December 2011 - She Canna Take Much More, Cap'n...

[Xiaoxiong]

Betwee 8 and 12 weeks to go...and we're giving it all we've got!

Hi girls, thanks :)
He has read a book on pregnancy that was designed for dads, but I think it didn't sink in. I know he is really looking forward to being a dad, and will be great, I just think he has too much going on with other stuff right now to worry about me too.
I don't say anything when he makes comments, as it'll just make things worse.

Hmm music, I haven't thought of anything yet, I agree with oi though, push it sounds good, and OH wants sweet child of mine!

Need to think of birth plan too... for triple already with children did any of you wait for the cord to stop pulsating before it was cut? Im thinking of that, and then have the injection maybe after.

The midwives at the NHS class surprised me by being very in tune like that - they put the baby on your skin, they truly believe in skin to skin contact. They wait for the cord to stop pulsating before they put clamps on.
I think if you're having the injection to expell the placenta, that happens sooner... According to my breastfeeding book, if you do skin to skin, and try to help your baby to suckle then, that releases the hormone to help expell the placenta. Would appreciate other people's experience here, but at the moment I'm inclined to not have the injection.
Another question, Vitamin k - injection for baby or oral? The one-off injection sounds like a no-brainer, rather than 3 x oral over a few weeks.

kristy I'll be waiting for the cord to stop pulsating this time. I didn't have the injection to deliver the placenta last time as they forgot to give it to me . It only took around 10-15 minutes so I'm putting in my birth plan to wait 15 mins then have the injection.

Hey kris5ty hope you are feeling a bit better. Your OH probably has a lot on his mind... but that is really not an excuse to be unsupportive. I reckon you should have a proper chat and explain to him that (1) you did NOT know what you were getting into...coz you haven't been preggers before (2) It is hard work being pregnant ALL the time and (3) being pregnant makes you hormonal and emotional. Just because all these feelings are there due to hormones doesn't make these feelings any less real and difficult for you!

Guys are such idiots sometimes! Although to be fair...before I was pregnant I thought pregnant women thee moaning needlessly [hblush]

Big hug kri5ty DP's can be so crap, mine has said some bloody awful things to me but I always call him on it, I'm in a similar situation with DP giving more energy to the situation with his mum than me & I'm demanding attention I'm afraid. Makes me feel very guilty when I see how tired he's looking but I need the support so I think there's no point pretending I don't. Maybe you need to get a bit more demanding & when he says things like "what's wrong with you now?" just say don't talk to me like that, it's mean & I'm pregnant so I can't deal with it! :o

I'll be waiting for the cord to stop pulsating, no injection to expel the placenta unless there's an emergency (according to Michel Odent synthetic oxytocin stops the brain's production of natural oxytocin the love hormone ) & I won't be going for the Vitamin K injection or oral dose either unless I end up needing forceps, ventouse or cs. Not going to get evangelical about it but if anyone's interested read this on AIMS website.

lala I wrote you a long message last night & then lost it [hangry] In short, I'm doing the rainbow relaxation daily (from cd) did the anchor script a couple of times but the anchor has been 'placed' now so no need to do it again. DP & I are doing a glove relaxation script at the mo' using what's in the book but adding a couple of bits, about 3/4 times a week. I think the most important thing is to find what works for you...I couldn't do the birth companions reading with DP, too sweet/american for us.

Had 34wk mw appt yesterday...all fine, growth on track, pains I'm feeling are nothing serious just unlucky I guess :( Was going to tell her LO hasn't been moving as much but I think he/she likes her as they go bloomin crazy at the sound of her voice...looked like there was a party going on in my bump :o Asked her how she would feel about me complaining to PCT, MP etc about lack of comm mw's & she got all excited & dragged me in to see another MW who wrote me a long list of the people to cc. Seems they wish more mums would be vocal & complain but of course they can't ask us too. Sad really they are very pro-homebirth down here but just don't have the mw's to cover them all.

Heheh... thanks honey. I am stuggling to get practicng.. everytime I think about it I fall off to sleep instead [hblush].

Bascially if I go natural ... then I might try it all the way. But if something goes wrong and an epidural/forceps or any of that is needed ... I will go whole hog and get the injection as well!

