UC---kinda!

610 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by TzippityDoulah, Dec 7, 2008

abc123xyz

Discussion Starter · Dec 2, 2008

HI there! We are just now able to TTC again for baby #2 and so excited! Both my husband and I are over the moon about it! This Christmas we will be able to find out if we are pregnant for the first time after having DS last Oct. So, yeah!!!

My inquiry to you wonderful ladies is this: We had a beautiful labor at home, transport and awful experience at hospital

:!!! I am best friends (now) with my midwife and she has had twins since our birth and has stopped midwifing (funny word) except she definitely is going to be there for our birth. Here's the deal though: She is not going to do my prenatals (I will do them myself and she will check the baby when we visit together about once a month) and it is going to be as if it were an UC aside from having a medically trained midwife present as a friend but in the event that something would go wrong, she would intervene! I like the whole idea. I just wonder if anyone else has had this experience?? It definitely will save us money on a midwife this time around, which is a good thing and I am very excited about it!!!

Another question is: What do you check while pregnant yourself?? I already plan to do the urine strips, fetoscope, BP, pulse...what else??? I know she checked position and baby's heart rate which will be hard for me to do by myself since I can't feel the baby that well on my own, at least with the last baby) and without position will be hard to find heartbeat...I think! Anyways, any good links or threads to help with all of this stuff would be totally welcomed! I am so looking forward to this next pregnancy and really can't wait. It will be my Birthday/Christmas miracle gift and healing experience from the last!!!

Thanks so much ladies! Looking forward to meeting you all and having good conversation about this new experience!!!

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tammyswanson

· #2 · Dec 4, 2008

Nope! My UC was 100 percent UC, except hubby was there, at least he was until I kicked him out of the bathroom!

My DH wanted a midwife there, and I did a half hearted search for one that would come all the way down here, but we didn't need one. I'm so glad I did a UC, when I was laboring I didn't want anyone around, lol!

Good luck with your pregnancy and birth!

Just trust your instincts, best thing to do.

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cathicog

· #3 · Dec 4, 2008

Weight. Not that it is that big a deal, but you would want to know if you were gaining a lot of weight quickly at the end of your pg, that might be an indication of pre-eclampsia(but good diet would generally eliminate that possibility).

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abc123xyz

Discussion Starter · #4 · Dec 4, 2008

Thanks!

Tammyswanson: I already have a midwife from our last birth and she has become one of my very best friends since the birth of my son so she will definitely be there along with a couple other close friends. I am so not modest and like influencing others with my experiences so I am okay with it. But with my first, I totally know what you are saying because I thought I would be way uncomfortable with having people around but I got over it real quick! LOL!!!

Cathicog: I have a baseline for my weight and bp and stuff like that but weight doesn't bother me too much. Especially with pre-eclampsia unless there is much swelling or hbp. Also, chicken in excess will pretty much combat that and who knows if I will be up for meat this time around but I haven't eaten meat really since I was pregnant with my son cause it grossed me out. So I know what you are saying about weight...I gained alot with my first but lost more than I gained and am still losing so hopefully this time will be better!

Thanks so much for your advise! I appreciate it! Hope to hear from others!

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rixafreeze

· #5 · Dec 5, 2008

Fundal height (if it hasn't already been mentioned). It's easy to keep track of with a sewing/dressmaking tape. If you're +/- a few cms when you measure, you're good but if you're measuing 50 cms at 38 weeks, you'd know something funky is up! (Twins, polyhydramnios, etc).

I found that using a fetoscope helped me figure out the baby's position, because there is only a small area where you can hear the heartbeat. So once you know where the baby's heart/chest is, you can figure out things like if it's head up or head down, which side of the uterus it's lying on, etc. Dopplers tend to pick up sounds from a wider range away from the heart, so that's one reason I like fetoscopes.

I also like to check hemoglobin (iron) levels early in pregnancy and then again around 28 weeks. You want to see a drop in the hg level, which indicates that you have an adequate blood volume expansion. If it's stable or rising, that is very worrisome and you can work ASAP on upping your nutrition, especially calories and protein, to help your blood volume expand properly.

Sounds like you have a great situation going for you!

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abc123xyz

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 5, 2008

Thanks for the thoughts rixafreeze!!! I didn't think about any of that...in the back of my mind I guess I did but thanks for bringing those things up. I will definitely measure...surely my midwife/friend will do that when we do visit occassionally. But I want to have good records for myself for comparison. Do you know any place I can look for the fetal positions of the baby like a chart or something? I plan on getting or borrowing a doppler and buying a fetoscope as well so it will be helpful to have a visual of what I am looking for!

How exactly do you check iron levels? Finger prick? I will need to look into that.
That's a great idea. my iron ran a little low last pregnancy toward the end so I supplemented but if I don't need to do that again, that would be excellent since I hated drinking down that liquid iron!

Thanks again so much!

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rixafreeze

· #7 · Dec 6, 2008

Spinning babies (which was down at one point) had great information on belly mapping to figure out baby's position.

You can check iron levels with a finger-prick hemoglobinometer, which your midwife friend might own. You could also ask your family doctor to check it; they might order a blood draw to do a CBC (complete blood count), which is more accurate than the finger prick method. Any other ways to get iron levels checked? Can county health clinics or crisis pregnancy centers do it?

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TzippityDoulah

· #8 · Dec 7, 2008

I don't check anything unless it gives me reason to worry that it needs checking...I had a blood test to check on my levels at 9 week b/c I had cramping and bleeding. turns out it was just freak and it went away after 4 days. that's about it thus far.

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