July mamas May 15th-30 - Page 2

[Aura_Kitten]

7 weeks!

i was trying to plan a blessingway and i wanted my closest friends to be here... but one just got in a motorcycle accident and fractured his collarbone and the other(s) live too far away.

:: sigh ::

and i feel like i have nothing ready!!!!! i mean... all the diapers are clean and ready to use... we have all the covers i think we'll need for at least a year, and they're all clean and ready too... and i have a whole willow basket filled with clean baby clothes and baby blankets and hooded towels all clean and ready...

but the hallway is still strewn with the Great And Intimidating Pile Of Laundry that needs to be washed... and we STILL need to get the rooms organized! we're in the middle of moving everything from the master bedroom -- which before served as a bedroom, catch-all/storage area, and office space for my SO's home business -- and distributing it between the living room (for living space / sleeping) and smaller bedroom (for an office). the smaller bedroom is currently my son's room, so we need to clean up the entire master bedroom and clean out the closet (we have a deep walk-in closet -- and it's packed w/ stuff in storage!) then move *all* of my son's stuff out of his room and into the master... AUGH!

so lately there's been a lot of and and : and ... and then and

...

[Snowbaby]

Mmmm that coconut curry recipe sounds yummy - gonna have to try it. Wondering if anyone has a recipe for Korma (vegetable or chicken). I've been craving indian food badly but all of the restaurants we usually like around here make it way too spicy and I don't think my tummy can handle it. I want it really, really mild.

Anyway, I'm feeling great but my insomnia is getting worse -- I just have soooo much restless energy at night that I can't lie still long enough to fall asleep ... and when I do ... I wake up an hour later to pee and have to start all over again. DH thinks I'm developing "restless leg syndrome" and he's right that I'm having this weird mild leg numbing thing that makes me want to keep moving all the time. Oh well. This too shall pass.

I'm starting to get excited about my upcoming baby shower (the date is a surprise) and about my due date approaching ... bit under 10 weeks to go. But I'm also getting anxious and sad that I think I probably won't be able to go natural like I wanted. My perinatologist may want to move on to insulin shots b/c my sugar levels have gone a little out of control in the past few days and i worry that they'll want to induce early......... hopefully my midwives will help me avoid that!!

Everyone sounds like they're doing great. Foobar - sorry about the H visit and bedrest, hang in there, only a bit longer to go.

[Mamma2Addison]

Snowbaby ~ I was on insulin the last eight weeks of my first pregnancy.

[midwifer]

I am having a slow night at work, yeah I did a lot of walking today and had so much rectal type pressure, very uncomfortable and makes me sort of nervous. I think it is just because this baby is very low, but every now and then I get freaked out that all that pressure is going to turn into wild contractions or rupture. I started making a list for homebirth supplies, the first step now I just need some action.
Other folks having homebirths, what are your plans for your other children? My daughter is almost two and a half and I would like her to be involved as much as possible, but need to have someone there, besides my husband, who is just for her and can take her out and about if it is too much for her. The most likely candidate, my best friend and someone she has known since birth, we are planning to have help with the delivery(she is a midwife, there will be another midwife there as well. Both grandparents are oot. The second most likely candidate spends a lot of time with Olive and is very attentive and loving with her, but can be a bit anxious at times so I am concerned about her energy at the birth. Anyone else have experience with a child that age being involved in their birth?
Someone said a while back they were thinking of having a big sibling party. What ideas do you have for it? I am thinking of wrapping Olive some special things from the baby and having her help me make a baby sling for her to carry her own baby in.
Hope all your lil babes inside are doing well

[sweet tea]

yay! we are all getting so close! I really have to make a better effort to get exercise.. I wake up and its 90 degrees out..and moves on up from there over the 105 degree mark..its like we become hermits til september...
I could do laps around the mall...but then I just rack up credit card bills that way..lol
I got a prenatal yoga dvd for christmas thats still in the shrink wrap.. I am going to open it tomorrow!

so far I have all the lil clothes and diapers washed and put away...and everything is set...just waiting for my shower to see if I get the room decor I picked out!

the baby is so active....kicking all the time it seems like. I'm getting so excited to have a new baby to hold and love.

I am officially down to about 3 shirts that fit...it seems so wasteful to buy more....but whats a girl to do?

[Aura_Kitten]

what are your plans for your other children?

hmm, well you know, i was planning 100% on having my son there... but after i thought about it (a LOT) it occurred to me that the best thing i did for myself during my labor w/ him was to just be alone, and have quiet, and listen wholly to myself and what my body was telling me.

i'm really afraid that having my son at the birth will interfere with that...

BUT i don't think we'll have anyone else to watch him! it's been a minor source of stress lately, trying to figure out exactly what our plans our w/ regards to him at the birth...

hopefully we have awhile left to figure it out!! i'm sure he'd be able to handle it (he's seen numerous photos of birth and we've talked about it frequently)... but i'm more concerned about my own reactions and stress level. he is a very enthusiastic, energetic, talkative little guy... and i know what i need during labor (and delivery) is quiet, quiet, quiet.

[Aura_Kitten]

I am officially down to about 3 shirts that fit...it seems so wasteful to buy more....but whats a girl to do?

... delve into your partner's! right now i'm wearing one of my SO's shirts.

i have all of 2 (?) shirts, 2 dresses, 2 skirts and 1 pair of maternity pants that fit still.

