Due in March 07 - in the immortal words of "Europe": It's the final countdown....!

[boredwithwaitingforminiMOSSY]

NEW THREAD!!!! Could this be the last one before we all start to drop???

Hello all! Some of you may remember me from a few months back. I have been watching the thread on and off, but haven't posted for ages due to volume of work and stress etc...

Anyway,

I had a lovely baby boy by elective c-section on Monday. He was born at 36.5 weeks due to his position and lack of amniotic fluid.

As I live in Spain and am freaked out by the 'conveyer belt' culture that seems to surround childbirth (everyone treated the same and you feel like you are just a number), we decided to pay to have the baby in a private hospital.

The operation went well, but within 2 hours the baby was showing signs of having trouble breathing.

After 36 hours of being monitored in the small unit at the private hospital, he showed signs of deterioration and they rushed him to the childrens hospital in an ambulance in the middle of the night.

His condition worsened slightly over the next 6 hours, until they reached a diagnosis of air in the chest cavity (Spanish doctor - hard to get medical translations). I now think that it is neumothorax.

They put him on a rapidly oscillating ventilator which is breathing for him and has taken the pressure off him. He has calmed down since then and is showing signs of improvement.

If anyone knows anything about the condition, I would be very grateful. The doctors wont give any idea of timescale (although I guess it depends on the condition of the child).

It is all pretty horrible and frightening and I am emotionally up and down (as you would expect).

I am now at home and we are travelling to see him for the two visiting hours every day. He is only 4 days old.

I have also posted this in the health message board.

I hope you are all well and not finding the last few days/weeks too much of a trial. Thinking of all of you xxx

BTW, my lovely boy is called "Bertie Carter" (Carter is the middle name not surname) and thankfully, he weighed a healthy 3.33kg (around 7lb I think)- so is in a much better position than most children in the special care unit. I hate to think what size he would have been if he had gone another few weeks before being born. (My first son was born 8 days overdue at 9lb 9oz.)

Foxy I heard about that on the radio the other morning, I understand the British and Tazmanian goverments want to give the bodies back but the museum is refusing? I didn't know your dh was involved will it be on the evening news too do you think?

I only just remembered our anniversary last year, dh forgot!

Muppet good luck for today and fingers crossed your lo has turned!

Piffle that's really yucky. Can't believe your dp has left you to clear it all up! You poor thing, as if you don't have enough to deal with already.

Lunar I hope you're all right, wouldn't they understand if you needed to skip the meeting because you were ill? I hope it's not a long one anyway and you manage to get home handy.

Every Friday we have to nominate someone for "win of the week". You don't win anything, just the kudos of having done something wonderful in work. It's all anonymous, you write the person's name on a piece of paper and the person with the most votes gets lots of clapping and cheering.

Anyway I wrote

"My cat"

Can't wait until later!!!!

hi dixia
congratulations on Bertie's arrival
it sounds like you've been having a really worrying time with your ds. I hope he is soon home with you and your family. I know how extra hard it is going through a foreign medical system/in foreign language so am sending you all extra big (((hugs))) and prayers. Hope you get some more info soon about Bertie's condition.
congrats once again

Xposts, Dixia congratulations! Hopefully someone on here will be able to help and will have knowledge of his condition.

I love the name Bertie by the way, it is what we have planned to call our lo when he is born!!!!

dixia - when my dd1 had her cardiac surgery she had pneumothorax and chylothraoxes... fluid in chest cavity. She recovered well and is now a strapping 4yo.

oh riffle - i don't evny you - think I would have chucked everywhere and so would have had all the dog crap to clean up as well as all of my puke.

Hot nad tired here in Aus - after 8pm and still very humid. Getting pizza delivered for dh and my dinner - can't be arsed cooking.

oh foxy- there are lots of aboriginal bones/skulls etc that were taken from Aus and sent back to the UK for 'study'.

Congratulations Dixia!
I'm glad Bertie has settled a bit and I really hope he'll soon be ok to go home with you. I have no idea about the condition either, hopefully someone will come along soon with some knowledge.

Ok, now I know why I couldn't find much info about the condition - I was spelling it wrong! Thanks Eidsvold, I'll now go and look for the right spelling!

Dixia... OMG what a terribly worrying few days for you. I have never heard of the condition so can offer no words of wisdom i'm afraid... just want to send you lots of "stay strong" vibes and hugs. Please keep us informed of Bertie's progress... i guess at least the doctors know what they're dealing with now.

