May O7ers - W/C 26th Feb

[Frenchsmallfry]

Morning...............

Well I'm a medical mystery! They have no idea what it was as everything seemed and tested ok today. They said the only thing they could think of is maybe some early braxton hicks. They were absolutely lovely with me and I felt so bad being there feeling no pain as about 5 different woman were all rushed in having contractions whilst I'm sat up on my bed quite the thing listening to babies h/b with no pain, smiling away! Women everywhere screaming for drugs, didn't know where to look! All I could think of doing was saying 'morning' as cheerfully as possible which I don't think went down as well as I'd hoped as they all glared at me! Note to self: Women are very scary, especially when in labour - do not even oxygenate anywhere near them or risk loosing vital limbs!

I was strapped to a machine for a good hour and a half and made to drink letres of water to make baby move. Suddenly realised that whilst this was working, I needed to pee as I had guzzled for england. Then realised I couldn't go pee cause I was still strapped to the bloody machine and was for a good hour after this. I think I may have done some permanant damage to my bladder now because of it.....

So left and all is dandy. On my way out all I could hear was one of the women screaming like mad though, little bit scary. Am now having second thoughts about this whole labour thingy, I mean - owwwwwww! Trying to find a way around it and so far have been totally unsuccessfull but will keep trying and when I find my cure to painless, stress free labour I will be kind and share it with you all!

Am of to rest - midwifes orders you see! Catch you all later and thanks heaps for your concerns x

Beautiful bump TYG, although the black masks it well.

Dh has just informed me that he has NO more work................ Great, and we shall live on what then? Grrrrrrrrrrrrr I have been dreading this since we moved here, up until now things have ticked along nicely, dh is not exactly pro-active when it comes to finding work either.

Glad all is good LW. Don't worry about the slightly uneasy women, you don't notice them once you become one. Oh and Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh it will scare SOH off.

Woo hoo Lwatkins! What a relief. Glad you're okay.

I was a birth partner last April for a friend of mine and she was entirely silent during labour, not a word. The woman in the next room screamed constantly for the hour and a half that my friend was giving birth (lucky lady, short labour but it was her third!). Sounded a lot like somebody was killing her very slowly. I did hear a midwife quite firmly say 'if you keep making that noise you'll be exhausted'. Didn't stop her though, she just started screaming 'F*CK' at the top of her voice.

Oh don't worry about scaring me. I'm going to have a completely pain-free labour. In fact I'm sneezing this baby out.

[denialdenialdenialdenialdenial]

I think a strong kick up the bum is in order MrsJB. Is it likely that he'll find more work soon if he puts in the effort?

I kick his arse every day, but it is hard, he doesn't speak any French, he has some cards laden around but needs to do more now. I just tell my self that everyone who, which, that? is self employed goes through this and then work will appear.

lol at the birth story SOH, Oh well if you've been a birth partner then you'll have nothing to fear. I think that is harder than actually being the one in Labour. I found it an amazing experience but tough!

What does he do Mrs JB?

Glad you are ok lw..Did the parcel arrive ok?I dont trust Royal Mail a jot..

When I was in labour with dd,(well I say labour, this was when I was happily epiduralized and fine and dandy before it went wrong later)all I could hear was this poor woman sreaming bloody murder next door.It freaked me out to the extent that the midwife had to go and get a radio to turn on and try and drown it out.I mean it really scared the bejesus out of me.I cried I was so scared, becuase I couldnt imagine the pain you would have to be in to make that noise..I am petrified again just thinking about it..(though I dare say I made a similar noise later, tho I can only remember actually screaming 3 times and dh maintains that my labour was the most polite he has ever known me to be, even when I was 'reasoning' with the evil consultant).

But then I suppose everyone labours differently and the amount of noise made probably isnt proportionate to the amount of pain?(she says hopefully)

Can any of you second (or more) timers remember what it felt like when your waters broke? As mine never did-they had to do it in the end with a hook and by that time I didnt even notice..Did anyone have it happen anywhere inconvenient?

