Due Sept 08: The one where we pack our bags and write our birth plan.

[mamamufin]

I thought I would be brave

hopefully i didn;t really notice delivering the placenta either

can;t wait now looks like things are finally coming together apparently the conservatory should be finished by friday!! they have done most of the brick work and the lids going on tomorrow am soooo excited!!

now need to get my ass down to ikea and see if those poang chairs are in the sale!!

have been a little naughty haven;t spent anything for ages and saw this gorgeous whiskas cat bed for the conservtary it's really cool and white and shaped like a cats head- so i bought it ha ha !!

Builders have fixed the very minor leak in the loft. But running water could still be heard next to the stopcock even when off.

MrNC investigated by pulling up floorboards and then shouted a phrase that I really didn't want to hear: "NC, can you phone an emergency plumber now?!"

Unfortunately it's now clear there is a major leak on the far side of the stopcock in our granny flat...

Luckily I'd already got checkatrade's website up and found a number, so someone is on their way. Time to phone the insurers.

hopefully I never noticed the placenta coming out either...in fact it was a bit like you said
"delivering the placenta will be fine, a jab in the thigh and I'll be shot of it"... your mind is on your new baby!

Has anyone got low iron? My midwife only just got round to getting my 28wk bloods done...2 wks late as i'm 30! i'm mad as i had to see her the other wk as i felt exhausted and lightheaded but she just said it was low blood sugar, i mention could it be low iron as i suffered bad from 23wks with ds but she said no! So she should of checked them THEN. I had to mention at my appoint last wk that i hadn't had them done since wk 12 ....it really doesn't give you much faith...this one is not as caring as the one i had with ds sorry for the moan i'm just really disappointed.

Charitygirl I think you might be right - she's definitely getting a bit nervous about it all (and about whether she'll be a good granny!)

Mustsleep how exciting! At least you can console yourself over your lack of MA while sitting in your nice new conservatory!

Starlight, another lovely analogy, I think placenta as jelly and baby as concrete football is up there with 'nipple cheese'!!

Mustsleep - very exciting that they're nearly finished, hope all this rain doesn't hinder them

NC - hope the plumbers have rushed to your aid and sorted out the problem and there's not too much damage

Mumiyumi - sorry your mw has let you down - have you got iron tablets to take now?

Re placenta - I don't remember if it was painful or not, but I do remember they sort of pulled it out, kind of twirling as they pulled, and them not being sure it was going to come out all together.

The pain in my right ribs is worsening - hurts from the top at the front, down the side, and at the back as well. It's really bad when I'm sitting down. What could it be? Does baby have it's bum wodged up there or something? Can't believe so uncomfortable at just 28 weeks

starlight - I felt the midwife didn't interfere very much at all, though she did check the baby's head when it was coming out, and good job as the cord was round dd's neck so she unlooped it very quickly. But otherwise I was left to it. The only guiding I needed was when the midwife first arrived (I was already pushing at this point, having left it rather late to call the homebirth team ) and she told me to try to stop screaming with each contraction - and once I stopped I realised the baby was going to come out very soon. I'd been wasting all that energy on screams and was too tense up to that point. So it was only 25 minutes after the midwife's arrival that dd2 put in an appearance.

For me delivering the placenta was not much fun, but mostly because they made me get out of the pool and either because of the drop in temperature, or probably because of the shock of the birth I had an uncontrollable shaking fit - it was by far the worst bit of the whole birth, and it went on long enough that I really didn't want to hold dd2 for a good hour afterwards as I was still shaky and feeling awful.

talking about cords. anyone putting in their birthplan to wait till the cord stops pulsating before cutting?

Pidge, the shaking thing is normal after childbirth. It has to do with the sudden drop in volume of warm stuff, baby. Read it 3 yrs ago when pg with dd1 so have forgotten how it was explained. Not sure how much getting out of the pool affects this. Depends on the pool temp i suppose and if the house is warm and you were dried off quickly?

I am planning on putting it in because of a fascinating story i read in Active Birth. You know, that book you haven't opened?

