UC Thread #8, August '04 - Page 7

[pamamidwife]

Andrea, I loved your pictures! just wanted to jump in to say that. Ok.

[JesseMomme]

36 weeks already!!

I can't believe how fast the time has flown. It's like I just peed on the stick yesterday, I swear....

I've been nesting the last few days. I finally got all the newborn clothing sorted out into several differnt piles LOL. I even have the clothing "store folded" Yeah, that's nesting all right.

Catagory 1. Birth day, and the hazy week that follows. Hat, flannel and fleece blankets for "goopy baby" and "a little more cleaned up baby", tshirts

Catagory 2. After umbilical cord heals. Will use tshirts, some onesies, newborn gowns, a few sleepers

Catagory 3. Newborn outfits. LOL By the time most of my babies were two weeks old, the newborn sizes never fit. But I have up to 6 mos clothing in the same bin.

I also cleaned out the whole closet, now have 4 HUGE bags of women and infants clothing to donate to the women's shelter here, have perfectly organized the diapers, other blankets, etc.

Oops forgot to set the dryer again for diapers. The hurricane should be here tomorrow and I don't want to run out of diapers in case we lose power. I'm prepared though, and don't anticipate much beyond high winds and tons of water. My mother stopped by and was like "you're not in labor are you!" "nooooooo mom, doubt I'll have the baby tonight". I haven't had much more than typical sporadic baby hugs.
Moms, they're supposed to worry, right

I noticed with being pregnant with Liam and Donovan that the nesting urge would kick in, and then I'd relax for a few weeks and then the baby would arrive. I kinda feel like I'm expecting the same thing for this baby.

I still need a moses basket After that, I'll be SET for this baby, other than wanting to make up some meals and freeze them, etc.

[majazama]

jessemom~I hope you don't think I'm weird, but I'm kind of jealous that you get to experience mother natures wrath at such close proximity. Enjoy the tornado for me! wish I was there!:LOL all we ever get here (western b.c. canada) is RAIN and occational short thunder storm. maybe we'll have the big one (earthquake) some day!

[cottonwood]

Jessemomme, I'm right behind you! Not getting nesting urges yet, but I wish I would! I have a lot to do!

[TinyBabyBean]

Long but EASY birth...

After about 16 hours of what I thought was false labor- felt only like very early labor or braxton hicks- had a midwife who is also a friend come over and check me and I was at 7-8 cm. I was able to talk through my contractions and even laugh through them. So, I was thinking I was not in labor but somehow stopping myself from going into labor because of stress.

Anyhow, after she checked me we just sat around talking and when my two oldest got home from school he was born about two hours after that at 4:00.

Birth only got intense at the end for the last half hour from about 9 cm to birth time. If I could choose a fast birth that was intense or this really long one that was so easy- I would choose the long one any day. My last birth was 5 hours so this was really unexpected to have an almost 24 hour labor.

Gabriel Ramiro was born in the caul- completely- he came out with the bag still around his entire body. The midwife helped me break it open while he was still under water in the birth pool and then I brought him up. He weighed 7 lbs. 14 oz. and was 21 inches long. 2 pounds smaller than my last baby! Looks just like his daddy.

The day before the birth I packed away all of the baby girls clothes. (we hadn't found out the sex of the baby but I had a dream a few days before that showed me his face and name.) It was strange as I was sitting in the closet packing the clothes, I had a braxton hicks that wrapped around my back for the first time. I swear I heard a voice say- "pay attention now. things are about to get very interesting" It is so strange how I was so full of doubt and yet how calm the contractions stayed- so spaced apart and with so little change in intensity. I was so full of doubt in fact that I abandoned my UC plans after having two successful UC births. However, it seems this is how it was meant to be. It was as good as my UC births in every way because the midwife, Rachel, is so very hands off and I got to call all the shots.

We had to evacuate 2 hours after the birth because of the hurricane. The police were coming by making everyone leave. When we returned home yesterday his bag was still floating in the birth pool. It was the thickest I have ever seen. It had the thickness of latex gloves. I also noticed that I have never seen a beautiful cord and placenta and yet his was- The colors were really beautiful and seemed so perfect.

