Weekly Chit Chat 9/21-9/27 - Page 8

[Baby_Cakes]

Informal poll for mamas who have given birth before...

Are babies more active before they are born or do they generally rest? I've heard the no hiccup theory (no hiccups for 12 hours before they're born) but I haven't heard anything about how active they are before they decide to come. Just curious...

I am so restless today. I wish I could just shut down. I did 2 hypnobabies scripts and still. Argh.

[thefragile7393]

I wish I could help you....I don't remember. I truely don't....I didn't even pay attention to movement. I felt it every so often and that was good enough for me lol. I think I was more focused on wondering how on earth I was going to be a parent then anything else.

That book sounds wacky, Em. Speaking of ... I was on the phone with a photographer a few minutes ago and for whatever reason he started telling me how great Babywise is and was saying that if I didn't buy it, he was going to buy it for me.

oooh, I'd be emphatically stating "no thank you, not needed" quite firmly.

[janasmama]

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes

Informal poll for mamas who have given birth before...

Are babies more active before they are born or do they generally rest? I've heard the no hiccup theory (no hiccups for 12 hours before they're born) but I haven't heard anything about how active they are before they decide to come. Just curious...

IMO, it's another one of those things that just doesn't have rules. Babies for the most part are less active at the end of the third tri. Some babies rest before and during labor and some are really active. Sorry it's not a better answer. I haven't been having any hiccups for a few days.

I have been getting some more ctx that are more like waves that start at the top (uncomfortable but not painful) and roll down to the bottom with a bit more of a feeling. I've also felt them in my back more and I'm having back pain that comes and goes and it's higher up so I'm thinking it's related to ctx.

My girly stuff is getting sore sometimes too....like really tender and the muscles down there ache. ????

[audsma]

Amber Lion- About the parenting book: who wrote that? I bet they have a lot of information on CIO too! I love the book by Meredith Small called Our Babies, Ourselves which is more of an anthropological look at how traditional cultures have raised babies: babywearing, cosleeping, breastfeeding, you know, all the good stuff.

Baby_Cakes: My Dd wasn't at all active the day she was born. Keep in mind she was in distress (meconium in the amniotic fluid) and we were working around some pretty potent pesticides in a very hot, stuffy garage all day long. I don't think my experience is normal, however, but she didn't move much that day. HTH

Okay, I have had a "stitch" in my right side for the past several days, off and on. It's so infrequent that I forgot to mention it at this week's MW appointment. Is this a kind of contraction? After reading Triple07's labor story, and remembering that I didn't notice contractions last time, I'm really curious.

[TaraRae82]

Originally Posted by crosscat

That book sounds wacky, Em. Speaking of ... I was on the phone with a photographer a few minutes ago and for whatever reason he started telling me how great Babywise is and was saying that if I didn't buy it, he was going to buy it for me.

Then I got a phone call from the doc's office and I'm GBS negative! :

Other than that, I'm trying to work on thank you cards, but my knuckles don't like to write lately. I may have to type the thank yous onto labels and stick them in the cards - do you all think that's too impersonal? I don't know when my fingers are going to be working right again... My other option is to get DH to write them for me, but that will require nagging.

Congrats on GBS negative! Great news and one less thing to think/worry about! With the thank you cards, are these people that you're really close to? If they are, I'm sure they'd understand especially if when you see them again you make a point of saying, "Hey, I wanted to thank you again for the gift and make sure you got the thank you card! My joints hurt so bad that I had to type those out, I hope you understand" or something of the like. Or maybe include that in the thank you card since typing it out would be easier and a bit less time-consuming. I know my family and close friends would definitely understand and just appreciate that I acknowledged the effor of them purchasing a gift.

AAM: I had my 37wk appt today and it went just fine. I got to meet the student CNM and she's a L&D nurse at the hospital where we're delivering. It'd be awesome if she were on duty and we could request her! I really liked her. She'd already read our birth plan and was totally on board with the whole thing. : Anyway, she pretty much conducted the appt and I was really impressed with her bedside manner and such. I'm measuring at exactly 37wks and normally I measure 2 wks ahead. She said baby is really low in my pelvis so I'm sure that's why. Baby's heart rate was 168 which is super high! It's normally 145-150. Baby was really active today and had the hiccups during the appt though so I'm sure that played a part. My OB mentioned she thinks maybe baby is posterior (not sure I agree...baby seems to be LOA to me but what do I know?!) so I'll be spending a lot of time doing pelvic tilts and sitting on my stability ball instead of the couch. Any other ideas of how to get baby to turn before the birth? I know a lot turn during labor but I'd like to be proactive if I can.

Have a fantastic weekend ladies!

[lee1203]

Originally Posted by TaraRae82

Baby's heart rate was 168 which is super high! It's normally 145-150. Baby was really active today and had the hiccups during the appt though so I'm sure that played a part.

Hee! Funny you should say this. Twice now the little critter's had a heartrate of 160 (normally 145-150 as well) and once was after two interns had poked around feeling for position and what-not and once was today. Little bugger had hiccups this morning - strong ones, too - and I thought that might have contributed also.

Oh my gosh y'all, I have to brag on my husband real quick. Today when I left for work I asked him to take out the trash (that should have been taken out a few days ago and unload the dishwasher so I could reload it upon getting home. I get home, and not only has he actually done both of those things (he's insanely forgetful sometimes), but he's also cleaned and slightly rearranged our living room! : I'd mentioned to him a few weeks back that I wanted him to clean up the tower thing with all the electronics on it, and he went way above and beyond. I'm so happy. Makes me feel like there's so much less to do. Yea!

[mkmb129]

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes

Informal poll for mamas who have given birth before...

