June Mamas May 16-22

[mattjule]

Is the date really that far into May already?!

Didn't mean to sound rude to anyone about the blessing thing-just really excited about it-dh says I have a serious problem with waiting for things :rolleyes:

Erin-make sure you get a footstool. I wanted the ottoman for mine, but they are almost the cost of the chair! I ended up getting a footstool at a consignment store and wished I had it from day one. It makes a BIG difference.

Rynna-how cool about your mom coming through for you! Matt and I tell each other we just need some rich relative we don't actually have to die and leave us a fortune. Or we'll win the lottery. Both are equally likely to happen! :D

I always grew up with chickens, raised sheep and goats for 4-H-you guys really make me yearn for the country! I told Matt if we ever get a house that isn't in town, we are SO having chickens. He doesn't seem very enthused.

Maybe you could ask your neighbors to put bells on their cats? Cats are not the same as dogs (mind you, I am not a cat person, but I have owned my share). They are a lot less tame, IMO. Every cat I have ever owned has literally gone crazy if forced to stay in the house and de-clawing them is just cruel. But bells are surprisingly effective. Pisses them off, but keeps them from killing things and after a while, they stop trying so much. I think it is perfectly reasonable to ask your neighbors to do this, if only for a limited time (i.e. long enough for you to hear the bell and figure out who the culprit is!).

Things are uneventful here. I am 34 weeks today! I just keep counting down to 37 b/c this end part seems to be taking forever. It isn't that I feel bad, just that everyone I know is farther along and I am excited and don't want to wait anymore to meet this little guy (see comment at beginning of post about waiting :LOL). So I figure I will focus on getting to 37, then I will focus on getting through each week after from there.

I found a sheepskin on the TP-I am so excited! I really want one but couldn't afford the price of a new one so this is just PERFECT. Especially finding it at this point in my pregnancy, right after dh got paid. Sometimes things work out so well...

Smithie-I haven't even started those extensions, as in, haven't gone to get the velcro even. Hopefully I will feel more like getting my act together next week and make myself do them. Sorry!

Sundays in this town make me wish I was religious. Nothing is open and there is nothing to do. Hands down, Sunday is my most boring day of the week. :shrug

Well, I should get going. Have a great day and belly rubs to everyone!

[LizD]

I don't know how much longer I can go on without adequate sleep. That's the one thing that makes me anxious to give birth; I know I'll be able to sleep again. Otherwise even with the heartburn and all I could stay pregnant forever and feel sad I can't look forward to the next time.

the angled medela nursing stool is just great. I have found ordinary footstools still don't hold your feet up well for nursing unless it's a big poofy ottoman.

[irishgreengables]

okay -- so contractions last night -- new kinds -- clearly not BH -- for about 1.5 hours, about 4-7 minutes apart. Also, diarrhea, mentrual-like cramping, some nausea. Hmmm. Early stages of labor? Also have had some today. But today is dd's birthday party and, since she came home to us last July through adoption, it is her first ever birthday celebration (she is 4) -- so I just kept talking myselk out of labor -- if that is possible. Atending the party this afternoon will be our doula, the kids' caregivers for our delivery, the back up caregivers, and the third back ups, so I am thinking that labor anytime after the party gets underway is fine.

We got dd a bike and you should have seen her face. Oh she was soooo excited and spent an hour outside with pappa learning to ride it. She was determined and so proud of herself when he could let go of the handlebars (I never realized how hard it was to figure a bike out even with training wheels).

Her party is a tea party -- at her request. Every Sunday afternoon, instead of dinner, we have a tea party -- because then we can focus on manners only one meal per week, plus her pappa grew up in Canada and had daily tea. So that was her request. We are decorating straw hats for a craft and that will also be the "goodie". Turning out rather cheap actually and dh went with kids yesterday to pick out all the stuff -- and I am impressed with how he did. The party will be simple and small -- setting a simple precident for future birthdays.

And then...if necessary... we can go into labor -- at 36 weeks today. Though I would rather she cook a bit longer.

Peace,

[Smithie]

Oooooh Paula, exciting! Since you haven't been doing anything to induce, I wouldn't worry if this is really "it." After all, your baby may be a fast cooker!

After my mw visit and the Big Important Meeting on Monday, we are going to take a long walk, make some some love, etc. I got a tincture of black cohosh that I may or may not use, depending on what the mw thinks. I am ready for this to be over.

I used an enema bag occasionally before pregnancy when I had hemmorhoid flare-ups, so I'm comfortable with that and I might try it. If nothing else, having more room in there would be nice! ;)

[mattjule]

I thought enemas were totally humiliating when I was pregnant with Tain. That is, until I had diarrhea while pushing him out. Now I think anything that will prevent that from happening will be less embarrassing. Although, I'm not sure it would have worked. I think he was blocking my bowels b/c I tried repeatedly to go while in labor and couldn't and obviously it wasn't the size of the stool that was the issue. A little TMI!

Paula, how wonderful that party sounds! And I think once the party was underway, if you did go into labor, your dd could be excited instead of a little bummed about her party.

Why does heat make me infinitely more uncomfortable than I normally am? Going to the park is starting to be a chore instead of a joy.

[Queen of Cups]

So, after much internal debate, I decided I would go to church this morning. It might sound silly, but I really didn't want to face a crowd of people all saying, "Oh! You didn't have your baby this week! I was hoping to see a baby!" I decided that I'd just respond with, "Yes, as dissapointing as it is for you, this week was even harder for me." and just leave it at that. (My sister suggested that I tell them that I did have the baby and watch them be confused...) I did say it to a couple of people and they immediately apologized. A couple of ladies let me know that they _hadn't_ called this week because they figured I didn't want a million nosy calls - I told them that I was to the point of running the other direction when the phone rang and thanked them.

Its a beautiful day here, and I've spent all afternoon napping. I think DH and I are going to grill out tonight so we can enjoy the weather a little bit... For once, I don't really feel like walking. The baby is just soooo low that its quite uncomfortable. I walked a ton this week and it felt great, but now I just don't want to. My ankles also swelled up yesterday. The whole pregnancy I've had no swelling in my feet and got compliments on my ankles BUT now they're gross and fat. My mother-in-law told me that they're not too bad - she says they still look better than hers!

[Modesto Doula]

Hello all!

I've been SO BUSY the last week. I haven't been able to post, but I've been trying to read a bit here and there when I have time.
Queenie- Im glad you are doing well. The end of pregnancy is always tough, and tougher still because of all the pre/ prodromal labor, but it will work out for you in the end. It seems like the few clients I've had with lots of workup into labor have had pretty darn easy labors. The last one with prodromal labor was only in the hosp an hour or so before baby was born, she went in at nine and smiling, making jokes, the labor nurse didnt believe she was in labor until she checked her! The long drawn out labor should make it easier for both you and baby, so just think of it as part of your birth story.
It is pretty rare for a first time mom to walk around at 5 cm this long, so just congratulate yourself that you are halfway there!

I've grown out of a lot of clothes too... I had to go buy new pants a couple weeks ago cause everything was getting damn snug. I bought a couple new tee shirts last week because I didnt have anything that would work for 90 degree days that fit still. I didnt want to spend the money, especially this late in the game, and I hope to never have to buy in the sizes I bought again, BUT I feel so much better with clothes that fit and are semi-comfy, and I look better too. (Much better than the stuffed sausage look I was starting to get from my ex-favorite pants, LOL.)

We've had home visits with both midwives in the last couple weeks. The first came and was surprised that I didnt have all my birth stuff in order yet... LOL. I'm like, yeah... I just ordered my birth kit and I havent even gotten the baby's clothes outta the garage yet, but Im not worried. I just let her know that this baby ISNT coming early! LOL. A few days later I had an energy spurt so I went searching through boxes in the garage for the baby stuff and got some of it washed... It was in the dryer when my primary midwife did her visit. I think she was a bit dismayed that I didnt have my birth stuff ready to go, LOL. Im so not worried. I know exactly where everything is, I just need to get it together in one place, I figure if I go early it will be a good labor project. "Quick honey, get some towels and the clean sheets into a bag before the midwife gets here!!" LOL...

My birth group put on a childbirth educators conference last week, then the next day my mom and I left with the kiddos camping for a couple days. We had lots of fun, but it was a lot of work. No men, just a 37 week preggo, a woman with a herniated disk and a bad leg, and two children who dont listen and LOVE dirt. We didnt have a chainsaw so we had to collect firewood. That, and walking uphill with a gallon of river water for dishes was the crappiest part. I almost did a very bad out there, though. Its tough to remember to drink water when you arent very thirsty, and I got myself a little dehydrated. I woke up at 5 am with crampy contractions and my back hurting thinking if I didnt get a half gallon of water in me I was going to end up in labor in a tent :yikes: The funny part is that I was only worried that my DH wouldnt be there, LOL!! I found my water bottle and finished it and drank until I was water logged the rest of the day. I've been fine since, but it was definatly a reminder I should not have needed.

OK... Im going to shut up for now... If I didnt go so damn long without posting I wouldnt have so much to say...

wishing belly rubs to everyone... and some fantastic, productive sex for those of you wanting things to get along a little bit faster!

[seedling]

Well, I'm 37 weeks on Tuesday. So tomorrow I'm going to the plants my MIL gave me in the ground come h*ll or high water. I just gave them a little drink of water tonight and it looks like I've about scorched one of them. It's just so hard to find time to garden when I'm this darn big, this darn engery-less, and my DD is so full of energy. It takes three times a long to plant as it normaly does.

My friends put together a really nice birth blessing for me this afternoon. It was SO lovely. I'd never been to one so I didn't really know fully what to expect. I was just so pleased with the blessings shared. I went away with a beautiful bracelet (my DH told me I was looking particularily hippy dippy with all these bracelets!), candles for during labor, and some beautiful prayers/poems. They also made me a bowel painted with the tree of life to put the placenta in. Is that cool or what? I just felt so special and so supported. PLUS, I got my toenails painted! Yay! (I've got really ugly toes and have a THING about keeping my toenails painted in the summer...kind of offsets the ugly toe thing in my mind...plus I'm always barefoot or in sandals in the summer and just hate not having polish on...)

My clothes are starting not to fit also. I've got three tank tops I'm living in and four pairs of shorts. Two pairs are not decent for out of house wear and two are. I've also got some capris but I've been too hot to wear them much. My tanks are not covering the belly panel on my shorts anymore but I just don't care. I've taken to walking around the house in just a shirt b/c it's so hot. I think I'm going to have to break down and turn on the air soon. I love having the windows open in the morning though and dread living with everything closed up again. It's just so nice to migrate from outside to inside without worrying about letting in hot air. I just wish it would go back to low 80's and stay there for another couple weeks.

Well, hope everyone has a lovely week. Just think, there could be some babies born this week!

[LizD]

Being forced to have an enema must be awful, and it's good that is mostly a thing of the past, but I sure would have appreciated the offer when I was in labor the first time. You can get a fleet enema and throw the solution away and just use warm water if you want one when the time comes. Easier than the whole bag set-up and a bit easier to control. That would only help constipation, though. I don't know if there's anything to do for diarrhea late in labor other than ignore it. The midwife/doctor/nurses/doulas don't care. We've seen it all hundreds of times.

