UC support thread #13, January 05' - Page 7

[cottonwood]

Originally Posted by sprinkle pocket

i'm wondering if it would be helpful, even if it's not used, to have someone who's birthed, much less uc'd to call and say "am i ok?!", or to know that if you needed to call them, you could? i'm trying to heed the advice and prepare for the intensity that people say cause 1st timers to transfer. my uc-supportive mw friend, said that 2 mw's she knows planned to freebirth and both transferred b/c they weren't prepared for the intensity. she offerred this advice: dh should be prepared that if you get to the point that you just don't think you can do it (she tried to avoid using the word 'transition' and said some women don't experience it) and it's just too much, that dh should say, "good! that means the baby is almost here! you're doing great!

I am always happy to help in any way I can. But I will say that it is really, really hard to support someone over the phone. A friend of mine (this was her first baby, planned to be UC) had her husband call me when she was probably in transition (they didn't know that at the time, though.) Everything had been going smoothly and she sounded GREAT to me over the phone. I told him that and that I thought she was close. Well, shortly after he got off the phone with me she said she wanted didn't think she could do it for much longer and was afraid she still had hours to go. Well, the baby was born two hours later in the hospital. (No complications, but they gave her an episiotomy. ) In retrospect, of course, she could see that she could have and should have stayed at home. (Happily, their second birth went according to plan and was a UC.)

Anyway, I agree with the advice sprinkle pocket's friend gave. If it is just that it is really intense and you are just feeling like you can't go on, then it's probably almost over! It is so, so common for women to feel like this in transition. I felt that way too. At the end of my third birth (1st UC) I was wailing about how I couldn't do it anymore and Scott said, "you know, it was just like this last time and the baby was born soon after." He meant I was acting the same way. And, he was right. Once I got to the really hard part where I thought I just couldn't go on, it wasn't more than an hour until she was born. Same thing with my fourth, and we both said similar things at the end. Me expressing doubt and a desire to give up and have someone else take care of it, and him telling me that it was so familiar and he was sure it was almost over. And it was.

[Chiromom]

Another baby is Freeborn!

My daughter, Ribh (pronounced "Reeve") was born in front of the kitchen sink at 4 this morning. Her papa "caught" her and gently unwound the cord from her neck as she leaped into the world. She never cried a peep and was nursing within 5 minutes of birth (after her first adjustment of course). I cannot imagine anyone else there for this intense and private second UC for my family. I was suprised by the intensity and length of labor (2 hours of actively intense labor...poor me. LOL) and was more emotional and frustrated than previous births...but the journey was what it was supposed to be. We are well and *recovering* by being unable to sleep (just me) due to very intense after pains. Ahh well. My body is still doing its job.

Full story to come soon.

Mar

[sprinkle pocket]

yea mar!! sounds like you did a beautiful job. i can't wait to read your birth story and see pictures of your new little one. ahhh, congrats, mama.

ribh

[Hayliesmom]

Congrats Mar!!!!

Stacey

[ChildoftheMoon]

congratulations Mar! Welcome baby, and a happy baby moon to you and your family!
Brandi

[amyjeans]

Congratulations Mar!

[cottonwood]

Hurray!!!! Congratulations!

So, what is the story behind the name?

[Aura_Kitten]

yay mar!


fwiw i had awful afterpains too.

[KateSt.]

Yay, Mar!!! Welcome to the world, little Ribh! Wow, 2 hours of labor -- I've heard many times that very short labors are also very intense labors. Looking forward to your birth story (in your own time!). I do hope your afterpains have subsided or will very soon. Congratulations again, I'm SO happy for you!!!




Sprinkle -- thanks for asking about me. I'm doing very well, actually. I woke up in the middle of the night early Saturday morning thinking there was so much I had left to do and "what if baby comes this weekend." So dh and I ran a whole bunch of errands and got our last minute preparations done, and now I'm feeling much calmer and more patient. I can definitely feel my body changing and preparing. I'm feeling more and more ready to meet my baby, but also at the same time I'm relishing the last few weeks of pregnancy. I figure I'm only pregnant "for the first time" once, and it's so special that I want to enjoy every precious moment.

Linda -- thanks for your feedback. I'm feeling less fearful now. Dh and I had our "last minute prep" talk, and the fact that he is so supportive and believes in this (finally) as much as I do, gives me a lot of confidence and faith.

Stacey -- thanks so much for your reply to my cord question. It really does speak to me, and I'm happy to rule out other procedures that may not be necessary. Hope you're doing well and your precious babe is in your arms soon.

Mama2Lennon -- thinking of you....

[ChildoftheMoon]

Oh Kate! I am getting so excited for you! You will be meeting your sweet babe so soon! Sending you gentle and joyful birthing vibes for when the time comes.
Brandi

[KateSt.]

Thank you, Brandi! That means so much to me!

[KateSt.]