Are babies more active before they are born or do they generally rest? I've heard the no hiccup theory (no hiccups for 12 hours before they're born) but I haven't heard anything about how active they are before they decide to come. Just curious...

I am so restless today. I wish I could just shut down. I did 2 hypnobabies scripts and still. Argh.

I actually called my ob and went in for an NST the day before Colin was born because he'd hardly moved all day, only when provoked by me, and even that was hard to get him to move, and I was having 'little' contractions. That was around 4pm, he continued to not move much at all the rest of the evening, and the pain started around 8:30pm, and he was born 6pm the next evening.

This baby has not been very active at all today, completely out of character for her as she's a non-stop mover, unlike ds who (which is why it took me so long to realize he wasn't moving enough) was more of a pattern mover, certain times of day were his busy times. If nothing happens by tomorrow morning/afternoon, I might call my doctor just for my own peace of mind. Wish this could of happened on a week day, though, I have no interest in going to the hospital, so I hope something happens or she wakes up!

Anyone else have any experience with a baby not moving like normal, then starting back up? It's been all day like this, I hate to worry for no reason, and hate to not worry enough.

[LemonPie]

^ yeah, I've heard that they get into more comfortable positions here and there are and are more reluctant to move. I know it seems to have been true for all 3 of mine now. I'll have days where I barely seem to feel her and then other days where I feel her ALL the time.

If you're really concerned have something sugary (like a glass of juice) and hang out on your left side for a while

[janasmama]

^ yes, the other day I didn't have much movement at all. Usually the baby moves quite a bit first thing in the morning and I wasn't getting any movements. I sat still for awhile to see if anything would happen and I only got a couple weak movements.

It was like this the rest of that day but movement returned to normal. I did have an appt. that day so we were able to check the heartbeat which was fine. I was glad to hear that.

I think that if anyone is ever concerned about movement that it shouldn't be regarded as 'maybe labor is going to start' and they should call their CP...that's my opinion.

[Baby_Cakes]

Thanks for the replies in my informal poll, ladies. I guess it matters on the LO, like I thought. Yesterday I was actually experiencing the opposite -- the most movement I'd felt in weeks from this little darlin'! I don't want to get anyone's hopes up (including my own...) but since yesterday I've been having loads of pressure waves that are pretty frequent, cervix has been twinging, lots of pressure. I've had to poop like 3 times. Been drinking lots of water and RRL tea, trying to eat. Having a few twinges of nausea here and there, but I think that was b/c I let myself get too hungry.

The pressure waves are still too mild to really "time" them, but they don't go away when I walk or move around. That being said, I can still walk and move around through them, so there's still time, I guess. But lord, am I ever irritable. Snapping at DH over everything, feeling like everything is amplified like 10 times. I feel like the house is so messy but I can't clean it, and I feel like I'm so unprepared! Argh!

Trying to have a normal Saturday around here, but we'll see what happens. Cross your fingers something starts or stops, one way or another!

[JMarie930]

Warning - whiny rant ahead...

Goodness, I want to reply to all of you, but I can't. Literally. That arm pain I was experiencing isn't getting much better, even with 3x weekly chiropractic care. Of course, with all the relaxin being released by my body at this point, the adjustments don't last long before things start slipping back to their usual, incorrect positions. My neck and upper back are all out of whack, the doc is fairly certain I have a pinched nerve that is compressed all the way down my arm, and my thumb and forefinger are completely numb. I seriously cry myself to sleep most nights, the pain is just awful. I've stopped using any heat at all and just icing it as needed, but it's not working to well. If this keeps up, there is no way I'm making it through labor without an epidural. I've already tried using hypnobabies scripts to deal with the pain in my arm. Not working for me.

I just don't know how I'm going to make it through the next 3-7 weeks like this! I am so miserable. I have a ton of things that have to be done around the house and I know DH isn't going to do them. That's why I'm in this place to begin with - if he'd only done what I'd asked of him, I wouldn't have been trying to lift heavy boxes and wouldn't have yanked my arm and back as bad as I did. The kids room isn't done. I haven't done a single bit of sewing for this LO. The receiving blankets all have raw edges. Nothing is washed, not even the dipes. I am just so, SO ill-prepared for this babe, and I feel terrible for procrastinating and I'm so MAD at DH for not helping me out when I asked and it's all just landing in my lap at 35 weeks! GAAAHHHHH!!!

RANT OVER.

On a happier note I did have my MW appointment on Wednesday. Since DS came early, I consented to an internal, just to be sure nothing is happening down there. She said my cervix is soft, but still very much closed, and the LO is still a 'floater' and not engaged at all, though she is head-down. So it definitely looks like I'll be making it for at least another couple of weeks. SUCH a huge relief!

[Astrid1024]

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes

The pressure waves are still too mild to really "time" them, but they don't go away when I walk or move around. That being said, I can still walk and move around through them, so there's still time, I guess.

Okay, wait. That's freaking me out. The pressure I am getting I can barely move through. I was in the store today buying nursing bras and one almost dropped me to the floor. But they aren't at all regular. It's happened a handful of time tops. Is that just my body getting ready? I'm 37 weeks so I get my homebirth which is awesome, but I haven't really mentally prepared. I want to go long - like 41 weeks. I think I still need a month or so to get it together !

[lasciate]

Originally Posted by sarah.astrid

Okay, wait. That's freaking me out. The pressure I am getting I can barely move through. I was in the store today buying nursing bras and one almost dropped me to the floor. But they aren't at all regular. It's happened a handful of time tops. Is that just my body getting ready? I'm 37 weeks so I get my homebirth which is awesome, but I haven't really mentally prepared. I want to go long - like 41 weeks. I think I still need a month or so to get it together !

If it makes you feel better, I've been experiencing those on and off for 3 weeks and I'm at 39w2d now.