Weekly thread March 9th to 16th

[nugglemama]

How are all of our mama's doing both the ones with babies still in belly and out. I am just sneaking off to bed, but I will post more tomorrow.

[Bellejar]

Still here, having sporadic contractions and a lot of downward pressure. I am pretty sure the baby has dropped more I was measuring 36 this week and last week was 37. I have been laying down with a little back massager on my feet for the last hour and it feels great

[Smokering]

Bah, ignore my post in the earlier weekly thread today. I'm not in labour. I was just having a miserable day, I guess! On the bright side, DH was a darling and made me stir fry for dinner, let me sleep and read all day, and generally behaved impeccably. Well, he did drink some of the ginger beer we bought for my labour--it called to him, allegedly.

On the not-so-bright side, the baby feels like it's lying sideways today. It better not be--it was engaged and everything last time the midwife checked! I'm terrible at 'diagnosing' baby parts by prodding, so I hope I'm wrong, but my tummy does seem to be a different shape today. Hmph.

[CherryBomb]

Originally Posted by Smokering

On the not-so-bright side, the baby feels like it's lying sideways today. It better not be--it was engaged and everything last time the midwife checked! I'm terrible at 'diagnosing' baby parts by prodding, so I hope I'm wrong, but my tummy does seem to be a different shape today. Hmph.

Oh, I felt like that the other day! She's been head down and engaged forever, but I could've sworn she'd gone transverse on me!

No real contractions for me since the bloody show yesterday. Trying not to be impatient! I keep looking up "bloody show" on the internet thinking maybe I was wrong, but it always describes exactly what I had. Sigh. I wasn't really impatient before, but now I am! I swear I'm half tempted to drink some castor oil because I swear it will put me into labor!

She's definitely dropped more. Increased cervical pressure and yesterday I woke up and I was like "Oh. My stomach disappeared!"

[mama_in_PA]

After giving birth yesterday I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I only have minor perineal damage; one small tear that didn't need stitches and one skid mark. I can't believe the after-pains I'm having. I don't know if it's because of how hard the labor was (it was by far the hardest labor I've ever had) or if it just gets harder with each kid but I have the same pain in my hips and pelvis that I had before he came out, my back hurts something fierce and that doesn't even include the tear-jerking uterine contractions I get when he nurses. On the other hand he's absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way and the kids are love-struck over him too.

[rmzbm]

I'm here. 37 weeks...and more than ready to get this over with.

[~ani~]

Oh I'm so happy for you mamas who are holding your little nurslings right now! I can't wait.

38.5w - my babe dropped more too - I had a shelf belly last week and now it's a bit slope-ier

There were 2 days last week when I was really doubting my capacity to do med-free labor... but I thought a lot about it and read-reread some childbirth books (thank you Ina May Gaskin!) and worked through a lot of it and I feel a lot more confident and am even looking forward to it...

Friday was crazy nesting day - I don't know what got into me - and everything is ready! I can't wait!!!::

[DBZ]

Katie, I'm pretty sure the afterpains do get worse with each kid. It was ironic, but I didn't take any pain meds when I had my last DD, but those dang afterpains got so annoying that I took tylenol LOL.

I went to church today and got a whole bunch of "you're still here?" comments. If one more person asked me, I was going to say "no, I'm a figment of your imagination" The interesting thing was that I had about 3 people ask me if I was going to have a homebirth. I swear, only at a UU church would people even fathom that someone might do things naturally.

[ripcurlgirl26]

(((Labor vibes))) to all you mamas.

IME, the after pains were definitely worse this time around. It's funny, I could make it through the birth without pain meds, but the minute he was out, I was begging for Motrin for the fire crotch and after pains! They lasted for about three days, and were worse while nursing, of course.

I'm dealing with a plugged tear duct and super goopy eye here. Good thing I have a ton of pumped milk to use on it.

