Due March 2007 - Heading for the third trimester

[Booboobedoo]

Thought I'd start a new thread as the other one's about to run out.

Spongecake, no most people don't give birth like that anymore!! leo will have to because she's having twins and they have to be able to have easy access

Rainbowgirl, when in labour with my first vbac I stayed at home right up until the last min. I thought I was finally in labour after reaching 3 weeks over but contractions were irregular all day.
In the evening I called my doula over because they were getting hard to manage. She came and sat with us for a couple of hours watching pop idol I seem to remember!!
Then the contractions completely stopped and I felt a real klutz, so she went home at about 1 am and I went to bed about an hour later.
I thought I had been asleep for ages when I was woken by a really strong contraction. I had only been asleep for about 10 mins !! Then it all kicked off, really painful contractions and my waters went. It was about 3am by now and we dashed to hospital, By the time we got there my doula met us and I had one horrible double peak contraction and then started to push, standing in the middle of A&E surrounded by a lot of confused looking whinos
When I got to the labour ward I was already pushing away whilst standing up, it was too late for the drugs I was begging for and dd1 was born half an hour later.
I believe that I had I gone in earlier then they would have been hassling me because the contractions were irregular and then stopped for a while and I would have felt stressed. As it was I had a better labour by staying at home as long as poss. I think by letting my body do things in its own time and own way we had a good birth.
The midwife who delivered me was superb, very experienced, very chilled. She was happy to use a handheld monitor and between her and my doula things couldn't have been better. Baby also had a whopping great head . But I tell you, I was SO proud of myself, it was amazing

Spongecake, when dd1's head was out I was asked if I wanted to look and touch, but I declined . No one can make you look, just shut your eyes and pretend you haven't heard

feel a bit silly now, could feel a chicken licken momemt coming on think will read my yoga book for a bit- v relaxing! (not actualy do any-too energetic)

Kittywits all this talk about stirrups is making me nervous. I am seriously considering an epidural as I'm rubbish with pain, do you know or does anyone know if you literally have to lie on your back (with or without the stirrups) any more?

wow kitty that sounds like an incredible experience. thank you for sharing it i was at the thought of you pushing in front of horrified winos .... guess you see all sorts in a&e huh?

see in my case specially if dp isn't here i am worried i'll go to hospital too early because i'm the type of person that will get worried about the possibility of the scar splitting open.. then i'll get there and it will all slow down and i'll get stressed out! i'm going to try and stay at home for as much of 1st stage as i can bear. think having a calm doula will help a LOT.

spongecake - i'm outside bath - so you're almost a neighbour!

msrlmoss if you have an epidural obviously it makes moving around a lot harder as a lot of you is then numb.. when i had dd 4 years ago (nightmare labour i hasten to add which ended in emergency c-section, probably won't happen in your case) i had one that was supposedly a 'mobile' epidural but in reality my feet swelled up so much that i couldn't walk. the epidural was the beginning of the end in terms of the birth being a vaginal one.

Rainbowgirl, you and your doula can decide what to do and these are all iseues you can discuss with her beforehand. It is extemely rare for a scar to rupture, honestly.

Msrimoss, I could never give birth lying on my back. it is such a crap position. It means you are effectively pushing the baby uphill. It also makes your contractions more painful and less effective. The problem arrises when they want to strap a monitor belt to you. Your movements are restricted. I was so paranoid at the possibility of being made to lie down that I point blank refused even to get on the bed with dd1, I had her on the hospital floor
You can have it in your birth plan that baring an emergency you do not want to lie on your back.

Rainbowgirl that does sound scary! Makes all those confused whinos seem quite tame by comparison

Everyone I ask thinks I should try for a natural birth, MIL had her three children without any pain relief and my boss the other day was going on about how an epidural could paralyse me and how I was just being silly because thousands upon thousands of women have natural births every day (he is a complete *@$! though and was only saying it to upset me).

But I'm just so nervous of the thought of giving birth and all the pain and that I won't be able to enjoy it because it'll hurt too much.

You can never know how you will cope with your labour and the pain, you really can't. It depends on so many unpredictable factors such as the length of labour, position of the baby, how tired you are etc. I would not make any firm plans. Wait until it starts and then take it from there. if you feel you need pain relief then use it.

Kittywits that is what I'd like to do, but then I've heard some people saying that they aren't allowed pain relief after a certain point?

I have finally made an appointment with the midwife for next Thursday though, is it worth going through it with her this early?

msrlmoss don't EVER listen to men about giving birth because they haven't got a f* clue!!! tell your boss to give it a go himself sometime if he thinks it's so easy; most men i know couldn't even put up with the pain of a bikini wax

don't worry yourself too much about it, just decide on what you feel comfortable with and probably in the end something different will happen anyway...

Rainbowgirl you are right he is a total P. Enis but he thinks he knows everything 'cos his wife had four kids and they were all drug free. Oh and she was back to her usual size 6-8 within just months of giving birth each time.

Not that it did him any good they are splitting up now. Maybe if he'd encouraged her to eat a few more pies she wouldn't have been so attractive to other blokes?