No tears at all while birthing and aside from being tired from being up so long- I felt so great after. I will post pictures when I can.

Thank you so much for the replies to my post when I was so upset.

[majazama]

tinybabybean~wow, that's impressive that he was born within the sac! Amazing! enjoy your babymoon.

[Evergreen]

What a great birth story, TinyBabyBean!

[StacyL]

Tinybabybean - Congratulations on your easy birth! :

I had a nesting attack yesterday, so the house is really clean! I just need to make some meals to freeze, too...

Mamajazza - Yeah, the "idea" of being in a natural disaster seems really interesting until it happens. I was in the Northridge earthquake in 1994, and let me tell you that was as close to the Apocalypse as I ever want to be! We thought for certain we were going to die, and there is no way to describe the force of it or the way the earth moved. Our apartment looked like a bomb had gone off inside, and we had to leave it for five days before we could come back. The building next door to us pancaked: all the cars in the underground parking garage were about three feet tall becase the first floor fell in on them. Now, I live in Illinois which I though was a benign weather place - NOT! We had an F-4 tornado just 15 miles away three weeks ago, and we have tornado warnings every couple weeks, and the craziest thunderstorms. How I wish I could go back to Arizona or New Mexico where nothing exciting ever happens!

[sprinkle pocket]

tinybabybean~what a wonderful birth story! enjoy your babymoon, mama.

[cottonwood]

Congratulations, Tinybabybean! Sounds like it was a wonderful labor and birth.

[rachel]

Tinybabybean, CONGRATULATIONS! What a wonderful birth story! Enjoy your babymoon!

[Chandar]

Congratulations Tiny!

It seems I have had so many more questions pp than for pregnancy and labor. : Warning maybe TMI


I am 3 weeks pp. I have been bleeding off and on still, but have been still feeling open. Then I started feling like I had air trapped. Today in the shower I finally felt inside with a finger. I didn't even get a halfway in when I felt how can I put it, flesh. Like a solid mass of squishy softness. I looked in a mirror, and can plainly see flesh. Like I have no real opening into a canal anymore. Does this make sense? Any ideas before I call a midwife. I woud really like to avoid it. Thank you so much in advance.

[JesseMomme]

: Congratulations tinybabybean!

[JesseMomme]

The only natural disasters I dont' want to see personally are tornados or a major earthquake. Or maybe a tsunami either.

Chander could it perhaps be a part of your uterus?

Oh, we weathered out the storm alright. We didn't get hit too hard, though the counties all around us were pounded with a good storm. We just had tons of howling wind and rain. Oh and lost power for a time around 5-6pm. The only damage I saw was the fence behind our house was partially knocked all the way over (one section of it) with dirt still sticking to the posts lol. In fact it's messier inside my house than it is outside..lol.

[sprinkle pocket]

chandar~ i have no wisdom to offer, except that your body is designed to keep you healthy and to not hurt itself, so, no worries. maybe you could pm pamamidwife? she's one wise cookie! g'luck and keep us posted.

[3_opihi]

Tiny!!!
whooo-hoooo!!!! Congrats mama. Enjoy your babymoon

Chandar ~ Three things come to mind, prolapsed uterus and rectocele, or cystocele (prolapsed rectum or bladder) Sometimes they can prolapse into the vagina. Basically, all of these are normal after having a baby.

I can't really diagnose anything for you but as long as you can pee and poop ok, everythings probably fine. If you're really worried it wouldn't hurt to have a midwife take a peek at it.

[Aura_Kitten]

nak

well i wouldn't call those "normal" ~ they're things that can go wrong...

i'd have it checked IF i intuited that something was really amiss. i can tell you that after having my two little ones, i do have much more... uh... skin tissue down there ~ residual scar tissue + stretched skin, like what's left on my belly now ~ but i do still have a canal, yk? ...... i have no idea if that helps you....



congrats tiny.

[cottonwood]

Prolapses that occur in the absence of medical meddling are certainly rare enough and in that sense are not the norm. Natural, maybe, but then nature does not always serve the individual's interests. <shrug>

Chandar, I'd go with your gut instinct.