[Smokering]

*yawns* Well, after today I can officially 'have' the baby! Mum's helping me pick up the birth pool in a couple of hours. There are still a million things I could or should be getting done before the baby comes, but you know what? I just don't care any more! Nesting is so last week.

The baby seems to be head downwards again. Weird. Then again it spent HOURS last night kicking me repeatedly and painfully--it may very well have been turning somersaults, or something. I was tempted to wake DH up just to make him feel how strong the kicks were! Hey, do babies kick during labour? I always wondered.

I went to church today and got a whole bunch of "you're still here?" comments.

Yeah, that's another reason I didn't go yesterday. I'm not very good at dealing graciously with annoying, repetitive comments--I tried to avoid everybody in the weeks leading up to my wedding, and this is worse! One couple did turn up at our house after church while I was in my nightie, but I leaped nimbly into the bedroom and DH told them I was sleeping. And they gave us some homemade muffins and homegrown tomatoes, so that ended well.

Off to drink some RRL tea!

[mama_in_PA]

I pushed for 2.5 hours because his head was sideways and as a result my cervix had a lip left over that ended up swelling. My hips and back are still achy from all the pushing and the contracting I get when he nurses are so bad that it makes me cry. I finally broke down and took some tylenol because I'm allergic to ibuprofen. I didn't get any sleep last night because of the pains but they seem to be less intense now so I'm really hoping I'll get some decent sleep tonight.

DS1 had a plugged tear duct when he was a newborn and I used my milk on it. I thought it worked really well.

[AllisonK]

the afterpains this time were horrible!! My mw said they are worse with each child.

[onlyAngil]

Trying to stay calm...

The end is always so hard, it seems like it takes for ever! I know that my dlo will be here soon, that I will get to hold and play and love dlo soon, but part of me thinks it is all too soon and then part of me wants it to be NOW! MW thinks that I may even go to early April I am just feel so prepared for dlo but yet worried about everything else that will be happening. I want to cry that my ex, more then likely my child's farther, wants nothing to do with me... When I saw him at a party and tried to nicely say hy, he told me "F.... U.... B^tch!" It hurt so much, and I was far far to out of it to do anything about it. Now I am just trying to let it roll off my back, but it is hard. (Side Note: I can not get his sisters to stop IMing me, they are nice, but merrr, now is not the time.) His birthday is coming up, my child's birthday is coming up, Palm Sunday, Good Friday, Easter, Spring Solstice... All things taking a toll on my mind due to wanting to do things and yet not being read/ having done no shopping for anything. We will also be moving more into Aries, and while to come I know this dose not mean much, this sign has been very ill to me over the years when it comes to males. (Ex is not Aries, hes on the cusp and sometimes I wonder... ) My father is an Aries and he hurt me very very much, in many ways, Joe another Aries I though he has not caused me any pain that I know of he still bugs the shit out of me and I want to hit him a great deal of the time... the list goes on but I see little point of putting here. I try not to let the sign control my life, but sometimes it is just to powerful of a truth not to. Female Aries' have been much nicer to my life, even helpful, and loving... I wish I could just keep the baby in till the signs change again but will not happen. (I should find out when one would conceive an Aries and made this not happen again! :P)This leaves me hoping for a girl, but I do not want to say, dream, or really even truly let my self hope this, because that is with I did when DS (2yo) was born and felt even more betrayed when he was not a girl. I say even more because I had my fiancé leave me when I was 4 month pregnant. In my mind this birth me to what happened with my DS L&D, and I am currently working though a paper that is helping some in the healing, there is still much work that needs to be done. I have done just about all that I can to make this birth a little better, , maybe a :, doing what MW and I are calling 1/2 : (leaving the cord till I deliver the after birth, but not letting it fall off on its own, cutting it once that is done.), making it as eco-friendly as possible, ext. I just feel like there truly is nothing I can do. I am sure that this is feeling just so powerless in DS's, and that part of it is anti-partum depression that even one just tells me is stress of have a baby and a 2yo, but I still wish that there was SOMETHING! That would make me feel a little more in powered ... I have taken to making things for dlo and self, diapers, hats, wool wrap for cding, mama pads, this helps some but merr. All in due time... Life just seem so complexed... and it seems that when you let people see more then one side of you they judge you to high noon about it with out even trying to understand. So I am back were I started, and craving fruit. I did this , the fruit, at the end of DS's pregnancy, maybe it is a sign that things are nearing the end. I have not been having BHs the way I was before this also happened with DS's, it seems like my body is going "When you have one... it will be a real one, I am done playing games." So these are both good things...

