I know Cassius - scary! I have to see if I can con my mum into buying the ina may book for me - need to read it again and I sold my birthing books after sahti because I wasn't having any more babies! I wonder if my local library has it....
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I know Cassius - scary! I have to see if I can con my mum into buying the ina may book for me - need to read it again and I sold my birthing books after sahti because I wasn't having any more babies! I wonder if my local library has it....
Both my girls had broken vessels in their eyes, but DD1 was an hour and 40 mins of pushing and DD2 shot out in 8 minutes lol.
:rofl: I just went to the doctor to look at the "results" for the ultrasound. Here's a (paraphrased) quote:
"Four small cysts are visible in the endometrium... It is possible that one of the above cysts in fact reflects a very early gestational sac... The ovaries contain multiple small follicles suggesting polycystic ovaries... The bladder is unremarkable."
Well, I for one hope it's only one of the "cysts" thats really a baby! And nerDER, I *do* have PCOS, it was on my referral. As for my bladder, it's not unremarkable, it's FABULOUS :p
GP was the same as last week, not too up with how to deal with my wanting a homebirth. She's sent a referral off to the hospital, and she pretty much got me to write my own referral for the midwives. I didn't know what I was meant to write!
Fabulous bladder LOL
Forget what I wrote in my last post - had a super intelligent moment and realised I can borrow the books I want through DH - his uni has them because you can do midwifery there. Not on his campus but he can get them for me. Woohoo! Bonus.
Hey, a HCG level of 69 at 3w5d isn't that bad, is it? The doctor just called me back into her office to let me know I needed another blood test (which I wanted originally but she didn't give me...) as well as another u/s at the end of the month. I'm not worried exactly, but I was under the impression that anything in the range was okay? The results thingie says 50-500 is the range for last week.
i have no idea teni...but i am with you that if it is in range then it is ok :dunno:
Gosh, an unremarkable bladder hey...sheesh. that, and with my 'lazy' uterus we are so sexy lol.
My HPTs have been getting darker since then anyway. I know that's not a definite predictor of the levels doubling, but it's something. The blood test she was going off was the day after I got my BFP, and despite what she thinks I know when I ovulated.
I think I've realised why she looked worried/sympathetic. Going off my LMP, I "should be" about ten weeks. She probably thought I was weird for not being devastated/panicked at the news my levels were in range for the gestation I really am :rolleyes:
ETA: Oh for goodness' sake! I just looked up the average levels per day, and 69 is HIGHER than they say a normal range is for 3w5d. Look:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/04/17/upaqy8es.jpg
So, yeah, definitely not worried now. Just frustrated :lol:
if only they'd listen hey! i find it funny that they dont believe us when we tell 'em when we had sex and ovulated hahahaha. i bring in my FF chart and my GP almost passes out with the details hahahaha.
Is it normal to start second guessing a hb around halfway? I'm not scared or anything like that. I'm just considering the postnatal hospital care. I have no family that can help. I will just have to annoy some friends and get them to be my support network. I don't have to do it on my own this time.
Williamsmummy, it's normal to question everything and make sure it is right for you and your family. As far as post natal care goes, talk to the midwife. Our midwife will visit every day for up to two week and once a week until baby is 6 weeks old. She will stay for as long rt7or as short as I like, in my experience that is more support then I ever got in the hospital system. At home in your own bed with someone who is prepared to just be there as long as you need.
Arimeh- wow your pregnancy seems to be flying along. Go well with the scan this week.
Teni- how frustrating when you know your body better then the professionals yet they seem to still not listen to you. I must say I had a bit of a giggle about the bladder thing. Why do they use such odd terms?!?!? How is the midwife searching going?
I had a midwife apt today, down to final lists and fine details. Can't believe we are on the home stretch. We have moved furniture and started to make a birth room, the next few days will be scrubbing and washing while hubby is home on holidays. It's funny become occupied with how will this birth all happen, what will it be like, where will I be when labour starts etc. I have had super quick births the last three so I tend to want to stay around home in the end. We have a brilliant birth team which has taken shape so beautifully. We are all having a meeting next week!!!
