Weekly chat thread 9/18 - 9/25 - Page 2

[andreac]

Hi All!!

Hi, I'm Andrea. I'm about 6 week along with my 2nd. So far I am feeling pretty good, just the tired thing, but I aws the same last time too, never any morning sickness, just Exhausted! I had a pretty crappy hospital birth last time, so we are planning on a homebirth this time around and I am SO excited. We actually just hired our MW tonight. She was our first interview, but we just really clicked and I knew pretty much immediately that she was the one for us. My DH felt the same way.

Coleslaw, where it CT are you? I have a list of HB MW's I could send to you.

[Len]

7w 2d

: I'm Elena, this is my 2nd pregnancy. I have a 5 yo boy who still nurses a few minutes every day. I had a very good pregnancy with him, except for a big scare on the U/S. This time around I have decided to decline all testing.

We knew we wanted another baby but we were always putting it behind. But over 2 (strategic) days in August, we decided to leave our door open, just in case someone really wanted to join us, and well, it worked! So now I'm fully convinced that this little person is here on his/her own plan....

I must say that with my 1st pregnancy, I went from mainstream to crunchy in nine months :LOL so although in the end I planned for a homebirth, I ended up with a C-Sec.... in part, because of my ignorance my midwife led me to make decisions that I now regret (re:interventions)

I have been reading alot (about childbirth, etc.) in the past 5 years, so I consider myself to be more capable now to birth in the most natural way. I don't know yet if I will be able to have a HBAC but that's what I'm looking for.

[_jenn]

so i had my first mw appt today and feel rejuvinated....i walked into their heritage farm house and just breathed a big happy sigh. i love feeling wrapped up in ap friendly environments. they had sears ap book out and a ton of mothering mags in the basket i curled up in a big chair and read for 1/2hr while i waited for her to finish up talking to the mama ahead of me. we had such a good apt.

my midwife has teamed up with another midwife that i had never met before. today i met her for the first time and we got along famously. there is also a student m/w that sat in on the visit, as well. she "led" my apt. today while the certified m/w assisted.

we had a good discussion about u/s. the student suggested i have an early one to date the pg. i declined, and said id rather just get a quantitative hcg screen. she told me that there was no harm in u/s, and that got all 3 of us having a good discussion about that. the cert. m/w errs on the side of caution with u/s as well...so i felt pretty safe that my voice was totally respected. im still reading into u/s...thinking i may want none this pg afterall.

so that was my day. smiling and feeling good...except for the cramping :

how was your day??

[annakiss]

Andrea and Elena!!!

Jenn - so glad your appointment went well! Sounds like your CNM is quite nice.

Well last night I started freaking out because I read something about B6 and overdosing. I started taking B6 on Monday as a preventative measure to morning sickness. So I had 3 doses, then I read that you can overdose on B6 and the recommended daily allowance is 2 mg. Well there are 20 mg in my prenatal and 300 mg in the time release supplement!!! That's 15500%!!! I read this bit:

Overdosing during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy may be linked to birth defects involving the baby's arms, legs and nerve development. Babies may develop a dependency and experience a 'withdrawal' after birth if their mother supplements daily up until the birth.

I started bawling when I saw that. My son was born with a severe cleft lip and palate and I have taken many measures to help that not to happen again. I am in a word terrified of having another child with a problem. I just really really really don't want to go through it again.

So I called up my half-asleep mom (who is also my midwife who told me to take the B6, though did not tell me how many mg, so I just grabbed a bottle) and she tried to reassure me. I felt a little better and a little bit crazy. But then, my hormones are doing weird things at the moment and my moods are swinging about wildly. I took a hot bath (at the same time trying not to let it be too hot because a rising temperature could negatively effect my baby too you know ), worked on my fairy gift and went to bed. This morning I found an email from my mom in my inbox:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/...=Text&DB=pubmed Anna, Fear not regarding your B6 vitamin. You’d have to take in excess of 2000 mg daily to cause any neurotoxic effects. I found this web site that has an article about B vitamins and orofacial clefts. All the B vites may prevent OFC, not just folic acid. Strict vegetarians can be at risk for B12 deficiency if they’re not careful. If you can’t find the abstract I’m referring to, check out perinatology.com and go to the vitamin B. There’s the link to the above site with many research articles about vite B. It’s good news. When I worked at Nurse Midwives Center in Springfield, we would prescribe 50mg of B6 4x/day. That’s 200 mg daily. I think you’re fine with your 300mg. But if you can get a time released 50 or 100mg, that may be all you need for nausea. Don’t worry. I love you. Mommycat

So now I feel a lot better I guess. I'm just mainly crazy.