I love hospitals/obs who say they are all progressive about this sort of thing and then ask the woman to shave before she comes to the hospital. Like they're being so liberal in allowing her to do it herself. Blech.

My ankles are a bit swollen this evening- for me, which is not very swollen as I have bony ankles and feet- but I think that is just not lying down during the day and doing a lot of work around the house. We were all three busy in the house and it was a nice clearing-up kind of day, though my daughter said, "are we going away or something?" because that's usually the only other time we clean up like that. :) when we won't be here.

[Queen of Cups]

Queenie's Belly (http://www.photogrove.com/gallery/album11/PICT2259)

Baby or Basketball - you be the judge! (My youth group at church told me that it looked like I had a basketball under my shirt and joked that I just left the baby at home!)

Well, even after 8 hours of sleep last night and a 2 hour nap this afternoon, I'm exhausted. I think I'll practice my Hypnobabies and go right to bed. I have NO IDEA what to expect at the midwife appointment tomorrow. It seems almost impossible to me that I won't have progressed in the past week, I've been active and on my feet a ton plus I've been dialating about a 1cm/week for the past three weeks. But, I also can't imagine being further than 5cm! I keep joking now that I'm going to make it to 10 before I go into active labor - I'm going for the shortest labor in history! (By the way, Modesto Doula, thanks for the encouragement!)

[ksjhwkr]

QoC - I love your belly!! It looks great! :) I have a friend who went to her OB appt. and was dilated to 7 cm and had NO idea!!! She hadn't been having many contractions at all and was really shocked. It made for an easy labor for her though! :)

I've been having lots of contractions. I will be 35 weeks tomorrow, I can't believe it. Emma was born at 37 1/2 weeks, so this kiddo could be coming in a couple weeks! I just can't imagine it. My midwife is going to Ethiopia to adopt 4 children. She leaves on Wednesday and will be back on June 14...my due time is the 21st. But, if she's not back, I'll be just as happy with the other midwife she works with. They are both awesome ladies.

My sil and good friend are planning a blessing way for me. I am really excited about it. After reading about Seedlings, I am even more excited!!! I haven't gotten my bracelet yet, it should be here on Monday. I am very excited to get that too.

I'm not cleaning much yet...I want to, but just don't have the energy! ARGH! Oh well, hopefully my back will stop hurting for long enough and I will get enough energy to clean my house good before baby comes.

Lots of labor vibes to those who want/need them, lots of belly, leg and foot rubs to everyone else!!! :) :hug

[Greaseball]

Here is my list of reasons why I think it would be good to have the baby now:

My feet are swelling so much my shoes don't fit.

I ruined my broomstick skirt in the dryer - I bought one off the TP, and had to shorten it about 8 inches, and the part where I cut came out all raggedy when I dried it. Also, the broomstick folds got flattened, so now it looks like a shapeless blob. I was wearing it under my belly and it was so comfortable; now all I have to wear are 3 dresses and one more under-belly skirt.

My hands are swelling so much, my wedding ring won't even fit on my pinky.

The graph I was keeping track of my weight on only went to 45 lbs. I've gained 48 lbs. I have to write it on the graph and break up the line.

I can't lift dd. She's becoming increasingly difficult; it's even more difficult to discipline a child whom you cannot lift. She knows that if she's getting into things or trashing things or whatever, there's not much I can do with her.

Sleeping...sitting...walking...cleaning...sex...al l difficult!

I want to hurry up and finish the birth announcements; I need to know the baby's name, weight, etc. to do so!

I want to start biking and lifting weights again. I'm too sore, exhausted and lazy to do it now.

I want to see if my old clothes are going to fit anytime soon, or if I will need an emergency fat wardrobe.

I want to try out the cute diapers I've been buying.

[crunchywannabe]

Still haven't gotten my updated belly shot since she dropped....but I am working on it.

Paula--I had diarrhea all morning and regular contractions today too....but then they went away and I took an almost 3 hour nap! :twothumbs and I felt so good afterwards!

Do they really still do enemas and shave preps in the hospital? I have given birth 5 times now and never once had it even suggested..not even before I came in! :nana:

I am sure that what happened this last week is that Bella finally turned from being posterior..and when she did, she dropped further down into my pelvis. I have an appointment tomorrow (monday) morning, so I will find out then! I have had more contractions and more mucus globs since then, so I am thinking I am right. YEAH!

All my clothes are still on me...in fact, I still have some that are too big! :hammer which actually really stinks because they are my normal size, and I hate that I have to keep pulling them up and pulling them tighter around my belly!

We will see tomorrow if I have finally gained any weight...I am kind of sick of my OB's lectures over my "0 pounds gained" like I can do SOO much about that! :duh

[ksjhwkr]

I am kind of sick of my OB's lectures over my "0 pounds gained" like I can do SOO much about that! :duh


I'll give you some of the weight I have gained! :) heehee, I am sure ALL of us would do that for you Jessica! Just tell your OB that I've gained enough for both of us! teehee!

[crunchywannabe]

I'll give you some of the weight I have gained! :) heehee, I am sure ALL of us would do that for you Jessica! Just tell your OB that I've gained enough for both of us! teehee!

do you think it would work!!! :love

i tell you, I was honestly surprised when the lecture started! and of course it worried me because he had just measured me and made me wonder if I was measuring small or something! (I did have a small for gestational age baby..almost IUGR)

I plan on finding out for sure where I am at tomorrow.

[LizD]

Queenie- Please don't get discouraged if you haven't made "progress"- dilation can be a funny thing and for that very reason some midwives don't do vaginal exams at all unless necessary. Try to keep in mind if the dilation is the same or smaller that you *are* making progress and labor will start when all is ready. There are hormonal signals from the baby that help start labor and that happens when it happens. Some women go well past their due dates, even with all kinds of on-again off-again early labor. As I said a few days ago, I have gone to births and unpacked and been all ready and then after a few hours we go home and don't go back for another two, even three weeks. Also, I have had clients go from 2-10 cms in less than forty minutes. So just because it's taken x amount of time to get to 5 doesn't mean it will take that much more to get to 10, and this is very, very hard for many women to remember. It is easy to let exhaustion lead to discouragement but your most important task in waiting for labor really to get going is to keep your sense of humor and spirits up. It is a great sign that you are so dilated already; remember this means all is going well and there is no need to interfere. The baby will be born!

[crunchywannabe]

Queenie- Please don't get discouraged if you haven't made "progress"- dilation can be a funny thing and for that very reason some midwives don't do vaginal exams at all unless necessary. Try to keep in mind if the dilation is the same or smaller that you *are* making progress and labor will start when all is ready. There are hormonal signals from the baby that help start labor and that happens when it happens. Some women go well past their due dates, even with all kinds of on-again off-again early labor. As I said a few days ago, I have gone to births and unpacked and been all ready and then after a few hours we go home and don't go back for another two, even three weeks. Also, I have had clients go from 2-10 cms in less than forty minutes. So just because it's taken x amount of time to get to 5 doesn't mean it will take that much more to get to 10, and this is very, very hard for many women to remember. It is easy to let exhaustion lead to discouragement but your most important task in waiting for labor really to get going is to keep your sense of humor and spirits up. It is a great sign that you are so dilated already; remember this means all is going well and there is no need to interfere. The baby will be born!

yup! With my first child, I was not dilated at all the day before I had him...I had gone in for a NST and was at 0. I did not have any contractions that whole day or night....and at 3:45 am, I woke up with contractions 3 minutes apart. Got to the hospital at 5:30 and was already at a 6! I had him at 8:45 am after 10 minutes of pushing....so 5 hours from first contraction to delivery!
(and yes, my labors have gotten progressively shorter each time)

[wildthing]

Hi ladies! Did anyone miss me....or does anyopne remember me???? :D

Dh and I have been swamped with conference work. I am totaly exhausted, but I love the conference. I can't wait till it gets here. It's gonna be fun!

I also have very few clothes that fit anymore that aren't stained. I feel like a big, huge, awkward, clumsy oaf! I keep bumping into things, knocking things over, dropping things and tripping over little kids. I am walking super slow, and usually tell dh to go on ahead, I'll catch up! :LOL Bless his heart though, he spoils me. :D

I am big and often uncomfortable now...but I really want baby to stay put until the middle of June. I want to get through the conference, have the kids out of school, and have dh's work finished (he's an accountant and has to do month end close the begninning of the following month) before baby comes. If baby comes after June 12th or so, everything will be settled down and we can just relax and not worry about much else.

Queenie, I agree with LizD. I was anxious to have my last baby, #7, a few days or weeks early (you would think I deserved to have at least *1* baby early! :) ). He was born 5 days after my due date, and the night before, I was not dilated at all, nor was I effaced. I had been having lots of B-H contractions. I was worn out. Ds was born after 6 hours of labor. Where ever your dilation is at now, or even the night before your labor starts, means very little.

Greaseball, ds is doing the same thing your dd is doing. He knows he can run faster than me, and that I often do NOT want to get up 2 seconds after sitting down. No way can I lift him either. Have you seen this one? :toddler: That's how I feel!

I have been having a lot of pubic pain this past week. It is the only really significant complaint I have though. Like I said, I walk very slowly, and getting up and sitting down is a challenge. Fortunately, the chiropractor has kept my back, neck and shoulders feeling very good. :D

My baby finally settled head-down last week, at 36 weeks. S/he had been flipping around almost daily, but has been head-down since at least Wednesday. Himmer was posterior then, which doesn't bother me, I have had a posterior baby, but I am pretty sure baby has turned more anterior now.

I have just about everything ready to go. A good diaper stash, although I keep buying more just because they're cute! Some nice soft t-shirts and kimonos...I still haven't made any myself. :rolleyes: A friend is making me a hand-made baby quilt with embroidered blocks and a sling to match. I have chosen a celestial theme for this baby, and the quilt is going to be so nice! :D

Oh, we did a belly cast last weekend too. As soon as I find the perfect artist, I am going to have it painted. It will be blue, like the night sky, with the baby's zodiac sign over my heart, and the zodiac constellation over my belly. Just gotta find the right person to do it.

Okay, I'll stop now. I am hoping to have more time to write in the weeks to come. I really miss talking with you all. :)

[rubelin]

Hey mommas, I'm just popping in for a quick note. I think I'm in labor!!!! Been having regular contrax for several hours, though they aren't getting any closer together. It could be nothing, but I'm all a twitter! I did a lot of cleaning/preparing today and felt kinda yucky, and then in the early evening started getting really crampy, which turned into the contrax. I am hoping he waits until morning as one of my MW's just got back from India TODAY and I'd like her to be able to get some rest, lol!

Hugs to you all, please send lots of good labor vibes!! I will be so pissy tomorrow if this isn't it, lol!!

[LizD]

I have to make an appointment for my belly cast! I must remember to call tomorrow. I was putting it off because it seemed so early but now I am past the 35 week mark and think I had better get it done if it's getting done at all. My midwife says the group B strep can break the water early so I am now concerned about staying pregnant a few more weeks. I am looking forward to painting it though it will probably take years to get around to that! Or maybe it will give me something to do while "taking it easy" these last few weeks.

