Homebirth General Discussion #14

Teni I don't think you're a creep for that. Naturally you'd want to find things in common with your midwife, a better bond would make the birthing more comfortable imo. Maybe when you meet next you can have a conversation about your friendly stalking (lol).
When I first met my midwife one of the things that struck me was that she'd been to Saudi to live for some years and so she knew a lot about how Muslims interact, what we say, etc and she even greeted me with a Muslim greeting so overall she did a great job at making me feel at ease with her. I absolutely love that she's my middie! Add to that she was super excited when I said I wanted a homebirth and when I said I wanted a water birth she said "wow you've really done your research!" while I thought to myself 'yeah by reading a gazillion birth stories on bb' lol :p.

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Another breech baby here!!! Had my 3d scan today - still a boy!

But yes, frank breech, toes above his head. He looks so squished up in there!! Why do my VBAC babies have to be breech and give me a heart attack until they turn - this is 3 in a row - my section babies were always in the right position. Grrr.

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Sending him spinning vibes. When did the others turn?

Teni, I'm FB friends with a whole m/w group. Lol I think my m/w and I are pretty much friends IRL now, especially since she had her first baby a few mths ago. I see both of them every mth at our get togethers and I visited for lunch at her place last mth. The dynamic for this pg is completely different as a result. So don't feel weird. ;) It's a very special relationship, the one you build with your midwife.

Teni I got so obsessed with Jan I used to imagine I'd see her driving around. It's normal and part of the relationship I think. I'm friends with jan on fb and love being in constant touch with her!

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Sending him spinning vibes. When did the others turn?.

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Both girls turned just before my 38 week appointment but they weren't in this breech position, they would flip all the time from transverse to breech and I never really worried that they wouldn't .

This one can't be budged already, even though I'm only 30 weeks - head under left rib, legs under right rib and butt on my cervix. So he's pretty long like his daddy I reckon.

Just got a bad feeling about this one...

Ah Arimeh... :( Too early now to stress. What does your m/w say? They have a vaginal breech program at Westmead in Sydney, plus a couple of the m/ws I know have just had successful twin vaginal births (even a water birth) there too. Still not ideal, considering how much I value HB, but that's there at least. Not much help to you in Qld though!

Any other ideas? Did you do anything for the girls?

Arcadia, lol at your hoping to see her driving around. Hannah Dahlen is one of the group m/ws here and I felt like I was around a celebrity for a little while. Turns out she's the one I probably get on best with and I'm slightly disappointed I won't be birthing with her. ;)

Arimeh have you looked at the Spinning Babies website? They've got lots of info on fetal positioning and helping your baby into a better position for birth. You've got lots of time yet to help that baby move. Try not to stress! It'll be OK. :hug:

Oh - and I think that stalking your midwife is a sign that you're clicking well with her. :lol: I still hope that I'll run into my first midwife at the grocery store someday. I really loved her, and was SO sad when she moved to a neighbouring practice where she could work part time after she shattered her ankle. I'd love to sit down and talk with her for a while.... I like my current midwife and she's very experienced, but I don't have the same connection with her.

hello girls!

Teni: you are not being silly for sharing your thoughts :hug: And FWIW i would *totally* go to the appointment to get the scan images of my baby. that's my baby afterall and i would want all of them!
but i do agree that you should contact your IM and let them know that you went. it can be really weird and intimidating realising that they are there for you. i find it hard to call up my IM even now lol! but it is what they are there for. they are there for you and baby. let your main midwife know, as she will most likely want a copy of the report as well. Usually you can ask the hospital to send a report to her as well (do you have her address?). if not, get a copy of it and give it her at your next appt with her. and seriously, ANY concern or niggle you have, feel totally AOK in calling them :hug: they will love and support you so much...it's truly fantastic, trust me xx

Arimeh: oohhh, that would be so full on having a 38 weeker turning lol!

Breech isnt bad Arimeh :hug: it is also normal. you can still birth that baby. is your IM able to help you with breech birth? I know that my team are really experienced and when we were worried about DD3 at one point they told me that i would still be aiming for a HB :D. there are some really fantastic breech birth info stuff out there. if you feel that baby is content to stay that way, i would get reading and arm yourself with all the knowledge you can muster so that whatever decision you need to make it is yours ITMS.

Y'know what I realised earlier today, on the subject of calling midwives when there's any (real or perceived) problem? Again, because I'm so used to the hospital route - and really any kind of medical thing - I've never had someone I can just call up personally and talk to. Any GP appointment I've had in the past has just been go into the clinic and see whoever's there. Hospital appointments in pregnancy, pretty much the same deal aside from seeing the same OB for the last few weeks of pregnancy with Amelia and every now and then with Ianto. If there's an emergency (or it's the middle of the night and I don't think the 24-hour GP is enough), we go to the emergency room of the hospital. It's never been the same person/people I see every time. So I think that's why I'd be hesitant to call Kelly and Jan - I'm just not used to someone being "on call" just for me! I see whoever I'm sent to, usually. It's an odd experience for me to have ongoing care in any way :lol:

The thing that got me thinking about it was that I got a bill from the RWH wanting more money for my notes :o I was going to call Kelly to ask if that's normal - it's going to be about $65 all up - but I thought I'd ask here first. I thought it was just the one fee and that was it, now they want copying fees and searching fees?! Really? Ianto's were free... Could it just be because Amelia's might be more detailed?

