October 2010 Ready or Not, Here We Come

[ILoveGregoryHouse]

You can't hide....

Dilly that's horrid. I have to admit that my wish for a cs far exceeds that for any sort of induction (apart from sweeps) as I'm a control freak - all or nothing for me. Sorry it's so upsetting.

My cervix and baby position are similar to yours. I have the luxury of waiting for spontaneous labour though as I'm just being daft as opposed to having real problems. If I were you, I'd be tempted to ask for cs. Have you posted on childbirth board - many more wise opinions than mine there I would expect.

DH home soon. He's on a promise as doc said that's the best way to encourage dd to make an appearance. And she's going to check on my homework assignment next week. Best make sure my mum's not in the room eh? I mean with the doc, not DH .

Dilly Oh gosh, I'm sorry that it's come to this. I don't know really what to say. On one hand I've heard such good things about electives though that if one were offered to me I would seriously consider it. I don't know what your consultant would say though. I have also heard good induction stories as well, it doesn't have to be doom and gloom and they can go perfectly fine. Have they given you any other options apart from the induction?

Dilly That's really hard. I only have experience of cs and mine was 'urgent' - not emergency, but had to happen quickly. I really want a vbac as I didn't enjoy the cs (I'm trying to be honest here, and not to say things to worry you). For me I think I didn't have my time to get my head round it, and I personally found the recovery hard, not so much with pain, but with not being able to drive/ get out as it took me a while to heal, but I think in your position, I would be tempted for an ecs if you felt your body wasn't ready enough.

Best case: Induction works well (as it does for many) and baby born no problems.
ECS: You know what's going to happen and more or less when, and can prepare mentally for it and can get things ready at home.
Worst case: Induction doesn't work well, labour tires you and you end up woth cs anyway, which might make recovery harder.

Hope you don't mind me writing this, I have been talking to friends about it for if I end up needing a cs (although they won't induce me 'chemically').

I've just done an exercise dvd! I got it at the start of my pregnancy, but had to shelve it when I had a lot of bleeding especially with ds being early. Figured it won't matter if it causes labout now!! Funny thing is, walking exhausts me, but this left me with the exercise buzz! I feel really good now.

Sam I felt unmotivated like that, but last week suddenly felt the urge to clean the house! It's getting messy again now, though...

Here's to more babies soon!! (Hopefully mine!!!)

I think I am gonna be late. Apart from being a lardy lump (eg dog walk which should take 30mins takes me an hour) my body doesn't seem ready or different. Aside from the loo breaks upping the ante and my bump dropping a little everything else seems the same.

Desperately need to plan an activity for next week. Mainly so I can not focus on it being the big day as it won't happen.

sam I can imagine the same happening to me with all the enquiries!!!

I quite fancy a bath but I am home alone and don't fancy getting stuck in it til HI returns!

Dilly I am so sorry, this is really difficult for you. My DH would say 'it is what it is'. It sounds like you have two main options; you can be induced or you can choose to have caesaran. If I were you I would write a list of the pros and cons of each option. For example, if you opt for induction it's a con that your baby isn't engaged at the moment. Neither are choices that you would have made, however, they are the only two you have, so you will need try to work out which you are most comfortable with. For what's it's worth, having been through labour twice already, I would probably opt for an elective section due to the chances of success with induction being a little reduced. I hope that you have a good evening and that you are able to work through your ideas. The most positive part is that your baby, one way or another will be born Wednesday/Thursday, which is lovely and which is the most important part.

Well, nothing here as yet so perhaps it's just all of the cleaning I've been doing making my lower back ache! Lots of BH (more than I'm used to) but I guess this could go on for a week or so right?

Dilly - I'm so sorry the consultant you spoke to left you feeling like this and being made to make such a difficult decision. Sounds very scaremongery too re: bringing up forceps, ventouse, epidural etc etc - seems he laid it on a bit thick!

Having experienced last time a very slow labour (literally no dilation despite strong contractions for over 12 hours) followed by synctonin, epidural, etc etc and then ECS I might be more inclined to go for CS - which I was all set up to do this time when my placenta was still reckoned too low. I've heard very good stories of planned CS - and you also have heard Nymphadoras heartwarming one of course. I'm attempting a VBAC this time because everything is normal for me (as it was last time) and I'd like to have a chance to see if my body can do it. But if things don't progress I will end up with CS as they don't induce or speed up VBAC labours with chemicals.

Whatever you decide SamB is right, the most important thing is you'll have your baby soon!

Thanks so much everyone, that really helps, I'm feeling much more relaxed now, thank heavens! Personally I reckon if we get to Thursday morning with no reaction to the pessaries and LO's head still not really engaged then I'll ask for CS, can't see the point otherwise and I think they'll go for it. After all the whole idea is to keep my BP down (that's why I have to have the epidural) so I think we have to do whatever's easiest and most 'mellow'! And I realise it could all change at any time, after all I'm in for monitoring again tomorrow so who knows...

Now, who could provide a welcome distraction by having another baby, eh?!

xxx

Glad you feeling more relaxed about it dilly it sounds like you are getting your head around what is a difficult decision.

My dad and his girlfriend are cleaning and unpacking the kitchen for me as my pains have been getting stronger- they aren't regular about every hour or so and I have just had a show as well but am pleased that despite my lack of motivation some of the house is getting done

Dilly so sorry you have had such a tough day and such a decision to make. No real advice to offer as haven't experienced either an induction or cs but it sounds like you are thinking through your options. Hope you have lots of support in RL to help you too

I'm 38 weeks today but no signs as yet. Seeing the midwife tomorrow and am hoping she will tell me that the baby is no longer back-to-back, if not there is a kitchen floor with my name on it tomorrow afternoon. I actually seem to have more energy at the moment than I have in a while - did quite a lot of sorting out and cleaning kitchen cupboards at the weekend.

