Homebirthin' Mama's Thread July 3rd!! - Page 2

[Aura_Kitten]

late pregnancy is miserable and i just don't want to deal with it.

s

i'm blessed w/ a wonderful late pregnancy.

my first 2 trimesters were horrible, horrible, terrible, awful......

once i hit 6 1/2 - 7 months i started feeling great. i'm still feeling pretty good.

[homebirthing]

I went to the chiropractor yesterday and was pain free in the hip for about two hours before it came back. I watched the Butterfly Effect last night and actually got a very good nights sleep. I wish that when i woke up that I was in a better mood. I am starting to truly think that I can't do it. I feel like such a big fat failure who can't even get her baby out. I really want to talk to my midwife and start something right now, but I know that she will say no, and I know that she is right. I am in a very self pitying place today. I have a two year old and a three year old and I can't even play with them. It has been so crappy out, although today it is nice. I can load them up and take them to the playground. I was reading Wise Woman Herbal about induction, and all of the methods won't work if your cervix isn't ripe. Well, from what my husband can guess, it is...but who knows. Blah! Cheer-up Sarah.

[chrissy]

Sarah! You can do it and you will do it! Your sweet baby girl is just waiting until she is perfectly ready to join you. Lots of to you though because I know how tough it is!!

[ketilave]

Hey Sarah - thinking of you. On the bright side the joy is just going to be intensified when labour really kicks off. Plus, if you are like me, b/c I go late I am in denial for so long when I finally admit I am in labour I am in the swing of things and the whole process seems really short!

Great way to handle it by spending time with your family. I just turn off the phone and focus on us.

[homebirthing]

I just had an amazing spur of the moment baby moon thrown for me. About ten women came over and circled me with joy and happiness and lots of laughter and some tears. It was amazing. I feel completely renewed. I also talked with my midwife and she said I am healthy and glowing and that she will stay with me until 43 weeks at home. We do have an ultrasound scheduled on Monday to check the babe out, but that is OK. Maybe I will have her this weekend!!

[ilovebeingamom]

Doulasarah-I am glad that you had such a great babymoon! What wonderful friends you have! I hope that you have your baby this weekend, too.

I am 36 weeks now. I had ds at 37 weeks, but mw thinks that my water broke mainly b/c he was footling breech, so doesn't think I will go early this time. I was very mentally prepared this whole pg for an early baby, so now the baby will probably come late!

Baby hasn't dropped yet, but lots of bh. I am getting excited and hoping everything goes smoothly!

[ketilave]

Sarah - I am really happy for you. With DS when they scheduled the induction it motivated him to join me. I went into labour the day before it was planned.

[SamuraiEarthMama]

i hope to do the "wet run" of my tub sometime this weekend... but first gotta get to the hardware store and grab a couple more hoses.

midwife did the home inspection visit on wednesday... we passed! i asked her if anyone had flunked, and she said only once... a family with 10 puppies that had been allowed to poop all over the house! yeeech.

gotta make a couple more ice packs (aka "crotchsicles!") and find some of those flannel-backed tableclothes for the floor next to the tub... then i think i'm ready... for the birth, that is... i don't think i'm anywhere NEAR ready for the baby! this poor kid has no clothing yet, just a nice pile of diapers. time to cruise the thrifts...

indiana ima, i have a little suspicion on my dates, too... ds1 was born on the 10th, dd was born on the 15th, ds2 was born on the 20th... wouldn't it make sense that this one would be born on the 25th? that would just be two days before the "due" date... and it makes them easy to remember!

37w4d... sometime in the next four weeks, i'm gonna meet this kid! woo hoo!

katje

[ketilave]

Katje - I kind of hope the date thing is off but I think about it all the time myself. DS was the 19th and DD was the 18th. So that means 17th or 20th - I would prefer this month (of course that entail being early which is a highly unlikely option) and don't want to go that far into next!

[homebirthing]

Still no baby!! But I am doing wonderful, a little swollen so I am guzzling the water, and she is great too! She has the hiccups right now, and I just ate a yummy pastry so she is going nuts! I will keep on keeping on....

[chrissy]

You go Sarah!

I have a probably dumb question for you all, do you write a birth plan for your homebirth or do you just talk it all over with your midwife before? I'm not quite 29 weeks and we haven't really started discussing much about the actual birth yet.

[Aura_Kitten]

chrissy, i don't think that's a dumb question at all.

since i'm planning to have the baby unassisted, all i've really done in the way of "birth plans" is to discuss the birth at length with my SO and make sure he knows things that are relevant (like the proper way to catch a baby, and to be emotionally prepared for me to tell him to get his hands off of me if i ask it of him... stuff like that).

