[Captain_Crunch]

Because I beleive that pregnancy is not an illness, I just don't see the point in going to a DR for prenatal care especially as I'd be giving birth unassisted and I really don't want to have to defend my birthing decision to anyone. So I'm just curious what everyones opinion was on Unassisted Pregnancy? And if you've UPed how did you go about it,like,did you monitor or test anything?

 

[arlecchina]

I'm UP this time

13 weeks into it and I feel I am doing PERFECTLY. I dont monitor though. I eat and take vitamins, drink water, walk lots, check b/p if I happen to see the machine at the pharmacy

etc. which is all I need to be doing IMO

But I saw a scale at the thrift store and weighed myself, so at least I know my weight as of now

 

[Sijae]

I did 100% UP with my UC baby and I didn't feel the need for any monitoring at all. No weighing, no measuring and no heartbeat checking. I was just pregnant and then I wasn't

That's what was comfortable for me.

Laura

 

[paxye]

I love having a UP... I feel so much closer to this babe, I love doing everything myself and just taking care of myself just like any other time...

I also like not having a "real" due date or thinking about what week and day I am... I just say sometime in the second half of November.. maybe...

 

[Captain_Crunch]

Thank you for your responses! It's comforting to meet others who share my beleifs, I come from a "medical" family(dad's a DR & mom's a RN) and they think UP&UC is insane so this board is a true god-send.

Paxye- I'm kinda like you... I don't like the idea of due dates because IMO babies come when they are good and ready, not when some "formula" says it's time.

Thank you ladies!

 

[Intertwined]

I am sort of having a UP. I have seen my OB for a visit, but we didn't do a prenatal. I will be 24 weeks when I see him again, and I will let him palpate, measure, and check heart tones and that's it. Mostly I am doing it for DH's comfort. If it were just me, I wouldn't see anyone at all.

 

[BirthFree]

I have LOVED doing a UP this time! Oh wow, it's been awesome. I don't know why exactly - the relief to know my body and follow it's signs... it's great. I did get a GBS test done and borrowed a blood sugar monitor from a MW friend, but that's it. I was going to monitor my pee sticks and bp but I never did end up doing that (laugh!). I could tell at one point I had low iron so I changed some things and felt fine.

Next time I do UP I think I'd like to do pee sticks every once in a while... but I just never got around to it this time.
~Julie

 

[L J]

I'm 17 weeks into my UP. I haven't seen a doctor once, although I did have an u/s at an independent place yesterday to determine the gender, and I am really happy I did that. It was so exciting!

(And its a boy!)

I have been taking my prenatals, eating right, drinking right, drinking herbal teas to relax me and strengthen my uterus, and exercising mildly (indoors, with this heat!) and I feel great.

I know on the mainstream due date club I post on, its just crazy how irrationally scared and nervous all of these women get before their appointments, and how they are all so worried and on pins and needles afterward waiting for results of various tests. I just can't see putting myself or my child through that kind of stress on a monthly basis.

I do not plan to do anything differently as my pregnancy progresses. Not checking my urine, not taking my BP, nothing. I trust that I will know if something is wrong, and I will cross that bridge if I come to it.

For now, I am happy, my child and I are both healthy, and we are bonding, and I am so happy that I don't have to deal with a doctor during this wonderfully special time.

 

[ErinBird]

This, my first pregnancy, is a UP. I have no intentions of seeking professional opinions before delivery ina few weeks.

I've done little monitoring, haven't felt the need to. I do weigh myself for the sake of curiousity. I pay attention to my dietary needs as they change and adjust to growing a child. I make effort to get some exercise most days, though I've been having trouble staying motivated as the pregnancy winds down to the last few weeks!

More of my preparation has been mental, and I'd like to think I'd be doing this even if this were an assisted pregnancy. I'm learning to listen better and to remain calm. I've learned to cope with discomforts better and to better communicate my thoughts and feelings to my DH. These things, I beleive, will prove useful in labor.

 

[normajean]

I am ttc but planning an UP. Dh is totally on board, since with previous two pregnancies, all the Dr office did was freak me out. They give you a list and say "call if this or this or this happens." I"d call, saying "this AND this AND this are all happening at once!" And they'd respond with "Well what do you think? You are PREGNANT! Its normal...."

Some very informative studies have been done on the usefulness of prenatal care. You can probably get them through ILL at your library, and you can get the abstracts on PubMed.

