**DONE** August 3 (for lack of a better title) Chat Thread - Page 9

[SamuraiEarthMama]

Originally Posted by mommycaroline

And, Katje, my son is 13 minutes older than yours! Duncan is 9lb 7 oz, blondish (maybe some red, too?), very mellow and relaxed, has a great latch and is beautiful too! Must have been a good day to have a baby boy!

caroline, i have a confession to make... we've been going round and round for two days on what to call this guy, and my dh had very nearly convinced me that he was going to be a Duncan! well, when i read that this was what you named your precious boy, it really made me think twice. i wasn't sure he was a Duncan but he wasn't fitting any of my other names, either.

it took a long session this afternoon, but we hit upon Lincoln finally (Malcolm and Latham were the other possiblities). i looked up the definition of Lincoln, and it was "at home by the pond." well, he was born in my tub, right at home! i started to cry when i read that... and he was Lincoln.

so i need to thank you for naming your baby Duncan, because now i'm really sure i've picked the right name for my own baby!

hugs,

katje

[mommycaroline]

Oh, Katje! What a beautiful name! I'm in tears. I'm so glad I was helpful in whatever small way I was.

Don't you just love baby love!

Just posted our birth story. It's extremely long, but I don't have the energy to edit it down to a more reasonable size. Enjoy!

[madrone]

Congrats Heather, Leah, Traci and Caroline! (I cheated and pasted it. Cannot remember who I've congratulated and who I haven't).

Still no baby here. I'm really jealous of you Traci since you're the one I've identified as being the closest in due date. Please send me labor vibes. Because it doesn't seem to be happening here. And really no signs in sight. Did lose a tiny amount of the mucous plug. Am supposed to start NST tomorrow. Have some ideas to try for making it to next Monday without being induced.

Sorry you're so stressed out with SD K8.

Haven't read birth stories, so going to do that now. Maybe that will help. Take care all -

[ketilave]

It happened - 6:16pm Maillie Elizabeth was born at home aug. 8.

I just came down to send out emails and picture. I will post birth story and pictures soon.

Tiff - I am thinking of you and passing on my labour vibes.

Sorry - I only skimmed the posts. Looking forward to reading Katje and Caroline's birth stories. oh and a shout out to Traci too! Need to do mine so I don't confuse us all. If I forgot someone I apologize and will make it up in spades!

[my2girlz]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Today is THE day!! I'm going to the hospital for prostaglandin gel tonight and hopefully that's all I need to get things rolling. My parents will be here in a few hours and my mom is staying for the rest of the week. So much stuff to do!!

[bwylde]

Congratulations to the new mommies I missed!!

I'm still hanging in. Thurday will be the big day if I don't go into labour on my own. I am not effaced, dilated, engaged (baby is floating really high) or anything, so at the moment it isn't looking good for a VBAC. I'm ok with it now as where it won't be an emergency c-section, I will have more control (I hope!) and I know what to expect. The baby is looking to be about the same size as big brother was, although I know their guesstimates can be off (they were saying 8lbs 11oz). The biophysical went excellent; she said the baby was "practice breathing" the whole time. I am comfortable with how things are looking and it will be nice to have a couple of days to just nest and get ready.

[mommycaroline]

Carla, hang in there. It will happen soon. I'm hoping you get the birth you want, although, after my recent experience, the birth you want may be a little different than what you envision in the first place.

As for the possibility of a cesarean section delivery, my honest advice is to just ask for what you want as you're going along. I had such a different experience this time around, I can't even say how wonderful it was. My first birth was great, even though it was an emergency cesarean, but there was so much I learned. I went into my DD's birth with a whole birth plan, and thoughts of how to control the birth and what I expected to happen, and nothing went as planned. Looking back, while I don't think anyone deliberately tried to hinder me, I think the plan itself set us up for some issues. This time, no birth plan, not even an infant care plan (which I had fully intended to get put together at some point before delivery). And, yet, everything went so much better. It was almost as if by not having it written down, I was able to open up and share what I wanted in a more heartfelt, sympathetic way and people actually wanted to do what I wanted. Different hospital, different doctor, different nurses, everything was different. But, I still feel that having a birth plan in place might have been problematic somehow.

And, when we made the decision to have the cesarean, I poured out my heart to my doctor, and told her how important it was to me that his birth be as natural as possible. She really bent over backwards to make that happen for us too. My advice is to get some thoughts together about what might be important to you as far as surgery goes, and then let go. No matter what, birth is beautiful and can be empowering, even if it doesn't look like the "ideal" birth we want.

[bwylde]

Thanks Caroline . This time, what birthplan I had was already mostly standard hospital proceedure, so I basically chucked it after going over it with the prenatal nurse, lol! My big thing is being awake during the proceedure. It's just not the same meeting your baby hours after everyone else has, plus DH would like to be there. I felt so heavy and drugged after the surgery, it was horrible.

(ETA: I still haven't given up totally on having a VBAC, I just realize the odds are reduced at this time)

[kimberlylibby]

Kate! Congrats!!!

