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"Oh, Mother-in-Law, I'm so glad you're here! I haven't been able to get to the grocery store. Here's a list."
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Yay for having your bathroom all ready for you! Now you can go into labor!
Heh, if hubby is the one that wants the house clean, he can be the one that finds the time to do it. Do be sure to put your MIL to work in some way! It will help you to be less stressed and it will help her to focus on something other than losing her husband.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Boon
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I've invited the midwife and doula to come have dinner with us tomorrow night. That way she can get all her "concerns" on the table with all of us *before* I'm in labor. I figure they'll either reassure her, or I'll know to send her to a hotel when I go into labor.
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Ok, thank you. Three more hours and she will be wrong Posts: 5362 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Boon
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No baby yet.
As of 6pm yesterday, I was at 6 cm, 60%, and +1...so, moving along, albeit slowly. Baby's head is down, but sitting just a tad to the right, which is messing things up.
Unfortunately, though, the contractions were spacing way out and getting shorter, so were becoming less productive. The midwives and I decided everyone should get some rest, so they went home. I took a nice nap, ate dinner, took a long soak, and went to bed. I only had...maybe 6 or 8 really good contractions overnight.
So...hopefully they'll pick way up again very soon, since I actually got a decent amount of rest last night. Thanks for the good wishes everyone. I'll either post again later to complain or call kq to say I'm back in laborland.
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So now wouldn't be a good time to pester you with tax questions, right? Or would it be a welcome distraction? Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Well, my mom just left. I was completely spoiled this first week with all her help, and I have no idea what things will be like now that she's gone. It's all real...I'm supposed to be a mom now! It's a very weird feeling.
Here's a detailed version of my birth story (sorry it's so long):
I was still 3+ cm dilated and 80% effaced when we got to the hospital to induce Friday morning. They started pitocin at about 8:10am. The contractions started, but they weren't very strong. About an hour later I was at a 4+ and 90% effaced, and the nurse increased the dosage of pitocin. My doctor also stopped in and broke my water. At this point, we found out the little guy had passed meconium inside the womb, so they set up an internal monitor and rinsed me out.
As the contractions got harder and the nurse told me they still weren't very strong, I asked for an epidural. I had to wait about 40 minutes for the anesthesiologist to come (he was in a C-section), so by the time he got to my room, I was very glad I had asked for it! It took about 20 minutes to take effect, but it was pretty amazing. I rested and chatted with my husband, mom, and sister until the nurse came in to check me at about 1:00pm.
We were all shocked after she checked me and said in a calm voice, "Well, you're about a 9 and 100% effaced." It suddenly seemed James was going to arrive sooner than we expected! I quickly progressed to a 10, and the nurse called my doctor. She decided I should "rest and descend" for an hour before pushing, because the baby's head wasn't engaged completely yet.
I started pushing at 3:00pm, but it didn't do much good. The nurse checked and discovered that the baby was posterior. She still had me push for an hour in order to stretch me and help mold the baby's head. At that point, my epidural had worn off, so the anesthesiologist gave me a boost.
While we waited for the boost to kick in, there was a shift change for the nurses. I was now assigned two nurses--an experienced one, and one "in training." The nurse-in-training was pretty funny. She couldn't get the external baby monitor to stay in a place where it could read the baby's heart beat. After trying at it for about 15 minutes, the other nurse came in, picked up the monitor, and placed it in one well-practiced movement. The nurse-in-training was in awe.
The older nurse was very businesslike. When she came in she said, "Why aren't we pushing??" The younger nurse told her that I was resting until the doctor arrived, but the older nurse would have nothing of it. She said my doctor wanted me to keep pushing until she got there, so I reluctantly began the pushing process once again just before 4:30pm.
I felt very discouraged at this point because it didn't seem like my pushing was doing any good. I also come from a family where basically all the women have very fast labors, push about three times, and have a baby. I guess I'm not like them!
