UC Thread #10 - October 2004! - Page 5

[KateSt.]

Hi Niki! I love your children's perceptions of your upcoming birth! I tend to believe children are very in touch with things like this and maybe they know exactly what they're talking about. How touching and special!!!

I don't have any children yet to give me their thoughts, but I asked my baby one night before bed if he'd prefer to be born in water or out. The next night I found myself with a sudden urge for a bath (and I don't take a lot of them) and realized as I was soaking in the bubbles that I probably just got my answer!

[BinahYeteirah]

bs"d

AmyD - Thanks for posting your birth story. My home birth story wasn't so bad (That "I don't care" bit from your midwife is OUCH!), and it truly was an empowering experience me. There definitely things that happened to manage the birth, however, that when I look back make me pause. I will post my "critique" of the experience if anyone is interested.

[BinahYeteirah]

bs"d

Originally Posted by KateSt.

I don't have any children yet to give me their thoughts, but I asked my baby one night before bed if he'd prefer to be born in water or out. The next night I found myself with a sudden urge for a bath (and I don't take a lot of them) and realized as I was soaking in the bubbles that I probably just got my answer!

That's sweet!

I too remember you from TTC. I'm still hanging out there, but I look forward to hearing how your UP progresses.

[sprinkle pocket]

it took me a while to read all the posts since i was last at the computers and we have an out of town guest who doesn't want to be here at the computers, so i probably won't get to respond to everything i want to...

mamajaza~i'm "due" at the end of march--i think april fool's day would make for pretty fun bday parties. i was wondering what in your labor indicated chamomilla for you? i'm trying to get a remedy list together for dh to be in charge of during labor, so i can tell him symptoms and he can figure out the remedy, so i don't have to try and think if i can't.

kate st~yeah, i totally remember you! welcome back! i've found that sometimes it takes walking a seemingly unrelated path to get to where i'm going and to be able to feel like it's really right. sounds like going with the midwife helped you find a really strong place inside for what you want at your birth. that's awesome. i too think it's good to have another 1st time birther with me on the uc thread. i don't think we're the only ones though, are we? anyone else lurking out there?

bv~ congrats on the talk!! that's so great that you did it...sorry to here the babe wasn't as into it, though. oh, goodness, that twin uc video was incredible. it really helped me get back to the 'birth is normal' mentality that i seem to lose when i venture away from the uc community. also, started reading the primal mothering book. this too helped renew my faith in myself, my baby and my sweet dh (who after watching the twin uc video that he kept picturing me doing it like her and feels every bit of faith and confidence in my abilities to birth. hearing stuff like that from him is good).

thanks to everyone for the insight on birthing from within...i'll probably get it and just skip pages that start getting to ridiculous. i'd heard about the "every woman MUST have a doula" section. groan... as a first time birther, i'm just trying to find a book that could help with labor...like niki said, in a more concrete way than to just go with the flow. maybe i won't need it, but i'm thinking of a substitute for childbirth classes.

i'm planning on ordering clear road to birth. i seem to remember another uc video. is there more?

ohhh, i gotta go...darnit.

[sprinkle pocket]

i forgot, can anyone tell me the big deal about a pregnant woman sleeping on her back? is it for baby positioning later in pregnancy?

[nikirj]

SP, laying on your back compresses one of the largest blood vessels in your body, compromising blood return to your heart and therefore blood flow to both you and baby.

I've always felt that if I couldn't tell, there wasn't a problem. Obviously it's not so serious that we can't have women delivering on their backs, eh?

I sleep on my side but occassionally find myself on my back. If I lay totally flat on my back I'll start feeling a little 'funny', and I know that the vessels are actually getting compressed and will change position.

[sprinkle pocket]

thanks niki, i actually just went over to the pregnancy posts and someone had just asked about it there, too.

ok, now i really have to go! :LOL sometimes i wish we could afford satellite internet and have a computer at home--we're off the grid and i hear that's the only way to go, other than a super slow cellphone connection.

[majazama]

sprinklepocket~I didn't actually use the chamomilla, but its supposed to be good for calming, expecting a tough labour like my first DD's. I thought I could use it for other things if I didn't use it for the birth. Have you seen Laura Shanleys site? She has an UC video on there, I think.

