Due August 2011, the waiting is nearly over, who will be the first to pop?!?!?

[KLou111]

On the final stretch ladies, the waiting is nearly over for the arrival of our beautiful bundles of joy :)

yukana I know a few small framed ppl who had big babies easily- I think the position of the baby plus the prior knowlege of the size helps. It's up to u but I have personally enquirer about bfeeding and general anaesthetic as I do not want an epidural- it shouldn't harm things regarding breast feeding. Plus 1 formula feed doesn't mean the end of breast feeding- one of my friends who breast fed for a year couldn't feed for the first week as her milk didnt come in! And trust me her boy took to breast feeding like a duck to water with a little perseverance!

Yukana I don't have any personal experience but my mum exclusively breastfed my sister without any problems after she was delivered by caesarian under general anaesthetic.

yukana whatever you feel is best for you I would do, its only you that really knows what you can put your body through. Is there no way you can be seen earlier than weds to discuss things?

Klou Sadly not, I was supposed to have an appointment made for today but there are none. So far I've had a pretty hectic mix of care, waiting times have been okay, but midwives haven't been informing me of my baby's development, and scans I was supposed to have much earlier on weren't looked into. The midwives have been kind don't get me wrong, but it's frustrating not being told what is happening in/to my own body.

I'm going to make sure I get some advice, and that my choice is heard this time. I believe there is a very good consultant available on wednesday that I have seen before, so if I do have to wait I hope things will look favorable.

Hello ladies!

Wow Klou111, take care and keep us updated!

Yukana, I agree with Firawla I would discuss it with a consultant and with an anaesthetist as well to see what is the best option you. Then of course you have to take the decision you feel right. Having a CS should not compromise your BF.

Who is getting a baby diary? Do you find it useful? I am thinking to get one but at the same time I?m not sure if I?ll be constant to fill it out? Any suggestions?

konatsu I've just got Babys First Year Journal by A.Christine Harris as I have the Pregnancy Journal too. Found it very useful so thought would stick with the same series. I got it this morning after winning it on eBay for 99p lol!

I've got My Baby's Journal from Foyles I think (got it at baby shower) Written a letter to baby which reads something like.. 'I love you but get out now'

lol rehune good idea that though :)

i had baby diaries for my 1st two but i hardly remember to fill it in properly, so then i come back to it and try to fill it in and i have already forgotten at what age did they do this or that.. but i am a bit crap like that

Klou111, 99p is really a bargain! Very well done!

Rehune, fantastic idea!

Firawla, it is exactly what I?m worried about, I know myself ?very excited at the beginning and then ? I?ll forget about it?

I also heard of baby first year wall calendars that can be filled with pictures as well as thoughts, maybe they will suit me more. They look like a big spreadsheet poster calendar by days. Have you seen them around?

yeah i got something like that free from some of the baby clubs actually, might have been hipp organic or something like that? they sent a really nice one with stickers to put onto the calender, with all different things already written on the stickers..
but i forgot to use it though! but they are nice

Firawla, thanks for the tip. I?ve just got registered there!

COngratulations LadyGoneGaga! Gorgeous name, hope she is settling in well.

konatsu I have had the 'Humphreys Corner' one for my two and bought it again for this one. I filled it in every month or so and adapted some of the layout to suit. Love looking back at them now and have already started this one (family tree, photo of me with big bump, scan pictures, photo of our house). It was the layout that suited me best after looking at a few.

Yukana as someone who has had both an induction and an ELCS I would personally go for ELCS as induction can often be the first of many interventions. There is a risk of haemorrhaging with ELCS. Personally I would not have an ELCS under general anaesthetic as the moment of birth is not something I would want to miss. I was someone who was nervous of needles before DS1 but since experiencing his birth I really don't mind them at all. When you have the spinal anaesthetic for an ELCS all you feel is a quick scratch when they put the local anaesthetic in your back then nothing. It was fine and my ELCS with DS2 was a really lovely calm and enjoyable birth, so much so that I'm not anywhere near as nervous about my next ELCS on the 8th August. They expect you to be nervous and I had a lovely midwife who chatted to me throughout the spinal to distract me, it was the bit I was most scared about but it was fine. With regard to breastfeeding, I successfully fed DS2 for months and my mum fed me for months even though her CS was under a general anaesthetic. I think that all you can do is read up on what happens and the pros and cons of both induction and ELCS (which is less risky than EMCS), so that you are as informed as possible for your appt on Wed. No one can really tell you which would be best as it's impossible to know unfortunately,so many factors involved. Good luck on Wednesday.

