Christmas and the New Year will bring with them a flurry of sneeze births and we Brook No Argument! (part 14)

[MissLToeishavingsantasbabyboo]

Thought I would treat us un a festive thread

Hi ladies!
Hope the newborns are all well and allowing their mummy's to have a little bit of sleep between feeds! And I hope the mummy's are all healing/recovering well and have developed nipples of steel!!

Little Chair sounds like a great idea, hope you are managing to get some upright sleep once the bed becomes unbearable. My hips/pelvis had been better over the last couple of weeks but last night was awful and I'm really struggling with lower back and pubic bone pain today - ouchy!

Barlett Glad that blood sugars are good, I'm sure you'll sail through the GTT! Also glad to hear that the vomiting is improving again

Right, apologies in advance for this me, me, me but I really would value your advice ladies. I saw my consultant on Monday and I was hoping for a bit more of a "plan" regarding the birth. All the way through he has hinted that he feels a section would probably be the best course of action due to DS's shoulder dystocia and as much as I had reservations about that I think I was gradually coming round to the idea (especially after reading positive elective section stories on here). However he now seems to have done a U turn! Clinic was really busy and running an hour behind and so I didn't get a scan therefore we have no idea whether this baby is potentially a big 'un like DS. He suggested that it would be sensible not to go overdue (DS was born at 41+2, labour started at 41 weeks) and so asked me to think about induction at 39 or 40 weeks, but in the same breath warned about the increased risk of interventions/emergency section that may follow after induction!! I feel very about it all! Obviously after last times prolonged labour, forceps and shoulder dystocia the very last thing I want is a repeat performance following induction!! At least last time I spent most of my labour in the birth pool using my hypnotherapy techniques whereas the increased monitoring for induction would rule out the water (and probably moving around too!) My gut feeling is to just see what happens naturally (whilst trying every old wives trick to get things moving by due date at least!) And I guess when I'm in labour if things weren't progressing I would prefer to go down the section route rather than instrumental delivery again. What would you do ladies? I am feeling really stressed and anxious about it which is really not the right frame of mind to be approaching labour!! I think after all that has happened in our journey to have DC2 this feels like the final hurdle and I can't shake the feeling that something could still go wrong! I have started listening to my Natal Hypnotherapy CD again in the hope that will chill me out somewhat!!
N.B I am seeing consultant again at 37 weeks (and supposedly will get a growth scan then) but I'm not sure how useful that will be!

Gah MN has deleted two long posts now.

Tricky one green. I don't really know what to suggest. Can you bear to wait until your 37 week scan?

MrWhim and I laughed at how well you know me little! We did indeed leave early. They want you to stay 48 hours after birth. We were in and and in 30. No doubt that's been written down somewhere too.

Hi olives, saw your post yesterday but didn't have time to reply. As you know, I had a section this time. It wasn't what I wanted - I very much wanted to try for a natural birth, probably a water birth. When I had DD I was like you and laboured in the water, which I loved, then ended up with a ventouse delivery as her position was a bit wrong and she had got stuck. This time I was hoping for a similar labour but hopefully without the intervention. Anyway, this obviously wasn't possible and I'm glad I had the section in the end and my overriding feeling is of relief that DS is here and he is ok, especially after experiencing losses and quite a long time TTC, similar to you. There are positives about having a section - the recovery has been better than. I expected and it's quite nice not to have the trauma to your fanjo! If you had an elective, you would be able to plan and know the date in advance, which is good from a child are pov. The negatives if a c section are that you cant drive afterwards and cant lift things, although 3 weeks on, i feel fairly normal in most ways already. i did not enjoy the sensation of the surgery itself (not painful, but quite brutal in that you can feel them pulling e baby out, but that might be because DS was a bit wedged under my ribs) but it is quite quick and its a means to an end anyway, so having DS more tha made up for that. But if you would like to try for a natural delivery, I would recommend you go with your suggestion of seeing how it goes and have an open mind to progressing to a section rather than an instrumental delivery, if needs be.

Don't know if that helps, but DS crying now, so will try to pop back later!

Thanks for your thoughts gen and whims

Trying again.

Olives, tricky and thought Gen's response fab. I think you're better off with an ELCS than induction. Can you go to 40wks before you have to decide. Poor you seems so much pressure.

Whims, glad to see you are giving the US rule- makers a run for their money.

Forgot what I wrote to the rest of you but hope you are all surviving. Oh, Little, hope the nursing chair did the trick.

Astrid is an amazon, allegedly. She is up to 50th % in weight already (was 25th) and is over 98th for length (though I suspect mismeasured at birth). I also got delivery report from MWs and pushing stage lasted 14 mins! Shame that my pelvic floor hashing rock bottom. Boobs toughened up now, luckily.

Thanks for guardian advice and stories, vhelpful...