Foxy... what the hell kind of illegal tests were the museum doing on stolen aboriginal bodies... WTF!!! Where did they steal the bodies from in the first place...and why ever would they need to do illegal tests on them??????

Sazzy - you made me smile at the thought of wrestling a shrew into a glass. It brought back memories of when my cat was alive - he brought in a shrew without us knowing. We were watching starwars (the 1 where Anakin turns into Darth Vadar) and the shrew ran across my lap and sat on my arm. I leapt up and shot across the room - my kids thought i was doing a bad impression of a Jedi leap! No-one believed me that a shrew had been sitting on me. (we found it later and let it go!)

muppet - some of these skulls etc are over 200 years old. They were sent from Australia especially when it was still a 'colony' of the Britain rather than a nation.

A very famous aboriginal guerrilla fighter who battled against british settlers etc was eventually killed, smoked and his skull sent to the UK for study.

One of the studies they did was to measure and document skull size, shape etc to prove that indigineous australians were 'savages' and 'less intelligent' as their skulls were certain shapes.

Dixia - wow congratulations "our" fourth birth so far!! I don't know anything about the condition either I'm afraid...

Bertie is a fabulous b=name though - like it!!

Mossy - LOL re. your nomination

Kitty/Moss - hopefully it'll run on the news all day. The museum say they will give them back but only after they've done DNA tests (Dr Chris Stringer no doubt - an old foe of Aboriginal people who works at the museum and describes aboriginal people as "hybrids" ffs) - they have no permission from the families to do the DNA tests; hence the court case. Bear in mind theses bodies were stolen illegally in the first place and there are living relatives in Tasmania who just want them back so they can give their family members a proper burial....not nice.

Eids - my DH led all the campaigns to get the bodies back about 10 years ago - do you remember them???

Muppet - they used to kill people to use the bodies or just grave dig!! Used to happen a lot, not just to Aboriginals but also to Africans.

It only ended in the 1950s and these particular bodies were taken in the 1940's - so their children and grandchildren are still alive!!

Most museums were shamed into returneing them during the 1990s, but Chris Stringer at the Nat History Museum has held out on returning them...

How dreadful It all sounds like Mengele or something with measuring skulls and drawing conclusions about intelligence. That colonial attitude really stinks and makes me very
Dixia - congratulations on Bertie. What a fab name I'm sure you'll find someone around here who knows something about the condition.
Saveloys and savoys is an excellent idea for the next thread title

Dixia, I have often thought of you over the last few months and wondered where you had gone and whether you were alright.
many,many congrats on Bertie's arrival. It must be a terribly stressful time for you though, especially being abroad. I'm afraid I knownothing of his condition, but now you have the right spellings I'm sure you will be able to find out more info.
It must be hard only being able to see him for a couple of hours a day. What a great weight though! Keep us posted won't you?

Congratulations Dixia - Hope little Bertie recovers well and is allowed to return home with you soon. Hope you are feeling comfortable. Are there any English speaking Dr's who can give you a better description of Bertie's condition and treatment ? Must be worrying {{{{hugs}}}}

I guess i knew we were pretty bloody disgusting in lots of ways to the aboriginals and maori's but I never knew all this had gone on... WTF do the museum need to DNA test the bones??? What do they possibly need to do it for???

Sounds exactly like bloody joseph mengele and the nazi experiments....

Dixia, welcome to little Bertie, I hope he is ok, he sounds like he is being well looked after.
I do know of one baby born at a similar gestation to Bertie who had severe pneumothorax, she had to be needle aspirated and have a chest tube, so if Bertie is just on breathing help and improving then all signs look great!
That little girl recovered fine by the way and was out of hospital within 4 weeks.

I hope he is home with you soon, you must be very worried esp in a strange country where language barriers make it hard for you.

xxx

That story over the Aboriginal bones is horrendous, the NHM's position is indefensible.

On the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2 the other day, one archaeologist commented that if they give the bones back they will be left to ruin.

Oi
they're not YOUR bones mate, shows such a lack of respect for culture and tribal matters.

By all means test bones, but get bloody consent first, although they massacred everyone so wholeheartedly there was no one left to ask, it's a sodding miracle the Aboriginals as a race actually survived, which is an horrific thought.

Its certainly amazing there are any Tasmanian decendents left because of the "White Line" event - when the English soldiers walked across Tasmania systematically murdering every Tasmanian man, woman and child.