My doctor arrived at about 5:00pm, took over the room, gave me a huge pep talk, and we were off. The mood of the room was completely different. My doctor had a sense of urgency about her which helped me push more effectively. She manually turned my baby around inside of me, and held his head like that while I pushed so that he wouldn't just flip right back over. She said we were making progress, but that it was still going to take a while. The thought of it dragging on much longer was extremely depressing! However, James had other ideas. As he entered the birth canal, his heart rate got very slow every time I pushed. My doctor said that we needed to get the baby out quickly, so she was going to use a vacuum.
Things got pretty crazy at this point, but about three pushes later, at 5:30pm, James was here! The cord had been wrapped around his neck (causing him distress). He was whisked away to the corner of the room to be checked by the NICU people because of the meconium. Meanwhile, my doctor sewed me up. She had had to cut me because the baby was in distress.
The NICU pronounced James healthy very quickly, and I got to hold him for the first time. He was (and is!) so beautiful. Like I mentioned before, he was 8 lbs 1 oz and 19.5 inches long.
He had a cone head and a huge hickey-like mark from the vacuum, but it went away within 24 hours. Despite the trauma he went through, he was happy and healthy. He's a fighter, and I love him! Posts: 1635 | Registered: Aug 2002
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Jennie, that was hardly "long" for a birth story.
quote:I also come from a family where basically all the women have very fast labors, push about three times, and have a baby. I guess I'm not like them!
Either the baby being posterior or the epidural (or both) could have been the reason for that. Regardless, with the cord the way it was, it's probably just as well.
Any birth that results in a healthy baby and a healthy mommy is a good birth.
kq, thanks, but it's sort of weird and complicated. I need someone with years of experience.
Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Will we be getting the tax advice thread? All I want to know is if there is any reason not to file jointly as a poor grad student who is hoping for an EIC this year (now that I have a baby).
Posts: 1001 | Registered: Mar 2006
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Um, rivka, he HAS years of experience, and prepares taxes, you know, year round, for a living, and is in the process of becoming an EA.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Congratulations, hansenj! I'm happy things turned out well.
KQ, I'll be asking Jeff for tax advice next year! Actually, maybe I could ask him a couple of questions now. *scratches head* Like how does a single, childless, propertyless person avoid being eaten alive as she enters a new tax bracket? Posts: 155 | Registered: Jul 2006
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BABY IS HERE! Both mother and baby are fine. She will post details when she feels up to it. And I promised not to say any more. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Jhai, I emailed you the information about the cleaners. Let me know if you didn't get it...or if the email listed with hatrack isn't current. Posts: 834 | Registered: Jun 2005
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Boon
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Labor kicked in again at about 11pm on the 10th. Within an hour, the contractions were back to every 4 minutes or so, but MUCH stronger, so I had hubby call the midwife.
The doula arrived first (within 15 minutes), and by the time she did, I was getting less than 30 seconds rest between contractions. Midwife arrived about 5 minutes later and checked me. I was still at 6cm and +1, but 100% effaced.
I rolled over on my left side, trying to conserve energy, and they just kept getting stronger...but also seemed shorter somehow.
Then, all of a sudden, I had to pee so bad I couldn't stand it, so I rocked over onto hands and knees to crawl off the bed. Dribble. Stand up. Dribble some more. Hurry to the potty. Dribble all the way there. Heh, my water broke. Honestly, that was the biggest shock to me, that my water broke on its own like that.
I had a few more contractions, while they tried to fill the tub for me. Unfortunately, *someone* who didn't want me in the tub in the first place had used most of the hot water.
Gah, more later. Baby needs more boobie.
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You're so mean. You didn't even tell them what it is!
And I know and I'm not telling. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Boon
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One handed typing...
So, I'm sitting on the potty and I tell the midwife I'm getting pushy, so she offers to check me. I tell her there's no room for her to do it there, so the doula set up the birthing chair. A couple more contractions and some involuntary pushing later, everyone helps me get up and go squat on it.
Immediately, I'm ROARING. My legs are shaking, I'm pushing, everyone's saying how great I'm doing, how the baby's right there, and then...
Relief. Pure, powerful, one last push and I look down, and there's a baby on my bedroom floor.
I remember saying "Oh, hi." As if I didn't know there was a baby at the end of it. It was a weird feeling.
I reach down to pick the baby up, and the midwife helps me put him on my chest and cover him with a towel.