That's another job for your IM! When i got my notes, if i did it myself there were costs but if my IM (or another health care provider) submitted the request then fees were waived. Before you pay, check with the midwife to see if they can make it easier, or cheaper for you.

That's the thing, apparently the hospital changed their computer systems or something and the midwives can't access anything more recent than a year or so ago :( Or that's what I think Kelly said... I admit I wasn't paying full attention at that point, Amelia was trying to steal the pen I was using to fill some paperwork with.

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Ah Arimeh... :( Too early now to stress. What does your m/w say? They have a vaginal breech program at Westmead in Sydney, plus a couple of the m/ws I know have just had successful twin vaginal births (even a water birth) there too. Still not ideal, considering how much I value HB, but that's there at least. Not much help to you in Qld though!

Any other ideas? Did you do anything for the girls?

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I did upside down handstands in the shower and squats to turn the girls, but I think they would have on their own eventually. Unfortunately *insert sigh here* my midwives don't do breech homebirths, so I would be sent to the hospital for an ecv at 37 weeks - and I've talked to my friend who is a midwife there - and she said that the doctors there are reluctant to do the ecv if you have an anterior placenta. Which of course, I do. So its either turn or immediate c-section at 39 weeks - I could *possibly* talk them into letting me go to 40 weeks gestation given my history of being a 42-weeker, but my friend doubts it. They definitely do NOT do vaginal breech there unless its a premature birth that went too quickly, or an undiagnosed breech in labour OR a second twin. And all occasions it has been "accidents"

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Arimeh have you looked at the Spinning Babies website? They've got lots of info on fetal positioning and helping your baby into a better position for birth. You've got lots of time yet to help that baby move. Try not to stress! It'll be OK. :hug:

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Yeah I've been looking into it, and trying some positions. The one with the knees on the edge of the couch is really hard to get up from when you are as heavy as I am PMSL

My IM went in to FOI at the RWH and filled in the forms in her name for my file. I think i had to sign consent. The file was copied and then sent out. it took a few weeks. This was in 2010 though so maybe things have changed.

The charges are listed on the website. Health Records[]=foi if they are alot different to what you have been quoted, you could ask them to review. if you have a health care card the application fee can be waived.

maybe my im knew the foi officer or something??

Yeah, I had a look at those just now, I just didn't consider there'd be any extra charges so I didn't think to look it up when I applied.

You'd have got yours through your IM before they changed the systems, whereas I had Amelia before the change and now asking after.

The biggest annoyance for me aside from the not knowing is that there's apparently 111 pages. In comparison, Ianto's file was about 5 pages... Even if I'd known to expect this bill I wouldn't have expected to pay more than a dollar or two for the lot. Instead it's $22.20 just for that. Then there's the $20 search fee, $25.10 application fee (which is the one I've paid and I thought was the only fee), $5 postage... At least the postage I can avoid, I'll just tell them I want to come in and pick it up instead. Woohoo, $5 saved :lol:

The fees were still charged back then, my IM just did something and the charges were waived. unless, it was because i had been through the consumer advocate/ complaint process.

I think other medical people (as in, outside of the hospital) can get them free, but in this particular case they couldn't because of the system change. So even if it was a GP or a different hospital I'm giving them to, I'd have had to still apply as though it was only for personal usage. Though again, I was only half-listening and building on my own assumption :)

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Yeah I've been looking into it, and trying some positions. The one with the knees on the edge of the couch is really hard to get up from when you are as heavy as I am PMSL

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I don't think it matters how big/small you are - that's a terrible position to get into and maintain! I was doing it to try to give my posterior baby room to turn with my last pregnancy, and I thought my eyeballs were going to explode! :) I began to think that delivering her posterior might be better than sitting upside down like that any more....

Hope he turns soon for you though, so you can rest easy! A lot of people do swear by chiropractic help to get breech babies to turn.

Insomnia is starting to hit over here. Ugh. Two nights in a row of about 3-4 hr of sleep makes things difficult when all the kids are home from school! The good thing is, my oldest girls are OK to handle things while the littlest ones nap so that I can lay down for a little while in the afternoon. Last night was better though - so hopefully this won't be something I have to deal with every night until baby arrives!

I agree, the spinning babies positions are not easy for any normal person.! My DS was very mobile until the end, even though he was over 10lb. lots of time being transverse, breech at 38 and 40 weeks. we could move him head down with rebozo, but he would move again. I worry for this little one, my tummy muscles are probably in worse condition. I was fortunate to have midwife comfortable with breech birth, and a baby who got his shiz together at the right time.
both mine have been 41 weekers and I would be reluctant to consent to c section early too. c,mon baby, be nice to your mum.