Weighing up the pros and cons

[Trish]

PMSL Deb. As long as he is leaving you alone and not being a pain all in good fun then hey. Same as me with Mark

Although I do remember when Teh was in hosp, there was this really cute Dr doing the rounds. Mum and I were like, MMm I hope he's Teh's Dr. And he was

[Debbie Lee]

LOL Trish... nothin' like having a perve when you're preggo, hey? I had a hot student doctor a couple of times. He was lovely and gentle too (well, too gentle so he couldn't quite find Gab's head... so I told him he could be more rough if he wanted). Hahahaha.

[Trish]

HAHA, just tell him you like it rough hun

[Debbie Lee]

Had my bloods done today. I figured while I was at the hospital (clinic, hossy and pathology all in the one spot) that I'd go and inquire about seeing the midwives. I was sent to obstetrics where I explained that even tho I am not 20 weeks along that I'd like to speak to a midwife soon because I've got a lot of things to get my head around. She seemed understanding but couldn't get me in until Feb 5. Oh well, still better than having to wait until 20 weeks. I'll be a bit over 15 weeks. At least then I can talk to them about having a VBAC (with as little intervention as possible), having a doula/support person in with me and also whether there's a doctor at the clinic that would be more supportive of a VBAC. I see my doc again next week. I figure I'll give him one more chance. Tho I doubt much will change as he doesn't seem keen to talk about anything major until 20 weeks. Maybe I am just being impatient? Possibly. Either way I'll at least be able to get a few things sorted out in my head.

[Debbie Lee]

Posted this in the VBAC/EBAC discussion too:

Ok... have been looking for a few books...
Have found a good online store that has a lot of childbirth/pregnancy/maternity type books.
Capers Bookstore? dot com dot au
Anyway... it has Silent Knife ($77!! ARGH!), The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth and New Active Birth.
There's one there called "Vaginal Birth After Caesarean" by Elizabeth Kaufmann. Anyone heard of this one? Any good?

[BellyBelly]

Deb, Capers is pretty expensive compared to other places. If you go to Seek Books which is in the recommended reading list, you can see the difference and also support BB at the same time, we get a small percent of sales. They are cheapest I have found online by far. Also hard covers are heaps more expensive.

[Debbie Lee]

OOo okies... will do, Kelly Thanks for that. I thought it was a good idea to check here before going ahead with buying them. I'll probably have to get one at a time anyway.

BTW, I've got a couple of emails from possible birth support people so thanks for asking around for me I'll be speaking to them on the phone at some stage next week and possibly meeting them to see how we feel. Either way, it's a positive step to helping me figure this whole thing out. Thanks heaps!

ETA: Woah! Just looking at seekbooks and they are HEAPS cheaper!!
Except for Silent Knife... it's $77 with Capers and $92.66 with Seekbooks. I wonder if they price-match? Hmm...

[BellyBelly]

Yup Thats why I recommend them. Huge range, great service, fantastic prices - I use them alot

You'll feel even better after meeting with those people, will give you more confidence. I even hear the director of the ABA contacted you We chat so she let me know

[Debbie Lee]

Hehehe... yes... oooerrr!! How cool would it be if I could say that the director of the ABA was at MY birth??? It's great that she's not all that far away from me either.

[BellyBelly]

You'd get great breastfeeding support!!!

[{sarah}]

One word - EBAY!! Or even try 2nd hand book shops Deb.

Or, someone nice might lend you a copy hehe! Just sent you a PM.

[Debbie Lee]

I sure would, Kelly. I tell you what, that advice wouldn't go astray! Tho I do plan on BFing like a champ this time round. Nothing's gonna stop me! Muhahahaahahahaha!!! (ok... woman posessed!! hehehe).

Sarah and Christy - thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!!! I really appreciate the loan (and the thought ). I promise I'll look after the books Christy!

[Debbie Lee]

Another question...
I've just been starting a basic birth plan that I'll work on as I read more. There was one bit I'm not sure about:
"I’d like an un-rushed physiological third stage, and I would rather not have the routine Syntometrine injection".
What is the issue with the synto injection? I thought that it helped to deliver the placenta aswell as help to establish breastfeeding? I think I remember being told this in antenatal classes.

[Fi]

Nah Deb - better all natural.
I think (but I know there is a better thread where Shannon posted a pile of good stuff) that it just basically speeds up the whole uterus shrinking thing. But when you are breastfeeding, this happens all by itself! My uteruse contracted really, really quickly. Like super fast, which was proabbly why I had such shocking afterpains (puts it in persepctive that morphine didn't even take the edge off it!!!). As the midwife said when she did her first check of my tummy - "lucky you didn't get the shot!".

[{sarah}]

Hey Deb, check out this article on the main BB page, might help.

[Debbie Lee]

Thanks guys! I was just curious..... it's so hard to comprehend all this info when you've got different people telling you different things.

Went to the Dr. today and things went better this time. I'll write about it properly in my pregnancy journal and in the VBAC discussion but, basically, he was a little more forthcoming with information concerning a VBAC. He was a little guarded still (saying something about a gyno checking to see if the baby will fit through my pelvis... urrgh! That old card!) but he was also encouraging when I said I was doing a lot of research and reading so that I made informed choices. He seemed to take me more seriously this time.

[Trish]

Deb, good to hear that your appt went better this time. Pfft at your pelvis not being big enough. Mark's SIL was told the same thigna dn they gave her 3 c sections without even letting her try to give birth naturally and she's not even a small person.

[Debbie Lee]

Yeah I'm a bit befuddled by it all, Trish.
I've read the article on the BB main page about the pelvis issue and I'm just wondering why on earth it's even still a reason given by doctors?? It's not like I'm a little speck of a thing!! LOL
Also was never an issue when preggo with Gabby. Not one person said to me "Oh we better check your pelvis to see if the baby will fit" and Gab was 8lbs! Hmmm.... if it wasn't an issue then, why would it be now?
Anyway... I'll humour him. I'll go see the gyno and, with any luck, he'll say "Yep, no worries" and it'll be all guns a blazin' for a VBAC.