March2013 New year, new trimester, old symptoms but the finishing post is in sight!

[Oodsigma]

And confuddled has passed it!

So will this one be our last before we move to post natal?

And who is next?

Thanks sarah & jojo for the thread title. :)

Tramp I was the same as you I didn't bother with classes just the tour of delivery suite and read up on everything else. I went into my first birth with a lets just wait and see attitude and managed fine on gas and air, until an hour before the birth simply because mw said pethidine could take 20mins to kick in and I had a slight panic that I might not be able to cope 20 mins later and I would have missed the window as it was getting too close to the birth.

But having experienced birth with just g&A and G&A with pethidine I can honestly say I don't think it numbed the pain anymore just distanced you from it iykwim. Dd1 was definitely drowsy from it, ds had no effects but I got it earlier in his labour and think it was starting to wear off by the the time he was born.

What does gas and air feel like?

leni - you get a vocoder effect in your ears, head goes floaty and spinny and weird. Awesomely relaxy. If you close your eyes you'll feel like you're flying or in a gyroscope. Or so says the man, who's had it in dentist chairs before. Sounds fun as a recreational thing, but possibly a bit distracting during labour?

As for epidurals, they sound awesome but I keep hearing things like "increased chance of tearing" that worry me. Must do a spot more research on that one.

Cheesecake before bed last night. Again, no night-time wees. This is starting to be a bit weird - I'm not swollen anywhere so not retaining water, so where on earth is all this tea going?

Have had a morning of productivity, and done some more sorting of the soon-to-be-nursery. It looks a far less daunting task in there now that the man's been persuaded to move all eight guitars. Unfortunately they have not yet found a permanent home, so our room now looks a bit of a state. But it's still progress, and my dad's bringing round the cot on Thursday, and the moses basket's due to arrive this week. Exciting times!

Stormy - I think the downside of epi can be that you can't feel you're pushing so need more help. Also if you're having an easier time of it you don't want an epi. If you're having a rough time, which lets face it is when readings more likely, an epi is also more likely.

Flamingo - cocooning sounds marvellous!

Stormy - your baby obviously really likes tea!

I was about to have second breakfast but its lunch. How did that happen?

Tearings not readings. Doh!

Leni I always described it as the sensation you get when you had your very first drink, not drunk but on edge of tipsy, but as soon as you breathe in normal air feeling goes away.
so you can strike the right balance of breathing it as contraction builds and it takes edge off the peak of the contraction, this is why I personally prefer not to be talked to when contractions are intense so I can concentrate on breathing it in at the right time.

Gummi, I like your approach. I got to one antenatal class (NHS cos I'm a tightwad) and by and large found it unhelpful. I've no idea how I'll deal with the pain, so why worry about it?

I've, erm, had just gas from several a balloon recreationally. I presume the feeling of G+A is pretty much the same. Hearing goes funny, you might space out a bit and giggle, then it's over within about 30 seconds. My main worry is that DP will want to relive his student days and make a tit of himself on the labour ward. I'm trying to keep an open mind about pain relief but I dont think I like the idea of opiates, would probably rather have the epidural. I'd like to try a waterbirth though - anyone else interested or having experience of this?

Today's very much a cocooning day for me. I bloody need it! I think I managed about four hours sleep last night - clearly not enough sugar before bedtime - and then woke up to the cat puking on the bedroom floor. I was planning to spend the afternoon cleaning downstairs, including getting down on all fours to scrub the kitchen floor, but I just can't be arsed. Aaand it looks like the name we've picked is ridiculously popular now, see here, and I'm having doubts

God I miss wine.

Leni, gas and air can make you feel woozy and some people feel sick on it - like me. However I don't drink at all so maybe that is why I don't tolerate it. For me just focusing on the work my muscles are doing and taking each surge as it comes (rather than thinking about how I might feel in ten minutes or half hour) seems to do the trick and also reminding myself its just my muscles working in the same way as when you are working out.

