UC Support Thread #12 -- December 2004 - Page 5

[nikirj]

I'm still here...waiting...feeling ripe but really, really hoping this baby stays in quite a bit longer.

Shameless plea for your advice - please visit my thread here and help me out...

Back on topic for UC - my midwife handed my DH a 'what to do if the baby arrives before the midwife' sheet that was very reassuring to him. We're still not sure when we'll call her. I suppose we'll see when we get there.

[cottonwood]

Sprinkle Pocket, as far as I can see, there seems to have been nothing behind it except a desire to get it over with for my sake, because it was so incredibly painful. I could feel her head, and I knew that I could bring her down. In the grand scheme of things, it was a small thing (certainly much less dangerous than directed forced pushing,) and intuitively, I had no sense of danger over it at all, but technically it was an intervention because (I feel) my body was not cueing me to do it. It is an amazing thing about our bodies, that they are so resilient. We can do an awful lot wrong, and still have things come out right.

So, no, I don't regard her birth as perfectly normal in a natural/physiological sense (the amount of pain I experienced was surely not normal,) but rather as close to normal as I could make it given my inherent and situational limitations. And thankfully that was good enough to bring her safe and sound to me.

[majazama]

I know how that can be, BV

here is mama2lennon's post that I copied from the last thread. I thought I would answer some of her questions....
[QUOTE]
I also don't want to think too much about what "might" happen because I don't want to start getting paranoind. Are there perhaps some things that are universal that one should be aware of? I feel like I've heard enough good stories of mama or papa reaching down and checking for the cord around baby's neck and I feel like I would intuit if I needed to do that. I have been wondering about checking for a cervical lip when I start feeling like pushing. Do most of you, or none of you, check for dilation? I don't know why but I am somewhat worried that I may feel like pushing and there will still be lip there. I guess this is why we "shouldn't" push and just let the baby sort of slip itself out ... Any great ideas??? Anyone have anything they feel is important to know? I also don't want to many "aids", mostly because I can't afford it and don't want to be left with lots of EO or homeopathic remedies I won't use for who knows how long again. Is there any one or two things that are really handy to have around, sort of all purpose helpers?

Lotus birth ~ has anyone who has done a lotus noticed if the baby seemed to be aware of the placenta or wanting to be near or touch it? My little one is transverse and I notice by the position that it seems like baby is hugging the placenta. I wonderered if baby was lonely in there and wanting someone to snuggle! [QUOTE]

I found arnica homeopathy very useful. It's only about 5$ and you can use all of it during labour, for pain and afterwards, for aches. I also went to the chiropractor a few days before giving birth, and it felt real good, and might have made my birth a lot less "intense".

I checked my dialation in only a kinda sorta way. I wasn't "measuring" with my fingers, but could tell when I was fully dialated, and when I was not. I did not get any urge to push till I was fully dialated. And I was fully dialated for awhile (as I say in my birth story). I just sat there waiting. then I *definately did* get the urge, and had to have a little intense cry and changed position (hands and knees in the bathtub) If you are in the kind of labour where you are in major pain, I could definately see skipping the "waiting till you get the urge" stage, and just going for it. You should know when you are there. I don't think a cervical lip should be a problem, unless you start pushing before you are totally dialated, and the cervix swells. Just let your body do the work, and check occationally inside to see where you're at. That's what I did, and I had to be patient. She slipped out with barely any effort.... in two contractions....

I can totally see being in a hospital during that labour, and once I was fully dialated, they would tell me to PUSH, but it's not neccessary. Your body knows what to do. Have patience, and the baby will be in your arms before you know it. And trust those *urges*.

[Hayliesmom]

So I wanted to get more opinions on the name we think we are going to use for the baby...

Alexander Peyton, we'll call him Peyton. Both his brothers go by their middle names so its kind of a tradition now.

What do you think? The kids are "Haylie" Alexis, Eric "Braxton" and William "Forrest". Our last name is Harbin.

So does it fit with the family etc?

Stacey

[Kundalini-Mama]

I FINISHED HIS BIRTH STORY

And for the record, , I'm very proud of myself as I didn't finish my older son's birth story until his first birthday, so I'm 49 1/2 weeks ahead of schedule Please read if you have the time, it is very freakin' long. :LOL



http://www.mothering.com/discussions...08#post2385408

[amyjeans]

Congratulations Laura! Happy babymoom mama!

