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I had my chiro appt a couple days ago and I noticed a huge difference in baby F's movement...she can move more! I don't know if I told you ladies already but I have a pretty severe bicornuate uterus making it almost two complete uterus. So with my last little lady she was breech and couldn't really move from about 32 weeks on :( so I'm seeing a chiro early in hopes to help baby to stay head down before space runs out!
I wonder if a trip to the chiropractor would help get my little guy over onto the left side. Seems like the more I try to encourage him over there, the more firmly he sticks to the right side! He used to do a lot more rolling from one side to the other, and now it seems like he's either ROA, or fully posterior. I know I've had babies do this before, and they flipped in labour without trouble, but I guess after DS was born in such a lousy position, I'm a little more nervous about it!
The older girls are all gone now - the house is very quiet, and I've been trying to get as much cleaning and organizing done as I can. Hope it lasts until baby is born! Got the cradle all ready to go now, with a little outfit, hat, and blankets sitting in it waiting for baby.... :) Love to go look at it every once in a while. Hopefully going to get a car seat blanket sewn this afternoon so that my baby doesn't have to travel like Prince George. ;)
How is everyone else doing?
...hic....
Seems like this happens EVERY time I post now!
That's very cool! I'm glad the chiro helped too :D:
There went my cluck-o-meter!:
I cleaned my house like mad yesterday, (nesting a little!) and then DH came home and started the painting project we've been planning and everything is upside down and covered in drywall dust! I honestly could cry. And we haven't even started refinishing the floors.... :crying:
Planning this at this stage of pregnancy was probably not the best choice. But then again, doing it when the kids were all home wouldn't have worked out so well either. I guess I'll have to suck it up, and confine my cleaning to the upstairs and downstairs, and hope that the mess stays mostly on the main floor. We were talking about doing a stencil design on the floor of the dining room (it's a wood floor), but right now I am just hoping that the whole project can be finished as quickly as possible! The kids come home from my mom's tomorrow, and then are going camping with DH's parents on Monday. It's going to be a little bit crazy, I think.
I have my home visit with the midwife next week, and get my bag of "medical" home birth supplies to keep ready. I hope we'll be able to find somewhere to sit!
Our list of stuff to prep includes towels and clothing and washcloths that are supposed to be put in the dryer on high heat, and then sealed up in bags and labeled. I have never done that for any of my home birth babies, and am not planning on doing it this time, but every time I feel kind of guilty - like I didn't do my homework or something! ;) I find that all that little overdone - I have freshly washed stuff sitting ready for me and baby, along with lots of clean towels and washcloths available - but the midwives just re-did the list of supplies, and this is still on it, with thorough instructions. Does anyone else have stuff like that they are supposed to prep? What did you do?
Nope. What if you don't have a dryer?
It sounds like chaos at your place :lol: I bet the floors will be wonderful though. And camping with the family before the next bubba arrives should be lovely too. Don't forget to take it easy occasionally mama.
I think there is something about having babies that makes us all want to renovate! We pulled out my ensuite about a month prior to DDs birth. It wasn't finished when I birthed, but it was great to have a much more beautiful space to use for her birth. Granted the mirror still hadn't gone in, but otherwise it was lovely.
we have always renovated when we have had a belly full of baby or a new babe in arms :lol: it is so weird but i think you are right bella! it sets something off in us to make the place better lol!
Cricket: i do feel for you though with all that mess and the intense nesting thing going on at the same time...i would cry! i get so antsy from about 35 weeks where i want it all 'perfect' for baby.
ummm, we dont even own a dryer :lol: so i reckon that is overkill. i mean you are having a baby and they are pretty resilient little things and freshly laundered towels warmed up by the heater or fireplace during labour is just so delicious and heartwarming that i reckon you are right on the money to just do as you normally do. remember that they have their lists of things to do, but this is and will always be your baby and your birth and... your home, your towels :D
(on further thinking it's almost like they are trying to recreate a hospital policy for home...except that towels and washcloths etc at home are not at risk of being used by a million people in a very germ-ridden place...they are yours and used only by you and your family ITMS...i would be totally confident in giving that point on the checklist the flick...it just isnt required in your situation)
i don't have a dryer either. i have an oven to warm stuff if needed ;)
We renovated our only bathroom, toilet, laundry when DD was a few months old. and decided we could do without a portable bathroom during the reno. Thankfully we had tradies doing a lot of the work (such luxury!), but it still went on for awhile.