A UK midwife working in a primitive setting abroad stated that she once delivered a baby in a location where no doctor was within at least a 3 hr drive and it wasn't the kind of place to get an airlift out. The baby she delivered was having serious problems breathing. she hadn't cut the cord yet and because the baby wasn't breathing she had the intuition not to. she said the cord kept pulsating thereby supplying oxygen to the baby for 2, maybe 3 hrs, until the baby managed to establish breathing on its own then the cord stopped pulsating. The placenta also remained attached.

From reading elsewhere about the physiology of a newborn, can't remember for the life of me where, there are physiologic changes taht occur within the baby which signals to the placenta that it is no longer needed. sorry i can't be clearer than that.

Thanks splish - plumber turned up within the hour and appears to have fixed the joint and outer stopcock properly. Of course it was after he arrived that we remembered insurance and sought out the policy which of course says you have to use their approved repairers...

Will sweet-talk both the contents-home-protect and the buildings insurers tomorrow - what's the betting both try to say it's the other one who would cover it anyway? We knew there was a problem as our tenant had said there was mildew appearing on the wall and Mr NC was investigating the drain (prime suspect) anyway. Builders are going to investigate the drain tomorrow.

Can't believe I'm going to have a baby in about 10 weeks. And for the rest of my life... A large part of my brain is just saying "he'll come out somehow - just worry about it on the day." I feel like I've done all my revision for a big exam but don't have any practice papers to guide me in what to expect...

kiskidee - thanks for that about the post-birth shaking thing. Very interesting. At least if it happens this time I'll be prepared.

Starlight - with dd2 I did the whole thing with no pain relief (just water and will power!!). Though that hadn't been my plan, I just phoned the midwives too late to get any gas and air, I remember the midwife and dp grappling with the G&A cannister, but they had wet hands because they'd been seeing to me in the pool and they couldn't open it and I yelled at them - "stop messing about it's too late for that now" . I did have G&A to be stitched afterwards and commented rather ruefully that it would have been nice to have it during the birth!!

I also wanted the cord to remain in place till the placenta was delivered, but apparently they had to clamp it in order to get it off from round dd's neck (as starlight says, cord round neck is v. v. common and not a cause for concern - and if it's long enough there's no need to clamp or cut to get it free). Anyway, I'll try again this time. Thinking about it this is the stuff that needs to go on my birth plan isn't it!

Is anyone else feeling absolutely exhausted? I'm blaming it on lack of sleep on the camping weekend! But think it is more likely just pregnancy tiredness. I couldn't face cycling to work today, so did the trek by train instead.

Pidge I can't believe you're only just struggling enough to contemplate giving up cycling to work - I would already be on maternity leave if exercise was necessary in order to get me to work!

My nipple cheese is definitely also on the increase starlight, but still fairly minimal. Won't let DP anywhere near my nipples though, in case he mysteriously sets off some leakage (not that this has happened a single time in my pregnancy, but I'm paranoid...)

I haven't thought about cord issues - I don't feel strongly any one way, so I think on that issue I'll be guided by the midwife. One of the things I do want is to be left until I feel the urge to push (assuming I don't have an epidural, which is not a given!) rather than being told to push when the midwife thinks I'm ready. Am I going to regret this? I don't want to not have any support from the midwife, but from doing research I just prefer the idea of being left until I need to push rather than when I am told I need to. Anyone got any thoughts?

Well I put the groundwork for a birthplan on paper last night. it started off with some ideas knicked from several posters earlier on this thread. I added and changed bits.

I am sure the tone is all stroppy because I do stroppy easiest. Is it all right to have a stroppy one. It has eventualities for home and hospital. I am just worried about what i have overlooked.

It is one side of A4, one instruction per line then single spaced. I get the feeling it gives the impression of a control freak.