[sweet tea]

ooh I missed the other children question...
Chloe will be as present as she wants to be. She wants to cut the cord, with dads help...and we have a close friend who will be here to support her, in case she's rather play with legos or something...
I am the kinda mom that tells it like it is...sorto speak, and we've talked about contractions, labor, blood, purple baby, whitish covering....the umbilical cord and how it works...delivering the placenta
she's watched some births on the discovery channel and also gentle home births...

my midwife gave me a wonderful book..its kinda homegrown..just pages in a binder, but its called : Mom, Dad and I are having a Baby by Maryann P. Malecki

chloe just turned 4 the beginning of may.
HTH

[Aura_Kitten]

sunfairy ~ you made me curious...

are there any other mamas here who are planning a lotus birth?

[majazama]

About having my DD at the birth. I don't know what will happen. I guess I'll see. My mom will probably watch her while I'm labouring, and my partner will stay with me. I want her to see the baby born, so she knows where the baby comes from. She is just 17 months old, so I don't know how much of this she understands. She will rub my belly and blow raspberries on my belly, and points to it and asks "whatzat?" and I tell her, "the baby"....

lotus birth... I don't think I'll do that, because I want to use my placenta as medicine. I think I will burn the cord though, like I had initially planned with my DD, but the midwife was impatient... I'm having a UC, BTW, if anyone missed that.

[Aura_Kitten]

[happay]

Originally Posted by sunfairy

I wake up and its 90 degrees out..and moves on up from there over the 105 degree mark..its like we become hermits til september...
I could do laps around the mall...but then I just rack up credit card bills that way..lol
I got a prenatal yoga dvd for christmas thats still in the shrink wrap.. I am going to open it tomorrow!

Have you tried your yoga tape yet? Being in Tucson I know how you feel. A friend loaned me her yoga tape and I love it! I feel like I am accomplishing something but I get to do it inside and I don't get too hot!

[Snowbaby]

what's a lotus birth?

[Aura_Kitten]

Snowbaby ~ Lotus Birth refers to when the parents keep the cord + placenta attached until the cord naturally detaches on it's own.

for me, it's a physical expression of a gentle spiritual transition between the world within mama, and the world outside mama...

[midwifer]

Another great book for siblings, "Welcome with love" it is a story about a homebirth and the whole family is involved, very sweet.
Anyone know how to make a placenta print?

[midwifer]

A couple more thoughts...
I am gathering herbs for my healing baths/poultices after birth, last time I just used comfrey leaves, any other suggestions?
How about a good restorative mama tea, either one that I can make with proportions or a good premade one?

[Foobar]

no lotus birth for me! Although I assume you guys figured that out already.

Goo is too small to go witness the birth. She gets upset when she sees me getting my blood pressure taken. I am afraid that a birth would traumatize her...

[Aura_Kitten]

some kids can't handle it, no matter what age.

at the birth i recently attended (i was working as a doula), the mother wanted her 7 year old daughter to witness the birth, and instructed me that just before she started pushing, to wake up the girl so she could see it.

unfortunately she had not even shown the girl videos of birth, nor fully explained it to her (her excuse for it was that "that's not the kind of thing that we talk about.")... consequently the poor little girl wasn't just scared about her mom, but shocked and horrified at what was happening. she literally turned green, and looked like she was either going to faint or throw up (or do both) and by the time the baby was out she had tears in her eyes and was shaking, and had trouble speaking. (i was really mad about this afterward and asked the mom why she hadn't told her daughter more about birth... more "we just don't discuss things like that." )

i'm all for sharing birth with other siblings, but i think they should be well prepared before hand (seeing birth videos, for example, and lots of lengthy discussions about the birth process). and i think that no matter how old (or young) a child is, ultimately it needs to be taken into consideration whether they're the type who can handle witnessing something like that or not.

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by klothos

:
unfortunately she had not even shown the girl videos of birth, nor fully explained it to her (her excuse for it was that "that's not the kind of thing that we talk about.")... consequently the poor little girl wasn't just scared about her mom, but shocked and horrified at what was happening. she literally turned green, and looked like she was either going to faint or throw up (or do both) and by the time the baby was out she had tears in her eyes and was shaking, and had trouble speaking. (i was really mad about this afterward and asked the mom why she hadn't told her daughter more about birth... more "we just don't discuss things like that." )

Are you serious? The don't discussing things like that, but it's ok to witness it?
OMG!

If Goo were older, I would ask her about it and then I would show herr photos and videos so she could understand. I would also have a backup person who could stay with her if she changed her mind.

I am not planning on other children, so I'll probably not have this opportunity.

[midwifer]

I have been so up and down lately. So much energy and organization one day and then the next I am exhausted. Today is an exhausted one. My husband has just started a new local/organic foods home delivery service and today was the first delivery, it seemed to go very smoothly, but there were many phone calls and folks in and out of the house all day so maybe that wore me out. Plus, I am a little stuffy again and PARANOID that my sinus infection is going to come back, eeek that would be awful, no more antibiotics please! I made it through this round with no yeast infection thanks to probiotics, but I probably would not be as lucky next time.
I picked some spinach to make gnu balls for dinner, but my husband went to the cities to hear a concert and my daughter fell asleep already(no nap today) so now I just want to order pizza and a root beer, naughty!!!, and veg out. I might even watch a movie, a very rare occurence for me (we keep our tv covered, no cable, etc.)