TTFN and brooking...

Well done tock. Just as well she didn;t come out like that!

Olives, that sounds like a tough decision, but the advice from our fellow Brookers is great. Remember, how that baby gets here is not the important bit xx

Tock, sounds like you're doing a sterling job of feeding that lovely girl. Glad your boobs have got used to it too

Right, can you all please reassure me that lots of pregnant women eat as much chocolate as me? I just can't stop shoving the stuff in my mouth, and I'm scared the baby is going to be huuuge because of it

It's the chocolate that makes the baby smell so good.

Thanks for all your advice/opinions ladies, as long as baby arrives safely I really don't suppose it matters how! I just need to stop worrying!!
tock Go Astrid! No wonder your nipples took a bashing, she must have been feeding like a demon, that's a brilliant weight gain!
little Chocolate consumption is pretty regular here too, I have a particular love of creme eggs and feel the need to eat them 2 at a time!

Erm non-preggos also a little too fond of choc. But it seems to be good for iron levels and makes v lovely brooking babies. My weight is at 10 stone despite all the indulging. Only a stone to drop but i'm not in a rush... Gotta enjoy the choc excuses.

Olives, creme eggs are my weakness too. I'm having two a day at the moment plus another bar of choc

Whims, love your baby smell theory

Mmm, cream eggs. That shall be my goal for a walk today!

I craved lots of sweet things while pregnant. Didn't indulge as much as I wanted to, as I was worried about GD. I did have lots of doughnuts and chocolate bars though. You need quick fix energy when pregnant (and breastfeeding), chocolate is the perfect source.

Hey ladies, hope we are all having a good snow weekend. I have a quick question about sleep. I keep getting cramp in both hips at the same time doesn't matter which side I sleep on, the only thing that helps is lying on my back I have a small pillow that goes between my knees have any of you had similar or heard how to cure it?

As for sweet things, I decided after Christmas not to have any in the house cos I have no self control then we found a tin of roses and a tin of quality street that I forgot about :(

I have an aibu/judgy pant hoik/what do you think situation.

We have a couple of good friends and they have 1 dd. Dd will be 1 in a couple of weeks and we have been invited (DH is the god father) the plan is to have the party then send dd off to grandma so the adults can go out on the lash (they also did this after dd's baptism too and by the look of the pictures it got very messy) we will of course go to the party but I feel a bit sorry for dd that now 2 of her special days have ended with her being sent away so the adults can party. Am I being a bit over sensitive and hormonal and this is usual? Or is this a bit

Boo in my opinion, that's very weird behaviour. If the parents want a night out on the lash, they should do it on their birthdays/anniversary/any other day of the year. Not on the child's birthday etc. I guess if their friends and family won't gather on their birthdays, but make the effort for their dd, then it might be (almost) understandable. Not something I'd ever do though.

They see a lot of everyone all the time. Most of their friends they see a couple of times a month and their family every week as family do the child care so they can both work. Well each to their own, can't help feeling sorry for the little one if this is how it is for her, all her special days made all about mum and dad getting drunk :(

Hi boo I get the crampy painful hips too, no useful tips im afraid but lots of empathy!
With regard to your friends I think its a bit odd and not something I would personally do but as she is so young she really won't know that they're out on the lash and I would guess she'll be tucked up in bed by 6.30 at her age. I hope its not something they keep up as she gets older tho! Did you see my post further up the thread about my birth plan dilemmas this time - I know toddlyboo was big, did you have any probs with delivery? And was toddlyboo much bigger than teenboo at birth?

Hiya Olives sorry I didn't respond to your post above, I somehow managed to not see it I will pop onto the laptop later (posting from my phone atm) and respond properly.

Hi all

Boo, sorry for not having a cure to suggest for your hips. If I knew one, of be a lot happier right now! (Other then the usual pillow between legs and something soft under sheet, which I'm sure you're doing anyway )
I agree that your friends night out wouldn't be my cup of tea, but I know people who have done similar. It was as if they couldn't imagine any celebration not ending with a piss up, which is a bit sad. Hopefully it will just be this year.

Olives have you had any more thoughts about your birth dilemma?

We've had a quiet weekend, though dp and dd did get out in the snow a bit. My pelvis is so bad today I've been struggling to walk from the sofa to the loo Due one month tomorrow though, which is a nice thought

Hi little Sorry to hear that pelvis is getting worse But you're right, its really not long now until DSs arrival!! Did you have spd first time round? And if so did it disappear as soon as baby was born? Mine is so much better than it was earlier in pregnancy (which is a bit bizarre!) Not being at work has helped a lot!! I am sore tonight after 2 days of snowy walks tho! Am hoping the activity will encourage babyolives to head out earlier rather than later! Despite my best intentions to stop stressing about the birth I am still feeling fairly anxious! Have decided to wait until my next appt before I make any firm decisions about the best course of action.

boo Don't log on the laptop especially for me but next time you're on it I'd love to hear an opinion from a fellow 10lb deliverer!