However I agree with the general sentiment about seeing how things go at the time. My hospital birth plan simply states that "Please do not offer me pain relief. I know my available options and will ask if I feel I need any." My homebirth plan doesn't address medical pain relief because there won't be any available (at my request). Both plans also state that no one should use the word 'pain', 'hurt' or similar because I find it very negative and counter productive given that last time i didn't experience those sensations and I don't want to be reminded this time that I might!

Hiya All, day one of maternity leave here and managing to make myself reasonably productive although stopped for a break now and nibbling carrot sticks and humous on the sofa! (My pledge to myself to give up the junk food once on mat leave!)

I found the gas and air amazing during my first labour. Just like being really drunk but then sober again within seconds with no hangover. Not sure it really does much for the pain but definitely distracts from it and makes you feel all happy! (Well that was my experience)

I also had an epi. I tore (not too much) but then I think that happens more often than not in a first labour and it was worth it for the 8 blissful hours I had with it in. I was terrified of tearing beforehand but when it came to it though it wasn't so bad. So all that said, I have a sadistic urge to try for a water birth this time, I just know, with my luck, if I set my heart on one, the pool won't be available when I want it though!

Stormy our 'nursery' is actually my music room and has my 4 guitars, piano, keyboard, ukelele, violin, and accordion in it! Hoping we'll move before baby actually needs his own room we have no storage whatsoever so just nowhere for any of it to go!

Thanks for the G&A descriptions - I'm a pretty experienced drunk so maybe I'd like it! I'm also an experienced tramadol/codeine patient so to me getting morphine or similar is a great feeling... Had to get used to functioning normally whilst on massive amounts of opiate pain meds because I've had a chronic shoulder complaint for almost 20 years now.

Tearing is a big fear, or probably cutting moreso, as I seem to mind less when my body hurts itself than if someone else is doing it!

I wish I could have a water birth or even be in the birthing centre.

Think I'd rather have a cut than an uncontrolled tear, I think an episiotomy is probably better for after care?

I too loves morphine and tramadol, am used to being in lots of pain, so the whole pregnancy surviving on paracetamol is getting old now!

Hi everyone. Baby is doing really well, he?s up to full feeds but hourly. They said I can breastfeed but because he?s getting set amounts each hour he?s not awake enough, so just got to wait a little I guess. He?s been on antibiotics for 6 days so should be off them soon and they?ll look to move him out of the incubator when he is. He looks huge now in the incubator, but he?s broken the 5lb mark! He?ll be in NB clothes before we know it he?s 5+3 weeks and 35 weeks tomorrow. Just rang the hospital whilst typing this and been told they've decided to stop antibiotics because he's removed his cannula twice today!

Emsyboo ? I think the placenta is usually delivered by the time you have guests to drink champagne with! Nothing wrong with it though Make sure you do as you?re told!

Leniwhite ? I went to Amsterdam and in a cafe they sold me a pint but wouldn?t sell me a sandwich because their meat was rare!
Eigmum ? lungs are the last thing to mature, they release a hormone when they?re done that sends you into labour, my having a section too soon before you would have gone into natural labour risks the chance of the lungs not being mature (take it from a mum who didn?t get steroids in time, lungs not being mature is not a good thing) so they will try to do it as late as possible and are even doing steroids if they have to do it at 38 weeks. Not all babies have a 40 week gestation, some need more. What a great weight for your baby!
LowennaGirl - just me at the moment, hoping it stays that way! My little boy was born before Christmas at 29 weeks, weighing a massive 3lb 9oz! He?s doing really well but had a little set back with a bowel infection.

Leniwhite ? there?d be some withdrawal but the hospital will be on top of it. I know when my drugs were being increased they said they would give baby a antidote at birth if it got any higher. I feel for your friend, I have the nasty big brother of Lupus but fortunately it doesn?t affect me too badly (stopped having TIAs when I stopped using the pill, the IBS, Fibro and Raynaud?s are minor compared to some of it) and I suffer long term with PGP and I know I could be a lot worse off.

