Hellobee Boards

@LCTBQE: I would definitely pay the $200 extra for the Feestyle. And I've used both. I bought the freestyle out of pocket with my first and got the PIS with insurance with my second. I'm not sure what would make the PIS more reliable. One thing that often fails is the membranes. The membranes on the freestyle are much more durable and have to be replaced less frequently.

@LCTBQE: Yeah, unfortunately I am at the hospital being monitored. Baby sounds great and has been very active (which is a certainly a nice change from earlier today)! I am about 1 cm/fingertip dilated, and am waiting for a few tests to come back. (and for an ultrasound). There is the possibility that they'll let me go home, I just don't know that quite yet. So Just a bunch of wait and see for now.

@pwnstar: wow, lady. glad he is okay in there. forgive me for not knowing, but how disconcerting is that level of dilation? ALL fingers crossed for good news for you two

@MrsSCB: @LCTBQE: Thanks. Dilation could be normal-I'm almost 30 weeks, and some women start to dilate/stay dilated for weeks before they deliver. So it could be something. Or nothing. Which is what makes so much about pregnancy frustrating . . . So many things could be both normal or could be cause for concern.

ETA: Whoops. Didn't realize this would be quite so long

@LCTBQE: Thanks! Of course after I wrote that I had some silly WOHM stress where I didn't realize my son's end of school potluck was a big deal that included a performance. I attended kinda last-minute and fit it into my dinner break (weird hours today)....but it was just so rushed, I didn't enjoy myself there, and I love my job, but hated having to be back at work after.

Anyway re: birth class. I took one the first time around, and I actually did find it useful. I also didn't have to pay for it since it was covered by insurance, so that was a plus. I think it was probably more helpful for my husband who hadn't been surfing the Web and reading as many books as I did. I also thought the tour of the hospital that was part of the class was really helpful because then I could picture where we would be. I ended up not having pain meds during L&D but I think it was good to know about pain management options and exactly what an epidural is and does and where it is placed. It's also good to know about what's standard care at the hospital where you will deliver.

As for a breast pump, I had the PISA 4 years ago. No ides if they have changed or gotten or better/worse since then. From what I understand the Freestyle is much quieter and is portable so that you're not tied to a chair when using it. The PISA does work with batteries so you don't have to be plugged into an outlet, but the bag and pump are kind of unwieldy so you wouldn't want to be walking around and doing anything beside pumping/playing on your phone/watching TV while pumping. I'll let the others weigh in. I'm not sure what my insurance company provides this time around (I didn't get a free one last time because the program started after that), but I think it's another PISA. I may personally ask if I can upgrade even for a fee since I already have a PISA that I could probably use again and leave at work.

@pwnstar: Oh no! I hope everything is ok with both you and baby. How did you know you should go in and get checked out?

@LCTBQE: Lactation consultants (LC) are worth their weight in gold. You may be able to find a less expensive option, though, rather than a private one to visit your house. At the hospital where I delivered, they had a free lactation support group once a week. One LC and a group of breastfeeding women. Each woman had a chance to feed the baby/ask questions, and the LC would go around and give out handouts to address those questions, as well as look at positioning and give suggestions. It was also amazing to be surrounded by women doing what you're doing and know that you're not alone. I felt isolated in my house for awhile when dealing with breastfeeding, and getting to that group for several weeks really helped. And the other good thing is that not all LCs are equal or have the same advice. So one week, the LC may be one who has tricks that don't work for you, but the LC next time may have the magic solution to your BF problems.

I was reading the thread about those on HB who have had med-free birth, and I didn't realize that some of us on this board have! I did last time, too, @OldpuebloJenn: and @AprilFool: . I'm planning (if possible) on trying again for unmedicated this time. We hired a doula for extra help and support (and also since my OB practice has 17 OBs and I've only met 2 of them). It's nice to know that we'll know one other person in the room for sure!

What is everyone else thinking? And if this is your 2nd/3rd child, what did you do for your earlier labor/deliveries?

