Homebirth General Discussion #7

[HotI]

At the start, milk production is largely hormonally driven and so if you need to express, do it. I did one mega express of both breasts in the shower at around one week post partum and it sort of 'reset' them if that makes sense. relieved the pressure in a big way.

nb kissaluvs are gorgeous! can't wait til i can play with my newborn fluff.

had tummy pains again this morning, but settled again. i think i am waiting until dh finishes his shift (last night shift tonight) so he can look after dd. mum is taking dd out for the day tomorrow too, so maybe things will start off properly then?

absolutely, i have learnt things from my first birth that i wouldn't have 'known' if i didn't have that experience. my plan is to learn things that are much more pleasurable this time!

[Jennifer13]

Bella, hop over into the cloth nappy general discussion thread. I'm loving using cloth, surprised to find how easy it is. I bought NB nappies mostly and some OSFM, as I was lucky enough to be gifted or pick up a rather large number of OSFM or larger sized MCNs. The ones I like are listed in the thread. Sooo soft on my new baby's bottom!

I was reluctant to express for the same mastitis-prone reason. Hope it settles down for you soon.

Hot1 - still thinking of you. Hope this birth is all it can be for you.

[Bella29]

I have done jen. Just not been commenting cos still using sposies. Been writing my birth story up tonight. Just having a pause to breast feed. I don't want to forget anything so it is going to be long!!!

[Bella29]

Hey eutra- just noticed that u have been chatting with "midwifethinking " on twitter. I didn't say till now, but she is my Midwife. I had to laugh that she tweeted our conversation about me asking what to do at one point in labour And she replied "what does ur body tell u to do?" I said "it says panic" so she said "ok do that". It was pretty funny in hindsight. It was also completely liberating to do absolutely whatever I needed to do to birth my baby.

Nearly finished writing my birth story. Will probably post sometime tomorrow. It is soooo long but I needed to write it out now before I forgot to much. Will edit and add to it tomorrow before posting.

[Cassius2]

Oh bella! i am so excited! i want to read it! i was like you and wrote it up soon after M was born as i just wanted to get it all down and remember all the emotion that went with it! so so amazing! i recommend printing it off though as there was a BIG BB blip during the week that i had her and posted the story...so lost everything! comments and all! so sad! thankfully i had a copy and a gorgeous BB member was able to retrieve some of the comments for me...

[Jennifer13]

My birth story will be done this week. Promise!

Looking forward to reading yours, Bella.

[*Ash*]

I am looking forward to reading your birth stories, Jen and Bella.

Oooh, I love 'midwifethinking' on facebook. I will have to find her on Twitter. That is cool that you were the inspiration for some of her tweets, Bella. I emailed my friend an awesome article that 'midwifethinking' wrote about VBAC. What an awesome MW you have.

[Bella29]

Yeah she is really good Ash. I knew I wanted her well before I was pregnant even tho I had only met her once. She was the perfect mix of clinical skill combined with trust in birth. DH didn't feel comfortable with a "hippy homebirth MW", so despite the fact that she really is a bit of a hippy, the fact that she did all her notes on an iPad and "looked normal", really helped win him over, lol! That an the fact that she was a POM like he is made him feel more comfy. He told her at our last catch up on sat that he thought she had been perfect for us. A lovely endorsement from him really. . Nearly done with the story. Just got DH to go ova it And edit it a bit.

[*Ash*]

Bella, that is great that you found the perfect MW for you and DH.
Thanks also for your comments re: my fears. I usually don't carry fears or anxieties in to my labour, thankfully. I just have them before hand from time to time. I don't know why I have 'fixated' on the PPH one. I have no history of it. My MW spoke to me about the importance of maintaining adequate zinc and ferritin levels- which I have under control now. She said that the fact that this is my 4th bub does not necessarily put me at risk. I am descended from a long line of worriers! I'll blame that.
I am thankful that my homebirths have been without fear. I assume this one will be the same. Once I get in to my groove there is no space for fear. I'll just get all my worries out of the way now!

[HotI]

'Birth Matters' the magazine from the Maternity Coalition had a good article on what one woman and her midwife did during pregnancy to prevent/reduce PPH at birth. I can scan it & e-mail if you want a read.

[*Ash*]

That's a very kind offer HotI, thank you. I'll PM you my email address. No pressure though. If you don't get around to it- that's ok. You've got a lot on - like, having a baby!