Yes littlemisslozza I also thought about having intervention, which I originally planned for a natural vaginal birth or water birth. Is the risk of haemorrhaging high for a caesarian? I'm worried about bleeding too much.

Reason why I mentioned general anaesthetic (even though I do want to be awake for the birth) is because someone coming near me with a needle will send me into a panic attack, plus me and DP are strongly against pain relief/methods that go into the spine.

I'd love to be able to have a normal birth if possible, but am terrified about the prospect of a large tear or heavy bleeding. It's very difficult to know what decision to make, my pregnancy has been uncomplicated but I suppose this is due to being uninformed most of the time. Thank you for writing your experience :)

Does anyone know if you are allowed to choose a time and/or date for a caesarian?

Yukana I've just looked in the NICE booklet (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) that you get given about CS if you need one. It has the reasons for CS and also pros and cons. It says that the risk of haemorrhage is about the same as for normal vaginal birth. If the consultant thought that CS was an option for you then they tend to do them at 39 weeks. They open the diary and pick the first day that they do ELCS (only Mon, Wed and Fri at my hospital) after you are 39 weeks in my experience! You don't get to choose the time, you go in at 8am and wait. You may be first or last on the list but barring an emergency CS taking precendence then even if you were last on the list the baby is likely to have been born by lunchtime.

Unfortunately natural birth is something you just cannot plan, you can simply be as informed as possible but if baby is in an awkward position or something goes wrong then the plan goes out of the window anyway. Needles are sometimes needed in vaginal delivieries too, especially if you have to have a drip to speed up contractions as sometimes happens with inductions, so this is a situation that you may have to face with either option. I certainly don't find needles a big deal anymore and they were before my first birth, although I didn't suffer from panic attacks which must be hard.

My pregnancies have all been lovely and straightforward, it's just the birth part that has been more complicated! Everyone and every baby is different, you may well be just fine, hope so.

Hello from the other side!

We're are all home and doing well, apart from Alex just using my boobs as a dummy and not a food source so have had to resort to mixed feeding which I am fine with as DH is keen to be involved.

ELCS went really well. Hadtwo lovely ladies - a lovely surgeon and a consultant who did my spinal which was fine and went right first time and wasn't painful at all - the cannula hurt more in fact. They took their time (as it wasn't an emergency) and made it lovely and calm for DH and I. Alex popped out screaming his lungs out and covered in vernix and promptly weed over the surgeon. His apgars were 10,10, and 10 so he did really well. I thought he looked smaller than DD but was actually 7oz larger and has been very chilled out since although hates having his nappy changed and anything that involves removing his clothing.

First night at home and he feed at 11.30pm, 2.45am and 6.45am so not too bad really. He is currently swaddled and sleeping soundly on his changing mat whilst DD watches mickey mouse so the house is relatively quiet.

I am sore but seem to be healing well and they kept a special eye on me as one of my problems after DD's CS was a severe infection which resulted in a scar rupture and 6 days in hospital a week after her birth something that I am obviously keen to avoid again. I will try and post some pics soon but he really is a cutie and the spitting image of DD when she was born.

Hope everyone is well - I will try and keep up to date with everone's news. Best of luck to everyone due soon.

Yukana if it's the fear of loosing control I would say opt for csection. However im like you too about epidural - know a few ppl with damage from it, but a general anesthetic is a viable option? Fwiw my friend who is a doc said sometimes the injuries from an epidural are due to positioning- I'm presuming a planned section would reduce this as you wouldn't be having contractions so you would be able to sit still.
Hersetta- sounds perfect, hope you manage to get feeding sorted- a new born stomach is the size of a walnut so they don't use much milk anyway just a lot of sucking

Yukana I don't have experience of any type of birth but I do have panic attacks (in confined spaces or if I had to be strapped into a bed - for full on monitoring etc). If there's a high chance you'll need to face needles at some point during either type of labour then it might be worth seeing if you can get some kind of hypnotherapy to be able to take that fear away? It's horrible that you have to worry so much about a 'side effect' of the birth so much that you feel like your only option is to be under GA. If you didn't have the fear of needles then you might want to be awake?

