Chat Thread ~ Feb 17th - 23rd

[canadianbakers]

I hit 32 weeks today... for some reason that made it so much more real! Yikes!

[canadianbakers]

from last weeks' thread...

Originally Posted by momneedssupport I watch more business of being born and now im scared of dying!! Amniotic embolism......really??? Why is this not a main stream topic if so many women are dying???

This doesn't sound like a great movie for encouragement and motivation!

Honestly, mamas have been having babies for thousands of years. And, yes, sometimes things happen and one, or both, die. But that is not the norm.
Your body was made for this, this baby is growing to be born. Everything will be fine

Originally Posted by EmilytheStrange that's what I'm saying!! That movie freaked me out! bad bad bad for preggos! the first movie was good.. the second one is really scary!

That's really strange.

Originally Posted by babyrosie I am so glad you girls made me aware of this. I loved the first movie and wanted to see the second one but no way am I watching that now! As if we don't have enough to worry about!!

I've never watched the first one either, but had been thinking about it... now? No thanks!

Originally Posted by momneedssupport Im already worried i wont handle the pain well.

You can do it! Did you have any pain management with your hospital births?

I had an epidural with DD (even looking back, I know it was the right choice, otherwise she would have been a c-sec and that may have been the end of our babies - no, c-secs aren't terrible and evil, but I was that against them at that point), but I had nothing with Zech or Levi.
Obviously I had stuff for the c-sec, and I did end up getting fentinol through my IV the last half hour with Elli, but again that was different circumstances.

Just keep telling yourself you can do it, you will be okay. Try not to get anxious or worried about the pain. You don't know what the contractions are going to feel like until they come.
If you can, find something you can focus on while breathing through the contractions.

For me (I know this sounds silly... but seriously it worked) I started practising breathing in deeply, then breathing out while thinking/whispering the 'Lord's prayer' (yes, "our father who art in heaven..."). I didn't try to get it all with one breath, just one line or phrase per breath out. Nice and slow. I did think with Levi, through the late BH contractions and then through actual labor. It really did work! The nurses and DH kept saying they couldn't believe how well I was doing with those contractions - I'm assuming they were good ones on the strip? I never looked at the monitor or asked what the # was!
I will admit, at the last half hour - from 9cm-birth - I lost focus and then things weren't so lovely, lol. I need to remember to talk to DH about it and let him know what my focus words/whatnot are. That way he can help keep me focused when things get really intense.

Originally Posted by rverrone11 I asked about leaving before naming baby, and the nurse said it was completely fine...whew! She said we just need to come back within a week otherwise baby will be named Baby Girl or Baby Boy and then we have to go through the process of changing that. I can go see the MW for appointments, which is awesome because she does appointments on Fridays!!!! That means I don't have to take an extra 200 mile trip just for a quick appointment. We can schedule some appointments on Fridays when we are in town anyway. That made me happy. Now we just need to find out about the insurance to make sure we get the exception for OB being in network.

I really don't understand the need to name baby before leaving, or even within the first week? Here, you have as much time as you need/want. Actually, many inuit babies aren't named for months... could be even after their first year (tradition, babies didn't always live that long ). The only thing is that for the first 60 days (I think?) things are free to file for (you have to pay for the actual birth certificate, but the filing of everything is free) and after that time you would have to pay a small fee for filing. Not a huge deal for those who want that extra time!

That's awesome about the MW and appts - much easier for you guys!!
good luck with the insurance and all that - did you get a chance to call them about it last week? Squeaky wheel and all that!

Originally Posted by EmilytheStrange on a similar note, a friend was like 'well, you fill out the birth certificate at your 37 week appt (common for military) and I was like 'um... we don't know what we're having...' lol .. oh right!

That would be useless! Even if you knew baby's gender, you would be able to fill in baby's name, and I guess mom and dad's info... but none of the particulars. That's just silly.

Originally Posted by rverrone11 (I had a home birth, so there was no immediate pressure other than filing within the time allowed by the state).

If the state allows for longer, is it the hospital themselves requiring baby's name? Why would they have different rules from the state?

Originally Posted by EmilytheStrange Anyone have any opinions on coconut water for energy during labor (or any other time really). My doula recommended gatorade (yuck!) or coconut water. I looked at the store and all they had was 'coconut juice'. which, appears to maybe be the same thing, but probably isn't. I've read in other threads that some brands of coconut water are gross, others are good... any opinions from any of you guys? Any other suggestions for keeping electrolytes up? TIA!