[e_p]

Hey eutra- just noticed that u have been chatting with "midwifethinking " on twitter. I didn't say till now, but she is my Midwife. I had to laugh that she tweeted our conversation about me asking what to do at one point in labour And she replied "what does ur body tell u to do?" I said "it says panic" so she said "ok do that". It was pretty funny in hindsight. It was also completely liberating to do absolutely whatever I needed to do to birth my baby.

Yes! I chat quite a lot with MidwifeThinking on twitter! She's wonderful and helped me out so many times during my pregnancy! Lucky you to have her as your midwife!! I did see her tweets about you (although I didn't know it was you at the time!) and thought it was so sweet - made me very nostalgic for C's birth! Can't wait to read your birth story!

[e_p]

How did/are you spend your babymoon? My midwife recommended spending the first 4 days in bed except for toilet trips. How long did you stay home? Were you ok with visitors, or preferred to just have your little family there?

I did a few loads of laundry over the first few days - had a massive pile of towels and sheets to get through - but apart from that mostly hung out on the couch cuddling C. We had BIL, SIL and her DH, and my best friend and her DH visit on the first day. I wasn't impressed that BIL invited himself over and was the first to meet C, but we invited SIL and my best friend to come and meet him as I was itching to show him off My parents and brother flew in from interstate on day 2, and FIL and 2 of DH's young siblings came from interstate on day 3. C and I didn't leave the house until he was 11 days old, and that was just to drop off paperwork at FAO.

[e_p]

Bella - love the name you've chosen and it's so sweet to read about how much your DD loves Maddie already Hope your milk supply is settling down xx

Ash - how are you feeling? It sounds like you're doing all the right things to avoid a PPH - I'm sure your m/w is very well prepared in the unlikely event of a PPH. Trust that you are well and your body knows what to do xx

HotI - how are you doing? Have been thinking about you lots in the last few days. It sounds like you have everything set up ready to go now

AFM - C is doing really well, have a MCHN appt this week so will weigh and measure him but he's grown so much we've had to cut the feet out of his 000 wondersuits!! He's also been giggling the last week - real, proper laughs! It's the most beautiful sound I've ever heard! DH has 2 weeks left at home before he goes back to work - I'm very nervous about how I'll go without him!!

[*Ash*]

Thanks Eutra. I appreciate your words of support. How is your precious little guy?

Regarding babymoons, I am going to make sure I have one this time!

With my first HB, I didn't leave home until DS was 12 days old (and it was a short outing to DD's swim lesson; DH there too). I just relaxed, spent most of my time on the couch, holding DS. DH had 6 weeks off work- it was awesome! I recovered really well from the birth. The day after DS's birth my MW said I looked great and didn't look like I had just given birth. I assumed it would be the same with my next HB.

With DS2, I had an intense 3 hour labour. I went in to labour after only 2 hrs sleep. My mum was staying with us and had offered to cook our meals- so we had nothing in freezer. On the day my DS was born, we got a call that my dad had been rushed to hospital. The next day my mum got in her car and drove the 10 hr trip home to be with my dad (fair enough!). But we were left unprepared. I was worried about my dad. And I felt bad that DH was left to do everything, so I abandoned my rest and started cooking and washing, etc. I don't know if there is a connection but by the time my DS was 1 wk old I was very ill with mastitis (had never had it before). I had very high temps, I was hallucinating, I had the most intense migraine for 2 days- I have never been so ill. Luckily some friends arrived to stay and they took care of our kids while DH took care of me. Unfortunately, my first trip out of the house after the birth was a trip to my GP without my DS I hallucinated at the GP appt. and I could barely walk. It took over a week for me to recover, and the pain of feeding continued for about 2 weeks. Our friends called my mum and asked her to come back after they left - and she did. My dad had come out of hospital by then.
Anyway, I am hoping to repeat the experience of my first HB this time around. And I have spoken to my MW about my desire to avoid another bout of mastitis. And I have told my DH that I am going to do absolutely nothing except hold my bub for the first week.

[Jennifer13]

I've posted my birth story (not sure how to link on my iPad, sorry). Bella made me get a move on - I've had a full extra week, after all!

[*Ash*]

Oh, awesome! I'm going to read it now.

[Bella29]

Teeheehee Jen, I still have editing to do and my bum has been too sore to sit for long at the computer. I have been pushing it a bit and need to slow down again. Nothing wrong just felt very tired today.