Re:douching -Elizabeth Davis says in Heart and Hands that while douching isn't normally recommended during pregnancy, very gentle douching with natural solutions is ok especially with the hand-held squeeze kind. She has a recipe for an herbal douche for vaginal infections in there too.

I sometimes feel the baby scrabbling at the cervix and that is more disconcerting than ever. I will be glad to be past the 36 1/2 week mark when I will feel more comfortable knowing I can just let it out when it's ready.

[seedling]

Hey Wildthing! I've been wondering where you were. So glad you are doing well and have just been really busy.

Rubelin, don't leave us hanging! If we don't hear from you by the end of the day I'm assuming this was it. How exciting!

I broke down and turned on the air at 11:00 last night. Still got up 6 times to pee thru the night! No wonder I'm so tired all day. May turn the air off today and open the windows back up. I miss hearing the birds.

Well, I've got so much to do for work today that I'd better get to it.

[Doodlebugsmom]

Donna, I've been wondering about you! It's good to hear from you. Sounds like all is well.

I agree that the amount or lack of dilation is pretty much meaningless. My mw doesn't do any checks to find out, and that is fine with me. She was out of town for my appt last week and I saw her backup mw. She offered to check my cervix, and of course I declined. I could be 3 or more cms dilated and it would mean nothing. I'd be all paranoid, expecting labor to start at any time. If I wasn't dilated, I'd be convinced that I'm going past due. No need to worry myself in any way.

Robin, I can't wait to hear what is going on! How exciting!

Liz, I'll be doing my belly cast soon, too. I'm going to do it right around 36-37 weeks. With dd, I waited and ended up doing it after my water broke! She was born at 37 1/2 weeks, and since it was my first pregnancy I was surprised by it. Oh yeah, that was over two years ago and it still isn't painted!

I really hope I make it to 37 weeks this time, because a professional photographer who works for dh is coming in from LA at that time. I really want to get some nice pregnancy pics done, especially for free!
I've been having lots of pressure down below, especially in my bladder/urethra. Whew! It's intense sometimes. I cleaned and worked outside all weekend, and boy, it wore me out. I'm sore all over.

Have a great day everyone!

[mattjule]

Yeah Robin! That is exactly how I went into labor with Tain. Sending you good birthing vibes...

I still have so much to do-I'm glad I am due later than most of you. Tain's Waldorf doll still doesn't have any hair or clothes. He keeps finding it and playing with it, which is sweet, but it's really weird to see a funky, creepy face on the back of the head where I tied the threads from the eyes and mouth. I am going to revamp the announcements and go with a different theme-the one I thought of is definitely not working. But I have to get to the craft store and find a stamp and a new pen (not to mention yarn for aforementioned doll). I'd like to get a couple more dolls made, for my nieces and Rowan (I'll save it for his 2nd birthday).

On the shaving topic, and maybe this is TMI, but I used to shave before I got pg. Once you have a belly, you have to get a helper b/c putting a razor on such loose skin without being able to see is really dangerous! I don't even shave my legs while pg b/c it is too hard. So asking women to shave before coming to the hospital is not any better than doing it there (though I don't approve of it in any form). Weird that they still do it.

I was thinking the other day how, if everything goes well, I will never know what it is like to birth in a hospital. I think that's kind of cool.

I guess I should stop throwing away apple cores and banana peels in the trash can by the computer. Man, it stinks. I was sitting here thinking, how can I smell like rotten fruit? And I finally realized it wasn't me, it was the trash!

Well, I need to get going...

Have a great day everyone!

[Greaseball]

Do they really still do enemas and shave preps in the hospital?
Long ago, I posted a poll in the pregnancy forum (pretty sure that's where it was) titled "Which interventions did you have?" and listing about 10 of them, such as EFM, IFM, shave, drugs, etc. and several people responded they had been shaved. :(

I have a homebirth book from the 70s and it mentions clipping pubic hair as if it is normal; no big deal. Also says that one should have an enema at a homebirth.

[rubelin]

well, after about 10 hours of regular contrax (albeit pretty far apart) they all petered out around 3 am. So now I am just tired and achey and cranky as hell :irked: I'm still having random contrax, or maybe not so random, I'm not sure as I am ignoring them until they decide to get serious and get my attention :p The good part is that I got most of the last minute stuff ready, blankets sterilized, pads soaked in comfrey and stuck in the freezer and now I can finish the grocery shopping and get some laundry done. And I don't really want a Taurus baby anyway :)

Better go and get dressed. I think it's going to be a busy day!

[ksjhwkr]

Robin - Sending you LOTS and LOTS of peaceful, wonderful labor vibes Mama!!! Ok, when I originally wrote this, I didn't see your most recent post. :duh Sorry! I hope you get some rest today :hug Mama!!!

Donna - Good to hear from you again. Glad to know all is going well in your part of the world. My chiropractor is actually adjusting my pubic bone and that helps with the pain so much. You might want to ask yours about that for you!

[dharmama]

And I don't really want a Taurus baby anyway :)


:nod Yup...I'm a Taurus and I don't know how my parents survived raising me! :LOL :hug Hang in there mama....we're almost there!

I'm doing my preggo pictures tonight and DH is pretty sure he's going to be there (he's really trying to get coverage for work) -- YAY!

I feel like a super-model wanna-be...the back seat of my car is LOADED with various outfits, sarongs, nighties etc. I'm sure I won't end up wearing half of the things but I would rather have too much than too little.

Of course....wouldn't you know...I woke up with a nice big shiner on my chin this morning. Honestly, I have not had a single zit this whole pregnancy. Figures. :rolleyes:

Oh and I fell this weekend (trying to catch the sheep during the escape) so I have cuts on my leg and arm and a band-aid on my finger. At first I was feeling disappointed that all this evidence of my clumsiness will be captured on film but the more I thought about, the more perfect it seems.

I just wish I could fit my wedding/engagement rings on for the pictures. I tried this morning....no go. I did mangage to get my wedding ring only on, so that's what I'm wearing....but the two rings together....no way. :tsk

And speaking of things not fitting...

I'm mostly wearing DH's clothes these days (at home at least). He's a big guy so his t-shirts are just PERFECT for me. For work (where tie-dyes and boxers are not quite appropriate :LOL ) I'm wearing lots of broomstick skirts w/ peasant shirts (free size) and a couple of maternity sun dresses that are nice and big.

~Erin
:love

PS ~ Greaseball...How are your chickens??

[Greaseball]

The chickens are doing well. Alice's tail feathers will probably take awhile to grow back, so she will be funny-shaped for awhile, and we're keeping an eye on Fluffy's feet to make sure they don't swell. She has one scratch on a toe and one down the back of the other leg, and it looks like the toe is really bothering her. She stands on one leg a lot, and kind of hops around instead of running. We put hydrogen peroxide on the scratches. I don't think they need a bandage.

Linda is still upset at not being able to go out and chase them, but I think we'll let them have as much stress-free time as they can. There is this neighborhood cat that comes over a lot and is friendly, but since we're not sure whose cat did it I've been chasing it away when I see it.

I think urban chickens are easier, because you don't have to worry about foxes and hawks. Just make sure to close the coop and they'll be fine!

[Queen of Cups]

So I had my appt with the midwife this afternoon, and everyone at the office was shocked to see me! No one expected me to last this long...

Anyway, I'm still at "a good 5cm," even more thinned out, the baby is lower, and the midwife said that my bag of waters was not quite bulging, but that she didn't expect it to last more than a couple of days. Woohoo! I'm ready for this baby! She offered to strip my membranes again and I said yes, and I've been very crampy since then. We went on and made an appointment for next Monday, but she and the nurses all said that they really didn't think I'd make it that long.

Speaking of Taurus babies - how am I going to deal? I'm a Scorpio and DH is an Aries, and my sister who lives with us is a Leo! Sounds like a house very full of egos and strong wills to me...

[Smithie]

My mw said that I was 2 centimeters and at zero station, and when I said this was a good week to have the baby she went ahead and stripped my membranes. She frobid me, however, to jog around the neighborhood as I had planned to do. ;)

Dh is in his Big Meeting right now, so I'm going to have some RRL tea and some black cohosh tincture and take a walk and maybe do a plain water enema. But no castor oil!

[rubelin]

Well, still having irregular stuff going on, but I am ignoring it all :W I got the shopping done (even though Ben was a monster at the store!!) and am doing laundry. I just might end up finishing all my sewing projects if he doesn't come soon cause I've got nothing left to do now but wait around for labor.

I hope my Taurus baby comment wasn't taken wrong by anyone. My dad is a Taurus and I love him to death, but he is the most hard headed human being I know :D Ben & I are both Gemini and Dan is a Libra, so another Gemini fits in perfectly. I was just looking forward to a home full of air signs and I'm frightened at the possibility of something else. Ben is very spirited and I'm scared to get another spirited kid and if he's a Taurus on top of that it might send me to the looney bin, lol! Well, if he can't wait until Thursday, perhaps he'll at least be Gemini rising :) Actually Thursday would be good, since our MWs are already coming for a home visit!

OK, gotta finish up here, I'm supposed to be limiting my 'puter time 'cause my feet swell up something awful sitting here :eek

Hope you're all having a peaceful Monday afternoon!

[Smithie]

Ouch. Walking hurt, probably because I was so full of RRL tea.

The Big Presentation went well, and now dh is coming home for some energetic sex. Yeehah!

[LizD]

People seem pretty appalled to hear my due date is still a month away, my belly pokes out so enormously. It's fun. I really am craving sweets at this point and feel nervous about it because I don't want to gain too much weight, especially at the height of growing season, here.

My belly cast appointment is for ten days from now, the day I will be 37 weeks. I am beginning to hope I make it until then, also for the homebirth consideration. If I had not heard I have such a high GBS colonization I wouldn't worry about it and would assume I had at least until the 37 week mark but now I am concerned about the water breaking early and the increased risk of GBS disease. So every day I feel accomplished in hanging onto the baby a little longer, though I have no signs of preterm labor and if I hadn't heard this it wouldn't be a concern at all. And of course there's no real reason to believe this baby will be as early as my last- it could just as easily be 2 weeks late. I think I am also a bit worried about being early because the mw said we'd culture for GBS again at our next appointment, in nine days, "if we get that far." So I am not happy to have this to worry about and also worry that if I go much past that I am going to start wondering just when I'm going to have this baby. No one seems to think it at all likely I will even make it to my due date!

I also will breathe easy once the baby will safely be a gemini, like me. :) My daughter is an aquarius so both my children will be the signs I get along best with. My example of living with a taurus has been my mother, and that does not bode well. :)

[Greaseball]

Liz - I had a high colonization of GBS with #1 and though I went into labor at 38 weeks, my water did not break early. I was in labor for nearly 24 hours before the doctor broke it.

[Smithie]

Well, the sex was fun. Now we'll have to wait and see if it works. :wink I think I'll cease my efforts now, except for the RRL tea, and get a good night's sleep.

I forgot to mention, my GBS came back negative today. That is a weight off my mind.