Hope everyone has a good night (or as good as can be expected with either feeding babies or late pregnancy symptoms :)

Hey dilly. So sorry for not commenting on your q's before, figured that as a first timer I couldn't add anything of value. It will all be alright on the night and I look forward to Reading your birth announcement in a coupla days time!

I keep wondering what junior looks like. HI is getting impatient and we still have a week to go! If not three weeks!

Dilly I think you are wise to try the induction first. The recovery from a cs is really annoying, although I know mine has been complicated by the cyst as I've effectively had two operations in one. So I don't want to scare you too much. Really wishing you good luck with it.

Had the hv today and joy of joys, dd has gained weight again. Small amount, 3oz in three days, but its heading the right way. I'm starting to have faith we can do this. I sat in the garden this afternoon feeding her in the sunshine and it was lovely.

Hi dilly - it's really tough to know what to do. The worse case scenarios in both options don't bare thinking about, and its hard to then remember the best case scenarios.

Fwiw I had to make this decision mid labour and dh had to firmly remind me we had discussed cs if at all poss - I'm now pleased we tried induction as I avoided instrumental delivery and cs, so now feel great compared to recovering from surgery. But I was lucky, and the out come could have been v different.

I'm rambling, I guess what I'm trying to say is I totally empathize with you, and I wish I had a crystal ball and tell you what your recovery will be like. I'll just have to pass the chocolate over instead :)

Other news-I forgot how much ds ruined my nipples - dd has tongue tie and it farking hurts! Oh well...it does get better I know, and dd booked for op this week hurray!

Sorry, we had discussed to AVOID cs at all costs (I was begging for the time lol)

Hey all, DH fast asleep, lucky him but I'm up with you! Thanks again for comments, I suppose the bit you don't know is that as well as SPD I have vulvodynia (sore fanny for no reason, basically) and have had 2 surgeries on my urethra cos it narrowed and narrowed until I could hardly pee (we don't know why)... so the thought of anyone going anywhere near my poor beleaguered fanjo with instruments just freaks me out - I feel like I'll never have sex/walk/pee again (take your pick....) I realise lots of women would just have said 'right, ELCS' from the start but I felt like I could manage labour if I could keep away from episiotomies and forceps and all that malarkey...

I know induction could go great, I think what worried me was what the consultant said 'We will induce you, we will give you epidural because it will lower your blood pressure, and so on...(forceps etc)' and that's where problems could arise - much more likely to end up with instrumental delivery with epidural...I think I need to talk to the hospital again. I have to go in to be monitored tomorrow so I could talk to the midwives on the maternity day unit, maybe they can help?

Got lovely backache/period pain sitting here... I'll just quietly go into labour and have the baby here while no one's looking

Ooooh, when can DD get the tongue tie sorted Seashells?
Fab news about the weight gain Floozie

Ooh aibu by stealth dilly you are sooooo not bu to want a cs then!

Floozie- that's really good news!

Waves at all neebies oldies etc etc end of feed so signing off for now xxx

congrats to all the new mummies, beauiful name choices! :)

Dilly sorry you are in this position, I personally would try and get them to break the waters first as they did with me and I never needed the induction in the end. Thinking of you for wednesday x

heh heh, yeah Seashells but you know I'm scared of the AIBU thread! Anyhoo, have just done the sensible thing and gone off and read up on the vulvodynia websites and it looks like there is no reason to be afraid of vaginal birth, though the less interference with instruments and household appliances the better, and I must be a brave brave mouse and just talk to the ruddy doctors or whoever about it... God, who knew I was capable of being this afraid of labour? I wasn't scared when I was planning to do it with no pain relief beyond G&A (not G&T despite that new research....)

I am in favour of anaesthesia by G&T anytime.

Dilly I was thinking about your situation in the night when I couldn't sleep. I wanted to say that with DD1 I had an epidural. I did need a drip to keep the contractions going, but towards the end I was weaned off it a little so that I felt the urge to push. Although there is an increased risk of an instrumental delivery, I didn't need one. I was turned onto my left side for the delivery which apparantly helps and I wasn't pushing for very long at all. I did tear a bit, but that could of happened whether I had an epidural or not. So it might not be as bad as the consultant made out, I guess that they wanted to make sure you were aware of all of the facts, but went a little over the top.

Thanks SamanthaB that's a top tip! Sorry you couldn't sleep though! That story really helps, it sounds like it doesn't need to be as black and white as this guy said.

LOl at silver do you think they'd be shocked at the hosp if I turned up with a hip flask?!

dilly I think if you haven't made any progress with induction a c-section would be worth discussing. Is the MW approachable to go through it all with you?

Today's tips
Be careful with tv viewing post baby. Single Father not good especially around day 4 with excess of hormones. Mock the Week needs painkillers and avoid feeding at the same time.

Nymph I was in floods over Single Father, you must have been beside yourself!!! The MWs are lovely, I'll talk to them on Maternity Day Unit today, and otherwise can phone my community mw.

Dilly I am used to not sleeping - the baby has me in training for what lies ahead .

I don't want to get anyone's hopes up (mine mainly) but I am distinctly very uncomfortable today. Had periody pain in the night (or did I dream it???) and have lower tummy and back period pain this morning. I am bouncing for England at the moment in the vain hope that this might be it. I am quite distracted by the discomfort in fact.

O god good luck SamanthaB that does sound good!!!

So SamB good luck , distinct shortage of birth announcements on this thread at the moment!