@Aandmklover: I'd imagine going med free would be so much easier without also having to be on Pitocin. Everyone I've talked to has said that Pitocin contractions are no joke. I hope you get the L&D you want this time

Hi again everyone, sorry I don't post often but I am reading along regularly!

@LCTBQE: I have some short classes included by my hospital in a couple of weeks time. (6hrs total) but I'm not even entirely sure what they cover! I think they'll benefit DH mostly, but seeing as they're free I'm happy to go.

@pwnstar: I really hope everything's ok with you and baby, and that you can go home very soon!

@pregnantbee: Hoping to go med free, but I'm also open to an epidural especially if I end up with an induction! Trying my best not to get too set on any particular birth plan to avoid potential disappointment.

AFM, I've been knocked down with gastro the last few days! Ugh what a nightmare. Everything else is going well, baby is now measuring ahead and OB said to at least expect an 8lb-er. Hormones were running high and I may have cried to DH that we will be expecting a 'giant rhino-baby'. Very stupid I know! And this shouldn't be a surprise to me as DH, SIL and my brother were all 9lb+. My coworker just had a 12lb boy (!!!) so I think it was playing on my mind!
How are all the nurseries coming along? I'm pretty sure we're wayyy behind considering I've only got 7 weeks left. Oops Furniture is done and that's about it.

@pwnstar: hope things are going okay for you guys. I'm sorry you have to deal with this stress again.

@LCTBQE: I would think a book would suffice, to be honest. The Birth Partner is a book designed for dads, doulas,etc., but I think it provides a nice, straightforward and un-biased overview of labor and options of all kinds.
We took a class with my prenatal yoga instructor who did a great job of being unbiased and supported all birth choices. Although my plan was to go med free, things went pretty differently than I thought they would. In the end, when I decided to get an epidural (which was a hard choice for me), it was the birth class teachers words that I heard in my head "you meet yourself in labor." And I realized that what I needed to do was let go of all my stupid prejudices and "shoulds" and make the right choice for me and my baby.

My baby was posterior, and wouldn't descend. I labored for two days (vomitting from contractions, back labor, etc.) before I decided to try a small dose of pit and an epidural (at 4cm). The epidural relaxed my pelvis enough for the baby to turn and descend, and I was at 10cm less than four hours later. I pushed her out quickly, and thanks to the rest I got from the epidural I was able to. She was pretty distressed by the time we got her out.

I honestly went into labor with the feeling that I would feel like I was "giving up" if I got an epidural. None of my close friends or family members get them. Kind of a crunchy area I live in- my best friend is a home birth midwife. I ended up being so proud of myself for choosing to get one, because i know that a. It was the tool that baby and I needed, and b. It helped us avoid a c-section (per my doctor). I now see it as a tool in a bag of many tools, and think the best thing we can hope for in labor is to be open to "meeting ourselves."

That said, this time I am planning to try for a water birth if it goes more quickly or straightforward than last time. This baby is hanging out posterior too, so I kind of think something is up with my structure/pelvis that holds babies in that position. But, who knows what a second labor will be like. My doctor thinks I could go really fast, so I might not have time to make a lot of choices.
I'm glad to be going into this with a much more open mind. I am just nervous about the timing of it all- coordinating child care, getting my husband home from work, getting to the hospital 40 min away....

Sorry that was so long!

@Silva: Thanks! One of my nurses poo pooed me a bit and *explained* to me that contractions were normal. And while I know that that's true, I also know I had way more BH than I was supposed to (I was having 8-10 an hour for several hours, and after drinking more water and resting, as soon as I stood up they would start again), and my doc was the one who told me I needed to go in for monitoring. I also didn't feel right. So I'm interested to get some direction from my doc!

I am also convinced that if I hadn't gotten an epidural that I would have needed a c-section. Even though it didn't completely take, my body couldn't relax enough through the stacked Pit contractions to make any progress. I also didn't understand the significance of a posterior baby (not descending/not being in the right position to put pressure on the cervix so that the body can progress) until after I had her. It's so hard to know what the right decision is when your own intuition gets muffled by all of the other beliefs/expectations we hear from others about pregnancy and birth.

oh my goodness, so much to respond to this morning!

