need reassurance?

[tug]

Why is it that at 37 wks, folks start telling you scary tales of pregnancies gone awry in the last few minutes? Can someone reassure me, maybe?

Can the doc/mw tell, without u/s, if the baby has the cord around her neck? if the amniotic fluid is too low or too high? if she's too small or too big?

I've been worrying about these things for a couple of weeks and was hoping someone knew the answers...

thanks!

[lisabc311]

(((((tug)))))))

I canunderstand- I'm a worrier too. So I am always struggling to put these things out of my mind.

I think it's horrible that someone would be telling these stories to a woman in her 9th month of pregnancy! What is the point of that!?

If you are feeling the baby moving around and there hasn't been a big decrease in activity then your babe is probably doing just great. A sign of a cord being tied would be reduced activity and, of course, fetal distress during labor.

If you are can't get it out of your mind, perhaps you could ask your caregiver for an NST just to put your mind at ease?

[lasofia]

No kidding Lisa, what JERKS to tell those stories to someone at our stage. Oblivious, maybe.

Tug, my midwife told me that there've been much fewer problems in late pregnancy since it became standard care to ask women to do kick counts for the last month or so (make sure the baby moves 10 times in an hour of the BABY'S choosing each day) - that usually when something is going wrong, there's warning as the baby starts moving a lot less. NOT to be confused with the fact that most babies slow down a lot in the last couple weeks anyway just because of lack of room.

As for too big or too small - most caregivers can give you an estimate on size but those vary wildly in accuracy. And as I understand it, it's very hard to know what "too big" is since your pelvis can do amazing things during the birth process.

Anway, hugs.

- Sofia

[Mama2Chloe]

I just keep tellling myself that women have been birthing their babies from the beginning of time. There is no reason to worry usually. Think positive thoughts and read positive birth stories. We're all going through this together. Take care!

Love, Tricia

[coopsmama]

As to cords, my mw quoted a statistic that one in three babies has the cord around the neck, not a problem. And even if they could tell for sure that there was one, what could they do? I totally understand the fears, I have them too. We just have to trust ourselves, our babies, and our caregivers to work to our potentials. We can to this! It will be awesome!

[sadkitty]

Just though I'd add my $.02. Raven had the cord around her neck THREE TIMES! and was fine, she needed a little encouragement to breathe, but then again, she's always been stubborn .

[tug]

Thanks everybody. You are, of course, totally right about everything. I think I worry more this pregnancy because of the hard beginning. But you're right, tricia, I should definitely read more positive birth stories to crowd out the bad junk people have told me!!



terenia

[mainemom]

I think it's just normal anxiety and fear of the unknown. I remember having it with first preg. and wondering if I should have gone with the medical route (we had homebirth with lay midwife, no u/s, no testing) Whenever I had doubts, I spoke with my m/w who was awesome at reassuring me. Also, definitely read positive birth stories, get to know the process so you can visualize it and remember to breathe!! Our bodies know what to do, it's our brains that get in the way. One moment, one contraction, one breath at a time. susan