I am thinking about mixing boobs and bottles of expressed milk because I want some freedom! If anyone else is going to MIX FEED what brand bottles are you gonna use?

lala have you got the cd? I put it on when I get into bed...have only heard it all the way through twice as it puts me to sleep but they say that's ok I tried doing it during the day, thought I could take half an hour to myself as it's so important but it put me to sleep & I woke 2 hours later [hblush] Impossible to do if I'm supposed to be working.

lala a mum I know uses tommee tippee "closer to nature" bottles and says they're great, but there are far more experienced people than me on here!!

kristy sorry to hear about your DH - and fwiw, I personally had no idea what I was letting myself in for, so I would have gone absolutely apeshit if DH said that to me.

I was so smug this morning that I bought a second hand maternity coat all those months ago for £15 - I do look a bit like this but it was 4c this morning on the train platform so I don't care. It's a nice coat as well (this one) but looking at the website it looks like the lady I bought it from forgot to include the belt!! Ah well - I would probably look even sillier with a belt as my bump is still incredibly high and sitting right below my boobs.

I had to scrape ice off the car this morning - at 5'2" it was already tough to reach across the window screen, with added bump it was nigh on impossible!(Nice coat tyel)

:o at that pic Tyel DP calls me a weeble now so I won't be showing him, it'd just give him more names to taunt me with!

Honey, I hope you don't mind, but we have differing views on the birth injections by the sound of things, so I wanted to comment too.

I too think waiting to put cord clamps on is a good idea but I will be having the oxytocin injection (as I did with my DDs). Having the injection reduces your risk of severe bleeding after the birth (post partum haemorrhage). It does slightly increase the risk of the placenta getting stuck, but for me reducing risk of severe bleeding is enough of a pro for me to want it. Yep, it's "more natural" to not have the injection, but so is bleeding after delivery, and I want to be in as good shape as possible to look after my little one. So that's why I'll have it.

The Vitamin K for baby thing- there was a health scare (similar to the MMR story) back in the 1970s that linked vitamin K with risk of leukemia. It was later found to be flawed statistics. BUT the scare caused many mums to reject vitamin K for baby, and in the un-jabbed babies there were rises in cases of a bleeding disease in newborns (that makes babies bleed into their brains: it can cause cerebral palsy type effects or be fatal). Oral vitamin K does not get well absorbed and isn't as good as the injection in protecting babies. So I'll be getting the vitamin K injection for mine as I honestly believe it's the best protection for them.

Anyway, sorry for the technical post and no offence intended, we all want the best for our LO's.

No music for me, thanks, I'll just listen to the tunes in my head when I 'm on the gas n air!

Thanks for the info hlc and aethel - now we have the balanced view and can be more informed about our choices.

I can't imagine anyone will be offended. We all have different views are are doing things differently... which is what makes this thread great! It doesn't matter which way you lean... there will always be someone who is similarly inclined [hgrin]

Highs
I have exactly 5 weeks and 2 days (including today) of work left!
Have my 31 week appointment today and get to hear baby's heartbeat

Lows
I keep banging my bump it on the edge of my desk while typing! [hhmm]

Don't mind at all aethel I wouldn't want to influence anyone on here one way or the other; I think it's really important we make these decisions for ourselves & the thing I like most about this thread is that we all get to share our opinions. I am very opinionated but I don't think think there's ever one right answer when it comes to childbirth & parenting.

While syntocinon & syntometrine do reduce the risk of severe bleeding I've been assured that they can be used at the first sign of it & work very quickly with great effect. I don't see the need to have the injection if it's not necessary & for me the negatives far out weigh the positives. Apart from stopping production of natural oxytocin & the increased risk of a retained placenta (a major concern as I'm having a homebirth) there's also an increase in the amount of blood loss in the weeks following birth; it's a personal choice but I think I'd rather get the blood loss over with sooner rather than later. Also, with a homebirth I'm told the mw's are extra careful not to take unnecessary risks so will offer the injection at the slightest sign that it's needed for medical reasons.

