Isn't it crazy how different we all are? It really makes me laugh to think that people feel like a due date is some sort of actual benchmark of when things are supposed to happen. 

It just struck me the other day that we won't be moved in to our temporary condo until I'm 36 weeks! We'll be in a vacation rental for December and January, which I'm really glad about, especially because it means we can have a home birth. But if he decides to come before then, things will definitely be...um....crazy. I've talked to my midwife about using a local birth center as a backup, but if it's before 36 weeks, I don't know if I'll have to go to the hospital or what. Just praying he decides that 38 or 39 weeks would be a good time to come. :) I do plan on washing all of his little things around 34 weeks, although reading about some of these super-earlies makes me think I should start now, lol! I really can't believe we're at 31 weeks!

darkblue, sorry to hear you've had to deal with such craziness, but at the same time hopefully you're starting to move past having to deal with so many difficult emotions. I think it's completely reasonable to feel some relief, and you shouldn't feel guilty about how you feel, no matter what it is. Those are your emotions and you should experience them as they are. I hope that closing this chapter will mean that your birth will bring new life to you in so many ways! Sending you lots of light and regrowth as well!

Kel, love your new profile pic! Did you make that dress? So sweet!

Harmony, I hope your aches and pains start to feel better! It's such a bummer that you're hurting so much. Hopefully just a followup visit or two will straighten you out and eliminate some of the pain. 

Ouch! Baby boy just decided that kicking me in the ribs would be fun. He moves around so much lately, and sometimes it downright takes my breath away!

[Jackies]

darkblue, I pm'd you. Many healing thoughts on your way.

I have been surprised as well that we haven't had premies. It must be a statistical fluke. Another smaller December DDC I check sometimes has already had 2.

I bought a used convertible carseat that I'm thrilled with. DD asked if the baby would use it when first born. I said no, the baby won't go anywhere for the first few days because we'll stay home. She asked how I would go to work, and I said I wouldn't. She started crying and said we wouldn't get money to buy food (I'm the sole income earner and a freelancer, so I've explained to her that I go to work so we have money to pay our bills). I was quite surprised at this reaction and tried to explain that we'd save extra money. I don't want her to ever think about us having enough money, but it made me feel a little guilty since it will be tight and I'm planning on starting back at 2 weeks if I'm feeling good.

So I'd been meaning to do it anyway, but I found myself driving to the insurance company yesterday to check if I can get disability insurance for maternity leave even at this late hour. Turns out I can, and the up-front annual premium is less than one week's benefit, so that's a win. It's a small percentage of my income, but it's something, and if something happens and I have to take more weeks off, it will be an even bigger help. So that's a tiny grain of some peace of mind.

[zebrachick83]

Originally Posted by darkblue0729 

Hi mamas, sorry for the absence...my mother who was wretchedly abusive passed away and left me as executor of her estate so I have been back in NY going through her house, reliving a bunch of painful memories, and yeah...it has just been a lot. The worst part is I am a bit relieved she has died...at least I won't have that clawing irrational fear and sense of obligation anymore (please don't think I'm terrible ) I hope all is well with you all and I should be back home this weekend.

As someone who also has toxic immediate family members, I don't think you're terrible at all. Lots of hugs and positive thoughts for you. 

[segolilymama]

darkblue - I'm so glad that you & Gabriel are OK - I was literally getting online to see if I still had your phone # in my messages, to call and check in. What a stressful thing to be dealing with during pregnancy - especially given the circumstances. May you find closure & remember to keep breathing & creating peace for you & baby!

kel - I hope that souffle is at the top of you list ;)

Jackies - that is sweet, and sad, about your DD. I hope she was reassured & won't worry too much anymore!

Had a great MW appt today - belly is measuring a bit smaller than last time (was measuring 8 extra cm at last check). 35 today, at 32 weeks. So I am officially dropping all concerns about excess fluid lol. We realized that next appt she will be bringing my birth kit - wowza. Time is FLYING - she will be in Mexico during my 34 week, so doing 35 instead, then it's every week til baby comes... OMG someone slow this down!!!!