Jan. Mamas Dec. 12-18 - Page 3

[JesiLynne]

37 weeks and 2 days

And I feel like there is a baby in my throat!!!!!!!!
Okay maybe just way up in my rib cage!!!!
I hurt, and I am soooooo tired now, if I don't get 11 hours of sleep I am jsut
a wreck.
On top of it all I don't have all my homebirth supplies, I drove 45 min. Sat. to a major healthcare Systems Medical Supply "MALL" just for them to tell me that they don't carry maternity pads, and the idiot there didn't even know what I was talking about.
The funny part was it was a woman with kids of her own!!!!!!!!!!
So now I have to wait til Fri. b/c that is when DH gets paid, and rush order some from TX.
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
I am worried especially since I was reading an old nursing book and one of the sections on pregnancy said a womans pregnancy duration was 20 weeks from the time of quickening. Well that would be next WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!
: : : : : : : : : :

[JesiLynne]

Plus a 70 year old woman told me last Fri. that I was going to give birth 2 weeks from then!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mamabeca]

I wil be 35 weeks on Thursday (34 weeks 5 days as of Tuesday 12/14), due date is the 21/22 Jan. That's from LMP, not conception (i.e.: based on a 42 week gestation, although the medical community would tell me otherwise!). I remember reading in a book in high school (omg was that a loooong time ago!) about gestational times for various mammals - elephants are like 2 yrs., whales are over 1 yr (15 months?) humans are 10 months (yes, that read right... on average something like 43 weeks). So where did everyone get 40 weeks from!? Well, whatever...sorry :

Thought I'd mention that the Mag Phos is helping with the indigestion (thank goodness!). Also having a pillow under my shoulder blades and shoulders - keeping me somewhat more upright - is helping too.

g'nite to all - hope we sleep, hope we sleep well, hope we sleep the whole night through! HI time keeps throwing me off - does it register as your own actual time of posting, or the time it is on the E. Coast when you posted???

PS - What have any of you done to turn a x-verse/breach baby? Pelvic tilts, anything else? I have a massage session (at home no less!) on Fri., so I'd like to be able to offer her suggestions if it's safe for her to help me turn baby...I'm just not sure than getting it to turn would really help if they're still so active?! Thoughts???

[mamabeca]

JL - don't worry hon. Your baby will not come if you are not ready. Get yourself a couple of diapers, make sure you have towels, something frozen that you can use if you want it during labor/delivery (bag o' peas works in a pinch!), some q-tips and gauze pads are good. The rest can be improvised...not to worry. A bottle of hydrogen peroxide is probably a good idea... I'll be thinking good hanging on thoughts for you! Don't worry - be happy! Baby is almost here! I wanna hear the story when they come, ok!?

[JesiLynne]

mamabeca, Thank YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Delfina]

37 weeks today!

Good moring, Ladies - It is 4:25 am and I am wide awake. It always seems to be the 4am potty run that gets me! Anyway, today I am 37 weeks!!! It is a great feeling to know that if I go into labor today, my little guy will be considered fully baked! Other than this awful cough (that is starting to worry me!!), I am feeling pretty good. In fact, I think the baby dropped just a couple of hours ago - it was such a cool feeling! It won't be long now, mamas!!

[LEAW]

Jesi, we're due the same day, but I'm convinced no babe here until 1/10. Want to compromise and split the difference? That might put us both right before the new year
What are the pads you are looking for? Jumbo sanitary pads? Or those 2x3 foot plastic on one side and fuzzy on the other absorbant things?

Andy, I've heard the chiro sessions are the most successful to turn a baby - something like 86% success, while manual version is only about 55% and much more painful. I can't remember the chiro technique name though, if I find it, I'll post it. Pelvic rocking, sit leaning forward all the time, putting headphones and a warm pack low on your belly and a cold pack on top - baby moves toward the music and warm apparently.
Had the worst heartburn yesterday, and had a huge milkshake to get rid of it. Not sure why the cold and dairy combo works for me, but my face isn't enjoying the quantity of dairy I've been consuming recently.