[madrone]

Congratulations Tiny!!!

Chandar - had a prolapse or moving uterus after DS. I think it is because I started pushing too early and pushed too hard. Or perhaps because of not doing enough BH after birth? Anyway, early during the day, it would feel more normal. As it got later, I felt a bulge in my vaginal wall that was the uterus falling along next to it. My cervix was closed, so it's not like I felt anything besides my vaginal wall. And I actually couldn't really feel my cervix anyway because it would get kind of pinched off. At the end of the day, my uterus was actually a bulge on the outside of my perineum. I have worn a tampon once since DS was born and ended up losing it with this. As my uterus fell, the tampon stayed higher up in the vagina and I couldn't find it from the pinching by the uterus. Found it the next morning once my uterus was higher up. Hope this description helps you.

I'm still pregnant. The hospital calls multiple times per day because they say it's dangerous to be this overdue. Pamamidwife has been very re-assuring to me and told me that statistics do not change until 43 weeks. So I still have a week before the hospital should be doing this, although they're doing it now. Simonee had to leave today, so this birth will most likely be just my DH and DS. I'm disappointed that the baby didn't arrive earlier, but DH gained so much confidence while Simonee was here that I think we'll be okay on our own. We are listening to the baby's heart beat through a toilet paper roll and I'm keeping track of movements now as Pam suggested. I've thought things were starting a couple of times now, but contractions fizzled out. I am pretty certain I'm partway dialated, so am hoping I'll have a fast labor once I do finally go into labor. If you've got some labor vibes, please send them my way.

[Chiromom]

Boy! I go away for a few days and the discussions got very interesting and I almost missed it!!!

Madrone--- Good happy labor vibes!

About MS or as I have to call it: pregnancy sickness, cuz it goes on all day long. I have had it pretty severely with all three pregnancies. I actually have an increasingly hardcore healthy diet with each pg yet I also experienced increasingly severe pregnancy sickness (PS). I have tried acupuncture, detoxing between pregnancies, homeopathic remedies, and chinese herbal supplements...to no avail. The only thing that has helped at all is chiropractic and that just helps with the headaches. In fact I sometimes vomit right after a chiropractic adjustment like my body just remebered what it needed to do.

I just am incredibally sensitive to a number of foods and especially foods that contain ANY chemicals. This is not true of me when I am not pregnant. I "enjoy" junky foods with chemicals as much as the next guy, but choose not to eat them as I am trying to model healthy eating for my children. I have pretty severe PS and probably throw up on the average 10 times a day for a period of about 6 weeks. The timing has been pretty much identical in all three pregnancies. I am convinced that it is "natural" and "healthy" for some reason for me to be this way.

A chiropractic mentor of mine who is a renown chiropractic doula told me that in her experience, strong pregnacy sickness seems to correlate with strong hormone production. She said that generally speaking, most of her patients with severe PS had "easy" labors because (she theorized) their bodies just release hormones so strongly and efficiently when needed. Interesting theory. I can claim two fantastically good and complication free births. I birthed both at home with no (minimal) intervention in about 6 hours for my first and a little over an hour for my second. I actually take solace in this when I am in the throws of misery of PS and remind myself, *just get thru this part and you will have a great birth later*.

On another MS tangent, I will add that although the severe aversion do go away after about 15 weeks (another pet peeve from the medical system...do I could weeks from conception or from LMP? I chose to count from conception) after that and right up until I deliver I am still very sensitive to chemicals in my food or environment and still get sick (vomit) very easily. This appears to be a protective thing.

I'll sign off for now...but I had to chime in because it personally chafes me (not upset with you Sprinkle) when people say well meaningly..."oh you must be just getting rid of some bad stuff." Trust me, I didn't eat any "bad" stuff or it would be 10 times uglier!!! Athough someone did recently mention that perhaps it is because I was on the pill for 9 years as a young adult. But I was chemical free for 5 years before conceiving my first child 5 years ago and my pregnancy sickness has been worse with each pregnancy s0...? I don't know if that makes sense to me.

Okay, really, I'm done now.