About drugs, I?m not allowed anything more than G&A (if I got to the point of needing more I?d be knocked out and given a section) and premature babies are harder to deliver ? especially when the MW decides to see if the water will break on it?s own ? I did the whole lot with co-codamol early on (for the whole week I was in early stage) and then G&A for the last few minutes which was genuinely mostly about breath control because you have to breathe deep to make it work. It doesn?t really take the pain away, just makes you not care, the best thing about it is it passes straight away when you breathe air so if you don?t like it you can stop taking it and it doesn?t pass to baby. I honestly think that a lot of it is about attitude, I never say that I?m in pain, I tell myself it?s going to pass and I?m ok. If you believe It?s pain your brain will send those messages to your body. Orgasmic birth is interesting to look up, especially

plonko, it?s a different gas to helium. It does pass as quickly but has different effects. People do it recreationally usually by breaking into a garage and draining ambulances! I?ve taken it as part of my ambulance training, I mostly find it?s the separating your head from your brain effect that makes you not care, I think everything else I could say about using it was actually labour itself.

Tramp, if you?re getting a Doula I?d hurry up with it! I?d offer to come and help you but I think I?m probably too far, but I don?t mind long distance doulaing if it helps. Hospitals being a step forward is an interesting discussion topic there?s swings and roundabouts on that one.

sundaesundae - it's actually the other way around, natural tears heal a lot better than episiotomies.

Glad to hear he's doing well Courgette. Strong enough to pull a cannula out eh?

It's not helium I've taken recreationally, it's nitrous oxide, so gas and air without the added air. It's used as a catering product to make whipped cream. We just liked to dispense it into balloons instead of making squirts cream. Almost everyone I was at uni with did it, its been awhile but i know the feeling very well and i can safely say none of us ever broke into an ambulance to get high!!

Wrt episiotomies/tearing, I doubt ill give a monkeys at the time! Another reason I'm interested in a water birth though as I hear the water can 'soften' the area so tears are less likely. So I hear, but by this point I've heard so many different, contradictory things!

I know, I've seen my girls remove their NG lines but never a cannula! And twice in a day!!!

Ah, I see what you mean, I can imagine having a lot of fun with that! We all had a good suck purely for training purposes

You are less likely to tear with a water birth, one of it's many benefits. When you're in labour a lot of things don't matter, as long as you can keep in the zone and no one messes with you, you're likely to let a lot of things go - it's all about keeping the neocortex turned off. A doctor or midwife or anyone touching or talking to you too much can keep you alert - I opened my eyes for a few seconds, saw a MW at the end of my bed, saw the CTG registering 20 (which for some reason freaked me out) and panicked, I nearly pulled my mum's arm out the socket trying to climb up the bed away, but whilst I had my eyes closed and just went with it I handled it.

The difference between a cut and a tear is that a tear will fit back together better, imagine trying to line up a jigsaw, much easier with the cut out bits than if it was straight. You also may not tear or may not tear as much as they decide to cut you, so that can cause more damage.

So on the cutting/tearing front I think I'm probably best off just doing the ostrich impersonation. What happens happens and I'll just have to deal with it. It's just the thought of anyone going near my bits with a scalpel... it's bad enough letting the man down there with scissors to prune the topiary!

As for this no wees and big sleeps thing, am becoming more convinced it's just a baby shifting position thing. Stomach capacity seems to be ridiculously limited today (have managed two cheese sandwiches, a yoghurt and three kiwi fruits, and that's it) and all day I've felt like I'm about to burp up sick. Is this a sign of impending disaster, or am I just finally experiencing indigestion for the first time in my life? Whichever it is, it's not pleasant.

So courgette - you took codeine up until birth? I take OTC (max two doses a day so a measly 32mg!) for my shoulder and I'm still afraid the baby might be hooked... I plan not to take any from 35 weeks though. My gp gave me the 30mg tabs x 100 in the second trimester but I was constantly worried about the possibility of addiction and never took the full doses. Can't imagine graduating to morphine for any length of time all reassurance welcome!