Delfina, it's the 3am pee that keeps me up until 4 every night.

Oh well, off to the shower and then to work, only 20 hours of work left for me. The snow day yesterday was about the nicest gift I could have gotten.

Lisa

[chocomoto]

Mamabecca- Do you think your baby is breech? Acupuncture is the only thing that worked for me, and I tried everything (breech tilts, handstands, massages, Webster technique with chiropractor). Well, the external version at the hospital did work, but it wasn't exactly pleasant either. My boys were both breech until 36wks when I had the versions done at the hospital. They could find no physical reason that my babies are always breech.

I wouldn't recommend trying to turn the baby with massage or pushing on the baby yourself. There may be a reason he/she is breech (like a short cord) and you don't want to cause the baby any distress.
How many weeks are you?

[Pam_and_Abigail]

I think I'll get checked out for yeast, but not get the gbs test. Does anyone know what sysmptoms dh should look out for in regards to a yeast infection spreading?

[mamabeca]

Oooh, thanks for the advice gals! Choco - I'm 35 wks tomorrow. I hesitate to do anything drastic: my mw's will deliver a breach baby hb., so it's not a major stress for me (they do twins a lot, many of whom have one that is breach; smaller perhaps, but still...) but also this monkey is moving around a lot still, and could turn on its own. I may just wait until later and then try to get them to turn closer to the EDD. Say around 37 wks? I guess knowing this baby as much as I do, it wouldn't surprise me if they turned and then turned again... and once more for luck!?

P&A - I have no idea what a yeast infection looks like or acts like in a guy. I'm sorry. I know that acidophilus helps for both men and women, and you both should be taking it, as well as any anti-fungal stuff, such as goldenseal, bee propolis, and garlic. As Malama has said somewhere, you do want to pass the test, but mostly you want to be yeast free for the delivery. Some women swear by the OTC meds. I've never tried them (I just get Strep infections, no yeast infections for me!).

Jesilynne - you seem a little lighter of mood! YEAH!!! Congrats Delfina on the new position your baby has assumed! I hope it lightens up your top half load! And that you don't end up peeing every 45 minutes! Now go get some sleep Lisa - do send that chiro info if you find it. I have a chiro here who has worked on me before (not regularly, and not pregnant, but I'm pretty sure they do pregnancy chiro (ok, I'm calling!), and I can get in for a quick session), but I never like going to see a doctor without knowing WHAT I want done to me! kwim?

Hope we have great days! andy

[fromscatteredtribe]

i seecond that the fancy homebirth supplies are nothing to worry about. hydrogen peroxide helps with blood stains. the chux that cost less than five dollars are available at target, walmart, pharmacies. a clear shower curtain liner between two fitted sheets on your bed helps (i've heard they have them at the dollar store, they are 3 dollars at walmart, and i'm getting mine at ikea for 1.29 after dh's payday). last time i bought a fancy matress cover for the twin bed i ended up pushing on and ds1 now has blood stains on his bed from ds3s birth...kind of sentimental but annoying. for the first day of bleeding i used toddler disposable dipes for bleeding, although my mw suggests these one size fits all depends type things that just have elastic straps on the sides and a big poise type pad in the middle. i remember birthing in a hospital and the nurses only allowed two of the big maternity pads per woman anyway and from then on it was regular pads. so, when my sis gave birth she took the big pads and lined them with smaller good maxis like stayfree ultra thin or always and she rarely even got blood on the big one..changing them often. essentially if you gave birth tomorrow you would find stuff that worked.

one must have in my opinion is a crock pot (i'm borrowing one wince so many people seldom use theirs). last homebirth my midwives kept a vat of clean hot water and i tore up an old towel. they dipped clean "washcloths" into the hot water and used them to press on my lower pelvis during contractions to relax the muscles, like a hot pad only always clean and hot...lovely. but then again i don't relax in water and will not have a waterbirth.

don't fret...and PLEASE don't drive that far for supplies unless you know something i don't about your situation.