Oh I have already rearranged my living room twice lol
We have just started kitchen renovations AND landscaping our yard. So I think babies must trigger something! We should be finished by November though so plenty of time before baby. I'm thinking of you lots cricket. It's almost time to start lighting those candles and welcoming baby into your consciousness.
On a side note, how do you other mamas of Melbourne cope without a dryer? I almost spat out my tea when I read that. If I line dried I wouldn't have any clean clothes all of winter. As it is I always have sheets and clothes strewn over doorways and clothes horses, but the bulk of it goes straight in the dryer.
it is getting tougher! i can't get anything dry on the line over winter so constantly have 2 clotheslines of clothes drying in the loungeroom. We are not really keeping up this winter (mount washmore in the laundry) , so bit scared about next winter, especially if ds is still in nappies.
We're building a house! Lol which may or may not be ready when Bub is here. So either moving heavily pregnant or with a newborn. I would like to birth in the new house though.
And cricket yep sounds like a 'policy' thing to make home birth more approvable, so just chuck them in the bag and say they've been warmed hahaha.
We do have a dryer, but I only use it for DH's stuff and anything that would otherwise require ironing (wrinkle free shirts, work pants and stuff that dries all wrinkly). I figure by not using the iron we're evening out the electricity demand.
The best thing for drying here in winter is bringing the clothes airer (where I hang everything) into the room when the fire is on in the evening. My nappies dry out beautifully.
I do not recall having a list that included warming anything for DD2's HB. Just clean towels, etc, on hand. Although giving birth in the middle of summer does have it's advantages. I'm not sure how necessary pre-warmed stuff is for a waterbirth, given that temp is monitored/maintained. When you get out, you and bub just need drying and dressing and the room to be the right temp.
Thinking of you, Cricket. I'm a big believer that God never gives you more than you can bear. He must think you're totally awesome at responsibility! You will do an amazing job.
Thinking of you too, Arimeh, as the time gets closer. A new baby is a wonderful way to welcome spring.
Starting to watch and read birth stories now and the emotions are kicking in. I'm really looking forward to doing it all again. The only thing I am not looking forward to is the post-birth peri check. Has anyone else been able to have this held off for a while? I found pushing the baby out less painful! Lol I even needed a wipe of local anaesthetic put on for a few mins first. And that was with no tearing. Am I a total wuss?
What do you mean by the post birth peri check? My midwife looks at my bits but doesn't touch. But I haven't had a tear (yet!). I would think attending to open wounds would be paramount to maternal health, you don't want a nasty infection to rock your babymoon.
Yeah my MW only has a quick look and does touch a little but usually just to check spots that are suspicious of a tear. The sooner the better and I'd imagine it would hurt more the longer that was waited. With DD I had her at 3.30ish am and the midwife came back to check later that day as I had a lot of swelling. Maybe mention you find it hard so could they take more care?
My midwives have narrowly escaped having their teeth kicked in during that check. I HATE that too. But the midwife I have now is quite gentle and pretty experienced - she was able to assess things quickly and without a lot of poking last time. The one before was very "hands on" and that was not a fun time. My sister had her too, and said the same thing - just about kicked her in the head because she wouldn't leave things alone!:
About the dryer - the stuff doesn't have to be freshly warmed - it has to be "sterilized" I think. I can put it in the bag a week beforehand, but it's supposed to be taped shut and not touched until delivery. But as I said, I don't think I'm going to bother.
I understand that in lots of places, (Holland and Japan, for example) people don't use dryers at all. I use mine a fair bit! My house has enough mess and clutter without having laundry hanging all over to dry. I use the clothes line outside when ever I can though. We do about 14-15 loads per week though - I don't know if air drying in the house would keep up. Everyone would have to wear wet jeans. Blegh.
We built our house when I was expecting DD3. I think we've probably done some sort of project during every pregnancy too. Must be contagious nesting - DH gets it too, and the projects get bigger. ;)
Thanks for the encouraging thoughts ladies! The painting is done now (DH works like a crazy person when he's got a project on the go) and the big kids are coming home today. They are going camping next week (DH and I and the littlest ones are not) and then we'll tackle the floors. And then the baby can come. :)
Hey Jenn - your ticker says you're halfway done today! Hurray!