Got a nice set of mouth ulcers brewing - haven't seen those for a while.

Anyone have night wee related dreams where you're trying to find a toilet but all the ones you find don't have walls, and you're wearing a wedding dress so you can't run? Hmmm, maybe just me then probably lucky i can't find a loo or I'd wet the bed!

I'm on prescription strength and in hospital they make me take them properly - like a course. they've always said for the amount of pain, the potential side effects on the baby are small.

Blimey, just had a little read about episiotomies, goddamn I do not want one, I want to tear thank you very much!

According to my midwife we are 'designed to tear" so its much better for it to happen naturally than being cut in the long term which is why it is no longer done routinely. However I am just trying not to dwell on it too much. I didn't tear the first time (baby was quite small) but what will be will be!

Courgette - doula sorting is in hand. Thanks for offer btw, but it seems there are 6 ladies withing a 3m radius which sounds like good choice to me.

Hospitals step forward debate - yea fair enough. Amend to general medical and surgical advancements...

And I'm soooo tired.

Thanks courgette that's more reassuring than you can imagine! So glad you got through all that pain and LO is a mini hulk who weighed the same at 29 weeks as mine does (apparently) now at 32!

That's funny about Amsterdam, there's definitely a lot of cultural differences.

Doesn't being 'designed to tear' sound horrific?! Sometimes I wonder if I'm even designed for sex as I have vaginismus. MW said this may make labour harder but I hope the hormones will take over and make everything do what it should. She actually was the best one I've seen so far but we went over so much that half of it, including that wasn't written in my notes. I'll make a point of telling them next time.

Working from home today, so in my pyjamas of course with a cuppa (i bought a thermos mug so one cup lasts an hour!) and some crap tv. Finding it hard to get to sleep unless OH sits in bed and watches The Office USA until I drop off... Maybe I should get some story tapes as he's on 5 nights again now- Used to love those. Oh dear!

Rainbow was your daughter a premie?

I quite agree with what will be will be, my NCT teacher last night was very much going with that and making sure we laboured at home for as long as possible, also encouraged us to keep people unnecessary to our birth out of the room, it made me think of you. She told us to challenge people and ask our midwives to make sure people not directly involved didn't interrupt our flow.

I can't believe in a few weeks I might actually have a baby. Can't comprehend it at all still.

Knackered today after a seemingly good night sleep, most annoyed.

leni I winced when my midwife said "designed to tear". Seems to me that evolution failed us big time in that respect! However its not a forgone conclusion as we are also apparently '"awesomely stretchy" (her words!). She also described strechmarks as "flames of creation" - loving the positivity!

sundae yes DD1 was a premie. Your NCT teacher sounds like my kind of person! Actually the more I have been thinking about birth and my birth plan, the more relaxed I have become about it. I know that there are certain things I need to labour well and will do my best to secrure (like minimal people and minimal distractions) but I am at that stage where I just want to be holding LO safely and alive in my arms, however that needs to happen!

Ohhhh I see, the jigsaw thing makes sense. You learn something new everyday! My mum scared me a bit the other day, saying as soon as you get to hospital they shave you, give you an enema and an episiotomy too, then after the event they make you stay for two nights - I did try to explain that things might've moved on a bit since she had her one and only hospital birth 31 years ago....I'm still clinging to the idea of being able to come home immediately and snuggle up with Zippy in my massive bed.

Stormy well done for getting this far without getting acid reflux! Sucks doesn't it? I've been getting through half a litre of gaviscon every other week, it's permanently by the side of the bed. Don't suffer needlessly, go to your GP and get it on prescription immediately!

I managed an entire 5 hours sleep last night, I just couldn't switch off. Had some really upsetting news about the sister of a close friend OD'ing in front of her little boy.