Yes scoot parcel has arrived but due to reception being anal I can only pick it up later on tonight! New rules for picking up packages came into play over the weekend, grrrrr. Huge thanks though, can't wait to get it!

Oooo those women have really put the s**ts up me with all that screaming. My god I was tired just listening to them making all that noise, god knows where they were getting the energy from to make it! Have always been open to the idea of an epidural should I feel I want and need one, now I think after today it's gonna be demanded immediatley! I think my pain threshold is fairly high, but I don't think it's gonna matter a jott come D day! Bloody petrified now!

Oh and if one more person on my campus comes up to me and starts touching MY bump I'll smack them! I don't even know them ffs, why are they touching me. I don't walk up to random strangers and start feeling their bodily bits, if I did I'd be sent away with the men in the white coats. But it seems perfectly and socially acceptable for them to do it to me. The worlds gone mad!!! And why does everyone insist on asking you 'do you have a name yet?' I only went down to get a chocolate bar from the vending machine and ended up explaining my unborn childs life plan to these people I didn't know! There aren't enough polite ways to say f**c off in my opinion.

Oh something else I shouldn't be doing incase of nut allergies. I swear to freakin god this isn't hormones talking BUT one more comment and I'll blow up. After the scare I had this morning, and I know everythings fine now but I'm all on my own here so it did shake me up, and I'm sleep deprived so feel pretty moody. I just wish these strangers would leave me alone!

Rant over, but it really pi**es me off

Been to a few births. The one last April was a good one in terms of water breaking. Friend was propped up on her back, baby was trying to crown but the waters hadn't broken. Midwife got her big crochet hook out and bent down to do it for her, friend took one look at this, realised the intention and 'POP'. Amniotic fluid drenched the midwife from head to foot. It was in her mouth, her hair, up her nose. She looked like she'd fallen in a river. Good on my friend, she was in hysterics and spent the last five minutes of labour chuckling.

I must point out that I also went to this friend's first labour- 17hours, fourth degree tear right through her perineum, surgery, 27 stitches. Horrific. I felt so useless and she was terrified. Did I mention that her git of a first husband had turned up mid-labour, drunk and with his new girlfriend who wanted to "watch".

Thats terrible SOH, and I would have chuckled right through crowning too if I'd soaked the MW. hehe. I had my waters broken with ds so don't remember it , with dd they went naturally it was just like a water baloon popping as you are trying to fill it up, quick and painless but soaking. It was on the bed in the hospital so no where exciting although I remember that with the next contraction I had an amazing urge to push, dd arrived about 10 minutes later.

Scoot- dh is an odd job, turn his hand to everything person. He is registered as a gardener, but he does ANYTHING, he is one of those who is just good at anything practical. Grrrrrr He was supposed to be working up until our ski trip week after next but he has finished and the guy has no more for him yet. I wish I knew where to start to push his name around a bit, thats the worse of it, I can't stand sitting around waiting for work. I'm going to do some advertising for the cars and make him go round all the DIY places with his flyer tommorow.

I need someone like that round my house MrsJB! (And the money to pay him, but we can live in hope!)

Bloody hell SOH. That's awful. The ex turned up with the girlfriend? Your "denial" about labour pain is good though. Been reading lots of stuff about how if we're not afraid of labour then we're unlikely to feel pain - discomfort yes, but not unbearable pain. It's the fear that makes us tense up and feel pain.

I'll send you my hypnobirthing book if you like. There's a CD with it. I think I get a free one at the class I'm going to on Sunday.

Glad to hear you're ok LW.

I really shouldn't be let out on my own. Went to the bank at lunchtime and decided to cheat and get the bus down a couple of stops instead of walking. Got on the wrong bus, walked back to where I needed to go, walked past the bank... Just now I was waiting for the lift in the office and realised I hadn't pressed the call bell. Idiot.