@pwnstar: SO SO relieved by this update! i hope you and your peri come up with a plan for going forward that makes you feel at ease

@pregnantbee: thank you so much I'm just going to keep telling myself this over and over again.

@AprilFool: yes, i am so hoping it's a one-off, but not too optimistic given my history. I left a message for the doctor to call me once she's received the results so we can discuss, but the current plan is for me to go back in 4 weeks (7/6), and if he's below 10th then, I'd start the more frequent monitoring. I'm just not sure there's any point to going back sooner than that, since i'm still so early and there's nothing they can do about this. but i'm going to run it all by my doctor just to be sure. i also want to get the specific measurements from her, so i can know whether the decline is symmetrical or not.

@OldpuebloJenn: thank you! yes, this is true, knowledge is definitely power in this case, and it helps that my husband is much more relaxed about it this time, which makes me much more relaxed. no 3am googling of developmental delays from small head size this time around (i promise!)

@LCTBQE: thanks so much btw, i'm thinking of switching locations - did you switch to the downtown location during your pregnancy? or was it before? I know you said you'd been to both. I'm wondering if we are permitted to freely switch back and forth between uptown and downtown during pregnancy. the uptown is more convenient for my husband but the downtown doctors were so knowledgeable and really guided me through this the first time. the doctors uptown are basically like "here's the weight and percentile, call your doctor"

and as to your questions: my doctor recommended fledgling families - the class was a one day class and it was around $300. I enjoyed it and thought it was helpful in preparing me, although i had a c section, so obviously not useful in the end. i'm not sure if it was worth it, but i didn't even know how to put on a diaper, so i guess it put me at ease. I also did an infant cpr class that was either free or super cheap. For breastfeeding, i met with the LC at Sinai like on the hour while i was there haha. I was completely engorged because my milk came in immediately and enough for like seven babies however, i will say that there were 2 of them, they both gave me the exact opposite advice, it was super stressful, and i walked out of there confident that I was going to figure it out on my own. And i did. The best advice I got was from my husband, so go figure! (he started to think it through logically, and we came up with a plan to reduce my output while still triggering production of milk and eliminating the pain). So LCs can be amazing or not that great, it just depends on your specific situation and your baby. I'd wait and make that decision after baby comes.

oh and i have the PISA and the freestyle. I love the PISA for work because it's a great pump, but for home i love the freestyle because i don't have to be attached to an outlet.

@Umberto: i hope you feel better! i'm laughing about your "giant rhino-baby" breakdown, because my husband said to me yesterday "you are the perfect little incubator" and i was like "DON'T CALL ME LITTLE!!!" haha. as for the nursery, it's pretty much unchanged from my first, so we're good there, but I'm spending way too much time trying to figure out what to do for book storage, since there's limited space for it. we never did anything for LO when she was in there, and i hated having books everywhere all the time.

@Pirouette: Could you maybe just do a magazine rack that sits on the floor next to the rocking chair? We have one and it holds a lot of books.

@Umberto: I like the 'Giant Rhino-Baby". I always say I feel like I miss the NB stage because both my kids were over 9 lbs and went straight to 0-3M and size 1 diapers. It looks like this one is measuring big as well. I told the OB I can handle it but we have to make sure we can get the baby out!

@LCTBQE: We took a birthing class but it was maybe $100 our first time. We skipped the second time. The biggest thing that was helpful was getting the L&D tour to see how the rooms were set up, policies for using the tub, how the wires work, etc.

@Pirouette: We have one that sits on the floor. It doesn't hold a ton but it works for now.

If you have room for a 3 cube thing I would go for it though! I love the cube storage in our kids rooms.

@pwnstar: Yay, so glad everything is OK!