[Desdamona]

Originally Posted by annakiss

Desdamona - you're thinking of doing a UC, right? I think it's awesome that you're a doula! I also am thinking of midwifery as a calling one day... Kinda weird to be in the family business though. I don't think I'd ever want to be a CNM like my mom though, a direct entry midwife is much more up my alley. Are you already studying to become a midwife? Do you go to a school or are you planning on going to one?

Thinking about it... Dh and I have had a couple of "surface" conversations re: an UC birth... What it boils down to is that the MW, imnsho, was too loud. I needed someone more laid back and she was, well.... loud and obnoxious. Now, when I am not pushing a 10 lb baby out, I love my MW and think she a great lady but just don't dig her bedside manner.

I have an appt with her in a couple of weeks and will be able to hopefully convey more of what I am anticipating her role to be this time around. I only had her sign on 2½wks prior to my birth last time and there was no time to get her to know what exactly I wanted.

As for being a MW myself.... That time will come when my boys and are a little more grown. CPM, DEM is more my style. I see to much fear based medicine with MW's who come out of CNM programs, especially after spending a lot of time practicing in hospitals.

[Velvet005]

8 weeks and 5 days

Hi, I am Tish and this is my first pregnancy. Of course DH and I are very very excited. I am still a little nervous but not as bad as I was the first 8 weeks. We do not care if we have a boy or a girl. We just want our little bambino to be healthy - but then again who doesn't wish that for their little one?

I've been married to DH for 2 years. We were already together for 9 years before we got married. He is a 4th grade school teacher and is excellent with children. They just adore him I am in college for Interior Design and will continue my education after the babe is born. Luckily, I'll have 3 mos at home before the fall classes will begin.

I plan on breastfeeding and I would like to CD. I have looked at stores for them but they seem so thin. Does anyone have any ideas on where I can find some good ones?

[annakiss]

Tish - it depends on what you're looking for diaper-wise. There's a lot of different diaper information out there and tons of different kinds of diapers. The Diapering Forum here on MDC can be wuite helpful, but it can also be quite confusing. You're going to want to buy dipes through an online retailer, depending on where you live because you're not likely to find a shop with good dipes for sale. Your basic bunch of dipes can be found for the cheapest rate here: http://www.earthbaby.com/ They have packages for starting you out. The covers that come in their packages (the bummis and prowraps) tend to leave lines on your baby's skin, however. I used them anyway and still do. DS doesn't seem to mind too much. But for the new baby I'm getting some different covers to avoid that. I'm buying one or two a month since they're expensive new and I should have a complete stash by the time he/she arrives. You can also check out ebay or the Trading Post Diapering here at Mothering. hth

[nym]

What kind of system are you going for for the new baby anna? We are switching Kais stash to prefolds (which we always use) and fleece covers, and AIOs, and for the new baby we are going to do prefolds with covers, I have tons from Kai, and AIOs too. I have done the fitted and wool thing already and I find it is too much for me.

[coleslaw]

tough day!

This morning is I woke up to a tiny bit of spotting. I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown right then and there. It was awful.

I went to the birthing center I am using and the midwife there said spotting at about this time is common. She checked me "manually" and said everything seemed fine from that end. She did an ultrasound, which we could see a fetus sack, but no pole, but it was very difficult to see the fetus sack or measure it. She said because I wasn't very far along. I got by blood drawn and need to again Monday and Wednesday to compare results.