[wildthing]

Robin,
I was certainly not offended by your desire to not have a Taurus. :D I have two, both girls (actually, one is born on the cusp), and they can be stubborn. Of course, my little Capricorn can be just as hard-headed! lol
My oldest ds is a Gemini, and I have every expectation that this one will be too.

I really, truly, with all my heart, do not want to have this baby early! :LOL For literally the first time in any of my pregnancies, I want to actually go a few days beyond my due date. Things will just be so much more settled then, and we can relax and just enjoy the birth and our babymoon. :love

Anyone else have "feminine itching" after sex? It isn't just that uncomfy feeling, it is a slight itch that lasts a day or 2 before going away. Kind of annoying.

Erin, tell us how the pictures go! I am getting mine done at the conference...I will be about 38 weeks then. :D

[liz-hippymom]

ok so.... i had bloody show (blood streaked mucus) yesterday and today..does this mean im gunna have this baby? please say yes...lol :LOL
i am sooooo ready!

[eilonwy]

Hello.

I'm still feeling pretty decent, most of the time... but I can't get into a comfortable position to sleep. Saturday night, I had some contractions that were painful enough that not only did I wake up but I woke up Mike with my miseries. :( :shake It was a bummer, because I was working extra hard not to make a lot of noise (we were at the IL's house). He was very sweet and did a massage.. I really needed the counter-pressure on my lower back. I think NewBean has settled head down, but she's definately OP. My tailbone *kills* whenever I have a contraction. :rolleyes:

Lots of contractions here, definately not doing anything though. No, I can't feel my cervix, I just have a feeling that NewBean is nowhere near to coming out. Like I mentioned on last week's thread, Mike is totally against doing anything that might precipitate an early birth. On one hand, I totally know where he's coming from but on the other, I think "easy for you to say, you can sleep at night/don't have heartburn/aren't in pain/don't have sciatica/etc, etc and so forth." :LOL I told him that his refusal could definately been seen as somewhat selfish, and he said "Don't worry, I know I'll feel the pain too." Hell yes he will! :LOL

Insomnia. Gotta love it. :rolleyes: I'm only in a few states these days: asleep, wanting to sleep, unable to sleep. It seems like that's about it.

LizD: I can totally relate to your concern about the GBS. I don't know what my colonization level was like with Eli, though I figure it was fairly high because a)my water did break early and b)he actually got sick. I worry about the same thing happening to NewBean, and it's totally freaky to me. :shake I don't even know what to think about it. From what I understand, I probably won't even be tested this time, just treated. Hopefully NewBean is healthy and strong.

Hm. It's late, I'm exhausted and unable to sleep, and contracting.. I guess I should take a shower and go to bed. :LOL I love taking showers at night, because I don't have to take them with Eli. :LOL

:OT: Did everyone notice that the old rolleyes smiley is back? Hooray for Cynthia! :clap I didn't much care for the new one.

[LizD]

My midwife even says it's not anything to worry about, just to do what she advised and culture again at 37 weeks. Based on that and on whatever the situation is in labor, she'll offer abx or not. Though my daughter was "early" the water didn't break until after complete dilation so there is no history of that.

It is interesting in a way because there are all these new things to worry about and be tested for that weren't commonplace ten years ago when I had her. AFP testing was far less common, and the info on folic acid had not yet been released, not as many people found out the gender ahead of time, no one mentioned the catbox or toxoplasmosis, no GBS screening, at least not at the birth center I used, and they were pretty med-minded. More to worry about even though not knowing about them the first time I had a fine healthy daughter and hopefully will have a fine healthy baby, knock wood.

It is also a lot more fun this time not to have names picked out or feel we need to have them picked out. The last few weeks before our daughter was born we were trying to find things we agreed on. This time we mention a name here and there but it seems more relaxed in a way. I have begun addressing the envelopes for our announcements (printing our own on postcard stock) and also wondered just how long it might take to name this baby since we haven't narrowed it down or anything. You spend the first months calling it "the baby" anyway even if it has a name in utero, so I hope he or she makes themself apparent soon after birth.

From what I have read and my mw has said itching or mild discomfort after sex, pregnant or not, could also be high GBS colonization. Since the culture can vary from day to day, a negative screen doesn't mean you don't have it. Anyway a friend of mine who isn't pg has had some itching/discomfort after intercourse and has tested negative for every test there is, and is trying the saltwater wash 3 x per week. It is actually quite soothing.

Bloody show is always a good sign but I tell my clients, and it's true, you can have the baby tomorrow or you can be walking around for two weeks yet. But at least it shows things are moving in the right direction! I am looking forward to the excitement and fun of having the baby. I am a bit nervous I think because of all the cascade-of-intervention births I have been to professionally. I have been trying to fill up again with all the images I had the first time, which were mostly based on Spiritual Midwifery and Hygeiea and other obscure natural birth books.

[dharmama]

Erin, tell us how the pictures go! I am getting mine done at the conference...I will be about 38 weeks then.

It was AMAZING! I felt like a godess. The photographer LOVES working with pregnant women and she knew all the right things to say to make me feel SOOOO comfortable.

I got there about 40 min. before DH so I did some topless shots with a sarong tied around my waist, some with the sarong tied around my breasts and my belly exposed, and some nudes sitting/laying on a sheepskin rug.

I want to surprise DH with the nudes for Father's Day...he knows that I did them but has no idea all the sexy poses we came up with....which is why we hurried and did them before he arrived.

Then once DH was there we did some casual shots...both of us topless...me in jeans and DH in kahkis...a couple with me in a tank top pulled up to show off my belly. DH kissing and snuggling my belly (I can't wait to see those :) ) and a couple of us just snuggling/smooching.

It was SO fun...I can't wait to see the proofs.

WOW....I can't believe so many of us are having contrax, show etc. EEEEK....this is getting SOOOOOO exciting. I find my self logging on like 10 times a day to see what's happening! Wait who am I kidding...I always log on to MDC like 10 times a day! :rolleyes (WAIT! OH NO...where did the good "rolleyes guy" go??? He was here yesterday!!! :LOL )

Okay...off to work. 1/2 day today and then I go to see my MW. I'm having the GBS test today. Can anyone tell me how it is administered? I was assuming it's an internal swabbing but a couple of my friends said they didn't have anything done internally until they were in labor. :scratch

~Erin
:love

[curlygrrl]

It's sooo exciting, we're all getting so close!! Although I'm ready, I am starting to freak out because nothing's done in my house!! This weekend is going to have to be pretty intense! I need to go at least another week and four days before I can have this baby in the birth center!

My midwife asked me for the birth plan last week and we didn't have it done yet. I guess I'm probably going to keep it similar to the last one, with a few small changes. I asked her about suctioning the baby because my DS was suctioned a lot and he wouldn't nurse. Since then I've read some about "oral aversion" and wondered if that may have been part of the problem. Of course she tells me "every baby is different" but I'd like to avoid the same pitfalls if I can, you know?

Anyone else know their care provider's policy on suctioning?

((hugs)) to everyone!!

Tamara

[seedling]

Well, I've been reading too much about GBS. Liz, what alternative treatments are you trying again? See, here's the thing...I can decide what I want to do. I've said the whole time that I just want to be treated with abx if my water is broken for a long time or if I have a fever. My aversion to abx is that 1)I don't want to set myself up for thrush...I ALWAYS get yeast infections after abx and 2)after reading that article in Mothering's Nov/Dec issue and what Ina May has to say, I do worry about the effects of the abx longterm (resistance). My most immediate concern is the thrush. But then I know that the 1% of babies that do contract GBS from their mothers can die. Do I take comfort in that low percentage...up until last night, yes. But then I started freaking out about the 1%.

So, what I've been doing is taking a probiotic, increasing my yogurt intake, and taking Vitamin C. My midwife suggested garlic used intervaginally. I'm a bit nervous about trying this b/c the mechanics of how to put it in and get it out are puzzling me. I guess I've used a keeper before, it can't be that different? I've also heard of soaking a tampon in 2% tea tree oil/ 98% olive oil and wearing that for 4 hours. So tell me again what you are doing? And are you going to be retested and if so when? I think I do want to be retested but I'm going to have to request another appt with my backup doc to do so. I've not had an actual appt with my midwife yet to discuss any of this...I meet with her on Friday and will hash out some of these concerns then.

Part of me is like, the protocol is flawed anyway, they test too early, I could not have it when I go into labor or vice versa. It's a very small risk. The protocol used to be just to treat women with risk factors. Etc. Then there's the little voice that is bugging the crap out of me with worry.

sigh.

On a positive note, I'm not so miserable this week. Yay! Still struggling to get a decent nights sleep but not so miserable.

[3girlsmommy]

I've been in a funk these last couple of days and it just doesn't seem to be getting any better. Dh & I are not getting along and a lot of it stems from the way he disciplines or rather doesn't discipline our kids. I ALWAYS have to be the bad guy. He rarely steps up and helps out when they are doing something they are not suppose to. We went to visit friends w/ a new baby over the weekend and my friend needed to discipline my oldest while I was in the bathroom and dh was RIGHT there. I was angry and am still ticked off. I guess it was kinda the straw that broke the camels back per say.

Then yesterday my shower invitations went out. The girls in the neighborhood are doing a lunch shower at a restaurant. I should be happy but I've already had 3 people make comments about how I don't need a shower because what could I possibly need. These are people that are suppose to be my FRIENDS! I felt like saying then don't come because obviously you can't give me what I want and that's support. :bawl I feel like I give so much and it would be nice if for ONCE it was about ME damn it! I always feel like such an inconvience. It just sucks! Then to top it off my best friend that lives across the country decided that she's not coming home this summer to see the new baby but on vacation w/ her dh. I understand that she needs time w/ him right now but I'm just sad that for the second summer she won't be coming home. She promised she'd be here this summer because of the baby. It didn't bother me last summer because we had just gone out to see her but I was really looking foward to seeing her. sigh!

Alright sob fest over.

[Steve's Sweety]

Hi ladies. I'm around so sporadically and little that I don't know if anyone will remember me, but I just read up on this thread and wanted to pop in and say hello. :wave

I can't complain too much, but I'm ready to meet this baby! :D

I haven't had a single solitary sign that s/he is going to come anytime soon though. I don't think I've even dropped.

I've had a few stomach aches that felt like my whole belly was on fire on the inside - like heartburn but in my belly. My mw said they could have been contractions but I don't really think so. Course I have nothing to base that on as I have never felt even so much as a BH before.

Then there's the bladder pain. I tried to describe it to my mw yesterday but she just asked me if I was sure it wasn't my pubic bone? I don't know - it feels like it's my bladder and only happens when I have to pee. Just a real sharp pain in that area that makes walking darn near impossible. I seriously thought I was going to have to crawl down the hall the other night when I got up to go, and then when I do go it hurts like crazy. Not like burning like I have an infection or anything, just really really sore inside.

And I said I couldn't complain too much. :eyesroll Really, I'm just mentioning these things in case some more experienced mamas or anyone might have an explanation or some encouragement that this bundle will be arriving soon. ;)

I hope everyone is doing well and still feeling pretty decent! I belong to another board's June Mommies group and 2 of them have had their babies already. Such an exciting time!

