November 2013 babies!

[Lizzie Lizard]

Thanks, Babygirl!!! I think all you girls should be counselors! You are so good! You are right, nothing is for sure yet. I will try to simmer with this. But I think I am just protecting myself in the end for major GD.

xoxo

[Teacup]

I'm trying the denial thing to protect from
gd. When's everyone's scans?
Everyone says girl by nub but I can't believe it...
I also got some due date stuff in the post today for my last loss.
As if this week wasn't hard enough

[Lizzie Lizard]

So sorry about your loss, Teacup. That is a lot to deal with in 1 week.

[zem7]

Hey I was wondering if you ladies would take a look at a birth plan I have been working on? Would like to hear comments on things you like or think I need to change on it. Thanks all!!

About me:
~~I have had four children; I only had to receive 3 stitches with my first and none with the next three children. I have had an epidural for all 4 of my deliveries, but I would like this one to be different.

Birth Preferences:
~~I understand that labor and birth are unpredictable and ultimately want the health and safety of both the baby and I to take precedence. In all non-emergency situations, all proposed procedures are to be discussed (benefits and risks) so I can direct the decision making with informed consent.
Your help with these preferences is very much appreciated.

Labor:
~~I intend to have as natural labor as possible – including freedom of movement, intermittent monitoring, a saline lock instead of an on-going IV, and clear liquids as tolerated.
~~Please accept my request that pain medication not be offered to me. If I eventually want drugs or an epidural, I’ll be the first to ask for it and understand that options change as labor progresses.
~~If available, I would like to try different positions for laboring; birthing chair, birthing ball, squatting bar, shower/tub, and walking halls. If you would have any suggestions on non medicated ways to relieve pain, you are welcome to suggest them.

Birth:
~~Please do not direct my pushing with counting or yelling.
~~I strongly prefer a tear to an episiotomy and do not want a local anesthetic administered to the perineum.
~~I plan to be as active during pushing & delivery as possible, including choosing productive positions.
~~ I would like to have the baby brought to my chest immediately for initial procedures and to nurse to see if it works to contract my uterus, delaying pitocin until we know.
~~I want to delay clamping and cutting the cord until it has stopped pulsating. My husband wants to cut the cord.

If Cesarean Is Required:
~~I would like my husband present at all times during the operation.
~~I would like to have a mirror so I can watch the entire operation and birth of my baby. I would also like the screen lowered so I can see the delivery.
~~As health permits, I would like to have skin-to-skin contact with the baby, to stay together during repair and recovery and to breastfeed during the initial recovery period.

Baby Care:
~~We would like to spend as much time as possible with our baby after birth before being taken for procedures and will be breastfeeding, so please refrain from giving bottles.
~~I would like to be present for all newborn exams. If I cannot be, my husband is to stay with the baby at all times.
~~I would like to meet with a lactation consultant before leaving the hospital to have techniques checked.
~~Mom, Dad and Baby would like to all stay in the same private room until discharge unless we request that the baby be brought to the nursery.
~~We prefer that our stay at the hospital be extended to the longest our insurance will allow, to give me time to recover before returning home. We ask that our children be allowed to visit.

[zem7]

Its only 1 page lol sorry it looks so long on here.

[bythestream]

I think that looks great Zem. I've always wondered what giving birth in the US is like since watching one born every minute USA. Do they really pressure people to have interventions as much as on the show? I've had two natural births no drugs and the midwives in my hospital were very hands off, especially with my second (my first was induced). I was never offered drugs with either even though I didn't specify I didn't want them.

I'm going to ask about delayed cord clamping too. Where we are you are with bub all the time unless something is wrong and the baby needs to be taken to NICU, or the night midwives ask if you want a break.

[zem7]

Honestly it depends on the hospital, dr/mw you have. I had a mw for only one of my pregnancies (the only time one has been around for me to have). The other pregnancies, this one also, I have a dr. Sorry for the words in advance. Some are pricks! They know what they want, don't care what you want. I have had only 1 dr. that I have liked, don't know what I think of this one so far. BUT not even a guarantee that I will have him, so, I may get a dr. I have never seen before. Its all on the luck of the draw. I loved my MW though, that I would say was my best experience, even though I still ended up with an epi. I am a wimp, this time I am hoping to read up more and learn more ways to cope. Any suggestions on good books to read?

[bythestream]

I read a couple of books when I was pregnant with ds1 but I can't remember what they were called. They weren't amazing though, but the one thing I did pick up that helped both times was using a stress ball and squeezing it while I counted out the contractions. It's a great distraction. Hypnobirthing is supposed to be good, you could look up books on that. Hopefully some of the other ladies will have suggestions.

[squamgirl]

Hi zem!

I'm trying to go for an unmedicated delivery this time also.

DS #1- got the epidural early on and it was so heavy that I couldn't move my legs for FOUR hours after delivery (making it about 9+ hours after getting the darn thing).

DS #2- I tried Hypnobirthing. But he came almost a month early, so I missed some of my practice/prep time. But I still did pretty well for the first 17 hours of labor, but then my dr was worried about the progress since my water had broken so early on. Since I was stalled at a five and had been for quite awhile, I decided to go with pitocin, but got an epidural first. It took an hour to place the epidural. Just the epidural alone was enough to relax me enough for labor to speed up (they barely even started the pitocin) and an hour later DS came along with two pushes.

This time I'm hoping to go unmedicated. I'm reading the hypnobirthing book again, but I'm also considering taking a childbirth class called Birth Boot Camp (Birth Boot Camp® Natural Childbirth Education Classes - Online and Instructor-led)

I hope you're able to get the labor and delivery that you're dreaming of.

[zem7]

Thanks all, if you want to see what my births were like I posted them on here. its called The birth stories of my 4 babies. you can find it in the second page of posts that I have made, by clicking on my name. On a different note, I can NOT stop eating dark chocolate.....