2015 MARCH-MALLOWS... Due in March 2015!! Come join us!

[LilFooshFoosh]

Good luck with your appointment tomorrow Bucher. It sucks about not having much to look forward to, it really helps pass the time. Do you have some sort of project you could work on? The days before my section I made sure I had something to do each day around noon to break up my day and make it feel like it was going faster, I was going to suggest you get your hair done or something, but that doesn't work with no car in a small town What about taking a bath (keep a phone within reach if you do though, just in case) or maybe doing your nails?

Not much longer now MrsK!!

 

[MrsKChicago]

Details to come. Everyone is good.

 

[molly86]

Congrats Mrsk!

 

[molly86]

Momma squirel I try not to turn the lights on at night. I just pop him into my bed and feed him them there. But I need lights on to change him. Maybe I should get s small lamp though rather than having the full light on. Never heard of waking him with ice cubes. Might try that. I haven't actually been waking him in the day. I just try and keep him awake for a while when he wakes naturally. Although I'm not having much success so certainly prepared to try new ideas.

 

[bumpwishes]

Congrats mrsk. Welcome to the world Teddy!!

Yeah definitely hard not to think about it all when your mind is so free bucherworm. I've started baking like everyday aha. It keeps me occupied. Tires me out. Fills mybsweet tooth cravings and keeps me on my feet which I'm hoping is good to get baby down and engaged.

 

[LilFooshFoosh]

Yay! Congrats MrsK, happy birthday Teddy!!

 

[MrsKChicago]

Good morning ladies. It was so late, I didn't feel like typing out details last night. Teddy is here and just the absolute cutest baby ever. We're all snuggled up now. After all the dragging of labor, the actual pushing was pretty fast, maybe a little over an hour. I let the epidural fade so I could tell what was going on and push effectively, and he came out pretty easily. He's definitely a little cone head!

He finally arrived 3/11, at 11:49pm. 6lbs, 15oz, and 20" long. He's a little guy for being a week late. He has a tongue tie, so we're trying to nurse, but I think we'll do better once that's snipped.

I just had a tiny tear, two stitches, and I'm doing pretty well. No pain so far, but we'll see if that lasts! Apparently I'm made for pushing! Laboring just isn't for me

I'm ready to sleep for a week! Like that's gonna happen any time soon...

 

[ladybrown33]

Congratulations Mrs. K!!! Enjoy your time in the hospital they will let you get some sleep there. I had the same amount of stitches I guess that's the average? Welcome Teddy!!!

 

[Bookity]

Warrens pediatrician seems to think I'm made to have babies and said I should have more. That's ok. No thanks. Three is the absolute limit!!

 

[DrMum]

Great job mrs k! Sounds like a long haul! He is gorgeous!

 

[bucherwurm]

Congrats MrsK. Glad he's finally here, and that you're doing well.

I had my midwife appointment today. My blood pressure was low today, but she said a lot of ladies have had the same thing today.
I was measuring 39cm today when last week it was 40, so I guess that's good.
I had my first cervical check and sweep today. It was my choice, and I figured it wouldn't be a bad thing. I guess she could feel it and the bottom portion was open around 1cm and soft but she couldn't get all the way through. She said what she was doing is usually the most painful thing, trying to hook her finger in the cervix and bring it forward, but it didn't really hurt. It was more of a pressure feeling. I go back on Monday to try again if baby hasn't made her arrival yet. Monday will be one day short of being a week over, and I really want to avoid an induction. I go back again on the Thursday and will do another one if needed. I was surprisingly not really nervous about it. I have some bleeding now.
Trying to be optimistic...

 

[mkyerby16]

Congrats to all the new mommies! Such precious little ones!

Just wanted to update on me... had my weekly appt yesterday and it was a bit surprising. She is concerned about my blood pressure creeping up and wants to get him out before anything gets worse. (No protien in my urine or anything she just doesn't want it to be able to get to that point.) She was like I'm on call tonight so you could go to the hospital tonight to start the induction process. Imagine the shocked looks on our faces. The problem is I'm barely 1cm dilated so there's a high chance the induction won't work and I'll end up needing a c-section, so I'm really scared even though I'm excited to meet my baby boy. We decided to do a bpp ultrasound to check on him and he was totally fine and my fluid levels were great so we opted to wait and come back to the dr. on Tuesday. Chances are whether I'm more dilated or not I'll probably be induced that night. I'm praying my body will do something on it's own before then, but I doubt it. My mom's water broke with me 2 days before her due date but she never dilated past 2cm even with meds and ended up with a csection so I'm probably following her.