I'm interviewing someone for my job tonight and have been given three other CVs just now. Starting to feel a bit more hopeful!

What's the Hypnobirthing book TYG. I'm going to get one but haven't got round to it yet. (and now I've got my sling cheap on ebay I've got money to spend of Amazon - that's my logic anyway!)

LW glad everything is ok, I know what you mean about feeling a bit out of place when you are in there and not in labour, I had to go in a few times for monitoring with dd - I was just busying myself with being nosey, I was only on a section where women had just had there babies and they all looked knackered

Add me to baby shower list pls, sounds like fun

SOH I have sorted out a bag of stuff for you, email me your addy and I will pop it in the post, [email protected] lol at sneezing the baby out - we all dream of that, well not that I will even be doing that. lol at your friend and the "water birth" and grrr at her partner - what a git

Pebble sorry about your dh and his job - I know what you mean about non proactive job hunting, dp has been "looking" for something else for 7 years, hope something turns up soon, it is a pain when they are self employed - no security - not that I think there is in many jobs these days

Scooter - my waters went while I was watching tv at 3.30 am, I was just sitting there and all of a sudden felt like I must have wet myself, I didnt feel it happening I was just sitting in a wet patch all of a sudden

DD has been ill for 2 days now, high temp and being sick, earlier she went blue and was shivering so popped in a warm bath she was freezing bless her - so now she is wrapped up snuggly buggly and is asleep on the sofa - ahhhh peace, I was up with her twice last night, so might sleep in the lounge with her tnite - one sofa each at least then i wont have to climb over the clutter on the bedroom floor - yes I could clean it up i suppose, but this bump is getting in the way and I have already done enough for 1 day

My hands have started swelling, took my rings of yesterday as they felt a bit bigger and this morning dp even noticed, one is quite painful and I couldnt use it very well so think its the start of carpal tunnel again, I can usually get my thumb and finger around my wrist but I cant now

My waters broke at 5am with ds1 and I remember wakingup thinking that i needed the loo then just as i got to the bedroom door my waters broke. I dont think i felt a pop just a sudden gush. At first i thought i had wet myself but then realised that it had felt different to a wee. Being my first baby i was under the impression that when your waters break it means the birth wont be far behind boy was I wrong. I was living at home at the time and my mum told me to go back to sleep for a few more hours as i would need the rest, i was too excited and sat up reading and double checking my hospital bag, 21 hours later when ds1 finally appeared i realised how stupid i was not to listen to my mum With ds2 the midwife had to pop my waters for me, and half hour later ds2 was here (thankfully i was only in labour with him for 5.5hrs, had already been 4cm dilated when id had sweep day before so i think that helped) I must say i have never screamed when in labour and im a total wimp when it comes to pain. I did tell ds1's dad to f'off but that was because he kept telling me to hurry up and give birth I tend to just huff and puff through the cpntractions and then grunt like a pig when pushing I found it terrifying to hear other women on the labour ward screaming out when i was in labour with ds1 but i guess if it helps them to cope with the pain, fair game to them

L Watkins - so glad you are ok. Amazing how your body turns into public property when you are pregnant isn't it. It gets transferred to your child once they are born too - everyone thinks its ok to touch them.

Noise, well, don't let it scare you. I made quite a lot of noise, I think it helps you to focus. I wouldn't describe my labour as painful, really really intense, but not painful. I wasn't screaming, just making a noise as I breathed, maybe if I hadn't been making a noise I would have felt it as pain IYSWIM? I do recall thinking I was being quite tuneful at one point!

Hypnobirthing - The Mongan Method, by Marie Mongan. It's very good. Makes loads of sense. I've had successful hypnotherapy twice before. Once for fear of spiders - which lasted very well. I still don't like them, but I don't quake with terror. I can get them in a glass and throw them out. I even held a bird eating spider after the session! (It was at London Zoo).