Williamsmummy - it's definitely normal to question your decision. But if you are thinking that the hospital will give you better post-birth care, I have my doubts, unless the hospitals by you are vastly different from the ones here! If you have a healthy normal delivery, you'll be discharged pretty soon after the birth anyways, and have to pack everything up, put your teeny little one in the big car seat, and drive home. (I'm a suck, but I hate that part!) So you'll be in the same boat after 24 hr whether you gave birth at home or not. You do need to have some support from friends in the area, or arrange for DH to take some time off, or something. Most people are happy to help out when a new baby arrives, so I'm sure you'll get the help you need, if you just ask. :)
Ladybird - getting close now! Planning the final details is so exciting. :)
I was discharged in 24 hrs from hospital the first time so will probably be the same. Thanks for that hadn't looked at it from that point. I was with KYM first time around so had plenty of home visits. I think it's the cooking and cleaning is what worries me. But either way I'm going to have to deal with it, coz I wouldn't be staying for long.
And you're right, I bawled my eyes out the first time strapping des into his car seat. Telling dh to drive carefully. This time I'll already be home, so won't have to worry about it :)
I've started putting meals and baking in the freezer already now, so I have some things to pull out after baby arrives. And, you can always throw in a few extra freezer meals from the grocery store - some frozen pizzas, or something easy like that. Not the healthiest, necessarily, but perfect for a quick easy meal that DH or someone can throw in the oven for you. The cleaning will just have to slide for a little bit. It drives me crazy, and my DH does do a pretty decent job during the week he stays home post-baby, but there's always stuff that will just have to wait until later. Or, you can arrange for a cleaner to come once or twice a week for a little while after baby, or you can line up a couple good friends to take care of a list of cleaning that you can prepare for them. You kind of have to mentally prepare yourself for a few weeks of just getting by after the baby arrives, and remind yourself that it is just for a time. There will come a day when you're up and at it again, and your house will look the way you like it, but that just has to wait for a little bit.
WM, :hugs: I bought a second hand freezer that sits on my deck (still) before DS was born so I could have meals ready to go. It was a life saver in the early days.
It is perfectly acceptable to ask visitors to bring food when they visit. I don't remember all the presents that I got, but I certainly remember who brought food. I try to remember that when friends have babies and take a meal or some bikkies.
I also found the middle of the pregnancy a bit weird, cos there wasn't as much urgency or kerfuffle as when going through the hospital. It was way more natural, but it did require a mindshift to be comfortable with it. The realisation that you don't have to stress about when to leave for hospital and other changes can be both scary and liberating.
I sent my m/w a hamper of groceries as a gift after her new bub last mth (she's too far away to drop off meals), do dinners for close by friends and sent my cleaner to another friend's house as her baby gift. Seems so much more useful than another outfit!
Yay Cricket for another DS!
Oh my, Arimeh. Can't believe it's already time to find out the flavour!
LBF, not long now, feels real when you're organising those last little things!
I had a horrible thought today - its probably really selfish and self-indulgent to have an expensive homebirth while we are on centrelink benefits isn't it?
Maybe I should just suck it up and go through the hospital.
I'm fairly certain I'll be going with MAMA. I've emailled back and forth with them a few times now, and met Kelly at the Baby & Toddler Expo on Sunday. She seems pretty great :) I don't even mind that I'll be going to them for appointments - even though that was one of the perks when I was first considering homebirth - because they're really not that far away. Plus since I'm used to the hospital model of care, I've come to associate pregnancy checkups with sitting in waiting rooms :p I am slightly worried about Jan, since I've met her before and she seemed a little severe, but I'm hoping she was just having a bad day and I got the wrong first impression ;):
I'm going to see the doctor they work with for my referral, because as I suspected the GP yesterday wasn't meant to be the one to fill it out. It has to be an OB or GP/OB, not just a regular GP.
Uhhhmmmm, what else was I going to say? I know there was something I wanted to add, but I got distracted :lol:
Double post.
Nope not at all Arimeh!
Williams Mummy, it can seem like it will all be overwhelming but all will be good, at least you will have no bag unpacking and stuff to come home to. As for meals well early days DH would go buy heathy take away or cooked chicken from Coles we had with salad. And then a few great friends brought us meals which even catered to our food intolerances/allergies :) so if anyone asks how they can help just say meals.
And increase your chance of a surgical birth, and/or other interventions, plus the added expense to the public system? I like your idea of homebirth, if you can afford it, way better.:
Yeah, think of it this way - either way the government is technically paying for your birth (Medicare vs Centerlink) so you might as well make it the birth you want!
And now I've convinced myself of the same. I'd been having similar thoughts.
Lol I never thought about that at all haha! We even took out a low income loan to pay for a chunk of ours too, from a charity, so err...
Like Teni said, taxpayers are funding most births in this country anyway, may as well be one that gives you less of a chance of costing more with extra drugs, interventions and surgeries to fork out for, not to mention taking up a bed you don't need.