In the 1990's we visited the Horniman museum in Lewisham and they had a display of skulls to demonstrate the hierarchy of evolution and intelligence, with white European at the top, then Asian and Chines, then African and Aborigibal at the bottom. DH got all the press down there and they had to remove the Aboriginal skull (kept the display though!!!).

DH and DS only set off at 11.10am, so I hope they don't miss the press conference after all that! DS is in a pale blue sweatshirt and beige trousers BTW !!

Just think, Aboriginals only got the vote in 1967 - and northern Irish Catholics only got the vote in 1969!!!

We've come a long way since then haven't we - its about time the NHM caught up with the rest of the world and gave those bones back so their families can give them a decent burial. If you go into the NHM, they still have an Irish "Giant"'s skeleton on display, plus an Italian "midget" - its obscene.

off my soapbox now.

I just e-mailed my mortgage broker (she lives in the same village as my Mum coincidentally). She is having her first baby in April. She said I can call her on her mobile when she's on maternity leave! I said "enjoy being a Mum - its the best feeling ever!" - then came over all tearful - am I hormonal or what? LOL!!

congratulations those with babies already, I hope they and you are doing really well. My dp has been off this week, and now the poor love is ill and in bed, so I am taking the opportunity to catch up a bit with everything. my friend came round yesterday with her baby, who is so cute and smily (at 13 weeks, but born 6 weeks early). can't imagine my bump becoming a baby, keep saying not long now, and nothing happens

is anyone else not sleeping-just not tired and can't get comfy, loo all night.. also my pelvis has started to ache when I walk all of a sudden. get braxton hicks a lot still and also random pain low down. is this a "sign"??? oh- was going on about BH and how I keep getting them when suddenly friend said " are you really smoking, silk cut is milder surely?" Braxton hicks, not Benson and hedges.......

at the BH!!!!

Sponge I think the baby is descending into your pelvis - hence the discomfort. I have to sleep with loads of pillows squashed under and into strategic points (as per. Kitty's advice) but still need to go to the loo 5 times a night and wake up with an achey pelvis.

When is your due date again?

38+5 (Monti)

fox I'm like you achey pelvis, baby def drops in and out of my pelvis - think this is common when you've had a baby (or 2) before
pillows oh yes, between legs, under bumps, behind back, it's amazing do fits into the bed as well
I'm only 36 wks and as much as an early arrival would ease my burden, I accept it's unlikely...
plus I REALLY want my homebirth and cannot have that until 37 wks so only 7 days...

am due 15 march, and its my first baby. we are hoping it will be early-another 20 odd days of this

Hi Everyone,

Well, I'm still here, no more serious contractions, but am getting very uncomfortable

Saw my midwife today and baby's head is 2/5 engaged (and was 1/5 engaged on Wednesday) so I guess that's what the pains were for...

Have given bump a pep talk, and have said that Saturday would be a good day to make an entrance

Hope everyone is well, and not too uncomfortable.

Dixia - Congratulations on the birth of Bertie, I hope he carries on improving Sorry I can't offer any advice aboout pneumothorax as I have no experience.

Wow fox: I'll look out for that on the news. It seeme unbelievable that someone could still harbour attitudes like that and have the gall to make them public. Be self-righteous about them, even! your poor DH - it must make him feel so impotent and angry. Good on him for taking a stand.

Dixia: huge congratulations! How was your sickness for the rest of the pregnancy? I remember you and I had a similar early stage. So sorry Bertie is ill - it must be so hard for you to be parted from him.

Piffle: what a yucky morning! Hope you didn't have to lift the dogs into the bath: it's the last thing you need with your SPD. Also, I'm sorry about your DH's job. I remember your other thread on it. Did you two come to the decision together? Only it doesn't sound like you're majorly happy with the situation.

Got to run as my aunty's 'popping' over to see how I am. I just want to hibernate, but hopefully she won't stay too long.

EDD 3/3
38+5
Boy

Ok, I would like to know the following things:
Why I do not need to wee all night long
Why I haven't got preg insomnia
Why my heartburn isn't that bad
Why my spd isn't that bad
Why baby is not punching my bladder
Why I hardly get any BH's
???????????????????????????????????????????
This is so unlike any other preg. I don't seem to have all these normal symptoms. The MW thinks it is funny. I am midly concerned. I'd always assumed it would get worse and worse for each preg. I am very, very tired all the time though, maybe I don't sleep as soundly as i think.