[jessitron]

Ooh, Delfina, how exciting!
I was awake at 4:30 too, but my, it felt nice to stay in bed next to a warm husband.

Yesterday was a much better day than Monday. I photographed the changing table.
http://www.cirerrek.addr.com/girl/nu...ngingtable.jpg

What a lovely place to put all my fabulous cloth diapers! It makes me want to order more.

[Malama]

mamabeca, the chiro technique is called the webster technique. Other non-invasive ways to turn a breech include slant board exercises- basically lying on a board that's about 18ish inches higher on one end than the other- feet go there, and head down. Or you can get on hands and knees on a set of stairs, with your pelvis up high and your head down low. the other very non-invasive thing is to take homeopathic pulsatilla. If I had a breech baby that's the first thing I'd do, because it involves no physical manipulation and baby should make its own way head down.
I wouldn't have a massage therapist massage the baby into a different position. When trying to move a baby (external version) it's important to listen to the baby's HB to make sure it's tolerating the move ok (thing cord stuff). You could massage your own belly- pick a direction that seems right and then make circles in that direction and tell the baby to follow.
You can also turn all baby pics in your house (esp the in-utero ones) head down. visualization can be powerful.

I agree with scatteredtribe about the supplies. Late last night I read that post about the "maternity pads". I'm assuming those are chux pads and yeah, you can get those at any drug store. One client recently bought ones for dogs- they were the same exact thing and way cheaper.

P&A.... not sure about the yeast spreading to your dh.... yeast isn't an std, and they say that sometimes partners pass it back and forth, but there's no sure thing on that. One thing you could have him do ( and this isn't scientific or anythign) is wash his penis with a light (very) vinegar solution. My guess is that it would kill anything for sure if that's what you have.

[fromscatteredtribe]

it's not that your husband would have a yeast infection per se. it is just that yeast is something like the biggest living organism in the universe. it just grows and grows. if you have an overgrowth in your vagina it is living in your clothes, dishes, children, partner, towels, etc. i like to clean with white distilled vinegar which is one of the few things that really fights yeast hard. acidopholous probably wouldn't hurt your dh anyway. washing diapers, underwear, and towels in hot water helps but it is really supposed to be boiling...i don't know if you can really do that. if i notice thrush in my babes i try, if i can and don't feel too guilty, to switch them to disposables because it keeps them drier. i try to never leave towels hanging in the bathroom where it is already damp. mine go straight to the laundry room where i spend less time and the yeast has less of a chance of "getting" me. you can limit dairy products, limit sugars, limit artificial sweeteners, etc. you can tkae cultured soy for the probiotics. sometimes we just can't keep the balances perfect here, even in the desert; but i know my months and months of neverending thrush might have been cut short the first time if my nursing toddler had been treated as a carrier too. (the doc douldn't see the thrush in him, only the baby). now i treat the whole family as prone to too much yeast for prevention. pregnancy doesn't help my fighting chances.

[Malama]

interesting you have so much yeast in the desert. I live outside of Hilo, HI, which is the rainiest city in the US. We get about 120" rain a year and so it's ALWAYS moist. It can be HARD to get rid of thrush/ yeast here with that kind of environment.... there are surely fungus among us (sorry!).

I feel for you st for dealing with it so much and nursing through it. I've had short bouts of thrush and it's not pretty.

[rubysmomjess]

Hi all!
What a week...I'm so glad this is my lsat full week. I"m just exhausted. Things have been a bit stressful here and I'm ready to just relax and hang out. Overall, I feel pretty good, except for tired. And we need some more ideas for high protien breakfasts, besides eggs...and I don't like bacon or sausage.

Malama- thanks for the article on GBS. I'm not sure whether or not i'll be tested. Although I refused all the early blood work testing so I might as well not be tested for this.