The research I found on Vitamin K & leukemia actually suggested that the trial which disproved the link was highly flawed & there's been nothing conclusive either way since but this is not why I'll be refusing Vit K. It's a personal choice we all have to make & I honestly feel I'm doing the right thing for my LO but I'm glad we have the choice available to us & I'm glad you get to use it as it's what you want :)

Tyel that is a lovely coat. Time for a trawl through Ebay I think.

aethel that has to be the politest way that someone has disagreed with someone else on MN, EVER. [hgrin]. I will be having the Vit K injection, but am hoping to deliver the placenta without the injection, as I'd like to get some skin to skin with the baby first.

As for music, thanks for reminding me, as I need to buy the natal hypnotherapy music CD. I'm going to book a hospital tour and see if they have spare power sockets in the rooms. If they do, I'll bring an ipod and docking station, so I can decide whether I want to be in my own private world, or headbanging with DH.

I have had the injection to deliver the placenta, delayed until the cord.has stopped pulsing, but I tend to spend the five minutes or so before I have the injection wooshing blood so the injection makes sense for me. I don't do the vit k at all though (would do if we had risk factors though) as it doesn't make sense to me that babies would be born with less than they need all other things being equal. Also, colostrum has huge amounts of vit k, so I'll go all hippy for a moment and call it natures vitamin supplement.

Anyway, in the DPs being crap...I nominate mine for managing to wake up DD2 completely last night (she was fidgety, I poked him to ask him to pass my rennie while I settled her, he crashed around and woke her) and then falling asleep every time I growled at him to look after her. As a result, I was awake from 3-6, then he woke me again at 7 to tell me he was getting up. I am not a happy bunny, but he has left me chocolate and is bringing home nice pasta from the deli, and I'm going to bed when DD2 does and he was saying things about "waking me up in a good way" once DD1 has gone to sleep. Might let him off then...

Dammit Sorelip I was hoping no one else would think of that! Here it is but I saw it first so I'm sure you wouldn't dream of outbidding me [hwink]

Lmao, Honey you haven't got anything to worry about, I haven't been able to fit into a size 10 for a long time.

Having read the vitamin K link, I may have to reconsider...

I want to nominate my DH too as this morning after a crap nights sleep and pains in my hands and hip he decided to tell me that his knee hurt and he is really worried because his knee by where the pain is is hair free and he wonders whether it means anything. Incredulous i responded that he must have been abducted by aliens over night and they must have shaved the tiny 50p sized area of smoothness to perform surgery on him (sarcastic i know) and he started ranting and raving at me for being insensitive. He is such a hypochondriac couldnt be he has never noticed that area of knee baldness before oh no it must be a sign of something sinister........twat he's really pissed me off hope my pregnancy yoga tonight helps with relaxation!!

Oh, that's lovely! Hope you get it honey. I have no idea what to do about coats: we used to have a local "fat-bird"shop that had great stuff in its sale, but sadly it's closed.

(seriously, it was fab- they had chocolates on a platter and when you went in to browse they fed you chocolate!!)

My DP is a softie too. He reacts at a paper cut. I say aw!, call him a brave soldier, kiss it better, and he shuts up. Half of him is content that he's had some attention, the other half hates me for being a sarcastic witch. [hsmile]

Probably shouldn't be spending money on a coat this close to birth as I have a massive cardi that is very warm but I'm feeling so rubbish lately & shopping makes me feel sooo much better. I keep telling myself that as we're planning at least 2 more pregnancies I'll get my moneys worth but does anyone else feel guilty buying maternity clothes when there's so much to buy for baby?

I'm just going to get by with scarves and jumpers and open coats. Hell, in 6 -8 weeks time I WILL BE THINNER , and will be able to zip up/wrap around my existing coats. Once I've got enough of a figure back to get into normal clothes, I will treat myself to a winter coat for all those long pram walks. (have received emails from Karen Millen and AllSaints showing what is available. I will have really earned a decent splurge by then. [hgrin]

You should never associate spending money/shopping with guilt. That way madness lies.
Shopping = pleasure and loveliness (no matter who the shopping is for)

I tried on some pre pg jumpers last night ahead of the cold weather and they fit now the dilemma is do i wear them and stretch them out and having to buy some in the future anyway??

I really miss clothes shopping i love winter wardrobes but just no point at the moment. Though have lots of savings happening due to the lack of clothes shopping and flights home i dont need to buy at the moment.