It's a very common fear and it's something that would help you throughout life and not just for this labour. Perhaps speak to your doctor or midwife? Its one of those things that they are unlikely to offer but if you ask they may be able to help arrange something for you?

awwww hersetta he sounds lovely! would be great to see some pics

Congratulations again Hersetta, welcome to the world little Alex. :)

Thank you very much for all the advice everyone, nice to know different stories amongst some of the facts. :) I asked about the time because if the baby is born whilst DP is at work he said he won't come. It upsets me greatly, he's on a trial period at work so doesn't have many rights, but as it's our first child and he is my birth partner, I do feel hurt.

Therapy might be good about the needles, yes. I'm also wary of local anaesthetic as it goes into the spine? As well as the fact when I was having dental treatment last year I had two doses of local anaesthetic and they didn't work well. I really wouldn't want to feel myself being cut open!

aaargh im becoming obsessed with checking if any of us have given birth!!
Congratulations hersetta he sounds gorgeous im so excited for it all to happen!
DP working a LOT at moment so struggleing with 2 small kids on my own, thy both keep waking up multiple times each night, ds has only slept through 2 times in the last fortnight and the 2 nights he did dd had nightmares!! im having a nightmare, my migraines have started again, i had 2 yesterday and i can feel im teetering on one today, my eyes are just not right. its hormones and tiredness how im going to manage when no 3 comes along i have no idea!!
going to pick up our new phil and teds this aft im v excited as thats the last bit of baby stuff we need to get.
hope everyone has a lovely weekend and more babies start arriving!!!!

Lovely to hear about you and Alex hersetta and thank your DH for letting us know - i thought his message was quite funny.

Yukana - perhaps given your DP's work situation they will let you choose a time? Is there no one else who can be a standby birth partner?

Right I am going out today to the Chelsea Food Market and Saatchi Gallery and I am wearing a white dress and NO PANTYLINER. There is no way I can get away with not being embarrassed by something right ladies?

yukana i would have thought if you explain about dh's work they might let you chose a time, although i do think his work should be understanding about him having the time off, surely he is entitled to something??? wouldnt he be able to take any paternity leave at all? :(

i wonder how star is doing i dont think we have heard anything from her since she went in for induction have we? hope she is well

never same here my 2 dont sleep thru either, have had ds1 back in my bed quite a few nights this week, after he seemed to have improved. atleast we got a kingsize when we moved so tbh i cant b bothered to worry about it too much, atleast he fits in there now! but hopefully he will not disturb the baby once he is in there too... hopefully they will all adjust their sleeping habits and give us some more rest! i am not too worried about having 3 though cos i feel will just have to get on with it, so its starting to get on my nerves having comments from my mum and mil about 'oh it will be hard with 3, how will you manage' and cos we are moving slightly further in a couple of more months (hopefully..) getting comment of 'but i wont be able to help you over there how can you cope' feel like saying well i dont really ask for help over here anyway so what difference does it make! grr. but maybe is just me being oversensitive

my dh is building chest of drawers just now for the baby stuff so hopefully tommorrow or today will get everything finally organised, and actually get round to pack the hospital bag, still need to go and buy some granny knickers and couple of last bits, might take ds1 to chose a present for the baby aswel he is starting to show a bit of enthusiasm now which is nice

v quickly: had beautiful daughter yesterday afternoon - Claudia :) established labour was 1.5hrs, which was a bit mad, but i feel soooo much better than i did after DS's birth. she is feeding well and generally lovely.

Congratulations aStar! What a lovely name, too. :)

Firawla and Rehune DP Works from 6:30AM to 6:00pm, apart from on a friday where he leaves an hour early. He isn't entitled to any paternity leave and even though I've asked him to, he won't ask them if he can take a day off for the birth because he's too afraid he'll lose his job.

My mother could be a birth partner or one of my best friends, but my best friend doesn't have any money right now, and I was hoping the birth to be a personal occasion for me and DP as a couple anyway, if that makes sense.

Pondering whether to call hosp ward or not, ever since the 'waters breaking' incident I've been incontinent and have had to wear pads. I've bearly gotten much sleep.