Fiscella K, Does prenatal care improve birth outcomes? A critical review, Obstet Gynecol 1995 Mar; 85(3): 468-79.

Gissler M, Hemminki E, Amount of antenatal care and infant outcome. Eur J Obstet Gynecol Reprod Biol 1994 Jul; 56(1):9-14.

Lindmark G, Nystrom L. Randomised controlled trial of a reduced-visits programme of antenatal care in Harare, Zimbabwe.Munjanja SP,Lancet. 1996 Oct 19;348(9034):1103.

 

[Intertwined]

Oh, I forgot to mention that I took my blood sugar the other night with a fellow doulas monitor (who lurks on here from time to time

) and it was well within normal range after 4 cups of lemonade and 3 brownies (

. I think I am ok as far as GD goes........

 

[CryPixie83]

I'm UP this time around. I saw a OB for the first half of my first pregnancy and midwives the second half. I am soooo less stressed this time around, not to mention I am more in tune with my body and more confident in my ability to grow and birth my baby.

I haven't really monitored anything. I do check fundal height, but that's purely out of curiosity

 

[DreamsInDigital]

This is my 4th pregnancy but my first UP. I had one prenatal and was just irritated at the whole process. I won't be seeing the midwife again.

 

[JanetF]

I just had a UP and LOVED it!! I had a hb MW with my first and she was pretty laidback but just being pregnant as part of my life and in no way having it measured or examined was MUCH cooler! My MIL said to me only yesterday that she was worried about me through my recent (perfect) pregnancy because I wasn't seeing "anyone" for it. I said, "Well what were they going to do???" The only thing she could think of was "Take your BP." and I said, "But I know how it feels if my BP gets high or low and if I thought there was a problem I'd have done something about it." She had 4 babies, unmedicated hospy births in the 1960s and doesn't believe she knows anything at all about birth. I find that sad

I often say to women (community birth educator) that if you're not going to act on the results of a test/examination then why have the test? I feel like that about my recent pregnancy. It was actually a really stressful time with my partner working interstate for most of it, us selling our house, buying another and moving interstate and me sole parenting our 2 yr old all that time but apart from occasional low iron (so I drank some Floradix) or high BP during the house auction (well duh!) or low BP in the mornings (lie down, drink lots of fluids) it was a perfectly ordinary pregnancy. I loved it! Topping it off with a totally unmedical birth was even better!!!

 

[shell024]

darn you ladies are making me jealous. I wanna be pg!

 

[trmpetplaya]

I'm thinking about having a UP/UC next time around... just need to convince dh and read up on both some more

:

love and peace.

 

[arlecchina]

Quote:

Originally Posted by L J I do not plan to do anything differently as my pregnancy progresses. Not checking my urine, not taking my BP, nothing. I trust that I will know if something is wrong, and I will cross that bridge if I come to it. For now, I am happy, my child and I are both healthy, and we are bonding, and I am so happy that I don't have to deal with a doctor during this wonderfully special time.

exactly, she said how I feel better than I can.

 

[Kidzaplenty]

I basically do UP, but, I do have a couple of prenatals at the beginning (for birth certificate purposes) to document a pregnancy.

I don't do any self testing, but I do weight myself once a week (this is just so I know how I am gaining or not gaining; I usually lose weight until my seventh month). But that's it.

It is wonderful to not be constrained in routine doctor visits that do no more than make you wait an hour just to pee in a cup!

 

[ericswifey27]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chantelhayes I am sort of having a UP. I have seen my OB for a visit, but we didn't do a prenatal. I will be 24 weeks when I see him again, and I will let him palpate, measure, and check heart tones and that's it. Mostly I am doing it for DH's comfort. If it were just me, I wouldn't see anyone at all.

I can see my dh freaking out if we did total UP too. I am also worried about pressure from doctors. What can or do you say? Do you tell your OB straight out you are having a unassisted homebirth or never mention it?

 

[boheime]

We have had UPs with both of our children. Dh has commented on how he feels sorry for couple who don't have UPs/UCs...because they lose out on so much. They look outside for answers when they should be connecting with the baby, when the woman should be listening to her body, when they should be holding their bond close, ....

We recently had a conversation about how medicalized pregnancies don't have the intimacy that pregnancy and birth should hold for the couple - so mainstream couples unconsciously try to hold onto something as their own...i.e. they will have all the tests, foolow whatever an sOB tells them, tell everone what sex their doctor said the baby was, but keep the name to theirselves - trying to have something just for them...

I love my dh!

mandy