I've done my big project for this pregnancy - building our new bed :p I don't seem to get the nesting urge late in pregnancy, I just do a heap of stuff early on then crash for the rest of my pregnancy :lol:
I don't even know what you guys are talking about with the "peri check" :redface: Doesn't sound pleasant...?
you can always say no. what is the point of it? what are benefits and risks of choosing to have it or not? It doesn't sound pleasant to me and I wonder about the necessity of it.
even if you have a tear, many women chose not to have them repaired. so leaving the examination for a day or two should be fine, particularly a manual examination.
A peri-check is just checking for tears after delivery. It is good to know if you've got a tear, because then you'll know if you need to be extra careful with how you move, even if you decide not to have it repaired. And, tearing is a contributing factor in excessive bleeding post-partum, so it can be a safety concern as well. I think it is worth the check, personally. Some midwives are good at doing it carefully without hurting those stretched sore spots, and others are not! Like I mentioned before, the midwife I and my sister had previously was terrible - she was poking and prodding and calling others over for a second opinion, and hemming and hawing, all with her hands in the whole time. :o That is NOT necessary!
Oh, der, I should've thought of that - I didn't connect "peri" with "perineum" :wall: I didn't feel comfortable with anyone checking my stitches after Amelia, so I'm not sure I'd do it with this bub. Then again, I didn't know any of the people who asked so maybe I'll feel more comfortable if I need it this time? :dunno:
I suffered trauma from being stitched after my first son was born so my MWs and I discussed it a lot when preparing for the birth of my second son.
We talked about how to heal without stitching so I was versed on it but given the extra effort on being careful and having to lie down for so long I was keen to attempt stitching if I tore. We were pretty sure I tore as my son's shoulders were born so about an hour or so after birth my MW attempted to check but I was so sensitive and even trying to open my legs was hard and my anxiety started off. So she managed the briefest of glimpses and said she *thought* I had a second degree tear. If it was going to be stitched it needed to be that day. She said she really didn't want to do that to me and we went over the "rules" for healing without stitching and left it.
The next day my secondary MW came for my check up and we decided she would check again as I did want to know that we had at least properly diagnosed the tear and I wasn't as sore and worked up from the birth so it felt like a better time to look (though, too late for stitches I think). She got me to do all the touching and it only really required touching my thighs to open up the view and she pretty much sat on her hands to help my anxiety and just had a look without touching anything. She confirmed the second degree tear and I continued with my "lie down for three weeks" and keeping it clean regime. Which got tedious but was actually a great thing to do post birth in any case :D My H took the time off work and did everything around the house and caring for our older son.
I saw a physio a couple of weeks after birth as I wanted to review muscle separation. She's big on incontinence and wanted to poke around my vagina too. I told her she couldn't touch but I let her look. Anyway, she was shocked that my skin looked yellow and she was sure I had an infection from not being stitched. I called my MW and she asked me much better questions about infection like pain and smell and she said I didn't have an infection and yellow was perfectly normal but no-one knows what unstitched skin looks like when it heals. I think that's important to know if you choose not to get stitched. Don't let other people get you in a panic. My body healed perfectly. Never any pain, never any problems. I would do it same way in a heartbeat and will discuss the hands-off policy with a MW when booking them next time as I want someone again who is comfortable with that and knows what to do without poking and prodding.
Lol teni they would of done the assessment already if you already had the sutures in :)
Due to my PTSD my MW knows to tread carefully there, so it hasn't been a problem for me thankfully.
I think I may have asked my Mw if she needed to look, she offered to wait, but I just wanted it over and done with after the birth. So that's what happened. She gently had a look and saw two 1st degree tears and that was that. It did hurt a bit, but she was gentle. One way to get an indication would be to look at blood loss I guess. But since we all bleed a different amount post birth, it might be hard to know what was lochia and what was from a tear. Dunno!
I wouldn't have known that this is normal practice, as I too had stitches for 2nd degree tear at my hospital birth, so they were already down there.
i think it depends on the midwife. it isn't my midwife's normal practise. good question to ask though in your birth planning meeting!