Waves to all the other Brookers!

Hello again, I was doing some e-mails anyway Olives so here I am. I did indeed part with a big chunky monkey, Toddly Boo was a whopper of 10lb 3.5oz. We don't know about this one yet, I will have growth scans later (a matter of discussion at the moment as the hospital want me to have 28, 32 and 36 week scans I think 32 or 36 will suffice) but anyway about toddly boo's delivery.

I think I should tell you that yes I parted with a big 'un bit I am very tall (5ft 10) and big of build, and DH is a 6ft 3 body builder so we are never going to make delicate small babies. Teen boo was a tiddler at 7lb 5oz, but he had a different father (same height as me but smaller build).

The whole story starts with a loooooooooooooooong stage 1, stuck at 2-3cm for 36 hours until they broke my waters and to be honest, once they did that I progressed very fast (was delivering within 6 hours) but as I had lost the 'padding' between me and the baby it did stop me from moving about as much as I wanted as the pain was very intense. I didn't panic until transition when I thought it was never going to happen (but I believe that is normal ) When I decided I needed to push, they made me do this on my back in stirrups (sp?) so they could see better, I am still not happy about this I wanted to use gravity to help, but they needed to control his exit (I may fight for it a bit more this time as I know I can do it iynwim). Toddly was born and I had to have quite a few stitches but everything was normal.

Having done it once already I have no issue with trying to deliver baby boo, and would certainly give it every effort I don't think a ELCS would be offered unless there was a position issue so I dont have to make that choice, I am happy to go for it, but I would be open to an EMCS during labour if me or baby boo needed it, but to be honest (and not very helpful) I am actually terrified of the idea of a CS.

May I ask, I have no experience of shoulder dystocia, is this something that can be checked before/during labour or avoided if you know there is a risk?? Also I think I would be tempted to ask for a sweep (or two) after 38 weeks to see if you can get things moving on (as well as curries, pineapple and rat smacking) I would also be extremey tempted to speak to your midwife and insist/demand request a scan before you can possibly make an informed decision.

Wow, that was a long post and I will actually kill someone (or just lock the Gin cabinet) at HQ if MN dares to lose it

Hiya to all the other Brookers, Thank you for the reassurance that my stupid hip cramp is another of those delightful normal things we put ourselves through in the name of beautiful brooking babies :)

Also I know that how my friend decides to celebrate her childs birthday/baptism is not really any of my business and hopefully it is just this year.

Golly, I'm in awe of you ladies hatching whoppers.

I wrote a great long post yesterday about adding insult to injury, and, appropriately, the internet ate it. Anyway, it involved the allergy I've developed to the adhesive on my sanitary towels, and being woken up by the toddler kneeling on an engorged breast. Ouch.

Hope you're all enjoying the snow!

ooh Whims ouch!! Really hope you feel better soon

Tis big snow here today, I want to go out and play so much but I'm just not allowed :( hey ho!!

I don't think I will post any more birth stories now, I had the wierdest birth dreams last night

Right, off to press my face up against the window as it is the closest I am getting to the snow today :)

Morning!
Thanks for that Boo, I also had to give birth on my back in stirrups (due to the forceps) Not an ideal position at all!

I agree that with a 6'3" hubby then a big baby is probably to be expected!! Thats why my DS was such a surprise - I'm 5'8" which is fairly tall for a woman (and I am of "sturdy" build!) but DH is only around 5'8" too and average build so we're not really sure where DSs size came from!! He was on the 98th for weight and length at birth and he's great big head was off the scale at birth!! He is still a big boy now - wearing an age 7-11 winter hat at age 4 (fortunately it all looks in proportion though!! )

The risk factors for shoulder dystocia are obese mother (I wasn't), excessive weight gain in pregnancy (I didn't), gestational diabetes (negative), prolonged 2nd stage (YES! pushing for 5-6 hours), instrumental delivery (YES! they thought I was just knackered after long first & second stage), big baby (YES! complete surprise to everyone!) There is no way of predicting it beforehand in a first pregnancy but is subsequent pregnancies an additional risk factor is the fact that it has happened before so they should be more cautious about the warning signs. This is why I've had GTT and consultant care. However I haven't had proper growth scans - your hospital is absolutely right in saying you should have them at 28, 32 and 36 weeks - that's the best way of ensuring the most accurate estimate of size (and even with 3 it's still a bit hit & miss!) I just had a rough estimate done at 28 weeks (no exact measurements taken, just a vague "oh it's fairly big already" done by my consultant who is not very good with the technical bits of the scanner!)