So basically, I know nothing. And I know that even if I was about to m/c, there isn't much I can do about it. I regret the ultrasound, but I caved in the moment. I had wanted to wait until 10-12 weeks for that, if at all.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share. I hope everyone else had a better day.

[plum]

hi there! i had another intro post but i'll say hi here. i'm jamie. i'm twenty-two, married, and i have a 12 month old and her birthday was just a few days ago. this was a 'planned' pregnancy (as in, we knew it was going to happen and did it anyway :LOL) but i am still adjusting to the idea of having two kids.

i have no idea how far along i am and my mw appt has been pushed back to the middle of october so by that point, i'll be like 13 weeks or something. i hate these mws but it's either see them or the OBs. our insurance only covers them and besides, there aren't any midwives up here. we are moving this winter, though, and i've gotten in contact with a homebirth midwife in that area. it seems very promising and i'm ecstatic at the idea of a homebirth . my midwife at the birth was evil and i do not like her . i'm only now dealing with my feelings over the whole thing. i've never even written out my whole birth story because it's so awful. i just want it to go the way i want it to this time.

this time is much different. i'm much more nauseated. i feel like i have the flu all day long but i don't throw up. the exhaustion is pretty much gone but i still feel sick. i also have a crawler nursing on me at all times, which can wear me out but i don't want her to wean.

[robugmum]

Hi all, I'm Maegen. I'm pregnant with my third child. I think irrational fear of miscarriage must just be part of early pregnancy, especially when its your 2nd, 3rd or more! A lot of us seem to be worried about it. I have to restrain myself from buying more and more pregnancy tests, just to check! This is the first pregnancy that DH and I have actually planned. The first two were happy suprises. I am thrilled to be pregnant but there is a little bit of a cloud hanging about this time. I had a really severe post partum hemmhorage at 2 weeks pp with DD. I almost bled to death. The OB who took care of me asked if we planned to have more children and when we said yes, said that we'd have to be really careful during the post partum period.

DS was delivered by c-section (possibly unnecessary) after 30 hours of really tough and very badly managed (on the part of the midwife and the hospital staff) labour. DD was a planned homebirth but we ended up going into the hospital because there was meconium in the water. Her birth (VBAC) was pretty straightforward, but the third stage was complicated by hemmhoraging and an placenta that just wouldn't come out. I think that the OB who took over from my midwife at that time might have actually been responsible for my later hemmorhages. She was really pulling on the cord to get the placenta out : and spent a lot of time trying to fish out all the clots. (sorry if TMI!) Two weeks later I was hemmorhaging again and nothing the Dr. did would stop it. I went in for a D&C and came out feeling relieved that the bleeding had stopped. That feeling lasted all of about 20 seconds before it came gushing out again big time. So they worked on me for a while longer. I ended up having five units of blood pumped into me because my hemoglobin count went down so low. Wow, I've never really written this out before. Maybe this isn't the place for it? I'm sorry if I've freaked anyone out!

So, needless to say, there is a little anxiety around me being pregnant again. I'm actually quite nervous about telling my father. He's the one who drove from Langley to Vancouver at top speed at three in the morning because DH had called him and told him that I might be dying. The rest of our family, both DH's and my parent were out of town when it happened.

Anyway, there's no real danger during the pregnancy but I'm probably going to have to be on bedrest after the babe is born, for a few weeks (not such a bad thing ) and the third stage of labour will be a little sensitive.

So far I'm feeling pretty good, very tired though! My breasts are sore and I'm hungry all the time! I'm just waiting for the 7 or so months of nausea and dizziness that plagued me with DS and DD! Oh yeah, I'm around 5 or 6 weeks, not sure exactly!

[hollyhobbie]

coleslaw, i am sorry you had some spotting and a crappy day!! today is the day (46 days after O) that i miscarried in june so i was feeling a bit panicked myself today. made dh take me and the boo out to dinner to celebrate that i made it to day 46 this time with nothing happening.

i think the best thing in these situations is to trust your gutts. i believe your intuition tells you more than technology so go with it! i dont mean to give advice, just reassurance really. with cassia i had bleeding several times not spotting but gushes of blood but it never phased me much b/c i just knew she was meant to be. well that and stupidity the first time round. this time round i felt the same way. nothing is going to get in the way of this baby!

be kind to yourself and take lots of loving care. ask your partner to do a bit extra or call in a favour from a friend. feel free to pm me if you need some more support. i wanted to say give me a call then i remembered this is cyberworld and you arent really my neighbour IRL!