Kimberly (way overwhelmed with 2 kids.... dh is at work and I'm floundering with Libby who thinks her job is to make mommy go crazy)

[SamuraiEarthMama]

congratulations to the new mommas and babies!

caroline, i've heard that very thing about birth plans... that by abandoning the control we seek, we are put into a position of power and grace that we cannot plan for. there's probably some great life lesson to learn from that!

duncan's birth story was FANTASTIC! i was crying right along with you! what a wonderful birth for you both... i'm so proud of you. and what a great doctor you scored! i've been to scary vaginal births and beautiful c/sec births, and it sounds like you got one of the latter. well done and again my heartfelt congratulations!

my dh wrote his version of the birth story, and i was moved by his words (i wish i could post it... maybe i'll ask him if i can). anyway, he's an evolutionary biologist, and had been worried a bit by my age (41) and desire to avoid testing. he was all for the homebirth, but he also wanted some reassurance that the baby wasn't down syndrome or had other problems.

he wrote eloquently about feeling powerless about my insistence on avoiding amnio, and his lingering worries throughout my pregnancy, even though the baby was active and growing beautifully. and his relief upon meeting this baby, and knowing just by looking into his eyes that he was perfect... well, it made me cry. i'm so sorry i put him through that worry, although he was great about not pressuring me once i made my decision. i don't think i would have changed my mind, but i would have worked harder to get him the statistics and reassure him.

well, it's all moot now. this lil guy is obviously brilliant! (just like all our babies, right? ;-) he finally pooped last night (he didn't pass any mec at all at the birth, and it took him two days to get the system moving)... he's obviously feeling much better tummywise now.

i'm soooo in love with him! thanks so much, all of you wonderful ladies, who put up with all my whining these last few weeks... no matter what i said before, let me tell you know that it's SO WORTH IT!

come on, babies! welcome to the world!

katje

[mommycaroline]

Oh, Katje. I hope, hope, hope, your DH will share his version of Lincoln's birth. You so rarely see the male perspective, it's so touching when a man cares so much to write it down.

I still have a ton of pictures to go through, some web stuff to work out. But, in the meantime, here's the first picture of Duncan I've posted. Thanks to Traci for the Granola Threads recommendation.

www.cameronclan.net/duncan.jpg

come on babies! Come on! We're waiting for you. It's a beautiful month to be born!

[sylvi76]

All of you mamas should know how totally inspiring you are - all of you the ones that have homebirthed, hospital birthed, intervention-free, c-sections, all of it. It just amazes me to get on this thread and read about how you did it, and where you are at now. As a first time mama, I hope I have just some of the courage and strength you women obviously have.

[christeenybeany]

I noticed that we are on page 9 and that made me think, "where's dodo?" Are you out there having a baby?

Where's madrone? I think we should do some sort of daily role call because everytime someone doesn't post I think they may be having a baby. I'm probably as annoying as many well meaning in laws.

I met with a doula in training today and I don't really think I like her that much. I am meeting another one tomorrow. So far we've had 2 hour-long conversations on the phone that were grrrreat. She also does post partum work too. I'm really excited about her and I hope I get a good vibe from her.

On another topic, I am graduated! Tada! my ceremony was this afternoon but I didn't go. too big too hot too uncomfortable.

Caroline, your birth story was hilarious...and inspiring. I laughed. I cried. I made my husband read it too. Congratulations. I am so glad you are happy with the way things turned out because that is all that matters--that and your PRECIOUS little baby.

Goodnight all.

[Bearsmama]

Hi to all you mamas hanging in there with me!!

I was due on 8/5. It is now almost 8/10 and still no action. I really, really, really don't want to make it to my appointment this Friday. That would not be a great thing b/c we would have to talk induction then (I'll be 41 weeks on Thursday). I keep saying to DH that I just don't think this babe is EVER coming. Okay, I know I'm being a little overly dramatic...I was three days late with DS, but for some reason that seemed different. I feel like everything is on hold until this baby arrives. Like I can't continue with our normal routine and our days are becoming really, really boring .

Dodo-Did you see that ketilave had her babe????

Christeeny-Congrats again on the graduation. And I hope the picture-taking went well. Ya gotta make dad happy!

Madrone-I'm still hanging in here with you... My EDD was 8/5...

My2girlz-Best wishes to you on your labor!!

bwylde-Happy Nesting...

Caroline-Your words mean so much to me tonight as I contemplate what this birth will be like for me... Oh, and your little guy is sooo cute... and I just ordered something from Granolathreads, too!!

Katje-So happy to hear of your baby love...:infant:

And I agree with Sylvi-I really think that I will think of alll of you during birth (okay, ask me about that later...)Seriously, though, ALL of you have been such inspirations to me. C-sections, drugs, no drugs, vbacs, homebirths, hospital births....it doesn't matter to me. Your love and wisdom supercedes all this stuff...

Okay, that's it for me. Gotta go to bed. I have to stop "watching this pot", so-to-speak...

[Dodo]

That's sweet that someone thought *I* might be having a baby. I feel like a junior August mama, being due at the end of the month.

I wasn't sure whether I should start a new thread because I didn't want anyone to miss out on all the recent births (and because I'm so scatterbrained right now I'm afraid of forgetting someone in the updates).

I'll go start a new thread now. If I do forget someone, I hope that you won't hesitate to point it out.

[Dodo]

Alright, ladies, here you go:
August 9 Chat Thread

This thread is closed!