[MonP'titBoudain]

Originally Posted by Smokering

Hey, do babies kick during labour? I always wondered.

Yep! DS kicked me super hard when I was pushing him out. It was like 2 pushes from the end & I always thought it was kinda like he was saying, "Come ON already! Let's get this thing over with!"

I'm doing ok today. I've been super tired and cranky for days now, all I want to really do is find a dark hole somewhere and stay there until I'm done! But no real action going on. I was kinda annoyed at church today cause several people did the whole "you're still pregnant?!?!" thing. But I am only and just 38 weeks! Give me a break! argh. Maybe I'll skip next week if baby's not here.

[Star Baby]

star baby is here and ready for it to be done...i'm 37 weeks. i've never felt like three weeks was so long and so short at the same time.

i've caught my daughter's cold this weekend, so i have a cough that is ripping my throat apart, as well as acid reflux so strong that i actually puked last night.

but i don't want to sound like i'm complaining.

~sb

[mtm]

Almost 38 weeks and ready to be done but given my first was late, guessing I'll be holding in until the end. I'm sleeping like crap, up every couple of hours to pee or with hip flexor pain.

[Sweetmilo]

[/QUOTE]I was tempted to wake DH up just to make him feel how strong the kicks were! Hey, do babies kick during labour? I always wondered.


![/QUOTE]

when I was in labor with my dd, during the transition phase when everything hurt the worse, she would kick me.........I taught the hospital staff some new words that night. So worth it though, she's adorable!!! Not to excited to be going thru that again, but then again, i'm at 40 weeks and 5 days, and I want this baby out!!!!!!!!!

[mama2q]

I'm approaching my EDD on Tuesday. I'm really ready to have this baby! I'm just really curious as to the logistics of how it will happen. Will my water break this time, what day and what time will I give birth? And a bunch of other things I have no control over.
I'm crampy but no real contractions or other signs of impending labor. DH has a feeling Wednesday will be the day, but I'm preparing myself to go past due.

Good luck to all you still waiting on your babies. Sending ELVs your way!:

[Smokering]

Oh, wow.

I just had a scary experience. I checked the back of me in the mirror. Mamas, don't do this! From the front I look pretty respectable--large in the tummy, obviously, but with no major stretch marks or otherwise signs of doom. But from the back!! I'm lumpy and flabby and covered with purple streaks! I had no idea! I guess it hadn't occurred to me to rub Bio-Oil on the backs of my thighs... and it was all out of sight, out of mind until tonight. *sighs* That'll teach me to be inquisitive. This baby had better not grow much more, or I shall split and deform entirely like some weird chrysalis. Hmph.

[mama_in_PA]

I didn't think I could feel any worse today than I did yesterday but I was wrong. Every muscle in my body is screaming in pain. I watched our birth video yesterday and I can see why - man, I looked like a work horse the way my muscles were all tensing up at the same time working to push him out. I have a hemorrhoid that may require it's own zip code which hurts much more than my perineum and the after-pains continue although, thankfully, they're not quite as bad as they were the first night. DP is taking the day off today and my MW is coming to check on us this afternoon.

I can't believe how wonderful my new sweetheart is. He's absolutely amazing and he smells like heaven. I just can't get enough of him.