i'd post this in the pregnant community because there are more people to get answers from, but i'm uncomfortable there and do not want to get judged. i hope no one judges me here.
for many reasons that i don't care to get into, i decided not to breastfeed this time around. maya is 5 days old and my milk came in yesterday and OMG. engorged, rock hard, ginormous breasts (now, if i was back to prepregnancy weight, i'd welcome to humongo boobies, but for now they just make me feel big all over!) i've iced them, put cabbage in my bra, and gentally hand expressed to relieve a little pressure (i know not to use the pump because that will trigger my body to produce even more.) the discomfort is going away but milk still squirts all over if i don't have a bra and breast pads on. how long will it take for my supply to dry up?
First, thanks to all who commented on my whiny heartburn post. I did manage to go back to sleep with the aid of a Tylenol PM, but only for a few hours before I was again rudely awakened, this time by an awful nightmare. So definitely not what I would classify as a decent night’s sleep.
Anyway, I had mild, but increasingly frequent, contractions all day yesterday. I was hoping they’d increase to the point where I could just stay at the birth center after our birth class, but no such luck. I had 4 contractions during the 25 minute or so drive to the class, and then they tapered off and I only had a handful during the 3 hour class. I did start swelling up pretty badly though, and felt nauseated and dizzy by the time it was over. The instructor, who is also one of my midwives, took my bp and it was 145/100. Not what I wanted to hear. She told me that I could easily be in the early stages of labor, but that it could also be a while before anything really happened. She told me to go home, eat something, take my meds, and go to bed. So I did just that. I slept fitfully from around 10:30 until a little before 3:00, and here I am. Wide awake, though cranky about it, and barely contracting at all. Sigh. And to top it all off, my husband and I are fighting.
All in all, not the best 24 hours or so I’ve ever experienced. I just want this baby out. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I told the midwife that it felt like the baby was pushing something into my cervix, like trying to push through it. She guessed it was baby’s head, but I said I didn’t think so since her head is at a funky angle. She suggested that it might be my water. That makes sense, since it sort of feels, I don’t know, not solid? If that makes any sense. So, if my water is pushing against my cervix hard enough for me to feel it, then that can only mean it’s not going to stay intact forever, right? RIGHT???
Okay, I guess I’ve rambled on long enough. I know I’m probably posting too much, and for that I apologize. I just needed to vent some frustration to some people who understand it.
Went to the doctor today.. she told me I was about 2 centimeters and I've been having contractions this whole time! She said when they are 4 minutes apart I should come in, but she said they may not be painful. How am I supposed to know when it's time if the contractions are not painful?? I need a sign! My next appointment is July 7 and she said if I make it then we'll talk about inducing.. I hope he comes this weekend.
Someone please tell me that heartburn so bad it feels like someone shoved a white hot knife down my throat is some unknown precursor to labor. Please? Pretty please? My God, I thought I had heartburn throughout this pregnancy, but I had no idea what I was talking about. I woke up a little before 1:00 in so much pain that I wanted to cry and throw up at the same time. I got up and drank some milk and ate a muffin, hoping the food would absorb the acid. I’m sitting on the couch now, and the pain is barely at bay. I’m totally out of Tums, and somehow I doubt they would do any good anyway. I don’t know what to do. I can’t sleep sitting up. But I’m afraid to try lying down again. Can I please please please go into labor now???
Sorry for being a whiny brat, I’m just so uncomfortable that I want to reach up my vagina and pull this baby out. Not that that would do much good, but you know.
I've been having more nose bleeds than I ever thought humanly possible since I've been pregnant. Which is not that many, I guess, but since I hadn't had even one since I was a child... well, it's been a lot. Then, 2 1/2 weeks ago, I got a head cold, and found myself in the delightful situation of weighing up the likelihood of a nose stuffed up with snot, or a nose stuffed up with blood (why does that seem so much more icky than discussions of bloody show or mucous plugs?)
Well, this morning I was foolishly congratulating myself on having gone A WHOLE DAY with no nose bleeds and barely any stuffiness, and perhaps being on the mend, when I (you guessed it) blew my nose and started bleeding. After sitting for a moment hoping to have it just stop so I could enjoy my morning beverage already, I opted to recline on the couch, pathetically, while it stopped itself.
On the way there, I had one of those spectacular calf muscle cramps that ALSO go with pregnancy, but which I mostly manage to catch in the early stages. Not so much this one. So I'm now leaning over, one hand on the couch, one hand balancing my laptop, leg in agony, wondering how to avoid dripping blood on the floor, the couch or the laptop, yelling obscenities (fortunately we don't have the kids today).
Garth comes over asking what can he do, so I threw (yes, threw) the laptop at him, which he cleverly caught with his CHIN. I hobble to the couch only to have to make the choice between stopping up the nose and massaging the INTENSE LEG PAIN away. Oh, and giggling uncontrollably. G came over to massage the leg, getting rid of that dilemma, and expressing relief that, despite all the swearing, he didn't have to try to avoid laughing at the ridiculous mess I'd got myself in. :)
Baby's breech presentation was confirmed just past 36 weeks by a routine position ultrasound by my OB. He told me to relax and come back in two weeks, which we did yesterday. I was sure the baby had flipped based on the movements I felt, but I was wrong. A quick scan showed that baby was still firmly wedged head up. We scheduled the ECV (version) for this morning.