My grandmother is dying. They think the next week or so. I'm sad because she's in Chicago and I just am not up to travelling at this point, which means I'll miss the funneral. Oh and my mom wrote me an email (she lives 45 minutes away, it's not a long distance call) to tell me this and that she was too busy to give me call. Maybe I'm being silly but I really don't think email is the appropriate forum for this kind of news...and my mom is always too busy to call.

We're having a bday party for dd on Saturday and yesterday I resigned myself to the fact that as much as I want to, I won't have time to make a cake...so I ordered one from a really nice bakery down the street. It should be really yummy, and probably much better looking than anything I would make...and there will be many more bday's where I will be able to make the cake...she' only 2 after all.

I hope everyone's having a good week!

Jess

[mamabeca]

Hey Jess - don't sweat the cake thing. You will make cakes, buy cakes, she'll make cakes, it'll just be one different year after another. There's lots of mommying that goes into being a great mama, so don't sweat one detail!

I'm feeling very tired today, although I did get to some more painting and detailing in the baby's room. Also spoke with SIL who related that dh's mom is dying. slowly. it's so damn sad. His dad died 3 months before dd was born. we thought we might make it this time. it's really so sad that she'll never know this little monkey at all. That he'll never know her. That the family is smaller and less cheerful because she's gone... we don't know when she'll go - she still gets dressed each day (right now she's in hospital because she fell and broke her leg a couple of months ago and now they don't think she's able to live independently any more (which I agree with)), but she's not eating more than a couple of teaspoons of food at each meal, weighs about 80 lbs, and has an abx-resistant UTI that makes her very uncomfortable and keeps her resistance quite low. Liklihood is that she'll catch pneumonia or something and go that way, but she's also already had a couple of mild strokes, so it could be quicker. SIL doesn't think she'll live out the winter (and they're in lower mainland BC, where winter is pretty mild).

Well, it doesn't happen that you get to be born and you don't have to die... really do feel for dh that now both kids will end up with "parent issues" for him! Ugh.

Hope the day improves... andy

[Delfina]

Jessitron- From where did you order that table??? I have been waiting *forever* for a changing table to be re-stocked at babycenter and I am starting to doubt it ever will be.... Besides, yours is nicer!!!

[Malama]

Anyone interested in shmancy Skin care stuff?

My MIL gave me this Clarins boxed set of New Mother skin "essentials" for Hannukah. I know I will not use it. I was thinking of selling it on ebay, but I just don't have the energy right now to deal with that. it includes:
Body Firming Cream- quickly regain streamlined body contours
Bust Beauty Gel- reshapes your "natural bra"
Tonic Body Treatment Oil
Beauty Flash balm (which "eliminates all signs of fatigure and instantly restores unrivaled radiance")

It all is boxed and inside is a bag and a cute little washcloth thing.
You pay shipping, you can have it and enjoy.
Any takers??

[3_opihi]

My second baby was breech right up until about three days before I had him. My midwife told me to swim every day, because it will take the pressure off of your pelvis, creating more buoyancy, and also increase my amniotic fluid. Anyways, it worked. I totally felt him turn around -it was a bizarre feeling, kind of like he was walking up the side of my uterus.

As for the yeast. I have a terrible time with it, as do my kids. (The whole moist Hawaii thing - there is mold and fungus everywhere-even in our bodies, I guess) I take y-stat suppositories, as well as probiotics, and have to limit my sugar intake. Anyway, you could probably get them from your midwife, or a naturopath. From what I've found, and I've tried everything, they seem to work the best. Good luck! You definitely don't want to battle thrush, btdt, its no fun.

My MIL gave me this Clarins boxed set of New Mother skin "essentials" for Hannukah. I know I will not use it. I was thinking of selling it on ebay, but I just don't have the energy right now to deal with that. it includes:
Body Firming Cream- quickly regain streamlined body contours
Bust Beauty Gel- reshapes your "natural bra"
Tonic Body Treatment Oil
Beauty Flash balm (which "eliminates all signs of fatigure and instantly restores unrivaled radiance")

:LOL Sorry mama. I think I'm a little too far gone for any of that stuff to work on me (especially the "bust beauty gel")