Okay, so I have a question I'm sort of embarassed to ask : because I'm sure I read it in some of my material...but I can't remember.
Is it best to cut the cord AFTER the placenta has been delivered? Obviously, I understand that sometimes it can take a long time to deliver the placenta and every situation is different. But as a general rule is it best to deliver it and then cut the cord? What do you do with your babe while your delivering the placenta?

I was doing a birth visualization today...and realized I got stuck on this detail.
Thanks, mamas.

Mar -- hope you and baby daughter are doing well and enjoying your baby moon.

[Kundalini-Mama]

Mar--I'm so excited for you!!! Congratulations : and Welcome Ribh!! :

Kate-
If the placenta is still attached to your uterine wall, it is still supplying oxygen. I birthed the placenta, and then waited another hr or two to cut the cord. *I* wouldn't cut the cord w/the placenta still attached, unless I had some really stubborn placenta in there that wanted to hang on for 5 or 6 hrs or so. And then it would just be awkward :LOL

And I recommend asking the baby's permission before you cut the cord--I just wanted Owen's permission

Amy

[TRIBE]

LOL I tend to forget that Rory isnt commonly used as a girls name and with so many "oh wow you have 4 boys" comments i htought it would help

On that note my older sons school gave the family some very nice gifts for Christmas and even tho I had marked Rory as a girl she still got al lboys items. At least they fit her brother so nothing went to waste

Originally Posted by blueviolet

LOL, Jennie, I just noticed you put Rory's name in pink. Cute. (Although I suspect it was because you were tired of people asking whether she was a boy or girl? :LOL)

Brandi, I can't believe it! Woo-hoo!

[cottonwood]

Kate, generally speaking it's best to wait until after the placenta has come out to cut the cord. What you're really waiting for is the placenta to detach fully, and the baby to get all s/he is going to get from it. For my two UCs I cut the cord before the placenta came out, but the cord was cold and limp and I felt certain it had already detached.

[TRIBE]

Congrats Mar!!! Welcome earthside baby Ribh

[TRIBE]

Kate
With Rory I waited until the cord was limp and white. I had wanted to wait much longer but she had a short cord and it was difficult to hold/nurse her while attached to the placenta. I was getting very uncomfortable waiting for it to birthand so we snipped. I cut it long and then waited to trim it short. It took another hr or so before the placenta finally birthed.

This time i am going to wait a few hours even after the placenta has birthed. I would like to make sure the babe has all it needs from it before seperating them.

And did i happen to mention my plans have changed again LOL i knew I would prbably change my feelings on what I want. And what I want is a nice quiet dimmly lit room to labor and birth in. i just went and bout a brand new bedroom set and its almost exactly as the one in my birth dream the baby sent me. All i have left are to get some wonderful candles or even these birth lamps I found recently on a websearch for a bellycast. So no party for me and the midwives will be called once I am in transition so they are at least notified but have no chance of making it for the birth.

[cottonwood]

Hello everyone -- just a note to say that I won't be around much for a while. My computer is very buggy and needs to be overhauled, plus I have been having all kinds of trouble with my ISP and need to take down my website for a while. You can always still contact me at eaglefalconlark at yahoo dot com.

Love to you all and happy birthing!

Linda

[Dandylion]

Hello. Lurker-me popping in here to update a bit on myself. I'm getting very close it seems. I've almost reached my "due date," which is this weekend. I'm starting to feel very frustrated here. My first two labors were very straightforward. I felt some menstrual like cramps, they got stronger and stronger and stronger, and hello! the baby came. Why is this one so different? I've had what I've been calling cramptractions on and off for the past month. Sometimes they feel like menstrual cramps and sometimes they just feel like Braxton Hicks with a little extra kick. Then last night, I started having some real live contractions with enough pain that I simply could not sleep. They would be regular for a little while and then become more erratic, but they never got stronger. I kept thinking this was it, but by the time my husband was up and getting ready to leave, they had pretty much dissipated. I even had him stay with me for an extra hour even though I knew they wouldn't come back, just because it felt better with him there. And now, it's midday and... nothing.

I don't know. Mostly I'm just whining here. I'm hoping for these contractions to come back. I'm ready. I want to do this. It's almost like the more time that goes by though, the more nervousness creeps in.

And everything is so different this time. For you experienced UCer's of more than one baby, were there differences in your labors? And if so, did it ever worry you?

[KateSt.]

Thanks so much to Amy, Linda, and Jennie for addressing my cord question -- I feel much better now. Thank you! As always, the advice here is invaluable.

Linda -- I can't tell you how much I'll miss you!!! I'm sure many other mamas feel the same way! I (selfishly) hope that your computer problems are cleared up quicky.

Stephanie -- I wish I had some words of wisdom for you. All I can offer is looking deep inside yourself to see if there are any unresolved (subconsicous) issues you haven't recognized? Meditation works wonders for me. Probably not much help, but I wanted you to know I'm thinking of you and I so hope that your dear babe is in your arms very soon.