The other was for my bad eating habits, which clearly I need a top up session for. That's more deep-rooted though. Emotional/ food issue thingy, but it worked for ages.

That put me in mind that I thought Hypnobirthing would be useful. MKG did classes at her hospital and she talks about her labour being an "amazing experience". OK, I'm paraphrasing (sorry MKG), but that was the gist of it.

The main thing is that Marie Mongan has had children. She didn't like the medicalised approach in the US and fought against it. She ties in with other birthing "luminaries", like Michael Odent, the french guy, who has/ had an amazing birth facility in France. Was the first to use water I think...

I'm rambling now. It's definitely worth a read. The classes are pretty expenive, unfortunately. I think mine is £250 per couple for two all day classes, but I have a friend who just used the book and she got on very well with it. I'm doing a class this Sunday and next and then I have Active Birth on Sat 31st March.

I was really, really pleased when I spoke to the midwife. She said she finds women who have done hypnobirthing amazing. Really calm all the way through, to the point that sometimes the midwife doesn't even realise how far along she is. Like the head is crowning and the woman is still smiling and breathing through it all like she's barely gone into labout. The Active Birth Centre is right near my hospital so they have a lot of women who've used it and she said it's really useful too. There's also a book on that. It's by Janet Balaskas.

TYG - I totally agree about fear and I was laughing with the midwives in between contractions. Hope hypnobirthing works for you.

Don't forget to email me on: lovelymarslady at aol dot com with your likes/dislikes and addresses for the secret baby shower.

Lots of you have already but you won't get your swappee details until the 15th March to give everyone that wants to a chance to sign up.

Am going to send my details as soon as Ive cleared up the mess from ds's gelli Baff, its official it is by far the most disgusting thing on this planet, think bathing in blue wallpaper paste. I cant believe MIL bought all four boxes of the stuff, this is only the first pack ive used and i have blue goo everywhere, lucky it doesnt stain (or so it says on the box, i will just have to wait and see if its true )

Gross. I've just looked up what Gelli Baff is.

Afternoon all! Phew, there's been a lot to catch up with today! It's been my first day back at work today and it's all been a bit bleuuuuurgh, so I'm glad to have something interesting to read!

LW - glad to hear that all is well. Make sure you follow your MW's advice and get some rest. No cleaning up the flat after your flatmates or anything! Don't worry about the screaming that you heard - not all women are like that and I am sure you won't be. TYG's book recommendation is a good one - I bought that book myself after MKG posted about it. Haven't finished it yet but it does make absolute sense, especially when talking about the impact that fear has on birth and how to counteract that.

TYG & LG&T - lovely bump pictures! You both have beautiful bumps. No sign of this 'fat' nonsense you mentioned either!

I'm also up for the secret shower - what an excellent idea! I doubt that I will even get a card from my work place when I go on maternity leave; there's a whole team of us who usually work from home and don't go into the office very much. As a result, we aren't usually included in things like birthday collections or secret santa etc, while the office based people are. It's a little bit sad but I totally understand it - why would they want to contribute to a collection or a card for someone they don't see very often nor work with particulaqrly? Joining in with the secret shower here instead will be so much nicer and more enjoyable anyway!

Uh oh. My mumsnetting has finally caught up with me. I've started getting death threats (or the office equivalent thereof) from Accounts Payable about the overdue expenses.

What a fantastic idea re the baby shower. Thanks to Mars for offering to organise it. Will send my details shortly.

Lupins - hope dd gets better soon. My email address is [email protected]. How does Monday sound to you?

MrsJB - posted your parcel today. Actually C says to tell you that he paid for both the item and the postage so therefore it has come from him and not me even though it was my idea!

Lwatkins - glad all turned out to be ok.

HEy all - very interesting that you are talking about Hypnobirthing. I'm going to a Speed Bumps session tomorrow night (a mums and expectant mums catchup session run by the NCT) and they are having a woman come in and give us a talk on Hypnobirthing so i reckon I'll go get the book as well.