My midwife with Eden did the check after she was born and OMG it hurt!!!! She didn't stitch though. My midwife with Sahti was more gentle (ie, didn't get her hand in there and wipe out with extreme efficiency!) and I had torn, but she let it heal naturally as well. Just had to keep my legs together lol
I don't know what my midwife will do this time, we haven't discussed it yet, although I am seeing her today and we are going over birth plans apparently.
Hey girls, I am really slack getting a gf a motherblessing gift. I am away on holidays, so I need it to be something I can order online. She is a third time mum. First Hb, but she is a birth junkie and has videos lots of hb's. any suggestions? Something unique. And price isn't a big deal. I want to spoil her.
a birthing pendant for a necklace?
bunting or something funky to have up in her birthing space
Surely they checked and knew you were torn before doing stitches though.:
Hoti- do you mean that your MW never checks if/how much you have torn? How do you decide on a treatment plan without checking? I'm not trying to sound facetious either. It's a genuine question :)
Bella- Blissful Herbs? I love that stuff!
Oh yeah I got blissful herbs for my last birth. Good idea!!
Ah, I keep getting people's meanings confused :lol: I thought you meant checking on the stitches/tearing a few days later, not immediately after birth :) Hopefully now I get it :p I had a few people ask if I wanted them to have a look but I turned them all down. I seem to have healed just fine.
I don't really remember the peri checks, aside from a vague feeling that they were uncomfortable. I've never torn or grazed though, so I'm sure that makes a huge difference as to the level of discomfort.
Yeah, i like the blissful herbs idea too. As a 3rd time mum, i know baby will be looked after. i have many books and dvds but things to make me feel special are so cherished.:
I didn't say she doesn't check. If the woman wants to, she will have a look, but it is not normal practise 'routine' to do so.
So, what is the plan of action without checking? Just lie down as much as you feel you need and if that feels like a lot then maybe get checked down the track?
My m/w barely touched me at all tbh, so I'm not concerned that she wasn't gentle. There was nothing internal and I only had a minor labial tear, nothing of note to mention. Since I birthed in the pool, blood loss would be harder to gauge and I'm totally fine with the reason. For DD2's birth it would have been at least an hour later. I think it's more that I didn't have any vaginal exams at all until then and the whole area was feeling completely off limits! I also didn't like delivering the placenta, completely psychological as I just felt my poor body had done enough to get that baby out as quickly as it did.
I think I'll mention it again closer to the birth, but I think only to remind them that I didn't like it and to bear that in mind. I'm sure they will, both were so apologetic last time.
I guess the plus side is that because they checked and it was all pretty much fine I didn't need any visual follow up checking at all.
I'm into spring cleaning and sorting out the yard and pool so there won't be too much closer to baby time. But we're renting, so no need for renos.
I keep forgetting that hospy appointments start mid-pregnancy and getting confused at people in my various "due in" groups saying they've just had their first appointment. How did I go so long (with Amelia especially!) without going mad? Actually, don't answer that. I just remembered, I was a bit impatient for my first appointment with Ianto, that was pretty much my first BB post :)
yeah it is crazy how little the contact is within the hospital system...they certainly are not talking peri checks so early in...or at all :p
Yes I've seen a midwife twice already and I'm only 15 weeks. I think early pregnancy support is very important. I always feel so vulnerable in the first trimester. As soon as I saw my midwife I cried. She knew I needed her and didn't tell me I was 'only' this many weeks.
The peri check stuff has made me feel squeamish. I think the post-birth high has made me forget because I just remember the midwife taking a quick look. I also remember her washing down my legs with a warm flannel because I was too weak for a shower. I love my midwife! Maybe she checked again the next day??? I can't remember but she always makes me call her when I've done my first wee and first poo and same for the baby. She must get a lot of poo calls!!
Haha I had my first appointment with MW and I swear I was barely 4weeks, I to find the early support important especially due to previous miscarriages.
I've been really struggling of late with my PTSD/PND/depressionanxiety or whatever category it falls under so had appointment with MW on Thursday and she was great, love that I can know what I'm saying is actually being listened too. Anyway she has said I can see her weekly if I need to at the moment which is good as I usually don't struggle this much until much later in my pregnancies and at the moment I'm barely keeping my head above water...