 

[bucherwurm]

That would be quite shocking news! Have you been using evening primrose oil? My midwife really likes the stuff. If you haven't been using it, it is supposed to help get things nice and soft and squishy in there, so if you don't dilate much more, the cervix should at least get a little bit softer. If you may be induced no matter what, it could be worth a try if you haven't been using it.
Good luck no matter what happens!

 

[ladybrown33]

Mkyerby16 my labor was induced and I had no dilation or effacement prior. My labor was pretty long but I was able to push my baby out so just because you get induced does not mean you will end up with a c section

 

[mommasquirrel]

I am going in for an induction Monday and I'm only 1 cm dilated. I figure it all depends on our bodies. Everyone will experience labor and birthing differently. When they do normal inductions they first use some type of prostglandin to help soften/ripen your cervix. They give it several hours and more often than not a whole day to work. they check you to see if you started dilating and then check your contractions. If you are contracting on your own and they are strong then they wait and see. If not, they offer to give you pitocin to help. you can always say no and come back a day or two later to try the prostaglandin stuff again. Once your cervix is dilated enough they can break your waters and that will send you into labor a majority of the time. There are a few instances where a woman's body just doesn't do anything and C-sections are the only option because baby if mom is at risk.
Just remember to keep an open mind when you go in for your induction. I'm looking forward to meeting baby and I'm so uncomfortable at this point that I just want it to be over with.
MrsK: You're birth story has given me strength in that if I need an epidural I will get one. I too have an immense fear of needles but if i was in extreme pain I think I'd want some relief. =)

 

[LilFooshFoosh]

Bucher, Mkyerby and Momma! I'm sure you all know it already, sometimes it helps to have someone else say it though.

Things can change with our bodies so quickly you could have no signs and be holding your baby hours later- a la DrMum or Molly.

The pain and fears, while they are completely and totally valid, are relative. Right now there are so many possibilities for how things can play out. You would probably never volunteer to have someone cut you for no reason, but as soon as there is a good reason it becomes a viable solution and even a good idea. Try not to think or worry about what may or may not happen and try hard to focus on the end goal. It is really hard, for sure, but it can help you relax a little and being relaxed/calm will help you achieve the births you want. Your babies will be here soon!

Is there anything you want to do before baby arrives?

Mkyerby, I would have been very surprised to have had the same conversation. Sounds like you are playing it safe though with having the extra monitoring. Is there something else, besides the raised BP, that is making her want to induce? No protein in your urine is good. Has your BP been rising steadily or did it shoot up? I know my BP was higher than normal for me- I'm normally 118/68 ish and by the end was up to 130/74 ish. Hopefully it is your body's reaction to the added stress of the pregnancy and you will see some movement cervix-wise at your next appointment. My mum had relatively easy births but I don't seem to get past 4cms.

 

[MrsKChicago]

Good luck everyone! I hope my experience helps if it comes down to it, momma. I'm not gonna lie, I was terrified getting the epidural, but a couple days later, I still think it was the right course of action. Had I persisted in my exhausted state, I'd probably have opened myself up to much worse. My only epidural advice is to let it wear off some when you're near the end, if you can. It still helped mask the pain some, but being able to feel and mostly move my legs and sense when and how to push we're so helpful. I'm sure weaning off has made a difference in my relatively easy recovery.

As for us, we're heading home later today. We're still struggling with latching, but we had a great visit with a lactation consultant this morning, and she helped us get a good feed into him with the help of a nipple shield. Hopefully it'll be the tool we need to get us on track to easy breastfeeding soon.

 

[mummy_smurf2b]

Congrats mrsk

 

[mkyerby16]

Thanks for the support ladies. I know in the end all that matters is that we're both healthy and once I'm holding my sweet baby boy I won't care what I had to do to get him here. It was just a bit surprising and its nice to have others help put things in perspective. It's just my bp that has her concerned and it's not even that bad yet but she's afraid it's going to get to that point (which of course no one knows if it will or not). But for the past month its steadily been rising and swelling has increased.

 

[Bookity]

Just to let you ladies know, Frenchie had her little boy today!!