[eilonwy]

You're not around *that* sporadically, Steve's Sweety. :LOL

It's totally amazing to know that any time I could log on here and see a birth story.. this is just blowing my mind! :LOL It seems like only last week I was on the "Nursing mothers TTC in October" list. :LOL Wildthing, I seem to remember you being on that list, too.. crazy stuff, huh? :LOL

This morning, I did something I've never done before.. I turned the television on and put on PBS kids. My son looked at the screen and pointed, saying "Mom, it's Dragon Tales!" He seemed really baffled; I think that he thought we didn't have it on our tv. I was also a little surprised that he knew it was Dragon Tales; he's only seen the show half a dozen times (my niece watches it every day :eyesroll), and I didn't realize he'd heard the name of it, or recognized enough to put the two together without the theme song. :eyes In-freaking-credible. :LOL

My brother is coming from across the country at the end of June, and he wants to do family pictures while he's out here. This is a good thing, except that it means my family is now pressuring me not to shave all my hair off until after the pictures. I sooooo want it gone!! I've been putting it up on the side of my head to keep it off of my neck (I cut two inches off to try to keep the pony tail off my neck and it grew back so quickly that I couldn't tell the difference two weeks later. :eyesroll) but I still may hack it all off. I'm going to make an effort to keep it, but the hotter it gets the more I want it gone. :LOL

:OT The good "rolleyes" smiley is now apparently called "eyesroll" :eyesroll and the smirky one is I guess called "rolleyes" :rolleyes Okay, just as long as the good one is back. :LOL :eyesroll

[Greaseball]

Well early this morning while I was still half-asleep I got a horrible cramp in my calf! Now I've been limping around the house. :(

No sign of a baby for me...the midwives were saying it could be this week but I don't think so.

[jaredsmom]

Hi, Everyone!

I've been reading these threads, and finally had time to post! I'm 37 weeks as of Sunday, and looking forward to having this little bean anytime! Not that I'm having contractions or anything. Although, I do have serious cramps after I void, or when I walk around too much. And lately, I've been having the pubic pain, too.

But now I'm on short-term disability from work. Thank goodness. I would have pains throughout the day, and felt very awkward to stop and relax like I was taught in Bradley classes. (I didn't want to put my co-workers in a panic. They already thought that I should have had the baby weeks ago. :eyesroll )

I'm a bit bummed out with my company's maternaty leave "package." I do get the 6 weeks short-term leave after baby is born, but then I only get 2 weeks at reduced pay since I have only been there for 2 years. After that I can take 4 weeks unpaid. Woohoo! :shake At least I could phase-back for a month after that. Would be even better if I didn't have to go back. But I am the "bread-winner" (for now). Dh is an actor and has his own video-taping business, and, thankfully, is the one who stays home and watches our son. But it would be nice if I could do that. But that's another story, and we are trying to arrange things so that I could get out of the job.

Okay, enough of that ranting. Because, other than that, I have nothing to complain about. My next MW appt is Saturday. My mom wants me to ask her what "emergencies" can arrise at a home-birth. (She'll be there at the birth.) My mom's a nurse, and she worries about things like this. I did assure her that the MW would detect if something's wrong way before the actual birth/pushing stage. And that the hospital is only 5 min away, if need be. BUT! I know that won't happen.

Well, I better go. Ds has been calling for me.

Belly rubs to all!

[LizD]

seedling, the GBS swab is usually just a long qtip swished in the vagina, not too far up, and that's it. Most midwives just give you the packet and tell you what to do. I am to wash internally 3x week with salt water 1/2 tsp to 1 pint water, and wash the perineum with the irri bottle and hibiclens when I use the toilet, since it is easily transmitted from the anus. I don't usually have problems with antibiotics and use them very rarely, so while I would not be thrilled to have a newborn exposed to abx I don't expect problems like yeast or thrush and from reading how serious GBS disease can be, would be grateful for the treatment. In fact some of the literature on just how serious it can be makes one want to take the antibiotics regardless of the risk factors! I did read one study that said washing internally with hibiclens during labor seemed to provide similar protection to abx. But as long as the water hasn't broken before labor and labor is not too early (<37weeks) the risk is lower. I will be tested again a week from tomorrow, the day before 37 weeks. My midwife tests at 34 and 37 so there is time to lower the colony count if, as in my case, it is high. But my count is apparently so high there is a concern about membranes rupturing early, hence the precautionary measures.

[rubelin]

Well I am obviously at the end of this pregnancy cause I'm checking the boards 5 times a day, lol! No labor news today. The kitties are at the vet getting their teeth cleaned and I kind of want to go back to bed, I was up so early taking them over. Actually I might, Dan and Ben won't be home from school for a couple of hours and I just don't have much to do. I do have some things to sew but need a few things before I can finish them

I was thinking of starting the announcements. I am using paintings that Ben has done at school for the backings (cut into 5x7 pieces) and overlaying a page with the info and getting pictures of the 2 boys printed on magnet paper to stick on. I've been cutting the backings as I get new paintings (though lately he's been doing some cool stuff and I want to save them all!) and I could do the layout for the overlay leaving out the unkowns. We really need about 100 (huge families!!) but I've only got about 40 backings, so I'll probably do something simpler for some of them, or find a different paper. I also want to have a webpage, and I'll probably use the one I did for Ben as a template if I still have it.

OK, going a bit braindead, I think it's time for that nap! Hope you all have a great Tuesday!!

[Doodlebugsmom]

Hi Steve's Sweety! It's good to see you back. I also have lots of bladder pain/pressure and also what I refer to as PIMPH (Pressure In My Pee-Hole). The PIMPH feels like I'm being catheterized or something. I also have pretty bad pubic bone pain from time to time. It's totally different than the PIMPH.

Grease, I fight those damn leg cramps every freakin' night. They are certainly no fun. I've had them off and on since I was a teenager, and once I did have one that made my leg sore for days.

I just can't believe we haven't had any babies born yet. I log on here all the time to check. It's so exciting!

[Greaseball]

I hear that calcium and magnesium can help with leg cramps, but I also hear it's because they're muscle relaxers, and I don't want to take anything that might interfere with my uterine muscles.

[irishgreengables]

Yikes!! Babies babies everywhere...almost.

I am feeling so exhausted I can hardley type this. Anyone else? Also, very weepy and introspective (I wept yesterday upon reading in Oprah that Billy Crystal still thinks his wife of 34 years is beautiful).


Peace,
Paula

[crunchywannabe]

whew! well, saw my OB yesterday. Still no weight gain but he did not lecture me this time. Baby is measuring 2 weeks small (and *I* know my due date is right) but I tend to expect this as my babies are small(er)

36 weeks-can't believe it! He will do my GBS at next appt but I am not too worried about it since we are hospital birthers

Baby has really slowed down in movement.....still having slight diarrhea. I decided not to have OB check me yesterday as dilation and effacement really doesn't mean much for when I will go...she will come when she comes! :eyesroll

We had lots of posts yesterday, so I have to catch up! LOL

[Queen of Cups]

Well, I'm in an awful mood again today. My sister in law flew to China on a school trip yesterday, and when my in-laws didn't hear from her they totally freaked out. (m-i-l is here with us, and f-i-l called us about 6-8 times today to give updates and freak out over the phone) It turned out that she couldn't get her calling card to work. I just hate to be around them when they act like this - their lives are very fear-based and I find that that upsets my energy A LOT. I hope that when I have children who have opportunities to travel and try new things I'll be excited for them, not fearful for them. There is a huge difference, you know...

What can I do to stop their fear from blocking me??? I really feel like that's part of the reason that I haven't gone into active labor yet... I'm thinking about just locking myself in my room, watching a couple of my favorite movies, and relaxing by myself the rest of the afternoon. Maybe if I light a couple candles, do a couple Tarot practices, and pray for awhile I'll be able to un-block myself.

[ksjhwkr]

Are you doing hypnobabies or hypnobirthing? They have some pretty powerful scripts that can help you to visualize your birth and even get baby to come out. Let me know if you want me to email you some scripts if you need them. :hug Mama, hang in there, you're almost done!!!!!!

[Greaseball]

Hey, could you PM me a sample script? I'm not doing hb; I'm just curious.

[3girlsmommy]

Hey, could you PM me a sample script? I'm not doing hb; I'm just curious.

You can join the hypnobabies yahoo group and get the scripts that way. :)

[crunchywannabe]

You can join the hypnobabies yahoo group and get the scripts that way. :)

what is the link to join the group?

thanks!!!

[eilonwy]

Anyone else know their care provider's policy on suctioning?


If the baby has passed meconium, they try to suction before the baby takes their first breath. Then they examine the baby and if necessary suck the meconium out of their lungs with a tube. (I have a picture or two of this happening to my EliBean. :().

If the baby hasn't passed meconium, they suction only if the baby is a)not breathing or b)making gurgly noises when they breathe. I'm pretty sure that this would be different with a cesearian delivery, because when a baby passed through the birth canal most of the fluid gets pushed out of their lungs during the birth, but that doesn't happen during a c-section. I imagine that those babies are always suctioned.

[dharmama]

Hello ladies!

Just got back from seeing my MW. HB sounds great...I measured fine...but she's a little unsure about the baby's position.

She said she's pretty sure she's head down but she's confused because there are two distinct hard spots on either side of my belly (we've actually kind of been wondering about it ourselves because we can't make sense of what we are feeling). So anyway...she asked me how I felt about having an u/s to check position and I told her that was fine with me.

If she's not vertex, I'd like to know asap so I can work with my chiropractor and accupuncturist to hopefully get her to turn. I'm going in for the u/s on Monday morning.

I had the GBS swabbing and she offered to do a vaginal exam, though she emphasized that there was no medical reason to do so. My own curiosity won out and I told her to go ahead and check me.

I'm a whopping 1 cm dialated. :LOL And my cervix is very long and thick.

The good thing is that when she was examining me, she felt pretty confident that she was feeling the baby's head. She thinks the baby must just be all scrunched up in the bottom of my uterus because I have a LOT of fluid and no clear body parts up top.

I'm thinking about just locking myself in my room, watching a couple of my favorite movies, and relaxing by myself the rest of the afternoon.

Queenie ~ That sounds like a GREAT idea. Do you like taking baths? That's my favorite place to zone out and chat with the baby. Sending lots of relaxing, peaceful vibes your way....

~Erin
:love

[Smithie]

Well, so much for going into labor on my schedule. James is very happy where he is.

We'll give him another week, and then my mw can strip the membranes again and I'll try some cohosh and nipple stimulation that afternoon. I think I'll keep having sex, though - dh should be happy about that. :laugh:

[crunchywannabe]

Well, so much for going into labor on my schedule. James is very happy where he is.

We'll give him another week, and then my mw can strip the membranes again and I'll try some cohosh and nipple stimulation that afternoon. I think I'll keep having sex, though - dh should be happy about that. :laugh:

LOL--the other night dh would not leave me alone he was so handsy! And then he says to me "but Jess--nipple stimulation is supposed to" and I swatted his hand away :eyesroll

I gotta watch what I say in front of him now..the words come back to haunt me! :LOL

[irishgreengables]

Aarh -- I have been feeling so exhausted and somewhat flu-like -- on and off. Plus more diarrhea today. But no more contractions today. Appt. with Ob tomorrow. We'll see.

