I was just reading about back labor last night. It was enough to give me nightmares. I had a bit of back labor with the most recent, but from the stories I hear it must not have been nearly as bad as it could have been. Do you know if he was presenting posterior? I suppose you can't *really* know, he may have turned.
quote:His shoulders took some work, and we soon found out why. The dr.'s first comment was, "Wow! You've got a big baby!" (8 lb. 4 oz.)
My *smallest* was 8'6". My most recent (the natural birth) was 9'6". I don't anticipate my babies getting much smaller. How I *wish* I could have a small baby! The pushing was so much harder than I thought it would be. And those shoulders... just when I thought the worst was over. She looked like a hulking football player when she came out.
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With my last baby I had back labor. It's very funny looking back and seeing yourself with every contraction dropping down on all fours and having your husband push your hips together to ease the pain. It's even funnier when you are walking down the hall in the hospital with the nurses watching. Posts: 747 | Registered: Aug 2004
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I was the fattest of my siblings, at a puny-in-comparison 7 lbs., 6 oz. (My brother was 3 oz. smaller than me; he probably would have been bigger had he not been 10 days early.)
My husband was 9 lbs., 6 oz., and he wasn't the biggest of his siblings.
My sister-in-law's daughter, though, was 9 lbs., 15 oz.!
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And sadly enough, in all my research I've never seen a "Top 10 healthy ways to keep your baby's weight down."
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They used to recommend smoking or not gaining more than 10 lbs., but I don't think those are approved of any more. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Back labour is a special kind of HELL. (my firstborn was posterior and in fact emerged face up. *shudder*) I'm glad yours didn't last too long.
quote:At that point she could have asked if a monkey could finish the delivery and I probably would have agreed!
Yup. So true.
Beverly: Are you a tall woman? I have not ever broken the 8 lbs mark with my babies and I can't imagine carrying a bigger baby. I am however way short so I think it's a proportional thing.
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Well, if you're 5'0", you certainly don't want to be delivering a 10 lb. baby!
I've known women who had to have c-sections becasue they are small and their husbands are not, and as a result their babies are not, and they can't deliver a baby that big.
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I'm 5'3" and was anywhere from 100 to 107 pounds pre-pregnancy. I think a ten-pound baby would kill me! Posts: 1903 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Heck, a 10 lb. baby would kill most people! My mother-in-law and sister-in-law are both taller than me (5'7" and 5'8 1/2", respectively) and both have big frames to boot.
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I would say I am "big boned" too. If I remember right I only gained 20 lb. with my pregnancies.
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The only thing is that there's no NICU. So if any problems are suspected when I get closer, I'll be switching hospitals (and possibly doctors) to deliver at Glendale Adventist, the nearest high-level NICU. But since it's a second child, I have a healthy living child, and I've had no pregnancy problems so far, I'm not considered high-risk to need to deliver with a NICU. (And they have a helicopter for life flights and the other NICU is only a 5-minute helicopter ride away, so if everything appears normal I'm comfortable with that. )
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Actually, when I looked at it, it isn't quite as much a "birth center" as I was thinking. It just seems like a really homey hospital--which my hospital already is.
I really do like my hospital, but it is too restrictive in it's policy. I *must* give birth *on* the bed. I can*NOT* have a water birth. Ya know, stuff like that. Not enough options for my liking and comfort.
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Ours is too small to have waterbirths-- they can't afford the insurance-- but I've talked to women who've delivered there, and you CAN move around in labor and don't have to labor in the bed (as long as everything is going okay.) I talked to one woman who said she brought in a birthing stool, with her doctor's okay, and they let her use it. They're open to alternative and/or wireless monitoring if you don't want to stay in the bed, and the best part is the LDR rooms instead of regular L&D rooms. They're flexible on nursery care, and will do as much as possible of the testing in-room if you prefer. (I don't. Give me an hour or two to rest, that's great!) They have limits on the number of people allowed in the room during labor, but make exceptions for doulas. With a doctor's approval, you can eat and drink during labor.
So it's a little more "progressive" than most homey hospitals, while still being, you're right, not quite a full blown "birthing center"-- they just don't have the room or the money. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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(But it's just about right for me-- I want an epidural anyway and have no problem laboring in bed as long as I'm allowed to be on my side.)