We have coconut water for an emergency drink for DD - she has benign fainting spells, just a issue with her blood pressure regulating, and sometimes she needs a quick jolt of electrolytes - but it's really sweet and gross. I feel terrible making her drink it, but when it's needed it's really needed so she doesn't pass out and then vomit everywhere
If there is another brand out there that is better, let me know!

Personally, I love iced gatorade - like a cup full of ice and then filled with gatorade. I do sip on that while laboring. they tried to tell me with Levi's labor/birth that I could only have ice/water. Uh... yeah. No thanks. I mean, I'm not going for a steak dinner, lol, I just want some clear fluids!
Anyways, I sip on that. And when I was laboring with Zech I really loved jello - DH fed it to me between contractions.

[momneedssupport]

My last labor was 4 hrs start to finish do the ctx were on top of each other with little break bw. They gave me stadol while i was waiting for my iv bag to empty to get my epi. It was soooo hard and stadol just made the time bw ctx silly. They got the epi in and i was 9cm. So, i was almost there. I had a great nurse helping me focus, bit i cried and cried.

I remember that pain....it was only 2 years ago. If my labor is longer this time, im just not sure.

I think watching the first business of being born is positive and a good watch. Just not the 2nd one

[EmilytheStrange]

Originally Posted by momneedssupport I think watching the first business of being born is positive and a good watch. Just not the 2nd one

Yes, the first one gave my confidence that I was making good decisions.

Maybe we just all need to watch that one again

[canadianbakers]

Originally Posted by momneedssupport I remember that pain....it was only 2 years ago. If my labor is longer this time, im just not sure.

You can do it. Don't focus on remembering that pain. Don't focus on what might be.
Like I said, keep telling yourself you can get through it. Find something to remember and focus on, to say during contractions - even just "each one brings me closer to baby", or "open". Heck, even just a sound. Anything to give you something to focus on instead of just "oh crap the pain".

Try not to be "not sure" right now. Just keep remembering that your body was made for this and you can do it!

[mibarra]

I just always go in seeing how it will be. Everything was so fast and intense last time I even got narcotics which I said I didn't want until I got my epidural. I feel it was the right choice, I think with that much pain and waking up at 2 am I would have been too exhausted to push.... but I'm not planning on an epidural necessarily this time, every labor is different!

[rverrone11]

Originally Posted by canadianbakers f I really don't understand the need to name baby before leaving, or even within the first week? Here, you have as much time as you need/want. Actually, many inuit babies aren't named for months... could be even after their first year (tradition, babies didn't always live that long ). The only thing is that for the first 60 days (I think?) things are free to file for (you have to pay for the actual birth certificate, but the filing of everything is free) and after that time you would have to pay a small fee for filing. Not a huge deal for those who want that extra time! That's awesome about the MW and appts - much easier for you guys!! good luck with the insurance and all that - did you get a chance to call them about it last week? Squeaky wheel and all that! If the state allows for longer, is it the hospital themselves requiring baby's name? Why would they have different rules from the state?

Each state is different here. In Nevada, I believe you had to file the birth certificate within 10 days. You can file with "Baby Girl", but then you have to go through the hassle of paying a fee and changing the name. I had a friend when we lived in Illinois who still didn't have a name for her 6 month old when we moved away. They had been trying out all different names with him. I'm not sure what they ended up naming him.

That's sad about the Inuit babies not living that long.

I did call the Billing company (who is dealing with the insurance), and the woman working on my account was in software upgrade training all week. I'm calling first thing Tuesday and if I don't get anywhere, I'm going to call the insurance directly and see if they can somehow help me.

I think the hospital just wants to get the birth certificate filed and be done with it instead of waiting for someone to come back with the name. I didn't realize it with our first daughter, otherwise we would have left without naming her.

[rverrone11]

Originally Posted by canadianbakers You can do it. Don't focus on remembering that pain. Don't focus on what might be. Like I said, keep telling yourself you can get through it. Find something to remember and focus on, to say during contractions - even just "each one brings me closer to baby", or "open". Heck, even just a sound. Anything to give you something to focus on instead of just "oh crap the pain". Try not to be "not sure" right now. Just keep remembering that your body was made for this and you can do it!

Yeah this!

[rverrone11]

Originally Posted by canadianbakers I hit 32 weeks today... for some reason that made it so much more real! Yikes!

Not too much longer! I think it just hit me last week that we are actually going to have another child!!

[EmilytheStrange]

The Inuit thing is more common than you'd think. Perhaps not the naming part, but a lot of Polynesian cultures still have extremely large first birthday parties because having a child make it to 1 used to be pretty significant.

In Hawaii, first birthdays are like weddings.

I'm glad that things have changed. Now we sorta downplay first birthdays as being fairly boring events, but exciting for grandparents and siblings.