What is stripping the membranes??

Peace,

[crunchywannabe]

What is stripping the membranes??

Peace,

It is a procedure where they pull the membranes away from the uterus. It can be painful and it CAN induce infection into the uterus.

It only works on a certain amount of women....I had it done 4 times (before I knew better!) and 2 of those times was within one pregnancy. It never worked...however I know a few girls it has helped.

[Smithie]

Just FYI, Paula, I did not find it painful. My mw said that my cervix was very soft and thin, and that the procedure might have been painful for me if I was not ripe. Also, some women are just more sensitive up there than others.

But I'm also still pregnant today, so I cannot vouch for the usefulness of getting the membranes stripped. ;)

[3girlsmommy]

what is the link to join the group?

thanks!!!
HEre's the link to the hypnobabies website. http://www.hypnobabies.com/home.php
I think you can either sign up by going to the forums section or by clicking on contact us and sending Kerry an e-mail telling her you would like to join the yahoo group.

There use to be an actual link to signing up but I can't find it. I don't know if it will show up when you click on forums(it doesn't for my but I'm not sure if that is because I'm already a member or not).

Good Luck!

[3girlsmommy]

I can't believe how close we are all getting. I now have to go in for weekly visits! June is fast approaching and it's such an incredibly busy month it's going to fly by! It's so weird that quite possibly in a month I will be holding a sweet little newborn. :love

I think the baby dropped a little. My ribs aren't as sore but my bladder is under constant attack! :)

Lately I've been having some bh where my whole stomach tightens up into this rock hard ball and stays that way for a couple of minutes. Anyone else experiencing this? I don't remember having this w/ the other two.


OH some FANTASTIC news!!! My cousin who has been trying to get pregnant for 6 1/2 years is finally pregnant!!!! :banana They totally had given up hope that they would ever get pregnant and now she is!! Please, please , please send her sticky vibes!!!

Hope everyone is doing well!!

[curlygrrl]

I'm a bit bummed out with my company's maternaty leave "package." I do get the 6 weeks short-term leave after baby is born, but then I only get 2 weeks at reduced pay since I have only been there for 2 years. After that I can take 4 weeks unpaid. Woohoo! :shake At least I could phase-back for a month after that. Would be even better if I didn't have to go back. But I am the "bread-winner" (for now). Dh is an actor and has his own video-taping business, and, thankfully, is the one who stays home and watches our son. But it would be nice if I could do that. But that's another story, and we are trying to arrange things so that I could get out of the job.

Hi Tricia! I'm the breadwinner w/ a SAHD too! DH is a bass player. I'm very apprehensive about the whole leave thing too. I get 2 weeks where I have to use my own Paid Time Off (if I have enough, which I probably won't), then they pay me 65% of my salary for 4 weeks. After that I can take 6 more weeks under the federal FMLA, of course completely unpaid. I don't know how I'm going to do it, probably sell some furniture or maybe get a small part-time job to hold me over. I just can't go back after 6 weeks like I did with DS.

I've been trying to convince DH to do something too but, who knows? :eyesroll Mostly I'd like to freelance out of the home, so I hope to use my leave to help cultivate that as well.

Tamara

[eilonwy]

OH some FANTASTIC news!!! My cousin who has been trying to get pregnant for 6 1/2 years is finally pregnant!!!! :banana They totally had given up hope that they would ever get pregnant and now she is!! Please, please , please send her sticky vibes!!!


:sticky :sticky :sticky That's so cool! :) :sticky :sticky :sticky

My sister had her membranes stripped with my younger niece at 40w6d in the middle of July... she was soooo desperate to have that baby OUT. :lol: It was done around 9am, she went to school, went for her daily afternoon walk to get labor going, and around 7 pm she finally noticed that her pants would not stay up over her belly when she stood up... they kept sliding down. She went to the hospital at 7:40pm, they checked her and said she wasn't dialated past three (same as that morning) her cervix was still fairly long and she wasn't in labor. She said "Yes I am" and stayed. Shortly after 8 pm they tried to call a cab to send her home; 8:15 she threw up all over the triage area, so they let her stay... 8:30 her water broke and at 8:43 my niece was born. One contraction for the head, then her giant shoulders got stuck for the next contraction, she was turned and she slid out.

So it can work. :lol: I, however, am not a candidate for membrane stripping because of the GBS. I wish I'd known this when I was pregnant with Eli, though. I think now that it's entirely possible that the reason my water broke Monday night was because of an attempt to strip my membranes that morning, which succeded only in introducing the bacteria to my cervix. :shake

[Queen of Cups]

I don't feel very good this morning - and I can't figure out if I'm really having surges. I'm feeling a lot of pressure and discomfort, but I can't seem to discern a pattern and they're not terribly intense. I feel pretty queasy, too. Just not feeling great today...

But it is me and DH's 3-year anniversary! So we're going out for Thai food and to see Shrek 2 tonight. I'm excited about that...

PS- I found "stripping the membranes" to be somewhat uncomfortable. I have a fairly touchy cervix to begin with, though. The midwife stripped them LAST monday and I had a lot of bloody show and irregular contractions for about 2 days then. She stripped them again the day before yesterday and it wasn't as uncomfortable as the first time, and though I've had a lot of pink-streaked mucous since its not as much as last week.

[3girlsmommy]

QoC- Happy Anniversary!! Hope you're feeling better. Let's hope some spicy Thai food kicks things into high gear!! :)

[Greaseball]

Ugh, I don't like nipple stimulation. Dh is disappointed about that...

I got another leg cramp last night, same time, same leg! Is that supposed to be some kind of warm-up for labor? I've also been waking up with intestinal cramps. I'm getting ready for this thing to be over.

[wildthing]

Dang it!!!!! :angry I had a whole big post typed out and then I ht the wrong button and lost the blasted thing!!!

Anyway, Rynna, yes I remember being on the TTC threads....I think Robin was on the nursing mamas threads, weren't you Robin? I remember Erin being on the general TTC threads as well. Here we all are, ready to hold our babies in a matter of weeks. :love

I am feeling good overall. Some aches and pains, occassional emotional outburst, using involving lots of tears, but nothing making me miserable. I do have a lot of bladder pain and pressure if I wait to pee for too long. My baby was flipping around a lot up until 36 weeks, but is now head down, and I am pretty sure posterior. If I try to check my cervix, I can feel his/her head from inside. I have always loved that. :D

I realy need baby to stay inside for at least 3.5 weeks. Of course, because I am wanting that so badly, he or she may decide on a different plan for me! I just have so many other things that need to be finished/completed, everything will be much more settled after June 11th. Like I can actually decide these things, huh? :lol

Okay, I need a nap.....ttyl!

[Smithie]

I don't really like nipple stimulation, either. I've always had a strong emotional reaction to my nips being touched - if lovin' is already underway it feels good, but as a starter it usually makes me feel tearful and depressed. However, I put my sobbing baby cousin to the breast once (desperation makes you do odd things) and did not get the same reaction. Weird, huh?

Anyhow, I'll take membrane stripping over nipple twiddling any day.

[Queen of Cups]

So, I found a midwife's guide to using cohosh to induce labor online today and then went to whole foods to get blue and black cohosh. They taste awful! But I figure I'll try it for a few hours and see - if nothing else, maybe the placebo effect will help my contractions to regulate. The instructions are to take a few drops of each every 20 minutes for 5 hours (starting with 5 drops the first hour and going to 20 drops by the 4th hour). Anyone tried this before? I lost a lot of pink-tinged mucous this morning, and I've been having regular surges every 10 minutes or so today... seemed like a good time to try something to get me into a progressing pattern.

[Smithie]

Those sound like much more sensible directions than the ones I followed! I was pounding back twenty drops of balck cohosh every fifteen minutes - big bellyache!

I need to go to Whole Foods next week and find some blue scohosh, so I can try your ramp-up method next week.

[irishgreengables]

Please define "surges" for me.

Went to OB todya -- no dilation but cervix has moved to the proper place nad she could feel the head just behind the cervix. I am happy to keep her cooking for a while longer, though.

Peace,

[Queen of Cups]

Please define "surges" for me.

Surge is another word for contraction. I'm doing the Hypnobabies program, which is using hypnosis for childbirth. The word contraction has so many negative connotations for so many people, the words "surge" or "pressure wave" are substituted. If you ask me, they offer a better description of the sensation anyway...

[Greaseball]

I like the word "babyhug."

I still can't feel my cervix or the baby's head. I wonder if it's because mine is still really far back?

[seedling]

Well, I started the garlic clove treatement last night. It was no big deal but I could taste? the garlic. Very strange. I went in today to have more blood drawn for monitering my platelett levels but didn't talk to the backup doc. I'm going to talk to my midwife on Friday about the whole GBS thing and the internal struggle I've been going thru about what to do. I really want to be retested and have this test come up negative. That would just be a huge weight off my shoulders. So, if she agrees it'd be worthwhile, I'll call my backup doc and schedule a re-test for next week which means I'll spend the weekend majorly trying every home remedy known for eliminating GBS. Knowing I'm positive and not knowing for sure what I want to do about treatment has totally cooled off any desire I had to have the baby early.

Meanwhile, I look like a vitamin freak with my probiotic, vit c, prenatal, 8 alfalfa, iron, epo, etc. It takes an entire glass of water to get it all down. Anybody else looking forward to not caring so much about what they eat and how well they treat their body? I know I have to take care of myself after baby comes and my milk supply etc, but I'm just getting sick of the high maintenance phase.

Well, hope everyone has a great evening and QoC I hope your labor gets going. I really do think you had something there when you said having your in-laws around may have you blocked. I hope you get a nice private space to settle into soon.

[Queen of Cups]

Well, I'm still trying the cohoshes, but loosing faith. I'm on hour three now, and that stuff tastes sooo awful! I finally decided the easiest way to take it was to put the black and blue together in a shot glass, add just enough water to make one good swallow - shoot it then chase it with water. Other than having to pee every 20 minutes there's no big change. If I'm up and busy I have surges every 5 minutes, if I lay down, they practically stop. Just more prodromal labor, methinks...

[Greaseball]

I've been slacking off on eating. I'm not counting any more protein grams or checking the Brewer list. I figure, what can I possibly do for this baby in 10 more days? I've probably put in a good enough effort already. So I'll just eat when I'm hungry, and try to make sure I get mostly healthy stuff, and drink more water.

Still no coffee though...I'm looking forward to that again! :coffee

[Steve's Sweety]

I read something scary about cohosh, that it can make you bleed out after labor. Anyone know about that? It has made me afraid to try it.
I'm not due for 3 wks yet but babe told me s/he is ready to come out. :)

Anyway, so I tried to feel my cervix today. Uh, where is it? I was charting when I got pg and checking it several times a day so it's not like I don't know where to feel or what it feels like, but it's like everything felt kinda different (ie swollen) in there and I couldn't feel the thing for anything!
Does it go hide when you're pg and only come out when you're closer to labor or what?