[coleslaw]

Thanks hollyhobbie. Your words meant a lot to me. I guess my problem was 1) I was rushed back to the day I had spotting with my m/c, so it was an emotional train wreck 2) I have yet to feel a connection with this baby so I thought since I never had one, the baby was never "there" and 3) I have very few symptoms including no nausea, which I had in abundance the 1st two pg. All that to say I didn't have a clue whether the baby was OK or not. To be honest, I still don't have a gut on it and that bothers me the most. It's like I'm not pg, which is so abnormal for me.

Anyway, enough rambling. I'm venting to try and absorb it all and put it in order in my mind. I do appreciate everything you said. Thanks so much!

[annakiss]

Thinking of you Keri......

[annakiss]

Originally Posted by nym

What kind of system are you going for for the new baby anna? We are switching Kais stash to prefolds (which we always use) and fleece covers, and AIOs, and for the new baby we are going to do prefolds with covers, I have tons from Kai, and AIOs too. I have done the fitted and wool thing already and I find it is too much for me.

We've always done prefolds and I still have all my smalls, so we'll stick to that. I need new covers though, so I'm branching out from Bummis and Prowraps to Babysoftwraps. I've got a whole little bookmark folder with lots of different sites that I'm checking out. I also just bought 2 dipes for nighttime to use with Aleks. I'm trying out a pocket diaper and an AIO with a doubler. I think it will just be for nighttime use though when all he does is wet. I don't want to think of poop and anything being stored in the depths of the AIO. I don't like a lot of extensive cleaning at all with my dipes. I like to just toss them in the washer and then in the dryer. Which is why I'm terrified of wool. I'd much rather wash wet clothes than worry about lanolizing every so often or hanging dipes to dry. I'm also thinking of dying my small prefolds and maybe getting some new large prefolds as our 2 dozen that we've used since Aleks was 6 months old are starting to fall apart. They really don't look so great.

[Velvet005]

Anna - Thanks for the link and info. I really need it seeing this is my first time around. How are you feeling by the way?

Coleslaw- I am sorry you had a crappy day. I hope your weekend is better and on Monday your results from your test will be good. :

As for me, I think I am coming down with a cold. I really hope not. I keep thinking maybe it's just allergies.
I would do more personals but I am tired and I have to work ALL day tomorrow. I hope everyone has a good weekend

[plum]

scout has quite the collection of fitteds and we use all-wool. we have a ton of prefolds, too, both infant and premium. those are andy's favorites. the wool isn't as high-maintenance as you'd think. scout doesn't poop on the covers anymore and when she does, i just soak them in the sink. the covers don't get stinky and as it is, we only have three right now anyway. i ordered some fitteds for newbaby today.

i have bad heartburn. i feel nauseated.

keri, i hope you feel better soon .

[_jenn]

i have no exciting news today, really. i gave notice to the lady i do daycare for...i feel i am not as available for my own children, and they are noticing it and behaving differently. my 4 year old is throwing tantrums double time right now and my seven year old has cried twice in 2 days for what he percieves as himself failing. that makes my heart break. he's so hard on himself ... money will suck again....but oh well... my kids are sending me messages.

as for the pg....wholy!! am i thirsty!! i am thirsty ALL the time. i think whenever i am not peeing, i am refueling. thats my pg complaint de jour.

coleslaw...sorry about your sucky day...Monday will be better :

hollie....happy belated day 46. glad to heear that you are doing well

robug...wow. i have had some pretty serious pp bleeding issues too...but none so bad as yours. what kind of a birth are you planning for? probably have to go to the hosp, right? my m/w is letting me go through with the homebirth, but we will take precautions.

everyone else....sticky thoughts

jenn