We had to drop off our daughter with a friend at 5:30 to beat traffic to the hospital and get there by 6:30, we got there early and they checked us in and monitored the baby. The nurse asked me all sorts of questions and had me sign hospital release forms, especially the one that said if things went badly, we'd have to take the baby by c-section asap. Then I got ( Collapse ) to make sure I had a line in and they had my blood type and such on file. The nurse brought in an old ultrasound machine and wiggled it around trying to figure out how the baby was sitting. We saw a head and a hand and eventually, after much wiggling, we saw the feet up in the same area. A nice frank breech; the poor baby looked like it was hogtied in there. Then there was a whole bunch of waiting. The monitors stayed on and I started reading, while my husband tucked himself into his shirt (gotta love cold hospitals) and napped in the corner. Just before the doctors arrived, my nurse came in to explain the procedure and my doctor arrived and he re-did the scan to check where the placenta was and what would be the best way to rotate. Baby was fairly well curled up to try a counter-clockwise forward roll. I got a quick shot of terbutaline, which made me really jittery. When the other OB arrived to help mine out with the procedure, the looked at the scan together and started the procedure. My OB worked the head and the other attempted to work the bottom. I'd describe the sensation as a Nick (my husband who has no idea of his own strength) manhand massage x4 on a very tender belly. I had two nurses, one who was holding onto my feet (which was oddly comforting) and one who was by my head and provided me a hand to grab. I was able to breathe through it, but I don't feel like I could really relax my abs, but I tried to keep as loose as possible. They tried for a few seconds to get the forward roll working, but I didn't feel any movement. My OB stopped to rescan quickly and saw, like we imagined, no movement. They tried that same direction again, but he got a different angle. Unfortunately, the results were the same. They rescanned and decided to try a clockwise backflip. Once that started, I immediately felt the movement, the baby's head slid down toward my left side, which felt like some of those really big belly movements you can sometimes feel when the baby is a little smaller and summersaulting around in there. They stopped to get another scan to check the progress. We all saw the progress, so they tried to continue that movement. Unfortunately, baby wouldn't go any farther, the head was moving, but the second OB who was trying to move the bottom wasn't having any luck. At one point, his hand slipped and I got my very cool ( Collapse ) on my lower belly. Actually, now you can almost see the full circle of rotation on the top, side, and bottom of the belly. After we re-scanned to show that baby was very, very, stuck in position, we gave up and started the very futile process of trying to remove the copious amounts of ultrasound goo from my abdomen. They agreed to monitor me and the baby for another hour (as opposed to 2 or 3) and make sure everyone was doing well. The baby didn't seem phased at all. Heart rate stayed a very consistent 140 almost the whole duration of our stay. I'm grateful for that. We sat around from almost 8 to 9, reading and chatting. I had my husband reading spinning babies in the chair next to me and he has a whole new plan of things to try. We've already done most, but he feels a little helpless and enjoys having a game plan. Now we just wait. My OB has agreed to we can wait for labor to start before going straight to a section, especially now that we've confirmed that the butt is fairly well engaged, which makes a cord prolapse less likely. I spent all yesterday crying and feeling like a general failure, but I'm feeling pretty good now. Even better now that I'm allowed to eat again. I see my chiropractor again on Tuesday for my 4th Webster adjustment and in the meantime I know my husband will be helping me with my positions and generally keeping me relaxed and happy. My hospital is very natural friendly and the nurse explained how even after a surgical birth, the baby can start cuddling and breastfeeding almost right away and if not, I know Daddy will be ready for cuddling and comfort. Alrighty, done babbling about my ECV experience. I'm off to butter my battle wounds.
So I had my 36 week appointment today, and a growth ultrasound. They're estimating him to be 6 lbs, 2 oz now, and my OB said that would make him 8 or 8.5 lbs at birth. I'm having a C-section at 39 weeks - aren't babies supposed to gain half a pound a week at this point? So if I have three weeks left, wouldn't that put him at more like 7.5-8 lbs at birth? I know ultrasounds can be way off but I'm freaking out about having a big baby even though I'm not delivering vaginally :-P I'm short and was 105 pre-pregnancy. My son was 7 lbs at birth.
I had my 37 week appointment this morning, and everything is perfect. My blood pressure was down to a very acceptable 138/70. Baby seems to have undropped, so to speak, and because of that I’m now measuring two weeks ahead. She’s still head down, but her head is kind of angled a little bit. My midwife isn’t concerned about it though. She did a fetal weight estimate, and thinks baby girl is between 6.5 and 7 pounds now, so pretty much right on target for her gestational age. That makes me feel a lot better, I was afraid of a monster baby. Haha. We did my GBS swab, and should have the results back in a few days. I’ve also lost 3 pounds since last week, but she’s not worried about that either. She thinks it has something to do with the medication I’m on. Plus, I’ve always heard that a little weight loss at the end of pregnancy is normal. She doesn’t think we’ll be having a baby this weekend, but she didn’t extend her prediction beyond that.
Anyway, it’s just a waiting game now. Baby can come any time she wants. I just wish I knew when that was. LOL.
Oh yeah, and I did everything yesterday that I said I was going to do. I went to the grocery store and walked around there for an hour, did 3 loads of laundry, and capped off the day with sex. Not great sex, at least not for me, because the muscles in my hips kept spasming and my pelvis was in agony afterward, but it was nice to be intimate with the hubby for a little while. And now I’m off to eat some lunch, and do a whole crap load of baby laundry and clean out the fridge and maybe vacuum. Yup, definitely nesting.