[cottonwood]

BinahYeteirah, I wouldn't mind hearing your birth story! It is always so interesting to me to hear about people's process to UC -- they whys of it -- and looking at past experiences is part of that.

[Evergreen]

*Mamajaza* if you don't mind tking this thread on a bit of a tangent :LOL

I have read your 2nd baby's birth story and know that it was easy and peacefu;, and you say your 1st baby was difficult. How did the two compare?

The reason I ask is because I have a 21 month old. I spent 29 hours in hard labor at 2 cms ( I kept begging my midwife to check me ) then when I decided to be alone with my own thoughts and communicate with the baby she came in less than 20 minutes. that is 2 cm to holding a baby in that short amount of time. there is no doubt in my mind that it is becauise I was putting too much faith in everyone else to help me through her birth, when she and i should have been the major participants and we both needed to make peace with that. Which is also why I am planning a UC or atleast a free birth where I am totally in charge and I know it from the beginning.

[KateSt.]

Wow, Evergreen -- thanks for sharing that. I'm going to have my dh read your post just for extra reinforcement!

Sprinkle Pocket -- so glad you asked about lying on your back (I read the other thread too). I was in yoga Wed night and instead of doing an inversion I went to the wall and put my legs up against it, but my yoga teacher (also my friend) told me I shouldn't be on my back for more than 2 minutes. I know she's following precautions and I appreciated her concern, but I was comfy so I knew baby was comfy too. When baby isn't comfy I get short of breath. I'm off to yoga right now -- we'll see how it goes!

Hi Binah! Hope all is well!

Have a great Friday everyone.

[Asheville Mama]

books

Sprinkle pocket, about the books, I really liked Active Birth by Janet Balaskas when I read it. I remember thinking, I could have skipped all those other books and just read this one. I didn't have a UC with that birth though so I'm going to go back through it this time with the UC mindset. What I liked about Birthin From Within was the more reflective attitude about your own thoughts and feelings. It was so different from the other birthing books I read, it was a nice perspective. But I agree, most of the actual birth info was a little hokey to me!

If you're looking to skip classes, you might think about Natural Childbirth, The Bradley Way by Susan McCutcheon. I have a certain affinity for that one just because that's the class i teach and I think she did a good job. Of course, you can just skip the stuff more geared toward attended births.

Evergreen, I had a similar experience with my dd's birth. I was so in my head that I think I was actually fighting the process. I never had an exam until right before I started pushing so I'm not sure if I was stuck at a certain dilation, but once the midwives and my DH fell asleep, things really started moving. I hit transition and then my midwife woke up and interrupted the flow. I think had I been left by myself or with only dh during that time, I would have had a much easier time with pushing.

[sprinkle pocket]

mamajaza~i did look at laura's site yesterday and unfortunately, since we're in the early stages of being off the grid with a small solar system, we only have a portable dvd player since it uses hardly any power. i didn't realize most of the videos were on tape. bummer!! i've been taking chamomilla lately when i get to whiny/dependent on dh. so it's one i'm going to have around as a just in case, too. since you still have it around, you may use it when teething starts. it's the remedy that alot of babes respond to.

[laurata]

Originally Posted by KateSt.

I was in yoga Wed night and instead of doing an inversion I went to the wall and put my legs up against it, but my yoga teacher (also my friend) told me I shouldn't be on my back for more than 2 minutes. I know she's following precautions and I appreciated her concern, but I was comfy so I knew baby was comfy too. When baby isn't comfy I get short of breath. I'm off to yoga right now -- we'll see how it goes!

If you want to make her feel better, You could lay on a folded blanket so that you aren't quite *flat* on your back. At a slight angle instead. I like the side laying position too, where you lay on your side with one leg up on the wall and then switch sides.

But I agree with you- listen to your body!

[lovemygirl]

6 weeks post partum and bright red bleeding

Ladies

I need your insight, I am 6 weeks post partum and today got what seems like my mentrual cycle. I haven't had any lochia for 3 weeks. I am exclusively breastfeeding my baby AND also tandem nursing my 3 year old girl who nurses about 5-6 times a day now that the milk has returned. I didn't get my cycle back w/ her til she was 11 months.