Sorry that was really nasty!

You are all really helpful with your advice, I am still undecided on pain relief though.

I know this is a hard question to answer, but what is it like, the pain, I mean?

You aren't given some drugs too close to the birth. Pethedine given too close to the birth can make the baby too sleepy to breathe properly and an epidural needs time to work. When I asked for drugs when pushing they said G&A was all I could have at that stage and to be honest it is no good for pushing. The pushing doesn't hurt me anyway. it's the last 2 cm of the first stage that I dislike the most. Actually giving birth is easier,

hmm, When i talk about my labours it;s atrange because my body fremembers the sensation without he pain. i think each woman feels it a little differently. The best way I can descibe it is when a contraction starts you feeling a band tightening across your stomach getting tighter and more powerful, it hits a peak and then subsides, but to describe the pain would not be helpful to you, believe me.

Kittywits what is the "first stage"? God I'm so badly informed about all this, but all the books I have seem to focus much more on each week by week of the pregnancy rather than the actual giving birth!!

Don't like the thought of pethedine too much though, have taken enough recreational drugs in my younger days to know for certain any mind altering substance makes me heave!!

Hi everyone - wow - just trying to keep up.

Kitty - realy enjoyed chatting with your earlier

Jay - you are having a rotten time poor thing, these things always seem to happen in groups don't they ?

Thanks for the advice re. MatB1, got my GP to give me one this afternoon.

Met baby Aoife (5 days old) she was beautiful

Got soaked several times today

I feel as though my life is on hold, more so this time, as I'm so knackered. I did my MSc last time I was PG and this time even driving a mile seems a huge acheivement. Think its partly the season though - makes you feel like hibernating.

msmoss - whichever type of birth you choose on the day, don't feel guilty about it. Its never "perfect" or how you think its going to be. I had a "natural" birth with gas & air and also an induced birth with an epidural. One isn't better than the other and if you write down in your plan what you would like to do, atleast the hospital know the kind of birth you'd like. It sometimes turns out differently though, for medical reasons, but you still have options when it happens.

DS nearly had a ventouse (sp?) applied to him and I ust said "no, no, no, no, no", so they left it

It does hurt but its only one day in your life and well worth it

Kittywits did you still "enjoy", iykwim, your labour even with the pain?

The pain is like a period pain but MUCH BIGGER

Pethidine is really dodgy, as it can make the baby sleepy for about 48 hours. I had it with DS and he couldn't feed properly for two days - too sleepy.

Hi harktheheraldfoxessing,

Hmm. Much bigger eh? I take it that means that a big bar of dairy milk and a strategically placed hot water bottle won't work?

Sorry you got soaked! It's been surprisingly dry here today actually, albeit cold.

LOL Msmoss

Where are you again? I'm in west London.

am chuckling at this conversation i think it may cause some degree of terror in some people reading it in the morning .. hiya fox how are you doin?

Rainbow - fine thanks, just old, fat and pregnant ..you know..

How are you, you seem in much better spirits now?

mrsimoss, 1st stage it when the cervix opens until you start to push. The more dilated you are the more painful it becomes(sorry).

To be honest with you, no, I never enjoy labour, it bloody hurts( sorry again). Afterwards it's a feeling like no other and you very soon forget the pain. Infact for me once the head is out I know the worst is over. Some women do really enjoy the whole birth process though so don't listen to me

Foxy, it was lovely to chat to you today, it left me felling very perky and smiley , thanks Did you kidnap the baby then???

Kitty - I sent your article off last night. Its good to see you are on form again - next time we get into a fight together on MN I will be be able to think "I know that woman" LOL

Needless to say, my trip to see new born didn't go as planned. I'd visualiesd this serene visit where her Mum would gently place her in my arms and I'd coo at her newborn.

What happened was:

I left 30 minutes late as DS and his friend were playing up
Couldn't park near Aoife's house and so got soaked
DD fell alseep in the car so I had to dash to the house and dash back (thus robbing me of my cuddle of newborn)
DS ran in his friend's house with muddy wellies and I had to yank him back then leave in a hurry

She was beautiful though - small and perfect

Hankering after that second daughter.....

Fox - you are so wanting another girl baby aren't you ... I definately want a fourth baby (already have 2DS and another DS on the way)...keep trying to tell myself it's not about wanting a girl ...but I think it is ! Am overjoyed at having another boy though..love them too. Just want it all !!

Hi Jay - hope things are improving for you.

I say ditch the scales everyone... We are are told off for putting on too much weight, then told that lack of weight gain can lead to premature birth... you can't win, so just try and be healthy and don't worry.

Mslmoss, Labour pain IS a total pain.... but at least it is a "productive" pain as you are labouring towards meeting your baby

There are no prizes for getting through it without drugs/intervention, although I think that doing without can sometimes speed up the process... no evidence base apart from my own . thoughts.

Going Christmas shopping in the capital of Sri Lanka on Monday... there are a couple of nice shops that sell wooden toys,christmas decorations, great candles and other "beautiful things" . Let me know if anyone has any orders.