@LCTBQE: I was talking to DH about all the class options last night, and I think we will end up doing the online one for childbirth. We just don't really have time for 12+ hours of classroom lessons and with the online we can do it whenever we have a spare moment. I'll let you know how it goes, I bet you could do the same one despite being in another state -- no one has to know!

@pregnantbee: In terms of meds, I think I just want to keep my options open. I'm definitely not opposed to an epidural, so I hope to start med-free for a little while and see how it goes and then I can ask for the epidural if I want it. My hospital talks a lot about wireless monitoring and how their rooms are a bit bigger to offer space to walk around, so it sounds like they are very open to med-free labor if you want it. On the other hand, a friend who recently had a baby at the same place labored naturally for hours and hours recently, and when she finally got the epidural, her son arrived very soon after. So sometimes the body needs to be able to relax a little more? We'll see I guess, I have no idea what to expect!

@LCTBQE: Ditto on all your thoughts about birth. I will *try* no epidural but will not hesitate to get one if I think I need one. So, after going back and forth a hundred times about the July 30th birth class, I'm back to NO, I will NOT be taking the class. It comes down to time - like you said, the remaining weekends before baby are precious!! I only get every other Saturday with my husband, anyways. I can't bear to think of spending 7 hours of one of those few remaining summer time Saturdays in a below-ground windowless room at the hospital practicing breathing when I could be in a pool. And I really think that won't the nurses tell us how to breathe during the labor? And also, there are online videos I'm going to start watching soon designed for girls who are on bedrest or whatever and can't make it to birth classes.

So I did take a 2.5 hour baby care basics type class this past Saturday. It was interesting and my husband actually enjoyed it! The first half hour was a waste to me, though. It talked about how the baby will be after its born and while we are in the hospital. For example, it described "vernix" or whatever the white stuff is that is on the baby. But my thought was this - if I'm in the hospital and I have a question about the white stuff on my baby, can't I just ask one of the zillion nurses who will be in and out of my room? Did I need a half hour just now to explain that stuff to me? No. The rest of the class was like swaddling, sleep positions, shaken baby warnings (i cried), bathing. All good stuff that I'm sure my mom, sister, or any one of my girlfriends could have told me. But it was nice I feel like I got my baby class urge taken care of. No more for me. Hope I don't regret this at the time of birth! But what's the worst that will happen? Its not like that baby will now NOT be able to be born because I didn't take the super Saturday birth class in the basement of the hospital.

@ShootingStar: Thank you so much for letting me know that! I was getting the feeling that the nurses are super helpful at my hospital. But I know I can't rely on that. I'm going to watch some videos on weekday evenings. Praying that's enough!

@agold: I think like you said there are supposed to be some good online courses you can look at for those that can't attend in person. I really would recommend taking a hospital tour though (which should be free). Or at least driving over there with your husband to make sure he knows where to park, how to get in, how to check in etc.

My birth class wasn't really so much about breathing, it did go over a few positions we could try for labor (like on all fours but you dont really need a class to show you what all fours looks like). I would look up ways your husband can provide some counter pressure for you. But in the end you have NO idea what labor will be like for you and what will work for you. Kinda like trying to plan for a pregnancy before you are pregnant. You can't plan on certain maternity clothes or activities/trips until you are pregnant and see how big you are and how you are feeling.

The only other thing I would do some research on would be birth plans and pain med options. The birth plan templates (even if you dont use it to actually give to your doctor and nurses) may help you and your husband decide some decisions points ahead of time. Do you want to be offered the epi or only if you ask for it? Do you want to try to labor in the tub or on the ball etc? Besides the epi are you open to other pain medicines? How often do you want to be checked?

@pwnstar: I have since read and heard from a lot of people who labored with posterior babies that the epidural was a really important part of having a vaginal delivery. The spinning babies website actually mentions it, too- that some women's bodies, for whatever reason, have trouble relaxing the pelvis so the baby cant descend and dilation never happens. and for some of those women, an epidural can be the difference between vaginal or c-section delivery.

@agold: If you dont really care thats fine! Just go with the flow!