Oh and pooey - I got an email saying our crib mattress had been delivered today and it is MIA! I did get our co-sleeper though, so now I'm out to find out if the FedEx (who delivered the co-sleeper) saw the mattress!

[crunchywannabe]

Just FYI, Paula, I did not find it painful. My mw said that my cervix was very soft and thin, and that the procedure might have been painful for me if I was not ripe. Also, some women are just more sensitive up there than others.

But I'm also still pregnant today, so I cannot vouch for the usefulness of getting the membranes stripped. ;)

I think it also depends on how much they pull away...some give a more "vigorous" stripping then others.

I was 3-4 cm dilated and 90% effaced (all 4 times) and it still hurt! Lots of bloody show and contractions, but nothing else each time. Luckily, my OB is not a big proponent of it, so I haven't had to worry about it these last 2 times.

QOC--it helps to absorb the cohosh if you can stand to hold it under your tongue instead of just swallowing it....but it is nasty I agree!

A word on nipple stimulation...you can do it yourself to avoid that touched out feeling too.....best way is in a warm bath with doors closed...put a warm washcloth on both sides...then only have one covered at a time as you work the other nipple gently.....and you should only do it for 15 min at a time. It also helps to do some visualization during this.

[eilonwy]

Hm.. all this talk of nipple stimulation... does nursing work? :lol: Seriously, though.. does it? I don't think I could tolerate any other kinds of nipple stimulation, not now and definately not three weeks from now when I'm really gonna want to start labor. :lol: Of course, I'm not sure if that would help me, because Eli flips out when I'm in pain. :(

I just can't get over being 34 weeks. It's amazing to me. Eli was born at 37; in three weeks, I could potentially have NewBean in my arms. Amazing.. I still can't get over it, it just messes with my head. Where did the time go?

I really want to go swimming at the Y tonight, but I'm not sure if my belly will still fit into my swimsuit. It might.. I had to buy it really really big to fit over my breasts :eyesroll. I got a nursing swimsuit for $2 on the trading post a while back, but that definately won't fit over this belly until NewBean is out. :lol: Anyway, if the swimsuit doesn't fit, I'm gonna make Mike take Eli all by himself! *evil scientist laughter* Eli needs to get out more. I feel so guilty about the fact that I spend most of my day sitting around trying to stay awake so that I can keep an eye on him, and that the idea of being outside for more than a few minutes exhausts me. So Mike and Eli are going out tonight, regardless of whether or not my swimsuit fits. :wink

My last day of Sunday school, one of the other teachers and I were talking and I said something about Eli nursing. She said "Wait... he's still nursing? What are you going to do after the baby is born?" "Um, nurse them both." "Are you out of your mind?" "Yes, actually, I am. :D" :lol: It was pretty funny, and, interestingly, she was only the third person to make a not-quite-positive comment about tandem nursing. :lol: And the first one who didn't have children and had therefore never breastfed herself. :lol:

[mattjule]

I wrote a huge post this morning and MDC ate it! Oh well. You know, I have found that my ds nursing works differently on my uterus than any other stimulation. Dh playing with them sexually doesn't give me cramps, nor does doing it myself and pumping just makes me feel like they are being ripped off, but ds nursing, whoa, that can be intense. Not very helpful to most of you trying to get things started, I know, but good to know for after baby is born! There is nothing that feels the same as actual nursing, at least for me.

My cervix is really soft and once I got pg, it moved far back. It took me forever to find it the other night and I don't think I'll try again-it just isn't worth the discomfort of me shoving my fingers as far back as they will go. So if you can't find yours, just think about how soft/ripe it must be for it to feel the same as everything else.

I made myself a dress this morning. Turned out well considering I folded a fav nightgown/chemise in half, then cut around it for a pattern! I am so much more comfy and less hot. Now I just have another to make and a few skirts and I can finally have something to wear that I am not sweltering in!

Working on the announcements right now, baby must know b/c I am having lots of b/h.

Anyone else kind of irritated that they haven't received anything for a 2nd (or 3rd, etc) baby? It isn't the stuff, I really don't need anything, but the lack of recognition really bothers me. It hurts my feelings that no one has taken the 5 minutes to send a card to say, "hey, we think this baby is just as special as your first". Being a 2nd child whose older sibling got lavished with attention, I guess I am hypersensitive to it, but I'd like to be able to tell this child someday "so and so made this just for you" or "we got so many cards from ppl that were glad you were coming". As is, I have made him some things, but other than that everything handmade or carefully thought out is Tain's. Pretty sucky birthright if you ask me. I am hoping that since we live out of state now ppl just don't know and when they receive the announcements, we will get some sort of communication. Like I said, I don't care about actual gifts, just that ppl support this baby like they did for Tain. Ppl I didn't know got Tain gifts and this poor baby hasn't received anything from close relatives, let alone strangers.

Well, back to the ol' grind.

QoC-Sending you every ounce of energy and positive thought I have. What you are going through must be really trying. Hang in there, mama.

[mattjule]

I was writing the same time you were, but it worked out pretty well concerning the nursing question!

Matt got me Adventures in Tandem Nursing for Mother's Day and while I think I could have muddled through without it, it has been nice to have a heads up for possible problems. Silly thing is, he had to get it for me as a gift b/c I was too cheap to buy it but it is definitely worth it if you can scrape together the cash. Or maybe your local LLL group has a copy.

[3girlsmommy]

Anyone else kind of irritated that they haven't received anything for a 2nd (or 3rd, etc) baby? It isn't the stuff, I really don't need anything, but the lack of recognition really bothers me. It hurts my feelings that no one has taken the 5 minutes to send a card to say, "hey, we think this baby is just as special as your first". Being a 2nd child whose older sibling got lavished with attention, I guess I am hypersensitive to it, but I'd like to be able to tell this child someday "so and so made this just for you" or "we got so many cards from ppl that were glad you were coming". As is, I have made him some things, but other than that everything handmade or carefully thought out is Tain's. Pretty sucky birthright if you ask me. I am hoping that since we live out of state now ppl just don't know and when they receive the announcements, we will get some sort of communication. Like I said, I don't care about actual gifts, just that ppl support this baby like they did for Tain. Ppl I didn't know got Tain gifts and this poor baby hasn't received anything from close relatives, let alone strangers..

Julie- Most of my family hasn't even acknowledged my second dd's birth and that was over 2 years ago. :( I would have been happy w/ a card. This time around most of them haven't even acknowledged that I'm pregnant. It makes me sad because I think every baby is special and a true miracle.

[eilonwy]

Anyone else kind of irritated that they haven't received anything for a 2nd (or 3rd, etc) baby? It isn't the stuff, I really don't need anything, but the lack of recognition really bothers me. It hurts my feelings that no one has taken the 5 minutes to send a card to say, "hey, we think this baby is just as special as your first". Being a 2nd child whose older sibling got lavished with attention, I guess I am hypersensitive to it, but I'd like to be able to tell this child someday "so and so made this just for you" or "we got so many cards from ppl that were glad you were coming". As is, I have made him some things, but other than that everything handmade or carefully thought out is Tain's. Pretty sucky birthright if you ask me. I am hoping that since we live out of state now ppl just don't know and when they receive the announcements, we will get some sort of communication. Like I said, I don't care about actual gifts, just that ppl support this baby like they did for Tain. Ppl I didn't know got Tain gifts and this poor baby hasn't received anything from close relatives, let alone strangers.

It feels strange to me that the only people who've been excited about NewBean's impending arrival are here. I think that Mike's grandmother is making/has made her a blanket, as she's crocheted one for each great-grandchild except the most recent (she was adopted, so GMIL made a special embroidered blanket for her, because "her mother didn't get the pleasure of carrying and birthing her herself" :love). She's a really sweet woman! All of her grandchildren (including Mike & SIL) have beautiful handmade, heirloom-quality quilts and I'm sure that if she was still able to quilt, she'd be making them for the great-grandchildren too.

I know that Mike's parents aren't thrilled that we're going forth with our family plans without the blessing of their church, so I think that explains them.. Eli was exciting anyway because he was their first grandchild, after years of thinking they would never have any at all, and because he was just one baby, they could pretend that it was an accident. :lol: :eyesroll This time, not only can they not pretend that it's an accident, but they knew that we were actively ttc (because Mike was really excited and he told them when we started back in June of last year! :lol: ). So I guess the closest they come to being excited is praying for our souls. Well, that's not strictly true; MIL is pretty pleased to be having another grandchild on the way, even if the circumstances aren't her ideal ones. :lol: SIL, on the other hand.. I'm absolutely certain that *every time* she goes to church or prays (I think they might pray every day at her school) she prays for Mike at least to find Jesus again (not that Mike feels like he's lost him). :eyesroll At least she's stopped singing "Jesus Loves Me" to Eli every time Mike and I are both out of the room. :eyesroll

[LizD]

yes, we are also the chopped liver branch of the family. My mother-in-law is staying nearby at the end of June for a week. Not to see the baby (she hasn't mentioned that unless I mention it first) or help us out or even give my daughter, her first grandchild, some attention, but to bring her other granddaughter (*the* grandchild) who lives down the hall from her out of the city for a week to do some special things and see the family. She did buy us the packnplay we asked for and some baby clothes but otherwise does not betray any excitement or interest at all. When my sister in law was pg a few months ago (early m/c), my mil talked volumes about how she had to change her plans about going back to Europe and how excited she was to have another grandchild and how she would be there for the birth and to help. What amazes me is she said these things to *me,* in front of my kid, and we're having a baby sooner and she wasn't going to be in the country even, but now my niece needs a weekend away with grandma. ugh.

It makes you think, well you don't want these kinds of people around spoiling things anyway, but it still smarts. And I see no need to make my daughter feel her sibling is not important to the family.

My friends have asked what we need and want, and are happy to get what we asked for (gift certs to bru or diaperaps) and really nice about it besides. My own "family" has not even acknowledged news of my pregnancy, so at least my inlaws do ask how I feel and if we have everything we need (though nothing happens when we say no, we don't, not at all. :) ) I don't mean to sound terribly greedy but it does feel a little lonely, especially for us, ten years after the first you'd think people would realize it is a lot like starting all over in a practical sense. Again, it's not about the gifts but about being excited and happy for us- strangers are more interested in my pregnancy and plans and what sorts of things I have ready than our own families! It makes me wonder just what kind of relationship they want or expect to have with this new person.

[crunchywannabe]

on nipple stimulation--
I have heard that nursing isn't as effective but that regular stimulation (ie: you or dh's hands) and that pumping works better.

In fact, I recommend a friend do it and her water broke within an hour! LOL (the pumping that is)

good luck to all the dh's! :lol:

[shelbean91]

Hi everyone- I think I may be the first June mama to deliver, please correct me if I'm wrong. Baby was born on 5/11 and I posted his birth story. Here's the link if anyone is interested. Good luck to everyone- may the babies be born quickly and healthy.

http://mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=147221

[seedling]

Michelle,

Congrats on your new baby boy! I'm sorry things didn't go as you planned/expected. I can only imagine how that must feel. But it sounds like one of those situations where a C was truly needed. I hope you recover very quickly and that Seth is nursing like a champ in no time.