[2BMamaof3]

I'm thinking of you mamas in waiting.

Here is a link to some recent photos of me and Soren. http://share.shutterfly.com/action/s...en=1&sm=1&sl=1

Abby

[Michelle Leigh]

2BMamaof3,
Thanks for sharing the pictures!! (http://share.shutterfly.com/action/...pen=1&sm=1&sl=1)

Congrats!!

[tanjarine]

Your family looks so nice Abby, what a sweet baby!

[TurboClaudia]

sarah: hugs and peaceful birthing vibes to you I took the cohoshes during labor and they worked very well for me. I recommend fruit punch as a chaser because the tincture does not taste very good.

We are back after a long road trip to Lake Tahoe for my very good friend's wedding, and our baby boy did remarkably well in the car for the 14-hour each way drive. We learned that prefolds do not work well for poop explosions induced by carseat sitting, however... bring on the kissaluvs!

Oh, and our baby boy finally has a name: Marek William John L***

And I finally finished writing his birth story and how he came into this world under our bed. You can read it here.

warmly,
claudia

[homebirthing]

Hello everyone. I ended up trying black and blue cohosh yesterday with no results. I had my midwifes appointment today and the babe looks and sounds great. We are planning on having an ultrasound on Thursday for sure, if she isn't here by then. I am going to get a pump and do some nipple stimulation today, to see if that helps. When I nurse Kettie, I get contractions, so who knows! Cohosh is soooooooo icky.....yuck! Lots o' sex, which isn't much fun, but midwifes orders...hehe. Yeah, DH is pretty upset by that too.

Other then that, I am swollen and moody and sad...
Unless I am giggly and strong and understand that each baby creates their own entrance.

I am either one or the other at any given moment.

Congratulations on all of the new babies and mama's.


Sarah B. 42w1d

[homebirthing]

I just thought that I would write this out to you all, as it also helps me to be able to process what could or may happen.


On Wednesday, July 15th : Jeanne (my midwife) will come over and check out baby and check my cervix to see what she is doing. Then we will call her backup doctor, who she has already been in contact with, to let her know what is going on, and to let her know that I haven't had the baby. We will schedule an ultrasound for Thursday


On Thursday, July16th: Have an ultrasound and see what she is doing...

Depending on the ultrasound, either Thursday or Friday I will meet my new doctor and she will check my cervix and do one or a couple of things. First off, she will strip my membranes if my cervix is ready, then she may/will start an induction process with prostaglandin gels. I should be able to go home...I can do three gels, every 12 hours totaling a day and a half. If that doesn't work, then I will be induced with pitocin or have my waters broken and be giving birth at Saint Joe's hospital. I will be 43 weeks pregnant, which is the longest that everyone feels comfortable with. I feel pretty positive about everything. I pray for her to come now, at home, but I know that I have to set a date where I put her into others hands. I want to keep her safe, and I am so lucky to have a midwife who trusts in birth and me. I also want to protect my family, which is why it is so hard to be at a hospital. But I know that I would be in the best hands available, and that I could come home right away.

If it comes to Saint Joe's (which I am praying that it doesn't) I will only have my husband and my doula, Carrie and my midwife there. The rooms are small and I will need my family to watch the girls. My mother will be out of town this whole weekend visiting relatives in Florida with my sister, Caitlin. There are a lot of people that come in and out of hospital rooms, and I will feel safe and protected with the people that I have chosen.

I can only hope and pray that it doesn't come down to the wire, but that is the loose plan if it does. Thank you everyone for all of your support and love through this pregnancy.


Sarah

[tanjarine]

Sarah have you considered having your midwife strip your membranes at home? With my third baby they were concerned because he was so big, so they stripped my membranes a couple days before the due date and he was born about 5 hours later. I know it doesnt always work, your cervix needs to be ready for it. Some people think it has risks as well but i rather take them then go to the hospital and have pitocin and arom which i think is riskier.
I have read somewhere about having your partner with guidance gently stripping your membranes as well, i will try and find the article for you.

[ketilave]

Having had 2 hospital births I will say that when I had DD my MW was very protective and only mw, the Dr and 2 nurses (shift change but my Mw got the nurses to come in she is friends with) were ever allowed in the room. Afterward, I kept DD with me and we left asap. It is doable and I had a good experience for what it was. DS was an emergency c-section so that's a whole different story.

My thoughts a prayers are with you. Pitocin only works if your body is ready just like anything else. The key is for you to stay in control and do and makes decisions that you are comfortable with. You know your body and know what's right. It's odd - I remember with DS that things were not quite right and somehow at 37 weeks just knew he was going to have to come via c-section. It helped me be at peace with it when the time came. With DD I just knew things were fine and went into labour the day I guessed.