Could this be my cycle? Is this a one time thing and it won't be back for several more months? I thought it was almost unheard of to get your period back so soon if you were exclusively breastfeeding?! I haven't gone more than 2 hours since Avery's birth without nursing someone.

Ugh I am really depressed. What makes me believe that this indeed is my period is that 2 weeks ago I was REALLY interested in having intercourse with dh, but we didn't. I kept feeling very afraid that not only it might hurt but a weird thought that I might get pregnant from the intercourse. I chalked it up to just being paranoid but now I remember having what seemed like cervical fluid at that time (2 weeks ago) but I thought it was just remnants of my lochia and my uterus changing gears.

So could I have ovulated and this is a period? I am so freaked out because I nevered expected this. I can't find anything on the internet about it. Although I do recall hearing stories of women who's kids were 10 months apart. I thought though, that they probably didn't breastfeed and that is how it happened.

Any advice? Any experience? HELP! LOL I am going crazy here.

Thanks

Oh! and Welcome to the new ladies to the board, and to those TTC and to those in predicaments! Sorry I couldn't post longer responses but I did read all of the posts in this October thread!

[ChildoftheMoon]

Jennifer-That happened to me after all three of my births. My lochia cleared up and then I had period like bleeding, cramps and all at about 6 weeks. The first time I was even told by the on-call nurse that it was in fact my period. It turned out not to be. I do not know what the bleeding was, but it must be a normal cycle for me since it has happened all three times. It felt like a period and acted like one, but then I went on to be cycle free after that. My first- period free until four months because dd started sleeping all night long. dd2-period free until 16 months, and this time I am 3 months post partem and still no cycles(even with having no newborn to nurse), though I did think they had returned because I had period like bleeding at about 7/8 weeks, but nothing since. I was pumping a lot though and am now just nursing my three year old. I really don't think it is a period, it could be, but I really don't think it is.
Hugs mama!
Brandi

[majazama]

Evergreen~ I've been meaning to reply to your question, but I started a big paragraph, and then had to shut down the computer... So, I'll try and make it short but sweet. My labour with my second baby was almost perfectly half of what it was with my first. I think that has something to do with genetics, as my mom's labours were the same.

My first babe's labour was very painful, and increased in intensity as it progessed. Birthing was very intense as well, but I attribute that (at least partly) to being on my back while birthing (not my choice of position). I spent most of the end part of the labour in a kiddy pool in my dining room. I sometimes wonder if the Vinyl of the pool contributed to my very intense contractions (I was *screaming* through some of them). My body is very flexible, so the baby just shot out after half a push, but I wanted her OUT, because I wanted the pain to stop. After it all went down, I realized I didn't need the MW there, and that she really made me more uncomfortable. I didn't have the kind of "buddy-buddy" relationship with her that I hear some people talk about. One of my first visits with her, I told her I was considering doing it alone, and wrote it down in her book. (paper, paper, paper) And I think from that point on, thought I was a nut and in need of some guidance. I guess I'm just rambling about my MW, which is not really what you wanted to hear..... ANYways, I hope that at least partly answered your question

have to run.

[mellie-bellie]

Postpartum "period"

Jennifer,

The same kind of bleeding happened to me after my first 2 kiddies, so I'll just have to see if it does this time around. My midwife w/ dd had said that LOTS of women experience this "period" type of bleeding between week 6-8pp, and that there's really nothing documented about it's causes or if it's actually a real period. My period returned both times around 11mo pp. I too was tandem nursing around the clock with ds1 and dd. Anyways, just wanted to reassure you that I think it's normal.

[nikirj]

About that 6-week thing, my pre-med anat & phys text (which I resold, so I can't quote exactly) glossed over it in a single sentence but DID say that some bleeding was to be expected at around 6 weeks (not just that there should be no more lochia then, like most texts say). I don't remember if they even had a term for it (I don't think they did), but it was mentioned as being a normal thing. I haven't seen any mention of it since then! It was so odd that I asked my instructor about it, and she (never having had children) was absolutely clueless about both the phenomenon and its cause (which is odd because she was extraordinarily knowledgeable about hormonal cycles and their physiological effects).

[laurata]

In the Art of NFP, I think they refer to it as withdrawl bleeding? Does anyone know? Something to do with the withdrawl of the high levels of hormones present during pregnancy. I would definately use caution when you get intimate again though, at least for a while.