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quote:(But it's just about right for me-- I want an epidural anyway and have no problem laboring in bed as long as I'm allowed to be on my side.)
Yup.
Our hospital is pretty good about letting you be up and about, even has private jetted tubs. But you *must* stop whatever you were doing and get ON THE BED to push that baby on out. That means no partner-supported squat for birthing position. There is a birthing bar, true, but that means squatting up on the bed. It's such a small thing, I know, but little things like this make a difference to me.
So, I really like our hospital. But I anxiously await the day that a truly flexible birthing center will be established here. Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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That's weird about being on the bed. I mean, I understand from their insurance point of view. But it still strikes me as weird.
I really liked the stirrups, actually, because with an effective epidural I can't actually feel my legs... No squatting for me!
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I love to tell people of my first birth where the epidural was so "effective" that when someone told my that my leg fell off the table, I had to ask which one. Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I could feel my legs as "present", but couldn't really stand up for a few hours after the birth until it wore off some.
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Ouch. I was playing a "bouncing" game ("This is the way the ladies ride...") with Ems, and now I'm having back cramps. I guess I'll back off on that...
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Re: having to push on the bed. I forgot to add that part to Samuel's birth story. The dr. and I had talked at length about having an option as to how I delivered, such as squatting, etc. So, when I told her I needed to push (I was sitting on the end of the bed after having gotten up off the floor just beforehand) she asked me what position I wanted to do it in. My answer? "I don't care." She goes, "Well, I think you should at least lie back a little." Mr. Opera and I had a good laugh over that one later.
Afr, congrats!! I hope you and your wife have a happy and healthy pregnancy!
And bev...yeah, you grow big babies! I still can't believe Samuel is as big as he is. A nurse at my GP's office a few weeks ago asked if I normally had 5 pounders since I was so small. I don't think anyone, even my dr., expected Samuel to be so big...her guess before he was put on the scale was 7 lb. 7 oz. Oh, and as far as I know he was not posterior. I had asked the dr. the week before, and she said she assumed that since she could feel his butt that he was turned the regular way. Either way, if we ever have another I will most fervently hope for NO back labor!
quote:Oh, and as far as I know he was not posterior.
There is still *so* much we don't know about pregnancy/labor/medical-stuff-in-general. We may never know why that severe back labor happened with you.
quote: And bev...yeah, you grow big babies!
I've really been feeling this lately. A gal down the street recently gave birth to a babe of 6 pounds and such.
When my previous child was born, she was given a cute pink premie onsie. Said, "up to 6 pounds". I think it is still tucked away somewhere unused.
I just feel all of the sudden like a freak, that everyone around me is giving birth to babies below 7 pounds. I guess the title of this thread is suddenly feeling appropriate in a very different way. Posts: 7050 | Registered: Feb 2004
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beverly, at least you know what to expect. I expected an 8-pounder or bigger with my first (my mom's were all 8-and-up), and got a not-quite-6. My son was 7 pounds, and the prediction (based on ultrasound) for my youngest was also about 7.
She was 8.5 pounds. >_< No wonder she took so much longer to show up!
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Stupid pain. Back pain, neck pain, headache, and now I'm getting the same sharp crampy pains in my uterus I got with Emma. (But this time no bleeding and not quite as bad or nearly as frequent.)
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bev, I'm pretty darn petite and I gave birth to a 9 1/2 lb. baby! You're definitely no freak. *hug*
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To say Christy is pretty darn petite is a slight understatement!
I remember seeing a photo of you pregnant Christy, and then reading afterwards that the baby was almost 10% of your body weight..
Guess it goes to show what the human body is capable of. Although, when I do become pregnant, I'll still be happy with a 6 pounder. Posts: 4393 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Holy cow, Christy! I sure hope my little guy isn't that big.
Though the fact that I'm 18 weeks along and still not obviously showing seems to indicate that he'll be smallish. I figured that since I'm so small, I'd start showing sooner than normal. Now when I tell people I'm pregnant, and they ask how far along I am, they look at me shocked when I tell them I'm well into my second trimester.
I've had people tell me I don't look pregnant. I had one woman tell me, "Honey, your stomach muscles aren't going to be as strong in your next pregnancy." Those who know me well can see it immediately because they know what I looked like before, but everyone else still things I look like an average, possibly skinny, young woman.