Michael Dennis was born at 1:50 am on the 11th, less than 3 hours after active labor started back up. He weighed 9 pounds 2 ounces, 21 1/2 inches long, 36 cm head circumference, 34 cm chest, 10 fingers and 10 toes, 9 and 10 apgar scores...he's just perfect. He has a fading ridge around his head from sitting on my cervix like that for 2 days, though.
I had one tiny first degree tear. It could've taken a single stitch, but I opted to let it heal by itself. I'm pretty sore, but have only needed 2 ibuprofen for pain relief.
A couple of things I said to the midwife in the hour after the birth:
"Hey, you never checked me and said I could push!" She said when I squatted and she saw a little of the baby's head, she knew it'd be okay.
"Guess what? My uterus didn't asplode!" She laughed.
And the best one: "Think I should take the baby to the c-section they scheduled for noon today?"
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Yeah, I told her that she should have let them schedule the c-section for last week-- then the baby would have come earlier, he was just being stubborn! Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I'm hungry right now but rather afraid to eat. They say to eat small meals but I've been eating small meals and it still burns me. You can't get much smaller than a piece of toast. Sheesh. Is it May yet?
Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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When I was pregnant with John my doctor gave me samples of aciphex. Wonderful stuff -- it worked fast and was very effective. I would have gladly paid for the prescription, but he gave me enough samples that I never had to.
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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Yay Boon!!!! I'm glad to hear that things went well! I hope you and Michael are doing well!
Christine - I'm so sorry you're having awful heartburn. While I never had heartburn, I had horrible problems with acid reflux (exacerbated by all the problems with vomiting I had). I ended up taking (generic) Zantac for the majority of my pregnancy and it really helped.
Posts: 5879 | Registered: Apr 2001
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Okay, so Boon and I figured out that my previous BH were her fault. Now whose fault are the ones I'm having today? Or is that all on me?
It does not help that Maggie has decided to do backflips today-- which at almost 30 weeks is NOT comfortable. There is just not much room in there for gymnastics. And when combined with the BH cx, just plain painful. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Well, I'm 2 centimeters dilated, so this is happening whether I'm ready or not! I'm taking the day off work to get some last minute stuff done--which is pretty much everything. My life is not very organized or predictable--so I still have pretty much everything to do. I have been working steadily (as I can) to get the house ready by going through masses of clutter, not that you'd know to look at it. *sigh* But today I have determined to finish--even though that means hiding stuff in drawers. I don't care. Once all the junk is out of sight, I can go through it little by little. (I believe that after the baby is born, I will become a new convert of the FlyLady.)
Anyway, one of the first things I'm doing is packing my hospital bag, and I'd love some tips on what I should put in it.
Clothes for me: pants shirt extra underwear bra (will I need a nursing bra right away? I haven't bought one yet because I was thinking I'd only need a bigger size after the baby is born anyway.) socks hospital-like nightgown (maybe one of those granny ones that button up at the front that they sell at Wal-Mart?)
Outfit for husband
Outfit for baby more than one size of onesies because I don't know how big she'll be one pretty pink outfit with hat socks mittens?
big pads (although the hospital provides huge ones, right?) laptop DVDs music travel toiletry bag--has all the toiletries I can think of already--except face lotion birth plan
posted
If you don't already have a nightgown you want to take, don't worry about it. I wore the hospital gown until after John was born and they were done having to check me for bleeding and then took a shower and changed into yoga pants and a T-shirt (which is my normal lounging around the house attire).
Definitely bring underwear. I couldn't believe how good it felt to get out of the disposable mesh ones the hospital gives you for right after the birth and into my own undies. This time around I'm going to skip the mesh ones entirely and just bring a few pair that I wouldn't mind tossing if they get really gross. But I didn't have bad bleeding anyway, so the pads were adequate.
I was glad to have a nursing bra right away, but my breasts are large enough that I really can't not wear a bra comfortably, even just sitting in bed. I brought one of the "sleep bras" that aren't as specific about the size. Not great support, but enough to be comfortable. If you're planning on nursing, it would be a total pain to be wearing a bra that you can't move out of the way easily.
Other items for your list -- what about books?
Posts: 9866 | Registered: Apr 2002
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