ETA like, we qualified for the loan because we're young, low income, and can be granted for medical expenses, we totes didn't scam it lol!
Every single person on this planet deserves and should have the right to choose the birth they want.
Get your homebirth Arimeh and NEVER look back.
(BTW PZ...totally love your sig quote!)
I think I'm feeling guilty because I went to a charity this week to get food to make sure I didn't go over budget this fortnight - and the only reason my budget is so tight is because I'm saving for this. Argh. I dunno just hard to get around the fact its money spent on me and not my kids.
If you end up injured from interventions at the hospital, you'd be out of action for weeks. If you developed PND or PTSD from trauma during the birth, you'd be out if action for months. Best thing for your new bubba, all your other babies, and yes, for you too, is a nice uncomplicated birth at home. IMO ;)
Are you not delivering a kid with this money? ;) You're bringing that baby into his/her own home, into gentle hands, not to be taken away from you or left on the warming table, etc. You're giving that baby a homebirth too, not just you.:
And, you are showing your other children what birth can and should be for a healthy mother and child. Not that they'll necessarily be at the birth, but they will know and remember that babies can be born at home without fuss or drama, and that tearing off to the hospital to be saved by an OB is generally not necessary. They will remember that when the time comes for their own babies. That's a gift to them too.
Does that help? :hug:
Double post.
You ARE spending this money on your kids! This new bub and the others too, if they're able to be there and/or also benefit from how both you and bub are after the birth. Best thing you can do for your new addition is bring them into the world this way.
Yay, first appointment booked with the midwives, another booked with their doctor so I can get the official referral, and I've opened a new bank account specifically for birth money :D It's starting to come together!
I felt I should open the new account because I'm hopeless at keeping my grubby hands off of money while I'm trying to save - it's with a different bank than my usual accounts and I've made it so I have to go in to withdraw any money ;) I wish I could've gone for a "Christmas Club" account so I could only access it in November/December, but there'll be other expenses and fees we'd need to cover before then.
Agh, I'm so excited! Before now it felt like the homebirth - and the baby itself - was sort of a dream, but now it's moving towards reality and I'm just so happy :leap:
Thanks for the different perspectives guys I guess its easy to forget this isn't just my birth!
And now I have a little boy in my belly! I can't believe after 3 girls we got given a boy - by accident!
Congrats Arimeh. You'll have boy bookends for your lovely family. He was clearly meant to be here! And how different his birth will be from his big brother's. What an amazing journey you've had!
congrats Arimeh! :D
Teni: i had to giggle at you setting up an alcatraz style bank account :lol: i love the flurry of the beginning part of pg where you put in place all the long term plans for the baby and the birth...so excited for you!
Congratulations arimeh! I personally happen to think that two boys and three girls is just a totally lovely ratio of children.... Granted I maybe a tad biased ;)
Naw, she needs at least two more girls - 5 girls and 2 boys is perfect. ;):
Congratulations on the little man on the way Arimeh! Exciting, isn't it? Did you tell your kids? I'll bet your DS is thrilled to have a brother. :) My DS isn't old enough to have a clue really, but he is excited about "baby".
WM - does your midwife have birth pool you can borrow? Is that something you are interested in?
Yes I am interested in a waterbirth hoti. She does offer one for use, I just have to pay for a liner. Thanks :)
Haha this is the end for me I'm afraid, please feel free to keep going yourself though ;):
Yes we told the kids, I wrote a note for DS that I gave to him after school telling him that he was getting a baby brother, he said "aw" and gave my belly a big hug.
Congrats again arimeh on your baby boy! What a thrill to have this little soul slip through and into your lives.
I'm excited about all the planned homebirths.
Damn, doubts/worries are starting to creep in again re: cost. I know they'll most likely be okay with a payment plan, but it's still going to be a bit of money per week/month. Added on top of that is the fact that DH just told me he won't be able to contribute until at least after the baby's born (why? No f'in clue!) and it's just so stressful. I know it'll be worth it, I know there's no way I'm giving up on this birth, but the thoughts are still there... Blaaaagggghhhhhh!
I haven't worked in 3+years yet I still was able to pay for my homebirths and DH didn't give me anything, that's the beauty of the baby bonus. Honestly talk to them now about a payment plan so you can stop stressing about that. My poor savings account hasn't had a chance to fill up du to my one birth a year lately.
Put money away for the birth every week if you haven't already, I find that we always tend to spend as much as we earn/have. So just put away a percentage of weekly pay towards this and stress less. I know easier to say!