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Brinestone, that doesn't necessarily mean the baby will be small. I know a woman who didn't show until about the 7th month her first pregnancy-- and had a 8 1/2 lb. baby. And a c-section (she was tiny and not progressing.)
Now she's pregnant with her second, and you know what? She's showing much earlier.
(to seespot) Awww! Wook at dat adowable baby!!!
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Hi guys. Not pregnant, but I like to poke in here and see what you ladies are talking about. I just thought I'd make you all cringe with the weights of my mother's seven children.
D - 8 lbs 11 oz A - 9 lbs 8 oz C - 11 lbs 12 oz (I am not kidding!) L - 7 lbs 10 oz G - 9 lbs 8 oz E - 10 lbs 10 oz S - 9 lbs 8 oz (he was 3 weeks early!!!!!)
My mother is a normal sized lady (about 5'6") and she thought that humongous babies (and always delivering late) were her lot in life. Now that she's done some research, she thinks her babies were huge and late because she was hypothyroid and didn't know it. All but the last baby were delivered naturally WITHOUT AN EPIDURAL.
There. That should make you squirm. Posts: 6415 | Registered: Jul 2000
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Maybe, Narnia. Maybe not. My mom is 5'9", and had kids ranging from 8 lb. 3 oz. (me) to about 9 and a half (my sister). No hypothyroid or any other issues. No drugs of any kind.
She does have wide hips (which I do appreciate having inherited when in labor, if not other times ).
seespot, that is a cute spotlet. Posts: 32919 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Ruth, I think it is because you are so slender. Because I am :ahem: not, I tend to look bigger than I ought to. You see, my big behind and already-present tummy flab doesn't help with the overall effect.
It seems to me that the women who hardly show at all were extremely slender to begin with. Their babies are all normal sized. No need to worry.
And while *you* might notice a difference in how much you show in future pregnancies, as long as your body frame remains similar, other people will still think you look small.
Of course, there are other things that effect how big we look than our pre-pregnancy shape. I don't mean to say that if a woman looks "big" that means she was overweight to begin with. Only that in my exprience the ones that look particularly small are very thin to begin with.
And we are back at our original topic!
Seespot: Love the hand-in-mouth and the snoozing with Daddy is just precious!
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One more week and we will know what this baby is (assuming s/he assumes the position to show us the goods). S/he is really kicking today and much higher than I expected to feel it at this time.
My first was 7 lbs 4 oz (one day early w/ epidural). #2 was 7 lbs 15 oz (5 days late w/o drugs). I expect if I went to my due date this time that it would be over 8 lbs if a boy. Since we plan to be induced early this time (because my labor was so fast last time and I don't want to have the baby at home or in the car) we might still be under 8 lbs.
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I have reached the point in my pregnancy where I am hungry all the time, but my nausea and such are not yet diminished. *sigh*
I have also reached the point where my, ahem, marital intimacy needs increase drastically (just as I begin to be bulgy enough for awkwardness.) *giggles*
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Bev, the birth wasn't particularly hard, although I did beg for iv medication at the end and they had to scissor my legs over my head on the final push to get Sophie out. *grin* She crowned for at least twenty minutes and her heart rate was dropping since I was pushing so frequently.
I was induced with a cervix softener (but luckily no pitocin) because she was a week late and my due date had already been extended (I'm pretty sure wrongfully) after the first ultrasound showed her a bit small.
People think the picture Tom took of me at 6 months pregnant looks less pregnant than the picture at 3 months pregnant. I really didn't start showing until 7 months and ballooned the last few weeks. That said, I had really good mobility even the week before I gave birth which kept me feeling good.
My stomach deflated like a balloon and was a saggy bag for almost a whole year. I was grimaced at because I was five pounds above pre-pregnancy weight after birth, but I was really creeped out by my distended stomach. My belly button is once again starting to become the innie that it used to be *giggle* I think from all Sophie's loving pokes. She is fascinated with belly buttons.
Posts: 1777 | Registered: Jan 2003
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*giggles* Does she pull up her shirt and proudly poke at hers while grinning? And sometimes saying "Beddy buddon!" In public?
That's what the Princess does. What's funnier is when she then starts looking for Abba's and trying to pull up his shirt. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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