[Hayliesmom]

Great story Amy! Thanks for sharing!

Stacey

[rachel]

Congratulations Ame & Laura!! Hope you are both enjoying your babymoon!

[sprinkle pocket]

blueviolet~thanks for sharing your take on it. that helps...and yeah, much different than the forced timed pushing.

mamajaza~thanks for your additional supportive words. i'm not worried about the pushing in particular-- since i have never birthed, i'm not really sure what to expect or what i should worry about per se, ykwim? i'm just going to take it as it comes, i'm not sure how else i can do it. maybe with the next one i'll have learned what to worry about! :LOL (totally just kidding)

the only fear i'm dealing with now is fear of authority and i think when i'm not busy enough, my mind wants to fiddle with some thoughts, so i'm questioning my judgement to uc. luckily i question more, the audacity/ignorance of ob's/hospitals, and the methods of mw's, so i'm still doing good in that regard. i think it was indigolilybear who a while back said something to the effect of being nervous, but walking bravely forward. we're building our bathhaus slowly, but surely and even though we don't know where i'll want to birth when the time comes, we feel like we're building our 'birth palace'. even if i don't birth in there, it feels like it'll always be a special place since we're building it while pg and thinking warm thoughts of birthing in the tub out there.

after snuggling me transverse forever, my baby turned mostly head down, but angled to the side a bit and my bladder couldn't be happier! "she's" moving alot more and i think enjoying the newly found space. b/c of where we live, i usually squat to pee outside and she was getting squished by my thighs--had to learn to pee with a baby kicking and punching me and vibing me to 'get off!'. so now i think we're both more comf. and my belly is so much smaller! my clothes are looser and i can move better, ahhhh, thanks little person!


hope everyone's doing well and if they do holidays, then either looking forward to the holidays, enjoying the holidays or bracing themselves well for the holidays (read: family questions about birth plans)!

[sprinkle pocket]

amy~what a beautiful birth story! you sound so wonderful, i'm so happy you had the birth you wanted/asked for! but the "poop on my finger, poop on my finger" bit had me " :roflmao b/c it sounds like something my dh would say! : so funny (not at the time i'm sure). enjoy your beatiful owen and family's babymoon. thanks so much for sharing your story and thoughts.

[cottonwood]

Sprinkle Pocket, this last time I envisioned giving birth in my bedroom, so I fixed it up all purty and comfy, and it is now my favorite room in the house. But about three hours before she was born I suddenly felt like making up a little nest in the bathroom, which I had not considered at all before that, but turned out to be perfect!

[KateSt.]

Amy, What a beautiful story (poop and all :LOL ). It gave me wonderful chills reading it. Thank you so much for sharing it!!! It reassures me that I can have just as wonderful a birth story to tell in a few weeks.

Stacey -- I wanted to tell you that I loved the name you've picked out and I think it goes wonderfully with your other children's names.

Jennie -- Yea, prenatal yoga classes. Unfortunately the yoga studio I go to doesn't have them. They used to, but there wasn't enough of a demand. I went to a prenatal yoga workshop in November in New Haven, but it was just a 2 hour thing. I haven't found any in the nearby area, so I've just been doing it on my own. That and meditating. It's funny you mentioned thinking of u/s as a way of bonding with your baby. Sunday morning for a fleeting instance, I had the same thought -- that "seeing" my baby would be another great way to bond. I only thought of it for a moment and realized I didn't need it, but it was so funny to hear you had the same thought!

I'm just about 31 weeks (I think?) and I've put aside all my uc books and birthing books. I studied them religiously for many months and now I guess I'm feeling ready. Sometimes I think "I should be doing more! I should be preparing more!" but then I hear my baby assure me that I just need to "let it happen." I can't believe it's coming so close!

Niki -- speaking of close! You're just a couple of weeks away! I'm glad your mw provided you and dh with some reassuring info. I'll be thinking of you.

Sprinklepocket -- you've had some great posts lately. I enjoyed your pictures!

Hope all you mamas are doing well.

[KateSt.]

Blueviolet -- I visualize giving birth in our bathroom! :LOL Not my "dream" location, but I have a feeling I'll want to be near tub and toilet. It's my Christmas present to myself to redo it in all my favorite colors and make it real comfy.

[TRIBE]

Kate you are so close! I remember settling in around 30 weeks with my UC as well. I was very relaxed and just went with the flow.