Congrats again!

[3girlsmommy]

Michelle- Congrats on the birth of your son, our first June baby!! :) I hope all is going well and you are enjoying your baby moon!!

[Queen of Cups]

Congrats, Michelle! I'm so impressed with the way you handled yourself. It sounds like you were able to make informed, intelligent, rational decisions in a very difficult time.

DH and I went out for spicy Thai food and a movie for our anniversary. We're going to go to bed and BD, and see if we have some anniversary luck!

Good night, all!

[liz-hippymom]

i am still here...sigh

donna- i was on the ttc boards too! :)

i am so done with this pregnancy!! done done done....
i have a midwife visit tomarrow.. i wish shed strip my membranes..i am pretty sure shell only do that if i am late..i got a neg test for GBS so i would love a strip..hehe

heres hoping-

QOC--- i am totally feeling for you!!!! i hope you get your baby ASAP!!!!!!

[Greaseball]

Congratulations on the first baby!

Please please please let me be 2nd or 3rd!

[ksjhwkr]

Michelle,

Congratulations on your sweet new baby! We also love the name Seth and if this baby is a boy, that will be his name! :)

I also had a c-section with my daughter. She was footling breech when my water broke. There are times when they are necessary and it sounds like yours was one of those. Emma was a very sleepy baby also and thus hard to nurse, I hope that Seth gets the hang of it and wakes up soon! :)
As I was reading your story I was remembering all of what you described, the not being able to breathe, the shakes and the itching!!! OH the itching was SO bad. WHen we got home from the hospital, my nose was peeling I'd scratched it so much!
I am glad that you and baby are both healthy. Get as much rest as you can sweetie, I know it isn't an easy recovery...I can't imagine what it is like with 2 other children to take care of. :hug

Well, I've been having LOTS of contractions lately. And today, I started nesting. I was pretty surprised. I did dishes, laundry (washed, dried, folded and put away..big deal in this house :) ), cleaned my bedroom and made my bed. Then, I was really sore and couldn't do anything else. But, I have all this danged energy! ARGH!
I really wanted to do belly pictures again with this baby, I did them when I was pg with Emma - a good friend did the pics for me for free. But, since we've moved, I didn't know where to go or what to do. Well, I found a lady here who is a professional photographer and she wants to start doing pregnancy pictures. So, she offered to do mine for me for $45!!!! That is including all the prints, pictures on disk and negatives! I am SO excited! We're doing them on May 29. I will be 36+5 weeks pg then. We did them when I was 36+3 weeks with Emma. I am SO excited. So, any ideas you all have for poses, I'd love to hear. Or, if you know of any good links with pregnant pictures, I'd love to see them.

Ok QoC....I am sending you all the labor vibes I can find laying around my house! I don't need them for a while, and with all the cleaning I've been doing I've found a few! :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~LABOR VIBES~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[rubelin]

Michelle congrats at your sweet bundle. I'm sorry it went so unexpectedly, but glad he's doing well! May your recovery be swift and easy!

Jules, I am so there with the 2nd child stuff right now. For us it is also compunded by the fact that BIL & SIL (Dan's step-brother) just had a baby on Friday, and most of that side of the family seems to be concentrating more on them. My GF offered to host a momma blessing for me months ago but forgot all about it, so we've had no shower or anything. With so much buzz over Benny's birth (he was the first all around) it feels like such a let down that nobody seems interested in this baby much at all (who is a lot lower on the totem pole). It's not really about gifts but it is really hard to have to buy everything ourselves, nobody has even asked if we registered anywhere. I'm hoping things will change once he's here, maybe people will come out of the woodwork. It's just annoying that my GFs are more excited about this babe than my inlaws :p

I lost some plug last night :D I discovered it as I was feeling resigned that labor was far in the future and that I don't want my MWs to check me tomorrow cause I don't want to get my hopes up of find that nothing is happening. I feel really stupid about Sunday night, and peeved that 10 hrs of contracting went nowhere. Then I wiped and said "than again..." Man, it is such a roller coaster. I feel like am right back at the end of Ben's pregnancy and that if the MWs tell me I'm in labor and they have to break my membranes I will let them :eyesroll:

Oh, I also got the pool cleaned out (Ben had dumped so much crud in there!) and filled with warm water and Ben & I played for a while, the temp was nice, though I think I'll want it warmer to use for labor so we'll only add boiling water. It's all covered up and the filter should arrive in a day or so, hopefully that will keep it clean enough to not have to dump out again for a while (I had to bail out almost the whole thing, not fun!)

I was browsing though a mag. tonight and came across a coupon for JCP photos. I'm thinking of taking Ben over and getting some belly shots and momma/Benny shots for Father's Day (and because I don't have any preggo pics yet!) Only problem is Ben needs a haircut badly and I don't know if I can work all that into our schedule. Geez, I keep finding reasons that the baby needs to wait, I wish it were all enough to get my mind off labor, lol!

Alrighty, better finish up here. Hope you all have a peaceful (and possibly productive!) night!

[Queen of Cups]

Ugh, anyone else have a sudden re-onset of heartburn?? We had our spicy meal last night and I felt find until it was time to go to sleep. My heartburn was so bad I couldn't lie down for an hour or two - I had to sit in a chair and try not to vomit. It had been over 6 hours since I ate, though! This morning its still here. What finally helped was a relaxation CD from the Hypnobabies program...

[eilonwy]

Our first June baby! Should we make a sticky-list of who's gone and who hasn't?

If the hands or pump are the best way to do nipple stimulation, I guess I should add it to my list of things that aren't going to happen. :LOL Not only is nursing the only thing I can tolerate, but Eli dives for my nipples every time they're even close to being visible. :LOL No one's ever been so excited to see me take my shirt off as Eli is every single time! :LOL

QoC, my heartburn has been soooo bad lately! All I want to do is sit around eating toast. :LOL I'm right there with you.

I suppose that, all things considered, Mike and I are really very lucky on the IL front. See, Mike has one sister who is older than he is (37) and who's never even had a serious boyfriend, to say nothing of prospects for marriage. In fact, I was the first prospect for grandchildren to come into their lives. So even while they disapprove, they're thinking "at least we have grandchildren! finally!" :LOL they married very young, and they were certainly expecting/hoping for grandbabies sooner than this! mike says that they never pressured either him or his sister, but every year that passed he could feel their disappoinjtment at having produced two children with no interest in having children of their own.

my own mother, while not overly excited, is not un-excited either. eli was grandbaby #4 for her; newbean will be #5 and #6 will arrive in dec. eli and newbean, however, were the first (and thus far only) planned, result-of-a-stable-relationship grandbabies. being the fourth grandbaby, with a stable and healthy family life, mom seems to expect more from eli than she does of the others, but she loves them all. eli didn't get lots of gifts or anything, but it's more because mom had no money than anything else. she's lending us the money to buy a minivan, interest free and we can pay back more slowly than we'd have to pay anyone else... that's kind of in honor of newbean's arrival. :LOL

at any rate, she wasn't expecting to become a grandmother the way she did, but she loves the grandkids. they're fun people, all of them. :LOL

my back is killing me, and i've been getting really depressed lately.. every little thing sets of tears and miseries. last night eli got banana all over newbean's birth sampler which is nearly finished! :angry if i try to wash it before i'm finished, it'll get messed up, and i couldn't work on it last night because i'd spread banana mess around even more... :splat i'm convinced that eli knows when i'm having a contraction, hwe always seems to choose those moments to do the things that will irritate me most!

[irishgreengables]

My dh is a saint. He has stayed lat eint he mornings for a few weeks now to get kids up and dressed and fed so I can sleep in. I am pretty lucky!

His mother, OTOH, YIKES! for in-law. Let me preface this by saying she is our childrens' ONLY grandparent and dh is her ONLY child. Well... her granddaughter just clebrated her 4th birthday, but FIRST EVER birthday celebration (since she just came home to us last July) and she just thought it would be too much trouble to come (granted she lives 6 hours away -- but still). Re: new birth: she will come IF she can come the weekend her boyfriend will be away on a fishing trip. Otherwise, she doesn't want to leave him. He is 56 BTW and very healthy -- she is just obsessed with him. She also told us she refused to make/buy anything for the baby until we told her the gender. And then there are the comments like these: When we told her we were adopting, she said, "oh....well I guess I'm happy for you." When we told her we were pregnant, she said, "You're shi**in' me!!" It has been a sad thing, but a the same time, has forced us to create our own very loving community, complete with grandparentish people, right here.

Yikes -- what is it with grandparents?

Peace,

[ksjhwkr]

Ugh, anyone else have a sudden re-onset of heartburn??

Re-onset??? Mine hasn't let up at all. Probably because the baby is still SO far up into my ribs and lungs. I am living on tums and papaya pills. Ugh. I hope you got some relief last night.

[Smithie]

"I know that Mike's parents aren't thrilled that we're going forth with our family plans without the blessing of their church, so I think that explains them..."

OK, you've mentioned this weirdness a couple of times, so I hope you don't mind my asking, Rynna, WTF is up with these people? Is it one of those things where only the 127 members of the East Podunk Pentecostal Oddballs congregation will be saved from the lake of fire, and all the rest of us heathen are going to burn? Because your family sounds pretty traditional and Godly to me, what with the monogamy and the Sunday School and such. Did you guys elect not to get legally married or something? Or are your in-laws just freaks?

[Doodlebugsmom]

Wow! Our first June baby! I can't wait to hear of more. Congrats Michelle!

After hearing many of your stories on in-laws and parents, I sure consider myself lucky. My parents are the greatest, my mom will certainly be ready to come as soon as we call her and my dad will spend as much time here as we want him too after the baby is born. He is a great help with dd, and she loves her grandaddy. I'm sure he'll be coming every few weeks for a night or two at a time. Oh yeah, they are both very cool with any parenting decisions I make and would never call them into question. My ils live far away, but they are great too.

Kim, I have been eating Tums like crazy too. It's either that or feel like I'm about to die. Seriously, my heartburn has been way more painful than my labor with dd was. I look forward to giving birth just to get a break from the heartburn!

[Greaseball]

Well, I had my 2-days-before-39-weeks appt, and the baby was almost in an LOA position, but moved during the exam! They said the head was really low, but when they found it, the baby moved back up. :( So discouraging...I thought I was getting near the end.

They also recommended liquid chlorophyll for extra calcium - does anyone know anything about it?

[Mummoth]

Oh yes... in-laws. My FIL is nice... I really, genuinely like him. MIL on the other hand, is a real peice of work. We started trying before we were married for Roland, because I have PCOS & we were told to expect it to take over a year. It happened right away!! So it was about 3 months before we were married, and over 6 months since we had announced our engagement when we went over to his parents to tell them our news. MIL said congratulations, and not 2 minutes later was talking about our prenuptial agreement. She had taken it upon herself to talk to her lawyer, and he was getting started on it. DH & I hadn't said a *single* word about a prenup... this was ALL her doing.

My mom & sister pretty much took over wedding plans while I dealt with it. I told DH that I wouldn't have thought tw