If anyone would like to see it to borrow ideas, help me improve the tone, suggest things I haven't considered, I am more than happy to share it.

morning everyonei have never really thought about when they cut the cord dh cut ds'sand dd's but can't really remember if that was before or after the placenta was deliveredyay they are here with the windows so by tonight we will more or less be done outside and they can move onto the insides!!ds has decided to inform this morning half way to school that i can purchase a ticket for his concert from the office and that the concert is wed and thur this week!! had assumed that as they are performing just the one song in Year 2'sconcert that we could not attend and there had been no letter about tickets etc i hate how they seem to rely on your lo's to keep you up to date - but never mind he will be outof her class soon . I did not have any cash on me toby said ticket this morning,have no one to babysit dd as it's at 1.30! and i believe they will be wanting to cut through walls and do the front door on one of these days too!!i just said to ds would you be upset if i didn;t come and explained to him about the babysitter and dd and the walls etc and he said he wasn;t bothered but now i feel awful

morning everyonei have never really thought about when they cut the cord dh cut ds'sand dd's but can't really remember if that was before or after the placenta was deliveredyay they are here with the windows so by tonight we will more or less be done outside and they can move onto the insides!!ds has decided to inform this morning half way to school that i can purchase a ticket for his concert from the office and that the concert is wed and thur this week!! had assumed that as they are performing just the one song in Year 2'sconcert that we could not attend and there had been no letter about tickets etc i hate how they seem to rely on your lo's to keep you up to date - but never mind he will be outof her class soon . I did not have any cash on me toby said ticket this morning,have no one to babysit dd as it's at 1.30! and i believe they will be wanting to cut through walls and do the front door on one of these days too!!i just said to ds would you be upset if i didn;t come and explained to him about the babysitter and dd and the walls etc and he said he wasn;t bothered but now i feel awful

morning everyonei have never really thought about when they cut the cord dh cut ds'sand dd's but can't really remember if that was before or after the placenta was deliveredyay they are here with the windows so by tonight we will more or less be done outside and they can move onto the insides!!ds has decided to inform this morning half way to school that i can purchase a ticket for his concert from the office and that the concert is wed and thur this week!! had assumed that as they are performing just the one song in Year 2'sconcert that we could not attend and there had been no letter about tickets etc i hate how they seem to rely on your lo's to keep you up to date - but never mind he will be outof her class soon . I did not have any cash on me toby said ticket this morning,have no one to babysit dd as it's at 1.30! and i believe they will be wanting to cut through walls and do the front door on one of these days too!!i just said to ds would you be upset if i didn;t come and explained to him about the babysitter and dd and the walls etc and he said he wasn;t bothered but now i feel awful

sorry about three posts!!

keep gettingmhy fullpost all squished together with no spaces everytime i post too

Morning everyone. Seeing my midwife next week and I know we're going to start talking about my birth plan. Being a first-timer I've got lots of questions, some of which have been answered at ante-natal classes. Just wanted to ask though about having the injection to speed up delivery of the placenta. The midwife at ante-natal seems v against having the injection...I know it takes longer to deliver it naturally but are there other differences? Your opinions please! If it helps I'm planning a water birth in hospital...can deliver placenta in pool, thanks!

mama2bee i haven;t had the injection either time i thought that you only had it if things were really slow -mine seemed to follow out pretty much straight after the babyforgot to say also mumiyumi my iron was low after my blood test at 28 weeks but i havent; been taking the iron tabs as they make me feel really sick

hopefully - well the cycling is motivated by the fact that it makes my commute easier - the alternative is 2 extra trains on top of the main one I catch, and it's less flexible and involves quite a lot of walking. So in some ways the bike is easier - it's 40 minutes pedalling, then another 35 minutes on a train. But it does require a bit of energy which I'm rather lacking at the moment!

Thank goodness I only work 3 days per week, as that is plenty right now (mutters to self, should be working now, not idling hours on mumsnet!)

Hi ladies.

i also found the placenta easy to deliver it just sort of ploped out will a tiny push.

Im going to ask for the cord to be cut when it stops pulseating i watched a baby story on tv the other night and the lady wanted the cord to be tied with string and not a clamp it looked much so better than the clamp
it dosent get caught on the nappy etc. i might look into having that done.

i didnt have any pain relief in my labours only because i was scared of being sick with gas and air and the water was anough with ds.

Pidge I am still envious of your no doubt improved fitness as a result of the continues cycling! I have lost so much fitness during this prgnancy - lots of pram walking for me afterwards!

ps, I'm still open to opinions about the 'pushing' part of my birth plan (see my last post), as I can't decide if it's the right choice!