I tell you tho this pregnancy is making me miserable. I had no complaints, didn't even really feel pregnant until this past week. The last 2 mornings have been the worst. On top of the insomnia when I do get to sleep I wake up in so much pain I can't walk. My pelvis hurts, my back hurts, me knees hurt. It all HURTS.

I hate complaining, I hate whining. I was enjoying this pregnancy and now i'm not This is most likely my last and I really do want to spend the rest of it enjoyng being pregnant, not whiny and miserable. I think I am going to make it a point to either see a chiro twice a mont hor get a prenatal massage every week. Something to pamper myself and help me feel better.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday, I may not be back on until after the new year

[FreeRangeMama]

It's my Christmas present to myself to redo it in all my favorite colors and make it real comfy.

I had my last UC in our tiny little bathroom and that is exactly what I did! I repainted it and made it look just the way I wanted. I really felt so nice in there throughout my labour. It was my quiet little place. I gave birth in the tub, which is where I spent a large portion of my 27 hour labour

[Hayliesmom]

Thanks Kate

I envision giving birth in the bathroom too. The tub actually but empty. I wouldn't mind a water birth but I doubt I'll have time to fill it. I might not make it to the bathroom. In that case I'll just have the baby in the kitchen. I feel the need to stay on linoleum I have fast labors so for this baby I see me having just a contraction or two and then a baby.

Jenniebug, I've felt great up until recently too and now I feel like the baby is doing slow stretches and my body just doesn't stretch that far and it hurts. I'm quite achey too and not sleeping well. And I too hate to whine but these past few days have not been as fun.

Which brings me to another question. What is the earliest any of you would consider delivering at home? I've been having a lot of contractions lately and while they are not painful some are uncomfortable and they have been strong and frequent. I don't think I will go into labor soon...like before the new year but I wouldn't be surprised if this baby isn't getting ready to join us in Jan. I'm due in mid Feb. What do you think. What is too early?

Stacey

[Mama2Lennon]

mamajaza ~ thank you for replying! I haven't had much time to be online and I don't think that will be changing any time soon!

sprinkle pocket ~ my transverse baby has just started exploring the lower regions of my uterus, I don't think there was much choice, there is very little room left in there! I actually feel more pregnant now! The jumping on the bladder thing is interesting ...

No pressure from the mw yesterday since the baby seems to be head down. I haven't and don't plan on telling them that they won't be getting "the call" until after the baby is born. I just hope that I can feel comfortable with the father before then ....

I wish every one well!

[paquerette]

Hmm, everyone seems drawn to either the bathroom or the bedroom, but my plan is the living room. I feel like I will want plenty of floor space. I can't imagine anything that would make my bathroom very comfortable (renting, so I'm not willing to go to much trouble), and my bedroom is small and cluttered, and I think the mattress is too saggy to be able to change positions much (I couldn't squat; I'd just fall over!). So living room floor it is. I'm figuring on a tarp covered with old sheets and chux. Now, if only I can keep the cats from pestering... hopefully they have some kind of instinct that will make them want to leave me alone!

[TRIBE]

Stacey
Oh those stretches, eeek, mine has started to do those already. Much earlier than my others who didn't start the long stretches until mth 8 or so. Blah! I got a bit better sleep last night and was actually able to walk this morning so JOY, I felt blessed lol

Hrm delivering early, I don't know. If I was 100% sure on my dates then I would worry about anything before 36 weeks, but that is me. I have never delivered before my due date, I am an ag gestater I guess so early would give me reason to worry. If I wasn;t sure and thought it was possible i could be further along, then I would go with the flow. Listen to what your intuition and baby are telling you. How are YOu feeling about the possibility of an early delivery?

Places for delivery. Last time I was all over my house from the livvingroom to the downstairs bathroom to the bedroom to the upstairs bathroom. I finally ended up in my bed the last few mintes of labor and delivered there. This time I am thinking of the livingroom or kitchen so I have room for my birthpool. My bathroom here is nothing more than a toilet and small standing shower, so no chance of a delivery there. And my bedroom is half the size of the one I was in last time so again i just dont think I want to be confied to such a small space. I need room and tend to get claustorphobic. I am hoping for a nice warm water birth tho.

[Lula's Mom]

Birth story birth story birth story!!!!

We did it! Baby Marcos was born on Sunday morning. I wrote a big, long, birth story, which I hope you'll read here.

Let me just say, Amy, I can relate! Congratulations, mamas!